paving the way and conducting to a more finished revelation, of which the Prophets spake, and having effected its purpose, it became, as it were, absorbed in the superior glory of Christianity, which has more fully displayed the divine perfections, and benefited the nations. This is confirmed by actual reference to the condition, moral and political, as well as religious, of the countries where Christianity has penetrated. In proportion as its pure doctrines have been undebased by human mixtures, so much the more strikingly perceptible are its beneficial results: but the reverse is the case with Islamism, which has subsisted more than twelve centuries with an injurious and stationary effect wherever it has obtained ascendency. Contrast the two systems as to their relative influence on knowledge and civilization, and this position will be fully verified.
The superior intelligence in Christian coun-
