of prejudice, which he has inherited from his forefathers, and which he must have rejected upon the perusal of our Professor's Tract, had he possessed a grain of candour.

The writer now proceeds to his work, which he styles, "A guide for those who are in error, in which the reality of the mission of Mohammed will be established." The work will be divided into a preface, two sections, and a conclusion *. The Author now, depending on the grace of God, proceeds to

THE PREFACE,

IN WHICH WILL BE SHEWN THE NECESSITY OF HAVING THE MIND FREE FROM DOUBT AND SCEPTICISM, AND OF ADORNING BOTH THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR WITH RECTITUDE AND TRUTH.

It is very well known, that, in questions involving difficulties, persons endued with the clearest intellectual capacities should exercise the closest and most unwearied attention; and even then, that discussion and mere dispute will effect nothing-that however well the premises might be laid down and confirmed, or the conclusions drawn, there will be no real success, unless the mind be divested of prejudice, and God himself second the endeavour. This, candid reader, is with considerate people,

There is either some mistake in the MS. or the Author has not wholly regarded this division, as will be seen hereafter.

a matter too important to be treated with levity; because, doubts and scruples which have been allowed to remain long in the mind, are seldom got rid of without the greatest difficulty; and in many cases never. For, when the hopes and fears have long been acted upon by the opinions implanted by early education, and cherished as hereditary; not to mention the secular and ecclesiastical preferments sometimes kept in view by those who hold them, as well as the dread of general reproach usually attending a change of religious opinions, it is found, that recourse is often had to mere dispute, and sometimes to a wilful perseverance in error, in preference to an ingenuous confession of the truth. And when respect is had to wealth alone, and every hope of its acquisition must be abandoned upon receiving what is known to to be right, the probability is, that error will for a long time be persevered in: though a time may come, however distant it may now seem to be, when such an one will acquiesce in the new religion.

To possess the candour, however, already alluded to, is the province of those whose sole object is to serve God; and who, upon discovering the truth, not only get rid of all their prejudices, but heartily embrace it. May God grant that the doctrine of Mohammed and his descendants may be the portion of us and of those about us.

SECTION I.

ON THE NECESSITY OF BENIGNITY AND A DISPOSITION TO PARDON IN THE CHARACTER OF THE DEITY.

Or the truth of the following proposition there has never been any doubt entertained by the learned, viz. That any thing, in which the mind can be made to acquiesce as a good, will eventually become the motive of exertion for its attainment.

The attainment of such good, however, is not placed within the power or will of man alone: and its existence depends solely on God, whose character is such as necessarily to produce it, that there may be a motive for exertion. Now, any good, the attainment of which is placed within the power of man, is often treated with indifference and neglect. But when this originates with God, man has a proper motive for exertion, which will accordingly become operative; and the consequence will be, the attainment of the object in view, and the fulfilment of the divine will. In other words, it is by these means that man is made strictly obedient to his Maker. But to make the matter plainer by example. Suppose some one to cite another to appear before him, and to know at the same time, that the citation would be disregarded unless a letter of safe con

duct were granted, and conveyed to the person so cited, by one of the citer's particular friends, and this evincing a disposition to be lenient. Now, in this case, the process employed would most likely be effective, from the consideration of its benignity; which is exactly what Theologians believe of the dispensations of the Deity. To recur once more to our illustration. Suppose it should be necessary for some one to cite another to appear before him, knowing, at the same time, that the person so cited will not appear, unless a benign disposition be evinced in the citer; who, from the nature of the case, has it in his power so to act. Suppose, again, he should neglect to evince such disposition there would be no doubt, in this case, of the complete failure of the citer; which to an intelligent person would be a disgrace. We are authorized, therefore, in coming to the conclusion, that benignity is a necessary part of the character of the Deity.

If it should be replied, that in common life we see many without so much as the means of acquiring a subsistence; and, who, after trying every lawful means, fail of success. A person thus reduced will perhaps be compelled to have recourse to theft; in the prosecution of which, he may be killed by another endeavouring to defend his own property. Upon this, the relations of the deceased may demand the price of blood; which may compel the manslayer to have

recourse to lying and perjury: and thus, from one particular mishap, may arise much public calamity and wickedness. Now, the circumstance of a Deity infinitely wise and powerful, and consequently acquainted both with this person and affair in its first stages, but still withholding the means which would have prevented both the sin and the sorrow thus occasioned, (the granting of which would have been an exhibition of the benignity in question) must be a sufficient proof that no such benignity enters necessarily into his character. The only point that can be urged is, a necessity of the Deity's affording that means for the attainment of any good, which in the technical language of the Learned is termed grace; but it cannot be shewn to be necessary in the Deity to exhibit this: for to be grace it must be free. Besides, we see multitudes innumerable both of infidels and heretics, who have continued for years in the ways of error, and who do so still; and yet no guide has been sent to them, who might afford them an instance of the divine benignity, in delivering them from the ways and consequences of sin; The answer is this: There can be no doubt that the ways in which the Deity deals with man, and which are compatible with his omniscience, are two: one by grace or favour; the other by neglect or disregard. In

circumstances are so ordered that, both internally and externally, nothing but prosperity is