purgatory, for after having remained a certain time, they are transferred to paradise. The second of these hells is for Jews; the third for Christians; the fourth for Sabeans; the fifth for Majians; the sixth for idolaters; and the seventh, Mohammed, not at all inappropriately, as it is the lowest and worst, has assigned to hypocrites of all religions. The tortures he describes the wicked as enduring are of a very terrific character. Some passages in the Koran on this subject are sublime, and others gross. Paradise is made to glow with all that is gorgeous, and hell to flame with all that is terrible. The only way to escape from the one, and the only way of obtaining the other, is to embrace in the creed-"There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his apostle."

With regard to the sixth article, of predestination, there is, according to Mohammed, in the highest heaven, a reserved table, on which is written every good and bad action that ever takes place. Every being, whether man or angel, is absolutely predestined to a certain course, and according to the invariable declaration of the Koran, "God directeth whom he pleaseth, and causeth to err whom he pleaseth." There is no delicacy whatever in making God author of the worst as well as of the best actions. This doctrine is absolute, and perfectly sustained in all the writings of Mohammed, as it is in the faith of his followers.

The first article of PRACTICE, is prayer. This is insisted on by Mohammed very earnestly, and five times a day are appointed for true believers to pray. During his night-journey, when he visited the heaven in which Moses was, he told Moses he was going to make true believers pray fifty times a day. Moses said, "You will never succeed. I tried, but I never could get them to do it. You must go back to the throne and get permission to deduct." He went back, and obtained permission to

deduct ten times; and Moses said, "You will never succeed. I tried it, but they would never do it." Then he got permission to reduce it to thirty. Moses made the same objection. Then it was reduced to twenty; then to ten; then to five; and Moses objected again, but Mohammed said he was ashamed to return so often, and went away and prayed for Moses. Accordingly, he appointed five times a day to pray. First, before sunrise;

second, immediately after the turn of noon; third, in the afternoon; fourth, immediately after sunset; and fifth, an hour and a half after night had set in. The people are called to prayer by a man mounting on a gallery, which is always attached to the minarets of the mosques, and he cries with a loud voice five times in the day, "God is great. God is great. There is no God but God; and Mohammed is his apostle. Come to prayers; come to prayers;" and if it be in the morning, in many parts of the Mohammedan world they add, "Prayer is better than sleep; prayer is better than sleep;" a sentiment that we all would approve of, whether we act upon it or not.

The next duty is that of almsgiving. Prayer, say they, brings a man half way to God: fasting brings a man to the door of his palace; but by alms he enters in. Accordingly, alms are strictly enjoined; and there is mention of five kinds of alms-alms of cattle, alms of money, alms of grain, alms of fruit, and alms of wares that may be sold; and every man is obliged, according to these laws, to give alms largely. Fasting is the third duty that is enjoined. Once a year, during the month of Ramadan, all Mussulmans are compelled to fast; every day, from sunrise to sunset, they never eat or drink, or indulge any appetite; but from sunset to sunrise they may eat, drink, and indulge as they please.

The fourth day is a pilgrimage. Every year pilgrims

from the entire Mohammedan world turn their faces toward the great temple at Mecca. From the shores of the Atlantic at Morocco, a caravan starts and passes all along Africa, receiving accessions of pilgrims as it goes. Another starts from the north, traveling through Syria. Another comes from the east, and another from the south of Arabia. As they go, they use the opportunity to carry the merchandise of their country, and make it a time of gain as well as of devotion. But all these caravans meet in the sacred territory of Hejaz, the province in which Mecca stands. From that moment they become truly pilgrims. Their garments are then laid aside; every man clothes himself in the iram, consisting of two pieces of cloth, one of which he girds round his loins, and the other round his shoulders. They go bareheaded. All march toward the sacred city. We may suppose them approaching the Kaaba on a bright moonlight night. The first object they see is four magnificent minarets-this is the token that they have before their eye the spot where they believe Adam worshiped God under curtains of light; the spot where Seth built; where Abraham and Ishmael also built the temple of the restored world; the spot where are the foot-marks of Abraham; the tomb of Ishmael; the spot, too, where Mohammed was reared up; and where he himself performed a pilgrimage shortly before his end. We may suppose that all this moves every feeling of which man is capable; and that his very soul heaves as he enters the house, an entrance into which he believes to constitute a great part of his salvation. Proceeding, they come in sight of one hundred and fifty-two domes, and presently in the moonlight they behold the glow of countless lamps. Coming nearer, they find these lamps suspended in beautiful Gothic arches, which are painted red, yellow, and blue. Every arch is supported by three columns of red por

phyry, white marble, and granite. The Kaaba stands before them. They enter by the arches; and then spreads out an immense court; and that court is thronged with pilgrims of many nations, all wearing the iram, and all prostrate, with bare heads, offering up their prayers. Just before them stands the sacred well Zem-zem, of which Ishmael drank. Here is an inclosure made by low pillars, connected by bars of silver, suspended from which two hundred and twenty-four lamps brilliantly mark the circle of the inner court. Just within it is the stone on which Abraham stood to build the Kaaba. Then there is the Kaaba itself, hung with dark damask. Before it they pray and bow. They go round it seven times, and each time kiss the sacred stone. They then proceed to Mount Szafa, and repeat prayers, and walk seven times the "Holy Walk," chanting prayers all the time. On one day all the pilgrims ascend the Mount Arafat; they always number seventy thousand; for if fewer, angels would be sent to make up the number. When the seventy thousand are assembled on Mount Arafat, the Kadi of Mecca preaches. At every interval in his sermon, the multitude cries out, "Here are we at thy command, O God!" After the sermon is over, they all go to the Vale of Mina. In that valley, say they, Abraham came to offer up his son Isaac for a sacrifice. The devil came to tempt Isaac to refuse, and Abraham took stones and drove him away. This fable is frequently recognized in the Koran, where Satan is called the "devil driven away with stones." Each pilgrim takes seven little stones, and throws them at three particular spots, so that, with seventy thousand pilgrims throwing twenty-one stones each, we should have nearly one million and a half of stones thrown away in that valley every year. This ceremony ends the pilgrimage, with the exception of some formalities.

We now come to consider, briefly, the history of Mohammedanism.

No sooner was the prophet dead than a strong commotion broke forth among his followers. "He is not dead," cried many; "the apostle of God is not dead; he is only gone for a season, and will come again, as Jesus came." Omar, drawing his sword, vowed death to any one who dared to touch the corpse with a view to burial. Abubekir, however, arriving, cried, "Do you worship Mohammed, or the God of Mohammed? The God of Mohammed is immortal; but Mohammed is assuredly dead." "Mohammed," he continued, quoting the Koran, "shall die as the other prophets have died." Then followed a dispute, coming nearly to blows, as to where he should be buried. This, the same wise adviser settled by ordering his sepulcher just on the spot of his death. The current statement, that the Mohammedans believe that his coffin is suspended in the air, is a mere fable.

or

After much debate, the choice of a successor, Kalif, to the prophet, fell upon Abubekir. This decision much disappointed Ali, who, as the "first of true believers," and also as the prophet's son-in-law, hoped to be the Kalif. Abubekir had, for his empire, Arabia united into one state; a condition in which it had never been before, and in which the old spirit of tribes, or of clanship, would not long have permitted it to continue, had he not found other employment for the pugnacious spirits of its sons. Shortly after his accession, the whole peninsula heard the following proclamation:

"In the name of the most merciful God.

"Abdullah, Athic Ebn Abu Kohafa, [these were his other names] to the rest of the true believers; health and happiness, and the mercy and blessing of God be