straint upon the drinking of wine, in the use
of women he allowed an almost unbounded indulgence. Four wives, with the
liberty of changing them at pleasure, (Sale's Koran, c. iv. p. 63.)
together with the persons of all his captives, (Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 225.)
was an irresistible bribe to an Arabian warrior. "God is minded," says
he, speaking of this very subject, "to make his religion light unto
you; for man was created weak." How different this from the
unaccommodating purity of the Gospel! How would Mahomet have succeeded
with the Christian lesson in his mouth.--"Whosoever looketh upon a woman
to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart"? It must be added, that Mahomet did not venture upon the
prohibition of wine till the fourth year of the Hegira, or the
seventeenth of his mission, when his military successes had completely
established his authority. The same observation holds of the fast of the
Ramadan, (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. pp. 126 & 112.) and of the most
laborious part of his institution, the pilgrimage to Mecca. (This
latter, however, already prevailed amongst the Arabs, and had grown out
of their excessive veneration for the Caaba. Mahomot's law, in this
respect, was rather a compliance than an innovation. Sale's Prelim.
Disc. p. 122.)

What has hitherto been collected from the records of the Musselman
history relates to the twelve or thirteen years of Mahomet's peaceable
preaching, which part alone of his life and enterprise admits of the
smallest comparison with the origin of Christianity. A new scene is now
unfolded. The city of Medina, distant about ten days' journey from
Mecca, was at that time distracted by the hereditary contentions of two
hostile tribes. These feuds were exasperated by the mutual persecutions
of the Jews and Christians, and of the different Christian sects by
which the city was inhabited. (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 100.) The
religion of Mahomet presented, in some measure, a point of union or
compromise to these divided opinions. It embraced the principles which
were common to them all. Each party saw in it an honourable
acknowledgment of the fundamental truth of their own system. To the
Pagan Arab, somewhat imbued with the sentiments and knowledge of his
Jewish or Christian fellow-citizen, it offered no defensive or very
improbable theology. This recommendation procured to Mahometanism a more
favourable reception at Medina than its author had been able