men of the old regime, and being not yet quite degraded to the ruffian violence of their prototypes at Paris. It was, however, the 4th of December before they got away in an American vessel; and on 16th January, 1794, they landed at Madras, reduced to one-third of their number, after being nearly twentyone months from England, and having undergone a variety of sufferings hardly equalled in the history of any similar disaster.

In wishing to preserve the continuity of the narrative, we have not adverted to the account which the author gives of the island of Madagascar, from the best authorities on the subject, illustrated by the circumstances that fell under his own observation during his residence there. The island, it will be recollected, was discovered in 1506, since which period it has been occasionally visited; and at different times settlements have been made upon it by European nations, particularly the French. Like, however, many of those foreign and distant islands, it has known little of European intercourse but in the form of violence and rapine. About a century ago, it was the resort of pirates of all nations; and the traffic in slaves from the island was long carried on extensively, to the inconceivable distress and suffering of the natives. This misery the author had an opportunity of seeing at Mozambique and Isle of France, where they were currently sold.

From the space already occupied by this article, we regret that we have not room for a more detailed account of this part of the work, but must refer to the volume itself for the interesting remarks on the subject, which are chiefly comprized under Population and Property, Language, Religion, Climate, Productions, Animal and Vegetable, and Character, Habits, and Mode of Life. There is one point, however, to which we shall allude, namely, the moral and intellectual state of the inhabitants. The author expresses his anxiety that, to this people, who are on the whole an interesting race, should be extended, as speedily as possible, " the benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion." He adverts to the attempt made from the Isle of France, on the east coast, in the end of 1818, where, in a very short time, the whole missionaries and their families, except one person, died; and recommends, we think very judiciously, that the missionaries intended for that field should be seasoned by residence at the Cape, and stationed on the healthiest spots in the island, with an attentive eye to the alterations of the season, so as to shun the most unhealthy periods. The missionaries alluded to, had commenced, and carried on successfully, a school on the British Education plan, when the only survivor was obliged to leave the island to recruit his health. It gives us pleasure,

however, to learn, from very recent accounts, that the mission was immediately to be resumed, an object towards the promotion of which the author appropriates any profits that may arise from this work. As a proof of the anxiety for learning excited among the natives by the former missionary attempt, we observe, in the Report of the last meeting of the British Education Society, that two princes from Madagascar have been at Paris, in order to learn the system of Mutual Instruction, with the view of introducing it on their return. We agree with the author, that it is certainly a matter of just reproach to Europe, that so little has been done for civilizing Madagascar, and other places which have been long known to our navigators'; but we trust that this reproach will speedily be removed, and that the disgusting and immoral superstition which prevails, will give place to the pure morality and spiritual worship of Chris tianity, combined with its natural effect, intellectual improvement and a knowledge of the useful arts.

We now take leave of this work, which has afforded us much information in the facts it contains, and much useful suggestion in the moral and religious remarks which are interspersed through it. The author has disarmed criticism, by the manner in which he disclaims, in the Preface, any thing of literary pretensions; but though the narrative is evidently written "currente cala" mo," and exhibits, accordingly, several instances of occasional carelessness in the composition, it is plainly the work of a person who unites a sacred regard for the truths of revelation, and a just appreciation of their importance to society with the qualifications and endowments of a scholar and a gentleman.

ART. VII. An History of Muhammedanism; comprising the Life and Character of the Arabian Prophet, and succinct accounts of the Empires founded by the Muhammedan Arms; an Inquiry into the Theology, Morality, Laws, Literature, and Usages of the Muselmans, and a view of the Present State and Extent of the Muhammedan Religion. By CHARLES MILLS. The Second edition, revised and augmented. London, Black and Kingsbury. Pp. 505. 8vo.

Ir religions always continue longer than governments, according to Voltaire, it is not because religious systems are always calculated to resist the sudden changes of political revolutions, silent changes of time. In a certain degree, they are ca

pable of modifying the forms of civil polity, and of counteracting the influence of climate; but not unfrequently they are compelled to assimilate themselves to national habits, when these habits are deeply rivetted, and when the force of religious impressions is feeble. All modes of faith formed by human agents and for human ends are indigenous, and like any other natural production of the soil, sometimes improve and sometimes degenerate by transplantation. In no instance is the truth of this observation more forcibly exemplified than in the history of Muhammedanism. It is in consequence of its conformity to existing circumstances, and of its deviation from the original spirit of its founder, that it still retains so considerable a dominion throughout the globe. In the extensive regions of Hindustan, we may observe in the turbulence of the Muselman and the apathy of the Brahmin, the preponderance of religious motives above all others which regulate the character; yet even there the disciples of Muhammed have gradually, and perhaps insensibly, adopted many of the usages of the natives. In the Turkish empire, where at the present day Muhammed retains his most zealous votaries, we shall look in vain for that fire, kindled by fanaticism, which led the Saracens to plunder and conquest. In Arabia, where Muhammed had his birth, and where his doctrines were first taught, there is a sect which strenuously denies that Islamism could ever be adapted to such a country. " The religion of Muhammed," say the Bedoweens, " could never be intended for us. We have no water in the "deserts, how then can we make our ablutions; we have no " money, how then can we give alms? The fast of Ramadan " is a useless command to persons who fast all the year round, " and if God be every where, why should we go to Mecca to " adore him?" Of its founder it may reasonably be supposed that he delivered precepts, and recommended practices, without foreseeing how far they might extend, or how far they might become useless, inconvenient, or impossible. This is a fact which the historian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman empire is willing to admit, who acknowledges that "the institutions " of the Arabian founder may be ill adapted to the wealth and " numbers of Ispahan or Constantinople."

These observations have been suggested by the work now before us, which, without assuming a form apologetic or controversial, exhibits a candid view of the origin and present state of the Muhammedan religion. In the account which its author has given of the life and character of the Arabian prophet, he may be thought to discover an inclination to the statements and opihowever, to learn, from very recent accounts, that the mission was immediately to be resumed, an object towards the promotion of which the author appropriates any profits that may arise from this work. As a proof of the anxiety for learning excited among the natives by the former missionary attempt, we observe, in the Report of the last meeting of the British Education Society, that two princes from Madagascar have been at Paris, in order to learn the system of Mutual Instruction, with the view of introducing it on their return. We agree with the author, that it is certainly a matter of just reproach to Europe, that so little has been done for civilizing Madagascar, and other places which have been long known to our navigators'; but we trust that this reproach will speedily be removed, and that the disgusting and immoral superstition which prevails, will give place to the pure morality and spiritual worship of Christianity, combined with its natural effect, intellectual improvement and a knowledge of the useful arts.

We now take leave of this work, which has afforded us much information in the facts it contains, and much useful suggestion in the moral and religious remarks which are interspersed through it. The author has disarmed criticism, by the manner in which he disclaims, in the Preface, any thing of literary pretensions; but though the narrative is evidently written "currente cala" mo," and exhibits, accordingly, several instances of occasional carelessness in the composition, it is plainly the work of a person who unites a sacred regard for the truths of revelation, and a just appreciation of their importance to society with the qualifications and endowments of a scholar and a gentleman.

ART. VII. An History of Muhammedanism; comprising the Life and Character of the Arabian Prophet, and succinct accounts of the Empires founded by the Muhammedan Arms; an Inquiry into the Theology, Morality, Laws, Literature, and Usages of the Muselmans, and a view of the Present Staté and Extent of the Muhammedan Religion. By CHARLES MILLS. The Second edition, revised and augmented. London, Black and Kingsbury. Pp. 505. 8vo.

Ir religions always continue longer than governments, according to Voltaire, it is not because religious systems are always calculated to resist the sudden changes of political revolutions, or the silent changes of time. In a certain degree, they are capable of modifying the forms of civil polity, and of counteracting the influence of climate; but not unfrequently they are compelled to assimilate themselves to national habits, when these habits are deeply rivetted, and when the force of religious impressions is feeble. All modes of faith formed by human agents and for human ends are indigenous, and like any other natural production of the soil, sometimes improve and sometimes degenerate by transplantation. In no instance is the truth of this observation more forcibly exemplified than in the history of Muhammedanism. It is in consequence of its conformity to existing circumstances, and of its deviation from the original spirit of its founder, that it still retains so considerable a dominion throughout the globe. In the extensive regions of Hindustan, we may observe in the turbulence of the Muselman and the apathy of the Brahmin, the preponderance of religious motives above all others which regulate the character; yet even there the disciples of Muhammed have gradually, and perhaps insensibly, adopted many of the usages of the natives. In the Turkish empire, where at the present day Muhammed retains his most zealous votaries, we shall look in vain for that fire, kindled by fanaticism, which led the Saracens to plunder and conquest. In Arabia, where Muhammed had his birth, and where his doctrines were first taught, there is a sect which strenuously denies that Islamism could ever be adapted to such a country. "The religion of Muhammed," say the Bedoweens, " could never be intended for us. We have no water in the "deserts, how then can we make our ablutions; we have no " money, how then can we give alms? The fast of Ramadan " is a useless command to persons who fast all the year round, " and if God be every where, why should we go to Mecca to " adore him?" Of its founder it may reasonably be supposed that he delivered precepts, and recommended practices, without foreseeing how far they might extend, or how far they might become useless, inconvenient, or impossible. This is a fact which the historian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman empire is willing to admit, who acknowledges that " the institutions " of the Arabian founder may be ill adapted to the wealth and " numbers of Ispahan or Constantinople."

These observations have been suggested by the work now before us, which, without assuming a form apologetic or controversial, exhibits a candid view of the origin and present state of the Muhammedan religion. In the account which its author has given of the life and character of the Arabian prophet, he may be thought to discover an inclination to the statements and opi