Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1812-09-17

,
and he finally framed, and successfully pro-
pagated, one of the grossest imposturcs that
the world ever witnessed. Ten years after
his marriage with Cadiga, he put Oh the
appearance OF extraordinary sanctity, retr-
ed every morning to a solitary cave in the
vicinity of Mecca, and continued the whole
DIV i'm prayer and meditation. In his for
teth wear, he proclaimed himselfa prophet
and the apostle OF God and four years af-
forwards, began to oppose the Plagiarism of
his countryinen, and would have fallen sa-
critice to their resentment, il he had not been
! protected by the powerful influence of his un-
Gle. Mahomet invented system of divini-
ty, which he pretended had been revealed
to him by the Deity, in visions. or through
the medium of the Angel Gra6riel. This
| system, he embodied in the Koran, work
manifestly selected from the Bible, the works
| OF the christian fathers, and such writings
and precepts as were most in vogue among
the Jews. Impostors always deal in mystic
~ and the cunning OF MIhomet has, in
| that respect, been almost an overmatch for
the prying curiosity of his enemies, whs,
knowing his ignorance of letters, were de-
termined to ascertain by whose assistance
this new prophet had been enabled to COM
pile work of so much purity of style as
the Koran. IL was at length, however, as
| Abdia Ben Salem, Persian Jew, and of
Sergins, a monk of the sect of HISTORIANS.
| The ingenuity of Mahomct, notwithstand-
| ing, furnished many curious fables for the
Koran; and he proved himself a match for
! the puzzling questions put to him by his OPP
ponents. They demanded of him mira
| Gle 4; but he cut that matter short, by al
| lodging, that God had sent Moses and Jesus
| with miracles, and yet men would not be ~
bedient to his word and that, therefore,
| he now had sent him, in the last place,
without miracles, to force them by the pow
| err of the sword to do his will And pnrsu-
ant TO this subtilty, he commanded his dis
| ciples to desist from argument and to fight
for their doctrines. On the death Of Cadi-
ga, he married three wives, and in the
twelfth year of his mission, he gave out
that he had been favored with a journey
to Heaven, attended by the Angel Gabriel.
| The incredible falsehoods which he propa-
gated on this occasion, lost him many
| friends, and he was compelled to fly from
| Mecca to Medina !; which flight is called
| Hcgira, and is the period from which the
Mahometans reckon their years. 1t takes
its beginning from the 9th ct July, A. ID.
622. He now erected his standard and
| armed his followers, and commenced eXpe-
| ditions ag inst the trading caravans be
tween Mecca and Syria, and thereby &C
CURED considerable wealth. In 624, he
made war on those Arab tribes who pro-
fesSed the Jewish religion. In the s; a
| year, he was def aicd and dangerously
| wounded, which staggered the faith Of ma
ny of his prnseiytes. He then invented the
| notion of fate, and asserted, that all Mus
| selmen who die in battle, go Immediately to
Paradise. He afterwards made a truce
with his enemis, which he subsequently
broke, got possession of Mecca, and in 631,
his religion and empire were established
throughout all Arabia. He died in that
year of poison, which had been given to
him, three years before, by an Arabian
girl in the City of Caibar. The poison
was administered on shoulder of mutton,
which Mahomet tasting, but not liking, spit
out He survived for the time, yet it final
y killed him. The girl being asked why
she did it, answered, that she had
mind to try whether he was true pro
phet for, if he was, he certainly would
know, that the meat was poisoned; and if
he was not, it would be good thing to get
rid of so wicked a tyrant" The impoStor
was buried at Medina.
The Koran contains some fine moral sen
fences but Mahomet was voluptuary,
and he made his paradise to consist in car
nal delights. Those that die believers, he
tells them are to enter into pleasant gardens,
where rivers and fountains perpetually flow,
and there be attended by beautiful women.
Whatever could excite the sensual appetites
Of the Arabians, was held ont by way OF
inducement; and whatever could inspire
horror, such as the drinking of boiling and
sinking water, the breathing exceeding hot
winds, was denounced in terror to unbe-
levers. He is thought TO have deduced his
maxims from the temperament of his own
constitution He was addicted to women,
and he, therefore, made that one of the
circumstances Of supreme felicity: Wine
did not agree with him, and hence his fol-
lowers are forbidden to use H.
PERSIA has always enjoyed a considera-
: bic name i'm history but, like other natl
{ ons, she has experienced great vcSSitudeS
= of fortune. The Persians succeeded to the
t power of the Modes and Babylonians, and
a grew in splendor till they threatened under
= Xcrxcs, (who is said to have invaded Greece
e with two millions of menu to innudatc Eu-
e rope The Greeks were avenged for thi
insult by the triumphs of Alexander the
, Great. Seiucus Nicator, one OF Alexander
= Captains, usurped, and his successors lost
= the Macedonian command over the East
T. About the same time that they resigned Z
S the Romans, the country on this side n
e | Mount Taurus, they we're driven from al
), the provinces Of Upper Asia by the Parthi
n ans. The power Of the Parthians was
+ however, in turn, subverted by Andohlr, o
Artaxerxes, the founder Of a new dynasty
a which, under the name of SassaRides, go
l. yerncd Persia till the invasion of the Arab
c This occurred a. ID. 226. ArtaxerXc
" raised the Persian monarchy to great gran
s, dcur reformed the Magian religion, an