have four wives, and concubines without restriction; but he reserved to himself the liberty of marrying as often as he pleased, and he is said to have had at least fifteen wives, and ten of them together. He exhorted people to take up arms for religion, promising a paradise of all the sensual pleasures to those who should die fighting in that cause. To make war

against unbelievers he declared to be of high merit before God. He taught predestination, affirming that every man's fate was absolutely decreed; and that the term of every man's life was fixed by God, not to be shortened by any accidents, or prolonged by any means whatever.

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These and other impious tenets, which he pretended to have received from the angel Gabriel, he procured a person to pen down, as he could neither read nor write; and the book he called Alcoran." When seized with epileptic fits, to which he was subject, he was then visited, as he divulged, by the angel Gabriel; whose appearance being more than he could bear, occasioned him to fall into those trances and convulsions. Such was his imposture. His doctrine met with much opposition from some of his countrymen of Mecca. They called him a madman, an impostor, and said he was possessed by the devil. But his partisans increasing daily, the magistrates of the town began to be alarmed, and suspecting he had a design upon the government, they resolved to take away his life. Mahomet, having intimation of their design, fled to Medina. This retreat, which happened in the year 622, gives date to the Mahometan æra, called Hegira, or "the flight." At Medina he was joined by new proselytes, chiefly thieves and fugitive slaves, who the more freely flocked to him on account of the latitude he allowed them in indulging their sensual desires. Having formed a small body, he set himself at the head of them, as their chief and legislator. He told them he was not sent to do miracles, but to propagate religion by the power of the sword. He first attacked the caravans, that travelled through the country for trade; and meeting with success, he enriched his followers, and enlarged his projects. His little army being soon increased, he proceeded against the town of Mecca, took it, and put his principal opponents to death. He then subdued one tribe of people after another, carrying the sword of destruction through the country, and forcing the people to submit to him, and to receive his religion, or pay him an annual tribute. His progress was such, that he was master of almost all Arabia, when he died in 631. His followers were called "Saracens,"

or

"Mussulmans." From his actions and his maxims, one may conclude, that ambition, lust, and cruelty, were the characteristics of this famous impostor.

Abubeker, one of Mahomet's first adherents, succeeded him in command, and taking the name of caliph or lieutenant, carried on his late master's conquest over other Arabian nations. Amron, one of his generals, having advanced into the territory of Gaza, and laid siege to that town, the governor asked him the reason of such an act of hostility. Amron answered, “We come by the order of our prince to propose to you the acceptance of our religion. If you choose to embrace it, we shall be brethren if not, pay us tribute, and you shall be our allies. But if you agree to neither, the sword must decide, and we shall wage war against you, to execute the order of God."

Abubeker dying in 634, was succeeded by Omar. This caliph completed the conquest of the rest of Arabia. Then he invaded Syria, where he defeated the imperial army commanded by Theodorus, brother to Heraclius, emperor of Constantinople. Heraclius fearing the success of the Arabian's arms, quitted Syria, and went to Jerusalem, from whence he removed the holy Cross, with other valuable things to Constantinople. His brother hazarded a second battle, which he lost, and the Saracens became masters of Damascus, and afterwards of the country of Phoenicia. The caliph then divided his army; one part of which he sent against Egypt, which they subdued and dismembered from the eastern Roman empire, of which it had been a considerable province, ever since Augustus's days. In the mean time, Omar himself took the route of Jerusalem, which he resolved to besiege; and unfortunately the Emperor Heraclius had not in those parts sufficient forces to oppose him. About this time St. Sopronius, bishop and patriarch of Jerusalem, in a letter to Sergius, patriarch of Constantinople, wrote: Pray for the emperors, (Heraclius and his son,) that God may make them victorious over all the barbarians: but especially that he may be pleased to humble the pride of the Saracens, who on account of our sins have suddenly broke in upon us, and ravage all the country with terrible cruelty and impious arrogance."

Jerusalem, after maintaining a siege of two years, surrendered to Omar in 636, upon condition, that the inhabitants should remain in the peaceable possession of their fortunes and liberty, and the free exercise of the Christian religion. However, some time after, this caliph ordered a mosque to be built on the very spot where had stood the temple of Solo

mon. From Jerusalem Omar marched to Antioch, capital of Syria, which for want of forces and provisions was forced to surrender. This conquest made him soon master of all Syria. And thus the Roman empire was divested of another province, which it had been in possession of for 700 years. In 639 the Saracens crossed the Euphrates, and over-ran Mesopotamia. From thence they advanced into Persia, defeated Isdegerdes the king, drove him out of his dominions, and seized upon the Persian empire. This caliph's progress was such, that he also subdued the greatest part of Armenia, with some other neighbouring countries. But in the midst of all this success he was assassinated in 643.

Othman, of the race of Mahomet, was chosen Omar's successor. He carried on the conquests; took Cyprus, Rhodes, and other islands in the Mediterranean sea. His generals in Africa defeated Gregory, the imperial commander in those parts, and extended their conquest all along the coasts on the Mediterranean sea to the straits of Gibraltar. Othman was murdered by his own rebellious subjects after twelve years reign, in 655. At this chief's death, the Saracen empire comprehended all Arabia, Persia, Corasan, Diarbeck or Mesopotamia, Irac or Chaldæa, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Egypt, with extensive countries in Africa.

Such was the amazing growth of the Mahometan power within the space of 33 years. This rapid progress of a people sprung from so mean and obscure an origin astonished mankind, as few examples of the like could be discovered in the annals of the world; nor even could be compared with it, the singular success of the first daring invincible Romans. In this manner was exerted the power of the sword in the destruction of mankind, and in propagating an impious doctrine and rooting out Christianity.

After such a course of extraordinary success, the Arabs or Saracens, instead of sitting down to enjoy their acquisitions, were animated to attempt new conquests. In 662 they invaded several other territories of the Constantinopolitan or eastern Roman empire, which if they did not reduce under their power, they at least brought from them a great number of captives, and laid waste the country. In 712 and 713, they passed from Africa into Spain, of which they conquered a considerable part, giving a sad specimen of their cruelty; for they burned the young people and the children, and spread terror over all the country. Here they made settlements, and were called Moors," because they came from Mauritania in Africa. We

shall pass over their incursions into France and Italy, and the barbarities they there committed.

By so many conquests this new empire grew at last to such a bulk, that it became too unwieldly in the hands of one ruler. This did not escape the observation of the governors, who had been appointed by the caliph over the different provinces with large corps of troops under their command. Sensible at the same time of their own strength, and ambitious to be themselves masters, they renounced their subjection to the Arabian caliph, and set up their own authority. These rebellions gave rise to civil wars, which divided the empire into a number of independent principalities. But notwithstanding the Mahometan power was thus weakened, the several princes still retained the same ambition to enlarge their dominions. In that view, about the beginning of the eleventh century, some of them carried their arms into the vast country of Indostan, and reduced a great part of it.

Afterwards others of these princes or sultans, as they were then called, made farther irruptions into the Asiatic provinces of the Greek or Constantinopolitan empire, where they obtained new acquisitions. They were aided in these conquests by different tribes of Tartars, or Turks, that came to them from the northern countries above the Caspian sea, and quitting idolatry embraced Mahometanism. Aladin, sultan of Iconium in lesser Asia, had in particular received such considerable services from a tribe of these Tartars under the command of Othman, that he made this chief his lieutenant general. Upon Aladin's death, Othman obtained the sovereignty of his country, and thus laid the foundation of the Turkish monarchy at Iconium, about the year 1300. From him is the imperial Turkish family called Othman or Ottoman. He conquered a great part of Cappadocia and Bythinia, in which last province he fixed his residence at the town of Prusa, which remained the imperial seat, till the Turks transferred it to Adrianople in 1404, and afterwards to Constantinople in 1453. Othman died in 1326.

The succeeding Turkish sultans inherited the warlike spirit of Othman their founder, and quarrelling with the Saracen princes, took from them in process of time many countries, which they hold at this day. They likewise continued their conquests upon the Greeks, that is, upon the eastern Roman empire, and attempted even Constantinople itself, the emperor's seat, several times, but were repulsed or bought off by concessions. At last Mahomet II. resolved to reduce that city,

laid siege to it in 1453, with a land army of 300,000 men, and above a hundred galleys, with 130 other smaller vessels. The garrison consisted of no more than five thousand Greeks and two thousand strangers, the command of which Constantine Palæologus the emperor gave to Justinian, an experienced Genoese officer. Nothing was omitted by the emperor, to put the place in a good posture of defence. The city-wall being double and very strong, Mahomet prepared an artillery of fourteen batteries, procured some pieces of cannon of a prodigious size, that shot stone bullets of two hundred pounds.* These pieces had been cast by a Hungarian founder, a Christian, who having offered his services to Constantine, and met with little encouragement, went over to the sultan. These horrible engines of destruction were fired night and day, and carried with them such force, that they soon made large breaches in the wall. Under such extraordinary difficulties, the besieged, however, made a vigorous defence, repaired as much as possible the breaches, and made successful sallies, in which they killed many Turks, and burned some of their works.

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Mahomet, finding that his fleet was hindered from approaching the town by a great chain that crossed the entrance of the port, and which was defended by ships posted there for the purpose, is said to have practised an incredible expedient suggested by a renegado Christian, of conveying seventy of his ships, by means of engines, over the land for the space of eight miles into the haven. On another hand, to encourage his men, he promised them they should share among themselves the whole plunder of Constantinople, and that he who first mounted the wall, should be entitled to the government of the town. He told them there had appeared a stream of light over the city three nights together, which was a certain presage, that God had now withdrawn his protection from it. These promises and speeches animated surprisingly his troops, and he resolved upon a general assault. The emperor, who had intimation of the sultan's design, resolved on his side to make the most vigorous opposition and harangued so pathetically his officers and men, that they all seemed ready to second his intention.

The dispositions being made for the attack, on the 29th of May, early in the morning, the general assault began, both by

* See the Greek historians, Phranzes and Chalcondylas; of whom Phranzes was master of the wardrobe to the emperor, and in the town during the siege.