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rable place of residence; the society I understand is pleasant and not difficult of access. The scenery, in the immediate neighbourhood, appeared to me less striking than that either of Laussanne, Thun, Schwytz, Berne, or Altorf; but the views from various points in the vicinity of the range of Mont Blanc, the Lake of Geneva, and the Jura Alps, are quite magnificent. We left it somewhat mournfully on the afternoon of the 17th of October.

One of the most sublime sights which I have witnessed during my tour, was the view of Mont Blanc, and the mountains about Chamounix, from the top of the pass of Jura, during a fine sunset. It was the last scene which I saw in Switzerland, and on that account may have made a deeper and more lasting impression; for, in a few minutes afterwards, we drove between high and impending rocks, and ere long commenced our descent into the lower provinces of France. I was never before sufficiently impressed with a proper idea of the vast height of Mont Blanc and its august companions. The pass alluded to cannot be less distant than eighty miles, yet the snowy range appeared so etherially clear and distinct, and so far above the surrounding hills, that I had at times some difficulty in convincing myself that it was not composed of fleecy clouds which might be dispersed by every breeze, but of solid earth incrusted with the ice of

many centuries. What rendered the view just mentioned in one respect finer than any thing I had ever seen, was, that the sun's rays fell upon the snow in such a manner as to make it assume in many places a pale and beautiful rose colour. The tint varied at different times; and behind each peak of snow the long shadows of the evening were distinctly visible, and afforded a fine contrast to the sunny glow of the western side. From the same point too, we had an extensive view of the lake, with its calm and glassy surface reflecting the vine-clad shores, and the distant Alps; of the town of Geneva and the lower valley of the Rhone, with the junction of that river and the Arve, as well as of the rich meadow-ground which lay between, with the house of Voltaire at Ferney, and many villas. The sun at last was set, and the shades of night descended rapidly. Already the vallies were buried in mist and gloom. The summits of the secondary hills were lost, and nought remained but the highest peak of Mont Blanc, which shone in the dim twilight almost like a star

Like war's wild planet in a summer sky.

At last the king of mountains hid his majestic top, and darkness was upon the face of the earth. "Vale augusta sedes, rege digna: Augusta rupes, semper mihi memoranda!"

ACCOUNT

OF

A DISPUTATION BETWEEN A CHRISTIAN MONK,

AND

THREE LEARNED MOHAMMEDANS,

ON THE SUBJECT OF RELIGION.

[Translated from the Arabic.]

MR EDITOR,-The subject of the annexed translation will, I presume, render it not undeserving of a place in your Register. It occurred to me, that the Disputation, of which I now send you a version, contained a considerable share of ingenious argument, and exhibited a tolerably clear notion of the mode of reasoning, which the Christians of the East made use of against the Mohammedans; besides, it appeared to contain every internal mark of authenticity, the circumstances of place and time being expressly mentioned, and likewise had the evidence of probability in its favour, it being well known, that learned Mohammedans have frequently challenged Christians to a public disputation. For these reasons I resolved to translate it, hoping that it might gain publicity through the medium of your Register. The Arabic text is contained in two MSS. of the Bodleian Library, one marked Marsh. 581, and the other Marsh. 512. The first of these belonged once to the learned Golius, the traces of whose pencil are observed in every page, as is the case with most MSS. I have seen, that belonged to that profound and indefatigable scholar. The first is most elegantly written, the second most execrably. In making the translation, which has been done currente calamo, I have not been solicitous to give the sense at all times with verbal accuracy, but I hope I have not failed to express the substance. If I have mistaken the sense of any part, that must be attributed to the shortness of the time I could bestow upon it, and will be more excuseable on account of another circumstance; for those who know the Bodleian Library, will pardon any want of attention or strict accuracy in one who studies in that refrigerating uns large in the chilling month of December.

to be, &c.

1

Bodleian Library, Oxford, Dec. 7, 1818.

I have the honour
ALEX. NICOLL.

THIS disputation was held in presence of the prince, surnamed Melek Almoshammar, during the reign of

Melek Al-Dhaher Gazi Ben Yusef Ibn Aioub, of the family of Salah, * over the nation of Islam, in the city of

Melek Al-Dhaher Gaiatheddin Ghazi, son of Saladin, usurped, in the year of the Hegira 589, of Christ 1193, the government of Aleppo, of which he was already governor, of Harenc, Tell-basher, and other places, after the death of his father. He died in the year of the Hegira 613, of Christ 1216, at the age of 45 years.

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Aleppo, who was likewise lord of Antioch, and during the reign of Leo * the son of Stephen, king of the Armenians, in the 10th Indiction, which corresponds with the year of our father Adam, upon whom be peace, 6615. It is a circumstance well known, that the abbot of the monas tery of Simeon Albahri‡ presented himself once before the sultan, the lord of Aleppo and the adjacent country, for the purpose of settling some business with him relating to that monastery. When he came into the presence of the sultan, together with the monks who accompanied him, the sultan received them in the most friendly manner, and gave orders that their business should immediately be settled, and requested them to sit down, in the meantime, in his brother's pavilion. Among the monks who accompanied the abbot, was a venerable personage, far advanced in years, of supereminent wisdom, and most profound knowledge, whose hoary locks attracted the respect of all, and whose manners were so courteous and agreeable, that the eyes of all men were fixed upon him by a kind of charm. This man had been an inmate of the monastery from his early youth, and had rendered himself remarkable for his exemplary practice of all those virtues, which peculiarly adorn, and are required in the monas tic life; he had also been abbot of the monastery for a considerable number of years, until old age obliged him to resign that office. His name was Father George. As soon as he was pre

sented to the prince, the brother of Melek Almoshammar, that prince treated him in the most honourable and respectful manner, and had such pleasure in looking upon him, that he could scarcely withdraw his eyes from him; he then made him come near to himself, and sit down by him. When the abbot went back to the sultan, in order to settle his business finally, the prince took the old man by the hand, and began to converse with him, and to ask him concerning the monastery and the monks, concerning their mode of life, their conduct, and occupations. We shall here, then, commemorate some of the questions proposed to him by the prince.

Prince. O monk, do you eat flesh?
Old Man. No; in general we do

not.

Prince. Have you any intercourse with women?

Old Man. No; we fly from them, and never approach them.

Prince. But wherefore? surely the supreme God created man male and female; and surely he did not forbid the eating of flesh.

Old Man. We do not forbid marriage, nor the eating of flesh. But it is our study to aim at the attainment of a life resembling the divine, and immaterial, and we endeavour to approach as nearly as possible to the pure immaterial essence of God, by the spi ritualization of the body. Iron, in proportion as it is brought near the fire, and is united to it by fusion, in the same proportion loses its dross and grosser

* About the year of Christ 1189, Livon or Leo, son of Stephen, assumed the government of Armenia, as guardian of the two sons of the preceding king Rupin. He died in the year 1219.

+ In MS. Marsh 512, the year of the world is said to be 6725, which, according to the Constantinopolitan æra of the world, corresponds with the year of Christ 1217. The year 6615 corresponds with that of Christ 1123. The first of these dates, therefore, appears to be the true one, namely A. D. 1217.

Al-Bahri means that which has any relation to the sea. I find the monastery of Simeon Al-Bahri mentioned by Assemani, in the fourth volume of his Catalogue of the MSS. of the Vatican, p. 96.

parts; and according as water is pure and transparent, so is the light of the sun diffused through it; and you see that transparent bodies, in proportion to the fineness of their texture and transparency, admit the rays of the light to pass through them. But you likewise know, that the clouds ascending from the earth darken the sun, and obstruct his light; and, in like manner, O prince, the rational intellect, which contains part of the divine essence, is darkened by a life of sin and effeminacy; and according to the degree of that darkness, we are removed from God; and according to our removal from God, we are enthralled by the pleasures of the body, and the love of the present life. We are not prohibited from the eating of flesh and intercourse with women only, but from all the pleasures of the body, and from all those things which are sources of pleasure to the five senses. Upon this ground, we hope for our portion of happiness with God in his paradise and everlasting kingdom; for Christ told us, "that we should not receive joy and gladness in the world to come, unless we endured sorrow and misery in this transitory world." On this account, we suffer misery in this perishable and fleeting world, in order that we may receive peace in the world which is imperishable and everlasting. Prince. Your words, O monk, indicate what is right, and the genuine truth. But surely God hath graciously bestowed upon us all things, and allowed us the proper enjoyment of them?

Old Man. Yes; but your prophet, on the other hand, has given you a slack and easy rein, who has allowed you the unrestrained enjoyment of pleasures, and has promised you after this life a paradise, in which you will enjoy every kind of sensual pleasure, according to his words, "I will give you a river of milk, and a river of ho

ney, and a river of wine, and blackeyed nymphs."

When the prince and the monk had proceeded thus far in their conversation, three learned moslims, whose robes exhaled the perfume of musk, arrived, and made the due salutations and invocations of felicity to them. The prince embraced them, returned their salutations, and made room for them to sit down These, immediately regarding the monk with attention, began to address the prince in the Turkish language, and asked him whence the monk came, and what was the cause of his coming into his presence. The prince replied, he belongs to the monastery of Simeon, and came to us on account of some business relating to the monastery, to be settled by the sultan my brother, whom may God glorify. What think you, added the prince, of his person and appearance? One of them, then, whose name was Abu-Dhaher of Bagdad, said, As my life is devoted to you, O prince, every thing in him is pleasing and becoming, and his countenance is agreeable. What a pity it is that he is a Christian Al-Moslim said. As our Lord commands. He then would have commenced a conversation with him on the subject of religion.

Prince. Are you then resolved to dispute with him on the subject of religion? Then the one began to regard the other; and at length one of them, who was called Abu-Salamé Ibn Saad of Mosul, advanced forward, and thus addressed the monk: "We reverence your Messiah, and we glorify his power, and we exalt his dignity above that of all prophets, excepting Mohammed, the prophet and apostle of God. But you Christians lower his dignity, and do not attribute to him the honour due to him, although the most high God honoured and dignified him, and sent down to him the Koran, as a light, and guidance, and mercy from the

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Lord of worlds. And you Christians deny that he is the prophet of God; for which he will certainly bring you to account in the day of the resurrection and judgment.

Old Man. Know, Abu-Salamé, that every place has its meet language, and every question its proper answer. We did not come into your country for the purpose of entering into an argument about religion. We came in the character of supplicants; it would not, therefore, be proper for us to say any thing to you, except that which would be agreeable to you, and would be well received. Besides, I know that vehemence is common among you, and a custom in which you glory, as one of your own writers has testified.

*

Abu-Salamé. We are respecters of faith and equity, and there is no one here, who will say any thing to you, which is not consistent with propriety, if you yourself do not advance any falsehood instead of the truth. The prince then turned round towards the monk, and said to him, "O monk, I am a believer in the Christianity professed by the Greeks, and you may answer what you please without fear." He then took a seal-ring from his finger, and put it upon that of the monk. Old Man. O Abu-Salamé, I shall not advance any falsehood instead of the truth, although the perversity of your nature may incline you to think what is true is false. With regard to your objection, that we do not honour Mohammed, nor admit that he is the apostle of the Most High, or a prophet, I shall give you a clear explanation and demonstration on this point.

Abu-Salamé, Yes; do so, if you are able; but no doubt you can, after due consideration.

Old Man. The truth shall be mani

fest, and deceit discovered. Do not you allow that God is the Creator of all created things?

Abu-Salamé. Yes; God created every thing in heaven and in earth, by his word and command.

Old Man. Is there any world created by any other God?

Abu-Salamé. No; the universe was created by one God, the same whom we serve, and beside whom there is no God.

Old Man. Do you think that God wishes the salvation of the whole world, or only of a particular nation out of his whole creation, and gives to destruction all others? or, do you not allow, that God is self-sufficient and beneficent? If you say that God does not wish the salvation of the whole world, then you reduce the supreme Creator to a character of poverty and parsimony, and make him like a certain man, who prepared a feast for a hundred men, and when another hundred came, he said, Go away, I have no food for you ;-a sufficient indication of his poverty and parsimony.

Abu-Salamé. God is certainly not as you describe, and I admit and confess, that he is self-sufficient, beneficent and kind, the Creator of all created beings, and is desirous of their salvation.

Old Man. If God wished the preservation of the whole world, Mahommed would necessarily have been sent as his apostle to the whole world. It is, moreover, necessary, that he who declared his own mission, and said that he was the apostle of God, should have had with him some apostolic power, and some convincing proof, testifying that he was the apostle of God.

Abu-Salamé. What power and what proof?

The prince calls himself a son of Christianity, by which he must mean that he either had openly embraced it, or was secretly attached to its cause. The word, which is translated Greeks, may be understood as including the Romans, or Europeans, or in general all those who inhabited the country called by the Arabians Al-Roum.

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