19

THE MOHAMMEDAN CONTROVERSY

spirit, might tend to loosen the hold which such evidence has upon the Mohammedans, of whom the more intelligent are not slow in acknowledging the futility of hearsay, or the insufficiency of interested evidence.1

Besides the text of Dr. Lee's work, thus briefly reviewed, there. is a great deal of valuable matter in the appendices; especially extracts from Aga Akbar's tract2 on Mohammed's miracles, to which are added notes on the prophecies of the Coran, and an important disquisition tracing Mohammed's scriptural knowledge to Syria, and many of his stories to Ephrem the Syrian. We should like to see this book in the hands of every missionary; in its present shape, indeed, it is bulky, and in some parts tedious; but if the preface and Mirza Ruza's tract were curtailed, the remainder might be printed in a cheap form fit for general circulation.3 The portions which regard the Shiea doctrines would not, however, be so generally applicable here as in Persia; for, excepting in Oudh, the Indian believers as a rule belong to the Sunni faith.

1 [Such a work, however, is hardly necessary, as the disavowal of miracles in the Coran itself is sufficiently plain and decided.]
2 At p. 109, this writer makes a very candid confession. In justifying Mohammed's religious wars, he says that his Prophet" was sent in mercy to mankind; but had he not put some to death, seized upon their property, and carried away the rest captives, the whole world must have remained in infidelity and discord, so that the light which he came to bestow would have fallen upon none. The Arabs, therefore, would have remained idolaters, —the Persians have rested in their doctrines or principles, . . . the Hindoos have continued to worship cows and trees, —the Jews to continue obstinate, —and the Christians to dispute on the genealogies of persons who neither were nor are Father and Son."
From Martyr's memoir, however, as well as from the extracts given by Dr. Lee, it world appear that Aga Akbar was but a poor defender of the faith, and that he was advised by his brethren not to bring forward his discreditable production.
3 We have heard that an Urdoo translation of Dr. Lee's tract was published by the American missionaries at Ludhiana; but it has not been circulated, nor had the American missionaries at another station (from whom we procured the information) ever seen it. At p. exxiii. Dr. Lee promises a Persian translation of his tract. It is not known whether this ever appeared. It world be highly prized in India.