is also the first day which God created. On this day he brought the Israelites forth from Egypt with great wonders by the hand of Moses. On this day too Jesus was born. On this day he received the name of Saviour. On this day also, he finished the work of salvation, by rising from the grave, after having suffered so many afflictions for sinners. On this day the Holy Ghost was sent down upon the Apostles. It is also said in the traditions, that the general judgment shall take place on this day. Hence it is, that Jesus has commanded this day to be kept more holy than any other. The section closes with a panegyric on the advantages arising from observing the days of the Saints and of the Holy Virgin; and stating that Islamism can boast of no such ordinances. In the sixth section of the last chapter we have a curious account of the election of the Pope, which is intended to shew, that he is the regular descendant of St. Peter, and vicar of Jesus Christ on earth; and that he is both the spiritual and temporal ruler on earth: that it is in his power to dethrone or set up kings at his pleasure, and to bind or loose both in earth and heaven.

After what has been said, a pretty good opinion may be formed of the character of Xavier's work; it may, therefore, be unnecessary to give

any more extracts. It is very evident, that the writer was a man of considerable ability and energy, and that he has spared no pains to recommend his religion to the Mohammedan or heathen reader; but, that he has trusted much more to his own ingenuity, than to the plain and unsophisticated declarations of the Holy Scriptures. His style is, upon the whole, correct, though occasionally interspersed with Europeanisms, but it never makes the most distant approach to what may be termed elegance. The book, which consists of about eight or nine hundred leaves in small folio, ends with the following words:

با تمام رسيد وانصرام انجاميد بعون عنايت ملك الوهاب مبحث این کتاب رباني ومذاکره این خطاب حقاني بهمته وتوفيقه و کمال کرمه در هزار و ششصد و نه از تولد .c& حضرت مسیح صاحب ما

"The discussions of this holy book, and the memorial of its contents were brought to a conclusion by the grace and goodness of God in the year 1609, from the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord, &c."

NOTICE OF THE REPLY TO XAVIER'S BOOK.

After finding this book in the Library of Queen's College, I had the good fortune to lay my hand on the reply which was written to it a few years after its appearance. This reply consists of about

350 pages in duodecimo, written in a very careless and incorrect manner by some European. It bears the class mark of the Public Library Ll. 6. 28-29. We are informed, in the outset, that it was written in answer to a book which had appeared written by some European priest against the mission of Mohammed, and with the view of proving that no corruption had taken place in the Gospels. The writer, who

اقل المتحاجين الي رحمة الله الملك styles himself The most mean .الغني احمد ابن زين العابدين العلوي

of those who stand in need of the mercy of a bounteous God, Ahmed Ibn Zain Elábidín Elálooi," declares his intention of refuting his opponent by proof drawn from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; the Pentateuch, and the Psalms; and then gives the title of his work, "The divine rays in refutation of Christian error." In the same page he gives the date, which he fixes in the month Moharram and the year of the Hejira 1031, which answers to the month of November, A. D. 1621.

اللوامع الربانيه في رد الشبه النصرانيه

The first argument combated by this writer is, an assertion on the part of Xavier, that Christians could not receive Mohammed because Christ had warned them of false prophets, who should here

after come and deceive many. In reply to this, the hackneyed argument of Mohammed's being the Paraclete is adduced, and the conclusion is, that the Christians disobey Christ in rejecting Mohammed. It will be unnecessary to cite particulars, as we have them over and over in the following tracts.

فرستادن فارقلیطرا از جهت تعلیم We then have نمودن او مردمانرا بانك مسیح فرزند انسانست چنانچه در زبور نیز واقعست و بعد ازین مذکور خواهد گردید

That God sent the Paraclete in order to teach men, that the Messiah was the Son of Man, as it also occurs in the Psalms, and will be cited hereafter.*

Our Author proceeds, "We have no difficulty in allowing, that false prophets appeared after the time of the Messiah, without affecting the reality

میگویم که بعضي مردمان دروغ of Mohammed's claim آمده دعوي نبوت نموده اند مانند كوي بعد از مسیح مسیلمہ کذاب وغير ان وبعضي از مردمان گمراه کردند با خود بجهنم بردند و در مقابل بعضي از سور قرآن مجيد فارقلیط که در اقتصای مراتب بلاغت وفصاحت بعضي از عبارات دکیکه مانند الفيل ما الفيل وما ادريك ما الفيل له ذنب وثيل وخرطوم طويل وغير این آورده اند

* The passage pointed out at page 331, of the controversies.

'I affirm, that many liars came after the Messiah, and made a claim to prophecy, such as Moseilema the false and others, who turned many out of the true way, and carried them to hell in their company. In opposition to several chapters of the glorious Koran of the Paraclete too, elegant as it is in the extreme, they produced certain weak compositions, as (Moseilema)' "The elephant, what is the elephant? Why should I tell thee what the elephant is? he has a flaccid tail and a long trunk."*

وانچه در فصل چهل (و) دویم : The Author adds انجيل مرقس و نهاد و هشتم هشتاد و هفتم متي وهفتاد و پنجم لوقا ودر بعضي از فصول انجيل يوحنا واقعست که مسیح بعد از سوال نمودن بعضي از شاکردانش مانند بطرس ويعقوب ويوحنا واندراوس از کیفیت حال در جواب ایشان فرمود که نظر نمایید که بسیار آیندگان بوده باشند که دعوي مسيح بودن نموده جمیع را کمراه نمایند پس باید که اخبار جنك وحرب نموده مضطرب As to ، نکردید منافات با نبوت محمد صلي ندارد .

to the 42nd section of St. Mark's Gospel, (chap. xiii. 3, &c.) the 98th (87th) of Matthew (chap. xxvi. 17.), the 75th of Luke (chap xxi. 7.), some

* This passage is also given in the 32nd page of Aga Ali Acber's book, which will be noticed hereafter.