Koran, or bible of the Mahometans. When his adversaries demanded of him the performance of a miracle, to shew that he was not an impostor, he was at a loss to give a satisfactory answer; but at length he invented this excuse, that Moses and Jesus had been invested with the power of working miracles, but that to him was given the sword, and therefore his religion must be promulgated by force. In the composition of his Koran, he was assisted by a Persian jew named Abdiah Ben Salem, and a Christian monk of the sect of Nestorians, named Serjius. In the 8th year of his mission his followers became so numerous as to excite alarm among the heads of the city, and a decree was issued to prohibit any one from joining him. On the death of Cadiga he married three wives, and in the 12th year of his mission, he asserted that he had been favoured with a journey to heaven, attended by the angel Gabriel. He related all the particulars of this extravagant fiction, which was hardly believed by the most credulous, and many of his disciples deserted him on that account. Thinking it imprudent to continue any longer at Mecca, he fled to Medina, where he gained a great number of disciples. From this flight of Mahomet, the Hegira is dated, a word which, in the Arabic language, signifies flight. It takes its commencement from the 16th of July, A. D. 622. The impostor now erected his standard, and armed his followers. To reconcile the minds of the cowardly, and add vigour to the brave, he invented his doctrine of fate and destiny; telling them, that those who were slain in battle,

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battle, though they had remained in their houses, must nevertheless have died at that moment, the time of every man's life being predetermined by God; and that those who died fighting for the faith, gained the advantage of dying martyrs for their religion, and immediately entered into paradise as the reward of it. His first expeditions were against the trading Caravans, in their journies between Mecca and Syria; and in those plundering excursions he acquired great riches. In 624, he made war against such of the Arab tribes as professed the Jewish religion, but he was defeated and dangerously wounded; a circumstance which staggered the faith of many of his disciples. After feveral engagements, a truce was agreed on between Mahomet and the hostile tribes, for ten years; the conditions of which were, that all persons in Mecca, who were of his party, should have liberty to join him, and those who chose to leave him, might return to Mecca. This truce established his power; in consequence of which, he assumed all the state of sovereignty, to which he added the character of chief pontiff of his religion. In 628, he marched against Caibar, a city inhabited by Jewish Arabs, which he subdued. Here he took up his abode at the house of Hareth, one of the principal inhabitants, whose daughter had poisoned a shoulder of mutton preparing for his dinner. Bashar, one of his companions, eating too freely of it, died upon the spot; but Mahomet, not liking the taste, swallowed but little of it, yet what he did swallow had a powerful effect, and he died in consequence

consequence of it three years after. The young woman being asked why she was guilty of such an act, said, she was determined to try whether" he was a true prophet; for, if he was, he certainly would know whether the meat was poisoned; and, if he was not, it would be a good thing to get rid of a wicked tyrant." Soon after this event, he broke the truce, and conquered Mecca; so that, in 631, his empire and religion were established through all Arabia. He died in that year, of the effects of the poison he had taken at Caibar, and was buried at Medina, where his tomb is still preserved. The story of his being suspended in the air between loadstones, is fabulous. His two predominant passions were ambition and lust. After Cadiga's death he had several wives and concubines. Ayesha, one of his wives, survived him 48 years, and was regarded as a prophetess. Of the six children which he had by Cadiga, only his daughter Fatima survived him, who became the wife of Ali his successor.

MARVEL, (ANDREW) an ingenious political writer and poet, was the son of a clergyman at Hull, in Yorkshire, where he was born in 1620. At the age of thirteen, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge; in 1657, he became assistant to Milton, and afterwards Latin secretary to Cromwell. About the time of the Restoration he was chosen member of parliament for his native place, and was a fine example of genuine English patriotism. He distinguished himself by his integrity as a senator, and by his wit as a writer against the corruptions of the court. Charles II. delighted

delighted much in his conversation, and endeavoured, but in vain, to bring him over from the patriotic party. The king having one night entertained him, he dispatched Lord Treasurer Danby, the next day, to try if he could find him out in his obscure abode; who after much enquiry, was directed to his lodgings, which were then up two pair of stairs in a narrow court in the Strand. The Earl having found him, informed him that he waited on him with a message from his majesty, to know what he could do to serve him? Marvel replied, “That it was not in the king's power to serve him." On a further investigation of the business, Lord Danby said, "His majesty entertained the highest idea of his merit, and wished to know whether there was any place at court that would be acceptable to him?” « My Lord," said the incorruptible senator, "I cannot with honour accept the offer; if I do, I must either be ungrateful to the king in voting against him, or false to my country in siding with the measures of the court." The earl, perceiving that none of his arguments were impressive on the upright patriot, told him, "That the king had ordered him a 1000l. which he hoped he would accept, till he could think of something farther to ask of his majesty." The last offer was as resolutely rejected as the first; though, soon after his lordship had, departed, he was obliged to borrow a guinea of a friend. This excellent man died in 1678. His political works were collected and published in 1726, in two vols.

12mo.

12mo, and all his works, including his poems, have been since printed in three vols. 4to. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, famous for her beauty, accomplishments, and misfortunes, was the daughter of James V. king of Scotland. On the death of her father, which happened eight days after her birth, she succeeded him on the throne. At the age of six years she was conveyed to France, where she was extremely well educated; and in 1558, married Francis, Dauphin, and afterwards king of France. This monarch dying in 1560, Mary returned to Scotland, and married her cousin Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who was at the same time proclaimed king. By him she had a son, who was afterwards James I. of England. Mary excluded Lord Darnley from any share in the government, by the advice, it is said, of Rizzio, an Italian musician, her favourite and secretary. Suspicions of an improper intimacy between the queen and her secretary having been raised, the king, accompanied by several of the nobility, suddenly surprized them together, and Rizzio was slain in the queen's presence, in 1566. In 1567, her husband was murdered, by the management of the earl of Murray, the queen's illegitimate brother; and shortly after she married the Earl of Bothwell, a man of dissipated character, who was in reality the murderer of Darnely, perhaps with the connivance of the queen. This marriage proved the source of all Mary's troubles. This conduct occasioned the revolt of the chief nobility, and her best subjects, by whom she was taken prisoner and compelled to resign the

crown