ART. I. Mahometanism Unveiled: an Inquiry, in which that Arch- heresy, its Diffusion and Continuance, are examined on a new principle, tending to confirm the Evidences, and II. Recently discovered Monuments of Nubia, on the Banks of the Nile, from the first to the second Cataracts. Drawn and measured in the year 1819, and published in Continuation of the great French work on Egypt. III. The Life of John Locke, with Extracts from his Correspon- dence, Journals, and Common-place Books. By Lord IV. The Brunswick; a Poen. In Three Cantos V. 1. Bishop Gauden, the Author of Icôn Baselike; in Answer to some Remarks of the Rev. Dr. Wordsworth, upon a publication of the present Writers, addressed to the late Archbishop of Canterbury, concerning the authorship of the Icon. By the Rev. Henry John Todd, M.A., &c. Chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty, and Rector of Hethering, in the county of York. 2. Faith and Justification: two Discourses by the most Rev. Doctor John Sharp, formerly Lord Archbishop of York; and the late Owen Manning, B.D., Prebendary of Lincoln; with a Preface, noticing Objections by the present Archdeacon of Ely to a public Declaration of these Doctrines, at the beginning of the Reformation in England; and with an Appendix from the Writings of ART. PAGE VI. Idées Nouvelles sur le Systéme Solaire. Par M. Le Che- 2. Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine, in 1824, VIII. Lectures on the Elements of Hieroglyphics and Egyptian Antiquities. By the Marquis Spineto 521 529 550 IX. The Life and Times of Francis the First, King of France. 565 X. Geschichte des teutschen Volkes. Von Heinrich Luden. 2er, 3er, und 4er band 1825—1828 XI. 1. Library of Useful Knowledge, No. 50; Life of Sir Isaac Newton 2. Biographie Universelle, Vol. XXXI.; Art. Newton XII. Hints for the Examination of Medical Witnesses. By John Gordon Smith, M.D., M.R.S.L., Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of London XIII. Des Etablissemens pour l' Education Publique en Bavière, dans le Wurtemberg, et dans le pays de Bade, et Remarques sur les ameliorations a introduire dans ces etablissemens pour les faire adopter en France, en Angleterre, et autres Pays. Par J. C. Loudon, Membre de la Société pour l'Enseignement Elémentaire à Paris XIV. The Elements of the Hebrew Language. By Hyman Hurwitz. Author of Vindicia Hebraicæ, Hebrew Tales, XV. Tales of a Physician. By W. H. Harrison Literary and Miscellaneous Intelligence Monthly List of Recent Publications 575 584 598 604 611 612 613 REVIEW. THE MONTHLY AUGUST, 1829. ART. I. Mahometanism Unveiled: an Inquiry, in which that Archheresy, its Diffusion and Continuance, are examined on a new principle, tending to confirm the Evidences, and aid the Propagation of the Christian Faith. By the Rev. Charles Forster, B.D. &c. &c. 2 vols. 8vo. London: Duncan. 1829. * THE time is yet to come when the philosophy of history shall have comprised in its view the proper boundaries of the science. Hitherto its most successful cultivators have contented themselves with the discovery of practical and less general truths. Able calculations have been made on the probable advancement of civilization, and on the circumstances upon which it has been already established. By a further step, some tolerably correct notions have been formed respecting the best sources of social happiness, the means by which communities are most likely to arrive at a state of comparative security, and convert their adventitious advantages into a permanent good. But the philosophy of history, properly regarded, embraces something more. Valuable as are the truths above alluded to, there is a species still more valuable, and of a higher order. Political science may be carried to great perfection, without advancing our knowledge of the principles by which mankind, in the aggregate, are to be rendered enlightened, or their moral situation improved. We must, therefore, examine the annals of the world, under another point of view, before the real philosophy of history can be fully understood. The objects which attract the attention in the records of particular states, are to obtain only a relative consideration, and instead of confining our interest to the fortunes of a people, we must extend it to the past and present condition of the world at large, as prefiguring the final destinies of our race. Following the track of history under the guidance of these wider views, it will be found not only that narratives hitherto solely valued for their political importance, have another application, but that many events, and many passages in history, considered as of less general interest, have an important reference to the course of human affairs. Men, whom politicians have been accustomed to despise as enthusiasts, or to weigh in the balance of practical wisdom, and find nothing in their lives and character worthy of marvel, will then appear in a new light. The rise and destruction of factions, will be traced to causes more deeply founded in the heart of the human universe; and religions, both false and true, will be regarded as embracing in their establishment the most powerful of the circumstances which first convulse, and afterwards fix, as in an iron mould, the character of our race. Mahometanism, and its founder, well deserve to be considered under the strongest light of historical philosophy. The progress of the one defies the methods of ordinary calculation; the character of the other, where it is not mysterious itself, throws a greater mystery into the establishment of the religion. In proportion as we regard Mahomet simply as a man, Mahometanism is more wonderful in its rise and continuance; and contrary wise, as the faith which he preached is considered only as a system of weak deceptions, the character of the man who could affect so much by such means, becomes more wonderful. But historians are usually too accustomed to confine their inquiries to the particulars immediately before them, to examine such subjects, as the establishment and spread of Mahometanism, in the manner they deserve: generally speaking, the writers who treat on religion are too confined in their views, to be philosophical as well as pious; and those who treat on politics, neglect whatever is not of present value. Hence it has happened that Mahomet, as well as his followers, has, on the one side, been regarded simply as an idolater; and on the other, merely as an extraordinary captain, supported in his conquests by enthusiastic followers; both parties losing sight of what is most deserving of consideration-the mysterious disposition of things by which Mahometanism must have been established, and the equally mysterious connection which it has since had with the progress of human affairs towards their consummation. But avoiding the opposite errors of the unreasoning pietist, and still blinder utilitarian, we shall find in the history of Mahometanism, an ample scope for the exercise of reflection, and that of a nature hitherto novel to the subject. If there was ever any thing in the circumstances of the world, which could not be accounted for by ordinary causes, it is the rise of Islamism. To reduce its history to the level of other annals, is to do violence to right reason, which is as much offended by applying the common rules of judging to uncommon cases, as it is by a direct contradiction of its principles. It is but fair to conclude, that when many attempts are made by different agents to secure an object, and only one |