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principle of comparison in other respects . Assuming , for example , that the Emperor Nicholas is as great a barbarian as the Sultan Selim , or at least that the $ wo governments are on a par with regard to their influence on human liberty ,
virtue , and happiness , and that the circumstances of climate and of physical condition are not materially different , we may safely compare the subjects of the Emperor with those of the Sultan . I am not aware that the comparison will be much in favour of the former . Mr .
Madden has given a most graphical description of the punishment of the bastinado as practised by the Turks . Let us cross the border , and we find the knout substituted in its place : but a contemporaneous French traveller , M . Fon tanier , ** prefers the practice of the stick to that of the knout ** This
author " approached Turkey by way of Russia , aud appears thoroughly disgusted with the official oppression and open corruption of the authorities of the distant provinces of the Russian Tzar . " { See Westmiuster Review , Oct . 1830 , p . 462 . ) With regard to religion , I conceive that no absurdity of the Turks can
surpass that of their Christian neighbours , who say their prayers by shaking them in a wooden box , and all the accounts 1 have ever seen agree iu representing the excesses of priestcraft , aud all the degrading influences of superstition , as going much farther among the members of the Greek Church rhan a-
roong the followers of Mohammed . If we proceed southward , we may justly compare the professors of the two religions ( which I consider as two corrupted forms of Christianity ) upon the opposite shores of the Red Sea . Your correspondent S , and those who think as he does , will produce some shocking case of inhumanity from the Arabians ; iu return , 1 will request him to look at the Abyssinians , to observe the Christian
driving his cow upon a journey , and , whenever hunger prompts him , cutting out a slice of flesh , and , after having satisfied his appetite by eating it raw , urging forward the tortured animal to supply his future meals . 1 doubt whether any cruelty practised by Mohammedans equals that exhibited in the repasts of these Christians , for ampler details of which 1 refer to the well-known authorities ou the subject .
Another mode of comparison , by which we may be enabled to do justice to the relative merits of the Mohammedan * and the so-called Christians , is to take a general view of them , not only iu dif-
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ferent countries , but in different ages . If we compare them as they are now , I should not hesitate to say , that the Mohammedans are surpassed by the socalled Christians in literature and science , in forms of government and policy .
and in the general advantages of civilization . But , if we make the comparisou a few centuries earlier in the history of the world , it is equally clear , that the balance preponderates on the other side . In the " dark ages" so called on account of the darkness of Christians , the Mohammedan 8 were the luminaries of
the earth . Their star was seen in the East , and shed its beneficent light far and wide over the benighted world . Mohammed , in refereuce to the time when he made his appearance , may be regarded as one of the greatest reformers ; and if , during several centuries subsequently to that event , an angel or some superior intelligence had surveyed the distracted world with a pitying and merciful , but impartial eye , to determine on which side to award the sentence of
less guilt and greater virtue , and to say which of the two masses of men or assemblages of nations was doing more for the advancement of human happiuess , I cannot help thinking that the decision would be in favour of the Mohammedans .
I believe , Sir , I might go further than I have yet done . I might refer to various well-known facts regarding the practices of Christian nations , and even or those which we esteem the most polished and civilized , aud , on asking your enlightened and candid readers to express their opinion upon these facts , 1 think they would be constrained to allow the emptiness of the Christian ' s boast , and the falsehood of his plea for waging war against his brethreu .
For example , your correspondent , in the person of Mr . Madden , describes various instances of Turks reviling Christians , calling them dogs , &c . What would the better-disposed of the Turks say , if Mr . Madden were to tell them , that the frequenters of the largest , most
splendid , and most fashionable temples in Kuglatid , go to them thirteeu mornings iu the year , for the express purpose , among other objects , of cursing , not only all Mohammedans , but all of their relations , neighbours , aud fellow-creacreatures , who do not agree with them in all the minute distinctions of one of
their most mysterious dogmas ? Again , Mr . Madden speaks of the " treachery " of the Turkish priesthood . Bui these priests must be or a very extraordinary
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MLcvilaneou * Correipondence . 125
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1831, page 125, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2594/page/53/
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