Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

ses from among you, men of integrity, and give your testimony as in the presence of God. This admonition is given unto him who believeth in God and the last day: and whoso feareth God, unto him will he grant a happy issue out of all his afflictions; and he will bestow on him an ample provision from whence he expecteth it not: and whoso trusteth in God he will be his sufficient support; for God will surely attain his purpose. c. lxv. v. 2. p. 443.

REMARKS.

It would be impertinent to enlarge on the natural intentions of matrimony: of which, every man's reason, and much more his feelings, give him sufficient information: as it is capable of communicating the highest earthly felicity, so can it be perverted to the greatest extremity of misery. When the ends of entering into an indissoluble engagement, on which the domestic comfort of all the future parts of our lives so intimately depends, are frustrated! no situation can be conceived more intolerable; and it is painful even to think that sufferers in these circumstances should have all their fond expectations, all their social enjoyments, all their peace of mind, ruined beyond redemption! and that the laws which ought to protect the injured, should in these circumstances betray them; and often strengthen the hands of oppression! Divorces by the Christian law are discouraged, except in cases of adultery ;* but numberless causes of unhappiness occur, which render the matrimonial state insupportable, that do not offer such a plea to justify separation: and when this union, from whatever causes, becomes grievous-for life is a dreadful term! the apostles replied very naturally-if the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.-By the Mohammedan law divorces are allowed to take place between the same persons re

* Matth. v. 32. xix. 9. Mark x. 11, 12. Luke xvi. 18. 1 Cor. vii. 10. 11. † Matt. xix. 10.

peatedly here therefore the facility of separating and coming together again, not only grants the remedy wished for, but grants it to an extreme; and appears to afford too great a latitude to caprice. Perhaps the golden mean may lie between them. For, let whatsoever render it disagreeable for man and wife to live with each other, the sufferer ought to be allowed recourse to an easy remedy;-but if, after separation, they were prohibited the privilege of coming together again on any consideration ;* this would cause the motives of parting, to be as carefully weighed, as those of the first connexion. For if a couple found on enquiry, that notwithstanding their discontents, they had a foundation of secret tenderness for each other, which the thoughts of parting discovered, and which started at the undoing of what could not be renewed; the union which ought to subsist, would on such a result of self-examination, receive a fresh cement; while those who ought to part, would be gratified with the opportunity. Many gentle honest hearts would thus be preserved from breaking, many useful lives be prolonged, many a pains-taking person rescued from beggary, and many fortunes snatched from ruin. Those who failed in one adventure, might have the opportunity of trying another with more success; while those, of which there are many, with whom nobody ought to live, would be denied the diabolical pleasure of tormenting others to death, or of involving them in the consequences of ruinous conduct.

This would indeed be a law of reasonable liberty.

Moses prohibited a reunion, if an intervening marriage had taken place. Deut. xiv. 1, &e.

TORPEDO WAR.

Our confidence in the feasibility of annoying an enemy by means of torpedoes, and a thorough persuasion that this mode of warfare would essentially serve, not only the interests of this

MORALITY OF MAHOMETANISM.

[Continued from page 136.]

Extracts from the Koran, arranged under alphabetical heads.*

ALMS.

Observe the stated times of prayer, and pay your legal alms,† and bow down yourselves with those who bow down. Will ye command men to do justice, and forget your own souls? Yet ye read the book of the law; do ye not therefore understand? Chap. ii. Vol. i. p. 9.

Be constant in prayer and give alms; and what good ye have sent before for your souls, ye shall find it with God; surely God seeth that which ye do. c. 2, v. 1, p. 22.

The references are to the London editions of Sale's translation, of which there are two whose pages correspond.

What is to be understood by these legal alms which are thus referred to, is explained by the following passage in Sale's Preliminary Discourse. "Alms, according to the prescriptions of the Mohammedan law, are to be given of five things; 1. Of cattle, that is to say, of camels, kine, and of sheep. 2. Of money. 3. Of corn. 4. Of fruits, viz. dates and raisons; and 5. Of wares sold. Of each of these a certain portion is to be given in alms, being usually one part in forty, or two and a half per cent. of the value. But no alms are due for them, unless they amount to a certain quantity or number, nor until a man has been in possession of them eleven months, he not being obliged to give alms thereout before the twelfth month is begun: nor are alms due for cattle employed in tilling the ground, or in carrying burdens. In some cases, a much larger portion than the before mentioned, is reckoned due for alms thus, of what is gotten out of mines, or the sea, or by what art or profession, over and above what is sufficient for the reasonable support of a man's family, and especially where there is a mixture, or suspicion of unjust gain, a fifth part ought to be given in alms. Moreover at the end of the fast of Ramadan, every moslem is obliged to give in alms for himself, and for every one of his family, if he has any, a measure of wheat, barley, dates, rice, or other provisions, commonly eaten,"

They will ask thee what they shall bestow in alms; answer, the good which ye bestow, let it be given to parents and kindred, and orphans, and the poor, and the stranger. c. ii. v. 1. p. 38.

O true believers, give alms of that which ye have bestowed on you, before the day cometh wherein there shall be no merchandizing, nor friendship, nor intercession. c. ii. v. 1. p. 47.

O true believers, make not your alms of none effect by reproaching or mischief, as he who layeth out what he hath to appear unto men to give alms, and believeth not in God and the last day. The likeness of such a one is as a flint covered with earth, on which a violent rain falleth, and leaveth it hard. They cannot prosper in any thing which they have gained, for God directeth not the unbelieving people. c. ii. v. 1. p. 50.

O true believers, bestow alms of the good things which ye have gained, and of that which we have produced for you out of the earth, and chuse not the bad thereof to give it in alms, such as ye would not accept yourselves, otherwise than by connivance : and know that God is rich and worthy to be praised. And whatever alms ye shall give, or whatever vow ye shall vow, ve rily, God knoweth it; but the ungodly shall have none to help them. If ye make your alms to appear it is well; but if ye conceal them, and give them unto the poor, this will be better for you, and will atone for your sins and God is well informed of that which ye do. The direction of them belongeth not unto thee; but God directeth whom he pleaseth. The good that ye shall give in alms, shall redound unto yourselves; and ye shall not give unless out of desire of seeing the face of God. And what good thing ye shall give in alms, it shall be repaid you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly; unto the poor who are wholly employed in fighting for the religion of God, and cannot go to and fro in the earth; whom the ignorant man thinketh rich because of their modesty: thou shalt know them by this mark, they ask not men with importunity; and what good ye shall give in alms, verily God knoweth it. They who distribute alms of their substance night and day, in private and in public, shall have

country, but the cause of humanity, has induced us to procure the plates attached to Mr. Fulton's work on that subject, with a view of inserting them, with the accompanying explanations. The effects of mechanical operations are easier shewn by an exhibition of the machinery, than by any reasoning on the subject. A careful attention to these plates will enable our readers the better to understand the experiments, which it is expected will shortly be made, in this port, agreeably to an act of congress, appropriating money for that purpose.

Plate I. is a View of the Brig Dorothea, as she was blown up on the 15th of October, 1805.

To convince Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville that a vessel could be destroyed by the explosion of a torpedo under her bottom, a strong built Danish brig, the Dorothea, burthen 200 tons, was anchored in Walmer road, near Deal, and within a mile of Walmer Castle, the then residence of Mr. Pitt. Two boats, each with eight men, commanded by lieutenant Robinson, were put under my direction. I prepared two empty Torpedoes in such a manner, that each was only from two to three pounds specifically heavier than salt water; and I so suspended them, that they hung fifteen feet under water. They were then tied one to each end of a small rope eighty feet long: thus arranged, and the brig drawing twelve feet of water, the 14th day of October was spent in practice. Each boat having a Torpedo in the stern, they started from the shore about a mile above the brig, and rowed down towards her; the uniting line of the Torpedoes being stretched to its full extent, the two boats were distant from each other seventy feet: thus they approached in such a manner, that one boat kept the larboard the other the starboard side of the brig in view. So soon as the connecting line of the Torpedoes passed the buoy of the brig, they were thrown into the water, and carried on by the tide, until the connecting line touched the brig's cable; the tide then drove them under her bottom. The experiment being repeated several times, taught the men

« EdellinenJatka »