wisdom in restricting his doctrinal articles within so narrow a compass. Only the thorny doctrine of absolute predestination was likely to entice to metaphysical discussion; and it did give ample exercise to the dialectic skill of future doctors. Easy credence was given to the simple and fundamental postulate of the divine unity, while the practical devotions of the Moslem were included in the four particulars of prayer, fasting, alms and pilgrimages. In all of these a remarkable resemblance is traced to Jewish institutions, though it must be confessed to the institutions of Rabbinical, much more than of primitive, Judaism. Five times a day the Muezzim sound the hours of prayer, when the Musselman bows with the same posture of adoration towards Mecca, as the Jew towards the Holy. City. The purifications of the one, performed with scrupulous exactness, find their type in the ritual ablutions of the other. The legal alms, being an exact per centage of all the Mohammedan calls his own, bear a close affinity to the tithes anciently paid into the hands of Levi. A similar distinction of meats, and the same prohibition of usury, occur in both religions. The same superstitious value attached to excessive fasting, which met our Saviour’s rebuke among the Jews, marks this religious duty as prescribed by Mohammed. The pilgrimage to Mecca, though a relic of old Arabian Paganism, may, perhaps, have been sanctioned in the impostor’s. mind, by the solemn assemblages of Israel in the temple, at their great feasts. It would be tedious to follow the parallel in the Mohammedan notions of heaven, and their doctrine of angels. Any one at all curious on this point, may easily find guides who will conduct him through vast collections of Jewish and Moslem legends, the analogy between the two being apparent at every step in the comparison.
Mormonism is a far more servile imitation of Judaism, as it incorporates even those peculiar features which the introduction of Christianity rendered obsolete. It was a bold stroke of policy to reconstruct the old Jewish platform, as the basis of the new imposture. By connecting the North American Indians with the ancient Israel of God, and inventing a history for them so full of dignity and privilege as the Book of Mormon disclosed, he hoped
