THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF INDIA.

On the evening of Monday last, Captain D. C. F. Scott delivered a most interesting lecture on India in the schoolroom of Trinity Church, before a numerous and deeply interested auditory. The lecture, we may mention, was elucidated by a finely executed map illustrating the seat of their present internecine war and numerous well-drawn pictures, which added greatly to its interest.

Before proceeding (said the speaker) to describe the present state of India, it is necessary that a short space should be devoted to her ancient history—a history composed of a vast mass of idle fables and complicated falsehoods, for no records whatever on any subject were kept by the inhabitants until their subjection by the Moslem ; indeed without such a preface you can scarcely understand the present social, moral, religious, and political position of India.
. . . . .
We will now proceed to the Mussulman, whose false creed was hatched in Arabia. The original worship of the Arabs was that of one God—clouded and tarnished indeed, yet free from gross idolatry. Intimately connected with this primitive faith was the belief in the wonderful powers of meteoric stones ; the most renowned of these, called Hadjar-el-aswad, a square-shaped black stone, about four feet high, and set in silver, is fixed in their sacred temple of the Ka-aba, in Mecca, at this present day. Tradition relates that this stone was brought to Abraham by the angel Gabriel, whose tears over the sinfulness of man changed its original white colour to black. In the course of time the grossest idolatry became the preponderating ingredient in Arab worship. They forgot the one God, and thus their sacred Ka-aba was defiled by the introduction of 360 idols of men, eagles, lions, antelopes, &c., to whom the ignorant bowed in abject adoration. In this country and among this people arose the apostle of a new faith, destined to have such a dreadful influence over the inhabitants of the whole world. The gigantic impostor Mahomet, or more properly Mahommed (which means very famous) was born at Mecca on the 20th April, 571— an only son, and of a noble race. At an early age he lost both his parents when his sole inheritance consisted of a house, an old female servant, and five camels. He was educated by an uncle to commercial pursuits, and was engaged in them, and in the petty wars of hostile tribes, until Cadejah, a rich and noble widow, of the age of forty, bestowed on him her hand and fortune. This marriage placed him beyond the cares and wants of daily life, and allowed him to indulge his natural predilection for contemplation. It was not, however, until the year 611 that he had fully matured his plan to institute a new religion, when, having passed some weeks in a cave called Hera near Mecca, he suddenly appeared before his wife, and declared that the Angel Gabriel had visited him with a message from the Most High, appointing him, Mahommed, the sixth greatest, and last of his chosen prophets—the preceding five being Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus Christ our Lord. This revelation Cadejah pretended to believe, and became his first convert. After years of perils and bloodshed, sometimes reduced to tho verge of ruin and then redeemed by statagems and deeds of daring, the new faith, called Islam (which means submission to the divine will) was firmly established, and spread by his successor over half the globe,—in Arabia, Syria, Persia, Cabul, Affghan, Africa, Spain, carrying terror and anguish into the hearts of all who dared to offer opposition to their unholy creed.

Mahomet is described by his contemporaries as of commanding figure and majestic aspect, regular and most expressive features, piercing black eyes, an acquiline nose, a well-formed mouth with pearly teeth. His captivating smile, his rich sonorous voice, the graceful dignity of his gestures, the apparent heartiness and frankness of his manner, gained him the favourable attention of the multitude. His perception was quick and active, his memory capacious and retentive, his imagination lively and daring, his judgement clear, rapid, and decisive, and his courage dauntless. These gifts, moreover, were much enhanced by a natural and graceful eloquence. The Koran is the sacred book of Islamism—the successive revelations imparted to Mahomet were diligently recorded by his disciples on palm leaves, skins, and the shoulder bones of mutton—the fragments being thrown into a domestic chest in the custody of one of Mahomed's wives. These fragments were collected and published in 634. The Koran consists of 114 chapters, of very unequal lengths, and jumbled together without order or systematic arrangement. The chapters are made up of plagiarisms from our Holy Bible, rabinical legends, religious and moral precepts, descriptions of the joys of paradise and the torments of hell, with declamations and rhapsodies. Mahomet died on the 7th June, 632, his last words being—"O, God-pardon my sins —Yes—I come—among my fellow citizens on high."

These were the people—fierce, bigotted, and courageous—who invaded India in the year 1000, and subjected her, under the command of leaders of all nations renowned for valour and talent—withering the land like a blighting blast, plundering and murdering the wretched inhabitants, converting them to Moslemism by the sword, and forming new dynasties ; remaining ever true to the spirit incalculated in their religion—deep and bitter hatred to all unbelievers.

The Sydney Morning Herald  1858, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13006615