the passage, has likewise declared that this bridge is beset on each side with briars and hooked thorns; which will, however, be no impediment to the good, for they shall pass with wonderful ease and swiftness, like lightning or the wind, Mohammed and his Moslems leading the way; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path, the entangling of the thorns, and the extinction of the light, which directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing, and fall down headlong into hell, which is gaping beneath them.2 This circumstance Mohammed seems also to have borrowed from the Magians, who teach that on the last day all mankind will be obliged to pass a bridge which they call Pûl Chînavad, or Chînavar, that is, the straight bridge, leading directly into the other world; on the midst of which they suppose the angels, appointed by GOD to perform that office, will stand, who will require of every one a strict account of his actions, and weigh them in the manner we have already mentioned.3 It is true the Jews speak likewise of the bridge of hell, which they say is no broader than a thread; but then they do not tell us that any shall be obliged to pass it, except the idolaters, who will fall thence into perdition.1 As to the punishment of the wicked, the Mohammedans are taught that hell is divided into seven stories, or apartments, one below another, designed for the reception of as many distinct classes of the damned.2 The first which they call Jehennam, they say, will be the receptacle of those who acknowledged one GOD, that is, the wicked Mohammedans, 1 Vide Kor. c. 18. 2 Pocock. ubi sup. p. 282-289. 3 Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 245, 402, &c. 1 Midrash, Yalkut Reubeni. § Gehinnom. 2 Kor. c. 15.