[57] "I can believe," observes the Count de Boulainvilliers, "that Mahomet was ignorant of the common elements of education. But assuredly he was not ignorant in respect to that vast knowledge which a far travelled man of great natural powers may acquire. He was not ignorant of his native tongue, although he could not read it, being master of all its subtleness and all its beauties. He was thoroughly qualified to render hateful whatever was truly blameworthy, and to paint truth in colours so simple and vivid, that it was impossible to misunderstand it. All that he has said is true, as regards the essential dogmas of Religion; but he has not said all that is true, and in this respect alone does our religion differ from his." Farther on he adds, that "Mahomet was neither ignorant nor a barbarian; he conducted his enterprise with all the skill, delicacy, perseverance, and intrepidity, which was necessary to ensure its success. His views were as lofty as any which Alexander the Great, or Julius Cæsar, were capable of entertaining, had they been in his position."--Life of Mahomet by Count de Boulainvilliers, book II. pp. 266-8. Amsterdam edit. 1731. [58] Genesis chap. xxviii. v. 18. [59] Omnis enim per se divum natura necesse est Immortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur, Semota ab nostris rebus, sejunctaque longe; Nam privata dolore omni, privata periclis Ipsa suis pollens opibus: nihil indiga nostri, Nec bene promeritis capitur, nec tangitur ira. Lucretius de Rerum Nat. Book I. v. 57, and following. [60] If a work be translated, it always receives a colouring, which is more or less faint or vivid according to the opinions and ability of the Translator.--Volney's Lectures on History. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Impostors, by Anonymous and Jean Maximilien Lucas