e to Arabia in the seventh century and
its value to the world at large. No one, I presume, would deny that
to Mohammed's contemporaries his religion was an immense advance on
anything they had previously believed in. It welded together the
disunited tribes, and lifted the nation to the forefront of the
important powers in the world. It effected what Christianity and
Judaism had alike failed to effect--it swept away, once and for
ever, idolatry, and established the idea of one true God. Its
influence on Arabia was justly and pathetically put by the Moslem
refugees in Abyssinia, who when required to say why they should not
be sent back to Mecca, gave the following account of their religion
and what it had done for them: 'O king, we were plunged in
ignorance and barbarism; we worshipped idols; we ate dead bodies;
we committed lewdness; disregarded family ties and the duties of
neighbourhood and hospitality; we knew no law but that of the
strong, when God sent among us a messenger of whose truthfulness,
integrity, and innocence we were aware; and he called us to the
unity of God, and taught us not to associate any god with him; he
forbade us the worship of idols, and enjoined upon us to speak the
truth, to be faithful to our trusts, to be merciful, and to regard
the rights of others; to love our relatives and to protect the
weak; to flee vice and avoid all evil. He taught us to offer
prayers, to give alms, and to fast. And because we believed in him
and obeyed him, therefore are we persecuted and driven from our
country to seek thy protection.'"[135]

But after all we have here seen of the opinions of Dr. Marcus Dods and
Sir W. Muir, let us turn to what the Rev. Stephens thinks of Mohammad:--

"The aim of Mahomet was to revive among his countrymen the Arabs,
as Moses revived among his countrymen the Jews, the pure faith of
their common forefather Abraham. In this he succeeded to a very
great extent. For a confused heap of idolatrous superstitions he
substituted a pure monotheistic faith; he abolished some of the
most vicious practices of his countrymen, modified others; he
generally raised the moral standard, improved the social condition
of the people, and introduced a sober and rational ceremonial in
worship. Finally he welded by this means a number of wild