in a low grade of
poverty. He did not take the advice of Mr. Weller, and 'beware of the
vidders,' and his fortunes suddenly changed. Doubtless he was a handsome
man, as his father was said to be; and he was too much for the
susceptible Khadija, twice widowed, and fifteen years older than her
employe, and she offered him her hand and heart, which he accepted.

"They had two sons and four daughters; but both of the former died in
early life. He established himself as a merchant after his marriage; and
he continued in the business, though he spent most of his time in
meditation by himself. Up to the age of forty Mohammed was a strict
devotee in the religion of his fathers, which was a species of idolatry.
When he was about thirty years old Christianity had made its way into
Arabia through Syria on one side, and Abyssinia on the other, and there
were Jewish colonies in the peninsula. Though the missionaries of the
new faith pervaded Mecca and Medina, the future Prophet was not
converted, more is the pity!

"It was at this time that he was moved to teach a new religion which
should displace the idolatry of the people, and come into competition,
as it were, with the teachings of the missionaries of Judaism and
Christianity. He was forty years old when he received what he claimed as
his first divine communication, on a mountain near Mecca. He declared
that Gabriel appeared to him there, and commanded him to preach the true
religion. It is now generally admitted that he was no vulgar and tricky
impostor, and it cannot be known to what extent his inherited epilepsy
or hysteria governed the alleged revelations.

"After his long and lonely vigils passed in meditation, he proclaimed
what he insisted had been revealed to him; and at these times he appears
to have been little better than a lunatic, for he was moved to the most
frightful fanatical vehemence. He frothed at the mouth, his eyes became
red, and the perspiration rained from his head and face. He roared like
a camel in his wrath, and such an exhibition could hardly fail to make a
strong impression upon his ignorant audience.

"His first revelations were related to Khadija and other members of his
household; and they accepted his teachings, while his other relatives
rejected them with scorn. His uncle called him a fool; and his adopted
father never believed in him as a prophet, though for the honor of the
family he remained his friend. After four years of preaching he mu