only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life."

Amzi smiled, and put the tablet in his bosom.

CHAPTER XI.

MOHAMMED BECOMES INTOLERANT.--WAR.

"Our virtues disappear when put in competition with our
interests, as rivers lose themselves in the ocean."--_La
Rochefoucauld._

Thirteen years had now passed since Mohammed first began to meditate in
the Cave of Hira. During all that time he had preached peace, love and
gentleness. With power, however, came a change in his opinions. He
became not only pastor of his flock, and judge of the people, but also
commander of an army. Worldly ambition took possession of his breast,
and the voice of him who had cried, "Follow the religion of Abraham, who
was orthodox and was no idolater. Invite men unto the way of the Lord by
wisdom and mild exhortation.... Bear opposition with patience, but thy
patience shall not be practicable unless with God's assistance. And be
not thou grieved on account of the unbelievers. Let there be no violence
in religion,"--now began to call, "War is enjoined you against the
infidels. Fight therefore against the friends of Satan, for the
stratagem of Satan is weak. And when the months wherein ye shall not be
allowed to attack them be past, kill the idolaters wherever ye shall
find them, and besiege them, and lay wait for them in every convenient
place. Verily God hath purchased of the true believers their souls and
their substance, promising them the enjoyment of Paradise on condition
that they fight for the cause of God. Whether they slay or be slain,
the promise for the same is assuredly due by the law, and the Gospel,
and the Koran."

Clemency, he claimed, had been the instrument of Moses; wisdom, that of
Solomon; righteousness, that of Christ; and now the sword was to be the
instrument of Mohammed.

"The sword," he exclaimed, with flashing eye, "is the key of heaven and
hell. All who draw it in the cause of the faith will be rewarded with
temporal advantages; every drop shed of their blood, every peril endured
by them, will be registered on high as more meritorious than fasting or
prayer. If they fall in battle, their sins will at once be blotted out,
and they will be transported to paradise!"

This fierce, intolerant spirit took possession of Mohammed almost from
his entrance into Medina. Chapter after chapter of the Koran was
produced, breathing the same blood-thirsty, i