ction of the head of his clan, and for eight
or ten years carried on a campaign of words. Margoliouth, in his life
of Mohammed, likens the prophet to a player in a game of cards, who,
having received a good hand, plays his cards with consummate skill. He
took advantage of every opportunity in strengthening his position, and
having a clear-cut policy before him, subordinated everything to its
furtherance. He was a powerful preacher, but owing to his ungovernable
temper, was not so successful in debate; hence he produced a
"revelation" forbidding him to engage in public controversy! He showed
great diligence in seeking information that enabled him to produce his
revelations in a style consistent with his claims. Being entirely
dependent on hearsay, he obtained but a sadly distorted account of
truth. The Koran is full of glaring errors, which, for centuries, have
baffled the ingenuity of the Moslem doctors. Yet the prophet
presumptuously claimed that his, being the last "revelation," was the
most important, and more reliable, and the differences that were
apparent were due to the corruption in time of the text of the former
"revelations"--_i.e._, the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures!

He was evidently much perplexed by the divisions and controversies
that existed within the Christian Church, and considered that the
images and pictures then in use were little better than the idols of
his own people. With no means of testing and verifying his knowledge,
he accepted all that tended to enhance his own position, and his chief
regret seems to have been his inability, in reply to the taunts of his
enemies, to point to any element of the miraculous in his career. In
the revelations, he frequently expressed views and opinions which
flatly contradicted what he had formerly stated, and when challenged
as to his inconsistency, defended it by claiming that it was not he
who had changed his mind, but God, whose ways no man could question or
understand!

In time, the position of the new sect became so intolerable that many
were compelled to flee, and numbers went into Abyssinia, where they
were well received. Mohammed himself, thanks to his relatives'
protection, could still afford to remain in Mecca. In spite of the
opposition, his influence gradually increased, and was considerably
strengthened by the conversion of Omar, a citizen famed for his skill
in military strategy and courage. Not long afterwards, Khadijah, the
prophet's wife d