former, preacher, and apostle. But, though full of enthusiasm and
belief in the great cause that he advocated, he was, without doubt,
from the commencement to the end of his career, a practical man of
business, which Buddha and Jesus certainly were not.

The life of Muhammad has been written in many languages, and with such
voluminous details, that it is hardly necessary to enter into these
details very minutely here. Sir William Muir's works on the subject
are graphic, descriptive, and full of interesting matter, while a
lengthy article on the subject of Muhammad and Muhammadism, in the
third volume of the 'Dictionary of Christian Biography,' from the pen
of the late Rev. G.P. Badger, is one of extraordinary interest. A
perusal of the above-named works, with Hughes's 'Dictionary of Islam'
as a reference book, will give the ordinary English reader as much
information as is likely to be required in the ordinary course of
things.

But by way of preface to certain remarks upon Muhammad as a reformer,
preacher, and apostle at Mecca, as pope and king at Madinah, as author
of the Koran, founder of a religion, legislator, military leader, and
organizer of the Arabs into a nation, it is perhaps necessary to give
a rapid summary of the principal events of a life which has had such
an influence upon so many people, and which has filled so many pages.
This summary will be as brief as possible:

His birth, August, A.D. 570, at Mecca, his father having died some
months previously.

His christening by the name of Muhammad, _i.e._, the Praised One. His
grandfather Abdul-Muttalib, who gave him the name, said it was given
to him 'in the hope that his grandson would be praised by God in
heaven, and by God's creatures on earth.'

His bringing up in the desert of the Benou-Saad by a Badawin nurse,
one Halimah, the wife of Harith, for five years.

His mother Aminah took him, aged six, to Madinah to present him to his
maternal relations there. She died on the return journey, A.D. 576.

Under the guardianship of his grandfather Abdul Muttalib (who loved
him dearly) for two years, from six to eight, when Abdul died, A.D.
578.

Under the guardianship of his uncle Abu Thaleb, the uterine brother of
his father, Abd-Allah.

When about twelve years old, Muhammad accompanied his uncle, Abu
Thaleb, into Syria on a mercantile expedition. His first visit to that
country, and his experiences there, A.D. 582.

His presence, during the sacril