and Adrian, likewise sought refuge there, and the various sects that arose among the early Christians fled thither from the persecution of whatever party prevailed in the church. Mecca also contained the Caaba, or Temple of the Black Stone, which was worshipped by the Arabians themselves, in conjunction with three hundred and sixty idols, in the form of eagles, antelopes, and lions, and the great statue of Hebal, holding in his hand seven arrows, without feathers or heads, for divination. The custody of the Caaba had for some generations been consigned to the family of Mahomet, who were also the first in the state. Surrounded by so many differing creeds, his family. the guardians of an idol in which he placed no trust, Mahomet early learned to consider religion chiefly as a means of governing the multitude. Like the generality of his countrymen, he was so illiterate that he could neither write nor read, and therefore, though a translation of the Scriptures was then extant in Arabic, he was only acquainted with their contents orally. From the Jews he adopted the unity of the Divinity, the Mosaic account of the creation, the flood, and the descent of the Arabians from Ishmael; and amidst all the quarrels of the semi-idolatrous Christians who

surrounded him, he imbibed a high veneration for the person and character of our blessed Lord. It is of more importance to us to trace the causes which gave rise to the scheme of imposture he so successfully executed than to follow minutely his personal biography. I shall therefore relate his personal history as briefly as I can. He was early left an orphan, his whole inheritance one female negro slave, and five camels, and in his youth was occupied in trading to Damascus, in the service of a widow, whom he married at twenty-two. He thus acquired opulence; and his eloquence, personal beauty, courage, general abilities, and the political and sacerdotal offices of his family, gave him considerable influence in his native city. The Jews of Mecca still expected their Shiloh or Messiah; Mahomet determined to announce himself as the prophet of God, and long flattered himself in vain that that nation would accept him as such. However, he gained other converts, and in his fortieth year announced himself as the sixth and last prophet.

Florence. Who were the other five he acknowledged?

Mr. Austin. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Christ. So slow was the progress of Ma

hommedanism at first, that in the fifth year of his pretended mission, Mahomet had gained but thirty-nine converts, and but for the protection of his uncle, who was at the head of the government, he would have been put to death as an impostor. He now composed the Koran, with the assistance of Abdia Ben Salon, a Persian Jew, and Sergius, a Nestorian monk, who had been banished from his convent for some great crime. This latter unhappy wretch was put to death by Mahomet as soon as the task was complete, that the secret might be kept. The Mahommedan party by degrees became considerable, but the confirmation of miracles being demanded, he invented the fable of his ride on the prophetic horse, Alborak, through the seven heavens (each at the distance of 500 years' journey from the other,) of silver, of gold, of precious stones, of adamant, of emerald, of carbuncle and pure light, where he saw the stars as large as mountains hanging by chains of pure gold, saw angels in the shape of beasts and birds, and conversed with Adam and the patriarchs. Alborak was as white as milk, and as swift as lightning, but had been so long unused to a rider, that he would not suffer

Mahomet to mount till he had bribed him by the promise of a place in paradise.

Florence. Mahomet's angels are like the idols in the Caaba! What did the people of Mecca say when they heard this fine tale?

Mr. Austin. They called the inventor an impostor and a cheat; many of his own disciples revolted from him, and he was obliged to seek safety in flight. One cave near Mecca had been the scene of his former visions, another now afforded him concealment: his pursuers advanced to its entrance, but perceiving a pigeon's nest on a large spider's web, they concluded no one could have lately entered it.

Edward.

What did he do then?

Mr. Austin. The pretended prophet would have sunk into insignificance, and perhaps his name would never have reached our ears, had he not been invited to Medina by some heretical and apostate Christians, who went over to his party in order to obtain the ascendancy over the Jews of the same town. At Medina, with their aid, Mahomet established his chief residence for the rest of his life, and soon extended his dominion over all Arabia, but still, in the plenitude of his

power, he preserved the primitive simplicity of the Arabian manners: he lighted his own fire, swept the floor of his own house, milked the ewes, and mended the coarse woollen garment, which, with his walking staff, was long treasured amongst the regalia of the mighty khaliffs who succeeded him. But cruelty, rapine, and sensuality, marked his career, and it affords an awful lesson to hear that the same pretence to an inspired mission which raised him to power, and in eighty years established an empire mightier than that subdued by ancient Rome in a period of eight hundred years, was the cause of his painful and ignoble death.

Florence. How did that happen?

Mr. Austin. He had taken the city of Caibar, inhabited by Arab Jews, by storm, and established his quarters at the house of Hareth, one of the chief inhabitants. Hareth's daughter, Zainoth, prepared a shoulder of mutton for his supper and poisoned it, saying that "If he were a true prophet, he would know that the meat was poisoned, and it would do him no harm; if he were not a prophet, she would do well to rid the world of so wicked an impostor." Mahomet ate without suspicion: he did not die, however, at the time, but suffered lingering torture, complaining,