like that of children.  The Koran says:  “Every child is born into the religion of nature; its parents make it a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian.”  But when Mohammed came, the religion of the Arabs was a jumble of monotheism and polytheism,—­Judaism, Christianity, idolatry, and fetichism.  At one time there had been a powerful and intolerant Jewish kingdom in one region.  In Yemen, at another period, the king of Abyssinia had established Christianity.  But neither Judaism nor Christianity had ever been able to conquer the peninsula; and at the end of the sixth century idolatry was the most prevailing form of worship.

At this time Mohammed appeared, and in a few years united in one faith all the warring tribes of Arabia; consolidated them into a single nation, and then wielded their mighty and enthusiastic forces against Syria, Persia, and North Africa, triumphant wherever they moved.  He, certainly, if ever man possessed it, had the rare gift of natural empire.  To him, more than to any other of whom history makes mention, was given

    “The monarch mind, the mystery of commanding,
      The birth-hour gift, the art Napoleon,
    Of wielding, moulding, gathering, welding, banding,
      The hearts of thousands till they moved as one.”

Sec. 3.  Early Life of Mohammed, to the Hegira.

But it was not as a soldier or ambitious conqueror that Mohammed began his career.  The first forty years of his life were passed in the quiet pursuits of trade, or taking care of the property of Khadijah.  Serious, thoughtful, devout, he made friends of all about him.  His youth was unstained by vice, and his honorable character early obtained for him the title, given him by common consent, of Al Amin, “the faithful.”  At one time he tended sheep and goats on the hills near Mecca.  At Medina, after he became distinguished he referred to this, saying, “Pick me the blackest of those berries; they are such as I used to gather when I fed the flocks at Mecca.  Verily, no prophet has been raised up who has not performed the work of a shepherd.”  When twenty-five years of age, he entered into the service of Khadijah, a rich widow, as her agent, to take charge of her merchandise and to sell it at Damascus.  When the caravan returned, and his adventure had proved successful, Khadijah, then forty years old, became interested in the young man; she was wise, virtuous, and attractive; they were married, and, till her death, Mohammed was a kind and loving husband.  Khadijah sympathized with her husband in his religious tendencies, and was his first convert.  His habit was to retire to a cave on Mount Hira to pray and to meditate.  Sadness came over him in view of the evils in the world.  One of the Suras of the Koran, supposed to belong to this period, is as follows:—­

    Sura 103.

    “By the declining day I swear! 
    Verily, man is in the way of ruin;
    Excepting such as possess faith,
    And do the things which be right,
    And stir up one another to truth and steadfastness.”