absolute want, fill the mosque with dead bodies carried thither to receive the Imam's prayer, or with sick persons, many of whom, when their dissolution approaches, are brought to the colonnades, that they may either be cured by the sight of the Kaaba, or at least to have the satisfaction of expiring within the sacred inclosure. Poor

hadjis, worn out with disease and hunger, are seen dragging their emaciated bodies along the columns; and when no longer able to stretch forth their hand to ask the passenger for charity, they place a bowl to receive alms near the mat on which they lay themselves. When they feel their last moments approaching, they cover themselves with their tattered garments; and often a whole day passes before it is discovered that they are dead. For a month subsequent to the conclusion of the hadj, I found, almost every morning, corpses of pilgrims lying in the mosque; myself and a Greek hadji, whom accident had brought to the spot, once closed the eyes of a poor Moggrebyn pilgrim, who had crawled into the neighbourhood of the Kaaba to breathe his last, as the Moslems say, 'in the arms of the prophet and of the guardian angels.' He intimated, by signs, his wish that we should sprinkle Zemzem water over him and while we were doing so, he expired: half an hour afterward he was buried.

"The situation of Mecca is singularly unhappy, and ill-adapted for the accommodation of the numerous votaries of Islam that flock thither to perform the rites of the pilgrimage. The town. is built in a narrow valley, hemmed in by barren mountains; the water of the wells is bitter or brackish; no pastures for cattle are near it; no

F

land fit for agriculture; and the only resource from which its inhabitants derive their subsistence is a little traffic, and the visits of the hadjis. Mr. Burckhardt estimates the population of the town and suburbs at twenty-five to thirty thousand stationary inhabitants, to which he adds three or four thousand Abyssinian and black slaves.

"On the whole, notwithstanding all that Burckhardt records as to certain symptoms of enthusiasm in the course of his hadj, it is sufficiently plain, that even in the original seat of Mahommetanism, the religious feelings of the people have cooled down considerably. The educated Moslems, everywhere, are mostly of the sect of Mahomet Ali of Egypt, nor can we have any doubt that all things are thus working together for the re-establishment of the true religion in the regions where man was first civilized, and where the oracles of God were uttered. In the meantime, the decline of the arch-heresy of the east will be regretted by no one who judges of the tree by the fruit. A long residence,' says Burckhardt, among Turks, Syrians, and Egyptians' (and no man knew them better), justifies me in declaring that they are wholly deficient in virtue, honour, and justice; that they have little true piety, and still less charity or forbearance; and that honesty is only to be found in their paupers or idiots.'

دو

،

CHAPTER IV.

Mahomet's seclusion-his designs.-Gabriel.-The peculiar tone of the Koran.-Mahomet's first converts.-His attempt with his relatives.-The enmity of the Koreish.-His followers fly from Mecca.-The exercises of his own mind.-His cause strengthens.-League against him and his family.-He is not discouraged. The burden of his preaching.-His Paradise.Women not excluded.-His hell-Success.-Challenged to work miracles. His manner of getting rid of the demand.

BEING now raised by his marriage to an equality with the first citizens of Mecca, Mahomet was enabled to pass the next twelve years of his life in comparative affluence and ease; and, until the age of forty, nothing remarkable distinguished his history. It is probable that he still followed the occupation of a merchant, as Arabian tribes, like the Ishmaelites, have always been addicted to commerce. It was during this interval, however, that he meditated and matured his boldest design. It therefore becomes, in its results, the most important in his whole life; and it is greatly to be regretted, that his policy, and the ravages of time, have deprived us of all sources of information, which might satisfactorily explain the purposes he had in view, and the motives by which he was influenced. The circumstances which first suggested his design, the peculiar train of reflection which went to cherish it, together with the real agencies employed in bringing it forward, are wrapped in impenetrable mystery; yet these are the points on which the inquiring mind, intent upon tracing great events to their primary sources, is most eager for information. At the present day, it is impossible to determine whether Ma

homet commenced his career as a deluded enthusiast, or a designing impostor. Those who have most profoundly considered the whole subject of Mahometanism in its rise, progress, genius, and effects, are divided in their opinion. Perhaps the point is not of much importance, for when did ever an imposture succeed, whether it were civil or religious, without an admixture of both enthusiasm and cunning. Men who have made any figure, if not entirely formed by circumstances, are yet greatly modified by them; and it will appear in the sequel, that the Arabian adventurer, if at first he were a mere enthusiast, became, through what befel him at the outbreak of his fanaticism, a proud conqueror, whom no victories could satisfy, and whose progress no extent of dominion could stay.

Whatever the religious corruption of the Arabs, it should be borne in mind that the fundamental article of the patriarchal faith among them was never entirely obliterated. Many held it. The presence of so many Jews, together with the reverence in which their Scriptures were held, became its safeguard. In the immediate vicinity of the most celebrated temple of patriarchism, and surrounded by men who gloried in the character of religious reformers, a mind like Mahomet's would naturally be occupied on religious subjects. He would ponder deeply all he had heard, from those into whose way commerce had thrown him. He would read, and meditate, and inquire. The idolatry of the generality of his countrymen would seem to him gross and degrading; and perhaps he would be disgusted with many of the superstitious, or offended with many of the false doctrines which

he found grafted upon the Jewish and the Christian faith. Amidst the darkness which hangs over this period of his life, one thing is known, namely, that he daily retired to a cave, in the vicinity of Mecca, called the cave of Hera, to spend his time in fasting, prayer, and devout meditation. If he contemplated the work of public instruction, he thought at first in all probability of nothing more than raising his voice, and presenting his own example in condemnation of the errors and vices of the times. Some would have us believe, that in the cave he had secret interviews with those accomplices by whose help he composed the Koran;* but it is remarkable that these accomplices were never detected. We have read, indeed, that as soon as his own purposes with one of them, Sergius a monk, were answered, Mahomet procured his murder, a tale much more likely to be the invention of prejudice, than to have the support of historic testimony. Such an act does not agree with the early character of the prophet.

Mahomet made at first but slow progress in gaining converts. He was the victim of fierce persecution, but it does not appear that either Jews or Christians are ever mixed up with him in the contempt or the sufferings he had to endure.

There was indeed one being with whom in the cave Mahomet pretended that he held frequent and intimate converse. The angel Gabriel often visited him. The revelations which he records in the Koran, purport to be immediate communications from the Most High made to him by this angelic guide and visitor. A few prayers ex

* Prideaux. Edition 1696-7, page 14.