had made only fifteen hundred converts. But in three little
skirmishes, magnified in subsequent times by the designation of
the battles of Beder, of Ohud, and of the Nations, Mohammed
discovered that his most convincing argument was his sword.
Afterward, with Oriental eloquence, he said, "Paradise will be
found in the shadow of the crossing of swords." By a series of
well-conducted military operations, his enemies were completely
overthrown. Arabian idolatry was absolutely exterminated; the
doctrine he proclaimed, that "there is but one God," was
universally adopted by his countrymen, and his own apostleship
accepted

DEATH OF MOHAMMED. Let us pass over his stormy life, and hear
what he says when, on the pinnacle of earthly power and glory, he
was approaching its close.

Steadfast in his declaration of the unity of God, he departed
from Medina on his last pilgrimage to Mecca, at the head of one
hundred and fourteen thousand devotees, with camels decorated
with garlands of flowers and fluttering streamers. When he
approached the holy city, he uttered the solemn invocation: "Here
am I in thy service, O God! Thou hast no companion. To thee alone
belongeth worship. Thine alone is the kingdom. There is none to
share it with thee."

With his own hand he offered up the camels in sacrifice. He
considered that primeval institution to be equally sacred as
prayer, and that no reason can be alleged in support of the one
which is not equally strong in support of the other.