and in its neighbourhood there were found many idols, such as, Hobal, Lat, Ozza, Manah, Wadd, Sawa, Yaghut, Nasr, Isaf, Naila, etc. A black stone in the temple wall was regarded with superstitious awe as eminently sacred. It is not quite clear what was the origin of the worship of this black stone: whether it was held to be supernatural as being an aërolite; or whether its supposed sanctity was a relic of the stone-worship anciently more or less prevalent in Arabia; or whether it had some connection with the Eastern practice of erecting stone altars for the purpose of sacrifices, and stone pillars as monuments of gratitude for Divine favours, a practice which we meet with in the history of the Patriarchs. The attempt of the Mussulmans to derive, it direct from a stone altar or pillar, erected by Abraham and his son Ishmael, in that identical locality, is altogether unsupported by history, and, in fact, flagrantly contrary to the Biblical record of the life of Abraham and his son. The pagan character of the temple is sufficiently marked by the statement of Mohammedan writers that before its purification by their Prophet, it contained no less than 360 idols, as many as there were days in their year; and that on its walls were painted the figures of angels, prophets, saints, including those of Abraham and Ishmael, and even of the Virgin Mary with her infant Son.

The Meccan religion was therefore not one of a narrow, exclusive kind, but so elastic and comprehensive that its temple could well serve as the national sanctuary for entire Arabia. This was in perfect agreement with the relatively liberal spirit and enlarged horizon of the Meccans as habitual travellers and intelligent merchants. Their commercial interests brought them into contact with the professors of many different religions, and dictated to them the policy of living in friendship with them all. They were thus prepared to tolerate and recognise the various creeds, and to please the Heathens, the Ishmaelites, the Jews, and the Christians alike, by opening the Kaaba to the several objects of their veneration. From the same latitudinarian standpoint they were also afterwards by no means indisposed to recognise Mohammed as a prophet: if he, in return, had but continued to acknowledge their idols as useful mediators, and as worthy

of worship. They only opposed him when he claimed an exclusive right for his new way, and wished to abolish the old religion altogether.

The influence exercised by the sanctuary of Mecca over the Arabian tribes, far and near, was very considerable: it was, in fact, the greatest national power, and the most extensively recognised authority then existing in all Arabia. The Kaaba was looked upon as the Beit Ullah or House of God, where Divine revelations and decisions were sought in doubts, difficulties, and disputes. The reputed sanctity of the temple extended to the whole surrounding district, which was treated as Haram, or an inviolable territory, at whose border all hostilities and combats had to be hushed. To facilitate the pilgrimage to this national Holy Place, from even the remotest provinces, four months of every year were set apart as sacred, during which all feuds and wars had to cease throughout the land, so that every one might travel without danger or molestation. In consequence, multitudes from every part of Arabia annually flocked to Mecca to worship at God's Holy House, whose very guardians were looked upon with special respect and reverence. The people of Mecca were fully sensible of their dignity and privilege, as the keepers and ministers of the national temple. Amongst their leading families the right of directing the ritual observances during the annual pilgrimage, the prerogative of providing the pilgrims with food and water, and the honour of keeping the key of the Kaaba, were considered so desirable and valuable as often to become the cause of mutual jealousy and even of sanguinary conflicts.

It is therefore no matter of surprise, but a thing to be reasonably expected, that, in case a native of Mecca were to conceive the idea of establishing a power over the scattered tribes of Arabia, and of uniting them under one central government, he should avail himself of a means already in existence and with which he had been familiar from his youth. Mohammed, with great practical insight and shrewdness, seized on this advantage and retained the heathen shrine of his native city as the local centre of Islam. He sanctioned it by his own example as a place of religious pilgrimage for all his followers; and though, after his flight to Medina, he