Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-08-22

Mahomet had inherited the rare per-
sonal attractions of Abdullah and
Amina (his parents.) He was tall,
graceful and dignified. his countenance
engaging, his eyes dark and lustrous !:
his thick black beard reached down
upon his breast: intelligence and PEN
sive melancholy marked his carriage !;
he spoke seldom, yet always in language
musical and refined: sometimes he
broke into sallies of humor and loud
peals of laughter; he was passionate but
forgiving, gentle Vet full of dignity.
"Never did he speak to me an unkind
word" said one of his slaves of him.
Yet his air was so commanding and
austere as at times to awaken an indi-
scribable awe. \ vein in his forehead
swelled in his moments of excitement,
and his eyes, bloodshot and restless.
seldom fixed upon any single object,
but were full of the inspiration or the
poetry of prophet or a seer.
Khadijah, who had been sought in
marriage by many noble Meccans, had
rejected every offer, and lived in retire
ment, adding to her large fortune by a
successful trade. Mahomet alone had
won her heart. Yet we are told she
hesitated how To make known her pre-
ference, and sister or servant op-
pOrtunely lent her aid, went to the
young man and said. ''What is il, .
Mahomet, that keeps thee from marry
ing?" Il have nothing" he replied,
''in my hands wherewith to marry"
"But what if some beautiful and
wealthy lady should offer to place thee
in afiluence, would'st thou have her?"
"And who can that be?" said the as
tonished Mahomet 1T is khadijah.
"But how can aspire to herr" LET
that be my care" said the confidante.
II am ready" he said. And the SER
want went to tell all to Khadijah. But
one obstacle seemed still TO threaten
discontinue to all their hopes; for
Khadijah's father, powerful and
wealthy Meccan, was certain to refuse
to bestow his daughter on her poor and
obscure suitor, and a lovers stratagem
was employed to deceive the unsuspic-
ious old man. Hanna, Mahomet's un-
Gle and friend, was hidden To the wedd-
ing. Khadijah prepared feast for her
father, and when he was overpowered
Il. Iii l.. of
and dressed him in mar
riage garment. He woke only to dis
cover that his daughter was married II
the obscure MahOmet. and. full of rage.
denounced the unequal match. Fierce
words were spoken, weapons were
drawn, but the quarrel ended in recon-
ciliation. And thus Mahomet and
Khadijah began their married life with
a pious fraud. The legend is told, not
without reluctance, by the Prophets
most accurate biographers.
Thus raised, Aladdin-like, to sudden
affluence and distinction, Mahomet lived
with his Khadijah in a fair house at
to the traveller. Faithful and devoted
to his generous wife, they dwelt in
together, although that
strange restlessness and peculiar tem-
permanent which had alarmed his
Bedouin nurse in childhood seem never
to have deserted him His busy and
poetic intellect grew cloudy and stormy
IN repose. Often he fed from his fine
house and affluent ease to hide in a
solitary cave on one of the hills above
the city, to give himself to fasting and
and wrestle with the evil
spirits that pursued his path. He kept
the fast of the rajab with austere
severity. His wife, touched by his re-
ligious fervor, or careful of his safety,
went with him TO his cave.
Yet often he was alone, and such wild
visions and fearful anticipations came
upon him that he was nearly driven to
suicide.-Horper's Magazine.