I Cor. vii. 32,33.

Of Zeinab he relates that after Mahomet had thrice sent her her portion of meat she flung it back in his face, whereupon he swore that he would not go near his wives for a whole month; but, not having patience to wait till the end, he approached them after nine-and-twenty days.¹ Safia, the Jewess, was taught by the prophet, when upbraided by her sister-wives, to answer, saying, Aaron is my father, Moses my uncle, and Mahomet my husband. Muleika of the Kinda tribe, when solicited by the prophet to be his wife, exclaimed, What! shall Muleika give herself to a merchantman?² The remaining wives are little more than mentioned by name; in all he had fifteen wives and two slave girls. "Paul, the Apostle, said, He that hath a wife his object is how he may please her, etc.; and he spake the truth, for a man is ever occupied with what may please his wife. Our Saviour also said, No man can serve two masters at one and the same time; he must needs serve one and slight the other. Now, if it be so that a man cannot serve a single wife and please her without neglecting his Maker, how much more must thy Master have been taken up in seeking to please fifteen wives, besides two that were bond-maids? Add to this that he was all the while engaged also in raids and forays and military expeditions, in ordering

his troops for the same, in sending out spies, and in planning how to circumvent his enemies, slay their men, take their women captive, and plunder their goods. How, then, could thy Master find leisure from all these cares and pleasures for fasting and prayer, worship, meditation, and preparation for the life to come? I am very sure that no prophet in olden times resembled him in these things."

Prophecy an evidence of Divine mission (53-57).

The next section is on Prophecy as the evidence of a Divine commission. It is of two kinds. Revelation of the past, accredited by miracles,—as the account by Moses of the Creation, and the ancient history of man. Second;—Revelation of the future, accredited by fulfilment, either immediately, as Isaiah's prediction of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib king of Mosul, and the recovery from sickness of Hezekiah; or at some future time, as the promise of the Holy Land, the return of the Captivity, the coming of the Messiah, His death, and the scattering of the Jews,—foretold by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel. Such evidence was required of all who claimed the prophetic office, and by the issues of the same they were accepted or rejected. The Messiah, the Saviour of the world, was the greatest of all the prophets. These were servants of the great God; but He was His beloved Son, and Himself the inspirer of the prophets. He knew the unseen. No heart was closed, no secret hidden, from Him; and He foretold things to come. In proof are quoted prophecies by Jesus regarding the destruction of the