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156 usurpation of the title of a prophet of God was doubtlessly a plot which had been maturely formed, and his expectations of its ultimate success were entirely grounded on the political state of the age. He had watched with no eye of unconcern the two great rival empires tearing each other to pieces, and he had ventured from the first to promise his followers the plunder of the treasures of Khosroës and of Cæsar. He saw how readily the Arabs of the north embraced the new faith of the Christians, and he doubted not that a new religion, formed agreeable to their character, and seconded by the pretence of a divine mission, would be equally successful among the Arabs of the interior. His first attempts, which were made on his own family and relations, were enforced by dint of persuasion and deception. When, however, he began to make public his pretensions, he met with greater opposition than perhaps he had expected; the Koreish were bigotted to their old