Page:The Science of History and the Hope of Mankind.djvu/70



and continuity under different forms adapted to these conditions, so also human life undergoes a variety of transformations according to the divergence of the influences and circumstances in the physical and social worlds.

A new religion was preached by Mahomet in the seventh century. The world at the time of his advent was divided into innumerable principalities, the Roman and the Persian Empires being mere bundles or confederacies of independent Consulships and Vizierships. But the unity of godhead preached by the Arabian prophet became a cementing bond to the diverse tribes and nationalities, and forthwith began the process of the overthrow of old and the rise of new kingdoms. In this way the formative