Mohammed now destroyed all the idols he could lay his hands upon; and, going forward in the same course he had begun, and now at the head of 30,000 men, he marched into Syria, claiming homage from all he conquered, and soon became the master of the whole of Arabia. He forced his religion upon the inhabitants, but allowed the Christians free toleration. In the tenth year of the Hegira, Mohammed took his farewell pilgrimage to Mecca; and on this occasion he was surrounded with the utmost splendor, and attended by 100,000 of his friends and followers. This was the last and most important event of his life; for, soon after his return to Medina, he died, in the eleventh year of the Hegira, and in the sixty-third year of his age. [Illustration] A Fourth of July Oration,[1] BY ONE ALCOHOL. Ladies and Gentlemen,――This is a great day――a day of independence. It is a day upon which myself and one Gunpowder, have long been accustomed to make a display. I hope that the foolish attempt to celebrate the fourth of July without us, will be frowned down. Who ever thought of being funny without being fuddled? Who ever thought of being truly independent, and setting all law and gospel at defiance, without my help? Ladies and gentlemen, I am a great character. Forgive me, if, on this glorious occasion, I set forth my merits. It is one of my privileges, as well as that of my subjects, to be boastful and vain-glorious. I shall, therefore, proceed to speak of myself. My name is _Alcohol_! I solicit the favor of your attention to a subject, which lies near my heart. I am a great prince, and, like other distinguished potentates, I have my followers. To thousands and tens of thousands of these, I feel under profound obligations for the homage they have done me. They have loved me to _intoxication_; and, in doing me reverence, have often _fallen_ at my feet. If the heathen prostrate themselves before stocks and stones, may not Christians prostrate themselves before me? Allow me to tell you something of my subjects. Let me expatiate upon their merits. Let me set forth some of their characteristics; and then pronounce your judgment――then say, if monarch ever had higher reason than Alcohol to be proud of his people. And _first_; my followers are remarkably _devoted_. From the standards of Napoleon, Wellington, and even that of Washington, _desertion_ was not uncommon. But, until recently, this crime has scarcely been known in _my_ army. For my sake I have known my friends forsake father and mother, wife and children. Nay, such has been their zeal in my cause, that they have sacrificed property, health, and even life itself. Indeed, I may say, that from a _pure_ devotion to me, thousands have come to an untimely grave.