In the seclusion and silence of these hours he conceived and matured his plan for the establishment of a new religion. There were still remnants of the ancient idolatry all around him: and, in his view, idolatry had crept into the Christian Church; for statues of the saints filled the niches of the great cathedrals, and image-worship in churches and convents had become almost universal. The reflections of Mohammed upon this subject must have been profound and long-continued; for he was forty years of age before he commenced active operations in that enterprise which has given him world-wide renown. Mohammed affirmed, that, in his cave, he held interviews with the angel Gabriel, who had inspired him, as the apostles were inspired, to proclaim a new and purer religion. He assumed that the Jewish religion was from God, but that its end was accomplished; that Christianity was true, a divine revelation, but that, having fulfilled the purpose for which it was proclaimed, it was now also to pass away, and give place to a third and final revelation, which God had revealed to Mohammed, his prophet, and which, as the perfection of divine wisdom, was to endure forever. The first disciple he gained was his wife; then some of his relatives and a few neighbors avowed their faith in his divine mission. But progress was very slow. At the close of ten years of tireless perseverance, but very few could be counted among his followers. Then, quite suddenly, converts began to multiply; and he gave them a military organization, boldly declaring that he was divinely empowered to put any one to death who should reject his claims, and that the property of such unbelievers was to be divided among the faithful. The world was just in the situation for a fanatic band of desperate marauders successfully to commence their march. The prospect of booty brought thousands of the vagabonds of Asia to his standard. His first exploit was the capture of a rich caravan, which greatly elated and enriched his followers, and extended his fame. At length, he encountered governmental resistance. His little army was utterly routed; and Mohammed fled, wounded and bleeding, from the field. Though the repulse seemed for a short time to shake the faith of his followers, he soon rallied them by the assurance that it was in consequence of their sins that God had given them this transient reverse, but that God had promised that all who were slain in his battles should be immediately translated to a paradise of exquisite and eternal bliss.