Perhaps the incontinence of Mahomet may be palliated by the tradition of his natural or preternatural gifts; [162] he united the manly virtue of thirty of the children of Adam: and the apostle might rival the thirteenth labor [163] of the Grecian Hercules.

[164] A more serious and decent excuse may be drawn from his fidelity to Cadijah.

During the twenty-four years of their marriage, her youthful husband abstained from the right of polygamy, and the pride or tenderness of the venerable matron was never insulted by the society of a rival.

After her death, he placed her in the rank of the four perfect women, with the sister of Moses, the mother of Jesus, and Fatima, the best beloved of his daughters.

"Was she not old ?" said Ayesha, with the insolence of a blooming beauty; "has not God given you a better in her place ?" "No, by God," said Mahomet, with an effusion of honest gratitude, "there never can be a better! She believed in me when men despised me; she relieved my wants, when I was poor and persecuted by the world." [165] [Footnote 158: For the domestic life of Mahomet, consult Gagnier, and the corresponding chapters of Abulfeda; for his diet, (tom.iii.