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History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Vol. 5...................................................................1

Introduction, Worship, And Persecution Of Images. Revolt Of Italy And Rome. Temporal Dominion Of

The Popes. Conquest Of Italy By The Franks. Establishment Of Images. Character And Coronation Of

Charlemagne. Restoration And Decay Of The Roman Empire In The West. Independence Of Italy.

In the connection of the church and state, I have considered the former as subservient only, and relative, to

the latter; a salutary maxim, if in fact, as well as in narrative, it had ever been held sacred. The Oriental

philosophy of the Gnostics, the dark abyss of predestination and grace, and the strange transformation of the

Eucharist from the sign to the substance of Christ's body, ^1 I have purposely abandoned to the curiosity of

speculative divines. But I have reviewed, with diligence and pleasure, the objects of ecclesiastical history, by

which the decline and fall of the Roman empire were materially affected, the propagation of Christianity, the

constitution of the Catholic church, the ruin of Paganism, and the sects that arose from the mysterious

controversies concerning the Trinity and incarnation. At the head of this class, we may justly rank the

worship of images, so fiercely disputed in the eighth and ninth centuries; since a question of popular

superstition produced the revolt of Italy, the temporal power of the popes, and the restoration of the Roman

[Footnote 1: The learned Selden has given the history of transubstantiation in a comprehensive and pithy

sentence: "This opinion is only rhetoric turned into logic," (his Works, vol. iii. p. 2037, in his TableTalk.)]

The primitive Christians were possessed with an unconquerable repugnance to the use and abuse of images;

and this aversion may be ascribed to their descent from the Jews, and their enmity to the Greeks. The Mosaic

law had severely proscribed all representations of the Deity; and that precept was firmly established in the

principles and practice of the chosen people. The wit of the Christian apologists was pointed against the

foolish idolaters, who bowed before the workmanship of their own hands; the images of brass and marble,

which, had they been endowed with sense and motion, should have started rather from the pedestal to adore

the creative powers of the artist. ^2 Perhaps some recent and imperfect converts of the Gnostic tribe might

crown the statues of Christ and St. Paul with the profane honors which they paid to those of Aristotle and

Pythagoras; ^3 but the public religion of the Catholics was uniformly simple and spiritual; and the first notice

of the use of pictures is in the censure of the council of Illiberis, three hundred years after the Christian aera.

Under the successors of Constantine, in the peace and luxury of the triumphant church, the more prudent

bishops condescended to indulge a visible superstition, for the benefit of the multitude; and, after the ruin of

Paganism, they were no longer restrained by the apprehension of an odious parallel. The first introduction of

a symbolic worship was in the veneration of the cross, and of relics. The saints and martyrs, whose

intercession was implored, were seated on the right hand if God; but the gracious and often supernatural

favors, which, in the popular belief, were showered round their tomb, conveyed an unquestionable sanction of

the devout pilgrims, who visited, and touched, and kissed these lifeless remains, the memorials of their merits

and sufferings. ^4 But a memorial, more interesting than the skull or the sandals of a departed worthy, is the

faithful copy of his person and features, delineated by the arts of painting or sculpture. In every age, such

copies, so congenial to human feelings, have been cherished by the zeal of private friendship, or public

esteem: the images of the Roman emperors were adored with civil, and almost religious, honors; a reverence

less ostentatious, but more sincere, was applied to the statues of sages and patriots; and these profane virtues,

these splendid sins, disappeared in the presence of the holy men, who had died for their celestial and

everlasting country. At first, the experiment was made with caution and scruple; and the venerable pictures

were discreetly allowed to instruct the ignorant, to awaken the cold, and to gratify the prejudices of the

heathen proselytes. By a slow though inevitable progression, the honors of the original were transferred to the

copy: the devout Christian prayed before the image of a saint; and the Pagan rites of genuflection, luminaries,

and incense, again stole into the Catholic church. The scruples of reason, or piety, were silenced by the strong

evidence of visions and miracles; and the pictures which speak, and move, and bleed, must be endowed with

a divine energy, and may be considered as the proper objects of religious adoration. The most audacious

pencil might tremble in the rash attempt of defining, by forms and colors, the infinite Spirit, the eternal

Father, who pervades and sustains the universe. ^5 But the superstitious mind was more easily reconciled to

paint and to worship the angels, and, above all, the Son of God, under the human shape, which, on earth, they

have condescended to assume. The second person of the Trinity had been clothed with a real and mortal

body; but that body had ascended into heaven: and, had not some similitude been presented to the eyes of his

disciples, the spiritual worship of Christ might have been obliterated by the visible relics and representations

of the saints. A similar indulgence was requisite and propitious for the Virgin Mary: the place of her burial

was unknown; and the assumption of her soul and body into heaven was adopted by the credulity of the

Greeks and Latins. The use, and even the worship, of images was firmly established before the end of the

sixth century: they were fondly cherished by the warm imagination of the Greeks and Asiatics: the Pantheon

and Vatican were adorned with the emblems of a new superstition; but this semblance of idolatry was more

coldly entertained by the rude Barbarians and the Arian clergy of the West. The bolder forms of sculpture, in

brass or marble, which peopled the temples of antiquity, were offensive to the fancy or conscience of the

Christian Greeks: and a smooth surface of colors has ever been esteemed a more decent and harmless mode

of imitation. ^6 [Footnote 2: Nec intelligunt homines ineptissimi, quod si sentire simulacra et moveri possent,

adoratura hominem fuissent a quo sunt expolita. (Divin. Institut. l. ii. c. 2.) Lactantius is the last, as well as

the most eloquent, of the Latin apologists. Their raillery of idols attacks not only the object, but the form and

[Footnote 3: See Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Augustin, (Basnage, Hist. des Eglises Reformees, tom. ii. p.

1313.) This Gnostic practice has a singular affinity with the private worship of Alexander Severus,

[Footnote 4: See this History, vol. ii. p. 261; vol. ii. p. 434; vol. iii. p. 158 163.]

[Footnote 5: (Concilium Nicenum, ii. in Collect. Labb. tom. viii. p. 1025, edit. Venet.) Il seroit peutetre

apropos de ne point souffrir d'images de la Trinite ou de la Divinite; les defenseurs les plus zeles des images

ayant condamne cellesci, et le concile de Trente ne parlant que des images de Jesus Christ et des Saints,

[Footnote 6: This general history of images is drawn from the xxiid book of the Hist. des Eglises Reformees

of Basnage, tom. ii. p. 1310 1337. He was a Protestant, but of a manly spirit; and on this head the

Protestants are so notoriously in the right, that they can venture to be impartial. See the perplexity of poor

The merit and effect of a copy depends on its resemblance with the original; but the primitive Christians were

ignorant of the genuine features of the Son of God, his mother, and his apostles: the statue of Christ at Paneas

in Palestine ^7 was more probably that of some temporal savior; the Gnostics and their profane monuments

were reprobated; and the fancy of the Christian artists could only be guided by the clandestine imitation of

some heathen model. In this distress, a bold and dexterous invention assured at once the likeness of the image

and the innocence of the worship. A new super structure of fable was raised on the popular basis of a Syrian

legend, on the correspondence of Christ and Abgarus, so famous in the days of Eusebius, so reluctantly

deserted by our modern advocates. The bishop of Caesarea ^8 records the epistle, ^9 but he most strangely

forgets the picture of Christ; ^10 the perfect impression of his face on a linen, with which he gratified the

faith of the royal stranger who had invoked his healing power, and offered the strong city of Edessa to protect

him against the malice of the Jews. The ignorance of the primitive church is explained by the long

imprisonment of the image in a niche of the wall, from whence, after an oblivion of five hundred years, it was

released by some prudent bishop, and seasonably presented to the devotion of the times. Its first and most

glorious exploit was the deliverance of the city from the arms of Chosroes Nushirvan; and it was soon

revered as a pledge of the divine promise, that Edessa should never be taken by a foreign enemy. It is true,

indeed, that the text of Procopius ascribes the double deliverance of Edessa to the wealth and valor of her

citizens, who purchased the absence and repelled the assaults of the Persian monarch. He was ignorant, the

profane historian, of the testimony which he is compelled to deliver in the ecclesiastical page of Evagrius,

that the Palladium was exposed on the rampart, and that the water which had been sprinkled on the holy face,

instead of quenching, added new fuel to the flames of the besieged. After this important service, the image of

Edessa was preserved with respect and gratitude; and if the Armenians rejected the legend, the more

credulous Greeks adored the similitude, which was not the work of any mortal pencil, but the immediate

creation of the divine original. The style and sentiments of a Byzantine hymn will declare how far their

worship was removed from the grossest idolatry. "How can we with mortal eyes contemplate this image,

whose celestial splendor the host of heaven presumes not to behold? He who dwells in heaven, condescends

this day to visit us by his venerable image; He who is seated on the cherubim, visits us this day by a picture,

which the Father has delineated with his immaculate hand, which he has formed in an ineffable manner, and

which we sanctify by adoring it with fear and love." Before the end of the sixth century, these images, made

without hands, (in Greek it is a single word, ^11) were propagated in the camps and cities of the Eastern

empire: ^12 they were the objects of worship, and the instruments of miracles; and in the hour of danger or

tumult, their venerable presence could revive the hope, rekindle the courage, or repress the fury, of the

Roman legions. Of these pictures, the far greater part, the transcripts of a human pencil, could only pretend to

a secondary likeness and improper title: but there were some of higher descent, who derived their

resemblance from an immediate contact with the original, endowed, for that purpose, with a miraculous and

prolific virtue. The most ambitious aspired from a filial to a fraternal relation with the image of Edessa; and

such is the veronica of Rome, or Spain, or Jerusalem, which Christ in his agony and bloody sweat applied to

his face, and delivered to a holy matron. The fruitful precedent was speedily transferred to the Virgin Mary,

and the saints and martyrs. In the church of Diospolis, in Palestine, the features of the Mother of God ^13

were deeply inscribed in a marble column; the East and West have been decorated by the pencil of St. Luke;

and the Evangelist, who was perhaps a physician, has been forced to exercise the occupation of a painter, so

profane and odious in the eyes of the primitive Christians. The Olympian Jove, created by the muse of Homer

and the chisel of Phidias, might inspire a philosophic mind with momentary devotion; but these Catholic

images were faintly and flatly delineated by monkish artists in the last degeneracy of taste and genius. ^14

[Footnote 7: After removing some rubbish of miracle and inconsistency, it may be allowed, that as late as the

year 300, Paneas in Palestine was decorated with a bronze statue, representing a grave personage wrapped in

a cloak, with a grateful or suppliant female kneeling before him, and that an inscription was perhaps inscribed

on the pedestal. By the Christians, this group was foolishly explained of their founder and the poor woman

whom he had cured of the bloody flux, (Euseb. vii. 18, Philostorg. vii. 3, M. de Beausobre more reasonably

conjectures the philosopher Apollonius, or the emperor Vespasian: in the latter supposition, the female is a

city, a province, or perhaps the queen Berenice, (Bibliotheque Germanique, tom. xiii. p. 1 92.)]

[Footnote 8: Euseb. Hist. Eccles. l. i. c. 13. The learned Assemannus has brought up the collateral aid of three

Syrians, St. Ephrem, Josua Stylites, and James bishop of Sarug; but I do not find any notice of the Syriac

original or the archives of Edessa, (Bibliot. Orient. tom. i. p. 318, 420, 554;) their vague belief is probably

[Footnote 9: The evidence for these epistles is stated and rejected by the candid Lardner, (Heathen

Testimonies, vol. i. p. 297 309.) Among the herd of bigots who are forcibly driven from this convenient,

but untenable, post, I am ashamed, with the Grabes, Caves, Tillemonts, to discover Mr. Addison, an English

gentleman, (his Works, vol. i. p. 528, Baskerville's edition;) but his superficial tract on the Christian religion

owes its credit to his name, his style, and the interested applause of our clergy.]

[Footnote 10: From the silence of James of Sarug, (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. p. 289, 318,) and the testimony

of Evagrius, (Hist. Eccles. l. iv. c. 27,) I conclude that this fable was invented between the years 521 and 594,

most probably after the siege of Edessa in 540, (Asseman. tom. i. p. 416. Procopius, de Bell. Persic. l. ii.) It is

the sword and buckler of, Gregory II., (in Epist. i. ad. Leon. Isaur. Concil. tom. viii. p. 656, 657,) of John

Damascenus, (Opera, tom. i. p. 281, edit. Lequien,) and of the second Nicene Council, (Actio v. p. 1030.) The

[Footnote 11: See Ducange, in Gloss. Graec. et Lat. The subject is treated with equal learning and bigotry by

the Jesuit Gretser, (Syntagma de Imaginibus non Manu factis, ad calcem Codini de Officiis, p. 289 330,)

the ass, or rather the fox, of Ingoldstadt, (see the Scaligerana;) with equal reason and wit by the Protestant

Beausobre, in the ironical controversy which he has spread through many volumes of the Bibliotheque

Germanique, (tom. xviii. p. 1 50, xx. p. 27 68, xxv. p. 1 36, xxvii. p. 85 118, xxviii. p. 1 33, xxxi. p.

[Footnote 12: Theophylact Simocatta (l. ii. c. 3, p. 34, l. iii. c. 1, p. 63) celebrates it; yet it was no more than a

[Footnote 13: See, in the genuine or supposed works of John Damascenus, two passages on the Virgin and St.

Luke, which have not been noticed by Gretser, nor consequently by Beausobre, (Opera Joh. Damascen. tom.

[Footnote 14: "Your scandalous figures stand quite out from the canvass: they are as bad as a group of

statues!" It was thus that the ignorance and bigotry of a Greek priest applauded the pictures of Titian, which

The worship of images had stolen into the church by insensible degrees, and each petty step was pleasing to

the superstitious mind, as productive of comfort, and innocent of sin. But in the beginning of the eighth

century, in the full magnitude of the abuse, the more timorous Greeks were awakened by an apprehension,

that under the mask of Christianity, they had restored the religion of their fathers: they heard, with grief and

impatience, the name of idolaters; the incessant charge of the Jews and Mahometans, ^15 who derived from

the Law and the Koran an immortal hatred to graven images and all relative worship. The servitude of the

Jews might curb their zeal, and depreciate their authority; but the triumphant Mussulmans, who reigned at

Damascus, and threatened Constantinople, cast into the scale of reproach the accumulated weight of truth and

victory. The cities of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt had been fortified with the images of Christ, his mother, and

his saints; and each city presumed on the hope or promise of miraculous defence. In a rapid conquest of ten

years, the Arabs subdued those cities and these images; and, in their opinion, the Lord of Hosts pronounced a

decisive judgment between the adoration and contempt of these mute and inanimate idols. ^* For a while

Edessa had braved the Persian assaults; but the chosen city, the spouse of Christ, was involved in the

common ruin; and his divine resemblance became the slave and trophy of the infidels. After a servitude of

three hundred years, the Palladium was yielded to the devotion of Constantinople, for a ransom of twelve

thousand pounds of silver, the redemption of two hundred Mussulmans, and a perpetual truce for the territory

of Edessa. ^16 In this season of distress and dismay, the eloquence of the monks was exercised in the defence

of images; and they attempted to prove, that the sin and schism of the greatest part of the Orientals had

forfeited the favor, and annihilated the virtue, of these precious symbols. But they were now opposed by the

murmurs of many simple or rational Christians, who appealed to the evidence of texts, of facts, and of the

primitive times, and secretly desired the reformation of the church. As the worship of images had never been

established by any general or positive law, its progress in the Eastern empire had been retarded, or

accelerated, by the differences of men and manners, the local degrees of refinement, and the personal

characters of the bishops. The splendid devotion was fondly cherished by the levity of the capital, and the

inventive genius of the Byzantine clergy; while the rude and remote districts of Asia were strangers to this

innovation of sacred luxury. Many large congregations of Gnostics and Arians maintained, after their

conversion, the simple worship which had preceded their separation; and the Armenians, the most warlike

subjects of Rome, were not reconciled, in the twelfth century, to the sight of images. ^17 These various

denominations of men afforded a fund of prejudice and aversion, of small account in the villages of Anatolia

or Thrace, but which, in the fortune of a soldier, a prelate, or a eunuch, might be often connected with the

[Footnote 15: By Cedrenus, Zonaras, Glycas, and Manasses, the origin of the Aconoclcasts is imprinted to the

caliph Yezid and two Jews, who promised the empire to Leo; and the reproaches of these hostile sectaries are

turned into an absurd conspiracy for restoring the purity of the Christian worship, (see Spanheim, Hist. Imag.

[Footnote *: Yezid, ninth caliph of the race of the Ommiadae, caused all the images in Syria to be destroyed

about the year 719; hence the orthodox reproaches the sectaries with following the example of the Saracens

and the Jews Fragm. Mon. Johan. Jerosylym. Script. Byzant. vol. xvi. p. 235. Hist. des Repub. Ital. par M.

[Footnote 16: See Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 267,) Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 201,) and Abulfeda, (Annal.

Moslem. p. 264,), and the criticisms of Pagi, (tom. iii. A.D. 944.) The prudent Franciscan refuses to

determine whether the image of Edessa now reposes at Rome or Genoa; but its repose is inglorious, and this

[Footnote 17: (Nicetas, l. ii. p. 258.) The Armenian churches are still content with the Cross, (Missions du

Levant, tom. iii. p. 148;) but surely the superstitious Greek is unjust to the superstition of the Germans of the

Of such adventurers, the most fortunate was the emperor Leo the Third, ^18 who, from the mountains of

Isauria, ascended the throne of the East. He was ignorant of sacred and profane letters; but his education, his

reason, perhaps his intercourse with the Jews and Arabs, had inspired the martial peasant with a hatred of

images; and it was held to be the duty of a prince to impose on his subjects the dictates of his own

conscience. But in the outset of an unsettled reign, during ten years of toil and danger, Leo submitted to the

meanness of hypocrisy, bowed before the idols which he despised, and satisfied the Roman pontiff with the

annual professions of his orthodoxy and zeal. In the reformation of religion, his first steps were moderate and

cautious: he assembled a great council of senators and bishops, and enacted, with their consent, that all the

images should be removed from the sanctuary and altar to a proper height in the churches where they might

be visible to the eyes, and inaccessible to the superstition, of the people. But it was impossible on either side

to check the rapid through adverse impulse of veneration and abhorrence: in their lofty position, the sacred

images still edified their votaries, and reproached the tyrant. He was himself provoked by resistance and

invective; and his own party accused him of an imperfect discharge of his duty, and urged for his imitation

the example of the Jewish king, who had broken without scruple the brazen serpent of the temple. By a

second edict, he proscribed the existence as well as the use of religious pictures; the churches of

Constantinople and the provinces were cleansed from idolatry; the images of Christ, the Virgin, and the

saints, were demolished, or a smooth surface of plaster was spread over the walls of the edifice. The sect of

the Iconoclasts was supported by the zeal and despotism of six emperors, and the East and West were

involved in a noisy conflict of one hundred and twenty years. It was the design of Leo the Isaurian to

pronounce the condemnation of images as an article of faith, and by the authority of a general council: but the

convocation of such an assembly was reserved for his son Constantine; ^19 and though it is stigmatized by

triumphant bigotry as a meeting of fools and atheists, their own partial and mutilated acts betray many

symptoms of reason and piety. The debates and decrees of many provincial synods introduced the summons

of the general council which met in the suburbs of Constantinople, and was composed of the respectable

number of three hundred and thirtyeight bishops of Europe and Anatolia; for the patriarchs of Antioch and

Alexandria were the slaves of the caliph, and the Roman pontiff had withdrawn the churches of Italy and the

West from the communion of the Greeks. This Byzantine synod assumed the rank and powers of the seventh

general council; yet even this title was a recognition of the six preceding assemblies, which had laboriously

built the structure of the Catholic faith. After a serious deliberation of six months, the three hundred and

thirtyeight bishops pronounced and subscribed a unanimous decree, that all visible symbols of Christ,

except in the Eucharist, were either blasphemous or heretical; that imageworship was a corruption of

Christianity and a renewal of Paganism; that all such monuments of idolatry should be broken or erased; and

that those who should refuse to deliver the objects of their private superstition, were guilty of disobedience to

the authority of the church and of the emperor. In their loud and loyal acclamations, they celebrated the

merits of their temporal redeemer; and to his zeal and justice they intrusted the execution of their spiritual

censures. At Constantinople, as in the former councils, the will of the prince was the rule of episcopal faith;

but on this occasion, I am inclined to suspect that a large majority of the prelates sacrificed their secret

conscience to the temptations of hope and fear. In the long night of superstition, the Christians had wandered

far away from the simplicity of the gospel: nor was it easy for them to discern the clew, and tread back the

mazes, of the labyrinth. The worship of images was inseparably blended, at least to a pious fancy, with the

Cross, the Virgin, the Saints and their relics; the holy ground was involved in a cloud of miracles and visions;

and the nerves of the mind, curiosity and scepticism, were benumbed by the habits of obedience and belief.

Constantine himself is accused of indulging a royal license to doubt, or deny, or deride the mysteries of the

Catholics, ^20 but they were deeply inscribed in the public and private creed of his bishops; and the boldest

Iconoclast might assault with a secret horror the monuments of popular devotion, which were consecrated to

the honor of his celestial patrons. In the reformation of the sixteenth century, freedom and knowledge had

expanded all the faculties of man: the thirst of innovation superseded the reverence of antiquity; and the vigor

of Europe could disdain those phantoms which terrified the sickly and servile weakness of the Greeks.

[Footnote 18: Our original, but not impartial, monuments of the Iconoclasts must be drawn from the Acts of

the Councils, tom. viii. and ix. Collect. Labbe, edit. Venet. and the historical writings of Theophanes,

Nicephorus, Manasses, Cedrenus, Zonoras, Of the modern Catholics, Baronius, Pagi, Natalis Alexander,

(Hist. Eccles. Seculum viii. and ix.,) and Maimbourg, (Hist. des Iconoclasts,) have treated the subject with

learning, passion, and credulity. The Protestant labors of Frederick Spanheim (Historia Imaginum restituta)

and James Basnage (Hist. des Eglises Reformees, tom. ii. l. xxiiii. p. 1339 1385) are cast into the Iconoclast

scale. With this mutual aid, and opposite tendency, it is easy for us to poise the balance with philosophic

Note: Compare Schlosser, Geschichte der Bildersturmender Kaiser, Frankfurt amMain 1812 a book of

[Footnote 19: Some flowers of rhetoric. By Damascenus is styled , (Opera, tom. i. p. 623.) Spanheim's

Apology for the Synod of Constantinople (p. 171, is worked up with truth and ingenuity, from such materials

as he could find in the Nicene Acts, (p. 1046, The witty John of Damascus converts it into slaves of their

[Footnote 20: He is accused of proscribing the title of saint; styling the Virgin, Mother of Christ; comparing

her after her delivery to an empty purse of Arianism, Nestorianism, In his defence, Spanheim (c. iv. p. 207) is

somewhat embarrassed between the interest of a Protestant and the duty of an orthodox divine.]

The scandal of an abstract heresy can be only proclaimed to the people by the blast of the ecclesiastical

trumpet; but the most ignorant can perceive, the most torpid must feel, the profanation and downfall of their

visible deities. The first hostilities of Leo were directed against a lofty Christ on the vestibule, and above the

gate, of the palace. A ladder had been planted for the assault, but it was furiously shaken by a crowd of

zealots and women: they beheld, with pious transport, the ministers of sacrilege tumbling from on high and

dashed against the pavement: and the honors of the ancient martyrs were prostituted to these criminals, who

justly suffered for murder and rebellion. ^21 The execution of the Imperial edicts was resisted by frequent

tumults in Constantinople and the provinces: the person of Leo was endangered, his officers were massacred,

and the popular enthusiasm was quelled by the strongest efforts of the civil and military power. Of the

Archipelago, or Holy Sea, the numerous islands were filled with images and monks: their votaries abjured,

without scruple, the enemy of Christ, his mother, and the saints; they armed a fleet of boats and galleys,

displayed their consecrated banners, and boldly steered for the harbor of Constantinople, to place on the

throne a new favorite of God and the people. They depended on the succor of a miracle: but their miracles

were inefficient against the Greek fire; and, after the defeat and conflagration of the fleet, the naked islands

were abandoned to the clemency or justice of the conqueror. The son of Leo, in the first year of his reign, had

undertaken an expedition against the Saracens: during his absence, the capital, the palace, and the purple,

were occupied by his kinsman Artavasdes, the ambitious champion of the orthodox faith. The worship of

images was triumphantly restored: the patriarch renounced his dissimulation, or dissembled his sentiments

and the righteous claims of the usurper was acknowledged, both in the new, and in ancient, Rome.

Constantine flew for refuge to his paternal mountains; but he descended at the head of the bold and

affectionate Isaurians; and his final victory confounded the arms and predictions of the fanatics. His long

reign was distracted with clamor, sedition, conspiracy, and mutual hatred, and sanguinary revenge; the

persecution of images was the motive or pretence, of his adversaries; and, if they missed a temporal diadem,

they were rewarded by the Greeks with the crown of martyrdom. In every act of open and clandestine

treason, the emperor felt the unforgiving enmity of the monks, the faithful slaves of the superstition to which

they owed their riches and influence. They prayed, they preached, they absolved, they inflamed, they

conspired; the solitude of Palestine poured forth a torrent of invective; and the pen of St. John Damascenus,

^22 the last of the Greek fathers, devoted the tyrant's head, both in this world and the next. ^23 ^* I am not at

leisure to examine how far the monks provoked, nor how much they have exaggerated, their real and

pretended sufferings, nor how many lost their lives or limbs, their eyes or their beards, by the cruelty of the

emperor. ^! From the chastisement of individuals, he proceeded to the abolition of the order; and, as it was

wealthy and useless, his resentment might be stimulated by avarice, and justified by patriotism. The

formidable name and mission of the Dragon, ^24 his visitorgeneral, excited the terror and abhorrence of the

black nation: the religious communities were dissolved, the buildings were converted into magazines, or bar

racks; the lands, movables, and cattle were confiscated; and our modern precedents will support the charge,

that much wanton or malicious havoc was exercised against the relics, and even the books of the monasteries.

With the habit and profession of monks, the public and private worship of images was rigorously proscribed;

and it should seem, that a solemn abjuration of idolatry was exacted from the subjects, or at least from the

clergy, of the Eastern empire. ^25 [Footnote 21: The holy confessor Theophanes approves the principle of

their rebellion, (p. 339.) Gregory II. (in Epist. i. ad Imp. Leon. Concil. tom. viii. p. 661, 664) applauds the

[Footnote 22: John, or Mansur, was a noble Christian of Damascus, who held a considerable office in the

service of the caliph. His zeal in the cause of images exposed him to the resentment and treachery of the

Greek emperor; and on the suspicion of a treasonable correspondence, he was deprived of his right hand,

which was miraculously restored by the Virgin. After this deliverance, he resigned his office, distributed his

wealth, and buried himself in the monastery of St. Sabas, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The legend is

famous; but his learned editor, Father Lequien, has a unluckily proved that St. John Damascenus was already

a monk before the Iconoclast dispute, (Opera, tom. i. Vit. St. Joan. Damascen. p. 10 13, et Notas ad loc.)]

[Footnote 23: After sending Leo to the devil, he introduces his heir, (Opera, Damascen. tom. i. p. 625.) If the

authenticity of this piece be suspicious, we are sure that in other works, no longer extant, Damascenus

[Footnote *: The patriarch Anastasius, an Iconoclast under Leo, an image worshipper under Artavasdes, was

scourged, led through the streets on an ass, with his face to the tail; and, reinvested in his dignity, became

again the obsequious minister of Constantine in his Iconoclastic persecutions. See Schlosser p. 211. M.]

[Footnote 24: In the narrative of this persecution from Theophanes and Cedreves, Spanheim (p. 235 238) is

happy to compare the Draco of Leo with the dragoons (Dracones) of Louis XIV.; and highly solaces himself

[Footnote 25: (Damascen. Op. tom. i. p. 625.) This oath and subscription I do not remember to have seen in

The patient East abjured, with reluctance, her sacred images; they were fondly cherished, and vigorously

defended, by the independent zeal of the Italians. In ecclesiastical rank and jurisdiction, the patriarch of

Constantinople and the pope of Rome were nearly equal. But the Greek prelate was a domestic slave under

the eye of his master, at whose nod he alternately passed from the convent to the throne, and from the throne

to the convent. A distant and dangerous station, amidst the Barbarians of the West, excited the spirit and

freedom of the Latin bishops. Their popular election endeared them to the Romans: the public and private

indigence was relieved by their ample revenue; and the weakness or neglect of the emperors compelled them

to consult, both in peace and war, the temporal safety of the city. In the school of adversity the priest

insensibly imbibed the virtues and the ambition of a prince; the same character was assumed, the same policy

was adopted, by the Italian, the Greek, or the Syrian, who ascended the chair of St. Peter; and, after the loss

of her legions and provinces, the genius and fortune of the popes again restored the supremacy of Rome. It is

agreed, that in the eighth century, their dominion was founded on rebellion, and that the rebellion was

produced, and justified, by the heresy of the Iconoclasts; but the conduct of the second and third Gregory, in

this memorable contest, is variously interpreted by the wishes of their friends and enemies. The Byzantine

writers unanimously declare, that, after a fruitless admonition, they pronounced the separation of the East and

West, and deprived the sacrilegious tyrant of the revenue and sovereignty of Italy. Their excommunication is

still more clearly expressed by the Greeks, who beheld the accomplishment of the papal triumphs; and as they

are more strongly attached to their religion than to their country, they praise, instead of blaming, the zeal and

orthodoxy of these apostolical men. ^26 The modern champions of Rome are eager to accept the praise and

the precedent: this great and glorious example of the deposition of royal heretics is celebrated by the cardinals

Baronius and Bellarmine; ^27 and if they are asked, why the same thunders were not hurled against the Neros

and Julians of antiquity, they reply, that the weakness of the primitive church was the sole cause of her

patient loyalty. ^28 On this occasion the effects of love and hatred are the same; and the zealous Protestants,

who seek to kindle the indignation, and to alarm the fears, of princes and magistrates, expatiate on the

insolence and treason of the two Gregories against their lawful sovereign. ^29 They are defended only by the

moderate Catholics, for the most part, of the Gallican church, ^30 who respect the saint, without approving

the sin. These common advocates of the crown and the mitre circumscribe the truth of facts by the rule of

equity, Scripture, and tradition, and appeal to the evidence of the Latins, ^31 and the lives ^32 and epistles of

[Footnote 26: Theophanes. (Chronograph. p. 343.) For this Gregory is styled by Cedrenus . (p. 450.) Zonaras

specifies the thunder, (tom. ii. l. xv. p. 104, 105.) It may be observed, that the Greeks are apt to confound the

[Footnote 27: See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 730, No. 4, 5; dignum exemplum! Bellarmin. de Romano

Pontifice, l. v. c. 8: mulctavit eum parte imperii. Sigonius, de Regno Italiae, l. iii. Opera, tom. ii. p. 169. Yet

such is the change of Italy, that Sigonius is corrected by the editor of Milan, Philipus Argelatus, a Bolognese,

[Footnote 28: Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem aut Julianum, id fuit quia deerant vires

temporales Christianis, (honest Bellarmine, de Rom. Pont. l. v. c. 7.) Cardinal Perron adds a distinction more

honorable to the first Christians, but not more satisfactory to modern princes the treason of heretics and

apostates, who break their oath, belie their coin, and renounce their allegiance to Christ and his vicar,

[Footnote 29: Take, as a specimen, the cautious Basnage (Hist. d'Eglise, p. 1350, 1351) and the vehement

Spanheim, (Hist. Imaginum,) who, with a hundred more, tread in the footsteps of the centuriators of

[Footnote 30: See Launoy, (Opera, tom. v. pars ii. epist. vii. 7, p. 456 474,) Natalis Alexander, (Hist. Nov.

Testamenti, secul. viii. dissert. i. p. 92 98,) Pagi, (Critica, tom. iii. p. 215, 216,) and Giannone, (Istoria

Civile Napoli, tom. i. p. 317 320,) a disciple of the Gallican school In the field of controversy I always pity

the moderate party, who stand on the open middle ground exposed to the fire of both sides.]

[Footnote 31: They appeal to Paul Warnefrid, or Diaconus, (de Gestis Langobard. l. vi. c. 49, p. 506, 507, in

Script. Ital. Muratori, tom. i. pars i.,) and the nominal Anastasius, (de Vit. Pont. in Muratori, tom. iii. pars i.

Gregorius II. p. 154. Gregorius III. p. 158. Zacharias, p. 161. Stephanus III. p. 165. Paulus, p. 172. Stephanus

IV. p. 174. Hadrianus, p. 179. Leo III. p. 195.) Yet I may remark, that the true Anastasius (Hist. Eccles. p.

134, edit. Reg.) and the Historia Miscella, (l. xxi. p. 151, in tom. i. Script. Ital.,) both of the ixth century,

[Footnote 32: With some minute difference, the most learned critics, Lucas Holstenius, Schelestrate,

Ciampini, Bianchini, Muratori, (Prolegomena ad tom. iii. pars i.,) are agreed that the Liber Pontificalis was

composed and continued by the apostolic librarians and notaries of the viiith and ixth centuries; and that the

last and smallest part is the work of Anastasius, whose name it bears. The style is barbarous, the narrative

partial, the details are trifling yet it must be read as a curious and authentic record of the times. The epistles

Two original epistles, from Gregory the Second to the emperor Leo, are still extant; ^33 and if they cannot be

praised as the most perfect models of eloquence and logic, they exhibit the portrait, or at least the mask, of

the founder of the papal monarchy. "During ten pure and fortunate years," says Gregory to the emperor, "we

have tasted the annual comfort of your royal letters, subscribed in purple ink, with your own hand, the sacred

pledges of your attachment to the orthodox creed of our fathers. How deplorable is the change! how

tremendous the scandal! You now accuse the Catholics of idolatry; and, by the accusation, you betray your

own impiety and ignorance. To this ignorance we are compelled to adapt the grossness of our style and

arguments: the first elements of holy letters are sufficient for your confusion; and were you to enter a

grammarschool, and avow yourself the enemy of our worship, the simple and pious children would be

provoked to cast their hornbooks at your head." After this decent salutation, the pope attempts the usual

distinction between the idols of antiquity and the Christian images. The former were the fanciful

representations of phantoms or daemons, at a time when the true God had not manifested his person in any

visible likeness. The latter are the genuine forms of Christ, his mother, and his saints, who had approved, by a

crowd of miracles, the innocence and merit of this relative worship. He must indeed have trusted to the

ignorance of Leo, since he could assert the perpetual use of images, from the apostolic age, and their

venerable presence in the six synods of the Catholic church. A more specious argument is drawn from present

possession and recent practice the harmony of the Christian world supersedes the demand of a general

council; and Gregory frankly confesses, than such assemblies can only be useful under the reign of an

orthodox prince. To the impudent and inhuman Leo, more guilty than a heretic, he recommends peace,

silence, and implicit obedience to his spiritual guides of Constantinople and Rome. The limits of civil and

ecclesiastical powers are defined by the pontiff. To the former he appropriates the body; to the latter, the soul:

the sword of justice is in the hands of the magistrate: the more formidable weapon of excommunication is

intrusted to the clergy; and in the exercise of their divine commission a zealous son will not spare his

offending father: the successor of St. Peter may lawfully chastise the kings of the earth. "You assault us, O

tyrant! with a carnal and military hand: unarmed and naked we can only implore the Christ, the prince of the

heavenly host, that he will send unto you a devil, for the destruction of your body and the salvation of your

soul. You declare, with foolish arrogance, I will despatch my orders to Rome: I will break in pieces the image

of St. Peter; and Gregory, like his predecessor Martin, shall be transported in chains, and in exile, to the foot

of the Imperial throne. Would to God that I might be permitted to tread in the footsteps of the holy Martin!

but may the fate of Constans serve as a warning to the persecutors of the church! After his just condemnation

by the bishops of Sicily, the tyrant was cut off, in the fullness of his sins, by a domestic servant: the saint is

still adored by the nations of Scythia, among whom he ended his banishment and his life. But it is our duty to

live for the edification and support of the faithful people; nor are we reduced to risk our safety on the event of

a combat. Incapable as you are of defending your Roman subjects, the maritime situation of the city may

perhaps expose it to your depredation but we can remove to the distance of fourandtwenty stadia, to the

first fortress of the Lombards, and then you may pursue the winds. Are you ignorant that the popes are the

bond of union, the mediators of peace, between the East and West? The eyes of the nations are fixed on our

humility; and they revere, as a God upon earth, the apostle St. Peter, whose image you threaten to destroy.

^35 The remote and interior kingdoms of the West present their homage to Christ and his vicegerent; and we

now prepare to visit one of their most powerful monarchs, who desires to receive from our hands the

sacrament of baptism. ^36 The Barbarians have submitted to the yoke of the gospel, while you alone are deaf

to the voice of the shepherd. These pious Barbarians are kindled into rage: they thirst to avenge the

persecution of the East. Abandon your rash and fatal enterprise; reflect, tremble, and repent. If you persist, we

are innocent of the blood that will be spilt in the contest; may it fall on your own head!" [Footnote 33: The

two epistles of Gregory II. have been preserved in the Acta of the Nicene Council, (tom. viii. p. 651 674.)

They are without a date, which is variously fixed, by Baronius in the year 726, by Muratori (Annali d'Italia,

tom. vi. p. 120) in 729, and by Pagi in 730. Such is the force of prejudice, that some papists have praised the

[Footnote 34: (Epist. i. p. 664.) This proximity of the Lombards is hard of digestion. Camillo Pellegrini

(Dissert. iv. de Ducatu Beneventi, in the Script. Ital. tom. v. p. 172, 173) forcibly reckons the xxivth stadia,

not from Rome, but from the limits of the Roman duchy, to the first fortress, perhaps Sora, of the Lombards. I

rather believe that Gregory, with the pedantry of the age, employs stadia for miles, without much inquiry into

[Footnote 36: (p. 665.) The pope appears to have imposed on the ignorance of the Greeks: he lived and died

in the Lateran; and in his time all the kingdoms of the West had embraced Christianity. May not this

unknown Septetus have some reference to the chief of the Saxon Heptarchy, to Ina king of Wessex, who, in

the pontificate of Gregory the Second, visited Rome for the purpose, not of baptism, but of pilgrimage! Pagi.

The first assault of Leo against the images of Constantinople had been witnessed by a crowd of strangers

from Italy and the West, who related with grief and indignation the sacrilege of the emperor. But on the

reception of his proscriptive edict, they trembled for their domestic deities: the images of Christ and the

Virgin, of the angels, martyrs, and saints, were abolished in all the churches of Italy; and a strong alternative

was proposed to the Roman pontiff, the royal favor as the price of his compliance, degradation and exile as

the penalty of his disobedience. Neither zeal nor policy allowed him to hesitate; and the haughty strain in

which Gregory addressed the emperor displays his confidence in the truth of his doctrine or the powers of

resistance. Without depending on prayers or miracles, he boldly armed against the public enemy, and his

pastoral letters admonished the Italians of their danger and their duty. ^37 At this signal, Ravenna, Venice,

and the cities of the Exarchate and Pentapolis, adhered to the cause of religion; their military force by sea and

land consisted, for the most part, of the natives; and the spirit of patriotism and zeal was transfused into the

mercenary strangers. The Italians swore to live and die in the defence of the pope and the holy images; the

Roman people was devoted to their father, and even the Lombards were ambitious to share the merit and

advantage of this holy war. The most treasonable act, but the most obvious revenge, was the destruction of

the statues of Leo himself: the most effectual and pleasing measure of rebellion, was the withholding the

tribute of Italy, and depriving him of a power which he had recently abused by the imposition of a new

capitation. ^38 A form of administration was preserved by the election of magistrates and governors; and so

high was the public indignation, that the Italians were prepared to create an orthodox emperor, and to conduct

him with a fleet and army to the palace of Constantinople. In that palace, the Roman bishops, the second and

third Gregory, were condemned as the authors of the revolt, and every attempt was made, either by fraud or

force, to seize their persons, and to strike at their lives. The city was repeatedly visited or assaulted by

captains of the guards, and dukes and exarchs of high dignity or secret trust; they landed with foreign troops,

they obtained some domestic aid, and the superstition of Naples may blush that her fathers were attached to

the cause of heresy. But these clandestine or open attacks were repelled by the courage and vigilance of the

Romans; the Greeks were overthrown and massacred, their leaders suffered an ignominious death, and the

popes, however inclined to mercy, refused to intercede for these guilty victims. At Ravenna, ^39 the several

quarters of the city had long exercised a bloody and hereditary feud; in religious controversy they found a

new aliment of faction: but the votaries of images were superior in numbers or spirit, and the exarch, who

attempted to stem the torrent, lost his life in a popular sedition. To punish this flagitious deed, and restore his

dominion in Italy, the emperor sent a fleet and army into the Adriatic Gulf. After suffering from the winds

and waves much loss and delay, the Greeks made their descent in the neighborhood of Ravenna: they

threatened to depopulate the guilty capital, and to imitate, perhaps to surpass, the example of Justinian the

Second, who had chastised a former rebellion by the choice and execution of fifty of the principal inhabitants.

The women and clergy, in sackcloth and ashes, lay prostrate in prayer: the men were in arms for the defence

of their country; the common danger had united the factions, and the event of a battle was preferred to the

slow miseries of a siege. In a hardfought day, as the two armies alternately yielded and advanced, a

phantom was seen, a voice was heard, and Ravenna was victorious by the assurance of victory. The strangers

retreated to their ships, but the populous seacoast poured forth a multitude of boats; the waters of the Po

were so deeply infected with blood, that during six years the public prejudice abstained from the fish of the

river; and the institution of an annual feast perpetuated the worship of images, and the abhorrence of the

Greek tyrant. Amidst the triumph of the Catholic arms, the Roman pontiff convened a synod of ninetythree

bishops against the heresy of the Iconoclasts. With their consent, he pronounced a general excommunication

against all who by word or deed should attack the tradition of the fathers and the images of the saints: in this

sentence the emperor was tacitly involved, ^40 but the vote of a last and hopeless remonstrance may seem to

imply that the anathema was yet suspended over his guilty head. No sooner had they confirmed their own

safety, the worship of images, and the freedom of Rome and Italy, than the popes appear to have relaxed of

their severity, and to have spared the relics of the Byzantine dominion. Their moderate councils delayed and

prevented the election of a new emperor, and they exhorted the Italians not to separate from the body of the

Roman monarchy. The exarch was permitted to reside within the walls of Ravenna, a captive rather than a

master; and till the Imperial coronation of Charlemagne, the government of Rome and Italy was exercised in

the name of the successors of Constantine. ^41 [Footnote 37: I shall transcribe the important and decisive

passage of the Liber Pontificalis. Respiciens ergo pius vir profanam principis jussionem, jam contra

Imperatorem quasi contra hostem se armavit, renuens haeresim ejus, scribens ubique se cavere Christianos,

eo quod orta fuisset impietas talis. Igitur permoti omnes Pentapolenses, atque Venetiarum exercitus contra

Imperatoris jussionem restiterunt; dicentes se nunquam in ejusdem pontificis condescendere necem, sed pro

[Footnote 38: A census, or capitation, says Anastasius, (p. 156;) a most cruel tax, unknown to the Saracens

themselves, exclaims the zealous Maimbourg, (Hist. des Iconoclastes, l. i.,) and Theophanes, (p. 344,) who

talks of Pharaoh's numbering the male children of Israel. This mode of taxation was familiar to the Saracens;

and, most unluckily for the historians, it was imposed a few years afterwards in France by his patron Louis

[Footnote 39: See the Liber Pontificalis of Agnellus, (in the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum of Muratori, tom. ii.

pars i.,) whose deeper shade of barbarism marks the difference between Rome and Ravenna. Yet we are

indebted to him for some curious and domestic facts the quarters and factions of Ravenna, (p. 154,) the

revenge of Justinian II, (p. 160, 161,) the defeat of the Greeks, (p. 170, 171,)

[Footnote 40: Yet Leo was undoubtedly comprised in the si quis .... imaginum sacrarum .... destructor ....

extiterit, sit extorris a cor pore D. N. Jesu Christi vel totius ecclesiae unitate. The canonists may decide

whether the guilt or the name constitutes the excommunication; and the decision is of the last importance to

their safety, since, according to the oracle (Gratian, Caus. xxiii. q. 5, 47, apud Spanheim, Hist. Imag. p. 112)

[Footnote 41: Compescuit tale consilium Pontifex, sperans conversionem principis, (Anastas. p. 156.) Sed ne

desisterent ab amore et fide R. J. admonebat, (p. 157.) The popes style Leo and Constantine Copronymus,

Imperatores et Domini, with the strange epithet of Piissimi. A famous Mosaic of the Lateran (A.D. 798)

represents Christ, who delivers the keys to St. Peter and the banner to Constantine V. (Muratori, Annali

The liberty of Rome, which had been oppressed by the arms and arts of Augustus, was rescued, after seven

hundred and fifty years of servitude, from the persecution of Leo the Isaurian. By the Caesars, the triumphs of

the consuls had been annihilated: in the decline and fall of the empire, the god Terminus, the sacred

boundary, had insensibly receded from the ocean, the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates; and Rome was

reduced to her ancient territory from Viterbo to Terracina, and from Narni to the mouth of the Tyber. ^42

When the kings were banished, the republic reposed on the firm basis which had been founded by their

wisdom and virtue. Their perpetual jurisdiction was divided between two annual magistrates: the senate

continued to exercise the powers of administration and counsel; and the legislative authority was distributed

in the assemblies of the people, by a wellproportioned scale of property and service. Ignorant of the arts of

luxury, the primitive Romans had improved the science of government and war: the will of the community

was absolute: the rights of individuals were sacred: one hundred and thirty thousand citizens were armed for

defence or conquest; and a band of robbers and outlaws was moulded into a nation deserving of freedom and

ambitious of glory. ^43 When the sovereignty of the Greek emperors was extinguished, the ruins of Rome

presented the sad image of depopulation and decay: her slavery was a habit, her liberty an accident; the effect

of superstition, and the object of her own amazement and terror. The last vestige of the substance, or even the

forms, of the constitution, was obliterated from the practice and memory of the Romans; and they were

devoid of knowledge, or virtue, again to build the fabric of a commonwealth. Their scanty remnant, the

offspring of slaves and strangers, was despicable in the eyes of the victorious Barbarians. As often as the

Franks or Lombards expressed their most bitter contempt of a foe, they called him a Roman; "and in this

name," says the bishop Liutprand, "we include whatever is base, whatever is cowardly, whatever is

perfidious, the extremes of avarice and luxury, and every vice that can prostitute the dignity of human

nature." ^44 ^* By the necessity of their situation, the inhabitants of Rome were cast into the rough model of

a republican government: they were compelled to elect some judges in peace, and some leaders in war: the

nobles assembled to deliberate, and their resolves could not be executed without the union and consent of the

multitude. The style of the Roman senate and people was revived, ^45 but the spirit was fled; and their new

independence was disgraced by the tumultuous conflict of vicentiousness and oppression. The want of laws

could only be supplied by the influence of religion, and their foreign and domestic counsels were moderated

by the authority of the bishop. His alms, his sermons, his correspondence with the kings and prelates of the

West, his recent services, their gratitude, and oath, accustomed the Romans to consider him as the first

magistrate or prince of the city. The Christian humility of the popes was not offended by the name of

Dominus, or Lord; and their face and inscription are still apparent on the most ancient coins. ^46 Their

temporal dominion is now confirmed by the reverence of a thousand years; and their noblest title is the free

[Footnote 42: I have traced the Roman duchy according to the maps, and the maps according to the excellent

dissertation of father Beretti, (de Chorographia Italiae Medii Aevi, sect. xx. p. 216232.) Yet I must nicely

observe, that Viterbo is of Lombard foundation, (p. 211,) and that Terracina was usurped by the Greeks.]

[Footnote 43: On the extent, population, of the Roman kingdom, the reader may peruse, with pleasure, the

Discours Preliminaire to the Republique Romaine of M. de Beaufort, (tom. i.,) who will not be accused of too

[Footnote 44: Quos (Romanos) nos, Longobardi scilicet, Saxones, Franci, Locharingi, Bajoarii, Suevi,

Burgundiones, tanto dedignamur ut inimicos nostros commoti, nil aliud contumeliarum nisi Romane,

dicamus: hoc solo, id est Romanorum nomine, quicquid ignobilitatis, quicquid timiditatis, quicquid avaritiae,

quicquid luxuriae, quicquid mendacii, immo quicquid vitiorum est comprehendentes, (Liutprand, in Legat

Script. Ital. tom. ii. para i. p. 481.) For the sins of Cato or Tully Minos might have imposed as a fit penance

[Footnote *: Yet this contumelious sentence, quoted by Robertson (Charles V note 2) as well as Gibbon, was

applied by the angry bishop to the Byzantine Romans, whom, indeed, he admits to be the genuine

[Footnote 45: Pipino regi Francorum, omnis senatus, atque universa populi generalitas a Deo servatae

Romanae urbis. Codex Carolin. epist. 36, in Script. Ital. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 160. The names of senatus and

senator were never totally extinct, (Dissert. Chorograph. p. 216, 217;) but in the middle ages they signified

[Footnote 46: See Muratori, Antiquit. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. ii. Dissertat xxvii. p. 548. On one of these

coins we read Hadrianus Papa (A.D. 772;) on the reverse, Vict. Ddnn. with the word Conob, which the Pere

Joubert (Science des Medailles, tom. ii. p. 42) explains by Constantinopoli Officina B (secunda.)]

In the quarrels of ancient Greece, the holy people of Elis enjoyed a perpetual peace, under the protection of

Jupiter, and in the exercise of the Olympic games. ^47 Happy would it have been for the Romans, if a similar

privilege had guarded the patrimony of St. Peter from the calamities of war; if the Christians, who visited the

holy threshold, would have sheathed their swords in the presence of the apostle and his successor. But this

mystic circle could have been traced only by the wand of a legislator and a sage: this pacific system was

incompatible with the zeal and ambition of the popes the Romans were not addicted, like the inhabitants of

Elis, to the innocent and placid labors of agriculture; and the Barbarians of Italy, though softened by the

climate, were far below the Grecian states in the institutions of public and private life. A memorable example

of repentance and piety was exhibited by Liutprand, king of the Lombards. In arms, at the gate of the Vatican,

the conqueror listened to the voice of Gregory the Second, ^48 withdrew his troops, resigned his conquests,

respectfully visited the church of St. Peter, and after performing his devotions, offered his sword and dagger,

his cuirass and mantle, his silver cross, and his crown of gold, on the tomb of the apostle. But this religious

fervor was the illusion, perhaps the artifice, of the moment; the sense of interest is strong and lasting; the love

of arms and rapine was congenial to the Lombards; and both the prince and people were irresistibly tempted

by the disorders of Italy, the nakedness of Rome, and the unwarlike profession of her new chief. On the first

edicts of the emperor, they declared themselves the champions of the holy images: Liutprand invaded the

province of Romagna, which had already assumed that distinctive appellation; the Catholics of the Exarchate

yielded without reluctance to his civil and military power; and a foreign enemy was introduced for the first

time into the impregnable fortress of Ravenna. That city and fortress were speedily recovered by the active

diligence and maritime forces of the Venetians; and those faithful subjects obeyed the exhortation of Gregory

himself, in separating the personal guilt of Leo from the general cause of the Roman empire. ^49 The Greeks

were less mindful of the service, than the Lombards of the injury: the two nations, hostile in their faith, were

reconciled in a dangerous and unnatural alliance: the king and the exarch marched to the conquest of Spoleto

and Rome: the storm evaporated without effect, but the policy of Liutprand alarmed Italy with a vexatious

alternative of hostility and truce. His successor Astolphus declared himself the equal enemy of the emperor

and the pope: Ravenna was subdued by force or treachery, ^50 and this final conquest extinguished the series

of the exarchs, who had reigned with a subordinate power since the time of Justinian and the ruin of the

Gothic kingdom. Rome was summoned to acknowledge the victorious Lombard as her lawful sovereign; the

annual tribute of a piece of gold was fixed as the ransom of each citizen, and the sword of destruction was

unsheathed to exact the penalty of her disobedience. The Romans hesitated; they entreated; they complained;

and the threatening Barbarians were checked by arms and negotiations, till the popes had engaged the

[Footnote 47: See West's Dissertation on the Olympic Games, (Pindar. vol. ii. p. 3236, edition in 12mo.,)

and the judicious reflections of Polybius (tom. i. l. iv. p. 466, edit Gronov.)]

[Footnote 48: The speech of Gregory to the Lombard is finely composed by Sigonius, (de Regno Italiae, l. iii.

Opera, tom. ii. p. 173,) who imitates the license and the spirit of Sallust or Livy.]

[Footnote 49: The Venetian historians, John Sagorninus, (Chron. Venet. p. 13,) and the doge Andrew

Dandolo, (Scriptores Rer. Ital. tom. xii. p. 135,) have preserved this epistle of Gregory. The loss and recovery

of Ravenna are mentioned by Paulus Diaconus, (de Gest. Langobard, l. vi. c. 42, 54, in Script. Ital. tom. i.

pars i. p. 506, 508;) but our chronologists, Pagi, Muratori, cannot ascertain the date or circumstances]

[Footnote 50: The option will depend on the various readings of the Mss. of Anastasius deceperat, or

[Footnote 51: The Codex Carolinus is a collection of the epistles of the popes to Charles Martel, (whom they

style Subregulus,) Pepin, and Charlemagne, as far as the year 791, when it was formed by the last of these

princes. His original and authentic Ms. (Bibliothecae Cubicularis) is now in the Imperial library of Vienna,

and has been published by Lambecius and Muratori, (Script. Rerum Ital. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 75,

In his distress, the first ^* Gregory had implored the aid of the hero of the age, of Charles Martel, who

governed the French monarchy with the humble title of mayor or duke; and who, by his signal victory over

the Saracens, had saved his country, and perhaps Europe, from the Mahometan yoke. The ambassadors of the

pope were received by Charles with decent reverence; but the greatness of his occupations, and the shortness

of his life, prevented his interference in the affairs of Italy, except by a friendly and ineffectual mediation. His

son Pepin, the heir of his power and virtues, assumed the office of champion of the Roman church; and the

zeal of the French prince appears to have been prompted by the love of glory and religion. But the danger was

on the banks of the Tyber, the succor on those of the Seine, and our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant

misery. Amidst the tears of the city, Stephen the Third embraced the generous resolution of visiting in person

the courts of Lombardy and France, to deprecate the injustice of his enemy, or to excite the pity and

indignation of his friend. After soothing the public despair by litanies and orations, he undertook this

laborious journey with the ambassadors of the French monarch and the Greek emperor. The king of the

Lombards was inexorable; but his threats could not silence the complaints, nor retard the speed of the Roman

pontiff, who traversed the Pennine Alps, reposed in the abbey of St. Maurice, and hastened to grasp the right

hand of his protector; a hand which was never lifted in vain, either in war or friendship. Stephen was

entertained as the visible successor of the apostle; at the next assembly, the field of March or of May, his

injuries were exposed to a devout and warlike nation, and he repassed the Alps, not as a suppliant, but as a

conqueror, at the head of a French army, which was led by the king in person. The Lombards, after a weak

resistance, obtained an ignominious peace, and swore to restore the possessions, and to respect the sanctity,

of the Roman church. But no sooner was Astolphus delivered from the presence of the French arms, than he

forgot his promise and resented his disgrace. Rome was again encompassed by his arms; and Stephen,

apprehensive of fatiguing the zeal of his Transalpine allies enforced his complaint and request by an eloquent

letter in the name and person of St. Peter himself. ^52 The apostle assures his adopted sons, the king, the

clergy, and the nobles of France, that, dead in the flesh, he is still alive in the spirit; that they now hear, and

must obey, the voice of the founder and guardian of the Roman church; that the Virgin, the angels, the saints,

and the martyrs, and all the host of heaven, unanimously urge the request, and will confess the obligation;

that riches, victory, and paradise, will crown their pious enterprise, and that eternal damnation will be the

penalty of their neglect, if they suffer his tomb, his temple, and his people, to fall into the hands of the

perfidious Lombards. The second expedition of Pepin was not less rapid and fortunate than the first: St. Peter

was satisfied, Rome was again saved, and Astolphus was taught the lessons of justice and sincerity by the

scourge of a foreign master. After this double chastisement, the Lombards languished about twenty years in a

state of languor and decay. But their minds were not yet humbled to their condition; and instead of affecting

the pacific virtues of the feeble, they peevishly harassed the Romans with a repetition of claims, evasions,

and inroads, which they undertook without reflection, and terminated without glory. On either side, their

expiring monarchy was pressed by the zeal and prudence of Pope Adrian the First, the genius, the fortune,

and greatness of Charlemagne, the son of Pepin; these heroes of the church and state were united in public

and domestic friendship, and while they trampled on the prostrate, they varnished their proceedings with the

fairest colors of equity and moderation. ^53 The passes of the Alps, and the walls of Pavia, were the only

defence of the Lombards; the former were surprised, the latter were invested, by the son of Pepin; and after a

blockade of two years, ^* Desiderius, the last of their native princes, surrendered his sceptre and his capital.

Under the dominion of a foreign king, but in the possession of their national laws, the Lombards became the

brethren, rather than the subjects, of the Franks; who derived their blood, and manners, and language, from

[Footnote 52: See this most extraordinary letter in the Codex Carolinus, epist iii. p. 92. The enemies of the

popes have charged them with fraud and blasphemy; yet they surely meant to persuade rather than deceive.

This introduction of the dead, or of immortals, was familiar to the ancient orators, though it is executed on

[Footnote 53: Except in the divorce of the daughter of Desiderius, whom Charlemagne repudiated sine aliquo

crimine. Pope Stephen IV. had most furiously opposed the alliance of a noble Frank cum perfida, horrida

nec dicenda, foetentissima natione Longobardorum to whom he imputes the first stain of leprosy, (Cod.

Carolin. epist. 45, p. 178, 179.) Another reason against the marriage was the existence of a first wife,

(Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 232, 233, 236, 237.) But Charlemagne indulged himself in the freedom

[Footnote 54: See the Annali d'Italia of Muratori, tom. vi., and the three first Dissertations of his Antiquitates

The mutual obligations of the popes and the Carlovingian family form the important link of ancient and

modern, of civil and ecclesiastical, history. In the conquest of Italy, the champions of the Roman church

obtained a favorable occasion, a specious title, the wishes of the people, the prayers and intrigues of the

clergy. But the most essential gifts of the popes to the Carlovingian race were the dignities of king of France,

^55 and of patrician of Rome. I. Under the sacerdotal monarchy of St. Peter, the nations began to resume the

practice of seeking, on the banks of the Tyber, their kings, their laws, and the oracles of their fate. The Franks

were perplexed between the name and substance of their government. All the powers of royalty were

exercised by Pepin, mayor of the palace; and nothing, except the regal title, was wanting to his ambition. His

enemies were crushed by his valor; his friends were multiplied by his liberality; his father had been the savior

of Christendom; and the claims of personal merit were repeated and ennobled in a descent of four

generations. The name and image of royalty was still preserved in the last descendant of Clovis, the feeble

Childeric; but his obsolete right could only be used as an instrument of sedition: the nation was desirous of

restoring the simplicity of the constitution; and Pepin, a subject and a prince, was ambitious to ascertain his

own rank and the fortune of his family. The mayor and the nobles were bound, by an oath of fidelity, to the

royal phantom: the blood of Clovis was pure and sacred in their eyes; and their common ambassadors

addressed the Roman pontiff, to dispel their scruples, or to absolve their promise. The interest of Pope

Zachary, the successor of the two Gregories, prompted him to decide, and to decide in their favor: he

pronounced that the nation might lawfully unite in the same person the title and authority of king; and that the

unfortunate Childeric, a victim of the public safety, should be degraded, shaved, and confined in a monastery

for the remainder of his days. An answer so agreeable to their wishes was accepted by the Franks as the

opinion of a casuist, the sentence of a judge, or the oracle of a prophet: the Merovingian race disappeared

from the earth; and Pepin was exalted on a buckler by the suffrage of a free people, accustomed to obey his

laws and to march under his standard. His coronation was twice performed, with the sanction of the popes, by

their most faithful servant St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and by the grateful hands of Stephen the

Third, who, in the monastery of St. Denys placed the diadem on the head of his benefactor. The royal unction

of the kings of Israel was dexterously applied: ^56 the successor of St. Peter assumed the character of a

divine ambassador: a German chieftain was transformed into the Lord's anointed; and this Jewish rite has

been diffused and maintained by the superstition and vanity of modern Europe. The Franks were absolved

from their ancient oath; but a dire anathema was thundered against them and their posterity, if they should

dare to renew the same freedom of choice, or to elect a king, except in the holy and meritorious race of the

Carlovingian princes. Without apprehending the future danger, these princes gloried in their present security:

the secretary of Charlemagne affirms, that the French sceptre was transferred by the authority of the popes;

^57 and in their boldest enterprises, they insist, with confidence, on this signal and successful act of temporal

[Footnote 55: Besides the common historians, three French critics, Launoy, (Opera, tom. v. pars ii. l. vii.

epist. 9, p. 477487,) Pagi, (Critica, A.D. 751, No. 16, A.D. 752, No. 110,) and Natalis Alexander, (Hist.

Novi Testamenti, dissertat, ii. p. 96107,) have treated this subject of the deposition of Childeric with

learning and attention, but with a strong bias to save the independence of the crown. Yet they are hard

pressed by the texts which they produce of Eginhard, Theophanes, and the old annals, Laureshamenses,

[Footnote 56: Not absolutely for the first time. On a less conspicuous theatre it had been used, in the vith and

viith centuries, by the provincial bishops of Britain and Spain. The royal unction of Constantinople was

borrowed from the Latins in the last age of the empire. Constantine Manasses mentions that of Charlemagne

as a foreign, Jewish, incomprehensible ceremony. See Selden's Titles of Honor, in his Works, vol. iii. part i.

[Footnote 57: See Eginhard, in Vita Caroli Magni, c. i. p. 9, c. iii. p. 24. Childeric was deposed jussu, the

Carlovingians were established auctoritate, Pontificis Romani. Launoy, pretend that these strong words are

susceptible of a very soft interpretation. Be it so; yet Eginhard understood the world, the court, and the Latin

II. In the change of manners and language the patricians of Rome ^58 were far removed from the senate of

Romulus, on the palace of Constantine, from the free nobles of the republic, or the fictitious parents of the

emperor. After the recovery of Italy and Africa by the arms of Justinian, the importance and danger of those

remote provinces required the presence of a supreme magistrate; he was indifferently styled the exarch or the

patrician; and these governors of Ravenna, who fill their place in the chronology of princes, extended their

jurisdiction over the Roman city. Since the revolt of Italy and the loss of the Exarchate, the distress of the

Romans had exacted some sacrifice of their independence. Yet, even in this act, they exercised the right of

disposing of themselves; and the decrees of the senate and people successively invested Charles Martel and

his posterity with the honors of patrician of Rome. The leaders of a powerful nation would have disdained a

servile title and subordinate office; but the reign of the Greek emperors was suspended; and, in the vacancy of

the empire, they derived a more glorious commission from the pope and the republic. The Roman

ambassadors presented these patricians with the keys of the shrine of St. Peter, as a pledge and symbol of

sovereignty; with a holy banner which it was their right and duty to unfurl in the defence of the church and

city. ^59 In the time of Charles Martel and of Pepin, the interposition of the Lombard kingdom covered the

freedom, while it threatened the safety, of Rome; and the patriciate represented only the title, the service, the

alliance, of these distant protectors. The power and policy of Charlemagne annihilated an enemy, and

imposed a master. In his first visit to the capital, he was received with all the honors which had formerly been

paid to the exarch, the representative of the emperor; and these honors obtained some new decorations from

the joy and gratitude of Pope Adrian the First. ^60 No sooner was he informed of the sudden approach of the

monarch, than he despatched the magistrates and nobles of Rome to meet him, with the banner, about thirty

miles from the city. At the distance of one mile, the Flaminian way was lined with the schools, or national

communities, of Greeks, Lombards, Saxons, the Roman youth were under arms; and the children of a more

tender age, with palms and olive branches in their hands, chanted the praises of their great deliverer. At the

aspect of the holy crosses, and ensigns of the saints, he dismounted from his horse, led the procession of his

nobles to the Vatican, and, as he ascended the stairs, devoutly kissed each step of the threshold of the

apostles. In the portico, Adrian expected him at the head of his clergy: they embraced, as friends and equals;

but in their march to the altar, the king or patrician assumed the right hand of the pope. Nor was the Frank

content with these vain and empty demonstrations of respect. In the twentysix years that elapsed between

the conquest of Lombardy and his Imperial coronation, Rome, which had been delivered by the sword, was

subject, as his own, to the sceptre of Charlemagne. The people swore allegiance to his person and family: in

his name money was coined, and justice was administered; and the election of the popes was examined and

confirmed by his authority. Except an original and selfinherent claim of sovereignty, there was not any

prerogative remaining, which the title of emperor could add to the patrician of Rome. ^61 [Footnote 58: For

the title and powers of patrician of Rome, see Ducange, (Gloss. Latin. tom. v. p. 149151,) Pagi, (Critica,

A.D. 740, No. 611,) Muratori, (Annali d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 308329,) and St. Marc, (Abrege Chronologique

d'Italie, tom. i. p. 379382.) Of these the Franciscan Pagi is the most disposed to make the patrician a

[Footnote 59: The papal advocates can soften the symbolic meaning of the banner and the keys; but the style

of ad regnum dimisimus, or direximus, (Codex Carolin. epist. i. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 76,) seems to allow of no

palliation or escape. In the Ms. of the Vienna library, they read, instead of regnum, rogum, prayer or request

(see Ducange;) and the royalty of Charles Martel is subverted by this important correction, (Catalani, in his

[Footnote 60: In the authentic narrative of this reception, the Liber Pontificalis observes obviam illi ejus

sanctitas dirigens venerabiles cruces, id est signa; sicut mos est ad exarchum, aut patricium suscipiendum,

[Footnote 61: Paulus Diaconus, who wrote before the empire of Charlemagne describes Rome as his subject

city vestrae civitates (ad Pompeium Festum) suis addidit sceptris, (de Metensis Ecclesiae Episcopis.) Some

Carlovingian medals, struck at Rome, have engaged Le Blanc to write an elaborate, though partial,

dissertation on their authority at Rome, both as patricians and emperors, (Amsterdam, 1692, in 4to.)]

The gratitude of the Carlovingians was adequate to these obligations, and their names are consecrated, as the

saviors and benefactors of the Roman church. Her ancient patrimony of farms and houses was transformed by

their bounty into the temporal dominion of cities and provinces; and the donation of the Exarchate was the

firstfruits of the conquests of Pepin. ^62 Astolphus with a sigh relinquished his prey; the keys and the

hostages of the principal cities were delivered to the French ambassador; and, in his master's name, he

presented them before the tomb of St. Peter. The ample measure of the Exarchate ^63 might comprise all the

provinces of Italy which had obeyed the emperor and his vicegerent; but its strict and proper limits were

included in the territories of Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara: its inseparable dependency was the Pentapolis,

which stretched along the Adriatic from Rimini to Ancona, and advanced into the midland country as far as

the ridges of the Apennine. In this transaction, the ambition and avarice of the popes have been severely

condemned. Perhaps the humility of a Christian priest should have rejected an earthly kingdom, which it was

not easy for him to govern without renouncing the virtues of his profession. Perhaps a faithful subject, or

even a generous enemy, would have been less impatient to divide the spoils of the Barbarian; and if the

emperor had intrusted Stephen to solicit in his name the restitution of the Exarchate, I will not absolve the

pope from the reproach of treachery and falsehood. But in the rigid interpretation of the laws, every one may

accept, without injury, whatever his benefactor can bestow without injustice. The Greek emperor had

abdicated, or forfeited, his right to the Exarchate; and the sword of Astolphus was broken by the stronger

sword of the Carlovingian. It was not in the cause of the Iconoclast that Pepin has exposed his person and

army in a double expedition beyond the Alps: he possessed, and might lawfully alienate, his conquests: and

to the importunities of the Greeks he piously replied that no human consideration should tempt him to resume

the gift which he had conferred on the Roman Pontiff for the remission of his sins, and the salvation of his

soul. The splendid donation was granted in supreme and absolute dominion, and the world beheld for the first

time a Christian bishop invested with the prerogatives of a temporal prince; the choice of magistrates, the

exercise of justice, the imposition of taxes, and the wealth of the palace of Ravenna. In the dissolution of the

Lombard kingdom, the inhabitants of the duchy of Spoleto ^64 sought a refuge from the storm, shaved their

heads after the Roman fashion, declared themselves the servants and subjects of St. Peter, and completed, by

this voluntary surrender, the present circle of the ecclesiastical state. That mysterious circle was enlarged to

an indefinite extent, by the verbal or written donation of Charlemagne, ^65 who, in the first transports of his

victory, despoiled himself and the Greek emperor of the cities and islands which had formerly been annexed

to the Exarchate. But, in the cooler moments of absence and reflection, he viewed, with an eye of jealousy

and envy, the recent greatness of his ecclesiastical ally. The execution of his own and his father's promises

was respectfully eluded: the king of the Franks and Lombards asserted the inalienable rights of the empire;

and, in his life and death, Ravenna, ^66 as well as Rome, was numbered in the list of his metropolitan cities.

The sovereignty of the Exarchate melted away in the hands of the popes; they found in the archbishops of

Ravenna a dangerous and domestic rival: ^67 the nobles and people disdained the yoke of a priest; and in the

disorders of the times, they could only retain the memory of an ancient claim, which, in a more prosperous

[Footnote 62: Mosheim (Institution, Hist. Eccles. p. 263) weighs this donation with fair and deliberate

prudence. The original act has never been produced; but the Liber Pontificalis represents, (p. 171,) and the

Codex Carolinus supposes, this ample gift. Both are contemporary records and the latter is the more

authentic, since it has been preserved, not in the Papal, but the Imperial, library.]

[Footnote 63: Between the exorbitant claims, and narrow concessions, of interest and prejudice, from which

even Muratori (Antiquitat. tom. i. p. 6368) is not exempt, I have been guided, in the limits of the Exarchate

and Pentapolis, by the Dissertatio Chorographica Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. x. p. 160180.]

[Footnote 64: Spoletini deprecati sunt, ut eos in servitio B. Petri receperet et more Romanorum tonsurari

faceret, (Anastasius, p. 185.) Yet it may be a question whether they gave their own persons or their country.]

[Footnote 65: The policy and donations of Charlemagne are carefully examined by St. Marc, (Abrege, tom. i.

p. 390408,) who has well studied the Codex Carolinus. I believe, with him, that they were only verbal. The

most ancient act of donation that pretends to be extant, is that of the emperor Lewis the Pious, (Sigonius, de

Regno Italiae, l. iv. Opera, tom. ii. p. 267270.) Its authenticity, or at least its integrity, are much questioned,

(Pagi, A.D. 817, No. 7, Muratori, Annali, tom. vi. p. 432, Dissertat. Chorographica, p. 33, 34;) but I see no

reasonable objection to these princes so freely disposing of what was not their own.]

[Footnote 66: Charlemagne solicited and obtained from the proprietor, Hadrian I., the mosaics of the palace

of Ravenna, for the decoration of AixlaChapelle, (Cod. Carolin. epist. 67, p. 223.)]

[Footnote 67: The popes often complain of the usurpations of Leo of Ravenna, (Codex Carolin, epist. 51, 52,

53, p. 200205.) Sir corpus St. Andreae fratris germani St. Petri hic humasset, nequaquam nos Romani

pontifices sic subjugassent, (Agnellus, Liber Pontificalis, in Scriptores Rerum Ital. tom. ii. pars. i. p. 107.)]

Fraud is the resource of weakness and cunning; and the strong, though ignorant, Barbarian was often

entangled in the net of sacerdotal policy. The Vatican and Lateran were an arsenal and manufacture, which,

according to the occasion, have produced or concealed a various collection of false or genuine, of corrupt or

suspicious, acts, as they tended to promote the interest of the Roman church. Before the end of the eighth

century, some apostolic scribe, perhaps the notorious Isidore, composed the decretals, and the donation of

Constantine, the two magic pillars of the spiritual and temporal monarchy of the popes. This memorable

donation was introduced to the world by an epistle of Adrian the First, who exhorts Charlemagne to imitate

the liberality, and revive the name, of the great Constantine. ^68 According to the legend, the first of the

Christian emperors was healed of the leprosy, and purified in the waters of baptism, by St. Silvester, the

Roman bishop; and never was physician more gloriously recompensed. His royal proselyte withdrew from

the seat and patrimony of St. Peter; declared his resolution of founding a new capital in the East; and resigned

to the popes the free and perpetual sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the West. ^69 This fiction

was productive of the most beneficial effects. The Greek princes were convicted of the guilt of usurpation;

and the revolt of Gregory was the claim of his lawful inheritance. The popes were delivered from their debt

of gratitude; and the nominal gifts of the Carlovingians were no more than the just and irrevocable restitution

of a scanty portion of the ecclesiastical state. The sovereignty of Rome no longer depended on the choice of a

fickle people; and the successors of St. Peter and Constantine were invested with the purple and prerogatives

of the Caesars. So deep was the ignorance and credulity of the times, that the most absurd of fables was

received, with equal reverence, in Greece and in France, and is still enrolled among the decrees of the canon

law. ^70 The emperors, and the Romans, were incapable of discerning a forgery, that subverted their rights

and freedom; and the only opposition proceeded from a Sabine monastery, which, in the beginning of the

twelfth century, disputed the truth and validity of the donation of Constantine. ^71 In the revival of letters and

liberty, this fictitious deed was transpierced by the pen of Laurentius Valla, the pen of an eloquent critic and a

Roman patriot. ^72 His contemporaries of the fifteenth century were astonished at his sacrilegious boldness;

yet such is the silent and irresistible progress of reason, that, before the end of the next age, the fable was

rejected by the contempt of historians ^73 and poets, ^74 and the tacit or modest censure of the advocates of

the Roman church. ^75 The popes themselves have indulged a smile at the credulity of the vulgar; ^76 but a

false and obsolete title still sanctifies their reign; and, by the same fortune which has attended the decretals

and the Sibylline oracles, the edifice has subsisted after the foundations have been undermined. [Footnote 68:

Piissimo Constantino magno, per ejus largitatem S. R. Ecclesia elevata et exaltata est, et potestatem in his

Hesperiae partibus largiri olignatus est .... Quia ecce novus Constantinus his temporibus, (Codex Carolin.

epist. 49, in tom. iii. part ii. p. 195.) Pagi (Critica, A.D. 324, No. 16) ascribes them to an impostor of the viiith

century, who borrowed the name of St. Isidore: his humble title of Peccator was ignorantly, but aptly, turned

into Mercator: his merchandise was indeed profitable, and a few sheets of paper were sold for much wealth

[Footnote 69: Fabricius (Bibliot. Graec. tom. vi. p. 47) has enumerated the several editions of this Act, in

Greek and Latin. The copy which Laurentius Valla recites and refutes, appears to be taken either from the

spurious Acts of St. Silvester or from Gratian's Decree, to which, according to him and others, it has been

[Footnote 70: In the year 1059, it was believed (was it believed?) by Pope Leo IX. Cardinal Peter Damianus,

Muratori places (Annali d'Italia, tom. ix. p. 23, 24) the fictitious donations of Lewis the Pious, the Othos, de

Donatione Constantini. See a Dissertation of Natalis Alexander, seculum iv. diss. 25, p. 335350.]

[Footnote 71: See a large account of the controversy (A.D. 1105) which arose from a private lawsuit, in the

Chronicon Farsense, (Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. ii. pars ii. p. 637, a copious extract from the archives of

that Benedictine abbey. They were formerly accessible to curious foreigners, (Le Blanc and Mabillon,) and

would have enriched the first volume of the Historia Monastica Italiae of Quirini. But they are now

imprisoned (Muratori, Scriptores R. I. tom. ii. pars ii. p. 269) by the timid policy of the court of Rome; and

the future cardinal yielded to the voice of authority and the whispers of ambition, (Quirini, Comment. pars ii.

[Footnote 72: I have read in the collection of Schardius (de Potestate Imperiali Ecclesiastica, p. 734780) this

animated discourse, which was composed by the author, A.D. 1440, six years after the flight of Pope

Eugenius IV. It is a most vehement party pamphlet: Valla justifies and animates the revolt of the Romans,

and would even approve the use of a dagger against their sacerdotal tyrant. Such a critic might expect the

persecution of the clergy; yet he made his peace, and is buried in the Lateran, (Bayle, Dictionnaire Critique,

[Footnote 73: See Guicciardini, a servant of the popes, in that long and valuable digression, which has

resumed its place in the last edition, correctly published from the author's Ms. and printed in four volumes in

quarto, under the name of Friburgo, 1775, (Istoria d'Italia, tom. i. p. 385395.)]

[Footnote 74: The Paladin Astolpho found it in the moon, among the things that were lost upon earth,

Di vari fiore ad un grand monte passa, Ch'ebbe gia buono odore, or puzza forte: Questo era il dono (se pero

[Footnote 75: See Baronius, A.D. 324, No. 117123, A.D. 1191, No. 51, The cardinal wishes to suppose that

Rome was offered by Constantine, and refused by Silvester. The act of donation he considers strangely

[Footnote 76: Baronius n'en dit guerres contre; encore en at'il trop dit, et l'on vouloit sans moi, (Cardinal du

Perron,) qui l'empechai, censurer cette partie de son histoire. J'en devisai un jour avec le Pape, et il ne me

repondit autre chose "che volete? i Canonici la tengono," il le disoit en riant, (Perroniana, p. 77.)]

While the popes established in Italy their freedom and dominion, the images, the first cause of their revolt,

were restored in the Eastern empire. ^77 Under the reign of Constantine the Fifth, the union of civil and

ecclesiastical power had overthrown the tree, without extirpating the root, of superstition. The idols (for such

they were now held) were secretly cherished by the order and the sex most prone to devotion; and the fond

alliance of the monks and females obtained a final victory over the reason and authority of man. Leo the

Fourth maintained with less rigor the religion of his father and grandfather; but his wife, the fair and

ambitious Irene, had imbibed the zeal of the Athenians, the heirs of the Idolatry, rather than the philosophy,

of their ancestors. During the life of her husband, these sentiments were inflamed by danger and

dissimulation, and she could only labor to protect and promote some favorite monks whom she drew from

their caverns, and seated on the metropolitan thrones of the East. But as soon as she reigned in her own name

and that of her son, Irene more seriously undertook the ruin of the Iconoclasts; and the first step of her future

persecution was a general edict for liberty of conscience. In the restoration of the monks, a thousand images

were exposed to the public veneration; a thousand legends were inverted of their sufferings and miracles. By

the opportunities of death or removal, the episcopal seats were judiciously filled the most eager competitors

for earthly or celestial favor anticipated and flattered the judgment of their sovereign; and the promotion of

her secretary Tarasius gave Irene the patriarch of Constantinople, and the command of the Oriental church.

But the decrees of a general council could only be repealed by a similar assembly: ^78 the Iconoclasts whom

she convened were bold in possession, and averse to debate; and the feeble voice of the bishops was reechoed

by the more formidable clamor of the soldiers and people of Constantinople. The delay and intrigues of a

year, the separation of the disaffected troops, and the choice of Nice for a second orthodox synod, removed

these obstacles; and the episcopal conscience was again, after the Greek fashion, in the hands of the prince.

No more than eighteen days were allowed for the consummation of this important work: the Iconoclasts

appeared, not as judges, but as criminals or penitents: the scene was decorated by the legates of Pope Adrian

and the Eastern patriarchs, ^79 the decrees were framed by the president Taracius, and ratified by the

acclamations and subscriptions of three hundred and fifty bishops. They unanimously pronounced, that the

worship of images is agreeable to Scripture and reason, to the fathers and councils of the church: but they

hesitate whether that worship be relative or direct; whether the Godhead, and the figure of Christ, be entitled

to the same mode of adoration. Of this second Nicene council the acts are still extant; a curious monument of

superstition and ignorance, of falsehood and folly. I shall only notice the judgment of the bishops on the

comparative merit of imageworship and morality. A monk had concluded a truce with the daemon of

fornication, on condition of interrupting his daily prayers to a picture that hung in his cell. His scruples

prompted him to consult the abbot. "Rather than abstain from adoring Christ and his Mother in their holy

images, it would be better for you," replied the casuist, "to enter every brothel, and visit every prostitute, in

the city." ^80 For the honor of orthodoxy, at least the orthodoxy of the Roman church, it is somewhat

unfortunate, that the two princes who convened the two councils of Nice are both stained with the blood of

their sons. The second of these assemblies was approved and rigorously executed by the despotism of Irene,

and she refused her adversaries the toleration which at first she had granted to her friends. During the five

succeeding reigns, a period of thirtyeight years, the contest was maintained, with unabated rage and various

success, between the worshippers and the breakers of the images; but I am not inclined to pursue with minute

diligence the repetition of the same events. Nicephorus allowed a general liberty of speech and practice; and

the only virtue of his reign is accused by the monks as the cause of his temporal and eternal perdition.

Superstition and weakness formed the character of Michael the First, but the saints and images were

incapable of supporting their votary on the throne. In the purple, Leo the Fifth asserted the name and religion

of an Armenian; and the idols, with their seditious adherents, were condemned to a second exile. Their

applause would have sanctified the murder of an impious tyrant, but his assassin and successor, the second

Michael, was tainted from his birth with the Phrygian heresies: he attempted to mediate between the

contending parties; and the intractable spirit of the Catholics insensibly cast him into the opposite scale. His

moderation was guarded by timidity; but his son Theophilus, alike ignorant of fear and pity, was the last and

most cruel of the Iconoclasts. The enthusiasm of the times ran strongly against them; and the emperors who

stemmed the torrent were exasperated and punished by the public hatred. After the death of Theophilus, the

final victory of the images was achieved by a second female, his widow Theodora, whom he left the guardian

of the empire. Her measures were bold and decisive. The fiction of a tardy repentance absolved the fame and

the soul of her deceased husband; the sentence of the Iconoclast patriarch was commuted from the loss of his

eyes to a whipping of two hundred lashes: the bishops trembled, the monks shouted, and the festival of

orthodoxy preserves the annual memory of the triumph of the images. A single question yet remained,

whether they are endowed with any proper and inherent sanctity; it was agitated by the Greeks of the eleventh

century; ^81 and as this opinion has the strongest recommendation of absurdity, I am surprised that it was not

more explicitly decided in the affirmative. In the West, Pope Adrian the First accepted and announced the

decrees of the Nicene assembly, which is now revered by the Catholics as the seventh in rank of the general

councils. Rome and Italy were docile to the voice of their father; but the greatest part of the Latin Christians

were far behind in the race of superstition. The churches of France, Germany, England, and Spain, steered a

middle course between the adoration and the destruction of images, which they admitted into their temples,

not as objects of worship, but as lively and useful memorials of faith and history. An angry book of

controversy was composed and published in the name of Charlemagne: ^82 under his authority a synod of

three hundred bishops was assembled at Frankfort: ^83 they blamed the fury of the Iconoclasts, but they

pronounced a more severe censure against the superstition of the Greeks, and the decrees of their pretended

council, which was long despised by the Barbarians of the West. ^84 Among them the worship of images

advanced with a silent and insensible progress; but a large atonement is made for their hesitation and delay,

by the gross idolatry of the ages which precede the reformation, and of the countries, both in Europe and

[Footnote 77: The remaining history of images, from Irene to Theodora, is collected, for the Catholics, by

Baronius and Pagi, (A.D. 780840.) Natalis Alexander, (Hist. N. T. seculum viii. Panoplia adversus

Haereticos p. 118 178,) and Dupin, (Bibliot. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 136154;) for the Protestants, by Spanheim,

(Hist. Imag. p. 305639.) Basnage, (Hist. de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 556572, tom. ii. p. 13621385,) and

Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. secul. viii. et ix.) The Protestants, except Mosheim, are soured with

controversy; but the Catholics, except Dupin, are inflamed by the fury and superstition of the monks; and

even Le Beau, (Hist. du Bas Empire,) a gentleman and a scholar, is infected by the odious contagion.]

[Footnote 78: See the Acts, in Greek and Latin, of the second Council of Nice, with a number of relative

pieces, in the viiith volume of the Councils, p. 6451600. A faithful version, with some critical notes, would

[Footnote 79: The pope's legates were casual messengers, two priests without any special commission, and

who were disavowed on their return. Some vagabond monks were persuaded by the Catholics to represent the

Oriental patriarchs. This curious anecdote is revealed by Theodore Studites, (epist. i. 38, in Sirmond. Opp.

[Footnote 80: These visits could not be innocent since the daemon of fornication, Actio iv. p. 901, Actio v. p.

[Footnote 81: See an account of this controversy in the Alexius of Anna Compena, (l. v. p. 129,) and

[Footnote 82: The Libri Carolini, (Spanheim, p. 443 529,) composed in the palace or winter quarters of

Charlemagne, at Worms, A.D. 790, and sent by Engebert to Pope Hadrian I., who answered them by a

grandis et verbosa epistola, (Concil. tom. vii. p. 1553.) The Carolines propose 120 objections against the

Nicene synod and such words as these are the flowers of their rhetoric Dementiam .... priscae Gentilitatis

obsoletum errorem .... argumenta insanissima et absurdissima .... derisione dignas naenias,

[Footnote 83: The assemblies of Charlemagne were political, as well as ecclesiastical; and the three hundred

members, (Nat. Alexander, sec. viii. p. 53,) who sat and voted at Frankfort, must include not only the

[Footnote 84: Qui supra sanctissima patres nostri (episcopi et sacerdotes) omnimodis servitium et

adorationem imaginum renuentes contempserunt, atque consentientes condemnaverunt, (Concil. tom. ix. p.

101, Canon. ii. Franckfurd.) A polemic must be hardhearted indeed, who does not pity the efforts of

It was after the Nycene synod, and under the reign of the pious Irene, that the popes consummated the

separation of Rome and Italy, by the translation of the empire to the less orthodox Charlemagne. They were

compelled to choose between the rival nations: religion was not the sole motive of their choice; and while

they dissembled the failings of their friends, they beheld, with reluctance and suspicion, the Catholic virtues

of their foes. The difference of language and manners had perpetuated the enmity of the two capitals; and

they were alienated from each other by the hostile opposition of seventy years. In that schism the Romans had

tasted of freedom, and the popes of sovereignty: their submission would have exposed them to the revenge of

a jealous tyrant; and the revolution of Italy had betrayed the impotence, as well as the tyranny, of the

Byzantine court. The Greek emperors had restored the images, but they had not restored the Calabrian estates

^85 and the Illyrian diocese, ^86 which the Iconociasts had torn away from the successors of St. Peter; and

Pope Adrian threatens them with a sentence of excommunication unless they speedily abjure this practical

heresy. ^87 The Greeks were now orthodox; but their religion might be tainted by the breath of the reigning

monarch: the Franks were now contumacious; but a discerning eye might discern their approaching

conversion, from the use, to the adoration, of images. The name of Charlemagne was stained by the polemic

acrimony of his scribes; but the conqueror himself conformed, with the temper of a statesman, to the various

practice of France and Italy. In his four pilgrimages or visits to the Vatican, he embraced the popes in the

communion of friendship and piety; knelt before the tomb, and consequently before the image, of the apostle;

and joined, without scruple, in all the prayers and processions of the Roman liturgy. Would prudence or

gratitude allow the pontiffs to renounce their benefactor? Had they a right to alienate his gift of the

Exarchate? Had they power to abolish his government of Rome? The title of patrician was below the merit

and greatness of Charlemagne; and it was only by reviving the Western empire that they could pay their

obligations or secure their establishment. By this decisive measure they would finally eradicate the claims of

the Greeks; from the debasement of a provincial town, the majesty of Rome would be restored: the Latin

Christians would be united, under a supreme head, in their ancient metropolis; and the conquerors of the West

would receive their crown from the successors of St. Peter. The Roman church would acquire a zealous and

respectable advocate; and, under the shadow of the Carlovingian power, the bishop might exercise, with

[Footnote 85: Theophanes (p. 343) specifies those of Sicily and Calabria, which yielded an annual rent of

three talents and a half of gold, (perhaps 7000l. sterling.) Liutprand more pompously enumerates the

patrimonies of the Roman church in Greece, Judaea, Persia, Mesopotamia Babylonia, Egypt, and Libya,

which were detained by the injustice of the Greek emperor, (Legat. ad Nicephorum, in Script. Rerum Italica

[Footnote 86: The great diocese of the Eastern Illyricum, with Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, (Thomassin,

Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 145: ) by the confession of the Greeks, the patriarch of Constantinople had

detached from Rome the metropolitans of Thessalonica, Athens Corinth, Nicopolis, and Patrae, (Luc.

Holsten. Geograph. Sacra, p. 22) and his spiritual conquests extended to Naples and Amalphi (Istoria Civile

[Footnote 87: In hoc ostenditur, quia ex uno capitulo ab errore reversis, in aliis duobus, in eodem (was it the

same?) permaneant errore .... de diocessi S. R. E. seu de patrimoniis iterum increpantes commonemus, ut si

ea restituere noluerit hereticum eum pro hujusmodi errore perseverantia decernemus, (Epist. Hadrian. Papae

ad Carolum Magnum, in Concil. tom. viii. p. 1598;) to which he adds a reason, most directly opposite to his

conduct, that he preferred the salvation of souls and rule of faith to the goods of this transitory world.]

[Footnote 88: Fontanini considers the emperors as no more than the advocates of the church, (advocatus et

defensor S. R. E. See Ducange, Gloss Lat. tom. i. p. 297.) His antagonist Muratori reduces the popes to be no

more than the exarchs of the emperor. In the more equitable view of Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 264,

265,) they held Rome under the empire as the most honorable species of fief or benefice premuntur nocte

Before the ruin of Paganism in Rome, the competition for a wealthy bishopric had often been productive of

tumult and bloodshed. The people was less numerous, but the times were more savage, the prize more

important, and the chair of St. Peter was fiercely disputed by the leading ecclesiastics who aspired to the rank

of sovereign. The reign of Adrian the First ^89 surpasses the measure of past or succeeding ages; ^90 the

walls of Rome, the sacred patrimony, the ruin of the Lombards, and the friendship of Charlemagne, were the

trophies of his fame: he secretly edified the throne of his successors, and displayed in a narrow space the

virtues of a great prince. His memory was revered; but in the next election, a priest of the Lateran, Leo the

Third, was preferred to the nephew and the favorite of Adrian, whom he had promoted to the first dignities of

the church. Their acquiescence or repentance disguised, above four years, the blackest intention of revenge,

till the day of a procession, when a furious band of conspirators dispersed the unarmed multitude, and

assaulted with blows and wounds the sacred person of the pope. But their enterprise on his life or liberty was

disappointed, perhaps by their own confusion and remorse. Leo was left for dead on the ground: on his

revival from the swoon, the effect of his loss of blood, he recovered his speech and sight; and this natural

event was improved to the miraculous restoration of his eyes and tongue, of which he had been deprived,

twice deprived, by the knife of the assassins. ^91 From his prison he escaped to the Vatican: the duke of

Spoleto hastened to his rescue, Charlemagne sympathized in his injury, and in his camp of Paderborn in

Westphalia accepted, or solicited, a visit from the Roman pontiff. Leo repassed the Alps with a commission

of counts and bishops, the guards of his safety and the judges of his innocence; and it was not without

reluctance, that the conqueror of the Saxons delayed till the ensuing year the personal discharge of this pious

office. In his fourth and last pilgrimage, he was received at Rome with the due honors of king and patrician:

Leo was permitted to purge himself by oath of the crimes imputed to his charge: his enemies were silenced,

and the sacrilegious attempt against his life was punished by the mild and insufficient penalty of exile. On the

festival of Christmas, the last year of the eighth century, Charlemagne appeared in the church of St. Peter;

and, to gratify the vanity of Rome, he had exchanged the simple dress of his country for the habit of a

patrician. ^92 After the celebration of the holy mysteries, Leo suddenly placed a precious crown on his head,

^93 and the dome resounded with the acclamations of the people, "Long life and victory to Charles, the most

pious Augustus, crowned by God the great and pacific emperor of the Romans!" The head and body of

Charlemagne were consecrated by the royal unction: after the example of the Caesars, he was saluted or

adored by the pontiff: his coronation oath represents a promise to maintain the faith and privileges of the

church; and the firstfruits were paid in his rich offerings to the shrine of his apostle. In his familiar

conversation, the emperor protested the ignorance of the intentions of Leo, which he would have disappointed

by his absence on that memorable day. But the preparations of the ceremony must have disclosed the secret;

and the journey of Charlemagne reveals his knowledge and expectation: he had acknowledged that the

Imperial title was the object of his ambition, and a Roman synod had pronounced, that it was the only

adequate reward of his merit and services. ^94 [Footnote 89: His merits and hopes are summed up in an

epitaph of thirtyeightverses, of which Charlemagne declares himself the author, (Concil. tom. viii. p. 520.)

Post patrem lacrymans Carolus haec carmina scripsi. Tu mihi dulcis amor, te modo plango pater ... Nomina

jungo simul titulis, clarissime, nostra Adrianus, Carolus, rex ego, tuque pater.

The poetry might be supplied by Alcuin; but the tears, the most glorious tribute, can only belong to

[Footnote 90: Every new pope is admonished "Sancte Pater, non videbis annos Petri," twentyfive years.

On the whole series the average is about eight years a short hope for an ambitious cardinal.]

[Footnote 91: The assurance of Anastasius (tom. iii. pars i. p. 197, 198) is supported by the credulity of some

French annalists; but Eginhard, and other writers of the same age, are more natural and sincere. "Unus ei

oculus paullulum est laesus," says John the deacon of Naples, (Vit. Episcop. Napol. in Scriptores Muratori,

tom. i. pars ii. p. 312.) Theodolphus, a contemporary bishop of Orleans, observes with prudence (l. iii. carm.

Reddita sunt? mirum est: mirum est auferre nequtsse. Est tamen in dubio, hinc mirer an inde magis.]

[Footnote 92: Twice, at the request of Hadrian and Leo, he appeared at Rome, longa tunica et chlamyde

amictus, et calceamentis quoque Romano more formatis. Eginhard (c. xxiii. p. 109 113) describes, like

Suetonius the simplicity of his dress, so popular in the nation, that when Charles the Bald returned to France

in a foreign habit, the patriotic dogs barked at the apostate, (Gaillard, Vie de Charlemagne, tom. iv. p. 109.)]

[Footnote 93: See Anastasius (p. 199) and Eginhard, (c.xxviii. p. 124 128.) The unction is mentioned by

Theophanes, (p. 399,) the oath by Sigonius, (from the Ordo Romanus,) and the Pope's adoration more

antiquorum principum, by the Annales Bertiniani, (Script. Murator. tom. ii. pars ii. p. 505.)]

[Footnote 94: This great event of the translation or restoration of the empire is related and discussed by

Natalis Alexander, (secul. ix. dissert. i. p. 390 397,) Pagi, (tom. iii. p. 418,) Muratori, (Annali d'Italia, tom.

vi. p. 339 352,) Sigonius, (de Regno Italiae, l. iv. Opp. tom. ii. p. 247 251,) Spanheim, (de ficta

Translatione Imperii,) Giannone, (tom. i. p. 395 405,) St. Marc, (Abrege Chronologique, tom. i. p. 438

450,) Gaillard, (Hist. de Charlemagne, tom. ii. p. 386 446.) Almost all these moderns have some religious

The appellation of great has been often bestowed, and sometimes deserved; but Charlemagne is the only

prince in whose favor the title has been indissolubly blended with the name. That name, with the addition of

saint, is inserted in the Roman calendar; and the saint, by a rare felicity, is crowned with the praises of the

historians and philosophers of an enlightened age. ^95 His real merit is doubtless enhanced by the barbarism

of the nation and the times from which he emerged: but the apparent magnitude of an object is likewise

enlarged by an unequal comparison; and the ruins of Palmyra derive a casual splendor from the nakedness of

the surrounding desert. Without injustice to his fame, I may discern some blemishes in the sanctity and

greatness of the restorer of the Western empire. Of his moral virtues, chastity is not the most conspicuous:

^96 but the public happiness could not be materially injured by his nine wives or concubines, the various

indulgence of meaner or more transient amours, the multitude of his bastards whom he bestowed on the

church, and the long celibacy and licentious manners of his daughters, ^97 whom the father was suspected of

loving with too fond a passion. ^* I shall be scarcely permitted to accuse the ambition of a conqueror; but in a

day of equal retribution, the sons of his brother Carloman, the Merovingian princes of Aquitain, and the four

thousand five hundred Saxons who were beheaded on the same spot, would have something to allege against

the justice and humanity of Charlemagne. His treatment of the vanquished Saxons ^98 was an abuse of the

right of conquest; his laws were not less sanguinary than his arms, and in the discussion of his motives,

whatever is subtracted from bigotry must be imputed to temper. The sedentary reader is amazed by his

incessant activity of mind and body; and his subjects and enemies were not less astonished at his sudden

presence, at the moment when they believed him at the most distant extremity of the empire; neither peace

nor war, nor summer nor winter, were a season of repose; and our fancy cannot easily reconcile the annals of

his reign with the geography of his expeditions. ^! But this activity was a national, rather than a personal,

virtue; the vagrant life of a Frank was spent in the chase, in pilgrimage, in military adventures; and the

journeys of Charlemagne were distinguished only by a more numerous train and a more important purpose.

His military renown must be tried by the scrutiny of his troops, his enemies, and his actions. Alexander

conquered with the arms of Philip, but the two heroes who preceded Charlemagne bequeathed him their

name, their examples, and the companions of their victories. At the head of his veteran and superior armies,

he oppressed the savage or degenerate nations, who were incapable of confederating for their common safety:

nor did he ever encounter an equal antagonist in numbers, in discipline, or in arms The science of war has

been lost and revived with the arts of peace; but his campaigns are not illustrated by any siege or battle of

singular difficulty and success; and he might behold, with envy, the Saracen trophies of his grandfather. After

the Spanish expedition, his rearguard was defeated in the Pyrenaean mountains; and the soldiers, whose

situation was irretrievable, and whose valor was useless, might accuse, with their last breath, the want of skill

or caution of their general. ^99 I touch with reverence the laws of Charlemagne, so highly applauded by a

respectable judge. They compose not a system, but a series, of occasional and minute edicts, for the

correction of abuses, the reformation of manners, the economy of his farms, the care of his poultry, and even

the sale of his eggs. He wished to improve the laws and the character of the Franks; and his attempts,

however feeble and imperfect, are deserving of praise: the inveterate evils of the times were suspended or

mollified by his government; ^100 but in his institutions I can seldom discover the general views and the

immortal spirit of a legislator, who survives himself for the benefit of posterity. The union and stability of his

empire depended on the life of a single man: he imitated the dangerous practice of dividing his kingdoms

among his sons; and after his numerous diets, the whole constitution was left to fluctuate between the

disorders of anarchy and despotism. His esteem for the piety and knowledge of the clergy tempted him to

intrust that aspiring order with temporal dominion and civil jurisdiction; and his son Lewis, when he was

stripped and degraded by the bishops, might accuse, in some measure, the imprudence of his father. His laws

enforced the imposition of tithes, because the daemons had proclaimed in the air that the default of payment

had been the cause of the last scarcity. ^101 The literary merits of Charlemagne are attested by the foundation

of schools, the introduction of arts, the works which were published in his name, and his familiar connection

with the subjects and strangers whom he invited to his court to educate both the prince and people. His own

studies were tardy, laborious, and imperfect; if he spoke Latin, and understood Greek, he derived the

rudiments of knowledge from conversation, rather than from books; and, in his mature age, the emperor

strove to acquire the practice of writing, which every peasant now learns in his infancy. ^102 The grammar

and logic, the music and astronomy, of the times, were only cultivated as the handmaids of superstition; but

the curiosity of the human mind must ultimately tend to its improvement, and the encouragement of learning

reflects the purest and most pleasing lustre on the character of Charlemagne. ^103 The dignity of his person,

^104 the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arms, the vigor of his government, and the reverence of

distant nations, distinguish him from the royal crowd; and Europe dates a new aera from his restoration of the

[Footnote 95: By Mably, (Observations sur l'Histoire de France,) Voltaire, (Histoire Generale,) Robertson,

(History of Charles V.,) and Montesquieu, (Esprit des Loix, l. xxxi. c. 18.) In the year 1782, M. Gaillard

published his Histoire de Charlemagne, (in 4 vols. in 12mo.,) which I have freely and profitably used. The

author is a man of sense and humanity; and his work is labored with industry and elegance. But I have

likewise examined the original monuments of the reigns of Pepin and Charlemagne, in the 5th volume of the

[Footnote 96: The vision of Weltin, composed by a monk, eleven years after the death of Charlemagne,

shows him in purgatory, with a vulture, who is perpetually gnawing the guilty member, while the rest of his

body, the emblem of his virtues, is sound and perfect, (see Gaillard tom. ii. p. 317 360.)]

[Footnote 97: The marriage of Eginhard with Imma, daughter of Charlemagne, is, in my opinion, sufficiently

refuted by the probum and suspicio that sullied these fair damsels, without excepting his own wife, (c. xix. p.

98 100, cum Notis Schmincke.) The husband must have been too strong for the historian.]

[Footnote *: This charge of incest, as Mr. Hallam justly observes, "seems to have originated in a

[Footnote 98: Besides the massacres and transmigrations, the pain of death was pronounced against the

following crimes: 1. The refusal of baptism. 2. The false pretence of baptism. 3. A relapse to idolatry. 4. The

murder of a priest or bishop. 5. Human sacrifices. 6. Eating meat in Lent. But every crime might be expiated

by baptism or penance, (Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 241 247;) and the Christian Saxons became the friends and

[Footnote !: M. Guizot (Cours d'Histoire Moderne, p. 270, 273) has compiled the following statement of

1. Against the Aquitanians. 18. " the Saxons. 5. " the Lombards. 7. " the Arabs in Spain. 1. " the Thuringians.

4. " the Avars. 2. " the Bretons. 1. " the Bavarians. 4. " the Slaves beyond the Elbe 5. " the Saracens in Italy.

[Footnote 99: In this action the famous Rutland, Rolando, Orlando, was slain cum compluribus aliis. See

the truth in Eginhard, (c. 9, p. 51 56,) and the fable in an ingenious Supplement of M. Gaillard, (tom. iii. p.

474.) The Spaniards are too proud of a victory, which history ascribes to the Gascons, and romance to the

Note: In fact, it was a sudden onset of the Gascons, assisted by the Beaure mountaineers, and possibly a few

[Footnote 100: Yet Schmidt, from the best authorities, represents the interior disorders and oppression of his

[Footnote 101: Omnis homo ex sua proprietate legitimam decimam ad ecclesiam conferat. Experimento enim

didicimus, in anno, quo illa valida fames irrepsit, ebullire vacuas annonas a daemonibus devoratas, et voces

exprobationis auditas. Such is the decree and assertion of the great Council of Frankfort, (canon xxv. tom. ix.

p. 105.) Both Selden (Hist. of Tithes; Works, vol. iii. part ii. p. 1146) and Montesquieu (Esprit des Loix, l.

xxxi. c. 12) represent Charlemagne as the first legal author of tithes. Such obligations have country gentlemen

[Footnote 102: Eginhard (c. 25, p. 119) clearly affirms, tentabat et scribere ... sed parum prospere successit

labor praeposterus et sero inchoatus. The moderns have perverted and corrected this obvious meaning, and

the title of M. Gaillard's dissertation (tom. iii. p. 247 260) betrays his partiality.

Note: This point has been contested; but Mr. Hallam and Monsieur Sismondl concur with Gibbon. See

Middle Ages, iii. 330 Histoire de Francais, tom. ii. p. 318. The sensible observations of the latter are quoted

in the Quarterly Review, vol. xlviii. p. 451. Fleury, I may add, quotes from Mabillon a remarkable evidence

that Charlemagne "had a mark to himself like an honest, plaindealing man." Ibid. M.]

[Footnote 103: See Gaillard, tom. iii. p. 138 176, and Schmidt, tom. ii. p. 121 129.]

[Footnote 104: M. Gaillard (tom. iii. p. 372) fixes the true stature of Charlemagne (see a Dissertation of

Marquard Freher ad calcem Eginhart, p. 220, at five feet nine inches of French, about six feet one inch and a

fourth English, measure. The romance writers have increased it to eight feet, and the giant was endowed with

matchless strength and appetite: at a single stroke of his good sword Joyeuse, he cut asunder a horseman and

his horse; at a single repast, he devoured a goose, two fowls, a quarter of mutton,

That empire was not unworthy of its title; ^105 and some of the fairest kingdoms of Europe were the

patrimony or conquest of a prince, who reigned at the same time in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and

Hungary. ^106 I. The Roman province of Gaul had been transformed into the name and monarchy of France;

but, in the decay of the Merovingian line, its limits were contracted by the independence of the Britons and

the revolt of Aquitain. Charlemagne pursued, and confined, the Britons on the shores of the ocean; and that

ferocious tribe, whose origin and language are so different from the French, was chastised by the imposition

of tribute, hostages, and peace. After a long and evasive contest, the rebellion of the dukes of Aquitain was

punished by the forfeiture of their province, their liberty, and their lives. Harsh and rigorous would have been

such treatment of ambitious governors, who had too faithfully copied the mayors of the palace. But a recent

discovery ^107 has proved that these unhappy princes were the last and lawful heirs of the blood and sceptre

of Clovis, and younger branch, from the brother of Dagobert, of the Merovingian house. Their ancient

kingdom was reduced to the duchy of Gascogne, to the counties of Fesenzac and Armagnac, at the foot of the

Pyrenees: their race was propagated till the beginning of the sixteenth century; and after surviving their

Carlovingian tyrants, they were reserved to feel the injustice, or the favors, of a third dynasty. By the reunion

of Aquitain, France was enlarged to its present boundaries, with the additions of the Netherlands and Spain,

as far as the Rhine. II. The Saracens had been expelled from France by the grandfather and father of

Charlemagne; but they still possessed the greatest part of Spain, from the rock of Gibraltar to the Pyrenees.

Amidst their civil divisions, an Arabian emir of Saragossa implored his protection in the diet of Paderborn.

Charlemagne undertook the expedition, restored the emir, and, without distinction of faith, impartially

crushed the resistance of the Christians, and rewarded the obedience and services of the Mahometans. In his

absence he instituted the Spanish march, ^108 which extended from the Pyrenees to the River Ebro:

Barcelona was the residence of the French governor: he possessed the counties of Rousillon and Catalonia;

and the infant kingdoms of Navarre and Arragon were subject to his jurisdiction. III. As king of the

Lombards, and patrician of Rome, he reigned over the greatest part of Italy, ^109 a tract of a thousand miles

from the Alps to the borders of Calabria. The duchy of Beneventum, a Lombard fief, had spread, at the

expense of the Greeks, over the modern kingdom of Naples. But Arrechis, the reigning duke, refused to be

included in the slavery of his country; assumed the independent title of prince; and opposed his sword to the

Carlovingian monarchy. His defence was firm, his submission was not inglorious, and the emperor was

content with an easy tribute, the demolition of his fortresses, and the acknowledgement, on his coins, of a

supreme lord. The artful flattery of his son Grimoald added the appellation of father, but he asserted his

dignity with prudence, and Benventum insensibly escaped from the French yoke. ^110 IV. Charlemagne was

the first who united Germany under the same sceptre. The name of Oriental France is preserved in the circle

of Franconia; and the people of Hesse and Thuringia were recently incorporated with the victors, by the

conformity of religion and government. The Alemanni, so formidable to the Romans, were the faithful

vassals and confederates of the Franks; and their country was inscribed within the modern limits of Alsace,

Swabia, and Switzerland. The Bavarians, with a similar indulgence of their laws and manners, were less

patient of a master: the repeated treasons of Tasillo justified the abolition of their hereditary dukes; and their

power was shared among the counts, who judged and guarded that important frontier. But the north of

Germany, from the Rhine and beyond the Elbe, was still hostile and Pagan; nor was it till after a war of

thirtythree years that the Saxons bowed under the yoke of Christ and of Charlemagne. The idols and their

votaries were extirpated: the foundation of eight bishoprics, of Munster, Osnaburgh, Paderborn, and Minden,

of Bremen, Verden, Hildesheim, and Halberstadt, define, on either side of the Weser, the bounds of ancient

Saxony these episcopal seats were the first schools and cities of that savage land; and the religion and

humanity of the children atoned, in some degree, for the massacre of the parents. Beyond the Elbe, the Slavi,

or Sclavonians, of similar manners and various denominations, overspread the modern dominions of Prussia,

Poland, and Bohemia, and some transient marks of obedience have tempted the French historian to extend the

empire to the Baltic and the Vistula. The conquest or conversion of those countries is of a more recent age;

but the first union of Bohemia with the Germanic body may be justly ascribed to the arms of Charlemagne.

V. He retaliated on the Avars, or Huns of Pannonia, the same calamities which they had inflicted on the

nations. Their rings, the wooden fortifications which encircled their districts and villages, were broken down

by the triple effort of a French army, that was poured into their country by land and water, through the

Carpathian mountains and along the plain of the Danube. After a bloody conflict of eight years, the loss of

some French generals was avenged by the slaughter of the most noble Huns: the relics of the nation submitted

the royal residence of the chagan was left desolate and unknown; and the treasures, the rapine of two hundred

and fifty years, enriched the victorious troops, or decorated the churches of Italy and Gaul. ^111 After the

reduction of Pannonia, the empire of Charlemagne was bounded only by the conflux of the Danube with the

Teyss and the Save: the provinces of Istria, Liburnia, and Dalmatia, were an easy, though unprofitable,

accession; and it was an effect of his moderation, that he left the maritime cities under the real or nominal

sovereignty of the Greeks. But these distant possessions added more to the reputation than to the power of the

Latin emperor; nor did he risk any ecclesiastical foundations to reclaim the Barbarians from their vagrant life

and idolatrous worship. Some canals of communication between the rivers, the Saone and the Meuse, the

Rhine and the Danube, were faintly attempted. ^112 Their execution would have vivified the empire; and

[Footnote 105: See the concise, but correct and original, work of D'Anville, (Etats Formes en Europe apres la

Chute de l'Empire Romain en Occident, Paris, 1771, in 4to.,) whose map includes the empire of

Charlemagne; the different parts are illustrated, by Valesius (Notitia Galliacum) for France, Beretti

(Dissertatio Chorographica) for Italy, De Marca (Marca Hispanica) for Spain. For the middle geography of

[Footnote 106: After a brief relation of his wars and conquests, (Vit. Carol. c. 5 14,) Eginhard recapitulates,

in a few words, (c. 15,) the countries subject to his empire. Struvius, (Corpus Hist. German. p. 118 149)

[Footnote 107: On a charter granted to the monastery of Alaon (A.D. 845) by Charles the Bald, which

deduces this royal pedigree. I doubt whether some subsequent links of the ixth and xth centuries are equally

firm; yet the whole is approved and defended by M. Gaillard, (tom. ii. p.60 81, 203 206,) who affirms

that the family of Montesquiou (not of the President de Montesquieu) is descended, in the female line, from

[Footnote 108: The governors or counts of the Spanish march revolted from Charles the Simple about the

year 900; and a poor pittance, the Rousillon, has been recovered in 1642 by the kings of France, (Longuerue,

Description de la France, tom i. p. 220 222.) Yet the Rousillon contains 188,900 subjects, and annually

pays 2,600,000 livres, (Necker, Administration des Finances, tom. i. p. 278, 279;) more people, perhaps, and

[Footnote 111: Quot praelia in eo gesta! quantum sanguinis effusum sit! Testatur vacua omni habitatione

Pannonia, et locus in quo regia Cagani fuit ita desertus, ut ne vestigium quidem humanae habitationis

appareat. Tota in hoc bello Hunnorum nobilitas periit, tota gloria decidit, omnis pecunia et congesti ex longo

[Footnote 112: The junction of the Rhine and Danube was undertaken only for the service of the Pannonian

war, (Gaillard, Vie de Charlemagne, tom. ii. p. 312315.) The canal, which would have been only two

leagues in length, and of which some traces are still extant in Swabia, was interrupted by excessive rains,

military avocations, and superstitious fears, (Schaepflin, Hist. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii. p.

[Footnote *: I should doubt this in the time of Charlemagne, even if the term "expended" were substituted for

If we retrace the outlines of this geographical picture, it will be seen that the empire of the Franks extended,

between east and west, from the Ebro to the Elbe or Vistula; between the north and south, from the duchy of

Beneventum to the River Eyder, the perpetual boundary of Germany and Denmark. The personal and political

importance of Charlemagne was magnified by the distress and division of the rest of Europe. The islands of

Great Britain and Ireland were disputed by a crowd of princes of Saxon or Scottish origin: and, after the loss

of Spain, the Christian and Gothic kingdom of Alphonso the Chaste was confined to the narrow range of the

Asturian mountains. These petty sovereigns revered the power or virtue of the Carlovingian monarch,

implored the honor and support of his alliance, and styled him their common parent, the sole and supreme

emperor of the West. ^113 He maintained a more equal intercourse with the caliph Harun al Rashid, ^114

whose dominion stretched from Africa to India, and accepted from his ambassadors a tent, a waterclock, an

elephant, and the keys of the Holy Sepulchre. It is not easy to conceive the private friendship of a Frank and

an Arab, who were strangers to each other's person, and language, and religion: but their public

correspondence was founded on vanity, and their remote situation left no room for a competition of interest.

Two thirds of the Western empire of Rome were subject to Charlemagne, and the deficiency was amply

supplied by his command of the inaccessible or invincible nations of Germany. But in the choice of his

enemies, ^* we may be reasonably surprised that he so often preferred the poverty of the north to the riches

of the south. The threeandthirty campaigns laboriously consumed in the woods and morasses of Germany

would have sufficed to assert the amplitude of his title by the expulsion of the Greeks from Italy and the

Saracens from Spain. The weakness of the Greeks would have insured an easy victory; and the holy crusade

against the Saracens would have been prompted by glory and revenge, and loudly justified by religion and

policy. Perhaps, in his expeditions beyond the Rhine and the Elbe, he aspired to save his monarchy from the

fate of the Roman empire, to disarm the enemies of civilized society, and to eradicate the seed of future

emigrations. But it has been wisely observed, that, in a light of precaution, all conquest must be ineffectual,

unless it could be universal, since the increasing circle must be involved in a larger sphere of hostility. ^115

The subjugation of Germany withdrew the veil which had so long concealed the continent or islands of

Scandinavia from the knowledge of Europe, and awakened the torpid courage of their barbarous natives. The

fiercest of the Saxon idolaters escaped from the Christian tyrant to their brethren of the North; the Ocean and

Mediterranean were covered with their piratical fleets; and Charlemagne beheld with a sigh the destructive

progress of the Normans, who, in less than seventy years, precipitated the fall of his race and monarchy.

[Footnote 113: See Eginhard, c. 16, and Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 361 385, who mentions, with a loose reference,

the intercourse of Charlemagne and Egbert, the emperor's gift of his own sword, and the modest answer of his

Saxon disciple. The anecdote, if genuine, would have adorned our English histories.]

[Footnote 114: The correspondence is mentioned only in the French annals, and the Orientals are ignorant of

the caliph's friendship for the Christian dog a polite appellation, which Harun bestows on the emperor of

[Footnote *: Had he the choice? M. Guizot has eloquently described the position of Charlemagne towards the

Saxons. Il y fit face par le conquete; la guerre defensive prit la forme offensive: il transporta la lutte sur le

territoire des peuples qui voulaient envahir le sien: il travailla a asservir les races etrangeres, et extirper les

croyances ennemies. De la son mode de gouvernement et la fondation de son empire: la guerre offensive et la

conquete voulaient cette vaste et redoutable unite. Compare observations in the Quarterly Review, vol. xlviii.,

[Footnote 115: Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 361 365, 471 476, 492. I have borrowed his judicious remarks on

Charlemagne's plan of conquest, and the judicious distinction of his enemies of the first and the second

Had the pope and the Romans revived the primitive constitution, the titles of emperor and Augustus were

conferred on Charlemagne for the term of his life; and his successors, on each vacancy, must have ascended

the throne by a formal or tacit election. But the association of his son Lewis the Pious asserts the independent

right of monarchy and conquest, and the emperor seems on this occasion to have foreseen and prevented the

latent claims of the clergy. The royal youth was commanded to take the crown from the altar, and with his

own hands to place it on his head, as a gift which he held from God, his father, and the nation. ^116 The same

ceremony was repeated, though with less energy, in the subsequent associations of Lothaire and Lewis the

Second: the Carlovingian sceptre was transmitted from father to son in a lineal descent of four generations;

and the ambition of the popes was reduced to the empty honor of crowning and anointing these hereditary

princes, who were already invested with their power and dominions. The pious Lewis survived his brothers,

and embraced the whole empire of Charlemagne; but the nations and the nobles, his bishops and his children,

quickly discerned that this mighty mass was no longer inspired by the same soul; and the foundations were

undermined to the centre, while the external surface was yet fair and entire. After a war, or battle, which

consumed one hundred thousand Franks, the empire was divided by treaty between his three sons, who had

violated every filial and fraternal duty. The kingdoms of Germany and France were forever separated; the

provinces of Gaul, between the Rhone and the Alps, the Meuse and the Rhine, were assigned, with Italy, to

the Imperial dignity of Lothaire. In the partition of his share, Lorraine and Arles, two recent and transitory

kingdoms, were bestowed on the younger children; and Lewis the Second, his eldest son, was content with

the realm of Italy, the proper and sufficient patrimony of a Roman emperor. On his death without any male

issue, the vacant throne was disputed by his uncles and cousins, and the popes most dexterously seized the

occasion of judging the claims and merits of the candidates, and of bestowing on the most obsequious, or

most liberal, the Imperial office of advocate of the Roman church. The dregs of the Carlovingian race no

longer exhibited any symptoms of virtue or power, and the ridiculous epithets of the bard, the stammerer, the

fat, and the simple, distinguished the tame and uniform features of a crowd of kings alike deserving of

oblivion. By the failure of the collateral branches, the whole inheritance devolved to Charles the Fat, the last

emperor of his family: his insanity authorized the desertion of Germany, Italy, and France: he was deposed in

a diet, and solicited his daily bread from the rebels by whose contempt his life and liberty had been spared.

According to the measure of their force, the governors, the bishops, and the lords, usurped the fragments of

the falling empire; and some preference was shown to the female or illegitimate blood of Charlemagne. Of

the greater part, the title and possession were alike doubtful, and the merit was adequate to the contracted

scale of their dominions. Those who could appear with an army at the gates of Rome were crowned emperors

in the Vatican; but their modesty was more frequently satisfied with the appellation of kings of Italy: and the

whole term of seventyfour years may be deemed a vacancy, from the abdication of Charles the Fat to the

establishment of Otho the First. [Footnote 116: Thegan, the biographer of Lewis, relates this coronation: and

Baronius has honestly transcribed it, (A.D. 813, No. 13, See Gaillard, tom. ii. p. 506, 507, 508,) howsoever

adverse to the claims of the popes. For the series of the Carlovingians, see the historians of France, Italy, and

Germany; Pfeffel, Schmidt, Velly, Muratori, and even Voltaire, whose pictures are sometimes just, and

Otho ^117 was of the noble race of the dukes of Saxony; and if he truly descended from Witikind, the

adversary and proselyte of Charlemagne, the posterity of a vanquished people was exalted to reign over their

conquerors. His father, Henry the Fowler, was elected, by the suffrage of the nation, to save and institute the

kingdom of Germany. Its limits ^118 were enlarged on every side by his son, the first and greatest of the

Othos. A portion of Gaul, to the west of the Rhine, along the banks of the Meuse and the Moselle, was

assigned to the Germans, by whose blood and language it has been tinged since the time of Caesar and

Tacitus. Between the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Alps, the successors of Otho acquired a vain supremacy over

the broken kingdoms of Burgundy and Arles. In the North, Christianity was propagated by the sword of Otho,

the conqueror and apostle of the Slavic nations of the Elbe and Oder: the marches of Brandenburgh and

Sleswick were fortified with German colonies; and the king of Denmark, the dukes of Poland and Bohemia,

confessed themselves his tributary vassals. At the head of a victorious army, he passed the Alps, subdued the

kingdom of Italy, delivered the pope, and forever fixed the Imperial crown in the name and nation of

Germany. From that memorable aera, two maxims of public jurisprudence were introduced by force and

ratified by time. I. That the prince, who was elected in the German diet, acquired, from that instant, the

subject kingdoms of Italy and Rome. II. But that he might not legally assume the titles of emperor and

Augustus, till he had received the crown from the hands of the Roman pontiff. ^119 [Footnote 117: He was

the son of Otho, the son of Ludolph, in whose favor the Duchy of Saxony had been instituted, A.D. 858.

Ruotgerus, the biographer of a St. Bruno, (Bibliot. Bunavianae Catalog. tom. iii. vol. ii. p. 679,) gives a

splendid character of his family. Atavorum atavi usque ad hominum memoriam omnes nobilissimi; nullus in

eorum stirpe ignotus, nullus degener facile reperitur, (apud Struvium, Corp. Hist. German. p. 216.) Yet

[Footnote 118: See the treatise of Conringius, (de Finibus Imperii Germanici, Francofurt. 1680, in 4to.: ) he

rejects the extravagant and improper scale of the Roman and Carlovingian empires, and discusses with

[Footnote 119: The power of custom forces me to number Conrad I. and Henry I., the Fowler, in the list of

emperors, a title which was never assumed by those kings of Germany. The Italians, Muratori for instance,

are more scrupulous and correct, and only reckon the princes who have been crowned at Rome.]

The Imperial dignity of Charlemagne was announced to the East by the alteration of his style; and instead of

saluting his fathers, the Greek emperors, he presumed to adopt the more equal and familiar appellation of

brother. ^120 Perhaps in his connection with Irene he aspired to the name of husband: his embassy to

Constantinople spoke the language of peace and friendship, and might conceal a treaty of marriage with that

ambitious princess, who had renounced the most sacred duties of a mother. The nature, the duration, the

probable consequences of such a union between two distant and dissonant empires, it is impossible to

conjecture; but the unanimous silence of the Latins may teach us to suspect, that the report was invented by

the enemies of Irene, to charge her with the guilt of betraying the church and state to the strangers of the

West. ^121 The French ambassadors were the spectators, and had nearly been the victims, of the conspiracy

of Nicephorus, and the national hatred. Constantinople was exasperated by the treason and sacrilege of

ancient Rome: a proverb, "That the Franks were good friends and bad neighbors," was in every one's mouth;

but it was dangerous to provoke a neighbor who might be tempted to reiterate, in the church of St. Sophia, the

ceremony of his Imperial coronation. After a tedious journey of circuit and delay, the ambassadors of

Nicephorus found him in his camp, on the banks of the River Sala; and Charlemagne affected to confound

their vanity by displaying, in a Franconian village, the pomp, or at least the pride, of the Byzantine palace.

^122 The Greeks were successively led through four halls of audience: in the first they were ready to fall

prostrate before a splendid personage in a chair of state, till he informed them that he was only a servant, the

constable, or master of the horse, of the emperor. The same mistake, and the same answer, were repeated in

the apartments of the count palatine, the steward, and the chamberlain; and their impatience was gradually

heightened, till the doors of the presencechamber were thrown open, and they beheld the genuine monarch,

on his throne, enriched with the foreign luxury which he despised, and encircled with the love and reverence

of his victorious chiefs. A treaty of peace and alliance was concluded between the two empires, and the limits

of the East and West were defined by the right of present possession. But the Greeks ^123 soon forgot this

humiliating equality, or remembered it only to hate the Barbarians by whom it was extorted. During the short

union of virtue and power, they respectfully saluted the august Charlemagne, with the acclamations of

basileus, and emperor of the Romans. As soon as these qualities were separated in the person of his pious

son, the Byzantine letters were inscribed, "To the king, or, as he styles himself, the emperor of the Franks and

Lombards." When both power and virtue were extinct, they despoiled Lewis the Second of his hereditary

title, and with the barbarous appellation of rex or rega, degraded him among the crowd of Latin princes. His

reply ^124 is expressive of his weakness: he proves, with some learning, that, both in sacred and profane

history, the name of king is synonymous with the Greek word basileus: if, at Constantinople, it were assumed

in a more exclusive and imperial sense, he claims from his ancestors, and from the popes, a just participation

of the honors of the Roman purple. The same controversy was revived in the reign of the Othos; and their

ambassador describes, in lively colors, the insolence of the Byzantine court. ^125 The Greeks affected to

despise the poverty and ignorance of the Franks and Saxons; and in their last decline refused to prostitute to

[Footnote 120: Invidiam tamen suscepti nominis (C. P. imperatoribus super hoc indignantibus) magna tulit

patientia, vicitque eorum contumaciam ... mittendo ad eos crebras legationes, et in epistolis fratres eos

appellando. Eginhard, c. 28, p. 128. Perhaps it was on their account that, like Augustus, he affected some

[Footnote 121: Theophanes speaks of the coronation and unction of Charles (Chronograph. p. 399,) and of his

treaty of marriage with Irene, (p. 402,) which is unknown to the Latins. Gaillard relates his transactions with

[Footnote 122: Gaillard very properly observes, that this pageant was a farce suitable to children only; but

that it was indeed represented in the presence, and for the benefit, of children of a larger growth.]

[Footnote 123: Compare, in the original texts collected by Pagi, (tom. iii. A.D. 812, No. 7, A.D. 824, No. 10,

the contrast of Charlemagne and his son; to the former the ambassadors of Michael (who were indeed

disavowed) more suo, id est lingua Graeca laudes dixerunt, imperatorem eum et appellantes; to the latter,

[Footnote 124: See the epistle, in Paralipomena, of the anonymous writer of Salerno, (Script. Ital. tom. ii. pars

ii. p. 243 254, c. 93 107,) whom Baronius (A.D. 871, No. 51 71) mistook for Erchempert, when he

[Footnote 125: Ipse enim vos, non imperatorem, id est sua lingua, sed ob indignationem, id est regem nostra

vocabat, Liutprand, in Legat. in Script. Ital. tom. ii. pars i. p. 479. The pope had exhorted Nicephorus,

emperor of the Greeks, to make peace with Otho, the august emperor of the Romans quae inscriptio

secundum Graecos peccatoria et temeraria ... imperatorem inquiunt, universalem, Romanorum, Augustum,

These emperors, in the election of the popes, continued to exercise the powers which had been assumed by

the Gothic and Grecian princes; and the importance of this prerogative increased with the temporal estate and

spiritual jurisdiction of the Roman church. In the Christian aristocracy, the principal members of the clergy

still formed a senate to assist the administration, and to supply the vacancy, of the bishop. Rome was divided

into twentyeight parishes, and each parish was governed by a cardinal priest, or presbyter, a title which,

however common or modest in its origin, has aspired to emulate the purple of kings. Their number was

enlarged by the association of the seven deacons of the most considerable hospitals, the seven palatine judges

of the Lateran, and some dignitaries of the church. This ecclesiastical senate was directed by the seven

cardinalbishops of the Roman province, who were less occupied in the suburb dioceses of Ostia, Porto,

Velitrae, Tusculum, Praeneste, Tibur, and the Sabines, than by their weekly service in the Lateran, and their

superior share in the honors and authority of the apostolic see. On the death of the pope, these bishops

recommended a successor to the suffrage of the college of cardinals, ^126 and their choice was ratified or

rejected by the applause or clamor of the Roman people. But the election was imperfect; nor could the pontiff

be legally consecrated till the emperor, the advocate of the church, had graciously signified his approbation

and consent. The royal commissioner examined, on the spot, the form and freedom of the proceedings; nor

was it till after a previous scrutiny into the qualifications of the candidates, that he accepted an oath of

fidelity, and confirmed the donations which had successively enriched the patrimony of St. Peter. In the

frequent schisms, the rival claims were submitted to the sentence of the emperor; and in a synod of bishops

he presumed to judge, to condemn, and to punish, the crimes of a guilty pontiff. Otho the First imposed a

treaty on the senate and people, who engaged to prefer the candidate most acceptable to his majesty: ^127 his

successors anticipated or prevented their choice: they bestowed the Roman benefice, like the bishoprics of

Cologne or Bamberg, on their chancellors or preceptors; and whatever might be the merit of a Frank or

Saxon, his name sufficiently attests the interposition of foreign power. These acts of prerogative were most

speciously excused by the vices of a popular election. The competitor who had been excluded by the

cardinals appealed to the passions or avarice of the multitude; the Vatican and the Lateran were stained with

blood; and the most powerful senators, the marquises of Tuscany and the counts of Tusculum, held the

apostolic see in a long and disgraceful servitude. The Roman pontiffs, of the ninth and tenth centuries, were

insulted, imprisoned, and murdered, by their tyrants; and such was their indigence, after the loss and

usurpation of the ecclesiastical patrimonies, that they could neither support the state of a prince, nor exercise

the charity of a priest. ^128 The influence of two sister prostitutes, Marozia and Theodora, was founded on

their wealth and beauty, their political and amorous intrigues: the most strenuous of their lovers were

rewarded with the Roman mitre, and their reign ^129 may have suggested to the darker ages ^130 the fable

^131 of a female pope. ^132 The bastard son, the grandson, and the greatgrandson of Marozia, a rare

genealogy, were seated in the chair of St. Peter, and it was at the age of nineteen years that the second of

these became the head of the Latin church. ^* His youth and manhood were of a suitable complexion; and the

nations of pilgrims could bear testimony to the charges that were urged against him in a Roman synod, and in

the presence of Otho the Great. As John XII. had renounced the dress and decencies of his profession, the

soldier may not perhaps be dishonored by the wine which he drank, the blood that he spilt, the flames that he

kindled, or the licentious pursuits of gaming and hunting. His open simony might be the consequence of

distress; and his blasphemous invocation of Jupiter and Venus, if it be true, could not possibly be serious. But

we read, with some surprise, that the worthy grandson of Marozia lived in public adultery with the matrons of

Rome; that the Lateran palace was turned into a school for prostitution, and that his rapes of virgins and

widows had deterred the female pilgrims from visiting the tomb of St. Peter, lest, in the devout act, they

should be violated by his successor. ^133 The Protestants have dwelt with malicious pleasure on these

characters of Antichrist; but to a philosophic eye, the vices of the clergy are far less dangerous than their

virtues. After a long series of scandal, the apostolic see was reformed and exalted by the austerity and zeal of

Gregory VII. That ambitious monk devoted his life to the execution of two projects. I. To fix in the college of

cardinals the freedom and independence of election, and forever to abolish the right or usurpation of the

emperors and the Roman people. II. To bestow and resume the Western empire as a fief or benefice ^134 of

the church, and to extend his temporal dominion over the kings and kingdoms of the earth. After a contest of

fifty years, the first of these designs was accomplished by the firm support of the ecclesiastical order, whose

liberty was connected with that of their chief. But the second attempt, though it was crowned with some

partial and apparent success, has been vigorously resisted by the secular power, and finally extinguished by

[Footnote 126: The origin and progress of the title of cardinal may be found in Themassin, (Discipline de

l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 1261 1298,) Muratori, (Antiquitat. Italiae Medii Aevi, tom. vi. Dissert. lxi. p. 159 182,)

and Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 345 347,) who accurately remarks the form and changes of the

election. The cardinalbishops so highly exalted by Peter Damianus, are sunk to a level with the rest of the

[Footnote 127: Firmiter jurantes, nunquam se papam electuros aut audinaturos, praeter consensum et

electionem Othonis et filii sui. (Liutprand, l. vi. c. 6, p. 472.) This important concession may either supply or

confirm the decree of the clergy and people of Rome, so fiercely rejected by Baronius, Pagi, and Muratori,

(A.D. 964,) and so well defended and explained by St. Marc, (Abrege, tom. ii. p. 808 816, tom. iv. p. 1167

1185.) Consult the historical critic, and the Annals of Muratori, for for the election and confirmation of

[Footnote 128: The oppression and vices of the Roman church, in the xth century, are strongly painted in the

history and legation of Liutprand, (see p. 440, 450, 471 476, 479, ) and it is whimsical enough to observe

Muratori tempering the invectives of Baronius against the popes. But these popes had been chosen, not by the

[Footnote 129: The time of Pope Joan (papissa Joanna) is placed somewhat earlier than Theodora or Marozia;

and the two years of her imaginary reign are forcibly inserted between Leo IV. and Benedict III. But the

contemporary Anastasius indissolubly links the death of Leo and the elevation of Benedict, (illico, mox, p.

247;) and the accurate chronology of Pagi, Muratori, and Leibnitz, fixes both events to the year 857.]

[Footnote 130: The advocates for Pope Joan produce one hundred and fifty witnesses, or rather echoes, of the

xivth, xvth, and xvith centuries. They bear testimony against themselves and the legend, by multiplying the

proof that so curious a story must have been repeated by writers of every description to whom it was known.

On those of the ixth and xth centuries, the recent event would have flashed with a double force. Would

Photius have spared such a reproach? Could Liutprand have missed such scandal? It is scarcely worth while

to discuss the various readings of Martinus Polonus, Sigeber of Gamblours, or even Marianus Scotus; but a

most palpable forgery is the passage of Pope Joan, which has been foisted into some Mss. and editions of the

[Footnote 131: As false, it deserves that name; but I would not pronounce it incredible. Suppose a famous

French chevalier of our own times to have been born in Italy, and educated in the church, instead of the army:

her merit or fortune might have raised her to St. Peter's chair; her amours would have been natural: her

[Footnote 132: Till the reformation the tale was repeated and believed without offence: and Joan's female

statue long occupied her place among the popes in the cathedral of Sienna, (Pagi, Critica, tom. iii. p. 624

626.) She has been annihilated by two learned Protestants, Blondel and Bayle, (Dictionnaire Critique,

Papesse, Polonus, Blondel;) but their brethren were scandalized by this equitable and generous criticism.

Spanheim and Lenfant attempt to save this poor engine of controversy, and even Mosheim condescends to

[Footnote *: John XI. was the son of her husband Alberic, not of her lover, Pope Sergius III., as Muratori has

distinctly proved, Ann. ad ann. 911, tom. p. 268. Her grandson Octavian, otherwise called John XII., was

pope; but a greatgrandson cannot be discovered in any of the succeeding popes; nor does our historian

himself, in his subsequent narration, (p. 202,) seem to know of one. Hobhouse, Illustrations of Childe Harold,

[Footnote 133: Lateranense palatium ... prostibulum meretricum ... Testis omnium gentium, praeterquam

Romanorum, absentia mulierum, quae sanctorum apostolorum limina orandi gratia timent visere, cum

nonnullas ante dies paucos, hunc audierint conjugatas, viduas, virgines vi oppressisse, (Liutprand, Hist. l. vi.

[Footnote 134: A new example of the mischief of equivocation is the beneficium (Ducange, tom. i. p. 617,

which the pope conferred on the emperor Frederic I., since the Latin word may signify either a legal fief, or a

simple favor, an obligation, (we want the word bienfait.) (See Schmidt, Hist. des Allemands, tom. iii. p. 393

408. Pfeffel, Abrege Chronologique, tom. i. p. 229, 296, 317, 324, 420, 430, 500, 505, 509,

In the revival of the empire of empire of Rome, neither the bishop nor the people could bestow on

Charlemagne or Otho the provinces which were lost, as they had been won, by the chance of arms. But the

Romans were free to choose a master for themselves; and the powers which had been delegated to the

patrician, were irrevocably granted to the French and Saxon emperors of the West. The broken records of the

times ^135 preserve some remembrance of their palace, their mint, their tribunal, their edicts, and the sword

of justice, which, as late as the thirteenth century, was derived from Caesar to the praefect of the city. ^136

Between the arts of the popes and the violence of the people, this supremacy was crushed and annihilated.

Content with the titles of emperor and Augustus, the successors of Charlemagne neglected to assert this local

jurisdiction. In the hour of prosperity, their ambition was diverted by more alluring objects; and in the decay

and division of the empire, they were oppressed by the defence of their hereditary provinces. Amidst the ruins

of Italy, the famous Marozia invited one of the usurpers to assume the character of her third husband; and

Hugh, king of Burgundy was introduced by her faction into the mole of Hadrian or Castle of St. Angelo,

which commands the principal bridge and entrance of Rome. Her son by the first marriage, Alberic, was

compelled to attend at the nuptial banquet; but his reluctant and ungraceful service was chastised with a blow

by his new father. The blow was productive of a revolution. "Romans," exclaimed the youth, "once you were

the masters of the world, and these Burgundians the most abject of your slaves. They now reign, these

voracious and brutal savages, and my injury is the commencement of your servitude." ^137 The alarum bell

rang to arms in every quarter of the city: the Burgundians retreated with haste and shame; Marozia was

imprisoned by her victorious son, and his brother, Pope John XI., was reduced to the exercise of his spiritual

functions. With the title of prince, Alberic possessed above twenty years the government of Rome; and he is

said to have gratified the popular prejudice, by restoring the office, or at least the title, of consuls and

tribunes. His son and heir Octavian assumed, with the pontificate, the name of John XII.: like his predecessor,

he was provoked by the Lombard princes to seek a deliverer for the church and republic; and the services of

Otho were rewarded with the Imperial dignity. But the Saxon was imperious, the Romans were impatient, the

festival of the coronation was disturbed by the secret conflict of prerogative and freedom, and Otho

commanded his swordbearer not to stir from his person, lest he should be assaulted and murdered at the foot

of the altar. ^138 Before he repassed the Alps, the emperor chastised the revolt of the people and the

ingratitude of John XII. The pope was degraded in a synod; the praefect was mounted on an ass, whipped

through the city, and cast into a dungeon; thirteen of the most guilty were hanged, others were mutilated or

banished; and this severe process was justified by the ancient laws of Theodosius and Justinian. The voice of

fame has accused the second Otho of a perfidious and bloody act, the massacre of the senators, whom he had

invited to his table under the fair semblance of hospitality and friendship. ^139 In the minority of his son

Otho the Third, Rome made a bold attempt to shake off the Saxon yoke, and the consul Crescentius was the

Brutus of the republic. From the condition of a subject and an exile, he twice rose to the command of the city,

oppressed, expelled, and created the popes, and formed a conspiracy for restoring the authority of the Greek

emperors. ^* In the fortress of St. Angelo, he maintained an obstinate siege, till the unfortunate consul was

betrayed by a promise of safety: his body was suspended on a gibbet, and his head was exposed on the

battlements of the castle. By a reverse of fortune, Otho, after separating his troops, was besieged three days,

without food, in his palace; and a disgraceful escape saved him from the justice or fury of the Romans. The

senator Ptolemy was the leader of the people, and the widow of Crescentius enjoyed the pleasure or the fame

of revenging her husband, by a poison which she administered to her Imperial lover. It was the design of

Otho the Third to abandon the ruder countries of the North, to erect his throne in Italy, and to revive the

institutions of the Roman monarchy. But his successors only once in their lives appeared on the banks of the

Tyber, to receive their crown in the Vatican. ^140 Their absence was contemptible, their presence odious and

formidable. They descended from the Alps, at the head of their barbarians, who were strangers and enemies

to the country; and their transient visit was a scene of tumult and bloodshed. ^141 A faint remembrance of

their ancestors still tormented the Romans; and they beheld with pious indignation the succession of Saxons,

Franks, Swabians, and Bohemians, who usurped the purple and prerogatives of the Caesars.

[Footnote 135: For the history of the emperors in Rome and Italy, see Sigonius, de Regno Italiae, Opp. tom.

ii., with the Notes of Saxius, and the Annals of Muratori, who might refer more distinctly to the authors of his

[Footnote 136: See the Dissertations of Le Blanc at the end of his treatise des Monnoyes de France, in which

[Footnote 137: Romanorum aliquando servi, scilicet Burgundiones, Romanis imperent? .... Romanae urbis

dignitas ad tantam est stultitiam ducta, ut meretricum etiam imperio pareat? (Liutprand, l. iii. c. 12, p. 450.)

Sigonius (l. vi. p. 400) positively affirms the renovation of the consulship; but in the old writers Albericus is

[Footnote 139: This bloody feast is described in Leonine verse in the Pantheon of Godfrey of Viterbo, (Script.

Ital. tom. vii. p. 436, 437,) who flourished towards the end of the xiith century, (Fabricius Bibliot. Latin.

Med. et Infimi Aevi, tom. iii. p. 69, edit. Mansi;) but his evidence, which imposed on Sigonius, is reasonably

[Footnote *: The Marquis Maffei's gallery contained a medal with Imp. Caes August. P. P. Crescentius.

Hence Hobhouse infers that he affected the empire. Hobhouse, Illustrations of Childe Harold, p. 252. M.]

[Footnote 140: The coronation of the emperor, and some original ceremonies of the xth century are preserved

in the Panegyric on Berengarius, (Script. Ital. tom. ii. pars i. p. 405 414,) illustrated by the Notes of Hadrian

Valesius and Leibnitz. Sigonius has related the whole process of the Roman expedition, in good Latin, but

[Footnote 141: In a quarrel at the coronation of Conrad II. Muratori takes leave to observe doveano ben

essere allora, indisciplinati, Barbari, e bestials Tedeschi. Annal. tom. viii. p. 368.]

There is nothing perhaps more adverse to nature and reason than to hold in obedience remote countries and

foreign nations, in opposition to their inclination and interest. A torrent of Barbarians may pass over the

earth, but an extensive empire must be supported by a refined system of policy and oppression; in the centre,

an absolute power, prompt in action and rich in resources; a swift and easy communication with the extreme

parts; fortifications to check the first effort of rebellion; a regular administration to protect and punish; and a

welldisciplined army to inspire fear, without provoking discontent and despair. Far different was the

situation of the German Caesars, who were ambitious to enslave the kingdom of Italy. Their patrimonial

estates were stretched along the Rhine, or scattered in the provinces; but this ample domain was alienated by

the imprudence or distress of successive princes; and their revenue, from minute and vexatious prerogative,

was scarcely sufficient for the maintenance of their household. Their troops were formed by the legal or

voluntary service of their feudal vassals, who passed the Alps with reluctance, assumed the license of rapine

and disorder, and capriciously deserted before the end of the campaign. Whole armies were swept away by

the pestilential influence of the climate: the survivors brought back the bones of their princes and nobles,

^142 and the effects of their own intemperance were often imputed to the treachery and malice of the Italians,

who rejoiced at least in the calamities of the Barbarians. This irregular tyranny might contend on equal terms

with the petty tyrants of Italy; nor can the people, or the reader, be much interested in the event of the quarrel.

But in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Lombards rekindled the flame of industry and freedom; and the

generous example was at length imitated by the republics of Tuscany. ^* In the Italian cities a municipal

government had never been totally abolished; and their first privileges were granted by the favor and policy

of the emperors, who were desirous of erecting a plebeian barrier against the independence of the nobles. But

their rapid progress, the daily extension of their power and pretensions, were founded on the numbers and

spirit of these rising communities. ^143 Each city filled the measure of her diocese or district: the jurisdiction

of the counts and bishops, of the marquises and counts, was banished from the land; and the proudest nobles

were persuaded or compelled to desert their solitary castles, and to embrace the more honorable character of

freemen and magistrates. The legislative authority was inherent in the general assembly; but the executive

powers were intrusted to three consuls, annually chosen from the three orders of captains, valvassors, ^144

and commons, into which the republic was divided. Under the protection of equal law, the labors of

agriculture and commerce were gradually revived; but the martial spirit of the Lombards was nourished by

the presence of danger; and as often as the bell was rung, or the standard ^145 erected, the gates of the city

poured forth a numerous and intrepid band, whose zeal in their own cause was soon guided by the use and

discipline of arms. At the foot of these popular ramparts, the pride of the Caesars was overthrown; and the

invincible genius of liberty prevailed over the two Frederics, the greatest princes of the middle age; the first,

superior perhaps in military prowess; the second, who undoubtedly excelled in the softer accomplishments of

peace and learning. [Footnote 142: After boiling away the flesh. The caldrons for that purpose were a

necessary piece of travelling furniture; and a German who was using it for his brother, promised it to a friend,

after it should have been employed for himself, (Schmidt, tom. iii. p. 423, 424.) The same author observes

[Footnote *: Compare Sismondi, Histoire des Republiques Italiannes. Hallam Middle Ages. Raumer,

Geschichte der Hohenstauffen. Savigny, Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, vol. iii. p. 19 with the authors

[Footnote 143: Otho, bishop of Frisingen, has left an important passage on the Italian cities, (l. ii. c. 13, in

Script. Ital. tom. vi. p. 707 710: ) and the rise, progress, and government of these republics are perfectly

illustrated by Muratori, (Antiquitat. Ital. Medii Aevi, tom. iv. dissert xlv. lii. p. 1 675. Annal. tom. viii. ix.

[Footnote 144: For these titles, see Selden, (Titles of Honor, vol. iii. part 1 p. 488.) Ducange, (Gloss. Latin.

tom. ii. p. 140, tom. vi. p. 776,) and St. Marc, (Abrege Chronologique, tom. ii. p. 719.)]

[Footnote 145: The Lombards invented and used the carocium, a standard planted on a car or wagon, drawn

by a team of oxen, (Ducange, tom. ii. p. 194, 195. Muratori Antiquitat tom. ii. dis. xxvi. p. 489 493.)]

Ambitious of restoring the splendor of the purple, Frederic the First invaded the republics of Lombardy, with

the arts of a statesman, the valor of a soldier, and the cruelty of a tyrant. The recent discovery of the Pandects

had renewed a science most favorable to despotism; and his venal advocates proclaimed the emperor the

absolute master of the lives and properties of his subjects. His royal prerogatives, in a less odious sense, were

acknowledged in the diet of Roncaglia; and the revenue of Italy was fixed at thirty thousand pounds of silver,

^146 which were multiplied to an indefinite demand by the rapine of the fiscal officers. The obstinate cities

were reduced by the terror or the force of his arms: his captives were delivered to the executioner, or shot

from his military engines; and. after the siege and surrender of Milan, the buildings of that stately capital

were razed to the ground, three hundred hostages were sent into Germany, and the inhabitants were dispersed

in four villages, under the yoke of the inflexible conqueror. ^147 But Milan soon rose from her ashes; and the

league of Lombardy was cemented by distress: their cause was espoused by Venice, Pope Alexander the

Third, and the Greek emperor: the fabric of oppression was overturned in a day; and in the treaty of

Constance, Frederic subscribed, with some reservations, the freedom of fourandtwenty cities. His grandson

contended with their vigor and maturity; but Frederic the Second ^148 was endowed with some personal and

peculiar advantages. His birth and education recommended him to the Italians; and in the implacable discord

of the two factions, the Ghibelins were attached to the emperor, while the Guelfs displayed the banner of

liberty and the church. The court of Rome had slumbered, when his father Henry the Sixth was permitted to

unite with the empire the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily; and from these hereditary realms the son derived an

ample and ready supply of troops and treasure. Yet Frederic the Second was finally oppressed by the arms of

the Lombards and the thunders of the Vatican: his kingdom was given to a stranger, and the last of his family

was beheaded at Naples on a public scaffold. During sixty years, no emperor appeared in Italy, and the name

[Footnote 146: Gunther Ligurinus, l. viii. 584, et seq., apud Schmidt, tom. iii. p. 399.]

[Footnote 147: Solus imperator faciem suam firmavit ut petram, (Burcard. de Excidio Mediolani, Script. Ital.

tom. vi. p. 917.) This volume of Muratori contains the originals of the history of Frederic the First, which

must be compared with due regard to the circumstances and prejudices of each German or Lombard writer.

Note: Von Raumer has traced the fortunes of the Swabian house in one of the ablest historical works of

modern times. He may be compared with the spirited and independent Sismondi. M.]

[Footnote 148: For the history of Frederic II. and the house of Swabia at Naples, see Giannone, Istoria Civile,

The Barbarian conquerors of the West were pleased to decorate their chief with the title of emperor; but it

was not their design to invest him with the despotism of Constantine and Justinian. The persons of the

Germans were free, their conquests were their own, and their national character was animated by a spirit

which scorned the servile jurisprudence of the new or the ancient Rome. It would have been a vain and

dangerous attempt to impose a monarch on the armed freemen, who were impatient of a magistrate; on the

bold, who refused to obey; on the powerful, who aspired to command. The empire of Charlemagne and Otho

was distributed among the dukes of the nations or provinces, the counts of the smaller districts, and the

margraves of the marches or frontiers, who all united the civil and military authority as it had been delegated

to the lieutenants of the first Caesars. The Roman governors, who, for the most part, were soldiers of fortune,

seduced their mercenary legions, assumed the Imperial purple, and either failed or succeeded in their revolt,

without wounding the power and unity of government. If the dukes, margraves, and counts of Germany, were

less audacious in their claims, the consequences of their success were more lasting and pernicious to the state.

Instead of aiming at the supreme rank, they silently labored to establish and appropriate their provincial

independence. Their ambition was seconded by the weight of their estates and vassals, their mutual example

and support, the common interest of the subordinate nobility, the change of princes and families, the

minorities of Otho the Third and Henry the Fourth, the ambition of the popes, and the vain pursuit of the

fugitive crowns of Italy and Rome. All the attributes of regal and territorial jurisdiction were gradually

usurped by the commanders of the provinces; the right of peace and war, of life and death, of coinage and

taxation, of foreign alliance and domestic economy. Whatever had been seized by violence, was ratified by

favor or distress, was granted as the price of a doubtful vote or a voluntary service; whatever had been

granted to one could not, without injury, be denied to his successor or equal; and every act of local or

temporary possession was insensibly moulded into the constitution of the Germanic kingdom. In every

province, the visible presence of the duke or count was interposed between the throne and the nobles; the

subjects of the law became the vassals of a private chief; and the standard which he received from his

sovereign, was often raised against him in the field. The temporal power of the clergy was cherished and

exalted by the superstition or policy of the Carlovingian and Saxon dynasties, who blindly depended on their

moderation and fidelity; and the bishoprics of Germany were made equal in extent and privilege, superior in

wealth and population, to the most ample states of the military order. As long as the emperors retained the

prerogative of bestowing on every vacancy these ecclesiastic and secular benefices, their cause was

maintained by the gratitude or ambition of their friends and favorites. But in the quarrel of the investitures,

they were deprived of their influence over the episcopal chapters; the freedom of election was restored, and

the sovereign was reduced, by a solemn mockery, to his first prayers, the recommendation, once in his reign,

to a single prebend in each church. The secular governors, instead of being recalled at the will of a superior,

could be degraded only by the sentence of their peers. In the first age of the monarchy, the appointment of the

son to the duchy or county of his father, was solicited as a favor; it was gradually obtained as a custom, and

extorted as a right: the lineal succession was often extended to the collateral or female branches; the states of

the empire (their popular, and at length their legal, appellation) were divided and alienated by testament and

sale; and all idea of a public trust was lost in that of a private and perpetual inheritance. The emperor could

not even be enriched by the casualties of forfeiture and extinction: within the term of a year, he was obliged

to dispose of the vacant fief; and, in the choice of the candidate, it was his duty to consult either the general

After the death of Frederic the Second, Germany was left a monster with a hundred heads. A crowd of

princes and prelates disputed the ruins of the empire: the lords of innumerable castles were less prone to

obey, than to imitate, their superiors; and, according to the measure of their strength, their incessant hostilities

received the names of conquest or robbery. Such anarchy was the inevitable consequence of the laws and

manners of Europe; and the kingdoms of France and Italy were shivered into fragments by the violence of the

same tempest. But the Italian cities and the French vassals were divided and destroyed, while the union of the

Germans has produced, under the name of an empire, a great system of a federative republic. In the frequent

and at last the perpetual institution of diets, a national spirit was kept alive, and the powers of a common

legislature are still exercised by the three branches or colleges of the electors, the princes, and the free and

Imperial cities of Germany. I. Seven of the most powerful feudatories were permitted to assume, with a

distinguished name and rank, the exclusive privilege of choosing the Roman emperor; and these electors were

the king of Bohemia, the duke of Saxony, the margrave of Brandenburgh, the count palatine of the Rhine, and

the three archbishops of Mentz, of Treves, and of Cologne. II. The college of princes and prelates purged

themselves of a promiscuous multitude: they reduced to four representative votes the long series of

independent counts, and excluded the nobles or equestrian order, sixty thousand of whom, as in the Polish

diets, had appeared on horseback in the field of election. III. The pride of birth and dominion, of the sword

and the mitre, wisely adopted the commons as the third branch of the legislature, and, in the progress of

society, they were introduced about the same aera into the national assemblies of France England, and

Germany. The Hanseatic League commanded the trade and navigation of the north: the confederates of the

Rhine secured the peace and intercourse of the inland country; the influence of the cities has been adequate to

their wealth and policy, and their negative still invalidates the acts of the two superior colleges of electors and

[Footnote 149: In the immense labyrinth of the jus publicum of Germany, I must either quote one writer or a

thousand; and I had rather trust to one faithful guide, than transcribe, on credit, a multitude of names and

passages. That guide is M. Pfeffel, the author of the best legal and constitutional history that I know of any

country, (Nouvel Abrege Chronologique de l'Histoire et du Droit public Allemagne; Paris, 1776, 2 vols. in

4to.) His learning and judgment have discerned the most interesting facts; his simple brevity comprises them

in a narrow space. His chronological order distributes them under the proper dates; and an elaborate index

collects them under their respective heads. To this work, in a less perfect state, Dr. Robertson was gratefully

indebted for that masterly sketch which traces even the modern changes of the Germanic body. The Corpus

Historiae Germanicae of Struvius has been likewise consulted, the more usefully, as that huge compilation is

Note: For the rise and progress of the Hanseatic League, consult the authoritative history by Sartorius;

Geschichte des Hanseatischen Bandes Theile, Gottingen, 1802. New and improved edition by Lappenberg

Elamburg, 1830. The original Hanseatic League comprehended Cologne and many of the great cities in the

It is in the fourteenth century that we may view in the strongest light the state and contrast of the Roman

empire of Germany, which no longer held, except on the borders of the Rhine and Danube, a single province

of Trajan or Constantine. Their unworthy successors were the counts of Hapsburgh, of Nassau, of

Luxemburgh, and Schwartzenburgh: the emperor Henry the Seventh procured for his son the crown of

Bohemia, and his grandson Charles the Fourth was born among a people strange and barbarous in the

estimation of the Germans themselves. ^150 After the excommunication of Lewis of Bavaria, he received the

gift or promise of the vacant empire from the Roman pontiffs, who, in the exile and captivity of Avignon,

affected the dominion of the earth. The death of his competitors united the electoral college, and Charles was

unanimously saluted king of the Romans, and future emperor; a title which, in the same age, was prostituted

to the Caesars of Germany and Greece. The German emperor was no more than the elective and impotent

magistrate of an aristocracy of princes, who had not left him a village that he might call his own. His best

prerogative was the right of presiding and proposing in the national senate, which was convened at his

summons; and his native kingdom of Bohemia, less opulent than the adjacent city of Nuremberg, was the

firmest seat of his power and the richest source of his revenue. The army with which he passed the Alps

consisted of three hundred horse. In the cathedral of St. Ambrose, Charles was crowned with the iron crown,

which tradition ascribed to the Lombard monarchy; but he was admitted only with a peaceful train; the gates

of the city were shut upon him; and the king of Italy was held a captive by the arms of the Visconti, whom he

confirmed in the sovereignty of Milan. In the Vatican he was again crowned with the golden crown of the

empire; but, in obedience to a secret treaty, the Roman emperor immediately withdrew, without reposing a

single night within the walls of Rome. The eloquent Petrarch, ^151 whose fancy revived the visionary glories

of the Capitol, deplores and upbraids the ignominious flight of the Bohemian; and even his contemporaries

could observe, that the sole exercise of his authority was in the lucrative sale of privileges and titles. The gold

of Italy secured the election of his son; but such was the shameful poverty of the Roman emperor, that his

person was arrested by a butcher in the streets of Worms, and was detained in the public inn, as a pledge or

hostage for the payment of his expenses. [Footnote 150: Yet, personally, Charles IV. must not be considered

as a Barbarian. After his education at Paris, he recovered the use of the Bohemian, his native, idiom; and the

emperor conversed and wrote with equal facility in French, Latin, Italian, and German, (Struvius, p. 615,

[Footnote 151: Besides the German and Italian historians, the expedition of Charles IV. is painted in lively

and original colors in the curious Memoires sur la Vie de Petrarque, tom. iii. p. 376 430, by the Abbe de

Sade, whose prolixity has never been blamed by any reader of taste and curiosity.]

From this humiliating scene, let us turn to the apparent majesty of the same Charles in the diets of the empire.

The golden bull, which fixes the Germanic constitution, is promulgated in the style of a sovereign and

legislator. A hundred princes bowed before his throne, and exalted their own dignity by the voluntary honors

which they yielded to their chief or minister. At the royal banquet, the hereditary great officers, the seven

electors, who in rank and title were equal to kings, performed their solemn and domestic service of the

palace. The seals of the triple kingdom were borne in state by the archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, and

Treves, the perpetual archchancellors of Germany, Italy, and Arles. The great marshal, on horseback,

exercised his function with a silver measure of oats, which he emptied on the ground, and immediately

dismounted to regulate the order of the guests The great steward, the count palatine of the Rhine, place the

dishes on the table. The great chamberlain, the margrave of Brandenburgh, presented, after the repast, the

golden ewer and basin, to wash. The king of Bohemia, as great cupbearer, was represented by the emperor's

brother, the duke of Luxemburgh and Brabant; and the procession was closed by the great huntsmen, who

introduced a boar and a stag, with a loud chorus of horns and hounds. ^152 Nor was the supremacy of the

emperor confined to Germany alone: the hereditary monarchs of Europe confessed the preeminence of his

rank and dignity: he was the first of the Christian princes, the temporal head of the great republic of the West:

^153 to his person the title of majesty was long appropriated; and he disputed with the pope the sublime

prerogative of creating kings and assembling councils. The oracle of the civil law, the learned Bartolus, was a

pensioner of Charles the Fourth; and his school resounded with the doctrine, that the Roman emperor was the

rightful sovereign of the earth, from the rising to the setting sun. The contrary opinion was condemned, not as

an error, but as a heresy, since even the gospel had pronounced, "And there went forth a decree from Caesar

[Footnote 153: The republic of Europe, with the pope and emperor at its head, was never represented with

more dignity than in the council of Constance. See Lenfant's History of that assembly.]

If we annihilate the interval of time and space between Augustus and Charles, strong and striking will be the

contrast between the two Caesars; the Bohemian who concealed his weakness under the mask of ostentation,

and the Roman, who disguised his strength under the semblance of modesty. At the head of his victorious

legions, in his reign over the sea and land, from the Nile and Euphrates to the Atlantic Ocean, Augustus

professed himself the servant of the state and the equal of his fellowcitizens. The conqueror of Rome and

her provinces assumed a popular and legal form of a censor, a consul, and a tribune. His will was the law of

mankind, but in the declaration of his laws he borrowed the voice of the senate and people; and from their

decrees their master accepted and renewed his temporary commission to administer the republic. In his dress,

his domestics, ^155 his titles, in all the offices of social life, Augustus maintained the character of a private

Roman; and his most artful flatterers respected the secret of his absolute and perpetual monarchy.

[Footnote 155: Six thousand urns have been discovered of the slaves and freedmen of Augustus and Livia. So

minute was the division of office, that one slave was appointed to weigh the wool which was spun by the

empress's maids, another for the care of her lapdog, (Camera Sepolchrale, by Bianchini. Extract of his work

in the Bibliotheque Italique, tom. iv. p. 175. His Eloge, by Fontenelle, tom. vi. p. 356.) But these servants

were of the same rank, and possibly not more numerous than those of Pollio or Lentulus. They only prove the

Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants. Birth, Character, And Doctrine Of Mahomet. He Preaches At

Mecca. Flies To Medina. Propagates His Religion By The Sword. Voluntary Or Reluctant Submission

Of The Arabs. His Death And Successors. The Claims And Fortunes Of All And His Descendants.

After pursuing above six hundred years the fleeting Caesars of Constantinople and Germany, I now descend,

in the reign of Heraclius, on the eastern borders of the Greek monarchy. While the state was exhausted by the

Persian war, and the church was distracted by the Nestorian and Monophysite sects, Mahomet, with the

sword in one hand and the Koran in the other, erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and of Rome.

The genius of the Arabian prophet, the manners of his nation, and the spirit of his religion, involve the causes

of the decline and fall of the Eastern empire; and our eyes are curiously intent on one of the most memorable

revolutions, which have impressed a new and lasting character on the nations of the globe. ^1 [Footnote 1: As

in this and the following chapter I shall display much Arabic learning, I must profess my total ignorance of

the Oriental tongues, and my gratitude to the learned interpreters, who have transfused their science into the

Latin, French, and English languages. Their collections, versions, and histories, I shall occasionally notice.]

In the vacant space between Persia, Syria, Egypt, and Aethiopia, the Arabian peninsula ^2 may be conceived

as a triangle of spacious but irregular dimensions. From the northern point of Beles ^3 on the Euphrates, a

line of fifteen hundred miles is terminated by the Straits of Bebelmandel and the land of frankincense. About

half this length may be allowed for the middle breadth, from east to west, from Bassora to Suez, from the

Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. ^4 The sides of the triangle are gradually enlarged, and the southern basis

presents a front of a thousand miles to the Indian Ocean. The entire surface of the peninsula exceeds in a

fourfold proportion that of Germany or France; but the far greater part has been justly stigmatized with the

epithets of the stony and the sandy. Even the wilds of Tartary are decked, by the hand of nature, with lofty

trees and luxuriant herbage; and the lonesome traveller derives a sort of comfort and society from the

presence of vegetable life. But in the dreary waste of Arabia, a boundless level of sand is intersected by sharp

and naked mountains; and the face of the desert, without shade or shelter, is scorched by the direct and

intense rays of a tropical sun. Instead of refreshing breezes, the winds, particularly from the southwest,

diffuse a noxious and even deadly vapor; the hillocks of sand which they alternately raise and scatter, are

compared to the billows of the ocean, and whole caravans, whole armies, have been lost and buried in the

whirlwind. The common benefits of water are an object of desire and contest; and such is the scarcity of

wood, that some art is requisite to preserve and propagate the element of fire. Arabia is destitute of navigable

rivers, which fertilize the soil, and convey its produce to the adjacent regions: the torrents that fall from the

hills are imbibed by the thirsty earth: the rare and hardy plants, the tamarind or the acacia, that strike their

roots into the clefts of the rocks, are nourished by the dews of the night: a scanty supply of rain is collected in

cisterns and aqueducts: the wells and springs are the secret treasure of the desert; and the pilgrim of Mecca,

^5 after many a dry and sultry march, is disgusted by the taste of the waters which have rolled over a bed of

sulphur or salt. Such is the general and genuine picture of the climate of Arabia. The experience of evil

enhances the value of any local or partial enjoyments. A shady grove, a green pasture, a stream of fresh

water, are sufficient to attract a colony of sedentary Arabs to the fortunate spots which can afford food and

refreshment to themselves and their cattle, and which encourage their industry in the cultivation of the

palmtree and the vine. The high lands that border on the Indian Ocean are distinguished by their superior

plenty of wood and water; the air is more temperate, the fruits are more delicious, the animals and the human

race more numerous: the fertility of the soil invites and rewards the toil of the husbandman; and the peculiar

gifts of frankincense ^6 and coffee have attracted in different ages the merchants of the world. If it be

compared with the rest of the peninsula, this sequestered region may truly deserve the appellation of the

happy; and the splendid coloring of fancy and fiction has been suggested by contrast, and countenanced by

distance. It was for this earthly paradise that Nature had reserved her choicest favors and her most curious

workmanship: the incompatible blessings of luxury and innocence were ascribed to the natives: the soil was

impregnated with gold ^7 and gems, and both the land and sea were taught to exhale the odors of aromatic

sweets. This division of the sandy, the stony, and the happy, so familiar to the Greeks and Latins, is unknown

to the Arabians themselves; and it is singular enough, that a country, whose language and inhabitants have

ever been the same, should scarcely retain a vestige of its ancient geography. The maritime districts of

Bahrein and Oman are opposite to the realm of Persia. The kingdom of Yemen displays the limits, or at least

the situation, of Arabia Felix: the name of Neged is extended over the inland space; and the birth of Mahomet

[Footnote 2: The geographers of Arabia may be divided into three classes: 1. The Greeks and Latins, whose

progressive knowledge may be traced in Agatharcides, (de Mari Rubro, in Hudson, Geograph. Minor. tom.

i.,) Diodorus Siculus, (tom. i. l. ii. p. 159 167, l. iii. p. 211 216, edit. Wesseling,) Strabo, (l. xvi. p. 1112

1114, from Eratosthenes, p. 1122 1132, from Artemidorus,) Dionysius, (Periegesis, 927 969,) Pliny,

(Hist. Natur. v. 12, vi. 32,) and Ptolemy, (Descript. et Tabulae Urbium, in Hudson, tom. iii.) 2. The Arabic

writers, who have treated the subject with the zeal of patriotism or devotion: the extracts of Pocock

(Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 125 128) from the Geography of the Sherif al Edrissi, render us still more

dissatisfied with the version or abridgment (p. 24 27, 44 56, 108, 119, which the Maronites have

published under the absurd title of Geographia Nubiensis, (Paris, 1619;) but the Latin and French translators,

Greaves (in Hudson, tom. iii.) and Galland, (Voyage de la Palestine par La Roque, p. 265 346,) have

opened to us the Arabia of Abulfeda, the most copious and correct account of the peninsula, which may be

enriched, however, from the Bibliotheque Orientale of D'Herbelot, p. 120, et alibi passim. 3. The European

travellers; among whom Shaw (p. 438 455) and Niebuhr (Description, 1773; Voyages, tom. i. 1776)

deserve an honorable distinction: Busching (Geographie par Berenger, tom. viii. p. 416 510) has compiled

with judgment, and D'Anville's Maps (Orbis Veteribus Notus, and 1re Partie de l'Asie) should lie before the

Note: Of modern travellers may be mentioned the adventurer who called himself Ali Bey; but above all, the

[Footnote 3: Abulfed. Descript. Arabiae, p. 1. D'Anville, l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 19, 20. It was in this place,

the paradise or garden of a satrap, that Xenophon and the Greeks first passed the Euphrates, (Anabasis, l. i. c.

1. That our Red Sea (the Arabian Gulf) is no more than a part of the Mare Rubrum, which was extended to

2. That the synonymous words, allude to the color of the blacks or negroes, (Dissert Miscell. tom. i. p. 59

[Footnote 5: In the thirty days, or stations, between Cairo and Mecca, there are fifteen destitute of good

[Footnote 6: The aromatics, especially the thus, or frankincense, of Arabia, occupy the xiith book of Pliny.

Our great poet (Paradise Lost, l. iv.) introduces, in a simile, the spicy odors that are blown by the north east

[Footnote 7: Agatharcides affirms, that lumps of pure gold were found, from the size of an olive to that of a

nut; that iron was twice, and silver ten times, the value of gold, (de Mari Rubro, p. 60.) These real or

imaginary treasures are vanished; and no gold mines are at present known in Arabia, (Niebuhr, Description,

Note: A brilliant passage in the geographical poem of Dionysius Periegetes embodies the notions of the

ancients on the wealth and fertility of Yemen. Greek mythology, and the traditions of the "gorgeous east," of

India as well as Arabia, are mingled together in indiscriminate splendor. Compare on the southern coast of

[Footnote 8: Consult, peruse, and study the Specimen Hostoriae Arabum of Pocock, (Oxon. 1650, in 4to.)

The thirty pages of text and version are extracted from the Dynasties of Gregory Abulpharagius, which

Pocock afterwards translated, (Oxon. 1663, in 4to.;) the three hundred and fifty eight notes form a classic

The measure of population is regulated by the means of subsistence; and the inhabitants of this vast peninsula

might be outnumbered by the subjects of a fertile and industrious province. Along the shores of the Persian

Gulf, of the ocean, and even of the Red Sea, the Icthyophagi, ^9 or fish eaters, continued to wander in quest

of their precarious food. In this primitive and abject state, which ill deserves the name of society, the human

brute, without arts or laws, almost without sense or language, is poorly distinguished from the rest of the

animal creation. Generations and ages might roll away in silent oblivion, and the helpless savage was

restrained from multiplying his race by the wants and pursuits which confined his existence to the narrow

margin of the seacoast. But in an early period of antiquity the great body of the Arabs had emerged from this

scene of misery; and as the naked wilderness could not maintain a people of hunters, they rose at once to the

more secure and plentiful condition of the pastoral life. The same life is uniformly pursued by the roving

tribes of the desert; and in the portrait of the modern Bedoweens, we may trace the features of their ancestors,

^10 who, in the age of Moses or Mahomet, dwelt under similar tents, and conducted their horses, and camels,

and sheep, to the same springs and the same pastures. Our toil is lessened, and our wealth is increased, by our

dominion over the useful animals; and the Arabian shepherd had acquired the absolute possession of a

faithful friend and a laborious slave. ^11 Arabia, in the opinion of the naturalist, is the genuine and original

country of the horse; the climate most propitious, not indeed to the size, but to the spirit and swiftness, of that

generous animal. The merit of the Barb, the Spanish, and the English breed, is derived from a mixture of

Arabian blood: ^12 the Bedoweens preserve, with superstitious care, the honors and the memory of the purest

race: the males are sold at a high price, but the females are seldom alienated; and the birth of a noble foal was

esteemed among the tribes, as a subject of joy and mutual congratulation. These horses are educated in the

tents, among the children of the Arabs, with a tender familiarity, which trains them in the habits of gentleness

and attachment. They are accustomed only to walk and to gallop: their sensations are not blunted by the

incessant abuse of the spur and the whip: their powers are reserved for the moments of flight and pursuit: but

no sooner do they feel the touch of the hand or the stirrup, than they dart away with the swiftness of the wind;

and if their friend be dismounted in the rapid career, they instantly stop till he has recovered his seat. In the

sands of Africa and Arabia, the camel is a sacred and precious gift. That strong and patient beast of burden

can perform, without eating or drinking, a journey of several days; and a reservoir of fresh water is preserved

in a large bag, a fifth stomach of the animal, whose body is imprinted with the marks of servitude: the larger

breed is capable of transporting a weight of a thousand pounds; and the dromedary, of a lighter and more

active frame, outstrips the fleetest courser in the race. Alive or dead, almost every part of the camel is

serviceable to man: her milk is plentiful and nutritious: the young and tender flesh has the taste of veal: ^13 a

valuable salt is extracted from the urine: the dung supplies the deficiency of fuel; and the long hair, which

falls each year and is renewed, is coarsely manufactured into the garments, the furniture, and the tents of the

Bedoweens. In the rainy seasons, they consume the rare and insufficient herbage of the desert: during the

heats of summer and the scarcity of winter, they remove their encampments to the seacoast, the hills of

Yemen, or the neighborhood of the Euphrates, and have often extorted the dangerous license of visiting the

banks of the Nile, and the villages of Syria and Palestine. The life of a wandering Arab is a life of danger and

distress; and though sometimes, by rapine or exchange, he may appropriate the fruits of industry, a private

citizen in Europe is in the possession of more solid and pleasing luxury than the proudest emir, who marches

[Footnote 9: Arrian remarks the Icthyophagi of the coast of Hejez, (Periplus Maris Erythraei, p. 12,) and

beyond Aden, (p. 15.) It seems probable that the shores of the Red Sea (in the largest sense) were occupied by

these savages in the time, perhaps, of Cyrus; but I can hardly believe that any cannibals were left among the

[Footnote 10: See the Specimen Historiae Arabum of Pocock, p. 2, 5, 86, The journey of M. d'Arvieux, in

1664, to the camp of the emir of Mount Carmel, (Voyage de la Palestine, Amsterdam, 1718,) exhibits a

pleasing and original picture of the life of the Bedoweens, which may be illustrated from Niebuhr

(Description de l'Arabie, p. 327 344) and Volney, (tom. i. p. 343 385,) the last and most judicious of our

[Footnote 11: Read (it is no unpleasing task) the incomparable articles of the Horse and the Camel, in the

[Footnote 12: For the Arabian horses, see D'Arvieux (p. 159 173) and Niebuhr, (p. 142 144.) At the end

of the xiiith century, the horses of Neged were esteemed surefooted, those of Yemen strong and serviceable,

those of Hejaz most noble. The horses of Europe, the tenth and last class, were generally despised as having

too much body and too little spirit, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 339: ) their strength was requisite to bear

[Footnote 13: Qui carnibus camelorum vesci solent odii tenaces sunt, was the opinion of an Arabian

physician, (Pocock, Specimen, p. 88.) Mahomet himself, who was fond of milk, prefers the cow, and does not

even mention the camel; but the diet of Mecca and Medina was already more luxurious, (Gagnier Vie de

Yet an essential difference may be found between the hordes of Scythia and the Arabian tribes; since many of

the latter were collected into towns, and employed in the labors of trade and agriculture. A part of their time

and industry was still devoted to the management of their cattle: they mingled, in peace and war, with their

brethren of the desert; and the Bedoweens derived from their useful intercourse some supply of their wants,

and some rudiments of art and knowledge. Among the fortytwo cities of Arabia, ^14 enumerated by

Abulfeda, the most ancient and populous were situate in the happy Yemen: the towers of Saana, ^15 and the

marvellous reservoir of Merab, ^16 were constructed by the kings of the Homerites; but their profane lustre

was eclipsed by the prophetic glories of Medina ^17 and Mecca, ^18 near the Red Sea, and at the distance

from each other of two hundred and seventy miles. The last of these holy places was known to the Greeks

under the name of Macoraba; and the termination of the word is expressive of its greatness, which has not,

indeed, in the most flourishing period, exceeded the size and populousness of Marseilles. Some latent motive,

perhaps of superstition, must have impelled the founders, in the choice of a most unpromising situation. They

erected their habitations of mud or stone, in a plain about two miles long and one mile broad, at the foot of

three barren mountains: the soil is a rock; the water even of the holy well of Zemzem is bitter or brackish; the

pastures are remote from the city; and grapes are transported above seventy miles from the gardens of Tayef.

The fame and spirit of the Koreishites, who reigned in Mecca, were conspicuous among the Arabian tribes;

but their ungrateful soil refused the labors of agriculture, and their position was favorable to the enterprises of

trade. By the seaport of Gedda, at the distance only of forty miles, they maintained an easy correspondence

with Abyssinia; and that Christian kingdom afforded the first refuge to the disciples of Mahomet. The

treasures of Africa were conveyed over the Peninsula to Gerrha or Katif, in the province of Bahrein, a city

built, as it is said, of rocksalt, by the Chaldaean exiles; ^19 and from thence with the native pearls of the

Persian Gulf, they were floated on rafts to the mouth of the Euphrates. Mecca is placed almost at an equal

distance, a month's journey, between Yemen on the right, and Syria on the left hand. The former was the

winter, the latter the summer, station of her caravans; and their seasonable arrival relieved the ships of India

from the tedious and troublesome navigation of the Red Sea. In the markets of Saana and Merab, in the

harbors of Oman and Aden, the camels of the Koreishites were laden with a precious cargo of aromatics; a

supply of corn and manufactures was purchased in the fairs of Bostra and Damascus; the lucrative exchange

diffused plenty and riches in the streets of Mecca; and the noblest of her sons united the love of arms with the

[Footnote 14: Yet Marcian of Heraclea (in Periplo, p. 16, in tom. i. Hudson, Minor. Geograph.) reckons one

hundred and sixtyfour towns in Arabia Felix. The size of the towns might be small the faith of the writer

[Footnote 15: It is compared by Abulfeda (in Hudson, tom. ii. p. 54) to Damascus, and is still the residence of

the Iman of Yemen, (Voyages de Niebuhr, tom. i. p. 331 342.) Saana is twentyfour parasangs from Dafar,

[Footnote 16: Pocock, Specimen, p. 57. Geograph. Nubiensis, p. 52. Meriaba, or Merab, six miles in

circumference, was destroyed by the legions of Augustus, (Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 32,) and had not revived in the

Note: See note 2 to chap. i. The destruction of Meriaba by the Romans is doubtful. The town never recovered

the inundation which took place from the bursting of a large reservoir of water an event of great importance

in the Arabian annals, and discussed at considerable length by modern Orientalists. M.]

[Footnote 17: The name of city, Medina, was appropriated, to Yatreb. (the Iatrippa of the Greeks,) the seat of

the prophet. The distances from Medina are reckoned by Abulfeda in stations, or days' journey of a caravan,

(p. 15: ) to Bahrein, xv.; to Bassora, xviii.; to Cufah, xx.; to Damascus or Palestine, xx.; to Cairo, xxv.; to

Mecca. x.; from Mecca to Saana, (p. 52,) or Aden, xxx.; to Cairo, xxxi. days, or 412 hours, (Shaw's Travels,

p. 477;) which, according to the estimate of D'Anville, (Mesures Itineraires, p. 99,) allows about twentyfive

English miles for a day's journey. From the land of frankincense (Hadramaut, in Yemen, between Aden and

Cape Fartasch) to Gaza in Syria, Pliny (Hist. Nat. xii. 32) computes lxv. mansions of camels. These measures

[Footnote 18: Our notions of Mecca must be drawn from the Arabians, (D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale,

p. 368 371. Pocock, Specimen, p. 125 128. Abulfeda, p. 11 40.) As no unbeliever is permitted to enter

the city, our travellers are silent; and the short hints of Thevenot (Voyages du Levant, part i. p. 490) are taken

from the suspicious mouth of an African renegado. Some Persians counted 6000 houses, (Chardin. tom. iv. p.

Note: Even in the time of Gibbon, Mecca had not been so inaccessible to Europeans. It had been visited by

Ludovico Barthema, and by one Joseph Pitts, of Exeter, who was taken prisoner by the Moors, and forcibly

converted to Mahometanism. His volume is a curious, though plain, account of his sufferings and travels.

Since that time Mecca has been entered, and the ceremonies witnessed, by Dr. Seetzen, whose papers were

unfortunately lost; by the Spaniard, who called himself Ali Bey; and, lastly, by Burckhardt, whose

[Footnote 19: Strabo, l. xvi. p. 1110. See one of these salt houses near Bassora, in D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient.

[Footnote 20: Mirum dictu ex innumeris populis pars aequa in commerciis aut in latrociniis degit, (Plin. Hist.

Nat. vi. 32.) See Sale's Koran, Sura. cvi. p. 503. Pocock, Specimen, p. 2. D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 361.

Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, p. 5. Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 72, 120, 126,

The perpetual independence of the Arabs has been the theme of praise among strangers and natives; and the

arts of controversy transform this singular event into a prophecy and a miracle, in favor of the posterity of

Ismael. ^21 Some exceptions, that can neither be dismissed nor eluded, render this mode of reasoning as

indiscreet as it is superfluous; the kingdom of Yemen has been successively subdued by the Abyssinians, the

Persians, the sultans of Egypt, ^22 and the Turks; ^23 the holy cities of Mecca and Medina have repeatedly

bowed under a Scythian tyrant; and the Roman province of Arabia ^24 embraced the peculiar wilderness in

which Ismael and his sons must have pitched their tents in the face of their brethren. Yet these exceptions are

temporary or local; the body of the nation has escaped the yoke of the most powerful monarchies: the arms of

Sesostris and Cyrus, of Pompey and Trajan, could never achieve the conquest of Arabia; the present

sovereign of the Turks ^25 may exercise a shadow of jurisdiction, but his pride is reduced to solicit the

friendship of a people, whom it is dangerous to provoke, and fruitless to attack. The obvious causes of their

freedom are inscribed on the character and country of the Arabs. Many ages before Mahomet, ^26 their

intrepid valor had been severely felt by their neighbors in offensive and defensive war. The patient and active

virtues of a soldier are insensibly nursed in the habits and discipline of a pastoral life. The care of the sheep

and camels is abandoned to the women of the tribe; but the martial youth, under the banner of the emir, is

ever on horseback, and in the field, to practise the exercise of the bow, the javelin, and the cimeter. The long

memory of their independence is the firmest pledge of its perpetuity and succeeding generations are animated

to prove their descent, and to maintain their inheritance. Their domestic feuds are suspended on the approach

of a common enemy; and in their last hostilities against the Turks, the caravan of Mecca was attacked and

pillaged by fourscore thousand of the confederates. When they advance to battle, the hope of victory is in the

front; in the rear, the assurance of a retreat. Their horses and camels, who, in eight or ten days, can perform a

march of four or five hundred miles, disappear before the conqueror; the secret waters of the desert elude his

search, and his victorious troops are consumed with thirst, hunger, and fatigue, in the pursuit of an invisible

foe, who scorns his efforts, and safely reposes in the heart of the burning solitude. The arms and deserts of the

Bedoweens are not only the safeguards of their own freedom, but the barriers also of the happy Arabia,

whose inhabitants, remote from war, are enervated by the luxury of the soil and climate. The legions of

Augustus melted away in disease and lassitude; ^27 and it is only by a naval power that the reduction of

Yemen has been successfully attempted. When Mahomet erected his holy standard, ^28 that kingdom was a

province of the Persian empire; yet seven princes of the Homerites still reigned in the mountains; and the

vicegerent of Chosroes was tempted to forget his distant country and his unfortunate master. The historians of

the age of Justinian represent the state of the independent Arabs, who were divided by interest or affection in

the long quarrel of the East: the tribe of Gassan was allowed to encamp on the Syrian territory: the princes of

Hira were permitted to form a city about forty miles to the southward of the ruins of Babylon. Their service in

the field was speedy and vigorous; but their friendship was venal, their faith inconstant, their enmity

capricious: it was an easier task to excite than to disarm these roving barbarians; and, in the familiar

intercourse of war, they learned to see, and to despise, the splendid weakness both of Rome and of Persia.

From Mecca to the Euphrates, the Arabian tribes ^29 were confounded by the Greeks and Latins, under the

general appellation of Saracens, ^30 a name which every Christian mouth has been taught to pronounce with

terror and abhorrence. [Footnote 21: A nameless doctor (Universal Hist. vol. xx. octavo edition) has formally

demonstrated the truth of Christianity by the independence of the Arabs. A critic, besides the exceptions of

fact, might dispute the meaning of the text (Gen. xvi. 12,) the extent of the application, and the foundation of

Note: See note 3 to chap. xlvi. The atter point is probably the least contestable of the three. M.]

[Footnote 22: It was subdued, A.D. 1173, by a brother of the great Saladin, who founded a dynasty of Curds

[Footnote 23: By the lieutenant of Soliman I. (A.D. 1538) and Selim II., (1568.) See Cantemir's Hist. of the

Othman Empire, p. 201, 221. The pacha, who resided at Saana, commanded twentyone beys; but no revenue

was ever remitted to the Porte, (Marsigli, Stato Militare dell' Imperio Ottomanno, p. 124,) and the Turks were

[Footnote 24: Of the Roman province, under the name of Arabia and the third Palestine, the principal cities

were Bostra and Petra, which dated their aera from the year 105, when they were subdued by Palma, a

lieutenant of Trajan, (Dion. Cassius, l. lxviii.) Petra was the capital of the Nabathaeans; whose name is

derived from the eldest of the sons of Ismael, (Gen. xxv. 12, with the Commentaries of Jerom, Le Clerc, and

Calmet.) Justinian relinquished a palm country of ten days' journey to the south of Aelah, (Procop. de Bell.

Persic. l. i. c. 19,) and the Romans maintained a centurion and a customhouse, (Arrian in Periplo Maris

Erythraei, p. 11, in Hudson, tom. i.,) at a place (Pagus Albus, Hawara) in the territory of Medina, (D'Anville,

Memoire sur l'Egypte, p. 243.) These real possessions, and some naval inroads of Trajan, (Peripl. p. 14, 15,)

Note: On the ruins of Petra, see the travels of Messrs. Irby and Mangles, and of Leon de Laborde. M.]

[Footnote 25: Niebuhr (Description de l'Arabie, p. 302, 303, 329 331) affords the most recent and authentic

Note: Niebuhr's, notwithstanding the multitude of later travellers, maintains its ground, as the classical work

[Footnote 26: Diodorus Siculus (tom. ii. l. xix. p. 390 393, edit. Wesseling) has clearly exposed the

freedom of the Nabathaean Arabs, who resisted the arms of Antigonus and his son.]

[Footnote 27: Strabo, l. xvi. p. 1127 1129. Plin. Hist. Natur. vi. 32. Aelius Gallus landed near Medina, and

marched near a thousand miles into the part of Yemen between Mareb and the Ocean. The non ante devictis

Sabeae regibus, (Od. i. 29,) and the intacti Arabum thesanri (Od. iii. 24) of Horace, attest the virgin purity of

[Footnote 28: See the imperfect history of Yemen in Pocock, Specimen, p. 55 66, of Hira, p. 66 74, of

Gassan, p. 75 78, as far as it could be known or preserved in the time of ignorance.

Note: Compare the Hist. Yemanae, published by Johannsen at Bonn 1880 particularly the translator's preface.

[Footnote 29: They are described by Menander, (Excerpt. Legation p. 149,) Procopius, (de Bell. Persic. l. i. c.

17, 19, l. ii. c. 10,) and, in the most lively colors, by Ammianus Marcellinus, (l. xiv. c. 4,) who had spoken of

[Footnote 30: The name which, used by Ptolemy and Pliny in a more confined, by Ammianus and Procopius

in a larger, sense, has been derived, ridiculously, from Sarah, the wife of Abraham, obscurely from the village

of Saraka, (Stephan. de Urbibus,) more plausibly from the Arabic words, which signify a thievish character,

or Oriental situation, (Hottinger, Hist. Oriental. l. i. c. i. p. 7, 8. Pocock, Specimen, p. 33, 35. Asseman.

Bibliot. Orient. tom. iv. p. 567.) Yet the last and most popular of these etymologies is refuted by Ptolemy,

(Arabia, p. 2, 18, in Hudson, tom. iv.,) who expressly remarks the western and southern position of the

Saracens, then an obscure tribe on the borders of Egypt. The appellation cannot therefore allude to any

national character; and, since it was imposed by strangers, it must be found, not in the Arabic, but in a foreign

Note: Dr. Clarke, (Travels, vol. ii. p. 491,) after expressing contemptuous pity for Gibbon's ignorance,

derives the word from Zara, Zaara, Sara, the Desert, whence Saraceni, the children of the Desert. De Marles

adopts the derivation from Sarrik, a robber, (Hist. des Arabes, vol. i. p. 36, S.L. Martin from Scharkioun, or

The slaves of domestic tyranny may vainly exult in their national independence: but the Arab is personally

free; and he enjoys, in some degree, the benefits of society, without forfeiting the prerogatives of nature. In

every tribe, superstition, or gratitude, or fortune, has exalted a particular family above the heads of their

equals. The dignities of sheick and emir invariably descend in this chosen race; but the order of succession is

loose and precarious; and the most worthy or aged of the noble kinsmen are preferred to the simple, though

important, office of composing disputes by their advice, and guiding valor by their example. Even a female of

sense and spirit has been permitted to command the countrymen of Zenobia. ^31 The momentary junction of

several tribes produces an army: their more lasting union constitutes a nation; and the supreme chief, the emir

of emirs, whose banner is displayed at their head, may deserve, in the eyes of strangers, the honors of the

kingly name. If the Arabian princes abuse their power, they are quickly punished by the desertion of their

subjects, who had been accustomed to a mild and parental jurisdiction. Their spirit is free, their steps are

unconfined, the desert is open, and the tribes and families are held together by a mutual and voluntary

compact. The softer natives of Yemen supported the pomp and majesty of a monarch; but if he could not

leave his palace without endangering his life, ^32 the active powers of government must have been devolved

on his nobles and magistrates. The cities of Mecca and Medina present, in the heart of Asia, the form, or

rather the substance, of a commonwealth. The grandfather of Mahomet, and his lineal ancestors, appear in

foreign and domestic transactions as the princes of their country; but they reigned, like Pericles at Athens, or

the Medici at Florence, by the opinion of their wisdom and integrity; their influence was divided with their

patrimony; and the sceptre was transferred from the uncles of the prophet to a younger branch of the tribe of

Koreish. On solemn occasions they convened the assembly of the people; and, since mankind must be either

compelled or persuaded to obey, the use and reputation of oratory among the ancient Arabs is the clearest

evidence of public freedom. ^33 But their simple freedom was of a very different cast from the nice and

artificial machinery of the Greek and Roman republics, in which each member possessed an undivided share

of the civil and political rights of the community. In the more simple state of the Arabs, the nation is free,

because each of her sons disdains a base submission to the will of a master. His breast is fortified by the

austere virtues of courage, patience, and sobriety; the love of independence prompts him to exercise the

habits of selfcommand; and the fear of dishonor guards him from the meaner apprehension of pain, of

danger, and of death. The gravity and firmness of the mind is conspicuous in his outward demeanor; his

speech is low, weighty, and concise; he is seldom provoked to laughter; his only gesture is that of stroking his

beard, the venerable symbol of manhood; and the sense of his own importance teaches him to accost his

equals without levity, and his superiors without awe. ^34 The liberty of the Saracens survived their

conquests: the first caliphs indulged the bold and familiar language of their subjects; they ascended the pulpit

to persuade and edify the congregation; nor was it before the seat of empire was removed to the Tigris, that

the Abbasides adopted the proud and pompous ceremonial of the Persian and Byzantine courts. [Footnote 31:

Saraceni ... mulieres aiunt in eos regnare, (Expositio totius Mundi, p. 3, in Hudson, tom. iii.) The reign of

[Footnote 32: The report of Agatharcides, (de Mari Rubro, p. 63, 64, in Hudson, tom. i.) Diodorus Siculus,

(tom. i. l. iii. c. 47, p. 215,) and Strabo, (l. xvi. p. 1124.) But I much suspect that this is one of the popular

tales, or extraordinary accidents, which the credulity of travellers so often transforms into a fact, a custom,

[Footnote 33: Non gloriabantur antiquitus Arabes, nisi gladio, hospite, et eloquentia (Sephadius apud Pocock,

Specimen, p. 161, 162.) This gift of speech they shared only with the Persians; and the sententious Arabs

[Footnote 34: I must remind the reader that D'Arvieux, D'Herbelot, and Niebuhr, represent, in the most lively

colors, the manners and government of the Arabs, which are illustrated by many incidental passages in the

Note: See, likewise the curious romance of Antar, the most vivid and authentic picture of Arabian manners.

In the study of nations and men, we may observe the causes that render them hostile or friendly to each other,

that tend to narrow or enlarge, to mollify or exasperate, the social character. The separation of the Arabs from

the rest of mankind has accustomed them to confound the ideas of stranger and enemy; and the poverty of the

land has introduced a maxim of jurisprudence, which they believe and practise to the present hour. They

pretend, that, in the division of the earth, the rich and fertile climates were assigned to the other branches of

the human family; and that the posterity of the outlaw Ismael might recover, by fraud or force, the portion of

inheritance of which he had been unjustly deprived. According to the remark of Pliny, the Arabian tribes are

equally addicted to theft and merchandise; the caravans that traverse the desert are ransomed or pillaged; and

their neighbors, since the remote times of Job and Sesostris, ^35 have been the victims of their rapacious

spirit. If a Bedoween discovers from afar a solitary traveller, he rides furiously against him, crying, with a

loud voice, "Undress thyself, thy aunt (my wife) is without a garment." A ready submission entitles him to

mercy; resistance will provoke the aggressor, and his own blood must expiate the blood which he presumes to

shed in legitimate defence. A single robber, or a few associates, are branded with their genuine name; but the

exploits of a numerous band assume the character of lawful and honorable war. The temper of a people thus

armed against mankind was doubly inflamed by the domestic license of rapine, murder, and revenge. In the

constitution of Europe, the right of peace and war is now confined to a small, and the actual exercise to a

much smaller, list of respectable potentates; but each Arab, with impunity and renown, might point his

javelin against the life of his countrymen. The union of the nation consisted only in a vague resemblance of

language and manners; and in each community, the jurisdiction of the magistrate was mute and impotent. Of

the time of ignorance which preceded Mahomet, seventeen hundred battles ^36 are recorded by tradition:

hostility was imbittered with the rancor of civil faction; and the recital, in prose or verse, of an obsolete feud,

was sufficient to rekindle the same passions among the descendants of the hostile tribes. In private life every

man, at least every family, was the judge and avenger of his own cause. The nice sensibility of honor, which

weighs the insult rather than the injury, sheds its deadly venom on the quarrels of the Arabs: the honor of

their women, and of their beards, is most easily wounded; an indecent action, a contemptuous word, can be

expiated only by the blood of the offender; and such is their patient inveteracy, that they expect whole months

and years the opportunity of revenge. A fine or compensation for murder is familiar to the Barbarians of

every age: but in Arabia the kinsmen of the dead are at liberty to accept the atonement, or to exercise with

their own hands the law of retaliation. The refined malice of the Arabs refuses even the head of the murderer,

substitutes an innocent for the guilty person, and transfers the penalty to the best and most considerable of the

race by whom they have been injured. If he falls by their hands, they are exposed, in their turn, to the danger

of reprisals, the interest and principal of the bloody debt are accumulated: the individuals of either family

lead a life of malice and suspicion, and fifty years may sometimes elapse before the account of vengeance be

finally settled. ^37 This sanguinary spirit, ignorant of pity or forgiveness, has been moderated, however, by

the maxims of honor, which require in every private encounter some decent equality of age and strength, of

numbers and weapons. An annual festival of two, perhaps of four, months, was observed by the Arabs before

the time of Mahomet, during which their swords were religiously sheathed both in foreign and domestic

hostility; and this partial truce is more strongly expressive of the habits of anarchy and warfare. ^38

[Footnote 35: Observe the first chapter of Job, and the long wall of 1500 stadia which Sesostris built from

Pelusium to Heliopolis, (Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. i. p. 67.) Under the name of Hycsos, the shepherd kings, they

Note: This origin of the Hycsos, though probable, is by no means so certain here is some reason for

[Footnote 36: Or, according to another account, 1200, (D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 75: ) the two

historians who wrote of the Ayam al Arab, the battles of the Arabs, lived in the 9th and 10th century. The

famous war of Dahes and Gabrah was occasioned by two horses, lasted forty years, and ended in a proverb,

[Footnote 37: The modern theory and practice of the Arabs in the revenge of murder are described by

Niebuhr, (Description, p. 26 31.) The harsher features of antiquity may be traced in the Koran, c. 2, p. 20, c.

[Footnote 38: Procopius (de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 16) places the two holy months about the summer solstice.

The Arabians consecrate four months of the year the first, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth; and pretend, that

in a long series of ages the truce was infringed only four or six times, (Sale's Preliminary Discourse, p. 147

150, and Notes on the ixth chapter of the Koran, p. 154, Casiri, Bibliot. HispanoArabica, tom. ii. p. 20, 21.)]

But the spirit of rapine and revenge was attempered by the milder influence of trade and literature. The

solitary peninsula is encompassed by the most civilized nations of the ancient world; the merchant is the

friend of mankind; and the annual caravans imported the first seeds of knowledge and politeness into the

cities, and even the camps of the desert. Whatever may be the pedigree of the Arabs, their language is derived

from the same original stock with the Hebrew, the Syriac, and the Chaldaean tongues; the independence of

the tribes was marked by their peculiar dialects; ^39 but each, after their own, allowed a just preference to the

pure and perspicuous idiom of Mecca. In Arabia, as well as in Greece, the perfection of language outstripped

the refinement of manners; and her speech could diversify the fourscore names of honey, the two hundred of

a serpent, the five hundred of a lion, the thousand of a sword, at a time when this copious dictionary was

intrusted to the memory of an illiterate people. The monuments of the Homerites were inscribed with an

obsolete and mysterious character; but the Cufic letters, the groundwork of the present alphabet, were

invented on the banks of the Euphrates; and the recent invention was taught at Mecca by a stranger who

settled in that city after the birth of Mahomet. The arts of grammar, of metre, and of rhetoric, were unknown

to the freeborn eloquence of the Arabians; but their penetration was sharp, their fancy luxuriant, their wit

strong and sententious, ^40 and their more elaborate compositions were addressed with energy and effect to

the minds of their hearers. The genius and merit of a rising poet was celebrated by the applause of his own

and the kindred tribes. A solemn banquet was prepared, and a chorus of women, striking their tymbals, and

displaying the pomp of their nuptials, sung in the presence of their sons and husbands the felicity of their

native tribe; that a champion had now appeared to vindicate their rights; that a herald had raised his voice to

immortalize their renown. The distant or hostile tribes resorted to an annual fair, which was abolished by the

fanaticism of the first Moslems; a national assembly that must have contributed to refine and harmonize the

Barbarians. Thirty days were employed in the exchange, not only of corn and wine, but of eloquence and

poetry. The prize was disputed by the generous emulation of the bards; the victorious performance was

deposited in the archives of princes and emirs; and we may read in our own language, the seven original

poems which were inscribed in letters of gold, and suspended in the temple of Mecca. ^41 The Arabian poets

were the historians and moralists of the age; and if they sympathized with the prejudices, they inspired and

crowned the virtues, of their countrymen. The indissoluble union of generosity and valor was the darling

theme of their song; and when they pointed their keenest satire against a despicable race, they affirmed, in the

bitterness of reproach, that the men knew not how to give, nor the women to deny. ^42 The same hospitality,

which was practised by Abraham, and celebrated by Homer, is still renewed in the camps of the Arabs. The

ferocious Bedoweens, the terror of the desert, embrace, without inquiry or hesitation, the stranger who dares

to confide in their honor and to enter their tent. His treatment is kind and respectful: he shares the wealth, or

the poverty, of his host; and, after a needful repose, he is dismissed on his way, with thanks, with blessings,

and perhaps with gifts. The heart and hand are more largely expanded by the wants of a brother or a friend;

but the heroic acts that could deserve the public applause, must have surpassed the narrow measure of

discretion and experience. A dispute had arisen, who, among the citizens of Mecca, was entitled to the prize

of generosity; and a successive application was made to the three who were deemed most worthy of the trial.

Abdallah, the son of Abbas, had undertaken a distant journey, and his foot was in the stirrup when he heard

the voice of a suppliant, "O son of the uncle of the apostle of God, I am a traveller, and in distress!" He

instantly dismounted to present the pilgrim with his camel, her rich caparison, and a purse of four thousand

pieces of gold, excepting only the sword, either for its intrinsic value, or as the gift of an honored kinsman.

The servant of Kais informed the second suppliant that his master was asleep: but he immediately added,

"Here is a purse of seven thousand pieces of gold, (it is all we have in the house,) and here is an order, that

will entitle you to a camel and a slave;" the master, as soon as he awoke, praised and enfranchised his faithful

steward, with a gentle reproof, that by respecting his slumbers he had stinted his bounty. The third of these

heroes, the blind Arabah, at the hour of prayer, was supporting his steps on the shoulders of two slaves.

"Alas!" he replied, "my coffers are empty! but these you may sell; if you refuse, I renounce them." At these

words, pushing away the youths, he groped along the wall with his staff. The character of Hatem is the

perfect model of Arabian virtue: ^43 he was brave and liberal, an eloquent poet, and a successful robber;

forty camels were roasted at his hospitable feast; and at the prayer of a suppliant enemy he restored both the

captives and the spoil. The freedom of his countrymen disdained the laws of justice; they proudly indulged

the spontaneous impulse of pity and benevolence. [Footnote 39: Arrian, in the second century, remarks (in

Periplo Maris Erythraei, p. 12) the partial or total difference of the dialects of the Arabs. Their language and

letters are copiously treated by Pocock, (Specimen, p. 150 154,) Casiri, (Bibliot. HispanoArabica, tom. i.

p. 1, 83, 292, tom. ii. p. 25, and Niebuhr, (Description de l'Arabie, p. 72 36) I pass slightly; I am not fond of

[Footnote 40: A familiar tale in Voltaire's Zadig (le Chien et le Cheval) is related, to prove the natural

sagacity of the Arabs, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 120, 121. Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 37 46:

) but D'Arvieux, or rather La Roque, (Voyage de Palestine, p. 92,) denies the boasted superiority of the

Bedoweens. The one hundred and sixtynine sentences of Ali (translated by Ockley, London, 1718) afford a

[Footnote 41: Pocock (Specimen, p. 158 161) and Casiri (Bibliot. Hispano Arabica, tom. i. p. 48, 84, 119,

tom. ii. p. 17, speak of the Arabian poets before Mahomet; the seven poems of the Caaba have been published

in English by Sir William Jones; but his honorable mission to India has deprived us of his own notes, far

[Footnote 43: D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 458. Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 118. Caab and

Hesnus (Pocock, Specimen, p. 43, 46, 48) were likewise conspicuous for their liberality; and the latter is

elegantly praised by an Arabian poet: "Videbis eum cum accesseris exultantem, ac si dares illi quod ab illo

Note: See the translation of the amusing Persian romance of Hatim Tai, by Duncan Forbes, Esq., among the

The religion of the Arabs, ^44 as well as of the Indians, consisted in the worship of the sun, the moon, and the

fixed stars; a primitive and specious mode of superstition. The bright luminaries of the sky display the visible

image of a Deity: their number and distance convey to a philosophic, or even a vulgar, eye, the idea of

boundless space: the character of eternity is marked on these solid globes, that seem incapable of corruption

or decay: the regularity of their motions may be ascribed to a principle of reason or instinct; and their real, or

imaginary, influence encourages the vain belief that the earth and its inhabitants are the object of their

peculiar care. The science of astronomy was cultivated at Babylon; but the school of the Arabs was a clear

firmament and a naked plain. In their nocturnal marches, they steered by the guidance of the stars: their

names, and order, and daily station, were familiar to the curiosity and devotion of the Bedoween; and he was

taught by experience to divide, in twentyeight parts, the zodiac of the moon, and to bless the constellations

who refreshed, with salutary rains, the thirst of the desert. The reign of the heavenly orbs could not be

extended beyond the visible sphere; and some metaphysical powers were necessary to sustain the

transmigration of souls and the resurrection of bodies: a camel was left to perish on the grave, that he might

serve his master in another life; and the invocation of departed spirits implies that they were still endowed

with consciousness and power. I am ignorant, and I am careless, of the blind mythology of the Barbarians; of

the local deities, of the stars, the air, and the earth, of their sex or titles, their attributes or subordination. Each

tribe, each family, each independent warrior, created and changed the rites and the object of his fantastic

worship; but the nation, in every age, has bowed to the religion, as well as to the language, of Mecca. The

genuine antiquity of the Caaba ascends beyond the Christian aera; in describing the coast of the Red Sea, the

Greek historian Diodorus ^45 has remarked, between the Thamudites and the Sabaeans, a famous temple,

whose superior sanctity was revered by all the Arabians; the linen or silken veil, which is annually renewed

by the Turkish emperor, was first offered by a pious king of the Homerites, who reigned seven hundred years

before the time of Mahomet. ^46 A tent, or a cavern, might suffice for the worship of the savages, but an

edifice of stone and clay has been erected in its place; and the art and power of the monarchs of the East have

been confined to the simplicity of the original model. ^47 A spacious portico encloses the quadrangle of the

Caaba; a square chapel, twentyfour cubits long, twentythree broad, and twentyseven high: a door and a

window admit the light; the double roof is supported by three pillars of wood; a spout (now of gold)

discharges the rainwater, and the well Zemzen is protected by a dome from accidental pollution. The tribe

of Koreish, by fraud and force, had acquired the custody of the Caaba: the sacerdotal office devolved through

four lineal descents to the grandfather of Mahomet; and the family of the Hashemites, from whence he

sprung, was the most respectable and sacred in the eyes of their country. ^48 The precincts of Mecca enjoyed

the rights of sanctuary; and, in the last month of each year, the city and the temple were crowded with a long

train of pilgrims, who presented their vows and offerings in the house of God. The same rites which are now

accomplished by the faithful Mussulman, were invented and practised by the superstition of the idolaters. At

an awful distance they cast away their garments: seven times, with hasty steps, they encircled the Caaba, and

kissed the black stone: seven times they visited and adored the adjacent mountains; seven times they threw

stones into the valley of Mina; and the pilgrimage was achieved, as at the present hour, by a sacrifice of sheep

and camels, and the burial of their hair and nails in the consecrated ground. Each tribe either found or

introduced in the Caaba their domestic worship: the temple was adorned, or defiled, with three hundred and

sixty idols of men, eagles, lions, and antelopes; and most conspicuous was the statue of Hebal, of red agate,

holding in his hand seven arrows, without heads or feathers, the instruments and symbols of profane

divination. But this statue was a monument of Syrian arts: the devotion of the ruder ages was content with a

pillar or a tablet; and the rocks of the desert were hewn into gods or altars, in imitation of the black stone ^49

of Mecca, which is deeply tainted with the reproach of an idolatrous origin. From Japan to Peru, the use of

sacrifice has universally prevailed; and the votary has expressed his gratitude, or fear, by destroying or

consuming, in honor of the gods, the dearest and most precious of their gifts. The life of a man ^50 is the

most precious oblation to deprecate a public calamity: the altars of Phoenicia and Egypt, of Rome and

Carthage, have been polluted with human gore: the cruel practice was long preserved among the Arabs; in the

third century, a boy was annually sacrificed by the tribe of the Dumatians; ^51 and a royal captive was

piously slaughtered by the prince of the Saracens, the ally and soldier of the emperor Justinian. ^52 A parent

who drags his son to the altar, exhibits the most painful and sublime effort of fanaticism: the deed, or the

intention, was sanctified by the example of saints and heroes; and the father of Mahomet himself was devoted

by a rash vow, and hardly ransomed for the equivalent of a hundred camels. In the time of ignorance, the

Arabs, like the Jews and Egyptians, abstained from the taste of swine's flesh; ^53 they circumcised ^54 their

children at the age of puberty: the same customs, without the censure or the precept of the Koran, have been

silently transmitted to their posterity and proselytes. It has been sagaciously conjectured, that the artful

legislator indulged the stubborn prejudices of his countrymen. It is more simple to believe that he adhered to

the habits and opinions of his youth, without foreseeing that a practice congenial to the climate of Mecca

[Footnote 44: Whatever can now be known of the idolatry of the ancient Arabians may be found in Pocock,

(Specimen, p. 89 136, 163, 164.) His profound erudition is more clearly and concisely interpreted by Sale,

(Preliminary Discourse, p. 14 24;) and Assemanni (Bibliot. Orient tom. iv. p. 580 590) has added some

[Footnote 45: (Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. iii. p. 211.) The character and position are so correctly apposite, that I

am surprised how this curious passage should have been read without notice or application. Yet this famous

temple had been overlooked by Agatharcides, (de Mari Rubro, p. 58, in Hudson, tom. i.,) whom Diodorus

copies in the rest of the description. Was the Sicilian more knowing than the Egyptian? Or was the Caaba

built between the years of Rome 650 and 746, the dates of their respective histories? (Dodwell, in Dissert. ad

Note: Mr. Forster (Geography of Arabia, vol. ii. p. 118, et seq.) has raised an objection, as I think, fatal to this

hypothesis of Gibbon. The temple, situated in the country of the Banizomeneis, was not between the

Thamudites and the Sabaeans, but higher up than the coast inhabited by the former. Mr. Forster would place

it as far north as Moiiah. I am not quite satisfied that this will agree with the whole description of Diodorus

[Footnote 46: Pocock, Specimen, p. 60, 61. From the death of Mahomet we ascend to 68, from his birth to

129, years before the Christian aera. The veil or curtain, which is now of silk and gold, was no more than a

[Footnote 47: The original plan of the Caaba (which is servilely copied in Sale, the Universal History, was a

Turkish draught, which Reland (de Religione Mohammedica, p. 113 123) has corrected and explained from

the best authorities. For the description and legend of the Caaba, consult Pocock, (Specimen, p. 115 122,)

the Bibliotheque Orientale of D'Herbelot, (Caaba, Hagir, Zemzem, and Sale (Preliminary Discourse, p. 114

[Footnote 48: Cosa, the fifth ancestor of Mahomet, must have usurped the Caaba A.D. 440; but the story is

differently told by Jannabi, (Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 65 69,) and by Abulfeda, (in Vit. Moham.

[Footnote 49: In the second century, Maximus of Tyre attributes to the Arabs the worship of a stone, (Dissert.

viii. tom. i. p. 142, edit. Reiske;) and the reproach is furiously reechoed by the Christians, (Clemens Alex. in

Protreptico, p. 40. Arnobius contra Gentes, l. vi. p. 246.) Yet these stones were no other than of Syria and

Greece, so renowned in sacred and profane antiquity, (Euseb. Praep. Evangel. l. i. p. 37. Marsham, Canon.

[Footnote 50: The two horrid subjects are accurately discussed by the learned Sir John Marsham, (Canon.

Chron. p. 76 78, 301 304.) Sanchoniatho derives the Phoenician sacrifices from the example of Chronus;

but we are ignorant whether Chronus lived before, or after, Abraham, or indeed whether he lived at all.]

[Footnote 51: The reproach of Porphyry; but he likewise imputes to the Roman the same barbarous custom,

which, A. U. C. 657, had been finally abolished. Dumaetha, Daumat al Gendai, is noticed by Ptolemy (Tabul.

p. 37, Arabia, p. 9 29) and Abulfeda, (p. 57,) and may be found in D'Anville's maps, in the middesert

[Footnote 52: Prcoopius, (de Bell. Persico, l. i. c. 28,) Evagrius, (l. vi. c. 21,) and Pocock, (Specimen, p. 72,

86,) attest the human sacrifices of the Arabs in the vith century. The danger and escape of Abdallah is a

[Footnote 53: Suillis carnibus abstinent, says Solinus, (Polyhistor. c. 33,) who copies Pliny (l. viii. c. 68) in

the strange supposition, that hogs can not live in Arabia. The Egyptians were actuated by a natural and

superstitious horror for that unclean beast, (Marsham, Canon. p. 205.) The old Arabians likewise practised,

post coitum, the rite of ablution, (Herodot. l. i. c. 80,) which is sanctified by the Mahometan law, (Reland, p.

[Footnote 54: The Mahometan doctors are not fond of the subject; yet they hold circumcision necessary to

salvation, and even pretend that Mahomet was miraculously born without a foreskin, (Pocock, Specimen, p.

Arabia was free: the adjacent kingdoms were shaken by the storms of conquest and tyranny, and the

persecuted sects fled to the happy land where they might profess what they thought, and practise what they

professed. The religions of the Sabians and Magians, of the Jews and Christians, were disseminated from the

Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. In a remote period of antiquity, Sabianism was diffused over Asia by the science

of the Chaldaeans ^55 and the arms of the Assyrians. From the observations of two thousand years, the

priests and astronomers of Babylon ^56 deduced the eternal laws of nature and providence. They adored the

seven gods or angels, who directed the course of the seven planets, and shed their irresistible influence on the

earth. The attributes of the seven planets, with the twelve signs of the zodiac, and the twentyfour

constellations of the northern and southern hemisphere, were represented by images and talismans; the seven

days of the week were dedicated to their respective deities; the Sabians prayed thrice each day; and the

temple of the moon at Haran was the term of their pilgrimage. ^57 But the flexible genius of their faith was

always ready either to teach or to learn: in the tradition of the creation, the deluge, and the patriarchs, they

held a singular agreement with their Jewish captives; they appealed to the secret books of Adam, Seth, and

Enoch; and a slight infusion of the gospel has transformed the last remnant of the Polytheists into the

Christians of St. John, in the territory of Bassora. ^58 The altars of Babylon were overturned by the Magians;

but the injuries of the Sabians were revenged by the sword of Alexander; Persia groaned above five hundred

years under a foreign yoke; and the purest disciples of Zoroaster escaped from the contagion of idolatry, and

breathed with their adversaries the freedom of the desert. ^59 Seven hundred years before the death of

Mahomet, the Jews were settled in Arabia; and a far greater multitude was expelled from the Holy Land in

the wars of Titus and Hadrian. The industrious exiles aspired to liberty and power: they erected synagogues

in the cities, and castles in the wilderness, and their Gentile converts were confounded with the children of

Israel, whom they resembled in the outward mark of circumcision. The Christian missionaries were still more

active and successful: the Catholics asserted their universal reign; the sects whom they oppressed,

successively retired beyond the limits of the Roman empire; the Marcionites and Manichaeans dispersed their

fantastic opinions and apocryphal gospels; the churches of Yemen, and the princes of Hira and Gassan, were

instructed in a purer creed by the Jacobite and Nestorian bishops. ^60 The liberty of choice was presented to

the tribes: each Arab was free to elect or to compose his private religion: and the rude superstition of his

house was mingled with the sublime theology of saints and philosophers. A fundamental article of faith was

inculcated by the consent of the learned strangers; the existence of one supreme God who is exalted above the

powers of heaven and earth, but who has often revealed himself to mankind by the ministry of his angels and

prophets, and whose grace or justice has interrupted, by seasonable miracles, the order of nature. The most

rational of the Arabs acknowledged his power, though they neglected his worship; ^61 and it was habit rather

than conviction that still attached them to the relics of idolatry. The Jews and Christians were the people of

the Book; the Bible was already translated into the Arabic language, ^62 and the volume of the Old

Testament was accepted by the concord of these implacable enemies. In the story of the Hebrew patriarchs,

the Arabs were pleased to discover the fathers of their nation. They applauded the birth and promises of

Ismael; revered the faith and virtue of Abraham; traced his pedigree and their own to the creation of the first

man, and imbibed, with equal credulity, the prodigies of the holy text, and the dreams and traditions of the

[Footnote 55: Diodorus Siculus (tom. i. l. ii. p. 142 145) has cast on their religion the curious but superficial

glance of a Greek. Their astronomy would be far more valuable: they had looked through the telescope of

reason, since they could doubt whether the sun were in the number of the planets or of the fixed stars.]

[Footnote 56: Simplicius, (who quotes Porphyry,) de Coelo, l. ii. com. xlvi p. 123, lin. 18, apud Marsham,

Canon. Chron. p. 474, who doubts the fact, because it is adverse to his systems. The earliest date of the

Chaldaean observations is the year 2234 before Christ. After the conquest of Babylon by Alexander, they

were communicated at the request of Aristotle, to the astronomer Hipparchus. What a moment in the annals

[Footnote 57: Pocock, (Specimen, p. 138 146,) Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. p. 162 203,) Hyde, (de Religione

Vet. Persarum, p. 124, 128, D'Herbelot, (Sabi, p. 725, 726,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. 14, 15,)

rather excite than gratify our curiosity; and the last of these writers confounds Sabianism with the primitive

[Footnote 58: D'Anville (l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 130 137) will fix the position of these ambiguous

Christians; Assemannus (Bibliot. Oriental. tom. iv. p. 607 614) may explain their tenets. But it is a slippery

task to ascertain the creed of an ignorant people afraid and ashamed to disclose their secret traditions.

Note: The Codex Nasiraeus, their sacred book, has been published by Norberg whose researches contain

almost all that is known of this singular people. But their origin is almost as obscure as ever: if ancient, their

creed has been so corrupted with mysticism and Mahometanism, that its native lineaments are very indistinct.

[Footnote 59: The Magi were fixed in the province of B hrein, (Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 114,)

[Footnote 60: The state of the Jews and Christians in Arabia is described by Pocock from Sharestani,

(Specimen, p. 60, 134, Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. p. 212 238,) D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 474 476,)

Basnage, (Hist. des Juifs, tom. vii. p. 185, tom. viii. p. 280,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. 22, 33,

[Footnote 61: In their offerings, it was a maxim to defraud God for the profit of the idol, not a more potent,

[Footnote 62: Our versions now extant, whether Jewish or Christian, appear more recent than the Koran; but

the existence of a prior translation may be fairly inferred, 1. From the perpetual practice of the synagogue

of expounding the Hebrew lesson by a paraphrase in the vulgar tongue of the country; 2. From the analogy of

the Armenian, Persian, Aethiopic versions, expressly quoted by the fathers of the fifth century, who assert

that the Scriptures were translated into all the Barbaric languages, (Walton, Prolegomena ad Biblia Polyglot,

p. 34, 93 97. Simon, Hist. Critique du V. et du N. Testament, tom. i. p. 180, 181, 282 286, 293, 305, 306,

The base and plebeian origin of Mahomet is an unskilful calumny of the Christians, ^63 who exalt instead of

degrading the merit of their adversary. His descent from Ismael was a national privilege or fable; but if the

first steps of the pedigree ^64 are dark and doubtful, he could produce many generations of pure and genuine

nobility: he sprung from the tribe of Koreish and the family of Hashem, the most illustrious of the Arabs, the

princes of Mecca, and the hereditary guardians of the Caaba. The grandfather of Mahomet was Abdol

Motalleb, the son of Hashem, a wealthy and generous citizen, who relieved the distress of famine with the

supplies of commerce. Mecca, which had been fed by the liberality of the father, was saved by the courage of

the son. The kingdom of Yemen was subject to the Christian princes of Abyssinia; their vassal Abrahah was

provoked by an insult to avenge the honor of the cross; and the holy city was invested by a train of elephants

and an army of Africans. A treaty was proposed; and, in the first audience, the grandfather of Mahomet

demanded the restitution of his cattle. "And why," said Abrahah, "do you not rather implore my clemency in

favor of your temple, which I have threatened to destroy?" "Because," replied the intrepid chief, "the cattle is

my own; the Caaba belongs to the gods, and they will defend their house from injury and sacrilege." The

want of provisions, or the valor of the Koreish, compelled the Abyssinians to a disgraceful retreat: their

discomfiture has been adorned with a miraculous flight of birds, who showered down stones on the heads of

the infidels; and the deliverance was long commemorated by the aera of the elephant. ^65 The glory of Abdol

Motalleb was crowned with domestic happiness; his life was prolonged to the age of one hundred and ten

years; and he became the father of six daughters and thirteen sons. His best beloved Abdallah was the most

beautiful and modest of the Arabian youth; and in the first night, when he consummated his marriage with

Amina, ^! of the noble race of the Zahrites, two hundred virgins are said to have expired of jealousy and

despair. Mahomet, or more properly Mohammed, the only son of Abdallah and Amina, was born at Mecca,

four years after the death of Justinian, and two months after the defeat of the Abyssinians, ^66 whose victory

would have introduced into the Caaba the religion of the Christians. In his early infancy, he was deprived of

his father, his mother, and his grandfather; his uncles were strong and numerous; and, in the division of the

inheritance, the orphan's share was reduced to five camels and an Aethiopian maidservant. At home and

abroad, in peace and war, Abu Taleb, the most respectable of his uncles, was the guide and guardian of his

youth; in his twentyfifth year, he entered into the service of Cadijah, a rich and noble widow of Mecca, who

soon rewarded his fidelity with the gift of her hand and fortune. The marriage contract, in the simple style of

antiquity, recites the mutual love of Mahomet and Cadijah; describes him as the most accomplished of the

tribe of Koreish; and stipulates a dowry of twelve ounces of gold and twenty camels, which was supplied by

the liberality of his uncle. ^67 By this alliance, the son of Abdallah was restored to the station of his

ancestors; and the judicious matron was content with his domestic virtues, till, in the fortieth year of his age,

^68 he assumed the title of a prophet, and proclaimed the religion of the Koran.

[Footnote 63: In eo conveniunt omnes, ut plebeio vilique genere ortum, (Hottinger, Hist. Orient. p. 136.) Yet

Theophanes, the most ancient of the Greeks, and the father of many a lie, confesses that Mahomet was of the

[Footnote 64: Abulfeda (in Vit. Mohammed. c. 1, 2) and Gagnier (Vie de Mahomet, p. 25 97) describe the

popular and approved genealogy of the prophet. At Mecca, I would not dispute its authenticity: at Lausanne, I

will venture to observe, 1. That from Ismael to Mahomet, a period of 2500 years, they reckon thirty, instead

of seventy five, generations: 2. That the modern Bedoweens are ignorant of their history, and careless of their

Note: The most orthodox Mahometans only reckon back the ancestry of the prophet for twenty generations,

[Footnote 65: The seed of this history, or fable, is contained in the cvth chapter of the Koran; and Gagnier (in

Praefat. ad Vit. Moham. p. 18, has translated the historical narrative of Abulfeda, which may be illustrated

from D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 12) and Pocock, (Specimen, p. 64.) Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 48)

calls it a lie of the coinage of Mahomet; but Sale, (Koran, p. 501 503,) who is half a Mussulman, attacks the

inconsistent faith of the Doctor for believing the miracles of the Delphic Apollo. Maracci (Alcoran, tom. i.

part ii. p. 14, tom. ii. p. 823) ascribes the miracle to the devil, and extorts from the Mahometans the

confession, that God would not have defended against the Christians the idols of the Caaba.

Note: Dr. Weil says that the smallpox broke out in the army of Abrahah, but he does not give his authority,

[Footnote !: Amina, or Emina, was of Jewish birth. V. Hammer, Geschichte der Assass. p. 10. M.]

[Footnote 66: The safest aeras of Abulfeda, (in Vit. c. i. p. 2,) of Alexander, or the Greeks, 882, of Bocht

Naser, or Nabonassar, 1316, equally lead us to the year 569. The old Arabian calendar is too dark and

uncertain to support the Benedictines, (Art. de Verifer les Dates, p. 15,) who, from the day of the month and

week, deduce a new mode of calculation, and remove the birth of Mahomet to the year of Christ 570, the 10th

of November. Yet this date would agree with the year 882 of the Greeks, which is assigned by Elmacin (Hist.

Saracen. p. 5) and Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 101, and Errata, Pocock's version.) While we refine our

chronology, it is possible that the illiterate prophet was ignorant of his own age.

Note: The date of the birth of Mahomet is not yet fixed with precision. It is only known from Oriental authors

that he was born on a Monday, the 10th Reby 1st, the third month of the Mahometan year; the year 40 or 42

of Chosroes Nushirvan, king of Persia; the year 881 of the Seleucidan aera; the year 1316 of the aera of

Nabonassar. This leaves the point undecided between the years 569, 570, 571, of J. C. See the Memoir of M.

Silv. de Sacy, on divers events in the history of the Arabs before Mahomet, Mem. Acad. des Loscript. vol.

Dr. Weil decides on A.D. 571. Mahomet died in 632, aged 63; but the Arabs reckoned his life by lunar years,

[Footnote 67: I copy the honorable testimony of Abu Taleb to his family and nephew. Laus Dei, qui nos a

stirpe Abrahami et semine Ismaelis constituit, et nobis regionem sacram dedit, et nos judices hominibus

statuit. Porro Mohammed filius Abdollahi nepotis mei (nepos meus) quo cum ex aequo librabitur e

Koraishidis quispiam cui non praeponderaturus est, bonitate et excellentia, et intellectu et gloria, et acumine

etsi opum inops fuerit, (et certe opes umbra transiens sunt et depositum quod reddi debet,) desiderio Chadijae

filiae Chowailedi tenetur, et illa vicissim ipsius, quicquid autem dotis vice petieritis, ego in me suscipiam,

[Footnote 68: The private life of Mahomet, from his birth to his mission, is preserved by Abulfeda, (in Vit. c.

3 7,) and the Arabian writers of genuine or apocryphal note, who are alleged by Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. p.

204 211) Maracci, (tom. i. p. 10 14,) and Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 97 134.)]

According to the tradition of his companions, Mahomet ^69 was distinguished by the beauty of his person, an

outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused. Before he spoke, the

orator engaged on his side the affections of a public or private audience. They applauded his commanding

presence, his majestic aspect, his piercing eye, his gracious smile, his flowing beard, his countenance that

painted every sensation of the soul, and his gestures that enforced each expression of the tongue. In the

familiar offices of life he scrupulously adhered to the grave and ceremonious politeness of his country: his

respectful attention to the rich and powerful was dignified by his condescension and affability to the poorest

citizens of Mecca: the frankness of his manner concealed the artifice of his views; and the habits of courtesy

were imputed to personal friendship or universal benevolence. His memory was capacious and retentive; his

wit easy and social; his imagination sublime; his judgment clear, rapid, and decisive. He possessed the

courage both of thought and action; and, although his designs might gradually expand with his success, the

first idea which he entertained of his divine mission bears the stamp of an original and superior genius. The

son of Abdallah was educated in the bosom of the noblest race, in the use of the purest dialect of Arabia; and

the fluency of his speech was corrected and enhanced by the practice of discreet and seasonable silence. With

these powers of eloquence, Mahomet was an illiterate Barbarian: his youth had never been instructed in the

arts of reading and writing; ^70 the common ignorance exempted him from shame or reproach, but he was

reduced to a narrow circle of existence, and deprived of those faithful mirrors, which reflect to our mind the

minds of sages and heroes. Yet the book of nature and of man was open to his view; and some fancy has been

indulged in the political and philosophical observations which are ascribed to the Arabian traveller. ^71 He

compares the nations and the regions of the earth; discovers the weakness of the Persian and Roman

monarchies; beholds, with pity and indignation, the degeneracy of the times; and resolves to unite under one

God and one king the invincible spirit and primitive virtues of the Arabs. Our more accurate inquiry will

suggest, that, instead of visiting the courts, the camps, the temples, of the East, the two journeys of Mahomet

into Syria were confined to the fairs of Bostra and Damascus; that he was only thirteen years of age when he

accompanied the caravan of his uncle; and that his duty compelled him to return as soon as he had disposed

of the merchandise of Cadijah. In these hasty and superficial excursions, the eye of genius might discern

some objects invisible to his grosser companions; some seeds of knowledge might be cast upon a fruitful soil;

but his ignorance of the Syriac language must have checked his curiosity; and I cannot perceive, in the life or

writings of Mahomet, that his prospect was far extended beyond the limits of the Arabian world. From every

region of that solitary world, the pilgrims of Mecca were annually assembled, by the calls of devotion and

commerce: in the free concourse of multitudes, a simple citizen, in his native tongue, might study the political

state and character of the tribes, the theory and practice of the Jews and Christians. Some useful strangers

might be tempted, or forced, to implore the rights of hospitality; and the enemies of Mahomet have named the

Jew, the Persian, and the Syrian monk, whom they accuse of lending their secret aid to the composition of the

Koran. ^72 Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius; and the uniformity

of a work denotes the hand of a single artist. From his earliest youth Mahomet was addicted to religious

contemplation; each year, during the month of Ramadan, he withdrew from the world, and from the arms of

Cadijah: in the cave of Hera, three miles from Mecca, ^73 he consulted the spirit of fraud or enthusiasm,

whose abode is not in the heavens, but in the mind of the prophet. The faith which, under the name of Islam,

he preached to his family and nation, is compounded of an eternal truth, and a necessary fiction, That there is

[Footnote 69: Abulfeda, in Vit. c. lxv. lxvi. Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 272 289. The best

traditions of the person and conversation of the prophet are derived from Ayesha, Ali, and Abu Horaira,

(Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 267. Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 149,) surnamed the Father of a Cat, who

Note: Compare, likewise, the new Life of Mahomet (Mohammed der prophet) by Dr. Weil, (Stuttgart, 1843.)

Dr. Weil has a new tradition, that Mahomet was at one time a shepherd. This assimilation to the life of

Moses, instead of giving probability to the story, as Dr. Weil suggests, makes it more suspicious. Note, p. 34.

[Footnote 70: Those who believe that Mahomet could read or write are incapable of reading what is written

with another pen, in the Suras, or chapters of the Koran, vii. xxix. xcvi. These texts, and the tradition of the

Sonna, are admitted, without doubt, by Abulfeda, (in Vit. vii.,) Gagnier, (Not. ad Abulfed. p. 15,) Pocock,

(Specimen, p. 151,) Reland, (de Religione Mohammedica, p. 236,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. 42.)

Mr. White, almost alone, denies the ignorance, to accuse the imposture, of the prophet. His arguments are far

from satisfactory. Two short trading journeys to the fairs of Syria were surely not sufficient to infuse a

science so rare among the citizens of Mecca: it was not in the cool, deliberate act of treaty, that Mahomet

would have dropped the mask; nor can any conclusion be drawn from the words of disease and delirium. The

lettered youth, before he aspired to the prophetic character, must have often exercised, in private life, the arts

of reading and writing; and his first converts, of his own family, would have been the first to detect and

upbraid his scandalous hypocrisy, (White's Sermons, p. 203, 204, Notes, p. xxxvi. xxxviii.)

Note: (Academ. des Inscript. I. p. 295) has observed that the text of the seveth Sura implies that Mahomet

could read, the tradition alone denies it, and, according to Dr. Weil, (p. 46,) there is another reading of the

tradition, that "he could not read well." Dr. Weil is not quite so successful in explaining away Sura xxix. It

means, he thinks that he had not read any books, from which he could have borrowed. M. 1845.]

[Footnote 71: The count de Boulainvilliers (Vie de Mahomet, p. 202 228) leads his Arabian pupil, like the

Telemachus of Fenelon, or the Cyrus of Ramsay. His journey to the court of Persia is probably a fiction nor

can I trace the origin of his exclamation, "Les Grecs sont pour tant des hommes." The two Syrian journeys

are expressed by almost all the Arabian writers, both Mahometans and Christians, (Gagnier Abulfed. p. 10.)]

[Footnote 72: I am not at leisure to pursue the fables or conjectures which name the strangers accused or

suspected by the infidels of Mecca, (Koran, c. 16, p. 223, c. 35, p. 297, with Sale's Remarks. Prideaux's Life

of Mahomet, p. 22 27. Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. p. 11, 74. Maracci, tom. ii. p. 400.) Even Prideaux has

observed, that the transaction must have been secret, and that the scene lay in the heart of Arabia.]

[Footnote 73: Abulfeda in Vit. c. 7, p. 15. Gagnier, tom. i. p. 133, 135. The situation of Mount Hera is

remarked by Abulfeda (Geograph. Arab p. 4.) Yet Mahomet had never read of the cave of Egeria, ubi

nocturnae Numa constituebat amicae, of the Idaean Mount, where Minos conversed with Jove,

It is the boast of the Jewish apologists, that while the learned nations of antiquity were deluded by the fables

of polytheism, their simple ancestors of Palestine preserved the knowledge and worship of the true God. The

moral attributes of Jehovah may not easily be reconciled with the standard of human virtue: his metaphysical

qualities are darkly expressed; but each page of the Pentateuch and the Prophets is an evidence of his power:

the unity of his name is inscribed on the first table of the law; and his sanctuary was never defiled by any

visible image of the invisible essence. After the ruin of the temple, the faith of the Hebrew exiles was

purified, fixed, and enlightened, by the spiritual devotion of the synagogue; and the authority of Mahomet

will not justify his perpetual reproach, that the Jews of Mecca or Medina adored Ezra as the son of God. ^74

But the children of Israel had ceased to be a people; and the religions of the world were guilty, at least in the

eyes of the prophet, of giving sons, or daughters, or companions, to the supreme God. In the rude idolatry of

the Arabs, the crime is manifest and audacious: the Sabians are poorly excused by the preeminence of the

first planet, or intelligence, in their celestial hierarchy; and in the Magian system the conflict of the two

principles betrays the imperfection of the conqueror. The Christians of the seventh century had insensibly

relapsed into a semblance of Paganism: their public and private vows were addressed to the relics and images

that disgraced the temples of the East: the throne of the Almighty was darkened by a cloud of martyrs, and

saints, and angels, the objects of popular veneration; and the Collyridian heretics, who flourished in the

fruitful soil of Arabia, invested the Virgin Mary with the name and honors of a goddess. ^75 The mysteries of

the Trinity and Incarnation appear to contradict the principle of the divine unity. In their obvious sense, they

introduce three equal deities, and transform the man Jesus into the substance of the Son of God: ^76 an

orthodox commentary will satisfy only a believing mind: intemperate curiosity and zeal had torn the veil of

the sanctuary; and each of the Oriental sects was eager to confess that all, except themselves, deserved the

reproach of idolatry and polytheism. The creed of Mahomet is free from suspicion or ambiguity; and the

Koran is a glorious testimony to the unity of God. The prophet of Mecca rejected the worship of idols and

men, of stars and planets, on the rational principle that whatever rises must set, that whatever is born must

die, that whatever is corruptible must decay and perish. ^77 In the Author of the universe, his rational

enthusiasm confessed and adored an infinite and eternal being, without form or place, without issue or

similitude, present to our most secret thoughts, existing by the necessity of his own nature, and deriving from

himself all moral and intellectual perfection. These sublime truths, thus announced in the language of the

prophet, ^78 are firmly held by his disciples, and defined with metaphysical precision by the interpreters of

the Koran. A philosophic theist might subscribe the popular creed of the Mahometans; ^79 a creed too

sublime, perhaps, for our present faculties. What object remains for the fancy, or even the understanding,

when we have abstracted from the unknown substance all ideas of time and space, of motion and matter, of

sensation and reflection? The first principle of reason and revolution was confirmed by the voice of

Mahomet: his proselytes, from India to Morocco, are distinguished by the name of Unitarians; and the danger

of idolatry has been prevented by the interdiction of images. The doctrine of eternal decrees and absolute

predestination is strictly embraced by the Mahometans; and they struggle, with the common difficulties, how

to reconcile the prescience of God with the freedom and responsibility of man; how to explain the permission

[Footnote 74: Koran, c. 9, p. 153. Al Beidawi, and the other commentators quoted by Sale, adhere to the

charge; but I do not understand that it is colored by the most obscure or absurd tradition of the Talmud.]

[Footnote 75: Hottinger, Hist. Orient. p. 225 228. The Collyridian heresy was carried from Thrace to

Arabia by some women, and the name was borrowed from the cake, which they offered to the goddess. This

example, that of Beryllus bishop of Bostra, (Euseb. Hist. Eccles. l. vi. c. 33,) and several others, may excuse

[Footnote 76: The three gods in the Koran (c. 4, p. 81, c. 5, p. 92) are obviously directed against our Catholic

mystery: but the Arabic commentators understand them of the Father, the Son, and the Virgin Mary, an

heretical Trinity, maintained, as it is said, by some Barbarians at the Council of Nice, (Eutych. Annal. tom. i.

p. 440.) But the existence of the Marianites is denied by the candid Beausobre, (Hist. de Manicheisme, tom. i.

p. 532;) and he derives the mistake from the word Roxah, the Holy Ghost, which in some Oriental tongues is

of the feminine gender, and is figuratively styled the mother of Christ in the Gospel of the Nazarenes.]

[Footnote 77: This train of thought is philosophically exemplified in the character of Abraham, who opposed

in Chaldaea the first introduction of idolatry, (Koran, c. 6, p. 106. D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 13.)]

[Footnote 78: See the Koran, particularly the second, (p. 30,) the fiftyseventh, (p. 437,) the fiftyeighth (p.

[Footnote 79: The most orthodox creeds are translated by Pocock, (Specimen, p. 274, 284 292,) Ockley,

(Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. lxxxii. xcv.,) Reland, (de Religion. Moham. l. i. p. 7 13,) and Chardin,

(Voyages en Perse, tom. iv. p. 4 28.) The great truth, that God is without similitude, is foolishly criticized

by Maracci, (Alcoran, tom. i. part iii. p. 87 94,) because he made man after his own image.]

The God of nature has written his existence on all his works, and his law in the heart of man. To restore the

knowledge of the one, and the practice of the other, has been the real or pretended aim of the prophets of

every age: the liberality of Mahomet allowed to his predecessors the same credit which he claimed for

himself; and the chain of inspiration was prolonged from the fall of Adam to the promulgation of the Koran.

^80 During that period, some rays of prophetic light had been imparted to one hundred and twentyfour

thousand of the elect, discriminated by their respective measure of virtue and grace; three hundred and

thirteen apostles were sent with a special commission to recall their country from idolatry and vice; one

hundred and four volumes have been dictated by the Holy Spirit; and six legislators of transcendent

brightness have announced to mankind the six successive revelations of various rites, but of one immutable

religion. The authority and station of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Christ, and Mahomet, rise in just

gradation above each other; but whosoever hates or rejects any one of the prophets is numbered with the

infidels. The writings of the patriarchs were extant only in the apocryphal copies of the Greeks and Syrians:

^81 the conduct of Adam had not entitled him to the gratitude or respect of his children; the seven precepts of

Noah were observed by an inferior and imperfect class of the proselytes of the synagogue; ^82 and the

memory of Abraham was obscurely revered by the Sabians in his native land of Chaldaea: of the myriads of

prophets, Moses and Christ alone lived and reigned; and the remnant of the inspired writings was comprised

in the books of the Old and the New Testament. The miraculous story of Moses is consecrated and

embellished in the Koran; ^83 and the captive Jews enjoy the secret revenge of imposing their own belief on

the nations whose recent creeds they deride. For the author of Christianity, the Mahometans are taught by the

prophet to entertain a high and mysterious reverence. ^84 "Verily, Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, is the

apostle of God, and his word, which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him; honorable in

this world, and in the world to come, and one of those who approach near to the presence of God." ^85 The

wonders of the genuine and apocryphal gospels ^86 are profusely heaped on his head; and the Latin church

has not disdained to borrow from the Koran the immaculate conception ^87 of his virgin mother. Yet Jesus

was a mere mortal; and, at the day of judgment, his testimony will serve to condemn both the Jews, who

reject him as a prophet, and the Christians, who adore him as the Son of God. The malice of his enemies

aspersed his reputation, and conspired against his life; but their intention only was guilty; a phantom or a

criminal was substituted on the cross; and the innocent saint was translated to the seventh heaven. ^88 During

six hundred years the gospel was the way of truth and salvation; but the Christians insensibly forgot both the

laws and example of their founder; and Mahomet was instructed by the Gnostics to accuse the church, as well

as the synagogue, of corrupting the integrity of the sacred text. ^89 The piety of Moses and of Christ rejoiced

in the assurance of a future prophet, more illustrious than themselves: the evangelical promise of the

Paraclete, or Holy Ghost, was prefigured in the name, and accomplished in the person, of Mahomet, ^90 the

[Footnote 80: Reland, de Relig. Moham. l. i. p. 17 47. Sale's Preliminary Discourse, p. 73 76. Voyage de

Chardin, tom. iv. p. 28 37, and 37 47, for the Persian addition, "Ali is the vicar of God!" Yet the precise

[Footnote 81: For the apocryphal books of Adam, see Fabricius, Codex Pseudepigraphus V. T. p. 27 29; of

Seth, p. 154 157; of Enoch, p. 160 219. But the book of Enoch is consecrated, in some measure, by the

quotation of the apostle St. Jude; and a long legendary fragment is alleged by Syncellus and Scaliger.

Note: The whole book has since been recovered in the Ethiopic language, and has been edited and

[Footnote 82: The seven precepts of Noah are explained by Marsham, (Canon Chronicus, p. 154 180,) who

[Footnote 83: The articles of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, in the Bibliotheque of D'Herbelot, are gayly

bedecked with the fanciful legends of the Mahometans, who have built on the groundwork of Scripture and

[Footnote 86: See the Gospel of St. Thomas, or of the Infancy, in the Codex Apocryphus N. T. of Fabricius,

who collects the various testimonies concerning it, (p. 128 158.) It was published in Greek by Cotelier, and

in Arabic by Sike, who thinks our present copy more recent than Mahomet. Yet his quotations agree with the

original about the speech of Christ in his cradle, his living birds of clay, (Sike, c. i. p. 168, 169, c. 36, p. 198,

[Footnote 87: It is darkly hinted in the Koran, (c. 3, p. 39,) and more clearly explained by the tradition of the

Sonnites, (Sale's Note, and Maracci, tom. ii. p. 112.) In the xiith century, the immaculate conception was

condemned by St. Bernard as a presumptuous novelty, (Fra Paolo, Istoria del Concilio di Trento, l. ii.)]

[Footnote 88: See the Koran, c. 3, v. 53, and c. 4, v. 156, of Maracci's edition. Deus est praestantissimus

dolose agentium (an odd praise) ... nec crucifixerunt eum, sed objecta est eis similitudo; an expression that

may suit with the system of the Docetes; but the commentators believe (Maracci, tom. ii. p. 113 115, 173.

Sale, p. 42, 43, 79) that another man, a friend or an enemy, was crucified in the likeness of Jesus; a fable

which they had read in the Gospel of St. Barnabus, and which had been started as early as the time of

Irenaeus, by some Ebionite heretics, (Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, tom. ii. p. 25, Mosheim. de Reb.

[Footnote 89: This charge is obscurely urged in the Koran, (c. 3, p. 45;) but neither Mahomet, nor his

followers, are sufficiently versed in languages and criticism to give any weight or color to their suspicions.

Yet the Arians and Nestorians could relate some stories, and the illiterate prophet might listen to the bold

[Footnote 90: Among the prophecies of the Old and New Testament, which are perverted by the fraud or

ignorance of the Mussulmans, they apply to the prophet the promise of the Paraclete, or Comforter, which

had been already usurped by the Montanists and Manichaeans, (Beausobre, Hist. Critique du Manicheisme,

tom. i. p. 263, ) and the easy change of letters affords the etymology of the name of Mohammed, (Maracci,

The communication of ideas requires a similitude of thought and language: the discourse of a philosopher

would vibrate without effect on the ear of a peasant; yet how minute is the distance of their understandings, if

it be compared with the contact of an infinite and a finite mind, with the word of God expressed by the

tongue or the pen of a mortal! The inspiration of the Hebrew prophets, of the apostles and evangelists of

Christ, might not be incompatible with the exercise of their reason and memory; and the diversity of their

genius is strongly marked in the style and composition of the books of the Old and New Testament. But

Mahomet was content with a character, more humble, yet more sublime, of a simple editor; the substance of

the Koran, ^91 according to himself or his disciples, is uncreated and eternal; subsisting in the essence of the

Deity, and inscribed with a pen of light on the table of his everlasting decrees. A paper copy, in a volume of

silk and gems, was brought down to the lowest heaven by the angel Gabriel, who, under the Jewish economy,

had indeed been despatched on the most important errands; and this trusty messenger successively revealed

the chapters and verses to the Arabian prophet. Instead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will,

the fragments of the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each revelation is suited to the

emergencies of his policy or passion; and all contradiction is removed by the saving maxim, that any text of

Scripture is abrogated or modified by any subsequent passage. The word of God, and of the apostle, was

diligently recorded by his disciples on palmleaves and the shoulderbones of mutton; and the pages, without

order or connection, were cast into a domestic chest, in the custody of one of his wives. Two years after the

death of Mahomet, the sacred volume was collected and published by his friend and successor Abubeker: the

work was revised by the caliph Othman, in the thirtieth year of the Hegira; and the various editions of the

Koran assert the same miraculous privilege of a uniform and incorruptible text. In the spirit of enthusiasm or

vanity, the prophet rests the truth of his mission on the merit of his book; audaciously challenges both men

and angels to imitate the beauties of a single page; and presumes to assert that God alone could dictate this

incomparable performance. ^92 This argument is most powerfully addressed to a devout Arabian, whose

mind is attuned to faith and rapture; whose ear is delighted by the music of sounds; and whose ignorance is

incapable of comparing the productions of human genius. ^93 The harmony and copiousness of style will not

reach, in a version, the European infidel: he will peruse with impatience the endless incoherent rhapsody of

fable, and precept, and declamation, which seldom excites a sentiment or an idea, which sometimes crawls in

the dust, and is sometimes lost in the clouds. The divine attributes exalt the fancy of the Arabian missionary;

but his loftiest strains must yield to the sublime simplicity of the book of Job, composed in a remote age, in

the same country, and in the same language. ^94 If the composition of the Koran exceed the faculties of a

man to what superior intelligence should we ascribe the Iliad of Homer, or the Philippics of Demosthenes? In

all religions, the life of the founder supplies the silence of his written revelation: the sayings of Mahomet

were so many lessons of truth; his actions so many examples of virtue; and the public and private memorials

were preserved by his wives and companions. At the end of two hundred years, the Sonna, or oral law, was

fixed and consecrated by the labors of Al Bochari, who discriminated seven thousand two hundred and

seventyfive genuine traditions, from a mass of three hundred thousand reports, of a more doubtful or

spurious character. Each day the pious author prayed in the temple of Mecca, and performed his ablutions

with the water of Zemzem: the pages were successively deposited on the pulpit and the sepulchre of the

apostle; and the work has been approved by the four orthodox sects of the Sonnites. ^95 [Footnote 91: For the

Koran, see D'Herbelot, p. 85 88. Maracci, tom. i. in Vit. Mohammed. p. 32 45. Sale, Preliminary

[Footnote 93: Yet a sect of Arabians was persuaded, that it might be equalled or surpassed by a human pen,

(Pocock, Specimen, p. 221, ) and Maracci (the polemic is too hard for the translator) derides the rhyming

[Footnote 94: Colloquia (whether real or fabulous) in media Arabia atque ab Arabibus habita, (Lowth, de

Poesi Hebraeorum. Praelect. xxxii. xxxiii. xxxiv, with his German editor, Michaelis, Epimetron iv.) Yet

Michaelis (p. 671 673) has detected many Egyptian images, the elephantiasis, papyrus, Nile, crocodile, The

language is ambiguously styled ArabicoHebraea. The resemblance of the sister dialects was much more

visible in their childhood, than in their mature age, (Michaelis, p. 682. Schultens, in Praefat. Job.)

Note: The age of the book of Job is still and probably will still be disputed. Rosenmuller thus states his own

opinion: "Certe serioribus reipublicae temporibus assignandum esse librum, suadere videtur ad Chaldaismum

vergens sermo." Yet the observations of Kosegarten, which Rosenmuller has given in a note, and common

reason, suggest that this Chaldaism may be the native form of a much earlier dialect; or the Chaldaic may

have adopted the poetical archaisms of a dialect, differing from, but not less ancient than, the Hebrew. See

Rosenmuller, Proleg. on Job, p. 41. The poetry appears to me to belong to a much earlier period. M.]

[Footnote 95: Ali Bochari died A. H. 224. See D'Herbelot, p. 208, 416, 827. Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. c. 19,

The mission of the ancient prophets, of Moses and of Jesus had been confirmed by many splendid prodigies;

and Mahomet was repeatedly urged, by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a similar evidence

of his divine legation; to call down from heaven the angel or the volume of his revelation, to create a garden

in the desert, or to kindle a conflagration in the unbelieving city. As often as he is pressed by the demands of

the Koreish, he involves himself in the obscure boast of vision and prophecy, appeals to the internal proofs of

his doctrine, and shields himself behind the providence of God, who refuses those signs and wonders that

would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate the guilt of infidelity But the modest or angry tone of his

apologies betrays his weakness and vexation; and these passages of scandal established, beyond suspicion,

the integrity of the Koran. ^96 The votaries of Mahomet are more assured than himself of his miraculous

gifts; and their confidence and credulity increase as they are farther removed from the time and place of his

spiritual exploits. They believe or affirm that trees went forth to meet him; that he was saluted by stones; that

water gushed from his fingers; that he fed the hungry, cured the sick, and raised the dead; that a beam

groaned to him; that a camel complained to him; that a shoulder of mutton informed him of its being

poisoned; and that both animate and inanimate nature were equally subject to the apostle of God. ^97 His

dream of a nocturnal journey is seriously described as a real and corporeal transaction. A mysterious animal,

the Borak, conveyed him from the temple of Mecca to that of Jerusalem: with his companion Gabriel he

successively ascended the seven heavens, and received and repaid the salutations of the patriarchs, the

prophets, and the angels, in their respective mansions. Beyond the seventh heaven, Mahomet alone was

permitted to proceed; he passed the veil of unity, approached within two bowshots of the throne, and felt a

cold that pierced him to the heart, when his shoulder was touched by the hand of God. After this familiar,

though important conversation, he again descended to Jerusalem, remounted the Borak, returned to Mecca,

and performed in the tenth part of a night the journey of many thousand years. ^98 According to another

legend, the apostle confounded in a national assembly the malicious challenge of the Koreish. His resistless

word split asunder the orb of the moon: the obedient planet stooped from her station in the sky, accomplished

the seven revolutions round the Caaba, saluted Mahomet in the Arabian tongue, and, suddenly contracting her

dimensions, entered at the collar, and issued forth through the sleeve, of his shirt. ^99 The vulgar are amused

with these marvellous tales; but the gravest of the Mussulman doctors imitate the modesty of their master,

and indulge a latitude of faith or interpretation. ^100 They might speciously allege, that in preaching the

religion it was needless to violate the harmony of nature; that a creed unclouded with mystery may be

excused from miracles; and that the sword of Mahomet was not less potent than the rod of Moses. [Footnote

96: See, more remarkably, Koran, c. 2, 6, 12, 13, 17. Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 18, 19) has confounded

the impostor. Maracci, with a more learned apparatus, has shown that the passages which deny his miracles

are clear and positive, (Alcoran, tom. i. part ii. p. 7 12,) and those which seem to assert them are ambiguous

[Footnote 97: See the Specimen Hist. Arabum, the text of Abulpharagius, p. 17, the notes of Pocock, p. 187

190. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 76, 77. Voyages de Chardin, tom. iv. p. 200 203. Maracci

(Alcoran, tom. i. p. 22 64) has most laboriously collected and confuted the miracles and prophecies of

[Footnote 98: The nocturnal journey is circumstantially related by Abulfeda (in Vit. Mohammed, c. 19, p.

33,) who wishes to think it a vision; by Prideaux, (p. 31 40,) who aggravates the absurdities; and by

Gagnier (tom. i. p. 252 343,) who declares, from the zealous Al Jannabi, that to deny this journey, is to

disbelieve the Koran. Yet the Koran without naming either heaven, or Jerusalem, or Mecca, has only dropped

a mysterious hint: Laus illi qui transtulit servum suum ab oratorio Haram ad oratorium remotissimum,

(Koran, c. 17, v. 1; in Maracci, tom. ii. p. 407; for Sale's version is more licentious.) A slender basis for the

[Footnote 99: In the prophetic style, which uses the present or past for the future, Mahomet had said,

Appropinquavit hora, et scissa est luna, (Koran, c. 54, v. 1; in Maracci, tom. ii. p. 688.) This figure of rhetoric

has been converted into a fact, which is said to be attested by the most respectable eyewitnesses, (Maracci,

tom. ii. p. 690.) The festival is still celebrated by the Persians, (Chardin, tom. iv. p. 201;) and the legend is

tediously spun out by Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 183 234,) on the faith, as it should seem, of the

credulous Al Jannabi. Yet a Mahometan doctor has arraigned the credit of the principal witness, (apud

Pocock, Specimen, p. 187;) the best interpreters are content with the simple sense of the Koran. (Al Beidawi,

apud Hottinger, Hist. Orient. l. ii. p. 302;) and the silence of Abulfeda is worthy of a prince and a

[Footnote 100: Abulpharagius, in Specimen Hist. Arab. p. 17; and his scepticism is justified in the notes of

The polytheist is oppressed and distracted by the variety of superstition: a thousand rites of Egyptian origin

were interwoven with the essence of the Mosaic law; and the spirit of the gospel had evaporated in the

pageantry of the church. The prophet of Mecca was tempted by prejudice, or policy, or patriotism, to sanctify

the rites of the Arabians, and the custom of visiting the holy stone of the Caaba. But the precepts of Mahomet

himself inculcates a more simple and rational piety: prayer, fasting, and alms, are the religious duties of a

Mussulman; and he is encouraged to hope, that prayer will carry him half way to God, fasting will bring him

to the door of his palace, and alms will gain him admittance. ^101 I. According to the tradition of the

nocturnal journey, the apostle, in his personal conference with the Deity, was commanded to impose on his

disciples the daily obligation of fifty prayers. By the advice of Moses, he applied for an alleviation of this

intolerable burden; the number was gradually reduced to five; without any dispensation of business or

pleasure, or time or place: the devotion of the faithful is repeated at daybreak, at noon, in the afternoon, in the

evening, and at the first watch of the night; and in the present decay of religious fervor, our travellers are

edified by the profound humility and attention of the Turks and Persians. Cleanliness is the key of prayer: the

frequent lustration of the hands, the face, and the body, which was practised of old by the Arabs, is solemnly

enjoined by the Koran; and a permission is formally granted to supply with sand the scarcity of water. The

words and attitudes of supplication, as it is performed either sitting, or standing, or prostrate on the ground,

are prescribed by custom or authority; but the prayer is poured forth in short and fervent ejaculations; the

measure of zeal is not exhausted by a tedious liturgy; and each Mussulman for his own person is invested

with the character of a priest. Among the theists, who reject the use of images, it has been found necessary to

restrain the wanderings of the fancy, by directing the eye and the thought towards a kebla, or visible point of

the horizon. The prophet was at first inclined to gratify the Jews by the choice of Jerusalem; but he soon

returned to a more natural partiality; and five times every day the eyes of the nations at Astracan, at Fez, at

Delhi, are devoutly turned to the holy temple of Mecca. Yet every spot for the service of God is equally pure:

the Mahometans indifferently pray in their chamber or in the street. As a distinction from the Jews and

Christians, the Friday in each week is set apart for the useful institution of public worship: the people is

assembled in the mosch; and the imam, some respectable elder, ascends the pulpit, to begin the prayer and

pronounce the sermon. But the Mahometan religion is destitute of priesthood or sacrifice; and the

independent spirit of fanaticism looks down with contempt on the ministers and the slaves of superstition. ^*

II. The voluntary ^102 penance of the ascetics, the torment and glory of their lives, was odious to a prophet

who censured in his companions a rash vow of abstaining from flesh, and women, and sleep; and firmly

declared, that he would suffer no monks in his religion. ^103 Yet he instituted, in each year, a fast of thirty

days; and strenuously recommended the observance as a discipline which purifies the soul and subdues the

body, as a salutary exercise of obedience to the will of God and his apostle. During the month of Ramadan,

from the rising to the setting of the sun, the Mussulman abstains from eating, and drinking, and women, and

baths, and perfumes; from all nourishment that can restore his strength, from all pleasure that can gratify his

senses. In the revolution of the lunar year, the Ramadan coincides, by turns, with the winter cold and the

summer heat; and the patient martyr, without assuaging his thirst with a drop of water, must expect the close

of a tedious and sultry day. The interdiction of wine, peculiar to some orders of priests or hermits, is

converted by Mahomet alone into a positive and general law; ^104 and a considerable portion of the globe

has abjured, at his command, the use of that salutary, though dangerous, liquor. These painful restraints are,

doubtless, infringed by the libertine, and eluded by the hypocrite; but the legislator, by whom they are

enacted, cannot surely be accused of alluring his proselytes by the indulgence of their sensual appetites. III.

The charity of the Mahometans descends to the animal creation; and the Koran repeatedly inculcates, not as a

merit, but as a strict and indispensable duty, the relief of the indigent and unfortunate. Mahomet, perhaps, is

the only lawgiver who has defined the precise measure of charity: the standard may vary with the degree and

nature of property, as it consists either in money, in corn or cattle, in fruits or merchandise; but the

Mussulman does not accomplish the law, unless he bestows a tenth of his revenue; and if his conscience

accuses him of fraud or extortion, the tenth, under the idea of restitution, is enlarged to a fifth. ^105

Benevolence is the foundation of justice, since we are forbid to injure those whom we are bound to assist. A

prophet may reveal the secrets of heaven and of futurity; but in his moral precepts he can only repeat the

lessons of our own hearts. [Footnote 101: The most authentic account of these precepts, pilgrimage, prayer,

fasting, alms, and ablutions, is extracted from the Persian and Arabian theologians by Maracci, (Prodrom.

part iv. p. 9 24,) Reland, (in his excellent treatise de Religione Mohammedica, Utrecht, 1717, p. 67 123,)

and Chardin, (Voyages in Perse, tom. iv. p. 47 195.) Marace is a partial accuser; but the jeweller, Chardin,

had the eyes of a philosopher; and Reland, a judicious student, had travelled over the East in his closet at

Utrecht. The xivth letter of Tournefort (Voyage du Levont, tom. ii. p. 325 360, in octavo) describes what he

[Footnote *: Such is Mahometanism beyond the precincts of the Holy City. But Mahomet retained, and the

Koran sanctions, (Sale's Koran, c. 5, in inlt. c. 22, vol. ii. p. 171, 172,) the sacrifice of sheep and camels

(probably according to the old Arabian rites) at Mecca; and the pilgrims complete their ceremonial with

sacrifices, sometimes as numerous and costly as those of King Solomon. Compare note, vol. iv. c. xxiii. p.

96, and Forster's Mahometanism Unveiled, vol. i. p. 420. This author quotes the questionable authority of

Benjamin of Tudela, for the sacrifice of a camel by the caliph at Bosra; but sacrifice undoubtedly forms no

part of the ordinary Mahometan ritual; nor will the sanctity of the caliph, as the earthly representative of the

prophet, bear any close analogy to the priesthood of the Mosaic or Gentila religions. M.]

[Footnote 102: Mahomet (Sale's Koran, c. 9, p. 153) reproaches the Christians with taking their priests and

monks for their lords, besides God. Yet Maracci (Prodromus, part iii. p. 69, 70) excuses the worship,

especially of the pope, and quotes, from the Koran itself, the case of Eblis, or Satan, who was cast from

[Footnote 103: Koran, c. 5, p. 94, and Sale's note, which refers to the authority of Jallaloddin and Al Beidawi.

D'Herbelot declares, that Mahomet condemned la vie religieuse; and that the first swarms of fakirs, dervises,

did not appear till after the year 300 of the Hegira, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 292, 718.)]

[Footnote 104: See the double prohibition, (Koran, c. 2, p. 25, c. 5, p. 94;) the one in the style of a legislator,

the other in that of a fanatic. The public and private motives of Mahomet are investigated by Prideaux (Life

[Footnote 105: The jealousy of Maracci (Prodromus, part iv. p. 33) prompts him to enumerate the more

liberal alms of the Catholics of Rome. Fifteen great hospitals are open to many thousand patients and

pilgrims; fifteen hundred maidens are annually portioned; fiftysix charity schools are founded for both

sexes; one hundred and twenty confraternities relieve the wants of their brethren, The benevolence of London

is still more extensive; but I am afraid that much more is to be ascribed to the humanity, than to the religion,

The two articles of belief, and the four practical duties, of Islam, are guarded by rewards and punishments;

and the faith of the Mussulman is devoutly fixed on the event of the judgment and the last day. The prophet

has not presumed to determine the moment of that awful catastrophe, though he darkly announces the signs,

both in heaven and earth, which will precede the universal dissolution, when life shall be destroyed, and the

order of creation shall be confounded in the primitive chaos. At the blast of the trumpet, new worlds will start

into being: angels, genii, and men will arise from the dead, and the human soul will again be united to the

body. The doctrine of the resurrection was first entertained by the Egyptians; ^106 and their mummies were

embalmed, their pyramids were constructed, to preserve the ancient mansion of the soul, during a period of

three thousand years. But the attempt is partial and unavailing; and it is with a more philosophic spirit that

Mahomet relies on the omnipotence of the Creator, whose word can reanimate the breathless clay, and collect

the innumerable atoms, that no longer retain their form or substance. ^107 The intermediate state of the soul

it is hard to decide; and those who most firmly believe her immaterial nature, are at a loss to understand how

[Footnote 106: See Herodotus (l. ii. c. 123) and our learned countryman Sir John Marsham, (Canon.

Chronicus, p. 46.) The same writer (p. 254 274) is an elaborate sketch of the infernal regions, as they were

painted by the fancy of the Egyptians and Greeks, of the poets and philosophers of antiquity.]

[Footnote 107: The Koran (c. 2, p. 259, of Sale, p. 32; of Maracci, p. 97) relates an ingenious miracle, which

The reunion of the soul and body will be followed by the final judgment of mankind; and in his copy of the

Magian picture, the prophet has too faithfully represented the forms of proceeding, and even the slow and

successive operations, of an earthly tribunal. By his intolerant adversaries he is upbraided for extending, even

to themselves, the hope of salvation, for asserting the blackest heresy, that every man who believes in God,

and accomplishes good works, may expect in the last day a favorable sentence. Such rational indifference is

ill adapted to the character of a fanatic; nor is it probable that a messenger from heaven should depreciate the

value and necessity of his own revelation. In the idiom of the Koran, ^108 the belief of God is inseparable

from that of Mahomet: the good works are those which he has enjoined, and the two qualifications imply the

profession of Islam, to which all nations and all sects are equally invited. Their spiritual blindness, though

excused by ignorance and crowned with virtue, will be scourged with everlasting torments; and the tears

which Mahomet shed over the tomb of his mother for whom he was forbidden to pray, display a striking

contrast of humanity and enthusiasm. ^109 The doom of the infidels is common: the measure of their guilt

and punishment is determined by the degree of evidence which they have rejected, by the magnitude of the

errors which they have entertained: the eternal mansions of the Christians, the Jews, the Sabians, the

Magians, and idolaters, are sunk below each other in the abyss; and the lowest hell is reserved for the

faithless hypocrites who have assumed the mask of religion. After the greater part of mankind has been

condemned for their opinions, the true believers only will be judged by their actions. The good and evil of

each Mussulman will be accurately weighed in a real or allegorical balance; and a singular mode of

compensation will be allowed for the payment of injuries: the aggressor will refund an equivalent of his own

good actions, for the benefit of the person whom he has wronged; and if he should be destitute of any moral

property, the weight of his sins will be loaded with an adequate share of the demerits of the sufferer.

According as the shares of guilt or virtue shall preponderate, the sentence will be pronounced, and all,

without distinction, will pass over the sharp and perilous bridge of the abyss; but the innocent, treading in the

footsteps of Mahomet, will gloriously enter the gates of paradise, while the guilty will fall into the first and

mildest of the seven hells. The term of expiation will vary from nine hundred to seven thousand years; but the

prophet has judiciously promised, that all his disciples, whatever may be their sins, shall be saved, by their

own faith and his intercession from eternal damnation. It is not surprising that superstition should act most

powerfully on the fears of her votaries, since the human fancy can paint with more energy the misery than the

bliss of a future life. With the two simple elements of darkness and fire, we create a sensation of pain, which

may be aggravated to an infinite degree by the idea of endless duration. But the same idea operates with an

opposite effect on the continuity of pleasure; and too much of our present enjoyments is obtained from the

relief, or the comparison, of evil. It is natural enough that an Arabian prophet should dwell with rapture on

the groves, the fountains, and the rivers of paradise; but instead of inspiring the blessed inhabitants with a

liberal taste for harmony and science, conversation and friendship, he idly celebrates the pearls and

diamonds, the robes of silk, palaces of marble, dishes of gold, rich wines, artificial dainties, numerous

attendants, and the whole train of sensual and costly luxury, which becomes insipid to the owner, even in the

short period of this mortal life. Seventytwo Houris, or blackeyed girls, of resplendent beauty, blooming

youth, virgin purity, and exquisite sensibility, will be created for the use of the meanest believer; a moment of

pleasure will be prolonged to a thousand years; and his faculties will be increased a hundred fold, to render

him worthy of his felicity. Notwithstanding a vulgar prejudice, the gates of heaven will be open to both sexes;

but Mahomet has not specified the male companions of the female elect, lest he should either alarm the

jealousy of their former husbands, or disturb their felicity, by the suspicion of an everlasting marriage. This

image of a carnal paradise has provoked the indignation, perhaps the envy, of the monks: they declaim

against the impure religion of Mahomet; and his modest apologists are driven to the poor excuse of figures

and allegories. But the sounder and more consistent party adhere without shame, to the literal interpretation

of the Koran: useless would be the resurrection of the body, unless it were restored to the possession and

exercise of its worthiest faculties; and the union of sensual and intellectual enjoyment is requisite to complete

the happiness of the double animal, the perfect man. Yet the joys of the Mahometan paradise will not be

confined to the indulgence of luxury and appetite; and the prophet has expressly declared that all meaner

happiness will be forgotten and despised by the saints and martyrs, who shall be admitted to the beatitude of

the divine vision. ^110 [Footnote 108: The candid Reland has demonstrated, that Mahomet damns all

unbelievers, (de Religion. Moham. p. 128 142;) that devils will not be finally saved, (p. 196 199;) that

paradise will not solely consist of corporeal delights, (p. 199 205;) and that women's souls are immortal. (p.

[Footnote 109: A Beidawi, apud Sale. Koran, c. 9, p. 164. The refusal to pray for an unbelieving kindred is

justified, according to Mahomet, by the duty of a prophet, and the example of Abraham, who reprobated his

own father as an enemy of God. Yet Abraham (he adds, c. 9, v. 116. Maracci, tom. ii. p. 317) fuit sane pius,

[Footnote 110: For the day of judgment, hell, paradise, consult the Koran, (c. 2, v. 25, c. 56, 78, ) with

Maracci's virulent, but learned, refutation, (in his notes, and in the Prodromus, part iv. p. 78, 120, 122, )

D'Herbelot, (Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 368, 375;) Reland, (p. 47 61;) and Sale, (p. 76 103.) The original

ideas of the Magi are darkly and doubtfully explored by their apologist, Dr. Hyde, (Hist. Religionis Persarum,

c. 33, p. 402 412, Oxon. 1760.) In the article of Mahomet, Bayle has shown how indifferently wit and

The first and most arduous conquests of Mahomet ^111 were those of his wife, his servant, his pupil, and his

friend; ^112 since he presented himself as a prophet to those who were most conversant with his infirmities

as a man. Yet Cadijah believed the words, and cherished the glory, of her husband; the obsequious and

affectionate Zeid was tempted by the prospect of freedom; the illustrious Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, embraced

the sentiments of his cousin with the spirit of a youthful hero; and the wealth, the moderation, the veracity of

Abubeker confirmed the religion of the prophet whom he was destined to succeed. By his persuasion, ten of

the most respectable citizens of Mecca were introduced to the private lessons of Islam; they yielded to the

voice of reason and enthusiasm; they repeated the fundamental creed, "There is but one God, and Mahomet is

the apostle of God;" and their faith, even in this life, was rewarded with riches and honors, with the command

of armies and the government of kingdoms. Three years were silently employed in the conversion of fourteen

proselytes, the firstfruits of his mission; but in the fourth year he assumed the prophetic office, and

resolving to impart to his family the light of divine truth, he prepared a banquet, a lamb, as it is said, and a

bowl of milk, for the entertainment of forty guests of the race of Hashem. "Friends and kinsmen," said

Mahomet to the assembly, "I offer you, and I alone can offer, the most precious of gifts, the treasures of this

world and of the world to come. God has commanded me to call you to his service. Who among you will

support my burden? Who among you will be my companion and my vizier?" ^113 No answer was returned,

till the silence of astonishment, and doubt, and contempt, was at length broken by the impatient courage of

Ali, a youth in the fourteenth year of his age. "O prophet, I am the man: whosoever rises against thee, I will

dash out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly. O prophet, I will be thy vizier over them."

Mahomet accepted his offer with transport, and Abu Taled was ironically exhorted to respect the superior

dignity of his son. In a more serious tone, the father of Ali advised his nephew to relinquish his impracticable

design. "Spare your remonstrances," replied the intrepid fanatic to his uncle and benefactor; "if they should

place the sun on my right hand, and the moon on my left, they should not divert me from my course." He

persevered ten years in the exercise of his mission; and the religion which has overspread the East and the

West advanced with a slow and painful progress within the walls of Mecca. Yet Mahomet enjoyed the

satisfaction of beholding the increase of his infant congregation of Unitarians, who revered him as a prophet,

and to whom he seasonably dispensed the spiritual nourishment of the Koran. The number of proselytes may

be esteemed by the absence of eightythree men and eighteen women, who retired to Aethiopia in the

seventh year of his mission; and his party was fortified by the timely conversion of his uncle Hamza, and of

the fierce and inflexible Omar, who signalized in the cause of Islam the same zeal, which he had exerted for

its destruction. Nor was the charity of Mahomet confined to the tribe of Koreish, or the precincts of Mecca:

on solemn festivals, in the days of pilgrimage, he frequented the Caaba, accosted the strangers of every tribe,

and urged, both in private converse and public discourse, the belief and worship of a sole Deity. Conscious of

his reason and of his weakness, he asserted the liberty of conscience, and disclaimed the use of religious

violence: ^114 but he called the Arabs to repentance, and conjured them to remember the ancient idolaters of

Ad and Thamud, whom the divine justice had swept away from the face of the earth. ^115 [Footnote 111:

Before I enter on the history of the prophet, it is incumbent on me to produce my evidence. The Latin,

French, and English versions of the Koran are preceded by historical discourses, and the three translators,

Maracci, (tom. i. p. 10 32,) Savary, (tom. i. p. 1 248,) and Sale, (Preliminary Discourse, p. 33 56,) had

accurately studied the language and character of their author. Two professed Lives of Mahomet have been

composed by Dr. Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, seventh edition, London, 1718, in octavo) and the count de

Boulainvilliers, (Vie de Mahomed, Londres, 1730, in octavo: ) but the adverse wish of finding an impostor or

a hero, has too often corrupted the learning of the doctor and the ingenuity of the count. The article in

D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orient. p. 598 603) is chiefly drawn from Novairi and Mirkond; but the best and most

authentic of our guides is M. Gagnier, a Frenchman by birth, and professor at Oxford of the Oriental tongues.

In two elaborate works, (Ismael Abulfeda de Vita et Rebus gestis Mohammedis, Latine vertit, Praefatione et

Notis illustravit Johannes Gagnier, Oxon. 1723, in folio. La Vie de Mahomet traduite et compilee de

l'Alcoran, des Traditions Authentiques de la Sonna et des meilleurs Auteurs Arabes; Amsterdam, 1748, 3

vols. in 12mo.,) he has interpreted, illustrated, and supplied the Arabic text of Abulfeda and Al Jannabi; the

first, an enlightened prince who reigned at Hamah, in Syria, A.D. 1310 1332, (see Gagnier Praefat. ad

Abulfed.;) the second, a credulous doctor, who visited Mecca A.D. 1556. (D'Herbelot, p. 397. Gagnier, tom.

iii. p. 209, 210.) These are my general vouchers, and the inquisitive reader may follow the order of time, and

the division of chapters. Yet I must observe that both Abulfeda and Al Jannabi are modern historians, and

Note: A new Life, by Dr. Weil, (Stuttgart. 1843,) has added some few traditions unknown in Europe. Of Dr.

Weil's Arabic scholarship, which professes to correct many errors in Gagnier, in Maracci, and in M. von

Hammer, I am no judge. But it is remarkable that he does not seem acquainted with the passage of Tabari,

translated by Colonel Vans Kennedy, in the Bombay Transactions, (vol. iii.,) the earliest and most important

addition made to the traditionary Life of Mahomet. I am inclined to think Colonel Vans Kennedy's

appreciation of the prophet's character, which may be overlooked in a criticism on Voltaire's Mahomet, the

most just which I have ever read. The work of Dr. Weil appears to me most valuable in its dissection and

[Footnote 112: After the Greeks, Prideaux (p. 8) discloses the secret doubts of the wife of Mahomet. As if he

had been a privy counsellor of the prophet, Boulainvilliers (p. 272, unfolds the sublime and patriotic views of

[Footnote 113: Vezirus, portitor, bajulus, onus ferens; and this plebeian name was transferred by an apt

metaphor to the pillars of the state, (Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. p. 19.) I endeavor to preserve the Arabian

[Footnote 114: The passages of the Koran in behalf of toleration are strong and numerous: c. 2, v. 257, c. 16,

129, c. 17, 54, c. 45, 15, c. 50, 39, c. 88, 21, with the notes of Maracci and Sale. This character alone may

generally decide the doubts of the learned, whether a chapter was revealed at Mecca or Medina.]

[Footnote 115: See the Koran, (passim, and especially c. 7, p. 123, 124, and the tradition of the Arabs,

(Pocock, Specimen, p. 35 37.) The caverns of the tribe of Thamud, fit for men of the ordinary stature, were

shown in the midway between Medina and Damascus. (Abulfed Arabiae Descript. p. 43, 44,) and may be

probably ascribed to the Throglodytes of the primitive world, (Michaelis, ad Lowth de Poesi Hebraeor. p. 131

The people of Mecca were hardened in their unbelief by superstition and envy. The elders of the city, the

uncles of the prophet, affected to despise the presumption of an orphan, the reformer of his country: the pious

orations of Mahomet in the Caaba were answered by the clamors of Abu Taleb. "Citizens and pilgrims, listen

not to the tempter, hearken not to his impious novelties. Stand fast in the worship of Al Lata and Al Uzzah."

Yet the son of Abdallah was ever dear to the aged chief: and he protected the fame and person of his nephew

against the assaults of the Koreishites, who had long been jealous of the preeminence of the family of

Hashem. Their malice was colored with the pretence of religion: in the age of Job, the crime of impiety was

punished by the Arabian magistrate; ^116 and Mahomet was guilty of deserting and denying the national

deities. But so loose was the policy of Mecca, that the leaders of the Koreish, instead of accusing a criminal,

were compelled to employ the measures of persuasion or violence. They repeatedly addressed Abu Taleb in

the style of reproach and menace. "Thy nephew reviles our religion; he accuses our wise forefathers of

ignorance and folly; silence him quickly, lest he kindle tumult and discord in the city. If he persevere, we

shall draw our swords against him and his adherents, and thou wilt be responsible for the blood of thy

fellowcitizens." The weight and moderation of Abu Taleb eluded the violence of religious faction; the most

helpless or timid of the disciples retired to Aethiopia, and the prophet withdrew himself to various places of

strength in the town and country. As he was still supported by his family, the rest of the tribe of Koreish

engaged themselves to renounce all intercourse with the children of Hashem, neither to buy nor sell, neither

to marry not to give in marriage, but to pursue them with implacable enmity, till they should deliver the

person of Mahomet to the justice of the gods. The decree was suspended in the Caaba before the eyes of the

nation; the messengers of the Koreish pursued the Mussulman exiles in the heart of Africa: they besieged the

prophet and his most faithful followers, intercepted their water, and inflamed their mutual animosity by the

retaliation of injuries and insults. A doubtful truce restored the appearances of concord till the death of Abu

Taleb abandoned Mahomet to the power of his enemies, at the moment when he was deprived of his domestic

comforts by the loss of his faithful and generous Cadijah. Abu Sophian, the chief of the branch of Ommiyah,

succeeded to the principality of the republic of Mecca. A zealous votary of the idols, a mortal foe of the line

of Hashem, he convened an assembly of the Koreishites and their allies, to decide the fate of the apostle. His

imprisonment might provoke the despair of his enthusiasm; and the exile of an eloquent and popular fanatic

would diffuse the mischief through the provinces of Arabia. His death was resolved; and they agreed that a

sword from each tribe should be buried in his heart, to divide the guilt of his blood, and baffle the vengeance

of the Hashemites. An angel or a spy revealed their conspiracy; and flight was the only resource of Mahomet.

^117 At the dead of night, accompanied by his friend Abubeker, he silently escaped from his house: the

assassins watched at the door; but they were deceived by the figure of Ali, who reposed on the bed, and was

covered with the green vestment of the apostle. The Koreish respected the piety of the heroic youth; but some

verses of Ali, which are still extant, exhibit an interesting picture of his anxiety, his tenderness, and his

religious confidence. Three days Mahomet and his companion were concealed in the cave of Thor, at the

distance of a league from Mecca; and in the close of each evening, they received from the son and daughter

of Abubeker a secret supply of intelligence and food. The diligence of the Koreish explored every haunt in

the neighborhood of the city: they arrived at the entrance of the cavern; but the providential deceit of a

spider's web and a pigeon's nest is supposed to convince them that the place was solitary and inviolate. "We

are only two," said the trembling Abubeker. "There is a third," replied the prophet; "it is God himself." No

sooner was the pursuit abated than the two fugitives issued from the rock, and mounted their camels: on the

road to Medina, they were overtaken by the emissaries of the Koreish; they redeemed themselves with

prayers and promises from their hands. In this eventful moment, the lance of an Arab might have changed the

history of the world. The flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina has fixed the memorable aera of the

Hegira, ^118 which, at the end of twelve centuries, still discriminates the lunar years of the Mahometan

nations. ^119 [Footnote 116: In the time of Job, the crime of impiety was punished by the Arabian magistrate,

(c. 21, v. 26, 27, 28.) I blush for a respectable prelate (de Poesi Hebraeorum, p. 650, 651, edit. Michaelis; and

letter of a late professor in the university of Oxford, p. 15 53,) who justifies and applauds this patriarchal

[Footnote 117: D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. 445. He quotes a particular history of the flight of Mahomet.]

[Footnote 118: The Hegira was instituted by Omar, the second caliph, in imitation of the aera of the martyrs

of the Christians, (D'Herbelot, p. 444;) and properly commenced sixtyeight days before the flight of

Mahomet, with the first of Moharren, or first day of that Arabian year which coincides with Friday, July 16th,

A.D. 622, (Abulfeda, Vit Moham, c. 22, 23, p. 45 50; and Greaves's edition of Ullug Beg's Epochae

Note: Chronologists dispute between the 15th and 16th of July. St. Martin inclines to the 8th, ch. xi. p. 70.

[Footnote 119: Mahomet's life, from his mission to the Hegira, may be found in Abulfeda (p. 14 45) and

Gagnier, (tom. i. p. 134 251, 342 383.) The legend from p. 187 234 is vouched by Al Jannabi, and

The religion of the Koran might have perished in its cradle, had not Medina embraced with faith and

reverence the holy outcasts of Mecca. Medina, or the city, known under the name of Yathreb, before it was

sanctified by the throne of the prophet, was divided between the tribes of the Charegites and the Awsites,

whose hereditary feud was rekindled by the slightest provocations: two colonies of Jews, who boasted a

sacerdotal race, were their humble allies, and without converting the Arabs, they introduced the taste of

science and religion, which distinguished Medina as the city of the Book. Some of her noblest citizens, in a

pilgrimage to the Canaba, were converted by the preaching of Mahomet; on their return, they diffused the

belief of God and his prophet, and the new alliance was ratified by their deputies in two secret and nocturnal

interviews on a hill in the suburbs of Mecca. In the first, ten Charegites and two Awsites united in faith and

love, protested, in the name of their wives, their children, and their absent brethren, that they would forever

profess the creed, and observe the precepts, of the Koran. The second was a political association, the first

vital spark of the empire of the Saracens. ^120 Seventythree men and two women of Medina held a solemn

conference with Mahomet, his kinsman, and his disciples; and pledged themselves to each other by a mutual

oath of fidelity. They promised, in the name of the city, that if he should be banished, they would receive him

as a confederate, obey him as a leader, and defend him to the last extremity, like their wives and children.

"But if you are recalled by your country," they asked with a flattering anxiety, "will you not abandon your

new allies?" "All things," replied Mahomet with a smile, "are now common between us your blood is as my

blood, your ruin as my ruin. We are bound to each other by the ties of honor and interest. I am your friend,

and the enemy of your foes." "But if we are killed in your service, what," exclaimed the deputies of Medina,

"will be our reward?" "Paradise," replied the prophet. "Stretch forth thy hand." He stretched it forth, and they

reiterated the oath of allegiance and fidelity. Their treaty was ratified by the people, who unanimously

embraced the profession of Islam; they rejoiced in the exile of the apostle, but they trembled for his safety,

and impatiently expected his arrival. After a perilous and rapid journey along the seacoast, he halted at

Koba, two miles from the city, and made his public entry into Medina, sixteen days after his flight from

Mecca. Five hundred of the citizens advanced to meet him; he was hailed with acclamations of loyalty and

devotion; Mahomet was mounted on a shecamel, an umbrella shaded his head, and a turban was unfurled

before him to supply the deficiency of a standard. His bravest disciples, who had been scattered by the storm,

assembled round his person; and the equal, though various, merit of the Moslems was distinguished by the

names of Mohagerians and Ansars, the fugitives of Mecca, and the auxiliaries of Medina. To eradicate the

seeds of jealousy, Mahomet judiciously coupled his principal followers with the rights and obligations of

brethren; and when Ali found himself without a peer, the prophet tenderly declared, that he would be the

companion and brother of the noble youth. The expedient was crowned with success; the holy fraternity was

respected in peace and war, and the two parties vied with each other in a generous emulation of courage and

fidelity. Once only the concord was slightly ruffled by an accidental quarrel: a patriot of Medina arraigned

the insolence of the strangers, but the hint of their expulsion was heard with abhorrence; and his own son

[Footnote 120: The triple inauguration of Mahomet is described by Abulfeda (p. 30, 33, 40, 86) and Gagnier,

From his establishment at Medina, Mahomet assumed the exercise of the regal and sacerdotal office; and it

was impious to appeal from a judge whose decrees were inspired by the divine wisdom. A small portion of

ground, the patrimony of two orphans, was acquired by gift or purchase; ^121 on that chosen spot he built a

house and a mosch, more venerable in their rude simplicity than the palaces and temples of the Assyrian

caliphs. His seal of gold, or silver, was inscribed with the apostolic title; when he prayed and preached in the

weekly assembly, he leaned against the trunk of a palmtree; and it was long before he indulged himself in

the use of a chair or pulpit of rough timber. ^122 After a reign of six years, fifteen hundred Moslems, in arms

and in the field, renewed their oath of allegiance; and their chief repeated the assurance of protection till the

death of the last member, or the final dissolution of the party. It was in the same camp that the deputy of

Mecca was astonished by the attention of the faithful to the words and looks of the prophet, by the eagerness

with which they collected his spittle, a hair that dropped on the ground, the refuse water of his lustrations, as

if they participated in some degree of the prophetic virtue. "I have seen," said he, "the Chosroes of Persia and

the Caesar of Rome, but never did I behold a king among his subjects like Mahomet among his companions."

The devout fervor of enthusiasm acts with more energy and truth than the cold and formal servility of courts.

[Footnote 121: Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 44) reviles the wickedness of the impostor, who despoiled two

poor orphans, the sons of a carpenter; a reproach which he drew from the Disputatio contra Saracenos,

composed in Arabic before the year 1130; but the honest Gagnier (ad Abulfed. p. 53) has shown that they

were deceived by the word Al Nagjar, which signifies, in this place, not an obscure trade, but a noble tribe of

Arabs. The desolate state of the ground is described by Abulfeda; and his worthy interpreter has proved, from

Al Bochari, the offer of a price; from Al Jannabi, the fair purchase; and from Ahmeq Ben Joseph, the

payment of the money by the generous Abubeker On these grounds the prophet must be honorably acquitted.]

[Footnote 122: Al Jannabi (apud Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 246, 324) describes the seal and pulpit, as two venerable

relics of the apostle of God; and the portrait of his court is taken from Abulfeda, (c. 44, p. 85.)]

In the state of nature, every man has a right to defend, by force of arms, his person and his possessions; to

repel, or even to prevent, the violence of his enemies, and to extend his hostilities to a reasonable measure of

satisfaction and retaliation. In the free society of the Arabs, the duties of subject and citizen imposed a feeble

restraint; and Mahomet, in the exercise of a peaceful and benevolent mission, had been despoiled and

banished by the injustice of his countrymen. The choice of an independent people had exalted the fugitive of

Mecca to the rank of a sovereign; and he was invested with the just prerogative of forming alliances, and of

waging offensive or defensive war. The imperfection of human rights was supplied and armed by the

plenitude of divine power: the prophet of Medina assumed, in his new revelations, a fiercer and more

sanguinary tone, which proves that his former moderation was the effect of weakness: ^123 the means of

persuasion had been tried, the season of forbearance was elapsed, and he was now commanded to propagate

his religion by the sword, to destroy the monuments of idolatry, and, without regarding the sanctity of days or

months, to pursue the unbelieving nations of the earth. The same bloody precepts, so repeatedly inculcated in

the Koran, are ascribed by the author to the Pentateuch and the Gospel. But the mild tenor of the evangelic

style may explain an ambiguous text, that Jesus did not bring peace on the earth, but a sword: his patient and

humble virtues should not be confounded with the intolerant zeal of princes and bishops, who have disgraced

the name of his disciples. In the prosecution of religious war, Mahomet might appeal with more propriety to

the example of Moses, of the Judges, and the kings of Israel. The military laws of the Hebrews are still more

rigid than those of the Arabian legislator. ^124 The Lord of hosts marched in person before the Jews: if a city

resisted their summons, the males, without distinction, were put to the sword: the seven nations of Canaan

were devoted to destruction; and neither repentance nor conversion, could shield them from the inevitable

doom, that no creature within their precincts should be left alive. ^* The fair option of friendship, or

submission, or battle, was proposed to the enemies of Mahomet. If they professed the creed of Islam, they

were admitted to all the temporal and spiritual benefits of his primitive disciples, and marched under the same

banner to extend the religion which they had embraced. The clemency of the prophet was decided by his

interest: yet he seldom trampled on a prostrate enemy; and he seems to promise, that on the payment of a

tribute, the least guilty of his unbelieving subjects might be indulged in their worship, or at least in their

imperfect faith. In the first months of his reign he practised the lessons of holy warfare, and displayed his

white banner before the gates of Medina: the martial apostle fought in person at nine battles or sieges; ^125

and fifty enterprises of war were achieved in ten years by himself or his lieutenants. The Arab continued to

unite the professions of a merchant and a robber; and his petty excursions for the defence or the attack of a

caravan insensibly prepared his troops for the conquest of Arabia. The distribution of the spoil was regulated

by a divine law: ^126 the whole was faithfully collected in one common mass: a fifth of the gold and silver,

the prisoners and cattle, the movables and immovables, was reserved by the prophet for pious and charitable

uses; the remainder was shared in adequate portions by the soldiers who had obtained the victory or guarded

the camp: the rewards of the slain devolved to their widows and orphans; and the increase of cavalry was

encouraged by the allotment of a double share to the horse and to the man. From all sides the roving Arabs

were allured to the standard of religion and plunder: the apostle sanctified the license of embracing the female

captives as their wives or concubines, and the enjoyment of wealth and beauty was a feeble type of the joys

of paradise prepared for the valiant martyrs of the faith. "The sword," says Mahomet, "is the key of heaven

and of hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months

of fasting or prayer: whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven: at the day of judgment his wounds shall

be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings

of angels and cherubim." The intrepid souls of the Arabs were fired with enthusiasm: the picture of the

invisible world was strongly painted on their imagination; and the death which they had always despised

became an object of hope and desire. The Koran inculcates, in the most absolute sense, the tenets of fate and

predestination, which would extinguish both industry and virtue, if the actions of man were governed by his

speculative belief. Yet their influence in every age has exalted the courage of the Saracens and Turks. The

first companions of Mahomet advanced to battle with a fearless confidence: there is no danger where there is

no chance: they were ordained to perish in their beds; or they were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of

[Footnote 123: The viiith and ixth chapters of the Koran are the loudest and most vehement; and Maracci

(Prodromus, part iv. p. 59 64) has inveighed with more justice than discretion against the double dealing of

[Footnote 124: The xth and xxth chapters of Deuteronomy, with the practical comments of Joshua, David, are

read with more awe than satisfaction by the pious Christians of the present age. But the bishops, as well as

the rabbis of former times, have beat the drumecclesiastic with pleasure and success. (Sale's Preliminary

[Footnote *: The editor's opinions on this subject may be read in the History of the Jews vol. i. p. 137. M]

[Footnote 125: Abulfeda, in Vit. Moham. p. 156. The private arsenal of the apostle consisted of nine swords,

three lances, seven pikes or halfpikes, a quiver and three bows, seven cuirasses, three shields, and two

helmets, (Gagnier, tom. iii. p. 328 334,) with a large white standard, a black banner, (p. 335,) twenty

horses, (p. 322, Two of his martial sayings are recorded by tradition, (Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 88, 334.)]

[Footnote 126: The whole subject de jure belli Mohammedanorum is exhausted in a separate dissertation by

the learned Reland, (Dissertationes Miscellaneae, tom. iii. Dissertat. x. p. 3 53.)]

[Footnote 127: The doctrine of absolute predestination, on which few religions can reproach each other, is

sternly exposed in the Koran, (c. 3, p. 52, 53, c. 4, p. 70, with the notes of Sale, and c. 17, p. 413, with those

of Maracci.) Reland (de Relig. Moham. p. 61 64) and Sale (Prelim. Discourse, p. 103) represent the

opinions of the doctors, and our modern travellers the confidence, the fading confidence, of the Turks]

Perhaps the Koreish would have been content with the dight of Mahomet, had they not been provoked and

alarmed by the vengeance of an enemy, who could intercept their Syrian trade as it passed and repassed

through the territory of Medina. Abu Sophian himself, with only thirty or forty followers, conducted a

wealthy caravan of a thousand camels; the fortune or dexterity of his march escaped the vigilance of

Mahomet; but the chief of the Koreish was informed that the holy robbers were placed in ambush to await his

return. He despatched a messenger to his brethren of Mecca, and they were roused, by the fear of losing their

merchandise and their provisions, unless they hastened to his relief with the military force of the city. The

sacred band of Mahomet was formed of three hundred and thirteen Moslems, of whom seventyseven were

fugitives, and the rest auxiliaries; they mounted by turns a train of seventy camels, (the camels of Yathreb

were formidable in war;) but such was the poverty of his first disciples, that only two could appear on

horseback in the field. ^128 In the fertile and famous vale of Beder, ^129 three stations from Medina, he was

informed by his scouts of the caravan that approached on one side; of the Koreish, one hundred horse, eight

hundred and fifty foot, who advanced on the other. After a short debate, he sacrificed the prospect of wealth

to the pursuit of glory and revenge, and a slight intrenchment was formed, to cover his troops, and a stream of

fresh water, that glided through the valley. "O God," he exclaimed, as the numbers of the Koreish descended

from the hills, "O God, if these are destroyed, by whom wilt thou be worshipped on the earth? Courage, my

children; close your ranks; discharge your arrows, and the day is your own." At these words he placed

himself, with Abubeker, on a throne or pulpit, ^130 and instantly demanded the succor of Gabriel and three

thousand angels. His eye was fixed on the field of battle: the Mussulmans fainted and were pressed: in that

decisive moment the prophet started from his throne, mounted his horse, and cast a handful of sand into the

air: "Let their faces be covered with confusion." Both armies heard the thunder of his voice: their fancy

beheld the angelic warriors: ^131 the Koreish trembled and fled: seventy of the bravest were slain; and

seventy captives adorned the first victory of the faithful. The dead bodies of the Koreish were despoiled and

insulted: two of the most obnoxious prisoners were punished with death; and the ransom of the others, four

thousand drams of silver, compensated in some degree the escape of the caravan. But it was in vain that the

camels of Abu Sophian explored a new road through the desert and along the Euphrates: they were overtaken

by the diligence of the Mussulmans; and wealthy must have been the prize, if twenty thousand drams could

be set apart for the fifth of the apostle. The resentment of the public and private loss stimulated Abu Sophian

to collect a body of three thousand men, seven hundred of whom were armed with cuirasses, and two hundred

were mounted on horseback; three thousand camels attended his march; and his wife Henda, with fifteen

matrons of Mecca, incessantly sounded their timbrels to animate the troops, and to magnify the greatness of

Hobal, the most popular deity of the Caaba. The standard of God and Mahomet was upheld by nine hundred

and fifty believers: the disproportion of numbers was not more alarming than in the field of Beder; and their

presumption of victory prevailed against the divine and human sense of the apostle. The second battle was

fought on Mount Ohud, six miles to the north of Medina; ^132 the Koreish advanced in the form of a

crescent; and the right wing of cavalry was led by Caled, the fiercest and most successful of the Arabian

warriors. The troops of Mahomet were skilfully posted on the declivity of the hill; and their rear was guarded

by a detachment of fifty archers. The weight of their charge impelled and broke the centre of the idolaters:

but in the pursuit they lost the advantage of their ground: the archers deserted their station: the Mussulmans

were tempted by the spoil, disobeyed their general, and disordered their ranks. The intrepid Caled, wheeling

his cavalry on their flank and rear, exclaimed, with a loud voice, that Mahomet was slain. He was indeed

wounded in the face with a javelin: two of his teeth were shattered with a stone; yet, in the midst of tumult

and dismay, he reproached the infidels with the murder of a prophet; and blessed the friendly hand that

stanched his blood, and conveyed him to a place of safety Seventy martyrs died for the sins of the people;

they fell, said the apostle, in pairs, each brother embracing his lifeless companion; ^133 their bodies were

mangled by the inhuman females of Mecca; and the wife of Abu Sophian tasted the entrails of Hamza, the

uncle of Mahomet. They might applaud their superstition, and satiate their fury; but the Mussulmans soon

rallied in the field, and the Koreish wanted strength or courage to undertake the siege of Medina. It was

attacked the ensuing year by an army of ten thousand enemies; and this third expedition is variously named

from the nations, which marched under the banner of Abu Sophian, from the ditch which was drawn before

the city, and a camp of three thousand Mussulmans. The prudence of Mahomet declined a general

engagement: the valor of Ali was signalized in single combat; and the war was protracted twenty days, till the

final separation of the confederates. A tempest of wind, rain, and hail, overturned their tents: their private

quarrels were fomented by an insidious adversary; and the Koreish, deserted by their allies, no longer hoped

to subvert the throne, or to check the conquests, of their invincible exile. ^134 [Footnote 128: Al Jannabi

(apud Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 9) allows him seventy or eighty horse; and on two other occasions, prior to the

battle of Ohud, he enlists a body of thirty (p. 10) and of 500 (p. 66) troopers. Yet the Mussulmans, in the field

of Ohud, had no more than two horses, according to the better sense of Abulfeda, (in Vit. Moham. c. xxxi. p.

65.) In the Stony province, the camels were numerous; but the horse appears to have been less numerous than

[Footnote 129: Bedder Houneene, twenty miles from Medina, and forty from Mecca, is on the high road of

the caravan of Egypt; and the pilgrims annually commemorate the prophet's victory by illuminations, rockets,

[Footnote 130: The place to which Mahomet retired during the action is styled by Gagnier (in Abulfeda, c.

27, p. 58. Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 30, 33) Umbraculum, une loge de bois avec une porte. The same

Arabic word is rendered by Reiske (Annales Moslemici Abulfedae, p. 23) by Solium, Suggestus editior; and

the difference is of the utmost moment for the honor both of the interpreter and of the hero. I am sorry to

observe the pride and acrimony with which Reiske chastises his fellowlaborer. Saepi sic vertit, ut integrae

paginae nequeant nisi una litura corrigi Arabice non satis callebat, et carebat judicio critico. J. J. Reiske,

Prodidagmata ad Hagji Chalisae Tabulas, p. 228, ad calcero Abulfedae Syriae Tabulae; Lipsiae, 1766, in 4to.]

[Footnote 131: The loose expressions of the Koran (c. 3, p. 124, 125, c. 8, p. 9) allow the commentators to

fluctuate between the numbers of 1000, 3000, or 9000 angels; and the smallest of these might suffice for the

slaughter of seventy of the Koreish, (Maracci, Alcoran, tom. ii. p. 131.) Yet the same scholiasts confess that

this angelic band was not visible to any mortal eye, (Maracci, p. 297.) They refine on the words (c. 8, 16)

[Footnote 133: In the iiid chapter of the Koran, (p. 50 53, with Sale's notes, the prophet alleges some poor

Note: Dr. Weil has added some curious circumstances, which he gives as on good traditional authority, on the

rescue of Mahomet. The prophet was attacked by Ubeijj Ibn Challaf, whom he struck on the neck with a

mortal wound. This was the only time, it is added, that Mahomet personally engaged in battle. (p. 128.) M.

[Footnote 134: For the detail of the three Koreish wars, of Beder, of Ohud, and of the ditch, peruse Abulfeda,

(p. 56 61, 64 69, 73 77,) Gagnier (tom. i. p. 23 45, 70 96, 120 139,) with the proper articles of

D'Herbelot, and the abridgments of Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 6, 7) and Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 102.)]

The choice of Jerusalem for the first kebla of prayer discovers the early propensity of Mahomet in favor of

the Jews; and happy would it have been for their temporal interest, had they recognized, in the Arabian

prophet, the hope of Israel and the promised Messiah. Their obstinacy converted his friendship into

implacable hatred, with which he pursued that unfortunate people to the last moment of his life; and in the

double character of an apostle and a conqueror, his persecution was extended to both worlds. ^135 The

Kainoka dwelt at Medina under the protection of the city; he seized the occasion of an accidental tumult, and

summoned them to embrace his religion, or contend with him in battle. "Alas!" replied the trembling Jews,

"we are ignorant of the use of arms, but we persevere in the faith and worship of our fathers; why wilt thou

reduce us to the necessity of a just defence?" The unequal conflict was terminated in fifteen days; and it was

with extreme reluctance that Mahomet yielded to the importunity of his allies, and consented to spare the

lives of the captives. But their riches were confiscated, their arms became more effectual in the hands of the

Mussulmans; and a wretched colony of seven hundred exiles was driven, with their wives and children, to

implore a refuge on the confines of Syria. The Nadhirites were more guilty, since they conspired, in a friendly

interview, to assassinate the prophet. He besieged their castle, three miles from Medina; but their resolute

defence obtained an honorable capitulation; and the garrison, sounding their trumpets and beating their

drums, was permitted to depart with the honors of war. The Jews had excited and joined the war of the

Koreish: no sooner had the nations retired from the ditch, than Mahomet, without laying aside his armor,

marched on the same day to extirpate the hostile race of the children of Koraidha. After a resistance of

twentyfive days, they surrendered at discretion. They trusted to the intercession of their old allies of

Medina; they could not be ignorant that fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity. A venerable elder, to

whose judgment they appealed, pronounced the sentence of their death; seven hundred Jews were dragged in

chains to the marketplace of the city; they descended alive into the grave prepared for their execution and

burial; and the apostle beheld with an inflexible eye the slaughter of his helpless enemies. Their sheep and

camels were inherited by the Mussulmans: three hundred cuirasses, five hundred piles, a thousand lances,

composed the most useful portion of the spoil. Six days' journey to the northeast of Medina, the ancient and

wealthy town of Chaibar was the seat of the Jewish power in Arabia: the territory, a fertile spot in the desert,

was covered with plantations and cattle, and protected by eight castles, some of which were esteemed of

impregnable strength. The forces of Mahomet consisted of two hundred horse and fourteen hundred foot: in

the succession of eight regular and painful sieges they were exposed to danger, and fatigue, and hunger; and

the most undaunted chiefs despaired of the event. The apostle revived their faith and courage by the example

of Ali, on whom he bestowed the surname of the Lion of God: perhaps we may believe that a Hebrew

champion of gigantic stature was cloven to the chest by his irresistible cimeter; but we cannot praise the

modesty of romance, which represents him as tearing from its hinges the gate of a fortress and wielding the

ponderous buckler in his left hand. ^136 After the reduction of the castles, the town of Chaibar submitted to

the yoke. The chief of the tribe was tortured, in the presence of Mahomet, to force a confession of his hidden

treasure: the industry of the shepherds and husbandmen was rewarded with a precarious toleration: they were

permitted, so long as it should please the conqueror, to improve their patrimony, in equal shares, for his

emolument and their own. Under the reign of Omar, the Jews of Chaibar were transported to Syria; and the

caliph alleged the injunction of his dying master; that one and the true religion should be professed in his

[Footnote 135: The wars of Mahomet against the Jewish tribes of Kainoka, the Nadhirites, Koraidha, and

Chaibar, are related by Abulfeda (p. 61, 71, 77, 87, and Gagnier, (tom. ii. p. 61 65, 107 112, 139 148,

[Footnote 136: Abu Rafe, the servant of Mahomet, is said to affirm that he himself, and seven other men,

afterwards tried, without success, to move the same gate from the ground, (Abulfeda, p. 90.) Abu Rafe was

[Footnote 137: The banishment of the Jews is attested by Elmacin (Hist. Saracen, p. 9) and the great Al

Zabari, (Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 285.) Yet Niebuhr (Description de l'Arabie, (p. 324) believes that the Jewish

religion, and Karaite sect, are still professed by the tribe of Chaibar; and that, in the plunder of the caravans,

Five times each day the eyes of Mahomet were turned towards Mecca, ^138 and he was urged by the most

sacred and powerful motives to revisit, as a conqueror, the city and the temple from whence he had been

driven as an exile. The Caaba was present to his waking and sleeping fancy: an idle dream was translated into

vision and prophecy; he unfurled the holy banner; and a rash promise of success too hastily dropped from the

lips of the apostle. His march from Medina to Mecca displayed the peaceful and solemn pomp of a

pilgrimage: seventy camels, chosen and bedecked for sacrifice, preceded the van; the sacred territory was

respected; and the captives were dismissed without ransom to proclaim his clemency and devotion. But no

sooner did Mahomet descend into the plain, within a day's journey of the city, than he exclaimed, "They have

clothed themselves with the skins of tigers: " the numbers and resolution of the Koreish opposed his progress;

and the roving Arabs of the desert might desert or betray a leader whom they had followed for the hopes of

spoil. The intrepid fanatic sunk into a cool and cautious politician: he waived in the treaty his title of apostle

of God; concluded with the Koreish and their allies a truce of ten years; engaged to restore the fugitives of

Mecca who should embrace his religion; and stipulated only, for the ensuing year, the humble privilege of

entering the city as a friend, and of remaining three days to accomplish the rites of the pilgrimage. A cloud of

shame and sorrow hung on the retreat of the Mussulmans, and their disappointment might justly accuse the

failure of a prophet who had so often appealed to the evidence of success. The faith and hope of the pilgrims

were rekindled by the prospect of Mecca: their swords were sheathed; ^* seven times in the footsteps of the

apostle they encompassed the Caaba: the Koreish had retired to the hills, and Mahomet, after the customary

sacrifice, evacuated the city on the fourth day. The people was edified by his devotion; the hostile chiefs were

awed, or divided, or seduced; and both Kaled and Amrou, the future conquerors of Syria and Egypt, most

seasonably deserted the sinking cause of idolatry. The power of Mahomet was increased by the submission of

the Arabian tribes; ten thousand soldiers were assembled for the conquest of Mecca; and the idolaters, the

weaker party, were easily convicted of violating the truce. Enthusiasm and discipline impelled the march, and

preserved the secret till the blaze of ten thousand fires proclaimed to the astonished Koreish the design, the

approach, and the irresistible force of the enemy. The haughty Abu Sophian presented the keys of the city,

admired the variety of arms and ensigns that passed before him in review; observed that the son of Abdallah

had acquired a mighty kingdom, and confessed, under the cimeter of Omar, that he was the apostle of the true

God. The return of Marius and Scylla was stained with the blood of the Romans: the revenge of Mahomet

was stimulated by religious zeal, and his injured followers were eager to execute or to prevent the order of a

massacre. Instead of indulging their passions and his own, ^139 the victorious exile forgave the guilt, and

united the factions, of Mecca. His troops, in three divisions, marched into the city: eightandtwenty of the

inhabitants were slain by the sword of Caled; eleven men and six women were proscribed by the sentence of

Mahomet; but he blamed the cruelty of his lieutenant; and several of the most obnoxious victims were

indebted for their lives to his clemency or contempt. The chiefs of the Koreish were prostrate at his feet.

"What mercy can you expect from the man whom you have wronged?" "We confide in the generosity of our

kinsman." "And you shall not confide in vain: begone! you are safe, you are free" The people of Mecca

deserved their pardon by the profession of Islam; and after an exile of seven years, the fugitive missionary

was enthroned as the prince and prophet of his native country. ^140 But the three hundred and sixty idols of

the Caaba were ignominiously broken: the house of God was purified and adorned: as an example to future

times, the apostle again fulfilled the duties of a pilgrim; and a perpetual law was enacted that no unbeliever

[Footnote 138: The successive steps of the reduction of Mecca are related by Abulfeda (p. 84 87, 97 100,

102 111) and Gagnier, (tom. ii. p. 202 245, 309 322, tom. iii. p. 1 58,) Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 8,

[Footnote *: This peaceful entrance into Mecca took place, according to the treaty the following year. Weil,

[Footnote 139: After the conquest of Mecca, the Mahomet of Voltaire imagines and perpetuates the most

horrid crimes. The poet confesses, that he is not supported by the truth of history, and can only allege, que

celui qui fait la guerre a sa patrie au nom de Dieu, est capable de tout, (Oeuvres de Voltaire, tom. xv. p. 282.)

The maxim is neither charitable nor philosophic; and some reverence is surely due to the fame of heroes and

the religion of nations. I am informed that a Turkish ambassador at Paris was much scandalized at the

[Footnote 140: The Mahometan doctors still dispute, whether Mecca was reduced by force or consent,

(Abulfeda, p. 107, et Gagnier ad locum;) and this verbal controversy is of as much moment as our own about

[Footnote 141: In excluding the Christians from the peninsula of Arabia, the province of Hejaz, or the

navigation of the Red Sea, Chardin (Voyages en Perse, tom. iv. p. 166) and Reland (Dissertat. Miscell. tom.

iii. p. 61) are more rigid than the Mussulmans themselves. The Christians are received without scruple into

the ports of Mocha, and even of Gedda; and it is only the city and precincts of Mecca that are inaccessible to

the profane, (Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, p. 308, 309, Voyage en Arabie, tom. i. p. 205, 248,

The conquest of Mecca determined the faith and obedience of the Arabian tribes; ^142 who, according to the

vicissitudes of fortune, had obeyed, or disregarded, the eloquence or the arms of the prophet. Indifference for

rites and opinions still marks the character of the Bedoweens; and they might accept, as loosely as they hold,

the doctrine of the Koran. Yet an obstinate remnant still adhered to the religion and liberty of their ancestors,

and the war of Honain derived a proper appellation from the idols, whom Mahomet had vowed to destroy,

and whom the confederates of Tayef had sworn to defend. ^143 Four thousand Pagans advanced with secrecy

and speed to surprise the conqueror: they pitied and despised the supine negligence of the Koreish, but they

depended on the wishes, and perhaps the aid, of a people who had so lately renounced their gods, and bowed

beneath the yoke of their enemy. The banners of Medina and Mecca were displayed by the prophet; a crowd

of Bedoweens increased the strength or numbers of the army, and twelve thousand Mussulmans entertained a

rash and sinful presumption of their invincible strength. They descended without precaution into the valley of

Honain: the heights had been occupied by the archers and slingers of the confederates; their numbers were

oppressed, their discipline was confounded, their courage was appalled, and the Koreish smiled at their

impending destruction. The prophet, on his white mule, was encompassed by the enemies: he attempted to

rush against their spears in search of a glorious death: ten of his faithful companions interposed their weapons

and their breasts; three of these fell dead at his feet: "O my brethren," he repeatedly cried, with sorrow and

indignation, "I am the son of Abdallah, I am the apostle of truth! O man, stand fast in the faith! O God, send

down thy succor!" His uncle Abbas, who, like the heroes of Homer, excelled in the loudness of his voice,

made the valley resound with the recital of the gifts and promises of God: the flying Moslems returned from

all sides to the holy standard; and Mahomet observed with pleasure that the furnace was again rekindled: his

conduct and example restored the battle, and he animated his victorious troops to inflict a merciless revenge

on the authors of their shame. From the field of Honain, he marched without delay to the siege of Tayef, sixty

miles to the south east of Mecca, a fortress of strength, whose fertile lands produce the fruits of Syria in the

midst of the Arabian desert. A friendly tribe, instructed (I know not how) in the art of sieges, supplied him

with a train of batteringrams and military engines, with a body of five hundred artificers. But it was in vain

that he offered freedom to the slaves of Tayef; that he violated his own laws by the extirpation of the

fruittrees; that the ground was opened by the miners; that the breach was assaulted by the troops. After a

siege of twentydays, the prophet sounded a retreat; but he retreated with a song of devout triumph, and

affected to pray for the repentance and safety of the unbelieving city. The spoils of this fortunate expedition

amounted to six thousand captives, twentyfour thousand camels, forty thousand sheep, and four thousand

ounces of silver: a tribe who had fought at Hoinan redeemed their prisoners by the sacrifice of their idols; but

Mahomet compensated the loss, by resigning to the soldiers his fifth of the plunder, and wished, for their

sake, that he possessed as many head of cattle as there were trees in the province of Tehama. Instead of

chastising the disaffection of the Koreish, he endeavored to cut out their tongues, (his own expression,) and to

secure their attachment by a superior measure of liberality: Abu Sophian alone was presented with three

hundred camels and twenty ounces of silver; and Mecca was sincerely converted to the profitable religion of

the Koran. [Footnote 142: Abulfeda, p. 112 115. Gagnier, tom. iii. p. 67 88. D'Herbelot, Mohammed.]

[Footnote 143: The siege of Tayef, division of the spoil, are related by Abulfeda (p. 117 123) and Gagnier,

(tom. iii. p. 88 111.) It is Al Jannabi who mentions the engines and engineers of the tribe of Daws. The

fertile spot of Tayef was supposed to be a piece of the land of Syria detached and dropped in the general

The fugitives and auxiliaries complained, that they who had borne the burden were neglected in the season of

victory "Alas!" replied their artful leader, "suffer me to conciliate these recent enemies, these doubtful

proselytes, by the gift of some perishable goods. To your guard I intrust my life and fortunes. You are the

companions of my exile, of my kingdom, of my paradise." He was followed by the deputies of Tayef, who

dreaded the repetition of a siege. "Grant us, O apostle of God! a truce of three years, with the toleration of our

ancient worship." "Not a month, not an hour." "Excuse us at least from the obligation of prayer." "Without

prayer religion is of no avail." They submitted in silence: their temples were demolished, and the same

sentence of destruction was executed on all the idols of Arabia. His lieutenants, on the shores of the Red Sea,

the Ocean, and the Gulf of Persia, were saluted by the acclamations of a faithful people; and the ambassadors,

who knelt before the throne of Medina, were as numerous (says the Arabian proverb) as the dates that fall

from the maturity of a palmtree. The nation submitted to the God and the sceptre of Mahomet: the

opprobrious name of tribute was abolished: the spontaneous or reluctant oblations of arms and tithes were

applied to the service of religion; and one hundred and fourteen thousand Moslems accompanied the last

pilgrimage of the apostle. ^144 [Footnote 144: The last conquests and pilgrimage of Mahomet are contained

in Abulfeda, (p. 121, 133,) Gagnier, (tom. iii. p. 119 219,) Elmacin, (p. 10, 11,) Abulpharagius, (p. 103.)

The ixth of the Hegira was styled the Year of Embassies, (Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfed. p. 121.)]

When Heraclius returned in triumph from the Persian war, he entertained, at Emesa, one of the ambassadors

of Mahomet, who invited the princes and nations of the earth to the profession of Islam. On this foundation

the zeal of the Arabians has supposed the secret conversion of the Christian emperor: the vanity of the Greeks

has feigned a personal visit of the prince of Medina, who accepted from the royal bounty a rich domain, and a

secure retreat, in the province of Syria. ^145 But the friendship of Heraclius and Mahomet was of short

continuance: the new religion had inflamed rather than assuaged the rapacious spirit of the Saracens, and the

murder of an envoy afforded a decent pretence for invading, with three thousand soldiers, the territory of

Palestine, that extends to the eastward of the Jordan. The holy banner was intrusted to Zeid; and such was the

discipline or enthusiasm of the rising sect, that the noblest chiefs served without reluctance under the slave of

the prophet. On the event of his decease, Jaafar and Abdallah were successively substituted to the command;

and if the three should perish in the war, the troops were authorized to elect their general. The three leaders

were slain in the battle of Muta, ^146 the first military action, which tried the valor of the Moslems against a

foreign enemy. Zeid fell, like a soldier, in the foremost ranks: the death of Jaafar was heroic and memorable:

he lost his right hand: he shifted the standard to his left: the left was severed from his body: he embraced the

standard with his bleeding stumps, till he was transfixed to the ground with fifty honorable wounds. ^*

"Advance," cried Abdallah, who stepped into the vacant place, "advance with confidence: either victory or

paradise is our own." The lance of a Roman decided the alternative; but the falling standard was rescued by

Caled, the proselyte of Mecca: nine swords were broken in his hand; and his valor withstood and repulsed the

superior numbers of the Christians. In the nocturnal council of the camp he was chosen to command: his

skilful evolutions of the ensuing day secured either the victory or the retreat of the Saracens; and Caled is

renowned among his brethren and his enemies by the glorious appellation of the Sword of God. In the pulpit,

Mahomet described, with prophetic rapture, the crowns of the blessed martyrs; but in private he betrayed the

feelings of human nature: he was surprised as he wept over the daughter of Zeid: "What do I see?" said the

astonished votary. "You see," replied the apostle, "a friend who is deploring the loss of his most faithful

friend." After the conquest of Mecca, the sovereign of Arabia affected to prevent the hostile preparations of

Heraclius; and solemnly proclaimed war against the Romans, without attempting to disguise the hardships

and dangers of the enterprise. ^147 The Moslems were discouraged: they alleged the want of money, or

horses, or provisions; the season of harvest, and the intolerable heat of the summer: "Hell is much hotter,"

said the indignant prophet. He disdained to compel their service: but on his return he admonished the most

guilty, by an excommunication of fifty days. Their desertion enhanced the merit of Abubeker, Othman, and

the faithful companions who devoted their lives and fortunes; and Mahomet displayed his banner at the head

of ten thousand horse and twenty thousand foot. Painful indeed was the distress of the march: lassitude and

thirst were aggravated by the scorching and pestilential winds of the desert: ten men rode by turns on one

camel; and they were reduced to the shameful necessity of drinking the water from the belly of that useful

animal. In the midway, ten days' journey from Medina and Damascus, they reposed near the grove and

fountain of Tabuc. Beyond that place Mahomet declined the prosecution of the war: he declared himself

satisfied with the peaceful intentions, he was more probably daunted by the martial array, of the emperor of

the East. But the active and intrepid Caled spread around the terror of his name; and the prophet received the

submission of the tribes and cities, from the Euphrates to Ailah, at the head of the Red Sea. To his Christian

subjects, Mahomet readily granted the security of their persons, the freedom of their trade, the property of

their goods, and the toleration of their worship. ^148 The weakness of their Arabian brethren had restrained

them from opposing his ambition; the disciples of Jesus were endeared to the enemy of the Jews; and it was

the interest of a conqueror to propose a fair capitulation to the most powerful religion of the earth.

[Footnote 145: Compare the bigoted Al Jannabi (apud Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 232 255) with the no less bigoted

Greeks, Theophanes, (p. 276 227,) Zonaras (tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 86,) and Cedrenus, (p. 421.)]

[Footnote 146: For the battle of Muta, and its consequences, see Abulfeda (p 100 102) and Gagnier, (tom.

[Footnote *: To console the afflicted relatives of his kinsman Jauffer, he (Mahomet) represented that, in

Paradise, in exchange for the arms which he had lost, he had been furnished with a pair of wings, resplendent

with the blushing glories of the ruby, and with which he was become the inseparable companion of the

archangal Gabriel, in his volitations through the regions of eternal bliss. Hence, in the catalogue of the

martyrs, he has been denominated Jauffer teyaur, the winged Jauffer. Price, Chronological Retrospect of

[Footnote 147: The expedition of Tabuc is recorded by our ordinary historians Abulfeda (Vit. Moham. p. 123

127) and Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 147 163: ) but we have the advantage of appealing to the

original evidence of the Koran, (c. 9, p. 154, 165,) with Sale's learned and rational notes.]

[Footnote 148: The Diploma securitatis Ailensibus is attested by Ahmed Ben Joseph, and the author Libri

Splendorum, (Gagnier, Not. ad Abulfe dam, p. 125;) but Abulfeda himself, as well as Elmacin, (Hist.

Saracen. p. 11,) though he owns Mahomet's regard for the Christians, (p 13,) only mentions peace and tribute.

In the year 1630, Sionita published at Paris the text and version of Mahomet's patent in favor of the

Christians; which was admitted and reprobated by the opposite taste of Salmasius and Grotius, (Bayle,

Mahomet, Rem. Aa.) Hottinger doubts of its authenticity, (Hist. Orient. p. 237;) Renaudot urges the consent

of the Mohametans, (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 169;) but Mosheim (Hist. Eccles. p. 244) shows the futility of

their opinion and inclines to believe it spurious. Yet Abulpharagius quotes the impostor's treaty with the

Nestorian patriarch, (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 418;) but Abulpharagius was primate of the

Till the age of sixtythree years, the strength of Mahomet was equal to the temporal and spiritual fatigues of

his mission. His epileptic fits, an absurd calumny of the Greeks, would be an object of pity rather than

abhorrence; ^149 but he seriously believed that he was poisoned at Chaibar by the revenge of a Jewish

female. ^150 During four years, the health of the prophet declined; his infirmities increased; but his mortal

disease was a fever of fourteen days, which deprived him by intervals of the use of reason. As soon as he was

conscious of his danger, he edified his brethren by the humility of his virtue or penitence. "If there be any

man," said the apostle from the pulpit, "whom I have unjustly scourged, I submit my own back to the lash of

retaliation. Have I aspersed the reputation of a Mussulman? let him proclaim my thoughts in the face of the

congregation. Has any one been despoiled of his goods? the little that I possess shall compensate the principal

and the interest of the debt." "Yes," replied a voice from the crowd, "I am entitled to three drams of silver."

Mahomet heard the complaint, satisfied the demand, and thanked his creditor for accusing him in this world

rather than at the day of judgment. He beheld with temperate firmness the approach of death; enfranchised his

slaves (seventeen men, as they are named, and eleven women;) minutely directed the order of his funeral, and

moderated the lamentations of his weeping friends, on whom he bestowed the benediction of peace. Till the

third day before his death, he regularly performed the function of public prayer: the choice of Abubeker to

supply his place, appeared to mark that ancient and faithful friend as his successor in the sacerdotal and regal

office; but he prudently declined the risk and envy of a more explicit nomination. At a moment when his

faculties were visibly impaired, he called for pen and ink to write, or, more properly, to dictate, a divine book,

the sum and accomplishment of all his revelations: a dispute arose in the chamber, whether he should be

allowed to supersede the authority of the Koran; and the prophet was forced to reprove the indecent

vehemence of his disciples. If the slightest credit may be afforded to the traditions of his wives and

companions, he maintained, in the bosom of his family, and to the last moments of his life, the dignity ^* of

an apostle, and the faith of an enthusiast; described the visits of Gabriel, who bade an everlasting farewell to

the earth, and expressed his lively confidence, not only of the mercy, but of the favor, of the Supreme Being.

In a familiar discourse he had mentioned his special prerogative, that the angel of death was not allowed to

take his soul till he had respectfully asked the permission of the prophet. The request was granted; and

Mahomet immediately fell into the agony of his dissolution: his head was reclined on the lap of Ayesha, the

best beloved of all his wives; he fainted with the violence of pain; recovering his spirits, he raised his eyes

towards the roof of the house, and, with a steady look, though a faltering voice, uttered the last broken,

though articulate, words: "O God! ..... pardon my sins....... Yes, ...... I come, ...... among my fellowcitizens

on high;" and thus peaceably expired on a carpet spread upon the floor. An expedition for the conquest of

Syria was stopped by this mournful event; the army halted at the gates of Medina; the chiefs were assembled

round their dying master. The city, more especially the house, of the prophet, was a scene of clamorous

sorrow of silent despair: fanaticism alone could suggest a ray of hope and consolation. "How can he be dead,

our witness, our intercessor, our mediator, with God? By God he is not dead: like Moses and Jesus, he is

wrapped in a holy trance, and speedily will he return to his faithful people." The evidence of sense was

disregarded; and Omar, unsheathing his cimeter, threatened to strike off the heads of the infidels, who should

dare to affirm that the prophet was no more. The tumult was appeased by the weight and moderation of

Abubeker. "Is it Mahomet," said he to Omar and the multitude, "or the God of Mahomet, whom you worship?

The God of Mahomet liveth forever; but the apostle was a mortal like ourselves, and according to his own

prediction, he has experienced the common fate of mortality." He was piously interred by the hands of his

nearest kinsman, on the same spot on which he expired: ^151 Medina has been sanctified by the death and

burial of Mahomet; and the innumerable pilgrims of Mecca often turn aside from the way, to bow, in

[Footnote 149: The epilepsy, or fallingsickness, of Mahomet is asserted by Theophanes, Zonaras, and the

rest of the Greeks; and is greedily swallowed by the gross bigotry of Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. p. 10, 11,)

Prideaux, (Life of Mahomet, p. 12,) and Maracci, (tom. ii. Alcoran, p. 762, 763.) The titles (the wrappedup,

the covered) of two chapters of the Koran, (73, 74) can hardly be strained to such an interpretation: the

silence, the ignorance of the Mahometan commentators, is more conclusive than the most peremptory denial;

and the charitable side is espoused by Ockley, (Hist. of the Saracens, tom. i. p. 301,) Gagnier, (ad Abulfedam,

Note: Dr Weil believes in the epilepsy, and adduces strong evidence for it; and surely it may be believed, in

perfect charity; and that the prophet's visions were connected, as they appear to have been, with these fits. I

have little doubt that he saw and believed these visions, and visions they were. Weil, p. 43. M. 1845.]

[Footnote 150: This poison (more ignominious since it was offered as a test of his prophetic knowledge) is

frankly confessed by his zealous votaries, Abulfeda (p. 92) and Al Jannabi, (apud Gagnier, tom. ii. p. 286

[Footnote *: Major Price, who writes with the authority of one widely conversant with the original sources of

Eastern knowledge, and in a very candid tone, takes a very different view of the prophet's death. "In tracing

the circumstances of Mahommed's illness, we look in vain for any proofs of that meek and heroic firmness

which might be expected to dignify and embellish the last moments of the apostle of God. On some occasions

he betrayed such want of fortitude, such marks of childish impatience, as are in general to be found in men

only of the most ordinary stamp; and such as extorted from his wife Ayesha, in particular, the sarcastic

remark, that in herself, or any of her family, a similar demeanor would long since have incurred his severe

displeasure. * * * He said that the acuteness and violence of his sufferings were necessarily in the proportion

of those honors with which it had ever pleased the hand of Omnipotence to distinguish its peculiar favorites

[Footnote 151: The Greeks and Latins have invented and propagated the vulgar and ridiculous story, that

Mahomet's iron tomb is suspended in the air at Mecca, (Laonicus Chalcondyles, de Rebus Turcicis, l. iii. p.

66,) by the action of equal and potent loadstones, (Dictionnaire de Bayle, Mahomet, Rem. Ee. Ff.) Without

any philosophical inquiries, it may suffice, that, 1. The prophet was not buried at Mecca; and, 2. That his

tomb at Medina, which has been visited by millions, is placed on the ground, (Reland, de Relig. Moham. l. ii.

Note: According to the testimony of all the Eastern authors, Mahomet died on Monday the 12th Reby 1st, in

the year 11 of the Hegira, which answers in reality to the 8th June, 632, of J. C. We find in Ockley (Hist. of

Saracens) that it was on Monday the 6th June, 632. This is a mistake; for the 6th June of that year was a

Saturday, not a Monday; the 8th June, therefore, was a Monday. It is easy to discover that the lunar year, in

this calculation has been confounded with the solar. St. Martin vol. xi. p. 186. M.]

[Footnote 152: Al Jannabi enumerates (Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 372 391) the multifarious duties of a

pilgrim who visits the tombs of the prophet and his companions; and the learned casuist decides, that this act

of devotion is nearest in obligation and merit to a divine precept. The doctors are divided which, of Mecca or

[Footnote 153: The last sickness, death, and burial of Mahomet, are described by Abulfeda and Gagnier, (Vit.

Moham. p. 133 142. Vie de Mahomet, tom. iii. p. 220 271.) The most private and interesting

circumstances were originally received from Ayesha, Ali, the sons of Abbas, and as they dwelt at Medina,

and survived the prophet many years, they might repeat the pious tale to a second or third generation of

At the conclusion of the life of Mahomet, it may perhaps be expected, that I should balance his faults and

virtues, that I should decide whether the title of enthusiast or impostor more properly belongs to that

extraordinary man. Had I been intimately conversant with the son of Abdallah, the task would still be

difficult, and the success uncertain: at the distance of twelve centuries, I darkly contemplate his shade

through a cloud of religious incense; and could I truly delineate the portrait of an hour, the fleeting

resemblance would not equally apply to the solitary of Mount Hera, to the preacher of Mecca, and to the

conqueror of Arabia. The author of a mighty revolution appears to have been endowed with a pious and

contemplative disposition: so soon as marriage had raised him above the pressure of want, he avoided the

paths of ambition and avarice; and till the age of forty he lived with innocence, and would have died without

a name. The unity of God is an idea most congenial to nature and reason; and a slight conversation with the

Jews and Christians would teach him to despise and detest the idolatry of Mecca. It was the duty of a man

and a citizen to impart the doctrine of salvation, to rescue his country from the dominion of sin and error. The

energy of a mind incessantly bent on the same object, would convert a general obligation into a particular

call; the warm suggestions of the understanding or the fancy would be felt as the inspirations of Heaven; the

labor of thought would expire in rapture and vision; and the inward sensation, the invisible monitor, would be

described with the form and attributes of an angel of God. ^154 From enthusiasm to imposture, the step is

perilous and slippery: the daemon of Socrates ^155 affords a memorable instance, how a wise man may

deceive himself, how a good man may deceive others, how the conscience may slumber in a mixed and

middle state between selfillusion and voluntary fraud. Charity may believe that the original motives of

Mahomet were those of pure and genuine benevolence; but a human missionary is incapable of cherishing the

obstinate unbelievers who reject his claims despise his arguments, and persecute his life; he might forgive his

personal adversaries, he may lawfully hate the enemies of God; the stern passions of pride and revenge were

kindled in the bosom of Mahomet, and he sighed, like the prophet of Nineveh, for the destruction of the

rebels whom he had condemned. The injustice of Mecca and the choice of Medina, transformed the citizen

into a prince, the humble preacher into the leader of armies; but his sword was consecrated by the example of

the saints; and the same God who afflicts a sinful world with pestilence and earthquakes, might inspire for

their conversion or chastisement the valor of his servants. In the exercise of political government, he was

compelled to abate of the stern rigor of fanaticism, to comply in some measure with the prejudices and

passions of his followers, and to employ even the vices of mankind as the instruments of their salvation. The

use of fraud and perfidy, of cruelty and injustice, were often subservient to the propagation of the faith; and

Mahomet commanded or approved the assassination of the Jews and idolaters who had escaped from the field

of battle. By the repetition of such acts, the character of Mahomet must have been gradually stained; and the

influence of such pernicious habits would be poorly compensated by the practice of the personal and social

virtues which are necessary to maintain the reputation of a prophet among his sectaries and friends. Of his

last years, ambition was the ruling passion; and a politician will suspect, that he secretly smiled (the

victorious impostor!) at the enthusiasm of his youth, and the credulity of his proselytes. ^156 A philosopher

will observe, that their credulity and his success would tend more strongly to fortify the assurance of his

divine mission, that his interest and religion were inseparably connected, and that his conscience would be

soothed by the persuasion, that he alone was absolved by the Deity from the obligation of positive and moral

laws. If he retained any vestige of his native innocence, the sins of Mahomet may be allowed as an evidence

of his sincerity. In the support of truth, the arts of fraud and fiction may be deemed less criminal; and he

would have started at the foulness of the means, had he not been satisfied of the importance and justice of the

end. Even in a conqueror or a priest, I can surprise a word or action of unaffected humanity; and the decree of

Mahomet, that, in the sale of captives, the mothers should never be separated from their children, may

[Footnote 154: The Christians, rashly enough, have assigned to Mahomet a tame pigeon, that seemed to

descend from heaven and whisper in his ear. As this pretended miracle is urged by Grotius, (de Veritate

Religionis Christianae,) his Arabic translator, the learned Pocock, inquired of him the names of his authors;

and Grotius confessed, that it is unknown to the Mahometans themselves. Lest it should provoke their

indignation and laughter, the pious lie is suppressed in the Arabic version; but it has maintained an edifying

place in the numerous editions of the Latin text, (Pocock, Specimen, Hist. Arabum, p. 186, 187. Reland, de

[Footnote 155: (Plato, in Apolog. Socrat. c. 19, p. 121, 122, edit. Fischer.) The familiar examples, which

Socrates urges in his Dialogue with Theages, (Platon. Opera, tom. i. p. 128, 129, edit. Hen. Stephan.) are

beyond the reach of human foresight; and the divine inspiration of the philosopher is clearly taught in the

Memorabilia of Xenophon. The ideas of the most rational Platonists are expressed by Cicero, (de Divinat. i.

54,) and in the xivth and xvth Dissertations of Maximus of Tyre, (p. 153 172, edit. Davis.)]

[Footnote 156: In some passage of his voluminous writings, Voltaire compares the prophet, in his old age, to

a fakir, "qui detache la chaine de son cou pour en donner sur les oreilles a ses confreres."]

[Footnote 157: Gagnier relates, with the same impartial pen, this humane law of the prophet, and the murders

of Caab, and Sophian, which he prompted and approved, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 69, 97, 208.)]

The good sense of Mahomet ^158 despised the pomp of royalty: the apostle of God submitted to the menial

offices of the family: he kindled the fire, swept the floor, milked the ewes, and mended with his own hands

his shoes and his woollen garment. Disdaining the penance and merit of a hermit, he observed, without effort

or vanity, the abstemious diet of an Arab and a soldier. On solemn occasions he feasted his companions with

rustic and hospitable plenty; but in his domestic life, many weeks would elapse without a tire being kindled

on the hearth of the prophet. The interdiction of wine was confirmed by his example; his hunger was

appeased with a sparing allowance of barleybread: he delighted in the taste of milk and honey; but his

ordinary food consisted of dates and water. Perfumes and women were the two sensual enjoyments which his

nature required, and his religion did not forbid; and Mahomet affirmed, that the fervor of his devotion was

increased by these innocent pleasures. The heat of the climate inflames the blood of the Arabs; and their

libidinous complexion has been noticed by the writers of antiquity. ^159 Their incontinence was regulated by

the civil and religious laws of the Koran: their incestuous alliances were blamed; the boundless license of

polygamy was reduced to four legitimate wives or concubines; their rights both of bed and of dowry were

equitably determined; the freedom of divorce was discouraged, adultery was condemned as a capital offence;

and fornication, in either sex, was punished with a hundred stripes. ^160 Such were the calm and rational

precepts of the legislator: but in his private conduct, Mahomet indulged the appetites of a man, and abused

the claims of a prophet. A special revelation dispensed him from the laws which he had imposed on his

nation: the female sex, without reserve, was abandoned to his desires; and this singular prerogative excited

the envy, rather than the scandal, the veneration, rather than the envy, of the devout Mussulmans. If we

remember the seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines of the wise Solomon, we shall applaud the

modesty of the Arabian, who espoused no more than seventeen or fifteen wives; eleven are enumerated who

occupied at Medina their separate apartments round the house of the apostle, and enjoyed in their turns the

favor of his conjugal society. What is singular enough, they were all widows, excepting only Ayesha, the

daughter of Abubeker. She was doubtless a virgin, since Mahomet consummated his nuptials (such is the

premature ripeness of the climate) when she was only nine years of age. The youth, the beauty, the spirit of

Ayesha, gave her a superior ascendant: she was beloved and trusted by the prophet; and, after his death, the

daughter of Abubeker was long revered as the mother of the faithful. Her behavior had been ambiguous and

indiscreet: in a nocturnal march she was accidentally left behind; and in the morning Ayesha returned to the

camp with a man. The temper of Mahomet was inclined to jealousy; but a divine revelation assured him of

her innocence: he chastised her accusers, and published a law of domestic peace, that no woman should be

condemned unless four male witnesses had seen her in the act of adultery. ^161 In his adventures with

Zeineb, the wife of Zeid, and with Mary, an Egyptian captive, the amorous prophet forgot the interest of his

reputation. At the house of Zeid, his freedman and adopted son, he beheld, in a loose undress, the beauty of

Zeineb, and burst forth into an ejaculation of devotion and desire. The servile, or grateful, freedman

understood the hint, and yielded without hesitation to the love of his benefactor. But as the filial relation had

excited some doubt and scandal, the angel Gabriel descended from heaven to ratify the deed, to annul the

adoption, and gently to reprove the apostle for distrusting the indulgence of his God. One of his wives, Hafna,

the daughter of Omar, surprised him on her own bed, in the embraces of his Egyptian captive: she promised

secrecy and forgiveness, he swore that he would renounce the possession of Mary. Both parties forgot their

engagements; and Gabriel again descended with a chapter of the Koran, to absolve him from his oath, and to

exhort him freely to enjoy his captives and concubines, without listening to the clamors of his wives. In a

solitary retreat of thirty days, he labored, alone with Mary, to fulfil the commands of the angel. When his love

and revenge were satiated, he summoned to his presence his eleven wives, reproached their disobedience and

indiscretion, and threatened them with a sentence of divorce, both in this world and in the next; a dreadful

sentence, since those who had ascended the bed of the prophet were forever excluded from the hope of a

second marriage. 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 twentyfour 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. p. 285 288;) his children, (p. 189, 289;) his wives, (p. 290 303;) his

marriage with Zeineb, (tom. ii. p. 152 160;) his amour with Mary, (p. 303 309;) the false accusation of

Ayesha, (p. 186 199.) The most original evidence of the three last transactions is contained in the xxivth,

xxxiiid, and lxvith chapters of the Koran, with Sale's Commentary. Prideaux (Life of Mahomet, p. 80 90)

and Maracci (Prodrom. Alcoran, part iv. p. 49 59) have maliciously exaggerated the frailties of Mahomet.]

[Footnote 159: Incredibile est quo ardore apud eos in Venerem uterque solvitur sexus, (Ammian. Marcellin. l.

[Footnote 160: Sale (Preliminary Discourse, p. 133 137) has recapitulated the laws of marriage, divorce,

and the curious reader of Selden's Uror Hebraica will recognize many Jewish ordinances.]

[Footnote 161: In a memorable case, the Caliph Omar decided that all presumptive evidence was of no avail;

and that all the four witnesses must have actually seen stylum in pyxide, (Abulfedae Annales Moslemici, p.

[Footnote 162: Sibi robur ad generationem, quantum triginta viri habent, inesse jacteret: ita ut unica hora

posset undecim foeminis satisfacere, ut ex Arabum libris refert Stus. Petrus Paschasius, c. 2., (Maracci,

Prodromus Alcoran, p. iv. p. 55. See likewise Observations de Belon, l. iii. c. 10, fol. 179, recto.) Al Jannabi

(Gagnier, tom. iii. p. 287) records his own testimony, that he surpassed all men in conjugal vigor; and

Abulfeda mentions the exclamation of Ali, who washed the body after his death, "O propheta, certe penis

[Footnote 163: I borrow the style of a father of the church, (Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 108.)]

[Footnote 164: The common and most glorious legend includes, in a single night the fifty victories of

Hercules over the virgin daughters of Thestius, (Diodor. Sicul. tom. i. l. iv. p. 274. Pausanias, l. ix. p. 763.

Statius Sylv. l. i. eleg. iii. v. 42.) But Athenaeus allows seven nights, (Deipnosophist, l. xiii. p. 556,) and

Apollodorus fifty, for this arduous achievement of Hercules, who was then no more than eighteen years of

In the largest indulgence of polygamy, the founder of a religion and empire might aspire to multiply the

chances of a numerous posterity and a lineal succession. The hopes of Mahomet were fatally disappointed.

The virgin Ayesha, and his ten widows of mature age and approved fertility, were barren in his potent

embraces. The four sons of Cadijah died in their infancy. Mary, his Egyptian concubine, was endeared to him

by the birth of Ibrahim. At the end of fifteen months the prophet wept over his grave; but he sustained with

firmness the raillery of his enemies, and checked the adulation or credulity of the Moslems, by the assurance

that an eclipse of the sun was not occasioned by the death of the infant. Cadijah had likewise given him four

daughters, who were married to the most faithful of his disciples: the three eldest died before their father; but

Fatima, who possessed his confidence and love, became the wife of her cousin Ali, and the mother of an

illustrious progeny. The merit and misfortunes of Ali and his descendants will lead me to anticipate, in this

place, the series of the Saracen caliphs, a title which describes the commanders of the faithful as the vicars

[Footnote 166: This outline of the Arabian history is drawn from the Bibliotheque Orientale of D'Herbelot,

(under the names of Aboubecre, Omar Othman, Ali, ) from the Annals of Abulfeda, Abulpharagius, and

Elmacin, (under the proper years of the Hegira,) and especially from Ockley's History of the Saracens, (vol. i.

p. 1 10, 115 122, 229, 249, 363 372, 378 391, and almost the whole of the second volume.) Yet we

should weigh with caution the traditions of the hostile sects; a stream which becomes still more muddy as it

flows farther from the source. Sir John Chardin has too faithfully copied the fables and errors of the modern

The birth, the alliance, the character of Ali, which exalted him above the rest of his countrymen, might justify

his claim to the vacant throne of Arabia. The son of Abu Taleb was, in his own right, the chief of the family

of Hashem, and the hereditary prince or guardian of the city and temple of Mecca. The light of prophecy was

extinct; but the husband of Fatima might expect the inheritance and blessing of her father: the Arabs had

sometimes been patient of a female reign; and the two grandsons of the prophet had often been fondled in his

lap, and shown in his pulpit as the hope of his age, and the chief of the youth of paradise. The first of the true

believers might aspire to march before them in this world and in the next; and if some were of a graver and

more rigid cast, the zeal and virtue of Ali were never outstripped by any recent proselyte. He united the

qualifications of a poet, a soldier, and a saint: his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral and religious

sayings; ^167 and every antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword, was subdued by his

eloquence and valor. From the first hour of his mission to the last rites of his funeral, the apostle was never

forsaken by a generous friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his vicegerent, and the faithful Aaron

of a second Moses. The son of Abu Taleb was afterwards reproached for neglecting to secure his interest by a

solemn declaration of his right, which would have silenced all competition, and sealed his succession by the

decrees of Heaven. But the unsuspecting hero confided in himself: the jealousy of empire, and perhaps the

fear of opposition, might suspend the resolutions of Mahomet; and the bed of sickness was besieged by the

artful Ayesha, the daughter of Abubeker, and the enemy of Ali. ^* [Footnote 167: Ockley (at the end of his

second volume) has given an English version of 169 sentences, which he ascribes, with some hesitation, to

Ali, the son of Abu Taleb. His preface is colored by the enthusiasm of a translator; yet these sentences

[Footnote *: Gibbon wrote chiefly from the Arabic or Sunnite account of these transactions, the only sources

accessible at the time when he composed his History. Major Price, writing from Persian authorities, affords

us the advantage of comparing throughout what may be fairly considered the Shiite Version. The glory of Ali

is the constant burden of their strain. He was destined, and, according to some accounts, designated, for the

caliphate by the prophet; but while the others were fiercely pushing their own interests, Ali was watching the

remains of Mahomet with pious fidelity. His disinterested magnanimity, on each separate occasion, declined

the sceptre, and gave the noble example of obedience to the appointed caliph. He is described, in retirement,

on the throne, and in the field of battle, as transcendently pious, magnanimous, valiant, and humane. He lost

his empire through his excess of virtue and love for the faithful his life through his confidence in God, and

Compare the curious account of this apathy in Price, chapter ii. It is to be regretted, I must add, that Major

Price has contented himself with quoting the names of the Persian works which he follows, without any

The silence and death of the prophet restored the liberty of the people; and his companions convened an

assembly to deliberate on the choice of his successor. The hereditary claim and lofty spirit of Ali were

offensive to an aristocracy of elders, desirous of bestowing and resuming the sceptre by a free and frequent

election: the Koreish could never be reconciled to the proud preeminence of the line of Hashem; the ancient

discord of the tribes was rekindled, the fugitives of Mecca and the auxiliaries of Medina asserted their

respective merits; and the rash proposal of choosing two independent caliphs would have crushed in their

infancy the religion and empire of the Saracens. The tumult was appeased by the disinterested resolution of

Omar, who, suddenly renouncing his own pretensions, stretched forth his hand, and declared himself the first

subject of the mild and venerable Abubeker. ^* The urgency of the moment, and the acquiescence of the

people, might excuse this illegal and precipitate measure; but Omar himself confessed from the pulpit, that if

any Mulsulman should hereafter presume to anticipate the suffrage of his brethren, both the elector and the

elected would be worthy of death. ^168 After the simple inauguration of Abubeker, he was obeyed in

Medina, Mecca, and the provinces of Arabia: the Hashemites alone declined the oath of fidelity; and their

chief, in his own house, maintained, above six months, a sullen and independent reserve; without listening to

the threats of Omar, who attempted to consume with fire the habitation of the daughter of the apostle. The

death of Fatima, and the decline of his party, subdued the indignant spirit of Ali: he condescended to salute

the commander of the faithful, accepted his excuse of the necessity of preventing their common enemies, and

wisely rejected his courteous offer of abdicating the government of the Arabians. After a reign of two years,

the aged caliph was summoned by the angel of death. In his testament, with the tacit approbation of his

companions, he bequeathed the sceptre to the firm and intrepid virtue of Omar. "I have no occasion," said the

modest candidate, "for the place." "But the place has occasion for you," replied Abubeker; who expired with

a fervent prayer, that the God of Mahomet would ratify his choice, and direct the Mussulmans in the way of

concord and obedience. The prayer was not ineffectual, since Ali himself, in a life of privacy and prayer,

professed to revere the superior worth and dignity of his rival; who comforted him for the loss of empire, by

the most flattering marks of confidence and esteem. In the twelfth year of his reign, Omar received a mortal

wound from the hand of an assassin: he rejected with equal impartiality the names of his son and of Ali,

refused to load his conscience with the sins of his successor, and devolved on six of the most respectable

companions the arduous task of electing a commander of the faithful. On this occasion, Ali was again blamed

by his friends ^169 for submitting his right to the judgment of men, for recognizing their jurisdiction by

accepting a place among the six electors. He might have obtained their suffrage, had he deigned to promise a

strict and servile conformity, not only to the Koran and tradition, but likewise to the determinations of two

seniors. ^170 With these limitations, Othman, the secretary of Mahomet, accepted the government; nor was it

till after the third caliph, twentyfour years after the death of the prophet, that Ali was invested, by the

popular choice, with the regal and sacerdotal office. The manners of the Arabians retained their primitive

simplicity, and the son of Abu Taleb despised the pomp and vanity of this world. At the hour of prayer, he

repaired to the mosch of Medina, clothed in a thin cotton gown, a coarse turban on his head, his slippers in

one hand, and his bow in the other, instead of a walkingstaff. The companions of the prophet, and the chiefs

of the tribes, saluted their new sovereign, and gave him their right hands as a sign of fealty and allegiance.

[Footnote *: Abubeker, the father of the virgin Ayesha. St. Martin, vol. XL, p. 88 M.]

[Footnote 168: Ockley, (Hist. of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 5, 6,) from an Arabian Ms., represents Ayesha as

adverse to the substitution of her father in the place of the apostle. This fact, so improbable in itself, is

unnoticed by Abulfeda, Al Jannabi, and Al Bochari, the last of whom quotes the tradition of Ayesha herself,

[Footnote 169: Particularly by his friend and cousin Abdallah, the son of Abbas, who died A.D. 687, with the

title of grand doctor of the Moslems. In Abulfeda he recapitulates the important occasions in which Ali had

neglected his salutary advice, (p. 76, vers. Reiske;) and concludes, (p. 85,) O princeps fidelium, absque

controversia tu quidem vere fortis es, at inops boni consilii, et rerum gerendarum parum callens.]

[Footnote 170: I suspect that the two seniors (Abulpharagius, p. 115. Ockley, tom. i. p. 371,) may signify not

The mischiefs that flow from the contests of ambition are usually confined to the times and countries in

which they have been agitated. But the religious discord of the friends and enemies of Ali has been renewed

in every age of the Hegira, and is still maintained in the immortal hatred of the Persians and Turks. ^171 The

former, who are branded with the appellation of Shiites or sectaries, have enriched the Mahometan creed with

a new article of faith; and if Mahomet be the apostle, his companion Ali is the vicar, of God. In their private

converse, in their public worship, they bitterly execrate the three usurpers who intercepted his indefeasible

right to the dignity of Imam and Caliph; and the name of Omar expresses in their tongue the perfect

accomplishment of wickedness and impiety. ^172 The Sonnites, who are supported by the general consent

and orthodox tradition of the Mussulmans, entertain a more impartial, or at least a more decent, opinion. They

respect the memory of Abubeker, Omar, Othman, and Ali, the holy and legitimate successors of the prophet.

But they assign the last and most humble place to the husband of Fatima, in the persuasion that the order of

succession was determined by the decrees of sanctity. ^173 An historian who balances the four caliphs with a

hand unshaken by superstition, will calmly pronounce that their manners were alike pure and exemplary; that

their zeal was fervent, and probably sincere; and that, in the midst of riches and power, their lives were

devoted to the practice of moral and religious duties. But the public virtues of Abubeker and Omar, the

prudence of the first, the severity of the second, maintained the peace and prosperity of their reigns. The

feeble temper and declining age of Othman were incapable of sustaining the weight of conquest and empire.

He chose, and he was deceived; he trusted, and he was betrayed: the most deserving of the faithful became

useless or hostile to his government, and his lavish bounty was productive only of ingratitude and discontent.

The spirit of discord went forth in the provinces: their deputies assembled at Medina; and the Charegites, the

desperate fanatics who disclaimed the yoke of subordination and reason, were confounded among the

freeborn Arabs, who demanded the redress of their wrongs and the punishment of their oppressors. From

Cufa, from Bassora, from Egypt, from the tribes of the desert, they rose in arms, encamped about a league

from Medina, and despatched a haughty mandate to their sovereign, requiring him to execute justice, or to

descend from the throne. His repentance began to disarm and disperse the insurgents; but their fury was

rekindled by the arts of his enemies; and the forgery of a perfidious secretary was contrived to blast his

reputation and precipitate his fall. The caliph had lost the only guard of his predecessors, the esteem and

confidence of the Moslems: during a siege of six weeks his water and provisions were intercepted, and the

feeble gates of the palace were protected only by the scruples of the more timorous rebels. Forsaken by those

who had abused his simplicity, the hopeless and venerable caliph expected the approach of death: the brother

of Ayesha marched at the head of the assassins; and Othman, with the Koran in his lap, was pierced with a

multitude of wounds. ^* A tumultuous anarchy of five days was appeased by the inauguration of Ali: his

refusal would have provoked a general massacre. In this painful situation he supported the becoming pride of

the chief of the Hashemites; declared that he had rather serve than reign; rebuked the presumption of the

strangers; and required the formal, if not the voluntary, assent of the chiefs of the nation. He has never been

accused of prompting the assassin of Omar; though Persia indiscreetly celebrates the festival of that holy

martyr. The quarrel between Othman and his subjects was assuaged by the early mediation of Ali; and

Hassan, the eldest of his sons, was insulted and wounded in the defence of the caliph. Yet it is doubtful

whether the father of Hassan was strenuous and sincere in his opposition to the rebels; and it is certain that he

enjoyed the benefit of their crime. The temptation was indeed of such magnitude as might stagger and corrupt

the most obdurate virtue. The ambitious candidate no longer aspired to the barren sceptre of Arabia; the

Saracens had been victorious in the East and West; and the wealthy kingdoms of Persia, Syria, and Egypt

were the patrimony of the commander of the faithful. [Footnote 171: The schism of the Persians is explained

by all our travellers of the last century, especially in the iid and ivth volumes of their master, Chardin.

Niebuhr, though of inferior merit, has the advantage of writing so late as the year 1764, (Voyages en Arabie,

tom. ii. p. 208 233,) since the ineffectual attempt of Nadir Shah to change the religion of the nation, (see his

Persian History translated into French by Sir William Jones, tom. ii. p. 5, 6, 47, 48, 144 155.)]

[Footnote 172: Omar is the name of the devil; his murderer is a saint. When the Persians shoot with the bow,

they frequently cry, "May this arrow go to the heart of Omar!" (Voyages de Chardin, tom. ii. p 239, 240, 259,

[Footnote 173: This gradation of merit is distinctly marked in a creed illustrated by Reland, (de Relig.

Mohamm. l. i. p. 37;) and a Sonnite argument inserted by Ockley, (Hist. of the Saracens, tom. ii. p. 230.) The

practice of cursing the memory of Ali was abolished, after forty years, by the Ommiades themselves,

(D'Herbelot, p. 690;) and there are few among the Turks who presume to revile him as an infidel, (Voyages

A life of prayer and contemplation had not chilled the martial activity of Ali; but in a mature age, after a long

experience of mankind, he still betrayed in his conduct the rashness and indiscretion of youth. ^* In the first

days of his reign, he neglected to secure, either by gifts or fetters, the doubtful allegiance of Telha and Zobeir,

two of the most powerful of the Arabian chiefs. They escaped from Medina to Mecca, and from thence to

Bassora; erected the standard of revolt; and usurped the government of Irak, or Assyria, which they had

vainly solicited as the reward of their services. The mask of patriotism is allowed to cover the most glaring

inconsistencies; and the enemies, perhaps the assassins, of Othman now demanded vengeance for his blood.

They were accompanied in their flight by Ayesha, the widow of the prophet, who cherished, to the last hour

of her life, an implacable hatred against the husband and the posterity of Fatima. The most reasonable

Moslems were scandalized, that the mother of the faithful should expose in a camp her person and character;

^! but the superstitious crowd was confident that her presence would sanctify the justice, and assure the

success, of their cause. At the head of twenty thousand of his loyal Arabs, and nine thousand valiant

auxiliaries of Cufa, the caliph encountered and defeated the superior numbers of the rebels under the walls of

Bassora. ^!! Their leaders, Telha and Zobeir, ^@ were slain in the first battle that stained with civil blood the

arms of the Moslems. ^@@ After passing through the ranks to animate the troops, Ayesha had chosen her

post amidst the dangers of the field. In the heat of the action, seventy men, who held the bridle of her camel,

were successively killed or wounded; and the cage or litter, in which she sat, was stuck with javelins and

darts like the quills of a porcupine. The venerable captive sustained with firmness the reproaches of the

conqueror, and was speedily dismissed to her proper station at the tomb of Mahomet, with the respect and

tenderness that was still due to the widow of the apostle. ^* After this victory, which was styled the Day of

the Camel, Ali marched against a more formidable adversary; against Moawiyah, the son of Abu Sophian,

who had assumed the title of caliph, and whose claim was supported by the forces of Syria and the interest of

the house of Ommiyah. From the passage of Thapsacus, the plain of Siffin ^174 extends along the western

bank of the Euphrates. On this spacious and level theatre, the two competitors waged a desultory war of one

hundred and ten days. In the course of ninety actions or skirmishes, the loss of Ali was estimated at

twentyfive, that of Moawiyah at fortyfive, thousand soldiers; and the list of the slain was dignified with the

names of fiveandtwenty veterans who had fought at Beder under the standard of Mahomet. In this

sanguinary contest the lawful caliph displayed a superior character of valor and humanity. ^!!! His troops

were strictly enjoined to await the first onset of the enemy, to spare their flying brethren, and to respect the

bodies of the dead, and the chastity of the female captives. He generously proposed to save the blood of the

Moslems by a single combat; but his trembling rival declined the challenge as a sentence of inevitable death.

The ranks of the Syrians were broken by the charge of a hero who was mounted on a piebald horse, and

wielded with irresistible force his ponderous and twoedged sword. As often as he smote a rebel, he shouted

the Allah Acbar, "God is victorious!" and in the tumult of a nocturnal battle, he was heard to repeat four

hundred times that tremendous exclamation. The prince of Damascus already meditated his flight; but the

certain victory was snatched from the grasp of Ali by the disobedience and enthusiasm of his troops. Their

conscience was awed by the solemn appeal to the books of the Koran which Moawiyah exposed on the

foremost lances; and Ali was compelled to yield to a disgraceful truce and an insidious compromise. He

retreated with sorrow and indignation to Cufa; his party was discouraged; the distant provinces of Persia, of

Yemen, and of Egypt, were subdued or seduced by his crafty rival; and the stroke of fanaticism, which was

aimed against the three chiefs of the nation, was fatal only to the cousin of Mahomet. In the temple of Mecca,

three Charegites or enthusiasts discoursed of the disorders of the church and state: they soon agreed, that the

deaths of Ali, of Moawiyah, and of his friend Amrou, the viceroy of Egypt, would restore the peace and unity

of religion. Each of the assassins chose his victim, poisoned his dagger, devoted his life, and secretly repaired

to the scene of action. Their resolution was equally desperate: but the first mistook the person of Amrou, and

stabbed the deputy who occupied his seat; the prince of Damascus was dangerously hurt by the second; the

lawful caliph, in the mosch of Cufa, received a mortal wound from the hand of the third. He expired in the

sixtythird year of his age, and mercifully recommended to his children, that they would despatch the

murderer by a single stroke. ^* The sepulchre of Ali ^175 was concealed from the tyrants of the house of

Ommiyah; ^176 but in the fourth age of the Hegira, a tomb, a temple, a city, arose near the ruins of Cufa.

^177 Many thousands of the Shiites repose in holy ground at the feet of the vicar of God; and the desert is

vivified by the numerous and annual visits of the Persians, who esteem their devotion not less meritorious

[Footnote *: Ali had determined to supersede all the lieutenants in the different provinces. Price, p. 191.

[Footnote !: See the very curious circumstances which took place before and during her flight. Price, p. 196.

[Footnote !!: The reluctance of Ali to shed the blood of true believers is strikingly described by Major Price's

[Footnote @: See (in Price) the singular adventures of Zobeir. He was murdered after having abandoned the

army of the insurgents. Telha was about to do the same, when his leg was pierced with an arrow by one of his

[Footnote @@: According to Price, two hundred and eighty of the Benni Beianziel alone lost a right hand in

[Footnote *: She was escorted by a guard of females disguised as soldiers. When she discovered this, Ayesha

was as much gratified by the delicacy of the arrangement, as she had been offended by the familiar approach

[Footnote 174: The plain of Siffin is determined by D'Anville (l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 29) to be the Campus

[Footnote !!!: The Shiite authors have preserved a noble instance of Ali's magnanimity. The superior

generalship of Moawiyah had cut off the army of Ali from the Euphrates; his soldiers were perishing from

want of water. Ali sent a message to his rival to request free access to the river, declaring that under the same

circumstances he would not allow any of the faithful, though his adversaries, to perish from thirst. After some

debate, Moawiyah determined to avail himself of the advantage of his situation, and to reject the demand of

Ali. The soldiers of Ali became desperate; forced their way through that part of the hostile army which

commanded the river, and in their turn entirely cut off the troops of Moawiyah from the water. Moawiyah

was reduced to make the same supplication to Ali. The generous caliph instantly complied; and both armies,

with their cattle enjoyed free and unmolested access to the river. Price, vol. i. p. 268, 272 M.]

[Footnote *: His son Hassan was recognized as caliph in Arabia and Irak; but voluntarily abdicated the

throne, after six or seven months, in favor of Moawiyah St. Martin, vol. xi. p 375. M.]

[Footnote 175: Abulfeda, a moderate Sonnite, relates the different opinions concerning the burial of Ali, but

adopts the sepulchre of Cufa, hodie fama numeroque religiose frequentantium celebratum. This number is

reckoned by Niebuhr to amount annually to 2000 of the dead, and 5000 of the living, (tom. ii. p. 208, 209.)]

[Footnote 176: All the tyrants of Persia, from Adhad el Dowlat (A.D. 977, D'Herbelot, p. 58, 59, 95) to Nadir

Shah, (A.D. 1743, Hist. de Nadir Shah, tom. ii. p. 155,) have enriched the tomb of Ali with the spoils of the

people. The dome is copper, with a bright and massy gilding, which glitters to the sun at the distance of many

[Footnote 177: The city of Meshed Ali, five or six miles from the ruins of Cufa, and one hundred and twenty

to the south of Bagdad, is of the size and form of the modern Jerusalem. Meshed Hosein, larger and more

The persecutors of Mahomet usurped the inheritance of his children; and the champions of idolatry became

the supreme heads of his religion and empire. The opposition of Abu Sophian had been fierce and obstinate;

his conversion was tardy and reluctant; his new faith was fortified by necessity and interest; he served, he

fought, perhaps he believed; and the sins of the time of ignorance were expiated by the recent merits of the

family of Ommiyah. Moawiyah, the son of Abu Sophian, and of the cruel Henda, was dignified, in his early

youth, with the office or title of secretary of the prophet: the judgment of Omar intrusted him with the

government of Syria; and he administered that important province above forty years, either in a subordinate

or supreme rank. Without renouncing the fame of valor and liberality, he affected the reputation of humanity

and moderation: a grateful people was attached to their benefactor; and the victorious Moslems were enriched

with the spoils of Cyprus and Rhodes. The sacred duty of pursuing the assassins of Othman was the engine

and pretence of his ambition. The bloody shirt of the martyr was exposed in the mosch of Damascus: the emir

deplored the fate of his injured kinsman; and sixty thousand Syrians were engaged in his service by an oath of

fidelity and revenge. Amrou, the conqueror of Egypt, himself an army, was the first who saluted the new

monarch, and divulged the dangerous secret, that the Arabian caliphs might be created elsewhere than in the

city of the prophet. ^178 The policy of Moawiyah eluded the valor of his rival; and, after the death of Ali, he

negotiated the abdication of his son Hassan, whose mind was either above or below the government of the

world, and who retired without a sigh from the palace of Cufa to an humble cell near the tomb of his

grandfather. The aspiring wishes of the caliph were finally crowned by the important change of an elective to

an hereditary kingdom. Some murmurs of freedom or fanaticism attested the reluctance of the Arabs, and

four citizens of Medina refused the oath of fidelity; but the designs of Moawiyah were conducted with vigor

and address; and his son Yezid, a feeble and dissolute youth, was proclaimed as the commander of the

faithful and the successor on the apostle of God. [Footnote 178: I borrow, on this occasion, the strong sense

and expression of Tacitus, (Hist. i. 4: ) Evulgato imperii arcano posse imperatorem alni quam Romae fieri.]

A familiar story is related of the benevolence of one of the sons of Ali. In serving at table, a slave had

inadvertently dropped a dish of scalding broth on his master: the heedless wretch fell prostrate, to deprecate

his punishment, and repeated a verse of the Koran: "Paradise is for those who command their anger: " "I am

not angry: " "and for those who pardon offences: " "I pardon your offence: " "and for those who return

good for evil: " "I give you your liberty and four hundred pieces of silver." With an equal measure of piety,

Hosein, the younger brother of Hassan, inherited a remnant of his father's spirit, and served with honor

against the Christians in the siege of Constantinople. The primogeniture of the line of Hashem, and the holy

character of grandson of the apostle, had centred in his person, and he was at liberty to prosecute his claim

against Yezid, the tyrant of Damascus, whose vices he despised, and whose title he had never deigned to

acknowledge. A list was secretly transmitted from Cufa to Medina, of one hundred and forty thousand

Moslems, who professed their attachment to his cause, and who were eager to draw their swords so soon as

he should appear on the banks of the Euphrates. Against the advice of his wisest friends, he resolved to trust

his person and family in the hands of a perfidious people. He traversed the desert of Arabia with a timorous

retinue of women and children; but as he approached the confines of Irak he was alarmed by the solitary or

hostile face of the country, and suspected either the defection or ruin of his party. His fears were just:

Obeidollah, the governor of Cufa, had extinguished the first sparks of an insurrection; and Hosein, in the

plain of Kerbela, was encompassed by a body of five thousand horse, who intercepted his communication

with the city and the river. He might still have escaped to a fortress in the desert, that had defied the power of

Caesar and Chosroes, and confided in the fidelity of the tribe of Tai, which would have armed ten thousand

warriors in his defence. In a conference with the chief of the enemy, he proposed the option of three

honorable conditions: that he should be allowed to return to Medina, or be stationed in a frontier garrison

against the Turks, or safely conducted to the presence of Yezid. But the commands of the caliph, or his

lieutenant, were stern and absolute; and Hosein was informed that he must either submit as a captive and a

criminal to the commander of the faithful, or expect the consequences of his rebellion. "Do you think,"

replied he, "to terrify me with death?" And, during the short respite of a night, ^* he prepared with calm and

solemn resignation to encounter his fate. He checked the lamentations of his sister Fatima, who deplored the

impending ruin of his house. "Our trust," said Hosein, "is in God alone. All things, both in heaven and earth,

must perish and return to their Creator. My brother, my father, my mother, were better than me, and every

Mussulman has an example in the prophet." He pressed his friends to consult their safety by a timely flight:

they unanimously refused to desert or survive their beloved master: and their courage was fortified by a

fervent prayer and the assurance of paradise. On the morning of the fatal day, he mounted on horseback, with

his sword in one hand and the Koran in the other: his generous band of martyrs consisted only of thirtytwo

horse and forty foot; but their flanks and rear were secured by the tentropes, and by a deep trench which

they had filled with lighted fagots, according to the practice of the Arabs. The enemy advanced with

reluctance, and one of their chiefs deserted, with thirty followers, to claim the partnership of inevitable death.

In every close onset, or single combat, the despair of the Fatimites was invincible; but the surrounding

multitudes galled them from a distance with a cloud of arrows, and the horses and men were successively

slain; a truce was allowed on both sides for the hour of prayer; and the battle at length expired by the death of

the last companions of Hosein. Alone, weary, and wounded, he seated himself at the door of his tent. As he

tasted a drop of water, he was pierced in the mouth with a dart; and his son and nephew, two beautiful youths,

were killed in his arms. He lifted his hands to heaven; they were full of blood; and he uttered a funeral prayer

for the living and the dead. In a transport of despair his sister issued from the tent, and adjured the general of

the Cufians, that he would not suffer Hosein to be murdered before his eyes: a tear trickled down his

venerable beard; and the boldest of his soldiers fell back on every side as the dying hero threw himself among

them. The remorseless Shamer, a name detested by the faithful, reproached their cowardice; and the grandson

of Mahomet was slain with threeandthirty strokes of lances and swords. After they had trampled on his

body, they carried his head to the castle of Cufa, and the inhuman Obeidollah struck him on the mouth with a

cane: "Alas," exclaimed an aged Mussulman, "on these lips have I seen the lips of the apostle of God!" In a

distant age and climate, the tragic scene of the death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the coldest

reader. ^179 ^* On the annual festival of his martyrdom, in the devout pilgrimage to his sepulchre, his

Persian votaries abandon their souls to the religious frenzy of sorrow and indignation. ^180

[Footnote *: According to Major Price's authorities a much longer time elapsed (p. 198 M.]

[Footnote 179: I have abridged the interesting narrative of Ockley, (tom. ii. p. 170 231.) It is long and

minute: but the pathetic, almost always, consists in the detail of little circumstances.]

[Footnote *: The account of Hosein's death, in the Persian Tarikh Tebry, is much longer; in some

circumstances, more pathetic, than that of Ockley, followed by Gibbon. His family, after his defenders were

all slain, perished in succession before his eyes. They had been cut off from the water, and suffered all the

agonies of thirst. His eldest son, Ally Akbar, after ten different assaults on the enemy, in each of which he

slew two or three, complained bitterly of his sufferings from heat and thirst. "His father arose, and

introducing his own tongue within the parched lips of his favorite child, thus endeavored to alleviate his

sufferings by the only means of which his enemies had not yet been able to deprive him." Ally was slain and

cut to pieces in his sight: this wrung from him his first and only cry; then it was that his sister Zeyneb rushed

from the tent. The rest, including his nephew, fell in succession. Hosein's horse was wounded he fell to the

ground. The hour of prayer, between noon and sunset, had arrived; the Imaun began the religious duties: as

Hosein prayed, he heard the cries of his infant child Abdallah, only twelve months old. The child was, at his

desire, placed on his bosom: as he wept over it, it was transfixed by an arrow. Hosein dragged himself to the

Euphrates: as he slaked his burning thirst, his mouth was pierced by an arrow: he drank his own blood.

Wounded in fourandthirty places, he still gallantly resisted. A soldier named Zeraiah gave the fatal wound:

[Footnote 180: Niebuhr the Dane (Voyages en Arabie, tom. ii. p. 208, is, perhaps, the only European traveller

who has dared to visit Meshed Ali and Meshed Hosein. The two sepulchres are in the hands of the Turks,

who tolerate and tax the devotion of the Persian heretics. The festival of the death of Hosein is amply

When the sisters and children of Ali were brought in chains to the throne of Damascus, the caliph was

advised to extirpate the enmity of a popular and hostile race, whom he had injured beyond the hope of

reconciliation. But Yezid preferred the councils of mercy; and the mourning family was honorably dismissed

to mingle their tears with their kindred at Medina. The glory of martyrdom superseded the right of

primogeniture; and the twelve imams, ^181 or pontiffs, of the Persian creed, are Ali, Hassan, Hosein, and the

lineal descendants of Hosein to the ninth generation. Without arms, or treasures, or subjects, they

successively enjoyed the veneration of the people, and provoked the jealousy of the reigning caliphs: their

tombs, at Mecca or Medina, on the banks of the Euphrates, or in the province of Chorasan, are still visited by

the devotion of their sect. Their names were often the pretence of sedition and civil war; but these royal saints

despised the pomp of the world: submitted to the will of God and the injustice of man; and devoted their

innocent lives to the study and practice of religion. The twelfth and last of the Imams, conspicuous by the

title of Mahadi, or the Guide, surpassed the solitude and sanctity of his predecessors. He concealed himself in

a cavern near Bagdad: the time and place of his death are unknown; and his votaries pretend that he still lives,

and will appear before the day of judgment to overthrow the tyranny of Dejal, or the Antichrist. ^182 In the

lapse of two or three centuries, the posterity of Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet, had multiplied to the number of

thirtythree thousand: ^183 the race of Ali might be equally prolific: the meanest individual was above the

first and greatest of princes; and the most eminent were supposed to excel the perfection of angels. But their

adverse fortune, and the wide extent of the Mussulman empire, allowed an ample scope for every bold and

artful imposture, who claimed affinity with the holy seed: the sceptre of the Almohades, in Spain and Africa;

of the Fatimites, in Egypt and Syria; ^184 of the Sultans of Yemen; and of the Sophis of Persia; ^185 has

been consecrated by this vague and ambiguous title. Under their reigns it might be dangerous to dispute the

legitimacy of their birth; and one of the Fatimite caliphs silenced an indiscreet question by drawing his

cimeter: "This," said Moez, "is my pedigree; and these," casting a handful of gold to his soldiers, "and these

are my kindred and my children." In the various conditions of princes, or doctors, or nobles, or merchants, or

beggars, a swarm of the genuine or fictitious descendants of Mahomet and Ali is honored with the appellation

of sheiks, or sherifs, or emirs. In the Ottoman empire they are distinguished by a green turban; receive a

stipend from the treasury; are judged only by their chief; and, however debased by fortune or character, still

assert the proud preeminence of their birth. A family of three hundred persons, the pure and orthodox branch

of the caliph Hassan, is preserved without taint or suspicion in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and still

retains, after the revolutions of twelve centuries, the custody of the temple, and the sovereignty of their native

land. The fame and merit of Mahomet would ennoble a plebeian race, and the ancient blood of the Koreish

transcends the recent majesty of the kings of the earth. ^186 [Footnote 181: The general article of Imam, in

D'Herbelot's Bibliotheque, will indicate the succession; and the lives of the twelve are given under their

[Footnote 182: The name of Antichrist may seem ridiculous, but the Mahometans have liberally borrowed the

fables of every religion, (Sale's Preliminary Discourse, p. 80, 82.) In the royal stable of Ispahan, two horses

were always kept saddled, one for the Mahadi himself, the other for his lieutenant, Jesus the son of Mary.]

[Footnote 183: In the year of the Hegira 200, (A.D. 815.) See D'Herbelot, p. 146]

[Footnote 184: D'Herbelot, p. 342. The enemies of the Fatimites disgraced them by a Jewish origin. Yet they

accurately deduced their genealogy from Jaafar, the sixth Imam; and the impartial Abulfeda allows (Annal.

Moslem. p. 230) that they were owned by many, qui absque controversia genuini sunt Alidarum, homines

propaginum suae gentis exacte callentes. He quotes some lines from the celebrated Scherif or Rahdi, Egone

humilitatem induam in terris hostium? (I suspect him to be an Edrissite of Sicily,) cum in Aegypto sit Chalifa

[Footnote 185: The kings of Persia in the last century are descended from Sheik Sefi, a saint of the xivth

century, and through him, from Moussa Cassem, the son of Hosein, the son of Ali, (Olearius, p. 957. Chardin,

tom. iii. p. 288.) But I cannot trace the intermediate degrees in any genuine or fabulous pedigree. If they were

truly Fatimites, they might draw their origin from the princes of Mazanderan, who reigned in the ixth century,

[Footnote 186: The present state of the family of Mahomet and Ali is most accurately described by Demetrius

Cantemir (Hist. of the Othmae Empire, p. 94) and Niebuhr, (Description de l'Arabie, p. 9 16, 317 It is much

to be lamented, that the Danish traveller was unable to purchase the chronicles of Arabia.]

The talents of Mahomet are entitled to our applause; but his success has, perhaps, too strongly attracted our

admiration. Are we surprised that a multitude of proselytes should embrace the doctrine and the passions of

an eloquent fanatic? In the heresies of the church, the same seduction has been tried and repeated from the

time of the apostles to that of the reformers. Does it seem incredible that a private citizen should grasp the

sword and the sceptre, subdue his native country, and erect a monarchy by his victorious arms? In the moving

picture of the dynasties of the East, a hundred fortunate usurpers have arisen from a baser origin, surmounted

more formidable obstacles, and filled a larger scope of empire and conquest. Mahomet was alike instructed to

preach and to fight; and the union of these opposite qualities, while it enhanced his merit, contributed to his

success: the operation of force and persuasion, of enthusiasm and fear, continually acted on each other, till

every barrier yielded to their irresistible power. His voice invited the Arabs to freedom and victory, to arms

and rapine, to the indulgence of their darling passions in this world and the other: the restraints which he

imposed were requisite to establish the credit of the prophet, and to exercise the obedience of the people; and

the only objection to his success was his rational creed of the unity and perfections of God. It is not the

propagation, but the permanency, of his religion, that deserves our wonder: the same pure and perfect

impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina, is preserved, after the revolutions of twelve centuries,

by the Indian, the African, and the Turkish proselytes of the Koran. If the Christian apostles, St. Peter or St.

Paul, could return to the Vatican, they might possibly inquire the name of the Deity who is worshipped with

such mysterious rites in that magnificent temple: at Oxford or Geneva, they would experience less surprise;

but it might still be incumbent on them to peruse the catechism of the church, and to study the orthodox

commentators on their own writings and the words of their Master. But the Turkish dome of St. Sophia, with

an increase of splendor and size, represents the humble tabernacle erected at Medina by the hands of

Mahomet. The Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the object of their faith and

devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man. "I believe in one God, and Mahomet the apostle

of God," is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has never been

degraded by any visible idol; the honors of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of human virtue;

and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion.

The votaries of Ali have, indeed, consecrated the memory of their hero, his wife, and his children; and some

of the Persian doctors pretend that the divine essence was incarnate in the person of the Imams; but their

superstition is universally condemned by the Sonnites; and their impiety has afforded a seasonable warning

against the worship of saints and martyrs. The metaphysical questions on the attributes of God, and the

liberty of man, have been agitated in the schools of the Mahometans, as well as in those of the Christians; but

among the former they have never engaged the passions of the people, or disturbed the tranquillity of the

state. The cause of this important difference may be found in the separation or union of the regal and

sacerdotal characters. It was the interest of the caliphs, the successors of the prophet and commanders of the

faithful, to repress and discourage all religious innovations: the order, the discipline, the temporal and

spiritual ambition of the clergy, are unknown to the Moslems; and the sages of the law are the guides of their

conscience and the oracles of their faith. From the Atlantic to the Ganges, the Koran is acknowledged as the

fundamental code, not only of theology, but of civil and criminal jurisprudence; and the laws which regulate

the actions and the property of mankind are guarded by the infallible and immutable sanction of the will of

God. This religious servitude is attended with some practical disadvantage; the illiterate legislator had been

often misled by his own prejudices and those of his country; and the institutions of the Arabian desert may be

ill adapted to the wealth and numbers of Ispahan and Constantinople. On these occasions, the Cadhi

respectfully places on his head the holy volume, and substitutes a dexterous interpretation more apposite to

His beneficial or pernicious influence on the public happiness is the last consideration in the character of

Mahomet. The most bitter or most bigoted of his Christian or Jewish foes will surely allow that he assumed a

false commission to inculcate a salutary doctrine, less perfect only than their own. He piously supposed, as

the basis of his religion, the truth and sanctity of their prior revolutions, the virtues and miracles of their

founders. The idols of Arabia were broken before the throne of God; the blood of human victims was

expiated by prayer, and fasting, and alms, the laudable or innocent arts of devotion; and his rewards and

punishments of a future life were painted by the images most congenial to an ignorant and carnal generation.

Mahomet was, perhaps, incapable of dictating a moral and political system for the use of his countrymen: but

he breathed among the faithful a spirit of charity and friendship; recommended the practice of the social

virtues; and checked, by his laws and precepts, the thirst of revenge, and the oppression of widows and

orphans. The hostile tribes were united in faith and obedience, and the valor which had been idly spent in

domestic quarrels was vigorously directed against a foreign enemy. Had the impulse been less powerful,

Arabia, free at home and formidable abroad, might have flourished under a succession of her native

monarchs. Her sovereignty was lost by the extent and rapidity of conquest. The colonies of the nation were

scattered over the East and West, and their blood was mingled with the blood of their converts and captives.

After the reign of three caliphs, the throne was transported from Medina to the valley of Damascus and the

banks of the Tigris; the holy cities were violated by impious war; Arabia was ruled by the rod of a subject,

perhaps of a stranger; and the Bedoweens of the desert, awakening from their dream of dominion, resumed

[Footnote 187: The writers of the Modern Universal History (vols. i. and ii.) have compiled, in 850 folio

pages, the life of Mahomet and the annals of the caliphs. They enjoyed the advantage of reading, and

sometimes correcting, the Arabic text; yet, notwithstanding their highsounding boasts, I cannot find, after

the conclusion of my work, that they have afforded me much (if any) additional information. The dull mass is

not quickened by a spark of philosophy or taste; and the compilers indulge the criticism of acrimonious

bigotry against Boulainvilliers, Sale, Gagnier, and all who have treated Mahomet with favor, or even justice.]

The Conquest Of Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, And Spain, By The Arabs Or Saracens. Empire Of The

Caliphs, Or Successors Of Mahomet. State Of The Christians, Under Their Government.

The revolution of Arabia had not changed the character of the Arabs: the death of Mahomet was the signal of

independence; and the hasty structure of his power and religion tottered to its foundations. A small and

faithful band of his primitive disciples had listened to his eloquence, and shared his distress; had fled with the

apostle from the persecution of Mecca, or had received the fugitive in the walls of Medina. The increasing

myriads, who acknowledged Mahomet as their king and prophet, had been compelled by his arms, or allured

by his prosperity. The polytheists were confounded by the simple idea of a solitary and invisible God; the

pride of the Christians and Jews disdained the yoke of a mortal and contemporary legislator. The habits of

faith and obedience were not sufficiently confirmed; and many of the new converts regretted the venerable

antiquity of the law of Moses, or the rites and mysteries of the Catholic church; or the idols, the sacrifices, the

joyous festivals, of their Pagan ancestors. The jarring interests and hereditary feuds of the Arabian tribes had

not yet coalesced in a system of union and subordination; and the Barbarians were impatient of the mildest

and most salutary laws that curbed their passions, or violated their customs. They submitted with reluctance

to the religious precepts of the Koran, the abstinence from wine, the fast of the Ramadan, and the daily

repetition of five prayers; and the alms and tithes, which were collected for the treasury of Medina, could be

distinguished only by a name from the payment of a perpetual and ignominious tribute. The example of

Mahomet had excited a spirit of fanaticism or imposture, and several of his rivals presumed to imitate the

conduct, and defy the authority, of the living prophet. At the head of the fugitives and auxiliaries, the first

caliph was reduced to the cities of Mecca, Medina, and Tayef; and perhaps the Koreish would have restored

the idols of the Caaba, if their levity had not been checked by a seasonable reproof. "Ye men of Mecca, will

ye be the last to embrace, and the first to abandon, the religion of Islam?" After exhorting the Moslems to

confide in the aid of God and his apostle, Abubeker resolved, by a vigorous attack, to prevent the junction of

the rebels. The women and children were safely lodged in the cavities of the mountains: the warriors,

marching under eleven banners, diffused the terror of their arms; and the appearance of a military force

revived and confirmed the loyalty of the faithful. The inconstant tribes accepted, with humble repentance, the

duties of prayer, and fasting, and alms; and, after some examples of success and severity, the most daring

apostates fell prostrate before the sword of the Lord and of Caled. In the fertile province of Yemanah, ^1

between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, in a city not inferior to Medina itself, a powerful chief (his name

was Moseilama) had assumed the character of a prophet, and the tribe of Hanifa listened to his voice. A

female prophetess ^* was attracted by his reputation; the decencies of words and actions were spurned by

these favorites of Heaven; ^2 and they employed several days in mystic and amorous converse. An obscure

sentence of his Koran, or book, is yet extant; ^3 and in the pride of his mission, Moseilama condescended to

offer a partition of the earth. The proposal was answered by Mahomet with contempt; but the rapid progress

of the impostor awakened the fears of his successor: forty thousand Moslems were assembled under the

standard of Caled; and the existence of their faith was resigned to the event of a decisive battle. ^* In the first

action they were repulsed by the loss of twelve hundred men; but the skill and perseverance of their general

prevailed; their defeat was avenged by the slaughter of ten thousand infidels; and Moseilama himself was

pierced by an Aethiopian slave with the same javelin which had mortally wounded the uncle of Mahomet.

The various rebels of Arabia without a chief or a cause, were speedily suppressed by the power and discipline

of the rising monarchy; and the whole nation again professed, and more steadfastly held, the religion of the

Koran. The ambition of the caliphs provided an immediate exercise for the restless spirit of the Saracens:

their valor was united in the prosecution of a holy war; and their enthusiasm was equally confirmed by

opposition and victory. [Footnote 1: See the description of the city and country of Al Yamanah, in Abulfeda,

Descript. Arabiae, p. 60, 61. In the xiiith century, there were some ruins, and a few palms; but in the present

century, the same ground is occupied by the visions and arms of a modern prophet, whose tenets are

[Footnote *: This extraordinary woman was a Christian; she was at the head of a numerous and flourishing

sect; Moseilama professed to recognize her inspiration. In a personal interview he proposed their marriage

and the union of their sects. The handsome person, the impassioned eloquence, and the arts of Moseilama,

triumphed over the virtue of the prophetesa who was rejected with scorn by her lover, and by her notorious

unchastity ost her influence with her own followers. Gibbon, with that propensity too common, especially in

his later volumes, has selected only the grosser part of this singular adventure. M.]

[Footnote 2: The first salutation may be transcribed, but cannot be translated. It was thus that Moseilama said

Surge tandem itaque strenue permolenda; nam stratus tibi thorus est. Aut in propatulo tentorio si velis, aut in

abditiore cubiculo si malis; Aut supinam te humi exporrectam fustigabo, si velis, aut si malis manibus

pedibusque nixam. Aut si velis ejus (Priapi) gemino triente aut si malis totus veniam. Imo, totus venito, O

Apostole Dei, clamabat foemina. Id ipsum, dicebat Moseilama, mihi quoque suggessit Deus.

The prophetess Segjah, after the fall of her lover, returned to idolatry; but under the reign of Moawiyah, she

became a Mussulman, and died at Bassora, (Abulfeda, Annal. vers. Reiske, p. 63.)]

[Footnote 3: See this text, which demonstrates a God from the work of generation, in Abulpharagius

(Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 13, and Dynast. p. 103) and Abulfeda, (Annal. p. 63.)]

From the rapid conquests of the Saracens a presumption will naturally arise, that the caliphs ^! commanded in

person the armies of the faithful, and sought the crown of martyrdom in the foremost ranks of the battle. The

courage of Abubeker, ^4 Omar, ^5 and Othman, ^6 had indeed been tried in the persecution and wars of the

prophet; and the personal assurance of paradise must have taught them to despise the pleasures and dangers

of the present world. But they ascended the throne in a venerable or mature age; and esteemed the domestic

cares of religion and justice the most important duties of a sovereign. Except the presence of Omar at the

siege of Jerusalem, their longest expeditions were the frequent pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca; and they

calmly received the tidings of victory as they prayed or preached before the sepulchre of the prophet. The

austere and frugal measure of their lives was the effect of virtue or habit, and the pride of their simplicity

insulted the vain magnificence of the kings of the earth. When Abubeker assumed the office of caliph, he

enjoined his daughter Ayesha to take a strict account of his private patrimony, that it might be evident

whether he were enriched or impoverished by the service of the state. He thought himself entitled to a stipend

of three pieces of gold, with the sufficient maintenance of a single camel and a black slave; but on the Friday

of each week he distributed the residue of his own and the public money, first to the most worthy, and then to

the most indigent, of the Moslems. The remains of his wealth, a coarse garment, and five pieces of gold, were

delivered to his successor, who lamented with a modest sigh his own inability to equal such an admirable

model. Yet the abstinence and humility of Omar were not inferior to the virtues of Abubeker: his food

consisted of barley bread or dates; his drink was water; he preached in a gown that was torn or tattered in

twelve places; and the Persian satrap, who paid his homage to the conqueror, found him asleep among the

beggars on the steps of the mosch of Medina. Oeeconomy is the source of liberality, and the increase of the

revenue enabled Omar to establish a just and perpetual reward for the past and present services of the faithful.

Careless of his own emolument, he assigned to Abbas, the uncle of the prophet, the first and most ample

allowance of twentyfive thousand drachms or pieces of silver. Five thousand were allotted to each of the

aged warriors, the relics of the field of Beder; and the last and meanest of the companions of Mahomet was

distinguished by the annual reward of three thousand pieces. One thousand was the stipend of the veterans

who had fought in the first battles against the Greeks and Persians; and the decreasing pay, as low as fifty

pieces of silver, was adapted to the respective merit and seniority of the soldiers of Omar. Under his reign,

and that of his predecessor, the conquerors of the East were the trusty servants of God and the people; the

mass of the public treasure was consecrated to the expenses of peace and war; a prudent mixture of justice

and bounty maintained the discipline of the Saracens, and they united, by a rare felicity, the despatch and

execution of despotism with the equal and frugal maxims of a republican government. The heroic courage of

Ali, ^7 the consummate prudence of Moawiyah, ^8 excited the emulation of their subjects; and the talents

which had been exercised in the school of civil discord were more usefully applied to propagate the faith and

dominion of the prophet. In the sloth and vanity of the palace of Damascus, the succeeding princes of the

house of Ommiyah were alike destitute of the qualifications of statesmen and of saints. ^9 Yet the spoils of

unknown nations were continually laid at the foot of their throne, and the uniform ascent of the Arabian

greatness must be ascribed to the spirit of the nation rather than the abilities of their chiefs. A large deduction

must be allowed for the weakness of their enemies. The birth of Mahomet was fortunately placed in the most

degenerate and disorderly period of the Persians, the Romans, and the Barbarians of Europe: the empires of

Trajan, or even of Constantine or Charlemagne, would have repelled the assault of the naked Saracens, and

the torrent of fanaticism might have been obscurely lost in the sands of Arabia.

[Footnote 4: His reign in Eutychius, tom. ii. p. 251. Elmacin, p. 18. Abulpharagius, p. 108. Abulfeda, p. 60.

[Footnote 5: His reign in Eutychius, p. 264. Elmacin, p. 24. Abulpharagius, p. 110. Abulfeda, p. 66.

[Footnote 6: His reign in Eutychius, p. 323. Elmacin, p. 36. Abulpharagius, p. 115. Abulfeda, p. 75.

[Footnote 7: His reign in Eutychius, p. 343. Elmacin, p. 51. Abulpharagius, p. 117. Abulfeda, p. 83.

[Footnote 8: His reign in Eutychius, p. 344. Elmacin, p. 54. Abulpharagius, p. 123. Abulfeda, p. 101.

[Footnote 9: Their reigns in Eutychius, tom. ii. p. 360 395. Elmacin, p. 59 108. Abulpharagius, Dynast.

ix. p. 124 139. Abulfeda, p. 111 141. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 691, and the particular

In the victorious days of the Roman republic, it had been the aim of the senate to confine their councils and

legions to a single war, and completely to suppress a first enemy before they provoked the hostilities of a

second. These timid maxims of policy were disdained by the magnanimity or enthusiasm of the Arabian

caliphs. With the same vigor and success they invaded the successors of Augustus and those of Artaxerxes;

and the rival monarchies at the same instant became the prey of an enemy whom they had been so long

accustomed to despise. In the ten years of the administration of Omar, the Saracens reduced to his obedience

thirtysix thousand cities or castles, destroyed four thousand churches or temples of the unbelievers, and

edified fourteen hundred moschs for the exercise of the religion of Mahomet. One hundred years after his

flight from Mecca, the arms and the reign of his successors extended from India to the Atlantic Ocean, over

the various and distant provinces, which may be comprised under the names of, I. Persia; II. Syria; III. Egypt;

IV. Africa; and, V. Spain. Under this general division, I shall proceed to unfold these memorable

transactions; despatching with brevity the remote and less interesting conquests of the East, and reserving a

fuller narrative for those domestic countries which had been included within the pale of the Roman empire.

Yet I must excuse my own defects by a just complaint of the blindness and insufficiency of my guides. The

Greeks, so loquacious in controversy, have not been anxious to celebrate the triumphs of their enemies. ^10

After a century of ignorance, the first annals of the Mussulmans were collected in a great measure from the

voice of tradition. ^11 Among the numerous productions of Arabic and Persian literature, ^12 our interpreters

have selected the imperfect sketches of a more recent age. ^13 The art and genius of history have ever been

unknown to the Asiatics; ^14 they are ignorant of the laws of criticism; and our monkish chronicle of the

same period may be compared to their most popular works, which are never vivified by the spirit of

philosophy and freedom. The Oriental library of a Frenchman ^15 would instruct the most learned mufti of

the East; and perhaps the Arabs might not find in a single historian so clear and comprehensive a narrative of

their own exploits as that which will be deduced in the ensuing sheets. [Footnote 10: For the viith and viiith

century, we have scarcely any original evidence of the Byzantine historians, except the chronicles of

Theophanes (Theophanis Confessoris Chronographia, Gr. et Lat. cum notis Jacobi Goar. Paris, 1665, in folio)

and the Abridgment of Nicephorus, (Nicephori Patriarchae C. P. Breviarium Historicum, Gr. et Lat. Paris,

1648, in folio,) who both lived in the beginning of the ixth century, (see Hanckius de Scriptor. Byzant. p. 200

246.) Their contemporary, Photius, does not seem to be more opulent. After praising the style of

Nicephorus, he adds, and only complains of his extreme brevity, (Phot. Bibliot. Cod. lxvi. p. 100.) Some

additions may be gleaned from the more recent histories of Cedrenus and Zonaras of the xiith century.]

[Footnote 11: Tabari, or Al Tabari, a native of Taborestan, a famous Imam of Bagdad, and the Livy of the

Arabians, finished his general history in the year of the Hegira 302, (A.D. 914.) At the request of his friends,

he reduced a work of 30,000 sheets to a more reasonable size. But his Arabic original is known only by the

Persian and Turkish versions. The Saracenic history of Ebn Amid, or Elmacin, is said to be an abridgment of

the great Tabari, (Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. preface, p. xxxix. and list of authors, D'Herbelot, p.

[Footnote 12: Besides the list of authors framed by Prideaux, (Life of Mahomet, p. 179 189,) Ockley, (at

the end of his second volume,) and Petit de la Croix, (Hist. de Gengiscan, p. 525 550,) we find in the

Bibliotheque Orientale Tarikh, a catalogue of two or three hundred histories or chronicles of the East, of

which not more than three or four are older than Tabari. A lively sketch of Oriental literature is given by

Reiske, (in his Prodidagmata ad Hagji Chalifae librum memorialem ad calcem Abulfedae Tabulae Syriae,

Lipsiae, 1776;) but his project and the French version of Petit de la Croix (Hist. de Timur Bec, tom. i.

[Footnote 13: The particular historians and geographers will be occasionally introduced. The four following

titles represent the Annals which have guided me in this general narrative. 1. Annales Eutychii, Patriarchoe

Alexandrini, ab Edwardo Pocockio, Oxon. 1656, 2 vols. in 4to. A pompous edition of an indifferent author,

translated by Pocock to gratify the Presbyterian prejudices of his friend Selden. 2. Historia Saracenica

Georgii Elmacini, opera et studio Thomae Erpenii, in 4to., Lugd. Batavorum, 1625. He is said to have hastily

translated a corrupt Ms., and his version is often deficient in style and sense. 3. Historia compendiosa

Dynastiarum a Gregorio Abulpharagio, interprete Edwardo Pocockio, in 4to., Oxon. 1663. More useful for

the literary than the civil history of the East. 4. Abulfedoe Annales Moslemici ad Ann. Hegiroe ccccvi. a Jo.

Jac. Reiske, in 4to., Lipsioe, 1754. The best of our chronicles, both for the original and version, yet how far

below the name of Abulfeda! We know that he wrote at Hamah in the xivth century. The three former were

Christians of the xth, xiith, and xiiith centuries; the two first, natives of Egypt; a Melchite patriarch, and a

[Footnote 14: M. D. Guignes (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. pref. p. xix. xx.) has characterized, with truth and

knowledge, the two sorts of Arabian historians the dry annalist, and the tumid and flowery orator.]

[Footnote 15: Bibliotheque Orientale, par M. D'Herbelot, in folio, Paris, 1697. For the character of the

respectable author, consult his friend Thevenot, (Voyages du Levant, part i. chap. 1.) His work is an

agreeable miscellany, which must gratify every taste; but I never can digest the alphabetical order; and I find

him more satisfactory in the Persian than the Arabic history. The recent supplement from the papers of Mm.

Visdelou, and Galland, (in folio, La Haye, 1779,) is of a different cast, a medley of tales, proverbs, and

I. In the first year of the first caliph, his lieutenant Caled, the Sword of God, and the scourge of the infidels,

advanced to the banks of the Euphrates, and reduced the cities of Anbar and Hira. Westward of the ruins of

Babylon, a tribe of sedentary Arabs had fixed themselves on the verge of the desert; and Hira was the seat of

a race of kings who had embraced the Christian religion, and reigned above six hundred years under the

shadow of the throne of Persia. ^16 The last of the Mondars ^* was defeated and slain by Caled; his son was

sent a captive to Medina; his nobles bowed before the successor of the prophet; the people was tempted by

the example and success of their countrymen; and the caliph accepted as the firstfruits of foreign conquest

an annual tribute of seventy thousand pieces of gold. The conquerors, and even their historians, were

astonished by the dawn of their future greatness: "In the same year," says Elmacin, "Caled fought many

signal battles: an immense multitude of the infidels was slaughtered; and spoils infinite and innumerable were

acquired by the victorious Moslems." ^17 But the invincible Caled was soon transferred to the Syrian war:

the invasion of the Persian frontier was conducted by less active or less prudent commanders: the Saracens

were repulsed with loss in the passage of the Euphrates; and, though they chastised the insolent pursuit of the

[Footnote 16: Pocock will explain the chronology, (Specimen Hist. Arabum, p. 66 74,) and D'Anville the

geography, (l'Euphrate, et le Tigre, p. 125,) of the dynasty of the Almondars. The English scholar understood

more Arabic than the mufti of Aleppo, (Ockley, vol. ii. p. 34: ) the French geographer is equally at home in

[Footnote *: Eichhorn and Silvestre de Sacy have written on the obscure history of the Mondars. M.]

[Footnote 17: Fecit et Chaled plurima in hoc anno praelia, in quibus vicerunt Muslimi, et infidelium immensa

multitudine occisa spolia infinita et innumera sunt nacti, (Hist. Saracenica, p. 20.) The Christian annalist

slides into the national and compendious term of infidels, and I often adopt (I hope without scandal) this

The indignation and fears of the Persians suspended for a moment their intestine divisions. By the unanimous

sentence of the priests and nobles, their queen Arzema was deposed; the sixth of the transient usurpers, who

had arisen and vanished in three or four years since the death of Chosroes, and the retreat of Heraclius. Her

tiara was placed on the head of Yezdegerd, the grandson of Chosroes; and the same aera, which coincides

with an astronomical period, ^18 has recorded the fall of the Sassanian dynasty and the religion of Zoroaster.

^19 The youth and inexperience of the prince (he was only fifteen years of age) declined a perilous

encounter: the royal standard was delivered into the hands of his general Rustam; and a remnant of thirty

thousand regular troops was swelled in truth, or in opinion, to one hundred and twenty thousand subjects, or

allies, of the great king. The Moslems, whose numbers were reenforced from twelve to thirty thousand, had

pitched their camp in the plains of Cadesia: ^20 and their line, though it consisted of fewer men, could

produce more soldiers, than the unwieldy host of the infidels. I shall here observe, what I must often repeat,

that the charge of the Arabs was not, like that of the Greeks and Romans, the effort of a firm and compact

infantry: their military force was chiefly formed of cavalry and archers; and the engagement, which was often

interrupted and often renewed by single combats and flying skirmishes, might be protracted without any

decisive event to the continuance of several days. The periods of the battle of Cadesia were distinguished by

their peculiar appellations. The first, from the well timed appearance of six thousand of the Syrian brethren,

was denominated the day of succor. The day of concussion might express the disorder of one, or perhaps of

both, of the contending armies. The third, a nocturnal tumult, received the whimsical name of the night of

barking, from the discordant clamors, which were compared to the inarticulate sounds of the fiercest animals.

The morning of the succeeding day ^* determined the fate of Persia; and a seasonable whirlwind drove a

cloud of dust against the faces of the unbelievers. The clangor of arms was reechoed to the tent of Rustam,

who, far unlike the ancient hero of his name, was gently reclining in a cool and tranquil shade, amidst the

baggage of his camp, and the train of mules that were laden with gold and silver. On the sound of danger he

started from his couch; but his flight was overtaken by a valiant Arab, who caught him by the foot, struck off

his head, hoisted it on a lance, and instantly returning to the field of battle, carried slaughter and dismay

among the thickest ranks of the Persians. The Saracens confess a loss of seven thousand five hundred men; ^!

and the battle of Cadesia is justly described by the epithets of obstinate and atrocious. ^21 The standard of the

monarchy was overthrown and captured in the field a leathern apron of a blacksmith, who in ancient times

had arisen the deliverer of Persia; but this badge of heroic poverty was disguised, and almost concealed, by a

profusion of precious gems. ^22 After this victory, the wealthy province of Irak, or Assyria, submitted to the

caliph, and his conquests were firmly established by the speedy foundation of Bassora, ^23 a place which

ever commands the trade and navigation of the Persians. As the distance of fourscore miles from the Gulf, the

Euphrates and Tigris unite in a broad and direct current, which is aptly styled the river of the Arabs. In the

midway, between the junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new settlement was planted on the

western bank: the first colony was composed of eight hundred Moslems; but the influence of the situation

soon reared a flourishing and populous capital. The air, though excessively hot, is pure and healthy: the

meadows are filled with palm trees and cattle; and one of the adjacent valleys has been celebrated among

the four paradises or gardens of Asia. Under the first caliphs the jurisdiction of this Arabian colony extended

over the southern provinces of Persia: the city has been sanctified by the tombs of the companions and

martyrs; and the vessels of Europe still frequent the port of Bassora, as a convenient station and passage of

[Footnote 18: A cycle of 120 years, the end of which an intercalary month of 30 days supplied the use of our

Bissextile, and restored the integrity of the solar year. In a great revolution of 1440 years this intercalation

was successively removed from the first to the twelfth month; but Hyde and Freret are involved in a profound

controversy, whether the twelve, or only eight of these changes were accomplished before the aera of

Yezdegerd, which is unanimously fixed to the 16th of June, A.D. 632. How laboriously does the curious

spirit of Europe explore the darkest and most distant antiquities! (Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 14 18, p.

181 211. Freret in the Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xvi. p. 233 267.)]

[Footnote 19: Nine days after the death of Mahomet (7th June, A.D. 632) we find the aera of Yezdegerd,

(16th June, A.D. 632,) and his accession cannot be postponed beyond the end of the first year. His

predecessors could not therefore resist the arms of the caliph Omar; and these unquestionable dates overthrow

the thoughtless chronology of Abulpharagius. See Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 130.

Note: The Rezont Uzzuffa (Price, p. 105) has a strange account of an embassy to Yezdegerd. The Oriental

historians take great delight in these embassies, which give them an opportunity of displaying their Asiatic

[Footnote 20: Cadesia, says the Nubian geographer, (p. 121,) is in margine solitudinis, 61 leagues from

Bagdad, and two stations from Cufa. Otter (Voyage, tom. i. p. 163) reckons 15 leagues, and observes, that the

[Footnote *: The day of cormorants, or according to another reading the day of reinforcements. It was the

[Footnote !: According to Malcolm's authorities, only three thousand; but he adds "This is the report of

Mahomedan historians, who have a great disposition of the wonderful, in relating the first actions of the

[Footnote 21: Atrox, contumax, plus semel renovatum, are the wellchosen expressions of the translator of

[Footnote 23: The reader may satisfy himself on the subject of Bassora by consulting the following writers:

Geograph, Nubiens. p. 121. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 192. D'Anville, l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p.

130, 133, 145. Raynal, Hist. Philosophique des deux Indes, tom. ii. p. 92 100. Voyages di Pietro della

Valle, tom. iv. p. 370 391. De Tavernier, tom. i. p. 240 247. De Thevenot, tom. ii. p. 545 584. D Otter,

After the defeat of Cadesia, a country intersected by rivers and canals might have opposed an insuperable

barrier to the victorious cavalry; and the walls of Ctesiphon or Madayn, which had resisted the

batteringrams of the Romans, would not have yielded to the darts of the Saracens. But the flying Persians

were overcome by the belief, that the last day of their religion and empire was at hand; the strongest posts

were abandoned by treachery or cowardice; and the king, with a part of his family and treasures, escaped to

Holwan at the foot of the Median hills. In the third month after the battle, Said, the lieutenant of Omar,

passed the Tigris without opposition; the capital was taken by assault; and the disorderly resistance of the

people gave a keener edge to the sabres of the Moslems, who shouted with religious transport, "This is the

white palace of Chosroes; this is the promise of the apostle of God!" The naked robbers of the desert were

suddenly enriched beyond the measure of their hope or knowledge. Each chamber revealed a new treasure

secreted with art, or ostentatiously displayed; the gold and silver, the various wardrobes and precious

furniture, surpassed (says Abulfeda) the estimate of fancy or numbers; and another historian defines the

untold and almost infinite mass, by the fabulous computation of three thousands of thousands of thousands of

pieces of gold. ^24 Some minute though curious facts represent the contrast of riches and ignorance. From

the remote islands of the Indian Ocean a large provision of camphire ^25 had been imported, which is

employed with a mixture of wax to illuminate the palaces of the East. Strangers to the name and properties of

that odoriferous gum, the Saracens, mistaking it for salt, mingled the camphire in their bread, and were

astonished at the bitterness of the taste. One of the apartments of the palace was decorated with a carpet of

silk, sixty cubits in length, and as many in breadth: a paradise or garden was depictured on the ground: the

flowers, fruits, and shrubs, were imitated by the figures of the gold embroidery, and the colors of the precious

stones; and the ample square was encircled by a variegated and verdant border. ^! The Arabian general

persuaded his soldiers to relinquish their claim, in the reasonable hope that the eyes of the caliph would be

delighted with the splendid workmanship of nature and industry. Regardless of the merit of art, and the pomp

of royalty, the rigid Omar divided the prize among his brethren of Medina: the picture was destroyed; but

such was the intrinsic value of the materials, that the share of Ali alone was sold for twenty thousand drams.

A mule that carried away the tiara and cuirass, the belt and bracelets of Chosroes, was overtaken by the

pursuers; the gorgeous trophy was presented to the commander of the faithful; and the gravest of the

companions condescended to smile when they beheld the white beard, the hairy arms, and uncouth figure of

the veteran, who was invested with the spoils of the Great King. ^26 The sack of Ctesiphon was followed by

its desertion and gradual decay. The Saracens disliked the air and situation of the place, and Omar was

advised by his general to remove the seat of government to the western side of the Euphrates. In every age,

the foundation and ruin of the Assyrian cities has been easy and rapid: the country is destitute of stone and

timber; and the most solid structures ^27 are composed of bricks baked in the sun, and joined by a cement of

the native bitumen. The name of Cufa ^28 describes a habitation of reeds and earth; but the importance of the

new capital was supported by the numbers, wealth, and spirit, of a colony of veterans; and their licentiousness

was indulged by the wisest caliphs, who were apprehensive of provoking the revolt of a hundred thousand

swords: "Ye men of Cufa," said Ali, who solicited their aid, "you have been always conspicuous by your

valor. You conquered the Persian king, and scattered his forces, till you had taken possession of his

inheritance." This mighty conquest was achieved by the battles of Jalula and Nehavend. After the loss of the

former, Yezdegerd fled from Holwan, and concealed his shame and despair in the mountains of Farsistan,

from whence Cyrus had descended with his equal and valiant companions. The courage of the nation

survived that of the monarch: among the hills to the south of Ecbatana or Hamadan, one hundred and fifty

thousand Persians made a third and final stand for their religion and country; and the decisive battle of

Nehavend was styled by the Arabs the victory of victories. If it be true that the flying general of the Persians

was stopped and overtaken in a crowd of mules and camels laden with honey, the incident, however slight

[Footnote 24: Mente vix potest numerove comprehendi quanta spolia nostris cesserint. Abulfeda, p. 69. Yet I

still suspect, that the extravagant numbers of Elmacin may be the error, not of the text, but of the version. The

best translators from the Greek, for instance, I find to be very poor arithmeticians.

Note: Ockley (Hist. of Saracens, vol. i. p. 230) translates in the same manner three thousand million of

ducats. See Forster's Mahometanism Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 462; who makes this innocent doubt of Gibbon, in

which, is to the amount of the plunder, I venture to concur, a grave charge of inaccuracy and disrespect to the

The Persian authorities of Price (p. 122) make the booty worth three hundred and thirty millions sterling!

[Footnote 25: The camphiretree grows in China and Japan; but many hundred weight of those meaner sorts

are exchanged for a single pound of the more precious gum of Borneo and Sumatra, (Raynal, Hist. Philosoph.

tom. i. p. 362 365. Dictionnaire d'Hist. Naturelle par Bomare Miller's Gardener's Dictionary.) These may be

the islands of the first climate from whence the Arabians imported their camphire (Geograph. Nub. p. 34, 35.

[Footnote 26: See Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. i. p. 376, 377. I may credit the fact, without believing the

[Footnote 27: The most considerable ruins of Assyria are the tower of Belus, at Babylon, and the hall of

Chosroes, at Ctesiphon: they have been visited by that vain and curious traveller Pietro della Valle, (tom. i. p.

Note: The best modern account is that of Claudius Rich Esq. Two Memoirs of Babylon. London, 1818. M.]

[Footnote 28: Consult the article of Coufah in the Bibliotheque of D'Herbelot ( p. 277, 278,) and the second

[Footnote 29: See the article of Nehavend, in D'Herbelot, p. 667, 668; and Voyages en Turquie et en Perse,

The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by the Greeks and Latins; but the most illustrious of her cities

appear to be more ancient than the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduction of Hamadan and Ispahan, of

Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradually approached the shores of the Caspian Sea: and the orators of Mecca

might applaud the success and spirit of the faithful, who had already lost sight of the northern bear, and had

almost transcended the bounds of the habitable world. ^30 Again, turning towards the West and the Roman

empire, they repassed the Tigris over the bridge of Mosul, and, in the captive provinces of Armenia and

Mesopotamia, embraced their victorious brethren of the Syrian army. From the palace of Madayn their

Eastern progress was not less rapid or extensive. They advanced along the Tigris and the Gulf; penetrated

through the passes of the mountains into the valley of Estachar or Persepolis, and profaned the last sanctuary

of the Magian empire. The grandson of Chosroes was nearly surprised among the falling columns and

mutilated figures; a sad emblem of the past and present fortune of Persia: ^31 he fled with accelerated haste

over the desert of Kirman, implored the aid of the warlike Segestans, and sought an humble refuge on the

verge of the Turkish and Chinese power. But a victorious army is insensible of fatigue: the Arabs divided

their forces in the pursuit of a timorous enemy; and the caliph Othman promised the government of Chorasan

to the first general who should enter that large and populous country, the kingdom of the ancient Bactrians.

The condition was accepted; the prize was deserved; the standard of Mahomet was planted on the walls of

Herat, Merou, and Balch; and the successful leader neither halted nor reposed till his foaming cavalry had

tasted the waters of the Oxus. In the public anarchy, the independent governors of the cities and castles

obtained their separate capitulations: the terms were granted or imposed by the esteem, the prudence, or the

compassion, of the victors; and a simple profession of faith established the distinction between a brother and

a slave. After a noble defence, Harmozan, the prince or satrap of Ahwaz and Susa, was compelled to

surrender his person and his state to the discretion of the caliph; and their interview exhibits a portrait of the

Arabian manners. In the presence, and by the command, of Omar, the gay Barbarian was despoiled of his

silken robes embroidered with gold, and of his tiara bedecked with rubies and emeralds: "Are you now

sensible," said the conqueror to his naked captive "are you now sensible of the judgment of God, and of the

different rewards of infidelity and obedience?" "Alas!" replied Harmozan, "I feel them too deeply. In the days

of our common ignorance, we fought with the weapons of the flesh, and my nation was superior. God was

then neuter: since he has espoused your quarrel, you have subverted our kingdom and religion." Oppressed by

this painful dialogue, the Persian complained of intolerable thirst, but discovered some apprehension lest he

should be killed whilst he was drinking a cup of water. "Be of good courage," said the caliph; "your life is

safe till you have drunk this water: " the crafty satrap accepted the assurance, and instantly dashed the vase

against the ground. Omar would have avenged the deceit, but his companions represented the sanctity of an

oath; and the speedy conversion of Harmozan entitled him not only to a free pardon, but even to a stipend of

two thousand pieces of gold. The administration of Persia was regulated by an actual survey of the people,

the cattle, and the fruits of the earth; ^32 and this monument, which attests the vigilance of the caliphs, might

[Footnote 30: It is in such a style of ignorance and wonder that the Athenian orator describes the Arctic

conquests of Alexander, who never advanced beyond the shores of the Caspian. Aeschines contra

Ctesiphontem, tom. iii. p. 554, edit. Graec. Orator. Reiske. This memorable cause was pleaded at Athens,

Olymp. cxii. 3, (before Christ 330,) in the autumn, (Taylor, praefat. p. 370, about a year after the battle of

Arbela; and Alexander, in the pursuit of Darius, was marching towards Hyrcania and Bactriana.]

[Footnote 31: We are indebted for this curious particular to the Dynasties of Abulpharagius, p. 116; but it is

needless to prove the identity of Estachar and Persepolis, (D'Herbelot, p. 327;) and still more needless to copy

[Footnote 32: After the conquest of Persia, Theophanes adds, (Chronograph p. 283.]

[Footnote 33: Amidst our meagre relations, I must regret that D'Herbelot has not found and used a Persian

translation of Tabari, enriched, as he says, with many extracts from the native historians of the Ghebers or

The flight of Yezdegerd had carried him beyond the Oxus, and as far as the Jaxartes, two rivers ^34 of

ancient and modern renown, which descend from the mountains of India towards the Caspian Sea. He was

hospitably entertained by Takhan, prince of Fargana, ^35 a fertile province on the Jaxartes: the king of

Samarcand, with the Turkish tribes of Sogdiana and Scythia, were moved by the lamentations and promises

of the fallen monarch; and he solicited, by a suppliant embassy, the more solid and powerful friendship of the

emperor of China. ^36 The virtuous Taitsong, ^37 the first of the dynasty of the Tang may be justly compared

with the Antonines of Rome: his people enjoyed the blessings of prosperity and peace; and his dominion was

acknowledged by fortyfour hordes of the Barbarians of Tartary. His last garrisons of Cashgar and Khoten

maintained a frequent intercourse with their neighbors of the Jaxartes and Oxus; a recent colony of Persians

had introduced into China the astronomy of the Magi; and Taitsong might be alarmed by the rapid progress

and dangerous vicinity of the Arabs. The influence, and perhaps the supplies, of China revived the hopes of

Yezdegerd and the zeal of the worshippers of fire; and he returned with an army of Turks to conquer the

inheritance of his fathers. The fortunate Moslems, without unsheathing their swords, were the spectators of

his ruin and death. The grandson of Chosroes was betrayed by his servant, insulted by the seditious

inhabitants of Merou, and oppressed, defeated, and pursued by his Barbarian allies. He reached the banks of a

river, and offered his rings and bracelets for an instant passage in a miller's boat. Ignorant or insensible of

royal distress, the rustic replied, that four drams of silver were the daily profit of his mill, and that he would

not suspend his work unless the loss were repaid. In this moment of hesitation and delay, the last of the

Sassanian kings was overtaken and slaughtered by the Turkish cavalry, in the nineteenth year of his unhappy

reign. ^38 ^* His son Firuz, an humble client of the Chinese emperor, accepted the station of captain of his

guards; and the Magian worship was long preserved by a colony of loyal exiles in the province of Bucharia.

^! His grandson inherited the regal name; but after a faint and fruitless enterprise, he returned to China, and

ended his days in the palace of Sigan. The male line of the Sassanides was extinct; but the female captives,

the daughters of Persia, were given to the conquerors in servitude, or marriage; and the race of the caliphs and

imams was ennobled by the blood of their royal mothers. ^39 [Footnote 34: The most authentic accounts of

the two rivers, the Sihon (Jaxartes) and the Gihon, (Oxus,) may be found in Sherif al Edrisi (Geograph.

Nubiens. p. 138,) Abulfeda, (Descript. Chorasan. in Hudson, tom. iii. p. 23,) Abulghazi Khan, who reigned

on their banks, (Hist. Genealogique des Tatars, p. 32, 57, 766,) and the Turkish Geographer, a MS. in the

king of France's library, (Examen Critique des Historiens d'Alexandre, p. 194 360.)]

[Footnote 36: Eo redegit angustiarum eundem regem exsulem, ut Turcici regis, et Sogdiani, et Sinensis,

auxilia missis literis imploraret, (Abulfed. Annal. p. 74) The connection of the Persian and Chinese history is

illustrated by Freret (Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xvi. p. 245 255) and De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p.

[Footnote 37: Hist. Sinica, p. 41 46, in the iiid part of the Relations Curieuses of Thevenot.]

[Footnote 38: I have endeavored to harmonize the various narratives of Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 37,)

Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 116,) Abulfeda, (Annal. p. 74, 79,) and D'Herbelot, (p. 485.) The end of

[Footnote *: The account of Yezdegerd's death in the Habeib 'usseyr and Rouzut uzzuffa (Price, p. 162) is

much more probable. On the demand of the few dhirems, he offered to the miller his sword, and royal girdle,

of inesturable value. This awoke the cupidity of the miller, who murdered him, and threw the body into the

[Footnote !: Firouz died leaving a son called Ninicha by the Chinese, probably Narses. Yezdegerd had two

[Footnote 39: The two daughters of Yezdegerd married Hassan, the son of Ali, and Mohammed, the son of

Abubeker; and the first of these was the father of a numerous progeny. The daughter of Phirouz became the

wife of the caliph Walid, and their son Yezid derived his genuine or fabulous descent from the Chosroes of

Persia, the Caesars of Rome, and the Chagans of the Turks or Avars, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orientale, p. 96,

After the fall of the Persian kingdom, the River Oxus divided the territories of the Saracens and of the Turks.

This narrow boundary was soon overleaped by the spirit of the Arabs; the governors of Chorasan extended

their successive inroads; and one of their triumphs was adorned with the buskin of a Turkish queen, which

she dropped in her precipitate flight beyond the hills of Bochara. ^40 But the final conquest of Transoxiana,

^41 as well as of Spain, was reserved for the glorious reign of the inactive Walid; and the name of Catibah,

the camel driver, declares the origin and merit of his successful lieutenant. While one of his colleagues

displayed the first Mahometan banner on the banks of the Indus, the spacious regions between the Oxus, the

Jaxartes, and the Caspian Sea, were reduced by the arms of Catibah to the obedience of the prophet and of the

caliph. ^42 A tribute of two millions of pieces of gold was imposed on the infidels; their idols were burnt or

broken; the Mussulman chief pronounced a sermon in the new mosch of Carizme; after several battles, the

Turkish hordes were driven back to the desert; and the emperors of China solicited the friendship of the

victorious Arabs. To their industry, the prosperity of the province, the Sogdiana of the ancients, may in a

great measure be ascribed; but the advantages of the soil and climate had been understood and cultivated

since the reign of the Macedonian kings. Before the invasion of the Saracens, Carizme, Bochara, and

Samarcand were rich and populous under the yoke of the shepherds of the north. ^* These cities were

surrounded with a double wall; and the exterior fortification, of a larger circumference, enclosed the fields

and gardens of the adjacent district. The mutual wants of India and Europe were supplied by the diligence of

the Sogdian merchants; and the inestimable art of transforming linen into paper has been diffused from the

[Footnote 40: It was valued at 2000 pieces of gold, and was the prize of Obeidollah, the son of Ziyad, a name

afterwards infamous by the murder of Hosein, (Ockley's History of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 142, 143,) His

brother Salem was accompanied by his wife, the first Arabian woman (A.D. 680) who passed the Oxus: she

borrowed, or rather stole, the crown and jewels of the princess of the Sogdians, (p. 231, 232.)]

[Footnote 41: A part of Abulfeda's geography is translated by Greaves, inserted in Hudson's collection of the

minor geographers, (tom. iii.,) and entitled Descriptio Chorasmiae et Mawaralnahroe, id est, regionum extra

fluvium, Oxum, p. 80. The name of Transoxiana, softer in sound, equivalent in sense, is aptly used by Petit de

la Croix, (Hist. de Gengiscan, and some modern Orientalists, but they are mistaken in ascribing it to the

[Footnote 42: The conquests of Catibah are faintly marked by Elmacin, (Hist. Saracen. p. 84,) D'Herbelot,

(Bibliot. Orient. Catbah, Samarcand Valid.,) and De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. i. p. 58, 59.)]

[Footnote *: The manuscripts Arabian and Persian writers in the royal library contain very circumstantial

details on the contest between the Persians and Arabians. M. St. Martin declined this addition to the work of

[Footnote 43: A curious description of Samarcand is inserted in the Bibliotheca ArabicoHispana, tom. i. p.

208, The librarian Casiri (tom. ii. 9) relates, from credible testimony, that paper was first imported from

China to Samarcand, A. H. 30, and invented, or rather introduced, at Mecca, A. H. 88. The Escurial library

II. No sooner had Abubeker restored the unity of faith and government, than he despatched a circular letter to

the Arabian tribes. "In the name of the most merciful God, to the rest of the true believers. Health and

happiness, and the mercy and blessing of God, be upon you. I praise the most high God, and I pray for his

prophet Mahomet. This is to acquaint you, that I intend to send the true believers into Syria ^44 to take it out

of the hands of the infidels. And I would have you know, that the fighting for religion is an act of obedience

to God." His messengers returned with the tidings of pious and martial ardor which they had kindled in every

province; and the camp of Medina was successively filled with the intrepid bands of the Saracens, who

panted for action, complained of the heat of the season and the scarcity of provisions, and accused with

impatient murmurs the delays of the caliph. As soon as their numbers were complete, Abubeker ascended the

hill, reviewed the men, the horses, and the arms, and poured forth a fervent prayer for the success of their

undertaking. In person, and on foot, he accompanied the first day's march; and when the blushing leaders

attempted to dismount, the caliph removed their scruples by a declaration, that those who rode, and those who

walked, in the service of religion, were equally meritorious. His instructions ^45 to the chiefs of the Syrian

army were inspired by the warlike fanaticism which advances to seize, and affects to despise, the objects of

earthly ambition. "Remember," said the successor of the prophet, "that you are always in the presence of God,

on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression;

consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When you fight the

battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be stained

with the blood of women or children. Destroy no palmtrees, nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no

fruittrees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article,

stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired

in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor

destroy their monasteries: ^46 And you will find another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of

Satan, who have shaven crowns; ^47 be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either

turn Mahometans or pay "tribute." All profane or frivolous conversation, all dangerous recollection of ancient

quarrels, was severely prohibited among the Arabs: in the tumult of a camp, the exercises of religion were

assiduously practised; and the intervals of action were employed in prayer, meditation, and the study of the

Koran. The abuse, or even the use, of wine was chastised by fourscore strokes on the soles of the feet, and in

the fervor of their primitive zeal, many secret sinners revealed their fault, and solicited their punishment.

After some hesitation, the command of the Syrian army was delegated to Abu Obeidah, one of the fugitives

of Mecca, and companions of Mahomet; whose zeal and devotion was assuaged, without being abated, by the

singular mildness and benevolence of his temper. But in all the emergencies of war, the soldiers demanded

the superior genius of Caled; and whoever might be the choice of the prince, the Sword of God was both in

fact and fame the foremost leader of the Saracens. He obeyed without reluctance; ^* he was consulted

without jealousy; and such was the spirit of the man, or rather of the times, that Caled professed his readiness

to serve under the banner of the faith, though it were in the hands of a child or an enemy. Glory, and riches,

and dominion, were indeed promised to the victorious Mussulman; but he was carefully instructed, that if the

goods of this life were his only incitement, they likewise would be his only reward. [Footnote 44: A separate

history of the conquest of Syria has been composed by Al Wakidi, cadi of Bagdad, who was born A.D. 748,

and died A.D. 822; he likewise wrote the conquest of Egypt, of Diarbekir, Above the meagre and recent

chronicles of the Arabians, Al Wakidi has the double merit of antiquity and copiousness. His tales and

traditions afford an artless picture of the men and the times. Yet his narrative is too often defective, trifling,

and improbable. Till something better shall be found, his learned and spiritual interpreter (Ockley, in his

History of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 21 342) will not deserve the petulant animadversion of Reiske,

(Prodidagmata ad Magji Chalifae Tabulas, p. 236.) I am sorry to think that the labors of Ockley were

consummated in a jail, (see his two prefaces to the 1st A.D. 1708, to the 2d, 1718, with the list of authors at

Note: M. Hamaker has clearly shown that neither of these works can be inscribed to Al Wakidi: they are not

older than the end of the xith century or later than the middle of the xivth. Praefat. in Inc. Auct. LIb. de

[Footnote 45: The instructions, of the Syrian war are described by Al Wakidi and Ockley, tom. i. p. 22 27,

In the sequel it is necessary to contract, and needless to quote, their circumstantial narrative. My obligations

[Footnote 46: Notwithstanding this precept, M. Pauw (Recherches sur les Egyptiens, tom. ii. p. 192, edit.

Lausanne) represents the Bedoweens as the implacable enemies of the Christian monks. For my own part, I

am more inclined to suspect the avarice of the Arabian robbers, and the prejudices of the German

Note: Several modern travellers (Mr. Fazakerley, in Walpole's Travels in the East, vol. xi. 371) give very

amusing accounts of the terms on which the monks of Mount Sinai live with the neighboring Bedoweens.

Such, probably, was their relative state in older times, wherever the Arab retained his Bedoween habits. M.]

[Footnote 47: Even in the seventh century, the monks were generally laymen: 'hey wore their hair long and

dishevelled, and shaved their heads when they were ordained priests. The circular tonsure was sacred and

mysterious; it was the crown of thorns; but it was likewise a royal diadem, and every priest was a king,

(Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 721 758, especially p. 737, 738.)]

Another expedition of the conquerors of Damascus will equally display their avidity and their contempt for

the riches of the present world. They were informed that the produce and manufactures of the country were

annually collected in the fair of Abyla, ^64 about thirty miles from the city; that the cell of a devout hermit

was visited at the same time by a multitude of pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and superstition would

be ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the governor of Tripoli. Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, a glorious

and holy martyr, undertook, with a banner of five hundred horse, the pious and profitable commission of

despoiling the infidels. As he approached the fair of Abyla, he was astonished by the report of this mighty

concourse of Jews and Christians, Greeks, and Armenians, of natives of Syria and of strangers of Egypt, to

the number of ten thousand, besides a guard of five thousand horse that attended the person of the bride. The

Saracens paused: "For my own part," said Abdallah, "I dare not go back: our foes are many, our danger is

great, but our reward is splendid and secure, either in this life or in the life to come. Let every man, according

to his inclination, advance or retire." Not a Mussulman deserted his standard. "Lead the way," said Abdallah

to his Christian guide, "and you shall see what the companions of the prophet can perform." They charged in

five squadrons; but after the first advantage of the surprise, they were encompassed and almost overwhelmed

by the multitude of their enemies; and their valiant band is fancifully compared to a white spot in the skin of

a black camel. ^65 About the hour of sunset, when their weapons dropped from their hands, when they

panted on the verge of eternity, they discovered an approaching cloud of dust; they heard the welcome sound

of the tecbir, ^66 and they soon perceived the standard of Caled, who flew to their relief with the utmost

speed of his cavalry. The Christians were broken by his attack, and slaughtered in their flight, as far as the

river of Tripoli. They left behind them the various riches of the fair; the merchandises that were exposed for

sale, the money that was brought for purchase, the gay decorations of the nuptials, and the governor's

daughter, with forty of her female attendants. The fruits, provisions, and furniture, the money, plate, and

jewels, were diligently laden on the backs of horses, asses, and mules; and the holy robbers returned in

triumph to Damascus. The hermit, after a short and angry controversy with Caled, declined the crown of

[Footnote 64: Dair Abil Kodos. After retrenching the last word, the epithet, holy, I discover the Abila of

Lysanias between Damascus and Heliopolis: the name (Abil signifies a vineyard) concurs with the situation

to justify my conjecture, (Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p 317, tom. ii. p. 526, 527.)]

[Footnote 65: I am bolder than Mr. Ockley, (vol. i. p. 164,) who dares not insert this figurative expression in

the text, though he observes in a marginal note, that the Arabians often borrow their similes from that useful

and familiar animal. The reindeer may be equally famous in the songs of the Laplanders.]

[Footnote 66: We hear the tecbir; so the Arabs call Their shout of onset, when with loud appeal

They challenge heaven, as if demanding conquest. This word, so formidable in their holy wars, is a verb

active, (says Ockley in his index,) of the second conjugation, from Kabbara, which signifies saying Alla

Syria, ^67 one of the countries that have been improved by the most early cultivation, is not unworthy of the

preference. ^68 The heat of the climate is tempered by the vicinity of the sea and mountains, by the plenty of

wood and water; and the produce of a fertile soil affords the subsistence, and encourages the propagation, of

men and animals. From the age of David to that of Heraclius, the country was overspread with ancient and

flourishing cities: the inhabitants were numerous and wealthy; and, after the slow ravage of despotism and

superstition, after the recent calamities of the Persian war, Syria could still attract and reward the rapacious

tribes of the desert. A plain, of ten days' journey, from Damascus to Aleppo and Antioch, is watered, on the

western side, by the winding course of the Orontes. The hills of Libanus and AntiLibanus are planted from

north to south, between the Orontes and the Mediterranean; and the epithet of hollow (Coelesyria) was

applied to a long and fruitful valley, which is confined in the same direction, by the two ridges of snowy

mountains. ^69 Among the cities, which are enumerated by Greek and Oriental names in the geography and

conquest of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or Hems, Heliopolis or Baalbec, the former as the metropolis of

the plain, the latter as the capital of the valley. Under the last of the Caesars, they were strong and populous;

the turrets glittered from afar: an ample space was covered with public and private buildings; and the citizens

were illustrious by their spirit, or at least by their pride; by their riches, or at least by their luxury. In the days

of Paganism, both Emesa and Heliopolis were addicted to the worship of Baal, or the sun; but the decline of

their superstition and splendor has been marked by a singular variety of fortune. Not a vestige remains of the

temple of Emesa, which was equalled in poetic style to the summits of Mount Libanus, ^70 while the ruins of

Baalbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity, excite the curiosity and wonder of the European traveller. ^71

The measure of the temple is two hundred feet in length, and one hundred in breadth: the front is adorned

with a double portico of eight columns; fourteen may be counted on either side; and each column, fortyfive

feet in height, is composed of three massy blocks of stone or marble. The proportions and ornaments of the

Corinthian order express the architecture of the Greeks: but as Baalbec has never been the seat of a monarch,

we are at a loss to conceive how the expense of these magnificent structures could be supplied by private or

municipal liberality. ^72 From the conquest of Damascus the Saracens proceeded to Heliopolis and Emesa:

but I shall decline the repetition of the sallies and combats which have been already shown on a larger scale.

In the prosecution of the war, their policy was not less effectual than their sword. By short and separate truces

they dissolved the union of the enemy; accustomed the Syrians to compare their friendship with their enmity;

familiarized the idea of their language, religion, and manners; and exhausted, by clandestine purchase, the

magazines and arsenals of the cities which they returned to besiege. They aggravated the ransom of the more

wealthy, or the more obstinate; and Chalcis alone was taxed at five thousand ounces of gold, five thousand

ounces of silver, two thousand robes of silk, and as many figs and olives as would load five thousand asses.

But the terms of truce or capitulation were faithfully observed; and the lieutenant of the caliph, who had

promised not to enter the walls of the captive Baalbec, remained tranquil and immovable in his tent till the

jarring factions solicited the interposition of a foreign master. The conquest of the plain and valley of Syria

was achieved in less than two years. Yet the commander of the faithful reproved the slowness of their

progress; and the Saracens, bewailing their fault with tears of rage and repentance, called aloud on their

chiefs to lead them forth to fight the battles of the Lord. In a recent action, under the walls of Emesa, an

Arabian youth, the cousin of Caled, was heard aloud to exclaim, "Methinks I see the blackeyed girls looking

upon me; one of whom, should she appear in this world, all mankind would die for love of her. And I see in

the hand of one of them a handkerchief of green silk, and a cap of precious stones, and she beckons me, and

calls out, Come hither quickly, for I love thee." With these words, charging the Christians, he made havoc

wherever he went, till, observed at length by the governor of Hems, he was struck through with a javelin.

[Footnote 67: In the Geography of Abulfeda, the description of Syria, his native country, is the most

interesting and authentic portion. It was published in Arabic and Latin, Lipsiae, 1766, in quarto, with the

learned notes of Kochler and Reiske, and some extracts of geography and natural history from Ibn Ol Wardii.

Among the modern travels, Pocock's Description of the East (of Syria and Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 88 209)

is a work of superior learning and dignity; but the author too often confounds what he had seen and what he

[Footnote 68: The praises of Dionysius are just and lively. Syria, (in Periegesi, v. 902, in tom. iv. Geograph.

This poetical geographer lived in the age of Augustus, and his description of the world is illustrated by the

Greek commentary of Eustathius, who paid the same compliment to Homer and Dionysius, (Fabric. Bibliot.

[Footnote 69: The topography of the Libanus and AntiLibanus is excellently described by the learning and

[Footnote 70: Emesae fastigia celsa renident. Nam diffusa solo latus explicat; ac subit auras

Et tamen his certant celsi fastigia templi. These verses of the Latin version of Rufus Avienus are wanting in

the Greek original of Dionysius; and since they are likewise unnoticed by Eustathius, I must, with Fabricius,

(Bibliot. Latin. tom. iii. p. 153, edit. Ernesti,) and against Salmasius, (ad Vopiscum, p. 366, 367, in Hist.

[Footnote 71: I am much better satisfied with Maundrell's slight octavo, (Journey, p. 134 139), than with

the pompous folio of Dr. Pocock, (Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 106 113;) but every preceding account

is eclipsed by the magnificent description and drawings of Mm. Dawkins and Wood, who have transported

[Footnote 72: The Orientals explain the prodigy by a neverfailing expedient. The edifices of Baalbec were

constructed by the fairies or the genii, Hist. de Timour Bec, tom. iii. l. v. c. 23, p. 311, 312. Voyage d'Otter,

tom. i. p. 83.) With less absurdity, but with equal ignorance, Abulfeda and Ibn Chaukel ascribe them to the

Sabaeans or Aadites Non sunt in omni Syria aedificia magnificentiora his, (Tabula Syria p. 108.)]

It was incumbent on the Saracens to exert the full powers of their valor and enthusiasm against the forces of

the emperor, who was taught, by repeated losses, that the rovers of the desert had undertaken, and would

speedily achieve, a regular and permanent conquest. From the provinces of Europe and Asia, fourscore

thousand soldiers were transported by sea and land to Antioch and Caesarea: the light troops of the army

consisted of sixty thousand Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. Under the banner of Jabalah, the last of

their princes, they marched in the van; and it was a maxim of the Greeks, that for the purpose of cutting

diamond, a diamond was the most effectual. Heraclius withheld his person from the dangers of the field; but

his presumption, or perhaps his despondency, suggested a peremptory order, that the fate of the province and

the war should be decided by a single battle. The Syrians were attached to the standard of Rome and of the

cross: but the noble, the citizen, the peasant, were exasperated by the injustice and cruelty of a licentious host,

who oppressed them as subjects, and despised them as strangers and aliens. ^73 A report of these mighty

preparations was conveyed to the Saracens in their camp of Emesa, and the chiefs, though resolved to fight,

assembled a council: the faith of Abu Obeidah would have expected on the same spot the glory of

martyrdom; the wisdom of Caled advised an honorable retreat to the skirts of Palestine and Arabia, where

they might await the succors of their friends, and the attack of the unbelievers. A speedy messenger soon

returned from the throne of Medina, with the blessings of Omar and Ali, the prayers of the widows of the

prophet, and a reenforcement of eight thousand Moslems. In their way they overturned a detachment of

Greeks, and when they joined at Yermuk the camp of their brethren, they found the pleasing intelligence, that

Caled had already defeated and scattered the Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. In the neighborhood of

Bosra, the springs of Mount Hermon descend in a torrent to the plain of Decapolis, or ten cities; and the

Hieromax, a name which has been corrupted to Yermuk, is lost, after a short course, in the Lake of Tiberias.

^74 The banks of this obscure stream were illustrated by a long and bloody encounter. ^* On this momentous

occasion, the public voice, and the modesty of Abu Obeidah, restored the command to the most deserving of

the Moslems. Caled assumed his station in the front, his colleague was posted in the rear, that the disorder of

the fugitive might be checked by his venerable aspect, and the sight of the yellow banner which Mahomet had

displayed before the walls of Chaibar. The last line was occupied by the sister of Derar, with the Arabian

women who had enlisted in this holy war, who were accustomed to wield the bow and the lance, and who in a

moment of captivity had defended, against the uncircumcised ravishers, their chastity and religion. ^75 The

exhortation of the generals was brief and forcible: "Paradise is before you, the devil and hellfire in your

rear." Yet such was the weight of the Roman cavalry, that the right wing of the Arabs was broken and

separated from the main body. Thrice did they retreat in disorder, and thrice were they driven back to the

charge by the reproaches and blows of the women. In the intervals of action, Abu Obeidah visited the tents of

his brethren, prolonged their repose by repeating at once the prayers of two different hours, bound up their

wounds with his own hands, and administered the comfortable reflection, that the infidels partook of their

sufferings without partaking of their reward. Four thousand and thirty of the Moslems were buried in the field

of battle; and the skill of the Armenian archers enabled seven hundred to boast that they had lost an eye in

that meritorious service. The veterans of the Syrian war acknowledged that it was the hardest and most

doubtful of the days which they had seen. But it was likewise the most decisive: many thousands of the

Greeks and Syrians fell by the swords of the Arabs; many were slaughtered, after the defeat, in the woods and

mountains; many, by mistaking the ford, were drowned in the waters of the Yermuk; and however the loss

may be magnified, ^76 the Christian writers confess and bewail the bloody punishment of their sins. ^77

Manuel, the Roman general, was either killed at Damascus, or took refuge in the monastery of Mount Sinai.

An exile in the Byzantine court, Jabalah lamented the manners of Arabia, and his unlucky preference of the

Christian cause. ^78 He had once inclined to the profession of Islam; but in the pilgrimage of Mecca, Jabalah

was provoked to strike one of his brethren, and fled with amazement from the stern and equal justice of the

caliph These victorious Saracens enjoyed at Damascus a month of pleasure and repose: the spoil was divided

by the discretion of Abu Obeidah: an equal share was allotted to a soldier and to his horse, and a double

[Footnote 73: I have read somewhere in Tacitus, or Grotius, Subjectos habent tanquam suos, viles tanquam

alienos. Some Greek officers ravished the wife, and murdered the child, of their Syrian landlord; and Manuel

[Footnote 74: See Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 272, 283, tom. ii. p. 773, 775. This learned professor was equal

to the task of describing the Holy Land, since he was alike conversant with Greek and Latin, with Hebrew

and Arabian literature. The Yermuk, or Hieromax, is noticed by Cellarius (Geograph. Antiq. tom. ii. p. 392)

and D'Anville, (Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 185.) The Arabs, and even Abulfeda himself, do not seem to

[Footnote *: Compare Price, p. 79. The army of the Romans is swoller to 400,000 men of which 70,000

[Footnote 75: These women were of the tribe of the Hamyarites, who derived their origin from the ancient

Amalekites. Their females were accustomed to ride on horseback, and to fight like the Amazons of old,

[Footnote 76: We killed of them, says Abu Obeidah to the caliph, one hundred and fifty thousand, and made

prisoners forty thousand, (Ockley vol. i. p. 241.) As I cannot doubt his veracity, nor believe his computation,

I must suspect that the Arabic historians indulge themselves in the practice of comparing speeches and letters

[Footnote 77: After deploring the sins of the Christians, Theophanes, adds, (Chronograph. p. 276,) does he

mean Aiznadin? His account is brief and obscure, but he accuses the numbers of the enemy, the adverse

[Footnote 78: See Abulfeda, (Annal. Moslem. p. 70, 71,) who transcribes the poetical complaint of Jabalah

himself, and some panegyrical strains of an Arabian poet, to whom the chief of Gassan sent from

Constantinople a gift of five hundred pieces of gold by the hands of the ambassador of Omar.]

After the battle of Yermuk, the Roman army no longer appeared in the field; and the Saracens might securely

choose, among the fortified towns of Syria, the first object of their attack. They consulted the caliph whether

they should march to Caesarea or Jerusalem; and the advice of Ali determined the immediate siege of the

latter. To a profane eye, Jerusalem was the first or second capital of Palestine; but after Mecca and Medina, it

was revered and visited by the devout Moslems, as the temple of the Holy Land which had been sanctified by

the revelation of Moses, of Jesus, and of Mahomet himself. The son of Abu Sophian was sent with five

thousand Arabs to try the first experiment of surprise or treaty; but on the eleventh day, the town was

invested by the whole force of Abu Obeidah. He addressed the customary summons to the chief commanders

[Footnote 79: In the name of the city, the profane prevailed over the sacred Jerusalem was known to the

devout Christians, (Euseb. de Martyr Palest. c xi.;) but the legal and popular appellation of Aelia (the colony

of Aelius Hadrianus) has passed from the Romans to the Arabs. (Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 207, tom. ii. p.

835. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, Cods, p. 269, Ilia, p. 420.) The epithet of Al Cods, the Holy, is used

"Health and happiness to every one that follows the right way! We require of you to testify that there is but

one God, and that Mahomet is his apostle. If you refuse this, consent to pay tribute, and be under us

forthwith. Otherwise I shall bring men against you who love death better than you do the drinking of wine or

eating hog's flesh. Nor will I ever stir from you, if it please God, till I have destroyed those that fight for you,

and made slaves of your children." But the city was defended on every side by deep valleys and steep ascents;

since the invasion of Syria, the walls and towers had been anxiously restored; the bravest of the fugitives of

Yermuk had stopped in the nearest place of refuge; and in the defence of the sepulchre of Christ, the natives

and strangers might feel some sparks of the enthusiasm, which so fiercely glowed in the bosoms of the

Saracens. The siege of Jerusalem lasted four months; not a day was lost without some action of sally or

assault; the military engines incessantly played from the ramparts; and the inclemency of the winter was still

more painful and destructive to the Arabs. The Christians yielded at length to the perseverance of the

besiegers. The patriarch Sophronius appeared on the walls, and by the voice of an interpreter demanded a

conference. ^* After a vain attempt to dissuade the lieutenant of the caliph from his impious enterprise, he

proposed, in the name of the people, a fair capitulation, with this extraordinary clause, that the articles of

security should be ratified by the authority and presence of Omar himself. The question was debated in the

council of Medina; the sanctity of the place, and the advice of Ali, persuaded the caliph to gratify the wishes

of his soldiers and enemies; and the simplicity of his journey is more illustrious than the royal pageants of

vanity and oppression. The conqueror of Persia and Syria was mounted on a red camel, which carried,

besides his person, a bag of corn, a bag of dates, a wooden dish, and a leathern bottle of water. Wherever he

halted, the company, without distinction, was invited to partake of his homely fare, and the repast was

consecrated by the prayer and exhortation of the commander of the faithful. ^80 But in this expedition or

pilgrimage, his power was exercised in the administration of justice: he reformed the licentious polygamy of

the Arabs, relieved the tributaries from extortion and cruelty, and chastised the luxury of the Saracens, by

despoiling them of their rich silks, and dragging them on their faces in the dirt. When he came within sight of

Jerusalem, the caliph cried with a loud voice, "God is victorious. O Lord, give us an easy conquest!" and,

pitching his tent of coarse hair, calmly seated himself on the ground. After signing the capitulation, he

entered the city without fear or precaution; and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its

religious antiquities. ^81 Sophronius bowed before his new master, and secretly muttered, in the words of

Daniel, "The abomination of desolation is in the holy place." ^82 At the hour of prayer they stood together in

the church of the resurrection; but the caliph refused to perform his devotions, and contented himself with

praying on the steps of the church of Constantine. To the patriarch he disclosed his prudent and honorable

motive. "Had I yielded," said Omar, "to your request, the Moslems of a future age would have infringed the

treaty under color of imitating my example." By his command the ground of the temple of Solomon was

prepared for the foundation of a mosch; ^83 and, during a residence of ten days, he regulated the present and

future state of his Syrian conquests. Medina might be jealous, lest the caliph should be detained by the

sanctity of Jerusalem or the beauty of Damascus; her apprehensions were dispelled by his prompt and

[Footnote *: See the explanation of this in Price, with the prophecy which was hereby fulfilled, p 85. M]

[Footnote 80: The singular journey and equipage of Omar are described (besides Ockley, vol. i. p. 250) by

[Footnote 81: The Arabs boast of an old prophecy preserved at Jerusalem, and describing the name, the

religion, and the person of Omar, the future conqueror. By such arts the Jews are said to have soothed the

pride of their foreign masters, Cyrus and Alexander, (Joseph. Ant. Jud. l. xi c. 1, 8, p. 447, 579 582.)]

[Footnote 82: Theophan. Chronograph. p. 281. This prediction, which had already served for Antiochus and

the Romans, was again refitted for the present occasion, by the economy of Sophronius, one of the deepest

[Footnote 83: According to the accurate survey of D'Anville, (Dissertation sun l'ancienne Jerusalem, p. 42

54,) the mosch of Omar, enlarged and embellished by succeeding caliphs, covered the ground of the ancient

temple, (says Phocas,) a length of 215, a breadth of 172, toises. The Nubian geographer declares, that this

magnificent structure was second only in size and beauty to the great mosch of Cordova, (p. 113,) whose

present state Mr. Swinburne has so elegantly represented, (Travels into Spain, p. 296 302.)]

[Footnote 84: Of the many Arabic tarikhs or chronicles of Jerusalem, (D'Herbelot, p. 867,) Ockley found one

among the Pocock Mss. of Oxford, (vol. i. p. 257,) which he has used to supply the defective narrative of Al

To achieve what yet remained of the Syrian war the caliph had formed two separate armies; a chosen

detachment, under Amrou and Yezid, was left in the camp of Palestine; while the larger division, under the

standard of Abu Obeidah and Caled, marched away to the north against Antioch and Aleppo. The latter of

these, the Beraea of the Greeks, was not yet illustrious as the capital of a province or a kingdom; and the

inhabitants, by anticipating their submission and pleading their poverty, obtained a moderate composition for

their lives and religion. But the castle of Aleppo, ^85 distinct from the city, stood erect on a lofty artificial

mound the sides were sharpened to a precipice, and faced with freestone; and the breadth of the ditch might

be filled with water from the neighboring springs. After the loss of three thousand men, the garrison was still

equal to the defence; and Youkinna, their valiant and hereditary chief, had murdered his brother, a holy

monk, for daring to pronounce the name of peace. In a siege of four or five months, the hardest of the Syrian

war, great numbers of the Saracens were killed and wounded: their removal to the distance of a mile could

not seduce the vigilance of Youkinna; nor could the Christians be terrified by the execution of three hundred

captives, whom they beheaded before the castle wall. The silence, and at length the complaints, of Abu

Obeidah informed the caliph that their hope and patience were consumed at the foot of this impregnable

fortress. "I am variously affected," replied Omar, "by the difference of your success; but I charge you by no

means to raise the siege of the castle. Your retreat would diminish the reputation of our arms, and encourage

the infidels to fall upon you on all sides. Remain before Aleppo till God shall determine the event, and forage

with your horse round the adjacent country." The exhortation of the commander of the faithful was fortified

by a supply of volunteers from all the tribes of Arabia, who arrived in the camp on horses or camels. Among

these was Dames, of a servile birth, but of gigantic size and intrepid resolution. The fortyseventh day of his

service he proposed, with only thirty men, to make an attempt on the castle. The experience and testimony of

Caled recommended his offer; and Abu Obeidah admonished his brethren not to despise the baser origin of

Dames, since he himself, could he relinquish the public care, would cheerfully serve under the banner of the

slave. His design was covered by the appearance of a retreat; and the camp of the Saracens was pitched about

a league from Aleppo. The thirty adventurers lay in ambush at the foot of the hill; and Dames at length

succeeded in his inquiries, though he was provoked by the ignorance of his Greek captives. "God curse these

dogs," said the illiterate Arab; "what a strange barbarous language they speak!" At the darkest hour of the

night, he scaled the most accessible height, which he had diligently surveyed, a place where the stones were

less entire, or the slope less perpendicular, or the guard less vigilant. Seven of the stoutest Saracens mounted

on each other's shoulders, and the weight of the column was sustained on the broad and sinewy back of the

gigantic slave. The foremost in this painful ascent could grasp and climb the lowest part of the battlements;

they silently stabbed and cast down the sentinels; and the thirty brethren, repeating a pious ejaculation, "O

apostle of God, help and deliver us!" were successively drawn up by the long folds of their turbans. With

bold and cautious footsteps, Dames explored the palace of the governor, who celebrated, in riotous

merriment, the festival of his deliverance. From thence, returning to his companions, he assaulted on the

inside the entrance of the castle. They overpowered the guard, unbolted the gate, let down the drawbridge,

and defended the narrow pass, till the arrival of Caled, with the dawn of day, relieved their danger and

assured their conquest. Youkinna, a formidable foe, became an active and useful proselyte; and the general of

the Saracens expressed his regard for the most humble merit, by detaining the army at Aleppo till Dames was

cured of his honorable wounds. The capital of Syria was still covered by the castle of Aazaz and the iron

bridge of the Orontes. After the loss of those important posts, and the defeat of the last of the Roman armies,

the luxury of Antioch ^86 trembled and obeyed. Her safety was ransomed with three hundred thousand pieces

of gold; but the throne of the successors of Alexander, the seat of the Roman government of the East, which

had been decorated by Caesar with the titles of free, and holy, and inviolate was degraded under the yoke of

[Footnote 85: The Persian historian of Timur (tom. iii. l. v. c. 21, p. 300) describes the castle of Aleppo as

founded on a rock one hundred cubits in height; a proof, says the French translator, that he had never visited

the place. It is now in the midst of the city, of no strength with a single gate; the circuit is about 500 or 600

paces, and the ditch half full of stagnant water, (Voyages de Tavernier, tom. i. p. 149 Pocock, vol. ii. part i. p.

[Footnote 86: The date of the conquest of Antioch by the Arabs is of some importance. By comparing the

years of the world in the chronography of Theophanes with the years of the Hegira in the history of Elmacin,

we shall determine, that it was taken between January 23d and September 1st of the year of Christ 638, (Pagi,

Critica, in Baron. Annal. tom. ii. p. 812, 813.) Al Wakidi (Ockley, vol. i. p. 314) assigns that event to

Tuesday, August 21st, an inconsistent date; since Easter fell that year on April 5th, the 21st of August must

[Footnote 87: His bounteous edict, which tempted the grateful city to assume the victory of Pharsalia for a

perpetual aera, is given. John Malala, in Chron. p. 91, edit. Venet. We may distinguish his authentic

In the life of Heraclius, the glories of the Persian war are clouded on either hand by the disgrace and

weakness of his more early and his later days. When the successors of Mahomet unsheathed the sword of war

and religion, he was astonished at the boundless prospect of toil and danger; his nature was indolent, nor

could the infirm and frigid age of the emperor be kindled to a second effort. The sense of shame, and the

importunities of the Syrians, prevented the hasty departure from the scene of action; but the hero was no

more; and the loss of Damascus and Jerusalem, the bloody fields of Aiznadin and Yermuk, may be imputed

in some degree to the absence or misconduct of the sovereign. Instead of defending the sepulchre of Christ,

he involved the church and state in a metaphysical controversy for the unity of his will; and while Heraclius

crowned the offspring of his second nuptials, he was tamely stripped of the most valuable part of their

inheritance. In the cathedral of Antioch, in the presence of the bishops, at the foot of the crucifix, he bewailed

the sins of the prince and people; but his confession instructed the world, that it was vain, and perhaps

impious, to resist the judgment of God. The Saracens were invincible in fact, since they were invincible in

opinion; and the desertion of Youkinna, his false repentance and repeated perfidy, might justify the suspicion

of the emperor, that he was encompassed by traitors and apostates, who conspired to betray his person and

their country to the enemies of Christ. In the hour of adversity, his superstition was agitated by the omens and

dreams of a falling crown; and after bidding an eternal farewell to Syria, he secretly embarked with a few

attendants, and absolved the faith of his subjects. ^88 Constantine, his eldest son, had been stationed with

forty thousand men at Caesarea, the civil metropolis of the three provinces of Palestine. But his private

interest recalled him to the Byzantine court; and, after the flight of his father, he felt himself an unequal

champion to the united force of the caliph. His vanguard was boldly attacked by three hundred Arabs and a

thousand black slaves, who, in the depth of winter, had climbed the snowy mountains of Libanus, and who

were speedily followed by the victorious squadrons of Caled himself. From the north and south the troops of

Antioch and Jerusalem advanced along the seashore till their banners were joined under the walls of the

Phoenician cities: Tripoli and Tyre were betrayed; and a fleet of fifty transports, which entered without

distrust the captive harbors, brought a seasonable supply of arms and provisions to the camp of the Saracens.

Their labors were terminated by the unexpected surrender of Caesarea: the Roman prince had embarked in

the night; ^89 and the defenceless citizens solicited their pardon with an offering of two hundred thousand

pieces of gold. The remainder of the province, Ramlah, Ptolemais or Acre, Sichem or Neapolis, Gaza,

Ascalon, Berytus, Sidon, Gabala, Laodicea, Apamea, Hierapolis, no longer presumed to dispute the will of

the conqueror; and Syria bowed under the sceptre of the caliphs seven hundred years after Pompey had

despoiled the last of the Macedonian kings. ^90 [Footnote 88: See Ockley, (vol. i. p. 308, 312,) who laughs at

the credulity of his author. When Heraclius bade farewell to Syria, Vale Syria et ultimum vale, he prophesied

that the Romans should never reenter the province till the birth of an inauspicious child, the future scourge of

the empire. Abulfeda, p. 68. I am perfectly ignorant of the mystic sense, or nonsense, of this prediction.]

[Footnote 89: In the loose and obscure chronology of the times, I am guided by an authentic record, (in the

book of ceremonies of Constantine Porphyrogenitus,) which certifies that, June 4, A.D. 638, the emperor

crowned his younger son Heraclius, in the presence of his eldest, Constantine, and in the palace of

Constantinople; that January 1, A.D. 639, the royal procession visited the great church, and on the 4th of the

[Footnote 90: Sixtyfive years before Christ, Syria Pontusque monumenta sunt Cn. Pompeii virtutis, (Vell.

Patercul. ii. 38,) rather of his fortune and power: he adjudged Syria to be a Roman province, and the last of

the Seleucides were incapable of drawing a sword in the defence of their patrimony (see the original texts

The sieges and battles of six campaigns had consumed many thousands of the Moslems. They died with the

reputation and the cheerfulness of martyrs; and the simplicity of their faith may be expressed in the words of

an Arabian youth, when he embraced, for the last time, his sister and mother: "It is not," said he, "the

delicacies of Syria, or the fading delights of this world, that have prompted me to devote my life in the cause

of religion. But I seek the favor of God and his apostle; and I have heard, from one of the companions of the

prophet, that the spirits of the martyrs will be lodged in the crops of green birds, who shall taste the fruits, and

drink of the rivers, of paradise. Farewell, we shall meet again among the groves and fountains which God has

provided for his elect." The faithful captives might exercise a passive and more arduous resolution; and a

cousin of Mahomet is celebrated for refusing, after an abstinence of three days, the wine and pork, the only

nourishment that was allowed by the malice of the infidels. The frailty of some weaker brethren exasperated

the implacable spirit of fanaticism; and the father of Amer deplored, in pathetic strains, the apostasy and

damnation of a son, who had renounced the promises of God, and the intercession of the prophet, to occupy,

with the priests and deacons, the lowest mansions of hell. The more fortunate Arabs, who survived the war

and persevered in the faith, were restrained by their abstemious leader from the abuse of prosperity. After a

refreshment of three days, Abu Obeidah withdrew his troops from the pernicious contagion of the luxury of

Antioch, and assured the caliph that their religion and virtue could only be preserved by the hard discipline of

poverty and labor. But the virtue of Omar, however rigorous to himself, was kind and liberal to his brethren.

After a just tribute of praise and thanksgiving, he dropped a tear of compassion; and sitting down on the

ground, wrote an answer, in which he mildly censured the severity of his lieutenant: "God," said the

successor of the prophet, "has not forbidden the use of the good things of this worl to faithful men, and such

as have performed good works. Therefore you ought to have given them leave to rest themselves, and partake

freely of those good things which the country affordeth. If any of the Saracens have no family in Arabia, they

may marry in Syria; and whosoever of them wants any female slaves, he may purchase as many as he hath

occasion for." The conquerors prepared to use, or to abuse, this gracious permission; but the year of their

triumph was marked by a mortality of men and cattle; and twentyfive thousand Saracens were snatched

away from the possession of Syria. The death of Abu Obeidah might be lamented by the Christians; but his

brethren recollected that he was one of the ten elect whom the prophet had named as the heirs of paradise.

^91 Caled survived his brethren about three years: and the tomb of the Sword of God is shown in the

neighborhood of Emesa. His valor, which founded in Arabia and Syria the empire of the caliphs, was fortified

by the opinion of a special providence; and as long as he wore a cap, which had been blessed by Mahomet, he

[Footnote 91: Abulfeda, Annal. Moslem. p. 73. Mahomet could artfully vary the praises of his disciples. Of

Omar he was accustomed to say, that if a prophet could arise after himself, it would be Omar; and that in a

general calamity, Omar would be accepted by the divine justice, (Ockley, vol. i. p. 221.)]

[Footnote *: Khaled, according to the Rouzont Uzzuffa, (Price, p. 90,) after having been deprived of his

ample share of the plunder of Syria by the jealousy of Omar, died, possessed only of his horse, his arms, and

a single slave. Yet Omar was obliged to acknowledge to his lamenting parent. that never mother had

The place of the first conquerors was supplied by a new generation of their children and countrymen: Syria

became the seat and support of the house of Ommiyah; and the revenue, the soldiers, the ships of that

powerful kingdom were consecrated to enlarge on every side the empire of the caliphs. But the Saracens

despise a superfluity of fame; and their historians scarcely condescend to mention the subordinate conquests

which are lost in the splendor and rapidity of their victorious career. To the north of Syria, they passed Mount

Taurus, and reduced to their obedience the province of Cilicia, with its capital Tarsus, the ancient monument

of the Assyrian kings. Beyond a second ridge of the same mountains, they spread the flame of war, rather

than the light of religion, as far as the shores of the Euxine, and the neighborhood of Constantinople. To the

east they advanced to the banks and sources of the Euphrates and Tigris: ^92 the long disputed barrier of

Rome and Persia was forever confounded the walls of Edessa and Amida, of Dara and Nisibis, which had

resisted the arms and engines of Sapor or Nushirvan, were levelled in the dust; and the holy city of Abgarus

might vainly produce the epistle or the image of Christ to an unbelieving conqueror. To the west the Syrian

kingdom is bounded by the sea: and the ruin of Aradus, a small island or peninsula on the coast, was

postponed during ten years. But the hills of Libanus abounded in timber; the trade of Phoenicia was populous

in mariners; and a fleet of seventeen hundred barks was equipped and manned by the natives of the desert.

The Imperial navy of the Romans fled before them from the Pamphylian rocks to the Hellespont; but the

spirit of the emperor, a grandson of Heraclius, had been subdued before the combat by a dream and a pun.

^93 The Saracens rode masters of the sea; and the islands of Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Cyclades, were

successively exposed to their rapacious visits. Three hundred years before the Christian aera, the memorable

though fruitless siege of Rhodes ^94 by Demetrius had furnished that maritime republic with the materials

and the subject of a trophy. A gigantic statue of Apollo, or the sun, seventy cubits in height, was erected at

the entrance of the harbor, a monument of the freedom and the arts of Greece. After standing fiftysix years,

the colossus of Rhodes was overthrown by an earthquake; but the massy trunk, and huge fragments, lay

scattered eight centuries on the ground, and are often described as one of the wonders of the ancient world.

They were collected by the diligence of the Saracens, and sold to a Jewish merchant of Edessa, who is said to

have laden nine hundred camels with the weight of the brass metal; an enormous weight, though we should

include the hundred colossal figures, ^95 and the three thousand statues, which adorned the prosperity of the

[Footnote 92: Al Wakidi had likewise written a history of the conquest of Diarbekir, or Mesopotamia,

(Ockley, at the end of the iid vol.,) which our interpreters do not appear to have seen. The Chronicle of

Dionysius of Telmar, the Jacobite patriarch, records the taking of Edessa A.D. 637, and of Dara A.D. 641,

(Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 103;) and the attentive may glean some doubtful information from the

Chronography of Theophanes, (p. 285 287.) Most of the towns of Mesopotamia yielded by surrender,

Note: It has been published in Arabic by M. Ewald St. Martin, vol. xi p 248; but its authenticity is doubted.

[Footnote 93: He dreamt that he was at Thessalonica, a harmless and unmeaning vision; but his soothsayer, or

his cowardice, understood the sure omen of a defeat concealed in that inauspicious word, Give to another the

[Footnote 94: Every passage and every fact that relates to the isle, the city, and the colossus of Rhodes, are

compiled in the laborious treatise of Meursius, who has bestowed the same diligence on the two larger islands

of the Crete and Cyprus. See, in the iiid vol. of his works, the Rhodus of Meursius, (l. i. c. 15, p. 715 719.)

The Byzantine writers, Theophanes and Constantine, have ignorantly prolonged the term to 1360 years, and

[Footnote 95: Centum colossi alium nobilitaturi locum, says Pliny, with his usual spirit. Hist. Natur. xxxiv.

II. The conquest of Egypt may be explained by the character of the victorious Saracen, one of the first of his

nation, in an age when the meanest of the brethren was exalted above his nature by the spirit of enthusiasm.

The birth of Amrou was at once base and illustrious; his mother, a notorious prostitute, was unable to decide

among five of the Koreish; but the proof of resemblance adjudged the child to Aasi, the oldest of her lovers.

^96 The youth of Amrou was impelled by the passions and prejudices of his kindred: his poetic genius was

exercised in satirical verses against the person and doctrine of Mahomet; his dexterity was employed by the

reigning faction to pursue the religious exiles who had taken refuge in the court of the Aethiopian king. ^97

Yet he returned from this embassy a secret proselyte; his reason or his interest determined him to renounce

the worship of idols; he escaped from Mecca with his friend Caled; and the prophet of Medina enjoyed at the

same moment the satisfaction of embracing the two firmest champions of his cause. The impatience of

Amrou to lead the armies of the faithful was checked by the reproof of Omar, who advised him not to seek

power and dominion, since he who is a subject today, may be a prince tomorrow. Yet his merit was not

overlooked by the two first successors of Mahomet; they were indebted to his arms for the conquest of

Palestine; and in all the battles and sieges of Syria, he united with the temper of a chief the valor of an

adventurous soldier. In a visit to Medina, the caliph expressed a wish to survey the sword which had cut

down so many Christian warriors; the son of Aasi unsheathed a short and ordinary cimeter; and as he

perceived the surprise of Omar, "Alas," said the modest Saracen, "the sword itself, without the arm of its

master, is neither sharper nor more weighty than the sword of Pharezdak the poet." ^98 After the conquest of

Egypt, he was recalled by the jealousy of the caliph Othman; but in the subsequent troubles, the ambition of a

soldier, a statesman, and an orator, emerged from a private station. His powerful support, both in council and

in the field, established the throne of the Ommiades; the administration and revenue of Egypt were restored

by the gratitude of Moawiyah to a faithful friend who had raised himself above the rank of a subject; and

Amrou ended his days in the palace and city which he had founded on the banks of the Nile. His dying

speech to his children is celebrated by the Arabians as a model of eloquence and wisdom: he deplored the

errors of his youth but if the penitent was still infected by the vanity of a poet, he might exaggerate the venom

[Footnote 96: We learn this anecdote from a spirited old woman, who reviled to their faces, the caliph and his

friend. She was encouraged by the silence of Amrou and the liberality of Moawiyah, (Abulfeda, Annal

[Footnote 97: Gagnier, Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 46, who quotes the Abyssinian history, or romance of

[Footnote 98: This saying is preserved by Pocock, (Not. ad Carmen Tograi, p 184,) and justly applauded by

[Footnote 99: For the life and character of Amrou, see Ockley (Hist. of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 28, 63, 94, 328,

342, 344, and to the end of the volume; vol. ii. p. 51, 55, 57, 74, 110 112, 162) and Otter, (Mem. de

l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxi. p. 131, 132.) The readers of Tacitus may aptly compare Vespasian and

Mucianus with Moawiyah and Amrou. Yet the resemblance is still more in the situation, than in the

From his camp in Palestine, Amrou had surprised or anticipated the caliph's leave for the invasion of Egypt.

^100 The magnanimous Omar trusted in his God and his sword, which had shaken the thrones of Chosroes

and Caesar: but when he compared the slender force of the Moslems with the greatness of the enterprise, he

condemned his own rashness, and listened to his timid companions. The pride and the greatness of Pharaoh

were familiar to the readers of the Koran; and a tenfold repetition of prodigies had been scarcely sufficient to

effect, not the victory, but the flight, of six hundred thousand of the children of Israel: the cities of Egypt

were many and populous; their architecture was strong and solid; the Nile, with its numerous branches, was

alone an insuperable barrier; and the granary of the Imperial city would be obstinately defended by the

Roman powers. In this perplexity, the commander of the faithful resigned himself to the decision of chance,

or, in his opinion, of Providence. At the head of only four thousand Arabs, the intrepid Amrou had marched

away from his station of Gaza when he was overtaken by the messenger of Omar. "If you are still in Syria,"

said the ambiguous mandate, "retreat without delay; but if, at the receipt of this epistle, you have already

reached the frontiers of Egypt, advance with confidence, and depend on the succor of God and of your

brethren." The experience, perhaps the secret intelligence, of Amrou had taught him to suspect the mutability

of courts; and he continued his march till his tents were unquestionably pitched on Egyptian ground. He there

assembled his officers, broke the seal, perused the epistle, gravely inquired the name and situation of the

place, and declared his ready obedience to the commands of the caliph. After a siege of thirty days, he took

possession of Farmah or Pelusium; and that key of Egypt, as it has been justly named, unlocked the entrance

of the country as far as the ruins of Heliopolis and the neighborhood of the modern Cairo.

[Footnote 100: Al Wakidi had likewise composed a separate history of the conquest of Egypt, which Mr.

Ockley could never procure; and his own inquiries (vol. i. 344 362) have added very little to the original

text of Eutychius, (Annal. tom. ii. p. 296 323, vers. Pocock,) the Melchite patriarch of Alexandria, who

On the Western side of the Nile, at a small distance to the east of the Pyramids, at a small distance to the

south of the Delta, Memphis, one hundred and fifty furlongs in circumference, displayed the magnificence of

ancient kings. Under the reign of the Ptolemies and Caesars, the seat of government was removed to the

seacoast; the ancient capital was eclipsed by the arts and opulence of Alexandria; the palaces, and at length

the temples, were reduced to a desolate and ruinous condition: yet, in the age of Augustus, and even in that of

Constantine, Memphis was still numbered among the greatest and most populous of the provincial cities.

^101 The banks of the Nile, in this place of the breadth of three thousand feet, were united by two bridges of

sixty and of thirty boats, connected in the middle stream by the small island of Rouda, which was covered

with gardens and habitations. ^102 The eastern extremity of the bridge was terminated by the town of

Babylon and the camp of a Roman legion, which protected the passage of the river and the second capital of

Egypt. This important fortress, which might fairly be described as a part of Memphis or Misrah, was invested

by the arms of the lieutenant of Omar: a reenforcement of four thousand Saracens soon arrived in his camp;

and the military engines, which battered the walls, may be imputed to the art and labor of his Syrian allies.

Yet the siege was protracted to seven months; and the rash invaders were encompassed and threatened by the

inundation of the Nile. ^103 Their last assault was bold and successful: they passed the ditch, which had been

fortified with iron spikes, applied their scaling ladders, entered the fortress with the shout of "God is

victorious!" and drove the remnant of the Greeks to their boats and the Isle of Rouda. The spot was

afterwards recommended to the conqueror by the easy communication with the gulf and the peninsula of

Arabia; the remains of Memphis were deserted; the tents of the Arabs were converted into permanent

habitations; and the first mosch was blessed by the presence of fourscore companions of Mahomet. ^104 A

new city arose in their camp, on the eastward bank of the Nile; and the contiguous quarters of Babylon and

Fostat are confounded in their present decay by the appellation of old Misrah, or Cairo, of which they form an

extensive suburb. But the name of Cairo, the town of victory, more strictly belongs to the modern capital,

which was founded in the tenth century by the Fatimite caliphs. ^105 It has gradually receded from the river;

but the continuity of buildings may be traced by an attentive eye from the monuments of Sesostris to those of

[Footnote 101: Strabo, an accurate and attentive spectator, observes of Heliopolis, (Geograph. l. xvii. p.

1158;) but of Memphis he notices, however, the mixture of inhabitants, and the ruin of the palaces. In the

proper Egypt, Ammianus enumerates Memphis among the four cities, maximis urbibus quibus provincia

nitet, (xxii. 16;) and the name of Memphis appears with distinction in the Roman Itinerary and episcopal

[Footnote 102: These rare and curious facts, the breadth (2946 feet) and the bridge of the Nile, are only to be

[Footnote 103: From the month of April, the Nile begins imperceptibly to rise; the swell becomes strong and

visible in the moon after the summer solstice, (Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 10,) and is usually proclaimed at Cairo on

St. Peter's day, (June 29.) A register of thirty successive years marks the greatest height of the waters between

July 25 and August 18, (Maillet, Description de l'Egypte, lettre xi. p. 67, Pocock's Description of the East,

[Footnote 104: Murtadi, Merveilles de l'Egypte, 243, 259. He expatiates on the subject with the zeal and

minuteness of a citizen and a bigot, and his local traditions have a strong air of truth and accuracy.]

[Footnote 106: The position of New and of Old Cairo is well known, and has been often described. Two

writers, who were intimately acquainted with ancient and modern Egypt, have fixed, after a learned inquiry,

the city of Memphis at Gizeh, directly opposite the Old Cairo, (Sicard, Nouveaux Memoires des Missions du

Levant, tom. vi. p. 5, 6. Shaw's Observations and Travels, p. 296 304.) Yet we may not disregard the

authority or the arguments of Pocock, (vol. i. p. 25 41,) Niebuhr, (Voyage, tom. i. p. 77 106,) and above

all, of D'Anville, (Description de l'Egypte, p. 111, 112, 130 149,) who have removed Memphis towards the

village of Mohannah, some miles farther to the south. In their heat, the disputants have forgot that the ample

space of a metropolis covers and annihilates the far greater part of the controversy.]

Yet the Arabs, after a glorious and profitable enterprise, must have retreated to the desert, had they not found

a powerful alliance in the heart of the country. The rapid conquest of Alexander was assisted by the

superstition and revolt of the natives: they abhorred their Persian oppressors, the disciples of the Magi, who

had burnt the temples of Egypt, and feasted with sacrilegious appetite on the flesh of the god Apis. ^107

After a period of ten centuries, the same revolution was renewed by a similar cause; and in the support of an

incomprehensible creed, the zeal of the Coptic Christians was equally ardent. I have already explained the

origin and progress of the Monophysite controversy, and the persecution of the emperors, which converted a

sect into a nation, and alienated Egypt from their religion and government. The Saracens were received as the

deliverers of the Jacobite church; and a secret and effectual treaty was opened during the siege of Memphis

between a victorious army and a people of slaves. A rich and noble Egyptian, of the name of Mokawkas, had

dissembled his faith to obtain the administration of his province: in the disorders of the Persian war he

aspired to independence: the embassy of Mahomet ranked him among princes; but he declined, with rich gifts

and ambiguous compliments, the proposal of a new religion. ^108 The abuse of his trust exposed him to the

resentment of Heraclius: his submission was delayed by arrogance and fear; and his conscience was prompted

by interest to throw himself on the favor of the nation and the support of the Saracens. In his first conference

with Amrou, he heard without indignation the usual option of the Koran, the tribute, or the sword. "The

Greeks," replied Mokawkas, "are determined to abide the determination of the sword; but with the Greeks I

desire no communion, either in this world or in the next, and I abjure forever the Byzantine tyrant, his synod

of Chalcedon, and his Melchite slaves. For myself and my brethren, we are resolved to live and die in the

profession of the gospel and unity of Christ. It is impossible for us to embrace the revelations of your

prophet; but we are desirous of peace, and cheerfully submit to pay tribute and obedience to his temporal

successors." The tribute was ascertained at two pieces of gold for the head of every Christian; but old men,

monks, women, and children, of both sexes, under sixteen years of age, were exempted from this personal

assessment: the Copts above and below Memphis swore allegiance to the caliph, and promised a hospitable

entertainment of three days to every Mussulman who should travel through their country. By this charter of

security, the ecclesiastical and civil tyranny of the Melchites was destroyed: ^109 the anathemas of St. Cyril

were thundered from every pulpit; and the sacred edifices, with the patrimony of the church, were restored to

the national communion of the Jacobites, who enjoyed without moderation the moment of triumph and

revenge. At the pressing summons of Amrou, their patriarch Benjamin emerged from his desert; and after the

first interview, the courteous Arab affected to declare that he had never conversed with a Christian priest of

more innocent manners and a more venerable aspect. ^110 In the march from Memphis to Alexandria, the

lieutenant of Omar intrusted his safety to the zeal and gratitude of the Egyptians: the roads and bridges were

diligently repaired; and in every step of his progress, he could depend on a constant supply of provisions and

intelligence. The Greeks of Egypt, whose numbers could scarcely equal a tenth of the natives, were

overwhelmed by the universal defection: they had ever been hated, they were no longer feared: the magistrate

fled from his tribunal, the bishop from his altar; and the distant garrisons were surprised or starved by the

surrounding multitudes. Had not the Nile afforded a safe and ready conveyance to the sea, not an individual

could have escaped, who by birth, or language, or office, or religion, was connected with their odious name.

[Footnote 107: See Herodotus, l. iii. c. 27, 28, 29. Aelian, Hist. Var. l. iv. c. 8. Suidas in, tom. ii. p. 774.

Diodor. Sicul. tom. ii. l. xvii. p. 197, edit. Wesseling. Says the last of these historians.]

[Footnote 108: Mokawkas sent the prophet two Coptic damsels, with two maids and one eunuch, an alabaster

vase, an ingot of pure gold, oil, honey, and the finest white linen of Egypt, with a horse, a mule, and an ass,

distinguished by their respective qualifications. The embassy of Mahomet was despatched from Medina in

the seventh year of the Hegira, (A.D. 628.) See Gagnier, (Vie de Mahomet, tom. ii. p. 255, 256, 303,) from Al

[Footnote 109: The praefecture of Egypt, and the conduct of the war, had been trusted by Heraclius to the

patriarch Cyrus, (Theophan. p. 280, 281.) "In Spain," said James II., "do you not consult your priests?" "We

do," replied the Catholic ambassador, "and our affairs succeed accordingly." I know not how to relate the

plans of Cyrus, of paying tribute without impairing the revenue, and of converting Omar by his marriage with

[Footnote 110: See the life of Benjamin, in Renaudot, (Hist. Patriarch. Alexandrin. p. 156 172,) who has

enriched the conquest of Egypt with some facts from the Arabic text of Severus the Jacobite historian]

By the retreat of the Greeks from the provinces of Upper Egypt, a considerable force was collected in the

Island of Delta; the natural and artificial channels of the Nile afforded a succession of strong and defensible

posts; and the road to Alexandria was laboriously cleared by the victory of the Saracens in twoandtwenty

days of general or partial combat. In their annals of conquest, the siege of Alexandria ^111 is perhaps the

most arduous and important enterprise. The first trading city in the world was abundantly replenished with

the means of subsistence and defence. Her numerous inhabitants fought for the dearest of human rights,

religion and property; and the enmity of the natives seemed to exclude them from the common benefit of

peace and toleration. The sea was continually open; and if Heraclius had been awake to the public distress,

fresh armies of Romans and Barbarians might have been poured into the harbor to save the second capital of

the empire. A circumference of ten miles would have scattered the forces of the Greeks, and favored the

stratagems of an active enemy; but the two sides of an oblong square were covered by the sea and the Lake

Maraeotis, and each of the narrow ends exposed a front of no more than ten furlongs. The efforts of the Arabs

were not inadequate to the difficulty of the attempt and the value of the prize. From the throne of Medina, the

eyes of Omar were fixed on the camp and city: his voice excited to arms the Arabian tribes and the veterans

of Syria; and the merit of a holy war was recommended by the peculiar fame and fertility of Egypt. Anxious

for the ruin or expulsion of their tyrants, the faithful natives devoted their labors to the service of Amrou:

some sparks of martial spirit were perhaps rekindled by the example of their allies; and the sanguine hopes of

Mokawkas had fixed his sepulchre in the church of St. John of Alexandria. Eutychius the patriarch observes,

that the Saracens fought with the courage of lions: they repulsed the frequent and almost daily sallies of the

besieged, and soon assaulted in their turn the walls and towers of the city. In every attack, the sword, the

banner of Amrou, glittered in the van of the Moslems. On a memorable day, he was betrayed by his

imprudent valor: his followers who had entered the citadel were driven back; and the general, with a friend

and slave, remained a prisoner in the hands of the Christians. When Amrou was conducted before the

praefect, he remembered his dignity, and forgot his situation: a lofty demeanor, and resolute language,

revealed the lieutenant of the caliph, and the battleaxe of a soldier was already raised to strike off the head

of the audacious captive. His life was saved by the readiness of his slave, who instantly gave his master a

blow on the face, and commanded him, with an angry tone, to be silent in the presence of his superiors. The

credulous Greek was deceived: he listened to the offer of a treaty, and his prisoners were dismissed in the

hope of a more respectable embassy, till the joyful acclamations of the camp announced the return of their

general, and insulted the folly of the infidels. At length, after a siege of fourteen months, ^112 and the loss of

threeandtwenty thousand men, the Saracens prevailed: the Greeks embarked their dispirited and

diminished numbers, and the standard of Mahomet was planted on the walls of the capital of Egypt. "I have

taken," said Amrou to the caliph, "the great city of the West. It is impossible for me to enumerate the variety

of its riches and beauty; and I shall content myself with observing, that it contains four thousand palaces, four

thousand baths, four hundred theatres or places of amusement, twelve thousand shops for the sale of

vegetable food, and forty thousand tributary Jews. The town has been subdued by force of arms, without

treaty or capitulation, and the Moslems are impatient to seize the fruits of their victory." ^113 The

commander of the faithful rejected with firmness the idea of pillage, and directed his lieutenant to reserve the

wealth and revenue of Alexandria for the public service and the propagation of the faith: the inhabitants were

numbered; a tribute was imposed, the zeal and resentment of the Jacobites were curbed, and the Melchites

who submitted to the Arabian yoke were indulged in the obscure but tranquil exercise of their worship. The

intelligence of this disgraceful and calamitous event afflicted the declining health of the emperor; and

Heraclius died of a dropsy about seven weeks after the loss of Alexandria. ^114 Under the minority of his

grandson, the clamors of a people, deprived of their daily sustenance, compelled the Byzantine court to

undertake the recovery of the capital of Egypt. In the space of four years, the harbor and fortifications of

Alexandria were twice occupied by a fleet and army of Romans. They were twice expelled by the valor of

Amrou, who was recalled by the domestic peril from the distant wars of Tripoli and Nubia. But the facility of

the attempt, the repetition of the insult, and the obstinacy of the resistance, provoked him to swear, that if a

third time he drove the infidels into the sea, he would render Alexandria as accessible on all sides as the

house of a prostitute. Faithful to his promise, he dismantled several parts of the walls and towers; but the

people was spared in the chastisement of the city, and the mosch of Mercy was erected on the spot where the

victorious general had stopped the fury of his troops. [Footnote 111: The local description of Alexandria is

perfectly ascertained by the master hand of the first of geographers, (D'Anville, Memoire sur l'Egypte, p. 52

63;) but we may borrow the eyes of the modern travellers, more especially of Thevenot, (Voyage au Levant,

part i. p. 381 395,) Pocock, (vol. i. p. 2 13,) and Niebuhr, (Voyage en Arabie, tom. i. p. 34 43.) Of the

two modern rivals, Savary and Volmey, the one may amuse, the other will instruct.]

[Footnote 112: Both Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 319) and Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 28) concur in fixing the

taking of Alexandria to Friday of the new moon of Moharram of the twentieth year of the Hegira, (December

22, A.D. 640.) In reckoning backwards fourteen months spent before Alexandria, seven months before

Babylon, Amrou might have invaded Egypt about the end of the year 638; but we are assured that he entered

the country the 12th of Bayni, 6th of June, (Murtadi, Merveilles de l'Egypte, p. 164. Severus, apud Renaudot,

p. 162.) The Saracen, and afterwards Lewis IX. of France, halted at Pelusium, or Damietta, during the season

[Footnote 114: Notwithstanding some inconsistencies of Theophanes and Cedrenus, the accuracy of Pagi

(Critica, tom. ii. p. 824) has extracted from Nicephorus and the Chronicon Orientale the true date of the death

of Heraclius, February 11th, A.D. 641, fifty days after the loss of Alexandria. A fourth of that time was

I should deceive the expectation of the reader, if I passed in silence the fate of the Alexandrian library, as it is

described by the learned Abulpharagius. The spirit of Amrou was more curious and liberal than that of his

brethren, and in his leisure hours, the Arabian chief was pleased with the conversation of John, the last

disciple of Ammonius, and who derived the surname of Philoponus from his laborious studies of grammar

and philosophy. ^115 Emboldened by this familiar intercourse, Philoponus presumed to solicit a gift,

inestimable in his opinion, contemptible in that of the Barbarians the royal library, which alone, among the

spoils of Alexandria, had not been appropriated by the visit and the seal of the conqueror. Amrou was

inclined to gratify the wish of the grammarian, but his rigid integrity refused to alienate the minutest object

without the consent of the caliph; and the wellknown answer of Omar was inspired by the ignorance of a

fanatic. "If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless, and need not be

preserved: if they disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed." The sentence was executed with

blind obedience: the volumes of paper or parchment were distributed to the four thousand baths of the city;

and such was their incredible multitude, that six months were barely sufficient for the consumption of this

precious fuel. Since the Dynasties of Abulpharagius ^116 have been given to the world in a Latin version, the

tale has been repeatedly transcribed; and every scholar, with pious indignation, has deplored the irreparable

shipwreck of the learning, the arts, and the genius, of antiquity. For my own part, I am strongly tempted to

deny both the fact and the consequences. ^* The fact is indeed marvellous. "Read and wonder!" says the

historian himself: and the solitary report of a stranger who wrote at the end of six hundred years on the

confines of Media, is overbalanced by the silence of two annalist of a more early date, both Christians, both

natives of Egypt, and the most ancient of whom, the patriarch Eutychius, has amply described the conquest of

Alexandria. ^117 The rigid sentence of Omar is repugnant to the sound and orthodox precept of the

Mahometan casuists they expressly declare, that the religious books of the Jews and Christians, which are

acquired by the right of war, should never be committed to the flames; and that the works of profane science,

historians or poets, physicians or philosophers, may be lawfully applied to the use of the faithful. ^118 A

more destructive zeal may perhaps be attributed to the first successors of Mahomet; yet in this instance, the

conflagration would have speedily expired in the deficiency of materials. I should not recapitulate the

disasters of the Alexandrian library, the involuntary flame that was kindled by Caesar in his own defence,

^119 or the mischievous bigotry of the Christians, who studied to destroy the monuments of idolatry. ^120

But if we gradually descend from the age of the Antonines to that of Theodosius, we shall learn from a chain

of contemporary witnesses, that the royal palace and the temple of Serapis no longer contained the four, or

the seven, hundred thousand volumes, which had been assembled by the curiosity and magnificence of the

Ptolemies. ^121 Perhaps the church and seat of the patriarchs might be enriched with a repository of books;

but if the ponderous mass of Arian and Monophysite controversy were indeed consumed in the public baths,

^122 a philosopher may allow, with a smile, that it was ultimately devoted to the benefit of mankind. I

sincerely regret the more valuable libraries which have been involved in the ruin of the Roman empire; but

when I seriously compute the lapse of ages, the waste of ignorance, and the calamities of war, our treasures,

rather than our losses, are the objects of my surprise. Many curious and interesting facts are buried in

oblivion: the three great historians of Rome have been transmitted to our hands in a mutilated state, and we

are deprived of many pleasing compositions of the lyric, iambic, and dramatic poetry of the Greeks. Yet we

should gratefully remember, that the mischances of time and accident have spared the classic works to which

the suffrage of antiquity ^123 had adjudged the first place of genius and glory: the teachers of ancient

knowledge, who are still extant, had perused and compared the writings of their predecessors; ^124 nor can it

fairly be presumed that any important truth, any useful discovery in art or nature, has been snatched away

[Footnote 115: Many treatises of this lover of labor are still extant, but for readers of the present age, the

printed and unpublished are nearly in the same predicament. Moses and Aristotle are the chief objects of his

verbose commentaries, one of which is dated as early as May 10th, A.D. 617, (Fabric. Bibliot. Graec. tom. ix.

p. 458 468.) A modern, (John Le Clerc,) who sometimes assumed the same name was equal to old

[Footnote 116: Abulpharag. Dynast. p. 114, vers. Pocock. Audi quid factum sit et mirare. It would be endless

to enumerate the moderns who have wondered and believed, but I may distinguish with honor the rational

scepticism of Renaudot, (Hist. Alex. Patriarch, p. 170: ) historia ... habet aliquid ut Arabibus familiare est.]

[Footnote *: Since this period several new Mahometan authorities have been adduced to support the authority

of Abulpharagius. That of, I. Abdollatiph by Professor White: II. Of Makrizi; I have seen a Ms. extract from

this writer: III. Of Ibn Chaledun: and after them Hadschi Chalfa. See Von Hammer, Geschichte der

Assassinen, p. 17. Reinhard, in a German Dissertation, printed at Gottingen, 1792, and St. Croix, (Magasin

Encyclop. tom. iv. p. 433,) have examined the question. Among Oriental scholars, Professor White, M. St.

Martin, Von Hammer. and Silv. de Sacy, consider the fact of the burning the library, by the command of

Omar, beyond question. Compare St. Martin's note. vol. xi. p. 296. A Mahometan writer brings a similar

charge against the Crusaders. The library of Tripoli is said to have contained the incredible number of three

millions of volumes. On the capture of the city, Count Bertram of St. Giles, entering the first room, which

contained nothing but the Koran, ordered the whole to be burnt, as the works of the false prophet of Arabia.

[Footnote 117: This curious anecdote will be vainly sought in the annals of Eutychius, and the Saracenic

history of Elmacin. The silence of Abulfeda, Murtadi, and a crowd of Moslems, is less conclusive from their

[Footnote 118: See Reland, de Jure Militari Mohammedanorum, in his iiid volume of Dissertations, p. 37.

The reason for not burning the religious books of the Jews or Christians, is derived from the respect that is

[Footnote 119: Consult the collections of Frensheim (Supplement. Livian, c. 12, 43) and Usher, (Anal. p.

469.) Livy himself had styled the Alexandrian library, elegantiae regum curaeque egregium opus; a liberal

encomium, for which he is pertly criticized by the narrow stoicism of Seneca, (De Tranquillitate Animi, c. 9,)

[Footnote 121: Aulus Gellius, (Noctes Atticae, vi. 17,) Ammianus Marcellinua, (xxii. 16,) and Orosius, (l. vi.

c. 15.) They all speak in the past tense, and the words of Ammianus are remarkably strong: fuerunt

[Footnote 122: Renaudot answers for versions of the Bible, Hexapla, Catenoe Patrum, Commentaries, (p.

170.) Our Alexandrian Ms., if it came from Egypt, and not from Constantinople or Mount Athos, (Wetstein,

[Footnote 123: I have often perused with pleasure a chapter of Quintilian, (Institut. Orator. x. i.,) in which

that judicious critic enumerates and appreciates the series of Greek and Latin classics.]

[Footnote 124: Such as Galen, Pliny, Aristotle, On this subject Wotton (Reflections on Ancient and Modern

Learning, p. 85 95) argues, with solid sense, against the lively exotic fancies of Sir William Temple. The

contempt of the Greeks for Barbaric science would scarcely admit the Indian or Aethiopic books into the

library of Alexandria; nor is it proved that philosophy has sustained any real loss from their exclusion.]

In the administration of Egypt, ^125 Amrou balanced the demands of justice and policy; the interest of the

people of the law, who were defended by God; and of the people of the alliance, who were protected by man.

In the recent tumult of conquest and deliverance, the tongue of the Copts and the sword of the Arabs were

most adverse to the tranquillity of the province. To the former, Amrou declared, that faction and falsehood

would be doubly chastised; by the punishment of the accusers, whom he should detest as his personal

enemies, and by the promotion of their innocent brethren, whom their envy had labored to injure and

supplant. He excited the latter by the motives of religion and honor to sustain the dignity of their character, to

endear themselves by a modest and temperate conduct to God and the caliph, to spare and protect a people

who had trusted to their faith, and to content themselves with the legitimate and splendid rewards of their

victory. In the management of the revenue, he disapproved the simple but oppressive mode of a capitation,

and preferred with reason a proportion of taxes deducted on every branch from the clear profits of agriculture

and commerce. A third part of the tribute was appropriated to the annual repairs of the dikes and canals, so

essential to the public welfare. Under his administration, the fertility of Egypt supplied the dearth of Arabia;

and a string of camels, laden with corn and provisions, covered almost without an interval the long road from

Memphis to Medina. ^126 But the genius of Amrou soon renewed the maritime communication which had

been attempted or achieved by the Pharaohs the Ptolemies, or the Caesars; and a canal, at least eighty miles in

length, was opened from the Nile to the Red Sea. ^* This inland navigation, which would have joined the

Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, was soon discontinued as useless and dangerous: the throne was

removed from Medina to Damascus, and the Grecian fleets might have explored a passage to the holy cities

of Arabia. ^127 [Footnote 125: This curious and authentic intelligence of Murtadi (p. 284 289) has not been

discovered either by Mr. Ockley, or by the self sufficient compilers of the Modern Universal History.]

[Footnote 126: Eutychius, Annal. tom. ii. p. 320. Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. 35.]

[Footnote *: Many learned men have doubted the existence of a communication by water between the Red

Sea and the Mediterranean by the Nile. Yet the fact is positively asserted by the ancients. Diodorus Siculus (l.

i. p. 33) speaks of it in the most distinct manner as existing in his time. So, also, Strabo, (l. xvii. p. 805.) Pliny

(vol. vi. p. 29) says that the canal which united the two seas was navigable, (alveus navigabilis.) The

indications furnished by Ptolemy and by the Arabic historian, Makrisi, show that works were executed under

the reign of Hadrian to repair the canal and extend the navigation; it then received the name of the River of

Trajan Lucian, (in his Pseudomantis, p. 44,) says that he went by water from Alexandria to Clysma, on the

Red Sea. Testimonies of the 6th and of the 8th century show that the communication was not interrupted at

that time. See the French translation of Strabo, vol. v. p. 382. St. Martin vol. xi. p. 299. M.]

[Footnote 127: On these obscure canals, the reader may try to satisfy himself from D'Anville, (Mem. sur

l'Egypte, p. 108 110, 124, 132,) and a learned thesis, maintained and printed at Strasburg in the year 1770,

(Jungendorum marium fluviorumque molimina, p. 39 47, 68 70.) Even the supine Turks have agitated the

Of his new conquest, the caliph Omar had an imperfect knowledge from the voice of fame and the legends of

the Koran. He requested that his lieutenant would place before his eyes the realm of Pharaoh and the

Amalekites; and the answer of Amrou exhibits a lively and not unfaithful picture of that singular country.

^128 "O commander of the faithful, Egypt is a compound of black earth and green plants, between a

pulverized mountain and a red sand. The distance from Syene to the sea is a month's journey for a horseman.

Along the valley descends a river, on which the blessing of the Most High reposes both in the evening and

morning, and which rises and falls with the revolutions of the sun and moon. When the annual dispensation

of Providence unlocks the springs and fountains that nourish the earth, the Nile rolls his swelling and

sounding waters through the realm of Egypt: the fields are overspread by the salutary flood; and the villages

communicate with each other in their painted barks. The retreat of the inundation deposits a fertilizing mud

for the reception of the various seeds: the crowds of husbandmen who blacken the land may be compared to a

swarm of industrious ants; and their native indolence is quickened by the lash of the taskmaster, and the

promise of the flowers and fruits of a plentiful increase. Their hope is seldom deceived; but the riches which

they extract from the wheat, the barley, and the rice, the legumes, the fruittrees, and the cattle, are unequally

shared between those who labor and those who possess. According to the vicissitudes of the seasons, the face

of the country is adorned with a silver wave, a verdant emerald, and the deep yellow of a golden harvest."

^129 Yet this beneficial order is sometimes interrupted; and the long delay and sudden swell of the river in

the first year of the conquest might afford some color to an edifying fable. It is said, that the annual sacrifice

of a virgin ^130 had been interdicted by the piety of Omar; and that the Nile lay sullen and inactive in his

shallow bed, till the mandate of the caliph was cast into the obedient stream, which rose in a single night to

the height of sixteen cubits. The admiration of the Arabs for their new conquest encouraged the license of

their romantic spirit. We may read, in the gravest authors, that Egypt was crowded with twenty thousand

cities or villages: ^131 that, exclusive of the Greeks and Arabs, the Copts alone were found, on the

assessment, six millions of tributary subjects, ^132 or twenty millions of either sex, and of every age: that

three hundred millions of gold or silver were annually paid to the treasury of the caliphs. ^133 Our reason

must be startled by these extravagant assertions; and they will become more palpable, if we assume the

compass and measure the extent of habitable ground: a valley from the tropic to Memphis seldom broader

than twelve miles, and the triangle of the Delta, a flat surface of two thousand one hundred square leagues,

compose a twelfth part of the magnitude of France. ^134 A more accurate research will justify a more

reasonable estimate. The three hundred millions, created by the error of a scribe, are reduced to the decent

revenue of four millions three hundred thousand pieces of gold, of which nine hundred thousand were

consumed by the pay of the soldiers. ^135 Two authentic lists, of the present and of the twelfth century, are

circumscribed within the respectable number of two thousand seven hundred villages and towns. ^136 After a

long residence at Cairo, a French consul has ventured to assign about four millions of Mahometans,

Christians, and Jews, for the ample, though not incredible, scope of the population of Egypt. ^137 [Footnote

128: A small volume, des Merveilles, de l'Egypte, composed in the xiiith century by Murtadi of Cairo, and

translated from an Arabic Ms. of Cardinal Mazarin, was published by Pierre Vatier, Paris, 1666. The

antiquities of Egypt are wild and legendary; but the writer deserves credit and esteem for his account of the

conquest and geography of his native country, (see the correspondence of Amrou and Omar, p. 279 289.)]

[Footnote 129: In a twenty years' residence at Cairo, the consul Maillet had contemplated that varying scene,

the Nile, (lettre ii. particularly p. 70, 75;) the fertility of the land, (lettre ix.) From a college at Cambridge, the

What wonder in the sultry climes that spread, Where Nile, redundant o'er his summer bed, From his broad

bosom life and verdure flings, And broods o'er Egypt with his watery wings: If with adventurous oar, and

ready sail, The dusky people drive before the gale: Or on frail floats to neighboring cities ride. That rise and

[Footnote 130: Murtadi, p. 164 167. The reader will not easily credit a human sacrifice under the Christian

[Footnote 131: Maillet, Description de l'Egypte, p. 22. He mentions this number as the common opinion; and

adds, that the generality of these villages contain two or three thousand persons, and that many of them are

[Footnote 132: Eutych. Annal. tom. ii. p. 308, 311. The twenty millions are computed from the following

data: one twelfth of mankind above sixty, one third below sixteen, the proportion of men to women as

seventeen or sixteen, (Recherches sur la Population de la France, p. 71, 72.) The president Goguet (Origine

des Arts, tom. iii. p. 26, Bestows twentyseven millions on ancient Egypt, because the seventeen hundred

[Footnote 133: Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. p. 218; and this gross lump is swallowed without scruple by

D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 1031,) Ar. buthnot, (Tables of Ancient Coins, p. 262,) and De Guignes, (Hist.

des Huns, tom. iii. p. 135.) They might allege the not less extravagant liberality of Appian in favor of the

Ptolemies (in praefat.) of seventy four myriads, 740,000 talents, an annual income of 185, or near 300

millions of pounds sterling, according as we reckon by the Egyptian or the Alexandrian talent, (Bernard, de

[Footnote 134: See the measurement of D'Anville, (Mem. sur l'Egypte, p. 23, After some peevish cavils, M.

Pauw (Recherches sur les Egyptiens, tom. i. p. 118 121) can only enlarge his reckoning to 2250 square

[Footnote 135: Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alexand. p. 334, who calls the common reading or version of

Elmacin, error librarii. His own emendation, of 4,300,000 pieces, in the ixth century, maintains a probable

medium between the 3,000,000 which the Arabs acquired by the conquest of Egypt, idem, p. 168.) and the

2,400,000 which the sultan of Constantinople levied in the last century, (Pietro della Valle, tom. i. p. 352

Thevenot, part i. p. 824.) Pauw (Recherches, tom. ii. p. 365 373) gradually raises the revenue of the

Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, and the Caesars, from six to fifteen millions of German crowns.]

[Footnote 136: The list of Schultens (Index Geograph. ad calcem Vit. Saladin. p. 5) contains 2396 places; that

of D'Anville, (Mem. sur l'Egypte, p. 29,) from the divan of Cairo, enumerates 2696.]

[Footnote 137: See Maillet, (Description de l'Egypte, p. 28,) who seems to argue with candor and judgment. I

am much better satisfied with the observations than with the reading of the French consul. He was ignorant of

Greek and Latin literature, and his fancy is too much delighted with the fictions of the Arabs. Their best

knowledge is collected by Abulfeda, (Descript. Aegypt. Arab. et Lat. a Joh. David Michaelis, Gottingae, in

4to., 1776;) and in two recent voyages into Egypt, we are amused by Savary, and instructed by Volney. I

IV. The conquest of Africa, from the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean, ^138 was first attempted by the arms of the

caliph Othman. The pious design was approved by the companions of Mahomet and the chiefs of the tribes;

and twenty thousand Arabs marched from Medina, with the gifts and the blessing of the commander of the

faithful. They were joined in the camp of Memphis by twenty thousand of their countrymen; and the conduct

of the war was intrusted to Abdallah, ^139 the son of Said and the fosterbrother of the caliph, who had

lately supplanted the conqueror and lieutenant of Egypt. Yet the favor of the prince, and the merit of his

favorite, could not obliterate the guilt of his apostasy. The early conversion of Abdallah, and his skilful pen,

had recommended him to the important office of transcribing the sheets of the Koran: he betrayed his trust,

corrupted the text, derided the errors which he had made, and fled to Mecca to escape the justice, and expose

the ignorance, of the apostle. After the conquest of Mecca, he fell prostrate at the feet of Mahomet; his tears,

and the entreaties of Othman, extorted a reluctant pardon; out the prophet declared that he had so long

hesitated, to allow time for some zealous disciple to avenge his injury in the blood of the apostate. With

apparent fidelity and effective merit, he served the religion which it was no longer his interest to desert: his

birth and talents gave him an honorable rank among the Koreish; and, in a nation of cavalry, Abdallah was

renowned as the boldest and most dexterous horseman of Arabia. At the head of forty thousand Moslems, he

advanced from Egypt into the unknown countries of the West. The sands of Barca might be impervious to a

Roman legion but the Arabs were attended by their faithful camels; and the natives of the desert beheld

without terror the familiar aspect of the soil and climate. After a painful march, they pitched their tents before

the walls of Tripoli, ^140 a maritime city in which the name, the wealth, and the inhabitants of the province

had gradually centred, and which now maintains the third rank among the states of Barbary. A reenforcement

of Greeks was surprised and cut in pieces on the seashore; but the fortifications of Tripoli resisted the first

assaults; and the Saracens were tempted by the approach of the praefect Gregory ^141 to relinquish the labors

of the siege for the perils and the hopes of a decisive action. If his standard was followed by one hundred and

twenty thousand men, the regular bands of the empire must have been lost in the naked and disorderly crowd

of Africans and Moors, who formed the strength, or rather the numbers, of his host. He rejected with

indignation the option of the Koran or the tribute; and during several days the two armies were fiercely

engaged from the dawn of light to the hour of noon, when their fatigue and the excessive heat compelled

them to seek shelter and refreshment in their respective camps. The daughter of Gregory, a maid of

incomparable beauty and spirit, is said to have fought by his side: from her earliest youth she was trained to

mount on horseback, to draw the bow, and to wield the cimeter; and the richness of her arms and apparel

were conspicuous in the foremost ranks of the battle. Her hand, with a hundred thousand pieces of gold, was

offered for the head of the Arabian general, and the youths of Africa were excited by the prospect of the

glorious prize. At the pressing solicitation of his brethren, Abdallah withdrew his person from the field; but

the Saracens were discouraged by the retreat of their leader, and the repetition of these equal or unsuccessful

[Footnote 138: My conquest of Africa is drawn from two French interpreters of Arabic literature, Cardonne

(Hist. de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne sous la Domination des Arabes, tom. i. p. 8 55) and Otter, (Hist. de

l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxi. p. 111 125, and 136.) They derive their principal information from

Novairi, who composed, A.D. 1331 an Encyclopaedia in more than twenty volumes. The five general parts

successively treat of, 1. Physics; 2. Man; 3. Animals; 4. Plants; and, 5. History; and the African affairs are

discussed in the vith chapter of the vth section of this last part, (Reiske, Prodidagmata ad Hagji Chalifae

Tabulas, p. 232 234.) Among the older historians who are quoted by Navairi we may distinguish the

[Footnote 139: See the history of Abdallah, in Abulfeda (Vit. Mohammed. p. 108) and Gagnier, (Vie de

[Footnote 140: The province and city of Tripoli are described by Leo Africanus (in Navigatione et Viaggi di

Ramusio, tom. i. Venetia, 1550, fol. 76, verso) and Marmol, (Description de l'Afrique, tom. ii. p. 562.) The

first of these writers was a Moor, a scholar, and a traveller, who composed or translated his African

geography in a state of captivity at Rome, where he had assumed the name and religion of Pope Leo X. In a

similar captivity among the Moors, the Spaniard Marmol, a soldier of Charles V., compiled his Description of

Africa, translated by D'Ablancourt into French, (Paris, 1667, 3 vols. in 4to.) Marmol had read and seen, but

he is destitute of the curious and extensive observation which abounds in the original work of Leo the

[Footnote 141: Theophanes, who mentions the defeat, rather than the death, of Gregory. He brands the

praefect with the name: he had probably assumed the purple, (Chronograph. p. 285.)]

A noble Arabian, who afterwards became the adversary of Ali, and the father of a caliph, had signalized his

valor in Egypt, and Zobeir ^142 was the first who planted the scalingladder against the walls of Babylon. In

the African war he was detached from the standard of Abdallah. On the news of the battle, Zobeir, with

twelve companions, cut his way through the camp of the Greeks, and pressed forwards, without tasting either

food or repose, to partake of the dangers of his brethren. He cast his eyes round the field: "Where," said he,

"is our general?" "In his tent." "Is the tent a station for the general of the Moslems?" Abdallah represented

with a blush the importance of his own life, and the temptation that was held forth by the Roman praefect.

"Retort," said Zobeir, "on the infidels their ungenerous attempt. Proclaim through the ranks that the head of

Gregory shall be repaid with his captive daughter, and the equal sum of one hundred thousand pieces of

gold." To the courage and discretion of Zobeir the lieutenant of the caliph intrusted the execution of his own

stratagem, which inclined the longdisputed balance in favor of the Saracens. Supplying by activity and

artifice the deficiency of numbers, a part of their forces lay concealed in their tents, while the remainder

prolonged an irregular skirmish with the enemy till the sun was high in the heavens. On both sides they

retired with fainting steps: their horses were unbridled, their armor was laid aside, and the hostile nations

prepared, or seemed to prepare, for the refreshment of the evening, and the encounter of the ensuing day. On

a sudden the charge was sounded; the Arabian camp poured forth a swarm of fresh and intrepid warriors; and

the long line of the Greeks and Africans was surprised, assaulted, overturned, by new squadrons of the

faithful, who, to the eye of fanaticism, might appear as a band of angels descending from the sky. The

praefect himself was slain by the hand of Zobeir: his daughter, who sought revenge and death, was

surrounded and made prisoner; and the fugitives involved in their disaster the town of Sufetula, to which they

escaped from the sabres and lances of the Arabs. Sufetula was built one hundred and fifty miles to the south

of Carthage: a gentle declivity is watered by a running stream, and shaded by a grove of junipertrees; and, in

the ruins of a triumpha arch, a portico, and three temples of the Corinthian order, curiosity may yet admire

the magnificence of the Romans. ^143 After the fall of this opulent city, the provincials and Barbarians

implored on all sides the mercy of the conqueror. His vanity or his zeal might be flattered by offers of tribute

or professions of faith: but his losses, his fatigues, and the progress of an epidemical disease, prevented a

solid establishment; and the Saracens, after a campaign of fifteen months, retreated to the confines of Egypt,

with the captives and the wealth of their African expedition. The caliph's fifth was granted to a favorite, on

the nominal payment of five hundred thousand pieces of gold; ^144 but the state was doubly injured by this

fallacious transaction, if each footsoldier had shared one thousand, and each horseman three thousand,

pieces, in the real division of the plunder. The author of the death of Gregory was expected to have claimed

the most precious reward of the victory: from his silence it might be presumed that he had fallen in the battle,

till the tears and exclamations of the praefect's daughter at the sight of Zobeir revealed the valor and modesty

of that gallant soldier. The unfortunate virgin was offered, and almost rejected as a slave, by her father's

murderer, who coolly declared that his sword was consecrated to the service of religion; and that he labored

for a recompense far above the charms of mortal beauty, or the riches of this transitory life. A reward

congenial to his temper was the honorable commission of announcing to the caliph Othman the success of his

arms. The companions the chiefs, and the people, were assembled in the mosch of Medina, to hear the

interesting narrative of Zobeir; and as the orator forgot nothing except the merit of his own counsels and

actions, the name of Abdallah was joined by the Arabians with the heroic names of Caled and Amrou. ^145

[Footnote 142: See in Ockley (Hist. of the Saracens, vol. ii. p. 45) the death of Zobeir, which was honored

with the tears of Ali, against whom he had rebelled. His valor at the siege of Babylon, if indeed it be the same

[Footnote 144: Mimica emptio, says Abulfeda, erat haec, et mira donatio; quandoquidem Othman, ejus

nomine nummos ex aerario prius ablatos aerario praestabat, (Annal. Moslem. p. 78.) Elmacin (in his cloudy

version, p. 39) seems to report the same job. When the Arabs be sieged the palace of Othman, it stood high in

[Footnote 145: Theophan. Chronograph. p. 235 edit. Paris. His chronology is loose and inaccurate.]