SHEMITIC CIVILIZATION. 127 



contemporary, and who had more right to 

 say that he had exhausted the universe, 

 never speaks of weariness. The wisdom of 

 Shemitic nations never rises above parables 

 and proverbs. Arabian science and Arabian 

 philosophy are often alluded to, and, in fact, 

 during one or two centuries in the middle 

 ages, the Arabs were our teachers; but it 

 was only until we were acquainted with the 

 Greek originals. This Arabian science and 

 philosophy was only a puerile rendering 

 of Greek science and philosophy. From 

 the time when Greece herself reappeared, 

 these pitiful versions became valueless ; 

 and it was not without cause that all 

 scholars at the revival of letters com- 

 menced a real crusade against them. When 

 closely examined, moreover, this Arabian 

 science has nothing Arabian in it. Its 

 foundation is purely Greek ; among its ori- 

 ginators there is not a single true Shemite ; 

 they were all Spaniards and Persians who 

 wrote in Arabic. The philosophical part 

 filled by the Jews in the middle ages was 



