138 ANCIENT KING3 OF ARABIA. 



thrown into the neighbouring stream. Down to the 

 Mohammedan era, the Arabs continued to commit 

 their usual depredations on the frontiers of the 

 Eastern Empire. Theodosius had tried in vain to 

 check their irruptions (A. D. 452) ; but Marcian forced 

 them to sue for peace, which he granted on terms 

 highly advantageous to the Romans. 



The perpetual independence of the Arabs has 

 been the theme of praise among strangers and na- 

 tives, and the subject of controversy between the 

 skeptic and the Christian. This singular fact is at 

 once the fulfilment of a prophecy, and the effect of 

 their local position. The obvious causes of their 

 freedom are to be found in their character and their 

 country. Surrounded with inhospitable deserts, 

 they could easily elude the vengeance of their ene- 

 nnies, by retiring within those natural barriers of 

 ocks and sands which bade defiance to their pursuers. 

 In this manner they preserved their liberties, be- 

 cause it was impossible to penetrate their retreats. 

 The exceptions to the perpetuity of Arabian inde- 

 pendence, which Gibbon alleges can neither be dis- 

 sembled nor eluded, do not in the slightest degree 

 invalidate the predictions of Scripture as applied to 

 the posterity of Ishmael. As a nation they have 

 never been conquered. Their subjugations have 

 been partial and temporary ; they escaped the yoke 

 of the most powerful monarchies of antiquity ; and 

 in modern times the precarious jurisdiction of 

 Turkey and Egypt scarcely extends beyond their 

 frontiers. The sneer of Gibbon is thus refuted by 

 the facts of history ; and though the evidence of 

 Christianity rests not on the habits or independence 

 of this remarkable people, we carmot join that 

 learned historian in his blush at the " nameless doc- 

 tor" who has made these circumstances a formal 

 demonstration of its truth. The " wild man" still 

 spurns the chains of a foreign conqueror, — still way- 

 lays the traveller by the fountain; and maintains 



