328 CONQUESTS OF THE SARACENS. 



was never abandoned in the morning without the 

 regular performance of prayers. On the journey 

 he redressed the wrongs of some poor tributaries, 

 rebuked the Ucentious polygamy of the ignorant 

 Arabs, and chastised the luxury of the Saracens, by, 

 stripping them of their rich silks, the spoils of Yer- 

 mouk, and ordering them to be dragged with their 

 faces in the dirt. At Joppa, five stages from Jeru- 

 salem, he was met by Obeidah, with the principal 

 officers of the army. Apprehensive lest the mean- 

 ness of his appearance, — for according to some 

 writers he was leading the camel by the bridle, 

 Avhile the slave was mounted in his tui'n, the animal 

 being their joint property, — should excite contempt 

 in the eyes of a nation long habituated to more pol- 

 ished observances, they prevailed with him to attire 

 himself in a suit of white apparel, and accept the 

 horse which they had provided for introducing him 

 among his newly-conquered subjects. But he soon 

 felt the encumbrance of this novel equipment ; and, 

 resuming his barbarous guise, he entered the camp 

 before .Jerusalem, exclaiming against the absurdity 

 of forsaking established usages for the mere gratifi- 

 cation of a vain and ridiculous caprice. 



The articles of capitulation, by virtue of which 

 the inhabitants were entitled to the free exercise of 

 their religion, to their properties, and the protection 

 of the caliph, were signed ; and the sovereignty 

 of the place and of the whole adjacent territory 

 was vested in the conqueror. In these conditions, 

 the basis of most of the treaties since granted by 

 the Mohammedan princes to the Christians, a broad 

 line of distinction is drawn between the followers 

 of the Cross and of the Koran. The former were 

 to admit the latter into their churches at all times : 

 to entertain them gratuitously on their journey for 

 the space of three days : to rise up, as a mark of 

 respect, when they are disposed to sit ; to avoid the 

 same dress, names, langnage, and forms of saluta-. 



