230 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



city, with his hand linked in that of the Patriarch, 

 and discoursing- familiarly with him. The hour of 

 prayer having come, he withdrew to the steps of the 

 eastern portico of the church of Constantine, fearing 

 that if he prayed inside the church the Mahometans 

 would seize it and convert it into a mosque. Passing 

 through Bethlehem, he prayed in the church built over 

 the grotto where Jesus was born. But to prevent it- 

 being taken away from the Christians, he left a 

 written order forbidding the Mussulmans to pray in 

 it more than one at a time. 



In Africa, the same spirit of moderation marked 

 the progress of the Islam faith. When it made its 

 appearance among the many heresies which were dis- 

 gracing the African Church, it was regarded not so 

 much as a new religion as a Christian sect. The 

 partisans of Arius welcomed it almost, and it 

 spread without persecution or violence among the 

 barbarous tribes relegated to the southern countries 

 after the recent invasions which had swept across 

 Africa. 



In Algeria, the Mussulmans must be treated as 

 fellow-citizens, entitled to equal rights and equal 

 respect, while in the East they must treat us as we 

 treat their brethren in Algeria. What nonsense has 

 been written about the intractable fanaticism of the 

 Algerian Arabs ! How often Abd-el-Kader has been 

 represented as an implacable sectary ! The people 

 who made these accusations had never lived among 



