THE ARREST OF INQUIRY. gi 



of our dictionaries evidence in familiar mathematical 

 and chemical terms; in the names of the principal 

 "fixed" stars; and in the words "admiral" and 

 " chemise " ; the influence of the " Arab " in science, 

 war, and dress. 



It forms no part of our story to tell how feuds 

 between rival dynasties and rival sects of Islam, 

 becoming more acute as time went on, enabled Chris- 

 tianity to recover lost ground, and, in the capture 

 of Granada in 1492, to put an end to Moorish rule 

 in Spain. Before that event, a knowledge of Greek 

 philosophy had been diffused through Christendom 

 by the translation of the works of Avicenna, Aver- 

 roes, and other scholars, into Latin. That was about 

 the middle of the twelfth century, when Aristotle, 

 who had been translated into Arabic some three cen- 

 turies earlier, also appeared in Latin dress. The 

 detachment of any branch of knowledge from the- 

 ology being a thing undreamed of, the deep rever- 

 ence in which the Stagirite was held by his Arabian 

 commentators ultimately led to his becoming " sus- 

 pect " by the Christians, since that which approved 

 itself to the followers of Mohammed must, ipso facto, 

 be condemned by the followers of Jesus. Hence 

 came reaction, and recourse to the Scriptures as sole 

 guide to secular as well as sacred knowledge; re- 

 course to a method which, as Hallam says, " had not 

 untied a -single knot, or added o*ne unequivocal truth 

 to the domain of philosophy." 



So far as the scanty records tell (for we may 



