306 



ON THE MIDDLE OR DARK AGES. 



Horror covers all the heath : — 



Clouds of carnage blot the sun : — 

 Sisters ! weave the web of death : — 



Sisters I cease — the work is done! 



The armies of the south of Asia, however, under the banners of Mahomet, 

 were as little disposed, at least on the first spur of their fury, to attend to the 

 voice of literature, as those of the north. Yemen, or Happy Arabia, till the 

 time of this accomplished impostor, was equally the seat of polite learning- and 

 of courag-e. It was in climate and language, as well as in elegant pursuits, 

 the Arcadia of the eastern world. Here the genius of poetry received his 

 birth, and was nursed into maturity with fond and incessant attention. The 

 Persians caught the divine art from the Arabians, as the Greeks afterward 

 caught it from the Persians. The best pastoral poems in the world, or Cas- 

 seidas, as they are called, and some of the best epic productions, are of Ara- 

 bian growth. Before the era of Mahomet, a kind of poetical academy was 

 established in this quarter, which used to assemble, at stated times, in a town 

 named Ocadeh ; where every tribe attended its favourite poet on his recital 

 of the piece prepared for the occasion, and supported his aspiring preten- 

 sions. Those declared by the appointed judges most excellent were tran- 

 scribed in characters of gold on Egyptian paper, and hung up in the temple of 

 Mecca ; and the seven which constitute the Moallakat, or suspended eclogues, 

 best known in Europe^ are well worthy of the celebrity they have attained. 



On the appearance of Mahomet, Arabia thronged with poets of this descrip- 

 tion, and of high and justly distinguished characters ; most of whom, more- 

 over, to their honour, opposed his pretensions, and many of whom ridiculed 

 them with a severity which he never either forgave or forgot. As he ad- 

 vanced, however, in success, poetry and eloquence, and scientific pursuits of 

 every kind, became neglected and even despised, except so far as they could 

 contribute to the promotion of his interest ; the refined and elevated contests 

 at Ocadeh were dropped, and every other passion was made to bend to the 

 master-passion of the day. And hence, on the capture of Alexandria by the 

 forces of Omar, the second in succession to Mahomet, the whole of its mag- 

 nificent library, which had been accumulating from the time of its illustrious 

 founder, was condemned to the flames, and served as fuel to the hot-baths for 

 a period of six months. Amrus, the general of Omar's army, was a lover of 

 letters, and the esteem he had contracted for Philoponus, one of the most 

 learned Alexandrians of the day, strongly inclined him to spare this invaluable 

 treasure. He wrote, therefore, to the Caliph in its behalf, and the answer 

 received from him is well known from Abulpharagius's history ; " As to the 

 books of which you make mention, if there be contained m them what ac- 

 cords with the Book of God (meaning the Alcoran), tlie Book of God is all- 

 sufficient without them : but if there be any thing repugnant to that book, we 

 can have no need of them. Order them, therefore, to be all destroyed." 



The wildfire of Asia enkindled an equal wildfire throughout Europe. Of 

 the purity of the motive upon which the crusades were first founded there can 

 be no doubt ; but the unfortunate course they took, and the mistaken views 

 and ferocious passions to which they gave birth, rendered them, on the part 

 of the Christians, as hostile to the cause of science and literature, to say 

 nothing of higher objects, as the fury of the Saracens. Every thing was for- 

 saken and forgotten in the accomplishment of the only object with which 

 Christendom was now pregnant ; every knee bowed down before the standard 

 of the Cross ; the religion of love was converted into a religion of vengeance ; 

 the motto of Mecca became that of the Vatican ; to fight for the faith was here 

 also declared to be an act of obedience to God,* and every pulse beat high 



« The following is a part of the famous bull of Pope Gregory IX., published in 1234, in which he exhorts 

 and conunands all good Christians to assume the Cross and join the expedition at that tin.e preparing 

 against the Holy Land. " The service to which mankind are now invited is an effectual atonement for 

 the miscarriages of a negligent life. The discipline of a regular penance would have discouraged many 

 offenders so much that they would have had no heart to venture upon it : but the holy war is a compen- 

 dious method of discharging men from guilt, and restoring them to the Divine favour. Even if they die 

 on their march, the intention will be taken for the deed ; and many in this way may be crowned without 

 fighting." — Collier's Eccl. vol i. 



