they have occasion for.”  It was the institution of polygamy, based upon the confiscation of the women in the vanquished countries, that secured forever the Mohammedan rule. the children of these unions gloried in their descent from their conquering fathers.  No better proof can be given of the efficacy of this policy than that which is furnished by North Africa.  The irresistible effect of polygamy in consolidating the new order of things was very striking.  In little more than a single generation, the Khalif was informed by his officers that the tribute must cease, for all the children born in that region were Mohammedans, and all spoke Arabic.

Mohammedanism.  Mohammedanism, as left by its founder, was an anthropomorphic religion.  Its God was only a gigantic man, its heaven a mansion of carnal pleasures.  From these imperfect ideas its more intelligent classes very soon freed themselves, substituting for them others more philosophical, more correct.  Eventually they attained to an accordance with those that have been pronounced in our own times by the Vatican Council as orthodox.  Thus Al-Gazzali says:  “A knowledge of God cannot be obtained by means of the knowledge a man has of himself, or of his own soul.  The attributes of God cannot be determined from the attributes of man.  His sovereignty and government can neither be compared nor measured.”

CHAPTER IV.

The restoration of science in the south.

By the influence of the Nestorians and Jews, the Arabians are turned to the cultivation of Science. —­They modify their views as to the destiny of man, and obtain true conceptions respecting the structure of the world.—­They ascertain the size of the earth, and determine its shape. —­Their khalifs collect great libraries, patronize every department of science and literature, establish astronomical observatories.—­They develop the mathematical sciences, invent algebra, and improve geometry and trigonometry.—­They collect and translate the old Greek mathematical and astronomical works, and adopt the inductive method of Aristotle.—­They establish many colleges, and, with the aid of the Nestorians, organize a public-school system.—­They introduce the Arabic numerals and arithmetic, and catalogue and give names to the stars.—­They lay the foundation of modern astronomy, chemistry, and physics, and introduce great improvements in agriculture and manufactures.

“In the course of my long life,” said the Khalif Ali, “I have often observed that men are more like the times they live in than they are like their fathers.”  This profoundly philosophical remark of the son-in-law of Mohammed is strictly true; for, though the personal, the bodily lineaments of a man may indicate his parentage, the constitution of his mind, and therefore the direction of his thoughts, is determined by the environment in which he lives.