stagger at the statement that seven hundred and thirty thousand furnaces could have been supplied with fuel from the contents of even that magnificent palace, and therefore venture to suggest that the papyri and palm-leaf manuscripts were used rather as fire-lighters than as fuel.  Even this is a rather large order; but undoubtedly the collection was enormous.  The reason tradition ascribes to Omar for this act has never, so far as we know, been disputed till quite recently, when ‘historical criticism’ has taken it in hand.  ’The contents of these books are either in accordance with the teaching of the Koran or they are opposed to it.  If in accord, then they are useless, since the Koran itself is sufficient; and if in opposition, they are pernicious and must be destroyed.’

“But the piecemeal destruction of many hundreds of thousands of manuscripts was no trifling task, even for a despotic caliph.  A few escaped their doom; how, we do not know.  Perhaps some officer annexed for himself some manuscript that struck him as specially beautiful; or perhaps some stoker at some bath rejected one as slow of ignition.  At all events a few—­probably very few—­were preserved, and among them must have been copies of the writings of Euclid and Ptolemy, the Elements of the one, the Almagest of the other.”

A proof of the religious infatuation, or the blind confidence in destiny, which hurried the Moslem commanders of those days into the most extravagant enterprises, is furnished in the invasion of the once proud empire of the Pharaohs, the mighty, the mysterious Egypt, with an army of merely five thousand men.  The caliph Omar himself, though he had suggested this expedition, seems to have been conscious of its rashness, or rather to have been chilled by the doubts of his prime counsellor Othman; for, while Amru was on the march, he despatched missives after him to the following effect:  “If this epistle reach thee before thou hast crossed the boundary of Egypt, come instantly back; but if it find thee within the Egyptian territory, march on with the blessing of Allah, and be assured I will send thee all necessary aid.”

The bearer of the letter overtook Amru while yet within the bounds of Syria; that wary general either had secret information or made a shrewd surmise as to the purport of his errand, and continued his march across the border without admitting him to an audience.  Having encamped at the Egyptian village of Arish, he received the courier with all due respect, and read the letter aloud in the presence of his officers.  When he had finished, he demanded of those about him whether they were in Syria or Egypt.  “In Egypt,” was the reply.  “Then,” said Amru, “we will proceed, with the blessing of Allah, and fulfil the commands of the Caliph.”