The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1870-02-03
wnAr ~ Owe rHE ARABs.


WnAT WE OWE THE ARABS.
The ipdusrious Arabs revived those
usefnl stls vhiek Che ba,batians Of Bu'
rope seemed anxious to forget. They
wovs Ire richest fabrics Of wool, cotton
or six; they manufactured cloth ofgold,
end curpelu Of unsqualIsd ,plcodOf; their
diyans were covered With satin cushions
and veIys! haogings. aud muslins and
lace Of fairy Ike tsx'ufO adorned the
Mo,lsm bride. 10 metals the Arabs
were also excellent Worknen. They for
ged huge chsins and bars Of from the
sisel,of Damascus was renowned 10 the
cities Of Europe. Their jcWolry was the
forrest and eo'tlia,t Of The age; they Law
ished gold and silver in decorating their
mosques and their palaces, and their
minis produced a coinage that was the
model ofIho European world, As arch
,itsctg lboy invented strangely graceful
stvle Of building. in which the Iaucy Of
IT, 4rtist ismsd to reyolin new creations.
and Of which the lovely ruins Of the
ALEXANDRA form a living example; in
their private houses Lhoy gathered the
richest marble, The cOstlieSI mOsaics,
fountains Of dancing waters and gar
dsns Of perpetual beauty.
The Arab workman vas usually tenn.
perats, nlmostto suslerity. Mohammcd
bad enforced the doctrine of total O6s!i.
neuce, with a risor unsurpassed by the
most austoro Of modern refOrmCrs. He
denounced temporal and eternal woes
against the Musselman who should touch
che accurSod wine. He had himself set
40 example Of perfect abstinence, and 10
tbsir pufsr age his followers oboyed' the
P,eoep. of their prophet. 1t was only in
the decline Of the nation that the Mo-
hammsdans learned to initiate tho drunk-
enuess and icuntiOusuess Of Europeans
Temperate 10 their dict, frugal 10 their
mode of life, the Arabs possessed sound
minds 10 SQUAD bodies; they soon began
to display an intolloctual yigor lha! rniS,
ed them to the front of fertilization. They
eagerly sought for knowledge, amid the
ruins of Grecian literature, and the poets
and philosophers of Athens and Of Romo
wsro translated for tho benefit Of the stu
dents Of BOgdaJ aud Cordova, Tho col.
legss and schools Of tho Arab cities were
thrOnged with attentive schOlar'r when
the great mobiles Of France and England
could neither read nor write; they pro-
iucod eminent poets and graceful writer's,
while Erops had neither a literature
nor language; their libraries numbered
thousands of volumes, when Oxford pos.
sssssed only few imperfect manuscripts
chained 10 the walls, and the poorest
msrchant of Blgdad lived with moro
comfort and was far better informed
than the proud knight who came at the
bend of his barbarouS squadron 10 die on
the burning plains of Syria in an inefFcO-
tual crusade. Common schools and col.
legs.. indeed. seem 10 have originated
with the Ayabi. Tie caliphs were as
ardent friends oil popular education as
Brougham or Barnard. Haroun Al
R4schid decreed that FREQ school should
be attached to every mosques the Spanish
cnliphs founded colleges at Cordova end
.soyislle, shat became the models Of hose
of France aud Eoglaad; the SaracOnic
working men were accomplished artists,
and the general education of the people
aided the progress of manufactures and
the arIs.-Harpsrs Magazine.
A SHOWER OF SPIDERS.