The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-12-22
I}aglad,

est for the New Year.
- -
Bagdad,
Toward the close of the eighth cen.
tury the house of Abbas founded on the
banks of the Tigris the metropolis of
the Mohammedan faith. Bagdad arose
in the midst of a scene filed with the
fame of ruined cities. Not far off was
Babylon, still family traced cut on its
desolate plain, the stone pictures of
Ninevah, and the palaces of Seleucia !;
closer still were the lofty towers of Mey-
deh. The fallen cities, 1t il said, were
rifled to complete the grandeur of the
sacred capital the Saracen preyed upon
the last labors of the Assprians, and
the wealth of the Moslem world and of
the conquered Christians was employed
in providing proper home for the
vicegerent of Heaven. Mohammedan
writers labor with vain epithsts TO
point the splendor of Bagdad when,
under the vigorous rule of Haroun al
Raschld and his vizier, Jaflier, it sud.
denly outstripped in prosperity and
holiness all earthly cities 1t was the
central shrine of the Moslem faith.
The Commander of the Faithful ruled
over its people. The power of Haroun
was felt in distant Spain and on the
banks Of the Indus: the Tigris once
more labored beneath the commerce of
mankind the merchants of Egypt and
of India met in the bazars of Bagdad /;
the Christian and the worshippers,
the Brahmin and the Jew, filled its
prosperous streets.
II is not probable, therefore, that the
Arab accounts are greatly exaggerated.
Bagdad possessed powerful citadel, a
circle of lofty walls, royal palace on
the Tigris whose endless halls were
adorned with all the graces of Saracenic
architecture, and mosques of unequaled
splendor. 1t was the most populous
city of an age when Rome was half.
deserted ruin, when London and Paris
were barbarous towns, and Charlemagne
was vainly striving to make his capital,
in the wilderness OF Flanders, centre
of Western progress. The humane
spirit of early Mohammedanism had
filled Bagdad with hospitals, dispense;
les, and edifices of public charity. The
private houses of its wealthy merchants
were adorned with marble and gold.
The graceful court was filed with
fountains; rich hangingS of silk and
velvet covered the lofty walls. Divans
of satin and tables of costly workman
ship, the richest fruits and flowers, and
the rarest wines and viands, set off
those costly banquets at which the de-
generate descendants of Mohammed
delighted to violate every principle Of
their austere law.
But still more remarkable was the
intellectual position of the Eastern cap
ital. The renown of Babylon or Nine.
veh had been altogether material; the
children of the desert surrounded them
selves with all the refnements Of liter
ature and the arts. The wealty Arabs
were educated in poetry, music, and
the languages; common schools were
provided, at which the humblcst citizen
might learn TO read and write with ac-
curacy tho favorte precepts of the
Koran. Colleges, taught by professors
of eminent attainments, drew in
throngs Of students. Libraries, enrich
ed by the spoils of Greek and Roman
thought, teeming with countless vol
umes, awoke boundless ardor for let
ters. The Arab annals abound with
notices of famous scholars, renowned
in every land where the Arabic was
spoken Of poets, historians, aud men
of science who had charmed the advanc.
ing intellect of the children of the Ara
bian sands. The caliphs of Bagdad
were as eager TO discover lost manu-.
script or to enlarge their well stored
libraries as Cosmo or Lorenzo; the
Petrarchs and Roucaccios of the Mo
hammedan capital were rewarded with
useful bounty, and were the friends of
prince amirs. Bagdad became the CEN
tire of a vigorous mental progres whose
impulse was at length felt in all the
barDorous capitals of Christendom.-
From "Great Cities and their Fate" by
EUGENE LAWRENCE, in Harper's Nag
aziRe for Nouem5er.