Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1873-09-06
MosIen, Africa.
Arab DominntIon ana its ResuI,s.

When the Romans conquered Car
thage they were assisted by the native
chiefs; and at first it appeared as If Af-
rica would become civilized province
in the fashion of Spain and Gaul Ber-
Der regiments served in the army; Ber-
Der princes were educated in Rome, and
soon became distinguished as historians
and philosophers. Bu the desert was
impregnable and continually poured
fresh hords upon the Tell, or cultivated
land. In Algeria the Romans were strong
ly established, and the ruins of their out
posts are yet to be seen far away inland.
But in Morocco they were settled only on
the coast. Algeria was wisely and tenn
perately governed under tue republic;
and Cicero describes it as peaceful
province; but, when the bad days of the
empire came, it was disregarded to
cornfeld, and was forced to feed, at its
own expense, to the Roman lazzaroni.
The Governors became satraps, the
great land owners were accused of con-
spiracy, their estates might escheat to
the crown, and the people were made
agricultural serfs. Moreover, the wild
region between the Tell and the Sahara
contained the game-preserves of Rome.
The lion was royal beast, licensed to
feed on the cattle of the shepherd, and
on the shepherd himself if it preferred
him.
When the Arabs invaded Africa they
did not merely settle on the coast. This
people, accustomed to deserts, conquer
ed the whole country; but they also ad-
ded persuasion to force. recognized the
Berbers as thier kinsmen, declared them
to be Arabs in their origin, and allured
them to accept the mission of the proph-
ct. The races mingled, and the nation
of the Moors were formed. At that
time Jews abounded in Barbary; their
brethren across the straits were being
prosecuted by the Christian Goths, and
the African Jews, is said, instigated the
invasion of Spain. .t
The Moors treated with indulgence the
Europeans whom they conquered, and
acquired the arts OF the Romans and the
Greeks; Andalusia civilized Africa; and
the city of Morocco became the rival of
Cordova and Seville. Between the lit
erary men of the two countries an aim
able CONTROVERSY would often arise as
to which might claim pre-eminence in
learning and the arts, and it appears to
have been allowed that Mexico was not
inferior to spain. gsg'sI
The existence of civilized North
Africa soon made its influence felt aross
The desert. ... a'.l.
The camel was unknown in Carthage,
and but rarely employed in the Roman
A. H., lint n m a
duced in thousands; the Sahara voyage
could be made with comparatively ia
cility. Arab travellers of piety, and
learning took up their abode in Soudan,
and the Moslem mission work commenc
ed; mosques and schools, palaces witt
glass windows and painted walls sprank
up ON the banks of the Niger, and the
glories of Grenada were reflected al
Iimbuctoo.
Negro nations were speedily conve rt-
ed; crusades were waged against the pa
gan kingdoms, as the Arabs had con-
Verted Iimbuctoo. Thus the work was
continued from century to century, and
thus it is still going on. In Cairo anc
Constantinople, islam may appear to be
decaying; but in the heart OF Africa i
is young, victorious, and IN the earl,
>, days. p
. / IL The negroes, under the influence o
! this religion and its accompanying cod'
, of laws, appear to be an altered people.
Restrictions are placed on poly gamy ant
/ slavery; the position of the vile is eleva
ted; drunkenness is abolished; clusters o
, wretched .huts have given place to wall
: ed towns, with municipal governments
and immense, regions have been openeC
: up to travel and trades. A large part
! OF Soudon, has in fact, ceased to be AT
rican, and has become Asiatic. The in
!, habitants are black, but their laws
manners sndFrehgion, are mo- longe
those of the negroes but of the. Arabs
Their minstrels are men who go ou
chanting verses of the Koran throug
the nose; their fetishmen ARE sanity az
venturers, who travel from chief to chic
and from city,to city, writing phylact'
ries and charms. Thousands of piou
negroes make every year their pilgrim
age to Mecca Many perish on tn
( road, and many return from the Hoi.
I CITY ina very unholy turn of mind; TO
$ as the Tartars say of Aiecca, sThe tore
: is dark as its foot;p and fas 10 was wnt
: ten by the Ovid of Arabia: 81
>. set out in the hopa o 4 tightening my sins,
And return d brng ging homo With me a irrs
l8 3lnifioad oi tfansgressioas. ild A''ai' q
! .iBut the very wickedness7 of Niece
. deepens real enthusiasm into severit
: and wrath; mad every year there is
steady back water of bigotory into Tal
: tara, British Iudia, and the Soudon; tn
most distant lands being always tn
: devout, and in Oriental empires, the ou
lying provinces always pay most taxs
to the crown. r."
- Readss al tlfcan SGetcls6ook." Z
vi ~. DA.. ON xvantas, TO- alon