New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-03

familiarity with the subject there are thousands
| to whom the desert spells simply barbarism' ana
| nothing more. For the benefit OF those thou-
sands Mr. Scott has written an invaluable WORK
1t Is true that since it is published in three stout
volumes and is altogether a serious piece OF MS
torical composition. it Is not at all nkeiy 10
supersede the latest popular novel in the HANDS
OF the average reader. But 1t Is also true tha1
MIR. Scott has written his many pages with warm
sympathy, making them vivid and OFTEN pic'-
uresque. and he would have to be a very I'M
resnonsjve reader indeed who could remain I'M
interested in this absorbing narrative There are
no footnotes to disturb the even flow OF the lat
ter 1t unfolds with perfect ease putting his
toricaI events before In their natural sequence
with lust the right commentary. No book on the
subject so good as this one has hitherto oeeh
written in English.
Mr.. Scott appears to like the Arabs At all
events while leaving none OF their deiec'S un-
noticed. he contrives to give. on the whoie'
very favorable impression of them AL the ou'-
set he takes pains to expose the lhJustice VI
the prevalent Western conception OF Mahoinet.
whose faults, he maintains. were to a certain
extent the inevitable product OF his TIME ana
were. in any case, fewer in number than mod
ern Europe with its deep rooted prejudice mas
been willing to admit "A profound knowledge
citation of the spiritual requirements OF his couh-
,rvrnen-uDon whose minds the doctrines OF
Zoroaster and of Christ had made no perIri-
nent tnpresson-enabled him to fabrlclte d
system demonstrated by experience TO De au-
mirably fitted to the taste. the genius ana the
superstition of the Oriental Summing up the
author remarks that Mahomet not only ieit
devout worshippers of a single God those "hoi"
he had found polytheists and idolaters but set
them on the right track where the adInihiStra-
.ion or nurely mundane affairs was concerned.
The prophet created in his followers precisely
the spirit needed by race whose destiny 1t
was to forge westward. for a time at least and
to pIaut I'm European soil the seeds of what was
best In the thought and emotion OF the East
Yet the Moslems who swept into Spain brought
with them also the seeds Of their own decay IN
that moral instability which seems from the
start to have been part and parcel of their nat
ure Had cooler blood coursed through their
veins the history of the Peninsula. and. for that
matter OF all Europe. would have been very
different from the history that the records show.
Take. for example. the story OF Abd-al-Rahman
III, one of the greatest figures in the annals of
the Western khalifate:
! His fame and his munhcence allured to the court
! of Cordova the most accomplished scholars from
every region Of the world. The capital abounded
with colleges, academies. lyceums and other educa
tOnal foundations The medical profession had at
tanned to a high standard of excellence. and the
Jewish surgeons OF Cordova were universally recog-
! niZcd unrivalled IN the extent and variety OF
! their knowledge. Many physicians held important
employments under the government. deserved trib-
utes to their skill: but such their charity that
| the doors of even the most distinguished OF them
were always open to the poor and their gratuitouS
| ministrauons at the service OF the most humble
sufferer The sciences of astronomy and chem
! iStry, based upon observations Bagdad and x
perirnents at Cairo and Damascus. had made
Of nr6Ss n b the rGy ale in the
tho homes OF the learned. the mind of the seeker
after knowledge daily exercised by the discus
sion OF subjects of universal interest by the prose-
visations. by the spirited contests of poets for
| literary supremacy In every calling and profess
sion. in every position of life. the useful and the
ornamental arts the noble elegant pursuits of
! literature cultivated by both sexes with an
| ardor akin to enthusiasm
This prince. In short, represents the MOors in
! Spain at their best. and it was because such add
mirable qualities as he possessed were mani
tested over and over again in many leaders and
were not uncommon among the people at large.
binary facility and bore extraordinary fruit.
But it is of this Abd-al Raham III that Mr. Scott
| says that the lower passions of his nature
| "bordered upon insanity" and all through the
history of the empire there runs the thread of u
disintegrating force, of materalism ranker
ancient Rome. The great men who pass In a
kind of imperial procession through these vol
umes seem constantly tainted in character.
When Grenada fell it was not simply because
fractional troubles had steadily hean weak euinp