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opolis to Pelusium, to secure Egypt from the incursions of the Arabs. They were therefore not subjects, but enemies to the Egyptians; as they were likewise to the Assyrians, for they assisted 'Belesis and Arbaces in overturning that empire, assisted them not as fellow-rebels, but as an independent state with their auxiliary forces.

The next great conquerors of the east were Cyrus and the Persians; but neither he nor any of his successors ever reduced the whole body of the Arabs to subjection. They might conquer some of the exterior, but never reached the interior parts of the country and Herodotus, the historian who lived nearest to those times, saith expressly, that the Arabs were never reduced by the Persians to the condition of subjects, but were considered by them as friends, and opened to them a passage into Egypt, which without the assistance and permission of the Arabs would have been utterly impracticable; and in another place he saith, that while Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria, and the neighboring countries were taxed, the Arabian territories continued free from paying any tribute. They were then regarded as friends, but afterwards they assisted with their forces 'Amyrtæus king of Egypt against Darius Nothus, and Enagoras king of Cyprus against Artaxerxes Mnemon; so that they acted as friends or enemies to the Persians, just as they thought proper, and as it suited their humour or their interest.

Alexander the Great then overturned the Persian empire, and conquered Asia. The neighbouring princes sent their ambassadors to make their submissions. The Arabs alone disdained to acknowledge the conqueror, and scorned to send any embassy, or to take any notice of him. This slight provoked him to such a degree, that he meditated an expedition against them; and the great preparations which he made for it, showed that he thought them a very formidable enemy; but death intervened, and put an end to all that his ambition or resentment had formed against them. Thus they happily escaped the fury of his arms, and were never subdued by any of his successors. Antigonus, one of the greatest of his successors," made two attempts upon them, one by his general Athenæus, and the other by his own son Demetrius, but both without success; the former was defeated, and the latter was glad to make peace

1 Diod. Sic. 1. ii. c. 24.

* Αράβιοι δὲ οὐδαμᾶ κατήκουσαν ἐπὶ δουλοσύμῃ Πέρσῃσι, ἀλλὰ ξεῖνοι ἐγένοντο, παρέντες Καμβύσεα ἐπ' Αἴγυπτον ἀεκόντων γὰρ Αραβίων, οὐκ ἂν ἐσβάλοιεν Πέρσαι εἰς Αἴγυπτον. Αταbes nunquam a Persis in servitutem redacti sunt, sed hospites exstiterunt, quum Cambysi aditum in Egyptum permisissent: quibus invitis haudqu quam fuissent ingressi Persæ Ægyptum. Herod. I. iii. § 88.

3 Ibid. § 91, πλὴν μοίρης τῆς ̓Αραβίων (ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν ἀτελέα)-prater Arabum partem, (hæc enim erat immunis.)

4 Diodorus Siculus, l. 13, c. 46. Prideaux Connect. p. 1, b. 6, anno 410.

Diodorus Siculus, 1. 15, c. 2. Prideaux Connect. p. 1, b. 7, an. 386.

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Strabo, 1. 16, p. 1076 and 1132, Edit. Amstel. 1707. Arrian. 7, p. 300, Edit. Gronov. "Diodorus Siculus, 1. 19, c. 94.

with them, and leave them at their liberty. Neither would they suffer the people employed by Antigonus, to gather the bitumen on the lake Asphaltites, whereby he hoped greatly to increase his revenue. The Arabs fiercely attacked the workmen and the guards, and forced them to desist from their undertaking. So true is the assertion of Diodorus, that neither the Assyrians formerly, nor the kings of the Medes and Persians, nor yet of the Macedonians, were able to subdue them; nay though they led many and great forces against them, yet they could not accomplish their attempts.' We find them afterwards sometimes at peace, and sometimes at war with the neighbouring states; sometimes joining the Syrians, and sometimes the Egyptians; sometimes assisting the Jews, and sometimes plundering them; and in all respects acting like a free people, who neither feared nor courted any foreign power whatever.

The Romans then invaded the east, and subdued the countries adjoining, but were never able to reduce Arabia into the form of a Roman province. It is too common with historians to say that such or such a country was conquered, when perhaps only a part of it was so. It is thus that 'Plutarch asserts that the Arabs submitted to Lucullus; whereas the most that we can believe is, that he might subdue some particular tribes; but he was recalled, and the command of the Roman army in Asia was given to Pompey. Pompey, though he triumphed over the three parts of the world, could not yet conquer Arabia. He' carried his arms into the country, obtained some victories, and compelled Aretas to submit; but other affairs soon obliged him to retire, and by retiring he lost all the advantages which he had gained. His forces were no sooner withdrawn, than the Arabs made their incursions again into the Roman provinces. Elius Gallus in the reign of Augustus penetrated far into the country, but a strange distemper made terrible havoc in his army, and after two years spent in this unfortunate expedition, he was glad to escape with the small remainder of his forces. The Emperor Trajan reduced some parts of Arabia, but he could never subdue it entirely; and when he besieged the city of the Hagarenes, as 'Dion says, his soldiers were repelled by light

* Οὔθ ̓ οἱ Ασσύριοι τὸ παλαιὸν, οὔθ' οἱ Μήδων καὶ Περσῶν, ἔτι δὲ Μακεδόνων βασιλεῖς ἠδυνήθησαν αὐτοὺς καταδουλώσασθαι, πολλὰς μὲν καὶ μεγάλας δυνάμεις ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἀγαγόντες, οὐδέποτε δὲ τὰς ἐπιβολὰς συντελέσαντες. nec Assyrii olim, nec Medi ac Persa, imo nec Macedonum reges subigere illos potuere, qui licet magnis in eos copiis moverint, nunquam tamen incepta ad finem perduxere. Diod. Sic. 2, c. 48.

Plutarch in Lucullo, passim.

1 Plutarch in Pompeio, § 41, 42.

2 Strabo, 1. 16, p. 1126. Dion. Cass. Hist. 1. 53, § 29, ed. Reimar. calls him by mistake Ælius Largus.

• Ἐγένοντο δέ βρονταὶ, καὶ ἴριδες ὑπεφαίνοντο. ἀστραπαί τε καὶ ζάλη, χάλαζα καὶ κεραυνοὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίους ἐνέπιπτον, ὁπότε προσβάλοιεν. καὶ ὁπότε οὖν δειπνοῖεν, μυῖαι τοῖς βρώμασι καὶ τοῖς πόμασι προσιζάνουσαι, δυσχερείας ἅπαντα ἐνεπίμπλων. καὶ Τραϊανὸς μὲν ἐκεῖθεν οὕτως anλ0c. Ibi cœlum tonitru contremuit, irides visa sunt, fulgura, procellæ, grando, fulmina in Romanos cadebant, quoties in illos impetum facerent: quotiesque cœnarent, musca tam esculentis quam potulentis insidentes, cuncta nausea quadam implebant. Itaque Trajanus inde proficiscitur. Dionis. Hist. 1. 68, § 31.

nings, thunderings, hail, whirlwinds, and other prodigies, and were constantly so repelled, as often as they renewed their assaults. At the same time great swarms of flies infested his camp; so that he was forced at last to raise the siege, and retired with disgrace into his own dominions. About eighty years after, the emperor Severus twice besieged the same city with a numerous army and a train of military engines; but he had no better success than Trajan. God,' says the heathen historian, preserved the city by the backwardness of the emperor at one time, and by that of his forces at another. He made some assaults, but was baffled and defeated, and returned with precipitation as great as his vexation for his disappointment. And if such great emperors and able warriors as Trajan and Severus could not succeed in their attempts, it is no wonder that the following emperors could prevail nothing. The Arabs continued their incursions and depredations, in Syria and other Roman provinces, with equal license and impunity.

Such was the state and condition of the Arabs to the time of their famous prophet Mohammed, who laid the foundations of a mighty empire: and then for several centuries they were better known among the European nations by the name of the Sarraceni or Saracens, the Arracenis of Pliny, and the 'Haga renes of Holy Scripture. Their conquests were indeed amazingly rapid; they can be compared to nothing more properly than to a sudden flood or inundation. In a few years the Saracens overran more countries, and subdued more people than the Romans did in several centuries. They were then not only free and independent of the rest of the world, but were themselves masters of the most considerable parts of the earth. And so they continued for about three centuries; and after their empire was dissolved, and they were reduced within the limits of their native country, they still maintained their liberty against the Tartars, Mamalucs, Turks, and all foreign enemies whatever. Whoever were the conquerors of Asia, they were still unconquered, still continued their incursions, and preyed upon all alike. The Turks have now for several centuries been lords of the adjacent countries; but they have been so little able to restrain the depredations of the Arabs, that they have

4 Καὶ οὕτω θεὸς ὁ ρυσάμενος τὴν πόλιν, τοὺς μὲνστρα τιώτας δυνηθέντας ἂν εἰς αὐτὴν εἰσελ θεῖν, διὰ τοῦ Σεβήρου ἀνεκάλεσε, καὶ τὸν Σεβῆς ρον αὖ, βουληθέντα αὐτήν μετὰ τοῦτο λαβεῖν, διὰ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐκώλυσεν. Itaque Deus urbem liberavit, qui per Severum revocavit milites, quum possent in ipsam ingredi; et Severum cupientem eandem postea capere, per milites prohibuit. Ibid. 1. 75, § 12.

Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. vi. c. 32, ubi vide notam Harduini.

Hagarenes, the descendants of Ishmael.

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They are called also Ishmaelites and Saracens, &c.' Calmet's Dict.

The Saracens began their conquests A. D. 622, and to reign at Damascus A. D. 637. Their empire was broken and divided A. D. 936. See Dr. Blair's Chronol. Tables, Tab. 33 and 39, and Sir Isaac Newton on the Apocalypse, c. 3, p. 304, 305.

See Thevenot in Harris, vol. 2, b. 2, c. 9, and Demetrius Cantemir's Hist. of the Othman empire in Ahmed II. p. 393.

been obliged to pay them a sort of annual tribute for the safe passage and security of the pilgrims, who usually go in great companies to Mecca: so that the Turks have rather been dependent upon them, than they upon the Turks. And they still continue the same practices, and preserve the same superiority, if we may believe the concurrent testimony of modern travellers of all

nations.

Two of our own nation have lately travelled into those parts, and have written and published their travels, both men of literature, both reverend divines, and writers of credit and character, Dr. Shaw and Bishop Pococke; and in several instances they confirm the account that we have given of this people. "With regard to the manners and customs of the Bedoweens,' saith 'Dr. Shaw, it is to be observed that they retain a great many of those we read of in sacred as well as profane history; being, if we except their religion, the same people they were two or three thousand years ago; without ever embracing any of those novelties in dress or behaviour, which have had so many periods and revolutions in the Moorish and Turkish cities.' And after giving some account of their hospitality, he proceeds thus; 'Yet the outward behaviour of the Arab frequently gives the lie to his inward temper and inclination. For he is naturally thievish and treacherous; and it sometimes happens that those very persons are overtaken and pillaged in the morning, who were entertained the night before with all the instances of friendship and hospitality. Neither are they to be accused for plundering strangers only, and attacking almost every person whom they find unarmed and defenceless, but for those many implacable and hereditary animosities, which continually subsist among them, literally fulfilling to this day the prophecy, "that Ishmael should be a wild man; his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him."' Dr. Shaw himself' was robbed and plundered by a party of Arabs in his journey from Ramah to Jerusalem, though he was escorted by four bands of Turkish soldiers; and yet the Turks at the same time paid a stipulated sum to the Arabs, in order to secure a safe passage for their caravans: and there cannot surely be a stronger proof, not only of the independency of the Arabs, but even of their superiority, not only of their enjoying their liberty, but even of their abusing it to licentiousness. Bishop Pococke was the last who travelled into those parts; and he hath informed us that the present inhabitants of Arabia resemble the ancient in several respects; that they live under tents, and stay in one place as long as they have water and shrubs and trees for their camels to feed on, for there is no Preface to his Travels, p. vii.

Shaw's Travels, p. 300, &c.

2 Pococke's Description of the East, vol. 1, b. iii. c. 2.

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tillage nor grass in all this country; that all their riches consist in camels, a few goats, and sometimes sheep, so that they live in great poverty, having nothing but a few dates and a little goats' milk, and bring all their corn eight or ten days' journey from Cairo; that they are in different nations or clans, each obeying the orders of its great chief, and every encampment those of its particular chief; and though seemingly divided, yet they are all united in a sort of league together; that they love plunder and the roving sort of life this disposition leads them to, have good horses, and manage them and their pikes with much address; those on foot use poles, with which they fence off the spear with great art. So that authors both sacred and profane, Jewish and Arabian, Greek and Roman, Christian and Mohammedan, ancient and modern, all agree in the same account and if any are desirous of seeing the matter deduced more at large, they may be referred to a dissertation upon the independency of the Arabs by the learned authors of the Universal History.

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An author, who hath lately published an account of Persia, having occasion to speak of the Arabians, says, 'their expertness in the use of the lance and sabre, renders them fierce and intrepid. Their skill in horsemanship, and their capacity of bearing the heat of their burning plains, give them also a superiority over their enemies. Hence every petty chief in his own district considers himself as a sovereign prince, and as such exacts customs from all passengers. Their conduct in this respect has often occasioned their being considered in no better light than robbers, &c. They generally marry within their own tribe, &c. When they plunder caravans travelling through their territories, they consider it as reprisals on the Turks and Persians, who often make inroads into their country, and carry away their corn and their flocks.'

Who can fairly consider and lay all these particulars together, and not perceive the hand of God in this whole affair from the beginning to the end? The sacred historian saith, that these prophecies concerning Ishmael were delivered partly by the angel of the Lord, and partly by God himself: and indeed who but God, or one raised and commissioned by him, could describe so particularly the genius and manners, not only of a single person before he was born, but of a whole people from the first founder of the race to the present time? It was somewhat wonderful, and not to be foreseen by human sagacity or prudence, that a man's whole posterity should so nearly resemble him, and retain the same inclinations, the same habits, the same customs throughout all ages. The waters of the purest spring or fountain are soon changed and polluted in their • Hanway's Travels, vol. 4, part 5 c. 29, p. 221, &c.

⚫ B. iv. c. 4.

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