which had alarmed and astonished Christendom in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, began to show the signs of weakness and
decay. Nothing, in the history of society, is more marvellous than the
rise of Mohammedan kingdoms. The victories of the Saracens and Turks
were rapid and complete; and in the tenth century, they were the most
successful warriors on the globe, and threatened to subvert the world.
They had planted the standard of the Prophet on the walls of Eastern
capitals, and had extended their conquests to India on the east, and
to Spain on the west. Powerful Mohammedan states had arisen in Asia,
Africa, and Europe, and the Crusaders alone arrested the progress of
these triumphant armies. The enthusiasm which the doctrines of
Mohammed had kindled, cannot easily be explained; but it was fresh,
impetuous, and self-sacrificing. Successive armies of Mohammedan
invaders overwhelmed the ancient realms of civilization, and reduced
the people whom they conquered and converted to a despotic yoke. But
success enervated the victorious conquerors of the East, the empire of
the Caliphs was broken up, and great changes took place even in those
lands where the doctrines of the Koran prevailed. Mohammed perpetuated
a religion, but not an empire. Different Saracenic chieftains revolted
from the "Father of the Faithful," and established separate kingdoms,
or viceroyalties, nearly independent of the acknowledged successors of
Mohammed. The Saracenic empire was early dismembered, and the sultans
of Egypt, Spain, and Syria contested for preeminence.

[Sidenote: Rise of the Turks.]

But a new power arose on the ruins of the Saracen empire, and became
the enthusiastic defenders of the religion of Islam. The Turks were an
obscure tribe of barbarians when Bagdad was the seat of a powerful
monarchy. Their origin has been traced to the wilds of Scythia; but
they early deserted their native forests in search of more fruitful
regions. When Apulia and Sicily were subdued by the Norman pirates, a
swarm of these Scythian shepherds settled in Armenia, probably in the
ninth century, and, by their valor and simplicity, soon became a
powerful tribe. Not long after they were settled in their new abode,
the Sultan of Persia invoked their aid to assist him in his wars
against the Caliph of Bagdad, his great rival. The Turks complied with
his request, and their arms were successful. The sultan then refused
to part with such useful auxiliaries, a