l health.
His successor Abu-Bekr, the first khalif, attacked both the Romans and
the Persians. The invasion of Egypt occurred A.D. 638, the Arabs being
invited by the Copts. In a few months the Mohammedan general Amrou wrote
to his master, the khalif, "I have taken Alexandria, the great city of
the West." Treason had done its work, and Egypt was thoroughly
subjugated. To complete the conquest of Christian Africa, many attacks
were nevertheless required. Abdallah penetrated nine hundred miles to
Tripoli, but returned. Nothing more was done for twenty years, because
of the disputes that arose about the succession to the khalifate. Then
Moawiyah sent his lieutenant, Akbah, who forced his way to the Atlantic,
but was unable to hold the long line of country permanently. Again
operations were undertaken by Abdalmalek, the sixth of the Ommiade
dynasty, A.D. 698; his lieutenant, Hassan, took Carthage by storm and
destroyed it, the conquest being at last thoroughly completed by Musa,
who enjoyed the double reputation of a brave soldier and an eloquent
preacher. And thus this region, distinguished by its theological acumen,
to which modern Europe owes so much, was for ever silenced by the
scimitar. It ceased to preach and was taught to pray.

In this political result--the Arabian conquest of Africa--there can be
no doubt that the same element which exercised in the Vandal invasion so
disastrous an effect, came again into operation. But, if treason
introduced the enemy, polygamy secured the conquest. In Egypt the Greek
population was orthodox, the natives were Jacobites, more willing to
accept the Monotheism of Arabia than to bear the tyranny of the
orthodox. The Arabs, carrying out their policy of ruining an old
metropolis and erecting a new one, dismantled Alexandria; and thus the
patriarchate of that city ceased to have any farther political existence
in the Christian system, which for so many ages had been disturbed by
its intrigues and violence. The irresistible effect of polygamy in
consolidating the new order of things soon became apparent. In little
more than a single generation all the children of the north of Africa
were speaking Arabic.

[Sidenote: Conquest of Syria and Persia.]

[Sidenote: The fall of Jerusalem.]

During the khalifates of Abu-Bekr and Omar, and within twelve years
after the death of Mohammed, the Arabians had reduced thirty-six
thousand cities, towns, and castles in Persia, Syria, Africa, and had