aclius and
Chosroes had altogether destroyed the mercantile relations of the Roman
and Persian empires, and had thrown the entire Oriental and African
trade into the hands of the Arabs. As a merchant Mohammed himself makes
his first appearance. The first we hear in his history are the journeys
he has made as the factor of the wealthy Chadizah. In these expeditions
with the caravans to Damascus and other Syrian cities, he was brought in
contact with Jews and men of business, who, from the nature of their
pursuits, were of more enlarged views than mere Arab chieftains or the
petty tradesmen of Arab towns. Through such agency the first impetus was
given. As to the rapid success, its causes are in like manner so plain
as to take away all surprise. It is no wonder that in fifty years, as
Abderrahman wrote to the khalif, not only had the tribute from the
entire north of Africa ceased, through the population having become
altogether Mohammedan, but that the Moors boasted an Arab descent as
their greatest glory. For, besides the sectarian animosities on which I
have dwelt as facilitating the first conquest of the Christians, and the
dreadful shock that had been given by the capture of the Holy City,
Jerusalem, the insulting and burning the sepulchre of our Saviour, and
the carrying away of his cross as a trophy by the Persians, there were
other very powerful causes. For many years the taxation imposed by the
Emperors of Constantinople on their subjects in Asia and Africa had been
not only excessive and extortionate, but likewise complicated. This the
khalifs replaced by a simple well-defined tribute of far less amount.
Thus, in the case of Cyprus, the sum paid to the khalif was only half of
what it had been to the emperor; and, indeed, the lower orders were
never made to feel the bitterness of conquest; the blows fell on the
ecclesiastics, not on the population, and between them there was but
little sympathy. In the eyes of the ignorant nations the prestige of the
patriarchs and bishops was utterly destroyed by their detected
helplessness to prevent the capture and insult of the sacred places. On
the payment of a trifling sum the conqueror guaranteed to the Christian
and the Jew absolute security for their worship. An equivalent was
given for a price. Religious freedom was bought with money. Numerous
instances might be given of the scrupulous integrity with which the Arab
commanders complied with their part of the contract. The e