.]

[Footnote 93: He dreamt that he was at Thessalonica, a harmless and
unmeaning vision; but his soothsayer, or his cowardice, understood
the sure omen of a defeat concealed in that inauspicious word, Give to
another the victory, (Theoph. p. 286. Zonaras, tom. ii. l. xiv. p. 88.)]

[Footnote 94: Every passage and every fact that relates to the isle, the
city, and the colossus of Rhodes, are compiled in the laborious treatise
of Meursius, who has bestowed the same diligence on the two larger
islands of the Crete and Cyprus. See, in the iiid vol. of his works, the
Rhodus of Meursius, (l. i. c. 15, p. 715-719.) The Byzantine writers,
Theophanes and Constantine, have ignorantly prolonged the term to 1360
years, and ridiculously divide the weight among 30,000 camels.]

[Footnote 95: Centum colossi alium nobilitaturi locum, says Pliny, with
his usual spirit. Hist. Natur. xxxiv. 18.]

II. The conquest of Egypt may be explained by the character of the
victorious Saracen, one of the first of his nation, in an age when the
meanest of the brethren was exalted above his nature by the spirit of
enthusiasm. The birth of Amrou was at once base and illustrious; his
mother, a notorious prostitute, was unable to decide among five of the
Koreish; but the proof of resemblance adjudged the child to Aasi,
the oldest of her lovers. [96] The youth of Amrou was impelled by the
passions and prejudices of his kindred: his poetic genius was exercised
in satirical verses against the person and doctrine of Mahomet; his
dexterity was employed by the reigning faction to pursue the religious
exiles who had taken refuge in the court of the Aethiopian king. [97]
Yet he returned from this embassy a secret proselyte; his reason or his
interest determined him to renounce the worship of idols; he escaped
from Mecca with his friend Caled; and the prophet of Medina enjoyed at
the same moment the satisfaction of embracing the two firmest champions
of his cause. The impatience of Amrou to lead the armies of the faithful
was checked by the reproof of Omar, who advised him not to seek
power and dominion, since he who is a subject to-day, may be a prince
to-morrow. Yet his merit was not overlooked by the two first successors
of Mahomet; they were indebted to his arms for the conquest of
Palestine; and in all the battles and sieges of Syria, he united with
the temper of a chief the valor of an adventurous soldier. In a visit
to Medina, the caliph expressed a wis