is, which was
subdued by an Arab chieftain and came to an end. But the Jews were still
powerful in the Arabian peninsula. Mohammed designed to range all the
tribes under his banner; but his overtures were scorned, and he ordered
a massacre of all who refused to accept the Koran.

On one day 700 Jews were slain in Medina while the Prophet looked on
without emotion. But the persecution of the Jews by the Mohammedans was
confined to Arabia, for under the empire of the caliphs they suffered no
further oppression than the payment of tribute. Spain had maintained its
odious distinction in the West, and it is not surprising that the
suffering Jews by active intrigue materially assisted the triumphant
invasion of the country by the Saracens. And in France the Jews became
numerous and wealthy, and traded with great success.

We enter on a period which may be described as the Golden Age of the
modern Jews. The religious persecutions of this race by the Mohammedans
were confined within the borders of Arabia. The Prophet was content with
enforcing uniformity of worship within the sacred peninsula which gave
him birth. The holy cities of Medina and Mecca were not to be profaned
by the unclean footstep of the unbeliever. His immediate successors rose
from stern fanatics to ambitious conquerors. Whoever would submit to the
dominion of the caliph might easily evade the recognition of the
Prophet's title. The Jews had reason to rejoice in the change of
masters. An Islamite sovereign would not be more oppressive than a
Byzantine on the throne of Constantinople or a Persian on the throne of
Ctesiphon. In every respect the Jew rose in the social scale under his
Mohammedan rulers. Provided he demeaned himself peaceably, and paid his
tribute, he might go to the synagogue rather than to the mosque.

In the time of Omar, the second caliph, the coinage, already a trust of
great importance, had been committed to the care of a Jew. And the Jews
acted as intermediate agents in the interworking of European
civilisation, its knowledge, arts, and sciences, into the oriental mind,
and in raising the barbarian conquerors from the chieftains of wild,
marauding tribes into magnificent and enlightened sovereigns. The caliph
readily acknowledged as his vassal the Prince of the Captivity, who
maintained his state as representative of the Jewish community. And in
the West, during the reigns of Pepin and Charlemagne, the treatment of
Jews became much more l