ng from the accession of Abdurrahman I., surnamed
Ab-dakhel, in 138, (A.D. 756.) There is no God but God! He is the
Almighty!"

The fall of the Umeyyan khalifate closes the first of the two
brilliant periods which illustrate the Arab history of Spain. The
uninterrupted hereditary succession for ten generations, and the long
average duration of the reign of each monarch, from the arrival in
Spain of Abdurrahman I. in 756, to the death or disappearance of
Hisham II. in 1009, are without a parallel it any other Moslem
dynasty, with the single exception of the Ottoman line; and though, on
pursuing the comparison, the Umeyyan princes cannot vie with the
last-named race in extent of conquest and splendour of martial
achievement, they far surpass not only the Ottomans, but almost every
sovereign family in the annals of Islam, in the cultivation of kingly
virtues and arts of peace, and the refinement and love of literature,
which they introduced and fostered in their dominions. During the
greater part of their rule, the court of Cordova was the most polished
and enlightened in Europe removed equally from the martial rudeness of
those of the Frank monarchs, and the punctilious attention to forms
and jealous etiquette, within which the Grcek emperors studiously
intrenched themselves. The useful arts, and in particular the science
of agriculture, necessary for the support of a dense population, were
cultivated to an extent of which no other country afforded an example;
and the commerce which filled the ports of Spain, from all parts of
Europe and the East, was the natural result of the industry of her
people. In how great a degree the personal character of the Umeyyan
sovereigns contributed to this state of political and social
prosperity, is best proved by the rapid disruption and fall of the
monarchy, when it passed into the feeble hands of Hisham II., and by
the history of the two following centuries of anarchy, civil war, and
foreign domination. But the sun of Andalusian glory, which had
attained its meridian splendour under the Khalifs of Cordova, once
more emerged before the close of its course from the clouds and
darkness which surrounded it;--and its setting rays shone, with
concentrated lustre, over the kingdom of GRANADA.

* * * * *

TWO NIGHTS IN SOUTHERN MEXICO.

A FRAGMENT FROM THE JOURNAL OF AN AMERICAN TRAVELLER.

"A capital place this for our bivouac!" cried I, swinging