has not softened the sanguinary ferocity, which seems like an
inherent vice produced by the climate of Africa. Mulei-Abdalla, the
father of Sidi Mohammed, the recent king of Morocco, renewed these
scenes of horror. One day, while crossing a river, he was on the point
of drowning, when one of his negroes succeeded in rescuing him from the
waves. The slave expressed his delight at having had the good fortune
to serve his master. His words were heard by Abdalla, who, drawing his
cimeter, and crying, "Behold an infidel, who supposes that God required
his assistance in preserving the life of an emperor," instantly struck
off the head of his preserver.

This same monarch had a confidential domestic who had been long in his
service, and for whom the savage Abdalla appeared to entertain some
affection. In a moment of good-nature he entreated this aged servant
to accept two thousand ducats at his hand and leave his service, lest
he should be {220} seized with an irrepressible desire to kill him, as
he had so many others. The old man clung to the feet of the king,
refused the two thousand ducats, and assured him that he preferred
perishing by his hand rather than abandon so beloved a master. Mulei,
with some hesitation, consented to retain his aged servant. Some days
afterward, impelled by that thirst for blood whose impulses were
sometimes uncontrollable, and without the slightest provocation to the
deed, the fiendish despot struck the unfortunate man dead at his feet,
saying, at the same moment, that he had been a fool not to accept his
permission to leave him.

It is painful to relate these shocking details; but they present a true
picture of the character of these African sovereigns, while they
inspire us with a horror of tyranny, and a veneration for the
restraints of civilization and law, so indispensable to the well-being
of every community.

D, page 98.

_And possessed the united glory of having both enlightened, &c._

Averroes belonged to one of the first families in Cordova. His version
of the writings of Aristotle was translated into Latin, and was for a
long time the only translation of the works of that author. The other
productions of Averroes are still esteemed by the learned. He is
justly regarded as the chief of the Arabic philosophers: a class of men
not numerous in a nation abounding in prophets and conquerors. The
principles he entertained exposed him to much persecution. His
indifference