accordance with Asiatic opinions; it provided a
paradise exactly suited to the imagination and taste of the Orientals;
and, as the superstitious are always more powerfully influenced by that
which awakens apprehension and appeals to fear than by what enkindles
hope, his hell contributed even more than his heaven to multiply
disciples.

Still, had no resort been had to arms, the Mohammedan faith would in
all probability have been confined to the deserts of Arabia. The whole
of Asia was at that time in a state of unprecedented military
inactivity, and opportunity was thus afforded for the success of his
enterprise. Empires {232} were tottering and powerless; political
wisdom had almost disappeared; and to military talents and courage the
Arabs alone could make any pretensions. Previous contentions between
the Persian and Byzantine empires had entirely destroyed what little
remains of internal vigour those governments might otherwise have
possessed. Civil revolts, tyranny, extortion, sensuality, and sloth,
had annihilated the ambition of universal rule which the Greek and
Roman governments had once cherished; and their provinces, neglected or
oppressed, became an easy prey to the Moslem power.

The nations were the more rapidly subdued, since to the indomitable
ferocity of the desert wanderer the Saracens added those other features
which complete a warlike character. They despised death, and were
self-denying and energetic to a degree far beyond the soldiers of
civilized countries, while they were scarcely less familiar with the
military art. The lieutenants of the caliphs soon vied with the Roman
generals in skill; and it is by no means difficult to explain their
almost uniform superiority, when we bear in mind the character of the
armies they respectively commanded. Terror, moreover, is epidemic; and
a force already successful commonly finds its victorious progress
greatly aided by the prevailing notion of its prowess. Thus we have
witnessed, {233} in the wars of more disciplined troops, the tremendous
effect of a name alone.

It may be added, also, that the Saracen success is greatly attributable
to that ardent and impetuous spirit of religious enthusiasm with which
they fought. They deemed their cause the cause of God; heaven, they
were persuaded, was engaged in their behalf; every one who fell in
their wars was a martyr; and cowardice was tantamount to apostacy.

The religious ardour of the Crusaders, in