ading among devout Mohammedans of every country, for they had
violated the shrines of saints, and levelled to the ground the chapels
at Mecca, which devotion had consecrated to the memory of the Prophet
and his family. At the commencement of the present century, however,
Mecca was recovered from them by the Turkish arms, and the plague, with
the smallpox, breaking out just at this time among the followers of
Wahab, probably saved the mighty fabric of Islamism. These reverses
did not quench, however, the ardour of the Wahabees. Their leader had
been assassinated, but his son, already distinguished for his prudence
and valour, succeeded him in the command. Medina fell beneath his
power, and from thence to the Persian Gulf he seemed likely to reign
lord paramount. In 1805 he was able to impose a heavy tax on the
caravan of pilgrims from Damascus to the Holy City, and declared that
thenceforth it should consist of pilgrims alone, without the pride and
pomp of a religious procession. Soon afterward they again entered
Mecca, and immediately threatened with destruction every {295} sacred
relic; but they did not put their threats into execution. Various
conflicts between them and the orthodox Mohammedans have since ensued,
the general result of which has been to break the martial and fanatical
spirit of the Wahabees, and to re-establish the power of the grand
sultan in cities and districts where it had been placed in jeopardy.
They are still, indeed, dreaded as plunderers, but no great national
convulsion has resulted from their efforts.

Some writers regret the suppression of this once powerful sect of
Mohammedans, believing that, if continued, they would have been
instrumental in overthrowing the Moslem faith, and making way for a
purer religion; but for ourselves, we see little occasion for these
regrets. The Wahabees must not be supposed more favourable to a pure
faith than are those by whom they have been overthrown. If they must
be regarded as reformers, they only attempted to correct a few absurd
and scandalous practices: the impious and abominable dogmas of the
Koran they left untouched; or, if they touched them, it was only to
enforce their observance with greater rigour. Their creed was even
more sanguinary and intolerant than that of the ancient Mohammedans,
and probably the continuance of their power would have been nothing
more than the continuance of injustice, cruelty, and {296} persecution.
We do not l