liph, and Cordova became, under the
dominion of Abderamus, the home of taste and pleasure, as well as the
chosen abode of science and the arts.

A single anecdote will serve to illustrate the tenderness and generosity
that so strongly characterized this illustrious descendant of the
Ommiades.

One day a favourite female slave left her master's presence in high
displeasure, and, retiring to her apartment, vowed that, sooner than open
the door for the admittance of Abderamus, she would suffer it to be
walled up. The chief eunuch, alarmed at this discourse, which he
regarded as almost blasphemous, hastened to prostrate himself before the
Prince of Believers, and to communicate to him the horrible purpose of
the rebellious slave. Abderamus smiled at the resolution of the offended
beauty, and commanded the eunuch to cause a wall composed of pieces of
coin to be erected before the door of her retreat, and avowed his
intention not to pass this barrier until the fair slave should have
voluntarily demolished it, by possessing herself of the materials of
which it was formed. The {62} historian[10] adds, that the same evening
the caliph entered the apartments of the appeased favourite without
opposition.

This prince left forty-five sons and nearly as many daughters. Mohammed,
the eldest of his sons, succeeded him, A.D. 852, Heg. 238. The reigns of
Mohammed and his successors, Almanzor and Abdalla, offer to the historian
nothing for a period of fifty years but details of an uninterrupted
continuation of troubles, civil wars, and revolts, by which the governors
of the principal cities sought to render themselves independent.

Alphonso the Great, king of Asturia, profited by these dissensions the
more effectually to confirm his own power. The Normans, from another
side, ravaged Andalusia anew. Toledo, frequently punished, but ever
rebellious, often possessed local sovereigns. Saragossa imitated the
example of Toledo. The authority of the caliphs was weakened, and their
empire, convulsed in every part, seemed on the point of dissolution, when
Abderamus III., the nephew of Abdalla, ascended the throne of Cordova,
and restored for some time its pristine splendour and power, A.D. 912,
Heg. 300.

{63}

This monarch, whose name, so dear to the Moslems, seemed to be an
auspicious omen, took the title of _Emir-al-Mumenin_, which signifies
_Prince of true Believers_.

Victory attended the commencement of his reign; the rebe