the title of a prophet, and being aided by a
renegade Christian, formed a religious system, which, after
encountering great opposition, was finally adopted by the principal
tribes of Arabia. The successors of Mohammed, called Caliphs, resolved
to propagate the new religion by the sword, and conquered an empire,
more extensive than that of the Romans had been. The entire of central
and southern Asia, including Persia, India, and the provinces of the
Eastern empire owned their sway; northern Africa was soon after
subdued, and in the beginning of the eighth century, the Saracenic
Moors established their dominion in Spain. 23. It is probable, even,
that all Europe would have submitted to their yoke, if the French
hero, Charles Martel,[1] had not arrested their victorious career, and
defeated their numerous armies on the plains of _Poitiers_, A.D.
732.[2]

24. The empire of the Caliphs soon declined from its original
splendour, and its ruin finally proceeded from the same cause that
produced the downfall of Rome, the employment of barbarian
mercenaries. The soldiers levied by the Caliphs, were selected from
the Tartar tribes that had embraced the religion of Mohammed; they
were called Turcomans or Turks, from Turkistan, the proper name of
western Tartary. These brave, but ferocious warriors, soon wrested the
sceptre from the feeble caliphs, and completed the conquest of western
Asia. The crusades for a time delayed the fate of the Greek empire,
but finally the Turks crossed the Hellespont, and having taken
Constantinople, (A.D. 1453,) established their cruel despotism over
the fairest portion of Europe.

_Questions for Examination._

1. How were the barbarians first brought into the Roman empire?

2. When did the first great movement of the Northern tribes take
place?

3. Where did the Vandals first settle?

4. From whence did the Alans come?

5. In what countries did the Vandals establish their power?

6. Where did we first find the Goths settled?

7. To what countries did the Goths remove?

8. How long did the kingdom of the Visigoths continue?

9. What branch of the Goths settled in Germany?

10. From what did the Franks derive their name?

11. Which was the ancient, and which the modern France?

12. What is the history of the Allemanni?

13. In what countries did the Saxons and Angles settle?

14. Whence did the Huns come?

15. How far did their ravages extend?

16. What territory did the Burgund