n of carnal pleasures. From these imperfect ideas its more
intelligent classes very soon freed themselves, substituting for them
others more philosophical, more correct. Eventually they attained to an
accordance with those that have been pronounced in our own times by the
Vatican Council as orthodox. Thus Al-Gazzali says: "A knowledge of God
cannot be obtained by means of the knowledge a man has of himself, or
of his own soul. The attributes of God cannot be determined from
the attributes of man. His sovereignty and government can neither be
compared nor measured."

CHAPTER IV.

THE RESTORATION OF SCIENCE IN THE SOUTH.

By the influence of the Nestorians and Jews, the Arabians
are turned to the cultivation of Science.--They modify
their views as to the destiny of man, and obtain true
conceptions respecting the structure of the world.--They
ascertain the size of the earth, and determine its shape.--
Their khalifs collect great libraries, patronize every
department of science and literature, establish astronomical
observatories.--They develop the mathematical sciences,
invent algebra, and improve geometry and trigonometry.--They
collect and translate the old Greek mathematical and
astronomical works, and adopt the inductive method of
Aristotle.--They establish many colleges, and, with the aid
of the Nestorians, organize a public-school system.--They
introduce the Arabic numerals and arithmetic, and catalogue
and give names to the stars.--They lay the foundation of
modern astronomy, chemistry, and physics, and introduce
great improvements in agriculture and manufactures.

"IN the course of my long life," said the Khalif Ali, "I have often
observed that men are more like the times they live in than they
are like their fathers." This profoundly philosophical remark of the
son-in-law of Mohammed is strictly true; for, though the personal, the
bodily lineaments of a man may indicate his parentage, the constitution
of his mind, and therefore the direction of his thoughts, is determined
by the environment in which he lives.

When Amrou, the lieutenant of the Khalif Omar, conquered Egypt, and
annexed it to the Saracenic Empire, he found in Alexandria a Greek
grammarian, John surnamed Philoponus, or the Labor-lover. Presuming on
the friendship which had arisen between them, the Greek solicited as a
gift the remnant of the great l