r eleven banners, diffused the terror of their
arms; and the appearance of a military force revived and confirmed the
loyalty of the faithful. The inconstant tribes accepted, with humble
repentance, the duties of prayer, and fasting, and alms; and, after
some examples of success and severity, the most daring apostates fell
prostrate before the sword of the Lord and of Caled. In the fertile
province of Yemanah, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, in
a city not inferior to Medina itself, a powerful chief (his name was
Moseilama) had assumed the character of a prophet, and the tribe of
Hanifa listened to his voice. A female prophetess was attracted by
his reputation; the decencies of words and actions were spurned by
these favorites of Heaven; and they employed several days in mystic
and amorous converse. An obscure sentence of his Koran, or book, is yet
extant; and in the pride of his mission, Moseilama condescended to offer
a partition of the earth. The proposal was answered by Mahomet with
contempt; but the rapid progress of the impostor awakened the fears of
his successor: forty thousand Moslems were assembled under the standard
of Caled; and the existence of their faith was resigned to the event of
a decisive battle. In the first action they were repulsed by the loss
of twelve hundred men; but the skill and perseverance of their general
prevailed; their defeat was avenged by the slaughter of ten thousand
infidels; and Moseilama himself was pierced by an AEthiopian slave with
the same javelin which had mortally wounded the uncle of Mahomet. The
various rebels of Arabia without a chief or a cause, were speedily
suppressed by the power and discipline of the rising monarchy; and the
whole nation again professed, and more steadfastly held, the religion
of the Koran. The ambition of the caliphs provided an immediate exercise
for the restless spirit of the Saracens: their valor was united in the
prosecution of a holy war; and their enthusiasm was equally confirmed by
opposition and victory.

From the rapid conquests of the Saracens a presumption will naturally
arise, that the caliphs commanded in person the armies of the faithful,
and sought the crown of martyrdom in the foremost ranks of the battle.
The courage of Abubeker, Omar, and Othman, had indeed been tried in
the persecution and wars of the prophet; and the personal assurance of
paradise must have taught them to despise the pleasures and dangers of
the presen