22 THE DECLINE AND FALL West had been pure fi-om civil arms ; and the servants of the abdicated family still held, by a precarious tenure, the inhei-it- ance of their lands and the offices of government. Strongly prompted by gratitude, indignation, and fear, they invited the grandson of the caliph Hashem to ascend the throne of his an- cestors ; and, in his desperate condition, the extremes of rash- ness and prudence were almost the same. The acclamations of the people saluted his landing on the coast of Andalusia ; and, [A.D. 756] after a successful struggle, Abdalrahman established the throne of Cordova, and was the father of the Ommiades of Spain, who reigned above two hundred and fifty years from the Atlantic to the Pyrenees.** He slew in battle a lieutenant of the Abbas- sides, who had invaded his dominions with a fleet and army : [AD. 763] the head of Ala, in salt and camphire, was suspended by a daring messenger before the palace of Mecca ;*^' and the caliph Almansor rejoiced in his safety, that he was removed by seas and lands from such a formidable adversary. Their mutual de- signs or declarations of offensive war evaporated without effect ; but, instead of opening a door to the conquest of Europe, Spain was dissevered from the trunk of the monarchy, engaged in perpetual hostility with the East, and inclined to peace and friendship with the Christian sovereigns of Constantinople and Triple divi- France. The example of the Ommiades was imitated bv the caliphate real or fictitious progeny of Ali, the Edrissites of Mauritania, and the more powerful Fatimites of Africa and Egypt. In the tenth century, the chair of Mahomet was disputed by three caliphs or commanders of the faithful, who reigned at Bagdad, Cairoan, and Cordova, excommunicated each other, and agreed only in a principle of discord, that a sectary is more odious and criminal than an unbeliever.*^ Magniflcence Mccca was the patrimouv of the line of Hashem, vet the of the callphi. r J 'J A.D. 750-960 ■** For the revolution of Spain, consult Roderic of Toledo (c. xviii. p. 34, &c.), the Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana (torn. ii. p. 30, 198), and Cardonne (Hist, de r.A.frique et del'Espagne, torn. i. p. 180-197, 205, 272, 323, &c.). ^'[Others say the head was exposed at Kairawan ; Dozy, Hist, des Musulm. d'Espagne, i. 367.] '^ I shall not stop to refute the strange errors and fancies of Sir William Temple (his works, vol. iii. p. 371-374, octavo edition) and Voltaire (Histoire G^n^rale, c. xxviii. torn. ii. p. 124, 125, (Edition de Lausanne), concerning the division of the Saracen empire. The mistakes of Voltaire proceeded from the want of knowledge or reflection ; but Sir William was deceived by a Spanish impostor, who has framed an apocryphal history of the conquest of Spain by the Ar.abs. [The Omayyad rulers of Spain called themselves emirs (Amir) for a century and three-quarters. Abd ar- Rahman HI. (912-961) first assumed the higher title of caliph in 929. Thus it is incorrect to speak of two Caliphates, or a western Caliphate, until 929 ; the Emirate of Cordova is the correct designation.]
