Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/448

 426 THE DECLINE AND FALL of the caliph."* A large majority of the people accepted the terms ot toleration and tribute ; and Damascus is still peopled by twenty thousand Christians. But the valiant Thomas, and the free-bom patriots who had fought under his banner, embraced the alternative of poverty and exile. In the adjacent meadow, a numerous encampment was formed of priests and laymen, of soldiers and citizens, of women and children : they collected with haste and terror their most precious moveables ; and aban- doned, with loud lamentations or silent anguish, their native homes and the pleasant banks of the Phai-phar. The inflexible soul of Caled was not touched by the spectacle of their distress : he disputed with the Damascenes the property of a magazine of corn ; endeavoured to exclude the garrison from the benefit of the treaty ; consented, with reluctance, that each of the fugitives should arm himself with a sword, or a lance, or a bow ; and sternly declared that, after a respite of three days, they might be pursued and treated as the enemies of the Moslems. ^ni|Jo' The passion of a Syrian youth completed the ruin of the exiles mascenea of Damascus. A noblcman of the city, of the name of Jonas,"^ was betrothed to a wealthy maiden ; but her parents delayed the consummation of his nuptials, and their daughter was persuaded to escape with the man whom she had chosen. They corrupted the nightly watchmen of the gate Keisan : the lover, who led the way, was encompassed by a squadron of Arabs ; but his ex- clamation in the Greek tongue, " the bird is taken," admonished his mistress to hasten her return. In the presence of Caled, and of death, the unfortunate Jonas professed his belief in one God, and his apostle Mahomet; and continued, till the season of his martyrdom, to discharge the duties of a brave and sincere Musul- man. When the city was taken, he flew to the monastery, where '< It appears from Abulfeda (p. 125) and Elmacin (p. 32) that this distinction of the two parts of Damascus was long remembered, though not always respected, by the Mahometan sovereigns. See likewise Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 379, 380, 383). [This division of Damascus had nothing to do with the attack of Khalid ; it was in accordance with the stipulation already made in the treaty. The same arrangement was adopted in other towns too.] 79 On the fate of these lovers, whom he names Phocyas and Eudocia, Mr. Hughes has built the siege of Damascus, one of our most popular tragedies, and which possesses the rare merit of blending nature and history, the manners of the times and the feelings of the heart. The foolish delicacy of the players compelled him to soften the guilt of the hero and the despair of the heroine. Instead of a base renegado, Phocyas serves the Arabs as an honourable ally ; instead of prompting their pursuit, he flies to the succour of his countrymen, and, after killing Caled and Derar, is himself mortally wounded, and expires in the presence of Eudocia, who professes her resolution to take the veil at Constantinople. A frigid catastrophe ! [This story of the pursuit of the exiles depends on the authority of the false Wakidi only. The tragedy of J. Hughes was published in 1720.]