ness, deprived of the privileges granted them by former monarchs, and subjected to every form of extortion and persecution. In 786 the celebrated Harun er Bashid, familiar to us as the hero of the 'Arabian Nights,' succeeded his father, El Hâdi, in the caliphate. This prince was illustrious alike for his military successes, and his munificent patronage of learning and science ; and although his glory is sullied by one act of barbarity and jealous meanness—the murder of his friend and minister, Ja'afer el Barmaki, and the whole of the Barmecide family—he" seems to have well merited his title of Er Rashid, " the Orthodox," or "Upright." The cordial relations between the East and West, brought about by his alliance with the Emperor Charlemagne, were productive of much good to the Christian community in Syria and Palestine, and more especially in Jerusalem, where churches were restored, and hospices and other charitable institutions founded, by the munificence of the Frank emperor. In the year 796 new and unexpected troubles came upon Palestine. A civil war broke out between two of the border-tribes—the Beni Yoktan and the Ismaeliyeh,— and the country was devastated by hordes of savage Bedawin. The towns and villages of the west were either sacked or destroyed, the roads were rendered impassable by hostile bands, and those places which had not suffered from the incursions of the barbarians were reduced to a state of protracted siege. Even Jerusalem itself was threatened, and, but for the bravery of its garrison, would have again been pillaged and destroyed. The monasteries in the Jordan valley experienced the brunt of the Arabs' attack, and one after another was sacked ; and, last of all, that of Mar Saba—which, from its position, had hitherto been deemed impregnable—succumbed to a blockade, and many of the inmates perished.