Dissertations on the prophecies which have remarkably been fulfilled, and at this time are fulfilling in the world / Revised by the Rev. W.S. Dobson.

  • Thomas Newton
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dissertations on the prophecies which have remarkably been fulfilled, and at this time are fulfilling in the world / Revised by the Rev. W.S. Dobson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    course; and the farther still they flow, the more they are in- corporated and lost in other waters. How have the modern Italians degenerated from the courage and virtues of the old Romans? How are the French and English polished and re- fined from the barbarism of the ancient Gauls and Britons? Men and manners change with times: but in all changes and revolutions the Arabs have still continued the same with little or no alteration. And yet it cannot be said of them, as of some barbarous nations, that they have had no commerce or inter- course with the rest of mankind; for by their conquests they Ovelran a great part of the earth, and for some centuries were masters of most of the learning that was then in the world: but however they remained and still remain the same fierce savage intractable people, like their great ancestor in every thing, and different from most of the world besides. Ishmael was circum- cised ; and so are his posterity to this day: and as Ishmael was circumcised when he was thirteen years old, so were the Arabs at the same age according to Josephus. He was born of Hagar, who was a concubine; and they still indulge themselves in the use of mercenary wives and concubines. He lived in tents in the wilderness, shifting from place to place; and so do his descendants, particularly those therefore called Scenites® for- merly, and those called Bedoweens at this day. He was an archer in the wilderness; and so are they. He was to be the father of twelve princes or heads of tribes; and they live in clans or tribes at this day. He wasa wild man, his hand against every man, and every man’s hand against him: and they live in the same state of war, their hand against every man, and every man’s hand against them. This, I say, is somewhat wonderful, that the same people should retain the same dispositions for so many ages; but it is still more wonderful, that with these dispositions, and this en- mity to the whole world, they should still subsist in spite of the world an independent and free people. It cannot be pretended, that no probable attempts were ever made to conquer them ; for the greatest conquerors in the world have almost all in their turns attempted it, and some of them have been very near effecting it. It cannot be pretended that the dryness or inaccessibleness of their country hath been their preservation ; for their country hath been often penetrated, though never entirely subdued. I know that 7 Diodorus Siculus accounts for their preservation from the dryness of their country, that they have wells digged in proper places known only to themselves, and their enemies 5 Antiq. l. 1. c.12.§ 2. Edit. Hudson. +4v xnav] cognominati.’ Plin. |. 6..c. 28. Vide etiam Pocockii Specimen. Hist. § 32. Pocockii Specimen. Hist.Arab. p. 87. Arab. p. 519. 7 Diodorus Siculus, 1. 2. c. 48. et 1. 19. 6 «Scenite—vagi—a tabernaculis [da@ c. 94. c2
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