sought their churches,--christian maidens, even at the feast of roses,

clad in white, with shining veils, sought, in long procession, the places

consecrated to their religion, filling the air with their hymns; while,

ever and anon, from the lips of some poor mourner in the crowd, a voice of

wailing burst, and the rest looked up, fancying they could discern the

sweeping wings of angels, who passed over the earth, lamenting the

disasters about to fall on man.

In the sunny clime of Persia, in the crowded cities of China, amidst the

aromatic groves of Cashmere, and along the southern shores of the

Mediterranean, such scenes had place. Even in Greece the tale of the sun of

darkness encreased the fears and despair of the dying multitude. We, in our

cloudy isle, were far removed from danger, and the only circumstance that

brought these disasters at all home to us, was the daily arrival of vessels

from the east, crowded with emigrants, mostly English; for the Moslems,

though the fear of death was spread keenly among them, still clung

together; that, if they were to die (and if they were, death would as

readily meet them on the homeless sea, or in far England, as in Persia,)--

if they were to die, their bones might rest in earth made sacred by the

relics of true believers. Mecca had never before been so crowded with

pilgrims; yet the Arabs neglected to pillage the caravans, but, humble and

weaponless, they joined the procession, praying Mahomet to avert plague

from their tents and deserts.

I cannot describe the rapturous delight with which I turned from political

brawls at home, and the physical evils of distant countries, to my own dear

295

The Last Man