position, in the gratification of the avarice which seemed to dominate his being, almost to the exclusion of every other passion. Unrivalled in tact and instinctive knowledge of human nature, by his powers of persuasion he made even his enemies subservient to his designs; while the strict observance of the ceremonies of his religion, although he became liable at times to imputations of inconsistency, yet procured for him in general the reputation of profound and sincere piety. In his military operations, he displayed the qualities of a skilful and wary leader, and his dispositions were made with remarkable prudence; realizing the demands of successful warfare, he annihilated the power of his adversaries by massacre or wholesale captivity; and by rapid and sudden advances after a battle he never failed to secure the uncertain fruits of victory. Such was the character of the man to whom were now committed the destinies of the Moslem armies of the West. The veterans who had served under the banner of Hassan, who had scaled the walls of Carthage, and dispersed the army of the Berber sorceress, looked with little favor upon their new commander. Calling them together, Musa paid them their arrears three times over, and addressing them in a speech in which the eloquence of the orator, the humility of the devotee, and the art of the demagogue were shrewdly blended, said: “I am a soldier, like yourselves; applaud and imitate my good deeds; censure and reprove my failures, for none of us are free from weakness and error.” Impressed not only with the politic generosity of their chief, but gratified as well by the unwonted condescension he displayed, the soldiers greeted him with applause, and he became henceforth the idol of his army. Without unnecessary delay, and with his accustomed vigor, he opened the campaign. At the very outset an incident occurred which not only secured the gratitude of his followers, but, in that superstitious age, seemed to invest their general with supernatural powers. A long-continued drought had dried up the springs and wells, and the army, now far advanced into the desert, was threatened with death by thirst. In the midst of the troops solemnly assembled, Musa prayed long and fervently for relief. Tradition relates that the supplication was almost immediately granted; and the identical prayer which evoked this apparent miracle was repeated for nine centuries afterwards by the Spanish Moors when their country suffered from a scarcity of rain. The Berbers, elated by their former successes, ventured upon a pitched battle, and were defeated. Thousands were killed; the fugitives who took refuge in the mountains, where the natural obstacles of the locality made their defences the more formidable, were besieged and forced to surrender. The policy of Musa, different from that of his predecessors, was marked by unusual severity. If resistance was offered, the tribe was enslaved, its