The population was one of the most prosperous and opulent in the kingdom. The archiepiscopal see of Merida vied in dignity and influence with the primacy of Toledo. It had not been many years since the vassals and slaves of the metropolitan, to the number of nearly a thousand, glittering with jewels and cloth of gold, had dazzled the eyes of the populace, and excited the envy of the nobles, while participating in the ceremonial pageantry of the Church--exhibitions so well adapted to impress the beholder with the greatness, the pomp, and the resources of ecclesiastical power. Well might the enthusiasm of the predatory Arab be excited by the architectural magnificence and historic souvenirs of the far-famed capital of Lusitania! While the gigantic proportions of its edifices called forth his admiration, and led him to attribute their erection to giants and demons, his avarice was, at the same time, stimulated by the thought of the booty to be obtained by the pillage of a place of such extent and importance. But the inhabitants, worthy of the renown of their ancestors, and undismayed by the sudden appearance of an unknown foe, did not hesitate to engage him on equal terms. A series of combats followed, in which the valor of the besieged acquired for them a temporary advantage. In the face of such determined resistance, and wholly unacquainted with the methods of carrying on a siege, the Moslems began to falter. But their veteran commander, confident in his skill, now brought to bear the experience which he had acquired in many hard-fought campaigns in Syria and Africa. The city was completely blockaded. Every foraging party which issued from the gates was intercepted and captured or cut to pieces. The stratagems of Berber warfare were adopted to the confusion of an intrepid but unwary enemy. Detachments which sallied forth to attack the besieging lines were lured into ambush and annihilated. Military engines familiar to that age were constructed, but the activity and courage of the Visigoths were such that, although breaches were made, no forlorn hope could effect a lodgment within the fortifications; and one which succeeded in penetrating them--a circumstance which gave to the place where it occurred the suggestive name of the Tower of the Martyrs-- was destroyed to a man. Each day, with the rising of the sun, the battle was renewed, and Musa saw with rage and apprehension his well-tried veterans and the bravest of his officers perish before his eyes. The fortifications appeared impregnable; and had it not been for the opportune arrival of Abd-al-Aziz, the son of the Arab general, with a reinforcement of seven thousand cavalry and five thousand crossbow-men, the Moslems would have been compelled to abandon the undertaking. Disheartened by this change in their fortunes, and beginning to suffer from a scarcity of provisions, the inhabitants of Merida now made overtures for a surrender. Although in the position of suppliants, the