Both will appear in the presence of a Judge whom no arguments can deceive!_" The implacable Haroun carried his vengeance so far as to forbid that any one should mention the names of his hapless victims. One of his subjects, named Mundir, had the courage to brave this edict, and publicly to pronounce the eulogy of the beloved Bermacides. The tyrant commanded that the offending Mussulman should appear before him, and threatened him with punishment for what he had done. "You can silence me only by inflicting death upon me!" replied Mundir: "that you have the power of doing; but you cannot extinguish the gratitude entertained by the whole empire for those virtuous ministers: even the ruins you have made of the monuments which they erected, speak of their fame in spite of you!" It is said that the monarch was touched by the words of this fearless defender of the dead, and that he commanded a golden plate to be presented to him. Such was the famous caliph who bore the name of _the Just_. Almamon, his son, received no surname; but he deserved to be ranked with the wisest and the most virtuous of men. Some idea of his character may be formed from the following anecdote. It is recorded of him, that his viziers urged him to punish with death one of his relations who had taken arms against him, and caused himself to be proclaimed caliph. Almamon, however, rejected this sanguinary counsel, saying at the same time, "Alas! if they who have injured me, knew how much pleasure I experience in forgiving my enemies, they would hasten to appear before me to confess their faults!" This excellent prince was the munificent {212} patron of science and the arts, and his reign formed the most brilliant epoch of the glorious days of the Arabs. D, page 54. _Wars with the kings of Leon, and incursions into Catalonia, &c._ Historians do not agree concerning the precise period when Charlemagne entered Spain. It would appear, however, that it was during the reign of Abderamus that the emperor crossed the Pyrenees, took Pampeluna and Saragossa, and was attacked, during his retreat, in the defiles of Roncevaux, a place rendered famous in romantic literature by the death of Roland. E, page 59. _A government that properly respected the rights of the people, &c._ The ancient laws of Aragon, known under the name of _Fore de Sobarbe_, limited the power of the sovereign by creating a balance for it in that of the _ricos Hombres_, and of a magistrate who bore the name of Justice. F, page 60. _The celebrated school, &c._