The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America - Percy T. Magan

their Arabic books. They were forbidden to read
Arabic, they were forbidden to write it, or even to
converse in it in the sanctuary of their own homes.
The ceremonies and games in which their ancestors
had delighted were forbidden them. They were
prohibited from wearing clothes of the same
pattern as those worn by their fathers. “Their
women were to go unveiled; and, as bathing was a
heathenish custom, all public baths were to be
destroyed, and even all baths in private houses.”
All of this was more than Saracenic flesh and
blood could stand. In 1563 they rose in rebellion,
and so desperately did their arms maintain the
unequal contest that it was 1571 ere the
insurrection was quelled. By this rising, their
numbers were greatly reduced. The remnant appear
to have lapsed into the quiet, every-day walks of
life. But the Spaniards were not satisfied yet. The
obnoxious Morisco, as these converted
Mohammedans were termed, must be pursued to
the grave with torture and civil disability, and even
beyond that portal of darkness as far as the
unrelenting hand could reach.
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