st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul

l8 4 ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS.
seen. Still, the claim put forth on his behalf does
not appear affected by this. There is still reason to
maintain that it was through him, and other Syrian
Christians like him, that the chain of ancient learning
continued unbroken. What Edessa was, as a link
between Alexandria and Bagdad, such was John of
Damascus between the Greek philosophers and the
Saracen 1
conquerors.
1
As
a slight evidence, in passing, of the tendency to assign
to the Arabians more credit than is their due, it maybe observed
that John of Damascus himself is described, by an able editor
of the Canterbury Talcs, as "an Arabian physician
probably of the ninth century." See the Clarendon Press
edition of the "Prologue," &c., 1877, p. 135. While noting
this, as significant of what I stated above, I must not refrain
from adding my small tribute to the great merit of Dr. Morris s
editorial work.