Ralph, in another part of his works, after having praised the new king of England for having restored to the ecclesiastical benefices their revenues and their titularies, adds, that Richard took great delight in the divine service, and particularly in the solemnities of religion. He says that his chapel was richly ornamented; that he accompanied, with his sonorous voice, and encouraged by presents, the singers of the church; but that from the secrète of the mass to the post-communion, he prayed in silence, and with an earnestness which nothing could disturb. He afterwards names two abbeys which he founded or repaired, both of the order of Citeaux; one was that of Bon-Port, in Normandy, in the diocese of Rouën; the other, that of the Pine, in the diocese of Poictiers.

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No. 21.

The continuator of the history of William of Tyre relates nothing which is not found in the text, except a little trick which Saladin attempted to play off upon Richard, at the time of the battle of Jaffa, and which we think worthy of being presented to our readers. We quote the chronicle:—

“Saladin asked where the king of England was. They answered him, Sire, see him yonder on the ground, on foot, with his men.’ How,’ said Saladin, is the king on foot among his men; is he not ashamed?’ Then Saladin sent him a horse, and charged the messenger to say, that such a one as he should not be on foot among his men in such danger. The sergeant performed the commands of his lord. He came to the king and presented to him the horse sent by Saladin. The king thanked him for it, and ordered one of his own sergeants to mount it and show its paces before him. After the sergeant had spurred the horse into a gallop, and wished to return towards his master, he found he could not; for the horse, in spite of all he could do, carried him away to the Saracen host. Saladin was much ashamed of this.”

This chronicle, when speaking of the deliverance of Richard from his captivity, does not hesitate to say that it was by the advice of Philip Augustus, that such an enormous ransom was required, and that the king of France had a good share of it.

Another chronicler, Gauthier Vinisauf, says that Richard gave eight noble Turkish prisoners in exchange for William de Protelles (others name him Porcelot), who had saved his master, when taken by surprise, by throwing himself in the way of the Saracens, exclaiming, “I am King Richard.”

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No. 22.

Extract from an anonymous Chronicle contained in the MSS. of the Sorbonne, No. 454, of the Thirteenth Century.[141]

Then the king Richard turned back, and directed his course as straight and as well as he was able towards Germany, where he landed, and, with a small train, wandered about till he came to Austria (Osterriche), where he was watched by spies, and known. When he fancied he was discovered, he took the dress of a servant, and set to work in the kitchen to turn the capons; but the spy knew him, and went and informed the duke; and when the duke heard it, he sent so many knights and people that they were much the stronger, and the king was taken and sent away to a fortress, and his companions to another; and the king was sent from castle to castle, so that no one knew where he was, nor did the soldiers who guarded him know who he was.

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How Richard the King was taken out of Prison by Blondel the Minstrel.—We have told you how King Richard was put in prison by the duke of Austria, and that no one knew where he was except the duke and those he trusted. It happened that the king had for a long time entertained a minstrel, born near Artois, whose name was Blondel. This person declared to himself that he would seek his lord over the whole earth till he had found him; and set out, and wandered about from day to day, by land and water, until he had sought for a year and a half without hearing anything of the king. And it so happened that he entered into Austria, and chance led him straight to the castle where the king was confined. And the Aubergiste, near the castle was a widow woman, and he asked her to whom that castle belonged, which was so fine, so strong, and well placed. The hostess replied that “it belonged to the duke of Austria.” “Pretty hostess,” said Blondel, “is there any prisoner confined in it?” “Certes,” said she, “there is one, who has been confined nearly four years, but we do not know who he is; they guard him very carefully, and we have no doubt he is a gentleman—somebody of high quality.” When Blondel heard this he was infinitely delighted, and his heart whispered him that he had at length found him he sought; but he was careful not to allow the hostess to know this. That night he slept soundly, for his mind was at rest; and when the cock announced the day, he arose and went to the church to pray God to assist him. He then came to the castle, and addressed himself to the castellan, telling him he was a minstrel, and played upon the lute, and that he would willingly remain with him if it were agreeable to him. The castellan was a young and handsome knight, and said he would gladly retain him. Then Blondel was delighted, and went to fetch his lute and his wallet; and he exerted himself so that he greatly pleased the castellan, and became a favourite with his household. Here he remained all the winter without being able to make out who the prisoner was. At length, near the festival of Easter, as he was one day walking in the garden which surrounded the tower, examining it in all directions, in the hope of seeing the prisoner, whilst his thoughts were thus engaged, the king perceived Blondel, and, wishing to make himself known to him, called to his mind a song which they had made together, and which no one knew but the king and Blondel. So he began to sing the first verse of it in a loud and clear voice, for he sang very well. And when Blondel heard it, he became certain it was his lord; and his heart had never experienced such joy as that day. And he went from the orchard to the chamber in which he slept, and fetched his lute; then he began to play, and in his playing expressed his pleasure at having found his lord. Thus Blondel remained till Pentecost, and performed his part so well that nobody suspected him. Then Blondel went to the castellan, and said to him: “Sir, if agreeable to you, I would willingly return to my own country, for it is a long time since I left it.” “Blondel, good brother,” said the castellan, “you will not do so if you will take my advice; but remain where you are, and I will advance your fortunes.” “Certes, sir,” said Blondel, “I cannot remain on any account.” When the castellan found that he could not detain him, he bade him farewell, and gave him a good new horse. Having left the castellan, Blondel travelled so quickly that he soon arrived in England, and informed the barons and the friends of the king where and how he had found him. When they heard this news they were much delighted, for the king was the bravest knight that ever wore spur. They then determined among themselves that they would send into Austria, to the duke, to procure the deliverance of the king; and selected two of the most valiant and prudent knights for the purpose. They travelled so quickly that they soon reached the duke of Austria, whom they found in his castle. They saluted him on the part of the barons of England, and said: “Sire, they pray and beseech you to take ransom for their lord; they will give you as much as you may require.” The duke replied that he would consider of it. And when he had taken advice upon the matter, he said: “If you wish to recover your lord, you must bring two hundred thousand marks sterling; if not, say no more about it, for it will be time and trouble thrown away.” Having received the answer, they bade farewell to the duke, and said they would report it to the barons. They then returned to England, and told the barons what the duke had said; and the barons replied that he should never be detained for that. Then they got together the ransom, and sent it to the duke, and the duke delivered the king to them; but not before he had given him good security that he would never molest him.

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No. 23.

Extract from a Journey made into the country of Wales by Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury.

We have spoken, in the seventh book, of the preaching of Archbishop Baldwin, and of the account written by Gerald the Welshman (Giraldus Cambrensis), known also under the name of Barri. We think we shall gratify our readers by giving an extract from this relation, which will furnish some idea of the manners of the inhabitants of Wales in the twelfth century. The preachers went first to Hereford and Radnor. In this latter city a bishop of the country and a monk of the order of Cluni took the cross; at the same time was enrolled Rhys, son of Gruffydh, prince of the southern part of Wales. Their example was followed by Eineon, son of Eineon Clyd, prince of Ekenia, and by several other inhabitants. Giraldus relates what had happened to the lord of Radnor, in the reign of Henry I. This nobleman entered a church, where, without respect to the sanctity of the place, he passed the night with his horses and hounds. Rising early, according to the custom of hunters, he found that he was struck blind, and was told that all his hounds were dead. He was conducted back to his castle by the hand, and when he had for a long time led a sad and an unhappy life, he determined to go to Jerusalem, in order that the light of the faith might not be extinguished within him. When arrived in Palestine, he proceeded to fight with the Saracens, and mounting a fiery horse, he rushed amidst the enemies’ ranks, and expired with glory.

In the province of Warthrenion, near Radnor, an adventure no less miraculous was related among the people. Einon, son-in-law of Rhys, lord of the country, was one day hunting in the forests. One of his people struck a hind with an arrow. This hind, contrary to custom, had horns of twelve years, and as large as those of the male. This animal was considered as a prodigy of nature; but the hunter who had killed it instantly lost his right eye, was struck with paralysis, and remained during the rest of his life in a languishing state.

The people of this province held in reverence a stick which had belonged to St. Cyricus; this stick was crooked at both ends, in the shape of a cross, and was ornamented with gold and silver. It possessed the special virtue of curing the evil and humours of the neck. Those who were attacked by this sort of complaint, touched the stick, after having paid a denier. “It happened in our time,” says Giraldus, “that a man suffering from the evil only placed a single obole before the stick, and the evil was only half cured; upon this the sick man offered a second obole, and was quite cured. Another man obtained his cure by promising a denier, but as he did not perform his promise, his evil returned, and did not entirely disappear until he had offered three deniers.”

Near Eleiven, in the church of Glascum, was a bell, which was said to have been that of St. David’s. A woman, to liberate her husband, who was shut up in a neighbouring castle, carried thither the bell, which she had secretly taken from St. David’s church; but the castellans would not deliver the husband, and retained the bell: the castle was consumed during the night by a miraculous fire, which spared nothing but the wall against which the bell was suspended. An almost similar miracle happened at the little village of Luel. The church, which had been set fire to, was entirely consumed, with all it contained, with the exception of the box which contained the host.

In the province of Elevein two great lakes burst their banks, one of which was constructed by nature, and the other by the hand of man. The natural dyke changed its place, and the lake appeared two thousand paces off, in a valley, where it preserved its fish. Giraldus, when relating this singular circumstance, adds, “that in Normandy, some time before the death of Henry II. all the fish in a lake were beheld fighting during a whole night, and that crowds were drawn together to witness this strange spectacle. The next morning, not a single fish was left alive.”

In the country of Haga and Brecknock, in a lake across which the river Wye passes, before Glastonbury, the water all at once appeared of a green colour. Old men said this phenomenon took place at the time when the country was desolated by Noël, son of Meredith. It happened in the same country, that a little boy, endeavouring to take a nest of doves, in the church of St. David, his hand remained fastened to a stone, which was considered as a miracle wrought by the saint, who wished to preserve the birds of his church. This boy, followed by his parents and friends, came and threw himself at the foot of the altar, and passed three nights fasting and praying: the stone was detached from his hand, and he was delivered. Giraldus says that he saw this boy, then become an old man, in the course of his journey, and that he related this prodigy to him. The stone was preserved in the church of St. David, and the impression of the five fingers of the boy was still visible.

A miracle not less incredible happened near St. Edmondsbury. A poor woman, with the appearance of devotion, approached the box or tronc of a holy personage, and instead of placing an offering in it, found means to steal from it every day some portion of the alms of the faithful. She kissed the tronc in such a manner, that a piece of money stuck to her tongue, which she conveyed to her mouth without being observed. One day, whilst kissing the tronc in her customary manner, her lips became fixed to it; she spit out the money which she had in her mouth, but could not release her lips from the box, during a whole day. A great number of Christians, and even Jews, came to behold this miracle, and were struck with surprise and admiration.

Archbishop Baldwin and his train preached the crusade in the fields where they found the labourers and shepherds. They gave the cross to a great number of men, who joined them in a state of perfect nudity; their wives having concealed their clothes to prevent their enrolling themselves in the crusade.

Whilst crossing the territory of Brecknock, Giraldus heard that in the church of Heveden, the concubine of the rector of the church imprudently sat down on the wooden coffin of St. Orsana, sister of King Ofred. This coffin was more elevated than the altar. When the concubine wished to rise up, she could not release her thighs from the wood, to which they were firmly fixed. The people crowded in, she was overwhelmed with blows, her clothes were torn off her back, and she was only relieved by the help of the Divinity, who, at length, was moved to pity by her tears and prayers.

The psalm-book of Quindreda, sister of St. Kenelmus, likewise operated great prodigies. On the eve of the festival of St. Kenelmus, at Winehelcumbe, a crowd of women came from all the neighbouring places to be present at the festivities given by the monks. The subcellarius fornicationem incurrit with one of those in the corridors of the cloister. On the following day, in the procession, he carried the book of psalms of which we have spoken; but when he wished to lay it down, the book remained attached to his hands. He then remembered the sin he had committed the night before; he confessed, performed penance, and, seconded by the prayers of his brethren, at length succeeded in breaking the chains the Divinity had imposed upon him. This book of psalms possessed admirable and frequently tried virtues. When the body of Kenelmus was being carried to the cemetery, and the people, on the way, cried out, “He is a martyr!” Quindreda, who was suspected of having killed her brother, answered, “It is as true that he has been assassinated as it is true that my eyes, drawn from my head, are fastened to this psalter.” At these words the two eyes of Quindreda fell from their sockets upon the open book, and left the stains of blood upon the leaves.

They likewise exhibited, in the same country, a collar or crown, which they said had belonged to St. Canaucus. A thief having endeavoured to steal it, was deprived of sight, and spent his life in darkness.

Giraldus related many other prodigies no less extraordinary. We repeat some of them in his own words. A soldier named Gilbert Hagernill, was delivered, per fenestram ejectionis, of a foal, in the presence of a great number of witnesses. He had been ill three years before the event. A mare produced an animal of extraordinary swiftness, which in its fore quarters resembled a horse, and in its hind quarters a stag.

Near the rivers Avon and Neth Giraldus was told of an adventure which had happened to a curate named Elidore. This curate, when twelve years of age, had fled from the paternal roof. After having remained two days in a cavern, he perceived two little men, who came towards him, and said: “Will you come with us? We will take you to a land of delights.” The youth followed the pigmies along a subterraneous and dark road, and discovered a beautiful country which was intersected by woods, meadows, and rivers, but which was not lighted by the sun. Young Elidore was conducted before the king of this dark country, who, after admiring him for a long time, gave him to the prince, his son. The subjects of this prince were of very small stature; they had light curly hair, which flowed over their shoulders. They had little horses, as big as our hounds. They ate neither meat nor fish, and lived, for the most part, upon milk. They never swore or took oaths, and detested falsehood. When any of them went upon the earth, they could not at all comprehend the inconstancy, perfidy, and ambition of the men whom the sun enlightened. They appeared to have no exterior worship, no religious observances, but confined themselves entirely to the love of truth.

Young Elidore sometimes reascended to the earth, and came to see his mother, to whom he related his discoveries and adventures. His mother advised him to bring with him a little of the gold which he described as being so plentiful in that wonderful country. He wished to obey her, and stole a golden ball, with which the king’s son was accustomed to play. As he entered the paternal dwelling, his foot remained fixed to the sill of the door; the golden ball he had brought, rolled to the feet of his mother, but was immediately picked up by two pigmies, who loaded Elidore with jeers and raillery. The latter, quite ashamed of his fault, wishing to return to the country of the Gnomes, in vain endeavoured to find the road; and although he continued his search for more than a year, he never succeeded. He finished by seeking consolation in study, and became a priest. He had learnt, says Giraldus, the language of the pigmies, and retained several words of it: this language very much resembled Greek.

This story, which is very like one of the Thousand and One Nights, may have furnished Swift with the idea of Gulliver; it is given at great length by Giraldus. The curate, Elidore, adds our traveller, related these marvellous adventures in his old age, and could not repeat them without shedding tears.

In the country of Haverford and Ross, an innumerable multitude of people followed Archbishop Baldwin, and took the cross. The orators of the holy war preached in Latin and in French, and although the people did not understand a word they spoke, they were moved to tears. An old woman, who, during three years, had been blind, sent her son to Archbishop Baldwin, in order to obtain a morsel of the robe of that holy pontiff. The young man not having been able to penetrate the crowd which surrounded the archbishop, brought back to his mother a clod of earth upon which the archbishop had trodden, and left his footmark; the blind woman pressed this clod to her mouth, then applied it to her eyes, and recovered her sight.

The preachers of the crusade appeared in the isle of Mona, or Anglesea. In this isle, Roderick, the youngest of the sons of Awen, took the cross with a great number of his subjects. The inhabitants of this isle pointed out, with great respect, a stone which bore the shape of a man’s thigh, and which, by a miraculous virtue, when it was displaced, returned of itself, to the spot it had at first occupied. Count Hugh, of Chester, caused it to be fastened with strong chains to the bottom of the sea; but on the next day, it was again found in the place from which it had been taken.

The archbishop finished his tour by visiting the environs of Deva, or Chester; these countries were not less rich in marvels than the others. Many of the princes and nobles of this country took the cross.

When crossing the river Conway, Giraldus informs us that at the source of that river the enchanter Merlin lived; he gives, on this subject (chap. viii.), a curious notice upon the two Merlins; the one was of Scotland and the other of Wales; the latter was named Ambrose, and was born of a demon, in the city of Caermardyn, which owes its name to him.

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No. 24.

Letter to M. Michaud upon the Assassins, by Am. Jourdain.

In the course of your labours, you must often, Monsieur, have met with the names of these sectaries, known by the appellation of Assassins, whose religious principle consisted in blind obedience to that Old Man of the Mountains, who reigned only by murder, and the most horrible crimes. More than once perhaps you will have attributed to the love of the marvellous which prevails in ages of ignorance, barbarism, and credulity, the accounts of Western authors, contemporaries of the crusades, respecting their perseverance, and their imperturbable audacity in the pursuit and execution of crime. Nevertheless, we must confess, to the disgrace of our species, these accounts are even below the truth, and are confirmed by the unanimous concurrence of Arabian and Persian writers.

I will not describe these sectaries to you according to William of Tyre, James of Vitry, and an infinite number of historians with whom you are well acquainted; I should, if I did so, teach you nothing you did not know before. But I will devote this letter to presenting you with a short sketch of the origin, the dogmas, and history of the Assassins, even of their present state; for some remains of them still exist in the mountains of Syria. I shall be highly gratified if I can add any interest to your work, or give you at least a proof of the pleasure I receive in being serviceable to you.

Before entering on the matter, it will not be useless to recall to your mind the origin of the two great religious sects which divide the Mussulmans—the Sunnites and the Chütes.

Mahomet dying without naming his successor, there arose two factions among the people, one of which wished to elevate to the caliphat, Ali, the son-in-law of this false prophet, and the other the pious Abou-Bekr. The courageous firmness of Omar cut the difficulties short, and the party of Abou-Bekr triumphed. Omar governed after him, and had Othman for his successor. It was not till the death of this weak prince, that Ali obtained possession of the throne, always regarded by his partisans as his heritage.

Nevertheless, scarcely had his reign begun, than factions arose on all sides, whose aim it was to deprive him of the sceptre. Ali had contributed to this state of things, by disdaining the arts of policy, and by offending by refusals and even by disgraces, some of the officers of Mahomet, whose credit was great. One of these factious persons, Moaviah, an ambitious and powerful rival, aided by the cunning of Ibn-el-Ass, the famous conqueror of Egypt, sustained by Ayesha, the widow of Mahomet, who could not pardon the husband of Fatima, for having suspected her conjugal fidelity, and profiting skilfully by the faults of Ali, succeeded at length in wresting an authority from him whose legitimacy could not be contested; at the same time terminated by murder the course of a life which was about, probably, to end in humiliation and troubles of all kinds. His two sons experienced a fate not in any way more fortunate; they perished, victims of the ambition of the Ommiades, a house of which Moaviah was the first prince.

From that time there existed in the Mussulman empire two parties, whose opposition had religion for its basis, and which exist even at the present day:[142] these are the Sunnites and the Chütes. The first recognised the legitimacy of the succession in the persons of Abou-Bekr, Omar, and Othman, and placed Ali in the same rank with these three caliphs. The second, on the contrary, treat the first vicars of Mahomet as usurpers, and maintain that Ali was his only and veritable successor.

The numbers of the partisans of Ali became very great, particularly in Persia; but these partisans were not long before they themselves were divided into several parties, united in their veneration for Ali and his posterity, but divided with regard to the prerogatives they attached to this noble origin, and to the branch which possessed the rights of the Imamat, that is to say, the spiritual and temporal power. Of all the sects to which this difference of opinions gave birth, the most powerful was that of the Ismaëlians. It was thus called because it pretended that the dignity of Imaun had been transmitted by an uninterrupted line of the descendants of Ali, to a prince named Ismaël, and that after his death the Imamat had reposed upon persons unknown to men, up to the moment at which the triumph of the house of Ali was to be effected; to this sect belonged the Carmates and the Fatimite caliphs, who wrested Egypt and Syria from the Abasside caliphs of Bagdad, after having laid the foundation of their power in Africa, and formed a great empire, to the period when Saladin overturned their throne to erect one for a descendant of Abbas. But as the Fatimites acknowledged no other legitimate authority but their own, they employed a great number of missionaries in spreading their dogmas, and gaining proselytes in secret.

Such is, Monsieur, the sketch I have deemed it necessary to make, before proceeding with the founder of the sect which is the object of my letter.

This founder was named Hassan, son of Sabbah. He was born in the environs of Thous, a city of Korassan, celebrated for having given birth to several great men. His father lived in the practices of a mortified life and of an austere doctrine, but he followed in secret the sect of the Rafedhites, or the partisans of Ali. To divert, however, all suspicion from his opinions, he intrusted the education of his son to a famous doctor, Movaffeceddin, of Nichapour, who was a virtuous Sunnite. He pretended to an Arabian origin, and gave himself out as descended from the family of Sabbah-Homairi; but this was a fable to which no one gave faith, and it was very well known that his ancestors inhabited some villages in the dependence of Thous.

Hassan speaks thus of his first years of conversion to the sect of the Ismaëlians:—“From the age of seven years I laboured to acquire knowledge and talents. I made, as my fathers had done, profession of that sect of Chütes who recognise the succession of the twelve Imauns.

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I had occasion to become acquainted with a refik, named Amireh-Zanab, and a most intimate friendship grew up between us. I believed that the dogmas and opinions of the Ismaëlians were only those of philosophers, and I imagined that the sovereign of Egypt (that is to say, the Fatimite caliph) was a sectary of this philosophy. This persuasion engaged me in warm discussions with Amireh; whenever he wished to defend his own doctrines, we had disputes and controversies respecting the dogmas of them. It was in vain for him to attack the doctrines of my sect, I did not yield at all to his arguments, and yet he insensibly made an impression on my mind. Whilst things were in this state we separated, and I was afflicted with a long illness. I then said inwardly to myself: “The doctrine of the Ismaëlians is conformable with truth, and it is only obstinacy that prevents me from adhering to it. If then, as God forbid! the fatal moment is come for me, I shall die without having embraced the truth.” I was, however, restored to health, and soon after made acquaintance with another Ismaëlian, named Abou-Nedjm-Sanadj. I questioned him upon the true system of Ismaëlian belief: he explained it to me clearly, and I very soon penetrated all the depths of it. I afterwards met with an Ismaëlian Dai, named Moumen, to whom the cheik Abdelmelik-ben-Attach, dai of Irac, had given permission to exercise the functions of missionary. I informed him of the wish I had to make my profession of faith to him, and he acceded to my request. At the time that the cheik Abdelmelek came to Rey, I accompanied him, and my conduct having pleased him, he confided to me the ministry of a dai. You must go into Egypt,’ said he, in order to render your homage to the Imaun Mostanser, and may that be a blessing to you!’ Mostanser-billah, a descendant of Ali, then occupied the caliphat of Egypt and the Imamat. When, therefore, the cheik left Rey for Ispahan, I set out for Egypt.”

Hassan was received in Egypt with great distinction, for the fame of his merit had preceded him thither, and the Imaun Mostanser admitted him to the most familiar intimacy. This high degree of favour ruined him. The courtiers, jealous of his credit, laboured to procure his disgrace, and a difference having arisen between him and the celebrated Bedr-Al-djemali, generalissimo of the caliph’s troops, Hassan succumbed. His enemies seized him and threw him, with some Franks, into a vessel about to sail to Africa. Scarcely was he on the sea when a horrible tempest arose and placed the ship in great danger; all the passengers were overcome by terror, expecting nothing but death; Hassan alone preserved his self-possession and tranquillity. When interrogated upon this extraordinary conduct, “Our lord,” answered he, “has promised me that no harm should happen to us;” and, in effect, at the end of a short time, the sea resumed its calm. The cry of miracle soon arose, and Hassan made so many disciples of the companions of his voyage. Another time, the vessel was driven into the port of a Christian city, the governor of which allowed our pious doctor to reimbark, after having treated him with hospitality. At length, the vessel being cast upon the coast of Syria, Hassan abandoned it, and directed his course towards Persia, by land. He passed through Aleppo and Bagdad, and went from thence to Konsistan, Ispahan, Yezd, and Carmania, preaching his doctrine everywhere. From Carmania he returned to Ispahan, where he sojourned more than four months, at the end of which he set out for Konsistan. He remained here three months, and then went to Damegan, where he dwelt for three years, making a great number of proselytes. Hassan, after various other wanderings, took possession of Altamont, a strong castle, situated in the Roudbard, a country near Casbin. Mirkhond, a Persian historian, relates, that he proposed to Mehdi, a descendant of Ali, who possessed this place, to purchase as much land of him as could be comprised within the skin of an ox, for the sum of 3,000 dinars. Mehdi having consented to this bargain, Hassan took the skin of an ox, of which he made thongs, and tying these together, passed the line all round the castle. It was by means of this trick that he made himself master of Altamont, which afterwards became the central point of the power of the Ismaëlians.

This power, by the ability and activity of Hassan, made a rapid progress; it was already established throughout the province of Roudbar, in which his sectaries built a number of strong castles; nobody was talked of in Persia but Hassan, who threatened to bring the whole of that great country under his domination. Melik-chah, alarmed at what he heard, ordered one of his generals to destroy Hassan and his partisans, and to raze his fortresses; but in vain; and death overtook Melik-chah before his troops had obtained the least advantage.

The troubles which followed his death, and the division which arose among the children of this prince, on the subject of the succession to the throne, left the field free for Hassan to augment the number of his proselytes. The best-fortified castles of the north-west of Persia fell into his hands. At length, the sultan Sindjar, having made himself master of this kingdom, set seriously about the destruction of the Ismaëlians. Hassan, by artifice, got rid of this dangerous enemy. He seduced one of the servants of the prince; who, whilst he slept, placed a sharp stiletto near his head. When the sultan, on awaking, saw this poniard, he was seized with great fear; but as he was ignorant of the hand that placed it there, he preserved silence upon the circumstance. At the end of some days he received the following letter from the head of the Ismaëlians:—“If good intentions were not entertained towards the sultan, the poniard which he found near his head would have been plunged into his heart.” Sindjar was so terrified, that he consented to make peace with the Ismaëlians upon three conditions: the first was, that they should add no new constructions to their castles; the second, that they should purchase neither arms nor machines of war; and the third, that he should make no new proselytes. He even granted Hassan, by the title of pension, a portion of the revenues of the country of Coumes.

From that time Hassan lived peaceably in the castle of Altamont, in the greatest seclusion, practising the exercises of austere piety, and employing himself in the composition of dogmatic treatises upon his doctrine. It is said that he only ascended to the terrace of his palace, at Altamont, twice during thirty years. He required of his sectaries the most rigid exactitude in the observances of religion. Even paternal tenderness could not lead him to deviate from this severity. Hosséin, his son, having killed the daï of Couhestan, he punished him with death; another son, for having drunk wine, met with the same fate. A man having played upon the flute, in the castle of Altamont, he commanded him to be turned out of the place, and resisted all the prayers that were made to him to obtain his pardon. Some authors pretend, that by sacrificing his sons thus, he wished to prove to the Ismaëlians that he had no intention of fixing the sovereign power in his own family; I doubt whether such a reason can justify Hassan in his barbarity. And yet it would not be the first time that policy has sacrificed the feelings of the heart to state interests.

The ability of this man in the management of affairs equalled his fanaticism. History has preserved several proofs of this, of which I shall only quote the following. Hassan had studied under the imaun Movassek-eddin, in company with Nizam-el-Moulk, one of the greatest statesmen Islamism ever produced; and community of labours established the strictest friendship between them. They entered into a mutual promise that the first of the two that should obtain honours should share them with the other, and that fortune should not affect their attachment. Hassan, after having for a long time led a miserable life, went to Nichapour, where he found Nizam-el-Moulk minister of the great Melik-chah; this was about the year 1073 of the Christian era. Nizam-el-Moulk, faithful to his promise, received Hassan with great kindness, and procured him a post at the court. Endowed with an expansive mind, rare cunning, and great talents for administration, this aspirant was not long in insinuating himself into the good graces of the Sultan, and acquiring his confidence. One day, Melik-chah having conceived some doubt of the probity of his first minister, asked him in how short a time he could draw out a clear statement of the receipts and expenses of the provinces. We should observe, that at that period the dominions of this prince extended from Antioch, in Syria, to Kachkar, in Turkistan. Nizam-el-Moulk said it would require two years; Hassan offered to perform the labour in forty days, provided the Sultan would place at his disposal all the writers of the court; and his offer being accepted, he realized his promise. He was preparing to present the result of his researches to the prince, when Nizam-el-Moulk, who saw his ruin approach, found means to get the statements into his hands, and to mutilate them. When Hassan appeared before the Sultan, the prince put several questions to him relative to the situation and finances of the empire. Hassan had recourse to his papers, and found them incomplete; he hesitated, stammered, and could not answer. Nizam-el-Moulk skilfully took advantage of his tergiversations to degrade Hassan in the mind of Melik-chah. “Wise and prudent men,” said he, “required two years to perform the work commanded by your majesty; an ignorant man, who has pretended to terminate it in forty days, is unable to give satisfactory answers to the questions put to him.” The prince, in his anger, was desirous of punishing Hassan; but, as he was a creature of his court, he allowed the affair to drop, and satisfied himself with despising him. This anecdote, which does little honour to the character of Nizam-el-Moulk, and shows no delicacy on the part of Hassan, towards the man to whom he owed his fortune, proves at least that the latter possessed great aptitude for business.

Such was the man whom the Ismaëlians, or rather the Assassins of the Crusaders, recognised as their chief, and to whom they gave the name of Séidouna,—Our Lord. But before we proceed, it is necessary to enter into some details upon the principles of this sect, upon the denominations that it bore, and upon its organization.

You have seen, sir, the origin of the denomination of Ismaëlian, given to the branch of the partisans of Ali to which Hassan belonged. This name is not, however, the only one under which these heretics were known by orthodox Mussulmans. They were likewise called Bathenians, Nezzarians, Molaheds, and Hachichens; but the two last epithets alone applied to the proselytes of Hassan.

The title of Bathenian designated the principles established by the Ismaëlians. One of the characters of their religion was to explain, in an allegorical manner, all the precepts of the Mussulman law; and this allegory was carried so far by some of their doctors, that it tended to nothing less than the destruction of all public worship; and to the elevation of a purely philosophical doctrine, and a very licentious morality, upon the ruins of all revelation and all divine authority. This is why they were called Bathenis, or Bathenians; which is to say, partisans of interior worship.

Molahed, the plural of the Arabian word Molhed, signifies impious; the partisans of Hassan did not receive this epithet till towards the year 1164 of Christ, and under the reign of one of his successors, named Hassan, the son of Mohammed. This prince, from his youth, gave himself up to the study of the dogmatic books of the sect; and as his father, to whom he succeeded, was unacquainted with science, he appeared in the eyes of the people a very profound scholar, and an extraordinary man. This good opinion, with respect to his person, increased daily, and the Ismaëlians became more blindly willing to execute his orders. Hassan, rendered bold by this success, put forth some extravagant opinions, and gave himself out to be the Imaun of the age. His father was still living; and, in his ignorance, scrupulously followed the doctrines of his sect. The pretensions of his son disgusted him, and he put to death two hundred and fifty of those who favoured them. As long as Mohammed lived, Hassan suppressed his real intentions; but he resumed them the moment the death of his father put him in possession of the throne. He permitted everything that religion prohibited, abolished the exterior practices of the Mussulman faith, allowed his subjects to drink wine, and dispensed with all the obligations which the law of Mahomet imposes on its sectaries; he declared that the knowledge of the allegorical sense of the precepts dispenses with the observance of the literal sense, and at length caused himself to be proclaimed son of Nezzar, son of the caliph Mostanser, and the caliph of God on the surface of the earth.[143] This heretical conduct procured for the Ismaëlians the denomination of Molahed, impious.

The surname of Nezzarians is derived from that Nezzar, of whom I have spoken, and was given to those Ismaëlians who adhered to the party of that prince, the eldest son of Mostanser, caliph of Egypt. The sectarians of Hassan were of the party of Nezzar.

I now come to the epithet of Assassins. The origin of this word had been the object of numerous researches, which still remained without any satisfactory result, when an illustrious scholar proved, in an evident manner, supporting all he advanced upon various Arabian texts, that it was a corruption of the word hachichen; and that it was given to the Ismaëlians, because they made use of an intoxicating liquor called hachich. This hachich is a preparation of the leaves of hemp, or some other part of that vegetable, which they employ in different manners; as a liquor, under the form of confections; or as pastilles, sweetened with saccharine substances; and even as fumigations. “The intoxication produced by the hachich,” says M. Silvestre de Sacy, “throws the person who takes it into an ecstasy similar to that which the Orientals experience in the use of opium; and according to the testimony of a great many travellers, we may be satisfied that men in this state of delirium imagine that they enjoy the ordinary objects of their wishes, and taste of a felicity, the acquisition of which costs them little, but the use of which, too often repeated, changes the animal organization, and leads to marasma and death. Some of them, in this state of transient insanity, losing the consciousness of their weakness, commit actions of a brutal nature, capable of disturbing public order. It cannot be forgotten that, during the sojourn of the French army in Egypt, the general-in-chief was obliged strictly to prohibit the sale and use of these pernicious substances, the indulgence in which has become a necessity for the inhabitants of Egypt, particularly the lower classes of the people. Those who give themselves up to this custom, are still called Hachichin, Hachachin; and these two expressions plainly show why the Ismaëlians have been called by the Latin historians of the crusades, sometimes Assissini, and sometimes Assassini.

With a small acquaintance with the Arabic tongue, and an observation upon the alterations certain words of that language have experienced in being transferred to the works of Latin and Greek authors, it is impossible to raise any objection to the correctness of the etymology advanced by M. Silvestre de Sacy. We may, however, believe that all Ismaëlians did not employ the hachich; that their chief alone was acquainted with this preparation, and that he only administered it to those whom he destined to exercise the infamous trade of fedai, or assassins; for there prevailed among the partisans of this sect a remarkable hierarchy: the dai, the refik, and the fedaï, formed three perfectly distinct classes.

The chief of the sect dwelt, as I have said, in the castle of Altamont, placed amidst mountains. It was the situation of this abode which gave him the title of Cheik Aldjebal,—Lord of the Mountain; but as cheik signifies equally lord and old man, our historians of the crusades took it in the latter sense, and called the prince of the Assassins the Old Man of the Mountain.

The daïs formed the first class of the sect; it was reserved to them to propagate the doctrine.[144] They exercised the functions of missionaries, spreading themselves throughout the provinces, preaching the dogmas of their worship, and receiving the profession of faith of such as were converted. There were, still further, degrees among these. They called dai aldoat,—dai of dais, him who had several missionaries under his orders, and whose jurisdiction comprised several provinces. The Ismaëlians had dais aldoat in Syria, Irac, Dilem, Korassan, &c.

Under the name refik, it appears, the body of the sectaries was comprised.

The fedaïs were the blind ministers of the Old Man of the Mountain; it was in their hands he placed the knife under which were to fall, without pity, all who opposed the establishment of his doctrine, or combated it by dangerous arguments; princes, generals, doctors,—nobody was safe from their blows; and they showed in the execution of the crime, a perseverance equalled only by their fanaticism.

The word fedaï, in its proper signification, means a devoted man, and the application of it was very just, since this class of the Ismaëlians had for the orders of their prince a devotedness without example. It is true this blind obedience was purchased by stratagem; for I have not the least doubt that we must apply to the fedaïs that which Marco Paolo relates of the young people brought up by the Old Man of the Mountains. “This traveller, whose veracity is generally acknowledged,” says M. de Sacy, “informs us that this prince caused young people to be brought up, chosen from amongst the most robust of the inhabitants of the places over which he ruled, to make of them the executioners of his barbarous decrees. All their education had for object to convince them that by blindly obeying the orders of their chief, they would secure themselves, after their death, the enjoyment of all the pleasures which delight the senses.[145] To attain this aim, this prince caused delicious gardens to be made round his palace. There, in pavilions, decorated with all that Asiatic luxury can imagine that is rich and brilliant, dwelt young beauties, consecrated solely to the pleasures of those for whom these enchanting places were destined. It was to this spot the Ismaëlian princes caused to be transported, from time to time, the young men of whom they meant to make the blind instruments of their will. After having caused them to swallow a draught which plunged them into a profound sleep, and deprived them for some time of the use of all their faculties, they had them conveyed to these pavilions, worthy of the gardens of Armida. Upon awaking, everything which struck their ears or their eyes threw them into a ravishment of delight, which left reason no empire in their minds. Uncertain if they had already entered upon the enjoyment of the felicity of which a picture had so often been held up to their imagination, they abandoned themselves with transport to all the various seductions by which they were surrounded. After they had passed some days in these gardens, the same means as had been employed to bring them there, without their knowledge, were again had recourse to to remove them from them. Advantage was carefully taken of the first moments of an awakening, which for them had put an end to the charm of so much enjoyment, to cause them to describe to their young companions the wonders of which they had been witnesses, and to convince them that the happiness of which they had during several fast-flitting days partaken, was but the prelude or foretaste of what they could secure an eternal possession of by their submission to the orders of their prince.”

This draught, endowed with such wonderful powers, was nothing but the hachich, with the virtues of which the chief of the sect was acquainted, and the use of which was not spread till some centuries after.

This, sir, is what Oriental historians furnish us with respecting the origin, dogmas, and political organization of the sect of the Assassins. As to its history, the extent of its dominions, and its power, these are points, for the development of which a much greater space would be requisite than that to which I am obliged to limit myself. Nevertheless, I will devote a few lines to these articles, for the gratification of your curiosity.

Mirkhoud has left us, in his work entitled Bouzat Alsafa, a history of the Ismaëlians of Persia. This piece is the more valuable and authentic, from having been extracted word for word, from a history written by the celebrated vizier Atha-el-Mulk, who was sent by Holagon, after the ruin of the Ismaëlians, into the castle of Altamont, and had an opportunity of consulting their original historical memoirs. Mirkhoud, or rather Atha-el-Mulk, informs us, then, that the Persian dynasty of the Ismaëlians furnished eight princes, including Hassan-ben-Sabbah, and that it subsisted during a space of 166 years, to the time at which Holagon, at the instigation of several princes who detested the Ismaëlians on account of their excesses, conquered Persia, destroyed the castles of the sect, and sent Rokn-eddin-Karchar, the last sovereign of Altamont, to the other side of the Oxus. This great event took place in 1256.

But this principal branch, or rather this stock of the Ismaëlians, is not that of which such frequent mention is made in our crusades; Hassan Sabbah, after having laid the foundation of his power in Persia, sent missionaries, of both the first and second order, into all parts of the Mussulman world; and these missionaries were particularly active in Syria. A certain very celebrated Seljoukide emir, who governed Aleppo, seconded their designs wonderfully. Redoun (that was the name of this prince) formed a friendship with the Ismaëlians, embraced their principles even, and granted them open protection. From that period, that is to say 501 of the Hegyra, dates the origin of the great power they exercised in Syria, which subsisted nearly two hundred years; but these Ismaëlians were subject to the sovereign of Altamont, and were directed by daïs: it is even remarkable that most of the fedaïs, employed in committing murder in Syria, were Persians by nation, and had doubtless been educated for that execrable profession in the delicious gardens of Altamont, and by the virtue of the chich.

Europe has taken too little interest in the history of the Ismaëlians, as obtained from Oriental writers, to be certain of the extent of country occupied by these sectaries. The geography of Persia, likewise, is enveloped in too much obscurity to allow us to assign an exact position to the various castles they inhabited. But what I can affirm is, that the province of Roudbar, in which was placed the seat of their empire, is, according to the Ferhenk Choouri,—the Persian dictionary, explained in Turkish, a large district, comprising many villages, and situated between Casbin and Guilan, in the neighbourhood of Theheran, the present capital of Persia.

William of Tyre informs us that the Ismaëlians possessed ten fortresses in Syria, and reckons them at sixty thousand souls. Their principal establishment was at Massiat, an important, well-fortified place, situated to the west of Hamah, at the distance of a day’s march. They obtained possession of it in 505 of the Hegyra, after having assassinated the emir who governed it; and have kept it even up to our times. In addition to Massiat, they held seven fortresses in the parallel of Hamah, from Hemes to the Mediterranean, and in the neighbourhood of Tripoli. They began to appear in Syria towards the end of the fifth century of the Hegyra. Their power increased rapidly under the Seljoukide Redevan, who embraced their doctrine. During the whole course of his reign, they had a house in Aleppo, in which they exercised their worship. They were so much dreaded, that they carried off women and children out of the open streets in mid-day, without any one daring to oppose their violences. They publicly plundered people of a sect opposed to their own; gave asylum to the greatest criminals, and gathered from impunity fresh audacity for the commission of new crimes. These barbarians carried their insolence so far as to seize, by force of arms, cities and strong castles; it was thus they entered Apamea, from which place Tancred drove them.

Whatever may have been the extent of the dominions possessed by the Ismaëlians, either in Persia or Syria, it cannot be compared with their power, established by fanaticism, and maintained by the fear they inspired. Spread throughout the whole of the Mussulman world, from the extremities of Asia Minor to the depths of Turkistan, they were everywhere dreaded. In presenting you with a few instances of their fanaticism and audacity, if I do not afford you a precise idea of their power, I shall at least make you acquainted with the nature of it, and with what it may be presumed to have been. Let us begin with devotedness and fanaticism.

History informs us that Henry, count of Champagne, having made a journey into Lesser Armenia, paid a visit, on his return, to the king of the Assassins, and was received with the most distinguished honours. The prince led him to all parts of his abode, and having conducted him up a very lofty tower, upon every step of which stood men clothed in white: “I do not suppose,” said he to his guest, “that you have any subjects as obedient as mine?” At the same time he made a sign with his hand, when two of these men precipitated themselves from the top of the tower, and expired instantly. The head of the Ismaëlians added: “If you desire it, at the least signal on my part, those whom you see will precipitate themselves in the same manner.” When taking leave of Henry, he made him rich presents, and said: “If you have any enemy who aims at your crown, address yourself to me, and my servants shall soon relieve you from your anxiety, by poniarding him.”

Melik-chah, alarmed at the progress of Hassan-ben-Sabbah, sent one of his officers to him to require him to desist from his views, and to surrender his castles. Hassan ordered one of his servants into his presence, and commanded him to kill himself, which the servant instantly did. He then told another to throw himself from the summit of a high tower, and his orders were equally promptly obeyed. “Report to your master,” then said he to the ambassador, “what you have seen, and tell him that I have sixty thousand men at my command, whose devotedness and obedience are like that which you have seen.”

In 1120, some Bathenians having assassinated Boursiki, prince of Mossoul, they were cut to pieces on the spot. The mother of one of these Ismaëlians having learnt the death of the emir and the fate of the assassins, gave herself up to transports of joy; but her satisfaction was changed into as lively a grief when she learnt that her son, by some fortunate chance, had escaped the destiny of his companions. Thus fanaticism produced the same effect upon this woman as was produced by national honour and patriotism in the case of the Spartan mother, whom history has immortalized as sinking under her grief when she heard that her son had escaped from the massacre of Thermopylæ. What becomes of the charm and power of virtue, if blind fanaticism, the disgrace of our nature, can rival her in the noblest actions she inspires?

The Ismaëlians were the more dangerous and redoubtable, from their practice of insinuating themselves into the courts of most princes, and their skill in adopting such disguises as circumstances required. They assumed the Syrian dress, in order to get rid of that Ahmed Bal, of whom I have just spoken; they entered the service of Tadjelmouth Bouri, prince of Damascus, in the quality of grooms of Korassan, and attacked him with impunity. The murderers of Bouriski took the dress of dervises, to avert all suspicion. The Ismaëlians deputed to poniard the marquis of Montferrat, embraced Christianity, wore religious habits, affected the most austere piety, gained the friendship and esteem of the clergy, acquired the good-will of their victim, and, after having killed him, endured the tortures in which they perished with admirable resignation. The imaun Fakr-eddin, a very celebrated Persian doctor, having been accused of practising the Ismaëlian doctrines in secret, in order to clear himself from the calumny, ascended the pulpit, and pronounced maledictions against the sect. This news reaching Altamont, Mohammed, who then reigned, charged a fedaï with the execution of his vengeance. This man repaired to the dwelling of the imaun, and told him that he was a jurisconsult, that he was desirous of being instructed by so able a master, and with his caresses and flattery, played his part so well, that he was admitted into the family of the doctor; he passed seven months with him without obtaining an opportunity to execute his purpose. At length, finding himself one day alone with the imaun, he shut the doors of the house, drew his poniard, rushed upon the doctor, struck him to the ground, and seated himself upon his chest. “I will rip you up,” said he, “from the navel to the breast.” “What for?” replied the imaun. Then the fedaï reproached him with having cursed the Ismaëlians from the pulpit. The imaun swore several times never to speak ill of that sect in future; upon which the fedaï released him, saying: “I have no orders to kill you, otherwise I should not delay the execution of those orders, or hesitate in performing them; know, then, that Mohammed salutes you, and desires that you would do him the honour of visiting him at his castle. You will become an all-powerful governor, for we shall obey you blindly.” And he added, “We take no account of the discourse of common people; their insults have no effect upon us. But you, you ought never to permit your tongue to utter anything against us, or to censure our conduct; because your words sink into the people’s hearts as the strokes of the engraver penetrate the stone.” The imaun said: “It is impossible for me to go to the castle, but I will, henceforward, never pronounce a word that may be displeasing to the sovereign of Altamont.” After this conversation, the fedaï took from his girdle three hundred and sixty pieces of gold, and said to the imaun: “Here is your salary for one year, and it has been ordered by the sublime divan, that you should receive every year a similar sum from the reis Modhaffer. I have in my chamber two Yeman robes; when I am gone your servants must take them, for our master has sent them to you.” The fedaï instantly disappeared. The imaun took the pieces of gold and the robes, and during five years received the appointed salary.

This miraculous devotedness, this confidence in an after-life, the felicity of which was beyond description, produced the audacity and perseverance in the execution of the orders of the prince, and the imperturbable courage which led the Ismaëlians to endure death, without allowing the most severe tortures to draw a confession from them. Caliphs and emirs fell beneath their blows, in mosques, in streets, within the walls of palaces, amidst crowds of people and courts of nobles. If they were taken with the fatal knife in their hands, they thanked heaven for bringing them nearer to the goal of their desires, and hailed death as leading them the first step towards felicity. Moudoud and Ac Sancar Albourski, princes of Mossoul, were assassinated as they were coming out of the great mosque of the city, although surrounded by their officers and domestics. Ahmed Bal, governor of some castles of the Azerbaidjan, had several times declared himself an enemy to the Lord of the Mountain; he was struck dead in the midst of the hall of audience of the sultan Mohammed at Bagdad. The great Saladin refused to embrace or protect the Ismaëlian doctrine, and announced his intention of destroying it. Whilst he was carrying on the siege of Akka, or Ptolemaïs, a fedaï threw himself upon him, and dealt him a blow of a poniard upon his head. Saladin seized him by the arm, but the murderer never ceased striking till he was killed. A second and a third fedaï continued the attack, but without obtaining better success. Nevertheless, says the historian, Saladin retired to his tent in great fear.

I have told you, sir, that the irruption of Holagon into Persia, and the expeditions of Biban into Syria, ruined the Ismaëlian power. But, whilst destroying their castles, these two great warriors were not able to completely exterminate the sect. When Tamerlane penetrated into Mezinderan, he found a great number of Ismaëlians. Mention is often made of these sectaries in the history of the conquest of Yemen by the Turks. We know that they are at present scattered through many parts of Persia, and that the government tolerates them. They even pretend that they have preserved their imaun to this moment; that he is descended from Ismaël himself, the son of Djafar Elasdie, and is named Chah Kalil. He dwells in the city of Khekh, near to Kom. This imaun is almost venerated as a god, among his proselytes, who attribute to him the gift of miracles, and often decorate him with the title of caliph. The Ismaëlians are found as far as the banks of the Ganges and the Indus, whence they piously come every year to receive the blessings of their lord in return for the magnificent offerings they bring him. There likewise still exist many families of them in the mountains of Libanus, upon whom M. Rousseau, consul-general of France to Aleppo, has given us some valuable information.

The Ismaëlians of Syria are divided into two classes,—the Soueidanis and the Khedhrewis. The latter, who form the most numerous part of the sect, have for chief the emir Ali Zoghbi, successor of the emir Mustapha Edris. Their principal place of abode is at Messias, which M. de Sacy thinks ought to be called Mesiat. This ancient fortress is situated at twelve leagues west of Hamah, upon an isolated rock. At three leagues west of Messias, the Ismaëlians possess another fortress, named Kadmous, of not less consequence than the other.

The second class, which comprises the Soueidanis, is much less numerous than the preceding one, and is concentrated in the village of Feudara, of the district of Messias. Its poverty has drawn upon it the contempt of the Khedhrewis; its present chief is named Cheikh Soleiman.

The sect of the Ismaëlians at the present moment only consists of some wretched families scattered here and there, whom the persecutions of the Turks are daily annihilating. The following is the sinister event which has plunged them into these circumstances. We will leave M. Rousseau to speak:—“The Reslans, one of the most distinguished families of the sect of the Nosaïris, possessed from time immemorial the fortress and territory of Messias, when the Ismaëlians, having become sufficiently powerful to encroach upon their domains, suddenly attacked them, and drove them from the country, in which they established themselves. This manifest usurpation increased the inveterate hatred which all the neighbouring peoples entertained for them. The Nosaïris, after having uselessly attempted, by several means, to regain their possessions, at length had recourse to stratagem. They sent some of their people to Messias, who, under borrowed names, and without creating any suspicion of their designs, entered the service of the Chich emir, Mustafa Edris, who then commanded in the fortress.

“Abou Ali Hammour and Ali Bacha, chief of the conspirators, had not long to wait for the opportunity they wished for. One day when the emir remained alone in his dwelling, they assailed him, and slew him with several dagger-wounds. This unexpected murder was the signal for great misfortunes for the Ismaëlians. Measures were so well concerted among their enemies, that at a given signal, a numerous band of Nosaïris, posted in the avenues of Messias, were to precipitate themselves upon it on a sudden, and massacre all the inhabitants who attempted to defend themselves. This project was completely carried out. The Ismaëlians, attacked sharply, terrified, and, for the most part, killed in the open streets, offered but weak resistance to their enemies, to whom they were compelled to swear submission and obedience for the future. The booty made on this day was valued at more than a million piastres, reckoning the plunder of the villages and the country. This event took place in the year 1809.”

These Ismaëlians have a book which contains the dogmas of their present belief, the practices of their worship, &c. Its author was a certain Cheikh Ibrahim, who seems to have been one of the visionaries of the sect; it was made public after the pillage of Messias. It is an assemblage of absurd reveries and incoherent, ridiculous, insignificant principles, in which the primitive doctrine of these sectaries is joined to a crowd of dogmas which are foreign to it, and which time, communication with other sects, and ignorance, have introduced into their belief. Nevertheless, the study of them ought not to be entirely neglected, as they serve to prove to what a degree the human mind may deceive itself.

To avoid fatiguing your patience, I will pass over that which relates to mystic theology, and the different incarnations of the Imaun or Messiah, who was manifested in the persons of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Ali, fourth caliph, according to orthodox Mahometans. I will likewise be silent upon the mysteries of the alphabetical letters, which are divided into the luminous and the obscure, the substantial and the corporeal; were at first twenty-two in number, were augmented by six, at the time of the revelation of the Koran; are connected with the houses of the moon, with the signs of the zodiac, with the planets, and the elements; designate sometimes a prophet, sometimes a holy personage; in short, are susceptible of an infinity of allegorical applications; but I will give in its entirety the description of Paradise.

“I have reserved an abode more permanent, and filled with eternal delights for those who follow my law, and fear the effects of my justice. This abode is paradise, to which entrance may be obtained by eight different gates, which lead to the same number of inclosures; there are in each inclosure or division, 70,000 meadows of saffron, and 70,000 abodes of mother-of-pearl and coral; in each dwelling-place or abode, there are 70,000 palaces and 70,000 galleries of topaz; in each gallery there are 70,000 golden saloons; in each saloon, 70,000 silver tables; upon each table, 70,000 exquisite dishes, &c. &c. Each of these 70,000 palaces contains 70,000 springs, or streams of milk and honey with as many purple pavilions, occupied by beautiful young women. Still further, each saloon is surmounted by 70,000 domes of amber, and upon each dome are set forth 70,000 wonders from the hand of Omnipotence. The inhabitants of these enchanted places are immortal and are unacquainted with infirmities, tears, laughter, prayers, or fasting.”

I ought to tell you, with regard to this passage, that in the true doctrine of the Ismaëlians, paradise is the true religion, and the epoch of its manifestation, and that this description, or any other like it, must be considered as an allegory.

To this quotation I cannot refrain from adding two others: one upon the duties of man, the other upon the metaphysical ideas of this sect.

“Oh! son of Adam, the empire of the universe belongs to me; all that you possess comes from me; but learn that the aliments which nourish you, will not preserve you from death, nor the clothes which cover you from the infirmities of the flesh; you will advance or go back, as you employ your tongue in falsehood or in truth. Thy being is composed of three parts: the first is mine, the second is thine; and the third belongs to us in common. That which is mine, is thy soul; that which is thine, is thy actions; and that which we share between us, is the prayers which thou addressest to me. Thou oughtest to implore me in thy wants; my delight is to listen to the prayers of the good. Oh! son of Adam, honour me, and thou wilt know me; fear me, and thou wilt see me; adore me, and thou wilt draw near to me. Oh! son of Adam, if kings are cast into flames for their tyranny, magistrates for their treachery, doctors for their jealousies, artisans for their frauds, the great for their pride, the low for their hypocrisy, the poor for their falsehoods,—where will they be found who can aspire to enter into paradise?

*******

There are three sorts of existence: the first, usual and relative, exposed to the influence of the stars, subject to alterations, and susceptible of being and not being at the same time; that is matter: the second, intellectual, which has been preceded by non-existence, but which becomes permanent from the moment it begins; that is the soul, upon which the celestial bodies cannot act: the third, necessary, absolute, and eternal, superior by its nature to the two others, that is the Supreme Being, by whom everything has been produced, who has always subsisted, and will subsist for ever.

“The Being whose existence is eternal, the first principle, is unlimited, One, and without companions.

“Man exists then doubly,—by his soul and by his body; his spiritual existence survives his bodily existence, which, sooner of later, is dissolved.

“The soul is a simple substance, homogeneous and immaterial, an indestructible breath of the Divinity. The body is a compound of material parts heterogeneous and destructible, which only exists as long as its parts remain united together. The soul is not essentially inherent to the body; the latter is not the subject of it; we only know that it is present in it, as we are aware of the splendour of the sun upon the surface of any object whatever.

“The soul is immortal.

*******

Souls were created before bodies: they resided, whilst waiting for them, in the intellectual world, the abode of true essences.

“After their union with the body, they constantly endeavour to preserve the reminiscence of their productive cause; and if, in their new state, they do not forget this first essence, they return to their former dwelling; otherwise they continue wandering and unhappy in the material world, there to perpetually experience the vicissitudes and pains of the present life.

“In order not to deteriorate, or lose its rights to proximity with its author, the soul must be constantly filled with the idea of that first cause which is disposed to attract it, unceasingly, towards it. It is its true state of perfection, that in which it maintains itself by becoming insensible to all terrestrial affections.

“In addition to his immaterial and reasonable soul, man has still another, which is the natural soul; this is born and dies with the body; it is a certain inexplicable, but active and actual force, which is common to him and animals devoid of reason, and which elevates him above these; it is the immortal breath which the Divinity has communicated to him, to the exclusion of the other beings of the universe.”[146]—Receive, monsieur, I beg, &c. &c.

————

No. 25.

Treaty made under the Walls of Constantinople.

This is certainly one of the most extraordinary documents we have ever seen. A handful of warriors, in a strange and foreign country, without any certainty of reinforcements, are before the second city of the world, well peopled, completely fortified, and prepared for defence; and yet they, before giving an assault, coolly draw up a treaty, by which the city and its empire are divided amongst them; and what completes the wonder is, that they succeeded, and, for a while, obtained what they contemplated.

“We, Henry Dandolo, by the grace of God doge of Venice, Dalmatia, and Croatia, and the very illustrious lords, Boniface, marquis of Montferrat; Baldwin, count of Flanders and Hainault; Louis, count of Blois and Clermont; and Henry, count of St. Pol; each on his own part, in order to maintain among us union and concord, and to avoid every subject of offence, with the co-operation of Him who is our peace, who made everything, and for whose glory we have thought fit to establish the following order, after having reciprocally engaged ourselves with the bonds of an oath. In the first place, we all agree (after having invoked the name of Jesus Christ) to cause the city to be attacked; and if, by the aid of divine power, we succeed in entering it, we will remain and serve under the command of those who shall be established leaders of the army, and follow them as it shall be ordered. All the wealth that shall be found in the city, shall by every one be deposited in a common place, which shall be chosen for this purpose, we reserving always, as well as for our Venetians, three parts of this wealth, which are to be remitted to us as an indemnity for that which the Emperor Alexius was bound to pay to us, as well as to you. On your side, you will retain a fourth part, until we have all obtained equal satisfaction; and if there should be anything left, we will share it equally between us and you, so that all may be satisfied. And if the said wealth should not prove sufficient to discharge that which is due to us, this wealth, from whatever source it may arise, shall be shared in the same manner between you and us, as it has been thereupon agreed, except the provisions and forage, which shall be set aside and divided equally among your people and ours, in order that all may subsist in a suitable manner; and all that may be found besides shall be shared with the other booty, according as it has been agreed thereupon. We and our Venetians are to enjoy, throughout the empire, in a free and absolute manner, and without any kind of contradiction, all the prerogatives and possessions which we have been accustomed to enjoy, as well in spiritual as in temporal matters; as well as all privileges and usages, written or not written. There shall also be chosen six members on our part, and six on yours, who, after having taken an oath, shall choose in the army and raise to the empire, him whom they shall believe to be most fit to exercise it, and to command in this land for the advantage and glory of God, of the holy Romish church, and of the empire. If they agree among themselves, we will recognise as emperor him whom they shall have elected with one common voice. But if it should happen that six shall be on one side and six on the other, it shall be left to chance, and him upon whom the lot shall fall we will acknowledge as emperor. If there should be a majority on one side, we will acknowledge as emperor him in favour of whom this majority shall be declared. If the council should be divided into more than two parts, we will acknowledge for emperor him whom the most numerous party shall have elected. The person who may be chosen emperor, shall have the quarter of all that shall be conquered from the empire, the palace of Blachernæ, and the Lion’s Mouth. The three other quarters shall be shared equally among you and us. As to the clerical members who shall be of the side on which the emperor shall not have been chosen, they shall have the privilege of composing the clergy of the Church of St. Sophia, and to elect a patriarch for the glory of God, of the holy Roman church, and the empire. But as regards the clerical members on one side and the other, they shall compose the clergy of the churches which shall fall to their share. As to the wealth of the churches, care will be taken to distribute to the ecclesiastics as much as will be sufficient to provide honourably for them, and to the churches as much as will be requisite to maintain them properly. Whatever may remain of this wealth shall be divided and shared as above directed. We will, in addition, make oath, on both sides, that, dating from the last day of the present month of March, we will remain during the space of an entire year in the service of the emperor, in order to contribute to and strengthen his power, for the glory of God, the holy Romish church, and the empire; and that all those who shall have previously sojourned in the empire, shall swear fidelity to the emperor, according to the good and praiseworthy custom. Thus then, all those who now dwell in the empire, as has been mentioned, shall swear they will hold as good and authentic the regulations and treaties which have been made. It is also proper to observe that, as well on your side as on ours, there shall be chosen twelve members, at most, as it may be convenient, who, after having taken the oath, shall be charged with the duty of distributing the fiefs and honours among individuals, and of regulating the rights of service to which these same individuals shall be subjected as regards the emperor and the empire, according to what these members shall think suitable; that the fief which shall be assigned to any one shall be possessed freely and without any obstacle, by his posterity, as well masculine as feminine, and that the possessor shall have entire power to execute whatever to him may seem good, saving his obedience to the laws and the duty he shall owe to the service of the emperor and the empire. There shall be likewise done for the emperor all the service necessary, independently of that to which the possessors of fiefs and privileges shall be bound, according to the order that shall be assigned to them. It is further enacted, that no inhabitant of a nation which shall be at war with us or our successors, or the Venetians, shall be admitted into the empire until that war shall be entirely terminated. Moreover, each party is held to labour sincerely to obtain from our holy father the pope, that if any one shall attempt to contravene the present constitution, he shall be struck by excommunication. On his side, the emperor is bound to swear that he will hold the acts and gifts which shall be made, irrevocable, conformably with all which has hereupon been named. That if the present treaty should require any addition or suppression, it will be within our power and liberty to make it, assisted by our six counsellors, conjointly with the said lord marquis, assisted equally by his six counsellors. On the other side, the above-named lord doge cannot take the oath to the emperor for any service, for any fief or privilege that may be granted to him; but he or they whom he shall delegate in that which concerns him, shall take the oath to do, towards the emperor and towards the empire, all services required, conformably with all which has been thereupon mentioned.