Sehood. This he accomplished, and it was the last memorable act of the old man, for he died in 1787, having numbered himself ninety-five years of active and laborious service. The old reformer's death, however, made little stir amongst the sectarian Wahabees. The sovereign power was sufficiently confirmed in the family of Sehood, and the two existing leaders, father and son, were equal in zeal for the service of God, and in determination for the due maintenance of their individual rank, and their patrimonial honours. They led their followers abroad on such distant enterprizes that the people of Bassora were compelled to entreat the protection of Suleiman, Pacha of Bagdad. Suleiman brought an army against Sehood; but the young and fiery zealot routed his forces, drove him off in precipitate flight, and ravaged the province of Irak, where he and his soldiers committed most dreadful havoc. The news of his exploits were heard with fear at the Schah's court, whilst at the same moment Ghaleb, the scheriff of Mecca, was fain to make peace with the puissant Abdelazeez. Such was the extraordinary influence exercised, by what, in times not long since past, was a petty and almost nameless tribe of the Great Arabian Desert. In the pride of his heart the scheik Abdelazeez, despatched Sehood, at the head of twenty thousand men, to capture the city of Kirbeleh, near the banks of the Euphrates. It is one of the most renowned places of the east, as it contains the remains and the sepulchre of Hussein the son of Ali by Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet of God. To destroy this monument was the avowed object of the sectarians. The inhabitants of the devoted city made a feeble and ineffectual resistance; and it fell into the hands of the fanatics. They put all the males to death; sparing, however, old men, children, and women. The booty which they acquired was immense; for Kirbeleh, with Mesjed, which contains the tomb of Ali, are the two most favourite places of pilgrimage to the Persians, who are the followers of the last named saint. All the votive offerings, which, accumulating at Kerbeleh through ages, were of a prodigious amount, fell into the possession of the Wahabees. When the plunderers penetrated within the precincts of the sepulchre, they seized the Mullah, to whose custody was committed the guardianship of the sacred spot, and, on condition that his life was spared, he promised to point out the deposi tories of the concealed treasures. The stipulated safety was refused, and a furious Arab plunged his sabre into the suppliant's bosom. The hidden treasures remained hermetically sealed to all discovery. But the votive gifts around the sepulchre, and the ornaments of the mosque, were seized by the greedy soldiery. Among these were pearls and various jewels of inestimable value, with the plates of gold which covered the roof, and the finest sabres, and the richest shawls of Cachmere and carpets of costly price, besides ornaments innumerable in massive gold and silver, and lamps and fire-arms of approved workmanship. In addition to these were captured a host of Nubian and Abyssinian slaves, and immense hoards of gold and silver coinage. The army of the fanatics was for eight hours suffered, in unbridled licence, to commit every species of havoc through the streets of Kerbeleh, and did not retire from the city until fatigue compelled the soldiers to suspend their violence. After this exploit, Sehood returned into his own country. But vengeance was not slumbering after such atrocities were perpetrated. The spirit of just revenge, according to the rubric of Persian morals, moved the arm of one who held the tomb of Hussein in respect. He was a fanatic of the composition of Jacques Clement and Ravaillac. This person came to Derayeh, and whilst Abdelazeez was kneeling in supplication in the mosque, the assassin approached the scourge of his native country, and smote him to the heart. The blow was too sure, and the victim died - whilst the murderer was struck to the ground, dragged into the street, and offered as a propitiatory sacrifice to the spirit of the murdered sheik. In the Persian's turban was found a scroll, with these words: " Thy duty to thy God bids thee, as the most sacred of acts, to slay Abdelazeez. In escaping, rich rewards await thee; but if thou fallest, thou shalt be translated to the joys of Paradise." Abdelazeez was assassinated in 1803, and succeeded immediately by his son Sehood, who, in his turn, swore to take speedy vengeance for the murder of his father. This was Sehood fulfilled his engagement to the letter. Bassora and Irak felt the prowess of his arms. The Scheriff of Mecca, Ghaleb, imagined the present moment very fitting to strike a blow against the Wahabite power. His Turkish followers, however, were like puny reeds before the fury of the fanatics. He was worsted in every engagement, and forced to entreat for peace. granted, and Sehood, at the head of forty thousand men, marched to Medina, placing which under a governor of his own nomination, he proceeded to Mecca. Here, he ordered the opening of the Prophet's tomb, whence he abstracted the many long-treasured jewels, consisting of diamonds and pearls, and rubies and emeralds, all which were publicly sold, and the proceeds, together with the bars of gold, formed from the melted vessels, chandeliers, and vases, were distributed amongst his soldiers. This last act, in the eyes of the Mussulmans, filled to the brim the cup of Sehood's abominations. All the Mahomedan world were indignant at the outrageous conduct of the Scheik of Derayeh; and Mahomed Ali, at the command of the Sublime Porte, fitted out an expedition to hunt down and to the death this atrocious enemy of God and man. Yet this atrocious enemy had gained his ascendancy under the firm persuasion that he was thus working in the vineyard of the earth for the salvation of man, and the manifestation of the glory of God. Such motives have ever been most cogent with men; or, in the words of an old poet "There is no danger to a man that knows |