386 THE DECLINE AND FALL Death of of the assassins : and Othman, with the Koran in his lap, was Othman. A.D 655 [656], ■ pierced with a multitude of wounds. A tumultuous anarchy of five days was appeased by the inauguration of Ali ; his refusal would have provoked a general massacre. In this painful situa- tion he supported the becoming pride of the chief of the Hashemites ; declared that he had rather serve than reign ; re- buked the presumption of the strangers ; and required the formal, if not the voluntary, assent of the chiefs of the nation. He has never been accused of prompting the assassin of Omar ; though Persia indiscreetly celebrates the festival of that holy martyr. The quarrel between Othman and his subjects was assuaged by the early mediation of Ali ; and Hassan, the eldest of his sons, was insulted and wounded in the defence of the caliph. Yet it is doubtful whether the father of Hassan was strenuous and sincere in his opposition to the rebels ; and it is certain that he enjoyed the benefit of their crime. The tempta- tion was indeed of such magnitude as might stagger and corrupt the most obdurate virtue. The ambitious candidate no longer aspired to the barren sceptre of Arabia : the Saracens had been victorious in the East and West ; and the wealthy kingdoms of Persia, Syria, and Egypt were the patrimony of the commander of the faithful. Reiguof All. A life of prayer and contemplation had not chilled the [656-661"] martial activity of Ali ; but in a mature age, after a long experi- ence of mankind, he still betrayed in his conduct the rashness and indiscretion of youth. In tlie first days of his reign, he neglected to secure, either by gifts or fetters, the doubtful alle- giance of Telha and Zobeir, two of the most powerful of the Arabian chiefs. They escaped from Medina to Mecca, and from thence to Bassora ; erected the standard of revolt ; and usurped the government of Irak, or Assyria, which they had vainly soli- cited as the reward of their services. The mask of patriotism is allowed to cover the most glaring inconsistencies ; and the enemies, perhaps the assassins, of Othman now demanded ven- geance for his blood. They were accompanied in their flight by Ayesha, the widow of the prophet, who cherished, to the last hour of her life, an implacable hatred against the husband and the posterity of Fatiraa. The most reasonable Moslems were scandalized that the mother of the faithful should expose in a camp her person and character ; but the superstitious crowd was confident that her presence would sanctify the justice, and assure the success, of their cause. At the head of twenty thousand of his loyal Arabs and nine thousand valiant auxiliaries of Cufa, the
