not take out of the treasury a single dinar for his own use, without his permission.

In the 326th year of the Hegira, Ebn Moklah, who was then visir, wrote, on the part of the caliph, a letter to Yahcam, the Turk, telling him, that now it was time for him to advance to Bagdad, at the head of a body of troops, in order to deliver the caliphate from the tyranny of Ebn Rayek, and to occupy his place. But this letter having been intercepted, Ebn Rayek discovered to the caliph the reason of the visir, who had dared to write such a letter without his master's knowledge, and even against his express orders. Moklah, upon his appearing before the caliph, at first denied the fact, but the letter, in his own hand-writing, being produced, he was found guilty, and condemned by the judges to have his right hand cut off, for having committed so heinous a crime. When sentence was pronounced, he complained bitterly of the severity of it, and of the iniquity of cutting off the right hand of a man who had invented the most beautiful character that had ever been used among the Arabs, and had written several copies of the Koran in so elegant a manner, that they passed for master-pieces in the art of writing, and had been visir to three successive caliphs. Nor did he content himself with bare complaints: he inveighed bitterly against the judges and the caliph himself; wherefore, the executioner not only deprived him of his right hand, but, some days afterwards, cut out his tongue; after which, he was confined in one of the dungeons belonging to the imperial palace. Al Radi reigned dependent on the emir-al-omras, not only those of his own creating, but those who

tore their authority from his grasp. He kept this shadow of dignity almost seven years, and died at thirty. Historians describe him as possessed of goodness and humanity: he was libe. ral, munificent, mild, well versed in literature, eloquent, a good poet, and a great admirer of the conversation of learned men. He was the last of the caliphs who wrote verses, at least such as were worthy of having a place assigned them in the Mohammedan annals; he was the last likewise of the Mussulmen emperors that offici`ated constantly in the mosque; that commanded the forces; that had the disposal of the public money; and that, in short, exercised any kind of real authority over the Arabs. His successors, for a considerable period at least, enjoyed little more than the bare title of caliph, and of this they were even at last deprived by the Tartars. Henceforth, therefore, the caliphs of Bagdad will not occupy a more exalted station in history than they did in the theatre of their wonted grandeur.

When the caliph Al Radi expired, Yahcam, then emir-al-omra, was at Cufa, and, upon his receiving advice of that prince's death, he im mediately dispatched one of his secretaries to Bagdad, with orders to convoke the descendants of Ali, the judges, the house of Al Abbas, and all the principal officers of the empire, to elect the new caliph. They had not been long assembled, before they chose Ibrahim, surnamed, afterwards, Al Mottaki, whom they unanimously saluted emperor. Al Mottaki, after his inauguration, sent a sumptuous vest and a banner to Yahcam, and continued him in the post of emir-al-omra; he also con

A. D. 941.

firmed Abul Kasem in the office of visir, though he had not the least authority in the state.

Yahcam having sent a body of troops from Waset, to reduce Abu Abdallah, Al Baridi set out from that city, to take the command of these troops; but he was met upon the road by an express, which informed him that his forces had already proved superior to the enemy, and obliged Al Baridi to take himself to flight. Yahcam, therefore, directed his course towards the banks of the Taur, hunting through all the tract he traversed. He made an incursion, with a small party, into a district bordering upon that river, inhabited by a rich and numerous tribe of Curds, in order to pillage them; and, having surprised this people, who little expected such a visit, he killed several of them, and dispersed the rest. However, a young Curd, observing the barbarity and rapacity of this plunderer, whom he did not know, made directly at him, and ran him through with his lance; upon which he fell instantly to the ground, and expired. The caliph, receiving advice of what had happened to Yahcam, immediately took possession of his palace, where he found immense treasures buried under ground; all which he seized for the service of the state, and conferred the post of emir-al-omra upon Ciertakin, the Deylamite; but, not being pleased with his conduct, he soon dismissed him, and appointed, as his successor, Ebn Rayek, who came from his residence in Syria to Bagdad for that purpose. About this time so grievous a famine raged in several parts of Sicily, that many of the towns and villages of that fruitful island were entirely depopulated.

In the 332d year of the Hegira, a robber, supported by Ebn Shirazad, one of Teuzan's chief commanders, to whom he paid monthly, for his protection, fifteen thousand dinars, appeared in the neighbourhood of Bagdad, and committed, even within sight of that capital, terrible depredations. In the mean time, Al Mottaki, perceiving that Teuzan became every day more insolent, discovered an inclination to deprive his prime minister of the office he had assigned him, the preceding year; a design which so enraged the Turk, that he obliged the caliph to abandon the city of Bagdad, and retire to Al Mawsel. At length, however, he meditated a return, and wrote to Teuzan, making overtures for a reconciliation. This year the Russians, by means of a fleet they had equipped on the Caspian Sea, made an irruption into the greater Armenia, penetrated as far as the city of Bardaa, which they took and sacked, and returned, without having sustained any considerable loss. Such a scarcity of all sorts of grain prevailed for several months at Bagdad, that the inhabitants of that metropolis were terrified at the thoughts of a famine. The famous Abu Thaher died of the small-pox, in the course of this year. In the next, Al Mottaki was deposed by Teuzan, before he had been quite four years upon the throne. In answer to the caliph's letter, sent towards the close of the preceding year, the usurper assured this prince, that the proposals he had offered for an accommodation were perfectly agreeable. to him, and that he would engage to perform all the articles of the future treaty demanded.. by the caliph; and that Al Mottaki might depend upon being received with all the honours

due to a person in his sublime station. The caliph relying upon this promise, went to join Teuzan in his camp. As soon as the emir perceived him, he quitted his horse, walked by the side of the stirrup, prostrated himself, and treated him and his family with every mark of respect and honour. He wrote at the same time to Bagdad, desiring that Al Mostacfi, the son of Mottafi should be sent to him. The scene then changed. The unfortunate Mottaki was torn from the throne, and the emir, not content with this act of injustice, added to it that of depriving him of his sight. He was then left to wander a wretched mendicant, in the tattered garb of poverty, and wooden shoes, the only covering for his feet. Eastern writers represent him as a just and religious prince, who had scarcely any thing left him, besides the bare title of caliph; the privilege of having his name impressed on the current coin; and the liberty of officiating as Imam in the public mosques. In the course of his reign, Al Mottaki sent, as a present to the Greek emperor, the handkerchief with which our Saviour is said to have wiped his face, and wherein the resemblance of his countenance was still to be seen, which had been preserved in the church of Edessa. The emperor, in consequence of this present, released a great number of Mohammedan prisoners. Al Makin relates, that our Saviour sent the handkerchief above-mentioned to Abgar, the black king of Edessa, and that, upon its arrival at Constantinople, it was conducted in great pomp by the patriarch, bishops, clergy, and Greek nobility, to the church of Santa Sophia, where it was then deposited, and for a long time afterwards remained.