off their retreat, they accepted a sum of money and raised the siege.

Towards the close of the twelfth century the descendants of Fatima ceased to reign over Egypt. Aladid, the last of the race, appears to have intrusted the government to the wisdom of his viziers, who, it is manifest, laboured both at home and abroad to establish their own power rather than that of their master; and as he had no near relations, his death was the signal for his ambitious minister to seat himself on the empty throne. This founder of a new dynasty was the renowned Saladin, whose name is so closely associated with the most brilliant exploits of the Mohammedan arms. He began by seizing the wealth and securing the strong places of the kingdom,-throwing at the same time into confinement all whom he suspected of being the partisans of the late monarch. Not inheriting the blood of the prophet, he did not assume the title of caliph, which implies the sacerdotal as well as the kingly office; but contented himself with the denomination of sultan, leaving the priestly duties to be discharged by some individual sprung from the sacred lineage.

Though Saladin was acknowledged as sovereign of Egypt by many of the neigbouring states, and even received the sanction of the caliph of Bagdad, his government was not yet firmly established. There were two powerful factions opposed to his authority; the adherents of Aladid's family, who wished to retain the sceptre in the Fatimite succession, and the king of Syria, who dreaded the ascendency of so warlike a neighbour. The first favoured the pretensions of an adventurer who claimed the throne, and even enabled him to appear in the field at the head of 100,000 men. But a complete victory soon relieved the new sultan from all apprehension in this quarter. The Christians, under the command of William, king of Sicily, next engaged his attention, having laid siege to Alexandria both by land and sea. Saladin flew to the relief of a place the preservation of which was so important at once to his reputation and to the success of his future plans. He had mustered a force sufficient to justify the hazard of a battle; but before he could accomplish his object, the crusaders, smitten with a sudden panic, commenced a hurried retreat, leaving behind them their stores, their baggage, and even their military

engines. The court of Damascus, still cherishing a feeling of deep-rooted jealousy, endeavoured to strengthen their interests by an extended alliance among the surrounding principalities; watching eagerly for an opportunity to check the views and disappoint the ambition of the Egyptian sultan. At length they resolved to commit their cause to the fortune of war. A general engagement ensued, which terminated so decidedly in favour of Saladin that he returned from it the undisputed master of the whole of Syria.

His next cares were directed to the enlargement and fortification of Cairo, which he had determined to render a capital worthy of his extensive dominions, and fit to be compared with the more ancient cities adorned by Menes, Sesostris, and Ptolemy. He encouraged the schools and literature of the country, and in many other respects showed qualities suited to a time of peace; but he was soon torn away from his schemes of domestic improvement to the din of arms and the ravages of war. Having obtained the ascendency in Syria, he resolved to extend his power also into Palestine; and with this view he led his troops against the numerous host of the crusaders who had again joined their banners for the recovery of the Holy Land. His first efforts in the field were not attended with success. The Christians, animated with an equal courage and long accustomed to the use of their weapons, repelled the attacks of the sultan with so much fury that he saw his fine army perish before his eyes, either in the battle or while attempting to retreat across the desert into Egypt.

But his spirit could not be subdued by temporary reverses. Aided by commanders who shared his energy and ambition, he resumed offensive operations both by sea and land; recovered all the ground he had lost in the former campaign; and finally gained a decisive victory over the allied forces led by Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, and by Arnold, lord of Karac, both of whom were taken prisoners. The former was treated with respect, but the latter was put to death by Saladin's own hand, because he had inflicted many injuries on the followers of Mohammed. Ptolemais, Neapolis, Cæsarea, and other cities fell into the power of the Egyptian ruler, who, finding nothing to oppose his progress, marched to the capital, which he im

mediately invested. The garrison was numerous, and made a desperate defence; but after the conqueror had effected a breach in the walls, and was on the point of entering the town, the governor proposed a capitulation. Saladin, enraged at the delay occasioned by a protracted siege, refused to accept the terms, vowing that he would sack and utterly demolish the Holy City, though almost equally venerated by Mohammedans and by Christians. His cruel threatenings roused the spirit of the defenders, who announced their resolution to put 5000 Mussulman prisoners to death, and in order that no European might be exposed to their revenge, they would also deprive of life their own wives and children. They added, that with the view of disappointing their enemy in the expectation of booty, they would destroy every thing valuable within the walls; level the rock which the disciples of the prophet held sacred; and then sally out in a body on the besiegers, either to purchase victory or to sell their lives at the dearest price. The knowledge of this resolution moved Saladin to more reasonable terms; and he consented that the garrison, as well as the inhabitants of Jerusalem, should have their lives spared on the condition of paying a liberal ransom in

money.

The wars which Saladin carried on against the heroes of the Crusade do not properly fall within the limits of this volume, more especially as the scene of conflict was chosen in Syria rather than in Egypt. Suffice it to mention, that when he had succeeded in establishing his authority from Thebes to Damascus, his territories were once more invaded by a Christian armament, conducted by the Emperor of Germany, the King of France, and the celebrated Richard Cœur de Lion, the sovereign of England. The combined forces encamped before Ptolemais,-a stronghold which is better known by its modern name of Acre,-in which the sultan had collected a numerous army, and made preparations for a vigorous defence. Want of harmony among the European powers enabled him to resist their attacks a long time without incurring any serious loss; and it was not until the approach of famine had thinned his ranks and depressed the spirits of the survivors, that he consented to offer conditions. Upon the promise of refunding a part of the treasure which at different times he had extorted

from the allies, he was allowed to march out with the honours of war; delivering to the victors the possession of a town, the siege of which had involved the sacrifice of three hundred thousand men, including the flower of European chivalry and the best warriors of the East.

After numerous vicissitudes of fortune, in which his active valour, aided by the jealousies that distracted the counsels of his antagonists, had generally secured to him the advantage in the field, he died in the fifty-fifth year of his age. His son, who succeeded him on the throne of Egypt, appears to have possessed his ambition without his talents. But Alcamel, to whom the sceptre fell about the beginning of the thirteenth century, threw a lustre on his reign by his success in repelling the crusaders; who for the fifth time invaded the kingdom of the sultans. Damietta had surrendered to the Christians, who, elated by the prosperous commencement of the campaign, advanced up the Nile, and meditated the entire conquest of the country. But the issue of a general action, which soon afterward took place, was so disastrous to the foreigners that they were compelled to sue for mercy, and to accept the conditions of a treaty more honourable to the clemency of the victors than to the ability of the European commanders.

Alcamel died at Damascus in 1238, and Aladel, one of his sons, was raised to the throne; but Nojmoddin, the eldest brother, laid claim to the kingdom. A bloody contest would probably have ensued had not the younger prince, in the mean time, disappeared or died,—an event which led to the peaceable accession of the senior claimant. Nojmoddin, like his predecessor, soon acquired great influence with the leaders of the Crusade; for Richard, Earl of Cornwall, perceiving that the Sultan of Egypt possessed more power than the Syrian lords of Karac and Damascus, entered into an alliance with him, and thereby ensured protection to the Christian pilgrims when on their way the holy sepulchre.

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In this unsettled state of affairs Nojmoddin passed into Syria, determined, with the help of some rude tribes who occupied the neighbouring desert, to subdue the faithless armies of Damascus. A battle, in which he found himself opposed by certain European auxiliaries, crowned his

enterprise with success, and opened up a path to still more important advantages; but, in the mean time, a new host of crusaders arrived at the port of Damietta, having Louis the Ninth of France for their leader. In the absence of the sultan, and while the nation was altogether unprepared for such an inroad, the French king made considerable progress; several towns fell, and the inhabitants fled for refuge into the upper part of the country. Nojmoddin, who was busily engaged in the siege of Emessa, hastened towards home to save his people from the horrors of an utter conquest; but, harassed by fatigue and anxiety, he sank by the way, leaving the government to his son, an inexperienced youth. The enemy still pushed into the interior, apprehending no serious opposition, when to their surprise they found themselves in presence of a formidable army, raised by the exertions of the sultan's widow, the famous Shagir Aldor. Louis was defeated and taken prisoner; while his followers, after having endured the greatest privations, were glad to throw themselves upon the compassion of the natives, whose fields they had laid waste, and whose houses they had plundered.

This period is remarkable for the earliest accession to power of that celebrated class of men called Mamlouks. Saladin, who as a usurper put little confidence in the native troops of Egypt, placed around his person a guard of foreigners, composed of slaves purchased or made captives in the provinces which border on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Successive sultans had increased the power of these armed attendants by new privileges; and hence, as has always happened in every similar case, they acquired at length the entire disposal of the sovereign authority. Ibeg, one of their number, became regent during the minority of the prince; and upon the death of that boy he married the queen-mother, and finally stepped into the throne. Carried off by assassination he left the supreme power to his son, who only enjoyed it during a very short period; but notwithstanding the convulsions which incessantly shook the state, and the alarming progress of the Monguls in the eastern part of the Mohammedan empire, the Mamlouk dynasty directed the affairs of Egypt not less than one hundred and twenty years.

But the inheritance of the Pharaohs was now doomed to