lood of the Hashemites with the blood of a Scythian shepherd; and
protracted the negotiation many months, till the gradual diminution of
his revenue admonished him that he was still in the hands of a master.
The royal nuptials were followed by the death of Togrul himself; [24]
as he left no children, his nephew Alp Arslan succeeded to the title
and prerogatives of sultan; and his name, after that of the caliph, was
pronounced in the public prayers of the Moslems. Yet in this revolution,
the Abbassides acquired a larger measure of liberty and power. On the
throne of Asia, the Turkish monarchs were less jealous of the domestic
administration of Bagdad; and the commanders of the faithful were
relieved from the ignominious vexations to which they had been exposed
by the presence and poverty of the Persian dynasty.

[Footnote 22: Consult the Bibliotheque Orientale, in the articles of
the Abbassides, Caher, and Caiem, and the Annals of Elmacin and
Abulpharagius.]

[Footnote 23: For this curious ceremony, I am indebted to M. De Guignes
(tom. iii. p. 197, 198,) and that learned author is obliged to Bondari,
who composed in Arabic the history of the Seljukides, tom. v. p. 365) I
am ignorant of his age, country, and character.]

[Footnote 231: According to Von Hammer, "crowns" are incorrect. They
are unknown as a symbol of royalty in the East. V. Hammer, Osmanische
Geschischte, vol. i. p. 567.--M.]

[Footnote 24: Eodem anno (A. H. 455) obiit princeps Togrulbecus .... rex
fuit clemens, prudens, et peritus regnandi, cujus terror corda mortalium
invaserat, ita ut obedirent ei reges atque ad ipsum scriberent. Elma
cin, Hist. Saracen. p. 342, vers. Erpenii. * Note: He died, being 75
years old. V. Hammer.--M.]

Chapter LVII: The Turks.--Part II.

Since the fall of the caliphs, the discord and degeneracy of the
Saracens respected the Asiatic provinces of Rome; which, by the
victories of Nicephorus, Zimisces, and Basil, had been extended as far
as Antioch and the eastern boundaries of Armenia.

Twenty-five years after the death of Basil, his successors were suddenly
assaulted by an unknown race of Barbarians, who united the Scythian
valor with the fanaticism of new proselytes, and the art and riches of
a powerful monarchy. [25] The myriads of Turkish horse overspread a
frontier of six hundred miles from Tauris to Arzeroum, and the blood of
one hundred and thirty thousand Christians was a grateful sacrifice to
the Arabian pr