n army of
foes--ecclesiastics, state officials and people, united in relentless hate,
and watching for an opportunity to discredit and annihilate a dreaded
adversary--had, at long last, been afforded the pretext for which it was
longing. Now it could achieve its malevolent purpose. Though the Faith
had, from its inception, disclaimed any intention of usurping the rights
and prerogatives of the state; though its exponents and disciples had
sedulously avoided any act that might arouse the slightest suspicion of a
desire to wage a holy war, or to evince an aggressive attitude, yet its
enemies, deliberately ignoring the numerous evidences of the marked
restraint exercised by the followers of a persecuted religion, proved
themselves capable of inflicting atrocities as barbarous as those which
will ever remain associated with the bloody episodes of Mazindaran, Nayriz
and Zanjan. To what depths of infamy and cruelty would not this same enemy
be willing to descend now that an act so treasonable, so audacious had
been committed? What accusations would it not be prompted to level at, and
what treatment would it not mete out to, those who, however unjustifiably,
could be associated with so heinous a crime against one who, in his
person, combined the chief magistracy of the realm and the trusteeship of
the Hidden Imam?

The reign of terror which ensued was revolting beyond description. The
spirit of revenge that animated those who had unleashed its horrors seemed
insatiable. Its repercussions echoed as far as the press of Europe,
branding with infamy its bloodthirsty participants. The Grand Vizir,
wishing to reduce the chances of blood revenge, divided the work of
executing those condemned to death among the princes and nobles, his
principal fellow-ministers, the generals and officers of the Court, the
representatives of the sacerdotal and merchant classes, the artillery and
the infantry. Even the _Sh_ah himself had his allotted victim, though, to
save the dignity of the crown, he delegated the steward of his household
to fire the fatal shot on his behalf. Ardi_sh_ir Mirza, on his part,
picketed the gates of the capital, and ordered the guards to scrutinize
the faces of all those who sought to leave it. Summoning to his presence
the kalantar, the daru_gh_ih and the kad_kh_udas he bade them search out
and arrest every one suspected of being a Babi. A youth named Abbas, a
former servant of a well-known adherent of the Faith, was, on t