er philosophical. He
made himself the chief exponent of this doctrine, which, by its very
simplicity, was sure to attract to him many people of simple and sincere
minds. Attacked by the troops of the Sultan Sindgar, he defended himself
vigorously and not unsuccessfully; but, fearing lest he should fall in an
unequal and protracted struggle against an adversary more powerful than
himself, he had recourse to cunning so as to obtain peace. He entranced,
or fascinated probably, by means analogous to those related by Marco Polo,
a slave, who had the daring, during Sindgar's sleep, to stick a sharp
dagger in the ground by the side of the Sultan's head. On waking, Sindgar
was much alarmed. A few days after, Hassan wrote to him, "If one had not
good intentions towards the Sultan, one might have driven the dagger,
which was stuck in the earth by his head, into his bosom." The Sultan
Sindgar then made peace with the chief of the Ishmaelians, whose dynasty
lasted for one hundred and seventy years.

The Castle of Alamond, built on the confines of Persia, on the top of a
high mountain surrounded with trees, after having been the usual residence
of Hassan, became that of his successors. As in the native language the
same word means both _prince_ and _old man_, the Crusaders who had heard
the word pronounced confounded the two, and gave the name of _Old Man of
the Mountain_ to the Ishmaelian prince at that time inhabiting the Castle
of Alamond, a name which has remained famous in history since the period
when the Sire de Joinville published his "Memoires."

Ancient authors call the subjects of Hassan, _Haschichini, Heississini,
Assissini, Assassini_, various forms of the same expression, which, in
fact, has passed into French with a signification which recalls the
sanguinary exploits of the Ishmaelians. In seeking for the etymology of
this name, one must suppose that Haschichini is the Latin transformation
of the Arabic word Hachychy, the name of the sect of which we are
speaking, because the ecstacies during which they believed themselves
removed to paradise were produced by means of _haschisch_ or _haschischa_.
We know that this inebriating preparation, extracted from hemp, really
produces the most strange and delicious hallucinations on those who use
it. All travellers who have visited the East agree in saying that its
effects are very superior to those of opium. We evidently must attribute
to some ecstatic vision the supposed exis