ained to mingle the blood 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; 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.

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. 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
prophet. Yet the arms of Togrul did not make any deep or lasting
impression on the Greek empire. The torrent rolled away from the open
country; the sultan retired without glory or success from the siege of
an Armenian city; the obscure hostilities were continued or suspended
with a vicissitude of events; and the bravery of the Macedonian legions
renewed the fame of the conqueror of Asia. The name of Alp Arslan, the
valiant lion, is expressive of the popular idea of the perfection of
man; and the successor of Togrul displayed the fierceness and generosity
of the royal animal. He passed the Euphrates at the head of the Turkish
cavalry, and entered Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia, to which he
had been attracted by the fame and wealth of the temple of St. Basil.
The solid structure resisted the destroyer: but he carried away the
doors of the shrine incrusted with gold and pearls, and p