s
of the East, was honored by the caliph as an oracle of religion and
science; he was trusted by the sultan as the faithful vicegerent of his
power and justice. After an administration of thirty years, the fame
of the vizier, his wealth, and even his services, were transformed into
crimes. He was overthrown by the insidious arts of a woman and a rival;
and his fall was hastened by a rash declaration, that his cap and
ink-horn, the badges of his office, were connected by the divine decree
with the throne and diadem of the sultan. At the age of ninety-three
years, the venerable statesman was dismissed by his master, accused
by his enemies, and murdered by a fanatic: the last words of Nizam
attested his innocence, and the remainder of Malek's life was short and
inglorious. From Ispahan, the scene of this disgraceful transaction, the
sultan moved to Bagdad, with the design of transplanting the caliph,
and of fixing his own residence in the capital of the Moslem world. The
feeble successor of Mahomet obtained a respite of ten days; and before
the expiration of the term, the Barbarian was summoned by the angel of
death. His ambassadors at Constantinople had asked in marriage a Roman
princess; but the proposal was decently eluded; and the daughter
of Alexius, who might herself have been the victim, expresses her
abhorrence of his unnatural conjunction. The daughter of the sultan
was bestowed on the caliph Moctadi, with the imperious condition, that,
renouncing the society of his wives and concubines, he should forever
confine himself to this honorable alliance.

Chapter LVII: The Turks.--Part III.

The greatness and unity of the Turkish empire expired in the person of
Malek Shah. His vacant throne was disputed by his brother and his four
sons; and, after a series of civil wars, the treaty which reconciled
the surviving candidates confirmed a lasting separation in the _Persia_
dynasty, the eldest and principal branch of the house of Seljuk. The
three younger dynasties were those of _Kerman_, of _Syria_, and of
_Roum_: the first of these commanded an extensive, though obscure,
dominion on the shores of the Indian Ocean: the second expelled the
Arabian princes of Aleppo and Damascus; and the third, our peculiar
care, invaded the Roman provinces of Asia Minor. The generous policy
of Malek contributed to their elevation: he allowed the princes of
his blood, even those whom he had vanquished in the field, to seek
new kingdom