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or THE ROMAN EMPIRE 385 and reliafious duties. But the public virtues of Abubeker and Omar, the prudence of the first, the severity of the second, maintained the peace and prosperity of their reigns. The feeble temper and declining age of Othman were incapable of sustaining the weight of conquest and empire. He chose, and he was deceived ; he trusted, and he was betrayed : the most deserving of the faithful became useless or hostile to his govern- ment, and his lavish bounty was productive only of ingratitude and discontent. The spirit of discord went forth in the pro- vinces, their deputies assembled at Medina, and the Charegites,!**^ the desperate fanatics who disclaimed the yoke of subordination and reason, were confounded among the free-born Arabs, who demanded the redress of their wrongs and the punishment of their oppressors. From Cufa, from Bassora, from Egypt,^*'** from the tribes of the desert, they rose in arms, encamped about a league from Medina, and dispatched a haughty mandate to their sovereign, requiring him to execute justice or to descend from the throne. His repentance began to disarm and disperse the insurgents ; but their fury was rekindled by the arts of his enemies ; and the forgery of a perfidious secretary was contrived to blast his reputation and precipitate his fall.^^-' The caliph had lost the only guard of his predecessors, the esteem and confidence of the Moslems : during a siege of six weeks his water and provisions were intercepted, and the feeble gates of the palace were protected only by the scruples of the more timorous rebels. Forsaken by those who had abused his sim- plicity, the helpless and venerable caliph expected the ap- proach of death ; the brother of Ayesha marched at the head 187 [Kharijite means a " goer forth," seceder.] 1S8 [The three bands of insurgents had different views as to the .Succession. Those of Kufa wished for Zobeir, Basra was for Talha, Eg3'pt for Ah.] isy [There is a curious mystery about this forged document, which seems to deserve mention, at least in a note. Wlien the insurgents failed to win over the people of Medina, and the candidates received their overtures coldly, they pro- fessed themselves content with Othman's promises, and the three bands set forth for their respective homes. But they suddenly returned to Medina and presented a document with the caliph's seal, taken (they said) from one of his servants on the road to Egypt. The contents were an order that the rebels should be seized and punished. Othman denied all knowledge of the document ; but some of the rebels were admitted into the city to confront him, and this gave them the means of assassinating him. Now there is no doubt that the document bore the caliph's seal. But the objection (which was at once raised by Ali) : If the messenger was caught on the road to Egypt, how was the news conveyed to the other bands so that they reappeared simultaneously ? has not been answered ; and the sus- picion of collusion is very strong.] VOL. V. 25