the year 655. These officials came to Medina, but they could give no information, for the plotters were everywhere working in the dark. Othman was more bewildered than before. There was treason in the air, and the hand of the law could not be placed upon it.

In the spring and summer of 656, the scheme of the conspirators was brought to a climax; they had determined to come in force from Egypt and Mesopotamia in the guise of pilgrims; to present long lists of grievances; to demand redress; and if the objectionable governors could not be removed, to call for the abdication of Othman himself, enforcing it if necessary at the point of the sword. When they reached Medina they were disconcerted to find that the citizens would not unite with them, and as the kalif consented to make some changes, they retired towards their homes, in pretended satisfaction, and peace settled down upon Medina.

Three days later, Othman was disturbed while leading prayers, by the startling news that the three factious bands were again at the gates. Ali went forth to ask the reason of their return, and they exhibited an order from the kalif, confirmed by his seal, directing that they should be punished with vigor. Othman disclaimed all knowledge of the document, and it is still disputed whether it was a forgery or not; but it gave the conspirators an opportunity to demand the kalif's abdication, and also enabled them to remain in the city. They insulted Othman in his pulpit; they drove the men of Medina from the mosque and kept them out; they shut the

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kalif up in his palace, and caused him great distress; finally, fearing that he might obtain relief from the colonies, on the 17th of June they stormed the palace, seized him by his beard as he sat in the apartment of the women, with the Koran open on his knees, and smote him with their swords. Deeply wounded, he fell, pressing the leaves of the sacred book to his bosom and staining them with his ebbing life-blood. After a scene of frightful riot, the insurgents suddenly rushed from the palace, crying: "To the Treasury!" The palace gates were barred; the mutilated body of the kalif was buried at dusk; the rebels pelting the bier the while with stones; and anarchy reigned at Medina.

THE outlook for the kalifate was now far from promising. We remember that at the death of the prophet there had been the anxious inquiry, on the part of many of the allied tribes, "Can the yoke be thrown off?" Abu Bekr had died in his bed, but Omar and Othman had lost their lives by the assassin's knife; and now no one was found willing to accept the once coveted office. The conspirators who had come from Egypt, from Kufa, and from Bassora, indicated the feeling of dissatisfaction in those distant portions of the kalifate, and each of them now brought forward a different candidate for the chief office.

The Egyptians favored Ali, who represented the direct line of descent, for his offspring were grandchildren of the prophet; Kufa presented the name of Zobeir, a convert of Abu Bekr in the day of small things, who had been of the Abyssinian emigrants, had fought under the prophet, had been one of the electoral commission appointed by Omar, and had married one of his widows; and Bassora nominated. Talha, likewise a convert of Abu Bekr, who had been trusted by Mohammed, and appointed by Omar

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(who was his brother-in-law) one of the electoral council.

Immediately upon the death of Othman, the Egyptians and the men of Medina offered to swear allegiance to Ali, but he was not willing to risk the anger of the partisans of the other candidates. He urged them to wait until there had been time for deliberation, and said that though he had once desired the office, he now thought that the most comfortable position in life was that farthest removed from power, and that he was ready to submit to whoever might be lawfully proclaimed. The same advances were made to both Zobeir and Talha, with similar results. The men of Medina urged Ali again and again, but to no purpose; the crowd called now upon one and now upon another; they bewailed the want of a chief; they prophesied civil war if the strangers then at Medina should return to their provinces and announce that no kalif had been proclaimed.

At last Ali was moved by the pathetic demands. of the people and consented to go to the mosque and receive their allegiance. There Talha and Zobeir offered him their hands in token of approbation, and there the Companions of the prophet and the other chiefs did the same. This appearance of peace was deceptive; and it soon became evident that Ali was expected to reward with offices those who supported him, or else become the target for their vengeance. Some asked that the murderers of Othman should be punished, but Ali thought best to postpone such an attempt, inasmuch as considerable numbers would

be involved, and he did not feel strong enough to cope with such a party.

Among the claimants for office the loudest were Talha and Zobeir, who demanded to be made gov ernors of Kufa and Bassora, respectively; but though Ali had resolved to remove all the governors appointed by his predecessor, he declined their demand saying that they were his wisest counsellors and he needed them near him at Medina. Ayesha, who was equally opposed to Ali and to Othman, united with Talha and Zobeir to breed dissatisfaction with all his acts, and each of the intriguing trio made use of the friends of the late kalif to stir up malice against his successor. The blood-stained garment of Othman was carried to Syria and there ostentatiously displayed by Moawia to create enmity against Ali, and clamorous cries were made for vengeance upon the murderers, all of which were hypocritically re-echoed by Ayesha, Talha, and Zobeir, the real instigators of his murder. The condition of affairs was indeed involved and desperate, and Ali was not the man for the moment.

Thus for a time Mecca became the centre of the intrigue. There Talha, Zobeir, and Ayesha formed a faction determined upon war, calling to it all malcontents, especially the members of the family of Omia, to which Othman had belonged. A proclamation was issued, declaring that the Mother of the Faithful was about to go to Bassora with Talha and Zobeir, and calling upon all who desired to strengthen Islam, were ready to fight, and wished to revenge the death of Othman, to join the standard