In this painful situation he supported the becoming pride of the chief of the Hashemites; declared that he had rather serve than reign; rebuked the presumption of the strangers; and required the formal, if not the voluntary, assent of the chiefs of the nation.

He has never been accused of prompting the assassin of Omar; though Persia indiscreetly celebrates the festival of that holy martyr.

The quarrel between Othman and his subjects was assuaged by the early mediation of Ali; and Hassan, the eldest of his sons, was insulted and wounded in the defence of the caliph.

Yet it is doubtful whether the father of Hassan was strenuous and sincere in his opposition to the rebels; and it is certain that he enjoyed the benefit of their crime.

The temptation was indeed of such magnitude as might stagger and corrupt the most obdurate virtue.