placed his foot upon the steps of the throne, was not to he deterred from mounting to the summit Of his ambition by mere scruples of etiquette. He was, moreover, a rigid follower of the Shafrite sect, and therefore no friend to the pretensions of the sons of 'Ali; indeed, he had already received the commands, of Nûr-ed-din to depose the Ismaélites from all religious and judicial offices, to appoint orthodox doctors in their stead, and to insert the name of the Abbaside Caliph of Baghdad in the Friday prayer in the place of that of the Fatemite Caliph of Egypt. In 1169 the Franks made their final effort for the possession of Egypt, and besieged Damietta ; but Saladin had garrisoned and provisioned the town so well that it was enabled to hold out until a fresh attack by Nûr-ed-din upon the Syrian possessions of the Christians compelled them to abandon the attempt and return home bootless. The next year Saladin himself invaded their territory, and, after plundering the neighbourhood of Ascalon and Bamleh, returned to Egypt. His next expedition was against Ailah ('Akabah), which he blockaded by land and sea, and conquered with little difficulty. For some time Saladin was prevented from carrying out Nûr-ed-din's injunctions respecting the abolition of the Fatemite sect and authority, through fear of an insurrection; but towards the end of the year 1171 an opportunity offered itself in the sudden illness of El ''Adhid li din allah. Of this Saladin at once availed himself, and the name of El Mostadhi bi amr illah was solemnly pro claimed in the mosques of Cairo. This great coup d'état, which won Egypt over to the orthodox Mohammedan sect, and ultimately enabled Saladin to grasp the independent sovereignty of the country, was effected, as an Arab historian quaintly observes, "so quietly, that not a brace of goats butted, over it." The last of the Fatemites died only ten days afterwards, in happy ignorance of the downfall of his