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Show Vet us de Monte "The Old Man f the Mountain" the mysterious frightful philosopher of murder who spread the terror of his sway over to a'l Islam and a good part of Christ endom, w ho reduced homicide to a science and made assassination the basis of a new religion, who perched himself on his inaccessible mountain peak and sent out his emissaries ' east, west, north and south, carrying carry-ing always death there is no more sinister tigure in tho history of the world From time to time "The Old Man of the Mountain" died, always to bo succeeded by another "Old Man." Sometimes the "Old Man" happened to be a youth, but the weight of ter-ror ter-ror he held in hi6 hand was sufficient suffici-ent to earn him a right to the title held bv tho great founder of the murderous sect and commonwealth. Even today "The Old Man of the Mountain ' is a name to frighten children with, and the word "assassin" "assas-sin" lives in every vocabulary to signify a murderer somewhat worse than the average of man slayers. The Order of the Assassins was founded by Hassan Ben Sabah, a man of immense ability and capacity capaci-ty for leadership and one of the most heartless and perfidious wretches wretch-es distinguished 10 the long annals of mankind's evil deeds. Hassan was a Persian. When a voung man he studied under the direction of the sage Movafflk; ana two of his fellow students were Ulnar Khayyam, poet and philoso pher and Nizam 111 Mulk, the wise -W statesman who later, as vizier under H tho Sultans Alp Arslau and Mel J Shah, practically ruled the SeljUh empire Neither the poetic philosophy philoso-phy of Omar nor the active though unselfish statesmanship of Nizam ui Mulk attracted the inordinately ambitious am-bitious Hassan. He would not cease climbing till he was master or the world. Hassan drifted to Cairo, whero he studied the mystic doctrines of the lsmalllaus. and became one oT the Initiated Later he was befriended befriend-ed bv his comrade of student days, the Vlatcr Nizam ul Mulk, who gave-htm gave-htm a position of honor and respon-lbllitj respon-lbllitj at the court of Sultan Mellk Sbah ' Hassan showed his gratitude M bv scheming to undermine tho ln- flueuce nf the generous and impeachable impeach-able vizier, In hope of rising to power over the body of his benefactor bene-factor His plans went well for a time, till the sultan came to recognize recog-nize him for a dangerous adventurer adventur-er and banished him from the court Falling to realize thus tho vastness of hlB ambitious, he conceived, when well past mlddlo life, the idea of a great new religion upon which to build a theorcratlc commonwealth of such power as to make him L i master of kings, caliphs and sultans, of believers and infidels, of all the nations of the world. In Egypt, Syria and Persia Hassan Has-san quietly preached his gospel, and drew to him a chosen and devoted few. Hassan did not openly reject the teachings of Mohammed, but explained to his disciples that tho Koran was merely a book of parables, par-ables, that to the man of highest intelligence in-telligence no law of right or wrong could be laid down, that there was no such thing as human responsibility. responsi-bility. He declared that religion is binding when It is needed for the general welfare, but that the philosopher phil-osopher is free from all such shackles, and bound to nothing. When the time was ripe Hassan procoeded to the mountain fortress of Alamut, took possession of it by treachery, and made it the center and capital of the commonwealth of assassination. Hassan's organization consisted of three deputy masters, who served" directly under his authority, the Dais, or initiated, who alone were made aware of the true tenets of complete agnosticism and lrrespon-siblity; lrrespon-siblity; the Refiks, or students, who might in time, by approved worthiness, worthi-ness, become Dais; the Fedals, or devoted ones, who were kept in complete ignorance of tho secrets of the cult, and by a blindly fanatical fanati-cal obedience to the precepts of the master, under promise of rewards of unspeakable bliss, were made the agents of assassination; and the lowest class of mechanics, artisans and tillers of the soil, who were mere Mohammedans content In the belief that the "Old Man" and his chosen ones were tho divinely appointed ap-pointed agents of Allah. The Fedals, upon whom developed the labor of murder, were always young men of proved and undoubted undoubt-ed bravery. When about to be din-patched din-patched upon a mlBBlon they were drugged with hashish, whence camo the dlBiguallon of "hashishin," carried car-ried Into European tongues as "as-sasslanB." "as-sasslanB." They were led through beautiful valleys, shaded by great trees, beneath which brooks spread in cool placid poolB, offering resting places for hourls of more than earthly lovelluess. The vision, intensified in-tensified in alluring beauty by tho effect of the drug, seemed to them a real glimpse of paradise, and to win Its eternal realization they braved and courted the mo6t horrible hor-rible deaths In the execution of their missions. It was in 1000 that Hassan took possession of Alamut. He relgnea there for thirty-four years, dying in extreme old age in 1124. During all this time he never left his fortress, fort-ress, and nover but twice set foot beyond his own palatial domicile. Yet in those thirty-four years ho founded a power that rearranged the world's map. that Bet at defiance the mightiest rulers, that sent forth conquering armies of soldiers and for more dreadful Invisible armies of stealthy dagger men, that demanded and compelled respect, even tribute, from the monorchs who feared to lose their domains or their lives, that maintained itself for a century and a half against all opposition, and fell only when overwhelmed by the Irresistible onrush of the Mongol barbarians who feared neither God nor man. embattled host or slinking cutthroat. The number of the victims of Hassan Has-san Ben Sabah cannot even be estimated esti-mated While he lav snugly and safely in his high rock-built palaco his emissaries were ever busy Nizam Ni-zam ul Mulk, tho greatest statesman states-man of his time and the benefactor of Hassan, was perhaps the most illustrious il-lustrious victim of the master of the Assassins Mellk Shah, tho mighty Seljuk sultan, was slain within a week of tho death of his vizier. Jenah ed-Devlet, princo of Emesa was killed In 1101 and Movderd. princo of Mosul, in 1113. Many others of almost equal importance import-ance fell before the always active daggers Tho Fedals displayed the most diabolical ingenuity in gaining access to the presence of their intended in-tended victims. Once their mission was fulfilled they evidenced the utmost ut-most uncencorn for consequences. Punished by tho most ferocious tortures tor-tures they uttered no complaint, certain of the rew ard awaiting them. Next to murder, blackest hypocrisy hypo-crisy was the most Important feature fea-ture of the Assassin system. Tho master, his deputies, and the initiated initiat-ed maintained in tho eyes of tho lower orders the pose of pious agents of Allah and Mohammed. The lawB and commands of tho prophet of Islam were strictly enforced, aud impiety was punished with a bloody hand. These atheists and sanguinary sangui-nary scoffers maintained their fearful fear-ful power soleh by tho blind devotion devo-tion of religious fanatics, who saw In the "Old Man of the Mountain" the personification and almost tho reality of God The eldest son of HaBsan, one of tho Initiated, who was to bo heir to his fathers power, was accused or having connived at the ruurdor of a governor In Kuhistan that was unauthorized un-authorized by the "Old Man." Tho people murmured that a murdpr committed without direct authorization authoriza-tion from tho representative of Allah was not a holy deed, but nothing more or less than a dastardly dast-ardly crime So great became the discontent, so real the danger that the underlying hypocrisy of tho system would be discovered, that Hassan Ben Sabah became panic stricken. To save himself and his theorcracy Hassan ordered the young prince to be led forth by the executioners and clubbed to death in the sight of the uninitiated. This edifying spectacle restored the confidence of tho believers. But the were soon to receive a more convincing proof of the godliness of their master. Ono son only remained re-mained to Hassan. He was little more than a boy. Reared in luxury, and imitating the private vices of the initiated, he became a sot and a disgraceful profligate The remonstrances re-monstrances of his tather had no effect. The strict command of Mohammed Mo-hammed against wine drinking appeared ap-peared as ridiculous to the spoiled boy ns it did to the immediate followers fol-lowers of the master. But. unlike these, the boy was unversed In tho lore of hypocrisy. Before the people peo-ple he repeatedly showed himself drunken and boisterous. Repeated-I) Repeated-I) Hassan warned and besought It was all to no avail. After one peculiarly pe-culiarly disgraceful orgy the disgust of the pious masses became too great to be ignored Hassan who may have kuowu paternal love, but Number 3 Hassan I Of Alamut Who 1 Practiced Scientific I Murder. jfl After Gathering a II Following This Native II Born Persian Took II Possession of the Fortress II of Alamut and Therein II Established a Common- II wealth of Scientific I Murder During His I Reign of 34 Years He I Never But Twice Set II His Foot Outside the II Confines of the II Royal Palace. II in whom self love was the always controlling motive ordered tho young man to be publicly beaten to death, as his brother had been years before. And shortly thereafter HasBan died childless and without kith or kin to whom to bequeath his might revered by his people as little less than a god, and feared by all the world as mysterious master of life and death. Hassan was succeeded by his chief deputy, Kla Busurgomid, who was the first of the dynasty that reigned for more than a century over the Assassin state. The murders mur-ders of Hassan paled into insignificance insignifi-cance in comparison with those of Kia Busurgomid. The Alamut fortress fort-ress was but the center from which the new "Old Man" sent out tentacles ten-tacles to every corner of civilization. civiliza-tion. Tho Assassin power grew marvelously under his direction, and his successors were worthy oi the bloody task to which they were called Christian princes as well as Moslem died by the Assassins' daggers. dag-gers. Tho friendship of the "Old Man of the Mountain" was pur-Chased pur-Chased by subsidies, and his Fedais were hired at so much a head t In execute the rengeance of this or L, that sovereign. Like a tremendous Kft spider the Assassin chief spread hi IH web over the world, enmeshtirg fl great and small, devouring remorse- les8ly. ' 1 Alal ud-Din, penultimate axcb-a- "Hu ?assln, attempted to inaugurate Bk some measure of reform. He was 'B almost the first of the blood of Kia H Busurgomid to whom slaughtor was not a delight. He tried to establish BB-a BB-a philosophical, agnostic, tolerant Hf-republic Hf-republic on the basis of the Assassin IB-state. IB-state. Hp Such ideas were foroign to all ' 6Cc In that had gone before. The initiated Hp feared for their power, and the un- Hy initiated failed to understand. Rokn ud-Din, son and heir of the worthy Bt Alal ud-Din, accomplished the raur- V der of his father. His Instrument !., Tas one Hassan of Maaanderan. W However much the advanced ideas B of Alal ud-Dln may have shocked BT I the Assassin people the masses Bfjj I were enraged at his murder, and BBJ Hassan of Masanderan was at once jB arrested and held for trial. Rokn flj ud-Din, fearful for his own safety if Hassan should be brought to con- m 1 1 1 fess, had him strangled in prison. R Out of the east swept the moa- fiS VjVj strous slant-eyed Mongol, Holagu, Btirara ablo lieutenant and worthy succes- sor of the greatest conqueror of "BfeF world history, Jcnghis Khan. The EgU savages from Mongolia knew no re- Mffi ligion. no letters, no mercy. Where BSl they conquered they killed. Klf But Holagu was astute. Th As- EH sasstn commonwealth was a bard nut for the pig-faced cannibal to MA crack. The Turks fell easy victims. ft the Bagdad callphat was but 6traw. Ht eastern Europe w'as one vast field lul of plunder Conditions were never BBS offered, and quarter was never giv- HR en But to Rokn ud-Din Holagu ac- !BB8 tually made overtures, and the cow- Hb ardlv master of the Assassins gave VI submission. His devoted followers Bjtf repudiated his surrender, and held out In their cities and fortresses. B Holagu. when laying siege of an Bw-: Assassin stronghold, sent Rokn ud- WOP"' Din as his ambassador to counsel i'H&v' surrender. One by one the Assas- K' sin cities, abandoned by their heaven-sent leader, capitulated. AI- fk1- amut. the original and practically MJ- impregnable fortress of the Assassin K-W' state, was last of all to give sub- MrV'! mission to the ferocious savage, and Bff.-'ii yielded only on the urgent demand fl of its rightful master. Bfc ', It was in 1257 that the Assassins BE H ielded their lives to the bladej of Holagu'a horde -C |