HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 335 



binding on his whole party, he represented matters 

 under a different point of view at Constantinople. 

 As he had pledged himself to annihilate the here- 

 tics by destroying their capital, he found it neces- 

 sary to persuade the sultan that he had not yet 

 abandoned that object; the treaty agreed to by 

 Toussoun being only a temporary armistice. 



It now became manifest to Abdallah, either that 

 the young prince had deceived him, or that the fa- 

 ther, by his extravagant demands, had given a fresh 

 proof of the contempt in which he held all engage- 

 ments. He summoned a council of his kinsmen 

 and principal officers, and their opinion was, that 

 they had no alternative but arms, if they wished 

 to preserve their religion and their independence. 

 Defensive preparations were every where made; 

 stores of provisions and ammunition were thrown 

 into the cities and fortresses ; the sheiks were obliged 

 to renew their oaths of fidelity ; the imams in the 

 pulpits discoursed of war and the treachery of the 

 Turks. Thirty thousand troops were raised, and the 

 command assigned to officers whose talents and cour- 

 age had been tried in the preceding campaigns. The 

 rich sold their property to pay the army and pur- 

 chase the necessary supplies. All were animated 

 with the most patriotic enthusiasm : " God," said 

 they, " will give us, who profess his unity, the vic- 

 tory over those who admit a plurality." Abdallah 

 visited the provinces in person, and obtained rein- 

 forcements from Bahrein and Hassa; some tribes 

 from Oman joined his standard, and the Arabs of 

 Yemen sent him 2000 combatants. 



The pasha on his side had displayed equal acti- 

 vity. When the alarm of invasion and revolt in 



