27 MARCH 1880, Page 3

The epidemic of assassination is spreading. On the 14th inst.,

a fanatic, said to be a Persian, and therefore a Sheah,

• stabbed the Grand Shereef of Mecca, guardian of the holy places and the most sacred person in the Mussulman world, at Jeddah. The Sultan, who as Khalif has the right of nomina- tion, has already appointed the brother of the deceased man to the office, which can only be held by a descendant of the Pro- phet. The event seems to the West unimportant, but it will greatly intensify the hatred between Sheahs and Sunis, will make it nearly impossible for Persians and Afghans to act -together, and may produce serious rioting in the Nizam's Dominions, where Mussulman Orthodoxy and Mussulman Dissent stand face to face.