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The History of The Decline and F=
all
of the Roman Empire
Volume V
By
Edward Gibbon
Contents
HISTORY
OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
Chapter
XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part I.
Chapter
XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part II.
Chapter
XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part III.
Chapter
XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part IV.
Chapter
XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part V.
Chapter
XLIX: Conquest Of Italy By The Franks.--Part VI.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part I.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part II.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part III.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part IV.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part V.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part VI.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part VII.
Chapter
L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants.--Part VIII. =
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part I.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part II.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part III.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part IV.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part V.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part VI.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part VII.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part VIII.
Chapter
LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part IX.
Chapter
LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part I.
Chapter
LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part II.
Chapter
LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part III.
Chapter
LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part IV.
Chapter
LII: More Conquests By The Arabs.--Part V.
Chapter
LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part I.
Chapter
LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part II.
Chapter
LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part III.
Chapter
LIII: Fate Of The Eastern Empire.--Part IV.
Chapter
LIV: Origin And Doctrine Of The Paulicians.--Part I.
Chapter
LIV: Origin And Doctrine Of The Paulicians.--Part II.
Chapter
LV: The Bulgarians, The Hungarians And The Russians.--Part I. =
Chapter
LV: The Bulgarians, The Hungarians And The Russians.--Part II. =
Chapter
LV: The Bulgarians, The Hungarians And The Russians.--Part III. =
Chapter
LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part I.
Chapter
LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part II.
Chapter
LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part III. =
Chapter
LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part IV.
Chapter
LVI: The Saracens, The Franks And The Normans.--Part V.
Chapter
LVII: The Turks.--Part I.
Chapter
LVII: The Turks.--Part II.
Chapter
LVII: The Turks.--Part III.
Chapter
LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part I.
Chapter
LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part II.
Chapter
LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part III.
Chapter
LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part IV.
Chapter
LVIII: The First Crusade.--Part V.
Edward Gibbon, Esq.
With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman
1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
Introduction, Wo=
rship,
And Persecution Of Images.--Revolt Of Italy And
Rome.--Temporal Dominion Of The Popes.--Conquest Of Italy By=
The
Franks.--Establishment Of Images.--Character And Coronation Of
Charlemagne.--Restoration And Decay Of The Roman Empir=
e In
The West.--Independence Of Italy.-- Constitutio=
n Of
The Germanic Body.
In the connection of the church and state, I h=
ave
considered the former as subservient only, and relative, to the latter; a
salutary maxim, if in fact, as well as in narrative, it had ever been held
sacred. The Oriental philosophy of the Gnostics, the dark abyss of
predestination and grace, and the strange transformation of the Eucharist f=
rom
the sign to the substance of Christ's body, I have purposely abandoned to t=
he curiosity
of speculative divines. But I have reviewed, with diligence and pleasure, t=
he
objects of ecclesiastical history, by which the decline and fall of the Rom=
an
empire were materially affected, the propagation of Christianity, the
constitution of the Catholic church, the ruin of Paganism, and the sects th=
at
arose from the mysterious controversies concerning the Trinity and incarnat=
ion.
At the head of this class, we may justly rank the worship of images, so
fiercely disputed in the eighth and ninth centuries; since a question of
popular superstition produced the revolt of Italy, the temporal power of th=
e popes,
and the restoration of the Roman empire in the West.
The primitive Christians were possessed with an
unconquerable repugnance to the use and abuse of images; and this aversion =
may
be ascribed to their descent from the Jews, and their enmity to the Greeks.=
The
Mosaic law had severely proscribed all representations of the Deity; and th=
at precept
was firmly established in the principles and practice of the chosen people.=
The
wit of the Christian apologists was pointed against the foolish idolaters, =
who
bowed before the workmanship of their own hands; the images of brass and ma=
rble,
which, had they been endowed with sense and motion, should have started rat=
her
from the pedestal to adore the creative powers of the artist. Perhaps some
recent and imperfect converts of the Gnostic tribe might crown the statues =
of Christ
and St. Paul with the profane honors which they paid to those of Aristotle =
and
Pythagoras; but the public religion of the Catholics was uniformly simple a=
nd
spiritual; and the first notice of the use of pictures is in the censure of=
the
council of Illiberis, three hundred years after the Christian æra. Un=
der
the successors of Constantine, in the peace and luxury of the triumphant
church, the more prudent bishops condescended to indulge a visible
superstition, for the benefit of the multitude; and, after the ruin of Paga=
nism,
they were no longer restrained by the apprehension of an odious parallel. T=
he
first introduction of a symbolic worship was in the veneration of the cross=
, and
of relics. The saints and martyrs, whose intercession was implored, were se=
ated
on the right hand if God; but the gracious and often supernatural favors,
which, in the popular belief, were showered round their tomb, conveyed an
unquestionable sanction of the devout pilgrims, who visited, and touched, a=
nd
kissed these lifeless remains, the memorials of their merits and sufferings.
But a memorial, more interesting than the skull or the sandals of a departed
worthy, is the faithful copy of his person and features, delineated by the =
arts
of painting or sculpture. In every age, such copies, so congenial to human =
feelings,
have been cherished by the zeal of private friendship, or public esteem: the
images of the Roman emperors were adored with civil, and almost religious,
honors; a reverence less ostentatious, but more sincere, was applied to the
statues of sages and patriots; and these profane virtues, these splendid si=
ns,
disappeared in the presence of the holy men, who had died for their celesti=
al
and everlasting country. At first, the experiment was made with caution and
scruple; and the venerable pictures were discreetly allowed to instruct the
ignorant, to awaken the cold, and to gratify the prejudices of the heathen =
proselytes.
By a slow though inevitable progression, the honors of the original were
transferred to the copy: the devout Christian prayed before the image of a
saint; and the Pagan rites of genuflection, luminaries, and incense, again
stole into the Catholic church. The scruples of reason, or piety, were sile=
nced
by the strong evidence of visions and miracles; and the pictures which spea=
k,
and move, and bleed, must be endowed with a divine energy, and may be
considered as the proper objects of religious adoration. The most audacious
pencil might tremble in the rash attempt of defining, by forms and colors, =
the infinite
Spirit, the eternal Father, who pervades and sustains the universe. But the
superstitious mind was more easily reconciled to paint and to worship the
angels, and, above all, the Son of God, under the human shape, which, on ea=
rth,
they have condescended to assume. The second person of the Trinity had been
clothed with a real and mortal body; but that body had ascended into heaven:
and, had not some similitude been presented to the eyes of his disciples, t=
he
spiritual worship of Christ might have been obliterated by the visible reli=
cs
and representations of the saints. A similar indulgence was requisite and p=
ropitious
for the Virgin Mary: the place of her burial was unknown; and the assumptio=
n of
her soul and body into heaven was adopted by the credulity of the Greeks and
Latins. The use, and even the worship, of images was firmly established bef=
ore
the end of the sixth century: they were fondly cherished by the warm
imagination of the Greeks and Asiatics: the Pantheon and Vatican were adorn=
ed
with the emblems of a new superstition; but this semblance of idolatry was =
more
coldly entertained by the rude Barbarians and the Arian clergy of the West.=
The
bolder forms of sculpture, in brass or marble, which peopled the temples of
antiquity, were offensive to the fancy or conscience of the Christian Greek=
s:
and a smooth surface of colors has ever been esteemed a more decent and
harmless mode of imitation.
The merit and effect of a copy depends on its
resemblance with the original; but the primitive Christians were ignorant of
the genuine features of the Son of God, his mother, and his apostles: the
statue of Christ at Paneas in Palestine was more probably that of some temp=
oral
savior; the Gnostics and their profane monuments were reprobated; and the f=
ancy
of the Christian artists could only be guided by the clandestine imitation =
of
some heathen model. In this distress, a bold and dexterous invention assure=
d at
once the likeness of the image and the innocence of the worship. A new super
structure of fable was raised on the popular basis of a Syrian legend, on t=
he
correspondence of Christ and Abgarus, so famous in the days of Eusebius, so
reluctantly deserted by our modern advocates. The bishop of Cæsarea
records the epistle, but he most strangely forgets the picture of Christ; t=
he
perfect impression of his face on a linen, with which he gratified the fait=
h of
the royal stranger who had invoked his healing power, and offered the strong
city of Edessa to protect him against the malice of the Jews. The ignorance=
of
the primitive church is explained by the long imprisonment of the image in a
niche of the wall, from whence, after an oblivion of five hundred years, it=
was
released by some prudent bishop, and seasonably presented to the devotion of
the times. Its first and most glorious exploit was the deliverance of the c=
ity
from the arms of Chosroes Nushirvan; and it was soon revered as a pledge of=
the
divine promise, that Edessa should never be taken by a foreign enemy. It is
true, indeed, that the text of Procopius ascribes the double deliverance of
Edessa to the wealth and valor of her citizens, who purchased the absence a=
nd
repelled the assaults of the Persian monarch. He was ignorant, the profane
historian, of the testimony which he is compelled to deliver in the
ecclesiastical page of Evagrius, that the Palladium was exposed on the ramp=
art,
and that the water which had been sprinkled on the holy face, instead of
quenching, added new fuel to the flames of the besieged. After this importa=
nt
service, the image of Edessa was preserved with respect and gratitude; and =
if
the Armenians rejected the legend, the more credulous Greeks adored the
similitude, which was not the work of any mortal pencil, but the immediate
creation of the divine original. The style and sentiments of a Byzantine hy=
mn
will declare how far their worship was removed from the grossest idolatry.
"How can we with mortal eyes contemplate this image, whose celestial
splendor the host of heaven presumes not to behold? He who dwells in heaven=
, condescends
this day to visit us by his venerable image; He who is seated on the cherub=
im,
visits us this day by a picture, which the Father has delineated with his
immaculate hand, which he has formed in an ineffable manner, and which we
sanctify by adoring it with fear and love." Before the end of the sixth
century, these images, made without hands, (in Greek it is a single word, )
were propagated in the camps and cities of the Eastern empire: they were the
objects of worship, and the instruments of miracles; and in the hour of dan=
ger
or tumult, their venerable presence could revive the hope, rekindle the
courage, or repress the fury, of the Roman legions. Of these pictures, the =
far greater
part, the transcripts of a human pencil, could only pretend to a secondary
likeness and improper title: but there were some of higher descent, who der=
ived
their resemblance from an immediate contact with the original, endowed, for
that purpose, with a miraculous and prolific virtue. The most ambitious asp=
ired
from a filial to a fraternal relation with the image of Edessa; and such is=
the
veronica of Rome, or Spain, or Jerusalem, which Christ in his agony and blo=
ody
sweat applied to his face, and delivered to a holy matron. The fruitful
precedent was speedily transferred to the Virgin Mary, and the saints and
martyrs. In the church of Diospolis, in Palestine, the features of the Moth=
er
of God were deeply inscribed in a marble column; the East and West have bee=
n decorated
by the pencil of St. Luke; and the Evangelist, who was perhaps a physician,=
has
been forced to exercise the occupation of a painter, so profane and odious =
in
the eyes of the primitive Christians. The Olympian Jove, created by the mus=
e of
Homer and the chisel of Phidias, might inspire a philosophic mind with
momentary devotion; but these Catholic images were faintly and flatly
delineated by monkish artists in the last degeneracy of taste and genius.
The worship of images had stolen into the chur=
ch
by insensible degrees, and each petty step was pleasing to the superstitious
mind, as productive of comfort, and innocent of sin. But in the beginning of
the eighth century, in the full magnitude of the abuse, the more timorous G=
reeks
were awakened by an apprehension, that under the mask of Christianity, they=
had
restored the religion of their fathers: they heard, with grief and impatien=
ce,
the name of idolaters; the incessant charge of the Jews and Mahometans, who
derived from the Law and the Koran an immortal hatred to graven images and =
all
relative worship. The servitude of the Jews might curb their zeal, and depr=
eciate
their authority; but the triumphant Mussulmans, who reigned at Damascus, and
threatened Constantinople, cast into the scale of reproach the accumulated
weight of truth and victory. The cities of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt had =
been
fortified with the images of Christ, his mother, and his saints; and each c=
ity
presumed on the hope or promise of miraculous defence. In a rapid conquest =
of
ten years, the Arabs subdued those cities and these images; and, in their
opinion, the Lord of Hosts pronounced a decisive judgment between the adora=
tion
and contempt of these mute and inanimate idols. For a while Edessa had brav=
ed
the Persian assaults; but the chosen city, the spouse of Christ, was involv=
ed
in the common ruin; and his divine resemblance became the slave and trophy =
of
the infidels. After a servitude of three hundred years, the Palladium was
yielded to the devotion of Constantinople, for a ransom of twelve thousand
pounds of silver, the redemption of two hundred Mussulmans, and a perpetual
truce for the territory of Edessa. In this season of distress and dismay, t=
he
eloquence of the monks was exercised in the defence of images; and they
attempted to prove, that the sin and schism of the greatest part of the
Orientals had forfeited the favor, and annihilated the virtue, of these
precious symbols. But they were now opposed by the murmurs of many simple or
rational Christians, who appealed to the evidence of texts, of facts, and of
the primitive times, and secretly desired the reformation of the church. As=
the
worship of images had never been established by any general or positive law,
its progress in the Eastern empire had been retarded, or accelerated, by the
differences of men and manners, the local degrees of refinement, and the
personal characters of the bishops. The splendid devotion was fondly cheris=
hed
by the levity of the capital, and the inventive genius of the Byzantine cle=
rgy;
while the rude and remote districts of Asia were strangers to this innovati=
on
of sacred luxury. Many large congregations of Gnostics and Arians maintaine=
d,
after their conversion, the simple worship which had preceded their separat=
ion;
and the Armenians, the most warlike subjects of Rome, were not reconciled, =
in
the twelfth century, to the sight of images. These various denominations of=
men
afforded a fund of prejudice and aversion, of small account in the villages=
of
Anatolia or Thrace, but which, in the fortune of a soldier, a prelate, or a
eunuch, might be often connected with the powers of the church and state.
Of such adventurers, the most fortunate was the
emperor Leo the Third, who, from the mountains of Isauria, ascended the thr=
one
of the East. He was ignorant of sacred and profane letters; but his educati=
on,
his reason, perhaps his intercourse with the Jews and Arabs, had inspired t=
he
martial peasant with a hatred of images; and it was held to be the duty of a
prince to impose on his subjects the dictates of his own conscience. But in=
the
outset of an unsettled reign, during ten years of toil and danger, Leo
submitted to the meanness of hypocrisy, bowed before the idols which he
despised, and satisfied the Roman pontiff with the annual professions of his
orthodoxy and zeal. In the reformation of religion, his first steps were
moderate and cautious: he assembled a great council of senators and bishops,
and enacted, with their consent, that all the images should be removed from=
the
sanctuary and altar to a proper height in the churches where they might be
visible to the eyes, and inaccessible to the superstition, of the people. B=
ut
it was impossible on either side to check the rapid through adverse impulse=
of veneration
and abhorrence: in their lofty position, the sacred images still edified th=
eir
votaries, and reproached the tyrant. He was himself provoked by resistance =
and
invective; and his own party accused him of an imperfect discharge of his d=
uty,
and urged for his imitation the example of the Jewish king, who had broken
without scruple the brazen serpent of the temple. By a second edict, he
proscribed the existence as well as the use of religious pictures; the chur=
ches
of Constantinople and the provinces were cleansed from idolatry; the images=
of
Christ, the Virgin, and the saints, were demolished, or a smooth surface of
plaster was spread over the walls of the edifice. The sect of the Iconoclas=
ts was
supported by the zeal and despotism of six emperors, and the East and West =
were
involved in a noisy conflict of one hundred and twenty years. It was the de=
sign
of Leo the Isaurian to pronounce the condemnation of images as an article of
faith, and by the authority of a general council: but the convocation of su=
ch
an assembly was reserved for his son Constantine; and though it is stigmati=
zed
by triumphant bigotry as a meeting of fools and atheists, their own partial=
and
mutilated acts betray many symptoms of reason and piety. The debates and de=
crees
of many provincial synods introduced the summons of the general council whi=
ch
met in the suburbs of Constantinople, and was composed of the respectable
number of three hundred and thirty-eight bishops of Europe and Anatolia; for
the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria were the slaves of the caliph, and=
the
Roman pontiff had withdrawn the churches of Italy and the West from the
communion of the Greeks. This Byzantine synod assumed the rank and powers of
the seventh general council; yet even this title was a recognition of the s=
ix
preceding assemblies, which had laboriously built the structure of the Cath=
olic
faith. After a serious deliberation of six months, the three hundred and th=
irty-eight
bishops pronounced and subscribed a unanimous decree, that all visible symb=
ols
of Christ, except in the Eucharist, were either blasphemous or heretical; t=
hat
image-worship was a corruption of Christianity and a renewal of Paganism; t=
hat
all such monuments of idolatry should be broken or erased; and that those w=
ho
should refuse to deliver the objects of their private superstition, were gu=
ilty
of disobedience to the authority of the church and of the emperor. In their
loud and loyal acclamations, they celebrated the merits of their temporal
redeemer; and to his zeal and justice they intrusted the execution of their
spiritual censures. At Constantinople, as in the former councils, the will =
of
the prince was the rule of episcopal faith; but on this occasion, I am incl=
ined
to suspect that a large majority of the prelates sacrificed their secret
conscience to the temptations of hope and fear. In the long night of
superstition, the Christians had wandered far away from the simplicity of t=
he
gospel: nor was it easy for them to discern the clew, and tread back the ma=
zes,
of the labyrinth. The worship of images was inseparably blended, at least t=
o a
pious fancy, with the Cross, the Virgin, the Saints and their relics; the h=
oly ground
was involved in a cloud of miracles and visions; and the nerves of the mind,
curiosity and scepticism, were benumbed by the habits of obedience and beli=
ef.
Constantine himself is accused of indulging a royal license to doubt, or de=
ny,
or deride the mysteries of the Catholics, but they were deeply inscribed in=
the
public and private creed of his bishops; and the boldest Iconoclast might
assault with a secret horror the monuments of popular devotion, which were
consecrated to the honor of his celestial patrons. In the reformation of th=
e sixteenth
century, freedom and knowledge had expanded all the faculties of man: the
thirst of innovation superseded the reverence of antiquity; and the vigor of
Europe could disdain those phantoms which terrified the sickly and servile
weakness of the Greeks.
The scandal of an abstract heresy can be only
proclaimed to the people by the blast of the ecclesiastical trumpet; but the
most ignorant can perceive, the most torpid must feel, the profanation and
downfall of their visible deities. The first hostilities of Leo were direct=
ed against
a lofty Christ on the vestibule, and above the gate, of the palace. A ladder
had been planted for the assault, but it was furiously shaken by a crowd of
zealots and women: they beheld, with pious transport, the ministers of
sacrilege tumbling from on high and dashed against the pavement: and the ho=
nors
of the ancient martyrs were prostituted to these criminals, who justly suff=
ered
for murder and rebellion. The execution of the Imperial edicts was resisted=
by
frequent tumults in Constantinople and the provinces: the person of Leo was=
endangered,
his officers were massacred, and the popular enthusiasm was quelled by the
strongest efforts of the civil and military power. Of the Archipelago, or H=
oly
Sea, the numerous islands were filled with images and monks: their votaries
abjured, without scruple, the enemy of Christ, his mother, and the saints; =
they
armed a fleet of boats and galleys, displayed their consecrated banners, and
boldly steered for the harbor of Constantinople, to place on the throne a n=
ew
favorite of God and the people. They depended on the succor of a miracle: b=
ut
their miracles were inefficient against the Greek fire; and, after the defe=
at
and conflagration of the fleet, the naked islands were abandoned to the cle=
mency
or justice of the conqueror. The son of Leo, in the first year of his reign,
had undertaken an expedition against the Saracens: during his absence, the
capital, the palace, and the purple, were occupied by his kinsman Artavasde=
s,
the ambitious champion of the orthodox faith. The worship of images was
triumphantly restored: the patriarch renounced his dissimulation, or dissem=
bled
his sentiments and the righteous claims of the usurper was acknowledged, bo=
th
in the new, and in ancient, Rome. Constantine flew for refuge to his patern=
al
mountains; but he descended at the head of the bold and affectionate Isauri=
ans;
and his final victory confounded the arms and predictions of the fanatics. =
His
long reign was distracted with clamor, sedition, conspiracy, and mutual hat=
red,
and sanguinary revenge; the persecution of images was the motive or pretenc=
e,
of his adversaries; and, if they missed a temporal diadem, they were reward=
ed
by the Greeks with the crown of martyrdom. In every act of open and clandes=
tine
treason, the emperor felt the unforgiving enmity of the monks, the faithful
slaves of the superstition to which they owed their riches and influence. T=
hey
prayed, they preached, they absolved, they inflamed, they conspired; the
solitude of Palestine poured forth a torrent of invective; and the pen of S=
t.
John Damascenus, the last of the Greek fathers, devoted the tyrant's head, =
both
in this world and the next. I am not at leisure to examine how far the monk=
s provoked,
nor how much they have exaggerated, their real and pretended sufferings, nor
how many lost their lives or limbs, their eyes or their beards, by the crue=
lty
of the emperor. From the chastisement of individuals, he proceeded to the
abolition of the order; and, as it was wealthy and useless, his resentment
might be stimulated by avarice, and justified by patriotism. The formidable
name and mission of the Dragon, his visitor-general, excited the terror and
abhorrence of the black nation: the religious communities were dissolved, t=
he
buildings were converted into magazines, or bar racks; the lands, movables,=
and
cattle were confiscated; and our modern precedents will support the charge,
that much wanton or malicious havoc was exercised against the relics, and e=
ven
the books of the monasteries. With the habit and profession of monks, the
public and private worship of images was rigorously proscribed; and it shou=
ld
seem, that a solemn abjuration of idolatry was exacted from the subjects, o=
r at
least from the clergy, of the Eastern empire.
The patient East abjured, with reluctance, her
sacred images; they were fondly cherished, and vigorously defended, by the
independent zeal of the Italians. In ecclesiastical rank and jurisdiction, =
the
patriarch of Constantinople and the pope of Rome were nearly equal. But the
Greek prelate was a domestic slave under the eye of his master, at whose no=
d he
alternately passed from the convent to the throne, and from the throne to t=
he
convent. A distant and dangerous station, amidst the Barbarians of the West,
excited the spirit and freedom of the Latin bishops. Their popular election
endeared them to the Romans: the public and private indigence was relieved =
by
their ample revenue; and the weakness or neglect of the emperors compelled =
them
to consult, both in peace and war, the temporal safety of the city. In the
school of adversity the priest insensibly imbibed the virtues and the ambit=
ion
of a prince; the same character was assumed, the same policy was adopted, by
the Italian, the Greek, or the Syrian, who ascended the chair of St. Peter;
and, after the loss of her legions and provinces, the genius and fortune of=
the
popes again restored the supremacy of Rome. It is agreed, that in the eighth
century, their dominion was founded on rebellion, and that the rebellion was
produced, and justified, by the heresy of the Iconoclasts; but the conduct =
of
the second and third Gregory, in this memorable contest, is variously
interpreted by the wishes of their friends and enemies. The Byzantine write=
rs
unanimously declare, that, after a fruitless admonition, they pronounced the
separation of the East and West, and deprived the sacrilegious tyrant of the
revenue and sovereignty of Italy. Their excommunication is still more clear=
ly expressed
by the Greeks, who beheld the accomplishment of the papal triumphs; and as =
they
are more strongly attached to their religion than to their country, they
praise, instead of blaming, the zeal and orthodoxy of these apostolical men.
The modern champions of Rome are eager to accept the praise and the precede=
nt:
this great and glorious example of the deposition of royal heretics is
celebrated by the cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine; and if they are asked,=
why
the same thunders were not hurled against the Neros and Julians of antiquit=
y, they
reply, that the weakness of the primitive church was the sole cause of her
patient loyalty. On this occasion the effects of love and hatred are the sa=
me;
and the zealous Protestants, who seek to kindle the indignation, and to ala=
rm
the fears, of princes and magistrates, expatiate on the insolence and treas=
on
of the two Gregories against their lawful sovereign. They are defended only=
by
the moderate Catholics, for the most part, of the Gallican church, who resp=
ect
the saint, without approving the sin. These common advocates of the crown a=
nd
the mitre circumscribe the truth of facts by the rule of equity, Scripture,=
and
tradition, and appeal to the evidence of the Latins, and the lives and epis=
tles
of the popes themselves.
Two original epistles, from Gregory the Second=
to
the emperor Leo, are still extant; and if they cannot be praised as the most
perfect models of eloquence and logic, they exhibit the portrait, or at lea=
st
the mask, of the founder of the papal monarchy. "During ten pure and
fortunate years," says Gregory to the emperor, "we have tasted the
annual comfort of your royal letters, subscribed in purple ink, with your o=
wn
hand, the sacred pledges of your attachment to the orthodox creed of our
fathers. How deplorable is the change! how tremendous the scandal! You now
accuse the Catholics of idolatry; and, by the accusation, you betray your o=
wn impiety
and ignorance. To this ignorance we are compelled to adapt the grossness of=
our
style and arguments: the first elements of holy letters are sufficient for =
your
confusion; and were you to enter a grammar-school, and avow yourself the en=
emy
of our worship, the simple and pious children would be provoked to cast the=
ir
horn-books at your head." After this decent salutation, the pope attem=
pts
the usual distinction between the idols of antiquity and the Christian imag=
es. The
former were the fanciful representations of phantoms or dæmons, at a =
time
when the true God had not manifested his person in any visible likeness. The
latter are the genuine forms of Christ, his mother, and his saints, who had
approved, by a crowd of miracles, the innocence and merit of this relative
worship. He must indeed have trusted to the ignorance of Leo, since he could
assert the perpetual use of images, from the apostolic age, and their vener=
able
presence in the six synods of the Catholic church. A more specious argument=
is
drawn from present possession and recent practice the harmony of the Christ=
ian
world supersedes the demand of a general council; and Gregory frankly confe=
sses,
than such assemblies can only be useful under the reign of an orthodox prin=
ce.
To the impudent and inhuman Leo, more guilty than a heretic, he recommends
peace, silence, and implicit obedience to his spiritual guides of Constanti=
nople
and Rome. The limits of civil and ecclesiastical powers are defined by the
pontiff. To the former he appropriates the body; to the latter, the soul: t=
he
sword of justice is in the hands of the magistrate: the more formidable wea=
pon
of excommunication is intrusted to the clergy; and in the exercise of their=
divine
commission a zealous son will not spare his offending father: the successor=
of
St. Peter may lawfully chastise the kings of the earth. "You assault u=
s, O
tyrant! with a carnal and military hand: unarmed and naked we can only impl=
ore
the Christ, the prince of the heavenly host, that he will send unto you a
devil, for the destruction of your body and the salvation of your soul. You
declare, with foolish arrogance, I will despatch my orders to Rome: I will
break in pieces the image of St. Peter; and Gregory, like his predecessor
Martin, shall be transported in chains, and in exile, to the foot of the
Imperial throne. Would to God that I might be permitted to tread in the
footsteps of the holy Martin! but may the fate of Constans serve as a warni=
ng
to the persecutors of the church! After his just condemnation by the bishop=
s of
Sicily, the tyrant was cut off, in the fullness of his sins, by a domestic
servant: the saint is still adored by the nations of Scythia, among whom he=
ended
his banishment and his life. But it is our duty to live for the edification=
and
support of the faithful people; nor are we reduced to risk our safety on the
event of a combat. Incapable as you are of defending your Roman subjects, t=
he
maritime situation of the city may perhaps expose it to your depredation bu=
t we
can remove to the distance of four-and-twenty stadia, to the first fortress=
of
the Lombards, and then--you may pursue the winds. Are you ignorant that the=
popes
are the bond of union, the mediators of peace, between the East and West? T=
he eyes
of the nations are fixed on our humility; and they revere, as a God upon ea=
rth,
the apostle St. Peter, whose image you threaten to destroy. The remote and
interior kingdoms of the West present their homage to Christ and his
vicegerent; and we now prepare to visit one of their most powerful monarchs,
who desires to receive from our hands the sacrament of baptism. The Barbari=
ans
have submitted to the yoke of the gospel, while you alone are deaf to the v=
oice
of the shepherd. These pious Barbarians are kindled into rage: they thirst =
to
avenge the persecution of the East. Abandon your rash and fatal enterprise;
reflect, tremble, and repent. If you persist, we are innocent of the blood =
that
will be spilt in the contest; may it fall on your own head!"
The first assault of Leo against the images of Constantinople had been witnessed by a crowd of strangers from Italy and the West, who related with grief and indignation the sacrilege of the emperor. = But on the reception of his proscriptive edict, they trembled for their domesti= c deities: the images of Christ and the Virgin, of the angels, martyrs, and saints, we= re abolished in all the churches of Italy; and a strong alternative was propos= ed to the Roman pontiff, the royal favor as the price of his compliance, degradation and exile as the penalty of his disobedience. Neither zeal nor policy allowed him to hesitate; and the haughty strain in which Gregory addressed the emperor displays his confidence in the truth of his doctrine = or the powers of resistance. Without depending on prayers or miracles, he bold= ly armed against the public enemy, and his pastoral letters admonished the Italians of their danger and their duty. At this signal, Ravenna, Venice, a= nd the cities of the Exarchate and Pentapolis, adhered to the cause of religio= n; their military force by sea and land consisted, for the most part, of the n= atives; and the spirit of patriotism and zeal was transfused into the mercenary str= angers. The Italians swore to live and die in the defence of the pope and the holy images; the Roman people was devoted to their father, and even the Lombards were ambitious to share the merit and advantage of this holy war. The most treasonable act, but the most obvious revenge, was the destruction of the statues of Leo himself: the most effectual and pleasing measure of rebellio= n, was the withholding the tribute of Italy, and depriving him of a power whic= h he had recently abused by the imposition of a new capitation. A form of administration was preserved by the election of magistrates and governors; = and so high was the public indignation, that the Italians were prepared to crea= te an orthodox emperor, and to conduct him with a fleet and army to the palace= of Constantinople. In that palace, the Roman bishops, the second and third Gregory, were condemned as the authors of the revolt, and every attempt was made, either by fraud or force, to seize their persons, and to strike at th= eir lives. The city was repeatedly visited or assaulted by captains of the guar= ds, and dukes and exarchs of high dignity or secret trust; they landed with for= eign troops, they obtained some domestic aid, and the superstition of Naples may blush that her fathers were attached to the cause of heresy. But these clandestine or open attacks were repelled by the courage and vigilance of t= he Romans; the Greeks were overthrown and massacred, their leaders suffered an= ignominious death, and the popes, however inclined to mercy, refused to intercede for t= hese guilty victims. At Ravenna, the several quarters of the city had long exerc= ised a bloody and hereditary feud; in religious controversy they found a new ali= ment of faction: but the votaries of images were superior in numbers or spirit, = and the exarch, who attempted to stem the torrent, lost his life in a popular sedition. To punish this flagitious deed, and restore his dominion in Italy, the emperor sent a fleet and army into the Adriatic Gulf. After suffering f= rom the winds and waves much loss and delay, the Greeks made their descent in t= he neighborhood of Ravenna: they threatened to depopulate the guilty capital, and to imitat= e, perhaps to surpass, the example of Justinian the Second, who had chastised a former rebellion by the choice and execution of fifty of the principal inhabitants. The women and clergy, in sackcloth and ashes, lay prostrate in prayer: the men were in arms for the defence of their country; the common danger had united the factions, and the event of a battle was preferred to = the slow miseries of a siege. In a hard-fought day, as the two armies alternate= ly yielded and advanced, a phantom was seen, a voice was heard, and Ravenna wa= s victorious by the assurance of victory. The strangers retreated to their ships, but the populous sea-coast poured forth a multitude of boats; the waters of the Po = were so deeply infected with blood, that during six years the public prejudice abstained from the fish of the river; and the institution of an annual feast perpetuated the worship of images, and the abhorrence of the Greek tyrant. Amidst the triumph of the Catholic arms, the Roman pontiff convened a synod= of ninety-three bishops against the heresy of the Iconoclasts. With their cons= ent, he pronounced a general excommunication against all who by word or deed sho= uld attack the tradition of the fathers and the images of the saints: in this s= entence the emperor was tacitly involved, but the vote of a last and hopeless remonstrance may seem to imply that the anathema was yet suspended over his= guilty head. No sooner had they confirmed their own safety, the worship of images,= and the freedom of Rome and Italy, than the popes appear to have relaxed of the= ir severity, and to have spared the relics of the Byzantine dominion. Their moderate councils delayed and prevented the election of a new emperor, and = they exhorted the Italians not to separate from the body of the Roman monarchy. = The exarch was permitted to reside within the walls of Ravenna, a captive rathe= r than a master; and till the Imperial coronation of Charlemagne, the government of Rome and Italy was exercised in the name of the successors of Constantine.<= o:p>
The liberty of Rome, which had been oppressed =
by
the arms and arts of Augustus, was rescued, after seven hundred and fifty y=
ears
of servitude, from the persecution of Leo the Isaurian. By the Cæsars,
the triumphs of the consuls had been annihilated: in the decline and fall of
the empire, the god Terminus, the sacred boundary, had insensibly receded f=
rom
the ocean, the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates; and Rome was reduced t=
o her
ancient territory from Viterbo to Terracina, and from Narni to the mouth of=
the
Tyber. When the kings were banished, the republic reposed on the firm basis
which had been founded by their wisdom and virtue. Their perpetual jurisdic=
tion
was divided between two annual magistrates: the senate continued to exercise
the powers of administration and counsel; and the legislative authority was
distributed in the assemblies of the people, by a well-proportioned scale of
property and service. Ignorant of the arts of luxury, the primitive Romans =
had
improved the science of government and war: the will of the community was
absolute: the rights of individuals were sacred: one hundred and thirty
thousand citizens were armed for defence or conquest; and a band of robbers=
and
outlaws was moulded into a nation deserving of freedom and ambitious of glo=
ry.
When the sovereignty of the Greek emperors was extinguished, the ruins of R=
ome
presented the sad image of depopulation and decay: her slavery was a habit,=
her
liberty an accident; the effect of superstition, and the object of her own
amazement and terror. The last vestige of the substance, or even the forms,=
of
the constitution, was obliterated from the practice and memory of the Roman=
s;
and they were devoid of knowledge, or virtue, again to build the fabric of a
commonwealth. Their scanty remnant, the offspring of slaves and strangers, =
was
despicable in the eyes of the victorious Barbarians. As often as the Franks=
or
Lombards expressed their most bitter contempt of a foe, they called him a
Roman; "and in this name," says the bishop Liutprand, "we
include whatever is base, whatever is cowardly, whatever is perfidious, the
extremes of avarice and luxury, and every vice that can prostitute the dign=
ity
of human nature." By the necessity of their situation, the inhabitants=
of
Rome were cast into the rough model of a republican government: they were
compelled to elect some judges in peace, and some leaders in war: the nobles
assembled to deliberate, and their resolves could not be executed without t=
he
union and consent of the multitude. The style of the Roman senate and people
was revived, but the spirit was fled; and their new independence was disgra=
ced
by the tumultuous conflict of licentiousness and oppression. The want of la=
ws could
only be supplied by the influence of religion, and their foreign and domest=
ic
counsels were moderated by the authority of the bishop. His alms, his sermo=
ns,
his correspondence with the kings and prelates of the West, his recent
services, their gratitude, and oath, accustomed the Romans to consider him =
as
the first magistrate or prince of the city. The Christian humility of the p=
opes
was not offended by the name of Dominus, or Lord; and their face and
inscription are still apparent on the most ancient coins. Their temporal
dominion is now confirmed by the reverence of a thousand years; and their
noblest title is the free choice of a people, whom they had redeemed from
slavery.
In the quarrels of ancient Greece, the holy pe=
ople
of Elis enjoyed a perpetual peace, under the protection of Jupiter, and in =
the
exercise of the Olympic games. Happy would it have been for the Romans, if a
similar privilege had guarded the patrimony of St. Peter from the calamitie=
s of
war; if the Christians, who visited the holy threshold, would have sheathed
their swords in the presence of the apostle and his successor. But this mys=
tic
circle could have been traced only by the wand of a legislator and a sage: =
this
pacific system was incompatible with the zeal and ambition of the popes the
Romans were not addicted, like the inhabitants of Elis, to the innocent and
placid labors of agriculture; and the Barbarians of Italy, though softened =
by
the climate, were far below the Grecian states in the institutions of public
and private life. A memorable example of repentance and piety was exhibited=
by
Liutprand, king of the Lombards. In arms, at the gate of the Vatican, the
conqueror listened to the voice of Gregory the Second, withdrew his troops,=
resigned
his conquests, respectfully visited the church of St. Peter, and after
performing his devotions, offered his sword and dagger, his cuirass and man=
tle,
his silver cross, and his crown of gold, on the tomb of the apostle. But th=
is
religious fervor was the illusion, perhaps the artifice, of the moment; the
sense of interest is strong and lasting; the love of arms and rapine was
congenial to the Lombards; and both the prince and people were irresistibly
tempted by the disorders of Italy, the nakedness of Rome, and the unwarlike
profession of her new chief. On the first edicts of the emperor, they decla=
red
themselves the champions of the holy images: Liutprand invaded the province=
of
Romagna, which had already assumed that distinctive appellation; the Cathol=
ics
of the Exarchate yielded without reluctance to his civil and military power;
and a foreign enemy was introduced for the first time into the impregnable
fortress of Ravenna. That city and fortress were speedily recovered by the
active diligence and maritime forces of the Venetians; and those faithful
subjects obeyed the exhortation of Gregory himself, in separating the perso=
nal
guilt of Leo from the general cause of the Roman empire. The Greeks were le=
ss
mindful of the service, than the Lombards of the injury: the two nations,
hostile in their faith, were reconciled in a dangerous and unnatural allian=
ce:
the king and the exarch marched to the conquest of Spoleto and Rome: the st=
orm
evaporated without effect, but the policy of Liutprand alarmed Italy with a=
vexatious
alternative of hostility and truce. His successor Astolphus declared himself
the equal enemy of the emperor and the pope: Ravenna was subdued by force or
treachery, and this final conquest extinguished the series of the exarchs, =
who
had reigned with a subordinate power since the time of Justinian and the ru=
in
of the Gothic kingdom. Rome was summoned to acknowledge the victorious Lomb=
ard
as her lawful sovereign; the annual tribute of a piece of gold was fixed as=
the
ransom of each citizen, and the sword of destruction was unsheathed to exact
the penalty of her disobedience. The Romans hesitated; they entreated; they=
complained;
and the threatening Barbarians were checked by arms and negotiations, till =
the
popes had engaged the friendship of an ally and avenger beyond the Alps.
In his distress, the first Gregory had implored
the aid of the hero of the age, of Charles Martel, who governed the French
monarchy with the humble title of mayor or duke; and who, by his signal vic=
tory
over the Saracens, had saved his country, and perhaps Europe, from the
Mahometan yoke. The ambassadors of the pope were received by Charles with
decent reverence; but the greatness of his occupations, and the shortness o=
f his
life, prevented his interference in the affairs of Italy, except by a frien=
dly
and ineffectual mediation. His son Pepin, the heir of his power and virtues,
assumed the office of champion of the Roman church; and the zeal of the Fre=
nch
prince appears to have been prompted by the love of glory and religion. But=
the
danger was on the banks of the Tyber, the succor on those of the Seine, and=
our
sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery. Amidst the tears of the
city, Stephen the Third embraced the generous resolution of visiting in per=
son
the courts of Lombardy and France, to deprecate the injustice of his enemy,=
or
to excite the pity and indignation of his friend. After soothing the public=
despair
by litanies and orations, he undertook this laborious journey with the
ambassadors of the French monarch and the Greek emperor. The king of the
Lombards was inexorable; but his threats could not silence the complaints, =
nor
retard the speed of the Roman pontiff, who traversed the Pennine Alps, repo=
sed
in the abbey of St. Maurice, and hastened to grasp the right hand of his
protector; a hand which was never lifted in vain, either in war or friendsh=
ip.
Stephen was entertained as the visible successor of the apostle; at the next
assembly, the field of March or of May, his injuries were exposed to a devo=
ut
and warlike nation, and he repassed the Alps, not as a suppliant, but as a =
conqueror,
at the head of a French army, which was led by the king in person. The
Lombards, after a weak resistance, obtained an ignominious peace, and swore=
to
restore the possessions, and to respect the sanctity, of the Roman church. =
But
no sooner was Astolphus delivered from the presence of the French arms, tha=
n he
forgot his promise and resented his disgrace. Rome was again encompassed by=
his
arms; and Stephen, apprehensive of fatiguing the zeal of his Transalpine al=
lies
enforced his complaint and request by an eloquent letter in the name and pe=
rson
of St. Peter himself. The apostle assures his adopted sons, the king, the
clergy, and the nobles of France, that, dead in the flesh, he is still aliv=
e in
the spirit; that they now hear, and must obey, the voice of the founder and
guardian of the Roman church; that the Virgin, the angels, the saints, and =
the
martyrs, and all the host of heaven, unanimously urge the request, and will
confess the obligation; that riches, victory, and paradise, will crown their
pious enterprise, and that eternal damnation will be the penalty of their
neglect, if they suffer his tomb, his temple, and his people, to fall into =
the
hands of the perfidious Lombards. The second expedition of Pepin was not le=
ss rapid
and fortunate than the first: St. Peter was satisfied, Rome was again saved,
and Astolphus was taught the lessons of justice and sincerity by the scourg=
e of
a foreign master. After this double chastisement, the Lombards languished a=
bout
twenty years in a state of languor and decay. But their minds were not yet
humbled to their condition; and instead of affecting the pacific virtues of=
the
feeble, they peevishly harassed the Romans with a repetition of claims, eva=
sions,
and inroads, which they undertook without reflection, and terminated without
glory. On either side, their expiring monarchy was pressed by the zeal and
prudence of Pope Adrian the First, the genius, the fortune, and greatness of
Charlemagne, the son of Pepin; these heroes of the church and state were un=
ited
in public and domestic friendship, and while they trampled on the prostrate,
they varnished their proceedings with the fairest colors of equity and
moderation. The passes of the Alps, and the walls of Pavia, were the only
defence of the Lombards; the former were surprised, the latter were investe=
d,
by the son of Pepin; and after a blockade of two years, Desiderius, the las=
t of
their native princes, surrendered his sceptre and his capital. Under the
dominion of a foreign king, but in the possession of their national laws, t=
he
Lombards became the brethren, rather than the subjects, of the Franks; who
derived their blood, and manners, and language, from the same Germanic orig=
in.
The mutual obligations of the popes and the
Carlovingian family form the important link of ancient and modern, of civil=
and
ecclesiastical, history. In the conquest of Italy, the champions of the Rom=
an
church obtained a favorable occasion, a specious title, the wishes of the p=
eople,
the prayers and intrigues of the clergy. But the most essential gifts of the
popes to the Carlovingian race were the dignities of king of France, and of
patrician of Rome. I. Under the sacerdotal monarchy of St. Peter, the natio=
ns
began to resume the practice of seeking, on the banks of the Tyber, their
kings, their laws, and the oracles of their fate. The Franks were perplexed
between the name and substance of their government. All the powers of royal=
ty
were exercised by Pepin, mayor of the palace; and nothing, except the regal
title, was wanting to his ambition. His enemies were crushed by his valor; =
his
friends were multiplied by his liberality; his father had been the savior o=
f Christendom;
and the claims of personal merit were repeated and ennobled in a descent of
four generations. The name and image of royalty was still preserved in the =
last
descendant of Clovis, the feeble Childeric; but his obsolete right could on=
ly
be used as an instrument of sedition: the nation was desirous of restoring =
the
simplicity of the constitution; and Pepin, a subject and a prince, was
ambitious to ascertain his own rank and the fortune of his family. The mayor
and the nobles were bound, by an oath of fidelity, to the royal phantom: the
blood of Clovis was pure and sacred in their eyes; and their common ambassa=
dors
addressed the Roman pontiff, to dispel their scruples, or to absolve their =
promise.
The interest of Pope Zachary, the successor of the two Gregories, prompted =
him
to decide, and to decide in their favor: he pronounced that the nation might
lawfully unite in the same person the title and authority of king; and that=
the
unfortunate Childeric, a victim of the public safety, should be degraded,
shaved, and confined in a monastery for the remainder of his days. An answe=
r so
agreeable to their wishes was accepted by the Franks as the opinion of a
casuist, the sentence of a judge, or the oracle of a prophet: the Merovingi=
an
race disappeared from the earth; and Pepin was exalted on a buckler by the =
suffrage
of a free people, accustomed to obey his laws and to march under his standa=
rd.
His coronation was twice performed, with the sanction of the popes, by their
most faithful servant St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and by the grat=
eful
hands of Stephen the Third, who, in the monastery of St. Denys placed the
diadem on the head of his benefactor. The royal unction of the kings of Isr=
ael
was dexterously applied: the successor of St. Peter assumed the character o=
f a
divine ambassador: a German chieftain was transformed into the Lord's anoin=
ted;
and this Jewish rite has been diffused and maintained by the superstition a=
nd
vanity of modern Europe. The Franks were absolved from their ancient oath; =
but
a dire anathema was thundered against them and their posterity, if they sho=
uld
dare to renew the same freedom of choice, or to elect a king, except in the
holy and meritorious race of the Carlovingian princes. Without apprehending=
the
future danger, these princes gloried in their present security: the secreta=
ry
of Charlemagne affirms, that the French sceptre was transferred by the
authority of the popes; and in their boldest enterprises, they insist, with
confidence, on this signal and successful act of temporal jurisdiction.
II. In the change of manners and language the
patricians of Rome were far removed from the senate of Romulus, on the pala=
ce
of Constantine, from the free nobles of the republic, or the fictitious par=
ents
of the emperor. After the recovery of Italy and Africa by the arms of Justi=
nian,
the importance and danger of those remote provinces required the presence o=
f a
supreme magistrate; he was indifferently styled the exarch or the patrician;
and these governors of Ravenna, who fill their place in the chronology of
princes, extended their jurisdiction over the Roman city. Since the revolt =
of
Italy and the loss of the Exarchate, the distress of the Romans had exacted
some sacrifice of their independence. Yet, even in this act, they exercised=
the
right of disposing of themselves; and the decrees of the senate and people
successively invested Charles Martel and his posterity with the honors of
patrician of Rome. The leaders of a powerful nation would have disdained a
servile title and subordinate office; but the reign of the Greek emperors w=
as
suspended; and, in the vacancy of the empire, they derived a more glorious
commission from the pope and the republic. The Roman ambassadors presented
these patricians with the keys of the shrine of St. Peter, as a pledge and
symbol of sovereignty; with a holy banner which it was their right and duty=
to
unfurl in the defence of the church and city. In the time of Charles Martel=
and
of Pepin, the interposition of the Lombard kingdom covered the freedom, whi=
le
it threatened the safety, of Rome; and the patriciate represented only the
title, the service, the alliance, of these distant protectors. The power and
policy of Charlemagne annihilated an enemy, and imposed a master. In his fi=
rst visit
to the capital, he was received with all the honors which had formerly been
paid to the exarch, the representative of the emperor; and these honors
obtained some new decorations from the joy and gratitude of Pope Adrian the
First. No sooner was he informed of the sudden approach of the monarch, tha=
n he
despatched the magistrates and nobles of Rome to meet him, with the banner,
about thirty miles from the city. At the distance of one mile, the Flaminian
way was lined with the schools, or national communities, of Greeks, Lombard=
s,
Saxons, &c.: the Roman youth were under arms; and the children of a more
tender age, with palms and olive branches in their hands, chanted the prais=
es
of their great deliverer. At the aspect of the holy crosses, and ensigns of=
the
saints, he dismounted from his horse, led the procession of his nobles to t=
he Vatican,
and, as he ascended the stairs, devoutly kissed each step of the threshold =
of
the apostles. In the portico, Adrian expected him at the head of his clergy:
they embraced, as friends and equals; but in their march to the altar, the =
king
or patrician assumed the right hand of the pope. Nor was the Frank content =
with
these vain and empty demonstrations of respect. In the twenty-six years that
elapsed between the conquest of Lombardy and his Imperial coronation, Rome,
which had been delivered by the sword, was subject, as his own, to the scep=
tre
of Charlemagne. The people swore allegiance to his person and family: in his
name money was coined, and justice was administered; and the election of the
popes was examined and confirmed by his authority. Except an original and
self-inherent claim of sovereignty, there was not any prerogative remaining,
which the title of emperor could add to the patrician of Rome.
The gratitude of the Carlovingians was adequat=
e to
these obligations, and their names are consecrated, as the saviors and
benefactors of the Roman church. Her ancient patrimony of farms and houses =
was
transformed by their bounty into the temporal dominion of cities and provin=
ces;
and the donation of the Exarchate was the first-fruits of the conquests of =
Pepin.
Astolphus with a sigh relinquished his prey; the keys and the hostages of t=
he
principal cities were delivered to the French ambassador; and, in his maste=
r's
name, he presented them before the tomb of St. Peter. The ample measure of =
the
Exarchate might comprise all the provinces of Italy which had obeyed the
emperor and his vicegerent; but its strict and proper limits were included =
in
the territories of Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara: its inseparable dependency
was the Pentapolis, which stretched along the Adriatic from Rimini to Ancon=
a, and
advanced into the midland-country as far as the ridges of the Apennine. In =
this
transaction, the ambition and avarice of the popes have been severely
condemned. Perhaps the humility of a Christian priest should have rejected =
an
earthly kingdom, which it was not easy for him to govern without renouncing=
the
virtues of his profession. Perhaps a faithful subject, or even a generous
enemy, would have been less impatient to divide the spoils of the Barbarian;
and if the emperor had intrusted Stephen to solicit in his name the restitu=
tion
of the Exarchate, I will not absolve the pope from the reproach of treacher=
y and
falsehood. But in the rigid interpretation of the laws, every one may accep=
t,
without injury, whatever his benefactor can bestow without injustice. The G=
reek
emperor had abdicated, or forfeited, his right to the Exarchate; and the sw=
ord
of Astolphus was broken by the stronger sword of the Carlovingian. It was n=
ot
in the cause of the Iconoclast that Pepin has exposed his person and army i=
n a
double expedition beyond the Alps: he possessed, and might lawfully alienat=
e,
his conquests: and to the importunities of the Greeks he piously replied th=
at
no human consideration should tempt him to resume the gift which he had
conferred on the Roman Pontiff for the remission of his sins, and the salva=
tion
of his soul. The splendid donation was granted in supreme and absolute domi=
nion,
and the world beheld for the first time a Christian bishop invested with the
prerogatives of a temporal prince; the choice of magistrates, the exercise =
of
justice, the imposition of taxes, and the wealth of the palace of Ravenna. =
In
the dissolution of the Lombard kingdom, the inhabitants of the duchy of Spo=
leto
sought a refuge from the storm, shaved their heads after the Roman fashion,
declared themselves the servants and subjects of St. Peter, and completed, =
by this
voluntary surrender, the present circle of the ecclesiastical state. That
mysterious circle was enlarged to an indefinite extent, by the verbal or
written donation of Charlemagne, who, in the first transports of his victor=
y,
despoiled himself and the Greek emperor of the cities and islands which had
formerly been annexed to the Exarchate. But, in the cooler moments of absen=
ce
and reflection, he viewed, with an eye of jealousy and envy, the recent
greatness of his ecclesiastical ally. The execution of his own and his fath=
er's
promises was respectfully eluded: the king of the Franks and Lombards asser=
ted
the inalienable rights of the empire; and, in his life and death, Ravenna, =
as
well as Rome, was numbered in the list of his metropolitan cities. The
sovereignty of the Exarchate melted away in the hands of the popes; they fo=
und
in the archbishops of Ravenna a dangerous and domestic rival: the nobles and
people disdained the yoke of a priest; and in the disorders of the times, t=
hey
could only retain the memory of an ancient claim, which, in a more prospero=
us
age, they have revived and realized.
Fraud is the resource of weakness and cunning;=
and
the strong, though ignorant, Barbarian was often entangled in the net of
sacerdotal policy. The Vatican and Lateran were an arsenal and manufacture,=
which,
according to the occasion, have produced or concealed a various collection =
of
false or genuine, of corrupt or suspicious, acts, as they tended to promote=
the
interest of the Roman church. Before the end of the eighth century, some
apostolic scribe, perhaps the notorious Isidore, composed the decretals, an=
d the
donation of Constantine, the two magic pillars of the spiritual and temporal
monarchy of the popes. This memorable donation was introduced to the world =
by
an epistle of Adrian the First, who exhorts Charlemagne to imitate the
liberality, and revive the name, of the great Constantine. According to the
legend, the first of the Christian emperors was healed of the leprosy, and
purified in the waters of baptism, by St. Silvester, the Roman bishop; and
never was physician more gloriously recompensed. His royal proselyte withdr=
ew from
the seat and patrimony of St. Peter; declared his resolution of founding a =
new
capital in the East; and resigned to the popes the free and perpetual
sovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the West. This fiction was
productive of the most beneficial effects. The Greek princes were convicted=
of
the guilt of usurpation; and the revolt of Gregory was the claim of his law=
ful
inheritance. The popes were delivered from their debt of gratitude; and the
nominal gifts of the Carlovingians were no more than the just and irrevocab=
le
restitution of a scanty portion of the ecclesiastical state. The sovereignt=
y of
Rome no longer depended on the choice of a fickle people; and the successor=
s of
St. Peter and Constantine were invested with the purple and prerogatives of=
the
Cæsars. So deep was the ignorance and credulity of the times, that the
most absurd of fables was received, with equal reverence, in Greece and in
France, and is still enrolled among the decrees of the canon law. The emper=
ors,
and the Romans, were incapable of discerning a forgery, that subverted their
rights and freedom; and the only opposition proceeded from a Sabine monaste=
ry,
which, in the beginning of the twelfth century, disputed the truth and vali=
dity
of the donation of Constantine. In the revival of letters and liberty, this
fictitious deed was transpierced by the pen of Laurentius Valla, the pen of=
an
eloquent critic and a Roman patriot. His contemporaries of the fifteenth
century were astonished at his sacrilegious boldness; yet such is the silent
and irresistible progress of reason, that, before the end of the next age, =
the
fable was rejected by the contempt of historians and poets, and the tacit or
modest censure of the advocates of the Roman church. The popes themselves h=
ave
indulged a smile at the credulity of the vulgar; but a false and obsolete t=
itle
still sanctifies their reign; and, by the same fortune which has attended t=
he
decretals and the Sibylline oracles, the edifice has subsisted after the
foundations have been undermined.
While the popes established in Italy their fre=
edom
and dominion, the images, the first cause of their revolt, were restored in=
the
Eastern empire. Under the reign of Constantine the Fifth, the union of civil
and ecclesiastical power had overthrown the tree, without extirpating the r=
oot,
of superstition. The idols (for such they were now held) were secretly
cherished by the order and the sex most prone to devotion; and the fond
alliance of the monks and females obtained a final victory over the reason =
and
authority of man. Leo the Fourth maintained with less rigor the religion of=
his
father and grandfather; but his wife, the fair and ambitious Irene, had imb=
ibed
the zeal of the Athenians, the heirs of the Idolatry, rather than the philo=
sophy,
of their ancestors. During the life of her husband, these sentiments were
inflamed by danger and dissimulation, and she could only labor to protect a=
nd
promote some favorite monks whom she drew from their caverns, and seated on=
the
metropolitan thrones of the East. But as soon as she reigned in her own name
and that of her son, Irene more seriously undertook the ruin of the Iconocl=
asts;
and the first step of her future persecution was a general edict for libert=
y of
conscience. In the restoration of the monks, a thousand images were exposed=
to
the public veneration; a thousand legends were inverted of their sufferings=
and
miracles. By the opportunities of death or removal, the episcopal seats were
judiciously filled the most eager competitors for earthly or celestial favo=
r anticipated
and flattered the judgment of their sovereign; and the promotion of her
secretary Tarasius gave Irene the patriarch of Constantinople, and the comm=
and
of the Oriental church. But the decrees of a general council could only be
repealed by a similar assembly: the Iconoclasts whom she convened were bold=
in
possession, and averse to debate; and the feeble voice of the bishops was
reechoed by the more formidable clamor of the soldiers and people of
Constantinople. The delay and intrigues of a year, the separation of the
disaffected troops, and the choice of Nice for a second orthodox synod, rem=
oved
these obstacles; and the episcopal conscience was again, after the Greek fa=
shion,
in the hands of the prince. No more than eighteen days were allowed for the
consummation of this important work: the Iconoclasts appeared, not as judge=
s,
but as criminals or penitents: the scene was decorated by the legates of Po=
pe
Adrian and the Eastern patriarchs, the decrees were framed by the president
Taracius, and ratified by the acclamations and subscriptions of three hundr=
ed
and fifty bishops. They unanimously pronounced, that the worship of images =
is
agreeable to Scripture and reason, to the fathers and councils of the churc=
h:
but they hesitate whether that worship be relative or direct; whether the G=
odhead,
and the figure of Christ, be entitled to the same mode of adoration. Of this
second Nicene council the acts are still extant; a curious monument of
superstition and ignorance, of falsehood and folly. I shall only notice the
judgment of the bishops on the comparative merit of image-worship and moral=
ity.
A monk had concluded a truce with the dæmon of fornication, on condit=
ion
of interrupting his daily prayers to a picture that hung in his cell. His
scruples prompted him to consult the abbot. "Rather than abstain from
adoring Christ and his Mother in their holy images, it would be better for
you," replied the casuist, "to enter every brothel, and visit eve=
ry
prostitute, in the city." For the honor of orthodoxy, at least the
orthodoxy of the Roman church, it is somewhat unfortunate, that the two pri=
nces
who convened the two councils of Nice are both stained with the blood of th=
eir
sons. The second of these assemblies was approved and rigorously executed by
the despotism of Irene, and she refused her adversaries the toleration whic=
h at
first she had granted to her friends. During the five succeeding reigns, a =
period
of thirty-eight years, the contest was maintained, with unabated rage and
various success, between the worshippers and the breakers of the images; bu=
t I
am not inclined to pursue with minute diligence the repetition of the same
events. Nicephorus allowed a general liberty of speech and practice; and the
only virtue of his reign is accused by the monks as the cause of his tempor=
al
and eternal perdition. Superstition and weakness formed the character of
Michael the First, but the saints and images were incapable of supporting t=
heir
votary on the throne. In the purple, Leo the Fifth asserted the name and
religion of an Armenian; and the idols, with their seditious adherents, were
condemned to a second exile. Their applause would have sanctified the murde=
r of
an impious tyrant, but his assassin and successor, the second Michael, was
tainted from his birth with the Phrygian heresies: he attempted to mediate
between the contending parties; and the intractable spirit of the Catholics
insensibly cast him into the opposite scale. His moderation was guarded by
timidity; but his son Theophilus, alike ignorant of fear and pity, was the =
last
and most cruel of the Iconoclasts. The enthusiasm of the times ran strongly
against them; and the emperors who stemmed the torrent were exasperated and
punished by the public hatred. After the death of Theophilus, the final vic=
tory
of the images was achieved by a second female, his widow Theodora, whom he =
left
the guardian of the empire. Her measures were bold and decisive. The fictio=
n of
a tardy repentance absolved the fame and the soul of her deceased husband; =
the
sentence of the Iconoclast patriarch was commuted from the loss of his eyes=
to
a whipping of two hundred lashes: the bishops trembled, the monks shouted, =
and
the festival of orthodoxy preserves the annual memory of the triumph of the
images. A single question yet remained, whether they are endowed with any
proper and inherent sanctity; it was agitated by the Greeks of the eleventh=
century;
and as this opinion has the strongest recommendation of absurdity, I am
surprised that it was not more explicitly decided in the affirmative. In the
West, Pope Adrian the First accepted and announced the decrees of the Nicene
assembly, which is now revered by the Catholics as the seventh in rank of t=
he
general councils. Rome and Italy were docile to the voice of their father; =
but
the greatest part of the Latin Christians were far behind in the race of
superstition. The churches of France, Germany, England, and Spain, steered a
middle course between the adoration and the destruction of images, which th=
ey
admitted into their temples, not as objects of worship, but as lively and u=
seful
memorials of faith and history. An angry book of controversy was composed a=
nd
published in the name of Charlemagne: under his authority a synod of three
hundred bishops was assembled at Frankfort: they blamed the fury of the
Iconoclasts, but they pronounced a more severe censure against the supersti=
tion
of the Greeks, and the decrees of their pretended council, which was long
despised by the Barbarians of the West. Among them the worship of images ad=
vanced
with a silent and insensible progress; but a large atonement is made for th=
eir
hesitation and delay, by the gross idolatry of the ages which precede the re=
formation,
and of the countries, both in Europe and America, which are still immersed =
in
the gloom of superstition.
It was after the Nicene synod, and under the r=
eign
of the pious Irene, that the popes consummated the separation of Rome and
Italy, by the translation of the empire to the less orthodox Charlemagne. T=
hey
were compelled to choose between the rival nations: religion was not the so=
le motive
of their choice; and while they dissembled the failings of their friends, t=
hey
beheld, with reluctance and suspicion, the Catholic virtues of their foes. =
The
difference of language and manners had perpetuated the enmity of the two
capitals; and they were alienated from each other by the hostile opposition=
of
seventy years. In that schism the Romans had tasted of freedom, and the pop=
es
of sovereignty: their submission would have exposed them to the revenge of a
jealous tyrant; and the revolution of Italy had betrayed the impotence, as =
well
as the tyranny, of the Byzantine court. The Greek emperors had restored the=
images,
but they had not restored the Calabrian estates and the Illyrian diocese, w=
hich
the Iconoclasts had torn away from the successors of St. Peter; and Pope Ad=
rian
threatens them with a sentence of excommunication unless they speedily abju=
re
this practical heresy. The Greeks were now orthodox; but their religion mig=
ht
be tainted by the breath of the reigning monarch: the Franks were now
contumacious; but a discerning eye might discern their approaching conversi=
on,
from the use, to the adoration, of images. The name of Charlemagne was stai=
ned
by the polemic acrimony of his scribes; but the conqueror himself conformed,
with the temper of a statesman, to the various practice of France and Italy=
. In
his four pilgrimages or visits to the Vatican, he embraced the popes in the
communion of friendship and piety; knelt before the tomb, and consequently
before the image, of the apostle; and joined, without scruple, in all the
prayers and processions of the Roman liturgy. Would prudence or gratitude a=
llow
the pontiffs to renounce their benefactor? Had they a right to alienate his
gift of the Exarchate? Had they power to abolish his government of Rome? The
title of patrician was below the merit and greatness of Charlemagne; and it=
was
only by reviving the Western empire that they could pay their obligations or
secure their establishment. By this decisive measure they would finally
eradicate the claims of the Greeks; from the debasement of a provincial tow=
n,
the majesty of Rome would be restored: the Latin Christians would be united=
, under
a supreme head, in their ancient metropolis; and the conquerors of the West
would receive their crown from the successors of St. Peter. The Roman church
would acquire a zealous and respectable advocate; and, under the shadow of =
the
Carlovingian power, the bishop might exercise, with honor and safety, the
government of the city.
Before the ruin of Paganism in Rome, the
competition for a wealthy bishopric had often been productive of tumult and
bloodshed. The people was less numerous, but the times were more savage, th=
e prize
more important, and the chair of St. Peter was fiercely disputed by the lea=
ding
ecclesiastics who aspired to the rank of sovereign. The reign of Adrian the
First surpasses the measure of past or succeeding ages; the walls of Rome, =
the
sacred patrimony, the ruin of the Lombards, and the friendship of Charlemag=
ne,
were the trophies of his fame: he secretly edified the throne of his
successors, and displayed in a narrow space the virtues of a great prince. =
His
memory was revered; but in the next election, a priest of the Lateran, Leo =
the
Third, was preferred to the nephew and the favorite of Adrian, whom he had
promoted to the first dignities of the church. Their acquiescence or repent=
ance
disguised, above four years, the blackest intention of revenge, till the da=
y of
a procession, when a furious band of conspirators dispersed the unarmed mul=
titude,
and assaulted with blows and wounds the sacred person of the pope. But their
enterprise on his life or liberty was disappointed, perhaps by their own
confusion and remorse. Leo was left for dead on the ground: on his revival =
from
the swoon, the effect of his loss of blood, he recovered his speech and sig=
ht;
and this natural event was improved to the miraculous restoration of his ey=
es
and tongue, of which he had been deprived, twice deprived, by the knife of =
the
assassins. From his prison he escaped to the Vatican: the duke of Spoleto
hastened to his rescue, Charlemagne sympathized in his injury, and in his c=
amp
of Paderborn in Westphalia accepted, or solicited, a visit from the Roman p=
ontiff.
Leo repassed the Alps with a commission of counts and bishops, the guards of
his safety and the judges of his innocence; and it was not without reluctan=
ce,
that the conqueror of the Saxons delayed till the ensuing year the personal
discharge of this pious office. In his fourth and last pilgrimage, he was
received at Rome with the due honors of king and patrician: Leo was permitt=
ed
to purge himself by oath of the crimes imputed to his charge: his enemies w=
ere
silenced, and the sacrilegious attempt against his life was punished by the
mild and insufficient penalty of exile. On the festival of Christmas, the l=
ast
year of the eighth century, Charlemagne appeared in the church of St. Peter;
and, to gratify the vanity of Rome, he had exchanged the simple dress of hi=
s country
for the habit of a patrician. After the celebration of the holy mysteries, =
Leo
suddenly placed a precious crown on his head, and the dome resounded with t=
he
acclamations of the people, "Long life and victory to Charles, the most
pious Augustus, crowned by God the great and pacific emperor of the
Romans!" The head and body of Charlemagne were consecrated by the royal
unction: after the example of the Cæsars, he was saluted or adored by=
the
pontiff: his coronation oath represents a promise to maintain the faith and
privileges of the church; and the first-fruits were paid in his rich offeri=
ngs
to the shrine of his apostle. In his familiar conversation, the emperor
protested the ignorance of the intentions of Leo, which he would have
disappointed by his absence on that memorable day. But the preparations of =
the
ceremony must have disclosed the secret; and the journey of Charlemagne rev=
eals
his knowledge and expectation: he had acknowledged that the Imperial title =
was
the object of his ambition, and a Roman synod had pronounced, that it was t=
he
only adequate reward of his merit and services.
The appellation of great has been often bestow=
ed,
and sometimes deserved; but Charlemagne is the only prince in whose favor t=
he
title has been indissolubly blended with the name. That name, with the addi=
tion
of saint, is inserted in the Roman calendar; and the saint, by a rare felic=
ity,
is crowned with the praises of the historians and philosophers of an
enlightened age. His real merit is doubtless enhanced by the barbarism of t=
he
nation and the times from which he emerged: but the apparent magnitude of an
object is likewise enlarged by an unequal comparison; and the ruins of Palm=
yra
derive a casual splendor from the nakedness of the surrounding desert. With=
out
injustice to his fame, I may discern some blemishes in the sanctity and
greatness of the restorer of the Western empire. Of his moral virtues, chas=
tity
is not the most conspicuous: but the public happiness could not be material=
ly injured
by his nine wives or concubines, the various indulgence of meaner or more
transient amours, the multitude of his bastards whom he bestowed on the chu=
rch,
and the long celibacy and licentious manners of his daughters, whom the fat=
her
was suspected of loving with too fond a passion. I shall be scarcely permit=
ted
to accuse the ambition of a conqueror; but in a day of equal retribution, t=
he
sons of his brother Carloman, the Merovingian princes of Aquitain, and the =
four
thousand five hundred Saxons who were beheaded on the same spot, would have
something to allege against the justice and humanity of Charlemagne. His
treatment of the vanquished Saxons was an abuse of the right of conquest; h=
is
laws were not less sanguinary than his arms, and in the discussion of his
motives, whatever is subtracted from bigotry must be imputed to temper. The
sedentary reader is amazed by his incessant activity of mind and body; and =
his
subjects and enemies were not less astonished at his sudden presence, at the
moment when they believed him at the most distant extremity of the empire;
neither peace nor war, nor summer nor winter, were a season of repose; and =
our
fancy cannot easily reconcile the annals of his reign with the geography of=
his
expeditions. But this activity was a national, rather than a personal, virt=
ue;
the vagrant life of a Frank was spent in the chase, in pilgrimage, in milit=
ary
adventures; and the journeys of Charlemagne were distinguished only by a mo=
re
numerous train and a more important purpose. His military renown must be tr=
ied
by the scrutiny of his troops, his enemies, and his actions. Alexander
conquered with the arms of Philip, but the two heroes who preceded Charlema=
gne
bequeathed him their name, their examples, and the companions of their
victories. At the head of his veteran and superior armies, he oppressed the
savage or degenerate nations, who were incapable of confederating for their
common safety: nor did he ever encounter an equal antagonist in numbers, in=
discipline,
or in arms The science of war has been lost and revived with the arts of pe=
ace;
but his campaigns are not illustrated by any siege or battle of singular
difficulty and success; and he might behold, with envy, the Saracen trophie=
s of
his grandfather. After the Spanish expedition, his rear-guard was defeated =
in
the Pyrenæan mountains; and the soldiers, whose situation was
irretrievable, and whose valor was useless, might accuse, with their last
breath, the want of skill or caution of their general. I touch with reveren=
ce
the laws of Charlemagne, so highly applauded by a respectable judge. They
compose not a system, but a series, of occasional and minute edicts, for th=
e correction
of abuses, the reformation of manners, the economy of his farms, the care of
his poultry, and even the sale of his eggs. He wished to improve the laws a=
nd
the character of the Franks; and his attempts, however feeble and imperfect,
are deserving of praise: the inveterate evils of the times were suspended or
mollified by his government; but in his institutions I can seldom discover =
the
general views and the immortal spirit of a legislator, who survives himself=
for
the benefit of posterity. The union and stability of his empire depended on=
the
life of a single man: he imitated the dangerous practice of dividing his ki=
ngdoms
among his sons; and after his numerous diets, the whole constitution was le=
ft
to fluctuate between the disorders of anarchy and despotism. His esteem for=
the
piety and knowledge of the clergy tempted him to intrust that aspiring order
with temporal dominion and civil jurisdiction; and his son Lewis, when he w=
as
stripped and degraded by the bishops, might accuse, in some measure, the
imprudence of his father. His laws enforced the imposition of tithes, becau=
se
the dæmons had proclaimed in the air that the default of payment had =
been
the cause of the last scarcity. The literary merits of Charlemagne are atte=
sted
by the foundation of schools, the introduction of arts, the works which were
published in his name, and his familiar connection with the subjects and
strangers whom he invited to his court to educate both the prince and peopl=
e.
His own studies were tardy, laborious, and imperfect; if he spoke Latin, and
understood Greek, he derived the rudiments of knowledge from conversation,
rather than from books; and, in his mature age, the emperor strove to acqui=
re
the practice of writing, which every peasant now learns in his infancy. The
grammar and logic, the music and astronomy, of the times, were only cultiva=
ted
as the handmaids of superstition; but the curiosity of the human mind must
ultimately tend to its improvement, and the encouragement of learning refle=
cts
the purest and most pleasing lustre on the character of Charlemagne. The di=
gnity
of his person, the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arms, the vig=
or
of his government, and the reverence of distant nations, distinguish him fr=
om
the royal crowd; and Europe dates a new æra from his restoration of t=
he
Western empire.
That empire was not unworthy of its title; and
some of the fairest kingdoms of Europe were the patrimony or conquest of a
prince, who reigned at the same time in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and
Hungary. I. The Roman province of Gaul had been transformed into the name a=
nd monarchy
of France; but, in the decay of the Merovingian line, its limits were
contracted by the independence of the Britons and the revolt of Aquitain.
Charlemagne pursued, and confined, the Britons on the shores of the ocean; =
and
that ferocious tribe, whose origin and language are so different from the F=
rench,
was chastised by the imposition of tribute, hostages, and peace. After a lo=
ng
and evasive contest, the rebellion of the dukes of Aquitain was punished by=
the
forfeiture of their province, their liberty, and their lives. Harsh and rig=
orous
would have been such treatment of ambitious governors, who had too faithful=
ly
copied the mayors of the palace. But a recent discovery has proved that the=
se
unhappy princes were the last and lawful heirs of the blood and sceptre of
Clovis, and younger branch, from the brother of Dagobert, of the Merovingian
house. Their ancient kingdom was reduced to the duchy of Gascogne, to the
counties of Fesenzac and Armagnac, at the foot of the Pyrenees: their race =
was
propagated till the beginning of the sixteenth century; and after surviving
their Carlovingian tyrants, they were reserved to feel the injustice, or the
favors, of a third dynasty. By the reunion of Aquitain, France was enlarged=
to
its present boundaries, with the additions of the Netherlands and Spain, as=
far
as the Rhine. II. The Saracens had been expelled from France by the grandfa=
ther
and father of Charlemagne; but they still possessed the greatest part of Sp=
ain,
from the rock of Gibraltar to the Pyrenees. Amidst their civil divisions, an
Arabian emir of Saragossa implored his protection in the diet of Paderborn.
Charlemagne undertook the expedition, restored the emir, and, without
distinction of faith, impartially crushed the resistance of the Christians,=
and
rewarded the obedience and services of the Mahometans. In his absence he
instituted the Spanish march, which extended from the Pyrenees to the River
Ebro: Barcelona was the residence of the French governor: he possessed the =
counties
of Rousillon and Catalonia; and the infant kingdoms of Navarre and Arragon =
were
subject to his jurisdiction. III. As king of the Lombards, and patrician of
Rome, he reigned over the greatest part of Italy, a tract of a thousand mil=
es
from the Alps to the borders of Calabria. The duchy of Beneventum, a Lombard
fief, had spread, at the expense of the Greeks, over the modern kingdom of
Naples. But Arrechis, the reigning duke, refused to be included in the slav=
ery
of his country; assumed the independent title of prince; and opposed his sw=
ord
to the Carlovingian monarchy. His defence was firm, his submission was not
inglorious, and the emperor was content with an easy tribute, the demolitio=
n of
his fortresses, and the acknowledgment, on his coins, of a supreme lord. The
artful flattery of his son Grimoald added the appellation of father, but he
asserted his dignity with prudence, and Benventum insensibly escaped from t=
he
French yoke. IV. Charlemagne was the first who united Germany under the same
sceptre. The name of Oriental France is preserved in the circle of Franconi=
a;
and the people of Hesse and Thuringia were recently incorporated with the v=
ictors,
by the conformity of religion and government. The Alemanni, so formidable to
the Romans, were the faithful vassals and confederates of the Franks; and t=
heir
country was inscribed within the modern limits of Alsace, Swabia, and
Switzerland. The Bavarians, with a similar indulgence of their laws and
manners, were less patient of a master: the repeated treasons of Tasillo
justified the abolition of their hereditary dukes; and their power was shar=
ed
among the counts, who judged and guarded that important frontier. But the n=
orth
of Germany, from the Rhine and beyond the Elbe, was still hostile and Pagan;
nor was it till after a war of thirty-three years that the Saxons bowed und=
er the
yoke of Christ and of Charlemagne. The idols and their votaries were extirp=
ated:
the foundation of eight bishoprics, of Munster, Osnaburgh, Paderborn, and
Minden, of Bremen, Verden, Hildesheim, and Halberstadt, define, on either s=
ide
of the Weser, the bounds of ancient Saxony these episcopal seats were the f=
irst
schools and cities of that savage land; and the religion and humanity of the
children atoned, in some degree, for the massacre of the parents. Beyond the
Elbe, the Slavi, or Sclavonians, of similar manners and various denominatio=
ns,
overspread the modern dominions of Prussia, Poland, and Bohemia, and some
transient marks of obedience have tempted the French historian to extend th=
e empire
to the Baltic and the Vistula. The conquest or conversion of those countrie=
s is
of a more recent age; but the first union of Bohemia with the Germanic body=
may
be justly ascribed to the arms of Charlemagne. V. He retaliated on the Avar=
s,
or Huns of Pannonia, the same calamities which they had inflicted on the
nations. Their rings, the wooden fortifications which encircled their distr=
icts
and villages, were broken down by the triple effort of a French army, that =
was
poured into their country by land and water, through the Carpathian mountai=
ns and
along the plain of the Danube. After a bloody conflict of eight years, the =
loss
of some French generals was avenged by the slaughter of the most noble Huns:
the relics of the nation submitted the royal residence of the chagan was le=
ft
desolate and unknown; and the treasures, the rapine of two hundred and fifty
years, enriched the victorious troops, or decorated the churches of Italy a=
nd
Gaul. After the reduction of Pannonia, the empire of Charlemagne was bounded
only by the conflux of the Danube with the Teyss and the Save: the province=
s of
Istria, Liburnia, and Dalmatia, were an easy, though unprofitable, accessio=
n;
and it was an effect of his moderation, that he left the maritime cities un=
der
the real or nominal sovereignty of the Greeks. But these distant possessions
added more to the reputation than to the power of the Latin emperor; nor di=
d he
risk any ecclesiastical foundations to reclaim the Barbarians from their
vagrant life and idolatrous worship. Some canals of communication between t=
he
rivers, the Saone and the Meuse, the Rhine and the Danube, were faintly
attempted. Their execution would have vivified the empire; and more cost and
labor were often wasted in the structure of a cathedral.
If we retrace the outlines of this geographical
picture, it will be seen that the empire of the Franks extended, between ea=
st
and west, from the Ebro to the Elbe or Vistula; between the north and south,
from the duchy of Beneventum to the River Eyder, the perpetual boundary of
Germany and Denmark. The personal and political importance of Charlemagne w=
as
magnified by the distress and division of the rest of Europe. The islands of
Great Britain and Ireland were disputed by a crowd of princes of Saxon or
Scottish origin: and, after the loss of Spain, the Christian and Gothic kin=
gdom
of Alphonso the Chaste was confined to the narrow range of the Asturian
mountains. These petty sovereigns revered the power or virtue of the
Carlovingian monarch, implored the honor and support of his alliance, and
styled him their common parent, the sole and supreme emperor of the West. He
maintained a more equal intercourse with the caliph Harun al Rashid, whose
dominion stretched from Africa to India, and accepted from his ambassadors a
tent, a water-clock, an elephant, and the keys of the Holy Sepulchre. It is=
not
easy to conceive the private friendship of a Frank and an Arab, who were
strangers to each other's person, and language, and religion: but their pub=
lic correspondence
was founded on vanity, and their remote situation left no room for a
competition of interest. Two thirds of the Western empire of Rome were subj=
ect
to Charlemagne, and the deficiency was amply supplied by his command of the
inaccessible or invincible nations of Germany. But in the choice of his ene=
mies,
we may be reasonably surprised that he so often preferred the poverty of the
north to the riches of the south. The three-and-thirty campaigns laboriously
consumed in the woods and morasses of Germany would have sufficed to assert=
the
amplitude of his title by the expulsion of the Greeks from Italy and the
Saracens from Spain. The weakness of the Greeks would have insured an easy
victory; and the holy crusade against the Saracens would have been prompted=
by glory
and revenge, and loudly justified by religion and policy. Perhaps, in his
expeditions beyond the Rhine and the Elbe, he aspired to save his monarchy =
from
the fate of the Roman empire, to disarm the enemies of civilized society, a=
nd
to eradicate the seed of future emigrations. But it has been wisely observe=
d,
that, in a light of precaution, all conquest must be ineffectual, unless it
could be universal, since the increasing circle must be involved in a larger
sphere of hostility. The subjugation of Germany withdrew the veil which had=
so
long concealed the continent or islands of Scandinavia from the knowledge of
Europe, and awakened the torpid courage of their barbarous natives. The
fiercest of the Saxon idolaters escaped from the Christian tyrant to their
brethren of the North; the Ocean and Mediterranean were covered with their =
piratical
fleets; and Charlemagne beheld with a sigh the destructive progress of the
Normans, who, in less than seventy years, precipitated the fall of his race=
and
monarchy.
Had the pope and the Romans revived the primit=
ive
constitution, the titles of emperor and Augustus were conferred on Charlema=
gne
for the term of his life; and his successors, on each vacancy, must have as=
cended
the throne by a formal or tacit election. But the association of his son Le=
wis
the Pious asserts the independent right of monarchy and conquest, and the
emperor seems on this occasion to have foreseen and prevented the latent cl=
aims
of the clergy. The royal youth was commanded to take the crown from the alt=
ar,
and with his own hands to place it on his head, as a gift which he held from
God, his father, and the nation. The same ceremony was repeated, though with
less energy, in the subsequent associations of Lothaire and Lewis the Secon=
d:
the Carlovingian sceptre was transmitted from father to son in a lineal des=
cent
of four generations; and the ambition of the popes was reduced to the empty
honor of crowning and anointing these hereditary princes, who were already
invested with their power and dominions. The pious Lewis survived his broth=
ers,
and embraced the whole empire of Charlemagne; but the nations and the noble=
s,
his bishops and his children, quickly discerned that this mighty mass was no
longer inspired by the same soul; and the foundations were undermined to the
centre, while the external surface was yet fair and entire. After a war, or=
battle,
which consumed one hundred thousand Franks, the empire was divided by treaty
between his three sons, who had violated every filial and fraternal duty. T=
he
kingdoms of Germany and France were forever separated; the provinces of Gau=
l,
between the Rhone and the Alps, the Meuse and the Rhine, were assigned, with
Italy, to the Imperial dignity of Lothaire. In the partition of his share,
Lorraine and Arles, two recent and transitory kingdoms, were bestowed on the
younger children; and Lewis the Second, his eldest son, was content with the
realm of Italy, the proper and sufficient patrimony of a Roman emperor. On =
his death
without any male issue, the vacant throne was disputed by his uncles and
cousins, and the popes most dexterously seized the occasion of judging the
claims and merits of the candidates, and of bestowing on the most obsequiou=
s,
or most liberal, the Imperial office of advocate of the Roman church. The d=
regs
of the Carlovingian race no longer exhibited any symptoms of virtue or powe=
r,
and the ridiculous epithets of the bard, the stammerer, the fat, and the
simple, distinguished the tame and uniform features of a crowd of kings ali=
ke
deserving of oblivion. By the failure of the collateral branches, the whole=
inheritance
devolved to Charles the Fat, the last emperor of his family: his insanity
authorized the desertion of Germany, Italy, and France: he was deposed in a
diet, and solicited his daily bread from the rebels by whose contempt his l=
ife
and liberty had been spared. According to the measure of their force, the
governors, the bishops, and the lords, usurped the fragments of the falling
empire; and some preference was shown to the female or illegitimate blood of
Charlemagne. Of the greater part, the title and possession were alike doubt=
ful,
and the merit was adequate to the contracted scale of their dominions. Those
who could appear with an army at the gates of Rome were crowned emperors in=
the
Vatican; but their modesty was more frequently satisfied with the appellati=
on
of kings of Italy: and the whole term of seventy-four years may be deemed a
vacancy, from the abdication of Charles the Fat to the establishment of Otho
the First.
Otho was of the noble race of the dukes of Sax=
ony;
and if he truly descended from Witikind, the adversary and proselyte of
Charlemagne, the posterity of a vanquished people was exalted to reign over
their conquerors. His father, Henry the Fowler, was elected, by the suffrag=
e of
the nation, to save and institute the kingdom of Germany. Its limits were
enlarged on every side by his son, the first and greatest of the Othos. A
portion of Gaul, to the west of the Rhine, along the banks of the Meuse and=
the
Moselle, was assigned to the Germans, by whose blood and language it has be=
en
tinged since the time of Cæsar and Tacitus. Between the Rhine, the Rh=
one,
and the Alps, the successors of Otho acquired a vain supremacy over the bro=
ken
kingdoms of Burgundy and Arles. In the North, Christianity was propagated by
the sword of Otho, the conqueror and apostle of the Slavic nations of the E=
lbe
and Oder: the marches of Brandenburgh and Sleswick were fortified with Germ=
an colonies;
and the king of Denmark, the dukes of Poland and Bohemia, confessed themsel=
ves
his tributary vassals. At the head of a victorious army, he passed the Alps,
subdued the kingdom of Italy, delivered the pope, and forever fixed the
Imperial crown in the name and nation of Germany. From that memorable
æra, two maxims of public jurisprudence were introduced by force and
ratified by time. I. That the prince, who was elected in the German diet,
acquired, from that instant, the subject kingdoms of Italy and Rome. II. But
that he might not legally assume the titles of emperor and Augustus, till he
had received the crown from the hands of the Roman pontiff.
The Imperial dignity of Charlemagne was announ=
ced
to the East by the alteration of his style; and instead of saluting his
fathers, the Greek emperors, he presumed to adopt the more equal and famili=
ar
appellation of brother. Perhaps in his connection with Irene he aspired to =
the
name of husband: his embassy to Constantinople spoke the language of peace =
and
friendship, and might conceal a treaty of marriage with that ambitious
princess, who had renounced the most sacred duties of a mother. The nature,=
the
duration, the probable consequences of such a union between two distant and
dissonant empires, it is impossible to conjecture; but the unanimous silenc=
e of
the Latins may teach us to suspect, that the report was invented by the ene=
mies
of Irene, to charge her with the guilt of betraying the church and state to=
the
strangers of the West. The French ambassadors were the spectators, and had
nearly been the victims, of the conspiracy of Nicephorus, and the national =
hatred.
Constantinople was exasperated by the treason and sacrilege of ancient Rome=
: a
proverb, "That the Franks were good friends and bad neighbors," w=
as
in every one's mouth; but it was dangerous to provoke a neighbor who might =
be
tempted to reiterate, in the church of St. Sophia, the ceremony of his Impe=
rial
coronation. After a tedious journey of circuit and delay, the ambassadors of
Nicephorus found him in his camp, on the banks of the River Sala; and
Charlemagne affected to confound their vanity by displaying, in a Franconian
village, the pomp, or at least the pride, of the Byzantine palace. The Gree=
ks
were successively led through four halls of audience: in the first they were
ready to fall prostrate before a splendid personage in a chair of state, ti=
ll
he informed them that he was only a servant, the constable, or master of the
horse, of the emperor. The same mistake, and the same answer, were repeated=
in
the apartments of the count palatine, the steward, and the chamberlain; and
their impatience was gradually heightened, till the doors of the
presence-chamber were thrown open, and they beheld the genuine monarch, on =
his
throne, enriched with the foreign luxury which he despised, and encircled w=
ith
the love and reverence of his victorious chiefs. A treaty of peace and alli=
ance
was concluded between the two empires, and the limits of the East and West =
were
defined by the right of present possession. But the Greeks soon forgot this
humiliating equality, or remembered it only to hate the Barbarians by whom =
it
was extorted. During the short union of virtue and power, they respectfully=
saluted
the august Charlemagne, with the acclamations of basileus, and emperor of t=
he
Romans. As soon as these qualities were separated in the person of his pious
son, the Byzantine letters were inscribed, "To the king, or, as he sty=
les
himself, the emperor of the Franks and Lombards." When both power and
virtue were extinct, they despoiled Lewis the Second of his hereditary titl=
e,
and with the barbarous appellation of rex or rega, degraded him among the c=
rowd
of Latin princes. His reply is expressive of his weakness: he proves, with =
some
learning, that, both in sacred and profane history, the name of king is
synonymous with the Greek word basileus: if, at Constantinople, it were ass=
umed
in a more exclusive and imperial sense, he claims from his ancestors, and f=
rom
the popes, a just participation of the honors of the Roman purple. The same
controversy was revived in the reign of the Othos; and their ambassador
describes, in lively colors, the insolence of the Byzantine court. The Gree=
ks
affected to despise the poverty and ignorance of the Franks and Saxons; and=
in
their last decline refused to prostitute to the kings of Germany the title =
of
Roman emperors.
These emperors, in the election of the popes,
continued to exercise the powers which had been assumed by the Gothic and
Grecian princes; and the importance of this prerogative increased with the
temporal estate and spiritual jurisdiction of the Roman church. In the
Christian aristocracy, the principal members of the clergy still formed a
senate to assist the administration, and to supply the vacancy, of the bish=
op. Rome
was divided into twenty-eight parishes, and each parish was governed by a
cardinal priest, or presbyter, a title which, however common or modest in i=
ts
origin, has aspired to emulate the purple of kings. Their number was enlarg=
ed
by the association of the seven deacons of the most considerable hospitals,=
the
seven palatine judges of the Lateran, and some dignitaries of the church. T=
his
ecclesiastical senate was directed by the seven cardinal-bishops of the Rom=
an
province, who were less occupied in the suburb dioceses of Ostia, Porto,
Velitræ, Tusculum, Præneste, Tibur, and the Sabines, than by th=
eir
weekly service in the Lateran, and their superior share in the honors and
authority of the apostolic see. On the death of the pope, these bishops
recommended a successor to the suffrage of the college of cardinals, and th=
eir
choice was ratified or rejected by the applause or clamor of the Roman peop=
le. But
the election was imperfect; nor could the pontiff be legally consecrated ti=
ll
the emperor, the advocate of the church, had graciously signified his
approbation and consent. The royal commissioner examined, on the spot, the =
form
and freedom of the proceedings; nor was it till after a previous scrutiny i=
nto
the qualifications of the candidates, that he accepted an oath of fidelity,=
and
confirmed the donations which had successively enriched the patrimony of St.
Peter. In the frequent schisms, the rival claims were submitted to the sent=
ence
of the emperor; and in a synod of bishops he presumed to judge, to condemn,=
and
to punish, the crimes of a guilty pontiff. Otho the First imposed a treaty =
on
the senate and people, who engaged to prefer the candidate most acceptable =
to
his majesty: his successors anticipated or prevented their choice: they
bestowed the Roman benefice, like the bishoprics of Cologne or Bamberg, on
their chancellors or preceptors; and whatever might be the merit of a Frank=
or
Saxon, his name sufficiently attests the interposition of foreign power. Th=
ese
acts of prerogative were most speciously excused by the vices of a popular
election. The competitor who had been excluded by the cardinals appealed to=
the
passions or avarice of the multitude; the Vatican and the Lateran were stai=
ned
with blood; and the most powerful senators, the marquises of Tuscany and th=
e counts
of Tusculum, held the apostolic see in a long and disgraceful servitude. The
Roman pontiffs, of the ninth and tenth centuries, were insulted, imprisoned,
and murdered, by their tyrants; and such was their indigence, after the loss
and usurpation of the ecclesiastical patrimonies, that they could neither
support the state of a prince, nor exercise the charity of a priest. The
influence of two sister prostitutes, Marozia and Theodora, was founded on t=
heir
wealth and beauty, their political and amorous intrigues: the most strenuou=
s of
their lovers were rewarded with the Roman mitre, and their reign may have
suggested to the darker ages the fable of a female pope. The bastard son, t=
he
grandson, and the great-grandson of Marozia, a rare genealogy, were seated =
in
the chair of St. Peter, and it was at the age of nineteen years that the se=
cond
of these became the head of the Latin church. His youth and manhood were of=
a
suitable complexion; and the nations of pilgrims could bear testimony to the
charges that were urged against him in a Roman synod, and in the presence of
Otho the Great. As John XII. had renounced the dress and decencies of his
profession, the soldier may not perhaps be dishonored by the wine which he
drank, the blood that he spilt, the flames that he kindled, or the licentio=
us pursuits
of gaming and hunting. His open simony might be the consequence of distress;
and his blasphemous invocation of Jupiter and Venus, if it be true, could n=
ot
possibly be serious. But we read, with some surprise, that the worthy grand=
son
of Marozia lived in public adultery with the matrons of Rome; that the Late=
ran
palace was turned into a school for prostitution, and that his rapes of vir=
gins
and widows had deterred the female pilgrims from visiting the tomb of St.
Peter, lest, in the devout act, they should be violated by his successor. T=
he
Protestants have dwelt with malicious pleasure on these characters of
Antichrist; but to a philosophic eye, the vices of the clergy are far less
dangerous than their virtues. After a long series of scandal, the apostolic=
see
was reformed and exalted by the austerity and zeal of Gregory VII. That amb=
itious
monk devoted his life to the execution of two projects. I. To fix in the
college of cardinals the freedom and independence of election, and forever =
to
abolish the right or usurpation of the emperors and the Roman people. II. To
bestow and resume the Western empire as a fief or benefice of the church, a=
nd
to extend his temporal dominion over the kings and kingdoms of the earth. A=
fter
a contest of fifty years, the first of these designs was accomplished by the
firm support of the ecclesiastical order, whose liberty was connected with =
that
of their chief. But the second attempt, though it was crowned with some par=
tial
and apparent success, has been vigorously resisted by the secular power, and
finally extinguished by the improvement of human reason.
In the revival of the empire of empire of Rome,
neither the bishop nor the people could bestow on Charlemagne or Otho the
provinces which were lost, as they had been won, by the chance of arms. But=
the
Romans were free to choose a master for themselves; and the powers which had
been delegated to the patrician, were irrevocably granted to the French and=
Saxon
emperors of the West. The broken records of the times preserve some remembr=
ance
of their palace, their mint, their tribunal, their edicts, and the sword of
justice, which, as late as the thirteenth century, was derived from Cæ=
;sar
to the præfect of the city. Between the arts of the popes and the
violence of the people, this supremacy was crushed and annihilated. Content
with the titles of emperor and Augustus, the successors of Charlemagne
neglected to assert this local jurisdiction. In the hour of prosperity, the=
ir
ambition was diverted by more alluring objects; and in the decay and divisi=
on
of the empire, they were oppressed by the defence of their hereditary
provinces. Amidst the ruins of Italy, the famous Marozia invited one of the
usurpers to assume the character of her third husband; and Hugh, king of
Burgundy was introduced by her faction into the mole of Hadrian or Castle of
St. Angelo, which commands the principal bridge and entrance of Rome. Her s=
on
by the first marriage, Alberic, was compelled to attend at the nuptial banq=
uet;
but his reluctant and ungraceful service was chastised with a blow by his n=
ew
father. The blow was productive of a revolution. "Romans," exclai=
med
the youth, "once you were the masters of the world, and these Burgundi=
ans
the most abject of your slaves. They now reign, these voracious and brutal
savages, and my injury is the commencement of your servitude." The ala=
rum
bell rang to arms in every quarter of the city: the Burgundians retreated w=
ith
haste and shame; Marozia was imprisoned by her victorious son, and his brot=
her,
Pope John XI., was reduced to the exercise of his spiritual functions. With=
the
title of prince, Alberic possessed above twenty years the government of Rom=
e; and
he is said to have gratified the popular prejudice, by restoring the office=
, or
at least the title, of consuls and tribunes. His son and heir Octavian assu=
med,
with the pontificate, the name of John XII.: like his predecessor, he was
provoked by the Lombard princes to seek a deliverer for the church and
republic; and the services of Otho were rewarded with the Imperial dignity.=
But
the Saxon was imperious, the Romans were impatient, the festival of the
coronation was disturbed by the secret conflict of prerogative and freedom,=
and
Otho commanded his sword-bearer not to stir from his person, lest he should=
be
assaulted and murdered at the foot of the altar. Before he repassed the Alp=
s,
the emperor chastised the revolt of the people and the ingratitude of John =
XII.
The pope was degraded in a synod; the præfect was mounted on an ass,
whipped through the city, and cast into a dungeon; thirteen of the most gui=
lty were
hanged, others were mutilated or banished; and this severe process was
justified by the ancient laws of Theodosius and Justinian. The voice of fame
has accused the second Otho of a perfidious and bloody act, the massacre of=
the
senators, whom he had invited to his table under the fair semblance of
hospitality and friendship. In the minority of his son Otho the Third, Rome
made a bold attempt to shake off the Saxon yoke, and the consul Crescentius=
was
the Brutus of the republic. From the condition of a subject and an exile, he
twice rose to the command of the city, oppressed, expelled, and created the
popes, and formed a conspiracy for restoring the authority of the Greek
emperors. In the fortress of St. Angelo, he maintained an obstinate siege, =
till
the unfortunate consul was betrayed by a promise of safety: his body was su=
spended
on a gibbet, and his head was exposed on the battlements of the castle. By a
reverse of fortune, Otho, after separating his troops, was besieged three d=
ays,
without food, in his palace; and a disgraceful escape saved him from the
justice or fury of the Romans. The senator Ptolemy was the leader of the
people, and the widow of Crescentius enjoyed the pleasure or the fame of
revenging her husband, by a poison which she administered to her Imperial
lover. It was the design of Otho the Third to abandon the ruder countries of
the North, to erect his throne in Italy, and to revive the institutions of =
the
Roman monarchy. But his successors only once in their lives appeared on the
banks of the Tyber, to receive their crown in the Vatican. Their absence wa=
s contemptible,
their presence odious and formidable. They descended from the Alps, at the =
head
of their barbarians, who were strangers and enemies to the country; and the=
ir
transient visit was a scene of tumult and bloodshed. A faint remembrance of
their ancestors still tormented the Romans; and they beheld with pious
indignation the succession of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bohemians, who
usurped the purple and prerogatives of the Cæsars.
There is nothing perhaps more adverse to nature
and reason than to hold in obedience remote countries and foreign nations, =
in
opposition to their inclination and interest. A torrent of Barbarians may p=
ass
over the earth, but an extensive empire must be supported by a refined syst=
em of
policy and oppression; in the centre, an absolute power, prompt in action a=
nd
rich in resources; a swift and easy communication with the extreme parts;
fortifications to check the first effort of rebellion; a regular administra=
tion
to protect and punish; and a well-disciplined army to inspire fear, without
provoking discontent and despair. Far different was the situation of the Ge=
rman
Cæsars, who were ambitious to enslave the kingdom of Italy. Their
patrimonial estates were stretched along the Rhine, or scattered in the
provinces; but this ample domain was alienated by the imprudence or distres=
s of
successive princes; and their revenue, from minute and vexatious prerogativ=
e,
was scarcely sufficient for the maintenance of their household. Their troops
were formed by the legal or voluntary service of their feudal vassals, who =
passed
the Alps with reluctance, assumed the license of rapine and disorder, and
capriciously deserted before the end of the campaign. Whole armies were swe=
pt
away by the pestilential influence of the climate: the survivors brought ba=
ck
the bones of their princes and nobles, and the effects of their own
intemperance were often imputed to the treachery and malice of the Italians,
who rejoiced at least in the calamities of the Barbarians. This irregular
tyranny might contend on equal terms with the petty tyrants of Italy; nor c=
an
the people, or the reader, be much interested in the event of the quarrel. =
But
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Lombards rekindled the flame of =
industry
and freedom; and the generous example was at length imitated by the republi=
cs
of Tuscany. In the Italian cities a municipal government had never been tot=
ally
abolished; and their first privileges were granted by the favor and policy =
of
the emperors, who were desirous of erecting a plebeian barrier against the
independence of the nobles. But their rapid progress, the daily extension of
their power and pretensions, were founded on the numbers and spirit of thes=
e rising
communities. Each city filled the measure of her diocese or district: the
jurisdiction of the counts and bishops, of the marquises and counts, was
banished from the land; and the proudest nobles were persuaded or compelled=
to
desert their solitary castles, and to embrace the more honorable character =
of
freemen and magistrates. The legislative authority was inherent in the gene=
ral
assembly; but the executive powers were intrusted to three consuls, annually
chosen from the three orders of captains, valvassors, and commons, into whi=
ch
the republic was divided. Under the protection of equal law, the labors of
agriculture and commerce were gradually revived; but the martial spirit of =
the Lombards
was nourished by the presence of danger; and as often as the bell was rung,=
or
the standard erected, the gates of the city poured forth a numerous and
intrepid band, whose zeal in their own cause was soon guided by the use and
discipline of arms. At the foot of these popular ramparts, the pride of the
Cæsars was overthrown; and the invincible genius of liberty prevailed
over the two Frederics, the greatest princes of the middle age; the first,
superior perhaps in military prowess; the second, who undoubtedly excelled =
in
the softer accomplishments of peace and learning.
Ambitious of restoring the splendor of the pur=
ple,
Frederic the First invaded the republics of Lombardy, with the arts of a
statesman, the valor of a soldier, and the cruelty of a tyrant. The recent
discovery of the Pandects had renewed a science most favorable to despotism;
and his venal advocates proclaimed the emperor the absolute master of the l=
ives
and properties of his subjects. His royal prerogatives, in a less odious se=
nse,
were acknowledged in the diet of Roncaglia; and the revenue of Italy was fi=
xed
at thirty thousand pounds of silver, which were multiplied to an indefinite
demand by the rapine of the fiscal officers. The obstinate cities were redu=
ced
by the terror or the force of his arms: his captives were delivered to the
executioner, or shot from his military engines; and after the siege and
surrender of Milan, the buildings of that stately capital were razed to the
ground, three hundred hostages were sent into Germany, and the inhabitants =
were
dispersed in four villages, under the yoke of the inflexible conqueror. But
Milan soon rose from her ashes; and the league of Lombardy was cemented by
distress: their cause was espoused by Venice, Pope Alexander the Third, and=
the
Greek emperor: the fabric of oppression was overturned in a day; and in the
treaty of Constance, Frederic subscribed, with some reservations, the freed=
om
of four-and-twenty cities. His grandson contended with their vigor and
maturity; but Frederic the Second was endowed with some personal and peculi=
ar advantages.
His birth and education recommended him to the Italians; and in the implaca=
ble
discord of the two factions, the Ghibelins were attached to the emperor, wh=
ile
the Guelfs displayed the banner of liberty and the church. The court of Rome
had slumbered, when his father Henry the Sixth was permitted to unite with =
the
empire the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily; and from these hereditary realms =
the
son derived an ample and ready supply of troops and treasure. Yet Frederic =
the
Second was finally oppressed by the arms of the Lombards and the thunders o=
f the
Vatican: his kingdom was given to a stranger, and the last of his family was
beheaded at Naples on a public scaffold. During sixty years, no emperor
appeared in Italy, and the name was remembered only by the ignominious sale=
of the
last relics of sovereignty.
The Barbarian conquerors of the West were plea=
sed
to decorate their chief with the title of emperor; but it was not their des=
ign
to invest him with the despotism of Constantine and Justinian. The persons =
of
the Germans were free, their conquests were their own, and their national
character was animated by a spirit which scorned the servile jurisprudence =
of
the new or the ancient Rome. It would have been a vain and dangerous attemp=
t to
impose a monarch on the armed freemen, who were impatient of a magistrate; =
on
the bold, who refused to obey; on the powerful, who aspired to command. The
empire of Charlemagne and Otho was distributed among the dukes of the natio=
ns
or provinces, the counts of the smaller districts, and the margraves of the
marches or frontiers, who all united the civil and military authority as it=
had
been delegated to the lieutenants of the first Cæsars. The Roman
governors, who, for the most part, were soldiers of fortune, seduced their
mercenary legions, assumed the Imperial purple, and either failed or succee=
ded
in their revolt, without wounding the power and unity of government. If the=
dukes,
margraves, and counts of Germany, were less audacious in their claims, the
consequences of their success were more lasting and pernicious to the state.
Instead of aiming at the supreme rank, they silently labored to establish a=
nd
appropriate their provincial independence. Their ambition was seconded by t=
he
weight of their estates and vassals, their mutual example and support, the
common interest of the subordinate nobility, the change of princes and
families, the minorities of Otho the Third and Henry the Fourth, the ambiti=
on
of the popes, and the vain pursuit of the fugitive crowns of Italy and Rome=
. All
the attributes of regal and territorial jurisdiction were gradually usurped=
by
the commanders of the provinces; the right of peace and war, of life and de=
ath,
of coinage and taxation, of foreign alliance and domestic economy. Whatever=
had
been seized by violence, was ratified by favor or distress, was granted as =
the
price of a doubtful vote or a voluntary service; whatever had been granted =
to
one could not, without injury, be denied to his successor or equal; and eve=
ry
act of local or temporary possession was insensibly moulded into the
constitution of the Germanic kingdom. In every province, the visible presen=
ce
of the duke or count was interposed between the throne and the nobles; the
subjects of the law became the vassals of a private chief; and the standard
which he received from his sovereign, was often raised against him in the f=
ield.
The temporal power of the clergy was cherished and exalted by the superstit=
ion
or policy of the Carlovingian and Saxon dynasties, who blindly depended on
their moderation and fidelity; and the bishoprics of Germany were made equa=
l in
extent and privilege, superior in wealth and population, to the most ample
states of the military order. As long as the emperors retained the prerogat=
ive
of bestowing on every vacancy these ecclesiastic and secular benefices, the=
ir
cause was maintained by the gratitude or ambition of their friends and
favorites. But in the quarrel of the investitures, they were deprived of th=
eir
influence over the episcopal chapters; the freedom of election was restored,
and the sovereign was reduced, by a solemn mockery, to his first prayers, t=
he recommendation,
once in his reign, to a single prebend in each church. The secular governor=
s,
instead of being recalled at the will of a superior, could be degraded only=
by
the sentence of their peers. In the first age of the monarchy, the appointm=
ent
of the son to the duchy or county of his father, was solicited as a favor; =
it
was gradually obtained as a custom, and extorted as a right: the lineal
succession was often extended to the collateral or female branches; the sta=
tes
of the empire (their popular, and at length their legal, appellation) were =
divided
and alienated by testament and sale; and all idea of a public trust was los=
t in
that of a private and perpetual inheritance. The emperor could not even be
enriched by the casualties of forfeiture and extinction: within the term of=
a
year, he was obliged to dispose of the vacant fief; and, in the choice of t=
he
candidate, it was his duty to consult either the general or the provincial =
diet.
After the death of Frederic the Second, Germany
was left a monster with a hundred heads. A crowd of princes and prelates
disputed the ruins of the empire: the lords of innumerable castles were less
prone to obey, than to imitate, their superiors; and, according to the meas=
ure
of their strength, their incessant hostilities received the names of conque=
st or
robbery. Such anarchy was the inevitable consequence of the laws and manner=
s of
Europe; and the kingdoms of France and Italy were shivered into fragments by
the violence of the same tempest. But the Italian cities and the French vas=
sals
were divided and destroyed, while the union of the Germans has produced, un=
der
the name of an empire, a great system of a federative republic. In the freq=
uent
and at last the perpetual institution of diets, a national spirit was kept
alive, and the powers of a common legislature are still exercised by the th=
ree branches
or colleges of the electors, the princes, and the free and Imperial cities =
of
Germany. I. Seven of the most powerful feudatories were permitted to assume,
with a distinguished name and rank, the exclusive privilege of choosing the
Roman emperor; and these electors were the king of Bohemia, the duke of Sax=
ony,
the margrave of Brandenburgh, the count palatine of the Rhine, and the three
archbishops of Mentz, of Treves, and of Cologne. II. The college of princes=
and
prelates purged themselves of a promiscuous multitude: they reduced to four
representative votes the long series of independent counts, and excluded the
nobles or equestrian order, sixty thousand of whom, as in the Polish diets,=
had
appeared on horseback in the field of election. III. The pride of birth and
dominion, of the sword and the mitre, wisely adopted the commons as the thi=
rd
branch of the legislature, and, in the progress of society, they were
introduced about the same æra into the national assemblies of France
England, and Germany. The Hanseatic League commanded the trade and navigati=
on
of the north: the confederates of the Rhine secured the peace and intercour=
se
of the inland country; the influence of the cities has been adequate to the=
ir
wealth and policy, and their negative still invalidates the acts of the two
superior colleges of electors and princes.
It is in the fourteenth century that we may vi=
ew
in the strongest light the state and contrast of the Roman empire of German=
y,
which no longer held, except on the borders of the Rhine and Danube, a sing=
le
province of Trajan or Constantine. Their unworthy successors were the count=
s of
Hapsburgh, of Nassau, of Luxemburgh, and Schwartzenburgh: the emperor Henry=
the
Seventh procured for his son the crown of Bohemia, and his grandson Charles=
the
Fourth was born among a people strange and barbarous in the estimation of t=
he
Germans themselves. After the excommunication of Lewis of Bavaria, he recei=
ved
the gift or promise of the vacant empire from the Roman pontiffs, who, in t=
he
exile and captivity of Avignon, affected the dominion of the earth. The dea=
th of
his competitors united the electoral college, and Charles was unanimously
saluted king of the Romans, and future emperor; a title which, in the same =
age,
was prostituted to the Cæsars of Germany and Greece. The German emper=
or
was no more than the elective and impotent magistrate of an aristocracy of
princes, who had not left him a village that he might call his own. His best
prerogative was the right of presiding and proposing in the national senate,
which was convened at his summons; and his native kingdom of Bohemia, less
opulent than the adjacent city of Nuremberg, was the firmest seat of his po=
wer
and the richest source of his revenue. The army with which he passed the Al=
ps consisted
of three hundred horse. In the cathedral of St. Ambrose, Charles was crowned
with the iron crown, which tradition ascribed to the Lombard monarchy; but =
he
was admitted only with a peaceful train; the gates of the city were shut up=
on
him; and the king of Italy was held a captive by the arms of the Visconti, =
whom
he confirmed in the sovereignty of Milan. In the Vatican he was again crown=
ed
with the golden crown of the empire; but, in obedience to a secret treaty, =
the
Roman emperor immediately withdrew, without reposing a single night within =
the
walls of Rome. The eloquent Petrarch, whose fancy revived the visionary glo=
ries
of the Capitol, deplores and upbraids the ignominious flight of the Bohemia=
n;
and even his contemporaries could observe, that the sole exercise of his
authority was in the lucrative sale of privileges and titles. The gold of I=
taly
secured the election of his son; but such was the shameful poverty of the R=
oman
emperor, that his person was arrested by a butcher in the streets of Worms,=
and
was detained in the public inn, as a pledge or hostage for the payment of h=
is
expenses.
From this humiliating scene, let us turn to the
apparent majesty of the same Charles in the diets of the empire. The golden
bull, which fixes the Germanic constitution, is promulgated in the style of=
a
sovereign and legislator. A hundred princes bowed before his throne, and
exalted their own dignity by the voluntary honors which they yielded to the=
ir chief
or minister. At the royal banquet, the hereditary great officers, the seven
electors, who in rank and title were equal to kings, performed their solemn=
and
domestic service of the palace. The seals of the triple kingdom were borne =
in
state by the archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, and Treves, the perpetual
arch-chancellors of Germany, Italy, and Arles. The great marshal, on horseb=
ack,
exercised his function with a silver measure of oats, which he emptied on t=
he
ground, and immediately dismounted to regulate the order of the guests The
great steward, the count palatine of the Rhine, place the dishes on the tab=
le.
The great chamberlain, the margrave of Brandenburgh, presented, after the r=
epast,
the golden ewer and basin, to wash. The king of Bohemia, as great cup-beare=
r,
was represented by the emperor's brother, the duke of Luxemburgh and Braban=
t;
and the procession was closed by the great huntsmen, who introduced a boar =
and
a stag, with a loud chorus of horns and hounds. Nor was the supremacy of the
emperor confined to Germany alone: the hereditary monarchs of Europe confes=
sed
the preëminence of his rank and dignity: he was the first of the Chris=
tian
princes, the temporal head of the great republic of the West: to his person=
the
title of majesty was long appropriated; and he disputed with the pope the s=
ublime
prerogative of creating kings and assembling councils. The oracle of the ci=
vil
law, the learned Bartolus, was a pensioner of Charles the Fourth; and his
school resounded with the doctrine, that the Roman emperor was the rightful
sovereign of the earth, from the rising to the setting sun. The contrary
opinion was condemned, not as an error, but as a heresy, since even the gos=
pel
had pronounced, "And there went forth a decree from Cæsar August=
us,
that all the world should be taxed."
If we annihilate the interval of time and space
between Augustus and Charles, strong and striking will be the contrast betw=
een
the two Cæsars; the Bohemian who concealed his weakness under the mas=
k of
ostentation, and the Roman, who disguised his strength under the semblance =
of
modesty. At the head of his victorious legions, in his reign over the sea a=
nd
land, from the Nile and Euphrates to the Atlantic Ocean, Augustus professed
himself the servant of the state and the equal of his fellow-citizens. The
conqueror of Rome and her provinces assumed a popular and legal form of a
censor, a consul, and a tribune. His will was the law of mankind, but in the
declaration of his laws he borrowed the voice of the senate and people; and
from their decrees their master accepted and renewed his temporary commissi=
on
to administer the republic. In his dress, his domestics, his titles, in all=
the
offices of social life, Augustus maintained the character of a private Roma=
n;
and his most artful flatterers respected the secret of his absolute and per=
petual
monarchy.
Description Of A=
rabia
And Its Inhabitants.--Birth, Character, =
And
Doctrine Of Mahomet.--He Preaches At Mecca.-- Flies To
Medina.--Propagates His Religion By The Sword.-- Voluntary Or
Reluctant Submission Of The Arabs.--His Death And
Successors.--The Claims And Fortunes Of All And His Descendants.
After pursuing above six hundred years the
fleeting Cæsars of Constantinople and Germany, I now descend, in the
reign of Heraclius, on the eastern borders of the Greek monarchy. While the
state was exhausted by the Persian war, and the church was distracted by the
Nestorian and Monophysite sects, Mahomet, with the sword in one hand and the
Koran in the other, erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and of
Rome. The genius of the Arabian prophet, the manners of his nation, and the=
spirit
of his religion, involve the causes of the decline and fall of the Eastern
empire; and our eyes are curiously intent on one of the most memorable
revolutions, which have impressed a new and lasting character on the nation=
s of
the globe.
In the vacant space between Persia, Syria, Egy=
pt,
and Æthiopia, the Arabian peninsula may be conceived as a triangle of
spacious but irregular dimensions. From the northern point of Beles on the
Euphrates, a line of fifteen hundred miles is terminated by the Straits of =
Bebelmandel
and the land of frankincense. About half this length may be allowed for the
middle breadth, from east to west, from Bassora to Suez, from the Persian G=
ulf
to the Red Sea. The sides of the triangle are gradually enlarged, and the
southern basis presents a front of a thousand miles to the Indian Ocean. The
entire surface of the peninsula exceeds in a fourfold proportion that of
Germany or France; but the far greater part has been justly stigmatized with
the epithets of the stony and the sandy. Even the wilds of Tartary are deck=
ed,
by the hand of nature, with lofty trees and luxuriant herbage; and the lone=
some
traveller derives a sort of comfort and society from the presence of vegeta=
ble
life. But in the dreary waste of Arabia, a boundless level of sand is
intersected by sharp and naked mountains; and the face of the desert, witho=
ut
shade or shelter, is scorched by the direct and intense rays of a tropical =
sun.
Instead of refreshing breezes, the winds, particularly from the south-west,
diffuse a noxious and even deadly vapor; the hillocks of sand which they
alternately raise and scatter, are compared to the billows of the ocean, and
whole caravans, whole armies, have been lost and buried in the whirlwind. T=
he
common benefits of water are an object of desire and contest; and such is t=
he
scarcity of wood, that some art is requisite to preserve and propagate the =
element
of fire. Arabia is destitute of navigable rivers, which fertilize the soil,=
and
convey its produce to the adjacent regions: the torrents that fall from the
hills are imbibed by the thirsty earth: the rare and hardy plants, the tama=
rind
or the acacia, that strike their roots into the clefts of the rocks, are
nourished by the dews of the night: a scanty supply of rain is collected in
cisterns and aqueducts: the wells and springs are the secret treasure of the
desert; and the pilgrim of Mecca, after many a dry and sultry march, is
disgusted by the taste of the waters which have rolled over a bed of sulphu=
r or
salt. Such is the general and genuine picture of the climate of Arabia. The
experience of evil enhances the value of any local or partial enjoyments. A
shady grove, a green pasture, a stream of fresh water, are sufficient to
attract a colony of sedentary Arabs to the fortunate spots which can afford
food and refreshment to themselves and their cattle, and which encourage th=
eir
industry in the cultivation of the palmtree and the vine. The high lands th=
at
border on the Indian Ocean are distinguished by their superior plenty of wo=
od
and water; the air is more temperate, the fruits are more delicious, the
animals and the human race more numerous: the fertility of the soil invites=
and
rewards the toil of the husbandman; and the peculiar gifts of frankincense =
and coffee
have attracted in different ages the merchants of the world. If it be compa=
red
with the rest of the peninsula, this sequestered region may truly deserve t=
he
appellation of the happy; and the splendid coloring of fancy and fiction has
been suggested by contrast, and countenanced by distance. It was for this
earthly paradise that Nature had reserved her choicest favors and her most
curious workmanship: the incompatible blessings of luxury and innocence were
ascribed to the natives: the soil was impregnated with gold and gems, and b=
oth
the land and sea were taught to exhale the odors of aromatic sweets. This d=
ivision
of the sandy, the stony, and the happy, so familiar to the Greeks and Latin=
s,
is unknown to the Arabians themselves; and it is singular enough, that a
country, whose language and inhabitants have ever been the same, should
scarcely retain a vestige of its ancient geography. The maritime districts =
of
Bahrein and Oman are opposite to the realm of Persia. The kingdom of Yemen
displays the limits, or at least the situation, of Arabia Felix: the name of
Neged is extended over the inland space; and the birth of Mahomet has
illustrated the province of Hejaz along the coast of the Red Sea.
The measure of population is regulated by the
means of subsistence; and the inhabitants of this vast peninsula might be
outnumbered by the subjects of a fertile and industrious province. Along the
shores of the Persian Gulf, of the ocean, and even of the Red Sea, the
Icthyophagi, or fish eaters, continued to wander in quest of their precario=
us
food. In this primitive and abject state, which ill deserves the name of so=
ciety,
the human brute, without arts or laws, almost without sense or language, is
poorly distinguished from the rest of the animal creation. Generations and =
ages
might roll away in silent oblivion, and the helpless savage was restrained =
from
multiplying his race by the wants and pursuits which confined his existence=
to
the narrow margin of the seacoast. But in an early period of antiquity the
great body of the Arabs had emerged from this scene of misery; and as the n=
aked
wilderness could not maintain a people of hunters, they rose at once to the
more secure and plentiful condition of the pastoral life. The same life is
uniformly pursued by the roving tribes of the desert; and in the portrait of
the modern Bedoweens, we may trace the features of their ancestors, who, in=
the
age of Moses or Mahomet, dwelt under similar tents, and conducted their hor=
ses,
and camels, and sheep, to the same springs and the same pastures. Our toil =
is
lessened, and our wealth is increased, by our dominion over the useful anim=
als;
and the Arabian shepherd had acquired the absolute possession of a faithful
friend and a laborious slave. Arabia, in the opinion of the naturalist, is =
the
genuine and original country of the horse; the climate most propitious, not
indeed to the size, but to the spirit and swiftness, of that generous anima=
l.
The merit of the Barb, the Spanish, and the English breed, is derived from a
mixture of Arabian blood: the Bedoweens preserve, with superstitious care, =
the
honors and the memory of the purest race: the males are sold at a high pric=
e,
but the females are seldom alienated; and the birth of a noble foal was
esteemed among the tribes, as a subject of joy and mutual congratulation. T=
hese
horses are educated in the tents, among the children of the Arabs, with a t=
ender
familiarity, which trains them in the habits of gentleness and attachment. =
They
are accustomed only to walk and to gallop: their sensations are not blunted=
by
the incessant abuse of the spur and the whip: their powers are reserved for=
the
moments of flight and pursuit: but no sooner do they feel the touch of the =
hand
or the stirrup, than they dart away with the swiftness of the wind; and if
their friend be dismounted in the rapid career, they instantly stop till he=
has
recovered his seat. In the sands of Africa and Arabia, the camel is a sacred
and precious gift. That strong and patient beast of burden can perform, wit=
hout
eating or drinking, a journey of several days; and a reservoir of fresh wat=
er
is preserved in a large bag, a fifth stomach of the animal, whose body is
imprinted with the marks of servitude: the larger breed is capable of
transporting a weight of a thousand pounds; and the dromedary, of a lighter=
and
more active frame, outstrips the fleetest courser in the race. Alive or dea=
d,
almost every part of the camel is serviceable to man: her milk is plentiful=
and
nutritious: the young and tender flesh has the taste of veal: a valuable sa=
lt
is extracted from the urine: the dung supplies the deficiency of fuel; and =
the
long hair, which falls each year and is renewed, is coarsely manufactured i=
nto
the garments, the furniture, and the tents of the Bedoweens. In the rainy
seasons, they consume the rare and insufficient herbage of the desert: duri=
ng
the heats of summer and the scarcity of winter, they remove their encampmen=
ts
to the sea-coast, the hills of Yemen, or the neighborhood of the Euphrates,=
and
have often extorted the dangerous license of visiting the banks of the Nile=
, and
the villages of Syria and Palestine. The life of a wandering Arab is a life=
of danger
and distress; and though sometimes, by rapine or exchange, he may appropria=
te
the fruits of industry, a private citizen in Europe is in the possession of
more solid and pleasing luxury than the proudest emir, who marches in the f=
ield
at the head of ten thousand horse.
Yet an essential difference may be found betwe=
en
the hordes of Scythia and the Arabian tribes; since many of the latter were
collected into towns, and employed in the labors of trade and agriculture. A
part of their time and industry was still devoted to the management of thei=
r cattle:
they mingled, in peace and war, with their brethren of the desert; and the
Bedoweens derived from their useful intercourse some supply of their wants,=
and
some rudiments of art and knowledge. Among the forty-two cities of Arabia,
enumerated by Abulfeda, the most ancient and populous were situate in the h=
appy
Yemen: the towers of Saana, and the marvellous reservoir of Merab, were
constructed by the kings of the Homerites; but their profane lustre was
eclipsed by the prophetic glories of Medina and Mecca, near the Red Sea, an=
d at
the distance from each other of two hundred and seventy miles. The last of
these holy places was known to the Greeks under the name of Macoraba; and t=
he termination
of the word is expressive of its greatness, which has not, indeed, in the m=
ost
flourishing period, exceeded the size and populousness of Marseilles. Some
latent motive, perhaps of superstition, must have impelled the founders, in=
the
choice of a most unpromising situation. They erected their habitations of m=
ud
or stone, in a plain about two miles long and one mile broad, at the foot of
three barren mountains: the soil is a rock; the water even of the holy well=
of
Zemzem is bitter or brackish; the pastures are remote from the city; and gr=
apes
are transported above seventy miles from the gardens of Tayef. The fame and
spirit of the Koreishites, who reigned in Mecca, were conspicuous among the=
Arabian
tribes; but their ungrateful soil refused the labors of agriculture, and th=
eir
position was favorable to the enterprises of trade. By the seaport of Gedda=
, at
the distance only of forty miles, they maintained an easy correspondence wi=
th
Abyssinia; and that Christian kingdom afforded the first refuge to the
disciples of Mahomet. The treasures of Africa were conveyed over the Penins=
ula
to Gerrha or Katif, in the province of Bahrein, a city built, as it is said=
, of
rock-salt, by the Chaldæan exiles; and from thence with the native pe=
arls
of the Persian Gulf, they were floated on rafts to the mouth of the Euphrat=
es.
Mecca is placed almost at an equal distance, a month's journey, between Yem=
en
on the right, and Syria on the left hand. The former was the winter, the la=
tter
the summer, station of her caravans; and their seasonable arrival relieved =
the
ships of India from the tedious and troublesome navigation of the Red Sea. =
In
the markets of Saana and Merab, in the harbors of Oman and Aden, the camels=
of
the Koreishites were laden with a precious cargo of aromatics; a supply of =
corn
and manufactures was purchased in the fairs of Bostra and Damascus; the
lucrative exchange diffused plenty and riches in the streets of Mecca; and =
the
noblest of her sons united the love of arms with the profession of merchand=
ise.
The perpetual independence of the Arabs has be=
en
the theme of praise among strangers and natives; and the arts of controversy
transform this singular event into a prophecy and a miracle, in favor of th=
e posterity
of Ismael. Some exceptions, that can neither be dismissed nor eluded, render
this mode of reasoning as indiscreet as it is superfluous; the kingdom of Y=
emen
has been successively subdued by the Abyssinians, the Persians, the sultans=
of
Egypt, and the Turks; the holy cities of Mecca and Medina have repeatedly b=
owed
under a Scythian tyrant; and the Roman province of Arabia embraced the pecu=
liar
wilderness in which Ismael and his sons must have pitched their tents in the
face of their brethren. Yet these exceptions are temporary or local; the bo=
dy
of the nation has escaped the yoke of the most powerful monarchies: the arm=
s of
Sesostris and Cyrus, of Pompey and Trajan, could never achieve the conquest=
of Arabia;
the present sovereign of the Turks may exercise a shadow of jurisdiction, b=
ut
his pride is reduced to solicit the friendship of a people, whom it is
dangerous to provoke, and fruitless to attack. The obvious causes of their
freedom are inscribed on the character and country of the Arabs. Many ages
before Mahomet, their intrepid valor had been severely felt by their neighb=
ors
in offensive and defensive war. The patient and active virtues of a soldier=
are
insensibly nursed in the habits and discipline of a pastoral life. The care=
of
the sheep and camels is abandoned to the women of the tribe; but the martial
youth, under the banner of the emir, is ever on horseback, and in the field=
, to
practise the exercise of the bow, the javelin, and the cimeter. The long me=
mory
of their independence is the firmest pledge of its perpetuity and succeeding
generations are animated to prove their descent, and to maintain their
inheritance. Their domestic feuds are suspended on the approach of a common
enemy; and in their last hostilities against the Turks, the caravan of Mecca
was attacked and pillaged by fourscore thousand of the confederates. When t=
hey
advance to battle, the hope of victory is in the front; in the rear, the
assurance of a retreat. Their horses and camels, who, in eight or ten days,=
can
perform a march of four or five hundred miles, disappear before the conquer=
or;
the secret waters of the desert elude his search, and his victorious troops=
are
consumed with thirst, hunger, and fatigue, in the pursuit of an invisible f=
oe,
who scorns his efforts, and safely reposes in the heart of the burning
solitude. The arms and deserts of the Bedoweens are not only the safeguards=
of
their own freedom, but the barriers also of the happy Arabia, whose
inhabitants, remote from war, are enervated by the luxury of the soil and
climate. The legions of Augustus melted away in disease and lassitude; and =
it
is only by a naval power that the reduction of Yemen has been successfully
attempted. When Mahomet erected his holy standard, that kingdom was a provi=
nce
of the Persian empire; yet seven princes of the Homerites still reigned in =
the
mountains; and the vicegerent of Chosroes was tempted to forget his distant
country and his unfortunate master. The historians of the age of Justinian
represent the state of the independent Arabs, who were divided by interest =
or affection
in the long quarrel of the East: the tribe of Gassan was allowed to encamp =
on
the Syrian territory: the princes of Hira were permitted to form a city abo=
ut
forty miles to the southward of the ruins of Babylon. Their service in the
field was speedy and vigorous; but their friendship was venal, their faith
inconstant, their enmity capricious: it was an easier task to excite than to
disarm these roving barbarians; and, in the familiar intercourse of war, th=
ey
learned to see, and to despise, the splendid weakness both of Rome and of
Persia. From Mecca to the Euphrates, the Arabian tribes were confounded by =
the Greeks
and Latins, under the general appellation of Saracens, a name which every
Christian mouth has been taught to pronounce with terror and abhorrence.
The slaves of domestic tyranny may vainly exul=
t in
their national independence: but the Arab is personally free; and he enjoys=
, in
some degree, the benefits of society, without forfeiting the prerogatives of
nature. In every tribe, superstition, or gratitude, or fortune, has exalted=
a
particular family above the heads of their equals. The dignities of sheick =
and
emir invariably descend in this chosen race; but the order of succession is
loose and precarious; and the most worthy or aged of the noble kinsmen are
preferred to the simple, though important, office of composing disputes by
their advice, and guiding valor by their example. Even a female of sense and
spirit has been permitted to command the countrymen of Zenobia. The momenta=
ry
junction of several tribes produces an army: their more lasting union
constitutes a nation; and the supreme chief, the emir of emirs, whose banne=
r is
displayed at their head, may deserve, in the eyes of strangers, the honors =
of
the kingly name. If the Arabian princes abuse their power, they are quickly=
punished
by the desertion of their subjects, who had been accustomed to a mild and
parental jurisdiction. Their spirit is free, their steps are unconfined, the
desert is open, and the tribes and families are held together by a mutual a=
nd
voluntary compact. The softer natives of Yemen supported the pomp and majes=
ty
of a monarch; but if he could not leave his palace without endangering his
life, the active powers of government must have been devolved on his nobles=
and
magistrates. The cities of Mecca and Medina present, in the heart of Asia, =
the
form, or rather the substance, of a commonwealth. The grandfather of Mahome=
t,
and his lineal ancestors, appear in foreign and domestic transactions as the
princes of their country; but they reigned, like Pericles at Athens, or the=
Medici
at Florence, by the opinion of their wisdom and integrity; their influence =
was
divided with their patrimony; and the sceptre was transferred from the uncl=
es
of the prophet to a younger branch of the tribe of Koreish. On solemn occas=
ions
they convened the assembly of the people; and, since mankind must be either
compelled or persuaded to obey, the use and reputation of oratory among the
ancient Arabs is the clearest evidence of public freedom. But their simple
freedom was of a very different cast from the nice and artificial machinery=
of
the Greek and Roman republics, in which each member possessed an undivided
share of the civil and political rights of the community. In the more simpl=
e state
of the Arabs, the nation is free, because each of her sons disdains a base
submission to the will of a master. His breast is fortified by the austere
virtues of courage, patience, and sobriety; the love of independence prompts
him to exercise the habits of self-command; and the fear of dishonor guards=
him
from the meaner apprehension of pain, of danger, and of death. The gravity =
and
firmness of the mind is conspicuous in his outward demeanor; his speech is =
low,
weighty, and concise; he is seldom provoked to laughter; his only gesture is
that of stroking his beard, the venerable symbol of manhood; and the sense =
of his
own importance teaches him to accost his equals without levity, and his
superiors without awe. The liberty of the Saracens survived their conquests:
the first caliphs indulged the bold and familiar language of their subjects;
they ascended the pulpit to persuade and edify the congregation; nor was it
before the seat of empire was removed to the Tigris, that the Abbasides ado=
pted
the proud and pompous ceremonial of the Persian and Byzantine courts.
In the study of nations and men, we may observe
the causes that render them hostile or friendly to each other, that tend to
narrow or enlarge, to mollify or exasperate, the social character. The
separation of the Arabs from the rest of mankind has accustomed them to
confound the ideas of stranger and enemy; and the poverty of the land has
introduced a maxim of jurisprudence, which they believe and practise to the
present hour. They pretend, that, in the division of the earth, the rich an=
d fertile
climates were assigned to the other branches of the human family; and that =
the
posterity of the outlaw Ismael might recover, by fraud or force, the portio=
n of
inheritance of which he had been unjustly deprived. According to the remark=
of
Pliny, the Arabian tribes are equally addicted to theft and merchandise; the
caravans that traverse the desert are ransomed or pillaged; and their
neighbors, since the remote times of Job and Sesostris, have been the victi=
ms
of their rapacious spirit. If a Bedoween discovers from afar a solitary tra=
veller,
he rides furiously against him, crying, with a loud voice, "Undress
thyself, thy aunt (my wife) is without a garment." A ready submission
entitles him to mercy; resistance will provoke the aggressor, and his own b=
lood
must expiate the blood which he presumes to shed in legitimate defence. A
single robber, or a few associates, are branded with their genuine name; but
the exploits of a numerous band assume the character of lawful and honorable
war. The temper of a people thus armed against mankind was doubly inflamed =
by
the domestic license of rapine, murder, and revenge. In the constitution of=
Europe,
the right of peace and war is now confined to a small, and the actual exerc=
ise
to a much smaller, list of respectable potentates; but each Arab, with impu=
nity
and renown, might point his javelin against the life of his countrymen. The
union of the nation consisted only in a vague resemblance of language and
manners; and in each community, the jurisdiction of the magistrate was mute=
and
impotent. Of the time of ignorance which preceded Mahomet, seventeen hundred
battles are recorded by tradition: hostility was imbittered with the rancor=
of
civil faction; and the recital, in prose or verse, of an obsolete feud, was
sufficient to rekindle the same passions among the descendants of the hosti=
le
tribes. In private life every man, at least every family, was the judge and=
avenger
of his own cause. The nice sensibility of honor, which weighs the insult ra=
ther
than the injury, sheds its deadly venom on the quarrels of the Arabs: the h=
onor
of their women, and of their beards, is most easily wounded; an indecent ac=
tion,
a contemptuous word, can be expiated only by the blood of the offender; and
such is their patient inveteracy, that they expect whole months and years t=
he
opportunity of revenge. A fine or compensation for murder is familiar to the
Barbarians of every age: but in Arabia the kinsmen of the dead are at liber=
ty
to accept the atonement, or to exercise with their own hands the law of ret=
aliation.
The refined malice of the Arabs refuses even the head of the murderer,
substitutes an innocent for the guilty person, and transfers the penalty to=
the
best and most considerable of the race by whom they have been injured. If he
falls by their hands, they are exposed, in their turn, to the danger of
reprisals, the interest and principal of the bloody debt are accumulated: t=
he
individuals of either family lead a life of malice and suspicion, and fifty
years may sometimes elapse before the account of vengeance be finally settl=
ed. This
sanguinary spirit, ignorant of pity or forgiveness, has been moderated,
however, by the maxims of honor, which require in every private encounter s=
ome
decent equality of age and strength, of numbers and weapons. An annual fest=
ival
of two, perhaps of four, months, was observed by the Arabs before the time =
of
Mahomet, during which their swords were religiously sheathed both in foreign
and domestic hostility; and this partial truce is more strongly expressive =
of
the habits of anarchy and warfare.
But the spirit of rapine and revenge was
attempered by the milder influence of trade and literature. The solitary
peninsula is encompassed by the most civilized nations of the ancient world;
the merchant is the friend of mankind; and the annual caravans imported the
first seeds of knowledge and politeness into the cities, and even the camps=
of
the desert. Whatever may be the pedigree of the Arabs, their language is de=
rived
from the same original stock with the Hebrew, the Syriac, and the
Chaldæan tongues; the independence of the tribes was marked by their =
peculiar
dialects; but each, after their own, allowed a just preference to the pure =
and
perspicuous idiom of Mecca. In Arabia, as well as in Greece, the perfection=
of
language outstripped the refinement of manners; and her speech could divers=
ify
the fourscore names of honey, the two hundred of a serpent, the five hundre=
d of
a lion, the thousand of a sword, at a time when this copious dictionary was
intrusted to the memory of an illiterate people. The monuments of the Homer=
ites
were inscribed with an obsolete and mysterious character; but the Cufic let=
ters,
the groundwork of the present alphabet, were invented on the banks of the
Euphrates; and the recent invention was taught at Mecca by a stranger who
settled in that city after the birth of Mahomet. The arts of grammar, of me=
tre,
and of rhetoric, were unknown to the freeborn eloquence of the Arabians; but
their penetration was sharp, their fancy luxuriant, their wit strong and
sententious, and their more elaborate compositions were addressed with ener=
gy
and effect to the minds of their hearers. The genius and merit of a rising =
poet
was celebrated by the applause of his own and the kindred tribes. A solemn
banquet was prepared, and a chorus of women, striking their tymbals, and
displaying the pomp of their nuptials, sung in the presence of their sons a=
nd husbands
the felicity of their native tribe; that a champion had now appeared to
vindicate their rights; that a herald had raised his voice to immortalize t=
heir
renown. The distant or hostile tribes resorted to an annual fair, which was
abolished by the fanaticism of the first Moslems; a national assembly that =
must
have contributed to refine and harmonize the Barbarians. Thirty days were
employed in the exchange, not only of corn and wine, but of eloquence and
poetry. The prize was disputed by the generous emulation of the bards; the
victorious performance was deposited in the archives of princes and emirs; =
and we
may read in our own language, the seven original poems which were inscribed=
in
letters of gold, and suspended in the temple of Mecca. The Arabian poets we=
re
the historians and moralists of the age; and if they sympathized with the
prejudices, they inspired and crowned the virtues, of their countrymen. The
indissoluble union of generosity and valor was the darling theme of their s=
ong;
and when they pointed their keenest satire against a despicable race, they
affirmed, in the bitterness of reproach, that the men knew not how to give,=
nor
the women to deny. The same hospitality, which was practised by Abraham, and
celebrated by Homer, is still renewed in the camps of the Arabs. The feroci=
ous Bedoweens,
the terror of the desert, embrace, without inquiry or hesitation, the stran=
ger
who dares to confide in their honor and to enter their tent. His treatment =
is
kind and respectful: he shares the wealth, or the poverty, of his host; and,
after a needful repose, he is dismissed on his way, with thanks, with
blessings, and perhaps with gifts. The heart and hand are more largely expa=
nded
by the wants of a brother or a friend; but the heroic acts that could deser=
ve
the public applause, must have surpassed the narrow measure of discretion a=
nd experience.
A dispute had arisen, who, among the citizens of Mecca, was entitled to the
prize of generosity; and a successive application was made to the three who
were deemed most worthy of the trial. Abdallah, the son of Abbas, had
undertaken a distant journey, and his foot was in the stirrup when he heard=
the
voice of a suppliant, "O son of the uncle of the apostle of God, I am a
traveller, and in distress!" He instantly dismounted to present the
pilgrim with his camel, her rich caparison, and a purse of four thousand pi=
eces
of gold, excepting only the sword, either for its intrinsic value, or as the
gift of an honored kinsman. The servant of Kais informed the second supplia=
nt
that his master was asleep: but he immediately added, "Here is a purse=
of
seven thousand pieces of gold, (it is all we have in the house,) and here i=
s an
order, that will entitle you to a camel and a slave;" the master, as s=
oon
as he awoke, praised and enfranchised his faithful steward, with a gentle r=
eproof,
that by respecting his slumbers he had stinted his bounty. The third of the=
se
heroes, the blind Arabah, at the hour of prayer, was supporting his steps on
the shoulders of two slaves. "Alas!" he replied, "my coffers=
are
empty! but these you may sell; if you refuse, I renounce them." At the=
se
words, pushing away the youths, he groped along the wall with his staff. The
character of Hatem is the perfect model of Arabian virtue: he was brave and
liberal, an eloquent poet, and a successful robber; forty camels were roast=
ed
at his hospitable feast; and at the prayer of a suppliant enemy he restored
both the captives and the spoil. The freedom of his countrymen disdained the
laws of justice; they proudly indulged the spontaneous impulse of pity and
benevolence.
The religion of the Arabs, as well as of the
Indians, consisted in the worship of the sun, the moon, and the fixed stars=
; a
primitive and specious mode of superstition. The bright luminaries of the s=
ky
display the visible image of a Deity: their number and distance convey to a=
philosophic,
or even a vulgar, eye, the idea of boundless space: the character of eterni=
ty
is marked on these solid globes, that seem incapable of corruption or decay:
the regularity of their motions may be ascribed to a principle of reason or
instinct; and their real, or imaginary, influence encourages the vain belief
that the earth and its inhabitants are the object of their peculiar care. T=
he
science of astronomy was cultivated at Babylon; but the school of the Arabs=
was
a clear firmament and a naked plain. In their nocturnal marches, they steer=
ed
by the guidance of the stars: their names, and order, and daily station, we=
re
familiar to the curiosity and devotion of the Bedoween; and he was taught by
experience to divide, in twenty-eight parts, the zodiac of the moon, and to
bless the constellations who refreshed, with salutary rains, the thirst of =
the
desert. The reign of the heavenly orbs could not be extended beyond the vis=
ible
sphere; and some metaphysical powers were necessary to sustain the
transmigration of souls and the resurrection of bodies: a camel was left to
perish on the grave, that he might serve his master in another life; and the
invocation of departed spirits implies that they were still endowed with
consciousness and power. I am ignorant, and I am careless, of the blind
mythology of the Barbarians; of the local deities, of the stars, the air, a=
nd
the earth, of their sex or titles, their attributes or subordination. Each
tribe, each family, each independent warrior, created and changed the rites=
and
the object of his fantastic worship; but the nation, in every age, has bowe=
d to
the religion, as well as to the language, of Mecca. The genuine antiquity of
the Caaba ascends beyond the Christian æra; in describing the coast of
the Red Sea, the Greek historian Diodorus has remarked, between the Thamudi=
tes
and the Sabæans, a famous temple, whose superior sanctity was revered=
by
all the Arabians; the linen or silken veil, which is annually renewed by the
Turkish emperor, was first offered by a pious king of the Homerites, who
reigned seven hundred years before the time of Mahomet. A tent, or a cavern,
might suffice for the worship of the savages, but an edifice of stone and c=
lay
has been erected in its place; and the art and power of the monarchs of the
East have been confined to the simplicity of the original model. A spacious
portico encloses the quadrangle of the Caaba; a square chapel, twenty-four =
cubits
long, twenty-three broad, and twenty-seven high: a door and a window admit =
the
light; the double roof is supported by three pillars of wood; a spout (now =
of
gold) discharges the rain-water, and the well Zemzen is protected by a dome
from accidental pollution. The tribe of Koreish, by fraud and force, had
acquired the custody of the Caaba: the sacerdotal office devolved through f=
our
lineal descents to the grandfather of Mahomet; and the family of the
Hashemites, from whence he sprung, was the most respectable and sacred in t=
he
eyes of their country. The precincts of Mecca enjoyed the rights of sanctua=
ry;
and, in the last month of each year, the city and the temple were crowded w=
ith a
long train of pilgrims, who presented their vows and offerings in the house=
of
God. The same rites which are now accomplished by the faithful Mussulman, w=
ere
invented and practised by the superstition of the idolaters. At an awful
distance they cast away their garments: seven times, with hasty steps, they
encircled the Caaba, and kissed the black stone: seven times they visited a=
nd
adored the adjacent mountains; seven times they threw stones into the valle=
y of
Mina; and the pilgrimage was achieved, as at the present hour, by a sacrifi=
ce
of sheep and camels, and the burial of their hair and nails in the consecra=
ted
ground. Each tribe either found or introduced in the Caaba their domestic
worship: the temple was adorned, or defiled, with three hundred and sixty i=
dols
of men, eagles, lions, and antelopes; and most conspicuous was the statue of
Hebal, of red agate, holding in his hand seven arrows, without heads or
feathers, the instruments and symbols of profane divination. But this statue
was a monument of Syrian arts: the devotion of the ruder ages was content w=
ith
a pillar or a tablet; and the rocks of the desert were hewn into gods or
altars, in imitation of the black stone of Mecca, which is deeply tainted w=
ith
the reproach of an idolatrous origin. From Japan to Peru, the use of sacrif=
ice
has universally prevailed; and the votary has expressed his gratitude, or f=
ear,
by destroying or consuming, in honor of the gods, the dearest and most prec=
ious
of their gifts. The life of a man is the most precious oblation to deprecat=
e a
public calamity: the altars of Phnicia and Egypt, of Rome and Carthage, hav=
e been
polluted with human gore: the cruel practice was long preserved among the
Arabs; in the third century, a boy was annually sacrificed by the tribe of =
the
Dumatians; and a royal captive was piously slaughtered by the prince of the
Saracens, the ally and soldier of the emperor Justinian. A parent who drags=
his
son to the altar, exhibits the most painful and sublime effort of fanaticis=
m:
the deed, or the intention, was sanctified by the example of saints and her=
oes;
and the father of Mahomet himself was devoted by a rash vow, and hardly
ransomed for the equivalent of a hundred camels. In the time of ignorance, =
the
Arabs, like the Jews and Egyptians, abstained from the taste of swine's fle=
sh; they
circumcised their children at the age of puberty: the same customs, without=
the
censure or the precept of the Koran, have been silently transmitted to their
posterity and proselytes. It has been sagaciously conjectured, that the art=
ful
legislator indulged the stubborn prejudices of his countrymen. It is more
simple to believe that he adhered to the habits and opinions of his youth,
without foreseeing that a practice congenial to the climate of Mecca might
become useless or inconvenient on the banks of the Danube or the Volga.
Arabia was free: the adjacent kingdoms were sh=
aken
by the storms of conquest and tyranny, and the persecuted sects fled to the
happy land where they might profess what they thought, and practise what th=
ey professed.
The religions of the Sabians and Magians, of the Jews and Christians, were
disseminated from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea. In a remote period of
antiquity, Sabianism was diffused over Asia by the science of the
Chaldæans and the arms of the Assyrians. From the observations of two
thousand years, the priests and astronomers of Babylon deduced the eternal =
laws
of nature and providence. They adored the seven gods or angels, who directed
the course of the seven planets, and shed their irresistible influence on t=
he
earth. The attributes of the seven planets, with the twelve signs of the
zodiac, and the twenty-four constellations of the northern and southern
hemisphere, were represented by images and talismans; the seven days of the
week were dedicated to their respective deities; the Sabians prayed thrice =
each
day; and the temple of the moon at Haran was the term of their pilgrimage. =
But
the flexible genius of their faith was always ready either to teach or to
learn: in the tradition of the creation, the deluge, and the patriarchs, th=
ey
held a singular agreement with their Jewish captives; they appealed to the
secret books of Adam, Seth, and Enoch; and a slight infusion of the gospel =
has
transformed the last remnant of the Polytheists into the Christians of St.
John, in the territory of Bassora. The altars of Babylon were overturned by=
the
Magians; but the injuries of the Sabians were revenged by the sword of Alex=
ander;
Persia groaned above five hundred years under a foreign yoke; and the purest
disciples of Zoroaster escaped from the contagion of idolatry, and breathed
with their adversaries the freedom of the desert. Seven hundred years before
the death of Mahomet, the Jews were settled in Arabia; and a far greater
multitude was expelled from the Holy Land in the wars of Titus and Hadrian.=
The
industrious exiles aspired to liberty and power: they erected synagogues in=
the
cities, and castles in the wilderness, and their Gentile converts were
confounded with the children of Israel, whom they resembled in the outward =
mark
of circumcision. The Christian missionaries were still more active and succ=
essful:
the Catholics asserted their universal reign; the sects whom they oppressed,
successively retired beyond the limits of the Roman empire; the Marcionites=
and
Manichæans dispersed their fantastic opinions and apocryphal gospels;=
the
churches of Yemen, and the princes of Hira and Gassan, were instructed in a
purer creed by the Jacobite and Nestorian bishops. The liberty of choice was
presented to the tribes: each Arab was free to elect or to compose his priv=
ate
religion: and the rude superstition of his house was mingled with the subli=
me
theology of saints and philosophers. A fundamental article of faith was
inculcated by the consent of the learned strangers; the existence of one
supreme God who is exalted above the powers of heaven and earth, but who ha=
s often
revealed himself to mankind by the ministry of his angels and prophets, and
whose grace or justice has interrupted, by seasonable miracles, the order of
nature. The most rational of the Arabs acknowledged his power, though they
neglected his worship; and it was habit rather than conviction that still
attached them to the relics of idolatry. The Jews and Christians were the
people of the Book; the Bible was already translated into the Arabic langua=
ge,
and the volume of the Old Testament was accepted by the concord of these
implacable enemies. In the story of the Hebrew patriarchs, the Arabs were
pleased to discover the fathers of their nation. They applauded the birth a=
nd promises
of Ismael; revered the faith and virtue of Abraham; traced his pedigree and
their own to the creation of the first man, and imbibed, with equal creduli=
ty,
the prodigies of the holy text, and the dreams and traditions of the Jewish
rabbis.
The base and plebeian origin of Mahomet is an
unskilful calumny of the Christians, who exalt instead of degrading the mer=
it
of their adversary. His descent from Ismael was a national privilege or fab=
le;
but if the first steps of the pedigree are dark and doubtful, he could prod=
uce
many generations of pure and genuine nobility: he sprung from the tribe of =
Koreish
and the family of Hashem, the most illustrious of the Arabs, the princes of
Mecca, and the hereditary guardians of the Caaba. The grandfather of Mahomet
was Abdol Motalleb, the son of Hashem, a wealthy and generous citizen, who
relieved the distress of famine with the supplies of commerce. Mecca, which=
had
been fed by the liberality of the father, was saved by the courage of the s=
on.
The kingdom of Yemen was subject to the Christian princes of Abyssinia; the=
ir
vassal Abrahah was provoked by an insult to avenge the honor of the cross; =
and
the holy city was invested by a train of elephants and an army of Africans.=
A treaty
was proposed; and, in the first audience, the grandfather of Mahomet demand=
ed
the restitution of his cattle. "And why," said Abrahah, "do =
you
not rather implore my clemency in favor of your temple, which I have threat=
ened
to destroy?" "Because," replied the intrepid chief, "th=
e cattle
is my own; the Caaba belongs to the gods, and they will defend their house =
from
injury and sacrilege." The want of provisions, or the valor of the
Koreish, compelled the Abyssinians to a disgraceful retreat: their discomfi=
ture
has been adorned with a miraculous flight of birds, who showered down stone=
s on
the heads of the infidels; and the deliverance was long commemorated by the
æra of the elephant. The glory of Abdol Motalleb was crowned with
domestic happiness; his life was prolonged to the age of one hundred and ten
years; and he became the father of six daughters and thirteen sons. His best
beloved Abdallah was the most beautiful and modest of the Arabian youth; an=
d in
the first night, when he consummated his marriage with Amina, of the noble =
race
of the Zahrites, two hundred virgins are said to have expired of jealousy a=
nd
despair. Mahomet, or more properly Mohammed, the only son of Abdallah and
Amina, was born at Mecca, four years after the death of Justinian, and two
months after the defeat of the Abyssinians, whose victory would have introd=
uced
into the Caaba the religion of the Christians. In his early infancy, he was
deprived of his father, his mother, and his grandfather; his uncles were st=
rong
and numerous; and, in the division of the inheritance, the orphan's share w=
as
reduced to five camels and an Æthiopian maid-servant. At home and abr=
oad,
in peace and war, Abu Taleb, the most respectable of his uncles, was the gu=
ide and
guardian of his youth; in his twenty-fifth year, he entered into the servic=
e of
Cadijah, a rich and noble widow of Mecca, who soon rewarded his fidelity wi=
th
the gift of her hand and fortune. The marriage contract, in the simple styl=
e of
antiquity, recites the mutual love of Mahomet and Cadijah; describes him as=
the
most accomplished of the tribe of Koreish; and stipulates a dowry of twelve
ounces of gold and twenty camels, which was supplied by the liberality of h=
is
uncle. By this alliance, the son of Abdallah was restored to the station of=
his
ancestors; and the judicious matron was content with his domestic virtues,
till, in the fortieth year of his age, he assumed the title of a prophet, a=
nd
proclaimed the religion of the Koran.
According to the tradition of his companions,
Mahomet was distinguished by the beauty of his person, an outward gift whic=
h is
seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused. Before he spo=
ke,
the orator engaged on his side the affections of a public or private audien=
ce.
They applauded his commanding presence, his majestic aspect, his piercing e=
ye,
his gracious smile, his flowing beard, his countenance that painted every
sensation of the soul, and his gestures that enforced each expression of the
tongue. In the familiar offices of life he scrupulously adhered to the grave
and ceremonious politeness of his country: his respectful attention to the =
rich
and powerful was dignified by his condescension and affability to the poore=
st
citizens of Mecca: the frankness of his manner concealed the artifice of his
views; and the habits of courtesy were imputed to personal friendship or
universal benevolence. His memory was capacious and retentive; his wit easy=
and
social; his imagination sublime; his judgment clear, rapid, and decisive. He
possessed the courage both of thought and action; and, although his designs
might gradually expand with his success, the first idea which he entertaine=
d of
his divine mission bears the stamp of an original and superior genius. The =
son
of Abdallah was educated in the bosom of the noblest race, in the use of the
purest dialect of Arabia; and the fluency of his speech was corrected and
enhanced by the practice of discreet and seasonable silence. With these pow=
ers
of eloquence, Mahomet was an illiterate Barbarian: his youth had never been
instructed in the arts of reading and writing; the common ignorance exempte=
d him
from shame or reproach, but he was reduced to a narrow circle of existence,=
and
deprived of those faithful mirrors, which reflect to our mind the minds of
sages and heroes. Yet the book of nature and of man was open to his view; a=
nd
some fancy has been indulged in the political and philosophical observations
which are ascribed to the Arabian traveller. He compares the nations and the
regions of the earth; discovers the weakness of the Persian and Roman
monarchies; beholds, with pity and indignation, the degeneracy of the times;
and resolves to unite under one God and one king the invincible spirit and
primitive virtues of the Arabs. Our more accurate inquiry will suggest, tha=
t, instead
of visiting the courts, the camps, the temples, of the East, the two journe=
ys
of Mahomet into Syria were confined to the fairs of Bostra and Damascus; th=
at
he was only thirteen years of age when he accompanied the caravan of his un=
cle;
and that his duty compelled him to return as soon as he had disposed of the
merchandise of Cadijah. In these hasty and superficial excursions, the eye =
of
genius might discern some objects invisible to his grosser companions; some
seeds of knowledge might be cast upon a fruitful soil; but his ignorance of=
the
Syriac language must have checked his curiosity; and I cannot perceive, in =
the
life or writings of Mahomet, that his prospect was far extended beyond the =
limits
of the Arabian world. From every region of that solitary world, the pilgrim=
s of
Mecca were annually assembled, by the calls of devotion and commerce: in the
free concourse of multitudes, a simple citizen, in his native tongue, might
study the political state and character of the tribes, the theory and pract=
ice
of the Jews and Christians. Some useful strangers might be tempted, or forc=
ed,
to implore the rights of hospitality; and the enemies of Mahomet have named=
the
Jew, the Persian, and the Syrian monk, whom they accuse of lending their se=
cret
aid to the composition of the Koran. Conversation enriches the understandin=
g,
but solitude is the school of genius; and the uniformity of a work denotes =
the
hand of a single artist. From his earliest youth Mahomet was addicted to
religious contemplation; each year, during the month of Ramadan, he withdrew
from the world, and from the arms of Cadijah: in the cave of Hera, three mi=
les
from Mecca, he consulted the spirit of fraud or enthusiasm, whose abode is =
not
in the heavens, but in the mind of the prophet. The faith which, under the =
name
of Islam, he preached to his family and nation, is compounded of an eternal
truth, and a necessary fiction, That there is only one God, and that Mahome=
t is
the apostle of God.
It is the boast of the Jewish apologists, that
while the learned nations of antiquity were deluded by the fables of polyth=
eism,
their simple ancestors of Palestine preserved the knowledge and worship of =
the
true God. The moral attributes of Jehovah may not easily be reconciled with=
the
standard of human virtue: his metaphysical qualities are darkly expressed; =
but
each page of the Pentateuch and the Prophets is an evidence of his power: t=
he
unity of his name is inscribed on the first table of the law; and his sanct=
uary
was never defiled by any visible image of the invisible essence. After the =
ruin
of the temple, the faith of the Hebrew exiles was purified, fixed, and
enlightened, by the spiritual devotion of the synagogue; and the authority =
of
Mahomet will not justify his perpetual reproach, that the Jews of Mecca or
Medina adored Ezra as the son of God. But the children of Israel had ceased=
to be
a people; and the religions of the world were guilty, at least in the eyes =
of
the prophet, of giving sons, or daughters, or companions, to the supreme Go=
d.
In the rude idolatry of the Arabs, the crime is manifest and audacious: the=
Sabians
are poorly excused by the preëminence of the first planet, or
intelligence, in their celestial hierarchy; and in the Magian system the
conflict of the two principles betrays the imperfection of the conqueror. T=
he
Christians of the seventh century had insensibly relapsed into a semblance =
of
Paganism: their public and private vows were addressed to the relics and im=
ages
that disgraced the temples of the East: the throne of the Almighty was dark=
ened
by a cloud of martyrs, and saints, and angels, the objects of popular
veneration; and the Collyridian heretics, who flourished in the fruitful so=
il
of Arabia, invested the Virgin Mary with the name and honors of a goddess. =
The
mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation appear to contradict the principle=
of
the divine unity. In their obvious sense, they introduce three equal deitie=
s,
and transform the man Jesus into the substance of the Son of God: an orthod=
ox
commentary will satisfy only a believing mind: intemperate curiosity and ze=
al
had torn the veil of the sanctuary; and each of the Oriental sects was eage=
r to
confess that all, except themselves, deserved the reproach of idolatry and
polytheism. The creed of Mahomet is free from suspicion or ambiguity; and t=
he
Koran is a glorious testimony to the unity of God. The prophet of Mecca
rejected the worship of idols and men, of stars and planets, on the rationa=
l principle
that whatever rises must set, that whatever is born must die, that whatever=
is
corruptible must decay and perish. In the Author of the universe, his ratio=
nal
enthusiasm confessed and adored an infinite and eternal being, without form=
or
place, without issue or similitude, present to our most secret thoughts,
existing by the necessity of his own nature, and deriving from himself all
moral and intellectual perfection. These sublime truths, thus announced in =
the
language of the prophet, are firmly held by his disciples, and defined with
metaphysical precision by the interpreters of the Koran. A philosophic thei=
st
might subscribe the popular creed of the Mahometans; a creed too sublime, p=
erhaps,
for our present faculties. What object remains for the fancy, or even the
understanding, when we have abstracted from the unknown substance all ideas=
of
time and space, of motion and matter, of sensation and reflection? The first
principle of reason and revolution was confirmed by the voice of Mahomet: h=
is
proselytes, from India to Morocco, are distinguished by the name of Unitari=
ans;
and the danger of idolatry has been prevented by the interdiction of images.
The doctrine of eternal decrees and absolute predestination is strictly emb=
raced
by the Mahometans; and they struggle, with the common difficulties, how to
reconcile the prescience of God with the freedom and responsibility of man;=
how
to explain the permission of evil under the reign of infinite power and
infinite goodness.
The God of nature has written his existence on=
all
his works, and his law in the heart of man. To restore the knowledge of the
one, and the practice of the other, has been the real or pretended aim of t=
he
prophets of every age: the liberality of Mahomet allowed to his predecessors
the same credit which he claimed for himself; and the chain of inspiration =
was
prolonged from the fall of Adam to the promulgation of the Koran. During th=
at
period, some rays of prophetic light had been imparted to one hundred and
twenty-four thousand of the elect, discriminated by their respective measur=
e of
virtue and grace; three hundred and thirteen apostles were sent with a spec=
ial
commission to recall their country from idolatry and vice; one hundred and =
four
volumes have been dictated by the Holy Spirit; and six legislators of trans=
cendent
brightness have announced to mankind the six successive revelations of vari=
ous
rites, but of one immutable religion. The authority and station of Adam, No=
ah,
Abraham, Moses, Christ, and Mahomet, rise in just gradation above each othe=
r;
but whosoever hates or rejects any one of the prophets is numbered with the
infidels. The writings of the patriarchs were extant only in the apocryphal
copies of the Greeks and Syrians: the conduct of Adam had not entitled him =
to
the gratitude or respect of his children; the seven precepts of Noah were o=
bserved
by an inferior and imperfect class of the proselytes of the synagogue; and =
the
memory of Abraham was obscurely revered by the Sabians in his native land of
Chaldæa: of the myriads of prophets, Moses and Christ alone lived and
reigned; and the remnant of the inspired writings was comprised in the book=
s of
the Old and the New Testament. The miraculous story of Moses is consecrated=
and
embellished in the Koran; and the captive Jews enjoy the secret revenge of
imposing their own belief on the nations whose recent creeds they deride. F=
or
the author of Christianity, the Mahometans are taught by the prophet to ent=
ertain
a high and mysterious reverence. "Verily, Christ Jesus, the son of Mar=
y,
is the apostle of God, and his word, which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spi=
rit
proceeding from him; honorable in this world, and in the world to come, and=
one
of those who approach near to the presence of God." The wonders of the
genuine and apocryphal gospels are profusely heaped on his head; and the La=
tin
church has not disdained to borrow from the Koran the immaculate conception=
of
his virgin mother. Yet Jesus was a mere mortal; and, at the day of judgment,
his testimony will serve to condemn both the Jews, who reject him as a prop=
het,
and the Christians, who adore him as the Son of God. The malice of his enem=
ies aspersed
his reputation, and conspired against his life; but their intention only was
guilty; a phantom or a criminal was substituted on the cross; and the innoc=
ent
saint was translated to the seventh heaven. During six hundred years the go=
spel
was the way of truth and salvation; but the Christians insensibly forgot bo=
th
the laws and example of their founder; and Mahomet was instructed by the
Gnostics to accuse the church, as well as the synagogue, of corrupting the
integrity of the sacred text. The piety of Moses and of Christ rejoiced in =
the
assurance of a future prophet, more illustrious than themselves: the
evangelical promise of the Paraclete, or Holy Ghost, was prefigured in the
name, and accomplished in the person, of Mahomet, the greatest and the last=
of the
apostles of God.
The communication of ideas requires a similitu=
de
of thought and language: the discourse of a philosopher would vibrate witho=
ut
effect on the ear of a peasant; yet how minute is the distance of their und=
erstandings,
if it be compared with the contact of an infinite and a finite mind, with t=
he
word of God expressed by the tongue or the pen of a mortal! The inspiration=
of
the Hebrew prophets, of the apostles and evangelists of Christ, might not be
incompatible with the exercise of their reason and memory; and the diversit=
y of
their genius is strongly marked in the style and composition of the books of
the Old and New Testament. But Mahomet was content with a character, more
humble, yet more sublime, of a simple editor; the substance of the Koran,
according to himself or his disciples, is uncreated and eternal; subsisting=
in
the essence of the Deity, and inscribed with a pen of light on the table of=
his
everlasting decrees. A paper copy, in a volume of silk and gems, was brought
down to the lowest heaven by the angel Gabriel, who, under the Jewish econo=
my,
had indeed been despatched on the most important errands; and this trusty
messenger successively revealed the chapters and verses to the Arabian prop=
het.
Instead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the fragment=
s of
the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each revelation is su=
ited
to the emergencies of his policy or passion; and all contradiction is remov=
ed
by the saving maxim, that any text of Scripture is abrogated or modified by=
any
subsequent passage. The word of God, and of the apostle, was diligently rec=
orded
by his disciples on palm-leaves and the shoulder-bones of mutton; and the
pages, without order or connection, were cast into a domestic chest, in the
custody of one of his wives. Two years after the death of Mahomet, the sacr=
ed
volume was collected and published by his friend and successor Abubeker: the
work was revised by the caliph Othman, in the thirtieth year of the Hegira;=
and
the various editions of the Koran assert the same miraculous privilege of a
uniform and incorruptible text. In the spirit of enthusiasm or vanity, the
prophet rests the truth of his mission on the merit of his book; audaciousl=
y challenges
both men and angels to imitate the beauties of a single page; and presumes =
to
assert that God alone could dictate this incomparable performance. This
argument is most powerfully addressed to a devout Arabian, whose mind is
attuned to faith and rapture; whose ear is delighted by the music of sounds;
and whose ignorance is incapable of comparing the productions of human geni=
us.
The harmony and copiousness of style will not reach, in a version, the Euro=
pean
infidel: he will peruse with impatience the endless incoherent rhapsody of
fable, and precept, and declamation, which seldom excites a sentiment or an
idea, which sometimes crawls in the dust, and is sometimes lost in the clou=
ds. The
divine attributes exalt the fancy of the Arabian missionary; but his loftie=
st
strains must yield to the sublime simplicity of the book of Job, composed i=
n a
remote age, in the same country, and in the same language. If the compositi=
on
of the Koran exceed the faculties of a man to what superior intelligence sh=
ould
we ascribe the Iliad of Homer, or the Philippics of Demosthenes? In all
religions, the life of the founder supplies the silence of his written
revelation: the sayings of Mahomet were so many lessons of truth; his actio=
ns
so many examples of virtue; and the public and private memorials were prese=
rved
by his wives and companions. At the end of two hundred years, the Sonna, or
oral law, was fixed and consecrated by the labors of Al Bochari, who
discriminated seven thousand two hundred and seventy-five genuine tradition=
s,
from a mass of three hundred thousand reports, of a more doubtful or spurio=
us character.
Each day the pious author prayed in the temple of Mecca, and performed his
ablutions with the water of Zemzem: the pages were successively deposited on
the pulpit and the sepulchre of the apostle; and the work has been approved=
by
the four orthodox sects of the Sonnites.
The mission of the ancient prophets, of Moses =
and
of Jesus had been confirmed by many splendid prodigies; and Mahomet was
repeatedly urged, by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a simi=
lar
evidence of his divine legation; to call down from heaven the angel or the
volume of his revelation, to create a garden in the desert, or to kindle a =
conflagration
in the unbelieving city. As often as he is pressed by the demands of the
Koreish, he involves himself in the obscure boast of vision and prophecy,
appeals to the internal proofs of his doctrine, and shields himself behind =
the
providence of God, who refuses those signs and wonders that would depreciate
the merit of faith, and aggravate the guilt of infidelity But the modest or
angry tone of his apologies betrays his weakness and vexation; and these
passages of scandal established, beyond suspicion, the integrity of the Kor=
an.
The votaries of Mahomet are more assured than himself of his miraculous gif=
ts;
and their confidence and credulity increase as they are farther removed fro=
m the
time and place of his spiritual exploits. They believe or affirm that trees
went forth to meet him; that he was saluted by stones; that water gushed fr=
om
his fingers; that he fed the hungry, cured the sick, and raised the dead; t=
hat
a beam groaned to him; that a camel complained to him; that a shoulder of
mutton informed him of its being poisoned; and that both animate and inanim=
ate
nature were equally subject to the apostle of God. His dream of a nocturnal
journey is seriously described as a real and corporeal transaction. A
mysterious animal, the Borak, conveyed him from the temple of Mecca to that=
of
Jerusalem: with his companion Gabriel he successively ascended the seven
heavens, and received and repaid the salutations of the patriarchs, the
prophets, and the angels, in their respective mansions. Beyond the seventh
heaven, Mahomet alone was permitted to proceed; he passed the veil of unity=
, approached
within two bow-shots of the throne, and felt a cold that pierced him to the
heart, when his shoulder was touched by the hand of God. After this familia=
r,
though important conversation, he again descended to Jerusalem, remounted t=
he
Borak, returned to Mecca, and performed in the tenth part of a night the
journey of many thousand years. According to another legend, the apostle
confounded in a national assembly the malicious challenge of the Koreish. H=
is
resistless word split asunder the orb of the moon: the obedient planet stoo=
ped
from her station in the sky, accomplished the seven revolutions round the
Caaba, saluted Mahomet in the Arabian tongue, and, suddenly contracting her=
dimensions,
entered at the collar, and issued forth through the sleeve, of his shirt. T=
he
vulgar are amused with these marvellous tales; but the gravest of the Mussu=
lman
doctors imitate the modesty of their master, and indulge a latitude of fait=
h or
interpretation. They might speciously allege, that in preaching the religio=
n it
was needless to violate the harmony of nature; that a creed unclouded with
mystery may be excused from miracles; and that the sword of Mahomet was not
less potent than the rod of Moses.
The polytheist is oppressed and distracted by =
the
variety of superstition: a thousand rites of Egyptian origin were interwove=
n with
the essence of the Mosaic law; and the spirit of the gospel had evaporated =
in
the pageantry of the church. The prophet of Mecca was tempted by prejudice,=
or
policy, or patriotism, to sanctify the rites of the Arabians, and the custo=
m of
visiting the holy stone of the Caaba. But the precepts of Mahomet himself
inculcates a more simple and rational piety: prayer, fasting, and alms, are=
the
religious duties of a Mussulman; and he is encouraged to hope, that prayer =
will
carry him half way to God, fasting will bring him to the door of his palace,
and alms will gain him admittance. I. According to the tradition of the
nocturnal journey, the apostle, in his personal conference with the Deity, =
was commanded
to impose on his disciples the daily obligation of fifty prayers. By the ad=
vice
of Moses, he applied for an alleviation of this intolerable burden; the num=
ber
was gradually reduced to five; without any dispensation of business or
pleasure, or time or place: the devotion of the faithful is repeated at
daybreak, at noon, in the afternoon, in the evening, and at the first watch=
of
the night; and in the present decay of religious fervor, our travellers are
edified by the profound humility and attention of the Turks and Persians.
Cleanliness is the key of prayer: the frequent lustration of the hands, the
face, and the body, which was practised of old by the Arabs, is solemnly
enjoined by the Koran; and a permission is formally granted to supply with =
sand
the scarcity of water. The words and attitudes of supplication, as it is pe=
rformed
either sitting, or standing, or prostrate on the ground, are prescribed by
custom or authority; but the prayer is poured forth in short and fervent
ejaculations; the measure of zeal is not exhausted by a tedious liturgy; and
each Mussulman for his own person is invested with the character of a pries=
t.
Among the theists, who reject the use of images, it has been found necessar=
y to
restrain the wanderings of the fancy, by directing the eye and the thought
towards a kebla, or visible point of the horizon. The prophet was at first
inclined to gratify the Jews by the choice of Jerusalem; but he soon return=
ed
to a more natural partiality; and five times every day the eyes of the nati=
ons
at Astracan, at Fez, at Delhi, are devoutly turned to the holy temple of Me=
cca.
Yet every spot for the service of God is equally pure: the Mahometans
indifferently pray in their chamber or in the street. As a distinction from=
the
Jews and Christians, the Friday in each week is set apart for the useful
institution of public worship: the people is assembled in the mosch; and the
imam, some respectable elder, ascends the pulpit, to begin the prayer and
pronounce the sermon. But the Mahometan religion is destitute of priesthood=
or
sacrifice; and the independent spirit of fanaticism looks down with contemp=
t on
the ministers and the slaves of superstition. II. The voluntary penance of =
the
ascetics, the torment and glory of their lives, was odious to a prophet who
censured in his companions a rash vow of abstaining from flesh, and women, =
and
sleep; and firmly declared, that he would suffer no monks in his religion. =
Yet
he instituted, in each year, a fast of thirty days; and strenuously recomme=
nded
the observance as a discipline which purifies the soul and subdues the body=
, as
a salutary exercise of obedience to the will of God and his apostle. During=
the
month of Ramadan, from the rising to the setting of the sun, the Mussulman =
abstains
from eating, and drinking, and women, and baths, and perfumes; from all
nourishment that can restore his strength, from all pleasure that can grati=
fy
his senses. In the revolution of the lunar year, the Ramadan coincides, by
turns, with the winter cold and the summer heat; and the patient martyr,
without assuaging his thirst with a drop of water, must expect the close of=
a
tedious and sultry day. The interdiction of wine, peculiar to some orders of
priests or hermits, is converted by Mahomet alone into a positive and gener=
al
law; and a considerable portion of the globe has abjured, at his command, t=
he
use of that salutary, though dangerous, liquor. These painful restraints ar=
e,
doubtless, infringed by the libertine, and eluded by the hypocrite; but the
legislator, by whom they are enacted, cannot surely be accused of alluring =
his
proselytes by the indulgence of their sensual appetites. III. The charity of
the Mahometans descends to the animal creation; and the Koran repeatedly
inculcates, not as a merit, but as a strict and indispensable duty, the rel=
ief
of the indigent and unfortunate. Mahomet, perhaps, is the only lawgiver who=
has
defined the precise measure of charity: the standard may vary with the degr=
ee
and nature of property, as it consists either in money, in corn or cattle, =
in
fruits or merchandise; but the Mussulman does not accomplish the law, unles=
s he
bestows a tenth of his revenue; and if his conscience accuses him of fraud =
or
extortion, the tenth, under the idea of restitution, is enlarged to a fifth.
Benevolence is the foundation of justice, since we are forbid to injure tho=
se
whom we are bound to assist. A prophet may reveal the secrets of heaven and=
of
futurity; but in his moral precepts he can only repeat the lessons of our o=
wn
hearts.
The two articles of belief, and the four pract=
ical
duties, of Islam, are guarded by rewards and punishments; and the faith of =
the
Mussulman is devoutly fixed on the event of the judgment and the last day. =
The
prophet has not presumed to determine the moment of that awful catastrophe,
though he darkly announces the signs, both in heaven and earth, which will
precede the universal dissolution, when life shall be destroyed, and the or=
der
of creation shall be confounded in the primitive chaos. At the blast of the
trumpet, new worlds will start into being: angels, genii, and men will arise
from the dead, and the human soul will again be united to the body. The
doctrine of the resurrection was first entertained by the Egyptians; and th=
eir
mummies were embalmed, their pyramids were constructed, to preserve the anc=
ient
mansion of the soul, during a period of three thousand years. But the attem=
pt
is partial and unavailing; and it is with a more philosophic spirit that
Mahomet relies on the omnipotence of the Creator, whose word can reanimate =
the
breathless clay, and collect the innumerable atoms, that no longer retain t=
heir
form or substance. The intermediate state of the soul it is hard to decide;=
and
those who most firmly believe her immaterial nature, are at a loss to
understand how she can think or act without the agency of the organs of sen=
se.
The reunion of the soul and body will be follo=
wed
by the final judgment of mankind; and in his copy of the Magian picture, the
prophet has too faithfully represented the forms of proceeding, and even the
slow and successive operations, of an earthly tribunal. By his intolerant a=
dversaries
he is upbraided for extending, even to themselves, the hope of salvation, f=
or
asserting the blackest heresy, that every man who believes in God, and
accomplishes good works, may expect in the last day a favorable sentence. S=
uch
rational indifference is ill adapted to the character of a fanatic; nor is =
it
probable that a messenger from heaven should depreciate the value and neces=
sity
of his own revelation. In the idiom of the Koran, the belief of God is
inseparable from that of Mahomet: the good works are those which he has
enjoined, and the two qualifications imply the profession of Islam, to which
all nations and all sects are equally invited. Their spiritual blindness,
though excused by ignorance and crowned with virtue, will be scourged with
everlasting torments; and the tears which Mahomet shed over the tomb of his
mother for whom he was forbidden to pray, display a striking contrast of hu=
manity
and enthusiasm. The doom of the infidels is common: the measure of their gu=
ilt
and punishment is determined by the degree of evidence which they have
rejected, by the magnitude of the errors which they have entertained: the
eternal mansions of the Christians, the Jews, the Sabians, the Magians, and
idolaters, are sunk below each other in the abyss; and the lowest hell is
reserved for the faithless hypocrites who have assumed the mask of religion.
After the greater part of mankind has been condemned for their opinions, the
true believers only will be judged by their actions. The good and evil of e=
ach
Mussulman will be accurately weighed in a real or allegorical balance; and a
singular mode of compensation will be allowed for the payment of injuries: =
the aggressor
will refund an equivalent of his own good actions, for the benefit of the
person whom he has wronged; and if he should be destitute of any moral
property, the weight of his sins will be loaded with an adequate share of t=
he
demerits of the sufferer. According as the shares of guilt or virtue shall
preponderate, the sentence will be pronounced, and all, without distinction,
will pass over the sharp and perilous bridge of the abyss; but the innocent,
treading in the footsteps of Mahomet, will gloriously enter the gates of pa=
radise,
while the guilty will fall into the first and mildest of the seven hells. T=
he
term of expiation will vary from nine hundred to seven thousand years; but =
the prophet
has judiciously promised, that all his disciples, whatever may be their sin=
s,
shall be saved, by their own faith and his intercession from eternal damnat=
ion.
It is not surprising that superstition should act most powerfully on the fe=
ars
of her votaries, since the human fancy can paint with more energy the misery
than the bliss of a future life. With the two simple elements of darkness a=
nd
fire, we create a sensation of pain, which may be aggravated to an infinite
degree by the idea of endless duration. But the same idea operates with an
opposite effect on the continuity of pleasure; and too much of our present
enjoyments is obtained from the relief, or the comparison, of evil. It is
natural enough that an Arabian prophet should dwell with rapture on the gro=
ves,
the fountains, and the rivers of paradise; but instead of inspiring the ble=
ssed
inhabitants with a liberal taste for harmony and science, conversation and
friendship, he idly celebrates the pearls and diamonds, the robes of silk,
palaces of marble, dishes of gold, rich wines, artificial dainties, numerous
attendants, and the whole train of sensual and costly luxury, which becomes
insipid to the owner, even in the short period of this mortal life. Seventy=
-two
Houris, or black-eyed girls, of resplendent beauty, blooming youth, virgin
purity, and exquisite sensibility, will be created for the use of the meane=
st
believer; a moment of pleasure will be prolonged to a thousand years; and h=
is faculties
will be increased a hundred fold, to render him worthy of his felicity.
Notwithstanding a vulgar prejudice, the gates of heaven will be open to both
sexes; but Mahomet has not specified the male companions of the female elec=
t,
lest he should either alarm the jealousy of their former husbands, or distu=
rb
their felicity, by the suspicion of an everlasting marriage. This image of a
carnal paradise has provoked the indignation, perhaps the envy, of the monk=
s:
they declaim against the impure religion of Mahomet; and his modest apologi=
sts
are driven to the poor excuse of figures and allegories. But the sounder and
more consistent party adhere without shame, to the literal interpretation o=
f the
Koran: useless would be the resurrection of the body, unless it were restor=
ed
to the possession and exercise of its worthiest faculties; and the union of
sensual and intellectual enjoyment is requisite to complete the happiness of
the double animal, the perfect man. Yet the joys of the Mahometan paradise =
will
not be confined to the indulgence of luxury and appetite; and the prophet h=
as
expressly declared that all meaner happiness will be forgotten and despised=
by
the saints and martyrs, who shall be admitted to the beatitude of the divine
vision.
The first and most arduous conquests of Mahomet
were those of his wife, his servant, his pupil, and his friend; since he
presented himself as a prophet to those who were most conversant with his
infirmities as a man. Yet Cadijah believed the words, and cherished the glo=
ry,
of her husband; the obsequious and affectionate Zeid was tempted by the
prospect of freedom; the illustrious Ali, the son of Abu Taleb, embraced th=
e sentiments
of his cousin with the spirit of a youthful hero; and the wealth, the
moderation, the veracity of Abubeker confirmed the religion of the prophet =
whom
he was destined to succeed. By his persuasion, ten of the most respectable
citizens of Mecca were introduced to the private lessons of Islam; they yie=
lded
to the voice of reason and enthusiasm; they repeated the fundamental creed,
"There is but one God, and Mahomet is the apostle of God;" and th=
eir
faith, even in this life, was rewarded with riches and honors, with the com=
mand
of armies and the government of kingdoms. Three years were silently employe=
d in
the conversion of fourteen proselytes, the first-fruits of his mission; but=
in
the fourth year he assumed the prophetic office, and resolving to impart to=
his
family the light of divine truth, he prepared a banquet, a lamb, as it is s=
aid,
and a bowl of milk, for the entertainment of forty guests of the race of
Hashem. "Friends and kinsmen," said Mahomet to the assembly, &quo=
t;I
offer you, and I alone can offer, the most precious of gifts, the treasures=
of
this world and of the world to come. God has commanded me to call you to his
service. Who among you will support my burden? Who among you will be my
companion and my vizier?" No answer was returned, till the silence of
astonishment, and doubt, and contempt, was at length broken by the impatient
courage of Ali, a youth in the fourteenth year of his age. "O prophet,=
I
am the man: whosoever rises against thee, I will dash out his teeth, tear o=
ut
his eyes, break his legs, rip up his belly. O prophet, I will be thy vizier
over them." Mahomet accepted his offer with transport, and Abu Taled w=
as
ironically exhorted to respect the superior dignity of his son. In a more
serious tone, the father of Ali advised his nephew to relinquish his
impracticable design. "Spare your remonstrances," replied the
intrepid fanatic to his uncle and benefactor; "if they should place the
sun on my right hand, and the moon on my left, they should not divert me fr=
om
my course." He persevered ten years in the exercise of his mission; and
the religion which has overspread the East and the West advanced with a slow
and painful progress within the walls of Mecca. Yet Mahomet enjoyed the
satisfaction of beholding the increase of his infant congregation of
Unitarians, who revered him as a prophet, and to whom he seasonably dispens=
ed
the spiritual nourishment of the Koran. The number of proselytes may be est=
eemed
by the absence of eighty-three men and eighteen women, who retired to
Æthiopia in the seventh year of his mission; and his party was fortif=
ied
by the timely conversion of his uncle Hamza, and of the fierce and inflexib=
le
Omar, who signalized in the cause of Islam the same zeal, which he had exer=
ted
for its destruction. Nor was the charity of Mahomet confined to the tribe of
Koreish, or the precincts of Mecca: on solemn festivals, in the days of
pilgrimage, he frequented the Caaba, accosted the strangers of every tribe,=
and
urged, both in private converse and public discourse, the belief and worshi=
p of
a sole Deity. Conscious of his reason and of his weakness, he asserted the
liberty of conscience, and disclaimed the use of religious violence: but he
called the Arabs to repentance, and conjured them to remember the ancient i=
dolaters
of Ad and Thamud, whom the divine justice had swept away from the face of t=
he
earth.
The people of Mecca were hardened in their
unbelief by superstition and envy. The elders of the city, the uncles of th=
e prophet,
affected to despise the presumption of an orphan, the reformer of his count=
ry:
the pious orations of Mahomet in the Caaba were answered by the clamors of =
Abu
Taleb. "Citizens and pilgrims, listen not to the tempter, hearken not =
to
his impious novelties. Stand fast in the worship of Al Lâta and Al
Uzzah." Yet the son of Abdallah was ever dear to the aged chief: and he
protected the fame and person of his nephew against the assaults of the
Koreishites, who had long been jealous of the preëminence of the famil=
y of
Hashem. Their malice was colored with the pretence of religion: in the age =
of
Job, the crime of impiety was punished by the Arabian magistrate; and Mahom=
et
was guilty of deserting and denying the national deities. But so loose was =
the
policy of Mecca, that the leaders of the Koreish, instead of accusing a
criminal, were compelled to employ the measures of persuasion or violence. =
They
repeatedly addressed Abu Taleb in the style of reproach and menace. "T=
hy
nephew reviles our religion; he accuses our wise forefathers of ignorance a=
nd
folly; silence him quickly, lest he kindle tumult and discord in the city. =
If he
persevere, we shall draw our swords against him and his adherents, and thou
wilt be responsible for the blood of thy fellow-citizens." The weight =
and
moderation of Abu Taleb eluded the violence of religious faction; the most
helpless or timid of the disciples retired to Æthiopia, and the proph=
et
withdrew himself to various places of strength in the town and country. As =
he
was still supported by his family, the rest of the tribe of Koreish engaged
themselves to renounce all intercourse with the children of Hashem, neither=
to
buy nor sell, neither to marry not to give in marriage, but to pursue them =
with
implacable enmity, till they should deliver the person of Mahomet to the ju=
stice
of the gods. The decree was suspended in the Caaba before the eyes of the
nation; the messengers of the Koreish pursued the Mussulman exiles in the h=
eart
of Africa: they besieged the prophet and his most faithful followers,
intercepted their water, and inflamed their mutual animosity by the retalia=
tion
of injuries and insults. A doubtful truce restored the appearances of conco=
rd
till the death of Abu Taleb abandoned Mahomet to the power of his enemies, =
at
the moment when he was deprived of his domestic comforts by the loss of his
faithful and generous Cadijah. Abu Sophian, the chief of the branch of Ommi=
yah,
succeeded to the principality of the republic of Mecca. A zealous votary of=
the
idols, a mortal foe of the line of Hashem, he convened an assembly of the
Koreishites and their allies, to decide the fate of the apostle. His
imprisonment might provoke the despair of his enthusiasm; and the exile of =
an
eloquent and popular fanatic would diffuse the mischief through the provinc=
es
of Arabia. His death was resolved; and they agreed that a sword from each t=
ribe
should be buried in his heart, to divide the guilt of his blood, and baffle=
the
vengeance of the Hashemites. An angel or a spy revealed their conspiracy; a=
nd
flight was the only resource of Mahomet. At the dead of night, accompanied =
by his
friend Abubeker, he silently escaped from his house: the assassins watched =
at
the door; but they were deceived by the figure of Ali, who reposed on the b=
ed,
and was covered with the green vestment of the apostle. The Koreish respect=
ed
the piety of the heroic youth; but some verses of Ali, which are still exta=
nt,
exhibit an interesting picture of his anxiety, his tenderness, and his
religious confidence. Three days Mahomet and his companion were concealed in
the cave of Thor, at the distance of a league from Mecca; and in the close =
of
each evening, they received from the son and daughter of Abubeker a secret
supply of intelligence and food. The diligence of the Koreish explored every
haunt in the neighborhood of the city: they arrived at the entrance of the =
cavern;
but the providential deceit of a spider's web and a pigeon's nest is suppos=
ed
to convince them that the place was solitary and inviolate. "We are on=
ly
two," said the trembling Abubeker. "There is a third," repli=
ed
the prophet; "it is God himself." No sooner was the pursuit abated
than the two fugitives issued from the rock, and mounted their camels: on t=
he
road to Medina, they were overtaken by the emissaries of the Koreish; they
redeemed themselves with prayers and promises from their hands. In this
eventful moment, the lance of an Arab might have changed the history of the
world. The flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina has fixed the memorab=
le
æra of the Hegira, which, at the end of twelve centuries, still
discriminates the lunar years of the Mahometan nations.
The religion of the Koran might have perished =
in
its cradle, had not Medina embraced with faith and reverence the holy outca=
sts
of Mecca. Medina, or the city, known under the name of Yathreb, before it w=
as sanctified
by the throne of the prophet, was divided between the tribes of the Charegi=
tes
and the Awsites, whose hereditary feud was rekindled by the slightest
provocations: two colonies of Jews, who boasted a sacerdotal race, were the=
ir
humble allies, and without converting the Arabs, they introduced the taste =
of
science and religion, which distinguished Medina as the city of the Book. S=
ome
of her noblest citizens, in a pilgrimage to the Caaba, were converted by the
preaching of Mahomet; on their return, they diffused the belief of God and =
his prophet,
and the new alliance was ratified by their deputies in two secret and noctu=
rnal
interviews on a hill in the suburbs of Mecca. In the first, ten Charegites =
and two
Awsites united in faith and love, protested, in the name of their wives, th=
eir
children, and their absent brethren, that they would forever profess the cr=
eed,
and observe the precepts, of the Koran. The second was a political associat=
ion,
the first vital spark of the empire of the Saracens. Seventy-three men and =
two
women of Medina held a solemn conference with Mahomet, his kinsman, and his
disciples; and pledged themselves to each other by a mutual oath of fidelit=
y.
They promised, in the name of the city, that if he should be banished, they
would receive him as a confederate, obey him as a leader, and defend him to=
the
last extremity, like their wives and children. "But if you are recalle=
d by
your country," they asked with a flattering anxiety, "will you not
abandon your new allies?" "All things," replied Mahomet with=
a
smile, "are now common between us your blood is as my blood, your ruin=
as
my ruin. We are bound to each other by the ties of honor and interest. I am
your friend, and the enemy of your foes." "But if we are killed in
your service, what," exclaimed the deputies of Medina, "will be o=
ur
reward?" "Paradise," replied the prophet. "Stretch forth
thy hand." He stretched it forth, and they reiterated the oath of
allegiance and fidelity. Their treaty was ratified by the people, who
unanimously embraced the profession of Islam; they rejoiced in the exile of=
the
apostle, but they trembled for his safety, and impatiently expected his
arrival. After a perilous and rapid journey along the sea-coast, he halted =
at
Koba, two miles from the city, and made his public entry into Medina, sixte=
en
days after his flight from Mecca. Five hundred of the citizens advanced to =
meet
him; he was hailed with acclamations of loyalty and devotion; Mahomet was m=
ounted
on a she-camel, an umbrella shaded his head, and a turban was unfurled befo=
re
him to supply the deficiency of a standard. His bravest disciples, who had =
been
scattered by the storm, assembled round his person; and the equal, though
various, merit of the Moslems was distinguished by the names of Mohagerians=
and
Ansars, the fugitives of Mecca, and the auxiliaries of Medina. To eradicate=
the
seeds of jealousy, Mahomet judiciously coupled his principal followers with=
the
rights and obligations of brethren; and when Ali found himself without a pe=
er,
the prophet tenderly declared, that he would be the companion and brother of
the noble youth. The expedient was crowned with success; the holy fraternity
was respected in peace and war, and the two parties vied with each other in=
a
generous emulation of courage and fidelity. Once only the concord was sligh=
tly
ruffled by an accidental quarrel: a patriot of Medina arraigned the insolen=
ce
of the strangers, but the hint of their expulsion was heard with abhorrence;
and his own son most eagerly offered to lay at the apostle's feet the head =
of
his father.
From his establishment at Medina, Mahomet assu=
med
the exercise of the regal and sacerdotal office; and it was impious to appe=
al
from a judge whose decrees were inspired by the divine wisdom. A small port=
ion
of ground, the patrimony of two orphans, was acquired by gift or purchase; =
on
that chosen spot he built a house and a mosch, more venerable in their rude
simplicity than the palaces and temples of the Assyrian caliphs. His seal of
gold, or silver, was inscribed with the apostolic title; when he prayed and
preached in the weekly assembly, he leaned against the trunk of a palm-tree;
and it was long before he indulged himself in the use of a chair or pulpit =
of
rough timber. After a reign of six years, fifteen hundred Moslems, in arms =
and
in the field, renewed their oath of allegiance; and their chief repeated the
assurance of protection till the death of the last member, or the final
dissolution of the party. It was in the same camp that the deputy of Mecca =
was astonished
by the attention of the faithful to the words and looks of the prophet, by =
the
eagerness with which they collected his spittle, a hair that dropped on the
ground, the refuse water of his lustrations, as if they participated in some
degree of the prophetic virtue. "I have seen," said he, "the
Chosroes of Persia and the Cæsar of Rome, but never did I behold a ki=
ng
among his subjects like Mahomet among his companions." The devout ferv=
or
of enthusiasm acts with more energy and truth than the cold and formal
servility of courts.
In the state of nature, every man has a right =
to
defend, by force of arms, his person and his possessions; to repel, or even=
to
prevent, the violence of his enemies, and to extend his hostilities to a
reasonable measure of satisfaction and retaliation. In the free society of =
the Arabs,
the duties of subject and citizen imposed a feeble restraint; and Mahomet, =
in
the exercise of a peaceful and benevolent mission, had been despoiled and
banished by the injustice of his countrymen. The choice of an independent
people had exalted the fugitive of Mecca to the rank of a sovereign; and he=
was
invested with the just prerogative of forming alliances, and of waging
offensive or defensive war. The imperfection of human rights was supplied a=
nd
armed by the plenitude of divine power: the prophet of Medina assumed, in h=
is
new revelations, a fiercer and more sanguinary tone, which proves that his
former moderation was the effect of weakness: the means of persuasion had b=
een
tried, the season of forbearance was elapsed, and he was now commanded to
propagate his religion by the sword, to destroy the monuments of idolatry, =
and,
without regarding the sanctity of days or months, to pursue the unbelieving
nations of the earth. The same bloody precepts, so repeatedly inculcated in=
the
Koran, are ascribed by the author to the Pentateuch and the Gospel. But the
mild tenor of the evangelic style may explain an ambiguous text, that Jesus=
did
not bring peace on the earth, but a sword: his patient and humble virtues
should not be confounded with the intolerant zeal of princes and bishops, w=
ho
have disgraced the name of his disciples. In the prosecution of religious w=
ar,
Mahomet might appeal with more propriety to the example of Moses, of the
Judges, and the kings of Israel. The military laws of the Hebrews are still
more rigid than those of the Arabian legislator. The Lord of hosts marched =
in
person before the Jews: if a city resisted their summons, the males, without
distinction, were put to the sword: the seven nations of Canaan were devote=
d to
destruction; and neither repentance nor conversion, could shield them from =
the
inevitable doom, that no creature within their precincts should be left ali=
ve.
The fair option of friendship, or submission, or battle, was proposed to the
enemies of Mahomet. If they professed the creed of Islam, they were admitte=
d to
all the temporal and spiritual benefits of his primitive disciples, and mar=
ched
under the same banner to extend the religion which they had embraced. The
clemency of the prophet was decided by his interest: yet he seldom trampled=
on
a prostrate enemy; and he seems to promise, that on the payment of a tribut=
e,
the least guilty of his unbelieving subjects might be indulged in their wor=
ship,
or at least in their imperfect faith. In the first months of his reign he
practised the lessons of holy warfare, and displayed his white banner before
the gates of Medina: the martial apostle fought in person at nine battles or
sieges; and fifty enterprises of war were achieved in ten years by himself =
or
his lieutenants. The Arab continued to unite the professions of a merchant =
and
a robber; and his petty excursions for the defence or the attack of a carav=
an
insensibly prepared his troops for the conquest of Arabia. The distribution=
of
the spoil was regulated by a divine law: the whole was faithfully collected=
in
one common mass: a fifth of the gold and silver, the prisoners and cattle, =
the
movables and immovables, was reserved by the prophet for pious and charitab=
le
uses; the remainder was shared in adequate portions by the soldiers who had
obtained the victory or guarded the camp: the rewards of the slain devolved=
to
their widows and orphans; and the increase of cavalry was encouraged by the
allotment of a double share to the horse and to the man. From all sides the
roving Arabs were allured to the standard of religion and plunder: the apos=
tle sanctified
the license of embracing the female captives as their wives or concubines, =
and
the enjoyment of wealth and beauty was a feeble type of the joys of paradise
prepared for the valiant martyrs of the faith. "The sword," says
Mahomet, "is the key of heaven and of hell; a drop of blood shed in the
cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of
fasting or prayer: whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven: at the=
day
of judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as
musk; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and
cherubim." The intrepid souls of the Arabs were fired with enthusiasm:=
the
picture of the invisible world was strongly painted on their imagination; a=
nd the
death which they had always despised became an object of hope and desire. T=
he
Koran inculcates, in the most absolute sense, the tenets of fate and
predestination, which would extinguish both industry and virtue, if the act=
ions
of man were governed by his speculative belief. Yet their influence in every
age has exalted the courage of the Saracens and Turks. The first companions=
of
Mahomet advanced to battle with a fearless confidence: there is no danger w=
here
there is no chance: they were ordained to perish in their beds; or they were
safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy.
Perhaps the Koreish would have been content wi=
th
the flight of Mahomet, had they not been provoked and alarmed by the vengea=
nce
of an enemy, who could intercept their Syrian trade as it passed and repass=
ed
through the territory of Medina. Abu Sophian himself, with only thirty or f=
orty
followers, conducted a wealthy caravan of a thousand camels; the fortune or
dexterity of his march escaped the vigilance of Mahomet; but the chief of t=
he
Koreish was informed that the holy robbers were placed in ambush to await h=
is
return. He despatched a messenger to his brethren of Mecca, and they were
roused, by the fear of losing their merchandise and their provisions, unless
they hastened to his relief with the military force of the city. The sacred
band of Mahomet was formed of three hundred and thirteen Moslems, of whom
seventy-seven were fugitives, and the rest auxiliaries; they mounted by tur=
ns a
train of seventy camels, (the camels of Yathreb were formidable in war;) but
such was the poverty of his first disciples, that only two could appear on =
horseback
in the field. In the fertile and famous vale of Beder, three stations from =
Medina,
he was informed by his scouts of the caravan that approached on one side; of
the Koreish, one hundred horse, eight hundred and fifty foot, who advanced =
on
the other. After a short debate, he sacrificed the prospect of wealth to the
pursuit of glory and revenge, and a slight intrenchment was formed, to cover
his troops, and a stream of fresh water, that glided through the valley.
"O God," he exclaimed, as the numbers of the Koreish descended fr=
om
the hills, "O God, if these are destroyed, by whom wilt thou be worshi=
pped
on the earth?--Courage, my children; close your ranks; discharge your arrow=
s,
and the day is your own." At these words he placed himself, with Abube=
ker,
on a throne or pulpit, and instantly demanded the succor of Gabriel and thr=
ee
thousand angels. His eye was fixed on the field of battle: the Mussulmans
fainted and were pressed: in that decisive moment the prophet started from =
his throne,
mounted his horse, and cast a handful of sand into the air: "Let their
faces be covered with confusion." Both armies heard the thunder of his
voice: their fancy beheld the angelic warriors: the Koreish trembled and fl=
ed:
seventy of the bravest were slain; and seventy captives adorned the first
victory of the faithful. The dead bodies of the Koreish were despoiled and
insulted: two of the most obnoxious prisoners were punished with death; and=
the
ransom of the others, four thousand drams of silver, compensated in some de=
gree
the escape of the caravan. But it was in vain that the camels of Abu Sophian
explored a new road through the desert and along the Euphrates: they were
overtaken by the diligence of the Mussulmans; and wealthy must have been the
prize, if twenty thousand drams could be set apart for the fifth of the
apostle. The resentment of the public and private loss stimulated Abu Sophi=
an
to collect a body of three thousand men, seven hundred of whom were armed w=
ith
cuirasses, and two hundred were mounted on horseback; three thousand camels
attended his march; and his wife Henda, with fifteen matrons of Mecca,
incessantly sounded their timbrels to animate the troops, and to magnify the
greatness of Hobal, the most popular deity of the Caaba. The standard of ven
and Mahomet was upheld by nine hundred and fifty believers: the disproporti=
on
of numbers was not more alarming than in the field of Beder; and their
presumption of victory prevailed against the divine and human sense of the
apostle. The second battle was fought on Mount Ohud, six miles to the north=
of
Medina; the Koreish advanced in the form of a crescent; and the right wing =
of
cavalry was led by Caled, the fiercest and most successful of the Arabian
warriors. The troops of Mahomet were skilfully posted on the declivity of t=
he hill;
and their rear was guarded by a detachment of fifty archers. The weight of
their charge impelled and broke the centre of the idolaters: but in the pur=
suit
they lost the advantage of their ground: the archers deserted their station:
the Mussulmans were tempted by the spoil, disobeyed their general, and
disordered their ranks. The intrepid Caled, wheeling his cavalry on their f=
lank
and rear, exclaimed, with a loud voice, that Mahomet was slain. He was inde=
ed
wounded in the face with a javelin: two of his teeth were shattered with a
stone; yet, in the midst of tumult and dismay, he reproached the infidels w=
ith
the murder of a prophet; and blessed the friendly hand that stanched his bl=
ood,
and conveyed him to a place of safety Seventy martyrs died for the sins of =
the
people; they fell, said the apostle, in pairs, each brother embracing his
lifeless companion; their bodies were mangled by the inhuman females of Mec=
ca;
and the wife of Abu Sophian tasted the entrails of Hamza, the uncle of Maho=
met.
They might applaud their superstition, and satiate their fury; but the
Mussulmans soon rallied in the field, and the Koreish wanted strength or
courage to undertake the siege of Medina. It was attacked the ensuing year =
by
an army of ten thousand enemies; and this third expedition is variously nam=
ed
from the nations, which marched under the banner of Abu Sophian, from the d=
itch
which was drawn before the city, and a camp of three thousand Mussulmans. T=
he
prudence of Mahomet declined a general engagement: the valor of Ali was
signalized in single combat; and the war was protracted twenty days, till t=
he
final separation of the confederates. A tempest of wind, rain, and hail,
overturned their tents: their private quarrels were fomented by an insidious
adversary; and the Koreish, deserted by their allies, no longer hoped to
subvert the throne, or to check the conquests, of their invincible exile.
The choice of Jerusalem for the first kebla of=
prayer
discovers the early propensity of Mahomet in favor of the Jews; and happy w=
ould
it have been for their temporal interest, had they recognized, in the Arabi=
an
prophet, the hope of Israel and the promised Messiah. Their obstinacy conve=
rted
his friendship into implacable hatred, with which he pursued that unfortuna=
te
people to the last moment of his life; and in the double character of an
apostle and a conqueror, his persecution was extended to both worlds. The
Kainoka dwelt at Medina under the protection of the city; he seized the
occasion of an accidental tumult, and summoned them to embrace his religion=
, or
contend with him in battle. "Alas!" replied the trembling Jews,
"we are ignorant of the use of arms, but we persevere in the faith and
worship of our fathers; why wilt thou reduce us to the necessity of a just
defence?" The unequal conflict was terminated in fifteen days; and it =
was
with extreme reluctance that Mahomet yielded to the importunity of his alli=
es,
and consented to spare the lives of the captives. But their riches were con=
fiscated,
their arms became more effectual in the hands of the Mussulmans; and a wret=
ched
colony of seven hundred exiles was driven, with their wives and children, to
implore a refuge on the confines of Syria. The Nadhirites were more guilty,
since they conspired, in a friendly interview, to assassinate the prophet. =
He
besieged their castle, three miles from Medina; but their resolute defence
obtained an honorable capitulation; and the garrison, sounding their trumpe=
ts
and beating their drums, was permitted to depart with the honors of war. Th=
e Jews
had excited and joined the war of the Koreish: no sooner had the nations
retired from the ditch, than Mahomet, without laying aside his armor, march=
ed
on the same day to extirpate the hostile race of the children of Koraidha.
After a resistance of twenty-five days, they surrendered at discretion. They
trusted to the intercession of their old allies of Medina; they could not be
ignorant that fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity. A venerable
elder, to whose judgment they appealed, pronounced the sentence of their de=
ath;
seven hundred Jews were dragged in chains to the market-place of the city; =
they
descended alive into the grave prepared for their execution and burial; and=
the
apostle beheld with an inflexible eye the slaughter of his helpless enemies.
Their sheep and camels were inherited by the Mussulmans: three hundred
cuirasses, five hundred piles, a thousand lances, composed the most useful
portion of the spoil. Six days' journey to the north-east of Medina, the
ancient and wealthy town of Chaibar was the seat of the Jewish power in Ara=
bia:
the territory, a fertile spot in the desert, was covered with plantations a=
nd
cattle, and protected by eight castles, some of which were esteemed of
impregnable strength. The forces of Mahomet consisted of two hundred horse =
and
fourteen hundred foot: in the succession of eight regular and painful sieges
they were exposed to danger, and fatigue, and hunger; and the most undaunted
chiefs despaired of the event. The apostle revived their faith and courage =
by
the example of Ali, on whom he bestowed the surname of the Lion of God: per=
haps
we may believe that a Hebrew champion of gigantic stature was cloven to the=
chest
by his irresistible cimeter; but we cannot praise the modesty of romance, w=
hich
represents him as tearing from its hinges the gate of a fortress and wieldi=
ng
the ponderous buckler in his left hand. After the reduction of the castles,=
the
town of Chaibar submitted to the yoke. The chief of the tribe was tortured,=
in
the presence of Mahomet, to force a confession of his hidden treasure: the
industry of the shepherds and husbandmen was rewarded with a precarious
toleration: they were permitted, so long as it should please the conqueror,=
to
improve their patrimony, in equal shares, for his emolument and their own.
Under the reign of Omar, the Jews of Chaibar were transported to Syria; and=
the
caliph alleged the injunction of his dying master; that one and the true re=
ligion
should be professed in his native land of Arabia.
Five times each day the eyes of Mahomet were
turned towards Mecca, and he was urged by the most sacred and powerful moti=
ves
to revisit, as a conqueror, the city and the temple from whence he had been
driven as an exile. The Caaba was present to his waking and sleeping fancy:=
an
idle dream was translated into vision and prophecy; he unfurled the holy ba=
nner;
and a rash promise of success too hastily dropped from the lips of the apos=
tle.
His march from Medina to Mecca displayed the peaceful and solemn pomp of a
pilgrimage: seventy camels, chosen and bedecked for sacrifice, preceded the
van; the sacred territory was respected; and the captives were dismissed
without ransom to proclaim his clemency and devotion. But no sooner did Mah=
omet
descend into the plain, within a day's journey of the city, than he exclaim=
ed,
"They have clothed themselves with the skins of tigers:" the numb=
ers
and resolution of the Koreish opposed his progress; and the roving Arabs of=
the
desert might desert or betray a leader whom they had followed for the hopes=
of
spoil. The intrepid fanatic sunk into a cool and cautious politician: he wa=
ived
in the treaty his title of apostle of God; concluded with the Koreish and t=
heir
allies a truce of ten years; engaged to restore the fugitives of Mecca who
should embrace his religion; and stipulated only, for the ensuing year, the
humble privilege of entering the city as a friend, and of remaining three d=
ays
to accomplish the rites of the pilgrimage. A cloud of shame and sorrow hung=
on
the retreat of the Mussulmans, and their disappointment might justly accuse=
the
failure of a prophet who had so often appealed to the evidence of success. =
The
faith and hope of the pilgrims were rekindled by the prospect of Mecca: the=
ir
swords were sheathed; seven times in the footsteps of the apostle they
encompassed the Caaba: the Koreish had retired to the hills, and Mahomet, a=
fter
the customary sacrifice, evacuated the city on the fourth day. The people w=
as
edified by his devotion; the hostile chiefs were awed, or divided, or seduc=
ed;
and both Kaled and Amrou, the future conquerors of Syria and Egypt, most
seasonably deserted the sinking cause of idolatry. The power of Mahomet was
increased by the submission of the Arabian tribes; ten thousand soldiers we=
re
assembled for the conquest of Mecca; and the idolaters, the weaker party, w=
ere
easily convicted of violating the truce. Enthusiasm and discipline impelled=
the
march, and preserved the secret till the blaze of ten thousand fires procla=
imed
to the astonished Koreish the design, the approach, and the irresistible fo=
rce
of the enemy. The haughty Abu Sophian presented the keys of the city, admir=
ed the
variety of arms and ensigns that passed before him in review; observed that=
the
son of Abdallah had acquired a mighty kingdom, and confessed, under the cim=
eter
of Omar, that he was the apostle of the true God. The return of Marius and
Scylla was stained with the blood of the Romans: the revenge of Mahomet was
stimulated by religious zeal, and his injured followers were eager to execu=
te
or to prevent the order of a massacre. Instead of indulging their passions =
and
his own, the victorious exile forgave the guilt, and united the factions, of
Mecca. His troops, in three divisions, marched into the city: eight-and-twe=
nty of
the inhabitants were slain by the sword of Caled; eleven men and six women =
were
proscribed by the sentence of Mahomet; but he blamed the cruelty of his
lieutenant; and several of the most obnoxious victims were indebted for the=
ir
lives to his clemency or contempt. The chiefs of the Koreish were prostrate=
at
his feet. "What mercy can you expect from the man whom you have
wronged?" "We confide in the generosity of our kinsman."
"And you shall not confide in vain: begone! you are safe, you are
free." The people of Mecca deserved their pardon by the profession of
Islam; and after an exile of seven years, the fugitive missionary was enthr=
oned
as the prince and prophet of his native country. But the three hundred and
sixty idols of the Caaba were ignominiously broken: the house of God was
purified and adorned: as an example to future times, the apostle again
fulfilled the duties of a pilgrim; and a perpetual law was enacted that no
unbeliever should dare to set his foot on the territory of the holy city.
The conquest of Mecca determined the faith and
obedience of the Arabian tribes; who, according to the vicissitudes of fort=
une,
had obeyed, or disregarded, the eloquence or the arms of the prophet.
Indifference for rites and opinions still marks the character of the Bedowe=
ens;
and they might accept, as loosely as they hold, the doctrine of the Koran. =
Yet an
obstinate remnant still adhered to the religion and liberty of their ancest=
ors,
and the war of Honain derived a proper appellation from the idols, whom Mah=
omet
had vowed to destroy, and whom the confederates of Tayef had sworn to defen=
d.
Four thousand Pagans advanced with secrecy and speed to surprise the conque=
ror:
they pitied and despised the supine negligence of the Koreish, but they
depended on the wishes, and perhaps the aid, of a people who had so lately
renounced their gods, and bowed beneath the yoke of their enemy. The banner=
s of
Medina and Mecca were displayed by the prophet; a crowd of Bedoweens increa=
sed
the strength or numbers of the army, and twelve thousand Mussulmans enterta=
ined
a rash and sinful presumption of their invincible strength. They descended =
without
precaution into the valley of Honain: the heights had been occupied by the
archers and slingers of the confederates; their numbers were oppressed, the=
ir
discipline was confounded, their courage was appalled, and the Koreish smil=
ed
at their impending destruction. The prophet, on his white mule, was encompa=
ssed
by the enemies: he attempted to rush against their spears in search of a
glorious death: ten of his faithful companions interposed their weapons and
their breasts; three of these fell dead at his feet: "O my brethren,&q=
uot;
he repeatedly cried, with sorrow and indignation, "I am the son of
Abdallah, I am the apostle of truth! O man, stand fast in the faith! O God,
send down thy succor!" His uncle Abbas, who, like the heroes of Homer,
excelled in the loudness of his voice, made the valley resound with the rec=
ital
of the gifts and promises of God: the flying Moslems returned from all side=
s to
the holy standard; and Mahomet observed with pleasure that the furnace was
again rekindled: his conduct and example restored the battle, and he animat=
ed his
victorious troops to inflict a merciless revenge on the authors of their sh=
ame.
From the field of Honain, he marched without delay to the siege of Tayef, s=
ixty
miles to the south-east of Mecca, a fortress of strength, whose fertile lan=
ds
produce the fruits of Syria in the midst of the Arabian desert. A friendly
tribe, instructed (I know not how) in the art of sieges, supplied him with a
train of battering-rams and military engines, with a body of five hundred
artificers. But it was in vain that he offered freedom to the slaves of Tay=
ef;
that he violated his own laws by the extirpation of the fruit-trees; that t=
he
ground was opened by the miners; that the breach was assaulted by the troop=
s.
After a siege of twenty-days, the prophet sounded a retreat; but he retreat=
ed with
a song of devout triumph, and affected to pray for the repentance and safet=
y of
the unbelieving city. The spoils of this fortunate expedition amounted to s=
ix
thousand captives, twenty-four thousand camels, forty thousand sheep, and f=
our
thousand ounces of silver: a tribe who had fought at Honain redeemed their =
prisoners
by the sacrifice of their idols; but Mahomet compensated the loss, by resig=
ning
to the soldiers his fifth of the plunder, and wished, for their sake, that =
he possessed
as many head of cattle as there were trees in the province of Tehama. Inste=
ad
of chastising the disaffection of the Koreish, he endeavored to cut out the=
ir
tongues, (his own expression,) and to secure their attachment by a superior
measure of liberality: Abu Sophian alone was presented with three hundred
camels and twenty ounces of silver; and Mecca was sincerely converted to the
profitable religion of the Koran.
The fugitives and auxiliaries complained, that
they who had borne the burden were neglected in the season of victory
"Alas!" replied their artful leader, "suffer me to conciliate
these recent enemies, these doubtful proselytes, by the gift of some perish=
able
goods. To your guard I intrust my life and fortunes. You are the companions=
of
my exile, of my kingdom, of my paradise." He was followed by the deput=
ies
of Tayef, who dreaded the repetition of a siege. "Grant us, O apostle =
of
God! a truce of three years, with the toleration of our ancient worship.&qu=
ot; "Not
a month, not an hour." "Excuse us at least from the obligation of=
prayer."
"Without prayer religion is of no avail." They submitted in silen=
ce:
their temples were demolished, and the same sentence of destruction was
executed on all the idols of Arabia. His lieutenants, on the shores of the =
Red
Sea, the Ocean, and the Gulf of Persia, were saluted by the acclamations of=
a
faithful people; and the ambassadors, who knelt before the throne of Medina,
were as numerous (says the Arabian proverb) as the dates that fall from the
maturity of a palm-tree. The nation submitted to the God and the sceptre of
Mahomet: the opprobrious name of tribute was abolished: the spontaneous or =
reluctant
oblations of arms and tithes were applied to the service of religion; and o=
ne
hundred and fourteen thousand Moslems accompanied the last pilgrimage of the
apostle.
When Heraclius returned in triumph from the
Persian war, he entertained, at Emesa, one of the ambassadors of Mahomet, w=
ho
invited the princes and nations of the earth to the profession of Islam. On
this foundation the zeal of the Arabians has supposed the secret conversion=
of
the Christian emperor: the vanity of the Greeks has feigned a personal visi=
t of
the prince of Medina, who accepted from the royal bounty a rich domain, and=
a
secure retreat, in the province of Syria. But the friendship of Heraclius a=
nd
Mahomet was of short continuance: the new religion had inflamed rather than
assuaged the rapacious spirit of the Saracens, and the murder of an envoy
afforded a decent pretence for invading, with three thousand soldiers, the
territory of Palestine, that extends to the eastward of the Jordan. The holy
banner was intrusted to Zeid; and such was the discipline or enthusiasm of =
the
rising sect, that the noblest chiefs served without reluctance under the sl=
ave
of the prophet. On the event of his decease, Jaafar and Abdallah were
successively substituted to the command; and if the three should perish in =
the
war, the troops were authorized to elect their general. The three leaders w=
ere
slain in the battle of Muta, the first military action, which tried the val=
or
of the Moslems against a foreign enemy. Zeid fell, like a soldier, in the f=
oremost
ranks: the death of Jaafar was heroic and memorable: he lost his right hand=
: he
shifted the standard to his left: the left was severed from his body: he
embraced the standard with his bleeding stumps, till he was transfixed to t=
he
ground with fifty honorable wounds. "Advance," cried Abdallah, who
stepped into the vacant place, "advance with confidence: either victor=
y or
paradise is our own." The lance of a Roman decided the alternative; but
the falling standard was rescued by Caled, the proselyte of Mecca: nine swo=
rds
were broken in his hand; and his valor withstood and repulsed the superior
numbers of the Christians. In the nocturnal council of the camp he was chos=
en
to command: his skilful evolutions of the ensuing day secured either the vi=
ctory
or the retreat of the Saracens; and Caled is renowned among his brethren and
his enemies by the glorious appellation of the Sword of God. In the pulpit,
Mahomet described, with prophetic rapture, the crowns of the blessed martyr=
s;
but in private he betrayed the feelings of human nature: he was surprised a=
s he
wept over the daughter of Zeid: "What do I see?" said the astonis=
hed
votary. "You see," replied the apostle, "a friend who is
deploring the loss of his most faithful friend." After the conquest of
Mecca, the sovereign of Arabia affected to prevent the hostile preparations=
of
Heraclius; and solemnly proclaimed war against the Romans, without attempti=
ng
to disguise the hardships and dangers of the enterprise. The Moslems were
discouraged: they alleged the want of money, or horses, or provisions; the
season of harvest, and the intolerable heat of the summer: "Hell is mu=
ch
hotter," said the indignant prophet. He disdained to compel their serv=
ice:
but on his return he admonished the most guilty, by an excommunication of f=
ifty
days. Their desertion enhanced the merit of Abubeker, Othman, and the faith=
ful
companions who devoted their lives and fortunes; and Mahomet displayed his
banner at the head of ten thousand horse and twenty thousand foot. Painful
indeed was the distress of the march: lassitude and thirst were aggravated =
by
the scorching and pestilential winds of the desert: ten men rode by turns on
one camel; and they were reduced to the shameful necessity of drinking the =
water
from the belly of that useful animal. In the mid-way, ten days' journey from
Medina and Damascus, they reposed near the grove and fountain of Tabuc. Bey=
ond
that place Mahomet declined the prosecution of the war: he declared himself=
satisfied
with the peaceful intentions, he was more probably daunted by the martial
array, of the emperor of the East. But the active and intrepid Caled spread
around the terror of his name; and the prophet received the submission of t=
he
tribes and cities, from the Euphrates to Ailah, at the head of the Red Sea.=
To
his Christian subjects, Mahomet readily granted the security of their perso=
ns,
the freedom of their trade, the property of their goods, and the toleration=
of
their worship. The weakness of their Arabian brethren had restrained them f=
rom
opposing his ambition; the disciples of Jesus were endeared to the enemy of=
the
Jews; and it was the interest of a conqueror to propose a fair capitulation=
to
the most powerful religion of the earth.
Till the age of sixty-three years, the strengt=
h of
Mahomet was equal to the temporal and spiritual fatigues of his mission. His
epileptic fits, an absurd calumny of the Greeks, would be an object of pity
rather than abhorrence; but he seriously believed that he was poisoned at
Chaibar by the revenge of a Jewish female. During four years, the health of=
the
prophet declined; his infirmities increased; but his mortal disease was a f=
ever
of fourteen days, which deprived him by intervals of the use of reason. As =
soon
as he was conscious of his danger, he edified his brethren by the humility =
of
his virtue or penitence. "If there be any man," said the apostle =
from
the pulpit, "whom I have unjustly scourged, I submit my own back to the
lash of retaliation. Have I aspersed the reputation of a Mussulman? let him
proclaim my thoughts in the face of the congregation. Has any one been
despoiled of his goods? the little that I possess shall compensate the
principal and the interest of the debt." "Yes," replied a vo=
ice
from the crowd, "I am entitled to three drams of silver." Mahomet
heard the complaint, satisfied the demand, and thanked his creditor for
accusing him in this world rather than at the day of judgment. He beheld wi=
th
temperate firmness the approach of death; enfranchised his slaves (seventee=
n men,
as they are named, and eleven women;) minutely directed the order of his
funeral, and moderated the lamentations of his weeping friends, on whom he
bestowed the benediction of peace. Till the third day before his death, he
regularly performed the function of public prayer: the choice of Abubeker t=
o supply
his place, appeared to mark that ancient and faithful friend as his success=
or
in the sacerdotal and regal office; but he prudently declined the risk and =
envy
of a more explicit nomination. At a moment when his faculties were visibly
impaired, he called for pen and ink to write, or, more properly, to dictate=
, a
divine book, the sum and accomplishment of all his revelations: a dispute a=
rose
in the chamber, whether he should be allowed to supersede the authority of =
the
Koran; and the prophet was forced to reprove the indecent vehemence of his =
disciples.
If the slightest credit may be afforded to the traditions of his wives and
companions, he maintained, in the bosom of his family, and to the last mome=
nts
of his life, the dignity of an apostle, and the faith of an enthusiast;
described the visits of Gabriel, who bade an everlasting farewell to the ea=
rth,
and expressed his lively confidence, not only of the mercy, but of the favo=
r,
of the Supreme Being. In a familiar discourse he had mentioned his special
prerogative, that the angel of death was not allowed to take his soul till =
he
had respectfully asked the permission of the prophet. The request was grant=
ed;
and Mahomet immediately fell into the agony of his dissolution: his head was
reclined on the lap of Ayesha, the best beloved of all his wives; he fainted
with the violence of pain; recovering his spirits, he raised his eyes towar=
ds
the roof of the house, and, with a steady look, though a faltering voice, u=
ttered
the last broken, though articulate, words: "O God!..... pardon my
sins....... Yes,...... I come,...... among my fellow-citizens on high;"
and thus peaceably expired on a carpet spread upon the floor. An expedition=
for
the conquest of Syria was stopped by this mournful event; the army halted at
the gates of Medina; the chiefs were assembled round their dying master. The
city, more especially the house, of the prophet, was a scene of clamorous
sorrow of silent despair: fanaticism alone could suggest a ray of hope and
consolation. "How can he be dead, our witness, our intercessor, our
mediator, with God? By God he is not dead: like Moses and Jesus, he is wrap=
ped
in a holy trance, and speedily will he return to his faithful people."=
The
evidence of sense was disregarded; and Omar, unsheathing his cimeter, threa=
tened
to strike off the heads of the infidels, who should dare to affirm that the
prophet was no more. The tumult was appeased by the weight and moderation of
Abubeker. "Is it Mahomet," said he to Omar and the multitude,
"or the God of Mahomet, whom you worship? The God of Mahomet liveth
forever; but the apostle was a mortal like ourselves, and according to his =
own
prediction, he has experienced the common fate of mortality." He was
piously interred by the hands of his nearest kinsman, on the same spot on w=
hich
he expired: Medina has been sanctified by the death and burial of Mahomet; =
and
the innumerable pilgrims of Mecca often turn aside from the way, to bow, in
voluntary devotion, before the simple tomb of the prophet.
At the conclusion of the life of Mahomet, it m=
ay
perhaps be expected, that I should balance his faults and virtues, that I
should decide whether the title of enthusiast or impostor more properly bel=
ongs
to that extraordinary man. Had I been intimately conversant with the son of=
Abdallah,
the task would still be difficult, and the success uncertain: at the distan=
ce
of twelve centuries, I darkly contemplate his shade through a cloud of
religious incense; and could I truly delineate the portrait of an hour, the
fleeting resemblance would not equally apply to the solitary of Mount Hera,=
to
the preacher of Mecca, and to the conqueror of Arabia. The author of a migh=
ty
revolution appears to have been endowed with a pious and contemplative disp=
osition:
so soon as marriage had raised him above the pressure of want, he avoided t=
he paths
of ambition and avarice; and till the age of forty he lived with innocence,=
and
would have died without a name. The unity of God is an idea most congenial =
to
nature and reason; and a slight conversation with the Jews and Christians w=
ould
teach him to despise and detest the idolatry of Mecca. It was the duty of a=
man
and a citizen to impart the doctrine of salvation, to rescue his country fr=
om
the dominion of sin and error. The energy of a mind incessantly bent on the
same object, would convert a general obligation into a particular call; the
warm suggestions of the understanding or the fancy would be felt as the ins=
pirations
of Heaven; the labor of thought would expire in rapture and vision; and the
inward sensation, the invisible monitor, would be described with the form a=
nd
attributes of an angel of God. From enthusiasm to imposture, the step is
perilous and slippery: the dæmon of Socrates affords a memorable inst=
ance,
how a wise man may deceive himself, how a good man may deceive others, how =
the
conscience may slumber in a mixed and middle state between self-illusion and
voluntary fraud. Charity may believe that the original motives of Mahomet w=
ere those
of pure and genuine benevolence; but a human missionary is incapable of
cherishing the obstinate unbelievers who reject his claims despise his
arguments, and persecute his life; he might forgive his personal adversarie=
s,
he may lawfully hate the enemies of God; the stern passions of pride and
revenge were kindled in the bosom of Mahomet, and he sighed, like the proph=
et
of Nineveh, for the destruction of the rebels whom he had condemned. The
injustice of Mecca and the choice of Medina, transformed the citizen into a
prince, the humble preacher into the leader of armies; but his sword was
consecrated by the example of the saints; and the same God who afflicts a
sinful world with pestilence and earthquakes, might inspire for their
conversion or chastisement the valor of his servants. In the exercise of
political government, he was compelled to abate of the stern rigor of
fanaticism, to comply in some measure with the prejudices and passions of h=
is
followers, and to employ even the vices of mankind as the instruments of th=
eir
salvation. The use of fraud and perfidy, of cruelty and injustice, were oft=
en
subservient to the propagation of the faith; and Mahomet commanded or appro=
ved
the assassination of the Jews and idolaters who had escaped from the field =
of
battle. By the repetition of such acts, the character of Mahomet must have =
been
gradually stained; and the influence of such pernicious habits would be poo=
rly
compensated by the practice of the personal and social virtues which are
necessary to maintain the reputation of a prophet among his sectaries and
friends. Of his last years, ambition was the ruling passion; and a politici=
an
will suspect, that he secretly smiled (the victorious impostor!) at the
enthusiasm of his youth, and the credulity of his proselytes. A philosopher=
will
observe, that their credulity and his success would tend more strongly to
fortify the assurance of his divine mission, that his interest and religion
were inseparably connected, and that his conscience would be soothed by the=
persuasion,
that he alone was absolved by the Deity from the obligation of positive and
moral laws. If he retained any vestige of his native innocence, the sins of
Mahomet may be allowed as an evidence of his sincerity. In the support of
truth, the arts of fraud and fiction may be deemed less criminal; and he wo=
uld
have started at the foulness of the means, had he not been satisfied of the
importance and justice of the end. Even in a conqueror or a priest, I can
surprise a word or action of unaffected humanity; and the decree of Mahomet,
that, in the sale of captives, the mothers should never be separated from t=
heir
children, may suspend, or moderate, the censure of the historian.
The good sense of Mahomet despised the pomp of
royalty: the apostle of God submitted to the menial offices of the family: =
he
kindled the fire, swept the floor, milked the ewes, and mended with his own
hands his shoes and his woollen garment. Disdaining the penance and merit o=
f a hermit,
he observed, without effort or vanity, the abstemious diet of an Arab and a
soldier. On solemn occasions he feasted his companions with rustic and
hospitable plenty; but in his domestic life, many weeks would elapse withou=
t a
tire being kindled on the hearth of the prophet. The interdiction of wine w=
as
confirmed by his example; his hunger was appeased with a sparing allowance =
of
barley-bread: he delighted in the taste of milk and honey; but his ordinary
food consisted of dates and water. Perfumes and women were the two sensual
enjoyments which his nature required, and his religion did not forbid; and
Mahomet affirmed, that the fervor of his devotion was increased by these
innocent pleasures. The heat of the climate inflames the blood of the Arabs=
; and
their libidinous complexion has been noticed by the writers of antiquity. T=
heir
incontinence was regulated by the civil and religious laws of the Koran: th=
eir
incestuous alliances were blamed; the boundless license of polygamy was red=
uced
to four legitimate wives or concubines; their rights both of bed and of dow=
ry
were equitably determined; the freedom of divorce was discouraged, adultery=
was
condemned as a capital offence; and fornication, in either sex, was punished
with a hundred stripes. Such were the calm and rational precepts of the
legislator: but in his private conduct, Mahomet indulged the appetites of a
man, and abused the claims of a prophet. A special revelation dispensed him
from the laws which he had imposed on his nation: the female sex, without r=
eserve,
was abandoned to his desires; and this singular prerogative excited the env=
y,
rather than the scandal, the veneration, rather than the envy, of the devout
Mussulmans. If we remember the seven hundred wives and three hundred concub=
ines
of the wise Solomon, we shall applaud the modesty of the Arabian, who espou=
sed
no more than seventeen or fifteen wives; eleven are enumerated who occupied=
at
Medina their separate apartments round the house of the apostle, and enjoye=
d in
their turns the favor of his conjugal society. What is singular enough, the=
y were
all widows, excepting only Ayesha, the daughter of Abubeker. She was doubtl=
ess
a virgin, since Mahomet consummated his nuptials (such is the premature
ripeness of the climate) when she was only nine years of age. The youth, the
beauty, the spirit of Ayesha, gave her a superior ascendant: she was beloved
and trusted by the prophet; and, after his death, the daughter of Abubeker =
was
long revered as the mother of the faithful. Her behavior had been ambiguous=
and
indiscreet: in a nocturnal march she was accidentally left behind; and in t=
he
morning Ayesha returned to the camp with a man. The temper of Mahomet was
inclined to jealousy; but a divine revelation assured him of her innocence:=
he chastised
her accusers, and published a law of domestic peace, that no woman should be
condemned unless four male witnesses had seen her in the act of adultery. In
his adventures with Zeineb, the wife of Zeid, and with Mary, an Egyptian
captive, the amorous prophet forgot the interest of his reputation. At the
house of Zeid, his freedman and adopted son, he beheld, in a loose undress,=
the
beauty of Zeineb, and burst forth into an ejaculation of devotion and desir=
e.
The servile, or grateful, freedman understood the hint, and yielded without
hesitation to the love of his benefactor. But as the filial relation had
excited some doubt and scandal, the angel Gabriel descended from heaven to
ratify the deed, to annul the adoption, and gently to reprove the apostle f=
or
distrusting the indulgence of his God. One of his wives, Hafna, the daughte=
r of
Omar, surprised him on her own bed, in the embraces of his Egyptian captive:
she promised secrecy and forgiveness, he swore that he would renounce the
possession of Mary. Both parties forgot their engagements; and Gabriel again
descended with a chapter of the Koran, to absolve him from his oath, and to
exhort him freely to enjoy his captives and concubines, without listening to
the clamors of his wives. In a solitary retreat of thirty days, he labored,
alone with Mary, to fulfil the commands of the angel. When his love and rev=
enge
were satiated, he summoned to his presence his eleven wives, reproached the=
ir
disobedience and indiscretion, and threatened them with a sentence of divor=
ce,
both in this world and in the next; a dreadful sentence, since those who ha=
d ascended
the bed of the prophet were forever excluded from the hope of a second
marriage. Perhaps the incontinence of Mahomet may be palliated by the tradi=
tion
of his natural or preternatural gifts; he united the manly virtue of thirty=
of
the children of Adam: and the apostle might rival the thirteenth labor of t=
he
Grecian Hercules. A more serious and decent excuse may be drawn from his
fidelity to Cadijah. During the twenty-four years of their marriage, her
youthful husband abstained from the right of polygamy, and the pride or
tenderness of the venerable matron was never insulted by the society of a
rival. After her death, he placed her in the rank of the four perfect women,
with the sister of Moses, the mother of Jesus, and Fatima, the best beloved=
of
his daughters. "Was she not old?" said Ayesha, with the insolence=
of
a blooming beauty; "has not God given you a better in her place?"
"No, by God," said Mahomet, with an effusion of honest gratitude,
"there never can be a better! She believed in me when men despised me;=
she
relieved my wants, when I was poor and persecuted by the world."
In the largest indulgence of polygamy, the fou=
nder
of a religion and empire might aspire to multiply the chances of a numerous
posterity and a lineal succession. The hopes of Mahomet were fatally
disappointed. The virgin Ayesha, and his ten widows of mature age and appro=
ved
fertility, were barren in his potent embraces. The four sons of Cadijah die=
d in
their infancy. Mary, his Egyptian concubine, was endeared to him by the bir=
th
of Ibrahim. At the end of fifteen months the prophet wept over his grave; b=
ut
he sustained with firmness the raillery of his enemies, and checked the
adulation or credulity of the Moslems, by the assurance that an eclipse of =
the
sun was not occasioned by the death of the infant. Cadijah had likewise giv=
en
him four daughters, who were married to the most faithful of his disciples:=
the
three eldest died before their father; but Fatima, who possessed his confid=
ence
and love, became the wife of her cousin Ali, and the mother of an illustrio=
us
progeny. The merit and misfortunes of Ali and his descendants will lead me =
to anticipate,
in this place, the series of the Saracen caliphs, a title which describes t=
he
commanders of the faithful as the vicars and successors of the apostle of G=
od.
The birth, the alliance, the character of Ali,
which exalted him above the rest of his countrymen, might justify his claim=
to
the vacant throne of Arabia. The son of Abu Taleb was, in his own right, the
chief of the family of Hashem, and the hereditary prince or guardian of the
city and temple of Mecca. The light of prophecy was extinct; but the husban=
d of
Fatima might expect the inheritance and blessing of her father: the Arabs h=
ad
sometimes been patient of a female reign; and the two grandsons of the prop=
het
had often been fondled in his lap, and shown in his pulpit as the hope of h=
is
age, and the chief of the youth of paradise. The first of the true believers
might aspire to march before them in this world and in the next; and if some
were of a graver and more rigid cast, the zeal and virtue of Ali were never
outstripped by any recent proselyte. He united the qualifications of a poet=
, a
soldier, and a saint: his wisdom still breathes in a collection of moral an=
d religious
sayings; and every antagonist, in the combats of the tongue or of the sword,
was subdued by his eloquence and valor. From the first hour of his mission =
to
the last rites of his funeral, the apostle was never forsaken by a generous
friend, whom he delighted to name his brother, his vicegerent, and the fait=
hful
Aaron of a second Moses. The son of Abu Taleb was afterwards reproached for
neglecting to secure his interest by a solemn declaration of his right, whi=
ch
would have silenced all competition, and sealed his succession by the decre=
es
of Heaven. But the unsuspecting hero confided in himself: the jealousy of
empire, and perhaps the fear of opposition, might suspend the resolutions o=
f Mahomet;
and the bed of sickness was besieged by the artful Ayesha, the daughter of
Abubeker, and the enemy of Ali.
The silence and death of the prophet restored =
the
liberty of the people; and his companions convened an assembly to deliberat=
e on
the choice of his successor. The hereditary claim and lofty spirit of Ali w=
ere offensive
to an aristocracy of elders, desirous of bestowing and resuming the sceptre=
by
a free and frequent election: the Koreish could never be reconciled to the
proud preëminence of the line of Hashem; the ancient discord of the tr=
ibes
was rekindled, the fugitives of Mecca and the auxiliaries of Medina asserted
their respective merits; and the rash proposal of choosing two independent
caliphs would have crushed in their infancy the religion and empire of the
Saracens. The tumult was appeased by the disinterested resolution of Omar, =
who,
suddenly renouncing his own pretensions, stretched forth his hand, and decl=
ared
himself the first subject of the mild and venerable Abubeker. The urgency of
the moment, and the acquiescence of the people, might excuse this illegal a=
nd
precipitate measure; but Omar himself confessed from the pulpit, that if any
Mussulman should hereafter presume to anticipate the suffrage of his brethr=
en,
both the elector and the elected would be worthy of death. After the simple
inauguration of Abubeker, he was obeyed in Medina, Mecca, and the provinces=
of
Arabia: the Hashemites alone declined the oath of fidelity; and their chief=
, in
his own house, maintained, above six months, a sullen and independent reser=
ve;
without listening to the threats of Omar, who attempted to consume with fire
the habitation of the daughter of the apostle. The death of Fatima, and the
decline of his party, subdued the indignant spirit of Ali: he condescended =
to
salute the commander of the faithful, accepted his excuse of the necessity =
of
preventing their common enemies, and wisely rejected his courteous offer of
abdicating the government of the Arabians. After a reign of two years, the =
aged
caliph was summoned by the angel of death. In his testament, with the tacit
approbation of his companions, he bequeathed the sceptre to the firm and
intrepid virtue of Omar. "I have no occasion," said the modest
candidate, "for the place." "But the place has occasion for
you," replied Abubeker; who expired with a fervent prayer, that the Go=
d of
Mahomet would ratify his choice, and direct the Mussulmans in the way of
concord and obedience. The prayer was not ineffectual, since Ali himself, i=
n a
life of privacy and prayer, professed to revere the superior worth and dign=
ity
of his rival; who comforted him for the loss of empire, by the most flatter=
ing
marks of confidence and esteem. In the twelfth year of his reign, Omar rece=
ived
a mortal wound from the hand of an assassin: he rejected with equal imparti=
ality
the names of his son and of Ali, refused to load his conscience with the si=
ns
of his successor, and devolved on six of the most respectable companions the
arduous task of electing a commander of the faithful. On this occasion, Ali=
was
again blamed by his friends for submitting his right to the judgment of men,
for recognizing their jurisdiction by accepting a place among the six elect=
ors.
He might have obtained their suffrage, had he deigned to promise a strict a=
nd
servile conformity, not only to the Koran and tradition, but likewise to th=
e determinations
of two seniors. With these limitations, Othman, the secretary of Mahomet,
accepted the government; nor was it till after the third caliph, twenty-four
years after the death of the prophet, that Ali was invested, by the popular
choice, with the regal and sacerdotal office. The manners of the Arabians
retained their primitive simplicity, and the son of Abu Taleb despised the =
pomp
and vanity of this world. At the hour of prayer, he repaired to the mosch of
Medina, clothed in a thin cotton gown, a coarse turban on his head, his
slippers in one hand, and his bow in the other, instead of a walking-staff.=
The
companions of the prophet, and the chiefs of the tribes, saluted their new
sovereign, and gave him their right hands as a sign of fealty and allegianc=
e.
The mischiefs that flow from the contests of
ambition are usually confined to the times and countries in which they have
been agitated. But the religious discord of the friends and enemies of Ali =
has
been renewed in every age of the Hegira, and is still maintained in the imm=
ortal
hatred of the Persians and Turks. The former, who are branded with the
appellation of Shiites or sectaries, have enriched the Mahometan creed with=
a
new article of faith; and if Mahomet be the apostle, his companion Ali is t=
he
vicar, of God. In their private converse, in their public worship, they
bitterly execrate the three usurpers who intercepted his indefeasible right=
to
the dignity of Imam and Caliph; and the name of Omar expresses in their ton=
gue
the perfect accomplishment of wickedness and impiety. The Sonnites, who are=
supported
by the general consent and orthodox tradition of the Mussulmans, entertain a
more impartial, or at least a more decent, opinion. They respect the memory=
of
Abubeker, Omar, Othman, and Ali, the holy and legitimate successors of the
prophet. But they assign the last and most humble place to the husband of
Fatima, in the persuasion that the order of succession was determined by th=
e decrees
of sanctity. An historian who balances the four caliphs with a hand unshake=
n by
superstition, will calmly pronounce that their manners were alike pure and
exemplary; that their zeal was fervent, and probably sincere; and that, in =
the
midst of riches and power, their lives were devoted to the practice of moral
and religious duties. But the public virtues of Abubeker and Omar, the prud=
ence
of the first, the severity of the second, maintained the peace and prosperi=
ty
of their reigns. The feeble temper and declining age of Othman were incapab=
le
of sustaining the weight of conquest and empire. He chose, and he was decei=
ved;
he trusted, and he was betrayed: the most deserving of the faithful became
useless or hostile to his government, and his lavish bounty was productive =
only
of ingratitude and discontent. The spirit of discord went forth in the
provinces: their deputies assembled at Medina; and the Charegites, the
desperate fanatics who disclaimed the yoke of subordination and reason, were
confounded among the free-born Arabs, who demanded the redress of their wro=
ngs
and the punishment of their oppressors. From Cufa, from Bassora, from Egypt,
from the tribes of the desert, they rose in arms, encamped about a league f=
rom
Medina, and despatched a haughty mandate to their sovereign, requiring him =
to execute
justice, or to descend from the throne. His repentance began to disarm and
disperse the insurgents; but their fury was rekindled by the arts of his
enemies; and the forgery of a perfidious secretary was contrived to blast h=
is
reputation and precipitate his fall. The caliph had lost the only guard of =
his
predecessors, the esteem and confidence of the Moslems: during a siege of s=
ix
weeks his water and provisions were intercepted, and the feeble gates of the
palace were protected only by the scruples of the more timorous rebels.
Forsaken by those who had abused his simplicity, the hopeless and venerable
caliph expected the approach of death: the brother of Ayesha marched at the
head of the assassins; and Othman, with the Koran in his lap, was pierced w=
ith
a multitude of wounds. A tumultuous anarchy of five days was appeased by the
inauguration of Ali: his refusal would have provoked a general massacre. 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 su=
ch
magnitude as might stagger and corrupt the most obdurate virtue. The ambiti=
ous
candidate no longer aspired to the barren sceptre of Arabia; the Saracens h=
ad
been victorious in the East and West; and the wealthy kingdoms of Persia,
Syria, and Egypt were the patrimony of the commander of the faithful.
A life of prayer and contemplation had not chi=
lled
the martial activity of Ali; but in a mature age, after a long experience of
mankind, he still betrayed in his conduct the rashness and indiscretion of
youth. In the first days of his reign, he neglected to secure, either by gi=
fts or
fetters, the doubtful allegiance of Telha and Zobeir, two of the most power=
ful
of the Arabian chiefs. They escaped from Medina to Mecca, and from thence to
Bassora; erected the standard of revolt; and usurped the government of Irak=
, or
Assyria, which they had vainly solicited as the reward of their services. T=
he
mask of patriotism is allowed to cover the most glaring inconsistencies; and
the enemies, perhaps the assassins, of Othman now demanded vengeance for his
blood. They were accompanied in their flight by Ayesha, the widow of the
prophet, who cherished, to the last hour of her life, an implacable hatred
against the husband and the posterity of Fatima. The most reasonable Moslems
were scandalized, that the mother of the faithful should expose in a camp h=
er
person and character; but the superstitious crowd was confident that her
presence would sanctify the justice, and assure the success, of their cause=
. At
the head of twenty thousand of his loyal Arabs, and nine thousand valiant
auxiliaries of Cufa, the caliph encountered and defeated the superior numbe=
rs
of the rebels under the walls of Bassora. Their leaders, Telha and Zobeir,
§ were slain in the first battle that stained with civil blood the arm=
s of
the Moslems. || After passing through the ranks to animate the troops, Ayes=
ha
had chosen her post amidst the dangers of the field. In the heat of the act=
ion,
seventy men, who held the bridle of her camel, were successively killed or
wounded; and the cage or litter, in which she sat, was stuck with javelins =
and
darts like the quills of a porcupine. The venerable captive sustained with
firmness the reproaches of the conqueror, and was speedily dismissed to her=
proper
station at the tomb of Mahomet, with the respect and tenderness that was st=
ill
due to the widow of the apostle. After this victory, which was styled the D=
ay
of the Camel, Ali marched against a more formidable adversary; against
Moawiyah, the son of Abu Sophian, who had assumed the title of caliph, and
whose claim was supported by the forces of Syria and the interest of the ho=
use
of Ommiyah. From the passage of Thapsacus, the plain of Siffin extends along
the western bank of the Euphrates. On this spacious and level theatre, the =
two
competitors waged a desultory war of one hundred and ten days. In the cours=
e of
ninety actions or skirmishes, the loss of Ali was estimated at twenty-five,=
that
of Moawiyah at forty-five, thousand soldiers; and the list of the slain was=
dignified
with the names of five-and-twenty veterans who had fought at Beder under the
standard of Mahomet. In this sanguinary contest the lawful caliph displayed=
a
superior character of valor and humanity. His troops were strictly enjoined=
to
await the first onset of the enemy, to spare their flying brethren, and to
respect the bodies of the dead, and the chastity of the female captives. He
generously proposed to save the blood of the Moslems by a single combat; but
his trembling rival declined the challenge as a sentence of inevitable deat=
h.
The ranks of the Syrians were broken by the charge of a hero who was mounte=
d on
a piebald horse, and wielded with irresistible force his ponderous and
two-edged sword. As often as he smote a rebel, he shouted the Allah Acbar,
"God is victorious!" and in the tumult of a nocturnal battle, he =
was
heard to repeat four hundred times that tremendous exclamation. The prince =
of
Damascus already meditated his flight; but the certain victory was snatched
from the grasp of Ali by the disobedience and enthusiasm of his troops. The=
ir
conscience was awed by the solemn appeal to the books of the Koran which
Moawiyah exposed on the foremost lances; and Ali was compelled to yield to a
disgraceful truce and an insidious compromise. He retreated with sorrow and=
indignation
to Cufa; his party was discouraged; the distant provinces of Persia, of Yem=
en,
and of Egypt, were subdued or seduced by his crafty rival; and the stroke of
fanaticism, which was aimed against the three chiefs of the nation, was fat=
al
only to the cousin of Mahomet. In the temple of Mecca, three Charegites or
enthusiasts discoursed of the disorders of the church and state: they soon
agreed, that the deaths of Ali, of Moawiyah, and of his friend Amrou, the
viceroy of Egypt, would restore the peace and unity of religion. Each of the
assassins chose his victim, poisoned his dagger, devoted his life, and secr=
etly
repaired to the scene of action. Their resolution was equally desperate: but
the first mistook the person of Amrou, and stabbed the deputy who occupied =
his
seat; the prince of Damascus was dangerously hurt by the second; the lawful
caliph, in the mosch of Cufa, received a mortal wound from the hand of the
third. He expired in the sixty-third year of his age, and mercifully
recommended to his children, that they would despatch the murderer by a sin=
gle
stroke. The sepulchre of Ali was concealed from the tyrants of the house of
Ommiyah; but in the fourth age of the Hegira, a tomb, a temple, a city, aro=
se
near the ruins of Cufa. Many thousands of the Shiites repose in holy ground=
at
the feet of the vicar of God; and the desert is vivified by the numerous and
annual visits of the Persians, who esteem their devotion not less meritorio=
us
than the pilgrimage of Mecca.
The persecutors of Mahomet usurped the inherit=
ance
of his children; and the champions of idolatry became the supreme heads of =
his
religion and empire. The opposition of Abu Sophian had been fierce and
obstinate; his conversion was tardy and reluctant; his new faith was fortif=
ied
by necessity and interest; he served, he fought, perhaps he believed; and t=
he
sins of the time of ignorance were expiated by the recent merits of the fam=
ily
of Ommiyah. Moawiyah, the son of Abu Sophian, and of the cruel Henda, was
dignified, in his early youth, with the office or title of secretary of the
prophet: the judgment of Omar intrusted him with the government of Syria; a=
nd
he administered that important province above forty years, either in a
subordinate or supreme rank. Without renouncing the fame of valor and
liberality, he affected the reputation of humanity and moderation: a gratef=
ul
people was attached to their benefactor; and the victorious Moslems were
enriched with the spoils of Cyprus and Rhodes. The sacred duty of pursuing =
the
assassins of Othman was the engine and pretence of his ambition. The bloody
shirt of the martyr was exposed in the mosch of Damascus: the emir deplored=
the
fate of his injured kinsman; and sixty thousand Syrians were engaged in his
service by an oath of fidelity and revenge. Amrou, the conqueror of Egypt, =
himself
an army, was the first who saluted the new monarch, and divulged the danger=
ous
secret, that the Arabian caliphs might be created elsewhere than in the cit=
y of
the prophet. The policy of Moawiyah eluded the valor of his rival; and, aft=
er
the death of Ali, he negotiated the abdication of his son Hassan, whose mind
was either above or below the government of the world, and who retired with=
out
a sigh from the palace of Cufa to an humble cell near the tomb of his
grandfather. The aspiring wishes of the caliph were finally crowned by the
important change of an elective to an hereditary kingdom. Some murmurs of
freedom or fanaticism attested the reluctance of the Arabs, and four citize=
ns
of Medina refused the oath of fidelity; but the designs of Moawiyah were
conducted with vigor and address; and his son Yezid, a feeble and dissolute
youth, was proclaimed as the commander of the faithful and the successor on=
the
apostle of God.
A familiar story is related of the benevolence=
of
one of the sons of Ali. In serving at table, a slave had inadvertently drop=
ped
a dish of scalding broth on his master: the heedless wretch fell prostrate,=
to deprecate
his punishment, and repeated a verse of the Koran: "Paradise is for th=
ose
who command their anger: "--"I am not angry: "--"and fo=
r those
who pardon offences: "--"I pardon your offence: "--"and=
for
those who return good for evil: "--"I give you your liberty and f=
our
hundred pieces of silver." With an equal measure of piety, Hosein, the
younger brother of Hassan, inherited a remnant of his father's spirit, and =
served
with honor against the Christians in the siege of Constantinople. The
primogeniture of the line of Hashem, and the holy character of grandson of =
the
apostle, had centred in his person, and he was at liberty to prosecute his
claim against Yezid, the tyrant of Damascus, whose vices he despised, and w=
hose
title he had never deigned to acknowledge. A list was secretly transmitted =
from
Cufa to Medina, of one hundred and forty thousand Moslems, who professed th=
eir
attachment to his cause, and who were eager to draw their swords so soon as=
he
should appear on the banks of the Euphrates. Against the advice of his wise=
st friends,
he resolved to trust his person and family in the hands of a perfidious peo=
ple.
He traversed the desert of Arabia with a timorous retinue of women and
children; but as he approached the confines of Irak he was alarmed by the
solitary or hostile face of the country, and suspected either the defection=
or
ruin of his party. His fears were just: Obeidollah, the governor of Cufa, h=
ad
extinguished the first sparks of an insurrection; and Hosein, in the plain =
of
Kerbela, was encompassed by a body of five thousand horse, who intercepted =
his communication
with the city and the river. He might still have escaped to a fortress in t=
he
desert, that had defied the power of Cæsar and Chosroes, and confided=
in
the fidelity of the tribe of Tai, which would have armed ten thousand warri=
ors
in his defence. In a conference with the chief of the enemy, he proposed the
option of three honorable conditions: that he should be allowed to return to
Medina, or be stationed in a frontier garrison against the Turks, or safely
conducted to the presence of Yezid. But the commands of the caliph, or his =
lieutenant,
were stern and absolute; and Hosein was informed that he must either submit=
as
a captive and a criminal to the commander of the faithful, or expect the
consequences of his rebellion. "Do you think," replied he, "=
to
terrify me with death?" And, during the short respite of a night, he
prepared with calm and solemn resignation to encounter his fate. He checked=
the
lamentations of his sister Fatima, who deplored the impending ruin of his
house. "Our trust," said Hosein, "is in God alone. All thing=
s,
both in heaven and earth, must perish and return to their Creator. My broth=
er,
my father, my mother, were better than me, and every Mussulman has an examp=
le
in the prophet." He pressed his friends to consult their safety by a
timely flight: they unanimously refused to desert or survive their beloved
master: and their courage was fortified by a fervent prayer and the assuran=
ce
of paradise. On the morning of the fatal day, he mounted on horseback, with=
his
sword in one hand and the Koran in the other: his generous band of martyrs
consisted only of thirty-two horse and forty foot; but their flanks and rear
were secured by the tent-ropes, and by a deep trench which they had filled =
with
lighted fagots, according to the practice of the Arabs. The enemy advanced =
with
reluctance, and one of their chiefs deserted, with thirty followers, to cla=
im
the partnership of inevitable death. In every close onset, or single combat,
the despair of the Fatimites was invincible; but the surrounding multitudes=
galled
them from a distance with a cloud of arrows, and the horses and men were
successively slain; a truce was allowed on both sides for the hour of praye=
r;
and the battle at length expired by the death of the last companions of Hos=
ein.
Alone, weary, and wounded, he seated himself at the door of his tent. As he
tasted a drop of water, he was pierced in the mouth with a dart; and his son
and nephew, two beautiful youths, were killed in his arms. He lifted his ha=
nds
to heaven; they were full of blood; and he uttered a funeral prayer for the
living and the dead. In a transport of despair his sister issued from the t=
ent,
and adjured the general of the Cufians, that he would not suffer Hosein to =
be
murdered before his eyes: a tear trickled down his venerable beard; and the
boldest of his soldiers fell back on every side as the dying hero threw him=
self
among them. The remorseless Shamer, a name detested by the faithful, reproa=
ched
their cowardice; and the grandson of Mahomet was slain with three-and-thirty
strokes of lances and swords. After they had trampled on his body, they car=
ried
his head to the castle of Cufa, and the inhuman Obeidollah struck him on th=
e mouth
with a cane: "Alas," exclaimed an aged Mussulman, "on these =
lips
have I seen the lips of the apostle of God!" In a distant age and clim=
ate,
the tragic scene of the death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the col=
dest
reader. On the annual festival of his martyrdom, in the devout pilgrimage to
his sepulchre, his Persian votaries abandon their souls to the religious fr=
enzy
of sorrow and indignation.
When the sisters and children of Ali were brou=
ght
in chains to the throne of Damascus, the caliph was advised to extirpate the
enmity of a popular and hostile race, whom he had injured beyond the hope o=
f reconciliation.
But Yezid preferred the councils of mercy; and the mourning family was
honorably dismissed to mingle their tears with their kindred at Medina. The
glory of martyrdom superseded the right of primogeniture; and the twelve im=
ams,
or pontiffs, of the Persian creed, are Ali, Hassan, Hosein, and the lineal
descendants of Hosein to the ninth generation. Without arms, or treasures, =
or
subjects, they successively enjoyed the veneration of the people, and provo=
ked
the jealousy of the reigning caliphs: their tombs, at Mecca or Medina, on t=
he
banks of the Euphrates, or in the province of Chorasan, are still visited by
the devotion of their sect. Their names were often the pretence of sedition=
and
civil war; but these royal saints despised the pomp of the world: submitted=
to
the will of God and the injustice of man; and devoted their innocent lives =
to
the study and practice of religion. The twelfth and last of the Imams,
conspicuous by the title of Mahadi, or the Guide, surpassed the solitude and
sanctity of his predecessors. He concealed himself in a cavern near Bagdad:=
the
time and place of his death are unknown; and his votaries pretend that he s=
till
lives, and will appear before the day of judgment to overthrow the tyranny =
of
Dejal, or the Antichrist. In the lapse of two or three centuries, the poste=
rity
of Abbas, the uncle of Mahomet, had multiplied to the number of thirty-three
thousand: the race of Ali might be equally prolific: the meanest individual=
was
above the first and greatest of princes; and the most eminent were supposed=
to
excel the perfection of angels. But their adverse fortune, and the wide ext=
ent
of the Mussulman empire, allowed an ample scope for every bold and artful
imposture, who claimed affinity with the holy seed: the sceptre of the Almo=
hades,
in Spain and Africa; of the Fatimites, in Egypt and Syria; of the Sultans of
Yemen; and of the Sophis of Persia; has been consecrated by this vague and
ambiguous title. Under their reigns it might be dangerous to dispute the
legitimacy of their birth; and one of the Fatimite caliphs silenced an
indiscreet question by drawing his cimeter: "This," said Moez,
"is my pedigree; and these," casting a handful of gold to his sol=
diers,--"and
these are my kindred and my children." In the various conditions of
princes, or doctors, or nobles, or merchants, or beggars, a swarm of the
genuine or fictitious descendants of Mahomet and Ali is honored with the
appellation of sheiks, or sherifs, or emirs. In the Ottoman empire they are
distinguished by a green turban; receive a stipend from the treasury; are
judged only by their chief; and, however debased by fortune or character, s=
till
assert the proud preëminence of their birth. A family of three hundred
persons, the pure and orthodox branch of the caliph Hassan, is preserved
without taint or suspicion in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and still
retains, after the revolutions of twelve centuries, the custody of the temp=
le,
and the sovereignty of their native land. The fame and merit of Mahomet wou=
ld ennoble
a plebeian race, and the ancient blood of the Koreish transcends the recent
majesty of the kings of the earth.
The talents of Mahomet are entitled to our
applause; but his success has, perhaps, too strongly attracted our admirati=
on.
Are we surprised that a multitude of proselytes should embrace the doctrine=
and
the passions of an eloquent fanatic? In the heresies of the church, the sam=
e seduction
has been tried and repeated from the time of the apostles to that of the
reformers. Does it seem incredible that a private citizen should grasp the
sword and the sceptre, subdue his native country, and erect a monarchy by h=
is
victorious arms? In the moving picture of the dynasties of the East, a hund=
red
fortunate usurpers have arisen from a baser origin, surmounted more formida=
ble
obstacles, and filled a larger scope of empire and conquest. Mahomet was al=
ike
instructed to preach and to fight; and the union of these opposite qualitie=
s,
while it enhanced his merit, contributed to his success: the operation of f=
orce
and persuasion, of enthusiasm and fear, continually acted on each other, ti=
ll
every barrier yielded to their irresistible power. His voice invited the Ar=
abs
to freedom and victory, to arms and rapine, to the indulgence of their darl=
ing
passions in this world and the other: the restraints which he imposed were
requisite to establish the credit of the prophet, and to exercise the obedi=
ence
of the people; and the only objection to his success was his rational creed=
of
the unity and perfections of God. It is not the propagation, but the
permanency, of his religion, that deserves our wonder: the same pure and
perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina, is preserved, aft=
er the
revolutions of twelve centuries, by the Indian, the African, and the Turkish
proselytes of the Koran. If the Christian apostles, St. Peter or St. Paul,
could return to the Vatican, they might possibly inquire the name of the De=
ity
who is worshipped with such mysterious rites in that magnificent temple: at
Oxford or Geneva, they would experience less surprise; but it might still be
incumbent on them to peruse the catechism of the church, and to study the
orthodox commentators on their own writings and the words of their Master. =
But
the Turkish dome of St. Sophia, with an increase of splendor and size,
represents the humble tabernacle erected at Medina by the hands of Mahomet.=
The
Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptation of reducing the object of
their faith and devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man.
"I believe in one God, and Mahomet the apostle of God," is the si=
mple
and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has=
never
been degraded by any visible idol; the honors of the prophet have never
transgressed the measure of human virtue; and his living precepts have
restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and
religion. The votaries of Ali have, indeed, consecrated the memory of their
hero, his wife, and his children; and some of the Persian doctors pretend t=
hat
the divine essence was incarnate in the person of the Imams; but their
superstition is universally condemned by the Sonnites; and their impiety has
afforded a seasonable warning against the worship of saints and martyrs. The
metaphysical questions on the attributes of God, and the liberty of man, ha=
ve
been agitated in the schools of the Mahometans, as well as in those of the
Christians; but among the former they have never engaged the passions of the
people, or disturbed the tranquillity of the state. The cause of this impor=
tant
difference may be found in the separation or union of the regal and sacerdo=
tal
characters. It was the interest of the caliphs, the successors of the proph=
et
and commanders of the faithful, to repress and discourage all religious inn=
ovations:
the order, the discipline, the temporal and spiritual ambition of the clerg=
y,
are unknown to the Moslems; and the sages of the law are the guides of their
conscience and the oracles of their faith. From the Atlantic to the Ganges,=
the
Koran is acknowledged as the fundamental code, not only of theology, but of
civil and criminal jurisprudence; and the laws which regulate the actions a=
nd
the property of mankind are guarded by the infallible and immutable sanctio=
n of
the will of God. This religious servitude is attended with some practical
disadvantage; the illiterate legislator had been often misled by his own
prejudices and those of his country; and the institutions of the Arabian de=
sert
may be ill adapted to the wealth and numbers of Ispahan and Constantinople.=
On
these occasions, the Cadhi respectfully places on his head the holy volume,=
and
substitutes a dexterous interpretation more apposite to the principles of
equity, and the manners and policy of the times.
His beneficial or pernicious influence on the
public happiness is the last consideration in the character of Mahomet. The
most bitter or most bigoted of his Christian or Jewish foes will surely all=
ow
that he assumed a false commission to inculcate a salutary doctrine, less p=
erfect
only than their own. He piously supposed, as the basis of his religion, the
truth and sanctity of their prior revolutions, the virtues and miracles of
their founders. The idols of Arabia were broken before the throne of God; t=
he
blood of human victims was expiated by prayer, and fasting, and alms, the
laudable or innocent arts of devotion; and his rewards and punishments of a
future life were painted by the images most congenial to an ignorant and ca=
rnal
generation. Mahomet was, perhaps, incapable of dictating a moral and politi=
cal system
for the use of his countrymen: but he breathed among the faithful a spirit =
of
charity and friendship; recommended the practice of the social virtues; and
checked, by his laws and precepts, the thirst of revenge, and the oppressio=
n of
widows and orphans. The hostile tribes were united in faith and obedience, =
and
the valor which had been idly spent in domestic quarrels was vigorously
directed against a foreign enemy. Had the impulse been less powerful, Arabi=
a,
free at home and formidable abroad, might have flourished under a successio=
n of
her native monarchs. Her sovereignty was lost by the extent and rapidity of=
conquest.
The colonies of the nation were scattered over the East and West, and their
blood was mingled with the blood of their converts and captives. After the
reign of three caliphs, the throne was transported from Medina to the valle=
y of
Damascus and the banks of the Tigris; the holy cities were violated by impi=
ous
war; Arabia was ruled by the rod of a subject, perhaps of a stranger; and t=
he
Bedoweens of the desert, awakening from their dream of dominion, resumed th=
eir
old and solitary independence.
The Conquest Of
Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, And Spain, By The Arabs Or
Saracens.--Empire Of The Caliphs, Or Successors Of
Mahomet.--State Of The Christians, &c., Under Their Government.=
The revolution of Arabia had not changed the
character of the Arabs: the death of Mahomet was the signal of independence;
and the hasty structure of his power and religion tottered to its foundatio=
ns.
A small and faithful band of his primitive disciples had listened to his
eloquence, and shared his distress; had fled with the apostle from the
persecution of Mecca, or had received the fugitive in the walls of Medina. =
The increasing
myriads, who acknowledged Mahomet as their king and prophet, had been compe=
lled
by his arms, or allured by his prosperity. The polytheists were confounded =
by
the simple idea of a solitary and invisible God; the pride of the Christians
and Jews disdained the yoke of a mortal and contemporary legislator. The ha=
bits
of faith and obedience were not sufficiently confirmed; and many of the new
converts regretted the venerable antiquity of the law of Moses, or the rite=
s and
mysteries of the Catholic church; or the idols, the sacrifices, the joyous
festivals, of their Pagan ancestors. The jarring interests and hereditary f=
euds
of the Arabian tribes had not yet coalesced in a system of union and
subordination; and the Barbarians were impatient of the mildest and most
salutary laws that curbed their passions, or violated their customs. They
submitted with reluctance to the religious precepts of the Koran, the
abstinence from wine, the fast of the Ramadan, and the daily repetition of =
five
prayers; and the alms and tithes, which were collected for the treasury of
Medina, could be distinguished only by a name from the payment of a perpetu=
al
and ignominious tribute. The example of Mahomet had excited a spirit of
fanaticism or imposture, and several of his rivals presumed to imitate the
conduct, and defy the authority, of the living prophet. At the head of the
fugitives and auxiliaries, the first caliph was reduced to the cities of Me=
cca,
Medina, and Tayef; and perhaps the Koreish would have restored the idols of=
the
Caaba, if their levity had not been checked by a seasonable reproof. "=
Ye
men of Mecca, will ye be the last to embrace, and the first to abandon, the
religion of Islam?" After exhorting the Moslems to confide in the aid =
of
God and his apostle, Abubeker resolved, by a vigorous attack, to prevent the
junction of the rebels. The women and children were safely lodged in the
cavities of the mountains: the warriors, marching under eleven banners,
diffused the terror of their arms; and the appearance of a military force
revived and confirmed the loyalty of the faithful. The inconstant tribes
accepted, with humble repentance, the duties of prayer, and fasting, and al=
ms;
and, after some examples of success and severity, the most daring apostates
fell prostrate before the sword of the Lord and of Caled. In the fertile pr=
ovince
of Yemanah, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, in a city not infer=
ior
to Medina itself, a powerful chief (his name was Moseilama) had assumed the
character of a prophet, and the tribe of Hanifa listened to his voice. A fe=
male
prophetess was attracted by his reputation; the decencies of words and acti=
ons
were spurned by these favorites of Heaven; and they employed several days in
mystic and amorous converse. An obscure sentence of his Koran, or book, is =
yet extant;
and in the pride of his mission, Moseilama condescended to offer a partitio=
n of
the earth. The proposal was answered by Mahomet with contempt; but the rapid
progress of the impostor awakened the fears of his successor: forty thousand
Moslems were assembled under the standard of Caled; and the existence of th=
eir
faith was resigned to the event of a decisive battle. In the first action t=
hey
were repulsed by the loss of twelve hundred men; but the skill and persever=
ance
of their general prevailed; their defeat was avenged by the slaughter of ten
thousand infidels; and Moseilama himself was pierced by an Æthiopian
slave with the same javelin which had mortally wounded the uncle of Mahomet=
. The
various rebels of Arabia without a chief or a cause, were speedily suppress=
ed
by the power and discipline of the rising monarchy; and the whole nation ag=
ain
professed, and more steadfastly held, the religion of the Koran. The ambiti=
on
of the caliphs provided an immediate exercise for the restless spirit of the
Saracens: their valor was united in the prosecution of a holy war; and their
enthusiasm was equally confirmed by opposition and victory.
From the rapid conquests of the Saracens a
presumption will naturally arise, that the caliphs commanded in person the
armies of the faithful, and sought the crown of martyrdom in the foremost r=
anks
of the battle. The courage of Abubeker, Omar, and Othman, had indeed been t=
ried
in the persecution and wars of the prophet; and the personal assurance of p=
aradise
must have taught them to despise the pleasures and dangers of the present
world. But they ascended the throne in a venerable or mature age; and estee=
med
the domestic cares of religion and justice the most important duties of a
sovereign. Except the presence of Omar at the siege of Jerusalem, their lon=
gest
expeditions were the frequent pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca; and they cal=
mly
received the tidings of victory as they prayed or preached before the sepul=
chre
of the prophet. The austere and frugal measure of their lives was the effec=
t of
virtue or habit, and the pride of their simplicity insulted the vain magnif=
icence
of the kings of the earth. When Abubeker assumed the office of caliph, he
enjoined his daughter Ayesha to take a strict account of his private patrim=
ony,
that it might be evident whether he were enriched or impoverished by the
service of the state. He thought himself entitled to a stipend of three pie=
ces
of gold, with the sufficient maintenance of a single camel and a black slav=
e;
but on the Friday of each week he distributed the residue of his own and the
public money, first to the most worthy, and then to the most indigent, of t=
he
Moslems. The remains of his wealth, a coarse garment, and five pieces of go=
ld,
were delivered to his successor, who lamented with a modest sigh his own
inability to equal such an admirable model. Yet the abstinence and humility=
of
Omar were not inferior to the virtues of Abubeker: his food consisted of ba=
rley
bread or dates; his drink was water; he preached in a gown that was torn or
tattered in twelve places; and the Persian satrap, who paid his homage to t=
he
conqueror, found him asleep among the beggars on the steps of the mosch of
Medina. Economy is the source of liberality, and the increase of the revenue
enabled Omar to establish a just and perpetual reward for the past and pres=
ent
services of the faithful. Careless of his own emolument, he assigned to Abb=
as,
the uncle of the prophet, the first and most ample allowance of twenty-five
thousand drachms or pieces of silver. Five thousand were allotted to each o=
f the
aged warriors, the relics of the field of Beder; and the last and meanest of
the companions of Mahomet was distinguished by the annual reward of three
thousand pieces. One thousand was the stipend of the veterans who had fough=
t in
the first battles against the Greeks and Persians; and the decreasing pay, =
as
low as fifty pieces of silver, was adapted to the respective merit and
seniority of the soldiers of Omar. Under his reign, and that of his
predecessor, the conquerors of the East were the trusty servants of God and=
the
people; the mass of the public treasure was consecrated to the expenses of
peace and war; a prudent mixture of justice and bounty maintained the
discipline of the Saracens, and they united, by a rare felicity, the despat=
ch
and execution of despotism with the equal and frugal maxims of a republican
government. The heroic courage of Ali, the consummate prudence of Moawiyah,=
excited
the emulation of their subjects; and the talents which had been exercised in
the school of civil discord were more usefully applied to propagate the fai=
th
and dominion of the prophet. In the sloth and vanity of the palace of Damas=
cus,
the succeeding princes of the house of Ommiyah were alike destitute of the
qualifications of statesmen and of saints. Yet the spoils of unknown nations
were continually laid at the foot of their throne, and the uniform ascent of
the Arabian greatness must be ascribed to the spirit of the nation rather t=
han
the abilities of their chiefs. A large deduction must be allowed for the
weakness of their enemies. The birth of Mahomet was fortunately placed in t=
he
most degenerate and disorderly period of the Persians, the Romans, and the =
Barbarians
of Europe: the empires of Trajan, or even of Constantine or Charlemagne, wo=
uld
have repelled the assault of the naked Saracens, and the torrent of fanatic=
ism
might have been obscurely lost in the sands of Arabia.
In the victorious days of the Roman republic, =
it
had been the aim of the senate to confine their councils and legions to a
single war, and completely to suppress a first enemy before they provoked t=
he hostilities
of a second. These timid maxims of policy were disdained by the magnanimity=
or
enthusiasm of the Arabian caliphs. With the same vigor and success they inv=
aded
the successors of Augustus and those of Artaxerxes; and the rival monarchie=
s at
the same instant became the prey of an enemy whom they had been so long
accustomed to despise. In the ten years of the administration of Omar, the
Saracens reduced to his obedience thirty-six thousand cities or castles,
destroyed four thousand churches or temples of the unbelievers, and edified
fourteen hundred moschs for the exercise of the religion of Mahomet. One
hundred years after his flight from Mecca, the arms and the reign of his
successors extended from India to the Atlantic Ocean, over the various and
distant provinces, which may be comprised under the names of, I. Persia; II.
Syria; III. Egypt; IV. Africa; and, V. Spain. Under this general division, I
shall proceed to unfold these memorable transactions; despatching with brev=
ity
the remote and less interesting conquests of the East, and reserving a full=
er
narrative for those domestic countries which had been included within the p=
ale
of the Roman empire. Yet I must excuse my own defects by a just complaint of
the blindness and insufficiency of my guides. The Greeks, so loquacious in
controversy, have not been anxious to celebrate the triumphs of their enemi=
es. After
a century of ignorance, the first annals of the Mussulmans were collected i=
n a
great measure from the voice of tradition. Among the numerous productions of
Arabic and Persian literature, our interpreters have selected the imperfect
sketches of a more recent age. The art and genius of history have ever been
unknown to the Asiatics; they are ignorant of the laws of criticism; and our
monkish chronicle of the same period may be compared to their most popular
works, which are never vivified by the spirit of philosophy and freedom. The
Oriental library of a Frenchman would instruct the most learned mufti of the
East; and perhaps the Arabs might not find in a single historian so clear a=
nd comprehensive
a narrative of their own exploits as that which will be deduced in the ensu=
ing
sheets.
I. In the first year of the first caliph, his
lieutenant Caled, the Sword of God, and the scourge of the infidels, advanc=
ed
to the banks of the Euphrates, and reduced the cities of Anbar and Hira.
Westward of the ruins of Babylon, a tribe of sedentary Arabs had fixed
themselves on the verge of the desert; and Hira was the seat of a race of k=
ings
who had embraced the Christian religion, and reigned above six hundred year=
s under
the shadow of the throne of Persia. The last of the Mondars was defeated and
slain by Caled; his son was sent a captive to Medina; his nobles bowed befo=
re
the successor of the prophet; the people was tempted by the example and suc=
cess
of their countrymen; and the caliph accepted as the first-fruits of foreign
conquest an annual tribute of seventy thousand pieces of gold. The conquero=
rs,
and even their historians, were astonished by the dawn of their future
greatness: "In the same year," says Elmacin, "Caled fought m=
any
signal battles: an immense multitude of the infidels was slaughtered; and
spoils infinite and innumerable were acquired by the victorious Moslems.&qu=
ot;
But the invincible Caled was soon transferred to the Syrian war: the invasi=
on
of the Persian frontier was conducted by less active or less prudent
commanders: the Saracens were repulsed with loss in the passage of the
Euphrates; and, though they chastised the insolent pursuit of the Magians,
their remaining forces still hovered in the desert of Babylon.
The indignation and fears of the Persians
suspended for a moment their intestine divisions. By the unanimous sentence=
of
the priests and nobles, their queen Arzema was deposed; the sixth of the
transient usurpers, who had arisen and vanished in three or four years since
the death of Chosroes, and the retreat of Heraclius. Her tiara was placed o=
n the
head of Yezdegerd, the grandson of Chosroes; and the same æra, which =
coincides
with an astronomical period, has recorded the fall of the Sassanian dynasty=
and
the religion of Zoroaster. The youth and inexperience of the prince (he was
only fifteen years of age) declined a perilous encounter: the royal standard
was delivered into the hands of his general Rustam; and a remnant of thirty
thousand regular troops was swelled in truth, or in opinion, to one hundred=
and
twenty thousand subjects, or allies, of the great king. The Moslems, whose
numbers were reënforced from twelve to thirty thousand, had pitched th=
eir
camp in the plains of Cadesia: and their line, though it consisted of fewer
men, could produce more soldiers, than the unwieldy host of the infidels. I
shall here observe, what I must often repeat, that the charge of the Arabs =
was
not, like that of the Greeks and Romans, the effort of a firm and compact
infantry: their military force was chiefly formed of cavalry and archers; a=
nd
the engagement, which was often interrupted and often renewed by single com=
bats
and flying skirmishes, might be protracted without any decisive event to the
continuance of several days. The periods of the battle of Cadesia were
distinguished by their peculiar appellations. The first, from the well-timed
appearance of six thousand of the Syrian brethren, was denominated the day =
of
succor. The day of concussion might express the disorder of one, or perhaps=
of
both, of the contending armies. The third, a nocturnal tumult, received the=
whimsical
name of the night of barking, from the discordant clamors, which were compa=
red
to the inarticulate sounds of the fiercest animals. The morning of the
succeeding day determined the fate of Persia; and a seasonable whirlwind dr=
ove
a cloud of dust against the faces of the unbelievers. The clangor of arms w=
as
reechoed to the tent of Rustam, who, far unlike the ancient hero of his nam=
e,
was gently reclining in a cool and tranquil shade, amidst the baggage of his
camp, and the train of mules that were laden with gold and silver. On the s=
ound
of danger he started from his couch; but his flight was overtaken by a vali=
ant
Arab, who caught him by the foot, struck off his head, hoisted it on a lanc=
e, and
instantly returning to the field of battle, carried slaughter and dismay am=
ong
the thickest ranks of the Persians. The Saracens confess a loss of seven
thousand five hundred men; and the battle of Cadesia is justly described by=
the
epithets of obstinate and atrocious. The standard of the monarchy was
overthrown and captured in the field--a leathern apron of a blacksmith, who=
in
ancient times had arisen the deliverer of Persia; but this badge of heroic
poverty was disguised, and almost concealed, by a profusion of precious gem=
s.
After this victory, the wealthy province of Irak, or Assyria, submitted to =
the
caliph, and his conquests were firmly established by the speedy foundation =
of Bassora,
a place which ever commands the trade and navigation of the Persians. As the
distance of fourscore miles from the Gulf, the Euphrates and Tigris unite i=
n a
broad and direct current, which is aptly styled the river of the Arabs. In =
the
midway, between the junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new
settlement was planted on the western bank: the first colony was composed of
eight hundred Moslems; but the influence of the situation soon reared a
flourishing and populous capital. The air, though excessively hot, is pure =
and
healthy: the meadows are filled with palm-trees and cattle; and one of the =
adjacent
valleys has been celebrated among the four paradises or gardens of Asia. Un=
der
the first caliphs the jurisdiction of this Arabian colony extended over the
southern provinces of Persia: the city has been sanctified by the tombs of =
the
companions and martyrs; and the vessels of Europe still frequent the port of
Bassora, as a convenient station and passage of the Indian trade.
After the defeat of Cadesia, a country interse=
cted
by rivers and canals might have opposed an insuperable barrier to the
victorious cavalry; and the walls of Ctesiphon or Madayn, which had resisted
the battering-rams of the Romans, would not have yielded to the darts of the
Saracens. But the flying Persians were overcome by the belief, that the last
day of their religion and empire was at hand; the strongest posts were aban=
doned
by treachery or cowardice; and the king, with a part of his family and
treasures, escaped to Holwan at the foot of the Median hills. In the third
month after the battle, Said, the lieutenant of Omar, passed the Tigris wit=
hout
opposition; the capital was taken by assault; and the disorderly resistance=
of
the people gave a keener edge to the sabres of the Moslems, who shouted with
religious transport, "This is the white palace of Chosroes; this is the
promise of the apostle of God!" The naked robbers of the desert were
suddenly enriched beyond the measure of their hope or knowledge. Each chamb=
er
revealed a new treasure secreted with art, or ostentatiously displayed; the
gold and silver, the various wardrobes and precious furniture, surpassed (s=
ays
Abulfeda) the estimate of fancy or numbers; and another historian defines t=
he
untold and almost infinite mass, by the fabulous computation of three thous=
ands
of thousands of thousands of pieces of gold. Some minute though curious fac=
ts
represent the contrast of riches and ignorance. From the remote islands of =
the
Indian Ocean a large provision of camphire had been imported, which is empl=
oyed
with a mixture of wax to illuminate the palaces of the East. Strangers to t=
he
name and properties of that odoriferous gum, the Saracens, mistaking it for
salt, mingled the camphire in their bread, and were astonished at the
bitterness of the taste. One of the apartments of the palace was decorated =
with
a carpet of silk, sixty cubits in length, and as many in breadth: a paradis=
e or
garden was depictured on the ground: the flowers, fruits, and shrubs, were
imitated by the figures of the gold embroidery, and the colors of the preci=
ous
stones; and the ample square was encircled by a variegated and verdant bord=
er.
The Arabian general persuaded his soldiers to relinquish their claim, in the
reasonable hope that the eyes of the caliph would be delighted with the
splendid workmanship of nature and industry. Regardless of the merit of art,
and the pomp of royalty, the rigid Omar divided the prize among his brethre=
n of
Medina: the picture was destroyed; but such was the intrinsic value of the
materials, that the share of Ali alone was sold for twenty thousand drams. A
mule that carried away the tiara and cuirass, the belt and bracelets of
Chosroes, was overtaken by the pursuers; the gorgeous trophy was presented =
to the
commander of the faithful; and the gravest of the companions condescended to
smile when they beheld the white beard, the hairy arms, and uncouth figure =
of
the veteran, who was invested with the spoils of the Great King. The sack of
Ctesiphon was followed by its desertion and gradual decay. The Saracens
disliked the air and situation of the place, and Omar was advised by his
general to remove the seat of government to the western side of the Euphrat=
es.
In every age, the foundation and ruin of the Assyrian cities has been easy =
and
rapid: the country is destitute of stone and timber; and the most solid
structures are composed of bricks baked in the sun, and joined by a cement =
of
the native bitumen. The name of Cufa describes a habitation of reeds and ea=
rth;
but the importance of the new capital was supported by the numbers, wealth,=
and
spirit, of a colony of veterans; and their licentiousness was indulged by t=
he
wisest caliphs, who were apprehensive of provoking the revolt of a hundred
thousand swords: "Ye men of Cufa," said Ali, who solicited their =
aid,
"you have been always conspicuous by your valor. You conquered the Per=
sian
king, and scattered his forces, till you had taken possession of his
inheritance." This mighty conquest was achieved by the battles of Jalu=
la
and Nehavend. After the loss of the former, Yezdegerd fled from Holwan, and
concealed his shame and despair in the mountains of Farsistan, from whence
Cyrus had descended with his equal and valiant companions. The courage of t=
he
nation survived that of the monarch: among the hills to the south of Ecbata=
na
or Hamadan, one hundred and fifty thousand Persians made a third and final
stand for their religion and country; and the decisive battle of Nehavend w=
as
styled by the Arabs the victory of victories. If it be true that the flying
general of the Persians was stopped and overtaken in a crowd of mules and
camels laden with honey, the incident, however slight and singular, will de=
note
the luxurious impediments of an Oriental army.
The geography of Persia is darkly delineated by
the Greeks and Latins; but the most illustrious of her cities appear to be =
more
ancient than the invasion of the Arabs. By the reduction of Hamadan and
Ispahan, of Caswin, Tauris, and Rei, they gradually approached the shores of
the Caspian Sea: and the orators of Mecca might applaud the success and spi=
rit
of the faithful, who had already lost sight of the northern bear, and had
almost transcended the bounds of the habitable world. Again, turning towards
the West and the Roman empire, they repassed the Tigris over the bridge of
Mosul, and, in the captive provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia, embraced t=
heir
victorious brethren of the Syrian army. From the palace of Madayn their Eas=
tern
progress was not less rapid or extensive. They advanced along the Tigris and
the Gulf; penetrated through the passes of the mountains into the valley of
Estachar or Persepolis, and profaned the last sanctuary of the Magian empir=
e.
The grandson of Chosroes was nearly surprised among the falling columns and
mutilated figures; a sad emblem of the past and present fortune of Persia: =
he
fled with accelerated haste over the desert of Kirman, implored the aid of =
the
warlike Segestans, and sought an humble refuge on the verge of the Turkish =
and
Chinese power. But a victorious army is insensible of fatigue: the Arabs
divided their forces in the pursuit of a timorous enemy; and the caliph Oth=
man
promised the government of Chorasan to the first general who should enter t=
hat
large and populous country, the kingdom of the ancient Bactrians. The condi=
tion
was accepted; the prize was deserved; the standard of Mahomet was planted o=
n the
walls of Herat, Merou, and Balch; and the successful leader neither halted =
nor
reposed till his foaming cavalry had tasted the waters of the Oxus. In the
public anarchy, the independent governors of the cities and castles obtained
their separate capitulations: the terms were granted or imposed by the este=
em,
the prudence, or the compassion, of the victors; and a simple profession of
faith established the distinction between a brother and a slave. After a no=
ble
defence, Harmozan, the prince or satrap of Ahwaz and Susa, was compelled to
surrender his person and his state to the discretion of the caliph; and the=
ir
interview exhibits a portrait of the Arabian manners. In the presence, and =
by
the command, of Omar, the gay Barbarian was despoiled of his silken robes
embroidered with gold, and of his tiara bedecked with rubies and emeralds:
"Are you now sensible," said the conqueror to his naked
captive--"are you now sensible of the judgment of God, and of the
different rewards of infidelity and obedience?" "Alas!" repl=
ied
Harmozan, "I feel them too deeply. In the days of our common ignorance=
, we
fought with the weapons of the flesh, and my nation was superior. God was t=
hen
neuter: since he has espoused your quarrel, you have subverted our kingdom =
and religion."
Oppressed by this painful dialogue, the Persian complained of intolerable
thirst, but discovered some apprehension lest he should be killed whilst he=
was
drinking a cup of water. "Be of good courage," said the caliph;
"your life is safe till you have drunk this water:" the crafty sa=
trap
accepted the assurance, and instantly dashed the vase against the ground. O=
mar
would have avenged the deceit, but his companions represented the sanctity =
of
an oath; and the speedy conversion of Harmozan entitled him not only to a f=
ree
pardon, but even to a stipend of two thousand pieces of gold. The
administration of Persia was regulated by an actual survey of the people, t=
he
cattle, and the fruits of the earth; and this monument, which attests the
vigilance of the caliphs, might have instructed the philosophers of every a=
ge.
The flight of Yezdegerd had carried him beyond=
the
Oxus, and as far as the Jaxartes, two rivers of ancient and modern renown, =
which
descend
from the mountains of India towards the Caspian
Sea. He was hospitably entertained by Tarkhan, prince of Fargana, a fertile
province on the Jaxartes: the king of Samarcand, with the Turkish tribes of
Sogdiana and Scythia, were moved by the lamentations and promises of the fa=
llen
monarch; and he solicited, by a suppliant embassy, the more solid and power=
ful
friendship of the emperor of China. The virtuous Taitsong, the first of the
dynasty of the Tang may be justly compared with the Antonines of Rome: his
people enjoyed the blessings of prosperity and peace; and his dominion was
acknowledged by forty-four hordes of the Barbarians of Tartary. His last
garrisons of Cashgar and Khoten maintained a frequent intercourse with their
neighbors of the Jaxartes and Oxus; a recent colony of Persians had introdu=
ced
into China the astronomy of the Magi; and Taitsong might be alarmed by the
rapid progress and dangerous vicinity of the Arabs. The influence, and perh=
aps the
supplies, of China revived the hopes of Yezdegerd and the zeal of the
worshippers of fire; and he returned with an army of Turks to conquer the
inheritance of his fathers. The fortunate Moslems, without unsheathing their
swords, were the spectators of his ruin and death. The grandson of Chosroes=
was
betrayed by his servant, insulted by the seditious inhabitants of Merou, and
oppressed, defeated, and pursued by his Barbarian allies. He reached the ba=
nks
of a river, and offered his rings and bracelets for an instant passage in a
miller's boat. Ignorant or insensible of royal distress, the rustic replied,
that four drams of silver were the daily profit of his mill, and that he wo=
uld
not suspend his work unless the loss were repaid. In this moment of hesitat=
ion
and delay, the last of the Sassanian kings was overtaken and slaughtered by=
the
Turkish cavalry, in the nineteenth year of his unhappy reign. His son Firuz=
, an
humble client of the Chinese emperor, accepted the station of captain of his
guards; and the Magian worship was long preserved by a colony of loyal exil=
es
in the province of Bucharia. His grandson inherited the regal name; but aft=
er a
faint and fruitless enterprise, he returned to China, and ended his days in=
the
palace of Sigan. The male line of the Sassanides was extinct; but the female
captives, the daughters of Persia, were given to the conquerors in servitud=
e,
or marriage; and the race of the caliphs and imams was ennobled by the bloo=
d of
their royal mothers.
After the fall of the Persian kingdom, the Riv=
er
Oxus divided the territories of the Saracens and of the Turks. This narrow
boundary was soon overleaped by the spirit of the Arabs; the governors of
Chorasan extended their successive inroads; and one of their triumphs was
adorned with the buskin of a Turkish queen, which she dropped in her
precipitate flight beyond the hills of Bochara. But the final conquest of T=
ransoxiana,
as well as of Spain, was reserved for the glorious reign of the inactive Wa=
lid;
and the name of Catibah, the camel driver, declares the origin and merit of=
his
successful lieutenant. While one of his colleagues displayed the first
Mahometan banner on the banks of the Indus, the spacious regions between the
Oxus, the Jaxartes, and the Caspian Sea, were reduced by the arms of Catiba=
h to
the obedience of the prophet and of the caliph. A tribute of two millions of
pieces of gold was imposed on the infidels; their idols were burnt or broke=
n;
the Mussulman chief pronounced a sermon in the new mosch of Carizme; after =
several
battles, the Turkish hordes were driven back to the desert; and the emperor=
s of
China solicited the friendship of the victorious Arabs. To their industry, =
the
prosperity of the province, the Sogdiana of the ancients, may in a great
measure be ascribed; but the advantages of the soil and climate had been
understood and cultivated since the reign of the Macedonian kings. Before t=
he
invasion of the Saracens, Carizme, Bochara, and Samarcand were rich and
populous under the yoke of the shepherds of the north. These cities were
surrounded with a double wall; and the exterior fortification, of a larger
circumference, enclosed the fields and gardens of the adjacent district. The
mutual wants of India and Europe were supplied by the diligence of the Sogd=
ian merchants;
and the inestimable art of transforming linen into paper has been diffused =
from
the manufacture of Samarcand over the western world.
II. No sooner had Abubeker restored the unity =
of
faith and government, than he despatched a circular letter to the Arabian
tribes. "In the name of the most merciful God, to the rest of the true
believers. Health and happiness, and the mercy and blessing of God, be upon
you. I praise the most high God, and I pray for his prophet Mahomet. This i=
s to
acquaint you, that I intend to send the true believers into Syria to take i=
t out
of the hands of the infidels. And I would have you know, that the fighting =
for
religion is an act of obedience to God." His messengers returned with =
the
tidings of pious and martial ardor which they had kindled in every province;
and the camp of Medina was successively filled with the intrepid bands of t=
he
Saracens, who panted for action, complained of the heat of the season and t=
he
scarcity of provisions, and accused with impatient murmurs the delays of the
caliph. As soon as their numbers were complete, Abubeker ascended the hill,
reviewed the men, the horses, and the arms, and poured forth a fervent pray=
er
for the success of their undertaking. In person, and on foot, he accompanied
the first day's march; and when the blushing leaders attempted to dismount,=
the
caliph removed their scruples by a declaration, that those who rode, and th=
ose
who walked, in the service of religion, were equally meritorious. His
instructions to the chiefs of the Syrian army were inspired by the warlike
fanaticism which advances to seize, and affects to despise, the objects of
earthly ambition. "Remember," said the successor of the prophet,
"that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in=
the
assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and
oppression; consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and
confidence of your troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit
yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be
stained with the blood of women or children. Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn
any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit-trees, nor do any mischief to cattle,
only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand =
to
it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious=
persons
who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that
way: let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy their monasteries: A=
nd
you will find another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan,
who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no
quarter till they either turn Mahometans or pay tribute." All profane =
or
frivolous conversation, all dangerous recollection of ancient quarrels, was
severely prohibited among the Arabs: in the tumult of a camp, the exercises=
of
religion were assiduously practised; and the intervals of action were emplo=
yed
in prayer, meditation, and the study of the Koran. The abuse, or even the u=
se,
of wine was chastised by fourscore strokes on the soles of the feet, and in=
the
fervor of their primitive zeal, many secret sinners revealed their fault, a=
nd
solicited their punishment. After some hesitation, the command of the Syrian
army was delegated to Abu Obeidah, one of the fugitives of Mecca, and
companions of Mahomet; whose zeal and devotion was assuaged, without being
abated, by the singular mildness and benevolence of his temper. But in all =
the
emergencies of war, the soldiers demanded the superior genius of Caled; and
whoever might be the choice of the prince, the Sword of God was both in fact
and fame the foremost leader of the Saracens. He obeyed without reluctance;=
he was
consulted without jealousy; and such was the spirit of the man, or rather of
the times, that Caled professed his readiness to serve under the banner of =
the
faith, though it were in the hands of a child or an enemy. Glory, and riche=
s,
and dominion, were indeed promised to the victorious Mussulman; but he was
carefully instructed, that if the goods of this life were his only inciteme=
nt,
they likewise would be his only reward.
One of the fifteen provinces of Syria, the
cultivated lands to the eastward of the Jordan, had been decorated by Roman
vanity with the name of Arabia; and the first arms of the Saracens were
justified by the semblance of a national right. The country was enriched by=
the
various benefits of trade; by the vigilance of the emperors it was covered =
with
a line of forts; and the populous cities of Gerasa, Philadelphia, and Bosra,
were secure, at least from a surprise, by the solid structure of their wall=
s.
The last of these cities was the eighteenth station from Medina: the road w=
as
familiar to the caravans of Hejaz and Irak, who annually visited this plent=
eous
market of the province and the desert: the perpetual jealousy of the Arabs =
had
trained the inhabitants to arms; and twelve thousand horse could sally from=
the
gates of Bosra, an appellation which signifies, in the Syriac language, a
strong tower of defence. Encouraged by their first success against the open
towns and flying parties of the borders, a detachment of four thousand Mosl=
ems presumed
to summon and attack the fortress of Bosra. They were oppressed by the numb=
ers
of the Syrians; they were saved by the presence of Caled, with fifteen hund=
red
horse: he blamed the enterprise, restored the battle, and rescued his frien=
d,
the venerable Serjabil, who had vainly invoked the unity of God and the
promises of the apostle. After a short repose, the Moslems performed their
ablutions with sand instead of water; and the morning prayer was recited by
Caled before they mounted on horseback. Confident in their strength, the pe=
ople
of Bosra threw open their gates, drew their forces into the plain, and swor=
e to
die in the defence of their religion. But a religion of peace was incapable=
of withstanding
the fanatic cry of "Fight, fight! Paradise, paradise!" that reech=
oed
in the ranks of the Saracens; and the uproar of the town, the ringing of be=
lls,
and the exclamations of the priests and monks increased the dismay and diso=
rder
of the Christians. With the loss of two hundred and thirty men, the Arabs
remained masters of the field; and the ramparts of Bosra, in expectation of
human or divine aid, were crowded with holy crosses and consecrated banners.
The governor Romanus had recommended an early submission: despised by the
people, and degraded from his office, he still retained the desire and
opportunity of revenge. In a nocturnal interview, he informed the enemy of =
a subterraneous
passage from his house under the wall of the city; the son of the caliph, w=
ith
a hundred volunteers, were committed to the faith of this new ally, and the=
ir
successful intrepidity gave an easy entrance to their companions. After Cal=
ed
had imposed the terms of servitude and tribute, the apostate or convert avo=
wed
in the assembly of the people his meritorious treason: "I renounce your
society," said Romanus, "both in this world and the world to come.
And I deny him that was crucified, and whosoever worships him. And I choose=
God
for my Lord, Islam for my faith, Mecca for my temple, the Moslems for my
brethren, and Mahomet for my prophet; who was sent to lead us into the right
way, and to exalt the true religion in spite of those who join partners with
God."
The conquest of Bosra, four days' journey from
Damascus, encouraged the Arabs to besiege the ancient capital of Syria. At =
some
distance from the walls, they encamped among the groves and fountains of th=
at
delicious territory, and the usual option of the Mahometan faith, of tribut=
e or
of war, was proposed to the resolute citizens, who had been lately strength=
ened
by a reenforcement of five thousand Greeks. In the decline, as in the infan=
cy,
of the military art, a hostile defiance was frequently offered and accepted=
by
the generals themselves: many a lance was shivered in the plain of Damascus,
and the personal prowess of Caled was signalized in the first sally of the
besieged. After an obstinate combat, he had overthrown and made prisoner on=
e of
the Christian leaders, a stout and worthy antagonist. He instantly mounted a
fresh horse, the gift of the governor of Palmyra, and pushed forwards to th=
e front
of the battle. "Repose yourself for a moment," said his friend De=
rar,
"and permit me to supply your place: you are fatigued with fighting wi=
th
this dog." "O Dear!" replied the indefatigable Saracen, &quo=
t;we
shall rest in the world to come. He that labors to-day shall rest to-morrow=
."
With the same unabated ardor, Caled answered, encountered, and vanquished a
second champion; and the heads of his two captives who refused to abandon t=
heir
religion were indignantly hurled into the midst of the city. The event of s=
ome
general and partial actions reduced the Damascenes to a closer defence: but=
a
messenger, whom they dropped from the walls, returned with the promise of
speedy and powerful succor, and their tumultuous joy conveyed the intellige=
nce
to the camp of the Arabs. After some debate, it was resolved by the general=
s to
raise, or rather to suspend, the siege of Damascus, till they had given bat=
tle
to the forces of the emperor. In the retreat, Caled would have chosen the m=
ore perilous
station of the rear-guard; he modestly yielded to the wishes of Abu Obeidah.
But in the hour of danger he flew to the rescue of his companion, who was
rudely pressed by a sally of six thousand horse and ten thousand foot, and =
few
among the Christians could relate at Damascus the circumstances of their
defeat. The importance of the contest required the junction of the Saracens,
who were dispersed on the frontiers of Syria and Palestine; and I shall
transcribe one of the circular mandates which was addressed to Amrou, the
future conqueror of Egypt. "In the name of the most merciful God: from
Caled to Amrou, health and happiness. Know that thy brethren the Moslems de=
sign
to march to Aiznadin, where there is an army of seventy thousand Greeks, wh=
o purpose
to come against us, that they may extinguish the light of God with their
mouths; but God preserveth his light in spite of the infidels. As soon
therefore as this letter of mine shall be delivered to thy hands, come with
those that are with thee to Aiznadin, where thou shalt find us if it please=
the
most high God." The summons was cheerfully obeyed, and the forty-five
thousand Moslems, who met on the same day, on the same spot ascribed to the
blessing of Providence the effects of their activity and zeal.
About four years after the triumph of the Pers=
ian
war, the repose of Heraclius and the empire was again disturbed by a new en=
emy,
the power of whose religion was more strongly felt, than it was clearly
understood, by the Christians of the East. In his palace of Constantinople =
or
Antioch, he was awakened by the invasion of Syria, the loss of Bosra, and t=
he
danger of Damascus. An army of seventy thousand veterans, or new levies, was
assembled at Hems or Emesa, under the command of his general Werdan: and th=
ese
troops consisting chiefly of cavalry, might be indifferently styled either
Syrians, or Greeks, or Romans: Syrians, from the place of their birth or
warfare; Greeks from the religion and language of their sovereign; and Roma=
ns,
from the proud appellation which was still profaned by the successors of Co=
nstantine.
On the plain of Aiznadin, as Werdan rode on a white mule decorated with gold
chains, and surrounded with ensigns and standards, he was surprised by the =
near
approach of a fierce and naked warrior, who had undertaken to view the stat=
e of
the enemy. The adventurous valor of Derar was inspired, and has perhaps been
adorned, by the enthusiasm of his age and country. The hatred of the
Christians, the love of spoil, and the contempt of danger, were the ruling
passions of the audacious Saracen; and the prospect of instant death could
never shake his religious confidence, or ruffle the calmness of his resolut=
ion,
or even suspend the frank and martial pleasantry of his humor. In the most =
hopeless
enterprises, he was bold, and prudent, and fortunate: after innumerable
hazards, after being thrice a prisoner in the hands of the infidels, he sti=
ll
survived to relate the achievements, and to enjoy the rewards, of the Syrian
conquest. On this occasion, his single lance maintained a flying fight agai=
nst
thirty Romans, who were detached by Werdan; and, after killing or unhorsing
seventeen of their number, Derar returned in safety to his applauding breth=
ren.
When his rashness was mildly censured by the general, he excused himself wi=
th
the simplicity of a soldier. "Nay," said Derar, "I did not b=
egin
first: but they came out to take me, and I was afraid that God should see me
turn my back: and indeed I fought in good earnest, and without doubt God
assisted me against them; and had I not been apprehensive of disobeying your
orders, I should not have come away as I did; and I perceive already that t=
hey will
fall into our hands." In the presence of both armies, a venerable Greek
advanced from the ranks with a liberal offer of peace; and the departure of=
the
Saracens would have been purchased by a gift to each soldier, of a turban, a
robe, and a piece of gold; ten robes and a hundred pieces to their leader; =
one
hundred robes and a thousand pieces to the caliph. A smile of indignation
expressed the refusal of Caled. "Ye Christian dogs, you know your opti=
on;
the Koran, the tribute, or the sword. We are a people whose delight is in w=
ar,
rather than in peace: and we despise your pitiful alms, since we shall be
speedily masters of your wealth, your families, and your persons."
Notwithstanding this apparent disdain, he was deeply conscious of the public
danger: those who had been in Persia, and had seen the armies of Chosroes
confessed that they never beheld a more formidable array. From the superior=
ity
of the enemy, the artful Saracen derived a fresh incentive of courage:
"You see before you," said he, "the united force of the Roma=
ns;
you cannot hope to escape, but you may conquer Syria in a single day. The e=
vent
depends on your discipline and patience. Reserve yourselves till the evenin=
g.
It was in the evening that the Prophet was accustomed to vanquish." Du=
ring
two successive engagements, his temperate firmness sustained the darts of t=
he
enemy, and the murmurs of his troops. At length, when the spirits and quive=
rs
of the adverse line were almost exhausted, Caled gave the signal of onset a=
nd
victory. The remains of the Imperial army fled to Antioch, or Cæsarea=
, or
Damascus; and the death of four hundred and seventy Moslems was compensated=
by
the opinion that they had sent to hell above fifty thousand of the infidels.
The spoil was inestimable; many banners and crosses of gold and silver, pre=
cious
stones, silver and gold chains, and innumerable suits of the richest armor =
and
apparel. The general distribution was postponed till Damascus should be tak=
en;
but the seasonable supply of arms became the instrument of new victories. T=
he
glorious intelligence was transmitted to the throne of the caliph; and the
Arabian tribes, the coldest or most hostile to the prophet's mission, were
eager and importunate to share the harvest of Syria.
The sad tidings were carried to Damascus by the
speed of grief and terror; and the inhabitants beheld from their walls the
return of the heroes of Aiznadin. Amrou led the van at the head of nine
thousand horse: the bands of the Saracens succeeded each other in formidabl=
e review;
and the rear was closed by Caled in person, with the standard of the black
eagle. To the activity of Derar he intrusted the commission of patrolling r=
ound
the city with two thousand horse, of scouring the plain, and of intercepting
all succor or intelligence. The rest of the Arabian chiefs were fixed in th=
eir
respective stations before the seven gates of Damascus; and the siege was
renewed with fresh vigor and confidence. The art, the labor, the military
engines, of the Greeks and Romans are seldom to be found in the simple, tho=
ugh
successful, operations of the Saracens: it was sufficient for them to inves=
t a city
with arms, rather than with trenches; to repel the allies of the besieged; =
to
attempt a stratagem or an assault; or to expect the progress of famine and
discontent. Damascus would have acquiesced in the trial of Aiznadin, as a f=
inal
and peremptory sentence between the emperor and the caliph; her courage was
rekindled by the example and authority of Thomas, a noble Greek, illustriou=
s in
a private condition by the alliance of Heraclius. The tumult and illuminati=
on
of the night proclaimed the design of the morning sally; and the Christian
hero, who affected to despise the enthusiasm of the Arabs, employed the
resource of a similar superstition. At the principal gate, in the sight of =
both
armies, a lofty crucifix was erected; the bishop, with his clergy, accompan=
ied
the march, and laid the volume of the New Testament before the image of Jes=
us;
and the contending parties were scandalized or edified by a prayer that the=
Son
of God would defend his servants and vindicate his truth. The battle raged =
with
incessant fury; and the dexterity of Thomas, an incomparable archer, was fa=
tal
to the boldest Saracens, till their death was revenged by a female heroine.=
The
wife of Aban, who had followed him to the holy war, embraced her expiring h=
usband.
"Happy," said she, "happy art thou, my dear: thou art gone t=
o they
Lord, who first joined us together, and then parted us asunder. I will reve=
nge
thy death, and endeavor to the utmost of my power to come to the place where
thou art, because I love thee. Henceforth shall no man ever touch me more, =
for
I have dedicated myself to the service of God." Without a groan, witho=
ut a
tear, she washed the corpse of her husband, and buried him with the usual
rites. Then grasping the manly weapons, which in her native land she was
accustomed to wield, the intrepid widow of Aban sought the place where his
murderer fought in the thickest of the battle. Her first arrow pierced the =
hand
of his standard-bearer; her second wounded Thomas in the eye; and the faint=
ing Christians
no longer beheld their ensign or their leader. Yet the generous champion of
Damascus refused to withdraw to his palace: his wound was dressed on the
rampart; the fight was continued till the evening; and the Syrians rested on
their arms. In the silence of the night, the signal was given by a stroke on
the great bell; the gates were thrown open, and each gate discharged an
impetuous column on the sleeping camp of the Saracens. Caled was the first =
in
arms: at the head of four hundred horse he flew to the post of danger, and =
the
tears trickled down his iron cheeks, as he uttered a fervent ejaculation;
"O God, who never sleepest, look upon they servants, and do not delive=
r them
into the hands of their enemies." The valor and victory of Thomas were
arrested by the presence of the Sword of God; with the knowledge of the per=
il,
the Moslems recovered their ranks, and charged the assailants in the flank =
and
rear. After the loss of thousands, the Christian general retreated with a s=
igh
of despair, and the pursuit of the Saracens was checked by the military eng=
ines
of the rampart.
After a siege of seventy days, the patience, a=
nd
perhaps the provisions, of the Damascenes were exhausted; and the bravest of
their chiefs submitted to the hard dictates of necessity. In the occurrence=
s of
peace and war, they had been taught to dread the fierceness of Caled, and t=
o revere
the mild virtues of Abu Obeidah. At the hour of midnight, one hundred chosen
deputies of the clergy and people were introduced to the tent of that vener=
able
commander. He received and dismissed them with courtesy. They returned with=
a
written agreement, on the faith of a companion of Mahomet, that all hostili=
ties
should cease; that the voluntary emigrants might depart in safety, with as =
much
as they could carry away of their effects; and that the tributary subjects =
of
the caliph should enjoy their lands and houses, with the use and possession=
of
seven churches. On these terms, the most respectable hostages, and the gate
nearest to his camp, were delivered into his hands: his soldiers imitated t=
he
moderation of their chief; and he enjoyed the submissive gratitude of a peo=
ple
whom he had rescued from destruction. But the success of the treaty had rel=
axed
their vigilance, and in the same moment the opposite quarter of the city was
betrayed and taken by assault. A party of a hundred Arabs had opened the
eastern gate to a more inexorable foe. "No quarter," cried the
rapacious and sanguinary Caled, "no quarter to the enemies of the
Lord:" his trumpets sounded, and a torrent of Christian blood was pour=
ed
down the streets of Damascus. When he reached the church of St. Mary, he was
astonished and provoked by the peaceful aspect of his companions; their swo=
rds
were in the scabbard, and they were surrounded by a multitude of priests an=
d monks.
Abu Obeidah saluted the general: "God," said he, "has delive=
red the
city into my hands by way of surrender, and has saved the believers the tro=
uble
of fighting." "And am I not," replied the indignant Caled, &=
quot;am
I not the lieutenant of the commander of the faithful? Have I not taken the
city by storm? The unbelievers shall perish by the sword. Fall on." The
hungry and cruel Arabs would have obeyed the welcome command; and Damascus =
was
lost, if the benevolence of Abu Obeidah had not been supported by a decent =
and
dignified firmness. Throwing himself between the trembling citizens and the
most eager of the Barbarians, he adjured them, by the holy name of God, to
respect his promise, to suspend their fury, and to wait the determination of
their chiefs. The chiefs retired into the church of St. Mary; and after a
vehement debate, Caled submitted in some measure to the reason and authorit=
y of
his colleague; who urged the sanctity of a covenant, the advantage as well =
as
the honor which the Moslems would derive from the punctual performance of t=
heir
word, and the obstinate resistance which they must encounter from the distr=
ust
and despair of the rest of the Syrian cities. It was agreed that the sword
should be sheathed, that the part of Damascus which had surrendered to Abu
Obeidah, should be immediately entitled to the benefit of his capitulation,=
and
that the final decision should be referred to the justice and wisdom of the
caliph. A large majority of the people accepted the terms of toleration and
tribute; and Damascus is still peopled by twenty thousand Christians. But t=
he
valiant Thomas, and the free-born patriots who had fought under his banner,
embraced the alternative of poverty and exile. In the adjacent meadow, a
numerous encampment was formed of priests and laymen, of soldiers and citiz=
ens,
of women and children: they collected, with haste and terror, their most
precious movables; and abandoned, with loud lamentations, or silent anguish,
their native homes, and the pleasant banks of the Pharpar. The inflexible s=
oul
of Caled was not touched by the spectacle of their distress: he disputed wi=
th
the Damascenes the property of a magazine of corn; endeavored to exclude the
garrison from the benefit of the treaty; consented, with reluctance, that e=
ach
of the fugitives should arm himself with a sword, or a lance, or a bow; and
sternly declared, that, after a respite of three days, they might be pursued
and treated as the enemies of the Moslems.
The passion of a Syrian youth completed the ru=
in
of the exiles of Damascus. A nobleman of the city, of the name of Jonas, was
betrothed to a wealthy maiden; but her parents delayed the consummation of =
his nuptials,
and their daughter was persuaded to escape with the man whom she had chosen.
They corrupted the nightly watchmen of the gate Keisan; the lover, who led =
the
way, was encompassed by a squadron of Arabs; but his exclamation in the Gre=
ek
tongue, "The bird is taken," admonished his mistress to hasten her
return. In the presence of Caled, and of death, the unfortunate Jonas profe=
ssed
his belief in one God and his apostle Mahomet; and continued, till the seas=
on
of his martyrdom, to discharge the duties of a brave and sincere Mussulman.
When the city was taken, he flew to the monastery, where Eudocia had taken
refuge; but the lover was forgotten; the apostate was scorned; she preferred
her religion to her country; and the justice of Caled, though deaf to mercy,
refused to detain by force a male or female inhabitant of Damascus. Four da=
ys
was the general confined to the city by the obligation of the treaty, and t=
he
urgent cares of his new conquest. His appetite for blood and rapine would h=
ave
been extinguished by the hopeless computation of time and distance; but he
listened to the importunities of Jonas, who assured him that the weary
fugitives might yet be overtaken. At the head of four thousand horse, in the
disguise of Christian Arabs, Caled undertook the pursuit. They halted only =
for
the moments of prayer; and their guide had a perfect knowledge of the count=
ry.
For a long way the footsteps of the Damascenes were plain and conspicuous: =
they
vanished on a sudden; but the Saracens were comforted by the assurance that=
the
caravan had turned aside into the mountains, and must speedily fall into th=
eir
hands. In traversing the ridges of the Libanus, they endured intolerable ha=
rdships,
and the sinking spirits of the veteran fanatics were supported and cheered =
by
the unconquerable ardor of a lover. From a peasant of the country, they were
informed that the emperor had sent orders to the colony of exiles to pursue
without delay the road of the sea-coast, and of Constantinople, apprehensiv=
e,
perhaps, that the soldiers and people of Antioch might be discouraged by the
sight and the story of their sufferings. The Saracens were conducted through
the territories of Gabala and Laodicea, at a cautious distance from the wal=
ls
of the cities; the rain was incessant, the night was dark, a single mountain
separated them from the Roman army; and Caled, ever anxious for the safety =
of
his brethren, whispered an ominous dream in the ear of his companion. With =
the
dawn of day, the prospect again cleared, and they saw before them, in a
pleasant valley, the tents of Damascus. After a short interval of repose and
prayer, Caled divided his cavalry into four squadrons, committing the first=
to
his faithful Derar, and reserving the last for himself. They successively
rushed on the promiscuous multitude, insufficiently provided with arms, and
already vanquished by sorrow and fatigue. Except a captive, who was pardoned
and dismissed, the Arabs enjoyed the satisfaction of believing that not a C=
hristian
of either sex escaped the edge of their cimeters. The gold and silver of
Damascus was scattered over the camp, and a royal wardrobe of three hundred
load of silk might clothe an army of naked Barbarians. In the tumult of the
battle, Jonas sought and found the object of his pursuit: but her resentment
was inflamed by the last act of his perfidy; and as Eudocia struggled in his
hateful embraces, she struck a dagger to her heart. Another female, the wid=
ow
of Thomas, and the real or supposed daughter of Heraclius, was spared and
released without a ransom; but the generosity of Caled was the effect of his
contempt; and the haughty Saracen insulted, by a message of defiance, the
throne of the Cæsars. Caled had penetrated above a hundred and fifty
miles into the heart of the Roman province: he returned to Damascus with the
same secrecy and speed On the accession of Omar, the Sword of God was remov=
ed
from the command; but the caliph, who blamed the rashness, was compelled to=
applaud
the vigor and conduct, of the enterprise.
Another expedition of the conquerors of Damasc=
us
will equally display their avidity and their contempt for the riches of the
present world. They were informed that the produce and manufactures of the
country were annually collected in the fair of Abyla, about thirty miles fr=
om
the city; that the cell of a devout hermit was visited at the same time by a
multitude of pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and superstition woul=
d be
ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the governor of Tripoli. Abdall=
ah,
the son of Jaafar, a glorious and holy martyr, undertook, with a banner of =
five
hundred horse, the pious and profitable commission of despoiling the infide=
ls.
As he approached the fair of Abyla, he was astonished by the report of this
mighty concourse of Jews and Christians, Greeks, and Armenians, of natives =
of
Syria and of strangers of Egypt, to the number of ten thousand, besides a g=
uard
of five thousand horse that attended the person of the bride. The Saracens =
paused:
"For my own part," said Abdallah, "I dare not go back: our f=
oes
are many, our danger is great, but our reward is splendid and secure, eithe=
r in
this life or in the life to come. Let every man, according to his inclinati=
on,
advance or retire." Not a Mussulman deserted his standard. "Lead =
the
way," said Abdallah to his Christian guide, "and you shall see wh=
at
the companions of the prophet can perform." They charged in five
squadrons; but after the first advantage of the surprise, they were encompa=
ssed
and almost overwhelmed by the multitude of their enemies; and their valiant
band is fancifully compared to a white spot in the skin of a black camel. A=
bout
the hour of sunset, when their weapons dropped from their hands, when they
panted on the verge of eternity, they discovered an approaching cloud of du=
st; they
heard the welcome sound of the tecbir, and they soon perceived the standard=
of
Caled, who flew to their relief with the utmost speed of his cavalry. The
Christians were broken by his attack, and slaughtered in their flight, as f=
ar
as the river of Tripoli. They left behind them the various riches of the fa=
ir;
the merchandises that were exposed for sale, the money that was brought for
purchase, the gay decorations of the nuptials, and the governor's daughter,
with forty of her female attendants. The fruits, provisions, and furniture,=
the
money, plate, and jewels, were diligently laden on the backs of horses, ass=
es,
and mules; and the holy robbers returned in triumph to Damascus. The hermit=
, after
a short and angry controversy with Caled, declined the crown of martyrdom, =
and
was left alive in the solitary scene of blood and devastation.
Syria, one of the countries that have been
improved by the most early cultivation, is not unworthy of the preference. =
The
heat of the climate is tempered by the vicinity of the sea and mountains, by
the plenty of wood and water; and the produce of a fertile soil affords the=
subsistence,
and encourages the propagation, of men and animals. From the age of David to
that of Heraclius, the country was overspread with ancient and flourishing
cities: the inhabitants were numerous and wealthy; and, after the slow rava=
ge
of despotism and superstition, after the recent calamities of the Persian w=
ar,
Syria could still attract and reward the rapacious tribes of the desert. A
plain, of ten days' journey, from Damascus to Aleppo and Antioch, is watere=
d,
on the western side, by the winding course of the Orontes. The hills of Lib=
anus
and Anti-Libanus are planted from north to south, between the Orontes and t=
he
Mediterranean; and the epithet of hollow (Clesyria) was applied to a long a=
nd
fruitful valley, which is confined in the same direction, by the two ridges=
of
snowy mountains. Among the cities, which are enumerated by Greek and Orient=
al
names in the geography and conquest of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or H=
ems,
Heliopolis or Baalbec, the former as the metropolis of the plain, the latte=
r as
the capital of the valley. Under the last of the Cæsars, they were st=
rong
and populous; the turrets glittered from afar: an ample space was covered w=
ith
public and private buildings; and the citizens were illustrious by their
spirit, or at least by their pride; by their riches, or at least by their
luxury. In the days of Paganism, both Emesa and Heliopolis were addicted to=
the
worship of Baal, or the sun; but the decline of their superstition and sple=
ndor
has been marked by a singular variety of fortune. Not a vestige remains of =
the
temple of Emesa, which was equalled in poetic style to the summits of Mount
Libanus, while the ruins of Baalbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity,
excite the curiosity and wonder of the European traveller. The measure of t=
he
temple is two hundred feet in length, and one hundred in breadth: the front=
is
adorned with a double portico of eight columns; fourteen may be counted on
either side; and each column, forty-five feet in height, is composed of thr=
ee
massy blocks of stone or marble. The proportions and ornaments of the Corin=
thian
order express the architecture of the Greeks: but as Baalbec has never been=
the
seat of a monarch, we are at a loss to conceive how the expense of these
magnificent structures could be supplied by private or municipal liberality.
From the conquest of Damascus the Saracens proceeded to Heliopolis and Emes=
a:
but I shall decline the repetition of the sallies and combats which have be=
en
already shown on a larger scale. In the prosecution of the war, their policy
was not less effectual than their sword. By short and separate truces they
dissolved the union of the enemy; accustomed the Syrians to compare their
friendship with their enmity; familiarized the idea of their language,
religion, and manners; and exhausted, by clandestine purchase, the magazines
and arsenals of the cities which they returned to besiege. They aggravated =
the
ransom of the more wealthy, or the more obstinate; and Chalcis alone was ta=
xed at
five thousand ounces of gold, five thousand ounces of silver, two thousand
robes of silk, and as many figs and olives as would load five thousand asse=
s.
But the terms of truce or capitulation were faithfully observed; and the
lieutenant of the caliph, who had promised not to enter the walls of the
captive Baalbec, remained tranquil and immovable in his tent till the jarri=
ng
factions solicited the interposition of a foreign master. The conquest of t=
he
plain and valley of Syria was achieved in less than two years. Yet the
commander of the faithful reproved the slowness of their progress; and the
Saracens, bewailing their fault with tears of rage and repentance, called a=
loud
on their chiefs to lead them forth to fight the battles of the Lord. In a
recent action, under the walls of Emesa, an Arabian youth, the cousin of Ca=
led,
was heard aloud to exclaim, "Methinks I see the black-eyed girls looki=
ng upon
me; one of whom, should she appear in this world, all mankind would die for
love of her. And I see in the hand of one of them a handkerchief of green s=
ilk,
and a cap of precious stones, and she beckons me, and calls out, Come hither
quickly, for I love thee." With these words, charging the Christians, =
he
made havoc wherever he went, till, observed at length by the governor of He=
ms,
he was struck through with a javelin.
It was incumbent on the Saracens to exert the =
full
powers of their valor and enthusiasm against the forces of the emperor, who=
was
taught, by repeated losses, that the rovers of the desert had undertaken, a=
nd
would speedily achieve, a regular and permanent conquest. From the province=
s of
Europe and Asia, fourscore thousand soldiers were transported by sea and la=
nd
to Antioch and Cæsarea: the light troops of the army consisted of six=
ty
thousand Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. Under the banner of Jabala=
h,
the last of their princes, they marched in the van; and it was a maxim of t=
he
Greeks, that for the purpose of cutting diamond, a diamond was the most
effectual. Heraclius withheld his person from the dangers of the field; but=
his
presumption, or perhaps his despondency, suggested a peremptory order, that=
the
fate of the province and the war should be decided by a single battle. The
Syrians were attached to the standard of Rome and of the cross: but the nob=
le,
the citizen, the peasant, were exasperated by the injustice and cruelty of a
licentious host, who oppressed them as subjects, and despised them as stran=
gers
and aliens. A report of these mighty preparations was conveyed to the Sarac=
ens
in their camp of Emesa, and the chiefs, though resolved to fight, assembled=
a
council: the faith of Abu Obeidah would have expected on the same spot the
glory of martyrdom; the wisdom of Caled advised an honorable retreat to the
skirts of Palestine and Arabia, where they might await the succors of their
friends, and the attack of the unbelievers. A speedy messenger soon returned
from the throne of Medina, with the blessings of Omar and Ali, the prayers =
of
the widows of the prophet, and a reënforcement of eight thousand Mosle=
ms.
In their way they overturned a detachment of Greeks, and when they joined at
Yermuk the camp of their brethren, they found the pleasing intelligence, th=
at Caled
had already defeated and scattered the Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gass=
an.
In the neighborhood of Bosra, the springs of Mount Hermon descend in a torr=
ent
to the plain of Decapolis, or ten cities; and the Hieromax, a name which has
been corrupted to Yermuk, is lost, after a short course, in the Lake of
Tiberias. The banks of this obscure stream were illustrated by a long and
bloody encounter. On this momentous occasion, the public voice, and the mod=
esty
of Abu Obeidah, restored the command to the most deserving of the Moslems.
Caled assumed his station in the front, his colleague was posted in the rea=
r,
that the disorder of the fugitive might be checked by his venerable aspect,=
and
the sight of the yellow banner which Mahomet had displayed before the walls=
of
Chaibar. The last line was occupied by the sister of Derar, with the Arabian
women who had enlisted in this holy war, who were accustomed to wield the b=
ow
and the lance, and who in a moment of captivity had defended, against the u=
ncircumcised
ravishers, their chastity and religion. The exhortation of the generals was
brief and forcible: "Paradise is before you, the devil and hell-fire in
your rear." Yet such was the weight of the Roman cavalry, that the rig=
ht
wing of the Arabs was broken and separated from the main body. Thrice did t=
hey
retreat in disorder, and thrice were they driven back to the charge by the
reproaches and blows of the women. In the intervals of action, Abu Obeidah
visited the tents of his brethren, prolonged their repose by repeating at o=
nce
the prayers of two different hours, bound up their wounds with his own hand=
s,
and administered the comfortable reflection, that the infidels partook of t=
heir
sufferings without partaking of their reward. Four thousand and thirty of t=
he
Moslems were buried in the field of battle; and the skill of the Armenian
archers enabled seven hundred to boast that they had lost an eye in that
meritorious service. The veterans of the Syrian war acknowledged that it was
the hardest and most doubtful of the days which they had seen. But it was
likewise the most decisive: many thousands of the Greeks and Syrians fell by
the swords of the Arabs; many were slaughtered, after the defeat, in the wo=
ods
and mountains; many, by mistaking the ford, were drowned in the waters of t=
he
Yermuk; and however the loss may be magnified, the Christian writers confess
and bewail the bloody punishment of their sins. Manuel, the Roman general, =
was
either killed at Damascus, or took refuge in the monastery of Mount Sinai. =
An
exile in the Byzantine court, Jabalah lamented the manners of Arabia, and h=
is
unlucky preference of the Christian cause. He had once inclined to the
profession of Islam; but in the pilgrimage of Mecca, Jabalah was provoked to
strike one of his brethren, and fled with amazement from the stern and equal
justice of the caliph These victorious Saracens enjoyed at Damascus a month=
of pleasure
and repose: the spoil was divided by the discretion of Abu Obeidah: an equal
share was allotted to a soldier and to his horse, and a double portion was
reserved for the noble coursers of the Arabian breed.
After the battle of Yermuk, the Roman army no
longer appeared in the field; and the Saracens might securely choose, among=
the
fortified towns of Syria, the first object of their attack. They consulted =
the
caliph whether they should march to Cæsarea or Jerusalem; and the adv=
ice
of Ali determined the immediate siege of the latter. To a profane eye, Jeru=
salem
was the first or second capital of Palestine; but after Mecca and Medina, it
was revered and visited by the devout Moslems, as the temple of the Holy La=
nd
which had been sanctified by the revelation of Moses, of Jesus, and of Maho=
met
himself. The son of Abu Sophian was sent with five thousand Arabs to try the
first experiment of surprise or treaty; but on the eleventh day, the town w=
as
invested by the whole force of Abu Obeidah. He addressed the customary summ=
ons
to the chief commanders and people of Ælia.
"Health and happiness to every one that
follows the right way! We require of you to testify that there is but one G=
od,
and that Mahomet is his apostle. If you refuse this, consent to pay tribute,
and be under us forthwith. Otherwise I shall bring men against you who love
death better than you do the drinking of wine or eating hog's flesh. Nor wi=
ll I
ever stir from you, if it please God, till I have destroyed those that figh=
t for
you, and made slaves of your children." But the city was defended on e=
very
side by deep valleys and steep ascents; since the invasion of Syria, the wa=
lls
and towers had been anxiously restored; the bravest of the fugitives of Yer=
muk
had stopped in the nearest place of refuge; and in the defence of the sepul=
chre
of Christ, the natives and strangers might feel some sparks of the enthusia=
sm,
which so fiercely glowed in the bosoms of the Saracens. The siege of Jerusa=
lem
lasted four months; not a day was lost without some action of sally or assa=
ult;
the military engines incessantly played from the ramparts; and the inclemen=
cy
of the winter was still more painful and destructive to the Arabs. The Chri=
stians
yielded at length to the perseverance of the besiegers. The patriarch
Sophronius appeared on the walls, and by the voice of an interpreter demand=
ed a
conference. After a vain attempt to dissuade the lieutenant of the caliph f=
rom
his impious enterprise, he proposed, in the name of the people, a fair
capitulation, with this extraordinary clause, that the articles of security
should be ratified by the authority and presence of Omar himself. The quest=
ion
was debated in the council of Medina; the sanctity of the place, and the ad=
vice
of Ali, persuaded the caliph to gratify the wishes of his soldiers and enem=
ies;
and the simplicity of his journey is more illustrious than the royal pagean=
ts
of vanity and oppression. The conqueror of Persia and Syria was mounted on a
red camel, which carried, besides his person, a bag of corn, a bag of dates=
, a
wooden dish, and a leathern bottle of water. Wherever he halted, the compan=
y,
without distinction, was invited to partake of his homely fare, and the rep=
ast
was consecrated by the prayer and exhortation of the commander of the faith=
ful.
But in this expedition or pilgrimage, his power was exercised in the
administration of justice: he reformed the licentious polygamy of the Arabs,
relieved the tributaries from extortion and cruelty, and chastised the luxu=
ry
of the Saracens, by despoiling them of their rich silks, and dragging them =
on their
faces in the dirt. When he came within sight of Jerusalem, the caliph cried
with a loud voice, "God is victorious. O Lord, give us an easy
conquest!" and, pitching his tent of coarse hair, calmly seated himsel=
f on
the ground. After signing the capitulation, he entered the city without fea=
r or
precaution; and courteously discoursed with the patriarch concerning its
religious antiquities. Sophronius bowed before his new master, and secretly
muttered, in the words of Daniel, "The abomination of desolation is in=
the
holy place." At the hour of prayer they stood together in the church of
the resurrection; but the caliph refused to perform his devotions, and
contented himself with praying on the steps of the church of Constantine. To
the patriarch he disclosed his prudent and honorable motive. "Had I
yielded," said Omar, "to your request, the Moslems of a future age
would have infringed the treaty under color of imitating my example." =
By
his command the ground of the temple of Solomon was prepared for the founda=
tion
of a mosch; and, during a residence of ten days, he regulated the present a=
nd
future state of his Syrian conquests. Medina might be jealous, lest the cal=
iph
should be detained by the sanctity of Jerusalem or the beauty of Damascus; =
her
apprehensions were dispelled by his prompt and voluntary return to the tomb=
of
the apostle.
To achieve what yet remained of the Syrian war=
the
caliph had formed two separate armies; a chosen detachment, under Amrou and
Yezid, was left in the camp of Palestine; while the larger division, under =
the
standard of Abu Obeidah and Caled, marched away to the north against Antioc=
h and
Aleppo. The latter of these, the Beræa of the Greeks, was not yet
illustrious as the capital of a province or a kingdom; and the inhabitants,=
by
anticipating their submission and pleading their poverty, obtained a modera=
te
composition for their lives and religion. But the castle of Aleppo, distinct
from the city, stood erect on a lofty artificial mound the sides were sharp=
ened
to a precipice, and faced with free-stone; and the breadth of the ditch mig=
ht
be filled with water from the neighboring springs. After the loss of three
thousand men, the garrison was still equal to the defence; and Youkinna, th=
eir
valiant and hereditary chief, had murdered his brother, a holy monk, for da=
ring
to pronounce the name of peace. In a siege of four or five months, the hard=
est
of the Syrian war, great numbers of the Saracens were killed and wounded: t=
heir
removal to the distance of a mile could not seduce the vigilance of Youkinn=
a;
nor could the Christians be terrified by the execution of three hundred cap=
tives,
whom they beheaded before the castle wall. The silence, and at length the
complaints, of Abu Obeidah informed the caliph that their hope and patience
were consumed at the foot of this impregnable fortress. "I am variously
affected," replied Omar, "by the difference of your success; but I
charge you by no means to raise the siege of the castle. Your retreat would
diminish the reputation of our arms, and encourage the infidels to fall upon
you on all sides. Remain before Aleppo till God shall determine the event, =
and forage
with your horse round the adjacent country." The exhortation of the
commander of the faithful was fortified by a supply of volunteers from all =
the
tribes of Arabia, who arrived in the camp on horses or camels. Among these =
was
Dames, of a servile birth, but of gigantic size and intrepid resolution. The
forty-seventh day of his service he proposed, with only thirty men, to make=
an
attempt on the castle. The experience and testimony of Caled recommended his
offer; and Abu Obeidah admonished his brethren not to despise the baser ori=
gin
of Dames, since he himself, could he relinquish the public care, would
cheerfully serve under the banner of the slave. His design was covered by t=
he
appearance of a retreat; and the camp of the Saracens was pitched about a
league from Aleppo. The thirty adventurers lay in ambush at the foot of the=
hill;
and Dames at length succeeded in his inquiries, though he was provoked by t=
he
ignorance of his Greek captives. "God curse these dogs," said the
illiterate Arab; "what a strange barbarous language they speak!" =
At
the darkest hour of the night, he scaled the most accessible height, which =
he
had diligently surveyed, a place where the stones were less entire, or the
slope less perpendicular, or the guard less vigilant. Seven of the stoutest
Saracens mounted on each other's shoulders, and the weight of the column was
sustained on the broad and sinewy back of the gigantic slave. The foremost =
in
this painful ascent could grasp and climb the lowest part of the battlement=
s;
they silently stabbed and cast down the sentinels; and the thirty brethren,
repeating a pious ejaculation, "O apostle of God, help and deliver
us!" were successively drawn up by the long folds of their turbans. Wi=
th
bold and cautious footsteps, Dames explored the palace of the governor, who=
celebrated,
in riotous merriment, the festival of his deliverance. From thence, returni=
ng
to his companions, he assaulted on the inside the entrance of the castle. T=
hey
overpowered the guard, unbolted the gate, let down the drawbridge, and defe=
nded
the narrow pass, till the arrival of Caled, with the dawn of day, relieved
their danger and assured their conquest. Youkinna, a formidable foe, became=
an
active and useful proselyte; and the general of the Saracens expressed his
regard for the most humble merit, by detaining the army at Aleppo till Dames
was cured of his honorable wounds. The capital of Syria was still covered by
the castle of Aazaz and the iron bridge of the Orontes. After the loss of t=
hose
important posts, and the defeat of the last of the Roman armies, the luxury=
of
Antioch trembled and obeyed. Her safety was ransomed with three hundred
thousand pieces of gold; but the throne of the successors of Alexander, the
seat of the Roman government of the East, which had been decorated by
Cæsar with the titles of free, and holy, and inviolate was degraded u=
nder
the yoke of the caliphs to the secondary rank of a provincial town.
In the life of Heraclius, the glories of the
Persian war are clouded on either hand by the disgrace and weakness of his =
more
early and his later days. When the successors of Mahomet unsheathed the swo=
rd
of war and religion, he was astonished at the boundless prospect of toil an=
d danger;
his nature was indolent, nor could the infirm and frigid age of the emperor=
be
kindled to a second effort. The sense of shame, and the importunities of the
Syrians, prevented the hasty departure from the scene of action; but the he=
ro
was no more; and the loss of Damascus and Jerusalem, the bloody fields of A=
iznadin
and Yermuk, may be imputed in some degree to the absence or misconduct of t=
he
sovereign. Instead of defending the sepulchre of Christ, he involved the ch=
urch
and state in a metaphysical controversy for the unity of his will; and while
Heraclius crowned the offspring of his second nuptials, he was tamely strip=
ped of
the most valuable part of their inheritance. In the cathedral of Antioch, in
the presence of the bishops, at the foot of the crucifix, he bewailed the s=
ins
of the prince and people; but his confession instructed the world, that it =
was
vain, and perhaps impious, to resist the judgment of God. The Saracens were
invincible in fact, since they were invincible in opinion; and the desertio=
n of
Youkinna, his false repentance and repeated perfidy, might justify the
suspicion of the emperor, that he was encompassed by traitors and apostates,
who conspired to betray his person and their country to the enemies of Chri=
st.
In the hour of adversity, his superstition was agitated by the omens and dr=
eams
of a falling crown; and after bidding an eternal farewell to Syria, he secr=
etly
embarked with a few attendants, and absolved the faith of his subjects.
Constantine, his eldest son, had been stationed with forty thousand men at
Cæsarea, the civil metropolis of the three provinces of Palestine. But
his private interest recalled him to the Byzantine court; and, after the fl=
ight
of his father, he felt himself an unequal champion to the united force of t=
he
caliph. His vanguard was boldly attacked by three hundred Arabs and a thous=
and
black slaves, who, in the depth of winter, had climbed the snowy mountains =
of Libanus,
and who were speedily followed by the victorious squadrons of Caled himself.
From the north and south the troops of Antioch and Jerusalem advanced along=
the
sea-shore till their banners were joined under the walls of the Phnician
cities: Tripoli and Tyre were betrayed; and a fleet of fifty transports, wh=
ich
entered without distrust the captive harbors, brought a seasonable supply of
arms and provisions to the camp of the Saracens. Their labors were terminat=
ed
by the unexpected surrender of Cæsarea: the Roman prince had embarked=
in
the night; and the defenceless citizens solicited their pardon with an offe=
ring
of two hundred thousand pieces of gold. The remainder of the province, Raml=
ah, Ptolemais
or Acre, Sichem or Neapolis, Gaza, Ascalon, Berytus, Sidon, Gabala, Laodice=
a,
Apamea, Hierapolis, no longer presumed to dispute the will of the conqueror;
and Syria bowed under the sceptre of the caliphs seven hundred years after
Pompey had despoiled the last of the Macedonian kings.
The sieges and battles of six campaigns had
consumed many thousands of the Moslems. They died with the reputation and t=
he
cheerfulness of martyrs; and the simplicity of their faith may be expressed=
in
the words of an Arabian youth, when he embraced, for the last time, his sis=
ter
and mother: "It is not," said he, "the delicacies of Syria, =
or
the fading delights of this world, that have prompted me to devote my life =
in
the cause of religion. But I seek the favor of God and his apostle; and I h=
ave
heard, from one of the companions of the prophet, that the spirits of the
martyrs will be lodged in the crops of green birds, who shall taste the fru=
its,
and drink of the rivers, of paradise. Farewell, we shall meet again among t=
he
groves and fountains which God has provided for his elect." The faithf=
ul
captives might exercise a passive and more arduous resolution; and a cousin=
of
Mahomet is celebrated for refusing, after an abstinence of three days, the =
wine
and pork, the only nourishment that was allowed by the malice of the infide=
ls.
The frailty of some weaker brethren exasperated the implacable spirit of
fanaticism; and the father of Amer deplored, in pathetic strains, the apost=
asy and
damnation of a son, who had renounced the promises of God, and the interces=
sion
of the prophet, to occupy, with the priests and deacons, the lowest mansion=
s of
hell. The more fortunate Arabs, who survived the war and persevered in the
faith, were restrained by their abstemious leader from the abuse of prosper=
ity.
After a refreshment of three days, Abu Obeidah withdrew his troops from the
pernicious contagion of the luxury of Antioch, and assured the caliph that =
their
religion and virtue could only be preserved by the hard discipline of pover=
ty
and labor. But the virtue of Omar, however rigorous to himself, was kind and
liberal to his brethren. After a just tribute of praise and thanksgiving, h=
e dropped
a tear of compassion; and sitting down on the ground, wrote an answer, in w=
hich
he mildly censured the severity of his lieutenant: "God," said the
successor of the prophet, "has not forbidden the use of the good thing=
s of
this world to faithful men, and such as have performed good works. Therefore
you ought to have given them leave to rest themselves, and partake freely of
those good things which the country affordeth. If any of the Saracens have =
no
family in Arabia, they may marry in Syria; and whosoever of them wants any
female slaves, he may purchase as many as he hath occasion for." The
conquerors prepared to use, or to abuse, this gracious permission; but the =
year
of their triumph was marked by a mortality of men and cattle; and twenty-fi=
ve thousand
Saracens were snatched away from the possession of Syria. The death of Abu
Obeidah might be lamented by the Christians; but his brethren recollected t=
hat
he was one of the ten elect whom the prophet had named as the heirs of
paradise. Caled survived his brethren about three years: and the tomb of the
Sword of God is shown in the neighborhood of Emesa. His valor, which founde=
d in
Arabia and Syria the empire of the caliphs, was fortified by the opinion of=
a
special providence; and as long as he wore a cap, which had been blessed by
Mahomet, he deemed himself invulnerable amidst the darts of the infidels.
The place of the first conquerors was supplied=
by
a new generation of their children and countrymen: Syria became the seat and
support of the house of Ommiyah; and the revenue, the soldiers, the ships of
that powerful kingdom were consecrated to enlarge on every side the empire =
of the
caliphs. But the Saracens despise a superfluity of fame; and their historia=
ns
scarcely condescend to mention the subordinate conquests which are lost in =
the
splendor and rapidity of their victorious career. To the north of Syria, th=
ey
passed Mount Taurus, and reduced to their obedience the province of Cilicia,
with its capital Tarsus, the ancient monument of the Assyrian kings. Beyond=
a
second ridge of the same mountains, they spread the flame of war, rather th=
an
the light of religion, as far as the shores of the Euxine, and the neighbor=
hood
of Constantinople. To the east they advanced to the banks and sources of the
Euphrates and Tigris: the long disputed barrier of Rome and Persia was fore=
ver
confounded the walls of Edessa and Amida, of Dara and Nisibis, which had
resisted the arms and engines of Sapor or Nushirvan, were levelled in the d=
ust;
and the holy city of Abgarus might vainly produce the epistle or the image =
of
Christ to an unbelieving conqueror. To the west the Syrian kingdom is bound=
ed
by the sea: and the ruin of Aradus, a small island or peninsula on the coas=
t,
was postponed during ten years. But the hills of Libanus abounded in timber;
the trade of Phnicia was populous in mariners; and a fleet of seventeen hun=
dred
barks was equipped and manned by the natives of the desert. The Imperial na=
vy
of the Romans fled before them from the Pamphylian rocks to the Hellespont;=
but
the spirit of the emperor, a grandson of Heraclius, had been subdued before=
the
combat by a dream and a pun. The Saracens rode masters of the sea; and the
islands of Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Cyclades, were successively exposed to t=
heir
rapacious visits. Three hundred years before the Christian æra, the
memorable though fruitless siege of Rhodes by Demetrius had furnished that
maritime republic with the materials and the subject of a trophy. A gigantic
statue of Apollo, or the sun, seventy cubits in height, was erected at the
entrance of the harbor, a monument of the freedom and the arts of Greece. A=
fter
standing fifty-six years, the colossus of Rhodes was overthrown by an
earthquake; but the massy trunk, and huge fragments, lay scattered eight
centuries on the ground, and are often described as one of the wonders of t=
he
ancient world. They were collected by the diligence of the Saracens, and so=
ld to
a Jewish merchant of Edessa, who is said to have laden nine hundred camels =
with
the weight of the brass metal; an enormous weight, though we should include=
the
hundred colossal figures, and the three thousand statues, which adorned the
prosperity of the city of the sun.
II. The conquest of Egypt may be explained by =
the
character of the victorious Saracen, one of the first of his nation, in an =
age
when the meanest of the brethren was exalted above his nature by the spirit=
of enthusiasm.
The birth of Amrou was at once base and illustrious; his mother, a notorious
prostitute, was unable to decide among five of the Koreish; but the proof of
resemblance adjudged the child to Aasi, the oldest of her lovers. The youth=
of
Amrou was impelled by the passions and prejudices of his kindred: his poetic
genius was exercised in satirical verses against the person and doctrine of
Mahomet; his dexterity was employed by the reigning faction to pursue the
religious exiles who had taken refuge in the court of the Æthiopian k=
ing.
Yet he returned from this embassy a secret proselyte; his reason or his int=
erest
determined him to renounce the worship of idols; he escaped from Mecca with=
his
friend Caled; and the prophet of Medina enjoyed at the same moment the
satisfaction of embracing the two firmest champions of his cause. The
impatience of Amrou to lead the armies of the faithful was checked by the
reproof of Omar, who advised him not to seek power and dominion, since he w=
ho
is a subject to-day, may be a prince to-morrow. Yet his merit was not
overlooked by the two first successors of Mahomet; they were indebted to his
arms for the conquest of Palestine; and in all the battles and sieges of Sy=
ria,
he united with the temper of a chief the valor of an adventurous soldier. I=
n a
visit to Medina, the caliph expressed a wish to survey the sword which had =
cut down
so many Christian warriors; the son of Aasi unsheathed a short and ordinary
cimeter; and as he perceived the surprise of Omar, "Alas," said t=
he
modest Saracen, "the sword itself, without the arm of its master, is n=
either
sharper nor more weighty than the sword of Pharezdak the poet." After =
the
conquest of Egypt, he was recalled by the jealousy of the caliph Othman; bu=
t in
the subsequent troubles, the ambition of a soldier, a statesman, and an ora=
tor,
emerged from a private station. His powerful support, both in council and in
the field, established the throne of the Ommiades; the administration and
revenue of Egypt were restored by the gratitude of Moawiyah to a faithful
friend who had raised himself above the rank of a subject; and Amrou ended =
his
days in the palace and city which he had founded on the banks of the Nile. =
His dying
speech to his children is celebrated by the Arabians as a model of eloquence
and wisdom: he deplored the errors of his youth but if the penitent was sti=
ll
infected by the vanity of a poet, he might exaggerate the venom and mischie=
f of
his impious compositions.
From his camp in Palestine, Amrou had surprise=
d or
anticipated the caliph's leave for the invasion of Egypt. The magnanimous O=
mar
trusted in his God and his sword, which had shaken the thrones of Chosroes =
and Cæsar:
but when he compared the slender force of the Moslems with the greatness of=
the
enterprise, he condemned his own rashness, and listened to his timid
companions. The pride and the greatness of Pharaoh were familiar to the rea=
ders
of the Koran; and a tenfold repetition of prodigies had been scarcely
sufficient to effect, not the victory, but the flight, of six hundred thous=
and
of the children of Israel: the cities of Egypt were many and populous; their
architecture was strong and solid; the Nile, with its numerous branches, was
alone an insuperable barrier; and the granary of the Imperial city would be=
obstinately
defended by the Roman powers. In this perplexity, the commander of the fait=
hful
resigned himself to the decision of chance, or, in his opinion, of Providen=
ce.
At the head of only four thousand Arabs, the intrepid Amrou had marched away
from his station of Gaza when he was overtaken by the messenger of Omar.
"If you are still in Syria," said the ambiguous mandate,
"retreat without delay; but if, at the receipt of this epistle, you ha=
ve
already reached the frontiers of Egypt, advance with confidence, and depend=
on
the succor of God and of your brethren." The experience, perhaps the
secret intelligence, of Amrou had taught him to suspect the mutability of
courts; and he continued his march till his tents were unquestionably pitch=
ed
on Egyptian ground. He there assembled his officers, broke the seal, perused
the epistle, gravely inquired the name and situation of the place, and decl=
ared
his ready obedience to the commands of the caliph. After a siege of thirty
days, he took possession of Farmah or Pelusium; and that key of Egypt, as it
has been justly named, unlocked the entrance of the country as far as the r=
uins
of Heliopolis and the neighborhood of the modern Cairo.
On the Western side of the Nile, at a small
distance to the east of the Pyramids, at a small distance to the south of t=
he
Delta, Memphis, one hundred and fifty furlongs in circumference, displayed =
the
magnificence of ancient kings. Under the reign of the Ptolemies and
Cæsars, the seat of government was removed to the sea-coast; the anci=
ent
capital was eclipsed by the arts and opulence of Alexandria; the palaces, a=
nd
at length the temples, were reduced to a desolate and ruinous condition: ye=
t,
in the age of Augustus, and even in that of Constantine, Memphis was still
numbered among the greatest and most populous of the provincial cities. The
banks of the Nile, in this place of the breadth of three thousand feet, were
united by two bridges of sixty and of thirty boats, connected in the middle
stream by the small island of Rouda, which was covered with gardens and
habitations. The eastern extremity of the bridge was terminated by the town=
of
Babylon and the camp of a Roman legion, which protected the passage of the
river and the second capital of Egypt. This important fortress, which might
fairly be described as a part of Memphis or Misrah, was invested by the arm=
s of
the lieutenant of Omar: a reënforcement of four thousand Saracens soon=
arrived
in his camp; and the military engines, which battered the walls, may be imp=
uted
to the art and labor of his Syrian allies. Yet the siege was protracted to
seven months; and the rash invaders were encompassed and threatened by the
inundation of the Nile. Their last assault was bold and successful: they pa=
ssed
the ditch, which had been fortified with iron spikes, applied their scaling
ladders, entered the fortress with the shout of "God is victorious!&qu=
ot;
and drove the remnant of the Greeks to their boats and the Isle of Rouda. T=
he
spot was afterwards recommended to the conqueror by the easy communication =
with
the gulf and the peninsula of Arabia; the remains of Memphis were deserted;=
the
tents of the Arabs were converted into permanent habitations; and the first=
mosch
was blessed by the presence of fourscore companions of Mahomet. A new city
arose in their camp, on the eastward bank of the Nile; and the contiguous
quarters of Babylon and Fostat are confounded in their present decay by the
appellation of old Misrah, or Cairo, of which they form an extensive suburb.
But the name of Cairo, the town of victory, more strictly belongs to the mo=
dern
capital, which was founded in the tenth century by the Fatimite caliphs. It=
has
gradually receded from the river; but the continuity of buildings may be tr=
aced
by an attentive eye from the monuments of Sesostris to those of Saladin.
Yet the Arabs, after a glorious and profitable
enterprise, must have retreated to the desert, had they not found a powerful
alliance in the heart of the country. The rapid conquest of Alexander was
assisted by the superstition and revolt of the natives: they abhorred their
Persian oppressors, the disciples of the Magi, who had burnt the temples of=
Egypt,
and feasted with sacrilegious appetite on the flesh of the god Apis. After a
period of ten centuries, the same revolution was renewed by a similar cause;
and in the support of an incomprehensible creed, the zeal of the Coptic
Christians was equally ardent. I have already explained the origin and prog=
ress
of the Monophysite controversy, and the persecution of the emperors, which
converted a sect into a nation, and alienated Egypt from their religion and
government. The Saracens were received as the deliverers of the Jacobite
church; and a secret and effectual treaty was opened during the siege of
Memphis between a victorious army and a people of slaves. A rich and noble
Egyptian, of the name of Mokawkas, had dissembled his faith to obtain the a=
dministration
of his province: in the disorders of the Persian war he aspired to
independence: the embassy of Mahomet ranked him among princes; but he decli=
ned,
with rich gifts and ambiguous compliments, the proposal of a new religion. =
The
abuse of his trust exposed him to the resentment of Heraclius: his submissi=
on
was delayed by arrogance and fear; and his conscience was prompted by inter=
est
to throw himself on the favor of the nation and the support of the Saracens=
. In
his first conference with Amrou, he heard without indignation the usual opt=
ion
of the Koran, the tribute, or the sword. "The Greeks," replied
Mokawkas, "are determined to abide the determination of the sword; but
with the Greeks I desire no communion, either in this world or in the next,=
and
I abjure forever the Byzantine tyrant, his synod of Chalcedon, and his Melc=
hite
slaves. For myself and my brethren, we are resolved to live and die in the
profession of the gospel and unity of Christ. It is impossible for us to
embrace the revelations of your prophet; but we are desirous of peace, and
cheerfully submit to pay tribute and obedience to his temporal
successors." The tribute was ascertained at two pieces of gold for the
head of every Christian; but old men, monks, women, and children, of both
sexes, under sixteen years of age, were exempted from this personal assessm=
ent:
the Copts above and below Memphis swore allegiance to the caliph, and promi=
sed
a hospitable entertainment of three days to every Mussulman who should trav=
el
through their country. By this charter of security, the ecclesiastical and
civil tyranny of the Melchites was destroyed: the anathemas of St. Cyril we=
re
thundered from every pulpit; and the sacred edifices, with the patrimony of=
the
church, were restored to the national communion of the Jacobites, who enjoy=
ed without
moderation the moment of triumph and revenge. At the pressing summons of Am=
rou,
their patriarch Benjamin emerged from his desert; and after the first
interview, the courteous Arab affected to declare that he had never convers=
ed
with a Christian priest of more innocent manners and a more venerable aspec=
t.
In the march from Memphis to Alexandria, the lieutenant of Omar intrusted h=
is
safety to the zeal and gratitude of the Egyptians: the roads and bridges we=
re
diligently repaired; and in every step of his progress, he could depend on a
constant supply of provisions and intelligence. The Greeks of Egypt, whose
numbers could scarcely equal a tenth of the natives, were overwhelmed by the
universal defection: they had ever been hated, they were no longer feared: =
the magistrate
fled from his tribunal, the bishop from his altar; and the distant garrisons
were surprised or starved by the surrounding multitudes. Had not the Nile
afforded a safe and ready conveyance to the sea, not an individual could ha=
ve
escaped, who by birth, or language, or office, or religion, was connected w=
ith
their odious name.
By the retreat of the Greeks from the province=
s of
Upper Egypt, a considerable force was collected in the Island of Delta; the
natural and artificial channels of the Nile afforded a succession of strong=
and
defensible posts; and the road to Alexandria was laboriously cleared by the
victory of the Saracens in two-and-twenty days of general or partial combat=
. In
their annals of conquest, the siege of Alexandria is perhaps the most arduo=
us
and important enterprise. The first trading city in the world was abundantly
replenished with the means of subsistence and defence. Her numerous inhabit=
ants
fought for the dearest of human rights, religion and property; and the enmi=
ty
of the natives seemed to exclude them from the common benefit of peace and
toleration. The sea was continually open; and if Heraclius had been awake to
the public distress, fresh armies of Romans and Barbarians might have been =
poured
into the harbor to save the second capital of the empire. A circumference of
ten miles would have scattered the forces of the Greeks, and favored the
stratagems of an active enemy; but the two sides of an oblong square were
covered by the sea and the Lake Maræotis, and each of the narrow ends
exposed a front of no more than ten furlongs. The efforts of the Arabs were=
not
inadequate to the difficulty of the attempt and the value of the prize. From
the throne of Medina, the eyes of Omar were fixed on the camp and city: his
voice excited to arms the Arabian tribes and the veterans of Syria; and the
merit of a holy war was recommended by the peculiar fame and fertility of
Egypt. Anxious for the ruin or expulsion of their tyrants, the faithful nat=
ives
devoted their labors to the service of Amrou: some sparks of martial spirit
were perhaps rekindled by the example of their allies; and the sanguine hop=
es
of Mokawkas had fixed his sepulchre in the church of St. John of Alexandria.
Eutychius the patriarch observes, that the Saracens fought with the courage=
of
lions: they repulsed the frequent and almost daily sallies of the besieged,=
and
soon assaulted in their turn the walls and towers of the city. In every att=
ack,
the sword, the banner of Amrou, glittered in the van of the Moslems. On a
memorable day, he was betrayed by his imprudent valor: his followers who had
entered the citadel were driven back; and the general, with a friend and sl=
ave,
remained a prisoner in the hands of the Christians. When Amrou was conducted
before the præfect, he remembered his dignity, and forgot his situati=
on:
a lofty demeanor, and resolute language, revealed the lieutenant of the cal=
iph,
and the battle-axe of a soldier was already raised to strike off the head of
the audacious captive. His life was saved by the readiness of his slave, who
instantly gave his master a blow on the face, and commanded him, with an an=
gry
tone, to be silent in the presence of his superiors. The credulous Greek was
deceived: he listened to the offer of a treaty, and his prisoners were
dismissed in the hope of a more respectable embassy, till the joyful
acclamations of the camp announced the return of their general, and insulted
the folly of the infidels. At length, after a siege of fourteen months, and=
the
loss of three-and-twenty thousand men, the Saracens prevailed: the Greeks e=
mbarked
their dispirited and diminished numbers, and the standard of Mahomet was
planted on the walls of the capital of Egypt. "I have taken," said
Amrou to the caliph, "the great city of the West. It is impossible for=
me
to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty; and I shall content myse=
lf
with observing, that it contains four thousand palaces, four thousand baths,
four hundred theatres or places of amusement, twelve thousand shops for the
sale of vegetable food, and forty thousand tributary Jews. The town has been
subdued by force of arms, without treaty or capitulation, and the Moslems a=
re
impatient to seize the fruits of their victory." The commander of the
faithful rejected with firmness the idea of pillage, and directed his lieut=
enant
to reserve the wealth and revenue of Alexandria for the public service and =
the
propagation of the faith: the inhabitants were numbered; a tribute was impo=
sed,
the zeal and resentment of the Jacobites were curbed, and the Melchites who
submitted to the Arabian yoke were indulged in the obscure but tranquil
exercise of their worship. The intelligence of this disgraceful and calamit=
ous
event afflicted the declining health of the emperor; and Heraclius died of a
dropsy about seven weeks after the loss of Alexandria. Under the minority of
his grandson, the clamors of a people, deprived of their daily sustenance, =
compelled
the Byzantine court to undertake the recovery of the capital of Egypt. In t=
he
space of four years, the harbor and fortifications of Alexandria were twice
occupied by a fleet and army of Romans. They were twice expelled by the val=
or
of Amrou, who was recalled by the domestic peril from the distant wars of
Tripoli and Nubia. But the facility of the attempt, the repetition of the
insult, and the obstinacy of the resistance, provoked him to swear, that if=
a
third time he drove the infidels into the sea, he would render Alexandria as
accessible on all sides as the house of a prostitute. Faithful to his promi=
se,
he dismantled several parts of the walls and towers; but the people was spa=
red
in the chastisement of the city, and the mosch of Mercy was erected on the =
spot
where the victorious general had stopped the fury of his troops.
I should deceive the expectation of the reader=
, if
I passed in silence the fate of the Alexandrian library, as it is described=
by
the learned Abulpharagius. The spirit of Amrou was more curious and liberal
than that of his brethren, and in his leisure hours, the Arabian chief was =
pleased
with the conversation of John, the last disciple of Ammonius, and who deriv=
ed
the surname of Philoponus from his laborious studies of grammar and philoso=
phy.
Emboldened by this familiar intercourse, Philoponus presumed to solicit a g=
ift,
inestimable in his opinion, contemptible in that of the Barbarians--the roy=
al
library, which alone, among the spoils of Alexandria, had not been appropri=
ated
by the visit and the seal of the conqueror. Amrou was inclined to gratify t=
he
wish of the grammarian, but his rigid integrity refused to alienate the
minutest object without the consent of the caliph; and the well-known answe=
r of
Omar was inspired by the ignorance of a fanatic. "If these writings of=
the
Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless, and need not be preser=
ved:
if they disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed." The
sentence was executed with blind obedience: the volumes of paper or parchme=
nt
were distributed to the four thousand baths of the city; and such was their
incredible multitude, that six months were barely sufficient for the
consumption of this precious fuel. Since the Dynasties of Abulpharagius have
been given to the world in a Latin version, the tale has been repeatedly
transcribed; and every scholar, with pious indignation, has deplored the
irreparable shipwreck of the learning, the arts, and the genius, of antiqui=
ty.
For my own part, I am strongly tempted to deny both the fact and the
consequences. The fact is indeed marvellous. "Read and wonder!" s=
ays
the historian himself: and the solitary report of a stranger who wrote at t=
he
end of six hundred years on the confines of Media, is overbalanced by the
silence of two annalist of a more early date, both Christians, both natives=
of
Egypt, and the most ancient of whom, the patriarch Eutychius, has amply des=
cribed
the conquest of Alexandria. The rigid sentence of Omar is repugnant to the
sound and orthodox precept of the Mahometan casuists they expressly declare,
that the religious books of the Jews and Christians, which are acquired by =
the
right of war, should never be committed to the flames; and that the works of
profane science, historians or poets, physicians or philosophers, may be
lawfully applied to the use of the faithful. A more destructive zeal may
perhaps be attributed to the first successors of Mahomet; yet in this insta=
nce,
the conflagration would have speedily expired in the deficiency of material=
s. I
should not recapitulate the disasters of the Alexandrian library, the
involuntary flame that was kindled by Cæsar in his own defence, or the
mischievous bigotry of the Christians, who studied to destroy the monuments=
of
idolatry. But if we gradually descend from the age of the Antonines to that=
of
Theodosius, we shall learn from a chain of contemporary witnesses, that the
royal palace and the temple of Serapis no longer contained the four, or the
seven, hundred thousand volumes, which had been assembled by the curiosity =
and
magnificence of the Ptolemies. Perhaps the church and seat of the patriarchs
might be enriched with a repository of books; but if the ponderous mass of
Arian and Monophysite controversy were indeed consumed in the public baths,=
a philosopher
may allow, with a smile, that it was ultimately devoted to the benefit of
mankind. I sincerely regret the more valuable libraries which have been
involved in the ruin of the Roman empire; but when I seriously compute the
lapse of ages, the waste of ignorance, and the calamities of war, our
treasures, rather than our losses, are the objects of my surprise. Many cur=
ious
and interesting facts are buried in oblivion: the three great historians of
Rome have been transmitted to our hands in a mutilated state, and we are
deprived of many pleasing compositions of the lyric, iambic, and dramatic
poetry of the Greeks. Yet we should gratefully remember, that the mischance=
s of
time and accident have spared the classic works to which the suffrage of an=
tiquity
had adjudged the first place of genius and glory: the teachers of ancient
knowledge, who are still extant, had perused and compared the writings of t=
heir
predecessors; nor can it fairly be presumed that any important truth, any
useful discovery in art or nature, has been snatched away from the curiosit=
y of
modern ages.
In the administration of Egypt, Amrou balanced=
the
demands of justice and policy; the interest of the people of the law, who w=
ere
defended by God; and of the people of the alliance, who were protected by m=
an.
In the recent tumult of conquest and deliverance, the tongue of the Copts a=
nd
the sword of the Arabs were most adverse to the tranquillity of the provinc=
e.
To the former, Amrou declared, that faction and falsehood would be doubly
chastised; by the punishment of the accusers, whom he should detest as his
personal enemies, and by the promotion of their innocent brethren, whom the=
ir
envy had labored to injure and supplant. He excited the latter by the motiv=
es
of religion and honor to sustain the dignity of their character, to endear
themselves by a modest and temperate conduct to God and the caliph, to spare
and protect a people who had trusted to their faith, and to content themsel=
ves
with the legitimate and splendid rewards of their victory. In the managemen=
t of
the revenue, he disapproved the simple but oppressive mode of a capitation,=
and
preferred with reason a proportion of taxes deducted on every branch from t=
he
clear profits of agriculture and commerce. A third part of the tribute was
appropriated to the annual repairs of the dikes and canals, so essential to=
the
public welfare. Under his administration, the fertility of Egypt supplied t=
he
dearth of Arabia; and a string of camels, laden with corn and provisions,
covered almost without an interval the long road from Memphis to Medina. But
the genius of Amrou soon renewed the maritime communication which had been =
attempted
or achieved by the Pharaohs the Ptolemies, or the Cæsars; and a canal=
, at
least eighty miles in length, was opened from the Nile to the Red Sea. This
inland navigation, which would have joined the Mediterranean and the Indian
Ocean, was soon discontinued as useless and dangerous: the throne was remov=
ed
from Medina to Damascus, and the Grecian fleets might have explored a passa=
ge
to the holy cities of Arabia.
Of his new conquest, the caliph Omar had an
imperfect knowledge from the voice of fame and the legends of the Koran. He
requested that his lieutenant would place before his eyes the realm of Phar=
aoh
and the Amalekites; and the answer of Amrou exhibits a lively and not
unfaithful picture of that singular country. "O commander of the faith=
ful,
Egypt is a compound of black earth and green plants, between a pulverized m=
ountain
and a red sand. The distance from Syene to the sea is a month's journey for=
a
horseman. Along the valley descends a river, on which the blessing of the M=
ost
High reposes both in the evening and morning, and which rises and falls with
the revolutions of the sun and moon. When the annual dispensation of Provid=
ence
unlocks the springs and fountains that nourish the earth, the Nile rolls his
swelling and sounding waters through the realm of Egypt: the fields are
overspread by the salutary flood; and the villages communicate with each ot=
her
in their painted barks. The retreat of the inundation deposits a fertilizing
mud for the reception of the various seeds: the crowds of husbandmen who
blacken the land may be compared to a swarm of industrious ants; and their
native indolence is quickened by the lash of the task-master, and the promi=
se of
the flowers and fruits of a plentiful increase. Their hope is seldom deceiv=
ed; but
the riches which they extract from the wheat, the barley, and the rice, the
legumes, the fruit-trees, and the cattle, are unequally shared between those
who labor and those who possess. According to the vicissitudes of the seaso=
ns,
the face of the country is adorned with a silver wave, a verdant emerald, a=
nd
the deep yellow of a golden harvest." Yet this beneficial order is
sometimes interrupted; and the long delay and sudden swell of the river in =
the first
year of the conquest might afford some color to an edifying fable. It is sa=
id,
that the annual sacrifice of a virgin had been interdicted by the piety of
Omar; and that the Nile lay sullen and inactive in his shallow bed, till the
mandate of the caliph was cast into the obedient stream, which rose in a si=
ngle
night to the height of sixteen cubits. The admiration of the Arabs for their
new conquest encouraged the license of their romantic spirit. We may read, =
in
the gravest authors, that Egypt was crowded with twenty thousand cities or
villages: that, exclusive of the Greeks and Arabs, the Copts alone were fou=
nd,
on the assessment, six millions of tributary subjects, or twenty millions o=
f either
sex, and of every age: that three hundred millions of gold or silver were
annually paid to the treasury of the caliphs. Our reason must be startled by
these extravagant assertions; and they will become more palpable, if we ass=
ume
the compass and measure the extent of habitable ground: a valley from the
tropic to Memphis seldom broader than twelve miles, and the triangle of the
Delta, a flat surface of two thousand one hundred square leagues, compose a
twelfth part of the magnitude of France. A more accurate research will just=
ify
a more reasonable estimate. The three hundred millions, created by the erro=
r of
a scribe, are reduced to the decent revenue of four millions three hundred
thousand pieces of gold, of which nine hundred thousand were consumed by the
pay of the soldiers. Two authentic lists, of the present and of the twelfth
century, are circumscribed within the respectable number of two thousand se=
ven
hundred villages and towns. After a long residence at Cairo, a French consul
has ventured to assign about four millions of Mahometans, Christians, and J=
ews,
for the ample, though not incredible, scope of the population of Egypt.
IV. The conquest of Africa, from the Nile to t=
he
Atlantic Ocean, was first attempted by the arms of the caliph Othman. The p=
ious
design was approved by the companions of Mahomet and the chiefs of the trib=
es; and
twenty thousand Arabs marched from Medina, with the gifts and the blessing =
of
the commander of the faithful. They were joined in the camp of Memphis by
twenty thousand of their countrymen; and the conduct of the war was intrust=
ed
to Abdallah, the son of Said and the foster-brother of the caliph, who had
lately supplanted the conqueror and lieutenant of Egypt. Yet the favor of t=
he
prince, and the merit of his favorite, could not obliterate the guilt of his
apostasy. The early conversion of Abdallah, and his skilful pen, had recomm=
ended
him to the important office of transcribing the sheets of the Koran: he
betrayed his trust, corrupted the text, derided the errors which he had mad=
e,
and fled to Mecca to escape the justice, and expose the ignorance, of the a=
postle.
After the conquest of Mecca, he fell prostrate at the feet of Mahomet; his
tears, and the entreaties of Othman, extorted a reluctant pardon; out the
prophet declared that he had so long hesitated, to allow time for some zeal=
ous
disciple to avenge his injury in the blood of the apostate. With apparent
fidelity and effective merit, he served the religion which it was no longer=
his
interest to desert: his birth and talents gave him an honorable rank among =
the
Koreish; and, in a nation of cavalry, Abdallah was renowned as the boldest =
and
most dexterous horseman of Arabia. At the head of forty thousand Moslems, he
advanced from Egypt into the unknown countries of the West. The sands of Ba=
rca might
be impervious to a Roman legion but the Arabs were attended by their faithf=
ul
camels; and the natives of the desert beheld without terror the familiar as=
pect
of the soil and climate. After a painful march, they pitched their tents be=
fore
the walls of Tripoli, a maritime city in which the name, the wealth, and the
inhabitants of the province had gradually centred, and which now maintains =
the
third rank among the states of Barbary. A reënforcement of Greeks was
surprised and cut in pieces on the sea-shore; but the fortifications of Tri=
poli
resisted the first assaults; and the Saracens were tempted by the approach =
of
the præfect Gregory to relinquish the labors of the siege for the per=
ils and
the hopes of a decisive action. If his standard was followed by one hundred=
and
twenty thousand men, the regular bands of the empire must have been lost in=
the
naked and disorderly crowd of Africans and Moors, who formed the strength, =
or
rather the numbers, of his host. He rejected with indignation the option of=
the
Koran or the tribute; and during several days the two armies were fiercely
engaged from the dawn of light to the hour of noon, when their fatigue and =
the
excessive heat compelled them to seek shelter and refreshment in their
respective camps. The daughter of Gregory, a maid of incomparable beauty and
spirit, is said to have fought by his side: from her earliest youth she was
trained to mount on horseback, to draw the bow, and to wield the cimeter; a=
nd
the richness of her arms and apparel were conspicuous in the foremost ranks=
of
the battle. Her hand, with a hundred thousand pieces of gold, was offered f=
or
the head of the Arabian general, and the youths of Africa were excited by t=
he
prospect of the glorious prize. At the pressing solicitation of his brethre=
n,
Abdallah withdrew his person from the field; but the Saracens were discoura=
ged
by the retreat of their leader, and the repetition of these equal or
unsuccessful conflicts.
A noble Arabian, who afterwards became the
adversary of Ali, and the father of a caliph, had signalized his valor in
Egypt, and Zobeir was the first who planted the scaling-ladder against the
walls of Babylon. In the African war he was detached from the standard of
Abdallah. On the news of the battle, Zobeir, with twelve companions, cut his
way through the camp of the Greeks, and pressed forwards, without tasting
either food or repose, to partake of the dangers of his brethren. He cast h=
is eyes
round the field: "Where," said he, "is our general?"
"In his tent." "Is the tent a station for the general of the
Moslems?" Abdallah represented with a blush the importance of his own =
life,
and the temptation that was held forth by the Roman præfect.
"Retort," said Zobeir, "on the infidels their ungenerous
attempt. Proclaim through the ranks that the head of Gregory shall be repaid
with his captive daughter, and the equal sum of one hundred thousand pieces=
of
gold." To the courage and discretion of Zobeir the lieutenant of the
caliph intrusted the execution of his own stratagem, which inclined the lon=
g-disputed
balance in favor of the Saracens. Supplying by activity and artifice the
deficiency of numbers, a part of their forces lay concealed in their tents,
while the remainder prolonged an irregular skirmish with the enemy till the=
sun
was high in the heavens. On both sides they retired with fainting steps: th=
eir
horses were unbridled, their armor was laid aside, and the hostile nations
prepared, or seemed to prepare, for the refreshment of the evening, and the
encounter of the ensuing day. On a sudden the charge was sounded; the Arabi=
an
camp poured forth a swarm of fresh and intrepid warriors; and the long line=
of the
Greeks and Africans was surprised, assaulted, overturned, by new squadrons =
of
the faithful, who, to the eye of fanaticism, might appear as a band of ange=
ls
descending from the sky. The præfect himself was slain by the hand of=
Zobeir:
his daughter, who sought revenge and death, was surrounded and made prisone=
r;
and the fugitives involved in their disaster the town of Sufetula, to which
they escaped from the sabres and lances of the Arabs. Sufetula was built one
hundred and fifty miles to the south of Carthage: a gentle declivity is wat=
ered
by a running stream, and shaded by a grove of juniper-trees; and, in the ru=
ins
of a triumphal arch, a portico, and three temples of the Corinthian order, =
curiosity
may yet admire the magnificence of the Romans. After the fall of this opule=
nt
city, the provincials and Barbarians implored on all sides the mercy of the
conqueror. His vanity or his zeal might be flattered by offers of tribute or
professions of faith: but his losses, his fatigues, and the progress of an
epidemical disease, prevented a solid establishment; and the Saracens, afte=
r a
campaign of fifteen months, retreated to the confines of Egypt, with the
captives and the wealth of their African expedition. The caliph's fifth was
granted to a favorite, on the nominal payment of five hundred thousand piec=
es
of gold; but the state was doubly injured by this fallacious transaction, if
each foot-soldier had shared one thousand, and each horseman three thousand,
pieces, in the real division of the plunder. The author of the death of Gre=
gory
was expected to have claimed the most precious reward of the victory: from =
his
silence it might be presumed that he had fallen in the battle, till the tea=
rs
and exclamations of the præfect's daughter at the sight of Zobeir
revealed the valor and modesty of that gallant soldier. The unfortunate vir=
gin
was offered, and almost rejected as a slave, by her father's murderer, who
coolly declared that his sword was consecrated to the service of religion; =
and
that he labored for a recompense far above the charms of mortal beauty, or =
the
riches of this transitory life. A reward congenial to his temper was the
honorable commission of announcing to the caliph Othman the success of his
arms. The companions the chiefs, and the people, were assembled in the mosc=
h of
Medina, to hear the interesting narrative of Zobeir; and as the orator forg=
ot
nothing except the merit of his own counsels and actions, the name of Abdal=
lah
was joined by the Arabians with the heroic names of Caled and Amrou.
<=
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reast-font-family:
Calibri'>Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part VIII.<=
span
class=3DHeading1Char>
The Western conquests of the Saracens were
suspended near twenty years, till their dissensions were composed by the
establishment of the house of Ommiyah; and the caliph Moawiyah was invited =
by
the cries of the Africans themselves. The successors of Heraclius had been
informed of the tribute which they had been compelled to stipulate with the
Arabs, but instead of being moved to pity and relieve their distress, they =
imposed,
as an equivalent or a fine, a second tribute of a similar amount. The ears =
of
the Byzantine ministers were shut against the complaints of their poverty a=
nd
ruin: their despair was reduced to prefer the dominion of a single master; =
and
the extortions of the patriarch of Carthage, who was invested with civil and
military power, provoked the sectaries, and even the Catholics of the Roman
province, to abjure the religion as well as the authority of their tyrants.=
The
first lieutenant of Moawiyah acquired a just renown, subdued an important c=
ity,
defeated an army of thirty thousand Greeks, swept away fourscore thousand
captives, and enriched with their spoils the bold adventures of Syria and
Egypt. But the title of conqueror of Africa is more justly due to his succe=
ssor
Akbah. He marched from Damascus at the head of ten thousand of the bravest
Arabs; and the genuine force of the Moslems was enlarged by the doubtful aid
and conversion of many thousand Barbarians. It would be difficult, nor is it
necessary, to trace the accurate line of the progress of Akbah. The interior
regions have been peopled by the Orientals with fictitious armies and imagi=
nary
citadels. In the warlike province of Zab, or Numidia, fourscore thousand of=
the
natives might assemble in arms; but the number of three hundred and sixty t=
owns
is incompatible with the ignorance or decay of husbandry; and a circumferen=
ce
of three leagues will not be justified by the ruins of Erbe or Lambesa, the
ancient metropolis of that inland country. As we approach the seacoast, the
well-known cities of Bugia and Tangier define the more certain limits of the
Saracen victories. A remnant of trade still adheres to the commodious harbo=
r of
Bugia which, in a more prosperous age, is said to have contained about twen=
ty
thousand houses; and the plenty of iron which is dug from the adjacent
mountains might have supplied a braver people with the instruments of defen=
ce.
The remote position and venerable antiquity of Tingi, or Tangier, have been
decorated by the Greek and Arabian fables; but the figurative expressions of
the latter, that the walls were constructed of brass, and that the roofs we=
re
covered with gold and silver, may be interpreted as the emblems of strength=
and
opulence. The provinces of Mauritania Tingitana, which assumed the name of =
the
capital, had been imperfectly discovered and settled by the Romans; the five
colonies were confined to a narrow pale, and the more southern parts were
seldom explored except by the agents of luxury, who searched the forests for
ivory and the citron-wood, and the shores of the ocean for the purple
shell-fish. The fearless Akbah plunged into the heart of the country, trave=
rsed
the wilderness in which his successors erected the splendid capitals of Fez=
and
Morocco, and at length penetrated to the verge of the Atlantic and the great
desert. The river Sus descends from the western sides of Mount Atlas,
fertilizes, like the Nile, the adjacent soil, and falls into the sea at a
moderate distance from the Canary, or Fortunate Islands. Its banks were
inhabited by the last of the Moors, a race of savages, without laws, or
discipline, or religion; they were astonished by the strange and irresistib=
le
terrors of the Oriental arms; and as they possessed neither gold nor silver,
the riches spoil was the beauty of the female captives, some of whom were
afterwards sold for a thousand pieces of gold. The career, though not the z=
eal,
of Akbah was checked by the prospect of a boundless ocean. He spurred his h=
orse
into the waves, and raising his eyes to heaven, exclaimed with a tone of a
fanatic, "Great God! if my course were not stopped by this sea, I would
still go on, to the unknown kingdoms of the West, preaching the unity of thy
holy name, and putting to the sword the rebellious nations who worship any =
other
Gods than thee." Yet this Mahometan Alexander, who sighed for new worl=
ds,
was unable to preserve his recent conquests. By the universal defection of =
the
Greeks and Africans, he was recalled from the shores of the Atlantic, and t=
he
surrounding multitudes left him only the resource of an honorable death. The
last scene was dignified by an example of national virtue. An ambitious chi=
ef,
who had disputed the command and failed in the attempt, was led about as a
prisoner in the camp of the Arabian general. The insurgents had trusted to =
his
discontent and revenge; he disdained their offers, and revealed their desig=
ns.
In the hour of danger, the grateful Akbah unlocked his fetters, and advised=
him
to retire; he chose to die under the banner of his rival. Embracing as frie=
nds
and martyrs, they unsheathed their cimeters, broke their scabbards, and
maintained an obstinate combat, till they fell by each other's side on the =
last
of their slaughtered countrymen. The third general or governor of Africa,
Zuheir, avenged and encountered the fate of his predecessor. He vanquished =
the
natives in many battles; he was overthrown by a powerful army, which
Constantinople had sent to the relief of Carthage.
It had been the frequent practice of the Moori=
sh
tribes to join the invaders, to share the plunder, to profess the faith, an=
d to
revolt to their savage state of independence and idolatry, on the first ret=
reat
or misfortune of the Moslems. The prudence of Akbah had proposed to found an
Arabian colony in the heart of Africa; a citadel that might curb the levity=
of
the Barbarians, a place of refuge to secure, against the accidents of war, =
the
wealth and the families of the Saracens. With this view, and under the mode=
st
title of the station of a caravan, he planted this colony in the fiftieth y=
ear
of the Hegira. In the present decay, Cairoan still holds the second rank in=
the
kingdom of Tunis, from which it is distant about fifty miles to the south: =
its
inland situation, twelve miles westward of the sea, has protected the city =
from
the Greek and Sicilian fleets. When the wild beasts and serpents were
extirpated, when the forest, or rather wilderness, was cleared, the vestige=
s of
a Roman town were discovered in a sandy plain: the vegetable food of Cairoa=
n is
brought from afar; and the scarcity of springs constrains the inhabitants to
collect in cisterns and reservoirs a precarious supply of rain-water. These
obstacles were subdued by the industry of Akbah; he traced a circumference =
of
three thousand and six hundred paces, which he encompassed with a brick wal=
l;
in the space of five years, the governor's palace was surrounded with a
sufficient number of private habitations; a spacious mosch was supported by
five hundred columns of granite, porphyry, and Numidian marble; and Cairoan
became the seat of learning as well as of empire. But these were the glorie=
s of
a later age; the new colony was shaken by the successive defeats of Akbah a=
nd Zuheir,
and the western expeditions were again interrupted by the civil discord of =
the
Arabian monarchy. The son of the valiant Zobeir maintained a war of twelve
years, a siege of seven months against the house of Ommiyah. Abdallah was s=
aid
to unite the fierceness of the lion with the subtlety of the fox; but if he
inherited the courage, he was devoid of the generosity, of his father.
The return of domestic peace allowed the caliph
Abdalmalek to resume the conquest of Africa; the standard was delivered to
Hassan, governor of Egypt, and the revenue of that kingdom, with an army of
forty thousand men, was consecrated to the important service. In the
vicissitudes of war, the interior provinces had been alternately won and lo=
st
by the Saracens. But the sea-coast still remained in the hands of the Greek=
s; the
predecessors of Hassan had respected the name and fortifications of Carthag=
e;
and the number of its defenders was recruited by the fugitives of Cabes and
Tripoli. The arms of Hassan, were bolder and more fortunate: he reduced and
pillaged the metropolis of Africa; and the mention of scaling-ladders may
justify the suspicion that he anticipated, by a sudden assault, the more
tedious operations of a regular siege. But the joy of the conquerors was so=
on
disturbed by the appearance of the Christian succors. The præfect and
patrician John, a general of experience and renown, embarked at Constantino=
ple
the forces of the Eastern empire; they were joined by the ships and soldier=
s of
Sicily, and a powerful reenforcement of Goths was obtained from the fears a=
nd
religion of the Spanish monarch. The weight of the confederate navy broke t=
he chain
that guarded the entrance of the harbor; the Arabs retired to Cairoan, or
Tripoli; the Christians landed; the citizens hailed the ensign of the cross,
and the winter was idly wasted in the dream of victory or deliverance. But
Africa was irrecoverably lost; the zeal and resentment of the commander of =
the
faithful prepared in the ensuing spring a more numerous armament by sea and
land; and the patrician in his turn was compelled to evacuate the post and =
fortifications
of Carthage. A second battle was fought in the neighborhood of Utica: the
Greeks and Goths were again defeated; and their timely embarkation saved th=
em
from the sword of Hassan, who had invested the slight and insufficient ramp=
art
of their camp. Whatever yet remained of Carthage was delivered to the flame=
s,
and the colony of Dido and Cæsar lay desolate above two hundred years,
till a part, perhaps a twentieth, of the old circumference was repeopled by=
the
first of the Fatimite caliphs. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, t=
he
second capital of the West was represented by a mosch, a college without st=
udents,
twenty-five or thirty shops, and the huts of five hundred peasants, who, in
their abject poverty, displayed the arrogance of the Punic senators. Even t=
hat
paltry village was swept away by the Spaniards whom Charles the Fifth had
stationed in the fortress of the Goletta. The ruins of Carthage have perish=
ed;
and the place might be unknown if some broken arches of an aqueduct did not
guide the footsteps of the inquisitive traveller.
The Greeks were expelled, but the Arabians were
not yet masters of the country. In the interior provinces the Moors or Berb=
ers,
so feeble under the first Cæsars, so formidable to the Byzantine prin=
ces,
maintained a disorderly resistance to the religion and power of the success=
ors
of Mahomet. Under the standard of their queen Cahina, the independent tribes
acquired some degree of union and discipline; and as the Moors respected in
their females the character of a prophetess, they attacked the invaders wit=
h an
enthusiasm similar to their own. The veteran bands of Hassan were inadequat=
e to
the defence of Africa: the conquests of an age were lost in a single day; a=
nd
the Arabian chief, overwhelmed by the torrent, retired to the confines of
Egypt, and expected, five years, the promised succors of the caliph. After =
the retreat
of the Saracens, the victorious prophetess assembled the Moorish chiefs, and
recommended a measure of strange and savage policy. "Our cities,"
said she, "and the gold and silver which they contain, perpetually att=
ract
the arms of the Arabs. These vile metals are not the objects of our ambitio=
n;
we content ourselves with the simple productions of the earth. Let us destr=
oy
these cities; let us bury in their ruins those pernicious treasures; and wh=
en
the avarice of our foes shall be destitute of temptation, perhaps they will
cease to disturb the tranquillity of a warlike people." The proposal w=
as
accepted with unanimous applause. From Tangier to Tripoli, the buildings, o=
r at
least the fortifications, were demolished, the fruit-trees were cut down, t=
he means
of subsistence were extirpated, a fertile and populous garden was changed i=
nto
a desert, and the historians of a more recent period could discern the freq=
uent
traces of the prosperity and devastation of their ancestors. Such is the ta=
le
of the modern Arabians. Yet I strongly suspect that their ignorance of
antiquity, the love of the marvellous, and the fashion of extolling the
philosophy of Barbarians, has induced them to describe, as one voluntary ac=
t,
the calamities of three hundred years since the first fury of the Donatists=
and
Vandals. In the progress of the revolt, Cahina had most probably contributed
her share of destruction; and the alarm of universal ruin might terrify and
alienate the cities that had reluctantly yielded to her unworthy yoke. They=
no
longer hoped, perhaps they no longer wished, the return of their Byzantine
sovereigns: their present servitude was not alleviated by the benefits of o=
rder
and justice; and the most zealous Catholic must prefer the imperfect truths=
of
the Koran to the blind and rude idolatry of the Moors. The general of the
Saracens was again received as the savior of the province: the friends of c=
ivil
society conspired against the savages of the land; and the royal prophetess=
was
slain, in the first battle, which overturned the baseless fabric of her
superstition and empire. The same spirit revived under the successor of Has=
san:
it was finally quelled by the activity of Musa and his two sons; but the nu=
mber
of the rebels may be presumed from that of three hundred thousand captives;=
sixty
thousand of whom, the caliph's fifth, were sold for the profit of the public
treasury. Thirty thousand of the Barbarian youth were enlisted in the troop=
s;
and the pious labors of Musa, to inculcate the knowledge and practice of the
Koran, accustomed the Africans to obey the apostle of God and the commander=
of
the faithful. In their climate and government, their diet and habitation, t=
he
wandering Moors resembled the Bedoweens of the desert. With the religion th=
ey
were proud to adopt the language, name, and origin, of Arabs: the blood of =
the
strangers and natives was insensibly mingled; and from the Euphrates to the
Atlantic, the same nation might seem to be diffused over the sandy plains o=
f Asia
and Africa. Yet I will not deny that fifty thousand tents of pure Arabians
might be transported over the Nile, and scattered through the Libyan desert:
and I am not ignorant that five of the Moorish tribes still retain their
barbarous idiom, with the appellation and character of white Africans.
V. In the progress of conquest from the north =
and
south, the Goths and the Saracens encountered each other on the confines of
Europe and Africa. In the opinion of the latter, the difference of religion=
is a
reasonable ground of enmity and warfare.
As early as the time of Othman, their piratical
squadrons had ravaged the coast of Andalusia; nor had they forgotten the re=
lief
of Carthage by the Gothic succors. In that age, as well as in the present, =
the
kings of Spain were possessed of the fortress of Ceuta; one of the columns =
of Hercules,
which is divided by a narrow strait from the opposite pillar or point of
Europe. A small portion of Mauritania was still wanting to the African
conquest; but Musa, in the pride of victory, was repulsed from the walls of
Ceuta, by the vigilance and courage of Count Julian, the general of the Got=
hs.
From his disappointment and perplexity, Musa was relieved by an unexpected
message of the Christian chief, who offered his place, his person, and his
sword, to the successors of Mahomet, and solicited the disgraceful honor of
introducing their arms into the heart of Spain. If we inquire into the caus=
e of
his treachery, the Spaniards will repeat the popular story of his daughter
Cava; of a virgin who was seduced, or ravished, by her sovereign; of a fath=
er who
sacrificed his religion and country to the thirst of revenge. The passions =
of
princes have often been licentious and destructive; but this well-known tal=
e,
romantic in itself, is indifferently supported by external evidence; and the
history of Spain will suggest some motive of interest and policy more conge=
nial
to the breast of a veteran statesman. After the decease or deposition of
Witiza, his two sons were supplanted by the ambition of Roderic, a noble Go=
th,
whose father, the duke or governor of a province, had fallen a victim to the
preceding tyranny. The monarchy was still elective; but the sons of Witiza,
educated on the steps of the throne, were impatient of a private station. T=
heir
resentment was the more dangerous, as it was varnished with the dissimulati=
on
of courts: their followers were excited by the remembrance of favors and the
promise of a revolution; and their uncle Oppas, archbishop of Toledo and
Seville, was the first person in the church, and the second in the state. I=
t is
probable that Julian was involved in the disgrace of the unsuccessful facti=
on;
that he had little to hope and much to fear from the new reign; and that the
imprudent king could not forget or forgive the injuries which Roderic and h=
is
family had sustained. The merit and influence of the count rendered him a
useful or formidable subject: his estates were ample, his followers bold an=
d numerous;
and it was too fatally shown, that, by his Andalusian and Mauritanian comma=
nds,
he held in his hand the keys of the Spanish monarchy. Too feeble, however, =
to
meet his sovereign in arms, he sought the aid of a foreign power; and his r=
ash
invitation of the Moors and Arabs produced the calamities of eight hundred =
years.
In his epistles, or in a personal interview, he revealed the wealth and
nakedness of his country; the weakness of an unpopular prince; the degenera=
cy
of an effeminate people. The Goths were no longer the victorious Barbarians=
, who
had humbled the pride of Rome, despoiled the queen of nations, and penetrat=
ed
from the Danube to the Atlantic Ocean. Secluded from the world by the
Pyrenæan mountains, the successors of Alaric had slumbered in a long
peace: the walls of the cities were mouldered into dust: the youth had
abandoned the exercise of arms; and the presumption of their ancient renown
would expose them in a field of battle to the first assault of the invaders.
The ambitious Saracen was fired by the ease and importance of the attempt; =
but
the execution was delayed till he had consulted the commander of the faithf=
ul;
and his messenger returned with the permission of Walid to annex the unknown
kingdoms of the West to the religion and throne of the caliphs. In his
residence of Tangier, Musa, with secrecy and caution, continued his
correspondence and hastened his preparations. But the remorse of the
conspirators was soothed by the fallacious assurance that he should content
himself with the glory and spoil, without aspiring to establish the Moslems
beyond the sea that separates Africa from Europe.
Before Musa would trust an army of the faithfu=
l to
the traitors and infidels of a foreign land, he made a less dangerous trial=
of
their strength and veracity. One hundred Arabs, and four hundred Africans, =
passed
over, in four vessels, from Tangier or Ceuta: the place of their descent on=
the
opposite shore of the strait is marked by the name of Tarif their chief; and
the date of this memorable event is fixed to the month of Ramadan, of the
ninety-first year of the Hegira, to the month of July, seven hundred and
forty-eight years from the Spanish æra of Cæsar, seven hundred =
and
ten after the birth of Christ. From their first station, they marched eight=
een
miles through a hilly country to the castle and town of Julian: on which (i=
t is
still called Algezire) they bestowed the name of the Green Island, from a
verdant cape that advances into the sea. Their hospitable entertainment, the
Christians who joined their standard, their inroad into a fertile and ungua=
rded
province, the richness of their spoil, and the safety of their return,
announced to their brethren and the most favorable omens of victory. In the
ensuing spring, five thousand veterans and volunteers were embarked under t=
he command
of Tarik, a dauntless and skilful soldier, who surpassed the expectation of=
his
chief; and the necessary transports were provided by the industry of their =
too
faithful ally. The Saracens landed at the pillar or point of Europe; the
corrupt and familiar appellation of Gibraltar (Gebel al Tarik) describes the
mountain of Tarik; and the intrenchments of his camp were the first outline=
of
those fortifications, which, in the hands of our countrymen, have resisted =
the art
and power of the house of Bourbon. The adjacent governors informed the cour=
t of
Toledo of the descent and progress of the Arabs; and the defeat of his
lieutenant Edeco, who had been commanded to seize and bind the presumptuous
strangers, admonished Roderic of the magnitude of the danger. At the royal
summons, the dukes and counts, the bishops and nobles of the Gothic monarch=
y,
assembled at the head of their followers; and the title of King of the Roma=
ns,
which is employed by an Arabic historian, may be excused by the close affin=
ity
of language, religion, and manners, between the nations of Spain. His army
consisted of ninety or a hundred thousand men; a formidable power, if their
fidelity and discipline had been adequate to their numbers. The troops of T=
arik
had been augmented to twelve thousand Saracens; but the Christian maleconte=
nts
were attracted by the influence of Julian, and a crowd of Africans most
greedily tasted the temporal blessings of the Koran. In the neighborhood of
Cadiz, the town of Xeres has been illustrated by the encounter which determ=
ined
the fate of the kingdom; the stream of the Guadalete, which falls into the =
bay,
divided the two camps, and marked the advancing and retreating skirmishes of
three successive and bloody days. On the fourth day, the two armies joined a
more serious and decisive issue; but Alaric would have blushed at the sight=
of
his unworthy successor, sustaining on his head a diadem of pearls, encumber=
ed
with a flowing robe of gold and silken embroidery, and reclining on a litte=
r or
car of ivory drawn by two white mules. Notwithstanding the valor of the
Saracens, they fainted under the weight of multitudes, and the plain of Xer=
es
was overspread with sixteen thousand of their dead bodies. "My
brethren," said Tarik to his surviving companions, "the enemy is
before you, the sea is behind; whither would ye fly? Follow your genera: I =
am
resolved either to lose my life, or to trample on the prostrate king of the
Romans." Besides the resource of despair, he confided in the secret
correspondence and nocturnal interviews of Count Julian with the sons and t=
he
brother of Witiza. The two princes and the archbishop of Toledo occupied th=
e most
important post: their well-timed defection broke the ranks of the Christian=
s;
each warrior was prompted by fear or suspicion to consult his personal safe=
ty;
and the remains of the Gothic army were scattered or destroyed in the flight
and pursuit of the three following days. Amidst the general disorder, Roder=
ic
started from his car, and mounted Orelia, the fleetest of his horses; but he
escaped from a soldier's death to perish more ignobly in the waters of the =
Btis
or Guadalquivir. His diadem, his robes, and his courser, were found on the
bank; but as the body of the Gothic prince was lost in the waves, the pride=
and
ignorance of the caliph must have been gratified with some meaner head, whi=
ch
was exposed in triumph before the palace of Damascus. "And such,"=
continues
a valiant historian of the Arabs, "is the fate of those kings who with=
draw
themselves from a field of battle."
Count Julian had plunged so deep into guilt and
infamy, that his only hope was in the ruin of his country. After the battle=
of
Xeres, he recommended the most effectual measures to the victorious Saracen.
"The king of the Goths is slain; their princes have fled before you, t=
he
army is routed, the nation is astonished. Secure with sufficient detachment=
s the
cities of Btica; but in person, and without delay, march to the royal city =
of
Toledo, and allow not the distracted Christians either time or tranquillity=
for
the election of a new monarch." Tarik listened to his advice. A Roman
captive and proselyte, who had been enfranchised by the caliph himself,
assaulted Cordova with seven hundred horse: he swam the river, surprised the
town, and drove the Christians into the great church, where they defended
themselves above three months. Another detachment reduced the sea-coast of
Btica, which in the last period of the Moorish power has comprised in a nar=
row
space the populous kingdom of Grenada. The march of Tarik from the Btis to =
the
Tagus was directed through the Sierra Morena, that separates Andalusia and
Castille, till he appeared in arms under the walls of Toledo. The most zeal=
ous
of the Catholics had escaped with the relics of their saints; and if the ga=
tes
were shut, it was only till the victor had subscribed a fair and reasonable
capitulation. The voluntary exiles were allowed to depart with their effect=
s;
seven churches were appropriated to the Christian worship; the archbishop a=
nd
his clergy were at liberty to exercise their functions, the monks to practi=
se
or neglect their penance; and the Goths and Romans were left in all civil a=
nd
criminal cases to the subordinate jurisdiction of their own laws and
magistrates. But if the justice of Tarik protected the Christians, his
gratitude and policy rewarded the Jews, to whose secret or open aid he was
indebted for his most important acquisitions. Persecuted by the kings and
synods of Spain, who had often pressed the alternative of banishment or
baptism, that outcast nation embraced the moment of revenge: the comparison=
of
their past and present state was the pledge of their fidelity; and the alli=
ance
between the disciples of Moses and of Mahomet was maintained till the final
æra of their common expulsion. From the royal seat of Toledo, the Ara=
bian
leader spread his conquests to the north, over the modern realms of Castille
and Leon; but it is needless to enumerate the cities that yielded on his
approach, or again to describe the table of emerald, transported from the E=
ast
by the Romans, acquired by the Goths among the spoils of Rome, and presente=
d by
the Arabs to the throne of Damascus. Beyond the Asturian mountains, the
maritime town of Gijon was the term of the lieutenant of Musa, who had
performed, with the speed of a traveller, his victorious march, of seven hu=
ndred
miles, from the rock of Gibraltar to the Bay of Biscay. The failure of land
compelled him to retreat; and he was recalled to Toledo, to excuse his
presumption of subduing a kingdom in the absence of his general. Spain, whi=
ch,
in a more savage and disorderly state, had resisted, two hundred years, the
arms of the Romans, was overrun in a few months by those of the Saracens; a=
nd
such was the eagerness of submission and treaty, that the governor of Cordo=
va
is recorded as the only chief who fell, without conditions, a prisoner into
their hands. The cause of the Goths had been irrevocably judged in the fiel=
d of
Xeres; and, in the national dismay, each part of the monarchy declined a
contest with the antagonist who had vanquished the united strength of the w=
hole.
That strength had been wasted by two successive seasons of famine and
pestilence; and the governors, who were impatient to surrender, might
exaggerate the difficulty of collecting the provisions of a siege. To disarm
the Christians, superstition likewise contributed her terrors: and the subt=
le
Arab encouraged the report of dreams, omens, and prophecies, and of the
portraits of the destined conquerors of Spain, that were discovered on brea=
king
open an apartment of the royal palace. Yet a spark of the vital flame was s=
till
alive: some invincible fugitives preferred a life of poverty and freedom in=
the
Asturian valleys; the hardy mountaineers repulsed the slaves of the caliph;=
and
the sword of Pelagius has been transformed into the sceptre of the Catholic=
kings.
On the intelligence of this rapid success, the
applause of Musa degenerated into envy; and he began, not to complain, but =
to
fear, that Tarik would leave him nothing to subdue. At the head of ten thou=
sand
Arabs and eight thousand Africans, he passed over in person from Mauritania=
to
Spain: the first of his companions were the noblest of the Koreish; his eld=
est
son was left in the command of Africa; the three younger brethren were of an
age and spirit to second the boldest enterprises of their father. At his
landing in Algezire, he was respectfully entertained by Count Julian, who
stifled his inward remorse, and testified, both in words and actions, that =
the
victory of the Arabs had not impaired his attachment to their cause. Some
enemies yet remained for the sword of Musa. The tardy repentance of the Got=
hs had
compared their own numbers and those of the invaders; the cities from which=
the
march of Tarik had declined considered themselves as impregnable; and the
bravest patriots defended the fortifications of Seville and Merida. They we=
re
successively besieged and reduced by the labor of Musa, who transported his
camp from the Btis to the Anas, from the Guadalquivir to the Guadiana. When=
he
beheld the works of Roman magnificence, the bridge, the aqueducts, the
triumphal arches, and the theatre, of the ancient metropolis of Lusitania,
"I should imagine," said he to his four companions, "that the
human race must have united their art and power in the foundation of this c=
ity:
happy is the man who shall become its master!" He aspired to that
happiness, but the Emeritans sustained on this occasion the honor of their
descent from the veteran legionaries of Augustus Disdaining the confinement=
of
their walls, they gave battle to the Arabs on the plain; but an ambuscade r=
ising
from the shelter of a quarry, or a ruin, chastised their indiscretion, and
intercepted their return. The wooden turrets of assault were rolled forward=
s to
the foot of the rampart; but the defence of Merida was obstinate and long; =
and
the castle of the martyrs was a perpetual testimony of the losses of the
Moslems. The constancy of the besieged was at length subdued by famine and
despair; and the prudent victor disguised his impatience under the names of
clemency and esteem. The alternative of exile or tribute was allowed; the
churches were divided between the two religions; and the wealth of those who
had fallen in the siege, or retired to Gallicia, was confiscated as the rew=
ard
of the faithful. In the midway between Merida and Toledo, the lieutenant of
Musa saluted the vicegerent of the caliph, and conducted him to the palace =
of
the Gothic kings. Their first interview was cold and formal: a rigid account
was exacted of the treasures of Spain: the character of Tarik was exposed to
suspicion and obloquy; and the hero was imprisoned, reviled, and ignominiou=
sly
scourged by the hand, or the command, of Musa. Yet so strict was the
discipline, so pure the zeal, or so tame the spirit, of the primitive Mosle=
ms,
that, after this public indignity, Tarik could serve and be trusted in the
reduction of the Tarragonest province. A mosch was erected at Saragossa, by=
the
liberality of the Koreish: the port of Barcelona was opened to the vessels =
of
Syria; and the Goths were pursued beyond the Pyrenæan mountains into
their Gallic province of Septimania or Languedoc. In the church of St. Mary=
at
Carcassone, Musa found, but it is improbable that he left, seven equestrian
statues of massy silver; and from his ter or column of Narbonne, he returne=
d on
his footsteps to the Gallician and Lusitanian shores of the ocean. During t=
he
absence of the father, his son Abdelaziz chastised the insurgents of Sevill=
e,
and reduced, from Malaga to Valentia, the sea-coast of the Mediterranean: h=
is
original treaty with the discreet and valiant Theodemir will represent the =
manners
and policy of the times. "The conditions of peace agreed and sworn bet=
ween
Abdelaziz, the son of Musa, the son of Nassir, and Theodemir prince of the
Goths. In the name of the most merciful God, Abdelaziz makes peace on these
conditions: that Theodemir shall not be disturbed in his principality; nor =
any
injury be offered to the life or property, the wives and children, the reli=
gion
and temples, of the Christians: that Theodemir shall freely deliver his sev=
en
cities, Orihuela, Valentola, Alicanti Mola, Vacasora, Bigerra, (now Bejar,)=
Ora,
(or Opta,) and Lorca: that he shall not assist or entertain the enemies of =
the
caliph, but shall faithfully communicate his knowledge of their hostile
designs: that himself, and each of the Gothic nobles, shall annually pay one
piece of gold, four measures of wheat, as many of barley, with a certain
proportion of honey, oil, and vinegar; and that each of their vassals shall=
be
taxed at one moiety of the said imposition. Given the fourth of Regeb, in t=
he
year of the Hegira ninety-four, and subscribed with the names of four Mussu=
lman
witnesses." Theodemir and his subjects were treated with uncommon leni=
ty;
but the rate of tribute appears to have fluctuated from a tenth to a fifth,=
according
to the submission or obstinacy of the Christians. In this revolution, many
partial calamities were inflicted by the carnal or religious passions of the
enthusiasts: some churches were profaned by the new worship: some relics or
images were confounded with idols: the rebels were put to the sword; and one
town (an obscure place between Cordova and Seville) was razed to its
foundations. Yet if we compare the invasion of Spain by the Goths, or its
recovery by the kings of Castile and Arragon, we must applaud the moderation
and discipline of the Arabian conquerors.
The exploits of Musa were performed in the eve=
ning
of life, though he affected to disguise his age by coloring with a red powd=
er
the whiteness of his beard. But in the love of action and glory, his breast=
was
still fired with the ardor of youth; and the possession of Spain was consid=
ered
only as the first step to the monarchy of Europe. With a powerful armament =
by
sea and land, he was preparing to repass the Pyrenees, to extinguish in Gaul
and Italy the declining kingdoms of the Franks and Lombards, and to preach =
the
unity of God on the altar of the Vatican. From thence, subduing the Barbari=
ans
of Germany, he proposed to follow the course of the Danube from its source =
to
the Euxine Sea, to overthrow the Greek or Roman empire of Constantinople, a=
nd
returning from Europe to Asia, to unite his new acquisitions with Antioch a=
nd
the provinces of Syria. But his vast enterprise, perhaps of easy execution,=
must
have seemed extravagant to vulgar minds; and the visionary conqueror was so=
on
reminded of his dependence and servitude. The friends of Tarik had effectua=
lly
stated his services and wrongs: at the court of Damascus, the proceedings of
Musa were blamed, his intentions were suspected, and his delay in complying
with the first invitation was chastised by a harsher and more peremptory
summons. An intrepid messenger of the caliph entered his camp at Lugo in
Gallicia, and in the presence of the Saracens and Christians arrested the
bridle of his horse. His own loyalty, or that of his troops, inculcated the
duty of obedience: and his disgrace was alleviated by the recall of his riv=
al, and
the permission of investing with his two governments his two sons, Abdallah=
and
Abdelaziz. His long triumph from Ceuta to Damascus displayed the spoils of
Africa and the treasures of Spain: four hundred Gothic nobles, with gold
coronets and girdles, were distinguished in his train; and the number of ma=
le
and female captives, selected for their birth or beauty, was computed at
eighteen, or even at thirty, thousand persons. As soon as he reached Tiberi=
as
in Palestine, he was apprised of the sickness and danger of the caliph, by a
private message from Soliman, his brother and presumptive heir; who wished =
to
reserve for his own reign the spectacle of victory. Had Walid recovered, the
delay of Musa would have been criminal: he pursued his march, and found an
enemy on the throne. In his trial before a partial judge against a popular =
antagonist,
he was convicted of vanity and falsehood; and a fine of two hundred thousand
pieces of gold either exhausted his poverty or proved his rapaciousness. The
unworthy treatment of Tarik was revenged by a similar indignity; and the
veteran commander, after a public whipping, stood a whole day in the sun be=
fore
the palace gate, till he obtained a decent exile, under the pious name of a
pilgrimage to Mecca. The resentment of the caliph might have been satiated =
with
the ruin of Musa; but his fears demanded the extirpation of a potent and
injured family. A sentence of death was intimated with secrecy and speed to=
the
trusty servants of the throne both in Africa and Spain; and the forms, if n=
ot the
substance, of justice were superseded in this bloody execution. In the mosc=
h or
palace of Cordova, Abdelaziz was slain by the swords of the conspirators; t=
hey
accused their governor of claiming the honors of royalty; and his scandalous
marriage with Egilona, the widow of Roderic, offended the prejudices both of
the Christians and Moslems. By a refinement of cruelty, the head of the son=
was
presented to the father, with an insulting question, whether he acknowledged
the features of the rebel? "I know his features," he exclaimed wi=
th
indignation: "I assert his innocence; and I imprecate the same, a just=
er
fate, against the authors of his death." The age and despair of Musa
raised him above the power of kings; and he expired at Mecca of the anguish=
of
a broken heart. His rival was more favorably treated: his services were for=
given;
and Tarik was permitted to mingle with the crowd of slaves. I am ignorant
whether Count Julian was rewarded with the death which he deserved indeed,
though not from the hands of the Saracens; but the tale of their ingratitud=
e to
the sons of Witiza is disproved by the most unquestionable evidence. The two
royal youths were reinstated in the private patrimony of their father; but =
on
the decease of Eba, the elder, his daughter was unjustly despoiled of her
portion by the violence of her uncle Sigebut. The Gothic maid pleaded her c=
ause
before the caliph Hashem, and obtained the restitution of her inheritance; =
but
she was given in marriage to a noble Arabian, and their two sons, Isaac and=
Ibrahim,
were received in Spain with the consideration that was due to their origin =
and
riches.
A province is assimilated to the victorious st=
ate
by the introduction of strangers and the imitative spirit of the natives; a=
nd
Spain, which had been successively tinctured with Punic, and Roman, and Got=
hic
blood, imbibed, in a few generations, the name and manners of the Arabs. Th=
e first
conquerors, and the twenty successive lieutenants of the caliphs, were atte=
nded
by a numerous train of civil and military followers, who preferred a distant
fortune to a narrow home: the private and public interest was promoted by t=
he
establishment of faithful colonies; and the cities of Spain were proud to
commemorate the tribe or country of their Eastern progenitors. The victorio=
us
though motley bands of Tarik and Musa asserted, by the name of Spaniards, t=
heir
original claim of conquest; yet they allowed their brethren of Egypt to sha=
re
their establishments of Murcia and Lisbon. The royal legion of Damascus was=
planted
at Cordova; that of Emesa at Seville; that of Kinnisrin or Chalcis at Jaen;=
that
of Palestine at Algezire and Medina Sidonia. The natives of Yemen and Persia
were scattered round Toledo and the inland country, and the fertile seats of
Grenada were bestowed on ten thousand horsemen of Syria and Irak, the child=
ren
of the purest and most noble of the Arabian tribes. A spirit of emulation,
sometimes beneficial, more frequently dangerous, was nourished by these
hereditary factions. Ten years after the conquest, a map of the province was
presented to the caliph: the seas, the rivers, and the harbors, the inhabit=
ants
and cities, the climate, the soil, and the mineral productions of the earth=
. In
the space of two centuries, the gifts of nature were improved by the
agriculture, the manufactures, and the commerce, of an industrious people; =
and
the effects of their diligence have been magnified by the idleness of their
fancy. The first of the Ommiades who reigned in Spain solicited the support=
of
the Christians; and in his edict of peace and protection, he contents himse=
lf
with a modest imposition of ten thousand ounces of gold, ten thousand pound=
s of
silver, ten thousand horses, as many mules, one thousand cuirasses, with an
equal number of helmets and lances. The most powerful of his successors der=
ived
from the same kingdom the annual tribute of twelve millions and forty-five
thousand dinars or pieces of gold, about six millions of sterling money; a =
sum which,
in the tenth century, most probably surpassed the united revenues of the
Christians monarchs. His royal seat of Cordova contained six hundred moschs,
nine hundred baths, and two hundred thousand houses; he gave laws to eighty
cities of the first, to three hundred of the second and third order; and the
fertile banks of the Guadalquivir were adorned with twelve thousand villages
and hamlets. The Arabs might exaggerate the truth, but they created and they
describe the most prosperous æra of the riches, the cultivation, and =
the
populousness of Spain.
The wars of the Moslems were sanctified by the
prophet; but among the various precepts and examples of his life, the calip=
hs
selected the lessons of toleration that might tend to disarm the resistance=
of
the unbelievers. Arabia was the temple and patrimony of the God of Mahomet;=
but
he beheld with less jealousy and affection the nations of the earth. The
polytheists and idolaters, who were ignorant of his name, might be lawfully
extirpated by his votaries; but a wise policy supplied the obligation of
justice; and after some acts of intolerant zeal, the Mahometan conquerors of
Hindostan have spared the pagods of that devout and populous country. The
disciples of Abraham, of Moses, and of Jesus, were solemnly invited to acce=
pt
the more perfect revelation of Mahomet; but if they preferred the payment o=
f a
moderate tribute, they were entitled to the freedom of conscience and relig=
ious
worship. In a field of battle the forfeit lives of the prisoners were redee=
med
by the profession of Islam; the females were bound to embrace the religion =
of their
masters, and a race of sincere proselytes was gradually multiplied by the
education of the infant captives. But the millions of African and Asiatic
converts, who swelled the native band of the faithful Arabs, must have been
allured, rather than constrained, to declare their belief in one God and the
apostle of God. By the repetition of a sentence and the loss of a foreskin,=
the
subject or the slave, the captive or the criminal, arose in a moment the fr=
ee
and equal companion of the victorious Moslems. Every sin was expiated, every
engagement was dissolved: the vow of celibacy was superseded by the indulge=
nce
of nature; the active spirits who slept in the cloister were awakened by the
trumpet of the Saracens; and in the convulsion of the world, every member o=
f a
new society ascended to the natural level of his capacity and courage. The
minds of the multitude were tempted by the invisible as well as temporal
blessings of the Arabian prophet; and charity will hope that many of his
proselytes entertained a serious conviction of the truth and sanctity of his
revelation. In the eyes of an inquisitive polytheist, it must appear worthy=
of
the human and the divine nature. More pure than the system of Zoroaster, mo=
re
liberal than the law of Moses, the religion of Mahomet might seem less
inconsistent with reason than the creed of mystery and superstition, which,=
in
the seventh century, disgraced the simplicity of the gospel.
In the extensive provinces of Persia and Afric=
a,
the national religion has been eradicated by the Mahometan faith. The ambig=
uous
theology of the Magi stood alone among the sects of the East; but the profa=
ne writings
of Zoroaster might, under the reverend name of Abraham, be dexterously
connected with the chain of divine revelation. Their evil principle, the
dæmon Ahriman, might be represented as the rival, or as the creature,=
of
the God of light. The temples of Persia were devoid of images; but the wors=
hip
of the sun and of fire might be stigmatized as a gross and criminal idolatr=
y.
The milder sentiment was consecrated by the practice of Mahomet and the
prudence of the caliphs; the Magians or Ghebers were ranked with the Jews a=
nd
Christians among the people of the written law; and as late as the third
century of the Hegira, the city of Herat will afford a lively contrast of
private zeal and public toleration. Under the payment of an annual tribute,=
the
Mahometan law secured to the Ghebers of Herat their civil and religious
liberties: but the recent and humble mosch was overshadowed by the antique
splendor of the adjoining temple of fire. A fanatic Iman deplored, in his
sermons, the scandalous neighborhood, and accused the weakness or indiffere=
nce
of the faithful. Excited by his voice, the people assembled in tumult; the =
two
houses of prayer were consumed by the flames, but the vacant ground was
immediately occupied by the foundations of a new mosch. The injured Magi
appealed to the sovereign of Chorasan; he promised justice and relief; when,
behold! four thousand citizens of Herat, of a grave character and mature ag=
e,
unanimously swore that the idolatrous fane had never existed; the inquisiti=
on
was silenced and their conscience was satisfied (says the historian Mirchon=
d )
with this holy and meritorious perjury. But the greatest part of the temple=
s of
Persia were ruined by the insensible and general desertion of their votarie=
s.
It was insensible, since it is not accompanied with any memorial of time or=
place,
of persecution or resistance. It was general, since the whole realm, from
Shiraz to Samarcand, imbibed the faith of the Koran; and the preservation of
the native tongue reveals the descent of the Mahometans of Persia. In the
mountains and deserts, an obstinate race of unbelievers adhered to the
superstition of their fathers; and a faint tradition of the Magian theology=
is
kept alive in the province of Kirman, along the banks of the Indus, among t=
he
exiles of Surat, and in the colony which, in the last century, was planted =
by
Shaw Abbas at the gates of Ispahan. The chief pontiff has retired to Mount
Elbourz, eighteen leagues from the city of Yezd: the perpetual fire (if it =
continues
to burn) is inaccessible to the profane; but his residence is the school, t=
he
oracle, and the pilgrimage of the Ghebers, whose hard and uniform features
attest the unmingled purity of their blood. Under the jurisdiction of their
elders, eighty thousand families maintain an innocent and industrious life:
their subsistence is derived from some curious manufactures and mechanic
trades; and they cultivate the earth with the fervor of a religious duty. T=
heir
ignorance withstood the despotism of Shaw Abbas, who demanded with threats =
and
tortures the prophetic books of Zoroaster; and this obscure remnant of the
Magians is spared by the moderation or contempt of their present sovereigns=
.
The Northern coast of Africa is the only land =
in
which the light of the gospel, after a long and perfect establishment, has =
been
totally extinguished. The arts, which had been taught by Carthage and Rome,
were involved in a cloud of ignorance; the doctrine of Cyprian and Augustin=
was
no longer studied. Five hundred episcopal churches were overturned by the
hostile fury of the Donatists, the Vandals, and the Moors. The zeal and num=
bers
of the clergy declined; and the people, without discipline, or knowledge, or
hope, submissively sunk under the yoke of the Arabian prophet Within fifty
years after the expulsion of the Greeks, a lieutenant of Africa informed the
caliph that the tribute of the infidels was abolished by their conversion; =
and,
though he sought to disguise his fraud and rebellion, his specious pretence=
was
drawn from the rapid and extensive progress of the Mahometan faith. In the =
next
age, an extraordinary mission of five bishops was detached from Alexandria =
to
Cairoan. They were ordained by the Jacobite patriarch to cherish and revive=
the
dying embers of Christianity: but the interposition of a foreign prelate, a
stranger to the Latins, an enemy to the Catholics, supposes the decay and
dissolution of the African hierarchy. It was no longer the time when the
successor of St. Cyprian, at the head of a numerous synod, could maintain an
equal contest with the ambition of the Roman pontiff. In the eleventh centu=
ry,
the unfortunate priest who was seated on the ruins of Carthage implored the=
arms
and the protection of the Vatican; and he bitterly complains that his naked
body had been scourged by the Saracens, and that his authority was disputed=
by
the four suffragans, the tottering pillars of his throne. Two epistles of
Gregory the Seventh are destined to soothe the distress of the Catholics and
the pride of a Moorish prince. The pope assures the sultan that they both
worship the same God, and may hope to meet in the bosom of Abraham; but the
complaint that three bishops could no longer be found to consecrate a broth=
er,
announces the speedy and inevitable ruin of the episcopal order. The Christ=
ians
of Africa and Spain had long since submitted to the practice of circumcision
and the legal abstinence from wine and pork; and the name of Mozarabe (adop=
tive
Arabs) was applied to their civil or religious conformity. About the middle=
of
the twelfth century, the worship of Christ and the succession of pastors we=
re
abolished along the coast of Barbary, and in the kingdoms of Cordova and
Seville, of Valencia and Grenada. The throne of the Almohades, or Unitarian=
s,
was founded on the blindest fanaticism, and their extraordinary rigor might=
be
provoked or justified by the recent victories and intolerant zeal of the
princes of Sicily and Castille, of Arragon and Portugal. The faith of the
Mozarabes was occasionally revived by the papal missionaries; and, on the
landing of Charles the Fifth, some families of Latin Christians were encour=
aged
to rear their heads at Tunis and Algiers. But the seed of the gospel was qu=
ickly
eradicated, and the long province from Tripoli to the Atlantic has lost all
memory of the language and religion of Rome.
After the revolution of eleven centuries, the =
Jews
and Christians of the Turkish empire enjoy the liberty of conscience which =
was
granted by the Arabian caliphs. During the first age of the conquest, they
suspected the loyalty of the Catholics, whose name of Melchites betrayed th=
eir secret
attachment to the Greek emperor, while the Nestorians and Jacobites, his
inveterate enemies, approved themselves the sincere and voluntary friends of
the Mahometan government. Yet this partial jealousy was healed by time and
submission; the churches of Egypt were shared with the Catholics; and all t=
he
Oriental sects were included in the common benefits of toleration. The rank,
the immunities, the domestic jurisdiction of the patriarchs, the bishops, a=
nd
the clergy, were protected by the civil magistrate: the learning of individ=
uals
recommended them to the employments of secretaries and physicians: they were
enriched by the lucrative collection of the revenue; and their merit was
sometimes raised to the command of cities and provinces. A caliph of the ho=
use
of Abbas was heard to declare that the Christians were most worthy of trust=
in
the administration of Persia. "The Moslems," said he, "will
abuse their present fortune; the Magians regret their fallen greatness; and=
the
Jews are impatient for their approaching deliverance." But the slaves =
of
despotism are exposed to the alternatives of favor and disgrace. The captive
churches of the East have been afflicted in every age by the avarice or big=
otry
of their rulers; and the ordinary and legal restraints must be offensive to=
the
pride, or the zeal, of the Christians. About two hundred years after Mahome=
t,
they were separated from their fellow-subjects by a turban or girdle of a l=
ess
honorable color; instead of horses or mules, they were condemned to ride on
asses, in the attitude of women. Their public and private building were
measured by a diminutive standard; in the streets or the baths it is their =
duty
to give way or bow down before the meanest of the people; and their testimo=
ny
is rejected, if it may tend to the prejudice of a true believer. The pomp of
processions, the sound of bells or of psalmody, is interdicted in their
worship; a decent reverence for the national faith is imposed on their serm=
ons
and conversations; and the sacrilegious attempt to enter a mosch, or to sed=
uce
a Mussulman, will not be suffered to escape with impunity. In a time, howev=
er,
of tranquillity and justice, the Christians have never been compelled to
renounce the Gospel, or to embrace the Koran; but the punishment of death is
inflicted upon the apostates who have professed and deserted the law of
Mahomet. The martyrs of Cordova provoked the sentence of the cadhi, by the
public confession of their inconstancy, or their passionate invectives agai=
nst
the person and religion of the prophet.
At the end of the first century of the Hegira,=
the
caliphs were the most potent and absolute monarchs of the globe. Their
prerogative was not circumscribed, either in right or in fact, by the power=
of
the nobles, the freedom of the commons, the privileges of the church, the v=
otes
of a senate, or the memory of a free constitution. The authority of the com=
panions
of Mahomet expired with their lives; and the chiefs or emirs of the Arabian
tribes left behind, in the desert, the spirit of equality and independence.=
The
regal and sacerdotal characters were united in the successors of Mahomet; a=
nd
if the Koran was the rule of their actions, they were the supreme judges an=
d interpreters
of that divine book. They reigned by the right of conquest over the nations=
of
the East, to whom the name of liberty was unknown, and who were accustomed =
to
applaud in their tyrants the acts of violence and severity that were exerci=
sed
at their own expense. Under the last of the Ommiades, the Arabian empire ex=
tended
two hundred days' journey from east to west, from the confines of Tartary a=
nd
India to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. And if we retrench the sleeve of=
the
robe, as it is styled by their writers, the long and narrow province of Afr=
ica,
the solid and compact dominion from Fargana to Aden, from Tarsus to Surat, =
will
spread on every side to the measure of four or five months of the march of a
caravan. We should vainly seek the indissoluble union and easy obedience th=
at
pervaded the government of Augustus and the Antonines; but the progress of =
the Mahometan
religion diffused over this ample space a general resemblance of manners and
opinions. The language and laws of the Koran were studied with equal devoti=
on
at Samarcand and Seville: the Moor and the Indian embraced as countrymen and
brothers in the pilgrimage of Mecca; and the Arabian language was adopted as
the popular idiom in all the provinces to the westward of the Tigris.
The Two Sieges Of
Constantinople By The Arabs.--Their Invasion Of
France, And Defeat By Charles Martel.--Civil War Of The Ommi=
ades
And Abbassides.--Learning Of The Arabs.-- Luxury Of T=
he
Caliphs.--Naval Enterprises On Crete, Sicily, And Rome.--=
Decay
And Division Of The Empire Of The Caliphs.-- Defeats And
Victories Of The Greek Emperors.
When the Arabs first issued from the desert, t=
hey
must have been surprised at the ease and rapidity of their own success. But
when they advanced in the career of victory to the banks of the Indus and t=
he summit
of the Pyrenees; when they had repeatedly tried the edge of their cimeters =
and
the energy of their faith, they might be equally astonished that any nation
could resist their invincible arms; that any boundary should confine the
dominion of the successor of the prophet. The confidence of soldiers and
fanatics may indeed be excused, since the calm historian of the present hou=
r,
who strives to follow the rapid course of the Saracens, must study to expla=
in
by what means the church and state were saved from this impending, and, as =
it
should seem, from this inevitable, danger. The deserts of Scythia and Sarma=
tia
might be guarded by their extent, their climate, their poverty, and the cou=
rage
of the northern shepherds; China was remote and inaccessible; but the great=
est
part of the temperate zone was subject to the Mahometan conquerors, the Gre=
eks
were exhausted by the calamities of war and the loss of their fairest
provinces, and the Barbarians of Europe might justly tremble at the precipi=
tate
fall of the Gothic monarchy. In this inquiry I shall unfold the events that
rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our neighbors of Gaul, from the civil=
and
religious yoke of the Koran; that protected the majesty of Rome, and delayed
the servitude of Constantinople; that invigorated the defence of the
Christians, and scattered among their enemies the seeds of division and dec=
ay.
Forty-six years after the flight of Mahomet fr=
om
Mecca, his disciples appeared in arms under the walls of Constantinople. Th=
ey
were animated by a genuine or fictitious saying of the prophet, that, to the
first army which besieged the city of the Cæsars, their sins were
forgiven: the long series of Roman triumphs would be meritoriously transfer=
red
to the conquerors of New Rome; and the wealth of nations was deposited in t=
his
well-chosen seat of royalty and commerce. No sooner had the caliph Moawiyah
suppressed his rivals and established his throne, than he aspired to expiate
the guilt of civil blood, by the success and glory of this holy expedition;=
his
preparations by sea and land were adequate to the importance of the object;=
his
standard was intrusted to Sophian, a veteran warrior, but the troops were
encouraged by the example and presence of Yezid, the son and presumptive he=
ir
of the commander of the faithful. The Greeks had little to hope, nor had th=
eir
enemies any reason of fear, from the courage and vigilance of the reigning
emperor, who disgraced the name of Constantine, and imitated only the
inglorious years of his grandfather Heraclius. Without delay or opposition,=
the
naval forces of the Saracens passed through the unguarded channel of the He=
llespont,
which even now, under the feeble and disorderly government of the Turks, is
maintained as the natural bulwark of the capital. The Arabian fleet cast
anchor, and the troops were disembarked near the palace of Hebdomon, seven
miles from the city. During many days, from the dawn of light to the evenin=
g,
the line of assault was extended from the golden gate to the eastern promon=
tory
and the foremost warriors were impelled by the weight and effort of the
succeeding columns. But the besiegers had formed an insufficient estimate of
the strength and resources of Constantinople. The solid and lofty walls were
guarded by numbers and discipline: the spirit of the Romans was rekindled b=
y the
last danger of their religion and empire: the fugitives from the conquered
provinces more successfully renewed the defence of Damascus and Alexandria;=
and
the Saracens were dismayed by the strange and prodigious effects of artific=
ial
fire. This firm and effectual resistance diverted their arms to the more ea=
sy
attempt of plundering the European and Asiatic coasts of the Propontis; and,
after keeping the sea from the month of April to that of September, on the
approach of winter they retreated fourscore miles from the capital, to the =
Isle
of Cyzicus, in which they had established their magazine of spoil and provi=
sions.
So patient was their perseverance, or so languid were their operations, that
they repeated in the six following summers the same attack and retreat, wit=
h a
gradual abatement of hope and vigor, till the mischances of shipwreck and
disease, of the sword and of fire, compelled them to relinquish the fruitle=
ss
enterprise. They might bewail the loss, or commemorate the martyrdom, of th=
irty
thousand Moslems, who fell in the siege of Constantinople; and the solemn
funeral of Abu Ayub, or Job, excited the curiosity of the Christians
themselves. That venerable Arab, one of the last of the companions of Mahom=
et,
was numbered among the ansars, or auxiliaries, of Medina, who sheltered the
head of the flying prophet. In his youth he fought, at Beder and Ohud, under
the holy standard: in his mature age he was the friend and follower of Ali;=
and
the last remnant of his strength and life was consumed in a distant and
dangerous war against the enemies of the Koran. His memory was revered; but=
the
place of his burial was neglected and unknown, during a period of seven hun=
dred
and eighty years, till the conquest of Constantinople by Mahomet the Second=
. A
seasonable vision (for such are the manufacture of every religion) revealed=
the
holy spot at the foot of the walls and the bottom of the harbor; and the mo=
sch
of Ayub has been deservedly chosen for the simple and martial inauguration =
of
the Turkish sultans.
The event of the siege revived, both in the Ea=
st
and West, the reputation of the Roman arms, and cast a momentary shade over=
the
glories of the Saracens. The Greek ambassador was favorably received at Dam=
ascus,
a general council of the emirs or Koreish: a peace, or truce, of thirty yea=
rs
was ratified between the two empires; and the stipulation of an annual trib=
ute,
fifty horses of a noble breed, fifty slaves, and three thousand pieces of g=
old,
degraded the majesty of the commander of the faithful. The aged caliph was
desirous of possessing his dominions, and ending his days in tranquillity a=
nd
repose: while the Moors and Indians trembled at his name, his palace and ci=
ty
of Damascus was insulted by the Mardaites, or Maronites, of Mount Libanus, =
the firmest
barrier of the empire, till they were disarmed and transplanted by the
suspicious policy of the Greeks. After the revolt of Arabia and Persia, the
house of Ommiyah was reduced to the kingdoms of Syria and Egypt: their dist=
ress
and fear enforced their compliance with the pressing demands of the Christi=
ans;
and the tribute was increased to a slave, a horse, and a thousand pieces of
gold, for each of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the solar year. =
But
as soon as the empire was again united by the arms and policy of Abdalmalek=
, he
disclaimed a badge of servitude not less injurious to his conscience than to
his pride; he discontinued the payment of the tribute; and the resentment of
the Greeks was disabled from action by the mad tyranny of the second Justin=
ian,
the just rebellion of his subjects, and the frequent change of his antagoni=
sts
and successors. Till the reign of Abdalmalek, the Saracens had been content
with the free possession of the Persian and Roman treasures, in the coins of
Chosroes and Cæsar. By the command of that caliph, a national mint was
established, both for silver and gold, and the inscription of the Dinar, th=
ough
it might be censured by some timorous casuists, proclaimed the unity of the=
God
of Mahomet. Under the reign of the caliph Walid, the Greek language and
characters were excluded from the accounts of the public revenue. If this
change was productive of the invention or familiar use of our present numer=
als,
the Arabic or Indian ciphers, as they are commonly styled, a regulation of
office has promoted the most important discoveries of arithmetic, algebra, =
and
the mathematical sciences.
Whilst the caliph Walid sat idle on the throne=
of
Damascus, whilst his lieutenants achieved the conquest of Transoxiana and
Spain, a third army of Saracens overspread the provinces of Asia Minor, and
approached the borders of the Byzantine capital. But the attempt and disgra=
ce
of the second siege was reserved for his brother Soliman, whose ambition ap=
pears
to have been quickened by a more active and martial spirit. In the revoluti=
ons
of the Greek empire, after the tyrant Justinian had been punished and aveng=
ed,
an humble secretary, Anastasius or Artemius, was promoted by chance or meri=
t to
the vacant purple. He was alarmed by the sound of war; and his ambassador
returned from Damascus with the tremendous news, that the Saracens were
preparing an armament by sea and land, such as would transcend the experien=
ce
of the past, or the belief of the present age. The precautions of Anastasius
were not unworthy of his station, or of the impending danger. He issued a
peremptory mandate, that all persons who were not provided with the means of
subsistence for a three years' siege should evacuate the city: the public
granaries and arsenals were abundantly replenished; the walls were restored=
and
strengthened; and the engines for casting stones, or darts, or fire, were
stationed along the ramparts, or in the brigantines of war, of which an
additional number was hastily constructed. To prevent is safer, as well as =
more
honorable, than to repel, an attack; and a design was meditated, above the
usual spirit of the Greeks, of burning the naval stores of the enemy, the
cypress timber that had been hewn in Mount Libanus, and was piled along the
sea-shore of Phnicia, for the service of the Egyptian fleet. This generous
enterprise was defeated by the cowardice or treachery of the troops, who, in
the new language of the empire, were styled of the Obsequian Theme. They
murdered their chief, deserted their standard in the Isle of Rhodes, disper=
sed
themselves over the adjacent continent, and deserved pardon or reward by
investing with the purple a simple officer of the revenue. The name of
Theodosius might recommend him to the senate and people; but, after some
months, he sunk into a cloister, and resigned, to the firmer hand of Leo the
Isaurian, the urgent defence of the capital and empire. The most formidable=
of
the Saracens, Moslemah, the brother of the caliph, was advancing at the hea=
d of
one hundred and twenty thousand Arabs and Persians, the greater part mounte=
d on
horses or camels; and the successful sieges of Tyana, Amorium, and Pergamus,
were of sufficient duration to exercise their skill and to elevate their ho=
pes.
At the well-known passage of Abydus, on the Hellespont, the Mahometan arms =
were
transported, for the first time, from Asia to Europe. From thence, wheeling
round the Thracian cities of the Propontis, Moslemah invested Constantinopl=
e on
the land side, surrounded his camp with a ditch and rampart, prepared and
planted his engines of assault, and declared, by words and actions, a patie=
nt resolution
of expecting the return of seed-time and harvest, should the obstinacy of t=
he
besieged prove equal to his own. The Greeks would gladly have ransomed their
religion and empire, by a fine or assessment of a piece of gold on the head=
of
each inhabitant of the city; but the liberal offer was rejected with disdai=
n,
and the presumption of Moslemah was exalted by the speedy approach and
invincible force of the natives of Egypt and Syria. They are said to have
amounted to eighteen hundred ships: the number betrays their inconsiderable
size; and of the twenty stout and capacious vessels, whose magnitude impeded
their progress, each was manned with no more than one hundred heavy-armed
soldiers. This huge armada proceeded on a smooth sea, and with a gentle gal=
e,
towards the mouth of the Bosphorus; the surface of the strait was overshado=
wed,
in the language of the Greeks, with a moving forest, and the same fatal nig=
ht
had been fixed by the Saracen chief for a general assault by sea and land. =
To
allure the confidence of the enemy, the emperor had thrown aside the chain =
that
usually guarded the entrance of the harbor; but while they hesitated whether
they should seize the opportunity, or apprehend the snare, the ministers of
destruction were at hand. The fire-ships of the Greeks were launched against
them; the Arabs, their arms, and vessels, were involved in the same flames;=
the
disorderly fugitives were dashed against each other or overwhelmed in the
waves; and I no longer find a vestige of the fleet, that had threatened to =
extirpate
the Roman name. A still more fatal and irreparable loss was that of the cal=
iph
Soliman, who died of an indigestion, in his camp near Kinnisrin or Chalcis =
in
Syria, as he was preparing to lead against Constantinople the remaining for=
ces
of the East. The brother of Moslemah was succeeded by a kinsman and an enem=
y;
and the throne of an active and able prince was degraded by the useless and
pernicious virtues of a bigot. While he started and satisfied the scruples =
of a
blind conscience, the siege was continued through the winter by the neglect=
, rather
than by the resolution of the caliph Omar. The winter proved uncommonly
rigorous: above a hundred days the ground was covered with deep snow, and t=
he
natives of the sultry climes of Egypt and Arabia lay torpid and almost life=
less
in their frozen camp. They revived on the return of spring; a second effort=
had
been made in their favor; and their distress was relieved by the arrival of=
two
numerous fleets, laden with corn, and arms, and soldiers; the first from
Alexandria, of four hundred transports and galleys; the second of three hun=
dred
and sixty vessels from the ports of Africa. But the Greek fires were again =
kindled;
and if the destruction was less complete, it was owing to the experience wh=
ich
had taught the Moslems to remain at a safe distance, or to the perfidy of t=
he
Egyptian mariners, who deserted with their ships to the emperor of the
Christians. The trade and navigation of the capital were restored; and the
produce of the fisheries supplied the wants, and even the luxury, of the in=
habitants.
But the calamities of famine and disease were soon felt by the troops of
Moslemah, and as the former was miserably assuaged, so the latter was
dreadfully propagated, by the pernicious nutriment which hunger compelled t=
hem
to extract from the most unclean or unnatural food. The spirit of conquest,=
and
even of enthusiasm, was extinct: the Saracens could no longer struggle, bey=
ond their
lines, either single or in small parties, without exposing themselves to the
merciless retaliation of the Thracian peasants. An army of Bulgarians was
attracted from the Danube by the gifts and promises of Leo; and these savage
auxiliaries made some atonement for the evils which they had inflicted on t=
he
empire, by the defeat and slaughter of twenty-two thousand Asiatics. A repo=
rt
was dexterously scattered, that the Franks, the unknown nations of the Latin
world, were arming by sea and land in the defence of the Christian cause, a=
nd
their formidable aid was expected with far different sensations in the camp=
and
city. At length, after a siege of thirteen months, the hopeless Moslemah
received from the caliph the welcome permission of retreat. * The march of =
the
Arabian cavalry over the Hellespont and through the provinces of Asia, was
executed without delay or molestation; but an army of their brethren had be=
en
cut in pieces on the side of Bithynia, and the remains of the fleet were so
repeatedly damaged by tempest and fire, that only five galleys entered the =
port
of Alexandria to relate the tale of their various and almost incredible
disasters.
In the two sieges, the deliverance of
Constantinople may be chiefly ascribed to the novelty, the terrors, and the
real efficacy of the Greek fire. The important secret of compounding and
directing this artificial flame was imparted by Callinicus, a native of
Heliopolis in Syria, who deserted from the service of the caliph to that of=
the
emperor. The skill of a chemist and engineer was equivalent to the succor of
fleets and armies; and this discovery or improvement of the military art was
fortunately reserved for the distressful period, when the degenerate Romans=
of
the East were incapable of contending with the warlike enthusiasm and youth=
ful
vigor of the Saracens. The historian who presumes to analyze this extraordi=
nary
composition should suspect his own ignorance and that of his Byzantine guid=
es,
so prone to the marvellous, so careless, and, in this instance, so jealous =
of
the truth. From their obscure, and perhaps fallacious, hints it should seem
that the principal ingredient of the Greek fire was the naphtha, or liquid =
bitumen,
a light, tenacious, and inflammable oil, which springs from the earth, and
catches fire as soon as it comes in contact with the air. The naphtha was
mingled, I know not by what methods or in what proportions, with sulphur and
with the pitch that is extracted from evergreen firs. From this mixture, wh=
ich
produced a thick smoke and a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstina=
te
flame, which not only rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burnt with
equal vehemence in descent or lateral progress; instead of being extinguish=
ed,
it was nourished and quickened by the element of water; and sand, urine, or
vinegar, were the only remedies that could damp the fury of this powerful
agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks the liquid, or the mariti=
me,
fire. For the annoyance of the enemy, it was employed with equal effect, by=
sea
and land, in battles or in sieges. It was either poured from the rampart in
large boilers, or launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in
arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and tow, which had deeply imbi=
bed
the inflammable oil; sometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the victims =
and
instruments of a more ample revenge, and was most commonly blown through lo=
ng
tubes of copper which were planted on the prow of a galley, and fancifully
shaped into the mouths of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit a stream of
liquid and consuming fire. This important art was preserved at Constantinop=
le,
as the palladium of the state: the galleys and artillery might occasionally=
be
lent to the allies of Rome; but the composition of the Greek fire was conce=
aled
with the most jealous scruple, and the terror of the enemies was increased =
and
prolonged by their ignorance and surprise. In the treaties of the administr=
ation
of the empire, the royal author suggests the answers and excuses that might
best elude the indiscreet curiosity and importunate demands of the Barbaria=
ns.
They should be told that the mystery of the Greek fire had been revealed by=
an
angel to the first and greatest of the Constantines, with a sacred injuncti=
on,
that this gift of Heaven, this peculiar blessing of the Romans, should neve=
r be
communicated to any foreign nation; that the prince and the subject were al=
ike
bound to religious silence under the temporal and spiritual penalties of
treason and sacrilege; and that the impious attempt would provoke the sudde=
n and
supernatural vengeance of the God of the Christians. By these precautions, =
the
secret was confined, above four hundred years, to the Romans of the East; a=
nd
at the end of the eleventh century, the Pisans, to whom every sea and every=
art
were familiar, suffered the effects, without understanding the composition,=
of
the Greek fire. It was at length either discovered or stolen by the Mahomet=
ans;
and, in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt, they retorted an invention, contr=
ived
against themselves, on the heads of the Christians. A knight, who despised =
the swords
and lances of the Saracens, relates, with heartfelt sincerity, his own fear=
s,
and those of his companions, at the sight and sound of the mischievous engi=
ne
that discharged a torrent of the Greek fire, the feu Gregeois, as it is sty=
led
by the more early of the French writers. It came flying through the air, sa=
ys
Joinville, like a winged long-tailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogsh=
ead,
with the report of thunder and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness =
of
the night was dispelled by this deadly illumination. The use of the Greek, =
or,
as it might now be called, of the Saracen fire, was continued to the middle=
of
the fourteenth century, when the scientific or casual compound of nitre,
sulphur, and charcoal, effected a new revolution in the art of war and the
history of mankind.
Constantinople and the Greek fire might exclude
the Arabs from the eastern entrance of Europe; but in the West, on the side=
of
the Pyrenees, the provinces of Gaul were threatened and invaded by the conq=
uerors
of Spain. The decline of the French monarchy invited the attack of these
insatiate fanatics. The descendants of Clovis had lost the inheritance of h=
is
martial and ferocious spirit; and their misfortune or demerit has affixed t=
he
epithet of lazy to the last kings of the Merovingian race. They ascended the
throne without power, and sunk into the grave without a name. A country pal=
ace,
in the neighborhood of Compiegne was allotted for their residence or prison=
: but
each year, in the month of March or May, they were conducted in a wagon dra=
wn
by oxen to the assembly of the Franks, to give audience to foreign ambassad=
ors,
and to ratify the acts of the mayor of the palace. That domestic officer was
become the minister of the nation and the master of the prince. A public
employment was converted into the patrimony of a private family: the elder
Pepin left a king of mature years under the guardianship of his own widow a=
nd
her child; and these feeble regents were forcibly dispossessed by the most
active of his bastards. A government, half savage and half corrupt, was alm=
ost dissolved;
and the tributary dukes, and provincial counts, and the territorial lords, =
were
tempted to despise the weakness of the monarch, and to imitate the ambition=
of
the mayor. Among these independent chiefs, one of the boldest and most
successful was Eudes, duke of Aquitain, who in the southern provinces of Ga=
ul
usurped the authority, and even the title of king. The Goths, the Gascons, =
and
the Franks, assembled under the standard of this Christian hero: he repelled
the first invasion of the Saracens; and Zama, lieutenant of the caliph, los=
t his
army and his life under the walls of Thoulouse. The ambition of his success=
ors
was stimulated by revenge; they repassed the Pyrenees with the means and the
resolution of conquest. The advantageous situation which had recommended
Narbonne as the first Roman colony, was again chosen by the Moslems: they
claimed the province of Septimania or Languedoc as a just dependence of the
Spanish monarchy: the vineyards of Gascony and the city of Bourdeaux were
possessed by the sovereign of Damascus and Samarcand; and the south of Fran=
ce,
from the mouth of the Garonne to that of the Rhone, assumed the manners and
religion of Arabia.
But these narrow limits were scorned by the sp=
irit
of Abdalraman, or Abderame, who had been restored by the caliph Hashem to t=
he
wishes of the soldiers and people of Spain. That veteran and daring command=
er adjudged
to the obedience of the prophet whatever yet remained of France or of Europ=
e;
and prepared to execute the sentence, at the head of a formidable host, in =
the
full confidence of surmounting all opposition either of nature or of man. H=
is
first care was to suppress a domestic rebel, who commanded the most importa=
nt
passes of the Pyrenees: Manuza, a Moorish chief, had accepted the alliance =
of
the duke of Aquitain; and Eudes, from a motive of private or public interes=
t,
devoted his beauteous daughter to the embraces of the African misbeliever. =
But
the strongest fortresses of Cerdagne were invested by a superior force; the=
rebel
was overtaken and slain in the mountains; and his widow was sent a captive =
to
Damascus, to gratify the desires, or more probably the vanity, of the comma=
nder
of the faithful. From the Pyrenees, Abderame proceeded without delay to the
passage of the Rhone and the siege of Arles. An army of Christians attempted
the relief of the city: the tombs of their leaders were yet visible in the
thirteenth century; and many thousands of their dead bodies were carried do=
wn
the rapid stream into the Mediterranean Sea. The arms of Abderame were not =
less
successful on the side of the ocean. He passed without opposition the Garon=
ne
and Dordogne, which unite their waters in the Gulf of Bourdeaux; but he fou=
nd,
beyond those rivers, the camp of the intrepid Eudes, who had formed a second
army and sustained a second defeat, so fatal to the Christians, that, accor=
ding
to their sad confession, God alone could reckon the number of the slain. The
victorious Saracen overran the provinces of Aquitain, whose Gallic names are
disguised, rather than lost, in the modern appellations of Perigord, Sainto=
nge,
and Poitou: his standards were planted on the walls, or at least before the
gates, of Tours and of Sens; and his detachments overspread the kingdom of =
Burgundy
as far as the well-known cities of Lyons and Besancon. The memory of these
devastations (for Abderame did not spare the country or the people) was long
preserved by tradition; and the invasion of France by the Moors or Mahometa=
ns
affords the groundwork of those fables, which have been so wildly disfigure=
d in
the romances of chivalry, and so elegantly adorned by the Italian muse. In =
the
decline of society and art, the deserted cities could supply a slender boot=
y to
the Saracens; their richest spoil was found in the churches and monasteries,
which they stripped of their ornaments and delivered to the flames: and the=
tutelar
saints, both Hilary of Poitiers and Martin of Tours, forgot their miraculous
powers in the defence of their own sepulchres. A victorious line of march h=
ad
been prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of Gibraltar to the ban=
ks
of the Loire; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Sarac=
ens
to the confines of Poland and the Highlands of Scotland; the Rhine is not m=
ore
impassable than the Nile or Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sai=
led
without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. Perhaps the interpreta=
tion
of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits =
might
demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelatio=
n of
Mahomet.
From such calamities was Christendom delivered=
by
the genius and fortune of one man. Charles, the illegitimate son of the eld=
er
Pepin, was content with the titles of mayor or duke of the Franks; but he
deserved to become the father of a line of kings. In a laborious administra=
tion
of twenty-four years, he restored and supported the dignity of the throne, =
and
the rebels of Germany and Gaul were successively crushed by the activity of=
a
warrior, who, in the same campaign, could display his banner on the Elbe, t=
he
Rhone, and the shores of the ocean. In the public danger he was summoned by=
the
voice of his country; and his rival, the duke of Aquitain, was reduced to
appear among the fugitives and suppliants. "Alas!" exclaimed the
Franks, "what a misfortune! what an indignity! We have long heard of t=
he
name and conquests of the Arabs: we were apprehensive of their attack from =
the
East; they have now conquered Spain, and invade our country on the side of =
the
West. Yet their numbers, and (since they have no buckler) their arms, are
inferior to our own." "If you follow my advice," replied the
prudent mayor of the palace, "you will not interrupt their march, nor
precipitate your attack. They are like a torrent, which it is dangerous to =
stem
in its career. The thirst of riches, and the consciousness of success, redo=
uble
their valor, and valor is of more avail than arms or numbers. Be patient ti=
ll
they have loaded themselves with the encumbrance of wealth. The possession =
of
wealth will divide their councils and assure your victory." This subti=
le
policy is perhaps a refinement of the Arabian writers; and the situation of
Charles will suggest a more narrow and selfish motive of procrastination--t=
he
secret desire of humbling the pride and wasting the provinces of the rebel =
duke
of Aquitain. It is yet more probable, that the delays of Charles were
inevitable and reluctant. A standing army was unknown under the first and
second race; more than half the kingdom was now in the hands of the Saracen=
s:
according to their respective situation, the Franks of Neustria and Austras=
ia
were to conscious or too careless of the impending danger; and the voluntar=
y aids
of the Gepidæ and Germans were separated by a long interval from the
standard of the Christian general. No sooner had he collected his forces, t=
han
he sought and found the enemy in the centre of France, between Tours and
Poitiers. His well-conducted march was covered with a range of hills, and
Abderame appears to have been surprised by his unexpected presence. The nat=
ions
of Asia, Africa, and Europe, advanced with equal ardor to an encounter which
would change the history of the world. In the six first days of desultory
combat, the horsemen and archers of the East maintained their advantage: bu=
t in
the closer onset of the seventh day, the Orientals were oppressed by the
strength and stature of the Germans, who, with stout hearts and iron hands,=
asserted
the civil and religious freedom of their posterity. The epithet of Martel, =
the
Hammer, which has been added to the name of Charles, is expressive of his
weighty and irresistible strokes: the valor of Eudes was excited by resentm=
ent
and emulation; and their companions, in the eye of history, are the true Pe=
ers
and Paladins of French chivalry. After a bloody field, in which Abderame was
slain, the Saracens, in the close of the evening, retired to their camp. In=
the
disorder and despair of the night, the various tribes of Yemen and Damascus=
, of
Africa and Spain, were provoked to turn their arms against each other: the
remains of their host were suddenly dissolved, and each emir consulted his =
safety
by a hasty and separate retreat. At the dawn of the day, the stillness of a
hostile camp was suspected by the victorious Christians: on the report of t=
heir
spies, they ventured to explore the riches of the vacant tents; but if we
except some celebrated relics, a small portion of the spoil was restored to=
the
innocent and lawful owners. The joyful tidings were soon diffused over the
Catholic world, and the monks of Italy could affirm and believe that three
hundred and fifty, or three hundred and seventy-five, thousand of the
Mahometans had been crushed by the hammer of Charles, while no more than
fifteen hundred Christians were slain in the field of Tours. But this
incredible tale is sufficiently disproved by the caution of the French gene=
ral,
who apprehended the snares and accidents of a pursuit, and dismissed his Ge=
rman
allies to their native forests. The inactivity of a conqueror betrays the l=
oss
of strength and blood, and the most cruel execution is inflicted, not in the
ranks of battle, but on the backs of a flying enemy. Yet the victory of the
Franks was complete and final; Aquitain was recovered by the arms of Eudes;=
the
Arabs never resumed the conquest of Gaul, and they were soon driven beyond =
the
Pyrenees by Charles Martel and his valiant race. It might have been expected
that the savior of Christendom would have been canonized, or at least
applauded, by the gratitude of the clergy, who are indebted to his sword for
their present existence. But in the public distress, the mayor of the palace
had been compelled to apply the riches, or at least the revenues, of the
bishops and abbots, to the relief of the state and the reward of the soldie=
rs. His
merits were forgotten, his sacrilege alone was remembered, and, in an epist=
le
to a Carlovingian prince, a Gallic synod presumes to declare that his ances=
tor
was damned; that on the opening of his tomb, the spectators were affrighted=
by
a smell of fire and the aspect of a horrid dragon; and that a saint of the
times was indulged with a pleasant vision of the soul and body of Charles
Martel, burning, to all eternity, in the abyss of hell.
The loss of an army, or a province, in the Wes=
tern
world, was less painful to the court of Damascus, than the rise and progres=
s of
a domestic competitor. Except among the Syrians, the caliphs of the house of
Ommiyah had never been the objects of the public favor. The life of Mahomet
recorded their perseverance in idolatry and rebellion: their conversion had
been reluctant, their elevation irregular and factious, and their throne was
cemented with the most holy and noble blood of Arabia. The best of their ra=
ce,
the pious Omar, was dissatisfied with his own title: their personal virtues
were insufficient to justify a departure from the order of succession; and =
the
eyes and wishes of the faithful were turned towards the line of Hashem, and=
the
kindred of the apostle of God. Of these the Fatimites were either rash or p=
usillanimous;
but the descendants of Abbas cherished, with courage and discretion, the ho=
pes
of their rising fortunes. From an obscure residence in Syria, they secretly
despatched their agents and missionaries, who preached in the Eastern provi=
nces
their hereditary indefeasible right; and Mohammed, the son of Ali, the son =
of
Abdallah, the son of Abbas, the uncle of the prophet, gave audience to the =
deputies
of Chorasan, and accepted their free gift of four hundred thousand pieces of
gold. After the death of Mohammed, the oath of allegiance was administered =
in
the name of his son Ibrahim to a numerous band of votaries, who expected on=
ly a
signal and a leader; and the governor of Chorasan continued to deplore his
fruitless admonitions and the deadly slumber of the caliphs of Damascus, ti=
ll
he himself, with all his adherents, was driven from the city and palace of
Meru, by the rebellious arms of Abu Moslem. That maker of kings, the author=
, as
he is named, of the call of the Abbassides, was at length rewarded for his =
presumption
of merit with the usual gratitude of courts. A mean, perhaps a foreign,
extraction could not repress the aspiring energy of Abu Moslem. Jealous of =
his
wives, liberal of his wealth, prodigal of his own blood and of that of othe=
rs,
he could boast with pleasure, and possibly with truth, that he had destroyed
six hundred thousand of his enemies; and such was the intrepid gravity of h=
is
mind and countenance, that he was never seen to smile except on a day of
battle. In the visible separation of parties, the green was consecrated to =
the
Fatimites; the Ommiades were distinguished by the white; and the black, as =
the most
adverse, was naturally adopted by the Abbassides. Their turbans and garments
were stained with that gloomy color: two black standards, on pike staves ni=
ne
cubits long, were borne aloft in the van of Abu Moslem; and their allegoric=
al
names of the night and the shadow obscurely represented the indissoluble un=
ion
and perpetual succession of the line of Hashem. From the Indus to the
Euphrates, the East was convulsed by the quarrel of the white and the black
factions: the Abbassides were most frequently victorious; but their public
success was clouded by the personal misfortune of their chief. The court of
Damascus, awakening from a long slumber, resolved to prevent the pilgrimage=
of
Mecca, which Ibrahim had undertaken with a splendid retinue, to recommend
himself at once to the favor of the prophet and of the people. A detachment=
of cavalry
intercepted his march and arrested his person; and the unhappy Ibrahim,
snatched away from the promise of untasted royalty, expired in iron fetters=
in
the dungeons of Haran. His two younger brothers, Saffah * and Almansor, elu=
ded
the search of the tyrant, and lay concealed at Cufa, till the zeal of the
people and the approach of his Eastern friends allowed them to expose their
persons to the impatient public. On Friday, in the dress of a caliph, in the
colors of the sect, Saffah proceeded with religious and military pomp to the
mosch: ascending the pulpit, he prayed and preached as the lawful successor=
of
Mahomet; and after his departure, his kinsmen bound a willing people by an =
oath
of fidelity. But it was on the banks of the Zab, and not in the mosch of Cu=
fa,
that this important controversy was determined. Every advantage appeared to=
be
on the side of the white faction: the authority of established government; =
an
army of a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, against a sixth part of that
number; and the presence and merit of the caliph Mervan, the fourteenth and
last of the house of Ommiyah. Before his accession to the throne, he had
deserved, by his Georgian warfare, the honorable epithet of the ass of
Mesopotamia; and he might have been ranked amongst the greatest princes, had
not, says Abulfeda, the eternal order decreed that moment for the ruin of h=
is family;
a decree against which all human fortitude and prudence must struggle in va=
in.
The orders of Mervan were mistaken, or disobeyed: the return of his horse, =
from
which he had dismounted on a necessary occasion, impressed the belief of his
death; and the enthusiasm of the black squadrons was ably conducted by
Abdallah, the uncle of his competitor. After an irretrievable defeat, the
caliph escaped to Mosul; but the colors of the Abbassides were displayed fr=
om
the rampart; he suddenly repassed the Tigris, cast a melancholy look on his
palace of Haran, crossed the Euphrates, abandoned the fortifications of
Damascus, and, without halting in Palestine, pitched his last and fatal cam=
p at
Busir, on the banks of the Nile. His speed was urged by the incessant dilig=
ence
of Abdallah, who in every step of the pursuit acquired strength and reputat=
ion:
the remains of the white faction were finally vanquished in Egypt; and the
lance, which terminated the life and anxiety of Mervan, was not less welcome
perhaps to the unfortunate than to the victorious chief. The merciless
inquisition of the conqueror eradicated the most distant branches of the
hostile race: their bones were scattered, their memory was accursed, and the
martyrdom of Hossein was abundantly revenged on the posterity of his tyrant=
s.
Fourscore of the Ommiades, who had yielded to the faith or clemency of their
foes, were invited to a banquet at Damascus. The laws of hospitality were v=
iolated
by a promiscuous massacre: the board was spread over their fallen bodies; a=
nd
the festivity of the guests was enlivened by the music of their dying groan=
s.
By the event of the civil war, the dynasty of the Abbassides was firmly
established; but the Christians only could triumph in the mutual hatred and
common loss of the disciples of Mahomet.
Yet the thousands who were swept away by the s=
word
of war might have been speedily retrieved in the succeeding generation, if =
the consequences
of the revolution had not tended to dissolve the power and unity of the emp=
ire
of the Saracens. In the proscription of the Ommiades, a royal youth of the =
name
of Abdalrahman alone escaped the rage of his enemies, who hunted the wander=
ing
exile from the banks of the Euphrates to the valleys of Mount Atlas. His
presence in the neighborhood of Spain revived the zeal of the white faction.
The name and cause of the Abbassides had been first vindicated by the Persi=
ans:
the West had been pure from civil arms; and the servants of the abdicated f=
amily
still held, by a precarious tenure, the inheritance of their lands and the
offices of government. Strongly prompted by gratitude, indignation, and fea=
r,
they invited the grandson of the caliph Hashem to ascend the throne of his
ancestors; and, in his desperate condition, the extremes of rashness and
prudence were almost the same. The acclamations of the people saluted his
landing on the coast of Andalusia: and, after a successful struggle,
Abdalrahman established the throne of Cordova, and was the father of the
Ommiades of Spain, who reigned above two hundred and fifty years from the
Atlantic to the Pyrenees. He slew in battle a lieutenant of the Abbassides,=
who
had invaded his dominions with a fleet and army: the head of Ala, in salt a=
nd
camphire, was suspended by a daring messenger before the palace of Mecca; a=
nd
the caliph Almansor rejoiced in his safety, that he was removed by seas and
lands from such a formidable adversary. Their mutual designs or declaration=
s of
offensive war evaporated without effect; but instead of opening a door to t=
he
conquest of Europe, Spain was dissevered from the trunk of the monarchy,
engaged in perpetual hostility with the East, and inclined to peace and
friendship with the Christian sovereigns of Constantinople and France. The
example of the Ommiades was imitated by the real or fictitious progeny of A=
li,
the Edrissites of Mauritania, and the more powerful Fatimites of Africa and=
Egypt.
In the tenth century, the chair of Mahomet was disputed by three caliphs or
commanders of the faithful, who reigned at Bagdad, Cairoan, and Cordova,
excommunicating each other, and agreed only in a principle of discord, that=
a
sectary is more odious and criminal than an unbeliever.
Mecca was the patrimony of the line of Hashem,=
yet
the Abbassides were never tempted to reside either in the birthplace or the
city of the prophet. Damascus was disgraced by the choice, and polluted with
the blood, of the Ommiades; and, after some hesitation, Almansor, the broth=
er
and successor of Saffah, laid the foundations of Bagdad, the Imperial seat =
of
his posterity during a reign of five hundred years. The chosen spot is on t=
he
eastern bank of the Tigris, about fifteen miles above the ruins of Modain: =
the
double wall was of a circular form; and such was the rapid increase of a
capital, now dwindled to a provincial town, that the funeral of a popular s=
aint
might be attended by eight hundred thousand men and sixty thousand women of
Bagdad and the adjacent villages. In this city of peace, amidst the riches =
of
the East, the Abbassides soon disdained the abstinence and frugality of the
first caliphs, and aspired to emulate the magnificence of the Persian kings=
. After
his wars and buildings, Almansor left behind him in gold and silver about
thirty millions sterling: and this treasure was exhausted in a few years by=
the
vices or virtues of his children. His son Mahadi, in a single pilgrimage to
Mecca, expended six millions of dinars of gold. A pious and charitable moti=
ve
may sanctify the foundation of cisterns and caravanseras, which he distribu=
ted
along a measured road of seven hundred miles; but his train of camels, laden
with snow, could serve only to astonish the natives of Arabia, and to refre=
sh
the fruits and liquors of the royal banquet. The courtiers would surely pra=
ise
the liberality of his grandson Almamon, who gave away four fifths of the in=
come
of a province, a sum of two millions four hundred thousand gold dinars, bef=
ore
he drew his foot from the stirrup. At the nuptials of the same prince, a
thousand pearls of the largest size were showered on the head of the bride,=
and
a lottery of lands and houses displayed the capricious bounty of fortune. T=
he
glories of the court were brightened, rather than impaired, in the decline =
of
the empire, and a Greek ambassador might admire, or pity, the magnificence =
of
the feeble Moctader. "The caliph's whole army," says the historian
Abulfeda, "both horse and foot, was under arms, which together made a =
body
of one hundred and sixty thousand men. His state officers, the favorite sla=
ves,
stood near him in splendid apparel, their belts glittering with gold and ge=
ms.
Near them were seven thousand eunuchs, four thousand of them white, the
remainder black. The porters or door-keepers were in number seven hundred.
Barges and boats, with the most superb decorations, were seen swimming upon=
the
Tigris. Nor was the palace itself less splendid, in which were hung up
thirty-eight thousand pieces of tapestry, twelve thousand five hundred of w=
hich
were of silk embroidered with gold. The carpets on the floor were twenty-two
thousand. A hundred lions were brought out, with a keeper to each lion. Amo=
ng
the other spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and
silver spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesser =
boughs,
sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, as well as the lea=
ves of
the tree. While the machinery affected spontaneous motions, the several bir=
ds
warbled their natural harmony. Through this scene of magnificence, the Greek
ambassador was led by the vizier to the foot of the caliph's throne." =
In
the West, the Ommiades of Spain supported, with equal pomp, the title of
commander of the faithful. Three miles from Cordova, in honor of his favori=
te
sultana, the third and greatest of the Abdalrahmans constructed the city,
palace, and gardens of Zehra. Twenty-five years, and above three millions
sterling, were employed by the founder: his liberal taste invited the artis=
ts
of Constantinople, the most skilful sculptors and architects of the age; and
the buildings were sustained or adorned by twelve hundred columns of Spanish
and African, of Greek and Italian marble. The hall of audience was incruste=
d with
gold and pearls, and a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the
curious and costly figures of birds and quadrupeds. In a lofty pavilion of =
the
gardens, one of these basins and fountains, so delightful in a sultry clima=
te,
was replenished not with water, but with the purest quicksilver. The seragl=
io
of Abdalrahman, his wives, concubines, and black eunuchs, amounted to six
thousand three hundred persons: and he was attended to the field by a guard=
of
twelve thousand horse, whose belts and cimeters were studded with gold.
In a private condition, our desires are
perpetually repressed by poverty and subordination; but the lives and labor=
s of
millions are devoted to the service of a despotic prince, whose laws are
blindly obeyed, and whose wishes are instantly gratified. Our imagination is
dazzled by the splendid picture; and whatever may be the cool dictates of
reason, there are few among us who would obstinately refuse a trial of the
comforts and the cares of royalty. It may therefore be of some use to borro=
w the
experience of the same Abdalrahman, whose magnificence has perhaps excited =
our
admiration and envy, and to transcribe an authentic memorial which was foun=
d in
the closet of the deceased caliph. "I have now reigned above fifty yea=
rs
in victory or peace; beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and
respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited =
on
my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my
felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and
genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to Fourteen:--O =
man!
place not thy confidence in this present world!" The luxury of the
caliphs, so useless to their private happiness, relaxed the nerves, and
terminated the progress, of the Arabian empire. Temporal and spiritual conq=
uest
had been the sole occupation of the first successors of Mahomet; and after =
supplying
themselves with the necessaries of life, the whole revenue was scrupulously
devoted to that salutary work. The Abbassides were impoverished by the
multitude of their wants, and their contempt of economy. Instead of pursuing
the great object of ambition, their leisure, their affections, the powers of
their mind, were diverted by pomp and pleasure: the rewards of valor were
embezzled by women and eunuchs, and the royal camp was encumbered by the lu=
xury
of the palace. A similar temper was diffused among the subjects of the cali=
ph.
Their stern enthusiasm was softened by time and prosperity. They sought ric=
hes
in the occupations of industry, fame in the pursuits of literature, and hap=
piness
in the tranquillity of domestic life. War was no longer the passion of the
Saracens; and the increase of pay, the repetition of donatives, were
insufficient to allure the posterity of those voluntary champions who had
crowded to the standard of Abubeker and Omar for the hopes of spoil and of
paradise.
Under the reign of the Ommiades, the studies of
the Moslems were confined to the interpretation of the Koran, and the eloqu=
ence
and poetry of their native tongue. A people continually exposed to the dang=
ers
of the field must esteem the healing powers of medicine, or rather of surge=
ry;
but the starving physicians of Arabia murmured a complaint that exercise and
temperance deprived them of the greatest part of their practice. After their
civil and domestic wars, the subjects of the Abbassides, awakening from this
mental lethargy, found leisure and felt curiosity for the acquisition of
profane science. This spirit was first encouraged by the caliph Almansor, w=
ho,
besides his knowledge of the Mahometan law, had applied himself with succes=
s to
the study of astronomy. But when the sceptre devolved to Almamon, the seven=
th
of the Abbassides, he completed the designs of his grandfather, and invited=
the
muses from their ancient seats. His ambassadors at Constantinople, his agen=
ts
in Armenia, Syria, and Egypt, collected the volumes of Grecian science at h=
is
command they were translated by the most skilful interpreters into the Arab=
ic
language: his subjects were exhorted assiduously to peruse these instructive
writings; and the successor of Mahomet assisted with pleasure and modesty at
the assemblies and disputations of the learned. "He was not
ignorant," says Abulpharagius, "that they are the elect of God, h=
is
best and most useful servants, whose lives are devoted to the improvement of
their rational faculties. The mean ambition of the Chinese or the Turks may
glory in the industry of their hands or the indulgence of their brutal
appetites. Yet these dexterous artists must view, with hopeless emulation, =
the hexagons
and pyramids of the cells of a beehive: these fortitudinous heroes are awed=
by
the superior fierceness of the lions and tigers; and in their amorous
enjoyments they are much inferior to the vigor of the grossest and most sor=
did
quadrupeds. The teachers of wisdom are the true luminaries and legislators =
of a
world, which, without their aid, would again sink in ignorance and
barbarism." The zeal and curiosity of Almamon were imitated by succeed=
ing
princes of the line of Abbas: their rivals, the Fatimites of Africa and the
Ommiades of Spain, were the patrons of the learned, as well as the commande=
rs
of the faithful; the same royal prerogative was claimed by their independent
emirs of the provinces; and their emulation diffused the taste and the rewa=
rds
of science from Samarcand and Bochara to Fez and Cordova. The vizier of a s=
ultan
consecrated a sum of two hundred thousand pieces of gold to the foundation =
of a
college at Bagdad, which he endowed with an annual revenue of fifteen thous=
and
dinars. The fruits of instruction were communicated, perhaps at different
times, to six thousand disciples of every degree, from the son of the noble=
to
that of the mechanic: a sufficient allowance was provided for the indigent
scholars; and the merit or industry of the professors was repaid with adequ=
ate
stipends. In every city the productions of Arabic literature were copied an=
d collected
by the curiosity of the studious and the vanity of the rich. A private doct=
or
refused the invitation of the sultan of Bochara, because the carriage of his
books would have required four hundred camels. The royal library of the
Fatimites consisted of one hundred thousand manuscripts, elegantly transcri=
bed
and splendidly bound, which were lent, without jealousy or avarice, to the
students of Cairo. Yet this collection must appear moderate, if we can beli=
eve
that the Ommiades of Spain had formed a library of six hundred thousand
volumes, forty-four of which were employed in the mere catalogue. Their
capital, Cordova, with the adjacent towns of Malaga, Almeria, and Murcia, h=
ad
given birth to more than three hundred writers, and above seventy public
libraries were opened in the cities of the Andalusian kingdom. The age of
Arabian learning continued about five hundred years, till the great eruptio=
n of
the Moguls, and was coeval with the darkest and most slothful period of Eur=
opean
annals; but since the sun of science has arisen in the West, it should seem
that the Oriental studies have languished and declined.
In the libraries of the Arabians, as in those =
of
Europe, the far greater part of the innumerable volumes were possessed only=
of
local value or imaginary merit. The shelves were crowded with orators and
poets, whose style was adapted to the taste and manners of their countrymen;
with general and partial histories, which each revolving generation supplie=
d with
a new harvest of persons and events; with codes and commentaries of
jurisprudence, which derived their authority from the law of the prophet; w=
ith
the interpreters of the Koran, and orthodox tradition; and with the whole
theological tribe, polemics, mystics, scholastics, and moralists, the first=
or
the last of writers, according to the different estimates of sceptics or
believers. The works of speculation or science may be reduced to the four
classes of philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and physic. The sages of Gre=
ece
were translated and illustrated in the Arabic language, and some treatises,=
now
lost in the original, have been recovered in the versions of the East, whic=
h possessed
and studied the writings of Aristotle and Plato, of Euclid and Apollonius, =
of
Ptolemy, Hippocrates, and Galen. Among the ideal systems which have varied =
with
the fashion of the times, the Arabians adopted the philosophy of the Stagir=
ite,
alike intelligible or alike obscure for the readers of every age. Plato wro=
te
for the Athenians, and his allegorical genius is too closely blended with t=
he
language and religion of Greece. After the fall of that religion, the
Peripatetics, emerging from their obscurity, prevailed in the controversies=
of
the Oriental sects, and their founder was long afterwards restored by the
Mahometans of Spain to the Latin schools. The physics, both of the Academy =
and
the Lycæum, as they are built, not on observation, but on argument, h=
ave retarded
the progress of real knowledge. The metaphysics of infinite, or finite, spi=
rit,
have too often been enlisted in the service of superstition. But the human
faculties are fortified by the art and practice of dialectics; the ten
predicaments of Aristotle collect and methodize our ideas, and his syllogis=
m is
the keenest weapon of dispute. It was dexterously wielded in the schools of=
the
Saracens, but as it is more effectual for the detection of error than for t=
he
investigation of truth, it is not surprising that new generations of masters
and disciples should still revolve in the same circle of logical argument. =
The
mathematics are distinguished by a peculiar privilege, that, in the course =
of
ages, they may always advance, and can never recede. But the ancient geomet=
ry,
if I am not misinformed, was resumed in the same state by the Italians of t=
he
fifteenth century; and whatever may be the origin of the name, the science =
of
algebra is ascribed to the Grecian Diophantus by the modest testimony of the
Arabs themselves. They cultivated with more success the sublime science of
astronomy, which elevates the mind of man to disdain his diminutive planet =
and
momentary existence. The costly instruments of observation were supplied by=
the
caliph Almamon, and the land of the Chaldæans still afforded the same=
spacious
level, the same unclouded horizon. In the plains of Sinaar, and a second ti=
me
in those of Cufa, his mathematicians accurately measured a degree of the gr=
eat
circle of the earth, and determined at twenty-four thousand miles the entire
circumference of our globe. From the reign of the Abbassides to that of the
grandchildren of Tamerlane, the stars, without the aid of glasses, were
diligently observed; and the astronomical tables of Bagdad, Spain, and
Samarcand, correct some minute errors, without daring to renounce the
hypothesis of Ptolemy, without advancing a step towards the discovery of the
solar system. In the Eastern courts, the truths of science could be recomme=
nded
only by ignorance and folly, and the astronomer would have been disregarded=
, had
he not debased his wisdom or honesty by the vain predictions of astrology. =
But
in the science of medicine, the Arabians have been deservedly applauded. The
names of Mesua and Geber, of Razis and Avicenna, are ranked with the Grecian
masters; in the city of Bagdad, eight hundred and sixty physicians were
licensed to exercise their lucrative profession: in Spain, the life of the
Catholic princes was intrusted to the skill of the Saracens, and the school=
of
Salerno, their legitimate offspring, revived in Italy and Europe the precep=
ts
of the healing art. The success of each professor must have been influenced=
by personal
and accidental causes; but we may form a less fanciful estimate of their ge=
neral
knowledge of anatomy, botany, and chemistry, the threefold basis of their
theory and practice. A superstitious reverence for the dead confined both t=
he
Greeks and the Arabians to the dissection of apes and quadrupeds; the more
solid and visible parts were known in the time of Galen, and the finer scru=
tiny
of the human frame was reserved for the microscope and the injections of mo=
dern
artists. Botany is an active science, and the discoveries of the torrid zone
might enrich the herbal of Dioscorides with two thousand plants. Some tradi=
tionary
knowledge might be secreted in the temples and monasteries of Egypt; much
useful experience had been acquired in the practice of arts and manufacture=
s;
but the science of chemistry owes its origin and improvement to the industr=
y of
the Saracens. They first invented and named the alembic for the purposes of
distillation, analyzed the substances of the three kingdoms of nature, tried
the distinction and affinities of alcalis and acids, and converted the
poisonous minerals into soft and salutary medicines. But the most eager sea=
rch
of Arabian chemistry was the transmutation of metals, and the elixir of
immortal health: the reason and the fortunes of thousands were evaporated i=
n the
crucibles of alchemy, and the consummation of the great work was promoted by
the worthy aid of mystery, fable, and superstition.
But the Moslems deprived themselves of the
principal benefits of a familiar intercourse with Greece and Rome, the
knowledge of antiquity, the purity of taste, and the freedom of thought.
Confident in the riches of their native tongue, the Arabians disdained the
study of any foreign idiom. The Greek interpreters were chosen among their
Christian subjects; they formed their translations, sometimes on the origin=
al text,
more frequently perhaps on a Syriac version; and in the crowd of astronomers
and physicians, there is no example of a poet, an orator, or even an histor=
ian,
being taught to speak the language of the Saracens. The mythology of Homer
would have provoked the abhorrence of those stern fanatics: they possessed =
in
lazy ignorance the colonies of the Macedonians, and the provinces of Cartha=
ge
and Rome: the heroes of Plutarch and Livy were buried in oblivion; and the
history of the world before Mahomet was reduced to a short legend of the
patriarchs, the prophets, and the Persian kings. Our education in the Greek=
and
Latin schools may have fixed in our minds a standard of exclusive taste; an=
d I
am not forward to condemn the literature and judgment of nations, of whose
language I am ignorant. Yet I know that the classics have much to teach, an=
d I
believe that the Orientals have much to learn; the temperate dignity of sty=
le,
the graceful proportions of art, the forms of visible and intellectual beau=
ty,
the just delineation of character and passion, the rhetoric of narrative and
argument, the regular fabric of epic and dramatic poetry. The influence of
truth and reason is of a less ambiguous complexion. The philosophers of Ath=
ens
and Rome enjoyed the blessings, and asserted the rights, of civil and relig=
ious
freedom. Their moral and political writings might have gradually unlocked t=
he fetters
of Eastern despotism, diffused a liberal spirit of inquiry and toleration, =
and
encouraged the Arabian sages to suspect that their caliph was a tyrant, and
their prophet an impostor. The instinct of superstition was alarmed by the
introduction even of the abstract sciences; and the more rigid doctors of t=
he
law condemned the rash and pernicious curiosity of Almamon. To the thirst o=
f martyrdom,
the vision of paradise, and the belief of predestination, we must ascribe t=
he invincible
enthusiasm of the prince and people. And the sword of the Saracens became l=
ess
formidable when their youth was drawn away from the camp to the college, wh=
en the
armies of the faithful presumed to read and to reflect. Yet the foolish van=
ity
of the Greeks was jealous of their studies, and reluctantly imparted the sa=
cred
fire to the Barbarians of the East.
In the bloody conflict of the Ommiades and
Abbassides, the Greeks had stolen the opportunity of avenging their wrongs =
and
enlarging their limits. But a severe retribution was exacted by Mohadi, the
third caliph of the new dynasty, who seized, in his turn, the favorable
opportunity, while a woman and a child, Irene and Constantine, were seated =
on
the Byzantine throne. An army of ninety-five thousand Persians and Arabs was
sent from the Tigris to the Thracian Bosphorus, under the command of Harun,=
or
Aaron, the second son of the commander of the faithful. His encampment on t=
he
opposite heights of Chrysopolis, or Scutari, informed Irene, in her palace =
of
Constantinople, of the loss of her troops and provinces. With the consent or
connivance of their sovereign, her ministers subscribed an ignominious peac=
e;
and the exchange of some royal gifts could not disguise the annual tribute =
of
seventy thousand dinars of gold, which was imposed on the Roman empire. The
Saracens had too rashly advanced into the midst of a distant and hostile la=
nd:
their retreat was solicited by the promise of faithful guides and plentiful=
markets;
and not a Greek had courage to whisper, that their weary forces might be
surrounded and destroyed in their necessary passage between a slippery moun=
tain
and the River Sangarius. Five years after this expedition, Harun ascended t=
he
throne of his father and his elder brother; the most powerful and vigorous
monarch of his race, illustrious in the West, as the ally of Charlemagne, a=
nd
familiar to the most childish readers, as the perpetual hero of the Arabian=
tales.
His title to the name of Al Rashid (the Just) is sullied by the extirpation=
of the
generous, perhaps the innocent, Barmecides; yet he could listen to the
complaint of a poor widow who had been pillaged by his troops, and who dare=
d,
in a passage of the Koran, to threaten the inattentive despot with the judg=
ment
of God and posterity. His court was adorned with luxury and science; but, i=
n a
reign of three-and-twenty years, Harun repeatedly visited his provinces from
Chorasan to Egypt; nine times he performed the pilgrimage of Mecca; eight t=
imes
he invaded the territories of the Romans; and as often as they declined the
payment of the tribute, they were taught to feel that a month of depredation
was more costly than a year of submission. But when the unnatural mother of
Constantine was deposed and banished, her successor, Nicephorus, resolved to
obliterate this badge of servitude and disgrace. The epistle of the emperor=
to
the caliph was pointed with an allusion to the game of chess, which had alr=
eady
spread from Persia to Greece. "The queen (he spoke of Irene) considered
you as a rook, and herself as a pawn. That pusillanimous female submitted to
pay a tribute, the double of which she ought to have exacted from the
Barbarians. Restore therefore the fruits of your injustice, or abide the
determination of the sword." At these words the ambassadors cast a bun=
dle
of swords before the foot of the throne. The caliph smiled at the menace, a=
nd
drawing his cimeter, samsamah, a weapon of historic or fabulous renown, he =
cut
asunder the feeble arms of the Greeks, without turning the edge, or endange=
ring
the temper, of his blade. He then dictated an epistle of tremendous brevity=
: "In
the name of the most merciful God, Harun al Rashid, commander of the faithf=
ul,
to Nicephorus, the Roman dog. I have read thy letter, O thou son of an
unbelieving mother. Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt behold, my reply."=
It
was written in characters of blood and fire on the plains of Phrygia; and t=
he
warlike celerity of the Arabs could only be checked by the arts of deceit a=
nd
the show of repentance. The triumphant caliph retired, after the fatigues of
the campaign, to his favorite palace of Racca on the Euphrates: but the
distance of five hundred miles, and the inclemency of the season, encouraged
his adversary to violate the peace. Nicephorus was astonished by the bold a=
nd
rapid march of the commander of the faithful, who repassed, in the depth of
winter, the snows of Mount Taurus: his stratagems of policy and war were
exhausted; and the perfidious Greek escaped with three wounds from a field =
of
battle overspread with forty thousand of his subjects. Yet the emperor was =
ashamed
of submission, and the caliph was resolved on victory. One hundred and
thirty-five thousand regular soldiers received pay, and were inscribed in t=
he
military roll; and above three hundred thousand persons of every denominati=
on
marched under the black standard of the Abbassides. They swept the surface =
of
Asia Minor far beyond Tyana and Ancyra, and invested the Pontic Heraclea, o=
nce
a flourishing state, now a paltry town; at that time capable of sustaining,=
in
her antique walls, a month's siege against the forces of the East. The ruin=
was
complete, the spoil was ample; but if Harun had been conversant with Grecia=
n story,
he would have regretted the statue of Hercules, whose attributes, the club,=
the
bow, the quiver, and the lion's hide, were sculptured in massy gold. The
progress of desolation by sea and land, from the Euxine to the Isle of Cypr=
us,
compelled the emperor Nicephorus to retract his haughty defiance. In the new
treaty, the ruins of Heraclea were left forever as a lesson and a trophy; a=
nd
the coin of the tribute was marked with the image and superscription of Har=
un
and his three sons. Yet this plurality of lords might contribute to remove =
the
dishonor of the Roman name. After the death of their father, the heirs of t=
he
caliph were involved in civil discord, and the conqueror, the liberal Almam=
on, was
sufficiently engaged in the restoration of domestic peace and the introduct=
ion
of foreign science.
Under the reign of Almamon at Bagdad, of Micha=
el
the Stammerer at Constantinople, the islands of Crete and Sicily were subdu=
ed
by the Arabs. The former of these conquests is disdained by their own write=
rs, who
were ignorant of the fame of Jupiter and Minos, but it has not been overloo=
ked
by the Byzantine historians, who now begin to cast a clearer light on the
affairs of their own times. A band of Andalusian volunteers, discontented w=
ith
the climate or government of Spain, explored the adventures of the sea; but=
as
they sailed in no more than ten or twenty galleys, their warfare must be
branded with the name of piracy. As the subjects and sectaries of the white
party, they might lawfully invade the dominions of the black caliphs. A
rebellious faction introduced them into Alexandria; they cut in pieces both
friends and foes, pillaged the churches and the moschs, sold above six thou=
sand
Christian captives, and maintained their station in the capital of Egypt, t=
ill
they were oppressed by the forces and the presence of Almamon himself. From=
the
mouth of the Nile to the Hellespont, the islands and sea-coasts both of the
Greeks and Moslems were exposed to their depredations; they saw, they envie=
d,
they tasted the fertility of Crete, and soon returned with forty galleys to=
a
more serious attack. The Andalusians wandered over the land fearless and
unmolested; but when they descended with their plunder to the sea-shore, th=
eir
vessels were in flames, and their chief, Abu Caab, confessed himself the au=
thor
of the mischief. Their clamors accused his madness or treachery. "Of w=
hat do
you complain?" replied the crafty emir. "I have brought you to a =
land
flowing with milk and honey. Here is your true country; repose from your to=
ils,
and forget the barren place of your nativity." "And our wives and=
children?"
"Your beauteous captives will supply the place of your wives, and in t=
heir
embraces you will soon become the fathers of a new progeny." The first
habitation was their camp, with a ditch and rampart, in the Bay of Suda; bu=
t an
apostate monk led them to a more desirable position in the eastern parts; a=
nd
the name of Candax, their fortress and colony, has been extended to the who=
le
island, under the corrupt and modern appellation of Candia. The hundred cit=
ies
of the age of Minos were diminished to thirty; and of these, only one, most
probably Cydonia, had courage to retain the substance of freedom and the pr=
ofession
of Christianity. The Saracens of Crete soon repaired the loss of their navy;
and the timbers of Mount Ida were launched into the main. During a hostile
period of one hundred and thirty-eight years, the princes of Constantinople
attacked these licentious corsairs with fruitless curses and ineffectual ar=
ms.
The loss of Sicily was occasioned by an act of
superstitious rigor. An amorous youth, who had stolen a nun from her cloist=
er,
was sentenced by the emperor to the amputation of his tongue. Euphemius
appealed to the reason and policy of the Saracens of Africa; and soon retur=
ned
with the Imperial purple, a fleet of one hundred ships, and an army of seve=
n hundred
horse and ten thousand foot. They landed at Mazara near the ruins of the
ancient Selinus; but after some partial victories, Syracuse was delivered by
the Greeks, the apostate was slain before her walls, and his African friends
were reduced to the necessity of feeding on the flesh of their own horses. =
In
their turn they were relieved by a powerful reënforcement of their
brethren of Andalusia; the largest and western part of the island was gradu=
ally
reduced, and the commodious harbor of Palermo was chosen for the seat of the
naval and military power of the Saracens. Syracuse preserved about fifty ye=
ars
the faith which she had sworn to Christ and to Cæsar. In the last and
fatal siege, her citizens displayed some remnant of the spirit which had
formerly resisted the powers of Athens and Carthage. They stood above twenty
days against the battering-rams and catapult, the mines and tortoises of the
besiegers; and the place might have been relieved, if the mariners of the
Imperial fleet had not been detained at Constantinople in building a church=
to
the Virgin Mary. The deacon Theodosius, with the bishop and clergy, was dra=
gged
in chains from the altar to Palermo, cast into a subterraneous dungeon, and
exposed to the hourly peril of death or apostasy. His pathetic, and not
inelegant, complaint may be read as the epitaph of his country. From the Ro=
man
conquest to this final calamity, Syracuse, now dwindled to the primitive Is=
le
of Ortygea, had insensibly declined. Yet the relics were still precious; the
plate of the cathedral weighed five thousand pounds of silver; the entire s=
poil
was computed at one million of pieces of gold, (about four hundred thousand
pounds sterling,) and the captives must outnumber the seventeen thousand
Christians, who were transported from the sack of Tauromenium into African
servitude. In Sicily, the religion and language of the Greeks were eradicat=
ed;
and such was the docility of the rising generation, that fifteen thousand b=
oys
were circumcised and clothed on the same day with the son of the Fatimite
caliph. The Arabian squadrons issued from the harbors of Palermo, Biserta, =
and
Tunis; a hundred and fifty towns of Calabria and Campania were attacked and
pillaged; nor could the suburbs of Rome be defended by the name of the
Cæsars and apostles. Had the Mahometans been united, Italy must have
fallen an easy and glorious accession to the empire of the prophet. But the=
caliphs
of Bagdad had lost their authority in the West; the Aglabites and Fatimites=
usurped
the provinces of Africa, their emirs of Sicily aspired to independence; and=
the
design of conquest and dominion was degraded to a repetition of predatory
inroads.
In the sufferings of prostrate Italy, the name=
of
Rome awakens a solemn and mournful recollection. A fleet of Saracens from t=
he
African coast presumed to enter the mouth of the Tyber, and to approach a c=
ity
which even yet, in her fallen state, was revered as the metropolis of the C=
hristian
world. The gates and ramparts were guarded by a trembling people; but the t=
ombs
and temples of St. Peter and St. Paul were left exposed in the suburbs of t=
he
Vatican and of the Ostian way. Their invisible sanctity had protected them
against the Goths, the Vandals, and the Lombards; but the Arabs disdained b=
oth
the gospel and the legend; and their rapacious spirit was approved and anim=
ated
by the precepts of the Koran. The Christian idols were stripped of their co=
stly
offerings; a silver altar was torn away from the shrine of St. Peter; and if
the bodies or the buildings were left entire, their deliverance must be imp=
uted
to the haste, rather than the scruples, of the Saracens. In their course al=
ong
the Appian way, they pillaged Fundi and besieged Gayeta; but they had turned
aside from the walls of Rome, and by their divisions, the Capitol was saved
from the yoke of the prophet of Mecca. The same danger still impended on the
heads of the Roman people; and their domestic force was unequal to the assa=
ult
of an African emir. They claimed the protection of their Latin sovereign; b=
ut
the Carlovingian standard was overthrown by a detachment of the Barbarians:
they meditated the restoration of the Greek emperors; but the attempt was t=
reasonable,
and the succor remote and precarious. Their distress appeared to receive so=
me
aggravation from the death of their spiritual and temporal chief; but the
pressing emergency superseded the forms and intrigues of an election; and t=
he
unanimous choice of Pope Leo the Fourth was the safety of the church and ci=
ty.
This pontiff was born a Roman; the courage of the first ages of the republic
glowed in his breast; and, amidst the ruins of his country, he stood erect,
like one of the firm and lofty columns that rear their heads above the
fragments of the Roman forum. The first days of his reign were consecrated =
to
the purification and removal of relics, to prayers and processions, and to =
all
the solemn offices of religion, which served at least to heal the imaginati=
on,
and restore the hopes, of the multitude. The public defence had been long
neglected, not from the presumption of peace, but from the distress and pov=
erty
of the times. As far as the scantiness of his means and the shortness of his
leisure would allow, the ancient walls were repaired by the command of Leo;
fifteen towers, in the most accessible stations, were built or renewed; two=
of
these commanded on either side of the Tyber; and an iron chain was drawn ac=
ross
the stream to impede the ascent of a hostile navy. The Romans were assured =
of a
short respite by the welcome news, that the siege of Gayeta had been raised,
and that a part of the enemy, with their sacrilegious plunder, had perished=
in the
waves.
But the storm, which had been delayed, soon bu=
rst
upon them with redoubled violence. The Aglabite, who reigned in Africa, had
inherited from his father a treasure and an army: a fleet of Arabs and Moor=
s, after
a short refreshment in the harbors of Sardinia, cast anchor before the mout=
h of
the Tyber, sixteen miles from the city: and their discipline and numbers
appeared to threaten, not a transient inroad, but a serious design of conqu=
est
and dominion. But the vigilance of Leo had formed an alliance with the vass=
als
of the Greek empire, the free and maritime states of Gayeta, Naples, and
Amalfi; and in the hour of danger, their galleys appeared in the port of Os=
tia
under the command of Cæsarius, the son of the Neapolitan duke, a noble
and valiant youth, who had already vanquished the fleets of the Saracens. W=
ith
his principal companions, Cæsarius was invited to the Lateran palace,=
and
the dexterous pontiff affected to inquire their errand, and to accept with =
joy
and surprise their providential succor. The city bands, in arms, attended t=
heir
father to Ostia, where he reviewed and blessed his generous deliverers. They
kissed his feet, received the communion with martial devotion, and listened=
to
the prayer of Leo, that the same God who had supported St. Peter and St. Pa=
ul
on the waves of the sea, would strengthen the hands of his champions against
the adversaries of his holy name. After a similar prayer, and with equal
resolution, the Moslems advanced to the attack of the Christian galleys, wh=
ich
preserved their advantageous station along the coast. The victory inclined =
to
the side of the allies, when it was less gloriously decided in their favor =
by a
sudden tempest, which confounded the skill and courage of the stoutest
mariners. The Christians were sheltered in a friendly harbor, while the
Africans were scattered and dashed in pieces among the rocks and islands of=
a
hostile shore. Those who escaped from shipwreck and hunger neither found, n=
or
deserved, mercy at the hands of their implacable pursuers. The sword and the
gibbet reduced the dangerous multitude of captives; and the remainder was m=
ore
usefully employed, to restore the sacred edifices which they had attempted =
to
subvert. The pontiff, at the head of the citizens and allies, paid his grat=
eful
devotion at the shrines of the apostles; and, among the spoils of this naval
victory, thirteen Arabian bows of pure and massy silver were suspended round
the altar of the fishermen of Galilee. The reign of Leo the Fourth was empl=
oyed
in the defence and ornament of the Roman state. The churches were renewed a=
nd
embellished: near four thousand pounds of silver were consecrated to repair=
the
losses of St. Peter; and his sanctuary was decorated with a plate of gold of
the weight of two hundred and sixteen pounds, embossed with the portraits of
the pope and emperor, and encircled with a string of pearls. Yet this vain =
magnificence
reflects less glory on the character of Leo than the paternal care with whi=
ch
he rebuilt the walls of Horta and Ameria; and transported the wandering
inhabitants of Centumcellæ to his new foundation of Leopolis, twelve
miles from the sea-shore. By his liberality, a colony of Corsicans, with th=
eir
wives and children, was planted in the station of Porto, at the mouth of the
Tyber: the falling city was restored for their use, the fields and vineyards
were divided among the new settlers: their first efforts were assisted by a
gift of horses and cattle; and the hardy exiles, who breathed revenge again=
st the
Saracens, swore to live and die under the standard of St. Peter. The nation=
s of
the West and North who visited the threshold of the apostles had gradually
formed the large and populous suburb of the Vatican, and their various
habitations were distinguished, in the language of the times, as the school=
s of
the Greeks and Goths, of the Lombards and Saxons. But this venerable spot w=
as
still open to sacrilegious insult: the design of enclosing it with walls and
towers exhausted all that authority could command, or charity would supply:=
and
the pious labor of four years was animated in every season, and at every ho=
ur,
by the presence of the indefatigable pontiff. The love of fame, a generous =
but
worldly passion, may be detected in the name of the Leonine city, which he
bestowed on the Vatican; yet the pride of the dedication was tempered with
Christian penance and humility. The boundary was trod by the bishop and his
clergy, barefoot, in sackcloth and ashes; the songs of triumph were modulat=
ed
to psalms and litanies; the walls were besprinkled with holy water; and the
ceremony was concluded with a prayer, that, under the guardian care of the
apostles and the angelic host, both the old and the new Rome might ever be
preserved pure, prosperous, and impregnable.
The emperor Theophilus, son of Michael the
Stammerer, was one of the most active and high-spirited princes who reigned=
at
Constantinople during the middle age. In offensive or defensive war, he mar=
ched
in person five times against the Saracens, formidable in his attack, esteem=
ed
by the enemy in his losses and defeats. In the last of these expeditions he
penetrated into Syria, and besieged the obscure town of Sozopetra; the casu=
al
birthplace of the caliph Motassem, whose father Harun was attended in peace=
or
war by the most favored of his wives and concubines. The revolt of a Persian
impostor employed at that moment the arms of the Saracen, and he could only
intercede in favor of a place for which he felt and acknowledged some degre=
e of
filial affection. These solicitations determined the emperor to wound his p=
ride
in so sensible a part. Sozopetra was levelled with the ground, the Syrian
prisoners were marked or mutilated with ignominious cruelty, and a thousand
female captives were forced away from the adjacent territory. Among these a=
matron
of the house of Abbas invoked, in an agony of despair, the name of Motassem;
and the insults of the Greeks engaged the honor of her kinsman to avenge his
indignity, and to answer her appeal. Under the reign of the two elder broth=
ers,
the inheritance of the youngest had been confined to Anatolia, Armenia,
Georgia, and Circassia; this frontier station had exercised his military
talents; and among his accidental claims to the name of Octonary, the most
meritorious are the eight battles which he gained or fought against the ene=
mies
of the Koran. In this personal quarrel, the troops of Irak, Syria, and Egyp=
t, were
recruited from the tribes of Arabia and the Turkish hordes; his cavalry mig=
ht
be numerous, though we should deduct some myriads from the hundred and thir=
ty
thousand horses of the royal stables; and the expense of the armament was
computed at four millions sterling, or one hundred thousand pounds of gold.
From Tarsus, the place of assembly, the Saracens advanced in three divisions
along the high road of Constantinople: Motassem himself commanded the centr=
e,
and the vanguard was given to his son Abbas, who, in the trial of the first
adventures, might succeed with the more glory, or fail with the least repro=
ach.
In the revenge of his injury, the caliph prepared to retaliate a similar af=
front.
The father of Theophilus was a native of Amorium in Phrygia: the original s=
eat
of the Imperial house had been adorned with privileges and monuments; and,
whatever might be the indifference of the people, Constantinople itself was
scarcely of more value in the eyes of the sovereign and his court. The name=
of
Amorium was inscribed on the shields of the Saracens; and their three armies
were again united under the walls of the devoted city. It had been proposed=
by
the wisest counsellors, to evacuate Amorium, to remove the inhabitants, and=
to abandon
the empty structures to the vain resentment of the Barbarians. The emperor
embraced the more generous resolution of defending, in a siege and battle, =
the
country of his ancestors. When the armies drew near, the front of the Mahom=
etan
line appeared to a Roman eye more closely planted with spears and javelins;=
but
the event of the action was not glorious on either side to the national tro=
ops.
The Arabs were broken, but it was by the swords of thirty thousand Persians,
who had obtained service and settlement in the Byzantine empire. The Greeks=
were
repulsed and vanquished, but it was by the arrows of the Turkish cavalry; a=
nd
had not their bowstrings been damped and relaxed by the evening rain, very =
few
of the Christians could have escaped with the emperor from the field of bat=
tle.
They breathed at Dorylæum, at the distance of three days; and Theophi=
lus,
reviewing his trembling squadrons, forgave the common flight both of the pr=
ince
and people. After this discovery of his weakness, he vainly hoped to deprec=
ate the
fate of Amorium: the inexorable caliph rejected with contempt his prayers a=
nd
promises; and detained the Roman ambassadors to be the witnesses of his gre=
at
revenge. They had nearly been the witnesses of his shame. The vigorous assa=
ults
of fifty-five days were encountered by a faithful governor, a veteran garri=
son,
and a desperate people; and the Saracens must have raised the siege, if a
domestic traitor had not pointed to the weakest part of the wall, a place w=
hich
was decorated with the statues of a lion and a bull. The vow of Motassem wa=
s accomplished
with unrelenting rigor: tired, rather than satiated, with destruction, he
returned to his new palace of Samara, in the neighborhood of Bagdad, while =
the
unfortunate Theophilus implored the tardy and doubtful aid of his Western r=
ival
the emperor of the Franks. Yet in the siege of Amorium about seventy thousa=
nd
Moslems had perished: their loss had been revenged by the slaughter of thir=
ty
thousand Christians, and the sufferings of an equal number of captives, who=
were
treated as the most atrocious criminals. Mutual necessity could sometimes
extort the exchange or ransom of prisoners: but in the national and religio=
us
conflict of the two empires, peace was without confidence, and war without
mercy. Quarter was seldom given in the field; those who escaped the edge of=
the
sword were condemned to hopeless servitude, or exquisite torture; and a
Catholic emperor relates, with visible satisfaction, the execution of the
Saracens of Crete, who were flayed alive, or plunged into caldrons of boili=
ng
oil. To a point of honor Motassem had sacrificed a flourishing city, two hu=
ndred
thousand lives, and the property of millions. The same caliph descended from
his horse, and dirtied his robe, to relieve the distress of a decrepit old =
man,
who, with his laden ass, had tumbled into a ditch. On which of these actions
did he reflect with the most pleasure, when he was summoned by the angel of
death?
With Motassem, the eighth of the Abbassides, t=
he
glory of his family and nation expired. When the Arabian conquerors had spr=
ead
themselves over the East, and were mingled with the servile crowds of Persi=
a,
Syria, and Egypt, they insensibly lost the freeborn and martial virtues of =
the desert.
The courage of the South is the artificial fruit of discipline and prejudic=
e;
the active power of enthusiasm had decayed, and the mercenary forces of the
caliphs were recruited in those climates of the North, of which valor is the
hardy and spontaneous production. Of the Turks who dwelt beyond the Oxus and
Jaxartes, the robust youths, either taken in war or purchased in trade, were
educated in the exercises of the field, and the profession of the Mahometan
faith. The Turkish guards stood in arms round the throne of their benefacto=
r,
and their chiefs usurped the dominion of the palace and the provinces.
Motassem, the first author of this dangerous example, introduced into the
capital above fifty thousand Turks: their licentious conduct provoked the
public indignation, and the quarrels of the soldiers and people induced the=
caliph
to retire from Bagdad, and establish his own residence and the camp of his
Barbarian favorites at Samara on the Tigris, about twelve leagues above the
city of Peace. His son Motawakkel was a jealous and cruel tyrant: odious to=
his
subjects, he cast himself on the fidelity of the strangers, and these
strangers, ambitious and apprehensive, were tempted by the rich promise of a
revolution. At the instigation, or at least in the cause of his son, they b=
urst
into his apartment at the hour of supper, and the caliph was cut into seven
pieces by the same swords which he had recently distributed among the guard=
s of
his life and throne. To this throne, yet streaming with a father's blood,
Montasser was triumphantly led; but in a reign of six months, he found only=
the
pangs of a guilty conscience. If he wept at the sight of an old tapestry wh=
ich
represented the crime and punishment of the son of Chosroes, if his days we=
re
abridged by grief and remorse, we may allow some pity to a parricide, who
exclaimed, in the bitterness of death, that he had lost both this world and=
the
world to come. After this act of treason, the ensigns of royalty, the garme=
nt
and walking-staff of Mahomet, were given and torn away by the foreign
mercenaries, who in four years created, deposed, and murdered, three comman=
ders
of the faithful. As often as the Turks were inflamed by fear, or rage, or
avarice, these caliphs were dragged by the feet, exposed naked to the scorc=
hing
sun, beaten with iron clubs, and compelled to purchase, by the abdication of
their dignity, a short reprieve of inevitable fate. At length, however, the=
fury
of the tempest was spent or diverted: the Abbassides returned to the less
turbulent residence of Bagdad; the insolence of the Turks was curbed with a
firmer and more skilful hand, and their numbers were divided and destroyed =
in
foreign warfare. But the nations of the East had been taught to trample on =
the
successors of the prophet; and the blessings of domestic peace were obtaine=
d by
the relaxation of strength and discipline. So uniform are the mischiefs of
military despotism, that I seem to repeat the story of the prætorians=
of
Rome.
While the flame of enthusiasm was damped by the
business, the pleasure, and the knowledge, of the age, it burnt with
concentrated heat in the breasts of the chosen few, the congenial spirits, =
who
were ambitious of reigning either in this world or in the next. How careful=
ly
soever the book of prophecy had been sealed by the apostle of Mecca, the
wishes, and (if we may profane the word) even the reason, of fanaticism mig=
ht believe
that, after the successive missions of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, a=
nd
Mahomet, the same God, in the fulness of time, would reveal a still more
perfect and permanent law. In the two hundred and seventy-seventh year of t=
he
Hegira, and in the neighborhood of Cufa, an Arabian preacher, of the name of
Carmath, assumed the lofty and incomprehensible style of the Guide, the
Director, the Demonstration, the Word, the Holy Ghost, the Camel, the Heral=
d of
the Messiah, who had conversed with him in a human shape, and the
representative of Mohammed the son of Ali, of St. John the Baptist, and of =
the
angel Gabriel. In his mystic volume, the precepts of the Koran were refined=
to
a more spiritual sense: he relaxed the duties of ablution, fasting, and pil=
grimage;
allowed the indiscriminate use of wine and forbidden food; and nourished the
fervor of his disciples by the daily repetition of fifty prayers. The idlen=
ess
and ferment of the rustic crowd awakened the attention of the magistrates of
Cufa; a timid persecution assisted the progress of the new sect; and the na=
me
of the prophet became more revered after his person had been withdrawn from=
the
world. His twelve apostles dispersed themselves among the Bedoweens, "a
race of men," says Abulfeda, "equally devoid of reason and of
religion;" and the success of their preaching seemed to threaten Arabia
with a new revolution. The Carmathians were ripe for rebellion, since they
disclaimed the title of the house of Abbas, and abhorred the worldly pomp of
the caliphs of Bagdad. They were susceptible of discipline, since they vowe=
d a
blind and absolute submission to their Imam, who was called to the propheti=
c office
by the voice of God and the people. Instead of the legal tithes, he claimed=
the
fifth of their substance and spoil; the most flagitious sins were no more t=
han
the type of disobedience; and the brethren were united and concealed by an =
oath
of secrecy. After a bloody conflict, they prevailed in the province of Bahr=
ein,
along the Persian Gulf: far and wide, the tribes of the desert were subject=
to
the sceptre, or rather to the sword of Abu Said and his son Abu Taher; and
these rebellious imams could muster in the field a hundred and seven thousa=
nd fanatics.
The mercenaries of the caliph were dismayed at the approach of an enemy who
neither asked nor accepted quarter; and the difference between, them in
fortitude and patience, is expressive of the change which three centuries of
prosperity had effected in the character of the Arabians. Such troops were
discomfited in every action; the cities of Racca and Baalbec, of Cufa and
Bassora, were taken and pillaged; Bagdad was filled with consternation; and=
the
caliph trembled behind the veils of his palace. In a daring inroad beyond t=
he
Tigris, Abu Taher advanced to the gates of the capital with no more than fi=
ve
hundred horse. By the special order of Moctader, the bridges had been broken
down, and the person or head of the rebel was expected every hour by the co=
mmander
of the faithful. His lieutenant, from a motive of fear or pity, apprised Abu
Taher of his danger, and recommended a speedy escape. "Your master,&qu=
ot; said
the intrepid Carmathian to the messenger, "is at the head of thirty th=
ousand
soldiers: three such men as these are wanting in his host:" at the same
instant, turning to three of his companions, he commanded the first to plun=
ge a
dagger into his breast, the second to leap into the Tigris, and the third to
cast himself headlong down a precipice. They obeyed without a murmur.
"Relate," continued the imam, "what you have seen: before the
evening your general shall be chained among my dogs." Before the eveni=
ng,
the camp was surprised, and the menace was executed. The rapine of the
Carmathians was sanctified by their aversion to the worship of Mecca: they
robbed a caravan of pilgrims, and twenty thousand devout Moslems were aband=
oned
on the burning sands to a death of hunger and thirst. Another year they
suffered the pilgrims to proceed without interruption; but, in the festival=
of
devotion, Abu Taher stormed the holy city, and trampled on the most venerab=
le
relics of the Mahometan faith. Thirty thousand citizens and strangers were =
put
to the sword; the sacred precincts were polluted by the burial of three tho=
usand
dead bodies; the well of Zemzem overflowed with blood; the golden spout was=
forced
from its place; the veil of the Caaba was divided among these impious
sectaries; and the black stone, the first monument of the nation, was borne
away in triumph to their capital. After this deed of sacrilege and cruelty,
they continued to infest the confines of Irak, Syria, and Egypt: but the vi=
tal
principle of enthusiasm had withered at the root. Their scruples, or their
avarice, again opened the pilgrimage of Mecca, and restored the black stone=
of
the Caaba; and it is needless to inquire into what factions they were broke=
n,
or by whose swords they were finally extirpated. The sect of the Carmathians
may be considered as the second visible cause of the decline and fall of the
empire of the caliphs.
The third and most obvious cause was the weight
and magnitude of the empire itself. The caliph Almamon might proudly assert,
that it was easier for him to rule the East and the West, than to manage a =
chess-board
of two feet square: yet I suspect that in both those games he was guilty of
many fatal mistakes; and I perceive, that in the distant provinces the
authority of the first and most powerful of the Abbassides was already
impaired. The analogy of despotism invests the representative with the full
majesty of the prince; the division and balance of powers might relax the
habits of obedience, might encourage the passive subject to inquire into the
origin and administration of civil government. He who is born in the purple=
is
seldom worthy to reign; but the elevation of a private man, of a peasant,
perhaps, or a slave, affords a strong presumption of his courage and capaci=
ty. The
viceroy of a remote kingdom aspires to secure the property and inheritance =
of
his precarious trust; the nations must rejoice in the presence of their
sovereign; and the command of armies and treasures are at once the object a=
nd
the instrument of his ambition. A change was scarcely visible as long as the
lieutenants of the caliph were content with their vicarious title; while th=
ey
solicited for themselves or their sons a renewal of the Imperial grant, and
still maintained on the coin and in the public prayers the name and preroga=
tive
of the commander of the faithful. But in the long and hereditary exercise of
power, they assumed the pride and attributes of royalty; the alternative of
peace or war, of reward or punishment, depended solely on their will; and t=
he revenues
of their government were reserved for local services or private magnificenc=
e.
Instead of a regular supply of men and money, the successors of the prophet
were flattered with the ostentatious gift of an elephant, or a cast of hawk=
s, a
suit of silk hangings, or some pounds of musk and amber.
After the revolt of Spain from the temporal and
spiritual supremacy of the Abbassides, the first symptoms of disobedience b=
roke
forth in the province of Africa. Ibrahim, the son of Aglab, the lieutenant =
of
the vigilant and rigid Harun, bequeathed to the dynasty of the Aglabite the
inheritance of his name and power. The indolence or policy of the caliphs
dissembled the injury and loss, and pursued only with poison the founder of=
the
Edrisites, who erected the kingdom and city of Fez on the shores of the Wes=
tern
ocean. In the East, the first dynasty was that of the Taherites; the poster=
ity
of the valiant Taher, who, in the civil wars of the sons of Harun, had serv=
ed
with too much zeal and success the cause of Almamon, the younger brother. He
was sent into honorable exile, to command on the banks of the Oxus; and the=
independence
of his successors, who reigned in Chorasan till the fourth generation, was
palliated by their modest and respectful demeanor, the happiness of their
subjects and the security of their frontier. They were supplanted by one of
those adventures so frequent in the annals of the East, who left his trade =
of a
brazier (from whence the name of Soffarides) for the profession of a robber=
. In
a nocturnal visit to the treasure of the prince of Sistan, Jacob, the son of
Leith, stumbled over a lump of salt, which he unwarily tasted with his tong=
ue.
Salt, among the Orientals, is the symbol of hospitality, and the pious robb=
er immediately
retired without spoil or damage. The discovery of this honorable behavior
recommended Jacob to pardon and trust; he led an army at first for his
benefactor, at last for himself, subdued Persia, and threatened the residen=
ce
of the Abbassides. On his march towards Bagdad, the conqueror was arrested =
by a
fever. He gave audience in bed to the ambassador of the caliph; and beside =
him
on a table were exposed a naked cimeter, a crust of brown bread, and a bunc=
h of
onions. "If I die," said he, "your master is delivered from =
his
fears. If I live, this must determine between us. If I am vanquished, I can
return without reluctance to the homely fare of my youth." From the he=
ight
where he stood, the descent would not have been so soft or harmless: a time=
ly death
secured his own repose and that of the caliph, who paid with the most lavish
concessions the retreat of his brother Amrou to the palaces of Shiraz and
Ispahan. The Abbassides were too feeble to contend, too proud to forgive: t=
hey
invited the powerful dynasty of the Samanides, who passed the Oxus with ten
thousand horse so poor, that their stirrups were of wood: so brave, that th=
ey
vanquished the Soffarian army, eight times more numerous than their own. The
captive Amrou was sent in chains, a grateful offering to the court of Bagda=
d;
and as the victor was content with the inheritance of Transoxiana and Chora=
san,
the realms of Persia returned for a while to the allegiance of the caliphs.=
The
provinces of Syria and Egypt were twice dismembered by their Turkish slaves=
of
the race of Toulon and Ilkshid. These Barbarians, in religion and manners t=
he
countrymen of Mahomet, emerged from the bloody factions of the palace to a
provincial command and an independent throne: their names became famous and
formidable in their time; but the founders of these two potent dynasties
confessed, either in words or actions, the vanity of ambition. The first on=
his
death-bed implored the mercy of God to a sinner, ignorant of the limits of =
his
own power: the second, in the midst of four hundred thousand soldiers and e=
ight
thousand slaves, concealed from every human eye the chamber where he attemp=
ted
to sleep. Their sons were educated in the vices of kings; and both Egypt and
Syria were recovered and possessed by the Abbassides during an interval of
thirty years. In the decline of their empire, Mesopotamia, with the importa=
nt
cities of Mosul and Aleppo, was occupied by the Arabian princes of the trib=
e of
Hamadan. The poets of their court could repeat without a blush, that nature=
had
formed their countenances for beauty, their tongues for eloquence, and their
hands for liberality and valor: but the genuine tale of the elevation and r=
eign
of the Hamadanites exhibits a scene of treachery, murder, and parricide. At=
the
same fatal period, the Persian kingdom was again usurped by the dynasty of =
the
Bowides, by the sword of three brothers, who, under various names, were sty=
led
the support and columns of the state, and who, from the Caspian Sea to the
ocean, would suffer no tyrants but themselves. Under their reign, the langu=
age
and genius of Persia revived, and the Arabs, three hundred and four years a=
fter
the death of Mahomet, were deprived of the sceptre of the East.
Rahadi, the twentieth of the Abbassides, and t=
he
thirty-ninth of the successors of Mahomet, was the last who deserved the ti=
tle
of commander of the faithful; the last (says Abulfeda) who spoke to the peo=
ple,
or conversed with the learned; the last who, in the expense of his househol=
d,
represented the wealth and magnificence of the ancient caliphs. After him, =
the
lords of the Eastern world were reduced to the most abject misery, and expo=
sed
to the blows and insults of a servile condition. The revolt of the provinces
circumscribed their dominions within the walls of Bagdad: but that capital
still contained an innumerable multitude, vain of their past fortune,
discontented with their present state, and oppressed by the demands of a
treasury which had formerly been replenished by the spoil and tribute of
nations. Their idleness was exercised by faction and controversy. Under the
mask of piety, the rigid followers of Hanbal invaded the pleasures of domes=
tic life,
burst into the houses of plebeians and princes, the wine, broke the
instruments, beat the musicians, and dishonored, with infamous suspicions, =
the
associates of every handsome youth. In each profession, which allowed room =
for
two persons, the one was a votary, the other an antagonist, of Ali; and the
Abbassides were awakened by the clamorous grief of the sectaries, who denied
their title, and cursed their progenitors. A turbulent people could only be=
repressed
by a military force; but who could satisfy the avarice or assert the discip=
line
of the mercenaries themselves? The African and the Turkish guards drew thei=
r swords
against each other, and the chief commanders, the emirs al Omra, imprisoned=
or
deposed their sovereigns, and violated the sanctuary of the mosch and harem=
. If
the caliphs escaped to the camp or court of any neighboring prince, their
deliverance was a change of servitude, till they were prompted by despair to
invite the Bowides, the sultans of Persia, who silenced the factions of Bag=
dad
by their irresistible arms. The civil and military powers were assumed by
Moezaldowlat, the second of the three brothers, and a stipend of sixty thou=
sand
pounds sterling was assigned by his generosity for the private expense of t=
he
commander of the faithful. But on the fortieth day, at the audience of the =
ambassadors
of Chorasan, and in the presence of a trembling multitude, the caliph was
dragged from his throne to a dungeon, by the command of the stranger, and t=
he
rude hands of his Dilemites. His palace was pillaged, his eyes were put out,
and the mean ambition of the Abbassides aspired to the vacant station of da=
nger
and disgrace. In the school of adversity, the luxurious caliphs resumed the
grave and abstemious virtues of the primitive times. Despoiled of their arm=
or
and silken robes, they fasted, they prayed, they studied the Koran and the =
tradition
of the Sonnites: they performed, with zeal and knowledge, the functions of
their ecclesiastical character. The respect of nations still waited on the
successors of the apostle, the oracles of the law and conscience of the
faithful; and the weakness or division of their tyrants sometimes restored =
the
Abbassides to the sovereignty of Bagdad. But their misfortunes had been
imbittered by the triumph of the Fatimites, the real or spurious progeny of
Ali. Arising from the extremity of Africa, these successful rivals
extinguished, in Egypt and Syria, both the spiritual and temporal authority=
of
the Abbassides; and the monarch of the Nile insulted the humble pontiff on =
the
banks of the Tigris.
In the declining age of the caliphs, in the
century which elapsed after the war of Theophilus and Motassem, the hostile
transactions of the two nations were confined to some inroads by sea and la=
nd,
the fruits of their close vicinity and indelible hatred. But when the Easte=
rn
world was convulsed and broken, the Greeks were roused from their lethargy =
by
the hopes of conquest and revenge. The Byzantine empire, since the accessio=
n of
the Basilian race, had reposed in peace and dignity; and they might encount=
er
with their entire strength the front of some petty emir, whose rear was
assaulted and threatened by his national foes of the Mahometan faith. The l=
ofty
titles of the morning star, and the death of the Saracens, were applied in =
the
public acclamations to Nicephorus Phocas, a prince as renowned in the camp,=
as
he was unpopular in the city. In the subordinate station of great domestic,=
or
general of the East, he reduced the Island of Crete, and extirpated the nes=
t of
pirates who had so long defied, with impunity, the majesty of the empire. H=
is
military genius was displayed in the conduct and success of the enterprise,
which had so often failed with loss and dishonor. The Saracens were confoun=
ded
by the landing of his troops on safe and level bridges, which he cast from =
the
vessels to the shore. Seven months were consumed in the siege of Candia; the
despair of the native Cretans was stimulated by the frequent aid of their
brethren of Africa and Spain; and after the massy wall and double ditch had
been stormed by the Greeks a hopeless conflict was still maintained in the
streets and houses of the city. The whole island was subdued in the capital,
and a submissive people accepted, without resistance, the baptism of the co=
nqueror.
Constantinople applauded the long-forgotten pomp of a triumph; but the Impe=
rial
diadem was the sole reward that could repay the services, or satisfy the
ambition, of Nicephorus.
After the death of the younger Romanus, the fo=
urth
in lineal descent of the Basilian race, his widow Theophania successively
married Nicephorus Phocas and his assassin John Zimisces, the two heroes of=
the
age. They reigned as the guardians and colleagues of her infant sons; and t=
he twelve
years of their military command form the most splendid period of the Byzant=
ine
annals. The subjects and confederates, whom they led to war, appeared, at l=
east
in the eyes of an enemy, two hundred thousand strong; and of these about th=
irty
thousand were armed with cuirasses: a train of four thousand mules attended
their march; and their evening camp was regularly fortified with an enclosu=
re
of iron spikes. A series of bloody and undecisive combats is nothing more t=
han
an anticipation of what would have been effected in a few years by the cour=
se
of nature; but I shall briefly prosecute the conquests of the two emperors =
from
the hills of Cappadocia to the desert of Bagdad. The sieges of Mopsuestia a=
nd
Tarsus, in Cilicia, first exercised the skill and perseverance of their tro=
ops,
on whom, at this moment, I shall not hesitate to bestow the name of Romans.=
In
the double city of Mopsuestia, which is divided by the River Sarus, two hun=
dred
thousand Moslems were predestined to death or slavery, a surprising degree =
of
population, which must at least include the inhabitants of the dependent
districts. They were surrounded and taken by assault; but Tarsus was reduce=
d by
the slow progress of famine; and no sooner had the Saracens yielded on
honorable terms than they were mortified by the distant and unprofitable vi=
ew
of the naval succors of Egypt. They were dismissed with a safe-conduct to t=
he confines
of Syria: a part of the old Christians had quietly lived under their domini=
on;
and the vacant habitations were replenished by a new colony. But the mosch =
was
converted into a stable; the pulpit was delivered to the flames; many rich
crosses of gold and gems, the spoils of Asiatic churches, were made a grate=
ful
offering to the piety or avarice of the emperor; and he transported the gat=
es
of Mopsuestia and Tarsus, which were fixed in the walls of Constantinople, =
an
eternal monument of his victory. After they had forced and secured the narr=
ow passes
of Mount Amanus, the two Roman princes repeatedly carried their arms into t=
he
heart of Syria. Yet, instead of assaulting the walls of Antioch, the humani=
ty
or superstition of Nicephorus appeared to respect the ancient metropolis of=
the
East: he contented himself with drawing round the city a line of
circumvallation; left a stationary army; and instructed his lieutenant to
expect, without impatience, the return of spring. But in the depth of winte=
r,
in a dark and rainy night, an adventurous subaltern, with three hundred
soldiers, approached the rampart, applied his scaling-ladders, occupied two
adjacent towers, stood firm against the pressure of multitudes, and bravely
maintained his post till he was relieved by the tardy, though effectual,
support of his reluctant chief. The first tumult of slaughter and rapine
subsided; the reign of Cæsar and of Christ was restored; and the effo=
rts
of a hundred thousand Saracens, of the armies of Syria and the fleets of Af=
rica,
were consumed without effect before the walls of Antioch. The royal city of
Aleppo was subject to Seifeddowlat, of the dynasty of Hamadan, who clouded =
his
past glory by the precipitate retreat which abandoned his kingdom and capit=
al
to the Roman invaders. In his stately palace, that stood without the walls =
of
Aleppo, they joyfully seized a well-furnished magazine of arms, a stable of
fourteen hundred mules, and three hundred bags of silver and gold. But the
walls of the city withstood the strokes of their battering-rams: and the
besiegers pitched their tents on the neighboring mountain of Jaushan. Their
retreat exasperated the quarrel of the townsmen and mercenaries; the guard =
of the
gates and ramparts was deserted; and while they furiously charged each othe=
r in
the market-place, they were surprised and destroyed by the sword of a common
enemy. The male sex was exterminated by the sword; ten thousand youths were=
led
into captivity; the weight of the precious spoil exceeded the strength and
number of the beasts of burden; the superfluous remainder was burnt; and, a=
fter
a licentious possession of ten days, the Romans marched away from the naked=
and
bleeding city. In their Syrian inroads they commanded the husbandmen to
cultivate their lands, that they themselves, in the ensuing season, might r=
eap
the benefit; more than a hundred cities were reduced to obedience; and eigh=
teen
pulpits of the principal moschs were committed to the flames to expiate the
sacrilege of the disciples of Mahomet. The classic names of Hierapolis, Apa=
mea,
and Emesa, revive for a moment in the list of conquest: the emperor Zimisces
encamped in the paradise of Damascus, and accepted the ransom of a submissi=
ve
people; and the torrent was only stopped by the impregnable fortress of
Tripoli, on the sea-coast of Phnicia. Since the days of Heraclius, the
Euphrates, below the passage of Mount Taurus, had been impervious, and almo=
st
invisible, to the Greeks. The river yielded a free passage to the victorious
Zimisces; and the historian may imitate the speed with which he overran the
once famous cities of Samosata, Edessa, Martyropolis, Amida, and Nisibis, t=
he ancient
limit of the empire in the neighborhood of the Tigris. His ardor was quicke=
ned
by the desire of grasping the virgin treasures of Ecbatana, a well-known na=
me,
under which the Byzantine writer has concealed the capital of the Abbasside=
s.
The consternation of the fugitives had already diffused the terror of his n=
ame;
but the fancied riches of Bagdad had already been dissipated by the avarice=
and
prodigality of domestic tyrants. The prayers of the people, and the stern
demands of the lieutenant of the Bowides, required the caliph to provide for
the defence of the city. The helpless Mothi replied, that his arms, his
revenues, and his provinces, had been torn from his hands, and that he was
ready to abdicate a dignity which he was unable to support. The emir was
inexorable; the furniture of the palace was sold; and the paltry price of f=
orty
thousand pieces of gold was instantly consumed in private luxury. But the
apprehensions of Bagdad were relieved by the retreat of the Greeks: thirst =
and
hunger guarded the desert of Mesopotamia; and the emperor, satiated with gl=
ory,
and laden with Oriental spoils, returned to Constantinople, and displayed, =
in
his triumph, the silk, the aromatics, and three hundred myriads of gold and=
silver.
Yet the powers of the East had been bent, not broken, by this transient
hurricane. After the departure of the Greeks, the fugitive princes returned=
to
their capitals; the subjects disclaimed their involuntary oaths of allegian=
ce;
the Moslems again purified their temples, and overturned the idols of the
saints and martyrs; the Nestorians and Jacobites preferred a Saracen to an
orthodox master; and the numbers and spirit of the Melchites were inadequat=
e to
the support
of the church and state. Of these extensive
conquests, Antioch, with the cities of Cilicia and the Isle of Cyprus, was
alone restored, a permanent and useful accession to the Roman empire.
Fate Of The East=
ern
Empire In The Tenth Century.--Extent And Division.--=
Wealth
And Revenue.--Palace Of Constantinople.-- Titles And
Offices.--Pride And Power Of The Emperors.-- Tactics Of =
The
Greeks, Arabs, And Franks.--Loss Of The Latin Tongue.--St=
udies
And Solitude Of The Greeks.
A ray of historic light seems to beam from the=
darkness
of the tenth century. We open with curiosity and respect the royal volumes =
of Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, which he composed at a mature age for the instruction of h=
is
son, and which promise to unfold the state of the eastern empire, both in p=
eace
and war, both at home and abroad. In the first of these works he minutely
describes the pompous ceremonies of the church and palace of Constantinople,
according to his own practice, and that of his predecessors. In the second,=
he
attempts an accurate survey of the provinces, the themes, as they were then
denominated, both of Europe and Asia. The system of Roman tactics, the
discipline and order of the troops, and the military operations by land and
sea, are explained in the third of these didactic collections, which may be=
ascribed
to Constantine or his father Leo. In the fourth, of the administration of t=
he
empire, he reveals the secrets of the Byzantine policy, in friendly or host=
ile
intercourse with the nations of the earth. The literary labors of the age, =
the
practical systems of law, agriculture, and history, might redound to the
benefit of the subject and the honor of the Macedonian princes. The sixty b=
ooks
of the Basilics, the code and pandects of civil jurisprudence, were gradual=
ly framed
in the three first reigns of that prosperous dynasty. The art of agriculture
had amused the leisure, and exercised the pens, of the best and wisest of t=
he
ancients; and their chosen precepts are comprised in the twenty books of the
Geoponics of Constantine. At his command, the historical examples of vice a=
nd
virtue were methodized in fifty-three books, and every citizen might apply,=
to
his contemporaries or himself, the lesson or the warning of past times. From
the august character of a legislator, the sovereign of the East descends to=
the
more humble office of a teacher and a scribe; and if his successors and
subjects were regardless of his paternal cares, we may inherit and enjoy th=
e everlasting
legacy.
A closer survey will indeed reduce the value of
the gift, and the gratitude of posterity: in the possession of these Imperi=
al
treasures we may still deplore our poverty and ignorance; and the fading
glories of their authors will be obliterated by indifference or contempt. T=
he Basilics
will sink to a broken copy, a partial and mutilated version, in the Greek
language, of the laws of Justinian; but the sense of the old civilians is o=
ften
superseded by the influence of bigotry: and the absolute prohibition of
divorce, concubinage, and interest for money, enslaves the freedom of trade=
and
the happiness of private life. In the historical book, a subject of Constan=
tine
might admire the inimitable virtues of Greece and Rome: he might learn to w=
hat
a pitch of energy and elevation the human character had formerly aspired. B=
ut a
contrary effect must have been produced by a new edition of the lives of th=
e saints,
which the great logothete, or chancellor of the empire, was directed to
prepare; and the dark fund of superstition was enriched by the fabulous and
florid legends of Simon the Metaphrast. The merits and miracles of the whole
calendar are of less account in the eyes of a sage, than the toil of a sing=
le
husbandman, who multiplies the gifts of the Creator, and supplies the food =
of
his brethren. Yet the royal authors of the Geoponics were more seriously
employed in expounding the precepts of the destroying art, which had been
taught since the days of Xenophon, as the art of heroes and kings. But the
Tactics of Leo and Constantine are mingled with the baser alloy of the age =
in
which they lived. It was destitute of original genius; they implicitly tran=
scribe
the rules and maxims which had been confirmed by victories. It was unskille=
d in
the propriety of style and method; they blindly confound the most distant a=
nd
discordant institutions, the phalanx of Sparta and that of Macedon, the leg=
ions
of Cato and Trajan, of Augustus and Theodosius. Even the use, or at least t=
he
importance, of these military rudiments may be fairly questioned: their gen=
eral
theory is dictated by reason; but the merit, as well as difficulty, consist=
s in
the application. The discipline of a soldier is formed by exercise rather t=
han
by study: the talents of a commander are appropriated to those calm, though
rapid, minds, which nature produces to decide the fate of armies and nation=
s:
the former is the habit of a life, the latter the glance of a moment; and t=
he
battles won by lessons of tactics may be numbered with the epic poems creat=
ed
from the rules of criticism. The book of ceremonies is a recital, tedious y=
et imperfect,
of the despicable pageantry which had infected the church and state since t=
he gradual
decay of the purity of the one and the power of the other. A review of the
themes or provinces might promise such authentic and useful information, as=
the
curiosity of government only can obtain, instead of traditionary fables on =
the
origin of the cities, and malicious epigrams on the vices of their inhabita=
nts.
Such information the historian would have been pleased to record; nor should
his silence be condemned if the most interesting objects, the population of=
the
capital and provinces, the amount of the taxes and revenues, the numbers of
subjects and strangers who served under the Imperial standard, have been
unnoticed by Leo the philosopher, and his son Constantine. His treatise of =
the
public administration is stained with the same blemishes; yet it is
discriminated by peculiar merit; the antiquities of the nations may be doub=
tful
or fabulous; but the geography and manners of the Barbaric world are deline=
ated
with curious accuracy. Of these nations, the Franks alone were qualified to
observe in their turn, and to describe, the metropolis of the East. The
ambassador of the great Otho, a bishop of Cremona, has painted the state of
Constantinople about the middle of the tenth century: his style is glowing,=
his
narrative lively, his observation keen; and even the prejudices and passion=
s of
Liutprand are stamped with an original character of freedom and genius. From
this scanty fund of foreign and domestic materials, I shall investigate the
form and substance of the Byzantine empire; the provinces and wealth, the c=
ivil
government and military force, the character and literature, of the Greeks =
in a
period of six hundred years, from the reign of Heraclius to his successful
invasion of the Franks or Latins.
After the final division between the sons of
Theodosius, the swarms of Barbarians from Scythia and Germany over-spread t=
he
provinces and extinguished the empire of ancient Rome. The weakness of
Constantinople was concealed by extent of dominion: her limits were inviola=
te,
or at least entire; and the kingdom of Justinian was enlarged by the splend=
id acquisition
of Africa and Italy. But the possession of these new conquests was transient
and precarious; and almost a moiety of the Eastern empire was torn away by =
the
arms of the Saracens. Syria and Egypt were oppressed by the Arabian caliphs;
and, after the reduction of Africa, their lieutenants invaded and subdued t=
he
Roman province which had been changed into the Gothic monarchy of Spain. The
islands of the Mediterranean were not inaccessible to their naval powers; a=
nd
it was from their extreme stations, the harbors of Crete and the fortresses=
of Cilicia,
that the faithful or rebel emirs insulted the majesty of the throne and
capital. The remaining provinces, under the obedience of the emperors, were
cast into a new mould; and the jurisdiction of the presidents, the consular=
s,
and the counts were superseded by the institution of the themes, or military
governments, which prevailed under the successors of Heraclius, and are
described by the pen of the royal author. Of the twenty-nine themes, twelve=
in
Europe and seventeen in Asia, the origin is obscure, the etymology doubtful=
or
capricious: the limits were arbitrary and fluctuating; but some particular
names, that sound the most strangely to our ear, were derived from the char=
acter
and attributes of the troops that were maintained at the expense, and for t=
he
guard, of the respective divisions. The vanity of the Greek princes most
eagerly grasped the shadow of conquest and the memory of lost dominion. A n=
ew
Mesopotamia was created on the western side of the Euphrates: the appellati=
on
and prætor of Sicily were transferred to a narrow slip of Calabria; a=
nd a
fragment of the duchy of Beneventum was promoted to the style and title of =
the
theme of Lombardy. In the decline of the Arabian empire, the successors of
Constantine might indulge their pride in more solid advantages. The victori=
es
of Nicephorus, John Zimisces, and Basil the Second, revived the fame, and e=
nlarged
the boundaries, of the Roman name: the province of Cilicia, the metropolis =
of
Antioch, the islands of Crete and Cyprus, were restored to the allegiance of
Christ and Cæsar: one third of Italy was annexed to the throne of
Constantinople: the kingdom of Bulgaria was destroyed; and the last soverei=
gns
of the Macedonian dynasty extended their sway from the sources of the Tigri=
s to
the neighborhood of Rome. In the eleventh century, the prospect was again
clouded by new enemies and new misfortunes: the relics of Italy were swept =
away
by the Norman adventures; and almost all the Asiatic branches were dissever=
ed
from the Roman trunk by the Turkish conquerors. After these losses, the emp=
erors
of the Comnenian family continued to reign from the Danube to Peloponnesus,=
and
from Belgrade to Nice, Trebizond, and the winding stream of the Meander. The
spacious provinces of Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece, were obedient to their
sceptre; the possession of Cyprus, Rhodes, and Crete, was accompanied by the
fifty islands of the Ægean or Holy Sea; and the remnant of their empi=
re
transcends the measure of the largest of the European kingdoms.
The same princes might assert, with dignity and
truth, that of all the monarchs of Christendom they possessed the greatest
city, the most ample revenue, the most flourishing and populous state. With=
the
decline and fall of the empire, the cities of the West had decayed and fall=
en;
nor could the ruins of Rome, or the mud walls, wooden hovels, and narrow pr=
ecincts
of Paris and London, prepare the Latin stranger to contemplate the situation
and extent of Constantinople, her stately palaces and churches, and the arts
and luxury of an innumerable people. Her treasures might attract, but her
virgin strength had repelled, and still promised to repel, the audacious
invasion of the Persian and Bulgarian, the Arab and the Russian. The provin=
ces
were less fortunate and impregnable; and few districts, few cities, could be
discovered which had not been violated by some fierce Barbarian, impatient =
to
despoil, because he was hopeless to possess. From the age of Justinian the =
Eastern
empire was sinking below its former level; the powers of destruction were m=
ore
active than those of improvement; and the calamities of war were imbittered=
by
the more permanent evils of civil and ecclesiastical tyranny. The captive w=
ho
had escaped from the Barbarians was often stripped and imprisoned by the
ministers of his sovereign: the Greek superstition relaxed the mind by pray=
er,
and emaciated the body by fasting; and the multitude of convents and festiv=
als
diverted many hands and many days from the temporal service of mankind. Yet=
the
subjects of the Byzantine empire were still the most dexterous and diligent=
of
nations; their country was blessed by nature with every advantage of soil,
climate, and situation; and, in the support and restoration of the arts, th=
eir
patient and peaceful temper was more useful than the warlike spirit and feu=
dal
anarchy of Europe. The provinces that still adhered to the empire were
repeopled and enriched by the misfortunes of those which were irrecoverably
lost. From the yoke of the caliphs, the Catholics of Syria, Egypt, and Afri=
ca retired
to the allegiance of their prince, to the society of their brethren: the mo=
vable
wealth, which eludes the search of oppression, accompanied and alleviated t=
heir
exile, and Constantinople received into her bosom the fugitive trade of
Alexandria and Tyre. The chiefs of Armenia and Scythia, who fled from hosti=
le
or religious persecution, were hospitably entertained: their followers were
encouraged to build new cities and to cultivate waste lands; and many spots,
both in Europe and Asia, preserved the name, the manners, or at least the
memory, of these national colonies. Even the tribes of Barbarians, who had
seated themselves in arms on the territory of the empire, were gradually re=
claimed
to the laws of the church and state; and as long as they were separated from
the Greeks, their posterity supplied a race of faithful and obedient soldie=
rs.
Did we possess sufficient materials to survey the twenty-nine themes of the
Byzantine monarchy, our curiosity might be satisfied with a chosen example:=
it
is fortunate enough that the clearest light should be thrown on the most
interesting province, and the name of Peloponnesus will awaken the attentio=
n of
the classic reader.
As early as the eighth century, in the troubled
reign of the Iconoclasts, Greece, and even Peloponnesus, were overrun by so=
me Sclavonian
bands who outstripped the royal standard of Bulgaria. The strangers of old,
Cadmus, and Danaus, and Pelops, had planted in that fruitful soil the seeds=
of
policy and learning; but the savages of the north eradicated what yet remai=
ned
of their sickly and withered roots. In this irruption, the country and the
inhabitants were transformed; the Grecian blood was contaminated; and the
proudest nobles of Peloponnesus were branded with the names of foreigners a=
nd
slaves. By the diligence of succeeding princes, the land was in some measure
purified from the Barbarians; and the humble remnant was bound by an oath of
obedience, tribute, and military service, which they often renewed and ofte=
n violated.
The siege of Patras was formed by a singular concurrence of the Sclavonians=
of
Peloponnesus and the Saracens of Africa. In their last distress, a pious
fiction of the approach of the prætor of Corinth revived the courage =
of
the citizens. Their sally was bold and successful; the strangers embarked, =
the
rebels submitted, and the glory of the day was ascribed to a phantom or a
stranger, who fought in the foremost ranks under the character of St. Andrew
the Apostle. The shrine which contained his relics was decorated with the
trophies of victory, and the captive race was forever devoted to the service
and vassalage of the metropolitan church of Patras. By the revolt of two
Sclavonian tribes, in the neighborhood of Helos and Lacedæmon, the pe=
ace
of the peninsula was often disturbed. They sometimes insulted the weakness,=
and
sometimes resisted the oppression, of the Byzantine government, till at len=
gth
the approach of their hostile brethren extorted a golden bull to define the
rites and obligations of the Ezzerites and Milengi, whose annual tribute was
defined at twelve hundred pieces of gold. From these strangers the Imperial
geographer has accurately distinguished a domestic, and perhaps original, r=
ace,
who, in some degree, might derive their blood from the much-injured Helots.=
The
liberality of the Romans, and especially of Augustus, had enfranchised the
maritime cities from the dominion of Sparta; and the continuance of the same
benefit ennobled them with the title of Eleuthero, or Free-Laconians. In the
time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, they had acquired the name of Mainotes=
, under
which they dishonor the claim of liberty by the inhuman pillage of all that=
is
shipwrecked on their rocky shores. Their territory, barren of corn, but
fruitful of olives, extended to the Cape of Malea: they accepted a chief or
prince from the Byzantine prætor, and a light tribute of four hundred
pieces of gold was the badge of their immunity, rather than of their
dependence. The freemen of Laconia assumed the character of Romans, and long
adhered to the religion of the Greeks. By the zeal of the emperor Basil, th=
ey
were baptized in the faith of Christ: but the altars of Venus and Neptune h=
ad
been crowned by these rustic votaries five hundred years after they were
proscribed in the Roman world. In the theme of Peloponnesus, forty cities w=
ere
still numbered, and the declining state of Sparta, Argos, and Corinth, may =
be suspended
in the tenth century, at an equal distance, perhaps, between their antique
splendor and their present desolation. The duty of military service, either=
in
person or by substitute, was imposed on the lands or benefices of the provi=
nce;
a sum of five pieces of gold was assessed on each of the substantial tenant=
s;
and the same capitation was shared among several heads of inferior value. On
the proclamation of an Italian war, the Peloponnesians excused themselves b=
y a
voluntary oblation of one hundred pounds of gold, (four thousand pounds
sterling,) and a thousand horses with their arms and trappings. The churche=
s and
monasteries furnished their contingent; a sacrilegious profit was extorted =
from
the sale of ecclesiastical honors; and the indigent bishop of Leucadia was =
made
responsible for a pension of one hundred pieces of gold.
But the wealth of the province, and the trust =
of
the revenue, were founded on the fair and plentiful produce of trade and
manufacturers; and some symptoms of liberal policy may be traced in a law w=
hich
exempts from all personal taxes the mariners of Peloponnesus, and the workm=
en in
parchment and purple. This denomination may be fairly applied or extended to
the manufacturers of linen, woollen, and more especially of silk: the two
former of which had flourished in Greece since the days of Homer; and the l=
ast
was introduced perhaps as early as the reign of Justinian. These arts, which
were exercised at Corinth, Thebes, and Argos, afforded food and occupation =
to a
numerous people: the men, women, and children were distributed according to
their age and strength; and, if many of these were domestic slaves, their
masters, who directed the work and enjoyed the profit, were of a free and
honorable condition. The gifts which a rich and generous matron of Peloponn=
esus
presented to the emperor Basil, her adopted son, were doubtless fabricated =
in
the Grecian looms. Danielis bestowed a carpet of fine wool, of a pattern wh=
ich
imitated the spots of a peacock's tail, of a magnitude to overspread the fl=
oor
of a new church, erected in the triple name of Christ, of Michael the
archangel, and of the prophet Elijah. She gave six hundred pieces of silk a=
nd
linen, of various use and denomination: the silk was painted with the Tyrian
dye, and adorned by the labors of the needle; and the linen was so exquisit=
ely
fine, that an entire piece might be rolled in the hollow of a cane. In his
description of the Greek manufactures, an historian of Sicily discriminates
their price, according to the weight and quality of the silk, the closeness=
of
the texture, the beauty of the colors, and the taste and materials of the
embroidery. A single, or even a double or treble thread was thought suffici=
ent
for ordinary sale; but the union of six threads composed a piece of stronger
and more costly workmanship. Among the colors, he celebrates, with affectat=
ion
of eloquence, the fiery blaze of the scarlet, and the softer lustre of the
green. The embroidery was raised either in silk or gold: the more simple
ornament of stripes or circles was surpassed by the nicer imitation of flow=
ers:
the vestments that were fabricated for the palace or the altar often glitte=
red
with precious stones; and the figures were delineated in strings of Oriental
pearls. Till the twelfth century, Greece alone, of all the countries of Chr=
istendom,
was possessed of the insect who is taught by nature, and of the workmen who=
are
instructed by art, to prepare this elegant luxury. But the secret had been
stolen by the dexterity and diligence of the Arabs: the caliphs of the East=
and
West scorned to borrow from the unbelievers their furniture and apparel; and
two cities of Spain, Almeria and Lisbon, were famous for the manufacture, t=
he
use, and, perhaps, the exportation, of silk. It was first introduced into
Sicily by the Normans; and this emigration of trade distinguishes the victo=
ry of
Roger from the uniform and fruitless hostilities of every age. After the sa=
ck
of Corinth, Athens, and Thebes, his lieutenant embarked with a captive trai=
n of
weavers and artificers of both sexes, a trophy glorious to their master, and
disgraceful to the Greek emperor. The king of Sicily was not insensible of =
the
value of the present; and, in the restitution of the prisoners, he excepted
only the male and female manufacturers of Thebes and Corinth, who labor, sa=
ys
the Byzantine historian, under a barbarous lord, like the old Eretrians in =
the
service of Darius. A stately edifice, in the palace of Palermo, was erected=
for
the use of this industrious colony; and the art was propagated by their chi=
ldren
and disciples to satisfy the increasing demand of the western world. The de=
cay
of the looms of Sicily may be ascribed to the troubles of the island, and t=
he
competition of the Italian cities. In the year thirteen hundred and fourtee=
n,
Lucca alone, among her sister republics, enjoyed the lucrative monopoly. A
domestic revolution dispersed the manufacturers to Florence, Bologna, Venic=
e,
Milan, and even the countries beyond the Alps; and thirteen years after thi=
s event
the statutes of Modena enjoin the planting of mulberry-trees, and regulate =
the
duties on raw silk. The northern climates are less propitious to the educat=
ion
of the silkworm; but the industry of France and England is supplied and
enriched by the productions of Italy and China.
I must repeat the complaint that the vague and
scanty memorials of the times will not afford any just estimate of the taxe=
s,
the revenue, and the resources of the Greek empire. From every province of
Europe and Asia the rivulets of gold and silver discharged into the Imperia=
l reservoir
a copious and perennial stream. The separation of the branches from the tru=
nk
increased the relative magnitude of Constantinople; and the maxims of despo=
tism
contracted the state to the capital, the capital to the palace, and the pal=
ace
to the royal person. A Jewish traveller, who visited the East in the twelfth
century, is lost in his admiration of the Byzantine riches. "It is
here," says Benjamin of Tudela, "in the queen of cities, that the
tributes of the Greek empire are annually deposited and the lofty towers are
filled with precious magazines of silk, purple, and gold. It is said, that
Constantinople pays each day to her sovereign twenty thousand pieces of gol=
d;
which are levied on the shops, taverns, and markets, on the merchants of Pe=
rsia
and Egypt, of Russia and Hungary, of Italy and Spain, who frequent the capi=
tal
by sea and land." In all pecuniary matters, the authority of a Jew is =
doubtless
respectable; but as the three hundred and sixty-five days would produce a
yearly income exceeding seven millions sterling, I am tempted to retrench at
least the numerous festivals of the Greek calendar. The mass of treasure th=
at
was saved by Theodora and Basil the Second will suggest a splendid, though
indefinite, idea of their supplies and resources. The mother of Michael, be=
fore
she retired to a cloister, attempted to check or expose the prodigality of =
her
ungrateful son, by a free and faithful account of the wealth which he
inherited; one hundred and nine thousand pounds of gold, and three hundred
thousand of silver, the fruits of her own economy and that of her deceased
husband. The avarice of Basil is not less renowned than his valor and fortu=
ne: his
victorious armies were paid and rewarded without breaking into the mass of =
two
hundred thousand pounds of gold, (about eight millions sterling,) which he =
had
buried in the subterraneous vaults of the palace. Such accumulation of trea=
sure
is rejected by the theory and practice of modern policy; and we are more ap=
t to
compute the national riches by the use and abuse of the public credit. Yet =
the
maxims of antiquity are still embraced by a monarch formidable to his enemi=
es;
by a republic respectable to her allies; and both have attained their
respective ends of military power and domestic tranquillity.
Whatever might be consumed for the present wan=
ts,
or reserved for the future use, of the state, the first and most sacred dem=
and
was for the pomp and pleasure of the emperor, and his discretion only could
define the measure of his private expense. The princes of Constantinople we=
re far
removed from the simplicity of nature; yet, with the revolving seasons, they
were led by taste or fashion to withdraw to a purer air, from the smoke and
tumult of the capital. They enjoyed, or affected to enjoy, the rustic festi=
val
of the vintage: their leisure was amused by the exercise of the chase and t=
he
calmer occupation of fishing, and in the summer heats, they were shaded from
the sun, and refreshed by the cooling breezes from the sea. The coasts and
islands of Asia and Europe were covered with their magnificent villas; but,
instead of the modest art which secretly strives to hide itself and to deco=
rate
the scenery of nature, the marble structure of their gardens served only to
expose the riches of the lord, and the labors of the architect. The success=
ive casualties
of inheritance and forfeiture had rendered the sovereign proprietor of many
stately houses in the city and suburbs, of which twelve were appropriated to
the ministers of state; but the great palace, the centre of the Imperial
residence, was fixed during eleven centuries to the same position, between =
the
hippodrome, the cathedral of St. Sophia, and the gardens, which descended by
many a terrace to the shores of the Propontis. The primitive edifice of the
first Constantine was a copy, or rival, of ancient Rome; the gradual
improvements of his successors aspired to emulate the wonders of the old wo=
rld,
and in the tenth century, the Byzantine palace excited the admiration, at l=
east
of the Latins, by an unquestionable preëminence of strength, size, and=
magnificence.
But the toil and treasure of so many ages had produced a vast and irregular
pile: each separate building was marked with the character of the times and=
of
the founder; and the want of space might excuse the reigning monarch, who
demolished, perhaps with secret satisfaction, the works of his predecessors.
The economy of the emperor Theophilus allowed a more free and ample scope f=
or
his domestic luxury and splendor. A favorite ambassador, who had astonished=
the
Abbassides themselves by his pride and liberality, presented on his return =
the model
of a palace, which the caliph of Bagdad had recently constructed on the ban=
ks
of the Tigris. The model was instantly copied and surpassed: the new buildi=
ngs
of Theophilus were accompanied with gardens, and with five churches, one of
which was conspicuous for size and beauty: it was crowned with three domes,=
the
roof of gilt brass reposed on columns of Italian marble, and the walls were
incrusted with marbles of various colors. In the face of the church, a
semicircular portico, of the figure and name of the Greek sigma, was suppor=
ted
by fifteen columns of Phrygian marble, and the subterraneous vaults were of=
a
similar construction. The square before the sigma was decorated with a
fountain, and the margin of the basin was lined and encompassed with plates=
of
silver. In the beginning of each season, the basin, instead of water, was
replenished with the most exquisite fruits, which were abandoned to the
populace for the entertainment of the prince. He enjoyed this tumultuous
spectacle from a throne resplendent with gold and gems, which was raised by=
a
marble staircase to the height of a lofty terrace. Below the throne were se=
ated
the officers of his guards, the magistrates, the chiefs of the factions of =
the
circus; the inferior steps were occupied by the people, and the place below=
was
covered with troops of dancers, singers, and pantomimes. The square was
surrounded by the hall of justice, the arsenal, and the various offices of
business and pleasure; and the purple chamber was named from the annual dis=
tribution
of robes of scarlet and purple by the hand of the empress herself. The long
series of the apartments was adapted to the seasons, and decorated with mar=
ble
and porphyry, with painting, sculpture, and mosaics, with a profusion of go=
ld,
silver, and precious stones. His fanciful magnificence employed the skill a=
nd
patience of such artists as the times could afford: but the taste of Athens
would have despised their frivolous and costly labors; a golden tree, with =
its
leaves and branches, which sheltered a multitude of birds warbling their
artificial notes, and two lions of massy gold, and of natural size, who loo=
ked
and roared like their brethren of the forest. The successors of Theophilus,=
of
the Basilian and Comnenian dynasties, were not less ambitious of leaving so=
me
memorial of their residence; and the portion of the palace most splendid and
august was dignified with the title of the golden triclinium. With becoming
modesty, the rich and noble Greeks aspired to imitate their sovereign, and =
when
they passed through the streets on horseback, in their robes of silk and
embroidery, they were mistaken by the children for kings. A matron of
Peloponnesus, who had cherished the infant fortunes of Basil the Macedonian,
was excited by tenderness or vanity to visit the greatness of her adopted s=
on.
In a journey of five hundred miles from Patras to Constantinople, her age or
indolence declined the fatigue of a horse or carriage: the soft litter or b=
ed
of Danielis was transported on the shoulders of ten robust slaves; and as t=
hey
were relieved at easy distances, a band of three hundred were selected for =
the
performance of this service. She was entertained in the Byzantine palace wi=
th
filial reverence, and the honors of a queen; and whatever might be the orig=
in
of her wealth, her gifts were not unworthy of the regal dignity. I have alr=
eady
described the fine and curious manufactures of Peloponnesus, of linen, silk,
and woollen; but the most acceptable of her presents consisted in three hun=
dred
beautiful youths, of whom one hundred were eunuchs; "for she was not
ignorant," says the historian, "that the air of the palace is more
congenial to such insects, than a shepherd's dairy to the flies of the
summer." During her lifetime, she bestowed the greater part of her est=
ates
in Peloponnesus, and her testament instituted Leo, the son of Basil, her un=
iversal
heir. After the payment of the legacies, fourscore villas or farms were add=
ed to
the Imperial domain; and three thousand slaves of Danielis were enfranchise=
d by
their new lord, and transplanted as a colony to the Italian coast. From this
example of a private matron, we may estimate the wealth and magnificence of=
the
emperors. Yet our enjoyments are confined by a narrow circle; and, whatsoev=
er
may be its value, the luxury of life is possessed with more innocence and
safety by the master of his own, than by the steward of the public, fortune=
.
In an absolute government, which levels the
distinctions of noble and plebeian birth, the sovereign is the sole fountai=
n of
honor; and the rank, both in the palace and the empire, depends on the titl=
es
and offices which are bestowed and resumed by his arbitrary will. Above a t=
housand
years, from Vespasian to Alexius Comnenus, the Cæsar was the second
person, or at least the second degree, after the supreme title of Augustus =
was
more freely communicated to the sons and brothers of the reigning monarch. =
To
elude without violating his promise to a powerful associate, the husband of=
his
sister, and, without giving himself an equal, to reward the piety of his
brother Isaac, the crafty Alexius interposed a new and supereminent dignity.
The happy flexibility of the Greek tongue allowed him to compound the names=
of
Augustus and Emperor (Sebastos and Autocrator,) and the union produces the
sonorous title of Sebastocrator. He was exalted above the Cæsar on the
first step of the throne: the public acclamations repeated his name; and he=
was
only distinguished from the sovereign by some peculiar ornaments of the hea=
d and
feet. The emperor alone could assume the purple or red buskins, and the clo=
se
diadem or tiara, which imitated the fashion of the Persian kings. It was a =
high
pyramidal cap of cloth or silk, almost concealed by a profusion of pearls a=
nd
jewels: the crown was formed by a horizontal circle and two arches of gold:=
at
the summit, the point of their intersection, was placed a globe or cross, a=
nd
two strings or lappets of pearl depended on either cheek. Instead of red, t=
he
buskins of the Sebastocrator and Cæsar were green; and on their open
coronets or crowns, the precious gems were more sparingly distributed. Besi=
de
and below the Cæsar the fancy of Alexius created the Panhypersebasto =
and
the Protosebastos, whose sound and signification will satisfy a Grecian ear.
They imply a superiority and a priority above the simple name of Augustus; =
and
this sacred and primitive title of the Roman prince was degraded to the kin=
smen
and servants of the Byzantine court. The daughter of Alexius applauds, with
fond complacency, this artful gradation of hopes and honors; but the scienc=
e of
words is accessible to the meanest capacity; and this vain dictionary was
easily enriched by the pride of his successors. To their favorite sons or
brothers, they imparted the more lofty appellation of Lord or Despot, which=
was
illustrated with new ornaments, and prerogatives, and placed immediately af=
ter
the person of the emperor himself. The five titles of, 1. Despot; 2.
Sebastocrator; 3. Cæsar; 4. Panhypersebastos; and, 5. Protosebastos; =
were
usually confined to the princes of his blood: they were the emanations of h=
is
majesty; but as they exercised no regular functions, their existence was
useless, and their authority precarious.
But in every monarchy the substantial powers of
government must be divided and exercised by the ministers of the palace and
treasury, the fleet and army. The titles alone can differ; and in the
revolution of ages, the counts and præfects, the prætor and
quæstor, insensibly descended, while their servants rose above their
heads to the first honors of the state. 1. In a monarchy, which refers every
object to the person of the prince, the care and ceremonies of the palace f=
orm
the most respectable department. The Curopalata, so illustrious in the age =
of
Justinian, was supplanted by the Protovestiare, whose primitive functions w=
ere
limited to the custody of the wardrobe. From thence his jurisdiction was
extended over the numerous menials of pomp and luxury; and he presided with=
his
silver wand at the public and private audience. 2. In the ancient system of
Constantine, the name of Logothete, or accountant, was applied to the recei=
vers
of the finances: the principal officers were distinguished as the Logothete=
s of
the domain, of the posts, the army, the private and public treasure; and the
great Logothete, the supreme guardian of the laws and revenues, is compared=
with
the chancellor of the Latin monarchies. His discerning eye pervaded the civ=
il
administration; and he was assisted, in due subordination, by the eparch or
præfect of the city, the first secretary, and the keepers of the privy
seal, the archives, and the red or purple ink which was reserved for the sa=
cred
signature of the emperor alone. The introductor and interpreter of foreign
ambassadors were the great Chiauss and the Dragoman, two names of Turkish
origin, and which are still familiar to the Sublime Porte. 3. From the humb=
le
style and service of guards, the Domestics insensibly rose to the station of
generals; the military themes of the East and West, the legions of Europe a=
nd
Asia, were often divided, till the great Domestic was finally invested with=
the
universal and absolute command of the land forces. The Protostrator, in his=
original
functions, was the assistant of the emperor when he mounted on horseback: he
gradually became the lieutenant of the great Domestic in the field; and his
jurisdiction extended over the stables, the cavalry, and the royal train of
hunting and hawking. The Stratopedarch was the great judge of the camp: the
Protospathaire commanded the guards; the Constable, the great Æteriar=
ch,
and the Acolyth, were the separate chiefs of the Franks, the Barbarians, and
the Varangi, or English, the mercenary strangers, who, a the decay of the
national spirit, formed the nerve of the Byzantine armies. 4. The naval pow=
ers
were under the command of the great Duke; in his absence they obeyed the gr=
eat Drungaire
of the fleet; and, in his place, the Emir, or Admiral, a name of Saracen
extraction, but which has been naturalized in all the modern languages of
Europe. Of these officers, and of many more whom it would be useless to
enumerate, the civil and military hierarchy was framed. Their honors and
emoluments, their dress and titles, their mutual salutations and respective
preëminence, were balanced with more exquisite labor than would have f=
ixed
the constitution of a free people; and the code was almost perfect when this
baseless fabric, the monument of pride and servitude, was forever buried in=
the
ruins of the empire.
The most lofty titles, and the most humble
postures, which devotion has applied to the Supreme Being, have been
prostituted by flattery and fear to creatures of the same nature with
ourselves. The mode of adoration, of falling prostrate on the ground, and
kissing the feet of the emperor, was borrowed by Diocletian from Persian
servitude; but it was continued and aggravated till the last age of the Gre=
ek
monarchy. Excepting only on Sundays, when it was waived, from a motive of
religious pride, this humiliating reverence was exacted from all who entered
the royal presence, from the princes invested with the diadem and purple, a=
nd from
the ambassadors who represented their independent sovereigns, the caliphs of
Asia, Egypt, or Spain, the kings of France and Italy, and the Latin emperor=
s of
ancient Rome. In his transactions of business, Liutprand, bishop of Cremona,
asserted the free spirit of a Frank and the dignity of his master Otho. Yet=
his
sincerity cannot disguise the abasement of his first audience. When he
approached the throne, the birds of the golden tree began to warble their
notes, which were accompanied by the roarings of the two lions of gold. With
his two companions Liutprand was compelled to bow and to fall prostrate; an=
d thrice
to touch the ground with his forehead. He arose, but in the short interval,=
the
throne had been hoisted from the floor to the ceiling, the Imperial figure
appeared in new and more gorgeous apparel, and the interview was concluded =
in
haughty and majestic silence. In this honest and curious narrative, the Bis=
hop
of Cremona represents the ceremonies of the Byzantine court, which are still
practised in the Sublime Porte, and which were preserved in the last age by=
the
dukes of Muscovy or Russia. After a long journey by sea and land, from Veni=
ce
to Constantinople, the ambassador halted at the golden gate, till he was co=
nducted
by the formal officers to the hospitable palace prepared for his reception;=
but
this palace was a prison, and his jealous keepers prohibited all social
intercourse either with strangers or natives. At his first audience, he off=
ered
the gifts of his master, slaves, and golden vases, and costly armor. The
ostentatious payment of the officers and troops displayed before his eyes t=
he
riches of the empire: he was entertained at a royal banquet, in which the
ambassadors of the nations were marshalled by the esteem or contempt of the
Greeks: from his own table, the emperor, as the most signal favor, sent the
plates which he had tasted; and his favorites were dismissed with a robe of
honor. In the morning and evening of each day, his civil and military serva=
nts attended
their duty in the palace; their labors were repaid by the sight, perhaps by=
the
smile, of their lord; his commands were signified by a nod or a sign: but a=
ll
earthly greatness stood silent and submissive in his presence. In his regul=
ar
or extraordinary processions through the capital, he unveiled his person to=
the
public view: the rites of policy were connected with those of religion, and=
his
visits to the principal churches were regulated by the festivals of the Gre=
ek calendar.
On the eve of these processions, the gracious or devout intention of the
monarch was proclaimed by the heralds. The streets were cleared and purifie=
d;
the pavement was strewed with flowers; the most precious furniture, the gold
and silver plate, and silken hangings, were displayed from the windows and
balconies, and a severe discipline restrained and silenced the tumult of the
populace. The march was opened by the military officers at the head of their
troops: they were followed in long order by the magistrates and ministers of
the civil government: the person of the emperor was guarded by his eunuchs =
and
domestics, and at the church door he was solemnly received by the patriarch=
and
his clergy. The task of applause was not abandoned to the rude and spontane=
ous
voices of the crowd. The most convenient stations were occupied by the band=
s of
the blue and green factions of the circus; and their furious conflicts, whi=
ch
had shaken the capital, were insensibly sunk to an emulation of servitude. =
From
either side they echoed in responsive melody the praises of the emperor; th=
eir
poets and musicians directed the choir, and long life and victory were the
burden of every song. The same acclamations were performed at the audience,=
the
banquet, and the church; and as an evidence of boundless sway, they were
repeated in the Latin, Gothic, Persian, French, and even English language, =
by the
mercenaries who sustained the real or fictitious character of those nations=
. By
the pen of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, this science of form and flattery h=
as been
reduced into a pompous and trifling volume, which the vanity of succeeding
times might enrich with an ample supplement. Yet the calmer reflection of a
prince would surely suggest that the same acclamations were applied to every
character and every reign: and if he had risen from a private rank, he might
remember, that his own voice had been the loudest and most eager in applaus=
e,
at the very moment when he envied the fortune, or conspired against the lif=
e,
of his predecessor.
The princes of the North, of the nations, says
Constantine, without faith or fame, were ambitious of mingling their blood =
with
the blood of the Cæsars, by their marriage with a royal virgin, or by=
the
nuptials of their daughters with a Roman prince. The aged monarch, in his i=
nstructions
to his son, reveals the secret maxims of policy and pride; and suggests the
most decent reasons for refusing these insolent and unreasonable demands. E=
very
animal, says the discreet emperor, is prompted by the distinction of langua=
ge,
religion, and manners. A just regard to the purity of descent preserves the
harmony of public and private life; but the mixture of foreign blood is the
fruitful source of disorder and discord. Such had ever been the opinion and
practice of the sage Romans: their jurisprudence proscribed the marriage of=
a
citizen and a stranger: in the days of freedom and virtue, a senator would =
have
scorned to match his daughter with a king: the glory of Mark Antony was sul=
lied
by an Egyptian wife: and the emperor Titus was compelled, by popular censur=
e,
to dismiss with reluctance the reluctant Berenice. This perpetual interdict=
was
ratified by the fabulous sanction of the great Constantine. The ambassadors=
of
the nations, more especially of the unbelieving nations, were solemnly admo=
nished,
that such strange alliances had been condemned by the founder of the church=
and
city. The irrevocable law was inscribed on the altar of St. Sophia; and the=
impious
prince who should stain the majesty of the purple was excluded from the civ=
il
and ecclesiastical communion of the Romans. If the ambassadors were instruc=
ted
by any false brethren in the Byzantine history, they might produce three
memorable examples of the violation of this imaginary law: the marriage of =
Leo,
or rather of his father Constantine the Fourth, with the daughter of the ki=
ng
of the Chozars, the nuptials of the granddaughter of Romanus with a Bulgari=
an
prince, and the union of Bertha of France or Italy with young Romanus, the =
son
of Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself. To these objections three answers w=
ere
prepared, which solved the difficulty and established the law. I. The deed =
and
the guilt of Constantine Copronymus were acknowledged. The Isaurian heretic,
who sullied the baptismal font, and declared war against the holy images, h=
ad
indeed embraced a Barbarian wife. By this impious alliance he accomplished =
the
measure of his crimes, and was devoted to the just censure of the church an=
d of
posterity. II. Romanus could not be alleged as a legitimate emperor; he was=
a
plebeian usurper, ignorant of the laws, and regardless of the honor, of the
monarchy. His son Christopher, the father of the bride, was the third in ra=
nk
in the college of princes, at once the subject and the accomplice of a
rebellious parent. The Bulgarians were sincere and devout Christians; and t=
he
safety of the empire, with the redemption of many thousand captives, depend=
ed
on this preposterous alliance. Yet no consideration could dispense from the=
law
of Constantine: the clergy, the senate, and the people, disapproved the con=
duct
of Romanus; and he was reproached, both in his life and death, as the autho=
r of
the public disgrace. III. For the marriage of his own son with the daughter=
of Hugo,
king of Italy, a more honorable defence is contrived by the wise Porphyroge=
nitus.
Constantine, the great and holy, esteemed the fidelity and valor of the Fra=
nks;
and his prophetic spirit beheld the vision of their future greatness. They
alone were excepted from the general prohibition: Hugo, king of France, was=
the
lineal descendant of Charlemagne; and his daughter Bertha inherited the
prerogatives of her family and nation. The voice of truth and malice insens=
ibly
betrayed the fraud or error of the Imperial court. The patrimonial estate of
Hugo was reduced from the monarchy of France to the simple county of Arles;=
though
it was not denied, that, in the confusion of the times, he had usurped the
sovereignty of Provence, and invaded the kingdom of Italy. His father was a
private noble; and if Bertha derived her female descent from the Carlovingi=
an
line, every step was polluted with illegitimacy or vice. The grandmother of
Hugo was the famous Valdrada, the concubine, rather than the wife, of the
second Lothair; whose adultery, divorce, and second nuptials, had provoked
against him the thunders of the Vatican. His mother, as she was styled, the
great Bertha, was successively the wife of the count of Arles and of the
marquis of Tuscany: France and Italy were scandalized by her gallantries; a=
nd,
till the age of threescore, her lovers, of every degree, were the zealous s=
ervants
of her ambition. The example of maternal incontinence was copied by the kin=
g of
Italy; and the three favorite concubines of Hugo were decorated with the
classic names of Venus, Juno, and Semele. The daughter of Venus was granted=
to
the solicitations of the Byzantine court: her name of Bertha was changed to
that of Eudoxia; and she was wedded, or rather betrothed, to young Romanus,=
the
future heir of the empire of the East. The consummation of this foreign
alliance was suspended by the tender age of the two parties; and, at the en=
d of
five years, the union was dissolved by the death of the virgin spouse. The =
second
wife of the emperor Romanus was a maiden of plebeian, but of Roman, birth; =
and
their two daughters, Theophano and Anne, were given in marriage to the prin=
ces
of the earth. The eldest was bestowed, as the pledge of peace, on the eldest
son of the great Otho, who had solicited this alliance with arms and embass=
ies.
It might legally be questioned how far a Saxon was entitled to the privileg=
e of
the French nation; but every scruple was silenced by the fame and piety of a
hero who had restored the empire of the West. After the death of her
father-in-law and husband, Theophano governed Rome, Italy, and Germany, dur=
ing
the minority of her son, the third Otho; and the Latins have praised the vi=
rtues
of an empress, who sacrificed to a superior duty the remembrance of her
country. In the nuptials of her sister Anne, every prejudice was lost, and
every consideration of dignity was superseded, by the stronger argument of
necessity and fear. A Pagan of the North, Wolodomir, great prince of Russia,
aspired to a daughter of the Roman purple; and his claim was enforced by the
threats of war, the promise of conversion, and the offer of a powerful succ=
or
against a domestic rebel. A victim of her religion and country, the Grecian
princess was torn from the palace of her fathers, and condemned to a savage
reign, and a hopeless exile on the banks of the Borysthenes, or in the
neighborhood of the Polar circle. Yet the marriage of Anne was fortunate and
fruitful: the daughter of her grandson Joroslaus was recommended by her
Imperial descent; and the king of France, Henry I., sought a wife on the la=
st borders
of Europe and Christendom.
In the Byzantine palace, the emperor was the f=
irst
slave of the ceremonies which he imposed, of the rigid forms which regulated
each word and gesture, besieged him in the palace, and violated the leisure=
of
his rural solitude. But the lives and fortunes of millions hung on his
arbitrary will; and the firmest minds, superior to the allurements of pomp =
and
luxury, may be seduced by the more active pleasure of commanding their equa=
ls.
The legislative and executive powers were centred in the person of the mona=
rch,
and the last remains of the authority of the senate were finally eradicated=
by
Leo the philosopher. A lethargy of servitude had benumbed the minds of the
Greeks: in the wildest tumults of rebellion they never aspired to the idea =
of a
free constitution; and the private character of the prince was the only sou=
rce
and measure of their public happiness. Superstition rivetted their chains; =
in
the church of St. Sophia he was solemnly crowned by the patriarch; at the f=
oot
of the altar, they pledged their passive and unconditional obedience to his
government and family. On his side he engaged to abstain as much as possible
from the capital punishments of death and mutilation; his orthodox creed was
subscribed with his own hand, and he promised to obey the decrees of the se=
ven
synods, and the canons of the holy church. But the assurance of mercy was l=
oose
and indefinite: he swore, not to his people, but to an invisible judge; and=
except
in the inexpiable guilt of heresy, the ministers of heaven were always prep=
ared
to preach the indefeasible right, and to absolve the venial transgressions,=
of
their sovereign. The Greek ecclesiastics were themselves the subjects of the
civil magistrate: at the nod of a tyrant, the bishops were created, or
transferred, or deposed, or punished with an ignominious death: whatever mi=
ght
be their wealth or influence, they could never succeed like the Latin clerg=
y in
the establishment of an independent republic; and the patriarch of
Constantinople condemned, what he secretly envied, the temporal greatness of
his Roman brother. Yet the exercise of boundless despotism is happily check=
ed
by the laws of nature and necessity. In proportion to his wisdom and virtue,
the master of an empire is confined to the path of his sacred and laborious=
duty.
In proportion to his vice and folly, he drops the sceptre too weighty for h=
is
hands; and the motions of the royal image are ruled by the imperceptible th=
read
of some minister or favorite, who undertakes for his private interest to
exercise the task of the public oppression. In some fatal moment, the most
absolute monarch may dread the reason or the caprice of a nation of slaves;=
and
experience has proved, that whatever is gained in the extent, is lost in the
safety and solidity, of regal power.
Whatever titles a despot may assume, whatever
claims he may assert, it is on the sword that he must ultimately depend to
guard him against his foreign and domestic enemies. From the age of Charlem=
agne
to that of the Crusades, the world (for I overlook the remote monarchy of
China) was occupied and disputed by the three great empires or nations of t=
he Greeks,
the Saracens, and the Franks. Their military strength may be ascertained by=
a
comparison of their courage, their arts and riches, and their obedience to a
supreme head, who might call into action all the energies of the state. The
Greeks, far inferior to their rivals in the first, were superior to the Fra=
nks,
and at least equal to the Saracens, in the second and third of these warlike
qualifications.
The wealth of the Greeks enabled them to purch=
ase
the service of the poorer nations, and to maintain a naval power for the
protection of their coasts and the annoyance of their enemies. A commerce o=
f mutual
benefit exchanged the gold of Constantinople for the blood of Sclavonians a=
nd
Turks, the Bulgarians and Russians: their valor contributed to the victorie=
s of
Nicephorus and Zimisces; and if a hostile people pressed too closely on the
frontier, they were recalled to the defence of their country, and the desir=
e of
peace, by the well-managed attack of a more distant tribe. The command of t=
he Mediterranean,
from the mouth of the Tanais to the columns of Hercules, was always claimed,
and often possessed, by the successors of Constantine. Their capital was fi=
lled
with naval stores and dexterous artificers: the situation of Greece and Asi=
a,
the long coasts, deep gulfs, and numerous islands, accustomed their subject=
s to
the exercise of navigation; and the trade of Venice and Amalfi supplied a
nursery of seamen to the Imperial fleet. Since the time of the Peloponnesian
and Punic wars, the sphere of action had not been enlarged; and the science=
of
naval architecture appears to have declined. The art of constructing those
stupendous machines which displayed three, or six, or ten, ranges of oars,
rising above, or falling behind, each other, was unknown to the ship-builde=
rs
of Constantinople, as well as to the mechanicians of modern days. The Dromo=
nes,
or light galleys of the Byzantine empire, were content with two tier of oar=
s;
each tier was composed of five-and-twenty benches; and two rowers were seat=
ed
on each bench, who plied their oars on either side of the vessel. To these =
we
must add the captain or centurion, who, in time of action, stood erect with=
his
armor-bearer on the poop, two steersmen at the helm, and two officers at the
prow, the one to manage the anchor, the other to point and play against the
enemy the tube of liquid fire. The whole crew, as in the infancy of the art,
performed the double service of mariners and soldiers; they were provided w=
ith
defensive and offensive arms, with bows and arrows, which they used from the
upper deck, with long pikes, which they pushed through the portholes of the
lower tier. Sometimes, indeed, the ships of war were of a larger and more s=
olid
construction; and the labors of combat and navigation were more regularly
divided between seventy soldiers and two hundred and thirty mariners. But f=
or the
most part they were of the light and manageable size; and as the Cape of Ma=
lea
in Peloponnesus was still clothed with its ancient terrors, an Imperial fle=
et
was transported five miles over land across the Isthmus of Corinth. The
principles of maritime tactics had not undergone any change since the time =
of
Thucydides: a squadron of galleys still advanced in a crescent, charged to =
the
front, and strove to impel their sharp beaks against the feeble sides of th=
eir
antagonists. A machine for casting stones and darts was built of strong
timbers, in the midst of the deck; and the operation of boarding was effect=
ed
by a crane that hoisted baskets of armed men. The language of signals, so c=
lear
and copious in the naval grammar of the moderns, was imperfectly expressed =
by
the various positions and colors of a commanding flag. In the darkness of t=
he
night, the same orders to chase, to attack, to halt, to retreat, to break, =
to
form, were conveyed by the lights of the leading galley. By land, the
fire-signals were repeated from one mountain to another; a chain of eight
stations commanded a space of five hundred miles; and Constantinople in a f=
ew
hours was apprised of the hostile motions of the Saracens of Tarsus. Some
estimate may be formed of the power of the Greek emperors, by the curious a=
nd
minute detail of the armament which was prepared for the reduction of Crete=
. A
fleet of one hundred and twelve galleys, and seventy-five vessels of the
Pamphylian style, was equipped in the capital, the islands of the Æge=
an
Sea, and the seaports of Asia, Macedonia, and Greece. It carried thirty-fou=
r thousand
mariners, seven thousand three hundred and forty soldiers, seven hundred
Russians, and five thousand and eighty-seven Mardaites, whose fathers had b=
een
transplanted from the mountains of Libanus. Their pay, most probably of a
month, was computed at thirty-four centenaries of gold, about one hundred a=
nd
thirty-six thousand pounds sterling. Our fancy is bewildered by the endless
recapitulation of arms and engines, of clothes and linen, of bread for the =
men
and forage for the horses, and of stores and utensils of every description,
inadequate to the conquest of a petty island, but amply sufficient for the
establishment of a flourishing colony.
The invention of the Greek fire did not, like =
that
of gun powder, produce a total revolution in the art of war. To these liqui=
d combustibles
the city and empire of Constantine owed their deliverance; and they were
employed in sieges and sea-fights with terrible effect. But they were either
less improved, or less susceptible of improvement: the engines of antiquity,
the catapultæ, balistæ, and battering-rams, were still of most
frequent and powerful use in the attack and defence of fortifications; nor =
was
the decision of battles reduced to the quick and heavy fire of a line of
infantry, whom it were fruitless to protect with armor against a similar fi=
re
of their enemies. Steel and iron were still the common instruments of
destruction and safety; and the helmets, cuirasses, and shields, of the ten=
th
century did not, either in form or substance, essentially differ from those
which had covered the companions of Alexander or Achilles. But instead of a=
ccustoming
the modern Greeks, like the legionaries of old, to the constant and easy us=
e of
this salutary weight, their armor was laid aside in light chariots, which
followed the march, till, on the approach of an enemy, they resumed with ha=
ste
and reluctance the unusual encumbrance. Their offensive weapons consisted of
swords, battle-axes, and spears; but the Macedonian pike was shortened a fo=
urth
of its length, and reduced to the more convenient measure of twelve cubits =
or feet.
The sharpness of the Scythian and Arabian arrows had been severely felt; and
the emperors lament the decay of archery as a cause of the public misfortun=
es,
and recommend, as an advice and a command, that the military youth, till the
age of forty, should assiduously practise the exercise of the bow. The band=
s,
or regiments, were usually three hundred strong; and, as a medium between t=
he
extremes of four and sixteen, the foot soldiers of Leo and Constantine were
formed eight deep; but the cavalry charged in four ranks, from the reasonab=
le consideration,
that the weight of the front could not be increased by any pressure of the
hindmost horses. If the ranks of the infantry or cavalry were sometimes
doubled, this cautious array betrayed a secret distrust of the courage of t=
he
troops, whose numbers might swell the appearance of the line, but of whom o=
nly
a chosen band would dare to encounter the spears and swords of the Barbaria=
ns.
The order of battle must have varied according to the ground, the object, a=
nd
the adversary; but their ordinary disposition, in two lines and a reserve,
presented a succession of hopes and resources most agreeable to the temper =
as
well as the judgment of the Greeks. In case of a repulse, the first line fe=
ll back
into the intervals of the second; and the reserve, breaking into two divisi=
ons,
wheeled round the flanks to improve the victory or cover the retreat. Whate=
ver
authority could enact was accomplished, at least in theory, by the camps and
marches, the exercises and evolutions, the edicts and books, of the Byzanti=
ne
monarch. Whatever art could produce from the forge, the loom, or the
laboratory, was abundantly supplied by the riches of the prince, and the
industry of his numerous workmen. But neither authority nor art could frame=
the
most important machine, the soldier himself; and if the ceremonies of
Constantine always suppose the safe and triumphal return of the emperor, his
tactics seldom soar above the means of escaping a defeat, and procrastinati=
ng
the war. Notwithstanding some transient success, the Greeks were sunk in th=
eir own
esteem and that of their neighbors. A cold hand and a loquacious tongue was=
the
vulgar description of the nation: the author of the tactics was besieged in=
his
capital; and the last of the Barbarians, who trembled at the name of the
Saracens, or Franks, could proudly exhibit the medals of gold and silver wh=
ich
they had extorted from the feeble sovereign of Constantinople. What spirit
their government and character denied, might have been inspired in some deg=
ree
by the influence of religion; but the religion of the Greeks could only tea=
ch
them to suffer and to yield. The emperor Nicephorus, who restored for a mom=
ent
the discipline and glory of the Roman name, was desirous of bestowing the h=
onors
of martyrdom on the Christians who lost their lives in a holy war against t=
he
infidels. But this political law was defeated by the opposition of the
patriarch, the bishops, and the principal senators; and they strenuously ur=
ged
the canons of St. Basil, that all who were polluted by the bloody trade of a
soldier should be separated, during three years, from the communion of the
faithful.
These scruples of the Greeks have been compared
with the tears of the primitive Moslems when they were held back from battl=
e;
and this contrast of base superstition and high-spirited enthusiasm, unfold=
s to
a philosophic eye the history of the rival nations. The subjects of the last
caliphs had undoubtedly degenerated from the zeal and faith of the companio=
ns
of the prophet. Yet their martial creed still represented the Deity as the
author of war: the vital though latent spark of fanaticism still glowed in =
the
heart of their religion, and among the Saracens, who dwelt on the Christian
borders, it was frequently rekindled to a lively and active flame. Their
regular force was formed of the valiant slaves who had been educated to gua=
rd
the person and accompany the standard of their lord: but the Mussulman peop=
le
of Syria and Cilicia, of Africa and Spain, was awakened by the trumpet which
proclaimed a holy war against the infidels. The rich were ambitious of deat=
h or
victory in the cause of God; the poor were allured by the hopes of plunder;=
and
the old, the infirm, and the women, assumed their share of meritorious serv=
ice
by sending their substitutes, with arms and horses, into the field. These o=
ffensive
and defensive arms were similar in strength and temper to those of the Roma=
ns,
whom they far excelled in the management of the horse and the bow: the massy
silver of their belts, their bridles, and their swords, displayed the
magnificence of a prosperous nation; and except some black archers of the
South, the Arabs disdained the naked bravery of their ancestors. Instead of
wagons, they were attended by a long train of camels, mules, and asses: the
multitude of these animals, whom they bedecked with flags and streamers,
appeared to swell the pomp and magnitude of their host; and the horses of t=
he
enemy were often disordered by the uncouth figure and odious smell of the c=
amels
of the East. Invincible by their patience of thirst and heat, their spirits=
were
frozen by a winter's cold, and the consciousness of their propensity to sle=
ep
exacted the most rigorous precautions against the surprises of the night. T=
heir
order of battle was a long square of two deep and solid lines; the first of
archers, the second of cavalry. In their engagements by sea and land, they
sustained with patient firmness the fury of the attack, and seldom advanced=
to
the charge till they could discern and oppress the lassitude of their foes.=
But
if they were repulsed and broken, they knew not how to rally or renew the
combat; and their dismay was heightened by the superstitious prejudice, that
God had declared himself on the side of their enemies. The decline and fall=
of the
caliphs countenanced this fearful opinion; nor were there wanting, among the
Mahometans and Christians, some obscure prophecies which prognosticated the=
ir
alternate defeats. The unity of the Arabian empire was dissolved, but the
independent fragments were equal to populous and powerful kingdoms; and in
their naval and military armaments, an emir of Aleppo or Tunis might comman=
d no
despicable fund of skill, and industry, and treasure. In their transactions=
of
peace and war with the Saracens, the princes of Constantinople too often fe=
lt
that these Barbarians had nothing barbarous in their discipline; and that if
they were destitute of original genius, they had been endowed with a quick
spirit of curiosity and imitation. The model was indeed more perfect than t=
he copy;
their ships, and engines, and fortifications, were of a less skilful
construction; and they confess, without shame, that the same God who has gi=
ven
a tongue to the Arabians, had more nicely fashioned the hands of the Chines=
e,
and the heads of the Greeks.
A name of some German tribes between the Rhine=
and
the Weser had spread its victorious influence over the greatest part of Gau=
l,
Germany, and Italy; and the common appellation of Franks was applied by the
Greeks and Arabians to the Christians of the Latin church, the nations of t=
he
West, who stretched beyond their knowledge to the shores of the Atlantic Oc=
ean.
The vast body had been inspired and united by the soul of Charlemagne; but =
the
division and degeneracy of his race soon annihilated the Imperial power, wh=
ich
would have rivalled the Cæsars of Byzantium, and revenged the indigni=
ties
of the Christian name. The enemies no longer feared, nor could the subjects=
any
longer trust, the application of a public revenue, the labors of trade and
manufactures in the military service, the mutual aid of provinces and armie=
s,
and the naval squadrons which were regularly stationed from the mouth of th=
e Elbe
to that of the Tyber. In the beginning of the tenth century, the family of
Charlemagne had almost disappeared; his monarchy was broken into many hosti=
le
and independent states; the regal title was assumed by the most ambitious
chiefs; their revolt was imitated in a long subordination of anarchy and
discord, and the nobles of every province disobeyed their sovereign, oppres=
sed
their vassals, and exercised perpetual hostilities against their equals and
neighbors. Their private wars, which overturned the fabric of government,
fomented the martial spirit of the nation. In the system of modern Europe, =
the
power of the sword is possessed, at least in fact, by five or six mighty
potentates; their operations are conducted on a distant frontier, by an ord=
er
of men who devote their lives to the study and practice of the military art=
: the
rest of the country and community enjoys in the midst of war the tranquilli=
ty
of peace, and is only made sensible of the change by the aggravation or
decrease of the public taxes. In the disorders of the tenth and eleventh
centuries, every peasant was a soldier, and every village a fortification; =
each
wood or valley was a scene of murder and rapine; and the lords of each cast=
le
were compelled to assume the character of princes and warriors. To their own
courage and policy they boldly trusted for the safety of their family, the
protection of their lands, and the revenge of their injuries; and, like the
conquerors of a larger size, they were too apt to transgress the privilege =
of
defensive war. The powers of the mind and body were hardened by the presenc=
e of
danger and necessity of resolution: the same spirit refused to desert a fri=
end
and to forgive an enemy; and, instead of sleeping under the guardian care o=
f a
magistrate, they proudly disdained the authority of the laws. In the days of
feudal anarchy, the instruments of agriculture and art were converted into =
the
weapons of bloodshed: the peaceful occupations of civil and ecclesiastical
society were abolished or corrupted; and the bishop who exchanged his mitre=
for
a helmet, was more forcibly urged by the manners of the times than by the
obligation of his tenure.
The love of freedom and of arms was felt, with
conscious pride, by the Franks themselves, and is observed by the Greeks wi=
th
some degree of amazement and terror. "The Franks," says the emper=
or
Constantine, "are bold and valiant to the verge of temerity; and their
dauntless spirit is supported by the contempt of danger and death. In the f=
ield
and in close onset, they press to the front, and rush headlong against the
enemy, without deigning to compute either his numbers or their own. Their r=
anks
are formed by the firm connections of consanguinity and friendship; and the=
ir
martial deeds are prompted by the desire of saving or revenging their deare=
st
companions. In their eyes, a retreat is a shameful flight; and flight is
indelible infamy." A nation endowed with such high and intrepid spirit,
must have been secure of victory if these advantages had not been
counter-balanced by many weighty defects. The decay of their naval power le=
ft
the Greeks and Saracens in possession of the sea, for every purpose of
annoyance and supply. In the age which preceded the institution of knightho=
od,
the Franks were rude and unskilful in the service of cavalry; and in all
perilous emergencies, their warriors were so conscious of their ignorance, =
that
they chose to dismount from their horses and fight on foot. Unpractised in =
the
use of pikes, or of missile weapons, they were encumbered by the length of
their swords, the weight of their armor, the magnitude of their shields, an=
d,
if I may repeat the satire of the meagre Greeks, by their unwieldy
intemperance. Their independent spirit disdained the yoke of subordination,=
and
abandoned the standard of their chief, if he attempted to keep the field be=
yond
the term of their stipulation or service. On all sides they were open to the
snares of an enemy less brave but more artful than themselves. They might be
bribed, for the Barbarians were venal; or surprised in the night, for they
neglected the precautions of a close encampment or vigilant sentinels. The
fatigues of a summer's campaign exhausted their strength and patience, and =
they
sunk in despair if their voracious appetite was disappointed of a plentiful
supply of wine and of food. This general character of the Franks was marked
with some national and local shades, which I should ascribe to accident rat=
her
than to climate, but which were visible both to natives and to foreigners. =
An
ambassador of the great Otho declared, in the palace of Constantinople, that
the Saxons could dispute with swords better than with pens, and that they p=
referred
inevitable death to the dishonor of turning their backs to an enemy. It was=
the
glory of the nobles of France, that, in their humble dwellings, war and rap=
ine
were the only pleasure, the sole occupation, of their lives. They affected =
to
deride the palaces, the banquets, the polished manner of the Italians, who =
in
the estimate of the Greeks themselves had degenerated from the liberty and
valor of the ancient Lombards.
By the well-known edict of Caracalla, his
subjects, from Britain to Egypt, were entitled to the name and privileges of
Romans, and their national sovereign might fix his occasional or permanent
residence in any province of their common country. In the division of the E=
ast
and West, an ideal unity was scrupulously observed, and in their titles, la=
ws,
and statutes, the successors of Arcadius and Honorius announced themselves =
as
the inseparable colleagues of the same office, as the joint sovereigns of t=
he
Roman world and city, which were bounded by the same limits. After the fall=
of
the Western monarchy, the majesty of the purple resided solely in the princ=
es
of Constantinople; and of these, Justinian was the first who, after a divor=
ce
of sixty years, regained the dominion of ancient Rome, and asserted, by the
right of conquest, the august title of Emperor of the Romans. A motive of
vanity or discontent solicited one of his successors, Constans the Second, =
to abandon
the Thracian Bosphorus, and to restore the pristine honors of the Tyber: an
extravagant project, (exclaims the malicious Byzantine,) as if he had despo=
iled
a beautiful and blooming virgin, to enrich, or rather to expose, the deform=
ity
of a wrinkled and decrepit matron. But the sword of the Lombards opposed his
settlement in Italy: he entered Rome not as a conqueror, but as a fugitive,
and, after a visit of twelve days, he pillaged, and forever deserted, the
ancient capital of the world. The final revolt and separation of Italy was
accomplished about two centuries after the conquests of Justinian, and from=
his
reign we may date the gradual oblivion of the Latin tongue. That legislator=
had
composed his Institutes, his Code, and his Pandects, in a language which he
celebrates as the proper and public style of the Roman government, the
consecrated idiom of the palace and senate of Constantinople, of the campus=
and
tribunals of the East. But this foreign dialect was unknown to the people a=
nd
soldiers of the Asiatic provinces, it was imperfectly understood by the gre=
ater
part of the interpreters of the laws and the ministers of the state. After a
short conflict, nature and habit prevailed over the obsolete institutions of
human power: for the general benefit of his subjects, Justinian promulgated=
his
novels in the two languages: the several parts of his voluminous jurisprude=
nce
were successively translated; the original was forgotten, the version was s=
tudied,
and the Greek, whose intrinsic merit deserved indeed the preference, obtain=
ed a
legal, as well as popular establishment in the Byzantine monarchy. The birth
and residence of succeeding princes estranged them from the Roman idiom:
Tiberius by the Arabs, and Maurice by the Italians, are distinguished as the
first of the Greek Cæsars, as the founders of a new dynasty and empir=
e:
the silent revolution was accomplished before the death of Heraclius; and t=
he
ruins of the Latin speech were darkly preserved in the terms of jurispruden=
ce
and the acclamations of the palace. After the restoration of the Western em=
pire
by Charlemagne and the Othos, the names of Franks and Latins acquired an eq=
ual
signification and extent; and these haughty Barbarians asserted, with some
justice, their superior claim to the language and dominion of Rome. They
insulted the alien of the East who had renounced the dress and idiom of Rom=
ans;
and their reasonable practice will justify the frequent appellation of Gree=
ks.
But this contemptuous appellation was indignantly rejected by the prince and
people to whom it was applied. Whatsoever changes had been introduced by the
lapse of ages, they alleged a lineal and unbroken succession from Augustus =
and
Constantine; and, in the lowest period of degeneracy and decay, the name of
Romans adhered to the last fragments of the empire of Constantinople.
While the government of the East was transacte=
d in
Latin, the Greek was the language of literature and philosophy; nor could t=
he
masters of this rich and perfect idiom be tempted to envy the borrowed lear=
ning
and imitative taste of their Roman disciples. After the fall of Paganism, t=
he
loss of Syria and Egypt, and the extinction of the schools of Alexandria and
Athens, the studies of the Greeks insensibly retired to some regular
monasteries, and above all, to the royal college of Constantinople, which w=
as
burnt in the reign of Leo the Isaurian. In the pompous style of the age, the
president of that foundation was named the Sun of Science: his twelve
associates, the professors in the different arts and faculties, were the tw=
elve
signs of the zodiac; a library of thirty-six thousand five hundred volumes =
was
open to their inquiries; and they could show an ancient manuscript of Homer=
, on
a roll of parchment one hundred and twenty feet in length, the intestines, =
as
it was fabled, of a prodigious serpent. But the seventh and eight centuries=
were
a period of discord and darkness: the library was burnt, the college was
abolished, the Iconoclasts are represented as the foes of antiquity; and a
savage ignorance and contempt of letters has disgraced the princes of the
Heraclean and Isaurian dynasties.
In the ninth century we trace the first dawnin=
gs
of the restoration of science. After the fanaticism of the Arabs had subsid=
ed,
the caliphs aspired to conquer the arts, rather than the provinces, of the
empire: their liberal curiosity rekindled the emulation of the Greeks, brus=
hed away
the dust from their ancient libraries, and taught them to know and reward t=
he
philosophers, whose labors had been hitherto repaid by the pleasure of study
and the pursuit of truth. The Cæsar Bardas, the uncle of Michael the
Third, was the generous protector of letters, a title which alone has prese=
rved
his memory and excused his ambition. A particle of the treasures of his nep=
hew
was sometimes diverted from the indulgence of vice and folly; a school was
opened in the palace of Magnaura; and the presence of Bardas excited the
emulation of the masters and students. At their head was the philosopher Le=
o,
archbishop of Thessalonica: his profound skill in astronomy and the mathema=
tics
was admired by the strangers of the East; and this occult science was magni=
fied
by vulgar credulity, which modestly supposes that all knowledge superior to=
its
own must be the effect of inspiration or magic. At the pressing entreaty of=
the
Cæsar, his friend, the celebrated Photius, renounced the freedom of a
secular and studious life, ascended the patriarchal throne, and was alterna=
tely
excommunicated and absolved by the synods of the East and West. By the
confession even of priestly hatred, no art or science, except poetry, was
foreign to this universal scholar, who was deep in thought, indefatigable in
reading, and eloquent in diction. Whilst he exercised the office of
protospathaire or captain of the guards, Photius was sent ambassador to the
caliph of Bagdad. The tedious hours of exile, perhaps of confinement, were
beguiled by the hasty composition of his Library, a living monument of
erudition and criticism. Two hundred and fourscore writers, historians,
orators, philosophers, theologians, are reviewed without any regular method=
: he
abridges their narrative or doctrine, appreciates their style and character,
and judges even the fathers of the church with a discreet freedom, which of=
ten
breaks through the superstition of the times. The emperor Basil, who lament=
ed
the defects of his own education, intrusted to the care of Photius his son =
and
successor, Leo the philosopher; and the reign of that prince and of his son
Constantine Porphyrogenitus forms one of the most prosperous æras of =
the
Byzantine literature. By their munificence the treasures of antiquity were
deposited in the Imperial library; by their pens, or those of their associa=
tes,
they were imparted in such extracts and abridgments as might amuse the
curiosity, without oppressing the indolence, of the public. Besides the
Basilics, or code of laws, the arts of husbandry and war, of feeding or
destroying the human species, were propagated with equal diligence; and the
history of Greece and Rome was digested into fifty-three heads or titles, o=
f which
two only (of embassies, and of virtues and vices) have escaped the injuries=
of
time. In every station, the reader might contemplate the image of the past
world, apply the lesson or warning of each page, and learn to admire, perha=
ps
to imitate, the examples of a brighter period. I shall not expatiate on the
works of the Byzantine Greeks, who, by the assiduous study of the ancients,
have deserved, in some measure, the remembrance and gratitude of the modern=
s.
The scholars of the present age may still enjoy the benefit of the
philosophical commonplace book of Stobæus, the grammatical and histor=
ical
lexicon of Suidas, the Chiliads of Tzetzes, which comprise six hundred
narratives in twelve thousand verses, and the commentaries on Homer of
Eustathius, archbishop of Thessalonica, who, from his horn of plenty, has
poured the names and authorities of four hundred writers. From these origin=
als,
and from the numerous tribe of scholiasts and critics, some estimate may be
formed of the literary wealth of the twelfth century: Constantinople was en=
lightened
by the genius of Homer and Demosthenes, of Aristotle and Plato: and in the
enjoyment or neglect of our present riches, we must envy the generation that
could still peruse the history of Theopompus, the orations of Hyperides, the
comedies of Menander, and the odes of Alcæus and Sappho. The frequent
labor of illustration attests not only the existence, but the popularity, of
the Grecian classics: the general knowledge of the age may be deduced from =
the
example of two learned females, the empress Eudocia, and the princess Anna
Comnena, who cultivated, in the purple, the arts of rhetoric and philosophy.
The vulgar dialect of the city was gross and barbarous: a more correct and
elaborate style distinguished the discourse, or at least the compositions, =
of
the church and palace, which sometimes affected to copy the purity of the A=
ttic
models.
In our modern education, the painful though
necessary attainment of two languages, which are no longer living, may cons=
ume
the time and damp the ardor of the youthful student. The poets and orators =
were
long imprisoned in the barbarous dialects of our Western ancestors, devoid =
of
harmony or grace; and their genius, without precept or example, was abandon=
ed
to the rule and native powers of their judgment and fancy. But the Greeks of
Constantinople, after purging away the impurities of their vulgar speech,
acquired the free use of their ancient language, the most happy composition=
of
human art, and a familiar knowledge of the sublime masters who had pleased =
or
instructed the first of nations. But these advantages only tend to aggravate
the reproach and shame of a degenerate people. They held in their lifeless
hands the riches of their fathers, without inheriting the spirit which had
created and improved that sacred patrimony: they read, they praised, they
compiled, but their languid souls seemed alike incapable of thought and act=
ion.
In the revolution of ten centuries, not a single discovery was made to exalt
the dignity or promote the happiness of mankind. Not a single idea has been
added to the speculative systems of antiquity, and a succession of patient =
disciples
became in their turn the dogmatic teachers of the next servile generation. =
Not
a single composition of history, philosophy, or literature, has been saved =
from
oblivion by the intrinsic beauties of style or sentiment, of original fancy=
, or
even of successful imitation. In prose, the least offensive of the Byzantine
writers are absolved from censure by their naked and unpresuming simplicity:
but the orators, most eloquent in their own conceit, are the farthest remov=
ed
from the models whom they affect to emulate. In every page our taste and re=
ason
are wounded by the choice of gigantic and obsolete words, a stiff and intri=
cate
phraseology, the discord of images, the childish play of false or unseasona=
ble
ornament, and the painful attempt to elevate themselves, to astonish the
reader, and to involve a trivial meaning in the smoke of obscurity and
exaggeration. Their prose is soaring to the vicious affectation of poetry:
their poetry is sinking below the flatness and insipidity of prose. The tra=
gic,
epic, and lyric muses, were silent and inglorious: the bards of Constantino=
ple
seldom rose above a riddle or epigram, a panegyric or tale; they forgot even
the rules of prosody; and with the melody of Homer yet sounding in their ea=
rs,
they confound all measure of feet and syllables in the impotent strains whi=
ch
have received the name of political or city verses. The minds of the Greek =
were
bound in the fetters of a base and imperious superstition which extends her
dominion round the circle of profane science. Their understandings were
bewildered in metaphysical controversy: in the belief of visions and miracl=
es,
they had lost all principles of moral evidence, and their taste was vitiate=
s by
the homilies of the monks, an absurd medley of declamation and Scripture. E=
ven
these contemptible studies were no longer dignified by the abuse of superior
talents: the leaders of the Greek church were humbly content to admire and =
copy
the oracles of antiquity, nor did the schools of pulpit produce any rivals =
of
the fame of Athanasius and Chrysostom.
In all the pursuits of active and speculative
life, the emulation of states and individuals is the most powerful spring of
the efforts and improvements of mankind. The cities of ancient Greece were =
cast
in the happy mixture of union and independence, which is repeated on a larg=
er scale,
but in a looser form, by the nations of modern Europe; the union of languag=
e,
religion, and manners, which renders them the spectators and judges of each
other's merit; the independence of government and interest, which asserts t=
heir
separate freedom, and excites them to strive for preëminence in the ca=
reer
of glory. The situation of the Romans was less favorable; yet in the early =
ages
of the republic, which fixed the national character, a similar emulation was
kindled among the states of Latium and Italy; and in the arts and sciences,
they aspired to equal or surpass their Grecian masters. The empire of the
Cæsars undoubtedly checked the activity and progress of the human min=
d;
its magnitude might indeed allow some scope for domestic competition; but w=
hen
it was gradually reduced, at first to the East and at last to Greece and
Constantinople, the Byzantine subjects were degraded to an abject and langu=
id
temper, the natural effect of their solitary and insulated state. From the
North they were oppressed by nameless tribes of Barbarians, to whom they
scarcely imparted the appellation of men. The language and religion of the =
more
polished Arabs were an insurmountable bar to all social intercourse. The
conquerors of Europe were their brethren in the Christian faith; but the sp=
eech
of the Franks or Latins was unknown, their manners were rude, and they were
rarely connected, in peace or war, with the successors of Heraclius. Alone =
in the
universe, the self-satisfied pride of the Greeks was not disturbed by the
comparison of foreign merit; and it is no wonder if they fainted in the rac=
e,
since they had neither competitors to urge their speed, nor judges to crown
their victory. The nations of Europe and Asia were mingled by the expeditio=
ns
to the Holy Land; and it is under the Comnenian dynasty that a faint emulat=
ion
of knowledge and military virtue was rekindled in the Byzantine empire.
Origin And Doctr=
ine Of
The Paulicians.--Their Persecution By The Greek
Emperors.--Revolt In Armenia &c.--Transplantation Into
Thrace.--Propagation In The West.--The Seeds, Character, =
And
Consequences Of The Reformation.
In the profession of Christianity, the variety=
of
national characters may be clearly distinguished. The natives of Syria and
Egypt abandoned their lives to lazy and contemplative devotion: Rome again
aspired to the dominion of the world; and the wit of the lively and loquaci=
ous Greeks
was consumed in the disputes of metaphysical theology. The incomprehensible
mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation, instead of commanding their silen=
t submission,
were agitated in vehement and subtile controversies, which enlarged their f=
aith
at the expense, perhaps, of their charity and reason. From the council of N=
ice
to the end of the seventh century, the peace and unity of the church was in=
vaded
by these spiritual wars; and so deeply did they affect the decline and fall=
of
the empire, that the historian has too often been compelled to attend the
synods, to explore the creeds, and to enumerate the sects, of this busy per=
iod
of ecclesiastical annals. From the beginning of the eighth century to the l=
ast
ages of the Byzantine empire, the sound of controversy was seldom heard:
curiosity was exhausted, zeal was fatigued, and, in the decrees of six
councils, the articles of the Catholic faith had been irrevocably defined. =
The
spirit of dispute, however vain and pernicious, requires some energy and ex=
ercise
of the mental faculties; and the prostrate Greeks were content to fast, to
pray, and to believe in blind obedience to the patriarch and his clergy. Du=
ring
a long dream of superstition, the Virgin and the Saints, their visions and
miracles, their relics and images, were preached by the monks, and worshipp=
ed
by the people; and the appellation of people might be extended, without
injustice, to the first ranks of civil society. At an unseasonable moment, =
the
Isaurian emperors attempted somewhat rudely to awaken their subjects: under
their influence reason might obtain some proselytes, a far greater number w=
as swayed
by interest or fear; but the Eastern world embraced or deplored their visib=
le
deities, and the restoration of images was celebrated as the feast of
orthodoxy. In this passive and unanimous state the ecclesiastical rulers we=
re
relieved from the toil, or deprived of the pleasure, of persecution. The Pa=
gans
had disappeared; the Jews were silent and obscure; the disputes with the La=
tins
were rare and remote hostilities against a national enemy; and the sects of
Egypt and Syria enjoyed a free toleration under the shadow of the Arabian
caliphs. About the middle of the seventh century, a branch of Manichæ=
ans
was selected as the victims of spiritual tyranny; their patience was at len=
gth exasperated
to despair and rebellion; and their exile has scattered over the West the s=
eeds
of reformation. These important events will justify some inquiry into the
doctrine and story of the Paulicians; and, as they cannot plead for themsel=
ves,
our candid criticism will magnify the good, and abate or suspect the evil, =
that
is reported by their adversaries.
The Gnostics, who had distracted the infancy, =
were
oppressed by the greatness and authority, of the church. Instead of emulati=
ng
or surpassing the wealth, learning, and numbers of the Catholics, their obs=
cure
remnant was driven from the capitals of the East and West, and confined to =
the
villages and mountains along the borders of the Euphrates. Some vestige of =
the
Marcionites may be detected in the fifth century; but the numerous sects we=
re
finally lost in the odious name of the Manichæans; and these heretics,
who presumed to reconcile the doctrines of Zoroaster and Christ, were pursu=
ed
by the two religions with equal and unrelenting hatred. Under the grandson =
of
Heraclius, in the neighborhood of Samosata, more famous for the birth of Lu=
cian
than for the title of a Syrian kingdom, a reformer arose, esteemed by the P=
aulicians
as the chosen messenger of truth. In his humble dwelling of Mananalis,
Constantine entertained a deacon, who returned from Syrian captivity, and
received the inestimable gift of the New Testament, which was already conce=
aled
from the vulgar by the prudence of the Greek, and perhaps of the Gnostic,
clergy. These books became the measure of his studies and the rule of his
faith; and the Catholics, who dispute his interpretation, acknowledge that =
his
text was genuine and sincere. But he attached himself with peculiar devotio=
n to
the writings and character of St. Paul: the name of the Paulicians is deriv=
ed
by their enemies from some unknown and domestic teacher; but I am confident
that they gloried in their affinity to the apostle of the Gentiles. His
disciples, Titus, Timothy, Sylvanus, Tychicus, were represented by Constant=
ine
and his fellow-laborers: the names of the apostolic churches were applied to
the congregations which they assembled in Armenia and Cappadocia; and this =
innocent
allegory revived the example and memory of the first ages. In the Gospel, a=
nd
the Epistles of St. Paul, his faithful follower investigated the Creed of
primitive Christianity; and, whatever might be the success, a Protestant re=
ader
will applaud the spirit, of the inquiry. But if the Scriptures of the
Paulicians were pure, they were not perfect. Their founders rejected the two
Epistles of St. Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, whose dispute with
their favorite for the observance of the law could not easily be forgiven. =
They
agreed with their Gnostic brethren in the universal contempt for the Old
Testament, the books of Moses and the prophets, which have been consecrated=
by
the decrees of the Catholic church. With equal boldness, and doubtless with=
more
reason, Constantine, the new Sylvanus, disclaimed the visions, which, in so
many bulky and splendid volumes, had been published by the Oriental sects; =
the
fabulous productions of the Hebrew patriarchs and the sages of the East; the
spurious gospels, epistles, and acts, which in the first age had overwhelmed
the orthodox code; the theology of Manes, and the authors of the kindred
heresies; and the thirty generations, or æons, which had been created=
by
the fruitful fancy of Valentine. The Paulicians sincerely condemned the mem=
ory
and opinions of the Manichæan sect, and complained of the injustice w=
hich
impressed that invidious name on the simple votaries of St. Paul and of Chr=
ist.
Of the ecclesiastical chain, many links had be=
en
broken by the Paulician reformers; and their liberty was enlarged, as they
reduced the number of masters, at whose voice profane reason must bow to
mystery and miracle. The early separation of the Gnostics had preceded the
establishment of the Catholic worship; and against the gradual innovations =
of
discipline and doctrine they were as strongly guarded by habit and aversion=
, as
by the silence of St. Paul and the evangelists. The objects which had been =
transformed
by the magic of superstition, appeared to the eyes of the Paulicians in the=
ir
genuine and naked colors. An image made without hands was the common
workmanship of a mortal artist, to whose skill alone the wood and canvas mu=
st
be indebted for their merit or value. The miraculous relics were a heap of
bones and ashes, destitute of life or virtue, or of any relation, perhaps, =
with
the person to whom they were ascribed. The true and vivifying cross was a p=
iece
of sound or rotten timber, the body and blood of Christ, a loaf of bread an=
d a
cup of wine, the gifts of nature and the symbols of grace. The mother of God
was degraded from her celestial honors and immaculate virginity; and the sa=
ints
and angels were no longer solicited to exercise the laborious office of
meditation in heaven, and ministry upon earth. In the practice, or at least=
in
the theory, of the sacraments, the Paulicians were inclined to abolish all
visible objects of worship, and the words of the gospel were, in their
judgment, the baptism and communion of the faithful. They indulged a conven=
ient
latitude for the interpretation of Scripture: and as often as they were pre=
ssed
by the literal sense, they could escape to the intricate mazes of figure and
allegory. Their utmost diligence must have been employed to dissolve the
connection between the Old and the New Testament; since they adored the lat=
ter
as the oracles of God, and abhorred the former as the fabulous and absurd
invention of men or dæmons. We cannot be surprised, that they should =
have
found in the Gospel the orthodox mystery of the Trinity: but, instead of co=
nfessing
the human nature and substantial sufferings of Christ, they amused their fa=
ncy
with a celestial body that passed through the virgin like water through a p=
ipe;
with a fantastic crucifixion, that eluded the vain and important malice of =
the
Jews. A creed thus simple and spiritual was not adapted to the genius of the
times; and the rational Christian, who might have been contented with the l=
ight
yoke and easy burden of Jesus and his apostles, was justly offended, that t=
he
Paulicians should dare to violate the unity of God, the first article of
natural and revealed religion. Their belief and their trust was in the Fath=
er,
of Christ, of the human soul, and of the invisible world. But they likewise=
held
the eternity of matter; a stubborn and rebellious substance, the origin of a
second principle of an active being, who has created this visible world, and
exercises his temporal reign till the final consummation of death and sin. =
The
appearances of moral and physical evil had established the two principles in
the ancient philosophy and religion of the East; from whence this doctrine =
was
transfused to the various swarms of the Gnostics. A thousand shades may be
devised in the nature and character of Ahriman, from a rival god to a
subordinate dæmon, from passion and frailty to pure and perfect
malevolence: but, in spite of our efforts, the goodness, and the power, of
Ormusd are placed at the opposite extremities of the line; and every step t=
hat
approaches the one must recede in equal proportion from the other.
The apostolic labors of Constantine Sylvanus s=
oon
multiplied the number of his disciples, the secret recompense of spiritual
ambition. The remnant of the Gnostic sects, and especially the Manichæ=
;ans
of Armenia, were united under his standard; many Catholics were converted or
seduced by his arguments; and he preached with success in the regions of Po=
ntus
and Cappadocia, which had long since imbibed the religion of Zoroaster. The
Paulician teachers were distinguished only by their Scriptural names, by the
modest title of Fellow-pilgrims, by the austerity of their lives, their zea=
l or
knowledge, and the credit of some extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. B=
ut
they were incapable of desiring, or at least of obtaining, the wealth and
honors of the Catholic prelacy; such anti-Christian pride they bitterly
censured; and even the rank of elders or presbyters was condemned as an
institution of the Jewish synagogue. The new sect was loosely spread over t=
he
provinces of Asia Minor to the westward of the Euphrates; six of their
principal congregations represented the churches to which St. Paul had
addressed his epistles; and their founder chose his residence in the
neighborhood of Colonia, in the same district of Pontus which had been
celebrated by the altars of Bellona and the miracles of Gregory. After a
mission of twenty-seven years, Sylvanus, who had retired from the tolerating
government of the Arabs, fell a sacrifice to Roman persecution. The laws of=
the
pious emperors, which seldom touched the lives of less odious heretics, pro=
scribed
without mercy or disguise the tenets, the books, and the persons of the
Montanists and Manichæans: the books were delivered to the flames; and
all who should presume to secrete such writings, or to profess such opinion=
s,
were devoted to an ignominious death. A Greek minister, armed with legal and
military powers, appeared at Colonia to strike the shepherd, and to reclaim=
, if
possible, the lost sheep. By a refinement of cruelty, Simeon placed the
unfortunate Sylvanus before a line of his disciples, who were commanded, as=
the
price of their pardon and the proof of their repentance, to massacre their
spiritual father. They turned aside from the impious office; the stones dro=
pped
from their filial hands, and of the whole number, only one executioner coul=
d be
found, a new David, as he is styled by the Catholics, who boldly overthrew =
the
giant of heresy. This apostate (Justin was his name) again deceived and
betrayed his unsuspecting brethren, and a new conformity to the acts of St.
Paul may be found in the conversion of Simeon: like the apostle, he embraced
the doctrine which he had been sent to persecute, renounced his honors and
fortunes, and required among the Paulicians the fame of a missionary and a
martyr. They were not ambitious of martyrdom, but in a calamitous period of=
one
hundred and fifty years, their patience sustained whatever zeal could infli=
ct;
and power was insufficient to eradicate the obstinate vegetation of fanatic=
ism
and reason. From the blood and ashes of the first victims, a succession of
teachers and congregations repeatedly arose: amidst their foreign hostiliti=
es,
they found leisure for domestic quarrels: they preached, they disputed, they
suffered; and the virtues, the apparent virtues, of Sergius, in a pilgrimag=
e of
thirty-three years, are reluctantly confessed by the orthodox historians. T=
he
native cruelty of Justinian the Second was stimulated by a pious cause; and=
he
vainly hoped to extinguish, in a single conflagration, the name and memory =
of
the Paulicians. By their primitive simplicity, their abhorrence of popular =
superstition,
the Iconoclast princes might have been reconciled to some erroneous doctrin=
es;
but they themselves were exposed to the calumnies of the monks, and they ch=
ose
to be the tyrants, lest they should be accused as the accomplices, of the
Manichæans. Such a reproach has sullied the clemency of Nicephorus, w=
ho
relaxed in their favor the severity of the penal statutes, nor will his
character sustain the honor of a more liberal motive. The feeble Michael the
First, the rigid Leo the Armenian, were foremost in the race of persecution;
but the prize must doubtless be adjudged to the sanguinary devotion of
Theodora, who restored the images to the Oriental church. Her inquisitors
explored the cities and mountains of the Lesser Asia, and the flatterers of=
the
empress have affirmed that, in a short reign, one hundred thousand Paulicia=
ns
were extirpated by the sword, the gibbet, or the flames. Her guilt or merit=
has
perhaps been stretched beyond the measure of truth: but if the account be
allowed, it must be presumed that many simple Iconoclasts were punished und=
er a
more odious name; and that some who were driven from the church, unwillingly
took refuge in the bosom of heresy.
The most furious and desperate of rebels are t=
he
sectaries of a religion long persecuted, and at length provoked. In a holy
cause they are no longer susceptible of fear or remorse: the justice of the=
ir
arms hardens them against the feelings of humanity; and they revenge their =
fathers'
wrongs on the children of their tyrants. Such have been the Hussites of Boh=
emia
and the Calvinists of France, and such, in the ninth century, were the
Paulicians of Armenia and the adjacent provinces. They were first awakened =
to
the massacre of a governor and bishop, who exercised the Imperial mandate of
converting or destroying the heretics; and the deepest recesses of Mount
Argæus protected their independence and revenge. A more dangerous and
consuming flame was kindled by the persecution of Theodora, and the revolt =
of
Carbeas, a valiant Paulician, who commanded the guards of the general of the
East. His father had been impaled by the Catholic inquisitors; and religion=
, or
at least nature, might justify his desertion and revenge. Five thousand of =
his
brethren were united by the same motives; they renounced the allegiance of =
anti-Christian
Rome; a Saracen emir introduced Carbeas to the caliph; and the commander of=
the
faithful extended his sceptre to the implacable enemy of the Greeks. In the
mountains between Siwas and Trebizond he founded or fortified the city of
Tephrice, which is still occupied by a fierce or licentious people, and the
neighboring hills were covered with the Paulician fugitives, who now reconc=
iled
the use of the Bible and the sword. During more than thirty years, Asia was
afflicted by the calamities of foreign and domestic war; in their hostile
inroads, the disciples of St. Paul were joined with those of Mahomet; and t=
he
peaceful Christians, the aged parent and tender virgin, who were delivered =
into
barbarous servitude, might justly accuse the intolerant spirit of their
sovereign. So urgent was the mischief, so intolerable the shame, that even =
the
dissolute Michael, the son of Theodora, was compelled to march in person
against the Paulicians: he was defeated under the walls of Samosata; and the
Roman emperor fled before the heretics whom his mother had condemned to the
flames. The Saracens fought under the same banners, but the victory was
ascribed to Carbeas; and the captive generals, with more than a hundred
tribunes, were either released by his avarice, or tortured by his fanaticis=
m.
The valor and ambition of Chrysocheir, his successor, embraced a wider circ=
le
of rapine and revenge. In alliance with his faithful Moslems, he boldly pen=
etrated
into the heart of Asia; the troops of the frontier and the palace were
repeatedly overthrown; the edicts of persecution were answered by the pilla=
ge
of Nice and Nicomedia, of Ancyra and Ephesus; nor could the apostle St. John
protect from violation his city and sepulchre. The cathedral of Ephesus was
turned into a stable for mules and horses; and the Paulicians vied with the
Saracens in their contempt and abhorrence of images and relics. It is not
unpleasing to observe the triumph of rebellion over the same despotism which
had disdained the prayers of an injured people. The emperor Basil, the
Macedonian, was reduced to sue for peace, to offer a ransom for the captive=
s,
and to request, in the language of moderation and charity, that Chrysocheir=
would
spare his fellow-Christians, and content himself with a royal donative of g=
old
and silver and silk garments. "If the emperor," replied the insol=
ent
fanatic, "be desirous of peace, let him abdicate the East, and reign
without molestation in the West. If he refuse, the servants of the Lord will
precipitate him from the throne." The reluctant Basil suspended the
treaty, accepted the defiance, and led his army into the land of heresy, wh=
ich
he wasted with fire and sword. The open country of the Paulicians was expos=
ed
to the same calamities which they had inflicted; but when he had explored t=
he
strength of Tephrice, the multitude of the Barbarians, and the ample magazi=
nes
of arms and provisions, he desisted with a sigh from the hopeless siege. On=
his
return to Constantinople, he labored, by the foundation of convents and chu=
rches,
to secure the aid of his celestial patrons, of Michael the archangel and the
prophet Elijah; and it was his daily prayer that he might live to transpier=
ce,
with three arrows, the head of his impious adversary. Beyond his expectatio=
ns,
the wish was accomplished: after a successful inroad, Chrysocheir was surpr=
ised
and slain in his retreat; and the rebel's head was triumphantly presented at
the foot of the throne. On the reception of this welcome trophy, Basil
instantly called for his bow, discharged three arrows with unerring aim, and
accepted the applause of the court, who hailed the victory of the royal arc=
her.
With Chrysocheir, the glory of the Paulicians faded and withered: on the se=
cond
expedition of the emperor, the impregnable Tephrice, was deserted by the
heretics, who sued for mercy or escaped to the borders. The city was ruined,
but the spirit of independence survived in the mountains: the Paulicians
defended, above a century, their religion and liberty, infested the Roman
limits, and maintained their perpetual alliance with the enemies of the emp=
ire
and the gospel.
About the middle of the eight century, Constan=
tine,
surnamed Copronymus by the worshippers of images, had made an expedition in=
to
Armenia, and found, in the cities of Melitene and Theodosiopolis, a great
number of Paulicians, his kindred heretics. As a favor, or punishment, he t=
ransplanted
them from the banks of the Euphrates to Constantinople and Thrace; and by t=
his
emigration their doctrine was introduced and diffused in Europe. If the
sectaries of the metropolis were soon mingled with the promiscuous mass, th=
ose
of the country struck a deep root in a foreign soil. The Paulicians of Thra=
ce
resisted the storms of persecution, maintained a secret correspondence with
their Armenian brethren, and gave aid and comfort to their preachers, who
solicited, not without success, the infant faith of the Bulgarians. In the
tenth century, they were restored and multiplied by a more powerful colony,=
which
John Zimisces transported from the Chalybian hills to the valleys of Mount
Hæmus. The Oriental clergy who would have preferred the destruction,
impatiently sighed for the absence, of the Manichæans: the warlike
emperor had felt and esteemed their valor: their attachment to the Saracens=
was
pregnant with mischief; but, on the side of the Danube, against the Barbari=
ans
of Scythia, their service might be useful, and their loss would be desirabl=
e.
Their exile in a distant land was softened by a free toleration: the Paulic=
ians
held the city of Philippopolis and the keys of Thrace; the Catholics were t=
heir
subjects; the Jacobite emigrants their associates: they occupied a line of =
villages
and castles in Macedonia and Epirus; and many native Bulgarians were associ=
ated
to the communion of arms and heresy. As long as they were awed by power and
treated with moderation, their voluntary bands were distinguished in the ar=
mies
of the empire; and the courage of these dogs, ever greedy of war, ever thir=
sty
of human blood, is noticed with astonishment, and almost with reproach, by =
the
pusillanimous Greeks. The same spirit rendered them arrogant and contumacio=
us:
they were easily provoked by caprice or injury; and their privileges were o=
ften
violated by the faithless bigotry of the government and clergy. In the mids=
t of
the Norman war, two thousand five hundred Manichæans deserted the sta=
ndard
of Alexius Comnenus, and retired to their native homes. He dissembled till =
the
moment of revenge; invited the chiefs to a friendly conference; and punished
the innocent and guilty by imprisonment, confiscation, and baptism. In an
interval of peace, the emperor undertook the pious office of reconciling th=
em
to the church and state: his winter quarters were fixed at Philippopolis; a=
nd
the thirteenth apostle, as he is styled by his pious daughter, consumed who=
le
days and nights in theological controversy. His arguments were fortified, t=
heir
obstinacy was melted, by the honors and rewards which he bestowed on the mo=
st
eminent proselytes; and a new city, surrounded with gardens, enriched with
immunities, and dignified with his own name, was founded by Alexius for the
residence of his vulgar converts. The important station of Philippopolis was
wrested from their hands; the contumacious leaders were secured in a dungeo=
n,
or banished from their country; and their lives were spared by the prudence,
rather than the mercy, of an emperor, at whose command a poor and solitary
heretic was burnt alive before the church of St. Sophia. But the proud hope=
of
eradicating the prejudices of a nation was speedily overturned by the
invincible zeal of the Paulicians, who ceased to dissemble or refused to ob=
ey.
After the departure and death of Alexius, they soon resumed their civil and=
religious
laws. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, their pope or primate (a
manifest corruption) resided on the confines of Bulgaria, Croatia, and
Dalmatia, and governed, by his vicars, the filial congregations of Italy and
France. From that æra, a minute scrutiny might prolong and perpetuate=
the
chain of tradition. At the end of the last age, the sect or colony still
inhabited the valleys of Mount Hæmus, where their ignorance and pover=
ty
were more frequently tormented by the Greek clergy than by the Turkish
government. The modern Paulicians have lost all memory of their origin; and
their religion is disgraced by the worship of the cross, and the practice of
bloody sacrifice, which some captives have imported from the wilds of Tarta=
ry.
In the West, the first teachers of the
Manichæan theology had been repulsed by the people, or suppressed by =
the
prince. The favor and success of the Paulicians in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries must be imputed to the strong, though secret, discontent which ar=
med
the most pious Christians against the church of Rome. Her avarice was
oppressive, her despotism odious; less degenerate perhaps than the Greeks in
the worship of saints and images, her innovations were more rapid and scand=
alous:
she had rigorously defined and imposed the doctrine of transubstantiation: =
the
lives of the Latin clergy were more corrupt, and the Eastern bishops might =
pass
for the successors of the apostles, if they were compared with the lordly
prelates, who wielded by turns the crosier, the sceptre, and the sword. Thr=
ee
different roads might introduce the Paulicians into the heart of Europe. Af=
ter
the conversion of Hungary, the pilgrims who visited Jerusalem might safely
follow the course of the Danube: in their journey and return they passed
through Philippopolis; and the sectaries, disguising their name and heresy,=
might
accompany the French or German caravans to their respective countries. The
trade and dominion of Venice pervaded the coast of the Adriatic, and the
hospitable republic opened her bosom to foreigners of every climate and
religion. Under the Byzantine standard, the Paulicians were often transport=
ed
to the Greek provinces of Italy and Sicily: in peace and war, they freely c=
onversed
with strangers and natives, and their opinions were silently propagated in
Rome, Milan, and the kingdoms beyond the Alps. It was soon discovered, that
many thousand Catholics of every rank, and of either sex, had embraced the
Manichæan heresy; and the flames which consumed twelve canons of Orle=
ans
was the first act and signal of persecution. The Bulgarians, a name so inno=
cent
in its origin, so odious in its application, spread their branches over the
face of Europe. United in common hatred of idolatry and Rome, they were con=
nected
by a form of episcopal and presbyterian government; their various sects were
discriminated by some fainter or darker shades of theology; but they genera=
lly
agreed in the two principles, the contempt of the Old Testament and the den=
ial
of the body of Christ, either on the cross or in the eucharist. A confessio=
n of
simple worship and blameless manners is extorted from their enemies; and so
high was their standard of perfection, that the increasing congregations we=
re
divided into two classes of disciples, of those who practised, and of those=
who
aspired. It was in the country of the Albigeois, in the southern provinces =
of France,
that the Paulicians were most deeply implanted; and the same vicissitudes of
martyrdom and revenge which had been displayed in the neighborhood of the
Euphrates, were repeated in the thirteenth century on the banks of the Rhon=
e.
The laws of the Eastern emperors were revived by Frederic the Second. The
insurgents of Tephrice were represented by the barons and cities of Langued=
oc:
Pope Innocent III. surpassed the sanguinary fame of Theodora. It was in cru=
elty
alone that her soldiers could equal the heroes of the Crusades, and the cru=
elty
of her priests was far excelled by the founders of the Inquisition; an offi=
ce
more adapted to confirm, than to refute, the belief of an evil principle. T=
he visible
assemblies of the Paulicians, or Albigeois, were extirpated by fire and swo=
rd;
and the bleeding remnant escaped by flight, concealment, or Catholic
conformity. But the invincible spirit which they had kindled still lived and
breathed in the Western world. In the state, in the church, and even in the
cloister, a latent succession was preserved of the disciples of St. Paul; w=
ho
protested against the tyranny of Rome, embraced the Bible as the rule of fa=
ith,
and purified their creed from all the visions of the Gnostic theology. The
struggles of Wickliff in England, of Huss in Bohemia, were premature and
ineffectual; but the names of Zuinglius, Luther, and Calvin, are pronounced
with gratitude as the deliverers of nations.
A philosopher, who calculates the degree of th=
eir
merit and the value of their reformation, will prudently ask from what arti=
cles
of faith, above or against our reason, they have enfranchised the Christian=
s; for
such enfranchisement is doubtless a benefit so far as it may be compatible =
with
truth and piety. After a fair discussion, we shall rather be surprised by t=
he
timidity, than scandalized by the freedom, of our first reformers. With the
Jews, they adopted the belief and defence of all the Hebrew Scriptures, with
all their prodigies, from the garden of Eden to the visions of the prophet
Daniel; and they were bound, like the Catholics, to justify against the Jews
the abolition of a divine law. In the great mysteries of the Trinity and
Incarnation the reformers were severely orthodox: they freely adopted the
theology of the four, or the six first councils; and with the Athanasian cr=
eed,
they pronounced the eternal damnation of all who did not believe the Cathol=
ic
faith. Transubstantiation, the invisible change of the bread and wine into =
the body
and blood of Christ, is a tenet that may defy the power of argument and
pleasantry; but instead of consulting the evidence of their senses, of their
sight, their feeling, and their taste, the first Protestants were entangled=
in
their own scruples, and awed by the words of Jesus in the institution of the
sacrament. Luther maintained a corporeal, and Calvin a real, presence of Ch=
rist
in the eucharist; and the opinion of Zuinglius, that it is no more than a
spiritual communion, a simple memorial, has slowly prevailed in the reformed
churches. But the loss of one mystery was amply compensated by the stupendo=
us
doctrines of original sin, redemption, faith, grace, and predestination, wh=
ich
have been strained from the epistles of St. Paul. These subtile questions h=
ad most
assuredly been prepared by the fathers and schoolmen; but the final improve=
ment
and popular use may be attributed to the first reformers, who enforced them=
as
the absolute and essential terms of salvation. Hitherto the weight of
supernatural belief inclines against the Protestants; and many a sober
Christian would rather admit that a wafer is God, than that God is a cruel =
and
capricious tyrant.
Yet the services of Luther and his rivals are
solid and important; and the philosopher must own his obligations to these
fearless enthusiasts. I. By their hands the lofty fabric of superstition, f=
rom
the abuse of indulgences to the intercession of the Virgin, has been levell=
ed
with the ground. Myriads of both sexes of the monastic profession were rest=
ored
to the liberty and labors of social life. A hierarchy of saints and angels,=
of
imperfect and subordinate deities, were stripped of their temporal power, a=
nd
reduced to the enjoyment of celestial happiness; their images and relics we=
re
banished from the church; and the credulity of the people was no longer
nourished with the daily repetition of miracles and visions. The imitation =
of
Paganism was supplied by a pure and spiritual worship of prayer and
thanksgiving, the most worthy of man, the least unworthy of the Deity. It o=
nly
remains to observe, whether such sublime simplicity be consistent with popu=
lar
devotion; whether the vulgar, in the absence of all visible objects, will n=
ot be
inflamed by enthusiasm, or insensibly subside in languor and indifference. =
II.
The chain of authority was broken, which restrains the bigot from thinking =
as
he pleases, and the slave from speaking as he thinks: the popes, fathers, a=
nd
councils, were no longer the supreme and infallible judges of the world; and
each Christian was taught to acknowledge no law but the Scriptures, no
interpreter but his own conscience. This freedom, however, was the conseque=
nce,
rather than the design, of the Reformation. The patriot reformers were
ambitious of succeeding the tyrants whom they had dethroned. They imposed w=
ith
equal rigor their creeds and confessions; they asserted the right of the ma=
gistrate
to punish heretics with death. The pious or personal animosity of Calvin
proscribed in Servetus the guilt of his own rebellion; and the flames of
Smithfield, in which he was afterwards consumed, had been kindled for the
Anabaptists by the zeal of Cranmer. The nature of the tiger was the same, b=
ut
he was gradually deprived of his teeth and fangs. A spiritual and temporal
kingdom was possessed by the Roman pontiff; the Protestant doctors were
subjects of an humble rank, without revenue or jurisdiction. His decrees we=
re
consecrated by the antiquity of the Catholic church: their arguments and
disputes were submitted to the people; and their appeal to private judgment=
was
accepted beyond their wishes, by curiosity and enthusiasm. Since the days of
Luther and Calvin, a secret reformation has been silently working in the bo=
som
of the reformed churches; many weeds of prejudice were eradicated; and the
disciples of Erasmus diffused a spirit of freedom and moderation. The liber=
ty
of conscience has been claimed as a common benefit, an inalienable right: t=
he
free governments of Holland and England introduced the practice of tolerati=
on;
and the narrow allowance of the laws has been enlarged by the prudence and
humanity of the times. In the exercise, the mind has understood the limits =
of
its powers, and the words and shadows that might amuse the child can no lon=
ger
satisfy his manly reason. The volumes of controversy are overspread with
cobwebs: the doctrine of a Protestant church is far removed from the knowle=
dge
or belief of its private members; and the forms of orthodoxy, the articles =
of
faith, are subscribed with a sigh, or a smile, by the modern clergy. Yet the
friends of Christianity are alarmed at the boundless impulse of inquiry and
scepticism. The predictions of the Catholics are accomplished: the web of
mystery is unravelled by the Arminians, Arians, and Socinians, whose number
must not be computed from their separate congregations; and the pillars of =
Revelation
are shaken by those men who preserve the name without the substance of
religion, who indulge the license without the temper of philosophy.
The
Bulgarians.--Origin, Migrations, And Settlement Of The Hungarians.=
--Their
Inroads In The East And West.--The Monarchy Of
Russia.--Geography And Trade.--Wars Of The Russians Ag=
ainst
The Greek Empire.--Conversion Of The Barbarians.=
Under the reign of Constantine the grandson of
Heraclius, the ancient barrier of the Danube, so often violated and so often
restored, was irretrievably swept away by a new deluge of Barbarians. Their
progress was favored by the caliphs, their unknown and accidental auxiliari=
es: the
Roman legions were occupied in Asia; and after the loss of Syria, Egypt, and
Africa, the Cæsars were twice reduced to the danger and disgrace of
defending their capital against the Saracens. If, in the account of this
interesting people, I have deviated from the strict and original line of my
undertaking, the merit of the subject will hide my transgression, or solici=
t my
excuse. In the East, in the West, in war, in religion, in science, in their
prosperity, and in their decay, the Arabians press themselves on our curios=
ity:
the first overthrow of the church and empire of the Greeks may be imputed to
their arms; and the disciples of Mahomet still hold the civil and religious
sceptre of the Oriental world. But the same labor would be unworthily besto=
wed
on the swarms of savages, who, between the seventh and the twelfth century,=
descended
from the plains of Scythia, in transient inroad or perpetual emigration. Th=
eir
names are uncouth, their origins doubtful, their actions obscure, their
superstition was blind, their valor brutal, and the uniformity of their pub=
lic
and private lives was neither softened by innocence nor refined by policy. =
The
majesty of the Byzantine throne repelled and survived their disorderly atta=
cks;
the greater part of these Barbarians has disappeared without leaving any
memorial of their existence, and the despicable remnant continues, and may =
long
continue, to groan under the dominion of a foreign tyrant. From the antiqui=
ties
of, I. Bulgarians, II. Hungarians, and, III. Russians, I shall content myse=
lf
with selecting such facts as yet deserve to be remembered. The conquests of
the, IV. Normans, and the monarchy of the, V. Turks, will naturally termina=
te
in the memorable Crusades to the Holy Land, and the double fall of the city=
and
empire of Constantine.
I. In his march to Italy, Theodoric the Ostrog=
oth
had trampled on the arms of the Bulgarians. After this defeat, the name and=
the
nation are lost during a century and a half; and it may be suspected that t=
he same
or a similar appellation was revived by strange colonies from the Borysthen=
es,
the Tanais, or the Volga. A king of the ancient Bulgaria bequeathed to his =
five
sons a last lesson of moderation and concord. It was received as youth has =
ever
received the counsels of age and experience: the five princes buried their
father; divided his subjects and cattle; forgot his advice; separated from =
each
other; and wandered in quest of fortune till we find the most adventurous in
the heart of Italy, under the protection of the exarch of Ravenna. But the
stream of emigration was directed or impelled towards the capital. The mode=
rn Bulgaria,
along the southern banks of the Danube, was stamped with the name and image
which it has retained to the present hour: the new conquerors successively
acquired, by war or treaty, the Roman provinces of Dardania, Thessaly, and =
the
two Epirus; the ecclesiastical supremacy was translated from the native cit=
y of
Justinian; and, in their prosperous age, the obscure town of Lychnidus, or
Achrida, was honored with the throne of a king and a patriarch. The
unquestionable evidence of language attests the descent of the Bulgarians f=
rom
the original stock of the Sclavonian, or more properly Slavonian, race; and=
the
kindred bands of Servians, Bosnians, Rascians, Croatians, Walachians, &=
c.,
followed either the standard or the example of the leading tribe. From the
Euxine to the Adriatic, in the state of captives, or subjects, or allies, or
enemies, of the Greek empire, they overspread the land; and the national
appellation of the slaves has been degraded by chance or malice from the
signification of glory to that of servitude. Among these colonies, the Chro=
batians,
or Croats, who now attend the motions of an Austrian army, are the descenda=
nts
of a mighty people, the conquerors and sovereigns of Dalmatia. The maritime
cities, and of these the infant republic of Ragusa, implored the aid and
instructions of the Byzantine court: they were advised by the magnanimous B=
asil
to reserve a small acknowledgment of their fidelity to the Roman empire, an=
d to
appease, by an annual tribute, the wrath of these irresistible Barbarians. =
The
kingdom of Croatia was shared by eleven Zoupans, or feudatory lords; and th=
eir
united forces were numbered at sixty thousand horse and one hundred thousand
foot. A long sea-coast, indented with capacious harbors, covered with a str=
ing
of islands, and almost in sight of the Italian shores, disposed both the
natives and strangers to the practice of navigation. The boats or brigantin=
es
of the Croats were constructed after the fashion of the old Liburnians: one
hundred and eighty vessels may excite the idea of a respectable navy; but o=
ur
seamen will smile at the allowance of ten, or twenty, or forty, men for eac=
h of
these ships of war. They were gradually converted to the more honorable ser=
vice
of commerce; yet the Sclavonian pirates were still frequent and dangerous; =
and
it was not before the close of the tenth century that the freedom and
sovereignty of the Gulf were effectually vindicated by the Venetian republi=
c.
The ancestors of these Dalmatian kings were equally removed from the use and
abuse of navigation: they dwelt in the White Croatia, in the inland regions=
of
Silesia and Little Poland, thirty days' journey, according to the Greek
computation, from the sea of darkness.
The glory of the Bulgarians was confined to a
narrow scope both of time and place. In the ninth and tenth centuries, they
reigned to the south of the Danube; but the more powerful nations that had
followed their emigration repelled all return to the north and all progress=
to
the west. Yet in the obscure catalogue of their exploits, they might boast =
an
honor which had hitherto been appropriated to the Goths: that of slaying in
battle one of the successors of Augustus and Constantine. The emperor
Nicephorus had lost his fame in the Arabian, he lost his life in the
Sclavonian, war. In his first operations he advanced with boldness and succ=
ess
into the centre of Bulgaria, and burnt the royal court, which was probably =
no
more than an edifice and village of timber. But while he searched the spoil=
and
refused all offers of treaty, his enemies collected their spirits and their=
forces:
the passes of retreat were insuperably barred; and the trembling Nicephorus=
was
heard to exclaim, "Alas, alas! unless we could assume the wings of bir=
ds,
we cannot hope to escape." Two days he waited his fate in the inactivi=
ty
of despair; but, on the morning of the third, the Bulgarians surprised the =
camp,
and the Roman prince, with the great officers of the empire, were slaughter=
ed
in their tents. The body of Valens had been saved
from insult; but the head of Nicephorus was
exposed on a spear, and his skull, enchased with gold, was often replenishe=
d in
the feasts of victory. The Greeks bewailed the dishonor of the throne; but =
they
acknowledged the just punishment of avarice and cruelty. This savage cup was
deeply tinctured with the manners of the Scythian wilderness; but they were
softened before the end of the same century by a peaceful intercourse with =
the
Greeks, the possession of a cultivated region, and the introduction of the
Christian worship. The nobles of Bulgaria were educated in the schools and
palace of Constantinople; and Simeon, a youth of the royal line, was instru=
cted
in the rhetoric of Demosthenes and the logic of Aristotle. He relinquished =
the
profession of a monk for that of a king and warrior; and in his reign of mo=
re
than forty years, Bulgaria assumed a rank among the civilized powers of the
earth. The Greeks, whom he repeatedly attacked, derived a faint consolation
from indulging themselves in the reproaches of perfidy and sacrilege. They =
purchased
the aid of the Pagan Turks; but Simeon, in a second battle, redeemed the lo=
ss
of the first, at a time when it was esteemed a victory to elude the arms of
that formidable nation. The Servians were overthrown, made captive and
dispersed; and those who visited the country before their restoration could
discover no more than fifty vagrants, without women or children, who extort=
ed a
precarious subsistence from the chase. On classic ground, on the banks of
Achelöus, the Greeks were defeated; their horn was broken by the stren=
gth
of the Barbaric Hercules. He formed the siege of Constantinople; and, in a =
personal
conference with the emperor, Simeon imposed the conditions of peace. They m=
et
with the most jealous precautions: the royal gallery was drawn close to an
artificial and well-fortified platform; and the majesty of the purple was
emulated by the pomp of the Bulgarian. "Are you a Christian?" said
the humble Romanus: "it is your duty to abstain from the blood of your
fellow-Christians. Has the thirst of riches seduced you from the blessings =
of
peace? Sheathe your sword, open your hand, and I will satiate the utmost
measure of your desires." The reconciliation was sealed by a domestic
alliance; the freedom of trade was granted or restored; the first honors of=
the
court were secured to the friends of Bulgaria, above the ambassadors of ene=
mies
or strangers; and her princes were dignified with the high and invidious ti=
tle
of Basileus, or emperor. But this friendship was soon disturbed: after the
death of Simeon, the nations were again in arms; his feeble successors were
divided and extinguished; and, in the beginning of the eleventh century, the
second Basil, who was born in the purple, deserved the appellation of conqu=
eror
of the Bulgarians. His avarice was in some measure gratified by a treasure =
of
four hundred thousand pounds sterling, (ten thousand pounds' weight of gold=
,)
which he found in the palace of Lychnidus. His cruelty inflicted a cool and
exquisite vengeance on fifteen thousand captives who had been guilty of the=
defence
of their country. They were deprived of sight; but to one of each hundred a
single eye was left, that he might conduct his blind century to the presenc=
e of
their king. Their king is said to have expired of grief and horror; the nat=
ion
was awed by this terrible example; the Bulgarians were swept away from their
settlements, and circumscribed within a narrow province; the surviving chie=
fs
bequeathed to their children the advice of patience and the duty of revenge=
.
II. When the black swarm of Hungarians first h=
ung
over Europe, above nine hundred years after the Christian æra, they w=
ere
mistaken by fear and superstition for the Gog and Magog of the Scriptures, =
the
signs and forerunners of the end of the world. Since the introduction of
letters, they have explored their own antiquities with a strong and laudabl=
e impulse
of patriotic curiosity. Their rational criticism can no longer be amused wi=
th a
vain pedigree of Attila and the Huns; but they complain that their primitive
records have perished in the Tartar war; that the truth or fiction of their
rustic songs is long since forgotten; and that the fragments of a rude
chronicle must be painfully reconciled with the contemporary though foreign
intelligence of the imperial geographer. Magiar is the national and oriental
denomination of the Hungarians; but, among the tribes of Scythia, they are
distinguished by the Greeks under the proper and peculiar name of Turks, as=
the
descendants of that mighty people who had conquered and reigned from China =
to
the Volga. The Pannonian colony preserved a correspondence of trade and ami=
ty
with the eastern Turks on the confines of Persia and after a separation of
three hundred and fifty years, the missionaries of the king of Hungary
discovered and visited their ancient country near the banks of the Volga. T=
hey
were hospitably entertained by a people of Pagans and Savages who still bore
the name of Hungarians; conversed in their native tongue, recollected a
tradition of their long-lost brethren, and listened with amazement to the
marvellous tale of their new kingdom and religion. The zeal of conversion w=
as
animated by the interest of consanguinity; and one of the greatest of their
princes had formed the generous, though fruitless, design of replenishing t=
he solitude
of Pannonia by this domestic colony from the heart of Tartary. From this
primitive country they were driven to the West by the tide of war and
emigration, by the weight of the more distant tribes, who at the same time =
were
fugitives and conquerors. Reason or fortune directed their course towards t=
he
frontiers of the Roman empire: they halted in the usual stations along the
banks of the great rivers; and in the territories of Moscow, Kiow, and
Moldavia, some vestiges have been discovered of their temporary residence. =
In
this long and various peregrination, they could not always escape the domin=
ion
of the stronger; and the purity of their blood was improved or sullied by t=
he
mixture of a foreign race: from a motive of compulsion, or choice, several
tribes of the Chazars were associated to the standard of their ancient vass=
als;
introduced the use of a second language; and obtained by their superior ren=
own
the most honorable place in the front of battle. The military force of the
Turks and their allies marched in seven equal and artificial divisions; each
division was formed of thirty thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven warrio=
rs,
and the proportion of women, children, and servants, supposes and requires =
at
least a million of emigrants. Their public counsels were directed by seven
vayvods, or hereditary chiefs; but the experience of discord and weakness r=
ecommended
the more simple and vigorous administration of a single person. The sceptre,
which had been declined by the modest Lebedias, was granted to the birth or
merit of Almus and his son Arpad, and the authority of the supreme khan of =
the
Chazars confirmed the engagement of the prince and people; of the people to
obey his commands, of the prince to consult their happiness and glory.
With this narrative we might be reasonably
content, if the penetration of modern learning had not opened a new and lar=
ger
prospect of the antiquities of nations. The Hungarian language stands alone,
and as it were insulated, among the Sclavonian dialects; but it bears a clo=
se and
clear affinity to the idioms of the Fennic race, of an obsolete and savage
race, which formerly occupied the northern regions of Asia and Europe. The
genuine appellation of Ugri or Igours is found on the western confines of
China; their migration to the banks of the Irtish is attested by Tartar evi=
dence;
a similar name and language are detected in the southern parts of Siberia; =
and
the remains of the Fennic tribes are widely, though thinly scattered from t=
he
sources of the Oby to the shores of Lapland. The consanguinity of the
Hungarians and Laplanders would display the powerful energy of climate on t=
he
children of a common parent; the lively contrast between the bold adventure=
rs
who are intoxicated with the wines of the Danube, and the wretched fugitive=
s who
are immersed beneath the snows of the polar circle. Arms and freedom have e=
ver
been the ruling, though too often the unsuccessful, passion of the Hungaria=
ns,
who are endowed by nature with a vigorous constitution of soul and body.
Extreme cold has diminished the stature and congealed the faculties of the
Laplanders; and the arctic tribes, alone among the sons of men, are ignoran=
t of
war, and unconscious of human blood; a happy ignorance, if reason and virtue
were the guardians of their peace!
It is the observation of the Imperial author of
the Tactics, that all the Scythian hordes resembled each other in their
pastoral and military life, that they all practised the same means of
subsistence, and employed the same instruments of destruction. But he adds,
that the two nations of Bulgarians and Hungarians were superior to their
brethren, and similar to each other in the improvements, however rude, of t=
heir
discipline and government: their visible likeness determines Leo to confound
his friends and enemies in one common description; and the picture may be
heightened by some strokes from their contemporaries of the tenth century.
Except the merit and fame of military prowess, all that is valued by mankind
appeared vile and contemptible to these Barbarians, whose native fierceness=
was
stimulated by the consciousness of numbers and freedom. The tents of the
Hungarians were of leather, their garments of fur; they shaved their hair, =
and
scarified their faces: in speech they were slow, in action prompt, in treaty
perfidious; and they shared the common reproach of Barbarians, too ignorant=
to conceive
the importance of truth, too proud to deny or palliate the breach of their =
most
solemn engagements. Their simplicity has been praised; yet they abstained o=
nly
from the luxury they had never known; whatever they saw they coveted; their
desires were insatiate, and their sole industry was the hand of violence and
rapine. By the definition of a pastoral nation, I have recalled a long
description of the economy, the warfare, and the government that prevail in
that state of society; I may add, that to fishing, as well as to the chase,=
the
Hungarians were indebted for a part of their subsistence; and since they se=
ldom
cultivated the ground, they must, at least in their new settlements, have
sometimes practised a slight and unskilful husbandry. In their emigrations,
perhaps in their expeditions, the host was accompanied by thousands of sheep
and oxen which increased the cloud of formidable dust, and afforded a const=
ant
and wholesale supply of milk and animal food. A plentiful command of forage=
was
the first care of the general, and if the flocks and herds were secure of t=
heir
pastures, the hardy warrior was alike insensible of danger and fatigue. The=
confusion
of men and cattle that overspread the country exposed their camp to a noctu=
rnal
surprise, had not a still wider circuit been occupied by their light cavalr=
y,
perpetually in motion to discover and delay the approach of the enemy. After
some experience of the Roman tactics, they adopted the use of the sword and
spear, the helmet of the soldier, and the iron breastplate of his steed: but
their native and deadly weapon was the Tartar bow: from the earliest infancy
their children and servants were exercised in the double science of archery=
and
horsemanship; their arm was strong; their aim was sure; and in the most rap=
id
career, they were taught to throw themselves backwards, and to shoot a voll=
ey
of arrows into the air. In open combat, in secret ambush, in flight, or
pursuit, they were equally formidable; an appearance of order was maintaine=
d in
the foremost ranks, but their charge was driven forwards by the impatient
pressure of succeeding crowds. They pursued, headlong and rash, with loosen=
ed
reins and horrific outcries; but, if they fled, with real or dissembled fea=
r,
the ardor of a pursuing foe was checked and chastised by the same habits of
irregular speed and sudden evolution. In the abuse of victory, they astonis=
hed
Europe, yet smarting from the wounds of the Saracen and the Dane: mercy they
rarely asked, and more rarely bestowed: both sexes were accused is equally
inaccessible to pity, and their appetite for raw flesh might countenance the
popular tale, that they drank the blood, and feasted on the hearts of the
slain. Yet the Hungarians were not devoid of those principles of justice an=
d humanity,
which nature has implanted in every bosom. The license of public and private
injuries was restrained by laws and punishments; and in the security of an =
open
camp, theft is the most tempting and most dangerous offence. Among the
Barbarians there were many, whose spontaneous virtue supplied their laws and
corrected their manners, who performed the duties, and sympathized with the
affections, of social life.
After a long pilgrimage of flight or victory, =
the
Turkish hordes approached the common limits of the French and Byzantine
empires. Their first conquests and final settlements extended on either sid=
e of
the Danube above Vienna, below Belgrade, and beyond the measure of the Roma=
n province
of Pannonia, or the modern kingdom of Hungary. That ample and fertile land =
was
loosely occupied by the Moravians, a Sclavonian name and tribe, which were
driven by the invaders into the compass of a narrow province. Charlemagne h=
ad
stretched a vague and nominal empire as far as the edge of Transylvania; bu=
t,
after the failure of his legitimate line, the dukes of Moravia forgot their
obedience and tribute to the monarchs of Oriental France. The bastard Arnul=
ph
was provoked to invite the arms of the Turks: they rushed through the real =
or
figurative wall, which his indiscretion had thrown open; and the king of
Germany has been justly reproached as a traitor to the civil and ecclesiast=
ical
society of the Christians. During the life of Arnulph, the Hungarians were
checked by gratitude or fear; but in the infancy of his son Lewis they
discovered and invaded Bavaria; and such was their Scythian speed, that in a
single day a circuit of fifty miles was stripped and consumed. In the battl=
e of
Augsburgh the Christians maintained their advantage till the seventh hour of
the day, they were deceived and vanquished by the flying stratagems of the
Turkish cavalry. The conflagration spread over the provinces of Bavaria,
Swabia, and Franconia; and the Hungarians promoted the reign of anarchy, by
forcing the stoutest barons to discipline their vassals and fortify their
castles. The origin of walled towns is ascribed to this calamitous period; =
nor
could any distance be secure against an enemy, who, almost at the same inst=
ant,
laid in ashes the Helvetian monastery of St. Gall, and the city of Bremen, =
on
the shores of the northern ocean. Above thirty years the Germanic empire, or
kingdom, was subject to the ignominy of tribute; and resistance was disarme=
d by
the menace, the serious and effectual menace of dragging the women and chil=
dren
into captivity, and of slaughtering the males above the age of ten years. I
have neither power nor inclination to follow the Hungarians beyond the Rhin=
e;
but I must observe with surprise, that the southern provinces of France were
blasted by the tempest, and that Spain, behind her Pyrenees, was astonished=
at
the approach of these formidable strangers. The vicinity of Italy had tempt=
ed
their early inroads; but from their camp on the Brenta, they beheld with so=
me
terror the apparent strength and populousness of the new discovered country=
. They
requested leave to retire; their request was proudly rejected by the Italian
king; and the lives of twenty thousand Christians paid the forfeit of his
obstinacy and rashness. Among the cities of the West, the royal Pavia was
conspicuous in fame and splendor; and the preëminence of Rome itself w=
as
only derived from the relics of the apostles. The Hungarians appeared; Pavia
was in flames; forty-three churches were consumed; and, after the massacre =
of
the people, they spared about two hundred wretches who had gathered some
bushels of gold and silver (a vague exaggeration) from the smoking ruins of
their country. In these annual excursions from the Alps to the neighborhood=
of
Rome and Capua, the churches, that yet escaped, resounded with a fearful
litany: "O, save and deliver us from the arrows of the Hungarians!&quo=
t;
But the saints were deaf or inexorable; and the torrent rolled forwards, ti=
ll
it was stopped by the extreme land of Calabria. A composition was offered a=
nd accepted
for the head of each Italian subject; and ten bushels of silver were poured
forth in the Turkish camp. But falsehood is the natural antagonist of viole=
nce;
and the robbers were defrauded both in the numbers of the assessment and the
standard of the metal. On the side of the East, the Hungarians were opposed=
in
doubtful conflict by the equal arms of the Bulgarians, whose faith forbade =
an
alliance with the Pagans, and whose situation formed the barrier of the
Byzantine empire. The barrier was overturned; the emperor of Constantinople
beheld the waving banners of the Turks; and one of their boldest warriors
presumed to strike a battle-axe into the golden gate. The arts and treasure=
s of
the Greeks diverted the assault; but the Hungarians might boast, in their r=
etreat,
that they had imposed a tribute on the spirit of Bulgaria and the majesty of
the Cæsars. The remote and rapid operations of the same campaign appe=
ar
to magnify the power and numbers of the Turks; but their courage is most
deserving of praise, since a light troop of three or four hundred horse wou=
ld
often attempt and execute the most daring inroads to the gates of Thessalon=
ica
and Constantinople. At this disastrous æra of the ninth and tenth
centuries, Europe was afflicted by a triple scourge from the North, the Eas=
t,
and the South: the Norman, the Hungarian, and the Saracen, sometimes trod t=
he
same ground of desolation; and these savage foes might have been compared by
Homer to the two lions growling over the carcass of a mangled stag.
The deliverance of Germany and Christendom was
achieved by the Saxon princes, Henry the Fowler and Otho the Great, who, in=
two
memorable battles, forever broke the power of the Hungarians. The valiant H=
enry
was roused from a bed of sickness by the invasion of his country; but his m=
ind
was vigorous and his prudence successful. "My companions," said h=
e,
on the morning of the combat, "maintain your ranks, receive on your
bucklers the first arrows of the Pagans, and prevent their second discharge=
by
the equal and rapid career of your lances." They obeyed and conquered:=
and
the historical picture of the castle of Merseburgh expressed the features, =
or
at least the character, of Henry, who, in an age of ignorance, intrusted to=
the
finer arts the perpetuity of his name. At the end of twenty years, the chil=
dren
of the Turks who had fallen by his sword invaded the empire of his son; and
their force is defined, in the lowest estimate, at one hundred thousand hor=
se. They
were invited by domestic faction; the gates of Germany were treacherously
unlocked; and they spread, far beyond the Rhine and the Meuse, into the hea=
rt
of Flanders. But the vigor and prudence of Otho dispelled the conspiracy; t=
he
princes were made sensible that unless they were true to each other, their
religion and country were irrecoverably lost; and the national powers were
reviewed in the plains of Augsburgh. They marched and fought in eight legio=
ns,
according to the division of provinces and tribes; the first, second, and
third, were composed of Bavarians; the fourth, of Franconians; the fifth, of
Saxons, under the immediate command of the monarch; the sixth and seventh c=
onsisted
of Swabians; and the eighth legion, of a thousand Bohemians, closed the rea=
r of
the host. The resources of discipline and valor were fortified by the arts =
of
superstition, which, on this occasion, may deserve the epithets of generous=
and
salutary. The soldiers were purified with a fast; the camp was blessed with=
the
relics of saints and martyrs; and the Christian hero girded on his side the
sword of Constantine, grasped the invincible spear of Charlemagne, and wave=
d the
banner of St. Maurice, the præfect of the Thebæan legion. But h=
is
firmest confidence was placed in the holy lance, whose point was fashioned =
of
the nails of the cross, and which his father had extorted from the king of
Burgundy, by the threats of war, and the gift of a province. The Hungarians
were expected in the front; they secretly passed the Lech, a river of Bavar=
ia
that falls into the Danube; turned the rear of the Christian army; plundered
the baggage, and disordered the legion of Bohemia and Swabia. The battle was
restored by the Franconians, whose duke, the valiant Conrad, was pierced wi=
th
an arrow as he rested from his fatigues: the Saxons fought under the eyes o=
f their
king; and his victory surpassed, in merit and importance, the triumphs of t=
he
last two hundred years. The loss of the Hungarians was still greater in the
flight than in the action; they were encompassed by the rivers of Bavaria; =
and
their past cruelties excluded them from the hope of mercy. Three captive
princes were hanged at Ratisbon, the multitude of prisoners was slain or
mutilated, and the fugitives, who presumed to appear in the face of their
country, were condemned to everlasting poverty and disgrace. Yet the spirit=
of
the nation was humbled, and the most accessible passes of Hungary were
fortified with a ditch and rampart. Adversity suggested the counsels of
moderation and peace: the robbers of the West acquiesced in a sedentary lif=
e;
and the next generation was taught, by a discerning prince, that far more m=
ight
be gained by multiplying and exchanging the produce of a fruitful soil. The
native race, the Turkish or Fennic blood, was mingled with new colonies of
Scythian or Sclavonian origin; many thousands of robust and industrious
captives had been imported from all the countries of Europe; and after the
marriage of Geisa with a Bavarian princess, he bestowed honors and estates =
on
the nobles of Germany. The son of Geisa was invested with the regal title, =
and
the house of Arpad reigned three hundred years in the kingdom of Hungary. B=
ut
the freeborn Barbarians were not dazzled by the lustre of the diadem, and t=
he
people asserted their indefeasible right of choosing, deposing, and punishi=
ng
the hereditary servant of the state.
III. The name of Russians was first divulged, =
in
the ninth century, by an embassy of Theophilus, emperor of the East, to the
emperor of the West, Lewis, the son of Charlemagne. The Greeks were accompa=
nied
by the envoys of the great duke, or chagan, or czar, of the Russians. In th=
eir
journey to Constantinople, they had traversed many hostile nations; and they
hoped to escape the dangers of their return, by requesting the French monar=
ch
to transport them by sea to their native country. A closer examination dete=
cted
their origin: they were the brethren of the Swedes and Normans, whose name =
was
already odious and formidable in France; and it might justly be apprehended,
that these Russian strangers were not the messengers of peace, but the
emissaries of war. They were detained, while the Greeks were dismissed; and
Lewis expected a more satisfactory account, that he might obey the laws of =
hospitality
or prudence, according to the interest of both empires. This Scandinavian
origin of the people, or at least the princes, of Russia, may be confirmed =
and
illustrated by the national annals and the general history of the North. The
Normans, who had so long been concealed by a veil of impenetrable darkness,
suddenly burst forth in the spirit of naval and military enterprise. The va=
st,
and, as it is said, the populous regions of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, we=
re
crowded with independent chieftains and desperate adventurers, who sighed in
the laziness of peace, and smiled in the agonies of death. Piracy was the e=
xercise,
the trade, the glory, and the virtue, of the Scandinavian youth. Impatient =
of a
bleak climate and narrow limits, they started from the banquet, grasped the=
ir
arms, sounded their horn, ascended their vessels, and explored every coast =
that
promised either spoil or settlement. The Baltic was the first scene of their
naval achievements they visited the eastern shores, the silent residence of
Fennic and Sclavonic tribes, and the primitive Russians of the Lake Ladoga =
paid
a tribute, the skins of white squirrels, to these strangers, whom they salu=
ted
with the title of Varangians or Corsairs. Their superiority in arms,
discipline, and renown, commanded the fear and reverence of the natives. In
their wars against the more inland savages, the Varangians condescended to
serve as friends and auxiliaries, and gradually, by choice or conquest,
obtained the dominion of a people whom they were qualified to protect. Their
tyranny was expelled, their valor was again recalled, till at length Ruric,=
a
Scandinavian chief, became the father of a dynasty which reigned above seven
hundred years. His brothers extended his influence: the example of service =
and
usurpation was imitated by his companions in the southern provinces of Russ=
ia;
and their establishments, by the usual methods of war and assassination, we=
re
cemented into the fabric of a powerful monarchy.
As long as the descendants of Ruric were
considered as aliens and conquerors, they ruled by the sword of the Varangi=
ans,
distributed estates and subjects to their faithful captains, and supplied t=
heir
numbers with fresh streams of adventurers from the Baltic coast. But when t=
he
Scandinavian chiefs had struck a deep and permanent root into the soil, they
mingled with the Russians in blood, religion, and language, and the first
Waladimir had the merit of delivering his country from these foreign
mercenaries. They had seated him on the throne; his riches were insufficien=
t to
satisfy their demands; but they listened to his pleasing advice, that they
should seek, not a more grateful, but a more wealthy, master; that they sho=
uld
embark for Greece, where, instead of the skins of squirrels, silk and gold
would be the recompense of their service. At the same time, the Russian pri=
nce admonished
his Byzantine ally to disperse and employ, to recompense and restrain, these
impetuous children of the North. Contemporary writers have recorded the
introduction, name, and character, of the Varangians: each day they rose in
confidence and esteem; the whole body was assembled at Constantinople to
perform the duty of guards; and their strength was recruited by a numerous =
band
of their countrymen from the Island of Thule. On this occasion, the vague a=
ppellation
of Thule is applied to England; and the new Varangians were a colony of Eng=
lish
and Danes who fled from the yoke of the Norman conqueror. The habits of pil=
grimage
and piracy had approximated the countries of the earth; these exiles were
entertained in the Byzantine court; and they preserved, till the last age of
the empire, the inheritance of spotless loyalty, and the use of the Danish =
or
English tongue. With their broad and double-edged battle-axes on their
shoulders, they attended the Greek emperor to the temple, the senate, and t=
he
hippodrome; he slept and feasted under their trusty guard; and the keys of =
the
palace, the treasury, and the capital, were held by the firm and faithful h=
ands
of the Varangians.
In the tenth century, the geography of Scythia=
was
extended far beyond the limits of ancient knowledge; and the monarchy of the
Russians obtains a vast and conspicuous place in the map of Constantine. The
sons of Ruric were masters of the spacious province of Wolodomir, or Moscow=
; and,
if they were confined on that side by the hordes of the East, their western
frontier in those early days was enlarged to the Baltic Sea and the country=
of
the Prussians. Their northern reign ascended above the sixtieth degree of
latitude over the Hyperborean regions, which fancy had peopled with monster=
s,
or clouded with eternal darkness. To the south they followed the course of =
the
Borysthenes, and approached with that river the neighborhood of the Euxine =
Sea.
The tribes that dwelt, or wandered, in this ample circuit were obedient to =
the
same conqueror, and insensibly blended into the same nation. The language of
Russia is a dialect of the Sclavonian; but in the tenth century, these two
modes of speech were different from each other; and, as the Sclavonian prev=
ailed
in the South, it may be presumed that the original Russians of the North, t=
he
primitive subjects of the Varangian chief, were a portion of the Fennic rac=
e.
With the emigration, union, or dissolution, of the wandering tribes, the lo=
ose
and indefinite picture of the Scythian desert has continually shifted. But =
the
most ancient map of Russia affords some places which still retain their name
and position; and the two capitals, Novogorod and Kiow, are coeval with the
first age of the monarchy. Novogorod had not yet deserved the epithet of gr=
eat,
nor the alliance of the Hanseatic League, which diffused the streams of
opulence and the principles of freedom. Kiow could not yet boast of three
hundred churches, an innumerable people, and a degree of greatness and sple=
ndor
which was compared with Constantinople by those who had never seen the resi=
dence
of the Cæsars. In their origin, the two cities were no more than camp=
s or
fairs, the most convenient stations in which the Barbarians might assemble =
for
the occasional business of war or trade. Yet even these assemblies announce
some progress in the arts of society; a new breed of cattle was imported fr=
om
the southern provinces; and the spirit of commercial enterprise pervaded the
sea and land, from the Baltic to the Euxine, from the mouth of the Oder to =
the
port of Constantinople. In the days of idolatry and barbarism, the Sclavoni=
c city
of Julin was frequented and enriched by the Normans, who had prudently secu=
red
a free mart of purchase and exchange. From this harbor, at the entrance of =
the
Oder, the corsair, or merchant, sailed in forty-three days to the eastern
shores of the Baltic, the most distant nations were intermingled, and the h=
oly
groves of Curland are said to have been decorated with Grecian and Spanish =
gold.
Between the sea and Novogorod an easy intercourse was discovered; in the
summer, through a gulf, a lake, and a navigable river; in the winter season,
over the hard and level surface of boundless snows. From the neighborhood of
that city, the Russians descended the streams that fall into the Borysthene=
s; their
canoes, of a single tree, were laden with slaves of every age, furs of every
species, the spoil of their beehives, and the hides of their cattle; and the
whole produce of the North was collected and discharged in the magazines of
Kiow. The month of June was the ordinary season of the departure of the fle=
et:
the timber of the canoes was framed into the oars and benches of more solid=
and
capacious boats; and they proceeded without obstacle down the Borysthenes, =
as
far as the seven or thirteen ridges of rocks, which traverse the bed, and p=
recipitate
the waters, of the river. At the more shallow falls it was sufficient to
lighten the vessels; but the deeper cataracts were impassable; and the
mariners, who dragged their vessels and their slaves six miles over land, w=
ere
exposed in this toilsome journey to the robbers of the desert. At the first
island below the falls, the Russians celebrated the festival of their escap=
e:
at a second, near the mouth of the river, they repaired their shattered ves=
sels
for the longer and more perilous voyage of the Black Sea. If they steered a=
long
the coast, the Danube was accessible; with a fair wind they could reach in
thirty-six or forty hours the opposite shores of Anatolia; and Constantinop=
le admitted
the annual visit of the strangers of the North. They returned at the stated
season with a rich cargo of corn, wine, and oil, the manufactures of Greece,
and the spices of India. Some of their countrymen resided in the capital and
provinces; and the national treaties protected the persons, effects, and
privileges, of the Russian merchant.
But the same communication which had been open=
ed
for the benefit, was soon abused for the injury, of mankind. In a period of=
one
hundred and ninety years, the Russians made four attempts to plunder the
treasures of Constantinople: the event was various, but the motive, the mea=
ns, and
the object, were the same in these naval expeditions. The Russian traders h=
ad
seen the magnificence, and tasted the luxury of the city of the Cæsar=
s. A
marvellous tale, and a scanty supply, excited the desires of their savage
countrymen: they envied the gifts of nature which their climate denied; they
coveted the works of art, which they were too lazy to imitate and too indig=
ent
to purchase; the Varangian princes unfurled the banners of piratical advent=
ure,
and their bravest soldiers were drawn from the nations that dwelt in the
northern isles of the ocean. The image of their naval armaments was revived=
in
the last century, in the fleets of the Cossacks, which issued from the
Borysthenes, to navigate the same seas for a similar purpose. The Greek
appellation of monoxyla, or single canoes, might justly be applied to the
bottom of their vessels. It was scooped out of the long stem of a beech or
willow, but the slight and narrow foundation was raised and continued on ei=
ther
side with planks, till it attained the length of sixty, and the height of a=
bout
twelve, feet. These boats were built without a deck, but with two rudders a=
nd a
mast; to move with sails and oars; and to contain from forty to seventy men,
with their arms, and provisions of fresh water and salt fish. The first tri=
al
of the Russians was made with two hundred boats; but when the national force
was exerted, they might arm against Constantinople a thousand or twelve hun=
dred
vessels. Their fleet was not much inferior to the royal navy of Agamemnon, =
but
it was magnified in the eyes of fear to ten or fifteen times the real
proportion of its strength and numbers. Had the Greek emperors been endowed
with foresight to discern, and vigor to prevent, perhaps they might have se=
aled
with a maritime force the mouth of the Borysthenes. Their indolence abandon=
ed the
coast of Anatolia to the calamities of a piratical war, which, after an
interval of six hundred years, again infested the Euxine; but as long as the
capital was respected, the sufferings of a distant province escaped the not=
ice
both of the prince and the historian. The storm which had swept along from =
the
Phasis and Trebizond, at length burst on the Bosphorus of Thrace; a strait =
of
fifteen miles, in which the rude vessels of the Russians might have been
stopped and destroyed by a more skilful adversary. In their first enterprise
under the princes of Kiow, they passed without opposition, and occupied the
port of Constantinople in the absence of the emperor Michael, the son of
Theophilus. Through a crowd of perils, he landed at the palace-stairs, and
immediately repaired to a church of the Virgin Mary. By the advice of the
patriarch, her garment, a precious relic, was drawn from the sanctuary and
dipped in the sea; and a seasonable tempest, which determined the retreat o=
f the
Russians, was devoutly ascribed to the mother of God. The silence of the Gr=
eeks
may inspire some doubt of the truth, or at least of the importance, of the
second attempt by Oleg, the guardian of the sons of Ruric. A strong barrier=
of
arms and fortifications defended the Bosphorus: they were eluded by the usu=
al
expedient of drawing the boats over the isthmus; and this simple operation =
is
described in the national chronicles, as if the Russian fleet had sailed ov=
er
dry land with a brisk and favorable gale. The leader of the third armament,
Igor, the son of Ruric, had chosen a moment of weakness and decay, when the
naval powers of the empire were employed against the Saracens. But if coura=
ge be
not wanting, the instruments of defence are seldom deficient. Fifteen broken
and decayed galleys were boldly launched against the enemy; but instead of =
the
single tube of Greek fire usually planted on the prow, the sides and stern =
of
each vessel were abundantly supplied with that liquid combustible. The
engineers were dexterous; the weather was propitious; many thousand Russian=
s,
who chose rather to be drowned than burnt, leaped into the sea; and those w=
ho
escaped to the Thracian shore were inhumanly slaughtered by the peasants and
soldiers. Yet one third of the canoes escaped into shallow water; and the n=
ext
spring Igor was again prepared to retrieve his disgrace and claim his reven=
ge.
After a long peace, Jaroslaus, the great grandson of Igor, resumed the same=
project
of a naval invasion. A fleet, under the command of his son, was repulsed at=
the
entrance of the Bosphorus by the same artificial flames. But in the rashnes=
s of
pursuit, the vanguard of the Greeks was encompassed by an irresistible
multitude of boats and men; their provision of fire was probably exhausted;=
and
twenty-four galleys were either taken, sunk, or destroyed.
Yet the threats or calamities of a Russian war were more frequently diverted by treaty than by arms. In these naval hostilities, every disadvantage was on the side of the Greeks; their savage enemy afforded no mercy: his poverty promised no spoil; his impenetrable retreat deprived the conqueror of the hopes of revenge; and the pride or we= akness of empire indulged an opinion, that no honor could be gained or lost in the intercourse with Barbarians. At first their demands were high and inadmissi= ble, three pounds of gold for each soldier or mariner of the fleet: the Russian youth adhered to the design of conquest and glory; but the counsels of moderation were recommended by the hoary sages. "Be content," they said, "with the liberal offers of Cæsar; it is not far better to obtain without a combat the possession of gold, silver, silks, and all the objects of our desires? Are we sure of victory? Can we conclude a treaty wi= th the sea? We do not tread on the land; we float on the abyss of water, and a common death hangs over our heads." The memory of these Arctic fleets = that seemed to descend from the polar circle left deep impression of terror on t= he Imperial city. By the vulgar of every rank, it was asserted and believed, t= hat an equestrian statue in the square of Taurus was secretly inscribed with a = prophecy, how the Russians, in the last days, should become masters of Constantinople= . In our own time, a Russian armament, instead of sailing from the Borysthenes, = has circumnavigated the continent of Europe; and the Turkish capital has been threatened by a squadron of strong and lofty ships of war, each of which, w= ith its naval science and thundering artillery, could have sunk or scattered a hundred canoes, such as those of their ancestors. Perhaps the present generation may yet behold the accomplishment of the prediction, of a rare prediction, of which the style is unambiguous and the date unquestionable.<= o:p>
By land the Russians were less formidable than=
by
sea; and as they fought for the most part on foot, their irregular legions =
must
often have been broken and overthrown by the cavalry of the Scythian hordes=
. Yet
their growing towns, however slight and imperfect, presented a shelter to t=
he
subject, and a barrier to the enemy: the monarchy of Kiow, till a fatal
partition, assumed the dominion of the North; and the nations from the Volg=
a to
the Danube were subdued or repelled by the arms of Swatoslaus, the son of I=
gor,
the son of Oleg, the son of Ruric. The vigor of his mind and body was forti=
fied
by the hardships of a military and savage life. Wrapped in a bear-skin,
Swatoslaus usually slept on the ground, his head reclining on a saddle; his
diet was coarse and frugal, and, like the heroes of Homer, his meat (it was
often horse-flesh) was broiled or roasted on the coals. The exercise of war=
gave
stability and discipline to his army; and it may be presumed, that no soldi=
er
was permitted to transcend the luxury of his chief. By an embassy from
Nicephorus, the Greek emperor, he was moved to undertake the conquest of
Bulgaria; and a gift of fifteen hundred pounds of gold was laid at his feet=
to
defray the expense, or reward the toils, of the expedition. An army of sixty
thousand men was assembled and embarked; they sailed from the Borysthenes to
the Danube; their landing was effected on the Mæsian shore; and, afte=
r a
sharp encounter, the swords of the Russians prevailed against the arrows of=
the
Bulgarian horse. The vanquished king sunk into the grave; his children were
made captive; and his dominions, as far as Mount Hæmus, were subdued =
or
ravaged by the northern invaders. But instead of relinquishing his prey, and
performing his engagements, the Varangian prince was more disposed to advan=
ce
than to retire; and, had his ambition been crowned with success, the seat of
empire in that early period might have been transferred to a more temperate=
and
fruitful climate. Swatoslaus enjoyed and acknowledged the advantages of his=
new
position, in which he could unite, by exchange or rapine, the various
productions of the earth. By an easy navigation he might draw from Russia t=
he
native commodities of furs, wax, and hydromel: Hungary supplied him with a
breed of horses and the spoils of the West; and Greece abounded with gold,
silver, and the foreign luxuries, which his poverty had affected to disdain.
The bands of Patzinacites, Chozars, and Turks, repaired to the standard of
victory; and the ambassador of Nicephorus betrayed his trust, assumed the
purple, and promised to share with his new allies the treasures of the East=
ern world.
From the banks of the Danube the Russian prince pursued his march as far as
Adrianople; a formal summons to evacuate the Roman province was dismissed w=
ith
contempt; and Swatoslaus fiercely replied, that Constantinople might soon
expect the presence of an enemy and a master.
Nicephorus could no longer expel the mischief
which he had introduced; but his throne and wife were inherited by John
Zimisces, who, in a diminutive body, possessed the spirit and abilities of a
hero. The first victory of his lieutenants deprived the Russians of their
foreign allies, twenty thousand of whom were either destroyed by the sword,=
or
provoked to revolt, or tempted to desert. Thrace was delivered, but seventy
thousand Barbarians were still in arms; and the legions that had been recal=
led
from the new conquests of Syria, prepared, with the return of the spring, to
march under the banners of a warlike prince, who declared himself the friend
and avenger of the injured Bulgaria. The passes of Mount Hæmus had be=
en
left unguarded; they were instantly occupied; the Roman vanguard was formed=
of
the immortals, (a proud imitation of the Persian style;) the emperor led the
main body of ten thousand five hundred foot; and the rest of his forces
followed in slow and cautious array, with the baggage and military engines.=
The
first exploit of Zimisces was the reduction of Marcianopolis, or Peristhlab=
a, in
two days; the trumpets sounded; the walls were scaled; eight thousand five
hundred Russians were put to the sword; and the sons of the Bulgarian king =
were
rescued from an ignominious prison, and invested with a nominal diadem. Aft=
er
these repeated losses, Swatoslaus retired to the strong post of Drista, on =
the
banks of the Danube, and was pursued by an enemy who alternately employed t=
he
arms of celerity and delay. The Byzantine galleys ascended the river, the
legions completed a line of circumvallation; and the Russian prince was
encompassed, assaulted, and famished, in the fortifications of the camp and
city. Many deeds of valor were performed; several desperate sallies were at=
tempted;
nor was it till after a siege of sixty-five days that Swatoslaus yielded to=
his
adverse fortune. The liberal terms which he obtained announce the prudence =
of
the victor, who respected the valor, and apprehended the despair, of an
unconquered mind. The great duke of Russia bound himself, by solemn
imprecations, to relinquish all hostile designs; a safe passage was opened =
for
his return; the liberty of trade and navigation was restored; a measure of =
corn
was distributed to each of his soldiers; and the allowance of twenty-two
thousand measures attests the loss and the remnant of the Barbarians. After=
a
painful voyage, they again reached the mouth of the Borysthenes; but their =
provisions
were exhausted; the season was unfavorable; they passed the winter on the i=
ce;
and, before they could prosecute their march, Swatoslaus was surprised and
oppressed by the neighboring tribes with whom the Greeks entertained a
perpetual and useful correspondence. Far different was the return of Zimisc=
es,
who was received in his capital like Camillus or Marius, the saviors of anc=
ient
Rome. But the merit of the victory was attributed by the pious emperor to t=
he
mother of God; and the image of the Virgin Mary, with the divine infant in =
her
arms, was placed on a triumphal car, adorned with the spoils of war, and the
ensigns of Bulgarian royalty. Zimisces made his public entry on horseback; =
the
diadem on his head, a crown of laurel in his hand; and Constantinople was
astonished to applaud the martial virtues of her sovereign.
Photius of Constantinople, a patriarch, whose
ambition was equal to his curiosity, congratulates himself and the Greek ch=
urch
on the conversion of the Russians. Those fierce and bloody Barbarians had b=
een
persuaded, by the voice of reason and religion, to acknowledge Jesus for th=
eir
God, the Christian missionaries for their teachers, and the Romans for thei=
r friends
and brethren. His triumph was transient and premature. In the various fortu=
ne
of their piratical adventures, some Russian chiefs might allow themselves t=
o be
sprinkled with the waters of baptism; and a Greek bishop, with the name of
metropolitan, might administer the sacraments in the church of Kiow, to a
congregation of slaves and natives. But the seed of the gospel was sown on a
barren soil: many were the apostates, the converts were few; and the baptis=
m of
Olga may be fixed as the æra of Russian Christianity. A female, perha=
ps
of the basest origin, who could revenge the death, and assume the sceptre, =
of
her husband Igor, must have been endowed with those active virtues which
command the fear and obedience of Barbarians. In a moment of foreign and
domestic peace, she sailed from Kiow to Constantinople; and the emperor
Constantine Porphyrogenitus has described, with minute diligence, the
ceremonial of her reception in his capital and palace. The steps, the title=
s,
the salutations, the banquet, the presents, were exquisitely adjusted to gr=
atify
the vanity of the stranger, with due reverence to the superior majesty of t=
he
purple. In the sacrament of baptism, she received the venerable name of the
empress Helena; and her conversion might be preceded or followed by her unc=
le,
two interpreters, sixteen damsels of a higher, and eighteen of a lower rank,
twenty-two domestics or ministers, and forty-four Russian merchants, who
composed the retinue of the great princess Olga. After her return to Kiow a=
nd
Novogorod, she firmly persisted in her new religion; but her labors in the
propagation of the gospel were not crowned with success; and both her family
and nation adhered with obstinacy or indifference to the gods of their fath=
ers.
Her son Swatoslaus was apprehensive of the scorn and ridicule of his
companions; and her grandson Wolodomir devoted his youthful zeal to multiply
and decorate the monuments of ancient worship. The savage deities of the No=
rth
were still propitiated with human sacrifices: in the choice of the victim, a
citizen was preferred to a stranger, a Christian to an idolater; and the
father, who defended his son from the sacerdotal knife, was involved in the
same doom by the rage of a fanatic tumult. Yet the lessons and example of t=
he
pious Olga had made a deep, though secret, impression in the minds of the
prince and people: the Greek missionaries continued to preach, to dispute, =
and
to baptize: and the ambassadors or merchants of Russia compared the idolatr=
y of
the woods with the elegant superstition of Constantinople. They had gazed w=
ith
admiration on the dome of St. Sophia: the lively pictures of saints and
martyrs, the riches of the altar, the number and vestments of the priests, =
the
pomp and order of the ceremonies; they were edified by the alternate succes=
sion
of devout silence and harmonious song; nor was it difficult to persuade the=
m,
that a choir of angels descended each day from heaven to join in the devoti=
on
of the Christians. But the conversion of Wolodomir was determined, or haste=
ned,
by his desire of a Roman bride. At the same time, and in the city of Cherso=
n,
the rites of baptism and marriage were celebrated by the Christian pontiff:=
the
city he restored to the emperor Basil, the brother of his spouse; but the b=
razen
gates were transported, as it is said, to Novogorod, and erected before the
first church as a trophy of his victory and faith. At his despotic command,
Peround, the god of thunder, whom he had so long adored, was dragged through
the streets of Kiow; and twelve sturdy Barbarians battered with clubs the
misshapen image, which was indignantly cast into the waters of the Borysthe=
nes.
The edict of Wolodomir had proclaimed, that all who should refuse the rites=
of baptism
would be treated as the enemies of God and their prince; and the rivers were
instantly filled with many thousands of obedient Russians, who acquiesced in
the truth and excellence of a doctrine which had been embraced by the great
duke and his boyars. In the next generation, the relics of Paganism were
finally extirpated; but as the two brothers of Wolodomir had died without
baptism, their bones were taken from the grave, and sanctified by an irregu=
lar
and posthumous sacrament.
In the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries of=
the
Christian æra, the reign of the gospel and of the church was extended
over Bulgaria, Hungary, Bohemia, Saxony, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, a=
nd
Russia. The triumphs of apostolic zeal were repeated in the iron age of Chr=
istianity;
and the northern and eastern regions of Europe submitted to a religion, more
different in theory than in practice, from the worship of their native idol=
s. A
laudable ambition excited the monks both of Germany and Greece, to visit the
tents and huts of the Barbarians: poverty, hardships, and dangers, were the=
lot
of the first missionaries; their courage was active and patient; their moti=
ve
pure and meritorious; their present reward consisted in the testimony of th=
eir
conscience and the respect of a grateful people; but the fruitful harvest of
their toils was inherited and enjoyed by the proud and wealthy prelates of
succeeding times. The first conversions were free and spontaneous: a holy l=
ife
and an eloquent tongue were the only arms of the missionaries; but the dome=
stic
fables of the Pagans were silenced by the miracles and visions of the
strangers; and the favorable temper of the chiefs was accelerated by the
dictates of vanity and interest. The leaders of nations, who were saluted w=
ith
the titles of kings and saints, held it lawful and pious to impose the Cath=
olic
faith on their subjects and neighbors; the coast of the Baltic, from Holste=
in
to the Gulf of Finland, was invaded under the standard of the cross; and th=
e reign
of idolatry was closed by the conversion of Lithuania in the fourteenth
century. Yet truth and candor must acknowledge, that the conversion of the
North imparted many temporal benefits both to the old and the new Christian=
s.
The rage of war, inherent to the human species, could not be healed by the
evangelic precepts of charity and peace; and the ambition of Catholic princ=
es
has renewed in every age the calamities of hostile contention. But the
admission of the Barbarians into the pale of civil and ecclesiastical socie=
ty
delivered Europe from the depredations, by sea and land, of the Normans, the
Hungarians, and the Russians, who learned to spare their brethren and culti=
vate
their possessions. The establishment of law and order was promoted by the i=
nfluence
of the clergy; and the rudiments of art and science were introduced into the
savage countries of the globe. The liberal piety of the Russian princes eng=
aged
in their service the most skilful of the Greeks, to decorate the cities and
instruct the inhabitants: the dome and the paintings of St. Sophia were rud=
ely
copied in the churches of Kiow and Novogorod: the writings of the fathers w=
ere
translated into the Sclavonic idiom; and three hundred noble youths were
invited or compelled to attend the lessons of the college of Jaroslaus. It
should appear that Russia might have derived an early and rapid improvement=
from
her peculiar connection with the church and state of Constantinople, which =
at
that age so justly despised the ignorance of the Latins. But the Byzantine
nation was servile, solitary, and verging to a hasty decline: after the fal=
l of
Kiow, the navigation of the Borysthenes was forgotten; the great princes of
Wolodomir and Moscow were separated from the sea and Christendom; and the
divided monarchy was oppressed by the ignominy and blindness of Tartar
servitude. The Sclavonic and Scandinavian kingdoms, which had been converte=
d by
the Latin missionaries, were exposed, it is true, to the spiritual jurisdic=
tion
and temporal claims of the popes; but they were united in language and
religious worship, with each other, and with Rome; they imbibed the free and
generous spirit of the European republic, and gradually shared the light of
knowledge which arose on the western world.
The Saracens, Fr=
anks,
And Greeks, In Italy.--First Adventures =
And
Settlement Of The Normans.--Character And Conquest Of
Robert Guiscard, Duke Of Apulia--Deliverance Of Sicily By H=
is
Brother Roger.--Victories Of Robert Over The Emperors Of=
The
East And West.--Roger, King Of Sicily, Invades Afr=
ica
And Greece.--The Emperor Manuel Comnenus.-- Wars Of The
Greeks And Normans.--Extinction Of The Normans.
The three great nations of the world, the Gree=
ks,
the Saracens, and the Franks, encountered each other on the theatre of Ital=
y.
The southern provinces, which now compose the kingdom of Naples, were subje=
ct, for
the most part, to the Lombard dukes and princes of Beneventum; so powerful =
in
war, that they checked for a moment the genius of Charlemagne; so liberal in
peace, that they maintained in their capital an academy of thirty-two
philosophers and grammarians. The division of this flourishing state produc=
ed
the rival principalities of Benevento, Salerno, and Capua; and the thoughtl=
ess
ambition or revenge of the competitors invited the Saracens to the ruin of
their common inheritance. During a calamitous period of two hundred years,
Italy was exposed to a repetition of wounds, which the invaders were not
capable of healing by the union and tranquility of a perfect conquest. Thei=
r frequent
and almost annual squadrons issued from the port of Palermo, and were
entertained with too much indulgence by the Christians of Naples: the more
formidable fleets were prepared on the African coast; and even the Arabs of
Andalusia were sometimes tempted to assist or oppose the Moslems of an adve=
rse
sect. In the revolution of human events, a new ambuscade was concealed in t=
he
Caudine Forks, the fields of Cannæ were bedewed a second time with the
blood of the Africans, and the sovereign of Rome again attacked or defended=
the
walls of Capua and Tarentum. A colony of Saracens had been planted at Bari,
which commands the entrance of the Adriatic Gulf; and their impartial
depredations provoked the resentment, and conciliated the union of the two
emperors. An offensive alliance was concluded between Basil the Macedonian,=
the
first of his race, and Lewis the great-grandson of Charlemagne; and each pa=
rty
supplied the deficiencies of his associate. It would have been imprudent in=
the
Byzantine monarch to transport his stationary troops of Asia to an Italian
campaign; and the Latin arms would have been insufficient if his superior n=
avy
had not occupied the mouth of the Gulf. The fortress of Bari was invested by
the infantry of the Franks, and by the cavalry and galleys of the Greeks; a=
nd,
after a defence of four years, the Arabian emir submitted to the clemency of
Lewis, who commanded in person the operations of the siege. This important
conquest had been achieved by the concord of the East and West; but their
recent amity was soon imbittered by the mutual complaints of jealousy and p=
ride.
The Greeks assumed as their own the merit of the conquest and the pomp of t=
he
triumph; extolled the greatness of their powers, and affected to deride the
intemperance and sloth of the handful of Barbarians who appeared under the
banners of the Carlovingian prince. His reply is expressed with the eloquen=
ce
of indignation and truth: "We confess the magnitude of your
preparation," says the great-grandson of Charlemagne. "Your armies
were indeed as numerous as a cloud of summer locusts, who darken the day, f=
lap
their wings, and, after a short flight, tumble weary and breathless to the
ground. Like them, ye sunk after a feeble effort; ye were vanquished by your
own cowardice; and withdrew from the scene of action to injure and despoil =
our
Christian subjects of the Sclavonian coast. We were few in number, and why =
were
we few? Because, after a tedious expectation of your arrival, I had dismiss=
ed
my host, and retained only a chosen band of warriors to continue the blocka=
de
of the city. If they indulged their hospitable feasts in the face of danger=
and
death, did these feasts abate the vigor of their enterprise? Is it by your
fasting that the walls of Bari have been overturned? Did not these valiant
Franks, diminished as they were by languor and fatigue, intercept and vanish
the three most powerful emirs of the Saracens? and did not their defeat
precipitate the fall of the city? Bari is now fallen; Tarentum trembles;
Calabria will be delivered; and, if we command the sea, the Island of Sicily
may be rescued from the hands of the infidels. My brother," accelerate=
(a name
most offensive to the vanity of the Greek,) "accelerate your naval suc=
cors,
respect your allies, and distrust your flatterers."
These lofty hopes were soon extinguished by the
death of Lewis, and the decay of the Carlovingian house; and whoever might
deserve the honor, the Greek emperors, Basil, and his son Leo, secured the
advantage, of the reduction of Bari The Italians of Apulia and Calabria were
persuaded or compelled to acknowledge their supremacy, and an ideal line fr=
om Mount
Garganus to the Bay of Salerno, leaves the far greater part of the kingdom =
of
Naples under the dominion of the Eastern empire. Beyond that line, the duke=
s or
republics of Amalfi and Naples, who had never forfeited their voluntary
allegiance, rejoiced in the neighborhood of their lawful sovereign; and Ama=
lfi
was enriched by supplying Europe with the produce and manufactures of Asia.=
But
the Lombard princes of Benevento, Salerno, and Capua, were reluctantly torn
from the communion of the Latin world, and too often violated their oaths of
servitude and tribute. The city of Bari rose to dignity and wealth, as the
metropolis of the new theme or province of Lombardy: the title of patrician,
and afterwards the singular name of Catapan, was assigned to the supreme go=
vernor;
and the policy both of the church and state was modelled in exact subordina=
tion
to the throne of Constantinople. As long as the sceptre was disputed by the
princes of Italy, their efforts were feeble and adverse; and the Greeks
resisted or eluded the forces of Germany, which descended from the Alps und=
er
the Imperial standard of the Othos. The first and greatest of those Saxon
princes was compelled to relinquish the siege of Bari: the second, after the
loss of his stoutest bishops and barons, escaped with honor from the bloody
field of Crotona. On that day the scale of war was turned against the Frank=
s by
the valor of the Saracens. These corsairs had indeed been driven by the
Byzantine fleets from the fortresses and coasts of Italy; but a sense of
interest was more prevalent than superstition or resentment, and the caliph=
of Egypt
had transported forty thousand Moslems to the aid of his Christian ally. The
successors of Basil amused themselves with the belief, that the conquest of
Lombardy had been achieved, and was still preserved by the justice of their
laws, the virtues of their ministers, and the gratitude of a people whom th=
ey
had rescued from anarchy and oppression. A series of rebellions might dart a
ray of truth into the palace of Constantinople; and the illusions of flatte=
ry
were dispelled by the easy and rapid success of the Norman adventurers.
The revolution of human affairs had produced in
Apulia and Calabria a melancholy contrast between the age of Pythagoras and=
the
tenth century of the Christian æra. At the former period, the coast of
Great Greece (as it was then styled) was planted with free and opulent citi=
es:
these cities were peopled with soldiers, artists, and philosophers; and the=
military
strength of Tarentum; Sybaris, or Crotona, was not inferior to that of a
powerful kingdom. At the second æra, these once flourishing provinces
were clouded with ignorance impoverished by tyranny, and depopulated by
Barbarian war nor can we severely accuse the exaggeration of a contemporary=
, that
a fair and ample district was reduced to the same desolation which had cove=
red
the earth after the general deluge. Among the hostilities of the Arabs, the
Franks, and the Greeks, in the southern Italy, I shall select two or three
anecdotes expressive of their national manners. 1. It was the amusement of =
the
Saracens to profane, as well as to pillage, the monasteries and churches. A=
t the
siege of Salerno, a Mussulman chief spread his couch on the communion-table,
and on that altar sacrificed each night the virginity of a Christian nun. A=
s he
wrestled with a reluctant maid, a beam in the roof was accidentally or
dexterously thrown down on his head; and the death of the lustful emir was
imputed to the wrath of Christ, which was at length awakened to the defence=
of
his faithful spouse. 2. The Saracens besieged the cities of Beneventum and
Capua: after a vain appeal to the successors of Charlemagne, the Lombards
implored the clemency and aid of the Greek emperor. A fearless citizen drop=
ped
from the walls, passed the intrenchments, accomplished his commission, and =
fell
into the hands of the Barbarians as he was returning with the welcome news.
They commanded him to assist their enterprise, and deceive his countrymen, =
with
the assurance that wealth and honors should be the reward of his falsehood,=
and
that his sincerity would be punished with immediate death. He affected to
yield, but as soon as he was conducted within hearing of the Christians on =
the
rampart, "Friends and brethren," he cried with a loud voice, &quo=
t;be
bold and patient, maintain the city; your sovereign is informed of your
distress, and your deliverers are at hand. I know my doom, and commit my wi=
fe
and children to your gratitude." The rage of the Arabs confirmed his
evidence; and the self-devoted patriot was transpierced with a hundred spea=
rs.
He deserves to live in the memory of the virtuous, but the repetition of the
same story in ancient and modern times, may sprinkle some doubts on the rea=
lity
of this generous deed. 3. The recital of a third incident may provoke a smi=
le
amidst the horrors of war. Theobald, marquis of Camerino and Spoleto, suppo=
rted
the rebels of Beneventum; and his wanton cruelty was not incompatible in th=
at
age with the character of a hero. His captives of the Greek nation or party
were castrated without mercy, and the outrage was aggravated by a cruel jes=
t,
that he wished to present the emperor with a supply of eunuchs, the most
precious ornaments of the Byzantine court. The garrison of a castle had been
defeated in a sally, and the prisoners were sentenced to the customary
operation. But the sacrifice was disturbed by the intrusion of a frantic
female, who, with bleeding cheeks dishevelled hair, and importunate clamors,
compelled the marquis to listen to her complaint. "Is it thus," s=
he
cried, "ye magnanimous heroes, that ye wage war against women, against
women who have never injured ye, and whose only arms are the distaff and th=
e loom?"
Theobald denied the charge, and protested that, since the Amazons, he had n=
ever
heard of a female war. "And how," she furiously exclaimed, "=
can
you attack us more directly, how can you wound us in a more vital part, tha=
n by
robbing our husbands of what we most dearly cherish, the source of our joys,
and the hope of our posterity? The plunder of our flocks and herds I have
endured without a murmur, but this fatal injury, this irreparable loss, sub=
dues
my patience, and calls aloud on the justice of heaven and earth." A
general laugh applauded her eloquence; the savage Franks, inaccessible to p=
ity,
were moved by her ridiculous, yet rational despair; and with the deliveranc=
e of
the captives, she obtained the restitution of her effects. As she returned =
in
triumph to the castle, she was overtaken by a messenger, to inquire, in the
name of Theobald, what punishment should be inflicted on her husband, were =
he
again taken in arms. "Should such," she answered without hesitati=
on,
"be his guilt and misfortune, he has eyes, and a nose, and hands, and
feet. These are his own, and these he may deserve to forfeit by his personal
offences. But let my lord be pleased to spare what his little handmaid pres=
umes
to claim as her peculiar and lawful property."
The establishment of the Normans in the kingdo=
ms
of Naples and Sicily is an event most romantic in its origin, and in its
consequences most important both to Italy and the Eastern empire. The broken
provinces of the Greeks, Lombards, and Saracens, were exposed to every inva=
der,
and every sea and land were invaded by the adventurous spirit of the Scandi=
navian
pirates. After a long indulgence of rapine and slaughter, a fair and ample
territory was accepted, occupied, and named, by the Normans of France: they
renounced their gods for the God of the Christians; and the dukes of Norman=
dy
acknowledged themselves the vassals of the successors of Charlemagne and Ca=
pet.
The savage fierceness which they had brought from the snowy mountains of No=
rway
was refined, without being corrupted, in a warmer climate; the companions of
Rollo insensibly mingled with the natives; they imbibed the manners, langua=
ge,
and gallantry, of the French nation; and in a martial age, the Normans might
claim the palm of valor and glorious achievements. Of the fashionable
superstitions, they embraced with ardor the pilgrimages of Rome, Italy, and=
the
Holy Land. In this active devotion, the minds and bodies were invigorated by
exercise: danger was the incentive, novelty the recompense; and the prospec=
t of
the world was decorated by wonder, credulity, and ambitious hope. They
confederated for their mutual defence; and the robbers of the Alps, who had
been allured by the garb of a pilgrim, were often chastised by the arm of a
warrior. In one of these pious visits to the cavern of Mount Garganus in
Apulia, which had been sanctified by the apparition of the archangel Michae=
l,
they were accosted by a stranger in the Greek habit, but who soon revealed
himself as a rebel, a fugitive, and a mortal foe of the Greek empire. His n=
ame was
Melo; a noble citizen of Bari, who, after an unsuccessful revolt, was compe=
lled
to seek new allies and avengers of his country. The bold appearance of the
Normans revived his hopes and solicited his confidence: they listened to the
complaints, and still more to the promises, of the patriot. The assurance of
wealth demonstrated the justice of his cause; and they viewed, as the
inheritance of the brave, the fruitful land which was oppressed by effemina=
te
tyrants. On their return to Normandy, they kindled a spark of enterprise, a=
nd a
small but intrepid band was freely associated for the deliverance of Apulia.
They passed the Alps by separate roads, and in the disguise of pilgrims; bu=
t in
the neighborhood of Rome they were saluted by the chief of Bari, who suppli=
ed
the more indigent with arms and horses, and instantly led them to the field=
of
action. In the first conflict, their valor prevailed; but in the second
engagement they were overwhelmed by the numbers and military engines of the
Greeks, and indignantly retreated with their faces to the enemy. The
unfortunate Melo ended his life a suppliant at the court of Germany: his No=
rman
followers, excluded from their native and their promised land, wandered amo=
ng
the hills and valleys of Italy, and earned their daily subsistence by the
sword. To that formidable sword the princes of Capua, Beneventum, Salerno, =
and
Naples, alternately appealed in their domestic quarrels; the superior spirit
and discipline of the Normans gave victory to the side which they espoused;=
and
their cautious policy observed the balance of power, lest the preponderance=
of
any rival state should render their aid less important, and their service l=
ess
profitable. Their first asylum was a strong camp in the depth of the marshe=
s of
Campania: but they were soon endowed by the liberality of the duke of Naples
with a more plentiful and permanent seat. Eight miles from his residence, a=
s a
bulwark against Capua, the town of Aversa was built and fortified for their
use; and they enjoyed as their own the corn and fruits, the meadows and gro=
ves,
of that fertile district. The report of their success attracted every year =
new swarms
of pilgrims and soldiers: the poor were urged by necessity; the rich were
excited by hope; and the brave and active spirits of Normandy were impatien=
t of
ease and ambitious of renown. The independent standard of Aversa afforded
shelter and encouragement to the outlaws of the province, to every fugitive=
who
had escaped from the injustice or justice of his superiors; and these forei=
gn
associates were quickly assimilated in manners and language to the Gallic
colony. The first leader of the Normans was Count Rainulf; and, in the orig=
in
of society, preëminence of rank is the reward and the proof of superior
merit.
Since the conquest of Sicily by the Arabs, the
Grecian emperors had been anxious to regain that valuable possession; but t=
heir
efforts, however strenuous, had been opposed by the distance and the sea. T=
heir
costly armaments, after a gleam of success, added new pages of calamity and=
disgrace
to the Byzantine annals: twenty thousand of their best troops were lost in a
single expedition; and the victorious Moslems derided the policy of a nation
which intrusted eunuchs not only with the custody of their women, but with =
the
command of their men After a reign of two hundred years, the Saracens were
ruined by their divisions. The emir disclaimed the authority of the king of
Tunis; the people rose against the emir; the cities were usurped by the chi=
efs;
each meaner rebel was independent in his village or castle; and the weaker =
of
two rival brothers implored the friendship of the Christians. In every serv=
ice
of danger the Normans were prompt and useful; and five hundred knights, or
warriors on horseback, were enrolled by Arduin, the agent and interpreter of
the Greeks, under the standard of Maniaces, governor of Lombardy. Before th=
eir
landing, the brothers were reconciled; the union of Sicily and Africa was
restored; and the island was guarded to the water's edge. The Normans led t=
he
van and the Arabs of Messina felt the valor of an untried foe. In a second
action the emir of Syracuse was unhorsed and transpierced by the iron arm of
William of Hauteville. In a third engagement, his intrepid companions
discomfited the host of sixty thousand Saracens, and left the Greeks no more
than the labor of the pursuit: a splendid victory; but of which the pen of =
the
historian may divide the merit with the lance of the Normans. It is, howeve=
r, true,
that they essentially promoted the success of Maniaces, who reduced thirteen
cities, and the greater part of Sicily, under the obedience of the emperor.=
But
his military fame was sullied by ingratitude and tyranny. In the division of
the spoils, the deserts of his brave auxiliaries were forgotten; and neither
their avarice nor their pride could brook this injurious treatment. They
complained by the mouth of their interpreter: their complaint was disregard=
ed;
their interpreter was scourged; the sufferings were his; the insult and res=
entment
belonged to those whose sentiments he had delivered. Yet they dissembled ti=
ll
they had obtained, or stolen, a safe passage to the Italian continent: their
brethren of Aversa sympathized in their indignation, and the province of Ap=
ulia
was invaded as the forfeit of the debt. Above twenty years after the first
emigration, the Normans took the field with no more than seven hundred horse
and five hundred foot; and after the recall of the Byzantine legions from t=
he
Sicilian war, their numbers are magnified to the amount of threescore thous=
and men.
Their herald proposed the option of battle or retreat; "of battle,&quo=
t;
was the unanimous cry of the Normans; and one of their stoutest warriors, w=
ith
a stroke of his fist, felled to the ground the horse of the Greek messenger=
. He
was dismissed with a fresh horse; the insult was concealed from the Imperial
troops; but in two successive battles they were more fatally instructed of =
the
prowess of their adversaries. In the plains of Cannæ, the Asiatics fl=
ed
before the adventurers of France; the duke of Lombardy was made prisoner; t=
he
Apulians acquiesced in a new dominion; and the four places of Bari, Otranto,
Brundusium, and Tarentum, were alone saved in the shipwreck of the Grecian
fortunes. From this æra we may date the establishment of the Norman
power, which soon eclipsed the infant colony of Aversa. Twelve counts were
chosen by the popular suffrage; and age, birth, and merit, were the motives=
of their
choice. The tributes of their peculiar districts were appropriated to their
use; and each count erected a fortress in the midst of his lands, and at the
head of his vassals. In the centre of the province, the common habitation of
Melphi was reserved as the metropolis and citadel of the republic; a house =
and
separate quarter was allotted to each of the twelve counts: and the national
concerns were regulated by this military senate. The first of his peers, th=
eir
president and general, was entitled count of Apulia; and this dignity was
conferred on William of the iron arm, who, in the language of the age, is
styled a lion in battle, a lamb in society, and an angel in council. The
manners of his countrymen are fairly delineated by a contemporary and natio=
nal historian.
"The Normans," says Malaterra, "are a cunning and revengeful=
people;
eloquence and dissimulation appear to be their hereditary qualities: they c=
an
stoop to flatter; but unless they are curbed by the restraint of law, they
indulge the licentiousness of nature and passion. Their princes affect the
praises of popular munificence; the people observe the medium, or rather bl=
ond
the extremes, of avarice and prodigality; and in their eager thirst of weal=
th
and dominion, they despise whatever they possess, and hope whatever they
desire. Arms and horses, the luxury of dress, the exercises of hunting and
hawking are the delight of the Normans; but, on pressing occasions, they can
endure with incredible patience the inclemency of every climate, and the to=
il and
absence of a military life."
The Normans of Apulia were seated on the verge=
of
the two empires; and, according to the policy of the hour, they accepted the
investiture of their lands, from the sovereigns of Germany or Constantinopl=
e.
But the firmest title of these adventurers was the right of conquest: they =
neither
loved nor trusted; they were neither trusted nor beloved: the contempt of t=
he
princes was mixed with fear, and the fear of the natives was mingled with
hatred and resentment. Every object of desire, a horse, a woman, a garden,
tempted and gratified the rapaciousness of the strangers; and the avarice of
their chiefs was only colored by the more specious names of ambition and gl=
ory.
The twelve counts were sometimes joined in the league of injustice: in their
domestic quarrels they disputed the spoils of the people: the virtues of
William were buried in his grave; and Drogo, his brother and successor, was
better qualified to lead the valor, than to restrain the violence, of his
peers. Under the reign of Constantine Monomachus, the policy, rather than
benevolence, of the Byzantine court, attempted to relieve Italy from this
adherent mischief, more grievous than a flight of Barbarians; and Argyrus, =
the son
of Melo, was invested for this purpose with the most lofty titles and the m=
ost
ample commission. The memory of his father might recommend him to the Norma=
ns;
and he had already engaged their voluntary service to quell the revolt of
Maniaces, and to avenge their own and the public injury. It was the design =
of
Constantine to transplant the warlike colony from the Italian provinces to =
the
Persian war; and the son of Melo distributed among the chiefs the gold and
manufactures of Greece, as the first-fruits of the Imperial bounty. But his
arts were baffled by the sense and spirit of the conquerors of Apulia: his
gifts, or at least his proposals, were rejected; and they unanimously refus=
ed
to relinquish their possessions and their hopes for the distant prospect of
Asiatic fortune. After the means of persuasion had failed, Argyrus resolved=
to compel
or to destroy: the Latin powers were solicited against the common enemy; an=
d an
offensive alliance was formed of the pope and the two emperors of the East =
and
West. The throne of St. Peter was occupied by Leo the Ninth, a simple saint=
, of
a temper most apt to deceive himself and the world, and whose venerable
character would consecrate with the name of piety the measures least compat=
ible
with the practice of religion. His humanity was affected by the complaints,
perhaps the calumnies, of an injured people: the impious Normans had
interrupted the payment of tithes; and the temporal sword might be lawfully
unsheathed against the sacrilegious robbers, who were deaf to the censures =
of the
church. As a German of noble birth and royal kindred, Leo had free access to
the court and confidence of the emperor Henry the Third; and in search of a=
rms
and allies, his ardent zeal transported him from Apulia to Saxony, from the
Elbe to the Tyber. During these hostile preparations, Argyrus indulged hims=
elf
in the use of secret and guilty weapons: a crowd of Normans became the vict=
ims
of public or private revenge; and the valiant Drogo was murdered in a churc=
h.
But his spirit survived in his brother Humphrey, the third count of Apulia.=
The
assassins were chastised; and the son of Melo, overthrown and wounded, was
driven from the field, to hide his shame behind the walls of Bari, and to a=
wait
the tardy succor of his allies.
But the power of Constantine was distracted by=
a
Turkish war; the mind of Henry was feeble and irresolute; and the pope, ins=
tead
of repassing the Alps with a German army, was accompanied only by a guard of
seven hundred Swabians and some volunteers of Lorraine. In his long progres=
s from
Mantua to Beneventum, a vile and promiscuous multitude of Italians was enli=
sted
under the holy standard: the priest and the robber slept in the same tent; =
the
pikes and crosses were intermingled in the front; and the martial saint
repeated the lessons of his youth in the order of march, of encampment, and=
of
combat. The Normans of Apulia could muster in the field no more than three
thousand horse, with a handful of infantry: the defection of the natives
intercepted their provisions and retreat; and their spirit, incapable of fe=
ar,
was chilled for a moment by superstitious awe. On the hostile approach of L=
eo,
they knelt without disgrace or reluctance before their spiritual father. But
the pope was inexorable; his lofty Germans affected to deride the diminutive
stature of their adversaries; and the Normans were informed that death or e=
xile
was their only alternative. Flight they disdained, and, as many of them had
been three days without tasting food, they embraced the assurance of a more
easy and honorable death. They climbed the hill of Civitella, descended into
the plain, and charged in three divisions the army of the pope. On the left,
and in the centre, Richard count of Aversa, and Robert the famous Guiscard,
attacked, broke, routed, and pursued the Italian multitudes, who fought wit=
hout
discipline, and fled without shame. A harder trial was reserved for the val=
or
of Count Humphrey, who led the cavalry of the right wing. The Germans have =
been
described as unskillful in the management of the horse and the lance, but on
foot they formed a strong and impenetrable phalanx; and neither man, nor st=
eed,
nor armor, could resist the weight of their long and two-handed swords. Aft=
er a
severe conflict, they were encompassed by the squadrons returning from the
pursuit; and died in the ranks with the esteem of their foes, and the
satisfaction of revenge. The gates of Civitella were shut against the flying
pope, and he was overtaken by the pious conquerors, who kissed his feet, to
implore his blessing and the absolution of their sinful victory. The soldie=
rs
beheld in their enemy and captive the vicar of Christ; and, though we may
suppose the policy of the chiefs, it is probable that they were infected by=
the
popular superstition. In the calm of retirement, the well-meaning pope depl=
ored
the effusion of Christian blood, which must be imputed to his account: he f=
elt,
that he had been the author of sin and scandal; and as his undertaking had
failed, the indecency of his military character was universally condemned. =
With
these dispositions, he listened to the offers of a beneficial treaty; deser=
ted
an alliance which he had preached as the cause of God; and ratified the past
and future conquests of the Normans. By whatever hands they had been usurpe=
d,
the provinces of Apulia and Calabria were a part of the donation of Constan=
tine
and the patrimony of St. Peter: the grant and the acceptance confirmed the
mutual claims of the pontiff and the adventurers. They promised to support =
each
other with spiritual and temporal arms; a tribute or quitrent of twelve pen=
ce
was afterwards stipulated for every ploughland; and since this memorable
transaction, the kingdom of Naples has remained above seven hundred years a
fief of the Holy See.
The pedigree of Robert of Guiscard is variously
deduced from the peasants and the dukes of Normandy: from the peasants, by =
the
pride and ignorance of a Grecian princess; from the dukes, by the ignorance=
and
flattery of the Italian subjects. His genuine descent may be ascribed to the
second or middle order of private nobility. He sprang from a race of valvas=
sors
or bannerets, of the diocese of Coutances, in the Lower Normandy: the castl=
e of
Hauteville was their honorable seat: his father Tancred was conspicuous in =
the
court and army of the duke; and his military service was furnished by ten
soldiers or knights. Two marriages, of a rank not unworthy of his own, made=
him
the father of twelve sons, who were educated at home by the impartial
tenderness of his second wife. But a narrow patrimony was insufficient for =
this
numerous and daring progeny; they saw around the neighborhood the mischiefs=
of
poverty and discord, and resolved to seek in foreign wars a more glorious
inheritance. Two only remained to perpetuate the race, and cherish their
father's age: their ten brothers, as they successfully attained the vigor of
manhood, departed from the castle, passed the Alps, and joined the Apulian =
camp
of the Normans. The elder were prompted by native spirit; their success
encouraged their younger brethren, and the three first in seniority, Willia=
m,
Drogo, and Humphrey, deserved to be the chiefs of their nation and the foun=
ders
of the new republic. Robert was the eldest of the seven sons of the second =
marriage;
and even the reluctant praise of his foes has endowed him with the heroic
qualities of a soldier and a statesman. His lofty stature surpassed the tal=
lest
of his army: his limbs were cast in the true proportion of strength and
gracefulness; and to the decline of life, he maintained the patient vigor of
health and the commanding dignity of his form. His complexion was ruddy, his
shoulders were broad, his hair and beard were long and of a flaxen color, h=
is
eyes sparkled with fire, and his voice, like that of Achilles, could impress
obedience and terror amidst the tumult of battle. In the ruder ages of
chivalry, such qualifications are not below the notice of the poet or
historians: they may observe that Robert, at once, and with equal dexterity,
could wield in the right hand his sword, his lance in the left; that in the
battle of Civitella he was thrice unhorsed; and that in the close of that m=
emorable
day he was adjudged to have borne away the prize of valor from the warriors=
of
the two armies. His boundless ambition was founded on the consciousness of
superior worth: in the pursuit of greatness, he was never arrested by the
scruples of justice, and seldom moved by the feelings of humanity: though n=
ot
insensible of fame, the choice of open or clandestine means was determined =
only
by his present advantage. The surname of Guiscard was applied to this maste=
r of
political wisdom, which is too often confounded with the practice of
dissimulation and deceit; and Robert is praised by the Apulian poet for
excelling the cunning of Ulysses and the eloquence of Cicero. Yet these arts
were disguised by an appearance of military frankness: in his highest fortu=
ne,
he was accessible and courteous to his fellow-soldiers; and while he indulg=
ed the
prejudices of his new subjects, he affected in his dress and manners to
maintain the ancient fashion of his country. He grasped with a rapacious, t=
hat
he might distribute with a liberal, hand: his primitive indigence had taught
the habits of frugality; the gain of a merchant was not below his attention;
and his prisoners were tortured with slow and unfeeling cruelty, to force a
discovery of their secret treasure. According to the Greeks, he departed fr=
om
Normandy with only five followers on horseback and thirty on foot; yet even
this allowance appears too bountiful: the sixth son of Tancred of Hauteville
passed the Alps as a pilgrim; and his first military band was levied among =
the
adventurers of Italy. His brothers and countrymen had divided the fertile l=
ands
of Apulia; but they guarded their shares with the jealousy of avarice; the
aspiring youth was driven forwards to the mountains of Calabria, and in his
first exploits against the Greeks and the natives, it is not easy to
discriminate the hero from the robber. To surprise a castle or a convent, to
ensnare a wealthy citizen, to plunder the adjacent villages for necessary f=
ood,
were the obscure labors which formed and exercised the powers of his mind a=
nd
body. The volunteers of Normandy adhered to his standard; and, under his
command, the peasants of Calabria assumed the name and character of Normans=
.
As the genius of Robert expanded with his fort=
une,
he awakened the jealousy of his elder brother, by whom, in a transient quar=
rel,
his life was threatened and his liberty restrained. After the death of
Humphrey, the tender age of his sons excluded them from the command; they w=
ere reduced
to a private estate, by the ambition of their guardian and uncle; and Guisc=
ard
was exalted on a buckler, and saluted count of Apulia and general of the
republic. With an increase of authority and of force, he resumed the conque=
st
of Calabria, and soon aspired to a rank that should raise him forever above=
the
heads of his equals. By some acts of rapine or sacrilege, he had incurred a
papal excommunication; but Nicholas the Second was easily persuaded that the
divisions of friends could terminate only in their mutual prejudice; that t=
he
Normans were the faithful champions of the Holy See; and it was safer to tr=
ust the
alliance of a prince than the caprice of an aristocracy. A synod of one hun=
dred
bishops was convened at Melphi; and the count interrupted an important
enterprise to guard the person and execute the decrees of the Roman pontiff.
His gratitude and policy conferred on Robert and his posterity the ducal ti=
tle,
with the investiture of Apulia, Calabria, and all the lands, both in Italy =
and
Sicily, which his sword could rescue from the schismatic Greeks and the
unbelieving Saracens. This apostolic sanction might justify his arms; but t=
he
obedience of a free and victorious people could not be transferred without
their consent; and Guiscard dissembled his elevation till the ensuing campa=
ign
had been illustrated by the conquest of Consenza and Reggio. In the hour of=
triumph,
he assembled his troops, and solicited the Normans to confirm by their suff=
rage
the judgment of the vicar of Christ: the soldiers hailed with joyful
acclamations their valiant duke; and the counts, his former equals, pronoun=
ced
the oath of fidelity with hollow smiles and secret indignation. After this
inauguration, Robert styled himself, "By the grace of God and St. Pete=
r,
duke of Apulia, Calabria, and hereafter of Sicily;" and it was the lab=
or
of twenty years to deserve and realize these lofty appellations. Such tardy
progress, in a narrow space, may seem unworthy of the abilities of the chief
and the spirit of the nation; but the Normans were few in number; their
resources were scanty; their service was voluntary and precarious. The brav=
est
designs of the duke were sometimes opposed by the free voice of his parliam=
ent of
barons: the twelve counts of popular election conspired against his authori=
ty;
and against their perfidious uncle, the sons of Humphrey demanded justice a=
nd
revenge. By his policy and vigor, Guiscard discovered their plots, suppress=
ed
their rebellions, and punished the guilty with death or exile: but in these
domestic feuds, his years, and the national strength, were unprofitably
consumed. After the defeat of his foreign enemies, the Greeks, Lombards, and
Saracens, their broken forces retreated to the strong and populous cities of
the sea-coast. They excelled in the arts of fortification and defence; the
Normans were accustomed to serve on horseback in the field, and their rude
attempts could only succeed by the efforts of persevering courage. The
resistance of Salerno was maintained above eight months; the siege or block=
ade
of Bari lasted near four years. In these actions the Norman duke was the fo=
remost
in every danger; in every fatigue the last and most patient. As he pressed =
the
citadel of Salerno, a huge stone from the rampart shattered one of his mili=
tary
engines; and by a splinter he was wounded in the breast. Before the gates of
Bari, he lodged in a miserable hut or barrack, composed of dry branches, and
thatched with straw; a perilous station, on all sides open to the inclemenc=
y of
the winter and the spears of the enemy.
The Italian conquests of Robert correspond with
the limits of the present kingdom of Naples; and the countries united by his
arms have not been dissevered by the revolutions of seven hundred years. The
monarchy has been composed of the Greek provinces of Calabria and Apulia, of
the Lombard principality of Salerno, the republic of Amalphi, and the inland
dependencies of the large and ancient duchy of Beneventum. Three districts =
only
were exempted from the common law of subjection; the first forever, the two
last till the middle of the succeeding century. The city and immediate
territory of Benevento had been transferred, by gift or exchange, from the
German emperor to the Roman pontiff; and although this holy land was someti=
mes
invaded, the name of St. Peter was finally more potent than the sword of the
Normans. Their first colony of Aversa subdued and held the state of Capua; =
and
her princes were reduced to beg their bread before the palace of their fath=
ers.
The dukes of Naples, the present metropolis, maintained the popular freedom,
under the shadow of the Byzantine empire. Among the new acquisitions of Gui=
scard,
the science of Salerno, and the trade of Amalphi, may detain for a moment t=
he
curiosity of the reader. I. Of the learned faculties, jurisprudence implies=
the
previous establishment of laws and property; and theology may perhaps be
superseded by the full light of religion and reason. But the savage and the
sage must alike implore the assistance of physic; and, if our diseases are
inflamed by luxury, the mischiefs of blows and wounds would be more frequen=
t in
the ruder ages of society. The treasures of Grecian medicine had been
communicated to the Arabian colonies of Africa, Spain, and Sicily; and in t=
he
intercourse of peace and war, a spark of knowledge had been kindled and
cherished at Salerno, an illustrious city, in which the men were honest and=
the
women beautiful. A school, the first that arose in the darkness of Europe, =
was consecrated
to the healing art: the conscience of monks and bishops was reconciled to t=
hat
salutary and lucrative profession; and a crowd of patients, of the most emi=
nent
rank, and most distant climates, invited or visited the physicians of Saler=
no.
They were protected by the Norman conquerors; and Guiscard, though bred in
arms, could discern the merit and value of a philosopher. After a pilgrimag=
e of
thirty-nine years, Constantine, an African Christian, returned from Bagdad,=
a
master of the language and learning of the Arabians; and Salerno was enrich=
ed
by the practice, the lessons, and the writings of the pupil of Avicenna. Th=
e school
of medicine has long slept in the name of a university; but her precepts are
abridged in a string of aphorisms, bound together in the Leonine verses, or
Latin rhymes, of the twelfth century. II. Seven miles to the west of Salern=
o,
and thirty to the south of Naples, the obscure town of Amalphi displayed the
power and rewards of industry. The land, however fertile, was of narrow ext=
ent;
but the sea was accessible and open: the inhabitants first assumed the offi=
ce
of supplying the western world with the manufactures and productions of the
East; and this useful traffic was the source of their opulence and freedom.=
The
government was popular, under the administration of a duke and the supremac=
y of
the Greek emperor. Fifty thousand citizens were numbered in the walls of
Amalphi; nor was any city more abundantly provided with gold, silver, and t=
he
objects of precious luxury. The mariners who swarmed in her port, excelled =
in
the theory and practice of navigation and astronomy: and the discovery of t=
he
compass, which has opened the globe, is owing to their ingenuity or good fo=
rtune.
Their trade was extended to the coasts, or at least to the commodities, of
Africa, Arabia, and India: and their settlements in Constantinople, Antioch,
Jerusalem, and Alexandria, acquired the privileges of independent colonies.
After three hundred years of prosperity, Amalphi was oppressed by the arms =
of
the Normans, and sacked by the jealousy of Pisa; but the poverty of one tho=
usand
fisherman is yet dignified by the remains of an arsenal, a cathedral, and t=
he
palaces of royal merchants.
Roger, the twelfth and last of the sons of
Tancred, had been long detained in Normandy by his own and his father' age.=
He
accepted the welcome summons; hastened to the Apulian camp; and deserved at=
first
the esteem, and afterwards the envy, of his elder brother. Their valor and =
ambition
were equal; but the youth, the beauty, the elegant manners, of Roger engaged
the disinterested love of the soldiers and people. So scanty was his allowa=
nce
for himself and forty followers, that he descended from conquest to robbery,
and from robbery to domestic theft; and so loose were the notions of proper=
ty,
that, by his own historian, at his special command, he is accused of steali=
ng
horses from a stable at Melphi. His spirit emerged from poverty and disgrac=
e:
from these base practices he rose to the merit and glory of a holy war; and=
the
invasion of Sicily was seconded by the zeal and policy of his brother Guisc=
ard.
After the retreat of the Greeks, the idolaters, a most audacious reproach of
the Catholics, had retrieved their losses and possessions; but the delivera=
nce
of the island, so vainly undertaken by the forces of the Eastern empire, was
achieved by a small and private band of adventurers. In the first attempt, =
Roger
braved, in an open boat, the real and fabulous dangers of Scylla and Charyb=
dis;
landed with only sixty soldiers on a hostile shore; drove the Saracens to t=
he
gates of Messina and safely returned with the spoils of the adjacent countr=
y. In
the fortress of Trani, his active and patient courage were equally conspicu=
ous.
In his old age he related with pleasure, that, by the distress of the siege,
himself, and the countess his wife, had been reduced to a single cloak or
mantle, which they wore alternately; that in a sally his horse had been sla=
in,
and he was dragged away by the Saracens; but that he owed his rescue to his
good sword, and had retreated with his saddle on his back, lest the meanest
trophy might be left in the hands of the miscreants. In the siege of Trani,
three hundred Normans withstood and repulsed the forces of the island. In t=
he field
of Ceramio, fifty thousand horse and foot were overthrown by one hundred and
thirty-six Christian soldiers, without reckoning St. George, who fought on
horseback in the foremost ranks. The captive banners, with four camels, were
reserved for the successor of St. Peter; and had these barbaric spoils been
exposed, not in the Vatican, but in the Capitol, they might have revived the
memory of the Punic triumphs. These insufficient numbers of the Normans most
probably denote their knights, the soldiers of honorable and equestrian ran=
k,
each of whom was attended by five or six followers in the field; yet, with =
the
aid of this interpretation, and after every fair allowance on the side of
valor, arms, and reputation, the discomfiture of so many myriads will reduc=
e the
prudent reader to the alternative of a miracle or a fable. The Arabs of Sic=
ily
derived a frequent and powerful succor from their countrymen of Africa: in =
the
siege of Palermo, the Norman cavalry was assisted by the galleys of Pisa; a=
nd,
in the hour of action, the envy of the two brothers was sublimed to a gener=
ous
and invincible emulation. After a war of thirty years, Roger, with the titl=
e of
great count, obtained the sovereignty of the largest and most fruitful isla=
nd
of the Mediterranean; and his administration displays a liberal and enlight=
ened
mind, above the limits of his age and education. The Moslems were maintaine=
d in
the free enjoyment of their religion and property: a philosopher and physic=
ian
of Mazara, of the race of Mahomet, harangued the conqueror, and was invited=
to
court; his geography of the seven climates was translated into Latin; and
Roger, after a diligent perusal, preferred the work of the Arabian to the
writings of the Grecian Ptolemy. A remnant of Christian natives had promoted
the success of the Normans: they were rewarded by the triumph of the cross.=
The
island was restored to the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff; new bishops w=
ere
planted in the principal cities; and the clergy was satisfied by a liberal
endowment of churches and monasteries. Yet the Catholic hero asserted the
rights of the civil magistrate. Instead of resigning the investiture of
benefices, he dexterously applied to his own profit the papal claims: the
supremacy of the crown was secured and enlarged, by the singular bull, which
declares the princes of Sicily hereditary and perpetual legates of the Holy
See.
To Robert Guiscard, the conquest of Sicily was
more glorious than beneficial: the possession of Apulia and Calabria was
inadequate to his ambition; and he resolved to embrace or create the first
occasion of invading, perhaps of subduing, the Roman empire of the East. Fr=
om
his first wife, the partner of his humble fortune, he had been divorced und=
er
the pretence of consanguinity; and her son Bohemond was destined to imitate,
rather than to succeed, his illustrious father. The second wife of Guiscard=
was
the daughter of the princes of Salerno; the Lombards acquiesced in the line=
al
succession of their son Roger; their five daughters were given in honorable
nuptials, and one of them was betrothed, in a tender age, to Constantine, a
beautiful youth, the son and heir of the emperor Michael. But the throne of
Constantinople was shaken by a revolution: the Imperial family of Ducas was
confined to the palace or the cloister; and Robert deplored, and resented, =
the
disgrace of his daughter and the expulsion of his ally. A Greek, who styled=
himself
the father of Constantine, soon appeared at Salerno, and related the advent=
ures
of his fall and flight. That unfortunate friend was acknowledged by the duk=
e,
and adorned with the pomp and titles of Imperial dignity: in his triumphal
progress through Apulia and Calabria, Michael was saluted with the tears and
acclamations of the people; and Pope Gregory the Seventh exhorted the bisho=
ps
to preach, and the Catholics to fight, in the pious work of his restoration.
His conversations with Robert were frequent and familiar; and their mutual =
promises
were justified by the valor of the Normans and the treasures of the East. Y=
et
this Michael, by the confession of the Greeks and Latins, was a pageant and=
an
impostor; a monk who had fled from his convent, or a domestic who had serve=
d in
the palace. The fraud had been contrived by the subtle Guiscard; and he
trusted, that after this pretender had given a decent color to his arms, he
would sink, at the nod of the conqueror, into his primitive obscurity. But
victory was the only argument that could determine the belief of the Greeks;
and the ardor of the Latins was much inferior to their credulity: the Norman
veterans wished to enjoy the harvest of their toils, and the unwarlike Ital=
ians
trembled at the known and unknown dangers of a transmarine expedition. In h=
is
new levies, Robert exerted the influence of gifts and promises, the terrors=
of
civil and ecclesiastical authority; and some acts of violence might justify=
the
reproach, that age and infancy were pressed without distinction into the
service of their unrelenting prince. After two years' incessant preparations
the land and naval forces were assembled at Otranto, at the heel, or extreme
promontory, of Italy; and Robert was accompanied by his wife, who fought by=
his
side, his son Bohemond, and the representative of the emperor Michael. Thir=
teen
hundred knights of Norman race or discipline, formed the sinews of the army,
which might be swelled to thirty thousand followers of every denomination. =
The
men, the horses, the arms, the engines, the wooden towers, covered with raw
hides, were embarked on board one hundred and fifty vessels: the transports=
had
been built in the ports of Italy, and the galleys were supplied by the alli=
ance
of the republic of Ragusa.
At the mouth of the Adriatic Gulf, the shores =
of
Italy and Epirus incline towards each other. The space between Brundusium a=
nd
Durazzo, the Roman passage, is no more than one hundred miles; at the last =
station
of Otranto, it is contracted to fifty; and this narrow distance had suggest=
ed
to Pyrrhus and Pompey the sublime or extravagant idea of a bridge. Before t=
he
general embarkation, the Norman duke despatched Bohemond with fifteen galle=
ys
to seize or threaten the Isle of Corfu, to survey the opposite coast, and to
secure a harbor in the neighborhood of Vallona for the landing of the troop=
s.
They passed and landed without perceiving an enemy; and this successful
experiment displayed the neglect and decay of the naval power of the Greeks.
The islands of Epirus and the maritime towns were subdued by the arms or the
name of Robert, who led his fleet and army from Corfu (I use the modern app=
ellation)
to the siege of Durazzo. That city, the western key of the empire, was guar=
ded
by ancient renown, and recent fortifications, by George Palæologus, a
patrician, victorious in the Oriental wars, and a numerous garrison of
Albanians and Macedonians, who, in every age, have maintained the character=
of
soldiers. In the prosecution of his enterprise, the courage of Guiscard was
assailed by every form of danger and mischance. In the most propitious seas=
on
of the year, as his fleet passed along the coast, a storm of wind and snow
unexpectedly arose: the Adriatic was swelled by the raging blast of the sou=
th,
and a new shipwreck confirmed the old infamy of the Acroceraunian rocks. Th=
e sails,
the masts, and the oars, were shattered or torn away; the sea and shore were
covered with the fragments of vessels, with arms and dead bodies; and the
greatest part of the provisions were either drowned or damaged. The ducal
galley was laboriously rescued from the waves, and Robert halted seven days=
on
the adjacent cape, to collect the relics of his loss, and revive the droopi=
ng
spirits of his soldiers. The Normans were no longer the bold and experienced
mariners who had explored the ocean from Greenland to Mount Atlas, and who
smiled at the petty dangers of the Mediterranean. They had wept during the
tempest; they were alarmed by the hostile approach of the Venetians, who had
been solicited by the prayers and promises of the Byzantine court. The first
day's action was not disadvantageous to Bohemond, a beardless youth, who le=
d the
naval powers of his father. All night the galleys of the republic lay on th=
eir
anchors in the form of a crescent; and the victory of the second day was
decided by the dexterity of their evolutions, the station of their archers,=
the
weight of their javelins, and the borrowed aid of the Greek fire. The Apuli=
an
and Ragusian vessels fled to the shore, several were cut from their cables,=
and
dragged away by the conqueror; and a sally from the town carried slaughter =
and
dismay to the tents of the Norman duke. A seasonable relief was poured into
Durazzo, and as soon as the besiegers had lost the command of the sea, the
islands and maritime towns withdrew from the camp the supply of tribute and=
provision.
That camp was soon afflicted with a pestilential disease; five hundred knig=
hts
perished by an inglorious death; and the list of burials (if all could obta=
in a
decent burial) amounted to ten thousand persons. Under these calamities, the
mind of Guiscard alone was firm and invincible; and while he collected new
forces from Apulia and Sicily, he battered, or scaled, or sapped, the walls=
of
Durazzo. But his industry and valor were encountered by equal valor and more
perfect industry. A movable turret, of a size and capacity to contain five
hundred soldiers, had been rolled forwards to the foot of the rampart: but =
the
descent of the door or drawbridge was checked by an enormous beam, and the
wooden structure was constantly consumed by artificial flames.
While the Roman empire was attacked by the Tur=
ks
in the East, east, and the Normans in the West, the aged successor of Micha=
el
surrendered the sceptre to the hands of Alexius, an illustrious captain, and
the founder of the Comnenian dynasty. The princess Anne, his daughter and
historian, observes, in her affected style, that even Hercules was unequal =
to a
double combat; and, on this principle, she approves a hasty peace with the
Turks, which allowed her father to undertake in person the relief of Durazz=
o.
On his accession, Alexius found the camp without soldiers, and the treasury
without money; yet such were the vigor and activity of his measures, that in
six months he assembled an army of seventy thousand men, and performed a ma=
rch
of five hundred miles. His troops were levied in Europe and Asia, from
Peloponnesus to the Black Sea; his majesty was displayed in the silver arms=
and
rich trappings of the companies of Horse-guards; and the emperor was attend=
ed
by a train of nobles and princes, some of whom, in rapid succession, had be=
en
clothed with the purple, and were indulged by the lenity of the times in a =
life
of affluence and dignity. Their youthful ardor might animate the multitude;=
but
their love of pleasure and contempt of subordination were pregnant with
disorder and mischief; and their importunate clamors for speedy and decisive
action disconcerted the prudence of Alexius, who might have surrounded and
starved the besieging army. The enumeration of provinces recalls a sad comp=
arison
of the past and present limits of the Roman world: the raw levies were drawn
together in haste and terror; and the garrisons of Anatolia, or Asia Minor,=
had
been purchased by the evacuation of the cities which were immediately occup=
ied
by the Turks. The strength of the Greek army consisted in the Varangians, t=
he Scandinavian
guards, whose numbers were recently augmented by a colony of exiles and
volunteers from the British Island of Thule. Under the yoke of the Norman
conqueror, the Danes and English were oppressed and united; a band of
adventurous youths resolved to desert a land of slavery; the sea was open to
their escape; and, in their long pilgrimage, they visited every coast that
afforded any hope of liberty and revenge. They were entertained in the serv=
ice
of the Greek emperor; and their first station was in a new city on the Asia=
tic
shore: but Alexius soon recalled them to the defence of his person and pala=
ce;
and bequeathed to his successors the inheritance of their faith and valor. =
The
name of a Norman invader revived the memory of their wrongs: they marched w=
ith
alacrity against the national foe, and panted to regain in Epirus the glory
which they had lost in the battle of Hastings. The Varangians were supporte=
d by
some companies of Franks or Latins; and the rebels, who had fled to
Constantinople from the tyranny of Guiscard, were eager to signalize their =
zeal
and gratify their revenge. In this emergency, the emperor had not disdained=
the
impure aid of the Paulicians or Manichæans of Thrace and Bulgaria; and
these heretics united with the patience of martyrdom the spirit and discipl=
ine
of active valor. The treaty with the sultan had procured a supply of some t=
housand
Turks; and the arrows of the Scythian horse were opposed to the lances of t=
he
Norman cavalry. On the report and distant prospect of these formidable numb=
ers,
Robert assembled a council of his principal officers. "You behold,&quo=
t;
said he, "your danger: it is urgent and inevitable. The hills are cove=
red
with arms and standards; and the emperor of the Greeks is accustomed to wars
and triumphs. Obedience and union are our only safety; and I am ready to yi=
eld
the command to a more worthy leader." The vote and acclamation even of=
his
secret enemies, assured him, in that perilous moment, of their esteem and
confidence; and the duke thus continued: "Let us trust in the rewards =
of
victory, and deprive cowardice of the means of escape. Let us burn our vess=
els and
our baggage, and give battle on this spot, as if it were the place of our
nativity and our burial." The resolution was unanimously approved; and,
without confining himself to his lines, Guiscard awaited in battle-array the
nearer approach of the enemy. His rear was covered by a small river; his ri=
ght
wing extended to the sea; his left to the hills: nor was he conscious, perh=
aps,
that on the same ground Cæsar and Pompey had formerly disputed the em=
pire
of the world.
Against the advice of his wisest captains, Ale=
xius
resolved to risk the event of a general action, and exhorted the garrison o=
f Durazzo
to assist their own deliverance by a well-timed sally from the town. He mar=
ched
in two columns to surprise the Normans before daybreak on two different sid=
es:
his light cavalry was scattered over the plain; the archers formed the seco=
nd
line; and the Varangians claimed the honors of the vanguard. In the first
onset, the battle-axes of the strangers made a deep and bloody impression on
the army of Guiscard, which was now reduced to fifteen thousand men. The
Lombards and Calabrians ignominiously turned their backs; they fled towards=
the
river and the sea; but the bridge had been broken down to check the sally of
the garrison, and the coast was lined with the Venetian galleys, who played=
their
engines among the disorderly throng. On the verge of ruin, they were saved =
by
the spirit and conduct of their chiefs. Gaita, the wife of Robert, is paint=
ed
by the Greeks as a warlike Amazon, a second Pallas; less skilful in arts, b=
ut
not less terrible in arms, than the Athenian goddess: though wounded by an
arrow, she stood her ground, and strove, by her exhortation and example, to
rally the flying troops. Her female voice was seconded by the more powerful
voice and arm of the Norman duke, as calm in action as he was magnanimous in
council: "Whither," he cried aloud, "whither do ye fly? Your
enemy is implacable; and death is less grievous than servitude." The
moment was decisive: as the Varangians advanced before the line, they
discovered the nakedness of their flanks: the main battle of the duke, of e=
ight
hundred knights, stood firm and entire; they couched their lances, and the
Greeks deplore the furious and irresistible shock of the French cavalry.
Alexius was not deficient in the duties of a soldier or a general; but he no
sooner beheld the slaughter of the Varangians, and the flight of the Turks,=
than
he despised his subjects, and despaired of his fortune. The princess Anne, =
who
drops a tear on this melancholy event, is reduced to praise the strength and
swiftness of her father's horse, and his vigorous struggle when he was almo=
st
overthrown by the stroke of a lance, which had shivered the Imperial helmet.
His desperate valor broke through a squadron of Franks who opposed his flig=
ht;
and after wandering two days and as many nights in the mountains, he found =
some
repose, of body, though not of mind, in the walls of Lychnidus. The victori=
ous Robert
reproached the tardy and feeble pursuit which had suffered the escape of so
illustrious a prize: but he consoled his disappointment by the trophies and
standards of the field, the wealth and luxury of the Byzantine camp, and the
glory of defeating an army five times more numerous than his own. A multitu=
de
of Italians had been the victims of their own fears; but only thirty of his
knights were slain in this memorable day. In the Roman host, the loss of
Greeks, Turks, and English, amounted to five or six thousand: the plain of
Durazzo was stained with noble and royal blood; and the end of the impostor
Michael was more honorable than his life.
It is more than probable that Guiscard was not
afflicted by the loss of a costly pageant, which had merited only the conte=
mpt
and derision of the Greeks. After their defeat, they still persevered in the
defence of Durazzo; and a Venetian commander supplied the place of George P=
alæologus,
who had been imprudently called away from his station. The tents of the
besiegers were converted into barracks, to sustain the inclemency of the
winter; and in answer to the defiance of the garrison, Robert insinuated, t=
hat
his patience was at least equal to their obstinacy. Perhaps he already trus=
ted
to his secret correspondence with a Venetian noble, who sold the city for a
rich and honorable marriage. At the dead of night, several rope-ladders were
dropped from the walls; the light Calabrians ascended in silence; and the
Greeks were awakened by the name and trumpets of the conqueror. Yet they
defended the streets three days against an enemy already master of the ramp=
art;
and near seven months elapsed between the first investment and the final su=
rrender
of the place. From Durazzo, the Norman duke advanced into the heart of Epir=
us
or Albania; traversed the first mountains of Thessaly; surprised three hund=
red
English in the city of Castoria; approached Thessalonica; and made
Constantinople tremble. A more pressing duty suspended the prosecution of h=
is
ambitious designs. By shipwreck, pestilence, and the sword, his army was
reduced to a third of the original numbers; and instead of being recruited =
from
Italy, he was informed, by plaintive epistles, of the mischiefs and dangers
which had been produced by his absence: the revolt of the cities and barons=
of Apulia;
the distress of the pope; and the approach or invasion of Henry king of
Germany. Highly presuming that his person was sufficient for the public saf=
ety,
he repassed the sea in a single brigantine, and left the remains of the army
under the command of his son and the Norman counts, exhorting Bohemond to
respect the freedom of his peers, and the counts to obey the authority of t=
heir
leader. The son of Guiscard trod in the footsteps of his father; and the two
destroyers are compared, by the Greeks, to the caterpillar and the locust, =
the
last of whom devours whatever has escaped the teeth of the former. After
winning two battles against the emperor, he descended into the plain of
Thessaly, and besieged Larissa, the fabulous realm of Achilles, which conta=
ined
the treasure and magazines of the Byzantine camp. Yet a just praise must no=
t be
refused to the fortitude and prudence of Alexius, who bravely struggled wit=
h the
calamities of the times. In the poverty of the state, he presumed to borrow=
the
superfluous ornaments of the churches: the desertion of the Manichæans
was supplied by some tribes of Moldavia: a reënforcement of seven thou=
sand
Turks replaced and revenged the loss of their brethren; and the Greek soldi=
ers
were exercised to ride, to draw the bow, and to the daily practice of
ambuscades and evolutions. Alexius had been taught by experience, that the
formidable cavalry of the Franks on foot was unfit for action, and almost
incapable of motion; his archers were directed to aim their arrows at the h=
orse
rather than the man; and a variety of spikes and snares were scattered over=
the
ground on which he might expect an attack. In the neighborhood of Larissa t=
he events
of war were protracted and balanced. The courage of Bohemond was always
conspicuous, and often successful; but his camp was pillaged by a stratagem=
of
the Greeks; the city was impregnable; and the venal or discontented counts
deserted his standard, betrayed their trusts, and enlisted in the service of
the emperor. Alexius returned to Constantinople with the advantage, rather =
than
the honor, of victory. After evacuating the conquests which he could no lon=
ger
defend, the son of Guiscard embarked for Italy, and was embraced by a father
who esteemed his merit, and sympathized in his misfortune.
Of the Latin princes, the allies of Alexius and
enemies of Robert, the most prompt and powerful was Henry the Third or Four=
th,
king of Germany and Italy, and future emperor of the West. The epistle of t=
he
Greek monarch to his brother is filled with the warmest professions of frie=
ndship,
and the most lively desire of strengthening their alliance by every public =
and
private tie. He congratulates Henry on his success in a just and pious war;=
and
complains that the prosperity of his own empire is disturbed by the audacio=
us
enterprises of the Norman Robert. The lists of his presents expresses the
manners of the age--a radiated crown of gold, a cross set with pearls to ha=
ng
on the breast, a case of relics, with the names and titles of the saints, a
vase of crystal, a vase of sardonyx, some balm, most probably of Mecca, and=
one
hundred pieces of purple. To these he added a more solid present, of one
hundred and forty-four thousand Byzantines of gold, with a further assuranc=
e of
two hundred and sixteen thousand, so soon as Henry should have entered in a=
rms
the Apulian territories, and confirmed by an oath the league against the co=
mmon
enemy. The German, who was already in Lombardy at the head of an army and a
faction, accepted these liberal offers, and marched towards the south: his
speed was checked by the sound of the battle of Durazzo; but the influence =
of
his arms, or name, in the hasty return of Robert, was a full equivalent for=
the
Grecian bribe. Henry was the severe adversary of the Normans, the allies and
vassals of Gregory the Seventh, his implacable foe. The long quarrel of the
throne and mitre had been recently kindled by the zeal and ambition of that
haughty priest: the king and the pope had degraded each other; and each had=
seated
a rival on the temporal or spiritual throne of his antagonist. After the de=
feat
and death of his Swabian rebel, Henry descended into Italy, to assume the
Imperial crown, and to drive from the Vatican the tyrant of the church. But=
the
Roman people adhered to the cause of Gregory: their resolution was fortifie=
d by
supplies of men and money from Apulia; and the city was thrice ineffectually
besieged by the king of Germany. In the fourth year he corrupted, as it is
said, with Byzantine gold, the nobles of Rome, whose estates and castles had
been ruined by the war. The gates, the bridges, and fifty hostages, were de=
livered
into his hands: the anti-pope, Clement the Third, was consecrated in the
Lateran: the grateful pontiff crowned his protector in the Vatican; and the
emperor Henry fixed his residence in the Capitol, as the lawful successor of
Augustus and Charlemagne. The ruins of the Septizonium were still defended =
by
the nephew of Gregory: the pope himself was invested in the castle of St.
Angelo; and his last hope was in the courage and fidelity of his Norman vas=
sal.
Their friendship had been interrupted by some reciprocal injuries and
complaints; but, on this pressing occasion, Guiscard was urged by the
obligation of his oath, by his interest, more potent than oaths, by the lov=
e of
fame, and his enmity to the two emperors. Unfurling the holy banner, he
resolved to fly to the relief of the prince of the apostles: the most numer=
ous
of his armies, six thousand horse, and thirty thousand foot, was instantly =
assembled;
and his march from Salerno to Rome was animated by the public applause and =
the
promise of the divine favor. Henry, invincible in sixty-six battles, trembl=
ed
at his approach; recollected some indispensable affairs that required his
presence in Lombardy; exhorted the Romans to persevere in their allegiance;=
and
hastily retreated three days before the entrance of the Normans. In less th=
an
three years, the son of Tancred of Hauteville enjoyed the glory of deliveri=
ng
the pope, and of compelling the two emperors, of the East and West, to fly
before his victorious arms. But the triumph of Robert was clouded by the ca=
lamities
of Rome. By the aid of the friends of Gregory, the walls had been perforate=
d or
scaled; but the Imperial faction was still powerful and active; on the third
day, the people rose in a furious tumult; and a hasty word of the conqueror=
, in
his defence or revenge, was the signal of fire and pillage. The Saracens of
Sicily, the subjects of Roger, and auxiliaries of his brother, embraced this
fair occasion of rifling and profaning the holy city of the Christians: many
thousands of the citizens, in the sight, and by the allies, of their spirit=
ual
father were exposed to violation, captivity, or death; and a spacious quart=
er of
the city, from the Lateran to the Coliseum, was consumed by the flames, and
devoted to perpetual solitude. From a city, where he was now hated, and mig=
ht
be no longer feared, Gregory retired to end his days in the palace of Saler=
no.
The artful pontiff might flatter the vanity of Guiscard with the hope of a
Roman or Imperial crown; but this dangerous measure, which would have infla=
med
the ambition of the Norman, must forever have alienated the most faithful
princes of Germany.
The deliverer and scourge of Rome might have
indulged himself in a season of repose; but in the same year of the flight =
of
the German emperor, the indefatigable Robert resumed the design of his east=
ern conquests.
The zeal or gratitude of Gregory had promised to his valor the kingdoms of
Greece and Asia; his troops were assembled in arms, flushed with success, a=
nd
eager for action. Their numbers, in the language of Homer, are compared by =
Anna
to a swarm of bees; yet the utmost and moderate limits of the powers of
Guiscard have been already defined; they were contained on this second occa=
sion
in one hundred and twenty vessels; and as the season was far advanced, the
harbor of Brundusium was preferred to the open road of Otranto. Alexius, ap=
prehensive
of a second attack, had assiduously labored to restore the naval forces of =
the
empire; and obtained from the republic of Venice an important succor of
thirty-six transports, fourteen galleys, and nine galiots or ships of
extra-ordinary strength and magnitude. Their services were liberally paid by
the license or monopoly of trade, a profitable gift of many shops and house=
s in
the port of Constantinople, and a tribute to St. Mark, the more acceptable,=
as
it was the produce of a tax on their rivals at Amalphi. By the union of the
Greeks and Venetians, the Adriatic was covered with a hostile fleet; but th=
eir own
neglect, or the vigilance of Robert, the change of a wind, or the shelter o=
f a
mist, opened a free passage; and the Norman troops were safely disembarked =
on
the coast of Epirus. With twenty strong and well-appointed galleys, their
intrepid duke immediately sought the enemy, and though more accustomed to f=
ight
on horseback, he trusted his own life, and the lives of his brother and two
sons, to the event of a naval combat. The dominion of the sea was disputed =
in
three engagements, in sight of the Isle of Corfu: in the two former, the sk=
ill
and numbers of the allies were superior; but in the third, the Normans obta=
ined
a final and complete victory. The light brigantines of the Greeks were scat=
tered
in ignominious flight: the nine castles of the Venetians maintained a more
obstinate conflict; seven were sunk, two were taken; two thousand five hund=
red
captives implored in vain the mercy of the victor; and the daughter of Alex=
ius
deplores the loss of thirteen thousand of his subjects or allies. The want =
of
experience had been supplied by the genius of Guiscard; and each evening, w=
hen
he had sounded a retreat, he calmly explored the causes of his repulse, and=
invented
new methods how to remedy his own defects, and to baffle the advantages of =
the
enemy. The winter season suspended his progress: with the return of spring =
he
again aspired to the conquest of Constantinople; but, instead of traversing=
the
hills of Epirus, he turned his arms against Greece and the islands, where t=
he
spoils would repay the labor, and where the land and sea forces might pursue
their joint operations with vigor and effect. But, in the Isle of Cephaloni=
a,
his projects were fatally blasted by an epidemical disease: Robert himself,=
in
the seventieth year of his age, expired in his tent; and a suspicion of poi=
son
was imputed, by public rumor, to his wife, or to the Greek emperor. This
premature death might allow a boundless scope for the imagination of his fu=
ture
exploits; and the event sufficiently declares, that the Norman greatness was
founded on his life. Without the appearance of an enemy, a victorious army
dispersed or retreated in disorder and consternation; and Alexius, who had
trembled for his empire, rejoiced in his deliverance. The galley which
transported the remains of Guiscard was ship-wrecked on the Italian shore; =
but
the duke's body was recovered from the sea, and deposited in the sepulchre =
of
Venusia, a place more illustrious for the birth of Horace than for the buri=
al
of the Norman heroes. Roger, his second son and successor, immediately sunk=
to
the humble station of a duke of Apulia: the esteem or partiality of his fat=
her
left the valiant Bohemond to the inheritance of his sword. The national
tranquillity was disturbed by his claims, till the first crusade against the
infidels of the East opened a more splendid field of glory and conquest.
Of human life, the most glorious or humble
prospects are alike and soon bounded by the sepulchre. The male line of Rob=
ert
Guiscard was extinguished, both in Apulia and at Antioch, in the second
generation; but his younger brother became the father of a line of kings; a=
nd
the son of the great count was endowed with the name, the conquests, and th=
e spirit,
of the first Roger. The heir of that Norman adventurer was born in Sicily; =
and,
at the age of only four years, he succeeded to the sovereignty of the islan=
d, a
lot which reason might envy, could she indulge for a moment the visionary,
though virtuous wish of dominion. Had Roger been content with his fruitful
patrimony, a happy and grateful people might have blessed their benefactor;=
and
if a wise administration could have restored the prosperous times of the Gr=
eek
colonies, the opulence and power of Sicily alone might have equalled the wi=
dest
scope that could be acquired and desolated by the sword of war. But the amb=
ition
of the great count was ignorant of these noble pursuits; it was gratified by
the vulgar means of violence and artifice. He sought to obtain the undivided
possession of Palermo, of which one moiety had been ceded to the elder bran=
ch;
struggled to enlarge his Calabrian limits beyond the measure of former
treaties; and impatiently watched the declining health of his cousin Willia=
m of
Apulia, the grandson of Robert. On the first intelligence of his premature
death, Roger sailed from Palermo with seven galleys, cast anchor in the Bay=
of
Salerno, received, after ten days' negotiation, an oath of fidelity from th=
e Norman
capital, commanded the submission of the barons, and extorted a legal
investiture from the reluctant popes, who could not long endure either the
friendship or enmity of a powerful vassal. The sacred spot of Benevento was
respectfully spared, as the patrimony of St. Peter; but the reduction of Ca=
pua
and Naples completed the design of his uncle Guiscard; and the sole inherit=
ance
of the Norman conquests was possessed by the victorious Roger. A conscious
superiority of power and merit prompted him to disdain the titles of duke a=
nd
of count; and the Isle of Sicily, with a third perhaps of the continent of
Italy, might form the basis of a kingdom which would only yield to the
monarchies of France and England. The chiefs of the nation who attended his
coronation at Palermo might doubtless pronounce under what name he should r=
eign
over them; but the example of a Greek tyrant or a Saracen emir was insuffic=
ient
to justify his regal character; and the nine kings of the Latin world might
disclaim their new associate, unless he were consecrated by the authority of
the supreme pontiff. The pride of Anacletus was pleased to confer a title,
which the pride of the Norman had stooped to solicit; but his own legitimacy
was attacked by the adverse election of Innocent the Second; and while
Anacletus sat in the Vatican, the successful fugitive was acknowledged by t=
he
nations of Europe. The infant monarchy of Roger was shaken, and almost
overthrown, by the unlucky choice of an ecclesiastical patron; and the swor=
d of
Lothaire the Second of Germany, the excommunications of Innocent, the fleet=
s of
Pisa, and the zeal of St. Bernard, were united for the ruin of the Sicilian
robber. After a gallant resistance, the Norman prince was driven from the
continent of Italy: a new duke of Apulia was invested by the pope and the
emperor, each of whom held one end of the gonfanon, or flagstaff, as a token
that they asserted their right, and suspended their quarrel. But such jealo=
us
friendship was of short and precarious duration: the German armies soon
vanished in disease and desertion: the Apulian duke, with all his adherents,
was exterminated by a conqueror who seldom forgave either the dead or the
living; like his predecessor Leo the Ninth, the feeble though haughty ponti=
ff
became the captive and friend of the Normans; and their reconciliation was
celebrated by the eloquence of Bernard, who now revered the title and virtu=
es
of the king of Sicily.
As a penance for his impious war against the
successor of St. Peter, that monarch might have promised to display the ban=
ner
of the cross, and he accomplished with ardor a vow so propitious to his
interest and revenge. The recent injuries of Sicily might provoke a just
retaliation on the heads of the Saracens: the Normans, whose blood had been
mingled with so many subject streams, were encouraged to remember and emula=
te the
naval trophies of their fathers, and in the maturity of their strength they
contended with the decline of an African power. When the Fatimite caliph
departed for the conquest of Egypt, he rewarded the real merit and apparent
fidelity of his servant Joseph with a gift of his royal mantle, and forty
Arabian horses, his palace with its sumptuous furniture, and the government=
of
the kingdoms of Tunis and Algiers. The Zeirides, the descendants of Joseph,
forgot their allegiance and gratitude to a distant benefactor, grasped and
abused the fruits of prosperity; and after running the little course of an
Oriental dynasty, were now fainting in their own weakness. On the side of t=
he
land, they were pressed by the Almohades, the fanatic princes of Morocco, w=
hile
the sea-coast was open to the enterprises of the Greeks and Franks, who, be=
fore
the close of the eleventh century, had extorted a ransom of two hundred
thousand pieces of gold. By the first arms of Roger, the island or rock of
Malta, which has been since ennobled by a military and religious colony, was
inseparably annexed to the crown of Sicily. Tripoli, a strong and maritime
city, was the next object of his attack; and the slaughter of the males, the
captivity of the females, might be justified by the frequent practice of the
Moslems themselves. The capital of the Zeirides was named Africa from the
country, and Mahadia from the Arabian founder: it is strongly built on a ne=
ck
of land, but the imperfection of the harbor is not compensated by the ferti=
lity
of the adjacent plain. Mahadia was besieged by George the Sicilian admiral,=
with
a fleet of one hundred and fifty galleys, amply provided with men and the
instruments of mischief: the sovereign had fled, the Moorish governor refus=
ed
to capitulate, declined the last and irresistible assault, and secretly
escaping with the Moslem inhabitants abandoned the place and its treasures =
to
the rapacious Franks. In successive expeditions, the king of Sicily or his
lieutenants reduced the cities of Tunis, Safax, Capsia, Bona, and a long tr=
act
of the sea-coast; the fortresses were garrisoned, the country was tributary,
and a boast that it held Africa in subjection might be inscribed with some
flattery on the sword of Roger. After his death, that sword was broken; and
these transmarine possessions were neglected, evacuated, or lost, under the=
troubled
reign of his successor. The triumphs of Scipio and Belisarius have proved, =
that
the African continent is neither inaccessible nor invincible; yet the great
princes and powers of Christendom have repeatedly failed in their armaments
against the Moors, who may still glory in the easy conquest and long servit=
ude
of Spain.
Since the decease of Robert Guiscard, the Norm=
ans
had relinquished, above sixty years, their hostile designs against the empi=
re
of the East. The policy of Roger solicited a public and private union with =
the
Greek princes, whose alliance would dignify his regal character: he demande=
d in
marriage a daughter of the Comnenian family, and the first steps of the tre=
aty
seemed to promise a favorable event. But the contemptuous treatment of his
ambassadors exasperated the vanity of the new monarch; and the insolence of=
the
Byzantine court was expiated, according to the laws of nations, by the
sufferings of a guiltless people. With the fleet of seventy galleys, George,
the admiral of Sicily, appeared before Corfu; and both the island and city =
were
delivered into his hands by the disaffected inhabitants, who had yet to lea=
rn
that a siege is still more calamitous than a tribute. In this invasion, of =
some
moment in the annals of commerce, the Normans spread themselves by sea, and
over the provinces of Greece; and the venerable age of Athens, Thebes, and =
Corinth,
was violated by rapine and cruelty. Of the wrongs of Athens, no memorial
remains. The ancient walls, which encompassed, without guarding, the opulen=
ce
of Thebes, were scaled by the Latin Christians; but their sole use of the
gospel was to sanctify an oath, that the lawful owners had not secreted any
relic of their inheritance or industry. On the approach of the Normans, the
lower town of Corinth was evacuated; the Greeks retired to the citadel, whi=
ch
was seated on a lofty eminence, abundantly watered by the classic fountain =
of
Pirene; an impregnable fortress, if the want of courage could be balanced by
any advantages of art or nature. As soon as the besiegers had surmounted th=
e labor
(their sole labor) of climbing the hill, their general, from the commanding
eminence, admired his own victory, and testified his gratitude to Heaven, by
tearing from the altar the precious image of Theodore, the tutelary saint. =
The
silk weavers of both sexes, whom George transported to Sicily, composed the
most valuable part of the spoil; and in comparing the skilful industry of t=
he
mechanic with the sloth and cowardice of the soldier, he was heard to excla=
im
that the distaff and loom were the only weapons which the Greeks were capab=
le of
using. The progress of this naval armament was marked by two conspicuous ev=
ents,
the rescue of the king of France, and the insult of the Byzantine capital. =
In
his return by sea from an unfortunate crusade, Louis the Seventh was
intercepted by the Greeks, who basely violated the laws of honor and religi=
on.
The fortunate encounter of the Norman fleet delivered the royal captive; and
after a free and honorable entertainment in the court of Sicily, Louis
continued his journey to Rome and Paris. In the absence of the emperor,
Constantinople and the Hellespont were left without defence and without the
suspicion of danger. The clergy and people (for the soldiers had followed t=
he
standard of Manuel) were astonished and dismayed at the hostile appearance =
of a
line of galleys, which boldly cast anchor in the front of the Imperial city.
The forces of the Sicilian admiral were inadequate to the siege or assault =
of
an immense and populous metropolis; but George enjoyed the glory of humbling
the Greek arrogance, and of marking the path of conquest to the navies of t=
he
West. He landed some soldiers to rifle the fruits of the royal gardens, and
pointed with silver, or most probably with fire, the arrows which he discha=
rged
against the palace of the Cæsars. This playful outrage of the pirates=
of
Sicily, who had surprised an unguarded moment, Manuel affected to despise,
while his martial spirit, and the forces of the empire, were awakened to
revenge. The Archipelago and Ionian Sea were covered with his squadrons and
those of Venice; but I know not by what favorable allowance of transports, =
victuallers,
and pinnaces, our reason, or even our fancy, can be reconciled to the
stupendous account of fifteen hundred vessels, which is proposed by a Byzan=
tine
historian. These operations were directed with prudence and energy: in his
homeward voyage George lost nineteen of his galleys, which were separated a=
nd
taken: after an obstinate defence, Corfu implored the clemency of her lawful
sovereign; nor could a ship, a soldier, of the Norman prince, be found, unl=
ess
as a captive, within the limits of the Eastern empire. The prosperity and t=
he
health of Roger were already in a declining state: while he listened in his
palace of Palermo to the messengers of victory or defeat, the invincible Ma=
nuel,
the foremost in every assault, was celebrated by the Greeks and Latins as t=
he
Alexander or the Hercules of the age.
A prince of such a temper could not be satisfi=
ed
with having repelled the insolence of a Barbarian. It was the right and dut=
y,
it might be the interest and glory, of Manuel to restore the ancient majest=
y of
the empire, to recover the provinces of Italy and Sicily, and to chastise t=
his
pretended king, the grandson of a Norman vassal. The natives of Calabria we=
re
still attached to the Greek language and worship, which had been inexorably
proscribed by the Latin clergy: after the loss of her dukes, Apulia was cha=
ined
as a servile appendage to the crown of Sicily; the founder of the monarchy =
had
ruled by the sword; and his death had abated the fear, without healing the
discontent, of his subjects: the feudal government was always pregnant with=
the
seeds of rebellion; and a nephew of Roger himself invited the enemies of hi=
s family
and nation. The majesty of the purple, and a series of Hungarian and Turkish
wars, prevented Manuel from embarking his person in the Italian expedition.=
To
the brave and noble Palæologus, his lieutenant, the Greek monarch
intrusted a fleet and army: the siege of Bari was his first exploit; and, in
every operation, gold as well as steel was the instrument of victory. Saler=
no,
and some places along the western coast, maintained their fidelity to the
Norman king; but he lost in two campaigns the greater part of his continent=
al
possessions; and the modest emperor, disdaining all flattery and falsehood,=
was
content with the reduction of three hundred cities or villages of Apulia an=
d Calabria,
whose names and titles were inscribed on all the walls of the palace. The
prejudices of the Latins were gratified by a genuine or fictitious donation
under the seal of the German Cæsars; but the successor of Constantine
soon renounced this ignominious pretence, claimed the indefeasible dominion=
of
Italy, and professed his design of chasing the Barbarians beyond the Alps. =
By
the artful speeches, liberal gifts, and unbounded promises, of their Eastern
ally, the free cities were encouraged to persevere in their generous strugg=
le
against the despotism of Frederic Barbarossa: the walls of Milan were rebui=
lt
by the contributions of Manuel; and he poured, says the historian, a river =
of
gold into the bosom of Ancona, whose attachment to the Greeks was fortified=
by
the jealous enmity of the Venetians. The situation and trade of Ancona rend=
ered
it an important garrison in the heart of Italy: it was twice besieged by the
arms of Frederic; the imperial forces were twice repulsed by the spirit of
freedom; that spirit was animated by the ambassador of Constantinople; and =
the
most intrepid patriots, the most faithful servants, were rewarded by the we=
alth
and honors of the Byzantine court. The pride of Manuel disdained and reject=
ed a
Barbarian colleague; his ambition was excited by the hope of stripping the
purple from the German usurpers, and of establishing, in the West, as in th=
e East,
his lawful title of sole emperor of the Romans. With this view, he solicited
the alliance of the people and the bishop of Rome. Several of the nobles
embraced the cause of the Greek monarch; the splendid nuptials of his niece
with Odo Frangipani secured the support of that powerful family, and his ro=
yal
standard or image was entertained with due reverence in the ancient metropo=
lis.
During the quarrel between Frederic and Alexander the Third, the pope twice
received in the Vatican the ambassadors of Constantinople. They flattered h=
is
piety by the long-promised union of the two churches, tempted the avarice o=
f his
venal court, and exhorted the Roman pontiff to seize the just provocation, =
the
favorable moment, to humble the savage insolence of the Alemanni and to
acknowledge the true representative of Constantine and Augustus.
But these Italian conquests, this universal re=
ign,
soon escaped from the hand of the Greek emperor. His first demands were elu=
ded
by the prudence of Alexander the Third, who paused on this deep and momento=
us revolution;
nor could the pope be seduced by a personal dispute to renounce the perpetu=
al
inheritance of the Latin name. After the reunion with Frederic, he spoke a =
more
peremptory language, confirmed the acts of his predecessors, excommunicated=
the
adherents of Manuel, and pronounced the final separation of the churches, o=
r at
least the empires, of Constantinople and Rome. The free cities of Lombardy =
no longer
remembered their foreign benefactor, and without preserving the friendship =
of
Ancona, he soon incurred the enmity of Venice. By his own avarice, or the
complaints of his subjects, the Greek emperor was provoked to arrest the
persons, and confiscate the effects, of the Venetian merchants. This violat=
ion
of the public faith exasperated a free and commercial people: one hundred
galleys were launched and armed in as many days; they swept the coasts of
Dalmatia and Greece: but after some mutual wounds, the war was terminated b=
y an
agreement, inglorious to the empire, insufficient for the republic; and a
complete vengeance of these and of fresh injuries was reserved for the
succeeding generation. The lieutenant of Manuel had informed his sovereign =
that
he was strong enough to quell any domestic revolt of Apulia and Calabria; b=
ut
that his forces were inadequate to resist the impending attack of the king =
of
Sicily. His prophecy was soon verified: the death of Palæologus devol=
ved
the command on several chiefs, alike eminent in rank, alike defective in
military talents; the Greeks were oppressed by land and sea; and a captive
remnant that escaped the swords of the Normans and Saracens, abjured all fu=
ture
hostility against the person or dominions of their conqueror. Yet the king =
of
Sicily esteemed the courage and constancy of Manuel, who had landed a second
army on the Italian shore; he respectfully addressed the new Justinian;
solicited a peace or truce of thirty years, accepted as a gift the regal ti=
tle;
and acknowledged himself the military vassal of the Roman empire. The Byzan=
tine
Cæsars acquiesced in this shadow of dominion, without expecting, perh=
aps
without desiring, the service of a Norman army; and the truce of thirty yea=
rs
was not disturbed by any hostilities between Sicily and Constantinople. Abo=
ut
the end of that period, the throne of Manuel was usurped by an inhuman tyra=
nt,
who had deserved the abhorrence of his country and mankind: the sword of
William the Second, the grandson of Roger, was drawn by a fugitive of the
Comnenian race; and the subjects of Andronicus might salute the strangers as
friends, since they detested their sovereign as the worst of enemies. The L=
atin
historians expatiate on the rapid progress of the four counts who invaded
Romania with a fleet and army, and reduced many castles and cities to the
obedience of the king of Sicily. The Greeks accuse and magnify the wanton a=
nd
sacrilegious cruelties that were perpetrated in the sack of Thessalonica, t=
he
second city of the empire. The former deplore the fate of those invincible =
but
unsuspecting warriors who were destroyed by the arts of a vanquished foe. T=
he
latter applaud, in songs of triumph, the repeated victories of their countr=
ymen
on the Sea of Marmora or Propontis, on the banks of the Strymon, and under =
the
walls of Durazzo. A revolution which punished the crimes of Andronicus, had
united against the Franks the zeal and courage of the successful insurgents:
ten thousand were slain in battle, and Isaac Angelus, the new emperor, might
indulge his vanity or vengeance in the treatment of four thousand captives.
Such was the event of the last contest between the Greeks and Normans: befo=
re
the expiration of twenty years, the rival nations were lost or degraded in
foreign servitude; and the successors of Constantine did not long survive to
insult the fall of the Sicilian monarchy.
The sceptre of Roger successively devolved to =
his
son and grandson: they might be confounded under the name of William: they =
are
strongly discriminated by the epithets of the bad and the good; but these e=
pithets,
which appear to describe the perfection of vice and virtue, cannot strictly=
be
applied to either of the Norman princes. When he was roused to arms by dang=
er
and shame, the first William did not degenerate from the valor of his race;=
but
his temper was slothful; his manners were dissolute; his passions headstrong
and mischievous; and the monarch is responsible, not only for his personal
vices, but for those of Majo, the great admiral, who abused the confidence,=
and
conspired against the life, of his benefactor. From the Arabian conquest,
Sicily had imbibed a deep tincture of Oriental manners; the despotism, the
pomp, and even the harem, of a sultan; and a Christian people was oppressed=
and
insulted by the ascendant of the eunuchs, who openly professed, or secretly=
cherished,
the religion of Mahomet. An eloquent historian of the times has delineated =
the
misfortunes of his country: the ambition and fall of the ungrateful Majo; t=
he
revolt and punishment of his assassins; the imprisonment and deliverance of=
the
king himself; the private feuds that arose from the public confusion; and t=
he
various forms of calamity and discord which afflicted Palermo, the island, =
and
the continent, during the reign of William the First, and the minority of h=
is
son. The youth, innocence, and beauty of William the Second, endeared him to
the nation: the factions were reconciled; the laws were revived; and from t=
he manhood
to the premature death of that amiable prince, Sicily enjoyed a short seaso=
n of
peace, justice, and happiness, whose value was enhanced by the remembrance =
of
the past and the dread of futurity. The legitimate male posterity of Tancre=
d of
Hauteville was extinct in the person of the second William; but his aunt, t=
he
daughter of Roger, had married the most powerful prince of the age; and Hen=
ry
the Sixth, the son of Frederic Barbarossa, descended from the Alps to claim=
the
Imperial crown and the inheritance of his wife. Against the unanimous wish =
of a
free people, this inheritance could only be acquired by arms; and I am plea=
sed
to transcribe the style and sense of the historian Falcandus, who writes at=
the
moment, and on the spot, with the feelings of a patriot, and the prophetic =
eye
of a statesman. "Constantia, the daughter of Sicily, nursed from her
cradle in the pleasures and plenty, and educated in the arts and manners, of
this fortunate isle, departed long since to enrich the Barbarians with our
treasures, and now returns, with her savage allies, to contaminate the beau=
ties
of her venerable parent. Already I behold the swarms of angry Barbarians: o=
ur
opulent cities, the places flourishing in a long peace, are shaken with fea=
r,
desolated by slaughter, consumed by rapine, and polluted by intemperance and
lust. I see the massacre or captivity of our citizens, the rapes of our vir=
gins
and matrons. In this extremity (he interrogates a friend) how must the
Sicilians act? By the unanimous election of a king of valor and experience,
Sicily and Calabria might yet be preserved; for in the levity of the Apulia=
ns,
ever eager for new revolutions, I can repose neither confidence nor hope.
Should Calabria be lost, the lofty towers, the numerous youth, and the naval
strength, of Messina, might guard the passage against a foreign invader. If=
the
savage Germans coalesce with the pirates of Messina; if they destroy with f=
ire
the fruitful region, so often wasted by the fires of Mount Ætna, what
resource will be left for the interior parts of the island, these noble cit=
ies
which should never be violated by the hostile footsteps of a Barbarian? Cat=
ana
has again been overwhelmed by an earthquake: the ancient virtue of Syracuse=
expires
in poverty and solitude; but Palermo is still crowned with a diadem, and her
triple walls enclose the active multitudes of Christians and Saracens. If t=
he
two nations, under one king, can unite for their common safety, they may ru=
sh
on the Barbarians with invincible arms. But if the Saracens, fatigued by a
repetition of injuries, should now retire and rebel; if they should occupy =
the
castles of the mountains and sea-coast, the unfortunate Christians, exposed=
to
a double attack, and placed as it were between the hammer and the anvil, mu=
st
resign themselves to hopeless and inevitable servitude." We must not
forget, that a priest here prefers his country to his religion; and that th=
e Moslems,
whose alliance he seeks, were still numerous and powerful in the state of
Sicily.
The hopes, or at least the wishes, of Falcandus
were at first gratified by the free and unanimous election of Tancred, the
grandson of the first king, whose birth was illegitimate, but whose civil a=
nd
military virtues shone without a blemish. During four years, the term of his
life and reign, he stood in arms on the farthest verge of the Apulian front=
ier,
against the powers of Germany; and the restitution of a royal captive, of
Constantia herself, without injury or ransom, may appear to surpass the most
liberal measure of policy or reason. After his decease, the kingdom of his
widow and infant son fell without a struggle; and Henry pursued his victori=
ous
march from Capua to Palermo. The political balance of Italy was destroyed by
his success; and if the pope and the free cities had consulted their obvious
and real interest, they would have combined the powers of earth and heaven =
to
prevent the dangerous union of the German empire with the kingdom of Sicily.
But the subtle policy, for which the Vatican has so often been praised or
arraigned, was on this occasion blind and inactive; and if it were true tha=
t Celestine
the Third had kicked away the Imperial crown from the head of the prostrate
Henry, such an act of impotent pride could serve only to cancel an obligati=
on
and provoke an enemy. The Genoese, who enjoyed a beneficial trade and
establishment in Sicily, listened to the promise of his boundless gratitude=
and
speedy departure: their fleet commanded the straits of Messina, and opened =
the
harbor of Palermo; and the first act of his government was to abolish the
privileges, and to seize the property, of these imprudent allies. The last =
hope
of Falcandus was defeated by the discord of the Christians and Mahometans: =
they
fought in the capital; several thousands of the latter were slain; but thei=
r surviving
brethren fortified the mountains, and disturbed above thirty years the peac=
e of
the island. By the policy of Frederic the Second, sixty thousand Saracens w=
ere
transplanted to Nocera in Apulia. In their wars against the Roman church, t=
he
emperor and his son Mainfroy were strengthened and disgraced by the service=
of
the enemies of Christ; and this national colony maintained their religion a=
nd
manners in the heart of Italy, till they were extirpated, at the end of the
thirteenth century, by the zeal and revenge of the house of Anjou. All the =
calamities
which the prophetic orator had deplored were surpassed by the cruelty and
avarice of the German conqueror. He violated the royal sepulchres, and expl=
ored
the secret treasures of the palace, Palermo, and the whole kingdom: the pea=
rls
and jewels, however precious, might be easily removed; but one hundred and
sixty horses were laden with the gold and silver of Sicily. The young king,=
his
mother and sisters, and the nobles of both sexes, were separately confined =
in
the fortresses of the Alps; and, on the slightest rumor of rebellion, the
captives were deprived of life, of their eyes, or of the hope of posterity.
Constantia herself was touched with sympathy for the miseries of her countr=
y;
and the heiress of the Norman line might struggle to check her despotic hus=
band,
and to save the patrimony of her new-born son, of an emperor so famous in t=
he
next age under the name of Frederic the Second. Ten years after this
revolution, the French monarchs annexed to their crown the duchy of Normand=
y:
the sceptre of her ancient dukes had been transmitted, by a granddaughter of
William the Conqueror, to the house of Plantagenet; and the adventurous
Normans, who had raised so many trophies in France, England, and Ireland, in
Apulia, Sicily, and the East, were lost, either in victory or servitude, am=
ong
the vanquished nations.
The Turks Of The=
House
Of Seljuk.--Their Revolt Against Mahmud Conq=
ueror
Of Hindostan.--Togrul Subdues Persia, And Protects The
Caliphs.--Defeat And Captivity Of The Emperor Romanus Dio=
genes
By Alp Arslan.--Power And Magnificence Of Malek
Shah.--Conquest Of Asia Minor And Syria.--State And Oppression =
Of
Jerusalem.--Pilgrimages To The Holy Sepulchre.
From the Isle of Sicily, the reader must trans=
port
himself beyond the Caspian Sea, to the original seat of the Turks or Turkma=
ns,
against whom the first crusade was principally directed. Their Scythian emp=
ire
of the sixth century was long since dissolved; but the name was still famou=
s among
the Greeks and Orientals; and the fragments of the nation, each a powerful =
and
independent people, were scattered over the desert from China to the Oxus a=
nd
the Danube: the colony of Hungarians was admitted into the republic of Euro=
pe,
and the thrones of Asia were occupied by slaves and soldiers of Turkish ext=
raction.
While Apulia and Sicily were subdued by the Norman lance, a swarm of these
northern shepherds overspread the kingdoms of Persia; their princes of the =
race
of Seljuk erected a splendid and solid empire from Samarcand to the confine=
s of
Greece and Egypt; and the Turks have maintained their dominion in Asia Mino=
r,
till the victorious crescent has been planted on the dome of St. Sophia.
One of the greatest of the Turkish princes was
Mahmood or Mahmud, the Gaznevide, who reigned in the eastern provinces of
Persia, one thousand years after the birth of Christ. His father Sebectagi =
was
the slave of the slave of the slave of the commander of the faithful. But in
this descent of servitude, the first degree was merely titular, since it wa=
s filled
by the sovereign of Transoxiana and Chorasan, who still paid a nominal
allegiance to the caliph of Bagdad. The second rank was that of a minister =
of
state, a lieutenant of the Samanides, who broke, by his revolt, the bonds of
political slavery. But the third step was a state of real and domestic
servitude in the family of that rebel; from which Sebectagi, by his courage=
and
dexterity, ascended to the supreme command of the city and provinces of Gaz=
na,
as the son-in-law and successor of his grateful master. The falling dynasty=
of
the Samanides was at first protected, and at last overthrown, by their
servants; and, in the public disorders, the fortune of Mahmud continually
increased. From him the title of Sultan was first invented; and his kingdom=
was
enlarged from Transoxiana to the neighborhood of Ispahan, from the shores of
the Caspian to the mouth of the Indus. But the principal source of his fame=
and
riches was the holy war which he waged against the Gentoos of Hindostan. In
this foreign narrative I may not consume a page; and a volume would scarcely
suffice to recapitulate the battles and sieges of his twelve expeditions. N=
ever
was the Mussulman hero dismayed by the inclemency of the seasons, the heigh=
t of
the mountains, the breadth of the rivers, the barrenness of the desert, the
multitudes of the enemy, or the formidable array of their elephants of war.=
The
sultan of Gazna surpassed the limits of the conquests of Alexander: after a
march of three months, over the hills of Cashmir and Thibet, he reached the=
famous
city of Kinnoge, on the Upper Ganges; and, in a naval combat on one of the
branches of the Indus, he fought and vanquished four thousand boats of the
natives. Delhi, Lahor, and Multan, were compelled to open their gates: the
fertile kingdom of Guzarat attracted his ambition and tempted his stay; and=
his
avarice indulged the fruitless project of discovering the golden and aromat=
ic
isles of the Southern Ocean. On the payment of a tribute, the rajahs preser=
ved
their dominions; the people, their lives and fortunes; but to the religion =
of
Hindostan the zealous Mussulman was cruel and inexorable: many hundred temp=
les,
or pagodas, were levelled with the ground; many thousand idols were demolis=
hed;
and the servants of the prophet were stimulated and rewarded by the precious
materials of which they were composed. The pagoda of Sumnat was situate on =
the
promontory of Guzarat, in the neighborhood of Diu, one of the last remaining
possessions of the Portuguese. It was endowed with the revenue of two thous=
and
villages; two thousand Brahmins were consecrated to the service of the Deit=
y,
whom they washed each morning and evening in water from the distant Ganges:=
the
subordinate ministers consisted of three hundred musicians, three hundred
barbers, and five hundred dancing girls, conspicuous for their birth or bea=
uty.
Three sides of the temple were protected by the ocean, the narrow isthmus w=
as
fortified by a natural or artificial precipice; and the city and adjacent
country were peopled by a nation of fanatics. They confessed the sins and t=
he
punishment of Kinnoge and Delhi; but if the impious stranger should presume=
to
approach their holy precincts, he would surely be overwhelmed by a blast of=
the
divine vengeance. By this challenge, the faith of Mahmud was animated to a
personal trial of the strength of this Indian deity. Fifty thousand of his
worshippers were pierced by the spear of the Moslems; the walls were scaled;
the sanctuary was profaned; and the conqueror aimed a blow of his iron mace=
at
the head of the idol. The trembling Brahmins are said to have offered ten
millions sterling for his ransom; and it was urged by the wisest counsellor=
s,
that the destruction of a stone image would not change the hearts of the
Gentoos; and that such a sum might be dedicated to the relief of the true
believers. "Your reasons," replied the sultan, "are specious=
and
strong; but never in the eyes of posterity shall Mahmud appear as a merchan=
t of
idols." He repeated his blows, and a treasure of pearls and rubies,
concealed in the belly of the statue, explained in some degree the devout
prodigality of the Brahmins. The fragments of the idol were distributed to
Gazna, Mecca, and Medina. Bagdad listened to the edifying tale; and Mahmud =
was
saluted by the caliph with the title of guardian of the fortune and faith of
Mahomet.
From the paths of blood (and such is the histo=
ry
of nations) I cannot refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers of science=
or
virtue. The name of Mahmud the Gaznevide is still venerable in the East: hi=
s subjects
enjoyed the blessings of prosperity and peace; his vices were concealed by =
the
veil of religion; and two familiar examples will testify his justice and
magnanimity. I. As he sat in the Divan, an unhappy subject bowed before the
throne to accuse the insolence of a Turkish soldier who had driven him from=
his
house and bed. "Suspend your clamors," said Mahmud; "inform =
me
of his next visit, and ourself in person will judge and punish the
offender." The sultan followed his guide, invested the house with his
guards, and extinguishing the torches, pronounced the death of the criminal,
who had been seized in the act of rapine and adultery. After the execution =
of
his sentence, the lights were rekindled, Mahmud fell prostrate in prayer, a=
nd
rising from the ground, demanded some homely fare, which he devoured with t=
he voraciousness
of hunger. The poor man, whose injury he had avenged, was unable to suppress
his astonishment and curiosity; and the courteous monarch condescended to
explain the motives of this singular behavior. "I had reason to suspect
that none, except one of my sons, could dare to perpetrate such an outrage;=
and
I extinguished the lights, that my justice might be blind and inexorable. My
prayer was a thanksgiving on the discovery of the offender; and so painful =
was
my anxiety, that I had passed three days without food since the first momen=
t of
your complaint." II. The sultan of Gazna had declared war against the
dynasty of the Bowides, the sovereigns of the western Persia: he was disarm=
ed by
an epistle of the sultana mother, and delayed his invasion till the manhood=
of
her son. "During the life of my husband," said the artful regent,
"I was ever apprehensive of your ambition: he was a prince and a soldi=
er
worthy of your arms. He is now no more his sceptre has passed to a woman an=
d a
child, and you dare not attack their infancy and weakness. How inglorious w=
ould
be your conquest, how shameful your defeat! and yet the event of war is in =
the
hand of the Almighty." Avarice was the only defect that tarnished the
illustrious character of Mahmud; and never has that passion been more richly
satiated. The Orientals exceed the measure of credibility in the account of
millions of gold and silver, such as the avidity of man has never accumulat=
ed;
in the magnitude of pearls, diamonds, and rubies, such as have never been p=
roduced
by the workmanship of nature. Yet the soil of Hindostan is impregnated with
precious minerals: her trade, in every age, has attracted the gold and silv=
er
of the world; and her virgin spoils were rifled by the first of the Mahomet=
an
conquerors. His behavior, in the last days of his life, evinces the vanity =
of
these possessions, so laboriously won, so dangerously held, and so inevitab=
ly
lost. He surveyed the vast and various chambers of the treasury of Gazna, b=
urst
into tears, and again closed the doors, without bestowing any portion of the
wealth which he could no longer hope to preserve. The following day he revi=
ewed
the state of his military force; one hundred thousand foot, fifty-five thou=
sand
horse, and thirteen hundred elephants of battle. He again wept the instabil=
ity
of human greatness; and his grief was imbittered by the hostile progress of=
the
Turkmans, whom he had introduced into the heart of his Persian kingdom.
In the modern depopulation of Asia, the regular
operation of government and agriculture is confined to the neighborhood of
cities; and the distant country is abandoned to the pastoral tribes of Arab=
s,
Curds, and Turkmans. Of the last-mentioned people, two considerable branche=
s extend
on either side of the Caspian Sea: the western colony can muster forty thou=
sand
soldiers; the eastern, less obvious to the traveller, but more strong and
populous, has increased to the number of one hundred thousand families. In =
the
midst of civilized nations, they preserve the manners of the Scythian deser=
t,
remove their encampments with a change of seasons, and feed their cattle am=
ong
the ruins of palaces and temples. Their flocks and herds are their only ric=
hes;
their tents, either black or white, according to the color of the banner, a=
re
covered with felt, and of a circular form; their winter apparel is a
sheep-skin; a robe of cloth or cotton their summer garment: the features of=
the
men are harsh and ferocious; the countenance of their women is soft and
pleasing. Their wandering life maintains the spirit and exercise of arms; t=
hey
fight on horseback; and their courage is displayed in frequent contests with
each other and with their neighbors. For the license of pasture they pay a
slight tribute to the sovereign of the land; but the domestic jurisdiction =
is
in the hands of the chiefs and elders. The first emigration of the Eastern
Turkmans, the most ancient of the race, may be ascribed to the tenth centur=
y of
the Christian æra. In the decline of the caliphs, and the weakness of
their lieutenants, the barrier of the Jaxartes was often violated; in each
invasion, after the victory or retreat of their countrymen, some wandering =
tribe,
embracing the Mahometan faith, obtained a free encampment in the spacious
plains and pleasant climate of Transoxiana and Carizme. The Turkish slaves =
who
aspired to the throne encouraged these emigrations which recruited their
armies, awed their subjects and rivals, and protected the frontier against =
the
wilder natives of Turkestan; and this policy was abused by Mahmud the Gazne=
vide
beyond the example of former times. He was admonished of his error by the c=
hief
of the race of Seljuk, who dwelt in the territory of Bochara. The sultan had
inquired what supply of men he could furnish for military service. "If=
you
send," replied Ismael, "one of these arrows into our camp, fifty
thousand of your servants will mount on horseback."--"And if that
number," continued Mahmud, "should not be
sufficient?"--"Send this second arrow to the horde of Balik, and =
you will
find fifty thousand more."--"But," said the Gaznevide,
dissembling his anxiety, "if I should stand in need of the whole force=
of
your kindred tribes?"--"Despatch my bow," was the last reply=
of
Ismael, "and as it is circulated around, the summons will be obeyed by=
two
hundred thousand horse." The apprehension of such formidable friendship
induced Mahmud to transport the most obnoxious tribes into the heart of
Chorasan, where they would be separated from their brethren of the River Ox=
us,
and enclosed on all sides by the walls of obedient cities. But the face of =
the
country was an object of temptation rather than terror; and the vigor of
government was relaxed by the absence and death of the sultan of Gazna. The
shepherds were converted into robbers; the bands of robbers were collected =
into
an army of conquerors: as far as Ispahan and the Tigris, Persia was afflict=
ed
by their predatory inroads; and the Turkmans were not ashamed or afraid to =
measure
their courage and numbers with the proudest sovereigns of Asia. Massoud, the
son and successor of Mahmud, had too long neglected the advice of his wisest
Omrahs. "Your enemies," they repeatedly urged, "were in their
origin a swarm of ants; they are now little snakes; and, unless they be
instantly crushed, they will acquire the venom and magnitude of serpents.&q=
uot;
After some alternatives of truce and hostility, after the repulse or partial
success of his lieutenants, the sultan marched in person against the Turkma=
ns,
who attacked him on all sides with barbarous shouts and irregular onset.
"Massoud," says the Persian historian, "plunged singly to op=
pose
the torrent of gleaming arms, exhibiting such acts of gigantic force and va=
lor
as never king had before displayed. A few of his friends, roused by his wor=
ds
and actions, and that innate honor which inspires the brave, seconded their
lord so well, that wheresoever he turned his fatal sword, the enemies were
mowed down, or retreated before him. But now, when victory seemed to blow o=
n his
standard, misfortune was active behind it; for when he looked round, he beh=
eld
almost his whole army, excepting that body he commanded in person, devouring
the paths of flight." The Gaznevide was abandoned by the cowardice or
treachery of some generals of Turkish race; and this memorable day of Zende=
can
founded in Persia the dynasty of the shepherd kings.
The victorious Turkmans immediately proceeded =
to
the election of a king; and, if the probable tale of a Latin historian dese=
rves
any credit, they determined by lot the choice of their new master. A number=
of
arrows were successively inscribed with the name of a tribe, a family, and =
a candidate;
they were drawn from the bundle by the hand of a child; and the important p=
rize
was obtained by Togrul Beg, the son of Michael the son of Seljuk, whose sur=
name
was immortalized in the greatness of his posterity. The sultan Mahmud, who
valued himself on his skill in national genealogy, professed his ignorance =
of
the family of Seljuk; yet the father of that race appears to have been a ch=
ief
of power and renown. For a daring intrusion into the harem of his prince.
Seljuk was banished from Turkestan: with a numerous tribe of his friends and
vassals, he passed the Jaxartes, encamped in the neighborhood of Samarcand,
embraced the religion of Mahomet, and acquired the crown of martyrdom in a =
war
against the infidels. His age, of a hundred and seven years, surpassed the =
life
of his son, and Seljuk adopted the care of his two grandsons, Togrul and
Jaafar; the eldest of whom, at the age of forty-five, was invested with the
title of Sultan, in the royal city of Nishabur. The blind determination of
chance was justified by the virtues of the successful candidate. It would be
superfluous to praise the valor of a Turk; and the ambition of Togrul was e=
qual
to his valor. By his arms, the Gasnevides were expelled from the eastern
kingdoms of Persia, and gradually driven to the banks of the Indus, in sear=
ch
of a softer and more wealthy conquest. In the West he annihilated the dynas=
ty
of the Bowides; and the sceptre of Irak passed from the Persian to the Turk=
ish nation.
The princes who had felt, or who feared, the Seljukian arrows, bowed their
heads in the dust; by the conquest of Aderbijan, or Media, he approached the
Roman confines; and the shepherd presumed to despatch an ambassador, or her=
ald,
to demand the tribute and obedience of the emperor of Constantinople. In his
own dominions, Togrul was the father of his soldiers and people; by a firm =
and
equal administration, Persia was relieved from the evils of anarchy; and th=
e same
hands which had been imbrued in blood became the guardians of justice and t=
he
public peace. The more rustic, perhaps the wisest, portion of the Turkmans =
continued
to dwell in the tents of their ancestors; and, from the Oxus to the Euphrat=
es,
these military colonies were protected and propagated by their native princ=
es.
But the Turks of the court and city were refined by business and softened by
pleasure: they imitated the dress, language, and manners of Persia; and the
royal palaces of Nishabur and Rei displayed the order and magnificence of a
great monarchy. The most deserving of the Arabians and Persians were promot=
ed
to the honors of the state; and the whole body of the Turkish nation embrac=
ed,
with fervor and sincerity, the religion of Mahomet. The northern swarms of
Barbarians, who overspread both Europe and Asia, have been irreconcilably
separated by the consequences of a similar conduct. Among the Moslems, as a=
mong
the Christians, their vague and local traditions have yielded to the reason=
and
authority of the prevailing system, to the fame of antiquity, and the conse=
nt
of nations. But the triumph of the Koran is more pure and meritorious, as it
was not assisted by any visible splendor of worship which might allure the
Pagans by some resemblance of idolatry. The first of the Seljukian sultans =
was conspicuous
by his zeal and faith: each day he repeated the five prayers which are enjo=
ined
to the true believers; of each week, the two first days were consecrated by=
an
extraordinary fast; and in every city a mosch was completed, before Togrul
presumed to lay the foundations of a palace.
With the belief of the Koran, the son of Seljuk
imbibed a lively reverence for the successor of the prophet. But that subli=
me
character was still disputed by the caliphs of Bagdad and Egypt, and each of
the rivals was solicitous to prove his title in the judgment of the strong,=
though
illiterate Barbarians. Mahmud the Gaznevide had declared himself in favor of
the line of Abbas; and had treated with indignity the robe of honor which w=
as
presented by the Fatimite ambassador. Yet the ungrateful Hashemite had chan=
ged
with the change of fortune; he applauded the victory of Zendecan, and named=
the
Seljukian sultan his temporal vicegerent over the Moslem world. As Togrul
executed and enlarged this important trust, he was called to the deliveranc=
e of
the caliph Cayem, and obeyed the holy summons, which gave a new kingdom to =
his
arms. In the palace of Bagdad, the commander of the faithful still slumbere=
d, a
venerable phantom. His servant or master, the prince of the Bowides, could =
no
longer protect him from the insolence of meaner tyrants; and the Euphrates =
and
Tigris were oppressed by the revolt of the Turkish and Arabian emirs. The
presence of a conqueror was implored as a blessing; and the transient misch=
iefs
of fire and sword were excused as the sharp but salutary remedies which alo=
ne
could restore the health of the republic. At the head of an irresistible fo=
rce,
the sultan of Persia marched from Hamadan: the proud were crushed, the
prostrate were spared; the prince of the Bowides disappeared; the heads of =
the most
obstinate rebels were laid at the feet of Togrul; and he inflicted a lesson=
of
obedience on the people of Mosul and Bagdad. After the chastisement of the
guilty, and the restoration of peace, the royal shepherd accepted the rewar=
d of
his labors; and a solemn comedy represented the triumph of religious prejud=
ice
over Barbarian power. The Turkish sultan embarked on the Tigris, landed at =
the
gate of Racca, and made his public entry on horseback. At the palace-gate he
respectfully dismounted, and walked on foot, preceded by his emirs without
arms. The caliph was seated behind his black veil: the black garment of the=
Abbassides
was cast over his shoulders, and he held in his hand the staff of the apost=
le
of God. The conqueror of the East kissed the ground, stood some time in a
modest posture, and was led towards the throne by the vizier and interprete=
r.
After Togrul had seated himself on another throne, his commission was publi=
cly
read, which declared him the temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophe=
t.
He was successively invested with seven robes of honor, and presented with
seven slaves, the natives of the seven climates of the Arabian empire. His
mystic veil was perfumed with musk; two crowns were placed on his head; two
cimeters were girded to his side, as the symbols of a double reign over the=
East
and West. After this inauguration, the sultan was prevented from prostrating
himself a second time; but he twice kissed the hand of the commander of the
faithful, and his titles were proclaimed by the voice of heralds and the
applause of the Moslems. In a second visit to Bagdad, the Seljukian prince
again rescued the caliph from his enemies and devoutly, on foot, led the br=
idle
of his mule from the prison to the palace. Their alliance was cemented by t=
he
marriage of Togrul's sister with the successor of the prophet. Without
reluctance he had introduced a Turkish virgin into his harem; but Cayem pro=
udly
refused his daughter to the sultan, disdained to mingle the blood of the
Hashemites with the blood of a Scythian shepherd; and protracted the
negotiation many months, till the gradual diminution of his revenue admonis=
hed
him that he was still in the hands of a master. The royal nuptials were
followed by the death of Togrul himself; as he left no children, his nephew=
Alp
Arslan succeeded to the title and prerogatives of sultan; and his name, aft=
er
that of the caliph, was pronounced in the public prayers of the Moslems. Ye=
t in
this revolution, the Abbassides acquired a larger measure of liberty and po=
wer.
On the throne of Asia, the Turkish monarchs were less jealous of the domest=
ic
administration of Bagdad; and the commanders of the faithful were relieved =
from
the ignominious vexations to which they had been exposed by the presence and
poverty of the Persian dynasty.
Since the fall of the caliphs, the discord and
degeneracy of the Saracens respected the Asiatic provinces of Rome; which, =
by
the victories of Nicephorus, Zimisces, and Basil, had been extended as far =
as
Antioch and the eastern boundaries of Armenia. Twenty-five years after the
death of Basil, his successors were suddenly assaulted by an unknown race of
Barbarians, who united the Scythian valor with the fanaticism of new
proselytes, and the art and riches of a powerful monarchy. The myriads of
Turkish horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles from Tauris to
Arzeroum, and the blood of one hundred and thirty thousand Christians was a=
grateful
sacrifice to the Arabian prophet. Yet the arms of Togrul did not make any d=
eep
or lasting impression on the Greek empire. The torrent rolled away from the
open country; the sultan retired without glory or success from the siege of=
an
Armenian city; the obscure hostilities were continued or suspended with a
vicissitude of events; and the bravery of the Macedonian legions renewed the
fame of the conqueror of Asia. The name of Alp Arslan, the valiant lion, is
expressive of the popular idea of the perfection of man; and the successor =
of
Togrul displayed the fierceness and generosity of the royal animal. He pass=
ed
the Euphrates at the head of the Turkish cavalry, and entered Cæsarea,
the metropolis of Cappadocia, to which he had been attracted by the fame and
wealth of the temple of St. Basil. The solid structure resisted the destroy=
er:
but he carried away the doors of the shrine incrusted with gold and pearls,=
and
profaned the relics of the tutelar saint, whose mortal frailties were now
covered by the venerable rust of antiquity. The final conquest of Armenia a=
nd Georgia
was achieved by Alp Arslan. In Armenia, the title of a kingdom, and the spi=
rit
of a nation, were annihilated: the artificial fortifications were yielded by
the mercenaries of Constantinople; by strangers without faith, veterans wit=
hout
pay or arms, and recruits without experience or discipline. The loss of this
important frontier was the news of a day; and the Catholics were neither
surprised nor displeased, that a people so deeply infected with the Nestori=
an
and Eutychian errors had been delivered by Christ and his mother into the h=
ands
of the infidels. The woods and valleys of Mount Caucasus were more strenuou=
sly
defended by the native Georgians or Iberians; but the Turkish sultan and hi=
s son
Malek were indefatigable in this holy war: their captives were compelled to
promise a spiritual, as well as temporal, obedience; and, instead of their
collars and bracelets, an iron horseshoe, a badge of ignominy, was imposed =
on
the infidels who still adhered to the worship of their fathers. The change,
however, was not sincere or universal; and, through ages of servitude, the
Georgians have maintained the succession of their princes and bishops. But a
race of men, whom nature has cast in her most perfect mould, is degraded by=
poverty,
ignorance, and vice; their profession, and still more their practice, of
Christianity is an empty name; and if they have emerged from heresy, it is =
only
because they are too illiterate to remember a metaphysical creed.
The false or genuine magnanimity of Mahmud the
Gaznevide was not imitated by Alp Arslan; and he attacked without scruple t=
he
Greek empress Eudocia and her children. His alarming progress compelled her=
to
give herself and her sceptre to the hand of a soldier; and Romanus Diogenes=
was
invested with the Imperial purple. His patriotism, and perhaps his pride, u=
rged
him from Constantinople within two months after his accession; and the next
campaign he most scandalously took the field during the holy festival of Ea=
ster.
In the palace, Diogenes was no more than the husband of Eudocia: in the cam=
p,
he was the emperor of the Romans, and he sustained that character with feeb=
le
resources and invincible courage. By his spirit and success the soldiers we=
re
taught to act, the subjects to hope, and the enemies to fear. The Turks had
penetrated into the heart of Phrygia; but the sultan himself had resigned to
his emirs the prosecution of the war; and their numerous detachments were
scattered over Asia in the security of conquest. Laden with spoil, and care=
less
of discipline, they were separately surprised and defeated by the Greeks: t=
he
activity of the emperor seemed to multiply his presence: and while they hea=
rd
of his expedition to Antioch, the enemy felt his sword on the hills of
Trebizond. In three laborious campaigns, the Turks were driven beyond the
Euphrates; in the fourth and last, Romanus undertook the deliverance of
Armenia. The desolation of the land obliged him to transport a supply of two
months' provisions; and he marched forwards to the siege of Malazkerd, an i=
mportant
fortress in the midway between the modern cities of Arzeroum and Van. His a=
rmy
amounted, at the least, to one hundred thousand men. The troops of
Constantinople were reënforced by the disorderly multitudes of Phrygia=
and
Cappadocia; but the real strength was composed of the subjects and allies of
Europe, the legions of Macedonia, and the squadrons of Bulgaria; the Uzi, a
Moldavian horde, who were themselves of the Turkish race; and, above all, t=
he
mercenary and adventurous bands of French and Normans. Their lances were
commanded by the valiant Ursel of Baliol, the kinsman or father of the Scot=
tish
kings, and were allowed to excel in the exercise of arms, or, according to =
the
Greek style, in the practice of the Pyrrhic dance.
On the report of this bold invasion, which
threatened his hereditary dominions, Alp Arslan flew to the scene of action=
at
the head of forty thousand horse. His rapid and skilful evolutions distress=
ed
and dismayed the superior numbers of the Greeks; and in the defeat of
Basilacius, one of their principal generals, he displayed the first example=
of
his valor and clemency. The imprudence of the emperor had separated his for=
ces after
the reduction of Malazkerd. It was in vain that he attempted to recall the
mercenary Franks: they refused to obey his summons; he disdained to await t=
heir
return: the desertion of the Uzi filled his mind with anxiety and suspicion;
and against the most salutary advice he rushed forwards to speedy and decis=
ive
action. Had he listened to the fair proposals of the sultan, Romanus might =
have
secured a retreat, perhaps a peace; but in these overtures he supposed the =
fear
or weakness of the enemy, and his answer was conceived in the tone of insult
and defiance. "If the Barbarian wishes for peace, let him evacuate the=
ground
which he occupies for the encampment of the Romans, and surrender his city =
and
palace of Rei as a pledge of his sincerity." Alp Arslan smiled at the
vanity of the demand, but he wept the death of so many faithful Moslems; an=
d,
after a devout prayer, proclaimed a free permission to all who were desirou=
s of
retiring from the field. With his own hands he tied up his horse's tail,
exchanged his bow and arrows for a mace and cimeter, clothed himself in a w=
hite
garment, perfumed his body with musk, and declared that if he were vanquish=
ed,
that spot should be the place of his burial. The sultan himself had affecte=
d to
cast away his missile weapons: but his hopes of victory were placed in the
arrows of the Turkish cavalry, whose squadrons were loosely distributed in =
the
form of a crescent. Instead of the successive lines and reserves of the Gre=
cian
tactics, Romulus led his army in a single and solid phalanx, and pressed wi=
th
vigor and impatience the artful and yielding resistance of the Barbarians. =
In
this desultory and fruitless combat he spent the greater part of a summer's
day, till prudence and fatigue compelled him to return to his camp. But a
retreat is always perilous in the face of an active foe; and no sooner had =
the
standard been turned to the rear than the phalanx was broken by the base co=
wardice,
or the baser jealousy, of Andronicus, a rival prince, who disgraced his bir=
th
and the purple of the Cæsars. The Turkish squadrons poured a cloud of
arrows on this moment of confusion and lassitude; and the horns of their
formidable crescent were closed in the rear of the Greeks. In the destructi=
on
of the army and pillage of the camp, it would be needless to mention the nu=
mber
of the slain or captives. The Byzantine writers deplore the loss of an
inestimable pearl: they forgot to mention, that in this fatal day the Asiat=
ic
provinces of Rome were irretrievably sacrificed.
As long as a hope survived, Romanus attempted =
to
rally and save the relics of his army. When the centre, the Imperial statio=
n,
was left naked on all sides, and encompassed by the victorious Turks, he st=
ill,
with desperate courage, maintained the fight till the close of day, at the =
head
of the brave and faithful subjects who adhered to his standard. They fell
around him; his horse was slain; the emperor was wounded; yet he stood alone
and intrepid, till he was oppressed and bound by the strength of multitudes.
The glory of this illustrious prize was disputed by a slave and a soldier; a
slave who had seen him on the throne of Constantinople, and a soldier whose
extreme deformity had been excused on the promise of some signal service.
Despoiled of his arms, his jewels, and his purple, Romanus spent a dreary a=
nd
perilous night on the field of battle, amidst a disorderly crowd of the mea=
ner
Barbarians. In the morning the royal captive was presented to Alp Arslan, w=
ho
doubted of his fortune, till the identity of the person was ascertained by =
the
report of his ambassadors, and by the more pathetic evidence of Basilacius,=
who
embraced with tears the feet of his unhappy sovereign. The successor of
Constantine, in a plebeian habit, was led into the Turkish divan, and comma=
nded
to kiss the ground before the lord of Asia. He reluctantly obeyed; and Alp =
Arslan,
starting from his throne, is said to have planted his foot on the neck of t=
he
Roman emperor. But the fact is doubtful; and if, in this moment of insolenc=
e,
the sultan complied with the national custom, the rest of his conduct has
extorted the praise of his bigoted foes, and may afford a lesson to the mos=
t civilized
ages. He instantly raised the royal captive from the ground; and thrice
clasping his hand with tender sympathy, assured him, that his life and dign=
ity
should be inviolate in the hands of a prince who had learned to respect the
majesty of his equals and the vicissitudes of fortune. From the divan, Roma=
nus
was conducted to an adjacent tent, where he was served with pomp and revere=
nce
by the officers of the sultan, who, twice each day, seated him in the place=
of
honor at his own table. In a free and familiar conversation of eight days, =
not
a word, not a look, of insult escaped from the conqueror; but he severely c=
ensured
the unworthy subjects who had deserted their valiant prince in the hour of =
danger,
and gently admonished his antagonist of some errors which he had committed =
in
the management of the war. In the preliminaries of negotiation, Alp Arslan
asked him what treatment he expected to receive, and the calm indifference =
of
the emperor displays the freedom of his mind. "If you are cruel,"
said he, "you will take my life; if you listen to pride, you will drag=
me
at your chariot-wheels; if you consult your interest, you will accept a ran=
som,
and restore me to my country." "And what," continued the sul=
tan,
"would have been your own behavior, had fortune smiled on your arms?&q=
uot;
The reply of the Greek betrays a sentiment, which prudence, and even gratit=
ude,
should have taught him to suppress. "Had I vanquished," he fierce=
ly
said, "I would have inflicted on thy body many a stripe." The Tur=
kish
conqueror smiled at the insolence of his captive observed that the Christian
law inculcated the love of enemies and forgiveness of injuries; and nobly d=
eclared,
that he would not imitate an example which he condemned. After mature
deliberation, Alp Arslan dictated the terms of liberty and peace, a ransom =
of a
million, an annual tribute of three hundred and sixty thousand pieces of go=
ld,
the marriage of the royal children, and the deliverance of all the Moslems,=
who
were in the power of the Greeks. Romanus, with a sigh, subscribed this trea=
ty,
so disgraceful to the majesty of the empire; he was immediately invested wi=
th a
Turkish robe of honor; his nobles and patricians were restored to their
sovereign; and the sultan, after a courteous embrace, dismissed him with ri=
ch presents
and a military guard. No sooner did he reach the confines of the empire, th=
an
he was informed that the palace and provinces had disclaimed their allegian=
ce
to a captive: a sum of two hundred thousand pieces was painfully collected;=
and
the fallen monarch transmitted this part of his ransom, with a sad confessi=
on
of his impotence and disgrace. The generosity, or perhaps the ambition, of =
the
sultan, prepared to espouse the cause of his ally; but his designs were
prevented by the defeat, imprisonment, and death, of Romanus Diogenes.
In the treaty of peace, it does not appear that
Alp Arslan extorted any province or city from the captive emperor; and his
revenge was satisfied with the trophies of his victory, and the spoils of
Anatolia, from Antioch to the Black Sea. The fairest part of Asia was subje=
ct
to his laws: twelve hundred princes, or the sons of princes, stood before h=
is throne;
and two hundred thousand soldiers marched under his banners. The sultan
disdained to pursue the fugitive Greeks; but he meditated the more glorious
conquest of Turkestan, the original seat of the house of Seljuk. He moved f=
rom
Bagdad to the banks of the Oxus; a bridge was thrown over the river; and tw=
enty
days were consumed in the passage of his troops. But the progress of the gr=
eat
king was retarded by the governor of Berzem; and Joseph the Carizmian presu=
med
to defend his fortress against the powers of the East. When he was produced=
a
captive in the royal tent, the sultan, instead of praising his valor, sever=
ely reproached
his obstinate folly: and the insolent replies of the rebel provoked a sente=
nce,
that he should be fastened to four stakes, and left to expire in that painf=
ul
situation. At this command, the desperate Carizmian, drawing a dagger, rush=
ed
headlong towards the throne: the guards raised their battle-axes; their zeal
was checked by Alp Arslan, the most skilful archer of the age: he drew his =
bow,
but his foot slipped, the arrow glanced aside, and he received in his breast
the dagger of Joseph, who was instantly cut in pieces. The wound was mortal=
; and
the Turkish prince bequeathed a dying admonition to the pride of kings.
"In my youth," said Alp Arslan, "I was advised by a sage to =
humble
myself before God; to distrust my own strength; and never to despise the mo=
st
contemptible foe. I have neglected these lessons; and my neglect has been
deservedly punished. Yesterday, as from an eminence I beheld the numbers, t=
he
discipline, and the spirit, of my armies, the earth seemed to tremble under=
my
feet; and I said in my heart, Surely thou art the king of the world, the
greatest and most invincible of warriors. These armies are no longer mine; =
and,
in the confidence of my personal strength, I now fall by the hand of an
assassin." Alp Arslan possessed the virtues of a Turk and a Mussulman;=
his
voice and stature commanded the reverence of mankind; his face was shaded w=
ith
long whiskers; and his ample turban was fashioned in the shape of a crown. =
The
remains of the sultan were deposited in the tomb of the Seljukian dynasty; =
and
the passenger might read and meditate this useful inscription: "O ye w=
ho
have seen the glory of Alp Arslan exalted to the heavens, repair to Maru, a=
nd
you will behold it buried in the dust." The annihilation of the
inscription, and the tomb itself, more forcibly proclaims the instability of
human greatness.
During the life of Alp Arslan, his eldest son =
had
been acknowledged as the future sultan of the Turks. On his father's death =
the
inheritance was disputed by an uncle, a cousin, and a brother: they drew th=
eir cimeters,
and assembled their followers; and the triple victory of Malek Shah establi=
shed
his own reputation and the right of primogeniture. In every age, and more
especially in Asia, the thirst of power has inspired the same passions, and
occasioned the same disorders; but, from the long series of civil war, it w=
ould
not be easy to extract a sentiment more pure and magnanimous than is contai=
ned
in the saying of the Turkish prince. On the eve of the battle, he performed=
his
devotions at Thous, before the tomb of the Imam Riza. As the sultan rose fr=
om
the ground, he asked his vizier Nizam, who had knelt beside him, what had b=
een the
object of his secret petition: "That your arms may be crowned with vic=
tory,"
was the prudent, and most probably the sincere, answer of the minister.
"For my part," replied the generous Malek, "I implored the L=
ord
of Hosts that he would take from me my life and crown, if my brother be more
worthy than myself to reign over the Moslems." The favorable judgment =
of
heaven was ratified by the caliph; and for the first time, the sacred title=
of
Commander of the Faithful was communicated to a Barbarian. But this Barbari=
an,
by his personal merit, and the extent of his empire, was the greatest princ=
e of
his age. After the settlement of Persia and Syria, he marched at the head o=
f innumerable
armies to achieve the conquest of Turkestan, which had been undertaken by h=
is
father. In his passage of the Oxus, the boatmen, who had been employed in
transporting some troops, complained, that their payment was assigned on the
revenues of Antioch. The sultan frowned at this preposterous choice; but he
smiled at the artful flattery of his vizier. "It was not to postpone t=
heir
reward, that I selected those remote places, but to leave a memorial to
posterity, that, under your reign, Antioch and the Oxus were subject to the
same sovereign." But this description of his limits was unjust and
parsimonious: beyond the Oxus, he reduced to his obedience the cities of
Bochara, Carizme, and Samarcand, and crushed each rebellious slave, or
independent savage, who dared to resist. Malek passed the Sihon or Jaxartes,
the last boundary of Persian civilization: the hordes of Turkestan yielded =
to
his supremacy: his name was inserted on the coins, and in the prayers of Ca=
shgar,
a Tartar kingdom on the extreme borders of China. From the Chinese frontier=
, he
stretched his immediate jurisdiction or feudatory sway to the west and sout=
h,
as far as the mountains of Georgia, the neighborhood of Constantinople, the
holy city of Jerusalem, and the spicy groves of Arabia Felix. Instead of
resigning himself to the luxury of his harem, the shepherd king, both in pe=
ace
and war, was in action and in the field. By the perpetual motion of the roy=
al
camp, each province was successively blessed with his presence; and he is s=
aid
to have perambulated twelve times the wide extent of his dominions, which
surpassed the Asiatic reign of Cyrus and the caliphs. Of these expeditions,=
the
most pious and splendid was the pilgrimage of Mecca: the freedom and safety=
of
the caravans were protected by his arms; the citizens and pilgrims were
enriched by the profusion of his alms; and the desert was cheered by the pl=
aces
of relief and refreshment, which he instituted for the use of his brethren.
Hunting was the pleasure, and even the passion, of the sultan, and his train
consisted of forty-seven thousand horses; but after the massacre of a Turki=
sh
chase, for each piece of game, he bestowed a piece of gold on the poor, a
slight atonement, at the expense of the people, for the cost and mischief o=
f the
amusement of kings. In the peaceful prosperity of his reign, the cities of =
Asia
were adorned with palaces and hospitals with moschs and colleges; few depar=
ted
from his Divan without reward, and none without justice. The language and
literature of Persia revived under the house of Seljuk; and if Malek emulat=
ed
the liberality of a Turk less potent than himself, his palace might resound
with the songs of a hundred poets. The sultan bestowed a more serious and
learned care on the reformation of the calendar, which was effected by a
general assembly of the astronomers of the East. By a law of the prophet, t=
he
Moslems are confined to the irregular course of the lunar months; in Persia,
since the age of Zoroaster, the revolution of the sun has been known and ce=
lebrated
as an annual festival; but after the fall of the Magian empire, the
intercalation had been neglected; the fractions of minutes and hours were
multiplied into days; and the date of the springs was removed from the sign=
of
Aries to that of Pisces. The reign of Malek was illustrated by the Gelalan
æra; and all errors, either past or future, were corrected by a
computation of time, which surpasses the Julian, and approaches the accurac=
y of
the Gregorian, style.
In a period when Europe was plunged in the dee=
pest
barbarism, the light and splendor of Asia may be ascribed to the docility
rather than the knowledge of the Turkish conquerors. An ample share of their
wisdom and virtue is due to a Persian vizier, who ruled the empire under the
reigns of Alp Arslan and his son. Nizam, one of the most illustrious minist=
ers of
the East, was honored by the caliph as an oracle of religion and science; he
was trusted by the sultan as the faithful vicegerent of his power and justi=
ce.
After an administration of thirty years, the fame of the vizier, his wealth,
and even his services, were transformed into crimes. He was overthrown by t=
he
insidious arts of a woman and a rival; and his fall was hastened by a rash
declaration, that his cap and ink-horn, the badges of his office, were
connected by the divine decree with the throne and diadem of the sultan. At=
the
age of ninety-three years, the venerable statesman was dismissed by his mas=
ter,
accused by his enemies, and murdered by a fanatic: the last words of Nizam =
attested
his innocence, and the remainder of Malek's life was short and inglorious. =
From
Ispahan, the scene of this disgraceful transaction, the sultan moved to Bag=
dad,
with the design of transplanting the caliph, and of fixing his own residenc=
e in
the capital of the Moslem world. The feeble successor of Mahomet obtained a
respite of ten days; and before the expiration of the term, the Barbarian w=
as
summoned by the angel of death. His ambassadors at Constantinople had asked=
in
marriage a Roman princess; but the proposal was decently eluded; and the
daughter of Alexius, who might herself have been the victim, expresses her =
abhorrence
of his unnatural conjunction. The daughter of the sultan was bestowed on the
caliph Moctadi, with the imperious condition, that, renouncing the society =
of
his wives and concubines, he should forever confine himself to this honorab=
le
alliance.
The greatness and unity of the Turkish empire
expired in the person of Malek Shah. His vacant throne was disputed by his
brother and his four sons; and, after a series of civil wars, the treaty wh=
ich
reconciled the surviving candidates confirmed a lasting separation in the
Persia dynasty, the eldest and principal branch of the house of Seljuk. The=
three
younger dynasties were those of Kerman, of Syria, and of Roum: the first of
these commanded an extensive, though obscure, dominion on the shores of the
Indian Ocean: the second expelled the Arabian princes of Aleppo and Damascu=
s;
and the third, our peculiar care, invaded the Roman provinces of Asia Minor.
The generous policy of Malek contributed to their elevation: he allowed the
princes of his blood, even those whom he had vanquished in the field, to se=
ek new
kingdoms worthy of their ambition; nor was he displeased that they should d=
raw
away the more ardent spirits, who might have disturbed the tranquillity of =
his
reign. As the supreme head of his family and nation, the great sultan of Pe=
rsia
commanded the obedience and tribute of his royal brethren: the thrones of
Kerman and Nice, of Aleppo and Damascus; the Atabeks, and emirs of Syria and
Mesopotamia, erected their standards under the shadow of his sceptre: and t=
he
hordes of Turkmans overspread the plains of the Western Asia. After the dea=
th
of Malek, the bands of union and subordination were relaxed and finally
dissolved: the indulgence of the house of Seljuk invested their slaves with=
the
inheritance of kingdoms; and, in the Oriental style, a crowd of princes aro=
se
from the dust of their feet.
A prince of the royal line, Cutulmish, the son=
of
Izrail, the son of Seljuk, had fallen in a battle against Alp Arslan and the
humane victor had dropped a tear over his grave. His five sons, strong in a=
rms,
ambitious of power, and eager for revenge, unsheathed their cimeters against
the son of Alp Arslan. The two armies expected the signal when the caliph,
forgetful of the majesty which secluded him from vulgar eyes, interposed his
venerable mediation. "Instead of shedding the blood of your brethren, =
your
brethren both in descent and faith, unite your forces in a holy war against=
the
Greeks, the enemies of God and his apostle." They listened to his voic=
e;
the sultan embraced his rebellious kinsmen; and the eldest, the valiant
Soliman, accepted the royal standard, which gave him the free conquest and
hereditary command of the provinces of the Roman empire, from Arzeroum to
Constantinople, and the unknown regions of the West. Accompanied by his four
brothers, he passed the Euphrates; the Turkish camp was soon seated in the
neighborhood of Kutaieh in Phrygia; and his flying cavalry laid waste the
country as far as the Hellespont and the Black Sea. Since the decline of the
empire, the peninsula of Asia Minor had been exposed to the transient, thou=
gh destructive,
inroads of the Persians and Saracens; but the fruits of a lasting conquest =
were
reserved for the Turkish sultan; and his arms were introduced by the Greeks,
who aspired to reign on the ruins of their country. Since the captivity of
Romanus, six years the feeble son of Eudocia had trembled under the weight =
of
the Imperial crown, till the provinces of the East and West were lost in the
same month by a double rebellion: of either chief Nicephorus was the common
name; but the surnames of Bryennius and Botoniates distinguish the European=
and
Asiatic candidates. Their reasons, or rather their promises, were weighed in
the Divan; and, after some hesitation, Soliman declared himself in favor of=
Botoniates,
opened a free passage to his troops in their march from Antioch to Nice, and
joined the banner of the Crescent to that of the Cross. After his ally had
ascended the throne of Constantinople, the sultan was hospitably entertaine=
d in
the suburb of Chrysopolis or Scutari; and a body of two thousand Turks was
transported into Europe, to whose dexterity and courage the new emperor was
indebted for the defeat and captivity of his rival, Bryennius. But the conq=
uest
of Europe was dearly purchased by the sacrifice of Asia: Constantinople was
deprived of the obedience and revenue of the provinces beyond the Bosphorus=
and
Hellespont; and the regular progress of the Turks, who fortified the passes=
of
the rivers and mountains, left not a hope of their retreat or expulsion.
Another candidate implored the aid of the sultan: Melissenus, in his purple
robes and red buskins, attended the motions of the Turkish camp; and the
desponding cities were tempted by the summons of a Roman prince, who
immediately surrendered them into the hands of the Barbarians. These
acquisitions were confirmed by a treaty of peace with the emperor Alexius: =
his
fear of Robert compelled him to seek the friendship of Soliman; and it was =
not
till after the sultan's death that he extended as far as Nicomedia, about s=
ixty
miles from Constantinople, the eastern boundary of the Roman world. Trebizo=
nd alone,
defended on either side by the sea and mountains, preserved at the extremit=
y of
the Euxine the ancient character of a Greek colony, and the future destiny =
of a
Christian empire.
Since the first conquests of the caliphs, the
establishment of the Turks in Anatolia or Asia Minor was the most deplorable
loss which the church and empire had sustained. By the propagation of the
Moslem faith, Soliman deserved the name of Gazi, a holy champion; and his n=
ew kingdoms,
of the Romans, or of Roum, was added to the tables of Oriental geography. I=
t is
described as extending from the Euphrates to Constantinople, from the Black=
Sea
to the confines of Syria; pregnant with mines of silver and iron, of alum a=
nd
copper, fruitful in corn and wine, and productive of cattle and excellent
horses. The wealth of Lydia, the arts of the Greeks, the splendor of the
Augustan age, existed only in books and ruins, which were equally obscure in
the eyes of the Scythian conquerors. Yet, in the present decay, Anatolia st=
ill
contains some wealthy and populous cities; and, under the Byzantine empire,=
they
were far more flourishing in numbers, size, and opulence. By the choice of =
the
sultan, Nice, the metropolis of Bithynia, was preferred for his palace and
fortress: the seat of the Seljukian dynasty of Roum was planted one hundred
miles from Constantinople; and the divinity of Christ was denied and deride=
d in
the same temple in which it had been pronounced by the first general synod =
of
the Catholics. The unity of God, and the mission of Mahomet, were preached =
in
the moschs; the Arabian learning was taught in the schools; the Cadhis judg=
ed
according to the law of the Koran; the Turkish manners and language prevail=
ed in
the cities; and Turkman camps were scattered over the plains and mountains =
of
Anatolia. On the hard conditions of tribute and servitude, the Greek Christ=
ians
might enjoy the exercise of their religion; but their most holy churches we=
re
profaned; their priests and bishops were insulted; they were compelled to
suffer the triumph of the Pagans, and the apostasy of their brethren; many
thousand children were marked by the knife of circumcision; and many thousa=
nd
captives were devoted to the service or the pleasures of their masters. Aft=
er
the loss of Asia, Antioch still maintained her primitive allegiance to Chri=
st
and Cæsar; but the solitary province was separated from all Roman aid=
, and
surrounded on all sides by the Mahometan powers. The despair of Philaretus =
the
governor prepared the sacrifice of his religion and loyalty, had not his gu=
ilt
been prevented by his son, who hastened to the Nicene palace, and offered to
deliver this valuable prize into the hands of Soliman. The ambitious sultan
mounted on horseback, and in twelve nights (for he reposed in the day)
performed a march of six hundred miles. Antioch was oppressed by the speed =
and
secrecy of his enterprise; and the dependent cities, as far as Laodicea and=
the
confines of Aleppo, obeyed the example of the metropolis. From Laodicea to =
the
Thracian Bosphorus, or arm of St. George, the conquests and reign of Soliman
extended thirty days' journey in length, and in breadth about ten or fiftee=
n,
between the rocks of Lycia and the Black Sea. The Turkish ignorance of
navigation protected, for a while, the inglorious safety of the emperor; bu=
t no
sooner had a fleet of two hundred ships been constructed by the hands of the
captive Greeks, than Alexius trembled behind the walls of his capital. His
plaintive epistles were dispersed over Europe, to excite the compassion of =
the
Latins, and to paint the danger, the weakness, and the riches of the city o=
f Constantine.
But the most interesting conquest of the Selju=
kian
Turks was that of Jerusalem, which soon became the theatre of nations. In t=
heir
capitulation with Omar, the inhabitants had stipulated the assurance of the=
ir
religion and property; but the articles were interpreted by a master against
whom it was dangerous to dispute; and in the four hundred years of the reig=
n of
the caliphs, the political climate of Jerusalem was exposed to the vicissit=
udes
of storm and sunshine. By the increase of proselytes and population, the
Mahometans might excuse the usurpation of three fourths of the city: but a
peculiar quarter was resolved for the patriarch with his clergy and people;=
a
tribute of two pieces of gold was the price of protection; and the sepulchr=
e of
Christ, with the church of the Resurrection, was still left in the hands of=
his
votaries. Of these votaries, the most numerous and respectable portion were=
strangers
to Jerusalem: the pilgrimages to the Holy Land had been stimulated, rather =
than
suppressed, by the conquest of the Arabs; and the enthusiasm which had alwa=
ys
prompted these perilous journeys, was nourished by the congenial passions of
grief and indignation. A crowd of pilgrims from the East and West continued=
to
visit the holy sepulchre, and the adjacent sanctuaries, more especially at =
the
festival of Easter; and the Greeks and Latins, the Nestorians and Jacobites,
the Copts and Abyssinians, the Armenians and Georgians, maintained the chap=
els,
the clergy, and the poor of their respective communions. The harmony of pra=
yer
in so many various tongues, the worship of so many nations in the common te=
mple
of their religion, might have afforded a spectacle of edification and peace;
but the zeal of the Christian sects was imbittered by hatred and revenge; a=
nd
in the kingdom of a suffering Messiah, who had pardoned his enemies, they
aspired to command and persecute their spiritual brethren. The preëmin=
ence
was asserted by the spirit and numbers of the Franks; and the greatness of
Charlemagne protected both the Latin pilgrims and the Catholics of the East.
The poverty of Carthage, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, was relieved by the alm=
s of
that pious emperor; and many monasteries of Palestine were founded or resto=
red
by his liberal devotion. Harun Alrashid, the greatest of the Abbassides,
esteemed in his Christian brother a similar supremacy of genius and power:
their friendship was cemented by a frequent intercourse of gifts and embass=
ies;
and the caliph, without resigning the substantial dominion, presented the
emperor with the keys of the holy sepulchre, and perhaps of the city of
Jerusalem. In the decline of the Carlovingian monarchy, the republic of Ama=
lphi
promoted the interest of trade and religion in the East. Her vessels
transported the Latin pilgrims to the coasts of Egypt and Palestine, and
deserved, by their useful imports, the favor and alliance of the Fatimite
caliphs: an annual fair was instituted on Mount Calvary: and the Italian
merchants founded the convent and hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, the cr=
adle
of the monastic and military order, which has since reigned in the isles of=
Rhodes
and of Malta. Had the Christian pilgrims been content to revere the tomb of=
a
prophet, the disciples of Mahomet, instead of blaming, would have imitated,
their piety: but these rigid Unitarians were scandalized by a worship which
represents the birth, death, and resurrection, of a God; the Catholic images
were branded with the name of idols; and the Moslems smiled with indignatio=
n at
the miraculous flame which was kindled on the eve of Easter in the holy
sepulchre. This pious fraud, first devised in the ninth century, was devout=
ly
cherished by the Latin crusaders, and is annually repeated by the clergy of=
the
Greek, Armenian, and Coptic sects, who impose on the credulous spectators f=
or
their own benefit, and that of their tyrants. In every age, a principle of
toleration has been fortified by a sense of interest: and the revenue of the
prince and his emir was increased each year, by the expense and tribute of =
so
many thousand strangers.
The revolution which transferred the sceptre f=
rom
the Abbassides to the Fatimites was a benefit, rather than an injury, to the
Holy Land. A sovereign resident in Egypt was more sensible of the importanc=
e of
Christian trade; and the emirs of Palestine were less remote from the justi=
ce
and power of the throne. But the third of these Fatimite caliphs was the fa=
mous
Hakem, a frantic youth, who was delivered by his impiety and despotism from=
the
fear either of God or man; and whose reign was a wild mixture of vice and
folly. Regardless of the most ancient customs of Egypt, he imposed on the w=
omen
an absolute confinement; the restraint excited the clamors of both sexes; t=
heir
clamors provoked his fury; a part of Old Cairo was delivered to the flames =
and
the guards and citizens were engaged many days in a bloody conflict. At fir=
st
the caliph declared himself a zealous Mussulman, the founder or benefactor =
of
moschs and colleges: twelve hundred and ninety copies of the Koran were
transcribed at his expense in letters of gold; and his edict extirpated the
vineyards of the Upper Egypt. But his vanity was soon flattered by the hope=
of
introducing a new religion; he aspired above the fame of a prophet, and sty=
led
himself the visible image of the Most High God, who, after nine apparitions=
on
earth, was at length manifest in his royal person. At the name of Hakem, the
lord of the living and the dead, every knee was bent in religious adoration:
his mysteries were performed on a mountain near Cairo: sixteen thousand
converts had signed his profession of faith; and at the present hour, a free
and warlike people, the Druses of Mount Libanus, are persuaded of the life =
and divinity
of a madman and tyrant. In his divine character, Hakem hated the Jews and
Christians, as the servants of his rivals; while some remains of prejudice =
or
prudence still pleaded in favor of the law of Mahomet. Both in Egypt and
Palestine, his cruel and wanton persecution made some martyrs and many
apostles: the common rights and special privileges of the sectaries were
equally disregarded; and a general interdict was laid on the devotion of
strangers and natives. The temple of the Christian world, the church of the
Resurrection, was demolished to its foundations; the luminous prodigy of Ea=
ster
was interrupted, and much profane labor was exhausted to destroy the cave in
the rock which properly constitutes the holy sepulchre. At the report of th=
is sacrilege,
the nations of Europe were astonished and afflicted: but instead of arming =
in
the defence of the Holy Land, they contented themselves with burning, or
banishing, the Jews, as the secret advisers of the impious Barbarian. Yet t=
he
calamities of Jerusalem were in some measure alleviated by the inconstancy =
or
repentance of Hakem himself; and the royal mandate was sealed for the
restitution of the churches, when the tyrant was assassinated by the emissa=
ries
of his sister. The succeeding caliphs resumed the maxims of religion and
policy: a free toleration was again granted; with the pious aid of the empe=
ror
of Constantinople, the holy sepulchre arose from its ruins; and, after a sh=
ort
abstinence, the pilgrims returned with an increase of appetite to the spiri=
tual
feast. In the sea-voyage of Palestine, the dangers were frequent, and the
opportunities rare: but the conversion of Hungary opened a safe communicati=
on
between Germany and Greece. The charity of St. Stephen, the apostle of his
kingdom, relieved and conducted his itinerant brethren; and from Belgrade to
Antioch, they traversed fifteen hundred miles of a Christian empire. Among =
the
Franks, the zeal of pilgrimage prevailed beyond the example of former times:
and the roads were covered with multitudes of either sex, and of every rank,
who professed their contempt of life, so soon as they should have kissed th=
e tomb
of their Redeemer. Princes and prelates abandoned the care of their dominio=
ns;
and the numbers of these pious caravans were a prelude to the armies which
marched in the ensuing age under the banner of the cross. About thirty years
before the first crusade, the arch bishop of Mentz, with the bishops of
Utrecht, Bamberg, and Ratisbon, undertook this laborious journey from the R=
hine
to the Jordan; and the multitude of their followers amounted to seven thous=
and
persons. At Constantinople, they were hospitably entertained by the emperor;
but the ostentation of their wealth provoked the assault of the wild Arabs:
they drew their swords with scrupulous reluctance, and sustained siege in t=
he
village of Capernaum, till they were rescued by the venal protection of the=
Fatimite
emir. After visiting the holy places, they embarked for Italy, but only a
remnant of two thousand arrived in safety in their native land. Ingulphus, a
secretary of William the Conqueror, was a companion of this pilgrimage: he
observes that they sailed from Normandy, thirty stout and well-appointed
horsemen; but that they repassed the Alps, twenty miserable palmers, with t=
he
staff in their hand, and the wallet at their back.
After the defeat of the Romans, the tranquilli=
ty
of the Fatimite caliphs was invaded by the Turks. One of the lieutenants of
Malek Shah, Atsiz the Carizmian, marched into Syria at the head of a powerf=
ul
army, and reduced Damascus by famine and the sword. Hems, and the other cit=
ies of
the province, acknowledged the caliph of Bagdad and the sultan of Persia; a=
nd
the victorious emir advanced without resistance to the banks of the Nile: t=
he
Fatimite was preparing to fly into the heart of Africa; but the negroes of =
his
guard and the inhabitants of Cairo made a desperate sally, and repulsed the
Turk from the confines of Egypt. In his retreat he indulged the license of
slaughter and rapine: the judge and notaries of Jerusalem were invited to h=
is
camp; and their execution was followed by the massacre of three thousand
citizens. The cruelty or the defeat of Atsiz was soon punished by the sultan
Toucush, the brother of Malek Shah, who, with a higher title and more
formidable powers, asserted the dominion of Syria and Palestine. The house =
of
Seljuk reigned about twenty years in Jerusalem; but the hereditary command =
of
the holy city and territory was intrusted or abandoned to the emir Ortok, t=
he
chief of a tribe of Turkmans, whose children, after their expulsion from
Palestine, formed two dynasties on the borders of Armenia and Assyria. The
Oriental Christians and the Latin pilgrims deplored a revolution, which,
instead of the regular government and old alliance of the caliphs, imposed =
on
their necks the iron yoke of the strangers of the North. In his court and c=
amp
the great sultan had adopted in some degree the arts and manners of Persia;=
but
the body of the Turkish nation, and more especially the pastoral tribes, st=
ill
breathed the fierceness of the desert. From Nice to Jerusalem, the western
countries of Asia were a scene of foreign and domestic hostility; and the s=
hepherds
of Palestine, who held a precarious sway on a doubtful frontier, had neither
leisure nor capacity to await the slow profits of commercial and religious
freedom. The pilgrims, who, through innumerable perils, had reached the gat=
es
of Jerusalem, were the victims of private rapine or public oppression, and
often sunk under the pressure of famine and disease, before they were permi=
tted
to salute the holy sepulchre. A spirit of native barbarism, or recent zeal,
prompted the Turkmans to insult the clergy of every sect: the patriarch was
dragged by the hair along the pavement, and cast into a dungeon, to extort a
ransom from the sympathy of his flock; and the divine worship in the church=
of
the Resurrection was often disturbed by the savage rudeness of its masters.=
The
pathetic tale excited the millions of the West to march under the standard =
of
the cross to the relief of the Holy Land; and yet how trifling is the sum of
these accumulated evils, if compared with the single act of the sacrilege of
Hakem, which had been so patiently endured by the Latin Christians! A sligh=
ter
provocation inflamed the more irascible temper of their descendants: a new
spirit had arisen of religious chivalry and papal dominion; a nerve was tou=
ched
of exquisite feeling; and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe.
Origin And Numbe=
rs Of
The First Crusade.--Characters Of The Latin
Princes.--Their March To Constantinople.--Policy Of The Greek E=
mperor
Alexius.--Conquest Of Nice, Antioch, And Jerusalem, =
By The
Franks.--Deliverance Of The Holy Sepulchre.-=
-Godfrey
Of Bouillon, First King Of Jerusalem.-- Institution=
s Of
The French Or Latin Kingdom.
About twenty years after the conquest of Jerus=
alem
by the Turks, the holy sepulchre was visited by a hermit of the name of Pet=
er,
a native of Amiens, in the province of Picardy in France. His resentment an=
d sympathy
were excited by his own injuries and the oppression of the Christian name; =
he
mingled his tears with those of the patriarch, and earnestly inquired, if no
hopes of relief could be entertained from the Greek emperors of the East. T=
he
patriarch exposed the vices and weakness of the successors of Constantine.
"I will rouse," exclaimed the hermit, "the martial nations of
Europe in your cause;" and Europe was obedient to the call of the herm=
it.
The astonished patriarch dismissed him with epistles of credit and complain=
t;
and no sooner did he land at Bari, than Peter hastened to kiss the feet of =
the
Roman pontiff. His stature was small, his appearance contemptible; but his =
eye
was keen and lively; and he possessed that vehemence of speech, which seldom
fails to impart the persuasion of the soul. He was born of a gentleman's
family, (for we must now adopt a modern idiom,) and his military service was
under the neighboring counts of Boulogne, the heroes of the first crusade. =
But
he soon relinquished the sword and the world; and if it be true, that his w=
ife,
however noble, was aged and ugly, he might withdraw, with the less reluctan=
ce,
from her bed to a convent, and at length to a hermitage. * In this austere
solitude, his body was emaciated, his fancy was inflamed; whatever he wishe=
d,
he believed; whatever he believed, he saw in dreams and revelations. From
Jerusalem the pilgrim returned an accomplished fanatic; but as he excelled =
in
the popular madness of the times, Pope Urban the Second received him as a
prophet, applauded his glorious design, promised to support it in a general
council, and encouraged him to proclaim the deliverance of the Holy Land.
Invigorated by the approbation of the pontiff, his zealous missionary
traversed. with speed and success, the provinces of Italy and France. His d=
iet
was abstemious, his prayers long and fervent, and the alms which he receive=
d with
one hand, he distributed with the other: his head was bare, his feet naked,=
his
meagre body was wrapped in a coarse garment; he bore and displayed a weighty
crucifix; and the ass on which he rode was sanctified, in the public eye, by
the service of the man of God. He preached to innumerable crowds in the
churches, the streets, and the highways: the hermit entered with equal
confidence the palace and the cottage; and the people (for all was people) =
was
impetuously moved by his call to repentance and arms. When he painted the
sufferings of the natives and pilgrims of Palestine, every heart was melted=
to
compassion; every breast glowed with indignation, when he challenged the
warriors of the age to defend their brethren, and rescue their Savior: his =
ignorance
of art and language was compensated by sighs, and tears, and ejaculations; =
and
Peter supplied the deficiency of reason by loud and frequent appeals to Chr=
ist
and his mother, to the saints and angels of paradise, with whom he had
personally conversed. The most perfect orator of Athens might have envied t=
he
success of his eloquence; the rustic enthusiast inspired the passions which=
he
felt, and Christendom expected with impatience the counsels and decrees of =
the
supreme pontiff.
The magnanimous spirit of Gregory the Seventh =
had
already embraced the design of arming Europe against Asia; the ardor of his
zeal and ambition still breathes in his epistles: from either side of the A=
lps,
fifty thousand Catholics had enlisted under the banner of St. Peter; and hi=
s successor
reveals his intention of marching at their head against the impious sectari=
es
of Mahomet. But the glory or reproach of executing, though not in person, t=
his
holy enterprise, was reserved for Urban the Second, the most faithful of his
disciples. He undertook the conquest of the East, whilst the larger portion=
of
Rome was possessed and fortified by his rival Guibert of Ravenna, who conte=
nded
with Urban for the name and honors of the pontificate. He attempted to unite
the powers of the West, at a time when the princes were separated from the
church, and the people from their princes, by the excommunication which him=
self
and his predecessors had thundered against the emperor and the king of Fran=
ce. Philip
the First, of France, supported with patience the censures which he had
provoked by his scandalous life and adulterous marriage. Henry the Fourth, =
of
Germany, asserted the right of investitures, the prerogative of confirming =
his
bishops by the delivery of the ring and crosier. But the emperor's party was
crushed in Italy by the arms of the Normans and the Countess Mathilda; and =
the
long quarrel had been recently envenomed by the revolt of his son Conrad and
the shame of his wife, who, in the synods of Constance and Placentia, confe=
ssed
the manifold prostitutions to which she had been exposed by a husband regar=
dless
of her honor and his own. So popular was the cause of Urban, so weighty was=
his
influence, that the council which he summoned at Placentia was composed of =
two
hundred bishops of Italy, France, Burgandy, Swabia, and Bavaria. Four thous=
and
of the clergy, and thirty thousand of the laity, attended this important
meeting; and, as the most spacious cathedral would have been inadequate to =
the
multitude, the session of seven days was held in a plain adjacent to the ci=
ty.
The ambassadors of the Greek emperor, Alexius Comnenus, were introduced to =
plead
the distress of their sovereign, and the danger of Constantinople, which was
divided only by a narrow sea from the victorious Turks, the common enemies =
of
the Christian name. In their suppliant address they flattered the pride of =
the
Latin princes; and, appealing at once to their policy and religion, exhorted
them to repel the Barbarians on the confines of Asia, rather than to expect
them in the heart of Europe. At the sad tale of the misery and perils of th=
eir
Eastern brethren, the assembly burst into tears; the most eager champions
declared their readiness to march; and the Greek ambassadors were dismissed
with the assurance of a speedy and powerful succor. The relief of
Constantinople was included in the larger and most distant project of the
deliverance of Jerusalem; but the prudent Urban adjourned the final decisio=
n to
a second synod, which he proposed to celebrate in some city of France in the
autumn of the same year. The short delay would propagate the flame of
enthusiasm; and his firmest hope was in a nation of soldiers still proud of=
the
preëminence of their name, and ambitious to emulate their hero
Charlemagne, who, in the popular romance of Turpin, had achieved the conque=
st
of the Holy Land. A latent motive of affection or vanity might influence the
choice of Urban: he was himself a native of France, a monk of Clugny, and t=
he
first of his countrymen who ascended the throne of St. Peter. The pope had
illustrated his family and province; nor is there perhaps a more exquisite
gratification than to revisit, in a conspicuous dignity, the humble and
laborious scenes of our youth.
It may occasion some surprise that the Roman
pontiff should erect, in the heart of France, the tribunal from whence he
hurled his anathemas against the king; but our surprise will vanish so soon=
as
we form a just estimate of a king of France of the eleventh century. Philip=
the
First was the great-grandson of Hugh Capet, the founder of the present race=
, who,
in the decline of Charlemagne's posterity, added the regal title to his
patrimonial estates of Paris and Orleans. In this narrow compass, he was
possessed of wealth and jurisdiction; but in the rest of France, Hugh and h=
is
first descendants were no more than the feudal lords of about sixty dukes a=
nd
counts, of independent and hereditary power, who disdained the control of l=
aws
and legal assemblies, and whose disregard of their sovereign was revenged by
the disobedience of their inferior vassals. At Clermont, in the territories=
of
the count of Auvergne, the pope might brave with impunity the resentment of
Philip; and the council which he convened in that city was not less numerou=
s or
respectable than the synod of Placentia. Besides his court and council of R=
oman
cardinals, he was supported by thirteen archbishops and two hundred and twe=
nty-five
bishops: the number of mitred prelates was computed at four hundred; and the
fathers of the church were blessed by the saints and enlightened by the doc=
tors
of the age. From the adjacent kingdoms, a martial train of lords and knight=
s of
power and renown attended the council, in high expectation of its resolves;=
and
such was the ardor of zeal and curiosity, that the city was filled, and many
thousands, in the month of November, erected their tents or huts in the open
field. A session of eight days produced some useful or edifying canons for =
the
reformation of manners; a severe censure was pronounced against the license=
of
private war; the Truce of God was confirmed, a suspension of hostilities du=
ring
four days of the week; women and priests were placed under the safeguard of=
the
church; and a protection of three years was extended to husbandmen and
merchants, the defenceless victims of military rapine. But a law, however
venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper of the time=
s;
and the benevolent efforts of Urban deserve the less praise, since he labor=
ed
to appease some domestic quarrels that he might spread the flames of war fr=
om
the Atlantic to the Euphrates. From the synod of Placentia, the rumor of his
great design had gone forth among the nations: the clergy on their return h=
ad
preached in every diocese the merit and glory of the deliverance of the Holy
Land; and when the pope ascended a lofty scaffold in the market-place of
Clermont, his eloquence was addressed to a well-prepared and impatient
audience. His topics were obvious, his exhortation was vehement, his success
inevitable. The orator was interrupted by the shout of thousands, who with =
one
voice, and in their rustic idiom, exclaimed aloud, "God wills it, God
wills it." "It is indeed the will of God," replied the pope;
"and let this memorable word, the inspiration surely of the Holy Spiri=
t,
be forever adopted as your cry of battle, to animate the devotion and coura=
ge
of the champions of Christ. His cross is the symbol of your salvation; wear=
it,
a red, a bloody cross, as an external mark, on your breasts or shoulders, a=
s a
pledge of your sacred and irrevocable engagement." The proposal was
joyfully accepted; great numbers, both of the clergy and laity, impressed on
their garments the sign of the cross, and solicited the pope to march at th=
eir
head. This dangerous honor was declined by the more prudent successor of
Gregory, who alleged the schism of the church, and the duties of his pastor=
al
office, recommending to the faithful, who were disqualified by sex or
profession, by age or infirmity, to aid, with their prayers and alms, the
personal service of their robust brethren. The name and powers of his legat=
e he
devolved on Adhemar bishop of Puy, the first who had received the cross at =
his
hands. The foremost of the temporal chiefs was Raymond count of Thoulouse,
whose ambassadors in the council excused the absence, and pledged the honor=
, of
their master. After the confession and absolution of their sins, the champi=
ons
of the cross were dismissed with a superfluous admonition to invite their
countrymen and friends; and their departure for the Holy Land was fixed to =
the
festival of the Assumption, the fifteenth of August, of the ensuing year.
So familiar, and as it were so natural to man,=
is
the practice of violence, that our indulgence allows the slightest provocat=
ion,
the most disputable right, as a sufficient ground of national hostility. But
the name and nature of a holy war demands a more rigorous scrutiny; nor can=
we
hastily believe, that the servants of the Prince of Peace would unsheathe t=
he
sword of destruction, unless the motive were pure, the quarrel legitimate, =
and
the necessity inevitable. The policy of an action may be determined from the
tardy lessons of experience; but, before we act, our conscience should be
satisfied of the justice and propriety of our enterprise. In the age of the
crusades, the Christians, both of the East and West, were persuaded of their
lawfulness and merit; their arguments are clouded by the perpetual abuse of
Scripture and rhetoric; but they seem to insist on the right of natural and
religious defence, their peculiar title to the Holy Land, and the impiety of
their Pagan and Mahometan foes. I. The right of a just defence may fairly i=
nclude
our civil and spiritual allies: it depends on the existence of danger; and =
that
danger must be estimated by the twofold consideration of the malice, and the
power, of our enemies. A pernicious tenet has been imputed to the Mahometan=
s,
the duty of extirpating all other religions by the sword. This charge of
ignorance and bigotry is refuted by the Koran, by the history of the Mussul=
man
conquerors, and by their public and legal toleration of the Christian worsh=
ip.
But it cannot be denied, that the Oriental churches are depressed under the=
ir
iron yoke; that, in peace and war, they assert a divine and indefeasible cl=
aim
of universal empire; and that, in their orthodox creed, the unbelieving nat=
ions
are continually threatened with the loss of religion or liberty. In the
eleventh century, the victorious arms of the Turks presented a real and urg=
ent
apprehension of these losses. They had subdued, in less than thirty years, =
the
kingdoms of Asia, as far as Jerusalem and the Hellespont; and the Greek emp=
ire
tottered on the verge of destruction. Besides an honest sympathy for their
brethren, the Latins had a right and interest in the support of Constantino=
ple,
the most important barrier of the West; and the privilege of defence must r=
each
to prevent, as well as to repel, an impending assault. But this salutary
purpose might have been accomplished by a moderate succor; and our calmer r=
eason
must disclaim the innumerable hosts, and remote operations, which overwhelm=
ed
Asia and depopulated Europe. II. Palestine could add nothing to the strengt=
h or
safety of the Latins; and fanaticism alone could pretend to justify the
conquest of that distant and narrow province. The Christians affirmed that
their inalienable title to the promised land had been sealed by the blood of
their divine Savior; it was their right and duty to rescue their inheritance
from the unjust possessors, who profaned his sepulchre, and oppressed the
pilgrimage of his disciples. Vainly would it be alleged that the
preëminence of Jerusalem, and the sanctity of Palestine, have been
abolished with the Mosaic law; that the God of the Christians is not a local
deity, and that the recovery of Bethlem or Calvary, his cradle or his tomb,
will not atone for the violation of the moral precepts of the gospel. Such =
arguments
glance aside from the leaden shield of superstition; and the religious mind
will not easily relinquish its hold on the sacred ground of mystery and
miracle. III. But the holy wars which have been waged in every climate of t=
he
globe, from Egypt to Livonia, and from Peru to Hindostan, require the suppo=
rt
of some more general and flexible tenet. It has been often supposed, and
sometimes affirmed, that a difference of religion is a worthy cause of
hostility; that obstinate unbelievers may be slain or subdued by the champi=
ons
of the cross; and that grace is the sole fountain of dominion as well as of
mercy. Above four hundred years before the first crusade, the eastern and
western provinces of the Roman empire had been acquired about the same time,
and in the same manner, by the Barbarians of Germany and Arabia. Time and
treaties had legitimated the conquest of the Christian Franks; but in the e=
yes
of their subjects and neighbors, the Mahometan princes were still tyrants a=
nd
usurpers, who, by the arms of war or rebellion, might be lawfully driven fr=
om
their unlawful possession.
As the manners of the Christians were relaxed,
their discipline of penance was enforced; and with the multiplication of si=
ns,
the remedies were multiplied. In the primitive church, a voluntary and open
confession prepared the work of atonement. In the middle ages, the bishops =
and
priests interrogated the criminal; compelled him to account for his thought=
s,
words, and actions; and prescribed the terms of his reconciliation with God.
But as this discretionary power might alternately be abused by indulgence a=
nd
tyranny, a rule of discipline was framed, to inform and regulate the spirit=
ual
judges. This mode of legislation was invented by the Greeks; their penitent=
ials
were translated, or imitated, in the Latin church; and, in the time of Char=
lemagne,
the clergy of every diocese were provided with a code, which they prudently
concealed from the knowledge of the vulgar. In this dangerous estimate of
crimes and punishments, each case was supposed, each difference was remarke=
d,
by the experience or penetration of the monks; some sins are enumerated whi=
ch
innocence could not have suspected, and others which reason cannot believe;=
and
the more ordinary offences of fornication and adultery, of perjury and
sacrilege, of rapine and murder, were expiated by a penance, which, accordi=
ng
to the various circumstances, was prolonged from forty days to seven years.=
During
this term of mortification, the patient was healed, the criminal was absolv=
ed,
by a salutary regimen of fasts and prayers: the disorder of his dress was
expressive of grief and remorse; and he humbly abstained from all the busin=
ess
and pleasure of social life. But the rigid execution of these laws would ha=
ve
depopulated the palace, the camp, and the city; the Barbarians of the West
believed and trembled; but nature often rebelled against principle; and the
magistrate labored without effect to enforce the jurisdiction of the priest=
. A literal
accomplishment of penance was indeed impracticable: the guilt of adultery w=
as
multiplied by daily repetition; that of homicide might involve the massacre=
of
a whole people; each act was separately numbered; and, in those times of
anarchy and vice, a modest sinner might easily incur a debt of three hundred
years. His insolvency was relieved by a commutation, or indulgence: a year =
of
penance was appreciated at twenty-six solidi of silver, about four pounds
sterling, for the rich; at three solidi, or nine shillings, for the indigen=
t:
and these alms were soon appropriated to the use of the church, which deriv=
ed,
from the redemption of sins, an inexhaustible source of opulence and domini=
on. A
debt of three hundred years, or twelve hundred pounds, was enough to impove=
rish
a plentiful fortune; the scarcity of gold and silver was supplied by the
alienation of land; and the princely donations of Pepin and Charlemagne are
expressly given for the remedy of their soul. It is a maxim of the civil la=
w,
that whosoever cannot pay with his purse, must pay with his body; and the
practice of flagellation was adopted by the monks, a cheap, though painful
equivalent. By a fantastic arithmetic, a year of penance was taxed at three
thousand lashes; and such was the skill and patience of a famous hermit, St.
Dominic of the iron Cuirass, that in six days he could discharge an entire
century, by a whipping of three hundred thousand stripes. His example was
followed by many penitents of both sexes; and, as a vicarious sacrifice was=
accepted,
a sturdy disciplinarian might expiate on his own back the sins of his
benefactors. These compensations of the purse and the person introduced, in=
the
eleventh century, a more honorable mode of satisfaction. The merit of milit=
ary
service against the Saracens of Africa and Spain had been allowed by the
predecessors of Urban the Second. In the council of Clermont, that pope
proclaimed a plenary indulgence to those who should enlist under the banner=
of
the cross; the absolution of all their sins, and a full receipt for all tha=
t might
be due of canonical penance. The cold philosophy of modern times is incapab=
le
of feeling the impression that was made on a sinful and fanatic world. At t=
he
voice of their pastor, the robber, the incendiary, the homicide, arose by
thousands to redeem their souls, by repeating on the infidels the same deeds
which they had exercised against their Christian brethren; and the terms of
atonement were eagerly embraced by offenders of every rank and denomination.
None were pure; none were exempt from the guilt and penalty of sin; and tho=
se
who were the least amenable to the justice of God and the church were the b=
est
entitled to the temporal and eternal recompense of their pious courage. If =
they
fell, the spirit of the Latin clergy did not hesitate to adorn their tomb w=
ith
the crown of martyrdom; and should they survive, they could expect without
impatience the delay and increase of their heavenly reward. They offered th=
eir
blood to the Son of God, who had laid down his life for their salvation: th=
ey
took up the cross, and entered with confidence into the way of the Lord. His
providence would watch over their safety; perhaps his visible and miraculous
power would smooth the difficulties of their holy enterprise. The cloud and
pillar of Jehovah had marched before the Israelites into the promised land.
Might not the Christians more reasonably hope that the rivers would open for
their passage; that the walls of their strongest cities would fall at the s=
ound
of their trumpets; and that the sun would be arrested in his mid career, to
allow them time for the destruction of the infidels?
Of the chiefs and soldiers who marched to the =
holy
sepulchre, I will dare to affirm, that all were prompted by the spirit of
enthusiasm; the belief of merit, the hope of reward, and the assurance of
divine aid. But I am equally persuaded, that in many it was not the sole, t=
hat in
some it was not the leading, principle of action. The use and abuse of reli=
gion
are feeble to stem, they are strong and irresistible to impel, the stream of
national manners. Against the private wars of the Barbarians, their bloody
tournaments, licentious love, and judicial duels, the popes and synods might
ineffectually thunder. It is a more easy task to provoke the metaphysical
disputes of the Greeks, to drive into the cloister the victims of anarchy or
despotism, to sanctify the patience of slaves and cowards, or to assume the
merit of the humanity and benevolence of modern Christians. War and exercise
were the reigning passions of the Franks or Latins; they were enjoined, as a
penance, to gratify those passions, to visit distant lands, and to draw the=
ir
swords against the nation of the East. Their victory, or even their attempt=
, would
immortalize the names of the intrepid heroes of the cross; and the purest p=
iety
could not be insensible to the most splendid prospect of military glory. In=
the
petty quarrels of Europe, they shed the blood of their friends and countrym=
en,
for the acquisition perhaps of a castle or a village. They could march with
alacrity against the distant and hostile nations who were devoted to their
arms; their fancy already grasped the golden sceptres of Asia; and the conq=
uest
of Apulia and Sicily by the Normans might exalt to royalty the hopes of the
most private adventurer. Christendom, in her rudest state, must have yielde=
d to
the climate and cultivation of the Mahometan countries; and their natural a=
nd
artificial wealth had been magnified by the tales of pilgrims, and the gift=
s of
an imperfect commerce. The vulgar, both the great and small, were taught to
believe every wonder, of lands flowing with milk and honey, of mines and
treasures, of gold and diamonds, of palaces of marble and jasper, and of
odoriferous groves of cinnamon and frankincense. In this earthly paradise, =
each
warrior depended on his sword to carve a plenteous and honorable establishm=
ent,
which he measured only by the extent of his wishes. Their vassals and soldi=
ers trusted
their fortunes to God and their master: the spoils of a Turkish emir might
enrich the meanest follower of the camp; and the flavor of the wines, the
beauty of the Grecian women, were temptations more adapted to the nature, t=
han
to the profession, of the champions of the cross. The love of freedom was a
powerful incitement to the multitudes who were oppressed by feudal or
ecclesiastical tyranny. Under this holy sign, the peasants and burghers, who
were attached to the servitude of the glebe, might escape from a haughty lo=
rd,
and transplant themselves and their families to a land of liberty. The monk
might release himself from the discipline of his convent: the debtor might
suspend the accumulation of usury, and the pursuit of his creditors; and
outlaws and malefactors of every cast might continue to brave the laws and
elude the punishment of their crimes.
These motives were potent and numerous: when we
have singly computed their weight on the mind of each individual, we must a=
dd
the infinite series, the multiplying powers, of example and fashion. The fi=
rst proselytes
became the warmest and most effectual missionaries of the cross: among their
friends and countrymen they preached the duty, the merit, and the recompens=
e,
of their holy vow; and the most reluctant hearers were insensibly drawn wit=
hin
the whirlpool of persuasion and authority. The martial youths were fired by=
the
reproach or suspicion of cowardice; the opportunity of visiting with an army
the sepulchre of Christ was embraced by the old and infirm, by women and
children, who consulted rather their zeal than their strength; and those wh=
o in
the evening had derided the folly of their companions, were the most eager,=
the
ensuing day, to tread in their footsteps. The ignorance, which magnified the
hopes, diminished the perils, of the enterprise. Since the Turkish conquest,
the paths of pilgrimage were obliterated; the chiefs themselves had an
imperfect notion of the length of the way and the state of their enemies; a=
nd
such was the stupidity of the people, that, at the sight of the first city =
or
castle beyond the limits of their knowledge, they were ready to ask whether
that was not the Jerusalem, the term and object of their labors. Yet the mo=
re
prudent of the crusaders, who were not sure that they should be fed from he=
aven
with a shower of quails or manna, provided themselves with those precious m=
etals,
which, in every country, are the representatives of every commodity. To def=
ray,
according to their rank, the expenses of the road, princes alienated their
provinces, nobles their lands and castles, peasants their cattle and the
instruments of husbandry. The value of property was depreciated by the eager
competition of multitudes; while the price of arms and horses was raised to=
an
exorbitant height by the wants and impatience of the buyers. Those who rema=
ined
at home, with sense and money, were enriched by the epidemical disease: the
sovereigns acquired at a cheap rate the domains of their vassals; and the e=
cclesiastical
purchasers completed the payment by the assurance of their prayers. The cro=
ss,
which was commonly sewed on the garment, in cloth or silk, was inscribed by
some zealots on their skin: a hot iron, or indelible liquor, was applied to
perpetuate the mark; and a crafty monk, who showed the miraculous impressio=
n on
his breast was repaid with the popular veneration and the richest benefices=
of
Palestine.
The fifteenth of August had been fixed in the
council of Clermont for the departure of the pilgrims; but the day was
anticipated by the thoughtless and needy crowd of plebeians, and I shall
briefly despatch the calamities which they inflicted and suffered, before I
enter on the more serious and successful enterprise of the chiefs. Early in=
the
spring, from the confines of France and Lorraine, above sixty thousand of t=
he
populace of both sexes flocked round the first missionary of the crusade, a=
nd
pressed him with clamorous importunity to lead them to the holy sepulchre. =
The
hermit, assuming the character, without the talents or authority, of a gene=
ral,
impelled or obeyed the forward impulse of his votaries along the banks of t=
he
Rhine and Danube. Their wants and numbers soon compelled them to separate, =
and
his lieutenant, Walter the Penniless, a valiant though needy soldier, condu=
cted
a van guard of pilgrims, whose condition may be determined from the proport=
ion
of eight horsemen to fifteen thousand foot. The example and footsteps of Pe=
ter were
closely pursued by another fanatic, the monk Godescal, whose sermons had sw=
ept
away fifteen or twenty thousand peasants from the villages of Germany. Their
rear was again pressed by a herd of two hundred thousand, the most stupid a=
nd
savage refuse of the people, who mingled with their devotion a brutal licen=
se
of rapine, prostitution, and drunkenness. Some counts and gentlemen, at the
head of three thousand horse, attended the motions of the multitude to part=
ake
in the spoil; but their genuine leaders (may we credit such folly?) were a
goose and a goat, who were carried in the front, and to whom these worthy
Christians ascribed an infusion of the divine spirit. Of these, and of other
bands of enthusiasts, the first and most easy warfare was against the Jews,=
the
murderers of the Son of God. In the trading cities of the Moselle and the
Rhine, their colonies were numerous and rich; and they enjoyed, under the
protection of the emperor and the bishops, the free exercise of their relig=
ion.
At Verdun, Treves, Mentz, Spires, Worms, many thousands of that unhappy peo=
ple
were pillaged and massacred: nor had they felt a more bloody stroke since t=
he
persecution of Hadrian. A remnant was saved by the firmness of their bishop=
s,
who accepted a feigned and transient conversion; but the more obstinate Jews
opposed their fanaticism to the fanaticism of the Christians, barricadoed t=
heir
houses, and precipitating themselves, their families, and their wealth, into
the rivers or the flames, disappointed the malice, or at least the avarice,=
of
their implacable foes.
Between the frontiers of Austria and the seat =
of
the Byzan tine monarchy, the crusaders were compelled to traverse as interv=
al
of six hundred miles; the wild and desolate countries of Hungary and Bulgar=
ia. The
soil is fruitful, and intersected with rivers; but it was then covered with
morasses and forests, which spread to a boundless extent, whenever man has
ceased to exercise his dominion over the earth. Both nations had imbibed the
rudiments of Christianity; the Hungarians were ruled by their native prince=
s;
the Bulgarians by a lieutenant of the Greek emperor; but, on the slightest
provocation, their ferocious nature was rekindled, and ample provocation was
afforded by the disorders of the first pilgrims Agriculture must have been
unskilful and languid among a people, whose cities were built of reeds and
timber, which were deserted in the summer season for the tents of hunters a=
nd
shepherds. A scanty supply of provisions was rudely demanded, forcibly seiz=
ed,
and greedily consumed; and on the first quarrel, the crusaders gave a loose=
to
indignation and revenge. But their ignorance of the country, of war, and of
discipline, exposed them to every snare. The Greek præfect of Bulgaria
commanded a regular force; at the trumpet of the Hungarian king, the eighth=
or
the tenth of his martial subjects bent their bows and mounted on horseback;
their policy was insidious, and their retaliation on these pious robbers was
unrelenting and bloody. About a third of the naked fugitives (and the hermit
Peter was of the number) escaped to the Thracian mountains; and the emperor,
who respected the pilgrimage and succor of the Latins, conducted them by se=
cure
and easy journeys to Constantinople, and advised them to await the arrival =
of their
brethren. For a while they remembered their faults and losses; but no sooner
were they revived by the hospitable entertainment, than their venom was aga=
in
inflamed; they stung their benefactor, and neither gardens, nor palaces, nor
churches, were safe from their depredations. For his own safety, Alexius
allured them to pass over to the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus; but their b=
lind
impetuosity soon urged them to desert the station which he had assigned, an=
d to
rush headlong against the Turks, who occupied the road to Jerusalem. The
hermit, conscious of his shame, had withdrawn from the camp to Constantinop=
le;
and his lieutenant, Walter the Penniless, who was worthy of a better comman=
d, attempted
without success to introduce some order and prudence among the herd of sava=
ges.
They separated in quest of prey, and themselves fell an easy prey to the ar=
ts
of the sultan. By a rumor that their foremost companions were rioting in the
spoils of his capital, Soliman tempted the main body to descend into the pl=
ain
of Nice: they were overwhelmed by the Turkish arrows; and a pyramid of bones
informed their companions of the place of their defeat. Of the first crusad=
ers,
three hundred thousand had already perished, before a single city was rescu=
ed
from the infidels, before their graver and more noble brethren had completed
the preparations of their enterprise.
"To save time and space, I shall represen=
t,
in a short table, the particular references to the great events of the first
crusade."
[See Table 1.: Events Of The First Crusade.]
None of the great sovereigns of Europe embarked
their persons in the first crusade. The emperor Henry the Fourth was not
disposed to obey the summons of the pope: Philip the First of France was
occupied by his pleasures; William Rufus of England by a recent conquest; t=
he
kings of Spain were engaged in a domestic war against the Moors; and the
northern monarchs of Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, and Poland, were yet strang=
ers to
the passions and interests of the South. The religious ardor was more stron=
gly
felt by the princes of the second order, who held an important place in the
feudal system. Their situation will naturally cast under four distinct heads
the review of their names and characters; but I may escape some needless
repetition, by observing at once, that courage and the exercise of arms are=
the
common attribute of these Christian adventurers. I. The first rank both in =
war
and council is justly due to Godfrey of Bouillon; and happy would it have b=
een
for the crusaders, if they had trusted themselves to the sole conduct of th=
at
accomplished hero, a worthy representative of Charlemagne, from whom he was
descended in the female line. His father was of the noble race of the count=
s of
Boulogne: Brabant, the lower province of Lorraine, was the inheritance of h=
is
mother; and by the emperor's bounty he was himself invested with that ducal
title, which has been improperly transferred to his lordship of Bouillon in=
the
Ardennes. In the service of Henry the Fourth, he bore the great standard of=
the
empire, and pierced with his lance the breast of Rodolph, the rebel king:
Godfrey was the first who ascended the walls of Rome; and his sickness, his
vow, perhaps his remorse for bearing arms against the pope, confirmed an ea=
rly
resolution of visiting the holy sepulchre, not as a pilgrim, but a delivere=
r.
His valor was matured by prudence and moderation; his piety, though blind, =
was
sincere; and, in the tumult of a camp, he practised the real and fictitious
virtues of a convent. Superior to the private factions of the chiefs, he
reserved his enmity for the enemies of Christ; and though he gained a kingd=
om
by the attempt, his pure and disinterested zeal was acknowledged by his riv=
als.
Godfrey of Bouillon was accompanied by his two brothers, by Eustace the eld=
er,
who had succeeded to the county of Boulogne, and by the younger, Baldwin, a
character of more ambiguous virtue. The duke of Lorraine, was alike celebra=
ted
on either side of the Rhine: from his birth and education, he was equally
conversant with the French and Teutonic languages: the barons of France,
Germany, and Lorraine, assembled their vassals; and the confederate force t=
hat
marched under his banner was composed of fourscore thousand foot and about =
ten
thousand horse. II. In the parliament that was held at Paris, in the king's
presence, about two months after the council of Clermont, Hugh, count of
Vermandois, was the most conspicuous of the princes who assumed the cross. =
But
the appellation of the Great was applied, not so much to his merit or posse=
ssions,
(though neither were contemptible,) as to the royal birth of the brother of=
the
king of France. Robert, duke of Normandy, was the eldest son of William the
Conqueror; but on his father's death he was deprived of the kingdom of Engl=
and,
by his own indolence and the activity of his brother Rufus. The worth of Ro=
bert
was degraded by an excessive levity and easiness of temper: his cheerfulness
seduced him to the indulgence of pleasure; his profuse liberality impoveris=
hed
the prince and people; his indiscriminate clemency multiplied the number of
offenders; and the amiable qualities of a private man became the essential
defects of a sovereign. For the trifling sum of ten thousand marks, he
mortgaged Normandy during his absence to the English usurper; but his
engagement and behavior in the holy war announced in Robert a reformation of
manners, and restored him in some degree to the public esteem. Another Robe=
rt
was count of Flanders, a royal province, which, in this century, gave three
queens to the thrones of France, England, and Denmark: he was surnamed the
Sword and Lance of the Christians; but in the exploits of a soldier he
sometimes forgot the duties of a general. Stephen, count of Chartres, of Bl=
ois,
and of Troyes, was one of the richest princes of the age; and the number of=
his
castles has been compared to the three hundred and sixty-five days of the y=
ear.
His mind was improved by literature; and, in the council of the chiefs, the=
eloquent
Stephen was chosen to discharge the office of their president. These four w=
ere
the principal leaders of the French, the Normans, and the pilgrims of the
British isles: but the list of the barons who were possessed of three or fo=
ur
towns would exceed, says a contemporary, the catalogue of the Trojan war. I=
II.
In the south of France, the command was assumed by Adhemar bishop of Puy, t=
he
pope legate, and by Raymond count of St. Giles and Thoulouse who added the =
prouder
titles of duke of Narbonne and marquis of Provence. The former was a
respectable prelate, alike qualified for this world and the next. The latter
was a veteran warrior, who had fought against the Saracens of Spain, and wh=
o consecrated
his declining age, not only to the deliverance, but to the perpetual servic=
e,
of the holy sepulchre. His experience and riches gave him a strong ascendan=
t in
the Christian camp, whose distress he was often able, and sometimes willing=
, to
relieve. But it was easier for him to extort the praise of the Infidels, th=
an
to preserve the love of his subjects and associates. His eminent qualities =
were
clouded by a temper haughty, envious, and obstinate; and, though he resigne=
d an
ample patrimony for the cause of God, his piety, in the public opinion, was=
not
exempt from avarice and ambition. A mercantile, rather than a martial, spir=
it
prevailed among his provincials, a common name, which included the natives =
of
Auvergne and Languedoc, the vassals of the kingdom of Burgundy or Arles. Fr=
om
the adjacent frontier of Spain he drew a band of hardy adventurers; as he
marched through Lombardy, a crowd of Italians flocked to his standard, and =
his
united force consisted of one hundred thousand horse and foot. If Raymond w=
as
the first to enlist and the last to depart, the delay may be excused by the=
greatness
of his preparation and the promise of an everlasting farewell. IV. The name=
of
Bohemond, the son of Robert Guiscard, was already famous by his double vict=
ory
over the Greek emperor; but his father's will had reduced him to the
principality of Tarentum, and the remembrance of his Eastern trophies, till=
he
was awakened by the rumor and passage of the French pilgrims. It is in the
person of this Norman chief that we may seek for the coolest policy and
ambition, with a small allay of religious fanaticism. His conduct may justi=
fy a
belief that he had secretly directed the design of the pope, which he affec=
ted
to second with astonishment and zeal: at the siege of Amalphi, his example =
and discourse
inflamed the passions of a confederate army; he instantly tore his garment =
to
supply crosses for the numerous candidates, and prepared to visit
Constantinople and Asia at the head of ten thousand horse and twenty thousa=
nd
foot. Several princes of the Norman race accompanied this veteran general; =
and
his cousin Tancred was the partner, rather than the servant, of the war. In=
the
accomplished character of Tancred we discover all the virtues of a perfect
knight, the true spirit of chivalry, which inspired the generous sentiments=
and
social offices of man far better than the base philosophy, or the baser
religion, of the times.
Between the age of Charlemagne and that of the
crusades, a revolution had taken place among the Spaniards, the Normans, and
the French, which was gradually extended to the rest of Europe. The service=
of
the infantry was degraded to the plebeians; the cavalry formed the strength=
of
the armies, and the honorable name of miles, or soldier, was confined to the
gentlemen who served on horseback, and were invested with the character of
knighthood. The dukes and counts, who had usurped the rights of sovereignty,
divided the provinces among their faithful barons: the barons distributed a=
mong
their vassals the fiefs or benefices of their jurisdiction; and these milit=
ary
tenants, the peers of each other and of their lord, composed the noble or
equestrian order, which disdained to conceive the peasant or burgher as of =
the
same species with themselves. The dignity of their birth was preserved by p=
ure
and equal alliances; their sons alone, who could produce four quarters or l=
ines
of ancestry without spot or reproach, might legally pretend to the honor of
knighthood; but a valiant plebeian was sometimes enriched and ennobled by t=
he
sword, and became the father of a new race. A single knight could impart,
according to his judgment, the character which he received; and the warlike
sovereigns of Europe derived more glory from this personal distinction than
from the lustre of their diadem. This ceremony, of which some traces may be
found in Tacitus and the woods of Germany, was in its origin simple and
profane; the candidate, after some previous trial, was invested with the sw=
ord
and spurs; and his cheek or shoulder was touched with a slight blow, as an =
emblem
of the last affront which it was lawful for him to endure. But superstition
mingled in every public and private action of life: in the holy wars, it
sanctified the profession of arms; and the order of chivalry was assimilate=
d in
its rights and privileges to the sacred orders of priesthood. The bath and
white garment of the novice were an indecent copy of the regeneration of
baptism: his sword, which he offered on the altar, was blessed by the minis=
ters
of religion: his solemn reception was preceded by fasts and vigils; and he =
was
created a knight in the name of God, of St. George, and of St. Michael the =
archangel.
He swore to accomplish the duties of his profession; and education, example,
and the public opinion, were the inviolable guardians of his oath. As the
champion of God and the ladies, (I blush to unite such discordant names,) he
devoted himself to speak the truth; to maintain the right; to protect the
distressed; to practise courtesy, a virtue less familiar to the ancients; to
pursue the infidels; to despise the allurements of ease and safety; and to =
vindicate
in every perilous adventure the honor of his character. The abuse of the sa=
me
spirit provoked the illiterate knight to disdain the arts of industry and
peace; to esteem himself the sole judge and avenger of his own injuries; and
proudly to neglect the laws of civil society and military discipline. Yet t=
he
benefits of this institution, to refine the temper of Barbarians, and to in=
fuse
some principles of faith, justice, and humanity, were strongly felt, and ha=
ve
been often observed. The asperity of national prejudice was softened; and t=
he
community of religion and arms spread a similar color and generous emulation
over the face of Christendom. Abroad in enterprise and pilgrimage, at home =
in
martial exercise, the warriors of every country were perpetually associated;
and impartial taste must prefer a Gothic tournament to the Olympic games of
classic antiquity. Instead of the naked spectacles which corrupted the mann=
ers
of the Greeks, and banished from the stadium the virgins and matrons, the
pompous decoration of the lists was crowned with the presence of chaste and
high-born beauty, from whose hands the conqueror received the prize of his
dexterity and courage. The skill and strength that were exerted in wrestling
and boxing bear a distant and doubtful relation to the merit of a soldier; =
but
the tournaments, as they were invented in France, and eagerly adopted both =
in
the East and West, presented a lively image of the business of the field. T=
he
single combats, the general skirmish, the defence of a pass, or castle, wer=
e rehearsed
as in actual service; and the contest, both in real and mimic war, was deci=
ded
by the superior management of the horse and lance. The lance was the proper=
and
peculiar weapon of the knight: his horse was of a large and heavy breed; but
this charger, till he was roused by the approaching danger, was usually led=
by
an attendant, and he quietly rode a pad or palfrey of a more easy pace. His
helmet and sword, his greaves and buckler, it would be superfluous to descr=
ibe;
but I may remark, that, at the period of the crusades, the armor was less
ponderous than in later times; and that, instead of a massy cuirass, his br=
east
was defended by a hauberk or coat of mail. When their long lances were fixe=
d in
the rest, the warriors furiously spurred their horses against the foe; and =
the
light cavalry of the Turks and Arabs could seldom stand against the direct =
and
impetuous weight of their charge. Each knight was attended to the field by =
his
faithful squire, a youth of equal birth and similar hopes; he was followed =
by
his archers and men at arms, and four, or five, or six soldiers were comput=
ed
as the furniture of a complete lance. In the expeditions to the neighboring
kingdoms or the Holy Land, the duties of the feudal tenure no longer subsis=
ted;
the voluntary service of the knights and their followers were either prompt=
ed
by zeal or attachment, or purchased with rewards and promises; and the numb=
ers of
each squadron were measured by the power, the wealth, and the fame, of each
independent chieftain. They were distinguished by his banner, his armorial
coat, and his cry of war; and the most ancient families of Europe must seek=
in
these achievements the origin and proof of their nobility. In this rapid
portrait of chivalry I have been urged to anticipate on the story of the
crusades, at once an effect and a cause, of this memorable institution.
Such were the troops, and such the leaders, who
assumed the cross for the deliverance of the holy sepulchre. As soon as they
were relieved by the absence of the plebeian multitude, they encouraged each
other, by interviews and messages, to accomplish their vow, and hasten thei=
r departure.
Their wives and sisters were desirous of partaking the danger and merit of =
the
pilgrimage: their portable treasures were conveyed in bars of silver and go=
ld;
and the princes and barons were attended by their equipage of hounds and ha=
wks
to amuse their leisure and to supply their table. The difficulty of procuri=
ng
subsistence for so many myriads of men and horses engaged them to separate
their forces: their choice or situation determined the road; and it was agr=
eed
to meet in the neighborhood of Constantinople, and from thence to begin the=
ir operations
against the Turks. From the banks of the Meuse and the Moselle, Godfrey of
Bouillon followed the direct way of Germany, Hungary, and Bulgaria; and, as
long as he exercised the sole command every step afforded some proof of his
prudence and virtue. On the confines of Hungary he was stopped three weeks =
by a
Christian people, to whom the name, or at least the abuse, of the cross was
justly odious. The Hungarians still smarted with the wounds which they had
received from the first pilgrims: in their turn they had abused the right o=
f defence
and retaliation; and they had reason to apprehend a severe revenge from a h=
ero
of the same nation, and who was engaged in the same cause. But, after weigh=
ing
the motives and the events, the virtuous duke was content to pity the crimes
and misfortunes of his worthless brethren; and his twelve deputies, the
messengers of peace, requested in his name a free passage and an equal mark=
et.
To remove their suspicions, Godfrey trusted himself, and afterwards his bro=
ther,
to the faith of Carloman, king of Hungary, who treated them with a simple b=
ut hospitable
entertainment: the treaty was sanctified by their common gospel; and a
proclamation, under pain of death, restrained the animosity and license of =
the
Latin soldiers. From Austria to Belgrade, they traversed the plains of Hung=
ary,
without enduring or offering an injury; and the proximity of Carloman, who
hovered on their flanks with his numerous cavalry, was a precaution not less
useful for their safety than for his own. They reached the banks of the Sav=
e;
and no sooner had they passed the river, than the king of Hungary restored =
the
hostages, and saluted their departure with the fairest wishes for the succe=
ss
of their enterprise. With the same conduct and discipline, Godfrey pervaded=
the
woods of Bulgaria and the frontiers of Thrace; and might congratulate himse=
lf
that he had almost reached the first term of his pilgrimage, without drawing
his sword against a Christian adversary. After an easy and pleasant journey=
through
Lombardy, from Turin to Aquileia, Raymond and his provincials marched forty
days through the savage country of Dalmatia and Sclavonia. The weather was a
perpetual fog; the land was mountainous and desolate; the natives were eith=
er fugitive
or hostile: loose in their religion and government, they refused to furnish
provisions or guides; murdered the stragglers; and exercised by night and d=
ay
the vigilance of the count, who derived more security from the punishment of
some captive robbers than from his interview and treaty with the prince of
Scodra. His march between Durazzo and Constantinople was harassed, without
being stopped, by the peasants and soldiers of the Greek emperor; and the s=
ame
faint and ambiguous hostility was prepared for the remaining chiefs, who pa=
ssed
the Adriatic from the coast of Italy. Bohemond had arms and vessels, and
foresight and discipline; and his name was not forgotten in the provinces of
Epirus and Thessaly. Whatever obstacles he encountered were surmounted by h=
is
military conduct and the valor of Tancred; and if the Norman prince affecte=
d to
spare the Greeks, he gorged his soldiers with the full plunder of an hereti=
cal
castle. The nobles of France pressed forwards with the vain and thoughtless
ardor of which their nation has been sometimes accused. From the Alps to Ap=
ulia
the march of Hugh the Great, of the two Roberts, and of Stephen of Chartres,
through a wealthy country, and amidst the applauding Catholics, was a devou=
t or
triumphant progress: they kissed the feet of the Roman pontiff; and the gol=
den standard
of St. Peter was delivered to the brother of the French monarch. But in this
visit of piety and pleasure, they neglected to secure the season, and the m=
eans
of their embarkation: the winter was insensibly lost: their troops were
scattered and corrupted in the towns of Italy. They separately accomplished
their passage, regardless of safety or dignity; and within nine months from=
the
feast of the Assumption, the day appointed by Urban, all the Latin princes =
had reached
Constantinople. But the count of Vermandois was produced as a captive; his
foremost vessels were scattered by a tempest; and his person, against the l=
aw
of nations, was detained by the lieutenants of Alexius. Yet the arrival of =
Hugh
had been announced by four-and-twenty knights in golden armor, who commanded
the emperor to revere the general of the Latin Christians, the brother of t=
he
king of kings.
In some oriental tale I have read the fable of=
a
shepherd, who was ruined by the accomplishment of his own wishes: he had pr=
ayed
for water; the Ganges was turned into his grounds, and his flock and cottage
were swept away by the inundation. Such was the fortune, or at least the ap=
prehension
of the Greek emperor Alexius Comnenus, whose name has already appeared in t=
his
history, and whose conduct is so differently represented by his daughter An=
ne,
and by the Latin writers. In the council of Placentia, his ambassadors had
solicited a moderate succor, perhaps of ten thousand soldiers, but he was
astonished by the approach of so many potent chiefs and fanatic nations. The
emperor fluctuated between hope and fear, between timidity and courage; but=
in
the crooked policy which he mistook for wisdom, I cannot believe, I cannot
discern, that he maliciously conspired against the life or honor of the Fre=
nch heroes.
The promiscuous multitudes of Peter the Hermit were savage beasts, alike
destitute of humanity and reason: nor was it possible for Alexius to preven=
t or
deplore their destruction. The troops of Godfrey and his peers were less
contemptible, but not less suspicious, to the Greek emperor. Their motives
might be pure and pious: but he was equally alarmed by his knowledge of the
ambitious Bohemond, and his ignorance of the Transalpine chiefs: the courag=
e of
the French was blind and headstrong; they might be tempted by the luxury and
wealth of Greece, and elated by the view and opinion of their invincible
strength: and Jerusalem might be forgotten in the prospect of Constantinopl=
e. After
a long march and painful abstinence, the troops of Godfrey encamped in the
plains of Thrace; they heard with indignation, that their brother, the coun=
t of
Vermandois, was imprisoned by the Greeks; and their reluctant duke was
compelled to indulge them in some freedom of retaliation and rapine. They w=
ere
appeased by the submission of Alexius: he promised to supply their camp; an=
d as
they refused, in the midst of winter, to pass the Bosphorus, their quarters
were assigned among the gardens and palaces on the shores of that narrow se=
a.
But an incurable jealousy still rankled in the minds of the two nations, wh=
o despised
each other as slaves and Barbarians. Ignorance is the ground of suspicion, =
and
suspicion was inflamed into daily provocations: prejudice is blind, hunger =
is
deaf; and Alexius is accused of a design to starve or assault the Latins in=
a
dangerous post, on all sides encompassed with the waters. Godfrey sounded h=
is
trumpets, burst the net, overspread the plain, and insulted the suburbs; but
the gates of Constantinople were strongly fortified; the ramparts were lined
with archers; and, after a doubtful conflict, both parties listened to the
voice of peace and religion. The gifts and promises of the emperor insensib=
ly
soothed the fierce spirit of the western strangers; as a Christian warrior,=
he rekindled
their zeal for the prosecution of their holy enterprise, which he engaged to
second with his troops and treasures. On the return of spring, Godfrey was
persuaded to occupy a pleasant and plentiful camp in Asia; and no sooner ha=
d he
passed the Bosphorus, than the Greek vessels were suddenly recalled to the
opposite shore. The same policy was repeated with the succeeding chiefs, who
were swayed by the example, and weakened by the departure, of their foremost
companions. By his skill and diligence, Alexius prevented the union of any =
two
of the confederate armies at the same moment under the walls of Constantino=
ple;
and before the feast of the Pentecost not a Latin pilgrim was left on the c=
oast
of Europe.
The same arms which threatened Europe might
deliver Asia, and repel the Turks from the neighboring shores of the Bospho=
rus
and Hellespont. The fair provinces from Nice to Antioch were the recent
patrimony of the Roman emperor; and his ancient and perpetual claim still
embraced the kingdoms of Syria and Egypt. In his enthusiasm, Alexius indulg=
ed,
or affected, the ambitious hope of leading his new allies to subvert the
thrones of the East; but the calmer dictates of reason and temper dissuaded=
him
from exposing his royal person to the faith of unknown and lawless Barbaria=
ns.
His prudence, or his pride, was content with extorting from the French prin=
ces
an oath of homage and fidelity, and a solemn promise, that they would either
restore, or hold, their Asiatic conquests as the humble and loyal vassals of
the Roman empire. Their independent spirit was fired at the mention of this
foreign and voluntary servitude: they successively yielded to the dexterous=
application
of gifts and flattery; and the first proselytes became the most eloquent and
effectual missionaries to multiply the companions of their shame. The pride=
of
Hugh of Vermandois was soothed by the honors of his captivity; and in the
brother of the French king, the example of submission was prevalent and
weighty. In the mind of Godfrey of Bouillon every human consideration was
subordinate to the glory of God and the success of the crusade. He had firm=
ly
resisted the temptations of Bohemond and Raymond, who urged the attack and
conquest of Constantinople. Alexius esteemed his virtues, deservedly named =
him
the champion of the empire, and dignified his homage with the filial name a=
nd
the rights of adoption. The hateful Bohemond was received as a true and anc=
ient
ally; and if the emperor reminded him of former hostilities, it was only to
praise the valor that he had displayed, and the glory that he had acquired,=
in
the fields of Durazzo and Larissa. The son of Guiscard was lodged and
entertained, and served with Imperial pomp: one day, as he passed through t=
he
gallery of the palace, a door was carelessly left open to expose a pile of =
gold
and silver, of silk and gems, of curious and costly furniture, that was hea=
ped,
in seeming disorder, from the floor to the roof of the chamber. "What
conquests," exclaimed the ambitious miser, "might not be achieved=
by
the possession of such a treasure!"--"It is your own," repli=
ed a
Greek attendant, who watched the motions of his soul; and Bohemond, after s=
ome
hesitation, condescended to accept this magnificent present. The Norman was=
flattered
by the assurance of an independent principality; and Alexius eluded, rather
than denied, his daring demand of the office of great domestic, or general =
of
the East. The two Roberts, the son of the conqueror of England, and the kin=
smen
of three queens, bowed in their turn before the Byzantine throne. A private
letter of Stephen of Chartres attests his admiration of the emperor, the mo=
st
excellent and liberal of men, who taught him to believe that he was a favor=
ite,
and promised to educate and establish his youngest son. In his southern pro=
vince,
the count of St. Giles and Thoulouse faintly recognized the supremacy of the
king of France, a prince of a foreign nation and language. At the head of a
hundred thousand men, he declared that he was the soldier and servant of Ch=
rist
alone, and that the Greek might be satisfied with an equal treaty of allian=
ce
and friendship. His obstinate resistance enhanced the value and the price of
his submission; and he shone, says the princess Anne, among the Barbarians,=
as
the sun amidst the stars of heaven. His disgust of the noise and insolence =
of
the French, his suspicions of the designs of Bohemond, the emperor imparted=
to
his faithful Raymond; and that aged statesman might clearly discern, that
however false in friendship, he was sincere in his enmity. The spirit of
chivalry was last subdued in the person of Tancred; and none could deem
themselves dishonored by the imitation of that gallant knight. He disdained=
the
gold and flattery of the Greek monarch; assaulted in his presence an insole=
nt
patrician; escaped to Asia in the habit of a private soldier; and yielded w=
ith
a sigh to the authority of Bohemond, and the interest of the Christian caus=
e.
The best and most ostensible reason was the impossibility of passing the sea
and accomplishing their vow, without the license and the vessels of Alexius;
but they cherished a secret hope, that as soon as they trod the continent of
Asia, their swords would obliterate their shame, and dissolve the engagemen=
t,
which on his side might not be very faithfully performed. The ceremony of t=
heir
homage was grateful to a people who had long since considered pride as the
substitute of power. High on his throne, the emperor sat mute and immovable:
his majesty was adored by the Latin princes; and they submitted to kiss eit=
her
his feet or his knees, an indignity which their own writers are ashamed to
confess and unable to deny.
Private or public interest suppressed the murm=
urs
of the dukes and counts; but a French baron (he is supposed to be Robert of
Paris ) presumed to ascend the throne, and to place himself by the side of =
Alexius.
The sage reproof of Baldwin provoked him to exclaim, in his barbarous idiom,
"Who is this rustic, that keeps his seat, while so many valiant captai=
ns
are standing round him?" The emperor maintained his silence, dissembled
his indignation, and questioned his interpreter concerning the meaning of t=
he
words, which he partly suspected from the universal language of gesture and
countenance. Before the departure of the pilgrims, he endeavored to learn t=
he
name and condition of the audacious baron. "I am a Frenchman,"
replied Robert, "of the purest and most ancient nobility of my country.
All that I know is, that there is a church in my neighborhood, the resort of
those who are desirous of approving their valor in single combat. Till an e=
nemy
appears, they address their prayers to God and his saints. That church I ha=
ve frequently
visited. But never have I found an antagonist who dared to accept my
defiance." Alexius dismissed the challenger with some prudent advice f=
or
his conduct in the Turkish warfare; and history repeats with pleasure this
lively example of the manners of his age and country.
The conquest of Asia was undertaken and achiev=
ed
by Alexander, with thirty-five thousand Macedonians and Greeks; and his best
hope was in the strength and discipline of his phalanx of infantry. The
principal force of the crusaders consisted in their cavalry; and when that
force was mustered in the plains of Bithynia, the knights and their martial=
attendants
on horseback amounted to one hundred thousand fighting men, completely armed
with the helmet and coat of mail. The value of these soldiers deserved a st=
rict
and authentic account; and the flower of European chivalry might furnish, i=
n a
first effort, this formidable body of heavy horse. A part of the infantry m=
ight
be enrolled for the service of scouts, pioneers, and archers; but the
promiscuous crowd were lost in their own disorder; and we depend not on the
eyes and knowledge, but on the belief and fancy, of a chaplain of Count
Baldwin, in the estimate of six hundred thousand pilgrims able to bear arms,
besides the priests and monks, the women and children of the Latin camp. The
reader starts; and before he is recovered from his surprise, I shall add, on
the same testimony, that if all who took the cross had accomplished their v=
ow, above
six millions would have migrated from Europe to Asia. Under this oppression=
of
faith, I derive some relief from a more sagacious and thinking writer, who,
after the same review of the cavalry, accuses the credulity of the priest of
Chartres, and even doubts whether the Cisalpine regions (in the geography o=
f a
Frenchman) were sufficient to produce and pour forth such incredible
multitudes. The coolest scepticism will remember, that of these religious
volunteers great numbers never beheld Constantinople and Nice. Of enthusiasm
the influence is irregular and transient: many were detained at home by rea=
son
or cowardice, by poverty or weakness; and many were repulsed by the obstacl=
es
of the way, the more insuperable as they were unforeseen, to these ignorant
fanatics. The savage countries of Hungary and Bulgaria were whitened with t=
heir
bones: their vanguard was cut in pieces by the Turkish sultan; and the loss=
of
the first adventure, by the sword, or climate, or fatigue, has already been
stated at three hundred thousand men. Yet the myriads that survived, that
marched, that pressed forwards on the holy pilgrimage, were a subject of
astonishment to themselves and to the Greeks. The copious energy of her
language sinks under the efforts of the princess Anne: the images of locust=
s,
of leaves and flowers, of the sands of the sea, or the stars of heaven,
imperfectly represent what she had seen and heard; and the daughter of Alex=
ius exclaims,
that Europe was loosened from its foundations, and hurled against Asia. The
ancient hosts of Darius and Xerxes labor under the same doubt of a vague and
indefinite magnitude; but I am inclined to believe, that a larger number has
never been contained within the lines of a single camp, than at the siege of
Nice, the first operation of the Latin princes. Their motives, their
characters, and their arms, have been already displayed. Of their troops the
most numerous portion were natives of France: the Low Countries, the banks =
of
the Rhine, and Apulia, sent a powerful reënforcement: some bands of
adventurers were drawn from Spain, Lombardy, and England; and from the dist=
ant
bogs and mountains of Ireland or Scotland issued some naked and savage
fanatics, ferocious at home but unwarlike abroad. Had not superstition
condemned the sacrilegious prudence of depriving the poorest or weakest
Christian of the merit of the pilgrimage, the useless crowd, with mouths bu=
t without
hands, might have been stationed in the Greek empire, till their companions=
had
opened and secured the way of the Lord. A small remnant of the pilgrims, who
passed the Bosphorus, was permitted to visit the holy sepulchre. Their nort=
hern
constitution was scorched by the rays, and infected by the vapors, of a Syr=
ian
sun. They consumed, with heedless prodigality, their stores of water and
provision: their numbers exhausted the inland country: the sea was remote, =
the
Greeks were unfriendly, and the Christians of every sect fled before the
voracious and cruel rapine of their brethren. In the dire necessity of fami=
ne, they
sometimes roasted and devoured the flesh of their infant or adult captives.
Among the Turks and Saracens, the idolaters of Europe were rendered more od=
ious
by the name and reputation of Cannibals; the spies, who introduced themselv=
es
into the kitchen of Bohemond, were shown several human bodies turning on the
spit: and the artful Norman encouraged a report, which increased at the same
time the abhorrence and the terror of the infidels.
I have expiated with pleasure on the first ste=
ps
of the crusaders, as they paint the manners and character of Europe: but I
shall abridge the tedious and uniform narrative of their blind achievements,
which were performed by strength and are described by ignorance. From their
first station in the neighborhood of Nicomedia, they advanced in successive=
divisions;
passed the contracted limit of the Greek empire; opened a road through the
hills, and commenced, by the siege of his capital, their pious warfare agai=
nst
the Turkish sultan. His kingdom of Roum extended from the Hellespont to the
confines of Syria, and barred the pilgrimage of Jerusalem, his name was
Kilidge-Arslan, or Soliman, of the race of Seljuk, and son of the first
conqueror; and in the defence of a land which the Turks considered as their
own, he deserved the praise of his enemies, by whom alone he is known to
posterity. Yielding to the first impulse of the torrent, he deposited his
family and treasure in Nice; retired to the mountains with fifty thousand
horse; and twice descended to assault the camps or quarters of the Christian
besiegers, which formed an imperfect circle of above six miles. The lofty a=
nd
solid walls of Nice were covered by a deep ditch, and flanked by three hund=
red and
seventy towers; and on the verge of Christendom, the Moslems were trained in
arms, and inflamed by religion. Before this city, the French princes occupi=
ed
their stations, and prosecuted their attacks without correspondence or subo=
rdination:
emulation prompted their valor; but their valor was sullied by cruelty, and
their emulation degenerated into envy and civil discord. In the siege of Ni=
ce,
the arts and engines of antiquity were employed by the Latins; the mine and=
the
battering-ram, the tortoise, and the belfrey or movable turret, artificial
fire, and the catapult and balist, the sling, and the crossbow for the cast=
ing of
stones and darts. In the space of seven weeks much labor and blood were
expended, and some progress, especially by Count Raymond, was made on the s=
ide
of the besiegers. But the Turks could protract their resistance and secure
their escape, as long as they were masters of the Lake Ascanius, which
stretches several miles to the westward of the city. The means of conquest =
were
supplied by the prudence and industry of Alexius; a great number of boats w=
as
transported on sledges from the sea to the lake; they were filled with the =
most
dexterous of his archers; the flight of the sultana was intercepted; Nice w=
as
invested by land and water; and a Greek emissary persuaded the inhabitants =
to
accept his master's protection, and to save themselves, by a timely surrend=
er, from
the rage of the savages of Europe. In the moment of victory, or at least of
hope, the crusaders, thirsting for blood and plunder, were awed by the Impe=
rial
banner that streamed from the citadel; and Alexius guarded with jealous
vigilance this important conquest. The murmurs of the chiefs were stifled by
honor or interest; and after a halt of nine days, they directed their march
towards Phrygia under the guidance of a Greek general, whom they suspected =
of a
secret connivance with the sultan. The consort and the principal servants of
Soliman had been honorably restored without ransom; and the emperor's gener=
osity
to the miscreants was interpreted as treason to the Christian cause.
Soliman was rather provoked than dismayed by t=
he
loss of his capital: he admonished his subjects and allies of this strange
invasion of the Western Barbarians; the Turkish emirs obeyed the call of
loyalty or religion; the Turkman hordes encamped round his standard; and his
whole force is loosely stated by the Christians at two hundred, or even thr=
ee hundred
and sixty thousand horse. Yet he patiently waited till they had left behind=
them
the sea and the Greek frontier; and hovering on the flanks, observed their
careless and confident progress in two columns beyond the view of each othe=
r.
Some miles before they could reach Dorylæum in Phrygia, the left, and
least numerous, division was surprised, and attacked, and almost oppressed,=
by
the Turkish cavalry. The heat of the weather, the clouds of arrows, and the
barbarous onset, overwhelmed the crusaders; they lost their order and
confidence, and the fainting fight was sustained by the personal valor, rat=
her
than by the military conduct, of Bohemond, Tancred, and Robert of Normandy.
They were revived by the welcome banners of Duke Godfrey, who flew to their=
succor,
with the count of Vermandois, and sixty thousand horse; and was followed by=
Raymond
of Tholouse, the bishop of Puy, and the remainder of the sacred army. Witho=
ut a
moment's pause, they formed in new order, and advanced to a second battle. =
They
were received with equal resolution; and, in their common disdain for the
unwarlike people of Greece and Asia, it was confessed on both sides, that t=
he
Turks and the Franks were the only nations entitled to the appellation of
soldiers. Their encounter was varied, and balanced by the contrast of arms =
and discipline;
of the direct charge, and wheeling evolutions; of the couched lance, and the
brandished javelin; of a weighty broadsword, and a crooked sabre; of cumbro=
us
armor, and thin flowing robes; and of the long Tartar bow, and the arbalist=
or
crossbow, a deadly weapon, yet unknown to the Orientals. As long as the hor=
ses
were fresh, and the quivers full, Soliman maintained the advantage of the d=
ay;
and four thousand Christians were pierced by the Turkish arrows. In the
evening, swiftness yielded to strength: on either side, the numbers were eq=
ual or
at least as great as any ground could hold, or any generals could manage; b=
ut
in turning the hills, the last division of Raymond and his provincials was =
led,
perhaps without design on the rear of an exhausted enemy; and the long cont=
est
was determined. Besides a nameless and unaccounted multitude, three thousand
Pagan knights were slain in the battle and pursuit; the camp of Soliman was
pillaged; and in the variety of precious spoil, the curiosity of the Latins=
was
amused with foreign arms and apparel, and the new aspect of dromedaries and
camels. The importance of the victory was proved by the hasty retreat of th=
e sultan:
reserving ten thousand guards of the relics of his army, Soliman evacuated =
the
kingdom of Roum, and hastened to implore the aid, and kindle the resentment=
, of
his Eastern brethren. In a march of five hundred miles, the crusaders trave=
rsed
the Lesser Asia, through a wasted land and deserted towns, without finding
either a friend or an enemy. The geographer may trace the position of Doryl=
æum,
Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Archelais, and Germanicia, and may compare tho=
se
classic appellations with the modern names of Eskishehr the old city, Akshe=
hr the
white city, Cogni, Erekli, and Marash. As the pilgrims passed over a desert,
where a draught of water is exchanged for silver, they were tormented by
intolerable thirst; and on the banks of the first rivulet, their haste and
intemperance were still more pernicious to the disorderly throng. They clim=
bed
with toil and danger the steep and slippery sides of Mount Taurus; many of =
the
soldiers cast away their arms to secure their footsteps; and had not terror
preceded their van, the long and trembling file might have been driven down=
the
precipice by a handful of resolute enemies. Two of their most respectable
chiefs, the duke of Lorraine and the count of Tholouse, were carried in
litters: Raymond was raised, as it is said by miracle, from a hopeless mala=
dy; and
Godfrey had been torn by a bear, as he pursued that rough and perilous chas=
e in
the mountains of Pisidia.
To improve the general consternation, the cous=
in
of Bohemond and the brother of Godfrey were detached from the main army with
their respective squadrons of five, and of seven, hundred knights. They ove=
rran
in a rapid career the hills and sea-coast of Cilicia, from Cogni to the Syr=
ian
gates: the Norman standard was first planted on the walls of Tarsus and
Malmistra; but the proud injustice of Baldwin at length provoked the patient
and generous Italian; and they turned their consecrated swords against each
other in a private and profane quarrel. Honor was the motive, and fame the
reward, of Tancred; but fortune smiled on the more selfish enterprise of his
rival. He was called to the assistance of a Greek or Armenian tyrant, who h=
ad
been suffered under the Turkish yoke to reign over the Christians of Edessa.
Baldwin accepted the character of his son and champion: but no sooner was h=
e introduced
into the city, than he inflamed the people to the massacre of his father,
occupied the throne and treasure, extended his conquests over the hills of
Armenia and the plain of Mesopotamia, and founded the first principality of=
the
Franks or Latins, which subsisted fifty-four years beyond the Euphrates.
Before the Franks could enter Syria, the summe=
r,
and even the autumn, were completely wasted: the siege of Antioch, or the
separation and repose of the army during the winter season, was strongly
debated in their council: the love of arms and the holy sepulchre urged the=
m to
advance; and reason perhaps was on the side of resolution, since every hour=
of
delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resource=
s of
defensive war. The capital of Syria was protected by the River Orontes; and=
the
iron bridge, of nine arches, derives its name from the massy gates of the t=
wo
towers which are constructed at either end. They were opened by the sword of
the duke of Normandy: his victory gave entrance to three hundred thousand
crusaders, an account which may allow some scope for losses and desertion, =
but
which clearly detects much exaggeration in the review of Nice. In the
description of Antioch, it is not easy to define a middle term between her
ancient magnificence, under the successors of Alexander and Augustus, and t=
he modern
aspect of Turkish desolation. The Tetrapolis, or four cities, if they retai=
ned
their name and position, must have left a large vacuity in a circumference =
of
twelve miles; and that measure, as well as the number of four hundred tower=
s,
are not perfectly consistent with the five gates, so often mentioned in the
history of the siege. Yet Antioch must have still flourished as a great and
populous capital. At the head of the Turkish emirs, Baghisian, a veteran ch=
ief,
commanded in the place: his garrison was composed of six or seven thousand
horse, and fifteen or twenty thousand foot: one hundred thousand Moslems are
said to have fallen by the sword; and their numbers were probably inferior =
to
the Greeks, Armenians, and Syrians, who had been no more than fourteen years
the slaves of the house of Seljuk. From the remains of a solid and stately
wall, it appears to have arisen to the height of threescore feet in the
valleys; and wherever less art and labor had been applied, the ground was
supposed to be defended by the river, the morass, and the mountains.
Notwithstanding these fortifications, the city had been repeatedly taken by=
the
Persians, the Arabs, the Greeks, and the Turks; so large a circuit must have
yielded many pervious points of attack; and in a siege that was formed about
the middle of October, the vigor of the execution could alone justify the
boldness of the attempt. Whatever strength and valor could perform in the f=
ield
was abundantly discharged by the champions of the cross: in the frequent
occasions of sallies, of forage, of the attack and defence of convoys, they
were often victorious; and we can only complain, that their exploits are
sometimes enlarged beyond the scale of probability and truth. The sword of
Godfrey divided a Turk from the shoulder to the haunch; and one half of the=
infidel
fell to the ground, while the other was transported by his horse to the city
gate. As Robert of Normandy rode against his antagonist, "I devote thy
head," he piously exclaimed, "to the dæmons of hell;" =
and that
head was instantly cloven to the breast by the resistless stroke of his
descending falchion. But the reality or the report of such gigantic prowess
must have taught the Moslems to keep within their walls: and against those
walls of earth or stone, the sword and the lance were unavailing weapons. In
the slow and successive labors of a siege, the crusaders were supine and
ignorant, without skill to contrive, or money to purchase, or industry to u=
se,
the artificial engines and implements of assault. In the conquest of Nice, =
they
had been powerfully assisted by the wealth and knowledge of the Greek emper=
or:
his absence was poorly supplied by some Genoese and Pisan vessels, that were
attracted by religion or trade to the coast of Syria: the stores were scant=
y,
the return precarious, and the communication difficult and dangerous. Indol=
ence
or weakness had prevented the Franks from investing the entire circuit; and=
the
perpetual freedom of two gates relieved the wants and recruited the garriso=
n of
the city. At the end of seven months, after the ruin of their cavalry, and =
an
enormous loss by famine, desertion and fatigue, the progress of the crusade=
rs
was imperceptible, and their success remote, if the Latin Ulysses, the artf=
ul
and ambitious Bohemond, had not employed the arms of cunning and deceit. The
Christians of Antioch were numerous and discontented: Phirouz, a Syrian
renegado, had acquired the favor of the emir and the command of three tower=
s;
and the merit of his repentance disguised to the Latins, and perhaps to
himself, the foul design of perfidy and treason. A secret correspondence, f=
or their
mutual interest, was soon established between Phirouz and the prince of
Tarento; and Bohemond declared in the council of the chiefs, that he could
deliver the city into their hands. But he claimed the sovereignty of Antioc=
h as
the reward of his service; and the proposal which had been rejected by the
envy, was at length extorted from the distress, of his equals. The nocturnal
surprise was executed by the French and Norman princes, who ascended in per=
son
the scaling-ladders that were thrown from the walls: their new proselyte, a=
fter
the murder of his too scrupulous brother, embraced and introduced the serva=
nts
of Christ; the army rushed through the gates; and the Moslems soon found, t=
hat
although mercy was hopeless, resistance was impotent. But the citadel still
refused to surrender; and the victims themselves were speedily encompassed =
and
besieged by the innumerable forces of Kerboga, prince of Mosul, who, with
twenty-eight Turkish emirs, advanced to the deliverance of Antioch.
Five-and-twenty days the Christians spent on the verge of destruction; and =
the
proud lieutenant of the caliph and the sultan left them only the choice of
servitude or death. In this extremity they collected the relics of their st=
rength,
sallied from the town, and in a single memorable day, annihilated or disper=
sed
the host of Turks and Arabians, which they might safely report to have
consisted of six hundred thousand men. Their supernatural allies I shall
proceed to consider: the human causes of the victory of Antioch were the fe=
arless
despair of the Franks; and the surprise, the discord, perhaps the errors, of
their unskilful and presumptuous adversaries. The battle is described with =
as
much disorder as it was fought; but we may observe the tent of Kerboga, a
movable and spacious palace, enriched with the luxury of Asia, and capable =
of
holding above two thousand persons; we may distinguish his three thousand
guards, who were cased, the horse as well as the men, in complete steel.
In the eventful period of the siege and defenc=
e of
Antioch, the crusaders were alternately exalted by victory or sunk in despa=
ir;
either swelled with plenty or emaciated with hunger. A speculative reasoner=
might
suppose, that their faith had a strong and serious influence on their pract=
ice;
and that the soldiers of the cross, the deliverers of the holy sepulchre,
prepared themselves by a sober and virtuous life for the daily contemplatio=
n of
martyrdom. Experience blows away this charitable illusion; and seldom does =
the
history of profane war display such scenes of intemperance and prostitution=
as
were exhibited under the walls of Antioch. The grove of Daphne no longer
flourished; but the Syrian air was still impregnated with the same vices; t=
he
Christians were seduced by every temptation that nature either prompts or r=
eprobates;
the authority of the chiefs was despised; and sermons and edicts were alike
fruitless against those scandalous disorders, not less pernicious to milita=
ry
discipline, than repugnant to evangelic purity. In the first days of the si=
ege
and the possession of Antioch, the Franks consumed with wanton and thoughtl=
ess
prodigality the frugal subsistence of weeks and months: the desolate countr=
y no
longer yielded a supply; and from that country they were at length excluded=
by
the arms of the besieging Turks. Disease, the faithful companion of want, w=
as
envenomed by the rains of the winter, the summer heats, unwholesome food, a=
nd
the close imprisonment of multitudes. The pictures of famine and pestilence=
are
always the same, and always disgustful; and our imagination may suggest the
nature of their sufferings and their resources. The remains of treasure or
spoil were eagerly lavished in the purchase of the vilest nourishment; and
dreadful must have been the calamities of the poor, since, after paying thr=
ee
marks of silver for a goat and fifteen for a lean camel, the count of Fland=
ers
was reduced to beg a dinner, and Duke Godfrey to borrow a horse. Sixty thou=
sand
horse had been reviewed in the camp: before the end of the siege they were
diminished to two thousand, and scarcely two hundred fit for service could =
be
mustered on the day of battle. Weakness of body and terror of mind extingui=
shed
the ardent enthusiasm of the pilgrims; and every motive of honor and religi=
on
was subdued by the desire of life. Among the chiefs, three heroes may be fo=
und
without fear or reproach: Godfrey of Bouillon was supported by his magnanim=
ous
piety; Bohemond by ambition and interest; and Tancred declared, in the true=
spirit
of chivalry, that as long as he was at the head of forty knights, he would
never relinquish the enterprise of Palestine. But the count of Tholouse and
Provence was suspected of a voluntary indisposition; the duke of Normandy w=
as
recalled from the sea-shore by the censures of the church: Hugh the Great,
though he led the vanguard of the battle, embraced an ambiguous opportunity=
of returning
to France and Stephen, count of Chartres, basely deserted the standard whic=
h he
bore, and the council in which he presided. The soldiers were discouraged by
the flight of William, viscount of Melun, surnamed the Carpenter, from the
weighty strokes of his axe; and the saints were scandalized by the fall of
Peter the Hermit, who, after arming Europe against Asia, attempted to escape
from the penance of a necessary fast. Of the multitude of recreant warriors,
the names (says an historian) are blotted from the book of life; and the
opprobrious epithet of the rope-dancers was applied to the deserters who
dropped in the night from the walls of Antioch. The emperor Alexius, who se=
emed
to advance to the succor of the Latins, was dismayed by the assurance of th=
eir
hopeless condition. They expected their fate in silent despair; oaths and
punishments were tried without effect; and to rouse the soldiers to the def=
ence
of the walls, it was found necessary to set fire to their quarters.
For their salvation and victory, they were
indebted to the same fanaticism which had led them to the brink of ruin. In
such a cause, and in such an army, visions, prophecies, and miracles, were
frequent and familiar. In the distress of Antioch, they were repeated with
unusual energy and success: St. Ambrose had assured a pious ecclesiastic, t=
hat two
years of trial must precede the season of deliverance and grace; the desert=
ers
were stopped by the presence and reproaches of Christ himself; the dead had
promised to arise and combat with their brethren; the Virgin had obtained t=
he
pardon of their sins; and their confidence was revived by a visible sign, t=
he
seasonable and splendid discovery of the holy lance. The policy of their ch=
iefs
has on this occasion been admired, and might surely be excused; but a pious
baud is seldom produced by the cool conspiracy of many persons; and a volun=
tary
impostor might depend on the support of the wise and the credulity of the
people. Of the diocese of Marseilles, there was a priest of low cunning and
loose manners, and his name was Peter Bartholemy. He presented himself at t=
he
door of the council-chamber, to disclose an apparition of St. Andrew, which=
had
been thrice reiterated in his sleep with a dreadful menace, if he presumed =
to
suppress the commands of Heaven. "At Antioch," said the apostle,
"in the church of my brother St. Peter, near the high altar, is concea=
led
the steel head of the lance that pierced the side of our Redeemer. In three
days that instrument of eternal, and now of temporal, salvation, will be
manifested to his disciples. Search, and ye shall find: bear it aloft in
battle; and that mystic weapon shall penetrate the souls of the
miscreants." The pope's legate, the bishop of Puy, affected to listen =
with
coldness and distrust; but the revelation was eagerly accepted by Count
Raymond, whom his faithful subject, in the name of the apostle, had chosen =
for
the guardian of the holy lance. The experiment was resolved; and on the thi=
rd
day after a due preparation of prayer and fasting, the priest of Marseilles
introduced twelve trusty spectators, among whom were the count and his
chaplain; and the church doors were barred against the impetuous multitude.=
The
ground was opened in the appointed place; but the workmen, who relieved each
other, dug to the depth of twelve feet without discovering the object of th=
eir
search. In the evening, when Count Raymond had withdrawn to his post, and t=
he
weary assistants began to murmur, Bartholemy, in his shirt, and without his
shoes, boldly descended into the pit; the darkness of the hour and of the p=
lace
enabled him to secrete and deposit the head of a Saracen lance; and the fir=
st sound,
the first gleam, of the steel was saluted with a devout rapture. The holy l=
ance
was drawn from its recess, wrapped in a veil of silk and gold, and exposed =
to
the veneration of the crusaders; their anxious suspense burst forth in a
general shout of joy and hope, and the desponding troops were again inflamed
with the enthusiasm of valor. Whatever had been the arts, and whatever migh=
t be
the sentiments of the chiefs, they skilfully improved this fortunate revolu=
tion
by every aid that discipline and devotion could afford. The soldiers were
dismissed to their quarters with an injunction to fortify their minds and
bodies for the approaching conflict, freely to bestow their last pittance o=
n themselves
and their horses, and to expect with the dawn of day the signal of victory.=
On
the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, the gates of Antioch were thrown op=
en:
a martial psalm, "Let the Lord arise, and let his enemies be
scattered!" was chanted by a procession of priests and monks; the batt=
le
array was marshalled in twelve divisions, in honor of the twelve apostles; =
and
the holy lance, in the absence of Raymond, was intrusted to the hands of his
chaplain. The influence of his relic or trophy, was felt by the servants, a=
nd
perhaps by the enemies, of Christ; and its potent energy was heightened by =
an
accident, a stratagem, or a rumor, of a miraculous complexion. Three knight=
s,
in white garments and resplendent arms, either issued, or seemed to issue, =
from
the hills: the voice of Adhemar, the pope's legate, proclaimed them as the
martyrs St. George, St. Theodore, and St. Maurice: the tumult of battle all=
owed
no time for doubt or scrutiny; and the welcome apparition dazzled the eyes =
or
the imagination of a fanatic army. In the season of danger and triumph, the
revelation of Bartholemy of Marseilles was unanimously asserted; but as soo=
n as
the temporary service was accomplished, the personal dignity and liberal ar=
ms
which the count of Tholouse derived from the custody of the holy lance,
provoked the envy, and awakened the reason, of his rivals. A Norman clerk
presumed to sift, with a philosophic spirit, the truth of the legend, the
circumstances of the discovery, and the character of the prophet; and the p=
ious
Bohemond ascribed their deliverance to the merits and intercession of Chris=
t alone.
For a while, the Provincials defended their national palladium with clamors=
and
arms and new visions condemned to death and hell the profane sceptics who
presumed to scrutinize the truth and merit of the discovery. The prevalence=
of
incredulity compelled the author to submit his life and veracity to the
judgment of God. A pile of dry fagots, four feet high and fourteen long, was
erected in the midst of the camp; the flames burnt fiercely to the elevatio=
n of
thirty cubits; and a narrow path of twelve inches was left for the perilous
trial. The unfortunate priest of Marseilles traversed the fire with dexteri=
ty
and speed; but the thighs and belly were scorched by the intense heat; he
expired the next day; and the logic of believing minds will pay some regard=
to
his dying protestations of innocence and truth. Some efforts were made by t=
he
Provincials to substitute a cross, a ring, or a tabernacle, in the place of=
the
holy lance, which soon vanished in contempt and oblivion. Yet the revelatio=
n of
Antioch is gravely asserted by succeeding historians: and such is the progr=
ess
of credulity, that miracles most doubtful on the spot, and at the moment, w=
ill
be received with implicit faith at a convenient distance of time and space.=
The prudence or fortune of the Franks had dela=
yed
their invasion till the decline of the Turkish empire. Under the manly
government of the three first sultans, the kingdoms of Asia were united in
peace and justice; and the innumerable armies which they led in person were=
equal
in courage, and superior in discipline, to the Barbarians of the West. But =
at
the time of the crusade, the inheritance of Malek Shaw was disputed by his =
four
sons; their private ambition was insensible of the public danger; and, in t=
he
vicissitudes of their fortune, the royal vassals were ignorant, or regardle=
ss,
of the true object of their allegiance. The twenty-eight emirs who marched =
with
the standard or Kerboga were his rivals or enemies: their hasty levies were
drawn from the towns and tents of Mesopotamia and Syria; and the Turkish
veterans were employed or consumed in the civil wars beyond the Tigris. The=
caliph
of Egypt embraced this opportunity of weakness and discord to recover his
ancient possessions; and his sultan Aphdal besieged Jerusalem and Tyre,
expelled the children of Ortok, and restored in Palestine the civil and
ecclesiastical authority of the Fatimites. They heard with astonishment of =
the
vast armies of Christians that had passed from Europe to Asia, and rejoiced=
in
the sieges and battles which broke the power of the Turks, the adversaries =
of
their sect and monarchy. But the same Christians were the enemies of the
prophet; and from the overthrow of Nice and Antioch, the motive of their
enterprise, which was gradually understood, would urge them forwards to the
banks of the Jordan, or perhaps of the Nile. An intercourse of epistles and=
embassies,
which rose and fell with the events of war, was maintained between the thro=
ne
of Cairo and the camp of the Latins; and their adverse pride was the result=
of
ignorance and enthusiasm. The ministers of Egypt declared in a haughty, or
insinuated in a milder, tone, that their sovereign, the true and lawful
commander of the faithful, had rescued Jerusalem from the Turkish yoke; and
that the pilgrims, if they would divide their numbers, and lay aside their
arms, should find a safe and hospitable reception at the sepulchre of Jesus=
. In
the belief of their lost condition, the caliph Mostali despised their arms =
and imprisoned
their deputies: the conquest and victory of Antioch prompted him to solicit
those formidable champions with gifts of horses and silk robes, of vases, a=
nd
purses of gold and silver; and in his estimate of their merit or power, the
first place was assigned to Bohemond, and the second to Godfrey. In either
fortune, the answer of the crusaders was firm and uniform: they disdained to
inquire into the private claims or possessions of the followers of Mahomet;
whatsoever was his name or nation, the usurper of Jerusalem was their enemy;
and instead of prescribing the mode and terms of their pilgrimage, it was o=
nly
by a timely surrender of the city and province, their sacred right, that he
could deserve their alliance, or deprecate their impending and irresistible
attack.
Yet this attack, when they were within the view
and reach of their glorious prize, was suspended above ten months after the
defeat of Kerboga. The zeal and courage of the crusaders were chilled in th=
e moment
of victory; and instead of marching to improve the consternation, they hast=
ily
dispersed to enjoy the luxury, of Syria. The causes of this strange delay m=
ay
be found in the want of strength and subordination. In the painful and vari=
ous
service of Antioch, the cavalry was annihilated; many thousands of every ra=
nk
had been lost by famine, sickness, and desertion: the same abuse of plenty =
had
been productive of a third famine; and the alternative of intemperance and
distress had generated a pestilence, which swept away above fifty thousand =
of
the pilgrims. Few were able to command, and none were willing to obey; the
domestic feuds, which had been stifled by common fear, were again renewed in
acts, or at least in sentiments, of hostility; the fortune of Baldwin and
Bohemond excited the envy of their companions; the bravest knights were
enlisted for the defence of their new principalities; and Count Raymond
exhausted his troops and treasures in an idle expedition into the heart of
Syria. * The winter was consumed in discord and disorder; a sense of honor =
and religion
was rekindled in the spring; and the private soldiers, less susceptible of
ambition and jealousy, awakened with angry clamors the indolence of their
chiefs. In the month of May, the relics of this mighty host proceeded from
Antioch to Laodicea: about forty thousand Latins, of whom no more than fift=
een
hundred horse, and twenty thousand foot, were capable of immediate service.
Their easy march was continued between Mount Libanus and the sea-shore: the=
ir
wants were liberally supplied by the coasting traders of Genoa and Pisa; and
they drew large contributions from the emirs of Tripoli, Tyre, Sidon, Acre,=
and
Cæsarea, who granted a free passage, and promised to follow the examp=
le
of Jerusalem. From Cæsarea they advanced into the midland country; th=
eir clerks
recognized the sacred geography of Lydda, Ramla, Emmaus, and Bethlem, and as
soon as they descried the holy city, the crusaders forgot their toils and
claimed their reward.
Jerusalem has derived some reputation from the
number and importance of her memorable sieges. It was not till after a long=
and
obstinate contest that Babylon and Rome could prevail against the obstinacy=
of
the people, the craggy ground that might supersede the necessity of
fortifications, and the walls and towers that would have fortified the most
accessible plain. These obstacles were diminished in the age of the crusade=
s.
The bulwarks had been completely destroyed and imperfectly restored: the Je=
ws,
their nation, and worship, were forever banished; but nature is less change=
able
than man, and the site of Jerusalem, though somewhat softened and somewhat
removed, was still strong against the assaults of an enemy. By the experien=
ce
of a recent siege, and a three years' possession, the Saracens of Egypt had
been taught to discern, and in some degree to remedy, the defects of a plac=
e,
which religion as well as honor forbade them to resign. Aladin, or Iftikhar,
the caliph's lieutenant, was intrusted with the defence: his policy strove =
to restrain
the native Christians by the dread of their own ruin and that of the holy
sepulchre; to animate the Moslems by the assurance of temporal and eternal
rewards. His garrison is said to have consisted of forty thousand Turks and
Arabians; and if he could muster twenty thousand of the inhabitants, it mus=
t be
confessed that the besieged were more numerous than the besieging army. Had=
the
diminished strength and numbers of the Latins allowed them to grasp the who=
le
circumference of four thousand yards, (about two English miles and a half, =
) to
what useful purpose should they have descended into the valley of Ben Hinno=
m and
torrent of Cedron, or approach the precipices of the south and east, from
whence they had nothing either to hope or fear? Their siege was more reason=
ably
directed against the northern and western sides of the city. Godfrey of
Bouillon erected his standard on the first swell of Mount Calvary: to the l=
eft,
as far as St. Stephen's gate, the line of attack was continued by Tancred a=
nd
the two Roberts; and Count Raymond established his quarters from the citade=
l to
the foot of Mount Sion, which was no longer included within the precincts of
the city. On the fifth day, the crusaders made a general assault, in the
fanatic hope of battering down the walls without engines, and of scaling th=
em
without ladders. By the dint of brutal force, they burst the first barrier;=
but
they were driven back with shame and slaughter to the camp: the influence of
vision and prophecy was deadened by the too frequent abuse of those pious
stratagems; and time and labor were found to be the only means of victory. =
The
time of the siege was indeed fulfilled in forty days, but they were forty d=
ays
of calamity and anguish. A repetition of the old complaint of famine may be
imputed in some degree to the voracious or disorderly appetite of the Frank=
s;
but the stony soil of Jerusalem is almost destitute of water; the scanty
springs and hasty torrents were dry in the summer season; nor was the thirs=
t of
the besiegers relieved, as in the city, by the artificial supply of cistern=
s and
aqueducts. The circumjacent country is equally destitute of trees for the u=
ses
of shade or building, but some large beams were discovered in a cave by the
crusaders: a wood near Sichem, the enchanted grove of Tasso, was cut down: =
the
necessary timber was transported to the camp by the vigor and dexterity of
Tancred; and the engines were framed by some Genoese artists, who had
fortunately landed in the harbor of Jaffa. Two movable turrets were constru=
cted
at the expense, and in the stations, of the duke of Lorraine and the count =
of
Tholouse, and rolled forwards with devout labor, not to the most accessible,
but to the most neglected, parts of the fortification. Raymond's Tower was
reduced to ashes by the fire of the besieged, but his colleague was more
vigilant and successful; the enemies were driven by his archers from the
rampart; the draw-bridge was let down; and on a Friday, at three in the aft=
ernoon,
the day and hour of the passion, Godfrey of Bouillon stood victorious on the
walls of Jerusalem. His example was followed on every side by the emulation=
of
valor; and about four hundred and sixty years after the conquest of Omar, t=
he
holy city was rescued from the Mahometan yoke. In the pillage of public and
private wealth, the adventurers had agreed to respect the exclusive propert=
y of
the first occupant; and the spoils of the great mosque, seventy lamps and m=
assy
vases of gold and silver, rewarded the diligence, and displayed the generos=
ity,
of Tancred. A bloody sacrifice was offered by his mistaken votaries to the =
God
of the Christians: resistance might provoke but neither age nor sex could
mollify, their implacable rage: they indulged themselves three days in a
promiscuous massacre; and the infection of the dead bodies produced an epid=
emical
disease. After seventy thousand Moslems had been put to the sword, and the
harmless Jews had been burnt in their synagogue, they could still reserve a
multitude of captives, whom interest or lassitude persuaded them to spare. =
Of
these savage heroes of the cross, Tancred alone betrayed some sentiments of
compassion; yet we may praise the more selfish lenity of Raymond, who grant=
ed a
capitulation and safe-conduct to the garrison of the citadel. The holy sepu=
lchre
was now free; and the bloody victors prepared to accomplish their vow.
Bareheaded and barefoot, with contrite hearts, and in an humble posture, th=
ey
ascended the hill of Calvary, amidst the loud anthems of the clergy; kissed=
the
stone which had covered the Savior of the world; and bedewed with tears of =
joy
and penitence the monument of their redemption. This union of the fiercest =
and
most tender passions has been variously considered by two philosophers; by =
the
one, as easy and natural; by the other, as absurd and incredible. Perhaps i=
t is
too rigorously applied to the same persons and the same hour; the example of
the virtuous Godfrey awakened the piety of his companions; while they clean=
sed
their bodies, they purified their minds; nor shall I believe that the most
ardent in slaughter and rapine were the foremost in the procession to the h=
oly
sepulchre.
Eight days after this memorable event, which P=
ope
Urban did not live to hear, the Latin chiefs proceeded to the election of a
king, to guard and govern their conquests in Palestine. Hugh the Great, and
Stephen of Chartres, had retired with some loss of reputation, which they
strove to regain by a second crusade and an honorable death. Baldwin was es=
tablished
at Edessa, and Bohemond at Antioch; and two Roberts, the duke of Normandy a=
nd
the count of Flanders, preferred their fair inheritance in the West to a
doubtful competition or a barren sceptre. The jealousy and ambition of Raym=
ond
were condemned by his own followers, and the free, the just, the unanimous
voice of the army proclaimed Godfrey of Bouillon the first and most worthy =
of
the champions of Christendom. His magnanimity accepted a trust as full of d=
anger
as of glory; but in a city where his Savior had been crowned with thorns, t=
he
devout pilgrim rejected the name and ensigns of royalty; and the founder of=
the
kingdom of Jerusalem contented himself with the modest title of Defender and
Baron of the Holy Sepulchre. His government of a single year, too short for=
the
public happiness, was interrupted in the first fortnight by a summons to th=
e field,
by the approach of the vizier or sultan of Egypt, who had been too slow to
prevent, but who was impatient to avenge, the loss of Jerusalem. His total
overthrow in the battle of Ascalon sealed the establishment of the Latins in
Syria, and signalized the valor of the French princes who in this action ba=
de a
long farewell to the holy wars. Some glory might be derived from the prodig=
ious
inequality of numbers, though I shall not count the myriads of horse and fo=
ot
on the side of the Fatimites; but, except three thousand Ethiopians or Blac=
ks,
who were armed with flails or scourges of iron, the Barbarians of the South
fled on the first onset, and afforded a pleasing comparison between the act=
ive
valor of the Turks and the sloth and effeminacy of the natives of Egypt. Af=
ter
suspending before the holy sepulchre the sword and standard of the sultan, =
the
new king (he deserves the title) embraced his departing companions, and cou=
ld retain
only with the gallant Tancred three hundred knights, and two thousand foot-=
soldiers
for the defence of Palestine. His sovereignty was soon attacked by a new en=
emy,
the only one against whom Godfrey was a coward. Adhemar, bishop of Puy, who
excelled both in council and action, had been swept away in the last plague=
at
Antioch: the remaining ecclesiastics preserved only the pride and avarice of
their character; and their seditious clamors had required that the choice o=
f a
bishop should precede that of a king. The revenue and jurisdiction of the l=
awful
patriarch were usurped by the Latin clergy: the exclusion of the Greeks and
Syrians was justified by the reproach of heresy or schism; and, under the i=
ron
yoke of their deliverers, the Oriental Christians regretted the tolerating
government of the Arabian caliphs. Daimbert, archbishop of Pisa, had long b=
een
trained in the secret policy of Rome: he brought a fleet at his countrymen =
to
the succor of the Holy Land, and was installed, without a competitor, the
spiritual and temporal head of the church. The new patriarch immediately
grasped the sceptre which had been acquired by the toil and blood of the
victorious pilgrims; and both Godfrey and Bohemond submitted to receive at =
his
hands the investiture of their feudal possessions. Nor was this sufficient;=
Daimbert
claimed the immediate property of Jerusalem and Jaffa; instead of a firm and
generous refusal, the hero negotiated with the priest; a quarter of either =
city
was ceded to the church; and the modest bishop was satisfied with an eventu=
al
reversion of the rest, on the death of Godfrey without children, or on the
future acquisition of a new seat at Cairo or Damascus.
Without this indulgence, the conqueror would h=
ave
almost been stripped of his infant kingdom, which consisted only of Jerusal=
em
and Jaffa, with about twenty villages and towns of the adjacent country. Wi=
thin
this narrow verge, the Mahometans were still lodged in some impregnable cas=
tles:
and the husbandman, the trader, and the pilgrim, were exposed to daily and
domestic hostility. By the arms of Godfrey himself, and of the two Baldwins,
his brother and cousin, who succeeded to the throne, the Latins breathed wi=
th
more ease and safety; and at length they equalled, in the extent of their
dominions, though not in the millions of their subjects, the ancient prince=
s of
Judah and Israel. After the reduction of the maritime cities of Laodicea,
Tripoli, Tyre, and Ascalon, which were powerfully assisted by the fleets of
Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, and even of Flanders and Norway, the range of
sea-coast from Scanderoon to the borders of Egypt was possessed by the
Christian pilgrims. If the prince of Antioch disclaimed his supremacy, the
counts of Edessa and Tripoli owned themselves the vassals of the king of Je=
rusalem:
the Latins reigned beyond the Euphrates; and the four cities of Hems, Hamah,
Damascus, and Aleppo, were the only relics of the Mahometan conquests in Sy=
ria.
The laws and language, the manners and titles, of the French nation and Lat=
in
church, were introduced into these transmarine colonies. According to the
feudal jurisprudence, the principal states and subordinate baronies descend=
ed
in the line of male and female succession: but the children of the first
conquerors, a motley and degenerate race, were dissolved by the luxury of t=
he
climate; the arrival of new crusaders from Europe was a doubtful hope and a=
casual
event. The service of the feudal tenures was performed by six hundred and
sixty-six knights, who might expect the aid of two hundred more under the
banner of the count of Tripoli; and each knight was attended to the field by
four squires or archers on horseback. Five thousand and seventy sergeants, =
most
probably foot-soldiers, were supplied by the churches and cities; and the w=
hole
legal militia of the kingdom could not exceed eleven thousand men, a slender
defence against the surrounding myriads of Saracens and Turks. But the firm=
est
bulwark of Jerusalem was founded on the knights of the Hospital of St. John,
and of the temple of Solomon; on the strange association of a monastic and =
military
life, which fanaticism might suggest, but which policy must approve. The fl=
ower
of the nobility of Europe aspired to wear the cross, and to profess the vow=
s,
of these respectable orders; their spirit and discipline were immortal; and=
the
speedy donation of twenty-eight thousand farms, or manors, enabled them to
support a regular force of cavalry and infantry for the defence of Palestin=
e.
The austerity of the convent soon evaporated in the exercise of arms; the w=
orld
was scandalized by the pride, avarice, and corruption of these Christian so=
ldiers;
their claims of immunity and jurisdiction disturbed the harmony of the chur=
ch
and state; and the public peace was endangered by their jealous emulation. =
But
in their most dissolute period, the knights of their hospital and temple
maintained their fearless and fanatic character: they neglected to live, but
they were prepared to die, in the service of Christ; and the spirit of
chivalry, the parent and offspring of the crusades, has been transplanted by
this institution from the holy sepulchre to the Isle of Malta.
The spirit of freedom, which pervades the feud=
al
institutions, was felt in its strongest energy by the volunteers of the cro=
ss,
who elected for their chief the most deserving of his peers. Amidst the sla=
ves
of Asia, unconscious of the lesson or example, a model of political liberty=
was
introduced; and the laws of the French kingdom are derived from the purest
source of equality and justice. Of such laws, the first and indispensable
condition is the assent of those whose obedience they require, and for whose
benefit they are designed. No sooner had Godfrey of Bouillon accepted the
office of supreme magistrate, than he solicited the public and private advi=
ce
of the Latin pilgrims, who were the best skilled in the statutes and custom=
s of
Europe. From these materials, with the counsel and approbation of the patri=
arch
and barons, of the clergy and laity, Godfrey composed the Assise of Jerusal=
em,
a precious monument of feudal jurisprudence. The new code, attested by the
seals of the king, the patriarch, and the viscount of Jerusalem, was deposi=
ted
in the holy sepulchre, enriched with the improvements of succeeding times, =
and
respectfully consulted as often as any doubtful question arose in the tribu=
nals
of Palestine. With the kingdom and city all was lost: the fragments of the
written law were preserved by jealous tradition and variable practice till =
the
middle of the thirteenth century: the code was restored by the pen of John
d'Ibelin, count of Jaffa, one of the principal feudatories; and the final
revision was accomplished in the year thirteen hundred and sixty-nine, for =
the
use of the Latin kingdom of Cyprus.
The justice and freedom of the constitution we=
re
maintained by two tribunals of unequal dignity, which were instituted by
Godfrey of Bouillon after the conquest of Jerusalem. The king, in person,
presided in the upper court, the court of the barons. Of these the four mos=
t conspicuous
were the prince of Galilee, the lord of Sidon and Cæsarea, and the co=
unts
of Jaffa and Tripoli, who, perhaps with the constable and marshal, were in a
special manner the compeers and judges of each other. But all the nobles, w=
ho
held their lands immediately of the crown, were entitled and bound to attend
the king's court; and each baron exercised a similar jurisdiction on the
subordinate assemblies of his own feudatories. The connection of lord and
vassal was honorable and voluntary: reverence was due to the benefactor,
protection to the dependant; but they mutually pledged their faith to each
other; and the obligation on either side might be suspended by neglect or
dissolved by injury. The cognizance of marriages and testaments was blended
with religion, and usurped by the clergy: but the civil and criminal causes=
of
the nobles, the inheritance and tenure of their fiefs, formed the proper
occupation of the supreme court. Each member was the judge and guardian bot=
h of
public and private rights. It was his duty to assert with his tongue and sw=
ord
the lawful claims of the lord; but if an unjust superior presumed to violate
the freedom or property of a vassal, the confederate peers stood forth to
maintain his quarrel by word and deed. They boldly affirmed his innocence a=
nd
his wrongs; demanded the restitution of his liberty or his lands; suspended,
after a fruitless demand, their own service; rescued their brother from pri=
son;
and employed every weapon in his defence, without offering direct violence =
to
the person of their lord, which was ever sacred in their eyes. In their
pleadings, replies, and rejoinders, the advocates of the court were subtle =
and
copious; but the use of argument and evidence was often superseded by judic=
ial
combat; and the Assise of Jerusalem admits in many cases this barbarous
institution, which has been slowly abolished by the laws and manners of Eur=
ope.
The trial by battle was established in all
criminal cases which affected the life, or limb, or honor, of any person; a=
nd
in all civil transactions, of or above the value of one mark of silver. It
appears that in criminal cases the combat was the privilege of the accuser,
who, except in a charge of treason, avenged his personal injury, or the dea=
th of
those persons whom he had a right to represent; but wherever, from the natu=
re
of the charge, testimony could be obtained, it was necessary for him to pro=
duce
witnesses of the fact. In civil cases, the combat was not allowed as the me=
ans
of establishing the claim of the demandant; but he was obliged to produce
witnesses who had, or assumed to have, knowledge of the fact. The combat was
then the privilege of the defendant; because he charged the witness with an
attempt by perjury to take away his right. He came therefore to be in the s=
ame
situation as the appellant in criminal cases. It was not then as a mode of
proof that the combat was received, nor as making negative evidence, (accor=
ding
to the supposition of Montesquieu; ) but in every case the right to offer b=
attle
was founded on the right to pursue by arms the redress of an injury; and the
judicial combat was fought on the same principle, and with the same spirit,=
as
a private duel. Champions were only allowed to women, and to men maimed or =
past
the age of sixty. The consequence of a defeat was death to the person accus=
ed,
or to the champion or witness, as well as to the accuser himself: but in ci=
vil
cases, the demandant was punished with infamy and the loss of his suit, whi=
le
his witness and champion suffered ignominious death. In many cases it was in
the option of the judge to award or to refuse the combat: but two are
specified, in which it was the inevitable result of the challenge; if a
faithful vassal gave the lie to his compeer, who unjustly claimed any porti=
on
of their lord's demesnes; or if an unsuccessful suitor presumed to impeach =
the
judgment and veracity of the court. He might impeach them, but the terms we=
re
severe and perilous: in the same day he successively fought all the members=
of
the tribunal, even those who had been absent; a single defeat was followed =
by
death and infamy; and where none could hope for victory, it is highly proba=
ble
that none would adventure the trial. In the Assise of Jerusalem, the legal
subtlety of the count of Jaffa is more laudably employed to elude, than to
facilitate, the judicial combat, which he derives from a principle of honor
rather than of superstition.
Among the causes which enfranchised the plebei=
ans
from the yoke of feudal tyranny, the institution of cities and corporations=
is
one of the most powerful; and if those of Palestine are coeval with the fir=
st crusade,
they may be ranked with the most ancient of the Latin world. Many of the
pilgrims had escaped from their lords under the banner of the cross; and it=
was
the policy of the French princes to tempt their stay by the assurance of the
rights and privileges of freemen. It is expressly declared in the Assise of
Jerusalem, that after instituting, for his knights and barons, the court of
peers, in which he presided himself, Godfrey of Bouillon established a seco=
nd
tribunal, in which his person was represented by his viscount. The jurisdic=
tion
of this inferior court extended over the burgesses of the kingdom; and it w=
as composed
of a select number of the most discreet and worthy citizens, who were sworn=
to
judge, according to the laws of the actions and fortunes of their equals. In
the conquest and settlement of new cities, the example of Jerusalem was
imitated by the kings and their great vassals; and above thirty similar
corporations were founded before the loss of the Holy Land. Another class of
subjects, the Syrians, or Oriental Christians, were oppressed by the zeal of
the clergy, and protected by the toleration of the state. Godfrey listened =
to
their reasonable prayer, that they might be judged by their own national la=
ws. A
third court was instituted for their use, of limited and domestic jurisdict=
ion:
the sworn members were Syrians, in blood, language, and religion; but the
office of the president (in Arabic, of the rais) was sometimes exercised by=
the
viscount of the city. At an immeasurable distance below the nobles, the
burgesses, and the strangers, the Assise of Jerusalem condescends to mention
the villains and slaves, the peasants of the land and the captives of war, =
who
were almost equally considered as the objects of property. The relief or
protection of these unhappy men was not esteemed worthy of the care of the =
legislator;
but he diligently provides for the recovery, though not indeed for the
punishment, of the fugitives. Like hounds, or hawks, who had strayed from t=
he
lawful owner, they might be lost and claimed: the slave and falcon were of =
the
same value; but three slaves, or twelve oxen, were accumulated to equal the
price of the war-horse; and a sum of three hundred pieces of gold was fixed=
, in
the age of chivalry, as the equivalent of the more noble animal.
End of Volume V.