their own princes, they preferred being your tributaries. What matters
it, said the Christian, whether my ruler breaks or adores images, if
he renders justice to me? God will judge his doctrines in the heavens
above.

You were sober and hardy; your enemies timid and enervated; you
were expert in battle, your enemies unskillful; your leaders were
experienced, your soldiers warlike and disciplined. Booty excited ardor,
bravery was rewarded, cowardice and insubordination punished, and all
the springs of the human heart were in action. Thus you vanquished
a hundred nations, and of a mass of conquered kingdoms compounded an
immense empire.

But other customs have succeeded; and in the reverses attending them,
the laws of nature have still exerted their force. After devouring your
enemies, your cupidity, still insatiable, has reacted on itself, and,
concentrated in your own bowels, has consumed you.

Having become rich, you have quarrelled for partition and enjoyment, and
disorder hath arisen in every class of society.

The Sultan, intoxicated with grandeur, has mistaken the object of his
functions; and all the vices of arbitrary power have been developed.
Meeting no obstacle to his appetites, he has become a depraved being;
weak and arrogant, he has kept the people at a distance; and their
voice has no longer instructed and guided him. Ignorant, yet flattered,
neglecting all instruction, all study, he has fallen into imbecility;
unfit for business, he has thrown its burdens on hirelings, and they
have deceived him. To satisfy their own passions, they have stimulated
and nourished his; they have multiplied his wants, and his enormous