examine how far the monks 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
cruelty 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, ^24 his visitor-general, excited the
terror and abhorrence of the black nation: the religious
communities were dissolved, the 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 even the books of the monasteries. With the habit
and profession of monks, the public and private worship of images
was rigorously proscribed; and it should seem, that a solemn
abjuration of idolatry was exacted from the subjects, or at least
from the clergy, of the Eastern empire. ^25

[Footnote 21: The holy confessor Theophanes approves the
principle of their rebellion, (p. 339.) Gregory II. (in Epist. i.
ad Imp. Leon. Concil. tom. viii. p. 661, 664) applauds the zeal
of the Byzantine women who killed the Imperial officers.]

[Footnote 22: John, or Mansur, was a noble Christian of Damascus,
who held a considerable office in the service of the caliph. His
zeal in the cause of images exposed him to the resentment and
treachery of the Greek emperor; and on the suspicion of a
treasonable correspondence, he was deprived of his right hand,
which was miraculously restored by the Virgin. After this