Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/289

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 267 consideration of the malice and the power of our enemies. A pernicious tenet has been imputed to the Mahometans^ the duty of cxtirpaling all other religions by the sword. This charge of ignorance and bigotry is refuted by the Koran, by the history of the Musulman conquerors, and by their public and legal tolera- tion of the Christian worship. But it cannot be denied that the Oriental churches are depressed under their iron yoke ; that, in peace and war, they assert a divine and indefeasible claim of uni- versal empire ; and that, in their orthodox creed, the unbeliev- ing nations are continually threatened with the loss of religion or liberty. In the eleventh century, the victorious arms of the Turks presented a real and urgent 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 empire tottered on the verge of destruction. Besides an honest sympathy for their brethren, the Latins had a right and interest in the support of Constantinople, the most important barrier of the West ; and the privilege of defence must reach to prevent, as well as to repel, an impending assault. But this salutary pur- pose might have been accompli.shed by a moderate succour ; and our calmer reason must disclaim the innumerable hosts and remote operations which overwhelmed Asia and depopulated Europe. II. Palestine could add nothing to the strength 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 Saviour : 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 pre-eminence 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 Bethlehem 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 Avars which have been waged in every climate of the globe, from Egypt to Livonia, and from Peru to Hindostan, require the support 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 sub-