"
After the victories of Omar, and the other successors of Mahomet had in
a manner stripped the court of Constantinople of all its provinces, the
Byzantine history dwindles into an object petty and minute. In order to
vary the scene, and enhance the dignity of his subject, the author
occasionally takes a prospect of the state of Rome and Italy, under the
contending powers of the papacy and the new empire of the West. When the
singular and unparalleled object of the Crusades presents itself, the
historian embraces the illustrious scene with apparent eagerness, and
bestows upon it a greater enlargement than might perhaps have been
expected from the nature of his subject; but not greater, we confidently
believe, than is calculated to increase the pleasure, that a reader of
philosophy and taste may derive from the perusal. As the immortal
Saladin is one of the most distinguished personages in this story, we
have selected his character, as a specimen of this part of the work.
"No sooner however was the virtuous Noureddin removed by death,
than the Christians of the East had their attention still more
forcibly alarmed by the progress of the invincible Saladin. He
had possessed himself of the government of Egypt; first, under
the modest appellation of vizier, and then, with the more august
title of soldan.
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