TUB DECLINE AND FALL

146

chap, their refusal was justified by the maxim, that

.^ the guilt of idolatry is less damnable than that

of schism. The errors of the Bohemians wereexcused by their abhorrence for the pope; anda deputation of the Greek clergy solicited thefriendship of those sanguinary enthusiasts . 11While Eugenius triumphed in the union andorthodoxy of the Greeks, his party was contract-ed to the walls, or rather to the palace, of Con­ stantinople . The zeal of Palaeologus had beenexcited by interest; it was soon cooled by oppo-sition: an attempt to violate the national beliefmight endanger his life and crown ; nor couldthe pious rebels be destitute of foreign and do-mestic aid. The sword of his brother Deme-trius, who in Italy had maintained a prudentand popular silence, was half unsheathed in thecause of religion; and Aiiiurath, the Turkishsultan, was displeased and alarmed by the seem-ing friendship of the Greeks and Latins.

Reign and “ Sultan Murad , or Amurath, lived fortv-nine,

character . . . '

of Amu- “ and reigned thirty years, six months, and eight“ days. He was a just and valiant prince, of aFeb 1 #. “ great soul, patient of labours, learned, merci-

nosophists, has been driven, by the more popular Bramins, from India into the northern deserts : the naked philosophers were compelled towrap themselves in fur; but they insensibly sunk into wizards andphysicians. The Mordvans and Tcheremisses , in the European Rus-sia, adhere to this religion, which is formed on the earthly model otone king or God , his ministers or angels, and the rebellious spirits whooppose his government. As these tribes of the Volga have no images,they might more justly retort oil the Latin missionaries the name ofidolaters (Levesque, Hist, des Peuples sounds a la Domination desRusses, tom. i, p. 194-237, 423-4G0)k Spondauus, Annal. Eccles. tom. ii, a. d. 1451, No. 13. The epis.tie of the Greeks, with a Latin version, is extant in the college library