OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 167

be poured into his soul. His motives would he chap.

less exposed to the suspicion of interest or re-.^

venge, had he broken his chain from the momentthat he was sensible of its weight;, but a long-oblivion had surely impaired his original right;and every year of obedience and reward had ce-mented the mutual bond of the sultan and hissubject. If Scanderbeg had long harboured thebelief of Christianity and the intention of revolt,a worthy mind must condemn the base dissimu-lation, that could serve only to betray, that couldpromise only to be forsworn, that could activelyjoin in the temporal and spiritual perdition of somany thousands of his unhappy brethren. Shallwe praise a secret correspondence with Hu-niades, while he commanded the vanguard of theTurkish army? shall we excuse the desertion ofhis standard ; a treacherous desertion, whichabandoned the victory to the enemies of his be-nefactor? In the confusion of a defeat, the eye His revoltof Scanderbeg was fixed on the reis enendi or Turks,principal secretary: with a dagger at his breast, Nov.as.he extorted a firman or patent for the govern-ment of Albania ; and the murder of the guilt-less scribe and his train prevented the conse-quences of an immediate discovery. With somebold companions, to whom he had revealed hisdesign, he escaped in the night, by rapid marches,from the field of battle to his paternal mountains,

The gates of Croya were opened to the royalmandate: and no sooner did he command the

Amurath II , who must have inherited, not acquired, the Albania slave. Spondanus has remarked this inconsistency, a. D. 1431, No. 31,

1143, No. 14.