OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

233

was the property of the Venetians, the Genoese , chap.the Florentines, and the merchants of Ancona . LXvm -Of these foreigners, the stock was improved inquick and perpetual circulation; but the richesof the Greeks were displayed in the idle osten-tation of palaces and wardrobes, or deeply bu-ried in treasures of ingots and old coin, lest itshould be demanded at their hands for the de-fence of their country. The profanation andplunder of the monasteries and churches excitedthe most tragic complaints. The dome of St.

Sop\ia itself, the earthly heaven, the second fir-mament, the vehicle of the cherubim, the throneof the glory of God , b was despoiled of the obla-tions of ages; and the gold and silver, the pearlsand jewels, the vases and sacerdotal ornaments,were most wickedly converted to the service ofmankind. After the divine images had beenstripped of all that could be valuable to a pro-fane eye, the canvas, or the wood, was torn, orbroken, or burnt, or trod under foot, or applied,in the stables, or the kitchen, to the vilest uses.

The example of sacrilege was imitated, however,from the Latin conquerors of Constantinople ;and the treatment w'hich Christ, the virgin, andthe saints, had sustained from the guilty catho-lic might be inflicted by the zealous mussulmanon the monuments of idolatry. Perhaps, instead,of joining the public clamour, a philosopher willobserve, that in the decline of the arts, the work-

Florence, and Ancona , of SO, 20, 20, and 13,000 ducats, I suspect thata figure has been dropt. Even with the restitution, the foreign pro-perty would scarcely exceed one-fourth.

b See the enthusiastic praises and lamentations of Phranza (1. iii,c. 17).