ply
of the Christian images--I had almost said idols. This, if I am not
mistaken, is the oldest of divine manufacture; but in the next thousand
years, many others issued from the same workshop.]

Persia had been lost by a king; it was saved by a hero. After his
revolt, Varanes or Bahram is stigmatized by the son of Hormouz as an
ungrateful slave; the proud and ambiguous reproach of despotism, since
he was truly descended from the ancient princes of Rei, [10] one of
the seven families whose splendid, as well as substantial, prerogatives
exalted them above the heads of the Persian nobility. [11] At the siege
of Dara, the valor of Bahram was signalized under the eyes of Nushirvan,
and both the father and son successively promoted him to the command of
armies, the government of Media, and the superintendence of the palace.
The popular prediction which marked him as the deliverer of Persia,
might be inspired by his past victories and extraordinary figure: the
epithet Giubin [1111] is expressive of the quality of dry wood: he had
the strength and stature of a giant; and his savage countenance was
fancifully compared to that of a wild cat. While the nation trembled,
while Hormouz disguised his terror by the name of suspicion, and his
servants concealed their disloyalty under the mask of fear, Bahram alone
displayed his undaunted courage and apparent fidelity: and as soon as
he found that no more than twelve thousand soldiers would follow him
against the enemy; he prudently declared, that to this fatal number
Heaven had reserved the honors of the triumph. [1112] The steep and
narrow descent of the Pule Rudbar, [12] or Hyrcanian rock, is the only
pass through which an army can penetrate into the territory of Rei and
the plains of Media. From the commanding heights, a band of resolute men
might overwhelm with stones and darts the myriads of the Turkish
host: their emperor and his son were transpierced with arrows; and the
fugitives were left, without counsel or provisions, to the revenge of an
injured people. The patriotism of the Persian general was stimulated by
his affection for the city of his forefathers: in the hour of victory,
every peasant became a soldier, and every soldier a hero; and their
ardor was kindled by the gorgeous spectacle of beds, and thrones, and
tables of massy gold, the spoils of Asia, and the luxury of the hostile
camp. A prince of a less malignant temper could not easily have forgiven
his benefactor; an