king who is
its prophet; who causeth his sun to shine alike on all the races of
men, on the white as on the black, on the Jew, on the Mussulman, the
Christian, and the Idolater; who reareth the harvest wherever cultivated
with diligence; who multiplieth every nation where industry and order
prevaileth; who prospereth every empire where justice is practised,
where the powerful are restrained, and the poor protected by the laws;
where the weak live in safety, and all enjoy the rights given by nature
and a compact formed in justice.

These are the principles by which people are judged! this the true
religion which regulates the destiny of empires, and which, O Ottomans,
hath governed yours! Interrogate your ancestors, ask of them by what
means they rose to greatness; when few, poor and idolaters, they came
from the deserts of Tartary and encamped in these fertile countries; ask
if it was by Islamism, till then unknown to them, that they conquered
the Greeks and the Arabs, or was it by their courage, their prudence,
moderation, spirit of union--the true powers of the social state? Then
the Sultan himself dispensed justice, and maintained discipline. The
prevaricating judge, the extortionate governor, were punished, and the
multitude lived at ease. The cultivator was protected from the rapine
of the janissary, and the fields prospered; the highways were safe, and
commerce caused abundance. You were a band of plunderers, but just among
yourselves. You subdued nations, but did not oppress them. Harassed by
their own princes, they preferred being your tributaries. What matters
it, said the Christian, whether my ruler breaks or adores images, if
he renders justice to me? God will judge his doctrines in the heavens
above.

You were sober and hardy; your enemies timid and enervated; you
were expert in battle, your enemies unskillful; your leaders were
experienced, your soldiers warlike and disciplined. Booty excited ardor,
bravery was rewarded, cowardice and insubordination punished, and all
the springs of the human heart were in action. Thus you vanquished
a hundred nations, and of a mass of conquered kingdoms compounded an
immense empire.

But other customs have succeeded; and in the reverses attending them,
the laws of nature have still exerted their force. After devouring your
enemies, your cupidity, still insatiable, has reacted on itself, and,
concentrated in your own bowels, has consumed you.

Having become rich, you h