he dynasty of the Fatemite
khalifs. Though Noureddin had been the patron of his family, and
the father of his fortunes, yet was that hero no sooner expired,
than he invaded the territories of his young and unwarlike
successor. He conquered the fertile and populous province of
Syria. He compelled the saheb of Mawsel to do him homage. The
princes of the Franks already trembled for their possessions,
and prepared a new and more solemn embassy, to demand the
necessary succours of their European brethren.

"The qualities of Saladin were gilded with the lustre of
conquest; and it has been the singular fortune of this Moslem
hero, to be painted in fairer colours by the discordant and
astonished Christians, than by those of his own courtiers and
countrymen, who may reasonably be supposed to have known him
best. He has been compared with Alexander; and tho' he be
usually stiled, and with some justice, a barbarian, it does not
appear that his character would suffer in the comparison. His
conquests were equally splendid; nor did he lead the forces of a
brave and generous people, against a nation depressed by
slavery, and relaxed with effeminacy. Under his banner Saracen
encountered Saracen in equal strife; or the forces of the East
were engaged with the firmer and more disciplined armies of the
West. Like Alexander, he was liberal to profusion; and while all
he possessed seemed the property of his friends, the monarch
himself often wanted that, which with unstinted hand he had
heaped upon his favourites and dependents. His sentiments were
elevated, his manners polite and insinuating, and the affability
of his temper was never subdued.

"But the parallel is exceedingly far from entire. He possessed
not the romantic gallantry of the conqueror of Darius; he had
none of those ardent and ungovernable passions, through whose
medium the victories of Arbela and Issus had transformed the
generous hero into the lawless tyrant. It was a maxim to which
he uniformly adhered, to accomplish his lofty designs by policy
and intrigue, and to leave as little as possible to the unknown
caprice of fortune. In his mature age he was temperate, gentle,
patient. The passions of his soul, and the necessities of nature
were subordinate to the equanimity of his character[A]. His
deportment was grave and th