monarchies, both of the Huns and of the Moguls, were erected by
their founders on the basis of popular superstition. The miraculous
conception, which fraud and credulity ascribed to the virgin-mother of
Zingis, raised him above the level of human nature; and the naked
prophet, who in the name of the Deity invested him with the empire of
the earth, pointed the valor of the Moguls with irresistible enthusiasm.

The religious arts of Attila were not less skilfully adapted to the
character of his age and country. It was natural enough that the
Scythians should adore, with peculiar devotion, the god of war; but as
they were incapable of forming either an abstract idea or a corporeal
representation, they worshipped their tutelar deity under the symbol of
an iron cimeter. One of the shepherds of the Huns perceived, that a
heifer, who was grazing, had wounded herself in the foot, and curiously
followed the track of the blood, till he discovered, among the long
grass, the point of an ancient sword, which he dug out of the ground and
presented to Attila. That magnanimous, or rather that artful, prince
accepted, with pious gratitude, this celestial favor, and, as the
rightful possessor of the _sword of Mars,_ asserted his divine and
indefeasible claim to the dominion of the earth. If the rites of Scythia
were practised on this solemn occasion, a lofty altar, or rather pile of
fagots, three hundred yards in length and in breadth, was raised in a
spacious plain; and the sword of Mars was placed erect on the summit of
this rustic altar, which was annually consecrated by the blood of sheep,
horses, and of the hundredth captive.

Whether human sacrifices formed any part of the worship of Attila, or
whether he propitiated the god of war with the victims which he
continually offered in the field of battle, the favorite of Mars soon
acquired a sacred character, which rendered his conquests more easy and
more permanent; and the Barbarian princes confessed, in the language of
devotion or flattery, that they could not presume to gaze, with a steady
eye, on the divine majesty of the King of the Huns. His brother Bleda,
who reigned over a considerable part of the nation, was compelled to
resign his sceptre and his life. Yet even this cruel act was attributed
to a supernatural impulse; and the vigor with which Attila wielded the
sword of Mars convinced the world that it had been reserved alone for
his invincible arm. But the extent of his empir