to every
penance compatible with the possession of the empire. The life of the
emperor Alexius has been delineated by a favorite daughter, who was
inspired by a tender regard for his person and a laudable zeal to
perpetuate his virtues. Conscious of the just suspicions of her readers,
the princess Anna Comnena repeatedly protests, that, besides her
personal knowledge, she had searched the discourses and writings of
the most respectable veterans: and after an interval of thirty years,
forgotten by, and forgetful of, the world, her mournful solitude was
inaccessible to hope and fear; and that truth, the naked perfect truth,
was more dear and sacred than the memory of her parent. Yet, instead
of the simplicity of style and narrative which wins our belief, an
elaborate affectation of rhetoric and science betrays in every page the
vanity of a female author. The genuine character of Alexius is lost in
a vague constellation of virtues; and the perpetual strain of panegyric
and apology awakens our jealousy, to question the veracity of the
historian and the merit of the hero. We cannot, however, refuse her
judicious and important remark, that the disorders of the times were the
misfortune and the glory of Alexius; and that every calamity which can
afflict a declining empire was accumulated on his reign by the justice
of Heaven and the vices of his predecessors. In the East, the victorious
Turks had spread, from Persia to the Hellespont, the reign of the Koran
and the Crescent: the West was invaded by the adventurous valor of
the Normans; and, in the moments of peace, the Danube poured forth new
swarms, who had gained, in the science of war, what they had lost in the
ferociousness of manners. The sea was not less hostile than the land;
and while the frontiers were assaulted by an open enemy, the palace was
distracted with secret treason and conspiracy. On a sudden, the banner
of the Cross was displayed by the Latins; Europe was precipitated on
Asia; and Constantinople had almost been swept away by this impetuous
deluge. In the tempest, Alexius steered the Imperial vessel with
dexterity and courage. At the head of his armies, he was bold in
action, skilful in stratagem, patient of fatigue, ready to improve his
advantages, and rising from his defeats with inexhaustible vigor. The
discipline of the camp was revived, and a new generation of men and
soldiers was created by the example and precepts of their leader. In
his intercourse w