t dominion over nations, and stamped
his religion by so many triumphs, dost thou deliver thy true believers
to the swords of infidels?

And the Imans and the Santons said to the people:

It is in chastisement of your sins. You eat pork; you drink wine; you
touch unclean things. God hath punished you. Do penance therefore;
purify; repeat the profession of faith;* fast from the rising to the
setting sun; give the tenth of your goods to the mosques; go to Mecca;
and God will render you victorious.

* There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet.

And the people, recovering courage, uttered loud cries:

There is but one God, said they transported with fury, and Mahomet is
his prophet! Accursed be he who believeth not!

God of goodness, grant us to exterminate these Christians; it is for
thy glory we fight, and our death is a martyrdom for thy name. And then,
offering victims, they prepared for battle.

On the other side, the Russians, kneeling, said:

We render thanks to God, and celebrate his power. He hath strengthened
our arm to humble his enemies. Hear our prayers, thou God of mercy! To
please thee, we will pass three days without eating either meat or eggs.
Grant us to extirpate these impious Mahometans, and to overturn their
empire. To thee we will consecrate the tenth of our spoil; to thee we
will raise new temples.

And the priests filled the churches with clouds of smoke, and said to
the people:

We pray for you, God accepteth our incense, and blesseth your arms.
Continue to fast and to fight; confess to us your secret sins; give
your wealth to the church; we will absolve you from your crimes, and you
shall die in a state of grace.

And they sprinkled water upon the people, dealt out to them, as amulets
and charms, small relics of the dead, and the people breathed war and
combat.

Struck with this contrast of the same passions, and grieving for their
fatal consequences, I was considering the difficulty with which the
common judge could yield to prayers so contradictory; when the Genius,
glowing with anger, spoke with vehemence:

What accents of madness strike my ear? What blind and perverse delirium
disorders the spirits of the nations? Sacrilegious prayers rise not from
the earth! and you, oh Heavens, reject their homicidal vows and impious
thanksgivings! Deluded mortals! is it thus you revere the Divinity?
Say then; how should he, whom you style your common father, receive the
homage of