The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · ¶171

“Sultan Murad, or Amurath, lived forty-nine, and reigned thirty years, six months, and eight days. He was a just and valiant prince, of a great soul, patient of labors, learned, merciful, religious, charitable; a lover and encourager of the studious, and of all who excelled in any art or science; a good emperor and a great general. No man obtained more or greater victories than Amurath; Belgrade alone withstood his attacks. Under his reign, the soldier was ever victorious, the citizen rich and secure. If he subdued any country, his first care was to build mosques and caravansaras, hospitals, and colleges. Every year he gave a thousand pieces of gold to the sons of the Prophet; and sent two thousand five hundred to the religious persons of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.” This portrait is transcribed from the historian of the Othman empire: but the applause of a servile and superstitious…

Edward Gibbon · Project Gutenberg #736 (Milman edition) — public domain
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.