4. IV.
Moderate tyrannies are of all others the most dangerous
and deadly, and it is therefore fortunate for
mankind that it is the very essence of misrule to glide or
leap into excess. Excess provokes resistance, and the
tyranny is overthrown. To Witiza himself, the reigning
prince, is ascribed the activity of innovation and thought
among the people. Though, at first, rather remarkable
for the equity and moderation of his rule, the possession
of power beyond the legitimate grasp of his own intellect,
as in the case of Nero, is said to have corrupted his
heart: it certainly changed his character. His reign, in
progress of time, became unpopular—with a part of the
nation at least; and some harsh proceedings against the
Jews, who continued to draw out a miserable existence,
under every sort of privation, among a people whose
laws denied them toleration and decreed their expulsion,
at length prompted this oppressed and wretched people
to an intrigue with the neighbouring Saracens—even
then, to the Goths, a frequent and formidable enemy.
Such an event threatened the empire, at the same moment,
with foreign and intestine war. But the aim of
the Jews miscarried—their plans were discovered in
time for prevention, the insurrectionists were put down;
and, as a necessary consequence, their bonds grew
heavier and their penalties less endurable than ever.
