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LXVIII.

CHAP. city into your hands, I submit without a murmur to his holy will. But until the Judge of the "earth shall pronounce between us, it is my duty "to live and die in the defence of my people."

The Sultan's answer was hostile and decisive; his Sept 1.; fortifications were completed; and before his departure for Adrianople, he stationed a vigilant Aga and four hundred Janizaries, to levy a tribute of the ships of every nation that should pass within the reach of their cannon. A Venetian vessel, refusing obedience to the new lords of the Bosphorus, was sunk with a single bullet. The master and thirty sailors escaped in the boat; but they were dragged in chains to the Porte; the chief was impalled; his companions were beheaded; and the historian Ducas✶ beheld, at Demotica, their bodies exposed to the wild beasts. The siege of Constantinople was deferred till the ensuing spring; but an Ottoman army marched into the Morea to divert the force of the brothers of Constantine. At this æra of calamity, one of these princes, the despot Thomas, was blessed or afflicted with the birth of a son, "the last heir," says the plaintive Phranza, "of the last spark of the Roman empire t."

1453,

Jan. 17.

Prepara

tions for

the siege of Constanti

nople,

The Greeks and the Turks passed an anxious and sleepless winter; the former were kept awake by their fears, the latter by their hopes; both by

the

* Ducas, c. 35. Phranza (1. iii. c. 3.), who had sailed in his vessel, commemorates the Venetian pilot as a martyr.

Auctum est Palæologorum genus, et Imperii successor. parvæque Romanorum scintillæ hæres natus, Andreas, &c. (Phranza, 1. iii. c. 7.). The strong expression was inspired by his feelings.

LXVIII.

A. D.

1542,

-A. D.

1453.

the preparations of defence and attack; and the two CHAP. Emperors, who had the most to lose or to gain, were the most deeply affected by the national sentiment. In Mahomet, that sentiment was inflamed September, by the ardour of his youth and temper; he amused his leisure with building at Adrianople the lofty April. palace of Jehan Numa (the watch-tower of the world); but his serious thoughts were irrevocably bent on the conquest of the city of Cæsar. At the dead of night, about the second watch, he started from his bed, and commanded the instant attendance of his prime vizir. The message, the hour, the prince, and his own situation, alarmed the guilty conscience of Calil Basha, who had possessed the confidence, and advised the restoration of Amurath. On the accession of the son, the vizir was confirmed in his office, and the appearances of favour; but the veteran statesman was not insensible that he trode on a thin and slippery ice, which might break under his footsteps, and plunge him in the abyss. His friendship for the Christians, which might be innocent under the late reign, had stigmatized him with the name of Gabour Ortachi, or foster brother of the infidels †; and his avarice entertained a venal and treasonable correspondence, which was detected and punished after the conclusion

02

Cantemir, p. 97. 98. The Sultan was either doubtful of his conquest, or ignorant of the superior merits of Constantinople. A city or a kingdom may sometimes be ruined by the Imperial fortune of their sovereign.

+ Europos, by the president Cousin, is translated pere nourricier, most correctly indeed from the Latin version; but in his haste, he has overlooked the note by which Ismael Boillaud (ad Ducam, c. 35.) acknowledges and rectifies his own error.

LXVIII.

CHA P. clusion of the war. On receiving the royal mandate, he embraced, perhaps for the last time, his wife and children; filled up a cup with pieces of gold, hastened to the palace, adored the Sultan, and offered, according to the Oriental custom, the slight tribute of his duty and gratitude *. "It is "not my wish," said Mahomet, "to resume my gifts, but rather to heap and multiply them on "thy head. In my turn, I ask a present far more "valuable and important,-Constantinople." As soon as the vizir had recovered from his surprise, "the same God," said he, " who has already given "thee so large a portion of the Roman empire, will "not deny the remnant, and the capital. His pro"vidence and thy power assure thy success; and "myself, with the rest of thy faithful slaves, will "sacrifice our lives and fortunes." "Lala t," (or preceptor,) continued the Sultan, " do you see "this pillow? all the night, in my agitation, I have "pulled it on one side and the other; I have risen " from my bed, again have I lain down; yet sleep "has not visited these weary eyes. Beware of the "gold and silver of the Romans; in arms we are "superior;

1

The Oriental custom of never appearing without gifts before a sovereign or a superior, is of high antiquity, and seems analogous with the idea of sacrifice, still more ancient and universal. See the examples of such Persian gifts, Ælian, Hist. Var. 1. i. c. 31-33.

+ The Lala of the Turks (Cantemir, p. 34.), and the Tata of the Greeks (Ducas, c. 35.), are derived from the natural language of children; and it may be observed, that all such primitive words which denote their parents, are the simple repetition of one syllable, composed of a labial, or dental consonant, and an open vowel, (des Broffes, Mechanisme des Langues, tom. i. p. 231-247.).

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LXVIII.

“superior; and with the aid of God, and the CHAP. prayers of the prophet, we shall speedily become "masters of Constantinople." To sound the disposition of his soldiers, he often wandered through the streets alone, and in disguise; and it was fatal to discover the Sultan, when he wished to escape from the vulgar eye. His hours were spent in delineating the plan of the hostile city; in debating with his generals and engineers, on what spot he should erect his batteries; on which side he should assault the walls ; where he should spring his. mines; to what place he should apply his scalingladders; and the exercises of the day repeated and proved the lucubrations of the night.

cannon of

Among the implements of destruction, he studied The great with peculiar care the recent and tremendous dis- Mahomet. covery of the Latins; and his artillery surpassed whatever had yet appeared in the world. A founder of cannon, a Dane or Hungarian, who had been almost starved in the Greek service, deserted to the Moslems, and was liberally entertained by the Turkish Sultan. Mahomet was satisfied with the answer to his first question, which he eagerly pressed on the artist. "Am I able to cast a cannon

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capable of throwing a ball, or stone of sufficient "size, to batter the walls of Constantinople?" "I am not ignorant of their strength, but were "they more solid than those of Babylon, I could

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oppose an engine of superior power; the posi"tion and management of that engine must be left "to your engineers." On this assurance, a foundery was established at Adrianople; the metal was prepared; and, at the end of three months, Urban produced

Q 3

LXVIII.

CHAP. produced a piece of brass ordnance of stupendous, and almost incredible magnitude; a measure of twelve palms is assigned to the bore; and the stone bullet weighed above six hundred pounds *. A vacant place before the new palace was chosen for the first experiment; but to prevent the sudden and mischievous effects of astonishment and fear, a proclamation was issued, that the cannon would be discharged the ensuing day. The explosion was felt or heard in the circuit of a hundred furlongs; the ball, by the force of gunpowder, was driven above a mile; and on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom deep in the ground. For the conveyance of this destructive engine, a frame or carriage of thirty waggons was linked together and drawn along by a team of sixty oxen; two hundred men on both sides were stationed to poise and support the rolling weight; two hundred and fifty workmen marched before to smooth the way and repair the bridges; and near two months were employed in a laborious journey of one hundred and fifty miles. A lively † philosopher derides, on this occasion, the credulity of the Greeks, and observes, with much reason, that we should always distrust

the

The Attic talent weighed about sixty minæ, or averdu pois pounds, (see Hooper on Ancient Weights, Measures, &c.); but among the modern Greeks, that classic appellation was extended to a weight of one hundred, or one hundred and twenty-five pounds, (Ducange, Taλavrer). Leonardus Chiensis measured the ball or stone of the fecond cannon: Lapidem, qui palmis undecim ex meis ambibat in gyro.

+ See Voltaire, (Hist. Generale, c. xci. p. 294. 295.). He was ambitious of universal monarchy; and the poet frequently aspires to the name and style of an aftronomer, a chemist, &c.

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