The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 4

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J. & J. Harper, 1829 - Byzantine Empire

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Page 410 - The place and the object gave ample scope for moralizing on the vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave...
Page 317 - The example of the Roman pontiff was preceded or imitated by a Florentine merchant, who governed the republic without arms and without a title. Cosmo of Medicis was the father of a line of princes, whose name and age are almost synonymous with the restoration of learning: his credit was ennobled into fame ; his riches were dedicated to the service of mankind ; he corresponded at once with Cairo and London : and a cargo of Indian spices and Greek books was often imported in the same vessel.
Page 350 - I will retire," said the trembling Genoese, "by the same road which God has opened to the Turks," and at these words he hastily passed through one of the breaches of the inner wall. By this pusillanimous act he stained the...
Page 350 - From the lines, the galleys, and the bridge, the Ottoman artillery thundered on all sides ; and the camp and city, the Greeks and the Turks, were involved in a cloud of smoke, which could only be dispelled by the final deliverance or destruction of the Roman Empire.
Page 350 - The sight of his blood, and the exquisite pain, appalled the courage of the chief, whose arms and counsels were the firmest rampart of the city. As he withdrew from his station in quest of a surgeon, his flight was perceived and stopped by the indefatigable emperor. " Your
Page 291 - The priority of nations is of small account; none could derive any exclusive benefit from their previous or superior knowledge ; and in the common improvement, they stood on the same level of relative power and military science. Nor was it possible to circumscribe the secret within the pale of the church ; it was disclosed to the Turks by the treachery of apostates and the selfish policy of rivals ; and the sultans had sense to adopt, and wealth to reward, the talents of a Christian engineer.
Page 349 - The preceding night had been strenuously employed: the troops, the cannon, and the fascines were advanced to the edge of the ditch, which in many parts presented a smooth and level passage to the breach; and his fourscore galleys almost touched, with the prows and their scaling ladders, the less defensible walls of the harbour.
Page 136 - The holy sepulchre was now free, and the bloody victors prepared to accomplish their vow. Bareheaded and barefoot, with contrite hearts, and in an humble posture, they ascended the hill of Calvary, amidst the loud anthems of the clergy ; kissed the stone which had covered the Saviour of the world, and bedewed with tears of joy and penitence the monument of their redemption.
Page 317 - Geography, of the Iliad, of the most valuable works of Plato and Aristotle, of Ptolemy and Theophrastus, and of the fathers of the Greek church. The example of the Roman pontiff was preceded or imitated by a Florentine merchant, who governed the republic without arms and without a title.
Page 349 - The common impulse drove them onwards to the wall : the most audacious to climb were instantly precipitated ; and not a dart, not a bullet, of the Christians was idly wasted on the accumulated throng. But their strength and ammunition were exhausted in this laborious defence ; the ditch was filled with the bodies of the slain ; they supported the footsteps of their companions ; and of this devoted vanguard, the death was more serviceable than the life. Under their respective bashaws and sanjaks...

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