The Eastern Empire. R 0 
sentment on the other: several fell in tumultuous conflicts; 
and Mahomet embraced with joy the pretext afforded him 
for sending a reinforcement to avenge the pretended injuries 
of his people. The gates of Constantinople were shut; but 
the emperor, yet desirous of warding off the catastrophe, 
released several Turkish aggressors, and accompanied their 
dismissal with a letter to Mahomet. “ Since neither oaths, 
nor treaty, nor submission, can secure peace, pursue your 
impious warfare. My trust is in God alone: if it should 
please him to mollify your heart, I shall rejoice in the happy 
change 5 if he delivers the 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 answer of the sultan was hostile and decisive: a tri 
bute was imposed on the ships of every nation that passed- 
within reach of his cannon, and the port of Constantinople 
was completely blocked up. 
While the sultan was sedulously employed in preparations 
for undertaking the siege of the imperial capital, Constantine 
imporiuned the princes of the West with fruitless solicitations. 
The Roman pontiff was hardened against the Greeks, on 
account of their obstinacy artd prevarication; and if, in their 
last exigency, he yielded to the dictates of compassion, the 
support his influence procured them, was too tardy to be of 
any use. 
The timid crowd began to be alarmed, and to fly from the 
devoted city. The rich secreted their wealth, instead of 
producing it for the defence of their country ; yet Constan¬ 
tine remained firm to his post, and if his resources were in¬ 
adequate to the contest, he evinced a mind equal to the perils 
with which he was surrounded. 
Mahomet II. having completed his preparations, early in 
the spring, A. D. 1453, pitched his standard before the gate 
of St. Romanus, and invested Constantinople with nearly 
three hundred thousand men. The motley race who still 
inhabited the capital, might amount, of all ages and both 
sexes, to about one hundred thousand ; but on a careful enu¬ 
meration and survey, scarcely five thousand were found able 
and willing to bear arms. These were reinforced by two 
thousand auxiliaries, under the command of John Justiniani, 
a noble Genoese, whose exertions were stimulated by the 
promised recompence of the isle of Lemnos. A strong chain 
was drawn across the mouth of the harbour ; and a city of 
perhaps fifteen miles in circumference, was defended by 
about 7000 soldiers against the united Ottoman force. 
In the commencement of the siege, the Greeks boldly sal¬ 
lied from their walls; but prudence soon taught them to 
desist from a mode of warfare, which reduced their own 
numbers, and made but little impression on their enemies. 
The Turkish artillery was superior to that of the Christians, 
and the latter were afraid to plant their heavy guns on the 
walls, lest the explosion should overthrow them. The Ma¬ 
hometans gradually pushed their approaches to the ditch; 
but their attempts to fill the enormous chasm were nightly 
frustrated by the toil of the Greeks. A wooden turret, how¬ 
ever, was successfully advanced; the tower of St. Romanus 
was thrown down: but next morning, by the activity of the 
emperor and Justiniani, the wooden machine of the sultan 
was reduced to ashes, and the tower of St. Romanus restored. 
Meanwhile, a squadron of five ships, navigated by the 
best sailors of Italy and Greece, and bearing supplies of 
indispensable necessity, having eluded the vigilance, or over¬ 
come the force, of the whole Turkish fleet, securely anchored 
within the chain of the harbour. As long, therefore, as the 
sea was open to the Greeks, the reduction of the place ap¬ 
peared hopeless. To overcome this, the genius of Mahomet 
conceived and executed the bold design of transporting his 
lighter vessels about ten miles by land, from the Bosphorus 
to the higher part of the harbour, in the narrowest channel 
of which he constructed a mole, fifty cubits broad and one 
hundred long, and mounted it with his largest cannon. In 
an attempt to destroy this, the foremost galliots of the Greeks 
were taken or sunk, and several gallant Christian youths who 
Vol; XXII. No. 1505. 
M E. The Eastern Empire. S 37 
had fallen into his hands on the occasion, were inhumanely 
massacred by the sultan. 
After sustaining a seige of forty days, the breaches were 
increased, the garrison diminished, the remnant of the force 
impaired by discord, and Constantinople trembled on the 
verge of min. The twenty-ninth of May was fixed for the 
fatal and final assault. 
The dervises assured the Mussulmen that those who happen¬ 
ed to fall in the holy enterprize, would enjoy immortal youth 
in the groves of Paradise, and black eyed virgins for ever ; 
while the sultan promised the temporal incentives of double 
pay, the plunder of the city, and a splendid reward to him 
who should first mount the walls. A general ardour was dif¬ 
fused through the camp, and nothing was heard but shouts 
of “ God is God! there is but one God ! and Mahomet is his 
apostle.” 
Far different passions agitated the Christians. Despair and 
fear by turns filled their bosoms; yet the intrepid firmness of 
Constantine Palaeologus, communicated to a select few that 
confidence, which in reality he had lost himself. Accom¬ 
panied by his most faithful companions, he devoutly received 
the sacrament of the holy communion in the church of St. 
Sophia; begged the pardon of those he had injured, and 
then mounted his horse to watch the hostile movements. 
The foremost ranks of the Mahometans consisted of an un¬ 
disciplined rabble, inflamed only with the spirit of enthusiasm, 
among whom the Greeks made a prodigious slaughter. The 
more regular troops of the sultan succeeded ; but the Chris¬ 
tians still maintained their superiority; while the emperor 
was heard exhorting his companions and subjects to achieve 
the deliverance of their country, by a last effort. But being 
exhausted with fatigue, and covered with wounds, the Janis¬ 
saries, headed by the sultan in person, with an iron mace in 
his hand, poured on with irresistible violence. At this mo¬ 
ment, John Justiniani having his gauntlet pierced, retired 
from his station. “ Your wound,” exclaimed Palaeologus, 
“ is slight, the danger is pressing, your presence is neces¬ 
sary, and whither will you retire ?" “ By the same road,” 
replied the Genoese, “ which God has opened to the Turks.” 
He escaped to Galata, sacrificing his honour to preserve a 
few hours of life; and was followed by the greatest part of 
the Latin auxiliaries. Hassan, the Janissary, now mounted 
the walls; a crowd of Moslems succeeded him; and the 
Greeks, driven from the rampart, sunk under multitudes of 
foes. 
The emperor remained firm with a faithful band around him. 
He saw his dearest friends fall by his side, and at last remained 
surrounded only by enemies. In the bitterness of grief he ex¬ 
claimed, s ‘ Has death then made such havoc, that not one 
Christian is left to take my life?” As he spoke, a Turk to 
whom his person was unknown, for he had prudently laid 
aside the purple, struck him in the face ; a second blow suc¬ 
ceeded from another hand ; and he fell in the forty-ninth 
year of his age, and the tenth of his reign, a glorious exam¬ 
ple of honourable resolution, in expiring witii his defenders 
rather than surviving them. 
The golden eagles embroided on the shoes of Constantine, 
soon discovered who he was: resistance was now at end ; the 
city was abandoned to plunder; but Mahomet paid the 
homage of admiration to the courage of the emperor, and or¬ 
dered his remains due funeral rites. 
Thus fell the empire of the East, under one of the most 
glorious of its emperors. The crescent assumed over the 
cross a dominion which is still maintained, and the dim reli¬ 
gious light which illumined the Byzantine nations, was extin¬ 
guished. Yet in contemplating the fall of Constantinople, if 
we having nothing to admire, we have little to lament. 
During the long period of its existence, it had effected little 
for the immediate, nothing for the remote interests of man¬ 
kind. The admirer of liberty confidently turns to her 
annals, for a conclusive proof that without freedom, all other 
advantages are nought,'—thatunder the shade of despotism, no 
care is sufficient to nourish the plants of science. Those who 
have attributed the superiority of old Greece to the excellence 
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