192

THE DECLINE AND FALL

chap, receiving the royal mandate, he embraced, per-

,_haps for the last time, his wife and children,

filled a cup with pieces of gold, hastened to thepalace, adored the sultan, and offered, accord-ing to the Oriental custom, the slight tribute ofhis 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 asthe 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 providence, and thy power, assure thy“ success; and myself, with the rest of thy faith-“ ful slaves, will sacrifice our lives and fortunes.”“ Lala,” z (or preceptor), continued the sultan,“ do you see this pillow? all the night, in my“ agitation, I have pulled it on one side and on“ 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 w'e are superior;“ and with the aid of God , and the prayers of

r The Oriental custom of never appearing without gifts before a so-vereign or a superior is of high antiquity, and seems analogous withthe idea of sacrifice, still more ancient aud universal. See the exam-ples of such Persian gifts, .Elian, Hist. Var. 1. i, c. 31, 32, 33.

1 1 The Lala of the Turks (Cantemir, p. 34), and the Tata of the

Greeks (Ducas, c. 35), are derived from the natural language of chil-dren ; and it may be observed, that all such primitive words which de-note their parents, are the simple repetition of one syllable, composedof a labial or dental consonant and an open vowel (des Brosses, Me-ehanieme des Langues, tom. i, p. 231-247;-