OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE,

2i!9

tiers of Persia . It is on this occasion, that Da- chap.cas, with some fancy and much truth, upbraids Lxvin -

the discord and obstinacy of the Greeks. “ Had.'

“ that angel appeared,” exclaims the historian,

“ had he offered to exterminate your foes if you“ would consent to the union of the church,

“ even then, in that fatal moment, you would“ have rejected your safety, or have deceived“ your God .'

While they expected the descent of the tardy Captivityangel, the doors were broken with axes; and as Greek*,the Turks encountered no resistance, their blood-less hands were employed in selecting and se-curing the multitude of their prisoners. Youth,beauty, and the appearance of wealth, attractedtheir choice; and the right of property was de-cided among themselves by a prior seizure, bypersonal strength, and by the authority of com-mand. In the space of an hour the male cap-tives were bound with cords, the females withtheir veils and girdles. The senators were link-ed with their slaves; the prelates, with the por-ters of the church; and young men of a plebeianclass, with noble maids, whose faces had beeuinvisible to the sun and their nearest kindred.

In this common captivity, the ranks of societywere confounded; the ties of nature were cutasunder; and the inexorable soldier was care-less of the father’s groans, the tears of the mo-ther, and the lamentations of the children. The

' This lively description is extracted from Ducas (c. 39), who, twoyears afterwards, was sent ambassador from the prince of Lesbos to thesaltan (c. 44). Till Lesbos was subdued in 1403 (Phranza, 1. iii, c. 27),that island must have been full of the fugitives of Constantinople , whodelighted to repeat, perhaps to adorn, the tale of their misery.