to the Ottoman dominions the islands of Chios, Lesbos, Xante, and Cephalonia, and a part of Servia, while in his attacks on Cyprus and Rhodes he was unsuccessful. It must be remembered that he always had the advantage of vastly superior numbers, and yet he received more than one decisive check. He was driven in utter rout from the walls of Belgrade by Huniades. But as the conqueror of the city of the Cæsars he has won an everlasting fame, though one with which his actual exploits hardly seem commensurate.
The young sultan's position on his accession to power was not a very easy one. At the time of his father's death he was governing the province of Magnesia, but he was then instantly recalled to his European dominions by a message which showed plainly that a vigorous hand was at once needed in the new ruler. The janissaries had already assumed a threatening attitude. Mahomet lost no time in crossing the Hellespont and in hurrying to Adrianople. His promptitude had the desired effect; the janissaries were overawed and submissive, and both army and people welcomed as their sovereign the son of the great Amurath. Ambassadors came from the Western courts with courteous congratulations. The treaty with the emperor was solemnly renewed and ratified. The new sultan gave the impression that he intended to be a man of peace, and a scrupulous observer of all treaty obligations. Constantine must have breathed again, and had hopes that he might after all be spared the humiliation of witnessing the end.
