CHAPTER XIV.
THE CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
In order to show the effect of this great historical event upon European civilization, and to illustrate the style of Turkish invasions, it is worth while to say something on this subject.
1. The Capture of Constantinople. According to the established usage of the education of the Turkish princes, Sultan Mohamet was placed under the care of fanatic tutors, so that Islam in all its fierceness and bigotry early enslaved his mind, and he grew up a strict observer of its rites and spirit; for he is said never to have conversed with a Christian without afterwards purifying himself by the legal mode of ablution. Having twice been clothed with the regal dignity, and twice suspended in the lifetime of his father, Mohamet finally gained possession of it when twenty years of age. He may be called the most gifted of all the sultans, but he certainly was one of the most detestable. He commenced his reign with the murder of his younger brothers, who were destroyed to make the throne an indisputable possession. From the moment of his accession all his thoughts were directed to give the death-blow to the Greek empire, and to transfer the seat of his government to Constantinople. Adrianople was the Turkish capital by this time.
107
