Note 20.
And stanch the blood-drops, Genoa's fallen son!
"The immediate loss of Constantinople may be ascribed to the bullet, or arrow, which pierced the gauntlet of John Justiniani (a Genoese chief). The sight of his blood, and exquisite pain, appalled the courage of the chief, whose arms and counsels were the firmest rampart of the city."—Decline and Fall, &c, vol. xii. p. 229.
Note 21.
The owl upon Afrasiab's towers hath sung
Her watch-song, &c.
Mahomet II., on entering, after his victory, the palace of the Byzantine emperors, was strongly impressed with the silence and desolation which reigned within its precincts. "A melancholy reflection on the vicissitudes of human greatness forced itself on his mind, and he repeated an elegant distich of Persian poetry: 'The spider has wove his web in the imperial palace, and the owl hath sung her watch-song on the towers of Afrasiab.'"—Decline and Fall, &c, vol. xii. p. 240.
Note 22.
The Bowl of Liberty—
One of the ceremonies by which the battle of Platæa was annually commemorated was, to crown with wine a
