Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/413

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 391 Corfu afforded a station and repose ; ~^ they doubled, without accident, the perilous cape of Malea, the southern point of Peloponnesus, or the Morea ; made a descent in the islands of Negi-opont and Andros ; and cast anchor at Abydus, on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont. These preludes of conquest were easy and bloodless ; the Greeks of the provinces, without patriotism or courage, were crushed by an irresistible force ; the presence of the lawful heir might justify their obedience ; and it was rewarded by the modesty and discipline of the Latins. As they penetrated through the Hellespont, the magnitude of their navy was compressed in a narrow channel ; and the face of the waters was darkened with innumerable sails. They again expanded in the bason of the Propontis, and traversed that placid sea, till they approached the European shore, at the abbey of St. Stephen, three leagues to the west of Constan- tinople. The prudent doge dissuaded them from dispersing themselves in a populous and hostile land ; and, as their stock of provisions was i-educed, it was resolved, in the season of har- vest, to replenish their store-ships in the fertile islands of the Propontis. With this resolution they directed their course ; but a strong gale and their own impatience drove them to the eastward ; and so near did they run to the shore and city that some volleys of stones and dai-ts were exchanged between the ships and the rampart. As they passed along, they gazed with admiration on the capital of the East, or, as it should seem, of the earth, rising from her seven hills, and towering over the continents of Europe and Asia. The swelling domes and lofty spires of five hundred palaces and churches were gilded by the sun and reflected in the waters ; the walls were crowded with soldiei's and spectators, whose numbers they beheld, of whose temper they were ignorant ; and each heart was chilled by the reflection that, since the beginning of the world, such an enter- prise had never been undertaken by such an handful of warriors. But the momentary apprehension was dispelled by hope and valour ; and every man, says the marshal of Champagne, glanced his eye on the sword or lance which he must speedily use in the glorious conflict.'! Te Latins cast anchor before Chalcedony '"' [At Corfu, Alexius joined the army as Tuprotdgi of Boniface ; and here the matter was first clearly brought before the Crusaders and hotly debated in an assembly. See Robert de Clari, § 32, 33.] '1 Et sachiez que il ne ot si hardi cui le cuer ne fremist (c. 67). . . . Chascuns regardoit ses armes . . . que par terns en aront mestier (c. 68). Such is the honesty of courage !