Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/95

DYNASTIC TROUBLES. 77 tlic more so that he had no confidence in the army. The in- liabitants were known to be friendly to Andronicos, and, al- though he counted on the fleet and on the foreign colonists in the caj)ital, he was by no means assured of the loyalty of Attempts to either. He at once collected every available ship resist lain. ^^^^ manned them in part with Romans and in part with Italians, distributing among them large sums of money. Contostephanos claimed the command of the fleet as a right ; and although Alexis distrusted him, he was obliged to give way and content himself with surrounding him with friends in whom he had confldence. Having thus barred the passage of the Bosphorus, he sent an embassy to Andronicos, with a letter in which he promised many dig- nities, favors, and rewards, if he would consent to disband his army. The embassy failed, possibly, as Nicetas thinks, be- cause the ambassador himself urged the rejection of the pro- posals which he carried. Andronicos returned answer that he would retire into private life if the protosebastos and his friends were dismissed, if the empress cut short her hair and re-entered a monastery, and if the emperor alone assumed the government. The suspicion of the protosebastos against Contostephanos was soon shown to be well founded, for, a few days after the answer of Andronicos, the admiral passed over, with the whole of his ships, to the side of the enemy. The protosebastos was in despair, while his enemies took courage, held meetings, and publicly declared for Andronicos. Great numbers of citizens crossed over to Chalcedon, and brought back reports which increased the reputation of the deliverer. Instead of the young man whom a former generation had known as the captivator of the hearts of a hundred dames, and as the hero of numberless escapes and adventures, they spoke of a stately and venerable old man who charmed them with words which flowed from his mouth like honey, or like the dew of Mount Hermon ; a man who quoted Scripture largely, and impressed liis hearers with his patriotic and disinterested character. The city was ready to declare for Andronicos ; his sons and others of his friends who had been imprisoned were released; the