country which could no longer afford either pay or provisions for his soldiers. The marshal offered to conduct Manuel to the French court, where he might solicit in person a supply of men and money; and advised, in the mean while, that, to extinguish all domestic discord, he should leave his blind competitor on the throne. The proposal was embraced: the prince of Selybria was introduced to the capital; and such was the public misery, that the lot of the exile seemed more fortunate than that of the sovereign. Instead of applauding the success of his vassal, the Turkish sultan claimed the city as his own; and on the refusal of the emperor John, Constantinople was more closely pressed by the calamities of war and famine. Against such an enemy prayers and resistance were alike unavailing; and the savage would have devoured his prey, if, in the fatal moment, he had not been overthrown by another savage stronger than himself. By the victory of Timour or Tamerlane, the fall of Constantinople was delayed about fifty years; and this important, though accidental, service may justly introduce the life and character of the Mogul conqueror. 67 (return) [ Cantemir, p. 50—53. Of the Greeks, Ducas alone (c. 13, 15) acknowledges the Turkish cadhi at Constantinople. Yet even Ducas dissembles the mosque.] 68 (return) [ Mémoires du bon Messire Jean le Maingre, dit _Boucicault_, Maréchal de France, partie ire c. 30, 35.] Chapter LXV: Elevation Of Timour Or Tamerlane, And His Death.—Part I. Elevation Of Timour Or Tamerlane To The Throne Of Samarcand.—His Conquests In Persia, Georgia, Tartary Russia, India, Syria, And Anatolia.—His Turkish War.— Defeat And Captivity Of Bajazet.—Death Of Timour.—Civil War Of The Sons Of Bajazet.—Restoration Of The Turkish Monarchy By Mahomet The First.—Siege Of Constantinople By Amurath The Second.