Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/16

 ^ly PEEFACE. peans" might at all times have been its battle-cry. Constan- tinople had been for centuries the strongest bulwark of de- fence against Asia. The men of the West had every interest to maintain and to strengthen it. Instead of doing so they virtually let loose Asia upon Europe. Eowm Pears. CoNSTANTiNOPLB, Angustj 1885.