the allied powers; and a few days since it might have served as a scale
for their _wagering_ the "price of blood."

With the early account of this castle we shall be brief. It is cited in
the history of the lower empire from the sixth century of the Christian
era, as a point which served for the defence of Constantinople. The
embrasures of some of its towers, as well as of the towers that flank
the ramparts of the town from the southern angle of the castle to the
sea, blackened as is supposed by the Greek fire, announce that it was
the principal bulwark of the city on the side of the Propontis, in the
latter times of the empire. In 1453, Mahomet II., after an obstinate
siege, gained possession of Constantinople and the Castle of the Seven
Towers, fear opening to him one of the gates of the latter. The Turks
relate that 12,000 men perished in this siege; and the marks of the
ravages of the artillery are still visible, for, as usual, the conqueror
did not concern himself about repairs. Since that time the place has
been the arena of many remarkable events, among which was the tragical
murder of the caliph Osman the Second. This has been followed up by many
bloody executions; and at every turn gloomy sentiments, and the proud
names of Turks and Greek princes, inscribed on the walls, speak the sad
fate of those by whose hands they were traced. Towers filled with irons,
chains, ancient arms, tombs, ruins, dungeons, cold and silent vaults, a
pit called _the well of blood_, the funeral cry of owls and of vultures,
mingled with the roar of the waves--such are the objects and sounds with
which the eye and ear are familiarized in these dreary abodes, according
to poor Ponqueville, the traveller, who speaks from experience--_within
the walls._ All this is a sorry picture for the

"--Gentlemen of England,
Who live at home at ease."