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Chronicles and Characters

By Robert Lytton (Owen Meredith): In Two Volumes
Lytton, Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton (1831-1891)
  
[dedication]

collapse sectionI. 
VOL.I
  
PRELUDE.
 I. 
I.OPIS AND ARGE.
 II. 
II.CROESUS AND ADRASTUS.
 III. 
III.GYGES AND CANDAULES.
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BOOK II.
  
THANATOS ATHANATOU.
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BOOK III. ROMANCES.
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LICINIUS.
 I. 
PART I. THE TIME.
 II. 
PART II. THE MAN.
 III. 
PART III. THE GODS.
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PART IV. THE PAST.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
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PART V. THE PRESENT.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 VI. 
PART VI. THE FUTURE.
  
GENSERIC.
  
IRENE.
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BOOK IV.
  
THE SCROLL AND ITS INTERPRETERS.
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BOOK V. LEGENDS AND ROMANCES.
  
MOHAMMED.
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THE ROSES OF SAADI.
 I. 
I.MOSES AND THE DERVISH.
 II. 
II.THE BOY AND THE RING.
 III. 
III.THE EYES OF MAHMUD.
  
THE APPLE OF LIFE.
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BOOK VI.
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THE SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
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PART I.
 I. 
I.THE EMPEROR ISAAC.
 II. 
II.IS SAD.
 III. 
III.AND SO IS HIS BROTHER ALEXIUS: WHO PROPOSES
 IV. 
IV.A PARTY OF PLEASURE.
 V. 
V.WHICH ENDS UNPLEASANTLY.
 VI. 
VI.OUT OF THE LIGHT, INTO THE DARK.
 VII. 
VII.ALEXIUS THE YOUNGER FLIES FROM ALEXIUS THE ELDER.
 VIII. 
VIII.AND TRIES HIS FORTUNES AND HIS FRIENDS.
 IX. 
IX.A GREAT MAN.
 X. 
X.AND SOME NOTABLE MEN.
 XI. 
XI.LE VALET DE CONSTANTINOPLE.
 XII. 
XII.A BLIND MAN SEES FAR.
 XIII. 
XIII.QUOT HOMINES TOT SENTENTIAE.
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PART II.
 I. 
I. THE EMPEROR MAKES A PROCLAMATION.
 II. 
II. AND RECEIVES THE AMBASSADORS.
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VOL. II. BOOK VI. (Continued.) THE SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
 I. 
I.HOW THE EMPEROR PICKED UP WHAT THE DEVIL LET FALL.
 II. 
II.GAVE AWAY WHAT HE NO LONGER POSSESSED.
 III. 
III.WHAT WAS SHOWN TO THEOCRITE, THE MONK.
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PART IV.
 I. 
I.JUSTICE
 II. 
II.ARMED
 III. 
III.BY SEA AND LAND
 IV. 
IV.IS TRIUMPHANT.
 V. 
V.SICUT FUMUS.
 VI. 
VI.TWO BLIND MEN.
 VII. 
VII.THE DOGE IS OBSTINATE.
 VIII. 
VIII.VERTIGO.
 IX. 
IX.A DARK DEED.
 X. 
X.THE FULNESS OF TIME.
 XI. 
XI.THE HORSES OF LYSIPPUS.
 XII. 
XII.AND THE LION OF ST. MARK.
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BOOK VII. LEGENDS, BALLADS, AND ROMANCES.
  
FAREWELL TO THE HOLY LANDS.
  
DOGE ORSO'S NIGHT'S WORK.
  
SALZBURGENSIS VAGABUNDUS.
  
A KING AND A QUEEN.
  
FAIR YOLAND WITH THE YELLOW HAIR.
  
TRIAL BY COMBAT.
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RABBI BEN EPHRAIM'S TREASURE.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
 VII. 
VII.
 VIII. 
VIII.
 IX. 
IX.
 X. 
X.
 XI. 
XI.
 XII. 
XII.
 XIII. 
XIII.
 XIV. 
XIV.
 XV. 
XV.
 XVI. 
XVI.
 XVII. 
XVII.
 XVIII. 
XVIII.
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CATTERINA CORNARO.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
  
JACQUELINE,
  
THE DIRGE.
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BOOK VIII. NARRATIVE, DRAMATIC, AND LYRICAL.
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THE DEAD POPE.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
 VII. 
VII.
 VIII. 
VIII.
 IX. 
IX.
 X. 
X.
 XI. 
XI.
 XII. 
XII.
 XIII. 
XIII.
 XIV. 
XIV.
 XV. 
XV.
 XVI. 
XVI.
 XVII. 
XVII.
 XVIII. 
XVIII.
 XIX. 
XIX.
 XX. 
XX.
 XXI. 
XXI.
  
THOMAS MÜNTZER TO MARTIN LUTHER.
  
ADOLPHUS, DUKE OF GUELDERS.
  
THE DUKE'S LABORATORY.
  
VANINI
  
JOHN PETER CARAFA.
  
PICAROONS.
  
CHRISTIAN, THE DOL-HARTZOG.
  
ELISABETTA SIRANI.
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RICHELIEU.
 I. 
I. THE POETS.
 II. 
II THE THREE ESTATES.
 III. 
III. WALLENSTEIN'S DEATH.
  
THE DAUPHIN.
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BOOK IX. HERE AND THERE.
  
ATLANTIS.
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MISERY.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
 VII. 
VII.
 VIII. 
VIII.
  
MELANCHOLIA.
  
LAST WORDS
  
A BEATEN ARMY.
  
A POOR MAN
  
A MAN OF SCIENCE
  
A GREAT MAN.
  
MABEL MAY.
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[section]
  
EPILOGUE.

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XI.LE VALET DE CONSTANTINOPLE.

The trumpet shrills
323

Thrice in the outer porch, with brazen din,
Thrice in the vestibule, and thrice within
The vaulted aisles.
Then, thro' the clanging arch,
The gaunt, red-cross'd, steel-shirted heralds march.
Then silence.
Then, a humming, and a sound
Of metal clink'd upon the marble ground,
And, in between those six that, either side
The column'd entry, gleam in tabards pied,
Bare-headed, with no blazon on his breast,
Comes the discrownèd Heir of all the East,
Alexius Angelus, the last in line
Of those Greek heirs to Christian Constantine,
The Byzant Emperors.
Who seeks for aid
Must show how service sought can be repaid.
Therefore the Prince, as soon as on bent knee
He gave the Doge the Kaiser's letter,—free
To plead his cause before the assembled knights
Of Christendom, and urge his wrongs and rights,
—Pledges himself to pay, upon his crown,
Two hundred thousand marks of silver down:
To join the Egyptian Pilgrims: and make cease
The age-long schism dividing Rome and Greece:
To find and furnish at his proper cost,
For Christendom, and to the Red Cross Host,
324

For one whole year, ten thousand mounted men,
Soldier and horse: and, ever after then,
A company of fifty knights,—a Band
Vow'd to the service of the Holy Land.—
“Le Valet de Constantinople,” states
The Frankish Chronicler, whose pen relates
What his eye witness'd, since himself was there,
“Li cuers des genz esmeut, mainte lerme amere
Moult durement plorant.” Thus, with filial tears,
Comment and argument, to lay their fears
And lift their valours,—now, with pour'd appeal
To sacred Justice and the Public Weal,
Now, hinting novel outlets to be won
To teeming Trade,—until the set of sun,
Full passionately pleading, spake the Prince.
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