“By these three, ” says John, “was the third of the men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the sulphur, which burst forth out of the
' An artist’s impression of the taking of Constantinople, 1453. Gibbon’s history gives prominence to the artillery used by the Turks, and The Apocalypse states: “By these was the third part (eastern division of the Roman Empire) killed (politically), by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued
mouths of’ the horses. The time had now arrived, which John saw illustrated in the vision by what Gibbon styles, “the new engines of attack. ” When John was in Patmos, there was no name in any of the languages of mankind by which to designate these “new engines.” They were represented to John by appearances and effects; as Mexicans might have done to Montezuma when they first saw a horse with a rider and a gun trailing after him, suddenly wheeling into position with their tails towards him, and fire, smoke, and sulphur bursting forth from the gun’s mouth, with a roaring noise, and hurling a ball into their midst. John was taught to call these new engines “horses;” a name analogous to what would be afterwards bestowed upon them when they should come into use-horse-artillery. I would here add to what I have already said on the breasts of the riders. These had “fiery hyacinthine, and sulphurous breasts.” Not only do the “breasts” represent the breast-works upon which exploding horses would be mounted, but also the breasts of the riders themselves, before which would be planted carbines, which when fired by cavalry in line, would give a fiery hyacinthine, and sulphurous smell and appearance to their breasts.
Having narrated the failure of Amurath’s attack upon Constantinople, Mr. Gibbon calls the attention of the reader to the invention of gunpowder and balls as “the powers” by which “the new engines” became effective. He remarks, that the only hope of salvation for the Greek empire, and the adjacent kingdoms, would have been some more powerful .weapon, some discovery in the art of war, that would give them a decisive superiority over their Turkish foes. Such a weapon was in their hands, and such a discovery had been made at this critical period of their fate. The chemists of China or Europe, had found that a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, produces, with a spark of fire, a tremendous explosion or bursting forth — ekporeusis. It was soon observed that if the expansive force were compressed in a strong tube, a ball of stone or iron “heads,” might be expelled with irresistible and destructive velocity. The precise aera of the invention and application of gunpowder is involved in doubtful traditions and equivocal language; yet we may clearly discern, that it was known before the middle of the four- teeth century; and that before the end of the same, the use of artillery in battles and sieges, by sea and land, was familiar to several states. But it was found impossible to circumscribe the secret within the pale of catholic idolatry; it was disclosed to the Turks by the treachery of apostates to Moslemism and the selfish policy of rivals; and the sultans of the fourth angel-power had the sense to adopt, and wealth to reward, the talents of a catholic engineer. It was probably by the hands of the Genoese that Amurath’s cannon was cast and directed at the siege of
Constantinople. The first attempt was indeed unsuccessful; it could not be otherwise, the time appointed for “killing the third” being yet distant upwards of thirty years.