The chastisement of God soon overtook that fickle people; in 1453, Mohomet II took Constantinople by assault, and gave it up to sack and slaughter; the infuriated soldiery slew all who came in their way, cast down the alters, profaned the monasteries, and despoiled the wretched inhabitants of all their property. Thus fell the Empire of the east, after eleven centuries of a glorious existence. The Greeks continue to the present day, obstinately attached to their errors; they are slaves to the Turks in their ancient capital. That noble Church that gave the world, St Athanasius, Gregory, Basil, and so many other learnerd and holy doctors, now lies trampled under foot, vice usurping the place of virtue, and ignorance seated in the chair of learning. The Greek Church, in a word, the mother of many saints and doctors of the Church, has, on the account of its separation from the Roman See, fallen into a state of deplorable barbarity and wretched slavery.
