session of innumerable relics, and the consciousness of being
under the protection of an army of saints and martyrs, had plunged a
large part of the inhabitants, had been rudely dispelled. The Panhagia
of the Blachern, with its relic of the Virgin's robe, the host of
heads, arms, bodies, and vestments of saints and of portions of the
holy Cross, had been of no more use than the palladium which lay
buried then, as now, under the great column which Constantine had
built. The rough energy of the Westerns had disregarded the talismans
of the Greek Church as completely as those of paganism. In vain had
the believers in these charms destroyed during the siege the statues
which were believed to be of ill omen or unlucky. The invaders had a
superstition as deep as their own, but with the difference that they
could not believe that a people in schism could have the protection of
the hierarchy of heaven, or be regarded as the rightful possessors of
so many relics.

During the night following its capture the Golden Gate, which was at
the Marmora side of the landward walls, had been opened, and already
an affrighted crowd was pressing forward to make its escape from the
captured city. Others were doing their best to bury their treasures.
The Emperor himself, either seized with panic or finding that all was
lost--as, indeed, everything was lost so soon as the army had
succeeded in obtaining a foothold within the walls--fled from the
city, He, too, escaped by the Golden Gate, taking with him Euphrosyne,
the widow of Alexis. The brave Theodore Lascaris determined, however,
to make one more attempt. His appeal to the people was useless. Those
who were not panic-stricken appear to have been indifferent. Some, at
least, were apparently still dreaming of a mere change of rulers, like
those of which the majority of them had seen several. But before any
attempt at reorganization could be made the enemy was in sight, and
Theodore himself had to fly.

The crusaders had expected another day's fighting, and knew nothing of
the flight of Mourtzouphlos. To their surprise they encountered no
resistance. The day was occupied in taking possession of their
conquest. The Byzantine troops laid down their arms on receiving
assurances of personal safety. The Italians who had been expelled took
advantage of the entry of their friends and appear to have retaliated
upon the population for their expulsion. Two thousand of the
inhabitants, says Gunther, wer