family and his treasures, to
enjoy for a brief period luxurious ease in the European appanage
assigned him by Mohammed.

David's family consisted of seven sons and a daughter borne him by
Helena Cantacuzena, his second wife, who, through her devotion to
husband and children, deserves to rank among the noblest of mothers in
the chronicles of history.

The dethroned emperor was not long permitted to enjoy the repose he had
purchased with so much infamy. Mohammed at length suspected him of
carrying on secret communications with Ouzoun Hassan, his niece's
husband, and plotting to reestablish the Empire of Trebizond. He was
suddenly arrested on his luxurious estate, and conveyed with his whole
family to Constantinople. While they were on the way a letter from
Despina Katon--the popular designation of the fair Katherine--to her
uncle David was intercepted by the Ottoman emissaries. In this the
amiable spouse of Hassan, requested David to send her brother, or one of
her cousins, to be educated at her husband's court. This letter afforded
convincing proof to the suspicious Sultan that David was plotting with
Ouzoun Hassan and other enemies of the Porte for the restoration of his
empire.

The bare suspicion of Mohammed was a sentence of death to the whole race
of Grand-Comnenus. As soon as the unfortunate prisoners reached
Constantinople, David was ordered to embrace Islam under pain of death.
His life had been ignoble, but in his death David showed that he still
possessed something of the nobility of the Comneni, and he chose death
rather than dishonor his name by renouncing his religion. David, his
seven sons and his nephew Alexius were all slaughtered in one day, in
the year 1470: the daughter was lost in a Turkish harem.

The bodies of the princes were thrown out unburied beyond the walls. No
one ventured to approach them for fear of the vengeance of the Sultan.
They would have been abandoned to the dogs, the usual scavengers of
Christian flesh, had not the Empress Helena, the wife and mother,
repaired to the spot where they lay. She was clad in a peasant's garb,
to escape detection, and carried a spade in her hand. The day was spent
in guarding the remains of husband and children from the ravenous dogs,
and in digging a grave to receive their bodies. In the darkness of the
night a few faithful souls came to her relief and assisted her in
committing the bodies to the dust. The widowed and childless empress,
who had seen