description, also fell into their hands, and were
bought by the trading Venetians, and the proceeds distributed among the
army. Two thousand persons were put to the sword; but had there been
less plunder to take up the attention of the victors, the slaughter
would in all probability have been much greater.

In many of the bloody wars which defile the page of history, we find
that soldiers, utterly reckless of the works of God, will destroy his
masterpiece, man, with unsparing brutality, but linger with respect
around the beautiful works of art. They will slaughter women and
children, but spare a picture; will hew down the sick, the helpless,
and the hoary-headed, but refrain from injuring a fine piece of
sculpture. The Latins, on their entrance into Constantinople, respected
neither the works of God nor man, but vented their brutal ferocity upon
the one and satisfied their avarice upon the other. Many beautiful
bronze statues, above all price as works of art, were broken into
pieces to be sold as old metal. The finely-chiselled marble, which
could be put to no such vile uses, was also destroyed, with a
recklessness; if possible, still more atrocious. [The following is a
list of some of the works of art thus destroyed, from Nicetas, a
contemporary Greek author:--1st. A colossal Juno, from the forum of
Constantine, the head of which was so large that four horses could
scarcely draw it from the place where it stood to the palace. 2d. The
statue of Paris presenting the apple to Venus. 3d. An immense bronze
pyramid, crowned by a female figure, which turned with the wind. 4th.
The colossal statue of Bellerophon, in bronze, which was broken down
and cast into the furnace. Under the inner nail of the horse's hind
foot on the left side, was found a seal wrapped in a woollen cloth.
5th. A figure of Hercules, by Lysimachus, of such vast dimensions that
the thumb was equal in circumference to the waist of a man. 6th. The
Ass and his driver, cast by order of Augustus after the battle of
Actium, in commemoration of his having discovered the position of
Antony through the means of an ass-driver. 7th. The Wolf suckling the
twins of Rome. 8th. The Gladiator in combat with a lion. 9th. The
Hippopotamus. 10th. The Sphinxes. 11th. An eagle fighting with a
serpent. 12th. A beautiful statue of Helen. 13th. A group, with a
monster somewhat resembling a bull, engaged in deadly conflict with a
serpent; and many other works of art, too numerous