The Rise of Iskander | Page 3

offered
itself of adding to his empire the rich principality he had long coveted.
A Turkish force instantly marched into Epirus, and seized upon Croia,
the capital city, and the children of its late ruler were doomed to death.
The beauty, talents, and valour of the youngest son, saved him,
however, from the fate of his poisoned brothers. Iskander was educated
at Adrianople, in the Moslemin faith, and as he, at a very early age,
exceeded in feats of arms all the Moslemin warriors, he became a prime
favourite of the Sultan, and speedily rose in his service to the highest
rank.
At this period the irresistible progress of the Turkish arms was the
subject of alarm throughout all Christendom.
Constantinople, then the capital of the Greek Empire, had already been
more than once besieged by the predecessors of Amurath, and had only
been preserved by fortunate accidents and humiliating terms. The
despots of Bosnia, Servia, and Bulgaria, and the Grecian princes of
Etolia, Macedon, Epirus, Athens, Phocis, Bœotia, and indeed of all the
regions to the straits of Corinth, were tributaries to Amurath, and the
rest of Europe was only preserved from his grasp by the valour of the
Hungarians and the Poles, whom a fortunate alliance had now united

under the sovereignty of Uladislaus, who, incited by the pious
eloquence of the cardinal of St. Angelo, the legate of the Pope, and,
yielding to the tears and supplications of the despot of Servia, had, at
the time our story opens, quitted Buda, at the head of an immense army,
crossed the Danube, and, joining his valiant viceroy, the famous John
Hunniades, vaivode of Transylvania, defeated the Turks with great
slaughter, relieved all Bulgaria, and pushed on to the base of Mount
Hæmus, known in modern times as the celebrated Balkan. Here the
Turkish general, Karam Bey, awaited the Christians, and hither to his
assistance was Iskander commanded to repair at the head of a body of
Janissaries, who had accompanied him to Greece, and the tributary
Epirots.
Had Iskander been influenced by vulgar ambition, his loftiest desires
might have been fully gratified by the career which Amurath projected
for him. The Turkish Sultan destined for the Grecian Prince the hand of
one of his daughters, and the principal command of his armies. He
lavished upon him the highest dignities and boundless wealth; and,
whether it arose from a feeling of remorse, or of affection for a warrior
whose unexampled valour and unrivalled skill had already added some
of the finest provinces of Asia to his rule, it is certain that Iskander
might have exercised over Amurath a far greater degree of influence
than was enjoyed by any other of his courtiers. But the heart of
Iskander responded with no sympathy to these flattering favours. His
Turkish education could never eradicate from his memory the
consciousness that he was a Greek; and although he was brought up in
the Moslemin faith, he had at an early period of his career, secretly
recurred to the creed of his Christian fathers. He beheld in Amurath the
murderer of his dearest kinsmen, and the oppressor of his country; and
although a certain calmness of temper, and coolness of judgment,
which very early developed themselves in his character, prevented him
from ever giving any indication of his secret feelings, Iskander had
long meditated on the exalted duty of freeing his country.
Dispatched to Greece, to arrange the tributes and the treaties of the
Grecian princes, Iskander became acquainted with the young Nicæus;
and their acquaintance soon matured into friendship. Nicæus was

inexperienced; but nature had not intended him for action. The young
Prince of Athens would loll by the side of a fountain, and dream of the
wonders of old days. Surrounded by his eunuchs, his priests, and his
courtiers, he envied Leonidas, and would have emulated Themistocles.
He was passionately devoted to the ancient literature of his country,
and had the good taste, rare at that time, to prefer Demosthenes and
Lysias to Chrysostom and Gregory, and the choruses of the Grecian
theatre to the hymns of the Greek church. The sustained energy and
noble simplicity of the character of Iskander, seemed to recall to the
young prince the classic heroes over whom he was so often musing,
while the enthusiasm and fancy of Nicæus, and all that apparent
weakness of will, and those quick vicissitudes of emotion, to which
men of a fine susceptibility are subject, equally engaged the sympathy
of the more vigorous and constant and experienced mind of his
companion.
To Nicæus, Iskander had, for the first time in his life, confided much of
his secret heart; and the young Prince fired at the inspiring tale. Often
they consulted over the fortunes of their country, and, excited by their
mutual invention,