The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1828-08-13


prophet, and directed the attack on this side"
The anthor then expresses his admiration at the
resistance offered by the dsheartened Greeks,
which he imputes to the genius and spirit of one
[ individual, and says: "That one man was Con-
stantine Palaologus. The name of Constan-
| tine occurs more frequently than that of any
other in the history of the lower empire it was
borne by fourteen Emperors but they were
all marked by imbecility, except the first and
the last-he who founded the empire, and he in
whom it terminated The details given of this
termination, and of the character and conduct
of him who endeavored to avert or delay it, are
particularly affecting; and his devotion of him
! self to the cause of his country, when it could
no longer be preserved, and seeking death in
| the midst of his enemies, are worthy of the best
ages of Greece or Rome. The breaches which
remain in the wall for a considerable extent,
near this Top Kapousi gate, and which the
Turks have never since repaired, attest the Wig
orous resistance made. and the utter hopeless
ness of any further effort to stop the torrent of
barbarans that poured in through them. The
body of Constantine was found in one of them
where he had placed himself as the last, but in
etfectual, barrier, and magnificent tree is now
growing out of it, to mark, as Clarke says, " the
sacred spot where the last of the Palaologi
! fell"-# AS this is the side on which
the, Russians threaten to approach Constantine
pie, it is highly probable that this is the gate
| by which they will enter and the very same
! passage that admitted the Crescent, viii again
admit the Cross. II is very well known, that
this is an event which the Turks are expecting,
and their anticipations of it not confined 10
military preparations. Their great burying
ground lies on the Asiatic shore, and is TO be
seen extending its dark cypress grove for a
considerable distance in the vicinity of Scutari
! This is perhaps the largest cemetery in the
world, being one hour, or three miles in length,
and it has increased to its present size in con-
( sequence of the extraordinary prediction the
Turks of Constantinope entertain for it, They
are persuaded that they will again be compelled
to retire to Asia, whence they came and they
wish their bodies to be laid in place where
| Christian infidels cannot disturb them. The
| great majority therefore, of those who die in
Constantinople, are transported by their friends
across the Bosphorus and the stairs or slip at
which they embark is called, for this reason,
! Meit-iskelli, or the Ladder of the Dead. This
impression on their minds is confirmed by an
cient prophecies, which are current among
them, and by other causes equally slight, which,
nevertheless, have powerful influence on the
weak and superstitous fancy of a Turk
Among them is a coincidence of names which
is rather curious Constantnople was taken
and lost at different times, by persons who bore
the same name. The Latins, under Baldwin
obtained possession of it ; and under Baldwin
they were again driven out of it. The city
was rebuilt and made the seat of the Greek
! Empire, by Constantine, the son of Helena,
and the pat.iarchate of Gregory it was TAX
en-, and the Empire of the Greeks destroyed,
under Constantine, the son of Helena and in
| the patriarchate of Gregory; the Turks OBJ
tanned possession of il under a Mahomet, and
| they are firmly persuaded they will lose it un-
der a Mahomet-and that Mahomet the present
reigning Sultan and, to complete this change
of names, at the time the Greek instruction
broke out Constantine was the heir apparent
| to the Russian Throne, and Gregory was the
patriarch of Constantinople. They hanged, at
the time one of these ominous persons, and the
other has since abdicated the crown. Still they
are persuaded that events will happen as they
are decreed and the fatal combination Of Ma
homet, Gregory, and Constantine, will yet de-
stroy their power in Europe"
This remarkable prophecy, ii is not improba-
bic, may, like many others, tend to its own full
tilment among people so superstitious as the
Turks. We pass a striking account of the
death of Ali Pasha and his enemy Halet; and
even the destruction Of the Janissaries, though
the determination of that corps must give an
aspect to the approaching war very different
from any that has preceded it. Suffice it to say,
that /" the number of janissaries destroyed on
this occasion is variously reported Besides
[
and in the public Streets mutitudes were caught
and privately strangled in the houses where they
were found so that none of the large body as
sembled were supposed to have escaped. All
the officers, with the exception of few of high
rank who had Joined the sultan's party, were
known to have persisted; and the general opin-
ions is, that 10000 were sacrificed on the occa-
sion. Arubas and other machines were employ
ed for several days in dragging down the man
rla fhop ;pfO bos
and Bosphorus Here they lay till becoming
buoyant by corruption, they again rose to the
top, and were Aoated into the sea of Marmora,
where the eddies frequently carried them into
still water, covering the surface with large
putrid masses, in which boats and ships were
sometimes entanged and delayed.
Since the destruction of the Janissaries,
deathlike tranquility has reigned at CONSTANT
nople which no cause of excitement can dis
turb Had the public mind been'in that scnsi-
tive state when the first news of the battle of
Navarino arrived, which displayed itself at the
breaking out of the Greek rebellion, it is high
ly probable that the whole of the Frank popula-
ton would have fallen victims to a popular
frenzy, which 10 authority could control But
their spirits were subdued, and their courage
broken down and the ordinary causes of irri-
tation were powerless to move them. Whether
the discipine-of the new corps can supply the
want of this undsciplined energy in future en-
counters, remains to be tried Had the new
system time to organize itself; had habit rem.
dered the discipline agreeable to the Turkish
soldier, and practice made him expert,-no
doubt it would have been renovation which
would have infused energy and vigor into
a decaying system; but the Turkish empire
seems just now in perilous state of imbecil-
ity. The old military destroyed, the new un-
organized their courage subdued, their attach
ment alienated; and just at the critical moment
threatened with combination of force such as
they never, in their highest state of power, had
to encounter. The present Sultan who has eff.
fected this perilous undertaking, in which so
| many Of his predecessors failed Is n man moi