Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1833-10-31
IRENE.
By JosEPH L. GILLaEa.
Thou faircst flower,


MAHoMET the Second, surnamed the
Great, was the seventh sedan of the
Turks. He was brave, ambitious, and
cruel, and possessed all the energy and
decision of character necessary to
great conqueror. He delighted in mu-
sic, sculpture, and the polite arts in
general, and was as remarkable, for
his beauty Of aspect as for his manifold
requirements.
Had Mahomet possessed a compass
sionate heart with some other qualities
which distinguished him, his name and
achievements would have been blazon-
ed forth with those Of Richard ceur de
Lion, and like the lion hearted king he
would have shone a conspicuous hero
in the pages ofhistory and romance.
Cruelty was a prominent feature in
Mahomet'S character,-as the cloud
that obscures the sun, it threw a shade
over his brightest actions. This exc
cradle propensity appeared to be cor
sttutional defect, and not the result OF
crcumstances-it had evinced itself in
early youth, and some of his juvenile
FRANKS were marked by refinement
in cruelty that chad he existed in the
reign of the Inquisition) would have
qualified him for an exalted station in
that body.
With all his faults, and they were
many, Mahomet was not entirely des.
ttute ofevery thing bearing the appel
lation Of humanity-his generosity and
munificence knew no bounds; his friend
ship, though obtained with difficulty,
was unalterable and chung to its object
as the needle to the pole-these, with
a love for moral truth and freedom
from discrimination, were the redeeming
points in Mahomet's character.
His fierce and intractable spirit was
unsusceptible Of the powers of love-
certainly, he had never known the ge-
NAL influence of this passion. He was
averitable Mahometan, and regarded
the finer part Of creation with senti-
ments peculiar to that Of Islam. He
anticipated and waited patiently forper-
feet happiness in the society Of the
beautiful girls of paradise, called from
their large dark eyes, Hur al oyun;
these celestial beings recline in the
shade ofthe tree Tuba-thcy say that
"lhe boughs ofthis tree will spontane-
ousiy bend down to the hand ofthe per-
son who would gather of its fruits, and
that it will supply the faithful not only
with food, but also with silken gar
ments, and beasts to ride upon already
saddled and bridled and adorned with
rich trappings, which will burst forth
from its fruits" This tree is so large
that person mounted on the fleetesi
horse would not be able TO gallop from
one end of its shade to the other in one
hundred years. As plenty of water is
n great addition to the pleasantness o
any place, the Koran often speaks o
the rivers of paradise as great orna
ment. Some of these rivers, they say
flow with water, some with milk, some
with wine, and others with honey, al
taking their rise from the root Of tn,
tree Tuba.
The winning graces and enticement
Of the resplendent beauties who ccm
posed Mahomet's retinue were lost OF
one who had even gazed with apath,
on those assemblages of charms which
are fascinatingto the eye alone. Reg
uarity of feature, unless illuminate'
with the rays fgenius and intelligence
were to him objects of indifference ra
Their than love. 1t is little wonder tina
Mahomet with these sentiments avoide
the society of his illiterate and insipi
countrywomen. The conquest of hi
proud heart if admiration without al
lection deserves the name OF love wa
reserved for the beautiful and unlortr
nate Irene.
At the capture of Istampol by II
Turks in 1853, Irene became the ca,
tive of Mahomet. Her extraordinar
beauty and accomplishments had bee
the prolific theme of many a Greci;
bard, and had reserved her for a ia
more dreadful than death.-She w
the antithesis of the Turkish ladies
every thing but beauty, and in this al
love, she shone the peerless quee
Her form is described as a perfect m
del of symmetry-there was the lol
brow other race, the beautiful cash
that told of the transcendent gem wit
IN; the eyes of life and light which,
the rays of Cynthia hallowed eve
thing they shone upon. She was