Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1860-08-10
9rIcttea 1flistrIlanp.
The City of Damascus Its Great An
tiquity.--The Late Massacre of the
Christians There.

The City of Damascus--Its Great An
tiquity.--The Late Massacre of the
Christians There.
The news from Syria continues to be
of the most appalling character. The
late advices report that from 1000 to
5000 Christians have been slain, and Is
villages laid waste with fire and sword.
Tho massacre at Damascus, where 500
Christians, including the Dutch Consul,
were massacred, and the American Con-
sui wounded, gives renewed interest to
the history of that ancient city. The
Philadelphia Bulletin supplies some par
ticulars, which we sabjoin:
Dauirfcus VAS an i,1port-,lt place at
least as carly as the time Of Abraham, so
that it is not less than four thousand
years old. Psychologists dispute about
the meaning of the name. 1t was the
ancient capital of Syria, and was thus
the quintessence of the quick witted race
it represented. 1t is called by some the
most ancient city in the world. This is,
no doubt, Eastern exaggeration, but the
fact that every thing said by the orien-
talist, about this famous capital is exag-
gerated, only shows how strongly its
real attractions had taken effect upon
their vivid imagination A celebrated
epistle of an ancient writer calls it 'the
great and sacred city of Damascus, sur
passing every city, both in the beauty of
its temples and the magnitude of its
shriues, as well as the timeiness of its
seasons, the limpidness of its fountains,
the volume of its waters, and the rich
nessof its SOIL" Its people call it "a
pearl surrounded by emeralds." OF all
the cities of the East, it is perhaps the
most oriental.
The descriptions of Buckingham are
not considered entirely reliable. But
there has seldom anything been written
with human pen more beautiful than his
picture of the plain of Damascus. He
compares it to an English scat in the
country, surrounded by an immense park.
The visitor inquiries for the family, and
finds that they have been for year in
Italy. Meanwhile the place has been
most delightfully."- unkept. Its rich cul-
tivation is every where partially grown
up; tho trees untrimmed and dipping
their branches in the sparkling rivulets (;
the roses grown almost into trees and
covered with innumerable blossoms. -
Every where is seen rich verdure, luxu.
rant growth, with but such touch Of
wildness as to give the finishing grace t.
the landscape. Such. he says. is Da
mascus in the bloom of the year.
Damascus was conquered by David
who made it tributary. After being held
by Solomon, it revolted, ana afterward.
was at the head of thirty-and-two kings
1t was subsequently taken by Assyria and
Persia. After the battle of Issus, it fell
into the hands Of Alexander the Great,
and Pompey, annexed it to the Roman
Empire. After being celebrated for its
wealth and splendor under the Greek
Emperors, it was conquered by the Sar-
aceus, and became for time the capita
of the Mohammedan world. The sceptre
of Islam passed over TO Bagdad, but Da.
mascus is still famous in the history Of
Saladin.
1t was besieged by the Crusaders il
the twelfth century, but they failed t.
take it Later still, it was captured
with circumstances of great barbarity
by Tamerlane, and finally fell into thu
hands of the Turks under Selim /
possesses, too, high moral interest, fol
on that beautiful plain it was that St
Paul became obcdient to the heavenly
vision"
Among the points of interest connect
ed with this famous city are the Damas
Gus blades, so malleable that they nigh
be bent to right angle without losing
their elasticity; so keen that they coulC
sever down or gauze floating in the air
or divide iron without destroying thei
edge. For ages the secret of their man
ufacture was unknown. General Amos
soft, in the Ural mountains, however
succeeded, in quite recent times, in ma
king a sword which seemed to equal tn,
best Damascus, with a blade Of reticu
lated lines-such as always appeared OF
the finest Damascus blades--in broaC
stripes, and showing bright gilded re-
Fiction. lie cut through gauze hand
kerchief in the air, and cleft bones anc
nails, feats which cannot be performed
with the best English steel" Anderson
in his recent travels in Siberia, states,
however, that the secret died with Amos
soft, as these swords are not now made
at Damascus.
Another point of interest is the famous
Damask stuff. They are properly silk,
though sometimes made of other fabrics.
Large quantities Of silk are still maru.
featured, and the Damask roses have lost
nothing of their immemorial beauty.
There is at Damascus a considerable
trade, both with India and Europe. -
From India are brought by the Persian
Gulf, Bassora, Bagdad, and Aleppo,
spices, cotton goods, coarse and fine
muslins, and gold stufs. English goods
come through Bcyrout and Tripoli. The
people are Mohommedans, Druses, ORR
entail Christians, Jews, &c. The popu-
lation is about one hundred thousand.