The mountain Democrat., 1865-12-09
Damascus.

The city Of Damascus was old before
Balbec and Palmyra were founded, and
Balbec and Palmyra had been in ruins a
thousand years when America was dscov.
cred. Even Moses gives us no clue to its
origin. II was already well known city
when Abraham dwelt in thc plain Of Nam.
re. The Patriarch'S steward was Ellie
yer of Damascus. Coiemporaneou with
all history, from the date Of Abraham 70
the present tine, it stands in this wear of
grace, 1865. fresh and young and vigor
aus, hearing fewer marks of extreme age
thar Rome, or even Einbnrgh. With
forty five miles and two ranges OF noun
tains between it and the seas with the
desert of the Hauran around it !; never in.
habited hya people Of great enterprise /;
surrounded by desert tribes of savage
habits; without commerce; without art
for four hundred years it has been persist
emily prosperous. Twice it has been the
capital Of great empire. Twice it has
been swept with the bosom of destruction,
only to re.appear with new vigor Six
81 =. S., -. =. X X! = : K <; ;
their power. Five of them have gone to
decay, and the sixth is fast going after
them; yet it wears to day the beauty Of
its youth, its white housetopS, and marble
minarets and cleaning crescentS glancing
out from amid the grey Of the olive, the
green Of the walnut, and the purple Of the
pomegranate, laughing at the ages gone,
rs its old fountains laugh Mt the wasted
streams of the desert. One Of its own
writer's has said:
"Though old as history itself, thou art
fresh as the breath of spring, blooming as
thine own rose bed. fragrant as thine own
orange flower, 0 Damascus! pearl Of the
East :"
Shortly after the death OF Mbhammed.
the Saracenes took it, and soon made it
the capital of the Moslem empire. East.
ward and westward that strange power
grew, till Damascus was the seat Of an
authority which reached from the Hima.
ayaS to the Atlantic shore The sword Of
Islam ravaged the world. and brought its
trophies hither. The church Of John the
Baptist was made the Great Mosque, and
decorated with the plumber of East and
West. Wealth flowed in at the gates and
luxury dwelt in the palaces and marble
halls, and inlaid fountains and divans
sparkling with gems. Noureddin fostere(
schools There were libraries, too, fllet
with the literature of the khalifs. Tn,
crusaders attacked the city, but were beat
en- back by Saladin. For four hundred
years the Saracens enjoyed their i'll gottel
wealth; but the day Of vengeance came a
last. Tamerlane, whom the Arab writer
term FL Walsh. "the Wild Beast" an,
whose motto was, Earth should hav
but one master, as there is but one Co
in heaven" laid siege to the city. 1t sur
rendered, and the conqueror, first receiv
ing redemption money from every nal
citizen, afterwards gave up the city to hi
troops, urging them, by very excitin
speech, to indiscriminate slaughter. The,
needed no urging. Their prisoners wer'
helpless, and for days these Tartar sava
geS rcvelled in deeds of bloodShed anC
cruelty. The city soon recovered again
and in 1916 was taken by the Turks, who
hold it to this day. 1t is now the head o
a large Turkish pashalic, extending from
near Alcppo on the north to Petra on tht
south, and from Lebanon on the west tc
the ruins of Palmyra on the cast, incldd
ing the vast plains df the llauran.