The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1877-12-06
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TIE PAIL oF ooNsTANTINopLE.

/ HE FAIL Of GONSTANTINOPLEs
The speaker reviewed the conouests Of
the Ottoman power. dwelling especially
upon the capture of Constantinople by
Mohammed Ii. Hungary was invaded,
the provinces Of Wallachla. Moldavia and
Servia we're conquered. and Greece itself,
with all its marvellous wealth, the treas
nres OF antiquity, was In the grasp of the
ottoman Turk. We cannot overestimate
the marvellous significance in this con-
nectlon of the siege of Constantinople
by the Turks under Mohammed III. in
I453. Think what it was for Christendom
to have that magnificent city fall into the
blood stained hands and be de6led by the
aDomlnabie atrocities of the Asiatic barr
barians There it stood and stands to- day.
the euperb creation Of the first Christian
emperor, whose name it will bear forever.
1t rises in the midst of magnifcence of
natural scenery unequalled throughout the
world. Through the Dardanelles, over
the Sea of Marmora. and 90 the waters of
the Bosphorns we approach and catch
sight OF the domes and minarets of the
city. BeHiidered almost by the scenes of
European and Asiatic luxury which sur
round US all the way from the Egean Sea,
we are overwhelmed by the grandeur of
Constantlnople as it bursts upon our view.
What night was that more than four
hundred years ago when that terrible
power, which had been the dread of
Chrlstendom for seven centuries. had
beaten age after age upon its eastern
barriers and had overmasteTed the ancient
kingdoms, and had crushed the chIyalrous
civilization of Spain, stood on the very eve
of viotary around the walls of CONSTANT
nople. The million inhabitants were
frantic with terror and desperation. The
gates OF the monasteries were thrown open
and the trembling crowds of their inmates
swept through the streets to the ancient
Cathedral of Santa Sophia or the Holy
wisdom. Twenty Thousand sought refuge
within Its walls The shouts of the Turks.
the thunder and roar of their engines of
wal. sonnd nearer and nearer Mohanmed
Ill, with bis iron mace In hand, rides on
horseback into the sanctuary. Men, women
and children are outraged, mutilated,
dragged to slavery or slain. The massacre
mere with all its devilish orgies, is but
type OF what is going on throughout all the
vast city-of what has occurred in every
Turkish capture since
A PROPHECY.
The imperial Church of Santa Sophia
stands as the witness to-day of what
Christian Constantinopie was once and Of
what Turkish ConstantiuopIe is now.
Built by Justinian. upon scale of extent
aAd grandeur scarcely equalled in the
world, it rises in the midst of the awful
Inlqulties of Moslem life, venerable with its
majestic antiquity of 1900 years. The
crosses upon its walls are obliterated, the
heavenly beauty of the faces of the colossal
cheruhim is concealed by the meaningless
stars which Mohammedan sacIilege has
placed upon them. Why has this. the
grandest almost of the works of man, been
permitted to stand through all those CEN
turtles but that 10 the Providence of God
it may symbolic to the whole world the
Immortality of that faith which it was built
TO commemorate, and 10 anticipate the day
when the vile dens of Turkish robbers and
murderers shall be broken up, the Turks
beaten back to their original vagabontl life
upon the Asiatic plains, and the stately
walls of the Cathedral resound with the
shoulings of the Tie Geum Laudamus p
Where is the Christian power that is TO
have the glory of such triumph as this i?
IL.