Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-06-07

aeoWo eeees soaleo % its shores led BY
stordy old Jason In his pious search for
golden 0eece. Seven centuries before
tie Christian era the Creeks, in their
a1veAeiag progress and civilization, had
stretched out their sfihs and founded
colonies there. and four centuries be-
lore the same epoch Il WAS ruled over
by AriobarSanes, Persian satrap, who
49, Up in rebellion sgalnst his father
ond ssade himself master Uf the whole
eoostland. Il had q political impor-
see when Alexander the Great was
ngink f6f more worlds to conquer, and
!sf BIS death secured its indspen-
ssksa 5ihsssss lvsusnuspsvn.
Greet, and the sixth of that meme, as-
cended the PSatiau thrune, one hundred
and twenty yesrs before Christ, he sub
dued the 6arbafians between the Eux.
Inc and the Caspian seas. conquering
the tribes beyond the Caucasus, de-
feated the armies ufimperial Rome, and
overran the whole Roman Province Of
Asia. Success and reverse alternately
followed him. Around Trebizoad was
the chief battle ground, to which Lucul.
lus and Pompey brought their legions.
until step BY step Mithridates was driven
to the Crimea. He had fed 50 long on
Poisons, in expectation Of treschery,
that the most baneful drugs had no ef.
feet upon him, and at last, when in des.
pair, he sought to end his life be was
forced to fall upon the sword OF one ol
his Gallo soldiers. After the Romans
had secured the city and the province,
the Emperor, Trajan, improved the forts.
The army of Goths, which, like the To-
Gusts, scourged everything over which
they passed, nearly destroyed the city;
but it was again reconquered by the Ro-
mans, and after undergoing various vi.
cissitudes was won bv the Turks in
1861. So here Is town which was a
flourishing place when Xenophon ar
rived there In his retreat from Cunaxa,
which has successfully met the on.
sIaught of Roman, Goth, Persian, and
Turk, and which to-day is sought 10
conquest by 4 nation who were wild
savages and barbarians when Mithri-
dates was King. and yet who to-day are
pushing their borders TO the ends oi
earth, while the memory Of the other
has perished with the dust that moul-
ders in the sepulchre at Sinope.
Taken altogether II Is strange ming
ling Of the old and new, Of romance and
reality. The unpronounceable names
which we smile over to-day have in
them = depth Of meaning. The desc.
late land over which modern artillery
rolls, and over which the opposing
standards Of Turkey and Russia Aoa:,
teens with the memory Of ancient glo-
ry and imperial msgni6cence. My.
thology and religion have drunk from
the founts Of its history. The river al
which to-day the Moslem troops water
their horses once flowed through the
rich Eden which so many Of the race
look to as the birthplace of humanity
From the forts on which the Turkish
cannon frown were launched the ar.
rows of Rome, and the mild-eyed Greek
with his love for art and beauty, and
his dreams Of dcities in every grove and
fountain, once held the place where
mosque and minaret tower to Heaven
and where the cry of the muezzin calls
out the faithful to prayer. The study
Of such changes is an interesting one
and in considering them in connection
with the events in progress now they
lend . charm to the latter which, addet
TO the vast interests at stake, make the
present conflict the most romantic O
modern times.-BaHo. .7meriean.