The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1881-04-21
The Scene of Tragedies.

CnlOS, called also CnlO and SEQ, one OF the
many places that have claimed the honor of be-
ing the birthplace OF Homer has been destroyed
by an earthquake, and 900 persons are reported
killed. 1t is the chief city of an island of the
same name in the Grecian Archipelago. The city
has population Of n 800 and the island about
50,000 most of whom are Turks Great as is the
reported calamity, it does not compare with the
one that followed the rebellion of 1872 when the
Turks within two months put to the sword $1,000
Sciotes and sold Il 900 in slavery. III short time
the Christian population was reduced from l0i 900
to 1000. We quote as follows from an article by
J. G Abbott, on Turkey and Russia, published
in Harper's Magazine for March 1867
1t is but about thirty years since the Greeks rose
in the desperate attempt to throw off the yoke of
the Ottoman The sympathies of the world were
with them. Alexander GysilantI, who first un-
furled the banner of revolt, had been an officer in
the Russian army. He assured the Greeks that
the Gar Nicholas had secretly pledged his word
to aid them in their struggle for emancipation.
The eroclty Of the Turk signally displayed in
this conflict Contemplate for moment the r.as-
sacre of Scio
| This island was one of the largest and most
beautiful Of the Greeian Archipelago 1t was tie
home Of refined and cultivated people, enriched
by commerce. Its chief city, sheltered by beau
lui anu spacious HdIDOr nelu twenty thousand III
habltants, while a population of more than one
hundred thousand were clustered in the villages
| which were spread over its hills and wales. The
| ladies of the island were renowned through Eu-
| rope for their beauty. Many Of Its wealthy fami
| lies had travelled extensively on the Continent and
had mingled with the polished circles of Brussels
Berlin, and Paris. Above all the other islands of
| the East Scio famed for its intelligent and
fascinating society. Schools lourished The col
! ege Of Scio attracted students from distance
nj Sol
| The tourist exploring the beautiful island, was
| ever charmed with the tones of the voice blend
ing with the harp or the guitar in harmony which
evidenced the highest artistic skill
| The young men of Sco eagerly Joined in the
struggle to emancipate themselves from the thrall
| dom of the Turk Sultan Mahmoud resolved upon
| vengeance which should make Seo a warning to
all Greece He issued proclamation to the des
| peradoes OF the Bosphorus, declaring that the in
| habiants of Scio were outlawed and that they
| all, male and female, old and young, were to be
! surrendered to the vengeance Of the adventures
who would embark for their destruction.
Moslem hate combined with semi barbaric de
/ pravlty to raise the terocty of tanaticsm to its
| highest pitch. All the lewd fellows Of the baser
| sort, who crowded the dens Of Constantinople or
who prowled about the shores OF the Bosphorus
rushed to ION the enterprise. All were welcome
| the more beastly and demoniac the better. An
army OF fifteen thousand men were thus collected
| who IN character were as near to demons as earth
| has ever furnished As the fleet dropped down the
! hay on its dreadful mission salyos Of fagtCry from
all the fortresses which lined the shores of Europe
and Asia uttered the Moslem benediction.
| 1t was a lovely afternoon in the month Of April.
/ 1872 when the fleet anchored in the defenseless
bay, and vomted upon the doomed island its mur-
| derous hordes. The sceGe which enSued no imag-
nation can conceive. general massacre, with
all the concomitants of cruelty and lust, swept the
| island for six days and nights and then nothing
remained but blackened, bloody .smoudering pile
of ruins. Forty thousand perlshed by the sword.
| bullet, or III the llanes, and many were put to
death after having first experienced the most hor
| rible tortures.
Forty one thousand OF the youth of both sexes
were reserved to be sold as slaves. The young
| men from the university refined III manners and
| OF cultured minds, were consigned to hopeless
| bondage The young ladies. torn from the parors
OF their opulent parents-adies who had visited
| in the polished circles Of London and Of Paris
| became the property OF the most terocious and
/ licentious outcasts of the human race For weeks
and months they were exposed in the slave sham
| bles, through all the marts OF the Ottoman EN-
pire. The beautiful madens found ready sale to
replenish the harems of the Turks. As slave labor
is not profitable IN Turkey. the market was quite
drugged with the young men, and they were dis
posed of at prices SO low that even the poor could
purchase.
European travellers frequently met in the slave
shambles young ladies offered for sale to whom
they had previously been introduced in the sa.
looms OF their wealthy parents, in the mansions OF
Seio, They had to endure the agony of seeing
them dragged away by the brutal Turk, for the
naughty Mohammedan would allow no 'Christian
dog to rescue a captive.
When the fleet returned to ConstantinopIe hav
! ing perpetrated its tiendish mission, the whole
| city was assembled to witness its entrance into
the Golden Horn As the ships rounded point
of land which brought them in view OF the royal
seraglio, salute was fired from ship and shore
whose echoes reverberated along the hills Of EU-
rope and Of Asia As the smoke cleared away
hundreds Of Greeks were seen hanging by the neck
to the bowSprits and every yard arm. struggling III
the agonies of death. These were the trophies OF
barbarian triumph. In view Of them the shores OF
the Bosphorus shaken by the explosions OF
artillery and by the shout OF the million OF inhabi
tantS who thrOnged the streets of ConStantluople
Pera and Scutar
The sympathies OF the j,eotjh all over ChrlSten
dom were with the Greeks. But the governments
for various reasons, had declined to interfere, 1t
was we'll understood that the GreCian lnsurrecton
was melted by Russia, as one OF the lncplrnl
steps by which the Gar hoped to weaken Turkey.
so as to enable him to advance his bataiOnS To
long coveted Constantinople Thus while the jro
| ph regardless Of the complications of diplomacy.
! were in sympathy with the struggling Greeks, the
9otfJuWe.tN both OF England and France, regarded
the Independence of Greece with apprehension
and secretly wished fol- the triumph Of the Turk.
But the shrek which arose from the massacre
OF Sco pierced the ear of Europe. Christian hu-
manity could no longer endure such outrages The
along that it surged into parliamentary halls
and regal courts. The combined fleet of England
and France almost by accident encountered the
Turkish fleet IN the bay OF Navarlno. \ spark
fired the train, and storm of war ensued Of but
two hours continuance, during which the Turkish
fleet was annihiated. But no sooner was the deed
performed than it regretted. In a moment OF
generous passion England and France had crippled
the energies of the Turk, and had thus facilitated
| the advance Of the armies of the Gar.
The battle ~ \ovarinp sppurpI the ma
ton of Greece, and humbled the Turk as, for five
hundred years he had not been humbled before
Since that day the crescent has been rapidly on
the wane. The battlemens of Ottoman power
are every where dilapdated and crumbliGg
Turkey so long the terror of Europe can no longer
stand alone 1t now exists only by sutferance. As
the eternal glaciers of the Alps press down into
the vale Of Chamouni with power which nothing
earthly can obstruct, SO is gigantic Russia crowd
ing down through the passes of the Balkan upon
the PLAINS of Turkey. and the doom of the tur-
baned Turk is sealed. Russia has her manifest
destiny we'll as the United States