Middletown transcript., 1895-06-15

penQence, his Q6SCenQ6ntS look the
. name of OttOmans, this is their prouG
title and only in moments of great
humility did the Oltomans debase
themselves by assumming the hated
name of Turks.
Othman ruled until 1899, following
him came Orkhan, Murad 1, Bajezid I
Mahomet /, Murad ii, and Mahomet
II, conqueror of Constantinople. All
of these brave warriors and sagacious
rulers, vigorous with the strength that
the life in camp gives, unyielding in
their desire to widen the dominion OF
the Turk, and by their valor they have
made the Turkish dominion double and
treble its original size.
Under the rule of the wise Emperor
Orkham who ruled from 1926 to 1886
the body of troops called Janissaries
was organized, the first standing army
of modern times, and in this body OF
soldiery my early life was spent. Of our
parents we knew little for thousand
of our number were chosen each year
from the Christian lads taken in battle
against the Greeks and for three CEN
turies this practice has continued.
We were called the "Flower of the
Army of the Sultan" and it had ever
been the custom of the Sultan to send
into the fore ranks of the battle the
struggling troops, then the foot SOL
diers, and then, when the foe bad be-
gun to think our vigor had spent itself,
we, the Janissaries, mounted on our
Arabian horses, would appear and,
dashing into the midst of the fray,
upon an enemy already weakened in
battle, we, in the vigor of our first on
slaught, have decided the fate of many
a battle.
The life of the Janissaries was a
secluded one, dwelling apart from
parents and kindred and shut off from
even the ompanionship of our Turk
ish neighbors. We were trained in
the arts of war according to the plans
of the Turks, for they said cut off from
kindred we would devote our lives
with more vigor to the science of war.
Compelled by the religion of the Turks
to render obedience to their doctrines
we came in time to believe in them
and at the call for prayer would fall on
our knees in devout supplication.
Mahomet II has been named the
greatest of warriors and we'll does he
deserve the name, for did he not cap
ture that pearl of all jewels, the city
of Constantinople?
"On to Constantinople" had been
the Turkish watchword for many
generations, but never until the reign
of Mahomet II did the prize seem so
nearly within our grasp. Sagacious,
alert and cunning, we of the body
guard of the Emperor were familiar
with his reply when questioned as to
his plans for one of his campaigns, "If
one of the hairs of my beard knew,
would pluck it out" He told his in
tentions to no man until action de-
manded it and it was in accord with his
design that body of the Janissaries,
eight in number, was sent to Constanti-
nople disguised as Greeks to learn the
plan of the towers and defenses of the
city. My heart fails me as I write of
this traitorous mission, the kindly re-
ception accorded us by the Greeks was
so sadly at variance with our treacher-
Gus cause, but the Sultan had COM
manded it and the Janissaries knew
no law but obedience to his command.
The city of Constantinople as it
seems to the traveller who sails to it,
seems as seen from the sea, more beau
tiful than Venice, fit to repay for the
years spent in planning for its taking,
so entrancingly beautiful it is. That
imperial city that stands at the meet
ing of two seas and two continents,
like diamond between emerald and |
SAPPHIRE" the centre jewel in the ring
of Empire; with it's gilded domes, it's
minarets rising from the blue waters
that surround it, Constantinople is a |
charming vision. The chapel of the |
Bosphorus unites the Black Sea with
the Mediterranean and one can look
out from here on such panorama as
no man ever saw elsewhere.
Far away stretches the beautiful sea
of Marmora which comes up to the
very foot of the city on one side of the |
city, dividing it from Pera, is the
Golden Horn crowded with vessels and |
in front is the Bosphorus, where all |
day ships ride at anchor. Islanded |
among all these waters are different |
parts of this one great city, out of |
which rise domes and sparkling nina
rets, and as l gazed for the first time
on this enchanting scene l exclaimed |
Exquisite in situation, a dream of |
delight is Constantinople!" My first |
sight of this city remains fixed in my |
eyes forever more, as we sailed up the |
Bosphorus, past the palaces, the |
towers, and the summer residences of |
wealthy Greeks, and again the beauti-
full prospect as we were sailing on the
blue surface of the "Still Waters of |
Asia" where the cool boughs of the
over hanging trees swept so low over
the waves that they brushed our boats
as we glided by. The city seemed to
US, the men of war and bloodshed, as
an enchanted spot; true, her streets
are narrow and the buildings overhang
the streets. but richness and grandeur
are her churches and palaces.
Our military life had been cramped
and opvironod opd fb,o froadop, =, A., |