The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1908-01-24
THE FALL OF NATIONS
How Great World Powers Have|
Passed Into History.
MOST HAVE DIED FIGHTING.

Sto a atlu ST10 6tuPiEC VI Huo tvGHtJ1
Venice, Its aecrot Three and Its LongI
Reign of Terror.
Most countries which have died hayeI
gone down fighting. The Roman emu
pirc persisted like that, and by theE
irony OF fate the power Of the Caesars[
came to IN end far away from Rome.
After 1t had existed for centuries theI
Roman empire became so vast and un-
wieEdy that 1t had to be divided 1ntof
two, the empire of the west and the
empire OF the east. The capital Of the
former was Rome. K
The empire Of the west became 80
weak ut last that it could make mol
stand against It's enemies. Rome wasl
sacked by the barbarians and oventu-
ally became not the capital Of a vast
empire, but the city Of the popes. oyer[
which the pontiffs reigned as kings.l
The temporal power Of the popes last.
ed till 1870, while the capital Of Italy
was first Turin and then Milan. Final
ly the city was taken without a renNH
| fight by the soldiers OF the king. Old
Italy.
III empire Of the east hsa Its, eapi-l
tai at Constuntinople. For centuries iI:
was the greatest power In the world
But 1t became honeycombed with vice
and enervated with pride and luxury:.
also it grew old and weak. Then in,
1922 the Turks made a tigerish spring:
on Constantinople and took it by stoonas,
The last Of tho Greek emperors dfdEA'
sword In hand. and his descendants
are living in England today in very
humble situations. -.
EGYPT, once so powerful and so IA
nous under the pharaohs. was con.
quered by Rome n was afterwar6
swamped by the Moslemss The cres-
cent was supreme in the land Of the
Nile, and the aforetinc naughty Egyp-
tians were slaves for a thousand years,
The great moguls used to reign In
India. In the days Of Queen Elizabeth
the mogul-or emperor of Delhi, rs he
wa sometimes called-was SO power
full that he thought 1t a vast conde
scenSion on his part to receive an en-
Dassy from the maiden queen. But
ns time went OH the great rajahs. or
tributary kings. rebelled against the.
uoguls, india Was rent asunder by the,
wars between rival rajahs. This gave
the Europeans q chance.
France at first held the upper hand
IL nearly conquered the lane but
then England drove France back an6
seized the empire Of the great mogula
for herself. The heir of the moguls, BY
the way, still enjoys n pension given
by the British government as q COM
| pensation for the throne lost by his an.
ceStors.
Poland used to occupy n big place on
the map Of Europe. At one time IL
was much larger and stronger than
Russia. The car Of Russia and the
emperor Of Austria were only too glad
to be on good terms with the king OF
Poland, and there was no king OF
Prussia in those days.
Noble Adventures from ali parts OF
the world flocked to the Polish capital
at Warsaw, eager to serve in tho Pol
fish armies. The Duke OF Monmouth,
son OF King Charles II. Of England,
thought Of doing this.
But Poland persisted through her
wv faults md follies. The mass oG'
the common people were slaves in an,
but name. They were not allowed to,
move from one part OF the country top
another without leave, they could not
own a foot Of land, and they coul&
nevor be sure that they might not be-
sold by the great noble they served to-
n now master; hence the mobiles and
the people never stood together in
times OF danger or disaster.
Poland was n big country, but It wag
divided against itself, and Russia,
Prussia and Austria combined werei
moro powerful. They all three joinedl
hands, and each took n large share of
Poland in 1772. That was the "frstl
partition Of Poland" The Poles sub
mittod tamely, for they were still d%
vided.
In 1903 the trio Of robbers made 81
second swoop. Only the ghost Of POI
land was left. Another year saw the
end OF the tragedy. The last REM
nants Of Poland were swallowed up byI
Russia, Prussia and Austria.
The fate of the republic of Venice ISL
one of the most dramatic in all history.
For hundreds Of years the City OF che
Lagoons was one of the most POWERFUL
states IN the world. Its doges ranked
as tho equals OF the proudest kings. !
Its alliance was coveted by the great.
est powers. Its government was onel
OF sheer terrorism. The doge was
hardly more than q splendid figure
head. All real power rested in the
hands Of the dreaded council OF ten
md the secret three. The latter werel
n trio Of living mysteries and were
Known by name to practically no one