Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-30

and the Great Tamerlane was one of his
descendants. Tamerlane was half Chi
nefe, half Turk and all Tartar.
April 6. 1863. the siege of Constantinople
began. and within four days sixty-nine
cannon and ancient engines of war. such
ing stones over the walls of the city.
Constantine. the last emperor of the
/ Greeks. implored the Christian sovereigns
of Europe for aid. but 1t came not. They
deserted him in his peril: and. strange as
1t may seem. more than $4,000 Christians
were serving in the besieging army under
the Turks.
The 23d of May an envoy from the
! sultan under flag of truce was admit
| ted to the city and offered
| Sultan Constantine a sovereignty In
| No. the Grecian peninsula, free
dom for all who chose to de-
part and security for the property and
persons of all who remained If the city
were surrendered peacefully. Constantine
rejected the offer. The 18th Of May for
| the last time holy communion was Of
| fered in the Cathedral OF st. Sophia. and
the last of the Caesars and his mobiles
embraced their wives and children and
went forth to die. When the Turks were
swarming over the walls Constantine sat
upon his charger. cutting them down as
| they came with his scimitar but at last
he fell by an unknown hand, the con-
/ quering Turks trampled over his body
and the Christian capital Of the world
was in the hands of the inffdels.
! In the last hours Of the siege thousands
of women and children gathered in the
great cathedral imploring the protection
of their God. An angel, the priests had
prophesied, would descend at the last
moment and paralyze the arms of the
| infidels. The great doors were closed.
but the hushed murmurs OF the thousands
who knelt In prayer were soon silenced
| by the shouts of the barba rians. who
| rushed in upon them. tearing down the
Christian symbols. stripping the altar OF
it's sacred emblens and shatterlng with
battle axes the sacred pictures, even the
| Icon of the Christ.
| Mohammed himself, the connueror, en-
tered the city soon after noon and rode
straight down the wide street which leads
/ to st. Sophia, where he dismounted, and,
taking handful of dust from the road
way, poured it upon his head and humil-
| lated himself before the allah and his
prophet. Entering the cathedral, he
| passed up to the altar, and. mounting
upon 1t. bade the awe-Stricken Christians
! to go to their homes in peace and prom
| Used them protection. but his brutal war
| riors did not stay their hands until the
cutters Of COnstantinople had been flow
| ing for hours with the blood of the in
nocent. The rich paid large ransoms, and
| many of them were slaughtered in spite
! of the money they gave. Greeks who
would not renounce their faith on the
instant were slaughtered. Their boys
were taken to the barracks Of the jani-
zaries and their wives and daughters to
the harems of the Turkish officers. 1t is
estimated that 10000 Greeks persisted
that day: $1,000 became captives and
| 10000 purchased their freedom with
money or by protesting the faith of the
conuuerors.
The body of Constantine XII, identified
by his splendid livery, was found under a
heap Of dead Greek
| The Fall of soldiers. His head
Constantinople. o m~ ,' - Mo,sm-
med II, who exposed it on a column in
front of his palace. Thus the Greeks
lost the capital Of their empire, and have
suffered shame and humiliation since.
Even the name of the city was changed.
The Turks called it STEAMBOAT and the
crescent was placed upon the cross.
Many prophets that have arisen among
! the Greeks from generation to generation
have promised that some fair day the
crescent should be torn down and the
cross should be elevated to it's place of
honor, and that Greek emperor should
be restored to the Byzantine throne, but
no one familiar with the condition of
the Greek fighting forces can see any
| reason to expect the fulfllment of these
prophecies during the present genera
| ton. The two nations are absurdly I'M
matched. The Greek army could not stand
an instant against the Turks. The
Greeks have no fighting fleet. The Turks
In sr,fa ,frSfv .Ii 4$Yx
the old-fashioned battleships they have
recently purchased from Germany. The
treasuries Of both nations are empty.
Both need money sorely for internal i'm
provements and it would be crime for
either of them to waste their substance
in war. The only possible prospect of
success for Greece would be to in
! volve Bulgaria, Macedonia, Servia and
ultimately Russia in the conflict-a COM
bination of the adherents of the orthodox
Greek faith against the MOSlems But
even should such an alliance be effected
Russia would want all the fruits of the
victory and the other powers of Europe
would not permit her to have them.
s.
But the passage of each day reduces
the probability of war. The boycott of
Grecian merchandise,
Peaceful transportation and trade is
prosnecf S""Siu's ahu 'iia' VIII ie
1AVsPeos' move the principal griev-
ance of Greece. while, on the other hand,
the Turkish government has been unable
to borrow any money and has practically
abandoned it's attempts to obtain a loan.
The bankers of Europe. as I have told
you in previous letters. will not loan
,, money to be wasted in war either to
Turkey or to Greece, and both of them
are powerless so long as their treasures
are empty.
The French government. which has
! hitherto assisted Turkey in most of her
financial arrangements, offered to under
write loan for $3O.O0O.OO0, provided that
government would asree to spend it
in France and permit France to appoint
an auditor who shol censorize all Of
he expenditures. The Turks will not
submit to such humiliating conditions and
have decided to get along the best they
can without money. although sooner Or
later. before the end of the fiscal year In
March. it will be imperative to arrange
some way of meeting the deficit in the
regular budget that will amount to nine
or ten millions. Before that time a good
deal may happen. There is no telling
what day may bring forth in the pres
ent condition OF affairs. The peace of
Europe hangs upon the peace of Turkey
and the great powers cannot afford to
become involved in a useless conflict
THE SKYMEN At RFJ MONT PARK