The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-03-21

lowed It's capture months later by the
Latins resulted I'm the destruction or the
loss OF an immense number of works OF
ancient art. Many of the mlguifcent
statues were carried away The bronze
horses that adorn the front of the Basil
lea of San Marco in Venice are memen
toes of thts sack of Constdntinople, they
having been brought originally from
Ch'os to adorn the Hippodromc.
More than 200 years of misrule fol-
owed for the city on the Golden Horn,
y ars OF never ccasing strife and blood
shed, of gradual loss OF trade and OF
territory, and of steady weakening with
IN. The empire was torn by corruption
and tealuusics, and continually assault
tod by Saracens and Bulgars. But dur
ing all this time n new enemy mad been
creeping up on II. For ESQ years the
Turk had beer pushing westward from
the Caspian. and for 200 of these years
the fate Of ~Constantinople had been
drawing steadily nearer.
The capture of Consta ntinople by the
Turks was not q sudden thing. The
Turks were established in Europe with
n capital at A%drianoplc before they ever
laid siege TO the greater city. In 13i7
the Christian emperor made terms with
the Moslem ruler by giving his daugh-
ter in marriage to Orchan. son of 9th
man. the founder of the ruling dynasty.
A condition Of this bargain provided the
first Moslem outrage In tho Christian
city. when Orchan sold his Christian
prisoners in the market place of Con-
~stan;inoplc. Men womcn and children
Of all castles were exposed naked. and
sold into a terrible bondage.
From this time forward the city vir-
tually paid tribute to the Turk. though
II ala not fall for moro thar another
hundred years. on April .. 1853, Mo-
BANNED n. began his siege Of the city.
one of the shortest In its history and
certainly the most momentous, on
April 20 his troops entered the city,
while Mohammed himself o his horse
into the Church Of st. Sophia and pro-
claimed 1t henccforth a Mosicm mosque
This Is the last time that the city
was ever actually captured by al In
vadNnV host. Constantinople has been
often besieged since then. though not
after the MEDIEVAL fashion. but Il has
never since fallen.
The circumstances OF the capture OF
the city by the Turks have never been
forgotten or orCiven by the Christian
peoples Of southeastern Europe. Tho
sultan had promised his soldiers that
when they entered the city he would
reserve for himself only the walls and
the public buildings. Everything else.
people and treasure, was TO be theirs,
Waiting for them in and around the
church of 81. Sophia the invaders found
n multitude OF Christians, 10000 of
them. waiting with sublime faith the
miracle that would deliver them from
the Moslems.
Irrespective OF age. rank or sex these
miserable creatures were apportioned
among the soldiers as slave and driven
of like cattle to tho camps Senators
were linked with their slaves. priests
with tho portcrs Of the church. noble
ma!dsns, whose faces had been invisible
even TO their near kindred, were tied
To- low r%utitns Of the streets. The ranks
Of society werc broken down n ties
of nature destroyed. About $4,000 of
the residents Of Coustantinople were
thrust into slavery and scattered broad
cast into thu remote provinces of the
ottoman Empire.
The sack Of the city lasted FOR three
DAYS amid scenes f horror that cannot
ne described. At length NIohHtumed. not
wishing 20 rule over an absolutely dew
astatod city. called his s%atiated soldiers
- order Nohammcd II was only %
years old when he captured CONSTANT
nople. He died at the age OF 81, and
during those years he transformed the
conquered city into "A husv. densely pop
ulitci community II was always above
All elise a base of military operations, to
which all the treasures and the slaves
OF virturious campaigns were brought
back. A. successors continued his pol.
icy II was said of Sclim / that II re-
CURED q thousand Calnels to carry home
tho gold and silver from cairo alone
Sule.man. the successor Of SeliiA. Wa
destined 20 he the greatest ruler Of
Turkey. During his reign Turkish power
In Europe reached its zenith.
The decline of the Turkish power in
Europe covers a period OF more than
four hundred years. A. the end of the
seventeenth century she had ceased to