CONCLUSION.Some master-mind is yet to write the political history of the Holy Land from the conquest of Titus to the death of the late Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid. Such a history would bring to light crusades the most chivalrous and ruinous, political schemes the most ambitious and degrading, and religious systems the most fanatical and corrupting the world has ever known. Such a work would advance the science of government and the higher purposes of Christianity; it would be the echo of the prophetic voice uttered centuries ago, and furnish an unanswerable argument that the present physical and moral condition of the Land of Promise is the result of misrule, and of a stupendous system of oppression, extortion, and fanaticism. It would especially prove the undeniable fact that the Turk is the enemy of good government, of national greatness, of social and intellectual refinement, of domestic and individual purity, and demonstrate beyond dispute that the reign of the Turk is the reign of ruin. Suited best to the excitement of battle, and to the plunder and murder of the vanquished, in times of peace the unrestrained passions of the Turk drive him to vices no less destructive of himself than they are blighting to civilized society. In the camp and on the field he has always prospered; but when unimpelled by the excitement of war, his vigor has disappeared, and he has been a leech on the body politic, and a drone in community. Whether in Europe, Asia, or Africa, he has run a regular course of rapid attainment of power by bloody and devastating wars, and then as regularly declined from the moment when, as conqueror, he sat down to reap the fruits of victory. The Turk and Islam are identical; the former is the embodiment of the latter, and the latter is exterminating to all who refuse submission to the sway of the False Prophet, and annihilating to every thing which does not subserve the ends of his religion. No country has risen to greatness under his power; and those which were great in national resources, in splendor of architecture, in thewealth of agriculture, and in the superiority of art and science, have dwindled into insignificance, or utterly perished under his deteriorating influence.Palestine is a deplorable instance of national wretchedness, to which one of the fairest lands upon the face of the globe has been reduced since the reign of the Islamitic Turk. From the Arab invasion in 633 A.D., headed by the famous generals Khâled and Abu Obeidah, to the present time, the cultivation of the soil has been neglected, commerce diminishing, and government perverted to the worst of purposes. Sixteen years subsequent to that invasion the Crescent was the ensign of dominion from the shores of the Atlantic to the confines of India. Of the then nine flourishing cities in Syria, Damascus alone retains its earlier grandeur, and this only in part, as in the conflagration and massacre of 1860 a third of its most magnificent edifices were destroyed, and 15,000 of its noblest citizens slain, captured, or dispersed. Led by the heroic Godfrey, the Crusaders in 1099 A.D. recovered the much-abused land from the neglect and cruelty of the Turk, and for three quarters of a century the Land of Promise was restored to comparative prosperity. Under those Christian rulers the resources of the country were developed to an astonishing degree; the fleets of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice traded along its shores, and populous cities sprung up as if by magic. But in 1187 the battle of Kurûm Hattîn decided the fate of the Crusaders. Jerusalem was retaken by Saladîn; the Franks were expelled from Palestine; and four years thereafter the celebrated Melek-ed-Dhâher replaced all Syria under the domination of the Turks, and thenceforward to the present time the Holy Land has been the prey of Mohammedan adventurers, and is now a dependency to the Porte, divided into three pashalics.Six centuries prove that the Moslem is neither the fosterer of the fine arts nor the promoter of agriculture, commerce, manufactures, or public works of any kind. When, in the 12th century, the Christians were expelled, the large and fertile plains of Sharon, Phœnicia, Esdraelon, and Mukhnah were fruitful fields yielding golden harvests, the reward of honest husbandry; but now those plains are the camping-grounds of the wandering Arab, where he feeds his flocksad libitum, and then, mounting his fleet horse, scours the adjoining country in search of plunder. The Crusaders left to their conquerorslarge and flourishing maritime cities, with a lucrative commerce with Europe and the Levant; but, under the dominion of the Turks, those commercial towns are poor and filthy, without harbors, without vessels, without mariners, without trade. The Koran, forbidding the “making of any thing like unto that which is in heaven above or in the earth beneath,” has not only left Syria without a picture and without a statue, but has also led to the wanton destruction of the splendid edifices of mediæval times. The knights of that period rivaled the Romans, and even Herod the Great, in the erection of costly temples, palaces, and churches. In Jerusalem, Ramleh, Ludd, Beeroth, Bethel, Samaria, ’Akka, Tyre, Sidon, and especially in Athlît—theCastellum Peregrinorumof the defenders of the Cross, were structures worthy to adorn any age; but, content with a shade-tree under which to whiff his nargily, and an ill-formed hovel for the accommodation of his many wives, the Moslem has allowed those magnificent buildings to crumble to ruins, or has ruthlessly destroyed them. With one or two exceptions, the celebrated edifices which remain are the work of other hands. The great mosque in Damascus was originally a Christian church, erected by Arcadius, the son of Theodosius, and dedicated to John the Baptist; the Mosque of El-Aksa, in Jerusalem, was once a church, built by order of the Emperor Justinian, and dedicated to “My Lady,” the Virgin Mary; and the mosque covering the cave of Machpelah was also a Christian temple. Excepting the Mosque of Omar, the Mohammedans have scarcely a structure of any importance of their own erection in the Holy Land, and, unlike the descendants of the Greeks and Romans, the posterity of the Turks will never sit amid the splendid ruins of ancestral greatness.Palestine is now in a transition state, and there are indications that great political and moral changes are at hand. Numbering in all more than a million and a half, the present inhabitants are a mixed race, the several portions of which are designated by their religion rather than by their nationality. Their religious appellations are party names, and are the symbols of power, fear, or reproach, according to the comparative strength of the different parties. Three of the most numerous of the sects represent three great powers—France, Russia, and Turkey, and by intrigue, bribery, and fanaticism, will inevitably involve those mighty nations in a bloody strife for the possessionof the Holy Land. Palestine seems destined to be again contended for by the nations of Western Europe, and the Plain of Esdraelon may once more become the battle-field of nations. At present most of these powers have landed possessions there, and are annually making new purchases. On Mount Akra, to the southwest of the Holy City, the Russians have inclosed a large area with high, strong walls; within is a monastery, which in time of war will serve all the purposes of a fortress, and to the inclosure they have given the name of “New Jerusalem.” Prussia has a large hospice within the city, and also several flourishing religious and literary institutions. The French hold possession of the ancient Church ofSt.Anne, and have recently purchased the land adjoining it; they own the large green plat of ground opposite the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was once occupied by the Knights ofSt.John; they have bought the old castle in Beirût, and have constructed a noble Macadamized road from that city to Damascus, and have the right of way for 49 years. And on Mount Zion England has a consular building, and a church of which any nation might be justly proud, and by her diplomacy controls the policy of the Sublime Porte more than any other European power.But, whatever may be the political relations of Palestine in the future, the great and only hope of her regeneration and elevation is to be found in her Christian missions. These are established in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Joppa, Nablous, Nazareth, Sidon, Beirût, Damascus, and in several of the larger towns in the Lebanon Mountains. In Jerusalem the mission is well and thoroughly organized, and is attended by the happiest results; the numerous schools are in a prosperous condition, and the places of worship filled with sincere and attentive listeners. But the Beirût Mission is really doing the greatest work in evangelizing the land. The Bible has been translated into Arabic, and is now given to the millions who speak that language. At Abuh, in the mountains, there is a seminary for the training of native missionaries, and a college of a high order will soon be opened in Beirût, liberally endowed by American citizens.Smitten with decay, and retiring before the advance of Western civilization, Mohammedanism is yielding to the superior power of Christianity. The Crescent, which for somany centuries was the ensign of the conquering Turk, no longer excites alarm. It was once the Crescent of the new moon, expanding and brightening till it shone resplendent on the plains of Asia, the shores of Africa, and the hills of Europe; but it is now the Crescent of the old moon, contracting and dim, from the horns of which are slipping the conquering sword of the Prophet and the diadem of Othman. Demanded by the Christian powers of the earth, and protected by their armies and navies, religious liberty in Palestine is offered to the Christian and the Jew. The Land of Promise has a glorious past, and an equally glorious future awaits to dawn upon it. Prophecy is big with an exalted destiny, the unfoldings of which will turn all eyes to the land of sacred song, the cradle of our religion, and the scene of our Lord’s incarnation. Thrice happy will be that day when Jerusalem shall be rebuilt and made holy; when the scattered tribes shall be recalled, and go up to worship in a temple more magnificent than that of Solomon; and when, from the Plains of Bethlehem to the snow-capped summits of Mount Hermon, and from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon to the Mountains of Gilead, light shall arise out of darkness, and the voice of Christian praise, mingling with the song of angels, shall be as sincere as it shall be universal.THE END.
CONCLUSION.
Some master-mind is yet to write the political history of the Holy Land from the conquest of Titus to the death of the late Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid. Such a history would bring to light crusades the most chivalrous and ruinous, political schemes the most ambitious and degrading, and religious systems the most fanatical and corrupting the world has ever known. Such a work would advance the science of government and the higher purposes of Christianity; it would be the echo of the prophetic voice uttered centuries ago, and furnish an unanswerable argument that the present physical and moral condition of the Land of Promise is the result of misrule, and of a stupendous system of oppression, extortion, and fanaticism. It would especially prove the undeniable fact that the Turk is the enemy of good government, of national greatness, of social and intellectual refinement, of domestic and individual purity, and demonstrate beyond dispute that the reign of the Turk is the reign of ruin. Suited best to the excitement of battle, and to the plunder and murder of the vanquished, in times of peace the unrestrained passions of the Turk drive him to vices no less destructive of himself than they are blighting to civilized society. In the camp and on the field he has always prospered; but when unimpelled by the excitement of war, his vigor has disappeared, and he has been a leech on the body politic, and a drone in community. Whether in Europe, Asia, or Africa, he has run a regular course of rapid attainment of power by bloody and devastating wars, and then as regularly declined from the moment when, as conqueror, he sat down to reap the fruits of victory. The Turk and Islam are identical; the former is the embodiment of the latter, and the latter is exterminating to all who refuse submission to the sway of the False Prophet, and annihilating to every thing which does not subserve the ends of his religion. No country has risen to greatness under his power; and those which were great in national resources, in splendor of architecture, in thewealth of agriculture, and in the superiority of art and science, have dwindled into insignificance, or utterly perished under his deteriorating influence.
Palestine is a deplorable instance of national wretchedness, to which one of the fairest lands upon the face of the globe has been reduced since the reign of the Islamitic Turk. From the Arab invasion in 633 A.D., headed by the famous generals Khâled and Abu Obeidah, to the present time, the cultivation of the soil has been neglected, commerce diminishing, and government perverted to the worst of purposes. Sixteen years subsequent to that invasion the Crescent was the ensign of dominion from the shores of the Atlantic to the confines of India. Of the then nine flourishing cities in Syria, Damascus alone retains its earlier grandeur, and this only in part, as in the conflagration and massacre of 1860 a third of its most magnificent edifices were destroyed, and 15,000 of its noblest citizens slain, captured, or dispersed. Led by the heroic Godfrey, the Crusaders in 1099 A.D. recovered the much-abused land from the neglect and cruelty of the Turk, and for three quarters of a century the Land of Promise was restored to comparative prosperity. Under those Christian rulers the resources of the country were developed to an astonishing degree; the fleets of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice traded along its shores, and populous cities sprung up as if by magic. But in 1187 the battle of Kurûm Hattîn decided the fate of the Crusaders. Jerusalem was retaken by Saladîn; the Franks were expelled from Palestine; and four years thereafter the celebrated Melek-ed-Dhâher replaced all Syria under the domination of the Turks, and thenceforward to the present time the Holy Land has been the prey of Mohammedan adventurers, and is now a dependency to the Porte, divided into three pashalics.
Six centuries prove that the Moslem is neither the fosterer of the fine arts nor the promoter of agriculture, commerce, manufactures, or public works of any kind. When, in the 12th century, the Christians were expelled, the large and fertile plains of Sharon, Phœnicia, Esdraelon, and Mukhnah were fruitful fields yielding golden harvests, the reward of honest husbandry; but now those plains are the camping-grounds of the wandering Arab, where he feeds his flocksad libitum, and then, mounting his fleet horse, scours the adjoining country in search of plunder. The Crusaders left to their conquerorslarge and flourishing maritime cities, with a lucrative commerce with Europe and the Levant; but, under the dominion of the Turks, those commercial towns are poor and filthy, without harbors, without vessels, without mariners, without trade. The Koran, forbidding the “making of any thing like unto that which is in heaven above or in the earth beneath,” has not only left Syria without a picture and without a statue, but has also led to the wanton destruction of the splendid edifices of mediæval times. The knights of that period rivaled the Romans, and even Herod the Great, in the erection of costly temples, palaces, and churches. In Jerusalem, Ramleh, Ludd, Beeroth, Bethel, Samaria, ’Akka, Tyre, Sidon, and especially in Athlît—theCastellum Peregrinorumof the defenders of the Cross, were structures worthy to adorn any age; but, content with a shade-tree under which to whiff his nargily, and an ill-formed hovel for the accommodation of his many wives, the Moslem has allowed those magnificent buildings to crumble to ruins, or has ruthlessly destroyed them. With one or two exceptions, the celebrated edifices which remain are the work of other hands. The great mosque in Damascus was originally a Christian church, erected by Arcadius, the son of Theodosius, and dedicated to John the Baptist; the Mosque of El-Aksa, in Jerusalem, was once a church, built by order of the Emperor Justinian, and dedicated to “My Lady,” the Virgin Mary; and the mosque covering the cave of Machpelah was also a Christian temple. Excepting the Mosque of Omar, the Mohammedans have scarcely a structure of any importance of their own erection in the Holy Land, and, unlike the descendants of the Greeks and Romans, the posterity of the Turks will never sit amid the splendid ruins of ancestral greatness.
Palestine is now in a transition state, and there are indications that great political and moral changes are at hand. Numbering in all more than a million and a half, the present inhabitants are a mixed race, the several portions of which are designated by their religion rather than by their nationality. Their religious appellations are party names, and are the symbols of power, fear, or reproach, according to the comparative strength of the different parties. Three of the most numerous of the sects represent three great powers—France, Russia, and Turkey, and by intrigue, bribery, and fanaticism, will inevitably involve those mighty nations in a bloody strife for the possessionof the Holy Land. Palestine seems destined to be again contended for by the nations of Western Europe, and the Plain of Esdraelon may once more become the battle-field of nations. At present most of these powers have landed possessions there, and are annually making new purchases. On Mount Akra, to the southwest of the Holy City, the Russians have inclosed a large area with high, strong walls; within is a monastery, which in time of war will serve all the purposes of a fortress, and to the inclosure they have given the name of “New Jerusalem.” Prussia has a large hospice within the city, and also several flourishing religious and literary institutions. The French hold possession of the ancient Church ofSt.Anne, and have recently purchased the land adjoining it; they own the large green plat of ground opposite the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was once occupied by the Knights ofSt.John; they have bought the old castle in Beirût, and have constructed a noble Macadamized road from that city to Damascus, and have the right of way for 49 years. And on Mount Zion England has a consular building, and a church of which any nation might be justly proud, and by her diplomacy controls the policy of the Sublime Porte more than any other European power.
But, whatever may be the political relations of Palestine in the future, the great and only hope of her regeneration and elevation is to be found in her Christian missions. These are established in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Joppa, Nablous, Nazareth, Sidon, Beirût, Damascus, and in several of the larger towns in the Lebanon Mountains. In Jerusalem the mission is well and thoroughly organized, and is attended by the happiest results; the numerous schools are in a prosperous condition, and the places of worship filled with sincere and attentive listeners. But the Beirût Mission is really doing the greatest work in evangelizing the land. The Bible has been translated into Arabic, and is now given to the millions who speak that language. At Abuh, in the mountains, there is a seminary for the training of native missionaries, and a college of a high order will soon be opened in Beirût, liberally endowed by American citizens.
Smitten with decay, and retiring before the advance of Western civilization, Mohammedanism is yielding to the superior power of Christianity. The Crescent, which for somany centuries was the ensign of the conquering Turk, no longer excites alarm. It was once the Crescent of the new moon, expanding and brightening till it shone resplendent on the plains of Asia, the shores of Africa, and the hills of Europe; but it is now the Crescent of the old moon, contracting and dim, from the horns of which are slipping the conquering sword of the Prophet and the diadem of Othman. Demanded by the Christian powers of the earth, and protected by their armies and navies, religious liberty in Palestine is offered to the Christian and the Jew. The Land of Promise has a glorious past, and an equally glorious future awaits to dawn upon it. Prophecy is big with an exalted destiny, the unfoldings of which will turn all eyes to the land of sacred song, the cradle of our religion, and the scene of our Lord’s incarnation. Thrice happy will be that day when Jerusalem shall be rebuilt and made holy; when the scattered tribes shall be recalled, and go up to worship in a temple more magnificent than that of Solomon; and when, from the Plains of Bethlehem to the snow-capped summits of Mount Hermon, and from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon to the Mountains of Gilead, light shall arise out of darkness, and the voice of Christian praise, mingling with the song of angels, shall be as sincere as it shall be universal.
THE END.