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Article GHIVA.LET, ← Page 9 of 12 →
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Ghiva.Let,
the terms carried into effect . The Templars were bearing out—as the most valued treasures—the ladies and women of Acre , who had fled to the Temple for shelter ; the Moslem soldiers , tempted by their beauty , attempted to seize them , when the enraged Knights
closed the gates , and put every one of the enemy to the sword . The infidels now determined upon the assault , and many of the Templars were slain ; the Grand Master and several Knights , bearing their treasure , escaped to the harbour by a secret postern , and soon reached Cyprus on board a small vessel .
The remnant of the Templars retired into one of their towers , and there manfully defended themselves , until the sultan , despairing of success by assault , undermined the huge tower , which fell , and buried every one of its brave defenders in the ruins . The celebrity of Acre in ancient and modern times , demands some description of its position . It was in the early times of the
Israelites known as Ajccko ( Judges i- 31 ) . Being enlarged and improved by the first Ptolemy , it was called Ptolemais , which name it bore in St . Paul ' s time . It is placed at the li ^ rth angle of a bay , on the other side of which is Mount Carmel , the bay forming a semicircle of the extent of ten miles . The position is strong by nature , and hence strenuous efforts have been made at various times , by
contending parties , to capture or to hold it . It was , we have seen , the last stronghold in the Holy Land from which the Christians were driven . The importance of this place maybe understood from its being the only secure bay for shipping on the coast , and from the fact that all the rice—the staple food of the people—finds its entrance here : so that its possessor can at any time starve the inhabitants into subjection . Under the Turks the place fell to decay , until
Djezzar Pasha took it for the seat of his government , and by repairing the town and harbour made it the most important place on the coast . At Acre w as Napoleon Bonaparte foiled , for the British , under Sir Sidney Smith , aided Djezzar to resist the Ereneh army , which , after twelve fierce assaults , was compelled to retire . Since that time the Egyptians , under Ibrahim Pasha , took it from the Turks , but not till after a six months' siege . The walls and fortifications have since been rebuilt .
With the fall of Acre terminated the dominion of the Christians in Palestine - Some resistance was made by the Templars at the Pilgrims' Castle , Caiphas , and Tortosa , but it was of no avail against the countless hosts of the Moslems . Churches , dwellings , and fortifications were all demolished 5 even the trees around the towers were cut down and burnt—all was waste , ruin , and desert . Now , after
a lapse of six centuries , the land is still desolate , and the proud memorials of past magnificence sadly contrast with present ruin . The remains of ancient cities , rich and populous while Christianity had its abode therein , are surrounded by uncultivated deserts , the result of Turkish misrule . How long this is to endure , it would be presumptuous in us to surmise , but the decay of Mohammedan power evidently shews it cannot long survive . Again in the land
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ghiva.Let,
the terms carried into effect . The Templars were bearing out—as the most valued treasures—the ladies and women of Acre , who had fled to the Temple for shelter ; the Moslem soldiers , tempted by their beauty , attempted to seize them , when the enraged Knights
closed the gates , and put every one of the enemy to the sword . The infidels now determined upon the assault , and many of the Templars were slain ; the Grand Master and several Knights , bearing their treasure , escaped to the harbour by a secret postern , and soon reached Cyprus on board a small vessel .
The remnant of the Templars retired into one of their towers , and there manfully defended themselves , until the sultan , despairing of success by assault , undermined the huge tower , which fell , and buried every one of its brave defenders in the ruins . The celebrity of Acre in ancient and modern times , demands some description of its position . It was in the early times of the
Israelites known as Ajccko ( Judges i- 31 ) . Being enlarged and improved by the first Ptolemy , it was called Ptolemais , which name it bore in St . Paul ' s time . It is placed at the li ^ rth angle of a bay , on the other side of which is Mount Carmel , the bay forming a semicircle of the extent of ten miles . The position is strong by nature , and hence strenuous efforts have been made at various times , by
contending parties , to capture or to hold it . It was , we have seen , the last stronghold in the Holy Land from which the Christians were driven . The importance of this place maybe understood from its being the only secure bay for shipping on the coast , and from the fact that all the rice—the staple food of the people—finds its entrance here : so that its possessor can at any time starve the inhabitants into subjection . Under the Turks the place fell to decay , until
Djezzar Pasha took it for the seat of his government , and by repairing the town and harbour made it the most important place on the coast . At Acre w as Napoleon Bonaparte foiled , for the British , under Sir Sidney Smith , aided Djezzar to resist the Ereneh army , which , after twelve fierce assaults , was compelled to retire . Since that time the Egyptians , under Ibrahim Pasha , took it from the Turks , but not till after a six months' siege . The walls and fortifications have since been rebuilt .
With the fall of Acre terminated the dominion of the Christians in Palestine - Some resistance was made by the Templars at the Pilgrims' Castle , Caiphas , and Tortosa , but it was of no avail against the countless hosts of the Moslems . Churches , dwellings , and fortifications were all demolished 5 even the trees around the towers were cut down and burnt—all was waste , ruin , and desert . Now , after
a lapse of six centuries , the land is still desolate , and the proud memorials of past magnificence sadly contrast with present ruin . The remains of ancient cities , rich and populous while Christianity had its abode therein , are surrounded by uncultivated deserts , the result of Turkish misrule . How long this is to endure , it would be presumptuous in us to surmise , but the decay of Mohammedan power evidently shews it cannot long survive . Again in the land