How St. Sophia Became A Mosque

TIio Clirisüan historj of St. Sophia termínates with tliat fatal momorit vvlion tho coiKjuoriug Mahomct at tilt) head of Iiis " viziers, bi&haws, and guarda," each of whom, in tho words of ono of tho historiaría, " was na robust as Heroulött, dexterous as Apollo, and equal in batt'o lo any ten ínortals," rodo to thu great door, and with difficulty fafclog a pas-: eagé throiigh tho sorrow-striukou crowd, advanced to !ho higb altar and took posI gfissinn of it in tho ñamo of Islam, with tho wcll known formula. " 'l'liüro ia no God bat Qfi.áj aijd Malioraet ia the prophot of (iod.:' Eveu for tho material structure it.'-clf, the word of destructiou far cxcetided all tliat liad pono before, although Gibbon, with nmch truth, if with bitterness, remarks that the exampio of saoriloge was imitatcd ñora the Latín conijiuirora of Coustantinoplj. The narrativo pf PhraDza is deeply pafhetie. In h) is high-wrought pliraso, "the earthly heaven, thu socond lirmament, tho vehielo of the cherubiin, ihrono aud the giony of God," was dcupoiled of the accumulated obligations of agea ot pious muuificence, and " the gold and eilver, tho pearls and jewels, the vase-s and sacerdotal ornamenta, were most wickedly converted to tho service of mankind. After the divino images had been stripped of all that could be valuable to a profane eye, the canvas, or the wood, was torn, or broken, or burnt, or troucltíu under foot, or appliec!, in tliö stables, or tho kiíohcn, to tho vilesb uses." Tho memories of that dreadful day still linger iu tho ivhispercd tiaditionsof the GriX'oks of Constantinopli;. A rad Ftreiik on oüo ot t lio pillara id pointed out as the umrb of the extent of the oarnage, and is reputed to havo been , made by Mahomet hiraself, who is said .o havo been able standing on the heaped jp dea'i, to reacb to this height with his aloody hand. A still more popu'ar tradition is attaohed to a closed-up door through which it is snid that the priest who wns celebrating tho rnass at that moment vrhen the Tu;ks burst into tho church, escaped, with the saered elements and the most preoious relies of the sanctuary. It was ia vain that tho Turks aüempted to pursue hira. - The door elosod behind him. All efforta to force it werq fruitless; the priest wa3 seen no more by human eyes ; but heis to return once again on tho day of retribution, when, uader the judgment of God, the crescent shull fall, aud the ancicnt church of Justinian sliall again be restored to the long-des-erted wurship of Divine Wisdom. Wo may aüd that the mysterieus door rernained undisturbed till the last restoration of the building, when it was found to lead to a narrow passage blocked up with rubbish and evidently long disused. On the Friday whieh followed the storming of the city, the now ritual of St. Sophia was publicly iuaugurated. - Mahornet, having aasembled his troops in tho great market plaoe, Akserai, marchod in military array to the church. The iman preacbed from the ambo : tho Sultan himselt' performed the namaz or prayer of thankegiving on the great altar so lately hallowed by the last Christian celebration of the eucharistie saerifice; and the muezzin . proclaimed from theV'enetian bell-tower the ezan, which has never failed from that day : " God is the Most High ; thero is no God but God, and Mahomot is the prophet of God ! Come lo tho Placo of Tranqaiütylcomo to tho Asylum of Salvation,"- ,