THE BLIGHT OF ASIA _BY GEORGE HORTON_ LIKE ANOTHER HELEN THE LONG STRAIGHT ROAD THE MONKS’ TREASURE THE EDGE OF HAZARD [Illustration: Weeding Out the Men. All men of military age were torn away from their wives and children and led away in groups for deportation to the interior.] THE BLIGHT OF ASIA _An Account of the Systematic Extermination of Christian Populations by Mohammedans and of the Culpability of Certain Great Powers; with the True Story of the Burning of Smyrna_ _By_ GEORGE HORTON For Thirty Years Consul and Consul-General of the United States in the Near East _With a Foreword by_ JAMES W. GERARD Former Ambassador to Germany INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT, 1926 BY THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY _Printed in the United States of America_ PRINTED AND BOUND BY BRAUNWORTH & CO., INC. BROOKLYN, NEW YORK “What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” REVELATION, I:11. THE MARTYRED CITY Glory and Queen of the Inland Sea Was Smyrna, the beautiful city, And fairest pearl of the Orient she— O Smyrna, the beautiful city! Heiress of countless storied ages, Mother of poets, saints and sages Was Smyrna, the beautiful city! One of the ancient, glorious Seven Was Smyrna, the sacred city, Whose candles all were alight in Heaven— O Smyrna, the sacred city! One of the Seven hopes and desires, One of the Seven Holy Fires Was Smyrna, the Sacred City. And six flared out in the long ago— O Smyrna, the Christian city! But hers shone on with a constant glow— O Smyrna, the Christian city! The others died down and passed away, But hers gleamed on until yesterday— O Smyrna, the Christian city! Silent and dead are the churchbell ringers Of Smyrna, the Christian city, The music silent and dead the singers Of Smyrna, the happy city; And her maidens, pearls of the Inland seas Are gone from the marble palaces Of Smyrna, enchanting city!