The different methods used in the transportation of merchandise are no less peculiar; for while on the eastern side of the city, may be seen approaching long caravans of camels laden with the rich products of the East, on the western side may be heard the shriek of the locomotive, announcing the arrival of a train, bringing passengers, merchandise and latest intelligence from western nations. But the most significant custom is that five times a day the _muezzins_, or Mahometan priests, ascend to the top of the mosques (as places of worship are called) and which are thickly scattered through the city, and in a loud wailing voice exclaim, "God is great! There is one God! Mahomet is His prophet! Come to prayer!" This is repeated four times facing the east, south, west and north, and has a penetrating effect on the mind of the hearer, much more than the sound of the church-bell of the Christians, or the trumpet of the Jews. Most European historians have lamented the seizure of Constantinople by the Turks as a terrible disaster. To the unprejudiced student of history there seems to be but little reason for regret. For eleven hundred years Constantinople had greatly influenced the destinies of the world; but during {53} all that time her power had tended more to the degradation than to the elevation of mankind. Her citizens possessed all the classical writings and works of art of the great authors of antiquity; yet in a thousand years they never produced one original, never advanced one step in philosophy or science, or made a single practical discovery. What was it that produced this barrenness, this intellectual degradation in Constantinople? It was the tyranny of priestcraft over thought. For a thousand years Constantinople had been not merely the leading commercial city, but also the leading city in debauchery and crime. In this respect it has vastly improved under Turkish rule. At the present time, especially in the Mahometan portions of the city, it is the least licentious of all the great capitals of modern Europe. CHAPTER VI. RELIC-WORSHIP, PILGRIMAGES AND CRUSADES. GROWTH OF RELIC-WORSHIP--SCHEMES OF THE ROMAN PONTIFFS--MANUFACTURE OF RELICS--THEIR GREAT VARIETY--VALUE OF RELICS--INSULTS OFFERED TO PILGRIMS--PETER THE HERMIT--CRUSADES--DISORDERLY RABBLE--TERRIBLE SUFFERING--CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM--TERRIBLE MASSACRE--CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE--CRUSADES OF THE CHILDREN--RESULT OF THE CRUSADES--REVIVAL OF LEARNING. In previous chapters has been traced the apostasy of the early church, also the career of Mahomet, and the conquests and achievements of the Saracens. While these events were transpiring, other causes were at work which led eventually to the elevation of mankind, the history of which plainly indicates the workings of an All-wise Providence.