Page:Mahometanism in its relation to prophecy - or, an inquiry into the prophecies concerning antichrist, with some reference to their bearing on the events of the present day (IA mahometanisminit00philrich).pdf/183

 racteristic of Turkish warfare, one which at the time constituted a striking difference between the Turkish armies and those against whom they directed their victorious force. We refer to the use of firearms, which were first employed on an extensive scale and with apalling success by the Turks. When we reflect upon this remarkable fact, and the effect produced upon the minds of men by the heavy guns and enormous cannon used by the Ottoman Turks with such deadly effect, we can hardly conceive a more appropriate symbol than the one used by the Apostle, "that the beast wrought great wonders, so that he made also fire to come down from heaven unto the earth in the sight of men." How terribly these words were realized by the Turks, history accurately records. It was chiefly by means of his artillery that Amurath the Second subdued so large a portion of the Greek empire, after invading and laying waste the Peloponnesus. And when a few years later his son Mahomet besieged Constantinople, he employed guns of such a calibre, that the description of them, were it not vouched for in the most authentic statements of contemporary history, would sound quite fabulous. One of these guns was of such monstrous size, that it required seventy yoke of oxen, and no fewer