but the present must put down." It is also a singular coincidence that
the modern Turkish name of the city, Ala-Shehr, signifies "city of God."

This description of the church of Philadelphia I will bring to a close
by adding the following extract from Gibbon, recorded in his noted
history entitled "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." It is of
especial value since the writer, being an avowed infidel, can not be
convicted of misconstruing historical facts in order to favor
Christianity.

"The captivity or ruin of the seven churches of Asia was consummated [by
the Ottomans] A.D. 1312, and the barbarous lords of Ionia and Lydia
still trample on the monuments of classic and Christian antiquity. In
the loss of Ephesus the Christians deplore the fall of the first
candle-stick of the Revelation. The desolation is complete; and the
temple of Diana and the church of Mary will equally elude the search of
the curious traveler. The circus and three stately theatres of Laodicea
are now peopled with wolves and foxes. Sardis is reduced to a miserable
village. The God of Mohammed without a rival is invoked in the mosques
of Thyatira and Pergamus; and the populousness of Smyrna is supported by
the foreign trade of the Franks and Armenians. _Philadelphia alone_ has
been saved by prophecy or courage. At a distance from the sea, forgotten
by the emperors, encompassed on all sides by the Turks, her valiant sons
defended their religion and freedom above fourscore years, and at length
capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek colonies
of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect--a column in a scene of ruins--a
pleasing example that the path of honor and safety may sometimes be the
same." Vol. VI., p. 229.

14. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;