The Tipton advertiser., 1877-05-17

The startling new. is sent from
London that the Sheik-ul-Islam, who
is at the head of the Church IN Turkey
and to whom the Sultan must refer in
every act OF Importance, has instruct
ed the leader of the annual pilgrim
caravan which starts shortly from
Constantinople for Mecca to proclaim
in all the cities through which he
passes that the faithful are called to
the war against Russia, and that he
will bless the sultan as the leader of
the holy war. The news Is in accord
ance with previous dispatches which
have represented the Sultan as declar-
ing, in spite of English advice to the
contrary, that he would unfurl the
standard of the Prophet when the
emergency arose. With one power
ful army along the whole line Of the
Danube from its mouth to the Seryian
frontier. and another driving the
Turks before il through Asia Minor,
the Sultan may well imagine that the
emergency has come.
The unfurling of this standard, the
"Sanyak sheriff, will present new
phase of the conflict The standard
il as old as Mohammedanism itself
1t was part of the flowing curtains
that adorned the room Of Mohamm-
eds favorte wife, and has always
been carefully garded from profane
eyes in the Seraglio. IT matters little
how old ii il. or what it Is, how ever,
to Mohammedans. 1t is to them the
symbol of their faith, the standard of
their Prophet, the badge Of Islam. 1t
calls upon 3,5oo,oe9 Nohammedans in
European Turkey. over 10000 900 in
India, 3,5ol,0la in Persia, and over
lOa. .000:009 more scattered through
various parts Of Asia and Africa, to
rally to the defence of Islam against
the ''infiiels." 1t is Of course impo.si-
ble that Turkey could ever organize
these immense hordes into regular
armies, regularly drilled and disci'
plined, to encounter the troops o1
Russia. 1t is not the purpose OF
Turkey to do it. The unfurling of the
standard is an invitation to massacre
and plunder all who do not believe in
Mohammedanism. II is a declaration
that every Mohammedan who kills
nine infidels, men, women, or child
ren. it matters not which, will receive
a passport to Paradise. If this new.
be true, then Is Turkey rushing upoI
her doom, and taking the first steI
to array the whole Christian worlC
against her. When the standard o
the Prophet is unfurled, Russia viii
| not be alone in this war. The advO
Gates of the christian religion and Q
Christian civilization, the Who'll
world over, will rise and declare tha
Turkish rule shall forever end in Eu
rope, and that the Turkish tyrant
shall he sent over the Bo.phnru- t.
their old Asiatic possession.-Tibmae
The Secretary of War last week il
sued an order reducing the army b
the discharge of $500 men betwee
this time and the lst Of July next
Their pay and allowances up to tn
close of the present fiscal year will b
secured to them out Of the appropria
tion for the current year. A Wash
ington dispatch says:
This discharge is made on accoun
of the postponement of the extra ses
sion of Congress. Had the sessio
been called for the 4th of June. as cor
tenlplated, the discharges would nc
have been for some months. Unde
the act of August 18th, 1876, the Pres
ident WAS empowered to increase tn
number of enlisted men to 100 for eac
company of such regiments of cavalr
: as may be employed in the existin
Indian hostilities, and as in his opin
ion may require the same, provide
that not more than $500 enlisted me
shall thus be added at any one tim
to the 5000 authorized by the act G
July oath, 1876, and it is the addition
al men enlisted in the pursuance {
this act who are to be discharged. Th
) discharge Of the number above mer
toned reduces the army to q 900 eI
, listed men.
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