The Lake County star., 1877-06-07

/ No1ucO V1uBuOch1s WOulu 10 kuOIo SOOu
in the way Of purifying the moral at,
tm0pher4 than all the anti-socIal evil
sssoclatiphs In the world.
~, - --,.<,---,z-
R RGngE q IN Z IN &
4 ~ "a. .s>>rs'..-s a II
/ 01gAHxoFEH AND HIsYpRfoAL- Asst
o1ArIoNs OF ASIA MINOR. Z.
n AZ 70 actiye demonstr rati Iona In favos
ogy eithSr ~ the belligerents uow at
War n the keyantv 1t Ia well ep0uab
1brs0Qr Government % be4 neutral
nsvertheleas, Tor our -peoplet NJ ssm616
Indifferent or disinterested would be q
thing impossible. Indeed, It IL not
improbable that there has been COM
4 menced ON tie Danube andin Asiatic
Turkey what will prove 70 be one OF
the most significant and sanguinary
struggles In the annals Of time. News
paper comments upon the war thus
far have hardly risen to the dignity
and importance OF the subject. The
interest or the world, the nations, and
Of humanity are not necessarily IN
volved In the question whether the
autonomy Of the Turkish Empire In
or whether Russia, which now domino
ates about one-seventh of the hsbitual
globe, shall enlarge her dOminiOns, or
whether English interests In the East
shall suffer loss, or even whether o
pr0tracted foreign war would effect a
revival Of our own dropping industries.
II there were no greater ends at stake
than these 1t Is probable that right
thinking people generally would
agree that their procuring was not
worth bloody war. .If-ts,.t :"
But In the permissive providence Of
God large part of the earth's best ter
ritOry has lain for centuries under the
physical and moral curse of Ottoman
misrdle. Something must happea to
change thia for the better, and II may
be that mighty war Is necessary fOr
this coveted redemption, and that 1t
is even now being directed by an un-
seen hand on the chess-board Of des-
tiny,
The area embraced within the Turk.
ish Empire In Europe, Asia, and Afri-
ca In two-thirds % large as, and its
population almost equal to, that Of the
United States, The portion with
which the war has been commenced
with greatest vigor Is to the student Of
history one Of the most interesting lin
the world. The physical grandeur Of
ancient Anatolir (Asia Minor) up to
the time of Roman rule, and TO Later
period, was one of the wonders Of the
world. Its productiveness was sugges-
tive of the Garden Of Eden. 1t Is es-
timated that u single Province, Mes0-
potamla, which Is watered by the Eu-
pirates, a. the Garden Of Eden " said
TO have been, Is susceptible, by proper
cultivation, of being made to sustain
q population equal to that Of Great
Britain and ireland, IT u now under
tie tSa Saeurse Of Moslemim, comparative
ly barren waste. The natural resources
OF Lydia, q Province bordering on the
Agean Sea, has been iplmOrtalized In
connection with the proverbial wealth
of Crpssus. her King, In short, the
whole territory of Asia Minor, about
twice as large as the State of Pennsyl-
vania, Is q marvel, not only In Its
natural advantages, the sublimity of
its scenery, the variety Of Its climate.
the richness of its soil, the quality Of
Its fruits and agricultural products,
and its mineral wealth, bat also Its
varied and thrilling historical associa-
tiOps. It was here-where Russian
and Turk are now met In deadly con-
fiict, whether inspired by religious
fanaticism or the lust of power-that
the race, ! may say the world, had its
historical beginning. Here the first
civilization and culture began. The
whole region is to-day the Sahara of
Mohammedap barbarian, with almost
trodden out by the heel of the Turk
"Where the hoof of the Turkish horse
has trOd no grass will grow" is an Otto
man proverb. Not only Homer, but
Herodotus, 1.-THE father Of history"
and Thales, and Pythagoras, and many
more of the greatest names of antiquity
were natives Of the Asiatic battlefield.
The field itself Is one for the mastery
of which the military powers Of the
world contended for three thousand
yean--from the time of Semiramis to
the days of the Osman invasion and
conquest. It was the most coveted
territory in the known world, And
yet under the blight of Ottoman sway,
this garden and nursery OF civilization,
science, philosophy, and art has de-
generated into theatre Of Ignorance,
pauperism, thieves. robbers, and all
the overt crimes In the calender Of hu-
man guilt. ...,i.,
But It is as the cradle of Christendom
that Christians throughout the world
will watch with deepest sollcitude
every step towards rescuing. Asia
Minor land Palestine) from -Moslem
tyranny and degradation. 1t was here
that the Gospel OF the Son Of God first
bloomed into its richest harvest. The
Acts Of the Apostles were largely con-
fined to the Oblong peninsula bounded
by the Mediterranean, the Grecian
Archipelago, the Dardenelles, the Sea
OF Marmora, the Bosphorus, and the
Black sea. Here were. planted and
watered "the Seven Churches which
are In Asia''--typical in their history
and characteristics of the Visible
Church through all its history-to
which John In Patmos was command
ed to write his message Of love, warn
ing and prophecy. These cities of
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thy
atira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and
Laodicea were among the first COM
munities baptized with the Power
which Is yet destined to make the will
derness blossom as the rose and 10 re-
store the waste places Of the earth tn q
glory surpassing the Eden itself.
Now the Cross Is confronted by the
Crescent In battle. Protestant. Eng
land may drift or be driven into the
defence Of an infidel power, holding
her Christianity in abeyance for the
sake Of protecting her dearer interests
In India. Catholic Austria may frater-
nize with the Turk to preserve the In
tegrity OF her boundaries, and France
and Prussia may become embroiled
for mutual revenge against each other
and to swell the general carnage, and
thus show that self-interest, and moth
ing higher, actuates them all. Never
theless, the ultimate, and, 1t may be,
now unseen, design will be eubserved.
The cause OF God and humanity In its
highest form will be advanced. The
abolition OF human slavery was not
the purpose Of the men who conn
menced our own late war. Indeed
their purpose was exactly the reverse.
But God ruled and overruled. The
A.. a ~r<av>o Tho