New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-08-29
COURT AND GIMP.

to retrieve the disasters which have over
whelmed their arms in Armenia, there is still
time to restore the prestige which the soldiers
of Paskewitch won in the field half century
ago. The smoke still cljngs to the crests Oh
the Balkan and shuts out the battle gorge from
view. 1t is now nine days since fighting began
in the Shipka Pass. Instead of making flank
movement across the mountains farther East
and effecting junction with the main Turkish
force Suleiman has attempted to carly the
strongest of natural ranparts by storm, and
has been repeatedly repulsed with terrible loss.
If bis soldiers have been hardened by the
Montenegrin campaign, they have also been
exhausted with long marches and protracted
service. A prudent General would have LETT
"A small force tc hold the enemy in check
at the opening of the pass, and scaling the
mountains to the right or to the left have
c00perated with either Mehemet Ali or Osman,
rather than have led those shattered battalions
of battle-scarred and fOOt-sore veterans against
an enemy who commanded those terrible prec-
ipices. But this mountain leader can fight
only in one way-lke a wild boar. On the
Balkan, as in Montenegro, he masses an army
against a garrison and fights hand -tO-band,
from crag to crag. day after day; never pauslng
to count his losses, but always relying on the
sheer weight of superior numbers. When he
was battling with the heroic mountaineers his
force outnumbered the enemy ten to one, and
he could lose five men to one, and still win IN
the end and moreover, his foes did not have
Kmpp and Uchatius ordnance. In the Balkan
passes he is not fighting with Homerc war
rioTs, but with soldiers who can use the spade
and level German cannon, and who are burn
ing to avcnge the slaughter of Plevna. Me-
hemet Ali, sby more formidable attack
than he has yet made at Eski Diuma, may
break through the Russian lines north of Tir-
nova and force the Shipka garrison to fall
back or Suleman, by the proves of supe-
riOr force, may yet succeed in driving his foes
before him, but the strain upon his dccimated
army will be so terrible as to cripple it after
victory. Meanwhile the heroic defence of the
pass is maintained by fresh troops. 1t is a
new TermopylR.
But the diplomatists have been busy as well
as the soldiers Servia is evidently preparing
for war, and the restlessness of the Greeks is
increasing. With ROumanian garrisOns at kal
afat and NikOpolis, with renewal of skirmish-
ing at the MontenegTin and Albanian outposts,
with the Servan frontier bristling with militia,
with dsaffectiOn spreading in Thessaly, and the
Greeks squirting on a Government that is bril-
died with British influences, the circle of the
war seems to be gradually enlarging. This
Gordon of alliances may have a charm for the
eyes of the Southern Slavs, but it Is made up
of weak threads which will part under the
pressure of Russian reverses.
1t is singular fact that since the uprising of
the Christian peasants in the Slayonic province
of Herzegovina two years ago, Greece has not
sent soldier into the field, although she is the
only State which has wrested her independence
from the Porte. This little kingdom has main
tanned its army on a war footing for several
months, and, as its treasury is not overlooking,
1t must act soon or never The Greeks are
anxious to replant the ancient Olive groves of
Epirus and Thessaly. Their Intervention in the
present war would enllindle insurrection in
the provinces which they cOyet, and they
would command a fair share of the spoils of
a Russian victory. But they have only two
moncads i'll their tiny navy, and their coasts
and tradng-shps are exposed to the attack
of the Turkish fleet. British influence is
strong in Athens; the national debt is large,
and it will not be easy to float new loan
and the Ministry will be in no haste to de-
clare war, especially when the Russian chances
are clOuded
Servia, on the other hand. is the natural CEN
ire of the Southern Slavs Although it is
nation of Shepherds cow-drivers and pig
keepers, unframed for war, its impulses are
generous and its enthusiasm Is quick to take
fire. When Prince Milan, who is no soldier.
forced his Ministers i'll 1875 to proclaim neu-
trality, his subjects lent aid secretly to the in
surgents i'll herzegovina and Bosnia and when
a year afterwaId tidings reached their ears of
the shocking barbarties iii Bulgaria, they
sprang to the rescue and carried their Prince
with them. There are cynical Englishmen who
tell us that Russian agents were intriguing
among the Servian peasantry, and that the
nation was beguilcd or forced into the war
We do not believe it. The war between
Seryia and Austria had its origin in a national
impulse to protect and aveDge feOw-Slavs
and fellow Christians. The Prince was neither
ambitious nor patriotic; he was compelled TO
head the national movement. Undoubtedly
the Servians expected far more aid from the Rus
slams than they received. The Imperial Gov
eminent did nothing for them, and the Slavonic
societies sent only 5000 volunteers and poor
General. The peasants were paientand generous.
but they were not warlikr and they were not
well armed. When Alexinatz fell and Europe
abandoned them they accepted peace on the
honorable terms which the Porte offered. This
is the nation which is now clamoring for
renewal of war with Turkey. The enthusiasm
of the Southern Slavs is infectious. Their mag
ination outlines glorious future for their race.
Bulgaria and Seryia will not be outlying Rus