The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1877-05-19
THE TURCO.RUSSIAN WAR.


When, nearly four hundred years ago,
the sacred banner of the Prophet was
unfurled and the savage Turk under its
folds marched down from the ancient
capital of the Ottoman empire, crossed
the Bosphorus and overrunning the ter
ritory that forms the extreme south
eastern portion of Europe subjugated
and annexed it, and transferred the
seat of Turkish dominion to CONSTANT
nople, there were sown the seed which
were destined, in the fullness of time, to
be prolific ofdiscord and war and unend-
ing agitation. The conquered provinces
had nothing in common with the con-
querors. Differing in race and taste
and religion and mode of life, the hand
of the usurper was ever heavy, and 10
the Christian portion, at least, of the
population, the rule of the alien was
oppressive and calling in the extreme.
The effort to impose upon them an en-
t;rely new religion, to coerce their con-
sciences, to set over them in authority
the barbarian whose ideas of right went
no further than the power of the sword
prompted, very naturally, only the most
strenuous opposition. And the history
of those unhappy states is one unbroken
record of fruitless instructions and swift
and overwhelming punishment. The
uprisings of the dissatisfied peoples who
chafed under the bitter rule were met
on every hand by the brutality that
characterized the Turkish heart. The
savage cruelty Of Bashi Basouks was
ever called into action, and as result
Bulgarian atrocities and Salonica out
RACES followed every attempt of the
Christian subjects to alleviate their con-
dition
Nor could the effort to establish Tur-
key in Europe and to introduce into the
civilization of the West the manners and
religion of the East be regarded with
other than feelings of enmity not SIM
ply by the peoples who dwelt upon the
borders of the Black Sea and the Sea
of Marmora, but by all the Christian
rulers and inhabitants of Europe proper.
The war of the Crimea, while it, in
fact, found the armies of England and
France and Austria allied with those of
Turkey and SARDINIA in opposition to
Russia was nevertheless, in spirit and
in truth, the protest of Christian En-
rope against the public measures and
the polity of the Oriental power. Eng
fish interests forced Great Britain into
the unnatural alliance, the aims of an
ambitious Frenchman drew France to
the side which she took against the
sentiments and feelings of powerful
minority of her people, while in the
course which Austria pursued national
hatred and jealousy were the predomi-
nant motives. But the Treaty Of Paris
of 1851 conceded the essential princi-
Piles for which Russia had contended,
and as she emerged from the contest
there remained to her all the substan-
tial honor and glory of the strife The
empire, which by this time had become
"the sick man." was allowed to live not
because of any genuine sympathy with
its purposes or its policy, but because
"the balance of power whatever that
may mean--had to be preserved. The
division of the long suhjugated pro-
vinces could not be accomplished in a
manner satisfactory to all, and it was
remembered that the history of parti-
tions was the history of added difficult
ties
These motives alone have prevented
the summary Punishment of Turkey
from Europe and the extinction of Turk
ish authority upon that continent Po-
land, the Niobe of nations, is constant
reminder Of the obstacles in the path of
such settlement, and the greatest pro-
blem with which European statesman
ship has had to deal for generations re-
mains unsolved because no single ma
| ton is content to subordinate its inter
ests to the good Of the whole.
The ever-recurring difficulties the old
old story of outrage and massacres, the
continued and heartless oppression of
the inhabitants of the territory that
lays contiguous to the Russian borders
have again forced Russia to undertake
the war which to-day engages the atten-
ton of the whole world, and which has
for its objects the introduction of thor
ough and lasting reform and the perma-
nent amelioration Of the condition of the
Christian subjects of Turkey.
In the struggle which has ensued, it
is more than probable that other Euro
pean nations will become involved, and
their national interests may be of such
controlling character as to force them
to join hands with Turkey against the
cause of humanity and justice and good
government. The unobstructed free
dom of the Danube and the CONNER
cial advantages of the Black Sea are of
such Importance to Austria that she
will watch with jealous care any at
tempted infringements upon her rights
on the part of Russia, or she may finally
be found unfolding the standard of the
Porte because of her dread of Russian
annexation schemes and the eytencion