Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-08-16
The Delphic Oracle Applied to the
Russo-Turkish War.

it was the rich and powerful Cresus
king of Lydia, that consulted the ora.
Gle of Delphos in respect to the re-
suits of a war he was about to wage
with Cyrus the king of Persia. The
oracle assured him that if he entered
upon this war she would ruin great
tempire." Cresus thus assured, en- .
tered into the contest. The oracle
was verified but the great empire
that was ruined was that of his own
The echo of this ancient oracle must
now stun the ears of the Gear of Rus
STA with terrible emphasis. In max.
ing war with Turkey he will doubts
less ruin ga great empire" So far
the truth ofthe oracle is beyond doubt.
But the prophecy not only contains an
evident fact but fearful uncertainty.
Shall the 'great empire" fated to de-
| struction be that of the Autocrat of all
the Russians or that of the proverbial
sick man who was supposed to be
suffering the pangs of dissolution at
Ccnstantinople? Everybody i'll Amer
lea whose opinions were entitled to
any weight interpreted the oracle in
favor OF Russia. The London Times
tells US Turkey is always sinking in
peace or war, and her overthrow was
inevitable. She is the great barrier
to progress and civilization. She
stands in the highway of the western
nations that desire to push their con.
quests and their commerce towards
India, China end Japan. She stands
in the way like Bunyan's Apollyon in
the path of Christian. She must be
scattered, torn limb from limb to feed
the Russian Bear and British Lion
and Prus sian Eagle. These voracious
animals have scented their prey for a
long time. Military men, statisticians
and historians have compared the
power of Russia with that of Turkey.
They have looked upon the Sultan as
in the condition of Belteshazzar when
he saw the hand writing on the wall
and his knees smote together.
But it seems "the sick man" was
only playing possum." He has sur
prised the world, the Russian is as
tonished and thunderstruck, and at
present must either retreat or fortify
and act on the defensive. We confess
our sympathies as well as our ex-
pectations were pro- Russian. We have
believed that the interests of mankind
required the extinction of Islamism,
and that the great gap left by the re-
treating Turk should be filed up by a
broad breasted, bold fronted, pro-
gressive civilized, christian people as
we have regarded the Russian to be.
Is it the destiny of the Turk not
only to defeat the Russian but to up
set the notions of mankind with re-
spect to himself? We have to admit
such result is among the possibilities.
If we allowed full scope to our reason
upon facts already developed, we
might reluctantly say such result
was even probable. The best disci-
plined and most reliable armies of the
Gear have already been defeated both
in Europe and Asia. Such series,
an unbroken series of successes in
favor of the Turks cannot be account.
ed for very well without admitting
conditions or disparities of position or
capacity that will produce like results
to the end of the war; The battle oil
the Plevna means more to Russia than
the battle of Bulls Run to the armies
of the Union. At that time the north
ern regiments knew nothing about
war. But both in Asia and Europe
the unfortunate battles have beer
fought with Russia's best soldiers and
ablest Generals, with all the best i'm
plements of warfare that art or sci
ence could invent or wealth procure
The new levies now called for by the
Gar cannot equal the disciplined
brave and experienced thousands tina
have already shrunk before the muir
derous fire of the Turk. If the re
sources of the latter cannot be ex
hausted, will not the Crescent triumph
over the PROSTATE Cross !?
1t must be remembered that just al
this war began, Turkey suddenly as
sembled both the form and substance
of popular government. They hav,
Parliament and eloquent speakers
and the "strimp" has become a power
in Turkey, and a tide of popular ant
intelligent enthusiasm is there awak
ened by an agency to which despot
ic government must be stranger
Should Russia fail ga great empir,
will be destroyed" Her enemies ant
subjugated nations, and people who's
sons have fallen by the sword, will
rise up against her. 1t viii be he
day of judgement and retribution.-
The Pole, the Hungarian, the eau
casian, the Tartar will hold hi 9h jubi
lee over her downfall while the Rus
sian people will learn that nation
must become powerful through liberia
principle, parliaments, and popula
education, and not by aggressive war
So however the war ends an overulin.
Providence will vindicate its wisdom
in the results.