The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-05-06
THE OTHER SIDE.
advance" Thinks TnRt War Has Been
Worse Than Intemp srance.

"Advance" Thinks Tat War Has Been
Worse Than Incompetence.
DEAR HOWARD FRIENDs-I intended to
enjoy a long spell of silence when made
my exit via G. d. But. alas my antici-
patton in this respect have proven in vain.
To prove my disappointment I'll simply
refer you to Comets" challenge on the
subject of (which has caused the human
family the most misery, War or Intemper-
ance?" When ! visited the III. l.. G. par
or recently. | simply remarked that be-
lieved war had caused the most misery,
and after perusing very carefully a few
letters to the contrary, II am of the same
opinion still" And since my esteemed
friend "COrnet" has requested me TO give
some argument, | will make an effort with
pleasure to Oblige him, regardless of my
imperfect acquaintance with the History
OF Man. 4 work which gives in de-
tail the history OF mankind must neces-
sarily be voumious. 1t is, therefore,
beyond the utmost stretch OF the youth
fu intellect To compass it; the young
reader sinks back into despair, even from
undertaking the task of its perusal. And
] venture to say that abridgements of
general history have been liable 10 still
greater objections. They are little more
than dry lists of dates. presenting no
pictures to the Imagination, exciting no
sympatnies in the heart and imparting
few ideas to the understanding. And yet
it should be very desirable, by all means,
that every person should, at an early
period of life, have imprinted on his and
her mind, in bright and unfading colors,
a clear outline OF mankind. from lis be-
ginning IN the plain of Shinar down to
the present hour. The advantages of this
are obvious. IL makes all subsequent
reading and reflection on the subject OF
history both useful and interes ing; it
becomes a stimulus to research; it is
ever after a thread to guide the
inquirer through the labyrinths
OF historical lore. History is a grand study
and careful perusal should not be ig-
nored But, ah! am astOnished, indeed,
to see so many people of this enlightened
age of the world neglect the history of
man by reading trashy literature, which if
closely followed, will blight the mind that
was once bright and full of hope, and I'll
simply add, that such reading has often
been the direct means OF many a sad
death.
"Cornet," you demanded some argu-
ments and I'll endeavor to give them,
however weak they may be. The question
you with 10 discuss embraces the history
of man from tie garden OF Eden 10 the
present day. Therefore / will invite your
kind attention, Il you please, to cast
searching eye into the ancient history of
Asia as far back as Queen Semiramis,
who set forth TO conquer the world, but
was defeated by the king of the Indies.
This horrible war occurred between the
year Z229 b. c., Tor l775 years after the
creationJ and the year 2000 b. c., and
the ancient history of Asia from
these dates informs US that away back
in that dark age of the world, the horrible
misery of wars was bitterly experienced,
and those that were taken az prisoners in
time of war were sold as slaves. Conse-
quently many soldiers took their own
lives in various ways rather than become
slaves. Why. my esteemed friend, "Cor-
net" no human tongue can ever express
the misery that was caused in Asia from
the year 1929 b. c., until the present data,
let one the misery that was inflicted in
Africa, Europe and America. The misery
caused by the Assyrian wars, the Egyptian
wars, the Persian wars, the Chinese wars.
ETC., etc, can never be estimated, but for
all that, history informs us that war in
those days never ceased long and some of
them lasted twenty eight years. When
Gideon was ruler of Israel an army of
Midinites invaded the country and OPP
pressed the people for seven years, and
during the reign OF Saul the Israelites were
often at war with other nations and
finally saul was slain in disastrous battle
with the Phiiistines. Then Israel chose
David for their king and a great part of
his life was spent in war. But neverthe-
less, after all his bloodthirstiness, it will
be remembered that he also won q peace