The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-07-19

and famine stalk undisputel where pros
perlty and splendor once relgned supreme
But why part.cularlze? We have seen
the whole Of the once civilized Europ,
enVdoped IN darkness, and bar'barous
hordes swaTming unchallenged over III,
desert they 1llve made. For centurls,
lal.guishing and bleeding, we behold hel
at THE feet of her enemies: the darI
age, with dts breath of poison and with
Its chains OF bondage, has well N. eA
destroyed her intellect her ahspdrations
her life. That individual nations ON the
verge of destruction may repatn. An a
measure, their CORNER Importance. is moi
here attempted to deny; but how an.
palldng or humiliating her sacrifices. now
heaptrending her sufferings, her wretch.
edness. Stripped of her gaudy vestments
the once proud nation may see herself
forced Ito wallow for ages in the mIre
and slough of despond, harnessed In her
nakedness to the ccrrupting harlots OF
treason and debacuhery, her life all but
spent ere she may recover strength
enough to lift her bony finger in revenge
and smate her enslavers!
Thus the beautiful plains of Snasn
once resting in perfect bliss, Their slurn-
DSAo hiANuoOuAASQ save Dy lle gentle
zephyrs of Andalusia, are suddenly. rude
ly, awakened from Their dreams No find
themselves trodden down by the fierce
and unmerciful SAracen. In pIteous an
peal, for ages, they cry to heaven for
aid, ere 1t is given them to drive the
inffdel from her shores. Who Is NOT
familiar with the fearful oppression of
the Netherlands? The very pages that
record these horrors are red with the
blood Of their victimsI
Thus, too, we have seen poetic Italy
groaning for centuries under chains so
massive that her very life is torment
and he'll! AT last, straining her every
fibre, in supreme effort Ito make whole
her broken and shattered limbs, that once
again, arTayed in purple and fine Linen.
she might stand erect and Join trium-
phant the proud procession of free and
independent states. No wonder that we
almost hold OUT breath as we look upon
her graceful sons, filled with tine hol est
enthusiasm, rending the air with heart
stirring and soul Hitting cries of 'Iong
live italy; or as they flock under the
standard of regeneration and unity. born
by her most gallant champions, Victor
EMANUEL and Gardbaldi.
Before 1861 the sky of THE American re-
public was cloudless; for her the stars
Of the armament shone with brilliancy
so serene as Ito make glad the hearts
of the beholders. The farms of the land
were as blooming gardens; the hum of
the loom was as sweet music ito the heart
Of honest labor, and the village maiden
dreamt only of the joyous day when she
might call him her own forever, to whom
her troth had been plighted! How sud
daf,lN lrnnr A1,t
changed, and how convulsed became this
fair and heretofore prosperous country.
AS we look back, the sky is overcast,
and 1urid clouds overhang the horizon.
A most htdeous hurricane as 1t were
has broken loose from it's moorings, and
CONSERVATION and dismay everywhere
meet the eye of the beholder!
The homes of unity and peace are shat
tered into fragments. The spectacle Is
truly heartrendlne. With blanched faces
and trembling lirnIbs with closed eyes and
deaf ears, willingly would we turn from
1t If we could, but we cannot. For even
through the raging storm we are forced
to hear THE wailing and the weeping and
the crash Of tobter-ng monuments, reared
by the hand of patriotism to fame and
honor. Though the riffs dn the dense
clouds, by THE fierce glare of the light
ming we are compelled to see The mangled
and bleeding forms, trampled under the
foot of the frenz.ed horse, and the cry
stalline brooks of the land crimsoned
with THE blood of dying heroes. But
how often has this narrowing picture
been presented to us? How often have
we contemplated 1T? And why, why, were
we brought so close Ito THE brink of ruin?
Have we not again and ag,aIln concluded,
declared, THAT a more efficient prepara-
lion before that eventful period, a more
patriotic and intense v.g lance ON our
part would have rendered Impossible
much of this TERRIBLE unnecessary
slaughter? And are we going to allow
with returning prosperity, to
entirely forget this fearful lesson? The
widows and orphans Of Those direful
days, it is true, have accepted the sacri-
flee with heroism never, perhaps,
equaled in the history of the human race.
But for many a yenr still to come, by
the sweat of the brow, we must labor
on and on, the shoulder to the wheel |
our hands blistered with toll, If we would |
tighten the ponderous we ght of the pen
sion roll with its annual two hundred |
millions of treasure.
France, under the rule of the last Ma |
poleon, resting unconcerned under the |
Iaurels of THE first empire, had come |
10 acquire opulence and importance |
among nations. Her commerce and her |
varied industries had brought with them |
ease and comforts innumerable. Through |
0ut lher dominions, in her cities, towns,
villages, the people basked in the sun
shine of a prosperity never before at
Jalned. Paris had been transformed into |
The most beilutiful city of modern times.
Her boulevards were brilliant, her cafes
and luxury and fashion were
at their height. The third Napoleon
'ancted that his army and the spirit
IF the times were in keeping with the
glamour that surrounded him; that in
Iced he was powerful enough to cope
With any adversary in the world. Not
80, howeverl We are all AWARE how
halt seeming prosperity brought France
% the very brink of irreparable dsso-
uton. Obvious of the necessary safe
suards required at such times, the soft
less nnd abandon of the Parisan life,
hat p;rmeated her empire with its vol
Iptuousness, its cafe CanSamt," and the
,an-can, had proved enough to sap the
snergy and Wgor of this self-fancied in
'IncIble people and Ito fling It from the
pinnacle of military renpwn to sue hum
'ly for peace ait the feet of the more
sturdy German
France had forgiJtten her vigilance, and
renee her humiliation.
And without referring TO other ex-
Gmples 1t may be said that these ma
ions Ike the Biblical foolish virgins,
lad taken their lamps. but had tlken
10 oil with them. Again l say, bet us
lot be deluded. Let us take warning.
DO not these examples concluslvely teach
Is that in the day of prosperity turks
he seed whence may spring the monster
rec of destruction; and that If we cannot
rush it IN it's birth we may no longer
'e able to cope with the gigantic propor-
Ions of Its growth, And THAT unless
we are ever on the alert, we may fiId
ourselves only reclSlessly following some
lew born Pharaoh into the yawning
waters of the eng9lfing sea; that we may
'e but entering gradually, though surely,
nto She intricate mazes of that deleful
dngdom, where mourning and eternal
'ain have replaced all joys forever, and
'ver whose portals the great poet has
written: Leave every hope behind, oh
'e that enter"
Thus in spita of fhA fact Hhat ura ~ |