The Newtown bee., 1897-04-02

Russians as their deliverers. So W,
 wondered why these splendid Russian
 soldiers had such difficulty in thrashinf
 these miserable little runts who marched
 under the star and crescent. What wal
 the secret of their brave battling? Tht
 answer is fanaticism.
 Christian countries know practically
 nothing of fanaticism. It is zeal with.
 out knowledge, which Christianity for
 bids. Fanaticism dethrones reason, i'm.
 prisons judgement, banishes fear. .silences
 mercy. For its war horse fanaticisnl
 chooses the whirlwind, it throws away
 bit and bridle, it sharpens the spurs, and
 rushes on with it's destructive fury
 alike against an army with banners and
 the shrinking, unarmed village peasants.
 I myself have heard in the weird chant
 of the bowling dervishes the slumber song of fanaticism, but the Russiars s
 heard it's battle cry, as did Christian
 armies centuries ago. Where fanaticism
 has appeared in Christianity it has been
 q parasitic growth, but it is the flower
 and first fruits of Mohammedanism
 Fanaticism is orgetful-perfectly ! madmen. The Turks are fanatics and | therefore fighters. Give them equal equipments, training and opportunity and 1 believe that a thousand Moslems will conquer 8 thousand Christians every time, and, all other things being equal, 1 think the chances would be that thousand Moslems would put to flight 1000 Christians.
 The explanation is plain.
 THE TURK FIGHTS LIKE A MANIAC.
 We all know that if man becomes vio- lently insane it requires three or four men to hold him. It is not moral cour- age, it is not physical courage, it is madness. So is the Moslem with his uusheathed sword, knowing neither mercy nor fear.
 It is this element of fanaticism which makes the Turkish question 80 difficult. It became visible in the Russo-Turkish war and in the Armenian massacres, but to-day, though less conspicuous, it is equally present as an energetic force and as the supreme factor in the problem. l Close the escape valve and the rushing, | roaring steam ceases to startle, but the | pressure within the boiler is still tre- mendous; the fire is not out; something l may happen at any time. Fanaticism is I an unfamiliar element to the European statesman. It upsets all his calculations. It is fourth dimension in space, and | logic does not hold; cause and effect can- not be relied upon. Causes which would l produce given effect on 8 Christian sovereign may produce the opposite on the sultan. Motives influencing other nations are nothing to the Turk.
 We all have been stirred, and justly, by the outrageous treatment the Arme. nians have suffered at the hands of the Turks. There is cry, Why does not act? Why does not some Christian nation rush to the rescue? Suppose England should send her war ships through the Dardanelles to Con- stantinople. Let her take possession of that city. Would the problem be solved? Not in the slightest degree.
 What would happen? Remember that Constantinople is not the heart of the Moslem power. It is on the extreme rim. It is the strategic point of eastern Europe, but is not the strategic point of Asia. Armenia is ' many miles away. Let the sultan fly from Constantinople, where would he fly? Probably to Armenia. Armenia would be shut off from Europe. And it would take Europe long, long time to conquer the sultan there-a task more difficult than Spain's in Cuba, than Russia's war in Bulgaria. The country is mountainous and inaccessible; the Moslems form large portion of the population and are the only armed in- habitants. The Asiatics who fought for a bit of Europe would be terrible foes in fighting for their homes. Drive the sultan out of Constantinople, and the | horror goes from the European Bosporus only to brood more fearfully over Armenia.
 What if England, determined to ac. complish her aim, press on to Armenia | RetreaEing armies burn food, cattle, 1 buildings, that their pursuers may find 1 no spoil for sustenance or triumph. l What are the Armenians to the Turks but dogs, and gladly would they see to 1t that the European armies rushing to the rescue of Armenian Christians should l lind nothing but dead bodies. The mountain Kurd, gloating over the piles If slain, might exultantly chant, :. With l the sultan at Constantinople slew my l thousands; with the queen of England l at Constantinople have slain my ten thoasands." The seizure of Constanti- l nople might be the signal for the ex-