Year: 1877

Passing the Balkan.


General Gourkha's operations south of the


Balkan are of a nature to revive the interest


in the story of the Rasso-Turkish war de-


spite the vivid excitement nearer home.


With half the United States disturbed by a


quasi-agrarian insurrection, and the streets


of several great cities stained with the blood


shed in civil strife, it is evident the public
attention could not be fixed by any event
OF commonplace nature occurring In the
far away couDsry between the Adriatic and
the Black Sea- But General Gourkha's
achievements are of the kind that extort
admiratio'-l i'll any age and cline, and
despite all distracting circumstances. He
is the frst of the Russian commanders to
separa.e himself from all the others by the
splendor of his successes, and his record
alre~ly blazes athwart the twinkle Of other
nam es as a comet across the skies studded
with undistinguishable stars. He has had
great opportunity. it is true; but General
Schillder, who marched against the force ut
Plevna, also had great opportunity. The
commander who did not get across at Nico-
polls had great opportunity, and few men
i'll this century have had such an oppor-
tunity as was opened to General Louis
Mellikoff in Asia Minor. But these men
threw away their fortunes and only length
ered the dreary catalogue OF calamities due
to want Of brains that are SO astonishing
in the history OF all Russian wars. General
Gourkha, on the contrary, has used his op-
portunit,y to supply chapter that would
dc honor to the military history of any
nation in the world. He has empha-
sized again the eternal lesson that
energy, audacity = tho eye to see
the Happy moment and the will to seize it,
are the great military attributes; that with
them success is cheaply gained where with
out them there may be scarcely lives enough
In an army to purchase it. Thus by his
dslshing passage through an unknown way
IN the mountain, and his falling like
tlranderbolt on the rear of the Turks posted
in the Schipkn Pass, he made the elaborate
preparations for its defence valueless and
enabled Prince Mirski to make bloodless
march, where but for what Gourkha had
done the Prince would have been as desper-
ately resisted as the Ottomans themselves
were on the we'll defended roads in Monte
negro. This single soldiers successes have
saved to the, armies Of the Czar several
thousand II yes and months time, and
If there are many such officers in the Rus
sian services it is scarcely within the limit
of possibi Iity that the Muscovites Gan be
kept out Of Constantinople This achieve
ment is apparently regarded mainly in that
CONNECT on in England. 1t has had on the
British Ministry nm effect like that of flash
of igh ming which shows the benighted
traveller that he is at the edge of a yawning
chasm. 1t was apparently thought in Lon
don th at the Russians would dawdle away
the su MINER north of the Balkan, that the
resist lnce the Turks could present would
hold them while the arrangements made to
cut their comm unications between the
mountains and the river might be so far
successful as to consume time and give
an opportunity for some happy accident
of Continental politics to come to the rescue
of the yIicawber-like British policy. But
the thing that has turned up is of the other
sort, and an important battle actually gained
south of the Balkans suddenly shows them
therr danger-shows that If the door to Con-
star ltinople is not actually opened the
poy YER to open it is at hand. Hence the
In sty despatch Of troops whose destination !
tile government dares not honestly declaJ @.