The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1878.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 43, 9 March 1878, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1878.

The, s^orm,' has ceased; m Europe^ \ This is the, oij£ happy is&uaf or* which philanthropists, . h&ye prayed^ aiid vsrhich beneyob^eeand} self interest < will actuate allj men, t9i rejoice m. : But novj; that thenar is over there. remains the, desolation, tha,t it has j caused;,, w.hifjh, to, ths. spot ; i^t the b^ttere&ij parted fjhe. business. The horrors of; active, warfare, are * half' hidden by the. glory and excito- , nient that pertain, \q, battles.; but 'when these are past there, only remains the. wreckage, of : hearts and homes through a gloomy vista, of I years— :the. great heart- \yail. of 1 desolation and despair, risipgr from ruined town^ and countless, homes ... scattered^ oyer, the, dea,th^ti{icken. country. .W.ha.t are the. anibitipns " that inspire declaration^ of war. to the, Tv^dpws apcb orphans lio^y graying, oyer. their slain andy oyer." ashes of them once, happy homss?< j Theip ; oply ambition, was to* be. alone, with, th,eir. loved-oneß sue the arts of industry and; peace.: 1 and- yet it is ipt the. sake 6ft,heir subjects that Kings and Prinzes ess to, go to, . ' Whether Russia was really- actuated, by motive? of humanity m entering upon this way, or-entirely by ambition and long. pen t t-u.p. hatred, agajnst the. Turk it is impossible, to say. . There; are, moreover, certain things connected with tlie war that are hard to understand. Such are • the apparent willingness of the

Turks to allow the Russians to take possession of Constantinople, and the rumours of .-.. between Russia and Turkey towards the close of the war. . The great fact, however, 'to. concern us just now .is that the war appears to be oyer. ' It is possjj,ble that out of this great past evil one great good may arise: that is the. v dev e^°P emen t of a .higher tone of thought, a,' higher morality and civilization m the barbarous, merciless, and' treacherous Turk. Turkey entered into this war boldly for she thought that England would have been . her ally from the first. But she has been taught it lesson, and has reaped the bitter fruits of her misdeeds. "While the Kussian legions were desolating her plains and advancing towards her capital she had the mortification of seeing all civilized Europe shrinking back from heir with sentiments of horror and contemptuous pity. She has found oufcby every day's experience, by every foreign newspaper and dispatch that European and Ottoman morality a^re two distinct things, ano! that the only motive that actuates the European m tolerating or assisting the Turk is self-interest. Perhaps this bitter lesson will go far to make the Moslem relinquish his oriental savagery. Perhaps the dependencies of Turkey may here-r after find her rule more paternal and less tyrannical. If such be the case this sanguinary war will not be without its. pleasant fruits, and the picture of woe and misery that prostrate Turkey now presents will ncit be vvithqut its sunny side.