# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1855 04 10_S134
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

134

he thought of them. And England protects the Turk, this hereditary enemy of the Christian name! Since Emperor Nicholas held the coast of Circassia and Georgia on the Caucasus occupied, the slave market in Constantinople, where the Turks buy their wives, could no longer be supplied with the beautiful Circassian and Georgian women. Scarcely had the Turk, a short time ago, with the help of the English and French, taken that coast back from the Russians, when that shameful traffic in women also began anew. Naturally, in the English Parliament voices at once arose against the toleration of such disgrace, and the English government commands its admirals and generals — to dissuade the Turks from it with kindness; what does kindness avail against the Turk!? And the English and French praise the magnanimity of the Turkish regime, to which, they say, one may confidently leave the Christians? Truly, my good friend in the Stader Sonntagsblatt is right to compare these two great powers to the sexton who, when a bottle of vinegar had been set before him, expressed himself about it as follows: this wine, in fact otherwise excellent, might perhaps in time, on longer keeping, take on the appearance as if it could get a quite little sourness. Or to what shall one compare the Christian orators who, in the Christian assemblies of England, call this war a holy one, by which the dawn of civilization is said to have broken in over the Orient? A fine dawn! Amid immense rejoicing of all nominal Christians in Europe the newspapers related that, in celebration of the Mohammedan feast of Bairam, the French held a great parade at Adrianople and the Anglo-French fleet fired its cannon; that at Rustchuk, in celebration of the birthday of the Emperor of Austria, a Franciscan monk with a Turkish order on his breast held a high mass, which Omar Pasha with a Turkish retinue attended and at which the Janissary music played under the window; that in English India Her Majesty's heathen and Mohammedan subjects are called upon to implore their gods for victory for the arms of Queen Victoria; that the Sultan Abdul Medjid, on a medal which he had struck in memory of his alliance with England and France, represents Louis Napoleon holding the Sultan with his left hand and Queen Victoria with his right — — enough of this, I do not wish to speak of it any more.

If Russia, under the pretext of obtaining protection for the Greek Christians in Turkey, is bent on the conquest of Turkey, what intentions then has England, when it seeks to preserve Turkey? Intentions of love, perhaps? On the 14th of November of last year over 30 English and French ships were hurled by a dreadful storm upon the rocky coast of the Crimea, among them, not far from Eupatoria, the English transport ship Culloden. Russian soldiers on the shore at once raised a white flag and called attention to it by two blank shots. Happily the English captain now came ashore with his men in the two long-boats of the ship. When, however, the Russians learned that 25 Turkish cavalrymen had remained behind on board the ship, they requested the captain to fetch these across also. But he declared that he would not expose the lives of English sailors to any danger for the rescue of the Turks. Thereupon 29 volunteers of the 61st regiment of Don Cossacks threw themselves into two boats and, with great and dangerous exertion, brought the poor abandoned Turks ashore. That English captain has said what the help that England promises the Turks really means.

For over half a year now the French and English armies have lain before Sebastopol; thousands of corpses lie there unburied on the fields and in the bushes; thousands of sick and wounded have already been carried away; of more than 50,000 Englishmen only about 11,000 are still fit to fight; in December and January the frost ruined many English soldiers, even officers; in March the warm spring wind already brought typhus fever to Balaklava; the provisioning of the English troops was so bad that all England fell into a rage over it and the Aberdeen ministry had to resign; and in spite of all these sacrifices, in spite of an expenditure of more than twelve million pounds sterling, in spite of the enormous losses also of the French, there has so far not been on a single day more destroyed of the fortifications of Sebastopol than could be restored in the following night. Mighty works have the allies thrown up against the city, but the Russians have raised almost mightier outworks against them; for more than six weeks the allies had to hold off almost wholly from the cannonade, but daily and especially by night they were kept in breath by the sorties of the Russians and lost man after man; the city looks desolate enough, the houses stand there with broken windows and roofs, the streets in some places are positively paved with cannon balls, but then only soldiers are staying in it, and these soldiers have grown ever bolder with the length of the siege and no longer think at all of the possibility of surrender. The Russians' losses also are numerous, but masses of troops move constantly into the Crimea, and in the place of one fallen Russian two step. The latest reports tell how Omar Pasha at Eupatoria had to sustain a hard battle against a Russian detachment, and that in the rear of the English and French armies at Balaklava a considerable force of the Russians has shown itself, threatening the latter place.

Heartily weary is England of the bloody and costly struggle, which has actually already cost it its army and forces it now even here in the United States, in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, to enlist soldiers; but Louis Napoleon, who has once taken it by the hand, holds it fast. Napoleon must fight and strive to conquer, otherwise it is all over with him; England, however, may not break with him, for it has no army more to oppose to him. The false reports, now so often repeated, that Austria will now attack Russia, that Prussia will go over to the side of the allies, console no more. So great is the longing of the English for peace that when the news of the death of Emperor Nicholas arrived they let themselves be carried away to the vulgarity of rejoicing over it, for example, in the London theaters. Yet England is so helpless, too, that Lord Clarendon had to go over to Louis Napoleon recently to pacify him; for when in the English Parliament a committee was appointed to investigate the conduct of the leaders of the besieging army, Louis became so angry that he threatened henceforth no longer to let his troops act together with the English. He is, moreover, said to be making preparations to go in his own person and with his wife to the Crimea, to storm Sebastopol, to drive the Russians out of the Crimea, and to set up there a truly Tartar empire — the Nurembergers hang no man unless they have him.

Austria has, unfortunately, entered deeply into relations with the allies and has itself agreed that the arrangement of the affairs of the Christians in Turkey must be left to the Turkish government; yet hitherto it has avoided the collision with the Russians and has not yet served the allies. It and Prussia have succeeded in uniting all the great powers at a congress in Vienna and in setting peace negotiations going there. It was the last order of Emperor Nicholas to send Prince Gortschakoff to Vienna for these attempts at peace, where the congress also began its sessions on the sixth of March. In spite of Austria's leaning toward the allies, Germany still has the helve in its hands and will, it is hoped, with the sword in its hand turn back anyone who would draw it into his service, the Russians as well as the English and French.

In all Europe there prevails want of employment and dearth, as here in this country; besides, the weather of this winter there was as hard as with us. Most of all the lands of Germany Silesia suffers, where at the end of August last year terrible floods of the Oder destroyed whole villages and made sand hills out of fruitful fields. War, dearth, cold far and wide: one should think that men must do penance.

(Contributed.)

Church News.

Mr. Fr. Ottmann, formerly pastor at Downersgrove, Du Page Co., Ills., has been regularly called as their pastor by the Ev. Luth. St. Paul's Congregation at Neu Melle, St. Charles Co., Mo., in place of their pastor Mr. A. Claus, who has been called to Bremen, St. Louis Co., Mo., and with the consent of his former congregation has accepted this call.