]
AFGHANISTAN
AND THE
ANGLO-RUSSIAN DISPUTE
I.
THROUGH THE GATES OF ASIA.
In universal history there is no more interesting subject for the
consideration of the political student than the record of Russian
progress through Central Asia.
In one sense this advance is a practical reestablishment or
extension of the influence of the Aryan race in countries long
dominated by peoples of Turki or Mongolian origin; in another
sense it has resulted in a transition from the barbarism or rude
forms of Asiatic life to the enlightenment and higher moral
development of a European age. In a religious sense it embodies a
crusade against Oriental fanaticism; and it is a curious feature of
the Anglo-Russian dispute, that upon a question of temporal gain,
the greatest Christian nation finds itself allied with the followers
of Buddha and Mahomet against Russia under the Banner of the Cross.
The descendants of the great Peter have opened up in Central Asia a
new region which, if as yet it has not been "made to blossom as the
rose," has nevertheless profited by the introduction of law, order,
and a certain amount of industrial prosperity.
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