after their accession, our successors shall attach their Imperial signature to our Diploma, and authentic copies of the same shall be sent to the several kingdoms and countries, where they are to be entered in the laws of the land." This was followed by twentythree Imperial autograph letters, addressed respectively by the Emperor to the great Ministers of State, by one of which he announced that he had resolved to increase the number of members to be sent by the Diets to the Reichsrath from 80 to 100, and by the others various changes in appointments were made and the future policy to be observed towards Hungary was shadowed forth. In the letter addressed to Baron Vay, the Emperor said : "As I, by my diploma for the regulation of the internal affairs of the monarchy, have resuscitated' the constitutional institutions of my kingdom of Hungary, you have to make proposals to me for the convocation of the Diet, which I wish to meet as soon as possible, it being my desire definitively to settle the staatsrechtlich affairs of Hungary in a legal way by the promulgation of a diploma and by my coronation. "For the future, the ancient principle of the public law of Hungary, that the the legislative power can only be exercised by the Sovereign with the participation of the Hungarian Diet, shall be valid, with the exception of those objects which, in virtue of my diploma of this date, are within the competence of the Reichsrath. "The definitive organization of the representation of the country is to be taken into consideration by the first Hungarian Diet. It is, however, my determinationthe special privileges of the no bles having been abolished, the principle that all classes without difference of birth are entitled to serve the State and to possess real property having been introduced, villanage and socage having been done away with, and the principle that all Hungarians are equally bound to take up arms in defence of the empire and to pay taxes having been recognized-that all those classes of my subjects in the kingdom of Hungary which formerly had no vote shall take part in the elections for the Diet." And in another, addressed to the same nobleman, he said :— "As I, in an appendage to my rescripts of this day, have ordained that the Hungarian shall be the official and business' language of the judicial and political authorities in Hungary, I now direct that the town and country communes shall be at liberty to employ what language they please in business matters. The authorities will have to reply to petitions, &c., in the language which may be used by the applicants. The judicial and political authorities will also have to issue their orders in the language most commonly used by the people to whom such orders are addressed. In respect to the language to be employed in the University of Pesth, the state of things which existed before the year 1848 is to be restored. The lectures in the University are to begin as soon as may be. In regard to the language to be employed in the gymnasial schools, I direct that my Hungarian Stadtholderate shall consult with the ecclesiastical dignitaries and political authorities on the subject, and report to me through my Court Chancellery. "I am resolved not to allow any kind of pressure to be used in regard to language, and will energetically oppose any attempt to make mischief between the different nationalities." With respect to Croatia and Sclavonia, he declared : "The Croato-Sclavonic representation will, in accordance to orders to be issued by me, meet and take into consideration the question relative to the relations between Croatia and Sclavonia on the one side and Hungary on the other. The wishes and views of the Croato-Sclavonian representation will be taken into consideration by me, and my decision made known." The Hungarians, however, were not satisfied, and they still persisted in their demands of-1. The restoration of the Constitution, and the reunion of the Banat and Voivodina with the present kingdom of Hungary; 2. The coronation of the Emperor at Pesth as King of Hungary; and 3. The nomination by the monarch of a Palatine, who should be one of three persons chosen by the nation. MASSACRE OF CHRIS TIANS IN SYRIA.-Frightful atrocities were committed this year in Syria, where a vast number of the Maronite Christians were massacred by the Druses. The animosity between these religionists was bitter and of long standing, nor is it easy to determine with whom the blame rests of giving the first provocation which led to the deplorable catastrophe. Lord Dufferin, who was, as we shall afterwards relate, appointed British Commissioner in Syria, and had peculiar means of ascertaining the truth, does not hesitate to charge the Turkish Government with complicity in the outbreak. He says, in a letter to Sir H. Bulwer, our Minister at Constantinople * *: There can be little doubt but that the late massacres, and all the wars, quarrels, and disturbances which have agitated the Lebanon for the last fifteen years, may be attributed to the dissatisfaction of the Turkish Government with the partial autonomy it (the Lebanon) enjoyed. Their policy has been to prove the scheme adopted by the Great Powers in 1845 impossible. With this object, they stimulated, as occasion served, the chronic animosity existing between Maronites and Druses. In proportion as foreign influences exalted the arrogance and fanaticism of the Christians, their independence became more insufferable to the Turks, and a determination was arrived at to inflict on them, through the instrumentality of the Druses, a severer means of chastisement than they had yet received." Aud in another despatch he says: For some time past the Christian population, already agitated by the success of the anti-feudal movement, and stimulated to further efforts by the intrigues of their priesthood, had been long meditating an onslanght on the Druses, which was eventually to end in the overthrow of Turkish authority in Lebanon. The Turks, perceiving what was intended, and afraid probably of using force towards the Christians, determined to chastise them through the instrumentality of the Druses." Early in May, a monk was discovered murdered in a convent, See Papers respecting disturbances in Syris, preciteit Farliament, 1×61. was next threatened, when the European consuls at Beyrout went in a body to Kurschid Pasha, the Turkish Governor, and urgently entreated him to send troops to protect the town, which he promised to do. The following extract from a despatch from Mr. Cyril Graham, who was an eye-witness of many of the horrors he describes, to Lord Dufferin, will give a lively idea of the scenes that ensued:* half-way between Beyrout and Deir-el-Kammar, and suspicion fell upon the Druses, one of whom was afterwards killed by the Maronites in retaliation. This led to reprisals, and several assassinations took place on both sides, until the 28th of May, when a general attack was made by the Druses upon the Maronite villages in the neighbourhood of Beyrout and Lebanon, and they were burnt to the ground. Next day Hasbeya, a large town under Mount Hermon, On the 19th of June, the was attacked by the Druses, when Ottoman troops and the Druses of the Christians there were told by Lebanon appeared above Zahleb, Othman Bek, the Turkish Com- which was no sooner perceived by mander, that they must lay down those in the Bokaa than a simultheir arms, and he would protect taneous movement took place tothem from their enemies. They wards the town. The Christians obeyed this injunction, and deli- evacuated at once, climbed up the vered up their arms, which were steep mountain side, and expected sent off, under a scanty escort, to- to get round the Lebanon Druses, wards Damascus, but intercepted and then fall upon them in the and seized by the Druses. In ravine. They were much too truth, the conduct of Othman Bek slow; before they had well reached was nothing but the deepest the summit of the mountain, they treachery, for, having disarmed saw that the two forces had met, and the Christians, he prepared to were beginning to burn the town abandon the place, when, on the from either end. After firing some 5th of June, the Druses rushed in, volleys, they took to flight, as they and anindiscriminate massacre took saw that, in addition to all, the place. The Turkish soldiers offered Turkish troops had turned against no defence, and in some instances them; only the aged, infirm, and themselves assisted in the work of some women and children were murder, under the most revolting left in the town they were circumstances. Similar attacks slaughtered. Two of the French were made on the Christians at Lazarists were killed and another Rasheya and Sidon and Deir-el- wounded. Europeans were no Kammar (the ancient capital of longer safe. Lebanon) and other places, nor did the Turkish authorities make any attempt to protect the unfortunate sufferers. Zahleh, which is described as having been "the most rising town in all Lebanon, the chief station of the French Lazarists, and containing public buildings, a very handsome cathedral and schools, and very good houses," one "In the attack on Zahleh the troops under command of Muribek took a more open part than they had done before; they * In a letter to Lord John Russell, dated August 5, 1860, Lord Dufferin says:-"Your lordship may rely with implicit confidence on the accuracy of all Mr. Graham's statements of fact. " even made use of a fieldpiece they had brought with them to fire upon the town, and one shot from this is said to have brought down the bell of the cathedral. So much for Kurschid Pasha's promises! "The Druses, now elated with success and plunder, turned again upon Deir-el-Kammar; the wretched people, hearing of their approach, prepared to make the best of the fight, but the Governor, who had 400 troops in the Serai, while at Bleddin, half a mile off, there were 300 more, told them they had nothing to fear if they would give him up their arms, and he insisted on their doing so. They applied for an escort to come to Beyrout. This he would in nowise permit, so they could only do as they were bid. Their valuables he made them place in the Serai, and then ordered a great part of the population there. So men, women, and children were all crowded together in the Serai under his protection on the night of the 20th. On the morning of the 21st of June, the Druses collected round the town. One of their leaders came to the Serai, and desired to speak with the Governor. A conversation was carried on in a low voice by means of an interpreter (for the Turk did not know Arabic); at last a question was asked, to which they heard the Governor give the answer, Hepsi' (Ab,' in Turkish). Thereupon the Druses disappeared, but in a few moments the gate was thrown open, and in rushed the fiends, cutting down and slaughtering every male, the soldiers cooperating. In short, a second tragedy like that at Hasbeya was enacted, only in this case the slaughter was more dreadful. Those who had not entered the Serai fared no better; all were to be killed, and those who had crossed the stream and reached Bleddin in safety were shot down by the troops quartered there. Those who escaped had managed to hide themselves in drains, and some of the wounded crawled away. I have had a vivid description of the whole scene from some dozens of women who were there. They have told me how, before their very face, they have seen husband, father, brothers, and children cut to pieces; how in trying to save the life of a child they have been knocked down and the child torn from them and cut to pieces, and the pieces thrown in their face; how they have been insulted by the Turkish soldiery; and how in their way down to the sea the Druses had robbed them of everything they possessed. And it must be remembered that there were people at Deir el-Kammar who were very wealthy, and lived in well-built and comfortable houses people who had been well educated and used to luxury, and now have to beg their bread. "The number of killed in this horrible massacre has been variously estimated; some say that 900, some that 1800 persons were killed. I have good reason to believe, after a careful comparison of all the accounts, that from 1100 to 1200 males actually perished in that one day. The Druses then set fire to the town; the smoke came over Beyrout as a column of cloud, and warned us of the calamity. I myself can testify that the accounts are not much exaggerated, -I travelled over most of the open country before the war was over, and came to Deir-el-Kammar a few days after the massacre. Almost every house was burnt, and the streets crowded with dead bodies, most of them stripped and mutilated in every possible way. My road led through the town, and through some of the streets my horse could not even pass, for the bodies were literally piled up. Most of those I examined had many wounds, and in each case was the right hand either entirely or nearly cut off; the poor wretch, in default of weapons, having instinctively raised his arm to parry the blow aimed at him. I saw little children, of not more than three or four years old, stretched on the ground, and old men with grey beards." Beyrout itself was threatened by the infuriated and victorious Druses, and the presence of an English pleasure-yacht in the harbour, with a single gun, is supposed to have had more effect in averting the danger than all the troops of the Turkish Pasha, whose conduct in fact showed that he connived at the massacres. On the 9th of July, similar outrages began at Damascus. A mob, consisting of the lowest order of Moslem fanatics, assembled in the streets, and instead of being dispersed by the Turkish troops, of whom there were 700 in the town, under the command of Ahmed Pasha, they were allowed to increase until they began a general attack upon the houses in the Christian quarter, aud committed many murders. The soldiers sent to quell the disturbance joined the mob, and next day the work of destruction was renewed with greater violence. A letter written on the spot says: "The sun never shone on a more awful scene than the Christian quarter presented on the 10th. The mob were plundering not only the houses of the Christians, but went on that day through the city and broke open and plundered their shops; and all day hundreds of houses were on fire, and, as far as I can learn, from 1000 to 2000 Christians were butchered on that day alone, with as little hesitation or remorse and as much exultation as a sportsman shoots partridges. It is true that great numbers of the Moslems did save the fleeing Christians and concealed them, but the mob of Moslems, Kurds, Druses, and Arabs killed them wherever they found them, hiding or flying. Then multitudes hid in cellars, closets, presses, wells, &c., and the houses were burnt over their heads. How many of them perished God alone knows. All the Christian quarter, except scattered houses adjoining the Moslems', is burned, and is a heap of ruins. Yesterday, it is said, there was no slaughter, and to-day there appears to be no fire. "On Monday there were about 18,000 or 20,000 Christian inhabitants in the city, and 7000 or 8000 poor refugees from other places. Between 11,000 and 12,000 are collected in the Castle and fed by the Government. Women and children have been and are, I suppose, still being carried off by Kurds, Druses, and Moslems at their will. A very large number of men, women, and children are kept, with more or less kindness, in Moslem houses; but how many thousands have perished God alone knows."* In a letter from Mr. Graham to Lord Dufferin, dated July 18, 1860, he says: "It is difficult to say how many Christians bave been killed in all the mountain massacres. The numbers are rated very differently; some rating the number of deaths at 4000, others at as many as 10,000. This last number is a |
