In spite of all reports to the contrary, the Russians
have steadily continued the evacuation of their positions near Con- stantinople. The lines of San Stefano have been occupied by the Turks. Much of the apparent delay was caused by want of transport, and more by the necessity of replacing the Russians with Turkish Regulars, who could, if inclined, maintain some sort of order. The Russian head-quarters is now Adrianople, and the British Fleet is under orders for Artaki, near the Dardanelles, where it will remain till Roumelia is evacuated. The organisation of West Rournelia proceeds slowly, and we hear of few preparations for the election of the Bulgarian Prince ; but the Russian administrators have wisely determined to make the conscription in Bulgaria universal, and pass the whole population by degrees through the military mill. The effect of that will be, though this is probably not intended, that the Prince, when elected, will, like Prince Milan, be restrained by his people. A mob is a mob, but a mob of discharged soldiers is a formidable mob.
