3 JUNE 1876, Page 1

The Daily Telegraph affirms that Sir James Drummond will soon

be in command of two squadrons in the Mediterranean,— one at Besika Bay, and one at Gibraltar, comprising together more than twenty first-chu3s ironclad& Among them are the Devastation,' in itself equivalent to. a fleet of the old kind, the Monarch,' the 'Sultan,' the 'Raleigh,' the Minotaur,' the ' Black Prince,' the Resistance,' the 'Hector,' the Iron Duke,' and the 'Achilles,' in all a power with which no foreign fleet could hope to contend. A dozen of these will be at Besika Bay in a fort- night, ready to contest the passage of the Dardanelles with all Europe, should that policy be resolved on. It is be- lieved that the presence of this fleet will tend to peace, as its collection announces that England intends to havel her voice in the Eastern Question, but though. it may deter-Rtisaia from- open hostilities, it will not deter her from giving the order to advance to Servia, Montenegro, Roumania, and Greece. By the way, why does the Telegraph class Montenegro among-the " disloyal vassals" of the Turkish Empire ? Montenegro does not acknowledge any vassalage, or pay any tribute.