No one will say that Colonel Wellesley, whose supposed Turkish
sympathies embroiled him with the Grand Duko, is a Russophile, or that he has, not had the means of judging of the behaviour of the Russian invading army in Bulgaria. Those who still credit the Pere and Stamboul stories of Russian atrocities must hit upon some other explanation than prejudice-for Colonel Wellesley's "firm and honest conviction," expressed in a despatch to Lord Derby, "that the statements of Russian cruelties are entirely without foundation." An examination of many trust- worthy. witnesses, English, as well as Russian, has failed to dis- close a single case of, massacre or cruelty on the part of the Russian soldier, who, Colonel Wellesley says, is good-natured and kind- hearted, and quite incapable of 'wanton acts of cruelty. Our Consul at Erzeroum, Mr. Zohrab, who has lived there many years, knows the language, and is rather a Turcophile, commu- nicates to Lord Derby his surprise at the Porte's stories about Russian atrocities in Armenia. In Consul Zohrab's opinion, they are fictions ; he has been struck by the humanity of the Rus- sian troops. This denial on his part tallies with the statement of the Times' correspondent with Milliliter Pasha's army, and of Sir Arnold Kemball ; but when questioning the word of English officers and saying anything unpleasant of the beloved Mussul- man: are the alternatives, some people never hesitate to prefer the former.
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