Mr. Disraeli's account of Sir Henry Elliot's despatches on the
Bulgarian outrages was given on Monday night, in a speech of which it can only be said that while it made the best of the Turkish case and the worst of the Bulgarian provocations, yet it contained ample materials for answering the speaker, at least on the first point,—materials on the details of which we have dwelt suffi- ciently elsewhere. The only point on which we have not thus touched was Mr. Disraeli's congratulation to the House that there were at least no signs of a religious war. Sir Henry Elliot had telegraphed on Friday night from Therapia :—" Volunteers are offering themselves in considerable numbers for service against the Servians, and the Christians, both in the capital and in the provinces, are enrolling themselves." " Nothing can be more striking in the present crisis than the almost unanimous loyalty shown by the Christians, and the hostility they feel against the Servian aggression." Volunteer corps, says Sir H. Elliot, dis- playing side by side the Crescent and the Cross, are to be formed. Well, we can judge of the meaning of that fact when the corps are in service. No doubt the Christians would like to have arms in their hands, but whether for use against the Servians or against the Turks must be, we think, more problematical. The Christians of Constantinople and the provinces cannot by any possibility be enamoured of the doings of the Basbi-Bazouks in Bulgaria, but they may be very willing to arm themselves at any price against similar cut-throats.
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