Horrible details of the massacres at Trebizond, Akhissar, and other
places, continue to come in, and it is evident that a series of dragonnades has been resolved on either by the Palace or the Mussulman community. The routine is to send an official to inquire, who reports that the Armenians rose on the authorities, that there was " fighting," and that an equal number of Mussulmans and Armenians were killed,— a statement which, considering the arms at the disposal of each party, may be safely pronounced impossible. The Sultan is occupied with studying " delations," and issuing sentences of death on all whom he suspects ; but he is more comfortable in his mind. He has persuaded himself that Great Britain stands alone, and may therefore safely be defied, and has sanctioned an order prohibiting the distribution of further foreign relief in Sassoon. Why should Armenians under ban be kept alive ? According to the semiofficial Russian Press, the Sultan has reason on his side, England being accused of hostility to Russia, of desiring the partition of Turkey, and of seeking only selfish ends. Russia and France will there- fore leave her to go forward alone, and may possibly even resist her action.
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