NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE event of the week has been another serious dispute between Lord Du fferin and the Porte, owing to a spiteful insult levelled by the Sultan at the British Government. A number of Armenian
porters engaged at Constantinople for service in Egypt were discharged upon the termination of the war, and sent back to their homes. They were arrested, by orders from the Palace, upon a charge of treason, for conspiring with the enemies of the country, and threatened with imprisonment and exile. Lord Dufferin's remonstrance was met at first with the simple allega- tion that they were Turkish subjects, and then with the charge against the men ; but he, of course, persisted, and at last declared that unless they were instantly released he would haul down his flag, and his Government would reconsider its policy of maintaining the suzerainty of the Sultan in Egypt. Thereupon the Palace yielded, and the men were released, to be, of course, marked down in detail upon other and trumped-up accusations. This is the second occasion within six weeks upon which it has been necessary to extort justice from the Sultan by menaces nearly amounting to declarations of war, the first one being the seizure, in impudent violation of all law, of Sir Garnet Wolseley's mules. The Sultan, in fact, hoped and prayed for the success of Arabi Pasha, who was his tool, and not that of the National Party, and now that he is defeated, cannot control his spite. He is, as he always has been, the secret, deadly, and intriguing foe of Great Britain, or any other Christian Power which demands justice for his subjects.
