The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-31 00:00:00

Hassan Bey was sent down here from Dataasous
with special instructions from Fuad Pasha, in actor.-
dance with which a Turkish liner steamed out on
the evening of the 14th, with a battalion of 850 men
on board, for Sidon, and Hassan Bey left yesterday
afternoon for the same destination in a Turkish
gunboat, to take command of the expedition. The
instructions are most precise and emphatic for the
safety of the Christians, in whose defence the Tur-
kish soldiers are told they ought not to hesitate to
shed their last drop of blood. When the Christians
are in safety it is probable that Hassan Bey will
unite under his command the Turkish garrisons
and tribes willing to fight against the Druses, and
establish himself in force either in Rasheya or
in Hasbeya, with a view to maintain com-
munications between Sidon and Damascus, and
at the same time intercept the Druses who may
seek to retire from hereabout into the Haouran.
The line is one of considerable strategical impor-
tance. If occupied in force, it divides the
Druses, and compels them to act separately,
while by cutting off their line of retreat on the
Lcjah it may the sooner bring about their submis-
sion. Within the last few days Fuad Pasha has
detached a column from the garrison of Damascus,
consisting of 3,000 infantry, a battery of horse ar-
tillery, a regiment of regular cavalry, and detach-
ments of irregular cavalry. The destination of the
column is unknown, but it took the direction of
Aleppo. The movement shows that Fuad Pasha
feels himself secure, and sure of the fidelity of his
troops, notwithstanding the " shaves" circulated
here of his having been compelled to shut himself
up in the castle, and of the wholesale desertion of
the troops. Of " shaves" there is no lack, and it
is pretty certain that many will find their way
into official despatches, especially in those written •
by foreign Consular agents. I could cite a few
which have been credited, and upon the faith of
which representations have been made to the Tur-
kish authorities much to their perplexity, while
proceedings have been insisted upon greatly to the
impediment of public business. I fancy our Con-
sul-General, Mr. Moore, must be often puzsled to
discriminate between truth and the craven exag-
geration of the Levantine mind.
A rumour was circulated, and generally believed,
that a meeting of Druse chiefs had been held to
consult upon their position in respect of foreign
intervention, and that it had been decided not to
resist. I believe that up to the present time no
general course of action has been decided upon, or
any regularly official meeting of the representa-
tives of the Druse nation held. A few Sheiks,
like those at Rasheya, may have boasted of what
they meant to do, but anything like a national
policy is unknown. Last week the son of Hotar
Beg Amad died of his wounds, received in the fight
before Zahleh. It is reported by a Druse Sheik—
with what truth I know not—that immediately
upon his son's death Hotar Beg Amad set out on a
journey with some followers, and gave orders that
the body was not to be interred until after his
return. In a few days he came back and
gave permission for the funeral to proceed,
as he had killed four, some say seven, Chris-
tians. Even if this report be not true, it shows
what must be the tone of the native Christian so-
ciety for it to be credited. According to Druse eti-
quette, all the neighbouring chiefs, or their vakeels
(official representatives), are bound to offer condo-
lence (a hod hater) to the parents. Consequently
there was an assembly of Sheiks at Brih, the chief
place of the Amads, which may .have given rise to
the report about the meeting ; and it is quite pos-
sible that after their condolences had been offered
the Sheiks may have conversed among themselves
and with Hotar Beg respecting the future line of
policy to be pursued by the Druse nation. What-
ever decision was arrived at, if any was come to at
all, would be binding only on those who were pre-
sent ; and unless its publication was deemed benefi-
cial we shall know nothing about it. Up to the
time of the death of Hotar Beg Amad's son it was
the intention of the Druse Sheiks to lay a joint
statement of their case before Vice-Admiral Martin,
tbw --v Mon Immix ycrfeCt

lingness to 13, tried by any court that might be ap-
pointed, provided the Admiral would give them the
guarantee of England that they should have fair
play, that their persons should not be seized during
trial, and that no harm should come to them if they
spoke the truth. The last condition is very signifi-
cant. It would argue that the Druses feel them-
selves certain of being able to prove that in all they
did they had the authority of the Turkish officials,
and this agrees with the information I have received
as to the existence of proofs of Kurschid Pasha's
guilt. It is not improbable that the Druses may
have other evidence establishing the complicity of
other parties, which I hope to be able to forward
by the next mail. If this surmise be correct, they
will indeed require protection. One of their Sheiks
said the other day—" How dare I tell the truth,
unless I have security that no harm will befall me
for doing so ? But give us the guarmiee of Eng-
land for a fair trial, and every Druse you may re-
quire shall attend the court, be he peasant or
Sheik, and abide its verdict." One word more with
respect to the Druses. They have been cruel, fierce,
and bloodthirsty, but they are not guilty of any of
the outrages that have been perpetrated upon women.
The widows of the slain say—" We saw our hus-
bands butchered before our eyes, but truth compels
us to state that no Druse offered the slightest insult,
to a woman." Wherever outrages of this nature
were committed they were deeds of Turkish soldiers
and Moslems. The greatest enemies of the Druses
never accuse them of violence to women. Not a
finger would they lay upon a woman, and hardly
would they look her in the face, if she were a
stranger. Greek Catholics, Orthodox Greeks, and
even Jews have been accused of having joined the
Druses against the Maronites, of having taken more
than their fair share of the plunder, and of having
insulted the women. In fact the Jews are stated
to be deeply implicated in the atrocities at Damas-
cus, but I trust the charge may prove unfounded.
Yesterday a second caravan of about 2,000 Chris-
tians came in from Damascus, and stories are cur-
rent of some of the women having been violated by
the soldiers of the escort. The thing is incredible
when it is remembered that the crime must have
been committed in public. At the quarantine out-
side the town there are some 2,000 refugees from
the massacre of Deir-el-Kamar. They seem to be
better cared for than the Damascenes, and are
allowed by the Turkish Government two piastres a
day. Still their condition is pitiable in the extreme.
Of one family the mother and four daughters alone
remain. Several of the widows are enciente, and
one mother showed me the skullcap of her son,
which she had kept hidden in her bosom for the
last six weeks. It was all stained with blood.

The Anglo-American Committee have received
intelligence from London of much needed remit-
tances having been made, but in consequence of
some informality they are not available, or, at least,
were not so up to yesterday. This is all the more
to be regretted, as money is urgently wanted, and I
would beg leave to suggest making the able-bodied
recipients of the charity do something towards
earning it. The roads round Beyrout are wretched.
With the amount of labour here they might be put
into tolerable condition. A labour test would
greatly lighten the work of the Committee, for it
was only the other day that a person who was on
the relief list wrote to say he had a mare which
on
shouldtelist feelals
also
.obliged by the missionaries putting
n h

The Borysthene came in to-day with half the kith
battalion of Foot Chasseurs. The remainder, with
a battery of artillery and a company of engineers,
arrived later in the Amerique. General Beaufort
d'llautpool was on board the Amerique. Already
the appearance of foreign troops has been the signal
for the manifestation of ill-feeling between Christian
acid Moslem. Partial fights have taken place in
Beyrout.

SOUTHAMPTON, Thursday.—lt has been blowing
a gale here for nearly 21 hours. The wind has been so
strong even in the docks that the Royal Mail steamer
Oneida could not be swung there to adjust her compasses
previous to her taking out the Brazil mail on the 9th of
next month.
EXTRAORDINARY ATTEMPT AT FRAUD.—Whilst
hay was fetching £5 a ton, a well-to-do farmer in the Isle
of Man hid himself in a load, and his weight of course wail
added to that of the hay. Before the hay was shipped the
trick was detected, and after another weighing 7s. 9d. weg
deducted from the price.--Cumberland racquet,