The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-06 00:00:00

have assumed a:far more serious character. Has-
beeyah and Rasheeyah, two large and flourishing
villages in the neighbourhood of Mount Hermon,
have been taken, and sacked, and destroyed by the
Druses in the presence of Turkish garrisons at both
places. The Turks, it is said, made no attempt to
protect the villages, but, on the contrary, gave active
assistance to the enemy. Upon the places being cat,-
tured, a large number of the Christian inhabi-
tants, men, women, and children, took refuge in
the Serai, or garrison. The officer in com-
mand of the Turkish troop4insisted upon the men
giving up their arms. They "did so, and the wea-
pons were sent off to Damascus. He then entered
into a parley with the leaders of the Druses, which
ended in the gates of the Serai being thrown open.
The Druses entered the place, and a frightful and
indiscriminate massacre of the unarmed and de-
fenceless Christians ensued, the Turkish troops pas-
sively looking on. A few of the Christians con-
trived to escape, and have taken refuge in Beyrout.
The stories they relate of the cruelties inflicted by
the Druses are most heartrending.
" In several other places the Iruses induced the
Christians to lay down their arms, on the assurance
that they would not be molested, a promise imme-
diately followed by their being murdered in their
defenceless state, and their houses sacked and
burnt. It is calculated that during the last three
weeks more than sixty villages have been destroyed.
The loss of life has been very great. The Pasha of
Damascus has declared that he cannot guarantee
the peace of that city for a week.
".The Druses of Lebanon and. of the Haman,
assisted' by Bedouins, have been besieging Zahleh,
the largest and most flourishing town in
Lebanon, containing a population of more than
10,000 inhabitants; but up to the present they
have not been able to take it. The day before yes-
terday they were defeated by the Christians with
great loss—in fact, they have been driven from
Zahleh three or four times, but it is feared
that the place will not be able to hold out
much longer for want of ammunition. Should
Zahleh fall it will be the destruction of the Chris-
tian interest in Lebanon. At Sidon great 'atrocities
have been committed against the Christian, and
great numbers of them murdered. In short, the
whole of Syria, from Aleppo to Gaza, is in a state of
the greatest commotion and alarm. The Turkish
authorities look on quietly while the work of destruc-
tion goes forward, and when called upon by the Euro-
pean consuls to interfere and put a stop to the warthey
make promises, but do nothing. They finally declare
that they have not sufficient force. If so, it is high
time that the European Powers should interfere to
rescue one of the finest and most flourishing
pro-
vinces of the empire from the misrule under which it
has so long suffered, and from the utter destruction
now impending over it.
" The only safe place at present remaining in Syria
is Beyrout. Two British officers of war are lying
off the town, a steamer of 11 guns and a gunboat ;
also a Russian frigate, and three French ships—a
frigate, a brig, and a steamer.
" P.S.—June 21.—News arrived this morning,
which I believe to be too true, that the Druses took
Zahleh on the 18th inst., and that they are de-
stroying it by fire. Both Christians and Druses
have suffered heavy loss. The women and chil-
dren were sent out of the town a day or two before
it was captured. The fall of Zahleh is a severe
blow to the Christians.