Gazette and sentinel., 1860-08-11
The Syrian Horrors.

Aue Sykkou xAOIlOTSs
Tie hope, in which the civilized ma
tons INDUCED, that the ~atrocIous scenes
enacted by the DruSes at Deir-el- lamar,
Zahlc, SidOn and Reyrout, would DO
confined to these localities, is, we are
panied to say, frustrated by the news
just received. The city Of Damascus,
onc Of the principal cities of Turkey III
Asia, has caught the infection; five hun
bred Christians have been murdered
and the representatives, Of two govern
ments, Il Of whom is reported to be
u own, have not remained unframed
Judging by the details which every
foreign mail brings Us, from the massa-
Crcs Of our fellow men in the first cities,
we dread indeed to look upon the picture
which probably these Damascus hor-
rors will unfold before our eyes.
We do not eyaggcrate our fears at
all-especially, if we take for criterion
the accounts published in the Paris
b.urHa!d eS DcJaty, from Father Rous.
seau, Of the Jesuit Mission in Syria
The details which he furnishes, and
written on the spot, are heartrcnding
and frightful. The Catholic Vicar
Gancral Of the Beyrout district had
been cut into four pieces, with his broth
cr and sister, and their remains thrown
to the dogs. The Turks, he says, re.
joice in such sights, and say: See
here, these Christians and their priests;
is it not r0ural that the dogs, their
equals, should make a good meal Of
them?7
The stencil Of the dead bodies all
around, under the excessive heat, is
described as insupportable. Twelve
hundred Christians Of Gazine were
surrounded in a wood by the Druses,
and murdered or burnt. 4 woman met
by one Of these savages, with her three
children, vas made IL sit down while
he slaughtered her infants on her lapl
\ Maronitc cure, with five young
children, was cut to pieces himself, and
the children torn limb from limb. The
whole country is ravaged with fire and
sword, and hundreds are perishiug OF
want in the woods and mountains. 1--WE
have collected more than FIVE hundred
children" the same letter says, all oil
them now orphans"
Our readers are aware that a great
many Americans are either residing IL
or traveliug through that now doomed
| country, and the interest our people
take in the record Of these massacres is
! consequently natural. In fact, at this
present moment, events in Syria share
more largely the attention of the public
than anything else on the other side Of
the Atlantic. The lives Of our fellow
c%ountrymen are i'll constant danger, and
who is there TO protect them? We are
panied to acknowledge there is none
but the good will of the foreign men-oi
war now at Beyrout. The Loquols.
with its hands full in Southern Italy.
can not leave that important station for
the present, and it is only in the middle
of August. as we heard the other day
from Washington, that some additional
vessels will be sent TO the Medlterran-
can.
At latest dates the American Consul
at Beyrout, Mr.. Johnson, called a NEE.
ting of Americans, warned them OF
their danger, offered his house as an
asylum to all, and proposed that upon
the first alarm all Americans should go
at once to the American printing estab-
lishment, as the best place for mutual
protection, as it is a castle in itself, and
affords ample facilities for resisting an
attack or standing a siege. Provisions
had been placed there, and there is now
at least an American organization.
This step has inspired some conf
dence.-N Y. Express.