The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-08-14
SCENES IN SYRIA.

SoENf 70 IN y iNAH
The Massacre a, Damascus Piunderins
and Firing the Houses-Fcarfui Murder
Of fChristians-Thc Russian. Austrian ana
Belgian Consniates Burnt.
The following are extracts of letters, pub
u.hed IN the London Times, from a European
resident in Damascus TO a friend in Beyrout {:
DAMASCUS, July 10. 6 30 A NJ.
"A few minutes after | closed my letter of
xssterday an uproar commenced in the street
Sn,,. site my house. The Moslems-men, wo-
men and hJys-begau 10 assemble, crying out
fhstalI should go TO the Christian quarter to
plnudeT, burn and massacre, and threat eniu <
no, 10 leave house or Christian. i went 10
the street and spoke TO some of them. hoping
IL would come TO nothing II grew rapidly
worse. Every one was calling 10 others rot
70 come without arms, and the women were
Violently exciting the men. There was some
fear expressed of the soldiers, but most de-
clared that the soldiers would not interfere
with them. l now found It prudent to taka
the advice of some OF my neghbors, and keep
inside my house. The street passing my house
Is about the shortest road from the Shugoor
and the Needan, the two worst districts in The
ciiy, Soon after / went into my house tho
ruinans began 10 return from the Christian
quarter with burdens Of piuuder, while the
number running towards II were Increasing,
aud threats. lm q cecations and yells, were nu-
merous and loud
Every sort and size of thing was carried
past ny house--yn ares and goats, gold aud old
small, tables, chairs, books, and every imaen-
able article. There was n regular stream OF
;hese plunderers passing my door after sun
set-nearly five hours. Afterwards they came
fewer, but they never ceased ali night and
with the dawn they again increased As soon
as they had plundered some Of the houses
they set them on fire During the night, though
there was clear moonlight the flames and
smoke presented sight Ms grand rs II was aw-
ful Durisg the first half OF the night the
flames presented an unbroken arc of circle,
IS viewed from my roof, Of more than seventy
degrees, extending from little north OF Bah
Shurky to the extreme north point of the
Christian quarter. Towards morning the arc
bec&ue shorter, partly because il had been
steadily approaching me, and the Christian
quarter as it comes this way grows narrower,
and, perhaps, because the line of the fire was
no: sweeping all the houses on the north sor-
der OF The quarter.
Towards morning the flames also became
lower, or less violent, on most parts of the
line aud fewer houses were in flames at once.
Suil the fire - raging fearfully. There has
been an increasing tumult OF cries of the fire,
Of breaking open houses &c, all mingled up
together. have no means of guessing the
amount OF murder committed. Last night
comparatively few appeared 10 have been
killed, but there is sad to have been more
outchery this morning. l cannot go out of
my door without being in the midst of these
helllsh rufiians. thirSting and crying for blood
and piunder. If one OF the native Christians
in my house were 10 go out, / believe he could
not reach the corner OF the street alive. So
my means Of Information beyond what | see
and hear Of The flames and tumult and plum
der. are very limited. We oyerhear a good
deal Of their talk in the street, and some of the
talk of our Moslem neighbors on the roofs.
believe ii would not have needed Il great
effort on the part Of the government to pre-
vent ali this, but not the slightest effort has
yet been made. There were soldiers in the
Christian quarter and neigh hborhOod, others
were sent In the evening with four guns, and
more this morning, but they have not al all
iUteTfered with the rutfianS. Yet a majority
Of the miscreanIs are actually women, boys
aud girls | would affirm that there are not
in ali more than feW hundred men-say,
i've hundred-mostly the lowest of the low,
ana miserably armed. Not one in twenty has
a gun. very large number have only sticks,
the rest swords, pistols daggers or axes. Op-
posltH my door Il sort Of stopping place for
Them, aud we can oyerhear their talk, and
l can affirm that from the first, and all
through, they have had the greatest drrad OF
me IN terfHrence.of the soldiers, and constantly
ash one another as they meet whether the sol
ders n such and such direction are stopping
t.e tn&Tderers o. opposing hem, and thus, al
tpuEu duTIng seventeen hours, The soldiers
have oteA perfectly passive. l believe firmly
hist one hundred, OF al the most, two hundred
suldiers, OF armed resoIute men, not soldiers
leutd have put down the lnsurrectIon at the
worst rGUmeEt, OF course. ii would have been
easier 10 do so within the first hour or two.
This meagre account does not give anything
like an adeq quate conception of this most hor-
rlble and disgraceful affair. That, words
Il
are employed 10 carry plunder, and some OF the
soldiers helped themselves 10 Il share There
were several thousands of poor widows Or
phans and other pluadered and ruined retu-
gees here, depending on the charity of the
Christians for food, shelter and clothes. They
are now burnt out again, amid the horrors OF
last night, and those who were providing bread
for them are now as helpless and miserable as
them mselyes.
hOoH.-The pluudering still continues but
the number engaged In IL seems greatly re-
duced since morning, and most of the articles
now are Of little value. No effort has yet been
made 10 stop this reign of terror and destruc-
ton, easy as IL would seem to be, and Chris
ian, at least man, would probably he in
greater danger among the rufans now Than
81 any former period. The houses are sun
burning, though apparently not nearly so
much as through the night; but / cannot see
So We'll, as l cannot 80 freely on my roof in
the day as l could during the night.
We have made a peep-hole over the street,
from which we can see and hear without be-
ing seen; tor II seen, We should probably very
soon be disposed of. The rnfiians IRON the
Meedan, and the Arabs Gipsies, &c, among
them, know nothing of me, and rush past
thinking only OF the Christian quarter. II
my Delgnbors do not betray me, may probs-
bly, escape, but there are some of them not TO
be trusted. We are not in human hands, but
ID The hands of One infinitely wise ard good
as we'll as Infinitely powerful, and without
his permission nothing will beiall u.s.