This cannot be true, for so great a man as Gladstone would not stoop to
rousing his countrymen to riotous and discourteous acts. Should the
Sultan send over envoys to honor the Queen, they will be the nation's
guests, and as such should be treated with respect.

Mr. Gladstone is such a fine old man, that we are sure that this report
will be proved false.

* * * * *

There is a report that the Sultan has broken the armistice, by sending
fresh troops into Thessaly and continuing to fortify the towns of Volo
and Prevesa.

Word has also reached us that the Governor of Volo has issued a
proclamation, ordering the people who ran away from the town when the
Turks entered it to return. Unless these people go back within two
weeks, all the property they left behind them will be seized and
confiscated by the Turks.

The unfortunate inhabitants of Thessaly seem to be having a very hard
time of it. It is said that the province is full of brigands, and that
many people who fled to the mountains to avoid the Turks have been
seized by these vagabonds and held for ransom.

For years Greece was a very unsafe place for travellers on account of
robbers.

In the days before railways, when people had to travel by coach,
brigands infested most of the mountains and forests in Europe.