Mr. Disraeli, in the House of Commons, grew "jocular upon the cruelties
and sufferings almost unparalleled in the world's history," and
expressed his belief that the outrages committed by the Turkish troops
had been exaggerated, and sneered at the rumor as "coffee-house babble;"
while as to the torture of the impalement, which had caused universal
anger and disgust, that an Oriental people have their way of executing
malefactors, and generally terminated their connection with culprits in
an expeditious manner.

In the official report presented to Parliament by Mr. W. Baring, the
reported outrages in Bulgaria were corroborated. No fewer than 12,000
persons had perished in the sandjak of Philippopolis! The most fearful
tragedy, however, was at Batak, where over 1000 people took refuge in
the church and churchyard. The Bashi-Bazouks fired through the windows,
and, getting upon the roof, tore off the tiles and threw burning pieces
of wood and rags dipped in petroleum among the mass of unhappy human
beings inside. At last the door was forced in and the massacre was
completed. The inside of the church was then burnt, and hardly one
escaped. "The massacre at Batak was the most heinous crime which stained
the history of the present century;" and for this exploit the Turkish
Commander, Achmet Agha, had bestowed on him the order of the Medjidie.
Sir Henry Elliot, the English Ambassador at Constantinople, was directed
to lay these facts before the Sultan and to demand the punishment of the
offenders. The demand, however, was never enforced.

Prince Milan issued a proclamation to his people, declaring that, while
professing neutrality, the Sultan had continued to send military forces
of savage hordes to the Servian frontier. In June, Prince Milan left
Belgrade and joined his army on the frontier. The Montenegrins declared
war on Turkey and joined forces with Servia. July 6th the Servians were