“The officials of the Porte at Constantinople formed a conspiracy for the blotting out of the Christian name in those parts, they appointed their own creatures to the governments of Damascus, Beirut, Sidon, and furnished them with soldiers, who were posted as garrison in the chief towns inhabited by Christians, under pretense of defending them against the Druses. When all was ready the savage Druses of Hauron were summoned, and they and their brethren of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon immediately set themselves to burning the villages and killing the people without any provocation. They put to death every male, even the infants at the breast, and enslaved as many of the women and girls as they chose. The Turkish garrison at first simply looked on; then they urged the Christians to take refuge in the castles on condition of delivering up whatever weapons they might possess. They swore by the Koran that no harm should be done them. But no sooner were they thus entrapped than the Druses were called in and every one of these helpless victims was shot down or his throat cut in cold blood. The streets of Deirel-Kamr, Hosbayan, and Zahlah flowed with human gore, in which men waded ankle deep. The worst scenes occurred in Damascus, the center of Moslem fanaticism. Here the pasha himself directed the operations, and after the butchery of the Christians and the plunder of their property, their quarter of the city was set on fire and burned down.”[123] It was due to the same bloodthirstiness of the Turks, inculcated by the infernal teaching of the Koran, and the examples of the former Mohammedan rulers, that the horrible massacres of the Bulgarians took place in 1876. Hon. Eugene Schuyler, then American consul-General, in his preliminary report to the Hon. Horace Maynard, the American minister, at Constantinople, wrote: “Philippopolis, August 10, 1876. SIR: In reference to the atrocities and massacres committed by the Turks in Bulgaria, I have the honor to inform you that I have visited the towns of Adrianople, Philippopolis, and Tatar, Bazardjik, and villages in the surrounding districts. From what I have personally seen, and from the inquiries I have made, and the information I have received, I have ascertained the following facts: