s been desirous of subjecting the Syrian
population to the recruitment system, but so great was the
dissatisfaction the idea caused among the people that it refrained from
doing so. At last, in September, it determined to execute the design,
and it began operations. The people murmured; and bands of armed men,
commanded by the Emirs Mohamet and Hassan, of the family of Harfourch,
commonly known as the Emirs of Baalbeck, advanced toward Damascus, but
were dispersed by the Turkish troops. It was believed that, after this,
the recruiting would take place quietly, but the two Emirs reappeared at
the beginning of October in the environs of Damascus at the head of
between 3000 and 4000 men. A corps of the regular army, consisting of
two battalions of regular infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, four guns,
and 400 irregulars, under Mustapha Pacha, marched to meet them, and
succeeded on the 16th of October in surrounding them in the defiles near
Maloulah, six hours' distance from Damascus. The insurgents were obliged
to give battle, and were completely defeated, with a loss of 1000 men;
the two Emirs were captured. The loss of the troops was only thirty men.
The village of Maloulah is inhabited principally by Christians, and the
Turkish soldiers, exasperated at the resistance they made, pillaged some
houses, carried off women, killed a Catholic monk, wounded another, and
so seriously wounded a schismatic Greek bishop that he died afterward.
They also completely sacked two convents, pretending that they contained
gunpowder, and that insurgents had taken refuge in them. M. de
Valbezene, the French consul at Damascus, exerted himself on behalf of
the Christians, and, through his intervention, the seraskier of the army
of Arabia promised assistance to the villages, and ordered the troops
forthwith to give up all the articles taken from the churches and
convents. The day after the battle, the Emirs were made to walk through
the streets of Damascus in their shirts, with irons on their feet, and
street-brooms on their shoulders. They were to have been subjected to
the same punishment during five days, but suddenly they were sent off to
Beyrout, from whence they were forwarded to Constantinople. This measure
was taken in consequence of the breaking out of the revolt at Aleppo.

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, ART, PERSONAL MOVEMENTS, ETC.

UNITED STATES.

The past month has been more fruitful of events of interest in the world
of Art tha