d England that the Persians were not capable of maintaining
order.

AN EXHIBITION OF SELF-RESTRAINT

When the last representative element of the constitutional government,
for which so many thousands had fought, suffered, and died, was wiped
out in an hour without a drop of blood being shed, the Persian people
gave to the world an exhibition of temperance, of moderation, of stern
self-restraint, the like of which no other civilized country could show
under similar trying circumstances.

The acceptance of Russia's terms by the Cabinet removed the last
pretext for keeping in Northern Persia the _15,000_ troops which by
that time Russia had assembled there,--at Kasvin, Resht, Enzeli,
Tabriz, Khoy, and other points in the so-called Russian sphere. Mons.
Poklewski-Koziell, the Russian Minister, had in fact given an equivocal
sort of a promise to the effect that "if no fresh incidents arose," the
Russian troops would be withdrawn when Persia accepted the conditions
of the ultimatum.

With this in mind, it is interesting to note the truly thorough
precautions which were taken by Russia to prevent any such unfortunate
necessity as the withdrawal of her troops from coming to pass.

December 24th, late in the evening, a message was received from the
Persian Acting Governor at Tabriz in which he declared that the Russian
troops, which had been stationed in that city since their entry during
the siege in 1909, _had suddenly started to massacre the inhabitants_.
Shortly after this the Indo-European telegraph lines stopped working,
and all news from Tabriz ceased. It was subsequently stated that the
wires had been cut by bullets. _Additional Russian troops_ were
immediately started for Tabriz from Julfa, which is some eight miles to
the north of the Russian frontier.

The exact way in which the fighting began is not yet clear. The Persian
government reports show that a number of Russian soldiers, claiming to
be stringing a telephone wire, climbed upon the roof of the Persian
police headquarters about _ten o'clock at night_ on December 20th. When
challenged by native guards, they replied with shots. Reenforcements
were called up by both sides, and serious street fighting broke out
early the following morning and continued for several days. The Acting
Governor stated in his official reports that the Russian troops
indulged in their usual atrocities, killing women and children and
hundreds of other noncombatants on the streets