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Rh the Christian peasants throughout the rural districts of Servia, Montenegro, and the other Turkish provinces; the Porte requiring the provinces to contribute a certain amount of money annually, which was extorted from the people by the local rulers. And not only was this tax extorted, but the local rulers generally added large sums for their own pockets, and each subordinate concerned in the collection did the same. The consequence was that the people were severely oppressed, and found it impossible, even with the greatest industry and the closest economy, to satisfy the demands of those who ruled over them.

This state of affairs naturally led to insurrection, which the Turks proceeded to put down with an iron hand. The revolted provinces were overrun by Turkish troops, and though they fought bravely the armies of the insurgents were conquered. The most horrible reprisals were taken on the villagers throughout Bulgaria and Servia, especially in the former. Men, women, and children were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Turks or by their irregular cavalry, known as "Bashi-Bazouks." Hundreds of villages were wiped out of existence; the inhabitants, without regard to age or sex, being killed or driven away, and the houses burned to the ground. The whole country threatened to become a desert, unless, perhaps, it should be re-populated by Moslems. The accounts of the Bulgarian atrocities caused great excitement in England in 1876. Many meetings were held to protest against further support of Turkey by England, and the question became an important one in diplomacy. The British government issued, in April, 1877, a proclamation of neutrality in the war which then seemed imminent between Russia and Turkey. At the suggestion of Russia, the great powers of Europe united in a convention, with the avowed object of preserving peace between the governments of the Czar and the Sultan. After much deliberation a protocol was drawn up, in which a reciprocal disarming of Russia and Turkey was