which eye would not have shed tears at hearing their cries of woe and lamentations? And who could have borne (P. 160) the sight of those girls [customarily] kept in-doors [virgins] exposed in scantiest attire in the market-places? And one from the crumbs of whose table the hungry were wont to be satisfied, now was glad herself to be satisfied with the crumbs that were thrown into the street, and to be dressed in the rags of any kind of clothes, such as are worn by the beggars at the gates. And when [tidings of] this reached the consul-general of the British Empire at Bayrut, Mr Moore, he sent them ships181 [which he] directed towards Sayda and the Nahr ad-Damur to convey them to the city of Bayrūt. And they numbered more than four thousand souls and put up at the caravansaries and [private] houses. And after this Khurshid Pasha returned to his camp at Ḥazmiyah, rejoicing in the performance of the duties of his governorship, [having restored] security and having acquitted himself [so well] in the matter (P. 161) of keeping his engagements. And as regards the [local] governor of ad-Dayr [Dayr al-Qamar], when he had acquitted himself of the obligations of his office, which it had pleased the Lord of creation to confer upon him, by bringing offerings and sacrifices, he gathered together the valuables and personal effects that had been deposited with him, and sent them to Ṣayda, quite a number of loads [for the beasts of burden that carried them]. Thereupon he burned down the sarai and stripped himself, keeping of his clothes only his shirt on, and went in that condition to Bayrut, complaining that the Druzes had stormed the saraï and plundered it and burned it down as they had done with all the other [buildings] in ad-Dayr [Dayr al-Qamar], and then had stripped him of his clothes, leaving him nothing but his shirt. And with regard to the things which he had sent to Ṣayda, it was his intention to transfer them later on to Bayrut. And when they had been brought down to the sea-shore, the director of the customs wanted to open them [the boxes in which they were to be shipped] on account of the duties and taxes. (P. 162) But a party of the followers of the local governor [already] mentioned opposed his doing this. And then the Christians informed the French consul and he came and opened them [the boxes] without delay. And lo! in them [he found] the things deposited [given in safe-keeping] by the

181 The British men-of-war Mohawk, commander West, and Gannet, commander Lambert.

people of Dayr al-Qamar. So he seized them to hold them in his hand [in trust] until the moment of their being claimed. And no Turk or Arab prevented him.

EIGHTH CHAPTER.

Concerning the carnage at Damascus and the part played in it by the 'Amir 'Abd'al-Qadir, the Algerian, who, prompted by exceeding kindness and solicitude, did the right thing with regard to the Christians.

Before we begin our comment upon this massacre, the like of which has not occurred in preceding ages, (P. 163) we deem it expedient to relate its beginnings for these are [offer] an explanation [of causes and effects] to him who is ignorant [of the facts]. So we say [state in the first place] that this event which happened in Damascus, 182 was not sanctioned by the Islamic religious law as some people believe, but rather the consequence of the rabble getting out of hand and exceeding the bounds of the Moslim code and religion, who [which rabble], building upon unstable foundations, were goaded to the commission of this crime by certain matters and motives among which [not the least important was] that when the Egyptian Government had conquered the country of Syria in the year 1248183 of the Flight, equality was established between [all] subjects. This was hard to bear for the ignorant [the lower classes] of the Islamic part [of the population], but they put up with it though no official orders concerning it had been issued, and most of them submitted to the necessity as if (P. 164) [they complied with it] from their own free will and choice, not as if they disliked it and were constrained to it by force. And another reason was that when peace had been concluded in Paris between the Ottoman and Muscovite Empires in the year eighteen

182 To borrow the words of Sir GEORGE ADAM SMITH, op. cit., p. 30, "the oldest, the largest and richest, the most steadfast of all the cities of Syria.... [which] has survived the rise and fall of several systems of religions... has been harried and held

by all the great empires of antiquity and the Middle Ages, and has seen them perish.... the outpost of civilization in the Desert and an indispensable market to the nomads of all Northern Arabia."

183 Which commenced on the 31st of May of the year 1832 of the Christian Era, Syria being ceded to Egypt by the Convention of Kutayah, May 14, 1833.

hundred and fifty-six of the Christian Era; and the equality of all This subjects, irrespective of religion] was inserted in the treaty of peace] as a stipulation [compulsory] on the Sultan; and he issued his order thereanent, affirming it by an [imperial] decree; and the poll-tax was lifted from the necks of the people of the compact;185 and they [the Zimmies, more especially the Christians] were designated for service in an army of them [for enlistment in the army] like [on an equal footing with the Moslim troops, [all this] became difficult for them [the lower classes of the Moslim population] to endure, so that they began to look upon the Christians as belonging to the number of those with whom war might be waged and whose blood and possessions therefore had become a lawful prey for the [Moslim] majority. And still another reason was that the Christians, when this political liberty was bestowed on them, did not continue their accustomed relations with the Moslemin, behaving as they had done in former days and years, but dared to put on green clothes of which they were (P. 165) not allowed [to wear] so much as a single thread. 16 And they opened wineshops in the market-places, the coming and the going man drinking of it [wine], which in the eyes of the Moslemin was an affair of grave import because they had been opposed to it since olden times and considered it a departure from [sin against] religion. And this added offence to offence, its existence [the toleration of this evil] having been obligatory upon them by an ordinance which they were compelled to obey, though they did it with reluctance. And they began to watch their chance as the hunter watches his game. in this they were assisted by the notorious fanaticism of certain men [in the service] of the Ottoman Government, [prejudiced] against the Christian nation [community], quite different from the men [officials] of the Egyptian Government, who exerted themselves to neutralise. the causes of contention in every possible manner (P. 166) without

184 March 30.

And

185 Zimmies: the Christians, Jews and Sabians under Moslim rule with whom the compact has been made that they will enjoy security and toleration in consideration of their payment of a poll-tax.

186 Especially the descendants of the Prophet, whose exclusive privilege it was to wear green turbans, were scandalised by the liberties taken with that color and a perfect storm of indignation arose when it was used for garments unmentionable in plain English: "Que dis-je? certaines femmes chrétiennes osent porter de larges culottes de soie d'un vert aussi éclatant que si elles avaient été taillées dans l'étendard même du prophète!" JULES FERRETTE, op. cit.

making distinctions between sects and religious opinions. And for this reason no one in their days encroached upon the rights of any one else, even if he belonged to the greatest among the chiefs. And, speaking of those days, when the ignorant [common herd] of the Islamic faith noticed the brotherly affection [friendship] of some of the men of the government [officials] for the Christians of the Mount, and their encouragement of the Druzes to that course of action, they longed for the [same] benevolent consideration at their hands, and for the bestowal of the [same] indulgence upon themselves. And especially when [afterwards] they saw the arbitrary doings of the troops in Wady at-Taym and witnessed their actions, and found out the designs of Aḥmad Pasha, they plotted with him to achieve the destruction of the Christian nation [community]. Indeed, from this moment on their disposition with regard to the Christians changed and they treated them in an insolent way [reviling them] with insults and contemptuous words, and began to threaten them with death and destruction, (P. 167) and to beat them without cause, and they [the Christians] bore all this humbly and meekly, expecting the advent of [new] trials from hour to hour. Then it came to pass that Aḥmad Pasha gathered the Christians of the neighboring villages together inside the town and fortified the citadel with cannon and strongly constructed buildings [works of defence]. And the turbulence of the ignorant of the followers of Islam [the lower class Muhammadans] began to increase, and they became more obstreperous and violent. Great fear and deep anxiety took therefore hold of the Christians and they felt sure of ruin and destruction because they could never prevail against artillery on account of their weakness and small number in the midst of those [hostile] crowds. Nor were they able to flee because in whatever direction they might go, there were stations with Moslemin and Druzes [who had posted themselves] all through the land. (P. 168) So they presented to Aḥmad Pasha a petition from the hand of [drawn up by their bishops, asking him to give [them] assurance [of protection]. And he sent to them [in the Christian quarter] the troops which had been at Ḥaşbayya and Rāshayya to stay with them as a guard. And he assured them that he would not do them the least harm and that they could dismiss their disquieting thoughts because [whatever touched] Damascus was the special and direct concern of the Sublime Porte; and that he would not permit the smallest damage to [be done to]

its inhabitants. So the fear of the Christians was to a certain extent allayed by this answer. And the troops and their officers stayed with them for days and they [the Christians] gave them to eat and to drink, and offered them presents and gifts as a strong inducement to them to abstain from acts of spoliation. And as regards the Muhammadans, when they came to know the inner meaning of the secret [what this military display in the Christian quarter really meant], their [already] frequent trespasses [against the Christians] and arrogance did not cease to increase from day to day (P. 169) until they began to shape [erect] crosses in the roads and against the walls, hanging upon them their images (the images which the Christians revered] [cut] in paper or wood, with tails and necks [heads] of dogs. And they forced the Christians to spit upon those crosses, vilifying them; and to trample on them [the signs of the cross they had traced] on the ground, doing homage to them (in that fashion]. And when so occupied, they said to them [the Christians]: This is your god, O accursed ones! So abjure it, O enemies of God and religion! But they [the Christians] did not dare to use force against them [the Muhammadans] because they thought of the people of Zahlah and the [hostile] bands that were around that place. And the Christians repeated [their petition] to Ahmad Pasha from the hand [through the intermediary] of the consuls, and he tranquilised them according to his custom (P. 170) with delusive assurances. And when it was the morning of the Monday falling on the ninth of July of the year 1860 of the Christian Era, which concurs with the year 1276 of the Flight, an important council was held at the Pasha's. And among those present were 'Abdy Effendy and Sa'yd Agha Ibn Shamdin Agha and Ahmad Effendy al-Islambuly and the chief of police, the secretary of the commander of the army attending their meeting. And they agreed in believing it expedient that the chief of police should go with some armed attendants to arrest those who had excited the animosities of the Christians by [showing their] contempt for the crosses, and then to put brooms into their hands as if they were scavengers, and shackles on their feet, 'treating them like convicts, and to summon [command] 187 Our author writes lafkajy bäshy for tafankajy bāshy, a Turkish expression: "portefusil, officier de la garde du corps chargé de présenter le fusil au Sultan à la chasse ou au tir. Il avait le privilége de marcher a côté du cheval du grand-vizir, les jours de cérémonie et dans les cortèges officiels;" BARBIER DE MEYNARD. Hence the meaning: "chef de la police, composée de soldats irréguliers, ou chef du marché;" MALLOUF.