95 the character of the proofs adduced excites so much suspicion, especially since we have to do with a people lauded by all who know them for their respectful attitude towards the sex both in peace and war, that we hardly can blame those who scent here another trumped-up charge to shift the responsibility for one of the most abominable features of the atrocities committed, from where it belongs to the general account of the common foe.96 "Under the circumstances," says Lord Dufferin in another letter97 from Bayrut to Lord Russell, referring to the inflammatory terms in which Bishop Tūbiyā wrote to the people of Dayr al-Qamar and openly talked of the expulsion of the Druzes, "it is idle to speak of the Christians as if they were saintly martyrs. They are as savage and bloodthirsty in their traditional warfare as any of their pagan neighbours. Nay, their clans often carry on internecine blood-feuds with one another in which they do not even spare the womankind. An instance of such strife occurred but two years ago, in the case of the Hayin sheikhs and similar occurrences are frequent in their history. In this respect, at least, the Druzes are the more humane; they never war on one another and women are sacred in their eyes. Even a French missionary 98 testifies to foreign interference pour le bon motif being the spark which set fire to that excessively combustible material and caused it to explode, at first the wrong way-considered from the standpoint of the Maronites. Afterwards they gained their end to a certain extent, as we shall see later on. Foreign agents, openly or clandestinely supported by the Powers, kept on meddling," under95 See for instance a memorandum by Mr. Robson, Irish Presbyterian missionary at Damascus, forwarded by Lord Dufferin to Lord Russell, September 23, 1860. 96 "Voici maintenant les correspondances anglaises qui accusent les Grecs orthodoxes et même les Arméniens catholiques d'avoir joué un rôle très actif dans les scènes de dévastation dont les Maronites ont été les victimes. On va jusqu'à dire que les Grecs seraient les auteurs des crimes abominables qui ont été commis sur les femmes, les Druses, dans toute l'histoire de leurs guerres, ne s'étant jamais écartés du respect que leurs principes leur enseignent, même à l'égard des femmes de leurs ennemis vaincus. Les Grecs auraient profité de l'occasion pour chercher une revanche de l'affaire des lieux saints et de la guerre de la Crimée." XAVIER RAYMOND, op. cit. 97 Dated December 19, 1860 98 JULES FERRETTE, La Guerre du Liban et l'État de la Syrie, Revue des Deux Mondes, August 15, 1860: "Pour troubler la paix, il fallait la malice et la ruse de tiers intéressés à la ruine commune,...." 99 A fine instance of this evil is furnished by Inclosure Nr 3 in a letter, dated July 19, 1860, from Consul-General Moore to Lord Russell. This document is nothing more nor mining the authority of the legitimate government which, every time the Syrian proverb that too much tying loosens, came true in its affairs, aggravating its predicament, had to answer insolently polite requests for information why it could not keep its house in order. Events meanwhile following events, Iskander Ibn Ya'qub Abkāriūs's chronicle, illustrative of the manner in which European bickerings reacted on religious animosities in the Lebanon and affected the political and economic conditions of the whole of Syria, elucidates within its limits: How-to borrow David Urquhart's words 100 the five Powers, who signed the Treaty of July, 1841, by dividing the Mountain into two governments of Druzes and Maronites, and imposing ruinous duties upon exportation, brought upon it in the course of ten years, four civil wars; How the four Powers commenced their work on the pretext of excluding French influence, and the five Powers completed it by causing the country to be occupied by French troops. less than a report by a traveller without any official standing, who, having been sent by the consular corps at Bayrut on a mission to the Druze chiefs in the Lebanon, neither he nor his principals worrying about the consent of the proper authorities, ordered those chiefs to assemble in council and seemed rather astonished at their reluctance to appear and wait on his good pleasure. 100 Op. cit., Preface. [A photograph opposite the title-page represents as the "author of the book" a slim, kindly looking, middle-aged gentleman in tarbush and European dress, decorated with the badges of four orders of knighthood.] BOOK OF THE MARVELS OF THE TIME CONCERNING THE MASSACRES IN THE ARAB COUNTRY. 2 (P. 2) In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate! Praise to Him who has no equal in dignity and perfection, in greatness and majesty, and passes judgment upon the conduct of our lives at their appointed term; who changes the seasons and alters circumstances! But Himself He does not change in the space of all time from generation to generation. We thank Him for the gifts and favors He bestows upon us. And we pray Him for His assistance in everything we say and do. Proceeding: The one in need' [of the grace of God], who hopes for the mercy of his very holy Lord, Iskander, the son of Ya'qūb Abkāriūs, begs to say that, when the affliction came to pass which befell the Christians from the nation of the Druzes in Mount Lebanon, its report spread in all districts and countries, and the people spoke of it in every place until in length of time it turned their tears to anger. (P. 3) I have opened this book with an exposition of what I have ascertained [to be true] of it and have added a narrative of the events at Damascus and what happened there in the matter of devastation. And I have taken great pains, putting my soul into this business, and I have been very careful in the selection of my material, endeavoring to sift it carefully. And I offer what I have been able to verify by means of inquiry and investigation in order that whoever comes after me, may learn the truth about these troubles and disturbances; and that he may know the design and intention of the evil purposed with them. Therefore, supported by the power of Him who be supremely exalted, I have produced a book, completing [that which I] intended in the best manner [I could]. And this I did in the city of Bayrut, the protected, of the province of Syria. And when it was all finished and it seemed good, I called it Marvels of the 1 An epithet inspired, like the Christian author's initial formula, by his Muhammadan environment if not antecedents; cf Quran, XXXV, 16. In the following pages many such expressions will be found, redolent of Islamic convictions and modes of thought, which often form a curious mixture with an acquired Christian phraseology as a vehicle for imperfectly assimilated Christian ideas. 2 The "white" or "whitish,” a name said to be derived from the brightness of the limestone walls that line the mountain range and give it a distinctive, radiant appearance. |