The Author’s departure from England to join Lady Stanhope――Voyage
from Leghorn to Syria――The vessel plundered by a Greek pirate――Return
to Leghorn――Signor Girolamo――Letter from Lady Stanhope to Mr. Webb,
merchant at Leghorn――Lady Stanhope persecuted by the Emir Beshýr――
Letter from Lady Stanhope to the Author, describing her position in
1827――Her reliance on Providence――Second Letter to Mr. Webb――Her
opinion of the Turks and Christians in Syria, and of the wild
Arabs――Terror of the Franks in Syria, on occasion of the battle of
Navarino――They take refuge in Lady Stanhope’s house――The Franks
in Syria――Her letter to the Author, urging him to rejoin her――Her
advice――Her ladyship’s illness――The Author sails for Syria.
On the 23rd of January, 1827, I crossed over to Calais with my family.
Here the severity of the weather and the sale of some landed property
in England detained us until the 9th of May, when we prosecuted our
journey to Paris, Lausanne, and Pisa, where we arrived on the 14th of
June, with the intention of embarking from Leghorn by the first vessel
that sailed for the Levant. It must be borne in mind by the reader
that there were no steamboats in those days, and that, moreover, the
navigation of the Mediterranean sea was rendered dangerous by the
predatory warfare carried on by the Greeks.
At Leghorn I received another letter from Lady Hester Stanhope,
wherein, as if in despair about her affairs, and knowing, from a letter
of mine, that I was leaving England to join her, she winds up the
X. intrigue in a summary way, and gives me instructions how I am to
conduct myself on my arrival in Syria.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Dr. ――――._
Djoun, May 29, 1827.
Dear Doctor,
You will hear from Mr. Webb the situation I am in.
I sent three letters to you, by way of France, at the beginning
of the year. To cut the matter short, it is better to say
you never received them. If any one asks after X., say you
don’t know him, or otherwise you will be so teazed with
questions. Mind these instructions. Say to everybody, when
you land, that you know nothing of my affairs, not having
seen any of my family since my brother’s death;[14] that,
hearing I had a complaint in my eyes, you set off, without
consulting any one, and that it was your intention to
remain some time with me, as you had brought Mrs. ―――― and
the children.
Land, if possible, at Sayda, and, on reaching the harbour,
leave your family in the ship, take an ass at my farrier’s,
and come here to Djoun. This is all, I believe, that is
necessary for me to say, should you not have received my
letters, written at the beginning of the year. If you have
received them, and things do well, the case is rather
altered.
I cannot express my gratitude. May God reward you hereafter!
I hope Mrs. ――――- has plenty of rings on her fingers, as
that is very necessary in this country, and the greatest of
possible ornaments in the eyes of women.
[Not signed.]
* * * * *
No eligible opportunity offered for sailing until the end of August,
when, having concluded an agreement with the owners of a merchant
brig, we betook ourselves to Leghorn, and set sail in the Fortuna,
Lupi master, for Cyprus, on the 7th of September, 1827. There were
four Franciscan friars passengers besides ourselves, bound to the Holy
Land, with money annually sent from some of the Italian states for the
maintenance of the sacred places.
On the 15th of September, being about thirty leagues from the island
of Candia, a tall-masted schooner was seen bearing down upon us,
and was soon recognized as a Greek. On nearing us, she hoisted Greek
colours, and ran under our stern, presenting a formidable battery of
twelve guns, with the heads of sixty or eighty fierce-featured fellows
eyeing us over the gunwale. A scaramouch-looking mate hailed us in
good Italian, and ordered our captain to hoist out his boat and come
on board. Whilst the boat was getting ready, our captain told us to do
the best we could for ourselves, for that he had no doubt we should
be plundered. “As for you,” he added, addressing himself to me, “make
yourself as smart as you can, assume an air of authority, and pass
yourself off as a consul.” We were all greatly alarmed. I hastened to
follow the captain’s advice, whilst the friars were busy in stuffing
their gold, their watches, and their small valuables, into their
under-garments and other hiding-places.
The Greeks, however, gave us little time; for, in a quarter of an hour,
fifteen or twenty were on board, headed by their lieutenant. On getting
over the side, he advanced towards me, and, in a very civil way, told
me that, as Cyprus was blockaded, and as our vessel was bound to that
place, no doubt with succours to the Turks in some shape or other,
his captain found himself under the disagreeable necessity of taking
possession of the cargo. “You,” he added, “being an Englishman, will
meet with no molestation; the English are our friends, and we are not
incapable of gratitude.”
In an instant the hatches were forced open; and, as quick as stout
shoulders and tackles could do it, the Greeks hoisted upon deck, and
cut or broke open every bale, cask, or case that was in the hold,
whilst the lieutenant, holding the bill of lading in his hand, noted
off every one according to its mark. I had various articles of luggage,
and as each was hoisted up, I had to say it was mine, when it was put
aside on the quarter-deck. The same was done with the effects of the
friars. Each launch-load of goods that was sent off to the schooner
brought back a launch-load of stout Greeks, who, with hammers and
hatchets, broke down the wainscoting, cut through the ceiling, searched
the berths, and left not a single cranny of the vessel unransacked.
When the cargo was out, the lieutenant summoned the four, as I
supposed, poor friars to the quarter-deck, and told them their trunks
must next undergo an examination. Each trunk had a cross on its lid.
What was my surprise when, on opening them, the Greeks found fifty or
sixty pounds of chocolate, bottles of rum and rosolio, hams, tongues,
Bologna sausages, sugar, and a large box of sugared almonds; also
seven or eight veils, (such as are worn in the Levant) for women, fine
flannel waistcoats and drawers, good calico shirts, &c.; 200 Venetian
ducats, three or four rouleaus of doubloons, and 5,000 Spanish dollars.
The way in which the Greek sailors scrambled for the sugared almonds
was really quite laughable, making a strange contrast to the ruin they
were perpetrating at the moment on these inoffensive individuals; but,
when they discovered the money, amounting in all, with what was taken
from the friars’ persons, to no less than 14,000 dollars, they set up
a shout, which so effectually frightened the poor friars, that they
fell down on their knees, and invoked all the saints in the calendar
to their aid. But the cupidity of the Greeks was excited rather than
satisfied by the sight of so much gold and silver, and they immediately
proceeded to strip their victims, an office which they performed with
greater agility than could have been exhibited by the most expert
valet. This humiliating operation disclosed fresh booty; the capacious
sleeves, drawers, and hoods, all afforded something. One had a
repeater-watch, and all had money.
Unfortunately, there were a few casks of wine in the hold, which the
Greeks tapped; and thus, becoming intoxicated in the midst of their
pillage, a few of the most ferocious proposed beating the captain to
make him confess if there was more money concealed. They accordingly
gave him some very hard blows with a rope’s end; then they served
the cabin-boy in the same manner (as being generally privy to the
captain’s hiding-places), and then two sailors. Lastly came the mate’s
turn. Him they bound with a cord, and beat severely; and, finding blows
made them confess nothing, they dragged him to the gunwale, held his
head over the side of the ship, and, one putting a knife across his
throat, swore he would kill them instantly, if he did not disclose
where the captain’s money was hid, as well as Turkish letters, which
were conveyed in the brig. The poor man, with loud cries, appealed to
me to save his life; and, whilst I addressed myself to the lieutenant,
Mrs. ――――, who was sitting on the quarter-deck with our little girl,
an infant, in her arms, rushed forward, undismayed by the ferocious
looks of the Greeks, and, with more than a woman’s courage, arrested
the pirate’s arm, and implored him to spare his victim. Whether it was
their intention to murder the mate it is impossible to say; but the man
who held the knife let him go, and threw the key of the mate’s chest at
Mrs. ――――’s feet.
This scene being over, the lieutenant informed me that he was bound to
examine my luggage, whispering to me, at the same time, that, as his
men had become very riotous, it would be prudent to propitiate them by
a present of a few dollars. I gladly took his advice, and presented
them with twenty dollars, which they accepted thanklessly enough. My
luggage was then overhauled; but they took nothing, although, amongst
other things, they were grievously tempted by discovering a bag of
dollars. In the confusion which ensued I lost only a few trifles. The
lieutenant begged a pair of pantaloons, which I gave him, and other
things, which I assured him I could not spare, and which he very
obligingly allowed me to retain. Considering that we were wholly in his
power, I had reason to be grateful for his forbearance.
But let me, as an act of justice, bear witness to the wrongs which
this nation, in the regeneration of its liberties, had to endure,
and none of which were greater than those inflicted by the Austrian
and Sardinian navies, whose flag our vessel bore. Whenever the
merchant-ships of these two powers appeared in the Levant, it was,
under the cloak of trade, to transport materials of war to their mortal
enemies the Turks; and whenever the injured Greeks, availing themselves
of the rights of nations, molested these pretended neutrals in their
unjust traffic, the Austrian ships of war made cruel reprisals on them.
In the German war, about the middle of the last century, when the
Dutch, calling themselves neutrals, became carriers for the enemies
of England, we were accused of committing piratical enormities on the
Dutch, equal to any that the Greeks are charged with, and we sought
our justification in the same rights: so that we may ask if the laws of
blockade are to be held good only when exercised by the hands of the
strong? In excuse for beating the master and mate, it may be alleged,
that the Genoese crews, when they had the mastery, were not backward in
using the same violence. As for the money which was transferred on this
occasion, all that need be said is, that, setting aside the question of
piracy, it passed from the hands of those who had made a vow of poverty
into the pockets of an oppressed people, whose families had been driven
from their homes, and perhaps were starving, until some son or husband
could bring them the fruits of their dangerous enterprises.
Piracy on the high seas, in the open day, has something very awful and
formidable in it. You seem to be utterly defenceless in the midst of
the wide ocean, with the arbitrators of your destiny standing there to
hurl you, if you utter a murmur, into the fathomless deep. They demand
your money, your goods, or whatever else may chance to excite their
cupidity, and you give up everything with as smiling a face as you can.
You offer them refreshments, as if they were welcome guests, who have
honoured and delighted you by their presence; and, until they burst out
into the frantic delirium of drunkenness or butchery, the whole scene
wears the appearance of the visit of an obliging consignee, who has
come to take possession of his property.
At seven at night the schooner’s crew left us to pursue our voyage.
The beds and blankets that lay scattered on the cabin-floor were
replaced in the berths, a little order was restored, and a wretched
supper was made on hard biscuit and cold water; for everything good
to eat, from the chickens down to the lemons, walnuts, figs, raisins,
&c., had either been taken away or devoured. It was calm through the
night; and, when the morning of Sunday broke, the schooner was still
in view. Our fears were revived, when we saw the enemy’s boat manned,
and soon afterwards coming towards us. But it was only a complimentary
visit from the lieutenant, who, with smiles and an amiability that
only a Greek can put on towards those whom he has plundered, expressed
his hopes that we had passed the night comfortably, and begged of
the master to have the goodness to look for a box of jewels that was
marked on the ship’s bill of lading, but which had been overlooked
the day before; for the lieutenant spoke and read Italian perfectly,
and was supposed to be a native of the Ionian isles: so that, having
examined the manifest during the night, he was enabled to discover what
valuables there were on board which had escaped personal scrutiny. The
master reluctantly gave up the casket; and the lieutenant, having
requested him to prick down on the chart the longitude and latitude,
to see if they corresponded with his own reckoning, politely took
his leave, squeezing my hand on parting, just as if we had been old
acquaintances bidding each other adieu. A breeze sprang up; the
schooner put her head towards Candia, and we soon lost sight of her.
A council was then called as to what was to be done. The friars, who
had lost their all, were for putting back: but I objected to that
course, seeing we were now two-thirds of our way to our destination.
The friars, however, having, as I afterwards learned, agreed, in
writing, to give the captain 250 Spanish dollars if he would return,
carried their point; and all that remained to be done was to bear the
disappointment with patience.
In returning to Leghorn, it was necessary to put into the first port we
could reach for provisions; and, accordingly, on the 19th of September,
we cast anchor at Zante. Here I made known our misfortune to the
government secretary, Colonel Maclean, who very obligingly came down to
the health-office to see me, our vessel being in quarantine: and I had
reason, from what he told me, to be well satisfied with having escaped
as we did; for I learned from him that it was quite a miracle that
any respect had been paid to the English name, since many piracies,
accompanied with violence and outrage, had been lately committed on
English vessels. At Zante I saw in the quarantine ground hundreds of
wretched Greeks, in rags and misery, driven from their country, and not
knowing where to find a place to lay their heads.
On the 27th of September we weighed anchor, and, when off Sicily,
nearly lost our masts in a gale of wind. The next day we were alarmed
by the kitchen’s catching fire, and by a passenger falling ill of
fever; after which, we ran on the island of Elba in a fog, and finally
arrived at Leghorn on the 12th of October, 1827.
The passenger I have named was an Italian, one Signor Girolamo ――――,
a young man, who, after very successful studies at Padua, thought to
turn his talents to account in Mahomet Ali’s service; but, on his
arrival in Egypt, he was nearly starved. He was a clever mathematician,
and of great literary attainments; but he forgot that, to teach, one
must be enabled to explain, which, from his ignorance of Arabic, was
impossible, and that Mahomet Ali wanted officers, mechanics, and
engineers――practical men――but not schoolmen. Having in vain essayed to
find an employment, he was at last told he might take service, if he
would pronounce himself competent for the situation of hospital-mate
and apothecary to an infantry regiment. In this his medical
employment, according to what he told me, he saw so much peculation
going forward, that, being ordered to Navarino, with his regiment,
in disgust, he made his escape to Zante, determined to have done
with Pashas and Eastern civilization for ever. Anxiety, fatigue, and
blasted prospects, threw him into a malignant fever; and his deplorable
situation, in the empty hold of a vessel, without bed or blanket to
sleep on, could not but excite our sympathy.
There was one of the friars, named Fra’ Buonaventura, who, after
the plunder of the vessel, when we were on our passage back, was
guilty of a breach of confidence so base, that I hardly know how to
designate it. He was the one to whom the bag of letters from Europe
for the monks of the different monasteries in the Holy Land had been
entrusted. These letters, being of no use to the Greeks, were left; and
Fra’ Buonaventura used to lie on his back in his berth, and, breaking
the seals, read them one by one, and then destroy them. His conduct
appeared to me so culpable, that I wrote to the Neapolitan ambassador
(he belonging to a monastery at Naples), and requested his Excellency
to make this violation of trust known to his superiors.
We remained in quarantine until the 17th of November, during which time
the news of the battle of Navarino reached Leghorn. From the Lazaretto
I took my family to Pisa and Rome; and, the bad weather being now
set in, I resolved to await the return of spring, and the arrival of
fresh letters from Lady Hester Stanhope, before venturing again on so
dangerous a voyage. Besides, the shock had been very great, and Mrs.
――――’s health was seriously impaired by continued sea-sickness and the
horrors of the scenes she had witnessed, which for many months often
recurred in her dreams, so as to bring on a nervous affection, which
did not entirely leave her for two years.
What Lady Hester Stanhope’s situation was at this particular date may
be gathered from a letter which she wrote to the late Mr. John Webb,
her banker, at Leghorn, and of which I annex a copy.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Mr. John Webb._
Djoun, Mount Lebanon, May 30, 1827.
Sir,
A _Firmanlee_,[15] having taken refuge in the mountain,
under the protection of the Emir Beshýr, contrived to pick a
quarrel with my water-carrier, who was quietly going about
his business, and, having bribed some of the Emir’s Jack
Ketches, they beat him most unmercifully. The Emir Beshýr
and his chief people have likewise been bribed by this man,
who has plenty of money at his disposal. They have all,
therefore, taken the _Firmanlee’s_ part, and acted in the
most atrocious way towards me. A short time since, the Emir
thought proper to publish in the villages that all my
servants were instantly to return to their homes, upon pain
of losing their property and lives. I gave them all their
option. Most of them have remained firm, being aware that
this order is the most unjust, as well as the most
ridiculous, that ever was issued. Since that, he has
threatened to seize and murder them here, which he shall not
do without taking away my life too. Besides this, he has
given orders in all the villages that men, women, and
children, shall be cut in a thousand pieces, who render me
the smallest service. My servants, of course, as you must
imagine, cannot go out, and the peasants of the village
cannot approach the house. Therefore, I am in no very
pleasant situation, being deprived of the necessary supplies
of food, and, what is worse, of water; for all the water
here is brought upon mules’ backs up a great steep.
I should not be a thorough-bred Pitt, if fear were known
to me, or if I could bow to a monster who could chain
together the neck and feet of a venerable, white-bearded,
respectable man, who has burnt out eyes, cut out tongues,
chopped off the breasts of women by shutting down heavy
box-lids upon them, put them upon red-hot irons, hung them
up by their hair, mutilated men alive, and, if a father has
escaped from his clutches, has loaded his infant son with
his chains! For the space of three years, I have refused
to have the smallest communication with the Emir. He sent
me one of his grand envoys the other day――one of those who
are charged with the budget of lies sent to Mahomet Ali. I
refused to see him, or to read the letter of which he was
the bearer.
My kind friend and former physician, Dr. ――――, having
heard that for some years my situation has not been a
pleasant one, and that my health is very indifferent, has
given a proof of attachment and disinterestedness very
rare in these times. He has blasted his own prospects in
life by giving up every thing in Europe to join me in this
country, without consulting any one. He wrote to me from
France that, if he did not hear from me by the 25th of
April, he should proceed to Leghorn, and there embark for
this country. The state of my sight has prevented me from
keeping up a correspondence with him as formerly; but, if
letters I wrote to him in the beginning of the year have
been forwarded to him from England, perhaps he may have
changed his determination. But, in the case of his being at
Leghorn, you would confer a great obligation upon me, if
you would advance him £100 for his expenses, and deliver
him the enclosed letter.
I must particularly request that neither you nor any of
your people will communicate anything respecting my affairs
to Mr. ――――, for he publishes everything in the most
disadvantageous way to every blackguard in the town of
Beyrout.
I hope you will have received the wine I sent you safe. It
is needless to tell you I cannot at this moment execute
your commission, but I hope to do it to your satisfaction
at some future period.
Ten thousand thanks for your kind recipe for my eyes. I
have not had a moment’s time to bestow a thought upon
myself since I received it.
Dear Lord Frederick![16] what changes have taken place in
my situation since I saw him last! but I am too much of a
Turk to complain of the decrees of Heaven.
I forgot to mention that there is a plague at Sayda.
Most of the people are shut up; and, although I must
have suffered cruelly from the malady formerly, I am
in no apprehension concerning it, as I am a perfect
predestinarian. Happy for me that I have inspired the same
feelings into all those who surround me.
If it please God that I, like Joseph, should come safe out
of the well, I hope it will be needless to assure you that,
whatever part of your family might fall in my way, my
greatest pleasure would be to endeavour to make them, by
every service and attention, the evidence of the respect and
regard which I bear you.
H. L. STANHOPE.
PS. Long before you can receive this letter, this business
must be settled. Depend upon it, I shall be a match for
them. I shall trouble you to give Dr. ―――― the information
contained in this letter, begging him to guard complete
silence on everything that relates to this country or
elsewhere; for things are in an unpleasant state both here
and at Cyprus.
* * * * *
Some time in the spring, but the exact day is not noted, I received the
following letter from Lady Hester Stanhope:――
Djoun, Nov. 9, 1827.
I have not heard from or written to you for eight months.
My three letters, composing one, must have reached you. I
have not made my intended journey, for I have been, during
three months of this summer, absolutely as if in prison.
The representatives of the John Bulls in this country
having impressed the Emir Beshýr with the assurance that I
had not a friend in the world, he proceeded upon unheard-of
outrages towards me; and, if he did not actually put my
life in danger, he had it publicly cried,[17] that whoever
served me should be bastinadoed and amerced.
This unheard-of stretch of insolence was set to rights by
our old acquaintance[18] at Constantinople, who acted very
well towards me. The Emir Beshýr, with all the art and
meanness well known to him, has now become abjectly humble.
One of his people told me that it was not his doings,
but the work of ――――, who had put it into his head; and,
finding he had made a false calculation, and displeased
great and small in the country by his vile conduct, he is
humble enough, and repents having given me an opportunity
of showing what I am. I am thus become more popular than
ever, having shown an example of firmness and courage no
one could calculate upon:――it was poor little David and the
giant. But the God who defended David defended me from all
the assassins by whom I was surrounded. Even water from the
spring the beast would not let me have. The expense to get
provisions brought in the night by people was enormous.
Some risked their lives to serve me, and bring me food.
One person only came openly, and that was a woman, saying
she would die sooner than obey such atrocious orders, and
called down curses on the Emir, the consuls, and all of
them. This conduct was well worthy a follower of Ali.
The plague this year has carried off thousands of
inhabitants at Damascus and Aleppo; it is now in the
Mountain. There are all sorts of fevers, too, besides
plague, and my medicine is nearly all gone; for all the
world come to me for what they want. I have written to Mr.
Allen, to beg he will give me a year’s credit for a little
common medicine, and he sends you this letter. If there is
war, how am I to get it? but I will run the chance.
A young _seyd_, a friend of mine, when riding one day in a
solitary part of the mountain, heard the echo of a strange
noise in the rocks. He listened, and, hearing it again,
got off his horse to see what it was. To his surprise, in
a hollow in the rock, he saw an old eagle, quite blind
and unfledged by age. Perched by the eagle, he saw a
carrion-crow feeding him. If the Almighty thus provides
for the blind eagle, he will not forsake me: and the
carrion-crow may look down with contempt on your countrymen.
I say this, because I have seen two doctors――they were
English――and they tell me that, though my eyes are good,
my nerves are destroyed, and that causes my blindness.
Writing these few lines will be some days’ illness to me:
but I make an effort, in order to assure you of the grief
I have felt at being, I fear, the cause of your affairs
being worse than if you had not known me. All I can say
is, if God helps me, I shall not forget you. You can do
nothing for me now; trust in God and think of the eagle.
Remember! all is written: we can change nothing of our fate
by lamenting and grumbling. Therefore, it is better to be
like a true Turk, and do our duty to the last, and then beg
of the believers in one God a bit of daily bread, and, if
it comes not, die of want, which perhaps is as good a death
as any other, and less painful. But never act contrary to
the dictates of conscience, of honour, of nature, or of
humanity.
What I shall do, or not do, is the business of no one; so
on that head I shall say nothing. God is the disposer of
all events. Do not write to me. First, I shall not get your
letters; and, besides, I do not wish to hear a thousand
lies: for you dare not write otherwise, I know, unless left
to yourself. Leave everything to a great and all-powerful
Being, who will empower me to act under all circumstances.
I have had, as things are, reason to bless His mercy
every day. No one else could get out of such difficulties
of every kind unprotected by an Almighty’s hand. I have
written these few lines with the hope of comforting you a
little, and to let you see I have a soul, though my body is
wasted to nothing, with anxiety, want of food, rest, &c.
Don’t expect any more letters. If you wish to do me harm,
you will talk of me and my affairs to fools, and strangers,
and curious people: but it is now come to such a pass,
that it little signifies what any one does or says. God
bless you!
[Not signed.]
If Dr. Madden should call on Dr. Scott,[19] to talk Arabic
and philosophy, it is I who sent him. Strange opinions are
not for ignorant, vulgar people. Perhaps you may see Dr.
Madden. Of private affairs, I only said to him that I was
in debt.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Mr. Webb, banker, at Leghorn._
[Supposed date] October, 1827.
I thank you a thousand times, my dear sir, for the anxiety
you express on my account; and, although surrounded by a
hundred difficulties, I am cheerful, and, as I said before,
the Turks behave very well to me. That old monster, the
Emir Beshýr, is pretty quiet at this moment, at least
as far as regards me: but he is reducing to beggary and
to misery all who surround him. A real Turk is a manly,
though rather violent, kind-hearted being, and, if he
has confidence in you, very easy to deal with. I have
often wondered at their gentlemanlike patience with low,
blustering, vulgar men, who give themselves more airs than
an ambassador, because chance has placed them as consul or
agent in some dirty town not equal to a village in France;
men who, in fact, in Europe, would scarcely have their bow
returned in the street by a man of condition. It is the
general conduct of these sort of people that has given the
Orientals such a false idea of Europeans. The race of
Christians here is of the vilest people in the world: not
all totally without talent, but all born without principle,
or one single good quality. Out of the great number of
children, both boys and girls, which I have taken before
they have changed their teeth, not one has turned out
passable, and most of them have become vagabonds. If a
poor man falls ill, and gives his wife a little trouble to
wait upon him, she soon ends the business with a little
poison; and, if a woman marries again, the husband casts
off all her children by the former marriage, and she,
without remorse, leaves them to die in a hovel, or abandons
them under a tree to beg for subsistence. It was only last
night that one of these wretched beings came to me, skin
and bone, having been for thirty days ill of a fever. The
very girls I have brought up with the greatest care have,
when married, beaten their children of two years old so
violently as to stun them; and one, from the blow she gave
her child upon the back, caused the bowels to protrude more
than a span. A man thinks nothing of taking up a stone as
large as his head, and throwing it at his wife when she is
with child. These are the beastly people that create the
compassion of Europeans――a horrid race, that deserves to be
exterminated from the face of the earth. What a contrast
between these wretches and the wild Arabs, who will traverse
burning sands barefooted, to receive the last breath of some
kind relation or friend, who teach their children at the
earliest period resignation and fortitude, and who always
keep alive a spirit of emulation amongst them! They are the
boldest people in the world, yet are endued with a
tenderness quite poetic, and their kindness extends to all
the brute creation by which they are surrounded. For myself,
I have the greatest affection and confidence in these
people: besides, I admire their diamond eyes, their fine
teeth, and the grace and agility (without capers), which is
peculiar to them alone. When one sees these people, one’s
thoughts naturally revert to the time of Abraham, when man
had not his head filled with all the false systems of the
present day.
I must now thank you for a most admirable cheese, and the
case of _liqueurs_ which accompanied it. You tell me not
to send any more wine; but I shall not attend to it. I
only regret that I cannot forward more by this conveyance;
for it is excessively scarce, which will account for the
small quantity; but I shall always continue to ship some,
whenever I can procure it; and I only wish this country
produced anything that would be agreeable to you or Mrs.
Webb.
I have heard that at Geneva there are very fine flowers.
If you will procure me a few seeds, I should be very much
obliged to you, as my stock of flowers this year has become
very low, owing to my having had a very careless gardener,
who neglected to water the seeds, so that they never came
up. My fine steed is gone long ago, and my garden remains
my only amusement. I have made a little note; but, if there
should be any other showy flowers or shrubs, pray include
them. Very small flowers are considered here as weeds,
however pretty they may be.
I have received my account from your house, and I have
drawn for another thousand dollars. They tell me, besides,
that the doctor is gone to England. If so, I fear some
trick will be played me, and he will not be allowed to
return. It does not signify――I am an Arab.[20] I have,
however, written to him, desiring him, in case of his
return, to beg you to attend most particularly to the state
of your health and that of Mrs. Webb, and that he will
leave with you a volume of medical advice. The other letter
you will please to forward to his friend, Mr. N. S.
* * * * *
It was immediately after the date of this letter that the news of
the battle of Navarino must have reached Sayda and Beyrout. On that
occasion, all the Franks at Sayda, in a single hour, fled precipitately
from their homes, the greater part of them taking refuge with Lady
Hester Stanhope. In the narrative of her subsequent conversations, some
account of the expense she was put to by this unforeseen event will be
found; for, in her correspondence with me, she was particularly careful
not to make any allusion to the universal alarm which prevailed amongst
the Europeans, lest it might possibly have some influence upon the
fears of my family, and deter us from prosecuting our journey.
Some private business requiring my presence in England, I left Italy
in June, 1828, for London, and returned to Pisa in the following
October. Up to this time (now nearly a year), I had had no answer from
Lady Hester to my letters (one from Zante, and one from Leghorn), in
which I had given an account of the piracy. At that time there were no
steamboats on those waters, and correspondence was necessarily carried
on, at great risk and uncertainty, by merchant-vessels, many of which
were plundered by the Greeks, while others frequently consumed two
or three months, returning from the Levant to Marseilles or Leghorn.
At last, a letter reached me, in the handwriting of Miss Williams,
dictated by Lady Hester Stanhope.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Dr. ――――._
Djoun, Mount Lebanon, March 23, 1828.
I have received the account of your disasters by sea, and
latterly the books you were so good as to send me. The
books I cannot read, and I have nobody to read them to me:
however, I thank you for your kind attention. I am much
afflicted at the trouble and vexation you have had, and at
the situation in which you find yourself. I must say, it
would be very imprudent to bring women or children into
this country at this moment, and a great source of fatigue
and vexation to me; for they could not be comfortable under
the present circumstances of the times. What I should
propose is, that, when you have settled your business, you
immediately set off alone with a Dutch passport,[21] in
case things should turn out ill before you arrive. Leave
Mrs. ―――― at Pisa, where she could remain very comfortably
until you return. Write to X. these few words――“She has
ordered me to forbid you evermore to interfere with her
affairs, or even to write to her.”
The plague will be over before you get here. The Turks
behave extremely well to me, the Christians and Franks
as ill. I shall say nothing about the state of my
affairs――(you may guess what it may be in these times) nor
of the state of my health, without a person of any kind to
assist me in anything. If I outlive the storm, I may help
you:――if not, you can take poor Williams away.
Let Mr. Webb know how much I prize his kind attentions.
I hope some wine will go with this ship for him:――if
not, it is not my fault. Salute Mrs. ―――― and say I hope
no childish feeling will prevent her allowing you to be
absent a little while. I feel for her――but I cannot write.
She may rely upon me: only obey me strictly. Had you done
so before, things might have been otherwise for all: but
simpletons will be wise men, and that is what has turned
the world upside down, as well as caused much unhappiness
to individuals. I promise to keep you only a few months,
but I want to see you: only come in as silent and quiet a
way as you can.
I will not receive any letter from X., so do not take
charge of any: all must be lies. Return them, should he
send any, and say not a word that you mean to come here.
[Not signed.]
* * * * *
On the 15th of November of the same year I received another letter,
which was also in Miss Williams’s handwriting.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Dr. ――――._
Djoun, August 25, 1828.
I have heard from Mr. Webb’s house that you are gone to
England. My heart misgives me: I fear some trick, and
that they will prevent your coming. At all events, do not
let your head be crammed with ideas that you cannot land;
for, notwithstanding the departure of consuls and Franks
from this part of the world, I firmly believe that, any
one coming to me either in a man-of-war or in an open
boat, his landing would not be opposed, even if things
were more decidedly bad than they are at present. Sulyman
Effendi, whom you recollect at Sayda, is governor of
Beyrout, and Ali Aga has succeeded him at Sayda; Laurella,
as Austrian consul, still remains at Beyrout, though but
little friendly to me, as does old Gerardin at Sayda; being
considered as an Arab. Never write to me but through Mr.
Webb’s house, whether you come or do not come. I want no
reasons and no long stories. I hope your head will not be
turned, because I am sure you will repent it hereafter, if
it is.
Arabize yourself before you get here, if you are ever such
a quiz. I have common Turkish clothes ready for you, that
you may not cut up and gobble good cloth in a hurry.[22]
You must not think of bringing any Frank servant with you.
I have a room ready for you, and I hope you will be very
comfortable. The difficulty about Mrs. ―――― was want of
room; and a house in the village in these sort of times is
not exactly the thing, though I had a pretty little house,
two stories high, picked out for you, had you come sooner.
Cut short impertinent questions _here_, by saying everybody
was out of town, that you saw none of my family or friends,
and only stopped a few days in London to transact your own
private business.
[Signed] H. L. S.
Ah! why did you not come directly, and bring Lucy? what a
comfort to me!
* * * * *
In compliance with Lady Hester Stanhope’s wishes, I resolved to await
the coming of spring, in order to conduct my family to England, and,
leaving them there, to set off alone for Syria. But new difficulties
had arisen, and Lady Hester’s situation had become more painful by
a severe loss which she unexpectedly sustained in the death of her
long-tried and affectionate companion, Miss Williams. It was some time
in December that Mr. Webb, of Leghorn, communicated to me a letter from
Lady Hester Stanhope, giving him the melancholy news of this sad event.
The letter was in French, dictated to some secretary whom she had found
to carry on her correspondence, and it is here translated for the
convenience of the general reader.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Mr. John Webb, merchant,
at Leghorn._
Djoun, 24th of October, 1828.
Sir,
When I received your letter of the 17th of July, I was very
ill, confined to my room, and occasionally delirious:
nevertheless, in a moment of reason, I desired Mr. Gerardin
to acquaint you with the great loss I had sustained in the
faithful Miss Williams.
After two years of plague, there broke out, over almost
all Mount Lebanon, a kind of fever, which I do not know
precisely how to name. Whether it was a sort of yellow or
malignant fever, poor Miss Williams fell a victim to it,
as well as a servant, named Môosa, the only one in whom I
had any confidence; and I but just escaped death from it
myself. I am, as it were, come to life again by a miracle,
owing to the attentions of a rich peasant, who came from a
considerable distance to assist me. He found me entirely
abandoned, delirious, and at the point of death; and left
in that state by whom?――by wicked maids, who had cost Miss
W. and me such pains in endeavouring to make something
of them. You may easily imagine that I did not keep such
ungrateful sluts an instant after I came to myself. Even
in the weak state in which I was, I felt in a rage at the
deplorable accounts which were given me of the detestable
indifference which they showed when Miss W. was dying,
occupying themselves in pilfering what they could lay their
hands on: but I have already told you what the Christians
of this country are. At the present moment, I have nobody
to assist me but some old women of the village, the most
stupid and ignorant creatures in the world. My greatest
resource is a girl of eight years old, whom I have brought
up, who appears attached to me, and who is less stupid than
the others.[23] However, one cannot get well very fast,
attended by such people, to whom it is impossible to trust
a key. I am moved from my bed to the sofa, and from the
sofa to the bed, and I am not yet able to walk unsupported;
but, if I was better waited on, and had more quiet and
proper things to eat, I know very well what an effort my
iron constitution would make, which has brought me through
this illness without doctor or doctor’s-stuff. I have a
good appetite; but my weakness of stomach does not enable
me to digest the coarse and badly-cooked food which they
give me to eat, seeing that my stomach has been very much
disordered for want of nourishment during fifteen days,
having subsisted all that time on barley-water and plain
water.
My ignorance of what passed around me was not, properly
speaking, the delirium of fever; it was a stupor, caused
by the neglect with which I was treated. The peasant says
that, when he entered my bed-room,[24] he found me stiff
and cold, in the state of one dying of hunger: he gave me
food immediately. After some days I came to myself, and am
now gaining strength. But, in the midst of all this, I am
not melancholy. What has happened has happened, and whatever
is is best. To-day I was telling Mr. Beaudin[25] some
anecdotes of the celebrated Duke of Dorset, which were of no
very mournful turn. Mr. Beaudin’s coming has been of the
greatest service to me in every way. He has raised for me,
with a great deal of difficulty, some money, for which I
have given him my bill of exchange for 1000 dollars, dated
October the 15th. I have given him another bill for 500
dollars, dated the 24th of October. I endeavour to scrape
together as much as I can, because the aspect of the times
is dark. I must lay in provisions of all kinds; for in a
short time it will not be so easy to do it, as some imagine,
and prices will rise to something incredible.
It seems to me that, if Dr. ―――― had decided on coming,
he would have been here before now. Well! I have got over
this illness without his assistance, or that of any other
doctor, and one feels much more elevated when God has
been one’s physician. It is the Supreme Being alone who
has saved me in all my difficulties for these last twenty
years, and who has given me strength to support what others
would have sunk under.
With the bills, drawn through Mr. Bell and Mr. Beaudin,
there are life-certificates. You know my weakness of sight,
and that, consequently, I cannot write the bills myself;
but, thank God! I can still, though with great pain, read
a letter, although I cannot extend the effort to books and
newspapers. This is the reason why I have had the bills
of exchange, to the order of Mr. Beaudin, written by old
General Loustaunau, and those, to Mr. Bell, written by Mr.
Beaudin; nor must you wonder, if, another time, Mr. Beaudin
should himself write bills to his own order.
The mercantile house of ――――, at ――――, has asked me for a
letter of introduction to you, because they say you are a
man of high respectability: but I should be very sorry to
render a service to such rogues.
[Signed] H. L. S.
* * * * *
The distressed situation in which Lady Hester Stanhope found herself by
such a severe calamity as the loss of Miss Williams, who, in sickness
and in health, had been all in all to her, induced me to set aside
every other consideration, and to resolve on making the voyage to
Syria without loss of time, even in the depth of winter, although the
navigation of the Mediterranean is exceedingly boisterous in the months
of January, February, and March. I accordingly went over to Leghorn,
and entered into an agreement with the master of a merchant-vessel,
who was to sail in a few days for Beyrout. Nothing remained but to
sign it; but, previously to so doing, I had to overcome the repugnance
which Mrs. ―――― felt to being left behind, if she remained, and the
apprehension of fresh piracies, if she accompanied me. Between the two
she hesitated and wavered until the opportunity was lost, and, being
unable to make up her mind one way or the other, spring came, and then
summer, until it was finally settled that I should take her back to
England, and, leaving her there, return and perform the voyage alone.
We accordingly set off for Marseilles in August, 1829, and traversed
France as far as Paris. But there her womanish fears, and the dread
of losing me in a foreign country by plague, and a thousand ills,
which persons, who have not visited the East, fancy to be more common
in distant countries than at home, still preyed on her mind, and a
fresh resolution was formed to accompany me. We therefore returned to
Marseilles: but not until November, 1830, could I prevail upon her to
set her foot in a vessel.
On the 3rd of November, we set sail from Marseilles, in the Belle
Sophie, Coulonne master, a brig of 220 tons or thereabouts. We had
secured the state-room, and one berth out of four which the cabin
contained. Two others were occupied by two English ladies, and the
fourth by the captain. Temporary berths were fitted up for three
Englishmen adjoining the companion-ladder, who, in society with these
pious ladies, had embarked on the wide world in the holy mission of
making proselytes among Jews and Mahometans.[26] On the floor and
lockers of the cabin was an Arab woman with three daughters and a son,
whilst her husband, with a Cypriot Greek, were tenants of the hold.
Thus we were twelve cabin-passengers, where six only could have been
comfortably accommodated: but no scruples of this kind would appear to
have ever crossed the conscience of the master of the vessel or the
owners.
FOOTNOTES:
[14] The death of the Hon. James Stanhope.
[15] _Firmanlee_ is synonymous with _outlaw_.
[16] Probably Lord Frederick Bentinck, brother of Lord
William.
[17] The criers in villages on Mount Lebanon stand on the
roofs of houses at sunset, and, with a loud voice,
give out the orders and proclamations of their Sheykhs
and Emirs.
[18] Sir Robert Liston, ambassador to the Porte.
[19] Dr. John Scott, of Bedford Square, a distinguished
Oriental scholar.
[20] There is a proverb, shortly and beautifully expressed
in Oriental language, the sense of which is
this:――“There are two things, which God laughs at in
heaven――men’s determination to elevate a mortal――men’s
determination to crush one――either of which He alone
can do.”
[21] Lady Hester Stanhope advised a Dutch passport in
consequence of the insecurity to which, after the
battle of Navarino, the English, French, and Russians
were for a time exposed, from the vengeance of the
Turks.
[22] There is a curious work, called _The Doctor_, written,
as I have understood, by Dr. Southey; and, in the
123rd chapter, he seems to allude to Lady Hester’s
care in providing a suit of clothes against my
arrival. He is speaking of misplaced economy――
“Which, of a weak and niggardly projection,
Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat with scanting
A little cloth:”
And then he adds: “Lady H. Stanhope had an English
physician with her in Syria, who, if he be living, can
bear testimony that her ladyship did not commit this
fault, when she superintended the cutting-out of his
scarlet galligaskins.”
[23] This is the girl _Fatôom_, who afterwards, in
conjunction with others, robbed her ladyship of money
and effects to a considerable amount.
[24] See Additional Notes, at the end of the volume.
[25] Formerly secretary to Lady Hester Stanhope, now
French vice-consul at Damascus. He is the individual
so highly eulogized in M. Lamartine’s _Souvenirs de
l’Orient_.
[26] The names of these ladies and gentlemen were Mr.
Cronin, a surgeon; Mrs. and Miss Cronin, his mother
and sister; Mr. Parnell, son of Sir Henry Parnell, and
afterwards Lord Congleton; Mr. Newman, a gentleman of
great classical acquirements; and Mr. Hamilton.