SYRIA.
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON.
1835-1842.
We now enter upon a period of some special difficulty in the
prosecution of the missionary work. Turkey, Egypt, and several great
European powers, conflicting for secular objects, brought the Druzes
into very singular and as it proved unfortunate, relations to the
mission.
The Druzes are found chiefly on the mountains of Lebanon, and in the
country called the Hauran, south of Damascus, and number sixty or
seventy thousand souls. The sect originated with Hakem, a Caliph of
Egypt, but derived its name from El Drusi, a zealous disciple of the
Caliph. They believe Hakem to be the tenth, last, and most important
incarnation of God, and render him divine honors. They have ever
taken great pains to conceal their tenets, which seem to be
compounded from Mohammedanism and Paganism, and it is only a portion
of themselves that know what the tenets are. Those are called the
Akkâl, or _initiated_; the others are the Jebal, or _uninitiated_.
Four centuries and a half after the death of the founder of the
sect, it became powerful under a single chief. Inhabiting the rugged
mountains of Lebanon, they maintained for many ages a free and
independent spirit in the midst of despotism, and were a
semi-independent people within the Turkish dominions down to the
summer of 1835, when they were subdued by Ibrahim Pasha.
As early as 1831, a hope was awakened in the mission, that the
Gospel might be successfully introduced among that people. A Druze
woman was in the habit of coming daily to listen to the reading of
the Scriptures and to religious conversation, and would often say,
"That's the truth," with her face bathed in tears. Her visits were
continued until she fell a victim to the plague. An old man, also,
who was one of the "initiated," came, and, after much disputation,
professed to receive the Gospel. In proof of his sincerity, he
brought one of the secret books of his religion, and gave it to the
missionaries. Mr. Smith, moreover, when on the mountains, was
invited to attend one of their stated meetings, and, at its close,
was requested to read and expound a portion of the word of God.
The prospects became more favorable in 1835. Mr. Bird and others
spent the hot months of summer at Aaleih, a Druze village on
Lebanon. Mrs. Dodge gathered a school of girls there, and Mr. Bird
had ten or fifteen Druzes present at his Arabic preaching every
Sabbath, and among them the young sheiks of the village, with their
servants. Many of the people listened with attention, and received
and read the New Testament and other religious books, with apparent
eagerness. They readily acknowledged that neither repentance,
alms-giving, prayers, nor any works of their own, were sufficient to
insure the pardon of sin; and when pointed to the great atonement of
the Lord Jesus, it seemed to commend itself to their understanding
and conscience. Though nominally the disciples of the Koran, they
did not cry out "blasphemy," as did the Moslems, when told that
Jesus is the Son of God, thus partaking of the divine nature; but
they seemed to feel that this character was necessary for one who
should undertake to be a Saviour for a world of sinners.
Mr. Bird coming down from the mountains to accompany his sick wife
to Smyrna, Mr. Smith took his place, and visited eight or nine
villages, with every opportunity afforded him for preaching the
Gospel; and he was everywhere listened to with respectful attention.
Though aware of the deceitfulness of the people, he could not but
see how open they then were to this species of missionary labor. Yet
he could not find among them any real spirit of inquiry, and his
only hope was in the influences of the Holy Spirit, giving efficacy
to the truth. The Druzes, though wrapped up in hypocrisy, and
apparently without one spiritual thought, were of the same race with
all other men, and the preaching of the word might be expected, in
the end, to have the same effect upon them.
There was reason to believe, that this movement among the Druzes
grew mainly out of their recent subjugation by the Egyptians, and
their apprehension of a military conscription. They had always
professed Mohammedanism hypocritically, to escape the oppressions
which Christians suffered under Moslem rule; but now the Christians
fared better than the Moslems, in that they were not liable to be
drafted into the army, to which as Moslems the Druzes were exposed.
They had very painful apprehensions of such a levy, and the reason
having ceased that had led them to profess Mohammedanism, they were
disposed to renounce that religion; and some among the uninitiated
seemed ready to renounce the Druze religion also. Their great object
was to enjoy equal rights with the Christians, and especially to
escape the military conscription.
A levy had been demanded of the Druzes before this visit of the
brethren to the mountains, and had been refused, with an urgent
request to Mohammed Ali that he would not impose upon them so odious
a burden. Nothing was heard in reply until the fourth day after Mr.
Smith's return to Beirût, when Ibrahim Pasha presented himself at
Deir el-Kamr, at the head of eighteen thousand men. Taken by
surprise, no opposition was made. Both Druzes and Christians were at
once disarmed, and officers were left to collect recruits.
With the dreaded evil thus strongly upon them, there was a more
general disposition to throw off the Druze religion. Applications
came from individuals and from families in different and distant
villages. Among them were some of the higher ranks. One whole family
connection of eighty individuals declared their readiness to pledge
their property as security that they would never apostatize from the
Christian faith; and had it been in the power of the mission to
secure to them the political standing of Christian sects, and had
the brethren been disposed to favor a national conversion, after the
example of the early and middle ages, it is probable that the whole
body of the Jebal Druzes, at least, would have become nominal
Protestants. Of course the missionaries explained to them how
inconsistent with the spirituality of our religion would be such a
mere profession of Christianity. For a few Sabbaths, the Arab
congregation was composed chiefly of Druzes; and Mr. Smith threw
open his doors to them at the time of family prayers, and had the
opportunity of reading and explaining the Gospel to from ten to
fifteen for two months; but without finding evidence, with perhaps a
single exception, of a sincere desire to know the truth.
That exception was in the case of a Druze named Kasim. Mr. Smith saw
him first in October, 1835. Residing in the mountains, Kasim had two
of his sons already baptized by the Maronites, and had openly
professed himself to be no longer a Druze, but a Christian. He had
not himself received baptism, for fear of his relatives, who had
once gone in a body and beaten him. He now removed into the
immediate neighborhood of the missionary, where he hoped for
protection, and he and his family became regular attendants upon
Christian worship. He professed a strong attachment to the Saviour,
as did also his wife, and they both made evident progress in
religious knowledge. Both openly declared themselves Protestants,
and were anxious for baptism. The officer of the Emir Beshir,
finding in his hands a testimonial from Mr. Smith, that he was a
Christian, respected him in this character, while he was seizing all
his Druze neighbors for soldiers; but he had not then been admitted
to the church, for want of sufficient evidence of true conversion.
Kasim was at length apprehended by the governor of Beirût, beaten to
make him confess that he was a Moslem, and cast into prison. Mr.
Smith visited him, and urged him to make the profession he intended
to abide by, that the mission might know what to do. In the presence
of a dozen Moslems, he professed himself a Christian, and declared
that he would die a Christian, if they burned him at the stake. The
governor, on hearing this, ordered him to be thrust into the inner
prison, and loaded with chains. Here his persecutors renewed their
promises and threats, but his firmness remained unshaken, and they
left him in prison. Such a confession had never been made in Beirût
before, and it attracted much attention. The poor man in his
dungeon, aware of the danger of his situation, spent much of his
time in prayer, and was often heard by his fellow-prisoners, in the
watches of the night, calling upon Jesus Christ to help him. He even
sent directions to a friend respecting the disposal of a few
effects, in case he should be martyred, thereby showing his
expectation of persevering unto death.
As the best thing that could be done, the American Consul at Beirût,
who took a deep interest in the case, addressed a letter to Soleiman
Pasha, next in power to Ibrahim, who was then at Sidon on his way to
Beirût. This was favorably received, and the Pasha expressed his
wish that the family would send a petition to him, that he might be
ready to judge the case when he should arrive at Beirût. This was
accordingly done, and the requisite evidence was made ready. The
poor man received his food daily from his missionary friend, with
messages of cheer, and he never wavered.
On the arrival of the Pasha, the prisoner's wife immediately sought
access to him, and this she did day after day; but the governor of
Beirût threw every obstacle in her way. The Pasha wished to set him
free, without seeming to yield to Frank dictation, or stirring up
Moslem fanaticism. At length the governor, threatened by the agent
of the European consuls with deposition, presented himself in person
at the door of the prison, and told Kasim to go free.
Thus terminated, after an imprisonment of seventeen days, the first
case of a converted Druze called to confess Jesus Christ before a
Moslem tribunal. This was in the early part of the year 1836.
Kasim was kept by the mission two years on probation, but on the
first Sabbath in 1838 he and his wife were admitted to the church,
and were baptized, with their six children, receiving Christian
names at their own request. Mr. Thomson took occasion to preach on
the subject of baptism, explaining the true meaning and intention of
the ordinance. The congregation was larger than usual, and there was
more solemn attention than had ever been witnessed in the chapel.
Much anxiety was felt for Kasim, but he was not molested. His
brother and his brother's wife also made a very importunate request
for baptism, and the mission not long after complied with it.
As these converts were not molested after their baptism, the Druzes
resorted more and more to the mission for instruction. Mr. Thomson
was invited to visit their villages, and open among them schools and
places of worship. They applied for the admission of their sons to
the seminary, and a young sheik was received, his friends paying the
expense. Some of them corresponded with Mr. Thomson by letter, and
some came to reside at Beirût. The Papists assailed them with
promises, flatteries, and threats of vengeance from the Emir Beshir;
but the Druzes declared they would never join the Church of Rome.
While the mission was aware that in all this the Druzes were greatly
influenced by political changes, past and expected, they could not
avoid the hope that an increasing number were really desirous of
knowing and obeying the truth. Indeed it was impossible to avoid
this conclusion with the facts before them, some of which Mr.
Thomson embodied thus in his journal:--
"_August_ 13, 1838. This morning Kasim brought a leading Druze to
see me. He is from Shweifat, and desires to become an English
Christian. His conversation was very satisfactory, so far as
sensible and even pious remarks are concerned. He makes the most
solemn appeals to the Searcher of Hearts to bear witness to his
sincerity; asks neither for protection, employment, or money; but
says, that his only object is to secure the salvation of his soul.
He asks for nothing but Christian instruction, which I of course was
most happy to afford to the extent of my abilities. Alas! that long
experience with people here, and especially with the Druzes, compels
me to receive with hesitation their most solemn protestations.
"_Sept_. 5. M., the ruling sheik of A., came down from the mountains
to request Christian instruction and baptism for himself and family.
He is very earnest and rational, for a Druze, and thinks that nearly
all his villages will unite with him. In a conversation, protracted
to more than half a day, I endeavored to place before him, with all
possible plainness, our views of what true religion is. He is not so
ignorant on this subject as most Druzes, having been acquainted with
us for many years, and frequently present at our Arabic worship.
"_Sept_. 6. Sheik S., from the heart of Lebanon, came to-day with
the same request for Christian instruction, not only for himself,
but for his father and four brothers, leading sheiks of the
mountains. He asks not for protection, money, or temporal advantage
in any way, but solely for religious instruction; and declares, with
apparent sincerity, that his only desire is to secure the salvation
of his soul. He says concerning their own superstition, that he
knows it is utterly false and pernicious; and that, having for three
years read the Bible, and compared the various sects with it, he is
persuaded that they have forsaken the word of God, and imposed upon
men many human inventions, designed not for the good of the people,
but to augment the power and wealth of the priesthood. He mentioned
with special abhorrence auricular confession, and forgiveness of sin
by the priest; also, their long fasts, their prayers to saints, and
their worship of images and pictures; showing that he was well
acquainted with the leading differences between us and them; and
proving, by his pertinent quotations from the Bible, that he had
read it with attention and understanding.
"Sheik S. intends to remain several days for the purpose of
receiving more instruction. He appears to have no fears of
persecution, but to be resolved to persevere whatever may happen.
"_Sept_. 12. Went to B.'T., and spent the day in conversing with the
large family of sheiks there. These sheiks govern, under the Emir,
all this part of Lebanon. The greater part of them appear resolved
to become Christians at all hazards. Alas! how little do they know
of that religion, which they profess to be so anxious to embrace.
The mother of the sheiks in A. is married to the most powerful sheik
in B.'T., and she sent word to her children, encouraging them to
become Christians, and approving also of their plan to place the
youngest boys in our seminary.
"I had no time to converse with the common people in B.'T., but one
of our Christian Druzes who accompanied me, spent the day with them,
and tells me, that a great many of the villagers wished to join us.
Here also the Papists are busy as bees, both with arguments and
terrors. What the end will be, is known only to God."
Two days later, several sheiks camp down from the mountains, with an
apparent determination to take houses, and receive religious
instruction; declaring their wish not to return to the mountains
until they had been both instructed and baptized. The same day, two
Druzes came as agents from a large clan of their people residing in
Anti-Lebanon, three days from Beirût, professing to treat in behalf
of their whole community. In the evening, several leading Druzes
came from Andara, the highest habitable part of Lebanon, professing
to act in the name of their whole village, and earnestly requesting
the mission to open schools, build a church, and baptize them all
forthwith. The missionary preached to them till a late hour, and
they promised to come again after a few days. They kept their
promise, and stated that they had made arrangements with the people
of several villages to unite together, and all declare themselves
Christians at the same time; hoping that the Emir, when he saw so
many of them of one mind, would not venture to execute the plans of
cruel persecution, with which they were threatened. Mr. Thomson now
found it necessary to call in the aid of Mr. Hebard and Mr. Lanneau.
The Emir Beshir, urged on by the Papal priests, now sent for the
young Druze sheiks, and threatened them with the full measure of his
wrath. This occasioned a division among them, some through fear
siding with the Emir. The father of several young sheiks,--a
venerable old man, with rank and talents to give him extensive
influence,--being at Beirût, declared in oriental style his
attachment to the Gospel, and his intended adherence to it.
The excitement among the Druzes continued, and visitors from all
parts of Lebanon thronged the house of the missionary, till winter
rendered communication with the mountains difficult.
Near the close of November, a number of Druzes, who had become Greek
Papists, were seized by order of the Pasha, and cast into prison,
whence five of them were drafted into the army. The rest were
allowed to return to their homes. It was understood that the Pasha
would not disturb the Protestant converts; but he had shown that he
was not disposed to tolerate the conversion of the Druzes to
Christianity. Kasim and his associates appeared resolved to go not
only to prison, but to death, rather than deny Christ.
At the close of the year, the severity of the Emir, in connection
with the snows of winter, greatly diminished the attendance of
Druzes at the meetings. The knowledge, also, that they could not be
baptized till they had given evidence of being truly converted,
helped to repress the movement. Still, some of the more hopeful
persons continued to show their interest in the Gospel.
Syria was now within the jurisdiction of Egypt, and hence the
mission was not affected by the persecutions, for which the year
1839 was so distinguished in Turkey. But the missionary force was
much reduced, Messrs. Bird, Smith, and Whiting being in the United
States. The Rev. Elias R. Beadle and Charles S. Sherman arrived as
missionaries, with their wives, in the autumn of that year; and
Messrs. Samuel Wolcott, Nathaniel A. Keyes, and Leander Thompson,
with their wives, and Dr. C. V. A. Van Dyck, in April 1840. They had
the language to learn, and the press lay idle during the year, for
want of a printer and funds. Mrs. Hebard died in February.
Yet there was progress. A large and convenient chapel had been
obtained, where were held two stated Arabic services on the Sabbath;
and on the evening of the Sabbath, the natives had a prayer meeting
by themselves. In the free schools there were eighty scholars; the
seminary for boys had twenty boarders; and the distribution of books
and tracts continued. In this work a blind old man of the Greek
Church named Aboo Yusoof was an efficient helper. Though stooping
with age, he went about the country with a donkey loaded with books,
and a little boy to lead him, doing what he could. In a district
northeast of Tripoli, he was encouraged in his work by the
approbation of the Greek bishop Zacharias.
The political and religious events then occurring were intimately
connected. The conquest of Syria by Mohammed Ali, was the apparent
cause of the religious movement among the Druzes already described.
The defeat of the Sultan's army at Nisib, in 1839, and the feelings
of jealousy towards France and Egypt, then intimately allied, led to
the determination of England, Russia, Prussia, and Austria to
restore Syria and the Turkish fleet to the Porte. The consequent
armed intervention made Beirût the seat of war. An English fleet
bombarded the city, and the English officers, by a singular
miscalculation, treated the Papal Maronites as their friends, and
the Druzes as their enemies. Missionary operations were suspended.
Mr. Lanneau, whose eyes had failed him, left on a visit to the
United States. Messrs. Beadle, Keyes, and Leander Thompson spent the
summer and autumn at Jerusalem, and Dr. Van Dyck joined them there.
Messrs. W. M. Thomson and Wolcott remained at Beirût until the
bombardment, when Captain Latimer, of the United States corvette
_Cyane_, who had come to Beirût to look after their welfare, kindly
took them and their families to Cyprus.
In the presence of such mighty forces, the mission could only wait
the course of events. The brethren, before leaving Beirût, had done
all they could for the protection of their houses, furniture, the
Arabic press, and the library and philosophical apparatus. They did
this by hoisting over their houses the American flag and placing
guards in them, and by an understanding with the admiral. The pupils
in the boarding-school were sent to their friends. Mr. Wolcott
visited Beirût during the contest, and found the Egyptian forces
evacuating the town, and the British troops taking possession. He
met the American consul there surveying the ruins of his house,
which had been battered by the great guns and plundered by the
pasha's soldiers; but the magazine beneath it, which contained most
of the property of Messrs. Beadle and Keyes, had not been opened.
Making his way through the ruins of the city to the mission houses,
he saw the American flags still floating over them, and the guards
on the ground. Soldiers had encamped in his garden, but had
abstained from pillage. A few bombs had burst in the yard, and
several cannon balls had penetrated the walls. The furniture, the
library, the philosophical apparatus were uninjured. The native
chapel in Mr. Thomson's house had been filled with goods, brought
thither for safety by the natives, and these had not been molested.
The field around Mr. Smith's house had been plowed by cannon balls,
and he expected to find the new Arabic types converted into bullets,
but not a type had been touched. Even the orange and lemon trees,
within his inclosure, were bending with their load of fruit. All
this was remarkable; and the goodness of Providence was gratefully
acknowledged at the time, by the missionaries and by their patrons
at home.
The persecuting Emir Beshir surrendered, and was sent to Malta, and
a relative of the same name, but with small capacity for governing,
was appointed Prince of the Mountains. The mission families returned
from Cyprus before the end of the year, and the seminary was
resumed; but those students who had been taught enough of English to
make themselves intelligible as interpreters, had all been drawn
away by the high wages which British officers paid for such
services. The place of Tannûs, Arabic teacher in the seminary, who
was sick, was supplied by Butrus el-Bistany, from the Maronite
College at Ain Warka. He had written a treatise against the
corruptions of Popery and the supremacy of the Pope, and the enraged
Patriarch had tried to get him into his power, but without success.
The brethren all reassembled at Beirût early in the year 1841, and
Mr. Beadle, with a native assistant, commenced a station at Aleppo,
but it was not long continued. The press resumed its operations with
the new type, under the management of Mr. George Hurter, a printer
just arrived from America. The declining health of Mr. Hebard
compelled him to suspend missionary labors, and he died at Malta,
June 30, on his way to the United States, greatly and deservedly
lamented. About the same time, Mr. Smith arrived at Beirût, on his
return to Syria, with his wife. Four months later, Mrs. Wolcott was
called away, after a distressing illness of three days, but in sure
and certain hope of a blessed immortality.
The allied powers had settled the affairs of the East in a manner
not agreeable to France, and that government seems to have sought
redress through the Jesuits. In the first month of 1841, three
French Jesuits arrived at Beirût, with an ample supply of money;
and, at the same time, the Maronite Patriarch received large sums
from France and Austria, ostensibly for the relief of sufferers in
the late war, but never expended for such a purpose. The Maronites
had been the chief movers in favor of the Sultan and the English,
and the English agent in negotiating with them was a Roman Catholic.
On account of their services in that war, the Maronites stood high
in favor with the English officers and with the Turkish government;
and the Patriarch received important additions to his power, till he
thought himself strong enough to expel the American missionaries and
crush the Druzes. The local authorities having no power to drive the
missionaries away, he petitioned the Sultan to do this. The Sultan
laid the subject before Commodore Porter, then American Minister at
the Porte, who said he was not authorized by his government to
protect men thus employed. This fact coming in some way to the
knowledge of the Patriarch, he made proclamation through the
mountains, that the American missionaries were denounced by their
own government as troublesome, mischief-making proselyters, and
would not be protected.1
1 This mistaken opinion of the Minister was made the subject of
correspondence with the United States Government, and the favorable
response by Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, is quoted in chapter
xviii.
Meanwhile, the English officers had obtained a more correct
understanding of the relations of parties in Lebanon; and they saw
at once that it was for the interest of England that the Druzes
should be encouraged to become Protestants. They therefore held
consultations with the Druze sheiks, and the results were
communicated to the British government. As a natural consequence,
the Druze sheiks expected support from England, and some at least of
the British officers were in favor of such support, should the
Druzes put themselves under the instruction of the American
missionaries. It is certain, at any rate, that the Druze sheiks
confidently expected this. With such expectations, they made a
definite agreement with the mission, that a school for the sons of
the ruling class should be established at Deir el-Kamr, and other
schools as fast as practicable in their villages, and that the
missionaries should be welcomed as religious teachers among all
their people.
A school was at once opened at Deir el-Kamr by Messrs. Wolcott and
Van Dyck, and Mr. Thomson removed to 'Ain Anab to superintend the
schools for the common people, of which there were three opened in
the vicinity. Mr. Smith, on arriving at Beirût, was so much
interested that he did not stop to open his house, but went up at
once to Deir el-Kamr.
In this same month, the Rev. Mr. Gobat, a German in the service of
the Church Missionary Society, arrived from Malta. He had long been
known as a missionary in Egypt and Abyssinia, and was a personal
friend of the older members of the mission. His object was to see if
he could make arrangements by which evangelical missionaries of the
English Church could advantageously share in the labors for
converting the Druzes.
In September, despatches arrived from Lord Palmerston, which were
reported to contain an order for taking the Druzes under British
protection; and with them came from England the Rev. Mr.
Nicholayson,--originally a Baptist, and at this time an Episcopalian
and zealous high-churchman--with instructions, it was said, to
assist in carrying out that arrangement. He did not agree with Mr.
Gobat in respect to the treatment due to the American missionaries;
and when the Druzes inquired of him what support they might expect
from England, the answers they received led them to the conclusion,
that England would not protect them unless they renounced the
American missionaries, and put themselves under the exclusive
instruction of clergymen from the English Church. This they were not
ready to do. Mr. Gobat retired, in a spirit of catholicity. Neither
did Mr. Nicholayson prosecute his mission, being disheartened, it
may be, by the civil war which shortly arose between the Maronites
and Druzes. His intervention was unfortunate, and I find it referred
to, thirty years afterwards, by a venerable member of the mission,
as a warning against similar intrusions.
The Patriarch now deemed himself strong enough to enter upon his
project of crushing the Druzes. His power in the mountains being in
the ascendant, he ordered the Druze sheiks to assemble at Deir
el-Kamr. They came armed, and, as they approached Deir el-Kamr, were
required to send away their followers and lay aside their arms. They
refused. A battle ensued, and the Maronites were defeated. The
Patriarch then proclaimed a crusade against them, ordered his
bishops to take arms, and marched his forces towards the Druze
territory. But the Druzes seized the mountain passes, and defeated
every attempt to enter. Though greatly inferior in numbers, they
went desperately to work to exterminate or expel every Maronite from
their part of the mountains. Not a convent, and scarce a village or
hamlet belonging to the Maronites, was left standing. They then
descended and dispersed the main army of the Maronites; and were
ready to march northward into Kesrawan, and attack the Patriarch in
his stronghold, but were persuaded by British officers to suspend
their march. The Turkish army, which might have prevented the
conflict, now took the field, and separated the combatants.1
1 Tracy's _History_, pp. 417, 440. Report for 1842, pp. 117-124.
_Missionary Herald_, 1842, pp. 196, 229, 362.
This was very properly regarded as a providential deliverance for
the mission, which had never been threatened with so formidable an
opposition as at the beginning of the year. It now entered into a
correspondence with nearly all the principal Druze sheiks, who felt
that they had, by their swords, won the right to schools. The
prospects were at that time very hopeful. The country never seemed
more open to evangelical labors. For a year there had been no
opposition to the schools, except two or three among the Druzes. The
press was in operation without censorship, sending forth thousands
of copies each year, and there was an increasing demand for books.
The mission bookstore, in the centre of the town, was visited by all
classes, including very many high officers of government, and even
by the Seraskier himself, and there was no complaint against it. No
one had been persecuted for a long time for professing the religion
of the Bible, and Protestantism seemed to have gained a tacit
toleration.
In reply to the objection, that the mission had been long
established, and yet the conversions had been very few, Mr. Smith
wrote thus: "I ask, what labor? Has it, after all, been so
disproportioned to the results? The instrumentality highest on the
scale of efficiency for the conversion of souls in every country, is
oral instruction, especially formal preaching. Now how much of this
has there been in Syria? Before Mr. Bird could engage in it, Mr.
Fisk was called away by death. I had hardly been preaching in Arabic
a year, when Mr. Bird left for America. Mr. Thomson had but just
preached his first sermon when my family was broken up, and I became
a wanderer. Since then, we have both been here together but a few
months at a time, until the last year. And these are all the Arabic
preachers we have had at our station. In the mean time we have all
been away, once for nearly two years at Malta, and again for a while
at Cyprus. And when here, so many other cares have we had, that a
single sermon on the Sabbath has been, for most of the time, all the
formal preaching that has been done. Add to this a weekly
prayermeeting for six or seven months in the year."
Again he says: "The labor of years has been accomplished in gaining
experience, forming favorable acquaintances, doing away with
prejudice, disseminating evangelical truth, the successful
commencement of printing operations, etc. All this labor is in the
language of a vast nation of Mohammedans, the sacred language of the
whole sect, the language of their prophet. And when their power
falls, it will be so much done towards their conversion. Instead of
being alarmed and discouraged by the revolutions that are occurring
around me, I am interested in them as forerunners of that great
event."
The political changes have generally been very sudden in Syria. In
April, 1842, Omar Pasha imprisoned the leading Druze sheiks, and
Albanian soldiers were arriving daily, as if to disarm the Druzes.
And so it proved. The Turks decided to take the matter into their
own hands. An army was marched into Lebanon, accompanied by Moslem
sheiks and teachers, and the whole Druze nation was compelled to
appear, outwardly at least, as Moslem.1 The motives of the
government in this were chiefly political, but partly religious.
They wished to be able to draw recruits from this brave people for
the army, which could not be done should they become Protestant
Christians; and also, to retain a strong party in Lebanon, to be
used, as they afterwards were used, against the large nominally
Christian majority of its inhabitants. They expected thus to control
the mountains, and keep down the influence of foreign Christian
powers.
1 These statements are made on the authority of a document received
from the mission in the year 1869.
In this manner were the operations for educating and Christianizing
the Druzes suddenly arrested. In working out their policy, the Turks
necessarily resorted to measures intended to place the Druzes in
bitter antagonism to all the native Christians. In the atrocious
massacre of 1860, which, for the time, threw the Druzes far from all
Christian sympathy, that unfortunate people were used as tools by
the Turks to work out their own policy. Events such as these, are
among the deep mysteries of Providence. Nor is this mystery yet
solved; though, from facts that will appear in the sequel, we shall
see enough to authorize the hope of a renewal at some time, of the
former pleasing relations between the Druzes and Christian
missionaries.