DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0553
APPENDIX.
239
unwholesome sway of the Porte once more to establish itself in this country.
When England dispossessed Mehemet Ali of Syria, in order to restore it to the
Turks, the aged Emir Beschir was brought to account for his unprofitable inti-
macy with the Egyptians. He and his three sons were ordered to proceed to
Constantinople, where they have ever since remained under strict surveillance,
with the exception of the youngest, whose reception of us at Beteddeen I have
related in a former chapter.
The chief authority is now possessed by the Emir Sadadin of Hasbeya ; the
Emir Afendy of Rascheia is next in consideration. These families are both
Moslem, though the Emir Beschir and his ancestry were Christian, which
they became in order to conciliate the then powerful sect of the Maronites.
This people derive their origin from Maron, a saint of the fifth century ; per-
secuted as heretics by the Greek Empire, they have long survived their op-
pressors, and preserved their own peculiar faith with little alteration up to this
hour. It is true they have occasionally acknowledged obedience to the See of
Rome ; but the Legate is subordinate in power to the Patriarch, and their
priests marry and celebrate mass in the Syriac instead of Latin. The Pope
entered into this compromise with them, they refusing to learn Latin, but de-
ferring so far to the Roman pleasure as to consent to use the old Syriac lan-
guage in their masses, as equally unintelligible to their hearers as the Latin.
The Patriarch bears himself as despotically in his monastery of Canobin, near
Tripoli, as if he still held his ancient rule at Antioch. Nine bishops and one
hundred and fifty priests minister to about 150,000 souls. They have numer-
ous monasteries, and are exceedingly ignorant and poor, but very tolerant.
The chief Maronite districts are the Kesrouan, Djebail, and Katch Bukfaijet.
The Metoualis, or Moslem sectaries who follow Ali in preference to Osmar,
are the wildest and least civilized, but also the fewest in number of the tribes.
They do not amount to more than 20,000, and inhabit Akaleem, Sidon, Baal-
bec, and the mountains near Djebail.
The Druses are the most characteristic people, and their worship is wrapped
in mystery. To them, the form of religion they outwardly profess appears a
matter of indifference. If thrown among Moslems, they follow their usages ;
if among Christians, they adopt theirs. The founder of their faith was a lu-
natic Caliph of Cairo, called the " Hakeem," who announced himself as the
long-promised Messiah of all faiths. He, they say, was taken up into heaven ;
but his faithful follower, Hamza, was graciously left on earth to enlighten it
with his doctrines. Banished from Egypt, he found a refuge among the moun-
tains of Lebanon, where his creed spread rapidly. On his death, Moktana,
his disciple, carried on the prophet business, and reduced it into order. He an-
nounced seven commandments, inculcating Veracity, Charity, Renunciation
of Mahomet, Submission to God's will, Confession, Fidelity to their Faith, and
acknowledgment that all other religions are mere types, more or less perfect,
ef this, the perfect one.
They were divided into two great classes and many sects ; the former con*
239
unwholesome sway of the Porte once more to establish itself in this country.
When England dispossessed Mehemet Ali of Syria, in order to restore it to the
Turks, the aged Emir Beschir was brought to account for his unprofitable inti-
macy with the Egyptians. He and his three sons were ordered to proceed to
Constantinople, where they have ever since remained under strict surveillance,
with the exception of the youngest, whose reception of us at Beteddeen I have
related in a former chapter.
The chief authority is now possessed by the Emir Sadadin of Hasbeya ; the
Emir Afendy of Rascheia is next in consideration. These families are both
Moslem, though the Emir Beschir and his ancestry were Christian, which
they became in order to conciliate the then powerful sect of the Maronites.
This people derive their origin from Maron, a saint of the fifth century ; per-
secuted as heretics by the Greek Empire, they have long survived their op-
pressors, and preserved their own peculiar faith with little alteration up to this
hour. It is true they have occasionally acknowledged obedience to the See of
Rome ; but the Legate is subordinate in power to the Patriarch, and their
priests marry and celebrate mass in the Syriac instead of Latin. The Pope
entered into this compromise with them, they refusing to learn Latin, but de-
ferring so far to the Roman pleasure as to consent to use the old Syriac lan-
guage in their masses, as equally unintelligible to their hearers as the Latin.
The Patriarch bears himself as despotically in his monastery of Canobin, near
Tripoli, as if he still held his ancient rule at Antioch. Nine bishops and one
hundred and fifty priests minister to about 150,000 souls. They have numer-
ous monasteries, and are exceedingly ignorant and poor, but very tolerant.
The chief Maronite districts are the Kesrouan, Djebail, and Katch Bukfaijet.
The Metoualis, or Moslem sectaries who follow Ali in preference to Osmar,
are the wildest and least civilized, but also the fewest in number of the tribes.
They do not amount to more than 20,000, and inhabit Akaleem, Sidon, Baal-
bec, and the mountains near Djebail.
The Druses are the most characteristic people, and their worship is wrapped
in mystery. To them, the form of religion they outwardly profess appears a
matter of indifference. If thrown among Moslems, they follow their usages ;
if among Christians, they adopt theirs. The founder of their faith was a lu-
natic Caliph of Cairo, called the " Hakeem," who announced himself as the
long-promised Messiah of all faiths. He, they say, was taken up into heaven ;
but his faithful follower, Hamza, was graciously left on earth to enlighten it
with his doctrines. Banished from Egypt, he found a refuge among the moun-
tains of Lebanon, where his creed spread rapidly. On his death, Moktana,
his disciple, carried on the prophet business, and reduced it into order. He an-
nounced seven commandments, inculcating Veracity, Charity, Renunciation
of Mahomet, Submission to God's will, Confession, Fidelity to their Faith, and
acknowledgment that all other religions are mere types, more or less perfect,
ef this, the perfect one.
They were divided into two great classes and many sects ; the former con*