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C4AtiLEBT.Cif i t,EAD & H. H. FRAZIER, EpI.TORS.
ri.oh ? Bpia.
LETTER" pßoxitzt a• ZEBSET.
•-
Ateent i ltr. Csivitio*, March 20, lax
1
Doeit•Bito reOived yfiurl letter of Jan.l3lat n Friday , M i.i arch l4th . ,iun king the!
time! fort y r three days lfrom bohie: This is
riot Unusual in the•Wineer season as the Med
iterrimein is quite storniy, and he Steamers
A from, Marseilles and trieste to Alexandria
and Smyrna often fail toconnece. . Moreover,
• the French are snore cautious about' ventur
ing th rough weather, :41d in consequence' are' '
;slowr,,although 9t is ti comfort that they are
much safer, than our List An.rican steamers. .
•• •
lOu may wish an explanation with regard
•to my coming here. gn Saturday morning,
L., Mr; Aiken, Rev. Mr. Benton, and I, set
out Per Bliartidun and Airi Zehalta. It was
our intention to take dinner at and fo r.
- ney ' du tai Aim Zehalta the samy:a ft ernoo
L. arid 111 . r.8..had their own horses, whi e
Mr. A. and I had horSin from "'same livery
stable. My steed Waal:in improvement upon
anything Ilhad t before "hired,. and I found . a
spur quitel unnecessary; : We rode on quiet
ly, ascending the mountain at the usual mod 7 ;
I • ;
'eratepace, climbing rugged rocks, and en
joying the itine seenery.! 'Now and then v•.e
would stop to examine; some rich locality of
fossil!shells, or to decipher some old Roman
. •
inscriptionon the face oP a projecting - rock.—
We eLtijoYpd the change in the atmosphere
we aseencied, a - fil when we reached lfHam
duo thelelevation of 6xoo feet,, it was al
'
most, like sinter at hinne. • We fleet:fed our.
overcoats in the, houst;ieven -when sitting by
a warm
.. p, m lice., inter)tnalgis as necessa
• ; !
ry here l V is at bumf, and L should have
sufrered greatiy u:ithinit it. To-day, we are
shivefing here in Abeih, (ah bay) and vre•are
Ail sitting in a room wlarined by alarge air
, 1,
tiglWstove. - - Mrs,. B. and the cluddren_were
rn Beirtit, and we, had U. bachelors' halIV, It
• was 4ur intention to gn on to Ain Zehalta on
Sault tfternOon bit horse i ! ad lost
two 4hoe, , z and the
_Arab hlacksniith could
not repairi the hiss in time to enable us to
t••
travel ove. the dangereus road 'with safety .
befor i e nightfall. AccOrdinglyi We contented
ourselves retnain, end it was decided .that
•L. shbuld leo-over in the:morning to 'preach
to the people,andwe (I4ro. A. and I)w,,uld join
him en • Mondav morning. During ni
the orn-- .
•
ing, a yoneg I)ru,,e'.47ior came in to request
atimisi o n to the churiih„: ile • isran .
ing yOung man t • ; ,Ad . !4lic Xiiotistries have.
Fong !regarded itinfzits :a 'converted Man, but
have;waited for him 't.O take the first step to
ward': adinission - tO the 'church. The Chet iR
thatthe ruses generally are the4nost false.
hearted end . unrelialilo men on the face of the .
earth: Thef fear not God nor regird
.man,
. and they liaTereduced hypocrisy 'to . a science,.
teaching it to their ehildren'as we teach truth,
fulnets. - ;The Druses' makeit a'praetice
eec.mmodates themselves to the eligiop of
the oianery in :whichj they i andalwaysi
• a:l;44r us that .the re Protestants, while
they of re with the Moslenis and
Greeks With the Greeks. ,Of course it is not
f' •
easy tP pin eonfidenee .t iin their word, and the'
few who have-come-Out frOm thimi have been
rescued into the Church only after a -long_
probaition. The social life of the Druses is .
revolting! There is'no security for either
sex among. them. While they studiously
respet fdreigners, especially the English and
American s,there are 'family feudsamong, them
which require the" - blood , of their common
foes.:; For instaneeewhen two men quarrel,
,
all of !the; relatives of each take up the' quer:-
rel, right or wrong; and if one is slain, ,
the relatives of the -efts vrho.is slain expiate
his' death ; by killing obe s of the family of the
other,fend this work Of mutual retaliation con=
.
tinuea for years. Consequently the ;. ; most of
them go; rmed, and only 'a few days since
Druse young.inan was.waylaid on. his way
from Abeih to Beihat,' and:forty of, the family
with which he -was tat variance, fired upon
. him at Once, and he fell. Thetruse women
are in' constant danger of rosing their lir
Last *eek a *-oling woman who bad marrie,
the mad of her own !choice instead of marry
the finnity, , as , waylaid by *her own
brotherland the rej eted suitor, and throivn
into it well 1
Suth'. •
_,
the state o ff' morals at this end of
ut LetlgnOn. Yet they respect the Mission
aries and are imPortnnate iii their
for Igitisionary 'among tulip.. As
'et, but little has been aceomplii , hed by tbele
schoolslas i far as-the ;conversion of the Deus
, es is eeincerned,butf ;schools established on
such a basis cannot 4: ! .. , ith4t,_ an influence.
It is difficult to say *h4 is the religion of the
Druso4 It is probably a •compromise . .
tween !Paganism and' Mohamtnedanism.—
They l build their pimples in *‘, high places,"
as did'the Baal iworshipers - of old,, and you
earl see their, sacred buildings'on tbe summits
of the iriountains in every direetion_ in the
brusdregion.
~D.uring'..the war beti,veen the
Druses and, Maioni*te, some of these tern!
plea %Vera destroyed;;: imd little .metallic
ges of the calf were found, which would seem
to indieate that' they are idolatore .
_Fa ,i,/
one oflthese iint'en at the house nilefr. Bind
in De# El Kominer. - Their . religiod'is a any&
tory, and they are &Riad by fearful oaths ..to
put ty death any .on s e who leaves them fur
another religion; *oar 'of En glish P ov "
how7er restrains them from -open violenee,
and itiben a convert hiMielf under Frank
prpteiltion,,b e Is norUPirattvelisafe. They
fear. tlle Eaglisla veri dea
ja, and will
give ela.their oive interii r stS at litre 'tittle, for
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B I
•
the : sake of gaining English favor. When
:any difficolty Occura, an appeal from one -of
our'Missionarics in ; the English or American
ConSul, is enough t;ii bring them to terms.
The young. Emir Who applied" to Mr.. B. for
admissiOn to -the' ;Church will ,probably be
put underour consular protection, and then
he will -have no fear of' molestation,' s
• Bro, A.-and ljetired early as .yrere
-quite weary, and;we could hear reading
over his Pet Arabic sermon to Mr:Benton,-.
•
in the adjoining room. Who could blame
'us from dreaming allsorts of Arabic dreams,:
after being lulled to sleep by .such
While lam trying to sleep-you 'may look
•-.
aro u nd_ the room. The floor, (as nearly
altof the floors iinSy ria) is cf mud. rolled .
down so as to be smooth and hard. ..A mat
Is spread over it, - but •noW and then it' eruni-
Res, and the k)ust comes through- the mat,
rendering it-qUite , impossible to keep the floor.
clean. The ratan is large, and there are .
-two window 4 which open on hinges. When
it rains hard the shutters outside must be
closed, else the Water would beat through
the' sash ' hnd drench the floors,. perhaps
frequ'ent mud-holes. This
!pened when Dr. Haskell and I were here..
and..our letter-writing -ivii - sstispended by, this
sudden, but necessawfnfieux of. darkness.—
The'doors are so low 7 iliAtii_ man utilised -to
'stoop, will be - compello. -- : to bend Very low
before he 'Will venture' to advance._ Along .
tbs, sides of the room are grotesque speci
mens of architectural ornament
. called• by the
Arabs, vo x :. -The wall is first 'covered With
clay, in which - the women make all 'sorts of
designs.vith their fingerS, in - circles, stars,'
diamond, squarest,•and crooked attempts at
evezything else conceivable, and- then the
Whole is coated over 'with. white wash (as
-the colored man ,in isfontrose'observes) of all
colors. This eitraVagant display,- of artistic
ornamentation does' not cditain in all 'of
. the.'
liouses of the people, as all cannot afford to
bear the.expense: • I should judge- that the
question of 'expense would be decided ,on
somewhat such a scale as the follOwing!:.--
No house can. be; thus adorned unless its 'roof
is capable of keeping .out at least one half of
the rain, and itsfloor be sufficiently' level to•
allow a tub to standsWithriut - tipping over.
'You will be interested in the ceilings. 1 'As.
I explained oirce before,the roofs are Tirade by
laying doWn
. large timbers, then cross beams
about' two feet apart, and on these a mass of
rough flat ,stories, over which is a thick layer
•of earth. If a worm should crawl thr4g - h
from above and lose his hold as to injure
himself by fulling:upon your bed or in your
face, you will commiserate his condition, and
• •
mentally exp en the wish that none of his
fellows.inay
. sha his fate. . -') • .
i •; If you - now leave ato sleep and &cam,
and happen ',to return -again at -14:o. o'clock
in the morning, you will find *lighting a
-Match to explore the foot4if -bed,- on which
something has just faller from. above,:and •
You will commend that wise foresight which
leads me to probe by candle light whether
the fallen object were a stone, a scorpion, or'
a 'centipede, that, if it were either. of the lat.:
-ter, I might not injure it by rough ,hand
ling in the; dark." And when I
. find it to 'be
a stone abOut the size ot a snuff box, you
will. expect me,, •I think most just, to ex
press my gratitude that it did not fall in my
face: • . • •
Sabbath morning was bright and heautiful
and Lorenzo set out early for Ain Zehaltti. -
We attended. the Arabic 'preaching. Abob
kah-ooah preached
. on the text, "As Moses
lifted. up the serpent in the wilderness" &c.
earuest manner was s very impressive,
arid the Arabs listened with, great attention.
I ''aw in the audience little Katarina, of whOm
I Spoke itr a recent letter to you. She sat
,with the otlier little girls, and behaver'l her
self like a lady: •
In the evening, Mr. Aiken and I attended
theiconference meeting which was very *Sir:i
lia! to the . one held here, during my last vis
it,.,exceptingthe fact that there _was a stone
in :e room'and cOnsequently not so . much
eas on the former occasion. Our Arab
$, .er , Aboo-F-- conducted the meeting. 7--.;
ltwas free tp all, and all joined in the con
versation. One man, who came- over - to' oti-
Win employment froni Mr. Benton as a teach
er, in LOS native town, and had boasted of his
knoieledge -of the Bible and ti .e way of waive
tiOn; was asked by A-J--F--how he received'
peace of conscience? He said;'- by
,Ais good
utorks. itiimediately began to ques
tion him, and by'quoting passage after pas
sage of Scripture,' the instance of Paul and of
all holy men who counted theinselves as "un.
profitable servants" after having done-all, he
asked" this man if his good works could give
him peace of conscience ? . He hung bis head`
and said no. The poor man kad never seen
a Missionary before, and was utterly ign4-
rant of the truth, and when Aboo F— urged it
home upon him, he was greatly interested.-
-On Monday morning he came to Mr. Benton
for a Testament. and some other religious
books to give Aim-light.
As usual at these meetino pipei and ed.
fee were passed around, and it did not eon
t(ibute rquch. to our relish of the coffee, to
see the man of the souse wipe, out the cups
w itb - his handkeickief! Courtesy would not
sillovr us tO refuse it. '
Aboo-rah-ooah continued his - exhortations
,
very monent, until his departure, aad as we
the meeting, he urged thew all' to be seta
one to God, as they kneur not %Ast:night
befall they berme the next triotzdng:" He is
a model Chrlafian:: • •
13ro. ;old ' I
roils
6 :i 3 VnEEboul :A-KL):1[1-6417..A_63'allA
over to Ain Zehalta to Join L: The
was not only rough, rocky, ,steep and' crook
ed, but-it was absolutely terrific. Imagine
yourself riding - alcng. - the -edge of the Pal
isades on' the Hudson; or'elimbing on :horse
back the precipitous clifikalong the Delaware
„division of the Erie R. R and you can- -sym
'pathize partially with the traveler on Mt.' Leb
anon. At times you ,find -yourself on the
:brink of a precipice, with no road in sight ex-.
cept that immediately 4efore you which turns
zigzag down the nicks, ' into a deep ravine,
from which 'the aScent, on the other side is
equally steep and rough. In one' place, there
from
"topa natural staircase about 300 feet- from
j topto bottom, which is id - steep and narrow: .
'that I did - not - Von . ture 'to ride - , up. Mr. A.
'and I gave our horses to the' guide, and it,
made me quite dizzy, even to walk along
such a precipiee.: Some of the steps arenear
ly three feet high, and the poor horses are
compelled to jump and plunge -so violently
that.l ail'ondtt that they 10 - not lose their foo:-,
hig c and fall olio the ravines below.
The scenery bet Ween B'Hamdun and Ain .
Zehalta is gand. AboVe,, toward the east
ward, extendS the highest range of Lebanon..
'As we descended the deep ravine be
low, and related the. range next to Ain.
Zehalta; apitignifieent landscape burst upOU.
us. Var. down in the valley, perhaps a
thoUsand or' fifteen — hundred feet below us
,i
there_were deep gorgoi with precipitous rocky
sides,' into which several; large waterfalls'
•
poured in succession, 'with a thundering -
On opposite side, clifr_after cliff arose
rugged, awful grandeur, while the: immense
detached
,rnasses of rocks which-lay loose
and seemingly. restless on the sloping surface,
Only waiting the wearing ofthe waters, or a
slight eartb•quake'+ shock to send them with
fearful velocity into the unseen .depths
hiw, threafened With instant destruction
whatever might stand in their way. Yonder
is a goatherd with his Hoek of jet black goats,
and you wonder why they are nut precipita
ted into the deep ravines, as they leap
. from
erne; to crag. The air ,„ is'so clear that you car.
almost recognize a man at the diStanee
mite across these mountain valleys, and vil
lages, which are many miles distant; see to
almost within reach. This amazing trans
parency of the atmosphere is at- times quite
perplexing: You arc constantly making mis
takes about distances,'and in some places
have found it almost impossible to take'pen
cif sketchiS of landeape settnery-, as the back
ground of the picture seems - as, near as- the
fore;ground. There is no blue haze - on the
distant 'mountains, no indistinctness in re
mote objects, and the whole scene seems a :
vast erdw - ding together of maentains . ,eliffs and
villages. We noticed'again, as I have.already
statedia_a previous letter, the - singular phe--•
nomenon presented by the sea. It seems to
be above the tops of the highest mountains,
and-the horiZon is in' the clouds. Another-,
result of this clearness of the air, - is, that an
object which is really lower than'you are on
the land seems to be higher. In one place be
tween B'Hamdun and Beirut, there' is a long
. aqueduct'extending-knore than a mile
.down'
the mountain, built-for purpose of
water - from a ifiring to a khaig, (or
inm) , The aqueduct runs along by the'. road
side, and if a hundred men should visit - the
place for the express Purpose of making a
scientific examination, I verily - believe that
every one of them would insist that, the wa
ter runs- up hill, and 'that the khan 'is higher
than the - spring. The deception is Complete. , '
We examined. it very. closely, - and- I Wc.iuld,
not believe that the.apring was ',the 'highest'
(absurd as the contrary supposition' would
be,) until I saw the water running freely the
'whole distance in an aqueduct for the most'
part Iln - covered.
•
Again, any one would insist that Deir El
finnuner is higher than Ain Zehaltis, And yet
the fountains of the latter place supply the
fornier with water through an aqueduct.
. When •we Were within an hour of Ain Ze.,
halta-we met"BrO. Lyons who had come Out
to meet us. He said that be preached to a
large audience on the Sabbath, and the peo
ple onder'stood the whole of his sernion.--•
As he entered the town on his way to the
house . whereAhe meeting was held; the vil_
lagers crowded around him, kissing his handi
and uttering•ev . ery expression of welcome.—
He seems to have had A delightful- Sabbath.
After'narrating our mutual Sabbath expe
rience, we rode together.into the town, stop
ping a'cnoment at the " Ain Zehalta flourin g
mills." This is where , the natures get their
flour. Die mill-stones.are about like ours
at home, and the water wheel is constructed
on correct' principles. . The " hopper" is of
rough boards, bound together with long wide:
of oak ,branches, and suspended from the wall
on ropes of wood. The flour, 'on coming out
fron, the mill -stones, falls into a large hole in
the rock, whence it is taken in bags. made of
sheep-skins and goat-skins, with the neck and
legs on. 'Of course, the small stones sad
dust which lie about the. floor occasionally
..beikune mingled in inseparable union with
the flour, but this is no objection here, as the
quality of the bread depends. on the grit
which is imparted to it by the lime stone duet.
After crossing theitone bridge, we scaled
the bill toward Ain Zehalta through beds of
iron ore and crumbling sand banks. As, we
dismounted, the people crowded around us,
the child= kissed our hands, the men and
women indulged in every conceivable salutar .
ind showed us into the lvise of iCha ,
'lea, which Mr.:and Mris. L. occupied hint
l aninmer; It was so
"that ar . e'pni, on our overcoats, and ,yet the
',•• .•••• 4 •- M,• -•
.40,N.' . r,05E, THURS
•
, i sun, was pouring down a ROW Of heat o utside.
Khaleel's wife brought orange water for us
to drink, and inarnediatelx after we. walked
down the hill to see the celebrated fountains.
1
There are three distinct springs, sending forth
a large volunie of water. ne of the streams
is as large as the Roaring rook in Scranton,
and it gushes out from the , rock, fresh, cool
and sparkling, during the wbele year.
ReGlilbg from the. fenntains, we , found
dinner ready. It Was 110 Arab dinner 'slight
ly Americanized. Soups' was the firstcourse.
The chief ,ingre,dients were oi/ ; and rice, arid
I almost lost my appetitein looking it it.—
Respect to our hostess w o stood in the coop
1
ner with her white' veil Partly drawn "side
looking atluS, requiNd that' we should. eat
_what she had provided, and I labored faith
fully to dispose of one boWlful, bet I' could
eat no .mcfre of that dish. Seeing a pile of,
round thin mats on the earthen' floor by my
side. I asked Lorenzo wh. they were for.—'
Ile said they were loaves of bread for our
dinner'? i I took - tip the p i e and passed the
.t.
_bread meund, and then tasted it. My first
impression was that I wasleating woolen cloth
sprinkled with sand, then i seemed like leath•
er; and finally when I neatily broke one of my
teeth in trying to masticae an unbroken ker
nel of wheat,-I concluded. t hat it might be in•
'tended ; for bread. The - loaves were about
eighteen inches in diameer„ and about the
thickness and consistency fsubstential home
spun flannel. I used one oaf for a napkin,
another to hold d little salt, and a stranger
would have'supposed me justlfiablc in using
1 i I
one fur a cushion to keep ne out "of the dust
•
on the 'floor. NVe ,
sat around the table in
Arab style, as the tabli was only about ten
inches , high. In addition, to the' soup an i ll
bread..we had a chicken
. very well ceoked,
boiled eggs and , boiled potatoes. As they "
have no knives or forksi we dissected the
chickee . with our fingers, ;and - pen-knives--
Taken All »n all, the - dinner was very accept
able, especially as we had ,a few oranges' and
figs in our pockets. As we passed out of the
town afterdinner, we rcx3e almost through
the midst of the boy's school. , The little fel
lows were seated on the ground, studying
with all diligence. I told, Lorenzo to warn
the teacht(r - against -such a Practice, as .the
glaring reflection of the Sunlight from their
books would injure the eyes of the children.
He said that he had only to choose between
a stone - house without windows;' where they
must strain . their - eyes in ;The 'darkness-, and •
this unsheltered poiitiN in the sun.
Tee road from Ain 3 Zehalia to Deir El
Kommer runs for miles along the brink of a
precipice which overlueigs a ravine of fearful
depth. In one place we saw a viage 'bu n - .
dreds of feet below ,us, enthOwered in olive
l i
trees, on the bank ef a beautiful . stream.—
.The scenery is delightful;"and as we ' were
riding westward, the sea stretched across the
end of the valley, like a faint blue line in the
air', Beautiful . flowers bordered' the . road '
and covered the fields on every side. liy
ecinthe, anemones, cyclamines, poppies, lil
ies,.• daisies, /tmers, gillia (or
i stock gillia) pur
ple', "red, white and yellow, and many . other'
'floWers which we cultivate& home with great
care,but with whose names I am not familiar.
I also raw apple, pear, petteh, plum, almond.
orange and lemon trees in full bloom. - Such
"a sight is worth a journey
. to Syria, and I
wonder that so'few come here, when so many
Americans visit . EuroPe. Persons - who have.
visited Switzerland, deplare the scenery of
Mt. Lebanon to be in no 'respect 'infer,
it.
An Tuesday morn, Mr. Bird, Yusef, one of
the Arab Protestants, Sir.' Aiken, Brother
Lyons, and I, rode to Mukh-tara, the,pahtee of
the present Beg, or Head:pf: the Druses. On'
the way, we stopped a While to collect:Ge
odes, and I-took a sketch Of Der El Kommer
as we ascended - the mountain opposite.---,
While we were thus engaged, a Druse passed
and asked Ynzef what these Frank devils
were doing. As we approached Mukth-tare,
another beautiful landicape hurst upon us.
bad no time to sketch it. •
When we reached the Village, which is but
a tributary to the palace, 'we - dismounted and
went directly to the palace. The Beg, or
Sheikh, vas absent in Beirut with his fifty
servants,-so that we did not' receive all for
mal honors of the place, hut this was no dis
appointment as our Wire was quite limited,
However, the Sit, or lady of the Beg, seat
word to us to sit, down in the Secretary's
room to receive. some refreshments.
After taking our seats Pn cushions on the
floor. several servants came in, bowing very
reverently, one bearing a brazen dish and
pitcher of water, and theother several large
and beautiful towels fringed at the ends and
heavily embroidered with gold thread. AC,
ter one had thrown: towel over our knees,
the other poured - trater`Over our hands so
that it would run into th basin. lathe mid
• dle of the basin was a raised rim in which the
soap was placed; The first Servant then re.
mOved the towel from *Lir knees and placed
another more highly or tinted upon our
lands to wipe them drY, and passed oti - to
the next. , •
The next operation waif equally .Oriental:
Doe Servant'bruught abef i autitul silver vase,
shaped,like a bell,containtng seine highly per.-'
ruined liquid, and sprinkled it on our hands,
-
whilefanother fullowering silver cen
ser, -swinging to and cfro, and having first
thrown a cloth over our leads to genre' as a
- kind pfestopy to 001104Otrate the sweet in
comic,, held it fur motrieut under the
lad paw& lbw °dor wais plament,
but it was quite difficult 0 insmtalu ourself
7
@IF @LAWA-T2'Y
AY, MAY 29,1856.
possession while such a stately ceremony Was
in progress. A crowd gathered at the door
meanwhile, and 'gaxel at us with great am l aie, -
ment.- Next in order came servants bring
ing an elegant stained- glass pitcher
,of sher
bet, a kind of sweet, Cooling drink madifrom
the fragrant blossoms of the bitter orange.—
It was served to us in tumblers ,of glass, and
it was certainly very, refreshing. It is a cpm.
mon beverage here,as lemonade is in Ameriat.
At Ain . Zehalta we had . a similar drink offer
ed to us, but there it was no easy. Matter to
pick'out the - fluid from so many sticks and
specks of what we call in plain AngloSaion,
dirt. •
•
We now entered into conversation with an
old man ::who came . in, about the new fir
man of the Sultan, and he expressed the emir- .
mon opinion of the mass of the . peopleinsy...-,
ria,that the calamity of being liable tocon
scription as soldiers, almost overbalanc e all
the benefits conferred an the people. The
mountaineer's of Lebanon •dread. a. soldier's
life under Mokarntoolan officers, and
_well
they ,may.
Again the servants appear, bringing coffee,
which *as' very well made, and
.much More
palatable than Turkish coffee generally: is.
WC were now at , liberty' to visit the pal
ace, which we did very eipeditiously. car
penters•; wee `at work in one place building
a new edifice, which is in true European style.
Indeed, many things!were decidedly an! im
proventent upon Oriental customs.
looked
.down from the house top upon an en
closure in which theie were five beautiful sict
relies, sporting Ad leaping about. There
were also several varieties of domestic fOwls,
but I did not •see any Shanghaes. There )
were apple, pear, peach, olive, lemon, orange,
fig, Mulberry, and pomegranate trees_ the
garden, and a-large stream of water runs di
esctly through - the palace yard, in a channel
of marble, whence it enterk a mill-race, t hrough.
• t he which it runs to tne mill,
.about a hundred
feet below the palace wall. The women of
the household could not restrain . their. curiosi
ty to see usrand clime crowding to a large
window with their veils half drawn aside, but
the moment we loOked towards them, they
would run affrighted gazelles. .The sons
of. the Beg were prsented to u 4, and - ,were
fine-looking, `blaek•eYed "buys. They were
only four and six years old; . but their.coUrte
sy was quite beautita. Their eyelids were
stained black, but f,r what purpose.l did not
agcpirtain, though it is probably au ornament.
,
Many of - the little
. girls in Syria have their
finger nails colored red. .
On our return we crossed the famous battle
field where the Emir. Beshir conquered one
of his chief rivals. -It is an extensive table
land on the mountain; and our hor4s gallop
ed over it as if they could " snufr the battle
from afar." We approached Deir El Kam
mer by the mountain above the ancient Pal
ace of - the B'teddin, whiil we found we had
time to visit. We first Visited the summer
houses on the hill. They were built in splen
did style, and the walls are elegantly wrought
with carved niarble and mosaics. In one
room there is a fountain, the basin .of which
is a marble boar about ten feet , long,'of a fin
ished model, lined with cement and 'inlaid
around the outside border with fine mosaics
work of red, black and white marble.. Ev
erywhere the are sad proofs of the former
glory of the i)lace, and , the devastating influ
ence of time and neglect Rusty looking
Turkish soldiers stalk sullenly among the
ruins, through the deserted, decaying rooms
and courts, birds build their nests in the old
cornices of the former palace halls.: and the
grass grows on the ; heaps of rubbish - in, the
doorways, and over the arches and
Within the .building, in the spacious courts
paved with marble, there are sparkling foun
tains and fruit trees in full bloom. Some
of the rooms are lined entirely with beauti- ,
fill- mosaics, the separate pieces of marble be
ing no larger than a dollar. There are seve
ral gateways - which must have been ) . extraira
gently expensive. Thtre is nothing in Amer
ica which can compare with them in beauty.
Yet now they are rapidly decaying, and the
soldiers dig but the blocki of variegated mar
ble to sell or give away to travelers. There
is a large parade ground within the palace
about as large as the Public Square in Mont
rose. You . can then form some: idea of its
magnitude, wheoyou bear that this is not
, one fourth_of the area occupied by thevari
ous edifices of the palace itselE
The Emir Beshirwas depr4ed from the
throne of his princely power ATI- magnificence_
by the English, whien they, bombarded
rut and conquered Ibrahim Pasha, the 1141163 . s
Egyptian, who was for a time lnontireh 'or
Emir t ook: Andes
EYO*/ lit em The •
in the cOntest. When the Etiglieb au, lay
in the- harbor of Beirut they son word to the
for to
/t 1
aro vicaomil9v
Wishing fo leave our names, we 'requested
pap 4, and were. shown into the o ffi ce of :the
Beg ilkhere',we . were supplied., The people
crowded around, and could not refrain from
expreising their amazement at seeing a than
write from left to right as we do. Yusef
wrote our names in
.Arabic, and the. : inen.
looked at me, witksomewhat of wonder, when
he read oft my full name, Henry .41irris . Jes
sup, in 'Arabic,- aridpointed tome as the pos
sessor of so Item - names,
As we' were leaViSg,- the Sit, or wife of the
Prince, sent us .a pressing invitation ,to re
main to supper, but time would not ,permit
and we rode awayafter offering a gift to the
servants, whie l h they refused to take, as their
Master had enjoined thetii never to take a
buckshee..h (reward:Or gift) from an English
man or an American. •
lin
M=EZZWSE
I PR o ZIER & SMIt
ME
=
Emir in:his - palm% ~that. : if ha l vr i ould surren
der in thirty days they wouldllow! him his
lifeddslliberty and his propert y; if not until
sixty days, he would lose his p pertY and his
liberty 'but his life would, be pared; if . not
in ninety daps, they would tae Min 'prison.
er and he would forfeit his life He did. ha
. I
conic ;it after the expiration-, f thirty days,
so he I t his liberty and property. He died
a prisnner of. State in Cons ntinciple,•and
B'teddin, the princely palace I now ;used. as '
barraclis by Tripoli Soldiers. • "Sie transit
gloria t i ntmili. • •
Thenountain on which the palace stands
is asce ded by means of rept r andSnbstan
tial starve steps, similar to t use by whi c h
E ji
you *rich Deir El Sommer, and We rode
down on hOrseback--withriut in nvettience.
We left fur Abeih on Wednay morning
in a aim' driving rain storm. Fortunately
w,call i)roaglit our Gt).)dyear''l ' India R bber
-
ti
/ and. were and. were perfectly protected from
the rain., - We rode above the Cloud:sin dos
sing thi Mountain, and thendes ended through
them, and received the storm it earnest. As
we
.approached 'the bottom of the Valley of the
Dan4r, the whole country was !covered
with ttearpet of beautiful. flowers of almost
eves variety. In one spot a urge field was
I
white With daisies, just
.as the fields are so
often at home. Other fields. .overe blue, red;
d i
yell'oil and purple, and the heat as of 'a
rich gtieen. .It was indeed a " of .glory,"
and the light misty gauie rest don flow
erythe,
t ell
hillocks, like a - Veil on •ti;e. brow of a
bride.' •— 1
- _
When we reached Abeih, whe this! long let
ter is dated, the fog was so thickl that we
could hardly
~fin,. d the house of Mr. 'Calhoun.
Toward evening the clouds cleared away, and
I took 10 sketch of Beirtft from the' window.
-
It is it singular landscape -- B ei rut seems to
lie at your feet, while the horizon on the sea
rises,lapparentl2„-, several hut+ed feet abOve
the city... ln the fureground are theranges4
Lebanon, retreating in the di4tance toward
the sea on the left, toward the Inehest sno wy
H •
I b ‘
range; on the right, and in front blending with. ;
the Olain which extends for several miles
south of Beirut. Near the be eof the moun
tainsthis plain is covered in one place with
Vast Clive orchards, in anottr, with scat.
tered (palm trees, while i
still rer to Beirut,
1 is theldark green forest of pines, which Stand,
out, id bold contrast' with Ulf) vatti plain .of
light ifellow sand which skirts the *re and
is gra l dually advancing upon the city, threat.
ening to extinguish-every trade of re - getable .
life. Far .1 tho north, you see they range of
Leba6n 'lessening. and fading in th distance
toward Tripoli, and in clear , eathe,
Isee the sharp peak of Mount (
ern Syria, shooting up like a
sea.. I I have sketched it for
1
sheet 4
ißetntrr, Monday , Ev l
We remained •in Abeih dui
to at end the se ii-annual exa
Semi ary. The young A
them elves creditably,' especi
and gechisni, which they .i.c
ner apiett ; would astonish the
of Anieriea.. There - bad bie
ligiott in the Seminary recent
of th 4 youn g men have been
i•ertell. This is ohe of the ch i
• ::
of m j ' •lonary life.. Theqe yJ
wield great influence . in Sy
corn There is so much o
that ime true, living christain
ble value in the exertion ofan
ful influence. Several of tl
preach the Gospel.,
I requested an Arab name Elias Wussol,
one Of my _teachers, to writ you a letter,
givin g his views about theim orta4e of Mis
sronaCy-labors; and he has wr aim thC follow.
ing, Ito which Lorenzo, at y reqnest, has
'Written a prefitce. "
Binary, We l ch 25, 1854.
Mir DEAR FRIEND :—At fienry's
_request
our Arab teacher, Elias WusSol, has written
you . I the accompanying letter., It will no
doubt str'ke you as a somewhat remarkable
and nnique production and' as I have known
the writer for some time pt&, we have thoughi,
it worth while that I should ire you ashort
.account of him. • I
Elias is a . young man a ut 30'yeari.of
age, and-resides in Beirut. Br a e is a member
of the nominally christian sect called. Afore
nitei, a sect remarkable for the tenacity with
which they. cling to the papai ritasLand cus
tomsof their ancestors. Arr s teng this class of
people the missionaries have had as yet -but
littleauccess. Elias,: however, is a man of
considerable education and iatelligence, and
the truth of the gospel seems at times to hare
taken a strong hold upon .his 'conscience. A
few months since, when . I first became ac
quainted with Win; he was engaged in teach
ing a Sfaronite school in this city. I Ife does
not know any English, but I .was FO well.
pleased with his appearance, his 'rivacitrof
manner, his simplicity of chat icter, and with
what
more
to be his earnest desire to
know pf religious truth, that i'deter
-1 .
mined to. secure him if possible as lay teach
er in 1, rabic, hoping ultimately to take him
~
with nee to Tripoli as aiuttive helper. .1 sue
-1,.
eeede at length in preirailing upon him to
give Up his.school and- for a !while he came
regt,ilarly every day to ray. hOuse.' But after
the lapse of a few weeke,,:hia two; brothers
who ere Marointe priests and[anme others of
his relatives, finding that he was engaged in
teaching" hereties," as' they 011 . tia, brought
A 1410 m of persecution upon- hint.Whieh .ht. ,
was - of prepared.to bear.' They excited the
1 1
feelings of his wife against him and;she.plead
with him, with tears, aft he, onld not return
to the ".wicked Protestants."; They also in- ':
vented artful stories by. abich they li!ipiii to
prejudice hlm against 1110:1 Amoog - other:
thingis they r,epresented that Ilvalakidola-
tor, 04,1 had-a picture of ikking.,(rAtrfkodl
`to my ingiiiiing of Washington,) hating up
in tilthouve w hi c h , they alleged,. f atrirahlf.
N I . 31, ,
} .:.. ~
UM
. ;• - --.• • •• •
PußLasHEits-v-VOL ,2); 140: 40!
you can
n. North-
IUS
is]:
din' the
4nothei.
laEl
1 ,
Ma Ma
eh 24
hursdity,
on' of the
Acquitted
the Bible
UZI
ninat
abs
fly in
cited
kris
lin - a man
ian
• re
several
CM
Y, an:
hope
ung.
features
men
years , ' to
ess here,
inestirna—
ht health
,ntend to
rii in
dark
is Of .
upri_
em
El
=
MU
•_
,~ ,
~"
% "
. • . ,-. -1 . '., .- --- ..'"i- ~,
ped ev er% da b -For -awhilei ) ErMa,a tea'
.
himself front tnYliouse i I not ezausphe. • -
ed any con fi dence in these fabricitidilWl;r be
cause his desire to. 4 en' the tenth of ;the
scriptures was an y lee
a, 'but because tie fear:
meet_ -
,
'ed to the trials which be fettsaW Were
~.
thickening aretind him . 1 I._/19w4w-,M/rearrt:
Ws house and . prevaiied upon hid 'to , '
o myßut again ' 'spirit f • -
t_ employ.. the o .per
seeetion arose against him, and with renewed
violence. [urged him to bceak away m
thislutekles of error and the religion4io
cling to his convictions:of truth and &gin.--
to take a firm stand on the side of t lievit,
,
not fearing , what man sho uld oosuut*.Vflii
but tearing Him rather,' who• bath, powe to
cast both soil! and body'into hell. The tide
however I , Nred too strong fur / him, and he his'.
at last returned to his old -en/Ph",lnen4B
teacher in a Maignite school. , Venowivl
skts
us only at evening; coming „stealthily at night- .
fiat, like Islkodernus of old,
m so that . his move-
ments ay not be observe brothers.? He
has, as this letter evinces, a clear,intellectual
aurehension of many Of the great .truths,of
the bible, but be yet needs a work of GOd's
1 •
grace in his heart, that these diyine truths
may be inwrought into his spiritual•being6Kl
become-theguiding principles of hill Ife.: - . He
needs our sympathies • and counsels, *tt we
will not forget him in our prayers. ,„._, : i
A
In regard to the letter, it. is written lir{the.
.
usual style of oriental extravagance d\ •
grand iloquence, a style which generally s
far less than it expresses, and embodies ore
of poetry than truth. ;In converaati as
well as in letter writing, the Arabs often in
dulge in, pious and religious. , expressiati ,
which would lead-tv person, ignorant of their
Character and cikstoms to suppose themrto.b...
the most devout people in the world. 1 _
.....
taias is a Protestant'lit -heart, and is thor:
oughly disgusted with all the priests and.their
heartless, unmeaning ceremonies. His jOdg
ment and sympathies ire with the miseuitt'' a
.
ries , and I have no doubt that heis sineero.iir
the desire which he egresses, that riot - Onl%
you but " the, greater partcif the pupila n ,iii
our schools," w ho are celebrated in spir i tual
knowledge, acid understand the truth as it iv,'
will come to Syria and aid in the great work
of evangelizing this people. We will yet
.hope that this young,man may becomes ,
,
subject of redeeming grace, and be an instru
- ..
Nent ef • greatygood to this ignorwrt, eicri , shing
1 eftiteymeri. ' - -•,
With much esteem your ehristian•bro er.
. i
J. LORENZO Liq).
TO the most wobte andhonored sir: -After Dr:
known my, earnest desire for the pleasure of behold--
ing you,(may you be in all preeperity t) I respeet
fully present to your excellency, that I, whast 'Med•'
with desire ti meet my honored friend, D'r.7 Jimmy.
on account f what had been made known to me ,oi
him through ne °tiny intimate friends whose name i *
Lyons, respecting the excellence of his tindseiortliv
, qualities, his noble characteristics, and conversaltiotuii
abilities ;—was stirred in mrheart with longing. ea
ger and excessive desire toward him, begginti
through his son, Jesus Christ, to how l me hi face,
and endeavolfing, by , special meaiis to beconie ac
quainted With him,--and seeking that 'I might not
be prevented.from beholding - him.
And since God most exalted am •never distipifoinf
those who tall upon hint in faith, he answered this
my_petition, and the prayer of his servant** ae
cepted in his sight, favoring me with nicetidg With
him• and holding conversation
with him a number o:
times. And when I beheld, the sforesaid beloved
one, and- presented to hist excellency: such groper re
spects as comported with thls dignity, and mquireitof
; him sonic certain things i lßund. hi America, and ha
gave me • fivorable answer l, I' then asked i him,
" Have you any brothers and testers; and bow many?'
and he answered, "'leo, 'Mercier° to me '=aid. he
informed me the number of them, showing me - etheir '
portraits one by one, and•thenumber, thepiew
ture of your excellency,whieli I loved exeeedingly,and
thereupon 'I became exceedingly desirious to see the
original of the pietere. With burning fervor. rttirti
ed to the gentleman before xnentioned, saying tey,ltlin,
"I ask Jesus Christ, that he, as he did not• withhold
from me the sight of yon' pieture, so he leouldl fitter
me with a meeting of the originalof this pictute."—And I asked your brother, Flying to him, "Lflllitiald
write to him a writing begging him to come, would
he not accept my request?" And he answered me,
Right! i,' Perhaps he will accept." Then I tow
posed the Writing of this letter without delay. 1 -
In it-first of all, inquiring after your health and
the health of your honored brothers, all of them:—
Secondly, expressing the hope of seeing your excel
leney ere long, as I have seen his excellency Mr.
Jessup, and that I mightslake the ardor of nksithirst
by the dewy moisture of your conversation, begging
the Lord. Jesus Christ tb grant" teethis, since the
darkness of igno r ance is eseeedinggreat in these re
gions, and the people found here ire in the dceptis - D
need of the presence of skillful preachers and heralds
of the gospel.. And . :I well know that whosoev er '
comes hither froth your quarter with the pu `se of
preaching and pclaimieg the eispel ofJese rp ts
st
and spreading abroad the knowledge of the triith to
use who know not the trnth, must, without the
reast doubt, love Jesus Christ, and desire thAUvele.
and wear out.his life for his sake. And as yone ex
cellency loves Jesus with the greatest love, asil am
fully assured, beyond doubt it is, your desire tof come
to these regions. For the destitution render your
coming exceedingly necessary, for the harvest is
great and the laborers few; we ought the re to
pray the Lord: of the harvest to send forth la • l abo rers
into the harvest. So, that, by your coming d la
boring in the i Lord'evineyard, and turning me from.
rer i
error to the knowledge of the truth, you will hate
fulfilled the word of the Savior and done a reling
i
to his commandment, and I shall '
have.heen egad
with the sight of you, and filled my vision wi be
holding you. And then I shall lose no time in
-teach
ing you the Arabic language well, that you ma'y at
tail unto your -purpose, `as I am new engaged in
teaching their excellencies MeSSII3. LvonstuidJessup
the said language-l -putting torte my best exertions
in instructing them. And after We shall have [Mill
ed that which is our ditty in this life, we ritaybe
blessed finally by beholding our
,lieavenir,lather
with all the /taints and holy angels, and: juke 't the
re l ik
glory prepared for us before tholbendathin ' 'the
world, he saying to us, tome, inherit fo 1,ln;
kingdom prepared for you before the founditt ' -of
the world. .._ 1 .. , JI
Then, also, we make known IO your exce act
that his excellency Mr. Lyon*, hes Advanced the
Arabic language and bee - me able to speak* a ccord=- ;:
ing to the principles•of 'the language; and WA pre
pare ,a sermon in the Ambic language, quite tweet. -
And his excelleacylri Jessup,- has begun urepeek.
and has committed to memory 200 words, vet and
nouns. We elso .inform you that most of th chi/.
dren found here v ato ra
ignont of the knowle *Jot
t i:
the truth, for want of the reading in the Holy settp.
tures, because their priests forbid, themttf read It,.-
And we hope end expect not only your coin . • to
these regions, but the coming of the vote, , of
the pupils: - in your 114e:tots, who are - celebra d in
spiritual knowledge, and understand the tro , es it
ha. %And we have hope to see most of you in these
countrier,,especially those / who are most a r. ul In
preaching and evangelising, ,
.. And I ask God that
,these words- of raw ..
like an arrow to. wound lone heArts with ,
love—that they may be stirred with strong d
come hither, fbr the sake of the hettienly to
the Lord Jeaus Christ, who poured out' his
blood to the last top for:the cicentiing of ;.en
and washing, *wet the pollutions of our re
their corruptions. He preached to as . ~
well as by means - of hhit holy apostle", to.helm-
him and follow his lovely'conversation, and k
NAY' cenntunwitnents, and confess hint Wort 1
iron -thou we becompeliett tejsuref desk
hemay,Outferwies'beflire his Mcevenly.fatb i
Weinayureach his holygespil in all thioreyld
end &tittle s , mid hot to far tioN pottektitt io t i
prisonment, nor Mail hinwine !tmt the .
able to kill the soul. 1 Nay, we ought to
cur uses and oar hnilite end be liedyteibme
1
II
Ei
Eali
- ) 4 ', , ;
WSJ
y . b e
I - o w
re to
09*
sins,
4'lo
I, ea
In
so d
* b .
lbatio
follf‘
rwl'
I •