Among the Druzes of Lebanon and Bashan

AMONG THE DRUZES OF LEBANON AND BASHAN CANON PARFIT'S BOOKS can be obtained from Messrs. all Hunter & Longhurst, T...

Author: Joseph Parfit

143 downloads 877 Views 9MB Size Report

This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. If you own the copyright to this book and it is wrongfully on our website, we offer a simple DMCA procedure to remove your content from our site. Start by pressing the button below!

Report copyright / DMCA form

DOWNLOAD PDF

AMONG THE DRUZES OF LEBANON AND BASHAN

CANON PARFIT'S BOOKS can be obtained from Messrs.

all

Hunter & Longhurst,

TWENTY YEARS Germany's bid

IN

for the

and

PAMPHLETS

Booksellers or from

Ltd., 9 Paternoster Row, E.C.

BAGHDAD AND

SYRIA.

Mastery of the East.

is.

Showing

net;

is. ijd.

post free.

Published by Simpkin,

Marshall & Co.

SERBIA TO KUT.

Illustrated. An Account of the is. net; is. ijd. post free.

Bible Lands,

Published by

SERBIA TO KUT.

War

in the

Hunter & Longhurst, Ltd.

Paper cover.

No

Illustrations.

6d.

net;

7d. post free.

GERMAN PLOTS AND BRITISH TRIUMPHS BIBLE LANDS.

ST.

IN

THE

2d.; 2id. post free.

GEORGE OF MERRY ENGLAND. account of our Patron Saint 2d.

;

is

This interesting an inspiration to patriotism.

2jd. post free.

MESOPOTAMIA: THE KEY TO THE FUTURE. 7d.

6d.net;

post free.

Published by

Hodder & Stoughton.

AMONG THE DRUZES OF LEBANON AND BASHAN. Illustrated.

5s.

Published by

Hunter & Longhurst, Ltd.

DRUZES AND THE SECRET SECTS OF 3jd. post free.

Published by

The Lav Reader.

SYRIA.

3d.;

The Chief of the Hadrah Druzes [Froniispiect

AMONG THE DRUZES OF LEBANON AND BASHAN

JOSEPH

T.

PARFIT, M.A.

CHAPLAIN IN BEYROUT AND LEBANON; CANON OF ST. GEORGE'S, JERUSALEM FORMERLY MISSIONARY IN BAGHDAD AND JERUSALEM AUTHOR OF "TWENTY YEARS IN BAGHDAD AND SYRIA," "SERBIA TO KUT," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

HUNTER & LONGHURST, 9

PATERNOSTER ROW LONDON, 1917

E.C. 4

Ltd.

—

"

Go up

"Is

it

to

Lebanon

:

not yet a very

into a fruitful field?"

and

lift

little

up thy voice

wbile,

in Basb.au."

—Jeremiah

xxii. 23.

and Lebanon shall be turned

Isaiah xxix. 17.

" Son of man put forth a riddle and say, Thus saith the Lord God, a great eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar." Ezekiel xvii. 3.

v

,D8r3

PKEFACE. At of

the outbreak of war in 1914 the whole

my

personal belongings, including a valu-

able library of 2000 books with a quantity of

notes and photographs, were left at Beyrout in Syria.

I

to reproduce

records at

our

of

leen

J.

disposal the following account

seven

years'

of

work I

Syria.

and E.M.,

Mission and the

of

from memory and the imperfect

my

Secret Sects the

have been compelled, therefore,

the the

information

am

the

to

Baak-

for

some

illustrations

con-

Near East

my

the

indebted

S.P.G.,

and

tained therein, and in

amongst

effort

to explain

the nature of the Druze religion I have been greatly assisted by the invaluable writings of

the Kev. Dr. Sell. bian

The quotations from Ara-

Wisdom by my esteemed

friend the late

Dr. Wortabet, of Beyrout, are sayings that

were current

in the

Christmas, 1917.

Lebanon

villages.

CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.

II.

III.

Britain's

Debt

to the

Druzes

The Origin and Growth

A Euin

of the

Eestored

IV. Expansion of the Educational V.

VI.

" Scholaritis "

Dogs

of

Druzes

Work

.

War and

Heralds of Peace

VII. Storms that Shake the Lebanon VIII. Caterpillars and

Cankerworms

.

IX. The Bishop of London in Lebanon X. XI.

A

Hauran

Visit to the

Abd

'1

Messieh

Servant of Christ

:

XII. Visiting the Villages XIII.

A

Journey's

.

End

XIV. A Eemarkable Druze Doctor

XV. The

Secret Sects of Syria

XVI. The Eeligion

of the

.

Druzes

XVII. Present Day Beliefs and Customs

XVIII. Methods and Aims Bibliography

Index

.

....

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The Chief

of the

Hauran Druzes

Frontispiece

.

.

TO FACE PAGE

Gate

of Governor-General's Palace at

Specimen

View View

Giant Cedars in the Lebanon

of

of the

Ain Anub School and Village

of the

Pupils of the Ain

.

.

14

.

.

14

.

.

.... .

.

Anub School

of Scouts at

Boy

.

30

Ain Anub School Grounds from the

Playground

Squad

Bteddin

Ain Anub.

The

Scouts formed in the Turkish

.

first

30 40

corps of

Empire

.

....

40

Hotel at Ain-za-Halta, near the Cedars, in the Druze District of Southern

Deir

Lebanon

'1 Kamar. The largest Maronite town in the Druze District, near Baakleen and Bteddin .

Scout Boys of the Ain

Bishop

The Bishop

of of

London

Anub School at the

The

Village School at

Benneh

52

saluting the

School Gates

.

.

....

London amongst the Druzes Anub

School Grounds at Ain

52

84

in the

102 114

viii

List of Illustrations TO FACE PAGE

ine Teacher's House of Village School at Bathir, built on the edge of a protruding rock overlooking a deep valley 2000 feet below

The School Children

of

Missioner by singing "

Canon

"

.132

.

God

save our gracious

.

1

Eeception of the Canon Missioner

The

.

Ainab greeting the Canon

Hospital,

Dispensary, and

Buildings at Baakleen

at

Beshimoon

Medical

...

.

150

Mission

174

Dr. Ali Alamuddin, the Medical Officer of the Baakleen Mission, with his Family .

k^.

.

290

A

Deraa.

junction on the Hedjaz Railway, showing a heap of Hauran wheat waiting to be sent to

...

Damascus

,q n

The Baakleen Medical Mission Hospital and P ensar y

The Druze

View of

the

Dis-

.204

•

Girls'

School at Baakleen

.

2 04

.

Lebanon from Ain Anub School Grounds

The Christian Town

of

Zahleh

216 216

Lebanon

Soldiers conducting an Insane Prisoner to the British Asylum for Lunatics at

Mount Lebanon

Asfuriyeh

226 Initiated

Druzes

Group

Druzes

Druze

of

Women

of

Mount Lebanon

in Village

of the

near

226

Mount Carmel

Lebanon baking bread

.

.

.

239 239

CHAPTER BBITAIN'S

I.

DEBT TO THE DBUZES.

CHAPTEE BEITAIN'S

On

I.

DEBT TO THE DEUZES. Lebanon

the sunny slopes of the beautiful

mountains, in the Galilee,

and

in

hill

country to the north of

the ancient hills of Bashan,

there lives a very interesting race of hardy

mountaineers

known

nearly eighty years

as

For

Druzes.

the

they have enjoyed the

special

protection and

Britain,

and for more than half a century they

have accorded a

friendship

hearty

welcome

was

Great

of

to

many

1860 that the

British missionaries.

It

Lebanon was

with an awful massacre

of

Maronite

were under Government. the of

Turks,

afflicted

Koman the

in

Catholic Christians

protection

of

the

who

French

The massacre was instigated by

who roused

the

Damascus, and succeeded (3)

Mohammedans in enlisting the

4

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

some

co-operation of

the more fanatical

of

elements amongst the Druzes.

The Maronites

live chiefly in the

portion of the Lebanon, and vastly

whom

the Druzes, with at

outnumber

they were constantly

enmity, on account of political rivalries

that have been

fostered in

for centuries past. in

northern

1861

at

these mountains

French troops were landed

Beyrout on the Syrian coast to

punish the Druzes for participating massacre,

and

imminent,

when Great

interfered

on

their

their

extermination

the

seemed

once

more

and sent

Lord

Britain

behalf

in

Dufferin to see that justice was done to this little

race of warriors, and that only those

were guilty should be punished

The great majority to fall

were

upon

their

of the

who

for their crimes.

Druzes had no wish

Maronite neighbours, who

just as fanatical

and as turbulent as the

Druzes themselves, and who frequently provoked quarrels with their

rivals.

Druzes

5

in bringing

about a

Britain's Debt to the

Lord Dufferin succeeded

peaceful settlement after the terrible slaughter

and destruction that had ravaged the

and

the

Turks

to

European

Powers

villages,

compelled

the

grant autonomy to the Lebanon

which was henceforth to be governed by a Christian Governor, appointed by the Sultan

and approved by the

Concert

The Druzes have always

of

gratefully

Europe.

remem-

bered the intervention of Great Britain, and

have ever since been ready to serve the terests of our nation, relying

upon us

in-

for the

support and protection which they naturally

supposed they might need.

A large

section of this sturdy race lives in

the mountains of the Hauran, south of Da-

mascus, the ancient land of Bashan. they enjoy

much

There

greater freedom and indepen-

dence than their brethren of the Lebanon in

;

but

1909 the Turks decided to bring the Druzes

into complete subjection to

Ottoman

authority.

6

The Druzes

They

resisted,

them

of

Lebanon and Bashan

however,

of their rights

all

and

attempts to deprive liberties, so

a large

Turkish army was gathered around their mountains under

Sami Pasha, and

for

some months

warfare was waged against the Druzes with very

little

success, on account of the guerilla

warfare which the

Hauran were

Turkish armies.

these wild mountaineers

able to carry on against the

Sami Pasha,

sorted to other methods.

therefore, re-

He sent

to the leading chiefs of the

ried letters

of

messengers

Hauran, who

car-

from the Turkish General with

guarantees of security and safe conduct to the chiefs

if

they would come to the General's

tent for the purpose of conferring about terms of peace.

The Druze

leaders were eventually

persuaded to accept the General's invitation,

and then, with characteristic treachery, Sami

Pasha placed them

all

under arrest as soon

as they arrived at the Turkish encampment.

The

eldest brother of the great ruling Atrash

Britain's

family was

Debt to the Druzes

executed in Damascus, and the life

by sending

his villages,

and getting

second chief only saved his

back messengers to his

7

aged mother to collect and bring £3500

This

gold as a bribe to the Turkish General.

man, Yehia Atrash, was condemned

ment and sent

to the Island of

in

to banish-

Rhodes, where

The

he was kept a prisoner under guard.

following year, however, the Italian war broke

out with Turkey, and

when

the Italians cap-

tured Rhodes they released the Druze chief.

He embarked

on a British

mail

steamer,

Beyrout and Jaffa on

which touched

at

way

The Turks made strenuous

to Egypt.

efforts

to

recapture their prisoner

British captain defended to

produce

official

;

its

but the

him, and was able

documents

to

show that

Yehia Atrash was not a criminal as the Turks maintained, but only a political prisoner

who

could not be given up to the Turks whilst travelling

upon a British steamer.

Upon

The Druzes

8

arrival in

of

Lebanon and Bashan

Egypt the Turks made further

Druze

to imprison the

ener protected him

;

but Lord Kitch-

chief,

after prolonged ne-

and

gotiations succeeded in compelling the to allow this

man

efforts

Turks

to return to his people in the

mountains of the Hauran. It

was there that

I

met him nearly four years

afterwards in his wonderful mediaeval

He

took

me

away from

castle.

aside into the women's quarters,

numerous

his

retainers, in order

that he might whisper into

owed everything

my

to the justice

the British authorities

;

ears that he

and goodness

of

that he was ready to

Lord Kitchener, and that there were

die for

50,000 warriors in the Hauran and 15,000 in the

Lebanon who were prepared

blow for

justice

moment

logical

and freedom when the psychoarrived.

this great giant of

:

"

Why

Deeply

Bashan,

seven feet high, shook said

to strike a

me

who

in earnest,

stood nearly

by the shoulders and

don't you hurry

up and estab-

Britain's

the

lish in

9

Debt to the Druzes

Hauran the same kind

of schools

Lebanon

that you have already opened in the

amongst our people

?

"

You

"

making a

are

great mistake," he said, " for whilst you are delaying, the

are

We

forging ahead.

ready to welcome the people of Great

all

Britain, but oil

Germans are

you

will find nearly

500 German

We

engines as you go around the villages.

used to deal with British merchants only their agents are far away,

not

know how to read

and

or write.

my

people do

The Germans

have sent engineers who continually villages

the

it

;

a

British engines

were

pivot, for very all

to

were introduced into our money,"' he said, "for

soon the

put out of action, and

gradually these hundreds of

will

German came

when he brought a new screw he

must have broken a

you

our

visit

and when anything went wrong with

;

English machinery,

repair

but

;

German machines

villages."

"Here

three schools,

send us teachers at once

if

to

is

only the

The Druzes

10

villages

Lebanon and Bashan

of

where our leading chiefs dwell, so

that our children

may

be brought up in British

schools."

The Lebanon has once again

in

1916 and

1917 been devastated >and ravaged by war, pestilence,

raged furiously in locusts

many

destroyed

robbed them of the

were the

Typhus and typhoid

and famine.

of the cities of Syria,

the

people's

fruits

their chief support.

Lebanon

of its

cordon around but for the

it

first

and the

crops, olives

and

which

The Turks deprived

independence and placed a

to starve out the inhabitants,

time in history the Maronites

and the Druzes, who have always been such bitter rivals, united in their efforts to preserve

the liberties of the Lebonese.

They

refused,

as well as they were able, to be enrolled in the

Turkish armies

;

and

in

hampering the Turkish

operations throughout Syria and to the south of

Damascus, they doubtless rendered a most valuable service to Great Britain and her Allies.

•

11

Debt to the Druzes

Britain's

In the summer of 1916 the Turkish Govern-

ment sent a Turkish

battalion to the Nosairi

Mountains, ostensibly for the purpose of tracking deserters, but really for taking over the

new

The brutal conduct

harvest.

provoked the Nosairi to open battle ensued

which ended

revolt,

casualties

fifty

amounted

and wounded, while

about 200 killed

and

and a

the defeat of

in

the Turkish force, whose losses

Nosairi's

of the troops

wounded.

to

the

were only twenty killed

The

remnant

troops was then ordered back to

of

Hama

the to

await reinforcements, that they might return to the

mountains with a mountain battery to

inflict

condign

punishment

on

the

rebels.

This punitive expedition, however, had to be

abandoned

;

for,

meanwhile, news arrived that

the Druzes of the give

Hauran had

also refused to

up their crops to the Turkish force which

had been sent

for the purpose.

this refusal, a battle,

As a

which lasted

result of

fifteen days,

12

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

took place between the

and the Druzes.

In

five

Turkish battalions

this case, too, the

Turks

to the strong help re-

were defeated, thanks

ceived by the Druzes from the neighbouring

Arab

The Turkish

tribes.

timated at about

losses

were

es-

500 killed and wounded,

while those of the Druzes and Arabs were

about 300.

Smarting under their defeat

in the

Hauran,

the Turks, to satisfy their desire for revenge,

began to persecute some of the Druzes of the

Lebanon, accusing them

Hauran

revolt.

Druzes

to the

of complicity in the

The emigration

Hauran

of

some young

in quest of food

taken as a pretext by the Government to crease the rigour of of the

Druze

its

revengeful acts.

chieftains

of their leading

was in-

Some

were arrested, and two

men were brought up

for trial

before the court-martial at Damascus, which

condemned one to death

by

to forced labour

crucifixion.

and the other

Britain's

When Syria,

it

Debt to the Druzes

the time will

of

deliverance comes

to

be our paramount duty to render

substantial aid, at the earliest possible to these faithful friends of Britain.

endeavour to discharge our debt for the risks they

they have

13

behalf,

We

to the

have run and the

made on our

moment,

and

must

Druzes

sacrifices

for their

staunch adherence to the Allies' cause in our desperate time of need.

We

therefore venture to

publish a brief

account of the Druzes and our work amongst them, in the hope that the people of the British Isles

may

take some interest in the needs and

claims of these attractive races of Syria.

\

To recompense good

Neglect

If

a

of

man

for

recompense

good

is

is

a duty.

contemptible.

do you a favour recompense him, and him.

if

you are unable

to do so, pray for

The worst kind

Reproach

There

is

faults

of

recompense

is

to requite evil for good.

by kindness, and requite

evil

by good.

no glory in revenge.

—From " Arabian

Wisdom," by Dr. Wortabst.

1

"'";».
CHAPTER

II.

THE OKIGIN AND GEOWTH OF THE DKUZES.

CHAPTER

II.

THE OEIGIN AND ,GEOWTH OF THE DEUZES.

To

rightly understand the origin

ment

of the

Druzes

it

is

necessary to refer to

the earliest days of Islam, of

Mohammed were

and develop-

when the

rent by a

followers

permanent

schism into the two great sects of the Sunnis

and Shiahs. first

of

Ali, the fourth Khalif,

was the

Mohammed and the husband daughter Fatima. On the death of

cousin of

his

Mohammed, one

section

of

his

followers

claimed that Ali and his descendants could alone succeed by divine right to the leadership of the Faithful.

They were overruled

by the majority who elected

Omar and

Abu

Bekr, then

afterwards Othman, at whose death (17)

2

The Druzes

18

of

Lebanon and Bashan After

Ali at last succeeded to the Khaliphate. five

years Ali was assassinated and

his fol-

who

lowers elected Ali's son, Hasan,

abdi-

cated in favour of his father's rival Muawiyeh,

Governor at

his

of Syria,

death

on the understanding that

Hasan would succeed

to

The compact was, however,

Khaliphate.

the ig-

nored by Yezid the son of Muawiyeh, for at his father's death, he

usurped the Khali-

phate and raised an army to fight against Hosein,

who had been

of Ali to the

elected by the followers

Khaliphate upon the sudden

A terrible

death of Hasan his elder brother. battle took

place on the plains

of

Kerbela

near ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia, where

Hosein and killed.

his

younger brother Abbas were

The followers

of Ali

have henceforth

regarded their deaths as a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of all faithful believers.

Thus arose the great Moslem Shiahs

who

sect of the

refuse to acknowledge the ortho-

The

Origin and Growth of the Druzes

dox Khalifs

19

Islam and recognise only Ali

of

and eleven others as Mohammed's divinely appointed successors, call

Imams.

the

sixth

whom

they prefer to

Especial honour

Imam,

Jaafar,

is

accorded to

who gave

to

Shiahs their system of jurisprudence.

the

The

majority of the Shiahs trace the divine succession through Jaafar's

second son Musa,

but some of them disputed this succession,

and trace the Imamate through

his older son

Ismail.

These Ismailians, as they are

famous

for their esoteric beliefs

called,

and

were

for the

remarkable efficiency of their Dais or missionaries.

One extreme

known

as Batinis, so-called on account of the

section of

them became

emphasis they laid upon a hidden or esoteric

meaning only be

in the

known

Koran which, they to the initiated.

said, could

The modern

Ismailians of Syria follow the belief of these early Ismailians.

JEhe-JDruzes,

who

also trace

The Druzes

20 the

Lebanon and Bashan

of

Imamate through

Ismail, nevertheless fol-

low more closely the teaching

where

it

some

differed in

of the Batinis

respects from that

of the Ismailians.

In the year _a.d. J393 a famous Batini missionary

came

to Barbary.

able man, learned in Ismailians, a

subtle

He became

gandist. tribe,

all

Mahdi.

He

a remark-

the mysticism of the

and courageous propathe leader of the

and declared himself

of the

He was

Kitama

to be the forerunner

gradually conquered the

whole of North Africa^nd brought from Syria Ubaidullah,

Fatima.

who was

He was

and became the

a descendant of Ali and

declared to be the Mahdi,

first

Fatimite Khalif of Africa.

Cairo was founded by one of his successors in a.d. 969.

The

filth

Fatimite Khalif, El Azeez,

was a wise and tolerant Christian wife,

ruler.

He

married a

whose two brothers were raised

to the dignity of Patriarchs..,

He

refused to

punish any Moslem who cared to embrace

The

Origin and Growth of the Druzes

Christianity,

and

21

Prime

for fifteen years his

Minister was a converted Jew. This strange and remarkable man's only son

was the -still more strange Hakim

bi

Amrillah

who became

the founder of the sect of the

Druzes.

He

succeeded to the Khaliphate in

a.d. 996,

and

his reign

He

outrageous cruelty.

one long record of

is

began by persecuting

the Sunnis, he then turned on the Christians, flogged their priests to death their

churches.

treated,

and destroyed

The Jews were

similarly

and those who were not slaughtered

were compelled to wear black garments and bells

round their necks, while the Christians

wore a cross ten pounds

in weight.

Hakim

destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, for years

pilgrimage to

he stopped the Moslem

Mecca and

set aside

most

of the

chief obligations of Islam, so that he ^became

as serious as he

was

an enemy

to the

Mohammedan

to the Christians

and the Jews.

sects

The Druzes

22

of

Lebanon and Bashan

Hakim came under leading Dais sect.

the influence

or missionaries

of

One was Hamza, who

is

two

of

Batinis

the

regarded by

the Druzes as the real author of their religious beliefs,

and the other was Derazi, from

They encour-

the Druzes derive their name.

aged

Hakim

whom

to proclaim' his divinity in a.d.

1017, and the people of Cairo were prohibited

under penalties of death from offering prayer in

the

mosques

Moslems resented pelled

to

any but

this,

to resort to

The

Hakim.

and Hamza was com-

more

methods

secret

for

propagating the new doctrines, and he out-

wardly conformed to the practice

of the old

faith of Islam.

Missionaries or Dais were sent to of the

Moslem world, and

successful

of

these apostles, went to

that be turned traitor to in his

own name.

parts

Derazi, the most

where he became so elated with

preach

all

Syria,

his success

Hakim and began

to

He was denounced

The

Origin and Growth of the Druzes

23

by Hamza, and was eventually murdered on

Mount Hermon.

the slopes of

fact, therefore,

that the people are

by the name of a man

his

a.d.

sister

1020 to

whom

a curious

still

called

the founder of

k^

their sect repudiated,

In

It is

Hakim formed

a plot to put

death, but she forestalled

and succeeded

in

getting

him

him assassinated.

Hakim's body was never found, and so

Hamza

gave out that he was not really slain but had disappeared on account of the sins of the people.

A general

massacre of his followers by the

Orthodox Moslems began as soon as Hakim

was

slain,

and many of them

In

fled to Syria.

consequence of this outbreak of persecution,

Hamza

is sued

a p roclamation to the effect

that the day of grace

was

shut,

was passed, the door

and no more could be admitted

to

They closed the door

of

the faith of Hakim.

admission to their sect from fear

lest

pre-

The Druzes

24

of

Lebanon and Bashan

tended converts should betray them into the

hands

of

their

persecutors

reason they introduced still

for

:

It

was

meetings in

at this point that the

ceased to be a religious henceforth

is

same

custom, which

the

prevails, of holding all their

secret.

the

sect,

Druzes

and the name

the designation of a race or clan.

In subsequent years, during the reign of the Khalif El Mustansir, there developed the followers of

known

Hakim

among

a set of extremists

as Assassins, under the leadership of

Hasan-ibn-Sabah.

He

fled

from persecution

from Egypt to Syria where he made many converts to Ismailian doctrines,

and got posses-

sion of a fortress called Alamut,

whence he

began to raise himself to independent power

by

fair

means or

foul.

regular missionaries, the

In addition to his Dais, he

another order called the " Fidais

instituted

" or

the de-

voted ones. —These were the notorious Assassins of the

Middle Ages.

They were

carefully

The

25

Origin and Growth of the Druzes

selected for their strength

and courage, as well

as their complete submission to the will of the

Grand Master

They were taught

of the Order.

that as the. Prophet had slain so they could often serve

Jews

God by

in

Medina,

slaying His

enemies.

Hasan was

called by his followers

Jibal (Chief of the Mountains),

commonly known Mountains".

as

He

Sheikh

whence he

"The Old Man

'1

is

of the

died in a.d. 1110, but his

family continued in power

till

a.d. 1256.

The Druzes, who were constantly

at

war

with the Turkish authorities and their Moslem neighbours, eventually secured dominion over the greater part of Syria.

For more than 300 years they were the terror

ing

and lords

either with

themselves.

at^ last

their

Their

tribal jealousies

them

of the country,

enemies

internal

always or

fight-

amongst

dissensions and

enabled the Turks to drive

from northern Syria, and they

The Druzes

26

were compelled

of

Lebanon and Bashan

to take refuge

They drove out many

slopes of the Lebanon. of their

kinsmen the

control of

on the southern

of the Ismailian sect,

and held

Lebanon mountains from the

Mediterranean coast to the ranges of the

anti-

Lebanon near Damascus. There were two

rival families, the Erslans

and the Jumbalats, who nearly annihilated each other.

They agreed

Shehabs

Hasbeya

of

to

at last to invite the

come and

rule the

Lebanon, as the Shehabs were related by marriage to the Druze Emirs.

Emir Beshir (1789-1840), who was the ing

member

of the

Shehab

lead-

family, established

He

himself at a place called Deir-el-Kamar.

privately professed himself to be a convert to

Christianity ite

Church.

and

He

in

sympathy with the Maron-

did this in order to secure

the support of the great body of the Maronites

who were

living in the

Lebanon.

His

Sheikh Beshir of Mukhtara, was slain

rival,

in

an

The

Origin and Growth of the Druzes

27

attempt to foment a revolt for the overthrow

Emir who had been supported by the

of the

Admiral

of

and

Smith,

the

British

was

Fleet,

afterwards

Sir

assisted

Egypt by the famous Ibrahim Pasha. sequent

years the

Sydney from

In sub-

Druzes were armed

by

the Allies of Turkey for the purpose of over-

throwing the authority of the Egyptians, but

Emir

Beshir

refused

to

fight

against

his

former friends, so that, with the recovery of Syria by the Turks, to

Emir Beshir was banished

Malta when he was 80 years of age.

archy

now

prevailed in the Lebanon.

In 1841

the Druzes fought against the Maronites, in

An-

and

1843 the authority of the Lebanon was

divided so that both the Maronites and the

Druzes had a governor f oste redLjealo usy,

of their own.

and resulted

in

This

increased

disturbances until in 1859 the Turks found an

excuse for disarming the Maronites, and in 1860_a_jnassacre of the

C hHsJjaiisjms^lamied

The Druzes

28

Lebanon and Bashan

of

The rabble

by the Turks.

of

Damascus and

the worst elements amongst the Druzes were

encouraged to participate, which compelled the European

Powers

to interfere,

and put a

stop to the awful massacre that took place in the

memorable year 1860.

The Lebanon was now placed under the protection of the Great Powers, and a Christian

Governor-General

was

appointed

whole of the Lebanon with at

his

for

the

headquarters

Bteddin, near Deir-el-Kamar,

with four

lieutenant-governors for certain sub-divisions of the

Lebanon, one

Druze with districts,

of

whom was

always a

his headquarters, for the

removed from the ancient

Druze

capital of

Deir-el-Kamar to the religious centre of the

Druzes at Baakleen, situated about three miles from the chief governor's palace at Bteddin.

As

a result of the troubles in 1860, large

numbers

of

Lebanon and

the Druzes migrated from

the

settled, with earlier emigrants,

The

Origin and

Growth

of the

in the inaccessible regions of the

ancient land of Bashan. to live the free

they so

much

institutions,

of the

Hauran, the

and independent

love,

and

29

Here they were able life

which

but in 1909 the Turks

attempted to bring them into

man

Druzes

line

with Otto-

just before the outbreak

European war, they were rankling under

even the limited amount of authority which the Turks had

managed

to

impose upon them.

Man is like an ear and sometimes down. Man

is

wheat shaken by the wind

of

a target to the accidents of time.

One day

for us,

With to-day

and one day against

there

is

a Pharaoh.

There

is

no day which has not

There

is

no joy which

Fortune gives

us.

to-morrow.

is

To every Moses there

When

—sometimes up

is

lavishly,

its

opposite.

not followed by sorrow.

and then turns round and takes away.

distress reaches its utmost, relief is close at

hand.

Every ascent has a descent, and every trouble has an end.

To complain

of one's grief,

except to God,

—From ''Arabian

is

an humiliation.

Wisdom," by Dr. Wortabcf.

View of the Ain Ante School and Village [See

page 34

View of the Ain Anub School grounds from the playground [See

page 3&

CHAPTER

III.

A RUIN RESTORED.

CHAPTER

III.

A EUIN EESTORED.

The village centre

of

Ain Anub

containing

the

powerful Emir Erslan. ated, nearly hills,

2000

an important Druze

headquarters of the It is beautifully situ-

feet high,

on the Lebanon

overlooking the city of Beyrout and the

Mediterranean Sea.

two

When

I paid

my

first

the village in 1907, I took possession

visit to

of

is

sets of buildings that

ing to ruin.

were rapidly go-

They had belonged

to a brilliantly

clever but eccentric lady, Mrs. Worsley, sister

famous Bishop Gray of Cape Town, who obstinately dragged her devoted husband from of the

their comfortable

to search

home

in

England

amongst the Druzes

ants of the Hittites.

in order

for the descend-

She was a great student (33)

3

34

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

of the prophetic Scriptures, a follower of the theories of Piazzi

Smith with regard

to the

prophetic interpretation of the Great Pyra-

mid, she wrote pamphlets in defence of the Anglo-Israelite theories, and was a remarkably clever artist.

amount

She purchased a considerable

of property in

Ain Anub, and erected

a most substantial house for the private resi-

dence of herself and her husband, while at the other end of her property, near the village,

she constructed a set of small buildings in

which she accommodated a boarding school for baptised Druze for

the

benefit

She worked very hard

girls.

of

the villagers and

liberal benefactress to large

widows and orphans. and was never able

numbers

of

was a Druze

She was stone deaf

to learn the

Arabic lan-

guage, so entrusted everything to the care of

an English coachman, who, though undoubtedly a faithful servant at strain

of so varied

first,

was unequal

to the

a set of responsibilities

A

Ruin Restored

and gradually succumbed of this Eastern

village.

35

to the evil influences

Mrs.

Worsley had

brought from England in a huge pantechnicon the whole of her valuable, private furniture.

A

special jetty

had

be erected at Beyrout

to

for landing this extraordinary

waggon, and for

three days fourteen mules were employed to

drag this heavy, cumbersome vehicle along the nine miles of winding roads that the

Lebanon

Anub.

I

from Beyrout to Ain

slopes,

found the ruins of the pantechnicon

in the school arrival,

grounds seventeen years after

havoc of the

The

waggon fetched only

The heavy Syrian

9d.

teristic

its

and when the rubbish was sold by

auction, this wonderful 10s.

mount

of

water

flat

most

had

mud of

rains

had made

roofs which are charac-

the Lebanon buildings.

percolated

through

these

neglected roofs, and for seven years had been

dripping winter by winter upon the European furniture, which,

though once beautiful, was

36

now

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

in a terrible state of dirt

The rooms

and

disrepair.

house had been locked up

of the

and sealed by Consular authority, as soon as Mrs. Worsley died.

were

The carpets and

moth-eaten,

all

the

curtains

was

furniture

covered with dust, the place was swarming

with rats and vermin, while snakes and jackals

abounded

in the

twelve acres of rocky terraces

that surrounded the house, and belonged to

The paths and

the estate.

grown with long inhabited

thistles

terraces were over-

and thorns, thickly

by a gorgeous

variety

lovely

of

caterpillars

and

and

remarkable grasshoppers and mar-

ants, of

butterflies,

of curious beetles

vellous specimens of the praying mantis. fine trees

had been stripped

The

of their branches,

for the villagers every year helped themselves to fuel

which they purchased from the watchman.

He was

paid by the British Consulate to take

charge of the premises, but he added to his

income by renting

certain

portions

of

the

A

Ruin Restored

37

grounds to the village goat-herds, by selling

some

wood, and by occasionally accom-

of the

modating a number of Druze

wanted It

now

was sad

to see this once beautiful estate

neglected,

desolate, so

falling to ruin. left

who

and change on the cheap.

rest

so

families,

and rapidly

Mrs. Worsley had foolishly

the whole of her property, worth about

£20,000,

to

her coachman,

who was

to be

Her

lawful

the sole trustee of the institution. heirs disputed the will,

and

litigation

proceeded

about

in the English Courts for a period of

seven years, before matters were finally settled. I

interviewed the lawyers in England just

before taking charge of the chaplaincy in the city of Beyrout, so that

I

secured

control

official

on

my

authority

of the property in

coachman

had

already

arrival in Syria, for

assuming

Ain Anub.

received

a

The

liberal

present of nearly £2000 from Mrs. Worsley's estate,

and the institution had been assigned

The Druzes

38

a capital

when the

sum

of

of

Lebanon and Bashan

£8000

for its

the lawyers' expenses had been paid,

endowment fund had dwindled down

in the

names

of the Secretaries of the S.P.G.,

and provides an endowment

annum

for the educational

of nearly

work

at

£250 per

Ain Anub.

had considerable trouble with the coach-

man who

occupied a small house adjoining the

school property.

way

to

This amount was eventually invested

£5300.

We

endowment, but

to drink,

He

had unfortunately given

he was heavily

in debt,

and was

eventually committed to the Lebanon lunatic

asylum at Asfuriyeh, near Beyrout. In the autumn of 1907 school and buildings.

made

in

commenced

I

opened a small

to repair the neglected

Various structural alterations were

Mrs. Worsley's private house, which

enabled us eventually to open ing school.

The

stables

it

as a board-

and coach-house were

transformed into three classrooms, two large concrete cisterns were sunk in the hill-side

A

Ruin Restored

39

between these classrooms and the dwelling

room was erected

house, another large assembly

over the cisterns, and the rocky refuse that

was excavated cisterns

was

for

the construction

utilised for

New

playground.

of

the

an extension of the

lavatories were built, the

drainage was improved, roads were made, the terraces were

pumps were

repaired,

installed,

were planted,

trees

and by the time the war

broke out the half-ruined Worsley estate at

Ain Anub was becoming one

of the brightest

spots in the Lebanon.

In 1914 there were over 150 pupils

in the

three departments of the institution at

Anub.

The

annually in

pupils

fees.

paid

Ain

more than £200

The boarding school became

popular amongst the Druzes of the Lebanon,

and

all

our best teachers for the village schools

were trained at the institution which, with the

become

endowment

in

fund,

practically self-supporting.

Ain Anub, had now

A man

obtains only what he strives for.

Struggles bring the most unlikely things within reach.

When for

him

a

man makes up

to do

his

mind

to do a thing

it

becomes easy

it.

You must be ready

to confront difficulties

if

you would realise

your hopes.

It is the part of

man

to strive,

and not

to rely

on the favours

of

Fortune.

Not by

fitful efforts,

A moderate

success

but by constancy,

is

better than

The most wonderful thing and the failure of a wise man.

in the

is

an end secured.

overwhelming work.

world

is

the success of a fool

—From "Arabian Wisdom,'' by Dr.

Wortabet.

Pupils op the Aix Anub School, [See page 39

Squad of Scouts at Ain Anub. Thk first corps of boy scouts in the Turkish Empire [See page 16ft

CHAPTER

IV.

EXPANSION OF THE EDUCATIONAL MISSION.

CHAPTEE

IV.

EXPANSION OF THE EDUCATIONAL MISSION. It

was

in the spring of

Canon

S.

as the

Canon Missioner.

on the

1910 that the Rev.

Campbell paid a

mud

flat,

roof

visit to

We

stood together

the

of

Ain Anub

schoolhouse,

admiring the beautiful scenery and the

pic-

turesque villages that nestled amongst the trees

of

this

Lebanon. of

Druze

I

well-wooded told

him

villages I

of

had

portion

the large

visited

of

the

number

where there

were no schools and no missionary work of any sort being done.

"Here,"

I said,

"was

a unique opportunity for the Church of England to take up an important work amongst a

people that would give us a hearty welcome.

A

hundred

village schools (43)

would do wonders

The Druzes

44

of

for the Druzes, they

Lebanon and Bashan would

cost very

for

little,

the people would certainly co-operate, and the

opening of these schools would ensure a constant supply of pupils for the

High School

at

Ain Anub.

The

twofold, the

Ain Anub School would be able

to prepare

benefits

would therefore be

an adequate supply of teachers for

the villages, and the village schools would pre-

pare pupils for entrance to the High School."

The Canon situation,

Missioner

and promised

quickly grasped

to bring the matter

before the Committee of the in

the

Hosanna League

London, which he had recently founded

as a branch of the Jerusalem and the East

Mission.

A

few months afterwards there came one

day to

my

office at

Ain Anub, an

intelligent

young woman who presented an urgent quest that

we

re-

should hasten the opening of a

school in the village of Beshimoon, about one

and a half miles from Ain Anub.

She looked

45

Expansion of the Educational Mission

who was with

pale and worn, and her uncle,

was doing her best

her, explained that she

to

teach the village children single-handed, that she had to spirited

manage from

mountain

lads,

fifty to sixty

high-

who crowded

daily

Her

into her one little schoolroom.

who had

a Syrian Christian, for sixteen years,

lived in

Jamaica

and had recently returned

on a

to his village

uncle was

had been a schoolmaster before leaving had become a successful merchant where he became naturalised subject,

Church.

and was a member

as

Druzes

Most

of the

Anglican

it

and

The

in

their

and had persuaded

open a school

Beshimoon. one,

Jamaica, a British

as

take more interest

children's education, to

in

Syria,

Since his return he had stirred up

the people to

niece

He

visit to his relatives.

village

for the

his

children of

was an interesting

contained

an equal

number

Eastern

Orthodox

Christians.

of the Christians in the

of

Lebanon are

The Druzes

46

Roman what

who

Catholic Maronites,

and did

fanatical,

vent

Lebanon and Bashan

of

Maronite

their

children

some-

are

utmost to pre-

from

attending

Protestant schools.

At Beshimoon, however,

were

there

no

Maronites, and the Greek Orthodox Christians

were

everywhere

Church,

friendly

who sought

fare without attempting to

had lived

A

the

English

because we were the only

chiefly

Foreign missionaries

people.

to

their

proselytise

weltheir

few of the Druzes of Beshimoon

for

some years

in Australia or

New

Zealand, which accounted for their readiness to co-operate in the

opening of an English

school.

The womenfolk

of the

Lebanon have a very

vague idea of geography, and " America

them the name

" is

to

of every place outside Syria to

which the Lebonese emigrate, though subsequent inquiry may reveal the fact that the

husband

or son

is

living in Senegal or

Aus-

Expansion of the Educational Mission

of

had

I

tralia.

been

by

told

some Beshimoon pupils

mothers

the

in the

47

Ain Anub

School that a number of Druzes had recently-

when on

returned from America, and one day

my way I

to the village, I

was about

met a stranger

whom

He managed

to salute in Arabic.

me and to my astonishment English, "Good morning, sir, 'ow

to forestall

shouted

in

are yer

'ome

gettin' on, an' 'ow's all at

?

"

"

Well," I "

exclaimed, " and where did you learn English

He then informed me

of his recent return,

?

with

other Druzes, from Australia, and of his anxiety to see the rising generation better educated.

On my

first

visit of inquiry I

welcomed, and the their

villagers

school fund had

was warmly

informed

a balance

me

of

that

£8

in

hand, after paying the rent of the schoolroom

and the teacher's salary

;

from which

evident that the people had already

praiseworthy effort to help themselves. of the smartest boys in our

it

was

made a

Some

Ain Anub school

The Druzcs

48

had come from

of

Lebanon and Bashan

this

Canon Campbell

and

village,

had

I

told

nothing could better

that

ensure the success of the High School than the opening of a few village schools like the

one at Beshimoon.

When,

peal from the village of

forwarded the

it

at once to

Hosanna League

responded that

therefore, the ap-

Beshimoon came,

I

Canon Campbell, and

so quickly

and

heartily

we were able on December 27th,

1910, to take charge of the school at Beshi-

moon with both and

in less

niece

and uncle as teachers,

than a month

we had

enrolled

nearly a hundred pupils.

The beginning

of this village

The

work was

par-

and

the

ticularly

encouraging.

villagers

came and discussed with great

thusiasm

all

and

laid

it

for

the

half

on the table before me.

amusing to see the array in the

en-

the necessary details connected

arrangements

with our

chiefs

schoolhouse with

It

year

was

of greybeards sitting all

the dignity of a

Expansion

of the Educational

Mission

49

London School Board, watching me examine the boys

so as to rearrange the classes and

to appoint the curriculum.

They were highly

delighted with the brief lecture which I gave

assembly on

the

" School

Sanitation

charmed with the demands which upon the landlord tions It

I

and

"

made

for certain structural altera-

that would give us proper ventilation.

was a new thought

to

them that a

school-

master should have the slightest concern for the health or comfort of his pupils.

All

my

suggestions were carried out with a promptitude that is "

is

unusual in Syria, where the rule

always put

off

till

to-morrow what you are

not obliged to do to-day speedily

set

to

".

The carpenter was

work on the new

seats

and

window-frames, and we quickly perceived the

tremendous advantage of having the Mission School run on the partnership principle.

was no waste

of Mission funds,

There

no complaints,

no grumbling, for while their money was min4

— The Druzes

50

Lebanon and Bashan

of

gled with ours

it

was expended with the same

economy

as

if it

rigid

The son village for

were

of the great

all their

own.

Druze sheikh

of the

posed as the spokesman of his people,

he was a student at the American College

in Beyrout,

me

presented English,

its

As we

of the villagers he

with the following address in

which

things for "

and on behalf

is

interesting

amongst other

ambitious phraseology

all

know

:

that .knowledge and

lit-

men

are

erature are the only ways by which

promoted, then according to our present time,

which fession

is

the time of literature, the best pro-

by which a man can do good

self as well as for others, will

be the

man

for him-

and by which he

of the future,

is

to be a

man

of literature.

"Because our small sciences, contains

village is very

poor in

many young men who

are

not polite, therefore because of your love you

have made a good school for

its

young men

in

Expansion of the Educational Mission

51

order to lay a good foundation for their future

when they some

are to be sent to higher schools or

colleges.

We

thank you for your look-

out at our village, and saving

and powerful enemy

their great I

hope

many men from

this school will

of ignorance,

grow on the

right line

and be accompanied by great advance and success.

We

members

of its little

work and

thank also

for their

its

teachers and the

community

for their

good

watching and urging the

students of this school in order to be industri-

ous and diligent, because on them the progress of their country depends.

"This

is

not a wonderful action from you

because you are accustomed to do such good things as this, therefore

we

are not wonderful

about that." This was the

Hosanna League Druze

first

venture

for bringing

villages of the

made by

the

succour to the

Lebanon, and

it

was

re-

markable how rapidly the work developed and

52

The Druzes In

prospered.

of

less

Lebanon and Bashan than

five

ourselves with a flourishing

Ain Anub

we found

years

High School

at

as the centre of an extensive educa-

and twenty-three

tional work,

village schools

under our care with over a thousand pupils.

The partnership system adopted

at the outset

worked remarkably well.

village school

Every

contributed at least a half, and more often twothirds, of the

High School

expense of

its

upkeep, and the

at our headquarters in

Ain Anub

was rapidly becoming more and more under the guidance of

my most

league, the Rev. J. E. Cheese, assisted by

two self-denying

Miss Thompson.

efficient

faithful col-

who was

ladies,

ably

Mrs. and

Hotel at Ain-za-Halta, near the Cedars Leranon

in

the Southern [See

d

* Deir

•',

>

/«

'l

v

-

Kamar.

v ^

...«.- *:

v'-;-

'•'•

page 77

-ier *V-;

'-^ia?;'

*

i"

r ?*.

The largest Maronite town in the Druze Baakleen and Bteddin

District, near

[See page 26

CHAPTER "

V.

SCHOLAEITIS."

CHAPTER " "

Know,

V.

SCHOLAKITIS."

young men, that ignorance

is

a

shame

;

get

knowledge, get knowledge."

Beisur

Druze

is

one of the largest of the purely

villages in the

Lebanon, situated at a

height of 2200 feet upon the eastern slopes of the

first

high range, about twelve miles from

Beyrout and three from our educational centre at

Ain Anub.

cedars and

frequented

is

It

faces

distant

roads,

springs in

Primitive but prosperous,

nestling

boundaries are within

most modern hotels

around

a verdant basin. its

interests

customs are those of a mediaeval its

Baruk

hidden away from the well-

carriage

three beautiful

the

rifle

village, yet

range of the

in the mountains. (55)

and

The

The Druzes

56

village doctor,

Ain Anub,

Lebanon and Bashan

of

who

lives three miles

me he seldom

told

away

at

pays more than

four visits a year to the robust inhabitants of this well-favoured village.

the

smallpox epidemic

mountains of

Western

in the

which

the

affection of the brain

from Beyrout by some

byname, sud-

cosy compound.

their

who deciphered

ravaged

year 1911, but another fever

origin, " Scholaritis "

denly invaded

They escaped

This

was apparently carried

of the

younger muleteers,

a cryptic warning in Arabic

neatly written in hundreds of places by the

Young Turks upon which,

being

the street walls of the city,

interpreted,

says,

young men, that ignorance

is

"

Know, O

a shame

;

get

knowledge, get knowledge".

The passion

for learning broke out in Syria

immediately after the Turkish revolution placed the despotism of Abdul substituted

the

government, but

dis-

Hamid and

semblance of constitutional it

took a long time to pene-

57

"Scholaritis"

remote

trate the

villages of the

Lebanon.

watched for two years the period tion, as

the deputations which

I

of incuba-

came

to

me

from Beisur and other benighted villages grew

more and more enthusiastic for a school.

that itis

"

my

I

waited

in their

demands

was

satisfied

till

I

diagnosis was correct, that " scholar-

was

raging, that the village

for its physic, that the fees

was ready

would be

paid,

and the conditions observed, then the school

would be opened and success was assured.

By

the generosity of Mr. and the Marchesa

de Grave Sells of Genoa, we were able to

make

grants to Beisur for a

well as for the

The wife

of the

girls'

school as

customary school for boys.

Druze Bey

in the girls of the village,

interested herself

and seemed to be

remarkably anxious that her own two very pretty daughters, as well as the village

girls,

should receive the same definitely Christian instruction which she herself

had received at

The Druzes

58

of

Lebanon and Bashan

the excellent boarding school of the British

Syrian Mission at Shimlan. sible,

the

It

was not pos-

however, to teach in a village day school

many

useful lessons she had learned at a

higher grade boarding school, nor did sider

it

advisable in the

more than

insist

upon a

Druze

we

con-

villages to

do

daily lesson from the

Bible and the inculcation of Christian morals as the basis of our elementary education, but

the enthusiasm of this influential lady for the Christian religion was a striking testimony to

the influence of educational Missions and an illustration of the attitude of

found existing amongst almost

Druzes of both sexes. gaged

for

the

girls'

mind which we all

the educated

The teacher we en-

school

was

also

a very

who spoke

English well,

and had likewise been educated

at one of the

interesting character

British Syrian Mission boarding schools.

was a Druze who read her Bible

daily,

She used

" Daily Light," prayed regularly as a Christian,

59

"Schoiaritis"

taught her pupils Christian hymns, and though

never baptised she was more diligent, more truthful,

more

unselfish

tian in character than

had who were born

The

many

other workers

we

of Christian parents.

teacher of the Beisur boys' school

first

was educated wits'

and more truly Chris-

at

He was

Ain Anub.

at his

end to know how to accommodate the large

number

of pupils that

I paid

him a surprise

crowded visit

to the school.

one day in the

height of the silk-worm season, which generally

emptied a village school, but I found nearly one hundred youngsters learning.

I

was obliged

all

keenly intent on

to limit the attend-

ance to sixty pupils for every village school

with only one teacher, for this often meant five classes

and seven hours' hard work every

day except Saturdays and Sundays. entered the schoolroom on

found the "Squire," of the

Abu

my

When

surprise

I

visit, I

Shakib Bey, one

Druze aristocracy and a member

of the

The Druzes

60

Lebanon and Bashan

of

Governor's Council for the Lebanon, sitting at the teacher's desk reading St. Matthew's Gospel to one of the classes.

had introduced

I

the

New Testament which was almost unknown

in

this ultra-conservative

who had

the young "squire" school,

was keenly interested

the book was

ment

Druze

like.

He

village,

a son in the

to discover

charm

much

that he

what

expressed his astonish-

at the cheapness of so neat a

at the

and

He

of its contents.

had come

book and liked

it

so

to help the teacher

with some of the reading lessons. Preliminary compliments being ended he sent messengers through the village to fetch

work

from

their

four

members

struck

rassment.

full

fields

the

Committee.

other

They

of gushing enthusiasm

newly-founded academy and over-

flowing with

which

their

of the School

quickly appeared, for their

or

Eastern compliments, some of

me

speechless

with

embar-

01

"Scholaritis"

We got

to work,

school, aided

however, and examined the

by the " squire," who took charge

of the arithmetic but did not venture further

The boys were

than simple multiplication.

beyond the standard

backward

reading,

of their years in

in writing

and arithmetic,

entirely ignorant of geography,

ones

who hoped

to pass

Arabic

and the older

on to the High School

had made a good beginning with English.

I

promised to try and secure some maps and Scripture pictures for their bare walls on condition that they themselves

school

The

furniture.

made a

little

more

teacher closed

the

school with the reverent recital of the Lord's

Prayer by the

girls'

all

the boys, after which

school

we

visited

and subsequently took our

departure.

In the village of

Beisur there

holiest hermit of the race.

possess magical powers, and

a single word

is

enough

He is

is

lives

the

supposed to

one from

to arouse the

whom

Druzes

62 to

The Druzes a man.

Lebanon and Bashan

of

This religious hermit and the

worldly-minded " squire

"

were united, with

all

the rest of the holy and unholy villagers, in

promoting the welfare of their very elementary institutions for

modern culture and Western

learning.

When

leaving the village

over

faction

this

my

successful

deepened into a broad grin as

smile of satissurprise

I reined

visit

up

my

horse by the side of a protruding rock that points

towards a Maronite village on

opposite side of tradition

the

valley.

declares that

A

the

well-known

the village of Beisur

once had a furious quarrel with the Maronites

on the opposite

hill.

They mustered

their

forces at this rock for the purpose of cursing their unclean Christian neighbours. villagers

belong mostly to

the

But the

"Initiated"

Druzes, and considered themselves too respectable to allow such terrible curses to pass from their lips as they considered the occasion re-

63

"Scholaritis" quired.

They therefore hired an arrant repro-

bate from a neighbouring village to stand and for

curse,

Maronites

all

he was worth, those

in the

name

of the

unholy

most holy men

of Beisur.

My

pleased the

New

of Beisur to

me that it know that the

a book which

is

companion explained

men

Testament

is

to

forbidden by

the Maronites in their schools, and that therefore they are determined to use

A

it all

the

more

!

few months after the opening of our

Beisur schools, I was astonished at the arrival of a large deputation from this very

Christian village.

Maronite

They begged of me

to

and open a school for them, as the priests

come

Roman

were doing nothing for their children

who were growing up

as heathen.

The people

had seen our school at the Druze Beisur, and they

now

declared that

village of

we were

teaching the Druzes to be better Christians

than they were themselves

!

The Druzes

64 I this

of

Lebanon and Bashan

had no intention

of opening a school in

Maronite

but I spoke so sympa-

thetically

priests

village,

and made so many inquiries that the

were speedily informed

of

my supposed The ruse was

determination to open a school.

successful for the priests were alarmed,

and a

few weeks afterwards a teacher was sent by the Bishop, and a school was opened in the

Maronite village which had been so savagely cursed by the

men

The

of Beisur.

recalled to

me

missionary

who was asked what

in

incident

the story of a famous American

visiting a small

" I

village.

open two schools," he

errand he had

said,

am

going to

adding, with

a

twinkle of the eye, as he saw the anticipated

look of surprise on the face of his questioner, " I shall

open one to-day

open the other to-morrow

;

" !

the Jesuits

will

CHAPTER

VI.

DOGS OF WAE AND HEEALDS OF PEACE.

CHAPTER

VI.

DOGS OF WAE AND HEEALDS OF PEACE.

A Lebanon

official

day

autumn

in

the

was of

calling

upon me one

1913 when, in the

course of conversation, he told

me

there had

been a considerable amount of unrest

Lebanon during the

twenty years past," he affrays in the villages

months.

last six said,

in the

"

For

"the shooting

have only averaged nine

per annum, but during the last six months forty-nine persons have been shot

down

highways by brigands or

and most

fanatics,

the murdered happened to

the

in the

of

be Druzes, and

murderers were unfortunately Maronite

Roman

Catholic Christians.

A serious

incident developed as a result of (67)

The Druzes

68

of

Lebanon and Bashan

one of these murders committed just outside

Druze

the

village of Beisur,

where we had two

Five hundred armed

flourishing schools.

men

suddenly appeared before an equal number of

armed Christians from the

A

Gharb.

Maronite

Suk

village of

'1

young Druze had been shot by a Christian,

and when the

tidings

reached his village the people were aroused to

avenge the blood of their

There

slain.

had

been too many of

late,

and now they were determined to put a

stop to them. the

these

incidents

They had often appealed

Lebanon Government

officials,

to take matters into their officials

became alarmed,

began,

there all

own

for

if

and a desperate

civil

at last

The

hands.

actual fighting

might easily ensue a the villages of

to

but nothing

had been done, and they determined

throughout

of

tumult

the Lebanon,

war could

easily

be

precipitated between these fanatical Maronites

and the warlike Druzes

of

the South.

The

Dogs

War

of

authorities

promised

69

Heralds of Peace

arid

the Druzes

they

that

would certainly deal with the murderers and bring them to justice, but the Druzes replied that

they

officials

distrusted

promises

the

the

of

and could wait no longer, as

their

patience was exhausted and they were de-

termined

wreak

to

murderer of their

vengeance

A huge tribal

villager.

seemed imminent,

upon

the

war

Druzes demanded

for the

the immediate arrest and production of the

Maronite who was hiding village of

Suk

'1

Gharb.

The

in

the Christian

Christians were

obdurate and disinclined to accede to their

demands.

At

a critical hour there arrived

upon the scene a young British Consul, and for a

moment

the tumult was silenced whilst

explanations were given of what had been

happening.

The Consul parleyed with them,

and eventually pledged that he himself

his

word

to the

Druzes

would undertake to see that

the murderer was produced

and brought

to

The Druzes

70

The

trial.

ledged

of

stepped forward, acknow-

chiefs

their

Lebanon and Bashan

indebtedness

England,

to

and

declared that the Consul's promise sufficed for their purposes, as

The crowds were then

be trusted. civil

war was averted, and

the promise

was

an Englishman's word could

made

to the

accordance with

to the Druzes, the

captured

subsequently

condemned.

in

dispersed,

was a

This

and

striking

murderer

eventually

testimony

nature of British influence amongst

the Druzes of the Lebanon.

was only a few days

after,

however, that

another Druze was murdered

belonging to

It

the village of Benneh,

a flourishing

little

where we also had

school.

This

made

things

look serious, for troubles were brewing on every hand, but as the villages

we were

that one of the for peace

we went about amongst deeply gratified to find

most potent factors that made

was the

little

British school which

Dogs

of

War

had been opened

and Heralds of Peace

many

in so

of

71

these dis-

The Druzes were accustomed

turbed

villages.

to rely

upon the British authorities

them, and at such a time of

to protect

and

trouble

anxiety, the most visible proof to the ignorant villagers of Britain's concern for their welfare

was the

little

English school in their midst,

the hospital at their capital, and the constant

our English workers when

visitations of

specting the village schools.

not always

distinguish

functions of

Church and

looked

upon

the

the

in-

The Druze did totally

different

State, but

when he

hospital

or

the

entered

schools he thought of the kindly care which

the British people had for his welfare

troubles arose, he was the listen to the counsel of

was ready

to sheath his

his British protectors.

;

when

more prepared

his true friends

to

and

sword at the advice of I visited the village of

Beisur a week after the trouble that arose

The Druzes

72

Lebanon and Bashan

of

over the murder of one of their people, and as I

much

cantered through the streets, I was

astonished of

to observe the joyous excitement

Hundreds rushed

the villagers.

me

doors to shout invite

me

in

ahead and yelled our priest". session

of

A my

and to

salutations

their

The

meal.

to a

to their

children ran

to each other, "

Our

dozen lads fought for pos-

when

horse

gathered to welcome me.

salutations

more

were

that

"

pronouncedly

as

turned

and confided

one

in

" Well," said the Bey, "

of their friends. will hide

many

They found vent

troubles.

to their pent-up feelings

of the

After

friendly than usual, the conversation

upon the recent

the

alighted,

I

sheikhs and the great Bey or " Squire district

priest,

nothing from you,

our minister and

we

we

will

we

look upon you

make our

con-

fessions to you, just as the Maronites confess to their priests

me

with

" !

much

He detail

then proceeded to the

story

of

tell

their

Dogs troubles,

of

War and

Heralds of Peace

73

and concluded with a fervent appeal

that I should visit the village

more frequently

so that they might constantly confide in me,

and that we might take counsel together

in all

that concerned the welfare of their people.

!

War

is

an

evil

thing to both victor and vanquished.

It is better to avoid

To

die in battle

than

to

make

war.

from a thousand cuts

of the

sword

is

easier

than

to die in bed.

A

battle

is

What an Beware

fought by feints and stratagems.

easy thing

is

a battle to one

of aggression in

war

— for

who it

looks on at a distance

can lesd to no glory in

victory.

shame

To overcome the weak has

all

Magnanimity

and mercy

of praise to

God

to captives,

the

of a defeat.

to the fallen, are a

hymn

for victory.

—From "Arabian

Wisdom,''''

by Dr. Wortabet.

CHAPTER

VII.

STOEMS THAT SHAKE THE LEBANON.

CHAPTER

VII.

STOEMS THAT SHAKE THE LEBANON. The Lebanon

is

a favourite health resort for

the dwellers in Egypt,

During the summer months the

crowded with

and

Palestine,

visitors.

The

Syria.

are

villages

large hotels

in

the more popular towns near the railroad to

Damascus Egyptians,

are

generally

thronged

while every available

with

cottage

is

rented from the Lebonese by the inhabitants of the Syrian cities

who take

refuge from the

heat of the plains in the salubrious villages that

overlook the Mediterranean Sea.

summer, however, on these lovely is

little

The hills

a great contrast to the short-lived gloom of

the winter,

and

when the Lebanon

sleeps her sleep

silently suffers the fury of the fierce storms (77)

The Druzes

78

of

rage round

that

The winter

her

hail, falling for thirty-five

almost without

days

snow-capped summit.

was one of unprecedented

of 1911

Snow and

severity.

Lebanon and Bashan

a

occasionally

break,

covered the

hills

down

the plains.

The

railroad to

to the very verge of

Damascus was

blocked for a month, and a thousand

engaged for seven days in a to find the

by thirty

mouth

fruitless

of a tunnel that

feet of snow.

verity of this winter

men were attempt

was hidden

The extraordinary

se-

was experienced through-

out the whole of Syria and the greater part of

Asia Minor.

Numbers

of

people and

thousands of sheep perished, while hundreds of thousands of olive trees were destroyed by the

frost.

Twenty-three mules walked into

Aleppo one day laden with merchandise, but ownerless, for their owners had perished in the

snow.

A

village,

frozen

man on horseback to death, his

arrived at a

two companions

were found dead on the road.

Seven camels

Storms

Shake the Lebanon

that

79

reached one of the Khans in Aintab without

A

drivers.

relief

party immediately started

back and found them huddled together and frozen to

A

death.

large

caravan reached

Kaisariyeh without drivers,

the

bell-animal

having led the others safely to their destination.

Ten days

later

the

having saved their

arrived

drivers lives

with

there,

difficulty

by

taking refuge one by one in different villages.

Wild animals were driven by hunger

to

seek food in the towns, and a wolf was shot in the

market place

of Aintab.

The body

of

a man, badly torn by a wild animal, was found

within a few minutes' walk of the American College,

and two wolves attacked the College

servants quite near the

city.

There was a serious scarcity of food and building material such as

fuel,

beams and poles were

sold for firewood, unfinished

and unoccupied

houses were stripped of their wood, and some of

the

people burnt their

furniture,

their

The Druzes

80

Lebanon and Bashan

of

window-shutters and doors, while one family took the donkey into the house that they

might be warmed by the heat of

Beyrout was cut land

;

dear.

and

from

off

food, for a time,

Those

of us

its

its

body.

by

supplies

became exceedingly

who were spending

that

winter in the mountains were living in constant

dread

our sheltering roof should be torn

lest

away by

At Ain Anub

the terrifying gales.

we were awakened one

night by a rumbling

overhead, and discovered next morning that thirty tiles

had been carried away while we lay

helpless in our beds.

Many windows

of the

schoolhouse were shattered, and one day as

we

sat at lunch a

whole window-frame was

hurled to the ground by the side of our diningtable.

Doors that would burst open had

barricaded, and the

flat

mud

saturated with water that not a free floors

from leakages, and

in

were covered with pools

roofs

to

be

were so

room remained

some places our of ice-cold water.

Storms that Shake the Lebanon

81

This was a bitter winter for our children

High School, and much more

at the

trying

many

for the poorer children of the villages, of

whom came

sufficiently clad,

English friends

day schools very

to the

and we were grateful

who

in-

to our

sent us gifts of clothing

that enabled us to alleviate the sufferings of

the poor.

My

weekly journey on horseback between

Beyrout and Ain

and

ately difficult

Anub became

My

trying.

proportion-

horse would

occasionally stagger the width of the road as

he faced the

blast,

and once

it

seemed as

though both horse and rider would be blown over the

cliffs

occasion as

we rounded a

by a pelting shower swept

corner,

tempest. driving

with

terrific

we were met

force

enveloped 6

were

and hurled into by the angry

we were

Alternately sleet,

another

of small stones that

off the terraces above,

our faces

On

to the valley below.

in

a

blinded

by

cloud

of

The Druzes

82

Lebanon and Bashan

of

snowflakes,

falling

forced

under the trees from a

enormous

or

cut

valleys

I

up

through

splashing

and the

shelter

sudden deluge

of

wading through rushing

hailstones,

that

torrents

take

to

the mountain

muddy

pools

roads, in

the

plains.

remember on one occasion having

ar-

ranged for a baptism to take place at Ain

Anub on

the

Sunday evening.

I

was

in

Beyrout for the morning services and visited the ships in the port

One gan,

during the

afternoon.

of the winter storms then suddenly be-

but

I

mounted

elements, and arrived

astonished villagers

my

horse,

in time to

who had

faced

the

greet

the

gathered from

a distance and had given up hopes

coming

as

storm.

I

I

they watched felt

fury

my

of

the

miserably uncomfortable, but

was well repaid

ticed

the

of

for

my

venture as I no-

what a deep impression my unexpected

appearance had made upon the people.

It

Storms

Shake

that

was talked about afterwards, and

for

was

Lebanon

83

a considerable

time

the

cited to confirm the pre-

vailing impression so prevalent in

an Englishman's word

On

his bond.

another occasion, a like adherence to

me

duty provided for

is

Syria that

driving

with an excellent illustration

home

young people

a salutary lesson to

of Beyrout.

I

was due

the

to give

an address one evening to a large gathering of

and determined

school children,

to

say

something about the growing habit amongst Syrian

women

Western customs

of imitating

by resorting to powder and paint for their complexions.

The

was how

difficulty

the moral without giving offence.

morning I was also due important engagement

in

Early that

Ain Anub

when

began to rage furiously.

to point

for

an

a sudden storm hesitated

for a

time but at length decided to go, and

when

I

arrived at

1

the schoolhouse,

to the skin, our

wet through

workers there noticed

my

84

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

remarkably fresh complexion and

my

brilliantly

The journey through the storm,

rosy cheeks.

though trying, had nevertheless done world of good, and

when

I

me

a

returned that

evening to address the young people, I an-

nounced that

my

intention to speak on a subject

would

painted

my

interest

face

them,

The

".

ride tickled their fancy, easily

pressed

home

healthy

life

my

I

morning's

and the lesson was

that

devotion to duty, and hardship, were far

story of

How

"

viz.,

healthy

readiness

more conducive

exercise,

to to a

endure

happy

than the slavish imitation of the

foibles of the

West.

CHAPTER

VIII.

CATEKPILLAKS AND CANKEK-WOBMS.

CHAPTEE

VIII.

CATEEPILLAES AND CANKEE-WOEMS.

A

remarkable change takes place upon

the hills of the year.

Lebanon

all

in the spring of every

In the early days of

March

the hills are

gorgeously green, as the myriads of small mulberry trees that grow on the terraces are fully clothed with their bright green leaves.

A few

weeks afterwards, however, the aspect

of the

hills is

changed, and the Lebanon

bronzed and brown, for the has eaten up every available

is

once more

little

silk-worm

leaf,

and

mulberry trees barren and shorn. at this time, however, that the

with the joyous tinkling of

left

It is just

Lebanon

bells, for

the

rings

the people

have garlanded their mules and every transport animal

is

commandeered (87)

to hurry off to the

The Druzes

88

of

Lebanon and Bashan

factories the precious

The

coons.

burden of the

silk industry is

one of the most

The people ha-

important in the Lebanon. bitually vacate

up

the

shelves of

little

large

their

flat

rooms and

private

work are

placed,

and

children busy themselves night

and day with the gathering

mulberry leaves

of

which are carefully spread upon the trays feeding of the

fix

bamboo canes upon which

trays of basket

women and

silk co-

The

silk- worms.

need a considerable amount of superintend the operations,

little

creatures

care.

fix

for the

up the

The men shelves,

attend to the terraces, and bring in the thorn

branches or the bundles of Genista upon which the

worms

in the course of

time weave their

golden cocoons.

Sometimes the season

unfortunate one,

when

come

at

of the

is

an

the cold or the rains

an unseasonable hour and cause many

worms

to perish.

Generally speaking,

however, the silk-worm season time for the Lebonese.

The

is

a profitable

little caterpillars

Caterpillars

do

their

work

well,

and Canker-worms

and though they

89

spoil the

look of the Lebanon, yet they weave myriads of miles of silken thread for the ribbons

The

robes of gay ladies in the West. " factories "

give forth

being

now

dotted

large

over the Lebanon

all

an unsavoury odour when the

wound

and

off after the

silk is

cocoon has been

placed in boiling water, but the operation

is

an intensely interesting one, and every silken thread that comes to Europe

is

a combination

of three or four finer threads that are

unwound

from as many cocoons and are bound together in the spinning mills.

The holidays arranged to

for

the

coincide

village

all

are

with the silk season.

The schools are often closed a month as

schools

for

more than

hands are needed to pick

the leaves and to keep the voracious caterpillars

adequately supplied with food.

the cocoons are gathered

in,

When

the mules laden

and garlanded with many tinkling

bells,

then

The Druzes

90

Lebanon and Bashan

of

the teachers call back the children to their lessons.

This

little caterpillar,

though he desolates the

nevertheless a beneficent creature,

hill-side, is

but there are other really vicious worms that bring poverty to the people, that canker the

and

fruit

pestilent

ermine,

spoil little

the vines.

I

remember one

fellow, beautifully clothed

who on more than one

havoc of the

olives

to the people

occasion

and brought much

on account of

its

in

made

distress

ravages

when

the buds were just appearing upon the olive trees.

how

The Lebonese have not yet learned

to destroy these pests,

and the Lebanon

Government, under the Turkish regime, seldom attempted to come to their

Our

aid.

village

schools were the hope of the country, their

we were not

only

able to indicate to the rising generation

the

uses were

many and

various,

improvements which were possible agricultural

system,

the

use

of

in

their

chemical

Caterpillars

and Canker-worms

91

manures, the methods adopted in other lands for destroying objectionable insects, but these little

constantly demonstrated

schools

destroy the numberless

to

efficiency

their

moral

canker-worms that had too long spoiled the

and blighted the souls of these sturdy

lives

They not only taught the

mountaineers.

lads

to strive after knowledge, but to love the truth, to hate factions, to seek

trained

them

after peace.

to observe the importance of the

they fitted them to develop

little

things of

their

own moral and mental

life,

capacities as well

as the resources of their country,

neglected to point of a better I

life

and they never

them to the hopes and

glories

beyond.

was very greatly encouraged by the way

which the

intelligent lads of our

voraciously that

They

we

devoured

the

sought to teach.

in

boarding school

important lessons

The

results of our

High School work at Ain Anub became speedily apparent in the villages when

we were

able to

92

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

employ our own young graduates as teachers in the village schools.

to see the

way

to imitate our

in

It

was quite amusing

which these young men tried

methods

at the

High School, and

by doing so greatly gratified the astonished villagers in the out-of-the-way corners of the

Lebanon.

There was one young lad who stayed for years with us at

He

Ain Anub.

tears in his eyes, his relatives

and

bitterly

opposed

to school, but

arrived with

had mocked him

his determination to

he persevered

five

come

in his resolve,

and

earned for himself a sufficient amount of money to

pay his

In subsequent

fees for the first year.

years his parents consented to help him, and

when

at last he graduated they

ously proud of him. student, but he severing,

He was

never a brilliant

was always plodding and per-

and he became devotedly fond

school and his teachers. his

were tremend-

certificate,

When

of his

at last he took

he contemplated leaving

for

and Canker-worms

Caterpillars

93

America, but I suddenly received a grant from

Hosanna League which enabled me

the

him a post

in

to offer

one of the remote villages of the

Lebanon, not far from the famous Cedars.

went there and did

was

splendid, the

brilliantly, his discipline

pupils were

tentive, the villagers

He

keen and

at-

gave him the best house

they had for the schoolhouse, they provided the pupils with useful desks, roughly just

like those that

School,

the

first

and when

I

made but

were used at our High

appeared amongst them for

examination, I was astonished to find

that under the guidance of this

young

"

Druze

"

teacher, the pupils passed the best Scripture

examination of any village school I had

in-

spected in the Lebanon.

We

had a similar experience

lage school

another

vil-

where the teacher was one of our

High School graduates. were under

in

his care,

Sixty-three pupils

and such was the reputa-

tion of the school that four pupils

came every

The Druzes

94

of

Lebanon and Bashan

day from a village three miles away. ganisation was magnificent, he scholars

assist

made

His

or-

his senior

him with the junior

classes,

and many a trained board school teacher England would have found

crowd

so well with such a motley that I

young

"

Druze "

remember

in the

of pupils as

Lebanon.

away from

riding

do

difficult to

it

in

that village

with a very thankful heart, and as I crossed the

dry river-bed at the foot of the

up I

my

and moths, so

I

of

Lebanon butterflies

dismounted and searched

diligently through the ".

I reined

horse in front of a large oleander bush.

was making a collection

sure

hill,

Failing to

bush

find

for "

what

remounted and began to pass

hidden trea-

I

wanted

on, but I

I

im-

mediately espied on the opposite bank another large bush I

emblazoned with blossom.

decided not to dismount as

my

At

first

search in the

other bush had proved so fruitless of results, so I passed on, but quickly repented

and turned

Caterpillars

95

and Canker-worms

back for another search at the second bush. This time I was amply rewarded, for hidden

amongst the leaves I found a beautiful pillar of the

cater-

oleander moth which I immedi-

ately consigned to a in triumph.

match-box

continued

I

my

to carry

home

search and was

again rewarded with a large specimen of one of the

free

most beautiful moths

from

between

its

I caught

chrysalis.

my thumb and

his glorious garments,

a place of honour in

in the world, just

him gently

finger so as not to spoil

and carried him home to

my

large collection.

My

children were delighted with the find, and the

next day set out on a hunting expedition for oleander caterpillars and moths, with excellent results.

The following Sunday

ren's Service I passed

round the

at our childlittle

creeping

treasures which they had discovered, and able

to point

children

some excellent morals

who were keenly

lively children's

Service.

interested

to

was the

in this

The Druzes

96

There

is

Lebanon and Bashan

of

plenty of hidden treasure amongst

the sturdy mountaineers of the lages,

ally

Lebanon

but patience and perseverance are natur-

needed to bring

sometimes

We

to light.

it

disappointed

but I think

we always found

ance brought

its

humanity

which we tried

that persever-

some excellent

to

nurture

until

with goodly virtues and godly

its

village school

they de-

adorned

fear.

work was

interesting for

Some

of the schools

wonderful variety.

could be described as being

when warm

speci-

in various stages of growth,

veloped into right-minded citizens,

The

efforts,

due reward, and enabled us

eventually to discover of

were

work and

our

in

tempted here and there to give up our

mens

vil-

discussions

still

in the egg,

would be carried on

with the village chiefs and definite negotiations

were being made for taking under'our care one of their miserable native schools.

were

just

Others that

hatched required attention of a

and Canker-worms

Caterpillars different

kind, the sorting

them

the fees and instructing

elementary

the

them with books,

classes, providing

for

of*

cleanliness

97

lads

collecting

in the necessity

and

discipline.

Some

Others underwent the chrysalis stage.

had got as

wings and fluttered before us

their

well-bred

into

butterflies

of

which we were

genuinely proud.

The little

village

grub.

It

villages in the

school at

was

M. was a tiresome

one of the most awful

in

Lebanon

for squalor

norance, disease and dissensions.

and

The

ig-

school,

however,

made excellent progress, and we never

had the

slightest difficulty in finding all the

money

that

was required

The parents paid up

for its maintenance.

splendidly, but our

teacher had a trying and difficult time of at the

end of the

removed next

to

more

a

first,

and

quarter begged to be

first

civilised surroundings.

teacher was

so smart as the

it,

first

much

older man,

The not

and hopelessly destitute 7

The Druzes

98

of

Lebanon and Bashan

of disciplinary powers, but faithful worker, trials that

and gladly bore the

beset a teacher in

proached refused to go to

we were

and

On I

in

those difficult

this desolate place,

obliged to keep on this old

man

the end he did most excellent work.

one of

was

terrible

Every other teacher that we ap-

surroundings.

so

he was a good and

my

inspections in the silk season,

horrified to find that the villagers

had

transferred the school to a dark, dirty hovel

where the only door.

They pleaded

schoolroom

worms.

light

for

the

came through the open that they needed the old cultivation

of

the silk-

This could not be tolerated, so I

called together the chiefs,

and instead

of the

ordinary examination from books and blackboards, I began an extraordinary examination of the children's heads

and

eyes.

I pointed

out to the astonished parents that thirty-seven of

the

fifty

boys were suffering from some

disease of the eyes, and I asked

them whether

and Canker-worms

Caterpillars their children

99

were not worth more than

worms, and whether they were wise

their

in jeop-

ardising the health of their boys for the sake

The people were

few thousand cocoons.

of a

alarmed, they had never thought of

and

my

protest easily prevailed.

It

it

before

was

diffi-

cult to run a school in such a benighted village,

twenty miles from one's headquarters, but

was

in this sort of place

that a school

was

most needed, a veritable breeding-ground all

it

for

kinds of moral and material canker-worms.

The teacher was a martyr. came

to us, he

was engaged

a Greek Catholic school.

work with

us, the

to return to the

the

Bishop,

After six months'

to their village, so

he

to

my surprise, advised

Druze

village of M., " for,"

went to the Bishop, who,

said

as a teacher at

people of his former school

begged him to return

him

Just before he

"your English master

is

evidently a lion, he compels these Druzes to

read the Bible, which

is

a wonderful thing in

100

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

our country, and you must not think of leaving his service".

I felt

proud of the compliment

and pleased at the Bishop's common-sense readiness to co-operate with us, but I often

His

wondered whether would have approved

this piece of

in his Suffragan of the

One was

Holiness of

of the largest

selves.

Modernism

Lebanon.

Lebanon canker-worms

The people

undoubtedly factiousness.

seemed always

Rome

to be at enmity

amongst them-

In a very small village I often visited

there were three different parties

who would would have

not speak to each other, and

it

been an unpardonable sin to

visit

only one

of the families, for like jealous children the

others would have tried to injure the school

from sheer spite

;

such was their foolishness.

This was a wearisome business, but in these village

cliques

schools

the children of

the different

rubbed shoulders together, and it looked

as though our village

work was beginning

to

Caterpillars effectively deal

Not

worm. was a

and Canker-worms

101

with this venomous old canker-

far

from the

village of M., there

flourishing village of obstinate

who badly wanted a

school, but

Druzes

the three

powerful factions could not be brought to agree to our conditions, so they •

were compelled

to

do without our money, but we managed to persuade them to open two schools at their

own

charges,

and

I promised to inspect

and regulate them as

if

they were our

them

own

A number of boys from both of these

schools.

schools eventually

came

to our

High

where we had better opportunities out to them the extraordinary

School,

of pointing

follies of their

village factions.

Thus

it

came about

that in

many a dark

corner of the earth the Bible was diligently read, "

the Gospel was

even of envy and

tions,

preached,

strife,"

sometimes

sometimes of

fac-

sometimes of pretence, sometimes in

truth, but in all cases

we

rejoiced that Christ

102

The Druzes

was preached,

Word would felt

for

of

Lebanon and Bashan

we were

confident that God's

not return unto

Him

void,

sure that the best hope for the

and we

Lebanon

and the Druzes would come through a knowledge of the Gospel of our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

i^-i'-

^

CHAPTER

IX.

THE BISHOP OF LONDON ON MOUNT LEBANON.

CHAPTER

IX.

THE BISHOP OF LONDON ON MOUNT LEBANON.

The Bishop to the of

his

of

Druzes

London paid a memorable

in the

Lebanon

visit

at the conclusion

tour through Egypt, the Sudan, and

Palestine in March, 1912.

A

motor-car was

sent to meet the Bishop at the Aley station of

the

Damascus Railway.

The Druze governor

of the district, accompanied

by his

officers,

greeted his lordship as he alighted from the train.

A squad of

Scout lads from the Mission

High School formed a guard car

drew up

of

honour as the

at the school gates.

They then

escorted the Bishop along the branch road,

which

had been specially repaired (105)

by the

106

The Druzes

villagers

of

arrival.

preters,

Lebanon and Bashan

and the schoolboys,

school playground.

pany

of

to the spacious

Here an enormous com-

Druzes eagerly awaited the Bishop's Three Syrian doctors acted as

inter-

and the hoary-headed sheikhs poured

into the Bishop's ears their fulsome flatteries

and

solemn

their

protestations

friendship with all the British race, cially

eternal

of

and espe-

with his lordship from the great city of

London. piest of

Dr. Ingram was in one of the haphis jovial

replies deeply

moods, and

his

felicitous

touched the hearts of his hearers.

His utterances were printed

in

most

of

the

Arabic newspapers of Syria, and resounded all

corners of the Lebanon.

them

for the

in

He commended

harmony and the

friendship in

which the Druzes and the Christians now

live

together in these beautiful mountains, and he

promised to lend his best support to every effort

made

for bringing educational

advantages

to the children of the Druzes, whilst they in

— Bishop of London on Mount Lebanon

107

their turn offered their very heartiest co-operation.

Canon Campbell, the founder

of the

League which became responsible tensive educational

work

Hosanna

for the ex-

in the villages,

was

present on this festive occasion, and wrote the following interesting account of the Bishop's visit to

Ain

" That

Anub

:

was a merry

Mount Lebanon on

ride,

down

the slopes of

the 22nd of March, from

the mountain railway station of Aley to the

High School

of

Ain Anub

;

not that the motor-

car spun along at any unusual pace, but from

the infrequency of motors in this part of Syria.

A motor-car to-day

it

is

a novelty in the Lebanon, and

was treated as

we met on

the

way

such.

The few

stared at us, no doubt

wondering who and what we were. els,

natives

The cam-

the mules, and even the donkeys, I will

not say displayed a

little curiosity,

but did not

quite understand this new-world machine in-

108

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

A motor-car

vading their preserves.

advanced for this old-world country.

is

far too

The don-

keys performed a dance as yet unnamed even by

our American cousins.

We

camels who, to say the

least, did

passed a string of not behave

to visitors with extra courtesy that afternoon.

The camel has an ugly habit face

of

turning his

away from the danger and backing

enemy he is as

into the

;

we were upon

silly as

he looks.

They kicked

share

fair

off his

the ground. kicking,

—the

much

of the narrow road.

violently as the motor-car

down upon them kicked

Soon

a string of mules bearing heavy

loads upon their sides, and taking up

more than a

right

front

came

one especially

load and was thereby pulled to

He

lay sprawling, squealing,

and

and the muleteers, as the Bishop was

reminded, were neither praying for him nor for themselves, but were pouring maledictions in

no measured words upon and

its

this unearthly

motor

occupants, their fathers, mothers, grand-

Bishop of London on Mount Lebanon fathers

and grandmothers

back

The

!

many

to

109

generations

skilful English chauffeur seized

That

opportunity and got free of the danger.

London was not deprived

that day

Bishop, the Haifa Hospital of

Hosanna League of

its

chaplain,

was a mercy

its

and Beyrout

for

which

indi-

hoped,

we were

shortly reached,

and the

vidually and collectively, all

of

doctor, the

its

of its founder,

an

it

is

duly thankful.

"Ain Anub was

Bishop was received with the salute corps of

Boy Scouts

of the first

Turkish Empire.

of the

These were some of the boys of the Ain

Anub

High School, who had been trained by Mr. Merry, the English master. "

There was no time

to

be

lost, for

the after-

noon was on the wane, the Bishop had

to reach

Beyrout before sunset, and a big gathering awaited him about

five

minutes higher up on

the playground of the boarding school. picture (page 102), the

Druze

village

In the

magnates

110

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

are seated in a row with broad white bands

surrounding their heads, a distinguishing mark

by which an

initiated

Druze may be known.

The men standing round are the members the School Committees to

who became

of

responsible

the Mission for half the expenses of the

schools, the parents of the children,

who came

from other villages to plead for new schools, and, no doubt, a fair sprinkling curiosity to see a

Bishop's right, sight, are the

Bishop

some

of

London.

On

the

and some out

in sight

boys and

came from

girls of

of

Ain Anub, and

the villages around, where schools were recently opened,

and the more enterprising boys

climbed to the top of the schoolhouse in the rear.

The proceedings began with the usual

A band of the Ain Anub

Eastern formalities. schoolgirls recited

'

welcome

ligible English, these

'

in clear,

intel-

were followed by some

of the school children of

Beshimoon

reciting a

very good, original composition, composed by

Bishop of London on Mount Lebanon

111

Mr. Khouri, the master, in praise of the great 1

Metran

'

of

London, who had condescended

to visit them. "

The scene was moving

— Mount

Lebanon

high up in the background studded with

many

villages

—down

below,

its

over the mul-

berry trees where the silk-worm does

busy

its

work, and beyond the plain, are the reddishlooking shores farther sea.

its

away

of

stretched the blue waters of

still

But here to-day around

playground of Ain

Anub High

Western

life.

in

us,

School,

Near East merging

old world of the fresh impulses of

and

Mediterranean,

the

is

The Orthodox

gether and pleading with one voice,

"

The Bishop

to

'

to-

Come

'.

of

London, evidently moved by

the surroundings, said,

London

the

into the

Greek Christian and the Druze uniting

over and help us

the

'

I

have travelled from

Khartoum, from Khartoum

to El

Obeid, some hundreds of miles farther South,

The Druzes

112

and thence

to

Lebanon and Ba han

of

Ain Anub, but

witnessed, this one strikes

and "

will linger longest in

The Bishop spoke

of all the scenes

me the most my memory

deeply,

'.

to the point

with his

usual directness, declaring he would do his best in helping the Mission to bring Christian

schools into the villages, and promising not

and pleadings

to forget the petitions

men

of the

Lebanon

villages

of the

who had

just

pleaded the cause of their children. " This

was an Hosanna League day, and

marked, as nothing its

work.

When

else could, the progress of

Mr. Parfit undertook

work about four years

ago, there

seventeen children at the Ain

Two

years later,

when

top of the Mission

this

were but

Anub

School.

the writer stood on the

House and looked upon

the surrounding villages, he

here on the Lebanon,

was assured that

there lay before our

Church a splendid work gathering as that which

for Christ.

met

to

Such a greet

the

Bishop of London on Mount Lebanon

113

Bishop of London would have been, in 1908,

an utter impossibility, but seventeen children had

one school had become

in four years the

grown

six,

to

351,

the

while at the same

time seven other villages were petitioning for schools, prepared to guarantee half the cost,

and

it

year

came

we were

petitions,

An visit

to pass that before the

able to answer

'

end of the

yes

'

to their

and open seven additional schools."

interesting

revealed

sequel to this memorable

the fact

that

the Bishop of

London made a deep impression upon the nerves of the Turkish authorities, as well as

upon the hearts

of the Druzes.

At

the out-

break of war in November, 1914, the Druze

Governor very kindly exerted himself

to se-

cure permission from the Turkish authorities to continue the school at

other British

school

had been closed

occupied by the Turks. of

Ain Anub, as every

With the

assistance

some kind American Episcopalian 8

and

friends,

114

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

he was able to secure

official

documents from

the Turkish courts in Damascus, conveying to

the care of these Americans the superintend-

ence of our schools. arrived,

carefully

it

When

the documents

was found that the Turks had very

inserted a condition,

according to

which our American friends were permitted to take charge of the

Ain Anub School on the

understanding that they would carry the benefit of the Druzes

Bishop of London

and as

it

".

made no

it

on

for

" in spite of the

There was no alternative, difference to the conduct of

the school, our friends submitted to the strange condition inserted in this

official

charge.

> w

CHAPTER

X.

A VISIT TO THE HAUKAN.

CHAPTER A VISIT TO

The Hauran

is

X.

THE HAUEAN.

situated on the confines of the

Arabian desert, far away across the Jordan the East of Galilee, and inaccessible regions of

is

the

one of the most

Holy Land.

contiguity to the domains of the of

Central Arabia has given

interest since the revolt of the

the king of the Hedjaz.

Hebrews

as the land of

to-day as the Jebel villages

certain

'1

are inhabited

number

of

It

nomad

it

tribes

a peculiar

was known

Bashan and Druze.

Its

Arabs under

A

is

to the

famous

few of the

by Christians, and a

Bedouin dwell

skirts of the mountains,

to

in the out-

but more than 80 per

cent of the inhabitants are Druzes of exactly (117)

The Druzes

118

of

Lebanon and Bashan

who

dwell

southern districts of the Lebanon.

The

the same race and religion as those in the

Christians and the Bedouin live on terms of

great intimacy with the Druze population, in

Government

spite of the fact that the Turkish

persistently

endeavoured to provoke the Arabs with

quarrel

to

assurances of

Druzes, giving them

the

support.

official

The Druzes,

however, always prevailed, not only because of their numerical superiority, but also because in

mental ability and physical powers, they

were vastly superior of

the Hauran.

discover that

I

to the

Arab

tent-dwellers

was greatly surprised

the Bedouin had

become

to

to a

large extent the serfs or the servants of the

Druze that

I

chiefs.

certain

Europeans from the

was

also interested to learn

German

had

the leading

in

Arab

and

penetrated Central

district of the

Druzes were

travellers

other

Arabia

Hauran, and that the

constant touch with some of tribes.

A

Visit to the

The rapid development

Hauran

of our educational

work amongst the Druzes became known

119

of

the Lebanon

to the chiefs of the

and many kindly messages reached urgent invitations to

visit

centres of the Druzes.

the

Hauran,

me

with

more populous

Numbers

of

Lebanon

Druzes held regular commercial intercourse with the Hauran olive

villages,

taking with them

and other Lebanon products, and

oil

bringing back to Syria the famous

wheat.

me

Some

of these

men

Hauran

offered to escort

to this their fairyland of Bashan,

and one

very favourable opportunity seemed to present itself

when

at Bathir

I

took charge of the village school

and received there an urgent

invita-

The

father

tion from a very influential of our teacher there

man.

had been

for seven years

the trusted steward of Yehia BeyAtrash,

now

the leading Druze chief, and since leaving his service,

he spent every summer

for purposes of trade.

in the

Hauran

Every month the pro-

120

The Druzes

of

spects improved of

Lebanon and Bashan

my being able

to plan out a

journey to the Hauran under most favourable circumstances, but ity

when

at last the opportun-

came, I was obliged to hurry off without any

plans at

all

and with nothing but

Light our Guide".

A

British

"

officer

very anxious to pay a

some Arabic.

visit to

from

Anub

India was staying with us at Ain the purpose of learning

Heaven's

for

He was

the Hauran, and

as his application for extension of leave had

been refused, he was compelled to make ar-

rangements for leaving us anticipated

on a brief diary, I for

earlier

and begged me

visit to

Bashan.

than he had

go with him

to

On

consulting

my

found that I was comparatively free

about ten days, and after

that,

on account

of a projected visit to England, I should be

unable to spare time for a journey to the

Hauran

for another

two years

;

so I at once

decided to go in the middle of September,

which unfortunately proved to be the hottest

A week

Visit to the

the year,

of

villages.

My

time to

make

who had

my

and

dirty dust

inquiries from the

plains

and

Hauran

the

left

me no

many

friends

to the

Hauran,

hasty endeavours to secure letters of futile,

to

name

of

the

as all

my

influential

be out of reach at the

I regretted that I

time.

me

offered to escort

happened

friends

of

sirocco

our eyes with

sudden resolve had

introduction proved

the

filled

powdered lava of the scorching

the unspeakably

121

when a scorching

wind skinned our faces and the

Hauran

had not even noted

place where

I

should be

likely to find the father of our Bathir teacher,

and as

I

had

relied

upon the prospect

of being

escorted by an efficient guide, I had failed to

acquaint myself with the details of the routes

and the best way to proceed from Damascus to the headquarters of the different chiefs.

We

started, however,

notes and with as

We

little

with a few maps and

baggage as possible.

took the train from Aley to Damascus,

The Druzes

122

and

of

Lebanon and Bashan

after depositing our

hotels, I suggested to

baggage at one

my companion

of the

we

that

should at once go for a walk to see something of the town, in the

hope of picking up some

information at the Hedjaz railway station for

our journey on the morrow. fifty

yards from the hotel

Druze from our greeted

me

that he

was on

village

of

We

had not gone

when we met

a

Ain Anub, who

with some surprise and told

me

his way, for the first time, to

the Hauran, and that he would be starting the

who

following morning with

another Druze

knew

This was a piece of

the country well.

good fortune, and we agreed to meet him with his friend later

on so that we might arrange to

accompany them.

We

to the British Consul,

went

off to

who

told

about to write to the great

chief,

pay a

me

visit

he was

Yehia Bey

Atrash, for the purpose of advising him about

sending to an English school his orphan nephew, the heir of his older brother

who had been

A

Hauran

Visit to the

executed by the Turks.

We

123

were therefore

asked to take a message to the

chief,

and the

Consul advised a slight alteration in our proposed route which subsequently proved to be a great advantage. Early on the following day,

we proceeded

by train from Damascus to Deraa, the Edrei of

Numbers

xxi.

33,

where Og, the King

Bashan, was defeated by the

of

It is

Israelites.

an important junction on the Damascus-Mecca railway,

a town

of

real

numerous troglodyte dwellings quity.

a

man

As we

recognised as one of

my

whom

to

I

train, I

saw

immediately

old students of the

English College in Jerusalem. hastily shouted

its

of great anti-

stepped out of the

crossing the lines

from

interest

If I

had not

him he would have

dis-

appeared amongst the crowd and we should have seen no more of him, but after a very hearty greeting, he informed

me

that

since

taking his medical degree at Beyrout he had

The Druzes

124

settled

as he

down as

knew

of

Lebanon and Bashan

the doctor of this district and,

the Druze villages well, he would

be glad to do anything for us that we might This was certainly another stroke of

need.

good fortune and we prepared

He

advice.

who would be

his

us

told us of

;

find

we

in the

Bashan, where

from Koweit

Arabia to

by train

the ancient

capital

we saw some most

ruins.

An

in the

this

ancient high

to

of

interesting

road leads

Persian Gulf, right through

ancient town.

Mohammed

rail

with his introduc-

started off after lunch

Bozrah Eski Sham,

that

to help

him established

Armed

head at Bozrah.

Roman

man

on the left-hand side of the new

last tent

tions

an intimate friend of

the very best

we should

that

to follow his

is

said

to

It

was here

have met the

Christian

monk, Bahira, when accompanying

his uncle

on his famous journeys to Syria.

Here

also

is

an interesting house of a Jew,

which, tradition declares, illustrates the justice

A and

Visit to the

Hauran

125

Omar.

The Jew-

integrity of the Khalif

had been

forcibly ejected

occupied the best

had been

site in

built in

its

from

his house,

the city, and a place,

which

mosque

but when the

Khalif heard of the injustice, he ordered that the

A new house

mosque should be removed.

on the same

site

was erected

for the

known now

another mosque was built close by, as the

mosque of Omar, and

Jew and

close beside

are the ruins of the house of the Jew.

The new railway

line

from Deraa

it

„

is

to be

continued to Salkhad, but at the time of our arrival the rail

head was

short of Bozrah, so that

still

all

about a mile

the

officials

and

the shopkeepers were dwelling in tents, and

enormous quantities of wheat were piled up here and there, ready to different

parts of Syria.

be entrained

to

Quantities of this

wheat arrived every day upon camels from the villages of the

Hauran, and here

the native agents

it

was sold

to

who forwarded it to Damascus

The Druzes

126

and other there

is

Lebanon and Bashan

of

The Syrians declare

large towns.

no wheat

in the

of the

Hauran, and

to be

due

its

world

wheat

like the

unique qualities are said

to the fact that the soil consists of

powdered lava spread over the surface by some volcanic eruption centuries ago.

We

found the doctor's Druze friend estab-

lished as one of the

wheat merchants

in the

last tent,

where he entertained us most hospit-

and

for the first time since leaving our

ably,

civilised quarters at

Ain Anub, we were

galed with a most refreshing cup of tea.

re-

We

presented the introduction from the doctor,

and explained our anxiety to secure horses for a journey to the headquarters of

Atrash.

Yehia Bey

The good man assured us that

could easily be managed

;

it

he urged us to stay

the night with him and to rest ourselves while

he sent a servant cessary inquiries. versation,

it

to

Bozrah

Then

to

make

the ne-

in the course of con-

transpired that our good host

was

A

Visit to the

Hauran

127

none other than the father of our teacher at Bathir, the trusted steward for seven years of

Yehia Bey Atrash.

He was

man

I

had had time

to

the very

should have sought for

if

make

whereabouts before

left

me

inquiries as to his

the Lebanon. in this

I

He was

delighted to see

unexpected way, and to hear that

had arranged

I

I

for his married son to go for a

year's training to our

Ain Anub

School, and

he immediately decided that he would send his

younger son also to us the following year,

which he subsequently

did.

While we were discussing the object visit to

"

entered the

the Hauran, a stranger

tent, and, after salutations,

our host exclaimed,

You are just the man we want ".

to be

of our

He proved

Yehia Bey's chief messenger, who had

come on an errand from

his

master connected

with the sale of wheat, and was returning to the chief's headquarters that very night. quickly found us the horses

we

required,

He and

The Druzes

128 in

a short time

Lebanon and Bashan

of

we were on our way

to

Yehia

Bey's mountain village, escorted by the chiefs

own

We

servant for our guide.

had already

made a remarkably rapid journey to the Hauran, and had met with an extraordinary amount good fortune on our way us, for

it

;

continued to follow

we

soon after starting from the tent

met another Druze

chief

who stopped Yehia

Bey's servant and inquired as to

my

who we were

When

and what we were doing. explained

of

the servant

mission, the chief expressed his

delight at hearing about

been waiting to see

it,

me

and said he had

for the

purpose of

opening up negotiations for sending his three sons to our boarding school at Ain Anub.

was exceedingly thankful incidence which saved

journey to the chief's

on as the sun had of

a glorious

for this further co-

me

village.

set,

I

at

least

We now

a day's pressed

but guided by the light

moon and

enjoying the

cool

A

Visit to the

Hauran

129

breezes of the mountains after a dusty, hot

day

we

in the plains,

arrived safely at Yehia

Bey's mediaeval castle, where

we were met

in

the moonlight outside the magnificent gate by

the chief and

vant had

of his retainers, as the ser-

hurried forward to give notice of

our coming.

come, and as

we were

some

We

received a very hearty wel-

we entered the spacious courtyard

saluted by about forty people,

whom were the retainers and some the great chief.

We were just

in time to catch sight.

enormous tray laden with meat and

The

in

tray

of

the guests of

a glimpse of a very interesting

brought

some

rice

by four servants on a kind of

An was bier.

was placed upon a decorated stone

fixed in the centre of the courtyard, and at the

word

men

of

welcome from the

squatted

down around

chief,

a group of

the dish and fed

themselves in the customary Eastern fashion

with the fingers of the right hand. 9

A second

130

The Druzes

and a third group

of

in turn

until all the guests satisfied

Our

Lebanon and Bashan surrounded the tray

and the servants had been

with this sumptuous evening meal.

late arrival necessitated a little delay in

the preparation of a special meal, but at length taken to

we had an

an inner courtyard, where

excellent

the great chiefs

supper with another of

who was

staying at the castle

as the guest of his brother.

surprised to meet this

man

I

was agreeably

also, for

he was the

only other chief I had determined to the fortunate coincidence of finding likewise saved

we were

me

we were

visit,

and

him here

a journey to his village, for

able to converse with

him about the

prospect of sending his sons to our boarding school at Ain Anub.

helped in

my

I

was

also considerably

interview with the chiefs by a

Lebanon Druze who was one

of

Yehia Bey's

guests that greeted us on our arrival.

He

had

been educated in an American Mission School,

A

Hauran

Visit to the

131

he spoke English well, and having visited us at

Ain Anub was able

to confirm

my

statements

about the school as well as remove any suspicion that

may have

my

the chiefs as to ried

away without

lingered in the minds of

identity, since I

letters of introduction

We

the Emirs of the Lebanon. nights with Yehia his

flour mills

the third day

had hurfrom

stayed two

Bey and saw something

and the

villages around.

we journeyed with him

and thence took the

train

of

On

to Deraa,

back to Damascus,

when my companion parted from me

for his

journey to India via Baghdad, while I returned to

Ain Anub deeply

my

gratified at the success of

hasty trip to the Hauran.

On

the following

Sunday

I

had breakfast

in

Baakleen with the chairman of the Druze Education Society, received

who

told

me

he had just

£10 from a Hauran Druze in America,

who was anxious

for a school to be

opened

in

132

The Druzes

his native village,

villagers of

of

Lebanon and Bashan

and another £10 from the

Ahirah

in the

Hauran.

prepared to place these sums at as soon as I could find teachers to these villages in the

Hauran.

my

He was disposal

who would go

The Teacher's House op village school at Bathir, built on the edge op a protruding rock overlooking a deep valley 2000 feet below [Sec

page 119

CHAPTER ABD

'L

XI.

MESSIEH SEKVANT OF CHKIST. :

CHAPTER XL ABD

'L

MESSIEH SERVANT OF CHEIST. :

Shoktly before

came deeply

Jerusalem

I left

interested in

two converts from

Mohammedanism who had been by the influences of a

in 1907, 1 be-

C. M.S.

led to Chrtst

Medical Mission.

Through the fanaticism and cruelty

of

some

had been arrested upon

of their relatives, they

trumped-up charges, and had been brought

to

Jerusalem to be ruthlessly cast into an un-

wholesome Turkish

dungeon.

was made by the missionaries release,

but

it

ing, sickness,

was only

Every

effort

to secure their

after six months' suffer-

and semi-starvation that the men

were brought up

for trial,

and discharged as

innocent of the charges brought against them.

The experience would have (135)

easily crushed the

136

The Druzes

zeal out of

Lebanon and Bashan

of

any sham convert, for besides the

them came out

sufferings in prison, one of find

himself homeless and forsaken by wife

His house had been sold whilst he

and

child.

was

in prison in

corrupt Turkish to

to

his

village

order to meet the demands of officials,

and when he returned

he was compelled to write a

divorce for the release of his

Their

trials

Moslem

wife.

were by no means ended with

their release, for shortly afterwards they

were

forced into military service, and speedily dis-

patched to that

ill-fated

Yemen from which

but two in ten return.

Nothing more was heard stormy night shivering in

up

in 1911,

to the

an

of

them

ill-clad

until,

one

Arab came

door of our schoolhouse

Lebanon and begged

for a private interview

with the English minister.

The

looking character was led to

my

after being refreshed with a

cup of

suspicious-

study, where, coffee,

he

courteously apologised in rich classical Arabic

!

Abd

and

for his appearance,

a

visit

137

Messieh: Servant of Christ

'1

for troubling

me

with

His

on such a night at such an hour.

speech and manners betrayed the fact that he

was no ordinary beggar, so

him

to

me

tell

his

name.

asked

I politely

After cautiously

closing the door lest a third person should hear

on

his

me by

say-

our conversation, a smile appeared

haggard features, while he startled ing that his

name was Abd '1 Messieh.

"

What

"Are you

Servant of Christ?" I exclaimed.

then a convert to Christianity ? " " Yes, indeed, I

was baptised

town

in the

of

A.

;

for nearly

three years I have been in

Yemen, and

months ago

thirty-four

I escaped with

panions, only two of

reach Beyrout with

whom

me

com-

have survived to

in safety.

others were buried by our

six

Most

own hands

of the in the

sands of Arabia as they succumbed one by one to

hunger,

thirst,

and the privations of the i

journey."

I

now began

to realise, as he pro-

ceeded with his touching story, that he was

138

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

one of the two converts who had been impris-

oned

in

When

Jerusalem.

he found that I

recognised him, he was overcome with joy and

He had

burst into tears.

not met with a

Christian friend for over three years, but his arrival in ill

Beyrout he

felt so

upon

exhausted and

that he determined to find out the English

minister and die,

if

a Christian home.

and a half

God

should so wish

It took

to drag his tired

the mountains to

it,

in

him nearly a day body nine miles up

Ain Anub, where we

gladly

provided him with every comfort that would help towards his restoration to health.

At the

Mission Hospital, where he was converted, he

had learned something

of the laws of health,

and had made the best use of all

his

knowledge

along the dangerous journey through Arabia.

He was

also a

man

of great self-control, of

temperate habits, and a powerful physique,

which doubtless combined to preserve him from the fate of

his

more unfortunate com-

Abd

'1

139

Messieh: Servant of Christ

His joy knew no bounds when he

panions.

found that Providence had led him safely to a friend in need, to him,

and as strength began

he found

me

relief in giving

to return details of

his extraordinary journey.

The in

trials

Yemen, he

bear.

and

sufferings

of

the

soldiers

were unspeakably hard to

said,

The food and the water were

alike

as bad as they could be, and the troops were

decimated by the scourge of the guinea-worm.

The monkeys swarm like

flocks

where the

of

in the coffee plantations

and

sheep,

soldiers are

in

some

districts

encamped they have

to

discover their water supply by following the

track of the monkeys and finding out where

they quenched their tricts that so

many

the guinea-worm, to be

A

thirst.

such

dis-

soldiers are attacked

some

more than a yard hundred and

It is in

of

by

which he declared

in length.

fifty soldiers

resolved one

day to make a dash for freedom.

Some

of

The Druzes

140

of

Lebanon and Bashan

them went south with the hope

Abd

Aden, but

of reaching

Messieh, with thirty-four

'1

comrades, questioned the possibility of being able to pass the

and resolved

numerous Turkish

to travel

by the longer route to

They discarded

the north.

sentries,

their military uni-

form, and started off in an almost naked con-

beg their way as dervishes amongst

dition to

the

Arab

tribes.

They passed through the

Beni Zahran without any mishap, but the Beni

Marwan soldiers

firmly believed they were

and capable

swallowing

of

Turkish

money

which they could afterwards produce at

The discovery party,

who

of

name

of

whom "

word

is

The Turk

they

call

"

is

their bitterest

by the opprobrious

Rumi," applied

the " infidels

Empire.

an Albanian amongst the

could not speak Arabic, confirmed

their suspicions.

enemy,

will.

in earlier

days to

or Christians of the Byzantine

The pronunciation

of

a

Turkish

almost as good as a death sentence

Abd

'1

Messich

141

Servant of Christ

:

amongst them, so they promptly dispatched the unfortunate Albanian and were proceeding to

comrades,

when

Messieh rushed to the presence

of the

similarly dispose

Abd

'1

sheikh,

on

fell

clutched at his

of

his

him

knees before

his

and

His knowledge of their

belt.

customs saved the rest of the party, for the sheikh's

honour was at stake

to grant a

if

he refused

temporary suspension of the process

of execution.

It

was subsequently discovered

Abd

by the tribesmen that

'1

Messieh could

read the Koran, which sealed him at once as a holy

man

to

was accorded

whom much when he

came from Jerusalem.

additional sanctity

told

them that he

They accepted

his

explanation of the tattoo marks upon his arms that were

made by

and not a sign of

mother

his being

Turkish Government

lowed

his

;

so the

an

for

ornament the

officer in

company was

al-

to proceed, only however, to encounter

other sufferings of hunger and thirst.

For

The Druzes

142

of

Lebanon and Bashan

days our informant kept a piece of lead in

mouth

his

to stave off the

until his lips

men found the

became

very

little

poorer Arab

madness

The poor

quite sore. to eat

tribes,

of thirst,

amongst some

and

it

of

was a great

luxury for him to receive one day a present of twenty-eight dates, ten of which he gave to his

companion, ten he ate himself, and eight

he reserved for the next day's provision for

them

both.

These

were

dreary

days,

as

the diminishing band journeyed through the

famous Jebel Asir to the Bahr Sallam, whence they began to cross Arabia, spending a short

time with Ibn Saood and afterwards with Ibn Easchid, but it,

and told

Abd Messieh made the best of me of some amusing little tricks '1

he played upon his companions to dispel the appalling

monotony

of the way.

The account he gave was to

me from

of peculiar interest

a geographical and

political, as

well as a missionary, point of view.

I

have

Abd

'1

Messieh

:

Servant of Christ

143

followed with sympathy the fortunes of Ibn

Saood, so closely connected with the stirring

developments at Koweit and British interests in the

Persian Gulf.

He was

by

far the

powerful chief in Arabia, and cared for

Abd

patronising one

'1

most

he tenderly

Messieh simply by way of

who claimed

to be a friend of

English missionaries.

The

travellers

had a very

when they reached

who

different reception

the territory of Ibn Raschid

quickly handed them over to a Turkish

guard.

Four

times, after successive imprison-

ments, they effected their escape and eventually

got clear of the territory under Turkish rule.

Our informant confirmed the rumours that the opening up not

far

distant.

The

Arabia seems

of

at

tribes

acknowledged the supremacy

who

truth of current

of

one

Ibn Raschid,

represented the Turkish authority.

Baghdad railway scheme brought harbour of Koweit, where there

time

The

to notice the

is

now a town

144 of

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

growing importance

tection, at the

head

under British

pro-

of the Persian Gulf.

In

order to crush the rising power of the Sheikh of

Koweit, the Turks incited

sentative,

their

repre-

Ibn Raschid, to make war upon

him, with the intention of taking possession of

a strip of territory to be given to the Germans

Baghdad Railway.

To

Turks, Ibn Raschid

was

for the terminus of the

the dismay of the

defeated

Saood and Mubarak Ibn

by Ibn

who

Sabah, Sheikh of Koweit, into the interior

penetrated

and actually occupied Hail,

was subsequently evacuated

at the

advice of the British Consulate-General.

Ibn

though

this

Raschid remained Governor of Hail, and continued to represent the

Turkish authority

The majority

in

of the

the

feeble remnants

of

interior of Arabia.

tribes,

however, trans-

ferred their allegiance from Ibn Raschid to

Ibn Saood, the

ally of the

famous Mubarak,

Sheikh of Koweit, and the

man who now

Abd

Messieh

'1

:

145

Servant of Christ

practically rules the interior of the

Arabian

peninsula from Hail to Yemen.

Further details of our convert's journey are of special interest to all

who pray

for the en-

Many

lightenment of the sons of Ishmael.

attempts have been made, with very

little

Arab

tribes

success, to carry the G-ospel to the

and many a missionary would

of the interior,

have given

all

he was worth for the privilege

enjoyed by this destitute wanderer, Messieh.

He

told

me

that

the tents of the large tribe

Abd

'1

when he reached

known

as the Beni

Saood, he was honourably entertained for ten

days and encouraged to the Christian Faith.

his

days'

me

He became

no secret

of

quite

excited

the wonderful story of his ten

" Evangelistic

of Arabia,

He made

arguments upon which he based

convictions.

as he told

he knew about

and enjoyed complete freedom

his conversion,

to state the

tell all

Mission"

and he was not slow 10

in

to

the heart

acknowledge

"

146

The Druzes

the

Providence of

him

for so high

of

Lebanon and Bashan

God

had prepared

that

and noble a

astonished at his knowledge of

and the Sacred Scriptures as indications of

Moslem

his

He was memory

long passages from

were

faultless

—

full of

could wield the "

with such disciple,

truly

markable evidence

Koran as

the

points of

able to quote

arguments

logic

I never

Sword

was

and

free

met a man

of the Spirit

Here was a heaven-taught

agility.

a

well

—his

sound

from fanatical prejudices.

who

the

familiarity with

controversy.

I

service.

Moslem, a

re-

in himself of the truth

and

converted

the power of Christianity.

In answer to convert

my

inquiry about the other

who was imprisoned with him

in

with him

to

Jerusalem and

who

travelled

Yemen, he informed me, with painful solemnity, of his

death at

—a faithful

Kamaran

in the

Red Sea

servant to the last of His Lord

and Saviour Jesus

Christ.

;

Abd I

saw Abd

wards

;

Servant of Christ

147

Messieh again two years

after-

Messieh

'1

'1

:

he had recovered his health and had

made up

mind

his

to live the live of a

ing religious dervish. to

beg

his

He was

way amongst

wander-

going, he said,

the Druzes

Hauran and thence once more

into

the

of

Arabia

clothed in the garb of a Fakir and living on

the simplest food in order to preach the Gospel in his

own unorthodox way

Peninsula.

to be a wild

change,

of woe,

and dangerous enter-

man who had

who had drunk

whose soul was

full of

lived a life so

so deeply the

his tired

when

We

worn body would

his spirit

cup

burning zeal for

God, whose only joy was to serve till

of the

one could sympathise with the restless

enthusiasm of a full of

Arabs

Nothing could dissuade him from

what seemed prise, but

to the

his

Master

find eternal rest

had sped away

wished him God-speed and

to eternal joys.

we

prob

shall

ably hear no more of this remarkable

man

the morning breaks and the shadows

flee

until

away.

The Druzes

148

Many in

Lebanon and Bashan

important events have taken place

Arabia since

Messieh.

of

I said "

good-bye

" to

Abd

'1

Ibn Saood, the great chief of Riadh,

has rendered essential service to Great Britain for

which he has received the honour of knight-

He visited Koweit in 1917, and declared

hood.

a

to

British

official

there his readiness

to

opening up of Central Arabia

facilitate

the

to British

commercial enterprises.

well,

probable that some day the railway

line

it is

If all

goes

from Mount Carmel which runs through

the Druze mountains of the Hauran, will be

extended to Central Arabia and Koweit

in the

Persian Gulf.

On

this visit to

renewed of the

his

Koweit, the great chief also

acquaintance with Dr.

American Mission.

the important Sheikhs of

Mylrea

Accompanied by

Mohammerah and

Koweit, he paid a public tribute to the worth of the Christian

Medical Mission by calling at

the Mission House, thoroughly inspecting the

Abd

149

V Messieh: Servant of Christ

and by chatting pleasantly

hospital,

for half

an hour with the Mission workers over the customary sherbet and

A short time

afterwards, one of Ibn Saood's

men was asked by a we be allowed replied, "

We

coffee.

colporteur, "

to visit the

have

Nejd

?

now become

When

"

shall

The Arab

brothers,

and

whenever the Sheikh gives the formal permission, is

you

will receive a hearty

now no

difference

between

welcome. us, for

There

our chiefs

have called upon yours, and we see that the English Government

is

clean and straight, so

very different to the Turkish Government with its

bribery and corruption." It

may be

that

Abd

1 Messieh has already

found his way to Nejd, for he determined when he

left

rest

me

in

Beyrout that his bones should

amid the desert domains

Azeez Ibn Saood.

of Sir

Abd

'1

A

friend

is

a second self

and a third

eye.

A true man is he who remembers his when he is in distress, and when he dies.

If

your friend

You may

is

sweet, do not eat

him

find in a friend a brother

friend

when he

is

absent,

up.

who was

not born of your

mother.

Friendship so

may

may come down by

inheritance from ancestors, and

hatred.

Without human companions, Paradise

itself

would be an un-

desirable place to live in.

—From "Arabian Wisdom,' by Dr.

Wortabet.

The school children at Atnab greeting the Canon Missioner " by singing " God Save our Gracious Canon [See

page 172

Reception op the Canon Missioner at Beshimoon [See page 171

CHAPTER VISITING

XII.

THE VILLAGES.

CHAPTER VISITING

A

XII.

THE VILLAGES.

Syrian friend from one

villages

remarked

to

of

the Lebanon

me one day

that the

people were sorry I had not visited them for

such a long time. ishment, " this

is

" But," I replied

not true, for I have been there

four times quite recently on rout,

when

saluted

my way

I examined the schools

some of the people."

"they don't

with aston-

call it

a

and

"Oh,"

hastily

said he,

unless you go and

visit

have a meal with them."

to Bey-

I shuddered at the

thought of the ordeal I had tried to avoid, reluctantly consulted free the

my

diary,

saw that

I

was

next day, but that after that I was

booked up

for a fortnight

:

so I promised to

be there for lunch on the morrow. (153)

Accord-

The Druzes

154

of

Lebanon and Bashan

ingly I arrived in

good time and was welcomed

by a small crowd

of leading villagers

me

to a reception

room where

with sickly lemon water to

my

hot ride.

who

was regaled

I

me

" refresh "

I suggested lunch

led

as

first,

after

was

it

now

noon, and the afternoon for school busi-

ness,

but they looked at each other in despair

and suggested that the schools

it

So

first.

would be better off

we went

to see

body

in a

who were dying

the terrified youngsters

escape for their midday meal.

I

saw

to to

was

it

not a time for serious inspection, so I allowed

"show

the teachers and children to special accomplishments, I

lagers on the intelligence

talked nonsense to

them

to the guest hall, about

flattered of

as

their kindly hospitality,

in a

good humour

bowl

of

the

vil-

their offspring,

we

my own

and

the afternoon.

off" their

strolled

back

shortcomings

and put them

all

for the serious business of

This began with an enormous

Frangy soup choked

full

of

rice,

155

Visiting the Villages

macaroni, and vegetables galore, then came three dishes

chunks

of

well-oiled meats

of fat as a special delicacy for their

gaunt lean guest,

sugar, preserved dates,

ish cigarettes.

We

Arab

After a

we adjourned

floating

gorgeous

finished

ablutions,

little

noisy conversa-

We

head of the

of the hill at the

up with

new house

to the

set

and Turk-

Druze Sheikh, beautifully situated

brow

melted

in

and a remarkable

of preparations of nuts.

the usual cafe noir,

by a

followed

variety of sweet pastries

tion

with huge

of the

on

the

village.

complimented him upon his beautiful new

home, made more beautiful, he radiance of

my

countenance,

could recover from

my

said,

by the

and before

embarrassment

dusky maid produced an enormous tray

I

his

filled

with rich pastries and delicious sweetmeats. I ventured

an Eastern compliment that the

Sheikh's sweets were

the

sweetest

in

the

Lebanon, made more sweet by the honey of

The Druzes

156

his lips,

of

and was consequently compelled

sample everything. of

Lebanon and Bashan

I

hoped

this

to

was the end

our feasting, but when I begged leave to

depart, another

mittee asked

member

how

I

of the school

could think of leaving

So away

without honouring his household.

we went down

com-

to the lower village,

where we

were again received as though we had arrived from a hot and hungry voyage.

and

coffee this time

the entertainment,

humble

Syrups

formed the major part of

and

efforts, I feel

make a martyr

to

just

of

spite

in

my

all

that I lamentably failed

of myself with

becoming

I at length felt

bound

courtesy and grace.

Come what may,

make an emphatic demand when safely mounted,

I

for

my

horse,

to

and

bowed, smiled, thanked

them warmly, and profoundly apologised

for

my horse

for

I consulted

my

my

hasty departure, then spurred

a vigorous gallop to Beyrout.

medicine chest before

I

went

to bed, but there

!

157

Visiting the Villages

was nothing that could save me from the cruel kindness of

my

dreamed much,

slept

and

for

and

little

I reeled with giddiness

I arose to dress,

to

I

friends.

when

two days was obliged

work with a racking headache and enfeebled

limbs.

Our Syrian

friend

from

sequently reported that

village sub-

this

my

visit

was highly

appreciated and the schools have greatly bene-

by

fited

this official inspection

!

It

made such

a difference to the educational work

when

the

missionary did his duty and properly visited the villages

The

of

village

Deir Koble

situated on the foremost range rise

is

of

beautifully hills

that

abruptly from the plain of olive groves

which separates Beyrout from the Lebanon.

The

hill-side is

trees,

house

The

covered with pines and olive

while the deep valley below the schoolis

filled

villagers

with are

apricots

and almonds.

a friendly and hospitable

;

158

The Druzes

race,

Druzes and Christians

of

fact

that

living together in

This

exceptional concord.

by the

Lebanon and Bashan

some

is

accounted for

them have

of

visited

European lands and many have children now living in

Jamaica and West Africa, where they

learn to discard the religious animosities that

so sadly separate the people of the Lebanon.

Early one morning, I started out from Ain

Anub

to proceed to

ing of a

new

Deir Koble for the open-

My

school.

Beshimoon, where

path lay through the school and

I visited

carried off the head master, as well as the

teacher for Deir Koble,

new

who was awaiting me

there.

From Beshimoon, we walked along

a dangerously

narrow

for an

ridge

on the

mountain-side, with a deep valley below. fellow-travellers regaled

a young Druze, father,

and

left

me

who had

hour

My

with the story of

quarrelled with his

the house in anger, expressing

a wish that his father would speedily die

159

Visiting the Villages

but his father was a holy man, as the sequel story unquestionably proved,

to the

satisfaction of the villagers

!

the

to

God, they

said,

quickly avenged this impious imprecation,

on the very same day, as the young

for,

man was

passing along this dangerous path with a load of

wood on

his back,

my

very spot, said

this

he suddenly slipped at guide,

and there at

that spot eighty feet below, he broke his neck,

and was carried home a

As

I

had

to visit

corpse.

this

village frequently,

Anub

to

was glad

to

on horseback from Ain

travelling

inspect the Deir

Koble

school, I

discover a better, though a longer road, by

which we subsequently returned. Arrived at the

welcomed tian,

who

village,

we were

cordially

at the house of the leading Chris-

at once refreshed us with cool drinks,

sweets, and coffee.

The women

of the house-

hold and their relatives, to the number of six in

all,

were commandeered to provide us with

:

The Druzes

160

a dinner.

I

Lebanon and Bashan

of

overheard one of them rebuke

an importunate neighbour with the remark

"How

me

can you bother

guests in the house

?

to-day

when

I

have

Everything had

"

to

give place to the obligations of Eastern hospitality.

Whilst the preparations for our feast were going on,

we were taken

to

the house of

another leading Christian, where a large com-

pany

of

Druzes had been gathered together,

and special seats were

company

for myself

set in the

midst of the

and the new teacher.

A

of

compliments were showered upon us

for fully

twenty minutes by the Druze Sheikh

mass

and other distinguished

villagers, for

Easterns

have a wonderful aptitude for saying pleasant things at appropriate seasons.

I also

had an

opportunity of philosophising upon the subject of education, religion,

an attentive audience.

we came

to business,

and

politics, etc.,

before

In the course of time

and thanks

to the ability

161

Visiting the Villages

Beshimoon

of our

teacher,

we were

able to

settle the necessary preliminaries for the open-

ing of the school.

The greater

money promised by

the villagers for the

half year

was paid down

half of the

part of the

at once,

first

and on be-

Hosanna League, we, on our

part,

undertook to pay our portion into the school funds and to open a boys' school and a school on the following

A

girls'

Monday.

sumptuous repast awaited us upon

turning to the house of our finished,

we inspected

the

first host.

re-

This

schoolrooms

en

masse, paid a few visits to leading villagers, finishing

who

up with a

insisted

upon the Sheikh,

upon our having a

we could

before

stately call

take

"

mouthful

our departure.

"

This

turned out to be a royal spread of dainties and neatly served

fruits,

tray,

around

feasted,

on an enormous brass

which twelve

of

us

sat

and

while the Sheikh himself stood at

attention with true Eastern courtesy, telling us 11

The Druzes

162

stories

of

Lebanon and Bashan

and multiplying

upon

blessings

as

us,

his

compliments and

becometh an Eastern

host.

As

I

was

one of the

riding from

villages, I

also on horseback,

we

talked

about

Ain Anub one day

overtook a Syrian doctor,

and while we rode together the

smallpox which was

raging in some of the Lebanon villages.

was able

to tell

now had two League.

to

me

of Deir Koble,

He

where we

schools supported by the

Hosanna

Early in the year four cases of small-

pox suddenly appeared

in the village quite

near the boys' school, so I immediately closed the schools and removed the teachers to other

work.

The doctor informed me that a short

time ago he was sent by the Government to Deir Koble,

and the people responded to

his orders with

exemplary promptitude

quickly

collected

;

they

the necessary quarantine

dues for placing a cordon around the infected houses, and

many

of the people

were

at once

163

Visiting the Villages vaccinated.

Consequently no fresh cases ap-

peared, and shortly afterwards to

we were

able

send back the teachers and re-open the

Very

schools.

different

were the

by the doctor concerning other

stories told

where

villages,

the prevailing ignorance involved the Druzes in terrible suffering

and

At one

loss.

village

where an outbreak occurred, the people culed the doctor's plea for vaccination. soldier

who was

ridi-

The

placed to guard the infected

house was driven from the

A

village.

ser-

geant was then sent with two other soldiers,

but he accepted a bribe to relax the quarantine,

and presented a

false

report to his

Very soon the disease made havoc

superiors.

of the villagers,

and more than

fifty

deaths

were recorded out of a population of about 1500.

The

was very

contrast between the

striking,

and

illustrated

of that elementary enlightenment

with the establishment

two

of

villages

the need

which came

a village

school.

The Druzcs

164

"The worst

of

Lebanon and Bashan

results of this distressing ignor-

ance," said the doctor, "are seen in villages

where there are no

schools,

and the children

are always the greatest sufferers."

One

Speech Day," or the

for display

of

was what we may describe

busy week "

most interesting events

of the

"

as

Examination Display,"

certainly was, in the village of

it

The schoolhouse was much

Beshimoon.

one

too

small for so important a function, so the two priests

the

of

Greek Orthodox Community

placed their nice of

the

school

new church

committee.

at the disposal

What

a

lesson

from the East of godly union and concord, to

Western strife

!

villages so often sadly torn

A

by party

Western Churchman, wholly unac-

quainted with the ideas of the East, would have

been shocked

to see this

gay assembly crowded

into the nave of the church.

upon

my

arrival to see

I

was

startled

what had been done,

but I could not condemn them, for they took

165

Visiting the Villages

the matter so seriously and earnestly that I

suspected they thought they were conferring

honour upon the building by celebrating

this

most solemn occasion within

and

its

walls,

there was no other building in the village that

could accommodate this great concourse.

was evidently

event of the year in the

Seriously and reverently every one

village.

of the

the

It

ninety children stood in turn on the

chancel steps before the embroidered curtain that screened the sanctuary

answer

to

my

questions,

or

from the nave, recite their

to

Arabic poems, which were sometimes grave

and sometimes gay. like the children

for

four hours

juvenile learning. as

numerous

The

in their

listening

villagers, best,

to

arrayed

sat patiently

the

display

of

The Druzes present were

as the Christians.

They followed

every paltry detail with tireless interest, and all alike

I

responded warmly to the exhortations

gave them after the distribution of prizes to

The Druzes

166

of

Lebanon and Bashan

A sort

successful pupils.

of Passion

Play was

organised to conclude the proceedings of this

memorable day, but hunger and fatigue compelled to sit

me it

withdraw, and I

to

out

till

left

The

the end.

"

the assembly

examination

"

from the children's point of view must have been a very point of view

one

tiring it

;

from the

villagers'

was a very enjoyable one

from the examiner's point

of

The upper

successful one.

view

it

;

and

was a very

classes gave evi-

dence of having been remarkably industrious,

and the elementary knowledge acquired by all

the scholars

was exceedingly good.

The photograph on page 41 was not taken England,

in

though

it

might well

be mis-

taken for a photograph of a squad of English

Boy

Scouts.

Turkish

subjects,

Druzes.

They

at

all

The

lads were, in fact,

and most

of

all

them were

belonged to our High School

Ain Anub, where the elements

of scouting

were being learned by the boys with much

167

Visiting the Villages

The

enthusiasm.

most serviceable

proved to be

instruction

in helping the teachers to

develop some amount of nobility of character

and the uniform was

in the pupils,

just the

very thing for these mountain lads.

There close

is

a

little

by the

Greek Orthodox Church

schoolhouse.

It

claim to a solitary window, and

cannot its

lay

" bell "

is

nothing more than a strip of iron suspended

on the

We

roof.

were

morning by the tinkling

upon looking out priest

of our

early

one

of this "bell,"

and

startled

window, we saw the

on the roof of the church

sitting

upon

a low stool with a stone in each hand, ham-

mering out the chimes. learned that

was a great

it

to St. George,

so

Upon

inquiry,

feast day, dedicated

we decided

to proclaim a

half holiday for the school, and,

of England's patron saint,

villages.

in

honour

away marched the

scouts in full uniform, through

neighbouring

we

Our

some

of the

lads were greatly

— The Druzes

168

admired,

Lebanon and Bashan

of

and much

was due

credit

to our

scout-master, Mr. Merry, for his success in

which was the

drilling this primitive squad, first,

and at that time the only squad

of

Boy

Scouts to be found in the Ottoman Empire.

Many Europeans who came

to

visit

us

expressed their admiration of the Scouts, as for

example

Mr. Arthur

in a letter to

Canon Campbell,

W. Sutton wrote

" It is a great pleasure to

words

in

commendation

school

work

moon.

My

I

saw

at

:

send you a few

of the

most excellent

Ain Anub and Beshi-

daughter and I drove up to Ain

Anub from Beyrout and

spent a delightful

time there amongst the boys and their teachers, all of

and happy and

whom seemed

realising

villages

who

and

so bright

something of their

many

in neigh-

entirely

without

advantages in contrast with so bouring

girls

are

the privileges they enjoy.

"As we had

not time to go to Beshimoon,

169

Visiting the Villages

Hosarma League

the head master brought the

School up to us at Ain Anub,

both

photograph together.

I

and

appear

schools

grouped with

was particularly pleased

the head masters of the Ain

Beshimoon Schools, and were most fortunate

it

Anub and the struck me you men

having

in

the

in

of such

character and attainments in charge of the

two

schools.

"Canon Scouts, fine

but I

had

little

told

me

of

Boy

the

expected to see such a

troop of thirty to forty lads, keen, in-

telligent

do,

Parfit

and benefiting

by the

training

like

and

scoutcraft always gives

our English boys discipline

which

when properly

super-

vised. " I fully

to

appreciate the

which the chaplain,

readily

self-denying

Mr. Cheese,

devoting himself.

work is

so

Although cut

off"

so entirely from the outside world, Mr. Cheese

seemed

perfectly

happy

in his

work, and hie

170

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

presence must of course be a great help in every way. " I

wish

your readers could have seen

all

what we saw, and they would then look back

upon

thankfully, as I do,

bright spot on the

Amongst other

this very

happy and

Lebanon mountains." interesting visitors

to

the

Lebanon we welcomed on one occasion Dr.

G wynne

the Bishop in

accompanied leen.

As

me

Khartoum who kindly

to the distant village of

Baak-

the carriage entered the village I

caught sight of a Lebanon soldier waving frantically to the driver.

As soon

stopped the soldier

disappeared round the

corner,

and

I

as the carriage

warned the Bishop that some-

thing interesting was about to happen. carriage proceeded slowly,

the corner, the

The

and as we turned

Lebanon guard

of

honour pre-

sented arms, and the local officers approached the Bishop to invite Serai.

The Bishop

him

to the

at once

Government

descended and

171

Visiting the Villages

followed the

officials

where we were entertained

for half

with

much kindness and

ship

was wearing a tweed

mountain

suit

an hour

His

courtesy.

hall,

for

lord-

rough

and was unprepared

travelling,

sudden

this

reception

the

to

for

reception, but he proved

official

equal to the occasion and

made an

excellent

impression upon the assembly by the interesting

things he

them

told

in

Arabic about

General Gordon and Khartoum.

The Kev. Canon so

much

most

for

regular

the

S.

Campbell,

village

visitor

and

schools,

who

was our

accompanied

know how much we were

indebted to him and invariably to accord

him a

The children

of

made an

me The

annually on a tour around the villages. people got to

did

all

effort

particularly hearty welcome.

Beshimoon on one occasion

came out with palm branches

to

meet the

Canon, and the procession was an imposing

one when ninety children shouldered their

The Druzes

172

palms and escorted

of

Lebanon and Bashan

sang Arabic hymns

Canon

the

accompanied

by the

and the Sheikhs

the

to

while

schoolhouse, the

teachers,

of the village.

they

I

priests,

was greatly

amused on another occasion when drawing near to one of the school

with

children

round a bend

jumped out

villages

the

I

noticed

teacher

coming

the road to meet

in

of the carriage

with

my

the

us.

camera

I in

order to take a snapshot while the Canon

went forward

to greet the procession.

Just

as the carriage stopped the children began to

sing our National

my

astonishment

Anthem it

in English, but to

had been adapted

occasion and I nearly spoiled

my

for the

photograph

as I shook with laughter on hearing the words,

God save our gracious Canon, Long live our noble Canon, God save our Canon.

The teacher explained visit

the

that on a previous

Canon did not understand the prean

173

Visiting the Villages of praise for

to

him

which had been specially composed in

Arabic, and as he was

an original

had made use

Anthem.

composition of

in

unequal

English,

he

our well-known National

In travelling you

If

will find health

water stagnates long

A roaming dog

is

it

becomes

and

profit.

foul.

better than a couching lion.

During a journey a man's character

The day on which a journey

is

is

begun

weighed and revealed.

is

half the journey done.

—From ''Arabian. Wisdom" by Dr.

Wortabet.

WHm

CHAPTER

XIII.

A JOUKKEY'S END.

CHAPTER

XIII.

A JOUKNEY'S END.

Christmas Day, 1912,

remember

hills

we

shall ever

blending of glad-

The sun rose over the Leba-

upon an almost cloudless sky

was hardly a St.

a day

for its unusual

ness and gloom.

non

is

George's

ripple

there

;

upon the blue sea

Bay where

three

British,

in

one

American, and two French warships, lay at anchor, decorated for the feast, presenting an aspect of preparedness for a naval review.

The

bells of the

Maronite churches had been

ringing merrily from midnight

the

first

glimmer

of light

till

dawn.

At

our children sprang

from their beds to eagerly search for their presents from Santa Claus.

They were merry

enough now, thank God, though our house(177)

12

The Druzes

178

hold was

still

in

of

Lebanon and Bashan

quarantine,

passing through a season of It

was therefore a

us

when

all

were

for

we were

German

measles.

morning

specially glad

for

sufficiently restored to enjoy

the opening festivities of Christmas Day.

Our

we

little

church was prettily decorated, but

anticipated that

services

some

would be

small, for

who

of our congregation,

for their children,

attendance at our

the

we knew

that

feared infection

would attend Divine Ser-

vice on one of the British cruisers,

and

my

wife and children must absent themselves on

account of the quarantine.

Our two

celebrations of

Holy Communion

were nevertheless very well attended, and, our surprise, the church was almost

Morning Prayer.

The Rev.

Ain Anub was with ful services

made

we were about

Cheese from

Christmas morning a

time of real festivity and hearts

filled at

and our bright help-

us,

this

J. E.

to

joy.

to

sit

With thankful

down

to our

A

Journey's

End

179

Christmas feast when a startling telegram an-

nounced the sudden death of Miss Kitching, the devoted Superintendent of the

Medical

me

to go at

Mission

in

Baakleen.

It

asked

once to the assistance of the ladies in this isolated station in the

Lebanon twenty miles

away.

To

ride there

meter was

was impossible,

falling

for the baro-

and the gathering clouds

predicted the approach of one of our winter storms.

I sent

out messengers to find a con-

veyance, and at length an

Ain Anub

carriage

was secured, and

at 3.30 p.m. I started off

my

The horses had come that

sad errand.

on

morning from the mountains and were not fresh enough for a nine hours' journey by the direct route

so

we

up these

difficult

mountain roads,

decided to go by Ain Anub, which

reached in drizzling rain at 6.30 p.m.

I

we

gave

instructions to rest the horses for four hours,

and going

to the schoolhouse I

made a hasty

The Druzes

180

of

Lebanon and Bashan

Christmas supper of sandwiches and cheese,

and lay down

to snatch a little sleep before

resuming our journey.

Our

school servant roused

me

at 10.30 p.m.,

and by 11.15 the horses were harnessed and

we were once

again on our

way

to

Baakleen

up the steep zigzag roads that lead through Shimlan. felt

was now

It

bitterly cold,

the great contrast to the atmosphere of

The wind was

the plain.

increased in

mountain.

rising,

violence as

one ascended

finally

turned into driving

obscured everything before

down under my dry, but

my

ears

and the hood lessly

and

of the

feet

The poor

I

us.

and

the into

sleet,

crouched

tried to

keep

were painfully

cold,

coverlets

open victoria was hope-

inadequate to protect

ing rain.

and gradually

A dense mist, which thickened

heavy rain and

his

and one

me from

driver, tightly

mackintosh cloak and

cap,

the driv-

wrapped

in

braved the

elements nobly, and the horses, with

many

A

End

Journey's

181

short intervals of rest, struggled on slowly for

seven long hours through this chilly night of sleet

and darkness.

kind did it

was

Not a

living being of

we meet on our way, and

any

at 6.15 a.m.

dark when we came to the end of

still

our gloomy journey, and reached the welcome portals of the Mission faithful servant

lighted a

fire,

needed for

compound.

came quickly

and brought

my warmth

The

to our rescue,

me

everything I

and comfort.

came the sorrowful greeting

ever-

Then

of the bereaved

Mission workers and the story of our noble sister's departure.

On

Christmas Eve, in accord with her usual

custom, she gave a joyous feast to Christians at Baakleen.

At one

all

the

stage of the

entertainment there was a united pulling of

Christmas crackers, and the weird noise pro-

duced by the guests upon the

ments created peals

little

of laughter.

toy instru-

The kindly

hostess joined in the merriment of her guests,

The Druzes

182

of

Lebanon and Bashan

down

in a chair

and with cheery laughter

sat

suddenly she was

she rolled over and

silent,

;

was dead before her body touched the ground.

The doctor was in the room and by her moment, but could only pronounce

side in a

life

extinct

as there were signs that something had gone

wrong of

in the heart.

which she died,

The

still

smile, in the midst

remained fixed on her

countenance when we buried her three days later.

Suddenly from the joy

of service, she

passed to the joy of her Lord, but she

left

behind her that well-known smile of sym-

pathy and love which brought so much joy to

whom

the

many

will

remain fragrant

for

tude of those

she lived and died. in the

memory

who mourn her

It

of a multi-

loss.

Louisa Kitching was gifted with a unique personality.

Her goodness was

the

gem

of all

her virtues, but she was also wise, intelligent,

and courageous.

commanding

Her

dignified bearing, her

presence, and practical wisdom,

A

Journey's

made her a born

obtrusive,

183

women and

leader of

She was always a

End of

men.

lady, ever unselfish, never

and as humble as a

little

For eighteen years she had given her

child.

to

all

the service of the " Baakleen Medical Mission to the

Druzes

Her

".

forceful character, her

unflinching courage, her

means, her very

life,

faith,

have

all

her love, her

been given with-

out reserve to her Master's service.

It

is

not

surprising therefore that under such leadership

the Mission has triumphs.

achieved some remarkable

Bitter resentment

has been con-

verted into affectionate regard,

hatred and

persecution have disappeared, while hundreds of

men and women who once

convert are

Church I

now knocking

cursed a Christian

at the door of the

of Christ.

can never forget the sights I witnessed

those few days. bitterly cold

in

The day after Christmas was

and stormy, but nothing could

deter the hundreds

of

Druze women from

!

184

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

coming, in torrents of rain, and waiting for

hours at the Mission house for an opportunity to

How

view the body of their beloved

It

how

reverent was their behaviour,

emn and

real

was

their quietly

friend.

subdued

was the deepest possible contrast

sol-

grief

to their

customary conduct, but the lessons taught

them by the deceased were not

lost,

and they

were ready to do anything that she could have wished.

So many things happened on

this

awful day of gloom that brought encourage-

ment and joy

weeping workers

The weather made

Mission. sible to

to the

it

of the

quite impos-

conduct the funeral that day, but the

delay gave a further opportunity of seeing

some

of the fruits of her labours.

There was never a brighter day than that

which dawned on the Lebanon on the 27th of

December,

in

answer

ers of God's perplexed

was

over,

every

cloud

to the earnest pray-

people.

had

The storm

vanished,

and

A it

Journey's

was now possible

at the grave funeral.

It

any honour ing

the

to complete

is

work

the

for the

unusual for the Druzes to pay

to a

dead woman, but in

reverently around the

pay their

185

and make preparations

men came

officials of

End

this

crowds and open

coffin.

mornpassed

All the

the municipality came in a body to last respects to the

factress of their people.

honoured bene-

With trembling

voice

a district Governor touchingly recalled her

many

virtues, a

banker recounted some of her

noteworthy deeds, while a young Druze doctor eulogised her holy

life

and Christian character,

which, he said, " would live on in their hearts

though she herself had gone to higher service

And

thus

all

".

through the morning there came a

continuous stream of families and clans into the

Mission compound until every path was blocked

and every corner occupied. ible that the great

It

seemed incred-

throng was a gathering of

Druzes, that this their chief town and the head-

186

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

quarters of their faith was hushed to silence,

was

that every shop

Priest of the Druzes,

whole

closed, that the all

of the populace,

the

officials,

High

and the

were gathered

in a

Mission house to do honour to the remains of a Christian lady.

At one

o'clock

we gathered

the Mission

workers and household together, and after a brief

but solemn service of prayer

the lid of the

coffin.

we

closed

The young men, who are

the enlightened leaders of

all

good works

who belong

to

the " Reading

the city, and

Room," a ing

sort of

established,

coffin to the

in

Y.M.C.A. which Miss Kitch-

now came and

courtyard below.

upon a table while we read

carried

It in

the

was placed

English and

Arabic, assisted by the Syrian pastor from

Deir

'1

Kamar, the Church

for the burial of the dead.

was sung, and my address of attentive

of

England service

An

Arabic hymn

to this great

crowd

Druzes was ably interpreted by

A

End

Journey's

187

Dr. Ali Alamnddin, the converted

Druze medi-

cal officer to the Mission.

At

the conclusion of

we

the address

an-

nounced that a memorial gathering would be held,

in

accordance with Lebanon customs,

after forty days,

ing to give

when

all

expression

those to

who were

their

long-

sentiments

would be given the opportunity they

desired.

A subdued murmur of approval greeted the announcement, then a moment's only by the voice of the aged

the Druzes,

who

High

Priest of

Our Lady Miss Kitching

worthy of our highest regard

sion

broken

stood near the coffin and

gently exclaimed, " is

silence,

was then formed

".

A

proces-

to the olive grove in the

Mission grounds, where the rock-hewn tomb

was neatly prepared.

The

children of the two

schools led the way, sweetly chanting a specially

composed funeral and

I

dirge.

preceded the

men and

coffin

The Syrian pastor borne by the young

followed by the Mission workers, the

188

The Druzes

officials,

of

Lebanon and Bashan

and the great throng of white turbaned

Druzes.

There was perfect silence at

the

grave while the committal prayers were read

and Arabic, followed by a short

in English

appropriate address from the Syrian pastor.

Before I could pronounce

the benediction,

an incident of striking significance occurred.

Amongst

the

many

customs of

occult

the

Druzes there are certain sacred invocations which they occasions.

on specially deserved

will only use

One

these

of

is

a

sacred

little

prayer thrice repeated for the deceased.

It

cannot be bought with money, for only a short time ago a princess of the ruling house large

sum by her

will in

be done, for her

life

It could not,

had

The High

had given the hint to

followers that here

must render

how-

failed to deserve

what her money could not buy. Priest, however,

their

a

order that this prayer

might be said at her grave. ever,

left

was a

saint to

whom

highest religions

his

they

regard.

"

A

Journey's

So by the grave

of

Druze

and

tenderly

End

189

Miss Kitching, an aged addressed

briefly

the

one accord the thrice re-

throng, and with

peated prayer arose from a thousand tongues

and a multitude

upon her

We

of hearts, "

O God, have mercy

!

sealed her tomb,

wreaths which her

and

many

upon

laid

friends

it

the

had brought,

then with a parting blessing to the people, as

we

they passed out of the vineyard,

with mingled sorrow and

joy, this

closed,

glorious

chapter in the records of Christian devotion at the Mission in Baakleen.

Never before had the Lebanon witnessed such a sight religious

—a

Druze multitude, led by offering

chiefs,

with

highest honours at the grave of

emotion

its

its

a Christian

missionary, yea, even at the grave of a Christian

woman

!

What

did

it

mean, the whole be-

haviour of this anxious throng It

meant

to

me

that the

?

life laid

down ha^

The Druzes

190

of

Lebanon and Bashan

not been spent in vain, that this Medical Mission

had made a deep impression upon the Druzes of the

Lebanon, that thousands

yearning to

know more

which enables men and saintly lives,

of hearts

We

Divine Grace

of that

women

to live

such

and that the Christian Church

owes a debt to the Druzes which to pay.

were

it

must hasten

have shaken their confidence

in

we have robbed them

of

their ancient creeds,

the consolations of their former faith,

we have

shown them better things and higher hopes, but

we have

not yet led them

the foot of the Cross and the This, too,

we must

do, for

it

all

the

Bosom

is

way

of

to

God.

a sacred duty

which British Christians owe to the Druzes of the Lebanon.

Dr. Alt Alamuddin, the Medical Officer of the Baakleen Mission, with his Family [See

Debaa.

page

194

A Junction on the Hedjaz Railway, showing a heap of Hacran wheat waiting to be sent to Damascus Se,

pagt

123

CHAPTER

XIV.

A REMARKABLE DRUZE DOCTOR.

CHAPTEK A

XIV.

EEMAEKABLE DEUZE DOCTOE.

A fairly good proportion of the Druzes

in the

Lebanon are thoroughly well educated, some of

them have taken degrees

in Arts,

Pharmacy,

Medicine, Commerce, and Dentistry, some are editors of Syrian newspapers,

some

editors of Egyptian newspapers,

and some hold

assistant

medical diplomas from American Universities.

One I

of the

met

in Syria

Druze. the

most honest and sober-minded men

was a well-educated, gentlemanly

He was

a highly-respected judge of

Supreme Court and the Chairman

of

an

Education Society which he founded for the

purpose of assisting young Druze lads to secure a University education.

When

I last

saw him

he was engaged, during his leisure hours, (193)

13

in

The Druzes

194

of

Lebanon and Bashan Help " from English

translating Smiles' " Self

into Arabic, so that he might publish

own expense

for the benefit of the

it

at his

youth of

the Lebanon.

Another

truly remarkable

man was

Dr. Ali

Alamuddin, the highly-cultured, well-educated,

and most efficient Medical

Officer of the Mission

Hospital at Baakleen.

He

took his degree at the American College

in Beyrout,

and held the Constantinople

ploma as a doctor

of the Turkish Empire.

di-

For

nearly thirty years he worked for the Mission at his native village in Baakleen,

where he wielded

an immense influence for good over the many educated the

many

He was daily

men

of the district

clans

and factions

and amongst of

all

the villages.

always a diligent student, and his long

association

with

the

English

Mission

workers enabled him to acquire an acquaintance with English which far surpassed anything

known

to the other

educated members

A

Remarkable Druze Doctor

He was well

of his race.

195

versed in Arabic and

possessing an intimate knowledge of the Bible,

together with a good general knowledge of the best English and French authors, he was un-

doubtedly the best interpreter I came across during

my

twenty years' work

But he was

also a

man

His scrupulous honesty,

and

in

Turkey.

of sterling character. his

remarkable

tact,

his kindly interest in the welfare of the

villages

caused

him

to

become

a well-be-

loved leader of his people.

When baptised,

he made up his mind in 1895 to be he at

first

resolved to leave the

country, for such a thing as religious liberty

was quite unknown

in

any part

of the

Turkish

Empire, and even the educated Druzes had

been unable to divest themselves altogether of religious bigotry.

He

decided, however, to

remain at his post and on the 10th of September, 1896,

he was baptised

at Baakleen.

in the

Mission House

No pressure of any sort had

been

196

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

brought to bear upon the doctor by the Mission

He had fully considered

workers.

the probable

consequences of taking this important step, and

he mentioned to the Mission workers his fear that his wife

would probably be taken from

him, but he was conscientiously impressed that it

was

his

bounden duty

make

to

a public pro-

fession of his convictions in baptism, whatever

the consequences might be.

A storm of persecution broke his baptism

was noised abroad.

and the leading members gathered around

means

mother

fell

His

employed

him

at his feet in a heart-rending

him and declared

disown and disinherit him,

every

His

to recant.

and endeavoured to reason with him, threatened

relatives

of his wife's family

him and

possible to compel

out as soon as

manner

his father

that he

would

his wife for a long

time was kept from him, whilst angry

men

surrounded him and poured upon him many serious

curses and

threats of violence.

The

A

Remarkable Druze Doctor

197

people were incited to spit upon him as he

went through the

streets,

and the children were

He

taught to heap their curses upon him. last

at

took shelter in the Mission House, where

he was eventually joined by his wife

who had

succeeded in escaping from her friends.

She

then besought him, for her sake, to sign the

Recantation

Form which had been

by his father, that he

was

who urged

sent to

him

the doctor to declare

a Druze secretly though he

still

had become a Christian outwardly.

The

doctor,

however, refused, and his wife was persuaded that her husband

was

right in clinging to his

conscientious convictions, so she decided to stay

with him and share his troubles, his poverty,

and persecutions.

The matter was

the British Consul-General in the neighbourhood,

laid before

who happened

and the

local

who was subsequently approached

to

be

Governor

advised that

the doctor should at once leave the district.

The advice was

followed, and after spending

— The Druzes

198

some time

of

Lebanon and Bashan

in other parts of Syria

made a journey

to

he eventually

England, where he took

advantage of the opportunity to increase his

knowledge of medicine,

and was

to Syria

at last

village of Baakleen, of

which he returned

after

welcomed back

where

for another period

nearly twenty years he laboured

amongst

We

to the

happily

his former persecutors.

received no news of

him

after the out-

break of war with Turkey until on the 31st of August, 1916, the President of the Baakleen

Medical Mission sent the following letter to its

subscribers and friends

"All supporters Mission

'

of the

:

'Baakleen Medical

will grieve over the loss the

Mission

has sustained in the death of Dr. Ali Alamuddin,

who

for twenty-six years

had laboured so

whole-heartedly amongst the Druzes of his native

town and the surrounding

"News

Dr. Ali's death reached

me on

August when Dr. Hoskins,

of the

of

the 12th of

villages.

A

Remarkable Druze Doctor

American Mission Press

in Beyrout, spent the

afternoon and evening with me. as a neutral,

199

Dr. Hoskins,

had been allowed

to

make

the

journey from Beyrout to England by the Bagh-

dad Railway through Asia Minor to Constantinople, thence

by the

and from Berlin

to

'

Balkan Zug

'

to Berlin,

Copenhagen, where

his wife

and daughters took steamer to America, while the doctor

came on

The two

Newcastle. of 11th

to

England via Bergen and articles in

'

The Times

'

and 12th August, contributed by 'A

Neutral,' gave a thrilling story of the journey,

and

also a heart-rending account of persecu-

tions

and sufferings

of

the

Syrians on the

Lebanon and elsewhere. "

For the

earlier

was allowed

months

to remain at

of the

war Dr. Ali

Baakleen

parative safety, but subsequently he

in

was

Army, and

did invaluable

work amongst the troops

various camps in which he

was

called

Army Surgeon

to the Turkish

as an

com-

stationed.

in the

Dr.

The Druzes

200 Ali

of

Lebanon and Bashan

was never a robust man, and those who

knew him military

personally can well understand what

service

in

the

Turkish

Army must

have meant for one of so gentle and sensitive a nature.

"After serving

for

some time near Aleppo

he was transferred to Damascus, and here he contracted typhus fever to which he suc-

cumbed. " I

had the

privilege a

few years ago of

ing Baakleen and seeing the doctor at in the Hospital

at

my home

with

many

in

work

a year or two later he stayed

;

a few days with

visit-

me

in

Egypt and afterwards

England, and

others

who knew

I

thus shared,

Dr. Ali personally,

the great privilege of a friendship which will

always be a source of inspiration, for his charas one seldom meets with

— so

truly Christian, so self-denying, so noble,

and

acter

was such

so whole-hearted in devotion to his Master's service.

A

Remarkable Druze Doctor

"The Druzes

are naturally a fine race of

people, but entirely lacking in the Christ, or of

God

was

Dr.

knowledge

of

as revealed in Jesus Christ, of grace could

have

he was as a Christian.

He

and nothing but a miracle

made

201

AH what

in every sense a cultured

gentleman, and

no one could have been found more

fitted as

a Christian convert to exercise a Christ-like influence

upon

indeed such as

his is

own

people

—an

influence

not commonly found even in

a Christian country. " Dr.

Ali has, in the mercy and Providence of

God, been called from the sufferings to the

Higher Service

so well,

God. for the

and

of the

for his sake

we

Master he loved

rejoice

Our prayers and sympathy widow and family who,

know, are

at

who have been

and thank will

go out

so far as

Baakleen in relative

cepting his sons

of this life

we

safety, ex-

called to the

army. "

The Mission buildings are now occupied by

— The Druzes

202

the Turks and a there, the

Moslem

We

school has been opened living in the Mis-

are glad to

property of

private

Lebanon and Bashan

Moslem teacher

sion House.

'

of

the

know

Mission

that the

has

been

sealed up' in one of the rooms."

On this "

the 19th of February the Committee of

Mission passed the following resolution

The Committee

of the

:

Baakleen Mission

take the earliest opportunity of recording their

deep heart-felt sorrow at the grievous

loss

sustained by the Mission in the death of their

Medical

Officer,

Dr.

Ali

His

Alamuddin.

heroic stand for the Christian Faith from the

time of his conversion, his eminent piety, his rare ability, service at

and

his

many

years of faithful

Baakleen have marked him out as

one of God's chosen messengers to the Druzes of the

Lebanon, and the Committee have

ways esteemed to have life

it

one of their greatest privileges

had so remarkable a man devoting

and energies

al-

his

to the service of this Mission.

A

"They humbly record ness to Almighty to this

203

Remarkable Druze Doctor

God

their

deep thankful-

the grace given

for

eminent servant of Christ and for the

untold blessings his noble

life

have brought,

not only to the Druzes, but also to fellow-workers

who

constantly held

all his

him

in

their highest esteem.

"The deepest sympathy will

of the

Committee

be conveyed to Dr. Ali's widow and

dren at the

earliest opportunity,

and

it is

chil-

hoped

that the supporters of the Mission will like-

wise enable the Committee to

make some

small

provision for Dr. Ali's family at the conclusion of the war."

We hope when the war is news his

of this

over, to get further

remarkable doctor, and we trust

wife and nine children

may

survive the

war, the pestilence, and famine that have de-

stroyed more than half the inhabitants of the

Lebanon.

All life ends in death.

When

I see all

paths leading

leading from death unto us

— no

one of ages past ever remaining go where they have gone.

If

we are hastening

men

unto death, and no paths not

traveller there ever returning

—I

to death,

—

see that I also shall assuredly

why

all this

impatience with the

ills of life ?

This life is a sleep, the life to come is a wakening the intermediate step between them is death, and our life here is a disturbed dream. ;

Death covers

all faults.

— From " Arabian

Wisdom"

by Dr. Wortabet.

The Baakleen Medical Mission Hospital and Dispensary

The Druze

Girls' School at

Baakleen

CHAPTER

XV.

THE SECEET SECTS OF

SYEIA.

CHAPTER XV. THE SECEET SECTS OF The

secret sects of Syria are

(2)

The Metawilis,

(4)

The

(3)

The

:

SYEIA.

(1)

The Druzes,

Ismailians,

and

Nosairis.

Their religious beliefs are derived from the teaching of a branch of the great sect

known

the

as

Moslem Shiah

" Batinis " or Esoterics.

This Arabic word simply means " inner," and

was applied the

of

to those

Koran

meaning which

who

held that the words

possess an inner or esoteric is

far

more important than the

well-known laws of Islam and which can only be understood by those

The Druzes

who

are truly initiated.

are divided into three classes.

The Juhhal, the Akkal, and the Ajawid, (1)

The ignorant or

i.e.

uninitiated, (2) the learned (207)

The Druzes

208 or

initiated,

and

The word Druze

name

certain race, but

note a active

more excellent or

the

(3)

amongst the

principal personages

simply the

Lebanon and Bashan

of

is

now,

Every member

word Arab,

like the

given to an individual of a it

was

was

a

used to de-

originally

member of that religious apostle

initiated.

whose most

sect

man named

of the sect

became

Derazi.

familiarly

known as a Derazi, from which word the Arabic plural

Deruz was formed.

Arabic plural that we, structed the

It

from

is

have con-

in English,

name Druze and have

created the English plural

this

naturally

Druzes, which in

general use has become Druses.

1914 the number of the Druzes was

In

estimated to be about 200,000.

There were

15,000 males in southern Lebanon and about

50,000 in the mountains of the Hauran, the ancient land of Bashan.

found the

in

some

villages

They are

of the large

about

towns

also to be of Syria, in

Mount Carmel, and

the

The

south

Jebel-el-Ala,

of

In

Aleppo.

many have emigrated

years

209

Secret Sects of Syria

recent

North

to

and

South America, Jamaica, Senegal, and Aus-

some have

where

tralia,

married

English

women.

Some

of the older religious leaders firmly

believe that the Druzes form one-third of the

They think

whole population of the globe. the greater part of China co-religionists

;

is

peopled by their

the more ignorant believe that

the souls of the righteous go there after death to be reborn in saintly bodies, since

regarded by

many

as the

China

Druze Paradise.

Druze writer declares there

is

is

A

a tribe of people

on the borders of Thibet whose characteristics

and habits correspond very much the Druzes, and faith,

who may have

to those of

received the

he thinks, from the Batini missionaries

of the eleventh century.

The fair

better class Druzes are of moderately

complexion, and

many 14

of the

women

are

The Druzes

210

beautiful

;

of

Lebanon and Bashan

they are no doubt of mixed blood,

descendants chiefly of Arabs, Persians, Hindoos, Jews,

and Christians who inhabited the

Near East

at the beginning of the eleventh

century.

They are a

virile race of

brave warriors and

sturdy mountaineers, distinguished hospitality, chivalry,

and

ious headquarters of the in the

of

Lebanon, about

Beyrout.

Beit

'1

chastity.

Druzes

is

The

relig-

Baakleen

at

a contraction of

The home

i.e.

their

fifteen miles south-east

The name

'Akileen,

is

for

of the learned

or initiated.

The two leading Druze Jumbalats and the Erslans.

families are

They are both

reputed to be millionaires, but this

an exaggeration

their wealth.

of

balat headquarters are at leen,

and the palace

Ain Anub, a few Beyrout.

the

is

no doubt

The Jum-

Mukhtara near Baak-

of the Erslan

Emirs

is

at

miles to the south-east of

The

211

Secret Sects of Syria

The Druzes

of

the

Lebanon are

largely

occupied with the cultivation of silk-worms. groves and are

They possess extensive

olive

mostly small farmers.

The Hauran

cially

famous

for

its

espe-

is

very extensive wheat

fields.

An

initiated

Druze can generally be

re-

cognised by the white turban which he wears

around the red

fez,

and the women are

distin-

guished in their villages by the custom of

wearing a long muslin

veil

over their heads

with which they cover the face from the gaze of the passer by, leaving,

eye exposed.

In the

however, always one Galilee

Druze women do not generally

villages

veil their faces.

The Ismailians or Ismailiyeh derive

name from before his

Ismail,

the

their

the eldest son (who died

father) of the sixth Shiah Khalif

or

Imam

of

the Shiahs

Jaafar-es-Sadik. traces

The main body

the succession of the

Imamate through Musa-el-Kathem,

the second

The Druzes

212

Lebanon and Bashan

of

son of Jaafar, but the Ismailians regard

hammed

'1

Habib, the son of Ismail, as the

At

Imam.

seventh

true

became a separate

sect

this

point

probably 20,000 Ismailians

Northern Syria,

chiefly near

The is

at

desert,

There

resident

in

Hums, who send

Aga Khan

a yearly tribute to the

they

from the Shiahs and

developed peculiar tenets of their own. are

Mo-

of

Bombay.

religious headquarters of the Ismailians

Selemyeh on the edge

where there

lives

a sacred

the Syrian girl

known

They believe that every female

as the Kodhah.

on the 27th day

child of the sect born

month Rajab

of

is

of the

an incarnation of the deity

if

she should also conform to certain characteristics of

eyes.

height and the colour of her hair and

The

who

girl

is

recognised as sacred

receives divine honours at special services of

adoration and the Ismailians wear bits of her clothing turbans.

or

hair

When

from

her person

she marries she

is

in

their

no longer

The

sacred and a search

This cult of the relic of the

Syrians

213

Secret Sects of Syria

made

is

Rodhah

for her successor.

thought to be a

is

nature worship retained by these

when they accepted

the weird doctrines

of the early Ismailians.

The Nosairis or

Ansariyeh

are also

an

offshoot from the great Shiah sect of Islam.

Their name, like that of the Druzes, comes

from their leading apostle

Mohammed

Nosair, a disciple of the eleventh Shiah

Ibn

Imam,

Hasan-el- A skari.

They inhabit the

villages

mountains to the north of are

mostly agriculturalists,

of

the

Nosairi

Baalbec.

they

They

grow the

famous Latakia tobacco, produce wine and breed quantities of 130,000, they

are

cattle.

They number about

mostly very ignorant but

are industrious and courageous peasants.

Turkish misrule

is

mainly responsible for

the abject poverty and predatory habits of the Nosairis.

A

European

visitor

once asked the

214

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

chief of Bahluliyeh

why

they did not plant

vineyards and fruit trees in such a beautiful

was evidently so

piece of country that

"Why,"

said

he,

"should

my

If I repair

my

demand

You

see

my

one,

upon me.

To

my flocks, would

grow only

as

much

conceal in wells and cisterns.

taxes have

fresh

we

village

is

It is

and when a

to pay,

be made

will

quartered upon us. it is

We

effect.

we can

How many

or increase

fields,

have the same

fall

it.

new

old house, or build a

higher exactions will surely

corn as

I plant a tree?

be allowed to eat of the fruit of

I shall not

enlarge

fertile.

we never know

full

of

always

!

horsemen, so.

To-day

money, next day barley, next day wheat,

then tobacco, or butter, or honey, or Allah

knows

what.

Then

some

one

has

been

robbed somewhere or other, yesterday or some other day, or never, by somebody or nobody, it

matters not.

The horsemen come and take

whatever they can

get.

Now we

have nothing

The left

215

Secret Sects of Syria

Some

but our wives and children.

we have horsemen

people run away, and then

quartered upon us,

we

till

of our

bring back the

runaways, and so we are driven to desperation."

The term wileh)

is

Metaivalli (Arabic plural

name used

the

Moslems who hold tenets

of

Shiah

the great

usually

called

name Metawalli or devotee of

the rightful the

sect.

In other

members

of this sect

The

Shiahs or Shiites.

signifies

one

Ali, revered

Klialif

Prophet

Syria for those

in

to the generally accepted

parts of the world the

are

Meta-

.

and

Mohammed.

who

by

all

true

is

a friend

Shiahs as

successor

The

of

Metawili

are chiefly found in the villages east of Sidon, Tyre, and Acre, in the plains of the

and

in the

Bukaa

villages north-east of Tripoli.

" The Khalif vanished erst In what seemed death to uninstructed eyes,

On

red Mokattam's verge Tend we our faith, the spark,

Fan

.

it

.

.

till

happier time

Hakeem rise again." —Browning The Return of the

to fire

;

till

:

Druses.

=^*

•***

View of the Lebanon from Ain Anub School grounds [See page 8J

!£H spa

The Christian town of Zahleh

CHAPTER

XVI.

THE KELIGION OF THE DEUZES.

CHAPTER

XVI.

THE EELIGION OF THE DEUZES. The fundamental

article of the

Druze

religion,

from which also the other secret cults of Syria have derived their religious convictions,

common

belief,

or

lif

Imam

to all Shiahs, that the

Ali

belief

of

the

of

the

Contrary to

authority.

Orthodox

according to the Shiahs, successor to

Kha-

was a supernatural being

endowed with Divine the

is_£lie

is

Ali,

much more than a

Mohammed, which

word Khalif,

Sunnis,

is

the meaning

for while the prophets

were the channels of Divine revelation, the

Imams

are

capable

of

the

only

inspired

interpreting

this

messengers

revelation

to

mortal men. This conviction developed into the doctrine (219)

220

The Druzes

Lebanon and Bashan

of

of the Divine right of

AH

and

his descendants

to the spiritual leadership of Islam,

and was

gradually elaborated by the different sects into

the

many mysterious dogmas

associated with

the Imamate.

The main body line of

twelve

ending with

who

of the Shiahs believe in

Imams

a

beginning with Ali and

Mohammed

Ibn Hasan-el-Askari

mysteriously disappeared about 878 a.d.

at Samarra, seventy miles north of Baghdad.

This twelfth

Imam

Guide who

will

Moslems

they say

is

the

Mahdi

some day reappear

or

(as all

believe) to set everything right

and

turn mankind to the true religion of Islam.

Some Shiah

sects trace the

Imamate from

Jaafar-es-Sadik through his second son Musa-

el-Katham,

who

is

buried at Kathmain, three

miles north of Baghdad, but the Ismailians and

the Druzes trace the

Imamate through

Jaafar's eldest son.

The Batinis taught

the

Imams were

incarnations

of

Ismail,

that

the Divine

The

they alone

reason, that

inner

Religion of the Druzes

meaning

could interpret the

the

of

Divine

that therefore the

knowledge

only be

through

acquired

221

and

law,

God

of

Ismail

could

and

his

descendants and consequently the only true

Imam was

the Fatimite Khalif of the Age.

This doctrine enabled

Hamza and

Derazi to

proclaim the divinity of the Fatimite Khalif

El Hakim, and accounts for the toleration accorded to this monster of cruelty by those

and

Batinis

Ismailians

became known

is

Osborn

Said

knowledge

for

Hakim's claim

to Divine

summarised as follows by Major

authority

man must

subsequently

as Druzes.

The argument

:

who

the

Ismailians

:

" Either

a

maintain that he can acquire a of

God by

his unassisted reason

without the intervention of a divinely commissioned mediator or he cannot do if

he maintains the

nent

who

first thesis

so.

But

against an oppo-

holds the second, he, in the very act

222

The Druzes

of enforcing

it,

of

Lebanon and Bashan

demonstrates

its falsity,

for he

cannot deny that so far as his opponent concerned, an instructor

is

needed.

then this guide must be one falling

into

?

Clearly

incapable

of

Where should such a

error.

teacher be found

is

Surely in the family of

the Prophet."

The remarkably

efficient

missionaries

or

Dais of the Ismailians were able to lead their converts

from the dogmas of

Imamate

to the belief that religious

the

inspired

knowledge

could only be acquired from persons who, like themselves, were

initiated

in the

secrets

of

their sect.

The Dais would puzzle the

inquirer with

recondite questions about difficult passages in the

Koran

known to

to

show

that religion

only to a few.

was a mystery

Having persuaded him

swear that he would reveal no secrets nor

swerve from implicit obedience to his spiritual instructors he

would then be shown the sacred-

The ness of the

223

Religion of the Druzes

number

That as there are

seven.

seven planets, seven climates, seven heavens

and

such-like, so there are only seven

and not twelve as the majority

Mohammed

That

believe.

of Ismail,

was not only the

Imams, but was

Moses, Christ,

Habib, the son

last of the

also the last

possessed the key to

all

the seven

they acknowledged

Mohammed, revelation

the

Imam

alone

Moslems

for

a prophet posterior

to

founder of Islam,

handed

'1

mysteries, and those

followed him ceased to be

initiated,

of

seven

Mohammed, and Mohammed

This last prophet and

Habib.

of the Shiahs

who were Adam, Noah, Abraham,

prophets,

who

'1

Imams

down

and

only through

which supersedes the Koran and

a the all

that has gone before.

Further degrees of initiation were reserved for the

tread

more daring

its

spirits

secret courts,

more and more

who ventured

to

and each stage tended

to utter

bewilderment of the

The Druzes

224

of

Lebanon and Bashan

mind, to a mixture of dualism, atheism, and nihilism,

to

a belief that the universe was

eternal, that there

was no God, no law, and no

such thing as religion.

These are the fundamental tenets secret

Syria upon which each

cults of

has accumulated

its

religious convictions.

ever,

of all the

who ventured

own

sect

peculiar jumble of

There were few, how-

so far,

and the bulk

modern Druzes have stopped

of the

far short of the

wild conclusions reached by the unbalanced

minds of the early

The are in

;

Batinis.

principal religious beliefs of the Druzes,

That God

is

One, that

He was

incarnate

Ali and lastly in the person of Hakim.

That Hakim

will

some day return

to

Egypt

to

judge the world and weigh every man's works in a balance.

They are monogamists, and the abjure the use of wine and tobacco.

not believe in

heaven or

hell,

initiated

They do

but in

the

— The constant

Religion of the Druzes

transmigration of

immortal

from one body to another upon that the

number

is

225 souls

this earth so

never increased or dimi-

nished.

In addition to the theological dogmas concerning God, they believe that

Hakim

ap-

pointed seven articles of faith and practice for the Druzes,

viz.

:

1.

Truth

2.

Mutual

3.

Renunciation of

4.

Separation from evil spirits and those in

in speech.

help. all

other religions.

error.

Hakim.

5.

Belief in the divinity of

6.

Acquiescence in the actions

whatever they 7.

of

Hakim

be.

Absolute resignation to Hakim's orders.

15

" According to old 'aws

Which

bid us, lest the sacred

grow profane,

Assimilate ourselves in outward rites

With

strangers fortune

makes our

lords

and

live

As Christian with the Christian, Jew with Jew, Druze only with the Druzes."

—From " The Return of the Druses," by Brcnvning.

M

a

^

CHAPTER

XVII.

PEESENT DAY BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS.

CHAPTER

XVII.

PEESENT DAY BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. The Druzes and most

of the

modern represen-

tatives of these secret sects are ever so

better than

their creed.

they are ordinary

The simple

human beings with

much fact is

hearts and

consciences like other mortals, and while they

would be unwilling

to repudiate

the

official

creed of their religious leaders, yet they find it

impossible to order their daily lives in strict

accord with the

illogical findings of

mere

philo-

sophical theorists.

Prayer. churches,

— The as

Druzes have no mosques or

external forms of worship are

considered unnecessary.

They are not sup-

posed to pray but they actually do pray, and a (229)

— The Druzes

230

of

Lebanon and Bashan

Syrian Christian found the following beautiful

prayer in an old Druze Manuscript "

To Thee, O God,

do what

meet

is

God, sleep

in

in

I

Thy

:

come, determining to sight.

Thy obedience.

my eye, O Let my strength Let

be always on the side of Thy Grace.

Take

my waking and my sleeping hours under Thy control my day and my

unto Thyself

and place night.

Guard me,

O

God, by Thy eye which

sleepeth not."

Amongst

the

Nosairis

the

supposed to pray, never

Moslems, but

in secret,

in

men the

and instead

Moslem prayers, they are permitted

only are open,

like

of the five

to

perform

the customary prostrations and simply to re-

peat the five names of Ali, Hasan, Hosein,

Muhsin, and Fatima.

The Nosairi women never

pray, nor are they

ever instructed in matters of religion, for they are supposed to have no immortal souls, since

woman was

created on account of Satan's sin

!

Present

Day

and Customs

Beliefs

231

The Druzes on the contrary admit almost their

women

all

to the ranks of the initiated as

soon as they reach maturity.

The Metawili women pray,

also

taught to

are

and they can sometimes be seen

Moslems

their prayers like

open

in the

reciting air.

Neither the Druzes nor the Nosairis use cere-

monial ablutions, but the Metawilis follow the usual customs of the Shiahs and are careful to let water run

from the elbow

to the hand.

They use a Sejdi at prayer, which baked clay from the sacred Kerbela.

worshipper in

soil of

It is of various shapes

with an ornamental is

centre,

at prayer

it is

a piece of

is

Mecca and

or

sizes

and when the

placed before him

such a way that his forehead touches this

sacred sejdi or torbah in the process of prostration.

Dissimulation.

— The

doctrine

of

" Taki-

yah"

is

They

believe they are justified in concealing,

a leading feature of

all

these sects.

The Druzes

232

of

Lebanon and Bashan

whenever necessary, their own in

religious beliefs

order to save themselves from persecuIndividual Druzes in

tion or inconvenience.

Moslem

cities

conform to the customs

own

but in their

Mohammed

much

as

they

villages

to

speak

amongst themselves, and their to tell lies to

practice they are

Easterns

;

men

curse

the

truth

religion allows

of other faiths, but in

no greater

they will

may

as they please.

They are supposed

them

of Islam,

liars

than other

speak the truth

Christian as often as they will

lie

to

a

to a fellow

Druze, and there are many educated Druzes

who

are as honest and truthful as the average

The

European. crisy

has

official

undoubtedly

recognition of hypoa

left

blight

upon

the national character.

Saint Worship. belief prevalent

of a prophet

— There

is

an interesting

throughout Syria that the soul

named El Khudr

(i.e.

The Ever-

green One) passed in succession, like the

in-

Present

Day

Beliefs

and Customs

233

carnations of Vishnu, into Phinehas, Elijah,

and

St.

George.

Elijah, or

The Jews speak

Phinehas

Moslems

the

;

think of him as Elijah

;

George.

him

as

invariably

but the Nosairis follow

the Christian custom of associating St.

of

The worship

of El

him with

Khudr amongst

the ignorant people has almost obscured the

Nosairi devotion to Ali

who

continues to re-

ceive due homage, however, from the initiated.

The common people make

offerings

Khudr, and they firmly believe the his victory over the

The Metawilis who

the

El

stories of

dragon and many other

reputed exploits of the valiant

Imam will some day

to

St.

George.

believe that the twelfth

manifest himself to

Mahdi and with Jesus

will turn

men as

mankind to

the knowledge of God, relate stories concern-

ing him which are strikingly similar to

some

which are usually associated with El Khudr

and

St.

George.

green saint

This

Imam

who has never

is

a sort of ever-

died, but, disguised

234

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

and unknown, he sometimes succours people in distress

:

e.g.

Once a man was attacked by

robbers and called

on the

Imam

for

There appeared to him a simple muleteer

aid.

who

delivered the traveller from the robbers, con-

ducted him to a safe place, and disappeared

from his sight.

A pilgrim

on the road to Mecca

the caravan, his camel being sick.

fell

behind

In vain he

urged the beast along but the caravan appeared

in the distance, leaving the

was ignorant

man, who

of the road, to face the perils of

solitary travel.

man on

dis-

Suddenly there appeared a

a white horse,

who

to a place behind him, bore

lifted the pilgrim

him swiftly towards

Mecca, dropped him gently to the earth, and

man

when

the

rider

had disappeared.

The

"

looked up, the horse and

Mutual Help "

readiness to take

up arms

originally

its

implied

in defence of their

friends, to provide for their poor,

and never

to

Present

Day

Beliefs

The

refuse hospitality. of

and Customs

235

factiousness, however,

modern Druzes, has reached a ludicrous

stage.

Some

mitted to

of the poorest beggars are per-

make

use of honourable

happen to be descendants

They disdain

titles if

they

of certain families.

to intermarry or

sometimes even

to associate with

members

who may be much

better off than themselves.

The

rich

Druzes take and

poorer relatives,

of a lower

interest in their

little

in

caste

many

villages

one

meets with cliques or factions who are not on rivals

who may

same name and

live at the

speaking terms with their

happen

to bear the

other end of the

commit a village,

he

A

village.

serious offence,

if,

failed to visit the

would

visitor

calling at

in

head man

a

of the

different factions.

Transmigration

of

Souls.

—

Druzes and the Nosairis believe psychosis, in

and the character

the present

life

of

Both in

the

metem-

an individual

determines whether the

236

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

next incarnation shall be in a higher or lower

The Druzes

form.

believe the soul can only

go from one body to another, whence arises conviction

their

that

number never

their

changes, for the death of one person involves the birth of another.

The

Nosairis,

soul of a

however, believe that

bad man can pass

animal form, such as a

an ant or a

louse.

will eventually

some lower

a donkey, a wolf,

All created souls, they say,

become

heaven after

stars in

passing through the body of a Nosairi

finally

members

Sheikh, but

many

suffer

;

of other religions

Christians at

Jews become apes

and jackals butterflies

must

reincarnations before they reach

their starry goal.

swine

cat,

into

the

;

flappers

become

Moslems, donkeys

;

may

and cricketers

first

therefore go

will

to

betake them-

selves to bats.

Initiation.— The uninitiated amongst

Druzes are not permitted

the

to attend the secret

Present

Day

Beliefs

237

and Customs

meetings held on Thursday evenings in the

Khulwehs

or

generally

meeting

situated

houses,

which

lonely isolated

in

are

places

These Thursday evening

near the villages.

gatherings are not definitely for religious objects,

though some

of the initiated habitually

read portions of Druze writings, but they are largely occupied with the discussion of social

rand

political matters.

It is

an interesting fact

that practically all the educated

men

belong

to the ranks of the uninitiated.

Amongst

the Nosairis the vast majority of

when

the males are initiated at the age of 18

wine is

is

used at the ceremony, and the novice

threatened with the meanest form of rein-

carnation

if

he betrays the secrets.

The Druze who seeks the

initiation

use of strong drink

instruction or preparation initiation

pected

of

to

must abjure

and tobacco. is

required for the

a Nosairi, but a Druze

undergo

two

No

years'

is

ex-

instruction

The Druzes

238

of

Lebanon and Bashan

and probation before he can become

initi-

ated.

Feasts.

Day

— The

Nosairis celebrate Christmas

as one of their important feasts,

and they

have a curious ceremony once a year at which a bowl of wine

which

is

is

used

;

given to the feast

word which

is

name Kuddas

the is

the same Arabic

invariably used for the Christian

Mass.

The Trinity

Trinity.

consisting

meaning),

Salman

—The of

Mohammed

al Farisi (the

Nosairis Ali (the

(the

believe in

a

Maaneh

or

Ism or name), and

Bab

or

door).

Nosairi says, " I turn towards the door

bow

Salman), I

hammed),

I

before the

name

adore the meaning

(i.e.

(i.e.

Ali)

The (i.e.

Mo".

o

CHAPTER

XVIII.

METHODS AND

AIMS.

CHAPTER

XVIII.

METHODS AND

When we commenced

AIMS.

our work in the Leban-

on we found the great majority of the Druzes

were steeped villages

where not a single individual could

read or write, and

minds

it

was only natural that the

of such people should be held in

to ridiculous

We

There were some

in ignorance.

mummery and

bondage

gross superstition.

determined to bring enlightenment into

the hearts and

homes

of the Druzes,

were equally determined

to

struction the most important

make

and we

Bible

in-

feature of our

curriculum, from a firm conviction that purely secular education this

is

profitable

world nor for the next.

neither

There

is

for

such

a thing, however, as the Missionary Focus, (241)

16

The Druzes

242

of

Lebanon and Bashan

that central point of convergence

we attempt

to concentrate the different rays

We

of light.

whether we crowd, and

back a

upon which

are often called upon to decide

shall focus the individual or the

if

little,

we

crowd we must draw

try the

we must widen our range and

lengthen our focus or some of the objects will

be

left

when

out of our picture.

the missionary can focus his attention

upon a

single individual

and aim

at his con-

when

the outlook

version, but there are times is

There are times

totally

different,

down

breaking

when he must aim

prejudices,

secure the

at

open

door or create an environment in which his converts will be tolerated and allowed to It

was

often

in

our boarding school that

able to adjust

dividual soul, but the

we were

our focus upon the

work

a pioneering effort of kind,

the

in the villages

in-

was

most elementary

and we focussed our machinery

specific

live.

for the

purpose of taking in the whole of the

Methods and Aims village crowd.

seemed

It

to give one per cent

243 a mistake

to us

of these village lads a

thoroughly high-class Western education while the great bulk of their associates were left in the lowest depths of ignorance.

A

too highly

cultured teacher would never go and live in those vermin-stricken villages of the

he would

flee to

Lebanon

America and the mass

of the

people would remain in gross darkness.

We

noticed that the few converted Druzes were so scattered

and isolated that they found

almost impossible to exist amid the

evil influ-

ences of some fiercely fanatical village.

plan therefore, was to break

down

it

Our

prejudices,

not simply in one household or one village but

among

all

the Druzes

ticism, to bring

;

to

soften their fana-

some amount

of enlightenment

and the influence of Christian great bulk of the least

means

possible

rising generation with the

delay and

available.

ideals to the

If

by every possible

we had waited

for highly

244

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

trained up-to-date teachers for the simple and laborious

work

of gathering out the stones,

the villagers would never have been reached

and our work would have proved more or

We

of a failure.

less

therefore formed a training

our boarding school, so that after a

class at

few years' simple training we were able to send back the young

where they worked lightenment of their

men

like

own

to their

villages

heroes for the en-

and

kith

kin.

All the most successful village schools which

showed the best

results

from the point

of

view of Christian education were those that

came under the care our

through

of the youths

training

They were not baptised all still

School had

made a

them and had for

Ain Anub.

Christians, they

nominally Druzes, but

that the teaching

love

at

class

who passed

it

we gave them

were

was evident at the

High

very deep impression upon

instilled into

them a genuine

the Sacred Scriptures.

We

have

Methods and Aims sometimes

been

245 employing

for

criticised

nominal Druzes in our village schools, but our experience proved that the lads

under our tuition at Ain for the spread of the

Anub

who passed

did

much more

Gospel than many of the

nominal Christian teachers that we had employed in some of the

villages.

In one of

the villages the young master was remarkably diligent

in

compelling each of the boys to

purchase a Bible, and the amount that these

boys learned by heart from the

New Testament

exceeded by far our most hopeful anticipa-

We

tions.

never asked our village school-

teachers to give dogmatic religious instruction, their

duty was to see that the appointed por-

tions of the Bible

were read

intelligently every

day and that certain verses were committed

memory by

the pupils.

This was supple-

mented by the introduction

of a text-book, pub-

to

lished in Arabic and sold at our book-store. It

was

called "

Four Thousand Questions and

246

The Druzes

of

Lebanon and Bashan

Answers on the Historical Books

Our

the

instructions to

of the Bible

teachers

".

were that

the lads should be able in the examination to

answer the questions therein contained.

method enabled us

to effectively control the

religious teaching in all the schools,

we

This

visited the villages

and when

our time was largely

occupied in pointing the moral and explaining the importance of the

many

Scripture passages

which the children had learned so thoroughly by

heart.

These methods proved remarkably successful,

the Druzes were delighted that

ployed their foisting

own

we em-

sons as teachers instead of

upon them an

alien

of a rival race,

they observed our rules and regulations with the greater loyalty, the parents of the children

took a keen interest in their children's Bibles,

and the most inaccessible Druze beginning to understand

villages

were

something of

the

elements of the Christian Faith.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. The Druzes

of

the Lebanon.

Colonel

Churchill.

2 vols.

The

The

Eeligions of

Modern Syria and

F. J. Bliss.

(T.

Cult of Ali.

Canon

The Druzes.

Canon

&

la

Sell.

Sell.

Dr. Wortabet.

Bev. S.

The Desert and the Sown. The Turkish Empire. Newby,

De Sacy

Lyde

(1838).

(1860).

Miss G. L. Bell.

B. B. Madden.

(T. Cautley

1862.)

The Ansyrieh and Ismaeleeh.

&

(Murray.)

Beligion des Druses.

The Asian Mystery.

Dr. Thomson.

(pp. 167-9).

Dr. Wortabet.

Beligion in the East.

Expose de

Dr.

T. Clark.)

The Land and the Book

Arabian Wisdom.

Palestine.

Bev.

S.

Lyde.

(Hurst

Blackett, 1853.)

The Druzes and

their Beligion.

Archdeacon Ward.

(The East and The West, Jan., 1910.) (247)

INDEX. Abbas,

Asfuriyeh, 38. Asia Minor, 78.

18.

Abdul Hamid,

56.

Abu Bekr, 17. Abu Shakib Bey,

Assassins, 24. Atrash, Yehia,

59.

Acre, 215.

Aden,

140.

Africa, Fatimite Khalif

119,

122,

of, 20.

Baakleen,

Aga Khan, Ahirah,

7,

127, 128, 129. Australia, 46, 209.

212. 132.

28, 131, 170, 179, 194, 200, 210.

Ain Anub,

33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 43, 52, 80, 81, 82, 91, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 120, 127, 138, 158, 162, 166, 168, 180, 210, 244.

Aintab, 79. Akkal, 207. Alamufc, 24. Albanian, 140, 141. Aleppo, 78. Aley, 105, 107, 121.

Babylon,

18.

Baghdad Bailway,

143,

144,

199.

Bahira, 124. Bahluliyeh, 214. Bahr Sallam, 142. Balkan Zug, 199. Barbary, 19.

Baruk, 65. Bashan, 3,

5, 8,

29, 117, 119.

Bathir, 119, 127. Ali, 17, 18, 19, 215, 219, 230, Batinis, 19, 20, 207. 238. Beisur, 55, 59, 61, 68, 71. Alamuddin, Dr. Ali, 186, 194. religious hermit, 61.

America,

46, 47, 209.

American Episcopalians,

—

113,

114.

Missionary,

Benneh, 70. Beshimoon,

64.

Anglo-Israelite, 34.

Anti Lebanon,

— Beni Marwan, 140. — Saood, 145. — Zahran, 140.

44, 46, 158, 164, 168, 171.

26.

Arabia, Central, 118, 124, 143, 145.

Arabian desert, Arab tribes, 12,

117. 117, 118, 340,

48,

110,

Beshir Sheikh, 26. Emir, 27. Beyrout, 4, 7, 33, 35, 80, 81,

—

82, 83, 137.

American

145, 210.

(249)

College, 50, 194.

The Druzes

250

Bishop of London,

of

105, 111,

Lebanon and Bashan Druzes,

3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 21, 24, 25, 27, 28, 33, 34, 45, 67, 70, 111,

113.

Boy

19,

Scouts, 166.

Bozrah Eski Sham,

113, 117, 118, 130, 158, 160, 165, 193, 201, 207, 208, 209, 211, 229, 237.

124, 125,

126.

British Syrian Mission, 58.

Bteddin,

28.

Bukaa, 215. Byzantine Empire,

140.

Cairo, 20, 22. Campbell, Canon

S., 43, 48, 107, 168, 171, 172. Cape Town, 33. Carmel, Mt, 208. Cheese, Kev. J. E., 52, 169, 178.

—

Founder

of, 21.

Edrei, 123. Egypt, 7, 8, 24, 27, 105, 200. Egyptians, 77. El Azeez, Fatimite Khalif, 20.

Elijah, 233. El Khudr, 232, 233.

El Mustansir, 24. Emir Erslan, 33, 210. Christians, 21, 27, 45, 117, 118, Emirs, 26, 27. English Courts, 37. 158, 160, 210. Greek Orthodox, 46, 111, Erslans, 26, 210.

—

164. of

Church

Esoterics, 207.

England,

European Powers,

43, 45, 46. of the Holy Sepulchre, 21. C.M.S. Medical Mission, 135. Concert of Europe, 5.

Fakir, 147. Fatima, 17, 230.

Damascus,

Feasts, 238. Fidais, 24.

—

3,

5,

7,

12, 28, 77,

114, 121, 123, 125, 131,

78,

200.

Damascus-Mecca

5, 28.

French Government,

—

troops,

3.

4.

Railway,

Galilee, 117.

123.

Germans, 9. Dais, 19, 22, 24, 222. De Grave Sells, Mr., and the Gordon, General, 171. Marchesa, 57. Gray, Bishop, 33. Great Britain, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10. Deir-el-Kamar, 26, 28, 186. Pyramid, 34. Deir Koble. 157, 158, 162. Greek Orthodox Church, 167. Deraa, 123, 125, 131. Uwynne, Dr., 170. Derazi, 22, 208, 213.

—

Druze Chief,

— — — -*-

7, 8, 12, 105, 118,

Hail,

119, 128.

Education Society,

131.

144, 145. bi Amrillah, 21, 23, 224.

Hakim

Governor, 113. Sheikh, 155, 160.

Hania,

women,

Hamza,

211.

11.

22, 23, 221.

22,

251

Index Hasan,

Kaisariyeh,

18, 230.

Hasan-el- Askari, 213. Hasan-ibn-Sabah, 24,

Hasbeya, 26. Hainan, 5, 6,

25.

11, 28, 117, 119, 121, 125, 128, 208, 211. Hebrews, 117. Hedjaz, King of the, 117.

Hermon,

8,

Mt., 23.

Hindoos, 210. Hittites, 33.

Hosanna League,

44, 48, 51, 93, 107, 112,^161, 162, 169. Hosein, 18, 230. Hoskins, Dr., 198, 199. Hums, 212.

Ibn Raschid, 142, 144. Ibn Saood, 142, 143, 144. Ibrahim Pasha, 27.

Imams,

18.

Ingram,

Dr., 105, 106. Initiation, 236. Ishmael, Sons of, 145. Islam, 17, 21. Ismail, 19, 20, 220.

Ismailians, 19, 26, 207, 211,

Kerbela, 18. Khaliphate, 18. Khouri, Mr., 111.

Kitama

tribe, 20.

Kitchener, Lord, 8. Kitching, Miss, 179, 181.

Koran, 19, 141, 146. Koweit, 124, 143. Sheikh of, 144.

—

Lebanon,

3,

5,

27, 111, 153,

10, 26,

208.

— — —

Autonomy,

5.

Governor, 5, 28. Governor's Council, 60.

Mahdi,

20.

Malta 27 Maronites,

3, 4, 10, 26, 27, 46,

64, 67.

Massacres, 3, 23, Mecca, 21, 234.

27, 28.

Mediterranean Sea,

33,

77,

111.

Merry, Mr.,

Italian war,

—

109, 169.

Metawilis, 207, 215, 233.

7.

19, 211, 220.

Jaffa, 7.

Jamaica,

45, 209. Jebel Asir, 142. Jebel-el-Ala, 209.

women,

Mohammed Mohammed Moslem

"Mutual

26, 210.

Ibn Nosair, 213. Habib, 223.

'1

23, 146.

Jumbalats,

—

124, 223, 238. 3, 135.

pilgrimage, 21.

Moslems,

Moses, 223.

'1

231.

Mohammed, 17, Mohammedans,

Druze, 117. Jerusalem, 21, 135. and the East Mission, 44. Jews, 21, 124, 210. Jordan, 117. Juhhal, 207. Jebel

4,

28, 77, 87, 105,

212. Israelites, 123.

Jaafar-es-Sadik,

79.

Kamaran, 146. Kathmain, 220.

Muawiyeh, 18. Mubarek Ibn Sabah, Muhsin, 230. Mukhtara, 26, 210. Musa-el-Kathem, 19, help," 234.

144.

* 211, 220.

The Druzes

252

New

—

Testament,

—

223.

Nosairis, 11, 207, 233, 237.

213,

230,

.

women,

Lebanon and Bashan Smith, Piazzi, 34. Sir Sydney, 27.

60, 63.

Zealand, 46.

Noah,

—

of

S.P.G. Secretaries, 38. St. George, 233. George's Bay, 177.

—

Sudan, 105. '1 Gharb,

230.

Suk

68.

Og, King of Bashan, 123.

Sultan,

Omar,

Sunnis, 17, 21. Sutton, Mr. A. W., 168.

—

17, 125.

Mosque

of, 125.

Osborn, Major, 221.

Othman, 17. Ottoman authority,

5.

Syria, 10,

13, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 56, 78, 119, 124, 125, 208.

5, 29.

" Takiyah," Palestine, 105. Parfit, Canon, 112, 169.

231.

Thibet, 209.

Thompson, Mrs.

Persians, 210.

and Miss,

53.

Phinehas, 233.

Transmigration of

Prayer, 229.

Trinity, the, 238.

Turkey,

souls, 235.

7.

Resolution of the Baakleen Turkish Army, 6, 11, 12, 200. Committee, 202. General, 6, 7. Rhodes, Island of, 7. Government, 11, 118. Rodhah, 212. Turks, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 25, 27, 29,

— —

113, 123, 202.

Saint worship, 232. Salkhad, 125.

Tyre, 215.

Salman

Ubaidullah,

al Farisi, 238.

Samarra,

20.

220.

Sami Pasha,

6.

Vishnu,

Selemvah, 212.

233.

Senegal, 46, 209. Shehabs, 26. Shiahs, 17, 18.

Worsley, Mrs.,

Shimlan,

Yemen,

58, 180.

Sidon, 215.

Yezid,

ABIRDBEN

:

33, 35.

136, 137, 139.

18.

THE UNIVERSITY PRB88

MEDICAL MISSION TO THE DRUZES, BAAKLEEN, M-r. LEBANON. Patron

—

The Rt. Rev. the Lord Bishop of Durham. President

The

—

Rt. Rev. Bishop R. MacInnes, D.D.

Chairman of

the Committee

Arthur W. Sutton,

Esq.,

—

J. P.,

F.L.S.

Hon. Secretary — 43

Canon J. T. Parfit, Marmora Road, East Dulwich, S.E.

22.

The

Baakleen Medical Mission to the Druzes was started in 1883 by Miss Wordsworth Smith

Druzes in Mt. Lebanon. It is a well-organised Medical Mission with a good General Hospital, a Dispensary, and a large Mission House, all the property of the

at the central city of the

Mission.

The very

efficient doctor

was himself

a converted Druze, and there were generally four or five English ladies associated with

various branches of

work which are

him

in

the

carried

on

by the Mission.

An Endowment Fund

is

now being

raised for

the permanent maintenance of the hospital at

Baakleen, which to the

is

the only

Lebanon Druzes.

Medical Mission

will be Hon. Secretary, 43

Contributions

thankfully received by the

Marmora Road, East Dulwich, S.E.

22.

THE HOSANNA LEAGUE. Founder and Chairman of Committee—

Canon Canon

S.

Campbell,

Residentiary, St. George's, Jerusalem.

The Hosanna League

is a branch of the Jerusalem and the East Mission, founded with the approval and benediction of Bishop Blyth, for the special purpose of developing and extending educational work throughout the Bishopric of

"Jerusalem and the East

The work began

".

at Jerusalem, but

its

chief

activities rapidly

extended to the Druze villages of the Lebanon, where grants were made towards the maintenance of a large number of village schools and

where scholarships were assigned number of deserving boys in the boarding school at Ain Anub. to a

The work of Bishop

be resumed, under the guidance Maclnnes, at the first opportunity, will

and contributions

to

its

funds

will be thankfully by the Secretary, Miss Walford, 25 Sheffield Terrace, London, W. or by Canon

received

;

S.

Campbell, "Maydore," Mattock Lane, Ealing.

DS 94-

•8

Parfit, Joseph Thomas Among the Druzes of Lebanon and Bashan

D8P3

PLEASE

CARDS OR

DO NOT REMOVE

SLIPS

UNIVERSITY

FROM

THIS

OF TORONTO

POCKET

LIBRARY