Chapter XXI: Religion (2)

"On the morning of the Saturday (July 1) which witnessed the unjust sentence of exile pronounced upon Hajj Hassan, a certain Arif Effendi ibn Abd el Ghani el Nablusi was found hanging in a retired room of the Great Amáwi Mosque at Damascus, where he had been imprisoned. No inquest was held upon the body, which may or may not have shown signs of violence; it was hastily buried. Some three years before this time, Arif Effendi, a man of high family, and of excellent education, had become a Greek Christian at Athens, under the name of Eustathius. Presently he reappeared in Syria as a convert, a criminal whom every good--that is to say, bigoted--Moslem deems worthy of instant and violent death. He came to the Capital, and he introduced himself as a Christian to the Irish-American Presbyterian missionaries; to Monseigneur Yakub, the Syrian Catholic Bishop, and to others; nor did he conceal from them his personal fears. He expected momentary destruction, and presently he found it, being accused, truthfully or not I am unable to say, of stealing fourteen silver lamp-chains, and a silver padlock. The wildest rumours flew about the City. The few declared that the man had hanged himself. The Nablusi family asserted that, repenting his apostasy, he had allowed himself to be hanged, and the vulgar were taught to think that he was hanged by order of Sayyidna Yahya, our Lord John (the Baptist), whose head is supposed to be buried in the Great Mosque. It was currently reported that the renegade had been sent to the Algerine Amir, the Sayyid Abd el Kadir, who, finding him guilty of theft, had ordered him to receive forty stripes and to be arrested in the Mosque, at the same time positively refusing to sanction his execution as his accusers demanded. This proceeding, though irregular, is not contrary to Moslem law; the Ulemá claim and are allowed such jurisdiction in matters concerning the Mosque.

"I, suspecting foul play, applied on the 3rd of July for information upon this subject to the _Wali_, who rudely refused to 'justify himself.' Eight days afterwards the Governor-General thought proper to lay the case before the Tribunal. The result may easily be imagined. That honourable body cast the blame of the illegal imprisonment upon the Amir Abd el Kadir, whom they hate because he saved so many Christian lives in 1860. They delivered a verdict that the convert had been found hanged by his own hand, they antedated a medical certificate that the body bore no marks of violence, and they asserted contrary to fact and truth that the deceased was decently washed and buried, whereas he was thrust into a hole like a dog.

"And now I will answer the question prominent in every reader's mind: 'These men are Turks; are we bound to protect them?'

"I simply reply we are.

[Sidenote: _Richard quotes Mr. Gladstone._]

"It is obviously our national duty to take serious action in arresting such displays of Moslem fanaticism as those that have lately taken place in Syria. Mr. Gladstone cannot forget his own words: 'We would be sorry not to treat Turkey with the respect due to a Power which is responsible for the government of an extended territory, but with reference to many of her provinces and their general concerns, circumstances place her in such a position that we are entitled and, indeed, in many cases, bound to entertain questions affecting her internal relations to her people, such as it would be impertinent to entertain in respect to most foreign countries.... All that we can expect is that when she has contracted legal or moral engagements she should fulfil them, and that when she is under no engagements she should lend a willing ear to counsels which may be in themselves judicious, and which aim solely at the promotion of her interests.... As regards the justice of the case, we must remember that as far as regards the stipulations of the Hatti-i-Humaioun, we are not only entitled to advise Turkey in her own interest, in her regard to humanity, in her sense of justice, in her desire to be a civilized European Power, to fulfil those engagements, but we are also entitled to say to her that the fulfilment of those stipulations is a matter of moral faith, an obligation to which she is absolutely bound, and the disregard of which will entail upon her disgrace in the eyes of Europe.... We are entitled to require from Turkey the execution of her literal engagements' (Debate on Crete and Servia. Mr. Gregory's motion for correspondence and Consular Reports on the Cretan Insurrection, etc., as reported in the _Evening Mail_ of Feb. 15-18, 1867).

"These memorable words deserve quotation the more, as throughout the nearer East, especially among the Christian communities, England still suffers under the imputation of not allowing the interests of Christendom to weigh against her politics and her sympathy with the integrity of the Turkish Empire. Even if we care little for the propagation of Christianity, or for the regeneration of Asia, we are bound to see that treaties do not become waste paper.

"The first step to be taken in North Syria, and to be taken without delay, would be to procure the recall and the pardon of the twelve unfortunates who were banished in 1870 to Tripoli of Barbary, and to Murzuk in Inner Africa. This will be a delicate proceeding; imprudently carried out, it will inevitably cost the lives of men whose only offence has been that of becoming Christians, and it will only serve to sink their families into still deeper misery. But there should be no difficulty of success. Our Consul-General at Tripoli could easily defend the lives if not the liberties of the Neophytes. Her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Constantinople should be directed firmly to demand that an officer of high rank be sent from Head-quarters, and that he should be made duly responsible for landing the exiles in safety at Beyrout. Thence they should be transferred to Damascus; their pretended offences should be submitted to a regular tribunal, whose action would be watched by me or my successor, and when publicly proved to be innocent these men should be restored to the bosoms of their families, whilst the police should be especially charged with their safety.

"This step taken, the next will naturally be to urge the instant recall of the unjust _Wali_, or Governor-General, of Syria, Mohammed Rashíd Pasha, together with those members of the Secret Tribunal, more especially the Mufattish Effendi, Mahommad Izzat, who made themselves his instruments in carrying out illegal and tyrannical measures against a body of twelve innocent men. And when the head and front of the evil shall have been removed and the limbs formally impeached, a consummation devoutly to be desired, unless due prudence be exercised much evil may be the result. Rashíd Pasha has filled every important post with his familiars and creatures; he will doubtless leave directions after his departure for all manner of troubles to be excited, especially between Christians and Moslems, Greeks and Latins, in order to stifle the outcry which will rise from the length and breadth of the land. The remedy will be a High Commissioner, and a Firman from Constantinople couched in the strongest terms, and holding all Governors and Judges (_muftis_ and _kázis_) personally responsible for any disorderly proceedings. And should they not be able to keep the peace, should any threat of repeating the horrors of 1860 be heard, the nations of Europe must prepare to keep it for them.

"Thus will the unhappy province--a land once flowing with milk and honey, now steeped to the lips in poverty and crime--recover from the misery and the semi-starvation under which it has groaned during the last five years. Thus also Christianity may again raise her head in her birthplace and in the land of her early increase. Thus shall England become to Syria, and through Syria to Western Asia, the blessing which Syria in the days of the early Church was to England, to Europe, and to the civilized world. Let her discharge her obligations before her God.

"RICHARD FRANCIS BURTON."

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _Letters approving his Conduct._]

I saw at the Mission in Damascus, and obtained leave to copy, the following testimonial addressed to Richard, and his reply.--I. B.

"Damascus, July 12, 1871.

"To Captain Burton, H.B.M.'s Consul at Damascus.

"Sir,--We beg to tender to you our heartiest thanks for your prompt decisive action in the case of Hassan the converted Moslem, and also to congratulate you on the result of your determination and firmness.

"For some time past we had heard that a Moslem converted to Protestantism at Beyrout had become subject to considerable persecution. A convert more obscure than himself has been put out of the way and has not since been heard of, and Hassan had been subjected to a series of arrests and imprisonments, and had several times narrowly escaped assassination. The chief Consulates, however, had become publicly interested in him, so that his safety from legal execution seemed ensured; and as he was always accompanied by some one to protect him from assassins, he seemed for the time to be safe. But on the 29th of June we were surprised to find that he was being transported to Damascus, having been arrested and bound in chains. The English colony in Beyrout became alarmed, as they declared that none so transported to Damascus ever returned again. Two agents of the Mission were despatched from Beyrout, one preceding the prisoner to give us information as to what had taken place, and the other accompanying the prisoner to watch what became of him. On receiving intelligence of the convert's transportation to this City, the missionaries of the three Missions at Damascus resolved to lay the case before you, but on doing so found that you had with your usual energy already taken up the case, and categorically demanded the release of the prisoners. And though the authorities ignored the Firman granting civil and religious liberty to the people of this Empire, and denied your right to interfere on behalf of the prisoner, the unflinching stand you took by the concessions of the Hatti-Sheríf secured the release of the prisoner: you have thus vindicated the cause of humanity, for on the day on which the prisoner escaped through your intervention, the Moslem authorities strangled in the Great Mosque of Damascus a Moslem convert to Christianity. The man had made application to the Irish American Mission for protection, and declared that he lived in daily fear of strangulation. He was imprisoned in the Great Mosque, and strangled as they say by St. John the Baptist, and then carried away by one man and thrown into a hole like a dog.

"This accident proves that your uncompromising firmness with the authorities was an act of pure mercy, and that the worst apprehensions of the Beyrout missionaries were not unfounded. But more important still, you have asserted the binding character of the spiritual privileges of the Christian subjects of the Porte, contained in the Firman of 1856, and which, according to Fuad Pasha's letters to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, comprises 'absolutely all proselytes.'

"We are sure, Sir, that your conduct in this affair will receive the unqualified approbation of the best public opinion in Christendom, and we have no doubt it will receive, as it merits, the warm approval of your own Government.

"We who were near and anxious spectators of the proceedings in this affair cannot too warmly express our sense of the satisfaction with which we witnessed the fearless, firm, and efficient manner in which you conducted this important case until the convert was permitted to leave this city.

"(Signed) E. B. FRANKEL, Missionary of the London Jews' Society.

"JAMES ORR SCOTT, M.A., Missionary of the Irish Presbyterian Church.

"FANNY JAMES, Lady Superintendent of the British Syrian Schools, Damascus.

"WILLIAM WRIGHT, A.B., Missionary of the Irish Presbyterian Church, Damascus.

"JOHN CRAWFORD, Missionary of the United Presbyterian Church of North America at Damascus.

"ELLEN WILSON, Lady Superintendent of the British Syrian Schools, Zableh."

[Sidenote: _Richard's Answer and Remarks._]

Captain Burton's reply to the Rev. E. B. Frankel, Rev. J. Orr Scott, Miss James, Rev. W. Wright, Rev. John Crawford, Miss Wilson.

"Beludan, July 19, 1871.

"I have the pleasure to return my warmest thanks for your letter this day received, in which you have formed so flattering an estimate of my services as H.M.'s Consul for Damascus. Nor must I forget to express my gratitude to you for the cordial support and approval of my proceedings connected with your Missions which you have always extended to me. This friendly feeling has greatly helped to lighten the difficulties of the task that lay before me in 1869. You all know, and none can better know, what was to be done when I assumed charge of this Consulate; you are acquainted with the several measures taken by me, honourably I hope to our national name, and you are familiar with the obstacles thrown in my way, and with the manner in which I met them. My task will encounter difficulties for some time. Still the prospect does not deter me. I shall continue to maintain the honest independence of H.M.'s Consulate, to defend our rights as foreigners in Syria, and to claim all our privileges to the letter of the law. Should I meet--and there is no fear of its being otherwise--the approval of my Chiefs, who know that an official life of twenty-nine years in the four quarters of the world is a title to some confidence, I feel assured that we may look forward to happier times at Damascus, when peace and security shall take the place of anxiety and depression.

"Meanwhile I recommend to your prudent consideration the present state of affairs in Syria. A movement which I cannot but characterize as a Revival of Christianity, seems to have resulted from the peculiar action of the authorities, and from the spirit of inquiry awakened in the hearts of the people. It numbers its converts by thousands, including men of high rank, and it is progressing even amongst the soldiery.

"I need hardly observe that it is the duty of one and all of us to labour in the grand cause of religious toleration, and to be watchful lest local and personal interpretations are allowed to misrepresent the absolute rights of all converts to life and liberty. And I trust that you will find me, at the end as in the beginning, always ready to serve your interests, to protect your Missions and Schools, and to lend my most energetic aid to your converts.

"I am, with truth and regard, yours faithfully,

"(Signed) RICHARD BURTON,

"H.M.'s Consul, Damascus."

This was the time that Richard was nearest making a public declaration of Catholicity, but it was his "recall." I cannot tell it better than in his own words:--

"I took the part, and espoused the cause of these forty martyrs, and wrote home offering to be security for them if the Latin Patriarch Valerga might be sent down to baptize them. I promised to stand guard, and my wife would be godmother to them all. I asked her if she were afraid, and she said, 'Afraid! No, indeed, only too proud.' Lord Granville wrote to inquire into the matter, and the reply was, 'that Valerga would not come, that the matter was very much exaggerated, that there were only four hundred.' I have copies of the letter now. Then my seven enemies clubbed together, and represented most falsely that my life was in danger, that I was very unpopular with the Moslems, which only meant the corrupt Rashíd Pasha."

Lord Granville, like many another easy-going, pleasant diplomat (to please God knows who), ruined the life of the best man under his rule with the stroke of his pen. That _did_ put the whole of Syria in a blaze of revolt and indignation, and it required the utmost prudence not to put a match to it. It is a pitiful tale, and was a revolting sight to see seven jackals trying to rend an insulted and martyred lion.

One fine day a bombshell fell in the midst of our happy life. It was not _only_ the insult of the whole thing, it was the ungentlemanly way in which it was carried out from Beyrout. This was our position and the way it was done:--

We were surrounded by hundreds who seemed to be dependent upon us; by villages which, under our care, consular or maternal, seemed to be thriving, prosperous, peaceful, and secure; by friends we had made everywhere. Our lives, plans, and interests were arranged for years; we were settled down and established as securely, we thought, as any of you in your own houses at home. Our _entourage_ was a large one--dragomans, _kawwáses_, servants; our stud, various pets, and flowers; our home, and our "household gods;" our poor for thirty miles around us. And so surrounded, our only wish was to stay, perhaps for life, and do our duty both to God and our neighbour; and we were succeeding, as I mean to prove. You, through whose evil working the blow struck us on this day, examine your hearts, and ask yourselves why you did this thing, because God, who protects those who serve Him, will allow this cruel deed to follow you, and recoil upon you some day, when you least expect it. It was useless to mislead the Authorities and the public at home, by laying the blame upon the Moslems. Richard always has been a very good friend to the Moslems, and the Moslems have always liked him; but in this instance, local and individual weakness, spite and jealousy, overthrew him.

The horses were saddled at the door, in the Anti-Lebanon, and we were going for a ride, when a ragged messenger on foot stopped to drink at the spring, and advanced towards me with a note. I saw it was for Richard, and took it into the house for him. It was from the Vice-Consul of Beyrout, informing him that, by the orders of his Consul-General, he had arrived the previous day (15th of August), and had taken charge of the Damascus Consulate. The Vice-Consul was in no way to blame.[1]

Richard's journal says--

"_August_ 16_th._--All ready to start--rode in.

"_August_ 18_th._--Left Damascus for ever; started at three a.m. in the dark, with a big lantern; all my men crying; alone in _coupé_ of diligence, thanks to the pigs. Excitement of seeing all for the last time. All seemed sorry; a few groans. The sight of Bludán mountains in the distance at sunrise, where I have left my wife. _Ever again?_ Felt soft. Dismissal ignominious, at the age of fifty, without a month's notice, or wages, or character.

"The Turkish Government has boasted that it would choose its own time, when Moslems may become Christians if they wish. The time has now come."

[Sidenote: _He leaves._]

Richard and Charley Tyrwhitt-Drake were in the saddle in five minutes, and galloped into town without drawing rein. He would not let me accompany him. A mounted messenger returned on the 19th with these few written words, "Don't be frightened; I am recalled. Pay, pack, and follow at convenience." I was not frightened, but I do not like to remember what I thought or felt.

[Sidenote: _I take a Night Ride across Country._]

I could not rest on the night of the 19th; I thought I heard some one call me three successive times. I jumped up in the middle of a dark night, saddled my horse, and, though everybody said I was mad, and wanted to put me to bed, I rode a journey of nine hours across country, by the compass, as if I were riding for a doctor, over rocks and through swamps, making for the diligence halfway house. Three or four of my people were frightened, and followed me. At last I came in sight of Shtora, the diligence-station. The half-hour had expired; the travellers had eaten and taken their places, and it was just about to start; but God was good to me. Just as the coachman was about to raise his whip, he turned his head to the part of the country from whence I was coming, hot, torn, and covered with dust and mud from head to foot; but he knew me. I held up both my arms, as they do to stop a train. He saw the signal, waited, and took me in, and told the ostler to lead my dead-beat horse to the stables.[2]

I reached Beyrout twenty-four hours before the steamer sailed. When Richard had once received his recall, he never looked behind him, nor packed up anything, but went straight away. It is his rule to be ready in ten minutes to go anywhere. He was now a private individual in misfortune. I passed him in the diligence, walking alone in the town, and looking so sad and serious. Not even a _kawwás_ was sent to attend on him, to see him out with a show of honour and respect. It was a real emblem of the sick lion. But _I_ was there (thank God) in my place, and he was so surprised and glad when he saw me! I was well rewarded for my hard ride, for when he saw me his whole face was illuminated, and he said, "Thank you, _bon sang ne peut mentir_." We had twenty-four hours to take counsel and comfort together.

Everybody called upon us, and everybody regretted. The French Consul-General made us almost take up our abode with him for those twenty-four hours--our own Consul-General cut us. At four o'clock I went on board with my husband, and on return I found his faithful servant Habíb, who had also followed him, and arrived just ten minutes too late--only in time to see him steam out; he had flung himself down on the quay in a passionate flood of tears.

Any Consul, in any part of the Eastern world, with one drop of gentlemanly feeling, would have gone to meet his comrade in distress, and sent a couple of _kawwáses_ to walk before and behind him. Mr. Eldridge's action was as big a thing as if he had posted handbills all over Beyrout to announce to the world that no notice was to be taken of him. The disgrace was to himself, not to Richard.[3]

The only notice Richard took of _this_ tragedy in his life is one sentence in his journal: "After all my service, ignominiously dismissed, at fifty years of age"--and at whose instance, do you think? (1) A Pasha so corrupt that his own Government was obliged to recall him a month later, threaten him with chains, and throw him into a fortress, and his brains were blown out a short while after by a man he had oppressed. (2) His own Consul-General, whose memory is only known to his once immediate acquaintances by the careful registering of his barometers, and the amount of beer which helped that arduous task, and who exactly suited the Foreign Office by confining himself to so narrow a circle. He was fearfully jealous of his superior subordinate, and asked for his removal through Mr. Kennedy, who was not commissioned for that business. Mr. Eldridge said afterwards, "If Burton had only have walked in _my_ way, he would have lived and died here." Thirdly, an aggressive schoolmistress, who altered, or _allowed to be altered_, some words in a letter he wrote her, changing "mining" into "missionary," to be shown at Exeter Hall. Fourthly, fifthly, and sixthly, three unscrupulous Jewish usurers. Seventhly, an elastic Greek Bishop, who began a crusade against the Protestants of Nazareth, and prevented them from cultivating their land, and who had snatched away a synagogue and cemetery from British-protected Jews.

[Sidenote: _We were stoned at Nazareth._]

When we were in camp there, he caused his people, who were about a hundred and fifty against six, to pick a quarrel with our people, and they stoned us. "Stoning" in the East means a hailstorm the size of melons, which positively seems to darken the air. As an old soldier accustomed to fire, Richard stood perfectly calm, collected, and self-contained, though the stones hit him right and left, and almost broke his sword-arm; he never lost his temper, and never fired, but was simply marking the ringleaders to take them. I ran out to give him his two six-shot revolvers, but when I got within stones' reach, he made a sign to me not to embarrass his movements; so I kept near enough to drag him out if he were wounded, putting his revolvers in my belt. When three of his servants were badly hurt, and one lay for dead on the ground, he drew a pistol from a man's belt, and fired a shot in the air. That was my signal. I flew round to the other camps, and called all the English and Americans with their guns. When they saw a reinforcement of ten armed English and Americans running down upon them, the cowardly crew turned and fled. This was followed by a _procès-verbal_ between Richard and the Bishop, which Richard won.

I was left to pack, pay, and follow; so I took the night diligence back, and had, in spite of the August weather, a cold, hard seven hours over the Lebanon, for I had brought nothing with me; my clothes were dry and stiff, and I was very tired. On the road I passed our honorary dragoman, Hanna Misk. I called out to him, but I had no official position now, so he turned his head the other way, and passed me by. I sent a peasant after him, but he shook his head and rode on. "There," I said, "goes the man who has lived with us, travelled with us, and shared everything we had, and for whose rights concerning a village my husband has always contended, because his claims were just." The law of "Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!" extends, I suppose, everywhere; but probably the king's widow always feels it.[4] I wonder how old one has to grow before learning the common rules of life, instead of allowing every shock the world gives one to disturb one, as if one were newly born? It is innate in cool natures, and never learnt by the others, who take useless "headers" against the dead wall of circumstances, until they grow old and cold and selfish. Disraeli told us that "no affections and a great brain form the men that command the world; that no affections and a little brain make petty villains;" but a great brain and a great heart he has no description for. Here he stops short; but I can tell him those are the men for whom there is no place. The nineteenth century will have none of them.

Richard was a general favourite, but he was too powerful to suit the Turkish _Wali_, or Governor-General, who for once found a man he could not corrupt. To give some idea of _how_ incorruptible, he was once offered £10,000 on the table, which the man in question brought with him, to give an opinion which would have swayed a public transaction, which would have been no very great harm, but yet it would not have been quite "square" for such a man as Richard, and a promise of £10,000 when the thing was done--"for," said the man, "I can get plenty of money when I like, and this will pay me well." My husband let him finish, and then he said, "If you were a gentleman of my own standing, and an Englishman, I would just pitch you out of the window; but as you are not, you may pick up your £10,000 and you may walk down the stairs. But don't come here again, because if the thing is right, I shall do it without your paying me; and if it is not, there is not enough money in the world to buy me." He then called me, and he told me about it, and said, "This man's harem will be offering you diamonds; mind you don't take them." "There is not the slightest chance," I said; "I don't want them." Now, it is a perfect fact that, although I am a woman, jewellery is no temptation to me; I therefore take no credit to myself that I have refused enough to enable me to wear as many as any woman in London; but when they brought me horses, it was quite another sensation, and I had to screw up my courage hard--and bolt.

It is perfectly true that Richard is the only man not born a Moslem and an Oriental who, having performed the Hajj to Mecca and Medinah, could live with the Moslems in perfect friendship after. They considered him a _personâ grata_--something more civilized than the common run of Franks; they called him Haji Abdullah, and treated him as one of themselves. During Richard's time in Syria he raised the English name, which was going down rapidly, to its old prestige in the time of Sir Richard Wood and Lord Strathnairn, and the old days of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. He explored all the unknown parts of Syria, Palestine, Holy Land, Haurán, the 'Aláh and Nejd; he stood between the poor peasantry and the usurers; he advanced and protected the just claims of British subjects. When a massacre appeared imminent he kept the peace. The fanatical persecution of the Christians was stopped; he stood between them and his friends the Mohammedans; he said, "They are mine, and you must not touch them;" he saved innumerable villages from slavery. In fact, he was just the man whom Rashíd Pasha, the corrupt Turkish Governor-General, could not stand; he was an avenging angel in his way. His own Consul-General was jealous of him. The Beyrout missionaries, or _rather_ the British Syrian schools missionaries--for we were friends with several Beyrout missionaries, notably Dr. Thomson and Dr. Bliss--poisoned Exeter Hall against him, although they got more help from him than from any one, simply because neither he nor I were, what I believe the technical term is, "practical Protestants." The three foremost Jews set Sir Moses Montefiore and the illustrious Jewish families of London against him, because he could not stand by and see the poor plundered twice and thrice over, never getting a receipt for their money, never being allowed a paper to show what they had paid, till (when England is paying millions to suppress Slave-trade in various parts of the world) she was unconsciously abetting it, and aiding it, and protecting it, all over the Syrian villages, by the power of complaisant Consuls. The Greek Bishop abetted our being stoned at Nazareth, because he had advanced and protected the Protestant missionaries' just claim in his jurisdiction. These seven hornets were sufficient to kill and break the heart of St. Michael the archangel. They say three hornets kill a man, and six will kill a horse.

[Sidenote: _General Information._[5]]

I am now going to suppose that _all_ my readers are not familiar with Syria and its Cities, its native and foreign officials, or its various Religions and Races. As a wanderer in that land, now free and independent of all employments and Governments, an impartial looker-on and a student of its politics, religions, and peculiar mode of Government, I will diverge for a moment from my subject to explain a few facts.

On arriving in Syria, one lands at Beyrout, a pretty town of no very great importance to the world. It is the concentration of all that Syria knows of comfort, luxury, and pleasure. Christian and semi-civilized, it has its soldiers and policemen, its ships and sailors under the windows, its semi-European mode of living and manners, and its free communication with Europe by telegraphs and regular mails. Steamers anchor in the open roadstead (there is no harbour, pier, or landing-place, save a few broken unclean steps leading to a small, dirty custom-house quay), an occasional merchant-ship appears, and at times some wandering man-of-war. It is ruled by a Governor subject to the _Wali_, who rules Syria, being in fact Viceroy to the Sultan. This great official lives at Damascus, and visits Beyrout for sea-bathing and to make holiday. It is also the residence of the Consuls-General, who represent foreign Powers and European influence, and are very great people in their way; and also of a large European society of the middle classes. Beyrout is backed by the high range of the Lebanon, which is inhabited by Druzes and Maronites, and ruled by a separate Governor, Franco Pasha, an able officer, independent of the _Wali_. After crossing the Lebanon and descending into the plain of the Bukâa (Cœle-Syria) Civilization, Christianity, and all free communication with the outer world, are left behind; as are comforts, luxuries, and Society, whilst the traveller is completely at the mercy of Beyrout as to how much or how little he may receive of the necessary help such as man should give to his fellow-man. For safety he is self-dependent on his own personal courage and his knowledge of the East, and woe betide the hapless one who has no friend at Beyrout, or whose Consul-General may be a little sick, or selfish, or ill-tempered, or otherwise ill-disposed. He steps forth into the solemnity of Orientalism, which increases upon him during the sometimes dreary and barren seventy-two miles journey, and he finds himself in the heart of Oriental life in the City of Damascus. This Orientalism is the great charm of "the Pearl of the East." She is still pure and innocent of anything like Europeanism. However much the wanderer may dislike it at first, the life so grows upon him that, after a time, to quit it would be a wrench. But this is what makes the demi-semi-fashionable of Beyrout hate Damascus, with a spice of fear, knowing nothing of her attractions; whilst she, on her side, lazily despises the effeminate and, to her, luxurious and feeble Beyroutine. Damascus, I have said, is the heart and capital of Syria, the residence of the _Wali_ and his _entourage_, who rule Syria, who fear the strong and who oppress the weak, who persecute Christians, who starve the people, and who fill their own pockets. If his Excellency died to-morrow the voice of Syria would go up to heaven in one loud cry of execration, embodying the popular curse upon a departed tyrant's soul, "May the Lord have no mercy upon your resting-place!" Here also are the head-quarters of the Army and Police, the chief _Majlises_ or Tribunals, which represent our Courts of Law; business institutions and transactions have also their place in Damascus, and, being a "Holy City," I need not say that it is the religious _chef lieu_.

Syria has always been cursed with races, tribes, and faiths enough to split up the country, and to cause all manner of confusion. For instance, the Moslem is the national religion. There are the Moslem Sunnites, or orthodox of four schools, viz. the Hanifi, Shafí, Hanbeli, Maliki; the Shí'ah heresy, locally called Metáwali (of these most are Kurds); the Nusayri (also Shiites), but their faith is little understood. The Nowar, or Gypsies, are self-styled Mohammedans. Besides these there are Shádilis or Sházlis (Dervishes and Sufis), Persian "Babis," Chaldean Yezidis, Ismailiyehs (Shí'ahs) from different parts of the East, and Wáhhabis, who keep themselves in the background. The Bedawi, who are as the sands of the desert they inhabit, are also Moslems.

After the Moslems, but conforming with them, come the Druzes, who are divided into Akkal and Juhhal; which simply means "the wise men" and "the foolish (young) men," as the former lead a more rigid life than the latter. Their belief is more or less a mystery; for policy's sake they affect the national religion, and they will lean towards the faith of whatever person they may happen to address.

The Jews are divided into Sephardim, Askenazim, Samaritan, and Karaite.

Then we come to the Christians, who number fourteen sects--Maronite (Catholic), Greek Catholic, Greek Schismatic (styled "orthodox"), Armenian Catholic, Armenian Schismatic (styled "orthodox"), Syrian Catholic; Jacobite, which is Syrian "orthodox" or non-Catholic, Latin Catholics (like the French, etc.), a few Protestants (from the missions and schools of England, Chaldea, Prussia, and the United States, and their converts), Copts, Abyssinians, Chaldean Catholic and Chaldean Schismatics (styled "orthodox"). The Catholic rites have each a liturgy different from the Latin Catholic Mass, and said in their own language; they communicate under both kinds, but there is no heresy in their belief. A French Catholic satisfies his obligations of hearing Mass on Sunday with them, but of course he cannot receive their communion under both forms.

Nineteen Europeans reside at Damascus. This is the residence of the Consuls, whose districts extend to Baghdad on the east, and to Nablus on the south, and who have all the real work to do. Some suppose that they are subject to the Consulates-General at Beyrout, but this, though the Turks desire it, is highly unadvisable, as Damascus work requires prompt and decided action and no loss of time; moreover, any order which might apply to Beyrout would be totally inapplicable at Damascus; finally, in nine cases out of ten it would proceed from the advice of a dragoman interested in the case, his superior not knowing Arabic, or perhaps never having seen Damascus.

Upon the English Consul devolves the responsibility of the post for Baghdad, and the protection of commerce, of travellers, and of some half-dozen English residents. There are, besides the Consular corps, four missions each with its school, three European religious houses (Lazarists, Franciscans, and Sisters of Charity), an English engineer, a French sanitary officer under his own Government, and, lastly, the _employés_ of the French Road Company.

Whoever lives in Damascus must have good health and nerves, must be charmed with Oriental life, and must not care for society, comforts, or luxuries, but be totally occupied with some serious pursuit. Should he be a Consul--an old soldier is best--he must be accustomed to command a strong hand. The natives must be impressed by him, and know that, if attacked, he can fight. He must be able to ride hard and to rough it in mountain or desert, in order to attend to his own work, instead of sending a dragoman or a _kawwás_, who probably would not really go, or if he did might be bribed. He must have the honour and dignity of England truly at heart, and he should be a gentleman to understand fully what this means; not a man risen from the ranks, and liable to be "bullied or bribed." He should speak Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, as well as English, French, and Italian, so as not to take the hearsay of his dragomans. He must be able to converse freely with Arabs, Turks, Bedawi, Druzes, Kurds, Jews, Maronites, Afghans, and Persians, and understand their religious prejudices. He must have his reliable men everywhere, and know everything that goes on throughout the length and breadth of the country. He should have a thorough knowledge of Eastern character. He must keep a hospitable house. He should be cool, firm, and incorruptible. He must not be afraid to do his duty, however unpleasant and risky, and having done it, if his Chiefs do not back him up, _i.e._ his Consul-General, his Ambassador, and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Turkish local authorities know he has done his duty at his own risk; they admire and they fear the individual, but they despise his Government whilst they fawn and cringe to it. Thus the interests of England, and English pride, are trampled in the dust. Such a man is Richard, and such a man is like a loadstone to the natives. Were he in no authority the country would flock to him and obey him of their own accord from his own personal influence amongst them.

But this is exactly the man who does not suit the present _Wali_ and his creatures, upon whose misrepresentations and falsehoods the Porte has demanded his recall; it is no secret, for all Syria is ringing with it, and the _Wali_ has it proclaimed in the bazars. I may add that all Syria is looking on with anxiety and distress lest he _should_ be removed. No other class of man could hold his own against the present local Turkish authorities, and they would treat him like a kind of upper servant. If the Porte knew its own interests, it would ask to keep Richard, and discharge its own faithless _employé_. That troubles will follow his removal, I may safely prophesy; and that his successor will be insulted in the streets, and compelled by terror and sickness to run away from his post, is very possible. That is what we may come to. Let the name of England nevermore be mentioned--let her sons be incorporated with the Turkish subjects, whilst Prussians and the French keep their proper position and their national dignity.

_P. S.--A month later Mohammed Rashíd Pasha_ was _recalled, and Richard was in England._

_This, then, was the moment to press for the immediate return of the twelve unfortunates exiled to Murzuk, and to impress upon the Ottoman Authorities, who, since the death of Russia's friend, Aali Pasha, the Grand Vizier of pernicious fame, appear ready to reform a host of abuses, that the friendship of England can be secured only by scrupulous fidelity to treaties, especially to those which concern religious toleration._

AN ACCOUNT OF RICHARD BURTON BY SALIH (NOM DE PLUME OF AN ENGLISH MISSIONARY AT DAMASCUS).

[Sidenote: _Salih's Description of Richard._]

"Burton was sound at heart. The more I saw him alone the better I liked him. At Damascus he was truly 'a brave, strong man in a blatant land.' When you got down through the crusts, you found a fearless and honest friend.

"But Burton was given to pantomime. He was always saying things to frighten old women of both sexes, and to make servant-maids stare. He took great delight in shocking goody people, and in effecting his purpose he gave free rein to his imagination. People who knew Burton partially, from meeting him at public dinners or in clubs, have generally a number of gruesome stories to retail about his cruelty and immorality. They often say truly that Burton told the horrible stories against himself. I have no doubt he did, just as he represented himself in the guise of a monster to my little boy. At the same time I am certain that Burton was incapable of either monstrous cruelty or gross immorality. I go farther, and I state it as my firm conviction that Burton was constitutionally and habitually both humane and moral. I knew Burton well, in sickness, in trouble, in disappointment, in his home, in the saddle, under fire, and in the presence of almost every condition of savage life, and I have noticed that acts of cruelty and immorality always drove him into a white heat of passion. A young English lady had been treated rudely at Damascus by a Persian, and when Burton failed in securing official redress, I was in dread for months that he would with his own hand kill the ruffian if he met him. The scoundrel, however, met his fate at other hands. Shielding the weak from cruelty and protecting the poor from oppression, constituted Captain Burton's chief work at Damascus.

"Noticing the difference between Burton's real character and that for which he got credit in many quarters, I often asked him how certain specific stories had originated. It was interesting to learn how the legends had grown. Some of them had been told of old Castilian Hidalgos and 'British sea-dogs' before Burton's grandfather was born. Others were founded on facts, but they had received so many artistic touches at camp-fires and in mess-rooms that incidents innocent in themselves had grown to monstrous dimensions. From observation and much inquiry I have long come to the conclusion that the wild stories in circulation about Burton were bogeys, partly borrowed and partly invented--mere adaptations and travellers' yarns to shock and stun and create a little boisterous fun.

"The impatience with which Burton treated my servant revealed a characteristic that had much to do with his career. 'Genius is patience,' said Sir Isaac Newton. If this definition be correct, Burton must have lacked genius. 'The Prime Minister's secret is patience,' said Pitt. If Pitt be right, Burton had no chance of ever finding his way to the Premiership, for he never learned the secret. I think Burton was not without genius. He was certainly a very clever man, but he could not put up with stupidity in others. I am afraid he sometimes delighted to stick pins in Government officials who mistook the region of the world in which he was located, or who failed to apprehend the facts communicated in his last despatch. I am afraid he never got sufficiently into diplomatic training as to overlook the weakness of his immediate superiors, and hence the higher rounds of the diplomatic ladder were not to be trodden by his feet. He was shuttle-cocked about from one pestiferous region to another till at last the Foreign Office, in a lucid moment, sent the Oriental enthusiast to Damascus.

"Burton's quarrel with missionaries was also an open sore. I do not know the full merits of the original strife, but I believe it was a somewhat mixed affair. Certain benevolent gentlemen have always had a tendency to do proxy beneficence as cheaply as possible. In picking up missionaries they have sometimes been guided more by the price than the quality. Burton, it seems, came upon some of these job-lots, and found them jobbing, as was to be expected, and, with his usual impatience, 'went for them.' Then a great uproar ensued, in which the original cause was lost sight of, and Burton received the stamp of an anti-missionary Consul. The Consular dog had got a bad name, and that was enough for some.

"When it became known that Burton was destined for Damascus, there was a kind of panic among the missionaries of Syria, and active steps were taken to prevent the appointment being carried out. The Damascus missionaries held aloof from the organized opposition. The moral character of some of Burton's immediate Christian predecessors had not been of a sort to reflect much credit on Christian missionaries, or even on British subjects; and from the missionary point of view it seemed that a moral Consul who made no religious professions might, on the whole, prove as satisfactory as an immoral one who read the service to English travellers on Sundays. Besides, it was known to be the constant aim of the Damascus missionaries to steer clear of all diplomatic interference, and to keep the Consular finger out of their pie. They gave Burton a cordial welcome as their Consul, but they also gave him clearly to understand that any action of his, friendly or unfriendly, bearing on their work, would be regarded by them as an impertinent and unfriendly act.

"Burton appreciated their kindness, and frankly accepted their conditions, and missionaries and Consul maintained the most cordial relations, and it was understood that the whole missionary body at Damascus deeply regretted Burton's recall. One fact regarding this agreement may be noticed. The restless and energetic Burton maintained the compact in the spirit, but broke it in the letter. He visited all the mission schools in the most gracious manner, examined the children thoroughly, and afterwards made some valuable suggestions to the missionaries as to the perfecting of their educational organizations. He ever after spoke of the teachers and the schools with great cordiality and unstinted praise.

"The other missionaries of Syria, with solitary exceptions, maintained their attitude of hostility to Burton, and never lost an opportunity of speaking against him, and some of them not only embellished old stories to his discredit, but invented new ones, _furor ministrat arma_, to prove his deep-seated hostility to the missionary cause. Many influential travellers pass yearly through Syria, deeply interested in the splendid educational and religious efforts that are being made to elevate that land. Everywhere they heard of the anti-Christian Consul, and the constant drip made a deep impression. Almost the only honest and praiseworthy efforts being made to lift the Holy Land out of the slough of Oriental degradation stood to the credit of the missionaries, and it was intolerable that their efforts should be thwarted by a British Consul.

"Burton might, by patience and well-doing, have worn down and outlived the hostility of these missionaries, but he had the misfortune to come into sharp conflict with the Jews, and he had thus on his flank an active, persistent, and powerful enemy.

"It would be interesting to narrate how a number of Russian and other Jews at Damascus became British subjects, but the by-paths and crooked ways would be too long and intricate for our space. Burton found himself the official head and protector of a colony of British Jews. Some of these were men of great wealth and affluence, and it was well known that the official virtue of helping them was seldom left to be its own reward.

"Burton, though always posing as an Oriental, thought fit to hew Oriental prejudice against the grain. He might have seen his beautiful wife flashing in brilliants, roped in pearls, and riding the best blood Arab of the desert; but he threw away all these tokens of appreciation in obedience to an occidental prepossession in favour of common honesty.

"Burton found that his Jews were living by usury. Some of them were known to charge as little as thirty per cent., but rates ran up to sixty, or more. 'His mouth is full of water[6] and he cannot bark' is a common Arab proverb, but Burton had nothing in his mouth, and he barked ferociously. His official duty was to urge the recognition of British claims, and insist on their being paid. That was the form that 'law and order' took at Damascus. What did it matter if the people were starving! At the word of the Consul a band of Bashi-Bazouks would swoop down on the defaulting villagers, eat their food, lie in their beds, insult their wives and daughters, until the usurer was satisfied. Should the villagers be unable to pay, they were not only evicted, but driven like cattle to prison, there to rot till they had paid the uttermost farthing. Burton did not like the business. He grew fierce, declared in the strongest language at his command that he would not be 'Bumbailiff' in such transactions. I am inclined to think that in this case, as in most others, Burton's impatience led him into doing the right thing in the wrong way. He was indignant, his blood was up, and on being asked gently what was the use of a Consul at Damascus if he did not enforce British claims, he lost the composure befitting the diplomatic service.

"The storm broke. The _Alliance Israelite_ took up the case of '_poor Israel_.' Noble, and humane, and generous Jews in England ranged themselves on the side of 'their persecuted brethren.' Some of them would have been more fierce than Burton had they known the truth. Correspondence followed, and the archives of the Foreign Office now contain Burton's splendid vindications, which may some day see the light."

"THE RECALL OF CAPTAIN BURTON.

[Sidenote: _Letters showing the State of Syria after his Recall._]

"To the Editor of the _Civil Service Gazette_.

"Sir,--I have just seen some letters from Damascus, from which I learnt a few facts that may interest you with reference to the recall of Captain Burton.

"The Consulate was left in charge of Mr. Jago, who, however, was so alarmed at certain demonstrations of dissatisfaction on the part of the natives that he prudently took advantage of an opportune fever, and left the town and the Consulate to take care of itself. The English Government is, therefore, entirely unrepresented in Damascus.

"The Kurds who inhabit the suburb of Damascus, called the Salahíyyeh, say that now Captain Burton has gone, there is no one who can protect them from the extortions of the Governor-General, and have notified their intention of leaving _en masse_. As they are about ten thousand fighting men, they will not improve the pacific aspect of the country when they are let loose over it, feeling that they have no protector but their sword.

"The Mohammedans, whose 'fanatical aversion to Captain Burton' is the ostensible pretext for his recall, have been holding mass meetings, and even praying publicly in the mosques that God will send him back to them. Letters are flowing in every day from village sheikhs and Bedawin chiefs, asking that he may return to Damascus, as there is no one else to whom they can appeal for help or succour.

"So strong is the feeling, that Mrs. Burton was obliged to slip away secretly, as the people wished to retain her as a hostage in order to make sure that Captain Burton would go back to them.