The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-23 00:00:00

THE 31

SYRIA.

(From the Speeial Correspondent of the Times.)
BEYROUT, AUG. 8.
On Saturday afternoon, about 6 o'clock, the first
caravan of Christians who had escaped from the
massacres in Damascus arrived in Beyrout ; and a
more heartrendingsight —one which made men weep
like women, filling them at the same time with an
almost irresistible craving for revenge—was pro-
bably never beheld. They had left Damascus on
Thursday at noon—a column composed chiefly of
women and children, and variously estimated at
from 2,000 to 3,400 souls ; for the Turkish autho-
rities had provided cattle for the conveyance of 1,500
persons, but many travelled on foot or on beasts of
burden of their own err friends. Parched with thirst,
not half fed, unwashed, with clothes unchanged for
nearly a month, choked with dust, and covered with
flies, they fled hither, under heavens glowing like
brass, from the city, which, if it be the most ancient,
will henceforth be the most infamous in the world.
They were widows and orphans whose husbands,
fathers, and brethren had all been slain before their
eyes with every indignity and cruelty the most bar-
barous fanaticism could devise, and whose most
comely maidens hnd been sold to gratify the brutal
lust of filthy Arabs. Nearly all were afflicted with
ophthalmia ; five women had died on the journey,
and one was taken in labour. Babes might be seen
striving to suck food from breasts that were dried up.
Young children were so dirty, so disfigured by sores,
on which flies settled continually, as to be loathsome
to look upon. Old men and women tottered under
doorways and sank down exhausted, heedless of the
crowd that pressed upon them, looking like so many
bundles of dirty rags, and incapable of reaching out
their hands to take the water for which they
famished, or of crawling to the shelter provided for
them by the authorities at Beyrout in three khans.
The streets leading from the Damascus road were
thronged with mules, shambling horses, and asses,
all huddled together, and rendering the condition of
the fugitives all the more painful. The muleteers
rained down blows right and left upon the cattle ;
and from the statements made of their brutality
on the journey it required no great effort to believe
that they would have beaten the " infidel dogs" com-
mitted to their keeping even more lustily, while it
was difficult to say how far the curses and execza-
tions which filled the air were confined to the ani-
mals—Low far they were intended to apply to those
of whom Moslem vengeance had been defrauded.
In the lulls between the cursings arose the piteous
cries of babes, and here and there the wailings of
women—Christian Rachels weeping for their chil-
dren, and " refusing to be comforted, because they
are not" But, generally speaking, the grief was too
deep-seated, too hopeless for lamentation. Those
who had wept the loss of their nearest and dearest
relatives had no tears left for their own sufferings,
and, although they had fled from the city of death,
they exhibited an apathy and indifference which
appeared to indicate that all which rendered life
valuable had been snatched from them, leaving
them to pursue their melancholy and dreary pil-
grimage ever accompanied by the memory of the
horrible scenes they had witnessed. The living may
be pardoned in this case for envying the peace and
• oblivion of the tomb, bloody as may have been the
path to it.
Beneath the scorching sun of Syria, after a twelve
hours' journey during the hottest part of the day,
and amid the bustling confusion of the streets, the
fugitives remained—many with a child at the breast
and two others strapped in front upon the mule—
until they could be got one by one into the khan.
Now and then might be seen groups of young
children suspended in what looked very much like
orange chests slung across a horse. These were all
that remained of a family. They have no pro-
tection, no refuge save in public charity. At last
the fugitives were got into the khan, which may
be described as a square courtyard, surrounded on
all sides by a two-storied structure, a portion of
the upper floor being carried on arcades run-
ning round the courtyard. By this means a
single line of chambers is obtained on the
ground floor, and a double line on the upper
one. Between the two lines of chambers in this last
runs a passage, into which the doors and windows
open. The chambers are about 8 feet square and 10
feet high, with a number of inmates generally ave-
raging 10. The few things saved from pillage—a
carpet, quilted coverlet, leather water-bottle, and
narghile, with, perhaps, a few articles of clothing,
are spread out, and, for the first time for weeks, the
fugitives sleep in complete security, and with a
sense of safety. But their destitution is complete.
Nothing but bread have they tasted since they fled
for safety to the castle of Damascus, now a month
ago, and even of bread they did not always get suf-
ficient to appease their hunger.
The fugitives are lodged in the three khans situ-
ated in the most crowded parts of Beyrout, which
I have visited, and in a Greek convent. One of the
khans, about 60 feet square, is beside the hotel
where I am staying. The windows of my room over-
look it, and I have only to lift my eyes from this
letter to behold the misery, destitution, and physi-
cal sufferings of upwards of 400 human beings.
Through the open windows come the cries of chil-
dren blinded by ophthalmia, teased by flies, mos-
quitoes, and vermin, and almost maddened by sun-
stroke. There come also occasionally, when food is
served out, the angry and menacing expostulations
of Turkish officials. I trust the noise has no other
cause or accompaniment.
From the statements of the fugitives, it would
appear that they numbered in the castle of Damas-
cus upwards of 12,000 persons whose relatives had
been foully murdered or whose lives were threat-
ened. Elsewhere in the city Christians were shel-
tered. The English consul—Mr. James Brant—had
his house full; and here it may not be out of place
to set those ingenious writers in the French press
right who pretend to dr?w conclusions from the
English consulate not having been burnt or the
consul assaulted. In the first place, and contrary
to the assertions of the French press, neither the
Dutch nor any other European consul was mur-
dered or wounded, and if the British consulate
was not burnt it arose from the building being
the property of a wealthy Moslem, and from its
being situate in the Moslem quarter, whereas the
other consulates are in the Christian quarter, and
also from its being next door to the great mosque,
which would have been destroyed had the British
consulate been fired. M. Outrey, the French Con-
sul, was also untiring in his efforts to relieve the
Christians, and fed several of them at the cost of
his Government ; and several Moslems proved that
they did not share the cruel fanatical spirit of their
countrymen by secreting in their houses fugitives
and their families. A native Protestant teacher
who escaped massacre in the English mission by
disguising himself as a woman, and who, while
running away, received a sword cut over the head
from an officer of the Turkish army, was met by a
Moslem, who took him, hid and fed him in his own
house for three days, until arrangements could be
made for the teacher's escape from the city. The
young man is now here ; he speaks English re-
markably well, and is, I believe, employed by
Vice-Admiral Martin. Another Moslem, on the
evidence of a European, sent large supplies of food
daily to the Christians in the castle, and what
articles of clothing he could collect, for the Govern-
ment allowance of bread was barely sufficient to
keep life in them. Even now the arrival of the
fugitives here will hardly have improved the condi-
tion of their fellow victims left behind in the castle,
fo .
r still it is so crowded and so foul as to suffice for
the "t endering of pestilence. Indeed, great appre-
hensions are entertained that. an epidemic will in-
popui
flict a het,
, aLion 'TY and desolating retribution upon the
city; for ophthalmia, fever, and
dysentery ounulet
heatatil to follow constant exposure
to the alternate
and chills of Syrian days and
nights, and the exposur
veoaoeftohweptffreoensp.ect of
e must last until the houses
so wantonly destroyed
are rebuilt. Again, food is
growing scarce and a
-ear ; it will be scarer and
dearer as the season advances
that in addition to the evils
and when the French
army arrives, so
which desolate the lant:l;reavhaz
famine to still further
had
aefr:
the populations, unless the charity
Chris-
tians comes to our help. We have
foretaste
of what may be expected from the want of proper
management and the concentration of so much

misery in Beyrout. Early, last month the few Eng-
lish and American residents here formed themselves
into an " Anglo-American Committee" for the relief
of the destitution created by the religious war, and
right nobly have they done their work, sparing
neither their time nor personal labours nor purses in
the discharge of their self. imposed duties. If the
sources of their charity are limited, if they confine
their appeals chiefly to those whose mother tongue
is English, the application of this charity is most
Catholic and in the broadest and most liberal spirit.
They have already collected from local subscribers
49,487 piastres, and spent 3,358 piastres, out of
which 4,700 piastres were handed over to the Sisters
of Charity, and the remainder expended in the pur-
chase of clothing, bedding, and in the daily supply
of food. Operations were commenced on the 16th
of July. After the first four days the average num-
' ber of persons fed was about 700, but on the 6th of
last month it rose to upwards of 1,000, and the day
before- yesterday lists of applications were received
for the daily supply of food to 3,248 individuals. In
the course of the afternoon two members of the Ame-
rican mission in Syria, the Rev. W. M. Thomson
and the Rev. J. E. Ford, distributed assistance to
nearly 4,000 people. It would be almost an imperti-
nence to speak in terms of praise of gentlemen so
well known and appreciated in Eastern Christendom
as are these members of the American mission; but
what may not be so well known is the arduous nature
of the labour they have voluntarily undertaken from
the simple desire to do good,and in illustration of the
doctrines they teach. They are the hands and eyes
and ears of the executive committee, investigating
the applications and distributing succour, in the
course of which they perform an amount of physical
labour which, taking the trying character of the
climate into consideration, would be too much for
a London drayman, and drive a fort de la Halle to
despair. The pressure upon the committee has in-
creased enormously within the last few days, aspre-
viously stated, it consequence of the return of seve-
ral native indigent families from the Kesrouan,
while the sources of relief have at the same time
diminished from the reduction, and in some cases
stoppage, of several native subscriptions. Of course,
, the committee, on which are the leading English
merchants of the town, did not attempt to supply
the full necessities of the poor, the object being,
while providing against death by famine, to provoke
the action of the local authorities and stimulate
them to the discharge of their duties. It is calcu-
lated, at a minimum, that a piastre and a half are
required daily to provide food for each head of po-
pulation. The committee give about a piastre.
Another system adopted has been to induce the
Christians to return to and remain in their vil-
lages by entering into arrangements for sup-
plying them with bread in the localities them-
selves. By this means it is hoped the Christians
will rebuild their houses and resume their laboure,.
else next year they will be worse off than they are
now. Perhaps I ought to add that of the 3,248
applicants only 80; are Protestants, and grants are
made to Maronite congregations on the certificate
of the clergy—in one case Bishop Butros—that
the applicants were needy, deserving of charity,
and that their church was unable to support or to
assist them. In connexion with this subject rather
a curious circumstance has come to light. A state-
ment has been made by some of the leading lay
members of the Greek Catholic Church in Beyrout
in which it is distinctly asserted that the clergy of
this country who may have been affected by the
late deplorable events have sustained comparatively
trifling injury, nevertheless, that there are some
among them who desire to turn to their own indi-
vidual profit the sufferings of the people by going
to Europe to collect charitable subscriptions ; and
the authors of the statement add that, " it is a fact
sufficiently well known from the antecedents of the
Greek Catholic clergy that if they superintend the
distribution of charitable succour the unfortunate
poor will not derive the slightest benefit from it."
Consequently, the laity of this sect have requested
the Anglo-American Committee to take the neces-
sary measures to prevent any such abuse of Euro-
pean charity.
Profiting by Crimean experience, it is proposed
to erect soup kitchens. Application has been made
to Vice-Admiral Martin—who has given already
40 sacks of bread, for the loan of water tanks, to be
converted into boilers, so that if we obtain the as-
sistance of the engineers to set them up we shall
soon be in working order, and able to stave off or
reduce in virulence the epidemic which the medical
officer of the Turkish Government has reported is
inevitable. I have to apologize for dwelling so
long upon this subject; but, by the public at home
more interest is taken in works of Christian charity
than in following the tortuous intrigues of Oriental
government, its falsehood, cruelty, and meanness,
or in unearthing the policy of the representatives
of civilized States. With thousands of Christians
already slain, and tens of thousands almost certainly
fated to undergo famine, pestilence, and sudden
death, it becomes a matter of very secondary im-
portance which European influence is preponderat-
ing in Syria.
Since writing the above a letter has been received
from the secretary or manager of the Ottoman Bank
in London, which for stupidity and bad taste de-
serves notice. It states that, so far as London is
concerned, the Relief Committee at Beyrout is to
be superseded by a London committee, of which
Mr. Layard is to be chairman, and the £l,OOO voted
are to be placed at the disposal of the English Con-
sul here. A grosser or more offensive insult could
not be offered to the English merchants and to the
American missionaries who have hitherto given
their time and money to the good work. The Con-
sul's diplomatic position renders him most unfit to
distribute charity; and Mr. Layard and his friends
can scarcely mean to intimate that the Anglo-
American Committee are not to be trusted with a
few pounds.
Since the despatch of my last letter I have endea-
voured to ascertain from persons of long experience
and accurate knowledge of Syria the cause of the late
outbreak, since their deliberate and matured conclu-
sion must be of greater worth than the opinion of a
recently arrived European, whose information has
been chiefly derived from reading. The task would
be easy if it had to be performed anywhere than in
the East. But we are in the land of fable. The
moment the traveller sets foot on shore he is sur-
rounded by unrealities—saving always dirt and ex-
tortion. Fiction or rather falsehood is erected into
a system, and disfigures the common occurrences of
everyday life, while incessant, continuous, and the
most glaring contradictions pass as matters of
course.

The other day I spoke with a European of liing
experience in the Lebanon. He told me that the
Druses were the aggressors, and that 'die Maronites
only required organisation to the upper hand.
The next day the same authority asserted that the
Maronites began the War, although they were too
cowardly to fight even when the advantage of num-
bers was on their side. A Turkish official of high
standing asserted that Monsignor Tobia, Bishop of
Beyrout, was devoted to France, and that he had
conspired to bring about the independence of Syria,
in proof of which two letters are said to exist.
Another official, superior to the first, informed me
that Bishop Tobia was the uncompromising enemy
of the extension of French influence, that the letters
said to exist are the forgeries of a Druse, and that
the Turkish Government had abundant proofs of
the bishop's thorough devotion to the Porte, for lie
warned the officials of the plots and intrigues against
the maintenance of the Sultan's authority in Syria.
All the Consuls and subjects of foreign Powers
are of different opinions as to the cause of hostilities
between the Druses and Maronites. Even the Turks
themselves differ, although they do not often take
the trouble to give an opinion. Then the members
of the various sects have their views. According
to one the massacres have been causecloby the in-
trigues of Russia. His neighbour tells you they
have been provoked by the proceedings of France
to assert her claim to be regarded as the protector
of Eastern churches. The Porte is accused of
having fomented the troubles to convince Europe
of the necessity of changing the status quo ; while
England is with equal bitterness held responsible,
since she is said to be opposed to any alteration of
the present state of things from a bitter jealousy of
the humanising and ideal mission of France, and
from a base desire from commercial profits. Take

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