The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-21 00:00:00

BEY.ROU.i.

The following letter, received yesterday morning
from Beyrout, gives some insight into the causes
which have produced the present lamentable state
of matters in the Lebanon. The writer has been
settled for the lost 20 years in the country, and is
consequently well acquainted with the va, ions
tribes which inhabit the mountain :
Shemtain, June 30, 1860.
You will, no doubt, before this can reach you,
have seen accounts of the feud which has been rag-
ing in this quarter between Druse and Christian,
and you will doubtless have seen a great many
exaggerations and misrepresentations.
I should like to give you a true statement of what
has passed, but I almost flinch from telling the truth.
The so-called Christians are so palpably in the wrong
that any one calling himself Christian, and having
any respect for the name, must feel humiliated in
making statements that, if they do not justify, must
at all events palliate the conduct of the Druses.
You will remember that last year there was a
Druse and Christian quarrel at a village called
Beyt INlary. That quarrel was settled by a compact
between the Christian Emir and the Druse chiefs to
maintain peace, the Druses paying 3400 piastres
as indemnity for Christian property destroyed.
However, as the Christians found, to their surprise,
that they had killed more Druses than were slain
of themselves, it appears that it either entered or
was put into their heads that matters were now
altered, and, as the Christians were by far the most
numerous, they could now overpower the Druses.
Be that as it may, it is now positive that a society
was formed, of which it is said that the Roman
Catholic Bishop, Tobia, and the Emir Kais Shehab
were presidents, for the very Christian purpose
of exterminating the Druses of Lebanon. An
executive committee was organised, composed of
Naum Kicano; Assad, son of Isaac Tabet; Michael
Fargialla, native merchants and bankers of
Beyrout ; and it is said that Ayoub Trabilsy, a mer-
chant of Deir-el-Kamar, was attached to them. The
duty of this committee was to furnish arms, ammu-
nition, and money to the Christian population,
which they did chiefly through the priests of the
villages, gratis, on the sole condition of fighting the
Druses ; otherwise they were t; be charged with the
value of the arms, &c. It is asserted that upwards
of 14,000 muskets and a proportionate quantity of
ammunition were in tlsis way delivered to the pea-
santry. I will not vouch for my correctness in the
names of the individuals of the committee, but they -
are
those gi-een by public report, and what seems to
confirm the report is that, with the exception of
one (M. Fargialla), they fled as soon as it was seen.
that the Druses could not be conquered so easily,
Kicano and Nacash were bankers in Beyrout--a
sort of joint-stock—and Kicano fled first, and now
his partner in the management, Nacash, has fled,
taking the books and assets of the bank, and leaving
shareholders and creditors to whistle.
But to return to my account. .As soon as the
Christian leaders thought things ready, they began
to assemble their men, and it, was evident that
mischief to the Druses -was intended. The
Druse chiefs began to 'look about them, but
being really averse to a fight, being altogether
unprepared, they did, everything in their power
to prevent it, or at least to delay it. They
wrote to the Christian Emir, pointing out the
evil that would ensue to both parties by the loss
of the silk harvest (the most important of the
country), and asserting their willingness to settle
all differencos amicably; but the Christians would
listen to nothing; they were determined ; and
the only step taken by the Turkish authorities
to prevent bloodshed and disorder was to march a
handful of men from Beyrout to the foot of the
mountains near the new Damascus•road, where
they encamped.
It appears that it was arranged by the Christians
that the first Druse places to be attacked were
Shweyfat and Aitat. The first place is the resi-
dence of the Druse Kaimaikan, and the other is the
residence of one branch of the Talhooks, whose chief
is Sheikh Hasein Talhook, the most intelligent and
knowing, perhaps, of all the Druses.
On their way to the above-named places, the
Christians had to march past the Turkish camp pre-
viously alluded to, and they positively did so within
50 paces of the regular troops, without a single
effort being made to arrest them ! The Christians
pushed en to Hadat and Babda, where they were
to be joined by the Emir Kahl Shehab and some
others. In the meantime the Druses, who are
naturally bold and high-spirited, and accustomed
to look on the Christians as no match for them in
fight, did not wait to be attacked, but made a
simultaneous rush from Aleih, Aita.t, and Ainanib,
down the Waady, and on towards Hadat and Babda.
The Christians made but a poor show of fight; the
Druses carried all before them, and destroyed by
fire Hadat and Babda. Thus the war began, and
afterwards the whole Mittu was one continued
scene of battle and burning, until the Druses were
victorious at all points, with the exception of
Zahleh and Deeir-el-Kamar.
In the meantime the wild, lawless Druses of the
Haouran were rushing to the assistance of their
brethren on the Lebanon, and, having no doubt
been informed of the avowed purpose of the
Christians to exterminate the Druses, these
Haouranese committed the most deplorable ex-
cesses on the first of the Christian populations they
met—viz., at Hasbeyah and Rasheyah. At Has-
beyah, I believe, at first they cut down Druse and
Christian indiscriminately, and, although there
were Turkish soldiers there also, they made no
effort to stop the havoc.
From these places the Haouranese continued
their march towards the plain of Bekaah, sweeping
as it were all the places in their route inhabited
by Christians, until they came opposite to Kab
Elias, when a party of them encamped, while the
rest continued their march further east, and en-
camped opposite Zahleh, on the south side of the
plain.

The Zahleh people had taken possession of Kub
Elias, but after a skirmish or two with the Druses
under the Arnads they retired to Zahleh, which
they fortified by erecting breastworks, and sallied
out occasionally to annoy the Druses. In Zahleh
were assembled nearly all the best fighting-men of
the Christians, and they, no doubt, thought them-
selves very secure, for they committed the most
revolting atrocities on two Druse women (mother
and daughter), who had been left in charge of a
Christian by a Druse, who was his partner in agri-
culture. To the honour of the Christian be it said
that he, poor fellow, did all in his power to keep
his co-religionist from their detestable conduct,
offering his all as a bribe, and supplicating them
on his knees but all to no purpose.
The attack on Zahleh was made by the Haoura-
nese from the plain, supported by the Lebanon
Druses under the Arnads, and they were kept at
bay for a good while by the Zahleh men, when a
few hundred (about 300) Druses from the Ghurb
made a rush from the heights above, got through
the breastworks or over them, and entered the
town. The retiring Haouranese, being reproached
bitterly by their chief (Ismail Attrash), and seeing
the red flag of the Druses in the town, rushed bask
furiously, and carried all before them ; and then
ensued some hand-to-hand work, but in less than
two hours Zahleh was emptied of its live male
population, and it is said that the Emir of the
Harfush family (Metawali) fell in with the fugi-
tives and cut up some of them. And the feud now
exists in the Kissrowan and .Tebail between Chris-
tian and Metawali, who are burning each other's
houses.

Nothing now opposed the Druses save Deir-el-
Kamar, in which place there were about 600 Turk-
ish soldiers. The Druses demanded of the Christians
to deliver up their arms, but the Turkish authorities
interposed, and told the Christians that if they
only trusted in the Sultan, and delivered up their
arms to the Pasha, or Mutzillin, no harm would
befall them. The Christians trusted the Turks,
and were basely betrayed. I believe it will yet be
found out that the 'Turkish soldiers slew more in
cold blood than the Druses did in their rage.
There never was such destestable conduct as the
Turks were guilty of at Deir-el-Kamar, and I be-
lieve that Kurschid Pasha is guilty of being the
deliberate destroyer of the Christians slain at Deir-
el-Kamar' and other places also. lie is an arch-
fanatic. He was sent expressly by his Govern-
ment to oppose European influence on the_ popula-
tion here, and has been undeviatingly zealous and
consistent in hatred of Frank or Christian ever
since he came to Beyrout, and it is no fault of his
and almost a miracle that the fanatics of Dam ascus
and Aleppo have not risen on the non-: whenNll eni popu-
lation, and cut them off. The Porte
Indig-
nation is roused, will in all likelihood not sustain
the acts of its creature, but the Government that
can employ such a creature for its ends, and when
they fail in their wickedness pretend ignorance, is
not fit to exist. England has before -this stood' in
the gap for the Turks. I hope the people of Eng-
land will never again permit their
.Government to
uphold the Turks. There is no truth
in the m ; they
have not, in a single instance, kept the promises
they made during the Crimean war. Whin .e is now
their Hatti-Humay
thing in oun ? There is an innate some-
them that drags them to decay. They
will never improve : it is vain to expec t it, and, if
England ever again stirs to ward off tha fate from
the Turks, after the many warnings s Eve has re-
ceived, she will, I fear, bring down the vrr ath of the
Almighty on herself. It is the duty .of every
Englishman to keep his country out of harm, as
well as it is his right and privilege to em -press his
opinions freely. If you think lam right do
what
you can to let the Turks go to the a()gs•
14_
Russia or France, or any one else, eat, '.Turkey
they please—nothing can possibly be o ro,rse than.
%Turks,