The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-06 00:00:00

SYRIA.

TRANSLATION OF ARABIC PETITIONS ADDRESSED BY CER•
'PAIN MARONITE SHIRKS TO THE SULTAN, FORWARDED
BY SECRET DELEGATES TO CONSTANTINOPLE, JUNE 8.
No. I.

" 17 Rebi-ul-Evel, 28 April, 1258.
" Divine Providence having confided to your Majesty the
important care of the Lebanon population—penetrated with the
most Lumane, pious, and generous sentiments, desirous to re•
store peace to the Lebanon, agitated by.intestine dissensions,
and to put a speedy stop to disorders, your Majesty conde-
scended to send Selim Bey to Beyrout, in order that he having
made himself acquainted with the wants and wishes of the po-
pulation, might refer to your Majesty, so that proper means
might be adopted to secure tranquillity and prosperity to the
mountain. _ . .

" By these benevolent dispositions, your Majesty showed that
you were disposed to accede to the Lebanon the faculty of se-
lecting its own governor.
" In conformity with the general desire expressed by the
Lebanon Christians, we candidly set forth in our supplications
to your Majesty that the Syrian Christians wished for
nothing but the return of the Sbehab family, and to be go-
verned by a Christian individual of that family, either in the
person of Emir Besehir, or of his son Emir Emin, they being
known to us as well apt and better qualified than any others to
administer the government equitably and uprightly, and to re-
store peace to the Lebanon. This we earnestly implored of
your Sovereign clemency.
" But our demands and prayers produced no effect; for-
getting your Majesty's bounty, frankness, and greatness of
soul, the Commissioners of your Court, on the contrary, have
only thought how they might best deprive us of the faculty of
freely expressing our sentiments and exposing our grievances ;
inspire terror and dismay among your subjects, betray the
Lebanon people, and prevent the truth from being made mani-
fest to your Majesty's throne.
When the Lebanon people ardently expressed their desire
to be governed by a Christian Prince of the Shehab family,
the agents of Mustafa Pacha overran the mountain in order to
obtain signatures to opposition petitions, which they procured
by bribes, promises, or force, thus deceiving your Majesty, in
order that the Lebanon Government might be confirmed to
Omer Pacha. If any one resisted these orders, and dared to
manifest a desire that a Prince of the Shehab family should be
recalled, he forthwith drew upon himself the hostility of the
Grand Seraskier's agents, and was visited with chastisement
for his audacity.
" Thus obstructed and menaced, we are compelled to declare
that our addresses to your Majesty are our free sentiments.
"In the meantime your Commissioners, all dependent on
Mustafa Pacha, forward to your Majesty new addresses, con-
trary to the wishes of the Lebanon Christians, in order, to our
great detriment, Sire, to surprise your good faith. Neverthe-
less, all oppressed as we are, we humbly dare to have recourse
to your most excellent Majesty, and to beseech you to extend
your humanity and bounty over us and the Lebanon people—
and to listen to these our just and calamitous supplications,
which of our free will we deposit at the foot of your Majesty's
throne, and not to any others that may be expedited by the
agents of Mustafa Pacha, because the signatures attached to
these latter, whether our own or those of our kindred, do not
merit consideration, these signatures having been extorted from
us by the agents of Mustafa Pacha.
(Signed by the Chiefs of the people)
Family of Emir ABOLEMEK and MURAB (27 seals).
ft GAZZENO (20 seals).
HABAISSI (17 seals).
lf DAHDAH (13 seals).
CUVI SALEH (8 seals).
No. 2.

" 25 Rebi-ul-Evel (6th May).
" Sire,—Moved by compassion at the miserable state in
which the inhabitants of the Lebanon have long fallen, your
Majesty condescendingly accorded to them the faculty of pro-
posing to the Sublime Porte the person whom they might con-
sider best qualified to govern them, and to re-establish public
peace and tranquillity in their districts.
" In virtue of this sovereign condescension we, upon the 17
of Rebi-ul-Evel, forwarded a petition to the foot of your
throne, in which it was set forth that the ouly means of re-
moving our sufferings was by restoring to the government the
old Emir Beschir, or his son, Emir Emin, they being endowed
with all necessary qualities indispensable for such a charge, and
requisite for obtaining reparation from our enemies (the
Druses ) for the losses which they have inflicted upon us, by
plundering and ruining our properties and means of existence.
" This reparation, although repeatedly demanded, has not
yet been accorded, and as regards the first demand, not only
has it been withheld, but, what is worse, the Commissioners of
your Court have adopted every possible means to frustrate onr
expectations.

:‘ In despite of your sovereign commands they have thought
proper to manufacture a petition, pretending to show that
the whole population is perfectly satisfied with the Government
of Omer Pacha; wishing for no other, and desirous to see
the Government of the Lebanon confirmed in his hands, to the
exclusion of the Shehab family. In order to obtain this, they
extracted, by means of terrorism and force, the signatures of
the principal Chiefs of the Lebanon, as representatives of the
Lebanon population.
" Another similar petition was annexed to the former, upon
the return of his Excellency Mustafa Pacha from Jerusalem.
This was effected simultaneously through the menace of the
agents of Mustafa and Omer Paellas, who thereby obtained
signatures.

Not content with this, after the arrival at Beyrout of the
Commissioner of the Porte, Selim Bey, a third petition was
got up in the name of the people, conceived in the same sense,
and adding, moreover, that should any similar petitions be pre-
sented to your Majesty, they should not be attended to, as
being opposed to truth. To this third petition were the seals
of the principal Christian chiefs of the Lebanon obtained, as
procurators and delegates of the people. Such a mode of pro-
ceeding, at once base and iniquitous, cannot fail greatly to dis-
please your Majesty, while it insults and outrages the Lebanon
people, who thus sse themselves cruelly prevented from express.
ing their true sentiments.
" In order to confirm the truth of this assertion, we have
asked those who yielded to the orders of the Commissioners,
if effectively the wish of the nation was conformable to the
petition signed by them—if they were deputed by the people,
and by what right they had signed such a petition, in the name
of the Lebanon people. There reply was, that they were not
delegated by the people to make any such demands ; that they
Lad done so through dire necessity, in compliance with thein-
timation given to them by the agents and emissaries of Mustafa
Pacha, according to a letter written by the delegates of the
people to the emirs and sheiks, who signed the aforesaid petition,
and from the answer of these princes, your Majesty will receive
the certitude that the above acts of menace and injustice have
been committed in the mountains by the agents of the Porte,
against. your most faithful subjects.
" Prostrate, therefore, at the feet. of your august throne, we
implore you, Sire, not to listen to the petitions which, through
the means of his Excellency Mustafa Pacha and his agents,
have been placed before you, but to these our fervid and anxious
players, freely made, and not extorted by violence—intreating
that you will generously condescend to nominate the Emir
Besehir, or his son Emir Emin, as our governor, for the common
good and security of the Lebanon. This being done, your
benevolent desires will be accomplished, and we shall receive
reparation for the injury inflicted upon us by our enemies.
" We place our utmost faith in your Majesty's Imperial
clemency.
" Signed and sealed by the Deputies of the Pre-
mier of Ghebail, Behan, Curia, Kesman, I'detin,
Zahli. Harbilbacan, Harbilguird, Seehan, Sehil,
Sciuf; Darul Kancar, Manasif, and Acalm—ln
all 66 seals."

THE THAMES TUNNEL.—We menlioned last week
that the atmospheric railway apparatus was likely to be laid
down in the Thames Tunnel, for the conveyance of passengers.
We have since learnt that it is proposed to apply the apparatus
to the ascent and descent, not only of passongers, but horses,
carriages, goods, See., by means of the existing passenger
shafts, so as entirely to obviate the necessity of further open-
ings, which, of necessity, must be of a very expensive character.
It is believed that the cost of the apparatus would not amount
to one-tenth part of the sum necessary to form carriage ap-
proaches, as originally intended. Sir I. Al. Brunel, the emi-
nent engineer of the Tunnel, immediately on inspecting the
railway at Wormwood Scrubbs, discovered how applicable it
would be to the extraordinary work which he has, with so
much energy and skill, brought nearly to completion.— Rail.
way Times. _ _ _

GUERNSEY, JUNE 30.—0 n Monday afternoon,
Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, Port Admiral at Ports-
mouth, arrived here from Jersey, on board the Fanny yacht,
accompanied by her Majesty's cutter Seatiower, Lieutenant
Robilliard. On Tuesday morning his Excellency Major-
General Napier went off to the Fanny to meet the gallant
Admiral. Shortly afterwards two boats left the Fanny, and
a salute, fired from Fort George, announced that Sir Edward
Codrington was coming ashore. In the first boat were Sir
Edward and General Napier; in the second, Captain Cod-
rington, R.N. (son of Sir Edward), two ladies, Harry
Dobree, sen., Esq., and his son, Lieutenant Dobree, R.N.
The party landed at the north pier, and by some singular coin-
cidence, directly under the stern of the schooner Navarino,
which coincidence must have stt uck General Napier, as we
perceived hint directing the attention of the gallant Admiral to
I the vessel's name. In the afternoon the whole party proceeded
on an excursion to Sark, in the two boats, and returned in the
evening. On Wednesday, the Lieutenant-Governor and the
Admiral made a tour of inspection round the island. This
morning (Thursday) his Excellency General Napier embarked
on board the packet for Jersey, on a visit to his Excellency
General Sir Edward Gibbs, where he will remain for a few
days. Admiral Codrington will remain here a short time longer.
EXTRAORDINARY RACE.—Yesterday morning, at
five minutes past 5 o'clock, 52 carrier pigeons belonging to dif-
ferent persons at Brussels, were let loose at Liverpool, and
started off with the swiftness of the wind, on a race to the Bel-
gian capital. They had been brought over to this place co-
vered up in a basket, for a grand trial of their swiftness and
sagacity in returning to their homes, and the winner of the race
will carry off a handsome sweepstakes. They were set at li-
berty in the neighbourhood of St. Luke's Church, and imme-
diately rose to at least double the height of its tower, rfter
which they all started off to the south-cast, the direct route to
Brussels, with incredible rapidity. When they were let loose,
the morning was bright and beautiful, but if the rain should
have been as heavy in the south-east during the day as it was
here, their flight will have been greatly impeded, and some of
them will be likely to lose their way across the channel. We
shall be curious to hear the result of this extraordinary race.
Liverpool Times, Tuesday.
ExpLosioN or A LETTER AT TILE LEEDS POST-
OFIACE.—Friday morning, as one of the clerks at the Post-
office, Leeds, was in the act of stamping a letter, some detonat-
ing powder, or other combustible material, that was inside the
letter, exploded. Though there was little or no report there
was a bright Hash of light, followed by a vapour that Inni a
strong sulphurous smell. Beyond having a small hole burnt
in it, the letter apparently received no damage. It had been
received from London by that morning's mail, and was addressed
to a lady residing near Otley.—Leeds Intelligencer.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex's vision
and general health have so much improved, that he intends to
renew his autumnal visits to his distinguished friends at their
respective seats in the ensuing autumn, including the Earl of
Scarborough, at Saul Park ; and Colonel Wildman, at New-
stead Abbey, Notts. The Royal Duke has, however, been
obliged to give up the amusement of shooting.
The Paymaster-General has received, in an anony-
mous letter from Bath, the sum of 5001., to be placed to the
credit of the public,