Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-11

Terrible Civil War In Syria-Sixty Villages
In lAshes- Wholesale Bntchery Of Men,
Women and Children.
Accounts of the troubles in Syria have
already reached us, but the Beirut corre-
spondent of the Boston Traveller gives these
horrible particulars of the civil war there, in
his letter of the 9Th ult.
Syria is now the scene of one of the most
sanguinary conflicts ever enacted in this land
which has ever been the battlefield of the
old world, and Mount Lebanon is now one
vast funeral pile. uE 3l
Druses and Christians, numbering hun
dreds of thousands, are now engaged in
wholesale murder, arson and pillage, in
which iendish work they are aided by
Turks, Moslem, Arabs and the people known
as the Metawalies. asI
From my window, last week, | counted
from twenty to thirty burning villages upon
the mountain, u few miles from Beirut from
whence the flash of musketry may easily be
seen, and the volleys heard one after another
in rapid succession, as they echo through the
valleys. The dying and the dead are brought
daily into the town in large numbers, and
the widows and the orphans may be seen in
great crowds, weeping and wailing about the
Streets .H.-. ... .TUI
The barbarity of this war is truly shock
ing. Men, women and children are over
taken while fleeing for refuge and without
arms, and ruthlessly slaughtered while pray
ing for quarter.
The Christians have thus far suffered most
terribly. Their villages have been burnt,
their crops destroyed. and great numbers
| have been brutally murdered, while the
| Druses, who are better warriors and far more
courageous, are assisted by the Turks, Mos
lem and Metawalies, and up to this time
have proved successful. aI. u r'
| The bloody war which is waged on both
/ sides as q war of determination, has its Origin
/ in religious and political causes. The Chris
tisns and Druses hate each other with
deadly hatred, on account of the difference
in their religious faith-and the Christian
hate the Druses with special hatred, becaus
| the Druses are in a great many of the mount
ain Christian districts, feudal chiefs AM
i rulers over the Christian or Maronite anC
| Greek Catholic villages, The more immedi
/ ate causes of the war may be traced to tn,
bloody feuds existing between Druse anC
| Christian tribes. Last summer, at Bal
Marri, "a quarrel arose, which threatened tC
precipitate war, in which the Maronit'
| Christians were victorious, having repulset
the Druses, killing forty or more, while thei
own loss was less than one-third of tina
number. ........
Although peace was then declared, th
| Druses have since assassinated every Christian
who came in their way, with an evident de
termination to make the number of tn
Maronite loss equal to that of the DruseS
This aroused the Christians, aud so exasper
ated them that they made an attack upol
several Druse villages.
/ AT first they were successful, but relyini
upon their numbers, they neglected to ap
point leaders or to form any plan for tn
campaign; consequently, the Druses ralliet
under their warrior chiefs, and burnt ever,
Maronite or Greek Christian village withil
their reach. The provincial authorities pro
nounced the invading gparty--the Christians
to be rebels, and the Governor-General pro
:, ceeded with all available force to the mount
aims, and brought his cannon to bear upo
the Christians, checking them ut every turn
while the Druses, aided by the soldiery, car
lried on their work of pillage and murder il
manner shameful even to North Americas
Indian.
homes having been burnt, their crops de
stroyed and in some cases their familie
butchered, the Christians are rallying for tn
forlorn hope; for they feel that the Drusei
thus aided, will endeavor TO exterminat
them. This, however, will not be an eas
matter, as the Maronite Greeks and Gree
Catholics number about two hundred an
fifty thousand, and if as they hope and dali
expect, the European powers will come I
their aid, they may not only be saved, bu
greatly improve their condition, by bein
placed under the rule of European prime
who may be placed over the Government {
Syria.