No. I.
Instructions given by the Sultan to Hafiz Pacha, found at the Turkish Head-Quarters after the battle of Nizib[[135]].
Plan of march of the Army of the Sultan against
Egypt, in nine Articles.
Seeing that the Egyptian Government will never submit to its Sovereign, it is very probable that in the approaching summer it may declare and obtain its independence. As all my efforts and all my calculations have been useless, there is nothing but war which will render me master of that province, and which will unite it to the empire of the Osmanlis, and for its execution and success good dispositions must be taken.
Art. I.—For the success of this enterprise, rigorous laws must be established; in the public orders the grade of Seraskier shall be promised to all the Ferik Pachas, if they do not betray their trust or intrigue; but if they fail in their duties, they shall be immediately turned out of the service.
Art. II.—According to this plan, the army ought to consist of from 60,000 to 70,000 men, with 120 pieces of cannon, as follows: 40,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry, 5,000 artillery and engineers, and the remaining 10,000 irregular troops.
Art. III.—Wherever the enemy shall be met, he should be attacked by the artillery; it is necessary that the Commander-in-Chief should exercise the artillery daily in line of battle.
Art. IV.—To prevent the Egyptians from making a sudden attack upon Marash, it is necessary that this town be fortified and guarded by a strong body of troops. After having taken these measures, the Commander-in-Chief will march upon Aleppo, and from thence to Damascus, and then to Acre, to take possession of that fortress, and not to lose time in obtaining possession of all the said towns. After the capture of Acre, he must leave a strong body of troops in that place, and march direct upon Egypt. The taking of Acre shall be considered the first conquest of this war; this enterprise may, perhaps, be accomplished within four or five months; and if the Egyptian Government does not return under the dominion of the empire, let the Commander-in-Chief know that the war will be indefinite, and he must take measures in consequence; for the conquest of Egypt being the second achievement, four or five months will be necessary for the success of this second enterprise. According to this calculation, the important possession of Syria and Egypt will require eleven months or a year to accomplish.
Art. V.—According to the information we have, Solyman Pacha is not content with his position. A man of so much importance should be got rid of. An officer should be sent to him to endeavour by all means to gain him over to our side. Solyman Pacha being a European, one of our French officers must be sent to him to endeavour to gain him over to us.
Art. VI.—Mehemet Ali, up to the present time, has given no higher grade to Arabs than that of Captain, whilst to Christians he gives the rank of Colonel, General, and Pacha; in our camp, there are Arabs who have the rank of Pacha. Such being the case, he who deserts to us with thirty soldiers, shall receive the rank of Lieutenant; and he who deserts with from thirty to one hundred soldiers, the rank of Captain; and if a Commandant deserts with his battalion, the rank of Colonel; and those who intrigue in the Egyptian army to make the soldiers revolt, whether he be an officer or Colonel, shall obtain high grades with us. In order to put this project into execution, it is necessary to write proclamations and to scatter them in the Egyptian camp by means of spies.
Art. VII.—The Druses, the Mutualis, who are in the Egyptian army, the chiefs of tribes, and the people who are under the dominion of Mehemet Ali, should be encouraged by promises to embrace our party. Accordingly their intentions should be seconded, and they should be granted all they desire; and the better to succeed in this enterprise, it is necessary that Hafiz Pacha should have with him 7000 or 8000 purses, to distribute money where he judges it convenient and useful.
Art. VIII.—In the army of Mehemet Ali Pacha, there are a great many European employés, by means of whom all his plans and projects may be known. It is necessary, in order to be well informed, to send spies among them, in order that the success of the war, which is about to open in the approaching summer, may be ensured.
Art. IX.—In order to disembark 10,000 or 12,000 men at Tripoli, the squadron must be put in movement, and as soon as the corps d’armée shall march from Marash, it is necessary to enter into communication with the Druses, the Mutualis, and other Cabaïles. For the success of this enterprise, thirty or forty pieces of field artillery, from 10,000 to 15,000 muskets, with ammunition and materiél, must be prepared to be sent by sea on the first demand. The persons charged with this enterprise should employ all their diligence in order that these affairs may terminate as soon as possible.
No. II. See Vol. I., page [18].
Translation of a Petition (in Copy) from the Nations and Inhabitants of Mount Lebanon and Syria, to Sultan Abdul Medjid of Constantinople.
A Petition.
We humbly supplicate, at the threshold of the Divan of the Mighty Sovereign, the Benevolent and Just, the Venerated Authority and Daring Lion, the Lord of the Sword and of the Pen—(viz. of Death and Mercy)—the Shadow of God over the Earth, our Honoured Sultan, Abdul Medjid Khan, may God perpetuate the days of his flourishing reign for ever and ever, Amen.
That the frightful tyranny and the horrible oppression and cruelty under which Mehemet Ali Pacha has belaboured us—(he who pretends to be as one of your Majesty’s slaves, but who, in fact, has dared to be treacherous to your most illustrious and venerated defunct Father, of blessed memory, and whose abode now may be Paradise)—have compelled us to throw ourselves at the feet of your Imperial Throne, which is adorned with the rays of justice and mercy,—spreading our supplicating arms towards your Majesty’s paternal and sublime clemency, that you may be pleased[may be pleased] to turn your eye towards our protection and safety,—knowing as we do how vast and extensive the equity of your Majesty’s Government, which is so renowned throughout the world.—and how immense and unlimited your Majesty’s mercy and clemency; wherefore our hearts burn with the fire of the desire of attaining that happiness also, which is enjoyed by all those fortunate beings who are your subjects. What crime have we committed to cause your Majesty’s resplendent face to be turned away from us, and thereby we should be left to be thrashed under the edges of an unbearable tyranny and of an insupportable iniquity and oppression, while our fathers and forefathers, ever since a period of four hundred years, have continually enjoyed the happiness and comfort of the protection of your Majesty’s Imperial Standard? We are their sons, and prepared to follow their steps, that we may inherit the same happiness which they enjoyed for so many centuries, to the great glory of your Majesty’s Imperial Dynasty.
We therefore pray and supplicate your paternal benignity and clemency not to abandon us, and to let it be said that a vast and numerous population has been left to be immolated as a sacrifice to the selfish ambition and sordid avarice of a single man, a tyrant, totally void of feeling and humanity, who not only proved himself ungrateful to, and forgetful of, your Majesty’s great bounty to him, but dared, most perfidiously, to turn his sword towards your sacred person. Seeing ourselves thus placed in this most wretched and miserable condition, bordering on the last degree of our total ruin and annihilation, we have got up and raised your Majesty’s mighty Standard in defence of the legitimate and lawful rights of your Imperial Sovereignty over us, for which we shall continue to fight to the last breath of our existence; and therefore we trust to the Divine aid of the Almighty, and in your Majesty’s assistance, to overpower that common enemy of yours and ours, and to drive him away from your dominions.
Hence, we again supplicate and implore the Throne of your Majesty’s universal mercy and clemency, to turn your royal face towards us with your mighty aid and assistance,—especially, our said enemy having stopped all the roads against us by land and also by sea, and thereby prevents us receiving any supply of the necessary warlike stores we are in need of; and as we have no fleet to oppose his, we most earnestly entreat your Majesty to afford us the needful recourse for the opening of the roads, &c.; otherwise, we shall be, God forbid, unavoidably placed in a most distressing state, and in imminent ruin. But no, never will your Majesty’s imperial and paternal mercy and benevolence allow such a disastrous calamity to befall us! And we pray the Almighty God to preserve your sacred person, and to perpetuate the days of your glorious reign with happiness and victory.
Signed and Sealed by your Majesty’s Slaves.
| (No Date) | The Nation of Mutuali. |
| The Nation of Druse. | |
| The Christian Nation. | |
| Faris Honeish, &c., &c. |
Letter addressed by the Inhabitants of Mount Lebanon to his Excellency the British Ambassador.
After the usual Compliments,
(Translation.)
The humanity which so eminently distinguishes all the acts of the British Government,—the readiness with which it steps forward to the assistance of the oppressed,—the anxiety that it displays to make the people of the East share in the benefits enjoyed by that portion of their fellow-creatures that are blessed with happier Governments,—embolden the Syrians to appeal to England for her mediation to rescue them from the destruction with which Mehemet Ali threatens them now.
Since the invasion of Syria by Mehemet Ali, he has trampled us under foot by an oppression which knows no bounds, and by a tyranny the most atrocious and cruel.
For the last eight years, we have acceded to all his demands, and because he has left us nothing more to give him, he menaces us with extermination; nor will his unbounded rapacity be satisfied until he drinks the very blood of our children, and satiates the licentiousness of his soldiers with the honour of our families. Driven to despair, we have taken up arms for the defence of our lives, and to guard our dwellings from fire and ourselves from the sword with which he threatens to erase us from among nations.
Abandoned by the world, we implore the protection of Great Britain. In the humanity of her Government, and in the generosity of one of the greatest and most powerful nations, rest all our hopes in this cruel crisis. All that we demand is, to be allowed to return to our legitimate Sovereign Abdul Medjid,—a natural desire coming from loyal subjects. Why should two millions and a-half of His Highness’ subjects be sacrificed to the personal ambition of one man, who himself, forgetful of the benefits conferred upon him, has turned his sword against the bosom of his own Sovereign?
We have but one prayer,—we seek but to be allowed to enjoy, in common with the rest of His Highness’ subjects, the rights and privileges secured to them by the Hatti-Sheriff; and it is in this hope that we submit our petition to your Excellency, praying that you will be pleased to lay it before the “Divan” of Great Britain, the Ally of our august Master Abdul Medjid, with a request that we may be honoured with a speedy glad tidings, before we are utterly destroyed by the Governor of Egypt.
May the Almighty prolong the days of your Excellency with happiness to the end of time.
| (Signed) | (L.S.) | Prince Faris Shehab. |
| (L.S.) | Emir Haidar. | |
| (L.S.) | Sheik Faris Habeish, &c. | |
| The Maronite Nation. | ||
| The Druse Nation. | ||
| The Mutualis. |
Letter addressed by the Inhabitants of Mount Lebanon to his Excellency the French Ambassador.
(Literal Translation from the Arabic.)
After the usual Compliments,
The painful news that have reached us by the newspapers, have struck a terrible blow to Syria,—they have torn the hearts of men, women, and children, now menaced to be exterminated by Mehemet Ali, to whom France has deigned to grant her powerful protection. Can she be possibly ignorant of the evils this man has made us suffer since fortune has made him master of Syria? They are innumerable. Suffice it to say, that the most distressing vexations, and the most cruel oppression, have driven us to despair, and have renewed in us the ardent desire of returning to the paternal government of our august Sovereign, Abdul Medjid. Is not this a legitimate desire from a loyal people? France, a nation so great, so magnanimous, that has extended liberty everywhere, that has for ages spilt so much blood to establish it in her own Government, refuses us to-day her powerful influence to obtain the enjoyment of the same good!
The French press says, “that France will not admit of any arrangement that has for basis the restitution of Syria to its legitimate Sovereign.” Can it be so? the Syrians cannot believe it! The French nation, so generous, so civilized, cannot desire to see us crushed by a systematic oppression which alone distinguishes the Egyptian Government from others.
We wish but to be allowed to return to the protection of our legitimate Sovereign, whom we have not ceased to obey for the last four hundred years. We demand but to participate in the privileges and rights of the Hatti-Sheriff which our gracious Sovereign has granted to all his faithful subjects, without exception, without distinction. We appeal to the French Government—we supplicate the French nation at large, to assist us to obtain our demand. The most atrocious tyranny has compelled us to take up arms for the defence of our lives and the honour of our families, from the brutality of the Egyptian soldiery, or to bury ourselves in the ruins of our country. Our cause is a just one; and as such, we sincerely trust that the French Government will not abandon us in a moment so dangerous.
It is with this hope we submit to your Excellency this, our prayer, begging that you will be pleased to lay it at the feet of the throne of your august Master, the Ally of our gracious Sovereign, Abdul Medjid.
| (Signed) | (L.S.) | Prince Faris Shehab. | ||
| (L.S.) | Prince Yousuf Shehab. | |||
| (L.S.) | Emir Haidar, &c., &c. | |||
| The Maronite | } | |||
| The Druse | } | Nations. | ||
| The Mutuali | } | |||