The Thistle and the Cedar of Lebanon

by Habeeb Risk Allah

So complete has been the political union of the inhabitants of the Lebanon, notwithstanding all the differences between them, that for centuries they submitted to be governed by one head. So great is the reliance to be placed upon those brave mountaineers, and so high is the general estimation of their character, that when, in the year 1821, the genius of British diplomacy and a royal administration of the navy, had cleverly contrived the famous battle of Navarino, and the European consuls and residents in Syria were obliged to fly from the wrath of the Mahommedans, who set no bounds to their hatred to the Franks, they unanimously selected the home of the Maronites as their best and safest asylum. There they remained for nearly a year and a half, protected and respected by their hospitable hosts,

and safe from the vindictive longings of the Turks, who dared not venture beyond the lowlands in pursuit of their prey.

This was perhaps the first occasion in which educated Europeans obtained a closer inspection into the customs, manners and religion of the Maronites; and it is to be regretted that none of them have given their experience to the world in a popular shape. Many still dwell with pleasure upon this remarkable era in their lives; and interesting are the tales which they tell at their own firesides, of the dangers they encountered on their road, and the life they led in the mountains. Indeed, I have heard several of the gentlemen who were among those who sought an asylum in Lebanon, declare, that with the exception of the unpleasantness of being in a measure cut off from all communication with Europe, they seldom remember to have passed a pleasanter eighteen months, invigorated by a delightful and pleasantly cool climate, in a country abounding with shooting of all kinds; while, for those who loved the study of botany, there was an inexhaustible fund of amusement and occupation. Even here, and at a time too when they were apparently menaced by surrounding dangers, the youngsters amongst the Europeans could not forget their predominant attachment to fun and mischief; and an anecdote has been frequently told of a poor old Maronite priest who prided himself extremely on the excellency of the fruits produced by the garden attached to the monastery which he inhabited, and which I believe were really of a very superior quality, and who had for many months reckoned on the autumn of 1821, as likely to prove the most prolific season he had yet known; when lo! he was surrounded by a hoard of gnats and bees in the shape of wild young Europeans, who,

despite the height of his walls, and the depth of his ditches, and the distance they had to come every night, succeeded night after night in rifling the orchard and carrying off just those fruits that were upon the very turn, and which promised to be the first fruit of the season. It is needless to say that the old priest was sadly perplexed and annoyed; the last persons in the world to be suspected were these very identical young men; first, because they lived so far off—secondly, because, in the presence of the old priest, they deported themselves with so much decorum, and attended so regularly to the Sunday service, that the old priest would as fain believe himself guilty of a felony as harbour any suspicions against the real offenders. He began to fear sadly that he must needs have some black sheep amongst his own flock; and as the depredations continued nightly, despite watching and all other precautions, he lost all patience, and after service one Sunday pronounced an anathema against those parties who had persisted in stealing his fruit if they did not immediately desist from their wicked practices. All was vain! Weeks rolled on, still the fruits were missing, and still anathemas were thundered on a Sunday from the pulpit, till the old priest in a fit of despair caused all the unripe fruit to be plucked at once, determined, as he expressed himself, at least to benefit by a few preserves and jellies, since he was not permitted to taste any of his ripe fruit, and so the affair ended for the time being. Some years after, however, when many successive rich harvests of delicious fruits had completely obliterated the misfortunes of that particular year from the old priest’s memory, he chanced to be riding through the very identical village to which his fruit had been regularly conveyed of a night, and was astonished to find growing in the wildest profusion

specimens of the apricot, peach, and nectarine, of which he had heretofore prided himself that he himself was the sole possessor. Enquiry was set on foot, and the Druse at whose house the young men had been lodging stated, that some years since, when some young Franks were occupying his house, they used to receive large baskets of fruit, which they had told him were sent to them as presents from a convent, and that the kernels and seeds of these fruits had been preserved and planted, and, with very little attention or care, had succeeded to admiration. Thus, out of evil resulted good; for if it had not been for these young thieves, the mountaineers might have been debarred from obtaining many excellent fruits, which are now growing wild upon the mountains.

The Maronites derive their name from Maroun, a holy recluse, whose good actions and moral teachings were like so many dew-drops upon the wilderness of sin and wickedness in which some of the inhabitants of the East were wandering, about the beginning of the fifth century. They were subsequently associated with the Romish Church by one John, the Maronite, who joined the Latin insurgents against the authority of the Greek Emperor. They remained subordinate to the Church of Rome during the next six hundred years, though they continued to maintain their own patriarchs. This attachment and subjection to Rome was, however, considerably diminished by the events which followed the crusades; and they for a short time maintained an independent position. Rome, however, never lost sight of its former subjects, and perpetually strove to win them back to the fold of which the Pope is the shepherd; and after forty years of negotiation and intrigue, Pope Eugenius succeeded in procuring from the Maronites a solemn renewal of their recognition of the

Papal authority. From that date they have adhered to the Romish Church, enjoying privileges which the temporising unscrupulous conclave in Rome conferred and maintained, though contrary to the laws of their Church, in order not to lose so large a body of supporters. What these privileges are, will be seen in the following account of the people and their religious practices.

The connection which exists between the Maronites and the Church of Rome is, in point of fact, maintained almost entirely by the priests, who, of course, have very good motives for their conduct. Were it not for the almost slavish subjection of the people to the priestly authority, this connection with the Church of Rome would long since have been violently shaken, if not entirely severed, for the second time.

I have said that they inhabit the mountains of Lebanon; but I ought to be more precise, and to state, that they are chiefly to be found in those parts of the mountains which are in a north-easterly direction from Beyrout. They are a most industrious, contented, happy people, whose chief occupations are confined to weaving silk, and to tilling their ground—which, in some parts, the rocks and the soil render exceedingly difficult—for cultivating their mulberry trees for silk worms, which they do with great zeal and good effect.

So thoroughly has nature fortified the district they inhabit, and so manly and courageous are they, that until the year 1843 they had never been conquered by the Mahommedans; and though they had politically agreed to the payment of an annual tribute to the Porte, they were at that period without a garrison. They have experienced great vicissitudes at different periods, but throughout their whole history, I find that each crisis