Bonaparte
Dined At Nazareth, The Most Northern Point That He Reached In Syria, And
Returned The Same Day To Akka.
[P.340] After the retreat of the French from Akka, Djezzar Pasha
resolved on causing all the Christians in
His Pashalik to be massacred,
and had already sent orders to that effect to Jerusalem and Nazareth;
but Sir Sidney Smith being apprized of his intentions reproached him for
his cruelty in the severest terms, and threatened that if a single
Christian head should fall, he would bombard Akka and set it on fire.
Djezzar was thus obliged to send counter orders, but Sir Sidney’s
interference is still remembered with heartfelt gratitude by all the
Christians, who look upon him as their deliverer. “His word,” I have
often heard both Turks and Christians exclaim, “was like God’s word, it
never failed.” The same cannot be said of his antagonist at Akka, who
maliciously impressed the Christians, certainly much inclined in his
favour, with the idea of his speedy return from Egypt. On retreating
from Akka he sent word to his partizans at Szaffad and Nazareth,
exhorting them to bear up resolutely against the Turks but for three
months, when, he assured them upon his honour, and with many oaths, that
he would return with a much stronger force, and deliver them from their
oppressors.
The inhabitants of Nazareth differ somewhat in features and colour from
the northern Syrians; their physiognomy approaches that of the
Egyptians, while their dialect and pronunciation differ widely from
those of Damascus. In western Palestine, especially on the coast, the
inhabitants, seem in general, to bear more resemblance to the natives of
Egypt, than to those of northern Syria. Towards the east of Palestine,
on the contrary, especially in the villages about Nablous, Jerusalem,
and Hebron, they are evidently of the true Syrian stock, in features,
though not in language. It would be an interesting subject for an artist
to pourtray accurately the different character of features of the Syrian
nations; the Aleppine, the Turkman, the native of Mount
[p.341] Libanus, the Damascene, the inhabitant of the sea-coast from
Beirout to Akka, and the Bedouin, although all inhabiting the same
country, have distict national physiognomies, and a slight acquaintance
with them enables one to determine the native district of a Syrian, with
almost as much certainty as an Englishman may be distinguished at first
sight from an Italian or an inhabitant of the south of France.
The Christians of Nazareth enjoy great liberty. The fathers go a
shooting alone in their monastic habits to several hours distance from
the convent, without ever being insulted by the Turks. I was told that
about thirty years ago the padre guardiano of the convent was also
Sheikh or chief justice of the town, an office for which he paid a
certain yearly sum to the Pasha of Akka; the police of the place was
consequently in his hands, and when any disturbance happened, the
reverend father used to take his stick, repair to the spot, and lay
about him freely, no matter whether upon Turks or Christians.
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