They Have Felt Very Sensibly The Occupation
Of Spain By The French, And Little Has Been Received From Europe For The
Last Four Years; While The Turkish Authorities Exact The Same Yearly
Tribute And Extraordinary Contributions, As Formerly;[The Terra Santa
Pays To The Pasha Of Damascus About £12000.
A year; the Greek convent of
Jerusalem pays much more, as well to maintain its own privileges, as
with
A view to encroach upon those of the Latins.] so that if Spain be
not speedily liberated, it is to be feared that the whole establishment
of the Terra Santa must be abandoned. This would be a great calamity,
for it cannot be doubted that they have done honour to the European
[p.339] name in the Levant, and have been very beneficial to the cause
of Christianity under the actual circumstances of the East.
The friars are chiefly Spanjards; they are exasperated against France,
for pretending to protect them, without affording them the smallest
relief from the Pasha’s oppressions:[I understood from the Spanish
consul at Cairo, that when the news of the capture of Madrid, in August,
1812, reached Jerusalem, the Spanish priests celebrated a public
Te Deum, and took the oaths prescribed by the new constitution of the
Cortes.] but they are obliged to accept this protection, as the Spanish
ambassador at Constantinople is not yet acknowledged by the Porte. They
are well worth the attention of any ambassador at the Porte, whose
government is desirous of maintaining an influence in Syria, for they
command the consciences of upwards of eighty thousand souls.
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