The School Of Ayn Warka Was Established Fifteen Years Since By Youssef,
The Predecessor Of The Present Bishop.
It is destined to educate sixteen
poor Maronite children, for the clerical profession; they remain here
for six or
Eight years, during which they are fed and clothed at the
expense of the convent, and are educated according to the literary taste
of the country; that is to say, in addition to their religious duties,
they are taught grammar, logic, and philosophy. The principal books of
instruction are the Belough el Arab, [Arabic], and the Behth el Mettalae
[Arabic], both composed by the bishop Djermanous [Arabic]. At present
there is only one schoolmaster, but another is shortly expected,
BEZOMMAR.
[p.186]to teach philosophy. The boys have particular hours assigned to
the different branches of their studies. I found them sitting or lying
about in the court-yard, each reading a book, and the master, in a
common peasant's dress, in the midst of them. Besides the Arabic
language they are taught to speak, write, and read the Syriac. The
principal Syriac authors, whose books are in the library, are Ibn el
Ebre [Arabic], or as the Latins call him, Berebreo, Obeyd Yeshoua
[Arabic], and Ibn el Aassal [Arabic], their works are chiefly on
divinity. The bishop is building a dormitory for the boys, in which each
of them is to have his separate room; he has also begun to take in
pupils from all parts of Syria, whose parents pay for their board and
education. The convent has considerable landed property, and its income
is increased by alms from the Catholic Syrians. The boys, on leaving the
convent, are obliged to take orders.
From Ayn Warka I ascended to the convent of Bezommar [Arabic], one hour
and a quarter distant. It belongs to the Armenian Catholics, and is the
seat of the Armenian patriarch, or spiritual head of all the Armenians
in the East who have embraced the Catholic faith. Bezommar is built upon
the highest summit of the mountain of Kesrouan, which is a lower branch
of the southern Libanus. It is the finest and the richest convent in
Kesrouan, and is at present inhabited by the old patriarch Youssef, four
bishops, twelve monks, and seventeen priests. The patriarch himself
built the convent, at an expense of upwards of fifteen thousand pounds
sterling. Its income is considerable, and is derived partly from its
great landed possessions, and partly from the benefactions of persons at
Constantinople, in Asia Minor, and in Syria. The venerable patriarch
received me in his bed, from which, I fear, he will never rise again.
The Armenian priests
STATE OF KESROUAN.
[p.187]of this convent are social and obliging, with little of the pride
and hypocrisy of the Maronites. Several of them had studied at Rome. The
convent educates an indefinite number of poor boys; at present there are
eighteen, who are destined to take orders; they are clothed and fed
gratis. Boys are sent here from all parts of the Levant. I enquired
after Armenian manuscripts, but was told that the convent possessed only
Armenian books, printed at Venice.
I left Bezommar to return to Antoura. Half an hour below Bezommar is the
convent Essharfe [Arabic], belonging to the true Syrian church. The rock
in this part is a quartzose sand-stone, of a red and gray colour. To the
left, still lower down, is the considerable village Deir Aoun [Arabic],
and above it the Maronite convent Mar Shalleitta [Arabic]. I again
passed Mar Harissa on my descent to Antoura, which is two hours and a
half distant from it.
March 17th.--The district of Kesrouan, which is about three hours and a
half in length, from N. to S. and from two to three hours in breadth
across the mountains, is exclusively inhabited by Christians: neither
Turks nor Druses reside in it. The Sheikh Beshara collects the Miri, and
a son of the Emir Beshir resides at Ghazir, to protect the country, and
take care of his father's private property in the district. The
principal and almost sole produce is silk; mulberry trees are
consequently the chief growth of the soil; wheat and barley are sown,
but not in sufficient quantity for the consumption of the people. The
quantity of silk produced annually amounts to about sixty Kantars, or
three hundred and thirty English quintals. A man's wealth is estimated
by the number of Rotolas of silk which he makes, and the annual taxes
paid to government are calculated and distributed in proportion to them.
The Miri or land-tax is taken upon the mule loads
[p.188]of mulberry leaves, eight or ten trees, in common years, yielding
one load; and as the income of the proprietors depends entirely upon the
growth of these leaves, they suffer less from a bad crop, because their
taxes are proportionally low. The extraordinary extortions of the
government, however, are excessive: the Emir often exacts five or six
Miris in the year, and one levy of money is no sooner paid, than orders
are received for a fresh one of twenty or thirty purses upon the
province. The village Sheikh fixes the contributions to be paid by each
village, taking care to appropriate a part of them to himself. Last year
many peasants were obliged to sell a part of their furniture, to defray
the taxes; it may easily be conceived therefore in what misery they
live: they eat scarcely any thing but the worst bread, and oil, or soups
made of the wild herbs, of which tyranny cannot deprive them.
Notwithstanding the wretchedness in which they are left by the
government, they have still to satisfy the greediness of their priests,
but these contributions they pay with cheerfulness. Many of the convents
indeed are too rich to require their assistance, but those which are
poor, together with all the parish priests and church officers, live
upon the people. Such is the condition of this Christian commonwealth,
which instead of deserving the envy of other Christians, living under
the Turkish yoke, is in a more wretched state than any other part of
Syria; but the predominance of their church consoles them under every
affliction, and were the Druse governor to deprive them of the last
para, they would still remain in the vicinity of their convent.
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