From delivering her into the arms of her lover, and detained her in
a mosque until the fact of her real conversion (which had been
indignantly denied by her relatives) should be established. For
two or three days the mother of the young convert was prevented
from communicating with her child by various evasive contrivances,
but not, it would seem, by a flat refusal. At length it was
announced that the young lady's profession of faith might be heard
from her own lips. At an hour appointed the friends of the Sheik
and the relatives of the damsel met in the mosque. The young
convert addressed her mother in a loud voice, and said, "God is
God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of God, and thou, oh my mother, art
an infidel, feminine dog!"
You would suppose that this declaration, so clearly enounced, and
that, too, in a place where Mahometanism is perhaps more supreme
than in any other part of the empire, would have sufficed to have
confirmed the pretensions of the lover. This, however, was not the
case. The Greek priest of the place was despatched on a mission to
the Governor of Jerusalem (Aboo Goosh), in order to complain
against the proceedings of the Sheik and obtain a restitution of
the bride. Meanwhile the Mahometan authorities at Nablus were so
conscious of having acted unlawfully in conspiring to disturb the
faith of the beautiful infidel, that they hesitated to take any
further steps, and the girl was still detained in the mosque.
Thus matters stood when the Christians of the place came and sought
to obtain my assistance.
I felt (with regret) that I had no personal interest in the matter,
and I also thought that there was no pretence for my interfering
with the conflicting claims of the Christian husband and the
Mahometan lover, and I therefore declined to take any step.
My speaking of the husband, by-the-bye, reminds me that he was
extremely backward about the great work of recovering his youthful
bride. The relations of the girl, who felt themselves disgraced by
her conduct, were vehement and excited to a high pitch, but the
Menelaus of Nablus was exceedingly calm and composed.
The fact that it was not technically my duty to interfere in a
matter of this kind was a very sufficient, and yet a very
unsatisfactory, reason for my refusal of all assistance. Until you
are placed in situations of this kind you can hardly tell how
painful it is to refrain from intermeddling in other people's
affairs - to refrain from intermeddling when you feel that you can
do so with happy effect, and can remove a load of distress by the
use of a few small phrases.
