The Result Was That The Investigation Had
Made No Practical Advance, And That The Modeer As Well As The
Governor Was Living Upon Terms Of Affectionate Friendship With
Mohammed Damoor And The Rest Of The Principal Spoilers.
Thus stood the chance of redress for the past, but the cause of the
agonising excitement under which the Jews of the place now laboured
was recent and justly alarming.
Mohammed Damoor had again gone
forth into the market-place, and lifted up his voice and prophesied
a second spoliation of the Israelites. This was grave matter; the
words of such a practical man as Mohammed Damoor were not to be
despised. I fear I must have smiled visibly, for I was greatly
amused and even, I think, gratified at the account of this second
prophecy. Nevertheless, my heart warmed towards the poor oppressed
Israelites, and I was flattered, too, in the point of my national
vanity at the notion of the far-reaching link by which a Jew in
Syria, who had been born on the rock of Gibraltar, was able to
claim me as his fellow-countryman. If I hesitated at all between
the "impropriety" of interfering in a matter which was no business
of mine and the "infernal shame" of refusing my aid at such a
conjecture, I soon came to a very ungentlemanly decision, namely,
that I would be guilty of the "impropriety," and not of the
"infernal shame." It seemed to me that the immediate arrest of
Mohammed Damoor was the one thing needful to the safety of the
Jews, and I felt confident (for reasons which I have already
mentioned in speaking of the Nablus affair) that I should be able
to obtain this result by making a formal application to the
Governor. I told my applicants that I would take this step on the
following morning. They were very grateful, and were, for a
moment, much pleased at the prospect of safety which might thus be
opened to them, but the deliberation of a minute entirely altered
their views, and filled them with new terror. They declared that
any attempt, or pretended attempt, on the part of the Governor to
arrest Mohammed Damoor would certainly produce an immediate
movement of the whole Mussulman population, and a consequent
massacre and robbery of the Israelites. My visitors went out, and
remained I know not how long consulting with their brethren, but
all at last agreed that their present perilous and painful position
was better than a certain and immediate attack, and that if
Mohammed Damoor was seized, their second estate would be worse than
their first. I myself did not think that this would be the case,
but I could not of course force my aid upon the people against
their will; and, moreover, the day fixed for the fulfilment of this
second prophecy was not very close at hand. A little delay,
therefore, in providing against the impending danger would not
necessarily be fatal. The men now confessed that although they had
come with so much mystery and, as they thought, at so great a risk
to ask my assistance, they were unable to suggest any mode in which
I could aid them, except indeed by mentioning their grievances to
the consul-general at Damascus.
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