Fear of
spirits by night, keep off marauders; and though we made free with
broken benches and fallen doorposts for fuel, we reverently
abstained from displacing anything in the establishment except a
few roses, which there was no living thing but bees and
nightingales to regret. It was one of the most striking and
interesting spots I ever witnessed: its silence and beauty, its
richness and desolation, lent to it a touching and mysterious
character, that suited well the memory of that strange hermit-lady
who has made it a place of pilgrimage, even in Palestine. {49}
The Pasha of Sidon presented Lady Hester with the deserted convent
of Mar Elias on her arrival in his country, and this she soon
converted into a fortress, garrisoned by a band of Albanians: her
only attendants besides were her doctor, her secretary, and some
female slaves. Public rumour soon busied itself with such a
personage, and exaggerated her influence and power. It is even
said that she was crowned Queen of the East at Palmyra by fifty
thousand Arabs. She certainly exercised almost despotic power in
her neighbourhood on the mountain; and what was perhaps the most
remarkable proof of her talents, she prevailed on some Jews to
advance large sums of money to her on her note of hand. She lived
for many years, beset with difficulties and anxieties, but to the
last she held on gallantly: even when confined to her bed and
dying she sought for no companionship or comfort but such as she
could find in her own powerful, though unmanageable, mind.
Mr. Moore, our consul at Beyrout, hearing she was ill, rode over
the mountains to visit her, accompanied by Mr. Thomson, the
American missionary. It was evening when they arrived, and a
profound silence was over all the palace. No one met them; they
lighted their own lamps in the outer court, and passed unquestioned
through court and gallery until they came to where SHE lay. A
corpse was the only inhabitant of the palace, and the isolation
from her kind which she had sought so long was indeed complete.
That morning thirty-seven servants had watched every motion of her
eye: its spell once darkened by death, every one fled with such
plunder as they could secure. A little girl, adopted by her and
maintained for years, took her watch and some papers on which she
had set peculiar value. Neither the child nor the property were
ever seen again. Not a single thing was left in the room where she
lay dead, except the ornaments upon her person. No one had
ventured to touch these; even in death she seemed able to protect
herself. At midnight her countryman and the missionary carried her
out by torchlight to a spot in the garden that had been formerly
her favourite resort, and here they buried the self-exiled lady. -
From "THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS," by Eliot Warburton.
Footnotes:
{1} A "compromised" person is one who has been in contact with
people or things supposed to be capable of conveying infection. As
a general rule the whole Ottoman Empire lies constantly under this
terrible ban. The "yellow flag" is the ensign of the quarantine
establishment.
{2} The narghile is a water-pipe upon the plan of the hookah, but
more gracefully fashioned; the smoke is drawn by a very long
flexible tube, that winds its snake-like way from the vase to the
lips of the beatified smoker.
{3} That is, if he stands up at all. Oriental etiquette would not
warrant his rising, unless his visitor were supposed to be at least
his equal in point of rank and station.
{4} The continual marriages of these people with the chosen
beauties of Georgia and Circassia have overpowered the original
ugliness of their Tatar ancestors.
{5} There is almost always a breeze either from the Marmora or
from the Black Sea, that passes along the course of the Bosphorus.
{6} The yashmak, you know, is not a mere semi-transparent veil,
but rather a good substantial petticoat applied to the face; it
thoroughly conceals all the features, except the eyes; the way of
withdrawing it is by pulling it down.
{7} The "pipe of tranquillity" is a tchibouque too long to be
conveniently carried on a journey; the possession of it therefore
implies that its owner is stationary, or at all events, that he is
enjoying a long repose from travel.
{8} The Jews of Smyrna are poor, and having little merchandise of
their own to dispose of, they are sadly importunate in offering
their services as intermediaries: their troublesome conduct has
led to the custom of beating them in the open streets. It is usual
for Europeans to carry long sticks with them, for the express
purpose of keeping off the chosen people. I always felt ashamed to
strike the poor fellows myself, but I confess to the amusement with
which I witnessed the observance of this custom by other people.
The Jew seldom got hurt much, for he was always expecting the blow,
and was ready to recede from it the moment it came: one could not
help being rather gratified at seeing him bound away so nimbly,
with his long robes floating out in the air, and then again wheel
round, and return with fresh importunities.
{9} Marriages in the East are arranged by professed match-makers;
many of these, I believe, are Jewesses.
{10} A Greek woman wears her whole fortune upon her person in the
shape of jewels or gold coins; I believe that this mode of
investment is adopted in great measure for safety's sake. It has
the advantage of enabling a suitor to RECKON as well as to admire
the objects of his affection.
{11} St. Nicholas is the great patron of Greek sailors.
