or DRUZES, a remarkable nation in Palestine, inhabiting the environs of Mount Lebanon, of whose origin and history we have the following detail by M. Volney.

Twenty-three years after the death of Mahomet, the disputes between Ali his son-in-law and Moaouia governor of Syria, occasioned the first schism in the empire of the Arabs, and the two sects subsist to this day: but in reality, this difference related only to power; and the Mahometans, however divided in opinion respecting the rightful successor of the prophet, were agreed with respect to their dogmas. It was not until the following century that the perusal of Greek books introduced among the Arabs a spirit of discussion and controversy, to which till then they were utter strangers. The consequence was, as might be expected, by reasoning on matters not susceptible of demonstration, and guided by the abstract principles of an unintelligible logic, they divided into a multitude of sects and opinions. At this period, too, the civil power lost its authority; and religion, which from that derives the means of preserving its unity, shared the same fate, and the Mahometans now experienced what had before befallen the Christians. The nations which had received the religion of Mahomet, mixed with it their former absurd notions; and the errors which had anciently prevailed over Asia again made their appearance, though altered in their forms. The metempsychosis, the doctrine of a good and evil principle, and the renovation after fix thousand years, as it had been taught by Zoroaster, were again revived among the Mahometans. In this political and religious confusion every enthusiast became an apostle, and every apostle the head of a sect. No less than sixty of these were reckoned, remarkable for the numbers of their followers, all differing in some points of faith, and all disavowing hereby and error. Such was the state of these countries when at the commencement of the 11th century Egypt became the theatre of one of the most extravagant scenes of enthusiasm and absurdity ever recorded in history. The following account is extracted from the eastern writers.

In the year of the Hegira 386 (A.D. 996), the third caliph of the race of the Fatimites, called Hakem-b'Amr-ellah, succeeded to the throne of Egypt at the age of 11 years. He was one of the most extraordinary princes of whom history has preserved the memory. He caused the first caliphs, the companions of Mahomet, to be cursed in the mosques, and afterwards revoked the anathema: He compelled the Jews and Christians to abjure their religion, and then permitted them to resume it. He prohibited the making slippers for women, to prevent them from coming out of their houses. He burnt one half of the city of Cairo for his diversion, while his soldiers plundered the other. Not contented with these extravagant actions, he forbade the pilgrimage to Mecca, fasting, and the five prayers; and at length carried his madness so far as to desire to pass for God himself. He ordered a register of those who acknowledged him to be so, and the number amounted to sixteen thousand. This impious pretension was supported by a false prophet, who came from Persia into Egypt; which impostor, named Mohammed ben-Ismail, taught that it was not necessary to fast or pray, to practise circumcision, to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, or observe festivals; that the prohibition of pork and wine was absurd; and that marriage between brothers and sisters, fathers and children, was lawful. To ingratiate himself with Hakem, he maintained that this caliph was God himself incarnate; and instead of his name Hakem b'Amr-ellah, which signifies governing by the order of God, he called him Hakem b'Amr-ch, governing by his own order. Unluckily for the prophet, his new god had not the power to protect him from the fury of his enemies, who slew him in a tumult almost in the arms of the caliph, who was himself massacred soon after on Mount Mokattam, where he, as he said, had held conversation with angels.

The death of these two chiefs did not stop the progress of their opinions; a disciple of Mohammed-ben-Ismail, named Hamzu-ben-Almud, propagated them with an indefatigable zeal in Egypt, in Palestine, and along the coast of Syria, as far as Sidon and Berytus. His profelytes being persecuted by the sect in power, they took refuge in the mountains of Lebanon, where they were better able to defend themselves; at least it is certain, that, shortly after this era, we find them established there, and forming an independent society.

The difference of their opinions disposes them to be enemies; but the urgent interest of their common safety forces them to allow mutual toleration, and they have always appeared united, and have jointly opposed, at different times, the Crusaders, the sultans of Aleppo, the Mamelukes, and the Ottomans. The conquest of Syria by the latter made no change in their situation. Selim I. on his return from Egypt, meditating no less than the conquest of Europe, disdained to waste his time before the rocks of Lebanon. Soliman II. his successor, incessantly engaged in important wars, either with the knights of Rhodes, the Persians, the kingdom of Yemen, the Hungarians, the Germans, or the emperor Charles V., had no time to think of the Druzes. Emboldened by this inattention, and not content with their independence, they frequently descended from their mountains to pillage the Turks. The pachas in vain attempted to repel their inroads; their troops were invariably routed or repelled. And it was not till the year 1588 that Amurath III. wearied with the complaints made to him, resolved, at all events, to reduce these rebels, and had the good fortune to succeed. His general Ibrahim Pacha marched from Cairo, and attacked the Druzes and Maronites with so much adroits and vigour as to force them into their strong holds, the mountains. Dissension took place among their chiefs, of which he availed himself to exact a contribution of upward of one million of piastres, and to impose a tribute which has continued to the present time.

It appears that this expedition was the epoch of a considerable change in the constitution of the Druzes. Till then they had lived in a sort of anarchy, under the command of different sheiks or lords. The nation was likewise divided into two factions, such as is to be found in all the Arab tribes, and which are distinguished into the party Kaïfi and the party Yamani. To simplify the administration, Ibrahim permitted them only one chief, who should be responsible for the tribute, and execute the office of civil magistrate; and his governor, from the nature of his situation, acquiring great authority, became almost the king of the republic; but as he was always chosen from among the Druzes, a consequence followed which the Turks had not foreseen, and which was nearly fatal to their power. For the chief thus chosen, having at his disposal the whole strength of the nation, was able to give it unanimity and energy, and it naturally turned against the Turks; since the Druzes, by becoming their subjects, had not ceased to be their enemies. They took care, however, that their attacks should be indirect, so as to save appearances, and only engaged in secret hostilities, more dangerous, perhaps, than open war.

About this time, that is, the beginning of the 17th century, the power of the Druzes attained its greatest height; which it owed to the talents and ambition of the celebrated Fakër-el-din, commonly called Fakardin. No sooner was this prince advanced to be the chief of that people than he turned his whole attention to humble the Ottoman power, and aggrandize himself at its expence. In this enterprise he displayed an address seldom seen among the Turks. He first gained the confidence of the Porte, by every demonstration of loyalty and fidelity; and as the Arabs at that time infested the plain of Balbec and the countries of Sour and Acre, he made war upon them, freed the inhabitants from their depredations, and thus rendered them desirous of living under his government.

The city of Bairout was situated advantageously for his designs, as it opened a communication with foreign countries, and among others, with the Venetians, the natural enemies of the Turks. Fakër-el-din availed himself of the misconduct of the aga, expell ed him, seized on the city, and even had the art to make a merit of this act of hostility with the Divan, by paying a more considerable tribute. He proceeded in the same manner at Saïde, Balbec, and Sour; and at length about the year 1613, saw himself master of all the country as far as Adjaïoun and Safad. The pachas of Tripoli and Damascus could not see these encroachments with indifference; sometimes they opposed him with open force, though ineffectually, and sometimes endeavoured to ruin him at the Porte by secret insinuations; but the emir, who maintained there his spies and defenders, defeated every attempt.

At length, however, the Divan began to be alarmed at the progress of the Druses, and made preparations for an expedition capable of crushing them. Whether from policy or fear, Faker-el-din did not think proper to wait this storm. He had formed connexions in Italy, on which he built great hopes, and determined to go in person to solicit the succours they had promised him; persuaded that his presence would increase the zeal of his friends, while his absence might appease the resentment of his enemies. He therefore embarked at Bairout; and after resigning the administration to his son Ali, repaired to the court of the Medici at Florence. The arrival of an Oriental prince in Italy did not fail to attract the public attention. Inquiry was made into his nation, and the origin of the Druses became a popular topic of research. Their history and religion were found to be so little known, as to leave it a matter of doubt whether they should be classed with the Mahometans or Christians. The Crusades were called to mind; and it was soon suggested, that a people who had taken refuge in the mountains, and were enemies to the natives, could be no other than the offspring of the Crusaders.

This idle conceit was too favourable to Faker-el-din for him to endeavour to disprove it: he was artful enough, on the contrary, to pretend he was related to the house of Loraine; and the missionaries and merchants, who promised themselves a new opening for conversion and commerce, encouraged his pretensions. When an opinion is in vogue, every one discovers new proofs of its certainty. The learned in etymology, struck with the resemblance of the names, insisted, that Druses and Dreux, must be the same word; and on this foundation formed the system of a pretended colony of French Crusaders, who, under the conduct of a Comte de Dreux, had formed a settlement in Lebanon. This hypothesis, however, was completely overthrown by the remark, that the name of the Druses is to be found in the itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, who travelled before the time of the Crusades. Indeed the futility of it ought to have been sufficiently apparent at first, from the single consideration, that had they been descended from any nation of the Franks, they must have retained at least the traces of some European language; for a people, retired into a separate district, and living distinct from the natives of the country, do not lose their language. That of the Druses, however, is very pure Arabic, without a single word of European origin. The real derivation of the name of this people has been long in our possession, without our knowing it. It originates from the founder of the sect of Mohammed-ben-Ismael, who was furnamed El-Darari, and not El-Darari, as it is usually printed; the confusion of these two words, so different in our writing, arises from the figure of the two Arabic letters r and x, which have only this difference, that the x has a point over it, frequently omitted or effaced in the manuscripts.

After a stay of nine years in Italy, Faker-el-din returned to resume the government of his country. During his absence, his son Ali had repelled the Turks, appeased discontents, and maintained affairs in tolerable good order. Nothing remained for the emir, but to employ the knowledge he could not but have acquired, in perfecting the internal administration of government, and promoting the welfare of the nation; but instead of the useful and valuable arts, he wholly abandoned himself to the frivolous and expensive, for which he had imbibed a passion while in Italy. He built numerous villas, constructed baths, and planted gardens: he even preluded, without respect to the prejudices of his country, to employ the ornaments of painting and sculpture, notwithstanding these are prohibited by the Koran.

The consequences of this conduct soon manifested themselves; the Druses, who paid the same tribute as in time of war, became dissatisfied. The Yamani faction were roused; the people murmured at the expences of the prince; and the luxury he displayed renewed the jealousy of the pachas. They attempted to levy greater tribute: hostilities again commenced, and Faker-el-din repelled the forces of the pachas; who took occasion, from this resistance, to render him suspected by the sultan himself. Amurath III. incensed that one of his subjects should dare to enter into a competition with him, resolved on his destruction; and the pacha of Damascus received orders to march, with all his forces, against Bairout, the usual residence of Faker-el-din; while 40 galleys invested it by sea, and cut off all communication.

The emir, who depended on his good fortune and succours from Italy, determined at first to brave the storm. His son Ali, who commanded at Safad, was ordered to oppose the progress of the Turkish army: and in fact he bravely resisted them, notwithstanding the great disparity of his forces; but after two engagements, in which he had the advantage, being slain in a third attack, the face of affairs was greatly changed, and every thing went to ruin. Faker-el-din, terrified at the loss of his troops, afflicted at the death of his son, and enfeebled by age and a voluptuous life, lost both courage and presence of mind. He no longer saw any resource but in a peace, which he sent his second son to solicit of the Turkish admiral, whom he attempted to seduce by presents; but the admiral detaining both the presents and envoy, declared he would have the prince himself. Faker-el-din, intimidated, took flight, and was pursued by the Turks, now masters of the country. He took refuge on the steep eminence of Niha, where they besieged him ineffectually for a whole year, when they left him at liberty; but shortly after, the companions of his adversity, wearied with their sufferings, betrayed and delivered him up to the Turks. Faker-el-din, though in the hands of his enemies, conceived hopes of pardon, and suffered himself to be carried to Constantinople; where Amurath, pleased to behold at his feet a prince so celebrated, at first treated him with the benevolence which arises from the pride of superiority; but soon returning to his former jealousies, yielded to the inscriptions of his courtiers, and, in one of his violent fits of passion, ordered him to be strangled, about the year 1631.

After the death of Faker-el-din, the posterity of that prince still continued in possession of the government, though at the pleasure, and as vassals of the Turks. This family failing in the male line at the beginning of the last century, the authority devolved, by the election of the thais, on the house of Shelah, in which it still continues. The only emir of that house, whose name deserves to be preserved, is the emir Melhem, who reigned from 1740 to 1759; in which interval he retrieved the losses of the Druzes, and restored them to that consequence which they had lost by the defeat of Faker-el-din. Towards the end of his life, about the year 1754, Melhem, wearied with the cares of government, abdicated his authority, to live in religious retirement, after the manner of the Okkais; but the troubles that succeeded occasioned him once more to resume the reins of government, which he held till 1759, when he died, universally regretted.

He left three sons, minors; the eldest of whom ought, according to the custom of the country, to have succeeded him; but being only 11 years of age, the authority devolved on his uncle Manfour, agreeably to a law very general in Asia, which wills the people to be governed by a sovereign who has arrived at years of maturity. The young prince was but little fitted to maintain his pretensions; but a Maronite, named Sad-el-Kouri, to whom Melhem had entrusted his education, took this upon himself. Aspiring to see his pupil a powerful prince, that he might himself become a powerful visir, he made every exertion to advance his fortune. He first retired with him to Djebail, in the Kefraouan, where the emir Youlef possessed large domains, and there undertook to conciliate the Maronites, by embracing every opportunity to serve both individuals and the nation. The great revenues of his pupil, and the moderation of his expenditure, amply furnished him with the means. The farm of the Kefraouan was divided between several thais, with whom the Porte was not very well satisfied. Sad treated for the whole with the pacha of Tripoli, and got himself appointed sole receiver. The Motoualis of the valley of Balbec had for some years before made several encroachments on Lebanon, and the Maronites began to be alarmed at the near approach of these intolerant Mahometans. Sad purchased of the pacha of Damascus a permission to make war upon them; and in 1763 drove them out of the country. The Druzes were at that time divided into two factions: Sad united his interest with those who opposed Manfour, and secretly prepared the plot which was to raise the nephew on the ruin of the uncle.

At this period the Arab Daher, who had made himself master of Galilee, and fixed his residence at Acre, disquieted the Porte by his progress and pretensions; to oppose him, the Divan had just united the pachalics of Damascus, Saide, and Tripoli, in the hands of Osman and his children; and it was evident that an open war was not very remote. Manfour, who dreaded the Turks too much to resist them, made use of the policy usual on such occasions, pretending a zeal for their service, while he secretly favoured their enemy. This was a sufficient motive for Sad to pursue measures directly opposite. He supported the Turks against the faction of Manfour, and maneuvered with so much good fortune or address as to depose that emir in 1773, and place Youlef in his government.

In the following year Ali Bey declared war, and attacked Damascus. Youlef, called on by the Turks, took part in the quarrel, but without being able to draw the Druzes from their mountains to enter into the army of the Ottomans. Besides their natural repugnance, at all times, to make war out of their country, they were on this occasion too much divided at home to quit their habitations, and they had reason to congratulate themselves on the event. The battle of Damascus ensued; and the Turks, as we have already seen, were completely routed. The pacha of Saide escaping from this defeat, and not thinking himself in safety in that town, fought an asylum even in the house of the emir Youlef. The moment was unfavourable; but the face of affairs soon changed by the flight of Mohammed Bey. The emir, concluding that Ali Bey was dead, and not imagining that Daher was powerful enough singly to maintain the quarrel, declared openly against him. Saide was threatened with a siege, and he detached 1500 men of his faction to its defence; while himself in person, prevailing on the Druzes and Maronites to follow him, made an incursion with 25,000 peasants into the valley of Bekaa; and in the absence of the Motoualis, who had joined the army of Daher, laid the whole country waste with fire and sword from Balbec to Tyre.

While the Druzes, proud of this exploit, were marching in disorder towards the latter city, 500 Motoualis, informed of what had happened, flew from Acre, inflamed with rage and despair, and fell with such impetuosity on their army as to give them a complete overthrow. Such was the surprise and confusion of the Druzes, that imagining themselves attacked by Daher himself, and betrayed by their companions, they turned their swords on each other as they fled. The steep declivities of Djezin, and the pine woods which were in the rout of the fugitives, were strewed with dead, but few of whom perished by the hands of the Motoualis.

The emir Youlef, ashamed of this defeat, escaped to Dair-el-Kama, and shortly after attempted to take revenge; but being again defeated in the plain between Saide and Sour (Tyre), he was constrained to resign to his uncle Manfour the ring, which among the Druzes is the symbol of command. In 1773 he was restored by a new revolution; but he could not support his power but at the expense of a civil war. In order, therefore, to prevent Beirut falling into the hands of the adverse faction, he requested the assistance of the Turks, and demanded of the pacha of Damascus a man of sufficient abilities to defend that city. The choice fell on an adventurer, who from his subsequent fortune, merits to be made known.

This man, named Ahmad, was a native of Bosnia, and spoke the Slavonian as his mother tongue, as the Ragulan captains, with whom he converted in preference to those of every other nation, assert. It is said, that flying from his country at the age of 16, to escape the consequence of an attempt to violate his sister-in-law, he repaired to Constantinople, where, destitute of the means of procuring subsistence, he sold himself to the slave merchants to be conveyed to Egypt; and, on his arrival at Cairo, was purchased by Ali Bey, who placed him among his Mamelukes.

Ahmad was not long in distinguishing himself by his courage and address. His patron employed him on several occasions in dangerous coups de main, such as the assassination of such beys and cachefs as he suspected; of which commissions he acquitted himself so well as to acquire the name of Djezzar, which signifies Cut-throat. With this claim to his friendship, he enjoyed the favour of Ali until it was disturbed by an accident.

This jealous bey having proscribed one of his benefactors called Saleh Bey, commanded Djezzar to cut off his head. Either from humanity or some secret friendship for the devoted victim, Djezzar hesitated, and even remonstrated against the order. But learning the next day that Mohammed Bey had executed the commission, and that Ali had spoken of him not very favourably, he thought himself a lost man, and, to avoid the fate of Saleh Bey, escaped unobserved, and reached Constantinople. He there solicited employment suitable to his former rank; but meeting, as is usual in capitals, with a great number of rivals, he pursued another plan, and went to seek his fortune in Syria as a private soldier. Chance conducted him among the Druses, where he was hospitably entertained, even in the house of the kiaya of the emir Yousef. From thence he repaired to Damascus, where he soon obtained the title of Aga, with a command of five pair of colours, that is to say, of 50 men; and he was thus situated when fortune destined him to the government of Beirut.

Djezzar was no sooner established there than he took possession of it for the Turks. Yousef was confounded at this proceeding. He demanded justice at Damascus; but finding his complaints treated with contempt, entered into a treaty with Daher, and concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with him at Ras-el-aen, near to Sour. No sooner was Daher united with the Druses than he laid siege to Beirut by land, whilst two Russian frigates, whose service was purchased by 600 purses, cannonaded it by sea. Djezzar was compelled to submit to force, and, after a vigorous resistance, gave up the city, and surrendered himself prisoner. Shaik Daher, charmed with his courage, and flattered with the preference he had given him in the surrender, conducted him to Acre, and showed him every mark of kindness. He even ventured to trust him with a small expedition into Palestine; but Djezzar, on approaching Jerusalem, went over to the Turks, and returned to Damascus.

The war of Mohammed Bey breaking out, Djezzar offered his service to the captain pacha, and gained his confidence. He accompanied him to the siege of Acre; and that admiral having destroyed Daher, and finding no person more proper than Djezzar to accomplish the designs of the Porte in that country, named him pacha of Saide.

Being now, in consequence of this revolution, superior lord to the emir Yousef, Djezzar is mindful of injuries in proportion as he has reason to accuse himself of ingratitude. By a conduct truly Turkish, signing alternately gratitude and resentment, he is alternately on terms of dispute and reconciliation with him, continually exacting money as the price of peace, or an indemnity for war. His artifices have succeeded so well, that within the space of five years he has extorted from the emir four millions of French money (above 160,000l.); a sum the more astonishing, as the farm of the country of the Druses did not then amount to 100,000 livres (4000l.).

In 1784, he made war on him, deposed him, and bestowed the government on the emir of the country of Hafbeya, named Ismael. Yousef, having once more purchased his favour, returned towards the end of the same year to Daïr-el-Kamar, and even courted his confidence so far as to wait on him at Acre, from whence nobody expected him to return; but Djezzar is too cunning to shed blood while there are any hopes of getting money: he released the prince, and sent him back with every mark of friendship. Since that period the Porte has named him pacha of Damascus, while he also retained the sovereignty of the pachalic of Acre, and of the country of the Druses.

As to the religion of the Druses: What has been already said of the opinions of Mohammed-ben-Ismael may be regarded as the substance of it. They practise neither circumcision, nor prayers, nor fasting; they observe neither festivals nor prohibitions. They drink wine, eat pork, and allow marriage between brothers and sisters, though not between fathers and children. From this we may conclude, with reason, that the Druses have no religion; yet one class of them must be excepted, whose religious customs are very peculiar. Those who compose it are to the rest of the nation what the initiated were to the profane; they assume the name of Oikols, which means spiritualists, and below on the vulgar the epithet of Djahel, or ignorant: they have various degrees of initiation, the highest orders of which require celibacy. These are distinguishable by the white turban they affect to wear, as a symbol of their purity; and so proud are they of this supposed purity, that they think themselves purified by even touching a profane person. If you eat out of their plate, or drink out of their cup, they break them; and hence the custom, so general in this country, of using vases with a sort of cock, which may be drank out of without touching them with the lips. All their practices are enveloped in mysteries: their oratories always stand alone, and are constantly situated on eminences: in these they hold their secret assemblies, to which women are admitted. It is pretended they perform ceremonies there in presence of a small statue resembling an ox or a calf; whence some have pretended to prove that they are descended from the Samaritans. But besides that the fact is not well ascertained, the worship of the ox may be deduced from other sources.

They have one or two books which they conceal with the greatest care; but chance has deceived their jealousy; for in a civil war which happened some years ago, the emir Yousef, who is Djahel or ignorant, found one among the pillage of one of their oratories. M. Volney was assured, by persons who had read it, that it contains only a mystic jargon, the obscurity of which doubtless renders it valuable to adepts. Hakem B'amr-ellah, is there spoken of, by whom they mean God incarnated in the person of the caliph. It likewise treats of another life, of a place of punishment, and a place of happiness where the Okkals shall of course be most distinguished. Several degrees of perfection are mentioned, to which they arrive by successive trials. In other respects, these sectaries have all the insolence and all the fears of superstition: they are not communicative, because they are weak; but it is probable that, were they powerful, they would be promulgators and intolerant.

The rest of the Druses, strangers to this spirit, are wholly indifferent about religious matters. The Christians who live in their country pretend that several of them believe in the metempsychosis; that others worship the sun, moon, and stars: all which is possible; for, as among the Anfaria, every one, left to his own fancy, follows the opinion that pleases him most; and these opinions are those which present themselves most naturally to unenlightened minds. When among the Turks, they affect the exterior of Mahometans, frequent the mosques, and perform their ablutions and prayers. Among the Maronites, they accompany them to church, and, like them, make use of holy water. Many of them, imported by the missionaries, suffer themselves to be baptized; and if solicited by the Turks, receive circumcision, and conclude by dying neither Christians nor Mahometans; but they are not so indifferent in matters of civil policy.

The Druses may be divided into two classes; the common people; and the people of eminence and property, distinguished by the title of shaiks and emirs, or descendants of princes. The greater part are cultivators, either as farmers or proprietors; every man lives on his inheritance, improving his mulberry trees and vineyards: in some districts they grow tobacco, cotton, and some grain; but the quantity of these is inconsiderable. It appears that at first all the lands were, as formerly in Europe, in the hands of a small number of families. But to render them productive, the great proprietors were forced to fell part of them, and let leafes; which subdivision is become the chief source of the power of the state, by multiplying the number of persons interested in the public weal: there still exist, however, some traces of the original inequality, which even at this day produces pernicious effects. The great property possessed by some families gives them too much influence in all the measures of the nation; and their private interests have too great weight in every public transaction. Their history, for some years back, affords sufficient proofs of this; since all the civil or foreign wars in which they have been engaged have originated in the ambition and personal views of some of the principal families, such as the Lebeks, the Djamblats, the Ifmaels of Solyma, &c. The shaiks of these houses, who alone possess one tenth-part of the country, procured creatures by their money, and at last involved all the Druses in their dissensions. It must be owned, however, that possibly to this conflict between contending parties the whole nation owes the good fortune of never having been enslaved by its chief.

This chief, called Hakem or governor, also Emir or prince, is a sort of king or general, who unites in his own person the civil and military powers. His dignity is sometimes transmitted from father to son, sometimes from one brother to another; and the succession is determined rather by force than any certain laws. Females can in no case pretend to this inheritance. They are already excluded from succession in civil affairs, and consequently can still less expect it in political: in general, the Asiatic governments are too turbulent, and their administration renders military talents too necessary, to admit of the sovereignty of women. Among the Druses the male line of any family being extinguished, the government devolves to him who is in possession of the greatest number of suffrages and resources. But the first step is to obtain the approbation of the Turks, of whom he becomes the vassal and tributary. It even happens, that, not unfrequently to assert their supremacy, they name the Hakem, contrary to the wishes of the nation, as in the case of Ifmael Hafsheya, raised to that dignity by Djezzar; but this constraint lasts no longer than it is maintained by that violence which gave it birth. The office of the governor is to watch over the good order of the state, and to prevent the emirs, shaiks, and villages, from making war on each other: in case of disobedience, he may employ force. He is also at the head of the civil power, and names the cadis, only always referring to himself the power of life and death. He collects the tribute, from which he annually pays to the pacha a stated sum. This tribute varies in proportion as the nation renders itself more or less formidable: at the beginning of this century, it amounted to 160 purses, 8330l.; but Melhem forced the Turks to reduce it to 60. In 1784, Emir Yousef paid 80 and promised 90. This tribute, which is called Miri, is imposed on the mulberry trees, vineyards, cotton, and grain. All town land pays in proportion to its extent; every foot of mulberries is taxed at three medins, or three sols nine deniers (not quite twopence.) A hundred feet of vineyard pays a piaftr or 40 medins; and fresh measurements are often made to preserve a just proportion. The shaiks and emirs have no exemption in this respect; and it may be truly said they contribute to the public stock in proportion to their fortune. The collection is made almost without expense. Each man pays his contingent at Dair-el-Kamar, if he pleases, or to the collectors of the prince, who make a circuit round the country after the crop of silks. The surplus of this tribute is for the prince; so that it is his interest to reduce the demands of the Turks, as it would be likewise to augment the impost: but this measure requires the sanction of the shaiks, who have the privilege of opposing it. Their consent is necessary, likewise, for peace and war. In these cases, the emir must convene general assemblies, and lay before them the state of his affairs. There every shaik, and every peasant who has any reputation for courage or understanding, is entitled to give his suffrage; so that this government may be considered as a well-proportioned mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Every thing depends on circumstances: if the governor be a man of ability, he is absolute; rules, if weak, a cipher. This proceeds from the want of fixed laws; a want common to all Asia, and the radical cause of all the disorders in the governments of the Asiatic nations.

Neither the chief nor the individual emirs maintain troops; they have only persons attached to the domestic service of their houses, and a few black slaves. When the nation makes war, every man, whether thakir or peasant, able to bear arms, is called upon to march. He takes with him a little bag of flour, a musket, some bullets, a small quantity of powder, made in his village, and repairs to the rendezvous appointed by the governor. If it be a civil war, as sometimes happens, the servants, the farmers, and their friends, take up arms for their patron, or the chief of their family, and repair to his standard. In such cases, the parties irritated frequently seem on the point of proceeding to the last extremities; but they seldom have recourse to acts of violence, or attempt the death of each other; mediators always interpose, and the quarrel is appeased the more readily, as each patron is obliged to provide his followers with provisions and ammunition. This system, which produces happy effects in civil troubles, is attended with great inconvenience in foreign wars, as sufficiently appeared in that of 1784. Djeczaz, who knew that the whole army lived at the expense of the emir Yousef, aimed at nothing but delay, and the Druzes, who were not displeased at being fed for doing nothing, prolonged the operations; but the emir, wearied of paying, concluded a treaty, the terms of which were not a little rigorous for him, and eventually for the whole nation, since nothing is more certain than that the interests of a prince and his subjects are always inseparable.

"The ceremonies to which I have been a witness on these occasions (says M. Volney), bear a striking resemblance to the customs of ancient times. When the emir and the shaikhs had determined on war at Dair-el-Kamar, cryers in the evening ascended the summits of the mountain; and there began to cry with a loud voice: 'To war, to war; take your guns, take your pistols! noble thakirs, mount your horses; arm yourselves with the lance and sabre; rendezvous to-morrow at Dair-el-Kamar. Zeal of God! zeal of combats!' This summons, heard from the neighbouring villages, was repeated there; and as the whole country is nothing but a chain of lofty mountains and deep valleys, the proclamation passed in a few hours to the frontiers. These voices, from the stillness of the night, the long resounding echoes, and the nature of the subject, had something awful and terrible in their effect. Three days after 15,000 armed men rendezvoused at Dair-el-Kamar, and operations might have been immediately commenced.

"We may easily imagine that troops of this kind no way resemble our European soldiers; they have neither uniforms, nor discipline, nor order. They are a crowd of peasants with short coats, naked legs, and muskets in their hands; differing from the Turks and Mamelukes in that they are all foot; the shaikhs and emirs alone having horses, which are of little use from the rugged nature of the country. War there can only be a war of posts. The Druzes never risk themselves in the plain; and with reason: for they would be unable to stand the shock of cavalry, having no bayonets to their muskets. The whole art consists in climbing rocks, creeping among the bushes and blocks of stone; from whence their fire is the more dangerous, as they are covered, fire at their ease, and by hunting and military sports have acquired the habit of hitting a mark with great dexterity. They are accustomed to sudden inroads, attacks by night, ambuscades, and all those coups de main which require to fall suddenly on, and come to close fight with the enemy. Ardent in improving their success, easily dispirited, and prompt to resume their courage; daring even to temerity, and sometimes ferocious, they possess above all two qualities essential to the excellency of any troops; they strictly obey their leaders, and are endowed with a temperance and vigour of health at this day unknown to most civilized nations. In the campaign of 1784, they passed three months in the open air without tents or any other covering than a sheep skin; yet were there not more deaths or maladies than if they had remained in their houses. Their provisions consisted, at other times, of small loaves baked on the ashes or on a brick, raw onions, cheese, olives, fruits, and a little wine. The table of the chiefs was almost as frugal; and we may affirm, that they subsisted 100 days on what the same number of Englishmen or Frenchmen would not have lived ten. They have no knowledge of the science of fortification, the management of artillery, or encampments, nor, in a word, any thing which constitutes the art of war. But had they among them a few persons versed in military science, they would readily acquire its principles, and become a formidable body. This would be the more easily effected, as their mulberry plantations and vineyards do not occupy them all the year, and they could afford much time for military exercises."

By the last estimates, according to M. Volney's information, the number of men able to bear arms was 40,000, which supposes a total population of 120,000; no addition is to be made to this calculation, since there are no Druzes in the cities or on the coast. As the whole country contains only 100 square leagues, there results for every league 1000 persons; which is equal to the population of our richest provinces. To render this more remarkable, it must be observed, that the soil is not fertile, that a great many eminences remain uncultivated, that they do not grow corn enough to support themselves three months in the year, that they have no manufactures, and that all their exportations are confined to silks and cottons, the balance of which exceeds very little the importation of corn from the Hauran, the oils of Palestine, and the rice and coffee they procure from Beirut. Whence arises then such a number of inhabitants within so small a space? "I can discover no other cause (says our author), than that ray of liberty which glimmers in this country. Unlike the Turks, every man lives in a perfect security of his life and property. The peasant is not richer than in other countries; but he is free. 'He fears not,' as I have often heard them say, 'that the Aga, the Kaimakam, or the Pacha, should send their Djendis to pillage his house, carry off his family, or give him the bastinado.' Such oppressions are unknown among these mountains. Security, therefore, has been the original cause of population, from that inherent desire which all men have to multiply themselves wherever they find an easy subsistence. The frugality of the the nation, which is content with little, has been a secondary, and not less powerful reason; and a third is the emigration of a number of Christian families, who daily desert the Turkish provinces to settle in Mount Lebanon, where they are received with open arms by the Maronites from similarity of religion, and by the Druzes from principles of toleration, and a conviction how much it is the interest of every country to multiply the number of its cultivators, consumers, and allies.

"The comparison which the Druzes often have an opportunity of making between their situation and that of other subjects of the Turkish government, has given them an advantageous opinion of their superiority, which, by a natural effect, has an influence on their personal character. Exempt from the violence and insults of despotism, they consider themselves as more perfect than their neighbours, because they have the good fortune not to be equally debased. Hence they acquire a character more elevated, energetic, and active; in short, a genuine republican spirit. They are considered throughout the Levant as restless, enterprising, hardy, and brave even to temerity. Only 300 of them have been seen to enter Damascus in open day, and spread around them terror and carnage. No people are more nice than they with respect to the point of honour: any offence of that kind, or open insult, is instantly punished by blows of the kanjar or the musket; while among the inhabitants of the towns it only excites injurious retorts. This delicacy has occasioned in their manners and discourse a reserve, or, if you will, a politeness, which one is astonished to discover among peasants. It is carried even to dissimulation and falsehood, especially among the chiefs, whose greater interests demand greater attentions. Circumpection is necessary to all, from the formidable consequences of that retaliation of which I have spoken. These customs may appear barbarous to us; but they have the merit of supplying the deficiency of regular justice, which is necessarily tedious and uncertain in these disorderly and almost anarchical governments.

"The Druzes have another point of honour, that of hospitality. Whoever presents himself at their door in the quality of a suppliant or passenger, is sure of being entertained with lodging and food in the most generous and unaffected manner. M. Volney often saw the lowest peasants give the last morsel of bread they had in their houses to the hungry traveller; and when it was observed to them that they wanted prudence, their answer was, 'God is liberal and great, and all men are brethren.' There are, therefore, no inns in their country any more than in the rest of Turkey. When they have once contracted with their guest the sacred engagement of bread and salt, no subsequent event can make them violate it. Various instances of this are related, which do honour to their character. A few years ago, an aga of the janissaries having been engaged in a rebellion, fled from Damascus and retired among the Druzes. The pacha was informed of this, and demanded him of the emir, threatening to make war on him in case of refusal. The emir demanded him of the shaik Talhouk, who had received him; but the indignant shaik replied, 'When have you known the Druzes deliver up their guests? Tell the emir, that as long as Talhouk shall preserve his beard, not a hair of the head of his suppliant shall fall!' The emir threatened him with force; Talhouk armed his family. The emir, dreading a revolt, adopted a method practised as juridical in that country. He declared to the shaik, that he would cut down 50 mulberry trees a-day until he should give up the aga. He proceeded as far as a thousand, and Talhouk still remained inflexible. At length the other shaiks, enraged, took up the quarrel; and the commotion was about to become general, when the aga, reproaching himself with being the cause of so much mischief, made his escape without the knowledge even of Talhouk.

"The Druids have also the prejudices of the Bedouins respecting birth; like them, they pay great respect to the antiquity of families; but this produces no essential inconveniences. The nobility of the emirs and shaiks does not exempt them from paying tribute in proportion to their revenues. It confers on them no prerogatives, either in the attainment of landed property or public employments. In this country, no more than in all Turkey, are they acquainted with game laws, or glebes, or fighorial or ecclesiastical tithes, franc fiefs or alienation fines: every thing is held in freehold: Every man, after paying his miri and his rent, is master of his property. In short, by a particular privilege, the Druzes pay no fine for their succession; nor does the emir, like the sultan, arrogate to himself original and universal property: there exists, nevertheless, in the law of inheritance, an imperfection which produces disagreeable effects. Fathers have, as in the Roman law, the power of preferring such of their children as they think proper; hence it has happened in several families of the shaiks, that the whole property has centered in the same person, who has perverted it to the purpose of intriguing and caballing, while his relations remain, as they will express it, princes of olives and cheese; that is to say, poor as peasants.

"In consequence of their prejudices, the Druzes do not choose to make alliances out of their own families. They invariably prefer their relation, though poor, to a rich stranger; and poor peasants have been known to refuse their daughters to merchants of Saide and Bairout, who possessed from twelve to fifteen thousand piastres. They observe also, to a certain degree, the custom of the Hebrews, which directed that a brother should espouse his brother's widow; but this is not peculiar to them, for they retain that, as well as several other customs of that ancient people, in common with other inhabitants of Syria and all the Arab tribes.

"In short, the proper and distinctive character of the Druzes is a sort of republican spirit, which gives them more energy than any other subjects of the Turkish government; and an indifference for religion which forms a striking contrast with the zeal of the Mahometans and Christians. In other respects, their private life, their customs and prejudices, are the same with other orientals. They may marry several wives, and repudiate them when they choose; but, except by the emir and a few men of eminence, that is rarely practised. Occupied with their rural labours, they experience neither artificial wants, nor those inordinate passions which are produced by the idleness of the inhabitants of cities and towns. The veil, worn by their women, is of itself a preservative against those desires which are the occasion of so many evils in society. No man knows the face of any other woman than his wife, his mother, his sister, and sisters-in-law. Every man lives in the bosom of his own family, and goes little abroad. The women, those even of the faikas, make the bread, roast the coffee, wash the linen, cook the victuals, and perform all domestic offices. The men cultivate their lands and vineyards, and dig canals for watering them. In the evening they sometimes assemble in the court, the area, or house of the chief of the village or family. There, seated in a circle, with legs crossed, pipes in their mouths, and poniards at their belts, they discourse of their various labours, the scarcity or plenty of their harvests, peace or war, the conduct of the emir, or the amount of the taxes; they relate past transactions, discuss present interests, and form conjectures on the future. Their children, tired with play, come frequently to listen; and a stranger is surprised to hear them, at ten or twelve years old, recounting, with a serious air, why Djezzar declared war against the emir Yousef, how many purses it cost that prince, what augmentation there will be of the miri, how many muskets there were in the camp, and who had the best mare. This is their only education. They are neither taught to read the psalms as among the Maronites, nor the Koran like the Mahometans; hardly do the faikas know how to write a letter. But if their minds be destitute of useful or agreeable information, at least it is not preoccupied by false and hurtful ideas; and, without doubt, such natural ignorance is well worth all our artificial folly. This advantage results from it, that their understandings being nearly on a level, the inequality of conditions is less perceptible. For, in fact, we do not perceive among the Druzes that great distance which, in most other societies, degrades the inferior, without contributing to the advantage of the great. All, whether faikas or peasants, treat each other with that rational familiarity, which is equally remote from rudeness and servility. The grand emir himself is not a different man from the rest: he is a good country gentleman, who does not disdain admitting to his table the meanest farmer. In a word, their manners are those of ancient times, and of that rustic life which marks the origin of every nation; and prove, that the people among whom they are still found are as yet only in the infancy of the social state."