fore Him, who, by a sign of his almighty will, created all these things; and from his heart, moved, softened, filled with admiration, gratitude, and love, will escape, in spite of him, these words of praise in which the royal prophet proclaimed the glory of the Most High :-"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy-work!"

I cannot sufficiently admire the holy activity of Father Vital. The first to rise, it is he who rings the Angelus ; presently afterwards he performs mass. As soon as he leaves the church, he is surrounded by a multitude of invalids, who have thronged from all parts to receive from him the relief of different kinds which they need. He sends none away without it: he listens to their complaints, he cheers them, he dresses their wounds, even the most disgusting; he gives them advice, medicines, bread, vegetables, money, as far as the poverty in which he lives allows him. In the course of the day, he works in the garden, superintends the arrangement and cleaning of the church and sacristy, and enters into all the details of the household, which he directs with order and frugality. The change of occupations is the only recreation that he enjoys, and he is always busy when night over

takes him.

He has had the coffin made that is to receive his mortal remains: he visits it frequently, and he looks at it with the same joy that the worldly man would look at his new-built mansion. If he happens to betray any feeling of pain, it is because he is not already in possession of it. "There is my last home," said he; and then, with the ardour of a saint, he added:-" My soul is too

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long a stranger; who shall give it wings, that it may fly away to the place of its rest!"

Still, notwithstanding this continual thought of death, and amidst this impatience for the bliss of another life, he manifests in his habitual intercourse a cheerfulness the most unaffected and the most amiable.

From Larissa you perceive in the neighbourhood a convent of catholic Armenians, where at this moment resides an archbishop, a man of extraordinary merit. I have been more than once to pay him my respects, and he received me with great urbanity. He did me the honour to invite me to dinner, and, out of consideration for me, the arrangements were in the European fashion, that is to say, the dishes were placed on a table, at which we sat on chairs, and not on the floor, according to the custom of the East. Priests waited upon us. On entering, they bent the knee to the archbishop; a mark of respect paid him by all ecclesiastics, when they come into his presence.

LETTER XLIII.

DEPARTURE FROM LARISSA - MOUNTAINS OF THE LEBANON PICTURESQUE VIEW-THE EMIRS FERES, SOLIMAN, AND ABBAS-MOUCROS -THE MOTOUALIS - THE MARONITES THE DRUSES · DAIR-ELKAMAR, THE CAPITAL OF THE DRUSES-BTEDDIN, THE RESIDENCE OF THE EMIR BECHIR, PRINCE OF MOUNT LEBANON-MARONITE BISHOP -DINNER FROM THE KITCHEN OF THE PRINCE- THE PALACE-INTERVIEW WITH THE EMIR-HIS WIFE-VISITS TO HIS THREE SONSHORN WORN BY THE WOMEN OF MOUNT LEBANON-DEFARTURE FROM BTEDDIN-M. DE LA MARTINE..

Beyrout, September 12, 1832.

It was not without regret, my dear Charles, that I tore myself away from the peaceful and happy monas

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DEPARTURE FROM LARISSA.

tery of Larissa. Though impatient to continue my tour of Mount Lebanon, I could not resolve to part from the venerable man, with whom I had passed such delicious moments. On leaving him, my eyes filled with tears; I clasped him to my heart; I fell at his feet to receive his blessing, and we parted.

I took with me, as dragoman, a young Arab, named Francis, who has lived thirteen years in Rome, where he distinguished himself by proficiency in his studies, and who now holds the office of rector in a seminary of Maronites. We were accompanied by two moucros ; a mule carried my baggage.

I intended in the first place to go to Bteddin, to visit the Emir Bechir, prince of Mount Lebanon, who resides there. This prince and his family are accounted Mussulmans by the Turks, but it is certain that in secret they profess the catholic religion. I have even been assured that the emir made a formal avowal of this fact to Ibrahim Pacha, who was not at all displeased at it. I was obliged to return to Beyrout, to apply to the Austrian consul for such papers and letters of recommendation as I should want. M. Laurella gave me with pleasure a letter for his brother-in-law, physician to the prince, and another for the prince himself. I also took with me some for the catholic Maronite bishop, at whose residence I intended to lodge.

Next morning, at five o'clock, as we were leaving Beyrout, we found in our way a regiment of Egyptian infantry performing the exercise. Unused to the rolling of the drum, our horses took fright, and we had some difficulty to make them go forward.

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We first crossed a plain covered with firs, and, two leagues further, we entered the mountains of Lebanon. Some women, with baskets containing fresh figs, offered them to us; they were the best that I ever tasted. They refused to put a price upon them, and accepted with thanks what I thought fit to give.

As we proceeded, the scenery became more and more picturesque. Several detached hills exhibited the form of truncated cones. On their summits we perceived large houses and buildings, which had the appearance of castles. On the left, the view extended over the chain of the Lebanon; on the right were to be seen Beyrout, its environs, its road, and the sea. The foot was covered with olive-trees.

Struck by the aspect of one of those sites, crowned with a building, which to me appeared magnificent, I exclaimed :-"Happy the man who owns that dwelling!"

"Happy!" repeated my dragoman, in a low tone, that he might not be heard by the persons of our retinue; happy!" he repeated a second time, heaving a deep sigh!...." he is deprived of sight!"

"And by what accident ?"

"Alas! he is one of the emirs whose eyes were put out, and their tongues cut off by command of the emir Bechir, the reigning prince of the mountain, after a victory which he had gained over a party that was hostile to him. Three emirs," continued he, "underwent this operation, Feres, Soliman, and Abbas, and all three were his nephews! Bechir's wife, and the family of the condemned princes, throwing themselves at the feet of the conqueror, in vain solicited their pardon. The manner

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THE EMIR BECHIR AND HIS SONS.

in which the punishment was inflicted is horrible. The mouth was forced open, and the tongue, being pulled forward by an iron hook, was half cut off. The ramrod of a pistol, being made red-hot, was then thrust into their eyes.

"The emirs, or princes, who reign on the mountain,” continued my dragoman, "are, as you probably know, of the family of Schahab-Druse. The first of that name came from the province of Hourad and the town of Schahbas; the emir Joseph Schahab is one of the latter. He whom you are going to visit has governed for thirtytwo years. He first destroyed the Gemblati faction, which acknowledged Joseph, surnamed by it Suzbecki, as chief; and, having attained the supreme power by his valour, he has annihilated, in its turn, the very faction to which he owed his elevation."

This prince has three sons. The eldest, the emir Kassem, is not very bright, but he is an excellent man, and extremely polite to strangers. The second, the emir Khalil, is a good soldier; he is brave, but, like his elder brother, not particularly intelligent. The third, the emir Amin, directs all the affairs: he is his father's favourite and right hand; he is subtle, crafty, and is accounted one of the first living Arabian poets.

The heat was suffocating. Our moucros made it a pretext for stopping every moment, not so much to rest themselves or their horses, as to prolong the journey, and to get more wages. In Syria and Palestine these moucros are extremely rude and selfish; there are few travellers but have reason to complain of their incivility and excessive greediness. One of the greatest miseries of the