were more wealthy and
refined than their brethren in most eastern cities. They looked upon
themselves as the aristocracy of Syria. Instead of prudently
concealing their wealth, they made an ostentatious display of it in
furniture, dress, and costly decorations of their churches. Added to
this was an arrogant bearing, often even towards the Moslems,
rekindling their hereditary hate; while the recent efforts of the
Sultan to establish liberty throughout his dominions, both inflated
still more the pride of the Christians, and stirred up the
indignation of the Moslems.

The arrival of a government order for a military conscription, a
thing most unwelcome to the Moslems, occasioned a popular tumult.
They determined, while setting the Pasha at defiance, to gratify
their hatred of the Christians. The attacks on these commenced on
the 16th of October. Thousands of wild Arabs, along with ruffians
from the city, filled the houses and churches, and splendid
furniture, gorgeous dresses, and gold and silver hoarded for
generations, were suddenly transferred to the swarthy Arabs. All the
churches, save one, were rifled and then burnt or destroyed,
together with a large number of private houses. Not a few of the
Christians were murdered, or severely wounded. The Pasha, unequal to
the crisis, took refuge among the soldiers of the barracks, and
yielded to the demands of the populace until new orders should
arrive from the Sultan. There was a fortnight of anarchy, while the
Pasha was employed in collecting troops sufficient to regain his
authority. Then, having received explicit instructions from the
capital, he commenced a bloody attack upon the insurgents. These
were all Moslems, and such was their desperation that they suffered
more severely than had the Christians.

Until this outbreak, there had been a manifest change going on in
the feelings of the nominally Christian community towards the
Protestants. There was a growing respect among all classes for the
missionaries and their teachings, a readiness on the part of many to
acknowledge the truth, and a more easy access to the houses of the
people. All this the outbreak interrupted for a time, and the effect
was not good on the whole. There was a bloody feud between the two
great parties. Yet the bonds of superstition had been weakened;
especially the faith of the people in the miraculous virtue of the
pictures, which filled their churches and had been worshipped for
centuries. S