A History of Protestant missions in the near East

192 History of Protestant Missions in the Near East
needed, and bore a share of the duties of the other missionaries
as well.
The missionaries soon found an opportunity for avenging in
a noble manner the death of Asad. When, in 1845, the
Druses fell
upon the Maronites in Deir el Kamr and massacred
them, about 200, among whom were some of the
bitterest opponents of the Protestants, sought refuge in the
houses of the missionaries and their assistants. Dr. William
Thomson went boldly into the midst of the tumult and induced
both parties to set a safe watch over the crowded
Protestant houses. Then, as a palace filled with Maronites was
stormed by the Druses, Thomson again succeeded in arranging
that the threatened Maronites should be permitted to
leave under a white flag.
As the terrified Maronites had
nothing to eat, the missionaries at once baked bread near Deir
el Kamr, with all the flour available there, while they sent by
night to Beirut for fresh supplies. Then they sent the
Maronites, still trembling for their lives, to a place of safety.
That day the Maronite and Greek bishops of Beirut issued
proclamations to their people, calling upon them to render
protection to members of the American Mission in any similar
calamity.
An interesting episode in the years 1835 to 1842 was the
friendly approach of the Druses to the mission. We have already
mentioned that the Druses had been, in 1835, conquered
by the Egyptian Viceroy, Ibrahim Pasha. Until then they
had made some pretense of being Moslems, in order thus to
safeguard themselves against the oppression and humiliating
treatment to which Christians were exposed. Now the tables
were turned, for, after their subjugation, they were, as Muhammadans,
compelled to send their young men to serve as
soldiers. Now it is well known that only Moslems are permitted
to enter the army, Christians being excluded. The
Egyptian Viceroy, like the Sultan in later years, desired
greatly to have these tall and robust mountaineers in his regiments.
But the Druses were much opposed to military
service, and sought for means whereby to avoid it. The only