Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/282

 274 DRUSES as that of any other eastern religious sect. Of the character of the Druse worship there is but little precise information in their writings. That they have no prayer or preaching to which unbelievers can listen has given rise to the report that they are without a religion. They are divided into two classes, the ukkal and juhal, the initiated and uninitiated. The former constitute the clergy, doctors, and elders, and their chief is required to observe celibacy. They superintend the ordinances of worship and instruct the children in the ele- ments of religion. At their meetings in the hulwehs (meeting houses), generally on an ele- vation and at a distance from the villages, they invariably place a sentry to warn them of the approach of strangers. If Moslems be present, they will produce the Koran; if Christians, the Bible ; and their own religious books after the infidels are gone. Women are admitted Druse Man and Woman. into the order if they possess the requisite in- telligence. The ukkals are extremely simple in their dress, wearing no silk or gold. They will not touch any money or food in any other Druse's house, from fear of its having come into his possession by unfair means. They are not salaried, but subsist by their own labor. The revenue of the estates belonging to the hulwehs is devoted to charity. The ukkals are bound to peace, although some of them will fight in war. They are generally the arbitrators in disputes, and after death the saints of their people. Their proportion to the Druse popu- ation is about one to five. The juhals con- stitute the mass of the Druses, and are in- structed only in the elements of the faith. The form of government among the Druses is half feudal, half patriarchal. They are divided into three classes or ranks, the emirs (princes), the sheiks (chiefs), and the zlaam (people). The emir appoints the cadis (judges), and has exclusive power over life and death; he collects the tribute, of which he pays a stated sum to the Porte, and keeps the surplus as his own. The emir's family never intermarry with the people. The sheiks direct almost despotically the government of the tribes within their jurisdiction. Some of them live in comparative state, but often their fare and habits are those of the common people, and they labor with the rest. They are often at strife with each other, but in foreign wars all the tribes unite under the leadership of the emir. It is a league of mountain barons, sup- porting a king elected without suffrage and governing without statute. The villages are usually placed near the entrance of passes, where they can be defended easily. The houses rise in terraces, till in some instances they reach the top of the mountain. The habits of the people are simple and primitive. Most of them till the soil ; a few are artisans ; the spinning and weaving are done by women in their houses, and the children of both sexes are kept at school. The method of fighting is not in mass- es so much as by ambush and in small bands. The Druses, if not the most numerous, are ac- knowledged to be the most warlike and cour- ageous people inhabiting the Lebanon. Their code of martial honor is very precise ; deceit between comrades is lasting shame, and cow- ardice is never forgotten. The relation of the sexes is far more honorable than among the Turks or Arabs. There is but one wife in the house, and her rights are admitted and pro- tected ; she can own personal property, retain the half of her dowry money after divorce, and is not compelled to marry against her inclina- tions. The number of Druses in the whole of Syria, from the plain east of Damascus to the western coast, is reckoned to be about 70,000. Some of these dwell in scattered families in the larger towns, and in the villages of the Ma- ronites. In the towns at the foot of Mount Hermon they make a considerable part of the population and have great influence. The Druses of the Anti-Libanus are more warlike and restless than their brethren beyond the Litany (Leontes). But the proper home of the Druse people is in the Lebanon mountains, from the latitude of Beyrout to that of Tyre. The principal towns are Deir el-Kamr, once the capital ; Shweifat, near Beyrout ; Heittat and Allaye ; Abeigh, where the American Prot- estants have a mission ; Baklin, Mukhtara, Ba- ruk, and Ainshalti, where also there is a mission- ary station. The Druses first appear in history under their founder, Hakem (996-1021). They lived under the government of sheiks who ac- knowledged no superior, and made frequent raids into the neighboring countries. They were engaged in almost perpetual conflict, now with the Franks as allies of the Damas- cus sultan, now with the sultan himself for their own independence. In 1588 Amurath III. sent an expedition against them, under