Page:The European Concert in the Eastern Question.djvu/222



the conquest of Syria in 1516 by the Sultan Selim I, the Lebanon was ruled by a succession of Mussulman Emirs, the most celebrated of whom, Beshir, governed with success from 1790 to 1840, latterly by the help of Mehemet Ali. The withdrawal of the Egyptian troops from Syria in 1841 was followed by anarchy in the mountain. Lord Palmerston, accordingly, on 15th June of that year, writes that—'Her Majesty's Government feel especially called upon to address the Turkish Government on this matter, on account of the oppression which Haji Nejib is said to practise upon the Christians. For England having, in conjunction with other Christian powers, succeeded in restoring Syria to the Sultan, she is entitled to expect that the Sultan, in return for such assistance, should secure his Christian subjects from oppression.' A Conference of representatives of Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia met at Constantinople on 27th May, 1842, with the ultimate result that the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs announced, on 7th December, that the Porte had conformed to the advice of the Five Powers, and would appoint separate Kaimakams for the Druses and Maronites respectively. This arrangement was in force, with