PETTY PERSECUTION IN SYRIA.
By William S. Nelson
BY REV. W. S. NELSON.
[Missionary of the Presbyterian Board.] A LONG letter has been received from a neighboring village, giving a detailed account of an occurrence which illustrates the general attitude of the wily Turk, as well as the unfriendly spirit of the local authorities. The substance of the letter is as follows:— "The other day, as I was sitting in my house, one of the brethren came in to inform me that ten of the Protestants were summoned to the local seat of government, and that two officers waited outside to take me to the house of the Effendi, who had the official summons. I was not surprised, for I had received an intimation of the matter previously. I arose at once, went to the house of the Effendi, and asked to see the order. He received me most roughly, but I saw the order, and found it in regular and legal form. I said we were ready to obey the order of the government, and would prepare to comply at once. I wished to go to my house to make necessary change in my clothing, and hire an animal to ride to the government seat, about three hours distant; and it was raining at the time. The Effendi said I should go at once, and on foot, while he showered upon me the most offensive and abusive language. The other men called for had now been brought in, except two who were sick, and the horsemen were ordered to drive us forward. Thus they compelled us by physical force to go out at once in the rain and mud, on foot, with no means to protect ourselves from the weather. "On the way the brethren sought to avoid the worst mud by turning to the sides of the road; but the Effendi shouted at them, 'Walk here!' and ordered the horsemen to close in on them and force them through the deep mire. As we were coming out of the village, a large and indignant crowd gathered, and begged the Effendi to wait a little until they could get me an animal to ride, as my health could not endure such exposure and fatigue. He refused; but soon after we left the village, some of my friends overtook us with a horse, on which I rode; but the Effendi did not cease to utter the most coarse abuse, until he left us on the road and hastened ahead to reach the government quarters before us. On our arrival the officer in charge called to the chief of police that the men summoned were at hand. He responded that he was busy with the Effendi, and we should wait outside in the rain. It soon appeared that the urgent business which engaged him was the consideration of an accusation against me lodged by the Effendi. In this complaint it was affirmed that I had surprised the Effendi with a sudden attack, and had beaten him, after violent and abusive language, and had gathered a crowd of retainers to cover him with vile abuse. It was thought that he wished to extort money from me as the price of his good will, and some suggested a gift of from two to five dollars. Friends, however, reported the matter to the governor, who seems to have understood the nature of the Effendi, and hence paid no attention to the complaint. "I sought the governor's presence to secure the settlement of our case. After two fruitless appeals, and after waiting more than an hour out-of-doors in the falling rain, a hearing was granted. The governor told me that he had been informed that we had built a church and school without imperial permission. I replied that we had a school building, erected seventeen years ago, before the requirement of special permits. 'But,' he said, 'you hold religious services in it.' 'Yes,' I replied, 'and if that is contrary to law, you can execute the law, for we have no wish to violate the law of the land.' We were then dismissed, with the assurance that a special officer should be sent to investigate the case and report. It was now only one hour and a half before sunset, and we were invited to the house of a friend near by; but all preferred to set out for home. During the first half of the journey the brethren were rejoicing over their speedy deliverance, and were singing praise to God, who had cared for them. When it became dark, however, the singing ceased, and all plodded wearily along through mud and water until we reached home, two hours and a half after sundown, cold and drenched to the skin. All will rejoice in the hardship and suffering if good shall result from it; but no one can foresee now whether good or ill will be the consequence." That is a specimen of the religious liberty secured by the Treaty of Berlin. The absurdity and cruelty of the whole thing are emphasized by knowing the character and reputation of the man who wrote the above account. He is a quiet man, of the kindest possible disposition, thoroughly honored and respected by the whole community. His eyesight is so poor that he can scarcely go about his own village with ease, and is by no means able to take a ten-mile walk through mud and water. It would be impossible to conceive of his beating anyone, and no one ever heard anything but the most courteous language from his lips. And yet, in pursuance of an order from the governor, this Moslem Effendi could literally drive this man and his comrades from their homes over a wretched road to the courthouse, and could secure witnesses prepared to swear to the truth of his ridiculous charge of assault and battery.—N. Y. Independent.