ete safety for life and
property. There is a proverb now in Palestine and Syria which says, "In
the Lebanon a virgin may travel alone at midnight and be safe, and a
purse of gold dropped in the road at midday will never be stolen." And
the proverb told the literal truth.

When one crossed the boundary from Turkish Palestine into the Lebanon
province, what a change met his eyes!--peaceful and prosperous villages,
schools filled with children, immense plantations of mulberry trees and
olives, the slopes of the mountains terraced with beautiful vineyards, a
handsome and sturdy population, police on every road to help the
stranger, and young girls and women with happy laugh and chatter working
in the fields. With a population of about six hundred thousand this
province exported annually two million dollars' worth of raw silk,
silkworm-raising being a specialty of the Lebanon.

When autonomy was granted the Lebanon, French influence became
predominant among the Maronites and other Christians of the province.
French is spoken by almost all of them, and love for France is a
deep-rooted sentiment of the people. On the other hand, the Druses feel
the English influence. For the last sixty years England has been the
friend of the Druses, and they have not forgotten it.

It may be worth while to tell in a few words the story of one man who
accomplished wonders in spreading the influence of his country. Sir
Richard Wood was born in London, a son of Catholic parents. From his
early boyhood he aspired to enter the diplomatic service. The East
attracted him strongly, and in order to learn Arabic he went with
another young Englishman to live in the Lebanon. In Beirut they sought
the hospitality of the Maronite patriarch. For a few days they were
treated with lavish hospitality, and then the patriarch summoned them
before him and told them that they must leave the city within
twenty-four hours. The reason for their disgrace they discovered later.
Not suspecting that they were being put to the test, they had eaten meat
on a Friday, and this made the patriarch think that they were not true
Catholics, but were there as spies.

Leaving Beirut in haste, Wood and his friend sought shelter with the
Druses, who received them with open arms. For two years Wood lived
among the Druses, in the village of Obey. There he learned Arabic and
became thoroughly acquainted with the country and with the ways of the
Druses, and there he conceived the ide