The year 1860 was noted for a civil war in Syria, and for savage massacres on Lebanon, at Hasbeiya, Damascus, and elsewhere, which awakened the indignation of the Christian world. The Druzes were prominent in these massacres, and so suffered greatly in character; yet the Turks were believed to have been the instigators. The war commenced in June; but the government for months had foreborne to check private assassinations and angry collisions, until the condition became unbearable. All the Greek and Papal Christians united against the Druzes, with the declared purpose of not leaving one of them on Lebanon, but they had miscalculated their power. The Protestants decided to take the side of neither party. It was believed at Beirut, that the main object of the foreign Jesuits and native Catholic clergy was to exterminate the Protestants, who had their homes chiefly among the Druzes. The Druzes were aroused to desperation, and thirty or forty Maronite and Greek villages were burned early in June. The inhabitants who escaped massacre fled to Beirut. Not one of these fugitives was a Protestant. The missionaries at Abeih, Deir el-Komr, and Suk el-Ghurb were not molested, and Messrs. Calhoun and Bird and their families remained at their several stations. It was thought best for those at the Suk to descend to Beirut. Disturbance having arisen at Sidon, an English war steamer was sent thither to look after the foreigners. The steamer brought Mrs. Eddy and her children to Beirut, but Mr. Eddy and Mr. and Mrs. Ford decided to remain at Sidon. In the country and gardens near that city, hundreds of unarmed men and defenseless women and children, many of whom had fled thither for their lives, were afterwards savagely butchered by Moslems and Druzes. The missionaries then asked for a guard from the city governor, which he refused until the American Consul in Beirut demanded it. Mr. Bird, at Deir el-Komr, supposing that all was quiet around the city, left home to look after the little company of Protestants in Ain Zehalty. In his absence, the Druzes attacked Deir el-Komr on every side, and when Mr. Bird returned towards evening, he saw the town in flames, but could not enter. One of the more than one hundred houses burned, was a school-house belonging to the mission. The Druze Begs declared it was a mistake, and promised to rebuild it. The Christians had fought until their ammunition was exhausted, and then surrendered. Mr. Bird found his family unharmed, though the fighting and burning had been very near them. The Pasha coming up from Beirut made such arrangements that Mr. Bird and family decided to remain.