In the autumn of 1852, there was a school of thirty girls in B'hamdun, a
village high up in Mt. Lebanon. Fifteen months before the teacher was
the only female in the village who could read, and she had been taught
by the native girls in Dr. De Forest's school. Quite a number of the
girls of the village had there learned to read, and they all came to the
school clean and neatly dressed. They committed to memory verses of
Scripture, and it was surprising to see how correctly they recited them
at the Sabbath School. At meeting they were quiet and attentive like the
best behaved children in Christian lands. It would be difficult to sum
up the results of that little school for girls twenty years ago in
B'hamdun. That village is full of gospel light. A Protestant church
edifice is in process of erection, a native pastor, Rev. Sulleba
Jerawan, preaches to the people, and the mass of the people have at
least an intellectual acquaintance with the truth.
The picturesque village of B'hamdun, where Dr. De Forest's school is
established, is on the side of a lofty mountain. It is nearly 4000 feet
above the level of the Mediterranean Sea. The village is compact as a
little city, the streets narrow, rocky and crooked, the houses
flat-roofed, and the floors of mud. One of the Protestants, the father
of Miriam Tabet, has built a fine large house with glass windows and
paved floors, which is one of the best houses in that part of Lebanon.
The village is surrounded by vineyards, and the grapes are regarded as
the finest in Mt. Lebanon. The people say that they never have to dig
for the foundation of a house, but only to sweep off the dust with a
broom. There is not a shade tree in the village. One day Dr. De Forest
asked, "Why don't you plant a tree?" "We shall not live till it has
grown," was the reply. "But your children will," said the Doctor. "Let
them plant it then," was the satisfactory answer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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