1888. | NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 189 
souls, principally in Lebanon and the adjacent cities. ‘hey 
are more advanced in general culture and a desire for education 
than the Greeks. They have a flourishing Collegiate Institute 
at Beirfit, and have adopted the Gregorian calendar. Their 
liturgy is in Greek, but with an Arabic translation. The Greek- 
Catholics retain the marriage privileges of the Greek Church, 
but have included the later doctrines of Rome in their confession 
of faith. 
12. The Maronites. This body isa fairly pure remnant of 
the Aramaic race. Its stronghold is in the lofty and rugged 
mountains of northern Lebanon, where it maintained more or 
less of independence until 1860. It numbers in all about 200,000 
souls. Many Maronites are now to be found in the principal 
cities of Syria and in southern Lebanon. But the seat of their 
patriarch and the centre of their power is in the neighborhood 
of the Cedars of Lebanon. 
There is an apparently insoluble problem as to the origin of 
this sect, authorities differing as to the time from the fifth to 
the eighth centuries. Their first bishop was John Maro. They 
were originally Monothelites, but in the twelth century, under 
the influence of the Crusaders, they accepted the doctrine of 
the Catholic Church. But it was not till 1465 that they were 
reunited, and they did not formally subscribe to the decrees of 
the Council of Trent until 1736. 
In the seventeenth century the Maronites were taken under 
the direct protection of the French, and the French Consul at 
Beirtit for a long time exercised viceregal powers over them. 
Until 1755 the Maronites and Druzes were friendly. Since 
then there have been several civil wars between them, culminat- 
ing in the famous massacre of 1860, which spread to Damascus. 
After this lamentable outrage, a government was established 
in Lebanon, quite different from any that had preceeded it. 
The ruler, with the rank of Mutasarrif and title of Vizir, is 
nominated by the Sublime Porte, and confirmed by the six treaty 
powers, England, France, Russia, Austria, Germany, and Italy. 
He must be a Christian, but not of any of the native sects. 
The first of these governors was Daoud Pacha, an Armenian; the 
second, Franco Pasha, a Latin from Aleppo; the third, Rustem 
Pacha, a Latin from Constantinople; the fourth, Wassa Pacha, a 
Latin from Albania. 
The liturgy of the Maronites is the ancient Syriac. They 
have a married clergy, and many peculiar ecclesiastical customs. 
Their clergy are better educated than those of the other Christian 
sects. Nevertheless, the Maronites are strongly ultramontane 
and bigoted, and are the least progressive of the Christians of 
the Levant. 
