GENERAL VIEW OF SIDON, LOOKING TOWARDS LEBANON. 
The view of Sidon and the Kills from this point is of a very commanding character, 
and may give some conception of the “ Queen City,” in the days of her original opulence 
and beauty. But the buildings to which Sidon owes its chief present distinction, the Serail, 
the Khan, and other stately structures, were the work of an extraordinary individual, so 
late as the seventeenth century. 
The defeat of the Druses by Amurath III. (a.d. 1588) had changed a nation of free, 
hut rival tribes, into a dependent government. Fakhr-ed-din, a Druse, was the chief 
appointed by the Sultan. He commenced his career by a display of activity and courage. 
The Arabs, taking advantage of the war, had covered the country between the mountains 
and the shore, with blood and plunder. The new Emir suddenly gathered an army, 
attacked the invaders, and after a succession of bold encounters, drove them back into 
the Desert. 
His victory had brought him to the sea-shore; and his views enlarged with his 
fortunes; the soldier became a statesman. Venice was then carrying on the richest 
commerce of the world. Fakhr-ed-din drove out the Aga of Beyrout; made himself 
master of the city, and commenced a commerce with the Venetians. Within the next 
twenty years he had extended his authority over the principal cities of Northern Syria. 
The Pashas of Damascus and Tripoli vainly complained, fought, and intrigued against him. 
He beat them both in the field, and bribed higher than either at Constantinople. But at 
length the jealousy of the Porte was fully roused; a Turkish force was marched into Syria, 
and the Emir of the Druses felt that he must look beyond the barren resources of his 
principality, or perish in a conflict with a power which still made Christendom tremble. 
Fakhr-ed-din now formed the bold resolution of enlisting his European allies in his 
cause; and from Beyrout he put to sea for Italy. The court of the Medici was then in its 
splendour; he sailed to Florence, and was received with the pompous hospitality of the 
Italians, augmented at once by the gallantry of his achievements, and the mystery of his 
origin. It had long been a national dream, that a remnant of the Crusaders had formed a 
sovereignty among the mountains; and the daring valour and old independence of the 
Druses were regarded as proofs of their descent from that noble band. The Emir also 
either found or feigned a chivalric connexion with the House of Lorraine, and the priest¬ 
hood and poets of Italy were soon enthusiastic in the cause of a prince who had come to 
restore romance and religion among the forests and valleys of Lebanon. 
Fakhr-ed-din returned, after an absence of nine years. But Florence had been to him 
what Capua was to the Carthaginian. The hardy mountaineer returned the Italian volup¬ 
tuary. He built gilded palaces and marble baths, planted European gardens, and even 
adorned his pavilions with pictures, the abomination of the Koran. He rashly abandoned 
his stronghold in the hills, and led a life of luxury among the shades and breezes of 
the shore. 
But his evil day was at hand; his indignant subjects deserted him; his sovereign 
Amurath IV., resolved on his extinction; and the Pasha of Damascus marching a powerful 
