obtained by personal superiority of character. . . . The income of the patriarch may amount to about £5000 a year, derived principally from lands set apart exclusive- ly for the ofiSce. He obtains likewise a sixth of the revenue of the bishops." " The patriarch of the Maro- nites," says Madden {Turkish Empire, ii, 160), "formerly exercised very extensive power not only of a religious, but of a civil kind, for the protection of his people, who in those times possessed many important immunities and franchises, which, since 1842, have been either ab- rogated or assimilated to the privileges enjoyed by the Roman Catholic subjects of the Porte. But the Maro- nites still, in all great emergencies and dangers at the hands of their old and constant enemies the Druses, are wont to look for counsel and guidance to their patriarch rather than to the emir, their nominal civil protector. The patriarch, in the winter, resides ordinarily at Kes- ruan, and in the summer at the monastery of Canobin, in the valley of Tripoli, supposed to be, on very insuffi- cient grounds, where the venerated ]\Iaron had fixed his abode." The eight regular bishoprics of the Maronite Church are Aleppo, Tripoli, Jebail, Baalbek, Damascus, Cyprus, Beirut, Tyre, and Sidon. The incumbents of this, the second office, are, like the patriarch, possessed of stated revenues, that enable them to live in com- parative affluence. Their election takes place as fol- lows : " When a bishop dies, the patriarch writes to the principal people of the village under the jurisdiction of the deceased prelate, requesting them to assemble to- gether and nominate a priest to the vacant see ; should there be a unanimity of voices, the patriarch confirms their selection ; if, on the contrary, they cannot agree, he desires them to send him the names of three priests, and from this list he selects one for the bishopric." The inferior clergy of the Maronites, who have no fixed sources of income, subsist on the produce of their mass- es, the bounty of their congregations, and, above all, on the labor of their hands, i. e. they exercise trades, or cul- tivate small plots of ground, and are thus industriously employed /oz- the maintenance of their families : it is one of the peculiar characteristics of the Eastern clergy that they are not strangers to the married state. The Maronite priests marry as in the first ages of the Chunch, but their wives must be maidens, and not widows; nor can they marry a second time.
The poverty to which the jNIaronite clergy is doomed is, however, recompensed to them by the great respect the people award them. " Their vanity is incessantly flattered; whoever approaches them, whether rich or poor, great or small, is anxious to kiss their hands, which they fail not to present. ... It is perhaps to the potent influence of the clergy that we must attribute the mild and simple manners generally prevailing among the INIaronites, for violent crimes are extremely rare among them. Retribution immediately follows every offence, however slight, and the clergy are rigorous in prevent- ing every appearance of disorder or scandal among the members of their flocks. Before a young man can mar- ry he must obtain the consent of his pastor and of his bishop. If they disapprove of the marriage they pro- hibit it, and the Jlaronite has no remedy. If an un- married girl become a mother, her seducer is compelled to marry her, whatever be the inequality of their con- ditions; if he refuses he is reduced to obedience by measures of severitj', fasting, imprisonment, and even bastinadoing. This influence of the clergy extends to every detail of civil and domestic life. The Maronite who should appeal from the decision of the clergy to the civil authority of the emirs would not be listened to by them, and the act would be regarded by the appel- lant's bishop as a transgression to be visited with con- dign punishment" (Kelly). The number of Maronite priests is said to be 1200, and the number of their chiu-ches 400.
2. MonaMics.—Oi the more than 200 convents scat- tered through Lebanon, nearly one half belong to the Maronites, and contain from 20,000 to 25,000 inmates,
MARONITES
^70
IVIAROT
who all wear a distinctive costume, and follow the rale of St. Anthony. They are divided into three difFerent congregations : those of St. Isaiah, those of the Alipines, and those of the Libanese or Baladites; besides which there are also a number of nunneries. Their dress, like that of all Greek monastics, consists of a black frock- coat, reaching to the knees, confined round the waist by a leathern girdle, and surmounted by a hood, which can be drawn over the head. This attire is called a " cacoolj'." Tlie temporal affairs of the convents are directed by a superior monk, called Reis el-Aam, a sort of accountant-general, who regulates all the disburse- ments of his fraternity. " Lest the monks shoidd form any particular local attachments, thej^ are removed from convent to convent every six months, in a kind of rota- tion. They are, in general, exceedingly ignorant, but skilful in such trades as are necessary for their own wants and necessities." " The monks, by the rules of their order, are not allowed to smoke or eat meat. The latter, however, is permitted in case of sickness, by the order of the physician and the consent of the superior. In making long journej's the bishop may give the same permission, provided they shall not indulge in it on the days in which its use is forbidden by the canons of the Church, Much stress is laid on the nunneries being built at a distance from the convents ; and no nun or woman is allowed to enter a convent, nor a monk to enter a nunnen,-, except on occasions of great necessity, and with strict limitation. The monks are employed in their prayers, and in various occupations of industry ; the lay-brothers tilling the land^ of the convents, mak- ing shoes, weaving, begging, etc. ; and the priests ap- plying themselves to study, copying books, and other matters befitting the dignity of their office. The nuns are taught to read and sew. Both the monks and nuns vow the three conditions of a monastic life — namely, chastity, poverty, and obedience ; and, taken as a whole, both are extremely ignorant and bigoted."