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Kinglake, Alexander William, 1809-1891

"Eothen, or, Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East"

None of the booty was restored, and the pecuniary redress
which the Pasha had undertaken to enforce for them had been
hitherto so carefully delayed, that the hope of ever obtaining it
had grown very faint. A new Governor had been appointed to the
command of the place, with stringent orders to ascertain the real
extent of the losses, and to discover the spoilers, with a view of
compelling them to make restitution. It was found that,
notwithstanding the urgency of the instructions which the Governor
had received, he did not push on the affair with the vigour that
had been expected. The Jews complained, and either by the
protection of the British consul at Damascus, or by some other
means, had influence enough to induce the appointment of a special
commissioner--they called him "the Modeer"--whose duty it was to
watch for and prevent anything like connivance on the part of the
Governor, and to push on the investigation with vigour and
impartiality.
Such were the instructions with which some few weeks since the
Modeer came charged. The result was that the investigation had
made no practical advance, and that the Modeer as well as the
Governor was living upon terms of affectionate friendship with
Mohammed Damoor and the rest of the principal spoilers.


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