The Papal Maronite Bishop of Beirut made a visit to Nejm's village, Baabda, to dispense indulgences, in accordance with the Pope's Encyclical letter.

Nejm was called upon to pay his portion of the sum assessed upon the people, but having been a Protestant fifteen years, he refused to pay it.

At the instigation of the priests, his wife was then taken from him, and his little Resha, his only child, was carried off by one of the priests to Beirut, and thrust inside the gates of the convent of the French Sisters of Charity.

The poor father came to me, well-nigh broken-hearted, pleading for assistance.

I laid the case before His Excellency Daud Pasha, Governor of Lebanon, who was then in Beirut, and drew up a petition to the Pasha of Beirut also, on the subject.