He visited the different missions around Mount Lebanon, and he found that there was none at Brummana. It was told him that the inhabitants of Brummana were the greatest thieves and liars in the world. "They are Maronites, Greeks, and Druses, and the evil report of them has filled the country even unto Egypt. Every one is afraid of them. The American missionaries wanted to establish a mission among them, but they were expelled from the place in 1831, and the Bibles and Testaments which they distributed among the people were publicly burned." This showed that here was indeed the spot for a mission, but it would take courage and manly work to establish it. But the order seemed to come to Theophilus Waldmeier, "Go forward;" and on the 9th of the 4th month, 1873, he gave in his resignation to the committee of British Syrian schools, and it was not long before he was settled with his family at Brummana. But, unsupported, he felt he could do little, and he wrote an earnest letter to Hannah Allen for a.s.sistance; and this letter was sent to Eli Jones. Hannah Allen sent pecuniary aid to Theophilus Waldmeier for his family. Eli Jones received the letter a little before New England yearly meeting opened, and took it with him to that meeting, not knowing what it would be best to do. Charles F.
Coffin attended this yearly meeting, and he made an earnest plea that New England Friends should identify themselves with some mission-work.
The subject was taken up and a committee appointed, the names of Eli and Sybil Jones being among the number. Eli Jones at once urged that something be done to help Theophilus Waldmeier, and fifty dollars was raised to be sent to him. Eli Jones was requested to write and find how the religious views of Theophilus agreed with those of Friends, and the answer gave satisfaction to all. American Friends were now ready to take hold of the work on Mount Lebanon, and were anxious to join with English Friends in support of a mission there. Eli Jones wrote to Theophilus Waldmeier: "I am glad to be able to say that our Friends in New as well as in Old England seem much interested in thy work on Mount Lebanon. I think that thyself and dear wife and your helpers may be encouraged to give yourselves to the work of the Lord there, with full trust that your temporal wants will be supplied."
After much correspondence it was arranged for English Friends to join those of New England yearly meeting in furnishing funds for the support of the new mission; committees, secretaries, and treasurers were appointed. T. Waldmeier was encouraged to go on with what he had begun, with the certainty that his wants would be supplied. He did so, and the work prospered. He has had much to endure, but he has persevered, and much of the success of Friends" work on Mount Lebanon is due to his faithfulness and courage. English Friends have from the first n.o.bly done their part to support this post of service, and they have shown an untiring interest in it. Eli Jones has felt almost a father"s love for this Mount Lebanon mission. He has worked for it, begged for it, and prayed for it. His original fifty dollars, collected from New England Friends, was the first contribution sent to it, at least by Friends, and from that time on he has not ceased to stretch out his hands and heart to help it. He would be the last to claim any honor for the success of either of the missions in Palestine; he is among those who have helped to plant and water, and G.o.d himself has given a good increase.
In 1876, Eli Jones, Alfred Lloyd Fox, and Henry Newman again visited the Holy Land, and especially the slope of Mount Lebanon. A meeting was held there, and Eli Jones read an epistle from the foreign mission committee appointed by New England yearly meeting, expressing the belief that a meeting should be organized at Brummana. After deliberation a meeting was organized in the usual manner, consisting of six native Christians and the family of T. Waldmeier.
During this same visit they started a boys" training-home. The winter was spent in getting the training-home ready to open and putting it on a proper working basis. A house was rented from one of the emirs of Mount Lebanon, in which the boys of the mountain began to be trained.
This house and the one occupied by T. Waldmeier were those in which lived the two emirs who gave the order to burn the Bibles and Testaments of the early American missionaries. The spot is still marked near the training-home where these Bibles were burnt, and some of the inhabitants still live there who helped execute the order; so that the children of the men who put fire to the Bible are now being taught on this same spot from this same book.
In the spring of 1880 an appeal was made for a girls" training-home at Brummana, T. Waldmeier judging the cost of building and current expenses would be about ninety-five pounds. Not long after Eli Jones wrote: "At our New England yearly meeting thy appeal for a girls"
training-home was read, and elicited a ready and remarkable response.
Soon after the meeting we found that the subscription had reached eleven hundred dollars. The women Friends of New York yearly meeting also raised two hundred dollars, thus making thirteen hundred dollars in the hands of our treasurer, George Howland, for the purpose of erecting a home for girls on Mount Lebanon."
So much money was collected that during the winter Eli Jones in the name of the committee authorized the work to begin, and on the 27th of 10th month, 1882, the new building was completed. Eli Jones, then in his seventy-sixth year, again crossed the water to be present at the dedication of it. Three hundred persons, among them princes and princesses, were there to see and hear the ceremony. Eli Jones read Prov. x.x.xi., and spoke for an hour and fifteen minutes on the subject of female education. The fifteen girls who were to be educated sat in a semicircle on chairs before Eli Jones, and stood up and sang a hymn at the close of the meeting. Charles M. Jones of Winthrop, Maine, had attended Eli, and they worked for three months to accomplish the transference of the mission into the hands of three English and three American trustees. The management of the work was considerably remodelled during this winter. It is a difficult matter to obtain a perfectly clear t.i.tle to land in Palestine, and the Friends were obliged to go through eight different courts before the affair was thoroughly settled.
The Ramallah Friends" mission was visited, and much was done to encourage the workers there. New England Friends at present are earnest to accomplish much good at Ramallah, and there has been a striking liberality manifested by them in this field. Eli Jones, now in his eighty-second year, can never again visit in the body these two spots which he fondly loves, but he rejoices in his last days that the cause so near his heart is receiving so warm a support, and the advance which has been made prophesies the day when the Syrian wife shall have a woman"s voice and a woman"s power, and when the marvellous blessing of Christ"s immeasurable love shall be felt in the hearts of those who now sit in darkness, though in the land where "the great Light has shined."
CHAPTER XIII.
_LETTERS FROM SYRIA._
Eli and Sybil Jones were most cordially liberated by Friends for the work in Europe, which was shown them as a field white unto harvest in which they were called to labor. They set sail from Boston in the ship "China," 4th mo. 10th, 1867. They attended Dublin and London yearly meetings, and visited the meetings throughout England, and then carried their labors into Scotland. Of the visit in this country Eli Jones writes to the _Friends" Review_:
LONDON, 9th mo. 6, 1867.
Having returned to this city again from what has been to us a very pleasant and satisfactory tour throughout parts of Scotland, and especially to those towns where members of our religious Society reside, I take my pen to give a few jottings from my note-book. On the 12th of 8th mo. we left Newcastle-upon-Tyne for Glasgow in Scotland, distant by rail one hundred and twenty-five miles. The day was delightful, and as we pa.s.sed on at the rate of thirty or more miles per hour we saw much calculated to please and instruct. Crossed the Tweed near its mouth, where the old town of Berwick enjoys a fine outlook upon the German Ocean, and where a halt of a few minutes reminded us that we had really reached the land of Scott and Burns, of Jaffrey and the Barclays, and of others whose names are familiar to the readers of Scottish history. Our course after leaving Berwick lay through extensive fields of ripening corn--or, as we Americans would say, of grain--interspersed with broad belts of potatoes and turnips, the whole indicating careful culture and a higher type of agriculture than I had previously noticed. As we approached Edinburgh there was less land under the plough, and instead green pastures cropped by numerous flocks of sheep, with an occasional sprinkling of other stock. Pa.s.sing through the last-named city, we noticed the monument erected to the memory of Walter Scott. Its architectural beauty can hardly fail to catch the eye of the traveller. Another hour, through a valley of great fertility, brought us to Linlithgow, the birthplace of Mary queen of Scots. The royal castle is still standing. At the close of the day"s travel we found ourselves at Glasgow, and, taking a hurried lunch at the house of William Smeal, were seated in the meeting of ministers and elders at the hour of seven, when visitors and visited were comforted together.
_13th._ Were present at the two-months" meeting--a favored season. At a joint meeting following that for worship the ministry of Eliza Wigham was approved. It was instructive to witness the freedom of expression, not only of the aged, but of young men and women, who cheerfully lent their aid to help the Church redeem her "charge" in so important a matter. Attended two meetings in Edinburgh; lodged at the house of William and Jane Miller. The next day, in company with these dear friends and others, went by rail to Aberdeen by way of Stirling, Perth, Dunbar, and Stonehaven. This ancient city of the North, of which Alexander Jaffrey was provost (or mayor), and in whose prisons many of the early Friends were incarcerated for conscience" sake, is in 57 8" 57" north lat.i.tude, and lies upon the river Dee. It is built of gray granite. The houses are from two to four stories high, and present a clean and substantial appearance. A statue of Queen Victoria standing near the centre of the town is much admired. It is of white marble upon a pedestal of red granite highly polished. In the chapel at King"s College a structure of the fourteenth century is shown, a pulpit--a relic from an ancient cathedral of the twelfth. Great labor must have been performed by hands no longer active to produce in the solid oak the carved figures and forms seen in this edifice of a bygone age. The other college buildings are of modern date. The general meeting of ministers and elders was held on the 17th. G.o.dfrey Woodhard, William Ball, Thomas Wells, and Sarah Tatham in the ministry were present from England. The latter has been for some weeks our kind companion and caretaker.
_10th, First day._ Two meetings for worship were held, both well attended, the latter more numerously than could be accommodated in the house, several remaining near the door; all quiet and attentive. Most Friends present in the ministry took part in the vocal exercises, in which Christ was exalted as the rightful Head of His Church and as the world"s only Saviour. The business of the general meeting is the same in character as that of a quarterly meeting. It was held on the 19th of the month, preceded by a meeting for worship. We may trust both were seasons of encouragement to Friends in this land, so remotely situated one from the other and accustomed to meet for worship in comparatively small numbers. While in Aberdeen we visited Barbara Wigham, now nearly ninety-three years of age, a valued minister who seems quietly waiting the pleasure of her Lord to leave her post of watching for a seat among the blessed. How delightful to look upon the ripe corn in the ear ready to be garnered! She is the daughter-in-law of John Wigham, who some years since travelled extensively in America, going as far east as Nova Scotia.
Left Aberdeen the morning of the 21st for Stonehaven, sixteen miles distant, where we had arranged for a meeting in the morning. This is a neat little town, nearly two miles from Ury, the ancient home of the Barclays, including the noted Apologist. The present "laird of Ury,"
John Baird, and his wife, Margaret Baird, kindly showed us about their palace-home and its extensive gardens redolent with fruit and flower, and in other ways continued to make our call a very pleasant one.
Among things of special interest was shown a stool of rather clumsy make labelled "Library Stool of Robert Barclay the Apologist."
Tradition and facts point to this as the veritable seat of that eminent Christian scholar while writing his unrefuted and as yet unanswered book, _The Apology_. A lengthened walk through field and pasture brought us to the "Sarcophagus" of the Barclay family, located upon an eminence overlooking the estate and its surrounding country, including Stonehaven and parts of the German Ocean. The building is of stone, with recesses in the interior walls containing tablets descriptive of members of the family, from Colonel David Barclay to Robert the Younger, who died in 1854, there being five in a direct line of the name of Robert. A larger tablet contains a synopsis of the history and genealogy of the family, running back many years prior to the time in which the name of Barclay finds a place in the history of Friends. The estate is large. One of its owners during his life cultivated two thousand acres and planted out one thousand five hundred other acres. At the time of our visit its pastures were enlivened by the presence of large herds of horned cattle and a flock of eight hundred ewe sheep, four hundred lambs, a portion of this year"s increase having been disposed of previously. Numerous beeches of startling dimensions grace the lawn, and near where stood the old homestead an old yew tree, now in the strength of its power, reminds one that it might have enjoyed, and probably did enjoy, youth contemporaneously with the ancient "laird of Ury" and with his son the Apologist. The present dwelling is one of modern date; its predecessor and the "old Ury meeting-house" were removed to give it place.
Our meeting at Stonehaven was a relieving one. The family from Ury attended, and we were glad of their company. Thence we went forward to Glasgow by way of Dundee, accompanied by our kind friend, Robert Smeal, the gifted editor of the _British Friend_. Held large meetings at each of the above-named cities.
On the 24th, after a meeting at Kilmarnock, went that night to Edinburgh. Next day and first of the week met Friends and others at their place of worship. Here closed our religious labors in that interesting country, and we came pretty directly to this place, taking in meetings at Carlisle, Manchester, and Birmingham. Affectionately thy friend,
ELI JONES.
Eli Jones, in a letter dated 9th mo. 26th, thus alludes to service ahead: "We intend to leave London this evening for Paris, and after a few days there and among Friends in the south of France, embark at Ma.r.s.eilles for Greece; call at a few places in that cla.s.sic land; thence pretty directly to Beirut in Syria, where, if the Lord shall make a way for us to labor in His service, we may spend some weeks in visiting school-missionaries and such others as may be disposed to hear the good news in the land of the Crucified One, and return by way of Jaffa, Alexandria, Cairo, and the island of Malta. We have as companions and helpers in the work our young friends Alfred Lloyd Fox of Falmouth, England, and Ellen Clare Miller of Edinburgh. Much kind interest has been manifested by Friends here in relation to this new field of labor."
One of the companions of E. and S. Jones wrote the following account of their labors in the south of France to the _Friends" Review_:
"Eli and Sybil Jones and party left London on the 16th for Paris, _via_ Folkestone and Boulogne, having letters of introduction from the secretaries of the Turkish Mission, Church Missionary, and Jewish Church Mission societies, and to various persons in the East. We had a smooth, pleasant pa.s.sage of about two hours, S. J. reclining most of the time, and E. J. and companions remaining on deck watching the disappearing lights on the English coast and then those on the French sh.o.r.e coming into view. We spent the night in Boulogne, going on the next afternoon to Paris. The three following days we spent in Paris.
We visited the Exhibition and went to the stand of the Bible Society, where we were greatly interested in the account of the work done during the time of the Exhibition. They have distributed, thus far, 1,800,000 copies of the Scriptures or portions of the Scriptures.
Among others, eight hundred priests have received these, so that we cannot but hope that a large amount of good has been effected. While Eli and Sybil Jones were at the stand numbers of people came for the little gratuitous French, German, and Italian Gospels, and seemed much pleased to receive them. Our friends had the pleasure themselves of giving some copies to soldiers and others. The gentlemen at the stand were much interested in E. and S. J."s mission to the East, and supplied us with Arabic and Turkish portions for distribution there.
On First day we attended the Friends" meeting at the Congregational chapel, 23 Rue Royale, at 9 A. M. About forty persons were present, among others L. Mellor and her husband from Philadelphia, whom it was pleasant for E. and S. Jones to meet. The meeting was a memorable and impressive one, ministry and supplication flowing freely. Soon after the Friends" meeting the usual Congregational meeting was held, at which we remained, the pasteur inviting E. and S. Jones to come to his afternoon meeting in the Avenue des Ternes, where they might have an opportunity of addressing those present. We accordingly went, and found a small but serious gathering of English and Americans; the song of the angels on the night of our Saviour"s birth was dwelt upon. Next day E. and S. J., having been invited by the secretary of the Evangelical Alliance to be present at the usual service in the Salle evangelique, we went thither at the appointed time, but were sorry to find on arriving that, though free opportunity was offered for Eli Jones to speak, the committee could not allow Sybil Jones to do so.
Under these circ.u.mstances Eli Jones declined to take any part in a service which would so distinctly have compromised one of our Society"s leading views. On Third day we left Paris for Lyons. E. and S. J. much enjoyed the country with its long lines of poplar trees edging the streams and ca.n.a.ls, and vineyards terracing the slopes of Cote d"Or. We slept at Lyons, setting out the following morning for another day"s journey to Nismes. Nismes was reached between nine and ten P. M., our Friends less tired than after the journey of the day before, having much enjoyed the scenery. Jules Paradon, who for so many years had been an interpreter for Friends and their kind helper in the south of France, came early to the hotel on the following morning to welcome the Friends back to Nismes. Lydia Majolier and other Friends also called, and an arrangement was made for a meeting to be held at the Free Church the same evening, the pasteur kindly giving up his usual service to E. and S. Jones. A good meeting was held, about one hundred being present. Jules Paradon interpreted the free gospel message and the prayer for France, her rulers, her pasteurs, and her people. Much joy was expressed at seeing E. and S.
J. again. Much fruit of their labor here fourteen years ago is evident. There seems much good stirring among the young people who are connected with Friends. Some of those who were at school when E. and S. J. were last here bear marks of their influence. On the 3d we drove to Congenies, about twelve miles from Nismes, through the rich vineyards and oliveyards of the South. There are not many Friends at Nismes, but the little meeting-house was well filled. In the evening a meeting was held, and about ninety present, half of them men. It was an interesting sight to see the men in their working dress and the women--many of whom had been working hard all day--listening so attentively and seriously to the loving and encouraging words spoken to them. Much feeling was shown as they spoke to the Friends after meeting. E. and S. Jones and their party were kindly lodged at the house of George and Lydia Majolier, and the following day were driven to Fontanes to see Friends in that neighborhood. We were hospitably entertained at the house of Daniel Brun, a minister of our Society. A meeting was held in the afternoon, about forty present; L. Majolier interpreted. E. and S. J. addressed words of warning and encouragement to all. Daniel Brun prayed for a blessing upon the seed sown. On First day the meeting convened at 10.30 A. M. at Congenies, many Friends coming from other places, so that the little meeting-house was again filled, J. Paradon having come over to interpret. Sybil Jones dwelt upon the nature of true worship. Eli Jones dwelt earnestly upon woman"s part in regenerating and elevating the world, reminding us of what a prominent part she played in the fall, and, on the other hand, both in the Old Testament history, and still more in the New, how many n.o.ble women are written about. These were held up as not unattainable examples. A large and very interesting meeting was held at 4 P. M. at Nismes in one of the Protestant places of worship. On Second day E.
and S. J. visited two girls" schools for the poorer cla.s.ses, at both of which they spoke to the children, encouraging them to pray morning and evening for help for the day and forgiveness for what they had done amiss.
"On Third day we were at St. Gilles, where we were very kindly entertained at Anna Vally"s, where a meeting was held in the afternoon for the few Friends in the place, and in the evening a good meeting was held in the temple. The following day a large meeting was held at Calvisson, six hundred being there, and Pasteur Abausit himself interpreting. On Fifth day a farewell meeting was held with the Friends, thirty or forty in number, at which much tenderness of feeling was shown while S. J. urged and encouraged them to fight for the faith once delivered to the saints. She dwelt earnestly on the need of their forgiving those who had injured them, as they hoped to be forgiven. Many tearful farewells were said and earnest desires expressed for E. and S. J."s welfare, and for a blessing on the labors of their hands. On Sixth day we left Nismes at noon, reaching Ma.r.s.eilles about 5 P. M., whence we hope to sail this afternoon for Athens, thence to Beirut, where we look to be about the end of the month."
We give below a letter from Ellen Clare Miller, written on board the steamer "G.o.davery" to the _Friends" Review_:
SMYRNA, 10th mo. 25, 1867.
It falls to my lot to give some account of the very interesting visit to Athens of our dear friends Eli and Sybil Jones.... It was a time never to be forgotten. Our account was written from Ma.r.s.eilles, from which port we embarked on Seventh day, 10th mo. 12th, reaching the Piraeus on Fifth day morning. We had a safe and pleasant voyage, receiving much kindness from the captain, who seemed a superior man.
There was not opportunity for much outward service on board, but earnest desires were felt and loving prayers raised that our tarriance there might be for good to those who sailed with us....
On the 16th the fine ramparts of the rocky, sterile hills of Southern Greece came into view, and all that day we coasted along that most interesting country, with its mountains rising up from the very edge of the sea, here and there a poor little village with its scanty olive trees set in the hollows of the hills, or a solitary house for the shepherd or goatherd. It was past midnight when we sailed into the Piraeus, very calm, with beautiful starlight and a very soft air; and so we landed in Greece.
We did not know quite what we should do, landing at midnight in a strange country and hearing only a strange tongue, but we were wonderfully provided for in this respect. A Greek gentleman, who was our fellow-pa.s.senger returning to Athens, very kindly did for us all that could be done, getting our baggage through the custom-house without detention--which at that late hour was a great relief--and taking us to a comfortable hotel. It is difficult to convey the great interest of our visit to Athens, which should, I think, be confirming to all who go in simple faith where they feel themselves required to go, believing that the way and the work will be opened up before them.
Such has been everywhere the openness to receive our dear friends that surely He who put it into their hearts to visit this place, and who when "He putteth forth His own sheep goeth before them," prepared the hearts of the people in a wonderful manner to receive them, and opened the way for their mission among all. It was very interesting next morning to find ourselves opposite the Acropolis with its ancient ruined temples and fortifications, and the less conspicuous but still more interesting little eminence beside it, Mars Hill, from whose rocks, where the council of the Areopagus sat, Paul spoke.
On Fifth day, the 17th, Eli Jones and Alfred Lloyd Fox delivered letters of introduction to J. H. Hill, chaplain of the English emba.s.sy, who for more than thirty years, with his wife, has been teaching the Greek children. There is a great work going on in Athens in reference to the poor Cretans who have fled from their own islands and taken refuge in Greece. Thousands have come to Athens, where they have been provided with food and clothing, and schools have been opened for the education of their children. We visited five of these--some more than once--where E. and S. Jones had an opportunity of speaking to the children, and often to the poor Cretan women. Some were widows; others had lost their children, others whose husbands and children are still engaged in the war. All had lost their homes and their whole possessions. It was a very affecting sight to see these poor sorrowing creatures thronging to speak to the friends, thanking them for their words of loving sympathy and comfort, and for the help and sympathy sent them from America. At all the schools the message of our dear friends was to point both children and parents to Jesus as the one who is able under all circ.u.mstances to give peace and happiness to the soul. The message, which to many was a new one, seemed to go home to their hearts, and seed was sown with fervent prayer which we must believe will be blessed to these poor creatures and to Greece by Him who giveth the increase. Demetrius Z.
Sackellarios, editor of _The Star in the East_ and treasurer of the American and Greek fund for the support of the Cretan schools, very kindly and efficiently interpreted on several occasions. He is a Greek by birth, but spent several years in America, and his wife, A.
Josephine Sackellarios, is an American lady. There are indeed several Americans in Athens, with whom we had some very delightful intercourse.
We spent First day evening with Dr. Hill and his family, and (through the medium of Edward Ma.s.son, a Scotchman, and formerly one of the judges of the supreme court of Areopagus) E. and S. Jones had an opportunity of addressing a school at Dr. Hill"s house for between twenty and thirty Greek girls of the upper cla.s.ses. Several were introduced to them from Macedonia, Asia Minor, and many parts of Greece and the islands, besides Athens. An impression seemed to be made that evening which we trust will not soon be forgotten. After visiting another of the schools on First day, where we saw five hundred children taught on the national-school system, and some Cretan women spinning and weaving their native silk, we went to the prison, where Sybil Jones had obtained permission to speak to the prisoners.
Leave was granted for all the prisoners, about one hundred and fifty in number, to come into the courtyard, in the centre of which was a large plane tree, under the shadow of which all stood, the poor men forming a large semicircle around S. Jones and D. Sackellarios, her interpreter, and the others. It was a striking scene and a time of great interest. The men were exceedingly attentive, and many were moved while S. J. spoke to them for nearly an hour. She sympathized with them in their present condition. She related some narratives of prisoners who, having found their Saviour in prison, had been filled with joy, and she prayed for them that they too might be brought to Him. The governor of the prison seemed very grateful--said he hoped the words spoken would be blest to the souls of the poor prisoners; and many said it was a day never to be forgotten. It was found that the prisoners had no Bibles, but an arrangement was made that each should be supplied with at least a Gospel. We spent the evening very pleasantly at the house of Dr. Kalopothakes, where we met most of the missionaries, to whom, after the First of Romans had been read, E. and S. J. addressed many words of encouragement, as they did on a similar occasion on Third day morning, when many came to the hotel to take leave, alluding to the refreshment it had been in coming to a strange land to meet with those to whom, as servants of the same blessed Master, they could feel united in one common love and faith, partaking together of the one true communion and speaking together the language of Canaan. All present were deeply affected, and a strong impression was made there as on all other occasions. Some said that the visit of these dear Friends to Athens was just what they had long desired and prayed for--that what they had brought was as a message from the Saviour to encourage them in their work; and D. Sackellarios said that the day of his interpreting for them was the happiest of his life. The same morning E. and S. Jones visited the theological college for the education of young Greek priests. It is under the superintendence of a young Greek, who seems a serious man. He has one or two Friends"
books, and is desirous to know something of our Society. S. J.
addressed a few words both to him and to the students, encouraging them to give their hearts to the Saviour and to attend to the teaching of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.
E. and S. J. also received a visit from the Cretan bishop of Kissaruss to thank them for their visits to the schools and their interest in the Cretan children, and through them to express grat.i.tude to the American people for their help and sympathy. He also asked for the prayers of Americans that Crete might be made free.
We sailed from the Piraeus 10th mo. 22d, landing at Syra the following morning, where E. and S. J. visited the school for Greek children under the care of F. A. Hildner, a Basle missionary, who has been for thirty-seven years engaged in work on this island. Here, as before, the gospel message was spoken to the children and a cheering visit paid to the missionary. We re-embarked on Fifth day, and after running for some time pretty near the coast we sailed into the beautiful bay on which Smyrna stands. The city looks bright and Eastern with its light-painted, square, flat-roofed houses, among which towers and minarets rise. Behind the city rises a steep bare hill crowned with a mosque and the ruins of an old castle. The mountains rise all round the bay, greener than any we had seen since leaving the south of France, and with olive trees and vineyards round their base.
To-day, the 25th, we went on sh.o.r.e, and were driven up and down the narrow, roughly-paved streets of Smyrna, in which we saw many sights reminding us we were in Asia--the trains of laden camels, the veiled Turkish women, the fine large cypress trees shading the graveyards with their painted inscriptions in foreign characters. We visited the deaconesses" home, where fourteen of the sisterhood educate between two hundred and three hundred children, many of the upper cla.s.s. The establishment is in beautiful order, and a bright and Christian spirit appeared to reign in it. We hope to-morrow to continue the voyage to Beirut. Our dear friends are pretty well, though needing rest. Thine sincerely,
ELLEN CLARE MILLER.
Ellen Clare Miller writes again in 11th mo. to the _Friends" Review_:
BEIRUT, Syria.
The account of the journey of our dear friends E. and S. Jones was brought down to the time of our leaving Smyrna. Having now reached Beirut in safety, they wish thee and their friends in America to know as soon as may be of their welfare, and of the pleasant and very interesting voyage which we were favored to make safely and comfortably. Since our arrival here, on Sixth day, the weather has been so broken and stormy that we do indeed feel that there is great cause for thankfulness to Him who holds the winds and waters under His control.
We sailed from Smyrna about noon on the 26th, gradually losing sight of the beautiful mountains which rise up on the south-west side of the bay with their fine coloring of gray, pink, green, and purple, which gives such a charm to the hills about this coast. We pa.s.sed Chios and Samos--Patmos with its great interest as the isle to which the beloved disciple was banished by the emperor Domitian, and where the wonderful visions were revealed to him. The following day, First day, the 27th, we reached Rhodes, and, the steamer stopping for a few hours, we went on sh.o.r.e, going up the steep street where on either hand stand the half-ruined, strongly-built castles and houses once occupied by the Knights of St. John. Over each doorway may still very plainly be seen the various coats-of-arms of the members of the order, the grand master having a larger house and more elaborate escutcheon. We pa.s.sed a mosque at the time when the congregation were coming out, and saw each man resume his shoes at the door; there were no women. We were allowed to look inside, but not to enter more than a step or two. It was a plain, whitewashed building, with matting, but no seats; texts from the Koran painted here and there upon the walls, and a kind of pulpit from which the Koran is read. There are many Jews and Mohammedans at Rhodes. It was sorrowful to think how many there were who were professing to worship G.o.d, but in so mistaken a manner. E.
Jones and A. Fox distributed a great many portions of Scripture and tracts in Arabic, Turkish, and Hebrew, as they did all along the coast at our various stopping-places, so sowing much good seed, some of which at least may, we hope, take root and bear fruit.