"Our ride increased in interest as the young day grew upon us, and by the time the sun had thrown his full blaze of light athwart the western slope of Lebanon the objects seen through the transparent atmosphere of this land presented a most delightful view. Our course was sufficiently tortuous to enable us at times to look down upon Beirut and its surrounding olive- and mulberry-orchards, stately palms, and suburban villages, while beyond lay the Great Sea, dotted here and there with the sail of many a merchant-ship, and then again Sunnin, the highest western point of Lebanon, snow-capped, stood majestically before us clad in the changing hues of early morning."
"Reached the summit near ten, and after another hour"s ride of almost flying speed we looked down upon the great valley of Buka"a or Coele-Syria, bounded on the east by the Anti-Lebanon, clothed in its snowy vesture, while far to our right Hermon, the imperial monarch of Syrian mountains, was seen, in its appearance fully justifying the appellation sometimes applied to it--that of a silver breastplate."
"Just as the darkness of night shut out from our view the fertile valley in which Damascus stood, our last relay of animals was attached to the carriage, consisting of six white horses; and fine specimens they were. A little farther on our attention was arrested by the sound of water on our right, and we were told that it was the Barada River, the Abana of Scripture. "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" The remainder of our journey lay along the fertile valley of this ancient river. It may, with the strictest propriety, be termed a "river of Damascus," as it divides the city into two parts and furnishes a liberal supply of water to many of its inhabitants. We found comfortable quarters at the Dimitris" hotel. The proprietor, a Greek, speaks broken English and strives to make the stay of his guests as agreeable as circ.u.mstances will admit.
"_26th._ Sent our certificates to the missionaries for their perusal.
At 12 M. attended the prayer-meeting of the few persons here who speak English. After some singing and prayers, and a rather long theological discussion, liberty was given to others to speak. My dear Sybil availed herself of the opportunity to express the feelings which lay with weight upon her heart. This was done briefly, when she knelt in earnest supplication on behalf of those present and for the spread of the glorious gospel of G.o.d our Saviour."
"The next day visited two of the schools under the care of the missionaries; strove to encourage teachers and pupils to act well their part. Then went to the home of one of the Bible-women employed by E. B. Thompson to go from house to house and teach such women as desire to read the Bible."
"During our stay in the city we had frequently at our morning readings of the Holy Scriptures the company of the Bible-women and a few others, when our hearts were made glad in the Lord."... "A few weeks previous to the abdication of Louis Philippe the French obtained a foothold in Algeria, after a lengthened struggle of fifteen years or more, when Abdel-Kader, the sultan of the Arabs and one of the most remarkable men of his nation, was induced to surrender to the power of the French, on the condition that he might be allowed to retire to a Mohammedan country as a stipendiary exile."... "He is a follower of Mohammed, the founder of Islamism, and has shown his devotion to the teachings of the Koran by a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and by a lifelong adherence to the religion of his fathers. In 1860 thousands of Christians in the Lebanon and in Damascus were ma.s.sacred in cold blood, instigated by the deadly hate of the followers of the false Prophet, while hundreds of others, men, women, and children, fled from their pursuers and took refuge in the house and about the premises of Abdel-Kader, who in the exercise of the influence his position gives him, and from the promptings of a kind heart, aided by his trusty followers, shielded the helpless ones from the fury and fanaticism of his co-religionists. Once the mob approached his house and demanded with frantic yells that the Christians within it should be delivered up to them. He, accompanied by a strong body of his followers, went out to confront the yelling crowd. "Wretches!" he exclaimed, "is this the way you honor your prophet? May his curse be upon you! Shame on you! shame! You will yet live to repent. You think you may do as you like with the Christians, but the day of retribution will come. The Franks will yet come and turn your mosques into churches. Not a Christian will I give up. _They are my brothers._" The mob withdrew."... "Abdel-Kader[9] was at length enabled to repose. He had rescued _fifteen thousand souls_ belonging to the Eastern churches from death, and worse than death, by his fearless courage, his unwearied activity, and his catholic-minded zeal. All the representatives of the Christian powers then residing at Damascus, without one single exception, had owed their lives to him. Strange and unparalleled destiny! An Arab had thrown his guardian aegis over the outraged majesty of Europe. A descendant of the Prophet had sheltered and protected the (professed) Spouse of Christ. The day previous to our leaving Damascus it seemed right to seek an interview with this n.o.ble exile, and from a full heart, in my own name and in behalf of my country and fellow-professors, thank him for his kind and humane interposition, by which, under Providence, so many fellow-beings were rescued from an untimely and a cruel death. Pa.s.sing up the street upon which the house of the great chief stands, and having Abou Ibrahim for a guide (who, by the way, claims descent from Aaron), we observed Abdel-Kader enter the gateway just before we reached it, where he was standing when we arrived. Our guide having addressed him, he kindly noticed A. L. Fox and myself, and, cordially beckoning us to follow him, led us to a simple reception-room, where, being seated, we had an opportunity of saying what lay nearest to our hearts, and enjoyed the pleasure of feeling that it was kindly taken.[10] While in Damascus we were in the "street called Straight," and visited the place indicated by tradition as the house of Judas, where the blind Saul of Tarsus lodged. We were shown the house of Ananias, who was sent to cure the penitent of his blindness, and the place in the wall where the disciples took him by night and let him down in a basket. I am not surprised that the Christian traveller feels some misgivings as to the ident.i.ty of these places when he remembers that the evidence is mainly traditional. There is, however, scarcely room to doubt that the modern city occupies the site of the Damascus of Scripture, and that the "street called Straight" is the identical one entered by Saul on that memorable day that gave to the Gentile world a great apostle and to the Christian Church one of its brightest luminaries."... "The conversion of Paul was one of the most momentous events of Scripture history. The fiery zeal of Saul the persecutor was not extinguished--it was sanctified."...
[9] From _Life of Abdel-Kader_, by Col. Churchill.
[10] Eli Jones spoke his mission in English. Alfred Fox translated it into German, and the Jew gave it to the Arab sultan in his own language. Through the medium of three of the world"s great languages the representatives of these three great religions expressed their thoughts to each other, and the burden of the thoughts was love and grat.i.tude. The message being given, refreshments were put before the strangers, and then Abdel-Kader withdrew as a courtesy, so that these visitors might not be constrained to go out backward from his presence--an honor due to him as sultan.
"Paul the missionary retained all his former energy, boldness, and determination. In Damascus he first preached "Christ crucified;" then he went into Arabia, then to Antioch, then through Asia Minor; then he pa.s.sed the h.e.l.lespont to Greece; and then he went a prisoner to Rome, where he preached the gospel though chained to a heathen soldier. The apostle Paul occupies the first place among the New-Testament worthies."... "Damascus is as old as history itself. It has survived generations of cities that have risen up in succession around it and have pa.s.sed away. While they all lie in ruins, Damascus retains the freshness and vigor of youth."... "Outside of the eastern gate of the city is a leper hospital, which to this day is supposed by the inhabitants to occupy the site of Naaman"s house."... "There are in the city about thirty thousand Christians, ten thousand Jews, one hundred thousand Mohammedans, and of Protestant Christians less than one hundred, all counted."
"On the 31st of the month we returned to Beirut by diligence. During our stay of five days at Damascus snow had fallen upon the mountains, but not so as materially to r.e.t.a.r.d our progress until we had nearly reached the summit of Lebanon, when, being furnished with a train of twelve animals and four outriders, aided by a strong force of men, we proceeded without much detention, arriving at our comfortable quarters in good time."... "We antic.i.p.ate leaving in a few days for Jerusalem, should the weather permit and the health of our party prove equal to the effort."... "With love to all who love the truth as it is in Jesus Christ,
"ELI JONES."
The following are extracts from a letter from Ellen Clare Miller, written a few days after the return of Eli Jones and A. L. Fox from Damascus:
"Eli Jones had a meeting at Beirut with some of the young Syrian men of the town, which, though it was a stormy night, was well attended and an interesting time. On First day, the 9th, he had a very good meeting in a suburb of the town at the house of one of the princ.i.p.al men in the neighborhood."... "It was a very interesting group, upward of one hundred being present, some of the turbaned old men leaning forward on their staves with their eyes fixed on Eli Jones while, after the reading of the twelfth of Ecclesiastes from the Arabic Bible, he addressed them through the aid of our kind interpreter, Maalim Saleem, seeking to bring all before him, old and young, to enter into the service of Him whom he had from his youth proved to be a good Master."
"On the 7th, Sybil Jones had a meeting with the women connected with E. M. Thompson"s school, at which she spoke to them for about an hour of our need of a Saviour."... "Many of these women have learned to read, and they are very anxious that a school should be opened for them where they may be taught to read and sew by a native teacher." ...
"She visited also some of the poor women at their own homes and the Bible-women employed by E. M. Thompson, all of whom seemed very ready to receive a visit from one having their best interests at heart, and to listen gladly to the word spoken."... "On Second day evening a meeting was held by Eli and Sybil Jones with the Arabic-speaking congregation at Beirut, who readily responded to the invitation to meet them. Eli Jones addressed them from the words, "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.""...
"Sybil Jones followed, urging the necessity of a heart-changing repentance."... "Sybil Jones paid interesting visits to some of the harems at Beirut, the first time we had been inside any of those "gilded cages," where the poor women, without the resource of books, for they cannot read, or of work, for they cannot sew, talk, sleep, dream, and smoke life away, without the variety of walking out, for they cannot be trusted abroad, and unable to look out into the world except through a lattice. We went under the care of E. M. Thompson, who obtains ready access." ... "We were driven as near the first house as the carriage could be taken, but on alighting had to ascend a steep, rough, narrow road, crossing a watercourse here and there, then a branch road of steps, then another torrent-path. The roads of ill-governed Syria are deplorable indeed. At last we reached the door of a large but unpretending-looking house, or rather group of houses, for one opened out of another. Here lived four families, related to each other, of the first rank in Beirut, the grandmothers, the wives of the house, girls, and children, in the flowing dress of the East, sitting on the floor by the ashes of the braziers or crouching on the divan, all but the youngest smoking the unfailing nargileh with its long flexible tube. They received us most cordially and affectionately, and seated us by their sides, and through the medium of one of E. M. Thompson"s native teachers Sybil Jones spoke to them, and also E. M. Thompson; but it was very difficult to secure the attention of the company for any length of time; they could not refrain from laughing and chatting together. Poor creatures! some of them looked almost devoid of intellect with the long pipe-tubes in their mouths; others were very pretty and seemed quite to appreciate the loss they sustained by being uneducated. Some of the highest Mohammedan families are very anxious that E. M. Thompson should open a school for their elder girls, where they would send them if no man was allowed to look upon them. The desire for education is waking up among them in a remarkable manner." ... "The ladies are all waited upon by dark, white-teethed African female slaves in scanty clothing. Sherbet, coffee, and sweetmeats were handed round, and it is an insult to decline partaking, however many houses we may have visited." ... "Poor creatures! we could not but desire that the true light might enter their dwellings and shine into their hearts."
"We sailed from Beirut on the 12th, and came down the coast in the night, pa.s.sing in the darkness Sidon, Tyre, Mount Carmel, and Caesarea.
After a rather stormy pa.s.sage we anch.o.r.ed next morning before Jaffa, which rises up from the sea on a round hill, at each side of which is a sandy bay."... "It is difficult by description to give much idea of Jaffa with its steep, narrow, dirty, and muddy lanes, and street-stairs which climb up the hill among the old, dilapidated houses crowded irregularly together."... "Jaffa is very ancient, and, notwithstanding its extreme dirtiness, an interesting place."... "The most interesting place to visit in the town itself is the supposed--and, indeed, well-authenticated--site of the house of Simon the tanner, which stands by the sea-side, rising up above the town-wall. The building now standing is not supposed to be the very one in which Peter lodged, but to have been built on the spot where it stood. In the courtyard is a very ancient well which helps to identify the place, and beside it is a large stone trough of undoubted antiquity, probably used to soak hides in, and partly covered by a large flat stone like a currier"s table."
"There is mission-work going on at Jaffa; P. Metzler, a German educated at the Basle inst.i.tution, carries on a mill, with part of the profits of which he supports a girls" day-school."... "Eli Jones with A. L. Fox visited this school the other day, when he spoke to and examined the children, with whose intelligence and answers he was much pleased."
"While the Friends were in Damascus I was present at a native wedding, where the honored guests were each furnished with a taper to hold; which had a great interest as a remnant of the going forth with lamps to meet the bridegroom alluded to in the parable of the Ten Virgins.
New light too has been thrown on the expression "heaping coals of fire on his head" by finding that it is customary for the baker when he clears his oven at night to give away the living embers to those who will accept the kindness; and we have met persons in the evening carrying these coals away on their heads in large open braziers. It is remarkable how little the customs of the people have changed within the last two or three thousand years."
After the above letter was written the Friends went from Jaffa to Jerusalem, thence to Ma.r.s.eilles, having held many meetings and interviews with teachers and scholars in the schools, which are doing a great work toward causing the light of day to dawn upon unfortunate Syria. The following extracts from a letter written by Eli Jones to the _Friends" Review_ from London will state clearly the reasons for their leaving Palestine sooner than was expected: "We are again in this great city, and comfortably quartered at the house of our very kind friends Stafford and Hannah S. Allen, where we are seeking rest and a renewal of strength for further service for our good Master. For more than two months past my dear Sybil has been suffering from an attack of disease, leaving her at times very weak; consequently, we were unable to accomplish fully what we had in view in the Orient, leaving several places in Palestine and in Egypt that we might hasten the time of embarkation at Alexandria in order to bear our invalid to a more favorable climate, as the only thing likely to facilitate a cure. The voyage, with the use of remedies prescribed by the physician on shipboard, arrested the disorder for a time, and we hoped the cure might prove permanent; but the journey by train from Ma.r.s.eilles to Nismes proved too much for the strength of our charge, and the disorder rallied with fresh force and continued for some time, but again yielded to skilful treatment and nursing by our dear friend Lydia Majolier, whose kindness and sympathy, with those of our much-loved friends in the south of France, greatly cheered all our party. Near noon of the 8th we took the train for Paris, and thence to London by way of Boulogne, where we arrived after a journey of thirty-three hours" continuance. Dear S. bore the journey admirably, and we now entertain the hope that a few days of quiet and rest may be of great use, so that we may be able to proceed to Dublin in season for the yearly meeting. Our long sojourn in the East has not been without its trials. Sometimes they seemed to us peculiar, and when we attempted to look into the future it seemed doubtful if not dark.
Still, that kind Hand always stretched out to save has gently led the way and shielded us from harm. Blessed be the name of the Lord!"...
"A. L. Fox left us last evening for his home, where we now fancy him in the society of wife and child, father and mother, brothers and sisters, to whom he is tenderly attached and by whom he is greatly beloved. Dear E. C. Miller intends to remain until Second or Third day of next week before she leaves to join the home-circle, by whom she will receive a warm welcome, but saddened by the thought that one dear sister waits not on earth to welcome the coming one, but in another and higher scene of existence."
CHAPTER XIV.
_SECOND VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND._
The cause for which the two Friends came to England before fully accomplishing their work in Syria was the extreme feebleness of Sybil Jones. A change and partial rest seemed imperative.
They soon began to labor in Cornwall, and they were gratified to find "Quakerism still vital" in this place where George Fox had sowed the seed exactly two centuries before. Considerable time was spent and much edifying work done at Falmouth, where they were pleased to find so many Friends of high literary and scientific attainments. The small meetings of the neighboring villages received new life from the earnest words and encouraging advice of the travellers.
One of their letters describes the visit to a meeting at Come-to-Good in the parish of Kea:
"Here is a meeting-house belonging to Friends built more than two hundred years ago. It has a most primitive appearance. The walls are of stone, the abutments of the same material; the roof is thatched with straw. It is in a rural and retired spot. Only one Friend, and he of more than fourscore years, resides in the neighborhood; but the many gra.s.sy mounds that press about the door tell of generations that have pa.s.sed away. The meeting here was one of great interest, and one to which we recur with unfeigned pleasure. He who, we doubt not, has from time to time met his servants here and at that altar of "unhewn stones," was now present to bless the waiting ones. In this humble structure George Fox proclaimed the good news with his wonted zeal and with all the energy of a reformer."
In the same letter Eli Jones writes with great feeling:
"A little farther on we reach the Land"s End. Here it stands, a bold promontory, with granite fingers pointing toward the New World. As I climb these mighty bulwarks that have successfully defied the power of Old Ocean through every change of time, and look out upon the unstable waters toward the setting sun, what thoughts of kindred and country fill my breast! Lord of life, great Spirit in the centre of all worlds, bless thou them!"
For more than two months they dwelt at Plymouth, during which time Sybil Jones gained strength rapidly, although she was in a very critical condition. A Friend from that city writes of their message there: "I believe there are many in this part of the country who will have reason to bless G.o.d in eternity for the visit and gospel labors of Eli and Sybil Jones." Members who had never before opened their lips in public bore testimony that they desired to be on the Lord"s side.
The southern part of England was faithfully travelled over, and the joys of a "life hid with Christ in G.o.d" proclaimed to the people, who everywhere received the messengers and the message gladly. The various meetings of Ireland were again attended. A warm reception was given to the American workers, who were already well known there from their previous efforts, and an earnest and loving spirit seemed to pervade many hearts. As this year (1868) was closing, Eli Jones, with a heart full of love to G.o.d for his immeasurable blessings, wrote to one of his friends in the land which he so loved:
"As we turn to other households and to our country, and to other countries and peoples, we see everywhere evidences of the superintending care of Him in whom we live and move and have our being. And are we not reminded by divers tokens for good that light is advancing? And may we not accept as true the words of the poet:
"Upon the great dial-plate of ages The light advanced no more recedes"?
If this be so, let us bind on our armor, and as the newborn year takes its place as the successor of those that are past, and after it shall have done its full measure of service in the long line of years shall give place to others, who we hope may be blessed in their deed and doing far beyond their progenitors.
"On the closing day of the last year I stood with my fellow-travellers upon the western slope of Mount Lebanon, and there reviewed the past and looked prayerfully forward to the incoming year--a year whose history will soon be complete. And what a history! and what a work has been accomplished!--work in which millions have been actors. The citizens of the two great English-speaking nations, Great Britain and the United States, have with unprecedented unanimity at their late elections declared in favor of religious liberty and of political equality. In Spain mult.i.tudes seem only waiting to claim for themselves and their countrymen these inalienable rights of all men.
"Even in Turkey, where the teachings of the Koran and the False Prophet have dominated so long, see we not bright rays of light here and there amid the darkness? I think we do. The Christian woman with her firman from the sultan is diligently inst.i.tuting schools where the children of the Jew, the Christian, and the Mohammedan are taught _not_ the _Koran_, but the _page_ written by inspiration of G.o.d.
"If we turn to Madagascar, that far-off island of the sea, we observe much with which to fill a large page in the history of the year just closing. A queen has reached the throne who looks approvingly upon the workers among her pagan subjects, while thousands press about those who tell the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ, and hear them gladly; while Liberia, India, China, and j.a.pan can each furnish a page that shall tell of light advancing and declare to the world that "G.o.d is love" and the "Father of us all.""
As the winter pa.s.sed and Sybil Jones felt new strength come from her partial rest in Great Britain, while her husband continually carried on the work, sometimes alone, sometimes with her help, they each began to feel that there was more work to be done in the East, though neither had spoken to the other in regard to it. The 22d of 2d mo., their prospect having become definite, with the full approval of English Friends they once more embarked for Syria. They spent nearly a week in the south of France, revisiting their many friends there and encouraging them all to continue on in their lives of service to the Master. The meetings were very large, sometimes fully five hundred being present, and they found their work done sixteen years before had left a lasting impression.
After a delightful voyage over the blue waters of the Mediterranean they came to Alexandria, where there were many opportunities offered for spreading the news of the way of life through the Saviour. Here and at Cairo there were many who gladly listened to the great truths which they were inspired to preach. There, where Napoleon had told his soldiers that forty centuries looked down upon them from the heights of the Pyramids, these missionaries of love labored to point their hearers to the Ancient of Days, whose habitation is from eternity and which standeth sure. The different mission-schools of Northern Egypt were visited and helped in various ways.
Of this work Ellen Clare Miller, again their companion, writes:
"The visit to Egypt was altogether of remarkable interest, there being, especially among the native Christians at Alexandria, an interesting and open field for the spread of _spiritual Christianity_, and an earnest longing in the minds of some after a closer _acquaintance with the teaching of the Holy Spirit and His appearing in the soul_."
The 16th of 4th mo. they came to the end of their journey, and camped outside the city of Jerusalem. At once they began the work of visiting schools and holding little meetings for all who wished to hear the gospel, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the surrounding villages. As these laborers rose before the groups gathered round them on the very spots where the works of our Master were wrought and where his words were spoken, with the scenes of the greatest historic events stretching out before them, a new power seemed to fill them, and their souls were stirred for the salvation and upbuilding of the people of this Holy Land. No cla.s.s of its inhabitants was neglected; even the lepers were recipients of their message. Eli Jones visited the community of these unfortunate beings, and tried to induce them to come to the hospital prepared for them, telling them also of Him who came into this world to deliver us from even a worse disease than leprosy.
A letter from Eli Jones, written from Burkin, will suffice to give the reader an idea of their travels and a description of some of the places visited. Among others he speaks of Ramallah, where the mission-school was begun during their visit there. The letter was written for the _Friends" Review_:
"Tented near this little town, the time of day something past "high noon" and the heat at 94 in the shade, I take the time to jot down a few thoughts, or perhaps I should say facts, for the perusal of my North American correspondents. Since I last wrote thee we have pa.s.sed through portions of the ancient country of Egypt, have looked with feelings of admiration and wonder upon her pyramids and hieroglyphics, the former standing out to-day in all their primeval strength to tell of the _greatness_, or perhaps more correctly of the _folly_, of their builders, and the latter as we saw them upon the lasting rock apparently as clearly defined as when fresh from the hand of the recorder.
"The Nile, emphatically "the river of Egypt," still flows onward to the sea, and in its season annually waters the country, giving abundant fertility to the soil, which if cultivated with skill and care would make the adopted country of Joseph again the granary of the world. We had a very pleasant sail upon this wonderful river, embarking near the spot where floated the ark of bulrushes containing the Hebrew child who in the fulness of time became the leader and deliverer of Israel from their long bondage in the land of the Pharaohs. At the time of our visit the river was spanned by a bridge of boats, thrown across by order of the viceroy on the occasion of the marriage of some members of his family: this circ.u.mstance gave us a carriage-ride for several miles where otherwise we must have had recourse to donkeys as a mode of conveyance.
"A ca.n.a.l has been constructed extending from the Nile near Cairo to Suez upon the Red Sea; these places are also connected by the railroad; much of the way this runs parallel to the ca.n.a.l. On our way to the latter place we followed the iron horse for five or six hours across the desert of sand which must needs be pa.s.sed, and which is enlivened only by the moving sails upon the ca.n.a.l, the untiring steeds that bore us on, and those tell-tale wires which, as with loving arms, are embracing not only the seas and fertile lands, but also the desert wilds. An highway (Isa. xi. 16) _is_ here, and shall not _this_ desert yet blossom as a rose? To our party the Red Sea was an object of much interest: as we sailed out upon it we beheld at our right the mountains through whose defiles the Lord"s people are supposed to have pa.s.sed on their approach to the water"s edge, where, notwithstanding the hot pursuit of their enemies, they were to hear the a.s.suring language: "Fear ye not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you to-day; for the Egyptians which ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever;" and on our left was the gently-sloping strand where they made their exit from their watery way, and where we subsequently landed, some of our party going a little way into the interior to drink of the waters at the "well of Moses," which remaineth unto this day. Let the G.o.d of Israel be magnified, and let not His wonderful works be forgotten by the children of men.