{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44122/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44122","id":"gutenberg_44122","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44122","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Missions -- Syria"],"text":"SILVER CHIMES IN SYRIA\n\n\n[Illustration: HENRY A. NELSON MEMORIAL\n\n_Tripoli Boys' School_]\n\n\n\n\nSILVER CHIMES IN SYRIA\n\nGLIMPSES OF A MISSIONARY'S EXPERIENCES\n\nBY\nW. S. NELSON, D.D.,\nAUTHOR OF \"HABEEB THE BELOVED\"\n\n[Illustration: Logo]\n\nPHILADELPHIA\nTHE WESTMINSTER PRESS\n1914\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1914\n\nBY F. M. BRASELMANN\n\n\n\n\nDEDICATION\n\nJULY 17, 1888. CINCINNATI, OHIO.\n\n     _This book is affectionately inscribed to her who has been the\n     companion of my life for twenty-five years; my helper in all my\n     work; my cheer and comfort in all circumstances; the maker of my\n     home; the source of all that is silvery in the chimes that ring\n     to-day._\n\n     HOMS, SYRIA, JULY 17, 1913.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nWhen a tourist is seated on the deck of a steamer, waiting to leave the\ncountry in which he has enjoyed an outing, his eyes do not seek the\nlow-lying shore of the sea, for the memories he would retain hereafter.\nHe lifts his eyes to the overhanging mountains. Nor is it the whole\nmassive range that holds his vision. He looks instinctively to the\nscattered, lofty summits which stand aloof as it were from the monotony\nof the lower range. Especially as the sun sinks below the western\nhorizon do his eyes dwell lovingly on those highest peaks which are\ncolored with the light of the setting sun.\n\nMy purpose in sending out this collection of sketches is somewhat the\nsame. I have not attempted a continuous narrative, with all the monotony\nof repeated acts, but have sought to make vivid to the reader some of\nthe more conspicuous features of missionary life, in the hope of\ndeepening sympathy with the workers and increasing zeal in the work.\nThat is my excuse for the free use of the personal pronoun, not to make\nprominent the person, but to emphasize the reality. May the volume be\nenjoyed by our fellow workers in America, and blessed by Him whom we all\nserve.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nCHAPTER                              PAGE\n   I. ARRIVAL IN SYRIA                  3\n\n  II. LANGUAGE STUDY                   14\n\n III. TRAVEL AND COMMUNICATION         19\n\n  IV. EVANGELISTIC TRIPS               34\n\n   V. ALEPPO                           53\n\n  VI. NEW STATIONS AND BUILDINGS       65\n\n VII. CAMPING LIFE                     75\n\nVIII. PERSECUTION                      87\n\n  IX. EMIGRATION                       94\n\n   X. SYRIAN ENTERPRISES              104\n\n  XI. INTERRUPTIONS                   111\n\n XII. OUR SUPPORTERS                  127\n\nXIII. PERSONAL FRIENDS                136\n\n XIV. TRIPOLI BOYS' SCHOOL            150\n\n  XV. MOVING                          164\n\n XVI. THE MUEZZIN OR THE BELL         169\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n                                                           PAGE\nHenry A. Nelson Memorial--_Tripoli Boys' School_ _Frontispiece_\n\nLatakia Boys' School                           _Facing Page_ 34\n\nTartoose--_Crusaders' Church_                                34\n\nAleppo Minaret                                               53\n\nHadeth Summer Home                                           75\n\nAbu Maroon, the Hadeth Carpenter                             75\n\nHoms--_Boys' School_                                        104\n\nTripoli Boys' School--_First Home_                          150\n\nTripoli Boys' School--_Second Home_                         150\n\nHoms                                                        164\n\nHeathen Temple and Mount Hermon                             164\n\nHamidiyeh Mosque--_Tripoli_                                 169\n\nOld City Gate--_Tripoli_                                    169\n\n\n\n\nSILVER CHIMES IN SYRIA\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nARRIVAL IN SYRIA\n\n\nEvery individual makes a new personal discovery, as with the passage of\nyears, he realizes the difference between the long look forward over a\ngiven period, and the look backward over the same period, when it is\ncompleted. To the new arrival on the field the veteran of twenty-five\nyears' experience appears to have spent a very long time in the service;\nbut as he looks back over his own life, at the end of a similar period,\nhe wonders that he ever entertained such an opinion. Looking back to the\nyear 1888, the events of that time do not seem at all remote, and it is\nhard to realize that to anyone that year can appear a very long way in\nthe past.\n\nOn the last day of October, in the early morning, a steamer of the\nAustrian-Lloyd Line cast anchor in front of Beirut. That was long before\nthe building of the harbor, and all vessels tossed in the open\nroadstead, at the mercy of wind and wave, only slightly sheltered by the\nlong headland of Ras Beirut, where the tall lighthouse rears its slender\nshaft, and where the Syrian Protestant College stands, as a more\nimportant symbol of light-giving.\n\nThe anchor was scarcely dropped before the little boats from the shore\ncrowded about the ladders and the boatmen came swarming over the sides\nof the vessel, to take possession of the passengers and carry them\nashore. It is always a perplexing but interesting scene to the newcomer.\nThe curious costumes of many colors give an appearance of gayety to the\ncrowd; the shouting of the guttural Arabic makes one think of Babel; the\nwild gesticulating of the excited people suggests the possibility of a\nriot; the seizing of baggage and pulling of passengers by eager boatmen\nmake one think that the day of personal liberty and private property is\npassed. As a rule, however, it is all good-natured, and the noise is\nmore bantering than quarreling. In fact, one soon becomes accustomed to\nthe turmoil as an indication of lack of orderly proceeding in the\nOrient.\n\nAmong the first figures to appear on deck that October morning was one\nquieter but no less eager than the Arab boatmen. He quickly made his way\nto the room of the new missionaries, just arriving from America,\nprepared to take them ashore, and even to escort them at once to his own\nhome in Sidon. It was a most welcome, homelike experience to the tired\ntravelers, and the cheery voice and cordial welcome of Mr. W. K. Eddy\nwill never be forgotten.\n\nThere were many things in the journey, thus ended, that had made it\ntrying. The young couple had crossed the Atlantic entirely among\nstrangers and the ocean had not been kind to them. Seasickness is never\na happy experience, and when it becomes a continuous performance, in\nconnection with a wedding journey, it seems most inappropriate. Pleasant\nvisits with family friends and relatives in Scotland effaced the\nmemories of the Atlantic. Visiting new scenes and beautiful places in\nSwitzerland gave much pleasure by the way, but in an unfortunate day the\ngerms of malaria had been absorbed and southern Italy was reached with\nfever and weakness that made sightseeing a burden.\n\nWho can forget his first glimpse of the real Orient, at Port Said? The\nnoise and the dirt; the squalor and the glaring sun; the rush of the\ncrowd and the utter lonesomeness of the stranger, make a contrast and\nmixture that are not easily matched in life's ordinary experiences. Four\ndays were to pass before a steamer went to Beirut. It was not a pleasant\nprospect for travelers homesick and weak from fever to have to tarry\nfor four days in a dismal hotel, with nothing attractive in the way of\ncompanionship or occupation. Besides this, our trunks had not been sent\nforward as promised, and we were obliged to depend upon the limited hand\nbaggage with which we had crossed the Continent. It is easy to imagine\nthe sensations with which the young bride looked forward to making her\nfirst appearance among strangers, with a face pale from fever and an\noutfit so unexpectedly limited.\n\nThe hearty welcome of Mr. Eddy on the deck of that Austrian steamer in\nBeirut harbor was a needed tonic, and his skill and experience readily\npassed us through the intricacies of the customhouse and brought us to\nthe hospitable home of his father. Of the friends who conspired to make\nthose first days bright, many have been called away to the other shore,\nthough others are still our associates in the service of Syria. Dr. and\nMrs. W. W. Eddy, with whom we spent our first ten days in Syria, left\nus many years ago. Dr. Samuel Jessup was always thoughtful, bringing\nbright flowers from his garden to continue the impression of his bright\nface and cheery words, when he called upon the strangers. He and Mrs.\nJessup, whose home was one of the brightest spots of those early years,\nhave also gone on before to their well-earned reward. Mr. March, coming\ndown from the mountains on his way to Tripoli, was especially ready in\nhis plans for the comfort of his new associates in Tripoli Station. But\nit is not necessary to mention each one. The beauty of missionary life\nis the unity of fellowship and the completeness with which every\nnewcomer is received into the intimacy and love of the circle, which is\nonly less close and intimate than that of the family itself.\n\nAfter ten days spent in Beirut in trying to get rid of the malaria and\nin acquiring some knowledge of the Arabic alphabet, we went on to\nTripoli, our future home. It was a cold, windy Saturday afternoon. We\nwere taken out to the steamer in a small boat, which tossed on the\nrestless waves in a way which we supposed to be normal. The steamer was\nsmall and crowded with a miscellaneous company, most of whom were not\nhappy, to say the least. Fortunately it is only a four hours' ride, for\nthe wind increased in violence as we proceeded, and when the anchor was\ndropped at sundown off Tripoli, it seemed doubtful whether any boats\ncould come out to meet us. In due time, however, a boat pulled\nalongside, and there was Mr. March, who had come out over that rough sea\nto welcome us to our new home, though he did not think we would venture\nto start from Beirut in such a storm. The steamer was rolling so badly\nthat the ladder could not be lowered at all, and we crept out on it as\nit lay horizontally along the ship's side, and then, when the tip was\nlowest, simply dropped into the arms of the boatmen below. Then began\nthe laborious pull for the shore. We were two hours reaching land, our\nclothes soaked, our spirits at zero, but most happy to reach the warm,\ncozy haven of the March home in the Mina of Tripoli. It was the\nbeginning of a most beautiful fellowship with Mr. and Mrs. March and\ntheir children, whose sweet introduction of themselves won our hearts at\nonce and who, though now grown to maturity, still call us by the old,\naffectionate titles of uncle and aunt. Thus, for the second time in our\nshort missionary experience, we were made to feel the comfort and peace\nof being taken into the warmth and love of a Christian home, no longer\nas strangers, but as brethren.\n\nWe wished to take possession of our own home as soon as possible. Our\nhousehold goods were in the customhouse, and another first experience\nwas before us. Everything had to be examined and its purpose explained\nto the satisfaction of the Turkish inspector. To him it seemed a wholly\nunnecessary amount of furniture for one person, for of course he could\nnot recognize that the wife's existence made any difference. A box of\nclass photographs was examined in detail, and great surprise manifested\nthat one person should have so many friends. A small vase for flowers in\nthe shape of a kettle resting on five legs puzzled the examiner, until\nhe picked up the perforated piece of a soap dish, and decided that he\nhad found the appropriate adaptation of the two pieces. It did not seem\nnecessary to explain, so long as he was satisfied, and no harm was done.\n\nWe had many things to learn besides the language. Our home belonged to a\nman whose name was translated to us as Mr. Victory-of-God Brass. In an\narch under the parlor windows he had hung a donkey's skull and some\nbeads, to keep off the evil eye of jealousy from his fine house. It was\na pleasant house, well located near the city gate which had been known\nin former days as Donkey Gate, only a few minutes' walk from the girls'\nschool and just at the end of the tram line connecting the city with\nthe harbor, two miles distant. In planning for our new home we had\nindulged in the luxury of two pairs of simple lace curtains for our\nparlor windows. When we entered the house, our amazement can hardly be\nexaggerated at the discovery that the parlor had not two but eight\nwindows, each calling for curtains twelve feet long. Our lace curtains\nwere relegated to service elsewhere. Mr. Eddy had kindly arranged to\ncome up from Sidon to help us in this first settling of our new home,\nand his help and companionship were invaluable. He went with me to the\nshops to purchase such things as were needed, and the shopkeepers\nrecognized at once his fluent Arabic and his companion's ignorance of\nthe language. More than one shopkeeper called him aside and asked him to\nbring the stranger to them for his purchases, promising him a handsome\ncommission for his services.\n\nThe house was soon made habitable and just three weeks after our first\nlanding in Syria we slept under our own roof, with our own possessions\nabout us, and were ready to begin our own independent home life in the\nland of our adoption. We had made our beginning, and a bright, happy\nbeginning it was, notwithstanding the difficulties and drawbacks\ninevitable in such conditions.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nLANGUAGE STUDY\n\n\nWhatever differences there may be in experiences in missionary life, all\nmissionaries are faced with a most troublesome experience in learning a\nnew language. It is more or less natural for everyone to magnify what\nconcerns himself. \"Our children\" are always a little better than our\nneighbors'. \"Our cook\" makes better bread than anyone else. And\n\"mother's pies\"--well, that calls for no argument. It is much the same\nway among missionaries. It is probable that there are just about as many\n\"hardest languages\" in the world as there are distinct mission fields.\nBut, then, there must be one that is really the hardest, and we in Syria\nthink we come pretty well up on the list, even though we do not claim\nabsolute pre\u00ebminence. The Arabic, though rich and beautiful, is\ncertainly a difficult language, and I am sure the Syria Mission would\ngive a unanimous vote on the resolution that it is the toughest\nlinguistic proposition we have ever attacked. It was one of the terse\nand suggestive remarks of Dr. Henry Jessup that at the end of the first\nyear the new missionary thought he knew the Arabic; at the end of the\nsecond year he thought he knew nothing; and at the end of the third year\nhe wondered how he got hold of it.\n\nThe isolation of a new missionary is at times appalling. No matter how\nkind and helpful the older missionaries may be, they are strangers,\nafter all, with whom one must get acquainted. The houses are strange,\nand not adapted to make one feel at home readily. Servants with their\nvery imperfect knowledge of English must be directed mainly by signs.\nEverything seems unbearably dirty; the sun is unaccountably hot, even in\nwinter; the food is strange and does not appeal to a Westerner's\nappetite. But, worst of all, among the babel of noises, there is not a\nfamiliar sound, and with the best intentions of friendliness, one cannot\nreveal the intention, except by the perpetual, inane grin.\n\nWe began the study of the language, as everyone does, almost at the\nwharf. Even before recovering from the effects of the voyage, the Arabic\nprimer, with its alphabet, was brought to the bedside. At one of the\nearliest lessons in Tripoli, the old, gray-bearded teacher wished to\nimpress a new word, \"Milh.\" He repeated the difficult combination, and\nthen inquired in some way whether we knew what the word meant. The look\nof blank ignorance on our faces gave him the answer, and he rose and\nstepped with dignity, in his flowing robes, to the door. Opening this,\nhe called in a loud voice across the open court to the cook, \"Peter,\nbring me some salt.\" Then with a little of this household necessity in\nhis palm, he came back to his stupid pupils, and, pointing at the salt,\nsaid emphatically, \"Milh.\" That word was permanently fixed in our\nvocabulary.\n\nIn less than two months after our arrival in Syria, and forty days after\ntaking possession of our own home, came New Year's Day. With the\nself-confidence of youth and ignorance, we decided to keep open house on\nour own account. In the forenoon we had our language teacher with us to\nsteer us through the intricacies of oriental etiquette, and to tell us\nwhat to say, in the varying circumstances, and all went well. After\ndinner, however, we excused him, as we did not expect many more calls,\nand waited our fate. After a time, when the parlor was well filled with\na mixed company of men and women, among whom was the old teacher who had\ntaught us the word for salt, I used the wrong pronominal termination,\nprobably the masculine where I should have used the feminine. The old\ngentleman rose from his place with great impressiveness and started\nround the entire circle, pointing his finger at each person, and\npronouncing distinctly to every man, \"tak\" and to every woman, \"tik.\" It\ncreated a laugh, of course, but it is needless to say that whatever\nmistakes I have made in Arabic since, it has never been because I did\nnot know the difference between the masculine and feminine form of the\nsecond person pronominal affix.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTRAVEL AND COMMUNICATION\n\n\nIn preparing for the active service of a missionary, it was necessary to\nhave a horse and a touring outfit. Our servant was told that we wanted\nto buy a horse, and if he heard of any good chance, to let us know. In a\nfew days a man came to the house with a large gray mare for me to try. I\nrode on her a little and examined her so far as I was capable of doing,\nand was greatly pleased with her. I knew enough, however, of oriental\nmethods, to show no particular zeal over the matter, and left the owner\nwithout any indication of my pleasure. In my own mind, I decided that I\nshould like to own that mare, and that I would be willing to pay as much\nas twenty pounds for her, though I hoped to secure a horse for half that\namount. As I came in I told the servant to make inquiry about the price\nof the mare. He returned soon, saying the owner would sacrifice his own\ninterests so far as to let me have her for seventy-five pounds. I did\nnot buy that mare, but waited several months until I found a sturdy gray\nhorse, which I bought for less than ten pounds. He served me well for\nfive years, when I sold him for little less than the original cost.\n\nTripoli field was rejoicing and congratulating itself in those days over\nthe macadamized road recently opened between Tripoli at the coast and\nHoms and Hamath in the interior. It was sixty-five miles to Homs and\nthirty-five more to Hamath. A cumbersome diligence made the trip to Homs\nin eleven hours, going one day and returning the next, and a lighter\nvehicle made the round trip between Homs and Hamath every day. This was\na great advance in rapid transit and a great convenience in all lines of\nwork.\n\nIn all Syria there was not a mile of railroad, and in northern Syria\nthere was no carriage road besides the one line just mentioned. All\ntraveling had to be done on horseback or afoot. Horses, donkeys, mules\nand camels were the universal means of travel and transportation. Every\nday caravans of camels came into Tripoli by the hundred, bringing grain,\nolive oil and Syrian butter from the interior. They returned loaded with\nsugar, rice, kerosene oil, and English yarn and cloth. The first\nrailroad was built in the early nineties from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Later\ncame the line from Beirut to Damascus; then the line from Haifa through\nGalilee to Damascus, the line from Damascus to the south, and the line\nfrom Damascus to Medina. Then came the branch line, from the\nBeirut-Damascus line, to Homs, Hamath and Aleppo, and finally the\nTripoli Homs line and the German Bagdad line, passing through Aleppo\nfrom east to west. With many other lines and extensions under\nconsideration, it is evident that railroad communication is fairly\nstarted in Syria and that this part of the East has begun to feel the\ninfluence of steam.\n\nDuring our first year in Tripoli, before I was at all familiar with the\nvarious places, I overheard a conversation between two of our associates\nabout a recent trip to Beirut by land. The remark was made, \"I suppose\nyou took a carriage from Junieh to Beirut.\" This is about one fourth of\nthe distance and was considered a great gain in the facilities of\ntransportation. The answer came, with even greater evidence of\nsatisfaction, \"No, I rode in a carriage from Jebail.\" This meant a\ndoubling of the advantage, as Jebail is halfway between Tripoli and\nBeirut. That was in 1889 and it was not until 1912 that this carriage\nroad was completed, so that one could make the whole distance on wheels.\n\nThe tramway connecting Tripoli City and the Mina, or harbor, was the\nonly tramway in Syria and was an object of great pride. It had a single\ntrack about two miles long, with a switch in the middle for the passing\nof cars from the opposite ends. A car started from each terminus about\nonce in twenty minutes and made the trip in about the same length of\ntime, the fare being four cents and the motor power horses or mules. The\ncars were originally imported from Birmingham, of the double-decker\ntype. They are still in daily service, receiving a fresh coat of paint\nand necessary repairs every year. This line continues to run, though\nwith somewhat more frequent service and with a reduced fare of two\ncents, since public carriages now run on a road alongside the tram.\nCarriage roads now extend in several directions from Tripoli, and there\nare many public carriages to hire; even an automobile is occasionally\nseen and several bicycles have made their appearance.\n\nThe postal system is a curiosity to those who are accustomed to free\ndelivery several times a day. It would be supposed that the Turkish\npost would carry all letters for people in Turkey, since Turkey is a\nmember of the International Postal Union. At all the seaports, however,\none finds foreign post offices, which do a large business in receiving\nand forwarding mail by all the steamers. To points in the interior they\ncannot deliver mail. In Tripoli we had the French, and later the\nAustrian service. In 1890 cholera appeared in Tripoli and all steamers\nstopped calling at the port, to avoid quarantine. We were confined to\nthe use of the Turkish mail. Two messengers brought the mail by land\nfrom Beirut each week. It was Tripoli which was infected with cholera,\nand yet the incoming mail was stopped outside the city and drenched with\ncarbolic acid, while the outgoing mail was not touched. The mail\ndistributor in Tripoli could not read any language, not even Arabic, and\nso he used to bring the bag directly to our house and empty it on the\nfloor, in order to get my help in assorting the letters for him. We were\nglad to have the first pick of the mail, as it assured our receiving\nall our own mail, and that promptly.\n\nAt the last conference of the International Postal Union there was a\ngeneral reduction of postage and an increase in the unit of weight.\nTurkey has given her adherence to this international arrangement, but\nmaintains her old internal rates so that we have the present absurd\ncondition, that a piaster stamp will carry twenty grams to any place\nabroad, while it will carry only fifteen grams from one town to its next\nneighbor. Additional weight abroad requires three quarters of a piaster\nfor each additional twenty grams, while for internal use every\nadditional fifteen grams requires a full piaster. Thus a letter weighing\nsixty grams will go from an interior town like Homs to San Francisco for\ntwo piasters and a half, while the same letter, if sent from Homs to\nTripoli, would cost four piasters.\n\nIt might be supposed that there would be good caravan roads, at least,\nin a country where all produce must be carried on quadrupeds, and all\ntravelers must ride or walk. The reverse was true, and though the past\ntwenty-five years have witnessed great improvement in this respect,\nthere is still much to be desired in most localities. Many of the roads\ncannot be described as anything but trails through the rocky ground. The\nchief consideration in locating a road seems to be to have it run\nthrough ground which is fit for nothing else, for it would be a pity to\nwaste arable ground, and so a road must go around, no matter what the\ndistance. Whatever stones are gathered from the fields are thrown into\nthe highway, making it rougher than ever. In some parts of the\nmountains, the road will lie along the top of a solid stone dike, ten to\nfifteen feet wide, from which the traveler looks down to a depth of\neight or ten feet upon the fields and mulberry patches on each side. It\nhas been said that a road, in Syria, is that part of the country to be\navoided in traveling, so far as possible. This inference is easy to\nunderstand when you notice that all the trodden paths are in the fields\nat either side, and that people travel in the rough roads, only when\nthere is no escape. While the grain is growing the farmers will do their\nbest, by building up stone walls, to keep the animals out of their\nfields, but just as soon as the harvest is gathered these obstructions\ngo down and the current of traffic resumes the easier course until the\nwinter rains make the mud a worse enemy than the rough stones.\n\nIn other places it is often an interesting study to try to decide\nwhether the water flows in the road, or whether people travel in the\nwatercourses. It is something like the insolvable question as to which\ncame first, the hen or the egg. The fact remains that, as a rule, in wet\nweather and rough country, the traveler will find his horse splashing\nthrough a stream of water flowing down the road. The explanation is\nsimple. There is nowhere any system of drainage, and every man's\npurpose is to turn the streams of rain water away from his own land.\nUseful land cannot be wasted for watercourses any more than for roads,\nand hence the waste lands are devoted to the double purpose, with the\nresulting confusion as to which is the intruder.\n\nThe obscurity of the roads leads to many more or less unpleasant\nexperiences. There are roads so steep and difficult that it is no\nunusual experience to see a muleteer take hold of his mule's tail as he\ngoes down the mountain path, and by a judicious holding back, help the\nanimal to steady himself under a heavy, awkward load. On the other hand,\nwhen he is going up the mountain, the tired muleteer will take hold of\nthe same convenient handle to get a little help for himself in the\nascent.\n\nOne summer night, Mrs. Nelson and I were belated on the higher slopes of\nMount Lebanon. The trail was little more than a path for goats, and was\nquite unfamiliar to us. In the dark night, we lost the way more than\nonce, and we were becoming quite exhausted in repeated efforts to regain\nthe path, when, at last, we seemed to have strayed completely, and I\ncould not locate the road at all. We had to take a little rest, and wait\nfor the moon to rise. We sat upon the mountain side, under the shade of\nfragrant cedars, tired, hungry and thirsty. The surroundings were\ncharming and the dim outlines of forest and mountain beautiful. The\nnight air was refreshing, after an exceptionally hot day; but when one\nhas lost his way, he is not in a condition to appreciate fully the\nbeauties of nature or the charms of his surroundings. As we sat there,\ngaining some rest, I began to study the outline of the hills, and\nconcluded that the road must lie in a certain curve of the mountains not\nfar away. On investigating I found my impression correct, and we resumed\nour journey, reaching our destination just as the moon appeared over the\nhighest ridge of the mountains.\n\nOn another occasion it was the intelligence of my horse rather than my\nown which saved me considerable inconvenience. I was belated upon the\nmountain and overtaken by sunset, some eight miles from my destination.\nConfident in my horse as well as in myself, I pushed on as rapidly as\npossible over the rough path. To add to my difficulty, a thick mountain\nfog settled about me until it was impossible to see the path ten feet\nahead. In descending a steep slope, leading my horse, I missed the trail\nand found myself in the vineyards. I knew that the village was close at\nhand and anticipated no difficulty in working down to the road. At any\nrate, it seemed likely that we should arouse the night watchman in the\nvineyard and it would be his duty to turn us out of the vineyard,\nexactly what we wished for. We stumbled along, over grapevines and\nstones, but came no nearer to the road, nor did we disturb the sleeping\nwatchman. After what seemed like endless wandering, though the distance\nwas not far nor the time long, I came up against a stone wall and could\nsee a path beyond. Getting over this wall was simple, but which way to\nturn in the road was not clear. I tried the turn to the right,\ntentatively, not fully convinced myself. My horse yielded reluctantly\nand walked very slowly indeed over the rough stones. After a few minutes\nmy own doubts increased and I determined to test the horse. Dropping the\nreins loosely on his neck, I gave him no sign of guidance at all. As\nsoon as he felt the relaxing of pressure on the bits, his head rose, his\nears stood erect and he seemed to cast an inquiring glance out of the\ncorner of his eye. When convinced that he was free to choose for\nhimself, he immediately swung around and started at a rapid walk in the\nopposite direction. In a very few minutes I could see the village lights\nstruggling through the mists, and was soon at my own door.\n\nThis same horse gave me another illustration of his intelligence. I was\nriding along the carriage road, on the seashore, intending to turn up\nto one of the mountain villages. There were two roads to this village,\nand when we came to the first my horse tried to turn up, but was easily\nheld back and started briskly along, as if fully understanding my\npurpose. When we came to the second road we found that it had been\nplowed under and that grain several inches high was growing where the\npath had been. I knew that the road had been moved a short distance so\nas to pass a khan recently erected. The horse had not yet gone over this\naltered road and so was puzzled. I left him to his own guidance. When he\ncame to the point where the road had divided, he stopped and looked at\nthe grain, and then went slowly on, looking constantly at the field,\nuntil, after about twenty or thirty feet, he decided to make a plunge,\nand struck directly through the growing grain to where the old road had\nbeen at the other edge of the field.\n\nThe introduction of railroads and carriages throughout the country\nfacilitates travel and business a great deal, but it takes away much of\nthe interest and diversion of getting about from place to place.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nEVANGELISTIC TRIPS\n\n\nIt was a practice with us for many years to arrange a special\nevangelistic medical trip in the spring of the year. Sometimes Mrs.\nNelson and I would join Dr. Harris in a journey of two or three weeks,\nand sometimes the doctor and I would go alone. One of the most memorable\nof these journeys was in the spring of 1893, in the month of May. We had\nour tent and camp outfit and the large chests of medical supplies\ncarried on mules and were accompanied by our cook, with his portable\nkitchen packed away under him, and the Syrian assistant of the doctor,\nso that we made quite a party altogether. We started along the shore\nnorth from Tripoli, making our first camp about ten miles out of the\ncity. The next day's journey brought us to Tartoose on the shore\nopposite the island of Arvad. Ezek. 27:8. This island lies only a short\ndistance from the shore, but I have never yet been able to reach it\nbecause of the violent west wind on each occasion of a visit to\nTartoose. The island is wholly covered by the town, which is occupied by\nsturdy sailors and fishermen. There are many interesting relics of\nancient times in Tartoose, though it is possible that many of the coins\noffered to the credulous public may have been produced recently in the\nplace itself.\n\n[Illustration: LATAKIA BOYS' SCHOOL]\n\n[Illustration: TARTOOSE _Crusaders' Church_]\n\nAt the edge of the town stands a fine Gothic church, whose substantial\nwalls and graceful arches are a pleasure to the eye. The empty windows\nmake one feel lonesome as he approaches the building, and the bare\ninterior speaks of a decadent Christianity that adds to the sadness.\nBut, worst of all, is the minaret crudely built on the corner of the\nroof, for this is another of the many Christian churches in Turkey which\nhave been transformed into mosques.\n\nAt another of our camping places we found, near at hand, an old Roman\namphitheater, where it was not difficult to imagine a concourse of\npleasure seekers seated on the stone benches watching some exhibition of\nstrength or skill in the arena below. Wherever one goes in Syria, he is\nreminded of an ancient glory and power, in close and vivid contrast to a\npresent state of decay and weakness.\n\nOur first Sabbath, on this journey, found us at Latakia, where we spent\nthe day with our neighbors and fellow workers of the Reformed\nPresbyterian mission. This mission was started especially to reach the\nNusairiyeh people of north Syria. Because of the persistent interference\nof the Turkish Government, their work has been greatly hampered and\ntheir efforts largely restricted to the training of boys and girls in\nthe boarding institutions in the city, and ministration to the sick in\nthe hospital. It was a great pleasure to have this break in our journey\nand the pleasant intercourse with those engaged in the same kind of\nservice as our own, and to have the privilege of speaking to the young\npeople in their schools.\n\nOn Monday we went a short distance from the city, pitching our tent near\na village of considerable size on the plain some miles back from the\nsea. As I sat in the moonlight at the door of the tent, a man wearing\nthe white turban of a Moslem scholar approached me. He seated himself\nnear me after a pleasant greeting and we fell into agreeable\nconversation. After some time, this man took the opportunity, when no\none was near enough to overhear him, to ask most earnestly that we\nshould send them a teacher for their children. I was surprised at the\nrequest from such a source and turned the conversation so as to make\nsure that he understood who we were and what kind of schools we\nconducted. He showed that he understood the matter fully, and that he\nreally desired a Protestant Christian teacher for his town. I then asked\nhim directly, \"Are you not a Moslem?\" Looking about again, to make sure\nno one should hear him, he said, \"Yes, I am a Moslem now,\" with an\nemphasis on the last word which revealed the facts in the case. He was\nof a Nusairiyeh family but had yielded to the persistent pressure of the\ngovernment so far as to accept the form of adherence to Islam, though in\nhis heart he hated the system and its followers most cordially.\n\nA long day's ride brought us through the wild and tortuous valley of the\nNahr-ul-Kandil, up the slope of Mount Cassius to the town of Kessab,\nsome four thousand feet above the sea, where the Latakia missionaries\nhave their summer homes. It was a most beautiful though rugged ride, and\nwould have been thoroughly enjoyable in good weather. The wild flowers\nwere in full bloom, and every turn in the road brought into view a new\ncombination of varied and bright colors, where the little blossoms\nclustered amid the green foliage, among the gray rocks. The great\ndrawback to our enjoyment lay in the fact that for a large part of the\ndistance we rode in a heavy and most unexpected rainfall. We were not\nprepared for such an experience in the month of May, and so reached our\ndestination soaked and cold. We had been directed to take possession of\none of the cottages belonging to the missionaries in Latakia, and it was\ncertainly a most welcome haven. We were able to light a fire in the\nkitchen stove and spread out our wet garments to dry, while we warmed\nourselves in the grateful heat.\n\nIt was a disappointment the next day that the top of Cassius was\nenveloped in heavy cloud, forbidding an ascent. This mountain is about\nfive thousand feet in height, rising directly from the sea, and so is a\nconspicuous object from every direction and gives an extensive view from\nits summit. We could tarry but one day, and descended to the old site of\nSeleucia, at the mouth of the Orontes, and saw some remnants of the old\nharbor from which Paul set sail more than once. The Orontes is quite\nwide and deep near its mouth and we crossed it on just such a wire ferry\nas I had seen many years before on the Connecticut River in\nMassachusetts. The gardens of Swadia were most refreshing with their\ngreen verdure, cool shade and rich fruit, after a long day's ride in the\nheat, and again we had the pleasure of missionary fellowship, for our\nfriends of the Reformed Presbyterian mission have a station here also.\nAnother easy stage brought us to old Antioch, so closely associated with\nthe beginning of Christian history. It is not an attractive city in\noutward appearance and has suffered much at different times from\nearthquake.\n\nFrom Antioch we followed the Orontes Valley up to Hamath, where we were\nonce more among our own organized stations. Such journeys give us an\nacquaintance with the country and the people, which is of the most vital\nimportance in planning for the proper expansion of the work.\n\nOnce, on a pleasant summer evening, we were encamped near a Nusairiyeh\nvillage. Among those gathered about us were an elderly peasant and his\nson, a well-built, sturdy youth of seventeen or eighteen years. As he\nsat before us this young man appeared to be in perfect health and vigor,\nbut when he rose to walk, his awkward gait revealed his misfortune, for\nboth feet were so badly deformed that he walked on his ankles and not on\nthe soles of his feet. The doctor was asked whether this defect could be\nremedied. After a careful examination the lad was told that the\noperation would be painful, and that some time would be required, but\nthat if he would come to the hospital, prepared to stay as long as\nshould be necessary, he would be able to come away, walking erect, like\nother people. The faces brightened at once, and we shared in their\npleasure at the prospect of this deliverance. The next morning, however,\nwe were told that the family had talked over the matter and decided not\nto have the operation performed. We assured them there should be no\nexpense, but they said it was not the matter of expense. Then we told\nthem of similar cases which had been successfully treated, but they\nassured us they had no doubt of the doctor's skill. We encouraged the\nyoung man to bear the pain for the sake of increased enjoyment in life\nafterwards, but he said he was not afraid of the pain. What then was the\ntrouble? At last we learned the truth. So long as the lad could show two\nsuch clubbed feet, he would be excused from military service; but if\nthey were made straight he would be called to the army; and he would\nrather go through life a cripple than to give several years of his vigor\nto service in the Turkish army. And he is no exception.\n\nWe were approaching a large town of bigoted people, wondering how we\nshould secure an opening for our message. I was riding slightly in front\nof the doctor, occupied with plans for securing access to the people.\nSuddenly I heard the doctor's voice behind me saying, \"Boy, do you want\nyour eye straightened?\" On looking back I saw a lad of about fifteen\nyears, with a decidedly crossed eye, beside the doctor's horse. He\npromptly accepted the offer, and we hastened to dismount and tie our\nhorses. A table in the little roadside caf\u00e9 was quickly cleared, while\nthe doctor got out his case of instruments from his saddlebags. The boy\nwas placed on the table and in an incredibly short time the cords were\nsevered so that the eyeball took its proper position, and we were\nthoroughly advertised. By the time our camp equipage came up, we had\nbeen provided with an excellent place to camp, and had nothing to\ncomplain of in the reception of the people.\n\nA memorable experience was in the neighborhood of a large village whose\ngardens are said to be watered by three hundred springs. Whatever the\ncorrect number may be, there is no question about the abundance of\nwater and the luxuriance of the gardens. We had three tents, one for\nmedical clinics and one apiece for our two households, and settled down\nfor a fortnight's work. Every day we had crowds about the tent for\nmedical attention and for religious services. The evenings gave abundant\nopportunity for work among those who gathered about us after their day's\nwork was done. They were glad to join in the hymns of praise, and\nlistened earnestly to the spoken message and read word. One evening, the\nboys who gathered about the tent told me that the superintendent of\ntheir school was in town and had begun an examination, to be finished\nthe next day. I decided to go to the school the next morning to make the\nacquaintance of the superintendent and to see what the school was doing.\nWhen I arose the following day, I found many of the boys about the tent,\nand asked them why they were not at school for the examination. \"Oh,\"\nthey said, \"there is no examination to-day. Early this morning, the\nsuperintendent, the teachers and the headman of the village took their\nhorses, a large bottle of spirits and a young kid, and went up to the\ntop of the mountain to a famous spring to spend the day in a drinking\nspree.\"\n\nOne of the pleasantest evenings I remember in my regular routine touring\nwas spent in this same village. We had brought our party to a garden,\nowned by one of our friends who was always glad to have us make it our\nheadquarters. We had eaten our supper and were seated on the ground,\nunder a high, branching tree into which was trained a huge grapevine.\nBehind us was a little hut, in which the caretaker slept in stormy\nweather. At one side was a rude booth where the owner slept during the\nsummer. An oil lantern gave some light. One by one quite a group of\nneighbors and friends assembled and, after some general conversation,\nwe sang some hymns. Then I opened the Bible for a little reading, with\nsimple exposition. As I read and talked to them, the row of dark faces\nwas turned toward me with an intentness and eagerness to hear that made\nme hope they might not see me or hear my words, but hear those words of\nlife spoken so many years ago in Palestine, and see that Face from which\nalone shines the true light.\n\nWe are not always left to do as we please on these trips, for the\npaternal Turkish Government sometimes takes an unnecessary interest in\nour plans and shows an excessive concern for our safety. We had crossed\na rugged section of the mountains and come down to a walled town, which\nis a government center. Here we camped near the town and were promptly\nfavored with a call from officials, sent by the governor to find out who\nwe were. We paid a formal call on his Excellency and were allowed to\nremain quietly as long as we desired. When we broke camp a polite\nmessage came from the governor, asking where we were going and offering\na guard and escort. We returned a grateful acknowledgment of his\ncourtesy, but assured him that we were familiar with the roads and would\nnot trouble him to send an escort. It was only after some difficulty\nthat we succeeded in getting away alone. We learned afterwards that we\nwere followed, and that, in accordance with instructions from\nheadquarters, word was sent from place to place to keep watch of us. At\none large town we had large crowds about our camp and large audiences\nfor evening services for several days, when suddenly there was a change\nand no one came near us. Apparently the sick were all healed and all\ninterest in singing and conversation had ceased. It developed that word\nhad been sent to the nearest government center, and orders had come back\nat once, not to interfere with our comfort but to notify the people to\nhave nothing to do with us. At one of these places, which were all\noccupied by Nusairiyeh and Ismaeliyeh people, Mrs. Nelson was talking\nwith some of the women about religion. They said, \"Do Christian women\nhave any religion?\" When assured that we believe religion to be for\neveryone, whether male or female, rich or poor, wise or ignorant, they\nreplied: \"It is not so with us. A woman with us can have no share in\nreligion. If one of us should accidentally overhear the men talking\nabout religious beliefs, so that she unintentionally learned some\nreligious doctrine, she ought to acknowledge it and be put to death. And\nit is right to be so, for a woman must know nothing of religion.\"\n\nOn another occasion, quite a party of us stopped to spend the night in\none of these towns. While I was busy with arrangements for the night\nother members of the party went to look about the little castle at the\nedge of the town. Our presence was reported to the acting governor.\nUnfortunately he was a man of surly disposition and anxious to magnify\nhis office. He demanded our Turkish passports, which he had a technical\nright to do. Unfortunately some of the party had failed to provide\nthemselves with these documents as they were seldom called for. It gave\nour little governor a chance and he used it, insisting that he must send\nus to Hamath, practically under guard, but nominally under military\nprotection. We were intending to go to Hamath, but not directly, and so\nit was finally agreed that the horseman go with us to Mahardeh where we\nwere to lodge, and accompany us the following day to Hamath. When we\nstarted out the next morning, it was ludicrous to see the haughty airs\nof this soldier who was sent with us. He acted as if he really believed\nthese foreigners were committed to his absolute control and carried his\nhead very high. Before going many miles we had succeeded, by pleasant\nconversation, in limbering him up considerably, and by noon, when we\nstopped for luncheon, he displayed his power in our behalf by ordering\nthe villagers to serve us in every way possible. By evening, when we\nentered Mahardeh, he was quite cringing in his servility, for now he\nrealized that he was alone and we were among friends, so it was worth\nwhile to be genial and submissive. When I informed him that I was not\ngoing with the party the next day, he claimed to be greatly terrified\nand begged me most humbly not to subject him to such peril. \"For,\" said\nhe, \"the number of foreigners is mentioned in the governor's letter, and\nif I do not produce the full number, I shall be held responsible.\" I\nsaid, \"Be that as it may, I must stay here over Sunday and on Monday\nmorning I will follow and report myself to his Excellency if necessary.\"\nHe went away, apparently in much uncertainty. I knew, however, that the\nmatter was a mere formality and would bring no risk either to him or to\nme; and so it proved, for the governor took no interest in the matter at\nall.\n\nOn a warm summer evening, Dr. Harris and I rode up to the sheik's house\nin a village I have never visited before or since. As strangers we were\nwelcomed to the public room. It was soon discovered that a doctor was\npresent, and immediately all who were diseased came about us. It was a\nmarvel to see men lie down before this stranger with perfect confidence\nand allow him to cut about their eyes or put drops in them. It does\nhappen, alas, too often, that this credulity costs them dear, for many\nan eye has been ruined by conscienceless quacks who trade on the\nsimplicity of the people. It is a pleasure, however, to see them place\nthemselves in the hands of the skillful and honest missionary physician,\nwho will help them, if possible, or tell them truthfully if there is no\nremedy. At sunset a large dish of wheat, boiled with some meat, was\nbrought out, and cakes of barley bread placed about it. All who were\npresent were bidden to partake, and we did the best we could to satisfy\nour hunger. After a social evening we spread our beds and made ready for\nsleep, if possible. As I lay on my bed, I could hear those who sat about\ndiscussing us. They told of the doctor's famous skill and what he had\ndone there before them. I was glad to find that I held the humble\nposition of doctor's assistant in their estimation. But I could not help\nwondering then and since about that village. So far as I know that is\nthe only missionary visit ever made there. Is it enough?\n\n[Illustration: ALEPPO MINARET]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nALEPPO\n\n\nIn 1893 a plan was developed in the mission to extend our sphere of\nlabor so as to include the city of Aleppo, which had been occupied many\nyears before by the mission and then left because of the exigencies of\nthe work and lack of forces. It was a four days' journey from our\nnearest outstation, and hence not easy to care for; but as Tripoli\nStation was the nearest part of the mission, Aleppo was placed under our\ndirection.\n\nAleppo is one of the largest cities in Syria, and a most important\ncommercial center. It is nearly the most northern point for the use of\nthe Arabic language, as Turkish becomes the general medium of\ncommunication one day's journey farther north. Being so near the Turkish\ndistrict, there are many Turkish-speaking people in Aleppo, but the\ncity as a whole is essentially an Arabic-speaking place. The American\nBoard had a Turkish congregation connected with their mission and\nmaintained church and school work in Aleppo for the Turkish-speaking\nstrangers resident in the city. There was the most cordial welcome from\nthese missionaries to our proposal to organize work for the\nArabic-speaking population. Before making my first visit of supervision\nto Aleppo it was arranged by correspondence that Mr. Sanders of Aintab,\nthe missionary in charge of that district, should meet me and spend\nseveral days in conference as to the arrangement of details of our\ninterlocking work. It had been proposed most kindly that we should hold\nour Arabic services in the premises of the Turkish congregation.\n\nIn many ways that first journey to Aleppo was a unique experience. It\nwas a venture into a region of country wholly new to me, and involved\nplanning for a new department of service. There were two ways to reach\nAleppo, one wholly by land, involving a somewhat dangerous ride from\nHamath for four days; the other by sea to Alexandretta, and thence by\nhorseback over a carriage road to Aleppo. It was decided to take this\nlatter course, though all subsequent visits were made the other way.\nAfter gaining all the information I could before leaving home, I took\nthe steamer to Alexandretta, where I landed on Monday morning. At once I\nbegan my search for a riding animal, and at length secured a horse\nguaranteed to be swift and of easy gait, whose owner promised to see me\nin Aleppo by the evening of the third day. Delayed by those who wished\nto accompany us, it was past noon before we set out on the road. It was\nnot long before I discovered that the ease had been left out in the\nstructure of my horse, and that any speed he may have had once was\nwell-nigh worn out. It was clear that I should have to work my passage,\nbut my courage held out.\n\nWe pressed up the mountain slope and crossed the ridge in good time,\nhaving many beautiful views back over the dark blue Mediterranean. Mount\nCassius lifted its rocky head five thousand feet, directly out of the\nsea, to the south, showing where the Orontes empties into the sea at old\nSeleucia. After passing the summit of the range we dropped down rapidly\nto the Antioch plain, having the lake of Antioch in full view before us.\nBy sunset we had reached the place intended as our first halt,\nthirty-seven kilometers from the shore. I found no place of\nentertainment but a bare inn where I could set up my camp bed and sleep.\nThere was no food to be had for love or money and so I had to depend on\nthe scant supplies I had brought with me in my saddlebags.\n\nThe second day's ride was much longer than the first, as we kept to the\nsaddle for twelve hours, notwithstanding the entreaty of my companions\nto break the journey earlier. I reminded them of the pledge to reach\nAleppo on the third day, and so kept on until dusk. We had left the\ncarriage road for a more direct trail and stopped for the night in a\nsmall, desolate village. There was no decent shelter to be found and so\nI gladly set up my bed on the threshing floor, and slept under the\nstarry sky. I inquired for milk, eggs, bread, cheese, anything in the\nway of food, offering ample pay for anything edible. After much\npersuasion the people were induced to burrow in the straw pile on the\nthreshing floor from which they produced a watermelon. This was\nrefreshing at least, and helped to wash down my bread, which was getting\nrather dry, as I did not like to use much water in this swampy region.\nLong before dawn we were again on the road and pushed steadily ahead\nover ridge after ridge, until, in the middle of the afternoon, the city\nof Aleppo broke on our sight, a most refreshing vision. In one of the\nvalleys near Aleppo the traveler cannot fail to notice many heaps of\nsmall stones, evidently placed there to mark certain spots. The place is\ncalled the valley of the slain, and each pile indicates where some\nvictim has fallen.\n\nThe appearance of Aleppo as one approaches it from the west is not\nunpleasing, for it is the first well-built town seen after leaving the\ncoast. The houses are built of white limestone and the gardens about the\ncity lend a touch of green, most refreshing after the barren country\nleft behind. At first sight the designation of Aleppo as\nHalch-es-Shahba--Aleppo the Gray--seems most appropriate. It is a pity\nto detract from the more poetic explanation of the title. Old tradition\nsays that Abraham had his encampment at the site of Aleppo for a long\ntime, and was recognized throughout the region for his wealth and\ngenerosity. He had set apart for the use of the poor the milk from a\ncertain gray cow in his herd, and hence some one was always on the\nwatch at evening. As soon as the gray cow came forward, this watchman\nwould shout at the top of his voice, \"Haleb es Shahba,\" which means, \"He\nhas milked the gray cow.\" Hence the city, which later grew up at this\nspot, was called Haleb-es-Shahba, or Aleppo.\n\nI shall never forget a conversation connected with that journey. My\ncomrades were all Moslems, and as we jogged on, hour after hour, during\nthose three days, there were opportunities for conversation on many\ntopics. One day I asked one of them who was a religious teacher, what\nhis doctrine had to say as to the fate of non-Moslem infants who died in\ninfancy. I was surprised to find how closely his view parallels our own\nChristian view of infant salvation. He answered at once that they are\nall saved through the intercession of Mohammed.\n\nOn reaching the city I sought a hotel, in order to remove the soil of\ntravel before hunting up our friends in this strange city. I was in the\nmidst of making myself presentable when a loud knock at my door was\nfollowed immediately by its opening, and a rough Turkish police officer\nmade his appearance. Without a word or suggestion of apology, he began a\nseries of questions as to my name, residence and occupation. I let him\nexhaust his list of questions and then asked, as quietly as possible,\nwhether he would like to look over my Turkish passport, which was\nrequired of all in those days. He seemed to be so completely taken aback\nat my evident lack of awe for himself, and surprised to meet a person\nwho was prepared in accordance with the law, that he could scarcely\nstammer out in reply, \"Why, have you a passport?\" \"Certainly,\" I\nreplied. \"Here it is, with all the information you need.\" He sat down\nmost meekly and copied off the items he needed and took his departure in\na really polite manner.\n\nAs this was my first visit to Aleppo, everything seemed strange to me,\nexcept in so far as all oriental cities have a measure of resemblance.\nAs I was met also by Mr. Sanders, a missionary in charge of established\nwork, I found it natural to expect to be dependent on him for\neverything. It came thus as a surprise to have him turn to me, in the\nstreet, to act as interpreter. He spoke Turkish, but my Arabic was far\nmore necessary and serviceable in general intercourse.\n\nThese experiences impressed it upon me most vividly that Aleppo is\nthoroughly an Arabic-speaking city, and that the work should be in\norganic connection with the evangelical work in other parts of Syria.\nThe Turkish congregation is a natural member of the Cilicia Union and\nshould affiliate with the churches of the north, but the Arabic\nevangelical work belongs with the organizations under the care of our\nmission in Syria. For four years this arrangement was continued and we\nmaintained Arabic services with a Syrian preacher and a day school with\na Syrian teacher. Each year two missionary visits were made, the\nmissionaries in Tripoli alternating in this duty. It was difficult to\ncarry on the work at such long range. In 1897 a heavy cut in our\nappropriations made it necessary to consider every possible method of\nretrenchment. At the same time the English Presbyterians were opening a\nstation in Aleppo for work among the Jews, and it seemed best, all\nthings considered, to ask our English friends to relieve us of this\nresponsibility, and assume the care of the work for the Gentiles as well\nas for the Jews through the medium of Arabic, in Aleppo. Thus our\nofficial connection with the work in Aleppo ceased, but it has never\npassed from our minds that some day an Arabic-speaking evangelical\nchurch in Aleppo should become a member of our Syrian Presbyterian\norganization. Now that the railroad has brought Aleppo within six hours'\nride from Hamath, the problem has assumed a new form and we may hope\nfor a renewal of friendly affiliation.\n\nSuch a city as Aleppo, with about two hundred and fifty thousand people\nand increasing commercial importance, demands much of the missionary\norganizations. The famous Constantinople Bagdad railway of the Germans\npasses through Aleppo. A branch line connects with the Mediterranean at\nAlexandretta. The French system from Beirut ends in Aleppo, giving\ndirect connection with Damascus, Beirut and Tripoli. The work of the\nAmerican Board, being at present in Turkish, reaches only a small part\nof the population. The English mission places its emphasis on work for\nthe Jews and has ample scope in that part of the population. There\nremains the vast bulk of the whole population, with Arabic as their\nlanguage, looking naturally to the American mission in Syria for help\nand guidance. The large Moslem population and the numerous nominal\nChristians deserve the attention of a resident American missionary to\norganize aggressive and effective work. Shall we wait longer before\npressing on in this direction?\n\nAleppo has been chosen by the International Committee of the Y.M.C.A. as\na place where a building should be erected and a permanent secretary\nestablished. Should we fall behind the Y.M.C.A.? Whenever the American\nPresbyterian Church says the word and furnishes the men and the money, I\nam sure the Syrian mission will be ready to send one of its members\nforward to this new frontier. God forbid that another quarter century\nshould pass before this is fulfilled.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nNEW STATIONS AND BUILDINGS\n\n\nIt has been my privilege to watch from the beginning the growth and\ndevelopment of three prosperous churches in the territory of Tripoli\nPresbytery. Each one has been marked by peculiarities that render it\nespecially interesting. In the early years of my acquaintance with the\nchurch in Homs, I heard frequently of evangelistic visits on the part of\nthe young men of the church to various villages in the plain east of the\ncity--especially to one large village about two miles southeast of us.\nThe people of this village are of the Syrian or Jacobite church, and\nhave no little familiarity with the Bible and a really religious\ndisposition. Our young men from Homs used to go out in small bands of\ntwo or more, with their gospels and hymn books in their pockets. If\nthey met a friendly reception, they would go into some house, where\nthose who were interested would gather together and a simple service or\nfriendly discussion would be held. If no one asked them to come in, they\nwould seek a place in the public square where people were gathered\ntogether, and sing a hymn or read a passage to open the way for\ndiscussion. In such cases there was danger of an exhibition of hostility\non the part of those who were unfriendly to the evangelical doctrine. It\nhappened more than once that these faithful messengers were driven out\nof town, pursued with stones as well as reviling. Such treatment,\nhowever, could not suppress the truth, and a strong church has grown up\nfrom the seed thus sown amid hostile persecution.\n\nThere was a most interesting old priest in this town of Feiruzeh who\nreceived the truth into his heart, but never had the courage to leave\nthe old church, though he was known to be at heart an evangelical\nbeliever. He sought books on the evangelical doctrine and studied them\nearnestly, and sometimes attended the Protestant service, being present\nat least once on a sacramental occasion. He openly taught his people the\nfolly of auricular confession and priestly absolution, saying to them:\n\"If you wish to come to me and tell me of your sins, so that I may help\nyou and pray with you to God for forgiveness, I am at your service; but\nI am a sinner like you and we all have access to one Saviour. I cannot\nforgive your sins, but will gladly pray for you and with you.\"\n\nThere had been some inquiry about the truth on the part of a few people\nin the village of El Yazidiyeh. In my first visit to the place we\npitched a tent on the threshing floor outside the village. Much\ncuriosity in our coming was shown, and some opportunity given to\nstrengthen the purpose of those who were inclined to the truth. At\nlength a teacher was stationed there and a simple school opened. One or\ntwo of the people had joined the church in a neighboring village, but\nthe sacrament had never been administered in the town itself. Several\nwere ready to make a public profession of their faith in Christ, and it\nseemed that the time had come to begin the full life of the little\nchurch, by administering the sacrament on the spot. Plans were arranged\nfor an evening service in the schoolroom, and a good company was\ngathered in the rudely furnished, dark little room. There was much\ndisturbance outside when it was known what was in progress. One zealous\ndefender of the truth sprang from his seat and rushed out in a most\nmilitant manner to disperse the noisy crowd without. While the little\nservice was in progress, it was not always easy to keep the attention of\nall, on account of the noisy beating of tin cans near by; and some\npebbles were thrown in at the windows. The service was completed,\nhowever, and this was the beginning of what has proved to be one of our\nmost vigorous churches. There is now a simple church building, which is\nalways well filled at regular services, and new members are ready to\ncome forward at almost every communion service.\n\nThe village of Hakoor is memorable, not so much because of hostile\nopposition to the work as because of the apparently feeble instrument\nused of God for the establishment of the church. A blind man, of keen\nand inquiring mind, lived in this village and made a precarious living\nby keeping a little shop. He was respected by his neighbors for his\nintegrity of character, and trusted by the church authorities for his\nfidelity to church duties. He began to hear something of the new\nevangelical doctrine and though ready to investigate, was strong in his\nopposition and slow to yield to the new faith. When once thoroughly\nconvinced, however, his very honesty of nature made him accept the truth\nand declare himself for the Protestant view. The bishop sent for him,\nin order to recall him from his error. He told the bishop that he was\nconvinced that the teaching and practice of the Greek Church were not in\nharmony with the gospel, and that he had decided to follow the teaching\nof God rather than that of men, but that he was ready to hear anything\nthe bishop had to say to convince him that he was mistaken. The bishop\nbegan to read him a controversial tract recently prepared against the\nProtestant doctrine. Our blind friend interrupted him, saying: \"I have\nheard all that and can give you an outline of the whole argument. It\ndoes not convince me and so, if you have nothing stronger, it will do no\ngood.\" The bishop then reviled him, comparing his course to that of\nJudas toward Christ, and so cast him off. The blind man went home, glad\nto suffer abuse for the truth. He gathered around him a group of\nneighbors who studied the gospel under his guidance, and a little church\nhas grown up in that village, to which he ministered regularly for a\nyear, when no other preacher could be found. The little band has been\nfull of zeal and has raised the money to build a little chapel in which\nthey worship and in which their children are taught.\n\nBy means which are insufficient in the sight of men, in spite of\nopposition from those who are hostile to the truth, God's word continues\nto bear fruit and the gospel light continues to spread throughout the\nworld.\n\nThe missionary is met, in his periodic visitation of the outstations,\nwith every conceivable request and complaint. I am often asked to mend a\nclock or a watch. I have been appealed to to adjust a coffee mill which\ndid not work right. Matrimonial and family difficulties must often be\narranged. I have told the people that there is one complaint I am always\nglad to hear, and that is to the effect that the place of worship is too\nsmall for the regular attendants. When I first went to the village of\nMinyara, the services were held in a small room about twenty by\ntwenty-five feet. There was room to spare, though not a great deal. In a\nfew years it became necessary to plan for enlargement. This was\naccomplished by securing a piece of land adjacent to the building,\ntaking out the end wall and extending the room so as to increase its\ncapacity about two thirds. The growth of the congregation was so rapid\nand steady that this enlargement was not completed before the room was\nagain inadequate. An appeal was made to a generous friend in St. Louis,\nand five hundred dollars were sent for the Minyara chapel. A further\npiece of land was secured, and plans made for an entirely new and larger\nbuilding. The outline is rectangular, and the flat roof is supported by\nthree rows of arches, resting on six pillars. This building has been\nample for the accommodation of this growing church for many years,\nthough it is often well filled and would be far from sufficient, were\nnot half the members in America.\n\nIn the city of Homs the old church had a flat dirt roof supported by two\nheavy arches, which made the room seem dark and contracted. The regular\ncongregations taxed the capacity of the building, and the roof timbers\nwere showing signs of weakness which would necessitate an early renewal.\nThe pastor of the church began to work earnestly for a reconstruction of\nthe roof, with an enlargement of the audience room. There was a little\nvacant space at one end of the building which if it were inclosed would\nincrease the capacity about forty per cent. At the same time the heavy\narches could be removed and a galvanized iron roof placed over the\nenlarged building. But this would cost a considerable sum, and how was\nthat to be raised? The people thought they could not raise more than two\nhundred dollars. The same friend in St. Louis, who had provided for the\nMinyara chapel, sent another five hundred dollars, and we made this\nproposition to the church: \"After the church spends two hundred and\nfifty dollars, the mission will put in five hundred, but if any more is\nneeded the church must provide it.\" They went to work with a will. When\nthe dirt from the old roof was to be carried out they organized a\nregular church bee. All the men of the church came together, the pastor,\nthe doctor, the teacher, the merchant, each one taking one of the rough\nbaskets in which they carry dirt, and all together got the whole pile\nremoved at a considerable saving to the building fund. Before the work\nwas finished the church had raised and expended quite as much money as\nthey had received from outside. This enlarged place of worship has again\nbecome too small, and its further enlargement is a pressing problem.\n\n[Illustration: HADETH SUMMER HOME]\n\n[Illustration: ABU MAROON, THE HADETH CARPENTER]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nCAMPING LIFE\n\n\nAt the close of a tour one spring, Mrs. Nelson and I were compelled to\nreach home on a fixed date, because of the expected arrival of guests.\nThe weather had been unpropitious and the rains heavy for the season of\nthe year. At one point we had been shut in for several days by a\nsnowstorm, and all the rivers were unusually high. We had a broad plain\nto cross, intersected by three rivers which must be forded. The rain had\nbeen persistent, but ceased on the day we were obliged to start for\nhome. We reached the first river after about an hour's ride, and crossed\nit successfully, the water coming near to the girths of the saddles. The\nsecond river was reached and crossed without serious difficulty, but\nfrom there onward the entire plain seemed to be under water, and our\nhorses splashed along through water and mud without interruption. Toward\nsundown we neared the last stream, and congratulated ourselves that just\nbeyond it we should find the carriage road and a dry place for the\nnight. Our road lay through a wretched little Nusairiyeh village, just\nbefore reaching the river, and as we passed the houses we were hailed by\nmany voices assuring us that the river could not be forded with safety.\nI did not believe this at first, thinking it merely a ruse to compel us\nto spend the night in their village. Such an event would be more or less\nprofitable to the people who would provide our necessities for a\nconsideration, even if there was no thought of robbery, which was quite\npossible also. We waited for our muleteers, as they were familiar with\nthe stream and would be able to decide whether we could cross or not.\nTheir verdict agreed with the statement of the villagers and so we were\nobliged to negotiate for a lodging place.\n\nAfter some parley we were allowed to stop in the sheik's public room.\nThere was not a dry spot about the town, but by riding up close to the\ndoor, we were able to dismount on a large log, and then jump across a\nmud puddle to the doorsill, and so enter the room assigned to us. It\nwould be hard to make anyone who has not seen such houses realize what\nthis room was like. It was about twenty feet square, with one door and\nno window. The lack of this latter was partly supplied by the fact that\nthe wall of the house had tumbled in at one corner, leaving a ragged\nhole through which light and air entered freely. The floor was of dirt\nand at two levels. One half, which was used to accommodate people, was\nreached by a high step and was comparatively dry. In the middle of this\nhigher floor was a smoldering wood fire, from which the smoke had\ncolored the roof timbers a shiny black. The lower half of the floor was\non a level with the ground outside or even a little lower, and was\ndecidedly muddy. This section was for the accommodation of horses and\ncattle. When our party was all inside, so that we could take a census,\nwe found that the occupants of the room for the night were to be,\nbesides myself and my wife, the three muleteers, a cook and a Syrian\nmaid accompanying us to the city. We were in the higher part of the\nroom. In the other part were two horses, four mules, a goat and a calf.\nThese were the visible animals, and anyone who has traveled under\nsimilar conditions will appreciate what is meant when I say there were\nmyriads of other creatures which made themselves known through other\nsenses than sight.\n\nThe sheik was seated by the fire, warming himself, and gave us a scant\nwelcome. We took such a supper as we were able to provide in the\ncircumstances, and prepared to be as comfortable as possible for the\nnight. One of the men had been suffering from malaria and so I prepared\nfor him, and others in the party, a dose of quinine, after the fatigue\nand exposure of the day. The sheik immediately asked what it was, and\ndesired a dose for himself and the other men present. It was the same\nprinciple as that which makes bargain sales attractive. Something is\ngoing cheap or gratis, and so I must have it, whether I need it or not.\nDoses were given out to all who wished for it, for a few grains of\nquinine seldom go amiss in this country. Conversation was not very\nlively, about that smoky fire, as we were tired and there were not many\ntopics of common interest. At length our cook thought he would\nfacilitate matters a little. He had lived with foreigners long enough to\nknow the advantage of appealing to the gallantry of men toward the\nladies, so he said in his most ingratiating tone to the sheik, \"The lady\nis tired and would like to go to sleep.\" \"Well, let her do so, there is\nno objection.\" With a scarcely restrained chuckle, the cook subsided for\na time and then tried again, saying this time, \"The Effendi (gentleman)\nis tired and would be much obliged if you would leave so that he may\nsleep.\" This was a different proposition and seemed to meet something of\na response. Shortly, one of those present got up and went over into the\ncorner of the room where he spread out his cloak and proceeded to his\nMoslem devotions. When he was through, another followed him with equal\ndeliberation, and we began to doubt whether we should sleep before\nmorning. At length the last one withdrew and we were left to ourselves,\nincluding the attendants and animals mentioned before. We spread our\ncamp bedsteads in the driest part of the room and made ready to sleep.\nIt was not long, however, before the rain began to fall, and very soon\nthe roof began to leak over our heads. We spread rubber coats over\nourselves and raised our umbrellas over our heads and tried to see the\nhumor of the situation. At early dawn we were up and packed our goods\nfor a new start. The river had fallen sufficiently in the night to\npermit our crossing, though with some difficulty. On the farther bank we\nfound a party of people waiting until the stream should subside\nsufficiently to allow them to cross with their small donkeys.\n\nEvery summer it is necessary to make a change from the heat of the plain\nto the more bracing air of the mountains. This is not a vacation, for\nthe missionary's work goes on with little variation, wherever he may be,\nbut it involves a change of base and the setting up of a simple\nhousehold in different surroundings. In those earlier years the mountain\nlife was exceedingly simple and the means of transportation most crude.\nThe village of Hadeth is accessible from Tripoli and in a beautiful\nsituation, directly opposite the famous grove of Cedars of Lebanon. It\nlies on a ridge in the mountains at an elevation of some forty-five\nhundred feet above the sea. More than one season have we spent in the\nhouse of old Abu Maroon, the village carpenter. The house consisted of\nfour large rooms, opening on a long, arched porch which extended the\nfull length of the house. The floors were of dirt and the walls roughly\nplastered with mud. We rented three of these rooms, the owners occupying\nthe fourth. The partitions between the rooms were made of brushwood,\nplastered on both sides with mud. These partitions extended only about\nthree fourths of the way to the roof, leaving ample space above for\nventilation and conversation. The uncovered twigs and small branches at\nthe top of these partitions made an attractive, artistic feature, very\npleasing to many of our visitors. One of the regular household duties in\nthose mountain houses was the renewing of the mud on the floors. Every\nweek or two it was necessary to remove everything from the rooms, spread\na fresh coat of watery mud over the floor, and polish it off with a\nsmooth, round stone kept for the purpose. We could then anticipate\nreasonable freedom from fleas for another period.\n\nThe only way to reach a summer resort was on horseback, over very rough\nbridle paths. All furniture had to be transported by mules in like\nmanner; folding chairs and tables, camping utensils and necessary\nbedding had to be made into suitable bundles; indispensable supplies had\nto be provided and mules secured to carry all to the mountains. It was a\nlong, hard day's ride and the party was sure to be pretty tired the\nfirst night of arrival, but the renewed vigor in the fresh mountain air\ngave new strength for the resumption of life on the hotter plain in the\nfall and it was well worth all the trouble it cost.\n\nWhen it is possible to secure a week or two for real rest, there is no\nmore delightful way to accomplish the purpose than to make a camp in the\ncedar grove. This clump of trees lies in a basin in the higher\nmountains, about six thousand feet above sea level. On the east and\nnorth, and somewhat on the south, the mountains rise about this great\namphitheater to about four thousand feet more, being the highest\nmountains anywhere in Syria. Large patches of snow lie perpetually on\nthese highest mountains, but the slopes are bare, having no trees nor\nshrubs beyond clumps of thorns and scanty grass where the melting snows\nafford some moisture. Flocks of goats range over these barren slopes,\ngaining a scanty subsistence. In the days of Solomon and Hiram of Tyre\nthese mountains were probably covered with cedar forests. Nowadays only\nsmall sections are so covered, though on many of the bare heights the\npeople still dig up the old stumps of great cedar trees, which they sell\nfor fuel in the cities.\n\nOn the entire mountain range there is left no single grove of really\nancient cedars, except the one of which I have spoken, known among the\npeople as the \"Cedars of the Lord\" or simply as \"The Cedars.\" It is\nimpossible to speak with certainty of the age of these great trees, but\nfrom what we know of their slow growth and the size of many of the\ntrunks, it is safe to place their age in the thousands of years. There\nare more than four hundred trees in the grove and their reputed sanctity\nhas protected them from destruction. Some forty years ago one of the\ngovernors of Mount Lebanon had a wall built inclosing the grove and a\nguardian appointed. This affords protection from goats, and now a number\nof small trees are growing up to perpetuate the grove in generations to\ncome. If proper steps were taken for reforesting the whole of Lebanon,\nthere would be a great improvement in many ways, and the agricultural\nwealth of the country would be greatly increased.\n\nTo establish a camp among these grand old trees is a most delightful way\nto spend a short vacation. The silence of the nights under the spreading\nbranches; the fragrance of the foliage; the soothing sigh of the breeze\namong the tree tops; the beautiful and ever-changing colors on the\nhigher mountain slopes; the beautiful outlook to the west over the\nnarrow valley out to the distant Mediterranean; all these influences\ntend to quiet the tired nerves, refresh the exhausted brain and draw the\ndiscouraged heart back to quiet and rest in the hand of the Master.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nPERSECUTION\n\n\nLate one afternoon as I was sitting in my study, the doorbell rang and a\nyoung man from Hamath entered, showing every token of great excitement\nand fatigue. He had just arrived on the diligence from Homs. As soon as\nhe was sufficiently composed to give me a clear story, he told me that\nthe preacher in Hamath had been suddenly arrested by the local\nauthorities, and after somewhat rough treatment, had been sent under\nguard to Damascus, a journey of five days on horseback, as it was before\nthe era of railroads. So far as I could learn from my informant, the\ncase was one of flagrant persecution, with no culpable occasion behind\nit. The first thing to be done was to quiet the excitement of our\nfriend, who had brought the word himself rather than trust a written\nmessage. Giving him a chance to rest, I made hasty arrangements for a\nnight ride to Beirut. The moon would rise about ten o'clock and I\narranged for two riding horses to be ready for us before midnight. We\nset out together through the olive orchards under the witchery of the\nmoonlight. It would have been a pleasant experience under other\ncircumstances. The road follows the general line of the seashore, at\ntimes close to the breaking waves, and again rising on a rocky bluff at\nwhose base the blue sea keeps up an incessant murmur. In the silent\nnight the play of advancing and retreating waves gives a constantly\nvaried effect of light and sound.\n\nBefore noon we reached Beirut and consulted with various missionary\nfriends and the consuls of America, England and Germany, who take an\ninterest in matters affecting the Protestants in Turkey. It was decided\nthat our Hamath friend should go at once to Damascus, while I awaited\nword from him whether my presence was needed. The following day a\ntelegram agreed upon between us brought the brief message, \"Better\ncome.\" The old French diligence in those days made the trip across Mount\nLebanon to Damascus in something over thirteen hours, a rather fatiguing\nday. On the evening of my arrival we had a conference of the immediate\ncircle of friends, and the arrested man himself was among us. This was a\nthoroughly characteristic incident, under Turkish administration, and so\nmerits a word of explanation. During the journey from Hamath to\nDamascus, friendly relations had been established between the prisoner\nand his escort, so that the latter were willing to accommodate their\nprisoner in any reasonable measure. It was agreed upon that they should\nnot announce their arrival nor report to their superiors for a few days\nuntil the prisoner secured a little rest and made arrangements for his\ndefense. Hence I was informed by our friend himself that he would not\narrive in Damascus \"officially\" for several days.\n\nIt is needless to go into all the details of this event but the\nanimating cause of the incident has its humorous as well as its\nenlightening side. Some time before, our friend had wished to compliment\nthe man who was at the time governor of Hamath. Being of a literary turn\nhe wrote a flattering poem to present on a suitable occasion.\nIndiscreetly he worked into his poem serious reflections on another man\nwho was the governor's enemy and who held a similar post at a distance.\nThe governor was so pleased that the poem was printed for distribution\nand a copy reached the hands of the other man, who was naturally not\npleased with it. In the subsequent shifting of appointments this very\nman became governor of Hamath, and found a way to vent his spite at the\npoet.\n\nWhen looked at from a safe perspective, most of the so-called\npersecution in Syria has a predominant touch of humor in it. The most\nconvenient and suitable place for Tripoli missionary families to spend\ntheir summers is in the village of Hadeth close to the summer seat of\nthe Maronite patriarch. The whole valley is considered sacred, and hence\nstrongly guarded against the pollution of any heretical evangelical\ninfluences. For a number of years the ecclesiastics tried, in every way\nthey could devise, to make us trouble and to prevent our securing houses\nin the town, or finding any comfort when we did so. During one summer\nthey were especially aggressive and seemed determined to be rid of us.\nThe priests warned everyone against serving us in any way, and against\nselling us anything to eat. For a few days our servant had to go to a\nneighboring town to buy supplies. The woman who had been doing our\nwashing sent word she could not come. A special conclave assembled and\nsummoned our landlord, threatening all sorts of vengeance if he did not\nturn us out. They said that a mob would destroy his house over our\nheads. The poor old man came to me in great fear, knowing the\nunscrupulousness of his opponents, and thinking they might get up some\nfalse accusation against him in the government and cast him into prison\nor subject him to needless loss or expense. I assured him they would not\ndare touch us or attack his property and that the whole plan was to\nfrighten us into leaving town, if possible. I told him that we were to\nleave on a certain day in October. When the hostile party learned this,\nthey drew up a pledge that the Americans were to be expelled from town\non the day I had indicated, under a forfeit of fifty pounds from the\nlandlord to the local church. He was also required to go to the church\nand apologize publicly to the people, kiss the floor of the church in\nfront of the picture of the Virgin, and pay a pound into the treasury.\nHe was then accepted as in good and regular standing, and all waited for\nthe appointed day. Unfortunately I did not know of this until it was too\nlate to change our plans. On the day appointed we left town with our\nhousehold goods and as we rode away we heard the church bells ringing\nout a peal of rejoicing to celebrate the cleansing of the town. Times\nhave changed now, and the same priest who led in the opposition then\nwill call upon us and crack jokes about the times gone by.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nEMIGRATION\n\n\nThe period of my life in Syria has witnessed the rapid development of\nemigration. In former days there was very little travel among the\npeople, the marriage of a girl to a man in a neighboring village being a\nnotable and rather rare occurrence. It was no unusual thing for a person\nto spend his whole life without ever going so much as ten miles from his\nbirthplace. I was entertained for supper one night at the home of a\nwealthy Moslem in Homs. The old father of our host was present and I\nentered into conversation with him as to the experiences of his long\nlife. He told me that he had taken four wives, as permitted by Moslem\nlaw. He had twenty sons who had all grown up and married in Homs. He\nsaid that his grandsons numbered about a hundred, all of whom he knew\nby face, though he might not be able to fit the right name to each, at\nfirst sight. Knowing him to be quite wealthy, I asked whether he had\ntraveled much. My first question was whether he had been to the\nseashore, some sixty-five miles away at Tripoli. He had never seen the\nsea. \"Have you been to Damascus?\" This would appeal more to a devout\nMoslem, since the sea is always associated more or less with the unholy\nforeigners of Christian faith, while Damascus is an ancient seat of\nMoslem power and glory. \"No, I have never seen Damascus,\" was his\nanswer. \"Well, surely you have been to Hamath?\" This is only thirty\nmiles distant. \"No,\" he said, \"I never went to Hamath.\" \"Have you passed\nyour whole life right here in Homs?\" \"Once,\" he said, \"I made a journey\nout among the Arabs of the desert, to buy sheep.\" That was the extent of\ntraveling by an intelligent, well-to-do Moslem of the old school.\n\nSome thirty or forty years ago a change began among the people and a\nfew enterprising men sought more favorable opportunities for making a\nliving in foreign lands. Many of them were successful and encouraged\nothers to follow them, until now the most profitable business of the\nsteamships calling at Syrian ports is the carrying of emigrants back and\nforth. The weekly exit is numbered by the hundreds, and large numbers\nalso return from time to time. Few of those who return to Syria remain\nfor any length of time, for, having once tasted the liberty and\nexperienced the opportunities of life in western lands, they are no\nlonger content to fall back into the old, slow, unprofitable methods of\nthe Orient. A notable change has also come over the character of the\nemigration in another respect. At first it was only the more\nenterprising, vigorous young men who went abroad to seek their fortunes.\nNow whole families go together. Women and girls emigrate as freely as\nmen. At first it was only Christians who sought to improve their\ncondition in Christian lands; now Moslems and Nusairiyeh go as freely as\ndo the Christians.\n\nAt first this emigration was a blind flight from poverty and oppressive\nconditions at home, with little understanding of the places to which the\nemigrants were going. They placed themselves literally in the hands of\nthe steamship agents in Marseilles. Taking passage from Syria to\nMarseilles, they were shipped on from there in bunches, according to the\nadvantage of the agent into whose hands they fell. They might be sent to\nArgentine, while the friends to whom they were going were in\nMassachusetts. They might be sent to Sierra Leone or to Capetown, but it\nwas all America in their minds. The simple idea of geography in those\ndays seemed to divide the world into two parts, Syria and America. The\ncommon people know far better now, for they discuss intelligently the\nconditions of life and business in the various parts of the world.\nSyrians are to be found in every one of the United States, from Maine to\nFlorida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They are in Alaska, the\nSandwich Islands and the Philippines. They are in every country of\nCentral and South America, in the West Indies and in all parts of\nAfrica. In many places they have bought property and made permanent\nbusiness arrangements.\n\nIn the early years there were many indications of their lack of\nexperience in money matters and general business methods. One man in\nBrazil had accumulated quite a sum of money and wished to return home.\nHe did not understand the simplicity of taking a draft on London from\nthe bank, and was averse to parting with good gold for a mere slip of\npaper. He changed all his money into English sovereigns and put the\nwhole nine hundred into a belt, which he secured around his body under\nhis clothes. He did not dare remove his treasure day or night during the\nweeks of journey, enduring the weight and pressure until he reached\nhome. He was then taken sick and nearly lost his life from kidney\ntrouble induced by this folly.\n\nAnother young man in Mexico started home by way of New York. He knew\nthat English and French gold are current in Syria, and was sure that\nAmerican gold was every bit as good. So he exchanged his money for\nAmerican gold coin. It came to my attention through a man who came to me\nwith a twenty-dollar gold piece, and asked what it was worth. When I\ntold him its real value, he showed such surprise as to arouse my\ncuriosity. It appeared that this coin, with one like it, had been given\nas betrothal token for his daughter. Subsequently the engagement was\nbroken by the young man and so, in accordance with oriental custom, the\ntoken was forfeited. The father, wishing to realize on the coin, took it\nto a local goldsmith who pretended to examine it carefully and then\noffered three dollars for it. The father was disappointed at this\nappraisal and indignant that his daughter should have been rated so low.\nThe reaction, when he found the coin to be worth nearly seven times as\nmuch as he had been informed, was almost too much for him.\n\nOne matter connected incidentally with the emigration has been the call\nfor assistance in handling money for those abroad. In the earlier years\nthere were no adequate banking facilities outside of Beirut and so the\npeople began to send back money to their families through the hands of\nfriends who were merchants living in the various seaport towns. In\nseveral cases unscrupulous men took advantage of the general ignorance\nin money matters to secure abnormal profits to themselves, and in more\nthan one instance, through fraudulent bankruptcy, cheated the people out\nof hundreds of pounds. Those who were in any way connected with the\nAmerican missionaries began sending their money to us, and at last we\nwere obliged to conduct quite an extensive banking business. In some\nyears drafts for several thousand pounds would come to me in sums\nranging from two or three pounds to several hundred at a time. These\nwere to be paid out to various relatives or to be held on deposit until\nthe owners' return. On one occasion I opened a registered letter from\nBrazil and found in it a draft on London for ten pounds. On reading the\nletter I found it to be written by a man I did not know, in behalf of\nanother stranger, and that the money was to be paid to an entire\nstranger in a village I had never seen. It was enough for the sender to\nknow that his money was in the hands of an American missionary.\n\nOn one occasion a returned emigrant came to my associate with a kerchief\nfull of silver and gold coins. He asked the privilege of depositing this\nwith the mission until he needed it. As it was evidently a considerable\nsum, he was advised to put it in the bank so as to secure some\ninterest, but he preferred to feel sure that his money was safe, even\nthough it earned nothing. Neither did he see any necessity of waiting\nuntil the money should be counted and a regular entry made of it in the\nbooks. It was enough that the missionary had charge of it. This open\naccount remained with us a number of years and sometimes amounted to two\nthousand dollars.\n\nA man sent me from Venezuela a draft for a hundred pounds, charging me\nto let no one know of it, but to hold the money until he should come.\nAfter a long interval I learned that his wife was thinking of going to\njoin him, since no word had been received. I succeeded in dissuading\nher, as I knew he was planning to come home and they might miss each\nother in mid-ocean. The return was delayed, and before he arrived his\nfunds in my hands amounted to six or seven hundred pounds.\n\nThe volume of emigration is growing every year and is taking away the\nstrength of the land, but better banking facilities have relieved us of\nthe financial cares formerly carried. The director of the Ottoman Bank\nin Tripoli estimates the annual amount of money passing through this one\nport in drafts from Syrians abroad as not less than seven hundred\nthousand pounds sterling.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nSYRIAN ENTERPRISES\n\n\nThe final aim of mission work is the development of a self-supporting,\nself-propagating Christian community, and hence the happiest experience\nof a missionary's life is connected with the first independent\nundertakings of the people whom he serves. In this connection there are\ntwo interesting incidents connected with the life of the evangelical\nchurch in Homs. There are men still living who remember when the gates\nin the old city walls were closed every night at sunset, and a belated\ntraveler had to make himself as safe and comfortable as he could on the\noutside until sunrise the next morning. When this old custom passed into\ndisuse, the city gradually outgrew the old limits and new sections\nbegan to appear outside the old walls. When I first visited Homs, there\nwas already a large settlement on the north side of the old city, known\nas the Hamidiyeh in honor of the reigning sovereign Abd-ul-Hamid. In\nthis section of the city were a number of evangelicals and it was most\ndesirable that there should be regular services in that section. Much\ndifficulty was found in renting suitable quarters, and a change was\nnecessary every year or two. At length one of the most prosperous men in\nthe church decided that a permanent chapel must be secured. The people\nin that part of the city were poor and could not raise money to buy\nproperty. He decided to set aside a certain sum, and let it accumulate\nin his own business until he should have sufficient for the purpose. He\ndid so, and after some years was able to purchase and remodel a house in\nthe Hamidiyeh. That little chapel has been in constant use now for many\nyears for public service on the Sabbath and school during the week, and\nis all the result of the generous thought of this one man.\n\n[Illustration: HOMS Boys' School]\n\nEarly in the present century a zealous young man became the acting\npastor of the Homs church. He was constantly seeking for means to\nstrengthen the position of the evangelical church in the community and\nwas soon convinced of the importance of improving the schools, so as to\nmake them more effective and more attractive. He urged the church\nforward in support of his plans, and raised the standard of work in the\nschools. He himself was an indefatigable worker and inspired others with\nthe spirit of service. He gained the confidence of the man referred to\nabove and secured his help financially when needed. At length it seemed\nto this pastor that all their efforts would be in vain unless he could\nestablish a boarding school for boys. It was not possible for the\nmission to help in these plans at that time, and our earnest friend\ndecided to push ahead alone. A bequest was made to the evangelical\nchurch in Homs by one of her members who died in Egypt. This was a\nnucleus, and others were induced to contribute larger and smaller sums.\nA beginning was made in temporary quarters in the city itself, while a\nfine site was purchased outside for the permanent building. The school\nwas popular from the start, and, considering the cramped and unsuitable\nquarters in which it was conducted, did admirable work. Syrians in Egypt\nand America responded well to the appeal to their patriotism. A plain\nbut commodious building was erected on the new site and the school was\nmoved to its new home. The school has about four or five acres of land,\nlying higher than any other plot near the city. This tract is inclosed\nby a simple wall. Within is the two-story stone school building, with\naccommodation for something over a hundred boarders, and a schoolroom\nwhich might accommodate nearly twice that number. The kitchen and dining\nroom are in a simpler building adjacent. Thus has been provided a\nconvenient, healthful home for the school, with ample playground and\nsuitable surroundings.\n\nA Christian community which shows the strength and ability to organize\nand conduct such enterprises as these has certainly a degree of vitality\nwhich gives us every confidence in its growth and advance in the future.\n\nOne of the greatest misfortunes, as it appears to me, in the situation\nof the subject races in Turkey, is their inability to appreciate the\nvalue and meaning of the word \"loyalty.\" I have failed to find an Arabic\nword in common use which conveys the fullness of what we mean by that\nword \"loyalty,\" and it seems to be because the people have had no\noccasion to express the idea. It is an inestimable loss to a people to\nlive in such conditions, for there is an inevitable reaction upon\ncharacter and a blighting effect on all the relations of life. This\ncondition of things has grown rapidly in recent years, and most\nevidently during the reverses of the Balkan war. It is an everyday\nexperience, in passing along the street, to hear people exclaiming\nagainst the oppression and injustice of Turkish rule, with the\nexpression, \"Anything would be better than the present condition.\" Nor\nare such expressions any more frequent from Christians than from\nMoslems. A member of one of the leading Mohammedan families was recently\nquoted to me as saying: \"We want an end of this business. We want the\nEnglish to come and take charge of us.\" One day as a merchant was taking\na bag of small coins from his safe to make a payment, he was warned not\nto accumulate any large amount of these small coins, as they would\ndepreciate in value, if anything serious should happen to the Turkish\nGovernment. With a look of disgust, he said, \"I would gladly lose them\nall and the silver coins, too, to be wholly rid of Turkey, once for\nall.\" On another occasion a simple carriage driver expressed his views\nin rough style, by saying, \"Sir, the Devil himself would be an\nimprovement on the present state of things.\" Then more seriously, he\nsaid, \"We know we are not fitted for self-government, and what we want\nmost of all is England, or if that is impossible, then France.\" On a\nrailroad train there was one other passenger in the compartment with me.\nWhile stopping at a station, something occurred to excite my companion\nto violent abuse of the government. When he paused I said to him, \"Sir,\nhow is it that you speak so, although you wear the fez?\" He turned to me\nand spoke most earnestly, but with no trace of excitement, saying, \"Yes,\nI am a Turk, and I am a Mohammedan, and nevertheless, I have no words\nstrong enough to express my contempt for the Turkish Government.\" All\nthese things are exceedingly sad, for it is an immeasurable loss to a\npeople if they cannot love and respect those whom they must obey.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nINTERRUPTIONS\n\n\nOur life in Syria has been, on the whole, quiet, but it has not been\nwithout its shadows. There is no life without its sorrows and unexpected\nexperiences. The comparative isolation of missionary life brings into\nvery close fellowship those who are cut off from the closer relationship\nto friends in the homeland. One Sunday afternoon in the fall of 1906, I\nwas standing in the back of our chapel, awaiting the closing exercises\nof the Sunday school. The telegraph messenger appeared at the door and\nhanded me a telegram, for which I signed without serious thought. When I\nopened the paper and read the wholly unexpected message, all strength\nseemed to leave me, and I hastened to a seat, lest I fall to the floor.\nThe message told of the sudden death of my brother-in-law, Rev. W. K.\nEddy of Sidon, while away from home on a tour. We had considered him one\nof the most vigorous men in the mission, for whom years of active\nservice might be expected, and now in a moment he had been called away,\nleaving his family and his work to others. It took time to realize the\nsituation but some things had to be done at once. I called my servant\nand sent him to secure an animal, as I had to start at once for Sidon.\nArrangements had to be made for my absence, and the sad news had to be\nbroken to the Tripoli circle of friends. By five o'clock I was ready to\nstart, and I shall never forget that night's ride. The first twenty\nmiles were covered in the early evening hours, on horseback over a\nrough, stony road, while the question kept ringing through my mind, \"Why\nshould this be?\" About ten o'clock I reached the carriage road where I\ncould take a more comfortable and speedy conveyance. All through the\ndark night, as I jolted over the road, trying to get a little rest in\npreparation for the hard day before me, I could not turn my mind from\nthe many problems connected with this sad experience. Who would take up\nthe work thus suddenly dropped? What plan would be made for the family\nof growing children? The night was dark, but the dawn was approaching.\nThe way seemed dark, but the Father's love had brought us to this point\nand he would not leave us to walk alone. In the early dawn, I reached\nBeirut and found the missionary friends there ready to start for Sidon,\nand so we all went on together, reaching the darkened home about noon.\nThe large assembly hall was filled in the afternoon for the funeral\nservices, and a great crowd of all classes of people marched out to the\ncemetery, where the mortal remains of our loved brother and fellow\nworker were laid away. Those are precious spots where we do the last\nservice on earth for those we have loved, but they are doubly precious\non the mission field where the distance from the great body of family\nfriends and relatives is so deeply felt. But these occasions strengthen\nthe ties that bind us to the hearts and lives of those among whom we\nlive and whom we serve.\n\nWe had scarcely adjusted ourselves to this sorrow when another of the\nhard experiences of life came upon us. The season had been one of\nexceptionally heavy work and continuous strain, which showed in a\ndecided break in health. The doctors said work must be dropped at once\nand the winter be spent in Egypt, if a more serious break were to be\navoided. It was not exactly a pleasure excursion on which we started\nduring the Christmas holidays. There was no time to write ahead and make\ninquiries or arrangements, so we set out to a strange land among\nstrangers, in search of health. Finding no place which seemed suitable\nin lower Egypt, we decided to go up the river to Assiyut, and wrote a\nletter to Dr. Alexander, president of the United Presbyterian College\nat that place. We had no personal acquaintance and no claim upon him,\nbut he was a missionary, and that was enough.\n\nIt was a long ride and Egyptian railroads are nothing if not dusty. Our\nspirits had not begun to rise yet, and we felt rather tired and wholly\ndisreputable in appearance, when we left the train at Assiyut, ready to\nask our way to the Greek hotel. But before we had a chance to do\nanything, we saw a bright, cheery face, bearing an evident welcome, and\na hearty voice assuring us that the owner was Dr. Alexander and that he\nhad come to take us in charge. It was the first encouraging incident,\nand lifted a weight from us at once. As we walked along he told us they\nhad held a conference over our case, and, having decided that we could\nnot be comfortable in the hotel, had placed at our disposal a rest room\nprovided in the hospital for members of their own mission or other\nforeigners who needed rest and medical attention. A more perfect\nprovision for our need could not have been devised. We enjoyed the\ncompanionship of the corps of foreign nurses, sharing their table and\nhome life. We had the constant companionship as well as the professional\nservices of the four medical missionaries. Is it a wonder that I began\nto gain at once? After nine weeks we returned to our work, made over and\nwith a new lease of life, a new sense of the solidarity of Christian\nfellowship, and a new realization of the heavenly Father's tender care.\n\nSuch experiences as that winter at Assiyut show how entirely\ndenominational differences are forgotten on the mission field. In social\nintercourse, in the prayer circle, in discussion of mission problems, in\nthe church service, in the pulpit, there was never anything to remind us\nthat we were only Presbyterians while our kind hosts were United\nPresbyterians. It was a delightful opportunity for the cultivation of\nfellowship, and for the observation of other forms and methods of\nmission work, under conditions very different from ours in Syria. The\nwork in Egypt is relieved from many of the problems so insistent in\nTurkey. There is no hostile government, always suspicious of every move\nmade by a foreigner. There is no such inefficiency in the government as\nmakes the lives of Turkish subjects always insecure and travel\ndangerous. But, on the other hand, the climatic conditions in Egypt are\nfar more trying than in Syria, as the heat is extremely enervating for\nmost of the year. These climatic conditions undoubtedly account to some\nextent for the less virile, independent character of the people. But\nwhatever the differences in climate, whatever the differences in the\ncharacter of the people, whatever the differences in governmental\nrelations, we came back from Egypt more than ever impressed with the\nfact that the conflict is one, the object aimed at is one, and the body\nof workers is one, under the direction of our one Lord and Master.\n\nIn 1911 there came another break in the routine life of the field, but\nwith no such sorrow in it as in the former incidents. The second\nConference for Workers in Moslem Lands met in Lucknow in January 1911\nand our mission chose me as its delegate to that conference. The journey\nthrough the Suez Canal and down the Red Sea and across the Arabian Sea\nto Bombay was one of the experiences of life never to be forgotten.\nThere were enough of us going on the same journey to form a little group\nof sympathetic companions and we had many an opportunity at table and on\ndeck to talk over the matters connected with our life work.\n\nThe contrasts in the streets of Bombay are similar to those seen in all\nthe changing Orient, but with characteristic differences calculated to\ncatch the eye of one accustomed to the nearer East. Nowhere in Turkey do\nyou find such broad, magnificent, paved thoroughfares as those in\nBombay, and yet, beside the track of the electric trolley, you see a\ncrude cart jogging along behind the humpbacked bullock. On the pavements\nyou see elaborately dressed ladies from Europe, or from the wealthy\nParsee families, with their Paris gowns and modern hats, and almost at\ntheir elbows the dark-skinned members of the sweeper caste, clad in a\nsimple loin cloth. You step out of the finely appointed barber shop in\nyour modern hotel, with its polite, English-speaking attendant, to see\nby the roadside a group of swarthy Indians, crouching on the ground, as\none of their number shaves the crowns of their heads.\n\nThe tourist in Galilee in the spring of the year is impressed by the\nvariety and brilliancy of color all about him in the wild flowers of the\nfields. As we walked the streets of Bombay, the same impression was made\nupon us by the brightness and variety in the headdress of the men. If\nthere is any color known to the dyers' art not found among the turbans\nof Bombay it is merely because no samples have as yet been sent there.\nEvery shape as well as every shade is found, and it would almost seem as\nif the excessive attention paid to the head covering had exhausted the\nenergy of the people, leaving no desire or ability to devise any\ncovering for the rest of the body. A stranger may wonder also at first\nwhy everyone seems to have forgotten to wash his face. Those curious\nblotches of varicolored clay on the forehead are not accidental nor an\nindication of carelessness to one's personal appearance. On the\ncontrary, they indicate fidelity to religious duty and reveal to the\ninitiated the special temple most recently visited by the devout\nworshiper. For a transient visitor, this variety and intricacy are\npuzzling, but to the initiated everything has its meaning and the\nvarieties of headdress tell the tale of religious affiliation and caste\ngradation.\n\nComfortable train service carried us quickly to the north, giving us\nglimpses of Delhi, the ancient Mogul capital, with its reminders of the\nmutiny; and Agra with its matchless architectural gem, the Taj Mahal. We\nreached Agra at the close of the day, and after locating ourselves at\nthe hotel, set out on foot to have our first glimpse of the Taj by\nmoonlight. No matter what one may have read of this wonderful building,\nno matter what pictures or models one may have seen, I have yet to meet\na person who has not been most deeply impressed by the first vision of\nthe reality. The approach through the dark foliage of the quiet garden\ngives a chance for the impressive grandeur of the marble structure to\nfix itself in the visitor's mind. By the time he enters the spacious\narchway, he has begun to appreciate the perfection of the curves, the\nnobility of the dimensions, the purity of the white marble and the\ngraceful dignity of the whole combination. The beautifully inlaid black\nlettering from the Koran follows the curves of the lofty arch overhead,\nadding a sense of sacredness to the entrance. And yet, when one is\ninside, he almost forgets the impressions received without. In place of\nstateliness and grandeur, we find here a beauty of finish and exactness\nof detail which surpass all the more massive qualities of the exterior.\nThe central tomb is surrounded by a marble screen carved with a delicacy\nthat makes one forget the marble and think he sees before him the most\nperfect and delicate lace veil. The pillars and panels of the screen,\nthe inner walls of the building, as well as the sides of the tomb\nitself, are decorated with the most beautifully inlaid work of vines and\nwreaths of flowers represented in their natural colors, in the most\ndelicate shades of precious stone. One wonders to find such exquisite\nwork anywhere and the wonder increases when one realizes that this is\nnot the product of modern skill and patience, but that it has stood\nhere, from the days of the Mogul Empire, when we consider that India was\na land of barbarians. And more than this is to follow, for this\nwonderful mausoleum was erected at fabulous cost by a Moslem ruler, in\nmemory of his wife.\n\nWe were not in India merely as sightseers. After a night ride on the\ntrain we reached Lahore in the early morning and at the station received\nthe hearty welcome of J. C. R. Ewing, D.D., president of Forman\nChristian College. Again in northern India we had the loving handclasp\nof a fellow missionary and the cordial welcome to a missionary home. The\nshort visit there could give us but a faint impression of what that\ncollege is doing for the Punjab and what a position and influence the\nmissionaries have among the people of every class, whether Indian or\nBritish. Never did I have such a vivid impression of the awful\nexperiences of the mutiny, or the wonderful changes wrought by British\nrule in India, as when I stood on some of the memorable spots at\nCawnpore and Lucknow, and reviewed the record of treachery and loyalty,\ncowardice and bravery, cruelty and gallantry, which were developed in\nthe awful experiences of the Mutiny. To-day, no matter what may be the\nrestlessness and uncertainty of the situation, India is a united\ncountry, and not a medley of hostile principalities and warring\nkingdoms. Railroads cover the land in every direction with an efficient\nservice. Perfect carriage roads make the land a paradise for motor cars\nand bicycles. Military encampments near all the large cities assure\nsecurity of life and property. Schools and colleges are extending\nknowledge in every direction. Wealth is taking place of poverty,\nknowledge of ignorance, light of darkness, and religion is coming into\nits own as a real force in human life and no longer as merely a badge of\nfaction or clan.\n\nThe gathering at Lucknow was notable. Delegates of many nationalities\ngathered in that hall. Workers in many lands and in widely differing\nconditions, we came together for a common purpose. Members of many\nChristian denominations, we united in the worship of one Master.\nDifferences were forgotten in a deeper union. Whatever allegiance we\nowed to earthly sovereigns, we met as children of the heavenly King.\nWhatever may have been the language of our ordinary service, here we had\nbut one language--that of loving fellowship. We were members of separate\nbands of commissioners, coming together at the feet of our Leader to ask\nfor fuller instructions in the pursuit of his work.\n\nThe keynote of the Lucknow Conference was to win the Moslem world by\nlove, the love of Christ incarnate in his messenger. It is one of the\nmost hopeful signs in the advancement of the kingdom that the attractive\npower of love is more prominent than the overwhelming power of argument.\nIt is a great help to the right placing of this emphasis that workers in\nmany lands, of many nations, of many denominations, are drawing nearer\ntogether and working more in harmony. I returned from India, rejoicing\nin all I had seen of God's power and blessing in that land, but with a\ndeeper conviction that the work in India, in China, in Africa, in Syria\nis all one work, under one Master.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nOUR SUPPORTERS\n\n\nOne of the brightest things in the missionary's happy lot is the\nbeautiful relation existing between those on the field and those whom\nthey represent in the homeland. Many years ago we were calling, one\nevening, upon our landlord in Tripoli. The eldest son had recently\nreturned from America, and in the course of conversation the father\nasked from what part of the United States we came, in order to see\nwhether his son had been in the same vicinity. The son at once replied:\n\"I know the name of the place, but I do not know in what state it is.\nThey come from Private Funds.\" We could not think at first what he\nmeant, but then discovered that he had found a missionary report among\nsome old magazines thrown out from the house. In this he had seen our\nnames in a list of missionaries, giving the name of the society by which\neach was supported. Seeing \"Private Funds\" opposite our names, he\nthought it must be the name of the town from which we came, though, as\nhe said, he did not know in what state it was located. A little\nknowledge is truly a dangerous thing.\n\nThe relation indicated by those words, which has subsisted for\ntwenty-five years, has been most happy. When I was a senior in the\nseminary and had already made my application to the Foreign Board, I\nreceived a letter from Mr. George D. Dayton of Minnesota. He was the son\nof an elder in my father's old church in Geneva, only a few years older\nthan I, but already a prosperous business man whose generosity in the\nLord's work was becoming well known. He urged upon me the need and\nopportunity in the home mission field of the growing northwest. I\nanswered him, explaining as fully as I could, the reasons that had led\nme to decide that my life should be devoted to another field, realizing\nthat my answer would be a disappointment to him and might cause some\nweakening of the ties of friendship already strong between us.\n\nThe next that I heard of the subject was that Mr. Dayton had written to\nthe Foreign Board, assuming our support as the personal representatives\nof his family in the foreign field. Thus, instead of weakening our\nfriendship, my choice was the beginning of a closer and warmer relation\nthan ever. It has always been recognized as a family matter, and I shall\nnever forget the comfort and strength that came to us in one of the\nearly years through a letter from Mr. Dayton. It was written on Sunday\nafternoon, and contained words to this effect: \"To-day was the time\nappointed for the annual offering for foreign missions in our church.\nBefore going to church I gathered the family together and talked to the\nchildren about you as our representatives in Syria. Then we united in\nprayer at the family altar for God's blessing on you. At church I placed\nin the collection my check for the amount I have pledged to the Board\nfor your support.\" Through letters and visits in the home when on\nfurlough, this delightful relation has grown more and more precious as\nthe years have passed, and it has been a pleasure to acknowledge that we\ncome from Private Funds, which, we are sure, is situated in the State of\nFelicity, in the United States of Brotherly Love.\n\nIt has been said that a missionary furlough is an excellent thing if it\nis not needed too urgently. We have had two most thoroughly enjoyable\nfurloughs in the homeland, during our missionary life. Each visit to\nAmerica has tended to refresh and invigorate us most admirably for a new\nperiod of service and we have added many to the circle of friends who\nencourage us in our work and keep vigorous the connecting link with the\nworkers at home. The periods of our absence from America have had a\ncurious coincidence with the change in methods of locomotion in America.\nWhen we first came to Syria in 1888, the horse car was still supreme in\nAmerican cities. Experimental lines of electric trolleys were being\ntried in certain places, but I had never seen an electric car. When we\nreturned to America in 1897, we found the trolley in all the cities, and\nI remember being disturbed, the first Sunday in Philadelphia, by a\nstrange whirring sound during the morning service. I could think of no\nexplanation except the weird creaking of the great water wheels in\nHamath, but there were no such waterworks in Philadelphia. I soon became\nfamiliar with the hum of the trolley.\n\nDuring that first furlough, there was much written in the magazines\nabout automobiles, and people were wondering whether the auto would\nreally be practicable, but I did not see a machine. Our first sight of\nan auto was in Cairo, in Egypt. We reached America on our second\nfurlough in 1908, and the first day on shore gave us our first ride in\nan auto, which we found rapidly taking a recognized place in American\neveryday life. Again the magazines had much to say about the a\u00ebroplane,\nbut we did not see one while in America. My first sight of a human flyer\nwas at Allahabad, in India. It looks now as if a ride in an a\u00ebroplane\nmight not be a strange experience in our third furlough.\n\nThe meeting of earnest Christian workers all over the land, in\nconventions and missionary meetings, is a real refreshment physically\nand spiritually. So long as the missionary's health is good, he finds it\na joy to speak for the cause and mingle with the workers at home. I\ntraveled a good many miles to meet appointments on each furlough. I\nspoke on many platforms, and the cordial welcome extended and the close\nattention paid to the message were an ample reward for whatever there\nwas of fatigue in the service. Many times I felt humiliated by what\nseemed to me the extreme and unmerited deference paid to us, simply\nbecause we were foreign missionaries. So far as Syria is concerned, the\nmissionary of to-day asks for no sympathy on the score of physical\nprivations. We are in close touch with European and American\ncivilization. We can obtain whatever is necessary for physical wellbeing\nand comfort. The climate is not excessively enervating and we can have\ngood homes. There are many things that are trying in the life of a\nmissionary, but no more so than in the lives of many workers in the\nhomeland.\n\nThe isolation from friends and relatives is often one of the most trying\nfeatures of missionary life. When sickness or death enter the family\ncircle far away, it is not easy to think of the miles of restless ocean\nthat lie between us and them. The whole unchristian, unsympathetic\natmosphere makes life hard at times, but the compensations are so many\nthat it makes one ashamed to be held up as a model of self-sacrifice.\nThe missionary feels, as the earnest worker at home feels, and as Paul\nfelt years ago, when he said, \"The love of Christ constraineth us.\"\n\nThe first home-going was peculiarly happy, for in neither of the two\nfamily circles had there been any break. The only changes had come by\nmarriage and birth. The circles were expanding, and there was no place\nvacated during the period of our absence. The second going was very\ndifferent in this respect. Many who had been vigorous were feeble. Many\nwho had bidden us a bright farewell were not present to welcome us on\nour return. Children had become men and women. There were wrinkles on\nthe faces and gray hair on the heads of those whom we had expected to\nfind still as young as we were. But, somehow, it began to dawn on us\nthat we ourselves were no longer counted among the young folks in the\nchurch.\n\nThe general recollection of those two furloughs is one of bright smiles\nand cheery welcomes, helpful handclasps and a joyous fellowship.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nPERSONAL FRIENDS\n\n\nIt was one of the most delightful phases of our experience in charge of\nthe boys' school to find how closely the ties of love to the boys bound\nthem to our hearts, and to realize that with many of them it was no mere\noriental compliment when they called us their father and mother. There\nare many of those lads, now growing to manhood, in whose successes we\ntake a parental pride, and for whose growth in all that is good and true\nwe pray, with parental earnestness. Among the many preachers and\nteachers in all the churches and schools, we count many as most truly\nour brethren and fellow workers for the Master. There are very many\nSyrians in all parts of America, as well as in this land, of whom we\nthink in terms of truest brotherhood. It is with no sense of\ndisparagement to the multitude that I have selected three of the elders\nin our churches for special mention. It has seemed to me, as I look back\nover their lives, that there are some specially suggestive elements in\nthe way the Lord has led them and blessed them, which are worthy of\nspecial note. At the same time these experiences have brought all three\ninto specially close relations with myself personally. I shall mention\nthem in the order of the commencement of my acquaintance with them.\n\nIn 1885, before I entered the mission, I was for a few months in Syria,\nmerely as a visitor. It happened that the College in Beirut was\nshort-handed that year, and in need of an additional teacher. Dr. Bliss\nasked me to help them out and so I became for two months a member of the\nteaching force in the preparatory department. During this time I made\nthe acquaintance of a lad in the senior class of that department, named\nTowfik Sallum. He was a quiet, studious lad, who made no trouble and was\nalways busy with his books or seeking to increase his English\nvocabulary. In the brief time of my remaining in the college, my\nacquaintance was slight and the memory of this boy would have passed\nfrom my mind, had there been no subsequent association. When I became a\nmember of the Tripoli Station and made the acquaintance of the various\nworkers in the field, I found that this lad was the brother of the\npreacher in Hamath. Their father had been the first preacher in that\nchurch, and upon his death the eldest son had succeeded to his father's\nposition in the church, as well as to the parental responsibility for\nthe care and training of his younger brothers. Towfik spent some years\nin the service of the mission as teacher, in intervals of his college\ncourse. In 1892 he was graduated with honor, and in 1896 took his degree\nin medicine also. He settled at once in Hamath, where he was well known\npersonally, and where his family associations made a valuable\nprofessional asset. The conditions of life in ancient Hamath are\nexceedingly primitive and only a small portion of the population have\nany intelligent appreciation of the value of modern medicine.\nPerseverance and tact won their way and a valuable practice was built\nup. With increasing years and widening acquaintance, the doctor became\ngenerally known, universally trusted, and highly respected in government\ncircles as well as among the people. In case the governor wished a\nreliable report on any case of attack or murder, he was sure to send Dr.\nSallum to investigate. He was to be trusted to tell the truth.\n\nWhen the new constitution was promulgated in 1908, it was provided that\nall religious sects were to be entitled to representation in the local\nadministrative courts in rotation, irrespective of the size of those\nbodies. Formerly only the largest of the Christian sects had been\nallowed representation. This provision gave the Protestants a right to\ncivil equality and they put forward Dr. Sallum as their representative.\nHe was accepted, and served most creditably for the term of two years.\nIt was then the turn of the Catholic sect to have a representative, and\nthe heads of the various bodies were summoned by the governor to arrange\nfor the choice of the new member. The governor explained the situation\nand said that as the Protestants had held the office for two years, it\nwas now the right of the Catholics to choose a representative to succeed\nthe Protestant member. Then, turning to the Catholic priest, he said,\n\"If you have a candidate who is more capable than Dr. Sallum or who is\nhis equal, we shall be glad to welcome him, but if not, I should advise\nyou to ask him to continue in office, acting now as representative of\nthe Catholics.\" The priest replied most cordially that his sect would be\ndelighted to be represented by Dr. Sallum, if he would consent. In this\nway the doctor has become practically a permanent member of the\ngovernor's council, acting alternately for the Protestants and the\nCatholics. At the same time the proud member of the large Greek Orthodox\nsect has to give place every two years to the member chosen by the\nJacobite church.\n\nIn 1892 I was in Homs for the administration of the sacraments. Among\nthose who came in on Saturday evening was Mr. Rafool Nasser, a young man\nwho had not been long identified with the Protestant church. He told me\nthat he wished to have his little girl baptized the next day. He had\nbeen married for several years and this was the first child, so the\noccasion was one of more than usual joy. The next morning, before the\nservice began, I saw Mr. Nasser come in and take a seat quite at the\nback of the church, contrary to his usual custom. He seemed depressed\nand I wondered what had occurred. When the time came for baptisms he\nmade no move to come forward and so I proceeded with the children who\nwere presented. At the close of the service I inquired into the matter,\nand learned that Mr. Nasser had informed his wife the evening before\nthat the little girl was to be baptized the next day. His wife then\ninformed him that she had already had the child baptized secretly by the\npriest. This explained the depression I had noticed in the father's\nface. Two years later the parents stood together while I baptized the\nsecond child, and all the others have been presented without question\nfor the rite of baptism. This was the beginning of my acquaintance with\nMr. Nasser, with whom I have been somewhat intimate in recent years.\n\nHe was a man of prominent family in Homs and has been highly prospered\nin business, having become one of the most substantial men of the city.\nMost of the successful men of Homs owe their prosperity to business\nconducted in Egypt. They spend the winters in Egypt, advancing money to\nthe peasants on their cotton crops and also furnishing them certain\nclasses of imported goods on credit. It has been a profitable business,\neven to those who have not been led away by the temptation of avarice to\nimpose on the simplicity of the Egyptian peasant. On one occasion I was\ntalking to Mr. Nasser about the high standards of morality obligatory on\nthe true Christian merchant. He then told me the following incident in\nthe simplest manner. As a young man he started with his cousin on a very\nsmall capital. They invested their cash capital in stock for their\nlittle store, purchasing so far as they could on credit. Mr. Nasser\nreturned to Homs, leaving his cousin in charge of the business in Egypt.\nScarcely had he reached home when word came of the complete destruction\nof their store and all its contents by fire. It was a heavy blow for the\nyoung men, and the first impulse was to go through bankruptcy, settle up\nas well as they could and give up the enterprise. Friends and creditors\ncame to their help and volunteered to scale down their claims and\nfurnish new capital for the two men to start again. They were prospered\nfrom the beginning. After some years Mr. Rafool Nasser decided that he\nwas unwilling to have the friends who were so kind to him suffer from\nthe old loss. He wrote to his cousin, saying that he had no wish to\ncontrol his partner's action, but asking him to pay off his share of\nthose old losses carried by their friends after the fire, and charge the\namount against his personal account. The cousin wrote back, \"Whatever\nyou do, I shall do also.\" In the light of this incident, will anyone say\nthat commercial honor is confined to the West?\n\nThere was a long period of hesitation, after Mr. Nasser was convinced\nintellectually of the truth of the evangelical faith, before he joined\nthe Church. He has explained this to me in the following way: He knew\nthat if he gave in his adherence to the Protestant doctrine, his\nconscience would require him to give far more of his possessions than he\nhad been accustomed to do in the Greek church. It took a long time to\nbring his will to yield. In fact, his head was reached before his purse\nwas opened. He gave up the conflict at last and then said, in closing\nthe account of his experience, \"I've gotten way beyond that now, for I\nhave learned the joy of giving.\" He is not a millionaire, but the Lord\nhas blessed him with considerable property, and he recognizes his\nposition as that of steward. He has been the leading spirit in the\nenterprises of the Homs church, spoken of in another place.\n\nAbout the end of the year 1895, I was sitting one evening in my study\nwhen the bell rang, and one of my neighbors, Mr. Yusuf Faris, entered.\nHe laid on my desk a bundle of Turkish silver dollars, amounting to some\nthirty dollars American money. He said he had been looking over his\naccounts for the year and found this balance in his tithe account, and\nso he wished me to use it for him in a way that he indicated, in the\nfurtherance of the Lord's business. This was a little matter, but it was\na true index to the man. A few years previous to this he had moved to\nthe city from a neighboring village. Among his motives for this move was\nto avoid being forced into a political position he felt to be\ninconsistent with his new position as a Protestant Christian. He decided\nto open a dry-goods store in the city, but was unwilling to conduct\nbusiness in the ordinary way of the country. He rented a very small shop\nand brought his stock of goods from Beirut. He decided upon a fair\nprofit, and set his price on the goods. People were not accustomed to\nthis method and so were slow to buy from the new shop. When they found\nhim unvarying in his prices, they went away to buy elsewhere, getting,\nperhaps, an inferior article at a slightly lower price. Mr. Faris had\nhis full share of determination and was not to be turned back from the\ncourse upon which he had decided. He had an unfailingly pleasant manner\nwith everyone, and showed no resentment at those who bought elsewhere.\nFor months the sales in this little shop were not enough to pay the\nrent, but there was no change of policy. Gradually people began to\ncompare more carefully and discovered that in no case were they able to\nbuy the same quality of goods elsewhere for less than Mr. Faris' first\nprice. They began to realize that it was a distinct saving of time and\ntemper to avoid the long haggling over prices to which they had been\naccustomed. By degrees they began to buy from Mr. Faris, and it was not\nlong before some of the country shopkeepers would come to him with a\nlist of goods and ask to have them put up without even asking the\nprices. Business grew, a larger shop was necessary, two shops, three\nshops, until at present his goods fill three large storerooms, while a\nfourth is necessary for his office and bookkeeping. Two months seldom\npass, and often less than a month, between trips to Beirut for fresh\ngoods, and he and his three grown sons are kept busy handling the\nundertaking.\n\nIn every good enterprise, in Tripoli, or in presbytery, Mr. Yusuf Faris\nis a leader, with clear advice and generous subscriptions. When the home\nmission work of the presbytery was organized, he was one of the leaders,\nand has continued to be the main support of the work. When the plans for\nthe Tripoli Boys' School were under consideration and there was some\ndanger that lack of money and other considerations might necessitate the\nremoval of the school from Tripoli, Mr. Faris and his sons came forward\nwith a generous offer of financial help, during a period of years\naggregating nearly eighteen hundred dollars. This made him the third\nlargest individual donor and we were glad to place his picture among\nthose on the wall of the school reception room. In all the intercourse\nof these years, while watching the growth and development of character\nin this man, there has grown in my own heart a strength of personal\nattachment such as I have seldom felt for any other in America or in\nSyria.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nTRIPOLI BOYS' SCHOOL\n\n\nThe one enterprise which stands out most conspicuously in our life in\nSyria and which has absorbed more of our thought and activity than any\nother, is the boarding school for boys in Tripoli. In the earlier years\nof our work in Tripoli field, I found an important item to be the\nselection of promising candidates from the pupils in the village schools\nfor further education in one of the mission boarding schools. We were\nanxious to encourage the higher education of boys, for in this respect\nas in many others, north Syria is more backward than other parts of the\ncountry. Means of communication were poor and it was not an easy thing\nfor people to send their children to a distance of four or five days'\ntravel. We used every means at our disposal to persuade reluctant\nparents, offering free tuition and sometimes traveling expenses and help\nwith clothing. By all these means we could gather, from the whole\nterritory, a dozen, or fifteen, or, at most, twenty boys, whose parents\nwere willing to send them to school.\n\n[Illustration: TRIPOLI BOYS' SCHOOL _First Home_]\n\n[Illustration: TRIPOLI BOYS' SCHOOL _Second Home_]\n\nBut emigration to America gradually opened the eyes of the people to the\ncommercial advantages of education. Ignorant parents who had gone abroad\nbegan to send back money, with urgent instructions to put their boys in\nthe American schools. We found the number of applicants increasing and a\nnew willingness to pay, in part at least, for the education. Instead of\na dozen, we had sixty or more to provide for and the tide was rising.\nConditions were the same elsewhere and it was not easy for the other\nschools to receive this larger number from our district. Why, then,\nshould our boys go so far from home?\n\nThe eagerness of some of these lads to gain an education went to our\nhearts, and the hardest thing we had to do was to refuse an earnest\npleader for whom we had no place left. One day in Homs a young man came\nto me, pleading for a place in Sidon. He was making his own living as an\nartisan, and had only a simple education. I wished to test his pluck and\npointed out all the difficulties in the way of one in his circumstances.\nHe had thought it all out and said he could work at his trade in the\nsummer vacations and earn enough for his clothing. But it was a five\ndays' journey to Sidon, and the cost of the journey must be provided for\nin some way. There was not a moment's hesitation as he said, \"I'll\nwalk.\" And he did walk, showing a manly contempt for obstacles in the\nway of gaining an education.\n\nThis growing demand for an education such as our American schools give,\nwith the increasing ability of many to pay the cost, seemed a clear call\nfor action. Our mission had been criticized for putting too much energy\nand money into education, so it seemed a chance at the same time to take\na step in advance in the line of self-support. I did not wish to go\nbefore the mission with my proposition until I had it well supported.\nFor this reason I wrote to Mr. George D. Dayton who has supported us\nthrough all our missionary life, and laid the matter before him, making\ntwo distinct requests. If such a school were to be a success, it must\nhave its own permanent premises, especially adapted to its use, and I\nasked whether he would help us to secure this for the school. It did not\nseem wise to wait however for the accomplishment of this purpose to open\nthe school. I was confident, myself, that the school could be made\nself-supporting if the premises were provided, but I wished a guarantee\nto lay before the mission, and so asked Mr. Dayton to underwrite the\nenterprise to the extent of three hundred dollars a year, in case of a\ndeficit. He responded promptly, acceding to both requests. I was ready\nthen to go before the mission. Our proposition called for two things\nfrom the Board, the addition of a missionary to our Tripoli station and\nprovision of rent for premises in which to open the school temporarily.\nBoth requests were granted and we were authorized to go ahead, even\nbefore receiving our additional missionary.\n\nTen years after opening the school, owing to removals and delay for\nlanguage study, the whole work of the station, with the addition of the\nschool, still rests on the shoulders of two men, who live in hope of\nhaving their new associate, promised ten years ago. It has been like the\npursuit of a mirage or the fatuous end of the rainbow. More than once we\nhave given a sigh of satisfaction and said, \"Well, next year, or at\nlatest, the year after, we shall be able to settle down to normal lines\nand really do our work right.\" An emergency has always arisen somewhere,\nour pleasant dreams have faded away, and we have settled down again to\ntry to carry the extra load; but each time this is done, the weight\nseems to press more heavily and a sense of discouragement steals into\nthe tired heart.\n\nWe were ready to begin school in 1903 and had laid in some supplies for\nthe coming year, when cholera appeared in the land, interfering with all\nlines of travel and communication. It was decided to postpone the\nopening until the next year and special plans for temporary work were\nmade for the various teachers. In October 1904 the Tripoli Boys' School\nopened its doors, and there was every indication of hearty support. We\nhad planned to begin on a very small scale with only twenty boarders. We\nhad rented a house in which the boys were to sleep and study, the\nkitchen and dining room being in the basement. Before the day of opening\nwe had thirty-two insistent applicants and wanted very much to receive\nthem all. Rooms were rented across the street for study and recitation\npurposes, releasing for a dormitory the large room before assigned to\nstudy. This, with extra crowding of the beds, made room, and the whole\nnumber were admitted. The beds were very crude, being merely boards laid\nacross rude iron supports. Everything was as simple as possible.\n\nWe were all inexperienced in school administration and had about as much\nto learn as did the boys, but that first year was a year of real\ndelight. The school was small and the family feeling was encouraged in\nevery way. Every Sunday evening the boys came to our home for a social\nsing, and we learned that the neighbors looked forward to the enjoyment\nof the volume of boyish voices that rang out on the evening air. In the\nmiddle of the year it was possible to transfer the school to much more\ncommodious quarters, where all school and household functions could be\nunder one roof. The most satisfactory feature, perhaps, was the\nfinancial outcome. When the books were closed, at the end of the year,\nthere was no deficit to be provided for, and so our highest\nanticipations seemed to be justified. This has continued to be the\nnormal record of the school, the current income providing for the\ncurrent expense, excepting the item of rent. The second year we were\nable to start in with American desks, and iron beds in the dormitories,\nand had an enrollment of sixty pupils.\n\nA detailed history of the school would make this chapter too long, but\nits growth and success have meant a great deal to us in our missionary\nlife. In 1909, when we returned from our second furlough, we had a\nsufficient building fund to justify definite plans for the permanent\nhome of the school. It was not easy to decide on the best location.\nEvery place suggested had advantages and disadvantages. We could not\nvisit any locality in the most casual way without very largely\nincreasing the value of land in the vicinity. We looked at land near\nthe sea, in the gardens, on each side of the city, but gradually all\nminds turned to an olive orchard on the brow of the hill just north of\nthe city. It might not be possible to purchase it, but we all agreed\nthat it was the place we wanted, if it could be obtained. Inquiry\nrevealed the fact that this piece of property belonged to a family of\nbrothers and sisters who held it as joint heritage from their father.\nOne of the brothers got the whole into his possession, excepting the\nshare of one sister, whose claim was something less than one-twelfth.\nHer husband was an avaricious fellow who thought he could hold us up for\nwhatever he might demand. We purchased the remainder of the property,\nbut could do nothing toward building until our partner's share should be\nset off and a legal division made. We proposed every possible division\nbut nothing was acceptable. We tried the courts and found it almost as\nhopeless as Dickens' picture of chancery. Finally an amicable\nadjudication and division out of court was arranged by common friends.\nWe went to the hill with professional measurers and proceeded to lay off\nour partner's portion. When he was convinced that we would prefer to\ngive him at the north end, he promptly announced that he would take the\nsouth part, which was after all much to our advantage. Then the boundary\nwas laid out very exactly, giving him his full share. After the peg had\nbeen carefully set, his son petulantly moved it a foot or more farther\non our side, evidently intending to irritate us into a refusal of the\ndivision. We consented, however, the division wall was erected, the\nlegal papers drawn up and our property was secured.\n\nThe next step was to obtain a building permit from the government. Every\nofficial is suspicious of every other, and each is watching for a chance\nto enter a complaint against the other. From one office we went to\nanother, with favorable reports from the city engineer, but nothing was\naccomplished. There seemed to be no valid objection anywhere, and we\nwere assured that the permit would be sent back as soon as our petition\nreached Constantinople. After long waiting, instead of the permit there\ncame back another series of inquiries on points already fully explained.\nPreliminary work on cisterns, foundations and preparation of stone was\nin full progress, but the winter passed and no permit was received. At\nlast a new governor came to Tripoli who for some reason took a personal\ninterest in bringing the matter to a conclusion. He sent vigorous\nletters and telegrams to Constantinople and in due time the permit was\nissued, and at the end of May 1912, work was begun on the building\nproper. Every means was used to push work forward as fast as possible,\nthrough the summer and fall, so as to have the roof on before the rains\ncame. The walls were completed, the roof timbers in place, but where\nwere the tiles? These had been ordered long in advance, and were known\nto be on the way. Just at this unfortunate moment war between Turkey and\nGreece was declared and it appeared that our tiles were coming in a\nGreek steamer, which could not now approach a Turkish port. The fall\nrains came down on our roofless building and it was not until January\nthat the tiles were received. When they arrived, there was great\nrejoicing. The workmen all left their tools to help unload the wagons.\nThe schoolboys went up on the hill and, forming lines from the ground to\nthe roof of the building, passed up the tiles from hand to hand with\nshouts and songs of joy. No damage had been done the building, since the\nrains tended to set the stone walls and cement flooring more perfectly,\nbut the plastering and carpenter work for the interior were delayed, and\nthe precious rain water for the cisterns was lost.\n\nAfter the roof was finished, work progressed rapidly and the utility and\nbeauty of the building developed every day more and more clearly. When\nEaster vacation came everything was ready, and in the absence of the\nboys, the school furniture was moved up to the new building so that all\nwas in good order when vacation was over. The new term opened in the new\nhome.\n\nOn May 21, 1913, the day was given over to the dedication of the new\nbuilding, and a happier day than that has not come in the history of the\nschool. In the forenoon, there were races and athletic sports, with a\nfootball game on the playground behind the building. In the afternoon,\nhosts of friends and neighbors inspected the building and grounds, and\nat four o'clock the Assembly Hall was crowded with the pupils and their\nfriends. On the platform sat the governor and president of the\nmunicipality, with the missionaries and teachers. The boys sang heartily\ntheir songs of welcome and a special dedication hymn written for the\noccasion from the text, \"Except Jehovah build the house, they labor in\nvain that build it.\" Their voices rang out especially as their\nhandkerchiefs waved in their own school song in honor of T. B. S.\n\nThis building is rich in significance, for it is a memorial throughout.\nThe main fund was raised in honor of my father, and so the building is\nto be known as the Henry A. Nelson Memorial. Smaller sums were given as\nspecial memorials to relatives of the givers, and the bell in the tower\nwas given by parents of a young man, their only son, who was called to\nthe heavenly home just before his twenty-first birthday. Those parents\nhave the comfort of feeling that their son's voice is still calling in\nthe tones of that bell to the lads of Syria, and so still serving the\nMaster.\n\nOur rejoicing in the new building was great, but not complete. With all\nour efforts it was not possible to finish the top story of the building,\nand the friends of the school will have plenty of opportunity to help us\nimprove and increase our facilities in the service of the youth of north\nSyria.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nMOVING\n\n\nIn 1910 the Syria mission decided upon an advance. The constitution had\nbeen declared in Turkey and everyone hoped that a new era had really\nbegun for the people of the empire. Whatever might be the political\nresults, there were clear signs of industrial improvement. The German\nrailroad was being pushed toward Bagdad. Work was progressing rapidly on\nthe line from Tripoli to Homs. There could be but little doubt that the\nimportance of Homs as a commercial center would be greatly enhanced in\nthe near future. The strong evangelical community had been urgent for\nyears that a missionary family live in Homs. This was finally decided\nupon and the choice of the mission fell on us. There are very few houses\nfor rent in Homs, and hence it seemed necessary to plan for a\nmissionary residence as soon as possible. An appropriation was made from\nthe Kennedy bequest for this purpose, and a piece of land was acquired\nfrom the management of the Syrian Evangelical Boarding School.\n\n[Illustration: HOMS]\n\n[Illustration: HEATHEN TEMPLE AND MOUNT HERMON]\n\nMoving in Syria is a different proposition from what it is in America.\nThere are no professional packers. The missionary must do his own\npacking, if he would avoid excessive breakage. He must keep an eye on\nthe porters as they put his goods in the wagons. He must oversee the\nfreight men as they stow away the goods in the cars. At the Homs end of\nthe line every piece had to be carried to its destination on the back of\na donkey or a mule. It was no easy matter to balance some of the large\nboxes on the insecure saddles, but it was all accomplished with time and\npatience, with very little injury.\n\nWe secured a little house in the city for six months, which could be\noccupied while the new house was in process of erection. It was a\ncurious little place but the owner was very proud of it. There was a\nminaret directly across the narrow street, so we had the call to prayer\nalmost over our heads five times a day. The section of the city was\nknown as the Grass Market, because it was occupied largely by\ngreengrocers. We were awakened early every morning by the merchants\ncalling their wares and all day long could hear cries like this: \"Oh,\nplums, O generous one, a penny a pound: health and strength come from\nGod, Oh, plums, Oh, plums.\" The woodwork and windows of this little\nhouse were so poorly constructed that it was impossible to keep anything\nclean. The strong wind, which gathered up straw and dirt, seemed to\ndischarge its load all day long in the various rooms of that little\nhouse.\n\nIn October the new mission house was ready for occupancy and we gladly\nmade the transfer to this permanent home. The city of Homs is perfectly\nflat and quite compact. The streets are narrow and crooked, the houses\nlow, usually but one story high. The better houses are built of black\nvolcanic stone and the poorer houses of sun-dried brick. As a rule the\nstreet wall is a dead blank surface, with merely a doorway admitting to\nthe inclosed courtyard. All this gives the city a dull, depressing\nappearance. The old city was surrounded by a wall and a deep moat, and\nat the south side, on a high hill, was the ancient castle faced with\nblack stone. This castle has been a complete ruin for over seventy years\nand the city has outgrown its walls and spread across the moat.\n\nThe Evangelical School and the American mission house lie to the south\nof the castle hill, on a rise of ground among the vineyards. Many houses\nare being built near us, but we are still the vanguard to the south.\nDirectly opposite to us on the north side of the city is the great\nmosque of Sayid Khalid, said to have cost sixteen thousand pounds. It\nis a beautiful building, but recently completed. Between us and it lies\nthe old city, with its seventy thousand plain people. At present a vast\nmajority of the population look to the north rather than to the south,\nbut it is our strong hope that the more vital strength represented by\nChristian education and Christian homes will win the victory over this\ngreat city and the surrounding country, so that all shall be won for\nChrist.\n\n[Illustration: HAMIDIYEH MOSQUE _Tripoli_]\n\n[Illustration: OLD CITY GATE _Tripoli_]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nTHE MUEZZIN OR THE BELL\n\n\nAs the close of this little record comes near, there appears before me a\ncontrast or a conflict. Shall Syria continue, as in the past, dominated\nby the minaret and all it signifies, or shall the church bell be heard\nmore clearly and more truly than it has been in the past?\n\nMany years ago, in the city of Homs, the large and influential Orthodox\nGreek community wished to put up a bell in their church. This was found\nto be wholly impossible because of the unyielding bigotry and hostility\nof the Moslem community and the government. Finally the bishop consented\nto hang up a slab of hard, thoroughly seasoned wood, and this was struck\nwith a mallet at the time of worship, to call the people together. After\nquite a long interval, when the controversy was largely forgotten, this\nwooden slab was quietly exchanged for one of steel, and a clearer sound\nwas obtained. This created a little disturbance, but was quickly\naccepted as an accomplished fact, for it is a common saying in Turkey:\n\"Whatever is done is permitted. Whatever is requested is forbidden.\"\nAfter another long interval a large bell was sent from Russia for this\nHoms Church of the Forty Martyrs. In view of the relations of Turkey to\nRussia, no open opposition could be shown, and the bell was brought with\ngreat demonstrations of joy and put in its place where it rings to call\nthe people to worship. Following the lead of this strongest of the\nChristian communities, all the others have brought bells since, and they\nare in regular use. But the near city of Hamath waited some years longer\nbefore hearing its first regular church bell.\n\nMany years ago an old sheik in Tripoli was calling on me. He was\nintelligent and friendly and I felt that I could speak with him\nsomewhat freely. When I said to him that the voice of the muezzin in the\nneighboring mosque was not so clear as it might be, he told me the\nfollowing incident in his father's life: The French consul in Tripoli\nlived near a mosque. The muezzin had a musical voice, and the consul\nenjoyed hearing the call to prayer in the summer evenings. For some\nreason this man was removed and another put in his place, whose voice\nwas harsh and unpleasant. A few days later the consul arrayed himself in\nofficial style, and with the attendance of his cavasses in full regalia,\nhe went to call on the old sheik, the father of my informant. It was not\na feast day nor time for official calls, so his coming in this manner\ncreated some astonishment and a little uneasiness. After the ordinary\nsalutations had been exchanged, the consul addressed the sheik in formal\nmanner, to this effect: \"I have come to-day, officially to convey to\nyou my own personal thanks and that of the government I represent for\nthe great favor you have done me.\" The sheik was even more astonished at\nthis opening, and protested that nothing worthy of such recognition had\nbeen done. \"Yes,\" said the consul, \"you may not have been aware of the\ngreat kindness done, but it is no less worthy of note. In the mosque\nnear my house there was a muezzin who gave the daily call to prayer in a\nvoice that went to the heart of the hearer, and it would not have been\nstrange if he had won my allegiance to Islam. Now, however, he has been\nremoved and a man with a harsh, repellant voice put in his place, so\nthere is no longer any danger that the representative of a Christian\nnation should deny his faith and follow Islam. For this reason, I convey\nto you officially and personally my most profound thanks.\" No sooner had\nthe caller taken his leave than orders were sent to have the\nsweet-voiced muezzin restored to his former position in the vicinity of\nthe consulate. The keen consul had gained what he wanted and what a\ndirect request might not have accomplished. No offense was given and all\nwere pleased.\n\nAfter he had told me this story, I said, \"Sheik Ali, there are two\nthings which I grudge to you Mohammedans; one is the custom of summoning\npeople to divine worship by the call of the human voice rather than by a\nmetallic bell; and the other is the exclusive use among yourselves of\nthe salutation, 'Peace be to you.'\" When one Moslem meets another, he\nsalutes him, \"Peace be to you,\" and the other responds, \"And on you be\nthe peace of God.\" A Moslem will never intentionally give this\nsalutation to a Christian. I continued, \"That salutation belongs to the\nChristians more than to you, for it was the farewell message from our\nMaster to his disciples, when he said, 'Peace I leave with you; my peace\nI give unto you.'\"\n\nWhich is it to be in Syria? Shall the separation continue, and one large\npart of the population heed the call to prayer by the human voice from\nthe minaret, while another part worship the same God in the churches in\nanswer to the summons of a bell? This unfortunate state of affairs will\nnever cease until the heart of the Christian Church is so full of the\nlove of Christ and his perfect peace that the Moslem population shall\nhear through them a louder cry than the voice of the muezzin, calling\nthem to worship the one living God, and to know him through the perfect\nlife of his only Son, our Lord. \"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are\nheavy laden, and I will give you rest.\"","title":"Silver Chimes in Syria: Glimpses of a Missionary's Experiences","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":28274}