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diff --git a/29631-h/29631-h.htm b/29631-h/29631-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58bd64d --- /dev/null +++ b/29631-h/29631-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11330 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Journal Of A Residence At Bagdad, by Anthony N. Groves. + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + +/*<![CDATA[*/ + + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + + .box { width: 370px; + margin: 0 auto; + padding: 1em; + border-style: none; + background-color: #dfdbdb; } + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + a { text-decoration: none; } + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + /*]]>*/ + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Journal of a Residence at Bagdad, by Anthony Groves + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Journal of a Residence at Bagdad + +Author: Anthony Groves + +Editor: Alexander Scott + +Release Date: August 7, 2009 [EBook #29631] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNAL OF A RESIDENCE AT BAGDAD *** + + + + +Produced by Free Elf, Anne Storer and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="box"> +<p class="center">Transcriber’s Notes:</p> + +<p>1) Mousul/Mosul, piastre/piaster, Shiraz/Sheeraz,<br /> +Itch-Meeazin/Ech-Miazin/Etchmiazin,<br /> +each used on numerous occasions;</p> + +<p>2) Arnaouts/Arnaoots, Dr. Beagrie/Dr. Beagry,<br /> +Beirout/Bayrout/Beyraut(x2), Saltett/Sallett,<br /> +Shanakirke/Shammakirke, Trebizond/Trebisand - once each.</p> + +<p class="center">All left as in original text.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 95%;" /> + + +<h1>JOURNAL</h1> + +<h3>OF A</h3> + +<h1>RESIDENCE AT BAGDAD,</h1> + +<h3>&c., &c.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<p class="center"> +LONDON:<br /> +DENNETT, PRINTER, LEATHER LANE. +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<h1>JOURNAL</h1> +<h3>OF A</h3> +<h1>RESIDENCE AT BAGDAD,</h1> + +<h3>DURING THE YEARS 1830 AND 1831,</h3> + +<p> </p> + +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>M<sup>R</sup>. ANTHONY N. GROVES,</h2> +<h3>MISSIONARY.</h3> + +<p> </p> + +<p class="center">LONDON:<br /> +<strong>JAMES NISBET, BERNERS STREET.</strong><br /> +M DCCC XXXII.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + + +<p>This little work needs nothing from us to recommend +it to attention. In its incidents it presents +more that is keenly interesting, both to the +natural and to the spiritual feelings, than it would +have been easy to combine in the boldest fiction. +And then it is not fiction. The manner in which +the story is told leaves realities unencumbered, to +produce their own impression. It might gratify +the imagination, and even aid in enlarging our +practical views, to consider such scenes as possible, +and to fancy in what spirit a Christian might meet +them; but it extends our experience, and invigorates +our faith, to know that, having actually +taken place, it is thus that they have been met.</p> + +<p>The first missionaries were wont, at intervals, +to return from their foreign labours, and relate to +those churches whose prayers had sent them forth, +“all things that God had done with them” +during their absence. To the Christians at Antioch, +there must have been important edification, +as well as satisfaction to their affectionate +concern about the individuals, and about the +cause, in the narrative of Paul and Barnabas. +Nor would the states of mind experienced, and the +spirit manifested, by the narrators themselves be +less instructive, than the various reception of +their message by various hearers. In these pages, +in like manner, Mr. Groves contributes to the +good of the Church, an important fruit of his +mission, were it to yield no other. He had cast +himself upon the Lord. To Him he had left it +to direct his path; to give him what things He +knew he had need of, and whether outward +prospects were bright or gloomy, to be the +strength of his heart and his portion for ever. +The publication of his former little Journal was +the erection of his Eben Ezer. Hitherto, said he +to us in England, the Lord hath helped me. And +now, after a prolonged residence among a people +with whom, in natural things, he can have +no communion, and who, towards his glad tidings +of salvation, are as apathetic as is compatible with +the bitterest contempt; after having had, during +many weeks, his individual share of the suffering, +and his mind worn with the spectacle, of a city +strangely visited at once with plague, and siege, +and inundation, and internal tumult; widowed, +and not without experience of “flesh and heart +fainting and failing,” he again “blesses God for +all the way he has led him,”<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +tells us that “the +Lord’s great care over him in the abundant provision +for all his necessities, enables him yet further +to sing of his goodness;”<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +and while his situation +makes him say, “what a place would this be to be +alone in now” if without God, he adds, “but with +Him, this is better than the garden of Eden.”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> +“The Lord is my only stay, my only support; and +He is a support indeed.”<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>It is remarkable, that at a time when the fear of +pestilence has agitated the people of this country, +and when the tottering fabric of society threatens +to hurl down upon us as dire a confusion as that +which has surrounded our brother, in a country +hitherto regarded so remote from all comparison +with our own; at a time when the records of the +seasons at which the terrible voice of God has +sounded loudest in our capital, are republished as +appropriate to the contemplation of Christians at +the existing crisis;<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>—this volume should have +been brought before the Public, by circumstances +quite unconnected with this train of God’s dealings +and threatenings to our land. The Christians +of Britain ought to consider, that there is a warning +voice of Providence, not only in the tumults of +the people, and in the terrors of the cholera +around them, but even in the publication of this +Journal. It is not for nothing that God has +moved Mr. Groves, as it were, to an advanced +post, where he might encounter the enemy before +them. The alarm may have, in a measure, subsided,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +but if the people of God are to be ever +patiently waiting for the coming of their conquering +King, this implies a patient preparedness for +those signs of his coming, the clouds and darkness +that are to go before him, in the very midst of +which they must be able to lift up their heads because +their redemption draweth nigh. To provide +for the worst contingencies is a virtue, not a +weakness, in the soldier. That Christian will not +keep his garments who forgets, that in this life, he +is a soldier always. No army is so orderly in peace, +or so triumphant upon lesser assaults, as that which +is ready always for the extremest exigencies of +war.</p> + +<p>To those who are looking for the glorious appearing +of our great God and Saviour, Jesus +Christ, this volume will exhibit indications of the +advancement of the world towards the state in +which he shall find it at his coming. The diffusion +in the east of European notions and practices; +the desire on the part of the rulers to possess themselves +of the advantages of western intellect and +skill; and on the side of the governed, the conviction +of the comparative security and comfort of English +domination; the vastly increased intercourse between +those nations and the west, and the proposals +for still further accelerating and facilitating that +intercourse: all these things mark the rapid tendency, +of which we have so many other signs, towards +the production of one common mind throughout +the human race, to issue in that combination for +a common resistance of God, which, as of old, +when the people were one, and had all one language, +and it seemed that nothing could be +restrained from them which they had imagined to +do,—shall cause the Lord to come down and +confound their purpose. Already has this unity +of views and aims, with marvellous rapidity, prevailed +in the European and American world; +the press, the steam-engine by land and water, +the multiplication of societies and unions, portend +an advancement in it, to which nothing can +set limits but the intervention of God: and now +it appears that the mountain-fixedness of Asiatic +prejudice and institution shall suddenly be dissolved, +and absorbed into the general vortex.</p> + +<p>And to those who may have suspected, that +the prospect of the return of Jesus of Nazareth +to our earth for vengeance and expurgation of +evil first, and then for occupation of rule, +<em>under</em> the face of the whole heaven, is but a +speculative subject for curious minds, this little +book presents matter of reflection. By circumstances +of such urgent personal concernment, +as those in which Mr. Groves and his departed +wife have been placed, the merely speculative +part of religion is put to flight. But we shall +find them in the midst of confusion, and bereavement, +and horror, clinging to this one hope for +themselves and for the world, that the Lord +cometh to reign, wherefore the earth shall be +glad; deriving from this hope a delight in God, +in the midst of all that seems adverse to such a +sentiment, which, if it be not a proof of practical +power in a doctrine, what is practical?</p> + +<p>On some few points, Mr. Groves has given a +somewhat detailed expression of his own sentiments. +One of the most important of these is +re-considered in the notes by the writer of this +introduction. Another, on which the interest of +many has already been strongly excited, is the +recognition of those men as ministers of God, +who do not utter the word of his truth, and who +are admitted to speak without the Spirit of his +truth. The question, encompassed as it has been +with difficulties foreign to itself, is but a narrow +one. The preaching of the Gospel <em>is</em> an ordinance +of God. The preaching of what is not the +Gospel is <em>no</em> ordinance of God; and affords me +no opportunity of shewing my respect for divine +ordinances by my attendance upon it. That men +possessing the Holy Ghost should confer spiritual +gifts by the laying on of hands on those who in +faith receive it, <em>is</em> an ordinance of God: that men, +not having the Holy Ghost, should lay hands on +others for spiritual gifts, is <em>no</em> ordinance of God.</p> + +<p>If the outward fact of what is named ordination, +determines me to regard as now made of +God a teacher, a pastor, an evangelist, a bishop, +him who, to all intelligent and spiritual perception, +is what he was, in error, and ignorance, +and carnality; this is not respect for divine ordinances +at all, but a faith in the <em>opus operatum</em>, +a faith in transubstantiation transferred to men, +denying the truth of my own perception, and +clinging to the conclusion of my superstition, +just as in the mass the senses are denied, and +bread and wine visibly unaltered, are called flesh +and blood. The arguments by which this notion +is supported, are too complicated, and too contemptuous +of unity or consistency, to be meddled +with in our limited space. That Christ bade men +observe what the Scribes and Pharisees taught +on the authority of the law of Moses, is made +a reason for reverencing what is taught on <em>no</em> +divine authority: Scribes and Pharisees, who +pretended to no divine ordination, but rested +their claims on their knowledge, are made +specimens of the respect due to ordination, in +the case of such whose ignorance and unsound +teaching are allowed. But were not the Scribes +and Pharisees in many things ignorant and unsound? +Yes, truly; but were these the things +of which the Lord said expressly, these things +observe and do? To tell us that we must +observe and do what is according to Scripture, +however bad the men who teach it, ordained +or unordained alike; what has this to do with +ordination? True, this is no excuse for those +who prostitute the form and name of God’s +ordinance, and know that it is prostituted: who +say, “receive ye the Holy Ghost,” and would +laugh as being supposed to confer the Holy +Ghost: but there is no necessity for running +from this crime, to the error of which we have +spoken. Let us acknowledge our wretchedness, +and misery, and poverty, and blindness, and +nakedness. When the laws were transgressed, +and the everlasting covenant broken; then the +<em>ordinance</em> was <em>changed</em>, as Isaiah foretold it +should,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> among the causes why the earth is +defiled under the inhabitants thereof.</p> + +<p>The Apostolic Epistles contain little, if any +thing, to establish the pastoral authority in a +single person of each church or congregation: +and the omission of all allusion to such an office +is often very remarkable from the occasion +seeming to assure us, that it would have been +mentioned had it existed. The Epistles of the +Lord to the seven churches are therefore resorted +to for proof of the existence and nature +of the place of a single pastor with peculiar and +exclusive powers. But neither there nor elsewhere +is the fact of ordination once referred to, +in relation to the receiving or rejection of those +who claimed to speak in the name of Christ. +In these very Epistles there is a commendation +for disregarding for the truth’s sake the highest +titles of ecclesiastical office. “Thou canst not +bear them which are evil: thou hast <em>tried</em> them +which say they are apostles, and are not, and +hast found them liars.”<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> +I believe, “not to bear +them which are evil” pastors, evangelists or +apostles, is as commendable in England as in Ephesus +in the eye of the Head of the Churches. Is +there a syllable in the Bible to lead us to suppose +that these liars were detected by any other +means than those which Paul had already taught +the Church? “Though <em>we</em>, or an angel from +heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than +that which we have preached unto you, let him +be accursed.” As for the ordinance, such passages +as Titus i. 9, make <em>selection</em> a part of +that ordinance: the bishop is to be one “holding +fast the word of truth as he hath been taught.” +Now, on what authority shall this part of the +ordinance, viz. selection, be omitted, and no flaw +follow: while the presence or omission of a manual +act in certain hands is to constitute the reality or +absence of Divine ordination?</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;">A. J. SCOTT.</p> + +<p><em>Woolwich, Aug. 16th, 1832.</em></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>JOURNAL</h2> +<h3>OF A</h3> +<h2>RESIDENCE AT BAGDAD.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"> +<em>Bagdad, April 2, 1830.</em></p> + +<p>We begin to find that our school-room is not +large enough to contain the children, and we have +been obliged therefore to add to it another. We +have now fifty-eight boys and nine girls, and +might have many more girls had we the means for +instructing them; but we have as yet no other +help than the schoolmaster’s wife, who knows very +little of any thing, and therefore is very unfit to +bring those into order who have been educated without +any order. But I have no doubt of the Lord’s +sending us, in due time, sufficient help of all kinds.</p> + +<p><em>April 3.</em>—An Armenian merchant from Egypt +and Syria, was with us to-day; a Roman Catholic +by profession, but an infidel in fact. He said it +was all one to him, whether men were Armenian, +Syrian, Mohammedan, or Jew, so that they were +good. He had left Beirout about two months, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +and said there were none of the missionaries +there then; but that he knew there the Armenian +Catholic bishop, and an Armenian priest, +who had left the Roman Catholic church, and +who were in Lebanon—he said they were friends +of his, and very good men. We feel interested +in receiving some missionary intelligence, to know +whether or not Syria is still deserted.</p> + +<p>We have received from Shushee a parcel of +our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, in the vulgar +Armenian. We were very much rejoiced at this, +as it enabled us to supersede, in some little degree, +the old language; but in determining that +every boy sufficiently advanced, should learn a +verse a day, we met with some opposition from +two or three of the elder boys, and I think two +will leave the school in consequence; but the Lord +will easily enable us to triumph over all; of this I +have no doubt, at all events I see my way clear +come what will. Captain Strong has taken a letter +for me to Archdeacon Parr, to ask for some +school materials, such as slates and slate pencils +for the school. I feel daily more established in +the conviction, that our Lord has led us to this +place, and that he will make our way apparent, as +we go on in faithful waiting upon him.</p> + +<p>I cannot sufficiently thank God for sending my +dear brother Pfander with me, for had it not +been for him, I could not have attempted any +thing, so that all that has now been done, must +rather be considered his than mine, as I have only +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +been able to look on and approve. But if the +Lord’s work is advanced, I can praise him by +whomsoever it may be promoted.</p> + +<p><em>June 12.</em>—The circumstances of our situation +are now going on so regularly, that there is little +to write about, more than that the Lord’s mercies +are new every morning. Since Captain Strong +left us, there has arrived here a Mr. and Mrs. +Mignan, and another gentleman, named Elliot, +neither of whom seem to know, at present, whether +they will remain here or go on.</p> + +<p>The capidji or officer, who came from Constantinople, +bringing a firman to the Pasha, is +desired to take back with him a drawing of one +of the soldiers whom Major T. is organizing for +the Pasha. Major T.’s son is just arrived from +India, and he also is going to organize a body of +horse; in fact, every thing is tending to the +establishment of an European influence, and it may +be the Lord’s pleasure thus to prepare the way +for his servants to publish the tidings which the +sheep will hear. This tendency to adopt European +manners and improvements, is not only manifested +in the military department, but in others +more important. The Pasha has a great desire +to introduce steam navigation on these two beautiful +rivers. A proposal has been made from an +agent of the Bristol Steam Company, to the +Pasha, through Major T., to have a steam vessel +in the first place between Bussorah and this place; +and secondly, if possible, to extend the navigation, +either by the old canal or by a new one, into +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +the Euphrates and up to Beer. This navigation +will bring one within three days of the +Mediterranean,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> +without the fatigue, danger, and loss of +time to which travellers are exposed in the present +journey. It will be a most important opening +for missionaries; for should this mode of +conveyance once get established, the route by +Constantinople would almost cease, and some +arrangement would soon be made for going from +Scanderoon to the different important stations in +the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>There is a gentleman here on his return to +England, a Mr. Bywater, whom Mr. Taylor +wishes to undertake a survey of the Euphrates, +from Beer to the canal, which connects it +with this place. Till within about twenty years, +heavy artillery came to this place by that river, so +there can be but little doubt that a steam packet +would be able to go; though it might not be of the +same size as the one between this and Bussorah. +The voyage between these places backwards and +forwards, it is proposed to do in eight days, which +now takes about six or seven weeks, and during +the whole of the returning voyage, which is long, +being against the current, you are at present +exposed to the attacks of the Arabs every hour, +whereas the steam packet would have nothing to +fear from them. In fact, I feel the Lord is preparing +great changes in the heart of this nation, or +rather from one end of it to the other; and the +events which have taken place in that part of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +empire around Constantinople, have tended to the +hastening on of these changes.</p> + +<p>Among the boys that come to me to learn English, +I have one, the son of a rich Roman Catholic +jeweller of this place. So important is the commercial +relation between this place and India become, +that the number who wish to learn English +of me, is much greater than I can possibly take +charge of, as this is not with me a primary object; +but it is a most important field of labour, and one +that might have, I think, very interesting results, +for they will bear opposition to their own views +more easily in another language than in their own: +it does not come to them like a book written to +oppose them, and thus truth may slide gently in. +My Moolah, who is teaching me Arabic, and +whose son I teach English, told me, that in two +or three years he would send his son to England +to complete his knowledge of English. Now to +those who know nothing of the Turks, this may +not appear remarkable, but to those who do, it +will exhibit a striking breaking down of prejudice +in this individual.</p> + +<p>There is a famous man here, a Mohammedan by +profession, but in reality an infidel, who is the +head of a pantheistic sect, who believe God to be +every thing and every thing to be God, so that he +readily admits, on this notion, the divinity of our +blessed Lord. Infidelity is extending on every +side in these countries. My Moolah said, that +now a-days, if you asked a Christian whether he +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +were a Christian, he would say, Yes; but if you +asked him who Christ was, or why he was attached +to him, he did not know. And in the +same manner he said, if you asked a Mohammedan +a similar question, he would also say, he did +not know, but that he went as others went; but, +he added, now all the <em>Sultans</em> were sending out +men to teach, the Sultan of England—the Sultan +of Stamboul, &c. By this I imagine his impression +is, that we are sent out by the king of England.</p> + +<p>Our school is, on the whole, going on very +well. We have introduced classes, and a general +table of good and bad behaviour, of lessons, of +absence, and of attendance; and they all go on, +learning a portion of Scripture every day in the +vulgar dialect. This is something.</p> + +<p>I am beginning to feel my acquaintance with +Arabic increase under the plan which I am now +pursuing with the boys who learn English. They +bring me Arabic phrases, and as far as my knowledge +extends, I give them the meaning in English; +and when that fails, I write it down for +inquiry from the Moolah next day, and then by +asking words in Arabic every day for the boys to +give me the English, I at last get the expressions +so impressed on my memory, that when I want +them they arise almost without thought. Another +advantage from the boys bringing phrases and +words, is that they bring such as they use in the +spoken Arabic, which is very different from the +written. This is a plan I would recommend, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +whenever it can be adopted, to every missionary; +for there is a stimulus to the memory in having +the questions to ask every day, and having only the +English written down, which nothing else gives.</p> + +<p>We have lately had a little proof of Turkish +honesty. The man who sells us wood, charged +us seven tagar, and brought us somewhat less +than three.</p> + +<p>Our souls are much refreshed by the contemplation +of our Lord’s coming to complete the mystery +of godliness. Oh, how long shall it be, ere +he be admired in all them that believe.</p> + +<p><em>June 26.</em>—We have heard to-day from Mrs. +G.’s brother J. from Alexander Casan Beg, +mentioned in a preceding part of my journal, and +from Mr. Glen. All our various accounts were +welcome. Some of the information contained in +them enables us to rejoice in those we love naturally, +some in those we love spiritually.</p> + +<p>In the letters of Alexander C. Beg, and Mr. +Glen, I have received the intelligence that the +former would not now be able to join us, as he +had previously received an offer from the Scottish +Missionary Society, to become a missionary of +theirs in India; for certain reasons, however, he +does not at present seem able to accept it. Concerning +this Mohammedan convert, it is impossible +not to feel the deepest interest.</p> + +<p>We have just had some interesting conversation +with a poor Jacobite, who is come from Merdin, +with a letter from his matran or bishop, about two +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +churches which the Roman Catholics have taken +away from the Jacobites. His description of their +state is striking. He says, the Pasha of Merdin +cares neither for this Pasha, who is his immediate +superior, nor for the Sultan; and that he encourages +these disputes among the Christians, that +he may get money from both parties, who bribe +him by turns. He says, that the Yezidees, when +they see a Syrian priest coming, will get off their +horse and salute him, and kiss his hand, and that +the Kourds are a much worse people than they, +but that Roman Catholics are worse than either.—I +was surprised to find that the Roman Catholic +bishop has a school of fifty girls learning to read +Arabic, and to work at their needle.</p> + +<p>We have heard to-day that the Mohammedans, +inhabitants of the town, are much dissatisfied +with the Sultan and with the Pasha, for introducing +European customs. They say, they are +already Christians, and one of them asked Mr. +Swoboda, if it was true that the old missid or +mosque near us, was to become again a Christian +church, and whether the beating of the drums +every evening after the European manner at the +seroy or palace, did not mean that the Pasha was +becoming a Christian. And they say, that the +military uniforms now introducing, are haram or +unlawful. Major T. has induced the Pasha to +have a regiment dressed completely in the European +fashion, and is now forming some horse regiments +on the same plan. All these things will +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +clearly tend to one of these two results—either to +the overthrow of Mohammedanism by the introduction +of European manners and intelligence, or to +a tremendous crisis in endeavouring to throw off +the burden which the great mass of the lower and +bigoted Mohammedans abhor. But still the +Lord knows, and has given his angels charge to +seal his elect before these things come to pass.</p> + +<p>Our attention has again been directed to the +subject of steam navigation between Bombay and +England, by the arrival of Mr. James Taylor from +Bombay. This gentleman has been engaged for +some time in undertaking to effect steam communication +by the Red Sea: with the view of making +final arrangements on the subject he had just +been to Bombay, and wished to have returned by +the Red Sea, but difficulties arising, he determined +to come by way of the Persian Gulf and +this city, and to cross the desert. On his arrival +here, he was made acquainted with the previous +plans for steam navigation on these rivers; and he +quickly perceived that if the river were navigable, +and no other difficulties arose, the preference +must be given to this route, as being at least ten +days shorter to Bombay, and of the thirty or +thirty-five days which remained, seven, or perhaps +five, would be spent on two beautiful rivers, +with opportunities of obtaining from its banks vegetables +and fruits; and instead of the Red Sea, +which is rocky, stormy, and little known, there +would be the Persian Gulf, which has been surveyed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +in every part, and is peculiarly free from +storms. From the mouth of the Persian Gulf, +the boat would go direct to Bombay instead of +going down to Columbo from the mouth of the +Red Sea, and then up the western side of the +Peninsula of India. In Egypt also they would +have five days journey over the desert, whilst +from Aleppo they would only have two to a place +on the Euphrates, called Beer. Fuel also in +abundance might be obtained here, either from +wood or bitumen; in fact, Mr. Taylor feels that +if it can be accomplished, it would save expense +on the voyage. The only two difficulties that oppose +themselves to this route are, first, the Arabs, +and secondly, whether there be a sufficiency +of water in the rivers. As to the Arabs, a +steamer has nothing to fear, for by keeping mid-stream +at the rate they go, no Arab would touch +them or attempt to do it. The present vessels +they have no power over in going down, but when +they are dragged up by Arab trackers, then they are +easily attacked. As to the second objection, the +want of water, there appears no insurmountable +difficulty here, as all the heavy ordnance from +Constantinople were brought down the Euphrates from +Beer, on rafts, or, as they are called, kelecks; +these, independent of their width, being greater +than that of a steamer, actually draw more water +when heavily laden. There does not appear to be +more than one place where there is a doubt, and +that is at El Dar, the ancient Thapsacus, where +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +we understand at one season, when the waters are +at the lowest point, a camel can hardly go over; +but still, perhaps, further information may be +desirable. The Pasha has entered very heartily +into this plan, and offered either to clear out an +old canal, or to cut a new one between this river +and the Euphrates. The mouth of the Euphrates +is one extended marsh, which forms the best rice-grounds +of the country. The distance between +the two rivers at this place is about thirty miles. +Mr. James Taylor thinks that travellers may +reach England from this in twenty-three days, +and Bombay in twelve: should this ever take +place, steam boats will be passing twice a month +up and down this river with passengers from India +and England; the effects of such a change, both +moral, spiritual, and political, none can tell, but +that they must be great every one may see.</p> + +<p>I have been this morning talking with my +Moolah about the two rivers, as to their capability +of steam navigation. He decidedly gives the +preference to the Euphrates, and says, that the +average depth is the height of two men, or ten feet—even +till considerably above Beer; but that the +Tigris, above Mousul, is very +shallow.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + + +<p>This possibility thus set before us of seeing +those we love, and many of the Lord’s dear servants +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +here, is most comforting and encouraging: +this place would become a frontier post of Christian +labour, from which we might daily hope to +send forth labourers to China, India, and elsewhere, +and the work of publishing the testimony +of Jesus be accomplished before the Lord come. +However, we are in the Lord’s hands, and he +will bring to pass what concerns his own honour, +and we will wait and see: a much greater opening +has taken place since we came here than we could +have hoped for, and much more will yet open +upon us than we can now foresee. Things cannot +remain as they are, whether they continue to +advance as they are now doing, or whether bigotry +be allowed to make a last vain effort to regain her +ancient position; still some decided change must +be the final result of the present state of things.</p> + +<p>From the Bible Society at Bombay, I have received +accounts of their having sent me two +English Bibles, fifty Testaments, twenty Arabic +Bibles, fifty Syriac Gospels, fifty Syriac Testaments, +fifty Armenian Bibles, one hundred Persian +Psalters, seventy-five Persian Genesis, and +six Hebrew Testaments. In this are omitted those +which are most important to us, the Chaldean, +the Persian, and the Arabic Testament; but perhaps +when they receive a supply from the Parent +Society, they will then forward these likewise.</p> + +<p>I have also received a letter from Severndroog, +from the first tutor of my little boys, Mr. N., a +true and dear person in the Lord, and he mentions +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +that they had, since he last wrote, admitted +to their church, four Hindoos and two Roman +Catholics, and that one Hindoo still remains, whom +they hope soon to admit.</p> + +<p>The following is the estimate of the time which +the voyages, by the Red Sea, and by these rivers +to India, would respectively occupy:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/029.png" width="500" height="245" alt="image" title="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +</p><p>I have recently had some conversation with Mr. +J. Taylor, who is waiting only to see the Pasha +to make final arrangements.</p> + +<p>Another very important feature of the above +plan for steam communication with India is, that +those societies who have missionaries there, may +send out their secretaries to encourage and counsel +them, by which means they will be able not only +to enter more fully into the feelings and circumstances +of those they send, but will be able to +make their own reports, which will be more agreeable +to those engaged in the work—to tell about +which must always be a difficult undertaking.</p> + +<p>I found yesterday that one of the gentlemen +who came hither lately from India, was a Mr. +Hull, the son of Mrs. Hull, of Marpool, near +Exmouth, who, however, is not going across the +desert, but round by Mosul and Merdin, to +Stamboul. He hopes to be home in September.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pfander learnt from some Armenians +yesterday, that they were much pleased with the +children learning the Scriptures in the vulgar +dialect; that they were so far able to understand +the ancient language still read in their churches, +and they expressed a wish that they might have a +complete translation in the vulgar tongue. Those +Bibles we now have from the Bible Society, are in +the dialect of Constantinople, which is by no +means generally or well understood here, where the +Erivan dialect prevails, which they use in the +Karabagh, in the north of Persia, and in all these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +countries. The missionaries at Shushee are going +on with the New Testament: Mr. Dittrich has +finished the translation of the four Gospels, and +we hope it will be printed for the Bible Society +this year, for we greatly need Armenian books in +the vulgar dialect, by which we may, step by step, +supersede the old altogether. We also greatly +want Arabic school-books; but these we shall hope +to get from Malta, through the labours of Mr. +Jowett.</p> + +<p>We find the general feeling here, not only among +Christians, but even among the Mohammedans, is +a wish that the English power might prevail here, +for although the Pasha does not directly tax them +high, yet from a bunch of grapes to a barrel of +gunpowder, he has the skimming of the cream, +and leaves the milk to his subjects to do with as +they can. Once a month at least the money is +changed. When the Pasha has a great deal of a +certain base money that he issues, he fixes the +price higher by certain degrees, on pain of +mutilation, and when he has paid it all away, +or has any great sums to receive, he lowers the +value by as many degrees as he has raised it +before. And hearing, as they universally do now, +of our government in India, that it is mild and +equitable, most of them would gladly exchange +their present condition, and be subject to the +British government. This conduct on the part of +the Pasha, begets an universal system of smuggling +and fraud among all classes, so that the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +state of these people is indeed very, very bad. I +never felt more powerfully than now, the joy of having +nothing to do with these things; so that let +men govern as they will, I feel my path is to live in +subjection to the powers that be, and to exhort +others to the same, even though it be such +oppressive despotism as this. We have to shew +them by this, that our kingdom is not of this +world, and that these are not things about which +we contend. But our life being hid where no +storms can assail, “with Christ in God”—and our +wealth being where no moth or rust doth corrupt, +we leave those who are of this world to manage +its concerns as they list, and we submit to them +in every thing as far as a good conscience will +admit.</p> + +<p><em>July 12.</em>—We have heard of two Jews, who +have bought two Hebrew New Testaments, and +a very respectable Jewish banker has been here +to see Mr. Pfander, with the German Jew, +whom I have mentioned before, and who is still +desirous of leaving the broad road, without heart +to trust in him who is in the heavenly path, the +way, the truth, and the life. He is now here, +endeavouring to obtain a livelihood by teaching a +few boys Hebrew, and comes to read the book +of Job in German with Mr. Pfander, without any +of their explanations, one of which, as it regards +Job, is as follows. They say that every individual +of the human race actually existed in Adam, +some in his nails, some in his toes, some in his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +eyes, mouth, &c. &c., and they think, in proportion +to the proximity of the position of any person +to the parts concerned in eating and digesting +the forbidden fruit, will be their degree of guilt +and measure of punishment here; so they consider +that Job had his place near the mouth. Such +are the follies which now occupy the minds of +this interesting people, instead of the Lord +of life and glory.</p> + +<p>Colonization appears to have entered into the +contemplation of those engaged in steam-navigation, +and the planting of indigo and sugar. To +this end, the Pasha has granted them thirty miles +of land on the banks of the river. Just before +Mr. Taylor was to set off to go through the +desert, news came that the Arab tribes on the +road were at war among themselves, and that +it would therefore not be safe for him to go that +way, so he changed his route, and went on the +13th, by the way of Mousul and Merdin, nearly +double the distance, and at the same time, Mr. +Bywater and Mr. Elliot set off to Beer, from +whence they intend going down the Euphrates +and examining that river as far down as Babylon.</p> + +<p>The old Jew, who came with the German, +heartily entered into some conversation about the +coming of Christ. A school of Jewish children +might, I think, easily be obtained here, if you +would teach them English and the Old Testament +only.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +Our Moolah has mentioned, that he has been +reading the New Testament with another Moolah, +who wishes to have a copy of Sabat’s translation, +thinking that that might stimulate them to answer +it; but that the Propaganda edition is so vulgar, +it offends them, for like the Greeks they seek +after wisdom. Still, if they read, the testimony +of God is delivered, and the plucking a few +brands from the general conflagration, is the great +work till the Lord come. They have a most +proud and obstinate hatred against the name of +Jesus, before whom all must bow.</p> + +<p>We have been interested by some inquiries +made by our schoolmaster and his father, relative +to our morning and evening prayers; he wanted +to know what they were, and Mr. Pfander had +the greatest difficulty in making him understand, +that we prayed from a sense of our present wants. +They said, they had heard from their books, that +in the time of the apostles men were without form +of prayer, and were enabled to pray from their +hearts; but that it was not so now. They also +asked some questions about the Lord’s Supper, +whether we used wine mixed with water or unmixed; +bread leavened or unleavened. They +seem anxious to know more, and may the Lord +give an open door to them!</p> + +<p>We cannot help feeling, that the difficulties +among the Mohammedans, and apostate Christian +churches are great beyond any thing that can be +imagined previous to experience. The difficulties +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +of absolute falsehood are as nothing to those of +perverted truth, as we see in the confounding +infant baptism with the renewing of the Holy +Ghost. In every thing it is the same, prayer, +praise, love, all is perverted, and yet the +name retained. The communications we received +from Mr. G——l and +others,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +about the state of Christianity in these countries, is +but too true, and what he states about the monks +at Itch-Meeazin may be doubtless true; at +least I suppose it is the seat of the Armenian +Patriarch he means, for I know of no other Armenian +church in these parts, where this service +is kept up of reading the whole Book of Psalms +every day. The office of a missionary in these +countries is, to <em>live</em> the Gospel before them in +the power of the Holy Ghost, and to drop like +the dew, line upon line, and precept upon precept, +here a little and there a little, till God give the +increase of his labours; but it must be by patient +continuance in well doing against every discouraging +circumstance, from the remembrance of +what we ourselves once were.</p> + +<p>We have this day heard, that the cholera or +the plague is at Tabreez, and that they are dying +4 or 5,000 a day; but this, I have no doubt, is a +gross exaggeration. May the Lord watch over +the seed that seems sowing there, and make the +judgments that are in the earth warnings to men +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +to return to God. We also have the cholera here; +but I trust not severely.</p> + +<p>The last Tartar who took our letters with the +head of the ex-Khiahya was plundered, so that +our letters were lost which we sent by him.</p> + +<p>We have been to-day in hopes of obtaining +another Moolah, for teaching the children in +the school to read and write Arabic. For two +months we have been trying, without success, to +obtain one, so great is their prejudice against +teaching Christians at all, but especially +themselves to read the New Testament; but as our +Lord does every thing for us, we doubt not he +will do this also if it be best.</p> + +<p>I am much led to think on those of my dear +missionary brethren, who look for the kingdom +of Christ to come in by a gradual extension of +the exertions now making. This view seems to +me very discouraging; for surely after labouring +for years, and so little having been done, we +may all naturally be led to doubt if we are in +our places; but to those who feel their place to +be to preach Jesus, and publish the Testament +in his blood, whether men will hear or whether +they will forbear, they have nothing to discourage +them, knowing they are a sweet savour of Christ. +I daily feel more and more, that till the Lord +come our service will be chiefly to gather out the +few grapes that belong to the Lord’s vine, and +publish his testimony in all nations; there may +be here and there a fruitful field on some pleasant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +hill, but as a whole, the cry will be, “Who hath +believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the +Lord revealed.”</p> + +<p>It is the constant practice here among the +Jews, when they hear our blessed Lord’s name +mentioned, or mention it themselves, to curse +him; so awful is their present state of opposition, +Mohammedans will not hear, and Christians +do not care for any of those things—such +is the present state here; but if the Lord prosper +our labour, we shall see what the end will be, +when the Almighty word of God becomes understood. +The poor German Jew still holds on; +he has too much honesty to live by writing +lying amulets, and too little faith to cast himself +on the Lord; but his constant cry is, What shall +I do to live? The insight he gives us into the +state of the Jews here is most awful, but +notwithstanding, there appears to me a most abundant +field of labour among the 10,000 who are +here. Yesterday he called me suddenly while +at breakfast, to see a poor young Jewess who +had been married but two months, and had fallen +over the bridge with her little brother in her +arms. The scene was awfully interesting. Not +less perhaps than 300 Jews, with their wives, +were in the house, but tumultuous as the waves +of the sea, without hope and without God in the +world. There was no hope of recovering her. +She had been in the water an hour and a half, +and had there been life, they were acting so as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +to extinguish every spark. She was lying in a +close room crowded to suffocation, with the +windows shut; and they were burning under her +nose charcoal and wool.</p> + +<p>The Armenian boys, who are learning English, +go on with great zeal, and may in the course of +time become very interesting.</p> + +<p>We have at length received information, that +all our things are arrived at Bussorah, and among +the rest, the lithographic press, which we hope +to find most useful to us in our present position; +every thing happens rightly and well; they have +been delayed for some time in coming up the +river, in consequence of a quarrel between the +Pasha and the Arab tribe, the Beni-Laam, in +consequence of the plunder of Dr. Beaky’s boat, +but we expect it will be settled, as the Pasha +has acceded to the terms the Sheikh offered, and +has sent him down a dress of honour.</p> + +<p>I am sometimes led, in contemplating the gentlemanly +and imposing aspect which our present +missionary institutions bear, and contrasting them +with the early days of the church, when apostolic +fishermen and tent-makers published the testimony, +to think that much will not be done till +we go back again to primitive principles, and +let the nameless poor, and their unrecorded and +unsung labours be those on which our hopes, +under God, are fixed.</p> + +<p>We have just heard an interesting case. The +gardener of the Pasha is a Greek, who was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +lately sent to him at his request from Constantinople, +and yesterday (August 6), he became a +Mohammedan. He had two daughters of thirteen +and fourteen, whom he also wished to become +Mohammedans; but they would not consent, and +ran away to the factory, where they might have +remained under English protection; but they +would not stay, unless their brother, and his +wife, and their servants could remain with them; +so they left, as Major T—— had not room for +them all, having already the family of one of the +servants of the Pasha, who is imprisoned for some +delinquency in connection with the revenue accruing +to the Pasha from the bazaar.</p> + +<p>There has been with Mr. Pfander to-day one of +the writers of the Pasha, and he read some parts +of the Turkish New Testament, which he very +well understood, and expressed much pleasure in +the reading of; but when, on his being about to +leave, Mr. P. asked him to accept of a Turkish +Testament, he very politely declined it.</p> + +<p>There is another person come from Merdin, +with the view of settling the affair between the +Syrians and the Roman Catholics at Merdin. +He is a weaver of Diarbekr; and from him Mr. +Pfander learns, that in the last census taken +by the Pasha, the Syrians were 700 families, and +the Armenians 6,700: this certainly opens a +most interesting field for Christian inquiry: he +also said, that the Syrians in the mountains were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +perfectly independent of the Mohammedans, and +among themselves are divided into little clans +under their respective Bishops. He also stated, +that reading and writing were much more cultivated +among the independent Syrians than those +in the plains.</p> + +<p>He also said there would be no difficulty whatever +in going among the Yezidees with a Syrian +guide. The language which the independent +Syrians speak is Syriac, which is near the ancient +Syriac, and that they understand fully the +Syrian Scriptures when read in their churches. +We hope, therefore, should the Lord spare our +lives, to have an opportunity of circulating some +of the many copies of the Scriptures in Syriac, +which Mr. Pfander has brought from Shushee, +and some that I expect will come from Bombay +for me.</p> + +<p>The Gerba tribe of Arabs are come almost +close to Bagdad, to check whom the Pasha +intends sending out the troops that have been +under the discipline of the English.</p> + +<p>We have also heard from the Syrian, that from +Mousul to Mardin the road by the mountains of +Sinjar is safer than by the plains. Among the Yezidees +and Syrians, no Mohammedan lives. It is +impossible to consider such an immense Christian +population as that in Diarbekr, without feeling +a wish to pour in upon it the fountains of living +waters, which we are so abundantly blessed with. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +Oh, that some one would come out, and settle +down in such a place as Diarbekr—what an abundant +field of labour!</p> + +<p><em>August 14.</em>—A young Jew was here to-day, +and bought three Arabic Bibles of Mr. Pfander, +at 25 piastres of this place each, <em>i.e.</em> about 5s. +sterling. This is almost the beginning. Many +might perhaps have been given away; but as we +find that those of Mr. Wolff were generally +burnt, we wish them to buy them, at least, at +such a price that they would not burn them. +He took away a Hebrew New Testament, but +returned it again. I should feel deeply interested +in some one coming to take charge of a Jewish +school, in which the Old Testament, Hebrew, and +Arabic, might be the basis of instruction. I make +no doubt, that at once a most interesting school +might be established here on a very large scale, +for they have but one school of about 150 poor +boys at their synagogue, or rather synagogues, +for they have six, but all in one place, and forming +one building; they have also three rabbies, +and besides the boys which are taught at the +above school, many others are educated at home +by teachers. Now, nothing can be more distinct +than their wish for a school, and their promise +of supporting it on the basis of the Old Testament +being taught as a school-book, which certainly, +as a primary step, is a most important one +to cause them, by the Lord’s blessing, to see that +the book which they now disfigure by monstrous +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +interpretations, has yet in itself, by the illumination +of God’s Spirit, a clear, simple, and, in all +essential points, an intelligible meaning, without +the aid of man’s exposition. But should they +finally turn round and oppose the school, which +as soon as the power of it is felt, they most +assuredly would do, still some might remain, and +if none should, there is still a most abundant field +of labour in circulating the Scriptures, and in +conversation among them in this city, and throughout +Mesopotamia, where they abound in almost every town.</p> + +<p>We have heard from a Jew, that Sakies, the +Armenian Agent of the East India Company, had +given the Jews directions to treat Mr. Wolff +when here with attention, and to invite him to +their houses. The Jews here are closely connected +with the English, at least many of them, +who are under English protection.</p> + +<p><em>August 15.</em> <em>Sunday.</em>—The thermometer this +day has been the highest hitherto for the year, +117 in the shade, and 155 in the +sun.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> +This is the time when the dates ripen, and the most +oppressive in the year; but by the Lord’s great +mercy, we are all in health and strength, though +sometimes we feel a little disposed to think it +is so hot, that we may be excused from doing +any thing; but my English scholars keep me +employed six hours a day, which prevents me +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +from thinking much about the heat, though not +from feeling it. I can truly say, it is far more +tolerable than I expected, and yet there are few +places on the face of the earth hotter. The +temperature of India is not near so high; and I +question, if there is any place, that for the year +through would average so high.</p> + +<p><em>August 17.</em>—The Jew has been here, and +bought another Arabic Bible. I showed him +one of the Hebrew Psalters of the Jews’ Society. +He greatly desired to have it; but I could +not spare that; but promised him that when mine +came up from Bussorah, I would let him know.</p> + +<p>We have this day a new Moolah, the best we +could get, but not altogether such as we could +have desired.</p> + +<p>The Jews here cannot believe that Christians +know any thing of Hebrew, and are therefore +surprised to see Hebrew books with us. Oh, +should the Lord allow us to be of any use to this +holy people, terrible from their beginning hitherto +alike in the favour and indignation of Jehovah, +we should esteem it a very great blessing; yet +surely they ought to have here one missionary, +whose whole soul might be drawn out towards +this especial work.</p> + +<p>From some communications with a native of +Merdin, we find that the custom of avenging +murder and requiring blood for blood, exists +among the independent Chaldeans and Syrians, +and keeps them in continual warfare, where one +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +happens to be killed by the inhabitants of another +village. The inhabitants of the village of the +person killed, feel it a necessary point of honour +to revenge it.</p> + +<p>He also mentioned, that the Yezidees were no +longer so numerous as formerly, but were greatly +diminished by the plague, which happened a few +years ago, by which Diarbekr lost 10,000 of its +inhabitants.</p> + +<p>We had a visit from an Armenian, who was +formerly treasurer to Sir Gore Ouseley; while +speaking about Christianity, he said, it was no +use to speak to the Armenians about it, for they +all say, “How can we know any thing about +such matters, and that, except as a sect, they are +too ignorant to know or care about Christianity.” +They are indeed full of the pride of heart that +appertains to sectarians, and obstinately resist the +Scriptures being translated into the modern languages, +because, say they, the ancient language +was spoken in Paradise, and will be the language +of heaven, and that, therefore, translating the +sacred book into that which is modern, is a +desecration. How wonderfully does Satan blind men, +and how by one contrivance or another does he +endeavour to keep God’s word from them, as a +real intelligible book, which the Spirit of God +makes plain, even to the most unlettered; but +the more we discover him endeavouring to pervert +God’s word from becoming intelligible, the more +we should strive to let every soul have the testimony +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +of God concerning his life in Christ, in a +language he understands. In this point of view +I look to the schools with comfort.</p> + +<p><em>August 19.</em>—Things here seem most unsettled, +and require us to live in very simple faith as to +what a day may bring forth. It is stated, that +between 20 and 30,000 Arabs are close to the +gates of the city. The Pasha has an army about +24 miles from hence; but unable to move, except +all together, and there is another regiment under +an English officer about 12 miles distant. The +deposition of this Pasha seems to be the principal +object of these Arabs, in which it is not impossible +that they may be fully supported by the +Porte. What will be the result of all this we +are not careful to know, for we are not to fear +their face, nor to be afraid, but the Lord will be +to us a hiding place from the storm, when the +blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against a +wall.</p> + +<p>A caravan has just come across the desert +from Aleppo, with a guard of 500 men, consisting +of 300 camels. Letters brought by a Tartar +from Constantinople have all been detained by +the Pasha, except a few on mercantile concerns +which have been delivered. So many packets +sent by Constantinople have been in one way +or another detained, that I have no other hope +of letters than what my most gracious Lord’s +approved love gives me; all which he really desires +me to have I shall receive, and more I +would desire not to wish for.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +We have just heard, that Major T——’s +brother, and the gentlemen who left Mousul +were pursued by 500 Arabs; but all escaped +except a horse of the +Capidji,<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> +an officer of the +Sultan’s, which was laden with money, collected +by his master for the government at Constantinople; +he could not go fast enough, so he fell +into the hands of the Arabs.</p> + +<p>The Roman Catholic bishop has received accounts +that Algiers is taken by the French, and +also some forts in its neighbourhood. Aleppo is +quiet, though the Arabs are in the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>Our new Moolah has expressed his surprise at +the contents of the New Testament, and wonders +how Mohammedans can speak against it as they +do. He intends coming to our Armenian schoolmaster +on Sundays to read it with him; may the +Lord most graciously send down his Spirit upon +them, that the one who undertakes to teach what +he does not know, may, by discovering his ignorance, +be led to the fountain of all wisdom; and +may the other learn to love him whose holy, heavenly, +and divine name he has blasphemed.</p> + +<p>The cholera is much about, but the Lord preserves +us all safe.</p> + +<p>The Pasha has made up his differences with the +Arab tribe, and all the troops have returned, except +those under Mr. Littlejohn, which still remain +out for fear of an attack before all the harvest is +thrashed and brought in.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +There are symptoms of great fear on the part +of the Pasha, that a struggle is actually going on +among those around him for superseding him in +his Pashalic, in which they have apparently much +probability of success, as the Porte has been greatly +injured by his unwillingness to meet her necessities +and afford her pecuniary help. Our security, +however, is in this, that amidst all, the Lord +knoweth them that are his, and will defend them +amidst all turmoils and in the most troublous +times—in this we find peace and quietness.</p> + +<p>The poor men who came to endeavour to obtain +from the Pasha here the re-institution of the Syrian +patriarch in those churches in Merdin, from which +he had been ejected by the Roman Catholic +bishop, are now returning without success, but +carrying back with them two boxes of Arabic and +Syrian New Testaments to the Patriarch. May +the Lord water them by his most Holy Spirit, so +that they may become the ground of living churches, +instead of those of stone which they have lost.</p> + +<p>I have been much surprised to learn that all the +Arab tribes on these rivers, except the Montefeiks, +are Sheahs or followers of Ali, whom I had formerly +thought followers of Omar.</p> + +<p>I have already mentioned, that on leaving Mousul, +Mr. Taylor’s party were attacked and obliged +to return to +Telaafer,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> +a village between Mousul +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +and Merdin, whence, after having waited for a +stronger escort, they proceeded towards Merdin, +when the event related in the following +letter took place; but the supposed death of the +three gentlemen was unfounded. They were only +made prisoners and carried to the mountains of +Sinjar, among the Yezidees. These people are +declared enemies of the Mohammedans, whom +they hate; but, on the whole, except when their +cupidity is excited, they are not unfriendly towards +Christians. They seem, with the Sabeans +and some others, such as the Druzes, to be descendants +of the believers in the two principles who +have blown their pestiferous breath at different +times into every system of religion that has prevailed +in these countries, corrupting all. However, +these Yezidees, be they originally what they may, +have now these three gentlemen in custody, and +require 7,500 piastres of this place—about £75, +for their liberation, and Major T. has sent a person +from hence to treat about it.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“My dear Sir,</p> + +<p>“It is, I can assure you, with a sincere +and melancholy regret at the dreadful, I may say +horrible and awful event that I have so lately +witnessed, that I sit down now to address a few +lines to you. I feel quite unable to give you an +entire relation of our misfortunes, and shall content +myself with saying, that out of seven as happy +people as could well exist on our departure from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +Mousul, three only have returned. To one so well +able to look for consolation, where, I may say, in +such an event consolation is alone to be found, +fortitude and patience in suffering might well be +found. I myself have not attained this, and I +may say this event has plunged me in the deepest +melancholy. For a relation of facts, I must refer +you to Captain Cockrell’s letter to Major Taylor: +we were attacked and compelled to fly, and in the +confusion, Mr. Taylor, his servant, Mr. Bywater, +and our companion, Mr. Aspinal, were murdered. +We, that is Captain Cockrell, Mr. Elliot, and +myself escaped, though I was, I believe, especially +fired at, as on descending the hill four or +five whistled close past me. That we were betrayed, +and moreover, our companions assassinated +by our own party, no doubt exists in my mind. +All that were killed out of 500 people that were +with us were these four. They again, out of all, +happened to be the only ones among us who carried +money. We have done every thing in our power +to recover their bodies but without effect: on our +return to Telaafer, after having been twenty-six +hours on horseback in the desert, we wrote a note, +in the hope that they might be prisoners at Sinjar, +and offered 4,000 piastres for them if they were +brought in safe. The Kapidgi Bashi left for +Merdin before we could hear of our messenger; +he returned after three days, and said he had seen +their clothes and pistols, and that they were all +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +murdered. Mr. Taylor he mentioned as having +been run through the body with a spear. This +was one out of many reports of a similar nature, +and we were fain to give them up for dead. (They +could not possibly have been alive had they escaped, +as there was no water within twenty-four +hours.) All our things were pillaged. I lost all +my papers, including your letters, and all that +was left were a few pairs of white trowsers. This +was most assuredly done by our own party; even +our own baggage man, before my eyes, almost laid +hold of my turban and pistol, which I had laid upon +the ground, and on my laying hold on him, actually +drew his dagger. I never witnessed such +villany in my life. All our guards were laughing, +as if nothing had occurred; and, although I may +be wrong, yet I do venture it as my opinion, +that there were no thieves at all, but that it was +treachery altogether. You will be surprised to +hear that Captain Cockrell and myself start to-morrow +on the same road as before. I trust in +God alone for protection, as we have no guards +at all. If I ever reach Exeter I shall not fail to +call on Miss Groves; but after what has happened +who can say, “He shall do this.”</p> + +<p>“We take no baggage of any description, being +fully aware of the danger and impracticability of +so doing; so that if we are again attacked, we +shall be able to gallop for our lives. Now, adieu, +my dear Sir. I will write from Constantinople if +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +I reach it; in the mean time excuse this hurried +scrawl, and believe me, ever</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 20em;">“Yours very sincerely,</span><br /> +<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 25em;">“W. Hull.</span>”<br /> +“<em>Mr. A. N. Groves.</em>”</p></div> + +<p>In consequence of the receipt of this intelligence, +Major T. sent off Aga Menas to Mousul, +to treat about the liberation of the captives, and +we are anxiously waiting the result.</p> + +<p>My dear brother Pfander and myself having come +to the conclusion, that with so large a school, and so +many objects of one kind and the other as there +are here requiring attention, it would be impossible +for me to leave this and go with him into +the mountains; this led to the further determination +on his part to return to Shushee next +year, having first spent a few months at Ispahan, to +complete his knowledge of Persian; and I of course +was prepared to be left quite alone, but still my +heart was fully sustained with the confident hope +that the Lord would not only do what was right, +but exceedingly abundant above all I could ask. +On all sides nothing but silence prevailed:—three +packets of letters had been lost between Constantinople +and this, and one between Tabreez and this, +and all the letters from India had been detained, +by the Arabs on the river being at war with the +Pasha for four or five months. Therefore I knew +nothing of the movements of any of my dear +friends, and all was left to conjecture; sometimes, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +when faith was in full exercise, I felt assured that +the Lord was doing all well; at others, I hardly +knew what to think. I had written to my very +dear friends in Petersburgh, Dr. W. and Miss K. +to come if possible and as soon as possible; but +their having left Petersburgh doubtless prevented +their receiving my letter. From my dear friends +in England I heard little; from Ireland not a +word. Things were in this state, when suddenly +there came in three Tartars bringing us three packets, +so full of Christian love, sympathy, and such +good tidings, that it almost overcame our hearts, +weak from long abstinence from similar entertainment, +and even on this day, the third from their +arrival, they fill my heart till it runs over. To +hear and see that those one most loves, are indeed +joying and rejoicing in their holy, most holy +relation to God in Christ,—the relationship of sons +and daughters, to see them anxious to walk blameless +in all the ordinances their Lord has left them, +while they glory in being free from the law of +condemnation, and desire to know no freedom +from the law of loving obedience: moreover, to +see them becoming more and more sensible to the +great truth that inestimable as knowledge is, it is +what devils may share, but that the love of Jesus, +and a tenderness of conscience as to his will, is +infinitely higher than that, and that therefore his +high command to the members of his church to +love one another as he loves them, can never +be slighted by them:—oh, to see this it does +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +indeed rejoice my heart, and I pray among us +all that it may abound more and more, particularly +among us who have been so graciously +and so kindly led into all the holy freedom of the +Gospel. Let us see we use it not as a cloak of +maliciousness, but as the servants of Christ, loving +and serving one another, not returning evil for +evil, or reviling for reviling, but contrariwise +blessing. The path God’s children have to take +when they are determined in the name of the +Lord not to give the name of God’s truth to any +thing merely human, knowing that it is a vain +thing to teach for doctrines the commandments of +men, is so naturally offensive, that our zeal for +the truth should lead us to pray for such especial +graces of the Spirit as may prevent any unloveliness +in our walk, preventing the Lord’s dear children +from coming, and seeing, and drinking of that +well-spring in Christ by which we have been so +refreshed and invigorated. Whilst we profess, my +very dear friends, absolute freedom from man’s +control in the things relating to God, we only +acknowledge in a tenfold degree the absoluteness +of our subjection to the whole mind and will of +Christ in all things. As he is our <em>life</em> hid with +him in God, so let him be our <em>way</em> and our <em>truth</em>, +both in doctrine and conversation. How many, +from neglect of this lovely union, have almost +forgotten to care about adorning the doctrine of God +their Saviour in all things. Let us, my dear brethren +and sisters, pray that we may be united in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +all the will of Christ. This is a basis not for time +only but for eternity, and for that glorious day +especially, when the Lord shall come to be glorified +in all his saints, and admired in all them that +believe. But not only did my packets bring me joyful +tidings of the Lord’s doings among those whom +I especially know and love, but they also brought +me intelligence that he had prepared for me help +from among those who had been known and +approved, and whom I especially loved. How I +felt reproved for every doubt; and indeed the +Lord so fully has let his goodness pass before +me, that I am overwhelmed, and feel I can only +lay my hand upon my mouth, and whilst overwhelmed +with my own vileness and unworthiness +of the least of all my most gracious Lord’s +loving kindnesses to me, yet glory in that dispensation +of grace which ministers to us, not according +to our deserts, but the unbought, unbounded +love of God. My letters tell me that my very +dear brethren and friends, Mr. P., Mr. C., his +sister, and mother, and little babe, and Mr. N., +are coming to join us, with possibly a fourth. Now +this does seem altogether wonderful, and whilst +not at all more than I ought to have expected, +yet more than I had faith to expect. Yet while +I have nothing to say for myself, I desire to say +all for God: it is like him, all whose ways are +wonderful, and, towards his church, full of mercy, +goodness, and truth. Oh, how happy shall we +be to await the Lord’s coming on the banks of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +these rivers, which have been the scene of all the +sacred history of the old church of God, and destined +still, I believe, to be the scene of doings of +yet future and deeper interest at the coming of +the Lord; and whilst I should not hesitate to go +to the furthest corner of the habitable earth, were +my dear Lord to send me, yet I feel much pleasure +in having my post appointed here, though +the most unsettled and insecure country beneath +the sun perhaps. In every direction, without +are lawless robbers, and within unprincipled +extortioners; but it is in the midst of these, +that the Almighty arm of our Father delights to +display his preserving mercy, and while the +flesh would shrink, the spirit desires to wing +its way to the very foremost ranks of danger +in the battles of the Lord. Oh that we may more +and more press on this sluggish, timid, earthly +constitution, that is always wanting its native +ease among the delights of an earthly happiness. +Oh, may my very loving, zealous brethren, stir up +my timid, languid spirit to the mild yet life-renouncing +love of my dear Lord, which, whilst it +was silent, was as strong, yea, stronger than death.</p> + +<p>My dear friend and brother P—— and his +wife have been baptized too; to see this conformity +to Christ’s mind, is very delightful; and +how wonderful, too;—so strong a current of prejudice +is there against this simple, intelligible, +and blessed ordinance. I learn also, that he and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +my dear friend the +A——<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> +are preaching the +everlasting Gospel themselves, and with some +others of those we love, employing others to +preach it. This also is good news.</p> + +<p><em>September 10.</em>—No accounts have been received +from Sinjar regarding our travellers. I fear this is +ominous, for if ransom is what the Yezidees want, +would they not have contrived to forward some +notice to Bagdad? however, a few days will most +likely disclose the truth, as on the 8th Meenas +reached Mousul.</p> + +<p>We have just heard that the Nabob of +Lucknow’s brother, on his return from a pilgrimage +to Mished, was taken prisoner with the +whole caravan by the Turcomans. This amiable +Mohammedan came from India on a round of +pilgrimages. He has visited Mecca and Kerbala, +and was now returning again to this place on +his way home to Lucknow, after which he purposed +returning again, and going through Persia, +Russia, Germany, &c. to England. He was +robbed once before between this and Aleppo.</p> + +<p>The Pasha has just sent to the Factory to +say, that the cholera has extended its ravages +to Kerkook, and to ask for advice, and what is +to be done should it reach this place with its +epidemic violence. Mr. M—— is going therefore +to write directions, and Major T—— will +get them translated into Arabic, for the use of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +the people here. Blessed be the Lord’s holy +name, our charter runs, that in the pestilence, +“though ten thousand fall at thy right hand, +it shall not come nigh thee;” on this, therefore, +we repose our hearts. The Pasha seems perplexed +to know, in the event of its reaching +Bagdad, where he shall go with his family for +safety. It is certainly an awful thing to look at +Tabreez, where they say, that 8,000 or 9,000 +have died out of 60,000; and two years ago at +Bussorah, 1,500 out of 6,000, so that the houses +were left desolate, and the boats were floating +up and down the creek without owners, and +when persons died in a house, the rest went +away, and left the bodies there locked up. But +we have in our dwellings a light in these days +that they know nothing of, who know not our +God either in his power or his love, so that the +heart is enabled to cast all, even the dearest to it, +on the exceeding abundance of his mercy.</p> + +<p><em>September 10.</em>—I fear the intelligence we have +just received of poor Mr. J. Taylor, Mr. Bywater, +and Mr. Aspinal, and the Maltese servant, leaves +us little room to hope but that they have all +been treacherously murdered. Our Moolah tells +us, he received a letter from a friend of his at +Merdin, stating, that they were murdered—not +by the Yezidees at all, but by the party of Arabs +sent by the Pasha of Mousul to protect them, in +conjunction with a party from Telaafer, an Arab +village, where they spent a night. It appears, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +that when the attack was made, Mr. Elliot, +Captain Cockrell, and Mr. Hull galloped off +after being stripped; but Mr. Taylor, Mr. Aspinal, +and Mr. Bywater got entangled among +these robbers, and Mr. A. shot one of the Arabs +with his pistol; and afterwards Mr. B. shot +another. It then became with these lawless +plunderers, no longer a matter of simple robbery, +but of revenge and death. They killed these +two young men, and then pulling Mr. Taylor +from his horse, killed him. I confess, when I +saw them mounting their horses, strongly covered +with offensive weapons of warfare, I felt very +little comfort about them, for, if they were +attacked, it would only be with an overwhelming +force, or they would be given up in treachery, +in both which cases almost all the danger arises +from resistance. Those wretched plunderers +seek not life, but booty; this quietly yielded, +you may go; but if you use the sword, you perish +by the sword. If you carry money, or any thing +valuable, you are exposed to be stripped, and if +you go armed, to be killed. About three years +ago, the French interpreter was going the very +same route, and near Telaafer he was attacked, +and stripped; but they let him go free. The +fate of these gentlemen has greatly affected us +all. A delay must now take place in the steamboat +communication, for it is not probable that this +route can ever be so disregarded, but that some +effort, sooner or later, will be made. Let our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +impatient hearts hush their murmurings; it is +the work of a loving Father, who declares to his +children, that all things shall work together for +their good; yea, the disappointment of present +hopes shall, by heavenly patience, yield the peaceable +fruits of righteousness to those who are exercised +thereby.</p> + +<p><em>September 14.</em>—We have just heard, that an +order has been given out in one of the mosques, +that the Mohammedans shall receive no printed +books. Whether this watchfulness is the result +of Mr. Pfander having employed a man, a Jew, +to sell Bibles, Testaments, and Psalters, or +whether, at the suggestion from the R—— C—— +B——, I know not. How near the principles +are of the beast and the false prophet—how easily +they harmonize and help each other!</p> + +<p>We have lately heard some interesting details +of the numbers of the Jews in the places north-east +of Persia. A Jew who has travelled in these +countries states, that there are,</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> + +<tr> <td align='center'><em>In.</em></td> <td align='center'><em>Language spoken.</em></td> <td align='center'><em>Families.</em></td> </tr> +<tr> <td align='left'>Samarcand</td> <td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Turkish</span></td> <td align='left'>500</td> </tr> +<tr> <td align='left'>Bokhaura</td> <td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Turkish and Persian</span></td> <td align='left'>5,000</td> </tr> +<tr> <td align='left'>Mished</td> <td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Turkish and Persian</span></td> <td align='left'>10,000</td> </tr> +<tr> <td align='left'>Heerat</td> <td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;">Turkish and Persian</span></td> <td align='left'>8,000</td> </tr> +<tr> <td align='left'>Caubul</td> <td align='left'>{Pashtoo, but Persian}</td> <td align='left'>300</td> </tr> +<tr> <td align='left'>Bulkh-(Caubul)</td> <td align='left'>{ generally understood}</td> <td align='left'>300</td> </tr> + +</table></div> + + +<p>There are also in the villages about some Jews, +from 20 to 100 families. Their knowledge of the +Hebrew is very confined; very few understand +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +it at all; they have also very little knowledge +of the Talmud. We hope from time to time to +collect more particulars to correct, confirm, or +cancel these, and all other accounts of a similar +nature, for in these countries it is not one account +that can stand, and when confronted by 50 more, it +can still be only considered as an approximation +to truth.</p> + +<p><em>September 16.</em>—Our long expected packet by +Shushee and Tabreez has just arrived. The +messenger, on reaching Kourdistan, found it in +such a state of danger and confusion, that he was +afraid to proceed, but went back again, and +came by a longer but more quiet way. Another +cause of delay seems to have been their going to +India, and back again to Tabreez. The information +contained in this packet is most interesting. +From Petersburgh we heard from several +friends, all encouraging, comforting, and rejoicing +us. The Lord seems to give them courage still +to persevere; and dear sister —— intends, after +recruiting a little in England, to return again to +her work there. I feel satisfied it is a most +interesting field, and that ere long in Russia +some tremendous changes will take place. The +poor are anxious for the word of God, and the +nobility despising the hierarchy, and, therefore, +that blind priestly domination under which it has +groaned, will finally fall to pieces; infidelity will +take openly its side, and the Lord’s saints theirs.</p> + +<p>Dear Mr. K—— tells us, that some dear +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +American brother, by name Lewis, has sent him +money to procure for his family a house in the +country during the few months of a Russian +summer. How loving and bountiful a Lord ours +is, supplying his most affectionate and waiting +servant with all he needs; it makes every little +bounty so sweet when it comes from a Father +through one of his vessels of mercy. Oh, who +would not live a life of faith in preference to +one of daily, hourly satiety—I mean as to earthly +things; how very many instances of happiness +should we have been deprived of, had we not +trusted to, and left it to his love to fill us with +good things as he pleased, and to spread our +table as he has done, year after year, and will do, +even here in this wilderness.</p> + +<p>From Shushee we have also heard, that our +dear brother Z—— and an Armenian had been +travelling and selling Bibles and Testaments. +They went first to Teflis; from thence to Erzeroum, +Erivan, Ech-Miazin, and back again to Shushee. +What success he had in selling Bibles and Testaments +we do not know, but at Erzeroum, he was +accused by the Mohammedans before the Russian +authorities, but let go. He returned home in +safety under the hand of the Lord. There is also +in the letters of our brethren most pleasing accounts +of a young Armenian, the son-in-law of +the richest Armenian merchant in Baku, supposed +to be worth half a million. This young +man, at a visit of Z—— and P——, was much +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +interested by their conversation about the New +Testament, and they went away, leaving him an +interesting inquirer. He, however, still pursued +his way alone, and attained a perfect understanding +of the Armenian Testament, which at first +he was able to read but indifferently. He then +felt himself unable to proceed in mercantile transactions +as before; so that his father-in-law told +him, that much as he regretted separating from +him, if he became so pious, they must part. +Well, he said, he could not give up his convictions, +and he was sure his Lord would not allow +him to want; so he left his father-in-law, and +learnt the trade of a taylor. From the very first +he began to teach his wife, and she takes part +with him; and he is now selling Bibles and +Testaments, and circulating tracts among the +Russian soldiers. This is a sight indeed! for +centuries perhaps they have not seen one of their +own body rising up, and choosing to suffer +affliction with the people of God, rather than +enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; and the +sight is as strange to Mohammedans as to Christians. +May the Lord sustain, comfort, and bless +him out of his heavenly treasures.</p> + +<p>From Tabreez our tidings are heavy, or rather +would be, but that the Lord of love directs and +orders all, and sees the end from the beginning, +yet they have also good tidings too. I have +already mentioned, that the cholera had been +raging at Tabreez; but we learn, that not only +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +this, but the plague is there also, to a most frightful +extent. I will just copy here the account +our dear sister Mrs. —— has given us; and +for whose safety we desire to bless the Lord; +she says,</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“Before this reaches you, you may have heard +of the sorrow and desolation that have befallen +this city within these last two months. Thousands +around us have been cut off by the cholera and +the plague. The former raged so furiously for +the first month, that 2 or 300 died daily. Symptoms +of the plague first were discovered in the +ark among the Russian soldiers, which manifested +itself by breaking out over the body in +large boils; the person attacked, feeling himself +overcome by stupor; many died before it was +thought what it was; precautions were taken, +and they were sent out to camp at some distance +from the town. The disorder has not raged +among them so much as it has in the town. I +cannot tell you how great the fear was that was +struck into the minds of the people. Many were +taken ill through fear, of which they died. Previous +to the city being quite deserted, men, +women, children, of all denominations, collected +themselves together in large bodies, crying and +beseeching God to turn away his judgments from +them: this they did bareheaded and without shoes, +humbling themselves, they said, because they +knew they were great sinners. The air resounded +with their cries day and night, particularly the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +latter, and often during the whole of it. Oh, +did they but know the truth as it is in Jesus. +At length all classes fled to the mountains, leaving +the town quite deserted. Alexander told me, +on his return one day from the city, that he +had not met a person. All the shops in the +bazaar were forsaken, so that from this you may +derive some idea of the terror that has possessed +this people.”</p></div> + +<p>Mrs. —— also tells us, that the establishment +at Tabreez is going to be much reduced, +and that therefore Mr. N—— is ordered back +to India. This has tried them much, for they +were just expecting two American missionaries, +a Mr. Dwight and a Mr. Smith, with whom they +were hoping to have acted happily for their +common Lord. But the Lord’s ways are not +our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts, so these +things happen otherwise than we expected. +However, wherever they go, may they be blessed, +and a blessing. They purpose coming here on +their way, which affords us much pleasure at +the prospect of seeing them again. However, +we are greatly rejoiced to think, that brethren +from America have designed Tabreez for their +station. Now between Shushee, Tabreez, and +this place we have a little frontier line. Oh, +may there be daily new ambassadors of mercy +publishing the testimony of Jesus in all the +world. Oh, that the end may quickly come.</p> + +<p>Our Moolah is dreadfully depressed to-day, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +at the prospect of the cholera and plague coming +here, and he said to me, he thought the end of +the world must be near, because of these wars, +pestilences, and plagues.</p> + +<p>We have also heard that we shall most likely +be obliged to leave this house after the year has +expired; for the Sheahs have been complaining +to the Seyd,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +the owner of it, for letting it to +the infidels for such a purpose. But we are not +careful about these things; it will be as the Lord +wills.</p> + +<p>Nothing can show the stupid carelessness of +these people more, than that, although they are +frightened out of their reason almost at the +prospect of the plague and cholera, yet they +have actually allowed a whole caravan from +Tabreez to come into the city without quarantine, +or any kind of precaution.</p> + +<p>Oh, how joyful the promises in the Revelations +are for “those written in the Lamb’s book +of life,” for “those who have not the mark of +the beast on them,” for those who are to be +sealed before the angels are allowed to hurt the +earth. Yea, he will for his great name’s sake +hide us in the secret of his pavilion, so that he +will put a song into our mouths; yea, he will +encompass us with songs of deliverance. We +feel that it now indeed especially becomes us +neither to fear their fear nor be afraid.</p> + +<p><em>Sept.</em>—The weather is now become decidedly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +cooler. A fortnight since the average height of the +thermometer in the shade, during the warmest +part of the day, was 117; it is now lowered to 110. +During the hottest time of the year, which is now +just over, the quicksilver was rarely lower than 110, +or higher than 118 in the shade, except in the +morning, when the general range was from 87 +to 93.</p> + +<p>The Seyd who has let us his house, and who +we had heard intended to turn us out after the +year was expired, has got into trouble with the +Pasha, about some ground he rented, and for +which he was to pay the Pasha a certain quantity +of corn; but he says, what from the locusts, and +the rain not coming at the usual time, and when +it did come, coming in such unusual quantities, he +lost his crop. He has now come begging us to take +his case to Major T., to beg him to endeavour +to settle it with the Musruff. Thus the Lord +has brought him into difficulties, that if he were +disposed to turn us out he would not be able this +year. But he denies altogether having said any +thing about turning us out, and it is not improbable +that it is as he says; his family which is a +large one, and once were opulent, feel it a great +disgrace to let out the house of one of the descendants +of the prophet to a Christian, and more +especially as one of the rooms is over the street +under which the Mohammedans have to walk, +and this most especially offends them; but that +we might not give them any unnecessary offence +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +we have never occupied the room, though the most +airy one we have.</p> + +<p>A Jew of Yezd has been with us, and told us +that there are 300 families of Jews in that city, +and the same number at Ispahan.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 24.</em>—A caravan has just arrived from +Constantinople, by way of Aleppo. We have +also heard that one caravan from Damascus has +been plundered, and another from Kerkook: and +a messenger likewise who came from Captain +Campbell, from Tabreez, was also stopped, but +having nothing besides letters, was suffered to +pass. I note these events down merely that they +may afford a little criterion of the unsettled state +of the whole of the interior of this immense continent. +In fact, the Lord is, amidst these commotions, +preparing a way for his testimony to spread.</p> + +<p>The cholera, by the Lord’s blessing, is decreasing, +but it is reported that at Kerkook the mortality +went as high as 100 a day; it has now, +however, ceased.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 27.</em>—The intelligence has been confirmed +of the death of Mr. Taylor, Mr. Aspinal, and Mr. +Bywater, as well as of a Maltese servant, and that +the principal perpetrators were the Sheikh of Telaafer, +in conjunction with a Sheikh of the Yezidees, +who were with the caravan at the time.</p> + +<p>The Nawaub mentioned before, has been delivered +by the Prince of Teheran sending an +army into Khorassan, and with him all the caravan.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +<em>Sept. 29.</em>—Meenas has just been here, and the +only particulars he has given of the unfortunate +travellers, in addition to that which we knew before +is, that Mr. Aspinal made his escape with +the others, but hearing a cry from Mr. Taylor +and Mr. Bywater, he returned, and finding them +surrounded by about fifty men, he drew his pistol +and shot one man through the arm. This made +them retire for a moment, but they advanced +again: he then drew another pistol, and shot the +Sheikh of the Yezidees, by name Bella. His +son then rushed on them with the rest, and killed +them all, and with them six other Christians—two +on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and the others +on mercantile business. The booty they then divided, +half to the people of Telaafer, who were the +guards of the murdered party, and the other half +the Yezidees kept. The Yezidees do not appear +at all to have wished to kill them, knowing +their relation to the Resident here, from whom they +hoped to get a handsome ransom. Perhaps no two +events could more powerfully manifest the weakness +of the Ottoman empire internally than this +event which has happened to Mr. Taylor, and the +pillage of a caravan going to Mousul, which was +stripped of every thing but two boxes of books, +which Mr. Pfander had sent; these they left as +being too heavy, and they are now safe at Mousul. +This caravan was stripped by persons nominally the +subjects of the Pasha within two days journey of +Bagdad, and the property divided with the most +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +perfect impunity without any attempt at recovery. +These gentlemen were robbed and killed by persons +of a village subject to the Pasha of Mousul; +and he has not the least prospect of bringing them +to punishment.</p> + +<p>When Meenas gave the Syrians in Mousul an +account of our school here, they were so much +interested, that all their principal persons have +written a letter to invite us to come there and +establish schools among them, and also to desire +that we should send to them some Arabic Testaments +and Psalms. All this is most encouraging, +and I plainly see, that were there twenty servants +of Christ, faithful men, who would be content to +work for the Lord in every way, there might soon +be found abundant work for them. Mousul seems +especially open to Christian influence. Many of +those immediately connected with the Pasha are +Christians, and many even among the Mohammedans +have still Christian recollections. The letter +from Mousul, Meenas tells us, will come in about +three days; if so, Mr. Pfander proposes sending +back a present of Arabic Testaments and +Psalms, with the expression of our hope that the +Lord may strengthen our hands, as he has made +willing our hearts, to extend our labours unto +them. Major T. often asks me if I think any +missionary mechanics may still come out. The +Lord does so much and so wonderfully, that I can +almost hope this, notwithstanding the host of prejudices +to be first surmounted.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +Marteroos, the schoolmaster, who we hear is on +his way from Sheeraz, will, I trust, be a great +comfort to us, and a help to the school. He taught +two years in the school at Calcutta, and though +solicited, would receive no salary; and also at +Bushire. This is a trait of character so utterly +unlike these countries, that we cannot but hope +he will enter into our plans with a heartiness that +we can expect few others would. From his understanding +English, we hope he may be able to take +not only the higher Armenian classes, but also to +have time to translate such books as we need for +the use of the school, and also little tracts for circulation.</p> + +<p>The Musruff, (or treasurer) of the Pasha told +Major T. that they had begun the canal between +the Tigris and Euphrates. This shews +the Pasha is still anxious about the steam communication.</p> + +<p>Our Mohammedan Moolah still continues to +read the New Testament, with the Armenian +schoolmaster, who seems very sanguine that he +will become a Christian. At all events, I bless +God that he sees the record of God with his own +eyes, so that if he now rejects the testimony, it will +be God’s that he rejects, and not the solemn +mockery of Christ’s most simple and most holy +truth, which they have before seen.</p> + +<p>We were much delighted to find that those of +the little boys who had been exercised in translating +their own language into the vulgar, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +had retained such a clear knowledge of it, +that though they were called upon quite +unexpectedly, they understood it; whereas the +bigger boys, who come to me for English, +and the Moolah for Arabic, and who are +considered to have finished the Armenian education, +were not able to translate one word, at +which they were not a little ashamed, though +the fault was not theirs, but the plan of +education. We are greatly encouraged by this, and +led to hope, with the Lord’s blessing we shall see, +instead of a system of education, which after +immense labour, terminates in nothing but <em>sound</em> +without <em>sense</em> or instruction, a system that will +at least bring God’s word before them in a form +intelligible and clear; yea, the very truth that +God’s Spirit has promised to bless, and which He +has declared shall not return unto him void. Our +schoolmaster fully enters into these plans for +improvement, and really desires to do whatever we +wish. Our Arabic Moolah also enters much into +our wishes, and the boys are making double the +progress they did under the old system. This is +all of the Lord; and in fact, when I think of the +doubts expressed before we commenced of our +being allowed to work at all, and consider the +quietness and peace the Lord has allowed us to +enjoy in the prosecution of our work, I desire +more entirely to cast my whole soul, with all its +purposes and plans on the Lord, not to move but +as he guides.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +The two great objects of the church in the +latter days seem to me to be, independent of +growing herself up into the stature of fulness +in Christ, the publication of the testimony of +Jesus in all lands, and the calling out of the +sheep of Christ that may be imprisoned in all +the Babylonish systems that are in the world. +In both these may the Lord of his infinite mercy +grant success. Oh, how consoling it is, under an +overwhelming sense of powerless inefficiency, to +one’s work, to know that God has chosen to put +the most precious gift in earthen vessels, that the +excellency of the power may be of God and not of +man, so that we may glory in our very weakness +and ignorance, and natural insufficiency, knowing +that the Lord’s strength is made perfect in this +very weakness. Dear and blessed Lord, make us +every one willing to be nothing, that thou mayest +in all things be glorified.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 2.</em>—I have just seen a sight that +interests me much; the Mohammedan Moolah sitting at +one window of the school reading the Arabic New +Testament, and the Armenian vartabiet (or schoolmaster) +sitting at a table explaining to the son of the +priest of this place the New Testament. This young +man is just going to Ispahan to be ordained. +This certainly is something gained, that the word +of eternal truth is brought before them.</p> + +<p>In speaking yesterday to my Moolah about the +fortress which the Sultan has ordered to be built +between Damascus and Aleppo, to keep the road +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +safe for caravans, and which is nearly finished, he +told me that the Sultan had promised the European +Sultans that he would govern and regulate +his country like theirs; thus the minds of these +people seem preparing step by step for changes.</p> + +<p>I have heard, that after we left Petersburgh, +some of those, from whom we had experienced +peculiar kindness, had become very active in +visiting the poor in the neighbourhood of that city, +and in circulating tracts and the Scriptures, till +at last they attracted the notice of the governors +of one of these villages, who arrested and +examined them. Dr. W. was ordered to leave St. +Petersburgh in twenty-four hours, and the Russian +dominions in three weeks. Dear young Mr. ——, +being an officer, was put into confinement, +and ——, whose mother has often visited Africa, has +since left her charge, and is returned to England +for her health, but hopes with increased prospects +of usefulness, to return to her former sphere of +labour. They felt the cause of God had gained +ground during their trials, and that their own +souls had greatly rejoiced in the Lord.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 7.</em>—We have just heard that a German +watchmaker in this place has turned Mohammedan. +This unprincipled man had a wife and children +in Germany, yet wished to marry a Roman +Catholic Armenian here; but knowing that the +Bishop here would not marry them, he then went +to the Musruff, (the chief officer of the Pasha,) +and promised him that if he would get him this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +woman he would become a Mohammedan, and +this he has now done, and he is using all his +endeavours to compel the young woman he has +married to follow his steps. This, at present, she +resists, but she has little principle, as she knew +before of his being married. The more I see of +this people, the more I am struck with the +necessity of our being made acquainted with the +deep wickedness and corruption of the human +heart, that we may never be hopeless as to these +people, and think them some peculiarly iniquitous +race; and on the other hand, we need a deep +sense of the omnipotence of God’s Holy Spirit, +that we may never be discouraged; for the bones +are indeed very, very dry. We hear this wretched +man has been beating the woman, finding his +entreaties failed.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 10.</em>—The Lord has blessed us with a little +girl, and every thing has been ordered by him most +happily, so that we have wanted nothing that the +luxury or wealth of England could supply. Bless +the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me +bless his holy name; for indeed he daily loadeth +us with benefits.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 14.</em>—The news of the state of things in +France, and of the Revolution there, has led us to +look up to our Lord to see what the end will be of +these movements. That they will help on the +coming kingdom of our Lord we know, but how +we cannot yet see. We have also heard not only +that France has taken possession of Algiers, but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +is marching towards Tunis. Thus, step by step, +Turkey is being dismembered; and although by +infidel principles and by infidel hands, yet perhaps +preparing the way for the publication of the Lord’s +love to man. We have also understood that an +English force of 4,000 men, in 200 ships, are +assembled at Malta with the view of attacking +Egypt; but this we do not believe, but regard it +as French news, calculated to bring us, in the +eyes of the Turks, as guilty alike with them in +attacking the Turkish dominions. However, all +these things render our situation here very +profitable, for we know not what a day may bring +forth, and are therefore obliged to look solely +to our Lord. Not that this Pasha cares much, +perhaps, about the taking of Egypt by the English, +or the general reduction of the empire, for such is +the state of this country, that the security of every +little despot depends on the weakness of the +supreme power. Yet notwithstanding this there +may break out paroxysms of popular fury, that +however short are terrible. But the Lord is our +secure and sufficient refuge, and when he has a +people to save—his chosen ones—he will put a fear +into the hearts of their enemies. The Revolution +in France seems to be the Infidel against the +Jesuit, or ultra-Papistical party, which may lead +to the removal of the Archbishop of Babylon from +his consular authority, though his ecclesiastical +influence would not, perhaps, be lessened by this.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 17.</em>—The value of the English protection +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +is beginning here to be so fully understood and +felt, that the first merchant in Bagdad came to +Major T. begging to be taken under it, and +when Major T. declined, he requested that his +son might; and the Seyd, our landlord, in explaining +the reason of his wish for the Resident to take +up his cause, stated, that it was not so much in +order to obtain any present benefit, as that the +government might see that he interested himself +about him; as this, he said, would prevent him being +subject to those oppressions he had been exposed +to before. In fact, I do not believe, that +during the late heavy exactions that have been +made from all degrees and kinds of people, one +individual under English protection has suffered, +or that an attempt has been made to oppress one. +I do not now, or on any other occasion, mention +these events as pieces of political intelligence, but +as necessary to give a view of the signs of the +times. This consideration for the English does +not arise from love, as the most intense hatred is +manifested when it may with safety, as well as +the most unconquerable and haughty contempt of +Christianity and Christians; it seems with this +people of God’s curse, as with the mystical whore, +they are consuming away in preparation for final +destruction by the brightness of his coming.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pfander’s Persian Moolah has altogether +refused to translate Persian with him. He says +he will read and converse with him, but not translate; +so great is their contempt of Christians, that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +though it is only the Gulistan of Sadi, and therefore +no religious book, they will not teach it. In +fact, the difficulty of getting teachers here is +very great. The Christians know nothing—the +Mohammedans very little, and what they do know +they will not communicate to a Christian. But +all this is ceasing and must come down.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 18.</em>—Our hearts have been deeply affected +by a conversation which Mr. Pfander has had +with the Mohammedan Moolah, who teaches our +boys Arabic. He was telling Mr. P. that he was +greatly struck by our Lord’s precept, not when +you make a feast, to invite the rich or those who +can invite you again, but the poor who cannot; +and that from these considerations he had been led +to invite to an entertainment he had provided, all +the poor persons he knew, to the surprise of his +friends, to whom he explained his reasons. He +also told Mr. Pfander he had often wished he +were an animal rather than a man. There appears +altogether a degree of uneasiness in his +mind that may lead further. Thus God is making +his holy and blessed word a testimony to the hearts +of some; oh! may every success here be such +as bears only the mark of God’s workmanship by +his word and his Spirit. That there are many +souls here which will feel the power of God’s +omnipotent word, I can never doubt, when it comes +fully and clearly before them.</p> + +<p>The German Jew, whom I have several times +before mentioned, seems determined to become a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +professing Christian. His mind is convinced, but +his heart I fear little, if at all, affected. He abhors +the lying abominations of Judaism, which he +finds among his brethren. He has certainly come +thus far without being induced by any worldly +motives, for had he continued, or would he now +return to live by begging for Jerusalem and writing +lying amulets, he might easily do it. He +wishes to go to Bombay, and there become a +Christian.</p> + +<p>We have just heard that one of the boys of +the school and his mother, who took him +away from us, have both become Roman Catholics. +The inducement to these Armenians +is, generally, the pecuniary relief they obtain from +the bishop here, who has the administration of some +funds entrusted to him for religious uses, which +he exclusively gives to Roman Catholics, and +with this he bribes those who can have no other +attachment to their system beyond that which is +hereditary, for in all other things, and in practice, +it would be difficult to say whether of the two were +most corrupt. But we trust, by the good hand of our +God upon us, one day to have different systems of +judgment than that of one corrupt system against +another, even the holy, pure, unadulterated word +of God against the corruptions of all men and all +nominal churches.</p> + +<p>We have heard, to our great sorrow, that the +plague has returned again to Tabreez, and that all +have again left it; and also that the cholera has +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +again returned to Kerkook, and committed dreadful +ravages. Thus the Lord seems visiting the +kingdoms of the false prophet with his sore +judgments and plagues.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 21.</em>—There has just been acting here a +scene of duplicity, falsehood, and bloodshed, +which appears strange to us, but is not uncommon +in this land of misrule and cruelty. A Capidji (or +Ambassador) from the Porte to the Pasha has +been long expected, and with evident anxiety by +him and those immediately about him, which was +increased to the highest pitch, when by a messenger +from Aleppo, the Pasha received the intelligence, +that this man’s intention was to supersede +him, and of course to destroy him. It then became +the object of the Pasha to endeavour to get +him into his hands, which was the more difficult, as +it is usual for the Capidji to read publicly his firman, +and proclaim the successor at Mousul, or some +place near, who, collecting the Arabs, marches to +lay siege to this place, till the head of the Pasha +is delivered to him. To prevent this, therefore, +the Pasha made the Imrahor, or Master of the +Horse, who has the whole arrangement of the +military force, to write a letter to the Capidji, begging +him to come here at once, and that he would, +without a struggle, give the head of Daoud +Pasha into his hand, whereas if he remained at +Mousul, there must be an open contention about it.</p> + +<p>By this he was allured to approach the city, +and the Pasha sent out 700 or 800 men under +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +pretence of showing him honour, to meet him and +secure him in case any accounts of the true +state of the case should reach him, that he +might have no possibility of flight. Thus he +was brought into the city, and his quarters +appointed in the house of the Musruff; when, after +the Pasha had obtained from him the declaration +of his object, a Divan was called, and it was +determined to put him to death. This event has +thrown the city into great consternation, and every +one who can, is buying corn in expectation of what +is to follow. For the tragedy will not end here, +as a friend of the Capidji is left behind at Mousul, +and another Capidji is at Diarbekr, waiting the +result of this negociation. So it appears that the +Sultan is determined to act at once and decidedly +against this Pasha. We are now, therefore to expect +a siege, and a state of anxiety and fear in this +city for some months; but the Lord, who sitteth +in the heavens, is ordering all for his own glory, +and for our safety, and he will provide for us.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 22.</em>—We have this day heard that the +Syrian Patriarch of Merdin has recovered one of +his churches from the Roman Catholics, and is, on +the whole, making, in a certain sense, a more +successful stand against them; but not in the +spirit of Christ, I fear. He has two of his priests +who had turned Roman Catholics in prison.</p> + +<p>This day our new Armenian teacher has arrived +from Sheeraz. He seems an interesting man; +but our final plans with him are not yet arranged.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +We have also heard that the school at Bushire, +established by Mr. Wolff, is going on badly. He +promised to send out a teacher and money, neither +of which having arrived, the school has dwindled +to seventeen, and these are neglected.</p> + +<p>It is the common conversation to-day in the Bazaar +that the Capidji was put to death last night. +This man was the Accountant General of the Porte, +and formerly Kiahya. Our Arabic Moolah has +been buying corn, in the expectation of the present +state of things here terminating in an open contest, +in which he thinks the Pasha, now having no +hope, will throw himself into the hands of Abbas +Meerza, and that thus Bagdad will again become +subject to Persia. Amidst all these wars and +rumours of wars, our path is to sit still and wait +the Lord’s pleasure, which he will assuredly manifest +to our heart’s content, for they that wait upon +the Lord, shall not make haste, nor be confounded, +world without end.</p> + +<p>Our schoolmaster has come to a full understanding +of the principles on which we intend to conduct +the school: to have nothing that is <em>contrary to +God’s word admitted</em>, and I think he very fully and +heartily enters into this plan. But he informs us +that the parents of many of the children are +dissatisfied with our superseding the church prayers, +called the Shanakirke, by the New Testament, +and ask, “Who are these people? Are they +wiser than our Bishops and ancient fathers, that +we should reject what they introduced?” This is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +what we must expect. But we can, with a quiet +heart, leave all to the Lord, to order as he will. +That the schoolmaster is truly on our side I feel +very thankful, and, I hope, the hearts of many +of the children.</p> + +<p><em>November 10.</em>—After having waited now several +weeks for an opportunity to send letters and +a parcel, and not having found any, from the extreme +vigilance there is here to prevent any communications +going to Constantinople, I have determined +to avail myself of the offer of an Austrian +merchant here, to enclose them in a bale of goods +going to Aleppo, and to have them forwarded thence +to Constantinople. It is a great comfort to know +that all the intelligence essential to our cause, as +being God’s, will reach, and all that is separate +from that, though it may not be against it, is of +little consequence.</p> + +<p>We have had two Armenian priests to converse +with Mr. Pfander, one from Nisibin; and the +other from Diarbekr. The one from Nisibin said +they had no printed books among them, and +that they were very anxious to go into the Russian +provinces, but were afraid, since the death of the +Russian Ambassador, to make any attempt to go.</p> + +<p>The Armenians seem going from all the Mohammedan +states that they can to Russia. From +Erzeroum, great numbers have gone to the Karabagh, +and thus they may people the desolate provinces +of Georgia. The other Armenian Priest, +from Diarbekr, confirmed the information we had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +previously obtained, that the Armenian population +of that city was 5,000 +houses,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> +about 25,000 of all +ages, and that they have two schools there, containing +about 300 children, but no one cared about them.</p> + +<p>It is now an understood fact, that the Capidji, +or messenger of the Sultan, who was left behind +at Diarbekr, when his companion came on to arrange +the affairs of this Pashalic, is collecting +troops around Diarbekr, to attack Bagdad. This, +however, will most probably be now deferred till +the spring. So we may then expect a siege, unless +things are arranged before. The Capidji who has +been put to death appears to have been a man of +great distinction, and to have rendered great +services to the Sultan, both during the war and +subsequent to it.</p> + +<p>The priest of Diarbekr said, they were too far +off to be helped either by the Russians or the +English; but I cannot help thinking, for such a +purpose as schools, or getting through their means +a large body of persons acquainted with God’s +word, it would be a most important position. It +presents, however, many difficulties, and at all +events would require some time to be spent in some +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +place preparatory to settling among them, to obtain +a knowledge of the Turkish and Armenian +languages, and for these preparatory studies, +should there be no determining principle, perhaps +Shushee would be the best position, as the brethren +there all know English, and some Turkish, +and some Armenian.</p> + +<p>We are now fast approaching the termination +of our first year’s residence in Bagdad, and the +Lord’s mercies towards us have been exceeding +great. We have been surrounded by many things +that would have been dangerous, had not the Lord +checked them by bringing them to nothing, both +from disease and enemies; but, as he promised, +they have not come nigh us. We have borne the +heat without any diminution of natural strength. +We are altogether standing on a more advanced +position, that on entering Bagdad we could have +hoped. Things are in preparation for the knowledge +of God’s holy word being extended, and +thus one great object of missionary labour is in +the way of attainment. But still, while I feel +assured of there being some choice fruit from here +and there a fruitful bough, I at the same time feel +no less assured, that the great harvest will be of +wickedness, and that the pestilence of infidelity +is the great spreading evil, not the spreading of +Millennial blessedness. As it was in the days of +Noah, so do I believe it will be at the coming of +the Son of Man; and as it was in the days of Lot, +the great mass of mankind will be taunting the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +Church with, “Where is the sign of his coming?” +which shews plainly enough that this will be a +doctrine of the Church in the latter days, or how +should it be reviled; so that our Lord, in +contemplating the general apostacy, said, “When +the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith in the +earth?” Oh, then, how happy is it to be among +those who love his appearing, who long for the +termination of that dispensation which witnessed +the humiliation of the Church under the world, and +the rise of that glorious kingdom which shall not +be dissolved, and into which no sorrow or sighing +can enter. I feel the languages to be a great +barrier. Whether the Lord will pour down this +among the other gifts of the latter days, I do not +know, but at present it is a great exercise of a +Missionary’s patience, to ask even for the common +necessaries of life; but to speak out the fulness +of a full heart, so as to be understood and felt is +very, very difficult. The difficulties in the way of +a literary acquaintance with these languages are +by no means so great, as the study may be pursued +alone, but the colloquial language can only be +learned by intercourse with men, and this is far +more difficult to attain by an European, who may +have a very good knowledge of the language +of books, and still be little understood in speaking. +But still the time spent in the learning of a language +among a people, every thought, and purpose, +and habit of whose lives are diverse from +your own, has this advantage, that you become in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +some measure acquainted with their peculiarities +before you are in a situation to offend against them.</p> + +<p>We have heard that the Emperor of Russia has +conferred some honours on the family of this Pasha, +who are Armenian Christians, in Teflis. Things +are beginning to look unsettled in Persia. +Contentions have already arisen between the +Prince of Kermanshah and the Prince of Hamadan, +which seems to be but the precursor of a general +state of confusion on the death of the Shah; and +doubtless amidst all these commotions the Lord +will move on his way, and the day of his coming +advance. Oh, may we all labouring abundantly +in patience, wait for that day, that when it does +come we may be found watching.</p> + +<p>We have some anxieties about our dear friends +who are journeying towards us. Whether the +intelligence of the state of the Pashalic may deter +them, or whether they will come on, trusting in +the Lord, it is our daily prayer for them, that he +would guide and preserve them.</p> + +<p>Our communications with Tabreez seem almost +closed. Since we received the letter from +Mrs. ——, relative to their leaving Tabreez, +and going by this to India, we have neither seen +them, nor heard of them. Whether, therefore, they are +gone by Shiraz, or whether they are detained, we +cannot tell; but the roads will soon become impassable +from snow in the lofty range of mountains +over which they will have to come.</p> + +<p>I shall now conclude this portion of our little +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +history, with assuring those we love, that the Lord +has been better than all our fears and all our +hopes. The more we have proved him, the more +we have found him to be faithful and gracious, +and that not one of the good things he has promised +to faith has been wanting; but his love has +abounded far beyond our faith, yea, and they will +yet abound more and more. Let us then encourage +one another to prove him more, that we may +have deeper experience of his faithfulness. We +find the prospect of the approaching coming of +our Lord a corrective of the allurements of the +world, and an encouragement to a simple surrender +of all we have as his stewards, to him and his +service, as their only legitimate and worthy object, +who has redeemed us from death with his own +precious blood, making us a chosen generation, a +royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, +that we might shew forth his praises. Oh! may +the Holy Spirit dwell in us more powerfully, that +we may be ever fulfilling his great and glorious +purpose.</p> + +<p>Accounts have just come to us by letters from +Tabreez, that the plague has been ravaging that +devoted city till 23,000 of its inhabitants have +fallen victims to it and the cholera, and that when +this letter came off (Oct. 28), they were still dying +eighteen of a day, and this is not confined to +the city;—the villages of the surrounding country +have equally suffered; half the inhabitants +have been swept away, the corn has never been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +reaped, and the cattle were wandering about without +owners. The missionaries from America had +not arrived then; most probably they are deterred +by the intelligence of the state of Tabreez. Our +dear friends the N——’s had never enjoyed better +health—thus preserved of the Lord in the +midst of the general devastation: they are also +for the present, at the request of the Prince, detained +till an answer from the Indian government +is again received respecting them. A famine +seems the inevitable consequence of the plague +and pestilence at Tabreez. Surely these are +among the signs of the times; but the Lord’s command +to us is, Let not your hearts be troubled.</p> + +<p>We have received no intelligence from Shushee, +but we heard from Tartars that the plague had +been in the Karabagh, which makes us additionally +anxious to hear from thence: but doubtless +since the plague at Tabreez, all intercourse with +Russia from that side has been interdicted. Mr. +Zaremba mentioned, that he had to pass through +seven quarantines between Erzeroum and Shushee.</p> + +<p>I may also just add, that we have finally arranged +with our new schoolmaster from Shiraz. +We had given particular directions to the person +who proposed sending for him, that if money were +any object to him, (which we heard it was not) +he should write and let us know what he would +require. He however came, and when he came, +he wanted a sum equal to about £84. sterling a year. +This I was both unable and unwilling to give, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +and therefore fixed £30. as the utmost, and the +rest has been made up by the Armenians among +themselves, excepting £18. which has been given +by Major T. He speaks English imperfectly, +but thoroughly understands Armenian, and will +teach the elder boys grammar and translating. +He will also superintend the girl’s school for one +or two hours in the morning, and teach Mrs. G. +Armenian. We also hope, as soon as may be, to +get some tracts and little school-books translated +into vulgar Armenian, but all this must depend +on the blessing of the Lord on our undertaking. +This brother has joined the Church of England +in Calcutta: but he is himself at present a strict +Armenian, yet I hope, not a bigoted man. +But all our past experience has led us to look to +the Lord alone for all profitable help. Those +whom we think promise every thing, often occasion +nothing but anxiety, and those from whom +we expect the least we have reason abundantly +to bless God for having sent us:—so wisely, so +graciously, and yet in so sovereign a way does +the Lord bring to pass his purposes, and bless +his servants, that every thought of confidence +in any creature may be destroyed, and the soul, +by a thousand disappointments, when it has reposed +elsewhere, at last be compelled to learn only +to repose on the bosom of its Father, where love +and faithfulness eternally dwell, and convince +the soul of its past expectations from any other +source.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p style="margin-left: 30em;"> +<em>February 14, 1831.</em></p> + +<p>An offer has been made to us by one of the +richest Armenian merchants here, to send, at his +own expense, two camel loads of books any where +we wish, which has of course been thankfully +accepted; and we think of sending at least one +load to Diarbekr. He has also bought from our +Armenian teacher, those Bibles he had procured +from the Bible Society at Calcutta, who, with the +many thus obtained, has determined to send more +Bibles from Bushire, where he has already 200, +to Julfa and Ispahan, and the villages round about, +in which he says there are above twenty churches.</p> + +<p>I have this day settled all my accounts, and +find, after every thing is paid, including the expenses +of my baggage from Bushire, and of the +house for ourselves, and school for another year, +that our little stock will last us, with the Lord’s +blessing, two months longer, and then we know +not whence we are to be supplied, but the Lord +allows us not to be anxious; he has so wonderfully +provided for us hitherto, that it would be +most ungrateful to have an anxious thought. +Even for my baggage, Major T. only allowed me +to pay half the charge, and he has moreover told +me, that should I at any time want money, only +to let him know and he will lend it me. Now, +really, to find here such kind and generous friends, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +is more than we could have hoped, but thus the +Lord deals with us, and takes away our fears. +That we may many times be in straits I have no +doubt, but the time of our necessity will be the +time for the manifestation of our Lord’s providential +love and munificence.</p> + +<p>There is one peculiar feature that runs through +all education in the eastern churches, that it professes +to be religious, which gives us an opportunity +of introducing such books as may be useful, +without its exciting any surprise or suspicion, +or opposition.</p> + +<p><em>Feb. 16.</em>—The Pasha has sent Major T. word +of the ravages the plague is making in Sulemania. +The government and all who have it in their +power have quitted it. This account has spread +much consternation, in addition to which two men +from Sulemania arrived here ill of the plague, one +of whom has recovered. Major and Mrs. T., with +their usual generous kindness to us, have offered +us an asylum with them should the plague come +here, where we should enjoy this great advantage, +that as the house stands close to the river, a +supply of water can be obtained without communication +with the city. But at present we do not +clearly see our way: should our school be broken +up, I see not so much difficulty; it would be a +most valuable opportunity for Mrs. G. making +progress in the language; but we wait on the +Lord and he will guide us. These do indeed +seem awful times for these lands. We cannot be +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +too thankful for the peace and joy the Lord allows +us to feel in the assurance of his loving care.</p> + +<p>I was much struck by a remark of our Moolah +yesterday, when speaking of the horror he felt at +the prospect of the plague coming here. He +said, the sword he did not fear, but the plague he +did, for one was the work of man, the other of +God. I replied to him, that feeling this God +who directs the plague, to be my father, who +loved me, I knew he would not suffer it to come +nigh me unless he had no longer occasion for me, +and then it would come as a summons from a +scene of labour and many trials to one of endless +joy. He said, Yes, it is very well for you not to +fear death, who believe Christ to have atoned for +you; but I fear to die.</p> + +<p><em>Feb. 19.</em>—To-day we have heard that the +above report of the plague being at Sulemania is +false; that it has been there, but has now left it; +so we know not what to believe.</p> + +<p><em>Feb. 21.</em>—The expenses attendant on our packages +from Bombay to this place, are as great as +from England to Bombay. The boxes of books +and medicine, and the press, with three boxes of +books from the Bible Society, cost twenty-five +pounds. Aleppo would certainly be the cheapest +way to send them by, and by far the most speedy. +It would be a great comfort to us, if this +communication should ever be opened, for then we +might freely communicate with, and hear from +those we love. I sent a packet across the desert +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +the other day, which we have every reason to +think was intercepted. In fact, it is now very +doubtful if any of the many letters we have sent, +have gone safe, and none have reached us for +these six months.</p> + +<p>Intelligence came to-day, that the Sultan has +ordered the Pasha of Mosul, and another Pasha +who is dependant on this Pasha, to discontinue all +communication with him, as the enemy of the +Sultan. A few weeks will, most probably, conclude +this long-continued struggle, and, we hope, the +insecurity and confusion attendant on it; yet, the +Lord knows his purposes, and we have only to execute +his will.</p> + +<p><em>Feb. 24.</em>—We have just heard, by a letter that +came from Aleppo by way of Merdin and Mosul, +that the caravan which left this place more than +three months ago, entered Aleppo about thirty +days ago. They remained in the desert till the +Pasha of Aleppo had quitted that place on his +expedition against the Pasha of Bagdad, from the +fear, that if they entered the town he would seize +their camels for the use of his army. Much alarm +is entertained here by the inhabitants as to the +result of this attack. From past experience they +are led to expect great lawlessness, from both +friends and foes. May the Lord keep our hearts +in perfect peace, stayed on him. We now begin +to feel that it is very doubtful when we shall see +our dear friends: certainly no caravan will pass +the desert till all these disturbances are settled. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +It may be also possible, that the journal and +packet of letters I sent packed in a bale of goods +belonging to a merchant here, may yet reach their +destination.</p> + +<p><em>Feb. 28.</em>—This day brought us news of the arrival +of our very dear and long expected friends +and fellow-labourers safe at Aleppo, on the 11th +of January, after many delays and many trials. +We had never been allowed to doubt our Lord’s +most gracious dealings with us, but yet this +overwhelmed us with joy and praise; and this welcome +news reaches us just as our dear brother Pfander +is on the point of leaving us alone. We received, +at the same time, a packet of letters from most of +our dearest friends in England, at the very moment +when our little all was within a month of +coming to a conclusion, telling us that the Lord +had provided us with supplies for at least four +months to come, which we might draw for. Surely +the Lord has most graciously seen fit to dry up +those sources from whence we anticipated supply, +that we might know we depend on him alone, and see +how he can supply even here; we were ashamed +of every little anxious feeling we had ever had, +and were much encouraged to trust him more and +more. My soul is led to abhor, more and more, +that love of independence which still clings to it, +when I see how it would shut me out from these +manifestations of my Father’s loving care. Oh! +how hard it is to persuade the rebellious will and +proud heart, that to depend on your Father’s love +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +for your constant support, is more for the soul’s +health, than to be clothed in purple and fare +sumptuously every day—or at least, as we would +say, on bare independence; and yet how plain it +is to spiritual vision.</p> + +<p>We met together in the evening to bless the Lord +for the past, and supplicate his continued blessing +for the future—that he would accomplish what he +had begun, that our hearts may never cease to +praise and bless him. My soul was much comforted, +especially with a text to which one of our +dear correspondents called my attention, Zeph. +iii. 17. “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee +is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee +with joy, he will rest in his love; he will joy over +thee with singing.” All the letters amounted to +twenty-six, which, after so long an interruption +of all intelligence, was an especial source of joy. +And now we can think of our dear friends definitely +as absolutely at Aleppo, only waiting for the +termination of disturbances to join us.</p> + +<p>To-day, a Chaldean, from near Julimerk, came +to see us, and we expect him again, with his +brother, who, he says, can read, when I hope to +obtain from him a fuller account of the state, +numbers, and disposition, of his wild countrymen.</p> + +<p>A Mohammedan Effendi was with me to-day; +a very amiable young man, who sees many things +in the customs of his people bad, arising out of the +Mohammedan laws. He came to borrow an Arabic +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +bible for, he said, a poor schoolmaster, which +I gladly lent him. Whether it be really for a +schoolmaster, or for himself, I do not know.</p> + +<p><em>March 4.</em>—Read this morning, with peculiar +pleasure, Hawker’s Evening Portion: “How shall +we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land:” +heightened as it was by the localities of our situation; +but above all, by the unity of our experience +with the sentiments of the writer; for we have +indeed found the love of our Father, the pastoral +care of our Elder Brother, and the consolation +and visits of our Comforter, that which has +enabled us to sing the Lord’s song in this strange +land, even the song of the redeemed.</p> + +<p><em>March 13.</em>—The time is now fast approaching +when we expect the struggle for the Pashalic to +commence, at the conclusion of the Ramazan. Yet +it may all pass over, for the government of +Turkey is so utterly without principle, that by a +well timed application of money, all difficulties +may be surmounted with the Porte, and as the +Pasha seems now disposed to meet this desire, it +may, especially in the present difficulties of the +Sultan with Russia, lead, after all, to an amicable +termination of one year’s anxiety and suspense. +We are now especially anxious for the pacification +of these countries, that our dear friends may be +able to pass over the desert, as our dear and kind +brother Pfander left us last evening for Ispahan. It +was a great rending to us all, and has left a vacuum we +cannot easily hope to have filled up in all its parts; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +and till our dear brothers and sisters come, we shall +be very solitary, and very much pressed; but our +strength will be as our day. Had he seen it right +to remain I might have crossed the desert to our +dear friends; but this not being the case, it is +impossible for me to leave this, and perhaps in the +present state of things here, from apprehensions +of plague and war, it would have been impracticable +even if he had remained.</p> + +<p>Caravans pass much more frequently between +this place and Damascus than between this and +Aleppo, and it appears to me the shorter and +better way of communication to Bayrout and Damascus +to Bagdad than by Aleppo. Three caravans +have passed over the desert from hence to Damascus +within these few months. With one of these an +Armenian with his wife and children went, and +with another several Mohammedan families; +thereby hoping to avoid the troubles they expected +here. So at least we may venture for our Lord +what men venture for their own various interests. +In fact, it does not appear that any further danger +is incurred than that of being plundered, or perhaps +only a heavy exaction from the Arab tribes +through whom the caravan passes, whose interest +it is not to press so hard upon caravans as that they +shall be stopped coming, but to levy a tax upon +them sufficiently considerable to help to support +the tribe.</p> + +<p>An English merchant and a Consul are about +settling, if not already settled, at Damascus, which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +will still further facilitate communications; and +besides the road from Beyraut to Damascus is +much better than that from Latakeea to Aleppo. +This arrangement, as well as that at Trebisand, +shows that these countries are becoming the objects +of public, or rather mercantile, interest.</p> + +<p>A Jew came to borrow an Arabic bible from me +which I have let him have. Another Jew was +with me yesterday, who translated the Hebrew +into Arabic very tolerably; but, generally, they +only learn to read, without understanding what +they read.</p> + +<p>An Armenian Priest has just come to ask for +four or five Armenian Bibles, to send to some +villages between Hamadan and Teheran. This is +a plan we like better than sending many to one +place, not only as spreading knowledge further, +but also from the greater probability of their +being read.</p> + +<p>We have just seen another of the Chaldeans, +from the mountains. He says that they understand +the Syrian Scriptures; so that at least I +hope to send a letter to the Bishop, with a copy or +two of the Syrian Bible I have with me, that +when they return next year they may bring me +an account whether they understand them or not; +and also it will serve as a means of opening a +personal communication with their chief; as, by that +time it may be possible that one or two of us may +be able to return with these men to the mountains. +As far as their personal assurances go, they promise +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +me a most welcome reception. One of these people +told me, if I would come to his village, he would +kill a sheep for me, and I should have plenty, and +200 walnuts for two-pence; they said every thing +was very abundant there and very cheap. Their +pride seems much gratified by their being the head +and the Mohammedans the tail in the mountains; +so that they cannot open their mouths, or raise +their hands against them.</p> + +<p><em>March 15.</em>—A packet of letters has just arrived +from Shushee, after more than six months +interruption, three days after our dear brother had +left us. However, we got the messenger to set +off immediately to overtake him, and he having +seen the caravan on the way, promised to return +in five days. In this packet I also received one +letter from our dear brother J. B. Dublin, a note +from dear Mr. R. informing me of his having +forwarded the books to the brethren at Shushee. +Surely they are worthy for whom he has done this, +and he will be happy in being thus a fellow-helper +in the truth. Mr. Knill also mentions their arrival +safe at Petersburgh, and his purpose of forwarding +them to Shushee. It has been a year of great +trial at Shushee for the mission, but of exactly +what nature and to what extent we know not, nor +how things now stand in the communications to +our dear fellow-helper who has just left us, as they +are in German; but should he not be able on the +road to write us a full account, he doubtless will +when he has reached Kermanshah or Hamadan.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +We hear that the prince royal is marching +against his brother the Prince of Kerman, by way +of Ispahan, the roads, therefore, are very +unsettled in Persia, but the Lord will encamp +round about our brother and bear him safely +through.</p> + +<p><em>March 16.</em>—The letters we yesterday received +from Tabreez assured us of the willingness of the +Armenian Bishop to have a school as soon as a fit +person could be found; and on reading one of the +tracts from Shushee, he said he would read it in his +church to his flock. Mrs. N. also mentions the +willingness among the Mohammedans to receive the +New Testament, and that in many instances, pleasing +results have manifested themselves; but of what +kind she does not mention. She mentions also one +of the principal Mohammedan merchants asking +for a Testament to read on his road to Mecca. +May the Lord stop him by it before he gets there, at +the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem. In fact, there +is room in these parts for much preparatory work, +when the time comes that the power of the Gospel +shall have taken such root as to show by the power +and individuality it gives to the Christian character +that their craft is in danger. They will do as +they have done in Shushee; but by the Lord’s +blessing it may then be too late. What appears +to me to require the greatest patience and the +most unwavering perseverance, is the language; +for, while on the one hand there is every thing to +encourage, if we only take the burthen of the day on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +the day, there is such a natural tendency in the mind +of man to accumulate all the difficulties together, +and make one great impassable mountain, that it +becomes more difficult than many would imagine, +to go on successfully and happily like a little child. +That measure of knowledge of a language which +so enables one to move about in the common transactions +of life, does not seem difficult to attain; +but to be able to state clearly the power of moral +distinctions, to detect the fallacy of false systems, +and put beside them the true light of life, is another +and a very difficult thing, but yet the Lord +doubtless sees in this reasons of immense weight, +or he would again bestow upon us the gifts of the +Spirit as before.</p> + +<p>God our Father has most marvellously eased +our way, and so great has been the kindness of +our —— here, that he would do any thing he could for +us. He even told me the other day, never to let +our work stand still for want of funds, for should +I ever want any he would gladly supply me, and +lend me for my personal wants whatever I might +need. Now when we consider there is but one +English family now resident in Bagdad besides our +own, how like the Lord’s acting it is to make them +willing to supply to us the necessary help: not +only does the Lord supply us with means necessary +for our expense, but does not allow us when our +little fund gets low, to know the anxiety of expecting, +or thinking what we should do. And, +surrounded as we have been these many months, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +by the alarm of war and the fear of plague or +cholera, even our dear native islands have not +been without their anxieties; but I have been much +struck of late with the peculiar dealings of God +towards his chosen; as of old, the pillar that was +all darkness to the enemy, was light to the church +in the wilderness, so now all this dark cloud, the +darkness of which may be felt, which is spreading +from one end of the Christian and Mohammedan +world to the other, has, towards the church in her +pilgrimage, its full steady bright light surmounted +by “Behold he cometh!” Blessed assurance! +But a little day of toil, and then we shall come +with him, or rise to join his assembled saints, +dressed all anew, with our house from heaven, that +spiritual clothing meet for the new creature in +Christ Jesus. Oh, what glorious liberty we are +heirs to, as children of God, one day to love our +Eternal Father, Son, and Spirit, with unalloyed +affections, when our whole nature shall be again +on the side of God, and not a place left for the +enemy to put his foot to harass the heir of glory.</p> + +<p><em>March 17.</em>—A Chaldean Roman Catholic priest +has been here to-day, and read me the same passages +of the Psalms in the Chaldean and Syrian +languages, and there appears to be no other difference +than in character, as far as he read. The +Syrians, the Chaldeans, and the Jews, might become +most valuable objects of missionary labour, +not only as being in greater numbers here, but from +the great similarity of their languages, so that the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +mastering of the one would be to the mastering of +the three, with very little additional trouble. I +endeavoured to find out from him the difference +between the spoken and written languages, and +as far as he produced illustrations, the difference +was only in pronunciation; the words seemed substantially +the same. But there is a very strong +prejudice to contend with in all those among these +people who know any thing of these languages, in +the contempt in which they hold their vulgar, and +the reverence and sanctity they attach to their old +language, so that I think tracts, in the shape of +paraphrases on particular parts of the Scriptures, +would be exceedingly valuable among them, as +well as tracts generally. I trust we shall be able +to turn our attention to these when we are able, +from our knowledge of the languages, to judge +sufficiently of translations or compositions.</p> + +<p><em>March 18.</em>—This evening the messenger I sent +after Mr. Pfander with the letters from Shushee, +returned with a letter, which I shall here insert, +as it supplies a good deal of information concerning +the dear brethren in the Karabagh.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 20em;">“<em>In the Desert near the Village Bakoobah</em>,</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 25em;">“<em>17th March, 1831.</em></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“My dear Brother,</p> + +<p>“I am very much obliged to you, that you +sent this man after me with the letters from Shushee. +He reached us a day’s journey and a half +from Bagdad. We advance very slowly, only +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +from five to ten English miles a day, on account +of the spring season, when the +Dschervedars<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +feed their horses on grass, and because they +waited for other parties which had yet been behind. +The weather is very fine; we had rain +twice, but only slightly. The remaining time of the +day I spend in reading, and conversation with the +Persians in the caravan. The first day I felt very +solitary, but the second, and since, the Lord afforded +me plenty of opportunity to give testimony of +him who is our Saviour and Lord, and to distribute +several tracts and books among my fellow travellers, +and this rejoiced my heart greatly. According +to the manner of our present travelling we +shall not be in Kermanshah till after twenty days. +They speak in the caravan from fear of the Arabs +after this; but it will be easy for the Lord to +bring me safely through. The caravan is increased +to about 500 horses and 180 persons.</p> + +<p>“Now something out of dear Zaremba’s letters; +but I had only time to read them once over, so +that I am not able to give you any regular extracts +out of them. Should I forget any thing I +will write it from Kermanshah or Hamadan. The +letter was of December last. All had been attacked +with sickness more or less, and dear Brother +Sallett, stationed at Teflis, was called home: +he died of the cholera.</p> + +<p>“The circumstance with the Armenians is this: +The two deacons did go on in their spiritual life +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +prosperously, and continued to give testimony of +the truth. This excited so much the hatred of +the Armenian clergy against them, that soon after +Zaremba’s arrival in Shushee from Erzeroum, +the Armenian Archbishop of the Karabagh desired +to have them sent as prisoners to Etchmiazin, +the seat of the Armenian +Catholicos,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> +near Erivan. This the Russian Governor of Shushee, +after he was informed of it from Zaremba, did +not allow. So it got a little quiet: but these +young Armenians thought it impossible, at present, +to remain longer in Georgia, and so they prepared +for their departure to Germany. But during this +time the Armenian clergy got an order from the +Russian Governor of Teflis, that the two deacons +should appear before a council in Etchmiazin. +The Governor in Shushee did again so much for +them, that they should go to Teflis, and be allowed +to lay their case before the governor. Zaremba +went with them, though he was not quite well. +The one of these deacons, he who assisted Dittrich +in translation, died there, happy in his Lord. +The other went at last, but in a very good state +of mind and heart, to Etchmiazin, putting his +confidence in his Lord, for whom he was going +to suffer. The brethren had not yet heard more of +him than his arrival there. During the time +Zaremba was at Teflis, the cholera took daily +many away, and some days before his departure, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +our beloved Saltett, as mentioned before. Zaremba +got worse too, but reached Shushee again. +After his arrival, he and Hohenaker, and Dittrich had +been attacked from the cholera, but +recovered again. During this time the person +from Etchmiazin arrived in Shushee, and preached +and spoke against our brethren, and condemned +all the persons who sent their children to them. +So the school was broken up. But now the children +are beginning to collect again, and the school +is again opened. Dittrich was with his family, +yet at Teflis, where Zaremba wrote the letter. +Hohenaker was gone to the German village, +where you stopped, and Haas was kept in +Moscow, in quarantine, because of the cholera. +Two Armenian tracts had been printed in Moscow, +and the copies of the first were already +in Shushee. In Shushee they are printing the +Armenian Dictionary.</p> + +<p>“With our not going to the mountains, they are +quite contented; but they think I should rather +go to Tabreez than to Ispahan, where I might go +at any other time. I do not yet know what I +shall do. I shall see how the Lord will lead me. +But this is clear now, that a long stay at Ispahan +I must give up. Zaremba writes further, that he +has now little hope to be able to go any more on +a journey, and therefore they rather wish that I +should travel and do the Lord’s work in the +neighbourhood of Shushee, as long as the door is yet +open. I cannot reject this, and so I must for the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +present give up my plans for travelling in Persia. +If the way to Ispahan should be quite open, I +would go thither, distribute books, and see that +I might be in Shushee in July; if not, I shall go +direct to Shushee.</p> + +<p>“The case with the mission in Shushee, is now +laid before the Emperor, and so they are waiting +what decision they may receive from thence; but +they are sure that the Lord will direct and order +every thing as it will be best, and therefore are +not discouraged. The Russian government does +not yet in the least hinder them in their work.</p> + +<p>“My letters all arrived safely at Shushee, and +the cause of their not writing, was their own sickness +and the plague all round about them. It does +not seem that one of our letters was lost. Boxes +with Armenian and Persian books are in Tabreez. +They speak good of the Americans. For the news +in your letter I thank you: we live certainly in a +most eventful time, and we have therefore the +more to work so long as it is yet day. May the +Lord mightily bless you, your family, and work. +In him, under every circumstance, we have every +reason to be glad and to rejoice that we have him +on our side.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 20em;">“Your affectionate brother,</span><br /> +<span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 25em;">“C. G. Pfander.</span>”</p> + +<p>“P.S. From Alexander +Kasembeg<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> +they received +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +a letter which rejoiced them much. It seems to be good with him.</p> + +<p>“The other Armenian in +Baku<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +came to Shushee +to be employed in distributing tracts and Bibles. +He has already made a journey into Georgia, and +preaches to Armenians and Turks.”</p></div> + +<p>The two dear and most interesting deacons, of +whom one is mentioned as having died in the +faith in his way to suffer for the truth, and the other +has gone to witness alone before his enemies and +persecutors at Etchmiazin, were both in the +school at Shushee, and in the study of and translating +the word of God, had been led step by step, +to see through the errors of the system by which +they were bound.</p> + +<p>Another proof of the progress of the same spirit +manifested itself in our infant beginnings. The +two little Armenian boys who live with us, eat +and live as we do; on being asked by the boys +without, why they did not fast as their nation +did for fifty days? without any knowledge or direction +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +from me, they set about selecting from +the New Testament, in conjunction with my own +little boys, those passages which bear on the +question, and which shew that if we eat not we +are none the better, and if we do eat, none the +worse. Remarks of a similar kind have many +times occurred in the course of our translations +from the Testament. At all events, there is a +growing tendency in the minds of the children, to +feel that God’s word is the one rule on which +they must justify all they impose, and thence the +necessity of understanding it; and these principles +upset at once the whole system of ignorant +mummery which is now called or thought to be the +religion of Jesus here. If it be the Lord’s pleasure +to spare our lives, and grant us the ability +and opportunity to publish his truth, results will +follow to rejoice our hearts, I have no doubt: +God has declared it shall not return to him void, +nor shall it. And to the Mohammedans also +these converts from among the fallen churches +become invaluable preachers, from their vernacular +facility in the language, and from their being +continually exposed to the question, why they do +not do so and so; they are called upon by the +very necessity of their position to defend with +meekness and wisdom their new position; whereas, +with us, they are satisfied with just simply making +up their minds to this, that theirs is best for them, +and yours best for you.</p> + +<p><em>March 20.</em>—The Moolah yesterday, in speaking +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +of the contest between the Pasha and the Sultan, +said, that if the English would guarantee both +sides, both might be satisfied and make peace; +but that if not, they would never believe one +another, for says he, every Osmanli will lie. +This opinion of their own low moral condition, is +universal among Turks and Persians. This man +has often said to me, No Osmanli cares for more +than his own bread, and if that is safe, the whole +empire may be destroyed.</p> + +<p>Two tribes of Arabs, whom the Pasha has +brought up to help him in the approaching contest, +in consequence of some feud between them, +came to blows, and all last night and this morning +were firing at one another in that quarter of the +city which is on the other side of the river, where +they are stationed.—It caused much alarm, and +may be but a precursor to general confusion and +greater trials; but the Lord Jehovah who sitteth +on the everlasting hills, is our shield and defence. +The firing has since ceased, and one of the tribes +has been driven out of Bagdad.</p> + +<p><em>March 21.</em>—This day the packet of letters came +by Bombay, which were sent off about four months +after we left, and therefore have been about +eighteen months on the road. The best way is +to put all letters into the post-office, paying the +postage, and they will then come generally in +about eight months by Bombay, free of all expense +but that paid in England; and it would +afford us peculiar pleasure if our dear friends +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +would write regularly by this route, for the opportunities +by Constantinople are either rare or expensive.</p> + +<p>How strikingly do these letters prove the truth +of our Lord’s declaration, that those who leave +father or mother, &c. for his sake and the gospel’s, +shall find a hundred fold, fathers, mothers, brothers, +sisters, houses, lands, with persecutions. +Surely we are rich indeed, in the love of the saints +of our Lord, and in their prayers for us. These +letters prove that our weak childish faith has not +been without the Lord’s blessing on his own work. +Oh! then, what might be expected if we had been +strong in the Lord and in the power of his might? +Perhaps, however, he who has led us hitherto, +insignificant as we are, may lead us onward still +to magnify his grace in our weakness. Surely no +missionaries, with so few pretensions to the love +and confidence of the church of God, ever received +more solid proofs of deep and hearty interest +than we have during these ten months; this +is no small point gained, and I think we may go +further, and add, that many have been led by this +weak effort of faith in us, to take steps they might +not otherwise have ventured upon. I do not desire, +for one moment, to set myself in opposition +to those blessed institutions whose labours roused +us from our lethargy: but only this I must say, +that I do not think their plan is the best, or the +only good one. Notwithstanding, I desire to +bless God for them, and to co-operate with them, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +whenever I can. I do rejoice, with most unfeigned +joy, at any honour God bestows upon them, and +I should rejoice to see them multiplied a hundred +fold; for whosoever brings a stone to the temple of +our Lord and king, by whatever different means +they may have laboured with from ourselves, shall +be our father, mother, sister, brother. The only +end we know of existence is the manifestation of +that temple, and may the king’s blessing and +favour rest on the head of every one who labours +for it, at home or abroad, under established +institutions, or in any other way. By all, Christ is +preached, and God the Father glorified, and the +power of the Holy Ghost manifested. Unprofitable +servants as we are, weak in faith, and infirm +in purpose, except as the Lord day by day lifted +us up, as it were, with one hand, and covered us +with the other, and enabled us to stagger on our +way; still, we cannot but feel that the Lord’s +goodness and care, which our weakness has elicited, +may have moved in some small degree the +hearts of the little band of six, who are coming +to join us; and I hear that their simplicity and +faith has yet further stirred up the spiritual affections +of others to go and do likewise—but these +are early days; if it be of the Lord, he will bless +it; if not, we desire to be the first to lay our hands +on our lips, and our faces in the dust, saying, We +were deceived; the cause is the Lord’s, not ours; +with him we will leave its prosperity and defence.</p> + +<p><em>March 28.</em>—The plague has now absolutely, we +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +believe, entered this unhappy city. Major T. and +all those connected with the residency are preparing +to leave for the mountains of Kourdistan; +they have most kindly invited us to go with them +and form part of their family; this is most truly +kind, and there are many things to recommend it—the +opportunities it would afford M. for learning +Armenian, and me Arabic, and for observation +on the country and people, besides our being +delivered from all apparent danger either from +the sword which threatens us from without, or +the pestilence within. The absence of all these +friends and so many of the principal Christian families +who are going with them, leaves us exposed +to the bigotry of the people in any tumults that +may arise—all these things presented themselves to +our minds. But there are considerations that outweigh +these in our minds: in the first place, we +feel that while we have the Lord’s work in our +hands we ought not to fly and leave it; again, if +we go, it is likely that for many months we cannot +return to our work, whereas the plague may cease +in a month; opportunities of usefulness may arise +in the plague that a more unembarrassed time may +not present; and our dear friends from Aleppo +may come and find no asylum. The Lord gives +great peace and quietness of mind in resting under +his most gracious and loving care, and as the great +object of our lives is to illustrate his love to us, +we believe that in the midst of these awful circumstances, +he will fill our tongues with praise as he +does fill our hearts with peace.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +I have just heard, that some Englishmen have +been circulating tracts at Julfa, an Armenian town +in the neighbourhood of Ispahan, and that the +bishop has prohibited their circulation; this shews +what we have to expect.</p> + +<p>I believe I have many times mentioned the deeprooted +opposition which exists among the clergy and +literary men in the East, to having any thing translated +into the vulgar dialects: they are worse +than the literati of Europe used to be with their +Latin, many among whom, but lately came to see +that it was no disgrace to communicate their ideas +in a vernacular dress: as the common sense of +mankind has triumphed over the literary pride of +the learned, so we shall find that babes will one +day overthrow the literary pride of these orientals. +I obtained, the other day, a translation of one of +Carus Wilson’s little stories, into the vulgar Armenian +of this place, for the little girls. The contrast +between the effect produced by reading this +in an intelligible language, and their usual lessons, +was most striking: in the one there is of necessity +a perfect indifference; but on reading the other, +they begged and entreated they might have it to +carry home, which is promised them for next week. +Of this I had no doubt before; but the experiment +has been most gratifying and encouraging.</p> + +<p><em>March 29.</em>—Yesterday Dr. Beagrie and Mr. +Montefiore went and saw several patients they +thought afflicted with the plague; but their minds +were not perfectly made up. To-day, there is no +longer any doubt. I accompanied Mr. Montefiore, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +in his visits, and now there are about twenty, and +the number is increasing. Thus, then, this long +expected scourge has visited this city, and our +Father only knows when the awful visitation may +cease. We can only cast ourselves on his holy +and loving hands for safety or peace: into these +hands we do cast ourselves, with all that is dearest +to us in this world. We have proved our Jesus +to be the Captain and Author of our hopes, and +always found that in the power of his name we +have obtained the victory. Nothing but the +Lord’s loving pity can prevent the most awful +extension of the disease; not only are the people +crowded together, two or three dying in one room, +but the intercourse is perfectly unrestricted in all +parts of the city, so that I fear what is now confined +to one quarter, and might possibly, by a +vigilant government be kept there, is spreading +in all directions. We have, therefore, been forced +to the most painful step of breaking up our school, +for it would have been quite impossible to collect +together eighty children from different parts of +the city, without exposing all to danger. May +the Lord enable us profitably to avail ourselves of +our retirement, to cultivate a more extended communion +with him who is our life. Dear M. is much +staid on her God, and feels that as he has been, +so he will be to us a hiding place in every storm.</p> + +<p><em>April 1.</em>—The plague is still increasing, but +apparently not rapidly. We wait the Lord’s pleasure +in our own house. The only inconvenience +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +is want of water, which cannot be had from without; +and they say that when the plague becomes +intense all the water carriers cease to ply; but the +Lord hath said, in the time of famine ye shall be +satisfied; on this promise we rest in peace.</p> + +<p>Two English gentlemen set off to-morrow across +the desert with a single guide to Damascus, to examine +the means of communication by water between +the Mediterranean and Aleppo. From +thence, should they be spared, they purpose +going to Beer, and thence pass down the Euphrates +with the view of ascertaining its fitness for +steam navigation. Surveys have already been +completed between this and Bussorah, of both the +Tigris and Euphrates, by Mr. Ormsby, in part +assisted by Mr. Elliot, and from Ana to Felugia +by Captain Chesney of the Royal Artillery, and +there remains between Beer and Ana to be examined. +Through all that has yet been surveyed +there is no obstruction, but it is expected there +will be a little labour required in one or two points +of what remains to be surveyed, before steam +communications could proceed on the rivers. If +these gentlemen thus labour for what perishes in +the using, and run such risks, going as they are +across the desert with a guide, whose language +they do not understand, ought it to be called tempting +God, in us going for such a work as ours is, to +run similar risks and encounter similar dangers.</p> + +<p>The deaths at present from the plague are confined +to the Mohammedans and the Jews. To +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +avoid it, many of the Jews have gone to Bussorah, +and the Kourds who brought it here have fled +from the city; a large caravan of Christians are +now thinking of returning to Mosul, who were +driven from Mosul three or four years ago by +plague and its attendant famine.</p> + +<p>The poor Jews have been robbed of every thing +by the Arabs, and sent naked back, and there +seems little better prospect for those who are going +to Mosul: they have the Arabs on one side the +road, and the Kourds on the other.</p> + +<p>It is striking how fully and simply the Mohammedans +admit the expected coming of our Lord +and the end of the world. The end of our Lord’s +coming they conceive to be to set his seal to Mohammed’s +mission, and that all Christians will become +Mohammedans. Still these fundamental +errors in their views do not prevent a clear and +distinct expectation similar to that of the heathen +at the time of our Lord’s coming. Certainly no +people can have a worse opinion of the state of +the professors of their religion than the Mohammedans +have; still, with the loss of zeal for their +own, their heart seems full of a strong delusion to +believe a lie, and hate the way of life, and above +all, the Lord who is the true God and eternal life.</p> + +<p>How blessed the 91st Psalm feels at such moments +as these, in looking round on one’s little +family, to know that every arrow that flies, winged +with death, is no random shot, but that the Lord +who is your life, and by whom your life is hid in +God, directs them all. Call upon me, says the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +Lord, in the day of trouble, and I will deliver +<em>thee</em>, and thou shalt <em>glorify me</em>. Blessed Lord, +when thou hast (as thou most assuredly wilt do) +delivered us, may we never forget to glorify and +bless thee. Oh! what a blessed feeling it is to +know that you are not under the general but +especial and particular government of Jehovah—that +he has redeemed you, and you are his—that +he has engraven you on the palms of his hands; and +that day and night he is watching to preserve you.</p> + +<p><em>April 3.</em>—An immense crowd of poor Jews left +the city this morning, to escape the destruction of +the plague. The Christians also are leaving in +every direction they can find open. I fear these +poor creatures in their flight can hardly fail to +carry the plague with them.</p> + +<p>I have lately read several of Erskine’s works, or +little portions of his writings, and never did I see +the pernicious effects of system displayed more +legibly than in several of his most interesting, but +as a whole, most delusive publications. In his +view of Gospel freeness, and other places where +similar views to those contained in that little work +are promulgated, there seems, to my mind, a +radical defect, that nothing in so good a man accounts +for but the baneful effects of a system, +and a secret insurmountable repugnance to the +sovereignty of God’s government, and the individuality +of God’s election in Christ Jesus, from +before the foundation of the world. I do not +mean that these doctrines are denounced; but +they evidently are not entertained as the comfort +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +and consolation of the soul, nor as they are represented +by the Apostles, as the most overwhelming +reasons for unlimited devotion to his service, who +has thus chosen us with our bodies, souls, and +spirits, which are his. He talks of spreading +the beauty of the Lord Jesus, and the excellency +of God’s love, not only as the pasture of their souls, +who are born again of the Spirit, of which they +undoubtedly are the legitimate, the only food and +means of their spiritual growth, but as the cause of +spiritual life in the unregenerate by being believed. +Now, this appears to me a radical and fundamental +error. Food does not give life, though it sustains +and expands it. What he says of the effects +of love, in moulding the soul to the likeness of the +object beloved, is most true; but in order to the +existence of this love, not merely faith in God’s love +seems to be necessary, nor the reality of the things +promised, but such a new creation in the soul, as +shall see a desirableness in it and them. As we +see in nature, when the heart is engaged by one +object of affection, any demonstration of affection +from another, which involves the relinquishment of +it, not only does not give pleasure, but positive +pain, though you know its reality, purity, and intensity; +the fact is, the affections are occupied, +and there is no place. So it is by nature with +every man, and while he remains in this state, no +knowledge of love, however real, intense, and +devoted, when he sees its tendency to disconnect +him from the only source of known enjoyment, by +the substitution of that which he has no senses to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +appreciate, will ever be found available. It appears +to me, that the spiritual immortal generation +of the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, +is in Scripture represented to be as real and absolute +as the generation from our earthly head, +and only invisible from being spiritual. It has its +proper food, its proper growth. Without being +thus begotten from above, though you could display +all the beauties of him who is the chief among +ten thousand, the altogether lovely, though you +could display all the Father’s love to the church +from the day he commanded his gathering it, till +this day, it would be as powerless as spreading +the most sumptuous banquet before the dead.</p> + +<p>With respect to the general design of vindicating +the government of God from the charge of +partiality, which I feel to be at the bottom of Mr. +Erskine’s views, I do not see that the Lord has +committed it to us, but, whenever in the Old +Testament or in the New, he pleads with his +children against their ingratitude, it is from the +specialty of his love. He does not say to the Israelites, +I have dealt with you after a common +dealing with all; but, with what nation has the +Lord dealt as with Israel. So, in the New, he +says, “I have chosen you, not you me.” In the +prayer of our Lord, in John xvii. in the Epistles of +Paul and Peter—in the Revelations, and so in all +the called and chosen, and faithful, who are written +in the Lamb’s book of life, and have been from +the foundation of the world, from the beginning +to the end, I see a constant reference made, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +the warmest and most enlarged attachment of the +affections demanded, on the ground of peculiar, +especial, and personal choice on the part of God. +That all this is consistent with every perfection of +God’s character, and, therefore, with his equal +justice and mercy, I have the fullest assurance, +but that we are in possession of the means of +shewing it, or that the Lord requires it at our +hands, I feel fully assured of the contrary. And +the danger Mr. E. seems to apprehend from stating +the doctrines of election as they are usually stated, +are more imaginary than real. For God, who by +his Holy Spirit begets the soul again in the likeness +of the divine nature, gives to that nature thus begotten +the power of discriminating in its food between +night-shade and sweet pasture.—When he +has created in the soul of any human being the love +of himself, he gives him, with this love, the privilege +to rejoice that his name is written in heaven, and +the minister of Christ is by no means embarrassed +by all these apparent difficulties, for he has to display +all the beauty of Christ, all the love of the Father, +all the graces of the Spirit before the assembled +world, knowing that all the sheep will hear, +and feed, and grow, and that the goats will cavil +and stamp down the pasture with their feet. But, +ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, +as I said unto you, My sheep hear my voice and +I know them, and they follow me. Again, he +that is of God hath God’s words, ye therefore +hear them not, because ye are not of God. How +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +and why this is we are not able nor willing to try +to answer: all we can say is, hath not the Lord +right to do what he will with his own. Shall the +thing formed say to Him that formed it, “What +makest thou?” And “Shall not the Judge of all +the earth do right.” And many, many more like it.</p> + +<p><em>April 4.</em>—We were last night alarmed by the +voices of apparently thousands of persons on the +other side of the river; by degrees the discharges +of guns were mingled with the cries, which gradually +extended also to this side the river. We concluded +it must be from a tribe of Arabs having +broken into the city, the noise being exactly similar, +only much more violent, to that of the two tribes +of Arabs who were contending the other day. But +after an hour’s suspense, we heard it was a concourse +of Arabs to supplicate from God the removal +of the plague from them.</p> + +<p>The deaths from the plague do not seem to increase +with any rapidity, these two or three days; +150 perhaps is the highest any day. On a preceding +occasion, about 60 years ago, it amounted +to near 2000 a day. There is with us the father +of our schoolmaster, who had the plague at that +time, and says you might have walked from one +gate of the city to the other, and hardly have met a +person or heard a sound. We trust it may be the +Lord’s gracious purpose to take off the heaviness +of his judgment, and spare yet a little longer this +sinful city.</p> + +<p>The news from Europe also—how strange—how +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +anxious; surely the Lord seems sifting the nations, +and shewing their rulers that without the Lord’s +blessing their confidences, plans, and speculations, +can never stand. That they should have discovered +also that the spiritual and temporal character +of the Pope’s government are incompatible—surely +these are signs in the times that may +make the most sceptical enquire. Oh! how joyful +a thought it is that the Lord is at hand, and +our pilgrimage near ending.</p> + +<p><em>April 7.</em>—We had thought the Lord had removed +the sword from us, but we hear it is now +near at hand; and the plague seems extending, or +every one is running away. Sometimes, on looking +round on our dear little circle, the old heavy +faithless flesh would seek its quiet, sheltered +retreat under the lofty elms, but the Lord never +allows the spirit for one moment to desire otherwise +than to wait and see the salvation of our God, +who will for his name’s sake do wonderfully for us, +that our hearts may rejoice in him. We hear the +enemy is within three days of the city, and the Pasha +is going out with all his Haram, whether to contend +or fly we do not know, but we think from his character, +the latter; but where shall he fly? If he +flies with gold, there are those who will plunder +him: if he flies without, he cannot stir a step. +In fact, the moment his affairs are actually sinking, +all the miserable elements of his present comparative +strength turn against him.</p> + +<p><em>April 9.</em>—Stillness still prevails over the city, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +like the calm which precedes a convulsion; our +neighbours are preparing for defence, by getting +armed men into their houses, but we sit down +under the shadow of the Almighty’s wings, fully +assured that in his name we shall boast ourselves. +The Pasha, however, has not gone out as he intended +yesterday.</p> + +<p>We have just heard that the reports of the +plague has stopped for a little the approach of the +enemies of the Pasha, still every thing is exceedingly +unsettled. He is going to shut himself up in +the citadel till the answer comes from Constantinople +to his overtures, but all those about him are +against him, and wishing for the arrival of his +enemies. About fifty went out the other day, +and seized on +Hillah,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +but they were driven out.</p> + +<p><em>April 10.</em>—The Lord has in many respects this +day altered our position here. One of Major Taylor’s +seapoys has died of the plague, and now four +of the servants are attacked. This has so alarmed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +Major T. and the family, that they are immediately +going off to a country house, built by order +of the Government of Bombay, for the Resident +in the neighbourhood of Bussorah, and they may or +may not return to this place. They have kindly +offered us an asylum with them, and a passage +in their boat. Having no immediate occupation +here at present, I feel quite free to accept it, +but there are considerations that prevent us.—Hitherto +the Lord has kept us safe, and no symptom +of plague has appeared in our dwelling—though +it is all around us. We cannot move without +coming in contact with numbers of people for +many days, and being shut up in a small boat with +the Arab +sailors,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> +and even the very plague we may +leave this city to avoid, may have reached Bussorah +before we arrived there, as thousands have +already set off from hence for that place; besides +which, should it be the Lord’s pleasure that the +plague terminate soon, and we then wish to return, +it may be many months before we may meet +with an opportunity. The only advantage seems to +be, that we should thus be apparently further removed +from those troubles which seem likely to arise +in the threatened attempt to depose this Pasha; +yet, on the whole, we feel we may hold on with +the Lord’s blessing; but if we were once to leave +our present post, it might be very difficult again +to regain it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +The accounts brought us of the numbers of those +who have died of the plague, on this side of the +river alone, in little more than one fortnight, all +agree in making it about 7000. The poor inhabitants +know not what to do: if they remain in +the city, they die of the plague; if they leave it, +they fall into the hands of the Arabs, who strip +them, or they are exposed to the effects of an inundation +of the river Tigris, which has now overflown +the whole country around Bagdad, and destroyed, +they say, 2000 houses on the other side of +the river, but I think this must be exaggerated; +the misery of this place, however, is now beyond +expression, and may yet be expected to be much +greater. Dreadful as the outward circumstances +of this people are, their moral condition is infinitely +worse; nor does there seem to be a ray of +light amidst it all. The Mohammedans look on those +who die of the plague as martyrs, and when they +die there is no wailing made for them; so that +amidst all these desolations there is a stillness, +that when one knows the cause is very frightful. +The Lord enables us to feel the blessedness of the +91st Psalm, at least of the portion of those to +whom that Psalm pertains; and we have, amidst +all these very trying circumstances, a peace that +passeth understanding. We feel indeed that we +owe it to our Lord’s love to be careful for nothing, +neither to run or make haste as others, but to +stand still and see the salvation of our God.</p> + +<p>There was a curious conversation going on last +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +night, among some Mohammedans, outside our +window, relative to the plague, which they said +was an especial judgment on them and the Jews, +but from which Christ would deliver the Nazarenes, +and in all these calamities, it is remarkable +how doubly heavy, they fall on these two classes. +Feelings like these, and others that we know +exist, make us clear to stay where we are in the +midst of these judgments, trying as they are to +natural feeling. That which comes to the ungodly +<em>as judgments</em>, comes to the child of God, like the +chariot of fire to Elijah. From these visitations +as judgments, we have an especial promise of protection, +and we trust in the midst of them some +good may spring up; at all events, we feel that we +shall have quite met our dear Lord’s mind in giving +this people a last opportunity of hearing, ere +their house is left unto them desolate.</p> + +<p><em>April 12.</em>—I have just taken leave of the kind +T.’s. The accounts of the dead are truly terrific; +they say the day before yesterday 1200 died, and +yesterday Major T.’s man of business obtained a +receipt to the amount of 1040 on this side of the +river. If this statement can be relied on, the mortality, +within and without the city, must be truly +appalling, and should it not please the Lord soon +to stay the destroying Angel’s hand, the whole +country must become one wide waste. Some very +kind Armenians<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> +have offered to provide what is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +necessary for our journey to Damascus, if we will +go with them. The possibility of meeting our +dear Brethren is a great temptation, but still we +do not see clearly our permission to go, and the +Lord has given us all such perfect peace in staying, +and such perfect health, that we are even +unwilling to go; we remain, therefore, and wait +upon our Lord’s love, which we feel assured will +be manifested towards us amidst this scene of +death; and afterwards we shall see why we remained, +more clearly perhaps than now.</p> + +<p><em>April 13.</em>—The plague has just entered our +neighbour’s dwelling, where they have collected +together nearly thirty persons, not simply their +own family. It seems as if a spirit of infatuation +had seized them, for instead of making their number +as small as possible, they seem to congregate +as many together as they can.</p> + +<p>Oh! what a blessed portion is ours, to have the +God of Israel and his unchangeable promises for +our sure and abiding place of rest—our little +sanctuary unto which we may always resort. Yea, +in the secret of his pavilion he will hide us.</p> + +<p><em>April 14.</em>—This is a day of awful visitation. +The accounts of deaths yesterday vary from between +1000 and 1500; and to-day, they say, is +worse than any, and the increase in the numbers +of deaths is exclusive of the immense multitudes +who are dying without the city. One of our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +schoolmasters<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> is gone to Damascus, and has +taken with him his little nephew who was boarding +with us, so we are indeed now quite alone. +In fact, nothing prevents the entire desertion of +the city, but the dangers of the way, and the poverty +of the inhabitants.</p> + +<p><em>April 15.</em>—The accounts of the mortality yesterday +still more alarming—1800 deaths in the +city. There was great danger of the bodies being +left in the houses, and the inhabitants flying and +leaving them unburied, but by great exertions on +the part of some young men in one quarter of the +town to bury the dead there, others have been +stimulated in other quarters to similar exertions, +and last night all were buried. Our Moolah has +just been here; he says he has bought winding +sheets for himself, his brother, and his +mother.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> +He says that yesterday he was in the Jew’s quarter, +and only met one person, and that was a woman, +who, when she saw him, ran in and locked +the door. Meat, for some days, or any thing else +from without, we have been unable to get. Water +alone we have obtained. But, to-day, even that +we cannot get at any price; every waterman you +stop, answers he is carrying it to wash the bodies +of the dead.</p> + +<p><em>April 16.</em>—The accounts of yesterday are worse +than any day, and an Armenian girl, who has been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +here this morning, said she saw, in a distance of +about 600 yards, fifty dead bodies carrying to +burial. The son of Gaspar Khan, our next neighbour, +is dead. Two have been carried out from +a little passage opposite our house to-day, where +two more are ill. All you see passing have a little +bunch of herbs, or a rose, or an onion to smell to, +and yet as to real measures of precaution there has +not been one step taken; not even contact avoided, +and the most unrestrained intercourse goes on in +every direction, so that nothing but the Lord’s arm +shortening it, can prevent the entire desolation of +the whole province. The population of Bagdad +cannot exceed 80,000, and of this number more +than half have +fled,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> +so that the mortality of 2000 +a-day is going on among considerably less than +40,000 people. But the Lord tells us, when we +hear or see these things, not to have our hearts +troubled, for our redemption draweth nigh; and +we believe it, and accept it as a sweet drop in the +bitter cup that is now drinking to the very dregs +by so many about us; and which, but for this expectation, +would bow down the stoutest heart.</p> + +<p>One of Major T.’s servants has just been here, +who says the city is a perfect desert, only peopled +by the dead, the bearers of the dead, and the +water carriers. Our household are all in perfect +health, thanks be to our loving Shepherd’s care.</p> + +<p><em>April 17.</em>—To-day, as yesterday, we have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +heard nothing as to numbers. The accounts are +very contradictory; some saying that there is very +little plague, others, that it is heavier than any +day; so that probably, in some parts of the city, +it is very severe, and in others lighter.</p> + +<p>An Armenian told the schoolmaster that almost +every one you meet is carrying cotton and things +for the interment of the dead. We are left almost +alone in our own neighbourhood, all having fled in +one direction or another; we have been, however, +all preserved in health, to the praise of the Keeper +of Israel.</p> + +<p>Surely every principle of dissolution is operating +in the midst of the Ottoman, and Persian empires. +Plagues, earthquakes, and civil wars, all +mark that the days of the Lord’s coming are at hand, +and this is our hope—on this our eyes and hearts +rest as the time of repose, when all these trials shall +cease, and the saints shall possess the kingdom.</p> + +<p><em>April 18.</em>—To-day the accounts are truly distressing. +In the family of one of our little boys, +consisting of six, four are laid down with the +plague, father, mother, one son, and one daughter—only +one son and a daughter remaining. Immense +numbers of families will be altogether +swept away, and many thousand of fatherless and +motherless children left when this heavy judgment +of God ceases. It is now become useless to attempt +obtaining accurate accounts about numbers.</p> + +<p><em>April 19.</em>—Still heavy, heavy news. The +Moolah has called to give us an account of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +city. He says it now stands stationary at between +1,500 and 2,000 a-day, and has been so for a +fortnight. What a mass of mortality! Among +the Pasha’s soldiers, he says they have lost, in +some of the regiments, above 500 out of 700.—And +in the towns and villages without, the report +is, that it is as bad or worse than within the city.</p> + +<p><em>April 20.</em>—The plague much the same. Among +the Armenians nine were buried yesterday, and +seven to-day. There are not left in the city more +than 400, and now there is the plague in every +third or fourth house. The water also is increasing, +so that a little more will inundate the whole +city on this side the river, as it has on the other, +to the inexpressible additional misery of the poor +people. The caravan which left for Damascus +can neither advance nor return on account of the +water. Yesterday four dead were carried out +from the little passage opposite our house, making +in all 14 dead from eight houses, and there are +others now lying ill.</p> + +<p><em>April 21.</em>—To-day the accounts of the plague +are rather more favourable, though another has +been carried out from the passage opposite us, and +there are some ill in three houses adjoining ours. +The river has burst into the cellars of the Residency, +and is within a foot of inundating the whole city.</p> + +<p><em>April 22.</em>—Having had occasion to-day to go +out to the Residency, to endeavour to save some +things from the water, which has come into all +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +the cellars, in every way I was overwhelmed with +the awful state of the city, and at the difficulty +of obtaining help of any kind at any price. The +servant of Major T——, who is left in charge +of the house, told me he had applied in every +direction, but could get no one to help him; one +had a wife dead or dying, another a mother, +another was employed in carrying water for the +dead, and on our way, we saw the Court of the +Meshid or Mosque full of graves; and no longer +finding room there, they were burying the dead +in the public road. When in want of water, I +think we shall be obliged to go to the river and +fetch it for ourselves, as a water-carrier is hardly +now to be seen, except when followed by a man +forcing him to carry water to some house where +there is death. Amidst all, the Lord lets not +his destroying angels enter our dwelling; though +tens of thousands are falling around us, we are +all, by his grace and holy keeping, well. The +business of death is now come to that height, +that people seem to take their nearest relations, +and bring them for interment with as much indifference +as they would transact the most ordinary business.</p> + +<p><em>April 23.</em>—The plague not decreasing; two more +were brought out to-day from the passage opposite +to us, making seventeen from eight houses near us. +The mother of the Seyd, who owns our house, has +been buried in her house, as no one could be +found to bury her. Another most affecting instance +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +has just occurred. A little girl of about +twelve years old was seen carrying an infant in +her arms, and being asked whose it was, she said, +she did not know, but had found it in the road, +having heard that both its parents were dead. +Water now is not to be had for money; yet even +in these times Israel’s pillar has its bright side +to Israel. These things must come to pass; but +when we see these signs, we must remember that +our redemption draweth nigh; and the Lord will +be a little sanctuary for us, let him send however +sore judgments on the earth.</p> + +<p><em>April 24.</em>—The plague still raging with most +destructive violence; the two servants in our next +neighbour’s house are both dead, and two horses +left, I fear, to starve. A poor Armenian woman +has just been here, to beg a little sugar for a +little infant she picked up in the street this morning; +and she says, another neighbour of her’s +picked up two more. They have just been +digging graves beside our house. Almost all the +cotton is consumed, so that persons are wandering +all over the city to find some, for burying their +dead. Water not to be had at any price, nor a +water-carrier to be seen. Oh, what heart-rending +scenes sin has introduced into the world! Oh, +when will the Lord come to put an end to these +scenes of disorder, physical as well as moral? In +one short month, not less than 30,000 souls have +passed from time to eternity in this city, and yet, +even now, no diminution apparently of deaths. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +Surely the judgment of the Lord is on this land? +One more taken from the little passage opposite, +making nineteen from the eight houses.</p> + +<p><em>April 25.</em>—To-day, three more from the same +passage, making twenty-one from these houses. +Such a disease I never heard of or witnessed; +certainly not more than one in twenty recovers; +every one attacked seems to die.</p> + +<p>This has been a heart-rending day. The accounts +from the Residency, and the falling of a wall, +undermined by the water, obliged me to go out, and +I found nothing but signs of death and desolation; +hardly a soul in the streets, unless such as were carrying +the dead, or themselves affected with plague, +and at a number of doors, and in the lanes, bundles +of clothes that had been taken from the dead, and +put out. The Court of the Mosque was shut, +having no place left for burying, and graves were +digging in every direction in the roads, and in +the unoccupied stables about the city. The water +also has increased so much as to be within a few +inches of inundating the city. Should this further +calamity come on this side, as it has on the other, +the height of human misery will be near its +climax, for where they will then bury their dead +I know not. There seems no diminution in the +plague yet, that we can discern. Two of the +men we had helping to take Major T——’s +things from the water are attacked; one of them +is the fourth from a house, consisting of six. +The remaining servant of Mr. T—— had intelligence +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +brought while I was there, that his aunt +was dead, which, he says, is the eighth near relation +he has lost.</p> + +<p>Some of the Mohammedans, our neighbours, +were sitting under our windows last evening, +and were observing, that while two or three had +been taken from every house, we only had remained +free. And this is of the Lord’s marvellous +love. We consist of thirteen, including +the schoolmaster’s family, and the Lord has given +his destroying angel charge to pass over our +door.</p> + +<p>The Pasha has sent to desire, that he might +have Major T——’s yacht drawn up near the Seroy +or Palace to go into, in case the water should +increase; and when the man was sent for, who +had the charge of the vessel, he with another +had run away, three were dead, and only one +remained. These are surely the days of visitation +for the pride of Edom. The man who sold +cotton for burying the dead, the price of which +he raised from 45 to 95 piastres, and who lived +only two doors from us, died yesterday. There +is no more cotton left in the city, and they now +bury the dead in their clothes. The price of +soap is raised four times higher than usual. I +have been enabled, by the Lord’s goodness, to +get all our water-jars filled, though at twenty +times the usual price. The bodies of persons of +considerable wealth are now just put on the back +of a donkey, or a mule, and carried away to be +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +buried, accompanied by one servant. We have +also much anxiety about the people of the +Damascus-caravan, of which we can hear no tidings, +whether or not they have been swallowed up by +the inundation. Whether they have been able +to retreat to some eminence, or what is become +of them we know not. The poor women who +have taken charge of the two poor little infants +have sent to us for food for them, as in these +countries they have no idea of bringing up children +by hand. It may be to be instrumental in +saving some of these poor little infants, and in +helping the orphans that remain, that the Lord +has allowed us to stay here. They are all Mohammedan +children.</p> + +<p><em>April 26.</em>—For many days we have been unable +to obtain any account of the number of deaths; +but the <em>Chaoush</em> of Major T—— has been with +the Pasha this morning, who is in the greatest +possible state of alarm, wishing to go, but not +knowing how. One of his officers, whose business +it is to inquire about the number of deaths +daily, reported that it had reached 5,000, but +yesterday was 3,000, and to-day less. Enormous +as the mortality has been, I cannot but think +this beyond the truth; yet it must be remembered, +that the inundation kept immense masses +of poor thronged together in the city, who, but +for this, would have all fled in one direction or +another.</p> + +<p>The accounts are heart-rending of little children +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +left in the streets; five were left yesterday, a +poor woman told us, near the Residency, and +others in different directions. If the wrath of +God is pouring out on the mystical Babylon, +as it is on this province of the literal Babylon; +the two antichrists are beginning to draw near +their end. But for the presence of the Lord +in our dwelling, as its light and joy, what a place +would this be to be alone in now; but with Him, +even this is better than the garden of Eden. +These are invaluable situations for the experience +of God’s loving distinguishing care, and here we +realize our pilgrim state much better than in the +quiet of England, with all its external apparent +security.</p> + +<p>The utmost number of daily deaths I heard +of at Tabreez were 400, and here it is said to +be 4,000, and yet the population certainly is not +double. In going out to speak with a servant of +Major T——, I saw a very decently dressed +female lying in a dying state of plague at our +door quite senseless; it is almost more than the +heart can bear. Yet, that the Lord will even +from these scenes prepare ways for the establishment +of his truth, I feel fully assured, and this +supports us. A north wind has regularly blown +for these four days past, so that we hope the +water will not again increase. Oh, may our +Father of his infinite mercy take away these +heavy heavy judgments, and make their present +measure instrumental to the advancement of his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +kingdom. The Soochee Bashee, an officer of +police, has just been here, and tells us, that the +Pasha proposes removing to near Coote, a village +on the Tigris, half way between this and Bussorah. +At any other time, this would tend to most fearful +convulsions within the city; but in the present +state of things, perhaps, all may remain quiet, +without a governor. When the plague, that +now desolates the city ceases, we know not what +may happen; but this we do know, that the +love of our Father, and his gracious providence, +will be magnified by all events, and that we shall +yet praise him more and more. It seems to me +more than probable that the Pasha does not intend +to return. By the plague he has lost half +his soldiers, and a great number of his Georgian +slaves, who are his personal attached friends; +he may now remove without obstruction perhaps, +from any one, or the possibility of any communication +being made to his enemies to intercept +him; but time only will show; however this may +be, it is certain that should the plague cease +to-morrow, the city is in such a state, that no +resistance could be made for one moment to any +enemy. How invaluable the past proofs of the +Lord’s loving kindness and tender mercies are at +such times, the remembrance of him from the Hill +Mizar of the Hermonites. In going along the +streets to-day, I saw several poor sufferers labouring +under the plague; and a number of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +places, where clothes had been brought out and +burnt.</p> + +<p>Our anxieties have been greatly increased by +the illness of our dear little baby; but our unerring +Physician has restored her to us to-day, +we trust in a measure which promises amendment.</p> + +<p><em>April 27.</em>—To-day all thoughts are turned +from the plague to the inundation, which from +the falling of a portion of the city wall on the +north-west side last night, let the water in full +stream into the city. The Jews’ quarter is inundated, +and 200 houses fell there last night: we +are hourly expecting to hear, that every part of +the city is overflowed. A part also of the wall +of the citadel is fallen. And, in fact, such is the +structure of the houses, that if the water remains +near the foundations long, the city must become +a mass of ruins. The mortar they use in building +is very like plaister of Paris, which sets +very hard, and does very well when all is dry; +but as soon as ever water is applied, it all crumbles +to powder; and in building walls of four or five +feet thick, they have only an outside casing of +brick work thus cemented, and within it is filled +up with dust and rubbish, so that what seems +strong enough in appearance to bear any thing, +soon moulders away, and by its own weight +accelerates its ruin. It must be many many +years, if ever, before the city can recover. But +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +it seems to me, that this seat of Mohammedan +glory, and of its proudest recollections, has received +its death-warrant from the hand of the +Lord. This inundation has not only ruined an +immense number of houses in the city, and been +the cause of tens of thousands dying of the plague, +but the whole harvest is destroyed. The barley, +which was just ready to be reaped, is utterly +gone, and every other kind of corn must likewise +be ruined, so that for 30 miles all round Bagdad, +not a grain of corn can be collected this year, +and perhaps, if all was quiet this might be of no +consequence, for from Mosul and Kourdistan it +might easily come; but this will be prevented by +the enemies of the Pasha who surround us. +The poor are beginning to feel immense difficulty +in the city, for all the shops are shut, and +there is a great scarcity of wood for firing; and +should the water now cause a general inundation +of the whole city, the heart sickens at the +contemplation of the scenes that must follow; +for the houses of the poor are nothing but +mud, scarcely one of which will be left standing.</p> + +<p>For ourselves personally, the Lord has allowed +us great peace, and assured confidence in his loving +care, and in the truth of his promise, that our +bread and our water shall be sure; but certainly +nothing but the service of such a Lord as he is +would keep me in the scenes which these countries +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +do exhibit, and I feel assured will, till the +Lord has finished his judgments on them, for +the contempt of the name, nature, and offices of +the Son of God; yet I linger in the hope he has +a remnant even among them, for whose return +these convulsions are preparing the way.</p> + +<p><em>April 28.</em>—News more and more disastrous. +The inundation has swept away 7,000 houses +from one end of the city to the other, burying +the sick, the dying, and the dead, with many of +those in health, in one common +grave.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> +Those who have escaped, have brought their goods +and the relics of their families, to the houses the +plague has desolated, or desertion left unoccupied, +and houses are yet falling in every direction.</p> + +<p>The Lord has stopped the water just at the +top of our street by a little ledge of high ground, +so that as yet we are dry; and all free from the +sword of the destroying angel. Scarcity of provision +is beginning to be sensibly felt, so that +very respectable persons are coming to the door +to beg a little bread, or a little butter, or some +other simple necessary of life. To-day, the number +dying in the road was much greater than I +have before seen, and the number unburied in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +the streets daily and hourly increases. The +Seroy of the Pasha is a heap of ruins, and though +he is most anxious to go, he cannot collect forty +men to man the yacht, for all fear of him is now +past, and love for him they have none; his distress +beggars all description, for not a single +native vessel is left in Bagdad, every one having +been employed in taking down the crowds to +Bussorah at the commencement of this dreadful +calamity. I have from day to day mentioned the +dead taken from the eight houses opposite to +ours; that number has to-day reached twenty-four; +in one of these, out of nine, one only survives; +and I mention twenty-four not as all, but +as those which have been seen carried out by +some of the schoolmaster’s family, who were however +very little in that room which overlooks this +passage. Of another family near the Meidan, +out of thirteen one only remains, and I have no +doubt there are hundreds of families similarly +swept away; yet amidst all these trials to the +servants of God, my heart does not despair for +the work of the Lord, for no ordinary judgments +seem necessary to break the pride and hatred of +this most proud and contemptuous people; but +the Lord will bring Edom down, and make a +way for the Kings of the East to his holy habitation. +We have taken one poor little Mohammedan +baby, about three or four years old, from the +streets, and are supplying a poor Armenian +woman with pap for another; but what is this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +among so many? We know not what to do. It +makes passing the streets most painful and affecting, +thus to see little children from a month or +six weeks, to two or four years, crying for a home, +hungry, and naked, and wretched, and knowing +not what to do, nor where to go. Thank God +however, to-day the water is a little abated, about +a span lower. Oh, may the Lord’s mercy spare +yet a little longer this wretched, wretched city. +Oh, how does the glory of the Chalifat lie in +ashes; she seems within a step of falling like her +elder sister Babylon, the glory of the Chaldean’s +excellency, and in how many things has her spirit +towards the church of God been as bad, yea +worse, than hers. Missionaries in these countries +have need of a very simple faith, which can +glory in God’s will being done, though all their +plans come to nothing. It was but the other day +we were surrounded by as interesting a school +of boys, and a commencing one of thirteen girls, +as the heart could desire; and now if the plague +and desolation were to terminate to-morrow, and +our scattered numbers were assembled, perhaps +not more than half would remain to us. Yet +dark as all the labours of the Lord’s servants in +these countries appears, I feel assured, that prophecy +points them out as specially connected with +many of the great events of the latter days. +Yet it requires great confidence in God’s love, +and much experience of it, for the soul to remain +in peace, stayed on him, in a land of such changes, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +without even one of our own nation near us, +without means of escape in any direction; surrounded +with the most desolating plague and +destructive flood, with scenes of misery forced +upon the attention which harrow up the feelings, +and to which you can administer no relief. +Even in this scene however, the Lord has kept +us of his infinite mercy, in personal quiet and +peace, trusting under the shadow of his Almighty +wing, and has enabled us daily to offer up to his +holy name praise, for suffering us to assemble +in undiminished numbers, when tens of thousands +have been falling around us. Neither is this +all, for he has made us know why we staid +in this place, and why we were never allowed +to feel it to be our path of duty to leave the +post we were in.</p> + +<p><em>April 29.</em>—Our situation is becoming daily still +more extraordinary, and in many respects more +trying, except that our Lord is our hiding place, +who will preserve us from trouble, and will compass +us about with songs of deliverance. The +Pasha has fled, accompanied by his master of the +horse, and his immediate family. His palace is +left open, without a soul to take care of any thing. +His stud of beautiful Arab horses are running +about the streets, and are caught by those who +care to take the trouble, and offered for sale for +from £10. to £100. each; his stores also of corn +are left open, and every one takes what he wants, +or what he can carry away, which is a great relief +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +to the poor, for the quantities are enormous, in +expectation of a siege.</p> + +<p>The plague is working its destructive way, apparently +with no other mitigation than that arising +from decreasing numbers in the city; the inundation +however, has prevented this having its full +weight, for it has thronged the remaining population +into a compass unnaturally disproportionate. +The house next us, which belongs to a Seyd, who +left it at the beginning of the plague, in charge +of two servants who are dead, is now filled by +twenty persons from different directions. The +unburied dead, and the dying, are fearfully accumulating +in the streets. So difficult it is now to +find persons to bury, that even the priest of the +Armenian church here, who died two days since, +remains yet unburied.</p> + +<p>The water, thank God, is a little lower, but there +seems now every prospect that the moment the +waters decrease, the surrounding Arabs will come +in, and plunder the city; yet even this is in the +Lord’s hands—our wisdom has ever been to sit still, +and see the salvation of our God, and until we +see his cloudy pillar arise from off our tabernacle, +where we feel it has hitherto rested, and move +forward, we shall yet judge our safety to be to sit +still. We have in several instances seen, that +there was reason to bless God for remaining quiet. +We once thought of removing to the Residency, as +a change to the dear children, and as being nearer +to the water; but still on the whole we felt it best to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +remain here; and had we gone, we should have been +in the midst of the plague; or had we gone, when +the T——s went to Bussorah, what a state should +we now be in, without the possibility of removing, +and in danger of our lives from the inundation +and falling of the walls, if we stayed.</p> + +<p>We had again considered, whether it would be +right to leave this with the caravan for Damascus +and Aleppo, which seemed the only opening +there might possibly be for us, so that if we let +that pass by, we must stay whether we would or +not; still the Lord made us feel it was our path +to stay looking to him. And had we gone, what a +state should we have been in? For nearly three +weeks they have been surrounded with water, +continually increasing around them, so that now +we know not what their situation may be, whether +they are swept away, or remain; but at all events +we bless God for having inclined our minds to +stay. Why we did not join our dear and kind +friends the T——s, in going to Bussorah, we do +not yet so clearly see the reason of, because we +have received no accounts thence, but it would +have cut up alike our connection with our work +here, and with our dear friends at Aleppo, with +whom we feel it daily of more and more importance +to have as speedy a meeting as possible for +advice and counsel.</p> + +<p>We have just heard of the caravan already +mentioned, as going to Damascus and Aleppo. +The plague has taken off eight of the Armenians, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +and four have been drowned. The head of the +caravan is dead of the plague also, besides many +others; they must therefore return to Bagdad, +instead of advancing on their journey; so in this +instance at least we see great reason to bless God +for keeping us back. Yea, the Lord will instruct +us and teach us the way in which we should go, +and will guide us with his eye; this is our confidence +and comfort; and in such a time as this of +unheard of perplexity, what a source of abiding +peace is this. We feel it well to know our God +in such circumstances as ours. Among the Armenians, +thirteen died to-day, the largest number yet +in one day.</p> + +<p><em>April 30.</em>—The report of the flight of the +Pasha, it appears was not true, and arose from the +two circumstances I have mentioned, of his horses +having been seen running about the streets, and his +supplies being open to the people. He has been +for several days endeavouring to get away, and +had drawn up for that purpose some boats under +the Seroy. All his stables were levelled to the +ground, and the place flooded with water. When +the distress of the people was mentioned to him, +he ordered one of his corn stores to be opened to +them. However, to-day, blessed be God’s Holy +Name, <em>the waters have sunk more than a yard</em>, +so we trust the great danger is over.</p> + +<p>To-day, one more was brought out dead from +the eight opposite houses, making twenty-five, and +we know there are four more lying ill there. Our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +poor schoolmaster, who went in the caravan, is +dead, and was buried in his tent.</p> + +<p><em>May 1.</em>—The Lord has brought us all in safety +to the beginning of another month, through the +most trying period of my life; yet the Lord has +every day filled our mouth with praise, and enabled +us to see his preserving hand.</p> + +<p>To-day, as I passed along the street, I saw +numbers of dead bodies lying unburied, and the +dogs eating with avidity the loathsome food. Oh! +it made my very heart sink. The numbers of the +dead can now be no longer ascertained, for most +of the bodies are buried either in the houses or in +the roads; yet amidst all this, the Lord suffers not +the destroying angel to enter our dwelling; but +we feel the Lord has commanded the man with +the ink-horn to write us down to be spared, as this +is one of the vials of God’s wrath on his enemies.</p> + +<p><em>May 2.</em>—We have heard nothing to-day to vary +the general scene of our calamities; the intensity +of this most desolating disease surpasses all +thought. Numbers of families are altogether +swept away; in numerous others, out of ten or +twelve, only one, two, or three remain; but I hear +of none, save our own, where death has not entered. +Yet, while I bless and praise the Holy +Name of our Lord, under whose wing alone we +came here, and under whose wing alone we have +trusted, the things my eyes have seen, and my +ears heard, press upon my heart, and make me at +times very sad; neither can I chase them from my +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +mind. I can only look forward for comfort to that +day, when the Lord himself will come to put an +end to this dispensation of desolation, and introduce +his own peace. Yea, come Lord Jesus, +come quickly.</p> + +<p>We have just heard melancholy tidings of another +caravan, which endeavoured to escape into +Persia from the plague, but has been forced back +again by the Arabs, the floods, and the scarcity of +provisions, and besides numbers among them have +died daily of the plague, so still we can bless God +we did not leave our present position by this last +opportunity. Let us then again bless him for not +allowing us to make haste.</p> + +<p><em>May 3.</em>—To-day we trust the Lord has a little +alleviated the virulence of the plague; many attacked +yesterday, and the day before, have been +rapidly recovering, and fewer deaths have taken +place to-day—a great deal so far as we can ascertain. +May God’s holy name be praised, who is +a hiding place from every storm. We had our +water jars filled again to-day, when many, even +of the rich, who have connections in every direction, +find the greatest difficulty. “Your water +shall be sure.” We who are alone, and without a +friend within hundreds of miles in any direction, +have been supplied by our Lord’s gracious ordering; +thus he puts a new song into our mouths, +even a song of thanksgiving. To-day all are well, +even our dear little baby is quite recovered.</p> + +<p><em>May 4.</em>—The weather has for these two or three +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +days past been beautifully fine, and clear, and hot, +by which our God seems to have mitigated the +symptoms of the plague. All accounts to-day are +encouraging; the number of new cases few, and +the number of those recovering many. Our eyes +have also been rejoiced by the sight of three or +four water-carriers passing again, after an interval +of ten days; many more people have also been +passing and repassing than before; so we trust +the Lord is now taking away this desolating judgment, +which, in less than two months, has carried +away more than half the population of this city; +for, allowing that it had been silently making its +deadly course three weeks before it was discovered, +it does not exceed eight weeks, and by far the +greatest portion of deaths have been within the +last four weeks.</p> + +<p><em>May 5.</em>—In my journal yesterday, I mention +more than half the population as having been +swept away in the inconceivably short space of +two months, but every account I have received, +convinces me that this is within the number; +certainly not less than two thirds have been swept +away, and this seems to have arisen from a +complication of causes. At the time when the great +mass of the population would have fled, and thus +have thinned the city, the waters rose so high, +that they could move only with great difficulty; +they waited in the hopes of the water subsiding, +instead of which, it so increased, that those who +had left the town and could get back, were compelled +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +to return; those who could not, were +driven to seek some high ground where they might +remain safe from the water, but in all cases they +were crowded together without the power of moving +their position.—Again, in the city, when by +the death of immense multitudes the population +became greatly thinned, the inundation of the +water laid more than half the town level with the +ground, and drove the remaining people to congregate +together wherever they could find a dry +place or an open house, so that often twenty or +thirty came to reside together in the same house, +as was the case next door to us; thus again the +deaths became awfully great. Inquire where you +will, the answer is, The city is desolate: around +the Pasha four Georgians alone remain alive out +of more than one hundred. The son of our Moolah, +who is dead, told me to-day, that in the quarter +where he lives, not one human being is left—they +are all dead. Out of about eighteen +servants and seapoys that Major T. left, fourteen +are dead, two have now the +plague,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> +and two remain +well. Among the Armenians, more than +half are dead. An Armenian who was with us +to-day, tells us, there are not more than twenty-seven +men left in one hundred and thirty houses. +I, however, think that this is exaggerated.</p> + +<p>At Hillah, the modern Babylon, (population +10,000), there is, Seyd Ibrahim told me to-day, +scarce a soul left, and the dogs and the wild beasts +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +alone are there feeding on the dead bodies. This +Seyd Ibrahim is one of the surviving servants of +Major T.; and is the only one of a family of fourteen +who remains alive.—His four brothers, their +wives, his own wife, their children, and his own, +are all dead. If mystical Babylon is suffering, as +the seat of this Archbishopric of the literal Babylon, +the times are not far off when the river Euphrates +shall be dried up for the kings of the east +to pass over.</p> + +<p>For digging a grave they ask a sum that equals +in England three pounds, in consequence of +which numbers have remained unburied about the +streets, so that the Pasha has been obliged to +engage men, paying them at the same rate for +each body they will throw into the river.</p> + +<p>In all the villages the desolation seems as complete +as it is here. When day by day I rise and +see our numbers complete, and all in health, my +soul is indeed made to feel what cannot the Lord +do? though ten thousand shall fall at thy right +hand it shall not come nigh thee.—I do not +yet see what effect all this is likely to have on our +labours here—whether it will break down or build +up barriers; yet we expect it will break down, for +the Lord seems thus breaking to pieces the power +if not the pride of this haughty people. I have +been struck two or three times lately, in going +out, with the intense hatred that lurks at the bottom +of the hearts of this people against Christians; +my dress manifested me to be one, and some +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +Arabs I met, particularly the women, cursed me +with the most savage ferocity as I passed, two or +three calling out at me as though I were the cause +of all their calamities; and the people who are come +to live next door to us, are bitter against us, especially +one man among them, who seems to have his +heart quite corroded, because they are dying and +we are preserved by our Lord’s love; he sits and +talks under our window, saying, “These Christians +and Jews alone remain, but in the whole of +Bagdad you will hardly find one hundred Mohammedans.” +This is altogether false, for though +in proportion as many Christians may not have +died as Mohammedans and Jews, yet the deaths +among them have been enormous, as the preceding +accounts will have shewn.</p> + +<p>Medicine I have found of no use. If you attack +the fever, they die of prostration of strength; +if you endeavour to support the constitution, they +die of oppression on the brain. Those cases +which first affected the head with delirium, have +been the most fatal; next those with carbuncles, +which did not appear, however, for a fortnight +after the commencement of the disease. Among +those who have recovered, almost the whole have +had large glandular swellings, speedily separating +and thus relieving the constitution.</p> + +<p>This night, the first time for three weeks, I +have heard again the Muezzin’s call to prayers, +from the minarets of the Mosques.</p> + +<p><em>May 6.</em>—The water to-day is much decreased. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +I saw a man also with fresh meat in his hand. I +likewise saw many recovering from the plague +walking about, leaning on sticks, and sitting by +the way-side. The number of deaths, among the +Armenians, to-day, amounted to 11, which, considering +that their whole remaining numbers cannot +exceed 300 at present, is an enormous mortality, +and has a little damped our hopes of a +speedy conclusion to this awful visitation.</p> + +<p><em>May 7.</em>—Of the plague nothing satisfactory to-day. +Thieves are multiplying in every direction; +and news has come from Mosul that a new Pasha +has arrived there, who only waited for the cessation +of the plague to advance against Bagdad. +Great part of his work of destruction is already +done for him, as hardly a Georgian is left, and he +will find money enough left without owners, to +supply his own utmost rapacity, or the demands +of the Sultan. The Lord is our only secure resting +place, and we know that he who delivers us +out of six troubles, can and will deliver us out of +seven.</p> + +<p>The water is decreasing most rapidly, so that +rice is beginning to be brought from the other side +of the river; and as all those who monopolized the +sale of wood, and not only asked enormous prices, +but cheated in the weight, are all dead, every one +now that needs wood takes it, so that the situation +of the poor seems in this respect a little improved.</p> + +<p>There has not been among all the circumstances +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +of this scene of complicated suffering, any one +that has more painfully affected my own mind +than the increasing number of infants and little +children that have been left exposed in the streets, +and the absolute impossibility of meeting such a +state of things. We greatly desired to take one +or two; but our own little baby was ill, so that by +night Mary had hardly any rest, and at best, not +being strong in such a climate, we came reluctantly +to the decision that we were not able to +undertake such an additional charge.</p> + +<p>This is an anxious evening. Dear Mary is +taken ill—nothing that would at any other time +alarm me, but now very little creates anxiety; yet +her heart is reposing on her Lord with perfect +peace, and waiting his will. A few hours, perhaps, +may show us that it is but a little trial of +our faith to draw us nearer the fountain of our +life. To nature it seems fearful to think of the +plague entering our dwelling; in our present +situation, nothing but the Lord’s especial love +could sustain the soul in the contemplation of a +young family, left in such a land, at such a time, +and in such circumstances; but we feel we came +out under the shadow of the Almighty’s wing, +and we know that his pavilion will be our sanctuary, +let his gracious providence prescribe what it +may. On his love, therefore, we cast ourselves +with all our personal interests.</p> + +<p><em>May 8.</em>—The Lord has this day manifested that +the attack of my dear dear wife, is the plague, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +of a very dangerous and malignant kind, so that +our hearts are prostrate in the Lord’s hand. As +I think the infection can have only come through +me, I have little hope of escaping, unless by the +Lord’s special intervention. It is indeed an awful +moment, the prospect of having a little family +in such a country at such a time. Yet, my dearest +wife’s faith triumphs over these circumstances, +and as she sweetly said to me to day, “The difference +between a child of God and the worldling is +not in death, but in the hope the one has in Jesus, +while the other is without hope and without God +in the world.” She says, “I marvel at the Lord’s +dealings, but not more than at my own peace in +such circumstances.” She is now continually +sleeping, and when roused feels it difficult to +keep her dear mind fixed on any subject for a +minute. These are indeed the floods of deep +waters, but in the midst of them the Lord is +working his mysterious way, yet that way, however +bitter to nature, is for the everlasting consolation +of his chosen ones. She said to me, a few +minutes since, “What does the Lord say concerning +me.” I said, that you are a dear child of his. +“Yes,” she said, “of that I have no doubt.” +May the Lord of his infinite mercy sustain my +poor weak soul amidst these heavy visitations, that +at least we may magnify him, whether by life +or by death; what a relief it is now to my mind +to think that her’s was so much set against moving, +whenever I proposed it, and she often said in reply, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +“The Lord has given me no desire nor sense +of the desirableness of moving, which I feel assured +he would have done had he seen it best.”</p> + +<p><em>May 9.</em>—My dearest, dearest wife still alive, +and not apparently worse than yesterday. Oh! if +it were the Lord’s holy blessed will to spare her, +it would indeed rejoice my poor foolish heart, but +the Lord has enabled me to cast my wife, myself, +and my dear dear children on his holy love, and +to await the issue. Oh! what wrath there must +be against these lands, if not only the inhabitants +are swept away, but the Lord transplants also his +own, who would teach them, to his own garden of +peace. My soul has just been refreshed by these +two verses of Psalm 116. “Return unto thy rest, +O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully +with thee. He has taken one of thy olive +branches to glory, and is now perhaps about to +take another, for precious in the sight of the Lord +is the death of his saints, for he only takes them +from the evil to come.” Oh, but for Jesus, the +never setting star of our heavenly way, amidst +the wilderness what would our situation now be. +Jesus is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, +and our heavenly Father’s love we have too often +proved to doubt it now. But, poor nature is +bowed very very low, when I look at my dear +boys and little babe, and see only poor little Kitto +to be left for their care for hundreds of miles +around; it needs all those consolations of God’s +spirit to keep the soul from sinking also with the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +body; but the Lord has said, “Leave your fatherless +children unto me,” and to him we desire to +leave them.</p> + +<p>We did feel assured that the Lord would spare +our dear little united happy family; but his ways +are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts. +Dear little Kitto, I feel for his situation also from +my heart.</p> + +<p>All the conversation of my dear dying wife, for +these twelve months past, but especially as our +difficulties and trials increased, was on the peace +she enjoyed in the Lord. Often and often she has +said to me, notwithstanding the disparity of every +thing external, I never in England enjoyed that sweet +sense of my Lord’s loving care that I have enjoyed +in Bagdad. And her assurance of her Lord’s love +never forsook her, even after she felt herself attacked +by the plague. While contemplating the +mysteriousness of the Providence, her mind was +overwhelmed; but when she thought on her Lord’s +love, she was confident in his graciousness. From +almost the first, her brain has been so oppressed, +that with difficulty she opens her eyes, and though +she can answer a question of two or three words, +Yes, or No; yet, if it involves the slightest exercise +of thought, she always replies, “I do not +know what you say.” When I consider all I +and the dear children lose, should we survive +her, it is almost more than my heart can contemplate. +On any essential point, for some years, +we have never had divided judgment on any material +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +point; in every work of faith, or labour of +love, her desire was to animate, not to hinder. +Such simple truth of purpose, and unaffected love, +and confidence in her Lord, as dwelt in her +dear departing spirit, I have seldom seen, and +those who knew her intimately will not think I +say too much. She has been to me in the relation +of Christian wife, and Missionary wife, just what +I felt I so much, so very much needed. And yet +the Lord sees fit to take her to himself, and add +one more from my little family to the chosen, faithful, +and true company that surrounds his throne. +Lord, then, though it cuts nature to the quick, +makes me feel its deepest suffering, and meets +me under the most complicated forms of trial, +yet if it be for thy glory, and her glory, do, dear +Lord, thine Almighty will, and we know thou +wilt to thy chosen, make light spring up out of +darkness.</p> + +<p><em>May 10.</em>—Last evening my dearest wife was +more herself than she had been, till within a few +hours of her being taken ill, which was manifested +by her asking to see dear little baby, the first +thing she had voluntarily asked for, since her illness, +without being spoken to. She again mentioned +the subject of her confidence in her Lord, +and acquiescence in his will. She asked me +what I thought of her situation. I said I had +committed her to the Lord, who, I knew, would +deal graciously by her. She replied, “Yes, that +he will.” She continued in this state of improvement +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +till to-day at about nine o’clock, when her +mind again began to wander. When I quoted to +her, that to the Lord’s servants light should spring +up in darkness, she said, “Yes, that it shall.” +She said, “I feel much better than yesterday—don’t +you see that I am.” In fact, my hopes of +her being really improving would have been complete, +but from that peculiar look of the eyes, +which authors who have written on this subject, +all denote as most fatal; from this, therefore, my +hopes never were very high, yet though I had +yesterday been enabled, through the Lord’s grace, +to lie in his hands like a weaned child, to-day the +disappointment of the dear hope, slight as it was, +of having her restored to us, has brought my soul +again into very deep waters. She also this morning +expressed her anxiety about the dear children, +and her fear, least in attending her, I should take +the plague, and they be left orphans here.</p> + +<p>In every respect, certainly the Lord has been +most gracious to her. She is about to be transplanted +to her native soil, where tears and sorrows +shall never enter, and in the way of her removal, +since the Lord’s time is come, nothing can be more +compassionate to her peculiar weakness of heart +than not allowing her anxiety to dwell on the dear +children, and their probable situation here. To +have been happy in quitting them, amidst such a +scene as now surrounds us, and in such a country, +perhaps no mortal faith could have been equal to; +the Lord, therefore, suffered not her mind to possess +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +its usual sensibilities; but took them from +her, and left her only to return to his bosom in +peace.</p> + +<p>I feel the Holy Ghost again sustaining my poor +weak heart in the prospect of losing such a wife, +and remaining solitary here with three dear motherless +children; but I know the Lord in whom +I have believed, and he will not fail his chosen +in one of all those good things he has promised. +Our trials are indeed very very great; but the +Lord, the comforter, is greater even than they. +My dearest wife now (two o’clock,) is quite delirious. +Dear spirit! I have attended her night +and day since the evening of the 7th, on which she +was taken ill, and I allow no one else to approach +her. The Lord is my only stay, my only support, +and he is a support indeed.</p> + +<p><em>May 11.</em>—This night has been the most trying +of my life. How hard for the soul to see the object +of its longest and best grounded earthly affections +suffering without the power of affording +relief, knowing too that a heavenly Father who +has sent it, can relieve it, and yet seems to turn +a deaf ear to one’s cries; at the same time, I +felt, in the depths of my soul’s affections, that +notwithstanding all, he is a God of infinite love. +Satan has sorely tried me, but the Lord has shewn +me, in the 22d Psalm, a more wonderful cry <em>apparently</em> +unheeded, and the Holy Ghost has given +me the victory, and enabled me to acquiesce in my +Father’s will, though I now see not the end of his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +holy and blessed ways. Dear, dear spirit! she +will soon wing her way to where her heart has +long been; and, if I am spared, I shall perhaps +have reason to bless God for having removed her +thus early.</p> + +<p>The plague has attacked two more of our household—the +schoolmaster’s wife and our maid-servant, +and how far it will go now, no one knows +but he who guides it by his sovereign will. My +dearest Mary’s sufferings for four or five hours +last night were great; she was quite delirious, +and her dear voice was so affected, that I could +not make out two words connectedly. How mysterious +are God’s ways! Oh my soul, learn the +lesson of patient submission to his holy will. I +have cast myself upon him and he will guide me. +Dear Mary, to-day has been quite insensible. +It has indeed been a very painful day, but it is the +condition of this world. Dear spirit! her heart +has been so set on her Lord’s coming of late, that +it seemed quite to absorb her thoughts and heart. +And now she will quickly join the holy assembly +that are waiting to come with him. Surely such +times as these, when the Lord is taking a ripe +shock of corn from your field, are seasons to rejoice +that your prayer for the quick accomplishment +of the number of God’s elect has been heard, +and yet how hard it is for nature not to feel deep +sorrow that a message has come for one of yours.</p> + +<p>Poor dear Kitto and the little boys are now +become the sole nurses of the dear baby by night +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +and by day. Oh, may the Lord watch over them +and bless them. My last night’s attendance on +my dear wife, leaves me little hope of escaping +the plague, unless it be our Father’s special will +to preserve me, for in her delirium she required +so many times to be lifted from place to place, +and to have all her clothes changed, that I can +now only cry to the Lord to preserve me, if it may +be a little while, for the dear children’s sake.</p> + +<p>The Lord has most graciously provided us with a +servant of Mrs. T’s. to come and attend my dear +Mary.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +Oh may my soul bless him for this timely +help, just when our own servant was taken ill. +This woman has been in the midst of all the contagion, +and has never taken it; so it may be the +Lord’s will to shew how he can work even in the +midst of the darkest trials. She sits down beside +the dear sufferer, keeps the flies from her face, +and does every thing for her the fondest heart +could desire. She came out with us from England, +having gone there with Mrs. T.; is a native +of these countries, knows all that is required in +sickness, and how to perform the duties of a nurse, +with the most unwearied patience, tenderness, +and watchfulness. She also knows something of +English, and having been with dear Mrs. T. in +England, is acquainted with English customs. +Surely the Lord heard my cry in the day of my +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +deep distress, for such a person perhaps could not +be got again within a thousand miles. That she +should have been left too when all the rest went +away. She has made dear Mary look so comfortable; +she washes her and changes her, who though +insensible, lies so quiet, and looks so composed. +She said she knew the Lord would be very gracious, +and he has been so indeed—he sees it right +to take his sheep home to his fold; but he has so +overwhelmed me by this proof of his loving kindness, +this ray of light arising in the midst of my +darkness, that it seems to have led my heart yet +more and more to love him and to confide in him, +that he may yet stay his rough wind in the day of +his east wind. This kind friend, Mrs. T.’s servant, +proposes to remain with us until all our family +are either well or dead.</p> + +<p><em>May 12.</em>—Up to this day I am well, thank God, +but seeing the ways of the Lord are so marvellous, +I have arranged all my little concerns, and +put them into the hands of dear Kitto, for the +little boys and our dear little baby, till they arrive +at some of those places where there may be some +one to take care of them, and carry them to their +guardians or my trustees. But as poor Kitto is +so little able to provide even for himself, much +less for the little boys, I shall now endeavour, +the Lord enabling me, to arrange with this woman, +Mariam by name, to undertake every thing +for them till she can give them over to Major T., +to whose family she is going, unless they return +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +here. This woman was an old servant of dear +Mrs. R. She has consented to undertake this +charge, and is to remain with the dear, dear children. +She knows enough of English to make +herself understood by the dear children, and she +thoroughly understands the language, manners, +and habits of this people.—Whether it may ever +be the Lord’s will to call into exercise the arrangements +of this plan or not, I trust I never shall +forget the Lord’s unspeakable mercy in shewing me, +that when I saw no earthly protector for my poor +children, his holy, loving, and fatherly hand +could provide one if it were necessary. Oh, may +my faith in him in the darkest day never fail, for +it is a light that springeth up in darkness.</p> + +<p>Dearest Mary is gradually sinking into the +bosom of the Lord, and to join in the society her +soul has so long and so truly loved, of the lovers +of the Lamb of God. Though the Lord has +taken away the desire of my eyes, as it were +with a stroke, and left me a few hours to cry +unto him in the midst of my deep, deep waters; +yet these visions of his love have so revived my +soul, that my whole soul is brought to acquiesce +in his holy and fatherly arrangements, with respect +to her who was once the joy, the help, and companion +of all in which I was engaged. I sit +down now to wait, and see the salvation of my +God, for doubtless he will reveal, in his own +good time, the reason why he has acted so contrary, +not only to mine, but especially my dear +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +wife’s strongest convictions, which were, that he +would preserve us all safe through this calamity.</p> + +<p>When I now contemplate the spiritual state +of dear Mary’s mind for the last twelve months, +I am not at all surprised that the Lord has taken +her as a ripe shock of corn, but my expectation +while watching her spiritual progress was so +different. I saw her daily growing in the simple +assurance of her Lord’s love, and desiring under +heaven neither to know nor serve any other +than him. Her heart was panting for the Lord’s +coming, that the mystery of iniquity might be +finished, and the mystery of godliness be fully +established; but I thought not of all this being +preparatory to her joining her Lord, but for the +strengthening of my poor weak hands here. It +never entered my heart that I was to be left +alone, as far as earth is concerned, most alone. +Those friends for whom this journal is alone +designed, know how much she was to me, and +how deservedly so: this, however, the Lord saw +had its great, great dangers too, and may in his +infinite mercy to us both have ripened her so +rapidly for glory, and left me here to serve and +praise; for I have felt it was very, very hard to +be as the Apostle says, having a wife as though +I had none. Now, when I go and look upon her +having reached within one short step, the habitation +of all her hopes; I have not a spiritual +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +affection within my soul that would call her back; +but poor nature bows reluctantly its head.</p> + +<p>The dear little baby also is but poorly. Her +dear little cry of mamma, mamma, cuts my poor +heart like a knife, to think, that from to-day or +probably to-morrow, she must cease to know that +endearing name, and such a mother too! However, +the Lord tells his children to leave their +fatherless, and doubtless motherless ones to him. +Lord, I desire so to do; for he is a dear and +kind father, though <em>nature</em> cannot always see it, +and indeed how could this be? for that which is +<em>natural</em> in us is, not only in its will opposed to +God, but even in its best affections tainted from +the fall. Were it not that the Lord whom we love +and serve, is as infinite in his compassions, as he +is mysterious in his ways, the days that must come +when the excitement of present suffering will be +past, and my soul begins to look round and see +the extent of its desolations, in a country, too, +where there is nothing to comfort or cheer me, +would appear to me too dark to be borne, did I +not know the Lord hath said, I will not leave you +orphans, but I will come unto you; so if he does +come and dwell more sensibly within me, even my +poor dull and slow-growing spirit may soon be +ripened and gathered into his kingdom, there to +join my dear departing spirit in the realms of +light.</p> + +<p><em>May 13.</em>—My dearest wife has reached the light +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +of another day, still quietly sinking without a +sigh and without a groan. This my prayer for her +in the night of my darkness the Lord has mercifully +heard. At present all the remaining ones +of the family are well. I have separated the dear +little boys and Kitto, and allow them to hold +intercourse with none. The dear baby, and myself, +and the maid, and the little boy of our sick +servant, are also much separated, and this nurse, +whom the Lord sent us, alone attends the sick; +but yet so contagious is this fearful disease, that +when it has once entered your dwelling, you can +know no other safety than in your Lord’s preserving +care. These are indeed days of trial, but +doubtless they will have their precious fruit in all +God’s children; for the eyes of the Lord are upon +the righteous, and his ears are open unto their +cry—for the Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, +therefore none of them that trust in him +shall be desolate—no, not even I, poor and worthless +as I am, I shall yet praise him who is the +Lord of my life, and my God.</p> + +<p>The dear boys also keep up their spirits much +better than the first two or three days after their +dear mamma was taken ill. The magnitude of +present danger to themselves, and to all, in some +measure divides their thoughts, and prevents them +from resting alone on that deeply affecting prospect +before them, for they loved her most truly, +and, Oh! how much reason had they to love her.</p> + +<p>I have just heard that the streets begin again +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +to be crowded, shops here and there to be opened, +and the gardeners are bringing things from without +into the city. To think that so near the end +we should have been thus visited, how mysterious! +Yet my soul says, What thou seest not, thou shalt +see. If it does but lead to my Lord’s glory, I am +sure it will lead to my dear sufferer’s; then why +should I repine?</p> + +<p>Water is also reduced to 1s. 3d. the skin, the +price it was at before. For these proofs of mercy +to the people, we will bless God in the midst of +our own personal sorrows.</p> + +<p><em>May 14.</em>—This day dearest Mary’s ransomed +spirit took its seat among those dressed in white, +and her body was consigned to the earth that gave +it birth—a dark, heavy day to poor nature, but +still the Lord was the light and stay of it.</p> + +<p>I cannot help exceedingly blessing my heavenly +Father, however these calamities (for to nature +they are such, though not to the heirs of glory) +may end that he has allowed me to continue in +health so long as to see every thing done I could +have desired, and so infinitely more than I could +have expected, for her whom I have so much +reason to love.</p> + +<p><em>May 15, 16.</em>—I have heard to-day that the +French Roman Catholic Archbishop of Babylon +has been dead a long time, and two of his priests, +and the remaining two fled. The poor schoolmaster’s +wife is dying, and our servant I trust, +recovering: the rest of our household within and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +without, thank God, all continue in good health—even +dear little baby, though rather cross from +want of amusement, and from her teeth.</p> + +<p>They say new cases of plague have almost entirely +disappeared; may the Lord grant its speedy +disappearance altogether. We have had no intelligence +from the Taylors since their departure, +which makes us very anxious. As the waters are +decreasing, the relics of those families which fled +are returning; and, in numberless cases, out of +eighteen in a family who left, only one or two +return. The others died in the greatest misery +and destitution of all things, distressed by the +plague, the water, and scarcity, and the air in all +the roads was tainted from the immense number +of dead bodies lying by the way.</p> + +<p>I feel to-day many symptoms similar to those +with which my dearest Mary’s illness commenced—pains +in the head and heaviness, pains in the +back, and shooting pains through the glands and +the arms. At another time I should think only +of them as the result of a common cold; but now +I know not how to discriminate, the beginnings +are so similar. Should these be my last lines in +this journal, I desire to ascribe all praise to the +sovereign grace and unspeakable love of my heavenly +Father, who, from before the foundation of +the world, set his eye of redeeming love on me in +the person of his dear and well-beloved Son. I +bless God for all the way he has led me; and vile +and wretched sinner as I feel I am, unworthily as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +I have in all my life served him, yet I feel he has +translated the affections of my inmost soul from +earth to heaven, from the creature to himself. As +to the dear, dear helpless children, I have committed +them to his love, with the full assurance +that if he transplants me from hence to himself, +to join the partner of my earthly history, he will +provide them much, yea, very much better than I, +or ten thousand fathers could do. To his love and +promises, then, in Christ Jesus, I leave them; +and strange and wonderful as his dealings appear, +he has made my soul to acquiesce in them. To all +the family of the redeemed of the Lord, especially +those I know, I entreat you let your conversation +be as it becometh the gospel of Christ; always +abound in his most holy work, for you know your +labour is not in vain in the Lord. Be as those who +wait for their Lord with your lamp trimmed, for +shortly he who shall come will come, and will not +tarry. My soul embraces those I especially knew +with all its powers, and desires for them that +Christ may exceedingly be glorified in them, and +by them, amen, and amen.</p> + +<p><em>May 17.</em>—To-day the fever has almost entirely +left me, so that I feel a very little, except weakness, +but never can I sufficiently praise God for the experience +of yesterday. I certainly never expected +again to have written in this journal, and few circumstances +could have apparently presented themselves +more trying to the heart, to have the prospect +of soon leaving in a city like Bagdad, at this time, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +three helpless children, and the impossibility of +making those provisions for them, which at another +time might have been comparatively easy, seemed +altogether more than the heart could support; yet +so abundantly did the Lord allow his love to pass +before me, so fully did he assure me of his loving +care, that I felt no doubt for them—and, for myself, +the prospect of soon joining him was specially +exhilarating. He allowed me to see my free +and full forgiveness and acceptance, and I never +felt more the preciousness of such a salvation as +the Gospel of Jesus provides for the sinner, than +when I was as I thought, just entering eternity, +to plead it as the ground of my hope before God. +There seemed such simplicity in having only to +believe you were redeemed by his love, and should +be eternally preserved by the same, instead of +having to do with weighing the sum of your beggarly +services, all of which one hates now, and +oh, how shall we hate them when we see him face +to face. May our dear Lord make the promise +he made to his disciples, good to my poor bereaved +heart, and come himself and fill it with his fulness, +that having him I may indeed feel I have all +things.</p> + +<p><em>May 18.</em>—Our poor servant died last night, +notwithstanding our hopes of her recovery, and +has left one little orphan boy of seven years old +with us. Oh that I could think of her transition +from hence to eternity, and contemplate her, as +the Lord to my unspeakable comfort allows me to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +contemplate my dear, dear wife, dwelling in the +light of her Lord’s countenance, where there is +fulness of joy for evermore.</p> + +<p>The schoolmaster has just told me, that out of +forty relations, he has now only four—the rest have +all been swept away. The accounts we have of +the misery, in which many of these died who endeavoured +to fly, is truly heart-rending; with the +water nearly half a yard high in their tents, without +victuals or the means of seeking or buying +any, they suffered every privation and misery +that can be imagined, and one poor family which +has returned, described the intense desire they +had to return and die quietly in their houses. But +return they could not, for the waters had so risen +that there was no road, and no boats could be obtained, +but at an immense price, which a few only +could pay, and very few obtain even at any price.</p> + +<p>Oh! how many alleviations to the trials of parting +with those we loved, the Lord allowed us in +permitting us to see them surrounded by every +comfort they could want, and with every attendance +that could alleviate a moment’s uneasiness.</p> + +<p>From the Taylors at Bussorah we have yet +heard no accounts, and are therefore most anxious +to know how the Lord has been moving among +them. I have just heard that orders have +come from Stamboul,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> +to the Pashas marching +against this Pasha, to desire them to return, and +that another messenger is on the way from Stamboul +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +to bring his annual dress of investiture. Should +it be really thus, our dear friends may soon be +here from Aleppo; it would indeed be a great +comfort; but the Lord regards, in this dispensation, +our real advantage more than our sensible +comfort, we therefore desire to leave all to his +Holy, gracious ordering, who, though he orders +all things after the counsel of his own free will, +has no will towards us, but that we should be +filled with the fulness of Christ, and be conformed +to his image.</p> + +<p><em>May 19.</em>—The water to-day has again fallen +considerably in price, and as far as we can judge, +God has mercifully nearly extinguished this desolating +plague. I now feel quite satisfied the attack +I had the other day was an attack of the +plague, though very slight. The schoolmaster, +yesterday, was attacked in the same way with a +pain in his back and head, and a pain in his glands, +one of which is decidedly enlarged, but still it is +very slight, and I trust to-morrow, with the +Lord’s blessing, to see him, with the exception of +weakness, well again. We are, thank God, all +well; the only thing I now suffer from is weakness +and pain in the glands and under the arm, +but there is no enlargement, and I trust in a day +or two it will go entirely away. I heard, to-day, +the Pasha had been ill of the plague this week; it +is now reported he is dead; but we know nothing +certain. One of his sons is also dead.</p> + +<p>This has been a heavy day with my poor heart, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +so slow a scholar am I under my dear Master’s +teaching. Yet I feel he will fill me with his own +most blessed presence, and then I shall be able to +bear easily all other bereavements. How strange +it is that feeling should rule with so much +more power than principle, over the happiness of +the soul, even when the spirit still imparts strength +to direct the conduct aright. The feelings seize +on the slightest recollection; and oh, what fuel +have they when every thing in the minutest daily +occurrences, every thing in the events passing +around us, at once come directly on the heart +and press upon it; and when there is not a soul +near, not only not to supply all that is lost, but +not even a portion of it, and yet notwithstanding +all this, that now weighs on me, I feel the Lord +himself will be yet more to me than all I have +lost. I feel I have been skimming too much on +the surface of Christianity instead of being clothed +with Christ. Oh! what a child am I in the life +of faith, but I feel the Lord has my poor soul in +his training, and though the discipline may seem +severe, it is only the severity of uncompromising +love.</p> + +<p><em>May 20.</em>—This has been a day of mercies at +the hand of the Most High. For a day or two +past, I had observed a little dust falling through +a creak in the wall, and although on any other +occasion, it would have excited no anxiety; yet, +knowing the cellars were full of water, I thought +it better this morning early to take out all our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +things from this room; it was our own, mine and +dear Mary’s, and therefore contained all we had of +clothing, &c.; the dear little boys and the servant +were helping me, and we had not finished +taking out the last things above ten minutes, when +the whole arch on which the room was built gave +way—our little stock of things and ourselves being +all safe. Oh! my soul, bless the Lord who watcheth +over the ways of his children.</p> + +<p>Oh! how easy it is to kiss our dear and loving +Father’s hand when he turns bright providences +towards us. How easy, then, it is to praise! but +I feel my dearest teacher is teaching me the hardest +lesson to kiss the hand that wounds, to bless +the hand that pours out sorrow, and to submit, +with all my soul, though I see not a ray of light. +Oh, thou holy and blessed Spirit, come and help +thy poor wayward scholar, who indeed would not +entertain a hard thought of his dear and loving +Father. Through much tribulation we must enter +into the kingdom; therefore, blessed Lord, prepare +me for thy service. I am a poor inexperienced +soldier; clothe me with the whole armour +of God, that my soul may praise in the darkest +day. All but myself are quite well, and my indisposition +seems only at present a little weakness, +which perhaps the exertions of removing the things +from our room to-day, and all the painful associations +connected with it, has this evening a little +increased: but the Lord is very pitiful, and says, +Ask what you will of my Father, and he will give +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +it you. Dear Lord, fill me with thyself, that there +may be no more room for the grief of any creature. +Thou, and thy Father, and the blessed Spirit, +one eternal God alone, are eternally a satisfying +portion.</p> + +<p>I am very anxious about the poor schoolmaster: +should he die, he will be the last of our teachers; +<em>three</em> are already dead, and he alone remains.—Oh, +my Lord, my soul desires to wait on thee for +light, and to remember Mizar and Hermon—days +when the sun shone upon our path; but the frost +may be as necessary to bring the cover to full perfection +as the genial sun and showers. Dear Husbandman, +do thine own will, only make us bear +much fruit, that thou mayest be glorified.</p> + +<p><em>May 21.</em>—Last night thieves endeavoured three +times to force an outer door, but did not succeed—the +whole city is swarming with them.</p> + +<p>To-day the Pasha of Mosul is come to Bagdad; +what it portends we know not; but the Lord +reigneth, therefore let the Saints rejoice; they +can only accomplish his will who is our Father +and our God.</p> + +<p>I have to-day sent off a messenger to Major +T. to Bussorah, may he quickly return with good +tidings of them all. To-day I have also heard of +a caravan proposing to go to Aleppo. Every account +we have of the plague confirms its almost +entire disappearance. Our walking now is altogether +by faith: we see not a ray of light for the +future, but the Lord will let light spring out of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +darkness, so that his servants who wait upon him +shall not always mourn. Oh how different a thing +faith is in a cloudy and dark day, and when all +things smile around. I had intentionally renounced +the world, yet the Lord saw that I held +more of it than I knew in the dear object he has +removed. In England, where I had many dear +Christian friends, she was my constant companion; +but <em>here</em> she was on earth all I had left—my sorrows, +my hopes, my fears, she shared and bore +them all. I feel Christ my Lord has in store for +me in himself some great and special good in exchange +for all this, but my poor weak faithless +heart does not yet see the way of his going forth.</p> + +<p>Miriam is most kind to my sweet little helpless +babe.</p> + +<p><em>May 22.</em>—Our dear Lord said to his sorrowing +disciples, You have heard how I said unto you, I +go away and come again unto you. <em>If ye loved +me ye would rejoice because I said I go unto the +Father</em>, that is, if you loved me above the enjoyment +of my society and help, ye would rejoice; +how hard this is: as it was true of the departing +head, so it is true of every member, and yet I feel +my selfish heart constantly forgetting that true +love which under the crucifixion of all one’s own +feelings can truly rejoice at the happiness of an +object beloved, even at this expense.</p> + +<p>This has again been an anxious day. Dear Henry +complained this morning of a swelling under his ear, +or rather under the angle of the jaw, where there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +was on feeling it, an evidently enlarged gland; however, +to the praise of the Lord’s great grace, it is +evidently passing away without any general attack +on the constitution. I really believe the Holy Ghost +is making these events instrumental in working a +deep sense on the minds of the dearest boys of the +importance of their souls; there is a concern about +religion, a willingness to talk about it I have +not before observed. Oh, may the Lord’s blessed +spirit water these seeds till they become plants of +renown, to the glory of our own Lord’s great +name.</p> + +<p><em>May 23.</em>—Oh my poor heart flutters like a bird +when it contemplates the extent of its bereavement +as a husband, a father, a missionary. Oh, +what have I not lost! Dear Lord sustain my poor +weak faith. Thy gracious visits sometimes comfort +my soul; yet my days move heavily on; but the +Lord who redeemeth the souls of his servants has +declared, that none of those who trust in him shall +be desolate. Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief. +I do indeed desire with my whole soul to +cast myself into the ocean of thy love, and never to +let Satan have one advantage over me, by instilling +into my heart hard thoughts of thy ways. +Surely we expect trials, and if so, and thou sendest +one other than we expected, should it surprise us +when we see but a point in the circle of thy providence, +and thou seest the end from the beginning.</p> + +<p><em>May 24.</em>—To-day Kitto has been very unwell.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +<em>May 25.</em>—To-day the dear baby is very unwell, +but Kitto better. Thus the Lord interchanges +his merciful trials and merciful reliefs. I +feel one great want, “To be filled with all the +fulness of Christ,” that there may be no room for +those fluctuations, which from short intervals of +sweet peace, plunge me into depths of sorrow and +astonishment: yet I know the Lord will heal, he +will bind up what he has broken. O my soul, +wait patiently on him to learn all, I know he would +teach thee: let patience have her perfect work, +for the trial of our faith is much more precious +than of gold that perisheth. My eyes are daily, +hourly looking unto the Lord for a little ray of +light, but as yet I see none: yet we know that +they that trust on the Lord shall not walk in darkness, +but mercies shall encompass them about.</p> + +<p><em>May 26.</em>—To-day, thank God, all our household +are tolerably well.—All accounts from without +say the plague is ended. May the Lord grant it!</p> + +<p><em>May 27.</em>—My dear baby still very poorly. +Dear Lord, I commit this tender delicate flower to +thy loving gracious keeping. Oh my God, my +soul has been much cast down within me; but +thou hast enabled me to remember thee from the +land of Jordan, and the Hermonites, from the +hill Mizar. O Lord, only let thy love appear +shining through the clouds that surround me, and +my soul will rejoice; it is only when the adversary +prevails so far as to say, He loves thee not, that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +my soul is overwhelmed within me; for if I have +not the Lord, whom have I? for vile and worthless +as all my manifestations of love have been, +cold and dead as all my worship, low and doubting +as all my confidence has been, yet Lord, all +my desire is to love thee better and serve thee +more singally, who art infinitely worthy of all love +and all service. How strong our tower seems till +the Lord blow upon its foundations, and then +much that looked so fair, flies like the chaff of the +summer threshing floor, and meet it is, if the immoveable +parts of Christ’s own building be found +to connect the poor fluttering soul with the Rock +of Ages. Oh may my soul drink daily more and +more deeply into that spirit of adoption and love, +and assurance of the Lord’s favour, that gilded the +last year of my dear, dear Mary’s life.—Lord, I feel +I am a very child; but Lord, lead thou me by +thine own right hand. Oh my heart longs for +Christian communion—some one to whom I can +talk of Jesus and his ways, and with whom I may +take counsel; yet it now seems as though many +months must elapse before our dear friends can +come from Aleppo, but the Lord knows what +is best, and to him we leave all our cares, and the +providing for all our necessities. I pray the Lord +to pour down his Holy Spirit upon my poor heart, +and strengthen it for trials. It was one of my +dearest Mary’s greatest comforts, as it has been +mine, to know so many of those who were dear +to the Lord, and had purposed wholly to follow +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +him, were praying for our guidance and welfare;—this +used to be in our evening walks, on the +roof of our house, a theme of thanksgiving, and +used daily to draw out our hearts to the Lord for +the continual dew of his blessing upon them. Oh +when they hear of all the Lord’s dealing, may their +spirits be stirred up within them to pray that I +may be filled with him who filleth all in all. I +long to love my Eternal God—Father, Son, and +Spirit, more with all my undivided heart; the +coldness of my love—the lowness of my desires is +my abiding sorrow.</p> + +<p><em>May 28.</em>—To-day came letters from England, +but Oh, how strangely altered; those very letters +which would have animated anew all our endeavours, +and led us to praise God together, had +dearest Mary been here to share them, came +winged with passages that wrung my heart. But +still the love of the saints of God, of those we +love, has much sweetness in it; and then again to +hear of our dear sister’s thoughtful love towards +our tender little babe in providing her clothes, +which, while they are doing, my heart heaves +with the prospect of losing the sweet little flower—so +tender—so needing more than a mother’s care. +But the Lord is most compassionately gracious, +and what he does not reveal, he will hereafter.</p> + +<p>I have also had intelligence to-day that my dear +brothers and sisters had been two months ago on +the point of setting off for Aleppo; but whether +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +they received news of the plague and returned, +or are waiting at Anah, I know not, but I greatly +need them—yet still the Lord knows best how +much I need them, and when.</p> + +<p>When I think of my lowness in the attainments +of the divine life, my little knowledge, and +less love of my dear Lord, I wonder how he has +so graciously allowed me a place in the hearts of +his chosen, and that he should allow our weak, +tottering, and faithless walk, to encourage the +young and lusty eagles to take their higher flight +is wonderful; but it is that the glory might be +his.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>In concluding this portion of my journal, I shall +just take a little view of the last two years, as it +is now within a few days of two years since I left +my dear, dear friends and native shore.</p> + +<p>From the day my dearest Mary and myself deliberately +prepared to set out on the work in which +we finally embarked, the Lord never allowed us +to doubt that it was <em>his</em> work, and that the result +on the church of God would be greater than our +remaining quietly at home. All our subsequent +intercourse with his dear children in England, +and in our journey, had a confirmatory tendency, +and all the communications from the dear circle +to whom we were known, insignificant as we +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +were, convinced us that the cause of the Lord +had suffered no detriment—that many had been +led to act with more decision, and some to pursue +measures which possibly might not otherwise have +been undertaken.</p> + +<p>Again, the Lord’s great care over us in his +abundant provision for all our necessities, although +every one of those sources failed we had calculated +upon naturally when we left England, enabled +us yet further to sing of his goodness.</p> + +<p>Then, as to our work; when we left England, +schools entered not into our plan; but when we +arrived here, the Lord so completely put the school +of the Armenians into our hands, that on consultation +both my dearest Mary, myself, and Mr. Pfander +thought that the Lord’s children and saints must +take the work the Lord gives, particularly +as there appeared no immediate prospect of +other work. We entered on it, and by dear Mr. +Pfander’s most efficient help, the children were +soon brought to translate God’s word with understanding, +and the school increased from 35 to near +80. My dearest Mary had long desired to undertake +the girl’s school exclusively; but previous +to her confinement she did not feel able; but as +soon as she got about, she undertook it heartily, +and the dear little children were so attached to +their employments, that they used to come on +their holidays. She had got so far on in Armenian, +as to be able to prepare for them, in large +characters, some little pieces of Carus Wilson’s, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +which I got translated into the Armenian of this +place, and the dear little children were so interested +by them, that they exceedingly desired to +take them home, and read them to their mothers, +which in two or three days they were to have done. +For our own instruction in Arabic and Armenian, +and for the school, we had five most competent +teachers. Thus things went on up to the end of +March, when the appearance of the plague obliged +us to break up the school. But now two months +have passed, and Oh! how changed. Half the +children, or more, are dead; many have left the +place; the five teachers are dead, and my dear, +dear Mary. When I think on this, my heart is +overwhelmed within me, and I remain in absolute +darkness as to the meaning of my Lord and Father; +but shall I therefore doubt him now, after +so many proofs of love, because he acts inscrutably +to me? God forbid! That the Lord made the +coming of my dearest wife, and her multiplied +trials and blessings, the instruments of her soul’s +rapid preparation for his presence, I have no +doubt. I never heard a soul breathe a more simple, +firm, and unostentatious faith in God. She +never had a doubt but that it was for the Lord +she left all that was naturally dear to her to expose +herself to dangers from which, with a constitutional +timidity, she shrunk. Her soul was most +especially drawn out towards her Lord’s coming, +and this spread a gilded halo round every trial. +She constantly exclaimed, as we walked on the roof +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +of our house<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> +of an evening, “When will he come?” +Often she would say to me, I never enjoyed such +spiritual peace as since I have been in Bagdad—such +an unvarying sense of nearness to Christ, +and assurance of his love and care; we came out +trusting only under his wing, and he will never +forsake us. Her strongest assurance was certainly +that the Lord would not allow the plague to enter +our dwelling; but when she saw that the Lord +mysteriously accepted not this confidence, but let +it rest even on her, it never disturbed her peace, +as I have mentioned before. She said to me, “I +know not which is to me most mysterious, that the +Lord should have laid his hand upon me, or, +having laid it, that I should enjoy such peace as +I do.” And in this peace and confidence, every +subsequent moment of sensibility was passed. Her +constant exclamation was, “I know he will do +most graciously by me.” Yet notwithstanding all +the happiness I have in contemplating her among +the redeemed, thus clothed in white; and +notwithstanding the triumphing conviction I have in +spite of the temptations of Satan, and the darkness +that envelopes my present position, that all +is the offspring of infinite love; yet at times the +overwhelming loss I have sustained, in every possible +way that a husband, a father, a missionary, +and even a man, can know, so affects me that but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +for my Lord’s loving presence, I should be overwhelmed.</p> + +<p>I now wait till the arrival of my dear friends to +consult with them as to our future plans. May +the Lord, if it be his pleasure, quickly send them +hither, and direct us in all our plans and purposes, +so that we may be led to fulfil his will.</p> + +<p><em>May 30.</em>—A messenger has arrived from Bussorah, +bringing intelligence of the kind Taylors; +but the letters he brought were all taken from +him, and he stripped to his shirt, a few miles from +Bagdad. However, by word of mouth, he brings, +on the whole, good accounts. All their immediate +family are well; some have died, among +those that accompanied them, and nearly all the +Arab sailors, but as the letters are lost, we know +not the particulars.</p> + +<p><em>May 31.</em>—I have had another proof of my +heavenly Father’s care. An Armenian merchant has +sent his servant to me to say, he proposes sending +him every day to buy for me what I want from +the bazaar, and also to offer me any money I may +want. The latter I had no occasion to accept, for +when the Jew left the city who was to supply me, +and the man died who was to obtain it for me, +and I seemed left without remedy, an Armenian +offered to supply whatever I might want, without +any application on my part, and from him I have +had what I needed.</p> + +<p>Whether or not the affairs of the Pasha are +likely to be quietly settled, I know not; but I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +think there are some indications that the present +Pasha will remain. So intensely ruined does the +city appear, that the Pasha of Aleppo, who was to +have come and dispossessed him, seems to have +no desire for the exchange; and besides, the present +Pasha has offered so large a sum of money, +that there appears little doubt it will be accepted. +Dispatches have arrived for him, the contents +of which are not yet known; but the Pasha +says, he has received the most satisfactory letters. +He is, I believe, recovering daily his strength.</p> + +<p>Thus I finish this melancholy portion of my +journal—one of those dark pages in the history +of one’s life, that whenever the thoughts stray +towards it, chills to the very centre of one’s being; +and when we trace all its sources, and see they +terminate in sin, Oh! how hateful must that thing +be, which is fraught with such deadly consequences. +Oh! what a blessedness it is, amidst +all these lights and shades of life, to know that +the Rock on which we rest is the same, and does +not vary; and that whether he administers to us +the bitter portion or the sweet, his banner over us +is love.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p><em>June 5.</em>—Reports are again spreading that the +Pasha of Aleppo is within a few days of this place. +But we sit down and patiently wait the event.</p> + +<p><em>June 7.</em>—To-day a letter has reached me from +Major Taylor, being the first I have received since +he removed his family from this place to Bussorah, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +on the breaking out of the plague here. In every +one of the boats going down the river deaths +occurred, but especially in theirs, they losing seven +of their party. The plague broke out among the +Arab sailors, who secreted a corpse in the boat +several days, and from them it spread among his +African servants, and seized Mrs. Taylor’s +brother-in-law, so that I cannot see my early +conclusions were wrong as to not moving at that +time. And, moreover, the Pasha, or rather +Motezellim of Bussorah, has been driven out by a +party of Arabs, and he is now come against the +town with another large body of Turks, to endeavour +to recover it; so that even this evil of the +sword we should not have escaped. The Lord, +therefore, leaves me nothing to regret, unless it +be that I ought perhaps to have kept myself quite +apart from the rest of the family, after I had been +obliged by a sense of duty to go out during the +time the plague was raging. It is easy to be wise +after the events are past. The more I contemplate +the circumstances in which I have of late +been placed, the more I see of the trials and +anxieties of the missionary life, and of the mysteriousness +of God’s dealings; I feel the more overwhelmed +with the importance of the soul having +a deep sense of the love of God in Christ, +before it ventures upon such an undertaking. Our +dear Father very often, in love, explains to us his +reasons; at other times, he gives no account of +his matters; in the one case to excite love and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +confidence, in the other, to exercise faith. It +does seem to me, that no doctrines but those of +the sovereign grace of God, and his love entertained +towards the soul, before the foundation of +the world, and the revelation by the Holy Ghost +of the love and fellowship with Christ, and through +him with the Father, so that we have thereby +our life hid with him where no evil can reach us, +can happily sustain the soul. There is something +so filthy, so worthless in all our services, when +events render it probable to the soul that soon it +will appear before God, that the new creature +cannot endure the deformity and defilement, and +turns away its distressed sight to the love of the +Lord, and the garment he has provided without +spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. The experience +of my dear dear Mary on this head was most +striking. She often said to me, “They often +talked to me, and I often read of the happiness of +religion—but I can truly say I never knew what +misery was till I was concerned about religion, and +endeavoured to frame my life according to its +rules—the manifest powerless inadequacy of my +efforts to attain my standard, left me always +further removed from hope and peace than when +I never knew or thought of the likeness of Christ, +as a thing to be aimed after; and it was not till +the Holy Ghost was pleased of his infinite mercy +to reveal the love of my Heavenly Father in +Christ, as existing in <em>himself</em> before all ages, +contemplating me with pity, and purposing to save +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +me by his grace, and to conform me to the image +of Him whom my soul loves, that I really had +peace, or confidence, or strength. And if in any +measure I have been able to walk on with joy in +the ways of the Lord, it has been from the manifestation +of <em>his</em> love, and not from the abstract sense +of what is right, nor from the fear of punishment.” +This was the theme of her daily praise—the love +and graciousness of her Lord; and I can set my +seal, though with a comparatively feeble impression, +to the same truths, that the sense of the love +of Christ is the high road to walk in according to +the law of Christ.</p> + +<p><em>June 9.</em>—I have heard from a German merchant, +Mr. Swoboda, that above 15,000 persons, +many sick with the plague, and others, were buried +under the ruins of the houses that fell in the night +the water burst into the city. Nothing can give +a more awful impression of the mass of misery +then in the city, than that such an event, which at +another time, would have called forth every exertion +to remove the sufferers, and have been the +universal conversation and lamentation of the city, +passed by without any effort to relieve them, +and almost without a word of remark, but from +those immediately connected with the sufferers. +I hear that those who have closed their houses +intend opening them on the 18th inst. I bless +God for the intelligence; and trust the plague has +quite left us. Mr. Swoboda tells me he does not +expect to open his khan again for 12 months;—this, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +however, does not arise simply from the +plague, but because the rich merchants have all +left the city, and the principal Jews, from the +apprehension of the coming of Ali Pasha from +Aleppo, and that in consequence trade is at a +stand.</p> + +<p><em>June 10.</em>—Last evening the guns of the citadel +fired as for some good news, and we find, on enquiring, +that a messenger has come from the Sultan, +confirming the Pasha in his +Pashalic.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> +The Tartars, who are the bearers of this intelligence, +are expected to enter to-morrow or next day. +This arrangement, it is reported, has been brought +about by our Ambassador at Constantinople.—Should +it be the Lord’s pleasure that we now have +a little peace and quietness here, it will be a +great mercy, and an inconceivable relief from the +disquietude of the last 18 months; however, the +Lord knows what is best for us. These difficulties +have led my heart many times to him, when, perhaps, +but for them, it would have rested on some +lower object. This prospect of peace seems to +bring nearer the possibility of our dear friends +joining us from Aleppo, and this would indeed be +a great comfort.</p> + +<p><em>June 11.</em>—This day has made manifest that +more judgments are coming upon the city, and +instead of a <em>Firman</em> in favour Daoud Pasha, bringing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +peace, we can hear the sound of the cannon +of the new Pasha. He will little regard the <em>Firman</em> +that has come from the Sultan, if it has really +come, and which being here universally believed +to have been procured through the instrumentality +of our Ambassador, places the English in no very +acceptable position; but the Lord is our tower, +yea, our high tower, and into <em>him</em> we run. The +enemy is now about six miles off, and the whole +city is in a state of commotion that cannot be +described, every one armed with swords, pistols, and +guns, preparing for the expected contest. O +Lord, we commend ourselves to thy holy keeping, +for thou neither slumberest nor sleepest. When +all the difficulties of these countries follow upon +one another as rapidly as they have of late done +here, it seems very difficult to see how the word +of life is to go forth as a testimony. Yet it will; +for the Lord hath said it; therefore let not our +hearts fail, or our hands hang down, for the +Lord of all circumstances, who governs the most +disastrous as well as the most prosperous, is our +own Lord, the only begotten of the Father, full +of grace and truth. All the bazaars are closed, +and we are taking in water again at an advanced +price. Oh! Lord, when will thy holy and blessed +kingdom of peace come, when the nations shall +learn war no more, but love and light shall flourish +in the Lord! Wherever the blasting influence of +Mohammedanism extends, how iron bound all appears +against the truth: yet even this the Lord +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +will soften by his love, or break by his power. +May my soul be daily more and more sensible of +their misery and pride. Poor Mr. Goodell says, +in a letter, that after all the labours the American +missionaries have bestowed in Syria, they scarcely +know an individual to whom their message has +been peace, saving in the case of two or three +Armenians of whom they hoped well. No one +can imagine the disheartening feelings that often +try the missionary’s heart in the countries where +Mohammedanism is professed and dominant, and +where your mouth is sealed. Among heathens, +and especially in India, you can publish your testimony, +and this is a great comfort to the heart +that knows what a testimony it is, and what +promises are connected with its publication.</p> + +<p>Shortly after we ascended to the roof for our +evening walk, we heard the cannon and small +arms begin to fire, which informed us that the +contest was begun within the city. About eight +o’clock we heard multitudes crying out and shouting +before the seroy, or palace, and the account +was soon brought us that the inhabitants had +broken in and seized the Pasha. After this all +became quiet, except the firing of guns from the +tops of the houses, to frighten off the thieves, and +the cry of the watchmen, whom all, who can afford +it in these trying occasions, keep to protect them. +The Lord has hitherto extended his sheltering +wing over us, though without sword, pistol, gun, +or powder in the house; and the only men besides +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +myself, are Kitto, who is deaf, and the schoolmaster’s +father, who is blind: but the Lord is our +hope and our exceeding great reward.</p> + +<p><em>June 12.</em> <em>Lord’s day.</em>—The wretched Pasha +has just passed our house under a guard to the +residence of Saleh Beg, almost the only male relation +he suffered to live of the family he supplanted. +The Lord is now visiting on him his +cruelty and blood; so that what with the plague +and now the sword, there will hardly be one of +the apostate Georgians left.</p> + +<p>The day dawned quietly; but our house has +just been attacked by a band of lawless depredators, +asking for powder and offensive weapons. I +told them I had none; but seeing a carpenter +whom I knew, I told him I would let him and +three others in, if they would promise me that no +more should come in, which they did. So they entered, +and were very civil, though they searched +the house: I gave them some money, and they +went away, promising that nothing more should be +done to my house; but my only confidence is in +the Lord. They wanted to go from the roof of +my house to that of a rich neighbour’s of mine, +but I told them I could not allow that they +should make my house a passage to his, and they +were very civil and did not press it.</p> + +<p>A Frenchman who was teaching the Pasha’s +soldiers European discipline, has had his house +stripped, and when they were on the point of +killing him he turned Mohammedan. Before he +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +was professedly a Roman Catholic, but really an +infidel.</p> + +<p>Oh, my dear Mary, what a contrast to your +kingdom of peace and love! Lord Jesus come +quickly. For this I can now truly bless God that +she is freed from this season of trouble and anxiety. +The dear children bear it better than I could have +hoped; but the Lord sustains and comforts us in +the hope that as the new Pasha is near, this state +of inquietude may not continue long. The Pasha +of Mosul and an Arab chief have entered the city, +and are now at the palace, so thank God, the state +of anarchy is likely to be immediately put an end to. +The crier has been publishing the determination +of those now acting for the new Pasha, till he +enters to punish all who commit any depredations, +and desiring that the bazaars may be opened, and +every one go about his own work. Should this +be the end, we cannot but bless God that so +great a storm has passed over so lightly. But the +fact was, that the plague had destroyed all the +powers of resistance. All Daoud Pasha’s soldiers +were dead—all his public servants were dead—and +he, though recovering from the plague, unable +to take any active part for himself. When +he passed our house this morning, he was supported +on his horse by six men. He is not yet +killed, and on his expressing a wish to have his +son brought to him, he was sent for immediately. +Should they spare his life, it may augur that even +the Turks are coming to a sense of their barbarism. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +It has been a great comfort to me to-day, +to think on Noah’s case, that God did not forget +him amidst a condemned world.</p> + +<p><em>June 14.</em>—The people at the head of affairs +have now begun to quarrel among themselves: +some are for killing Daoud Pasha, some are for +saving him, and the opposite parties are fighting +in all directions; so when these troubles will +terminate, or how, we have little knowledge. Our +only resting place is in him who is the Shepherd +of the fold of Israel.</p> + +<p>The Pasha of Mosul has been made prisoner, +and part of the palace has been burnt and plundered: +they have killed or put to flight the soldiers +of the Pasha of Mosul, who came here as +the agent of Ali Pasha, of Aleppo, the successor +to Daoud Pasha, said to have been appointed +by the Porte. The crier has again proclaimed +Daoud as Pasha, and Saleh Beg his kaimacam +or representative, till he recovers. Some say the +Pasha of Aleppo is dead of the plague; some, +that he is not coming, and that this entrance of +the Pasha of Mosul and a famous Arab chief, was +only a plot of theirs to get Bagdad into their +own hands. What is true, what is false, it is +now utterly impossible to tell, or what the result +will be; but should Ali Pasha, if he is alive, +be now sufficiently powerful to advance and attempt +to dispossess this man, we may expect dreadful +scenes. Last night the contest ended in plundering +the poor Jews.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +Amidst this turmoil and interminable contention, +a missionary with a family has much to try his +faith, particularly in the early years of his missionary +course, when he has no power in the language +to take advantage of those opportunities +which accidentally present themselves; for I am +daily more and more convinced of the difficulty of +speaking so as to be felt; at least in the first +Eastern language one learns. The association of +ideas, the images of illustration, are almost entirely +different in many cases. The organs of pronunciation +require a perfect new modelling, and perhaps not +the least difficulty is to prevent one’s heart from +sinking at the little apparent progress made in +understanding, and being understood, out of the +common routine of daily life: the feeling will +often arise, Surely I never shall learn. The difficulty +is not, however, merely in words; you have +to converse in the East generally with persons +who have either no ideas on subjects of the deepest +interest, or have attached some entirely different +meaning to the terms you use to express those +ideas; and which of the two occasions the most +trouble, it is difficult to say. Notwithstanding, +however, all difficulties, and all discouragements, +and we seem now in the very centre of all, my +soul was never more assured of the value of missionary +labours among any people, it matters not +whom, than now. There is, I am sure, what our +blessed Lord declares, a <em>testimony</em>, in whatever +measure we can proclaim his truth, or manifest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +his spirit, that is felt by those even who will +not embrace it savingly. In reading Mrs. Judson’s +journal of the trials of the Burman mission, how +deeply I now enter into them—how truly I can +sympathize with them. It is wonderful how the +Lord does sustain the heart when the time of trial +comes. When I heard the struggle at the palace, +last night, then saw it on fire, and heard the balls +whizzing over our heads, and shortly after the +screams of the poor Jews, whom they were plundering, +a little way from the end of our street, my +heart felt a repose in God that I cannot describe, +and a peace that nothing but confidence in his +loving care could give me, I feel assured. At +times I feel so utterly useless, so devoid of every +aptitude for the work in which I am engaged, that +I wonder the Lord called me to it, yet the Lord +may allow me to fill a place, though it be the +lowest in missionary service. My greatest earthly +treasure is the love of those who love the Lord, +and in this I do feel rich, unworthy as I am of it. +My heart longs for Christian communion; but such +is the state of things here, that I feel almost as +far from the prospect as when the first letter +arrived from England, telling me so many were +purposing to come. But what an inducement it +is to patience to know, that all our trials and +disappointments are the orderings of him who loved +us, and gave himself for us.</p> + +<p>The day is passing quietly over, thank God; +and they are removing the barricades from the +streets.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +<em>June 15.</em>—The account has just reached us, +that the Pasha of Mosul was put to death last +night. The reason assigned is, that he attacked +Bagdad without any warrant, and had detained +at Mosul the Tartars who were bringing the firman +for Daoud Pasha. Oh! what a country, +and what a government! Should the reinstatement +of Daoud Pasha not be a truth, these circumstances +will tend greatly to embitter the contest, +and make the occupying of the city by the +new Pasha a much more destructive and trying +scene, than if these events had not occurred; but +I feel that the Lord is disciplining, by these trials, +the poor weak faith of his servant to lay hold on +his strength, and not to rest on his own. I now +give up all hope of seeing the dear brethren +from Aleppo till the autumn. These scenes of +anxiety and trouble strongly urge the heart forward +to desire the day of the Lord to come, so +wretched, so comfortless does all appear. I have +quite given up the little we have to plunder, so +that I feel quite at ease on that point, should it +be the Lord’s will to allow these scenes to continue, +and us thus to be served. For the moment +a season of lawlessness commences, you see the +Mohammedan feeling relative to Christians. Now, +for instance, that meat is scarce, if they see a +butcher disposed to give a Christian some before +them, they instantly put themselves into an attitude +of hostility, and say, “What! will you give +it to these infidels before us?” The other day, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +during the time of the disturbances in the city, the +son of one of the most respectable Armenians +here, went out, armed with pistol, sword, and +gun to the coffee-house. They immediately began +with saying, “What does this infidel with +arms? Will he kill Moslems?” and they stripped +him of all. The governing powers are beginning +to recognize and feel the strength of those people +called Christians; but this is never the thought of +an Arab populace, who care for none of these +things, and only think of present plunder.</p> + +<p>I have finished reading the account of the Burmese +mission, and sympathize much more fully +with the sufferers, than when I last read it, and I +greatly admire and bless God for their steady and +persevering devotedness to his holy service, +amidst so many trials and so many discouragements. +Such manifestations of the grace of Christ, +tend much to encourage and strengthen the hands +and hearts of those who are in any trials, whether +similar or different. Whoever proves God to be +among his dear children, becomes necessarily a +light to the Church, for the Lord surely will be +faithful to his promise and to his children’s confidence; +and the manifestation of this his faithfulness +becomes the light of others.</p> + +<p><em>June 16.</em> (<em>Friday.</em>)—To-day all quiet within +the city.</p> + +<p><em>June 17.</em>—For some weeks past hope and fear +have alternated for my sweet little baby; but to-day +hope finds not a place for her foot to rest on. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +I see the Lord has sent his message for her also; +this comes very, very heavy; for from some days +previous to dear Mary’s death till now, I have +been her constant nurse, and solicitude about her +has in some measure served to distract my attention +from the undivided dwelling on my heavier +loss, till she has become so accustomed to my +nursing, that as soon as ever she sees me, she +stretches out her little supplicating hands for me +to take her. All this has served to beguile my +heart, and keep it in some degree occupied. But +when the Lord takes from me this sweet little +flower, I shall indeed be desolate. Why the +Lord thus strips me, I do not now see; yet he +does not allow me to doubt his love, amidst all my +sorrows, and I know that light is sown for me, +though it does not yet spring up. Oh! may my +soul never cease to feel assured of my heavenly +Father’s unchangeable love; for with a doubt on +this head <em>now</em>, what would my circumstances be? +We know that tribulation worketh patience, and +patience experience, and experience hope, and +hope maketh not ashamed. Oh! may such a result +spring from all my suffering!</p> + +<p><em>June 26.</em>—For some days I have had nothing to +write about from without. All has been, on the +whole, quiet, and we now wait for communications +from Constantinople to see how things are likely +to end. It appears now that Daoud Pasha has +retired in favour of Saleh Beg, whether willingly +or from necessity, is not known. The treasury +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +and every thing else is given up into his hand; +and he knows as well how to spend it as his predecessor +did to collect it; he is therefore popular, +but not esteemed by those of more understanding +as a man of abilities. He, however, goes to the +old Pasha Daoud every day for instructions.</p> + +<p>How all these events will operate upon our +future labours, I cannot at all conceive; whether +they will close up the little opening we had, or +make a wider one, the Lord, on whom we wait, +alone knows. I have been reading much lately +of missionary labours, and am surprised to find +how uniformly trials, and difficulties, and threatened +destruction have hung over them for years, +yet many of them the Lord has since singally +blessed. We are, however, in the Lord’s hands.</p> + +<p>I have just read through a second time Mr. +Wolff’s journal, and Mr. Jowett’s second volume, +and I confess that if my little experience entitles +me to give my opinion, I think Mr. Jowett’s +judgment much the soundest as to the nature +of the operations to be carried on in these countries; +that the missionary corps should be as unencumbered +as possible, and ready to remove at +a moment’s notice. I mean those engaged in the +simple evangelist’s office, disconnected from all +secular callings; but should there be a band of +enlightened saints, willing to take the handicraft +departments of life, as their means of support, +and unobserved access to the people, they might +remain and carry on their work, when other and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +more ostensible teachers were obliged to fly: and +this is doubtless the way the primitive churches +were nourished, when their professed teachers fled.</p> + +<p>As to those colleges and large establishments +contemplated by Mr. Wolff, even could they be +established on the comprehensive principle proposed +by his zealous and ardent mind, I fear it +would lead much more to the diffusion of universal +scepticism than the eternal excellency of the +truth of God; if, I say, it could be attained, but for +many reasons I feel it cannot be attained. The +liberality of the Christian public is not up to such +undertakings, even though they saw the utility +to be clear. One cannot help being struck with +Mr. Wolff’s judging of others from himself; because +he felt he was willing to make sacrifices, he +promised for others as freely as for himself: but +what has been the result even of the two schools +he did establish, and promise to support from the +funds of his patron and others? The burthen has +rested on those who were persuaded through him +of the willingness of others to co-operate. One +is given up, and the other has dwindled down to +about nineteen pupils, and these are educated on +the native plan, so that, as far as divine light is +concerned, it is in <em>statu quo</em>. The two colleges +that were to be established at Aleppo and Tabreez, +and towards which a beginning was made in +promises and plans—nothing now is heard of them; +nor do I think it is to be regretted. The object +was too mixed for much of spiritual prosperity. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +The difficulty is not in getting houses and firmans: +it is when you begin to wish to sit down and +attack the strong holds of the enemy. The same +with the letters of patriarchs and bishops: when +the thing is new and they see not its bearings on +their system, they are all friendliness—as among +the heads of the Armenians, the Catholics, and +other Bishops. But when they have seen the +life-giving power of the divine word in the souls +of two or three of their followers, under the instruction +of such clear brethren as at Shushee, or +the American brethren, all is changed, and when +dear Zaremba was at Ech-Miazin the other day, +and endeavoured to get the consent of the Armenian +patriarch to the translation of the Scriptures, +by Dittrich, his reception was every thing +but kind; and they have actually dragged away +one of their deacons from the dear brethren at +Shushee, to try him at Ech-Miazin for heresy. +I have also heard that the bishop of Ispahan, who +superintends all these countries, even as far as +India, has prohibited the reception of any tracts +by his people, and would not let them have a +school till the Roman Catholics appeared there +and established one, taking away some of his flock, +when he granted it. In fact, wherever the hierarchical +spirit exists, there a spirit of domination +and pride—there a spirit of Antichrist exists—whether +in the Brahmin, the Mufti, or the Patriarch, +there is a body of men who will not go in +themselves, nor let others go in; it must be so, as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +Mr. Jowett justly observes, wherever the distinction +between laity and clergy is kept up in opposition +to the right and duty of each man to judge +for himself. Mr. Jowett’s words are, I think, +“The principal religious characteristic of Syria +and the Holy Land, (and he might have added, +of all the ancient churches, and too many of the +modern,) that which is common to all its professors +and sects, is that <em>system of distinction between +priesthood and laity</em>, felt even when not avowed; +according to which, it seems to be the interest of +a few professed teachers to hold the rest of their +fellow-creatures in darkness.” Those men, therefore, +who, in a hasty visit, welcome you, and if +you are well introduced, flatter you, no sooner +see or feel your real design, than they become your +enemies, and the missionary who should begin +with any other expectation from present prospects, +must be disappointed. For instance, had we been +where there was a powerful clergy, we should have +met with the greatest opposition in our school, because +of our casting out of it the book which they +so highly prize, called the Shammakirke. Yet no +Christian teacher could conscientiously allow it—it +was full of prayers to the Virgin, the Cross, &c. &c.; +we therefore here succeeded, under God’s blessing, +because the laity were strong and the priesthood +weak, without any serious struggle; but their progress +has been very different at Shushee.</p> + +<p>The morals of the monks at Ech-Miazin are +such that no parent in the country thinks himself +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +justified in sending his child there to be educated. +From such men, what can you expect? With +them what can you do? I have for a long time +been persuaded that the path for a child of God +to pursue, is to follow his Lord, and not to ask +the Sanhedrim’s leave to preach the truth; and +never to take any notice of them till they take +notice of us. Dark as the cloud seems to be now +around these lands, and difficult as it seems +even to live in them, much more to labour in +them; yet I do not at all think, to one having patiently +attained a thorough knowledge of the colloquial +Arabic, and the other colloquial languages +in use, that the door is barred to a travelling +unsettled missionary, or even to one resident many +months in a place: neither do I think he should +be discouraged from attempting schools, for +although they may not stand above a year or two, +you may by the Lord’s blessing be the instrument +of stirring up their minds to think and examine for +themselves, and without violence lead them to +question the truth of some of their dogmas; and +when you have once dislodged the principle of +implicit faith, you have at last opened the door +for truth. I think it is much to be regretted that +Mr. Wolff’s wishes about Bussorah and Bushire +did not succeed. In the one there is a permanent +British Resident, and in the other a permanent +British influence, that would have much favoured +a school, and even perhaps finally more extensive +operations; and I do still hope he may yet find +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +some of his friends, who are as able as willing +to take the necessary charge of these places, for +they are now more disheartened than when nothing +had been promised them. At Tabreez also, I +think a most interesting school might be established; +but let it be as comprehensive as it can +with a safe conscience be, without pretending to a +principle that includes all. If, upon such terms +Mohammedans come, your conscience is not entangled, +and you can go on steadily with your work. +If they go, they go; if they stay, they stay; but +take care how you take any of the gentiles by +solicitation; it will tie your hands, and hamper all +your proceedings. It looks promising to see the +names of Princes and great men connected with +our work; but I am persuaded that it is utterly +spiritual weakness. Better do ever so little work +with the whole soul, than ever so much, trimming +between the world and the Church, and all very +comprehensive plans must involve this: besides, +from the outset, the feeling of duplicity that always +must result from inducing men to contribute to +support institutions under certain partial +representations, which they would not embrace if you +stated your real design, and the full truth.</p> + +<p>Besides these difficulties of money and principle, +the unsettled state of these countries is such that +learned orientalists would never come, even if +they were in abundance; but the fact is, that even +Europe is very scantily supplied with men who +could direct such an institution, and if they could +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +be found, unless the love of Christ were the +spring of their actions—were they mere literary +orientalists, their influence as it regards the +kingdom of Christ would be worse than nugatory. +For though you might hope to correct this evil by +having others connected with the institution who +might have the more immediate spiritual direction +of the students, this would soon lead to strifes +and divisions between the heads of the institution. +That the spread of literature in the East will sap +and finally overthrow <em>Mohammedanism</em>, I have +little doubt; but this is the work of the men of +the world, and the result, as it regards Christianity, +very doubtful; but the missionary’s object +is one and indivisible: if Christ be not glorified, +he gains nothing; but if he be but exalted, he +has his rich reward.</p> + +<p><em>June 28.</em> <em>Thursday.</em>—There seems just sufficient +strength in this wretched country to destroy +itself: it has long lost the power of attacking its +enemies with success, it has also lost the power of +resistance against their attacks, neither can it longer +stand without external support: there seems just +sufficient power left to commit suicide. In this +pashalic, though the Sultan cannot without extreme +difficulty remove the Pasha, yet he effectually +destroys its prosperity;—he ruins the merchant, he +encourages every species of robbery, so that frequently, +as at present, not a shop dare be opened but +for the simplest necessaries. Nor does it operate +against the prosperity of this city only, but all the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +trade of which this was a sort of intermediate place +of transit between India, Mosul, Merdin, Damascus, +and Aleppo, as well as on the other side from Europe, +is so far interrupted, for not a merchant will +now venture his goods across the desert. All attachment +too seems entirely destroyed between the head +and the members of the empire. —— was with me +to-day, who, speaking on the state of the Pashalic +said, If the Sultan will let us have Daoud Pasha +well, we neither want the Sultan nor a stranger; +but we would rather put ourselves under the English, +and let them govern as they do in Hindoostan. +This feeling is exceedingly general, and in +looking forward to the downfall of the empire, +they seem quite to consider this country as the +portion which will fall to England, and speak of +it openly as a thing they desire. This arises from +their hearing so much of our government in India.</p> + +<p><em>June 29.</em>—My dear little baby has had an +attack of purulent ophthalmia, which gives me much +anxiety; for three or four days she had been recovering +a little, when this trying attack seized her +dear little eyes; she was quite unable to open +either of them.</p> + +<p>My mind has been much exercised these two +days by reflections on the ease with which the +soul is taken off from living in Christ. In +prosperity, we are occupied with plans; in +adversity, with our sorrows; in missionary +labour, in preparation for what we intend to +do for the Lord, and even in our very times of +danger we are constantly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +exposed to the temptation of looking for +relief to circumstances, rather than to the Lord of +circumstances—to the love of the Lord of life. +May the Lord of his great goodness grant that my +soul may reap a full harvest from these reflections, +and determine not only in words to know nothing +but Jesus Christ and him crucified, as the subject +of preaching, but as the object on which my soul +constantly dwells, so that growing up into his fulness +in understanding and love, may be the business +of my future life, and much, yea, very much +more, the simple purpose of my heart than it has +ever yet been. Nothing can be to me clearer than +that the work of the Lord will really prosper in the +hands of his servants, in proportion as these servants +prosper in their nearness to him. May his love, +his life, his words, his wishes be the abiding +incentives in my soul to simply living to him and +for him, and for his creatures through him. How +easy it is for one person to make one class of +sacrifices, and another, another; but how hard to slay +the darling idol, and to tear away the cherished +indulgence:—how easy it is to exercise those +graces which accord with our natural constitutions, +how difficult those which mortify and run counter +to them.</p> + +<p>May it be the labour and delight of my future +life to see each cherished idol one by one fall +prostrate, slain before my Lord’s love.</p> + +<p><em>July 1.</em>—There has just been a transaction +passing which illustrates, in a striking manner, the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +very loose connections which bind the parts of +this empire together. I have already mentioned +the death of the Pashas of Mosul and Merdin. +Ali Pasha, in support of whom they had professedly +marched against Bagdad, sent his treasurer to +Saleh Beg, to commend him for what he had +done in thus preserving the city by killing these +two Pashas, requiring at the same time for himself, +the payment of his expenses, as well as a +sum of money for the Sultan, and promising that +if this were given him he would return to Aleppo. +Thus, after nearly two years confusion, all parties +will be worse off than they were before. My +reason for thinking it probable this will be the +case is, that the Khaznadar or treasurer of +Daoud Pasha, has accompanied the Khaznadar +of Ali Pasha to his camp, who evidently doubts +the result of his attempt. Indeed, it seems +very doubtful if in any case he can succeed; +for if he obtains the Pashalic, I think it very +probable from the history of former Pashas, who, +as strangers to the Pashalic, have been forced +into it, that he will not be allowed to retain it. +The fact is, that almost all his opposing force consists +of Arabs, who become in a moment the +servants of the highest bidder. It was only two +days ago the Pasha detached one tribe from them; +and I have little doubt that if he does not spare +money he may soon break up all the +confederacy.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +Yesterday the soldiers of the late Pasha of Mosul +came to the gates of the town, but were driven +back into their encampment with loss; and one +hundred of their mercenary troops (Arnaoots) +came over to this Pasha, changing a pay of forty-eight +piasters a month to one hundred, or about +a pound sterling a month.</p> + +<p>Every kind of provision is becoming extremely +dear, from double to ten times its usual price; +and I confess I see no present prospect of +improvement, for the inundation swept away the +harvest, and the plague has extended so far, that +there have been no hands to cut down even that +grain which remained, and the things which they +might have sown, and which might in some measure +have supplied the place of grain they were prevented +from sowing by the Arabs, who were at enmity +with the Pasha, and therefore laid waste the +country. In contemplating the perplexity and uncertainty +of events, according to all human calculation, +that surrounds us, the knowledge that our own +Lord is ordering all things not only for his own +glory but also for ours, comes home continually +to my soul with inexpressible comfort; and +notwithstanding the anxious thoughts that sometimes +arise, I am generally enabled at last to roll my +burdens on his holy head, and this I know will +sustain them.</p> + +<p>The dead weight about a missionary’s neck in +the first years of his labour is the language. So +difficult is it to hear so as to understand, or to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +speak so as to be understood; for not only is it +necessary to use right words, but with right accents, +or you may often convey the very reverse +of what you mean. Certainly, if I were quite +alone, the plan I should pursue, would be to go +into some family or place where the language I +wish to learn alone is spoken, as brother King did +in Syria to learn Arabic:—this being attained, a +missionary is certainly not without the most +interesting opportunities of usefulness.</p> + +<p><em>July 2.</em> <em>Saturday.</em>—Dear baby has suffered +so much from her eyes to-day, that it tried my +heart to the very bottom. And in addition to all +this, the state of things here is assuming an alarming +aspect. Without the city walls, the numbers +of those who wish to plunder the city are increasing; +and within, the same tendency is manifested +among those who are intended for its protection, +so that my heart has been at times very much +pressed down; yet the Lord has sustained me. +In the evening, as I was looking out, I saw the +man come into the court yard, who brings and +collects letters for Aleppo, and in his hand a letter +for me. With what eagerness did I seize it, and +anticipate its contents. Yet though good tidings, +because tidings of the Lord’s blessing them, and +being in the midst of them, it contained tidings +peculiarly heavy for me to receive at this moment, +as it not only led me to anticipate no present +prospect of seeing my dear brethren from Aleppo, +but that it seemed very doubtful if it would be +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +their path to come at all; at least if they did, it +would be purely to join me, and this surely would +not be the path of duty. I, however, receive this +last trying providence at my loving Father’s hands, +adoring his love whilst I know not the modes of +his going forth. It has not weighed me down so +much as I thought it would; and the Lord allows +me to feel assured he will yet do something for +me. They seem to wish me to join them, but I +do not yet see my way clear to leave this place to +which the Lord has brought me. I feel daily +more and more that my place in the church is very +low, and it matters very little where I am for any +good that is in me: yet by remaining, I keep the +way open for those who are more able, and whose +establishment is more important. I know my +Lord will not cut me off from personal improvement +by all his darkly gracious dealing, and perhaps +I am now learning another part of that hard +lesson, neither to glory in or trust in man. But +still I bless God he is giving my dear brethren a +door of utterance and prospects of usefulness +where they are, and may my joy ever be in proportion +to the glory that is brought to his blessed +name, and the prosperity of his kingdom. Until +the Lord, therefore, raises his fiery cloudy pillar, +and bids me forth, I shall pursue my plan of +endeavouring to converse in Arabic till the Lord is +pleased to open my mouth by degrees, or as he +please, to publish his whole truth. Should he +send me some dear brother to help and comfort +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +me, may he give me grace to praise him; if not, +to hope in him and find in himself all I need. +To the dear boys it has been a great disappointment, +for it was the constant theme of their +conversation, and a cheering expectation to see +friends from England. However, our dear Father +will order all things well; and I bless him +exceedingly for sending out to Aleppo, our dear +brethren and sisters. The Lord may make this +event, which now seems so awakening and trying, +yet for the furthering of the gospel in these lands: +in fact, I should be almost sorry for <em>all</em> of +the brethren to leave Aleppo.</p> + +<p><em>July 5.</em> <em>Tuesday.</em>—I have had some interesting +conversation with three poor people from +<em>Karakoosh</em>,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> +a town about five hours from Mosul, +composed of Roman Catholic Syrians. Every information +I receive from that quarter, convinces +me that Erzeroum, Diarbekr, and Mosul, would +be most interesting head quarters for a missionary. +The man told me that the Nestorians of the mountains, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +(like the Scotch) go once a year to receive the +sacrament, whether upon their erroneous principle, +or that from living scattered among the +mountains they cannot make it convenient to meet +often, I know not. The Syrians of the villages +near Mosul speak among themselves Syriac, but in +asking them if they understood the old Syriac, +which is read, they reply, imperfectly; so that I +have no doubt, for any instructive purpose, it is +perfectly unintelligible, what with the mode of +reading, and the difference of language. These +are deeply interesting countries to those who can +be happy in bestowing all their strength in planting +under the prospect that others will reap the +fruits. The Lord will water their way with little +streams of comfort, and manifestations of the +prospect of the future; but the preparatory work +in these countries must occupy at least many, many +years of missionary life. I shall never feel a +missionary till I can deliver my message clearly +and intelligibly; till then, I endeavour to drop a +word, as it may be offered, and to instil a principle +as an occasion may occur, or by seeking an occasion. +The difficulty of this first step I daily feel +to be increasing—I mean only that my sense of +the difficulty is increasing; but the Lord daily +comforts me, amidst the delays and trials of faith, +by the clearest conviction of the large sphere of +usefulness there is when once this is attained.</p> + +<p>All things in the city continue in the most unsettled +state.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +Some of the lawless depredators came again +to our house the day before yesterday, and wanted +arrack; but they went away quietly, and they +only talked about cutting off my head; but all this +in mere bravado. The Lord thus graciously takes +care of us. They look on me as a sort of dervish, +because I do not drink arrack, nor use weapons +of war, nor take men to guard my house.</p> + +<p><em>July 9.</em>—The camp of those without the +city is moving down to-day towards us; and we +hear a continued firing of cannon. It is reported +they are come within half an hour’s march of the +city. The issue is in the Lord’s hand. Nothing +can exceed the fear and want of confidence that +prevails throughout the city, every man’s heart +failing him for fear of those things which may be +coming on us. Oh! what a resting place is the +Lord’s experienced love, and the assurance that +all shall work together for good to those that love +him; yet living thus in the midst of constant +alarm, makes my heart sometimes long for that +sweet, quiet Christian communion which I left +behind in England.</p> + +<p><em>July 10.</em> <em>Sunday.</em>—In conversation to-day on the +subject of invoking the Virgin Mary, with some +Armenians and a Jacobite, I was struck with the +readiness with which they all submit to Scripture; +and this seems universal among all those who are +not ecclesiastics by profession, or Roman Catholics. +The curse of obstinate blindness seems to +be left to those who join this apostate church, for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +truly it may be said of them, they come not to +the light, because their deeds are evil—not their +deeds as members of society, but as professed +members of the mystical body of Christ.</p> + +<p>Our Lord’s days are solitary—none to tune +Zion’s harps. Oh! how it makes the soul long +for the courts of the Lord, where we may go up +with the crowds to keep holiday; how precious +now would appear some of those seasons of Christian +communion which we enjoyed in dear England +and Ireland. When dear Mary was with +me, we had an unceasing source of happiness in +conversing on our common hopes in our common +Lord. Our communion also with our dear friends +was thus rendered vivid, aided as it was and encouraged +by the help of correspondence and conversation; +but now letters have almost ceased to +come, and I have no one to commune with. In +addition to all this we are besieged, and every +necessary of life is nearly three times its usual +price, very bad, and to be got with difficulty. All +night we hear nothing but firing and drums +beating, and men shouting—all this, too, at present, +without any prospect of termination, for those +who are come against the city, are not strong +enough to enforce the change they design, and +those within have little to fear, so long as they +have money and provisions to give the soldiers, +which they say they have for two +years;<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> +so those +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +who suffer are the poor people, who cannot help +themselves. The Pasha of Aleppo is about an +hour’s distance; it does not seem to be his wish +to act offensively against the city, but only to get +into his power those few whom he wishes to displace +and behead. Yet how much have I to bless +God for, in that he keeps the little boys so free +from alarm. Blessed Lord! these are indeed +scenes and times that lead the soul to desire thy +peaceful happy reign. Sometimes the sense of +my dear, dear Mary’s peace, safety, and joys, +makes me feel my burthens lighter than though +she had been with me; for to have those you love +in such scenes is trying in proportion to this very +love, which so sweetens times of mere labour or +peace. I am sure the Lord <em>has</em> dealt lovingly, +and <em>will</em>.</p> + +<p><em>July 14.</em>—Since the ninth we have had little +occurring but firing of guns from the citadel, and +the noise and confusion at night occasioned by the +soldiers.</p> + +<p>A circumstance has occurred to-day which a +little tries me. The Armenian Priests are both +dead; and the Armenian servant of Mrs. T. has +asked if she might receive the communion with +us, the next time we received it. Now, while I +feel in my own soul that she knows nothing of the +power of the divine life, yet how far I have authority +from God’s word to set up this, my private +feeling, in the absence of any thing palpable to +fix on as an objection, I do not see. I feel so utterly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +unworthy to place myself in the situation of a +judge in such a case. I feel so exceedingly low +in the divine life—I experience so little of the +power of that life which was in Christ, subduing +all things to the obedience of the Father’s will—that +I feel she may object more to my being accepted +than I could to her. Yet, notwithstanding +all this, I am conscious there is a difference—though +I am only on the lowest step of Jacob’s +ladder, yet I do desire to ascend higher into the +unsearchable riches of Christ, and to descend +lower in my own esteem, so to be able to say without +the pollution of affected humility, I feel myself +less than the least of all saints. The divine life +appears to me daily more and more a deep internal +personal work, without which all external exertions +and exercises will come to nothing; however +fair, it will be at best but a fruitless blossom, +that withers as soon as blown. Oh! how difficult +it is not to deceive oneself with the appearance +of Christian graces instead of the substance; +how difficult not to substitute the <em>act</em> for the +<em>spirit</em>; that monster pride, how hard it is to kill, +how chameleon like it changes its colour and seems +to live on air, yea, on very vanity.</p> + +<p><em>July 18.</em> <em>Lord’s Day.</em>—The warlike sounds of +the cannon and mortars have abated within these +three days. Oh that the Lord would quickly terminate +this hateful civil strife. Yet at present +there seems no prospect.</p> + +<p>How hard I feel it to-day to rise above the loss +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +of my dear, dear Mary—it seems like a new +wound just opened. It is so hard to feel the +great honour and great proof of love the Lord has +manifested towards me, in removing her I loved +from the trials and sorrows of this earth to the ease +and joy of his own Paradise, to join our dear little +Mary, and sing there together his praise who +washed them in his own blood, prepared them as +vessels of honour, and then took them to himself. +Sometimes I think I ought not to have gone out +of our house during the plague, about Major T.’s +affairs, but that I should have left them to their +own fate; yet, at other times, I think, after all +the kindness I had received from him, I ought +not to have declined the dangerous service. Then +again, I think that when I did go, I should have +taken more precautions, and not have joined my +dear family immediately, but remained apart; +yet at last my heart comes round to the full assurance, +that my dear and loving Lord would not have +visited undesigned neglect, which sprang mainly +from confidence in his loving care, with such a privation, +had he not designed by it her speedy glory +and my final good: now I shall go to her, but she +shall not return to me.</p> + +<p>The dear little boys are very anxious to leave +Bagdad, yet they do not complain, nor appear on +the whole otherwise than happy, which is indeed +a great mercy. My poor dear little nursling, the +object of ceaseless care, seems rather gaining than +losing ground, yet is still so frail, that a blast of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +wind seems enough to extinguish the little fire that +burns; but if the Lord will, even this little fire +shall yet burn brighter and brighter, and defy in +his name the rudest blasts.</p> + +<p>Sometimes when I think on the complete stop +the Lord has in his infinite wisdom seen fit to put +to my little work here, I am astonished. Among +those who are dead, is one who was translating the +New Testament into the vulgar Armenian of +this place, and had gone as far as Luke; and +another gentleman, who was educated in Bombay, +who was writing for me an English and Armenian +Dictionary, in which he had proceeded about half +way (10,000 words). In this dictionary there were +not only the ancient and modern parallel words, +but an explanation in vulgar Armenian, with +examples. The probability of my meeting with +one similarly qualified, able and willing again, is +very small indeed; but with this, as with all the +rest, it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth to +him good. I wait to see his future pleasure +manifested, and though I am now under a cloud +of sorrow and separation from his service, may he +sanctify it, and advance his glory by whomsoever +he pleases, only giving me a heart to rejoice in +their labours, and to love my Lord fervently, and +then I hope I shall not complain. I never felt +fit for much, and I daily now feel fit for less than +I once thought I was, yet the Lord will not deny +me a place in the body, and oh, may he give me +a heart willing to take the lowest—that of washing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +the disciples’ feet. Oh, for the spirit of our +dear humble Lord in that wonderful transaction +so calculated to stain human pride with the name +of madness, but especially the pride of those who +call themselves his.</p> + +<p>The weather is now getting intensely hot, and +our cellars, which were our retreating places last +year, are not habitable, the water being in them +at least three feet high, and this, with the overflowing +of the river, brought such swarms of mosquitos, +that for several weeks it was almost impossible +to sleep, and although now they are far less +numerous, they are still very troublesome, so that +if not on your guard every moment, you get stung +by them.</p> + +<p><em>July 20.</em>—The weather is intensely hot, and we +now begin seriously to miss the +Serdaubs;<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> +but I feel it most for dear little baby, to whom the +heat is very, very trying. I also feel it very +difficult to do any thing that requires the least +exertion, and for the next six weeks we have no +hope, of any mitigation, but rather an increase. +The prospect too of affairs around us, leaves no +resting place but in the love and favour of our Lord. +The city is full of prophecies of the sorrows and +desolations that are to come on this land; from +the Pasha downward, this people seem devoted to +astrology, believing lies, while they refuse to hear +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +the truth; yet all their visions are of sorrow, lamentation, +and woe.</p> + +<p>I feel sometimes very much tried with respect +to my future pursuit of missionary labours; for I +have not only lost the encouragement and comfort +of a sweet society that made every place a home; +but all these domestic cares, which she so willingly +and so entirely bore, have fallen on me, and I +hardly seem, at least during the weakness of my +dear little baby, to have time for any thing but +to attend to them. Had I been joined by our +dear brothers and sisters from Aleppo, it would +have been comparatively light; but now, I can +take no step, and before I may be able, the Lord +may graciously afford me new light; for this I will +therefore, with his grace and help, patiently wait.</p> + +<p><em>July 21.</em>—In some conversation I have just had +with the old father of our late schoolmaster, I +have been encouraged to feel that it is almost +impossible for a missionary, even of the humblest +pretensions, and in the lowest degree qualified +for his calling, which I can I think with unaffected +truth say, I feel to be my own case—to +live among these people, and not to lead them to +some most important principles. This old man +is not only theoretically persuaded of the sufficiency +of the Scriptures, but in his understanding +fully convinced. His acquaintance with Scripture +is very extensive and accurate, and on my +servant coming to ask him the explanation of +words in the translation lately set forth by the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +Bible Society, it led to a conversation on the importance +of having a translation that every woman +and child can understand. He said, “Yes, +and it is only the pride of the learned and of the +bishops which prevents it: if books once became +published in the dialects of the people, the old +language would cease to be cultivated.” This +would doubtless be an infinite benefit, not only to +the Armenians but to the Syrians and Chaldeans, +and every Church of the East, among the people; +a few learned men may, and most likely will, be +found to extract what is valuable from the old +language, if they have only enlightened judgment +enough to leave the mass of rubbish behind. He +mentioned the sermon on the Mount, which we +received from Shushee, and said, that it opened +the eyes of the children—yet even this dialect is +very different from the one used here. I think +this aged man understands and feels there is but +one Church in the world; and he quoted that +interesting passage, “Paul may plant and Apollos +water, but God giveth the increase,” to prove it.</p> + +<p><em>July 22.</em>—I have to-day received letters from +London and Aleppo, and I have reason to bless +God for all; yet they all come armed with sorrow; +for they are full of her of whom the Lord has +emptied me. In my strength I thought I could +so entirely give her up to him, did he desire it, +since he had made her so strong in himself, and +filled her so full of his blessings; well, and even +now, my soul doth magnify the Lord, though +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +in so many ways, I still feel my great and trying +loss. Perhaps the Lord has meant to teach me +that the 91st Psalm, as dear brother Cronin +writes, relates only to Christ’s humanity, specially +shewing how, from his cradle to his grave, his +father watched over him, so that at last he laid +down his life, but none took it from him; and he, +in this great act, has made it over spiritually to +us: he has left the natural plague because of sin, +but destroyed the spiritual because of righteousness, +even that righteousness which is by his own +most precious blood.</p> + +<p>The Pasha of Aleppo, hearing of dear Edward +Cronin, as an English physician, wishing to come +to Bagdad, wished to engage him to come with +him as his physician, and offered him 1500 piasters +a month; but, anxious as they were to come, +the circumstances of their party did not, on +mature deliberation, allow them to separate, +and Ali Pasha was unwilling to undertake the +responsibility of the females with his camp. And, oh, +how my soul blesses the Lord, now I think on it, +that these obstacles were so graciously interposed; +disease, delay, and trouble would have accompanied +them, and, till now, they would have been +detained in the desert, with little prospect of +speedy admission into the city, which is firing +against the camp, and the camp firing against the +city, and they would have been exposed to the +full power of a sun, which no one can tell how to +estimate, but by actual exposure to it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +I have also received a letter from Bussorah, +stating that on the drying up of the inundations +there, a fever has been spreading, and carrying off +numbers. Major T.’s family had most of them +been ill, but they were recovering. Mr. Bathie +was very weak, and his wife dead. Dr. Beagry, +the new surgeon of this station, also died, and +immense numbers of those who had fled from +the plague. Bussorah is still besieged, but expected +soon to fall into the hands of the Motezellim.</p> + +<p>A letter has also reached me to-day by the same +conveyance, from the Bible Society, dated 27th +July last year, mentioning the sending of three +cases of Arabic and Persian Scriptures to my dear +brother Pfander. When I consider how God, in +his infinite and unsearchable providence, has seen +it fit to bring to nought all our plans by the +disorganization of this at all times lawless land, I +cannot but feel it a strong call to form very few +plans for the future, and just to work by the day. +Our hope was, when we came to Bagdad, to have +been able to travel pretty extensively both in the +mountains of Kourdistan and in Persia; but the +state of the country, and other considerations, +brought all these plans to nothing, so my dear +friend and kind brother left me for Shushee, +having been able to obtain much of the information +he desired, without the journey. And I, instead +of having a large present field of useful +employment, and one prospectively increasing, am +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +now without employment or prospect, and if it +were not that I feel getting on a little in the +colloquial language of the country, I should be +almost without hope of remaining with advantage +here; but while I feel this, my heart does not +sink. The Lord will yet let his light shine out of +the darkness, and will one day enable me to speak +of his promises; for I daily feel more assured this +is the great gift after which an evangelist is to +press—it is the very instrument of his labour. +And let such a missionary feel infinitely happier +to hear it said he speaks very low Arabic, but +that every body understands him; than very pure, +but which is unintelligible, except to the Mollahs. +If he speaks not in a very mixed dialect of +Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, he will not be understood +here; there is, however, still an immense +preponderance of Arabic over the others.</p> + +<p>The British and Foreign School Society have +also very kindly offered to afford what assistance +their limited means will allow to the furtherance +of Scripture instruction in the East. I shall +endeavour to repay this free kindness by obtaining +the best information I can, before I call on their +aid, for nothing is so discouraging as failures from +precipitate attempts; but so variable is the state +of affairs in these countries, that previous to your +judgment being matured by experience, you may +be led, with the best intentions possible, to +undertake, on a bright day, plans which, before they +can be executed, prove as baseless as a vision, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +which will leave nothing behind but the remembrance +of useless expense and unproductive labour.</p> + +<p><em>July 22.</em>—I had with me to-day, for the last +time as a patient, an officer of the Pasha’s household +who had the plague, and a large wound from +a carbuncle, but is now quite well, and he was +talking of the state of the city and country, and +said, “Why do we wish to give our country into +the hands of the +Ghiaours,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> +and not to the Persians? +It is because we know they will neither +take our wives or daughters from us, nor rob us +of our money, nor cut off our heads, but in Islam +there is no mercy, no pity.” He added, +“Did you ever see me before I came about my +leg?” I said, “No.” “Yet,” he said “you had +mercy upon me, and cured me and my daughter +(who also had had the plague), and why? It was +from your heart—there was mercy there.” I took +this opportunity to explain the reason, as emanating +from the command of Christ, and not the +goodness of my heart, and how truly could I say +it; for the Lord knows how, but for this, it would +be a weariness unto me. Now this impatience of +their own government is not the feeling of a few +discontented men, but I am persuaded it is very +general—how can such a kingdom stand?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +The government, if government it can be called, +is now sending the soldiers round to every house +to seek for wheat and rice. From some they take +half, from others a third of their little store, while +they have enough for two years in their own corn +cellars, and this too when the necessaries of life are +raised to between four and five times their usual +price; and as for fruit and vegetables, which +constitute in eastern countries, during summer, so +large a portion of the food of all classes, not a +particle is to be seen.</p> + +<p>Yesterday and to-day I have had two Roman +Catholic merchants with me, and in quoting +Scripture to them, I found them ready with the +context; but the deadly evil is the separation of +religion and its principles from the government +and rule of every day and every moment. In +these countries, where religious expressions are in +every one’s mouth, a missionary has most valuable +employment, as he is able to bring their minds +back to their own expressions, to their own import +and power, as we are desired to do to those +who heartlessly use that beautiful form of dedication +in the communion service of the Church of +England, “We here present unto thee our bodies, +souls, and spirits to be a reasonable, holy, and +lively sacrifice unto thee.” Oh! that all who use +these blessed words felt their power, and lived +under it. Christ’s name would soon be magnified +from land to land.</p> + +<p><em>July 23.</em>—The Pasha has just sent me a fish, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +with his compliments, and a request that I will +dress it for him: this is the way he collects the +daily provisions for his household; one person +sends him a dish of rice, another a dish of kebaub, +another bread; at other times all this takes place +because of custom, but now from necessity, for he +has no servants scarcely to attend to him. This is +the first time I have been so honoured, and when +the fish was cooked and sent, he desired the servant +to come back, and bring him a few kustawee +dates to eat with it; that, however, you may +not think these any very extravagant luxury, I +may add, their value is somewhat less than a penny +a pound. I note this as a little trait of manners +that one would hardly credit, had not the fact +come under his own observation.</p> + +<p><em>July 24.</em> <em>Lord’s Day.</em>—Nothing among the +perverted use of scriptural terms has ever struck me +as more remarkable than the use the Church now +makes of the expression, tempting God. In God’s +word it is uniformly placed among the sins of +unbelief; but the Church now, by universal consent, +places it among the sins of presumption, to which +it is the very antipodes. For instance, it is one of +the great crimes of Israel, their tempting God in +the desert, and limiting the Holy One of Israel. +How? By presumptuous confidence? No—but +by saying he hath given bread, but <em>can he give +meat</em> also? This is the only sense I know in +scripture given to tempting God, and that famous +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +passage from which the erroneous impression has +mainly sprung, in the interview of Satan with +our Lord, is quite kindred. The object of Satan +was to get our Lord’s mind into a condition of +doubting God, by leading him to argue, God has +certainly said so, but will he do it? for our blessed +Lord was manifestly as much tempting God by +attempting to walk upon the water, as to cast +himself into the air. What proves this to be the +meaning is our Lord’s quotation, “It is written, +Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Now, +where is this written? Why, in the Old Testament, +where it uniformly implies doubt and distrust; +in Exod. xvii. 2. “Therefore the people did +chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that +we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why +chide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the +Lord? And he called the name of the place +Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of +the children of Israel; and because they tempted +the Lord, saying, <em>Is the Lord among us, or not?</em>” +(verse 7.) And it is in reference to this very +passage, that in Deut. vi. 16. it is said “Thou shalt +not tempt the Lord thy God, as ye tempted him +in Massah.” And that we may not have a doubt +of the meaning, see the application of the word +tempting, as applied to our dear and blessed +Lord. Is it ever in the sense of presumptuous +confidence? Never; but always of scepticism +and doubt. I do not mean to say there is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +not such a sin as presumptuous confidence; I +am sure there is; but that is never called +tempting God. The Israelites were guilty of +this sin, when they went up contrary to the command +of God to fight their enemies, after he had +pronounced upon them the forty years wandering +in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>I think that rightly understanding this is a matter +of no small moment; for many are affrighted, +and made sad in the ways of the Lord by the +erroneous application of this Scripture; for to +whom does the Church and the world alike now +apply this term? Why, if they hear of a man +selling his property, and becoming poor, like Barnabas, +according to the exhortation of the apostles, +and the <em>example of our Lord</em>, he is considered +as tempting God by all according to the degree +in which they wish to keep all or part of their +own property. Again, if he exposes himself to +dangers he might avoid, troubles he might escape, +for what he believes the Lord’s service, far from +receiving any comfort or encouragement, he is +again accused of tempting God. But tempting +God is the deadly sin of an unregenerate mind, +and is never charged on any saint, either in the +Old or New Testament, that I recollect. Certainly, +Peter did not tempt Christ, when he said, +“If thou be he, bid me come unto thee on the +water;” for he did not doubt our Lord’s power; +yet there was a measure of false confidence in +himself, as well as of unbelief; but these are +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +compatible with the holiest affections as a state. +Tempting God belongs to the family of the +tempter, and is a part of no child of God at any +time. After his conversion, Peter asked a miracle +of Christ; but it was in faith, however +weak. When the sceptical Sadducees and the +Pharisees, sought a sign it was to try him, can he +do it? Therefore he said, Why tempt ye me, ye +hypocrites? shewing it was a sin to tempt him as +well as it was a sin to tempt his Father.</p> + +<p>I feel now that I had been led to expect a +greater measure of freedom from the troubles +which fall on the people, in the midst of which +I find myself, than the dispensation under +which I live warranted; I do not mean from +those which spring directly out of the Lord’s +service, but those natural and national evils +which God sends as judgments on the ungodly. +This error arose from considering the +temporal promises of the 91st Psalm, and other +similar ones in multitudes of places, as the legitimate +objects of faith: whereas I have been now +led to see that they, like the curses, are but typical +representations of that kingdom in which the +saints of the Lord shall rejoice and be safe when +his enemies are swept away as the chaff of the summer +threshing floor. Yet even now, spiritually they +are all ours. Not a hair of our head shall fall to +the ground without our heavenly Father’s permission. +Therefore I feel these thoughts ought +neither to trouble us, nor any more prevent our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +hand undertaking for Christ any service, than if +a greater exemption was promised; for we know +that whatever is allowed to befall us, whether natural +or spiritual, if Christ is ours and we are +his, they shall only so operate as to work out for +us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of +glory; for these sufferings and trials must be +among all the things that work together for good +to those who love Christ.</p> + +<p><em>July 28.</em> <em>Thursday.</em>—Up to this time the +shells and balls of the besiegers have done us no +harm. Two shells have passed just over us. The +one fell on the roof of the house of an Arab family +at a little distance from us, who were all asleep, +and on bursting killed three: one cannon ball has +just passed over us, besides musket balls innumerable, +only two of which, however, I have felt so +near as to endanger us. The one just passed by +me and struck the wall, the other, by bending my +head, passed just over me: yet dangerous as it +seems in such circumstances to sleep on the roof, +the suffocating heat of the rooms is insupportable. +I recollect Mr. Wolff, when here, mentions it +as so hot that he could not write his journal, and +indeed such is the heat, that one unaccustomed +to it feels almost perfectly unfitted for any laborious +service either of mind or body, but particularly +the former, for at least my own experience +is, that the body is much less affected by it +than the mind.</p> + +<p>Famine is making its destructive way here +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +among the poor. All the necessaries of life are +raised from four to six times their usual price, and +often are not to be obtained at all, and in addition +there is no labour going on in the city: every +shop is closed, and every one’s concern is to take +care of his life or property. They are constantly +killing persons in the streets, without the +least inquiry being made after the perpetrators; +nay, they are publicly and notoriously known, +and no one regards it. Nothing can exceed the +misery and fear that pervades the city. Yet +amidst all these perplexities and troubles, the +Lord reigns, and without him they can do nothing.</p> + +<p><em>July 31.</em> <em>Lord’s day.</em>—A day that always dawns +with sweet peace on my soul: I seem more +especially to bring before my mind those with +whom I think I took sweet counsel, and went +to the house of God in company; and though +now deprived of all that the heart can desire +from holy fellowship on earth, there is something +that brings me near those I love, when I +think on their places of assembly, and their +times of prayer. Though my dear Lord has +broken my heart in pieces, and his hand is still +resting on me in the person of my dear little +dying baby, whose love and preference for the +little care I know how to show, renders it one +of those exquisitely painful trials, that the feelings +know not how to obey the Lord in, when the +spiritual judgment is brought quite down. Yet +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +I can never help feeling it to be a mercy eternally +to be thankful for, that the sense of my +Father’s love and Saviour’s sympathy has never +been taken from me amidst all my trials; nay, +I do feel that the Lord is fitting me, by suffering +and separation, for the work to which he has +called me; he leaves me without a home, or the +desire of one, and in that way prepares me for +situations, which, during the life-time of my +dearest Mary, would have been deeply trying. +I bless God for the fourteen years uninterrupted +domestic happiness we enjoyed together, above +all, for the seven years spiritual communion in a +common gracious Lord, who led us in unity of +faith and spirit to that work from which he has +taken her so early to himself, and from which, +when the Lord dismisses me, I trust to ascend +and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb with +her for ever and ever. My great want is, more +of Christ, more of his whole character; this I +purpose, by the Spirit’s help, more to meditate +on, that all that hateful concern about self, that +pollutes all I do, may be absorbed in one only +thought of how he may be glorified. What I +feel I want, is more holiness of spirit. I know +the Lord is fitting me for his holy presence, and +that he is the chief desire of my soul; yet, oh! +the weakness of faith, the coldness of communion, +the reserves of dedication. Oh, Lord, I believe; +help thou mine unbelief!</p> + +<p>A Mohammedan has been with me to-day, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +who is much alarmed at the state of the city, +and wants to fly, but sees not now any opening. +He told me, it was not this or that Pasha he +cared about; but his property, his life, and the +females of his family. Oh, what a relief to +know, that my dear Mary is with her Lord; how +light this makes my present trials. Yesterday +they were fighting from before sun-rise till the +afternoon, but could not effect an entrance into +the city. The Lord preserves us all in simple +dependence on himself.</p> + +<p><em>August 2.</em> <em>Wednesday.</em>—Accounts have arrived +from the Hajjaj (Mecca and Medina, &c.) +stating the mortality from plague and cholera +to be most tremendous; many families that left +this place on pilgrimage to escape the troubles, +in the midst of which we have so long been, +have, as we hear, suffered dreadfully. Thus +God seems in wrath, making bare his holy arm +against this wretched nation in all its length and +breadth. My heart sometimes trembles for the +dear brethren at Aleppo, lest at the conclusion +of the hot season it should break out there. My +only resource is God. The poor people here are +beginning to sell their little all to buy bread, and +in consequence of the badness and scarcity of +provisions, dysentery is spreading its ravages in +every direction, as well as fever.</p> + +<p>I have had with me to-day the translator to +the late French Bishop, and two or three Roman +Catholic merchants, all overwhelmed with fear. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +They say, the Sultan, on hearing of the death of +the Pasha of Mosul, and the Vaivode of Merdin, +has written to the Pasha of Aleppo, to spare +neither man, woman, nor child in the city; but +to let the very name of Bagdad be swept from +his dominions. Though this is not altogether +unlike the Sultan, I rather think it the report +of those within the city, to make the inhabitants +dread delivering it up into the hands of those +without. How blessed a portion is ours, in the +midst of all these perplexities, to stay ourselves +on our God, and to confide in the sympathizing +love of our Lord, who, worthless and vile as we +are, will not overlook us; but for his name’s sake, +will take care of the very hairs of our heads, +either in life or death. Amidst it all, what +chiefly troubles me is, that I love my Father and +my Lord so little, and that although there is not +an object in the world, but his service and glory, +for which I would desire to live; yet that, notwithstanding +this I live so little for it. Three +months have now passed since my dearest Mary +has entered into her rest, which I have spent +mostly in the sorrowful nursing of my poor dear +sinking babe, and though her love and preference +repays a hundred-fold all the trial, yet it pierces, +while it pleases the heart, to see that connection +so soon must cease. I often wonder at my strange +indifference to my situation, which, but for my +dear children, I think would be greater. I am +afraid to think it is the fruit of faith I feel, in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +every other respect so weak; it seems more like +the physical insensibility of one who is without a +stake in what is passing. Oh, may my dear +Lord, in every earthly tie he breaks, bind my +poor soul doubly strong to himself for eternity, +and to his service while here.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 3.</em>—Some of the principal Christian families +sent to me to-day, to request me to subscribe +for guards to our quarter of the city, so that every +night we might have about 40 on guard. This I +saw my way clear in declining, believing that for +Christ’s servants the sword is not a lawful defence; +whatever it may be the Lord’s holy will I suffer, +let it not be in acting against my convictions of +his holy and blessed will, for though I feel as a +sheep in the midst of wolves, the Lord does not +allow my heart to be disturbed with any sense of +personal insecurity. How beautifully all our +blessed Lord’s precepts hang together, and fit +the one the other; if your consent to follow him in +his poverty as he has commanded, you have little +to fear in following his other commands of non-resistance: +if you accept not the first, you will +not accept the second, except in such circumstances +as expose you to perhaps little comparative +danger. May the Lord make me willing, +whatever it costs, to learn all his will, and give +me grace to love it. I have heard such instances +to-day of hateful and abominable oppression +and wickedness against the poor Christians, +by the followers of those who have the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +name of rulers within the city, that my heart +aches, and my soul loathes the place. But what +can we expect, when these very persons robbed +last night the house of Saleh Beg, himself from +whom they receive their pay.</p> + +<p>A little butter and some sheep have been +brought into the city; but they ask so enormous +a price, that they have not yet been bought.</p> + +<p>I was struck with the quickness with which +the mind apprehends the simple truth of God +when unprejudiced by interest. I have, without +even speaking contemptuously to the Christians +of their fasting, taken various opportunities of +expressing the liberty of a Christian to fast in +such a way, and at such times, as he believes +most conducive to his soul’s advantage; and +have pointed out to them, that to lay the stress +on it they do, was quite perverting the very +end and design of fasting; for that they are +manifestly less afraid of violating Christ’s commands +than their own regulations, which, as +they used them, were purely human. To-day, +a question arose between two of them in my +presence, about their fasts; and the one stated +as clearly as could be wished, the uselessness +of burthening their consciences about eating +a little butter instead of oil, or such like, instead +of seeking to flee from their lies, and drunkenness, +and robbery, and cheating. There seems +to me such a glorious moral power in God’s +word, that my heart never doubts of its producing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +marked effects, where it can be clearly +and fully delivered; but, oh, the language, what +a mountainous barrier!</p> + +<p>Last night, whilst lying on my bed, on the roof +of my house, five balls passed over my head in +about as many seconds, so close, that I threw +myself off in expectation that the next might +hit it or me; at times I almost determined to +go down, but the danger of being shot did not +appear so dreadful as the suffocating heat down +stairs.</p> + +<p><em>August 4.</em> <em>Thursday.</em>—We have received +accounts to-day of another messenger from +Bussorah, with letters for us, having been stripped. +How trying these dispensations are—how necessary +for our peace that our eye should only rest +on God, ordering in love every event concerning +us, even to the arrival of a letter, so that he +will allow nothing to fail us that is for our good. +I have to-day finished reading through again +Martyn’s Memoir, by Sargent. How my soul +admires and loves his zeal, self-denial, and devotion; +how brilliant, how transient his career; +what spiritual and mental power amidst bodily +weakness and disease. Oh, may I be encouraged +by his example to press on to a higher +mark. When I think of my own spiritual weakness, +contrasted with his spiritual power, it brings +a striking warning home to my heart to seek a +fuller and more abiding union with Jesus, from +whom alone flows the living waters that make +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +the branches fruitful; I am not now troubled +about that intellectual difference between us, +which might seem to make it impossible for me +to do what he did: the Lord has made me, +blessed be His holy name, contented in this +respect with any difference I may feel between +myself and his more exalted members; but my +sorrow is caused by my want of that likeness to +him, who is my Lord and King, which is alike +the common inheritance of all the members of +his mystical body. May I, however, henceforth +make the most of my talent, that I be not numbered +among the slothful servants at my dear +Lord’s most glorious and blessed appearing. +The mild seriousness that pervades dear H. M.’s +soul has for my heart a great charm. There is +not a trait of eccentricity—all is like his Lord +in its measure—he was solemn and serious as +became his work, yet full of zeal and affection, +which shewed itself, however, rather in the +steady power of a course of action than in expression. +It is astonishing what the world will +endure from a child of God, whose manner gives +them excuse for calling him an interesting eccentric +madman; because then all he says they feel +at liberty to laugh at; whereas, if the very same +truths were declared to them in the calm seriousness +of our Lord’s manner, it would make +them gnash on him with their teeth.</p> + +<p><em>August 7.</em> <em>Lord’s day.</em>—This has been a +day of trials and tears. The visions of the night +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +were filled with her I have lost, and the day +has been spent in weeping over her, I am soon, +very soon, to lose; but this is only nature, my +soul rests happily in my Lord. I had given up +a little for his dear service! but he knew where +the heart’s reserves were, and has put his hand +on them; yet, blessed hope, that gilds these +darkest days—the day of the Lord is at hand, +when we shall meet to part no more. Oh, +may my heart live with this blessed vision ever +before it, and labour each day for the Lord, +as though it were to be the waking vision of +the morning’s dawn. My heart is very sad to +think how profitless a servant I have been; +but I do purpose, the Lord enabling me, to +be more diligent, more devoted in the future.</p> + +<p>My mind has been much exercised with the +question of the desirableness of keeping a journal +of the soul’s inmost workings; but after reading +and thanking God for those of others, I feel I +never could write one without the fear of its +publication, and this would keep my soul in a +continual struggle, either by tempting me to say +too much or too little, more or less than the +truth; for, if any but my most gracious and +loving Lord knew me as I am, I should hide +myself for ever from the face of man. Yet +I pray the Lord, that he will by his Spirit +write a journal on my soul, that I may truly +feel how very meek and lowly it becomes +me to be when I think of all his forgiveness, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +notwithstanding my transgressions against him. +I feel there was something peculiarly gracious +in my Lord’s not sending me away to my sufferings +and trials, till he had given me a cordial, +in the assurance of his unchanging love. Oh, +but for this, what would my past trials have +been, had I not felt assured my Lord’s love did +not fluctuate with my feelings, nor depend upon +my worthiness. Oh, what a blessed passage is +that in Rom. v. “If, when we were enemies, +we were reconciled to God by the death of his +Son, <em>much more</em> being reconciled we shall be +saved by his life.” Yet the more I feel of this +assurance of such unmerited love, the more +hateful sin appears in all its shapes, and the +more my soul desires entire devotedness to the +whole will of God, and conformity to my gracious +Lord.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 9.</em>—A contest has sprung up between +the troops and the inhabitants of the city, in +which, from the continued firing, I should fear +there has been much slaughter. Our neighbours +are also again making barricades across +the street, near our door. I sometimes think +I am too impatient under these trials, instead +of being thankful for the mercies I enjoy, and +waiting without anxiety upon the Lord to work +as seemeth good to Him in his own time. I +hope to strive more and more after this childlike +confidence, which his experienced love so +richly deserves.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +I did not expect my sweet little baby would +have survived yesterday, yet she has this morning +a little revived.</p> + +<p>In the hourly expectation of being plundered, +I have put such things as I should be sorry to +lose in a hole made in the wall, by the falling +of a room. Yet I trust I am quite content +the Lord should do as he sees best, even with +respect to these. I sometimes sigh to join my +dear Mary in the kingdom of peace and joy, +and be ever with the Lord. Oh, may the Lord +fully and quickly make me meet for the inheritance +of the saints in light.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 13.</em> <em>Saturday.</em>—The Arabs made an +attack on the other side of the town to-day, +but were repulsed. Another messenger from +Bussorah is arrived, but stripped and plundered +of our letters, and detained four days a prisoner +by the Arabs. He has been near a month +on his way. Bussorah, like Bagdad, is still +besieged.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 14.</em> <em>Sunday.</em>—My dear little baby and +some others of my patients have occupied much +of my time to-day; for though I give the people +generally to understand, that unless in cases +of necessity, I would rather see them on any +other day; yet, there are many whom I have +felt it to be my duty to see. The remainder of +the day, however, was rendered profitless by +extreme weariness, I having had to walk about +with my poor little withering flower several +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +hours through the night. I feel these trials all +arise in what appears to me my present plain path +of duty, so they do not greatly trouble me; though +the progress in the language is almost altogether +in abeyance; but, if I confine myself to my +Lord’s will, I feel he will manage all for me.</p> + +<p>I have had with me to-day an Armenian gunsmith, +who has resided some years in Damascus; +he says, the Christians there are treated very +well, for though they will not allow them to +ride on horseback in the city, yet, as inhabitants, +they are well treated. He says, they are also +very numerous, inhabiting not less than 15,000 +houses; but, if from this we deduct 10,000, we +shall probably be nearer the truth. The Jews +are not so well treated. From Shaum (Damascus) +to Beyraut, on the coast, is four days journey, to +Acre four, to Tripoli six, to Aleppo ten, and +the roads quite safe. From Damascus to +Jerusalem is seven days journey, but through +an unsafe country. On the journey from this +place to Damascus, the only dangerous part of +the road is between this and Hit, on the +Euphrates, four days journey hence; after that +a certain sum is paid to the Arab tribes, you may +pass through. From Persian travellers, whom +they hate, they extort, when they know them, +a much greater sum, amounting sometimes to +from £10. to £20. between this and Damascus. +He says, you come to fresh water every second +or third day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +<em>Aug. 19.</em> <em>Friday.</em>—Every thing seems darkening +in this wretched city. Numbers of poor +people are crying at the gates to be let out, that +they may not be starved in the city; but they +will not let them go. All the necessaries of life +have risen to five times their usual price, and the +pressure of this is increased tenfold by the time +at which it has occurred. The bricklayers, carpenters, +every trade has entirely ceased its occupations +in the city since the commencement of +the plague; so that all day-labourers, such as +weavers and others, are thrown out of their +employments, and without means of gaining their +bread. In addition to this, the Arabs are breaking +into every house where they expect to find +a little corn or rice, so that it is a difficult choice +either to be without provisions in danger of +starving, or of being broken in upon by such +ruffians, and stripped. We intend to bury a +little box, containing some rice, and flour, and +dates, under ground, that in the event of their +breaking in, we may yet secure food for a few +days, which may give us time to look about. +The Lord, however, is very gracious, and will +not try us above our strength, but will magnify +his grace even in these scenes of trial and distress. +The care of my dear little dying baby +has taken my mind much off from dwelling on +the distressing position in which we are, and, +for aught I at present see, are likely to continue +in, for those within the town feel it is their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +heads for which they are contending, and will +therefore hold out to the very last. Yet in +this whirlwind the Lord rides and reigns, and +no part of the mystical body of Christ, however +humble the member, will ever be forgotten: on +this we rest and wait for light and deliverance.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 23.</em> <em>Tuesday.</em>—Saturday last they made +a sally from the city against a tribe of Arabs, +friends of Ali Pasha, and after putting them to +flight, and killing 100, they cut off the heads +of 150 in cold blood afterwards. It appears +that the obnoxious parties within the city are +anxious to place the whole inhabitants of the +city on such terms with the assailants that they +shall fear the consequences of their entering the +town as much as themselves. They have allowed +about 5000 of the very poorest to leave the city, +but the enemy without will allow no more to +pass. A letter came yesterday to Mr. Swoboda +from a Bohemian, who is physician to +Ali Pasha, in which he desired to communicate +to all the Franks, that Ali Pasha had given +the strictest orders to his soldiers not to molest +one of them. To a certain extent this manifests +good intentions; but we have had too much +experience of the powerlessness of governors +at such times to restrain their soldiers, to have +much confidence in man: our confidence is in +Him who will and does watch over us for good. +From the daily increase in the price of provisions, +and the daily coining new lies to feed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +the people with hopes instead of bread, I think +things cannot remain long in their present position; +yet the Lord knows. It is certain Bagdad +is altogether ruined; and if those who belong +to the neighbouring villages, and those who +would leave it, were there ever so small an +opening, were gone, the city would be a desert.</p> + +<p>I had a patient with me to-day, who told me +that, out of a family of sixteen, he alone remains +from the plague. Persons he added, who before +these troubles were not worth a para, are seen +riding about on fine horses and trappings, covered +with gold and pearls, &c.; and, on the other +hand, many who before were in very good +circumstances, are, by the robbery of those who +should protect them, reduced to beggary. It +appears that Ali Pasha is in want of nothing but +money and ammunition; and those within the town +want every thing but these. This wretched city has +suffered to an almost unparalleled extent the judgments +of God within the last six months: the +plague swept away more than two-thirds of its +inhabitants—the flood has thrown down nearly +two-thirds of its houses; and property and provisions +of corn, dates, sugar, &c. &c. beyond +all calculation, have been destroyed, and we are +now suffering under daily increasing famine, and +we have yet hanging over our heads the revengeful +sword of resisted authority, and the +unprincipled plunder of a lawless soldiery to +complete the devastation. This Pashalic was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +just about to fall an easy prey into the hands of +the Persians, who long to possess it, from their +famous place of pilgrimage, Kerbala, being in +the neighbourhood, and perhaps also to make up +for their losses on their Russian frontier. Thus +the Lord seems preparing these two great Mohammedan +powers for their final overthrow, partly +by the hands of each other, and partly by the +hands of the Christian power. In the province +of Kourdistan, the Persians have encroached +much on the territory of this Pashalic already.</p> + +<p>Oh! how delightful it is to turn from these +scenes of present and prospective strife to that +happy approaching day, when the Lord shall +come with ten thousand of his saints to establish +his kingdom of peace and glory. Oh! may our +cry never cease to be, “Come, Lord Jesus, come +quickly;” and when he does come, may he find +us in his service among the faithful, chosen, and +true.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 24.</em> <em>Thursday.</em>—Three months and ten days +have now passed since the Lord took from me +her who was on earth the supreme consolation of +my life; and now, this day, he has taken from +me my sweet little baby without a sigh, without +the expression of pain during the whole of her +illness; for this my heart can, even at this moment, +bless the Lord; but it has left a void that +has more than ever made the world appear a +waste. The incessantly returning wants made +even these times appear to wing a rapid flight; but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +now all is still as death, except the weeping of +the poor nurse, who truly loved her, and watched +over her night and day with unremitting care. +Oh! what a time would these three months have +been for dear Mary, had she lived, and what +a day would this have been; but the Lord took +her from the evil to come, and has now taken the +dear little object of her love to her, to join her +little sainted sister and dear little brother; four +of us are gone, and three are left. May the Lord +quickly prepare us all, and hasten his coming +kingdom, that we may meet to part no more. +And, Oh! may he make and accept the remnant +of the worthless life he grants me, as a living +sacrifice to his service. Notwithstanding I acquiesce, +I trust, in the Lord’s will from the bottom +of my heart, yet I feel a desolation and loneliness +of heart, on this last dispensation, that surpasses +all I have felt in my last six months of trial. My +sweet little baby remained an object for those +affections to seize upon, which will exist while life +lasts, however disciplined, and however the power +of grace may prevail; but in one so weak in faith, +so earthly as I am, they have had much, too much +power, and therefore the Lord, in mercy to my +soul, has swept them all away, that I may have +nothing in this world left but his service. If this +be his holy purpose, may my whole soul second so +gracious an intention; and I pray the spiritual +family which the Lord, according to his promise, +has given me, fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +that their love and patience towards me +may abound, that my spirit may be refreshed +thereby, and my weakness encouraged to proceed—though +faint, yet pursuing.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 25.</em> <em>Friday.</em>—This day has taught me, +that if I would not be entirely miserable, I must +give up my whole time, and soul, and thoughts to +my Lord; for if I look off him, I feel bordering on +a gulf, the depth of which I cannot fathom. Oh! +may the Holy blessed Spirit give me such views of +the graciousness and exceeding riches of my Lord, +that I may really feel, that in having him, I have +all things. He alone is the same, yesterday, to-day, +and for ever. All created things, the nearest, +the dearest, the most beloved in the moment +of greatest need and greatest felicity, elude the +grasp, and flee away; but he abides always. I +desire, therefore, the Lord enabling me, to give +myself altogether to the preparation for my future +labours more diligently than I have ever +yet done; that though desolate on earth, I may +hold the freest and sweetest communion with +heaven; for of all preparation I feel the greatest, +the most needful to be, that of the heart; in order +to the constant sensible entertainment of Christ, +from whose nearness all the spiritual faculties +derive the sap and the fruit bearing strength.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 28.</em>—To-day I feel the Lord has given me +a victory, by turning my thoughts off my miserable +self and temporary circumstances, to the contemplation +of the happiness of those who are gone +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +before me, and by enabling me to feel set off on +my journey to meet them, and drawing every day +one day’s journey nearer, while I endeavour to +forget I had ever been happy in domestic life, or +ever possessed those dear objects; but nature was +often too strong for me, as I dwelt on their felicity, +and my journeying towards them daily, whether +the Lord brings them with him, or I go before he +comes. This hope does comfort me, for it is a +real abiding truth, whether I drink the sweets of +the consolation from it or not. I therefore now +purpose, the Lord enabling me, after nearly six +months interruption, to return to the studies preparatory +to my future duties as an itinerating missionary. +To this service I ever thought the Lord +had called me, and for this I now see all his trials +have been fitting me, for I am without a home +and without a tie in the world, but my dear Lord’s +service. These trials have made me ready for +entering on my work to any extent; as my dear +little boys will no longer confine me to one place, +but will soon be of an age to move about with +me; or should their choice render other arrangements +necessary, the Lord will open a way +for them likewise.</p> + +<p>For an itinerating missionary on this side the +desert, three languages are essentially important; +Arabic, Turkish, and Persian: and this I feel, +unless the Lord very especially helps me, will be +<em>to me</em> no ordinary labour; but, as I am surrounded +by men who every day learn them for purposes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +of gain, I trust the Lord will not allow me to +faint, or be discouraged till, for his own service +I have attained them.</p> + +<p>The internal state of the city is daily becoming +more and more critical: all the necessaries of life +are risen to ten times their common price, and are +even then with difficulty obtained. The abominations +that are now committed in the face of day, +makes the city appear ripe for the judgment of the +cities of the plain; and the poor Christians principally +suffer in the persons of their children in +these abominable acts of violence; but to seek a +remedy now is utterly useless, for all the power in +the city is in the hands of the lawless mob, who +are the perpetrators of all the wickedness. It +makes one’s heart ache to hear them weeping and +telling of their sufferings.</p> + +<p><em>August 29.</em>—Last night some of the depredators +broke into our house, and have taken away +to the amount of about ten pounds from Kitto and +myself, while we were all asleep upon the roof of +the house, so there was nothing to hinder them +from clearing the house; yet the Lord some how +or other disturbed them, for though they took +my clothes out of a box, they dropped them in +their way to the window through which they entered, +and a box containing my money in my room +they never opened—in fact, it altogether appears +they went away without accomplishing the purpose +for which they came, and it so happened that +from the constant expectation of the general +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +plunder of the city, we had put away every thing +of any particular value. Should we be plundered +by the soldiers of Ali Pasha, we may possibly, +if our lives be spared, obtain, as Mr. Goodell +did, remuneration; but about this I do not feel +anxious: the Lord will provide.</p> + +<p>From daylight this morning till near noon +there was a pretty sharp contest between those +within the city and those without, in which the +latter got the advantage. My feeling is, that +we are very fast approaching to a crisis, and in +that crisis our eyes are unto the everlasting hills—to +him who says, ‘I will never leave thee nor +forsake thee,’ but who will be with us always even +unto the end of the world. Oh! what a relief +would a little time of peace and free communication +with our dear friends be. The latest letters +from England are dated nine months ago; and +from many, nay all my dear friends at Exeter, the +latest is nearly eleven months; so that all our trials +come together. For five months the dear little +boys have not set their foot without the door of +our house, and I cannot but feel it is a great mercy +of the Lord, that they are so happy and contented. +I have never heard, during all this time, +one word of complaint from them.</p> + +<p><em>Aug. 30.</em>—The inhabitants are building up gates +in all the principal streets, both against the swarms +of thieves who plunder by night, and in anticipation +of the entrance of the opposing party, +when a general pillage seems now fully expected +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +by all. It often seems to me, on looking +around and seeing all without God, and trusting +to their puny efforts to avert impending evils, +what a blessed portion we have who know him, +believe in him, and love him, and know and feel, +that without his permission, not one hair of our +heads shall fall. Those within the city have +also again been out and attacked another tribe +of Arabs that were on Ali Pasha’s side, pillaged +and set fire to their camp, and brought the +plunder into the city, among which was a great +quantity of silk, which these Arabs had taken +from a caravan coming to Bagdad from Persia +in the time of the plague.</p> + +<p><em>September 2.</em>—I was sent for to-day to see +the Pasha, who has, from the effects of a carbuncle +on his toe lost one of the joints, and +they have so treated it, that he will, I think, +now certainly lose another. He was particularly +kind and civil, and without any comparison, the +most gentlemanly person I have met with in the +East. There is an unaffected simplicity of manners, +and a benevolence of countenance, which +makes one wonder how all the accounts of his +actions, which we may, I think, say we know to +be true, could possibly be so. He made me a +present of three small cucumbers, at this time +the greatest rarity; and this may convey some +idea to what extent the privations of the poor +have gone, when the Pasha can hardly command +a cucumber, which, with legumenous fruits of a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +similar kind, constitute a great portion of the +food of the poor in ordinary times. As I returned +from the Pasha a man levelled a gun at me, not +with any intention to fire I believe, but just to +show that independent boldness which fears no +one, but dares to do what it chooses.</p> + +<p><em>September 6.</em>—There is nothing new; but the +uninterrupted stream of misery is still swelling +with its bitter waters: depredation and scarcity +increasing and advancing with pretty equal steps. +There seems to be signs of money beginning to +fail from the treasury of the Pasha, as his kanjaar +(a dagger), richly studded with diamonds, +was offered for sale the other day. The palace +of the Pasha, or rather its ruins, are filled with +Arnaouts, a mercenary band of soldiers, who employ +their time in making and drinking arrack, +and knocking down the walls of the palace, +wherever they yield a hollow sound, in search of +the hidden treasures of the Pasha. In these countries +it is a universal custom to bury or build up +in the walls of houses their treasures, from the +insecurity in which they always live.</p> + +<p>Mr. Swoboda has received a letter from +a friend of his in the Pasha’s camp, stating +that there was a large pile of letters and +parcels for Europeans within the city, in the possession +of the Pasha. This is trying to us, but +still it brings the hope that we may yet soon receive +intelligence of our friends.</p> + +<p>It seems as if the angel of destruction was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +resting on this city as on Babylon, to sweep it +from the earth. They are actually pulling down +the roofs of the bazaars to sell and burn the wood, +destroying buildings for fuel, that a hundred +times the worth of the wood will not replace, and +filling up the roads with rubbish so as to render +them scarcely passable. The state of anarchy +which prevails must be witnessed to be understood. +If it were not that the soul feels it +is the Lord’s province to bring order out of confusion +and good out of evil, it would utterly +despair in such a scene, where every element +at work seems wickedness; but amidst all, our +eyes are unto him.</p> + +<p><em>September 7.</em>—Weak in body and mind, I +could sometimes almost impatiently wish for a +change. Yet the Lord is very gracious, and +suffers us to have quite enough for our health +and strength; and as for money, a Roman Catholic +merchant was with me yesterday, begging +that if I wanted any more, I would take it +from him, for they seem all to have that kind of +confidence even in our national character, that +they will generally without hesitation, let you +have money. For myself, I know not if my +mind preys on my body, or my body on my mind, +or whether they mutually act and re-act one on +the other; yet I feel on the whole thus much, +that if it appeared the Lord’s most gracious +pleasure to direct my steps away from this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +place for a season, I should be thankful. Nevertheless, +I desire to say from my heart, not my +will, O Lord, but thine be done. In Arabic, I +think I make daily progress, and I feel fully +assured, should the Lord spare my life for this +blessed work, that I shall one day be able to +preach the unsearchable riches of Christ intelligibly, +perhaps even fluently. Yet from the natural +badness of my memory, considerable time will +be requisite, unless the Lord vouchsafe to me +his especial help to this end, for which I daily +pray, for I want not opportunity but language to +preach Christ.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 9.</em> <em>Friday.</em>—Every thing continues still +increasing in price, and in an increased ratio +the sufferings of the poor: if they leave the city +they are stripped and driven back; if they remain +they are starved; and even the dates are +just come to an end, upon which for near three +weeks, both the people and the cattle have been +feeding. The Pasha has this day taken the +jewels of his wives to sell, from which and some +other signs, I am led to think his course is nearly +run, and that ere long he will follow the fate of his +predecessor. Ali Pasha told the Suffian-Effendi, +who went out to him to endeavour to accommodate +matters, that he had come for one head only, but +that after the way in which he had been treated, +he would not be satisfied with less than <em>ten</em>; and +if, at that time, which was nearly a month ago, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +he had determined to take ten, I fear a hundred +would not now satisfy him.</p> + +<p>A poor Roman Catholic priest was with me +to-day, telling me of his distress, while one of +his opulent flock was sitting by him. He said +the Jews would not allow their poor to beg +from others; by which I thought he meant +to give a pretty intelligible hint that his flock +ought to be ashamed. But his rich hearer +only said, “The Lord is merciful, and he will +provide.” On this side the desert, the professing +Christians are not certainly priest-ridden +as they are in most Roman Catholic countries, +or even on the other side of the desert, +in consequence of there being no powerful +and wealthy communities like the monasteries +in Mount Lebanon, to bring down the +heavy arm of the Turks upon them; for without +the Turks they can do little, and these +petty governments joyfully interfere in their +strifes to extort money from both parties, though +in this respect, Bagdad has been better off than +most Pashalics for nearly sixty years past, since +the time of Suliman Pasha, whose slave the +present Pasha was, but liberated on his death. +Since him there have been Ali Pasha, Suliman +Pasha the younger, Abdallah Pasha, and Seyd +Pasha, all of whom have been murdered after +a longer or shorter period. Daoud Pasha has +now been fourteen years in possession of the +power he obtained by the murder of his predecessor, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +and seems now not far from sharing the +same fate.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 10.</em> <em>Saturday.</em>—The evening before +last the thieves broke into the house of one of +the sons of the Pasha, and killed three of the +servants: if they serve the Pasha so what have +others to expect? Instead of being surprised +that things are so bad, my surprise is that they +are not worse, seeing the city is entirely at the +mercy of those who are capable of every abomination +and cruelty; and there is no other restraint +upon them than what God puts into their hearts +by the undefined fear of possible retribution. +The most valuable articles known to belong to +the Pasha, from whom they had been stolen, +were sold openly in the streets, without the +least notice being taken, and thus also they +shoot individuals when they please, in the open +day and in the public thoroughfares, and no one +stops to see who it is or why it is, but every +one hastens off as fast as he can lest he should +share the same fate. And the passengers in the +streets are not only exposed to be shot at by +those prompted by deliberate enmity, but this +armed rabble is continually drunk, and, without +the least provocation, fire at men or women. +I seem to think, if it did please the Lord to +put an end to these scenes of sorrow and trial, +my heart would be very thankful; yet perhaps +in this I deceive myself, and all my gratitude +would be as a morning cloud. However, this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> +I know, the Lord will not suffer me to be tried +above what he will enable me to bear, and on +this assurance, in the darkest day, may the blessed +Spirit enable my heart to repose. This is my +daily comfort.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 12.</em> <em>Monday.</em>—The poor are again permitted +to leave the city, and it is reported, that +when Ali Pasha heard that those had been +robbed who came out before, he threw some +of the supposed plunderers into the river, and cut +off the heads of others. However this may +be, 5 or 600 now daily go out and suffer no +molestation. This is a great mercy, for within +the city every article of food has disappeared +except buffaloes’ and camels’ flesh, and this +at about twenty times its usual price. Should +this state of things continue, it seems to me +from present appearances, that a general plunder +will be the consequence. To-day they have +pillaged the houses of some Jews. Yesterday +they broke open the house of Major Taylor’s +chaoush. They are very slow to interfere with +those under English protection; but when their +natural thievish propensities are stimulated by +want and opportunity, from what may they be +expected to withhold themselves?</p> + +<p>Things within the city are now come to that +pass, that I heard from the Meidan to-day (the +place where the principal Turks reside) that +they have determined to wait five days more, +and if Ajeel, the Sheikh of the Montefeik Arabs, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +or some other efficient aid, does not arrive, +they will cut off the heads of Daoud Pasha and +Saleh Beg, who is his Kaimacam, or Lieutenant +Governor, and send them to Ali Pasha, for +the city can bear no more.</p> + +<p>When I consider all the misery in the city, +and the privations not only among the poor, +but the rich, and consider how we have been +provided for, it does seem to me most marvellous, +strangers as we were, and without a friend. +Before the plague, in our ignorance of the +probable time of its continuance, and with the +certain knowledge that in the midst of the +greatest want, there was not a soul that could +help us, we took in enough of wheat, rice, soap, +and candles, to last till within a very few weeks. +When dear Mr. Pfander left us, we made him +some sausages, called in this country <em>pastourma</em>: +he, however, took but a few, and the rest remained +with us, and served us both during the +plague, and now in the famine to vary our food +a little, though somewhat dry and as hard as +wood, and still of them one or two remains. The +dear boys also had some pigeons: these also +served us for many days. We then had two +goats for my poor dear little baby, and to give +us milk; but provisions became so dear that +we were obliged to kill one; this we divided +among the poor: the second at last we also +killed, and potted in its fat. This by little and +little we are consuming. We have also got four +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +or five hens, which lay two or three eggs a-day. +Thus the Lord has provided for us till now; and +if we have not had abundance, we have never +suffered from want. And now, when wheat and +rice is not to be bought, and if possessed in +quantities would expose the possessors to inevitable +pillage, the Lord has so graciously +supplied us, that we avoid both want and the +danger of possessing provisions in the house, for +before the kind Taylors left this, they gave me +permission to take from the Residency whatever +I might want, and this I now take by little and +little as I need, and the house of the Resident +is so far respected in public opinion, that openly +disorganized as things are, I do not think they +will commit any violence upon it.</p> + +<p>I am sure there are many who, in reading +this, will bless God for his goodness to us, so +utterly unworthy as we are; but, oh! if they +could be witnesses of the misery that others +suffer, and from which his mercies have freed +us, they would indeed praise him. For, even +when provisions were to be had, had we been +obliged to purchase at the price things then were +and are now, we must inevitably have run in +debt; but as it is we have enough of money +for more than a month to come. Therefore, +bereaved and incapable as I yet feel of all enjoyment, +I desire to bless the Lord for all his +great goodness and care over us, of the least +of whose mercies I feel infinitely unworthy. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +And though my faith does not enable me fully +now to feel, in unison with my <em>soul’s judgment</em>, +on my heavenly Father’s dealings toward me, +when time has removed the bitter cup farther +distant, it may not possess all its present intensity +of bitterness, to which also so many circumstances +have tended to add additional pungency—not +a friend near, not a communication +from any of those far away. I have ever felt one +abiding source of comfort, in that I knew I enjoyed +the prayers of many whose prayers I truly +value, and through these I believe I shall yet +stand complete in all the will of God, to remove +or to remain, to live or to die. The Lord will +quickly come, and then his power and great glory +will be manifested to the joy of his chosen and the +confusion of his enemies.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 14.</em> <em>Wednesday.</em>—While I feel more convinced +every day that a missionary in these countries, +who really would cast himself upon his +Lord, and share in its revolutions and national +judgments, has more to prepare his mind for them +previously to his entering upon it than he can +well conceive: yet on the other hand, I feel more +confirmed in the opinion, that amidst this disjointed +disorganized state of society, there are +more doors of irregular missionary service open +than he can possibly occupy. For though he can +perhaps find few opportunities of publicly preaching +Christ; yet in conversation, and the preparation +and circulation of tracts, I think there are immense +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +opportunities afforded. Yet for conversation +much time will be required in acquiring +a facility in the language by most, till the Lord +is pleased to pour down from on high, his gifts of +the Spirit—and as to tracts, at present we have +none. The Turkish Armenian tracts, printed at +Malta, are not clearly understood here; neither +do I think the Arabic or Turkish spoken on the +other side of the desert would be so either, if I +may judge from the translations into Turkish and +Arabic. In fact, it would appear desirable if +the object of a missionary be to labour in the east, +that he should study on this side the desert if +possible; though the difficulties of a family are +great here amidst the constant succeeding commotion +of this disturbed country. There is no +retiring place within at least some hundred miles, +at all times by a dangerous journey, but in such +times as these almost impassable. And the elements +of disorder do not arise only from the state +of the Ottoman empire, but from the vicinity of +Persia, daily encroaching on this side, as I have +mentioned before, both from religious and political +motives, and this spirit is encouraged by +the constant weakening of the pashalic. About +fifty or sixty years ago, commenced the government +of Suliman Pasha the elder, who +continued twenty-three years in his situation +and died in his bed. This Pasha raised Bagdad +from a place of little mercantile consideration +to be one of the most important places of traffic +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +in the east, and he allured merchants from all +parts by the equity and firmness of his government. +From that to the present time, this pre-eminence +has been enjoyed by Bagdad, and it +has been the central place of trade between the +east and the west; and for these purposes, if improved, +a more desirable situation could not +be imagined under a firm and wise administration. +This Suliman Pasha strengthened the Georgian +interest in this pashalic prodigiously by the +purchasing of an immense number of Georgian +slaves whom he manumitted at his death. One of +these, Ali Pasha, who married his daughter, +succeeded him, and was murdered at prayers +after about five years reign. Suliman Pasha +who succeeded him, also married a daughter of +the former Suliman, he governed about three +years, and was then put to death. He was succeeded +by Abdallah Pasha, who was the treasurer +of Ali Pasha; he continued about three +years, and was put to death. To him succeeded +Seyd Pasha, son of Suliman Pasha the elder, +who, at the end of about three years, was +also put to death. To these last who had thus +succeeded and murdered one another, succeeded +Daoud, the present Pasha, who to avoid a like +fate with his predecessors, cut off every man +about him who could possibly afford him any umbrage; +but while on the one hand he secured +himself, on the other he so weakened the +Georgian interest, that when his affairs became +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +involved in difficulty, there was none to help but +creatures who had ministered to his avarice which +he had gratified at the expence of every loyal +feeling (if such an expression can be used by a +Turk.) But still, though previous to the plague, +the Georgians had been thus diminishing in +numbers, and more so in intellectual and moral +character, still they were a strong body; but the +plague swept them nearly all away. All this +taking place at this peculiar juncture when there +is no recruiting their strength from Georgia, +which is now in the hands of the Russians, and +when the heart of the Sultan is peculiarly set +against the whole mameluke rule seems to indicate +the period of their downfall to be near at +hand. Should Ali Pasha now succeed in getting +possession of the city, the Georgian government +of these renegade slaves will be ended as that of +their brethren in apostacy was in Egypt. But, +however things may terminate, there are no +elements of recovery, fall they must; for the +curse of God is upon them from the hands of one +tyrant after another, till some powerful nominal +Christian government will accept the government +of them, for which they are daily ripening, +which they are daily expecting, and which will +finally happen, unless they fully adopt a European +policy and plan, and this by another +road, will lead to the same end, the overthrow +of Mohammedanism and the establishment of infidelity. +I have just thus cursorily made these +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +remarks, that no missionary may deceive himself +by expecting any long period of peace and +quietness. If it comes, he may bless God; but +if it be withheld, he must calculate upon it. +And I think those who are lightly armed for +their work—who can run, and fly, and hide, and +at all events have only their own lives to care +about, will be happiest amidst all their privations +and trials between Bagdad and China. But for +those who have known the endearment of domestic +life, or who are by nature peculiarly susceptible +of its happiness it may truly be said, this is +a living martyrdom. It is: but it is <em>for Christ</em>, +who will soon come and wipe away all tears +from our eyes. I desire daily to feel it is a world +in which my gracious Lord was an outcast, and +where it would be to my loss if I made me a +home. May the Lord make me willing to serve +him on these or any other terms he may manifest +at his pleasure.</p> + +<p>This morning some persons who were employed +for the purpose, set at liberty two of the principal +Georgians who were imprisoned in the +camp of Ali Pasha.</p> + +<p>The Armenian servant to whom I lent an Armenian +Testament, with the translation into the +modern Constantinople dialect, came to me to +say how much better he understood it than he did +before in the old language, and his countenance +seemed quite to brighten up at the sense of his +attainment. Among the Armenians I think +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +there is an open door, especially among the young, +their ears are open and thirsting for information +on every subject.</p> + +<p>The father of the Armenian schoolmaster was +to-day speaking with me on the difficulty of that +passage, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I +hated.” He said he felt just in that state as though +God had said to him, I will not receive you. I +longed to preach to him fully so far as I am able, +Him who saith, Whosoever cometh to me I will +in no wise cast out; but I have many difficulties: +he is very deaf, and Armenian and Turkish, not +Arabic, are the languages he understands. The +languages greatly try me, for though I feel by the +Lord’s mercy making daily progress, yet still I +feel four or five years must pass before I am fully +prepared even in this department of my labour, +and happy shall I be if in that time it be accomplished.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 15.</em> <em>Thursday.</em>—After a night of anxious +suspense, the day has dawned in comparative +peace; the cry that Ali Pasha’s troops were entering +the city, began soon after we had retired +to rest, and continued till near morning. Now +we hear that Daoud Pasha had fled from the +house of Saleh Beg during the night and endeavoured +to enter the citadel, but the soldiers would +not admit him. He is now in the hands of the people +of the Meidan. The Chaoush Kiahya of Ali +Pasha has entered the city, and every one is in +an awful state of suspense as to the future fate +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +of the inhabitants, at least of the higher classes. +I have just set up the English flag that they may +know the inhabitant of the house is a stranger +here, who has nothing to do with the strife of the +city. If, after this, the Lord allows them to +enter our habitation, may his holy and blessed +will be done. I think the Lord has allowed my +mind to be in perfect peace as to the result.</p> + +<p>The poor wives of the Pasha are kissing the +hands of passers by, begging that they will give +them an asylum. Poor sufferers! all are afraid to +interfere so as to afford them that which they want. +At present, words and appearances are peaceable. +May the Lord of his mercy grant that they may +continue so.</p> + +<p>To-day we killed two fowls to have a little fresh +meat. Thus the Lord has kept us through all this +time of trial, and we have enough remaining for +five or six days, blessed be his holy name. This +day has ended in perfect peace, not a disturbance +or an individual molested. The principal thieves, +who, at the head of various gangs, were robbing +the city in every direction, are now doing all they +can to escape, for they are perfectly known. Thus +the gracious hand of the Lord has removed in +one day the siege and famine, and fear and terror, +from the lawless within, and the undefined terrors +from those who are without, so that all seems joy +and gladness to the poor inhabitants. In the conclusion +of this affair Ali Pasha has conducted himself +amidst numberless provocations with a moderation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +and prudence that does him the highest honour; +bless the Lord for all his mercies. This will +be the first night for months that we shall retire to +rest without the hateful sounds of civil strife saluting +our ears, or disturbing our rest.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 16.</em> <em>Friday.</em>—Another peaceful day. Ali +Pasha has collected all the principal Georgians together +in his camp. When the late Pasha went out +to his camp, he rose from his seat and embraced +him, and told him not to fear; that the Sultan had +ordered his life to be spared; to Saleh Beg also +assurances of safety were given, and in fact up to +this time not one individual has been put to death. +It remains yet to be seen whether this be a cloak or +real moderation. However, from the great body +of the citizens all fear is removed, and both animals +and inhabitants alike rejoice in returning abundance. +The wheat that was sold on Wednesday, +for 250 piasters, was sold on Thursday for 40, and +other things in proportion, besides which, vegetables +have re-appeared, which, for five months, +were not to be procured, at any price.</p> + +<p>I sent out to-day the chaoush of Major Taylor +to Ali Pasha, to enquire if there were any letters +or packets for the Residency or for me; but I +found there were none to my great disappointment. +However, Ali Pasha was very civil; enquired +after the Resident, hoped there would be +perpetual and increasing affection between them, +&c. &c. We have now to wait to see how these +fair beginnings will end. I have just seen the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +Hakeem Bashee or chief Physician of Ali Pasha, +who is an Italian, and to my great joy found he +had locked up in his box for me many letters and +newspapers, which he from time to time collected +in the camp; whenever any messenger was brought +in, and his packets examined, all that were for +Europeans he took out, and put in his box; to-morrow +he promises to let me have those that were +addressed to me. He tells me that Ali Pasha has +two interpreters, natives of Cyprus, who speak +Turkish, Italian, and Romaic. It appears that +a great change is contemplated in the government +of this Pashalic.</p> + +<p>One of the two gentlemen whom Major Taylor +sent to examine the Euphrates from Beles to Anah, +has arrived at Aleppo on his way to Beles. From +Anah to Bussorah there is no insurmountable impediment +in the way of steam navigation. The +part that now remains to be examined is from Beer +to Anah.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 18.</em> <em>Lord’s day.</em>—To-day I have received +a long missing letter from the dear Taylors, in +which Major Taylor most kindly and generously +offers, should any thing happen to me, to consider +my dear boys as his own, till he has an opportunity +of sending them safely to the hands of their friends +in England. Thus the Lord provides, thus he +orders for us. This kind offer of Major T. was +quite unsolicited, for, though when I felt attacked +by the plague, I had written a letter making this +request, yet, on my recovery, I destroyed it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +I also received a letter from Dr. Morrison, in +China, in which he expresses his conviction of the +importance of missionaries learning to earn their +subsistence by some occupation, however humble, +rather than be dependant as they now are, on +societies. I confess my mind so far entirely agrees +with him, that, if I had to prepare for a missionary +course, I would not go to a college or an institution, +but learn medicine, or go to a blacksmith’s, +watchmaker’s, or carpenter’s shop, and there pursue +my preparatory studies. I do not mean to +say, that this should be to the exclusion of preparatory +studies in language, and the deepest preparatory +Scripture studies, but, in conjunction +with them, for I am satisfied it is a much greater +blessing to missionaries to lead those down who +either by birth or other circumstances may have +been a little removed from the lower orders of society +than to raise those of humble birth to the rank +of gentlemen in the world, who neither by education, +habits, nor intercourse are enabled happily or +profitably to fill such a station—but it is that yoke +of mere human ordination, the necessity of a +<em>title from man to preach</em> and <em>administer</em> as it is +called the sacraments, of which not so much as +a hint is contained in the New Testament, it is that +awful distinction between laity and clergy which +are the things that tie up all hands, and put bodies +of men into situations of trial, who, but for this +delusion, would be without any comparative difficulties. +Without these we should learn to judge of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +men’s fitness for their work, not by their being ordained +or unordained by this or that denomination +of men, but according to the rule of the apostles, +by their doctrine and walking as they had them +for “ensamples;” if they came otherwise, though +apostles or angels, let them, says the apostle, +be accursed. Oh, if this principle of the apostles +were set up in proving all things and holding fast +that which is good, we should not hear so good a +man, and one so much to be loved, as Mr. Bickersteth, +misleading his readers by telling them to adhere +to an unsound <em>authorised</em><a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> +teacher, rather +than go to a sound and unauthorised one; to one +who is authorised by the head of the church, though +not by the head of the state. So said not Paul, +but, “if I or an angel come preaching any other +doctrine, let him be accursed.” In all the Apostle +Paul’s trials with the false teachers, and in all the +directions given respecting them to the various +churches, he never once alludes to their appointment +by the apostles or any other human being, or bodies +of human beings, as even a collateral ground of consideration +and preference, but always to the truth, +the truth, the truth; if they preach that, well; +if they do not, it matters not who they are, nor +whence they came, from heaven or earth, they +are to be rejected. God grant the day may quickly +come when the church of God may care as little +about the opinions of bishops and presbyteries or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +any other association of men, <em>apart from their +piety and truth</em>, as the Lord and his Apostles +cared about the opinions of the Sanhedrim. So +far as their estate or authority is temporal, let us +obey them, but let us keep our souls free.</p> + +<p>It is said that all these provinces, from Bussorah +to Bagdad, Sulemania, Mosul, Diarbekr, Merdin, +Orfa, and Aleppo, are to be under the government +of Ali Pasha; at all events there seems +to be such a change contemplated, that at present +I do not see it right to remove, especially as the +Lord has provided an asylum in the event of any +thing happening to me, in the bosom of Mr. +Taylor’s family, for my dear boys.</p> + +<p>Under Daoud Pasha the people were oppressed +by monopolies in every article of consumption. +Ali Pasha seems determined to put an end to the +system. The cryer yesterday proclaimed that +meat was to be sold for no more than two piasters +an oke,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> +and that if any man took more he +should be hanged on the spot to his own crooks. +One of the butchers, near the Meidan, who was +detected yesterday, selling meat for three piasters, +was instantly hanged. After which, the butchers +went to the officer who superintends their affairs, +and offered him considerable sums of money as a +bribe, but he would pay no attention to them.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 21.</em> <em>Wednesday.</em>—Nothing can exceed +the attention and respect that is paid to Daoud +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +by Ali Pasha; for his life, he said, he had nothing +to fear; the Sultan had pardoned him, and a firman +had come to that effect, but that the Sultan +wished him to go to Constantinople on the morrow +or the day after. Therefore he leaves +this, and his wives go with him, and his eldest +son, Hassan Beg, who has had all his property +made him a present of by Ali Pasha, and every +thing they choose to select for the convenience of +the journey, is to be provided for them. There is +something in this treatment so utterly unlike any +thing that has been ever witnessed before, that +people know not what to make of it; the Turks +cannot be brought to believe but that there must +be some treachery under it; for my own part, I +do believe that so far as Ali Pasha is concerned, +this is not true.</p> + +<p>The Turks here are also much startled at seeing +their long robes and turbans thrown away for an +European military uniform, with epaulets and +other decorations; and they say that Ali Pasha +himself has quite adopted the European dress, so +what changes we may expect I know not, but +certainly great ones are contemplated; any change +approximating to this has not been introduced from +the days of the Patriarchs till now. Drinking is no +longer a covert offence that they practice in secret; +but wine and spirits are brought in their trays as +regular articles of consumption. The fact is, that +Mohammedanism and Popery have received, and +are receiving, such hard knocks that their power +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +will certainly sink, even though the name may remain, +and I do expect that this state of powerlessness +in these two bodies will open ways for God’s +elect among them to come out.</p> + +<p>I had yesterday a long and most interesting conversation +with a very respectable Armenian Roman +Catholic merchant of this place, most timidly fearful +of having his faith touched; yet the Lord opened +the way to the introduction of the conversation on +some very interesting topics—on the duty of reading +God’s word for ourselves, and on the worship +of the Virgin, on all of which, little by little, he +conversed freely.—He seemed well acquainted with +the Scriptures I quoted, but had never thought +about the questions, and this is the great preparatory +work in this country, to get men to think on +the things of the soul’s everlasting interests, and +to feel that these things have to do with the various +relations of life. In all countries custom has much +power; but in the East it is despotic.</p> + +<p>I have been much struck in reading some letters +in the Record, on the Church and Dissent, which +has made me feel the necessity and value of +that word of our blessed Lord.—“If thine +eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of +light.” Surely if the Scripture be sufficient to decide +any question, it is sufficient to decide the +question of what a child of God ought to do when +a man, calling himself a minister of Christ, propagates +errors among any section of Christ’s church. +Does not Paul say, Who is Paul or Apollos, but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +ministers by whom ye believe? What, then, is +the Church of England, or Scotland, or the Dissenters, +but various ministries, by which we believe? +And the same apostle—the exalter of the +Lord of life, and the abaser of every high thought +of man, says, “If I or an angel from heaven +preach any other gospel than that you have received, +let him be accursed.” Does Paul set up +the principle that men are to be received not according +to the truth or error of their doctrine, but +according to the sect to which they belong, or the +mode or circumstance of ordination? Never: but +the very reverse. With the apostle it is always +the truth—the truth—the truth; let those judge +who wish to see.</p> + +<p>Now, I will just state a strong case, but a fact. +I was one day travelling in the mail, and a certain +person in one corner began a most obscene conversation, +with a gentleman who came to see him at +the door of the mail, while it was changing horses. +Opposite him, in the other corner, was his own +son. When the mail arrived at the place to which +we were going, on getting out, I asked the people +at the coach office, who that person was. I had +previously considered him as an officer in the army, +but, to my amazement, was told he was the Rev. ——. +This individual has since been made a +dignitary of the Church of England, and has had +other preferment bestowed upon him; and this is +but part of what might be said. You will say this +is an extreme case. But it is a matter of fact. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +Am I to remain under the ministry of such a +teacher? It not only shocks the affections of a +child of God, but the very common sense of the +world, and, if our eyes were single, it would, in +proportion strike us till we should come down to +the apostle’s rule, about receiving teachers—those +who preach the truth, and walk as ye have us for +an ensample.</p> + +<p>As to example on which so much stress is laid, +what example does a man give to his children or +neighbourhood, when he continues to sit under the +ministry of one whom he believes to be not a +preacher but a perverter of the truth? Why, +that the Church of England and its forms, even in +the midst of our unfaithful ministry, is dearer to +him than Christ’s Church and his truth, under less +agreeable external circumstances. On the other +hand, what example does he give if he quit this, +which may be granted on all hands to be an unsound +ministry, for a sound one? Why, that he +loves Christ’s Church and truth so much better +than any circumstances, that though it may cost +him pain and sorrow he leaves the one for the other.</p> + +<p>There seems an idea prevalent, and kept up in +all these letters, which is in fact most untrue—that +a man, by leaving the +church<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> +becomes a dissenter +in principle. Whereas I think many who have +merely followed the line which the apostle recommends, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +of turning away from false teachers, are not +at all thereby rendered in love with dissent as one +system set up against another system. It appears +to me, that a sectarian Church of England-man, +and a sectarian Dissenter, whose only desire is to +see augmented the respective members of those +who follow them, are equally removed from the +mind of Christ. The thing devoutly to be prayed +for, for them all is, that when they respectively +approach the nearest to the meaning of the divine +word and the mind of Christ, they might be respectively +strengthened and made willing in those +things to borrow from each other, and all sides to +remember that that love which covereth many +faults is more valuable a thousand times than that +sectarian zeal that magnifies every weakness and +infirmity into a mortal sin, and which delights in evil +surmisings and evil speakings.</p> + +<p>The term which passes current with so many +who are attached to the Church of England exclusively +of “our apostolic church,” it may not be +amiss for a moment to dwell on. Where then +does this apostolic similarity dwell, and in what +does it consist?</p> + +<p>Is it in the mode of appointment of Bishops? +<em>Formerly</em> it was the work of the church, with +which the state had nothing to do. <em>Now</em>, it +may be the work of an infidel ministry, for infidel +purposes.</p> + +<p>Is it the state and pomp of the episcopacy, the +titles—“Your Grace,” “Your Lordship,” your +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +palaces, your carriages, and fame, and hosts of +idle livery servants?</p> + +<p>Is it in the mode of appointment to the cure of +souls? <em>Then</em> it was in the choice of the church; or, +if of new churches, the appointment of those who +had gathered them. <em>Now</em>, this cure is publicly sold +like cattle in the market to the highest bidder, +and a large proportion of the remainder may be in +the hands of an infidel Lord Chancellor, to give as +he pleases.</p> + +<p>Is it the Liturgy? However valuable it may be, +no one will pretend to say the apostles used one.</p> + +<p>And even in the places of public worship, their +grandeur, or their neatness, or their convenience are +equally unlike the places of meeting of the apostles, +who were happy to assemble in an upper loft. Instead, +therefore, of saying the Church of England is <em>Apostolic</em>, +it is infinitely more true to say she is <em>Romish</em>, in +all those things on the distinction of which she prides +herself and becomes distinguished. And the broad +line of distinction between her and the apostate mother +of harlots, commences when she comes to those +points, whereon all the churches of Christ agree—the +doctrines she professes, and which are to a +very great extent scriptural and pure; and may +the Lord water her truth while he sweeps away +her dross and tin. Believing, as I do, her connection +with the state to be an unmitigated evil as +it relates to her spiritual power, I cannot but rejoice +that this false ground of confidence and support +which has made toryism stand too often in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +place of truth and piety, as a recommendation to +her highest places of trust, is crumbling underneath +her, only her bonds will be burnt in the fire. +May she have the holy wisdom to strengthen what +remains, that when the times of her dominion shall +pass by, the time of her spiritual splendour may +return. In short, though there be much that is +intolerable in the Church of England, much may +be modified, and may yet, possibly, remain; but +this is clear, that that swelling of the bosom which +distinguishes a true son of the Church of England, +considered as a sectarian, when he enunciates the +term of “Our Apostolic Church,” if it refers to +discipline as well as doctrine, and external circumstances +as well as internal principles, is the +merest delusion that ever was published, and the +most unsubstantial vision that ever formed the +basis of pride, and one that will now remain unmasked +no longer. May the Lord grant her +grace in her day of trial, to run into her real ark +of strength—the truth of God. What is contrary +to God’s will in her, may he make her ready, nay, +anxious to throw off, as an incubus that oppresses +her. What is not contrary, yet not essential, +may she hold with that degree of tenacity +only which such things deserve, and remain alone +valiant for the truth on the earth.</p> + +<p>Many will say this is written by the hand of an +enemy. But I protest before Him whom I love +and serve, however unworthily, that I love the +Church of Christ in the midst of her, fervently +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +desiring their spiritual pre-eminence, and praying +for her prosperity.</p> + +<p>The detestable association between the Dissenters, +considered as a body, and the calumniators +and degraders of the Lord of life, for the beggarly +purposes of this world’s power, sufficiently prove +to my mind, that a spirit, which is not of God’s +children, rests among them too extensively somewhere, +as I have before mentioned; and even the +true children among them, who have been drawn +into such an ungodly coalition, show great spiritual +weakness. In the word of God I see Christ exalted +and his truth; and not churches, apostles, or +prophets; all things are to be proved, and that +which is good to be kept. Apostles are to be +tried, and if found <em>liars</em>, to be rejected. +Think you, when the church of Ephesus, in the +Apocalypse is commended by our Lord, for trying +those who said they were apostles and were not, +and when she had found them liars, that her +members for example, still sat under their ministry. +What a strange perversity of judgment prejudice +casts over the mind. I cannot imagine any holier +more acceptable service to our dear and blessed +Lord and master, than that of endeavouring to +unite in true and holy union, all the real members +of his now (as to external circumstances) painfully +divided body, for the Lord enables me to feel and +to know, that amidst all the divisions and hard +names that prevail among the members, there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +does really exist a body bound together for eternity, +in all the essentials of Divine truth.</p> + +<p><em>Sept. 24.</em>—Nothing of any striking moment +relative to our situation has occurred since the +last date: all is quiet. Yet circumstances have +taken place of the deepest interest, which makes +my soul rejoice in God. In a packet of letters, I +received the other day from India and Bussorah, +was one from a person whom I met here, a gay +thoughtless officer in the army, who seems now +really seeking for light and life. Of this I am +sure, that with that soul, it never can be again as +in times past; the name of Christ will either be a +savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. Oh! +how strange a thing here does a consciousness of +divine life in the soul appear, and how affecting is +it to receive that news fresh from the heart of one +who has seen, in spiritual things, men as trees +walking. May the Lord complete what he has begun, +and make his recovered child a burning and +a shining light in that land of darkness, where +he sojourns. This intelligence comes too at a +very acceptable time, for I have had a slight +attack of fever for these last ten days, which, +though it is not worth mentioning, has, like all +fevers, left me weak, and with a tendency to depression. +Nor is this all the good the Lord has +done me. The Roman Catholic merchant whom +I mentioned before, has been again with me. +He told me, that when I came from England I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +brought a letter for him, which is true, from a +very dear friend, in which he was requested to +come every day to see me, and talk with me, for I +was neither a Roman Catholic, a Greek, an Armenian, +nor belonging to any other denomination, but +a Christian. He, however, never came. Shortly +after my arrival I met him at the house of another +merchant, and as I could not talk with him, my +dear brother Pfander did; but nothing could exceed +the timid reserve and coldness with which he +answered all questions respecting religion. But yesterday +he told me, “Now I do not fear to converse +with you.” Surely here is something gained. May +the Lord grant me grace to pour in the sincere +milk of the word. At present I see nothing more +than a willingness to hear and consider; but this +is almost like finding a spring in the desert, when +you are parched with thirst.</p> + +<p>I have also received from Mr. Brandram, the +Secretary of the Bible Society, a kind and generous +letter from that noble institution, which enables +me to enter on their work with all my heart, +leaving the question of money free, and only seeking +the soul’s profit of those on whom their benefits +are bestowed: if I obtain money, well—if not, I +am only to seek a fair guarantee that the people +will read and take care of the books I have without +money full liberty to give. These books are +arrived at Bussorah, so that when they reach me, +what with those I already have, and those coming +from Constantinople or Smyrna, I shall have quite +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +a depository. All these circumstances at present +make me determine to stay here, the Lord enabling +me, though we again hear that the Persians are at +Sulemania. I was lately informed that Capt. +Chesney, with a gentleman from Bombay, and his +wife, had endeavoured to pass on to Shiraz from +Bushire; but that they were not allowed to enter +that place. They next tried by Shuster, but from +hence likewise they were obliged to turn back. +They appear to have made a third trial with more +success; but an Armenian, who was with me the +other day, said he saw them at Ispahan stripped of +every thing they had, and obliged to borrow money +for their journey, which, as I have before observed, +the English always obtain without the least difficulty.</p> + +<p><em>October 9.</em> <em>Lord’s Day.</em>—It is just one fortnight +since the Lord has laid me on the bed of +sickness and suffering; for nearly a fortnight previous +an attack of typhus fever had been making +its steady advances. I had lost all appetite, +strength, and ability to sleep, accompanied by +that strange overwhelming depression of mind that +inclines one to weep one knows not why. But this +day fortnight I was completely laid by, and this +is the first day I have had my clothes on since.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 11.</em>—The Lord still allows me to feel convalescent, +and I cannot but think of his mercies +to me in my solitary and lonely situation, with all +these tendencies to depression, which are concomitants +of the disease. He sent me from time to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +time such cheering intelligence, as enabled me to +hope his cause would prosper, and that all +these turmoils were only the more speedily preparing +the way for it. I certainly now close this +journal with more of hope than I have been led +to entertain for many months, yet not without +some fears.</p> + +<p>The few Georgians that remained from the +plague have been nearly all put to death, so that +the Georgian government of Bagdad is, as I anticipated, +now extinguished. The elements of +disorder and weakness are so interwoven in this +wretched government, that it will require a measure +of energy and wisdom not often found united, +to establish a better order of things; but I desire +to leave all in the Lord’s hands. I shall here +then conclude my journal for the present, and +most humbly and heartily pray, that all the trials, +public and private, recorded in it, may redound to +the glory of him who is the Lord of lords, and +King of kings; and that my soul may not lose its +portion of profit.</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>I had thought of finishing my journal for the +present, but as it has been delayed going for want +of an opportunity, I add the following.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 14.</em>—All in the city is quiet yet. There is +no apparent confidence: men seem waiting to see +how things will turn out. Every thing is very +dear, as it must necessarily be for some time. +The greatest part of the inhabitants are dead, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +many of the survivors have become rich, either by +the death of relations or by robbery, and no one +will do any thing without an exorbitant remuneration. +I have just had a quantity of rice cleaned, +for doing which, previously to the plague I gave a +piastre and a half, and now I have given six +piastres.</p> + +<p>We have an Armenian bishop coming here in +the room of the priests who are dead. I know not +what his plan of operation will be; but the Lord +is on our side.</p> + +<p>I had a visit yesterday from the Abbé Troche, +who has the superintendence of the Catholic +mission here; he was very pleasant; but nothing +particular passed, as many others were present. +My conversations with the Roman Catholic merchant +I have before mentioned, are still very open +and free. Oh! may the Lord water and bless +them.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 17.</em>—Several of the elder boys, who had +fled from the plague with their parents, have been +with me since their return. My heart feels deeply +interested about them; yet I see not plainly my way. +I certainly never felt teaching in a school to be my +proper work, and now much less than ever; yet they +need instruction and desire it, and I think they are +attached to me. May the Lord give me a wise and +understanding heart, that I may rightly see the +service he requires of me. I much wish for the +counsel of my dear brethren at Aleppo; and perhaps +the Lord may soon send some of them to me.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +<em>Oct. 18.</em>—I have heard to-day we are to have no +other Roman Catholic bishop in the room of him +who is dead; nor any French Consul, but only an +agent; this may take off many restraints; for the late +bishop had given out we were worse than either the +Mohammedans or Jews, and this had made a great +impression on his flock; for he was a very liberal +man, and therefore influential among them. However, +I very much question if things will now be +kept under the same restraint; so that should the +Lord lead me to open the school again, I should not +be surprised if many Roman Catholics came; for +they all acknowledge that our boys learned more +in three months than theirs in two years. The +new Pasha is likewise exceedingly desirous of cultivating +the closest friendship with our Resident, +who has most kindly offered me any aid he can +possibly lend me; and besides all this, the letters +I have this day received from England and Ireland, +shew me that my very dear friends have been +making provision for my school; so that altogether, +it seems to me the Lord’s will I should try +again; and in due time, when I am fit for other +service, he may raise up help that will take this +out of my hands. I desire to be ready to do any +work, however humble and contrary to my nature, +that I think the Lord appoints for me. I hear also, +that at Aleppo, the French intend only having an +Agent instead of a Consul; whereas, our government +has just sent a Consul out to Damascus +with an English merchant, and one to Aleppo, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +last year we had a Consul established at Trebizond. +I think Ali Pasha will do all in his power to +promote the steam navigation of these rivers; and +he is evidently a man of a very different character +from the Georgians who preceded him. They cherished +most of all the pride and pomp of Turkish +power, with all its inveterate prejudices, ignorance, +and narrowness of mind, so that if you had any +business of the least difficulty, you could never get +them to attend five minutes to it. But not so Ali +Pasha: he apprehends with facility; and you at +least have the satisfaction of knowing you are +understood. He has been at Trieste, and in +Hungary, and seems acquainted, to a limited +extent, with several of the public journals of +Europe. He dresses nearly as an European, and +his brother-in-law quite so, with the exception of +the hat; which is as yet very trying to the +genuine Asiatics, who look on their own dress +as that which it would be a sin to change. The +Pasha also seems perfectly indifferent to hoarding +money.</p> + +<p>Things in the city are still very dear, arising +from the harvest of last year not having been +reaped, and various other causes. We have to +pay three times the usual price for most things; +but after such tremendous visitations as we have +suffered, we cannot expect that things can return +to their usual course in a day.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 22.</em>—I have had with me to-day a gentleman +who was formerly attached to Mr. Morier’s +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +mission in Persia. He fled from the plague at +Tabreez, and arrived at Kermanshah four days +after dear brother Pfander left it, who, by his conversations +in the caravan, had left so distinct an +impression, that he thought Mohammed a liar, +that when he reached Kermanshah, he found his +situation very difficult, nay dangerous, and he +was obliged hastily to quit it. He went to Hamadan, +and remained there three days in the house +of a priest, from whence he proceeded to Ispahan. +All the villages between Hamadan and +Ispahan are Armenian. The journey takes about +ten days. When he arrived at Ispahan, Abbas +Meerza being at Yezd, he went there, was treated +with great honour and respect, and a firman given +him to go where he liked: he returned to Ispahan, +and from thence went to Tabreez, which place he +reached before the plague broke out the second +time. This account makes me long to hear from +his own pen the course of the Lord’s dealings with +him. The same gentleman told me that the plague +in Tabreez was much worse the second than the first +time. Kermanshah is absolutely destroyed, and the +governor, a grandson of the king, is reported to have +collected from the property of the dead five lacs of +piasters. In Kourdistan, also, they say it has been +dreadful. In Saggas, Banah, and Sulemania, he says +the desolation is shocking. How wonderful God’s +visitations on these nations are; it makes the soul +that the Lord has appointed to be in the midst of +them often say, Lord, let thy kingdom come; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +yea, speedily, that thy people may know peace and +safety.</p> + +<p>I have sent to see the number of the poor little +boys of my school that remain, and I find that they +amount to 25 out of 80, and that I may expect +near 30, should I get a master for them. I shall, +therefore, endeavour to accomplish this, the Lord +enabling me, and when I feel strong enough to +begin again.</p> + +<p>I am very anxious about the dear N——’s at +Tabreez, from whom I have not received a +line. Abbas Meerza ordered large pits to be +dug for those who died of the plague, and when +they were full to have them covered in. The Ambassador, +and the English, Russian, and other +public functionaries, had fled, and from a packet +that came from Capt. Campbell, who has now the +charge of the mission since the death of Sir John +Macdonald, we know that he was safe up to a +late date.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 26.</em>—I was much struck with an account +which Mr. Swoboda, an Austrian merchant, gave me +to-day, of a conversation he had with the brother-in-law +of Ali Pasha. He said that now, in Stamboul, +the Christians went to the mosque, and the +Mohammedans to the Church; there was no difference. +How strikingly this shows the rapid progress +of that infidel spirit in these countries, which +is spreading in Europe; surely these then are such +signs as should keep us on the watch for our Lord.</p> + +<p>Accounts have just come that the struggle has +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +commenced at Damascus, that supreme seat of +bigotry, between the new and the old regime, and +it remains to be seen how it will terminate. I +already hear of one or two Roman Catholic boys, +who will now come to the school, who before, +during the life of the bishop, were afraid. My +health I also feel daily establishing; and that I +shall soon be able to enter on real labour again, +with the Lord’s blessing, I sincerely trust.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 27.</em>—The affairs of the city appear daily +more and more settling again; provisions are +coming in in abundance, and the price gradually +lowering. The roads also are becoming more open +and safe: for all these signs of tranquility we bless +the Lord and take courage, and trust we may yet +serve him in this land of our pilgrimage. Also +across the desert we hear the road is tranquil.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 28.</em>—To-day the Jew called whom I mentioned +in my journal of last year, as having +come to Mr. Pfander: he is a Jewish Rabbi, +who disbelieving Judaism, and possibly preferring +Christianity, seems to be in both without heart or +principle. He brought with him a Polish Jew, +who is the tailor of Ali Pasha. He saw Mr. Wolff +at Jerusalem, and speaks of him with high admiration. +The Rabbi told me he was reading with +him the German New Testament. May the Lord +send his holy fire on the altar of their hearts, that +they may really, heartily, and zealously enter into +his truth. If there is any gift my soul longs for, +it is to be able to speak to every one in his own +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +tongue wherein he was born, the wonderful works +of God; for want of this, in countries like this, +where you are surrounded by many different +languages, the heart gets overwhelmed with the +difficulties that seem to spread on every side; as, +for instance, with these Jews, they know little +Arabic, and I do not know German, and thus we +stand incapable of any such conversation as is likely +to search the heart.</p> + +<p><em>Nov. 1.</em>—I have been reading with considerable +attention the remarks, or rather reflections, +of Jonathan Edwards, on the Life of Brainerd, +wherein he endeavours to recommend to the +Church of God, the <em>disinterested</em> and <em>unmercenary</em> +love of God, by which he means the love of him +for his abstract perfections apart from the consideration +of any personal interest or happiness +arising out of his especial love to his chosen. This +is all very fine and very philosophical, but in my +humble apprehension, most unscriptural. Does +God any where in Scripture, when appealing to +his chosen, or expostulating with them, argue on +the ground of his abstract perfections, or of his +especial love and distinguishing grace towards +them? Throughout the Old Testament this is the +controversy, not that they slighted his abstract +perfections, but disregarded his especial favour. +All the invitations to return, appeal to what +Edwards would call the selfish and mercenary +feelings. What! had not Moses respect unto the +recompense of reward; and in all the 11th of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +Hebrews, where is this abstraction held up? +When our dear and blessed Lord exhorts to faithfulness, +watchfulness, devotion, does he represent +an abstraction as a motive, or without our own everlasting +participation with him with whom there is fulness +of joy for evermore. Paul thought it not mercenary +to think on his crown, or to encourage his +converts by the consideration, that present sorrow +for the Lord, works for them a far more exceeding +and eternal weight of glory. Again, eye hath +not seen nor ear heard the things which God hath +prepared for them that love him. Our blessed +Lord makes promises to whoever leaves father or +mother for his +sake,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> +and John encourages his disciples, +by telling them that they were made sons of +God, and that they were to be made like their Lord; +he saw nothing debasing in this contemplation, but +instantly adds, “he that hath this hope purifieth +himself even as he is pure.” This is the promise +he hath promised even eternal life. In fact, the +doctrine of rewards, as an incentive to the saints, +prevails from one end to the other of the sacred +volume. The notion that a love which springs +from a sense of being beloved, must be selfish +and mercenary, is the greatest delusion imaginable. +It may be, and in proportion as its power +is really known and felt, is the most holy, self-denying, +pure, and devoted of all affections, an +affection that seeketh not her own, but the glory +of the object beloved. If Edwards would set up +dear D. Brainerd and his Indians in favour of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +abstract system, we may set up the Moravians +and their Esquimaux in favour of the other. But +why set up one set of worms and their conduct +against another set of worms and theirs, when we +have the record of God in our hands? Let us see +how our Heavenly Father proposes himself to our +love, confidence, and affections, and what incentives +he proposes as inducements to the sinner to +return, and the saint to persevere to the end, and +not attempt to be wise above that which is written. +That God is infinitely adorable in his abstract perfections +I am sure, though I cannot fathom these +abstract perfections, nor conceive of him but as revealed +in his blessed word in connection with his +chosen, and as personally exhibited by him who was +the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express +image of his person, and this is not in abstractions +or apart from our happiness.</p> + +<p>Again, when Edwards endeavours to prove it +is enthusiasm in an individual to imagine that +Christ, in an especial manner died for him, I +think he destroys the peculiar stimulus to devotedness, +which the doctrines of election in their +widest latitude, contain above the doctrines of +Armenianism, and he throws a coldness over all +the doctrines of grace. In Abraham, Isaac, and +Jacob, David, Daniel, and others, with the Apostles +of our Lord and Paul, it was both personal +and open, but because not equally open to the +rest of God’s children, I do not believe the holy +and blessed Spirit allows it to be less individual +and personal.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +If, however, his opponents were practically such +men as he describes, we cannot too deeply deplore +it; but he writes so much more like the +advocate of a sect, than an impartial enquirer +after truth, that, without a particular knowledge +of the case, one cannot help suspecting his picture +of those he is writing against, to be very highly +coloured. In fact, on the truth of God, it seems +philosophical declamation, without scriptural proof: +on the subject of his opponent, it is assertion in +the lump, concerning masses of individuals, without +proof or discrimination.</p> + +<p><em>Nov. 4.</em>—We have here now at the head of +affairs, under the Pasha, one of those extraordinary +men who are capable of any thing good or bad. +Under Daoud Pasha he, for a long time, cruelly +oppressed the people, but more especially the Jews, +till at last a conspiracy was formed against him, +and by the influence of the father of the Serof +Bashee of the Pasha, who is one of the serofs, +or bankers,<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> +of the Sultan at Constantinople, an +order was procured for his being put to death. +Daoud Pasha did not execute this order, but imprisoned +him, and as he had been the instrument +of extorting money for him, he concluded he had +not failed at the same time to enrich himself. In +their endeavours to extort his money from him +they drew the bow-string so tight that they nearly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +strangled him: however he recovered: he told +them he had a certain sum of money, and where +it was, which Daoud Pasha had previously +agreed he should collect for himself. This his +rapacious miserable master had the meanness +to take from him. He had some friends who +exerted themselves to save his life; which was +spared. However, only a few days before the +entrance of Ali Pasha, orders were again issued +to put him to death, as he was detected holding +communication with those without the city; but +again intercession was made for him, and he was +again spared. He was instantly taken into +favour by Ali Pasha, on his entrance into the +town, who has made him his treasurer and accountant-general +(Musruff and Deftardar); and +in fact, the whole business of the Pashalic is in +his hands. He is at work night and day: till +after midnight he is engaged in business, and long +before dawn he is to be seen on horseback. He +never sleeps at home, but each night at a different +friend’s house, though the Pasha gave him the +best house (taken with all its accompaniments) in +Bagdad. When the Pasha heard that Major +Taylor’s house, which is on the river, had suffered +by the flood, he instantly gave it to him, and +he now intends occupying it. This man is not +only acquainted with all the internal affairs of the +city, but he is connected with all the tribes of Arabs +from Bussorah to Merdin; knows all their relations, +enmities, friendships, and divisions, external +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +as well as internal, and has ability and tact to +take advantage of them. He is also acquainted +with the agriculture of the country between the +two rivers, and greatly desires to advance and +improve it. What two such men as Ali Pasha +and he may effect, should the Lord allow them +to remain, it is impossible to conceive; but certainly +great changes. He has now his old enemy, +the Serof Bashee, in prison, and is bastinadoing +him to get money out of him. But his general carriage +to the inhabitants is much changed, though +he has now twice the authority, which clearly, +I think, manifests the altered temper of the government. +To the English, he is a most devoted +friend, and especially to the Resident, to whom +he feels he owes his life, for he is at once a firm +friend, and, I fear, an implacable enemy: one of +those men from whom if you can once extort the +assurance that you are safe, you may be at ease; +whereas, in general, from the Pasha downwards, +the more they assured you of your safety, the +more reason you felt you had to fear.</p> + +<p><em>Nov. 7.</em>—I have been to-day calling on several +of the most respectable Roman Catholic merchants +of this place, who have, some of them, +repeatedly called on me; but, partly from want of +health, and partly from want of spirits, I have not +hitherto returned their visits. They received me +with the greatest kindness, and the opportunities +these visits afforded of bringing in God’s word as +the only standard of truth, I feel to be very +valuable. It seems perfectly new to them to have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +the sentiments or conduct of themselves or +others measured by this holy and blessed book; +such a use they never in their lives saw made +of it, so that it strikes them exceedingly; +and the Lord’s spirit may make something here +or there rest on their hearts. I feel that the +door for my particular line of usefulness is opening, +and as I advance in the practical use of the +language, I have confidence the Lord will yet +shew me greater things than these.</p> + +<p>There is a new Roman Catholic priest here, formerly +an Armenian. He has been trying to +see if he can get my school boys to come to him +if he opens a school: they have all refused; +and this strengthens me in my purpose of not +delaying the re-opening of mine longer than I +am obliged. Should I not be able to get a +master from Bussorah, for whom I have written, +there has been an Armenian with me, who +offers to come, a most respectable man; him, +therefore, I may consider, as ready, should +the other fail. Thus, the Lord provides. With +my English class, I purpose, the Lord willing, +to begin after another fortnight. My greatest +difficulty will be I fear, to obtain an Arabic +teacher; the mortality among the Mollahs +has been enormous. Here then I shall end +for the present, I fear this too long, and, in +many respects, tedious, journal of the last +five months, as the messenger goes to-morrow +or the day after.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> +<h2>NOTES.</h2> + + +<p>Mr. Groves having so strongly expressed his condemnation +of Mr. Erskine’s view of Divine Truth, in pages +102, 103, and 104 of his Journal, the Editor, who believes +Mr. Groves to be in error regarding the extent +of the Atonement, has felt it to be a duty not to +allow his statements to pass unaccompanied with a +plain declaration of the truth. The following Notes +on some of the principal points touched upon by Mr. +Groves, have been contributed by a brother who bears +him much love, the Rev. A. J. Scott, of Woolwich, not +so much with any view of detailed discussions of +Mr. Groves’s positions, as simply to exhibit truth, as +the best antidote to error.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p class="center"><strong>NOTE A, page <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</strong></p> + +<p>Mr. Groves has referred to the effects of system. One +of the most important of these is, that opposite systems +lead men to take such opposite views of the evidence itself +by which the truth of the conflicting opinions must be +tried. Of this he here furnishes an instance, in saying +so strongly that the “sovereignty of God’s government, +and the individuality of God’s election,” are “represented +by the Apostles as the most overwhelming reasons for unlimited +devotion to his service, who has thus chosen us.” +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +Many of the very passages, doubtless, to which he would +turn for the establishment of this assertion, would be enjoyed +by others, as proofs how available is the general “kindness +of God our Saviour towards <em>man</em>,” as an argument +for loving and serving him. When Paul persuades the +Ephesians to “walk in love as Christ also hath loved <em>us</em>, +and hath given himself for +<em>us</em>;”<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> +when Peter recommends +to his brethren patient meekness in suffering, by the consideration +that “Christ also suffered for <em>us</em>, the just for the +unjust,”<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> +the power of this over the mind of one man depends +on his understanding by “<em>us</em>” the fallen world; and of +another, on its reminding him only of distinguishing personal +obligations to sovereign election. Now, suasives to +holiness, or what are felt as such, as they continually recur +in Scripture, produce on a devout mind a much deeper +conviction of the truth of the doctrines from which they +are derived, than a formal assertion can. When, by the +same expressions, one man is habitually carried to this, +another to that, view of the Divine character, and each +experiences, that in what he sees, there is a practical tendency +towards the state of the heart and form of life at +which he aims as good: this becomes to each, as instances +accumulate, a far stronger reason than bare propositions, +could be for growing in confidence, that the belief which +thus impresses him is indeed the truth of God.</p> + +<p>And one accustomed to observe the effects of system +will not wonder that expressions like those above cited, +still less that those in which Christ is spoken of as having +“loved <em>the church</em> and given himself for <em>it</em>,” should thus +come to be regarded as containing an argument for a selective +atonement. It is by such a doctrine being perceived in +them, that they practically impress the feelings of many. +And yet, in truth, how are they inconsistent with the universal +love of God and propitiation of Christ? Of course, +where a common benefit is received, its efficacy, as a motive +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +to grateful returns, is limited to those who recognize +and value it. A patriot has delivered millions of ignorant, +suspicious, ungrateful countrymen. His services are to +be used as an argument for joining in some effort for his +honour; and those who acknowledge and bless his exertions +are especially addressed, and reminded that “he loved +<em>you</em>, laboured for <em>you</em>, achieved happiness for <em>you</em>.” +Would this contain even an insinuation, that they were the +exclusive objects of his disinterested ardour? In such an +address not only would the common benefit be mentioned +peculiarly as a good bestowed on themselves; but their acknowledgment +of it, and their distinguishing susceptibility +to the feeling of its worth, would be referred and appealed +to, as reasons why that was looked for and demanded of +them, which from others might be as justly asked, but not +so naturally expected. Such appeals are the apostolic epistles +to the churches, as contrasted with their proclamation +of Christ to the world.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><strong>NOTE B, page <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</strong></p> + +<p>The moral condition of man, his seeing no desirableness +in the object presented to him by the Gospel, Mr. +Erskine shews, at great length, to be the grand obstacle +to his enjoying it. The capacity to know and believe, he +indeed conceives to bring with it the capacity to enjoy. +But if a change in the moral state is necessary in receiving +the truth, this surely obviates the objection that such truth +would be unpalatable and uninfluential to those whose +moral state is <em>unchanged</em>.</p> + +<p>Our business, however, is not with Mr. E. but with +the truth of the matter. Mr. Groves’ remarks refer to the +<em>nature</em> of regeneration, and to the <em>necessity</em> of a change in +the affections, in order to man’s appreciating the object +presented to him in the Gospel: these he considers as objections +to the doctrine that the simple knowledge and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +belief of that object are “the cause of spiritual life in +the unregenerate;” and he uses the analogy of food, which +he says, is not the cause of life, although it be the support +of it. Certainly the contemplation of Jesus is not the +cause, but it is the commencement and exercise of spiritual +life, which needs no commencement of a distinct kind from +its subsequent functions. As to the analogy of food, it +will be seen whether the language of Scripture bears us +out in making the same distinction between the source and +the sustenance of spiritual, as of natural life.</p> + +<p>What, indeed, is meant to be asserted? Is it, that men +have life in them <em>first</em>, to capacitate them to eat the flesh +and drink the blood of the Son of Man? This seems to be +said: but Himself hath said, “Except ye eat the flesh and +drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye have <em>no</em> life in you.” +Not life then without the food, or before the food, but <em>by</em> +the food. This banquet <em>is</em> to be spread before the dead. +Thus only shall any live. Is spirit and life in men first +from another source, and then do they take and profit by +his words? But “the entrance of his words <em>giveth</em> light,” +and that light is life. “The words that I speak unto you,” +says the Lord, “<em>they</em> are spirit, and they are life”: and that +spirit, the spirit of his words, he tells us it is that “quickeneth” +or produceth life. Is there, then, no need for regeneration? +Surely there is: but it does not follow that the +principle of regeneration is one, and that of faith another to +be superadded to it. “We are born,” says Peter, “not of +corruptible seed, but of the word of God, which liveth and +abideth for ever;” adding, in very remarkable language, +“This is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto +you.” An explanation which removes all doubt as to the +meaning of James, when he says, “Of his own will begat +he us with the word of truth,” that is, according to Peter, +with the Gospel preached. John, in like manner, tells us, +that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,” +and if we ask, what is born of God? Is it a principle antecedent +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +and necessary to faith? He answers, It is faith +itself. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, +even our faith.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><strong>NOTE C, page <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</strong></p> + +<p>The question is not whether the scheme of salvation is +merely reconcilable with divine love and justice, but how +it constitutes the grand proof and manifestation of these +attributes, and in general, of the perfections of God. In +it he undertakes to shew himself worthy of love, and thus +to win our love to himself. Any other means to that end +than such as should prove his own worthiness, He could +not use. One may confer a benefit on an individual from +a thousand various motives, of which one only may be +morally right. In event of any of the others having +prompted the action, the benefactor may be regarded with +gratitude, but then it is either because the motive is mistaken +for the nobler one, or the gratitude is a mere reflected +selfishness. As an example of the latter sort, the +Jews, in the days of the Son of Man upon earth, had a +love to God, a zeal for God, founded on their conviction +of his partiality for their people. They regarded him as +the God of the Jews only, and not also of the Gentiles. +Its fruits were, their carrying the Lord to the brow of the +hill to destroy him, because he reminded them of Naaman +and the widow of Sarepta, as preferred to objects of bounty +among their own people; and their endeavouring to tear +Paul in pieces when he spake of a commission given him by +Jesus to the Gentiles. They were indeed zealous, the apostle +bears them witness in the Holy Ghost, and fully believed +in God’s sovereign election of their nation. There is yet a +zeal like their’s—let us beware of it.</p> + +<p>It will not do to represent the Gospel scheme of salvation +as not only <em>leaving</em>, but involving, the moral character +of God in difficulty; and then to say we can still believe +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +him holy, just, and good notwithstanding. The atonement +was designed to prove and establish these attributes: to be +the ground of our confidence in them, and of our love to God +because of them. We are not to believe in them in spite +of the plan of redemption; but, because of the plan of redemption. +The words of John, “we love him because he +first loved us,” and “herein is the love of God manifested +towards us, because he sent his Son into the world that we +might live through him,” imply that the believer’s delight +in the essential excellence of God (which delight alone +is divine love) springs out of the display of that excellence +in the cross of Christ. An atonement for all, arising out of +love to all, proves that it is indeed justice that inflicts vengeance +on the impenitent; not partial, personal hatred, +not indifference, not cruelty. A limited atonement, just +because it gives no proof that they are beloved—gives no +proof that nothing else than justice could have punished +them. It gives, on the other hand, no proof that forgiving +love has been that which saved the elect, as it is to an arbitrary +distinction it teaches them to look as the ultimate +cause of their hope. I care not to be told that they acknowledge +love in their salvation notwithstanding. I repeat, +the redemption is to <em>prove</em> the divine character, not +merely to leave us the possibility of believing it.</p> + +<p>Finally, This scheme obliges to believe that Jesus has +broken the law, and transgression of the law is sin. This +he assuredly did, if he loved not all mankind as himself. +It is an ignorant answer to say, that for him to break the +law was not sin. To break the moral law, and to be a +sinner, are not things arbitrarily put together; they are +two names for the same thing. It is worse to say he need +not keep the law because he was God. The law is the transcript +of the character of God: opposition to it is opposition +to that character. Made of woman, besides, he was +made under the law. All praises of his goodness and +moral perfection are so many varied expressions for the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +completeness with which he kept the law. And oh! indeed, +what part of it so peculiarly his own, as to love his +neighbour as himself?</p> + +<p>I say, therefore, again, to limit the divine love, to limit +the atonement, the grand expression of that love, is to limit +the love of Christ, and thus to make Christ a sinner. He +that hath seen him hath seen the Father. No moral difference +surely is so great as that between a breaker and a +keeper of the law of love. What a moral difference, then, +between the character of a God manifested in the one form +and in the other.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> + + +<p>The following letters are added, because they contain +some interesting details of the Lord’s dealings with +this our dear brother, which are not contained in the +Journal. And the reader will observe, that the last letter +is of a later date than the conclusion of the Journal.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 20em;" class="smcap">Bagdad</span>, <em>Oct. 15th, 1831.</em></p> + +<p>The Lord has just raised me up from a typhus fever, +which, for the last month, has been pressing a little hard +on my strength, but more on my spirits. The loss of my +dearest Mary was so deeply felt by my poor desolate heart, +that, at times, I bore up with difficulty; but the Lord +shewed me that my sorrow was so selfish, so earthly, so +unworthy of his love, and poured in besides such hopes +and prospects as to my future work, that sustained and +comforted me.</p> + +<p>I send with this a Journal of four months, from which +you will see what has been passing amongst us.</p> + +<p>I have lately received many letters from my dear brethren +at Aleppo, and I think either Mr. Cronin or Mr. and Mrs. +Parnell will come to me the first opportunity, which will +be an unspeakable relief to my mind; for I long for some +one to whom I may unburthen my soul; for although my +Lord is always near, yet, as I see in Paul, so I find in myself, +that the society of Christian brethren and sisters, so +long as we are in the flesh, will always afford a sweet consolation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +I feel that Jesus meant his Church to be a body, not +isolated members. We have each a little ministry essential +to the happiness and building up of the mystical body—that +there should be no schism, but that all the members might +love and care one for the other.</p> + +<p>This place has been governed by Georgians, Apostate +Christians, just as the Memelukes, another race of Apostate +Christians, formerly governed Egypt. The Sultan +has extirpated the first, and now the second, and the Janissaries +who had a somewhat similar origin, have, at Stamboul, +experienced a similar fate. Those of the Georgians +who have had their lives spared will be sent to Stamboul. +It is certainly the design of Ali Pasha and the Sultan, to +make many changes here, and I wait to see the Lord’s +goings. It appears to me probable that most important +openings may be afforded by these changes to our operations +in these quarters: but I have seen such things these +last twelve months, that my soul rests only upon God, to see +how he will move. His ways are so deep, so out of sight, +that what we think likely, He, in a month, brings to +nothing, and yet in his own good time, will bring the most +wonderful and unexpected things to pass. I have never +ceased to bless God for the sweet assurance of his unchanging +love, for the sake of Him who is our life, our dear and +blessed Jesus. He has supplied me, I know not how, in +the midst of famine, pestilence, and war; and though I +have heard from none in England for more than a year, +especially from those that supply my wants, the Lord has +not suffered me to want, or to be in debt, and though the +necessaries of life have amounted to almost twenty times +their value during our late trials, he has not suffered me +personally to be much affected by it. His loving-kindness +and care have been wonderful.</p> + +<p>Of all the political and religious agitations of England, +I have heard only whispers; but I am very anxious to +receive a full account. For many months all communication +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +has been entirely cut off; not a message has come +though the road has now been open a month.</p> + +<p>The Lord has graciously allowed me to see the signs of +spiritual life in three souls of late, through my instrumentality; +and as the Lord gives me utterance, I trust I shall +be able to speak to many others. The difficulties of the +language are fading away one by one. I had occasion to +translate a public document from the new Pasha to the +Resident at Bussorah, concerning business of the utmost +importance and secrecy, in which the Resident, who is a +most competent judge, tells me I succeeded fully.</p> + +<p>I often think my dear friends in England will be sadly +discouraged at the Lord’s dealings with our mission: so +difficult is it to act faith in dark seasons. However, should +their faith and hope fail, the Lord will either raise up +others or find me some little occupation by which I may +live. His goodness in the way of provision has been so +wonderfully manifested, that my heart feels quite easy +that He will find a way for the support of his servant.</p> + +<p><em>Oct. 24.</em>—Since writing the above, I have received your +letter of March last, by Bombay. Oh! how welcome it +came! Oh! how it refreshed me! Surely there exists +not in the world a more loving little Church than these dear +believers amongst whom the Lord has brought us into one +fellowship. I assure you, widely as I am separated from +this beloved family in body, I am truly one with them in +spirit, and am greatly refreshed by the springs of the Lord’s +grace, that run amongst them.</p> + +<p>I received several letters with yours, from England and +Ireland; and the zeal of those dear friends who had provided +for my school, made me finally determine, the Lord +willing, and supplying me masters, to try again. I have +sent one of the bigger boys round, and I trust, with new +boys, I shall begin with thirty.</p> + +<p>The Bible Society have sent me a number of Books +with a generous letter, nobly generous as to the principles +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +of distribution. And there appears a prospect of great +changes which may open a much wider door of usefulness +here than I now have: I had thoughts of leaving this place, +but the Resident entreats me not to go, and promises, should +any thing happen to me, that he will be a father to my dear +boys, till he can send them by an unexceptionable opportunity +to England. All these things make me feel that the +Lord still means me to stay here, and see his salvation.—Infidelity +is making open and manifest strides amongst the +Mohammedans on the other side of the desert, and in +Persia, and we shall soon see the same spirit that is working +in Europe working here: amidst these tempests, I sometimes +think ’tis hard to live. Yet, my dear friend, it is +sweet to live hardly for Jesus.</p> + +<p>After all my sufferings and all my sorrows, my heart is +not discouraged. We have first the clods of the language +to break up, then to prepare the ground, then to sow the +seed, and through all to look for the precious showers +from on high, and lastly for the fruit. Let us, then, like +the husbandman patiently wait.</p> + +<p>The evil of the pressure of the world on the soul I feel +as fully as you can do; not the luxurious worldliness of +Europe, yet the pursuit of the language, and the absolute +uncongeniality of all around, disorders the soul greatly. +During Mary’s life, or rather pilgrimage, I never wanted +spiritual refreshment; I sometimes used to fear it stole +away those hours that the language and other calls demanded; +but now whilst I am sensibly proceeding in the +language, my soul knows not that animated joy of heavenly +communion with the saints on earth which I once enjoyed. +Jesus still is near, still comforts and supports; but yet I +feel he meant his Church to be a body. The miserable +substitute of man’s ordination for the Holy Ghost’s, has +destroyed the true unison and order of the Church of +Christ, by substituting that which is artificial for that +which is of God; by appointing man to be the artificer of a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +work God alone can accomplish. Now the Church presents +a monstrous aspect, a great mis-shapen head called +the clergy, and as mis-shapen a body called the laity. All +the members being crowded into the head, and leaving the +body without office or service, this did not the Spirit. +How blessed it is among all these disorders to know that +the Lord cares for his own, and will keep them as the apple +of his eye, watching day and night lest any hurt them. +Thus, were we preserved when we little thought it, by our +Shepherd’s care. There is something, I think, in this +view of the body being thus composed of members of +various orders, various services, from the most minute to +the most important, all tending to the one great end, the +glory of the only Head and the Church’s glory in him, that +greatly comforts the weak. When the Lord first led me +to feel interested in the service of his cause abroad, I +framed to myself some <em>beau-ideal</em> of a missionary that if I +now entertained would destroy all happiness. Since the +Lord has led me to see how truly low my place is in his +holy blessed body, amidst all this humiliation he makes me +feel happy in the thought I am a member, though embracing +little that pride would lead to aim at. If I am but +allowed to minister to my dear and holy brethren on the +other side of the desert I shall feel happy and thankful. +Sometimes I am overwhelmed with the condescension that +he should allow me to feel part of his mystical body, though +so weak so useless.</p> + +<p>On the subject of baptism all the dear brethren at Aleppo +have finally agreed and been baptized; thus the last little +difference that I know between us is closed. How gracious +the Lord is!</p> + +<p>The Lord has laid his hand heavily on them. Dear +Newman is but just raised from a bed of sickness. The +schoolmaster whom they brought is so unwell, that dear +John Parnell and his wife have taken him for the change +of air to the water’s side; they too have both been very ill. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +Mrs. Cronan is daily getting weaker and weaker, so they +are prevented joining me now from ill health, as before +from the disturbances, and in a short time Mrs. Parnell +expects to be confined, which will still delay them, as well +as the expectation of a friend or two from England and +Ireland. Should the Lord not remove these difficulties +to their coming before the spring, and my Bibles and Testaments +arrive from Bussorah, I purpose, the Lord willing, +perhaps even in about two months, going by the way of +Mosul, Merdin, Diarbekr, Orsa, and Beer to Aleppo, there +to consult and to be refreshed, should the Lord graciously +smile upon us, and in my way to distribute his word and +see the state of the places above mentioned.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Newman was at the worst, and they had +given up all hopes of him, they anointed him with oil +according to the 14th of the 5th of James, and prayed over +him, and the Lord had mercy on them, yea, and on me also, +and restored him. It seems to me truly scriptural, and if +the Church of Rome has perverted it to superstitious ends, +ought we therefore to cast aside so plain a precept? By +many it would be called plain popery, but this we must +bear. I can feel a happiness in submitting to these directions +of the Lord by the Spirit; they seem to us little, but +surely whatsoever is of sufficient importance for the Spirit +to command or direct, is sufficiently important for us worms +to obey. With regard to miracles my mind is not at +present prepared to embrace them fully: but this I do feel +that the Apostle Paul, in Corinthians 12 and 14, when +speaking of supernatural gifts for the edifying the Church +and doing the work of God, points them out as things to be +desired and prayed for then, and if they were desired to +be prayed for then, why not now? I look on the +argument from experience in the churches as of no weight, +for unless it can be proved the churches have received +faith on these powers, their not possessing the power is +according to the whole analogy of faith. That distinguishing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +between apostolic times and present times is to my +mind so dangerous a principle, and puts into the hands of +any one so disposed, a sword that seems to me to reach the +very vitals of the Gospel.</p> + +<p>I would have you pray for me, especially that Christ may +be in me daily, my glorious loving Lord and satisfying portion, +whose presence can make even this waste howling +wilderness like the garden of Eden. Little did I think +how poor I was in the anointed Lamb of God till he +stripped me bare, and left me here to stand months alone +with himself, and then I saw how much of that apparent +love and zeal I felt flowed from human fountains. I bless +his name, he left me yet a little while untainted to cheer, +support, and comfort me, but my stature, my dear friend, +I pray I may not again, mistake nor think I am approaching +towards manhood when a very child in spiritual +growth. When surrounded by all the love and kindness +I experienced amongst you, encouraged by your sympathy +and prayers, those thousand weaknesses I since have felt +I hardly know the smart of. Amidst dangers, sorrows, +and death I have walked for many months; and these +scenes have tried the very foundation, yet it was most +gracious of the Lord, when he let the plague reach me and +laid me on my couch to give me the sweetest comfort from a +full assurance of his favour and forgiveness, when there +was as I thought but a step between me and death. Yet +whilst he has never left me without the sense of being his, +He has shewn me how much I have to aim at, how earnestly +to desire to be filled with all his fulness.</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><span style="margin-left: 20em;" class="smcap">Bagdad</span>, <em>Dec. 25th, 1831</em>. +</p> + +<p>Your most kind and welcome letter arrived this day, +together with several others from my beloved friends in +England, all by Bombay. It does, indeed, truly refresh +my heart, to hear of the Lord’s love to you all. Do you +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +not praise God for these dear brothers and sisters he has +given us? How rich we are in our sweet little church; a +more loving, holy, and blessed little family cannot surely +be found upon earth. Unworthy as I am to be one of +you, yet I bless God that I am one. My heart is running +over with thankfulness at the Lord’s goodness to you +all, and to me through you, and be not discouraged because +I am blasted, and my bough no longer green, as it once +was, the Lord has yet dealt most bountifully with me. In +all but my dear Mary’s place my path is opening again. I +have hired one schoolmaster, and expect another. My +English boys are most zealous and attached: my prospects +of Bible circulation in Persia much opening. To the Jews +here I have sold all my Hebrew Bibles, at about 3s. 6d. +each: this is more to them than 12s. would be in England, +and though it seems little, it answers an end of getting +God’s word amongst them. I had an Armenian bishop with +me the other day, asking for Persian Testaments to send to +Ispahan; and a Roman Catholic merchant has promised to +take a parcel for me to Teheran, and to distribute them there. +Besides these there are others whom I hope to find subservient +to this end. For some days I had been making preparations +to cross the desert, in order to consult with my +dear brethren there about our future measures; but when +I came to put together all the items of expense, I found I +had not money enough, so I gave up the plan of going with +my dear boys, and proposed waiting till Major Taylor +came, and leaving them in the Residency, under his and +dear Mrs. Taylor’s kind care, to go alone. Your letter, +however, has relieved all my pecuniary difficulties, and we +shall now go altogether or remain together. The love of +you all in thinking of and caring for me quite overwhelms +me, as I see it to be the Lord’s love in and through you all. +He not only feeds us in this wilderness, but also provides +for the school, so as to overwhelm me with a sense of his +care over the most unworthy of his servants. My wonder +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +is, how it is possible for me to love him so little. Since +I left England, this is the first purpose I really thought +desirable, that the want of sufficient money has put a stop +to; and this you see but for a moment; not but that I can +get money at any time, but I am determined not to borrow +money till my affairs come to the utmost straits, and then +only for the simplest necessaries.</p> + +<p>I have received a letter from England, which gives me a +painful impression of the state of most of the religious societies. +Indeed, I fear they cannot stand on their present +basis. May the Lord gently lead them right. The spirit +of compromise to gain the world has ruined all; yet are +there some sweet spirits amongst them. I would rather +have the love that could love amidst a thousand faults, than +the zeal that will endure but one. Some, I know, would +call this a sickly sort of feeling, but the more I see of their +fiery condemnation and sarcastic scorn, the more I am sure +it is not of Christ. It is only turning the truth of God into +a sort of chimney for the escape of nature’s pride and passion.</p> + +<p>My second plan for going to Aleppo has been defeated +by my having heard a very bad account of the Arab Sheikh +of the Caravan. The Lord graciously gave me an opportunity +of seeing his true character before I was alone involved +with him in the desert, where, indeed, you are +fearfully at their mercy, and where they have so many +means of oppressing you.</p> + +<p><em>Dec. 29.</em>—How gracious it was of the Lord to send me +your letter, just before expense became inevitable, for +either for the journey, or for shutting up; you must expend +money, as during the time of the plague raging, you can +obtain nothing, not even bread, and, if you could, you +would be afraid to use it. What unspeakable peace it +brings to the soul to have Jesus to look to, and to know +that his eye is not averted, though all seems dark. Blessed +doctrines of grace! how they comfort when the soul +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> +would sink under sin: to know that for Christ’s sake we +are pardoned. Yea, though we have played the harlot +with many lovers, the Lord has restored us, and decked +us for his bride against the day of his espousals. Oh what +a day, the day of the marriage supper of the Lamb will be, +may our hearts be waiting for it, with holy expectation. +Pray for me that my faith fail not, nor my Lord’s love +even appear little in my eyes; but that I may always be +enabled to say, “Though he slay me yet will I trust in +him.” If it be, that all my hopes finish, may his holy +blessed will be done. I often wonder how he keeps up my +hope as he does; but still I do hope even against hope: +and I would call upon you, and all my dear friends, +brethren, and sisters in Christ, to rejoice with me at the +prospect of that blessed day which is dawning upon us, +when we shall see our beloved as he is, and dwell with him +for ever, when our vile bodies will be changed and made +like unto his glorious body, when the whole number of +his elect family will be completed, and we shall reign with +him in glory.</p> + +<p><em>Jan. 16, 1832.</em>—My dear little boy, Frank, is just laid +down in a fever, so I cannot now go to Aleppo. Thus +the Lord frustrates all our plans and purposes.</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><strong>THE END.</strong></p> + +<hr style="width: 95%;" /> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Page <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Page <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Page <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Page <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> +See “Narratives of two Families exposed to the great +Plague of London, 1665; with Conversations on a Religions +Preparation for Pestilence,” and “God’s Terrible +Voice in the City,” by Vincent; both republished by Rev. +J. Scott, of Hull.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> +And yet what security is afforded by a present +abatement of the visitation? In Glasgow, cholera was regarded +as departing, and all but departed. The number of cases +has since risen, for some time, to above 300 at once, and +the deaths not seldom to between one and two hundred a +day, in a population small compared with that of London.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> +Chap. xxiv. ver. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> +Rev. ii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> +Impossible—within three days of Aleppo must be meant.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> +We have since discovered, by a survey of the Tigris, +that in its present state it will be only navigable to Mosul during +seven months in the year, from ledges of rock that pass across the +river.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> +See Record, Oct. 1, 1829.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> +It has <em>since</em> been so high as 118 in the shade, +and 158 in the sun.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> +A Capidji Bashi is a messenger of the Porte, to collect +money, or bear especial messages of any sort.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> +All this was wrong; they were treacherously robbed and +murdered, Mr. Jas. Taylor, Mr. Aspinal, a merchant of Bombay, +and Mr. Bawater, formerly, I think, in the marines.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> +They have 3,362 congregations, whereas the most numerous +body besides has but 1,946. See <em>Miss. Register.</em></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> +Descendant of the Prophet.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> +This is the only mode in the East by which any estimate +of the population can be attempted. They count the +number of houses, and allow one with another, five souls +to each house. Some contain many more, and few contain +less, so that even thus, it can be but very imperfectly +ascertained.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> +Muleteers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> +Patriarch.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> +This affords us unfeigned joy, as we had heard from one +who was with him in Cazan, an account that made us a little +anxious about him.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> +This is the Armenian whose history I gave a little account +of before, as the son-in-law of the richest merchant in Baku, +who has given up all the prospects of his connection with his +father-in-law, which are very considerable, to endure afflictions +with the people of God. This young Armenian is another +proof of the immense importance of having those to bear testimony +to the power of the Spirit’s work in regenerating the soul +in the image of him that created it, from among themselves. The +people can see in him the contrast between the past and the +present man. They have also a knowledge of the peculiar +modes of thinking and feeling among those with whom they +have been educated, and been in the closest terms of intimacy +with from their infancy, that they cannot have with foreigners.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> +Hillah is a small town on the river Euphrates, a little +below the ruins of Babylon. It was built in the year 495 +of the Hegira, or 1115 of the Christian era, in a district +called by the natives El Aredh Babel; its population does +not exceed between 6 and 7000, consisting of Arabs and +Jews, there being no Christians, and only such Turks as +are employed in the Government. The inhabitants bear a +very bad character. The air is salubrious, and the soil +extremely fertile, producing great quantities of rice, dates, +and grain of different kinds, though it is not cultivated to +above half the degree of which it is susceptible,—See Mr. +Rich’s Memoirs on the Ruins of Babylon.—<em>Editor.</em></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> +The whole of those who took down the boats died.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> +The caravan they went by suffered the most complicated +misery both from the flood and the plague, and never succeeded in +prosecuting the journey.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> +He died afterwards—he was the one mentioned in my +former Journal as having come from Shiraz.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> +Both he and his brother died.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> +Most of them were driven back by the increase of the +waters without.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> +I have heard of eight thus buried in one house, or +rather belonging to one family, the remains of which are +come to reside next us in a house, where those who had +the charge of it are dead.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> +Those two died.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> +This servant was an old servant of Mrs. R.’s, and +came out with us, and was much attached to dear Mary.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> +Constantinople.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> +It is on account of the great heat in the summer that the +houses in Bagdad are built with flat roofs, to which the inhabitants +all move up at sunset, to dine and spend the night.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> +All these reports were mere fables, got up +for the purpose of deceiving the people.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> +We heard afterwards that the state of his health and +the lawlessness of the city prevented his getting access to +his treasure.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> +<em>Karakoosh</em> is a small town within twelve miles of +Mosul, containing about nine hundred houses, inhabited +entirely by Syrian or Jacobite Christians, many of whom +are become Roman Catholics. They speak Syriac, but +so corrupted, that it is with great difficulty they understand +the Syriac of the Scriptures. There are seven +churches, four of which belong to the Roman Catholics, +and the remainder to the Jacobites. The road between +Karakoosh and Mosul, passes through the striking remains +of Nineveh.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> +This report of the provisions of the city appeared, in +the sequel, to be unfounded.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> +Cellars under ground, to which the inhabitants of +Bagdad retire during the heat of the day, from the months of +June to September.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> +This word Ghiaour, or infidel, is applied by Mohammedans +to Christians without the least intention of personal +offence; and what is still more extraordinary, the Christians +commonly designate themselves by the same appellation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> +By whom authorised, of God or of man?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> +About five-pence a pound.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> +I use this term, though in its sense of national +churches, I think it absolutely unscriptural.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> +Matt. xix. 28, 29; Luke xviii. 29, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> +The bankers in Turkey are generally Jews, and possessed +of great wealth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> +Eph. v. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a> +<a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> +1 Pet. ii. 21.</p></div> + + +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Journal of a Residence at Bagdad, by Anthony Groves + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNAL OF A RESIDENCE AT BAGDAD *** + +***** This file should be named 29631-h.htm or 29631-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/6/3/29631/ + +Produced by Free Elf, Anne Storer and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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