_MISSION-WORK._
"'Tis time
New hopes should animate the world, new light
Should dawn from new revealings to a race
Weighed down so long."
BROWNING.
There was comparatively little known among Friends about the land of
the Bible from personal observation before 1870, and some of the best
works on the history, the geography, the manners, and customs of
Palestine have been written since that date. The visits of Eli and
Sybil Jones to Syria, and the letters which they and their companions,
Alfred Lloyd Fox and Ellen Clare Peason (born Miller), wrote from
there have done much to bring that country to the careful notice of
Friends; and the interest felt in the missions at Brumanna and
Ramallah has induced many to study their situations and to become
better acquainted with that whole region, incontestably the most
important on the globe if we associate with the soil what has
transpired there for the benefit of the race. We call it the "Holy
Land," and the religious enthusiasts of the Middle Ages felt that it
was a profanation for infidels to hold the sepulchre of the Lord and
the cities where He taught; so that thousands rose from all Christian
lands to win back the captured territory, and blindly gave their
lives for what they thought a sacred cause. In those days the Crusades
opened the eyes of Europe and showed to the people the civilization
and wonders of this Eastern land, and they brought back accounts from
the cradle of early civilization which changed the thoughts and ideas
of the age. American missionaries began to work in Syria in 1823, not
to win the soil from the hands of infidels, but to gain the souls of
those living in blindness, ignorance, and sin; and their endeavors
have been greatly blessed, although these strongholds yield slowly to
the most vigorous assaults.
Until the fourth century after Christ feasts were held annually in
Syria to commemorate the death of Adonis--or Tammuz, as he was called
in Syria--and his birth was celebrated again in the spring. These
rites came from the story of Adonis being killed at the sources of the
river which bears his name. This stream, which comes down with a
swollen current in autumn, carries away much red iron ore; this gives
the water a reddish color, which was said to be caused by the blood of
Adonis, while in the spring Adonis was supposed to rise from the dead
in all his beauty, at which time all gave themselves up to
unrestrained joy. It was this mourning for Adonis of which Ezekiel
speaks: "He brought me to the door of the Lord's house, and, behold,
there sat women weeping for Tammuz" (or Adonis). All the heathen
temples were destroyed and the worship stopped by Constantine the
Great. At present there are in Syria about one million Mohammedans,
two hundred and fifty thousand Maronites, two hundred and thirty-five
thousand members of the Greek Church, eighty thousand Roman Catholics,
eighty thousand Druses, thirty thousand Jews, but only five thousand
Protestants; besides many other kinds of religions.
The Maronites are thought by some to have taken their name from
Maroon, an abbot who lived near the Orontes in the sixth century. He
was considered as a saint by these people, though by the pope he was
deemed a heretic. In the time of the Crusades the Maronites joined the
Christian army from the West, and so came in contact with the Roman
Church. They are divided into four orders--Jesuits, Franciscans,
Lazarists, and Capuchins--over whom one patriarch is the governor. The
order of the Jesuits, with the influence of the patriarch, has from
the first opposed the work of all missionaries, and a heap of stones
near the convent of Kanobin marks the spot where a missionary was
martyred in 1830 by the will of the Maronite patriarch.
The Druses are perhaps the most remarkable people of Syria, and they
are, too, the most mysterious. It was formerly thought that they were
the descendants of a band of the crusaders who were left behind and
finally forgot their land and religion, taking their name from the
count of Dreux. There is a more plausible theory which identifies them
with some of the tribes introduced into the Palestine by Esarhaddon,
the great Assyrian, in the seventh century, B. C. Their name seems to
have come from Ismael Darazi, and dates no farther back than the
eleventh century A. D.
Hakim, one of the caliphs, who reigned in 1019, and who seems from his
tyranny and fanaticism to have been a madman, maintained that he had
direct intercourse with the Deity, and that he was an incarnation of
the divine intelligence. The claim was made known in the mosque at
Cairo by Ismael Darazi, whose testimony was hostilely received by the
people and he himself compelled to flee; but he at last succeeded in
winning over the ignorant inhabitants of Mount Lebanon, whence the
origin of this religion. The Druses hold that there is only one God,
indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, and passionless--that he has
made himself known by ten successive incarnations, lastly by Hakim.
They believe in the transmigration of souls, and they say that
virtuous souls pass into Chinese Druses, but those of the wicked into
dogs or camels. These people have a high reputation for hospitality,
and especially toward the English or Americans. God, they say, is
great and liberal and all men are brothers, though in their bloody
massacres they forget this, as Christians sometimes do.
The last hundred years have witnessed fearful struggles between the
Maronites and Druses, and the rivers have run red--not from the
supposed blood of Adonis, but from that of human beings--and many
Christians have fallen victims.
Another sad fact is the low position which woman holds in Palestine.
It is only Christianity that can put her in her true place as man's
equal.
Those, then, who go to Syria to herald the gospel and plant the seeds
of progress in the hearts of these people have as much to contend with
as those who go among uncivilized heathen, or perhaps more. Here they
are opposed by uncompromising bigotry, by the despotic hand of a
mighty ruler, and they must find untold obstacles in a land where the
muezzin's voice is heard from a thousand Moslem minarets, with the
hate which has ever existed between the two religions, and has not
been lessened by the contests around Jerusalem for the possession of
the holy sepulchre. But missionaries are peacemakers, and it is well
that members of the Society of Friends have been led to do work
here--a Society which would proclaim the "truce of God to the whole
world for ever;" a Society which would give to woman the nobility for
which she was created. We may hope that the hills which witnessed the
chorus of angels singing, "Peace on earth, good-will to men," shall
look on a community in which this is fulfilled, and, though
Jerusalem's altar-fires have gone out, there may a brighter light
shine into the hearts of a people worshipping God in spirit and in
truth.
We can hardly realize that this important land, "the cradle of
revelation," is so small that it is only about the size of Wales.
"From Dan on the north to Beersheba on the south is a distance of only
one hundred and thirty-nine miles, and the paltry breadth of twenty
miles from the coast to the Jordan on the north increases slowly to
only forty between the shore of the Mediterranean at Gaza and the Dead
Sea on the south."
To this little country, made great and again humbled, raised up and
again degraded, to this people divided into so many religions, Eli and
Sybil Jones felt a call to bear the gospel first promulgated from its
hills and in its valleys.
They were liberated by China monthly meeting, Vassalboro' quarterly
meeting, and New England yearly meeting, and embarked from Boston on
the 10th of 4th month, 1867.
"The last meeting attended by them before leaving their home in Maine
was thronged by their townspeople, many of whom had known them through
life, and several ministers from other societies from the overflowing
of their hearts expressed their desire for the divine blessing upon
their labors as ambassadors for Christ. Between our two friends, and
upon the same bench, sat their two aged mothers, respectively in their
eighty-fourth and eighty-ninth years. The latter arose in the presence
of the large assembly, and, referring to the prospect that she should
not meet her dear children again in this life, expressed her
willingness to give them up for the sake of the Lord. They were
attended on board their steamer by a large delegation of Friends from
Lynn, Salem, New Bedford, and Providence. Here they mingled in
Christian sympathy and in a season of religious fellowship, giving
their fellow-passengers the opportunity of witnessing such brotherhood
in Christ as used in the olden time to induce the exclamation: 'See
how the Quakers love one another!'" Among those who came to bid them
adieu and attend their religious exercises were John A. Andrew,
governor of Massachusetts, and General Banks. It was especially
interesting, as marking a striking contrast to the treatment which the
missionary Quakers two hundred years before received at the hands of
the Boston officials.
John G. Whittier, who at one time had a desire to accompany them,
wrote the following beautiful verses for the occasion:
"TO ELI AND SYBIL JONES.
"As one who watches from the land
The lifeboat go to seek and save,
And, all too weak to lend a hand,
Sends his faint cheer across the wave,--
"So, powerless at my hearth to-day,
Unmeet your holy work to share,
I can but speed you on your way,
Dear friends, with my unworthy prayer.
"Go, angel-guided, duty-sent!
Our thoughts go with you o'er the foam;
Where'er you pitch your pilgrim tent
Our hearts shall be and make it home.
"And we will watch (if so He wills
Who ordereth all things well) your ways
Where Zion lifts her olive hills
And Jordan ripples with His praise.
"Oh! blest to teach where Jesus taught,
And walk with Him Gennesaret's strand!
But whereso'er His work is wrought,
Dear hearts, shall be your Holy Land."
Letters from Eli Jones and his companions will be given farther on to
show the nature of their work, the places visited, and something of
the good accomplished. Many of these letters are exceedingly
interesting, and, being written on the spots which they describe, they
throw new light on the scenes of the Bible-land. For the present I
wish to follow out briefly the part these two Friends have taken in
what may be called distinctive mission-work.
After being engaged for about a month attending meetings in and about
London, mostly among the poor, and doing some work in Scotland, they
began their journey, stopping with the Friends in the south of France,
embarking from Marseilles for Greece, and thence going pretty directly
to Beirut in Syria. They had as companions and helpers that earnest
and sweet-spirited Christian, Alfred Lloyd Fox of Falmouth, England,
and Ellen Clare Miller of Edinburgh, for whom, as she is still living,
words of eulogy are happily not yet in place. They spent some months
holding meetings, visiting schools, and doing much quiet work up and
down nearly the whole length of Palestine. Sybil Jones being all the
time in feeble health, they finally returned to England to spend the
summer. Sybil went to Ireland, and Eli held meetings in different
parts of England. Meantime, Alfred Fox and Ellen Clare Miller, who had
become much interested in the work going on in Palestine, had raised a
considerable sum of money to assist the mission-schools and general
religious work in the Holy Land, and about seven hundred pounds were
collected, some of which was sent to those needing it. As the summer
went on, Eli and Sybil Jones each separately, began to feel that they
had still further work in the East to do, and the way opened for them
to return to the work which they had left unfinished. Ellen Clare
Miller again attended them, also Richard Allen and Captain Joseph Pim.
What money remained was put into their hands to be spent as they saw
fit to promote education and spread the gospel in Syria.
While in the neighborhood of Jerusalem they visited Ramallah. There
was a boys' school in this place, and here they were met by a young
woman who asked that she might be helped to teach a girls' school. Eli
Jones asked her if she could teach, to which she answered, yes. After
consideration it was decided to take some of the money which had been
entrusted to them to start this young woman--Miriam--in the work of
educating the girls of the neighborhood. On returning to England at
the end of their visit, and reporting what they had done at Ramallah,
it was at once accepted by the English Friends, and the little school
thus begun was adopted and liberally supported. Ramallah became the
seat of the mission and school of the London Friends, and was
carefully watched over, built up, and maintained until 1888, when it
was decided to be best for American Friends to take it in exchange for
their interest in the Brummana mission on Mount Lebanon. It will be
called the Eli and Sybil Jones Mission, and the New England Friends
are ready zealously to take up and carry on the good work which for
eighteen years has received the support of English Friends.
During this same visit, while at Beirut in the year 1869, they met
Theophilus Waldmeier, who was engaged in the British Syrian schools.
He became much interested in the strangers, and desired to learn more
of their religious principles. "Their addresses were so powerful and
edifying," he writes, "that our hearts were touched, and I began to
think that their religious principles must be of a superior nature. I
went to the hotel where they lodged and made their acquaintance, and
from that time I have believed that the Quaker principles are the
right basis for a true spiritual Church. When these dear Friends left
the country their blessed influence remained upon my heart, though
they had not the slightest idea of it, nor had I any hope of seeing
them again."
Two years later Theophilus Waldmeier met Stafford Allen, and
accompanied him, his son, and Joseph Price to Baalbek, so that they
became closely acquainted, and he was invited to come to Stafford
Allen's house in London, which he did in 1872, and here he made the
acquaintance of Hannah Stafford Allen, Robert and Christine Alsop, and
others, and he became more and more familiar with the spiritual views
of Friends, and later he joined himself to their Society.
He visited the different missions around Mount Lebanon, and he found
that there was none at Brummana. It was told him that the inhabitants
of Brummana were the greatest thieves and liars in the world. "They
are Maronites, Greeks, and Druses, and the evil report of them has
filled the country even unto Egypt. Every one is afraid of them. The
American missionaries wanted to establish a mission among them, but
they were expelled from the place in 1831, and the Bibles and
Testaments which they distributed among the people were publicly
burned." This showed that here was indeed the spot for a mission, but
it would take courage and manly work to establish it. But the order
seemed to come to Theophilus Waldmeier, "Go forward;" and on the 9th
of the 4th month, 1873, he gave in his resignation to the committee of
British Syrian schools, and it was not long before he was settled with
his family at Brummana. But, unsupported, he felt he could do little,
and he wrote an earnest letter to Hannah Allen for assistance; and
this letter was sent to Eli Jones. Hannah Allen sent pecuniary aid to
Theophilus Waldmeier for his family. Eli Jones received the letter a
little before New England yearly meeting opened, and took it with him
to that meeting, not knowing what it would be best to do. Charles F.
Coffin attended this yearly meeting, and he made an earnest plea that
New England Friends should identify themselves with some mission-work.
The subject was taken up and a committee appointed, the names of Eli
and Sybil Jones being among the number. Eli Jones at once urged that
something be done to help Theophilus Waldmeier, and fifty dollars was
raised to be sent to him. Eli Jones was requested to write and find
how the religious views of Theophilus agreed with those of Friends,
and the answer gave satisfaction to all. American Friends were now
ready to take hold of the work on Mount Lebanon, and were anxious to
join with English Friends in support of a mission there. Eli Jones
wrote to Theophilus Waldmeier: "I am glad to be able to say that our
Friends in New as well as in Old England seem much interested in thy
work on Mount Lebanon. I think that thyself and dear wife and your
helpers may be encouraged to give yourselves to the work of the Lord
there, with full trust that your temporal wants will be supplied."
After much correspondence it was arranged for English Friends to join
those of New England yearly meeting in furnishing funds for the
support of the new mission; committees, secretaries, and treasurers
were appointed. T. Waldmeier was encouraged to go on with what he had
begun, with the certainty that his wants would be supplied. He did
so, and the work prospered. He has had much to endure, but he has
persevered, and much of the success of Friends' work on Mount Lebanon
is due to his faithfulness and courage. English Friends have from the
first nobly done their part to support this post of service, and they
have shown an untiring interest in it. Eli Jones has felt almost a
father's love for this Mount Lebanon mission. He has worked for it,
begged for it, and prayed for it. His original fifty dollars,
collected from New England Friends, was the first contribution sent to
it, at least by Friends, and from that time on he has not ceased to
stretch out his hands and heart to help it. He would be the last to
claim any honor for the success of either of the missions in
Palestine; he is among those who have helped to plant and water, and
God himself has given a good increase.
In 1876, Eli Jones, Alfred Lloyd Fox, and Henry Newman again visited
the Holy Land, and especially the slope of Mount Lebanon. A meeting
was held there, and Eli Jones read an epistle from the foreign mission
committee appointed by New England yearly meeting, expressing the
belief that a meeting should be organized at Brummana. After
deliberation a meeting was organized in the usual manner, consisting
of six native Christians and the family of T. Waldmeier.
During this same visit they started a boys' training-home. The winter
was spent in getting the training-home ready to open and putting it on
a proper working basis. A house was rented from one of the emirs of
Mount Lebanon, in which the boys of the mountain began to be trained.
This house and the one occupied by T. Waldmeier were those in which
lived the two emirs who gave the order to burn the Bibles and
Testaments of the early American missionaries. The spot is still
marked near the training-home where these Bibles were burnt, and some
of the inhabitants still live there who helped execute the order; so
that the children of the men who put fire to the Bible are now being
taught on this same spot from this same book.
In the spring of 1880 an appeal was made for a girls' training-home at
Brummana, T. Waldmeier judging the cost of building and current
expenses would be about ninety-five pounds. Not long after Eli Jones
wrote: "At our New England yearly meeting thy appeal for a girls'
training-home was read, and elicited a ready and remarkable response.
Soon after the meeting we found that the subscription had reached
eleven hundred dollars. The women Friends of New York yearly meeting
also raised two hundred dollars, thus making thirteen hundred dollars
in the hands of our treasurer, George Howland, for the purpose of
erecting a home for girls on Mount Lebanon."
So much money was collected that during the winter Eli Jones in the
name of the committee authorized the work to begin, and on the 27th of
10th month, 1882, the new building was completed. Eli Jones, then in
his seventy-sixth year, again crossed the water to be present at the
dedication of it. Three hundred persons, among them princes and
princesses, were there to see and hear the ceremony. Eli Jones read
Prov. xxxi., and spoke for an hour and fifteen minutes on the subject
of female education. The fifteen girls who were to be educated sat in
a semicircle on chairs before Eli Jones, and stood up and sang a hymn
at the close of the meeting. Charles M. Jones of Winthrop, Maine, had
attended Eli, and they worked for three months to accomplish the
transference of the mission into the hands of three English and three
American trustees. The management of the work was considerably
remodelled during this winter. It is a difficult matter to obtain a
perfectly clear title to land in Palestine, and the Friends were
obliged to go through eight different courts before the affair was
thoroughly settled.
The Ramallah Friends' mission was visited, and much was done to
encourage the workers there. New England Friends at present are
earnest to accomplish much good at Ramallah, and there has been a
striking liberality manifested by them in this field. Eli Jones, now
in his eighty-second year, can never again visit in the body these two
spots which he fondly loves, but he rejoices in his last days that the
cause so near his heart is receiving so warm a support, and the
advance which has been made prophesies the day when the Syrian wife
shall have a woman's voice and a woman's power, and when the
marvellous blessing of Christ's immeasurable love shall be felt in the
hearts of those who now sit in darkness, though in the land where "the
great Light has shined."