_SECOND VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND._
The cause for which the two Friends came to England before fully
accomplishing their work in Syria was the extreme feebleness of Sybil
Jones. A change and partial rest seemed imperative.
They soon began to labor in Cornwall, and they were gratified to find
"Quakerism still vital" in this place where George Fox had sowed the
seed exactly two centuries before. Considerable time was spent and
much edifying work done at Falmouth, where they were pleased to find
so many Friends of high literary and scientific attainments. The small
meetings of the neighboring villages received new life from the
earnest words and encouraging advice of the travellers.
One of their letters describes the visit to a meeting at Come-to-Good
in the parish of Kea:
"Here is a meeting-house belonging to Friends built more than two
hundred years ago. It has a most primitive appearance. The walls are
of stone, the abutments of the same material; the roof is thatched
with straw. It is in a rural and retired spot. Only one Friend, and he
of more than fourscore years, resides in the neighborhood; but the
many grassy mounds that press about the door tell of generations that
have passed away. The meeting here was one of great interest, and one
to which we recur with unfeigned pleasure. He who, we doubt not, has
from time to time met his servants here and at that altar of 'unhewn
stones,' was now present to bless the waiting ones. In this humble
structure George Fox proclaimed the good news with his wonted zeal and
with all the energy of a reformer."
In the same letter Eli Jones writes with great feeling:
"A little farther on we reach the Land's End. Here it stands, a bold
promontory, with granite fingers pointing toward the New World. As I
climb these mighty bulwarks that have successfully defied the power of
Old Ocean through every change of time, and look out upon the unstable
waters toward the setting sun, what thoughts of kindred and country
fill my breast! Lord of life, great Spirit in the centre of all
worlds, bless thou them!"
For more than two months they dwelt at Plymouth, during which time
Sybil Jones gained strength rapidly, although she was in a very
critical condition. A Friend from that city writes of their message
there: "I believe there are many in this part of the country who will
have reason to bless God in eternity for the visit and gospel labors
of Eli and Sybil Jones." Members who had never before opened their
lips in public bore testimony that they desired to be on the Lord's
side.
The southern part of England was faithfully travelled over, and the
joys of a "life hid with Christ in God" proclaimed to the people, who
everywhere received the messengers and the message gladly. The various
meetings of Ireland were again attended. A warm reception was given to
the American workers, who were already well known there from their
previous efforts, and an earnest and loving spirit seemed to pervade
many hearts. As this year (1868) was closing, Eli Jones, with a heart
full of love to God for his immeasurable blessings, wrote to one of
his friends in the land which he so loved:
"As we turn to other households and to our country, and to other
countries and peoples, we see everywhere evidences of the
superintending care of Him in whom we live and move and have our
being. And are we not reminded by divers tokens for good that light is
advancing? And may we not accept as true the words of the poet:
'Upon the great dial-plate of ages
The light advanced no more recedes'?
If this be so, let us bind on our armor, and as the newborn year takes
its place as the successor of those that are past, and after it shall
have done its full measure of service in the long line of years shall
give place to others, who we hope may be blessed in their deed and
doing far beyond their progenitors.
"On the closing day of the last year I stood with my fellow-travellers
upon the western slope of Mount Lebanon, and there reviewed the past
and looked prayerfully forward to the incoming year--a year whose
history will soon be complete. And what a history! and what a work has
been accomplished!--work in which millions have been actors. The
citizens of the two great English-speaking nations, Great Britain and
the United States, have with unprecedented unanimity at their late
elections declared in favor of religious liberty and of political
equality. In Spain multitudes seem only waiting to claim for
themselves and their countrymen these inalienable rights of all men.
"Even in Turkey, where the teachings of the Koran and the False
Prophet have dominated so long, see we not bright rays of light here
and there amid the darkness? I think we do. The Christian woman with
her firman from the sultan is diligently instituting schools where the
children of the Jew, the Christian, and the Mohammedan are taught
_not_ the _Koran_, but the _page_ written by inspiration of God.
"If we turn to Madagascar, that far-off island of the sea, we observe
much with which to fill a large page in the history of the year just
closing. A queen has reached the throne who looks approvingly upon the
workers among her pagan subjects, while thousands press about those
who tell the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ, and hear them
gladly; while Liberia, India, China, and Japan can each furnish a page
that shall tell of light advancing and declare to the world that 'God
is love' and the 'Father of us all.'"
As the winter passed and Sybil Jones felt new strength come from her
partial rest in Great Britain, while her husband continually carried
on the work, sometimes alone, sometimes with her help, they each began
to feel that there was more work to be done in the East, though
neither had spoken to the other in regard to it. The 22d of 2d mo.,
their prospect having become definite, with the full approval of
English Friends they once more embarked for Syria. They spent nearly a
week in the south of France, revisiting their many friends there and
encouraging them all to continue on in their lives of service to the
Master. The meetings were very large, sometimes fully five hundred
being present, and they found their work done sixteen years before had
left a lasting impression.
After a delightful voyage over the blue waters of the Mediterranean
they came to Alexandria, where there were many opportunities offered
for spreading the news of the way of life through the Saviour. Here
and at Cairo there were many who gladly listened to the great truths
which they were inspired to preach. There, where Napoleon had told his
soldiers that forty centuries looked down upon them from the heights
of the Pyramids, these missionaries of love labored to point their
hearers to the Ancient of Days, whose habitation is from eternity and
which standeth sure. The different mission-schools of Northern Egypt
were visited and helped in various ways.
Of this work Ellen Clare Miller, again their companion, writes:
"The visit to Egypt was altogether of remarkable interest, there
being, especially among the native Christians at Alexandria, an
interesting and open field for the spread of _spiritual Christianity_,
and an earnest longing in the minds of some after a closer
_acquaintance with the teaching of the Holy Spirit and His appearing
in the soul_."
The 16th of 4th mo. they came to the end of their journey, and camped
outside the city of Jerusalem. At once they began the work of visiting
schools and holding little meetings for all who wished to hear the
gospel, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the surrounding villages. As
these laborers rose before the groups gathered round them on the very
spots where the works of our Master were wrought and where his words
were spoken, with the scenes of the greatest historic events
stretching out before them, a new power seemed to fill them, and their
souls were stirred for the salvation and upbuilding of the people of
this Holy Land. No class of its inhabitants was neglected; even the
lepers were recipients of their message. Eli Jones visited the
community of these unfortunate beings, and tried to induce them to
come to the hospital prepared for them, telling them also of Him who
came into this world to deliver us from even a worse disease than
leprosy.
A letter from Eli Jones, written from Burkin, will suffice to give the
reader an idea of their travels and a description of some of the
places visited. Among others he speaks of Ramallah, where the
mission-school was begun during their visit there. The letter was
written for the _Friends' Review_:
"Tented near this little town, the time of day something past 'high
noon' and the heat at 94° in the shade, I take the time to jot down a
few thoughts, or perhaps I should say facts, for the perusal of my
North American correspondents. Since I last wrote thee we have passed
through portions of the ancient country of Egypt, have looked with
feelings of admiration and wonder upon her pyramids and hieroglyphics,
the former standing out to-day in all their primeval strength to tell
of the _greatness_, or perhaps more correctly of the _folly_, of their
builders, and the latter as we saw them upon the lasting rock
apparently as clearly defined as when fresh from the hand of the
recorder.
"The Nile, emphatically 'the river of Egypt,' still flows onward to
the sea, and in its season annually waters the country, giving
abundant fertility to the soil, which if cultivated with skill and
care would make the adopted country of Joseph again the granary of the
world. We had a very pleasant sail upon this wonderful river,
embarking near the spot where floated the ark of bulrushes containing
the Hebrew child who in the fulness of time became the leader and
deliverer of Israel from their long bondage in the land of the
Pharaohs. At the time of our visit the river was spanned by a bridge
of boats, thrown across by order of the viceroy on the occasion of the
marriage of some members of his family: this circumstance gave us a
carriage-ride for several miles where otherwise we must have had
recourse to donkeys as a mode of conveyance.
"A canal has been constructed extending from the Nile near Cairo to
Suez upon the Red Sea; these places are also connected by the
railroad; much of the way this runs parallel to the canal. On our way
to the latter place we followed the iron horse for five or six hours
across the desert of sand which must needs be passed, and which is
enlivened only by the moving sails upon the canal, the untiring steeds
that bore us on, and those tell-tale wires which, as with loving
arms, are embracing not only the seas and fertile lands, but also the
desert wilds. An highway (Isa. xi. 16) _is_ here, and shall not _this_
desert yet blossom as a rose? To our party the Red Sea was an object
of much interest: as we sailed out upon it we beheld at our right the
mountains through whose defiles the Lord's people are supposed to have
passed on their approach to the water's edge, where, notwithstanding
the hot pursuit of their enemies, they were to hear the assuring
language: 'Fear ye not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,
which He will show to you to-day; for the Egyptians which ye have seen
to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever;' and on our left was
the gently-sloping strand where they made their exit from their watery
way, and where we subsequently landed, some of our party going a
little way into the interior to drink of the waters at the 'well of
Moses,' which remaineth unto this day. Let the God of Israel be
magnified, and let not His wonderful works be forgotten by the
children of men.
"During our brief stay in this part of Egypt we had occasionally the
opportunity of observing the progress of the work upon the projected
ship-canal across the Isthmus of Suez. Of its ultimate completion and
success its projectors are very sanguine, and it is equally clear that
for the attainment of that end great engineering skill has been
displayed and a large expenditure of money been made, and such a
measure of unfaltering perseverance and of unflagging determination to
overcome opposing difficulties brought into requisition as have been
manifested in few other enterprises undertaken by man.
"On the 6th of the 5th mo. the male members of our party left for
Jericho, travelling the very road, we may suppose, upon which the man
was journeying who 'fell among thieves, who stripped him of his
raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.' We
halted near mid-day under the 'shadow of a great rock,' and not far
from the spot made ever memorable and dear to the Christian by one of
the most beautiful and instructive parables of our blessed Lord--that
of the Good Samaritan.
"We found the way rough and in some places difficult, yet there are in
several places indications that in the centuries past, perhaps in the
days of Roman rule, there was a highway here where the chariots of
Jehu and Jabin might have 'rolled harmlessly on.'
"Our tents we located near the modern Jericho, which is supposed to
occupy the site of Gilgal, the camping-ground of the host commanded by
Joshua, and where he did 'pitch those twelve stones which they took
out of Jordan' in commemoration of their miraculous passage through
the waters. Almost immediately upon reaching this place we put
ourselves in communication with the people. Found the entire
population Moslem, not one of whom can read, and the evidences of
moral degradation, especially among some of the females, were
remarkable. It should be said, however, that when we spoke to them of
matters of the highest moment, and read to them from the sacred
volume, the majority listened with some approach to respectful
attention.
"In the evening the sheik and some twenty or more of the men of the
village responded to an invitation to come to our tent: we read a
portion of Scripture and spoke to them of the beneficial effects of
education upon a people, and of our individual duties to God. Our
remarks were ably seconded by Prof. E. C. Mitchell of Alton, Ill., who
kindly united with us in striving to stimulate the inhabitants of
Jericho in the way of mental and moral improvement. At the close of
the interview they assured us that we were the first persons who had
ever offered them a helping hand or spoken to them of a better way
than the one they were then pursuing, and added that on the next
evening they would tell us whether they would accept our offer to give
them a school. At an early hour next morning we were on our way to the
Dead Sea, where we enjoyed the luxury of a bath in its bitter and
buoyant waters; thence we passed on to the Jordan, to the place where
thousands of pilgrims come in commemoration of the passage of the
pilgrim band from Egypt under the lead of Joshua, and of the baptism
of the world's great Deliverer by John, that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled. Here we lunched and duplicated our bath in the
Dead Sea: found the current of the river strong and rapid, requiring
much care to retain one's position. The water is shoal, but of
sufficient depth in places to allow of baptism by immersion.
"On our return to Jericho the sheik kindly engaged to convene some of
the people in the town, where we met fifty or sixty persons, and among
the number several females, who brought their long pipes and engaged
in smoking as they took their seats upon the ground. Their faces and
breasts were sadly tattooed, and on the whole they presented a
spectacle not easily matched short of the Western wilds of America. It
is, however, but justice to this country to say that during my long
stay here I have nowhere else seen its like. The motley company were
addressed by Prof. Mitchell and others of our party, and we cherish
the hope that this labor will not be in vain in the Lord, but that in
due time fruit may appear. Soon after reaching our tents several of
the men called to say that they wished a school for their children,
and if we would send a teacher they would gladly receive him. I hope
the means may be found to support a school at this place. The good
influence would extend rapidly to the towns around.
"First day, 9th of the month, some of our party at an early hour in
the morning were at Bethany, the town of Mary and Martha, where we
collected upon the top of a house such persons as we found at liberty,
and read the account of the raising to life of Lazarus, as recorded by
the evangelist, after which we trust Jesus Christ was preached as the
resurrection and the life.
"At half-past two P. M. of the 11th we left Jerusalem on our journey
northward, and soon after reached the top of Mount Scopus, where on
our right we enjoyed a delightful view of the Dead Sea, the valley of
the Jordan near its mouth, and beyond the mountains of Moab, and,
turning to review the ground travelled over, we had Jerusalem full in
view; and perhaps from no other point is the city seen to greater
advantage than from this, unless it be from Olivet. Tradition tells us
that Titus, the Roman invader, selected the top of Scopus for his
camping-ground, from which he could easily observe much that was
transpiring in and around the doomed city.
"We now leave, probably for the last time, the city dear to Jew and
Greek, to Moslem and Christian, and especially dear to us who have
found an open door to preach there Christ, and Him crucified.
"Some half hour on our way from Scopus we turned aside a little to
look upon the village of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, the home of
Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah. Resuming our course, we soon reached
'Gibeah of Saul.' The place is indicated by little more than a conical
hill, which lay to our right. On our left and more distant, capping a
high eminence, Mizpah was seen. Farther on Ramah was reached, the home
of the good Samuel, 'and Samuel judged Israel all the days of his
life. And he went from year to year in circuits to Bethel and Gilgal
and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was
to Ramah, for there was his house, and there he judged Israel, and
then he built an altar unto the Lord.'
"Reaching Ramallah, some three hours from Jerusalem we found our tent
in readiness to receive us. The town occupies an elevated position
overlooking the distant plain of Sharon. The air was cool and bracing.
12th, visited a boys' school at Ramallah. In the afternoon some of our
party visited one at Jifneh, the Gophna of Josephus. 13th, went to
Bethel, distant one and a half hours from our encampment.
"On approaching this place, so noted in Scripture records, we observed
the remains of a cistern 314 feet by 217 feet, constructed of massive
stones; the southern side is entire, the other sides are more or less
ruined. A portion of the enclosure is now used as a threshing-floor.
Here also is a fountain at which the cattle of Abraham often drank in
former days, and at which the maidens of Sarah were wont to fill their
pitchers as the Arab maidens do still.
"The Bethel of to-day is a miserable Moslem village with a low,
uneducated population, amongst whom we were unable to find more than
one person who could read. He is the one who calls the people to
prayers; to him we gave a tract and the Psalms of David in Arabic.
"As we spoke to some of the inhabitants of our great Father in heaven,
and of our obligations to serve Him, we were answered with little more
than a vacant stare and an expressed wish for backsheesh. What a
contrast between these followers of the False Prophet and him who is
called the 'father of the faithful,' who here spread his tent and here
rendered true homage to the great _I Am!_ and how unlike the patriarch
Jacob, who here, beneath heaven's broad canopy, slept, as many an Arab
now sleeps, on the bare ground with a stone for his pillow! Here he
dreamed of the ladder which reached from earth to heaven, and on which
the angels were ascending and descending, and on awakening was so
impressed with the holiness and majesty of Jehovah that he
exclaimed,'How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the
house of God.' And here the cheering promise was given him: 'In thee
and all thy _seed_ shall all the families of the earth be blessed; and
behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou
goest.'
"Here Samuel, worthy of double honor, a prophet of God and a judge in
Israel, came on his yearly circuit from Gilgal and Mizpah to hold his
court and render righteous judgment between brethren; and thitherward
turned the steps of Elijah and Elisha while fulfilling their high
commission as servants of God.
"And here too came the youthful king Josiah, as foretold by the
prophet, and brake down the high-places of Jeroboam, and burned down
to the ground the grove that grew up on the hill for the worship of
Astarte.
"On our return from Bethel we held a meeting at Beeroth--now called
Bireh--with a few Christians and Moslems. Our interpreter read the
fifth chapter of Matthew, after which I drew their attention to the
teaching of the gospel, dwelling at some length upon the words,
'Therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even
so unto them.' They listened with marked attention to all that was
said. On leaving we were told that a few years since a difficulty
arose from a very slight cause between two families in the town, and,
spreading to others, the spirit of strife and revenge grew higher and
higher till in their murderous fury forty-four persons lost their
lives, and since then the spirit of revenge had shown itself in other
ways. Only the night before our meeting valuable fig trees had been
destroyed from the same cause, and we were told that some of the
parties concerned were present and heard our words of exhortation.
"Beeroth was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites, whose curious
story the name will at once recall. It is also thought to be the
halting-place of Joseph and Mary when they found that the child Jesus
was not among their friends and kinsfolk of the party. Ramallah,
twenty minutes from Beeroth, is professedly a Christian village,
occupying a commanding position from which we get a fine view westward
down the mountain-sides of Benjamin and Ephraim, and over the broad
plain of Sharon to the Mediterranean.
"Toward evening we held a meeting at the Protestant school-room in
this town. The crowd of men, women, and children became so dense that
nearly every one assumed a standing position, and all seemed very
eager to see the strangers, and, as I thought, very curious to hear a
woman address a public assembly. My S. J., taking her stand upon a bed
in a corner of the room, spoke earnestly and at considerable length
upon the way of life and salvation, to which many listened with fixed
attention.
"_14th._ At the request of S. J., a meeting was appointed for females;
many responded, and a satisfactory meeting was held. Meantime, the
male members of our party called at the Latin convent. Found the monk
at its head with a school of eight or ten boys, which he summarily
dismissed upon our entering, assigning as a reason that it was time
for them to leave, though it was but ten o'clock in the morning. From
the answers which he gave to our numerous inquiries we were induced to
think that although he and his associates may not do much to enlighten
the people around them, yet that as an individual he is really loyal
to the Church of which he is a member, and that he considers
salvation very unlikely, if not impossible, apart from conformity to
its rules and its traditional observances.
"In the evening a meeting was held with males only, in which they were
exhorted to prepare to meet their God in peace by repentance toward
Him and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and also to a faithful
performance of their several duties as husbands, fathers, and
brothers, that so the position of women may be elevated in this land
and her children prepared for a useful career among men.
"I am closing this sheet at Beirut, the 12th of 6th mo.; and as the
mail closes very soon, I have only time to add that our party are in
good health and look to turning their faces homeward in a few days.
"Thy loving and sincere friend,
"ELI JONES."
It will not be possible to give the further details of the faithful
efforts of this little party to promote the highest earthly and
eternal welfare of the inhabitants of this once highly favored land.
They visited all the spots made sacred by the steps of Him whom they
followed, but they went not to satisfy their desire of beholding: they
bore tidings of joy to the sorrowful. They pursued their journey as
far north as Beirut, preaching in every city and village, and leaving
in many places money behind them for the advancement of education.
Wholly devoted as they were to the service of the Lord, with great
love for all the human souls where they went, and power being given
them to tell the story of a mighty Deliverer, the fruit of work must
have been very abundant. We do not need to count those converted in
such work for the Lord, and even if we could we should still be unable
to estimate the value of the seed thrown broadcast over the land,
which may long lie dormant and finally bud into new grain.
On the 22d of 6th mo. Eli and Sybil Jones, with their companions, E.
C. Miller, Joseph Pim, Richard Allen, and T. C. Wakefield, sailed from
Beirut for the Occident, stopping on their way at Athens, Marseilles,
and Geneva, and reaching London the 10th of 7th mo. Soon after their
arrival in England the two American Friends embarked for their home.
Sybil Jones's work in the Eastern continent was now complete, and she
had the great satisfaction of feeling that she had in every particular
obeyed the call of Him whom she served.