Presented tVit PRINCETON, N. J. by ^V\<2^ CAvyV^Vv oY~r Division L...K...S Section L.LL.l^ . ^cB ' 1012 ' IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/americanmissioni00wats_0 MISSIONARY WORKERS IN THE VALLEY OE THE NILE A SURVEY OF THE MISSIONARY MOVEMENT IN EGYPT BY CHARLES R. WATSON New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1908, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago : 80 Wabash Avenue Toronto : 25 Richmond St., W. London : 2 1 Paternoster Square Edinburgh : 100 Princes Street PREFACE An invitation to deliver the Students' Lectures on Missions at the Princeton Theological Semi- nary afforded the opportunity and the special oc- casion for gathering together the material to be found in this book. These lectures are published with the conviction that there is a need for a volume which will present, in outline at least, the story of Christian missionary effort in the Valley of the Nile. It is estimated that some twelve thousand Eng- lish-speaking tourists visit Egypt every year. A large proportion of these are deeply interested in the progress of Christianity throughout the world. To these we may add a much larger num- ber of men and women of Great Britain and America who have become deeply interested in this historic and Bible land through an acquaint- ance with it more or less direct. It is strange that, apart from denominational publications which necessarily fail to reach the general travel- ling and reading public, there is barely a book which undertakes to portray religious conditions and to tell the story of modern missions in the Nile Valley. 5 6 PREFACE The present book cannot be regarded as more than a handbook on Egypt in its relation to Chris- tianity and Christian missions. The subject is a large one, and on every hand the possibilities of detailed study present themselves. For those who desire to pursue further their study of various questions or periods, references have been given in the Appendix. Those who desire to arrive at once at the story of modern missions, will pass over the first two chapters. These, however, were inserted for the sake of explaining historic- ally, as well as to present practically, the true genius of the two religions with which the modern missionary must deal. As no new ma- terial on the subject of Moravian missions in Egypt was available or discoverable, it was found necessary to make use, at this point, of material used in the author’s “ Egypt and the Christian Crusade.” Missionary work in Egypt has unusual claims upon the student of world movements. The early introduction of the Christian faith into Egypt and its rapid spread, constitute a thrilling chapter in the history of early Christianity. The subsequent decay of the movement teaches sober lessons as to the imperative duty of safeguarding the purity of Christian faith and life. Egypt also presents a unique opportunity for studying from every point of view the widespread Moslem faith, for. PREFACE 7 here, Islam dominates and has moulded every sphere of life — the social, the political, the moral, the religious, the intellectual, the industrial, and the commercial. Furthermore, the record of the modern missionary enterprise is one of rare in- terest. There is the inspiring story of the Mo- ravian missions, the interesting record of the British Church Missionary Society, the stirring narrative of the American Mission. The study of these modern missionary efforts must be not only deeply suggestive to the student of missions, but spiritually stimulating to every one interested in the progress of Christianity in the world. The author wishes to express his indebtedness to valuable historical works bearing upon his theme, found in the Congressional Library at Washington, the Astor Library of New York, and the Foreign Mission Library of the Yale Divinity School, and also to that exhaustive and interesting record The American Mission in Egypt,” by Andrew Watson, D.D. If this book shall avail at all to quicken faith in the conquering power of Christianity, to deepen the sense of obligation for missionary activity, and to hasten the Christian evangelisation of Egypt, the aim of the writer will have been accomplished. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Early Christianity in Egypt . . 13 II. Islam in the Nile Valley . . 60 III. Early Modern Missions ... 99 IV. The American Mission . . . 132 V. Recent Missionary Efforts . . 169 VI. The Present Outlook . . . 204 Appendix ....... 237 Index 245 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Missionary Workers .... Title St. Barbara Coptic Church ... 25 Church of Babylon in Old Cairo . , 25 Moslems at Prayer 94 Costume of Egyptian Woman ... 94 The “Ibis,” the Missionary Nile-Boat . 122 An Egyptian Village ..... 122 Mosque of Mohammed Ali, Cairo . . 132 American Mission Building, Cairo . .132 Mission Hospital at Assiut . . . 158 Theological Seminary at Cairo . . 158 Converts of Modern Missions . . . 194 Pressly Memorial Institute, Assiut . . 214 I EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT HE modern missionary movement in the Nile Valley has to reckon with two reli- gious systems. One is a corrupt and de- graded form of Christianity. The other is “ the mightiest system of monotheism the world has ever known.” One is the Coptic Church. The other is Islam. Since nine-tenths of the people of Egypt are Mohammedans, Islam may well be considered, from the numerical point of view, the supreme problem of missions in Egypt. By its hostility to Christianity and its unyielding character, it establishes a farther and a final claim to first place among the problems confronting the missionary in the Nile Valley. The missionary, however, also regards the spiritual uplift of the Copts as an immediate duty, whose accomplishment is im- portant, not merely for its own sake, but also as a piece of missionary strategy. There is no better way to appreciate the true genius of any religious movement than by be- coming acquainted with the history of its begin- 14 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE nings, its development, and its establishment. The best way also to understand the present re- ligious condition of Egypt is to survey — though it be briefly and in mere outline — the history of the entrance into the Nile Valley and the estab- lishment there of the two religious systems with which the present-day missionary must deal. Two periods of Egyptian history, more than all others, have determined the religious life of Egypt and explain to us the present existence, in the Nile Valley, of both the Coptic Church and Islam. Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of acquaintance with these two important periods of Egyptian history. Books on Ancient Egypt abound; archaeology has almost become popu- larised. On the other hand, whole libraries of travel exist portraying Modern Egypt. But the Roman Period of Egyptian history and the Period of the Middle Ages are unfamiliar terri- tory to the average reader. The first of the two periods referred to extends from the introduction of Christianity into Egypt to the Arab invasion and covers approximately the first six centuries of the Christian era. The second period begins with the Arab invasion and brings us down to modern times. ENTRANCE OF CHRISTIANITY There is a celebrated picture in a London gal- lery entitled Anno Domini. It represents a pro- EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 15 cession of the Egyptian gods. In the midst of singers and minstrels and damsels playing on tim- brels, we see in the place of supreme honour the goddess Isis, with Horus upon her knee. A humble company — a peasant leading a donkey bearing a woman and a child — meets the advanc- ing procession and stands aside to let it pass. Thus has a master painter set forth the flight from Herod and the entrance of the Christ Child into Egypt. It was only a few decades later that the Gospel of this same Jesus was carried to the Nile Valley. The story of its rapid triumph is one of the most thrilling chapters of Church his- tory. To properly appreciate it, some acquaint- ance with the Egypt of the first century is neces- sary. At the beginning of the Christian era, Egypt was a Roman province. More accurately, it was the personal domain of the Roman emperor and was governed directly by officials of his appoint- ment. Indeed, no member of the Senate was al- lowed to even set foot in the country, save by special permission from the emperor. Three distinct races inhabited the country, and these created three separate communities of inter- est and influence. One was Egyptian, the other Greek, and the other Jewish. Numerically, the first was, of course, vastly in the preponderance. To a certain extent these three worlds overlapped. i6 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE and influenced each other, but for the most part they represented different races, different lan- guages, different religions, different social cus- toms, and different types of mind. Each of these must be considered in turn. The typically Egyptian world of the first cen- tury had not been seriously affected by Roman domination. In the country districts, the people placidly followed the occupations, social customs, and religious practices of their ancestors in the manner of their ancestors. The papyri of Oxyrynchos throw a flood of light upon life in the towns and villages of Egypt during the period of Roman rule. Agriculture, then as now, was the chief occupation, and corn and barley were the chief crops. The weaving of linen cloth was the most common industry next to agriculture, and receives frequent mention in the papyri. The ordinary workman and farmer lived in compara- tive poverty. The religion of the common people was a de- generate type of the ancient Egyptian religion. Much of this was pure animal worship. In the Faiyum, for example, the crocodile god was wor- shipped; at Memphis, the bull Apis; at Oxyrhyn- chos, a particular Nile fish; at Assiut, the wolf; at Cynopolis, the dog. The religious temperament of the Egyptian must be recognised, however, even in this degra- EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 17 dation of religion, as Herodotus, in his time, re- marked, The Egyptians are exceedingly god- fearing, more than all other peoples.” “ One room of an Egyptian house,” says Georg Stein- dorff, “ would contain a small chapel with an image or likeness of the god, where the family would offer prayer and sacrifice. Outside in the streets there would stand little shrines; in the fields there would be altars on which the husband- man would deposit his offerings. Ancient Egypt probably presented an aspect like that of a Cath- olic country in modern Europe, in which images of saints and chapels meet us at every step.” It is worth noticing, in passing, that the Egyptian type of mind has generally led to the practical and ceremonial, rather than to the philosophic, in re- ligion. There was also at this time, considerable sorcery and witchcraft mixed in with religion, owing to the degenerate religious conditions of Egyptian life in the first century. Of the moral state of society, it is impossible to speak definitely, but a safe inference is that the moral life of the people was sadly degraded, save as checked by the operation of those natural laws and condi- tions of rural and agricultural life. The Jewish community in Egypt was of no in- considerable size in the first century. There had been a steady stream of emigration of Jews from Palestine to Egypt ever since the days of Jere- 1 8 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE miah, when Johanan, the son of Kareah, led his company of Jews down into Egypt, to Migdol and Tahpanhes and Memphis and the country of Pethros. Philo tells us that of the five districts into which Alexandria was divided, two were known as Jewish. He also says : “ The Jews resident in Alexandria and in the country from the descent to Libya back to the bounds of Ethi- opia do not fall short of a million.” This would give the Jews one-seventh or even one-eighth of the estimated population of the country. The chief settlement of Jews was at Alexan- dria, but there seems to have been a colony of them near the fortress of Babylon, north of Mem- phis, to be noticed later on. At Oxyrynchos, there was a Jewish community of some impor- tance. It even had a Jews’ street. Leontopolis, in the nome of Heliopolis, was famous as con- taining a Jewish sanctuary, the only one outside of Jerusalem where sacrifices were offered. It was closed about three years after the destruction of Jerusalem. Though socially and religiously exclusive, Judaism in Egypt was strongly affected by Hel- lenistic influence. The use of the Greek language was generally adopted, although the Jews en- deavoured to maintain also among themselves the Jewish dialect. The Greek language was used even in the synagogue. Jewish writers entered EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 19 the field of history, of philosophy, and even of epic and dramatic poetry. Judaism, by contact with the world and by its desire to fulfil a religious mission to the world, was being forcibly converted into a sort of mono- theistic propaganda, to which were linked the ad- ditional conceptions of moral law and of divine judgment. Thus Judaism was lifted to the rank of a philosophy. Nowhere would and nowhere did such a tendency of Judaism manifest itself as in the Hellenistic world of Alexandria. Philo’s teachings both reveal this fact and give us some idea of the trend of religious thought in the Jew- ish community of Alexandria. Perhaps even in Alexandria there was a conservative Judaistic party, such as existed at Jerusalem and such as became Paul’s most relentless persecutors, but that party, if it existed at all, was hopelessly in the minority. The dominant school of Judaism in Egypt would find its fair exponent in such a man as Philo, who sought to reconcile Judaism with Greek philosophy by means of the art of alle- gory in the interpretation of the Hebrew Scrip- tures. There is one other development of Alexandrian Judaism which may have had some influence upon Christianity in Egypt. We refer to the ascetic tendencies of the Therapeutae, described by Philo in his “ De Vita Contemplativa.” These Jews 20 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE settled near Lake Mareotis in the vicinity of Alex- andria. Each member of the brotherhood lived ‘‘ in a separate cell, called ‘ monasterium,’ in which they spent their time in mystic devotion and ascetic practices, and particularly in the study of the Torah and in reciting the Psalms. While remaining in retirement, they indulged in neither meat nor drink, nor any other enjoyment of the flesh.” They ate only after sunset. Some ate twice a week; some fasted from Sabbath to Sabbath. Women were admitted into the order and spent their time caring for orphan children and in listening behind a separating wall to the Law as read by the men at their devotions. In the fourth century, ascetic tendencies entirely dominated Christianity in Egypt, and these early tendencies in Egyptian Judaism may have con- tributed germinally to such a development in Christianity. The predominating foreign influence in Egypt, however, was Greek. This influence had been in course of establishment during the three hun- dred years which intervened between the con- quests of Alexander the Great and the establish- ment of Roman rule in 30 b.c. Neither was there much cause for the decline of Greek influ- ence in Egypt after the close of the Ptolemaic period, for, while Augustus deprived the Greek colony at Alexandria of their Senate, which had EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 21 symbolised their local self-government, for the most part Roman rule did little to limit the ex- tension of Greek influence. Alexandria was the chief city of the Greeks, and it enjoyed remarkable fame and prestige. It was a world centre for commerce and thought. The trade of the East and of the West met here, and “ a large part of the thoughts which dominate the world’s views in philosophy, religion and science, saw the light in Alexandria.” Here rose the Pharos, one of the world’s seven wonders, a many-storied tower of white stone and marvel- lous construction, said to have been 590 feet high, and erected, as the inscription declared, “ for the salvation of navigators.” More important still was the Museum, a college of professors, which drew scholars from the whole world and became the great Eastern university. To this was at- tached a great library. The fame of Alexandria had grown steadily and with good reason. Its site was well chosen ; its climate was salubrious; its buildings were beautiful. Here, it is said, Alexander the Great was buried in his golden casket. Here, Euclid worked out his “ Elements of Geometry.” Here, Archimedes investigated the most abstruse prob- lems in geometry and mechanics. Here, the brush was wielded by one who carried the art of paint- ing to such perfection that men coined the phrase 22 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE “ the art of Apelles,” to describe the faultless. Here, Eratosthenes achieved, two centuries be- fore Christ, his greatest astronomical computa- tion in determining from sun shadows the ap- proximate circumference of the earth. And as all these names are Greek, they testify to the char- acter and extent of Greek influence in the city of Alexandria. Next to Alexandria, the largest Greek colony in Egypt was at Ptolemais Hermiu, which Strabo describes as “ the largest town in Thebaid and not inferior in size to Memphis; with a con- stitution drawn up in the Hellenic manner.” This was some 450 miles south of Alexandria. The inference might be wrongly drawn that Greek in- fluence had spread over the whole country and penetrated far into the interior. It will serve as a corrective to remember that these Greek settle- ments were only trading posts or government seats, and that they were sharply distinguished in life and character from the surrounding native communities. In addition to these two important Greek centres, there were, also, Naukratis, in Lower Egypt, and Oxyrynchos, Herakleopolis, and Hermopolis, in Upper Egypt. The social life of these Greek communities was very active. The Greeks also imported their gods into Egypt. We thus find coin inscriptions or traces of temples and altars, dedicated to Zeus, Kronos, EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 23 Apollo, Helios, Athene, and Ares. “ It was much more common, however,’’ says Milne, when the Greeks found that the attributes of an Egyptian god resembled those of a Greek, for them to identify the two and unite their worship. Such a tendency was nothing foreign either to Egyptian or Greek theology, both of which sys- tems had pursued this process of identification from the earliest times. And there were obvious advantages in the economy thus effected, espe- cially for the Greeks who, in most Egyptian coun- try towns, would not be sufficiently numerous or sufficiently wealthy to build or endow a temple for their gods, and could thus simply get the en- joyment of the existing establishments. It is not to be supposed, however, that the union of the deities went farther than their names ; Pan Khem was still Pan to the Greek, and Khem to the Egyptians, neither race really assimilating the re- ligious conceptions of the other.” We are not greatly concerned, however, with the special forms of idolatry which prevailed within the typically Egyptian world or among the Greeks of Egypt during the period of the in- troduction of Christianity. Toward idolatry, Christianity joined with Judaism in presenting an uncompromising attitude of opposition. It was otherwise, however, with Greek philosophy in Egypt. As Judaism was deeply influenced by 24 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Hellenistic philosophy, so was Christianity also to be influenced. It is worth while noticing, there- fore, the trend of philosophic thought in the Greek world of Egypt, and especially of Alex- andria, during the first century. At the beginning of the Christian era, we find Alexandria the great clearing-house of philo- sophic and religious ideas. Here the East and the West met. Western or Greek philosophy was chiefly represented by Platonism. Other streams of religious influence had their sources in the East, and also emptied themselves at Alexandria, but these cannot be definitely described, nor dis- tinguished from each other. In the resultant of these varied Eastern religious influences, which has been designated as “ Orientalism,” we find traces of myth stories and metaphysical distinc- tions which are easily attributable to Indian ori- gin; practical and utilitarian conceptions of mo- rality which might go back to Chinese parentage ; a strong emphasis upon immortality and a future moral judgment, which is certainly characteristic of Egyptian religious thought; and especially the sharp antithesis of spirit and matter, and their mutual conflict both in individual experience and in an eternal universe, which savours of Persian origin. Greek philosophy met and sought to as- similate this “ Orientalism.” The result pro- duced at Alexandria a sort of religious and philo- ST. BARBARA COPTIC CHURCH CHURCH OF BABYLON IN OLD CAIRO EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 25 sophic pot-pourri, which is usually referred to as ** syncretism,” the final form of Hellenism and the form of Hellenism that Christianity had to deal with. The soul, God, knowledge, expia- tion, asceticism, redemption, eternal life, with in- dividualism and with humanity substituted for nationality, — these,” says Harnack, “ were the sublime thoughts which were living and opera- tive, partly as the precipitate of deep inward and outward movements, partly as the outcome of great souls and their toil, partly as one result of the sublimation of all cults which took place dur- ing the imperial age.” Into one or more of these three worlds of thought and life, which existed side by side in Egypt and yet were in a measure distinct from each other, came the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The traditional account of the founding of the Christian Church in Egypt is worth narrating here. Mark is the reputed founder of the Church in Egypt. His first visit to Egypt was in the fifth decade of the Christian era. He was accom- panied by Peter. They made their way past Heli- opolis to the Jewish colony at Babylon well known in history. It was from here that Peter wrote his Epistle, whose concluding section says. She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, saluteth you.” Soon after, Peter returned to 26 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Palestine, sending Mark to Alexandria. Mark’s first convert in Alexandria v^as one Annianus, a shoemaker by trade. Others also accepted the gospel which Mark preached. When Mark re- turned to Palestine, he consecrated Annianus first bishop of the new church, with three priests and seven deacons as assistants. After the separa- tion of Paul and Barnabas, Mark laboured with Barnabas for a short time, but ultimately re- turned to Alexandria. Tradition points in the main to his remaining here until his martyrdom in about 62 a.d., the eighth year of Nero, when he fell a victim to an outbreak of pagan fanati- cism. He was buried in the church of Baucalia, where for centuries the election of Alexandrian patriarchs took place. It is impossible to vouch for the historicity of this account of Mark’s life and labours in Egypt. The first mention of Mark as the founder of the Church in Egypt is by Eusebius. Writing at the beginning of the fourth century, he refers this story to an indefinite tradition : The same Mark, they also say, being the first that was sent to Egypt, proclaimed the gospel there which he had written, and first established churches at the city of Alexandria.” After the time of Eusebius, notices of Mark’s work in Egypt are frequent. If we give credence to the tradition recorded by Eusebius, we have difficulty in explaining the EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 27 failure of either Clement or Origen to refer to this interesting fact of Church history, one hun- dred years before the time of Eusebius. In any case while Eusebius makes Mark the founder of the Christian Church in Egypt, he dates Peter’s epistle from Rome, which is contrary to the re- maining claims of Egyptian tradition. In 180 A.D. (the episcopate of Demetrius), the Alexandrian Church appears in the daylight of history. “ It is then a stately church with that school of higher learning attached to it by means of which its influence was to be diffused and its fame borne far and wide.” Certain inferences are possible which are inter- esting, and reasonably, if not entirely, certain, with reference to early Christianity in Egypt. 1. Christianity was introduced into Egypt at a very early date. The dates variously assigned by Eusebius are 40 and 43 a.d. This would be contemporary with Paul’s labours in Antioch. Such an early introduction of Christianity into Egypt is indeed probable. The journey from Jerusalem to Alexandria was a short one, and both commercial and religious interchanges be- tween the two cities were frequent. We also read of “ dwellers in Egypt,” who witnessed the miracle of Pentecost (Acts 2:10). 2. The gospel probably found its first entrance into Egypt by way of the Jewish colony. This 28 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE indeed would be a natural supposition, unless there were evidence to the contrary. If the tradi- tion which makes Mark the founder of the Church in Egypt be reliable, we have additional support for this supposition, for, judging both from his family ties and from what we actually know of his career elsewhere, Mark, in his missionary ac- tivities, would turn naturally to the Jews. 3. Upon the foregoing supposition we may as- sume that the liberal tendencies of Judaism in Egypt would afford this new faith, whose Jewish parentage was generally conceded, a favourable field for its establishment. Nay, we can almost believe that this new gospel would be welcomed. Without asking him to break with the historic past of Judaism or straining his interpretation of Scriptures, as did Philo, this gospel relieved the Hellenistic Jew of the feeling, which every true Jew of the Diaspora felt more or less keenly, that he was disqualified because cut off from the local sanctuary and ceremonial centre of the faith at Jerusalem. If the gospel presented attractions to the Jew, the Jewish colony, with its position of influence, its wealth, its learning, and its numerical strength, opened a great door of opportunity to the nascent religion of the Nazarene. “ It is purely a con- jecture, although perhaps a correct conjecture,” says Harnack, “ that more Jews were converted EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 29 to Christianity in the Nile Valley than anywhere else.” When we recall that one-seventh or one- eighth of the population of the country was Jew- ish, we realise what possibilities for the rapid establishment of Christianity in Egypt, are to be found here. 4. From the Jews the gospel passed to the Greek world. This would follow from the fact that Greeks and Jews mingled freely in philo- sophic and literary pursuits. Furthermore, Chris- tianity could not enter the world of letters at Alexandria without coming into touch with the Greeks. That it did, at an early date, associate itself with learning, we know, for at the close of the second century a.d. there was a Christian school or college frequented by pagans as well as by Christians. These pagans must have been Greeks. We may also believe that the Greek mind rather caught at the philosophic import of the new faith, than experienced it as “ the power of God unto salvation.” The whole Gnostic movement was born, or, at least, given character, by the contact of Hellenism with Christianity, and we know how extensive this movement was. Valentinus, whom Epiphanius names as an early Christian heretic, was apparently a Greek. From all this we can safely infer that the gospel was not limited, even in the earliest years, to the Jewish world of Alex- 30 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE andria, but that it entered also, for better or for worse, into the Greek world of Alexandria and Egypt. 5. We may infer that, ere long, the gospel found its way into the typically Egyptian world. This did not probably occur until some years after it had been introduced into Egypt, for the Egyp- tian world was farthest removed from the Jewish world. The proof that Egyptians came under Christian influences even in this early period lies in two directions. First, there is a record of the existence of a gospel described as the gospel according to the Egyptians.” This would be in contradistinction to the Jews and Greeks. Then, the expansion of Christianity in the Nile Valley during the first two centuries of the Christian era, was already such as to require its extension beyond the limits of the Jewish and Greek worlds to the Egyptian world, which constituted, after all, the greater part of the population living in the Nile Valley. In some respects, this entrance of Christianity into the typically Egyptian world would be easy. The degeneracy of the old Egyptian religion was now patent, and Egyptian morals called for such a corrective as Christianity could offer. On the other hand, there was dan- ger lest the Osirian mysticism and the empty ceremonialism of the Egyptian religion would attach itself to this new faith. EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 31 6. Another statement can be made with refer- ence to early Christianity m Egypt, which is more than a mere inference: Its growth was phenom- enal. Clement tells us that, in his time (c. 200 a.d.), Christianity counted its adherents among all classes and ranks, and that it had spread to every nation and village and town.” This last is, naturally, a somewhat general statement, but it reflects the spread of Christianity in Egypt. Eusebius speaks of Christians “ from Egypt and all the Thebais ” who were martyred in the reign of Septimus Severus (202 A.D.). While else- where in his writings we find references showing communities to have existed in a larger portion of Lower Egypt, also in the Faiyum, also in Upper Egypt, and over in Pentapolis. This is indeed a remarkable record. What these histori- cal and geographical references mean in the mat- ter of numbers is only a matter of conjecture, but Harnack, surveying conditions in Egypt at the close of the third century, ventures the statement, “ Certain it is, however, that the Christians had long ago outstripped the Jews numerically, and by the opening of the fourth century, they were over a million strong.” A number of factors entered into this rapid spread of Christianity in Egypt. The favouring existence of a strong and influential Jewish col- 32 IN THE VALLEY OF TFIE NILE ony in Egypt, and the liberal character of Egyp- tian Judaism which would make the Egyptian Jew more open-minded in his consideration of the claims of the gospel, have both been noted. Men- tion has been made of the decline of the old Egyptian worship, thus weakening the resistance which it might offer to the new faith within the limits of the typically Egyptian world. Taking account of the alert philosophic attitude of the Greek world, its effort to find some answer to the questions which were pressing upon it, one can imagine the interest which it would have even speculatively in the new gospel. Certainly, in all these facts, Egypt presented a promising field for the rapid spread of Christianity. Still, the conquering power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ must not be explained away by any superficial rationalism. Beneath all surface affinities which may be pointed out, there ever lies the deep, ineradicable contradiction between the natural and the spiritual. To the Egyptian, to the Greek, and even to the Jew, the Gospel of Jesus Christ must needs have come — if it came at all truly — by way of the crucifying of the old man, the mortifying of the old nature. Credit for the rapid extension of Christianity must, therefore, be given to the power of God working mightily, both directly on the hearts of men and indirectly through the lives of those EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 33 who had been won to Christ. Here it is that we have to reckon with the missionary spirit of this early age. One order in the Church of Egypt enjoys an enviable distinction for missionary zeal. It was the order of didaskaloi or teachers. That these constituted a clearly recognised order is abun- dantly proved. Dionysius of Alexandria is repre- sented as saying, “ I called together the presby- ters and teachers of the brethren in the villages.'' At Alexandria, these teachers rallied about the Catechetical School. Pantaenus, the first-mem- tioned head of this school, himself a teacher, went, as we know, on a missionary journey to “ India " ; this may mean Arabia. Nor ought the missionary services of Origen to be forgotten, both as he influenced the pagan population of Alexandria, or as he visited Arabia, or travelled to and fro between Egypt, Syria, Cappadocia, Greece, and Italy. It is a pleasing picture which is thus presented of the Church’s earliest and ablest theologians going forth on aggressive mis- sionary errands for the extension and establish- ment of the faith in foreign lands. The experi- ence must have given a new note of reality to the truths these professors were formulating, while the value of their services must also have been great to the communities they visited. It was a discriminating recognition on the part of the early 34 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Church of the truth which our modern mission- aries are ever emphasising, that it takes “ a wise masterbuilder ” to lay “ a foundation ” for the Christian faith in a foreign land. However, there was another agency for the propagation of the faith, an agency which was more potent as it was also more extensive, — we refer to the rank and file of those who consti- tuted the infant Church. This truth cannot be stated more forcibly, clearly, and authoritatively, than it is stated by Harnack : “ The most numer- ous and successful missionaries of the Christian religion were not the regular teachers, but Chris- tians themselves, by dint of their loyalty and courage. How little we hear of the former and their results! how much of the effects produced by the latter! Above all, every confessor and martyr was a missionary; he not merely con- firmed the faith of those who were already won, but also enlisted new members by his testimony and his death. “ Nevertheless, it was not merely the confess- ors and martyrs who were missionaries. It was characteristic of this religion that every one who seriously confessed the faith proved of serv- ice to its propaganda. Christians are to let their light shine, that pagans may see their good works and glorify the Father in heaven. “We cannot hesitate to believe that the great EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 35 mission of Christianity was in reality accom- plished by means of informal missionaries.” PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT We now leave the period of the first introduc- tion and establishment of Christianity in Egypt. The next two hundred and fifty years — from the close of the second century to the Council of Chal- cedon — are years of development, alas, not of healthy development, but of development, and we may say that at the close of this period the Church in Egypt had determined, in a fixed and settled way, her national character. Only the briefest sort of survey of this period is possible. At the beginning of the second cen- tury, Christianity in Egypt suffered from the persecution of Severus, and the School at Alex- andria was closed while the martyrs witnessed to the truth with their lives. Among those who thus died was Leonides, the father of the great Origen. Origen himself, though but a boy, came into prominence through his remarkable intellectual powers. He was appointed head of the School at Alexandria during these troublous times. This made him a mark for the hatred of the pagan populace, but his ready wit and even temper car- ried him safely through many dangers. “ Epi- phanius relates that one day the mob seized him 36 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE in the street and bore him in a tempestuous pro- cession to the great temple of Serapis. Here, by main force, but apparently without real violence, they gave him the tonsure (of the pagan priest- hood), clothed him in the white robe of a priest of the temple, and then brought him out and held him on the top of the great flight of steps. Here they bade him distribute the palms to the throng of idol worshippers, who laughed and applauded below. Origen took the palm branches and offered them to the people, crying aloud, as he did so, ‘ Come and receive the palms, not of idols, but of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ It is a pleasant scene to dwell upon in that gloomy and painful time: the great temple fortress dark against the blue of an Egyptian sky; the court below, full of the laughing, hooting, many-coloured Oriental mob; the majestic flight of steps, swarming with more insistent pagans, ladened with the graceful branches; and in the midst of them that one youthful figure with the strong sunlight on his white robe and smiling face, holding up the palm and striking silence on the crowd with his clear, dauntless call to the worship of Christ.” The extended writings of Origen, the philo- sophic tendencies that characterised his theology, his indefatigable journeys, in short, the life and work of this famous man are subjects for special treatises elsewhere and cannot be touched on here. EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 37 It is worth emphasising, however, that the name and fame of Origen rightfully form a part of the story of the Church in Egypt, whose fame is too often obscured or forgotten. At this time, Neo-Platonism exerted a strong influence in Egypt, for Plotinus flourished in Lycopolis (now Assiut). The ascetic tendencies, which appeared in Origen’s life, but from which he escaped in later years, found more pronounced expression before long in the monastic move- ments of Paul, the hermit, and shortly after, of St. Anthony and St. Ammon. It is worth noticing, as indicating the leading position which the Church in Egypt held in the Christendom of this period, that the Novatian heresy — ^that to recant is an unpardonable sin — was referred to the Patriarch of Alexandria for settlement. Yet the power of Rome was steadily growing, and the day was not far off when this primacy of the Egyptian Church, implicitly if not explicitly admitted hitherto, would be disputed. A persecution of Christians under Valerian which lasted somewhat over three years, together with plague and political unrest, must have hampered the progress of Christianity in Egypt. In the closing years of the third century a re- volt occurred in Egypt, under one Archilleus, whom some make a Roman and others declare to have been a Christian Egyptian. The rebellion 38 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE was a stubborn one and required the personal at- tention of the emperor, Diocletian, together with a siege and assault of Alexandria, before its sup- pression was accomplished. A few years later, there broke out that perse- cution which made the name of Diocletian in- famous, although the intensity of the persecution may be attributed to Galerius, his son-in-law and successor. The persecution was so severe as to cause the period of its continuance to be called the Era of Martyrs. The edict went forth that all churches were to be demolished, all sacred books burned, all Christians in official positions ejected from office. The following quotation from Eusebius will give some conception of the sorrows of the Egyptian Church during this period : “ It would exceed all powers of detail to give an idea of the sufferings and tortures which the martyrs of Thebais endured. These had their bodies scraped with shells instead of hooks, and were mangled in this way until they died. Women tied by one foot and then raised in the air by cer- tain machines .... presented this most foul, cruel, and inhuman spectacle to all beholders; others, again, perished, bound to trees and branches, for, drawing the stoutest of the branches together by machines for this purpose, and binding the limbs of the martyrs to each of EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 39 these, they then let loose the boughs to resume their natural position, designing thus to produce a violent action to tear asunder the limbs of those whom they thus treated. And all these things were doing not only for a few days or some time, but for a series of whole years. At one time ten or more, at another time more than twenty, at another time not less than thirty and even sixty, and again at another time a hundred men with their wives and little children were slain in one day.’’ From this Era of Martyrs, the Coptic Church reckons time, using, however, the first year of Diocletian (284 a.d.) as the actual starting point. Thus the year 1908 a.d. is the year 1624 in the Coptic calendar. Constantine’s accession to the throne, in 324, brought a happy relief to the persecuted Egyptian Church, and, from this time on, Christianity may be regarded as the dominant religion in Egypt. The Church in Egypt was indeed being sorely tried, for the distractions of persecutions which now ceased only gave place to distractions of heresy. The Arian controversy began to disturb Christendom and had its beginnings in Egypt. A grave presbyter of Alexandria, upright in char- acter to the point of austerity, seeking to defend himself against the heathen charge that the Chris- tian doctrine of the Trinity was polytheistic, be- 40 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE came entangled in the heresy which finally took his name, Arianism. He denied the deity of Christ, and was, therefore, the forerunner of the Unitarian of to-day. The Patriarch of Alexan- dria was unable to reclaim the young man, and, after repeated conferences, excommunicated him. Thus arose the great Arian controversy, which called into being the first of the famous Ecumeni- cal Councils, that of Nicea, in 325 a.d. It is not our purpose to follow the movements of this great discussion. It is enough, in this con- nection, to remind ourselves that the Egyptian Church, while she had furnished the world with the leader of the heretical movement, herself dis- claimed his views, and by way of amends, fur- nished Christendom with a defender of the faith whose loyalty to the deity of Christ outlasted a half-century of bitter controversy, caused him to endure exile five times, and finally won back Christendom to the truth. The significance of the Arian controversy to the Church in Egypt lies in quite another direc- tion than that of doctrine. It will be remembered that shortly after the Council of Nicea, the em- peror himself fell under Arian influences. He then sought to secure for Arius by power and authority what he saw could not be secured by Ecumenical Council, — the restoration of Arius to the priesthood. The firm refusal of Athanasius, EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 41 now Patriarch of the Egyptian Church, to accede to this, led to his displacement and the appoint- ment of an Arian Patriarch. The great body of the Church in Egypt, however, refused to recog- nise the imperial candidate and stood loyally by Athanasius. A significant religious conflict fol- lowed. The emperor’s appointment led to the creation of a new line of patriarchs, rival to the Egyptian patriarchate, and deriving its authority and support from Constantinople. It led also to the establishment in Egypt of a Church, rival to the Egyptian Church, called the Melkite Church, and surviving even to-day in the Greek- Orthodox sect in Egypt. The effects of this con- flict were deplorable for the cause of true Chris- tianity in Egypt. The Egyptian Church was drawn into conflict with the political power of the emperor, and was led into a sphere of politi- cal activity which undermined her spiritual life. A bitter rivalry sprang up between the Church of Egypt and the Church at Constantinople. The maintenance of her ecclesiastical primacy in Christendom became the supreme thought of the Egyptian Church; on almost every occasion this issue was raised. After Athanasius had passed away, the Egyptian Church lapsed seriously and Church leadership came into the hands of dog- matic and self-assertive men. Disappointed and disheartened by the earlier 42 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE persecutions and now by these internal dissen- sions, the best spirits of the Egyptian Church were carried away by the wave of Monasticism which swept the country. Were it not for the testi- mony of contemporary writers, it would be hard to believe the extent to which the population be- came monks and nuns. Of course, many of these were actuated by low and false motives, but the retirement of the others was a disastrous loss to the Egyptian nation and the Church. The con- ception of the Christian life which now prevailed was flight from the Vv^orld rather than victory over the world. It was about this time — as the readers of Kingsley’s “ Hypatia ” will remember — that the temple of Serapis at Alexandria was destroyed by order of the emperor, but under the supervision of the Patriarch. It was with superstitious awe and fear that the Christian populace and the Alex- andrian soldiery wended their way into the inmost shrine from which, for six hundred years, the great god had ruled Egypt. Not till one of the soldiers had struck the statue, and the head of the god rolled to the ground, and out of the trunk leaped a colony of frightened mice, not till then did the crowd feel reassured. In the early half of the fifth century, there ap- peared that heresy which cut the Egyptian Church off from the rest of Christendom. It is called EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 43 the Monophysite heresy. It came as a reaction from another heresy, the Nestorian. Nestorius had asserted that the two natures of Christ, the human and the divine, were so separate and dis- tinct as to prevent one nature from qualifying the acts of the other nature. The Council of Ephesus condemned this heresy and asserted the unity of the two natures of Christ. Such em- phasis, however, was laid upon this unity of the two natures, that the Egyptian Patriarch, Dios- corus, went one step farther, and declared that in the incarnation the human nature was transmuted into the divine and the result was one person with one nature. This is called the Monophysite heresy, and is in contradiction to the guarded statement of the Shorter Catechism which de- clares that Jesus Christ, “ being the eternal Son of God, became man, in two distinct natures and one person forever.” The position of the Egyptian Church was con- demned by the Council of Chalcedon, and the Egyptian Patriarch was excommunicated as a heretic. Reading between the lines in the record of the Council of Chalcedon, we cannot help feel- ing that the heat of discussion was generated, not so much by fires of theological conviction, as by fires of passion for ecclesiastical supremacy. The Egyptian Church had arrayed against her the united influence of the Church of Rome and the 44 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Church at Constantinople; the decision of the Council meant the overthrow of the primacy of the Egyptian Church, as well as the safeguarding of a correct definition concerning the person of Christ. DECAY OF CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT At this point we stop in our sketch of events in the Church in Egypt, for we have reached that point in the Church’s development where her doctrine, organisation, and spirit are no longer subject to radical change but remain fixed. The events of succeeding centuries affect the condition but not the character of the Church in Egypt. The latter remains practically un- changed through the remaining 200 years of Byz- antine rule, through the Arab invasion, through the more than twelve hundred years of Moslem domination which followed, down to the present time. We do not need therefore to await the coming of Islam to ask why the Church in Egypt, — we will not say, Christianity in Egypt, — failed. Its failure consisted not in its allowance of Arab domination in Egypt. Christian people have suf- fered political enslavement. It might easily have been beyond the Christian Church in Egypt to resist an Arab invasion from a political point of view, but that does not excuse its inability to yet EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 45 conquer, by its life, by its essential truth, by its loyalty to its own faith, and by its assimilating and missionary power, the new political masters of Egypt. The charge stands that the Church in Egypt was a comparatively dead, lifeless thing, or her expanding and conquering power would not and could not have been stayed. Of the tendencies and influences which vitiated the Christian movement in Egypt and caused the downfall and degradation of the Egyptian Church, six are especially conspicuous : I. Ecclesiasticism. The development of Church organisation and the establishment of the Episcopate are subjects for extended discussion elsewhere. Here we only wish to emphasise the early appearance in the Church in Egypt of an arbitrary, and sometimes even tyrannical exercise of Church authority, which injected an unspirit- ual note into Egyptian Christianity, that ulti- mately proved its undoing. Was this borrowed from some spirit of officialism and tyranny in the close and rigid organisation of early Juda- ism ? Or did it come from such a spirit dominat- ing the whole political government of the country, from the prefect down to the sub-officials of a village? Or was it a tendency natural to a race that had long since lost, through oppression, the self-restraint which a governing body requires? These questions cannot be answered. The fact 46 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE of this spirit of intolerance and officialism in the exercise of ecclesiastical authority is abundantly evidenced. We see it in the contentions which arose between Origen and Patriarch Deme- trius, in the prolonged rivalry between the Em- peror and the Church in Egypt, which developed into a conflict for centuries between the Jacobite Patriarch of the Egyptians and the Imperial Pa- triarch appointed from Constantinople, and in the bitter dispute which raged at Chalcedon where, as has already been pointed out, the estab- lishment of the truth was not nearly so conspicu- ous a motive in the strife as the dogmatic vindi- cation of the authority and primacy of the Church in Egypt. Whether the disputes were justifiable or not, matters not. The spirit of strife and con- flict, the spirit of self-assertion, seized the organic life of the Church in Egypt, and spiritual minded- ness began to decline. Spiritual leadership gave way to ecclesiasticism. The unspiritual tone of ecclesiastical life and the emphasis laid on ecclesiastical authority re- flect themselves in the ecclesiastical documents of this period. More striking yet are such charac- ters as that of the Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria, whom Schaff characterises as a despotic ruf- fian,” and whose brutal exercise of ecclesiastical authority all those who read Kingsley’s “ Hypa- tia ” will appreciate. Of course, the attainment EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 47 of the Egyptian Church to the rank of a State Church gave added impetus to this deplorable tendency. 2. Speculative Philosophy. The speculative tendency of Egyptian Christianity is well known. Undoubtedly, this was due to the influence of that Greek school of thought which had already made Alexandria famous before Christianity ap- peared., Aristotelianism, though generally in dis- repute, exercised a considerable influence in this direction. Perhaps “ Orientalism gave impetus to the movement. At any ' rate, this speculative tendency appears in Origen’s writings, and through him, came to dominate the thought and life of the Egyptian Church. It has been pointed out that while the Eastern Church, under the lead- ership of Origen, speculated about the nature of God, the Western Church, under the leadership of Augustine, fixed its thought upon the doctrine of sin and atonement. It is easy to see which tendency of thought would have the greater ethi- cal and practical religious value. This speculative tendency shows itself not only in the well-known writings of Church leaders, whom we might regard as permitted to push for- ward, in such speculative philosophisings, for their own intellectual satisfaction, but we find that this spirit permeated the lower orders and the common people. The influence of it is found in 48 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE ritual and confessions and creeds everywhere. The following form of the fifth or sixth century may serve as illustration: ‘‘ We confess a Trinity which is in Unity, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, three hypostases of whom one took flesh for our salvation, namely the Son. Yet each one of the hypostases is a thing apart, not in the others. This is in truth so. A single monarchy, a single pantocracy, a single glory. But we join with this doxology good words for the obtaining of the promises.’’ The modern missionary has abundant occasion for testifying to this speculative tendency of re- ligious thought and its hindrance to real spiritual development among the Copts of to-day. 3. Pagan Influences. In its beginning the Christian movement in Egypt succeeded in sweep- ing back or repudiating any pagan doctrines or practices that threatened to attach themselves to its life and teachings. The essential spiritual character of the Christian movement was a cor- rective and a safeguard. Later, however, as the movement spread and lost in certain quarters that pure spiritual character, and especially when the Church became recognised as an organisation, certain pagan notions and practices of the ancient Egyptian religion began to corrupt the life of the Church. EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 49 Clement recognised, even in his day, certain tendencies of this sort, and he and others repudi- ated “ the gospel according to the Egyptians whose ‘‘ heretical asceticism and Modalism throw a peculiar light upon the idiosyncrasies of early Egyptian Christianity.” The following spell of an exorcist, which is ascribed by Wessely to the very earliest years of the fourth century, opens up a large subject for discussion, but we quote it here to show how pagan rites, in some quarters at least, became as- sociated with Christian symbols or vice versa. “ Famous process for casting out spirits. ‘‘ A spell to be said over his (i. e., the patient's) head : “ Strew olive branches before him, and taking up your station behind him, say: — Hail, God of Abraham! Hail, God of Isaac! Hail, God of Jacob! Jesus the Merciful, the Holy Spirit, the Son of the Father who is below Lo-she-hath-been who is within Lo-she-hath-been-and-will-be, Jaho Sabaoth, may your Power laugh at you until you have cast forth from such-an-one this unclean spirit, this Ethiopian Satan,” etc., etc. We may also illustrate pagan influence by re- ferring to the picture of a Christian priest — if in- deed it be such — found by Naville at Deir el Bahri, and described by Guimet as follows: “ In his hands are portrayed a chalice of wine 50 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE and heads of wheat under which Jesus appears, and on his sacerdotal robe, which is quite white, at the place of the heart, is painted a brown square with four indentations which make of it a swas- tika designed to draw the presence of the gods. “ Beneath the portrait are represented the boat of Isis and the two black jackals which for more than 6,000 years have guarded Egyptian tombs.'’ 4. Mariolatry and Angel Worship, Some trace back angel worship to the influence of Gnos- tic philosophy with its system of aeons mediating between the creating principle and created things. The Monophysite heresy, however, must certainly have worked in favour of Mariolatry and angel worship. By depreciating the human nature of Christ, it created the necessity for intermediary beings who would bridge the gulf between hu- manity and a Saviour thus deprived of a true human nature. We find traces of this movement from the fourth century on. Amelineau has collected folk lore and popular stories which he claims were produced between the fourth and seventh centuries. In these, angel worship is abundantly evidenced, by such fre- quently interjected phrases as “ By the interces- sion of angel Michael,” by numerous legends about angelic interventions, as in the story “ How the city of Athens was converted,” and another, EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 51 ‘‘ The ten miracles of the archangel Michael,” and by churches named after angels. We trace Mariolatry also in the Church ritual. A service for the “ Consecration of a Church and Altar according to the Coptic Rite,” which Hor- ner dates back to the third or fourth century, has the following for the consecration of the middle window east of the altar, “ We conse- crate this place for a Catholic Church of the Theotokos Maria, in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit;” while various oratories are consecrated to saints. The following appears also in a Hymn concerning the Virgin, “ Hear Solomon the Ecclesiastes speaking of the honour of Maria the Virgin; calling her in the song of songs : My sister, my friend, she who is perfect.” So, too, we find this in the consecration of the altar itself : “ By the intercession of our Lady, the holy and glorious Virgin, Mother of God, Maria; and the supplications of the honourable, glorious, immaterial, incorporeal Archangels, Michael and Gabriel; and our holy father Markos, the apostle and evangelist; and the choir of the holy and righteous ones who are not remembered; that by their prayers and intercessions God may have mercy on us all, saying, Kyrie eleison” We see the same thing in the “ History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alexandria,” which dates back to the tenth century. But if we 52 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE wish to realise how deeply Mariolatry and angel and saint worship are embodied in the life and thought of the Coptic Church to this day, we need only examine the Coptic Church calendar, where every day of the year is assigned to one saint or more, or wade through the Liturgy from which the following is an illustrative conclusion: — Through the prayers and the supplications which Our Lady of us all, the Mother of God, the Holy Mary, offers for us at all times; as do also the three luminaries, Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Suriel; And the four incorporeal beasts ; ‘'And the twenty-four elders; “And St. John the Baptist; “ And the 144,000 ; “ And our lords and fathers, the Apostles ; “And the three holy youths; “And S. Stephen; “ And S. George ; “And S. Theodorus; “ And S. Mercurius ; “And S. Mina; “ And the whole band of Martyrs ; “ And my lord, the righteous and great father xA.bba Anthony; “ And my father Abba Pauli ; “ And the three Abbas Macarius; “ And the whole band of crucifers; EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 53 ‘‘And my angel of this blessed day; “ Let their blessing, and their strength, and their help and their grace be with us all for ever. Amen.'’ 5. Monasticism. In speaking of Monasticism, we are referring to perhaps the supreme factor in the degeneracy of early Christianity in the Nile Valley. A standard work on the Church in Egypt entitles the chapter which describes this movement, “ The Suicide of the Egyptian Na- tion." It is not too strong a representation of the result of the movement, for Monasticism laid its blighting influence upon the Christian Church so early in its history, it proved so extensive in its power, and its influence was so baneful, that we may say that Monasticism, more than any single factor, proved the undoing of the Christian Church in Egypt. It appeared so early in the history of Christi- anity in Egypt. Mention might be made of Ori- gen's ascetic views and practices in his earlier days. Paul, the hermit, a native of Lower The- baid, went into retirement in the third century, when the Christian Church was as yet compara- tively young, and we may well believe that hun- dreds of less prominent persons followed his ex- ample or even preceded him. A few decades later, St. Anthony, St. Ammon, and Macarius are names conspicuous for their self-renunication. It 54 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE was, however, in the fourth century that a wave of Monasticism swept over the country, which fairly revolutionised conditions of life. Literally, by the thousands, men rushed into the deserts to build for themselves monasteries where they could live lives of retirement from the world. A young Italian, Rufinus, who travelled in Egypt during this period, leaves us a record which makes it possible to appreciate to what ex- tent this movement reached. At Oxyrynchos, he found the whole population under monastic vows. There were, so the bishop told him, 10,000 monks and 20,000 nuns in the city. In the Arsinoite nome, the whole population was under monastic vows, although they continued their ordinary oc- cupation of agriculture. This was also the case around Memphis and Babylon. At Tabennesi three thousand silent monks followed the leader- ship of Ammon. “ There were three kinds of monks in Egypt — Caenobites, who lived in mon- asteries together; the Anchorites, who lived in solitary cells; and the Remoboths, who dwelt by two or three together in cities.” The sorrowful life which was rigidly imposed upon these monks is a travesty of the Christian life. The heaviness of it is oppressive, as we read the rules governing their daily movements. Amelineau dates the following monastic rules in the fourth and fifth centuries: EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 55 In whatever place we are, even while walk- ing, let us pray to God with all our heart, having regard to the beauty of the prayer, the hands lifted in the form of a cross, let us recite the prayer written in the Gospel; let the eyes of our heart and those of our body be lifted to the Lord, as it is written : I have lifted my eyes toward Thee, Lord, who dwellest in the heaven, as the eyes of servants look to the hands of their mas- ters. Let us arm ourselves with the seal of bap- tism at the beginning of the prayer, let us make the sign of the cross on our forehead, as on the day in which they baptised us and as it is written in Ezekiel; let us not lower the hand first, to the mouth or beard, but let us carry it to the fore- head, saying in our heart : We seal ourselves, we mark ourselves.” Then, too, we find the following rules to gov- ern the bakery : “ Let us all work making our bread, whether old or young, in the fear of God and in great prudence, meditating upon the work of the Lord with reverence, without envy nor boasting, with- out desire to please men. . . . Let no one dare to laugh the least bit so that the accusation of Scrip- ture may not apply to us : They have made their bread with laughter.” The most pathetic fact is that this flight from the world availed little to secure escape from 56 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE temptation and sin. The fragments of history which Amelineau has brought together, cast a dark shadow on the inner life of the monasteries, the most flagrant of sins being mentioned, — usually for rebuke, it is true, but still portraying existing conditions of life in dark colours. These ascetic tendencies were not limited to Egypt, and, practically universally, the movement was a pernicious one. The violence of these bands of monks has been commented upon. Boasting of their ignorance,” says James Free- man Clarke, “ half crazy with enthusiasm, seeing wild visions, maddened by diabolic temptations, — they were at the mercy of religious demagogues. The monks rushed from the deserts into the cities to depose bishops whom they happened to think heretics. . . . They attacked and murdered the pagan priests, and destroyed temples. They tore the wise and pure Hypatia fromher lecture room, murdered her, tore her flesh from her bones with sharp shells, and flung her mangled remains unto the flames. One bishop, at the head of his monks, beat to death another bishop, in a church council.” In such a movement, true Christianity was lost. The best blood of the nation and of the Church was drained off into the desert, where it spent itself in morbid introspection, incapable of exer- cising any influence helpful to humanity, as it was EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 57 also incapable of providing a noble succession of leaders to lift the nation and advance the cause of Christ in the ages which were to follow. The monastic movement in Egypt marked the suicide of the Christian Church. 6. The Loss of the Missionary Spirit. The rapid extension of Christianity in the Nile Valley is a most inspiring picture. In a century and a half, it had spread to every section of Lower Egypt and even penetrated Upper Egypt. Just when and how it passed up the Nile into what is called the Egyptian Sudan, we cannot tell, but there are strong indications that some form of Christianity covered the northern section of that territory previous to the coming of Islam. Abys- sinia, too, 'must have had its missionaries, for, with an unbroken record which dates back to the early centuries of the Christian era, it has been and still is a nominally Christian land. There is a tradition that the gospel was first carried to Abyssinia through two young man, natives of Tyre, who had been wrecked on the shores of Abyssinia. This was in the days of Athanasius, and, seeking help and an ordained ministry from the Patriarch of Alexandria, the Church in Abys- sinia came to be affiliated ecclesiastically with the Church of Egypt. To this day, the Metropolitan of Abyssinia is sent to that country from Egypt, the selection being made by the Patriarch. In 58 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE almost every way, in doctrine, in polity, in gen- eral characteristics, the Church of Abyssinia re- sembles the Church of Egypt, save that a much greater degree of ignorance is found in Abyssinia. If the missionary zeal of early Christianity in Egypt has been given as the deepest human cause in the rapid extension of the faith in the Nile Valley, the loss of this missionary spirit marks the death of vital Christianity in the Egyptian Church. The growing evils which have been de- scribed are only partial indications of a more fundamental evil : The Egyptian Church had lost her missionary spirit. The missionary impulse is essentially a spiritual movement, but the Egyptian Church was now dominated by ecclesiasticism. Her own organic life was more to her than the projection of the faith. The missionary move- ment is a practical movement, which views a world of need and goes forth to meet it. But the Egyptian Church was now expending her whole energy in impractical and speculative discussions. The missionary movement enthrones Jesus Christ and gives reality to His leadership by advancing in His name to world conquest. The Egyptian Church, however, had come now to worship angels rather than Christ, and gave herself over to the contemplation of ascetic saints rather than to the service of a World’s Saviour. In short, the missionary spirit was dead. The Church in EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN EGYPT 59 Egypt had ceased to be evangelistic and she quickly ceased to be evangelical. Ceasing to be evangelistic and evangelical, Ichabod could be in- scribed upon her, for her spiritual glory had de- parted from her. With the Arab invasion, she became shorn of her temporal power and author- ity, and presented the pathetic picture of a Church too great to be crushed and too weak to be able to do what Christianity elsewhere, when pure and vital, has been able to do — triumph by her spirit- ual power over her political masters and lords. II ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY I N 632 A.D., there died in a land bordering on Egypt, one whose claims to be a prophet and an apostle of God were soon to become established far and wide. The remarkable spread of this faith constitutes one of the most complex problems of both religious and political investiga- tion. ‘‘ One hundred years after Mohammed's death," says Zwemer, “ his followers were mas- ters of an empire greater than Rome at the zenith of her power. They were building mosques in China, in Spain, in Persia, and in Southern India. Two hundred years after the Hegira, Moham- med's name was proclaimed on thousands of min- arets from the pillars of Hercules to the Pacific, and from Northern Turkestan to Ceylon. Only thirteen centuries have passed, and to-day there are over two hundred and thirty million Moham- medans — one-seventh of the population of the globe!" Next to Arabia and Syria in order of conquest by Islam, came Egypt. This conquest was ac- complished by Amru-ibn-el-As, more commonly 60 ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 6i referred to as Amr, whose daring military powers and ambition for the faith overbore the fears of Omar for the success of such an enterprise. It is difficult to lay sufficient emphasis on the significance to Egypt — alas, that it was such a lamentable significance — of the Moslem invasion. It is doubtful whether, apart from the entire ex- tinction of certain smaller kingdoms, there ever came upon any people or nation such a transform- ing influence as came upon Egypt through the in- vasion of the Arabs. The language, the religion, the social customs, the civilisation of the country — these all experienced changes which were noth- ing short of revolutionary. Place the Egypt of the centuries with which we have been dealing alongside of the Egypt which followed the Arab invasion, and what have we? Instead of a free use of the Hellenic tongue and the common use of the Coptic, we find the latter a dead language and Arabic the universal vehicle of thought. In- stead of affiliation with Western civilisation, we find Arab civilisation dominating the country. Constantinople may still claim Egypt as a prov- ince, but it is not the Constantinople of a Con- stantine; it is Stamboul of the Turks. The Chris- tian Sabbath has given way to the Moslem Fri- day; the Bible has given place to the Koran; Christianity has been displaced by Islam; the Crescent has triumphed over the Cross. Egypt 62 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE has rejoined the great Orient; although once she was a part of the West, she has become a part of the Moslem world. Has any country ever eK- perienced a transformation more revolutionary? It is the purpose of this chapter to point out, though it must be in all brevity, how these changes took place. No attempt can be made to give any connected account of the political events of the twelve centuries of the period. Some ref- erence, however, should be made to the condition of Egypt just prior to the Moslem invasion. EGYPT BEFORE THE ARAB INVASION In 6io A.D., Heraclius had just established himself as emperor at Constantinople, and Nice- tas was made governor of Egypt. Seven years later, the Persians took possession of Egypt, but were driven out after ten more years, so that in 627 Egypt was still, or rather again, a province of that Roman Empire whose capital was on the Bosphorus. Having driven back the Persians, Heraclius now turned his thought to the schisms which had rent Christendom. The rivalry between the State Church at Constantinople and the National Church of Egypt appeared to him, as indeed it was, deplorable. Three centuries had not suf- ficed to heal the breach. On the contrary the con- tention had become more bitter, for the presence ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 63 in Egypt of a Melkite Patriarch appointed from Constantinople and the formation of a small, yet wealthy and officially powerful, Melkite Church in Egypt, were as thorns in the flesh to the Na- tional or Jacobite Church. The latter held to the Monophysite statement; the Melkite Church to that of Chalcedon. The Jacobite Church com- prised the great mass of the population of Egypt; the Melkite Church enjoyed the support of Imperial patronage and power. Yet Heraclius was hopeful; he thought he could bridge the gap. The Emperor’s plan for reconciliation moved in the direction of finding a common ground for the opposing factions, in the Monothelite doctrine, ascribing to Christ a single will; meanwhile. hold- ing in abeyance all discussion of whether He had one or tw^o natures. When this new statement of the faith was put officially and formally before the Jacobite Church, there was a stubborn rejec- tion of it. “ They resented the thought,” says Butler, “ of changing one iota in their Shib- boleth, as treason to their faith and to their reli- gious independence. It w^as this last point in which their passion centred. . . . For religious in- dependence they had struggled and fought inces- santly ever since the Council of Chalcedon. That ideal they cherished at all times in their hearts and for it they were prepared to sacrifice all else 64 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE whatsoever. In this lies the key to all their his- tory.” The person commissioned to act as agent for the Emperor in the work of reconciliation in Egypt was Cyrus. Whether of intention or be- cause he lacked the qualities of a peacemaker, we find Cyrus carrying on, almost immediately, a great campaign of persecution throughout all Egypt. Special authority with which he was vested enabled him to accomplish this, for Herac- lius appointed him both prefect and patriarch. As patriarch, his power was not so great, although the Melkite Church in Egypt possessed great wealth and this was at the disposal of Cyrus. As prefect, however, the whole political machinery, from Alexandria to Syene, was his for the perse- cution of the Jacobites. So a persecution began which lasted ten years. Its severity is almost in- credible, when we remember that it was carried on in the name of a Christian Church, and against Christians. Benjamin, the patriarch of the Jacobites, went into hiding. That the Jacobites looked upon their Melkite persecutors somewhat as agents of Satan is evident. The story of Abba Samuel’s persecution relates that, when sum- moned before his persecutors, “ Samuel went re- joicing in the Lord and saying, ‘ Please God, it will be given me this day to shed my blood for the name of Christ.’ Therefore he reviled the ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 65 name of the Mukaukas with boldness and was led before him by the soldiers. When the Mukaukas saw the man of God, he ordered the soldiers to smite him, till his blood ran like water. Then he said to him, ‘ Samuel, you wicked ascetic, who is he that made you abbot of the monastery, and bade you teach the monks to curse me and my faith?’ ‘Holy Abba,’ Samuel answered, ‘it is good to obey God and His holy Archbishop Benjamin rather than obey you and your dev- ilish doctrine, O son of Satan, Antichrist, Beguiler.’ ” The historical record of this period reflects only too clearly that “ stripes, torture, imprisonment and death ” were meted out all over the country to the members and leaders of the Jacobite Church which embraced the mass of the people. Many of the people, and even some of the bishops accepted the teachings of Cyrus, at least nom- inally. The chief significance of these events lies in the direction of explaining the utter apathy of the people to the Arab invasion. “ During those ten years of hopeless misery the sword of Cyrus had cut through well-nigh the last thread which bound their allegiance to the Roman Empire; and they regarded the advent of the Moslems as a plague sent by divine vengeance upon their persecutors.” 66 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE THE ARAB INVASION It was in the closing days of 639 a.d., that Amr and his little band of 4,000 men crossed the stream or torrent bed which is the boundary be- tween Palestine and Egypt. In a few days, he had occupied Farama, the ancient Pelusium, and soon after successfully engaged the Roman force at Bilbais. A raid upon the rich provinces of Faiyum followed, then re-enforcements from Omar arrived and Amr now had at his disposal a force of 15,000 men. The battle of Heliopolis showed the ability of the Arabs to cope with such troops as the Imperial authority in Egypt could boast of, even though the latter outnumbered the Moslems almost two to one. The siege and ultimate capture of the almost impregnable fortress of Babylon followed, to- gether with the reduction of Alexandria and the occupation of the coast towns, — all of which may be found detailed in great fulness in “ The Arab Conquest of Egypt,” a monograph by A. J. But- ler upon this period. Attention needs to be called alone to one point, the attitude of the Egyptians to this Arab invasion. Certain conflicting statements concerning a hazy historical personage called the Mukaukas, who tried to make terms with the Arabs and traitorously plotted the surrender of the fortress ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 67 Babylon, have been referred in many quarters to either the Patriarch, or some other influential leader, of the Jacobites, In support of this posi- tion, the cruel treatment of the Jacobites by the Melkite party is adduced as evidence to show that resentment would lead these oppressed Monoph- ysite Christians to join hands with the Arabs for the sake of securing deliverance from their persecutors. Mr. Butler, in his work already mentioned, discusses very fully and comprehen- sively the whole question, and proves quite con- vincingly that the Mukaukas was none other than Cyrus, the prefect-patriarch of the Melkite Church. The acts which history ascribes to the Mukaukas call for an authority which he alone possessed, and abundant motive for these acts may be found in the unscrupulous and panic-stricken efforts which such a man as Cyrus would put forth to save the province committed to his care. The attitude of the Monophysite Egyptians, or the Egyptian nation generally, as that of apathy toward the invasion of the Arabs. Weakened by poverty, robbed of the faculty of self-assertion through long oppression, morbidly responsive only to the tenets of a creed, and indifferent to the wider and more vital interests of their own indi- vidual and national life, the Egyptians accepted the new political situation with scarcely a murmur. 68 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE When the Arabs first occupied Egypt, a treaty was executed to which Amr was party. Its open- ing sentence ran thus, “ In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, this is the amnesty which Amru-ibn-el-As granted the people of Misr, as to themselves, their religion, their goods, their churches and crosses, their lands and waters ; nothing of these shall be meddled with or min- ished.’' Amr’s own government of Egypt was indeed marked by mildness. The Egyptian Christians were required to pay poll tax of two dinars per head levied on all able-bodied adult men. There was, in addition to this, a land tax that varied with the conditions of the Nile flood. These taxes, however, seem to have been lighter than those of, at least, the last days of the Em- pire. We even hear of Christians being allowed to build as well as repair churches. It would seem that with the loss of secular power, the Mel- kite Church ceased to be any large factor in the life of Egypt. On the other hand, the Arab gov- ernment prevented any reprisals at this time on the part of their former rivals, the Jacobites. The equitable government of Egypt by Amr failed to satisfy the greedy Caliphs and Amr was recalled. The next governor, Abdallah, succeeded in raising a revenue of 14,000,000 dinars from Egypt as against Amr’s 12,000,000 D. The camel yields more milk now,” observed the Ca- ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 69 liph Othman, at Medina. ‘‘ Yes/’ was Amr’s re- ply, “ but to the hurt of her young.” During Abdallah’s administration, we find Arab domina- tion forcing its way beyond the first cataract into Nubia and laying upon the Nubians a levy which might well be regarded as the forerunner of the slave trade of later years, — three hundred and sixty slaves of both sexes to be delivered annually to the Governor of Assuan. MOSLEM DOMINATION It is not our purpose here to record the events of Moslem domination in Egypt save as these re- late to religious conditions. Generally speaking, no sweeping changes were made in the adminis- tration of the government. The system intro- duced by the Romans met every need, and, while officials and official titles changed, the administra- tion remained much as it had been. The gov- ernor stood at the head. He was appointed by the Caliph and usually his term was short. In a period of 228 years, we find almost a hundred governors in office. Justice and tyranny alter- nated according to the character of the governor and his staff of officials. This period of Egyptian history is generally divided into shorter periods named after the families that ruled Egypt either in person or through governors of their appointment. From 70 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE 658 to 750 A.D., we have the Ommayyad Ca- liphs; from 750 to 866 the Abbassid Caliphs; from 868 to 905, the House of Tulun ; from 969 to 1171, the Fatimites; from 1171 to 1250, the Ay- yubid rulers; from 1250 to 1517, the Mameluke dynasty; in 1517, Egypt became a province of the Turkish Empire, and has remained such, at least nominally, down to the present time, although far-reaching influences may be dated from the establishment of the Khedivate in the beginning of the nineteenth century and from the British occupation of Egypt in 1882. A brief, clear, and accurate summary of the political events of the period extending from 640 to 1517 may be found in Lane-Poole's “ History of Egypt in the Middle Ages/' At the beginning of this extended period we find in Egypt a population of about ten million souls, of whom the overwhelming majority are, at least nominally, Christians. In 670, within thirty years of the Arab invasion, the number of Christians, as judged by poll-tax records (Mos- lems were not liable to poll-tax), seems to have fallen off to seven millions. In 725, the number of Christians had been reduced to five millions. The year 832 marked the suppression of the last national movement of rebellion on the part of the Egyptian Christians, and from this date," says Lane-Poole, “ begins the numerical preponder- ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY ^\ ance of the Moslems over the Christians in Egypt, and the settlement of the Arabs in the villages and on the land, instead of as heretofore only in the great cities. Egypt now became, for the first time, an essentially Mohammedan country.” Thus in two hundred years we find the Christian popu- lation reduced from ten million to less than five million, and there are over ten centuries left be- fore we come to modern times, in which the further reduction may be made in their numbers, from five million to some six hundred thousand. The influences which operated in favour of this reduction of Christians and the increase of the Moslem population are worth noticing. I. Taxation. The Moslem conqueror, in ac- cordance with the general practice of Islam, offered the Egyptians three choices: To accept Islam, to pay tribute, or to fight to the death. Egypt was unwilling to accept the first and too weak to accept the last. Tribute was therefore imposed and a poll-tax of about two dinars was levied on each able-bodied male adult. This tax must have been an oppressive one for the poorer classes, and by becoming Moslems they could be ' freed from it. In addition to this tax, there were the regular land taxes. These, however, do not seem to have been unreasonable save as increased through the extortion of tax-gatherers. In the early decades 72 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE of the Arab occupation, the Arabs were not per- mitted to acquire land, the aim being to hold them to the soldier profession. As their numbers in- creased the rule was revoked, and then the Mos- lem became liable, equally with the Christian, to land taxation. However, it was not long before the Christians were subjected to considerable special taxation of an abusive sort. In 705, Abdallah, the governor, imposed a special tax of one gold piece on every monk, and forbade the burial of the Christian dead until a special burial fee was paid. More than once were the Patriarchs cast into prison until a purely extortionate ransom was paid; sometimes they were allowed to make a begging tour through the country to secure the money wherever they could. 2. Obnoxious legislation. The laws which im- posed upon the Christians regulations calculated to bring them into open contempt, were even more galling than those relating to taxation. Even in 705, we find an edict forbidding Christians to wear a hurniis. In 850, the Caliph el-Mutawek- kil, issued a series of regulations. “ The Chris- tians were ordered to wear honey-coloured clothes, with distinguishing patches, use wooden stirrups and set up wooden images of the devil or an ape or dog over their doors; the girdle, the symbol of femininity, was forbidden to women, ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 73 and ordered to be worn by men; crosses were not to be shown nor processional lights carried in the streets, and their graves were to be indistinguish- able from the earth around. They were also for- bidden to ride horses.” Concerning such perse- cutions in the fourteenth century, Quatremere makes the following statement on the authority of the historian Makrisi, As the Christians wore at this time white turbans, a proclamation was made in the streets of Cairo that any one meeting a Christian with a turban of this colour could kill him and take his property. The same right was conferred on any one who would find a Christian riding a horse. An edict of the Sultan was pub- lished which forbade all Christians wearing blue turbans, forbade their taking the costumes of Moslems; entering the bath house without a bell hanging at their neck, and appearing in public riding on either horse or mule. The ass was the only mount allowed them; even then it was neces- sary for them to face the tail of the animal. . . . The Christians, exposed to the fury of the Mos- lems, did not dare appear in the streets; and a great number of them embraced Islam.” 3. Serious Persecution. It would require too much time to enumerate the many occasions when the persecution of Christians went farther and destroyed both life and property. The cause of such extreme persecution was often trifling 74 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE enough. In 722, an order to destroy the sacred pictures of the Christian Churches led to a rising of the Copts in the Eastern Delta. For five years (1007-12), there was a progressive enforcement of an edict for the confiscation of Christian churches and the confiscation of their lands and property. A few decades later, similar attacks were revived. Again and again, for a year or more at a time, all churches were kept closed, and more than one church despoiled of its pillars and ornaments for the building of a mosque. The severity of these persecutions is shown by the uprisings to which even the docile Copt was inspired, and at such times the Moslems made Christian blood run freely and thousands were put to death. In later centuries, when the Copts were too weak to rebel, they were often the vic- tims of fanatical movements kindled by the preaching of some fakir. 4. Political disturbances j famines, and plagues. It is utterly impossible to give, in a few para- graphs, any idea of the sufferings which fell upon the population of Egypt through the political up- heavals which the government was continually experiencing. The history of Egypt, especially since 1000 a . d ., is almost a continuous narrative of wars, rebellions, party strife, conflicts of Arabs with Turks and of Turks with negro troops, mur- ders of rulers, usurpation of power, cruelty, rob- ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 75 bery, bloodshed. While these disturbances chiefly affected Cairo and the larger towns, yet, to a great extent, the entire life of the country was also affected by them. The population of the whole country became reduced and we may be sure that the despised Christians were made to suffer the most, wherever their presence made it possible to lay the burden of misfortune upon them. Famine and plague, too, while ravaging Mos- lem communities, did not spare Christians. After these epidemics had passed, it was the Moslem population rather than the Coptic that recovered and established itself firmly. The frequency with which these conditions of famine epidemics re- produced themselves forbids their separate con- sideration, but the following account of condi- tions in 1069 will serv^e as an illustration: “ The jealousy between the Turkish troops and the Sudani battalions grew to alarming propor- tions. A broil led to a general engagement, and the. Turks drove the blacks, to the number of 50,000, out of Cairo into Upper Egypt. The black regiments held all Upper Egypt, and 40,000 horsemen of the Lewata overran the Delta, and abandoned the dikes and canals to destruction, with the open intention of starving the inhabi- tants. Cairo and Fustat were cut off from sup- plies and a terrible famine which began with the ;6 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE low Nile of 1065, and lasted unbroken for seven years (1066-72), brought the country to the ut- most pitch of misery. The fellahin, in terror of the armed bands that infested the land, dared not carry on their work, and the usual effects of a bad Nile were thus prolonged to successive years. In the capital, cut off from all communication with the provinces, the famine was felt in the greatest severity. A cake of bread was sold for 15 D. (about $37), a house was exchanged for 20 pounds of flour, an egg went for a dinar. Horses and asses were eaten, a dog fetched 5 D. (about $12.50), a cat 3 D. (about $7.50), till soon there was not an animal to be seen. At last people began to eat each other. Passengers were caught in the streets by hooks let down from the windows, drawn up, killed, and cooked. Human flesh was sold in public. Plague came to finish what famine had begun, and whole houses were emptied of every living soul in twenty-four hours.” To this account of Lane-Poole’s, we simply add the statement that more than one such famine visited Egypt, and even many famines oc- curred approaching this one in severity. 5. Marriage, The spread of Islam has been often credited in large measure to intermarriage and the natural propagation of the Moslem popu- lation. It was not otherwise in Egypt. The law forbade a Christian marrying a Moslem woman. ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 77 A Christian who made bold to marry a Moslem woman under the Mameluke dynasty, was actu- ally buried alive and the woman’s nose was cut off. On the other hand, a Moslem could marry a Christian woman and the children were invari- ably Moslem. The oppression of Christians would also naturally tend to restrict among them marriage or the raising of large families; while the favour shown the Moslems, as well as the polygamy which their religion allowed them, would operate in the direction of increasing their numbers. 6. Immigration of Arabs. With the Arab conquest of Egypt there began a steady stream of immigration from Arabia to Egypt. Nor were there exclusion laws to forbid entrance to any who came. On the contrary, their coming was invited. Almost every newly appointed gov- ernor brought with him from Arabia 6,000 troops. This would bring on an average 30,000 each decade, while in 760 alone, Humeyd, the governor, brought with him 20,000 soldiers. Again we hear of whole tribes emigrating from Arabia, such as that of el-Kenz, which settled in Upper Egypt. About 732, the treasurer, Obey- dallah actually imported 5,000 Arabs of the tribe of Keys and settled them in the eastern part of the Delta, so as to advance the Moslem faith. When Gawhar conquered Egypt, in 969, he 78 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE brought with him an army said to number 10 , 000 . These instances may suffice to indicate how im- migration helped to make Egypt more thoroughly Moslem. Over against these unfavourable influences, there need to be set certain other influences which availed somewhat to safeguard the interests of the Christians even in their position of subjection. First, their very numbers helped the Egyptian Christians. Persecution could not hope to wipe out a nation, — although it almost succeeded. Whatever the edict of persecution, it spent its force in some few localities and could not be made effective over so great an area as the Egyptian Christian community represented. The ability of the Copts also served them in good stead. A fact conspicuous throughout the history of Moslem domination in Egypt as also to-day, is the superiority of the Christian, whether Copt or Protestant, to the Moslem in mental ability. The Moslem may be superior in certain qualities of leadership and self-assertion, but in intellectual ability he is usually inferior. The result has been that in practically all dynas- ties, the foreign conquerer, whether Arab, Mame- luke or Turk, has learned to lean upon the Chris- tian adviser or agent for the administration of affairs. We thus find a Christian as the archi- tect of both the great mosque and the aque- ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 79 duct of Ibn-Tulun. We find the wezir of the Caliph Aziz, the two wezirs of Hakim, the wezir Bahran, and many others in later years and cen-' turies, — Christians, serving under Moslem rulers. Naturally, in direct and indirect ways, these posi- tions of influence enabled the Christians who held them to render to their brethren important serv- ices for the protection of both life and property, and for securing concessions and privileges. Furthermore. certain governors were well dis- posed toward the Egyptian Christians. Not all Moslem rulers displayed bitter hatred toward them. Amr, in his day, set a worthy precedent for fair dealing in the treatment of Christians. Others, at intervals, followed in his steps. Tu- lun, the Ikhshid, Moizz, Aziz, the Fatimids gen- erally, Kamil, Nasir in his third reign, and others, were recognised as lenient toward the Christians, and, during their reign, churches were reopened or even rebuilt, and the Christian population grew in influence and in wealth. CHARACTER OF ISLAM IN EGYPT While the Mohammedan may say, “ God is One,” he cannot make the same declaration con- cerning Islam. In the second century after the death of its founder, Islam began to divide into rival camps, each accusing the other of heresy. While, of course, solidarity must be conceded to 8o IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Islam, yet, as Zwemer says, “ for rancour, bitter- ness, and hatred, the sad divisions of Christianity are far outmatched by the history of sects in Islam.” Sometimes racial distinctions, some- times political considerations, came to add depth and permanency to the religious rivalry. Egypt lay too near Arabia, the storm centre of Moham- medan propaganda, to escape the influence of these rival interpretations of Islam. In the eighth century, a.d., the Kharigis warred against the Alawis, or supporters of the claims of Ali’s de- scendants, in the Delta. Abu-Awn, Salih's gen- eral, was obliged to despatch 3,000 Kharigi rebel heads to Fostat to put a summary termination to their revolt. Within a decade, it was the Alawis who caused trouble and one of them tried to become caliph in Egypt, but was deterred by seeing the head of another rebel of his family exposed in the mosque at Fostat. In the ninth century, the caliph El-Mamun re- quired every Kadi, or judge, to accept the doctrine of the createdness of the Koran under penalty of being shorn of his beard, whipped, and driven through the city on an ass; while he drove the orthodox Hanafis and Shafts out of the mosques. In the eleventh century, Hakim, the Shiite caliph, pushed the teachings of Shiism to an extreme and fancied himself the incarnation of the Godhead. He required his people to worship his name. - ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 8i However, when one of the preachers began an address with “ In the Name of el-Hakim, the Compassionate, the Merciful,” a tumult ensued and the people murdered the blasphemers. A few decades later, all the leaders of the Maliki school were banished from Egypt. These instances will suffice to illustrate that Mohammedanism in Egypt experienced variations and modifications, and to show that the varying sects did not hesi- tate to use force with which to sustain their posi- tions against even fellow-Moslems. The deepest line of cleavage, however, in Is- lam, is that which exists between Sunnis and Shias. The heart of their mutual contention is in the question of the Imamate: Whose is the true line of succession after Mohammed? Who is the true Iman, or Vicar of God on earth ? This contention looks to be purely factional and indeed it wrought itself out in political movements. However, back of the separation of Moslems into these two rival camps, and historically involved in this question of “ Apostolic ” succession, must be seen two divergent tendencies as deep and fun- damental as “ the impassable ethnological gulf which separates the Aryan and Semitic races,” who came under the sway of the Crescent. The Sunni sect is the orthodox sect and vastly out- numbers the Shia sect in the world to-day. The latter, however, established itself in Persia and 82 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE has exerted a far-reaching influence in spite of its heretical reputation. Mohammedanism in Egypt has been identified chiefly, throughout the twelve centuries of its es- tablishment, with the Sunni division of Islam. For two centuries, however (969-1169), Egypt was subject to Shia rule. Most remarkable, also, the change, both at the beginning and at the end of this period, was made with scarcely a murmur of protest. In 1169, we even find Saladin occu- pying the anomalous position of being prime- minister to a Shia caliph, and lieutenant to a Sunni king. The explanation of this absence of bitter rivalry between these two wings of Islam, lies in the fact that, in Egypt at least, the Shia regime was more political than religious, and the people accepted the political claims of the Fatimid dynasty without accepting, or being forced to accept, the religious implications of the Shia faith. While Islam in Egypt has, with the main excep- tion noted, been of the orthodox or Sunni type, we may add that in Lower Egypt the Shafiyah school of Sunnis has prevailed; in Upper Egypt the Malikiyah. Theoretically, the caliph was ever the head of the Moslem state. The doctrine of the Imamate, however, quickly robbed the caliphate of any logi- cal claim to political leadership and relegated him to a spiritual or religious sphere. This proved ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 83 a very convenient modus vivendi for the ambi- tious governors of Egypt, who could not discover in their own family any claim to the caliphate. Indeed, the evident subordination of the authority of the caliphs to that of the Moslem governors of Egypt, is a commentary upon the fact that Islam in Egypt has been more a political than a religious movement. In 1068, for example, we find the unhappy caliph Mustansir practically a prisoner of Nasir-ed-dawla and almost on the verge of actual want; while more than once the actual ruler of Egypt is seen using the caliph's spiritual authority as something to conjure with in estab- lishing his claims and furthering his political plans. There is scarcely another country whose his- tory affords us a better opportunity for judging of Islam than does Egypt. Here is a land where Islam has had a free hand to reveal what was best in it. Here Moslem rulers exercised their will with absolute authority, and, after the middle of the ninth century, a majority of the population was Moslem. Here, too, ample time was given for the development of any ideals of individual life, of social life, of philosophy, science or art, of state and national life, that Islam was capable of. For twelve centuries, Islam held undisputed sway, and twelve centuries afford time enough for even a world movement to display its merits 84 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE and show its worth. Egypt also lay near to Arabia, the cradle of Islam. It was not as if Islamic thought and life and civilisation had be- come alienated from a true Islamic type, through distance, as in China. Here, too, was a rich province, the garden of the world, whose develop- ment afforded rare opportunity for building up, under wise government, a nation whose pros- perity would contribute to her institutions of learning, art, religion, and statecraft. This was no poverty-stricken country, as Arabia, whose only life must be a struggle for existence. Here, too, was a country whose civilisation was already advanced, and whose people showed capacity for great deeds as well as great learning. It was not like dealing with a savage or barbarous race, without attainment or capacity. If ever Islam may be judged fairly, it surely must be by her record in the Nile Valley. Egypt lay at the hand of Islam like a rare marble at the hand of a sculptor, ready to be wrought upon according to the full measure of his skill. It must be confessed that the results are disappointing. It is difficult, of course, to sum up in a few paragraphs any adequate estimate of twelve cen- turies of Moslem domination in Egypt. In con- sidering so long a period, numerous exceptions will be found contradicting any general statement which may be made concerning the character of - ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 85 the Moslem movement in the Nile Valley. Em- phasising, however, the necessity for allowances at this point, we venture a few general charac- terisations of Islam in Egypt. I. Luxury. Of the Arabs, Mrs. Butcher says, “ Their idea of government is personal aggran- disement, and their idea of civilisation personal luxury.’' The statement might be extended to include all Moslem rulers in Egypt, whether Arabs, Syrians, Turks, or Circassians. The lux- ury displayed often exceeds description. In the tenth century Moizz set an example of luxury. Of the size and splendour of the Great Palace,” says Lane-Poole, “ the Arabic historians speak with bated breath. We read of five thousand chambers; — of the Golden Gate which opened to the Golden Hall, a gorgeous pavilion where the caliph seated on his golden throne, surrounded by his chamberlains and gentlemen in waiting, surveyed from behind a screen of golden filigree the festivals of Islam; — of the Emerald Hall with its beautiful pillars of marble; — the great Divan, where he sat on Mondays and Thursdays at a window beneath a cupola; — and the Porch where he listened every evening while the op- pressed and wronged came below and cried the credo of the Shia till he heard their griefs and gave redress.” Luxury of table rivalled luxury of residence, for we find that Kafur’s table (946- 86 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE 968) required a daily provision of “ 100 sheep, 100 lambs, 250 geese, 500 fowls, 1,000 pigeons and other birds, and 100 jars of sweets.” To the luxury of table we need also add the luxury of trappings. In the time of Aziz, we hear of “ heavy gold-embroidered, many-coloured tur- bans, sixty yards long, made of the costly fabrics woven at the royal factories of Debik, robes and coverings of the Attabi (taby) cloth of Bagdad, or the coloured stuffs of Ramla and Tiberias, or Cairo saklatiin; horse housings set with jewels and set with ambergris to cover armour inlaid with gold.” In the twelfth century the wealth of Afdal excited the wonder of the historian Gemal-ud-din, who tells of “ 6,000,000 D. ($15,- 000,000) in gold, 250 sacks (five bushels each) of Egyptian silver dirhems, 75,000 atlas (satin) dresses, 30 camel loads of gold caskets from Irak, etc., together with an amber frame or lay figure on which to display the state robes.” The ex- travagant descriptions of the “ Thousand and One Nights ” are also thought to reflect, with greater accuracy than popular opinion is willing to admit as possible, the conditions of luxury which characterised the later Mameluke period. 2. Cruelty. Islam has frequently been found guilty of barbaric cruelty. This cruelty may be partly condoned by the customs of the times and especially by the fact that it was usually practised ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 87 in times of war; for war is, of necessity, a school of cruelty. Yet the cruelty displayed by Moslems in Egypt, not only toward Christians but even to- ward Moslem enemies, was so frequent in its oc- currence and so desperate in its character that it casts a dark and indelible blot upon the record of Moslem rule. Sometimes this cruelty was dis- played in a wholesale fashion against a town or community, when thousands were ruthlessly slain. Sometimes this cruelty was displayed to a degree of refinement against individuals, as when Nasir imprisoned Salar, starved him for eight days, and then sent him three covered dishes. When the covers were raised the first dish was found to contain gold money, the second silver, and the third precious stones and pearls. On the twelfth day, the miserable man was found dead with a gna wed-off finger in his mouth. To multiply ex- amples would only stir our hearts unnecessarily with horror. 3. Misgovernment. The history of Egypt dur- ing the twelve centuries of Moslem rule is for the most part a story of war, revolution, and tyranny. The lengthy reigns of such rulers as Ibn-Tulun, the Ikshid, Moizz, Saladin, Beybars, Nasir, are conspicuous exceptions to the general rule. Even where the Moslem sovereign had an extended reign, the government of Egypt was often dis- jointed because committed to governors who sue- 88 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE ceeded each other with remarkable rapidity. Apart, however, from this fact, the administra- tion of government was, for the most part, so inefficient that it is very doubtful whether in all her history, — whether under the domination of ancient Egyptian rulers, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, or Romans, — Egypt ever experienced such impoverishment, such recurring desolations of famine, plague, and insurrection, as she ex- perienced during these twelve centuries of Mos- lem rule. The pictures which Abd-el-Latif, a Bagdad physician, who attended lectures in the Azhar from 1194 to 1204, has handed down, of famine conditions, can only represent a little that we do know of a dark background of misrule and suffering experienced by Egypt during these cen- turies. Cannibalism was too common, he tells us, to excite surprise. ‘‘ They burned in Cairo, within a few days, thirty women of whom there was not one who had not eaten several children.” The responsibility of the government lay in the fact that only too frequently these famine condi- tions were due to an inefficient management of irrigation works or to an unsettled government. The Mamelukes afford, perhaps, the most con- spicuous illustrations of misrule and tyranny. Street fights would close up the city bazaars some- times for a week at a time. Again the country side would be ravaged, as when 7,000 Mamelukes ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 89 rode over the country to suppress, in their own characteristic way, some uprisings of Bedawis. 4. Slavery. Slavery has characterised Islam in Egypt throughout its whole history. We noted how, as early as in the day of Amr (652 a.d.), the Nubian kingdom was compelled to pay a tribute of 360 slaves to the Moslem officer at Assuan, and this tribute remained in force for more than six centuries. In addition to slaves secured by tribute or war, there were large purchases of slaves. Three sorts of slaves were needed. Slave women to fill the harems of the wealthy; slave servants for menial work or as attendants; slave soldiers to recruit the army. The blacks sold chiefly as serv- ants, although as soldiers they were not to be despised, and we often read of the fierce Suda- nese troops. The Mamelukes were white slaves, — Circassians and Turks — who were organised into body-guards and regiments. The theory was that such troops would be more reliable than those made up of turbulent and factious Arabs. It is worth noting that slavery in the East carries with it very little disgrace, and frequent instances exist of slaves, both black and white, who, at the death of their masters, stepped into their positions of leadership. The evil of slavery, therefore, lies not in its creation of a race prob- lem, — for in the Orient generally race feeling does not exist even between the white Arab races go IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE and the Negro races, — but in the abject depend- ence of a slave upon his master even for his life, and the innumerable evils of immorality which spring out of the system. 5. Education. Abdallah, the second governor of Egypt, ordered Arabic used in all public docu- ments, and the Arabic language, both in official circles and among the people, steadily displaced the Coptic. The latter was kept up among the Egyptian Christians for some time, but in a few centuries must have ceased to be used save by monks or in the Coptic ritual. Moslem education has uniformly been asso- ciated with theology; the school is to be found in the mosque. What schools existed during the first three centuries of the Moslem rule in Egypt, we have no means of knowing. Doubtless some training in reading was given to Moslem chil- dren. While the court of such a man as Ibn Tulun must have attracted to Egypt some men of letters from abroad, no literary character of first rank, native to Egypt, has survived in history, from this period. Tabari and Masudi were not worthy of being placed in this class. In 973, the Mosque El-Azhar was completed and was con- verted into a university in 988 by El-Aziz. This famous institution was enlarged from time to time and may be well regarded as the University of Islam for the entire world. -ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 91 In 1005, Hakim founded the “ Hall of Science ” where Shia theology was taught and also astronomy, lexicology, grammar, poetry, criticism, law, and medicine. The formation of a library which continued through the reign of the Fatimid dynasty brought together more than 100,000 books. During the tyranny of Nasir-ed-dawla, however, the barba- rous Turks ruthlessly destroyed or bartered away the most of these volumes, while their bindings were used to mend shoes. The Fatimid dynasty was not famous for literary development, due, perhaps, to the fact that the orthodox writers shunned the heretical court with its Shia in- fluences. . Under Saladin, both literature and theology re- ceived a great impetus and several theological colleges were founded. It is not possible here to follow in detail the development of learning under Moslem influences in Egypt, but it must be confessed that here, as elsewhere, the results of Moslem domination are disappointing. The amount of the production is not nearly so much to be criticised as the charac- ter of it. Revolving about the Koran as its centre, limited largely to technical literary studies, broad in its outlook only in so far as it relates to his- tory, unphilosophic and unscientific, — it presents a sorry picture to set alongside of the intellectual 92 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE activity which existed in Egypt, particularly at Alexandria in 640 a.d., when Amr invaded Egypt. 6. Morals. The morality of Islam has rarely received praise save as it has been placed over against the vices of Western civilisation or the greater degradation of heathenism. We could not therefore expect to find much to rejoice over in the moral influence of the Moslem occupation of Egypt. Honesty does appear, here and there, in some rare Kadi or occasional wezir, but for the most part the history of Moslem Egyptian actions pre- sents a record of treachery parried only by greater treachery, officers displaced or poisoned to make room for those more trusted because less experi- enced, and a wearisome succession of harem in- trigues. During the reign of a few men such as the Caliph Mustansir or Saladin, honest dealing and even generosity characterised court and busi- ness life, but never did these qualities become in- grained in Moslem character in any permanent fashion. Islam has often been commended for its ex- clusion of intemperance, and it is true that the first missionaries to Egypt found the Copts, not the Moslems, disgracing themselves by their drunkenness. On the other hand, it is to be re- membered that if the Prophet held a tight rein on .ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 93 his followers in the matter of strong drink, he set practically no restraint upon them in the mat- ter of sexual indulgences. Yet, even in regard to drink, Moslem history affords numerous ex- amples of intemperate living. We read of the Governor Kurra, in the seventh century, who had wine brought into the sacred precincts of the Mosque of Amr and tippled all night to the strains of music. In 904, Harun came to his end while in a sleep of intoxication. In the eleventh cen- tury, the famous caliph Mustansir is reported to have erected a pavilion in imitation of the Kaaba at Mecca. The sacred well of Zemzem was rep- resented by a pond full of wine, and there the caliph sat and drank, saying, '‘This is pleasanter than staring at a black stone, listening to the drone of the muezzin, and drinking bad water ! ” If the “Thousand and One Nights” give us a true picture of the home life of the later Moslem rulers, then there was certainly no lack of drink- ing in the Mameluke period also. Morality, as the word is commonly used in Christian parlance in the sense of loyalty to one legal wife, can scarcely be applied to Moslem life, for, as Zwemer remarks, “ a Moslem who lives up to his privileges and who follows the ex- ample of ‘ the saints ^ in his calendar, can have four wives and any number of slave-concubines.” But this legalised immorality which the law of 94 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Islam permits and the example of Mohammed doubly sanctions, was introduced into the Nile Valley by Moslem domination, and is to-day, by its degradation of womanhood, the most serious problem of missions, as it is also the greatest bar- rier to progress. If it is said, “ Comparatively few Moslems to-day have more than one wife,” the reply may be made, ‘‘Yes, if you add the statement, ‘ at one time.’ ” The reason is to be found in the expense involved, on the one hand, in the maintenance of so large a household, and in the fact, on the other hand, that divorce provides a more economical and convenient form of indulgence. Divorce is a very simple process. A man need merely say to the woman, “ Thou art divorced,” and lo, she is di- vorced. The prevalence of divorce may be in- ferred from a statement made recently by a prominent Moslem, that ninety-five per cent, of Mohammedan wives in Egypt experience divorce. That Islam introduced into Egypt the social cus- tom which obtains to-day of the seclusion of wo- man, is another commentary upon the standards of morality. For this seclusion was originally intended to carry with it enforced morality. Where faith in chastity ended, the seclusion of woman began. It does not follow, of course, that the doing away of this custom of secluding MOSLEMS AT PRAYER COSTUME OF EGYPTIAN WOMAN ■ ’ f *_• r ■ i^r ^ • 'v'T.a ■■ ' ■ ; iVn 'J-b .#^-4 ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 95 woman will in itself establish honour and purity of life. It is in his work “ Cairo/' where he is dealing specifically with modern Egyptian conditions, that Stanley Lane-Poole says: “ The fatal spot in Mohammedanism is the position of women. Women in the East are the rich man’s toys and the poor man’s drudges. Their whole training is one vast blunder. They are brought up with the sole aim and object of getting a husband, and the objectionable acquire- ments of the Ghawazy dancing girls are held up to them as the fittest qualifications of a wife. They are completely secluded from the other sex, save in the cases of their own intimate relations, and never see a strange man without the motive of marriage. The degraded view of womanhood taken by women themselves, of course reacts upon the men. To them a woman is desirable solely on account of her sex, and any idea of chivalry, so potent an element in the noblest manhood, be- comes impossible in the Moslem social state. And this false relation between husband and wife makes itself felt in the bringing up of children. The early years of childhood, perhaps the most critical in a whole life, are tainted by the corrupt influences of the harem, where the boy learns that sensual attitude towards women which is the curse of his after-life, and the girl acquires those 96 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE abandoned notions of the requirements of the opposite sex which spoil her for the highest func- tions of womanhood. The refining power of a lady is seldom possessed or exercised in the East. The restraining and purifying influence of wife on husband, of mother on child, of a hostess upon her guests, is never felt in a Mohammedan state. In a word, the finest springs of society are want- ing. . . . The worst of this deplorable state of things is that there seems no reasonable prospect of improvement. The Mohammedan social sys- tem is so thoroughly bound up with the religion that it appears an almost hopeless task to attempt to separate the two. ... As long as the Moham- medan religion exists, the social life with which, unfortunately, it has become associated, will probably survive ; and while the latter prevails in Egypt, we cannot expect the higher results of civilisation.’' Can nothing, then, be said in positive commen- dation of Moslem rule in Egypt? Yes, two quali- ties of Islam in Egypt are worthy of praise : The courage and the missionary ^eal displayed by the Moslems. It was just these two qualities that Egypt and Christianity in the Nile Valley had lost, before the Arab invasion. It was just these two qualities that enabled Mohammedanism to triumph not only in Egypt, but over one-seventh - ISLAM IN THE NILE VALLEY 97 of the human race. No one who will read of Amr’s bold entry into Egypt, or of Saladin’s gallant attacks upon the Crusaders, or of Bey- bars’s splendid and successful resistance of the Mongols, will deny to the Moslem rulers of the Nile Valley their meed of praise for bravery on the battlefield and courage in the face of death. As to missionary zeal, the very conquest of Egypt, the subsequent conquest of Nubia, the en- trance of Islam into Abyssinia, the Sudan, and all North Africa, all testify abundantly. It may often be hard to distinguish between a true zeal for the faith and the spirit of greed — greed for gold and a larger kingdom — but in Saladin, at least, we have a picture of loyalty to the faith and a religious zeal which the modern Christian will do well to emulate within the higher sphere of Christian missionary service. “ To wage God's war," says his biographer, “ was a genuine passion with him; his whole heart was wrapped up in it, and to this cause he devoted himself, body and soul. During those last years, he could hardly speak or think of anything else, and he sacrificed every pleasure, comfort, and domestic happiness, to its service. He even dreamed of wider battles for the faith. ‘ What is the most glorious death? ' he asked of his friend, who re- plied, ‘ To die in the Path of God.’ ‘ Then I strive for the door of the most glorious of 98 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE deaths/ said Saladin.’' And his life abundantly proved the truth of his words. As another asks, “ If so much was done in the name of Moham- med, what should we not dare to do in the name of Jesus Christ? '' We have now seen Islam taking possession of Egypt. We have sketched the first conquest of the country by Amr. We have traced the steady reduction of the Christian population, from al- most ten million to less than one million, under the influence of oppressive taxation, obnoxious legislation, persecution, political disturbance and famine, inter-iuarriage with Moslems, and Arab immigration. We have also seen the extension and development of Moslem rule during twelve centuries, and noted the luxury, cruelty, misgov- ernment, slavery, education, moral character, courage, and missionary zeal which characterised it. This survey brings us, by the' highway of history, to modern Egypt. This brief historical survey will not have been in vain if it makes possible a better apprehension of the true genius of the two religions, which are the products of the two periods we have considered, and with which the modern missionary in the Nile Valley must deal. Ill EARLY MODERN MISSIONS HE entrance of Christianity into Egypt at the beginning of the Christian Era through the preaching of John Mark, or other early missionaries, has already been re- ferred to. The spread of Christianity through- out the entire country is an inspiring proof of the conquering power of a missionary gospel. The subsequent decadence of the faith, and its almost entire displacement by Mohammedanism, teach us sober and needful lessons on the imperative necessity of safeguarding not only doctrine, but a pure spiritual life and an earnest missionary spirit in the Church of Christ, lest her ‘‘ candle- stick ” be removed out of its place. After this almost complete religious lapse of Egypt from Christianity, we find, in modern times, two missionary efforts deserving of men- tion, even though their continuity was broken, and each effort ended in an abandonment of the work. The one was the Moravian effort, which had its beginning in 1752 and lasted for thirty years ; the other was the effort of the Church Mis- 99 100 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE sionary Society, initiated about 1819 and lasting for some three and a half decades. THE MORAVIANS By the birth of Zinzendorf in 1700, God was preparing to launch one of the purest spiritual and most devoted missionary movements that the world has known. And Zinzendorf’s life, from its very beginning, ran true to the divine pur- pose, apparently without any wasteful digression in sin. At six weeks of age, he was taken into the arms of his dying father and consecrated to the service of Christ. “ Already in my child- hood,” wrote Zinzendorf, “ I loved the Saviour and had abundant intercourse with Him. In my fourth year, I began to seek God earnestly and determined to become a true servant of Jesus Christ.” Even as a boy at school we find him founding the Order of the Mustard Seed,” whose members agreed : ( i ) to be kind to all men; (2) to seek their welfare; (3) to seek to lead them to God and to Christ. Each member wore a ring, bearing the motto, ‘‘No man liveth unto himself.” Before he left school, we read that “ he entered with an intimate friend into a covenant for the conversion of the heathen, espe- cially such as would not be cared for by others.” It was this man, whose life witnessed thoroughly to the exclamation of his lips, “ I have but one EARLY MODERN MISSIONS lOI passion — ’tis He, and He only,’' — it was this man, Count Zinzendorf, who was used of God to set in motion missionary impulses which have been felt throughout the world, part of which en- ter also into the narrative of missionary work in Egypt. It was in 1750 that missions to Egypt were de- cided upon. It was the knowledge of the exist- ence in Egypt, and especially in Abyssinia, of a Christian Church, to whom the helpful hand of sympathy and fellowship might be extended, that led to this undertaking. In 1752, Frederic Wil- liam Hocker, M.D., arrived in Egypt, commis- sioned to remain in Cairo for a time, for the pur- pose of acquiring some knowledge of the Arabic language and preparing for the farther and more difficult journey to Abyssinia. The missionary records of the Moravian brethren show that the Egypt of that time was quite different from the Egypt of to-day, as to convenience of travel, security of life and property, and religious liberty. The journey from Alexandria to Cairo involved a two days’ ride along the sandy shore from Alexandria to Rosetta, then a journey by open boat up the river to Cairo, requiring two days more. Dr. Hocker was also required to don a sort of Turk- ish dress — loose red trousers, yellow slippers, a flowing robe, and a great fur cap. “ Thus ac- 102 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE coutred/’ he says, “ I rode into the city of Grand Cairo upon an ass. All this is prescribed by positive law ; none but Mohammedans are allowed to ride on horseback, and they too, as well as the Jews and Christians, are subject to particular regulations. ... In order to prevent or to pun- ish any irregularity in these respects, the streets are constantly patrolled by a band of from twenty to thirty Janissaries; and every offence is sum- marily visited with stripes, or even with loss of life.” Soon after arriving in Cairo, Dr. Hocker rented a house, which another missionary de- scribed as “small, exposed to the noise of the streets, and in so bad repair that the dust enters at all crevices.” Here, however, he pursued the study of the Arabic language, practised medicine, and laboured to gather all possible information that might be of service to him in the ’proposed journey to Abyssinia. The following entry casts a flood of light upon this devoted missionary’s spiritual life during these lonely months and years: “Of spiritual intercourse with such as I could consider Brethren in the Lord Jesus, I was altogether deprived, a loss which could only be made up by communion with my Saviour. With Him I sought comfort, the revival of my faith, and power to follow Him whithersoever He might lead me. He graciously heard my prayer, EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 103 gave me to feel His peace, and enabled me through the merits of His early exile in this very land, to feel myself at home among its inhabitants/’ After a whole year of patient study of the Arabic language, he ventured to present himself, with the letter which had been given to him by Count Zinzendorf, to the Coptic Patriarch, who received him in a very kindly way. In December, 1753, Dr. Hocker went to Constantinople to se- cure such credentials as seemed necessary to en- able him to enter Abyssinia. A year later, he was back again in Cairo. In 1756, George Pilder, another Moravian missionary, joined Dr. Hocker in Cairo. Henry Cossart, who joined the mission in the following year, does not seem to have con- tinued for any length of time. In 1758, Hocker and Pilder started upon the long-contemplated journey to Abyssinia. They sailed from Suez, itself a three days’ journey from Cairo. After sailing southward for eleven days, they suffered shipwreck and spent nineteen days on a desert island. They got away, after having been “ in perils of robbers, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in labour and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst.” Having lost practically their entire out- fit, they decided, after further trials at Yembo and Jeddah, that they should return to Egypt. 104 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Their journey from Kosseir on the Red Sea over- land to Kena on the Nile, and their experiences with pirates on the river, are a sufficient com- mentary upon the condition of the country and the devotion of these early missionaries. This effort to reach Abyssinia left Pilder a physical wreck. On his return to Cairo in 1759, he was compelled to leave the country, and Dr. Hocker was again the only missionary in the country. In 1861, he also left Egypt for Europe, so that for seven years all missionary work was suspended. In 1768, we meet with another Moravian mis- sionary, John Henry Danke, who arrives in Egypt with Dr. Hocker. His was a rare and beautiful Christian character. His love for men shines out in his diary: “ Sailing on the Nile be- tween Rosetta and Cairo, I often shed tears of compassion to see them (the Moslems) lounging in the fields; others washing themselves in the Nile and praying on the shore. Often did I sigh, Oh, Lord Jesus! let their souls be washed in Thy precious blood, which Thou hast shed for them also I” In another place he writes, “ Speaking farther of the love of Jesus, my heart grew warm, and I could not refrain from shedding tears.’’ Danke’s chief work seems to have been among the Copts of Behnessa. He was sorely tried by . EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 105 the formal it}^ of their religion. They put to him many questions. “ Among others,” he writes, “ they asked, ' Do you at infant baptism, make use of frankincense, myrrh, and oil ? ’ ' Do you perform Mass and sacrifice as often as you go to church?’ 'Do your priests, whenever they meet any person in the church, put their hands upon them, and impart absolution ? ’ ' Does every one of you pray Kyrie eleison 200 times?’ 'At every prayer, how often do you make the sign of the cross ? ’ ' Do you worship all the saints ? ’ ' Do you fast two days every week? ’ ” His tact and skill in avoiding useless discussion is then seen, for he adds, " The Lord gave me grace to hear and answer them patiently. I then said, ' You have put a great variety of questions to me. Permit me now to ask you in turn: Have you never read that in Christ Jesus, nothing availeth but a new creature? ... You have at least read that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life.’ ' Yes,’ said they, ' we have.’ ' Then,’ I added, ' let us first of all treat of this subject.’ ” His labours were not in vain. Many were brought to a spiritual apprehension of salvation through Christ. Of two, he writes, " What I told them of the happiness of those who live in the en- joyment of the love of Jesus, seemed to penetrate their hearts. Both arose, fell about my neck, and io6 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE said with tears in their eyes, God bless you. Master; we never heard the like before/ ” Among those whose lives were quickened, we note a man of considerable influence, Mikhail Bishara, the chief justice of the village, and both secretar}/” and tax-gatherer of Ali Bey. At other times again, Danke met with open criticism, “ Why, you are no Christian; for you do not fast in your country. Are you come among us to abolish our fasts?” Criticism often developed into opposition and persecution, for, to lift men out of the deadness of Christian formality is a real attack upon the powers of darkness, and these forces will be marshalled to prevent any loss of territory. On the other hand again, the purity of Danke’s teachings appealed to others farther removed from the Christian faith. A Moslem sheikh to whom he had spoken, ‘‘ listened with visible satisfaction, and then said, ‘ Such Christians as you are sure to get to heaven; but full as sure will the Copts go to hell with all their fasting; because they hope to deceive God by it. When they fast they eat bread, lentils, beans, oil, and the like; when they do not fast they eat but- ter, beef, and mutton, as though it were not the same Creator that had made all these things.’ ” In July, 1772, Danke left his field of work in and about Behnessa and went down to Cairo quite ill. In October, he passed into the presence of -EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 107 his Lord, having had, like Him, a brief ministry of but three years. Of John Antes, who joined the Mission in 1770, and of George Henry Wieniger, who joined it in 1774, we cannot speak at length. Both laboured in the field to which Danke had been assigned. Antes endured severe and unjust bastinadoing once. The following account of that experience taken from the diary of Antes will illustrate both the perilous conditions under which these Moravians missionaries laboured as well as the devotion and heroism of their missionary service : “ On taking a walk outside of the city one day, in 1779, I had the misfortune to fall into the hands of a Bey, who, in the hope of extracting a large sum of money from me, treated me in a most cruel manner. On returning from a walk in company with the Venetian consul, we were observed by some mamelukes who immediately came in full gallop towards us with drawn swords, followed by some footmen. They im- mediately stripped us of our fur coats, shawls, and whatever else we had about us of any value, demanding forty pounds ($200) and threatened to take us before their master unless we immedi- ately gave them the money. I told them we had no such sum about us, and taking out my purse offered it to them. They at first took it, but find- io8 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE ing it contained only twenty-five shillings ($6.25) threw it back with disdain, saying, ^ dahab, dahab/ i.e., gold, gold. I told them I had no gold with me, but if they would go to my house I would give them some. Upon this they cursed me and being joined by ten more of the gang, they again demanded gold. I again answered that I had none with me. At last their chief accosted me, ‘ Go you home and fetch the gold, but we will keep your companion here as a host- age and if you do not return I will cut off his head.’ When I saw the poor man crying and trembling all over, I could not think of leaving him in the hands of the tigers and escaping my- self. I therefore told him to go, and fetch the money, and I would stay with them. He had scarcely advanced a few steps when the servants fell upon him and stripped him of a few remain- ing pieces of clothing he had left, so that he escaped nearly naked to the town. By this time the sun had set and it began to grow dark; and as the mamelukes durst not stay away from their master till my companion returned, one of them rode up to the Bey and told him they had seized some Europeans from whom something might be got. The man soon returned with orders that I should be brought before the Bey; and taking me between their horses they dragged me to the place where he was sitting. When I came near . EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 109 him I addressed him with the usual phrase : ‘ I am under your protection/ to which, if they are not maliciously inclined, they answer: ‘You are welcome.’ But instead of answering at all he stared furiously at me and said, ‘Who are you ? ’ I replied, ‘ I am an Englishman.’ ‘ What are you doing here in the night? You must be a thief. Aye, aye, most likely the one that did such and such a thing the other day.’ I replied, ‘ I was entering the city gates half an hour before sunset when I was taken by your mamelukes and de- tained till now and still it is not an hour after sunset, which is the regular time for shutting the gates.’ Without replying he pointed to one of his officers to take me to the castle, a building at some distance out of town. Having given his orders for my removal I wanted to say a few words more, but was prevented by a horde of servants, who are always glad to insult a Eu- ropean. One gave me a kick on one side, another on the other side, one spat in my face, while an- other put a rope around my neck made of fila- ments of the date tree, which are much rougher than horse-hair. By this rope a fellow in rags was ordered to draw me along, and another on horseback armed with sword and pistols to guard me. Arriving at the castle I was put into a dungeon half under ground, a large chain was put around my neck, secured by a padlock, and no IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE the other end fastened to a piece of timber. Nothing could induce the servants to give me pen and ink to write to my friends in town, though they furnished me with drinking water. In about half an hour the Bey arrived with his retinue, lighted flambeaux being carried before him. He alighted, went up-stairs into a room, sat down in a corner, and all his people placed themselves in a circle around him. I was then sent for, unchained, and led up-stairs by two men. On the stairs I heard the instruments for the bastinado rattle and guessed what I had to expect. Upon entering I found a small Persian rug spread for me. This was a mark of civility only due to a gentleman, for the common people when about to receive the bastinado are thrown upon the bare ground. The Bey again asked me who I was. ‘ An Englishman,’ was my reply. ‘ What is your business ?’ ‘ I live by what God sends,’ I said. He exclaimed, ‘ Throw him down.’ I asked, 'What have I done?’ ‘How, you dog,’ answered he. ‘ Dare you ask me what you have done? Throw him down.’ The serv- ants then threw me flat on my face, and with a strong staff about six feet long having a piece of iron chain fixed to both ends, confined my feet above the ankles, when the two men — one on each side — twisting staff and chain together turned up the soles of my feet, and being provided with EARLY MODERN MISSIONS in what is called a ' corhaje ' (or strap of hippo- potamus skin), waited for their master’s orders. When they had placed me in this position, an officer came and whispered in my ear : ‘ Give him a thousand dollars and he will let you go.’ I re- flected that should I now offer anything he would probably send one of his men with me to receive it, and that I should be obliged to open my strong chest, where I kept not only my own money, but that of others, and that all that was in it should be carried away. Being determined not to in- volve others in my misfortune, I answered : ‘ I have no money to give ’ — upon which he ordered them to begin. This they did at first pretty moderately, but I immediately gave up myself for lost, well knowing that my life depended entirely on the caprice of an unfeeling tyrant and, after the many instances of unrelenting cruelty which I had heard of and seen, I had therefore no ref- uge but the mercy of God, and commended my soul to Him, and felt His support so powerfully that all fear of death was taken from me, and I could cheerfully resign my life into His hands. After beating me for some time, the officer again whispered the word ‘ money.’ I again answered, ‘ I have none.’ Then they laid on more roughly, and every stroke felt like the application of a red- hot poker. The officer, thinking that though I had no money I might have some valuable goods. 1 12 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE once more whispered to that effect. Knowing that elegant English firearms were at a premium with such persons, I offered a valuable blunder- buss mounted with silver, which I could get at without opening my chest. The Bey observed me speaking to the officer and inquired what I said. On learning, he exclaimed with a sneer, ‘ Only a blunderbuss? Beat the dog.' Now they began to strike with all their might, and I thought they would beat me to death, and commended my soul to Jesus Christ, my Saviour. When at length the Bey saw that no money could be ex- torted from me, he thought probably that after all, I might in reality be a poor man, and, as I had done nothing to deserve such punishment, he ordered them to let me go. I was obliged to walk down to my prison, the chain being again put on my neck. Upon my asking the servant the reason for this precaution, since in the present state of my feet there was little danger of my running away, their reply was : ‘ The Bey will have it so.' In about half an hour the messenger 'came with orders to bring me up again. The servants then took the chain off and carried me till I was near the door, when I was told to walk in, else the Bey would beat me again. When I came before the Bey he asked one of his officers: ‘ Is this the man you told me of?' The officer, stepping up to me and staring me in the face, as EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 113 if narrowly to inspect my features, on a sudden lifted up his hands and cried out : ‘ By Allah, it is! Ah! this is the best man in all Cairo, and my very particular friend. Oh! how sorry I am that I was not here before to tell you so,’ with other expressions of the same kind. The Bey an- swered : ‘ Then take him. I give him to you, and if he has lost anything see to get it restored.’ I had never in my life seen the officer, and soon perceived it was altogether a deception in order to get rid of me. Once more I was obliged to walk out of the Bey’s sight, when the servants of my pretended friend took me up and carried me to his house, at a considerable distance. Here he offered me something to eat, and made up a tol- erably decent bed, which was the more welcome to me as the greater part of my clothes had been torn off my back and I felt very cold. All I got returned was an old cashmere shawl. I asked him whether what happened to me was the boasted hospitality of his countrymen to stran- gers. I got nothing for answer but : Min Allah! Maktiib! Miikaddar! ' i.e., ‘ It is from God; it is written; it is in the book of fate.’ He, however, took nothing amiss, but anointed my feet with some healing balsam and tied rags about them. I then lay down and spent a very uncom- fortable night in great pain. In the morn- ing he asked me whether I was acquainted 1 14 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE with the master of customs, and when I in- formed him that he was my good friend he offered to bring me to him, and setting me upon an ass, himself mounting a horse, we pro- ceeded towards the city, accompanied by another soldier. On approaching the gate he told me to take off those rags, as it would be a disgrace for me to ride into town in such a condition. ‘ No disgrace to me,’ said I, ‘ but to him who has treated me so shamefully.’ 'Min Allah! Mukad- dar/ was the answer again. When we arrived at the house of the master of customs, he was shocked to see me in such a condition. I requested him to settle everything for me with my pretended deliverer, and summing up the fees found I had to pay about twenty pounds ($100) for this piece of service; the whole farce being intended to play a little money into the hands of the Bey’s officer. His servants then carried me home and put me to bed. It was six weeks before I could walk on crutches, and for full three years after, my ankles and feet, which had been much hurt by the twisting of the chains, often swelled. I cannot refrain from mentioning, however, the great comfort I enjoyed from the texts appointed for the day on which the foregoing event oc- curred. ‘ I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 115 nor depth nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ ” Of Wieniger, we know that he knew how to win the hearts of men, for whenever he would leave Behnessa for Cairo, upwards of two hun- dred people would follow him a considerable dis- tance. He gives the following interesting account of conversation with a secret disciple, a Moslem of high rank : “ We were once walking in a large garden on the banks of the Nile, when we met the pro- prietor, a man of high rank, who accosted us in a very friendly manner and asked us if we were all brethren, and whether we had the same re- ligion. On our replying in the affirmative, he turned to me and said : ' Why do you wear a beard, whereas your brethren do not? You must be a priest.’ He would not believe me when I told him it was merely a matter of convenience, but replied: ‘You are a priest; do not detain my soul. I have prayed to Almighty God to make me acquainted with a man who could tell me what I must do to be saved, and I have received the answer from Him that a man would come into my garden who would satisfy my desires on the subject. You are that man, I am convinced; tell me frankly whether I am right ! ’ I inquired : ‘ Why not, as you are a Mohammedan, consult ii6 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE the priests of your own religion?’ To this he rejoined: ‘ I am firmly convinced that we follow- ers of Mohammed are not in the right way ; there must be another way leading to salvation, and you must point it out to me. I am well aware that our lives are forfeited if our present conver- sation were known, but you have nothing to fear ; I am an honest man; never a word shall escape my lips.’ While making this urgent appeal to me he was so deeply affected that I was moved with the deepest compassion. ‘ Well,’ said I, ‘ I will tell you what a Christian must do to be saved.’ He then walked with me under a fig tree and said : ' Come, O man of God, here where I have so often prayed unto God; you must tell me what I must do.’ With fervent prayer unto the Lord for His blessing, I related to the be- nighted man what God had revealed to us in His Holy Word, dwelling at large on the redemp- tion which Christ wrought out for us by dying for our sins on the cross. The agha listened to me with much attention, and when I told him that Jesus had ascended up into Heaven before the eyes of His disciples, he lifted up his hands and exclaimed : ' O Jesus, who sittest on the right hand of God, have mercy upon me; be also my Saviour.’ This prayer he repeated several times, with tears of deepest emotion. Our Saviour graciously favoured him with the assurance of EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 117 pardon, and gave him a sense of peace. He fre- quently exclaimed with much fervour : ‘ Lord Jesus, I see Thy wounds. Thou art also my Saviour.’ The following morning before day- break, we were not a little alarmed on seeing this Turkish nobleman with a numerous train before the door. I hastened to meet him and asked him why he had brought so many people to our house. He replied : ‘ They are my mamelukes; they know nothing; they are merely waiting my orders in the street. I could not resist the impulse which I had, to come and see you and your brethren, nor could I sleep the whole night for joy! ’ We then had some very edifying conversation with him, and united in fervent thanksgiving to our Saviour for this signal proof of His mercy. As long as we remained in Egypt, the man continued to approve himself a consistent follower of Jesus.” In 1782, the Synod at Herrnhut decided to abandon the work in Egypt. Antes was present at this meeting and endorsed the action, although the reasons for it are not altogether clear. Hocker died just before this, and Antes and Wieniger returned to Europe in obedience to the action of the Synod. Since the Moravian missionaries un- dertook to establish no ecclesiastical organisation, the results of their devoted labours are found in the individual lives they touched and quickened. Of these, of course, no permanent record remains. Ii8 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE save with Him who can ever say to His Church, “ I know thy works, and thy toil and patience/' CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY Foremost among missionary societies stands the Church Missionary Society of Great Britain, with an honourable history which goes back to 1799, making it one of the oldest missionary so- cieties in existence ; with a record of devoted serv- ice, whose concise narrative occupies three com- pact yet large volumes; with missions in West Africa, Uganda, Egypt, India, China, Japan, the Northwest of America, and elsewhere, making it one of the most extensive missionary agencies in the world; with an annual budget of over two millions of dollars, making it one of the most responsible organisations of Christendom. We go back to the year 1815, to the headquarters of this Society in London, and we find the Com- mittee of this Society holding a farewell meet- ing. Lord Gambier is in the chair. A Cam- bridge Wrangler is receiving his official commis- sion from the lips of Josiah Pratt, the Society’s Secretary, for William Jowett is going forth as a missionary. His, however, is a peculiar mis- sion. He is being assigned to service in what might be called the “ Intelligence Department of the Army,” for interest has been awakened in the degraded Oriental churches, and the Society EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 119 wishes to know about these that it may cooperate with them for their spiritual quickening. “ The Classic, the Painter, the Statuary, the Anti- quarian, the Naturalist, the Merchant, the Patriot, the Soldier, all,” declares the Secretary in ad- dressing Jowett, “ have their reports; but no one details to us the number and character of the Christians . . . who are there, perhaps, in retire- ment, sighing over the moral condition of their country.” Taking his stand at Malta, Jowett is to survey the religious horizon. He is to look at the Roman Catholic Church, and study the Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Abyssinian, Armenian, and Nestorian Churches. Among other places visited by Mr. Jowett was Egypt. , He was there for some months in 1819, and in 1820, and again in 1823, and had much intercourse with the priests and monks of the Coptic Church, the Patriarch giving him letters of introduction to several of the convents, and he distributed many copies of the Arabic Scriptures. One of the most striking results of his visits was the purchase of a remarkable manuscript trans- lation of the Bible in Amharic, the vernacular language of Abyssinia. This translation had been made a few years before by the French consul at Cairo, M. Asselin de Cherville, assisted by an aged Abyssinian monk, named Abu Rumi. The manuscript consisted of no less than 9,539 pages. 120 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE the whole written out by Abu Rumi in the Am- haric character. It was purchased by Mr. Jowett for the Bible Society; and portions of it were printed, many thousands of copies of which were afterwards circulated by Gobat, Krapf, and other Church Missionary Society missionaries in Abys- sinia. The revision of this version for the Bible Society was one of the tasks of Krapf’s old age, and it was finished in 1879 and printed at St. Chrischona Mission Press, near Basle. Mr. Jowett’s labours at Malta consisted chiefly in the preparation of that Arabic literature which future missionaries might make use of as weapons of missionary warfare. Among other works which came from his hand, we find the following in Arabic: Reading Lessons, the Ten Command- ments and the Sermon on the Mount, Extracts of Scripture relative to Youth, Proverbs, Lokmann’s Fables, the Three Epistles of John, the two Epis- tles of Peter, and the Second Chapter of Acts. Thus in the history of missions in Egypt is illus- trated the almost invariable law that the first work of missions is literary. At the close of 1825, the Church Missionary Society sent out to Egypt five missionaries. These were Samuel Gobat (afterwards Bishop of Jeru- salem), J. R. T. Lieder and his wife, Theodore Mueller and his wife, William Kruse and his wife, and Christian Kugler. All five men were EARLY MODERN MISSIONS I2I Germans from Basle Seminary. Gobat and Kugler afterwards went to Abyssinia. This missionary party arrived in Alexandria and hired an Arab house some two miles from Alexandria where they began the study of the language. By the death of Mrs. Mueller, the first break in that little missionary circle was made. Within a few months of their landing, they pushed on to Cairo, the natural centre for their missionary work. They took a house in the Coptic quarter at a hundred dollars a year. To hasten their mastery of the language, they made it a rule to speak Arabic with each other. The outlook for successful missionary work is recorded in their first reports to the Society. There seemed to be an open door for the distribu- tion of books. The Copts were found to be re- served in their attitude toward them, but they were well received by the Coptic Patriarch. Work among Moslems was practically forbidden and an instance is recorded where a Moslem woman, hav- ing married a Greek and having had the mark of the Cross made on her arm, was arrested and, on confessing herself a Christian, was drowned in the Nile; while the man only escaped being burned alive by declaring himself a Moslem. The chief efforts of the Mission were, there- fore, of necessity, directed towards the Copts. To reach the Coptic communities in Upper Egypt, 122 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Lieder made frequent trips away from Cairo. “ I have visited,” he says in 1828-9, “ and sup- plied with the Word of Life nearly all the cities and villages where Christians (Copts) are found. Of the Scriptures and Tracts, I have given a large portion, gratis, to poor Christians; for misery is unspeakable in these regions : nevertheless I sold Scriptures for one hundred and twelve dollars, eleven piasters, thirty paras. The sum, in fact, exceeded my most sanguine expectations.” In Cairo, missionary work followed educational lines, and schools were opened. At first it was difficult to gain the confidence of the Copts and, in 1828-9, only five Coptic children and four Greeks are reported as attending the schools, the rest being Catholics and Maronites. Four years later, however, we find not only Copts in greater numbers, but even three Moslem boys in attend- ance. A girls’ school is then opened and also a boys’ boarding school. So the work advanced. In 1838-9, we find fifteen Moslems in the Mission School and they do not even object to religious instruction. Mrs. Lieder also had access to the Pasha’s harem and taught the wife and two daughters of Ibrahim Pasha. The next year, the mission school was visited by Adham Bey, the Minister of Public Instruction, and others, who expressed themselves greatly pleased with the methods of instruction. THE IBIS, THE MISSIONARY NILE-BOAT EGYPTIAN VILLAGE EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 123 It is interesting to note the statement of the missionaries that the regular church service did not prove an effective way of reaching the people. Such meetings as were held were conducted, therefore, along more informal lines of reading the Scriptures, commenting upon them and per- mitting discussion. In 1839-40, there were indi- cations of special interest among the Copts. Six meetings a week were held among them for the reading of the Scriptures. The Patriarch him- self sanctioned such meetings “ with the observa- tion that it was better to meet to read the Word of God than to drink brandy and commit sin.” The year 1840-41 proved one of trial, owing to unsettled political conditions. Moslem fanat- icism displayed itself in the streets. Europeans generally were insulted by having such epithets cast at them, as “ Dog,” “ Infidel,” “ Pig,” while on one occasion Mrs. Lieder had a stone thrown at her which caused her some injury, and Mr. Lieder was several times spit upon by the chil- dren. The schools lost favour and were only prevented from being closed by being put under the protection of the United States Consul. This is interesting, for, a quarter of a century later, it was the British Consul who repeatedly defended the interests of American missionaries. Moslem boys, however, had to be barred from the mission schools to avoid trouble. 124 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE In spite of these hindrances, the work among the Copts went on unhindered. The Coptic Pa- triarch even expressed the hope that the Society would open a Seminary for Copts seeking clerical orders. The meetings among Copts continued. To be sure, they were often disappointing in their character, as when they disputed for seven days at one of the chief meetings about the proposition, “ Whether angels have wings in reality or not.’' The distribution or sale of books also went on: 865 copies of Scriptures and 3,877 Tracts, sold or distributed, is the creditable record of the year. There were twenty-five pupils in the Seminary, as the Boarding School was called. Eighty-four were enrolled in the Boys’ Day School; and a hundred and thirty-seven in the Girls’ Day School. Some thirty-five of the poorest boys and twenty of the poorest girls were given free meat at the noonday meal. A teacher by the name of Ayub gave in- struction to the girls and this sign of progress is recorded, that they received instruction with their faces unveiled. The far-reaching possibilities of some of this missionary work appeared the fol- lowing year when a young man, Andraus, who was for some time a student and then a teacher in the Church Missionary Society School, was appointed Abuna (Archbishop) of the Abyssinian Church. In 1842-3, it was decided to turn the boarding EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 125 school, or Seminary, into a Coptic Institution for training those seeking clerical orders in the Cop- tic Church. The policy lying back of this move is worth considering, for it was, and is sometimes even to-day, a subject of considerable discussion. The hopeful views entertained in those days for the quickening of these Oriental Churches were reflected in the address of Secretary Pratt to Jowett. The latter was commissioned to notice the Roman Church, “ her condition, any favour- able indications ... to ascertain the best means of restoring her to primitive health and vigour.” Greater hope still was expressed for the other Churches. ‘‘ The Greek, Armenian, Syrian, Cop- tic, and Abyssinian Churches, though in many points far gone from the simplicity and purity of the truth, are not so entangled; and also possess within themselves the principle and the means of reformation.” The hope was therefore entertained that the missionaries might reform the Coptic clergy and the clergy would then reform the Coptic Church. The experiment seemed for a while successful. Within two years there were fifteen pupils in the Institution. Some trouble was experienced owing to the ignorant and unpromising character of the pupils recommended by the Patriarch. Never- theless, the work was carried forward, the three 126 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE eldest pupils were ordained as deacons by the Pa- triarch and the latter also attended the public ex- amination of the mission schools in 1843; so did the Bishop of Senaar and a number of priests. The Patriarch even dined at the Mission house and offered a short prayer in behalf of the Mis- sion. The fullest success seemed to attend the policy of the Society, and it looked as if the Cop- tic Church was ready to welcome education and enlightenment. “ It appears, therefore,” says a Report of 1846-7, “ that, so far as the number of pupils is concerned, their progress in general knowledge, and the countenance afforded by the ecclesiastical authorities of the Coptic Church, the Institution has realised the most sanguine expectations formed concerning it.” Then there is added the following observation, “ But, in the most impor- tant points, it is to be feared that it has hitherto failed of its object.” ‘‘ It is painful to think,” says Mr. Lieder, “ that we can see none of those spiritual fruits which our eyes desire to behold.” In the Report of the following year, Mr. Lieder is even more outspoken. “ The Institution does not answer,” he says, ‘‘ the important object for which it was opened — to educate young men for the amelioration of the Coptic priesthood. This is occasioned in a great measure by the peculiar laws of the Coptic Church; but, also, by the kind .EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 127 of youths which that Church has sent to the In- stitution, who, with few exceptions, have proved to be only the scum of the Church. It is my opinion, on account of these causes, that this In- stitution, as it is, is not worth the great ex- penses to which the Society is subject.” The next year, the Institution was closed and Mr. Lieder writes, “ I now see clearly that it could not be otherwise; for how was it possible that a youth whose mind has become enlightened by an education founded on the Word of God, should or could even enter into the service of such a deeply-fallen Church ? ” This failure to effect the purifying of the or- ganic life of this ancient Oriental Church, raised a further question, “ Should the members of this Church, who accept evangelical views, be organ- ised into an independent Church, or be compelled to remain in ecclesiastical fellowship in the Church in which they were born ? ” The ques- tion really dates back to the days of Luther. The ecclesiastical affiliations of the Church Mission- ary Society, which included many who were in- clined to give considerable weight to the impor- tance of a historical Church, such as the Cop- tic, made the question a doubly difficult one for the missionaries of this Society. That the ques- tion was a real issue may be seen from a letter written by Henry Venn, the Society’s Secretary, 128 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE to the Lord Bishop of London. It is embodied in the Society’s Report for 1851-2. It repudiates the charges of deliberate proselytism, but shows how impossible it is not to receive into fellowship those who of their own accord renounce their allegiance to their mother Church because of ecclesiastical abuses. In the Church Missionary Intelligencer, the So- ciety’s recognised periodical, more than one arti- cle appeared setting forth the impossibility of con- ceding to the degraded Oriental Churches the standing of a true Church. The following, for example, is well worth quoting for its clear and comprehensive statement of the situation from the Episcopal point of view and yet also from the point of view of practical missions. After describing the Oriental Churches the writer says, “ While so vast a dissimilarity exists, so vital, in- clusive both of principles and results, to make our agreement in Episcopacy a ground for our recog- nition of them as sister Churches is an avowal that this point is so important as to outweigh all doctrinal discrepancies, and establish union be- tween those who have the truth of the Gospel and those who, in their teaching and practice, ignore its most important principles. Of course, such a concession leads a step further in another direction, and conduces to the unavoidable conse- quence — that, where a Church is not an Episcopal EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 129 Church, no purity of doctrine or soundness of evangelical principle and practice can justify our recognition of it as a sister Church. Missionary operations in connection with the Oriental Church, attempted on a foundation such as this, must be inconclusive and unavailing. In the adoption of such a principle, we resign at the very outset, the capacity of usefulness. In acknowl- edging them as sister Churches, we admit that, whatever differences may exist, they are not of an essential character, and do not interfere with the vitality of truth. Of course our admission is with the utmost facility urged against our- selves; and when we would refer to one point or another which it would be desirable to have recti- fied, we are reminded that as, by our own ac- knowledgment, they are not vital points, their re- moval is not necessary and that they may as well be permitted to remain. Such a course is not honest: it is not truthful. It is a false position, a position of unfaithfulness.’^ Whatever were the feelings of the missionaries on this point, the fact was that they sought no independent Church organisation for those whom they so helpfully influenced as individuals. The refusal of the Coptic Church to permit any real reform within itself was further shown by the banishment, the next year after the closing of the Institution, of a Coptic priest to a convent be- 130 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE cause he displayed too great an interest in evan- gelical teachings. For some time the missionary force had been reduced by removal or death. Since 1837 ^^e Mission had had only two regular missionaries in Egypt. In 1850, Gobat, now Bishop of Jeru- salem, visited Egypt and urged an abandonment of the policy of affiliation with the Coptic Church, the prosecution of the work along more independ- ent lines, and the reenforcement of the Mission by additional workers. Burdened, however, with other work, the Society was unable to do more for Egypt, and, in 1852, even Kruse was trans- ferred to Palestine. Although Lieder remained at his post for many years, universally respected, and exercising a wholesome influence over the Coptic Patriarch and bishops until his death from cholera in 1865, the Mission had, as the Gleaner put it, “ only a lingering existence.’' In 1862, the Society took official action, discontinuing the Mission. In 1850, Bishop Gobat gave the following es- timate of the work of his Society in Egypt : “ Be- sides the dissemination of the Word of God and other good books in all parts of Egypt, and the Scriptural though imperfect education of youth, the results of the Mission are the conversion of a few individuals, some of whom have died in the faith, a few enlightened young men dispersed EARLY MODERN MISSIONS 131 through Egypt — while many members of the dif- ferent communities have been led to doubt the truth of their superstitions and traditions. Yet upon the whole it must be confessed, that the Egyptian Mission has not had the success which might have been expected.” A more encouraging estimate is expressed by the Rev. Andrew Watson, D.D., who arrived in Egypt in 1861 : “I believe that through the circulation of copies of the Word of God by the Church Missionary Society’s missionaries throughout the Nile Valley, hundreds of persons had their knowledge of the way of salvation cor- rected, their faith directed away from their own works, to the death and suffering and obedience of the Son of God as the reason and ground of salvation from sin and its consequences ; and much good seed was sown, which afterwards brought fruit unto eternal life. In the great day when all secrets shall be revealed, it will, I have no doubt, be found that our Mission has in not a few places reaped where the Church Missionary Society formerly sowed.” IV THE AMERICAN MISSION HROUGHOUT the Nile Valley, to-day, from the seaboard to the First Cataract, and from the First Cataract to the Sobat River, are to be found the stations of “ The American Mission.” The name is happily chosen, for this Mission is the representative in Egypt not merely of a denomination, but of American Christendom. So, too, the Church which this Mission has built up is known throughout the Nile Valley as “ The Protestant Church ” or “ The Evangelical Church.” Thus does the sol- idarity of evangelical Christianity receive its proper emphasis in the face of a corrupt Chris- tianity and a united Moslem world. The so-called “American Mission ” in Egypt is the Mission of the United Presbyterian Church of North America. It was founded in 1854, by the Associate Reformed Church of the West, which, in 1858, formed, by its union with the Associate Church, the present-day United Pres- byterian Church. 13a MOSQUE OF MOHAMMED ALT, CAIRO AMERICAN MISSION I5U I LI) I NO, CAIRO THE AMERICAN MISSION 133 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MISSION The founding of this Mission was the result of a number of conditions, most of them seemingly trifling. But often does it happen thus in his- tory, that God brings about movements of far- reaching importance by causes which seem in themselves insignificant. The ill-health of some workers of a Mission in Syria connected with this same Church, led to a visit to Egypt and a discovery of the unmet needs of this land. Po- litical disturbances, and other conditions which were experienced in Syria, also led these mission- aries to feel a lack of freedom in their work in that country, suggesting the propriety, possibly even the necessity, for removal. The establishment of the Mission was finally resolved upon and was then accomplished by the Rev. Thomas McCague and Mrs. McCague, sent out from America, and the Rev. James Barnett, detached from the Mission in Syria. Mr. and Mrs. McCague reached Cairo, November 15, 1854, twenty days before the arrival of Mr. Barnett. The latter, however, coming from Syria, enjoyed the double advantage of a knowl- edge of the Arabic and the experience of ten years of missionary service. He was able, there- fore, to take up the work at once. 134 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE THE FIRST DECADE The first methods of doing missionary work seem to have been preaching, personal work, and the distribution of religious literature. An Arabic service was held every Lord’s Day. The attendance ranged during the first year from three to eight, and the majority of those in attendance were in some connection with the missionaries. The only boast that could be made at the end of nine months was that as many as twenty different persons had attended the service at least once. Surely, this was “ the day of small things.” Within a few months, cholera broke out in Cairo, and, during one month, ten thousand per- sons died from it in the city. The missionaries continued at their posts, visiting the sick and com- forting the bereaved. This calamity was fol- lowed by rebellion in Upper Egypt, which, through exaggerated rumours, created much un- rest in the capital. Further difficulties arose through the feeling generated between Moslems and Copts by the Crimean War. The mission- aries, however, acting and speaking with impar- tiality, avoided enmity to a great degree and car- ried forward their work. In the fall of 1855, about a year after their arrival in the country, they opened a boys’ school. The latter was found presently to react favourably upon the Sabbath THE AMERICAN MISSION 135 service, for it enlisted the interest of the parents of the scholars. In 1857, the Mission was reenforced by the ar- rival of Rev. Gulian Lansing, in whom were dis- covered qualities of leadership that rendered sig- nal service to the Mission for many years. His six years of previous service in Syria furnished him with a knowledge of the Arabic, so that he was able to take up the work at once. Not waiting, in the least, until the agencies al- ready established should attract greater numbers, the missionaries pressed forward to the multiply- ing of these missionary agencies. So we hear of a new centre of work opened up in Cairo in 1857, a trip up the Nile by boat for purposes of ex- ploration and for the distribution of Scriptures, and a new station opened at Alexandria. This last extension had very important results to the Mission. It ultimately brought to the Mis- sion one whose services contributed, perhaps more than did those of any other single worker, to ex- tend and establish the work in the Nile Valley. We refer to Mr. John Hogg, a Scotchman, who was at this time conducting a school recently es- tablished at Alexandria, by a Scotch Society for the conversion of the Jews. In September, 1859, an event occurred in Cairo which possessed untold significance for the future of evangelical Christianity in the Nile Valley. 136 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Four persons were received into fellowship with the Church and their names enrolled as members. The first fruits of the Mission’s labours — four, after five years of devoted and discouraging ser- vice! The pledge and promise of the great host that were yet to be gathered into the kingdom of our Lord I Two of the four were Egyptians, the third was an Armenian, and the fourth a Syrian. The winning of these two first Egyptian con- verts, both of whom were Copts, is illustrative of the spiritual and intellectual experiences which usually accompany the conversion of a Copt. One was a grain merchant, a man of good char- acter, but very zealous in defending the doctrines and practices of the Coptic Church. He was ever demanding of the missionary the proof for any teaching that seemed to clash with the posi- tion of the Coptic Church. As proofs were given from the Word of God, he became silent. But the next day he would go to his priest and de- mand of him proofs from the Word of God for the Coptic position. As the latter was unable to furnish such proofs, the grain merchant was first sullen in his admission of the truth, but later came to accept it and defend it against others. Some- times the priest would quote to him the sayings of the fathers and councils. “ No,” would be his reply, ‘‘ I do not want these; I want the chapter - THE AMERICAN MISSION 137 and verse in some book of the Old Testament or the New.” The other convert, Mikhail, had been a Coptic monk in a small town of Upper Egypt. He had a fair knowledge of the Scriptures, quite an un- usual thing among Coptic monks at that time. When he first went to the convent, he had never seen a complete copy of the Bible, yet he was very anxious to possess one. One day a fellow monk came in with a copy of the Bible which he had secured from an agent of the Church Mis- sionary Society. As he was not fond of reading, he was readily persuaded to trade the book he had secured for a pair of shoes which he needed. Thus Mikhail got possession of a complete copy of the Word of God. He gained a wonderful acquaintance with the Scriptures and could both quote and locate passages readily. As he studied the Book, he became more and more dissatisfied with the doctrines and practices of the Coptic Church. His further studies and conference with the missionaries brought him fuller light, and he became one of the first converts and mem- bers of the native Protestant Church, and, later still, became the first native ordained to the Gos- pel ministry in the Protestant Church of Egypt. The year after this first reception of members, four more were added to the roll, one of whom became later the pastor of the largest Protestant 138 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE congregation in Egypt, the Assiut congregation. Thus was God gathering into the kingdom those who should not only help to constitute, but also to lead, and to minister to, the infant Evangelical Church. The organisation of the first Presbytery, in i860, is also an event of importance, marking the beginning of a new ecclesiastical organism, moulded, for the time being, out of foreign ma- terial, but destined to become ere long predomi- nantly Egyptian in its membership. Three years later, the first congregational organisation was effected at Cairo. The rapidity of this growth and development is really marvellous. Here in close conjunction stand the winning of the first converts, presbyterial organisation, and congre- gational organisation. It is impossible to follow in detail the move- ments of this missionary enterprise, but, standing at the close of the first decade, we may survey the extent of the Mission’s development. The foreign force now numbers fourteen: six or- dained men; three unmarried women mission- aries; five wives of missionaries. Among these are men of rare gifts; preachers, educationists, organisers, bold yet prudent leaders. The native converts number sixty-nine. Of these also, many are men of influence and natural power. The decade has been a significant one for the terri- THE AMERICAN MISSION 139 torial extension of the work. Cairo and Alex- andria have been definitely occupied, while mis- sionary itineration has already pushed its way up the river to the First Cataract, westward to the Faiyum, and has extended more or less to the Delta. We also find, in this first decade, the germ of every form of missionary activity, medi- cal work excepted, that the conditions in Egypt have called for: the Evangelistic, the Educa- tional, the Colporteur, the Native Church, Women’s Work, Nile Boat Work, and a Theo- logical Seminary. Two events of this first decade deserve special mention ; one, the first serious outbreak of perse- cution; and the other, a strange romance involv- ing an Indian Prince. A woman of Assiut, wife of a Moslem, who had formerly been a Coptic Christian and had embraced Islam, wished to return to her former faith. A recent proclamation of the Sultan, Abd- el-Majid, granting religious liberty, seemed to safeguard her life in this bold purpose. She went to the Coptic bishop for protection, and formally requested Faris, a Syrian, who was in charge of the American Mission School at Assiut, to defend her in any legal suit that might be brought. As Faris had special linguistic and debating gifts, and the Sultan’s proclamation was known, noth- ing was done until the Sultan’s death. Then the 140 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE impression arose that the new Sultan would not be bound by his predecessor’s decree, and the woman’s husband brought charge against Paris for the unlawful detention of his wife at the bishop’s house. The governor wrote to the chief of police to summon Paris, and to demand that he deliver up the woman to the government for the purpose of adjudging the case. Paris obeyed the summons and appeared with the woman. He was sent to the police court. A resume of his own record tells what happened. “ On entering, I found about sixty men pres- ent. I seated myself at the lower end of the divan, upon which the kadi's, scribe approached me and said, ‘ Sit on the ground.’ Prom this re- mark I suspected their evil purpose. Pinding they had not accomplished their object of exciting me to say something rash or improper, they stirred up the ignorant crowd to revile me and curse my religion. On this I attempted to leave the court, which, when they perceived, they pre- vented me from doing, and the kadi said, ‘ Why have you come here? ’ I replied, ‘ If your hon- our will have the goodness to read the petition and the order of his excellency, the governor, thereto annexed, you will understand the reason for my appearing before you.’ The scribe then read the petition and the order, and said, ‘ Why do you detain the woman with you ? ’ I remained THE AMERICAN MISSION 141 silent, whereupon the kadi said, ‘ Why do you not answer the scribe ? ’ I replied, ‘ May it please your honour, I am the attorney of the woman, not her detainer, and therefore I abstained from an- swering, since the petition which is in the hands of your honour orders the appearance of her at- torney, not her keeper.’ The kadi then replied, ‘ We do not acknowledge your right of attorney.’ On this I thanked him for relieving me of my obligation. He then said, ‘ It is not for this that we reject your right of attorney, but because you are an infidel, and have occasioned infidelity in our town.’ I then said to him with all respect, ‘ I should think that your honour could not believe that a person like me is able to originate either infidelity or faith, seeing this prerogative belongs to God alone.’ Thereupon the tnufti said, ‘ O thou accursed one, thou infidel, thou son of a pig, thou polluted one! dost thou revile the re- ligion of the kadi}' He then stirred up some of the ignorant crowd, which had increased to about two hundred, to beat me; whereupon the brother-in-law of the kadi came forward, spat in my face, and struck me on the head. The kadi then called out, ‘ Beat him ’ ; and upon that a man, called Ayub Kashi f, came forward and said, ‘ O thou accursed infidel; dost thou think that Abd- el-Majid still lives? He is dead and with him has died the Christian religion, and also the re- 142 ■ IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE proach of Islam, and in his place has arisen Abd-el-Aziz, who has brought back to the re- ligion of Islam its ancient glory.’ So saying he struck me, with his cane, on my head, and spat in my face, and knocked me in the stomach. At this the crowd rushed upon me, and commenced beating me one after the other, with sticks, spit- ting upon me, and throwing earth upon my head. As, however, I did not shed any tears nor utter any cry of pain, they imagined that this kind of beating did not affect me much. So the kadi ordered the instruments of torture to be brought from the police office, and then said, ‘ Throw him down. Put on him the falagah ’ (a species of foot-rack for raising and holding the feet tight for the bastinado). He then arose and com- menced beating me on the thighs. Ayub Kashif, already mentioned, came forward also and beat me, then the mufti and his scribe, and then the learned men in turn. Then they sat down and said, ' Let every one who loves the Prophet beat this accursed one ! ’ This continued for about half an hour, when the crowd began to desist a little, on seeing that I was in a fainting condition. Then one of them kicked me on the head to arouse me. Ayub Kashif came forward again and com- menced beating me on my bare feet, saying to those who held the falagah, ‘ Screw it tight.’ The kadi also came forward again, together with THE AMERICAN MISSION 143 those aforementioned, and took their turn in beat- ing me, saying to the crowd, ‘ Why have you quit beating him?' One replied, ‘We fear he will die.' Whereupon the kadi and Ayub Kashi f called out, ‘Kill him!' “ This second bastinadoing lasted about a quarter of an hour, when I swooned away, and they began to think I was dead. On reviving, I said to Ayub Kashi f, ‘ For God's sake have pity on me.' He replied, ‘ Become a Moslem, O ac- cursed one ! and thou shalt be delivered.' I then cried, ‘ Oh Jesus, save me.' Upon this, he ex- claimed, ‘ Kill him, and let Jesus come and save him.' " Faris was then dragged to the governor’s house, and, as the latter was out, he was dragged to prison. Later, he was sent in a dying condi- tion, as it was thought, to his house, where he recovered somewhat and was remanded to prison. Meanwhile, the American consul-agent, Mr. Wasif-el-Khayat, sent to Cairo to the American Consul, a statement of what had happened. A reply came back, saying that the latter had just been removed from office. The Moslem gov- ernor of Assiut, however, realising that he had to deal vigorously with what promised to become an extensive religious riot, arrived in Assiut the next day, called into his presence the kadi and other learned men, reproved the kadi^ rebuked 144 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Ayub Kashi f severely, and blamed others also for the seditious proceedings. The case was finally reported to Hon. W. S. Thayer, Agent and Consul-General of the United States, and, after various attempts had been made to condone the crime committed against an Amer- ican protege, Mr. Thayer succeeded in having justice meted out. What this consisted in ap- peared in the reply which the government sent to the Consul, ‘‘ Order has been sent to Assiut to fine the thirteen men whose names you gave me this morning, each according to the degree of his responsibility, to the amount of 100,000 piasters ($5,000). Order has been given to the governor of Alexandria to send that sum to your consulate, with the request that you will give it to Paris. Order has been sent to Assiut to put these thir- teen men in prison for one year.'' After a month and a half had elapsed, there was an opportunity of securing the release of the men imprisoned. This came to them as such a surprise, that the ringleader, Ayub Kashif, a wealthy merchant, gave a banquet of some forty courses to Dr. Lansing, who had arrived in As- siut, and to Paris, whom he had persecuted. This gave Dr. Lansing the opportunity of saying to him, “ Know, sir, that your Koran imprisoned you, and our Gospel released you." ‘‘ The successful issue," says Dr. A. Watson, THE AMERICAN MISSION 145 ‘‘ of such a glaring case of Moslem hate and per- secution effectually prevented for a long time any outward and unlawful opposition to the mis- sion work in the region of Assiut.’’ Of the romance referred to, only an outline can be given. Dhulip Singh, an Indian Prince, bearing the title Maharajah, son of Rungit Singh, the last of the kings of the Punjab, was on his way from England to India, to consign the body of his deceased mother to her friends, to be buried according to the rites of the religion in which she lived and died. This had been her dying re- quest. This young prince, himself a Christian, had lived in England since the time when Great Britain had taken his father’s kingdom and had retired the young heir with a pension. Being of royal blood, his social rank put him next to the royal family. He was, besides, a favourite of the Queen. In 1864, then, while in Cairo, he visited the Mission, inspected its schools, and left a hundred dollars as prize money for deserving children, and again two hundred and fifty more. ‘‘ His modesty, simplicity and humility, and the genial, loving, genuine tone of his Christian char- acter,” impressed themselves upon the mission- aries. But he, too, had been impressed by a sweet face in the Mission Girls’ School. It is a long and beautiful story, for which there is not space here ; the serious conferences of the Prince 146 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE with the missionaries, his prayerful and noble purposes, the girl Bamba’s anxiety in the presence of so strange a providence, the final decision, the marriage, life in England — an inexperienced Abyssinian girl in the highest circles of British social life, but yet possessing redeeming qualities in the natural dignity and the sweet spirit of a daughter of the King — then some dark experi- ences, and the sunset hour! Nor is there oppor- tunity to enlarge on the reverse side of the story in its significance to the Mission: $5,000 for the Mission, given as a thank-offering to the Lord, at the time of the wedding, and $5,000 annually for twelve years toward the support of missionaries, then $10,000, and again another $10,000, given shortly before the Maharajah’s death. These gifts came as the Lord’s deliverance to the Mis- sion at a time of great financial stringency. THE STORM OF COPTIC PERSECUTION The rapid development of missionary work during the first decade, which has just now been surveyed, brought the American Mission into con- flict with the Coptic Church. In an earlier chap- ter, the policy of the Church Missionary Society was noted. The fact that this Society did not attempt to build the enlightened Copts into an independent Church avoided an open breach be- tween them and the Coptic ecclesiastical author- THE AMERICAN MISSION 147 ities. On the other hand, the missionaries ex- pressed their dissatisfaction with the limitations placed upon them by this nominal affiliation with the Coptic Church. The policy of the American missionaries differed at this point, in that, while they too hoped and laboured for the reformation of the ancient Coptic Church, they justified an independent Church organisation both as a means to such a reform movement and as a simple re- ligious necessity for those who were dissatisfied with the doctrines and practices of their Church. The Coptic authorities had shown their dis- approval of evangelical teaching even in the days of the Church Missionary Society and had ban- ished to a convent a priest who had displayed too great an interest in such teaching. The atti- tude of the Coptic officials toward the American missionaries and their teaching was naturally also one of disfavour, while the defection of Copts in Cairo and their formal allegiance to the Protestant faith were only tolerated because the Coptic officials did not wish, as yet, to force an issue. In 1865, however, the opening of a mis- sion station at Assiut forced this issue. The Coptic Church, claiming one-fourteenth of the population of Egypt, is strongest in Upper Egypt. It constitutes in Lower Egypt but three per cent, of the population, whereas in Upper Egypt the Copts make up eleven and six-tenths 148 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE per cent, of the population. One-fourth of the population of Assiut was Coptic in the days with which we are now dealing. By opening up a sta- tion at Assiut, the missionaries were intruding into a stronghold of the Coptic Church. Open opposition and persecution were bound to follow. The missionaries, who already knew the situation at Cairo, evidently expected opposition to their work, for Dr. Hogg, to whom fell the responsi- bility of opening the new station, wrote in his diary after his arrival at Assiut : “ Stole a march on the wakeful Patriarch. A month at work in Assiut before his envoy arrived. An open door. Counted sixty-five men present on the third Sab- bath.” Very soon after, we find this entry: “ The haram (interdict). The door closed.” The op- position had begun, for, while the Coptic bishop told Dr. Hogg he was not referring to him in the public warning, which was read in the church, against heretics and their teachings, no other in- terpretation was possible. The great persecution, however, did not break out until 1867. Meanwhile the Patriarch was noticing the spread of evangelical teaching. Call- ing upon the relatives of a monk who had joined the Protestants, he found the son of this man reading the new translation of the Bible. Why do you read such a book? ” he exclaimed. Don’t you know that the Americans have corrupted the THE AMERICAN MISSION 149 Word of God and made it teach heresy ? ” The young man turned around and replied, “ How do you know that it teaches heresy ? Where are the Bibles that you have caused to be printed for your people? Bring us a copy, and we shall compare it with that printed by the Americans and see whether the latter teaches heresy or not. Mean- while, we intend to read and study this till you furnish us with a better.” The next night, on entering the patriarchate, the Patriarch found his own brother reading this same version of the Bible. “ What ! ” he exclaimed. “Am I to be- lieve my eyes? Is it not enough that the people outside are buying and selling these heretical books, but my own brother must show them the example! Out with you! You are disgracing me before the whole Church. Send this book back at once, or I will burn it before your face.” His brother indignantly declared that the Patri- arch was guilty of blasphemy in saying that the Word of God taught heresy, and he refused to give up the book. The whole contention between the evangelical missionaries and the Coptic officials presents a very close analogy to the contention which raged in Apostolic days between the early Christians and the Jews or even the Judaising Christians who so bitterly attacked Paul. On the one side was a spiritual apprehension of truth; on the ISO IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE other, regard only for the letter of law. On the one side was a doctrine of salvation through faith and of grace; on the other, salvation by works and legalism. On the one side were the common people who believed; on the other, arrogant and domineering officials and rulers. The Coptic persecution, which broke out in fury in 1867 against the Protestants, was not an accidental outbreak of fanatical jealousy and hate. It was a deliberate plan to which the government lent its authority and influence to make effective the efforts of the Coptic Church to wipe out Prot- estantism for ever. Ismail, the reigning Khedive, was far-sighted enough to appreciate that the standards which the American missionaries were setting up would directly, or indirectly, result in holding up to criticism and condemnation his un- just and tyrannical treatment of his ignorant and patient subjects. To directly attack the mission- aries and the Protestant community, would bring him into difficulty with the foreign consuls, and would damage the reputation which he especially wished to enjoy of being a liberal-minded ruler. In the hostility of the Coptic hierarchy to the Protestant reformers, he found a convenient tool for the accomplishment of his purposes. It is easy in the East to give a hint, and a hint is enough to create a revolution. The hint was given and a revolution of sentiment followed. THE AMERICAN MISSION 151 The Coptic Patriarch, regarded by all devout Copts as the vicar of Christ on earth, and called by them the earthly Christ,” arranged an apos- tolic tour among the churches of Upper Egypt. His retinue made no secret of his mission, and, declaring this to be for the suppression of the Protestant heresy, they boldly asserted that the Viceroy had conferred upon his Holiness the right to condemn to the galleys all those who opposed him by adhering to the Protestant faith, or to seize their children for the army. There is no more interesting chapter in the his- tory of the Mission in Egypt than that which tells of this persecution. We have time only to refer to some *of the leading facts. At Assiut, the Patriarch’s entrance into the city was made to imitate Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. “ Seated on a donkey and preceded by the priests and boys, bearing crosses, flags, palm branches, lighted candles, and burning censers, beating on cymbals and chanting in Coptic as they went along, ' Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,’ the pro- cession moved slowly along from the river up to the town, armed soldiers marching in front and in rear, by order of the government.” The task of purifying (?) the Church occu- pied the Patriarch’s whole attention while he was in Assiut. His first act was characteristic of 152 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE those which followed. He summoned before him the Coptic priest of Beni Aleig, who had been in the habit of permitting his brother, one of the Mission’s theological students, to conduct the evangelistic service in his church at the close of the Coptic mass on Sabbaths, and, after having him severely beaten by one of the government soldiers, he degraded him from his priesthood and drove him out of his presence.” Unable to attack the Protestant Church itself, the Patriarch undertook to destroy the Protestant schools. The Theological Seminary had been opened but a week before the Patriarch’s arrival. Three students, who had formerly been monks, were cursed publicly. One of these, the brother of the Coptic priest just mentioned, had been publicly cursed before, and an additional curse did not seem to weigh on him. The relatives of the other two felt so disgraced that they violently seized one of the young men, and gave him into the hands of the Patriarch, whom he was com- pelled to accompany through his tour and back to Cairo. The other young man escaped only by hiding himself in the Mission building. The Patriarch then tried to destroy the day schools by attacking the parents of the scholars. This did not succeed entirely, as most of the students were from a distance, and local authority, therefore, failed to reach them. THE AMERICAN MISSION 153 A Patriarchal haram, or bull of warning and denunciation, was read in church against the Protestants. Referring to the Protestant Church permitting converted Coptic monks to marry, the haram said, ‘‘ They deceive the priest who has become a soldier for Christ, and has vowed chas- tity and celibacy, and strip from him the honour of his priesthood, and take from him the robe of chastity and plunge him into a sea of lusts, offer- ing him certain women in the semblance of mar- riage of those women whom they have caught in their snares, in which as we have before said, we fear they may entrap some of your own daugh- ters.” Sabbath afternoon was spent in collect- ing and burning Protestant books. ‘‘ Shall we burn this one too? ” said one, holding up a large copy of the new translation of the Bible. “ Heap up the fire ! ” was the only reply. Breathing out threatenings, and accompanied by the bishop of Abutig, notorious for his drunk- enness and tyranny, the Patriarch left Assiut for the town of Ekhmim. Here a school had been opened by a Girgis Bishetly, who had joined the Protestant Church at Cairo. Summoned before the Patriarch, he was reviled and banished from the town under pain of death. “ If he refuses to go,” were the words of the Patriarch, “ then beat him till he dies, and cast his body into the Nile, and if any one, even if the Viceroy himself, calls 154 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE you to account for doing so, say the Patriarch ordered it/’ The town of Kus was visited next. On his way, however, a Copt who was American con- sular agent at Kena, informed the Patriarch that the American consul-general had sent him tele- graphic orders to take notice of what his Holiness might do, and report. This intimation is thought to have lent comparative moderation to some of his plans. At Kus there was a strong Protestant party, of whom Fam Stephanos was one. He was tax-collector of the town and district, and was widely known for his integrity and faithful- ness. The Patriarch summoned all to appear be- fore him. They declined, however, to respond since he had no lawful civil authority to command their presence. The fact that one of the Ameri- can missionaries was at that time in Kus doubtless served to protect the Protestants, but, neverthe- less, many of them suffered. Two Protestants on their way home were attacked, one receiving a beating, the other having his clothes torn by a soldier of the Patriarch. Others were led, through fear, to renounce their interest in Protes- tantism. Others were beaten in the streets or attacked as they approached the Mission house. Even after the Patriarch left, the persecution went on. Two turners were repeatedly driven out of a nearby market, and a woman, who had THE AMERICAN MISSION 155 also declared her faith in Christ alone for salva- tion, was beaten with a whip of hippopotamus hide. These sufferings, however, were trivial compared with what had been originally planned by the Patriarch. Returning to Cairo, the Patriarch continued to feed the fires of persecution by suggesting to the civil authorities various attacks upon the Protes- tants at different points. Earn Stephanos of Kus, whose name was a household word for honesty and uprightness, was ordered to be banished to the Sudan, an order equivalent to death. The story of his deliverance is as interesting as any- thing in fiction and affords a remarkable parallel to Peter's deliverance through prayer in the days of Herod. The Patriarch also undertook to de- stroy the Protestant schools by having their pupils deprived of immunity from conscription — a priv- ilege hitherto accorded to all schools, and whose withdrawal from any single class of schools would necessarily rob them immediately of patronage. A great burden was laid upon the missionaries during these troublous times, comforting the per- secuted, strengthening the wavering, and seeking redress from the government for these unjust acts. It was during these days that the divine provision was manifest in the special gifts dis- played by different missionaries in meeting these 156 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE emergencies. The Rev. Mr. Currie had a gift for ministering to the afflicted that made him re- garded by many natives as a veritable angel in disguise. The Rev. John Hogg was a leader whose courage and spiritual energy could be daunted by no obstacles or difficulties, not even those of persecution. The Rev. Dr. Lansing had a kingly bearing that ever marked him as primus inter pares, and to him fell the task of enlisting every official influence possible in securing re- dress. Appeal after appeal and visits without number were made to the British and American consul- agents, as well as to the different departments of the Egyptian government, to secure a cessation of the unjust persecution of Protestants. Though these appeals failed in large measure to bring per- fect redress, they availed in several instances to prevent loss of life and to bring to an end flagrant abuse of power exercised against the Evangelical community in Upper Egypt. In spite of persecution, if not because of it, the religious interest spread and deepened. At As- siut especially, things were in a ferment. A group of men within the Coptic Church started a meeting to study Scriptures. When they came to Romans, the priests insisted that the commen- taries of the fathers should be read also, arguing that those in attendance were still weak and THE AMERICAN MISSION 157 needed milk. “True,” was the rejoinder, “and therefore you wish us to leave the true milk of the Word and go munching hard crusts.” Nei- ther side would give in and the meetings were abandoned. In spite of interdict and opposition, the meet- ings of the evangelicals were both maintained and well attended. The frequency of such meetings — they were held every night and three times on Sabbath — enabled the timid ones to choose their own time for slipping in unobserved. Among those who came we read of Habl, the carpenter; Athanasius, the wheelwright; Kleir, the miller; Hanna, the dux of the Coptic school; Feltus, the goldsmith. The whole situation presents a vivid analogy to that of the spread of Christianity in Apostolic days! The accession of two of the wealthiest Copts of the city gave to the strug- gling Protestant Church at Assiut a stronger in- fluence still. It is impossible to give the story of this inter- esting period in detail. To take a broad survey, we take our stand at the close of the year 1869. Fifteen full years have passed since the American Mission was founded. The Protestant Church in Egypt now numbers 180 members. Its yearly contributions amount to $566. It is difficult to believe, when these figures are quoted, that so small a movement could have aroused, let alone 158 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE have outlived, the hostility of a Patriarch whose Church numbered hundreds of thousands and who was receiving also a large measure of support from the civil authorities. But numbers do not reveal the full power of any movement. This Evangelical Church, though small, had a spiritual life that was self-extending, self-projecting, irre- sistible. This life was also receiving symmetrical development. Rooted in the Word of God, resting upon the power of the Indwelling Spirit, it now had its presbyterial organisation, two organised native congregations, smaller groups of believers at different centres, eleven schools, besides the foundation for a college, and a Theological Sem- inary, almost in embryo, but yet training young men for future leadership. It had one native pastor, eight American men missionaries, two un- married women missionaries, with regular sta- tions at Cairo, Alexandria and Monsurah, in the Faiyum, and at Assiut. Even now the life of a great ecclesiastical organism was beginning to pulsate! Four hundred and thirty-eight, on an average every Sabbath morning, listened to a pure gospel, and 633 boys and girls received daily the impress of a Christian education. EXPANSION AND ORGANISATION The next decade of the Mission’s history was one of expansion and organisation. The growth MISSION HOSPITAL AT ASSIUT THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT CAIRO Faculty and Students - THE AMERICAN MISSION 59 of the work during this period is really note- worthy. The membership of i8o, with which the period opens, more than quintuples in ten years, becoming 985. The attendance at service advances from 438 to 2,083. Schools increase from twelve to twenty-four; and instead of 633 young lives under its influence, the Mission has 2,218. Growth in numbers is accompanied by growth in grace, and in the grace of liberality, too, (often a supreme test), for while the average per member of native contributions to church work was $3.14 in 1870, ten years later it was $4.80, while the total contributions went up from $566 to $4,726. A section in the Assiut Report for 1870 goes a long way toward explaining this phenomenal growth. The section is entitled, “ New Centres of Operations and the Development at Each of a System of Aggressive Action on the Part of In- dividual Converts Labouring Without Pay.” Here we read of such male members of the Church as are unable to go to villages and towns at a distance, being enrolled as Sabbath School teachers, or as workers in the lanes and market places. Others go off in pairs and generally spend a night at the village or town which they visit. Some are absent as long as a week at a time. From one old congregation fifteen go out; from another twelve. The corps is not only i6o IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE directed, but led by the missionaries themselves, who generally take the most distant towns, though they must be back at work in the Semi- nary early on Monday.” Then, too, a remarkable interest in the study of God’s Word developed. In the Assiut Dis- trict, thirty night meetings were held each week throughout the entire year of 1872; the average attendance at each meeting was twenty persons. In 1873, no less than 624 night meetings were held in the town of Assiut alone, while neigh- bouring towns reported 313, 373, and 391 meet- ings, respectively. Another factor which aided in the rapid ex- pansion of the work and the growth of the Native Evangelical Church, was the acceptance of the truth by men of influence. For example, in Nakheilah, where there is to-day an earnest, spir- itually-minded Protestant congregation of some 300 members, the open profession of his faith in the new doctrine on the part of Tadrus Abu Zag- lami, resulted in the rapid growth of the Church in that section. Tadrus was a man of position, and head of the laity of the Coptic sect in the whole region. Yet he renounced worldly hon- our, joined the small and despised Protestant party, opened up his house to their preachers and stood for their defence, silencing their opponents. He always carried a copy of the New Testament THE AMERICAN MISSION i6i in his pocket, and wherever he went and whom- ever he met, he never lost an opportunity of presenting its teachings. Earnest, humble, sin- cere, and lovable, his influence reached far, while all members of his large household were also brought to a saving knowledge of the truth; this gave him unfeigned delight. Having lived “ in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God,” he also joyfully obeyed his Master’s summons to ap- pear in His presence. He must have been about eighty years old when he died. While these missionary successes were achieved, for the most part, through work among the Copts, nevertheless, every possible opportunity was im- proved for presenting the truth to Moslems also. This was done at that time, as to-day, chiefly through educational work. The result of such work was seen in the conversion, during this period, of Ahmed Fahmi. His persecution con- stituted an epoch in the history of the Mission. Ahmed and his two brothers had been pupils in the Mission school in Cairo. Their father was a clerk in the Moslem court of appeal, a man of good position and some wealth. While Ahmed was attending the Mission School, he also took lessons in the Azhar. ' The influence of the Mis- sion School upon him was not immediately ap- parent. It had taught him to read English and French, and had brought him into touch with the i 62 in the valley OF THE NILE truth and opened to him certain books; that seemed to be all. Later Ahmed was employed as a teacher of Arabic for the new missionaries. One of the text-books used was the Bible. After his con- version he told how he tried hard not to think of the meaning as the daily chapter was read. After a while he began to ask questions, and was finally persuaded that Christianity was true. ‘‘ He had great conflict of soul. On one side was the honour of his family and friends, and the ter- rible disgrace he would bring upon himself and his loved ones (for he dearly loved his parents, brothers, and sisters). On the other hand the terrible persecution and death that, perhaps, would follow; the hate that would take the place of the fond love in the hearts of his relatives. Then there was the love of Christ and the promise of salvation through Him alone. After a long and fierce struggle, the decision was made, en- couraged thereto by the assurance that he would receive “ a hundred-fold more in this life with persecution, and in the world to come life ever- lasting.” On November 26, 1877, he was bap- tised. It was a touching scene. Everybody felt that he had literally given up everything for Christ. The news of Ahmed's defection spread through- out the city. It was not safe for him to leave THE AMERICAN MISSION 163 the Mission. His Moslem friends came there to see him; they brought learned men to argue him back to Islam. Arguments, entreaties, tears, and threats were used, but without success. One evening, as he w^as going from one missionary’s home to that of another, a disguised band, led by his brother, kidnapped him. That night was, for the missionaries, one of great anxiety and earnest prayer. Ahmed was finally located. He was alive and safe, but under the strictest surveillance of his relatives. This lasted for five weeks. He was assured by them, that, according to Moslem law, he would be murdered. The entreaty of his mother, who seemed to be dying, was also brought to bear upon him. Under this pressure, he assented formally to the Moslem creed. He sent word, however, to the missionaries, who had been having no access to him, that he was a Christian. A few days later, he escaped to the Mission, where he was received with great joy. Appeals were made to the government by the British and American consuls for the safeguard- ing of Ahmed’s rights under the act allowing re- ligious liberty, and orders were indeed given to Ahmed’s relatives that they would be responsible for his life. Public sentiment was, however, be- yond the government’s control. It continued to be unsafe for Ahmed to appear in public. Un- i 64 in the valley OF THE NILE nerved by five months’ confinement in the Mission and in his father’s house, he was glad to accept an offer of the Earl of Aberdeen to go to Scot- land and pursue further studies there. The noble Earl, a loyal friend to the Mission, assumed all expenses of this trip and of Ahmed’s subsequent course of study at the University of Edinburgh. On completing his course of study, Ahmed re- ceived an appointment as a medical missionary to China under the London Missionary Society. These experiences showed that the day had passed when a Moslem could be legally put to death in Egypt for becoming a Christian, but they also revealed the power of Islam and its relentless hostility toward Christianity. This period has been characterised as one of organisation, as well as of expansion. The de- velopment of the work and the growth of the Native Church called for adjustments, rules, and new organisations. “ The Egyptian Association of the Missionaries of the United Presbyterian Church of North America ” was an organisation which appeared during this period. An important distinction was thus made between the Mission and its agents as related to the Church in America, and the ecclesiastical organisation of the Native Church. To the Native Church Presbytery were committed, freely, all ecclesiastical matters, such as the oversight of students of theology, their licen- THE AMERICAN MISSION 165 sure and ordination, the organisation of congrega- tions, the use of money contributed by the native churches ; this responsibility developed, in the Native Church, self-government and self-direc- tion. To the Missionary Association were com- mitted the location of American missionaries, the disbursement of funds received from America, the control of missionary institutions supported by foreign funds. This adjustment was one of great importance for the proper delimitation of authority, and the avoidance of friction in admin- istration. During this period, also, a number of what are to-day the strongest Protestant congregations in Egypt, were organised. Thus to the successes of the Mission in winning individual converts there was added the more significant success of build- ing these up into self-directing, self-supporting, and self-extending native congregations. Of one congregation we read, ‘‘ They not only ask no help from the Mission, but actually refused it when offered them. The moral effect of this ex- ample will be felt not only throughout Egypt, but even in Syria.’' Of another congregation we read, ‘‘ Their contributions last year averaged eight dollars per member.” Hindrances ought also to be spoken of. In addition to much persecution of individual con- verts, we discover that government officials fre- 1 66 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE quently refused to Protestant congregations per- mission to build houses of worship, or even to worship in school buildings already erected. For three years the members in Kus laboured under such a double disability; yet the work of grace persisted and even increased in power. Of the political events of this period, which displaced Ismail from being Khedive and placed Tewfik upon the throne, we may not speak here. Surveying the results, after a quarter of a cen- tury of work on the part of the American Mis- sion, we find its main stations — naming them in the order of their establishment — at Cairo, at Alexandria, at Assiut, in the Faiyum, at Mon- surah; we find eleven organised congregations scattered all the way from Alexandria, at the sea- board, to Nakheilah, some four hundred miles up the Nile; the Gospel of salvation by faith has brought 985 persons to an open confession, while the truth is also working powerfully in the hearts of hundreds of others. It is doubtful whether early Christianity in Egypt made more rapid progress than this during the first two and a half decades of its history. If it be objected that the modern missionary movement has an undue ad- vantage in the existence of communities of Copts, the reply may be made that early Christianity en- joyed an exceptional advantage in the existence of communities of Jews. Neither does the dif- THE AMERICAN MISSION 167 ference between a Jew of the first century, partic- ularly in Egypt, and a Christian of the first cen- tury, seem greater than that existing to-day be- tween the ordinary Copt and the present-day Protestant. There were a number of factors which con- tributed to the rapid progress of the work already described. A deep reverence for the Bible. The Copts accepted the Word of God. While the priests gave prominence to the sayings of the fathers and the decrees of Councils, and while the Word of God was not known for lack of copies or through illiteracy, yet, in the thought of the peo- ple, God’s Word was a final authority. This proved an invaluable reenforcement to evangeli- cal missions. The Evangelistic Spirit. There was a marked zeal in communicating to others the knowledge of the truth. This was done informally, individu- ally, — a natural and spontaneous activity in what we call to-day “ personal work.” The gospel of sal- vation through faith in Christ spread rapidly by the endless chain ” method of communication. The Spirit of Inquiry and Discussion. The earnestness with which truth was examined was in sharp contrast with the spirit of religious apathy, which, far too greatly, characterises our Western life. In Egypt, the missionaries found i68 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE little difficulty in maintaining meetings almost every night of the year for religious inquiry and discussion. The Conversion of Leading Men. It pleased God to glorify His gospel by displaying its power, again and again, to attract and transform the lives of leading men in the communities in which it was preached. Not only the personal influence of these men, but their financial resources also, enabled the growing Church to establish and equip itself more rapidly. This was signally the case at Assiut, at Nakheilah, at Kus, and in a measure in Cairo. Gifted and Devoted Missionary Characters. It would require a series of biographies to do justice to the service of these pioneer missionaries in the Nile Valley. They were indeed “ wise master-builders ” and true was the foundation they laid, in doctrine, in organisation, in methods of work. Their gifts varied, but in scholarship, in leadership, in adaptability, in the rare union of the spiritual with the practical, in organising tal- ent, in personality, or else in marvellous capacity for work, the missionary work in Egypt com- manded the services of rare men. These were at least the chief factors which entered, under the blessing of God, into the mis- sionary successes of the quarter of a century which has been surveyed. V RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS I T was in 1517 that Egypt became a Turkish pashalic through the conquests of Osman Sul- tan Selim I. For two centuries, Turkish pashas endeavoured, with varying success, to up- hold in Egypt their own authority or that of their sovereign, the Sultan, against the mameluke fam- ilies, whose leaders .had formerly governed the country, and who still held great influence and power. In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte occupied Egypt and converted it into a province of France. Three years later, the British victory at Alexan- dria forced him to evacuate Egypt, and once more the country reverted to the Porte. Only a half-decade later, Mohammed Ali, a young Albanian, compelled the Sultan to recog- nise him as Pasha of Egypt, and, a few years later, by his military prowess secured concessions from the Sultan which made him almost an in- dependent ruler, wdth Egypt for his kingdom. Thus was established the Khedivial line of rulers. 169 I/O IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE We now pass to the year 1863 when there came to the Khedivial throne one whose reign proved “ a carnival of extravagance and oppression.” In fourteen years, this Khedive, Ismail Pasha, ad- vanced the national debt of Egypt from the mod- est sum of about three million pounds sterling to the appalling amount of eighty-nine million pounds. Even before he had reached this state of bankruptcy, European influence had done something to avert a financial crash, but in 1879 heroic measures had to be adopted. Ismail was deposed and the financial affairs of the country were placed under the control of an International Debt Commission, representing France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, and Great Britain. When Tewfik succeeded his father, Ismail, as Khedive of Egypt, the country was indeed in a sorry state. The treasury was depleted; the re- sources of the country had been reduced by mal- administration or mortgaged by former loans; taxation had been advanced until it was ruinous; the people were discontented; the army was in the hands of unscrupulous men ; a non-elastic and unsympathetic financial policy administered by foreigners controlled the expenditures of the gov- ernment. His was a rough road to travel, and the new Khedive had neither great administrative gifts, nor worthy counsellors, to assist him in dealing with this difficult situation. RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 17 1 THE BRITISH OCCUPATION In 1881, a military revolution broke out in Cairo. In 1882, this developed into a widespread rebellion headed by Arabi. A massacre took place in Alexandria. Foreigners began to leave the country. Representing the Powers, England and France sent their fleets to Alexandria to sup- press the rebellion. France refusing to co- operate, the British fleet bombarded Alexandria on July II, 1882. On September 13th, the rebels were defeated at Tel-el-Kebir. On the 14th, an advanced guard reached Cairo. The next day. Sir Garnet Wolseley and the British army formally occupied the city. The volumes that describe the effect of British occupation upon Egypt are neither few in num- ber nor small in size. Milner, Adams, Traill, Worsfold, Penfield, White, Dicey, and most re- cently, as well as most fully and authoritatively. Sir Auckland Colvin in his “ The Making of Modern Egypt,” — have told of the benefits which have accrued to Egypt from the British occupa- tion in the solution of the nation’s debt problem, the reduction of taxation, the development of the country’s resources by irrigation, reforms in the Department of Justice, marvellous strides in edu- cation, the restraint of lawlessness among for- eigners, the suppression of bribery, the safe- 172 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE guarding of peace, the prevention of official tyranny. Here we are concerned with the effect of this political change upon missionary work. The entrance of Great Britain into Egypt must be recognised as an event of great significance to the missionary movement. However, as several years elapsed before British policy assumed an entirely definite form and before the relation of that policy could, therefore, become noticeable, the consideration of this question is left to a later section. Two immediate results of British occu- pation may be noted here. One was the entrance into Egypt, following the flag, of the British organisation that had once before laboured in the Nile Valley, the Church Missionary Society. The other was the practical suspension of those acts of official tyranny which had constituted so wide- spread and so open a persecution of Protestants. THE AMERICAN MISSION During the days of the Arabi Rebellion, the American missionaries and their work had en- joyed a remarkable manifestation of God’s pro- tecting power. When on June ii, 1882, with shouts of ‘‘ Death to the Christians,” a band of Moslem ruffians, armed with clubs, attacked for- eigners in the streets of Alexandria, and while hundreds were killed or injured for life, neither RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 173 missionary nor native Christian of the Mission in that city lost his life. Again, on July nth, when the city of Alexan- dria was bombarded by the British and when the rebels, by looting the city and setting fire to it, added widespread ruin to what was but partial damage, it was found that the property of the Mission was undamaged, save that a bookstore was robbed of a few secular books. In Cairo, too, while September 15th had been set by the Moslems for killing and plundering the Christians in that city, both Protestants and Copts escaped their expected fate by the arrival of the British on the day previous to the date fixed for the attack upon the Christians. And although the evangelical community, scattered throughout the Nile Valley, were often in great fear and anx- iety, and although the Moslems about them threat- ened to murder all the Christian men and appro- priate their wives and daughters and property, yet, during all these troublous times, not one of these Protestant Christians was harmed, nor their services interfered with. Again were the words of the Psalmist verified, “ The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear Him.” In 1883, the country was visited by an epi- demic of cholera. Over four hundred deaths occurred at Cairo in a single day. The official 174 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE reports placed the total number of deaths in the country at over 40,000. The missionaries, how- ever, enjoyed immunity from the dread disease and continued at their posts ministering to the sick. While thus protected from danger from with- out, the Mission underwent trial in the defection of some from the faith. A missionary who had left the Mission in 1869, because of false views, usually designated as Plymouthism, returned to Egypt and endeavoured to sow heresy among the congregations established by the Mission. Under the plea of special sanctity, as well as of personal indigence because unsupported by any mission, and being already acquainted with many of the people from his former residence in Egypt, he readily secured an entrance and a hearing wher- ever he went. Many were carried away by his false teachings; among them two pastors. After fail- ing in repeated interviews to restore these breth- ren, the Native Presbytery found it necessary to put them out of the ministry, while the mission- aries and the Presbytery strove to check this harmful movement, by a fuller expounding of the Scriptures bearing on the disputed points. The leaders of the movement went to extreme lengths in teaching that unordained laymen could admin- ister the sacraments, and subsequently fell out among themselves about certain teachings. A re- RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 175 action against the movement resulted and it prac- tically died out altogether, the people generally declaring, “ We will stick to the Church that gave us the gospel.” A spiritual coldness, how- ever, developed in the very places where the movement had created the greatest excitement. Special interest among Moslems appeared after the Arabi Rebellion. The reasons for this are not hard to find. The failure of the rebellion, and the downfall of the mosque party which had aided Arabi, blasted the hopes of those who had expected the establishment of a Moslem regime. Then again, as almost every missionary knows, there are a great number of Moslems who in secret avow their disbelief of Islam and their belief in Christianity. Many of them expected a large measure -of religious liberty to obtain, be- cause of the British occupation. Their inquiries about Christianity became more open and re- peated. The experience of a convert, Mohammed Habib — who accepted Christianity, and was seized, dragged to the kadi’s court, maltreated, robbed of his goods, and then had his wife taken from him, while he was sent to a government insane asylum, — was not calculated to reassure them in their hopes. His arrest was brought to the attention of the British representatives in Egypt, but the Egyptian Prime Minister per- suaded Her Majesty’s Consul-General that the i;6 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE presence of this convert would be the cause of religious disturbances, and so he was banished for over a year to Cyprus. It is true that subse- quently his faith in Christ suffered eclipse, never- theless the hardships he experienced at this time put a check temporarily upon an encouraging movement among Moslems. With all these hindrances: — rebellion, cholera, defection, and persecution — the Church grew. During the brief period of five years after the quarter-centennial anniversary of the Mission’s establishment, the number of organized congre- gations grew from ii to 19; the membership' from 985 to 1,688; and the average attendance at Sabbath morning services, from 2,083 to 3,1 14. A DECADE OF GREAT CHANGES During the years 1885 to 1894 great changes began to take place indhe political and industrial life of the country as a result of British admin- istration. These have been noted in earlier chap- ters. This period, however, was also one of marked changes in the life of the American Mis- sion. Changes occurred in the force of American missionaries. In 1886, the Rev. John Hogg, a prince of Christian workers, died; one on whom the Protestant community, in many places, depended so entirely for encouragement, advice, and leader- RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 177 ship, that the people, at his death, were alone saved from despair by the historic saying, “ God is not dead/' At his funeral, as the people passed by the coffin in a seemingly endless procession, “ to look for the last time on the placid face of the great and good man who had done so much and laboured so long in their midst,” the Moham- medan governor, who was present, exclaimed, “ How they loved this man ! ” and this governor and his attendants showed their respect for the deceased by walking to the city limits. In 1889, Mrs. Sarah B. Lansing {nee Dales) passed to her reward. She was the first married woman missionary of the Church she represented, to go to the foreign field. She had a rare power in leading souls to Christ. Foreigners and na- tives, missionaries, mission workers, pupils in the schools, and travellers, all, were drawn to her by the irresistible charm of her sympathy with others and her love for them. In this period, too, in 1892, the Rev. Gulian Lansing, D.D., died, after thirty-five years of missionary service. He was a man of great faith. “ One day his colleague. Dr. Hogg, en- tered his room in Cairo and said, ' Dr. Lansing, I have nothing with which to get dinner.' Dr. Lansing, taking the last dollar out of his purse, gave it to him, saying, ‘ Take that.’ ‘ But what will we do for to-morrow ? ’ asked Dr. Hogg. 178 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE ' Never mind to-morrow; the Lord will provide/ replied Dr. Lansing, and so He did. For the next day a letter came enclosing a small remittance.’* Dr. Lansing also had great persistency of pur- pose. To him, perhaps, more than to any one else belongs the credit of securing funds for the erec- tion of the splendid Cairo Mission premises, near Shepheard’s Hotel. Dr. Lansing will be remem- bered particularly as a man of striking personal- ity. Genial and social, keen and cool in argument, dignified and kingly in his bearing, he was the spokesman of the Mission in official circles. To him chiefly is due the credit of securing for the Protestant Church in Egypt legal standing through a recognition of it by the government as a religion or sect. There were also changes of leadership in the Native Church during this decade. During this decade Fam Stephanos died. He was a remark- able character. Tall, broad-shouldered, with fine physique, long beard, and kingly bearing, he could easily be chosen as an ideal type of an Eastern patriarch. He had joined the Protes- tant body in the early days of its weakness, and reference has already been made to the storm of persecution that burst upon him. He became the leader of a strong Protestant community at Kus. Remarkable changes also seemed to be affect- ing the life of the Coptic Church. The diffusion RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 179 of religious knowledge, and especially the distri- bution of the Scriptures by the Mission, led many of the Copts, who wished to adhere to the Coptic Church, to ask whether both in worship and doc- trine the Coptic Church might not be reformed. In many places, accordingly, pictures were re- moved from the churches, and a more liberal use of the Arabic and a more restricted use of the dead Coptic began to obtain in the Church serv- ice. In many places nightly meetings were - opened for the study of the Bible, in imitation of the methods used by the Protestant workers. At Assiut, the Coptic Church went so far as to ask for, and secure, the services of a Protestant licentiate to conduct religious meetings for her members for an entire year. In the higher cir- cles of, the Church, the reform spirit manifested itself in the organisation of a Council to rectify abuses in the administration of the financial af- fairs of the Coptic Church. The Patriarch, how- ever, proved intractable. The Council secured his temporary banishment, but, failing to find sup- port among the people, the reform movement finally failed to effect any real change in the standards and policy of the Coptic Church. Most important, so far as the American Mis- sion was concerned, was a new development in the policy of the Mission with reference to the work in the Delta. Absorbed with the oppor- i8o IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE tunity for evangelising the Copts, and for ex- tending the work into Upper Egypt, little thought and less effort could be spared for considering and meeting the needs of the Delta population, which is almost solidly Mohammedan. In 1893, however, a missionary station was opened at Tanta; in 1894, missionary stations were opened at Benha and Zagazig. The American Mission is often referred to by those who are not fully acquainted with its aims and policies as a Mis- sion to the Copts. This impression is doubtless due to the extensive development of the work among the Copts, owing to the unusual response which Protestant teaching found among the members of this faith. The aim of the Mission, however, has always been, in keeping with its mission to the entire nation, to reach Moslems as well as Copts. And, during its history, the American Mission has won almost three times as many Moslem converts as all other agencies to- gether have done. Hundreds of Moslems are in the American Mission’s schools, hundred of oth- ers are being reached by the Harem worker, the Colporteur, and the Evangelist. The establish- ment of Mission stations in the Delta, however, gave an added emphasis to the hitherto inade- quately developed side of the Mission’s policy, — aggressive and special efforts in behalf of Moslems. RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS i8i With its continued growth in membership and influence, the Native Protestant Church of Egypt gave indications of arriving at the age of self- consciousness. Having developed from two con- gregations to eleven, and then to nineteen, in the three periods we have considered, it grew in the period with which we are dealing to thirty-three organised congregations. The time when an in- fant Church, made up of scattered communities and widely scattered pastors, “ finds itself,” to use a phrase of Kipling, is a time of great im- portance. It marks the fulfilment of missionary hopes and prayers and efforts, and yet it marks a time of special anxiety and responsibility. At the close of 1894 the work of the American Mission embraced 33 organised congregations, with a total membership of 4,554; there were 1 19 week-day schools in operation, touching 7,975 pupils; while the Sabbath morning attendance could claim an average attendance of 8,886 persons. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Two words sum up the record of the years which follow 1895 and which bring us down to the present time, — Growth and Development. This survey of the history of the American Mis- sion has been so rapid that scarcely any refer- ence has been made to leading institutions — 1 82 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE the College, the Seminary, the hospitals, the large boarding schools. No account has been given of the development of even the great de- partments of mission work. If, then, these be introduced abruptly into our portrayal of the work of the most recent years, it must not be forgotten that the development of both institu- tions and departments was gradual. Indeed, al- most all of them appeared in the very first years of the missionary movement, although necessa- rily in very elementary form. The Evangelical Church, which had had but one presbyterial organisation since i860, now be- came a more extensive, as well as a more com- plex organisation. On February 22, 1899, the fifty organised congregations and the 165 sta- tions, — together embracing 6,515 members, and, until then constituting but one presbytery, the Presbytery of Egypt, — were divided into four presbyteries, the Presbyteries of Thebes, of As- siut, of Middle Egypt, and of the Delta. On May nth these again were organised into the Synod of the Nile. These presbyterial divisions grew out of evangelical districts which had been created for the better administration of home missionary work — a noble pedigree for any presbytery to enjoy, and a proper reminder of the true purpose of all church organisation! In educational work we now discover that RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 183 this department has grown to such an extent that we now have a great network of schools, enrolling over fifteen thousand scholars. The significance of these figures may be inferred from the fact that the enrolment in all regular gov- ernment schools for the same year was 18,712. We also find these schools, graded, unified, cor- related, so that each adds to its own prestige and power, the prestige and power of the entire mis- sionary movement. We also find this important department of the Mission’s work to a great extent self-supporting, paying some sixty per cent, of the entire ex- penses of its operation. We find at the head of it a college, Assiut Col- lege, with over seven hundred students drawn from over a hundred towns and villages, chiefly from Upper Egypt, yet there is representation from thirteen of the fourteen Provinces of the country. We find the students of this college every- where, from Alexandria to the farthest outposts of the Sudan, serving as editors and journalists, as government officials both in Egypt and the Sudan, in railway service, in the post-ofiflces, as bankers, too, as merchants, as agriculturists, — and, for the most part, upholding by their lives and teachings the standards of truth and moral- ity and righteousness. 1 84 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Of this institution Mr. John R. Mott, Secre- tary of the Student Volunteer Movement, said: “After visiting nearly all the missionary colleges and schools of importance in the non-Christian world, and studying their work and opportuni- ties, I have no hesitation in saying that the As- siut Training College, of Egypt, is one of the most strategic in the world. In fact, I know of no other college which has yielded larger prac- tical results for the amount of money expended than this particular institution.” We also find the Pressly Memorial Institute and the Luxor Girls’ School for girls ministering to the higher education of the girls of Upper Egypt, while the Girls’ School at Cairo is develop- ing into a Girls’ College for the elevation of womanhood in Lower Egypt. We find the fruits of this educational depart- ment of the Mission in the enlightenment and literacy of the Protestant communities every- where. A census, taken by the Mission in 1898, showed that in its Protestant community of 22,500 souls there were 521 out of every 1,000 men who could read, and 200 out of every 1,000 women. The government census of the previous year could show in the country at large, even in- cluding foreigners, only 124 out of every 1,000 men, and only ii out of every 1,000 women, who could read. But more than this, we find these RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 185 schools influencing hundreds of lives outside the Protestant community. Indeed, of 16,771 pupils enrolled in 1908, only 3,644 are Protestants, while 3,495 are Moslems, and 8,547 are Copts, the rest being of various faiths. We turn to the Evangelistic Department. Here the work of the Mission has become centralised. The main Mission Stations have developed so much work that missionaries do not itinerate per- sonally among the towns and villages to the ex- tent to which this was done by earlier mission- aries. This is not an altogether satisfactory de- velopment, but seems unavoidable when the work is so burdensome at these centres and the force is inadequate. However, the work directed from these centres has increased considerably. A strong force of Bible women visit homes and carry the Gospel to some three thousand women, who, otherwise, would scarcely come within the hearing of the Word. Presbyterial workers, licentiates and evangelists, go out to towns and villages where no other missionary work is done and preach the gospel or speak to men individually about its teachings. While still more direct evangelistic work would be desirable, yet the effectiveness of the work done is witnessed by the fact that, while in 1894 five hundred were regarded as a large number to be added to the Church in a single 1 86 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE year on profession of their faith, most recent re- ports speak of almost a thousand accessions in a single year. The Book Department has, thus far, been men- tioned only incidentally. The cooperation of the American Bible Society and of the British and Foreign Bible Society led to a wonderful develop- ment of this work. Who can estimate the far- reaching influence in Egypt of the printing presses at Beirut, in Syria! The sale of tens of thou- sands of Bibles, portions of the Scriptures, and religious books, every year, is an agency for evangelising Egypt that is simply immeasurable in its influence. Of the Medical Department nothing has been said. Now, however, two strong and well- equipped institutions appear: one at Assiut, the other at Tanta. In Assiut Hospital alone more than two thousand in-patients are cared for in a single year, while twenty thousand others are reached through its clinics. Moreover, the insti- tution is almost entirely self-supporting. The opening of the Sudan followed closely upon the overthrow of Mahdism by Kitchener, at the battle of Omdurman, in 1898. This led to important missionary developments. The American Mission in Egypt sent, in 1899, l^wo of its missionaries into the Sudan to explore the country and report on the prospects for opening RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 187 up missionary work in that country. A favourable report was received, and four missionaries of the Egyptian Mission were detached for service in the Sudan. The Native Church, too, baptised with the mis- sionary spirit, came to regard the Sudan as her providentially assigned foreign missionary field. She began to contribute money and workers, and the inspiring picture is presented of a mission Church becoming a missionary Church. We take a final survey of the work and growth of the American Mission in Egypt. Its foreign missionaries number (excluding wives) 50 work- ers. To these add 37 young men and women, foreign workers labouring in college, school, or hospital. Forty-six ordained native ministers and 15 licentiates care for the spiritual interests of 60 organised congregations and a membership of some 10,000. An army of 567 native workers labour to extend the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour. Some 20,000 men and women listen every Sabbath morning to the preaching of the Word by those who are connected with this Mis- sion; 14,177 scholars gather for further instruc- tion in the Sabbath School. Nor does the work lag on week-days, for 16,771 boys and girls — 3,459 of them Moslems — come under the influ- ence of the Christian schools which have been established, while the hospitals and clinics touch 1 88 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE with the hand of sympathy and healing some 35,000 lives in the course of each year. Who may also reckon the far-reaching influences of the work done among the 5,720 women receiving instruction in their homes from the harem work- ers, or the labours of pastors and evangelists and church members, too, or of the army of col- porteurs who wield the Sword of the Spirit! The fact that of the total cost of administering this work, $130,000 comes from the natives them- selves, either in fees or in contributions, or 53 per cent, of the whole amount, is a commentary in itself upon the wise policy of self-support which has characterised the work. To all this is added this crowning glory, that the in-gather- ings on confession of faith attained in a single year to 954. One single event of great significance remains to be recorded, and, with it this survey of the work of the American Mission in Egypt may be brought to a close. In October, 1902, after a ten-day conference, characterised by earnest prayer and a deep sense of responsibility for the spiritual condition of their mission field, the mis- sionaries of a sister-mission in India issued an appeal to the Home Church for 180 new mis- sionaries. This appeal contemplated the evangel- isation of the entire territory assigned by Provi- dence to that Mission. Quickened by the faith REjCENT missionary efforts 189 of their brethren in India, the American mission- aries in Egypt were brought face to face with this new and inspiring conception , — the actual evangelisation of Egypt. Regarding eight of the ten millions of Egypt’s population as fairly con- stituting the responsibility of their Mission, they asked themselves definitely the question. What force may be regarded as needed for the adequate evangelisation of this field? After long, careful, and prayerful consideration of the whole subject, an appeal was issued, in February, 1903, to the Church in America for 280 new missionaries. Never in her history was the Church in America so stirred as by these appeals. There was no gainsaying the necessity of having at least the number of workers which the appeals called for, if the millions of these mission fields were to be evangelised. Neither was there any gainsaying the obligation to evangelise these fields which the clearest providences had assigned to the Church. The only question was. Would the Church rec- ognise her obligations, assume them, and go forth to discharge them in the strength of her Lord? The General Assembly of the Church, on June ist, 1903, at a solemn and prayerful ses- sion, by unanimous rising vote, endorsed the ap- peals of the Missions as a true statement of ex- isting need, as a true statement of the duty of the Church, and as the deliberate purpose of the IQO IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Church to accomplish. Action similar to that re- ferred to has been since taken by many Church and missionary assemblies. Upon its complete and practical acceptance by all hinges the realisa- tion of the vision which has been lifted for the Nile Valley and the world — an evangelised Egypt and an evangelised world. THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY Among the results of British occupation the fact was merely mentioned, on an earlier page, that the Church Missionary Society, following the flag, was led to take up work anew in the Nile Valley. The relation of this second effort to that of the Society in the early half of the nine- teenth century is very clearly set forth in the Society’s own Annual Report. “ More than half a century ago the Society had an Egyptian Mission, a branch of its great enterprise for the enlightenment and revival of the Eastern Churches. That enterprise, which at first promised well, did not prove successful, al- though a large number of the Coptic clergy, and one Bishop, were trained in the Church Mission- ary Society Seminary at Cairo. The Society’s object now is quite different. The Copts are but a fraction of the Egyptian people. Ninety-five RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 191 per cent, are believed to be Moslems, and it is to them that the Committee would direct their efforts.” On December 16, 1882, the Rev. F. A. Klein, the Society’s experienced Palestine missionary and Arabic scholar, arrived in Cairo. Miss Whately opened to him the half of her school for holding services, and, through the attractions of an open reading-room, Mr. Klein came into touch with many Moslem inquirers. This interest, how- ever, Mr. Eugene Stock says, was “ more akin to the Athenian curiosity of St. Paul’s day than to serious inquiry.” In 1884 Mr. Klein enumer- ates four missionary agencies in use : the oppor- tunities afforded by Miss Whately’s dispensary and schools, a reading-room, a Bible depot, and an Arabic service. Of the latter, however, he says, “ The services are attended chiefly by Copts.” The next year we find a school opened. Three years later, in j888. Dr. F. J. Harpur was transferred from Arabia to Cairo, and opened up medical work at Old Cairo. Already, therefore, a beginning has been made in the two depart- ments of work upon which the Mission has laid great emphasis in its efforts to reach Moslems, — the literary agency and the medical. With the arrival of reinforcements and funds, schools were opened for boys and girls at several centres in Cairo, and also at Heluan; hospital buildings were 192 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE erected at Cairo and a large medical work de- veloped, while some itinerating was also done by the medical missionaries. The development of this work cannot be followed in detail. The Soci- ety’s Mission in Cairo was regarded as a base for advance into the Sudan, and, in 1899, the Sudan Mission of this Society was established. Since the Mission definitely declared that its purpose was to reach Moslems, it is interesting to notice the methods used for realising this aim. In the first place, it must be admitted that the missionaries were not able to avoid the necessity of coming into touch to some degree with Copts. Coptic children naturally attended the Mission schools, and adults the meetings. Where interest developed it followed naturally that ecclesiasti- cal affiliation was sought. The missionaries re- ceived such as applied but without confirmation, since their policy recognised the Coptic Church as a true Church. Then, too, the employment of Copts, either those reached by them or those reached and trained by the American Mission, brought the Mission into further relation with the Coptic community. A recent visit to Upper Egypt by the late Rev. Mr. Thornton of the Church Missionary Society also led him to urge his Society to develop what he regarded as a very promising field for work among the Copts of that part of the country. Such work, it is understood, RECENT MISSIONARY EEFORTS 193 would be along the lines of recognising and safe- guarding the ecclesiastical integrity of the Coptic Church, — much as did the former missionary ef- forts of this Society, more than a half-century ago. If this work be taken up, it will be most interesting to note whether a renewal of this policy will result in this ancient Church accepting evangelical truth and effecting necessary reforms, or whether it will again show opposition to all that would mean vital quickening. The Society’s identification with an Episcopal polity and defer- ence to the Coptic Church as a historic Church would naturally give her missionaries a special advantage in undertaking this task, if it is a prac- tical undertaking. The present friendly attitude of the Coptic Church toward the Society is indi- cated by the fact that, in accordance with a Coptic custom of holding memorial services for those whose loss it mourns, forty days after their de- cease, the Coptic Church begged leave to arrange a special memorial service for the Rev. Mr. Thornton of the C. M. S. Apart from sustain- ing these relations to the Coptic Church the So- ciety has adhered to its declared policy of la- bouring among Moslems. The most effective method of cultivating the Moslem field has been to locate in the midst of distinctly Mohammedan communities. This has been done very successfully in Cairo, where, as 194 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE in all Oriental cities, certain sections of the city are distinctly Moslem, and others are not. This Mission has also done some very valu- able and aggressive work in devising new meth- ods of approaching Moslems. Of these the most conspicuous is the publication of a semi-religious weekly paper. Orient and Occident. At the end of its second year, in 1906, it was estimated that the paper had several thousand Egyptian readers, of whom over a thousand would be Moslems. Indeed, a priceless opportunity ! Among the con- tents of the paper are illustrated articles on Old and New Testament history and discussions of the authenticity of the Scriptures, Moslem and Christian views of inspiration, and the agnostic and negative drift of Moslem theology. Another method has been a “ general meeting, at which an address on some social, national, his- torical, or moral subject was delivered in Eng- lish and Arabic, followed by a general discussion in Arabic.” At this no religious discussions were allowed, but the meetings were used to effect an acquaintance and draw Moslems to other meet- Questions were debated, such as Female Education, the Drink Question, Moral Purity, and Lessons from the history of Greece, Rome, England, Japan, Egypt. Another agency is “ an evangelistic meeting often followed by a disputation.” Of these meet- CONVERTS OF MODERN MISSIONS / -£i. • »■■ ,.>J ■p: -:,r..!V-.. - • ‘ i-' V y.:'- vf L 'if... , -:m > » •■ ' . I ^ • ' ■ : \j ' . ■ ■!■> 5.,' '"'h - , ••• w'A’ . -1 -■,.■> ^ V*- ... v‘*t~. V V if- .,r4, 1^ • _ RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 195 ings we read : “ The evangelistic meetings were, of course, much more trying and difficult things to manage. It seemed impossible, in the first place, to get the Sheikhs to attend, unless we gave them a disputation after the address. For that they would listen quietly to a Gospel appeal, in order to enjoy afterwards the dispute their souls love. Those disputations ! How often scenes of excitement culminated in the uproarious exit of the whole audience ! ” To these agencies were added much personal work, open reading-rooms, and the distribution of moral and religious tracts at fairs and public gatherings. For their earnest application of mind and heart to the solution of the problem of reach- ing Moslems great credit is to be given to the missionaries of the Church Missionary Society. Necessarily, at first, definite results will come but slowly in so difficult and resisting a field as the Moslem world. In 1885, the Church Missionary Intelligencer reports the first Moslem baptised in Egypt by one of their missionaries, and at the close of 1905 the Rev. W. N. T. Gairdner writes: ‘‘In 1904, we had already baptised nine Moslems; and to the end of this year, twenty.” The following account of the conversion of the son of a judge in the Islamic Court of Jerusalem casts many side lights on the Moslem problem, 196 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE as also upon the work of the Mission : “ He was well known to us last year as a frequent inter- rupter of our meetings. One day in the autumn Mr. Thornton encountered him in the book depot. He was carping at the Gospel when Mr. Thorn- ton taxed him with insincerity in carping at a book he had never read. He promised to read. “ From that point forward things moved fast. Side by side with the ‘ Life of Christ ’ he read a 'Life of Mohammed.’ " The difference between the two was over- whelming. It silenced many of his doubts. He became more and more impressed with the Gospel story and teachings, he felt he must get the mat- ter decided. One night he sat up for hours read- ing the Gospel and the Koran alternately. He went to bed, but could not sleep. Rising he spread out the two books and prayed, saying, ' God, show me which of the two ways is right.’ After agonised prayer he lay down and slept and dreamt that he was in a meadow alone; there came to him ‘ no form, but a Voice,’ and this is what it said : ' Thou shalt have thy desire, thou shalt be led into the Way.’ No more than this — and he found himself broad awake with the scene and Voice indelibly imprinted in his mind. He rose and went to the Azhar ; and all that day two feelings, not self-inspired, took possession of him; one was a strange drawing towards Chris- RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 197 tianity; the other an equally strange aversion to every Moslem. He took this to be the sequel to the Voice — to be the finger-post pointing at the parting of the ways. So strong did the feeling of aversion become that he was forced to with- draw himself from his class in the Azhar, and to go into a more secluded part of the great Mosque, and sit down and study — what? There in the heart of Islam, that place consecrated by nine centuries to the study and propagation of the Koran, this sheikh opened and studied the ‘ Gos- pel of Jesus Christ ! ’ “ All this happened when his eKamination, with which his mind was full, was only a few days distant. He went in for his examination, and passed it. Then he left the Azhar, never to re- turn, with a huge certificate signed by I don’t know how many turbaned sheikhs, each name with the seal of its owner under it. “ He wrote to his father in Jerusalem, con- fessing all, and straightway took Christ’s people as his people. For some months he was under testing and instruction. It was quickly seen that his character was a beautiful one, and his abili- ties very striking. After sufficient instruction he was baptised on Ash Wednesday, February 28th, in a crowded church in Old Cairo, with great joy. “ He is a very able fellow, and he was able to 198 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE be teacher of Arabic with great success in one of our schools. Everybody, whether English or Egyptian, liked him for his courtesy, good breed- ing, and real Christian character. The rapidity and ease with which he apprehended anything he was taught made one feel how truly his spirit had been enabled to grasp the things which St. Paul tells us the natural man is incapable of. How very strange and unaccountable it all has been. So things went on, until all of a sudden, in April, his father turned up in Jerusalem (he is one of the chief sheikhs there). Then came the trial to which he and we had always looked for- ward with dread. It was a strange time. No less than a fortnight did it last, and the pro- longed strain was very trying for the boy — he is really little more, only twenty-two years of age. “We decided that he must leave the country for a while, and, as Mr. Thornton was leaving Egypt for England, it seemed best (in spite of very obvious objections) that he should go, too. The final interview came, and the son wrote to him refusing once more to change. The father left, and then the poor fellow completely broke down. ... At last came the last day — a Sunday — and lo! a message from Lord Cromer, urgently desiring our presence. He was much disturbed. The father had been to him, and this and the -RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 199 fanatical state of Cairo owing to the Taba fron- tier incident were making him anxious. He said that Bulus must meet his father in his (Lord Cromer’s) presence, and sign a paper saying what he wanted to do, and with whom he wished to go. Bulus looked forward to this interview with the utmost dread and apprehension. I read to him verses of the 119th Psalm, and he was amazed at the appropriateness of the Word of God. At nine o’clock he had to go to the Resi- dency with Mr. Thornton. I had to go to church, as it was our Communion Sunday — it seemed sad that Bulus should be prevented from coming to church his last day, for they were to travel that evening; but so it had to be. I told the congre- gation briefly about it, and requested prayer for him then and there. When the people went out be- fore the ‘ Ye that do truly,’ I lifted up my eyes and there was Bulus, radiant ! I knew that the dreaded interview had passed, and passed easily and briefly. After church we heard how it had all gone — the father had not turned up; Bulus had been questioned by a Moslem before Lord Cromer, and stood firm. While the questioning was going on, the Prime Minister — Mustapha Pasha — and the Minister of Foreign Affairs — Butrus Pasha — entered, and they both witnessed the confession, one the highest Moslem in the land, and the other the highest Copt. So the 200 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE word had come to him, ‘ I will speak of thy testi- monies before kings, and will not be ashamed.’ ” At the beginning of 1907 we find the Society reporting stations at Heluan and at four points in or near Cairo. It has some 25 English mission- aries in Egypt proper and 31 native lay teachers. There are 134 baptised members and 61 com- municants; seven schools reporting 400 pupils. The native contributions (free-will, not fees or tuition) amount to ninety-five dollars. OTHER MISSIONS The presence and work of several other mis- sions may be briefly referred to. The North African Mission is a British mis- sionary agency. It is undenominational. The work in Egypt was begun in 1892. Two stations have been established, both in the Delta; one in Alexandria, the other at Shebin-el-Kom. The Mission aims to reach Moslems in particular and has had the joy of baptising several. The Egypt General Mission was established by a group of devoted British Volunteers who went to Egypt in 1898. Their aim is not to encroach upon the territory of other missions, but simply to supplement their work. In the beginning their policy was to avoid all missionary machinery and to depend upon personal contact with men for a direct presentation of Gospel truth. They have .RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 201 been compelled by the determining influence of religious conditions in Egypt to modify their policy. Schools and book depots have been opened by them at six main stations, all in Lower Egypt, and some successful work has been done among Moslems. The Sudan Pioneer Mission is a German Mis- sion, begun in 1901. Its aim is to carry the Gos- pel into the Sudan. Pending the opening of the Sudan its missionaries located at Assuan, began the study of the language, and have worked among the Bisharin Arabs and the Nubians. The Mission has not been able, for lack of funds, to extend its work. INSTITUTIONS AND SPECIAL WORK A number of organisations or individuals have laboured in Egypt for the uplifting of the people, and these may be grouped together because they use some special method or limit their operations to some special locality or institution. The Established Church of Scotland began educational work for Jews in Alexandria, in 1858, and this work has been maintained unin- terruptedly during the past five decades. Services are also conducted, but not in Arabic. In 1858, Miss M. L. Whately, daughter of the famous Archbishop of Dublin, first visited Egypt. 202 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE A few years later she opened a school for girls in Cairo, and, still later, a school for boys and a medical mission. Miss Whately also itinerated among the villages. The graphic pictures of Egyptian life which appear in her books “Among the Huts in Egypt ” and “ Ragged Life in Egypt,” written for young people, are most read- able and gave a wide publicity to her work. Her best-known work was her school for girls in the Faggaleh quarter of Cairo. In 1889, Miss Whately died, and this school soon came under the care of the American Mission, under whose auspices it is still maintained. The Dutch Mission at Galiub was founded in 1866. It consists chiefly of an Orphanage, al- though a native congregation of about thirty members has also developed. The Nile Mission Press is an agency for print- ing Christian literature in Arabic. It owes its existence, under the blessing of God, to Miss Annie Van Sommer, of England, and its useful- ness will be undoubtedly large in a Moslem coun- try where the printed page is perhaps the best evangelising agency. In Port Said we find the Peniel American Mission and the Bethel Orphanage, both doing work among children. There are a number of homes and hostels, such as the Young Women’s Christian Association RECENT MISSIONARY EFFORTS 203 and other organisations, at both Cairo and Alex- andria, but these minister, for the most part, to the foreign population of Egypt. No effort has been made to describe or enumerate such insti- tutions or the several congregations and churches whose ministry is to others than to Egyptians. VI THE PRESENT OUTLOOK T he Christian missionary movement in the world must necessarily be as broad as the faith which it promotes. Since Chris- tianity is as broad as life, the establishment of Christianity in any land makes it necessary to take account not only of the religious conditions of a country, but also of its political, social, intel- lectual, and material conditions. Having traced, in outline at least, the early Christian movement in Egypt, its deterioration and its displacement by Islam, and having taken account of both the continuous and the interrupted Christian mis- sionary efforts of the past century and a half, we are prepared to look conditions in Egypt in the face and consider the present outlook as it stands related to the evangelisation and Chris- tianisation of the land. POLITICAL CONDITIONS Alfred Milner has pointed out in his “ England in Egypt ” the anomalous political situation which 204 THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 205 obtains in Egypt to-day. Egypt is a part of the Turkish Empire and subject to the Sultan; wit- ness the three and a half million dollars of an- nual tribute sent to Constantinople! The Khe- dive is nominally an independent sovereign and Egypt is his kingdom; witness the firmans of the Sultan! Egypt is also subject to the control of the Powers; witness the six European Powers whose representatives interfere in the adminis- tration of financial affairs; witness also the four- teen Powers that hold treaty privileges in Egypt, such as no sovereign state would tolerate! But everybody knows, — and this is the truth, — that Egypt is subject to Great Britain; witness these British troops and British heads of government departments. The sceptre of power is to be found at the British Agency. Two decades and a half of British occupation have passed, and, in spite of all difficulties, Brit- ish administration has proved in Egypt, as in so many other lands, the truth of Lord Rosebery’s statement, that the British Empire is “ the greatest secular agency for good known in the world.” To compare the Egypt of 1883 with the Egypt of to-day is to reveal some startling contrasts, and these contrasts are the glory of Great Britain. The national debt — the greatest peril of Egypt in 1883 — has been reduced by $43,715,000, and has 2o6 in the valley OF THE NILE become, considering the country’s income, a negligible quantity. The interest charges which the country’s revenue must meet annually are $4,450,000 less than when British administra- tion came into effect. The government revenue, on the other hand, has been advanced from $45,- 000,000, in 1883, to $74,000,000, in 1905. Im- ports have advanced from $41,000,000 to over $120,000,000; exports from $49,000,000 to over $124,000,000. The dreaded Corvee, or forced labour, has been abolished; so, too, the octroi duties in towns, bridge taxes against boats, fish- ermen’s taxes, while both land tax and salt tax have been reduced. The Department of Justice also has been re- formed. The average case is put through the dis- trict court to-day in 71 days, as against 230 days required by the old regime. Education has ad- vanced, and both schools and the attendance upon them have gone forward by leaps and bounds. Figures are not available for a full comparison, but in government schools alone the attendance has doubled in fifteen years. Land — the gold dust of the Nile Valley — has advanced in value, so that Upper Egypt land that sold for $80 or less an acre sells how for $300, or more; and Delta farming land that sold for $350 an acre now is hard to get at $700 an acre. Add to this the fact that the cultivable area of THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 207 the country has increased 12 per cent, through irrigation works promoted by British adminis- tration. The fellah, who used to get from one to two piastres per day, now gets three to five; the mason or carpenter gets ten to twenty piastres a day, instead of five to eight as formerly; meat which formerly sold for one and a half to two piastres a pound now brings three to three and a half piastres; butter-oil was formerly two and a half to three piastres a pound, while now it is five; the official rate of interest on borrowed money has dropped from 12 to 6 per cent., and while the fellah used to pay 50 per cent, to 60 per cent, on money he would borrow, he need now pay only 9 per cent, to 12 per cent. This is a day of material prosperity in the Nile Valley such as Egypt has not known, perhaps not since the days of the early Ptolemies. For all this, certainly for most of it, credit is to be given to British administration, and British administration, during the past twenty odd years, has meant Lord Cromer. The missionary must and does rejoice in the material welfare of the nation. He must and does recognise that grinding poverty is an es- sential hindrance to the Gospel. He cannot but rejoice in deliverance from flagrant miscarriage 2o8 in the valley OF THE NILE of justice, open abuse of official power, insecure rights to property, and general instability of gov- ernment. It is a significant fact, too, that upon Lord Cromer’s resignation of office no party en- tertained toward him warmer feelings of grati- tude than did the missionary and evangelical community of Egypt. Yet the British policy in the Nile Valley is open to criticism. Few, if any, would deny that this policy has been pro-Moslem. A Moslem monthly magazine, the Arafate, in an article on the Brit- ish government of Egypt, says, and says seri- ously : “ Soon the Moslems of Egypt, of the Hejaz, of Yemen, of Syria, of Persia, of Algeria, and even of Constantinople, will not wish other than to be under this government which hitherto has shown itself determined to put the law of the Koran into force. Who knows? It will perhaps be the glory of Lord Cromer ... to resurrect Moslem law which the majority of our leaders declare, without blinking, to be utterly out of date.” Thus we find native Christians arbitrarily ex- cluded from several departments of government service, although qualifying for them. Native commissioned officers are exclusively Moslem. It is said that even in the days of Isma’il more Christians were permitted advancement to the position of omdeh of towns and villages than - THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 209 to-day. In spite of superior work in government examinations, native Christians must give prece- dence to Moslem candidates. Permission to observe the Christian Sabbath is still a privilege denied those in government em- ployment. Central and provincial government offices compel their Christian scribes to labour on that day. So is it with all those in the offices of the Board of Health or the Customs, in Court or Police Service, in the departments of Public Works, in government schools, primary, second- ary, or professional. As a result, innumerable business occupations also call for a breach of the Fourth Commandment, since lawyers and wit- nesses, . engineers, tradesmen, merchants, and shippers, are all forced to labour on the Christian Sabbath, because of the relations which their professions and callings sustain to government works. The contention becomes more one-sided when the fact is pointed out that Islam does not call for a day of rest throughout Friday, but only for noonday prayers. “ When ye are called to prayer,’’ says the Koran, ‘‘ on the day of as- sembly (Friday), hasten to the commemoration of God, and leave merchandising . . . and when prayer is ended, then disperse yourselves through the land as ye list and seek gain of the liberality of God.” The most devout Mohammedans would 210 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE not regard it as an act of disobedience, therefore, for them to work on Friday. Although these limitations upon liberty of con- science have been pointed out to the government, as yet no relief has come. On the contrary, the British policy in Egypt has been defended, and the defence offered is this : “ Egypt is a Moham- medan country; nine-tenths of the population are Moslems; therefore, the government should be in the interests of the majority.” But there is false reasoning in this defence. The question of religion is a gratuitous one. The government of Egypt should be for Egyptians — whether Moslems, Copts, or Protestants, matters not, — and the Christians, forsooth, are as much Egyp- tians as the Moslems — more so, if history be examined. Aside from the question of simple justice, there is an additional argument of policy. British ad- ministration in Egypt, by its partiality to Islam, has produced unfortunate results. It has devel- oped in Moslem ranks a spirit of pride, which leads the Moslem to believe that his religion makes him essentially superior to a Christian. It has given force to the epithet “ Infidel ” which the Moslem world has so long flung at the Chris- tian: “Infidel” — unfaithful, to Christian tradi- tion and teaching, to Christian institutions and practices; worse, without faith, for thus it is THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 2II that the Moslem interprets the excess of partiality of a Christian government to Islam. The situa- tion is almost parallel to the situation in India before the Mutiny. There, the compromises which the government made, only aroused reli- gious suspicion. For the Moslem can under- stand a man who has a different religion and stands by his convictions ; but the Moslem cannot understand the man who has no religion, or, having one, fails to openly avow it. Ulterior motives are naturally imputed. In India, it re- quired a Sepoy Mutiny to correct the evil and lead the British Government to declare itself a Christian government. Will it require such an experience to restrain this growing spirit of Mos- lem intolerance in Egypt and to lead Great Britain to come out into an open declaration of her own convictions, although exercising every toleration toward her subjects in their different faiths? In recent years a new phrase has appeared in print and is heard in popular speech in Egypt. It is “ Political Party.” Even to-day it is scarcely more than a phrase. A Legislative Council, which is only an advisory body, and a General Assembly with only a veto power in reference to taxation, are the foci of the ellipse which marks the movement of self-government in Egypt. The figure is well chosen, for there is 212 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE much wandering off into space, and it must needs be a long time ere self-government comes within the range of Egypt’s best interests. To describe the political parties of to-day would be to fix in the changing calendar of Egyptian politics, irrevocably, the date of this survey. Rabid journals, such as the Lewa and the Moayyad, vie with each other in a denuncia- tion of everything British, and seek thus to rep- resent the two wings of a so-called National movement. A better element is represented by the Watan. Its sober and judicious utterances find acceptance among both Christian and Mos- lem readers, and even among Moslem readers who are prevented by the solidarity of Islam from identifying themselves with anything that is not avowedly Islamic. From a political point of view, then, Christian Missions in Egypt find help and hindrance in British rule. Help, in the uplift of the people out of poverty, in intellectual quickening, in the safeguarding of life and property, and, above all, in a secure government. Hindrance, in the pre- occupation of men’s minds with material gain, in the increased cost of all missionary operations, in the inconsistencies of a Christian government, and in the reproaches of Western vice. Not for a moment could those who consider Eg}^pt’s interests advocate a return to former THE PRESENT* OUTLOOK 213 political conditions. Rather do we believe that the present political conditions are appointed of God, as scaffolding for building, to promote God's great redemptive purpose for Egypt. SOCIAL CONDITIONS The question arises whether missionary work or other influences have brought about any changes in the social life of Egypt. De Guerville, in his recent book, “ New Egypt," reports the following interview with his High- ness, the Khedive : “ Sir," I asked, “ this custom which you have set aside, of having several legitimate wives and numerous concubines and slaves, is it still general in Egypt ? " “ No," he replied, “ and you will find, espe- cially in the upper and middle classes, that the custom of having, several wives is disappearing rapidly. The principal reasons for this change are, first of all, the abolition of slavery, which makes it more difficult to obtain wives; and, secondly, the enormous increase in the cost of living. . . ." “ In a word, sir, it is economy and not virtue that has led to the change ? " “ How you talk ! " cried His Highness. ‘‘ Vir- tue? But, my dear fellow, we must first of all define virtue. . . 214 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE The measure of change indicated by this con- versation may be admitted as having taken place in the social life of Egypt, but it is a superficial change and means nothing. The standards of life remain unchanged. Make former condi- tions possible and polygamy would flourish again. Beyond this lies the deeper criticism that a large harem has never been so much the curse of Mos- lem social life as the easy and constant divorcing of wives. It was some decades ago that E. W. Lane wrote : “ There are many men in this coun- try who, in the course of ten years, have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more wives; and women not far advanced in age who have been wives to a dozen or more men successively.” Neither does an altogether modern estimate of conditions encourage the belief that much im- provement has been made in recent years. “ A prominent Moslem has said, in conversation, that not more than five per cent, of Mohammedans in Egypt retain the first wife to the day of her death.” From two directions, however, influences are working for the uplift of Egyptian womanhood. First, from the direction of education. There are to-day in the government, mission, and pri- vate schools which come within the scope of reg- ular government reports, some 11,112 girls of Eg}’ptian nationality. Even the ^loslem Kiittahs PRESSLY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE, ASSIUT THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 215 (primary schools) show some improvement in female education, for, while in 1895 only 139 girls are reported in attendance, in 1906 we find 12,839. These figures are trifling in the face of a population of eleven million souls, but they point to an improved sentiment relative to the position of women. The second influence for good is missionary work. Christian standards presented by mis- sionary, evangelist, school teacher, harem worker, and printed literature, but above all by the actual, home and social life of the missionary and native evangelical community, are doing much toward creating sentiment favourable to the uplift of Egyptian womanhood. ISLAM IN EGYPT Islam is a religious faith, a social system, and a political power. Some consideration has al- ready been given to the last two aspects of Islam. There remains the consideration of it as a reli- gious system in the Nile Valley to-day. A common habit is to regard the Moslem world as a fixed and invariable quantity; a world whose character is unaffected by outside influences, and which undergoes no change. It would be folly to underestimate the conservative character of Islam. It is perhaps the most unyielding reli- 2i6 in the valley OF THE NILE gious system Christianity has had to face. The reasons for this are not hard to find. Dr. Weitbrecht has pointed out the inability of Islam in India to effect a reconstruction of itself adequate to enable it to meet the pressure of Christian truth, scientific thought, and West- ern civilisation. The reasons for this rigidity of Islam, Dr. Weitbrecht finds in the limitations of its historic sense, its ethical character, and its conception of God. These are characteristics of Islam everywhere, and help to explain, from an inner point of view, the inflexibility of Mohammedanism. Another partial explanation lies in the fact that by its threefold claim, to be a religion, a life, and a government, Islam has succeeded in shutting out all subversive influences. Its religious truths, its social system, its political power — all three, by turn or simultaneously, have lent strength to its sovereign position in the lives of its mem- bers. While Islam has recently been shorn of its political power in Egypt and elsewhere, yet it is to be remembered that the dominance of a West- ern power — especially that of England, as we have seen in a former section — has not entailed hardship or persecution or even pressure upon Moslems, such as would tend to weaken the hold of Islam upon them. They have been per- mitted, if not encouraged, to hold fast to their THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 217 former faith. Contrast the benign rule of Great Britain over Moslems in Egypt with the influ- ences of Moslem rule, which subverted, in the Nile Valley, rather must we say, obliterated by sheer force, a whole Christian commu- nity ! In spite of the traditional opinion as to the inflexibility of Islam, there is ground for believ- ing that this faith is being influenced and affected in Egypt by contact with the West. Just recently has come the news of the laying of the corner- stone of the station of the new Hejaz Railway, at Medina (!!). Equally recent is the proposal to hold at Cairo a Pan-Islamic Congress to consider the reform of Islamic institutions. Constantino- ple is named as a rival place of meeting, but Cairo has the preference because there, under British protection, a Moslem Congress would enjoy greater freedom of speech than under Turkish rule ! This proposal for a Pan-Islamic Con- gress is significant, for only recently has it come to light that a secret meeting was held at Mecca in 1899, to consider the decay of Islam. The awakening in the Moslem world may move in several directions. It may seek to create a Pan-Islamic movement to combine Moslems throughout the world to defy and resist the Christian Powers.” Edward Dicey, in his '' The Egypt of the Future,” believes in this possible 2i8 in the valley OF THE NILE revival of a militant Islam. He points out that there has been among Moslems a conviction “ that for some inscrutable reason it was the will of Allah that unbelievers should gain the upper hand for the time being.” But he tells us that the defeat of Russia by Japan shook the Mos- lem world out of its apathy and gave birth to a widespread belief ‘‘ that the tide had turned at last and that the time was at hand when Islam might resume her career of conquest and might fulfil her mission of exterminating all unbelievers, no matter what creed they may profess.” Lord Cromer, in his last report upon Egypt before his retirement, also speaks of such a movement and mercilessly exposes its true character. He reas- suringly adds, however, “ If such are their wishes and intentions, I entertain very little doubt that they will find them impossible of execution.” Another direction in which the awakening may carry Islam is toward rationalism. Egypt is but three or four days’ journey from France. For years there has been a steady emigration of the wealthy youth of Egypt to France for purposes of education. Becoming acquainted there with rationalistic philosophy and tinged with atheistic views, made to recognise also the power of scien- tific thought, these young men are returning to Egypt to live and to lead. Without disclaiming their allegiance to Islam, they are emptying this THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 219 monotheistic faith of all its historic content and making use of it merely as a bond of union be- tween themselves and the party, nation, or race, whose leadership they seek to hold. Still another trend of the Moslem awakening is that which has had its best exponent in the late Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Mohammed Abdu. Standing at the very heart of the Moslem world, as the final arbiter and interpreter of the law, it was wonderful what sympathy he dis- played with Western thought. He gave his life to the service of Islam, seeking to reform its barren educational system, endeavouring to purify the corrupt Islamic courts, and doing all he could to bring the Moslem world into sym- pathetic relation with the West. The missionary in Egypt cannot fail to rec- ognise a marked rapprochement when he recalls the arrogant disdain with which Moslems of former years regarded the Christian faith. Meet- ings for religious discussion are now possible, which would have been occasions for riots, if per- mitted at all, two decades ago. More Bibles are sold to-day to Moslems in Egypt than ever be- fore. There is an attitude of open-mindedness which contrasts sharply with the intolerance which once existed. The awakening of the Mos- lem world promises an opportunity for presenting the Gospel to Mohammedans, such as mission- 220 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE aries in the Nile Valley had almost despaired of seeing. THE COPTIC CHURCH While the Coptic Church is known in Chris- tendom as the Church of the Monophysite heresy, this question gives the modern missionary but little concern. The contention between the evan- gelical preacher and the Copt is that of the ground of salvation: Is salvation of grace, or is it of works? By faith in Christ, or by fast- ing, confession. Church membership, and mass? The dominant feature in the Coptic system is fasting. The regular seasons of fasting occupy more than half the year. Fasting, however, does not consist in total abstinence from all food or drink, either during the day or during the night, but only avoidance of certain kinds of food or drink. Next to fasting, Mariolatry and Saint-worship constitute a line of cleavage between the Coptic Church and the Evangelicals, or Protestants, in Egypt. While the Coptic churches have no images, they do permit pictures. The ignorance of priests and people, together with the empty and meaningless rites of a church service conducted in the dead Coptic language, are the subjects which follow next in practical discussions be- tween Copts and Protestants. THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 22X Other facts may also be noted here. The Copts use immersion as the form of baptism, but prac- tise infant baptism. Transubstantiation is the universal belief; fasting the most important duty. The orders of their Church are, the Patriarch, the Metropolitans, the bishops, the priests, and the deacons. The name Copt is simply the per- verted pronunciation, handed down through cen- turies, of the Greek “ Aiguptos.” Looking forward to the triumph of a pure Gospel among the Copts of Egypt, there are two ways in which this may come about. One is by the complete disintegration of this ancient historic Church and the gathering of its spirit- ually renewed members into the Evangelical Church— either Presbyterian or Episcopal. The other is for the Coptic Church to experience a vital reform, such as will purge it of its dead formality and impart to it both spiritual truth and spiritual quickening. It is impossible at this stage to even venture an opinion as to the future. Meanwhile the process of disintegra- tion goes on, as members of that Church receive spiritual quickening, and, unable to find spiritual nurture in the Church of their birth, unite with the Evangelical Church. On the other hand, the Coptic Church has felt the pressure upon her, calling for reforms. Some reforms have been instituted, but these 222 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE relate almost entirely to educational matters or matters of Church administration. Schools have been multiplied, often through sheer rivalry with Protestant schools. In contrast with the patri- archal absolutism of former days, a Council of priests has recently been instituted, to meet under the presidency of the Patriarch to discuss mat- ters of interest to the priesthood. The Patri- arch also occasionally calls together the metro- politans and bishops for conference about mat- ters of vital interest to the Church. Reforms in the administration of Church and School Funds have also been instituted. The most hopeful sign is the increasing ac- quaintance of the people with the Scriptures and a demand made by them in many places to have preaching in Arabic. Until recently they had been satisfied with the Coptic ritual and the reading of some sermon, written by Chrysos- tom or by some other preacher of the early cenfuries. The most deplorable feature of the Coptic Church relates to her life and moral standards. The following statement is at hand from a na- tive Egyptian, who originally was a member of the Coptic Church, and has since laboured among Copts for several decades, and who by his rela- tionships, experience, and observation is abun- dantly qualified to speak with authority : THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 223 “ The Coptic Church does not use discipline against those who violate God’s moral law, and, for this reason, the morals of the Copts are not much higher than those of the Moslems. I have never, in my life, seen or heard of a man being ' suspended or excommunicated for swearing, ly- ing, drunkenness, or adultery. Such discipline has been used only against those who left the Coptic Church and became Protestants. All that is necessary for any sinner to do — whatever may be his private or public sin — is to confess these sins to the priest and he will be entitled at once to partake of Christ’s body and blood. One can easily see that breaking the Sabbath, profane swearing, lying, and drinking are regarded by the majority of the sect as if they were not sins at all ; and the heinous sins, such as adultery and stealing, etc., are sins which, through confession to the priests, will soon be forgiven. Yet the spread of the Evangelical teachings among many of them has led some of those still in communion with their ancient Church to regard sin in its true light, and to try to live a better life. “Of course, many Copts have discarded some of the errors of their Church, such as fastings, confessions to the priests, bowing before the pic- tures of the saints, etc., but nothing that could be called a reformation has taken place within the Church, in these respects. The priests, from 224 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE the Patriarch down to the least of the holy orders, are against any change whatever. “ The rites and ceremonies of the Church have taken the place of spirituality in worship. Even the preaching, that has been permitted in some of their churches in recent days, does not affect the hearts of the hearers. We have not seen any real revival in any Coptic Church, even in those which imitate Protestants in preaching and prayer.’' The judgment expressed in this extended quo- tation is supported by similar opinions and ob- servations recorded by many other equally reliable judges. The Rev. Andrew Watson, D.D., who has been a missionary in Egypt since i86i, writes: “To me the outlook at present for the spiritual ref- ormation of the Coptic Church is much the same as the political outlook for the reformation of the Turkish Empire.” If the outlook for reform within the Coptic Church is not bright, the invaluable services ren- dered to the missionary cause by those who were formerly Copts and have joined the Evangelical Church must not be forgotten. The purpose of God in preserving, through the dark period of Moslem domination, this remnant of His early people and Church, seems thus to have been vin- dicated in modern missionary work, and God THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 225 alone can tell what further service this people, if quickened and enlightened, may render to the extension of Christ’s kingdom. THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN EGYPT Among the important factors in the modern missionary situation in the Nile Valley is the Native Evangelical Church. It is true that this Church was originally formed chiefly out of con- verts from, the Coptic Church and that it has been chiefly identified with a Presbyterian form of government, because its beginnings were laid by missionaries holding to that form of Church polity in America, yet, for all that, this Church is truly Egyptian; it is a Native Church. With a membership of ten thousand and a Protestant community of thirty-five thousand souls, its influ- ence even far outreaches its numbers. The supe- rior intelligence, the high moral standards, the greater responsiveness to Western ideas, which obtain in the Evangelical Community of Egypt, to say nothing of the spiritual power of its life, have made this Protestant Church and its com- munity known and respected throughout the entire country. The Evangelical Church in Egypt, of course, has weak points and tendencies, against which she will need to guard herself. In the Orient especially, the danger from formalism is great. There could 226 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE be little danger of formalism in days gone by, when men left a traditional faith in the face of bitter persecution to become members of a new and despised Church; but that danger has devel- oped to-day. For the Protestant Church is re- spected to-day, and it is a mark of some advance- ment to be reckoned a Protestant. The danger is particularly great, also, that those who have been born in the Church — for the Church has come to the second generation of her existence — will hold allegiance to the reformed faith with the same formality with which others hold to-day to the false teachings and corrupt practices of the Coptic Church. There is also danger lest prejudice against Islam and against converts from Islam, should hinder this Church from exercising her widest influence among Moslems. It would be easy for the hatred of Copt for Moslem, born of centuries of suf- fering from Moslem oppression, to pass over into the Protestant Church with the large accessions which this Church has received from the Coptic body. Against this, missionaries and Church leaders must set their faces as flint, or the Evan- gelical Church will miss her true calling to be- come a National Church for Egypt. The remarkable material prosperity of the country and the pursuit of wealth, necessarily threaten to undermine the spirituality and the THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 227 evangelistic and missionary spirit of the Evangeli- cal Church. It used to be that every convert carried a Testament about with him and became a teacher of the truth he accepted. The self- extending zeal of the Church must not be allowed to wane, else the missionary enterprise will be a hopeless failure; for foreign agencies, alone or chiefly, can never accomplish the evangeli- sation of Egypt. But the native Evangelical Church has ad- mirable qualities which form a large part of the encouraging results of missions in Egypt. This Church is devoted to the Scriptures. To this tes- tify the wide sale of the Scriptures, the constant appeal to the Word of God for vindication and proof, and the Scriptural preaching of pastors and evangelists. This Church is also devoted to attendance upon religious services. To this wit- ness the records of religious meetings held every day for long periods of time in many places, while it is refreshing to a Western visitor to notice both the predominance of men and the fact that, usually, the attendance at church service will be twice as large as a congregation’s membership. This native Church has also a pure worship. In this, it commends Christianity to Moslems. The simplicity of the service and the absence of pictures disabuse the Moslem mind of every suggestion of idolatry which he has ordinarily 228 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE associated with Christian worship. As in Syria, so in Egypt, Moslems say, “If we become Chris- tians, we will become Protestants.” This Church is also loyal to the missionaries. On the whole, there has been little friction, such as has often appeared in native Churches of other fields, between the native and foreign missionary. Even those who have deliberately tried to sow dissension and schism have had little success. This is an earnest, for the future, of many years of harmonious and effective cooperation of for- eign and native workers for the evangelisation of Egypt. There is in the Church, also, a fine missionary or evangelistic spirit. Here lies the secret of the rapid growth of the Church during the past half- century. Every member was a worker. The obligation to extend the kingdom by personal work was accepted as an inevitable corollary to the enjoyment of the privileges of salvation. In this connection, the liberality of Church members deserves some mention. Again and again have lots been donated, or buildings been erected, by prominent members, for schools and church pur- poses. Passing by all moneys paid in as fees to missionary schools, hospitals, and bookstores, and considering only the contributions of the Protestants for regular church purposes, we find an aggregate of thirty thousand dollars contrib- THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 229 uted annually. Many, indeed, tithe their incomes. Once thoroughly fired with a zeal for carrying the Gospel to the whole of Egypt and to the Sudan, this Church will codperate mightily with the foreign forces in seeking to accomplish the evangelisation of Egypt. The intellectual superiority of Protestants to Copts and Moslems has been proved by statistics. This also manifests itself in the life of the Evan- gelical Church in the clear grasp which its mem- bers have of religious truth. Protestantism en- tered Egypt at the point of the sword, but it was the Sword of Truth. Doctrinal debate was the atmosphere in which the young Church grew and developed strength. The Evangelical Church is, therefore, on the whole, of a doctrinarian type. To this, under the blessing of God, she owes her steadfastness in the midst of heretical tendencies and distorted teachings; yet this very character- istic suggests her need for leadership, that she may also develop symmetrically, along lines of practical Christianity. It may also help to ex- plain an apparent reluctance to encourage evan- gelistic methods, which, though legitimate, might be carried to extremes of emotionalism. On the other hand, it is also true that the Egyptian reli- gious type is pietistic. Not that the Egyptian attains to the sublime religious rapture which characterises his brother Christian in India, nor 230 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE that he is capable of such lofty philosophic medi- tation; but he has a natural appreciation of that piety which renounces the pleasure of this life for fellowship with the Lord. There are, there- fore, pastors, and church members in the Evan- gelical Church who make fasting, not a means of salvation, but a real means of grace and spiritual quickening. This Evangelical Church, with her forty or- dained ministers, her membership of some ten thousand, her community of about thirty-five thousand, her hold upon the truth, her liberality, her prestige and influence — although, also, with her present imperfections and limitations of de- velopment, — may well be considered a valuable auxiliary for the further and final conquest of the country by an evangelical missionary movement. MISSIONARY AGENCIES One hundred and fifty years of missionary ef- fort have availed to evolve certain methods, policies, and agencies, which must mean much for missionary effort in the next half-century. The early efforts of the Moravians, which ex- tended over thirty years, can scarcely be denomi- nated a missionary movement. At no time did the missionary force exceed three foreign work- ers. The political condition of the country THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 231 seemed to forbid any institutional work. The most that could be done was to exert a personal influence upon individuals here and there. The labours of these unsupported missionaries could scarcely be expected to have established a per- manent work. Their efforts and sacrifices, how- ever, blazed the way for later generations of Christians to enter the Nile Valley and seek to occupy it with a pure gospel. The next missionary work in Egypt — that of the Church Missionary Society, — also interrupted and abandoned after several decades, was not barren of results. It was a sort of military reconnaissance which served later generations in good. stead, revealing the innate hostility of the Coptic Church to vital reform and pointing out the efficacy of both educational and literary methods in influencing Moslems as well as Copts. The next effort, that of the Americans, vin- dicated the policy of a Reformed Church organ- isation, in dealing with the degraded Oriental Churches, while it has also gone forward in the development of the leading missionary agencies — the educational, the evangelistic, and the medical. The special contribution of the recent Church Missionary movement has been to call attention to the need for attacking the Moslem problem, 232 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE not indirectly, but directly, and with specialised methods and specialising agents. To this same end, the Cairo Conference of Workers among Moslems contributed greatly. It met at Cairo, April 4 to 9, 1906, at the suggestion of the Arabian Mission of the Dutch Reformed Church of North America. Sixty-two representatives from twenty-nine missionary societies in Europe and America, together with an equal number of missionary visitors, contributed their best thought and wide missionary experience to a con- sideration of the problems of Islam. Their delib- erations fill two volumes. Viewing the mission fields of the Nile Valley at the close of this first decade of the twentieth century, what an unparalleled opportunity Egypt presents for aggressive missionary activity ! It is not adequate methods of work that remain to be devised. It is not new agencies that need to be discovered. It is not suitable spiritual weapons that remain to be forged. These all are at hand. The need is for the expansion and extension of missionary operations, until these become more nearly commensurate with the task which is be- fore the Church of Christ — the entire and com- plete evangelisation of Egypt. It is almost unbelievable that the spiritual need of Egypt should, in this year of grace and this age of missions, continue to be as great as it is. THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 233 Every missionary has, on an average, a parish of 80,000 souls. With all the progress of mis- sions, there are to-day, in Egypt, to every evan- gelical Christian, one Jew, about three Catholics, more than 26 Copts, and 369 Moslems — one evangelical Christian for every 399 who are not. It is true that we have with us “ the God of impossibilities,” and the divine promise reads. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hun- dred of you shall chase ten thousand.” But it is also true that in the spiritual conquest of the world, human agencies must bear some proper relation to the work which is to be accomplished, and God will not permit men to make faith in Him the subterfuge for spiritual sloth and selfishness. There is need for Christian institutions in the Nile Valley to-day: Christian schools, to take advantage of the nation’s intellectual awaken- ing, and build Christian character into the life of the rising generation. Schools especially for girls, that Egypt’s womanhood may be redeemed from the thralldom of ignorance, superstition, and sin, in the generation to come if not in this. An institution of higher learning which shall rival its prototype, the Catechetical School at Alexandria, in the early days of the Christian era, and which shall capture and hold for Christ the fortress of advanced learning in the Delta, as 234 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE Assiut College is endeavouring to do in Upper Egypt. There is need also for more workers. The harem, with all its rigid seclusion laws, holds the door open to women missionaries. For every one, now carrying the gospel from home to home, ten could profitably be employed. There is a call for men — but they must be men of ability. Egypt is the last field for the weak man to choose. Men with distinct gifts for leadership are re- quired. Men with linguistic ability, too, and in- defatigable powers of application — it takes both to master the Arabic, and the Arabic is the strait and narrow way that leads into the Mos- lem world. Men of devotion, also, willing to spend their lives in private interviews with the Nicodemuses of Islam, not begrudging their best talents and days to dealing with individual men, even though others gain greater glory by ad- dressing large gatherings and superintending widely-known institutions in fields more imme- diately responsive than that of Moslem life. Personal workers, masters of the Christian faith, and of the faith and language of those to whom they go, who are willing to surrender themselves, without dependence upon the machinery of mis- sionary institutions, to the quiet yet effective con- tact with individuals for the winning of them, one by one, to Christ. THE PRESENT OUTLOOK 235 Above all, there is need for prayer. Only through prayer can this miracle be accomplished : That the Copt, who was born blind to spiritual truth, should be made to experience regenerating grace; that the Moslem, who has never seen in Christian doctrine other teaching than that of blasphemous idolatry, should come to see in it God’s supreme revelation of Himself to human- ity; and that the Moslem world of Egypt, whose hatred of Christianity has been made keen both by the ravaging sword of Islam and the resist- ing sword of the Crusader, should find its hatred overcome by the power of Christian love. Why .may not Egypt be speedily evangelised? Political barriers have been largely removed. Moslem hostility has been considerably abated. Prosperity has lifted the nation out of the degra- dation of extreme poverty. Missionary expe- rience has tested and proved the best methods of work. Strategic centres, ready to be occupied, abound and even invite occupation. The Church is abundantly able, in both men and means, for the accomplishment of the task. God Himself hath declared for our encouragement, “Jehovah shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day.” And Christ’s own word unto His Church is, “ Say not ye. There are yet four months and then cometh the har- 236 IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE vest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest.” We say it reverently, Deus vult. And, ere the present generation pass away, Christ may be made known in every city and town, in every village and hamlet of the Nile Valley, if the Church of Christ be also willing. APPENDIX Note — F or those desiring to push their investigations further, the following explanations or references to au- thorities are given. Numerals refer to page and line to which authorities relate. P. i6, I II. P. i6, I 27. P. 17, 1. 2. P. 17, I 4’ P. 18, 1. 5.' P. 18, 1. 7- P. 18, 1. 17. P. 18, 1. 21. P. jp. 1. 2. P. 19, 1. 8. P. 20, 1. 2. P. 20, 1. 18. P. 21, 1. I. P. 22, 1. II. P. 23, 1. 2. P. 25, 1. 7. CHAPTER I J. G. Milne, “ A History of Egypt under Roman rule,” 129. E. L. Butcher, “ The Story of the Church of Egypt,” I, 4. Herodotus, II, 37. Georg Steindorff, “ The Religion of the Ancient Egyptians.” “Jewish Encyclopaedia,” see Alexandria. Harnack, “ The Expansion of Christi- anity,” I, 7. “Jewish Encyclopaedia,” see Egypt. “Jewish Encyclopaedia,” see L^ontopolis. “Jewish Encyclopaedia,” see Alexandria. Harnack, “ The Expansion of Christi- anity,” I, 12, 14. “Jewish Encyclopaedia,” see Therapeutae. Philo’s “ De Vita Contemplativa,” alone testifies to the existence of this order. Some have been inclined, therefore, to assign the book a much later date and make it describe simply an order of Chris- tian monks. See Gratz, Kuenen, Lucius, referred to in “Philo Judaeus” by James Drummond. J. G. Milne, “ A History of Egypt,” 16. Baedeker, “ Egypt,” 217. J. G. Milne, “ A History of Egypt,” 132. Harnack, “ The Expansion of Christi- anity,” I, 36. 237 238 P. 25, /. 19. APPENDIX P. 26, I 27. P. 27, I 7. P. 28, 1 . 6. P. 29, 1 . 17. P. 29y 1 . 26. E. L. Butcher, “ The Story of the Church of Egypt,” II, 19-23. Mrs. Butcher has brought together in two most readable volumes all that relates to the Church of Egypt. She presents a great mass of in- teresting description. Unfortunately, au- thorities are not given, so that it is im- possible to distinguish between that whose historicity is established and that which is based on wholly uncertain tradition. Hastings, “ Dictionary of the Bible,” see Mark. Harnack, “ The Expansion of Christianity,” H, 305-8. Harnack sums up all that is definitely known of Christianity in Egypt before 180 a.d. under six headings: (i) There was a local gospel, described by Clement of Alexandria and others as the “ gospel according to the Egyptians,” which orthodox Christians had already dropped from use by the end of the second century. (2) The heretic Basilides laboured in Egypt. (3) Another Egyptian, who probably began his work in Egypt, was Valentinus. (4) From the Pales- tinian document of 190 a.d., noticed by Eusebius, we learn that the Palestinian Church had exchanged letters, for a longer or shorter period, with the church of Alexandria in reference to the celebra- tion of Easter on the same date. (5) Eusebius introduces with a . X INDEX Abba Samuel, 64-65 Abdallah, 69, 72, 90 Abyssinia, 57, loi, 103, 104, 119, 124, 125 Ahmed, 161-164 Alexandria, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 33, 35, 42, 64, 92 Amelineau, 50, 54, 56 American Mission, 132-190; establishment, 135 ; first decade, 134; first con- verts, 136; first presby- tery, 138; first persecu- tion, '139-145; first ro- mance, 145-146; Church policy, 147; opposed by Copts, 146-157; expan- sion and organisation, 158-168; causes of growth, 167 ; defection, 174; interest among Mos- lems, 175 ; a decade of changes, 176-181 ; work in Delta, 179-180; growth and development, 181- 188; epoch-making con- ference, 188; service of, 231. See Statistics Amr, 60, 68 Ancient Egypt, 16-17; re- ligion of, 16, 32; influ- enced by Christianity, 30; influences Christianity, 49-50 Angel-worship, 50-52 Annianus, 26 Anno Domini, 15 Antes, 107, 1 17 Appendix, 237 Arab invasion, 66, 77 Arabs, 171 Arian heresy, 39-41 Asceticism, 20, 37, 42, 53-57 Athanasius, 40, 41 Authorities, 7, see Appen- dix Author’s Preface, 5 Azhar, 90 Babylon, 25, 67 Bamba, 145-146 Barnabas, 26 Benjamin, 64-65 Books : consulted, 7 ; on Egypt, 171 British occupation, 171, 172, 204-213 Butler, A. J., 63 Cairo Conference for Mos- lems, 232 Caliph, Position of, 82-83 Chalcedon, Council of, 35, 43, 63 Cholera, 75, 134, 173, 176 Christianity, see Early Christianity Christian government-offi- cers, 79 Church Missionary Society, 118-131, 190-200, 231 Church Missionary Intelli- gencer, 128 Clement of Alexandria, 27, 31 245 246 INDEX College at Alexandria, 29, 35 Constantine, 39 Constantinople, 41, 44 Copt, 74, 221 Coptic Church Calendar, 39, 52. See Early Chris- tianity Coptic Church: origin, see Early Christianity; under Moslems, 60-98; calendar of, 39. 52; Patriarch, 63, 64, 67, 72, 103, 1 19, 12 1, 123, 124, 126, 148, 151, 153, 154, 155, 179; condi- tion of, 105, 127, 128, 129, 136, 137, 149, 179, 222- 224 ; opposition to Prot- estantism, 147-158; pres- ent outlook, 220-225; bap- tisrn, 221 ; transubstan- tiation, 221 ; tendencies, 221 Cossart, 103 Council of Chalcedon, 43 ; of Nicea, 40 Creed, Early, 48 Cromer, Lord, 207, 208 Cyrus, 64, 65 Dales, 177 Danke, 104, 106 De Vita Contemplativa, 19- 20, Appendix Dhulip Singh, 145-146 Didaskaloi, 33 Diocletian, Persecution of, 38, 39 Dionysius of Alexandria, 33 Dioscorus, 43 Divorce, 94 Dutch Mission, 202 Early Christianity, 13 - 59 ; entrance of, 14-39; tradi- ' tions of, 25-28; first con- vert, 26; early entrance, 27; touches Jews, 27-28; reaches Greeks, 29-30 ; rapid extension, 31; causes of growth, 32-35 ; foreign missions, 33; or- der of teachers, 33-34 ; missionary spirit, 34-35 ; deteriorates, 35, 37; per- secuted, 38-39 ; Arian heresy, 39-41 ; conflict with emperor, 40-41, 46; monastic movement, 41- 42 ; Monophysite heresy, 42-43 ; deterioration, 43 ; ecclesiasticism, 45 ; specu- lative philosophy, 47 ; pagan influence, 48 ; Mariolatry and angel- worship, 50; Monasti- cism, 53 ; loss of mission- ary spirit. 57. See Per- secution, Coptic, Islam Ecclesiasticism, 45 Ecumenical Council, 40 Educational, see Schools Egypt and the Christian Crusade, 6 Egypt: a Roman province, 15; invaded by Arabs, 61; before Arab invasion, 62; under Moslem rule, 84- 97; under British rule, 204-213 Egypt General Mission, 200 Egyptian, see Ancient Epiphanius, 29, 35 Era of Martyrs, 39 Eusebius, 26, 27, 31, 38 Evangelical Church, 157, 158, 160, 165, 225-230 Exorcism, 49 Earn Stephanos, 155, 178 Famine, 74-76 Paris, 139-144 Fasting, 106, 220 INDEX Folk lore, 50 Foreign missions, 33 Gobat, 120, 121, 130 Government, see Roman, Moslem, British Greek: world in Egypt, 15, 20-25; language, 18; colonies, 21-22; religion, 22-26; converts to Chris- tianity, 29-30; philosophy, 37; see Hellenism. Greek-Orthodox, see Mel- kite Guimet, 49 Harnack, 25, 28, 29, 31, 34 Hellenism, 18, 19, 24, 25-26, 28, 29, 32, 37 Heraclius, 62 Heresy, see N o v a t i a n, Arian, Monophysite, Nes- torian,- Plymouthism Herodotus, 17 History, see Coptic, Islam, Missions; important peri- ods, 14, 70 Hocker, 101-117 Hogg, 135, 148, 176 Horner, 51 Hypatia, 42, 46, 56 Idolatry, 16, 17, 22, 23, 48, 49 Immigration of Moslems, 77 Institutions, Special, 201 Islam: in Egypt, 7; domi- nant, 13; entrance, 10; character of, 79 ; tested, 83 ; present condition, 215- 220 ; conservative char- acter, 216; Pan-Islamic congresses, 217; tenden- cies, 217-219; opportunity for missions, 219; confer- 247 ence of mission workers, 232; see Moslem Ismail, 169-170 Jacobite, 63, 67 Jeremiah, 17, 18 Jerusalem, 18, 27 Jewish: world in Egypt, 15, 17-20; population, 18, 31; philosophy, 19; con- verts to Christianity, 27- 29 Jowett, 1 18, 1 19, 120, 125 Judaism, see Jewish Judaistic party, 19 Klein, 191 Krapf, 120 Kruse, 120, 130 Kugler, 120, 121 Lane, E. W., 214 Lane-Poole, Stanley, 70, 76, 85, 95 Lansing, 135, 144, 177 Leontopolis, 18 Liberality, 229 Lieder, 120, 123, 126, 130 Literature : Arabic, 90 ; mis- sionary, 1 19, 120, 121, 149, 186, 194, 202, 227 Maharajah Dhulip Singh, 145-146 Makrisi, 73 Mameluke, 70, 86, 88, 89, 107 Mariolatry, 50-52, 220 Marriage, Moslem, 76, 214 Mark, John, 25, 26, 28 Medical work, loi, 186 Melkite Church, 41, 63, 64, 68 Mikhail, 137 Missionary agencies, 230- 236 Missionary problems, 13 INDEX 248 Missionary spirit, 34, 57-58, 227-229 Modern missions : early, 99-168; recent, 169-203 Mohammed Ali, 169 Mohammedan, see Islam Monasticism, 53-57 Monophysite heresy, 42-43, 63, 67, 220 Monothelite, 63 Moravians, 99-118, 230 Moslem : domination, 69 ; taxation, 71 ; legislation, 72 ; persecution, 73 ; gov- ernment, 74 ; social life, 76 ; immigration, 77 ; sects, 80; luxury, 85; cruelty, 86 ; misgovern- ment, 87 ; slavery, 89 ; education, 90 ; morals, 92; missionary spirit and courage, 96-98 ; see Is- lam Moslem converts, 115, 161, 175, 180, 195-200; work among, 106, 161, 180, 190, 194, 195 Mott, 184 Mueller, 120, 121 Museum, 21 Napoleon, 169 Naville, 49 Need, 232-235 Neo-Platonism, 37 Nestorian heresy, 43 Nile Mission Press, 202 North African Mission, 200 Novatian heresy, 37 Nubia, 69 Omar, 61 Opportunity, 235 Orientalism, 24, 25, 47 Origen, 27, 33, 35, 36, 37 Othman, 69 Oxyrynchos, 16, 18, 22, 54 Pagan influences, 48 Pan-Islamism, 217 Pantaenus, 33 Patriarch, see Coptic Church Paul, 26, 27 Persecution : of early Chris- tians, 35, 37, 38; by Is- lam, 72-75, 78 ; of Mo- ravians, 107; of C. M. S., 123; of Paris, a Protes- tant, 139-144; of Protes- tants by Copts, 149-156; of Ahmed, 161-164 Peter, 25-27 Pharos, 21 Philo, 18, 19, 20, 28 Philosophy, see Hellenism Pilder, 103 Plotinus, 37 Plymouthism, 174 Political conditions, 204-213 Political parties, 211-212 Population, 13, 15, 70, 71 Preface, 5 Princeton Lectures, 5 Protestant Church, see Evangelical Ptolemais Hermiu, 22 Quatremere, 73 References, see Appendix Religions, see Ancient E^pt, Greek, Jewish, Missions Ritual, 5L 52 Roman government, 15, 16, 20 Rufinus, 54 Rules of monasticism, 54-56 Sabbath observance, 209 Saladin, 91 Schools: Moslem, 90; C. M. S., 122, 124, 125, 126; INDEX 249 American Mission, 134, 152, 158, I59» 182-185 Scotland, Established Church of, 201 Shia, 81, 82, 91 Social conditions, 213-215 Speculative philosophy, 47 Spell of exorcist, 49 Statistics, 157, 158, 159, 166, 176, 181, 187, 188, 225, 230, 233 Steindorff, Georg, 17 Sudan, 186-187 Sudan Pioneer Mission, 201 Sunni, 81, 82 Taxation, 68, 69, 70, 71, 206 Teachers, Order of, 33 Temperance, 92-93 Therapeutae, 19-20 Thornton, 192 Tourists, 5 Tradition, 25, 26, 50 United Presbyterian Church, 132 Valentinus, 29 Watson, Andrew, 7, 131, 132, 144, 224 Whately, 201-202 Wieniger, 115-117 Witchcraft, 17, 30, 49 Woman : in Islam, 95 ; schools for, 122, 184, 214; harem work, 185; condi- tion of, 213-215 Y. W. C A., 202 Zinzendorf, 100, 103 Zwemer, 60, 93 AFRICA The Redemption of Africa FREDERIC PERRY NOBLE Illustrations, Maps and Tables, 2, vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4.00. 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