^ PRINCETON, N. J. Shelf. BX 5680 .F7 B57 1895 v. 2 Birks, H. A. The life and correspondence of Thomas Valpy French LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE Oh THOMAS VALPY FRENCH H oki Tiva nHxavHV thai otw tic ojiiAei droMtvo^ mh |ui)ue!o9ai eKeivo , eeio) 6h kq'i KOGjuiw o fe (piA6ao90C OMiAwv koojuioc t€ kqi Gelog eic to SuvoTOv ovepcbncp flj-v€T«i. Plato. 3., I THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THOMAS VALPY FRENCH FIRST BISHOP OF LAHORE BY THE REV. HERBERT BIRKS, M.A. I.ATF. SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ANO CURATE OF CHIGWELL, ESSEX WITH ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME II LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1895 HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSl' CONTENTS CHAPTER XVII. PA(!K The Afghan War and Work among the Soldiers . 1-3=^ The diflRculty of supplying chaplains, page i. — Origin of the war, and its necessity, 2. — Death of Shore Ali and treaty of Gundamuk with Yakub, 3. — The bishop's visit to the Khyber, 4. — Prayers for the troops, 7. — The bishop at Mussoorie ; massacre of Cavagnari and the Cabul mission, 8. — Course of events ; the bishop at .Tacobabad en route for Candahar, 9. — The Bolan, 11. — Quettah, 13. — Snowed up at Abdullah Khan, 15. — Candahar, 16. — -Last parting from Gordon, 19. — Return march, 20. — War-medal, 21. — Abdur-rahman and Shere Ali of Candahar; battle of Maiwand, 22. — Special prayer and critics ; death of George Maxwell Gordon, 23. — Letter to Miss Holmes, 24. — Letter to his brother John, 25. — Cathedral monuments and patriotic fund, 27. — Lahore review of General Roberts' troops, 29. — The Penjdeh war-scare, 29. — Army temperance, 32. — Sunday rest, 33. — The bishop's moral influence with soldiers, 34. CHAPTER XVIII. Missionary Work in Persia 36-90 Commission from the Bishop of London to visit C. M. S. Mission in Persia, 37. — Farewell to Lahore, 37. — Origin and difficulties of the Persian Mission, 38. — Karachi to Muscat; French's and Martyn's verdict on Muscat, 43. — Jask and Lingah, 45. — Life of Perryve; Bushire, 47. — Shif and Borasjun, 49. — Daliki and Khonar Takta, 50. — Kamerij and Kazeroon, 51. — Dukhter Kotal to Shiraz, 52. — Missionary work at Shiraz, 55. — Persepolis, 60. — The tomb of Cyrus, 64. — Dehbid and Soorma, 65. — Abadeh, 67. — Yazdegast, 69. — Missionary work at Ispahan, 70. — Soh, 81. — Kohrood, 82. — Kashan and Koom, 83. — Teheran, 86. — Stages to the Caspian, 87. — The Caspian and Volga, 88. — Moscow and St. Petersburg ; Dr. Bruce's summary in Punjab Mission News, 89. vi CONTENTS CHAPTER XIX. PAGE Lahore Cathedral 91-109 The bishop on furlough, 91. — In what sense founder of Lahore cathedral, 93. — The labour of collection, 95. — The need of worthy architecture, 96. — Schemes in connection with the Afghan war, 97. — Personal sacrifices ; the building in progress, 98. — Sermon on Phinehas' wife ; refusal of Supreme Govern- ment to help with a grant, 99. — Failure of Cashmere timber, 100. — Error in accounts, loi. — Opening of chapter-house, 102. — Links between Lahore and Truro, 103. — Preparations for the consecration, 104. — St. Paul's Day, 1887 ; the bishop's cathedral consecration sermon, 106. — His retrospect, 108. CHAPTER XX. Chukch-work among the Natives 1 10-146 The bishop still a missionary, 110. — Imad-ud-din's recollections, nr. — The bishop invests Imad-ud-din as Doctor of Divinity; address to native Christians, 114. — His social intercourse with native Christian teachers, 116. — Chief missionary centres ; Delhi and neighbourhood, 117. — Amritsar and district, 122. — The frontier missions, 124. — Educational work : lectures to educated Hindus, 127.— Hira Lai I.; interview with Mozumdar; Punjab University examination work, 128. — Counsels to Government, 129. — Proposed manual of ethics ; degree of D. O. L. ; the Hindu- stani Prayer-book revision, 134. — Pushtu bible translation, 136. — The bishop as a missionary statesman ; views on reunion, 137. — Native developments of liturgies, and organization; one church for India, 138. — Lay baptism, and baptism of women in purdah ; remarriage of deserted native converts, 139 ; child- marriages, 140. — Baptism of Polygamists, 141. — An excommuni- cation; the Church Army, 142; paper at Reading Congress, 143. — Boards of Missions, 145. CHAPTER XXI. Home Life and Correspondence, 1878-1887 . . . 147-214 Edith's illness; the bishop's ministrations, 147. — 1878. Letter to Edith, 148. — 1879. First grandchild, 149; Cyril ordained priest, 150; Basil at Cambridge, 152. — 1880. Letter to Edith, 153. — 1881. Edith confirmed, 154 ; leaves school, 155 ; Lydia's wedding to Eev. J. Moulson ; Ai-chdeacon Matthew's illness ; Edith more seriously ill, 158.— 1882. Edith better; Mr. Gregg's death; Cyril's wedding with Miss E. Ballard ; burglary at Bishopstowe, 162 ; Egyptian war, 169; death of Pusey, 175. — 1883. An 'Athanasian CONTENTS vii sermon'; furlough; Cyril at Escot, 177; a family reunion, 179. — 1884. Mr. Christopher's missionary breakfost ; C. M. S. sermon at St. Bride's ; Shanklin, 180; Annecy ; Chamonix, 181; Edith failing ; return by Adriatic route, 182 ; last letters to Edith, i8g. — 1885. Edith at rest, 191 ; Soudan war ; Charles Gordon's death ; Penjdeh ; Mrs. French returns to India for third synod ; arch- deacon's furlough, 192. — 1886. Loss of old friends; proposal to resign, 193 ; letters from the Archbishop of Canterbury, 196 ; the Duke of Connaught at Lahore, 198. — 1887. Letters to archdeacon concerning his succession, 201 ; two escapes from landslips, 202 ; Mr. Moulson's illness, 203 ; resignation announced, 207 ; native testimonial, 209 ; farewell sermons, 210 ; Agnes' wedding to Major F. H. Thorndike, 211 ; Mrs. French returns to England, 212 ; the see resigned, Dec. 21, 213. CHAPTER XXII. The Churches of the East from Bagdad to Beyrout 215-264 Karachi to Bussorah, 215. — Bussorah to Ctesiphon and Bagdad ; death of Mrs. Matthew, 216. — Bagdad to Babylon, 219. — Birs Nimroud, 220. — Nebuchadnezzar's palace, 221. — Arabic studies, 222. — Komish girls' school, Bagdad, 223. — Jewish schools, 224. — Dr. Valpy's motto-verse, 225. — From Bagdad towards Mosul, 226. — Karkhook, 228. — Nineveh or Mosul, 231. — Matran Mulus ; a Jacobite mass, 232. — Chaldean patriarch, 234. — Comparison of Babylon and Nineveh ; visit to Mariaco, 235. — Journey to .Jakhoo, 236. — A Jewish Passover; Nahirwan, 237. — Jazeerah, 238. — Nisibin, Dara, and Mardin, 239. — Diarbekir, 241. — A Jacobite evangelical preacher ; Moslem intercessory prayers, 243. — Oorfa, a Latin service, 244. — Bir, the Eiiphrates' ford; church- buildings and ecclesiastical affairs at Oorfa, 245. — A glimpse of Haran ; village of Aktarim, 247. — Aleppo and Antioch, 248. — Beilan to Beyrout, 250. Additional Note. Doctrinal history of Eastern Christendom, 251. — Present divisions of the Eastern Churches, 253. — American and English intervention ; extracts from Bishop French's letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 256. — A missionary problem of the future, 264. CHAPTER XXIII. Ten Months in Syria and Palestine .... 265-306 The British Syrian schools, 265. — Beyrout, 267. — The missionary conference in London ; deaths of Bishop Parker ; Hon. Keith- Falconer ; the Emperor Frederick, 268. — Memorial service at the German church, 269. — Americans and Greek Church prelates, 270. — Pushtu revision, 271. — French writers on the inner life ; Aitat, 272. — Dair-ul-Kamar, 273. — Brumana, 274. — A Greek viii CONTENTS funeral, 275. — Work in the villages, 276. — Impressions of the Lebanon, 278. — Mar Elias, Mount Carmel, and Nazareth, 279. — Sermon in Arabic at Nazareth ; Cana of Galilee, 281. — Mahrakah, Carmel, Nablous, 282. — Sebastiyeh and Nablous, 283. — Samaritan high-priests at Nablous, 284. — Joppa ; Jerusalem, 285. — The ' Green Hill,' 286 (and 294). — Bethany, 287. — St. Andrew's Day on Mount Zion ; Greek archimandrite ; Koman patriarch, 288. — Nehemiah's walls ; Prussian schools ; Gethsemane ; Mount of Ascension, 289. — Miss Barlee's Bible-class of Jewish women and L. J. S. girls' school ; Bethesda ; death of Major Thorndike, 290. — Miss Jacombs' school at Bethlehem, 291. — Christmas at Beth- lehem, 292. — Hebi-on, 293. — Mosques of Omar and Aksa ; Jericho, 295. — English chapel in Church of Holy Sepulchre ; Salt, 296. — Desolate journey to Nablous, 297. — Tabor and Tibe- rias (Scotch mission 1, 298. — Hard travelling to Tyre via Safed, 300. — Letter to Mr. Clark on trifles and realities, 303. — Damascus, Baalbec, &c., to Beyrout ; perils at sea, 304. — A Turk baptized at Constantinople ; home at Chislehurst, 306. CHAPTER XXIV. Last Days at Home 307-329 Impressions of England, 307. — Assyrian mission; and letter to Archbishop Benson about a college for Greek priests, 308. — St. Paul's, Penzance ; a vestry incident and Martyn's house, 309. — Visit to Bath, 310. — To Bishop Auckland, 311. — Stanhope; Ambleside ; Lincoln ; letter to Lefroy, 312. — Christmas at Chisle- hurst, 313. — Westcott at Durham, 315.- — A confirmation at Chigwell, 317. — Burton and Lichfield ; a consecration at Lambeth parish church, 318. — Pamphlet on Eastern Church; talk and action on topics of reunion, 319. — Depression and its remedy; Bamborough and Holy Isle, 321. — Offer of temporary charge of diocese of Exeter; Pfander's grave, 323. — The Ai-chbishop of Canterbury's blessing at Chislehurst, 324. — Plans for Eastern work, 325. — Last letter from England to Canon Edmonds, 326. — ' A harder wrench than ever,' 329. CHAPTER XXV. The Journey to Muscat by Tunis and the Red Sea Littoral 330-360 Tunis, 330. — Kairowan, 337. — Moslem brotherhoods and Abd-ul- Kadir, 342. — Lincoln Judgement, 345. — Alexandria and Cairo, 346. — Alexander Charles Maitland, 347. — The Red Sea ; Jedda ; Suakim ; Massowa ; Hodaida ; Aden, 349. — Mission and gi-ave of Keith-Falconer, 354. — Oxford House, 355. — Karachi ; last sight of India and his Indian friends, 357. CONTENTS ix CHAPTER XXVL PAOK The Lonely Pioneer 361-391 Mackay's appeal for Muscat, 361. — Hesitation of the C. M. S. com- mittee, 363. — Curzon's description of Muscat, 364. — General Haigh's description, 365. — Maitland's account of their arrival and first settling, 366. — Muttra, 368. — Maitland leaves, 373. — The Sultan of Muscat, 375. — Notes from diary, 376. — Easter Day, 381. — Notes continued, 382. — Preparations for camp ; increasing heat, 384. — Fever and weakness, 386. — Leper village and Arab inquirer, 387. — The Cross and its lessons, 388. — Letter to Mr. Knox on his accepting Aston, 389. — Last letter to Mrs. French, and service on The Sphinx, 390. CHAPTER XXVIL The Final Resting-place 392-408 The C. M. S. anniversary at Exeter Hall, May 5, 1891, 392. — Speech of Sir John Kennaway, 394. — Of Archbishop Benson, 395. — Bishop French's journey to Sib, 396. — Illness at Sib ; returns to Muscat, 398. — Increasing illness, 399. — Removal to Eesidency, death and burial, 400. — Death due to exhaustion rather than sunstroke ; the Sunday collect, 401. — Reception of the news in England, 402. — Letter from Archbishop Benson ; Press notices, 403. — Brass in Cathedral, 404. — Mr. Griffith's visit to the ceme- tery ; the Rev. Peter Zwemer's mission-work, 405. — The bishop's grave and its lessons, 406. — The prayer of all the ages, 408. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. II The Cathedr-al at Lahore ....... Frontispiece The CEisiETERY AT MuscAT ...... Tofacup. 405 Map of the Diocese of Lahore ...... At the end Map of Persia asd part of Syria Aithe end LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH CHAPTER XVII. THE AFGHAN WAR AND WORK AMONG THE SOLDIERS. 'Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.' — St. Paul (to Timothy). 'And wheresoe'er in earth's wide field Ye lift for Him the red-cross shield, Be this j'our son^, your joy, your pride, " Our Champion went before and died." ' John Keble. The diocese of Lahore, with its two great frontier pro- vinces, at all times holds within its borders some of the very elite of the European and the native armies. But the great frontier wars in the first years of Bishop French's tenure of the bishopric rendered the task of providing for the spiritual needs of the army particularly onerous. The bishop wrote to the archdeacon in June, 1879 : ' The want of clergy is very serious at present in the Punjab. Twenty-three chajDlains are really not enough for nearly 23,000 troops in the province. The Bishop of Calcutta and the Government will have to look the matter full in the face.' Of the troops on service, he said, 'It is cheering to see how they clamour for chap- lains, and of the right sort too.' It is beyond the scope of this biography to discuss the Afghan frontier politics, or the details of military actions, VOL. II. B ^ 2 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH but a brief sketcb must be given of the border history, and a somewhat fuller record of the bishop's visits to the British forces in the Khyber and at Candahar. It will be remembered that French was present at a great durbar at Lahore in 1869, when Shere Ali was welcomed by the British Government, and that he had been struck by his impenetrable and unimpressionable countenance. In 1878 considerable excitement was caused in India by the intelli- gence that the Ameer had admitted a Russian embassy to Cabul. Sir Neville Chamberlain, an old Beddington acquaintance whom Bishop French had the pleasure of meeting that summer at Simla, was appointed head of an especial British mission, and prepared with a following of near 1,000 men (a force of which Lord Carnarvon said that it was too small for an army and too large for a mission), to set out from Peshawur. The Ameer, either prompted by Russia or genuinely doubting his power to protect the mission from his own unruly subjects, refused to admit it to his country, and his threat of armed opposition led to the outbreak of war. The capture of Ali Musjid, and the battle of Peiwar Kotul, by which General Roberts became master of the Kurrum valley, followed in November and the beginning of Decem- ber, 1878. By December 20, General Sir Samuel Brown had entered Jelalabad, and by January 9, 1879, General Stewart, who was in command on the Sindh frontier, had entered Candahar almost without opposition. Meantime the Russian mission had withdrawn from Cabul, and Shere Ali had taken his departure with them. These movements attracted great attention in England, where a war with Russia had lately seemed imminent, and Lord Lawrence, in Parliament, strongly opposed the forward frontier policy. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Sheldon, on January 23, 1879, the bishop said : — ' Tlie chief blame of the war must rest on those wlio affronted and aUenated the Ameer. As things are war was inevitable, as the acceptance of the Kussian embassy exposed our frontier most TREATY OF GUNDAMUK 3 fatally, and by damaging our prestige endangered the lives and property of Europeans and of our friends. It was as defensible as all self-preservation is. No one could doubt that who knows anything of the resil state of things in India. The name and cause of England would have been utterly contemptible, and a revolt at any moment probable, if the warlike and turbulent Iribes on the frontier liad l)een left to their old fanatical and insurrectionary spirit with Cabul and Russia to back them up. 'Mr. Gor.lun is imw :it ('andahar. I sadly want him back for the Beloocli missiun, which is left in confusion by his impulsive ardour of advance, a valuable quality when under proper checks and safeguards. I have let him know clearly that I am not well pleased. My only comfort is. I tell him, that as he was suffering so much from fever last year, perhaps tlie cool climate of Candahar may brace him for more years of work. I will support him all I can, but must l)c firm wliere faithfulness to pledges is at stake. The arclideacon is at the camps about Peshawur, and writes to me pretty full accounts, as also does the chaplain, Mr. Swinnerton.' In February Sliere All died, and Yakut his son. wdio had formerly rebelled against him and been confined five years in a dungeon, was recognized as Ameer, and began to make peace overtures. The negotiations proceeded slowly under the able conduct of Major Cavagnari, and the troops mean- while suffered much from heat and cholera and other sickness in the inhospitable passes. One incident, the drowning of almost a whole squadron of Hussars in the Cabul river during a night reconnaissance, was particularly painful. ' "What a terrible loss ! ' the bishop wrote from Ambala, April 6. ' It makes one shiver all over.' On May 6 the bishop wrote to Mrs. Sheldon : — ' Mr. Hughes thought we might go together into the Kliyljer to the camps there, but Mr. Egerton (the Lieutenant-Governor) rather deprecates it, as Englislunen of any rank might be seized and kept for the sake of obtaining a ransom. He said, We should not like a joint of your thumb to be sent into Peshawur witli threats of death if a ransom were not paid by Government." He seemed hopeful when I called last Wednesday of Yakub Khan's coming to terms. ' On May 26 the treaty of Gundamuk was signed, by which the English obtained the right to maintain an embassy at Cabul, and the control of the Kurrum, Pishin, and Sibi B 2 4 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENXH valleys, and the Khyber and Michni passes, as a defensible frontier, they in turn engaging to protect the Ameer from foreign enemies, and to give him a subsidy of six lacs of rupees. Meantime the bishop had travelled to Peshawur, and wrote thence to Mrs. French : — 'JIcvj 26, 1879. I preached three times yesterday. The Enghsh congregations are wretched, the ladies and most of the regi- ments being away, so that if I want to see them I must go after them and find them. Thus far I am kept in good health, and it is a wonder that four nights' steady travelling should not have knocked me up more. . . . With such a force on the frontier, to distribute one's few chaplains aright is a great difficulty and anxiety. This place is distinguislied by its greenness and verdure all the hot weather through, through the abundance of water from the hills ; but this is the cause of its greater sickness also. Cholera has all but ceased, and the panic is allayed.' ■ Camp Lundi Kotul, Kliyhei: 2Iay 29. I reached Ali Musjid yesterday from Peshawur, chiefly dri-\ang in a little cart with Mr. Jukes. The sickness has nearly passed away, still it has left the force a little drooping and dispirited, and I do hope I may be able to raise and cheer their spirits a httle. The scenery of the Khyber near Ali Musjid is something wonderfully grand, and the gorges, grim and sombre, quite a match for the people who inhabit them. It is a strange state of things. All found with arms, except those who wear a crimson sash or turban to signify they are friends to the British, are shot down mercilessly. We march in the morning, sometimes, as to-day, with an escort of two troopers. The officers find quarters for us in tents or barracks. We dine at mess. At Ali Musjid nearly all are native troops— Sikhs, Bhopalese, &c. ; a good body of officers are there, some truly pious men. At 4.30 this morning we had Holy Communion, to which seven came. To-daj^ I am General Maude's guest. He is himself ill, but most kind and attentive. I go with Mr. Spens to the hospitals this afternoon, the chief doctor also accompanying. One young officer opened his heart much to me last night. General Maude wants me to consecrate a cemetery here next week. This is the extreme l)oint of our empire in this direction, according to the terms of the new peace. Mr. Spens is quite martyr-like in his devotion. The .snowy peaks of the Safid Koli are already in sight. The scenery is enchanting, though the hills are all blutf and bare, full of caves in some places, where the yvilA Afridis hide like foxes or rabbits. . . . Whenever the defiles emerge into a more open space of ground the white tents of the British camps burst in sight.' ' Basaual, Sunday, June i. We hope to start on our return to- VISIT TO THE KHYBER 5 morrow morning, as the camps are beginning to move towards Peshawur, except that which is to occupy Lundi Kotul. I confess I am not sorry the campaign is over, as the heat and dust in camp is almost insupportable, yet I am glad to have ventured thus far to express my sympathy and thought for what our armies endure. ... 1 visited some of tlie hospital tents in the evening. This morning I preached at parade, the soldiers being drawn up in tliree sides of a square, the general (Michell) and officers and myself forming the fourth side. All are beginning to feel the heat much. The hot wind blowing through the tent almost incapaci- tates for any effort. All seem well pleased with the terms of the peace. I hope it will be solid and lasting. I meet on the whole with much civility from the officers. I don't think I knew any one of them previously. Some of them have great blocks or bricks of snow brought down from the hills. There is a large force here : 5th Fusileers, nth Lancers, and a large body of Artillery.' ''Lundi Kotul, June 3. The time seems to go sadly slowly towards the much longed-for reunion with you. ... I write with great difficulty from heat and dust, and very small table, and constant journeying. The evenings must be spent with the officers, who are very hospitable, only so much of it does not suit me. Sunday at Basawal was less hot rather than the Saturday had been, and I preached twice besides looking into one or two hospitals. ... I was hoarse from a little bronchial attack. The early mornings have been quite cold, sometimes from a snowy breeze suddenly descending, in strange contrast with the usual glowing heat. My further work is cut short by the rapid return of the army. . . . Amid so much excitement there is not much to be done. Colonel Boileau at Dhaka was particulaily kind, and General Michell at Basawal. I must say it will be a great comfort to be in a house again. Mr. Jukes is very helpful, and takes most filial care of me. The young officers are singularly attentive. Except just along the banks of the Cabul river, Avhich now and then come in sight, the country is of the dreai-iest and most desolate imaginable.' ^ PesJiawur, June 6. I got here last evening after a journey of some risks, especially from the sun's burning heat, thankful to Him who has spared and kept me. Our camp at Lundi Kotul was threatened with an attack fiom the neighbouring Afghan tribes: but, thank God, we had no such assault.' Mr. Jukes, who accompanied him on this little cam- paigning expedition, says : — 'He had declintd the offer of a couple of horsemen from Peshawur to Ali Musjid, but at the latter place I applied for them, as I would not risk any more so valuable a life as our bishop's in an enemy's country, for although there were convoys going back- wards and forwards they were moving too slow for us. At the 6 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH A-arious encampments I tiied to persuade him to use my camp-bed, which I had taken for his special use ; but he never would use it, preferring to lie on the ground. It was very hot weather also, and he felt the sun severely, but he never would take off his boots while resting. I found also that he did not possess a pair of slipjsers, as he thought them very effeminate articles of apparel. ' A few days later the bishop wrote from Nowshera, near Peshawur, to Miss Mills : — 'I have just returned from some of the English camps in the Khyber, and have been preserved from all perils of being smitten by the sun, or b}^ the Afridi firrow which tiieth by day, or the ])estilence (cholera) which walketli in darkness. Each regiment lias lost its quotum of soldiers, dead from cholera, and left in the little cemeteries extemporized under the rough and frowning rocks. The dear soldiers have always had much of my heart, and they seem to find it out. After parade service this morning (a nice full church of English soldiers and officers) I went over to a cholera camp three miles off on the banks of the Cabul river, but (inly found two cases of patients. I hope they may both recover. One said, "Perhaps you will give us another visit, sir," which, alas ! I could not promise, as I leave about midnight for further visitations near Kangra. •I have seen a little of my old fritnds the Afghans, but not so much as I hoped. I am working at their language again, all the more so because my diocese throws its arms out into Afghanistan by the three valleys we have annexed or assigned. So the Lahore diocese grows by the new conquests. I pi ay that our dear Lord may lead captivity captive among them, and make them willing in the day of His power. . . . All along my jduuieys lately I have seen little but armies coming and going -miles of camels, oxen, mules, e.irts. &c., and great has )>eeii tlie liavoe among them from w'eaiiiics-. heat, want of water, overweiglity loads, &c. The PeshawLir mission is working nolily, and Mr. Jukes hopes to make his way into Kafiristan via Jelalabad as soon as the way is at all open. It has been a campaign of strange incidents, and the peace most unlookcd for. (iod seems to have most graciously answered pr,iyer> I i-suid for use in the diocese. Many hearts must have used them as well as lips 1 think.' As they are not likely to find a place in military history, it may be of interest to those whose friends were engaged in these campaigns to know what prayers were sanctioned to be used, in whole or in part, at all Church services through- out the diocese. PRAYERS FOR THE ARMY 7 Frayer I, 'O Lord of Hosts, to whom belong the shields of the earth, and whose it is to give and to withhold the victory in battle, we pray Thee of Thy gi-acious goodness, if it be Thy will, to go with our armies, and to be with them at all times, in the march, the camp, and the field ; give them unity of plan and concert of action. ' Be pleased to direct by Thy wisdom the counsels of our states- men and generals, and of all charged with the conduct of the struggle on which our nation and empire are embarked. We pray Thee to guide the course of it to sucli issues as may tend most to Thy glory, to the growth of the kingdom of Thy Son, and to the securing and consolidating of such an honourable and lasting peace as may be fruitful in blessing both to the victors and vanquished. 'We ask it not for any goodness or righteousness of ours, for we are fain to confess that we have often been wanting in faithful and loyal acknowledgement of Thee, in bringing Thee the glory due to Thy Name, and rendering Thee again for the benefits Thou hast richl)' bestowed upon us ; but for Thine own mercy's sake, and Thy kindness' sake to the unthankful and evil, do Thou yet for all this pardon, accept, prosper, and bless us. We ask it through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.' Praijer II. ' Set bounds, we beseech thee, O God, to the scourge and havoc of war; may its term be shortened in Thy good Providence, and the overflowings of wi-ath be restrained. Eebuke the spoiler and devourei". Curb the sjjirit of hastiness, and bitterness, and blood- thirstiness, and revenge. If success be given us, save us from presumption and self-sufficiency ; if reverses befall us, may they tend rather to humble and chasten than to unnerve and dispirit us. Suffer us not to provoke Thy displeasure by any evil thing or root of bittex-ness secretly cherished, lest being weighed in Thy balances of truth we be found wanting. ' [Assuage the sufferings of the wounded, relieve the pain, weari- ness, and faintness of the sick and diseased in hospital. Be with those walking through the valley of the shadow, and let Thy rod and staff comfort them. Inspire heroism, fortitude, and courage, and a spirit of patient endurance into our forces '.] ' May the lives of our officers and of our men of all ranks and of both races be precious in Thy sight, and, even as Thou hast taught us to pray for and bless our enemies, keep us clear, we beseech Thee, from the guilt of overbearing and unrelenting treatment of them even in the redress of wrong. ' The words in brackets are written in the bishop's own handwriting on the printed form that has come to me. — Ed. 8 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH ' Finally, be pleased, Heavenly Father, so to increase in us the spirit of Christ and His kingdom, that we may be found more ready to sheathe the sword than to unbare it, and that not even the laurels of war may be so dear to us as the olive-branch of peace. 'We humbly ask these mercies in the name of Thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.' The addition of three valleys to his province still further emphasized the need for more chaplains ; and in September he arranged to meet the metropolitan at Mussoorie and, each, accompanied by his archdeacon, to discuss diocesan arrangements. The meeting was most friendly, and ended in the transfer of two chaplains to the Lahore ecclesiastical staff". It was while they were here thus engaged that the news of the Cabul disaster fell on them like a thunderclap. The Afghans, in their sacred month of Ramazan, had risen in revolt, and Sir L. Cavagnari and his mission had all been massacred (September 3) after a gallant fight. The news came on a Sunday, when Bishop French and his archdeacon were preaching for the Lahore Cathedral Fund at Landour and Mussoorie. French wrote : — Mussoorie, Scptemhcr 8, I meant to have preached the sermon ' The glory that Thou gavest me,' &c., but had left it by mistake in Lahore, and was thrown back on the one the s borrowed in Oxford — ' Is not this great Babylon ? '—and, strange to say, one hour before the service came the news of that dreadful ti'agedy at Cabul. The coincidence of the sermon was so singular that the bishop said it much affected the people, and certainly they were both attentive and generous. He thought it was most well timed and appropriate. Surely there is a pro\ddence in these things. Another Cabul war is imminent. Sir F. Eoberts is already sent back to the Kurrum to march the British troops to Cabul, so I am told ; however, I do not like making these statements, as all is confusion at the moment. It affects me much to think of the little conversation at the train in Lahore I liad some ten weeks ago with Sir L. Cavagnari on God's goodness to him in giving him such great success. I tried to lead him to God as the true author of his good fortune. I hope it may have led him more up to God. For a while our military operations seemed to prosper. The massacre of Cavagnari was in some measure avenged by the defeat of the Ghilzais at Charasiab, near Cabul, by Greneral Roberts on October 6. On the 12th the city was AFFAIRS AT CABUL, 1879 9 publicly reoccupied by British, forces ; but the whole country was reported to be ' seething.' On the day of the reoccupation Yakub expressed his wish to abdicate, de- claring that he would sooner be a grass-cutter in the British camp than ruler of Afghanistan. General Roberts announced that the English would for a while take over the admini- stration. The tribes rose up on all sides, and a jihad or religious war was proclaimed against us. In December, after a great explosion in the city, General Roberts felt it prudent to withdraw his whole force within the cantonments at Sherpur, where for ten days he was beleaguered by at least 100,000 tribesmen. At the end of that time their assaults upon his works completely failed, and he was able to inflict a severe defeat upon them. The hostile combination melted as rapidly as it had formed, and Cabul was again reoccupied. Meantime we had not lost our grip on Candahar ; and in January, 1880, Bishop French deter- mined to visit the British camps in that direction, accom- panied by Mr. Gordon, who had returned meanwhile to his Belooch. mission work. From Jacobabad on January 25, 1880, the bishop wrote to his young daughter Edith at Belstead : — My dearest Edith, I have started on what may be a long and anxious journey, and have only time to send a few lines of fatherly lovr and remem- brance, begging your prayers that, if it be God's will my plan should be carried out of reaching Quettah or some of our garrisons beyond in these perilous and warlike times, I may have an open door pre- pared for me to the i^oor English soldiers, and even to the poor Afghans, to gain entrance and speak a message in His name, and to His glory, and to the further spread of His kingdom. I feel greatly how unworthy I am of being an instrument in so great a work, and sometimes am ready to think that surely I shall soon be laid aside and another put in my place ; but He knows best His own work, and chooseth His own servants, and one must not decline His service till He gives the dismissal. I cannot say I have many * tokens for good ' as yet ; but I must not say that I have none. This is a place in which there has been a military force, called the Sindh Horse, for many years, first formed by a Colonel Jacob. He would have no religion or worship of God here, yet ho tried to keep up what he thought a high standard of morality without God and lO LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Christ, not believing, perhaps, what St. John says, ' He that doeth good is of God.' He succeeded, i:>eople say, while he lived pretty well in keeping up outward decency and good liclnn inur ; but as it had no root, except one man's character and < x:iiiiiilc, and there was no graffing of men's souls into Christ, all withcri^-d away, and things have degenerated even in outward api>oarance and show of morality. As my text had it this morning, 'He shall be as the light when the sun ariseth, even a morning without clouds.' Only Christ is a cloudless morning, other nidrnings h:\,yv their clouds. He is ((11 truth, all goodness, all love, all joy ; and what is His is aim ling. This is a curious place; the houses are spread through a great thick wood, which General Jacob had planted in the midst uf a waste. His force was to keep out an Afghan tribe, the Murrees, who are still a little formidable in restless times like these. England and the Englisli power is being searched and tried with God's candles, and the dishonour done to God being shown up to us. I hope He will graciously forgive us, and not recall the charge yet put in our hands, but bring many to say, ' Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn,' &c. (Hos. vi.). We have had rather a nice congregation this afternoon of officers and others. There is no organ or harmonium, but I set two tunes — ' Hark ! my soul,' and 'Sun of my soul' — and it went off very fairly; then I followed up the morning text with the verse that follows, "He hath made with me an everlasting covenant.' This you can feel, dear child, I am happy to know, in connexion with your con- firmation so lately passed, and the light of that everlasting covenant will shine ever, I pray, brighter and brighter on your path, and fill your heart with joy and hope. I am hoping to be able to purchase a pony to-morrow, besides the one I brought out with me from home, as the marches to Quettah will be long and weary, and too nuich for one pony. About seventy-five miles further I can go by a rail, which they have been liastily constructing about one mile and a half each day ; lather i|ui( k woik, is it not'? Now they have to rest awhile from pushing it t art hi r, as thick, massive rocks will have to be blasted and cut through for the further advance of the line. Mr. Gordon will join me to-morrow, I hope, to proceed with me on this journey, which he has traversed before, being so great a traveller. The ' few lines of fatherly love and remembrance ' ran on for three more pages, but these need not be given here, and the remaining notices of this campaigning march are mainly from his letters to Mrs. French : — ' Jacohahad, Jan. 27. I preached for some time in the bazaar yesterday afternoon. I first bought a stool for four annas, and used it to preach from. There seemed plenty of people who EN ROUTE FOR CANDAHAR II understood Hindustani. It is strange to find the change the railway has made here in nine or ten months. It was the quietest spot, and now bustle and movement arc visible everywhere.' " Dadiir, at foot of JJoIkh, Jmi. 30. We rt ached Sibi day before yesterday, i.e. myself, Mr. liell (railway insiiector). and Colonel Medley. Mr. Gordon, being rather tlow in his movements, and wanting various articles at Jacobabad, stayed behind for the second tiain, whose engine broke down, so he had twelve hours at a lone station in the wilderness ; however, as his bed was with him, ho had a good night's l est in the guard's box, and came on early this morning to Sibi, and about twelve we started for Dadur, having borrowed a couple of Belooch horses and sent on our ponies half- way. The march was about twenty miles, and would have been hot but for some clouds, which were to us as the "pillar of cloud." We reached Dadur about four, and put up at a tent which General Phayre kindly placed at our disposal. One of the wagons broke, so the general and oiiiceis lent us their spare blankets and coats, and I have had a capital night. I scarcely know whether we shall be able to get camels till the evening. The air is very fine here ; I wish you could enjoy it too. They say that up the pass it is terribly cold, but that you would not mind. The mountains of the Bolan tower above us, but there is no snow upon them. The pie- sence of British troops induces the people to sow very much more wheat in the underlying plains than when left to their own tyi-annical rulers. The rest of brain froin letters is very refreshing, though I have to talk a good deal.' 'Kirttu, Bolan Pass, I'cb. i {Sunday). I have just had a service AV'ith two officers and two sergeants, who came in on their way to Candahar. It was only on Friday evening that we got our camels, and that with difliculty, and began to lade them at four next morning, and sent them off, starting ourselves at eight. I had a pony lent me by Captain d'Aguilar, which is a great convenience, as I can now do twenty miles a day or over without wearing my pony out. We rode all day through the Bolan rocks, which are not very lofty here, not more so than the Westmorehmd hills, not nearly so grand and beetling as the Khyber ; but the higher Bolan is still before us. We crossed and re-crossed the Bolan stream, which at this season is nowhere more than two feet deep, except in pools here and there, which are deep and beautifully green in colour. One well-known and extremely deep pool underlies and pierces a cavern, which reaches far into the heart of the rocks, and is an interesting object ; it lies about the halfway of our yesterday's march. 'A dak bungalow has been built here in the last twelvemonths of a rough and unfinished kind, but highly welcome to the triiveller. Mr. Gordon has also Iris little tent put up. Here and there at every six or seven miles through the pass is a small detachment of native 12 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH troops, with commissariat stores for man and beast, -which are dealt out in rations, and for which payment is made afterwards. The walls of the bungalow are almost papered with illustrated scenes out of the Gnipliic, chiefly war-scenes among the Afghans and Zulus. The bungalow is in a wide plain with rocks encircling it on all sides ; it is mostly what the natives call a lukduk, i. e. a dreary, desolate, treeless, almost shrubless waste, except in one corner where is a village and some irrigation. The Bolan river disappears at the opposite end of the plain underground, and I'eappears here. The water is excellent. Mr. Gordon, unhappily, is suffering from fever still. The officers here are pretty fresh from England, and amuse themselves with dogs and goats, guns and fishing-rods ; for fish abound in the pools, the best is the famous Indus river-fish, the marsya. The goats are very ravenous, eating even newspapers ; one of them ran off with a bit of my Guardian. The riding all day would have been warm but for the clouds which nearly overspread the sky, and were to us like the pillar of cloud by day, and I felt most thankful.' 'Daslit Kadawam, Feb. 4. I hope you may have got a letter I left to be forwarded from Kirtta. Since then I have been on horseback most of the time, -worried and harassed a good deal with the almost impossibility of keeping one's sei-vants and ponies up, so numbed and unnerved are they by the cold and bitterly cutting and frosty winds, which pour down these passes like funnels, and seem to clot and curdle one's blood almost. From Kirtta we rode twenty-four miles on Monday to a j)lace called Much, which was as bleak and desolate a spot in the Bolan defiles as is conceivable. The tents seemed hanging in shreds with the violence of the blasts, and the poor little stone huts— one of which was dignified with the name of mess-house, and was occupied by the two young officers in charge— were alone available for shelter. In the mess-house I put up my bed and slept well, after having a short prayer-service with the officers. Yesterday I started for Sir-i-Bolan first, where I hoped to hold a service with some five or six officers, but they were too heavily occupied with transport duties. I had a little light break- fast and chat with Colonel and the rest, and then rode on twelve miles further to the higher Bolan ranges and passes, which ai'e much grander and more impressively wild and massive, -with precipices and caves and curious rocky terraces ^vith huge boulders overhanging them, beneath which a few concealed bandits with jazayils might keep at bay a large force defiling up the gorges and chasms. I am glad to think I may see them again on returning. They almost seem to me among the most glorious of the works of God, though but wrecks of old formations and well-compacted strata. At Dozan, on the way, I found a small encampment where the hut or mess-house was far more comfortable, and there I left Gordon for the night to bring up the rear, as Captain d'Aguilar's EXCESSIVE COLD. QUETTAH 13 seyce had left my borrowed pony behind him, and I had to send a sowar in seai'ch oC him. The fearful cold of the night before had killed a number of bullocks. Eleven lay dead near the huts. Lieutenant Adye was going to have them burnt. We had no shelter for them, and they simply died of cold ; and three or four poor drivers also -one of them lies a corpse outside the little caravanserai where I put up last night, a sorrowful and pitiable sight. It reminds one of the words, "And the angel of death spread his wings on' the blast." This is the third day that this wintry and killing blast has swci)t through the Bolan, and I am waiting here in a rough and dirty luit, where six or seven natives are put up also— the baboo in charge and his servants, Beloochis mostly. They understand Persian, so I tried to give them a little teaching out of the Persian gospel this morning ; but the cold is almost paralyzing. It is a longish hut, at one end of which is the only fireplace in the caravanserai, and greatly did I enjoy the warmth at night, and slept well, in spite of the natives chattering till late, coughing loudly. &c., which I begged them to discontinue. At the other end they have a little chafing dish of their own, with a wood fire, which ni;dijiiiii/rsliii(( St(ji/. We had a devotional service yesterday evening, to which six gentlemen came. The Artillery ^^■ere marched to a, nice tent service (in a large tent) this morning; some titty ]m rliajis were present, including officers and civilian*. I pieai In <1 frein Numbers x. 34 36, as appropriate to the approaching march lo the siege of Ghuzni, not. however, making the Afghan-- to ln' ncce-,snrily God's enemies. There were ten at the Lord's Sniiper, inchnling ourselves, and Es. 30 offertory for the A.C. S. I feared we should have snow last night, 1>ut it has not fallen. The khansaman has a sore foot from a weight falling upon it. He must ride all through the march if he can go at all. It will be a joy to turn my face homewards and youwards again. I hope to be able to write from the halting-places where it is pos.sible. We leave the very cold region after three or four marches, which will be very agreeable. I am hoping to pi-each this afternoon on the jailor at Phili[)pi. and am preparing, so must send this off. The colonel in command here did not attend service to-day. and I have felt it right to remonstrate with him in a letter. May God Himself speak to his heart ! The other colonel was at the Lord's Supper. We had two hymns. "New every morning." and '"Ait thou weary?" The dear girls would smile at my determination to make everybody sing. Much love to them.' ' QucffdJi, Feb. ID. We are all ready to start. ... I am glad I brought some forms of consecration of cemeteries, as the cemetery here is all but in readiness, and may be consecrated on my return (D. "V.). We had a little prayer-meeting j^esterday afternoon ; Dr. V. prayed for my visitation very sweetly, and praised God for bringing me among them in these lone and far regions, which will comfort you about me. ' On the whole I feel rather disappointed with the Quettah results, SNOWED UP. ABDULLAH KHAN 15 but I trust to be more stimulated and wakened up for future efforts. One feels so much for these troops on their way to the front. May the great Master Sower Himself sow the seed and His Spirit water it ! ' ' Ahdidlah KJiun, Kaldki. Feb. 12. You Avill be glad to hear that we have got on as far as nearly fifty miles from Quettah, and about one- third of the way to Candahar. We rode out on Tuesday evening only nine miles ; yesterday, some twenty-two ; to-day, fifteen or so. The riding and fine air does me good, and one meets with little opportunities of s]ieaking for Christ. We hope to pass theKhojuk Pass to-monow. if snow does not prevent, l)ut we are a little appre- hensive ot it. The nearer hills are beautifully ribbed with snow- lines. We have been traversing the Pishin valley. ... At this place a pious officer (Major Waller) has made us occupy the one room they have— he and a brother officer. Last night we had a nice warm hut of mud (we made a fire thuugh there was no chimney), and so I slept soundly. The night Ijefore we managed in a sort of hayloft where commissariat grass is stored. ' In this scene of confusion I can only send rough ill-digested letters. In Candahar 1 hope we may have c|uiet c^uarters, and tlie gaps I must fill up when we meet (D. V.).' ^Abdullah Khan, Feb. 14. We are snowed up here for the last two days untowardly, and I fear for two days more shall be unable to stir backwards or forwards. But it is a great Providence that has brought us at this crisis to a jiious officer's care in a really warm though rough hut, with a)>undant provision, even milk, which is a rare luxury in these parts. I am making a great push in Pushtu, getting a little conversational experience, and the officer (Major Waller) has useful books. I fear it is doubtful now whether we can reach Candahar by to-morrow (Sunday) week. The regiment.s behind us will be in poor plight, stopped short with only tents in this inclement season. ' You will be disappointed that your loving sacrifice of comfort and happiness by my absance seems so ill repaid by opportunities of work to be done. Tliere is only one other young officer (Jones) and a sergeant here. The little fort or sarai is crowded with Afghans, bullocks, camels, asses, horses, &c., and the whole country overmantlcd with from one to two feet of brilliant snow. I fear that in the pass the snow is three or four feet deep. ' It seems a long time to have no news from the outer world, but there was no reason to anticipate such a downfall. For years there has not been such. It will be good for the country, which has suffered severely for want of rain. The people are said to be very quiet and inoffensive in these parts, thougli Afghans ; they seem pleased at my knowing their language, and shake hands friendlily. It is certainly very far removed from my plan to be cut off thus from all active duty. I pray it may not be lost time for head and i6 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH heart. I never yet in India have been in the snows, except for a day or two in Amarnath. The servants of course are very unhappy, but they are nearly as well olf as ourselves. All seem to anticipate a struggle at Ghuzni, and Mr. Gordon hopes to be able to go on with them. His fever still hangs about him. The young officer and he have been out in search of grouse tliis morning, but found it too hard work to go far. We have fowls and mutton. 'I could wish I had a hut of my own where the Afghans could visit me ; we all four live in one room. You will quite envy me. as I am sure you would enjoy this deep (deeper than English) snow, and you will find the heat already beginning to try you, I fear.' His prayer that the time here spent might not be lost was answered. Writing to his eldest daughter from Lahore under date April 13, 1880, he said : — 'A young officer writes to me from the front to-day, saying that at a critical moment, when attacked by enemies, a little passage I copied out for him from Caidyle's FredcrirJc the Great helloed him. The extract is : — ■ " King Frederick's soldiers on the eve of battle settle their bits of worldly business, and wind up many of them with hoarse whisper of prayer. Oliver Cromwell's soldiers did so, and Gustav Adolphus' ; in fact, I think, all good soldiers." ' I picked it out of an odd volume I found at a rest-house the days we were snowed up at Abdullah Khan, Kakila. How curiously little helps arise in unlooked-for providences of our God!' ' Dmhaci/, en route for Candahar, Feb. 17. The Kho juk Pass with its deep snows was repoited practicable for riding on Sunday, so we started on Monday. It was rather a trying day, but I am none the worse. We do not expect to encounter more snow. I have no ta1)le to write on, and the hut is so dark I hardly know how to pen these few lines, but you will like to have this short assurance of health and safety, thank God, thus far.' • Caiidaliar. Feb. 21, 1880. I know you will be glad to hear of my sate arrival with no worse effect than a cold. . . . The general i^Stewart) entertains me, and is most kind and hospitable. He is a grand sjiecimen of the good old British and Highland officer, a communicant, and exercising an admirable influence morally on all under his command. He occujiies a native house in a large walled fruit garden divided out into parterres and grass-plots, with rows or avenues of peach and apricdt trees. The house was a summer house formerly occupied liy the ladies of the governor, one of the Barukzais, to which clan tlie Ameer belonged. The city is not at all splendid, made up chiefly of mud houses of a bee-hive shape, almost reminding one of the wigwam of the North-West American Indians; still they keep out the cold and j^rotect the dirt, which to THE FORCE AT CANDAHAR the vulgar Afghan would be perhaps equally desirable. However, the fruit garden in the stiff Elizabethan style is very delightful after the wildernesses and defiles of stern wild desolation which we have travelled through ; and indeed the whole environs of Candahar consist of fruit gardens and cemeteries, with cypress avenues and a very few other trees. At one point it approaches a fine hill-range, vrhich towers aljove it with colossal grandeur. I am told the bazaar is singularly well-furnished and elegant in its arrangements ; but even with four sowars as escoi-t I did not think it well to enter through the bazaar yesterday evening, as another way was open to the fort and camp behind the city. It is now two months since the last Ghazi attack took place. There is one tall hill called the " Little Khyber," which Mr. Gordon tried to scale last year, but found it impracticable, though he success- fully tried Monte Eosa. A number of officers live here and are associated in the mess -one of the young Muirs, Mcijor Euan Smith, &c. ' To-day I keep quiet to prepare for to-morrow, and nursed my cold last evening by abstaining from the mess dinner, especially as it was Friday. I was so afraid I might not reach Candahar before this Sunday. I am sorely pushed for time, as I have incessant sermons and lectures before me. Pray that my words may be Christ's own, and accompanied by His blessing.' ' Feb. 23. With eight or ten i"egiments here, and such a multi- tude of officers and men, little rest is permitted of any kind, yet I cannot but feel tiiat it was by God's counsel that I came here, as the more serious part of the community so often express their thankful appreciation of the effort. I trust all the glory may be His, who from hour to hour su^jports me. There will be doubtless cavillers and scoffers, but some unsettled minds may be more established, I trust, and some seeking souls comforted and helped. The parade service in the open field yesterday was a striking sight. I gave an extempore address on Neli. v. 15, " So did not I. because of the fear of God." I was much helped to speak out, and was Avell heard throughout, I find, though with a bad cold I feared it might be otherwise. In the afternoon I addressed thirty or more in hospital on Jonah iv. In the evening I preached again in the garrison chapel, which holds about 100 and was latherwell filled, on the Philippian jailer. I did not speak out so freely, but three extempore sermons are heavy. We had thirty-one at the Holy Communion. I called on the generals here to-day — Generals Palliser, Hughes, and Barter. Three out of the four here were at church and at least two at the Holy Communion yesterday. The other was ill of gout and unable to get out. To-night I addressed fifty or sixty officers and men on 3 John. It was a cheering and, to me at least, very helpful service ; much thanks were expressed. You will be glad of this evidence of the visit being well-timed and responded to by ready attention of good audiences. I try to place VOL. II. C i8 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH myself lowlily, and with conviction of much insufficiency, at the disposal of Him whose minister I am. There is a succession of addresses for every day excejit to-morrow, when I visit the chief hospital. ' This morning Mr. Gordon and I visited the fort and city with an escort of three guai-ds, with bayonets and guns. The fort is in a very dilapidated condition, Avith fiidod relics of old barbaric pomp, rich and gaudy colouring, here and there some well-chased wood-work, and casts in the plaster of Paris, which is made here of very strong and durable texture, and holds arches in excellent support of its own tenacity, without key- stones or appliance of the rules which regulate the formation of arches. . . . ' There is a semicircle of more or less striking hills, especially the conical ones, below which is a fringe of native regiments - Sikh, BengaH, Ghoorkas, Sindh Horse, &c. Within these again are various batteries of Aitillery, with 6oth Eifles, 59th Regiment, Sappers, &c. Still nearer us, the Commissariat, Hospital, 25th Bengal Infantry, reaching almost to where wo ai'o in the centre of the horse-shoe, -with the fruit and flower garden and streams from the Argandab river, which somehow pierces or finds its way round the semicircle of hills. I am taken great care of, almost too much so. Nobody seems to know anything of the future policy of the Government. ' 'Feb. 28. I am getting my commissariat ready to start on Monday, having also to lecture this evening, and preach twice to-morrow. It has been almost the hardest time I have yet had, except perhaps Simla. I wish I could think it had been more useful, but living in such a crowd does not supply many of the opi^ortunities of personal intercourse one desires. To preserve self-i30sscssion is so difficult. I got a quiet evening yesterday (Friday) to prepare for to-morrow, declining an invitation to the Ghoorka mess. I am to call on the native governor of the city, Shere Ali, this afternoon with an escort. Some moollahs talk of calling to-morrow between services, as they were interested in some remarks I let drop some days ago here. General Stewart is just gazetted Commander-in-Chief of Madras. He has been uni- formly civil and kind. ' ' Fort ('Jiaman'^ , March 3 (on the return route from Candahar). Three days' long and fatiguing marches have brought me nearly halfway to Quettah, and but for the sickness of my Simla ])ony I should have some hope of reaching Quettah by Sunday, as I proposed to do. Sunday, I preached at the large parade sci'vice and in the garrison chapel, besides visiting hospitals and reading ^ Chaman is the spot where Major Wauclby and his followers were cut up a few weeks later by the tribesmen. LAST PARTING FROM G. M. GORDON 19 with nn officer who was stabbed by a Ghazi the day before, but not mortally, I trust. It was a Captain Greaves of the Artillery. I ad- dressed a tea-party of about 120 soldiers on Saturday evening before dining with the Artillery. Beneath the fine hills which surround Candahar it was heart -gladdening to think of Moses' frequent reference to God as "Israel's Eock," as well as to His shepherd guidance of them. ' I left Mr. Gordon at about the eighth mile from Candahar, and was sorry to part with him. . . . He stays at Candahar for the present. The sun is a little powerful now, still it is not severely hot. I have a thick karkee jiagri on my h.i(. ainl almost wish I had it on a white helmet, but I have not o\ru luul a headache. The snows have left a thin coating of green Ijluics nt grass on the plains we pass, which is refreshing after the utti r stm ility. I work away with the Afghans and Pathans I meet lu re and there.' The bishop little thought that this would be his final parting with his friend. In view of what happened later, a special interest attaches to a letter from Gordon to Mrs. French to reassure her as concerned her husband's safety. It is also an independent testimony to the value set upon the bishop's visit : — My dear Mrs. French, Candahar, Feb. 25, 1880. I have several times wished to write to you in the course of our journey, and I am sure you Avill be glad to hear that the bishop has arrived safely, and I think I may say on the whole comfortably, although I have sometimes been anxious lest the fatigue of double marches and the effect of the cold should overtax his powers of endurance. Now, however, that he is safe and sound I feel little apprehension about the return joiuney, for the weather is likely to improve, and this is the only source of risk now that tlic cnuntry is safe and the roads greatly improved upon our fonm r i rienee. You will have had a better desL-riptidn in the bishop's letters than 1 can L;iv(' you of the incidents and scenery of our route, and I think he linds more in the latter to admire than most of us. But, while I am not ( ntluisiastie in praise of the country and people. 1 feel very tliankfid for tlie reception which the bishop has had anu:ng ollic-ers and soldiers, liotii liere and on the journey ; and the good wliith he is al)le to do is a groat compensation for the fatigue whieh he has undergone. The meetings and sei-vices here are very cheering, and will I am sure long be remembered l)y those who have attended them. The bishoji has a cold which needs nursing, the result I think of wet feet through walking in the snow on the Khojuk Pass. I am thankful that there has been no worse result from the bold experiment, and I hope that he will soon be C 2 20 LIFE OF BISHOP FREN'CH better, as he has a wonderful constitution and does things which I cannot emulate. I have every hope that through God's goodness you will see him back safely before Easter. My only regret is that I shall not be with him on his return journey to assist him, but there seems so much to be done here that he feels that it is my duty to remain and minister to the Bombay forces which will shortly arrive. Please to give my kindest regards to your daughters, and excuse a short letter under pressure of engage- Yours very sincerely, G. M. GoEDox. But to resume tlie bishop's own letters. • Queftah, 2Iondaij, March 8. I reached this after an early march \'esterday at 8 a.m., having pledged mj-self for sei-vices at 11.30 and 5, which I thank God I was able to accomplish— 150 miles in six days and a bit is pretty well at my age. A soldier and a clerk came to me this morning to beg me to have the Lord's Supper with them, as the}' were not able to come yesterdaj' through press of work. I felt much refreshed by their joy in God's seiA-ices, and soon had my table-cloth and vessels ready for them. I consecrated the cemetery here this morning, being up earlj- to mark out the limits of the Church of England, Eoman Catholic, and Nonconformist portions. I got the colonel to take part, the same I wrote to about Chmx-h. I have had hard letter-writing to-day on various business matters which tvill find their way after me, oozing through the strata of distance. I have got one hundred miles for the next five days, then a Sunday at Sibi (if possible), where the rail begins. . . . I met otficers every day along the line of march, and got several little sei-vices and jjleasant ones.' To "Wilfrid. , nr i Dadur, March 12. To-day we marched about eighteen miles through the lower l^arts of the Bolan Pass. My four mules do all the canying work very well. I have a table Avith me (folding up)— a stool made of reeds ; a basket called a lunch-basket for tea, sugar, biscuits, con- densed milk (for fresh milk is seldom to be had), butter in a canister from England, a little jam (when not used ujj as mine is now), salt and i^epper, and all the little etceteras of a march. Then I have a plain lamp for candles, a tin or copper basin (which I bought in the bazaar at Candahar lately, as I used Mr. Gordon's before), a little Gladstone case for papers and correspondence, a trunk or two, and three bags, with a bundle of bedding and a rope bedstead. The bedding consists of a wax cloth to cover all, a felt rug such as the Pathans use, and a couple of quilts with a horse rug. With all this one is very independent, especially when I can borrow a nice tent with a double fly, or kanat as here they are called. Then my THE AFGHAN WAR-MEDAL 21 servant hivs two -wicker baskets for cooking utensils and his own bundle of bedding. On these frontier journeys Government supplies to servants some meal and pulse dailj^ with a little butter and salt ; and to the horses some grain and grass, or chopped straw. In the way to-day I met a whole population performing their annual migration, like swallows, from the plains (where they spend the winter to avoid the snows and cold of the Khoi-assanee hills, and to feed their flocks) back again to the hills, now that the snow is melted ; so that the whole people have got two homes, one for the winter and one for the summer. Isn't that clever of them? It is an amusing sight to see them wading across the Bolan streams— men, women, and children, all on foot, and barefooted except the very old and very little ; all their worldly goods cn camels, donkeys, bullocks, or their own backs ; driving their flocks and herds before them, the dogs running beside them. The lambs are very numerous, and could scarcely be a week old most of them. The veiy little lambs are put on ciimels and donkej's. their bags and black tents making a flat surface. I saw six lambs on one camel, and a dear little girl seated at top nursing one of them. c[uite a scene for a painter to describe. Their tents have pretty curtains to them, and even their bags or sacks are adorned with kowrie shells or white stones. They are Brahooies, a tribe of Beloochis, so I do not know their language at all. "Sukhtr, JloniJay, JIarch 15. I was very thankful to have been led to choose Sibi. My second horse had to be given up at the last stage on Friday night, as Major W. arrived at the halting- place quite late from England and claimed his horse. My own (^vith a few miles' walk) brought me into Sibi at 11.30 on Saturday, and I arranged for services next day. General Burrows is in command, and was at the Holy Communion with live others. I have two addresses and another engagement at Multan. and may hope to reach j'ou on Frida}' evening. I am sure you will thank God for bringing me in safety through this journey, bronzed rather but nothing worse.' For his services on this occasion the bishop became entitled to the Afghan war-medal (not, as has been erroneonsly stated, a sword of honour), and from time to time at distributions of school medals and prizes he would allude smilingly to himself as being a recent medallist also. He heard of the award in the spring of 1882, and wrote to Mrs. French : — ' It was so curious you should be the first to tell me I had been presented with the war medal. I found it was known by some of the officers on Saturdaj^ evening at the great gathering at Govern- ment House. I cannot think to whom I am indebted for saying 22 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH anything about it. The whole particulars were so accurately given it perfectly amazes me. I suppose some will treat me as Eliab did David. I should certainly never have dreamt of asking for a military medal. If I ever wear it, I shall think I am carrying Mr. Gordon's rather than mine.' But tliougli this journey was so prosperous, a hea-v^ trial was in store for him — a national disaster accompanied with a home stroke of poignant anguish. To understand it it is needful to revert a little to the course of public politics. In April, 1880, Sir Donald Stewart set out on his march by Ghuzni to Cabul, leaving General Primrose in military command at Candahar. He dispersed a great gathering of Ghazis in the battle of Ahmed Kheyl, and relieved Sir F. Roberts, as senior officer, of the supreme command in North-East Afghanistan, where Sir L. Cavagnari's murder had been fully punished, the kotwal of Cabul and many others had been hung, and Yakub himself — as the result of a Commission of Inquiry — had been deported as a State prisoner to India. The troops were weary of fighting and exposure in the passes, and the more the tribesmen saw of them the less they liked their presence ; there seemed no object in continuing the occupation if only a ruler could be found whom the Afghans would obey. There were several candidates for the dangerous honour. Of these, Abdul Rahman, a nephew of the great Shere Ali, and long a pensioner of Russia at Tashkend, was on July 22 recognized by the British as Ameer of Cabul. "Western Afghanistan was still under the lesser Shere Ali, the same on whom the bishop called at Candahar. Yakub's younger brother, Ayub, advanced against him from Herat. Shere All's troops went out to meet him, but that ruler was very doubtful of their temper, and soon sent back for help. General Burrows was despatched with a brigade to his assistance. As was expected, Shere All's soldiers mutinied, and, though they were dispersed with loss, the greater number must have joined AjTib, arms in hand, and given him full information THE BATTLE OF MAIWAND 23 about Burrows' force. On July 27 Burrows was signally defeated in the battle of Maiwand, losing 1,000 men in killed and wounded. Primrose was straitly beleaguered in Candaliar, and whilst Stewart continued the evacuation of Northern Afghanistan by the Khyber, Roberts was de- spatched from Cabul to retrieve the honour of our arms. General Phayre advanced more slowly from the south. Immediately on the receipt of the grave news of Mai- wand, Bishop French put forth a fresh form of prayer to be used throughout his diocese. 'Gracious God und Father, who dost not willingly grieve the children of men but for their profit, we pray Thee to cause this in-esent chastening to yield in us " tire peaceable fruits of righteous- ness " ; that the temporary i-everse, in unequal combat, which has befallen our arms may work in our hearts and lives the purpose of Thy love. Make Thyself known to the bereaved parents, friends and lovers, widows and orphans of our fallen soldiers as the God of patience and consolation, who comforteth them that are cast down, and healeth the broken in heart. Give wisdom and en- lightenment to our statesmen and generals, that they " may have understanding of the times," and may perceive and know what things they ought to do. . . . Give good heart, endurance, and self- possession to our forces on the frontier. Save them from panic and surprise, from disastrous accidents of field and flood. Have compassion on the sick and wounded, the suffering and the dying, and according to the greatness of Thy power preserve Thou those that are appointed to die. For the atoning merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.' The prayer was somewhat sharply criticized by a portion of the English press. With reference to this the bishop wrote to Mrs. French : — ' Don't trouble about newspaper squibs. There are always those who hate intercessions and are glad to carp and quibble. They do not perhaps know that " lover and friend " is a Biblical word, nor that surprises and panics by night are common to all armies ! I don't wish to recaU anything. I did strike out "lovers," but put it in again.' Soon among those appointed to die was numbered his own friend, George Maxwell Gordon. He was killed on August 16, whilst attempting, under heavy fire, to bring 24 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH in from an outlying ziyarat five soldiers who had been wounded in the disastrous sortie from the walls, which cost us many valuable lives. By one of those strange contrasts with which our ordinary life abounds, the bishop had just returned from an enthusiastic soldiers' meeting, in which the men had organized a ' nigger entertainment ' for his especial benefit, when the sad news was brought to him. Few sorrows ever tried him more. His correspondence for months and even years is full of touching allusions to the sore bereavement. It may suffice to quote from two of these letters, the first written on August 27, in the fresh burst of grief, to Miss Holmes, a principal supporter of the frontier mission work, and the second to his brother John at "Wells, broaching his scheme for a memorial transept. To Miss Holmes. Since your most kind and valuable remittance reached me by last mail, one of my life's greatest soitows has in God's Providence befallen me, i. e. the death in the battle-field of my beloved brother and friend, and your special fellow-workei', Mr. Gordon. No doubt he had gone out to care for the wounded and dying, though particulars have not yet reached, but no matter how this was, the greatest and noblest of our three Punjab apostles has been taken from our band. I feel too stunned and distracted to speak or write calmly about it to-day : I only heard it last night, but it was confirmed in the journals this morning, and there is no hope of its being an unfounded rumour as it comes with the telegraphic despatches : it is a bitter and overwhelming sorrow, for I never had one other friend who threw himself with more single- ness of heart and entireness of devotion into the cause and work of our dear Lord, nor any who esj^oused my own special plans and purposes with such unabated and loyal confidence, so that every- thing we did almost seemed mutual and common, shared between us, except the special functions and offices of my bishopric. His death was worthy of his life, for he has joined the noble army of martyrs, and it seems hard to suppose that any one who has known his character and manner of life should not be better and purer and more singlehearted for having known him, yet how often it happens that ' the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heai-t.' I have never heard any one, however, spoken of— by officers in the army especially— with such admiration and esteem. I feel his removal has thrown a deep dark shadow over the Church of God in these parts, which in my present freshness of sorrow DEATH OF G. M. GORDON 25 I can hardly expect to see sanctified. May I be enabled to grasp more that sure truth, 'Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face.' The fact is I am hardly able to approach the subject as yet : its right teachings, perhaps its comforting allevia- tions, will be granted ere long : but as yet there is only the appalling and soul-harrowing blank. A great man has fallen this day in Israel, and that at the hands of those for whom he risked his life, like the good Samaritan to bind up their wounds, and pour on them the oil and wine of the rich things of the Gospel. One seems almost ashamed to have been left when one so vastly more needed to the Church of God has been taken, but we shall know hereafter. The last letter I had from Mr. Gordon was dated July 9. Since then they have been pretty straitly besieged in Candahar, scarce a single messenger succeeding in breaking the closely-watched barrier : even now the fate of the place is a sealed book to us, only we know they have lost heavily. I send you two copies of prayers I have issued for use in my diocese. I doubt not Lord George Hamilton is right in saying this is the heaviest scourge that has befallen us since the Mutiny. In the family, in private, in public, Ave have tried to pray, and those prayers will not have been offered in vain, though in the exact letter of them they be not answered. What is to be done to keep up Mr. Gordon's various works I cannot say at present : to take them pcrsoyiallij in hand you will see at once is impossible. My brain often feels very weary and worn, and cannot always last out under such a pressure of labour : a veiy little more, and it must give way, humanly speaking. The letter to his brother John at "Wells will show how great a multiplicity of trials were pressing on him towards the close of this sad year : — September 15, 1880. I write this time, I fear, with rather a sunken and stricken heart from the terrible and successive losses which our Punjab church and the mission cause at home has incurred in the d'eath of my beloved friend Gordon, the utter prostration by sickness, perhaps for ever, of Robert Clark and Sheldon of Karachi ; the deaths of Vines and Welland in the last twelve months, some of our best ; the resignation of mission work by Bishop Baring's son, and the tragical end of the C. M. S. excellent secretary, Mr. Wright. These blows upon blows seem almost to stun and stagger one. Since my dear brother Peter's death, I have perhaps never felt a comrade's death so acutely, though my college friend Lea of Wadham's removal, and Mr. Knott's, were very painful. My heart turns toward your loving, brotherly sympathy, which 26 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH has been unfailing, and I know my diocese and myself in this hour of need and destitution will not be forgotten. It is a comfort to think of Daniel's words—' The kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall stand for ever'— and the hymn seems support- ing, 'Thy way, not mine, O Lord.' I sent on this morning to his brother an unfinished beginning of the last circular letter which he was preparing for his fi'iends as usual, descriptive of the sicken- ing and api)alling scene he had just witnessed, the staggering into camp in small, famished, sunburnt groups of the shattered relics of Burrows' brigade. Candahar is recovered, but they cannot give the diocese back its apostle, nor to me my friend. The Punjab can scarcely be to me again what it has been, for my right arm seems gone ; but Christ knows better than we do what makes best for His cause, and it is possible the death of such a man may kindle a new and undying enthusiasm to catch at least a shred of the apostolic mantle which fell from him when he was translated. He seems to have lived (so the chaplain, Mr. Kane says, who was with him to the last) some eight hoiu-s after he was wounded. The bullet passed through his arm into his side, and another struck his leg. He knew very soon that he could not recover, but was in perfect peace. He sent messages to me that there were funds in the bank to pay what was owing to the catechists, and the various plans he had set afloat. Doubtless his friends will help to enlarge his itineration plan on the Jhelum and Indus, of which he was the pioneer and founder ; and I have advertised in the Guanlian a plan, which I should gladly see realized, that an aisle or transept in our mother-church here should be specially allotted or appropriated to the native church for vernacular worshij) and preaching — as there is a transept in St. David's where Welsh preaching goes on every Sunday. Since leaving Dalhousie and my dear wife a fortnight ago, I have been journeying rather hurriedly, confirming, conse- crating, preaching, lecturing to crowds of soldiers on temperance at Dalhousie and Dugshai, beside native work occasionally. One may well learn from recent events, ' Whatsoever thy hand iindeth to do, do it with thy might,' &c., but I am growingly persuaded that men do much more good, and effect more, by loving, patient, gentle, saintly character, than by feverish excitement of overwork and fretful impulsiveness. A life of Sibthorpe in the Guardian lately teaches that lesson well ; and still better, lives of such as De Sacy, Bossuet, Fenelon, not to speak of dear Gordon : his gentleness and manliness combined were very influential. The correspondence my cathedral and other diocesan work involves me in seems to grow incessantly. Each of the last mails has taken out with it some ten long letters, and a good part of the last three days before the mail has to be devoted to it. Still, the spiritual part of the work claims, and has, the choicest of my time, Avhether for natives or Europeans, and so long as this is so, and health is graciously preserved, for you and for me the word seems THE PATRIOTIC FUND 27 to be, 'Faint, yet pursuing.' What a great prayer is that— 'Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm.' I fear ^ there is not much hoi)e of my dear wife being able to stay out to help me through the synod, as her two youngest are in so weak and anxious a state of health. It is a sore trial, and it seems to cut up a part of one's idans by the roots, but in these things I suppose 'patience must have her perfect work.'. . . I hope dear V.- is having mucli success in his vocation of seeking to break down that strong- hold of sin which in my smaller degree I am also wrestling with in tough oml)race. Dear Mr. Gordon took the pledge at Candahar one evening when we were advocating the temperance cause. ... I am glad dear M. and yourself have the prospect of a short change at least this summer. What a joy it would be to share the holiday with you, but I hope for two or three years more to get on without requiring a furlough. The aisle was associated in the bishop's appeal with Gordon, and the chancel with the fallen officers. In "writing to his son Basil on October 8, about the soldiers' joy that the war was practically over, he said : — ' I have been attacked in the leading paper here for connecting the cathedral with slaughter and battle-fields, but to this I have replied that the soldier represents very much the spirit of self- sacrifice and loyal homage to duty, and that these excellences ought not to be thought lightly of, but rather immortalized.' But whilst providing for the future, the bishop did not suffer his sense of personal bereavement or zeal for his great project for his diocese to render him unmindful of the soldiers' present needs. Rather his sympathies were quickened by his own calamity, and he spoke out nobly in moving the first resolution at a meeting gathered to support a Patriotic Fund. ' The expression Patriotic Fund,' he said, ' is most happily chosen. There was a time when patriotism was restricted to the feeling which bound Englishmen together, now it implies the bond which unites the English race and nation with the people of tliis great country in common interests, sympathies, and hopes. So it was ' This apprehension, it may be remembered, was not realized. - His youngest brother, at that time largely engaged as a temperance lecturer. 28 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH with the Eoman citizenship and empire. There was a time when it was Umited to those who dwelt within the city walls or its near neighbourhood ; it grew and expanded till, by a decree of Caracalla, the citizenship came to be as wide as the empire. We may com- pare with this the deepening and strengthening of the conviction that we were one nation and one empire from the time our gracious Queen assumed the title of Empress at Delhi, proclaiming herself as head, under God, of an empire whose members were as citizens of one country. Our country, England and India united in one, has lost some of her noblest and braA'est sons, native and European. Our empire mourns, and is clad in weeds of soi'row for a great and sore bereavement. Out of the love we bear our country we weep with her, and Ave would not weep with unjiractical sorrow, with " crocodile " tears : as an African once said to a meeting expressing great enthusiasm of sorrow — " how many pounds do you weep ? " . . . They have rendered us the best service, at the price of the most costly and precious thing they could offer, " All that a man hath will he give for his life." It is little we can do at the best to requite such incalculably costly services. Let us do at least what we can for the disabled, the widows and orphans of the fallen. Which of us could have closed his purse-strings or stint his offer- ings ... if we could have looked on at that marvellous display of fidelity, chivalry, and gallantry which was seen at Maiwand, in the way in which the 66th regiment, and the noble Galljraith, their colonel, held out for hours against overwhelming odds amid showers of bullets and shell, defending their colours, till the hundred that stood about their captain became eleven before they would retreat on Candahar? Who could close his purse-strings that has looked on the wan, worn, emaciated countenances, as it has been my lot to do, of sufferers in hospital, weakened perhaps in the very prime of vigorous manhood, maimed and mutilated, and so stripped of the main support of themselves and those nearest and dearest to them? We cannot requite them by standing in a shower of shell and shot as they did ; but as a gi-eat writer says, just as forces in nature are transmuted, so their courage can, in some small measure, be transformed in us, and take the shape of contributing imsparingly that which it is hard and costly for us to spare out of the means we possess.' He concluded with his favourite story of the Eoman centurion with eight children, who volunteered for service, and whose claim that his children should receive support was recognized as merely just by the great iron empire. This meeting took place in the autumn. Meantime General Roberts' mag-nificent march had culminated in the crowning fight at Candahar upon September i. Ayah had THE PENJDEH INCIDENT 29 fled to Herat, and, though the evacuation of the country after Abdul Rahman had been established as Ameer by British bayonets was not completed till the spring, by November 13 a fine army of 10,000 men was assembled at Lahore, and there reviewed by Lord Ripon, the new Viceroy, who had come to India in the summer. This strikingly fulfilled the forecast of the military leaders. At a banquet in Cabul before his march began, Sir F. Roberts had said : — ' Su- Donald Stewart is willing to guarantee— and, were it not an indecorous thing for an officer so high in rank, would even bet— that we shall reach India again via Candaliar by November next.' The bishop m'ote to his sister, Mrs. Gregg, from Dera Ismail Khan,, whither he had come from Jhang by tonga, driving 110 miles in eleven hours and a half, including half an hour's stoppage to mend a broken wheel : — ' I have just come down here on a visitation after taking such part as I was bound to take in the Viceroy's public ceremonial. He came to welcome the troops on their return from Cabul, so I had no opportunity of talking with him, except for about two minutes. The assemblage of native chiefs was large and picturesque : your dear girls would have greatly wondered at the pomp and pageantry and the bespangled dresses in which they came to be presented. was almost beside herself with the enchantment and fascination of the scene.' By the time of his synod in December, the bishop was able to speak of a ' lull in the operations which is hardly yet a great calm.' Indeed, though the early Afghan wars affected him most closely, there was hardly a great calm all through the time of his episcopate. His military pro- vince was profoundly stirred and affected by the wars in Egypt and the Soudan. In 1885 there was a serious alarm of war with Russia, in connexion with the Penjdeh inci- dent, and there was almost always fighting on the fron- tier. "When war seemed imminent in April, 1885, the bishop wrote to the editor of the Lahore Church Gazette, putting forth a sketch form of humiliation and prayer, and saying : — 30 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENXH 'I beg leave to mention two or three thoughts that have been helpful to me the last two days. '(i) One of these is the remarkably providential fact that just when war seems imminent, and so serious a burden of responsi- bility, peril, and possible suffering is laid on our soldiers, one commanding, stately figure', should have been made prominent before the sight of armies everywhere, but emphatically of the British armj-, as the type and model, the ideal of what the soldier may be in his true greatness and goodness. May we not believe that it will be an incalculable blessing to thousands to have such an image of noblest Christian chivalry and devotion presented to them for study and imitation, and to know for certain fi-om his own witness and that of countless others, that the star of his manly, knightly, godly life, fetched its chief radiance and radiating power from this,— that, like St. Paul, he found his losses all gains, because he had won Christ ? Living, to Him he lived : dying, to Him he died. ' The second is the hopefulness inspired by the thought that in no country in the world, probably, could the news of an outbreak of war have caused such an upspringing from so many faithful hearts of prayer devout, humble, and penitent.— prayer, not so much for success and victory to our arms, hut with an under- current of longing desire that, by whatsoever events, God may be glorified, and the coming kingdom of the Prince of Peace advanced. ' The third is the joy and thnnkfulness I should have from learning that the annexed sketch of a form of prayer, homage, and humilia- tion for public worship for private where the other is impossible) might bring many more worshippers to the daily services of our church, than are usually found there : that it might be the occasion of a fresh start in the direction of mping off what is a real blot to our Christianity, and a stumbling-block to our iMoslem fellow- subjects, as well as a grievous dishonour to Him who is greater than the temple— I mean the almost utter emptiness and nakedness of our churches during the hours of week-day service. Our fresh confirmees, and the heads of Christian womanhood in our English society, might earn a well-desen'ed i^lace among our fellow-workers for the Kingdom of God, who are a comfort to us, and in the proposed Company of the Ministry of Jesus," if they would take the lead in a movement toward daily services, which my Ijrethren, the chaplains, would meet, I doubt not, by fuller forms of prayers, and short thoughtful expositions (where asked for), or readings from eminent divines. The calm, restful, devout spirit, breathed in the sanctuary of God, would be more befitting, more helpful and uplifting to the soul, than the circle of agitated and excited listeners ^ Charles Gordon. THE CAMP AT RAWUL PINDI 31 to the latest telegi'ams and rumours of Russian advance, with whose sad forebodings and real home-anxieties we must, all the same, deeply sympathize.' His description of the great camp gathered at Eawiil Pindi, in connexion with this war- scare, is worthy to be quoted : — ''March 27, 1885. It is a strange scene in which one finds oneself here in the midst of a camp of 20,000 troops, a much larger force than that at Candahar in 1880, with all the pomp and paraphernalia of great military preparations on the one hand, and barbaric eastern splendour on the other. It is the seriousness of all the circumstances and the prevailing conviction there is that a war of vast dimensions is imminent, which makes it a time of much solemnitj^ and seems to hold a kind of awe and hushed suspense over men's minds, and restrains all that excitement and rejoicing which usually distinguishes such scenes, more especially now that a popular Viceroy' is being welcomed, and so many meetings of old friends from all parts of the Punjab, and beyond, are taking place, and every kind of rich uniform and gaudy colouring of native costume diversify the scene. Even when the Viceroy alighted on his arrival to-day, enthusiasm was much subdued, and there was a shadow brooding over men's countenances, it seemed to me, which betokened misgivings and uneasy apprehen- sion. The future, howevtr, is in God's hands, and it is just possible the worst may be averted, but to-day's tidings are the woi-st yet received, and officers are being sent off in hot haste to Quettah and the Pishin valley beyond it to see, I suppose, what defences that frontier admits of. That we are extremely unpre- pared all admit, but the gathering of an army of 60,000 under General Stewart is proposed, and we hear from home of the calling out of the militia and resen^es, so that you will be almost in the midst of as much warlike preparations as we are. The Viceroy is greeted warmly, but silently, and if a man could rally and attach to himself hearts, I think he would. He received me most pleasantly and kindly to-day, but after all "Except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but in vain." I confess the alliance with the great Mohammedan power is not to me a very hopeful outlook for the future. Colonel Abbadie of the 9th Lancers said to me to-day, "Well, but we are a Mohammedan power already." I hope we shall be kept calm and in good spirits, waiting on Him who has befriended us so marvellously often in terril Je straits, and that we shall not be ashamed of confessing Him. I had four divisions of the English forces to provide chaplains for, and ^ Lord Dufferin. 32 LIFE OF BISHOP FREN'CH accordingly took one myself, and appointed Messrs. Spens, Tribe, and Nugent, Avho seem all working with a heart, and we are all harmonious in action as regards arrangements. ' Mondai/, March 30. Yesterday I held an early parade at 7.30 out on the great plain for the 9th Lancers, portions of Highlanders, and one battery of Artillery. Then at 11. sermon at station church, the Viceroy and Lady Dufferin and Sir Charles Aitcliison and party being present. I contrasted our Lord's triumphal pro- cession with that of these days at Eawul Pindi. I fear it was not as flattering as might have been expected to the latter. There was such a dense levee (9.30 the fixed time) at the Viceroy's state tent on Saturday evening that all was in sad confusion, natives and English all jumbled inextricably. I never saw anything imperial so disorderly dune. I suppose the flocking together of such multi- tudes was unexpected, and much had to be extemporized. Then all the carriages were packed together in masses in all directions, and in the dark it was a hopeless search, so I begged a seat home in the first carriage I found di'iving my way (which turned out to be the Eoman Bishop of Lahore's), and I was indebted to him for driving me home (not to Eome, happily) about 10.40. ' Easter Bay. I missed seeing the Ameer after all. He came in just as early sei-\-ice commenced on Tuesday morning, and it was very wet also. There was to be a durbar in the afternoon, but in consequence of rain it was -put ofi". and I left at 8 p.m. ' Koitut. 2Iai) 21. The accounts from Eussia are very imfavour- able, it appears to me, but people go on hoping. The officers are indignant, and think England is to be branded ^^•ith ignominy. AVhat is to come of it I know not. It is curious to see even Mr. Chamberlain refuses a deputation from the Peace Societj'. It looks serious that the Czar has sent a jewel-hilted sword to General Komarofi" ! Dear Agnes ^vill be amused at the Maharanee of Baroda oft'ering her sel■^■ices to form an armj" of Mahratta amazons to fight the Eussians, and recounting what the Mahratta ladies, such as Ahilya Beg, did in the old annals of the confederacy. The Ch ll and Jlilitari/ hopes the ladies of India and England will follow her example. I think Agnes would like to be her A. D. C. ! It really seems as if this war were cementing a fresh union between the English and the Hindus. I am most of all surprised at the apparent loyalty of the Mohammedans.' But it was not in war alone, but in peace, that Bishop French was ever the soldiers' true friend. Among other efforts, he felt it needful to advocate the cause of temper- ance, and, amongst other self-denials, he became a total abstainer. It zcas a self-denial, for the bishop was no enthusiast, and felt himself the better for the use of TEMPERANCE. SUNDAY REST 33 stimulants ; indeed, from time to time he was forced to have recourse to them for his ' often infirmities.' In his temperance addresses he always put the gospel in the forefront, urging the soldiers to become true Nazarites, and not mere Rechabites ; to make their total abstinence only a link in that chain of graces which, beginning with man- liness, ended in brotherly kindness and love. In a letter to Miss Brocklebank in the first year of his episcopate he said : — 'Thus far, I think, those to whom my new work seems to have been most blessed are the British soldiers, but the natives keep their hold upon me rather determinatelj', and claim my sym^jathy and co-operation in what concerns them, and you may be sure this is no sorrow or trouble to me, whatever labour may be involved. Thus far I have been preserved wonderfully in health, more than I could have dared to hope, yet I feel it is a severe strain some- times, and having felt it necessary to be a teetotaller (the soldiers in one camp made me take the pledge twenty-six times one night after a lecture ! as they like my individualizing plan), I cannot take stimulants to keep up brain power. I hope I shall be able to get on without. ' Another point in which he showed himself the soldiers' friend was in protesting with all his influence, in public and in private, against all profanation of the day of rest : — ' You and I,' he wrote to an officer of highest rank in one of tire hill-stations, 'have great responsibilities, you greater than myself in some ways, and with responsibilities a greater influence, and you are not one who will think I ought to ask your pardon for i)leading earnestly with you (as the chief pastor of the Church of Christ in this diocese) to exert that influence more wholly to the glory of God and the good of His Church— I mean as regards the observance of the Lord's Day and the services of the Church. ' In my visitation journeys, among other observations I could not fail to make this very csiiecially. that the respect and reverence for God and holy things was affected to what we may feel a lament- able, but is yet perhaps a natural and inevitable, extent by the bearing and conduct of the chief officers, mihtary more than civil, towards the house and worship of God. ' If in any respect the manner of conducting the services should be objectionable, I shall feel very thankful if you will publicly or confidentially complain to me, that I may remonstrate and, if pos- sible, make a change in the arrangements complained of. VOL. II. D 34 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENXH ' If it be otherwise, allow me, dear sir, with the utmost courtesy and respect, which your kindness to myself personally and well- known ijhilanthropies must inspire, to exhort you in the name of tlie great Head of the Church to consider how greatly the exercise of influence has to do with the great account we must both render, and how deep the debt is we owe to Him of whose government one of the most recognized, and most righteous, and surely fulhlled laws is, " Them that honour Me, I will honour." ' It has been already noticed how successfully on another occasion he appealed to General Roberts to defer a Sun- day march. This was a point on which he was at all times ready to lay the greatest stress, and in 1882 he obtained a General Order on the subject: — ' It having been brought to the notice of the Commander-in-Chief that in several instances lately the orders and customs of the service requiring troops on the line of march to halt on Sundays have been infringed, his Excellency directs that no movement of troops shall take place on a Sunday, except when absolutely unavoidable.' As a preacher, the bishop might sometimes weary the patience of the soldier in that hot Indian climate by the length of his discourse, or shoot above the heads of all but the more thoughtful of his hearers. He tells good- humouredly against himself the story of a general's wife who, after listening for three-quarters of an hour in the heart of the hot season, vowed she would never hear him preach again. But every soldier could appreciate his mani- fest sincerity, and when he went miles out of his way in the burning sun to minister to two or three in their sickness, or stripped off his coat in hospital to rub the limbs of some poor fellow writhing with pains of cholera, they recognized that in their own chief pastor they had one who understood their troubles, one who was ever ready to endure all hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ ; and so it is no wonder they respected him — in many cases loved him— for his work. That this is no exaggerated language two simple anecdotes may serve to show. On June II (St. Barnabas Day), 1885, the Bishop had been taking the parade service of a regiment, three miles from Murree, under the grand forest trees. MORAL FORCE 35 'I took,' he said, 'the character of Barnabas, and it seems to have attracted the men much. One of them gave an account of the whole sermon to Mr. in the evening. " Ah, sir," he said, "when the bishop put his hand up to his head and said, 'Why I with my grey hairs even want encouragement, how much more do you young men want encouragement such as Barnabas gave '? ' it seemed to give me quite a pain here in my heart, it affected me so.'" On another occasion, when lie was dining with the Artillery mess at Meean Meer, the colonel in command thanked him most warmly, in the presence of all the officers, for what he had done for them in a recent visita- tion of the cholera, and said with a bright smile, ' If there is a forlorn hope to be led, we will follow you to a man.' Thus both by men and officers his moral force was felt ; and Captain Dunlop Smith, a former aide de camp at Government House, Lahore, and son of the latest biographer of Henry Martyn, has recently recorded his impressions thus : — 'There is one striking feature of Bishop Fi-ench's general influence which I had several opportunities of seeing, that is the effect his example, no less than his teaching, had on young men out here, those tine young fellows you meet in any Indian canton- ment — men who are as plucky, honoui'able, and straight as one could wish for, but who don't think so much of the deeper pur- poses of their existence as thej' might. Several of these lads have told me. perhaps not directly, but none the less plainly, how the revelation Bishop French could not help giving to eveiy one of his own big and chivalrous heart made them feel better men and do their round of parade or stables or whatever came to their hand with a keener sense of duty. With all his scholarship and culture he was simple and fearless, and the large sympathy he had with humanity in all its phases had its origin and inspiration in the highest teachings of his Master. I often think if he had been a soldier he would have been very like General Gordon.' D 2 CHAPTEH XVIII. MISSIOXARY WORK IX PERSIA. Tliipdot Kdi M^Sot KOI 'EXn/xmji . . . dKnvnp.ev XnXnvvToiv avrSiv tcus r;|ueTe'paiy yXaxraais tu niyoXun tov Qeov. — Acts ii. 9-12. ' I have -svandered through many regions of the world, and eveiywhere have I mingled with the people. In each corner I have gathered some- thing of good. From every sheaf I have gleaned an ear.'— The Persian poet, Sadi. 'If we furnish Him (Christ) with candid, willing, unselfish disciples, ready to go where they are sent, to stay where they are bidden, to call nothing unpromising which He points to as a task for our attention, He will teach. He will plan, He will execute through us as surely as He dirt by His apostles. 'In the New Testament we see and hear Him exactly as He was in their lifetime and His own ; through all the pages of history we mark the same living hand ruling and judging ; and it ought not to be too hard, even in these striking, stirring times of our own, for faithful hearts to find His new paths of ever-changing progress, when He Himself has sent them to be His interpretei-s and pioneers, the living Christ, the thinking Christ, the speaking Christ, the reigning Clui-t. Emmanuel, God with us.'— Archbishop Benson (at his enthroniz.ation, 1883 ; quoted in French's Persian diary). It miglit be supposed that the vast provinces of the Punjab and Sindh would have afforded sufficient scope for the energies of one man, already worn with sickness and broken by remorseless and unsparing exposure to a tropic heat. But the same undaunted spirit which had carried Bishop French beyond the frontier to cheer our toiling troops at Candahar, carried him further still, when at the close of 1882 a plain call came to him to visit Persia, and confirm the souls of the disciples, and cheer the hearts of those who were there labouring to spread the kingdom of THE CALL TO PERSIA 37 God. It was nothing that he greatly needed rest ; it was nothing that he had set himself an immense task — no less than the collecticn of at least £4,000 for his cathedral — during the brief months of his leave in England. A call to follow in the steps of Henry Martyn had irresistible attrac- tions; and, as the task had not been a self-chosen one, in spite of his distrust of his unworthiness, he felt he could obey the summons without fear. On December 22, 1882, he wrote to Mrs. French, who had returned to England the preceding year : — 'The eve of the 21st' (the eve, that is, of his own consecration day) 'brought me a formal commission from the Bishop of London, at the request of the Church Missionary Society, to visit their missions in Persia ; so I seem to be shut uj) to that course, and I really have no liberty to decline it. It is a great privilege in one way, yet must involve many heavy crosses and sufferings, ])erhaps in excess of what I have known hitherto. I dare not hope to reach you before July, I fear, as it is no use rushing through places of such unusual importance, and reached with such difficulty.' The intervening months were very fully occupied with the Calcutta synod and varied visitations, including two of his old missionary posts. At Dera Ismail Khan his life was really in some danger from the violence excited by his preaching to the Afghans in the bazaar ; and at Lahore, towards the close of February, he had the pleasure of consecrating the new chapel of the Divinity School, and next day held an ordination in it for three native deacons. At length, on March 15, being en route for the coast, he wrote of the departure from Lahore in words which plainly show how greatly he was valued in his diocese : — ' The missionaries, gathered for the Church Conference, rallied round me at the station, and the college students, scarcely any- body else ; indeed I had kept my time of departure pretty secret. What was far )>etter than crowding to the station was that on the Tuesdajr evening (the eve of my departure) the congregation, gathered for the confirmation of twenty-eight young people, was nearly as large as an Easter Sunday congregation. No doubt Mr. Turneaux's valued ministry had much to do with this, and, perhaps, a little also the knowledge it was my farewell address to them. I was helped and strengthened for the effort beyond hope. 38 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To see the galleries filled on a week-day was passing strange, and Mr. F. seemed full of joy and thankfulness. ' I know not how to praise God enough that these last weeks exceeded, I think, in interest all other weeks of my episcopate. I dare not therefore call myself a broken-down man, but I feel I could not have held out much longer.' ' KamcJti, Marcli i6. Karachi reached at 8. 30 this morning. I love to think of Jacob's jouriieying, and God's fatherly guidance of him all the way ; and the angelic visits, though I fear I may be almost presumptuous in asking to have Bethels and Peniels even a little like his. So ends, for the present at least, our corre- spondence from India.' The origin and special difficulties of the Persian mission, which Bishop French was now about to visit, here call for some remark, for all the details will be read with a more vivid interest when we remember the great thoughts and aims that gave a sacred unity of purpose to the laborious course of daily marching. Here was no idle globe-trotter upon a holiday excursion, but in every step of the way he was sustained and carried forward by one lofty inspiration, the longing for God's glory and the weal of men. It is remarkable that mission work amongst the native Persians has not at any time been due to the initiation of the great societies. Henry Martyn only lingered in the country on his homeward journey, burning himself out for Grod, that he might perfect his translation of the Persian Scriptures. Ten months in 1811-12 he passed at Shiraz, disputing with the men of learning, then died at Tocat, near the Black Sea littoral. The work appeared to die with him, so far as Persia was concerned. The Americans estab- lished a mission amongst the ancient Eastern Churches at Oroomiah, but the Mohammedans of the great cities re- mained untouched till Mr. Bruce, French's old colleague in the Derajat, entered the land again in 1869 ; next year the Americans also began to labour among Moslems, but to the English Church belongs the credit of first attempting to renew, however tardily, the efforts of the sainted Martyn. The story of Mr. Brace's visit is full of interest. "When French was stricken down by sunstroke in the Derajat, bruce's visit, famine 39 for eight years Bruce continued in the forefront, and then, returning for a brief and well-deserved furlough, he heard some officer speak of the great facilities for travelling in Persia. The Persian language is of use throughout all Northern India. On reaching England, Bruce chanced to mention this in conversation with Mr. Venn, the secretary of the C. M. Society. He himself had not attached importance to it, but to his great surprise Mr. Venn's eyes filled with tears, and he said, ' Oh, do go to Persia ! I am so thankful for this opening; it is one of those things we looked in vain for in times past, but which God is giving us now.' Accordingly, though still attached to the Indian mission, Bruce stopped in Persia on his way, nominally to perfect himself in the Persian language. He found openings for preaching beyond his hopes, and that the Persians would visit him at his house for religious conversations. When he was preparing to go back to his Indian station, another letter came from Mr. Venn : ' If you can see your way to improving Martyn's version of the New Testament, then stay in Persia ; if not, go to your post in India.' It was a momentous question to be called upon to settle, and the communications with England were so slow that Mr. Bruce had only his own judgement to depend upon. He sought a sign from God, and at that very time nine Moslems came to him and asked for baptism. This was the turning-point that brought him to remain. Then followed the great famine, in which, assisted by George Maxwell Gordon, he was the means of dispensing- relief to the amount of over £16,000, and saving thousands of lives. He began by asking for £200 in England, and mote and more kept pouring in, in answer to his prayers and in accordance with his dire necessities. The most extraordinary incident was the provision of some £6,000, gathered in pennies and sixpences from the poor Germans of Wurtemberg by the indefatigable efforts of Pastor Haas, and sent out in successive instalments of £1,000, with this most Christian message : ' The Moslems hate the Christians, but Christ has told us, " Love your enemies." 40 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH This money is collected from poor Germans, and we wish, it to be distributed, without the least distinction of creed f.nd race, to IVIoslem, Jew, and Christian.' "When the stress of the visitation was over, enough remained of this sub- scription to form an orphanage as a more permanent memorial. Though Mr. Venn personally always supported Mr. Bruce in remaining in Persia, the difficulties of occupying it as a permanent station were very great, and it was not till 1876 that the Society was willing to number it among their authorized endeavours. The Mohammedan lands of the East, although they are the Bible lands, the very cradle of our Christianity, have hitherto at all times proved the least assailable by any mission force. At no spot probably throughout these regions have as many as ten Moslem converts been brought together and formed into a native congregation. Religious bigotry and political oppression have practically closed the door. Except in India, under the protection of our British Government, for any Moslem to become a Christian is, as it were, to yield himself to death. Persia is no exception to this common rule. The missionary, under consular pro- tection, may be comparatively safe ; but what about his converts ? It is indeed hard at times to advise them what course to follow. At the time that Bishop French went to Persia, Dr. Bruce had been a good deal blamed for baptizing some thirty of them secretly. Some of those who were baptized went to India, where they could believe without the loss of life ; others believed in secret, and were not baptized. This is one difficulty of the mission. Dr. Bruce says, ' One can but set before them Christ's own command about confessing Him, and His command, " If they persecute you in one city, flee to another," and leave them to judge for themselves.' Another special difficulty of the Persian mission is its relation to the old Armenian Church. For some three hundred years a body of oppressed and drown-trodden Christians, deeply sunk in superstition, have been settled THE C. M. S. MISSION 41 at Julfa, a suburb of Ispahan, and in some of the villages of the surrounding districts. The successive bishops have been men of some education but no spiritual power, who never visited the villages, and only viewed them as a source of revenue. The priests have been almost illiterate, and taken straight from the plough ; and both priests and people have been too often sunk in debt, and in bondage to drink, which they secretly supply to the more wealthy Moslems, for whom it is strictly forbidden by the Koran. Still some sort of witness for Christ these feeble Christians bore, and many delicate and critical questions inevitably arose in dealing with them. The ecclesiastical position was further com- plicated by the fact that a small mission of the Romish Propaganda had settled in the land. Dr. Bruce has never sought directly to proselytize among the Armenian Cliristians ; he has always been ready to cultivate friendly relations with them, and to encourage reforms within their own body, but he could not refuse to attach to himself a little congregation of those who sought his counsel, and, at the urgent and repeated request of a body of Armenian gentlemen, he undertook to super- intend their school, if they would place it close to his own compound. For some time the Armenian priests continued to instruct the children, then they opposed the school and sought to turn away the Moslem pupils. Now they have opened a very fair school of their own, but still some even of the priests' own children continue to attend the mission school. Face to face with the heads of the Romish and Armenian Churches, his little body of adherents obtained for Dr. Bruce a recognized position in dealing with the native rulers, and formed a nucleus of worshij)pers amongst whom Moslem inquirers could mingle in small numbers to obtain instruc- tion without attracting notice. These remarks suffice to indicate the difficulties of the Persian mission, and may elucidate allusions in the bishop's journals. Dr. Bnice's own chief work has been the revision of Henry Martyn's New Testament, and the still older and 42 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH more faulty rendering of the Old Testament Scriptures. The Nestorian and Armenian colporteurs of the Bible Society are ready to spread these -svritings broad -cast through the land, and thus the great fortress of Satan will be sapped and mined, the leaven will spread silently, the seed will spring up secretly, one knows not how. Dr. Bruce is now — in 1895 — in England, passing through the press this finished Bible, which has cost him three and twenty years of unremitting labour. This is one sign of happy augury. Another is that Persia has offered its first martyrs in the nineteenth century (in early days of Christianity it had its many martyrs) to the cause of Christ. One case deserves especial mention. A convert of the American mission was recently cast into a loathsome dungeon at Tabriz, and kept in durance for eleven months. At any time he might have had his liberty by the denial of the faith of Christ, but he would not deny. At last some outlawed fellow-prisoners fell on him, and took it by turns to choke him, between each assault asking whether Christ or Ali (the great Shiah hero) were the true prophet of God. He always answered, ' Christ ! ' Next day the doctor found him in a dying state, and he told him, ' Yes, sir ; I always knew when I embraced the Christian faith that I was putting a knife to my own throat ; but I do not regret it.' One other fact of interest must be recorded. Bishop Stuart, French's old colleague at Agra, has resigned his see at Waiapu to work in Persia as a simple missionary. His services, especially in all that concerns the organization of the infant church, and its relations with its elder neigh- bours, will be of greatest value. It is remarkable to see the man who sailed with French, who was married the same year with him, and consecrated bishop the same week with him, thus follow him again to this old field of labour, devoting his last years to these forlorn outposts of Eastern Christendom. These words may introduce the bishop's journals. The fact that they concern the field of Martyn's labours must IMPRESSIONS AT MUSCAT 43 be the one excuse if they appear to occupy a dispropor- tioned space in the biography. The whole distance from Bushire to the Caspian, with very small exceptions, had to be covered on horseback (or else on foot where riding was too difficult), and the fatigue to the bishop was much increased by the fact that, though he rode so much, he never had acquired the art of ' e-dsy horsemanship ^' From Karachi the bishop sailed across to Muscat, and in view of the approaching perils on his march he took the Avise precaution of drawing up his will to forward it to England. He reached Muscat upon March 20. It was his first view of the place where he was destined, after eight more years of labour, to conclude his life of witnessing, and here he came upon the line of Henry Martyn's jouniej^ Martyn had witten to his Lydia : — ^Muscat, April 22, 181 1. I am now in Arabia Felix. To judge from the aspect of the coimtiy it has little pretensions to the name, unless burning barren rocks convey an idea of felicity ; but perhaps there is a promise in reserve for the land of Joktan : their land may one day be blest indeed.' And in his diary he added : — ' In a small cove, surrounded by bare rocks heated through, out of reach of air as well as mnd, lies the good ship Benares, in the great cabin of which lie I. Praise to His grace who fulfils to me a promise I have scarce a right to claim — "I am with thee, and will keep thee, in all places whither thou goest. " ' How like the bishop's words about the Bethels and Peniels ! But the resemblance in the experience of the ^ The whole of the country covered by the bishop in this expedition has been most carefully described by the Hon. G. N. Curzon, M.P., in his two portly volumes on Persia, which give not onh^ the experience of a most practised and acute observer, but also the full fruits of a careful study of the works of every previous explorer. The book, which is admirably illustrated, is likely to prove the standard work upon its subject for many years to come. 44 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH two pioneers does not end there. Martyn describes the Imam as a man who had obtained the throne by murder- ing his uncle, and was then engaged in fighting with the "Wahabees to keep it, whilst in his wazir or chief minister pride and stupidity seemed to contend for empire. ' "We are all impatient,' he adds, ' to get away from this place. We saw nothing but what was Indian or worse.' French's account of it was not much more cheerful. He wrote to Mrs. French : — ' I am seated here in the resident's house, having landed for the few hours the BunnaJi .stops in harbour to see the place and its curiosities, and to inquire whether any congregation could be gathered, as it is the Tuesday in Holy Week. In both objects I am disappointed. There are no curiosities, and apparently no congregation, the few residents being Roman Catholic for the most part. The bazaars are all roofed in, and only about four feet across ; i)ositively insufferable, I should think, in hot weather. The people talk a medley of tongues, chiefly Arabic. Some also Persian, Hindustani, and Suahili from Africa, with Sardi. . . The harbour is a delightfully landlocked and enclosed one, like the Valetta hinbour, only smaller, and surrounded with rocks of great ))oldness and sternness, many of them crowned with forts, esijecially two (Jalali and Mirani) of Portuguese engineering, on two opposite rocky crests, as old as the great Admiral Albu- qvierque's day, who was the famous captain of this part of the world, and performed many great engineering as well as military and statesmanlike achievements. . . A great multitude of African slaves, both men and women, are kept here, and Colonel Grant will have it they cling to their slavery with a very decided pre- ference, and refuse freedom when offered it. I am thoroughly disappointed in this place, of Avhich one had read so much. . . . The Arab tribes all around continually make raids, and bloodthirsty feuds seem incessantly renewed. Lately, forty of one hostile tribe fought with sixty of another hard by the great mountain- gate, which shuts in the hilly passes in rear of the town, and thirty-three were killed in hand-to-hand conflict. It is the old story, "His hand against every man." Dates are the chief export, rock salt also and donkeys ! ' To Mr. Clark the bishop further described the city 'as an utter wreck of its past greatness and renown,' and the Sultan as a ' poor sunken and demoralized creature, afraid each day of being poisoned by his son.' In another letter from Muscat, written to his son Basil at Cambridge, the A DAY AT JASK 45 bishop further spoke of liis own feelings in starting on this journey: — 'My brain had ahnost reached the nc x>lus ultra of exertion and exhaustion, and just in time God has given me a temporary release from the tension of work and responsibility. Perhaps a little work may be given me to do in Persia, though by what open door I can enter does not yet clearly appear. Fatigue, weariness, sea-sickness, have retarded my progress in Persian sadly the last weeks, though I did a little en route for Quettah and Dera Ismail. I find the moollahs in Muscat understand me fairly. If I had only the more perfect love and holiness of a Martyn, words and thoughts would doubtless find vent some- how. I pray it may not be quite a wasted opportunity of speaking for my Master, if He has a people in these cities. To approach the heart of a new people for the first time is not an easy matter. But my privilege has more often been to report on work and to set others to work better than myself than to effect much personally. It is something even to be allowed to screen one's own ineffectiveness behind this shelter, and to rejoice at others' successes may possibly be one of the greatest joys of heaven. ' On leaving Muscat he spent a singularly interesting da}' at Jask, ' a most desolate spot in sandy wastes, and almost seagirt, where a very few telegraph clerks and their families manage to live, never seeing a clergyman except on such strange occasions as this little visit.' He held a confirmation there for two married ladies, the whole congregation amounting to twelve, and afterwards consecrated the little cemetery at the extreme point of the promontory, and washed on three sides by the sea, containing six graves already, chiefly of by-passing sailors. Remembering how his own bones were laid in just such a desolate spot, it is touching to read in his diary his special form of service, commencing with Psalms 139 and 23 and go, and closing with the hymn, 'Brief life is here our portion.' After the service three children of Mr. and Mrs. Thornton brought all their little stock of shells (with which the coast abounds) to give for his cathedral fund. ' I was so pleased,' said the bishop, ' and told them it was for Jesus, and hoped all their life they would work for Him and please Him.' 46 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH On Good Friday, March 23, lie was at Liugali, a long low reach of town with pointed windows and chased fronts of merchants' houses, where were the offices of the Bahrein pearl fisheries : long lines of palm-groves, a curious scarped hill above the city\ high bare sand-hills bej-ond it, and native craft to seaward, complete his little picture of the place. From hence he wrote to Basil : — 'Was the merchantman Jesus seeking souls, or the soul seek- ing happiness and finding it in Jesus ? Doddridge seems to think the former when he says. '"Pearl of price by Jesus sought." speaking of the soul. Both are beautiful thoughts, perhaps this the more so. We passed over a coral reef this morning where pearls are found, and I could not help asking the native agent, who came on board, whether he could get me a few to sell at the bazaar in London for the cathedral, but he had none with him. If he had he would probablj^ have tried to cheat me, for they are a sadly degraded people, though once so great under Cyrus and afterwards under Sapor II [alias Shahpor]. ■ I should think this king had one of the most lengthy reigns on record. It is not quite certain whether he reigned sixty-nine or seventy years. I fear our good queen will not beat that. Yesterday we Avere between the Persian and Arabian coasts in the Straits of Ormuzd. I think I shall have much clearer ideas of some jioints in geography than before. Poor Ormuzd, once so proverbial ("the wealth of Hormuzd or of Ind," says Milton), is so reduced that it only exports some rock salt, of which it is largely comijosed. Once it was the cntrcpfA of the vast com- mercial wealth which passed between Venice, Portugal, and India. Sic transit f/Joria mundi-. Would it could be realized that these poor souls, dwelling along these rockj-, craggy coasts, are more precious to Jesus than the pearls of price. Trulj^ Jesus dived far deeper to tind them than these poor fishermen do. The one pearl is toil-bought ; the other blood-bought.' Here too, at Lingah, the bishop held a service on board the vessel interrupted by the blowing away of a sail in a sudden squall. He must (to judge from the notes remaining ^ Named ' Grubb's Notch,' after some old Indian sea-captain. '- In another letter the bishop quotes the old couplet : — Si teiTarum orbis quaqua patet, Had the world's golden circuit annulus esset " an opening and joint, Illius Ormusium, gemma decus- Then Ormuzd, methinks, were que foret. that fair jewel point. PEARL-FISHERIES AND LINGAH 47 in his diary) have preached a very striking sermon on the verse, ' The people stood beholding.' A few words may be given : — * What is it men behold ? Is it not beauty, grand moral beauty, which Lacordaire finds so pre-eminently in the Saviour? " In Thy Majesty " : the Vulgate has in specie tua ct jndeJiritudine iua. What so touchingly, affectingly, imi^ressively beautiful as a refined, suffering face? •Christ is a spectacle to three worlds (angels, men, devils). The modern theorizing (S(o,pwv), like the old Ih Ih ilding. To which of the groups of tlie beholders do I Ijelong? Do I look on the Crucified One as John, as the Virgin, with deep unutterable love, following Him even there? or with deep penitence as Peter? The true effect of looking expressed in the day's collect, "That every member of the Church may truly and godly serve Thee." ' The bishop was much delighted on this journey with the Life of Perreyve, which he was reading for the second time, and highly recommended it to Basil : — 'I wish,' he said, 'I had known it when I was young; how much higher would my notions of life and duty have been, and of the best way to become a good writer and speaker. ... It was a sort of epoch in my life when I came to read Lacordaire, Perreyve, and Gratry, reading all, however, in the light of God's most precious word, and of the expeiience of life and of the world of man and nature.' On Easter Eve he continued : — 'It is beautiful, charming weather now, and calm seas, so I can get on with my work, whether preparing sermons or studying Persian works of the kind which are most extensively read and discussed, if at least the moolhihs are like they were in Martyn's time. The doctrine of the Platonic ideas (Went or stSr?) takes a great hold upon them, and inflates them with conceits and notions, windy and empty, rather than solid food. Such doctrines as the resurrection and the new creation have no place among them, no spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, of Jesus Christ.' And the same day he wrote to Mr. Clark : — 'We are now nearing Bushire. I have been able to do a little in Persian with the native passengers, and in reading -to them out of the Arabic testament, which they seem to like, but there has 48 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH not been much encouragement thus far. I wish I may pick up a little bit of H. Martyn's fallen mantle. I have been comforted by preparing a sermon for to-morrow on the text, '"He hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." I wish I had more to tell you, but I have seen little but barren rocks, and we only landed twice, the Arabs being not to be trusted along this inhospitable coast, and the Arabic not at all pure.' Next day, March 25, he -nTote to Mrs. French : — ' Only think of my landing first in Persia proper on Easter Day morning, a day of happy auspices and promise I trust for my journey, and for the little work it may ple.ise God to give me to do in testifying that Christ should be the first that should rise from the dead and give light to the people and the Gentiles '. ' Happily we got in quite early, and as Colonel Ross, the resident, sent a steam-launch for me. I was at the Residency, about three miles or more from where the vessel anchored in the open roadstead, by about 8.30 a.m. . . . The town is very like an Egyptian town of the second or third class, only in each court- yard is a date palm, the same donkeys and boys ! . . . Mr. Bruce has sent an old and tried servant, an Armenian, to help and take care of me on the road, and provide necessaries 1 may require beyond what I have in the way of stores.' At Biishire the bishop lingered till March 30, preparing for his journey, and there is little to record of interest. Of the sixty Europeans in the town and the adjoining telegraph station some lift}' attended the Church services, though there were few communicants. The bishop's ministrations were evidently valued, as under the depressing circumstances of the Persian Gulf stations he urged the need of lively hope in Christ. At the telegraph station he consecrated a little spot of ground in a public garden, where a dear child was buried. His first little sermon in Persian was preached on March 26, beside a large school of little boys learning to recite prayer ; it was an exposition of part of St. John x., ' I am the door.' ^Vith the Armenians too he had some ' It is another point of contact with Henry Martyn 's life, for Martyn wrote : ' I left India on Lady-Day, looked at Persia on Easter Sunday, and seven days after found myself in Arabia Felix.' SHIF AND BORASJUN 49 intercourse. The priest called on him and asked him to celebrate a marriage in his church— a plain building in decent order, containing several graves of officers fallen in the attack on the Persian forts in 1858. The priest was unable to officiate himself as the Armenian Lent was not yet over. The bishop, after a day for consideration, consented to perform the wedding. •It seemed so strange,' he said, 'to put on my robes in au Armenian church. The bride was so closely veiled that I have no idea what she looked like ; her bridesmaid had to translate the pledges into Arabic for her, the only language the bride under- stood. We had sweetmeats at the priest's afterwards.' On Friday, March 30. he started at 7.30 in Mr. Paul's steam-launch, reaching Shif at 9, and accompanied thus far by the Armenian priest, the Rev. Basil. The bishop's companions in travel were two colporteurs, Benjamin and another, and Greorge, an Armenian Christian and agent of the Bible Society, all members of Brace's flock at Ispahan, and Karaput, the servant Bruce had sent him. They found their mules awaiting them upon the shore, where were great piles of wheat from the Shiraz neighbourhood awaiting shipment to Europe. The first day's ride brought them to Borasjun, and the bishop much enjoyed it, save that travel- ling all day in the full sunshine was perilous enough. At six farasangs (twenty-four miles) they rested under a palm- grove, where were some karezes (undei'ground water-courses) of sweet water, mth most perfect emerald-green grass all round. The water for some cause was nearly white, and all sorts of cattle, herds, and flocks, horses and asses, were massed together here to drink of it. Only the last mile or so of this day's march was pebbly and tiresome for horses. At Borasjun Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm, Armenian Christians at the telegraph station, entertained them, and they had much talk about the chief points of the Gospel. The caravanserai is the finest in all Persia, built by Mushir-el-Mulk, and there were pure white hollyhocks from English seeds, ' almost the best,' the bishop said, ' I ever saw.' VOL. II. E 5° LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Next day they rode to Khonar Takta, starting at 5.45 and reaching Daliki at 9.30 a.m., where they remained and rested till the afternoon. Round Daliki there is a splendid palm-forest, which would be grand if it were not so low. The naphtha-springs are most unfragrant and abundant, but tui'ned to no account. The hill-clifts were luxuriant with flowers. A river, swift and green, with many falls, was spanned with a fine bridge at Daliki, built by the same Mushir-el-Mulk, who also raised the zigzag stairs of stone with parapets, which climb the narrow defile for a mile towards Khonar Takta. 'This Mushir,' said the bi-shop, 'really de.serves great credit, yet he got suspected and nearly strangled, and had to pay a fine of =£4,000. We met a number of kafilas ' laden with— what you would never guess — the coffins of their friends, being transported (one on each side of the asses instead of panniers) to Kerbela, where the tombs of Hosein and Hussan are, carried hundreds of miles by sea and land, the dead saints of Mohammedanism being thus preferred to the living Saviour. It was a saddening, sickening sight indeed. On emerging from the ravine it is lovely to look down on a few fields of corn, where the valleys broaden, green hills and bare grim rocks alternating ; the last three miles delightful, soft and green along the valley of the Khisht.' The next day, Sunday, they spent quietly with Mr. Edwards, their host, at Khonar Takta ; and on Monday, Apiil 2, got up at 4 a.m. and made a long fatiguing march to Kazeroon, thirty-two miles. ' A good part of the day we were still threading defiles, which were blocked up here and there by American cannon, which were being hoisted up in coffin-like boxes on men's shoulders, with somewhat less noise than Indian coolies under the circum- stances would make. Scarcely any bush or tree was to be seen through these gorges or staircases, where it was difficult to go without getting one's legs crushed between the rocky wall on both sides. Such as these I have never seen before. Colonel Smith ^, General Director of Telegraphs, telegraphed I should be met by the chief native official in each town. . . . This cere- monial in Persia, as in India, is called "istikbal." lam afraid I should rather gladlj' dispense with this honour, but it is 1 Caravans. ^ Now Sir R. Murdoch Smith. KAMERIJ AND KAZEROON 51 deemed .1 duty of respect. Thus we were met by the Kabit of Kamerij, who was obliging, and offered hospitalities which we declined. ' The Kamerij plain at first entrance is veiy pleasing, the hills are mostly white and greyish pink. We stayed an hour (eggs and tea), and on over another stiffish kotal ' down into the plain of Shahpor, which opens out into the plain of Kazeroon. I gazed with great interest and longing curiosity at a cleft on the opposite side of the plain. There was the ancient city of Shahpor, and up that cleft are remains of many ancient monuments ; and in a cave the colossal image of Shahpor the Second, lying flat now and defaced a good deal, but part of the features and the beard are recognizable. We stopped at Dirris half an hour, seven miles from Kazeroon. It was once an important town, but an earthquake shattered it, and all the houses sank into the earth : the curious thing is they sank bodily, and do not seem broken up. I thought the buildings were tahkhanas [vaultsl and were built as now to be seen. The fort of Shahjjor, and relics of other scattered forts, crown every available eminence all through this plain of vast dimensions, redolent of memorials of empire. Colonel Smith had ordered a mounted guard to come and conduct us from Kamerij onward, and this was a great help, as he rode on in front and saved us from winding about rough roads. A number of horsemen joined us, and showed us their feats of horsemanship, cutting capers of all sorts, shooting while at full gallop, before or sideways or behind, bending down from the saddle to pick up from the ground, and scouring the plain in true Parthian fashion. Parties of bivouacked Iliyatees here and there in Ijlack tents were picturesque. As we approached Kazeroon the vast slate hills with deep gashes, rents, and scars in them looked very singular ; you would almost fancy blood flowed from the fissures. 'Kazeroon, a city almost in ruins, j'et ruins of palaces and elegant buildings, and so from a distance very deceptive, lies under the lower range which becomes snowcapt beyond, and boasts one of the loveliest sites of earthly towns. The governor, a stout and not particularly refined man, a tajir or merchant by ])irtli. who talked rather vulgar Persian, came and sat an hour. I tried to lead him to serious Christian suljjects, but evidently he is not a truth-seeker. The town is fianked on both sides by nearer and at this time grass-grown hills of ant hill shape, and in front of it, out in the plain, arc lovely wall-encircled gardens of date palms, oranges, poim yianati s. It looks palatial, but ever since the famine, in which my dear friend Gordon distinguished ^ See Curzon, vol. ii. p. 221, for a picture of this stiffish kotal, and a rahdar or road-guard upon it. E 2 52 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH himself by relieving thousands of sufferers, the palaces and forts have become as dens, as the prophet writes, or at least are as pearl s^hells without the pearls, miserably dilapidated, and the inhabitants so impoverished and ground down as to be utterly unable to repair the rents. There Is a blue glass or a blue tile domed mosque, which is visibly conspicuous for miles.' 'April 3. Mr. Yuhannes, our host at Kazeroon, accompanied us eight miles. Then up Diikhtev Kotul (the Maiden's Pass', with artificial rocky staircase and parapets, up which George and I walked. We got some water at a boorj at the top of this (which is called the Simplon of south Persia) from some guards in blue blouses, and rode on through the Dasht-i-barf, some twelve miles long, a perfect garden of green grass, oaks just bursting into leaf forming almost a forest of luxuriant green, alternating with exquisite wild almonds in loveliest profusion of light pink blossom. "We galloped along five miles till the ascent of the Per-zan began, the worst bit yet climbed, the stones and boulders being trying almost to despair. 'This kotul is called the "Old Woman's" Col'. I can't say what the terms mean, except that the terraced staircase may represent the smooth neck of the young girl comj^ared with the wrinkled neck of the old lady, up whose shoulders we climbed with infinite trouble. At the bottom of it I got half an hour's sleep under an oak. One hour's ride more (about) brought me to this singular sarai, built thirtj^ years ago, superseding an old ruined one a mass of filth, which dear Martyn probably slept in, less dirty I hope than now. Around it besides rocks are oaks, almonds, and willows (in Persian liccils), whose fresh foliage has a conspicuously yellow colour. From under the willo^v-grove flows out a spring of deliciously fresh cool water, carried by pipes or gutters with stone cisterns under both sarais. Snows approach us here, and there is a beautiful view of the Dasht-i-barf. An old fakir called and begged, and after I had given him a silver coin, sat one and a half hours while I read portions of St. John to him (chaps, i. iii. xi.). He seemed greatly pleased, he was perfectly educated in Persian, and followed along with delight- fully intelligent remarks. May God bless His word to him. I could not refuse him a copy of the gospel as he begged for one. We had the aristocratic portion of the sarai, enclosed within doors to itself. I was rather done up ; though only twenty miles the march was severe, and I -walked up the staircase of Simplon. The name of the place is Miyan Kotal.' ' Ajjril 4. Wrote to M. A. at length ; the swallows spoiled my Bible. Staited at 1.30 in afternoon for Dasht-i-arjim, the worst bit of road on any of the hills yet traversed ; I had to dismount at one part. Springs issued in several places, veiy refreshing, ^ See Curzon, vol. ii. p. 203. DASHT-I-ARJUN. TAKTA ZUNIYA 53 gurgling, and purling. At one the lions usually come down to drink in the evening, wild pigs also, hiding especially in a ''tang" or hollow in the hills near the village of Dasht-i-arjun. Mr. Smith, telegraph inspector as far as Bushire, had ridden out several miles looking for us in the morning, and received us most kindly, and had good fires and refreshments. The sun had touched me, and all night almost till morning a wearisome head- ache continued. . . . Swamps make the plain very shaky and unreliable for riding, fiiDia terra is rare, and watercress and ducks abundant. The village is very poor ; the people in bad harvest times live on acorn bread, only mixing a handful of barley meal with a mass of pounded acorn paste. Some villages get little else at any time. A few wild figs and grapes are roughly cultivated up the hills, r.nd are nearly all their luxuries. Mr. Smith hopes to get home in a year or two. He is teri'ibly desolate, I should think.' ' April 5. He rode about four miles with us towards Takta Zuniya, along a ridge first of all with snowy mountains in all directions. Takta Zuniya is little more than a caravanserai, with capitally clean but cold and windy guest-rooms, not tenanted by swallows as yesterday's. 'After long reading out of Ain-ul-Haiyat (Water of Life) with the colporteurs, and exposition with prayer, I sat under the trees by the side of the little river Kara Gach and thought on the kingdom of God, and Shiraz, and dear Martyn ; the ground was much enlivened with the small blue narcissus.' From the breezy guest-rooms of Takta Zuniya he wrote to his sick daughter Edith : — ' It makes me sad to have been so long silent ; and disappointed in so many days not even to know how you are getting on. From this strange, wild place, girt about Avith snow mountains all around, by the side of a little snow-fed stream called the Kara Gach, whose banks are clothed with richest, softest pink blossom of the " arjun," I must begin a letter, hoping to finish it on arrival at Shiraz, which is now thirty miles oft', and we have a fair hope of reaching it to-morrow evening. 'Henry Martyn's Life and Memoirs seem to make me quite familiar with it already. Would I could meet with some who talked with him, but of that there is no hope, since seventy years have gone by since he was laid in his lonely grave. The king- dom of God abides, however, though the servants of it pass awaj'. I am in a caravanserai to-night, such as 1 need scarcely describe, as Mr. Martyn so vividly described it, only there is generally a cleaner upstairs room than those he suffered so much in, and the heat is less, because he was two months later, or nearly so, in his journey. Unhaj)pily I could nowhere find my volume of his life on leaving the house at Lahore, though I made great search 54 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH for it, and to the residents in this country poor H. Martyn is a forgotten name, or nearly so. Yet the thought of his having been on these very spots lends them a great sacredness and unceasing interest to me. It is raining heavily to-night, and as three doors out of five are open to wind and damp, and Ave are 7,000 feet above the sea-level, I am glad of a good fire, though the smoke is a little trying. I am fortunate in having a nice little bamboo cot with a bit of carpet stretched across the poles, which was given me lately by Colonel Carey at Peshawur, who had bought it for the Afghan campaign. My little English lantern with a clean candle may be too civilized for the place, but I can write a letter at least, and have my little dinner spread on a mule trunk, which I fear you would think very luxurious if you dropped in upon me : a little soup (beef) out of a tin, and a stewed fowl. Perhaps St. Paul sometimes got one when "they laded us," he says, "with such things as were necessary. " Eggs and milk seem almost better procurable than in India. My sei-vant and two colporteurs, all Armenians, and Mr. George, an Armenian agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, come in to prayers with me, which are in Persian out of Dr. Bruce's prayer-book, and sometimes a chapter out of the Armenian Bible is read, which they all under- stand except me. I hear Mrs. Bruce writes and speaks Armenian well. I wish there were a Christian gii-ls' school in Shiraz. The city is celebrated for its great poets, Hafiz and Sadi, whose tombs are a sort of place of pilgrimage ; but the tombs of dead poets will not make people poets, any more than visiting those of dead saints will make people holy. . . . ' We have a mounted guard in front, a Persian, and Mr. George rides behind me on a mule, which keeps up the double march with both my horses. The Persian mule is a most serviceable animal. A good one will fetch about .£30. Mr. Smith, who housed us last night at Dasht-i-arjun, collected 1,500 mules and over for the Afghan expedition. They were shipped to Bombay and so sent up by train. Our mounted guide shot a hare for us to-day as we went along, the only hare I have seen in Persia, and the servant in charge of the sarai brought in another to-day. We are taking both as a present to Dr. Odling, who entertains us (D. V. ) at Shiraz. Some of the hills at Dasht-i-arjun were grand and imposing, looking like a Doric colonnade of most classic taste and stately proportions ; and far away was a noble pyramid of snow, with its angles almost as finely carved and marked off as if it were masonry — only this was God's rocky building, not man's. Persia is the country to come to to get out of the way of letters. Think of having none for eight days, and the post only going each way once a week. I suppose in old Persian days the posts were better managed, for Herodotus speaks of hemerodromoi in Darius' days, which means, probably, people who ran eveiy day. I believe it is better, however, north of Shiraz. I shall have tired you SHIRAZ 55 already, but must say how much I appreciated your dear letter, written, I fear, with painful though loving effort. I write these few last lines from Shiraz— only 200 miles finished out of the 1,800 miles before me.' The bishop stayed at Shiraz for twelve days, from April 6 to 18, and to Mrs. French he thus described the place : — 'We are in a broad valley surrounded by hills on all sides. From the stony wastes much is reclaimed and walled in for gardens. The rulers of the country spend their gains often in providing these oases for themselves and their friends, for few of these gardens are public. The apples and almonds are in blossom ; and cypresses (of two kinds tall and spreading) with poplars and chunars or plane trees are the i^rincipal trees of delight. . . . The bazaars are mostly thatched over with matting and flimsy cover- ings of wood and straw, and sanitation laws are unknown. Almost all but the food of the country sold here is the produce of Europe, a very small amount too comes from India. There are eight or ten Europeans, not quite twenty Armenian Christians, the rest Jews and Mussulmans, mostly the latter. Learning, especially philosophy and poetry, have always been renowned, else I hardly know what there is to give Shiraz the name it has. I have been reading the Chaldean original of the book of Daniel with much enjoyment. It is curious to find how many words in that part of the book are familiar to Persians, through the old Chaldean words that doubtless at that age (Daniel's) became mixed up with their language. It was only at the Mohammedan invasion, 1,000 years later, that Shiraz took the place of Persepolis as capital ; now it has given place to Ispahan and Teheran, and it is only a provincial caj)ital. I wish I had learned ever so little of the process of deciphering the cuneiform character, but I hope I shall not attempt any more tongues. "Tongues shall cease, but now abideth charity, divine love"; that is what we want. I wish to impress that on the moollahs and hakeems here, some of whom come to call, and I am thankful to say, for the most part, understand my Persian fairly clearly. It is indeed a privilege to do ever so little, and work ever so feebly, in the steps of the beloved Henry Martyn. How I wish I could find out the room in which he lived, and where the scene took place of the Bible trampled on by the moollahs, and picked up by him with the words in his heart, if not on his lips : — "If on my face, for Thy dear name, Shame and reproaches be, All hail reproach, and welcome shame, If Thou remember me ! " 56 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH ... It is a great comfort to me that I was led in India to devote much time with Mr. Bateman and others to the study of Soo- feeism and Persian ; and Persia being the land in which Soo- feeism most prevails, I find myself surprisingly at home with the religious teachers here in the use of words. All they say almost is familiar to me ; still, to touch hearts and influence lives is not my work, but the work of the Church's great Teacher, the Holy Ghost, as I told them at length this morning when some of them asked me to explain the words, "I will give you another Comforter. " ' The bishop's great aim was to influence for good the learned Mussulmans, and a few extracts from his diary from day to day will show that he was not entirely without success : — 'April ID. A venerable old man and a middle-aged man called, sat an hour or so, and seemed to drink in words of truth ; they said they had been deceived hitherto, now saw tlii-ir way to light. May the Holy Spirit Himself take them under His own teaching of light and truth ! I talked to them about Daniel preaching pro- baldy in Persepolis, and Darius' order throughout his kingdom that men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. . . I told them what "raunak" (illustrious honour) it was that their country had a prophet, and the prophet's words commanded to be circulated through the country by the greatest of their kings.' 'April II. Over an hour with the same old man and two followers. Two others from Ispahan sat an hour or more in the afternoon. No others to-day. Eight copies of New Testament, or portions, sold by Benjamin in the bazaars to-day '. Much time spent in reading Hebrew and Chaldee, Dan. vi-viii, and Esther.' 'Apml 12. Thank God for some most interesting conversation with some akhoonds (three or four), and the two or three who came the last two mornings all together, on the great truths of the last two days : the kingdom of God, the death and burial with Christ, the atonement or "kafara," the second coming, &c. It is surprising to see how much is admitted, and apparently in some assurance of faith. The Lord does seem to have His own every- ' Benjamin is described by Dr. Bruce as an enthusiastic colporteur, a Nestorian Christian who knows no fear of man. In one town he took his seat inunediately beneath a proclamation forbidding circulation of the Scriptures, and nowhei'e had so good a sale. At another, where he had been seized and bastinadoed, he returned barefoot, to give less trouble to his persecutors should they again fall on him. DISCUSSIONS AT SHIRAZ 57 where. They did not attempt to set up Mohammed against Christ. The "injils"' of the Old Testament I dwelt upon. They asked about the appearances of Christ in the Old Testament, and I took especially the wrestling of Jacob and Hosea's comment on it, which we read, and there seemed a general readiness to admit the plain and natural sense of this. Had I come only to witness to-day's confession of so many blessed truths by some learned sons of Persia, I should have felt the visit worth making and the journey taking. George and I pi-ayed afterwards for a blessing. The dying and rising with Christ seemed marvellously to com- mend itself to them. The Word and Son of God. His eternal oneness with the Father, seemed to present no difficulty. " How can we come thus," they said, "to be dead and buried with Christ?" I dwelt on baptism and the yielded heart and life as the true means of death to sin in repentance. I jiressed on them the seeking the help of the Spirit to understand all this. 'A general in the army and a sheikh called and sat a long time. I pointed out the same subjects generally. They said much about the "tauhid" or unity, and I showed how the unity was the first principle of all religion and all truth. So far we were all agreed ; but there were the iSioifiaTo, which were the mysteries of faith. I must tiy to show how barren, empty and naked the idea of absolute deism is, and how the Trinitas is out of the root of the unity and in its root, and how its fruitfulness in itself, and beyond itself in its communication, depends on this. 'The general and sheikh both wanted copies of the Bible, specially of Isaiah and Daniel, after what I told them of Cyrus and Darius from those books. They inquired particularly about •' wiladut-i-sani " (new birth), what it meant and how it was attained, which gave occasion for l^ringing out the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit. ' The sheikh quoted a hadis', in which God is stated to have said that by truth and holiness, or such means, "you can become like Me."' ' April 13. The old man and two others called this morning ; not much encouraged. Sorrowful letter about dear Edith to-day. Eode with nawab three miles or so to the Dilkoosha garden, under a pyramidal hill. Felt ill and undone to-day, and could talk but little to the diwan'', who had waited for me for some time, and had started in his carriage for a drive, but returned seeing me from a distance. A wonderful water-spring gushes from the hill just above his garden. I sat not half an hour, and he walked with me round part of his orchard. I rode on a little way to ^ Gospels. ' Traditional saying of Mohammed. ^ Fath Ullah Khan. See Curzon, vol. i. p. 431. 58 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Hafiz's garden beyond. A few trees compose the garden, of which the chief attraction is a tomb-like stone of the usual shape engraven and chased with Hafiz's poems. On the wall also are other quotations at length. Bambridge (missionaiy from Bagdad) ari-ived in the evening, which refreshed me. He had got here in five days, walking one horse the whole distance.' ''April 14. Accepted invitation from a mujtahid (the Imam Jumas of Shiraz) to visit him in his garden two miles off, called Eahmatabad. The nawab was also there, and other moollahs, I spoke at some length on the new birth, and the word of God, and the second coming of our Lord. Books, which the colporteurs had brought, excited their attention much ; and ten Bibles or Testaments in Arabic or Persian were bought. The mujtahid read out the first Psalm and the second, delighted with the similarity of it to the Koran. I pressed upon them the impor- tance of spreading the four great books of the word of God, and told them the " raunak " would be greater than the kingdom of Cyrus, if they could spread the kingdom of God and Christ. The passages 1 had copied out this morning as to the Soofee views of the "kalamat" (word of God) were helpful. Delightful to get Henry Martyn's life to-day. Looked over Ezra's account of Cyrus with Bambridge, especially his careful specifications as to temple- building arrangements. It was a pleasant " balakhana" or upper chamber in a garden where we met, a mujtahid and moollah sat in some state, the rest anywhere. They brought a box for me to sit, on, which was really unusually considerate. The garden green and verdant with rivulets of fresh water flowing through ; opposite (across some young crops and green fields just under the hills, over which footpaths towards Zarghun were clearly traceable) was another cypress garden, partly concealing three flour water- mills — "asiyab," they called them. The great copy of the whole Persian Bible seemed very attractive to them. Evidently they thought that there must be something in all that. The great man kissed it devoutly, and placed it reverently on the top of his head to exj^ress his resjject and homage. The mujtahid whom H. Martyn describes at Shiraz can hardly have been so open to conviction and imjjression as the present high priest appeared. The colporteurs were highly delighted at the sale of books which took place. Three or four years ago there was much more shyness and reluctance in the purchase of books. More Bibles were called for to be sent after! I said to them, "If you can get the mujtahids to do your work for you, how pleased the Bible Society will be." God grant this little change for the better may usher in a new state of things. ' A long and pleasant evening with a Nicodemus-like moollah, who sat one and a half hours, and I had difficulty in getting him to go at last ! Much of the work of John the Baptist and of the Saviour was gone through with him. DISCUSSIONS AT SHIRAZ 59 ' "Masih imroz aram" (Christ is peace to-day), and the teaching based upon it, struck him much. "Being justified by faith" must follow this evening. I was most refreshed by meeting such a gentlemanly, humble, modest inquirer to whom the truth seemed as clear, fresh water out of spring. 'In speaking of "Christ is peace to-day," the Nicodemus said, "You must have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you," of which I had been speaking. Evidently the thought had taken hold of him in a strange way.' ^ April 15 {Sunday). Two services as before. In the evening walked with Bambridge to Hafiz's tomb ; thought a tomb in an elevated spot to be Hafiz's, and going up to it was invited to sit down by some mooUahs gathered there. I found it was one of their padris', buried I know not how long ago, not long probably, but there was a preaching place by it, and evidently it had a sacredness in their eyes. I had a long conversation with the moollahs, and read a little out of the New Testament. One moollah could do nothing but cast reproaches upon God for allowing Satan to have so much power over faithful men. I think he felt silenced at last. I pressed the immense love of God in sending His oxen Son to deliver us from the power of darkness, how at this very moment He invites him to find all the power of resistance he needs. I might have taken the few first verses of James — " Count it all joy when ye fall, &c." After- wards looked at poor Hafiz's tomb, which was encircled with an iron rail — "daurash ahin ast," as he expressed it'. Glad to rest at night and talk quietly with Bambridge.' Besides this missionary labour, the bishop found some opportunities of ministering to the European community. One little girl, Greta Stainton, he baptized on Sunday, April 15 ; and to a telegraph officer who had lost his pro- motion more than once through drink, he solemnly made over his own pledge-card, inducing him to sign it. 'I put the question before him on its highest grounds,' he said, 'especially the ground of the cross, and showed him Dr. Odling's crucifix, and asked him in its presence to take the pledge. I prayed with him, and promised him one or two books, and asked him to dine on Thursday.' "When on the Thursday he did come and dine, the bishop, though very tired, read and prayed with him ; in fact, he left no means untried of winning him. ^ See Curzon, vol. ii. p. 108. 6o LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH On April i8 the bishop and his party started for Ispahan, and in four hours of rough riding traversed the twenty miles to Zarghun, a small town of some 4,000 inhabitants, and with four mosques in it. They found the rahdars, or j)eople in charge of the sarais, most civil. A fine tall man, a Christian baptized by Bruce, came in the evening. He said he was forbidden by the moollahs to read or speak of Christ. The next day, April 19, ' the much-to-be-remembered plain of Merv-dasht was reached amid showers and storms over the marshy levels of the Zarghun plain,' whose dark morasses were in places paved with rough round stones. The black flocks and black tents of nomad tribes contrasted with the grey rocks and green pastures. ' A great imperial plain,' said the bishop, ' is Merv-daslit, worthy of being the seat of a great kingdom. It is rich to a degree at this season, the villages well-walled with stone having deliciously green shrubberies, walled in also, aj^ples, pomegranates, vines, willows by the waters, planes, poplars, apricots. There were two splendid hills to our left as we diew near to Persepolis and Pooza ; one seemed like a couching lion, the other like a lion ready to spring. The stormy weather and driving rain-clouds helped to increase the illusive impression. A poet would have been in ecstasies but for the drenching rain.' ' 20///. A memorable day. Fine and yet not hot or over-bright sunshine for examining Persepolis. We started at about 7.30, and returned at 3.' '■ 2\st. Off at 6.45 to see Darius' tomb. I was most struck Avith two things. ' (i) A perfect copy, or original (I know not which) of the sculpture near Shahjior's tomb, of Shahpor receiving the submis- sion of the Emperor Valerian In one [sculpture] the Emperor of Eome stands by his horse and offers his diadem to Shahpor ; in the other, he is on his knees in far more abject submission, and this accords with the usual illustrations in histories. The grand haughtiness and erect omnipotent attitude of Shahpor is in felt contrast with the touching, bowled down, and prostrate look of the emperor. (2) Yet more wonderful, if possible, as a work of ' Curzoii, vol. ii. pp. 115-119, gives an elaborate description of the remains, with many illustrations, including Shahj^or and Valerian, (p. 121). PERSEPOLIS 6i art is a bit of a desperate battle struggle between some royal per- sonages (or great heroes at any rate): the muscular action and marvellously life-like natural attitude of every limb, both of man and horse, has an overpowering etfect ; not a limb l)ut seemed in an agony of tension and beauty of most perfect development. Since Aurelian's statue at Eome, and the Laocoon at the Vatican, I have seen nothing, so far as I recollect, so extremely artistic or in which it would be so impossible to add or diminish anything. It is only a portion, apparently, of a larger sculpture, of which part has suffered from destructiveness of man or the elements. In such a lovely, lonely, desolate spot to see such flowers of human art and industry blushing imseen makes one marvel indeed. We rode on to the extremity (one extremity at least) of the Merv-dasht plain by the villages of Faido and Faro, where are excellent anars' and grapes; then rounded a mountain promontory, and through a shoi-t pass came into the Siwand or Araxes valley, much more narrow than Merv-dasht, but also in parts very green, and having gardens. We crossed the Araxes, fairly swift but low and perfectly easy, and passed right through one village, where was a bag'^, out of which live kids peeped and bleated, and infants of two years were riding mules and ponies. We passed at length Siwand and Kuhna, now deserted like shells of oysters left high and dry. The new Siwand is round another promontory in a very beautiful and highly cultivated valley, with poplar plantations and vineyards under mountains of curious lie of strata . . . the village a collection of unicoloured grey stone and clay huts. The telegraph officer's house has a singularly enjoy- able and lovely prospect, the contrast between the dark mountain range (abounding however in brushwood) and smiling fields and orchards arresting one's gaze continually.' From this most charming rest-house lie wrote to Mr. Clark and Mrs. French fuller descriptions of his sight- seeing. To Mr. Clark he said : — • '. . . The tomb of Darius one could not but look upon with thrilling interest yesterday. That, as well as the tomb of Cyrus the Great, which we hope to see to-morrow, appear to be identified by the inscriptions, as well as historic testimony, most satisfac- torily. The ladies' apartments have sculptures of ladies in the recesses of doorways, most of the buildings representing kings and their attendants, or soldiers. One thought the sculptures of Xerxes' zenana might embrace one of Esther. I am working on slowly with the colloquial Persian for the villagers and poorer Pomegranates. ^ Or perhaps bag (garden). 62 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH classes in the towns. For the learned, classical Persian answers sufficiently. Martyn's life has been my constant companion. No one else seems to have known anything about the thoughts in men's hearts in this part of Persia.' To Mrs. French he said : — ' At Pooza, after talking with the rustic travellers, who gathered for warmth around our smoky fire, we got the use of a little rude upstairs apartment for two nights, Avhich, with a carpet or two, made a passable resting-place. With an eye-glass we discovered rock-hewn tombs in the distance — one, which turned out to be the tomb of Darius the Great, we set our hearts on seeing. These tombs are of a kind I have not seen before - the rough face of the steep scarped rock being first hewn and smoothed, not from the ground upward, but at a point perhaps halfway up the rock, and thence to a greater height, like a large picture-frame let into the rock, in the centre of which a little dark opening is visible, which is the entrance to the royal tomb. Above and below are very elaborate sculptures, recording the king's name and the chief exploits of himself and his armies in the old Persian or Zend character, a language which has distributed itself into the Sanskrit and Persian in a very curious way, the verbs being mostly found with their inflections in the Sanskrit, and many of the adjectives even in modern Persian, as " buzurg," great ; " darogh,"' false. Happily yesterday turned out a delightfully suitable day for examining the ruins of Persepolis. The idea was a quaint and grand one certainly of appropriating to a succession of halls and palaces for imperial purposes a flat terrace underlying for a length of about half a mile, and about half, or less than half, that breadth, some not very lofty hills of solid stone, sufficient to form an imposing and impressive background to the scene of splendour and high artistic effort. I called the terrace flat, but it is not all of one level, but a series of natural levels, helped by art and human labour, and casemated, as it were, with wondrous masonry some sixty feet high, made of huge blocks and slabs of most solid stone, up which are staircases of stone. Those in front especially, facing the great Merv-dasht Plain westward, are said by Niebuhr to be the finest in the world, and so broad that ten horsemen might ride up abreast. That is not all, for up the side walls as j^ou ascend is what seems an endless series of scattered processions, some festive, some military, some triumphal : long strings of captives or subjects offering presents ; horses and cars in a vei-y few of the fafades, rarely dromedaries and asses ; sheep and oxen, rarely an antelope ; men carrying game, birds, and kids on their shoulders ; soldiers with long bows in their hands, and quivers fastened behind ; horsemen all leading their horses, as the scenes were all processional, and represented the i^alace and what went on in it, not the battle-field. I made a point at RUINS AND ROYAL TOMBS 63 Bushire and Shiraz of making a number of notes from the best sources I could collect, and it was possible with the help of these to distinguish the various buildings, halls, palaces, tombs, and the rest. I spent yesterday mostly in this attempt, and it was such a treat as one can seldom enjoy, Fergusson's book was by far the most helpful, as he went into many of the details so care- fully. It seems clear from the researches of historians, that Darius it was who commenced the palaces here, changing his capital from that of Cyrus, which was Pasargadae ov Istaker, to one thirty miles further south, and in a grander centre more favoured hy natural surroundings. The monuments chiefly belong to him and Xerxes, though some have thought that Xerxes' son Ai-taxerxes built one of the palaces ; but this is very doubtful. Xerxes' hall, and the hall of a hundred columns, whose sculptures .seem akin to those in Darius' palace, must have been on the whole the most striking, and suited for the exhibition and overwhelming display of the imperial pomp of the East. Of the pillars which composed the palace of Xerxes only fourteen are now standing, including two in the front portico or propylaja, as they were called in later days. This front portico has at the side of its gateways two colossal, monstrous-sized creatures, something between the bull and the griffin. The sculptures of the monarchs are almost all in the deep doonvays, through which they marched in stately procession to their court pageantry, feasting, or halls of judgement. The faces have unhapijily in every case, so far as I .saw, been mutilated by the Mohammedan conquerors in the seventh and eighth centuries ; all but the face is easilj^ distinguish- able, and the stateliness and solemn majesty of their movements is remarkable. The roofs of the hall of Xerxes and hall of a hundi-ed columns were, it appears, of cedar from Lebanon forests, and were burnt, as Arrian relates, by Alexander in a drunken fit, if the tradition told is true. 'Strange it is that the royal tombs are in the deeply graven and chiselled faces of the rocks, forming the immediate back- ground of the terraces and palaces. It must have been no small wisdom and self-restraint which led them in the midst of all their pomp to be incessantly reminded of death and the grave. Half- way up the small hill was the chief of these tombs, with the inscriptions and sculjjtured reliefs of the king, seated in the act of worship as high priest with the altar of the sun facing him, and a strange winged figure hanging in mid air with the sacred ring- in its centre, out of which a human head protrudes and elevates itself. This may have been the tomb of Xerxes or Artaxerxes. Darius' tomb is scarcely in sight, except with a glass, on the very o^jposite side of the plain. Perhaps he j^referred not to be in such visible contact with the tomb he had prepared for himself.' The Sunday was spent quietly at Siwand. 64 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH On Monday, April 23, they left early for Murghab, and visited the tomb of Cyrus, which the bishop thus described : — 'At 9.15, after a hard ride, reached Cyrus' tomb (meeting Mr. Stainton in the way), and took refreshment under its shadow. Much surprised to find the colonnade remains so perfect on two or three sides, enabling a very clear idea to be formed of its entire appearance. Few tombs in the world can have been so splendid in conception, supposing the eight pillars each way (at the distance of about twelve yards I suppose from the base of the pyramid of the tomb) to have supported a canopy overshadowing the whole. No doubt much else to produce additional effect was added, of which all trace is now lost. The ground layer of stones IJrotruding beyond the other layers to complete the pyiamid has very little left : massive though the stones are, 18 ft. )jy 4 ft. in breadth and 42 ft. in height, at a rough calculation, it has almost completely been removed to break up for small buildings, which disfigure rather than beautify the surroundings, and for head- stones and massive slabs above the Mohammedan graves ; for the whole i)lace is turned into a Mohammedan cemetery, with a rude stone and mud wall surrounding ! The tomb itself is empty, though the remains of Cyrus may be underneath the floor. The grand plain of Pasargadae, with this in its very centre, on a very slight and scarce jierceptible eminence, must have given much eftVct to the colossal tomb with its massive colonnade. Of the capitals it was not possible to learn anything, though there were little bits of old Zend inscrijjtion lying about, apjiarently repre- senting a time when the Zend became slightly modern, Persianized in its characters. Mr. Stainton believed these to be quite ancient, and going back to the original of the building, but I had not time to make any cast. • 1 w much struck with the long narrow defiles (occasionally lnoaikniiig a little into narrow cultivated j^lains) through which we passed for five or six miles before debouching into the great plain of Pasargadae, of which the tomb is the centre. The hills round in the far distance were much softer, more velvety, less nm-cd. like the gentle roll and gradual heave (jf waves, rather tlian tln'ir pitch and toss up to mountainous broken crests and ])yramid-like points. The north-westward reaches of the plain were swelling undulations, like the Yorkshire moors, and at one level point of these were a few solitary, irrost desolate fragments of ruins, only one pillar of great height, the others being corners of palatial buildings crumlding away, and not likely to be visible at all aiter a few years. This is all that remains of Pasargadae, except one gi-and piece of masonry wall, enclosing and fencing in the side of a hill-ledge, much as the terraces of Persejiolis are enclosed. It must have been a vast effort of engineering skill, and worthy of a great and wealthy kingdom. ' DEHBID AND SOORMA 65 ' Ap)il 2^th. On early to Dehbid (village of willows). Defiles again, I think the higliest in actual altitude between Bushire and Ispahan. Cuckoos heard here several times. At the bottom of this a cultivated jdain of very large extent, with a very conspicuous "koh-i sufeid (white mountain), towards which we were travelling endlessly it seemed all day — the last three miles on foot, for I was spent, and faint for want of food and wf.ter. Some three fara- sangs of plain towards this hill are utterly barren and waste, like that from Dasht to Quettah, scarcelj- a blade of grass, only camel's bush and furze. Rain came on pretty heavily the last two miles, and I got my third wetting this journey. Got at length, weary and half-drenched, into the caravanserai close by a weird-looking bit of ruin, said to be one of Bahram Gour's, who in consequence of a dream destroyed all the splendid palaces he had built, and then suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from the sight of man. Mr. Agenor Yuhannes came and fetched me to a very comfortable little carpeted bedroom, where a fire was most acceptable, and tea also. Rain had been much wanted, and Y. said the copious fall of it to-day would make my visit long remembered." ^ April z^tli. Still very wet. Six hours letter writing.' 'April 2.6tli. Off early for Khoona Khona, about three and a half hours. ' Several hours spent with inquirers of great intelligence, though outwardly poor ; went through St. Lukexix. (first part) — suffering, resurrection, ascension of our Lord. It got so cold they could not sit it out any longer. It was. however, a day not to be forgotten.' 'April 2^th. Off early to Soorma.' Hence the bishop wrote again to Edith : — 'As I got in from a march of twenty-six miles at 10 a.m., I have a little time to spare to write to you, in front of such a bright snow-capped mountain, called Koowool or Kuwul (my guide tells me), in the little upper storey (about 16 or 17 ft. by 16 ft.\ which usually is built over the gateway of the Persian caravanserai, and is often called a talar. . . . Henry Martyn speaks of this snowhill in his diary, but he does not always give the names, so I find it difficult to follow. I wish he had given more detail of his travel. ' The snowhill opposite is so brilliantly white and glistening, it reminds me of Mount Hermon as it is represented in recent pictures of our Lord's Transfiguration, in which His glory is made to light up the snows of the mountain to which He had gone up to pray. My caravanserai is right under some lower hills of a pinkish grey colour of rock, which I always admire. Yesterday we came only eighteen or twenty miles, through a not very interesting country to a treeless, grassless, and almost waterless plain, except at a distant corner of it, where a caravanserai stands, VOL, II. F 66 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH conspicuous by its whiteness from afar, more lonely and bereft to look at than even a lodge in a garden of cucumbei-s. No doubt in time of Ijad weather, or when pressed by robbers, it has seemed like a city of refuge to many ; and even to a weary traveller it seemed like an ensign of rest and repose in the far distant land- scape from the top of the last hill he descends ; and its pure, cool water, purling and si^arkling, is most refreshing. • In front are some verj^ strikingly pointed conical hills, like some Persian caps. Under their skirts we found this morning the tents of an English engineer, Mr. Mclntyre, which was a rare and welcome sight. I was surprised to find a few people, who sat for hours, giving most intelligent and almost anxious attention to the word of the Gospel. The remarks it elicited were delightful to hear. Benjamin, a colporteur, who is in my little retinue of travellers, seems heart and soul in his work - his eyes quite glisten as he tells them of the way of peace and life. Perhaps he too thinks as Martyn did : the Persians will also probably take the lead in the march to Sion (cf. p. 380 of Martyn's Life). 'Mr. Mclntyre was inspecting the telegraph poles, and re- fastening them when damaged. He inspects about 140 miles. He is very mechanical, and has built several little carriages, in one of which (a sort of dogcart) he drove me himself four miles. He has built two or three others for private parties or for Govern- ment use. Since the days of Darius or Xerxes tliere can scarcely have been ever any carriages in Persia till these. We saw two sculptured on the staircase walls of a palace at Persepolis. I have one mountain guide with a dagger and rough sort of rifle. I gene- rally let him go in front to keep the pace up well. I sometimes try to get some information out of him, but when he has told me a white mountain is a white mountain, that is about all. ' This village lies at the root of a long hill, and is fringed for one and a half miles, I should think, with gardens, chiefly of fruit- bearing trees. For a long space before you come to it it looks like a dark mass sj^read over a lengthened space of the plain, and then the bright emerald green of the trees breaks upon you. In this plain where we now are there are several such little oases and corners, whei-e streams from the hills flow down. ' These huts are much cleaner than those Cashmere travellers put up with, but I fear the Cashmere ruler has a secret pleasure in English travellers being stung and bitten ! I should so like to be sure you would be better when I come to England. Your dear mother has spared no pains. I wish tlie joy of meeting your old father, after so long an absence, might help tlie ii ( t ami ankle-bones to receive strength. I had an interesting hour tu day with an old Babi and some of his followers, seated upon the floor. We went carefully through John iii. with its consecutive teachings. The Babis ai'e, I am told, a largely spread jiolitical sect, and mostly worship their original teacher, or father, by the name of the Bab. ABADEH AND THE BABIS 67 Abadeh and this neighbourhood is one of their strongholds. The Bab himself and hundreds if not thousands of his followers have been cruelly put to death' ; latterly the Government has left them alone, finding martyrdom only caused them to grow. It is rather cheering to know that the Persians have such courage of conviction, for if they will die for the Bab, who was only a socialist leader, how much more might they do so for the Captain of our salvation ! It is curious to find how many English trees grow on these hills, and in watered spots of the plain— willows, called beeds ; ashes, called ban ; elms, called visk ; oaks, called habit ; box-trees, called shamshad ; poplars, called safedi ; beside fruit trees— zaddalu, apricots ; sev, apples. Potatoes also are coming into use. Tea is drunk more than coffee, and comes chiefly by waj"^ of Eussia. ' Perhaps you will let Mary and Hilda see this, as some little things might interest them, though there are no adventures described. I should not like to do what they are ill-natured enough to say one traveller did, who paid some robbers to fire the wrong way that he might record his peril afterwards. I must say there is a charming gracefulness about the plains we now traverse, and the hills which surround them ; at first it seemed all wildness and sternness of nature, and now it is winning grace. ' Next day he added in his journal : — ' April 28. Four farasangs to Abadeh ; more fatigued than almost on any day before, partly from the hardness of the road. I lay down an hour or more, and then prepared a sketch of St. Paul's teaching in the Galatians, read the life of W. Carus Wilson, the soldiers' friend, and purchased some wood-carving specimens. After this two Babi scholars, well read in the philosophy of Soofeeism, called and sat more than two hours ; and I went through much of the sketch I had pre^^ared on Galatians, into which they entered with some spirit and a measure of candid acceptance. I felt thankful that I had carefully thought over the subject. I pray God to bless His own word, and cauwu it to be received in demonstration of the Spirit and power. Two rich Babis in Ispahan were put to death (Mr. Yuhannes says '-) four years since. Two or three months ago the mujtahid represented to the Zill-i- Sultan that Babism was spreading and corrupting minds. Eighty men were seized and imprisoned, but by degrees most of them have been released ; a few are still incarcerated. The terror, however", is great everywhere, and Babism not openly confessed much. ■ Mr. Yuhannes says the telegraph has had a wonderfully ' See Curzon, vol. i. p. 496, for sketch of Babism. ^ Brother of the one at Dehbid. F 2 68 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH civilizing effect these last twelve years. It took some time to be thought a fact at all, then aftei-wards was set down to the evil one, by the mujtahids especially. Now wilful damage is not done more than once in six months or so. Clearly the wires and posts represent a power to which they have to suljmit. and the **pes claudus" of "23oena" follows at much swifter rate behind offenders. The boxes and spoons I bought to-day can only be made of "gulabi" pear- wood, it alone admitting such minute carving'.' At Abadeh lie rested for a Sunday, and the following reflexions are entered in his journal : — ^ April 2() I Sundaij). The process of bringing good out of evil how wonderfully shown in the scattering of tongues ! What lovel}' and charming beauties of the gospel are brought out by difference of languages, as illustrating differences of mind and heart — sentiments, affections, reasonings, imaginations bringing out the different natural similes which different scenes and pic- tures of life and nature exhibit. How beautifully is this shown in the stateliness and massiveness of Arabic, in the sweetness and lucidness of French and Persian ! I must inquire what the Soofees really want and aim at. One of the two yesterday wanted exceedingly to know what the day of the Lord is, and the resur- rection. Might read to them out of Thessalonians. ' The apostles laid the greatest stress on the death and resurrec- tion of Jesus Christ as the basis of all faith, hope, love ; no true death in the world of the evil and untrue but this. To Abraham it was revealed that Chi-ist came as God's great blessing ; to David as God's meiTu and faitli fiihicss : to Isaiah as God's righteousness and salration ; to Samuel as God's true High Priest ; to Jeremiah as the Branch of the Lord ; to Jacob as the Lion of the tribe of Judah ; to Moses as the Faces of God — the prophet like him, "in whom Jfy name is " ; whosoever rejected Him should be cut off. The Babis yesterday much surprised at hearing about the spiritual body ; had not conceived of it evidently. The amens of Christ might be dwelt on with Babis profitably', and the great end answered by the Lord's Day and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. ' I used the word Makrum yesterday to express the taking man's nature as being in affinity with the love of man and delight in man which belonged to the eternal Word and Wisdom of the Father, as in Prov. viii. They quite agreed it was the right word to use for being in harmony or affinity with. What cause have I to praise God for making my bishopric the means of giving me ' Curzon describes these spoons as ' veritable works of art, the bowls being hollowed out from a single piece of wood till they are almost as thin as paper, and quite transparent, while the handles are models of fragile and delicate filagree work.' YAZDEGAST. DR. BRUCE 69 this missionary journey and deeply interesting insight of many minds in Persia ! It is to me deeply affecting and surprising. Mr, Y. said he had never heard a European before speak Persian so readily and fluently. May this crown be laid at the feet of Jesus ! 'Two hours and a half with a party of Soofees. There was much that was disappointing in the conversation. Much listened to and agreed to, and yet the pantheistic tinge and the modern literary view as to all religions being at root alike crept in con- stantly and showed the worm at the root. I could not get into the "aniens" well, liocausc in the very first the word heaven sug- gested questions as to wlu'tlier heaven was a real place. I told them what a wonderful day it would be for Persia if a preacher of those twelve "amen amens " of Christ were to be sent forth in a martyr-spirit, but I fear they requii-ed a fuller setting forth of St. John's deep teaching, and a more solemn call to t ender loyal obedience to the commands of the great kingdom than I gave them. They asked whether baptism could not be by words as well as by water. All sat on chairs. Tea and manna cakes spread. They wanted me to become acquainted with the writings of the Bab, whom one of their ideas is to regard as a second appearing of Christ. How true it is, "false Christs and false pniplicts.'" &c, I gave them what I consideied true criteria of an inspired prophet and prophecy. If they could only get out of the Persian dilettante discussion of truth as a philosophical pastime and weighing of problems not of vital and eternal importance ! It is curious to observe the bittei-ness they feel towards Moham- medanism, and express whenever it is mentioned. It is a stab in the side of that system at least, as Keshub Chunder of Hinduism.' From. Abadeh the bishop passed through Shugalistan, Yazdegast and Maksag Beg to Kum-i-Shah, where, on Ascension Day, May 3, he had the pleasure and refreshment of meeting Dr. Bruce. ' Yazdegast,' said the bishop, ' is a singular place, in a deep and not very broad ravine, through which a little river from the great snov^'y steep beyond runs quite white with the white lime rocks which it rolls between. Most of the houses are perched up on the cliff-sides, and look more like rock-birds' nests than the abode of men. They are not cut out so much from the cliffs as the Petra houses, but lodged on terraces one above the other, so that the roof of one house seems to be the floor of the house above. I never saw houses so completely founded upon a rock. , . . On either side of the stream are wheat-fields of brightest emerald gieen at present. Thus white and green are the only two colours visible — white snows, white rocks, and buildings, and deep green 70 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH fields below with a few green trees of no great size. There is rather a handsome and solid little bridge across the stream. On the whole the place reminds me of Veil in the Campagna. Like Veii, you never would dream of this break in the level plain, which suddenly discloses to you this scene of rather unusual beauty, till in a moment it breaks upon you when you reach the brink of one of the cliffs.' The loan of Dr. Bruce' s fine horse made the remainder of the ride by Maghur and by Marg to Ispahan much easier. 'As we approached towards evening the ridge beyond which Julfa stands (like the Delhi ridge, only veiy broad as well as long), we met various parties come out to "istikbal" us— men, women, boys ; then the agent, Mr. Agenor ; one of the priests of the Armenian church sent by the bishop ; a few cavalry and foot soldiers, with some one of rank sent by the Zill-i-Sultan, called Hazrat-i-Wala. It was an ovation such as I never had before, and shows how much Bruce is respected. A cloud of dust announced the approach of the little body of attendant retinue. There were evolutions and caperings of cavalry, firing olf guns. &c. The poor priest's horse reared and threw him heavily, falling on him in part fi-om behind, as he slii>ped on a rock which cropped up from the road. There is a fountain called "Chashma Khunda- i-hafiz," i. e. of benedictions to parting travellers or greetings of in-coming guests. All along the Julfa lanes numbers of men and women came out of their house-doors to look. It was a gay scene. We were kindly entertained by Mrs. Bruce and her party on arrival at their lovely house and garden, where church and school, and buildings for residence, libraries, &c., are a most pleasing couj) cVceiV 3Iay 6 {Sunday after Ascension). A fairly full church. Persian service ; about ninety present, women and men on different sides. Bruce preached Acts i. 8. I celebrated for sixty or over. Called to ask after the priest who fell ; found him better. Gordon stopped some six weeks in this house on one of his two visits to Ispahan. In afternoon preached to small congregation (about forty) in English on Elijah's ascension. Very few Europeans.' ' May 7. The Armenian bishop called with several of his priests. Conversation partly in Persian, partly through the English and Armenian agent, who spoke in Armenian with him and interpreted to me in Persian. I spoke of the kingdom of God, and of the new creation, and the Church as the Bride, illustrating the glory and goodness of the Bridegroom if taught and led of the Spirit. I gave him my views of true Catholicity. He was fairly affable and polite, dressed in a black cowl with satin robe to his feet, and two decorations on his breast. I wore ISPAHAN. ARMENIANS 71 (for the first time perhaps since my consecration) the long bishop's vest reaching to feet, and coat over it. Bishop's hat in hand. 'The Eoman Catholic priest (Armenian by birth) called. He had seen Lahore several times. He has been almost all along a crafty subtle enemy of Dr. B., yet talks plausibly, though not religiously. Speaks Persian well, English a little. Said he regarded English and Eomish clergy as one.' ' May 8. Went to call on the Armenian bishop and his clergy : sat an hour or more. I told him of the joy I had at the increased union and approximation of friendship and fellow-help between the Church of England and Eastern (Armenian and Nestorian) Churches. I promised to convey his messages of brotherly love and regard to the new Primate of England, of whose goodness and learning I spoke to him. I spoke of my hope that both they and we would be growingly like the woman clothed witli the sun. ' My relation to the Bishop of London with reference to this visit to Persia he wished to understand, and I explained it to him. ' The Armenians, he said, have been here 280 years, brought hither by Shah Abbas. Tea and sweetmeats were brought. He showed me over his cathedral, and seemed not to know that our churches had ornaments on the Holy Table, crosses, vases, &c. I told him we had all these in moderation (mutawaizil) ; and our views were to have moderation and hit the right mean in these things, neither "ifrat" nor "tafrit'' (excess or defect). The Eomish priest interpreted for me in Persian just here : rather a curious combination this. There was a beautifully painted dome above the sanctuary, where also the bishop's throne was occupying too much space and prominence, in front of the altar slightly to the left, with heavy canopy over it. There were semi-arched recesses / \ of the shape given here over the altar, and to the right and left, with pictures from the Old Testament above, and New Testament below : and there were two of the same arched or vaulted recesses with flat tops in the other ])AYt of the church outside the sanctuarj', on which were pourtrayed the fourteen torments of St. Gregory Illuminator, ending with his triumph over Tiridates, turning him into a crowned pig, and then restoring and baptizing him \ A place was pointed out where two i^riests were martyred in the time of the preceding Nadir Shah. At the bishop's house we met in a long room, elegant, not sumptuous in furniture, with pictures along the wall of the apostles and cele- brated saints of the Armenian Church. ' Last night an Armenian priest named Minas, from villages eighty miles off, called with three or four of his headmen and ' There is a good picture of this Armenian cathedral, Curzon, vol. ii. P- 55- 72 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH others. He is a diligent Biblical student, and Bruce found in long walks with him real spiritual profit and edification : he has seven village congregations under him. but little fruit. ' We had interesting conversation on the chief objections raised by Mohammedans He told a recent incident of the son of a Bak- tiari chief executed about six months ago'. The sou had been imprisoned ever since until he was released two days ago. He is a general in the Persian army, and has heen occupied the six months in studying the Bible — the New Testament especially — which he had bought just before his imprisonment. On coming out he is conversing with syuils and others, expressing his strong conviction of the truth of Christianity. They argue with him. and taunt him as being of the Kashlsh Sahib's religion (i. e. Dr. Bruces).' ' 3Iai/ g. The chief event of this day was a visit in the city to the Zill-i-8ultan (shadow of the Sultan). Hazrat-i-Wala the heir- apparent to the Persian throne probably. Bruce, Hoernle, and self, joined by Mr. Agenor. Aftor a ride of three miles we dismounted at the gate of the palace, and walked through two or three courts to an inner court with a I'ose garden. A crowd of people were hanging about almost to the door of the chamber, in which the prince sat in a corner on pillows and shawls, with a single attendant, a governor of Yazd, I understood. The prince did not arise, but beckoned to us to sit on chairs, and asked about me and my office in India, and about the Viceroy. I told him of Lord Ripon's interest in education, and the wish of the Punjabis to be better instructed in morals. In this the prince seemed to take no interest. Bruce presented a well-bound copy of the Gospel to the prince, his new version of it, thus gaining the permission which Henry Martyn could not obtain. I took l)art by rising from my seat in the presentation, and told him that this was the greatest treasure of princes. I told him about Daniel and his prophecies of Christ and the coining kingdom. He was ignorant apparently of his connexion with Persepolis, and of the coming of the Saviour again he seemed not to wish to hear. A picture by his side showed the looseness of his morals, but ' Apparently Isfendiah Khan, whose story is told by Curzon, vol. ii. p. 294 ff., only he says that his imprisonment lasted six years. He has now won the title, Shamshir-es-Sultanah. • Sword of the state.' His father's murder seems to have been the iiuiin cause of the disgrace of the Zill-i-Sultan, which took place shortly niter French's visit, and from which he has not yet recovered. Isfendiah is likely to be chief of all the Baktiari ti-ibes. ^ Curzon, vol. i. pp. 416-421, has given a full account of this interest- ing individual, together with his photograph, and a record of his own interview with him. THE ZILL-I-SULTAN 73 Bruce says he is reputed to be much more pure in morals than formerly. On the whole the visit was very disappointing : he seemed a mixture of Pilate and Felix, and would not be drawn to any serious tiiought api)arently. He rose and shook hands friendlily when we parted after lialf-an-hour's chat. Bruce told him how many languages I understood. I told him one letter of the knowledge of God was worth all the books of the philosophers. I told him what pleasure I had in the relics of the old kings of Persia. He fights hard with the moollahs, I believe, the battle of religious libei-ty, wishing that Christianity and Judaism and Babism should be religions permitted by the state so far as that l)loodshed in religious feuds should be prohibited. So far one must be thankful ; but this might all be upset at any time, government having no fixed principles, but only the self-willed absolutism of the particular ruler, with the moollahs at his shoulder ever inciting to bigotrj', and bent on demanding loss of goods and life as the penalty of conversion ' It was curious riding through the crowded bazaars, though there were no pili'iilis miitirs in nwllibiis'^. It was like riding a horse through a orowiK d drawing-room almost : the horse bore it wonderfully well, though the hammers of the naijahs and copper- smiths rather tried him. Some leading Jews called in the afternoon, and we had a little conversation on some prophecies of Zechariah and Daniel, but no interest awakened ! They have eleven mosques (? synagogues), one 300 years old. They are much satisfied with the treatment of the present Prince and Shah ; they said they were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. ' From 4 to 5.30 I tried Arabic (Makamat-i-HarIri) with Dr. Bruce's moonshee. At 6 the congregation gathered, many women and a fair number of men, and I addressed them in Persian. Light refreshments, much convei'sation with men, women, and children, prayer and singing, with passage of Holy Scripture. I feel want of perfect fluency much on these occa- sions. ' ^ May 10. Visits to the Ts., the Eoman Catholic priest, and Mr. Agenor, the British agent. Long conversations with all, most serious with Ts. About noon examined the girls' school, Mrs. Bruce kindly acting as interpreter in Armenian. They answered with spirit and a fair measure of correctness, though it is a comparatively new school. The children are so merry, rosy, and bright, so much more like English children than Indian children are. It seems such fun to them to come and have ' Dr. Bruce says the only remark the Zill-i-Sultan made on the recep- tion of the Gospel was, ' It is a pity you were not better occupied.' ^ ' Chaste dames in cushioned cars.'— Virg. Aen. viii. 666. 74 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH a peep at the bishop, and when they get caught they are radiant with smiles like sunshine. 'Arabic reading with moonshee in afternoon, and conversation with a young Persian relative of one of the great mujtahids, an inquirer, but not of the most earnest type, I fear. I warned him of the necessity of deeper seriousness and humility in studying such solemn mysteries as the nature of God. ' Dinner with the Armenian bishop and his friends, chiefly laymen. I was very tired and very fcclih' .iltogether : it lasted three and a half hours, and was sadly \vearis('nie, because I could not get response to any serious remarks. The dinner was very much an English dinner : much wine was drunk by most : not to excess however. Healths were drunk, my own and others, and I proposed the bishop's health ; but I had not anticipated healths. The bishop hoped that England and Eussia miglit both be blessed and prospered, and that Persia's relations to both might be hajjpy and peaceful, and he desired to express also, on the part of the Ai-menian Church, their gratitude to the Government of India for their kind treatment and friendly bearing towards the Armenians there. ' Througliout the day I felt but little equal to its burdens : may its many sins and weaknesses be forgiven ! ' ^ May 12. Eode four miles and back to tlie city to call on the new Imam Juma, who, on his father's death, has lately come into the hereditary office ; he had a blotched face and was not very prepossessing naturally, but was civil, affable, and urbane. I spoke to him of the Kingdom of Christ and of God as in Daniel, the stone cut out without hands, our expectation of the coming King, &c. 'We passed through about a mile and a half of bazaar on horseback, vaulted much like the underground railway in Lon- don, but with an orifice above (in each successive dome we pass under), to let in light and air, so that it never seems close and stifling or hot, though crowded in many parts with by-passers and traffickers. I wonder horses stand as well as they do the noise of carpenters, smiths, and braziers, plying their trades. There is no assigning of different trades to different bazaars as in India, but all trades in bewildering confusion. The shops most conspicuous are those of carpet, glass, and china sellers, with silversmiths, vendors of inlaid carved enamelled boxes of various kinds, dealers in fruits, flowers, sweetmeats. We passed by one of the most lovely bridges ' I have seen, crossing the Zainderood river. It has ten or twelve arches, and ' The Pul-i-Khaju, depicted and described by Curzon, vol. ii. p. 50, but with the river nearly dry, and without a hint of the grand panoramic views. THE IMAM JUMA 75 from each of these there is a separate waterfall of eight or ten feet deep, with much force and gush of the stream, even though there is no flood. As you pass over the bridge, on either side of you are ornamental archways, alternately containing vaulted apartments, used for teas and picnics in hot weather, and open spaces, through which panoramic views (each different in kind) charm the eye, embracing groves, gardens, hills far and distant, scattered villas, the winding course of the river, and just at this time the Prince Eegent's small fleet of boats with fireworks at night, and his tents along the banks.' Dr. Bruce says that on most occasions the bishop's lan- guage was too learned and too classical to be entirely effective, although, his character had influence in sj^ite of every drawback ; but on this day he spoke with great simplicity, and gained complete attention. The hubble- bubble pipes were brought, and he would make pretence to smoke, puffing dowTi into his instead of drawing out. Then came the regulation beverages, two cups of tea fol- lowed by one of coffee. French took his first cup in hand and began his argument. When he had spoken for an hour, and the others had all finished their refreshment, he gave a little start, and said, ' Oh, but I quite forgot my tea.' The sight of such unwonted earnestness produced a great impression on the dilettante Persians. On "Whitsunday (May 13) he sent off letters to two of his children, Cyril and Edith. Dearest Cyril, My heai-t very often and lovingly turns to you and yours, and I have some hope of seeing you after not much moie than two months' interval, though nearly half of my fatiguing journey still remains, besides what I may accomplish by steam and rail. My way has been fahly prospered thus far, though my longing desire has scarcely been satisfied of coming in contact with loading Mohammedan minds through the medium of the Persian, which I have long been led to make a study of for the Mohammedans of India and the froptier, though I never thought of preaching in it in this great and ancient kingdom, now so fallen and humbled, yet still having in its rustic and nomad population (of whom Herodotus speaks so much) fine elements of endurance, courage, and independence. I reached this place Saturday (the 5th). . . . The view from the crest of the ridge of hills by which Ispahan is approached from Shiraz is very striking, the Zainderood river 76 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH flowing through clusters of palatial houses and clumps of trees, with mosques and bridges and walled gardens spreading for miles. Many old parts of the city are in ruins. Init these are sheltered and beautified by vegetation encircling and overshadowing. ... I am of course at the Mission House, containing a number of little squares with dwelling-houses, chapel, boys and girls' schools, industrial school and workshop, orphanage with dormitories, a really noljle work gradually grown up under Dr. and Mrs. Bruce's hands the last ten years, and which has caused them to be a kind of centre of light both to the scattered English telegraph officers uj) and down the great Persian highway between the Persian Gulf and Caspian along which my journey lies, and also to the Armenian Church, which presents a sorrowful sight of coldness, barrenness, dearth, and deadness. and has had its hands tied for a long time by the jealousy of the Mohammedan population which hems it in, and the hard terms on which it has obtained bare toleration and leave to exist from an often tyrannical government. There is a small mission of the Propaganda here from Eome, besides some twelve Ai-menian priests under an archbishop. As he knows little besides Turkish and Armenian I find it difficult to get on with him to any profit. He is a rather gentlemanly man, and fairly sensible and thoughtful, but not well educated, nor yet I fear well taught of the Spirit of God, nor mighty in the Scriptures. A good proportion of his people attend Dr. Bruce's ministry. There must be 125 or 130 on the Sunday morning, never more than one in ten Mohammedans, so far as I can gather, but with the latter he (Dr. Bruce) holds constant conversation, his study being always open to inquirers. The great Sheikh here, or Head of Islam, has been very bitter lately because of some copies of the Mizan-ul-Haqq of Dr. Pfander being circulated (though not by Dr. Bruce), in which the character of Mohammed is severely dealt with and censured. He has tried to induce the Prince Eegent to turn the mission out, but the Prince, being in favour of religious liberty, has stopped his mouth in a manner very humiliating to him, since which he has threatened even to poison Dr. Bruce. Dr. Bruce is too accu.stomed to peril to make much trouble of this. I should think his life has been as often in his hands as that of most men. He was once closely pursued by robbers and shot after, and owed his life to the sujierior swiftness of his steed. He is a sjilendid horseman, quite famed. ... I have read with extreme interest and profit, I hope, the accounts of Archbishop Benson's installation. It seems to mark an epoch almost of English Church history. He seems able to bear the elevation and adulation as few could. I am, your very loving father, Thos. V. Lahore. WHITSUNDAY AT ISPAHAN 77 Dearest Edith, ^^"V ^3, 1883, Whitsunday. On this happy clay, which always is to me so bright and happy a day, I must write my darlinu child a few lines, though it must be a month before it roaclus yuu, and a month after that I may hope to see j'ou f(i< c f<> Jm c. I am not sure I have yet answered your long, loving' letter, wliich it must have cost you much pain and effort to write. The last few days have been cloudy and rather rainy, which is unusual, and to me quite unexpected at this season in Persia. It keeps the climate cool and healthy, though scarcely invigoi-ating as England is at this time. We had a large congregation, chiefly Armenian Christians, with a few Persians interspersed, this morning : about seventy stayed to the Holy Communion. Dr. Bruce preached. . . . On one side the women sit in their clean white dresses, covering the whole face almost as well as the rest of the body, though they do not quite wrap up as close as the Mohammedan ladies. They were so kind as to treble their usual offertory this morning, and to beg it might go towards building the church at Lahore. It was really a very nice kind thought of theirs. I suppose it will be about £3 altogether. Many of them are very poor, I fear, and apt to get into debt. It is only a few years since they have come under Dr. and Mrs. Bruce's influence. We had a tea-meeting on Thursday, and I addressed them in Persian, and said a few kind words to as many as I could. I am so thankful to be able to do this. I wish I could perfect my Arabic in the same way, so as to be able to preach a little bit to the Arabs on the coast, but I must not be too covetous of this kind of gifts, all of which pass away and fail, as St. Paul says, but churifij never faileth. After service we had an immersion of an infant in a large tin tub. They prefer immersion to sprinkling, it seems, in the Armenian Church. The baby squealed a little ! though Di-. Bruce did not put it quite under the water, as I should have done. The water was warmed, so as not to hurt and chill the child. Nearly the whole congregation stayed for the baptism. The child was nearly six months okl. Then the Prince Kegent's physician came to invite me to dine with the Prince and see his fire- works, which are kept for three days on the Zainderood river banks, and tents are spread for the upper classes present at the festivities. I am obliged to beg off', as I am really not strong enough to take part in such scenes. To talk for hours with such triflers and lovers of pleasure is most wearisome, and to serious counsels they do not care to listen. I had three hours at dinner at the Armenian bishop's three days ago. I was quite done up all the next day. These Eastern Christians seem so sunk into indifference and neglect through Mohammedan oppression and bad example too. Yet the bishop was very kind and civil. I hope to preach in English this afternoon on the words in Ezek. xxxiv, 'There shall be showers of blessing.' I have 78 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH been pleased with the Armenian rendering to-day of the verse in Ps. Ixviii, ' The God who daily helpeth us and poureth His benefits upon us.' The Armenian renders it, 'Every day men piit loads upon us, but God saves us ' — or it might be rendered. 'Every day i)uts its load upon us, but God is our Saviour.' That seems a nice text for you, dearest Edith : I have felt helped by it too. We had all the Canticles, including the Te Deum, chanted to day. The organist is an Armenian, and was three years at the Training College near St. Paul's, Cheltenham ; then with Mr. Frost, one of my old friends, and a missionary at Nasik ; last of all he came to help in this mission. . . . Dogs are scarce in Persia, which is a great relief after the swarms of them which are a pest in India : they chiefly keep them for hunting and coursing ; and the nomad wandering tribes in their felt tents and enclosures keep them as watch-dogs. In Persia cats abound, as you would suppose. Mrs. Bruce's cat is so genteel that it sleeps on the sofa at night, and usually has its meals on a little table-cloth spread for it ! I saw some fine horses and cats on their way from Ispahan to Bombay, to be sold last Saturday. The cats are tied up in bags, which must be a very unpleasant way of travelling. I saw the man tying the cats up ! The little girls are much like English girls, but prettier if anything, quite ruddy and rosy, and they wear a veiy graceful round cap with gilding and tassels. Wlien they grow up to be women, they wear often five or six head coverings all together, one over the other, so Dr. Hoernle tells me. I wish I could write to all of you, but, alas ! I am almost used up, and must wait to tell all I can remember by word of mouth, if God bring me safe home. I am, your veiy affectionate father, Thos. V. Lahore. In the course of a letter written two days later to his eldest daughter Ellen, he said : — ' It is pleasant to find myself once again associated even with my old friend Dr. Bruce, who is A i in the missionary field, and blest in a marked way with wisdom and courage, and making his influence more and more widely felt. He has a very anxious and critical post, the Prince Kegent being indeed at the present moment disposed to take a bold line in defence of religious liberty, but opposed secretly, and as much as he dares openly, by the Sheikh-ul-Islam, the great Mohammedan ecclesiastical ruler here, who would like to rule supreme in all cases, civil and religious, but for the firmness and vigour of the prince. Dr. Bruce and myself rode over to his mosque this afternoon, about three miles off, and sat an hour with him, but he expressed his strong determination to stop all sales of the Holy Scriptures in Ispahan, and protested bitterly against their being continued. He waxed THE SHEIKH-UL-ISLAM 79 veiy warm and fierce in dispute. We pleaded hard for liberty to circulate the Book of God, but he seemed inexorable and bitter to extremes. He had a knot of moollahs sitting about him. who of course flattered and encouraged him. The comfort is, after all, ''The word of God is not bound," nor can it be. Yesterday he had one of the colporteurs apprehended, but let him go finallj', after charging him stricth' *• not to preach at all nor speak in the name of Jesus." Dr. Bruce got warnings from several parties not to venture himself into the Sheikh's house, as he had threat- ened "coffee," which means a poison-cup. However, he felt sure that the Sheikh was too wise to carry out this threat for the sake of his own interests, and so we drank our cotfee, and smoked the kalijan without any real apprehension. Still, I can scarcely doubt that our dear brother is in some danger, as the sheikh and moollahs— especially in a change of the present governor, which is always possible— might rouse the fury of the population and sweep the mission away for a season. ' The next day (May i6) the bishop spoke with the Church Committee in his study on their duties and that of the little church there, and in the afternoon received a number of callers to whom he tried to talk to profit. On the i8th he confirmed sixty-seven, and addressed the large congregation (almost equal to Sunday) at length, and was helped to speak intelligibly out of a full heart. In the afternoon he gave Minas, the candidate for orders, a lecture in Old Testament prophecies, of which his notions were very indistinct, and in the evening went to see two curious Armenian churches. One is St. Stephen's, on whose walls are many quaint pic- tures drawn, mostly from our Lords birth, mii-acles, parables, resurrection, and ascension— some very vigorously executed. ' In St. George's, ' he said, ' all within is vacancy and dreary dull- ness, the one object of intei'est being six or seven blocks of granite, thrown in a heap in one of the corridors outside the church, said to have come through the air from Ech Miazin (where the Armenian patriarch lives) to the Cathedral of Isiiahan. then to have trans- ported themselves supernaturally to St. (ic ni 's. where they are regarded as possessing powers of healing. Sick people come to sleep in this corridor to get a vision of St. George, who ajjpears to them and heals them bj^ night. We saw a very sick old lady propped up with j^illows, in hope of a cure to-night.' Next day the deacon-elect Minas was examined with prayer and reading, and the bishop was engaged all through So LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH the afternoon in controversy with a learned Jew, a perfect scholar in Hebrew and Persian, and a vigorous talker, much versed in Babism, and perhaps under its influence. At night he attended service at the Tabriz Muhalla Armenian church. The archpriest put him in the bishops throne, where he was duly incensed by a youth in white. The women's place behind the screen was fairly filled with bundles of white dresses. Now and then a stray eye peeped out to have a glance at the English bishop. These women formed the main part of the congregation. There was a choir of some twenty-four men and boys of all ages, who chanted reverently, if not sweetly. The bishop was pleased to find such reverent behaviour and so much made of the Bible, as two lessons were read out by the village priest, but as it was in old Armenian, which contains a good many obsolete words, it seemed a little doubtful how much the people really understood of it. Next day, the 20th, he wrote : — ' This morning has been the special climax of interest, the orciriation ot Minas. The church was crowded, the intere.st in our first ordination here being clearly gi eat and sustained through- out, though the service lasted two hours and a halt, or more. There was a larger sprinkling of Persians (known ))y their keeping their turbans on) than usual. I saw one old moollah turn ;i little Armenian boy out and take his i)lace, making him sit on his fatlier's lap. ... It was a scene and a service I can never forget while memory lasts. I ])reached in Persian for nearly an hour, and fair facility and fiueucv were given nie, thank God. The little gallery was quite full, and all stayed tln-(Uighout. I U»,V tV.r text, "In all things a]ipr(iviu^;' < iuisel\-es as the iiiinisters of Christ . . . by the Holy Glmst. l.y luve uniei^iuil, by the word of truth, by the power of (lud."" dwelling en these as the great test.s and touchstones of the Ilely Ghost's witness to and ap- proval of tlie ministers of Christ. . . . Miu.as, the old cate- chist (he must lie 49 or 50 years old), with grey hairs here and there upon him, behaved with sini})le quiet diuiiity. which it was a pleasure to look on. He read the Ccpspcl and L;,■l^■e the cup to the last row of communicants. Tlie siuL^ing \\,is deli^^htful in tlu' Armenian tongue. Among the hymns were The Cluirch's one Foundation ' and ".Just as I am." One's heart does jearn over these dear peoi)le. Surely the Lord is working by Dr. Bruce and his fellow-workers a sure and true and deej), though it may be a slow and cautious, Avork among this Armenian race, planted LAST DAYS AT ISPAHAN 8i here nearly three hundred years ago, and left here with nearly all the light they have hidden under a bushel.' Next day the Armenian clergy and bishop came to dinner. They had much talk about Bishop Andrewes and languages, the early history of Persian Christianity and its martyrs, the Bible and its wonderful circulation since the beginning of the century. The Armenian bishop had seen a copy of St. John i. in twenty-one languages, but his idea evidently was only of a literary curiosity, and not of the value of its wide circulation for soul purposes. 'I had some talk,' said French, 'with the priest of Chahar Mahl about his congregations in those parts. He was dissatisfied and anxious ; they did not attend church well. I wish I could have tried more to speak, as Martyn did, as to spiritual views of the priestly office, but attemjits I made to introduce such subjects were so soon parried. . . . The priests enjoyed Mrs. Bruce's singing in the chapel at night — "Just as I am," "How sweet the name," &c. The priests took the Armenian translations with them, and said, " Why can't we have such hymns, and carry the people's hearts with us as you do '? " Only the bishop found fault with the translations. It was an excellent instance of the many little occasions the Bruces have for introducing light into the churches around them.' On the day following the bishop took a wedding, and at the entertainment afterwards gave an address to the Armenian congregation on our Lord's and St. Paul's delight in family life, and thanked them for their offering for his cathedral. On May 23, at 4.30 a.m., he sorrowfully parted with prayer from his friends at Julfa, and went upon his journey. The details of the further marches from the diaries would be of little interest except to those (they are not very many) who may be called to traverse the same ground. Only sufficient extracts from the bishop's letters will be quoted to give some notion of the dangers he incurred, and of the work that he accomplished en route towards the Caspian. To Mes. French. Soh (three stages north from Ispahan), Maij 25, 1883. Again I have to send you the rough and, I fear, half illegible letters which are possible to me on the line of march, always an VOL. II. G 82 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH effort to all, and specially so to me at my age. I have ridden twenty-eight miles to-day, yesterday twenty-four, and sixteen the day before — the first day out of Ispahan, accompanied by Dr. Bruce, from whom I parted early yesterday morning, and from his little family the morning before. As it is getting warmer I start at 4 each morning, with the very fir.st blush of daylight, and lose no time on the way. I got in at 8 this morning, after four and a half hours of pretty quick riding, stopping only half of an hour on the way to change horses and drink a cup of milk. To-morrow, after a twenty miles' ride, I hope to stay one and a half days for Sunday in a place of groves and streams 8,000 feet above the sea. Martyn describes it as Karoo, though the real name is Kolirood (mountain-streams). I shall be very thankful for this little rest, as the three next marches are rather severe, and there is a sudden descent to warmer regions, from 8,000 to 3,000 feet in one day's march. To-day and yesterday I am re- minded much more of Indian heat and languor than I have been hitherto, yet happily it seems the actual heat of India is never attained, at least in these parts of Persia ; and Mrs. Bruce says it has been quite exceptionally a late hot season through continuance of showers till about a fortnight ago. . . .' ^Kolirood. l[ay 26. This march was accomplished by about 8 a.m., being nearly twenty-four miles. We threaded our way through a strangely wild labyrinth of mountains almost the whole march, snowdrifts here and there reminding us that we were passing through highlands. We met several large kafilas, or caravans, mostly of pilgrims to and fro from the sacred city of Koom, at which we expect to halt one night next week. They are drawn from all quarters by the saintly repute of a certain lady named Fatima (not Mohammed's relative of that name, I believe), whose ashes and tomb are supposed to possess a great merit and healing power, and ability to grant all kind of boons to the gifts and prayers of suppliants, as our lady of Lourdes and others. It is of course famed for the intense bigotry and bitter zeal of the mooUahs who congregate there and live on the alms of the faithful. ' Kohrood is a striking jjlace certainly, nestled in the heart of the hills, and rough as the screes of Westmoreland. Looked at from above it must appear like a picture of Paradise, set in a framework of white, grey, and purple hills, to give it effect by the contrast of utter barrenness with loveliest verdure, and of dreary silence with the murmur of perennial cool, sweet rivulets. The trees are spreading and shadowy like Engl'sh forest trees, and the whole scene seems to have affected Martyn as the likest thing that he had seen to English landscape since he first quitted Cornwall. The climate too is more English than [that] of any hill-stations I have visited in India. . . . The valley, though not very broad, is of considerable length. . . . Wheat crops of richest green come close up to the enclosure of the cai-avanserai. KASHAN AND KOOM 83 ' Strange to say this large village, whose houses rise tier above tier along the lofty hillside, -with little groups of trees inter- spersed, has no moollah, so the people seem drawn with much simplicity towards receiving the Book of Life. I suggested to them that they should make one of themselves moollah, and get him to read Psalms, Prophets, and Gospel. It seems a strangely unlooked-for privilege to be allowed in these Persian villages, so hopelessly out of my beat before, to be heard and understood even by some of the poor, as well as by the educated. I think you will feel rewarded . . . for having spared me these two months for such a work's sake. I have spent the whole evening in this work, and seem to have banished a headache by this unusual medicine " KasJian, May 28. This is a very ancient city with wealthy merchants, and moollahs, and fine buildings (coloured and domed in some cases), and six or seven miles of garden, which one sees some nine or ten miles before reaching it. I was soiely worn out with the twenty-eight miles' ride this morning, about twelve of which had to be walked over, as the road was strewn sometimes with loose stones, and at others with round and pointed stones lodged deep in clay soil, which are terrible for horses. The last part of the road was terribly exposed to fiery sunshine. I was thankful to get in without a sun-stroke, but I had lumps of ice at once applied to my head, which relieved it wonderfully. We started at 3 a.m. and reached Kashan about 9.30. I rather dread the next few days, but hope to avoid such perilous exposure. I had no idea three farasangs had to be laboriously walked over, two or two and a half miles an hour, else we should have started earlier than 3. But even 3 a.m., day by day, is rather wearing. The stay at Ispahan has made my journey over these hot jjlains a little too late. ... I had the Holy Communion this evening with some of the party. This is a great place for silk handker- chiefs, gold and silver inlaid in copper, glass, and most delicately wrought laces.' Koom (four marches south from Teheran), June i. My dearest Basil, . . . This city, with its beautiful domes and richly coloured mosques, is one of the most corrupt cities in Persia. ... I am ^ Yet by the poor the bishop was not always understood. Dr. Bruce relates how one day he heard him tiding to explain to his gholam, or servant, the Indian custom of taking on one of the horses in the middle of the night to a stage halfway in advance upon the next day's march. French addressed him in words which may be rouglily para- phrased as follows : — ' Gholam ! conduct my steed into the way of truth at at midnight, and I will make my exodus (departure out of life) to-morrow morning.' The poor man gazed at him in blank amaze till Dr. Bruce explained. G 2 84 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH told that 'as bad as a Koomi' is proverbial all the country over\ There seems no hope of getting any entrance for the Gospel ; every door is double-locked, and Satan holds his goods in peace. June 2. However, Yuhannes found out that the mujtahid bought, and has in his possession, a New Testament, and a mool- lah has for sale in Koom an Old and New Testament. One always hopes there are some better and brighter points about popularly decried places. From the 27th to the 31st inclusive we rode just a hundred miles by postal reckoning, and to-day (2nd) we have added twenty-eight more miles ; but seventy-two still remain to Teheran, which we hope to accomplish by the morning of the 5th. Here for the first time the grand and glorious Demavend range, with its broad dimensions and vast snow glaciers, burst upon me. I imagine this to be quite one of the finest snowy range prospects in the world. Clouds have hid it for two days, since we left Kashan, from whence it is visible often. One remembers how often one has puzzled poor boys in their geogi'aphy with this range, and now we are face to face with it. I don't think, since we were at the top of Pilatus, I ever have seen a sight equal to this. Yesterday we rested the whole (lay (which was very refreshing) with a young, unsophisticated Englishman, who is telegraph clerk at Koom. I had jjrayer and Bible-reading twice with him, and he thanked me warmly for the refreshment he had found from the visit. It is a privilege to search out these desolate outcasts in their lonely posts. He seemed to feel that for the next three months he should see nobody, even in by-passing— be almost buried alive, in fact. One would like to deal with crowds perhaps, but God sometimes sends one to a poor solitary youth to try to help and comfort him. Lacordaire, whose Lcttres a des Jeuncs Gens, I have read with much profit a second time this last month, speaks so strikingly of ' Cette onction que Dieu donne ordinairement a ceux qui le servent dans la simplicite et I'humilite sans regarder a la petitesse ou a la grandeur des charges, grandeur qui n'est qu'il- lusoire quand elle vient du monde et non pas du ciel.' This book of Lacordaire's, with Henry Martyn's Life, have been great helps to me ; yet what wonderful difference of character in t hem, alike in this that they were deejD, patient, loving, scriptural students, and both had had a sight of God (after which, Lacor- daire says, nothing in the world seems to have surpassing and absorbing beauty), and an insight from early years into the power and glory and beauty of the cross of Christ. A small edition of Augustine's Confessions, and a delightful little book of Canon ^ The exact proverb, as Mr. Curzon gives it, has something of double- edged satire: 'A Kashan dog is better than a Koom noble, albeit a dog is better than a man of Kashan.' ROOM TO HOUZ-SULTAN 85 Tristram on The Holy Places, have also gone with me and given me very pleasant thoughts. June 3 {Sunday). The heat of the sun almost knocked nn^ down yesterday, but a large potter's urn full of cold water thrown over my head restored me, thank God. Such large white pottery is made in Koom. For once in a way I was compelled to take a small stage this morning, fifteen miles, but we got in about sunrise, or soon after 5.30 a.m., starting about 3. We rode over a great salt waste, with briny pools here and there, reminding me forcibly of that passage, ' He shall inhabit the parched places of the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.' This resting- place (called Houz-Sultan) is called the finest caravanserai in Persia, but 1 don't think that is correct now, for it is crowded with travellers and their beasts of all kinds ; nor has it any tanks or fine buildings within, or apartments for the higher classes. We take refuge in a quiet rest-house near at hand, where there is no crowd, or hustle-bustle at least, and we can have our quiet service. At Koom, on the tops of all the sacred domes, a large stork, called 'haji laglug,' builds its round spacious nest of large sticks every spring ; on some of the domes in tiers one above the other, like the houses in Yazdegast I described in one of my letters. They are birds 'of presence,' and present quite a fine figure stalking over the domes. 'Laglag' is the ordinary word for stork, and 'haji' means pilgrim, to express the pious objects of these birds, apparently, in choosing the tops of holy tombs. Mr. B., my host at Koom, has two of these birds with two young on the top of a badgeer (wind-catcher) in his house. They come annually to build and rear there, the same pair ; when the birds are fledged, in June or July, they fly off to cooler and greener parts of Persia, and are not seen again till the spring. He says they seem quite company to him. They feed on snakes, mice, frogs, &c,, out of the gardens. I think I advised you once before (as my own beloved father did me) to study the great orators of our country : Pitt, Burke, Wilberforce, &c. It is such a pity that so few of our clergy devote time to this, as their pulpit ministry would often (under God) be so much more eft'ective and persuasive, and they would be such a power for God often. On the platform too and in the schoolroom their influence would be so much more felt. I am your very loving father, Thos. V. Lahore, P.S. — Perhaps your cousin Stewart might care to see this roughly and badly written letter ; but one writes with so many disadvantages — oppressive heat, and with no chair or table. . . . A group in the caravanserai has been fairly well tiying to take in some of the ground truths of the Gospel. One highly educated man wishes to buy the whole Bible, May God bless it I 86 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Surely the men are not many who could have written such a letter under such circumstances of fatigue and incon- venience. A few days later, on June 7, he wrote to Mrs. French from Teheran : — ' As the multitude of pilgi-ims and merchant-travellers was very large in an adjoining caravanserai (at Houz Sultan), I got some rather interesting preaching, and on the next day also at a place called Kinareh Gird, both mentioned in Martyn. only the former he calls Hour Sultania instead of Houz Sultan, the present name at least. Mr. Sargent probably misi-ead him ; not a single place the whole route along but is mis-spelt. The ride on Monday, for twenty-eight miles, was through the most doleful and desolate region I ever beheld, I think, except it were a part of the Bolan and its approaches. It seemed seamed or scarred with the wrinkled letter-marks or death-marks of some ancient curse ; not a drop of water or blade of grass from end to end, only scoriae, and rifts, and jagged weird rocks cropping up. with dry water-courses looking deceitful as Job describes tliem. It is this stage that is j^roperly called the ' ' Valley of the Angel of Death. " I missed some friends, who came to welcome me at the Teheran gate, by getting in before I was expected, as I scarcely hoped to reach before 8 ; but it was a full hour or so earlier, as I had a capital horse for the first twenty miles. We were six miles riding in and around Teheran before we got to the house. Colonel Smith and his brother-in-law, Dr. Baker, joined me shortly afterwards, and Colonel S. took me on to his country residence, six or seven miles off, right under the root of the Elburz, streaked above with glaciers, which all melt, however, in the very hottest weather. IS'ot so Demavend, some thirty or forty miles to the right, which is 7,000 or 8,000 feet higher, and is one of the grandest steeps imaginable, a broadish cone rising far above its compeers.' Colonel Smith (now Sir R. Murdoch Smith) had been the excavator of the Carian marbles at Halicarnassus for the British Museum, and at Cyrene on his own account. ' Better than that,' said the bishop, ' he seems the centre of all good here and in the neighbourhood.' The bishop had intended to push on quickly, but a strain, or perhaps an attack of lumbago, consequent on his sousings with cold water when threatened with heat apoplexy, compelled him to linger for about a week, and he was not sorry to have the opportunity of ministering for one Sunday in the Persian capital. There was little else to detain him, as Europeans were not allowed TEHERAN. SHAH's COLLEGE 87 the entrance to the mosques, and the only missionary work was under the Americans.' In a letter dated Agha Baba, near Kasbin, June 15, after describing his work among Europeans at Teheran, he said : — ' Tuesday morning I spent nearly two hours at the American Presbyterian Mission. ... I went with the ladies into their Armenian school, and said a few words to the children, and prayed with them before leaving. They have a Jewish school down in the city of nearly fifty boys, held in a synagogue strange to say, with a Jewish convert for head-teacher. I wish I could have seen this, but I was too lame to walk. Unhappily, no Persians are allowed to come to their schools ; a few, very few, inquirers come at great risk. They are building a fine large chapel by their mission buildings. I felt refreshed by the visit though there was not much to encourage, except in the sale of Holy Scripture. In the afternoon a German gentleman in the Shah's employ took me down to inspect the Shah's college for two hundred youths, mainly of good families, where European lan- guages, literature, and science are taught, French being evidently the favourite tongue. There was a musical performance for me and some athletic sports, in all which the youth showed to great advantage. In several of the class-rooms I was expected to say a few encouraging words to them. The professors are mostly foreigners, the Eussian classes being the least pojiular, the French most so, the English fairly represented. M. Bichat, the chief French professor, has been soine thirty-five years in his post, and is one of the chief institutions in Teheran. He is a fine specimen of the dignified and courteous veteran French- man. The buildings have some splendour. The courts are flower gardens instead of grass-plots as at Oxford and Cambridge. Tea, cigarettes and sherbet were handed round. The brother of one of the chief ministers of state took me round the buildings. Mathematics are chiefly taught by militaiy professors and in their bearings on war-like projectiles, &c. The painting and drawing class seemed chiefly connected with portrait drawing. All por- traits of promise are laid before the Shah.' From Teheran the first part of the journey was made in a tarantas or drosky, a sort of brougham, provided by the kindness of Mr, Thomson, the English minister at Teheran. After that he rode but in shorter stages than before. *I am taking,' said the bishop, 'smaller marches this time, not above sixteen or twenty miles a day, lest the sprain should give me trouble. The first I accomplished easily to-day. The carriage ride yesterday was through a country green and well-watered 88 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH almost everywhere, with large tracts of cultivation surrounding the villages. . . . Such beauty and variety of wild flowers I scarcely remember to have seen in all my travels. The road lay under endless ranges of hills, near on the right hand, breaks in which here and there disclosed fine snowy peaks, from which flow down the rivulets which turn this waste into a garden almost the whole distance. Towards Kasbin the fields are exchanged for vinej-ards. One begins to be reminded that we are drawing near to Europe and its scenery. Kasbin is rather a flourishing town, with finely embellished gates and substantial walls, though not very imposing. I had a return of fever, and was too prostrate to venture out. One little glass of the wine of Kasbin set me up wonderfully. It is like foreign wine, and very slightly fermented. I felt I must have something to revive me, I was so low.' This letter was finished at Kadoom, only one stage from Eeshd, where lie embarked upon the Caspian. He was much tried with fever during the last days, and nearly thrown from his horse. ' I have been singing,' he said, ' a Te Deiim of praise.' ^ June 28. Volga Sieamer. The weather was very rough much of the time on the Caspian, and the Eussian officers talk so loud that it was quite bewildering and distressing to the head. Last evening we reached Astrakhan up a long estuary, some thirty or forty miles long, with reedy, sedgy banks, and marshes beyond or willow plantations, most uninteresting, but of course perfectly calm. . . . Astrakhan has about 50,000 inhabitants, and was an old Tartar capital of Kalmucks from the fourteenth centuiy. There is really nothing to see on the banks but occasional villages with green-tiled roofs of churches, and an endless series of windmills wherever the ground rises above the general flat level. Fishing and trading boats ply their poor craft, but poverty seems the sad rule. This morning before daybreak a poor young woman flung herself into the Volga off' our steamer and drowned herself. They stopped for two hours and searched about, but to no purpose of course in such a stream. The private story of her sorrow is known to herself and God. She was twenty years of age, and has parents and sisters on board (second-class passengers). I expect to land at Tsaritsin early to-morrow, and go by rail to Moscow (D.V.). All I can do is to reach it by daybreak on Sunday, and attend the sei-vices, which I expect to find refreshing. The city will have quieted down, I suppose, from its grand spectacle and ceremony (the coronation of the Czar). I think I feel the better for the sea-air and the solid joints of meat on board the steamers. Along the Caspian shores chei-ries were brought on board, but poor as compared with English ones.' MOSCOW AND ST. PETERSBURG 89 ^Moscow, Sunday, July i. One does seem to breathe again somehow at finding oneself again in a European town, however quaint and strange it be, and with many oriental forms of archi- tecture. Think of over three hundred churches for al^out half a million of people ! The first part of the journey by train was very agreeable, as we had plenty of room to sleep, much as in Indian travel, or even better ; but the latter was less so, as we were extremely crowded. Still the Kussians are fairly polite and courteous, and I met with two or three who spoke English. With one or two others I was able to muster German enough to get on decently, though in broken sentences. We had about forty hours of rail, and got in at 10 this morning. ... I was sad at passing through the villages vdih. bells ringing for church. After getting a little breakfast at this quiet and most respectable hotel (Hotel Billault), I set out in search of the English service, and after long inquiry found it had been closed from last Sunday till August 8, as the English residents are mostly out in the country this month. ... I met two people looking out for a ser- vice — one a young conveiied Jewess from Mildmay, and now a governess here, a simple, quiet girl. I got her to take me to the chaplain, as he lived a mile off or so, to inquire, and she seemed so disappointed at no service that I told her that if she could find four or five and bring them to the hotel this evening I would give them a quiet service.' ^ Moscoiv, July 2. I leave to-morrow evening for St. Petersburg, finding that is really the directest route homewards, and I can get part of two days there, as at Berlin (D.V.), and still hope to reach you on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, coming from Calais to Dover, and taking the first train for Tunbridge. I fear your nieces will laugh terribly at so wizen and worn an old man, as I shall look to their young eyes. I have been looking over some of the chief palaces and cathedrals in and around the Kremlin to-day. I had an hour and a half with two polished and agreeable Eussian gentlemen in French chiefly, and I hope I was able to witness to them a little for Christ. They thanked me so warmly afterwards, and we seemed quite to part as friends.' During his brief stay at St. Petersburg the bishop saw the famous Sinaitic MS., and also a celebrated Cufic copy of the Koran, said to have belonged to Ali. This he mentioned to Sir W. Muir in a letter commenting upon his volume on the Caliphs. Thus ends the correspondence on this interest- ing journey. Dr. Bruce, after the bishop's death, wrote to the Punjab Mission News: — ' Never was a missionary' more full of the martyr spirit than our beloved bishop. In one sense perhaps too much so, for he was 90 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH not satisfied with being a martyr in will, but seemed determined to be a martyr in deed also. God has granted his desire, and he is now among the maiiyrum candidatus exercitus. Will He not also answer his prayer for the dark lands for which he died ? Surely He will. ' On the occasion of his visit to Persia in 1883, Bishop French often impressed this upon me: "If we would win these Moslem lands for Christ, we must die for them." "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but, if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Whether this be true of India or not, it certainly seems to be true of Moslem lands. . . . While the present generation lasts the good bishop's visit to us in Julfa Ispahan will not be forgotten, and 1 have no doubt its fruits will last through eternity.' CHAPTER XIX. LAHORE CATHEDEAL. 'Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, Is it time for you, 0 ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house to lie waste ? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.'— The Prophet Haggai. ' I would rather have a church built to remember me by, than have my marble face looked at in Westminster Abbey ! ' The Bishop to his daughter Edith. The bishop remained in England till Sept. 17, 1884; he came ostensibly for rest and holiday, but no rest save a change of work was ever possible to his ' unweariable spirit.' His home head-quarters were successively at Eastbourne and at Tunbridge "Wells, where he found his great heart-interest in eveiy interval of deputation journeying, in ministering by the sick bed of his daughter Edith. Two or three days a week he generally spent at home, and now and then a Sunday. But he had set himself to gather £4,000 at least for his cathedral church, and did not cease to plead for other objects in his diocese (for chaplains, and for education), and to give his advocacy freely to wider claims of the great Church societies. He said himself that he always felt happiest in pleading for these great societies, and gave them three Sundays for every one to his own special work. In face of such a statement it is difficult to estimate how much good he effected in his months at home, or the amount of effort that it cost him. For a few weeks on his first arrival he obtained a partial relaxation, and for a few weeks before sailing he in a measure slackened his 92 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH endeavours : in each year too lie managed a brief visit to tlie continent. But, Avith these small abatements, his life was one long toil. This work was not what he delighted in. He was not an ideal deputation : although a charming talker in congenial company, he lacked the universal bonhomie, the talent of refined and cultivated self-advertisement, the sanguine views of missionaiy enterprise, the ready adapta- tion to a changing audience, the versatility and humour that often recommend the missionary bagman. He some- times wearied men with length of speech and sermon, and never spared himself. If he succeeded — as he did succeed — in this especial calling, it was not by any native genius for the role of a religious mendicant, but by sheer dint of pains and prayer and resolute determination. He had not been at home for many months before the doctors at the India House remonstrated against his overwork. A lady friend in Clifton wrote to him most openly to warn him of his danger of paralysis, or weakening of the mental powers : — ' Please bear with me. Do try to cut off all unnecessaiy work which others could do for you. . . . You and your friends should practise self-denial in ordinary correspondence. Never write to a friend unless you have something special to say, unless you feel it a real recreation to do so. There are many other ways in which you could husband your strength, if you tried. You would then be left more free for j'our high pastoral duties. I know what I recom- mend would involve a good deal of self-denial on your part, and that is a sure sign that I am shooting well at the mark. Please consider how meekly Moses the great prophet of God took Jethro's advice imder similar circumstances. Moses might have replied that he preferred judging small as well as great matters himself, but he saw the wisdom of the advice and followed it. I wish you liad a Jethro, or St. Luke, to counsel you, but meantime do weigh well what I have written. ... St. John xxi. i8 may be applied to the young and to the aged as well as to St. Peter. As years go on the habits of youth must be given up, and the Christian will recognize God's hand in the necessity.' The bishop noted in his diary, ' A nice letter from ' ; but it did not appreciably change his practice. A little later he recorded with much self-abasement a lapse of memory about a simple Gospel narrative in preaching at St. Peter's, FOUNDER OF THE CATHEDRAL 93 Eaton Square — of little real importance, it was but a small index of the pressure he was working at ; but of himself he said, ' May God forgive me, and cause no weak brother or sister to be stumbled. I blush and am ashamed to lift up my face, 0 my God.' Thus, though he got the money he had asked for, and went back cheered with help and sympathy obtained on every side, he gained but little in his furlough of physical refreshment and recruited health. The tablet erected to his memory on the east wall of the north transept of Lahore Cathedral commences with these words : ' In reverent memory of Thomas Valpy French, D.D., sometime Fellow of University College, Oxford, and founder of this Cathedral Church.' The words ' founder of this Cathedral Church' were added at the strong desire of his successor. In what sense was he so ? Not by origination of the scheme for a new parish church — he found a scheme in progress when he reached the diocese : nor by supplying from himself the whole resources — although he was a large and liberal donor and exercised the greatest self-denial, such costly effort was beyond his means: but in the sense of being the great motive-force, the strong unfailing advocate, the persevering worker and presiding spirit in the enter- prise, he does indeed deserve the name of founder. Without his high hope and sustained endeavour, his ardour, zeal, and energy, the work of a cathedral would not have been devised at all, nor brought, at least in its main features, to completion within the limits of his short episcopate. For thirty years after the British occupation of the Punjab the English were content to worship in the tomb of a Begam who had been a dancing-girl, though it was little suitable in architectural design, or in its previous associations, or in the scant accommodation it offered to the worshippers. Many had felt it a disgrace. Sir B,. Montgomery, when acting as Lieut.-Govemor, secured the site for a new building, the same where the cathedral stands : a rival project would have had it placed in what are now the Anarkalli Gardens. Designs 94 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH were drawn out for a station church, to be dedicated to All Saints ; some money was collected ; a committee formed ; and work was set in motion. The foundation stone was laid on February ii, 1874. by the Archdeacon of Calcutta (Archdeacon Baly), the whole Masonic body assisting at the service. This was shortly before French left his Divinity College for England, and he records standing at some risk uncovered in the noonday for the opening service. When he returned as bishop but little progress had been made : a little more than £3 000 had been collected, the Maharaja of Cashmere had promised a large gift of timber, and the foundation and plinth of the entire building had been finished^ ; but there was no enthusiasm for the project. Some were attached to the old tomb ; agnosticism on the one hand and Presby- terianism upon the other hand were strongly represented in the ruling and more moneyed classes : men could not feel so warm about a building with which their own connexion was likely to be a very passing one ; and soldiers and civilians all looked forward to returning to their fatherland. Such difficulties were inherent in the undertaking, and would have frightened many men from putting hand to it. But Bishop French was not dismayed. His sturdy faith 'Laughed at impossibilities And said, It shall be done.' His first act on arriving at Lahore was to go over the site with Mr. Tribe and hear the difficulties of the question. A few days later he had summoned the principal civilians to a conference, and put the matter on a wholly different footing. The parish church must now give way to a cathe- dral, ' built worthily of God and a great diocese.' Mr. Oldrid Scott, son of Sir Gilbert Scott, was asked to draw out new ' 'As a matter of fact,' writes Bishop Matthew, 'these (station church) foundations were of little use for the new work . . . and Mr. Oldrid Scott's design was as much grander than the projected station church as Westminster Abbey is than St. Margaret's Church beside it.' THE ALTERED PLANS 95 plans on a larger scale, adapting the existing foundations as far as possible. The cost was estimated at six lakhs of rupees (or, roughly speaking, considerably over £50,000). Of this perhaps near half might stand over for later generations, for a groined inner roof and carving of the stone-work; but £30,000 would be required for the solid structure. The bishop never faltered. The last year of his bishopric he saw the consecration of the building ; its full completion was in progress when he left. It does not come within the scope of this biography to give the architectural details in any fullness \ but simply to explain at what expense of personal endeavour by the bishop the work was done, and with what aims and motives. In April, 1879, the plans being to hand, he put forth an appeal to the whole diocese, and fairly entered on the work of his collection. ' If you have any rich friends,' he wrote to Cyril, ' I hope you will say a word in our favour, as people are really very poor for the most part in the Punjab. Scarcely anybody stays in India who could afford to live at home. Government cannot aid under present distressed circumstances of wars and famines. I don't want to tax our mission funds, but there are some High Church people who dislike missions, and to whom a cathedral is a very legitimate object for breaking the alabaster, though indeed I do hope and trust our cathedral will have a distinctly Christian bearing on missions. ' On August 2, after mentioning his efforts to secure the help of the Oxford diocese and its officials, who were so interested in the first inception of the bishopric, he added : — ' I am now thoroughly committed to the task and, please God, must in patient perseverance go forward. Amid many failures God ' The dimensions are 226 feet in length and 153 feet in breadth at the transepts ; the nave is no feet long by 30 broad ; the height to the roof-tree is 70 feet ; the church is seated for 600, and will without inconvenience accommodate as many as 200 more than this. The style is decorated Early English. The chief weak point in architecture is the shortening of the nave, due to financial exigence. A fair idea of the exterior may be obtained from the picture given as frontispiece to this volume. 96 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH can open hearts if it be His will, and command success or withhold it. I am trying to set all the ladies to work with their friends at home. Every mail now sees some little missives go forth, but it is a harder and sterner task than I had thought for.' Again he wrote a fortnight afterwards to Mrs. Sheldon • — ' As newspaper appeals failed very much, I must try individual appeals. Of these I must anticipate that many will be failui'es also. Oxford, Cheltenham, Burton, Clifton, even Erith, will be or have been already canvassed. At the worst a little information will be diffused, and some hearts perhaps aroused to deep zejil and prayer. ... I was comforted two days ago by a lady telling me that her child in England of twelve years of age was using her pocket-money in buying wool to make little articles of sale for the cathedral, and had raised £i 12s. already. Another comfort I have is to feel that, so far as my work is still missionary, I have no fewer but rather more friends in England than before. It is only when I appeal for European objects that I feel a little isolated and unsupported, not however by the nearest branches of my own family.' Again, he wrote to Mrs. Knox: — ' I am sadly disappointed. ... I have written my hands almost into paralysis begging and pleading, but the paralysis of results exceeds that of hands.' Upon September i he wrote to Edith : — ' I have been writing to Sii- W. Muir, our old friend, to-day to ask if he cannot prevail on the friends of Lord Lawrence to spend part of what they collect to do him honour with on the Lahore Cathedral, where he won his laurels most, and not all on a monument inWestminster Abbey. I think, at least, I would rather have a church built to remember me by, than have my marble face looked at in Westminster Abl)ey ! The little Prince Imperial is to have a recumljent figure there after all ! The nicest thing is to have the figure ov form of the Lord Jesus, not in marble outside of us. but in its living breathing likeness inside us, and in our lips and character, liker and liker to Him every day.' In November he wrote to Mrs. Sheldon, proposing shortly to give up his borse and carriage, and spend much of his stipend on this object. • The poor old Mohammedan tomb church is too great a stigma of reproach for me to bear, as bishop of the diocese. ... I am not surprised that my dear and valued friends in England are dis- THE MORAL INFLUENCE OF BUILDINGS 97 turbed, and I value their kind counsel. I cannot but feel however that if they knew the actual state of things they would understand my course better. I am trying to get the i^resent design cut down from .±30,000 to .£20,000, so as to avoid all but what we really require to erect — a comely and durable fabric. But I do feel that, in presence of the great religious edifices of heathen and Moham- medans, to erect a mean and un.sightly building would be a great disgrace to us and stigma on the Church of God, which I could not allow my bishopric to be marked by. ... A stately and hand- some church in presence of the huts of the New Zealanders would be ;ui an.ichtonism, but in the midst of an architectural peoj^le, and must scll'-sacrificing in what they spend on l)uildings devoted to sacred purposes, it would be a scandal that we should worship in a tomb belonging to a Mohammedan past. I am thoroughly con- vinced of this, and am constrained to act on this conviction, even if I were quite alone in my belief. There is much greater necessity, I feel sure, for buildings of character and distinction (within reason- able limits) in this land than in our own land. I feel at least that their erection wipes off a great reproach, independently of what they represent and effect as centres of Gospel extension and Church life. I dare not withhold my witness and that of my office from thosewho in this country are expending vast sums on schools, law courts, hospitals, museums, but are leaving the house of God to dwell not in curtains but in tombs. I am sure that many of the moderate High-Church party, to which I have always belonged, would be of one mind with me in this. By moderate High Church, I mean sound and strong Churchmanship, the Prayer-book all round, as truly based upon the Bible and the grand old evangelical teaching of our forefathers of that school. I know that you will all pray for me, that I may be held in the hollow of His hand, who alone can preserve us from every wind of false doctrine and the craft of them that lie in wait to deceive." The wars of 1879 and 1880 were little favourable to the work of church building ; but the bishop's indoraitable energy converted every stumbling-block into a stepping- stone towards the attainment of his heart's desire. The scheme for a memorial chancel to the fallen officers and a memorial transept for the native church in memory of his beloved friend Gordon, sprang out of these adversities. He wished that every interest within the diocese should find its centre in God's house of prayer. On January 16, 1881, he wrote to Edith : — * Officers are often writing to me now from different regiments about the memorial chancel : promises of ,£30, .£40, and even £50 VOL. II. H 98 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH I have had this week, but then one-half will go for epitaphs, and one- half, I hope, for the chancel. But 1 hope far above memories of the dead in the chancel will be memories of the Eisen Saviour, who there at His table feeds His hungry and fainting ones ; and above the thoughts of the partings will be many happy thoughts of the ingathering at the Father's house : as it says in a verse that I saw to-day : — "Oh! to be there, Where the weary feet shall rest at last, "Wliere the gi-ief and the pain are for ever i^ast, Where the parted hands are again linked fast, Oh, to be there ! " ' And yet it is sweet to be able to try to bring others to know of the Father's house, and to point them there, and to tell them something of the joy and peace in helieviiu/. May you, dearest child, and your dear schoolfellows, know this blessed peace amid all the rockings and the tossings of the storms of life, and in its most joyous, gladsome hours too.' Whilst vigorous in stirring others to be liberal, the bishop set them an example : for three whole years half his episcopal income was readily devoted to the work, and he was well backed up by all his family. He also made himself respon- sible for further sums. In May, 1881, there was a great committee, in which all were in favour of building not half only but all of Mr. Scott's design. 'I laid a plan before them,' said the bishop, 'for getting it built by contract in three years, making myself answerable for half a lakh (£4,333), but there would be three years to collect it in, in India and at home. This is to depend on Government giving half a lakh from imperial sources, besides the half lakh Sir K. Egerton promises from the Punjab Government resources ' ; and he added on June 3 following, 'It is a serious risk, but I hope to reim- burse myself, of a good part at least, when I visit England, if not before.' In November the same year he reported to Mrs. Knox : — 'The work of the foundations goes on steadily and solidly. Shall I ever live to see the top-stone? Not as bishop, I fear; but I must not despair, if only the hand of my God is good upon me.' And to Edith two months later : — PHINEHAS' WIFE. A CHECK 99 ' I like to walk down find see the cathedral building going on. It is slow, but steady. The choir and chancel of the Truro Cathedral is to cost as much as our cathedral altogether, except the steeples, which will be a long time in coming, I fear. I was reading this week of M. Olier trying to build the great church of St. Sulpice in Paris, but it was his sixth successor who finished it, so that others are disappointed as well as I.' In July. 1882, the bishop preaclied a sermon on Phinehas' wife and her zeal for God's glory, in the station church at Simla. It made some stir there at the time, one lady putting a valuable ring into the plate in answer to his plea for costly trinkets, like those the Israelitish women so willingly surrendered. ' I told the people,' says the bishop, ' I thought Christ might fairly upbraid us with the reproof, " I was a stranger and ye took Me not in," that is, in Lahore, providing no proper house for Himself and His word. The sermon, with another, was published, and in the following December brought him a present of £300 from Canon Linton— ' A great comfort and refreshment, as I began to think that they were wholly fruitless and must have fallen flat on many readers. I hoped the missionary aspect of the cathedral would have stimulated hearts and called out sympathy, but God will not be indebted to us always and to our methods, but works for us in ways of His own.' In August, 1882, in a kind and sympathetic note. Sir Charles Aitchison told him that the Supreme Government would do nothing, though they would allow the Punjab Government to give the half lakh on condition that all the balance was paid up before March 30, 1885. ' I hardly know what it portends,' the bishop says, ' whether my being driven to resign my office or no. Some ig.ooo have to be raised in about two years, and though many coffers in England would set me free with one stroke of the pen, yet past experience is not encouraging, and it will, if gained at all, be probably by hard toiling and plodding. However, I am not (li-^poscd to give up without an effort. Courage and faith and liuj c 11:11- ! iint sm scion give way. I have been brought through some sevciv ■ erist s, p. 1 haps none quite equal to this, but I must not limit the Holy One of Israel and say— Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? H 2 lOO LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH There will be moments of partial despondency, but if God's will be on my side, and He is pleased to accept me, it shall yet be done.' It was this refusal that finally determined him to take his furlough the year following. It has been seen that on his journey through Persia he was still mindful of this one great object. The childish gift of sea-shells, the willing con- tribution of Armenian Christians, has been already men- tioned, together with the knick-knacks that he bought and forwarded for the bazaar in London. Towards the close of his few months in England another heavy disappointment met him. 'Is it really so,' he wrote May 23, 1884, from Eastbourne, to Mr. Montgomery, the Lahore chaplain, ' that the Cashmere timber is only worth 1500 instead of £1,000, and that thus ^'500 more must be added to the sum required to be raised ? If so, I must give up my rest the last two months which I looked forward to, and plod and plead on still patiently and exhaustingly.' This shock to their financial progress inclined some of the Building Committee to hold their hands about con- tinuing the towers. And the bishop wrote back in dismay to Mr. Montgomery to plead for the design in its entirety. ' I write especially, ' he said on J uly 18, 1884, ' to entreat you to employ all your effort with heart and soul against leaving one of the cathedral towers unfinished. I have pleaded most earnestly in the cathedral behalf on this fundamental condition among others, that the whole design be completed at once and not in instalments. I trust the Committee will feel that, it will be a wrong done to all concerned to stop short with a stunted and mutilated fabric. . . . We ought not to present the shameful and almost ludicrous appearance of men who began to build but were not able to finish. . . . ' Let us make the long and strong pull required to complete the 225,000 rupees which, I gather from the archdeacon's letter, is sadly placed in jeopardy by the proved worthlessness of the Maharaja's timber. . . . The present is really of all our crises most serious, yet most full of hope, if we do not lose heart when one, just one more spurt of zealous determination, by God's blessing, may tide over our long struggle for victory against giant odds. ' I have exhausted my strength too much to attempt more FAULTY TIMBER. HOPE DEFERRED lOI pleading in pulpit or on platform. I must now compuratlvch/ keep quiet the next two months, or I shall have gained little or nothing by this furlough. I have nothing but scanty gleanings now to gather in.' On December i8, 1884, lie wrote to Mrs. Sheldon from Lahore : — ' There are still about £2,000 to raise for our mother-church : the chief loss, which has really amounted to about £1,600, has been through the unlucky timber. I am not going to allow my friends to collect any more for this object. They have ex- hausted themselves with noble effort, and nothing now remains but a loan to complete the building neces.sary, and to get all possible offertories and gifts out here, and the archdeacon, who is so very attractive a preacher, will be able to get sermons in England.' In April, 1885, his hopes received a further blow, the last to be recorded in this chequered narrative. The bishop wrote upon the 26th from Shalipur : — 'All seems to make against me everywhere at present, and it seems a time of the Lord's controversy with us. I can but humble myself under His chastening hand. Added to other troubles, it now appears that the cathedral, even with one roof, cannot be finished for less than 50,000 rupees more, i.e. some £4.400. The finance department seems to have been ignorant that what was spent on the foundation, which was nearly £4,000, was not an item on the creditor's side between Messrs. Burne and Company (the contractors) and the cathedral authorities, but that beginning from the point where they found the building they contracted to finish it for three lakhs of rui^ees. So now we are pledged for £4,400 in six months' time. Messrs. Burne and Com- pany will lend the money, but at 8 per cent., which would be £350 l)er annum, as much as all our offertories could do to pay the intei-est alone, and still the debt of £4,400 hanging over our heads ad infinitum. I only learned this mistake of the finance dej^art- ment two days ago, and felt struck to the ground by a blow most serious and disastrous. We are really in distress, and all I see that can be done is to try to borrow money from friends without interest. I give myself £500 this year somehow. Mr. M. Y. and Mr. L. offered to lend £500 each, so that, with mine, will do some- thing ; but still the debt will be over our heads like a Damocles' sword ! I should be disposed to say — Stop short, and build no more than you have money for ; but Mr. Montgomery and the Gardiners say — No, by all means finish, and get the money after. I hope to write three or four letters home by next mail to ask for I02 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH some pledges of ^500 loans, but I never in my life borrowed before, and would starve rather at any time, but here we are put to straits. That will raise the cost of the whole building to about three and a half lakhs, 350,000 rupees, alas ! ' Mr. sent 1,000 rupees lately. Mrs. Montgomery raised 400 rupees at her bazaar. So funds come in, but it seems but a drop in the bucket compared with the great deficiency. ' The text on my bedroom wall comforts me amid anxious com- plications, "All things work together for good to them that love God." May we rest on this confidently, and find His love shed abroad richly. ' In June the same year the bishop wrote from Murree : — ' Some very hard things are said of me now in connexion with the cathedral, yet the difficulties are, in the main, such as I could not possibly foresee or provide against. However, the matter does not trouble me nearly so much as many others. If the rather severe earthquake we had last night had swallowed the cathedral up, it would not have been so hard to me to bear as this want of men.' From this time forward things began to brighten; the first part of the work completed was the chapter-house, and, as has been already noticed, it was dedicated at the bishop's third synod in November of this year. Then he was able to report : — ' When we last met in conclave I expressed what appeared then a reasonable hope that our next gathering might be so happily timed as to coincide with the consecration of the cathedral, or mother- church, of this diocese. Many efforts on the part of many of us have been unsparingly directed towards achieving this result, but our unroofed church seems to say " all in vain. " During my absence of nearly eighteen months in Persia and England I was able to combine the needful recruiting of my own health with the duty of pleading over a larger area than heretofore in behalf of this fabi'ic. Though the appeal was fairly responded to by members of the home Church, especially in the cathedral minsters, and in places where in longer or shorter furloughs at home I have held pastoral charges — Cheltenham, Burton-on-Trent, and Clifton conspicuously — still, as in the building of Zerubbabel's temple, many untoward " breaks and cataracts " have obstructed the even tenor of our church-building, and this synod at least cannot be immortalized by opening for the first time to expectant worshippers the doors of the ' ' Church of the Kesurrection " — to ' ' praise the Lord because He is good, and His mercy endureth for ever." How- ever, the nobler and more far-looking the ends of our works are, the THE CHAPTER-HOUSE. LAHORE AND TRURO 103 less does time enter into their ingredients, and the more reverently and contentedly can we say — "J/// i'nncs arc in Thy hand" — tvhcn Thou wilt and as Thou wilt. You are aware that some 30,000 rupees are still required to putting the top-stone on the edifice, or about one-tenth of what has been already expended : a con- dition of our finances \vhich may well mingle thankfulness with our disappointment, and stimulate us to be up and doing to wipe off the reproach of faintness and weariness in our good work. . , . ' In these perplexities of fund-gathering we have often felt calmed by the thought that of a Church, even more than of a State like Sparta, Lycurgus' words are true— that it is not its walls, whether of brick or brass, which fortify and beautify it, but its men. It was in man or men that our Ascended Lord received and gave gifts in divers lay agencies, as well as the ranks and orders of the clergy.' Of this occasion the present bishop writes : — ' Bishop French set great store by ancient precedents and customs of the Church. When he held his third synod the chapter-house of the new cathedral was the only part roofed in. The bishop, bearing in mind Nioene precedent, decided to have one sitting of the synod in the chapter-house, though it was somewhat too small to be convenient, and that, at this sitting, the Lieutenant-Governor and not himself should preside, a copy of the Gospels being placed upon a stand in front of the President. I remember the difficulty experienced in getting at short notice a suitable copy of the Gospels by themselves. But the bishop was determined to have this, and nothing less or more, and he succeeded, as he generally did when he had made up his mind on any matter great or small.' The concurrent work of building, and the personal affection of their bishops, drew a close bond of sympathy between Lahore and Truro. In February, 1886, the bishop wrote to Mrs. Gregg: — ' I had by last mail a delightful note from the Bishop of Truro He tells me they have been praying earnestly for me and the Punjab church, that God would raise up some generous givers to finish our holy and beautiful house. The few large sums lately received must surely be ascribed to those loving and faithful prayers. We ought now to be able to finish what is really neces- sary without any more appeals home. It is almost incredible to me that I should be able to say as much as that.' ' Dr. Wilkinson. LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH In September lie could wi-ite to Mrs. Knox : — 'There is a possibility of opening about Christmas ; the interior effect is very pleasing and graceful. It is a comfort that if these churches are taken from us they will be at least Gi'eek churches, and not mosques or temjiles. One hopes the Greek Church also has its saints, and that of these may be my successors in the see, if Kussia dominates these provinces. I hope we have a little more work to do yet.' A week later lie wrote to Mrs. Gregg : — ' You will be glad to hear that after a long Committee held last evening in our new chapter-house we came to the conclusion that the cathedral should be consecrated and opened for service (please God) on Jan. 25, the Festival of St. Paul's Conversion. ' The Lieutenant-Governor writes to me to day a most kind and cheering letter, expressing much sorrow at his enforced absence on the day of consecration. He says — " I congratulate you from my heart on the completion of the noble edifice, and pray that it may be blessed by God to accomplish all the Christian objects that you have in view, and to be for all time a centre of light and spiritual life to the province and diocese." Is it not a comfort to have had such a Governor now for nearlj' five years? He goes to the Council of State after leaving us, — a rare and exceptional tribute to merit.' To Cyeil. Lahore, Jan. 2, 1887. This month is entered on with many sore misgivings and anxieties "as regards the approaching day of opening the cathedral. On the whole, some anticipated difficulties have been taken out of the way, and a series of special mission sermons till Easter is a comfortable thought to me, mostly to be preached by the Delhi Brotherhood, who are sowing so many seeds of light and blessing in this diocese, I thank God. All through Lent they hope to furnish preachers. You -svill pray that this may be a season of blessing and of bringing some wanderers home, and of turning some enemies of the truth into friends. We propose not only the Consecration Service proper, but also a service for the Church ivorlcers of the diocese, and another for the Native Church. Possihli/ also a missionary service for Europeans. These all as Itcy-notcs of the uses to which the cathedral may, we hope, be devoted and which it may subserve. God will counsel us by His spirit of counsel, I trust, to turn the occasion to account. There is a good deal of interest awakened, and some amount even of enthusiasm, which is rare in Lahore, except for visits of Eoyalty and a week of balls and THE FINAL PREPARATIONS theatricals ! For once people are taken by surprise, and are startled at thinking in what a quiet stealthy way the cathedral has grown up to its present dimensions, and taken them by stonn against themselves and all their predictions of discomfiture, and the finished structure has pleased them so much better than they ever thought they could be pleased. However, things Avill fall back into the status in quo ante soon again, and the opening day will suggest many objections and anticipations of failure — our music will be poor, and the ornaments (for a cathedral) rather meagre and disappointing. But for this, ex- 2)erience prepares an old man like me, and I trust the Lord Himself will be pleased to say ' My eyes and My heart will be there perpetuallj^ ' — then in that one blessing, all others we need and value most will be comprised. The next letter to Mrs. Gregg, on January 8, will show how in the veriest details of his arrangements the bishop ruled his course according to God's AVord. Jan. 8. The Lieutenant-Governor has given an edict for closing all the law-courts and Government offices, so that there nuiy be a general holiday on that day. This is more than I could have expected, and shows a very kind feeling indeed upon his part. . . . There was a wish on the part of some to have a sort of monster lunch in the Montgomery Hall, but I have stood out for hospitalities of a more private kind at the houses of civilians and other well-to-do people, and this will be adopted, I think. At a huge lunch it often hajjj^ens ' one is hungiy, and another is drunken,' and there is much more expenditure of wine, bad waiting, and bad cooking. The model I have proposed to the people is Nehem. viii. 8-18. The Allahabad Cathedral is to be opened on Monday next (the loth) — pretty well for India, two cathedrals in one month. In the next letter to his brother at Wells, we see how the completion of his project led to a retrospect of all God's mercies to the family. Lahore, Jan. 15, 1887. Would that you were all near enough to take part with us in the solemn services, but I am sure your fervent intercessions will be with us, that the day may be one of quiet consecration of many souls for service. ... It seems a mysteiy to me that the cathedral is finished at last. I don't feel the least tempted to any proud boasting — I believe, because my most anxious concern of all it has not pleased God to grant me, i. e. a group of men, mighty in word and deed for pulling down the strong- holds of sin, and planting and building up the Church of God. io6 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH And what are walls without the words of power and love and truth re-echoed from them ? . . . I should like to preserve a record of the generous contributors in our archives ; but as I should not like my own name to appear, I must forego this wish. But their record is on high, and it is a great privilege to us as a family to have been permitted for three generations to take a part in church-building, as well as in helping to build up the spiritual temple. And now in dear Cyril the fourth generation (as well as in the Knoxes and Moidsons) is honoured by finishing the century of Church work (I trust and pray I in which God has accepted our poor efforts for His glory. May their children, and children's children, be as fresh links in the chain, and attaiu to something of the might and stout steady perseverance of our honoured father! Very much of the ability I had to found St. John's College here depended on what he and George Gordon contributed. I was almost despairing when his gift of £500 restored the needed courage and strength of purpose, together with a little nearer revelation which the Lord Jesus v.-as pleased to give me of Hunself, during the illness at Dharmsala in 1870. than perhaps I had ever had before. And so my own family and friends at home have a joint interest of a most precious kind in the erection of this fabric, which, when complete hereafter, will be a noble one. though I am not likely to live to hear of its being done, nor have I any wish to finish it myself, as a church for Quettah is far more needed. At length the great day arrived. The extracts from the bishop's diary will show that all went well. 'Jan. 25. A memorable day, in which God's goodness and loving-kindness was signally shown us. I do not know how to feel humbled and thankful enough. Altogether someEs. 5.500^ collected for offertory, but this was a small thing as compared with the hearty warmth and enthusiasm of the people who crowded together to witness and pour in their offerings. Some 1,100 — others say 1,200 — were gathered ^ . . . About 250 com- municants at least. In the afternoon native Church service Dr. Imad-ud-din preached, Perkins and Sadik read lessons. . . , General M. said, '"I have so enjoyed this day : I shall remember it all my life long." Many such kind words.' The bishop's sermon on Psalm Ixviii. 9-1 1 ('A Shower of Freewill Offerings') was printed as a pamphlet. It ^ The largest recorded ofFertory up to that time in an Indian church. At the bishop's express desii-e, one aisle was set apart for soldiers, one for the native Church. THE CONSECRATION DAY was a warm outpouring of his heart in faith and gratitude. One passage, on the part the Chui'ch should play as a uniting bond of East and AVest, must find its place in this biography. '"Likewise the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord to be His servants, to love the name of the Lord, and to cleave unto Him ; even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My House of Prayer : their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on Mine altar: for Mine House shall he called a House of Prayer fur all nations." I plead with you with all entreaty (as called, how- ever unworthy, to be your chief pastor in Christ) that these sons of the stranger be not rejected and outcasts here. Long after my grey hairs are gone down to the grave may it please God — if ever unbrotherly exclusion should be practised here — to call to your and your children's remembrance the solemn appeal and challenge which God makes to you through me to-day — "The sons of the stranger: even them will I bring." Let this church be a mother-church indeed, with all the tenderness and depths of sympathy, the loving place, in the arms and heart and home, of the true mother ; and not the chill, distant, jealous regard of the tyjiical step-mother. Let none begrudge the poor and the stranger the provision God Himself has made for them. Let no bitterness, or invidious exclusiveness of race or station, find place in this sanctuary, of which the word has been spoken, "My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all people." ' To some of us it will be a cheering and stirring thought that in a temple such as this — built where it is in these far border lands of our empire — we cannot help being reminded of those old prophecies, in which the gospel of the kingdom and the preaching of Christ the Eeconciler and the Consummator are foreshown as the meeting-ground where the long-severed East and West shall meet at length. All through the later predictions of Isaiah the isles of the sea are challenged to listen to the voice of God's messengers ; to come forth out of their con- cealment ; and for a season at least to take the place of Israel after the flesh — to become God's witnesses, and His fellow- helpers in the extension of His Word of Truth. Thus in several passages the islands and the lands of the sunrise or the morning- are called to clasp hands, and band themselves together in this holy enterprise, by which man shall be elevated and enlightened, and God's long-suppressed truth vindicated and proclaimed ! So in Isaiah xxiv, "Wherefore glorify ye the Lord from the sunrising ; even the name of the Lord God of Isi-ael from the islands of the sea': and again in chapter xlii, three times the isles are summoned of God to have a privileged share in io8 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH this consummation. May not the students of prophecy then l)e of good courage, and believe that it is no dream of wayward or plaj^ful fancy at all, but a hope founded on calm sober reason, that here in this fabric may be a meeting-jjlace, in which the isles of the West and the lands of the sunrise shall find their children joining hands more and more in holy rivalry for truth and love and holiness ; for resisting all that is evil, and promoting all that is good — that even such a thing might happen as (St. Chrysostom tells us in one of his sermons) happened in one of the Greek churches in Constantinople? He was about to preach himself, but a Gothic priest came into the church with a number of his people, and he, the Greek archbishop, gave up his pulpit for that day. And so before the polished Greeks was heard the rough and (then) uncultured tongue of our northern forefathers, and they learnt the lesson in that simple occurrence, that in Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, Briton nor Hindu, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ all and in all. Wondrous blendings and interminglings of Western islands and lands of the sunrise — of their tongues and thoughts and peoples — may these solid walls which encncle us to-day long be spared to M'itness ! May the sum and substance of it be " Gloiy to God in the highest, and on earth peace, to the men of goodwill."' Lastly, this victory of purposed good was but regarded as a call to deepened consecration and more directly fruitful and spiritual work. He wrote from Sialkot on January 29 : — ' The Lahore C. and 31. Gazelle sent by this mail ^^^l] explain pretty fully the events of the 25th, \^'hich have filled my heart with thankfulness and praise. It seems almost too good to be true that a work of such magnitude and such important bearing, I trust, on the future of the Church of God in this province, has at length been completed, and the house been opened for Divine service, and dedicated to the name and worship and glory of the Triune Jehovah. To Him be all the praise, and may man be in the dust humbled and silent before Him whose works are indeed worthy to be praised and had in honour. . . . It Avas feared the church would be too dark and the voice of the speaker inaudible, but, as regards the chief part of the church at least, botli these fears have proved to be ungrounded. I confess I did not think the critical and cold community of Lahore capable of so much hearty enthusiasm ; most especially in what concerned Divine worship and church consecration, but the crowds that gathered of all ranks, far and near, and the influx of offerings in quite unprecedented generosity on that day, proved me to be in the wrong, and my faith far too weak. WORK ENDED. WORK BEGINS 109 ' How our beloved father would have brightened and his eyes beamed at hearing that another church had been added to those which we as a family had been privileged to erect ! ... Do pray for me that the many congratulations which I receive every day may be laid all and each at the feet of Him who must bear the glory, as He shall build, even He shall build the temple of the Lord. . . . As I got into church before service a telegram of warm congratulation from Sir Charles Aitchison and Lady Aitchison was put into my hands with £20 in a cheque. . . . Over forty clergy came, so the procession was lengthy and the singing hearty. The general effect within is certainly striking, though of course it does not vie with an English cathedral. Out here it excites surprise, as beating what has hitherto been seen. Now the great end to be accomplished is all before us ; and I feel my anxieties are begun. The material building I left to other hands, but in the spiritual I am called to take my part, and to call others to do theirs. May the Lord perfect that which concerns us, and strengthen our hands for this good work.' CHAPTER XX. CHUECH-WOEK AMONG THE NATIVES. ' A little one shall become a thousaud. and a small one a strong nation : I the Lord will hasten it in his time.' — Isa. Ix. 22. ' For conquering Clive, or Wellesley's mightier name, The wide world echoes to the trump of fame ; Yet have there been, who loftier praise have won. Undaunted Schwartz or saintly Middleton. England halli many such ; she little knows What to their secret championship she owes ; Their prayers, which night and day to heaven aspire. Bulwark her empire with a wall of fire. And arm the happy land that gave them birth With power to build the throne of Christ on earth. Shall Britain then ? Fond questionist be still ! I said she maij ; I dare not add she tviU.' Hankinson. The English work made most demand upon the bishop's time and energy, for English Churchmen, in spite of every missionary effort, outnumbered tenfold all the native Chris- tians ; but yet the native portion of the church, perhaps, was even closer to his heart and his affections, his first and early love. His high sense of episcopal authority might lead at times to strained relations with the great Societies, yet, even when the tension was severest, such differences were but as lovers' quarrels that renew men's love. In speaking of some such divergence from the committee of the C. M. S. he said, ' 1 shall be always nearer to them, I believe, than to any other body of men in doctrinal, THE bishop's missionary INTERESTS III if uot in ecclesiastical, matters.' When lie resigned his bishopric he was still willing to serve under them and plead for them. All through his bishopric he was in fact, if not in name, a missionary still. He found some compensation for the diminished time that he could give to missionary preaching in the increased weight that his office gave his counsels, and so this chapter will present him in part in his old role of missionary worker, in part as missionary statesman, viewing the whole field from a higher vantage-ground. The first great service that he did thq native church was in placing in a clear light for all time the right of himself and his successors to take full part in missionary teaching. The next was in strongly claiming for the natives their due right in the cathedral. They were considered in its least detail. No symbol was allowed a place in it that could offend the Moslem's horror of all images, or foster superstition in any recent convert from a base idolatry. In proposing to allocate one aisle for their special benefit at all times, and in securing them one service (with a native preacher) on the day of consecration, the bishop was but acting on his one consistent policy, or rather principle, of welding into solid Christian vinity the diverse classes of his scattered diocese. Dr. Imad-ud-din, the preacher on that day, has sent some reminiscences, and extracts will suffice to show the impression the bishop had produced upon a native mind of more than ordinary culture : — * Bishop French was an uncommon man. I have not yet seen another like him. We do now and then meet with learned, good, godly, and earnestly pious men in the Church. But Bishop French was possessed of some quahties over and above these ; . . . his s])ii it was generally found to be basking in the sunshine of God"s (•(lund iiance, and his eyes habitually manifested beatific commiuiiiir \;l(h Him. 'When I was a lad of fifteen or sixteen French was a hand- some young clergyman. He joined the Agra Cluuch mission at the beginning of his career, and appHed liiniseli' to the study of Hindustani. He was often seen going briskly hither and thither in the streets and lanes of Agra, sometimes giving copper coins 112 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH to little boys who met him in the way, or telling them of Christ or of His word. At this time there was but a very small native congregation in Agra, consisting of members who were very weak and ignorant. They failed to understand what character of man God had sent to them in Mr. French. They took him to be a kind English missionary, like the run of European gentlemen of the time, for they had not yet acquired the eye with which to judge him rightly. . . . Our late bishop was really a saint, a special apostle, for at first God by his instrumentality laid the foundation of some very important works in India, and then directed his footsteps towards Arabia. This is an earnest of the introduction of the gospel into that country. There was that in Bishop French's character which led persons to oppose him. Some ignorant persons still remember those infirmities of his. For instance, he was so firm in his opinion that he would never give way, but even in this determination his real kindness of heart would show itself. If any outsider interfered with his affairs he would be highly displeased with him, but only for a moment. Sometimes he would speak severely to a man, but after an hour or two he would go to him, or call him and cheer him up. He sometimes sent money privately to needy persons to help them. Sometimes he sent currency notes by post to men in need, asking them kindly not to acknowledge the gift or to speak of it when he met them. He often got employment by his recommendation for those who were out of work. His sermons were veiy affecting, for he spoke as the Spirit of God gave him utterance. The depth and sublimity of his subject could only be perceived by those who had capacity to understand it, yet his preachings generally imparted comfort, joy, and instruction to every one. I have sometimes seen his jsreaching effect instantaneous deliverance of souls which were in bondage. ... It is a noticeable fact in his life that he seldom let the day pass without going to the bazaar in the evening, and talking to the people something about Christ. He always exjiected his people to pay due respect, honour, and submission to their elders, and to follow those good old ways by which the patriarchs and fathers of old had obtained their blessings. Therefore the men who have adopted new ideas on this subject through English education were not quite pleased with him. The bishop wrote to me when he was about to leave the Punjab for good that he would like to spend a quiet week with me, at a place on the banks of the Beas, where I should meet him and take my dinner with him at 9 p.m., as he had ordered a servant to have dinner ready there. We both reached the place at the time appointed, and took up our abode in an empty police bungalow. The servant said he had not been able to prepare any dinner, as he had no cooking apparatus with him. These would not arrive till the following morning, when he DR. IMAD-UD-DIN 113 could give us some food. After some time we both went to our beds and lay down. After a while the bishop got up and came to nie and said that he remembered having got in his robe-case a piece of dry bread, some two months old. remain- ing from some former sacramental occasion, which we might soak in water and share together. This we did and went to sleep. During the week we stayed together there we had con- versation on various topics, religious and seculai-. . . . The moral of all our conversation was the obligation to bear and forbear, the bishop reminding me of the words in the book of .Job, "Thou hast instructed many, but now it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled." We talked a good deal also on life and death from a Soofeeistic, Mohammedan point of view contained in this motto, '"The death in which there is no life, and the life in which there is no death." ' . . . I often think of the last week with the bishop on the Ijanks of the Beas. We spent the day in one common room, reading or writing. Towards evening we both turned out to take a walk in the country. Sometimes we sat down together on the ground, the bishop offering some prayer or talking with me. One daj^ we went to a village, where the bishop took his seat on the ground before a corn-dealer's shop, and began to preach the gospel. A Mohammedan was looking at us from a distance. He knew the bishop, and having a chair in his house, sent his boy quickly with it to offer it to him. He got up, asked him who he was, and why he had brought that chair"? He answered that his father had told him to do so. The lii^hop then asked him where his house and father were. On hi.-, pointing it out to him at a distance of forty or fifty paces, the bishop turned his face to it, and prayed to God to bless that boy's father, and to have mercy on that family, as they had done him honour in his old age. The next day that man met me and said that he was very happy, and believed that God would have mercy on him as the bishop had earnestly prayed for him. . . . ' I have always believed Bishop French to be a special friend of God on the earth. This idea grew up in me of itselJf. Once I was living for a few days Like a stranger at the station of Khanpur in the Bahawulpur state. There I had for some days conversations on Christianity with a few respectable Mohammedans. They asked me whether I knew anybody among the Chi-istians whom I might specially call the friend of God, and confidently recommend him to them. I said I knew not one but several such persons whom I could recommend them safely as such. But as they wanted only one, I told them Bishop French was such a one, fully coming up to our idea of the saints of God, as spoken of in Eastern books. Others were the servants of God, accepted of him. Here our conversation with those Mo- hammedans ended.' VOL. II. I 114 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH One incident Dr. Imad-ud-din has modestly refrained from mentioning— his own investiture as Doctor of Divinity. The short address the bishop gave on this occasion (Dec. 1884) will show his manner as a pastor in teaching the natives. At his request the ceremony was held in the native church at Amritsar, in preference to any room or hall. 'I feel,' he said, 'that I am charged with a difficult office to-day in behalf of the Church of England and its patriarchal head, and I must ask your prayers that the words in which I introduce the ceremony may not be my own, but dictated by my Master, and that His presence and that of the Blessed Sjjirit may be realized by us on this solemn occasion. During my late visit to England I had the privilege of pleading in very many places with the faithful and devout members of the Church of England in behalf of the Church of India. I found a great spirit of prayer abroad, and a great conviction of the gravity and peril of the present crisis — in what a chaos men's minds out here are through the multiplicity of faiths, philosophies, and forms of worship pressed upon their attention, and producing great perplexity and restlessness of mind. Amongst others whom I had the pleasure of speaking with was the Archl^shop of Canterbury, who takes the deepest interest in India, and expresses the liveliest sympathy with its missions, especially with those of Lahore and Amritsar, which first of all, as he told me, drew his attention in a veiy marked way to the missions of the Church of Christ in the East. And I sliall never forget the loving and gracious smile with which he received the request (which I con- veyed from Mr. Clark and the missionaries of the Punjab) that he would confer this mark of loving esteem and fatherly recognition of his life, character, and services on my brother, and your honoured pastor, the Rev. Imad-ud-din. ... I wish to make it clear to you that it is not merely as a mark of honour and distinction that this title is bestowed upon our brother by the head of the Church of England, in the behalf of that Church, and as its chief i-epresentative pastor, but as a symbol of brotherly love, sympathy and fatherly blessing, and as a bond and pledge of fellowship and friendship between the two Churches of England and India ; or rather to signify that if the British and Hindu are two in race, in the Churcli they are one, linked and knit in an inseparable, indivisible bond of love, friendship, and fellow- ship ; not that one branch should be in bondage and slavery to the other, but they should, by the grace of God, "be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement." *I rejoice with you, and congratulate you exceedingly, and praise God in your behalf in this fresh knot and tie of love CONFERRING OF D.D. DEGREE "5 between the two Churches, and pledge of godly union and concord. ' Thus too the Church of India becomes attached through long succession of Christian bishops and pastors to the early apostolic catholic Church of Christ by means of its being a derivative branch from the Church of England, which is itself an integral branch of that primitive Church. There are the x)rimary branches, and the sccondari/ or derived branches (shakh and upashakh), all having attachment with the one original root. Thus the present Archbishop of Canterbury is the ninety-second or ninety-third in succession, counting from St. Augustine, whom St. Gregory sent to plant missions there. Counting back from St. Augustine we come at last to St. Peter. There was an older succession still of the Celtic Church in England, which carried us back to the Eastern Church and its great apostle St. John. In this way two successive lines of bishops have met in the Church of England, and we count this our great and indefeasible inheritance, and when some suggested that we should part with this, and make no account of the ancient succession which was our portion, the Church of England in its most faithful members refused to do so, ljut clung to it stoutly and firmly (and to its ancient creeds, orders, sacraments, and many of its oldest sei-vices), and, having preserved this inheritance, we are in a jjosition by the grace of God to hand it on to others, and to make them sharers and jiartakers of this goodly trust, and we count it a haj^piness and privilege to bind you together with ourselves in the joint possession of this priceless heritage. Of all this the badge and symbol comes to you to-day in the honour bestowed upon our friend and brother, and your ]iastor. The archbishop was pleased not to confer it without due consideration and pains, but (knowing it was a great and exceptional boon he was conferring) he inquired very particularly into the grounds on which it was sought, and as to the special gifts and qualiiications, the labours and services rendered, and the benefits accruing to the Church of Christ ; iiiaking himself fully accjuaiiited witli all tiiese jmr- ticulars, he then unhesitatingly and cheerfully complied with the request. The result is before you to-day. You will not forget what our lesson to-day read in our hearing has taught us: "If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; //' one member he honoured, all the members are Jionoured tvith it." . . . He (Dr. Imad- ud-din) has spoken of the burden which weighs him down in carrying so high an honour, but he will feel what Augustine felt and expressed so strikingly in asking tlie prayers of the people in a sermon j)reached on one of the anniversaries of his consecration : "If Christ carries not my ljurdeii with me, I must succumb (dab jata hun) ; if Christ carries not me, I must die." Those words are well worthy of recollection for your pastors and all your fellow-workers. I 2 ii6 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH ' One thought more, the most impoiiant of all, is this. We have spoken of the archbishops of the Church ; let us turn our thoughts now to the chief Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, the Church's great divine Head and Lord, whose name and titles we have been dwelling upon at this holy season — " Emmanuel, God with us." ' Our great comfort and strength is the promise of His presence and blessing. I pray it may richly rest on you to-day, and ever- more abide with you through all the changes and the chances of the new year on which we are about to enter : in all time of tribulation and wealth, of sorrow and joy, of realized hope and disappointed hope, when the enemies of the Church of Christ seem to make head against us. and when the Church gains victories for the truth. And may His presence in your midst increase the spirit of true consecration and consistent holy living, so that (if it may be so) not a word may cross your lips which shall discredit your profession, nor a thought be harboured in 3'our hearts which is contrary to Plis will, nor any action allowed which contradicts His commandments ; above all, that no divisions or strifes, no jealousies or heart-burnings, may find place among.-t yon, but that that happiness may be yours which comes of peaceableness and the meekness and gentleness of Christ, and so the Church of Amritsar and its neighbour Churches, walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfoit of the Holy Ghost, may be multiplied.' A letter to Edith from Lahore (May i, 1882) will give a pleasant picture of the bishop's private intercourse with native Christians : — ' I think Mrs. Wade must have been a little surprised to have three native gentlemen to a tea-dinner last evening— the old ]>undit of Uddoki, Kurruck Singh ; Mr. Dina Nath, our junior ])rofessor at the college, a Sikh by race ; and Mr. Yakub Ali, our native pastor. The poor old pundit didn't know how to use his knife at all with a leg of fowl, so I took up mine with my tir.gers, and bogged him not to mind doing it, as I didn't. I had lo ask Mrs. Wade's pardon. I hope she won't make a picture of the bishop at the head of his table, eating with his fingers. . . . The pundit entered into a very difficult discussion about atoms and germs (unnoo and bibhoo), which Mrs. W. thought rather above her, the more so as it was in Sanskrit or nearly so. He said some nice things about the living hope of Christians, as com- l)ared with the dead hope of Hindu philosophy. I wonder whether you will ever come to see these dear old pundits.' The last act of the bishop in his diocese was to ordain this Kurruck Singh as deacon (Dec. 21, 1887). CHIEF MISSIONARY CENTRES 117 'Dear Dr. Imad-ud-din has been here to help me,' he said, 'in examining the native candidate. We seem quite brothers. He and Kurruck sat some time with me to take leave this morning (December 22). We had happy converse on many important subjects touching the future of the Indian Church. Could the spirit of Heniy Martyn have been with us, he would have rejoiced to hear the bright, hopeful, thoughtful words of such men.' The chief centres of missionary action in the diocese were Delhi and its surrounding district, under the leadership of Mr. Winter of the S. P. G., and the new Cambridge Brotherhood ; Amritsar, with its missions in outlying town- ships, Narowal, Batala, Clarkabad, Jandiala, and others— this was the strongest centre of zenana work ; and lastly, the long but weak chain of the frontier missions from Quettah in Beluchistan right onward to Peshawur and the Khyber. The mission on the Jhelum, which should have formed a link between the capital and frontier, after the death of Gordon rather languished ; but when French was at Bhera in May, 1885, a very respectable man in the bazaar said to him, before all his brethren, that Grordon had such an attractive love that he would have drawn all their hearts after him, and all the people round the district too, if only he had lived long enough. ' I have never heard this said,' French remarked, ' of any other missionary.' There were, of course, also outlying missions, but these three districts were the principal. Delhi was often visited, and Bishop Bickersteth has thus described the bishop as a missionary worker : — 'The true unconscious greatness of the man was never so clearly exhibited as when he was face to face with unbelievers. Though as an extempore speaker in English he was never par- ticularly fluent, I have heard him rise to the truest eloquence, and pour forth an appeal in language of passionate entreaty in the bazaar of a country town in India. He was also fitcile princcps of the missionaries whom I have been privileged to know in dealing with individual inquirers. I shall never forget his conversation with an able Mohammedan who came for an interview one evening just as we were retiring, very tired, to rest, after a day's preaching in Biwanee, a town to the west of Delhi. In a moment he had laid aside every sign of weariness, and for an hour met the ii8 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH man's objections to the catholic doctrine of the Holy Trinity (as opposed to the Sabellian, which he had professed himself willing to accept) with the utmost sagacity, never yielding a point, yet with perfect good temper, and without allowing the discussion to degenerate into a mere logomachy.' These remarks may be further illustrated by a few inci- dents occurring in a visitation tour in 1882. The first letter to Basil from Delhi (February 26) describes the general nature of the work, almost reminding one of St. Jerome's description of the Christians of his day in the Holy Land : — 'The last three days I have l)een with Mr. Winter in a little circle of villages some twenty miles hence, preaching and teaching, catechizing and conversing, as well as confirming and celebrating the Holy Communion. It seemed to me so like my old Agra days ; the languages here are of course much the same as I was used to, not the rougher Gurumukhi and Pushtu of the Upper Punjab and the frontier. It seemed almost as if an Ephphatha were spoken. It is wonderful for about ten miles out of Delhi in some dhections to see the scattered pillars and arches, domes and minarets, shattered ruins of city walls, mosques, sarais, tombs, garden-houses, massive gateways, palaces, as if the ocean of time had swept its remorseless waves over it, and death, desolation, and destruction. There is something awfully sublime and impressive in gazing all round at relics of a glorious but now vanished past, and it is interesting, in the midst of all this, to find here and there, sheltered by these ruins, little Christian flocks of low-caste men, women, and children picking up scraps of Scripture knowledge, singing their bhajans or songs, perhaps over the plough, or in tending their flocks and heixls to crop the scant herbage. . . . Delhi, as an old imperial city of the Moguls, still lifts its head in pride, and gives the Government some anxiety by its independent if not seditious attitude. Yet the troops are a mere handful here, not above 400 Engli.sh troops. I don't understand their negli- gence to profit by past experience, but it is like living over a volcano to live here almost. ... I am pleased with some of the collects in Dr. Bright's little book called Ancient Collects. They are mostly drawn from old Church litiu'gies, Gallic, Mozarabic, Syriac, Coptic, and the rest. They are so terse and forcible, so vei-y appro^jriate and heart-stirring, as this, for instance :— "O Lord Saviour Christ, who camest not to strive nor cry, but to let Thy words fall as the drops that water the earth, grant to all who contend for the faith once delivered, never to injure it by clamour and impatience ; but, speaking Thy precious truth in love, so to present it that it may be loved, and that WORK IN THE DELHI DISTRICT 119 men may see in it Thy goodness and beauty, who livest and reignest," &c. ; and another, which I commend to as well as you : — ' " O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgement, and light rises up in darkness for the godly, grant us in all our doubts and uncertainties the grace to ask what Thou wouldest have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in Thy light we may see light, and in Thy straight path may not stumble, through Jesus Christ our Lord." ' Now you will say '* Enough," so I will close.' The next letter, continuing an interrupted one to Edith, throws further light upon the xery incident at Biwanee already briefly noticed : — ' Marcli 12. Alas ! my letter was broken off when I had got thus far by a succession of interruptions. They were nice in one way, for they were poor souls coming to ask what they should do to be saved, and you would have been glad to see their bright animated faces as the truth dawned upon some of them. One said, Oh, 1 see it now as I never saw it before. I have got perfect certainty now. I am quite sure this is the truth of God." He said it seemed quite another thing to him. quite different from what i^eople said it was, who told him never to become a Chris- tian. Another was only come to dispute and entangle us in our talk, a learned moollah, full of captious quibbles and subtle disputations. He said he was sure he loved Christ more than I did, for he didn't believe such bad things as I did, that He was crucified, dead, and buried, for he believed, and all Mohamme- dans believed, He never died at all. I wonder what the world would have been, and what pool-, simple, self-condemned souls would have done, but for the cross and the great sacrifice. As Hartley Coleridge expresses it — It is the only fount of bliss In all this earthly wilderness ; It is the true Bethesda ; solely Endued with healing might and holy ; Not once a year, but evermore ; Not one, but all men to restore." I have been enjoying a few days very much with young Mr. Bickersteth. He is very fond of preaching to the heathen ''in the streets and lanes of the cities," so we get on capitally, being of one mind and heart in this. . . . We passed many large villages yesterday between Biwanee and Kohtuk (where we now are), and could not help noticing the fortress-like houses in many (almost like little Windsor palaces !), built by rich merchants, I20 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH bunyas, or mahajans, people who lend money to all the zamindars or landholders, and take care always to keep them in debt on large mterest, whereby the people are sadly impoverished, and the bunyas are fat and flourishing, and build lordly mansions out of the flesh and blood of their debtors. " J'rankly to forgive them both" is what they never think of, I fear.' The day after again he wrote to Mrs. French from E/ohtuk : — 'Twelve were confirmed yesterday, the most interesting two daughters of the native pastor, and an elderly fakir, a landholder who had a farm about as large as mine at Whitley, but did not care to keep it as he had no family, and gave it over to his brother, and keeps a field for himself with an orchard chiefly of " ber " trees, on the produce of which he lives (about £io per annum) ; and on this he passes as rich. He dug a tank for himself to be bap- tized in, for he wished to let all his friends and neighbours know of his resolution to put on Christ. Two or three hundred assembled about three years ago, and he was publicly baptized by the pastor Yakub. It was droll, yet delightful, to hear the sturdy muscular way in which he ratified his baptismal vows yesterday. The answer was not clear enough, so I asked them to repeat it again. The old man cried out in a voice which made the little church ring again, "I do heartily ratify my vows" (Dil se mazbut karta hun).' Nine days later he wrote again to Edith from Gurgaon, twenty miles from Delhi: — ' Two days ago I was preaching a long time in a very ancient and well-built city (Paniput), one of the most famous towns in the world for its battles between Pathans, Moguls, Persians, Mahrattas, and English. It is full of temples and mosques, only no church of the true living God made known to us in Jesus Christ. Long, narrow streets, with lofty brick buildings on each side, like those of Cairo, with roads well paved and pleasant to walk on, show that the people take a pride in keeping their buildings in repair and all clean and tidy. Outside the town are well-planted gardens and tanks of water, mostly fringed by little shrines, from which flights of steps descend, some for men's bathing, some for women's ; no machines, as in Brighton, for that purpose. . . . Mr. AUnutt and myself walked to the most ancient of all the mosques, called the mosque of Kalandar Sahib, said (on good ground) to have been built about the time of the Norman Conquest, or rather before ! There is beautiful tracei-y and rich carving in marble ; especially the trellis and lattice work of the windows is lovely. The tomb of the saint is behind curtains. ROHTUK AND PANIPUT 121 SO we did not intrude. A number of little ragged children are fed there, so I gave los. for the hungry, emaciated little urchins, which seemed much to delight them. Travellers get a meal also in little huts round a square, to which a ponderous gate gives entrance. In a little squai-e outside a drum, or nakkara, up some steps called attention to a fakir seated in an upper storey, with clay-smeared face and filthy lanky hair, wrapped in a blanket. " Does he teach you about God and the right way ? " I asked. *'0h no! he sits quite silent, never opens his lips, and we give him food." -"Well then," I said, "as your holy man is speech- less. I will speak to you a little." So a crowd gathered and listened with fair attention while I preached. I spoke of the new birth, and told them of the old man of 104 who said he was four years old, because at 100 he gave his heart to Jesus and learned the simple truth about Him ; on which they pointed to an old gentle- man in the congregation, and said, "Ah yes, that old man says he's only five years old, because he never was happy till he came five years since to live in this part of the country." "Well then," I said, " I hope he will learn about the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit to-day, and be made a new man, and four years hence he will say he is four years old." So I made him come and sit beside me on a little raised wooden platform I was sitting on, and the people looked on pleased and wondering. ' It is rather in a rough country we have been travelling lately. Twice our gari broke down, once tilted right over and a wheel came off ; but the coachman mended it up, and we went on again as if nothing had happened. I fancy it happens so often they are obliged to be prepared.' One other incident of later date connected with this Delhi district deserves a passing mention, especially at a time when feuds between Mohammedans and Hindus about cow-killing have proved a serious embarrassment to Government. The view that Christian missions are a danger to the State may surely be considered out of date in face of such a fact as this : — ' There has been a most bitter and deadly feud,' the bishop wrote to Cyril, Feb. 14, 1887, ' between the Hindus and Moham- medans in the city, and no effort of Government officials has availed to conciliate them ; but Mr. Lefroy's loving, saintly pleadings have prevailed. They have seemed unable to resist them ; and on Saturday afternoon he got them to embrace one another quite fraternally ! So on my return to Delhi on Friday I am to invite them to symbolize the reconciliation by meeting the mission body at Mr. Winter's house, and partaking of light refreshments. ' 122 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH In Amritsar and its district the bishop was well known to the natives from his early Punjab days, and was always veiy popular. On March 15 in i88r he wrote: — * The visit to Batala was full of thankfulness. . . . One lady, a Begum, chief lady of the mission, baptized thi-ee years since or so, had never been out of purdah before till the word struck her on Sunday morning from the text, "Search me, O God," and she ventured to come up to the table for confirmation on "Wednesday, much muffled up and led by Miss Tucker's kindly hand. The learned pundit at Uddoki baptized a few years ago, but a little led astray after tlie Arya Samaj, a deistical system i^ropping itself on mystical interpretations of the Vedas, has completely come round, as I do trust, to the simple truth as it is in Jesus, and is very anxious to study Hebrew at the college ! I stayed a few hours with him at his own village, and partook of his milk and chapatis, and a little meat even ! He is a man of family and influence, and authority with Government, thoroughly learned in Sanskrit, Vedic, and other i^hilosophic lore.' Later in the year, when his daughter Lydia had come out to be married to the bishop's private chaplain, the Rev. J. Moulson, the wedding was arranged to take place at Amritsar. It was a time of special interest on account of the metropolitan's visitation. Bishop French himself took the service, but the Bishop of Calcutta gave away the bride, as his predecessor. Bishop Wilson, had done to French nearly forty years before ; ' so history was reproduced in 1881.' Many natives there had never seen an English bride, and were much pleased with the arrangement for their happiness. "Wedding festivities, however, were not allowed to interfere with work. ' In the evening,' wrote Bishop French, ' all the mission workers, or nearly all, dined at Mr. Clark's, and after dinner a conference was held on several points of interest, especially village missions, which Miss Tucker and Miss Clay are espousing so warmly and so vigorously. The Bishop of Calcutta enjoys this kind of gathering immensely, and shows his whole-hearted sympathy very plainly. ' On Thursday after lunch we set out for the Amritsar Town * The same Kurruck Singh already mentioned. AMRITSAR NEIGHBOURHOOD 123 Hall, where was assembled a goodly concourse of the nobility and gentry and chief officials of the city, whom the bishop and I invited to meet us, that we might express our sympathy with them and their fellow-citizens in the recent affliction which has actually and truly (Icc'niKitcd the whole population of Amritsar within about twu iiumths. Some eighty or ninety of the chief men of the city gathered. The bishop and I addressed them at some length. I spoke especially of the prophetic teachings of such plagues and sicknesses, as God's voice, God's trumpet, God's sword, and the loving merciful intent of all these. They seemed to appreciate this novel expression of sympathy, which God, I trust, suggested to my heart as well as to my judgement.' Some of the encouragements and disappointments of the work in this district appear in the following letter to Mrs. Knox, May, 1886 :— ' Two nights ago I had the j^leasure of addressing a large audience of native Christians, zenana ladies, and others at Amrit- sar, on the Uganda mission, which I worked up from old IntcUi- (jcnccrs and reports of the last ten years. What a very remarkable history it is ! Though full of chequered scenes and incidents, yet what a delightful piece of mission mosaic, and how much glory has it brought to God ! There was a beautiful spirit about the meeting. Many circumstances have contributed to make them full of courage at Amritsar. '(i) The large accession of devoted labourers, ladies and others. (2) The number of accessions to the Church of Christ, both a few in Amritsar and its surrounding villages, and others in Bunnoo, Dera Ismail, &c. Many of these have brought about much excitement and agitation in their respective neighbourhoods, but scarcely in any one case has the furnace of trial induced any looking back from Christ. (3) The native flock, the women especially, have been forming a little society among themselves for direct mission agency, and for sending contributions to other foreign missions, e. g. the Amritsar women gathered i.8 last year and sent it to Palestine. ' It is a trial to us that the Salvation Army lies in wait to draw away and alienate from us some of the best and holiest of our converts. Some of the most faithful and wholly consecrated among them they have lately inveigled and carried off to England for what they call their " International Congress." The bragging, vaunting spirit of the body is becoming so offensive and shocking to those in whom is anything of the meekness and gentleness of Christ ; and the sectarian spirit, taking such almost demoniacal possession of them, one must fear a terrible collapse some day of the whole system, wliich would, one fears, bring sad reproach and disgrace to the Christian name. I reasoned a long time about 124 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH a month since with a new convert, trained by our most apostolic missionary, Mr. Bateman. He was quite pestered with telegrams to join the International Congress. I held him back for a time, but at length a more pressing and coaxing telegram persuaded him to go. How much money they must have spent in mere telegrams of this kind ! ' With, the frontier mission, particularly in the Derajat, the bishop had a closer and still earlier connexion, and nowhere else did he so much experience the rough and tumble work of an itinerant. From Jhang, December 9, 1880. he wrote to Edith: — ' Mr. Gordon's character and self-sacrificing labours have been many times a text to preach upon during this journey, as I am able to tell them how all the truest self-sacrifice springs from the love of Jesus and the example and power of His cross, and that all who understand this must give up much for Him. The people listen with much interest to this, but I can't help wishing he had lived to be the text himself, instead of being a text to preach from after he was gone ; still we know that the seed-corn which dies brings forth the fruit, and I think that in England, as well as here, such a death after such a life will make a great impression, and wake up and arouse to action many slumberers and loiterers, please God. 'At Bunnoo I saw something of my very wild friends, the Wuzeez-i Afghans, and preached to them at their Friday market. They always come down from their rugged, almost pathless, hills with sheep, goats, and cattle, with wood also, and salt, and very little else. About twenty-five or twenty-seven of their nobles or chieftains came to have a talk with me at a durbar, or miniature council, and I gave them a dinner afterwards of such viands as they delight in. There was a round dish on the floor about a yard in diameter, piled up with eatables (unleavened oatcakes with some jjottage round) rather choice and savoury, and ten at a time sat round it, pitching into it with their fingers as hard as they could till they were satisfied, and then they made way for another ten. If you could have seen it all, and how almost savage they looked with their long black hair, and tattered flowing robes, and bronzed weather-beaten faces, huge beards, massive muscular forms, you would have looked and wondered. ' This is my third day of travelling in a little Irish-car sort of carriage, with two small horses, sixty miles the first day and over eighty each of the other two. The little horses are changed every five or six miles, and canter along quite jauntily and spiritedly, which makes the journey as little fatiguing as possible. It is curious that in this journey of 230-240 miles we cross four out of THE FRONTIER POSTS tlie five great Punjab rivers which figure on my episcopal arms, i. e. Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, and Ravi. The Jhelum and Chenab, however, having met together are crossed as one, and a most im- posing stream they form with their still deep onward roll, as if in the calm majesty of conscious power, as beneficent as great. In the rainy season they cover the country for miles, and must then be crossed in boats, into which the little cars are lifted, the horses being unyoked. ' I crossed over one of them to-day. The toll-keeper (a native) amused me by asking where the other two cars for my children and sei-vants were. "Oh." I said, "my children are far away." "But surely," said he, "a lord sahib could not travel without three cars." "My lord sahibship," I said, "consists in being a fakir," at Avhich he laughed. The changing of horses gives me a little circle gathered to preach to sometimes. I only wish it always did. "Our prophet does all for us," the Mohammedans say ; but I am able to tell them he could never say four things of himself which Christ said; "I am (i) the door of heaven, (2) the light of the world, (3) the resurrection and the life, (4) the rest- giver to all earth's burdened ones." ' At the same time he wrote to Mrs. Sheldon: — * It was a great joy and source of thanks to me to be able to use my newly acquired Pushtu in the market-place on the Wuzeeri fair-day, in testifying to them of the Prince of Peace and of the Gospel of love and truth. I trust my witness may reach them much more clearly still by a translation of my Hindustani work on the Psalms of David into Pushtu, undertaken at his own desire by a moollah, very far-famed, a resident of this town (Bunnoo), which I am j^artly revising with him for an hour a day during this sojourn. He is favourable to Christianity, but not a Christian. He told me to-day he had a dream in which the ])rophet David appeared to him, and told him that he was entrusted ^vith the work of publishing in Pushtu his book of Psalms, and giving the explanation of them to the people. How rich a reward foi- the labour that book cost me if some poor Afghans thus learnt of David to seek after and to believe in Davids Son and Lord !' Dera Ismail, Feb. 11, 1883. Amid all the distractions and sore cares of my daily life . . . I must give you a few minutes from this frontier station, always dear to me, because here I first came across the Afghans and became interested in their welfare, and I love to come Ijack here and try to pay off my old debt to them by saying a few words to them in their own tongue, as I have tried to do in Candahar, Quettah, Yusufzai country, Peshawur, Multan. . . . I have been pleading for the Tonk mission this morning, of 126 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH which my old student. John Williams, is the medical missionary. I was pleased to collect about £ii, a large sum for this small place. One gentleman who has never been to church before here, came and put £5 in. I said to them in my sermon, " You will foigive me for saying that I all but lost my life (of sunstroke 1 in preaching for these Wuzeeri people over twenty years ago, and therefore I can't help but love them, and any help you can give me on their behalf, I shall heartily thank you for, in mi/ Master's name, and yours. In the case of a people like the Wuzeeris, with whom we have had so many feuds, who commit so many frontier raids, which our frontier army has to punish, it is surely the very genius of the Gospel to return peace for war, and love for hatred, and messengers of healing for the emissaries of rapine, war and bloodshed." The officer who put in £5 was one of the officers engaged in the last war against them, so I hope his heart was touched. . . . Feb. 14. To-day I was in the Afghan caravanserai trying my Pushtu. . . . My old friend and student, John Williams, preached, but one or two Afghans were so bigoted and fanatic that I could scarcely save the native teachers from being beaten, and perhaps myself too. I was glad when I got them out of the gate. Never but once before did I find the Afghans so heated and exasperated. The lesson of to-day (Acts xxviii) shows how the Jews of old time were much what they are now, if indeed the Afghans are of Jewish descent. French did not personally visit Cashmere as bishop, but at a time when the question of a Cashmere bishopric to form a point d'appui for vigorous aggressive work in Central Asia and Thibet is being mooted, his words about the Yarkund mission (August 15 1881) may have a special interest : — 'What must I say about Wade's plan ? A hot-weather journey at least of exploration can hardly be amiss, but 's experience is a little adverse to these very distant and unsupitorted experiments. His own character has been nobly and grandly illustrated, but the results have been a little disappointing. Certainly the fact of the ruler being a Christian is a novel and most interesting element in the Yarkund question. It is a matter for much prayer, and openiims may by degrees occur which may supjily new conviction and (■ of the call being from (iod. The matter is too great and .serious, and the air uf runianee too attractive, to alJow of one's passing an opinion hastily. One would like to see a thoughtful paper with reasons and facts given for abandoning the beaten track of the missions and pushing into new regions. If it be God's will He will surely give yet plainer indications EDUCATIONAL WORK 127 and beckonings of His hand, and voices saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." ' Of course tlie bisliop took great interest in education. At almost every station that he visited he had to take part in some school inspection or distribution of school prizes/ but his work for higher education is of more importance. More frequently than ever he gave lectures to educated natives. The subjects as before were sometimes historical, sometimes missionary, and sometimes directly and avowedly on topics of religion and morality. His influence as bishop gained him better hearing and freer access to the higher classes, but his insistence on punctilios of etiquette detracted somewhat from this added power. Thus he wrote from Hyderabad in February, 1879: — ' I addressed a packed room on the supernatural life, its origin, growth, and supports. I don't know when I have felt so deeply interested in any assemblage. The room was gaily decorated with mottoes, devices, coloured hangings, curtains, and flags, to welcome me on my first visitation. I got into a little trouble with some of the native gentlemen for having asked them to take their shoes off in calling on me, which I thought a proper thing as between man and man, since they do not, like ourselves, doff the hat or turban. Government in court allows both shoes and turban not to be taken off, but I always maintain that in friendly visits this should be done, I mean either the one or the other taken oft". I expounded my views to them in the local news- papers, and the little stir has ceased ; indeed, I hope it has had the effect of drawing us together rather and making us understand each other better.' The bishop had been, fiercely attacked in the papers on the subject, and it is probable the hope he here expresses was too sanguine. He had on his side logic ; the natives law on theirs ; and less insistence would have gained him greater influence, although his known affection and respect for natives tended to modify the wrong impression formed. It cannot but seem curious that one so eminently humble should fail in judgement upon such a point, yet without laying stress on such details they cannot be entirely omitted in the presenting of a faithful portrait. Here is another 128 LIFE OF BISHOP FREN'CH case in which the shoe question appears, and the same mark of honour was exacted, but this time with good reason for a sacred building. He wrote to Mrs. Sheldon from Gurgaon on October 22, 1880, when scarce recovered from a sharp attack of fever : — * I have been so far better yesterday and to-daj' as to liave .some long chats with an old pupil of my Agra first class. Hira Lai. I., whom I have so often wished to see again for religious instruc- tion, but never have till to-day, now twenty years have elapsed. He is still a strict Deist, I believe, having even got some light he says at times from a Mohammedan fakir, who made him ])romise once, within forty days, to repeat one particular name of God forty million times, which he said he accomplished though it was hard work, and then 4,000 times the next four days as a lighter burden, after which he says that he saw such a strange, unearthly, beautiful light as he cannot describe, which made him beside himself and led him to be indifferent to the Avorld (though he seems to have tried to improve his worldly prosjjects pretty often since). We have gone over tlie old grounds of Christian truth again, but I think that his heart was never opened to its influence, though his mind seems simple and unbiassed ; but as he was seven years a personal pupil, one cannot help feeling an interest in him. He has begged me to give a little sermon to himself and his friends in the little church of this station, sweetly situated in a shrubbery garden, and I have promised to do so, if they will come and take their shoes off.' In July, 1886, the bishop lectured at Simla on ' Uganda and Bishop Hannington's martyrdom.' Mozumdar, leader of the Brahmo Samaj, was one of the audience, and a con- versation the bishop held with him afterwards led him to ask him to his house to tea. The bishop thus described their social intercourse : — ' He opened his mind very fully, and seems veiy hopeful, and jnits Christ n rji fur ahead of all other teachers, only not beyond tbe Unitarian iiosition. I fear. I put the main Gospel ti'uths before him as pointedly as I could. Dean Stanley seems their great authority. I told them he had been my tutor in early daj's. I wish they would adopt Bishop Wilkinson instead ! ' Besides these independent local lectures the bishop took a leading part in the new Punjab Universit3^ During the first years of his bishopric he even took a working oar by UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 129 throwing himself heartily into the routine toil of an examiner. His intellectual activity in these matters may be seen by extracts from his letters. On May 6, 1879, he wrote to Mrs. Sheldon : — ' For the last fortnight you would have seen my tables strewn with Hallam, Bacon, Shakespeare, Spenser, Chaucer, Macaulay, and such hke books for the purpose of drawing up examination papers for our Lahore university. It will be over in a week more if all is well. These little interludes must come occasionally in the work of public servants in India. As I have so much preaching and dealing with educated natives at times, it may be useful and furnish a fresh stock of helpful ideas, but a cold has settled in my eyes, and I find them weak for such a multiplicity of incessant labour. I have a work by Mr. Hooper on the Revelations in Hindustani to read large portions of, as the S. P. C. K. requhes the bishoi^'s uni^rimatur. It is nicely and thoroughly done.' A few clays later, writing to his brother Valp3\ who was leaving Stratfbrd-on-Avon for Llanmartin, he said : — ' I seem to know more than I did of Stratford from having to write examination papers on the English drama, and so to study I don't know how many histories and varied estimates of Shake- speare and his contemporaries. Otherwise I might as well have examined on the "Composition and Population of the Moon." Hallam and Schlegel were my great holdfasts. I have had to work at Chaucer as I never did before, and I think I see how true a father of English poetiy he was. . . . My favourites will always be, I think, Spenser, Tennyson, and Wordsworth, after Shakespeare. Those studies I have interspersed with readings from Godet, Cardinal Newman's sermons, Lacordaire and his fellows, so grand in the depth and breadth of their biblical studies.' In questions of policy and principle the advice of Bishop French was felt to be of special value both by the Govern- ment and University. On April 21, 1882, he wrote to Miss Mills at Clifton : — ' Education is now advancing with strides : the Punjab rings with it, and the Government, under Lord Eipon and our new Lieut. -Governor, Sir Charles Aitchison, is stirring itself with the utmost vigour and industry to grapple with the question. The present idea (in which I do not quite sympathize, not at least to the extreme to which it is carried), is to push fonvard primary VOL. II. K. 130 LIFE OF BISHOP FREN'CH education, and promote far and wide village schools, and to with- draw Government support from high-class schools for the young men seeking to raise themselves to high employments and salaries in the service of the State. Yesterday I had imposed upon me by the university senate here a formidable task, which I must blame myself for, as I pushed Government rather hardly jjerhaps (in a lecture I gave on " Our New University ") to promote the highest moral teaching of the youth in their schools. I proposed also to the senate that two volumes of the most striking and forcible passages from various sources should be issued by them, leading up to God and to His faith and fear and love, though not teaching Christianity exactly, which our Govern- ment (rightly or wrongly) is pledged not to do. I want to get the Delhi brotherhood to compile such a work, to be followed by a third volume of disthwthj Christian ethics for Christian schools. ' It was curious in the senate committee yesterday to see how the native (non-Christian) members pushed this forward. It perfectly amazed me, and filled my heart with thankfulness. A clever man, a Brahmo, hearing me remark that the third volume, being of purely Christian ethics, would be for Christian schools alone, replied, "Oh, but we shall want to have that too." "But it all leads uj) to Christ," I said, "draws all from union and fellowship with Him ; you could not adopt that." "Oh, we are quite prepared to do it," he said — and that in the presence of Hindus and Sikhs, and (what is more) of Em-opeans too, who would thus be witnessed to by non-Christians, speaking \\]> for Christ as they themselves certainly would not have done, I fear. *It has been such joy to me to be a herald of Christ's truth in so many towns, both Delhi itself and other large places all round it, and to see how Christianity grows in popular esteem and honour, and how men fear because of it, though they will not in any large numljer of cases emljrace it. Doubtless a great struggle must come before the great fortress of Hinduism falls flat before the ark of God. It is a time wlien we want some first-rate chaplains like Martj-n and Corrie, for our university senate is now holding out the hand to God-fearing men who, by their linguistic and scientific attainment and force of moral and rdiniinis character, can influence native youth. The tone of the 1)iit( 1 (hiss of the native mind seems to be, "If we can't have lliniliiisiu and Sikhism, let us at least have good solid Christian cliaracter in our rulers and teachers, not false and empty Christian profession without 2)ractice." It is a i^n at time of God's own preparing. Would that England know the tune and recognize the beckoning finger ! ' Six weeks later, on June 8, lie wrote to his brother Valpy :— COUNSELS TO GOVERNMENT ' The Punjab Government is full of the subject of extending education through the masses of the people, and we are being examined before committees, and long wearisome papers of inquiries have to be filled up. There is some greater apjiroach to unanimity than formerly, but Hindus and Mohammedans will have their jealousies and heart-burnings, and the English civilians care little about the matter as a whole. I have had to decline the Vice-Chancellorshiii of the new university here, for I felt it would really overpower me ; a Mr. Lyall ' has been appointed, a brother of the Lieut. -Governor of the North-West Provinces. Lord Eijjon is full of the subject, and would gladly embrace religious education in the scheme if he cotild and were not so pressed from home. In spite of him and Sir Charles Aitchison, our new Lieut. -Governor, a firm ally of the Gospel of Christ, and a disciple and old pupil of Tholuck and Hengstenberg, agnostic influence is very strong, and its negative influences sadly paralyze action. Still the truth cannot be buried out of sight, and ever and anon lives and stands up upon its feet.' On July 13, 1882, he wrote to Mrs. French from Dugshai : — • Think of the Pioneer printing verbatim all my written paper on the educational question, the only one it has taken the trouble to print ! It has an article in which it declares I have burst the whole bubble of Government education, unless the counsels given are taken. Of course I shall get attacked on the other side. I only hope the honours gained this year, so far beyond any other year almost, may be laid at the feet of Jesus, and that Christ may be put in the place of self. My main wish is to gain souls, and as my main wish is so little gratified, I cannot set much store by the lesser honours acquired. However, if Government could see their way to follow out the lines and counsels I have suggested, it might be a real abiding blessing to the Punjab.' A few extracts from his evidence before the Commission will further explain his views : — ' It by no means appears to me a self-evident fact that a smat- tering of knowledge is valuable to the masses and improves the character of men, except where, as in European countries, there has been for a long period a permeating and leavening influence of intelligence and enlightenment from the reading and thinking classes down to the lowei\ . . . The popular cry among enthu- siastic Englishmen (at home chiefly) for mass education in India Late Lieut. -Governor of the Punjab. K 2 132 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH seems to me mainly to arise from the mistaken notion that the same treatment must (under wholly different and almost contrary circumstances) be equally useful for two great countries. One of these contrary circumstances is that the elementary books available in the one countiy are of the richest, most varied, useful and attractive description, and in the other of the meagrest and most paltry charactei", which would be of less consequence if these opened the door to higher vernacular departments, in which the mental pabulum supplied was more elevating and improving. It would appear to me therefore that it is far more important at present to labour for the enrichment of the vernacular literature by an expansion of the Educational Department, by summoning from England, as well as employing out here, men of the highest calibre of mind and stamp of character to devote themselves to this branch of preliminai-y effort. 'Surely such a sweeping measure [as mass education] deserves most heedful preparation. The food on which we invite them to feast, summoning them with a blare of trumpets from far and near, should not be of the most ill-cooked and indigestible mate- rials, devoid of all solidity and nutriment. When a man like Archbishop Whately devoted his original and transcendent powers to write books for little children, bringing down fragments, at least, of the deepest truths to the level of the most popular and child-like comprehension, and men like Thirlwall and Whewell delighted (not to speak of Faraday and Huxley) to cause science to talk intelligibly and charmingly to children, we seem to have high hopes awakened of what may be accomplished by the Govern- ment taking advantage of the new devotion and enthusiasm of the leading j'oung aspirants to honours at our universities — their desire, that is, to kindle among the masses thirst for the noblest science, the richest culture, for truth, goodness, self-sacrifice. ' It would not be possible for Government to take its hand off the higher education at present, except so far as to avail itself of the most ap[)roved and best appointed voluntary agencies simul- tancoiisJi/ iritli its (iicih If some of these voluntary agencies were of a large-minded, generous Christian character, honouring (as did St. Paul) all that was good and true in the ancient classics of the country, and bringing both one and other (as also does St. Paul) to the test of that law and judgement which are deepest and firmest rooted in the breast of man, none would appreciate tliis more than the better class of the natives themselves, or support the Govern- ment in freely and gladly employing them more than they. They are in the main prepai-ed to act on the principle "By their fruits ye shall know them." In whatever direction the highest ethical results follow. I am persuaded the Government is safe in advancing with no timid and half-hearted course. If the Government is not ashamed of avowing this, the best of our subjects will not be slow in ai^preciating it, and wQl feel themselves bound to follow COUNSELS TO GOVERNMENT to the best of their capacity in the same steps and aim at the same results. Few rivalries could be so honourable or useful as this. Government examiners will be justified (without touching on religious dogma) in proposing questions or giving instruction in the highest ethics. ' To allow the various religions of the country to be taught in Government schools under State sanction would be clearly con- trary to the terms of the Queen-Empress' original proclamation, on the faith of which Christian men loyal to their convictions render service to the State. There is no difficulty in avoiding this, and the very suspicion of it, which has been widespread, has distressed and alienated both Christian minds and others of our non-Christian fellow-subjects.' With reference to subjects of instruction in primary schools, the bishop said : — 'Instructive stories in thoroughly expressive and idiomatic vernacular, with a measure of stirring dramatic interest, drawn from incidents of daily indigenous life, with morals elicited obviously and naturally, on the excellent models which Miss Tucker and Miss Wauton have produced, would have the best effect. Popular descriptions of natural phenomena of earth, fire, water, the signs of heaven and the like, would stir the dormant and sluggish intellect. Portions of the Proverbs of Solomon', and tales of the Old Testament \ would raise no objection, and be most Avholesome, I believe, and songs such as Hannah's espe- cially if rendered into Hinduwi poetiy. I remember revising a Hinduwi metrical version of the Proverbs of Solomon, which elicited at least many a Wah ! Wah ! from native listeners twenty-five years ago.' With reference to women's work he thus addressed the Government : — ' My belief is that an almost entirely new field of most interest- ing (I may almost say fascinating) labour is open to English ladies in watching over and encouraging the education of their Indian sisters. Very few English gentlemen are invited to the houses of native gentlemen, the zenanas standing in the way. But English ladies appear always welcome or nearly always, and by their labour (if they came in goodly numbers) the terrible obstruction to the intercourse of the two races on a friendly footing (most beneficial in different ways to both) might be in some large measure removed.' ' These lie wished to have taught in Government schools, not from the Bible, but from a school-book of ethical extracts. 134 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH The plan for a good manual of ethics long held pos- session of the bishop's mind, and he had actually begun to collect his materials. He even thought of retiring from office sooner than he would otherwise have done to give himself entirely to this. Sir Charles Aitchison, the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and others, warmly encouraged him, but the Government of India would not guarantee the acceptance of the work in their colleges, and so many difficulties intervened that it was finally abandoned. Had leisure been accorded him, there is no doubt that the bishop's wide knowledge of the native character, extensive reading, and fine eclectic faculty, would have combined to make the book a boon to India of enduring value. In recognition of his many services before he left the diocese the Punjab University conferred upon him honoris causd and in absentia the rare distinction of the degree of D.O.L. Of this he said to Mrs. French, December 23, 1887 :— 'I have been writing to Mr. Eattigan, as Vice-Chancellor, to thank him and the senate for appointing me "Doctor of Oriental Learning." D.O.L. after my D.D. title will puzzle my friends to know what it means ! They will ask you to explain, so now you will be able to enlighten them. I tell him I hope I shall be worthier of it after my journey into Syria and pursuing my Arabic studies.' The bishop, although so deeply conscious of the need of an improved Christian vernacular literature, could find no time amid his pressing avocations to devote to it. Beyond the publication of charges and occasional sermons the period of his episcopate is nearly barren from the literary point of view. Something, however, he was able to accomplish in encouraging the efforts of others, and in revising such a work as Dr. Imad-ud-din's Commentary on St. John, and two important pieces of translation or revision work made great demands on his attention. The revision of the Hindustani Prayer-book was under- taken by the bishop, with a small committee, at the request of the metropolitan of India, and the S. P. C. K., when applied to for assistance, spent £2,000 upon it. During the THE HINDUSTANI PRAYER-BOOK summer of 1881 the bishop took a large house at Murree, where, with the help of Dr. Hooper, Mr. ShirreflF, Mr. Tara Chand, and Dr. Imad-ud-din, he resolutely spent six hours a day upon this work. Dr. Weitbrecht and other scholars, native and English, lay and clerical, were also consulted on points of difficulty. It was a memorable time of spiritual and intellectual converse and retreat for all concerned in it, and Mrs. Hooper provided admirably for the commissariat, but in point of business arrangement there was a good deal left to be desired. The points in dispute were settled by no formal voting, but by the bishop's own intense determina- tion, and so in many things he failed to carry his committee with him, and at least one of them declined to allow his name to appear unless the adoption of the new revision remained as optional in every congregation. 'The greatest disappointment of his later years,' saj's his successor, Bishop Matthew, ' was the unfavourable reception given to the Revised Urdu Prayer-book by the missionaries of the North- West Provinces and the Punjab. When some time after his resignation I begged him to revisit his old diocese, he repUed that the treatment his book had met with in the native church made it impossible for him to do so. Though I am no expert. I am afraid there can be little doubt that in this matter the public opinion of the Church was right, and the bishop mis- taken. Cei-tainly it was a matter of the deepest regret to many that they could not regard the book as suited for general use. The bishop had been assisted by a competent committee, but with his high ideas of episcopal authority, and very pronounced opinions as to style, the committee were assessors only, and their judge- ment again and again overruled by the bishop. His predilection for Ai-abic religious terms led to the introduction of a great number of words quite unintelligible to the simple people who form the staple of our congregations. There were also some important departures from the English original, the bishop deem- ing himself at liberty to go behind it to the Latin sources of the Prayer-book At the same time the book was a monument of ^ The Arabic Ab and Ibn were introduced for 'Father' and 'Son,' instead of the Hindustani 'Bap' and 'Beta.' The Latin phrases, 'candi- datus martyrum exercitus ' and ' cui servire regnare est,' were literally rendered ; and the collect for the fourth Sunday after Advent was made, as in the old form, an address to Christ. These and other changes 136 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH scholarly and erudite labour, which will not be thrown away, but wUl leave its mark on any version which may secure the acceptance of the Church.' This verdict of the present bishop is not only confixmed by members of the original company, both native and English, but received practical illustration during the year 1894. A fresh revision committee of eight, nominated by the Bishops of Lucknow and Lahore in equal numbers, has recently determined by a majority of five to two to take the bishop's version as the basis of their work, on the ground that ' in translation and idiom it is the more accurate.' At this meeting there were present Messrs. Hooper, Durrant, "Westcott, Xihal Singh, Lefroy, "Weitbrecht, and Tara Chand. It would have been most strange if^ after all the labour he had spent upon the language, the bishop's one chief effort should have proved entirely abortive. The promise may be yet fulfilled to him in this also — ' Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many days.' In 1885 he was again at work revising, this time the Old Testament and St. Lukes Gospel in Pushtu. He wrote from Kohat, May 16 : — ' We work seven hours a day. It is delightful to see Messrs. Mayers and Jukes' enthusiasm.' And he added in June of the same year : — •The Pushtu reminds me of what Luther said of the Gei-man, when he was translating the Old and New Testament, that it made him sweat blood to try and adapt the crabbed and barbarous language of the Teutons to the deep spii-itual truths of the Shemitic Scriptures.' This work was done under the auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and met with no misadventure. It remains to say a few words about the bishop as a mis- sionary statesman — his views upon the native Church, its like these, however in themselves to be desired, were entirely beyond the terms of the committee's commission as revisers. NATIVE CHURCH QUESTIONS future prospects, its internal discipline, the means of its extension. In his synodal address in 1885 he spoke at some length on the Church's future. He said that, considering the small salaries that were available for native clergy, and the consequently small proportion of the very ablest men who cared to enter holy orders, he looked for some great develope- ment of the old office of ' the prophet,' and believed that the efforts of the clergy would be largely supplemented by educated laymen, who would exercise ' projDhetic gifts' under the gentle supervision of the bishop. In answer to an appeal to him to solve the knotty problem of union with the Presbyterians and Episcopal Methodists, he said : — ' In judging of such great and serious matters I have little faith except in that Providence which "shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we may." It would be very rough-heAving, I apprehend, and m uch wasteful expenditure of thought and pajier to draw up a scheme or programme making overtures of compromise. . . . If it took a century for the early Christians to come to a settled, or at least uniform, understanding as to the expediency of three orders, so perhaps it may be in India, where it is a national characteristic (at least as regards modern India) to fret and chafe under too rigid a yoke of authority, and for whom it has an indescribable charm to leave the central nucleus of dogmatic truth so nebulous, that a wide margin is left for endless abstruse speculation, or, as it should be called, uncramped freedom of discussion. ' He then proceeded to point out that the true way to recommend episcopacy was not by a surrender of the Church's ancient heritage and apostolical succession, but by improved synodical action, a greater and more real rapprochement between the bishop and the presbyter, and due allowance to laymen of their right to speak, in all that more especially concerned them, in the councils of the Church. ' It does not need to invite either our Presbyterian brethren, or the Nonconformist bodies broken off from us, to come forward and state on what conditions they would form one Church with us and accept our episcopacy. Such an attempt to manipulate and con- struct concordats between the various bodies would, I fear, only 138 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH tend to multiply sores, instead of healing them. Besides, the Indian Chui-ch would be in danger of decatholicizing itself thus. It is from itself that it has power to divest itself of all that is imperious, tyrannical, and lordly, and to hold out a sisterly and motherly hand to those who think more influence should be allowed to the presbyter, who is also an elder, and that the con- gregation should have its claims allowed, and a recognized organ by which its utterances should be outspoken and have a hearing.' He looked to the appointment of native suffragan bishops as a means of farther developement, and as these increased, he looked for a gradual modification of the newest strata of Church services as distinct from the 'palaeomorphic strata' or earliest formularies. ' There is very much, ' he said, ' in our Articles so happily and wisely expressed, that I should be sorry to see them rejected as a whole, though I should not object to see them revised and modified where passing and shortlived phases of English Church parties gave a tinge of insular specialities to the formularies employed. ' He looked farther to the rise of some ecclesiastic Joseph in the future to solve, by the Holy Spirit's help, the hundred problems as to the constitution of the native synod, and its relations to the joint Native and European synod of each diocese. He trusted the Society committees would growingly see it to be 'their true wisdom and policy to exercise, if a controlling hand at all, at least a very gently and almost insensibly controlling hand, on the forming of the Church as an organic structure, leaving the diocesan framework, and the " divers orders appointed " in the Church, to follow out the Divine methods as indicated in Ephesians iv. 11-16.' 'As regards the future, I for one do trust,' he said, 'that the verdict jironounced may be one Chmx-li for India, one Church, not two ; a Church in which, on all national questions affecting most closely the Indian branch of the Aryan stock, the initiative may come from themselves. A divided Church (according to St. Paul) was a divided Christ. It is of mere party differences St. Paul thus speaks ; not of the Church sundering itself from those that are in heresy on vital points of doctrine.' LAY-BAPTISM. RE-MARRIAGE OF CONVERTS 139 Beside these broad views of the Church's future he had to deal with many questions of detail concerning baptism and marriage and Church discipline, and his judgement on these points may be of use to others. On the baptism of natives he wrote to the Eev. T. E. Wade :— Dasht, near Quettah, Oct. 20, 1885, I have no question at all about the reply to be given to the questions proposed by the lady missionaiies and yourself and brethren in case of baptism applied for by catechumens, or in behalf of infants in articulo mortis, when the sick are reduced to extremities, so near to death as that no one in Holy Orders could be expected to arrive in time to perform the ceremony. Were death not actually imminent the Church would certainly dis- courage lay baptism. In the case of catechumens who had shrunk from open confession through want of courage, sudden baptism at the last moment under terror of approaching death should also be discouraged, except some two or three could be gathered from the circle of heathen or Mohammedan friends, so that that important feature of baptism ('If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus') should not be wanting to complete the full significance and essential groundwork of the ordinance. Even the Eoman Catholic Church fully recognizes the validity of lay baptism at the last moment, when life is near to be extinct. In the case of the woman in purdah, I think that notice should be given to the husband (if living and at hand), not necessarily to any other person, not even child or parent : if the husband forcibly prevent, or peremptorily forbid, the lady would be authorized to say, ' You may hold yourself for baptized, count yourself for such, the tvJtole essence of the act as regards confession and openly expressed desire and sur- render of the soul being perfected, ratified in heaven, we cannot doubt,' In a paper on the law of Christ and His Church and the law of the State in the matter of the re-marriage of a con- vert deserted or cast off by a heathen wife or husband, after quoting the opinions of Augustine, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Thomas Aquinas, the bishop summed up his conclusions thus : — *0n the whole, the result of the reasonings and authorities above quoted, embodying the opinions held in various Churches and in different ages, is favourable to re-marriage on the part of 140 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH those deserted by heathen partners : though this re-marriage is clearly regarded as allowable, rather than expedient, as to be tolerated for compassion's sake to human frailty, rather than commended. In the case of converts in India this view derives additional force from the exceptionally strict views prevalent in this countiy on the necessity of the married life, and the dis- honour and suspicion attaching to the unmarried. Whilst, therefore, I should count them worthy of special honour who are bold and self-controlled enough to act on the Church's higher and more perfect rule, and should count it better for them to con- tinue unmarried, yet I would not hesitate to say that they do well, or, to say the least, are not to be blamed in any way, who accept the freedom which the judgement of the Church of Christ allows them, and which the law of the land sanctions ; and on the wholesome conditions imposed by the latter, enter again on the state of marriage.' Then follows a brief resume of Indian law on the subject, from which it appears that a wife or husband deserted on grounds of religion may, after six months of desertion, apply for a restitution of rights, and within a year of the application, all the required formalities having been com- plied with, and the husband or wife petitioned against still refusing to cohabit, the application for civil dissolution of marriage may be granted As regards the Hindu custom of child marriages, the bishop dissuaded the missionaries from taking part in any agitation for a legislative prohibition. He held that so great and ancient a national institution should be left, like slavery in early Christian days, to fall self-condemned by the growing prevalence of Christian ideas, doctrines, and course of practice. He thought that exceptional cases of especial hardship, the unhealthy excrescences, might be met by ex- ceptional legislation without eradicating the whole system. Nor was he fully persuaded that our own plan, by which so large a proportion of women are left unmarried, had any such great advantage over the domestic customs of the Hindus, as to entitle us to overturn their system by imposed authority. ' Take which procedure you will (Hindu, ' This law applies to the Hindus, not to Mohamniedaus. POLYGAMY AND BAPTISM . I4I English, French, or German), some hard and exaggerated cases of wrong must occur in exceptional instances.' In 1887 the question of polygamy in native Churches was very much discussed. The bishop wrote upon the subject to the Guardian, maintaining that, in the case of Mohammedans at least, the refusal to break free from ties formed in good conscience, according to their prophet's law, before conver- sion, should not be held as any fatal barrier to baptism. 'The letter,' the bishop said to Mrs. French, Sept. 30, 1887, 'occupies a column and a half, and is headed in large and formidable letters, "The Bishop of Lahore on Polygamy." As there is a good deal of Latin in it quoted, my Clifton friends will gaze at it in wonder. However, the archdeacon's approval will satisfy you it is all right. ' Dr. Bright, his old schoolfellow, who had before borne part in the discussion, replied in an admirable letter, establishing the point that the patristic quotations did not refer in any way to cases of polygamy, but to successive marriages, which in the early Church were held to be a bar to holy orders, and that the principle culpa enim lavacro no7i lex solvitUr was applied to preclude the ordination of one who had been married a first time before baptism, which some held as admissible. Still, the broad question of first principles was left very much where it was, and the bishop wrote to the archdeacon, October 11, 1887 : — 'Dr. Bright's reply is extremely ingenious, yet I still think the principle holds good in the case of all alliances legallv valid at the time they were entered into — "The baptism remits the fault, but confirms the rite of marriage " — though the sacramental seal of holy orders would lose its due honour and special pre- rogative'. To say as much as that it seems scarcely worth while obtruding oneself into the Guardian's correspondence sheets, though I believe I have represented St. Augustine's real meaning, and the line he lays down correctly.' Amongst other steps for the good of the native Christians, the bishop put forth special forms for the admission of ^ That is, if a polygamist were admitted to be ordained. 142 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH catechumens and reception of lapsed converts. He thus described to the archdeacon an act of discipline at Batala, October, 1887 :— 'I had to pronounce a sentence of f-xcommunication publicly and formally at the Batala morning service yestciday. in the case of an apostate moollah. who scornfully and defiantly has crucified the Son of God afresh. I had the church book brought up to the Holy Table, and erased his name from the list. For this purpose I have requested that church lists may l)e kept. The excision of the name solemnly symbolizes the real character of the transaction.' For the extension of the Church the bishop's great hope under God was in the sudden appearance of some educated native leaders of apostolic capabilities. 'As late as May, 1887, he wrote to me,' saj's Bishop Bicker- steth, ' "I wish I may be spared yet for two or three years to search about for native apostles in embryo, whom a word spoken for Christ might stimulate and inspire to go forth full of power from the Spirit of the Lord to awaken slumbering consciences, and lodge the arrows of the King in the hearts of His enemies." 'Taking into consideration the tendency of Eastern people to follow great leaders in the mass, lie held that one truly apostoUc man, if God gave such to the native Church, would be able to do more for the kingdom of God than a large number of ordinary mission agents.' The same feeling appears in the following letter to Mr. Bateman, called forth by a proposal to introduce the Church Army to his diocese :— Lahore, Aur/. 22, 1886. Much of the plan projiosed by the Church Army for India would he after my heart. I have grave questionings, however, as to whether English working men could do the work effectively. Exjioriciice tends to f^how that they soon become dissatisfied liiic, il (licssed and treated as gentlemen: then come wives and laiuilics, and a burden we are all too poor, and our funds too exhausted, to meet. Nor do I think that we want local secre- taries. These organisms within oj'ganisms sooner or later come to grief Ijy clashing and colliding hopelessly. I do not see why men like Lewis and yourself, both itineratory and willing to be out and-out fakirs, could not take a real direction (something after the manner I so audaciously proposed for the societies at Beading Congress) of natives like T. and N. and others who CHURCH ARMY. READING CONGRESS I43 would soon spring up to be like them, or better even. In Church matters you are loyal and kind enough to consult with your bishop, who possibly might join the Church Army {cntre nous) himself some day. This is a profound secret, please ! . . . The Belooch work and Kangi-a valley work would make a good centre to start with. I should rather like to keep the Jholum and adjacent parts of the Indus in hopes of some day tracing my dear old friend Gordon's work out there. But that may be only u very thin and almost colourless air-castle. You vuiderstand me right in feeling that what I craved and would fain wrestle for is a band, ever so small, of apostles and prophets. When they come, what are mere numbers and pro- portions '? one teacher to a million, &c. ? and all those beautiful missionary mathematics which puzzle the brain, and vex the heart, and keep the Church's eye off the vital point of missionaiy effort — as, alas, they have too often kept mine? But one would gladly let one's own failures and misdemeanours be the warning (ibrat) of others. If only they might tread one under and walk over one's corjise into the citadel, which as yet no forlorn hope has ever entered, though it seems gathering about Amritsar ! His most important statement on missionaiy methods was given at the Reading Congress in 1883. As this is easily accessible to students of the subject, it is needless to do more than indicate the line adopted in it. 'In ages to come,' he inquired, 'what judgement is the Church likely to pass upon our missionary agencies ? . . . I have a sorrowful conviction that the Church of the future will, in some important respects at least, profit rather from being warned by our mistakes than helped by the record of our wisdom, courage, abilities, and patient constancy and perseverance. ... I should say that it is our attempt to invent fresh models and courses of action, instead of throwing ourselves with ventures of unfaltering faith into old missionary pathways, which must largely be credited with our failui-es and limited successes in the East. . . . The charge, if verified, falls not so much on the societies, or missionary orders, or on the Church whose handmaids they are, as on ourselves who reijresent them, and if nobody else is moved to contrition, I believe we ought to be. I hope we are. and that before this distinguished body of the clergy and laity of our Church.' After describing the multifarious duties that sank the apostolate into a routine of commonplace labours, he ap- pealed for communities to work in poverty and purity, and for communities of women also, led, if it might be, 144 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH as in olden days, by some great lady of blood royal ; he pleaded for more decentralization ; greater authority to be allowed to veterans upon the several fields in consultation with their bishops ; while the societies threw all their strength more into the home work of raising funds and circulating information. 'I would yet pray you, brethren and fathers in Christ,' he concluded, 'to plead for a larger apostolate in the mission-fi^ld. Truer, I trust, we need not ask, but larger we do need of labourers approving their apostolicity in love, purity, power, poverty, and devotedness. ... Be it ours on our knees, in our closets, and in the presence and with the co-operation of our flocks, to weigh seriously the heavy responsibility attaching to us as a branch of the Catholic Church of Christ, built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, having a great deposit handed down to us from the days of St. Aidan, St. Boniface, St. Anschar, and others, a debt for whose faithful discharge we are accountable to the Church of God, and to the Church's great Head and High Priest, the King and Saviour of men.' This paper was unwelcome to some of the younger mis- sionaries in particular, who were not quite prepared for such a public act of self-humiliation. In writing to remove misapprehensions of his true meaning by one of these, the bishop, after sundry explanations, added : — 'I have simply, as God enabled me, and with much prayer, stated the results of my experience and my convictions. Wherein my brethren disagree with them (and I am sorely disappointed to find others, and yourself among them, do to so great an extent\ I must be content to make my appeal to the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls. In all that I have said I have felt sorely self-accused, and if none else is guilty, I am sure I am. I can hope but for a few more years to serve in the missionary ministry in any form, and I cannot be sorry to have spoken my heart out under a constraint which pressed sore on me, and wliich the society at home has taken most kindl}r. A few years more will reveal the truth about these matters beyond what will be admitted and confessed now. ' The loss of your boy must h.nve been sorely afflictive, and I grieve that my words should have tried you at such a time, when you must have needed refreshment and comfort. Having spoken once so plainly, and, as some think, unkindly and harshly. I am silent henceforth. '"The Judge standeth before the door." To-morrow I enter on the seventh year of my episcopate ; may our last works be far better, and more than the first. ' BOARDS OF MISSIONS The last subject connected with the native Christians on which the bishop's views need be recorded is one now rather coming to the front again, ' the Church's Boards of Missions.' Archbishop Benson, in a kind autograph letter, jiarticularly invited French's presence and counsel on this matter for the Lambeth Conference of 1888, and in conse- quence of this appeal he wrote his views somewhat fully, both to the late General Maclagan (then secretary of the Canterbury Board), and to his younger friend, Bishop Bickersteth. His letter to the latter may be given : — Bussorah, Jan. 26, 1888. I can conceive the Board (or rather the Church's Council of Missions, as I would prefer to find it called) becoming the centre of all our Universities' Missions, Oxford and Cambridge Missions, &c.. and any such as may be founded on the same or like footing, it being understood that this Council, being composed of some bishops of our Home Church, with a few such divines as Canons Liddon, Westcott, and Bright, should be ultimately charged with issuing the Church's commission to the men sent forth in con- nexion with the University movements. The same Council would, in the next pbxce, if it could be so arranged, act as the representative of the Church in its corpoi'ate action in the ultimate separation and sending forth of the nominees of our great Church Societies, so that the dismissal, if still thought necessary, fronr the Committee-rooms at Salisbury Square and Delahay Street, would be followed by a still more solenm and direct setting apart in the Church's behalf of those called to do the work of evangelists in its missionaiy fields. I have reason to believe that not a few of our young missionaries would hail thankfully such a forward step in the direction of crowning and cnniirniing, and as far as possible perfecting, the Socictii s" npt r.itii>iis and selection of agents by such a final act of fniiii;il i (iiimm ration, which could hardly fail by God's blessing to contribute largely to the solemnity and dignity of the commission as derived from men entrusted by the entire body of the Church to administer this great office on its behalf. Further, if, as seems most likely, the necessities of the work and of the Christian Churches wii\\ which the Anglican Church is called to deal in God's providence, should far outstrip the means of the great Societies and the various University Missions, would not the Church's Mission Council be the pioper bodj', and in the ))est position, to make known the needs as yet unsupplied, and to summon to the help of the Lord those individuals or Christian communities whose abundance bore some proportion to the dimensions of the work to be done? It is possible that not VOL. II. L 146 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH a few who resist the importunate pleadings of the agents of our Societies, might feel ashamed or reluctant to resist the united call and authoritative appeal of the Church, their mother. Proba].)ly such an appeal might call forth a considerable increase of voluntary, unpaid labours so as to realize as nearly as possible the Archbishop's desire and pledged assurance that the Board or Council should not involve any additional and separate money outlay, or appeals for resources. This would be likely to bring about a closer interaction and fellowship between the home and foreign episcopate. To many, however, it would aj^j^ear little short of a revolution in our missionary procedure, which has struck its roots so deeply into our methods of Church work in the missionaiy field. Such a movement therefore would require to be presented to the English public with great discretion and caution. It need not interfere (so far as I can see) with the Societies' present mode of action. They would still present nominees having their views in harmony with the views they inherit from their founders and successive promoters. It is probable the line suggested in this letter is one which presents itself independently to many minds, and breathes the longing of many hearts already. If it is of the Spirit of order and unity, and tends both to the peace of the Church and to the better fulfilment of its high and holy mission, it will be brought about without a struggle. CHAPTER XXI. HOME LIFE AND COERESPONDENCE. 1877-1887. 'The letters of the noble dead Are leaves that never lose their green.' ' He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and foUoweth after Me, is not worthy of Me.'— 5. Matthew x. 37, 38. The account of this LahT)re episcopate could not be deemed complete without some extracts from the bishop's letters revealing something of his life in his own home and of the circumstances of his resignation. His father's death, and the marriage of his eldest daughter Ellen in 1878 and of his second daughter Lydia in 1881, have been already mentioned. The family event that left the deepest impress on his life was the long suffering from some spinal ailment of his youngest daughter Edith, which terminated in her death in 1885. It was this principally that led Mrs. French to return to England early in 1881, after the bishop's second synod, and to remain there till his last synod in 1885. Many letters to many friends of various degrees of rank and intimacy, expressing sympathy in varied trials, have come before the eyes of the biographer ; but probably the bishop's ministry of consolation nowhere appears in such rich tender- ness and fullness as in his correspondence with his much- loved child. At the time of the first letter quoted she was only thirteen years of age. L 2 148 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To Edith. (A Military Service and Musical Maina.) Meean Meer, Ajyril 28, 1878. My very dear little Edith, Your letter gladdened niy heart ; it was so full of your own dear natural self. How I long to look at your smiling face again, and have my Bible carried to a sideboard by a precious child. When will that be again ? Perhaps in India some day. ... I preached this morning to a large churchful of soldiers, some in white coats, and the Artillery in dark blue. Some come with their swords on, and they make such a clang and clatter when they touch the stony ground. There was a large bird, a sort of maina, larger than a starling, who came to church this morning and would not go : it came and perched on the top of the lectern, and when the choir began to sing and the organ to play it whistled and chirped with all its might. I am sorry to say the little choir-boys nearly all laughed. I hope Wilfrid and you would not have done so ! Tlie chaplain tried to catch it, and an officer tried to frighten it with his sword scabbard, but it was all no use. I forgot all about it when I began to preach on Hos. vi. I, 2, 3, 'Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal.' &c. The poor soldiers have nearly two-, thirds of them been sick with bad»fever lately, which they brought with them from Jhansi, their former station. I told them that this was the tearing and smiting which came from God to them, and that He who tore could heal, and I hoped they too would saj'', ' Come, and let us return unto the Lord. After two days He will revive us.' I told them I thought it was appropriate for me to preach to them on that the first time I came among them as bishop. This made them all look up and behave very attentively. . . . I found two lines in an Afghan poet lately — ' God has made by His own power one city great, another small, not that every town Ijecomes Delhi or Lahore.' So you see my little diocese has what the poet thought the two chief cities in the world ! The other bishops would have something to say to that, I think. Even Mr. Robert Clark thinks I have been very greedy in getting so many hill stations in my diocese — Simla, Murree, Dalhousie, Dliarmsala, &c., but what could I do ? I never asked for them, I am sure. But I think all my dear eight sons and daughters might be at a separate hill station, and the list not quite ex- hausted. All this is a very small matter indeed if only our dear Saviour might have some more churches and congregations for His own, and come and set up His throne in the Punjab ; then fine cities and hill stations would dwindle into nothing in our eyes, I hope. Your veiy loving papa. Thos. V. Lahore. EASTER-GREETIXG. FIRST GRANDCHILD I49 To Cyril. Easter Day, April 13, 1879. 'o Ki'pt.jf eyrjyfprnt. I must greet you to-day with the old Easter Day salutation, for I must not doubt that to you, as to me, it has been a day of joy and refreshment, animating you in your pulpit and other ministrations with new power, energy, and success, I trust. It is always a great happiness to me to think of you as associated with me in the work of a shepherd and ambassador of souls. May your testimony be prolonged long after mine has been silenced by encroachment of age, decay, and death, and may your crown of rejoicing be far more richly and fully bejewelled than my own. I was glancing at an interesting, rather free-thinking little book, unhappily, on the ' Conservation of Energy,' as regards the mechanical forces and working energies of the great powers of nature, inquiring how far we may look for those forces to go on working for indefinite ages, and how far we must anticipate their exhaustion. It struck me it would be interesting to compare these with the great divine supernatural foi-ces which the Bible so much dwells upon, especially St. Paul, in whose mouth efipytta and Si3)/(i;/if so often occur ; so I have worked it up into as simple a sermon as I could for this Easter evening on Eph. i. 19, 20 — the effectual force and energetic working in believers of the Kesurrection power by which Christ our Lord was raised. Of course I have subordinated the metaphysical and scientific part of the subject to the spiritual and practical. This morning I dwelt (in Hindustani), before a wonderful congregation of native Christians (some 200, of whom 75 were confirmed yesterday, and over 160 were present at the Lord's table this morning), on the destruction of Pharaoh's host in the Eed Sea as the appropriate type of the open tomb of the Lord Jesus, round about which are strewn the corpses of the forgiven, obliterated, and subdued sins of His people, as set foi'th in Micah vu. so strikingly, not forgetting Kev. xv. You may be able to work out the thought more carefully some future Easter. To Mrs. Knox. (On the Bishop's first grandchild.) Lahore, April 28, 1879. It seems as if I must write one line of hearty and affectionate congratulation and thanksgiving, dearest Ellen, before I write any- thing else to anybody, after receiving your dear husband's tele- gram, which it was very good and considerate of him indeed to send. How strange it seems that the good news should reach us the same day between four and five o'clock. Yourself and the precious gift bestowed on you will be much on my heart in prayerful remembrance and sympathy, for I know how full the LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH ovex-flow of joy is with which one welcomes the expected first- born. ... I cannot at all realize as yet that I am a grandfather : when I do I shall begin to feel how old I am getting. I wish my beloved father could have been spared that little while to be a great-grandparent. I must not add more to-day than the prayer that He will turn His hand on the little one in the sense of guidance and guardianship as well as blessing. To Cyril. (On his entering Priest's Orders.) Lahore, May 21, 1879. In the midst of visitation journeyings (I am only in here for half a day) I find it difficult to collect my thoughts to write to you in connexion with such a deeply interesting occasion as your admission to Priest's Orders ; yet I like you to know that these events of your spiritual history do not pass by unnoticed and unremembered. . . . Your work seems to grow upon your hands a little faster than is profitable, as I find it in my own exjierience, and I felt rebuked by what 1 saw in the Gniardian mentioned of the new Bishop of Lichfield \ that he refuses many invitations to jjreach on the ground that he must secure time for devotional exercises — in the way of 'quiet days,' I suppose, and such special secessions from the crowd and press of extraordinary, added to ordinary, calls. Alas ! I gi'oan heavily sometimes under the same inevitable pressure, and my quietest days for reflection and meditation are those spent in the railway or the wayside inn in the hot weather, when to travel between ten and three is almost perilous ; but even then arrears of correspondence sometimes rear their threaten- ing piles before my face, and will only be reduced in dimensions by patient steady effort. To-morrow is Ascension Day, and I have been trying to medi- tate on its great and glorious themes in their practical as well as doctrinal and historical bearings, for without the former one is distressed to see how the two latter are listened to callously and heedlessly — as very projier indeed, but not in the least rufiling the calm and evenness of men's worldly life. ... I feel convinced that I want more depth, holiness, and unction of love in my ministra- tions, and that till my character itself grows in these, the results of the ministry will be feeble, and the profiting will not aj^pear. I was struck by a remark of Tauler's this morning — it helped me a little ; speaking of the Apostles, he saj^s, ' The Eternal Father drew them upwards that He might reign as a Master in them. Hence it was needful that they should be drawn out of them- selves, because they could not be free, at one, noble, and loving, so long as they were held captive to self. Their nature was not Dr. Maclagai WELL-DOING. NEWMAN's SERMONS 151 extinguished, for they were much more truly according to their nature in their self-surrender, than they had ever been before.' It is a great temptation to me to try and do one's best always, for though this seems all right, yet one's best is one's own best, and I want to have the calm self-possession which makes all one's eft'orts rest in God, not extinguishing effort, but calming it by con- secrating it. It is a great fear of the world and courting of its praise to be always toiling and moiling to avoid being thought idle, and so not being, or too seldom being with Christ in His mount of wrestling and prayer. To Mrs. Sheldon. (On his Churchmanship.) Dalhousie, July 18, 1879. I fear you think me too High Church in my views, but the bitterness of the attacks on our Church here are such, and its discipline and good order have sunk so low, that I feel bound to carry out and act upon my strong views as to the Prayer-book being the thorough and only wholesome representative of primi- tive catholic truth and order. If we abnegate our discipline and priestly functions (up to the point our prayei--book and reformers inherited and laid claim to them), what remains but that Rome should step in and snatch triumphantly the spoil '? However, say or do what I will, I always go down for a Low Churchman. People do not care about ritual, but they do resent being preached to about conversion, and being told that all are not Israel that are of Israel, and that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. All that Canon makes evangelicalism to consist of they will listen to with indifferency, and sleep it out — Justification — Imputation — what care they about such things ? But to be waked up, when they want to sleep ; to be told they must have oil as well as the lamp, is intolerable, and to be resisted. The world's notion of well-doing is faulty and defective : it is well-doing with the cross borne — and such well-doing as Christ's was, which will always involve the cross — to which we are called. To Cyril. (On Newman's Sermons.) Dharmsala, Juli/ 25, 1879. A case deeply interested me to-day of a very thoughtful lady who has been a professed unbeliever with her husband, but seems under very serious concern about her soul, and told me to-day the light was now dawning upon her. A volume of Newman's Ser- mons I lent her has helped her greatly, which will surprise you. The fact is, the extreme solemnity and reverential spirit for sacred things, and the close analysis of the heart and its workings, with manifest sympathy for persons under difficulties, with a consider- able amount interspersed of direct dogmatic teaching, combined LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH under God to render the book appropriate to her case, as I judged also it would be. Such cases are a marvellous help and encourage- ment amidst many fears and doubts apt to arise whether one's work is prospered of God. To Mrs. Kxox. yov. 1879. I am so enjoying Godet on St. John. It is delicious French, but the matter is of the finest of the wheat and honey of our Canaan. To Basil. (On entering at Cambridge.) Peshawur, Oct. 8, 1880. This letter will find you, I trust, entered, and already beginning to feel settled down in your long-anti( ipateil University life, and well pleased with the circle and society iu ^^ liicli j'our lot is cast, and which, I hope, will be very profitable to you, and reap much profit from you, as it always must do from every consistent and persevei-ing Christian example. I could wish to have been able to go up with j-ou as I did with dear Cyril, and see you in your first college room, with its modest furniture and plain substantial look of comfort. ... I need say little to you about the choice of friends, for you have tried at school, I believe, to be careful in your companionships. I went up to Oxford with little seriousness. I am sorry to say, and was much helped by the friends I was led to select, or rather was thrown amongst, by Bishop Waldegrave. Mr. Golightly, and others. I was thus saved, not so much from a wild and dissolute, as from a worldly course of life, although the latter pretty often comes by a gradual descent to the low level of the former. It was great grace that kept me, and I pray God that the same sheltering and shielding grace may uphold you, and set your feet on the Kock of your Saviour's strength, who is able to keep you from falling, so that the victoiy which overcometh the world may ever be your portion. May your princii>le in the selection of friends be that simple and beautiful one of St. John, ' Whom I love in the Truth for the Truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be in us for ever.' . . . You will be able to study Ely Cathedral some day. I often wish I had nijKle church archi- tecture more my study : it would have helped me much now. Cambridge has much more material for the study of architecture (I imagine) than Oxford — in its churches at least. You will not forget how many men foolishly throw their first year away in the idea that they can make up lost ground hei-eafter. The first year spent in laying a solid foundation makes a man distance many a competitor at the close of the race. . . . Still, there is nothing like working to glorify God and to please Christ, and in remembrance of the great account. PARTING AT BOMBAY, 1881 To Edith. Autumn, 1880 (undated). I must just begin an answer to your letter and try to finish it for next mail : a half sugar-plum is better than none. I was telling the soldiers this morning about Genei-al Garfield, how he came back from his canal-boat life to his mother's hut somewhere in the backwoods, and coming to the hut at night he saw a light and looked in at a window and saw his mother reading her Bible, and she looked vip from her Bible to heaven, and he heard these words coming from her lips, ' Give Thy strength to Thy servant, and save the son of Thine handmaid.' Upon which he went in, and standing by his mother's side vowed himself to God from that time forward. You have not given me a text lately : I shall be so glad to have another one that has helped and strengthened you. I dwelt to-day for the natives on those words, ' Why cannot I follow Thee noiv?' It seems to me such a heart-searching question. I stayed the other day at General Palliser's, . . . who led on the cavalry against the Afghans at the battle of Ahmed Kheyl. I saw him at nearly all the prayer-meetings at Candahar. He seemed pleased that I spoke with praise and thankfulness of Wesley's hymns on seeking after growth in holiness and more perfectness in the life and love of God. I think he was surprised that a bishop should praise Wesley. He was formerly a great tiger hunter. He told me that he had helped to kill about eighty tigers, but he had given all the skins away. ... I am so glad you get your two hours of work daily : it must make the day pass so much more pleasantly. I begin to long so to see you again. Time seems to go very slowly on. I pray God to give you health and strength, and, if it be His will, that your lips may speak His praise, and your life be a speechful image too. I wish you knew good Miss Elliott of Hastings — always an invalid, yet always in quiet simple ways glorifying Jesus. I read a sweet little book in prose by Miss Havei-gal last week called Boyal Gifts and Loyal Services, or nearly that title. There was one striking little chapter on David's rejoicing at the willing offering of the people for the temple. Now no more. Much love to dear A., and a bishop's blessing to her schoolboys. In February, 1881, the bishop took Mrs. French to Bom- bay, and whilst she sailed in one steamer for England, he left in another for Karachi. On February 8 he wrote to her from The Calcutta : — * We expect to arrive in port to-day . . . and I must begin a few lines were it only to express the many loving thankful thoughts and regrets with which I think of the happy past, and all the 154 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH thousand helps you have given me the last two and a half years. It will be long before I shall realize that on returning I shall return to an empty home. ... It will be some little recompense to you to feel how tenderly all is appreciated and remembered. It will be a great comfort to me to hear of your safe arrival, and happy meeting with the dear children, to whom (in the case of the sick ones) your presence and mother's symjiathy w-ill be almost more than one hundred medicines. ... It is my delight to commend you and ours earnestly to Israel's never-slumbering Shepherd and Keeper. To Edith. Lahore, March 15, 188 [. Here I am, dearest child, just one day in the empty and solitary house, except that I have asked Jesus to stay with me. and help and comfort me, and I believe He will. I loved your comforting letter of yesterday veiy much about Deut. xxxii. It is a rery favourite chapter of mine too — and what do you think ? just after reading it I had to go and examine Mr. Clark's Alexandra School of nearly fifty girls of the more well-to-do classes of Christians, and I read them out part of your letter to me, and you should have seen how they brightened up and smiled. The letter seemed to have come just in time. I told them of your con- firmation, and that I believed you had given your heart then to the Lord wholly, and had been very happy in Him since and trying to work for Him. Ten of them were confirmed last Sunday, so it seemed appropriate to tell them this, and you know and believe that it is all of grace, only grace, as is said in the text on which I spoke first last Thursday at the opening of a native Christian church at Allahabad, ' They shall bring forth the top- stone with shoutings of grace,' i. e. it is all grace J'roni first to last ; and then another, ' I will bring them to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer,' — not only bring them there, but make them joyful when there. On this also I spoke at Sukkur on the Indus in consecrating the church there : it stands on a lime rock overlooking the great king river, and shows that Christ is a greater king than even he ! On Sunday I contirmed over forty Christian young men and women. I spoke of learning from the Cross the spirit of Sacrifice, and the spirit of Service ; and gaining from the Cross, Pardon, Peace, Powek. This evening, I hope to address a party of Hindu and Mohammedan youths on ancient aud modern education, wherein they agree and also differ, especially what Christ and the Gospel have done for education, that He is the Head-Master of all our schools — one is your Master, even Christ ; and I hope to ask them whether they have ever asked Him to teach them, to be their Master of all truth, and that He will teach them all their life long, and for ever. EDITH CONFIRMED. LEAVES SCHOOL 155 I have been looking at my old master Dr. Arnold's letters, and his remarks on education. One letter (82) is very striking abont studying Christ's sufferings when we are sick, and another about the Unitarians, of whom he says that they seem to think and speak of Christ as if He were dead instead of living, so they cannot do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. If your young friends have A-ery rich friends, any of them, perhaps you will show them the enclosed circular, which I dis- tribute everywhere, but almost in vain. You can say I intend to build a strong large parish church : by-and-by my successor can add steeples to it, and make it a cathedral. I am longing to hear of dear mama's and L. and A.'s safe arrival. I have only heard from Suez. To Edith. Eastei- Day, Rawul Pindi, April 17, 1881. ... I feel so, so soriy that you have done with Mrs. Um- phelby and her bright circle of old friends, though to be with your dear mother will more than make rich amends in many ways. I do so long to come in and have a look at you, and be comforted in my cares and sorrows in seeing your bright smiles, in spite of pain and weakness. If it be God's will, may you hn spared to welcome me back again, but God does not seem to give me leave at present to turn my back on India. ... In dwelling this evening on * the body is for the Lord,' I am thinking of you, dearest child, and remembering how God uses often sickness, pain, and suffering of body, as means of growth and fresh health and life to the soul, which is very wonderful and all of His (/race. How often invalids seem brimful of love, and peace, and un- murmuring rest in God's will, and seem to delight in quiet work and prayer for the Kingdom of Christ, and have much of that wisdom St. James talks of, first pure, then peaceable. ... It is a sight to see the churches in Peshawur and Eawul Pindi, the number of soldiers and officers. In this place there has been almost every officer at the Holy Communion to-day at the two morning services. I dwelt on Jesus Christ as ' the Beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have pre- eminence.' . . . My heart rejoiced in delivering this blessed message. I am sure an archangel might well envy me, if they could envy in heaven. I showed how all our beginnings of good and of resisting evil were embraced in Christ as ' the Beginning,' and how all was from the victory of His cross and the power of His resurrection. ... I know you will pray that Jesus will be the Omega as well as the Alpha, and will finish in many many hearts the good thing He has begun. ' He ivill perfect, He will perfect,' said a dying bishop once. The next two or three extracts conceru some of the lesser 156 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH worries of his work, part of the daily burden of the care of all the Churches. To Mrs. French. (Small Troubles at Kasauli and elsewhere.) Maij 5, 1881. It is hard work for a bishop to try to throw oil on such boil- ing yeasty waves, but I pray God it may be given rae. ' Love is of God,' as I told them yesterday, and I can't give it them. The points of discussion were some quite frivolous and silly ; but many molehills make a big mountain, as it seems, or, as St. James puts it — How great a fuel a little fire kindleth ! Then I have had to soothe the N. people, who are indignant, chaplain and all, because I wrote in the Eecord-book, speaking of the Sunday there, ' The day was not satisfactory, I fear, viewed in the light of eternity,' refei-ring to the few communicants and small collection. I tell them the censure was chiefly on myself for preaching so ineffectively, but they can't take this in. To Mrs. French. (Newspaper Controversialists.) July ID, 1881, from Murree. I have sent a letter to the Jiccord in reply to Mr. P.'s, but it is the last of the kind I mean to send. I think my friends generally seemed to think I should take notice of it. writes to me a very distressing letter of expostulation about the Sisterhood. I must send him a few lines. ... It is a comfort to answer attacks at once, then one forgets them. Poor fellow, he and I both seek God's glory, I trust ; . . . from their comfortable retreats it is easy for them to launch their missiles at us in these trying and often suffering places of the field. On the same subject he wrote also to Cyi'il : — ' It has a little vexed me to be so misrepresented. . . . My great struggle is to keep Eitualism from raising its head and triumphing, while I wish to use whatever is good and holy and self-denying in it. That is in my judgement not cowardice or compromise, but rather manly wisdom and economizing all available forces for resisting evil and error. ' To Dr. Valpy French. July 13, 1881. You have struck an important blow at a social vice and corruption in attacking the ' toasting system.' It has long been a distress and source of shame to me, though in India the dimensions of the evil have shrunk very materially. The regimental messes have steadily improved. During a mess at SMALL WORRIES. FEELING AND FAITH 157 Anibala three or four weeks since, the colonel said to me that it was marvellous to him to see the change in messes since he first entered the service. After dinner the door was locked, and not an officer could leave till they were under the table, or all but there All honour to the men (yourself among the rest^ who have stood in the breach before God to turn away His wrathful indig- nation. I have never had such a year for temijerance addresses as this year, though mine of course are vastly inferior to your elaborate, highly-seasoned, and eloquent addresses. The Record has been attacking me, or rather has ; but I have sent a simple statement in reply, which I hope will satisfy moderate men. Violent partisanship I cannot hope to make way with. I go in very much for the insides rather than the outsider, and. so long as the former are not put into the background and sindln/rcd tip in the form, I am scarcely conscious oi party gestures and ritual. I am feeling rather worn just now, having six hours daily at the Eevision Committee of the Hindustani Prayer book. To-day we have been at the Athanasian Creed, and it has been .severe thought, needing as it did considerable alteration. We .shall have a smaller circle to criticize us than the English com- mittees have had ! Six weeks of pastoral Avork in several large cantonments were in some ways a refreshing change. But for the variety of work I could scarcely hope to be as well as I am. To Edith. Murree, July 20, i88i. I hope the many exciting visits you receive from vaiious relatives and friends will not be too much for you. I like that little text, 'Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,' as if it said, ' Have a little quiet, calm sanctuary and retreat in the depths of your heart to which you can retire, and be quite calm and peaceful, alone with God.' Feeling is of much less matter in our religion, but in eveiy little duty and relation to he faifhfid us to Christ, and to keep self well on the Cross, fast-nailed, bleeding, lialf-Aend at least (whole dead perhaps he never will be on this side the grave), going to Him afresh daily for cleansing, teaching, guiding — these things seem to have much to do with testing the reality, depth, and growth of our piety. . . . I am much afraid the club at Lahore is trying to buy Bishop- stowe and make it Clubstowe instead ! I don't think that will be a prettier name, do you ? But they are jealous of the nice lawn and trees, though they are not in English trim and style ; no oaks or elms— we have to be satisfied with farrashes and sirruses, poor coarse trees, but yet green when it rains, which is not very often — not even limes and poplars. But as St. Paul does not say a bishop must have either lawn-sleeves or garden-lawns, I suppose LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH I must be content if the house is bought over my head ; however. I have written to Sir E. Egerton to see if the Government will buy it for the Lahore bishops. The Eomish bishop is trying to vie with me and get the better of me in schools and churches, and in some ways gets the Ijetter of me, for he has more money ; but I hope the great Bishop of souls will be on my side and I on His, and then there will be no fear. Forgive your father being a little playful, for with so many grave things to think of a little bit of fun is a relief. Though brightened by liis daughter Lydia's wedding, the year closed in with much anxiety through the almost fatal sickness of Archdeacon Matthew, and the more serious turn of Edith's chronic weakness. To HIS Niece and God-daughter. (On her Confirmation.) Phillour, Punjab, Oct. 14, 1881. I should like to have had a quieter time, so as to think more what sort of gifts you would wish me to ask for you of our Heavenl}' Father. But in your quiet village-home how little you can tell yourself what kind of life is before you, and in what form and shape the world will try to attract you and claim your love. One thing St. John seems very clear about, that whatever steals the heart away from the love of the Father, that is the world to each of us. I had a number of young people here to-day, and was ti-ying to get them to ask each of their Saviour (as St. Peter once did), 'Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now?' What is it keeps me back from being fully, wholly Thine in singleness of heart, having ' The simple heart without alloy That only longs to be like Thee ' ? This is like David asking God to search him and see if there was any evil way in him, and to lead him in the way everlasting. This shows what a true, honest purpose he had — no concealment — which I trust and believe is what you long for too, my dearest niece. But there is something so gladdening and refreshing in the great care God our Father has of this matter, confirming seems to be His great work and constant thought and desire. You will easily find texts to show this clearly. A young lady at Simla .seemed struck when I spoke of it much in the address ; she had chiefly thought of what she had to confirm, not what God our gracious Father confii'ms. i.e. both His own promises He confirms, and also His grace and His goodness in us. All this is full of joy. . . . ARCHDEACON MATTHEw's ILLNESS 159 I look for Lydia in about three weeks. I am so pleased she was able to pay you a little farewell visit. It will be so nice for me even to see her in passing — it will be hard to believe there is no one else to follow her when she comes in sight —but I must be of the spirit of the little boy who had a very scanty dinner, but when asked to say his grace he said, ' I could eat more if I had more, but I praise God for all.' To Mrs. French. ^ , Lahore, Nov. 5. So many thanks for your courageous letter in connexion with dear Lydia's departure, which will weigh you down sorely I fear for many a long day . . . [She] arrived this morning at nine. I was of course waiting with a carriage, and it svas a very joyous meeting, only it seemed to sadden me, as if you ought to have been there and yet were not, so I could scarcely believe you were not in the background somewhere concealed, and my heart seemed everywhere looking for you. This has hindered my enjoying the day as I hoped to do ; yet I have been very thankful, and all the arrangements for her have been as perfect as could be, as only such a mother could make them. . . . Your account of Edith is very distressing and disheartening, and I cannot bear to think I may never look on the sweet little face again. But it is a privilege ever to have had so dear and affectionate a child, to whom, I believe, the Saviour has been so pi-ecious. The symptoms are indeed alarming, and it is clear she must soon get either much worse or much better, though our view of what is worse and better may be very different from God's. To Mrs. French. (On the Archdeacon's illness.) Simla, Nov. 25, 1881. You will be startled at getting a letter again from Simla, but the enclosed note from Mrs. M. will show you how the arch- deacon has been snatched from the very jaws of death by Him alone who takes the prey from the mighty. I quite thought this week's obituary would contain his death, and I can scarcely doubt for a moment that his life was given back to the prayers of his friends and people. I came up from Delhi yesterday, after re- ceiving such bad accounts that I scarcely knew whether I should be in time to perform his funeral, which was the best I dared hope. . . . Since I watched by what seemed your death-bed at Agra, I have scarcely known such deep sorrow as the almost certainty of the archdeacon's departure caused me, or such deep joy as the tidings of the passing away of the crisis, or rather the cancelling of the death warrant. ... I met many garis from Simla on my way up yesterday, but dared not ask for tidings, feeling almost sure the worst must have come, yet hoping against i6o LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH hope. I turned in on my way to the Molesworths' at the chemist's, and there had the comfort of learning a change for the better had set in, and my heart leapt within me for joy. . . . Of course I was bound to give up hope \ yet when I read the Psalms, and they began ' I am well pleased that the Lord hath heard,' and further on came the reassuring words, 'I shall not die, but live and declare,' I dared not actually despair, because Wf had ferA^ently prayed, and on Tuesday the words seemed to come witli power to my heart, ' Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him.' It seemed to me as if to lose poor dear Mr. Gordon and the archdeacon in two successive years was almost more than I could support, and the latter teas in mercy spared and given back. To Mrs. Fhe.nch. Lahore, Dec. lo, 1881. Your letter of the lytli has just come in with its sad and dis- tressing news about dearest Edith. It is hard and sad indeed to write to her under such circumstances. She seemed to enjoy life so much, and to be so blithe and gladsome and cheery, that I can't picture her or think of her as taken from us, though she was such a little weakling so long. I cannot give up hope, however, while the doctors do not. She has taught us all so much by the sweet texts she used to end her letters with, and there has ever been of late the sweet, chaste refinement of Christian girlhood so marked and noticeable, one can indeed think of her as one of the 144,000 virgins, standing l)y the Lamb on Mount Sion, with His ''so the new version is) and His Father's name written on their foreheads, guileless and without fault Jiefore the throne of God. It reminds me so aftectingly of the one loss in our family of my beloved brother. I should indeed praise God with all my heart if she were to be spared, for she was very near my heart, and her childlike, artless talk seemed to rest my weary brain. The thought of losing her will V»ring tears, yet those whose angels do always behold the face of our l ather cannot themselves be hidden from His face. To Edith. Dec. II, 1881. To hear of your sad illness makes my heart full of grief, but (;od has been so good often to me and mine, that I must not lose hoi)e Init commend you to the Great Physician, who ' Him- self took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.' I often wish I could be at home to read and pray with you, and have little walks by the side of your chair ; but that could not make you ' On receiving the telegram to say that he was dying. ANXIOUS ACCOUNTS OF EDITH l6l well, it could only assure you of what you know already, how much I love you, though my work makes me such a cruel run- away from home. I often seem just ready to break down, but get raised up again ... It comfoiied me this morning to preach on those woi-ds, ' The Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of Lords.' He is so strong, as the lion of the tribe of Judah, ' and yet so tender, and thoughtful, and kind, and patient.' He shall feed them, and lead them to liring fountains of tvatcrs. I say the 23rd Psalm most nights over to myself, and the last few days I have thought of those words (Isa. xxxii.), ' the work of righteous- ness shall be peace ; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.' In these troubled, anxious, fretful, excitable days what rest it gives to tliink of this, and feel that it is by hiding in the Rock of Ages and taking hold of our Father's strength that the peacefulness and restfulness comes. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shalt thou revive me. I love to think of your dear efforts to gather money for me. To Mrs. French. I)cc. 18, 1881. My heart was comforted on Friday by getting your dear letter, which as usual makes all the home start up so vividly before me. ... I cannot but heartily praise God for the little improve- ment, though I know I must not build over confidently upon it. I must and will try to keep my will in harmony with His ; but yet I cannot bear to think of losing the dear child. Mr. Cheyne renders Isa. vii. 4, 'Say unto him. See that thou keep calm; fear not, neither let thine heart be soft.' ... I think of the little stoi-y : ' A gardener went into the garden, saw one of the loveliest flowers plucked off, and asked the under-gardener " Who plucked this flower?" "The master," was the reply. The gardener teas silent.' It is so full of truth, the little anecdote, only it cannot tell what a Master ours is, how tender and sparing, if it is for the best to spare. To Edith. Dec. 19, 1881. I don't like a mail going without a line from me while you are such a sufferer, though I fear I cannot always quite manage it. The suffering member of a family seems to have a first claim to thought and sympathy. I am sure it is so in our heavenly Father's great family- too, and we may well imitate Him. I do so wish sometimes I could fiy across and have if only a peep at you. It is very keen, cold weather here, and we are enjoying our wood fires. Such huge blocks of wood they bring ! I was obliged to tell them not to bring ivhole trees, but more of the faggot kind. . . . In about a month I expect to be on my journeys again beyond VOL. II. M l62 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH the Indus, where dear Mr. Gordon used to be with me. A few years hence these little beginnings there will be forgotten in the far greater work of our successors. I think often of Luther's words — 'Let Luther die but Christ live.' It makes me hapjjy to think that He mitst reign ; the idols He shall utterly abolish — all that is false and unreal, not only the hideous images and jujus of the Africans and Hindus — 'All shadows from the truth shall fall. And falsehood die in sight of Thee.' ... I hope Wilfrid will read his Missionari/ Gleaners to you sometimes. It is mail time, and this letter must take its long journey ; so I must not write more or tire you. What more I say must be said to God for you. The next year was a brigliter one. Editli obtained a little respite in her sharper suffering, and though the bishop suflfered a bereavement in the death of his brother-in-law, Mr. Gregg, the event of chiefest interest in his o-wtl imme- diate circle was of a joyous character, the marriage of his eldest son Cyril to Miss Emily Ballard. To Edith. Jan. 22, 1882. I must tiy once a fortnight, dearest Edith, to send you a line or two of remembrance and sympathy. It saddens me sorely not to get better tidings of you, but I daresay you are sometimes able to say — 'Choose Thou for me my friends, My sickness or my health ; Choose Thoii my cares for me, My poverty or wealth.' And you can be a faithful intercessor, pleading for all you lov^, and for the work of God and His fellow -creatures ever5^where. Miss Elliott says invalids are a great 2WU-cr in the Church of God. . . . This evening, 'Christ in you, the hope of glory,' is part of my text : Christ in us as the crucifixion of self and sin, and the resurrection to life, love, and holiness. We had our house (Bishopstowe) broken into last Thursday. Two natives got in and prowled about, and one walked with a lighted candle into the Sisters' room and when they sj^oke ' The Murree Sisters, who as usual were spending their Christmas at Bishopstowe. BURGLARY AT BISHOPSTOWE 163 blew the candle out, and fled through the glass doors, breaking them to pieces. You would have smiled to see us all : two Sisters, Mr. and Mrs. J. and me walking about in our dressing- gowns, like ghosts, to see what had been taken ; but nothing was carried off but a few little pieces of silk being worked for a bazaar. They did not get to the spoons or money. io JUDITH. Hissar, March 5. I have got up early to try to write you a few lines by candlelight, while the birds in this pleasant green garden are trilling their earliest and sweetest songs to greet the Sabbath morn. . . . You must so delight to have Basil with you sometimes, and the use of his strong arms to help you upstairs, still more I pray that the Everlasting Arms may sustain and bear you up that ladder by which angels come and go — the ladder of prayers and answers to prayers above which the Lord Himself stands. I am afraid the carriage Mr. Bickersteth and I travelled in the last two days, drawn by two camels along roads sometimes rough and sometimes smooth, would not quite have suited you, dear child. I hope you have been able to keep up your chair-drives along the smoother roads of Brighton, and that you still look out of your windows on the grand old seas and the distant shipping. I used to like Newton's hymn — ' In every object here I see Something, 0 Lord, that leads to Thee.' ... I sat a long time in Kiwari two days since with a learned old man at his street door, who tries to bind together in one, two teachings, one of them Hindu and the other Mohammedan, called Vedanta and Soofic philosophies. They both teach that every- thing is God. I took and read to him a translation I lately made for the Pi-ayer-book of the second long hymn in the Ordination Service on the Holy Spirit, which I commend to you, dearest E., to try to learn, at any rate to read as a prayer. It seems to gather up so prettily and simply what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit, about which the great St. Basil wrote so much, after whom our dear Basil was named. The old man seemed quite pleased with the hymn, and I hope it may do him good. I read yesterday a nice jjassage in St. Bernard on the Canticles on the words (c. ii. 9), ' My beloved standeth behind the wall. He looketh forth at the windows.' This St. B. refers to the Incarnation of our Lord, how He came and looked at us through the windows and lattice of our human nature (what the Hindus call jharoka and jaliyan), knowing and seeing all our sorrows, and taking part in them so as to sympathize. When in bodily pain perhaps this may comfort you also, dearest E., as it does me. I like to think when I am in very great trouble M a 164 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH how He felt, and felt for us, in the garden of Gethsemane, as my favourite hymn puts it — 'And in the garden secretly, And on the Cross on high, He taught His brethren, and inspired To suffer and to die.' The day before yesterday our dak carriage broke down ; it broke in front, not to the side, so that we were not upset, only we had to wait two hours, ' chewing the cud of patience ' on the roadside till something came to pick us up. We were so happy as to have carriages sent both from before and behind to help us on our way at last, reminding us of the words, * The Lord shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rereward.' The native officer at a small town behind us sent his own little trap, as we call it, saying that I was his old master at Agra, and he seemed so pleased to be able to help me. But as Mr. Bickersteth wrote for me he was puzzled, for he said he was sure it was not his old master's handwnting ! I am afraid no one ever knows how to imitate my handwriting, especially now that my thousands of letters spoil it so, and make it illegible, I fear. It is so sad that you have not the strength to write me a little weekly line as you used to do, but I could not bear to weary you. To Edith. April 8 (Easter Eve), 1882. I am just breaking off in the midst of my sermon on the two disciples walking to Emmaus, and Jesus meeting them on the way, and then His making Himself known to them in breaking of bread. I have been so enjoying trying to picture it to myself. I am sure it must have been the Lord's Supper with the Lord Himself for celebrant, ministering to them in a spmtual manner His own broken body. It seems so strange, and yet so sweet and happy to think of. I was wondering whether dear C. ever gives you the holy supper when he comes down to see you. . . . I wonder whether you read the little girl's letter to the Queen about her being saved from the assassin and the Queen's answer. I am afraid I have lost the little letter else I would send it ; it was such a simple, natural child's letter. It must have been still more delightful when Baruch and the Ethioi)ian eunuch got special messages from God, the King of all the earth, for them- selves. How nice it is to tliink that both in the Old and New Testaments such notice was taken of Ethiopian eunuchs. . . . Some people seem to think that Egypt will be the seat soon of a great struggle between the Mohammedan and the European Christian powers. That would affect us in India very much. . . . The pomegranate crimson blossom is so lovely just now. POMEGRANATES. MAY-DAY. SIMLA 165 I have one just opposite my study window, which I love to look at ; I wish you could have it opjjosite your window. If it is dry I must try to remember to put in a blossom or two, but I fear the crimson blush will be lost. I see that in Ex. xxviii. 33, 34 (I am sorry to say I had to look in Cruden's Concordance, and owe the C. M. S. 2cl. at least), the high priest's dress had on the hem of it pomegranates of purple and scarlet, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate. I wonder whether it was the flower or the fruit represented on the hem : the most beautiful priest's dress must have been that which the Lord Himself put upon Joshua, when he said to him, ' See, I have taken away the filthy garments from thee, and clothed thee with change of raiment. ' To Edith. jj,^^ ^882. I hope, dearest Edith, this may be a bright May Day to you, and of real thankfulness to our Heavenly Father for so far granting you good hope of recovery, beyond what I had ever hoped to hear of. My heart has been full of gladness, and a heavy weight has been lifted indeed. It seems as if the great Physician Himself had come to your house and said, ' I am the Lord that healeth thee.' ... I read lately of a poor man who swept the street-crossing in London, and when a gentleman con- doled with him, he said, ' D'ye think I could go on with this 'ere work all the day long if I didn't often think of the golden streets of the New Jerusalem ? ' These little stories do me good for my- self, and I store them up for the children in the schools. When you get a nice one, do copy it for me, please. I have often to give addresses and distribute prizes. I am afraid does not always find it like feeding lambs to bring her boys into order, but I should not like to be the little boy that recklessly disobeys her, I think he would not come off best. . . . We had my favourite collect at the Saint's Day service to-day, ' Grant us perfectly to know Thy Son Jesus Christ.' I was thinking how much we have to thank St. Thomas for in asking that question, ' How can we know the way ? ' and so that very, very beautiful answer came, which one is always trying to get to the bottom of and never will, not to all eternity. To Mrs. French. (Society at Simla.) May 20, 1882. Two large successive dinner parties have closed the last two days ; about twenty-six people each evening ; and the evening before a party of about fifty at the viceroy's ! Is it not sad dissipation? However, each evening has brought its opportu- nities of trying to say some useful words to young or old, and I do trust our dear Lord does not allow me to have my thoughts i66 LIFE OF BISHOP FREN'CH scattered over much, and the main objects of my ministiy and its chief ends forgotten. It is not likely I can be spared to it many yeai'S. Nobody is introduced to anybody, so I have to do my best to introduce myself, and beg people's pardon for so doing, which they usually grant good-naturedly. Last night the four Burmese ambassadors dined and took in young ladies to dinner, who did not seem quite to like it. I don't know what A. would have felt I I took in one of Sir C. B.'s daughtei-s. who seemed quite satisfied to be taken in by a bishop instead of an ambassador, though I told her she ought to have had a younger partner ! The Bui-mese played on the piano, one or two of them at least who had spent years in Paris. Several Enghsh officers from Burmah were at dinner. Mr. and Mi's. Fiyer, and others. 21(111 26. The Queen's bu-thday ball took place last night. The people at the hotel breakfast were wild about it. The lady next me said she danced twenty times in the night. • What a bore it must be ! ' I said. ' Oh no I I quite enjoyed it, only my legs ache a little tills morning.' I wish she might come to be as active in good works as she is in the dance, poor girl. I had to dine with and • ^ on Tuesday ; nearly the whole party was of atheists and freethinkers, but I don't know when God has given me such an opportunity of testifying boldly for His tiiith before gainsayei-s ! It was indeed of His gi-ace and goodness. One man most enthu- siastically stood up for Buddhism as far better than Christianity, and the noblest, truest, and holiest religion in the world. Dr. and Mrs. L. and Mr. P. were there, and several others, among them Sir Salar Jung's subordinate ambassador from the Nizam of Hyderabad. Mr. I. told me how interested and surprised the Nizam's envoy was in the discussion, for he thought that English gentlemen never talked about anything but polo. I should not mind any number of dinner parties if such openings for minis- terial work occurred. They are obliged to be civil, that is the woi-st of it, for one escapes the cross in its severest form in that way. Wednesday was the durbar for the Queen's birthday ; there must have been sixty or seventy to dinner. I could not get a janpan, so had to ride. It does me great good getting so much riding. To Cyeil. (On his Wedding.) May 26, 1882, After sending off about fourteen letters, vdth a confirmation of an unusually anxious character this afternoon, and a prayer-meeting Avith ordination candidates at night, besides an examination paper on Genesis and Ezekiel just finished and despatched, you will understand how hard I find it even to wi-ite to you and E. ^ Leading officials at Calcutta. Cyril's wedding. Indian heat 167 a short letter, but my heart will not let me be. quite silent toward you, after hearing of the actual fact of your long-hoped-for union being accomplished. To the hopes and wishes already expressed there seems little to be added. Our heavenly Father gives grace for grace, and ever adds and increases, doing exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think ; and He that spared not His own Son will ivith Him freely give us all things. His divine jinivcr JidtJi given us all things, so we have only to ask and receive that our joy may be full. How sweet the holy enthusiasm of the Psalmist : ' But I will hope continually, and will yet praise Thee more and more.' ... I am sorry you missed at the wedding so many desired and expected faces, but our dear Friend and Saviour never fails us, and He ever keeps the best till last. Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. White raiments for service on earth, for the resting-place in Paradise, for the perfect rest-and-sei-vice-in-one of the homes beyond — we seem to be promised all these. What an honour is set on joy and purity ! 1 must add no more. There is lamenta- tion in Simla that E. and you could not come, but joy, I hope, in London courts and angel choirs that London is your India, and that you are helping together to bind a sheaf for the great harvest. To Mrs. French. (Hot weather at Lahore.) June 14, 1882. One seems to exist rather than live this weather, yet on the whole I am better than last week, and manage my evening walk beyond the orchard sometimes, and get through a fair amount of reading, though the brain seems to refuse to think and the hand to write. A week hence I hope to start for Kasauli and Simla. I somehow managed three duties on Sunday. It was a day that made one's brain feel half paralysed. I think this house without a thermantidote seems almost insufferable ; I find all my friends consider a thermantidote is necessaiy. The air indoors seems so burnt up and heated. I do not know how to keep up with my letters this week, which are unrelenting, especially four letters I have had to answer this week from Mr. Clark oij most difficult questions started by the C. M. S. committee on points of machinery and organism. I really think our work in danger of being stifled and strangled by its machinery. ... June 15. Thus much with great violence put on myself last evening. I have been down this morning to examine part of the High School, of which I am Visitor, and it always does me good to begin each day by an effort to rouse and stir oneself to a duty one shrinks fi-om. One is more vigorous all the day for it, and the day begins with a victoiy which ought to give a victorious tone to the day, as when A. took her first class at the Sunday school. . . . Both the Dicksons and Elsmies pressed me very hard i68 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH (almost till I was ashamed) to come and stay with them a few days, promising all sorts of comforts and delightful rooms ; but I have held out, as packing one's papers and running backwards and fonvards for one's books would be dreadful ; yet I value the kindness much. ... I am cariying baskets of plums about to my friends, there seem to be bushels on bushels ; and the peaches are ripening fast. I thought of leaving a basket at Ambala for the Knoxes. I wish I could send one to the still dearer Knoxes at Oxford ; but I should have to stuff them all first. I am afraid I could not send any to the naughty little grandchild who would not go to church. I must have the next good speech she makes reported to me to help me to forget the others. I hope to cany- some to Miss K. and her gnls this evening ; also the High School should have some. To Basil. (On the loss of a College friend.) June i8, 1882. How curious it is that the higher we gi'ow in the scale of creation, the more acutely and deeply we feel suffering, and groan with more intense yearnings for reasons which St. Paul so gi-andly describes in Eomans viii. ... I have felt so much with you, dear fellow, about the loss of your fast friend ; it is a deep trial to lose so early a real brother and helper in Christ, from whose fellow- ship and example one is daily profiting. I lost in the same way my chief friend at Oxford by a fatal railway accident, and at Oxford, too (though he died at Burton), I lost my o\ktx most beloved brother Peter, so good, and true, and humble, and conscientious, and attached to the best things, that I almost fear he will be too near the throne for me ever to see him again, as Whitfield said of Wesley ! Still if there is to be a revelation {aiTOKiiKvi^Ls) of the sons of God, one may hope to see them all, and the liberty of God's cliildren will be above small restrictions. Somehow, all the Peters in the family have been good, and -svill be so, I tinst, through the grace that makes them differ, and keeps them from falling. ... If you keep up French, I think you would find Gratry's Connaissance de I'dme a verj" suggestive and attractive book, full of thought, and of vivacity too, setting one thinking on some very wholesome points in psychology, and natural as well as moral philosophy. I am preparing a lecture on Queen Elizabeth and what she did for the Church of England, whether of good or bad. Eanke in his History of England is very enthu- siastic about her, seems quite to have lost his heart to her, as Leicester and Essex did. For instance, he says, ' 'JJiere never ivas a sovereign who carried on a conflict of world-wide importance amid greater dangers or with greater success.' A fine subject this to discuss in a debating club ! He has many simply striking thoughts about the great heroes of her day, e. g. of Burleigh : NOTES ON BOOKS. EGYPTIAN WAR 169 ' He was speci.ally effective through a moral quality. He never lost heart. It was remarked he worked with the greatest alacrity when others were most doubtful.' Miss Havergal's life also has been interesting, I hope edifying me much. I took it to the soldiers' bedsides in hospital at Meean Meer, and read bits of it to them. I could write on about such things, but I have heavy anxieties just now, and am about to write to one of our young Oxford friends of '76, '77, who speaks hopefully about accepting a chaplaincy. I pray God send me one (it would be covetous to say more than one) Henry Martyn. God only can make and send such. He has been very good to me in sending me a few men certainly above the average, and very zealous, besides the missionary band. To Mrs. Sheldon. (Expected furlough. Brother-in-law's death. Egyptian troubles.) Between Simla and Kalka, July 19, 1882. Should I be able to visit you next year, it will be about six years since the precious father was with us, those three or four happy days when I took counsel of him and of yourselves as to the future. I can't bear to think that I shall see him no more in this world, and most of all that dearest Carry can have none of that intensest sympathy and support which his loving heart would have yielded to a suffering and bereaved daughter. What a strange little episode those few last days in England were ! It seems so short a time, and yet one seems to have lived half a lifetime in it. ... A portion of a regiment, to whom I hoped to have ministered at Sabathu next Sunday, is passing by here for Gwalior this evening with their camels. They are to relieve there some troops who are to go forward to Egypt, if the contingent is called for ; so we seem to be in confusion up here again, with movements of troops hither and thither as in the Cabul War. I trust this may not become an empire struggle. . . . Last Sunday it seemed comforting to j^reach on the text, ' These shall make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them.' It seemed to lift one's thoughts above the ephemeral struggles to the great world-wide mysterious conflict which underlies the To Edith. j^,;^ 28, 1882. I write a few lines just to save this post from the dak bungalow at Pathankot, which your dear mother and Agnes will well remember. It has been raining heavily much of the night, and so dark that we ran into some ox-waggons, and the man who drove them cried bitterly, saying his ox was dead ; . . . however, the ox shook himself and stood upright, not much worse for his accident, I hope. After the rain the cuckoos are singing sweetly. lyo LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH as Lydia heard them every day in Cashmere. . . . You are often in my thoughts, because they used to make me fear in my illness that I should not get well again, and so I did wish to be ready for all events and for whatever God might be pleased to appoint. That makes one so peaceful, if not quite happy and joyful, and peace in Jesus is better perhaps than joy, because it is from principle rather than feeling, and from deeper teaching perhaps of the Holy Spirit. I used to shed happy, thankful tears over those words from the hymn which begins ' When languor and disease invades,' especially the verses — 'Sweet in the confidence of faith To trust His firm decrees, Sweet to lie passive in His hand And know no will but His. 'Sweet to reflect how grace di\'ine My sins on Jesus laid, Sweet to remember that my debt His death of suffering paid. ' Sweet to look inward and attend The whisper of His love, Sweet to look upward to the place Where Jesus reigns above. 'Sweet in His righteousness to stand Which saves from second death, Sweet to experience day by day His Spirit's quickening breath. 'If such the sweetness of the stream. What must the fountain be, "VMiere saints and angels draw their breath Immediately from Thee?' Other more exalting verses of the hymn did not comfoi-t and help me so much, but these were so restful and peaceful that they were like a pUlow to rest an aching head upon, for they were full of grace, full of the work of Jesus and His Spirit, and nothing of one's own. ' Thou. Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work.' Besting so quietly in God's will and Christ's work and His Spirit's teaching, we come to understand those words : " all things are yours, life, death, things present, things to come, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' That hymn of Dora Greenwell's also helped me much, ' I am not skilled to understand ' ; but after all. those • inward whispers of His love ' are best, and not human words so much. The fields and woods are of the richest green at this season. They reminded me this morning of the words— COMFORT IN SICKNESS. A SELF-ESTIMATE 171 ' Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood Stand dressed in living green.' One feels that these words are quite true, only falling short of the living reality. "What refreshes and gladdens us most on earth has its perfect counterpart in heaven, and always the full uninterrupted health which can enjoy the fresh beauties, no faintness or sadness or weariness such as your suffering brings so many hours of the day, my precious child. But the sufferings in the garden and on the cross were infinitely sharper. It is a great pleasure to see one of the old dear faces in the house at Lahore. Would I could see yours in it also. In the great Father's house above, may we not think it will be sweet to see the old faces, as one by one they enter after the battle of earth is over ? I wish I could write more, but the ' doolie kahhars " (bearers) are very impatient, and it is cruel to keep them waiting, as they are farm-labourers and have their fields to look after. To Mrs. French. Dalhousie, Aug. 23, 1882. At last it seems as if the Suez Canal were really blocked for a while, but one writes on in hope that He who went before Cyrus 'to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut,' may yet keep our empire pathway open, which is to so many a home pathway too for passing to and fro of prayers, thoughts, and counsels ! This is the eleventh letter to-day, and most of them have required much thought and brain- racking on very varied subjects. Finances. Divorce questions. Settlings of quarrels. Proposal for a painted window in the new cathedral to Lady Egerton, in which I am asked to take the initiative. Bishop Caldwell asking about his rights to appoint archdeacons. Archdeacon's proposal to overhaul and remodel Auckland House School. Working out the cathedral question, what is in hand, and how the rest is likeliest to be gathered, &c., &c. The morning was spent in the Fort Hospitals. Then the Sisters have got into trouble by turning a girl out only suspected of thieving, and I have had to discharge the mali (gar- dener) and gwala (cowherd) for unfaithfulness. It will be so strangely like old times to be with you again in Brighton, and to find old Mr. Vaughan there still. . . . The move to Oxford was the most mysterious and wonderful almost, and struggled against for a while, yet one's after-life has been so much shaped by that move, so many valuable acquaintances of the great men of our day seem to have been formed there, and one was dragged into the publicity almost needed for my present life. Yet most of my time I was down in the slums of St. Ebbe's. The saving point about my life, amidst many errors and sins, was holding to that verso, I think, ' He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.' 172 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To Edith. Sept. I, 1882. It has set in for steady rain this evening, ... so my hay-crop will be spoilt, so far as it is cut I fear ; but then my bread does not depend upon it like the English farmers'. I am afraid the damper climate of Tunbridge Wells has not so well suited you, dear child. I did so hope it would please God to give a real change for the better there. This morning I baptized dear little Euth at Meean Meer Church after the usual Friday service. Lydia enjoyed the drive much, and baby was perfection, only giving a little start under the sign of the cross, as we all do at times under a real cross when God is pleased to send it, and if it were not following Jesus in it, we should start much more. . . I see the Edinhoro' Review speaks of the war in Egypt as likely to be as great a one, and to call for as great effort on the part of England, as the Crimean War and the Mutiny in India. I had not thought of it as of such great importance. One cannot help being interested in all that befalls a country of which the Bible prophecies are so many, and the places one reads about now in the ^mpers, as Kameses and Heliopolis, awaken such strange recollections. I wonder what has become of Miss Whately at Cairo ? I remember so well my walks round Alexandria with Dean Stanley. The English church we went to look at together is not quite destroyed, I hope. ... I have got a few hours for Sanskrit lately, reading passages out of the old Vedas. I want to see what they thought about God in the veri/, vcnj early days. Even then thej^ had 33 gods, now they talk of having 33.000 ; but I don't quite believe this. . . . Little Euth is my thirteenth godchild. One or two have died, I believe. To Mks. Sheldon. Jacobabad and Dadur, Oct. 6, 1882. I have tried to get both the C. M. S. and S. P. G. to take up Quettah as a fine centre both for Belooch and Afghan missions. The young missionaries unhappily ivill all get married, and this often sadly sinks them down to the common level of non-itinerant evangelists. ... To join a brotherhood for seven years and (if needs be) to mari-y aftenvards seems the more excellent way, but it is not the way of the C. M. S., and my example has not been sufficiently in favour of it. You will blame me perhaps for my hard views on missionary matters, but poor Bishoi> Steere was strongh' of that mind, and the Cambridge Mission at Delhi nobly adheres to it. Father O'Neill's death at Indore of cholera is deeply deplored ; he was a man of singular holiness, devotion, and modest humility. My wife's cousin, Ch. Janson, died immediately on reaching the Nyanza, as you wiU have seen, in connexion with the Central African Mission. . . . How delightful The Christian RUTH MOULSOn's BAPTISM. QUETTAH 173 lately has been with its notices of Moody's last weeks in Scotland, and of Haslam's parochial reminiscences ! How interesting Egypt is at this time ! When will the altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt be set up ? On the same subject of Church extension at Quettah he wrote to Cyril from Much, Oct. 24 : — I have just been drafting a memorial to Sir D. Stewart for a church at Quettah. But Lords Kipon and Lytton, in different ways, hinder all Church appropriation of State funds, and though the chief officers at Quettah gladly sign the memorial, yet I am not sanguine. The railway is expected to reach Quettah in two or three years' time. The Supreme Government of India has wrestled out and obtained at length permission to occupy it per- manently as a standing military outpost of strategic importance, stretching out its hands into the turbulent tribes, and beckoning and commanding peace to them. Oh, that with it may be the sweet message of the gospel peace, and Avith it the Hands that made Joseph's hands strong! It was a great privilege to spend three afternoons in witnessing to Afghans in the fruit market at Quettah in their own tongue, and leaving a few copies of the word of God among them. I translated and copied out Isaiah liii. and gave it to one of the best educated among them to take home with him, and never part with, as written out with the bishop's own hand. May God graciously bless the feeble effort, and cause His Spirit of life to enter into the slain of this valley of dry bones, as it truly is. I was so thankful for our crowded English congregation last Sunday afternoon. I prepared a sermon for them as suited as I could make it for their special circumstances : ' Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners.' Spoke of the pilgrim wanderings of the English people in these wilds, and the wander- ings and estrangement of heart from God, which absence from home influences, and stated worship, and the unsettled mode of life so sadly pi'oduce ; and the blessed privilege which St. Paul dwells on in these verses— narrowing his circle and bringing it nearer and nearer to hearts, citizenship, fellow-citizenship, fellow- citizenship of saints, the household, the household of God ; the grandeur, saintliness, antiquity of the Church of God, built on the foundation of apostles and projDhets ; Christ the corner-stone by which all is bound together, on which all hangs ; the sum- mons here to rouse ourselves to more thorough devotion, courage, watchfulness. Christian service. It gladdened and impressed my own heart much. I pray God it may have had this effect on others. To Mrs. French. Quettah, Oct. 18, 1882. I am sorely distressed about the so-called Sacred Carjiet at Cairo, and the parade of the British army to do it honour. Were it the 174 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Indian army in particular which was guilty, I should be disposed to send in my resignation. As it is, the whole Church of England is implicated and compromised with a superstitious, if not idola- trous, act. God must be jealous of His own honour, and avenge such breaches of it. To Mrs. French. i • Karachi, 2\or. 5. I must write a few lines to you to-daj^ here, within sight of the sea, which seems to be so homolike, and brings such happy thoughts of home and you, though it cannot really by sight of it annihilate distance. It is not yet heaven, where there shall be no more sea (as I say in a sermon to-day, speaking of the city of God — 'although there is no more sea, no separating, sundering sea. j-et there is a river which makes glad ') — but I look at it with the more pleasure as the months roll on. which bring near (please God) our reunion again after so many unions and severings. I went in a small steam launch this morning to Manorah. a little island live miles from here, where is a small church where the harbour officials and tlioir families have a service each Sunday. Standing by the altar and in the pulpit, you look through the west door to the grand blue sea, which is quite inspiring. ... I preached with- out book, as I usuallj' do now, once a day at least. God seems to have given me something more of ease and fluency, and perhaps some power in so doing, which I only pray may be His own power working with souls. I certainly have, as a rule, better audiences than I used to have with written sermons ; but I take very great ])ains in j)reparation. and write it nearly in full beforehand. I think the order and consecutiveness of matter is better pre- served in this way. I stayed with Col. W., the Commissioner at Shikarpur, and had a little work among the Afghans, and paid visits also (during the two days) to a Eurasian lady in deep distress of soul, and truly in earnest, who had been so longing for pastoral counsel and com- fort. I could not help thinking of Philip and the eunuch, for he can scarcely have met him in a more dreary and desolate spot than Shikarpur. It is one of the wealthiest and most ancient cities of Sindh, and a great emporium of trade, probablj' long liefore Alexander, a little fallen lately because the Russians keep diverting thence, and from our frontier generally, the trade which formerly flowed through and across the border ; and also because the railway makes it a place of passage rather titan of stoppage, which is a detriment to trade ; so old cities, like old people, get shelved, and the new have their day. To Mrs. French. -.^ 1 • a- Karachi. 2\oi\ 13. I have sent several copies of Law's Serious Call to diff"erent people, and the book seems to awaken interest. I am so glad pusey's death, the sacred carpet 175 the archdeacon mentioned it to nie. I used to think it an old-fashioned and eft'ete book, but tlie heart of man is much alike in all ages. To Edith. (On Dr. Pusey's funeral.) Karachi (undated). What a very interesting and impressive sight Dr. Pusey's funeral must have been ! I am so pleased to think I used to attend his Hebrew lectures thirty-five years ago. I am sorry the llecord spoke so severely of him. I only wish I were half so good as that holy man was, and I think he kept multitudes back from Rome, though he may have helped a very few, who had not strength of mind to understand him, to find their way to Rome, contrary, however, to his strong dissuasions. I am trying to send a little girl up to the Sisters' school at Murree, whom the nuns hero are trying hard to get hold of. She is at the convent, and they would not let her come to the confirmation class, though both she and her mother wished it. The Romanists are very strong here, and very prosely- tizing, but the Lamb must overcome, for He is Lord of lords. There is a beautiful new Romisli cathedral, which I looked into one day. Oh, if the Church of Rome could but alter its un- scriptural ways and be reformed like the Church of England, how nice it would be ; but I fear the Bible gives us no hope of this, and they seem to have got worse and worse. It delighted me so much in your letter, received yesterday, that you spoke of 'o?o- cathedral.' No human sympathy can gratify me so much as that of my own dear family. Only think of Sir Evelyn Wood in Egypt becoming the successor of the Nechos and Amasises ; and Arabi praising up the English as the best civilizers. What a bitter pill for the French to swallow ! Oh. may God keep us faithful to His truth, and not allow us any more to do homage to sacred carpets, which distressed my soul. I have felt much the good archbishop's death '. He was a kind friend to me all through life, since I was his pupil at Rugby. It seemed quite likelj"^ he would recover. To Mrs. Gregg. ^ ^883 I feel sure it must be with many sinkings of heart that you enter on this new year and look forward to its desolate loneliness, ior no friendship or sympathies can replace a husband's love, and * Archbishop Tait. 176 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH He who says, 'Thy Maker is thy husband,' still suffers us to feel keenly these pangs of parting and severing of closest holiest bands which Himself has fastened. May you be enabled to realize the force of that wonderful verse, ' My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.' .... It grieves me so much that the evangelical clergy fight so shy of India, and leave it to the tender mercies of less spiritual men. But the old cry always goes up, and seems to satisfy them, ' There's plenty to be done at home ; ' as if Jesus had said, ' Go ye all into your own homes and preach,' instead of ' Go ye into all the world.' I am glad you are thinking of Clifton, as the schools there are so good, and the air is so very healthy and bracing ; and you would meet many dear old friends of mine, who have helped me so nobly in my various works out here, and do so still. . . . We seem to weep out the old year this time more than I have ever done. Your own dear husband at home ; and then the good and great archbishop (though the Guardian calls him the Erastian great archbishop, which has some truth in it) ; Dr. Pusey, one of the great saints of this century, though in some points certainly to be condemned ; Bishop Steere ; Mr. Lowder, one of the holy army of martyrs, though tending to excess in ritual ; my dear wife's cousin, Charles Janson, in Zanzibar, in whom the saint seems to have developed rapidly ; and not least, two remarkable ladies in the Punjab, Mrs. Baring and Mrs. Furneaux. . . . My best blessings on your dear children ; I trust they are not mine, but His who blesses for ever. To Mrs. French. (Eeferring to an anxious letter about home affairs, and the relative claims of India and England on his presence.) Jan. 14, 1883. Till the great day of account it is perhaps a question hard to settle, though I have never had so many expressions of thank- fulness as I have had this year for my having been appointed to the bishopric ; but I do not wish to set much store on such ex- pressions, for He that judgeth me -is the Lord. . . . The S. P. G. and C. M. S. have both asked me to speak at their spring meetings in London, so that I fear your half-hope that I shall not be pressed in the way of meetings and sermons is scarcely likely to be realized. This fear would make Penzance or Clovelly a delightful retreat. . . . Two evenings ago we had a large committee of the C. M. S., at which three native candidates for deacon's orders were proposed and carried, also two others were discussed as likely. Is not this a matter of thankfulness ? Four out of the five have been a longer or shorter time at the Divinity School. But for the instruction there received, it would have been distressing to pass most of these for the ordination examination. ... I preached AN ' ATHANASIAN ' SERMON 177 :i solemn sermon yesterday at the pro-cathedral on the duty of society and the Church with reference to adulterers in our midst. It was a good and very attentive audience. I wished it to be known what attitude we should take up as a Church in those questions. Mrs. M. called it an ' Athanasian ' kind of sermon, yet 1 do not think it could offend even the Low Church, for I con- sidered the course St. Paul took in Corinth. Still it might excite in the worldly party some animadversion. I can't help this, however. I am so glad I was enabled to muster up the courage to speak out. ... I know you would have upheld me. In the evening I preached at Meean Meer. I never saw such a large congregation — so many officers and soldiers. It was altogether a novel and refreshing sight. The bishop's correspondence in his Persian tour has been given with sufficient fulness, but a few letters may be added, written by him during his fourteen months in England and on the voyage out again. To Me. Clark. My dear Brother, Tunbridge Wells, Awj. 3, 1883. I have been over three weeks at home, yet I fear I have not written a line to you yet as I intended, but the influx of cor- respondence from relatives and friends, and a sense of considerable exhaustion and weakness from fever, have restricted my power of work greatly. ... I think I shall have light work only the first three months, after that the responsibilities of my office will entail more regular and continuous engagements. Edith is still a prisoner though somewhat less of a sufferer from her spinal ailment. Cyril has a small living near Exeter offered him by Sir John Kennaway. With Basil I am reading Gaius and Jus- tinian, as he goes in for a Law Tripos at Cambridge next year (d. v. ). I saw the Scrivens and Maclagans in passing through London. They have become most comfortably settled, and are engaged in various useful Christian work and service. I wish there were six Maclagans instead of one on the C. M. S. committee. Poole seems to have commended himself to the Archbishop for Japan entirely by his speech at the Church Missionary meeting. . . . Bruce writes me cheering accounts of the way in which the great sheikh's opposition to the sale of the Bible has been overruled by the Prince Eegent of Ispahan. I must try to get him a fresh fellow-labourer, for which he makes urgent appeals. He starts shortly for six months at Bagdad, without Mrs. Bruce and their daughter. Mr. Bickersteth's paper in the Intelligencer, 'More Prayer and More Labour,' is very characteristic and full of useful suggestion. Indian native apostles are sorely wanted. ... It VOL. II. N 178 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH does not seem likely that any one will occupy my Dalhousie house after the Moulsons leave it, so please appropriate it for any missionary brethren or sisters who may be ill-housed or houseless, only they must not pay me anything, please, for rent. For the Congress at Eeading I am given such a vague subject — ' Foreign Missions of the Church of England ' — that I do not know what I can make of it. . . . Sibthorpe's life has many useful lessons. I am especially struck (next to his hunger and thirst after holi- ness) at his solemn remarks continually on the exceeding value to the crown and people of England, and the maintenance of religion and virtue in it, of the preservation of the Church of England from its would-be spoilers and destroyers. Missions abroad do not seem to have occupied his attention. I want to write a sermon on Epaphras and his agony in prayer for his flock, that they might stand perfect and complete in all the tvill of God. What a model of a native pastor and evangelist ! Oh, for such in the Punjab ! I must now close with brotherly regards and affection to yourself and all the dear brethren and sisters around you, the Fishers, Guilfords, Briggs, &c. I am, as ever, your truly affectionate brother, Thos. V. Lahore. I hope the prayer-meeting keeps up pretty well. Convey my hearty blessings and good wishes to its members. To Dr. Bruce. Truro, Oct. 29, 1883. ... I have never forgotten you and yours and the exceptionally happy time spent under your roof and in the midst of your dear flock. . . . Your joys and sorrows seem to live in my memory continually, and I am trying to awaken all possible interest every- where in the recent events as well as prospects of your mission, or rather I should say not to awaken but to sustain, for your own addresses and appeals had long since stirred up unusual interest. The good bishop ' here is full of missionary zeal, but, like so many other English bishops, has considerably suffered in health. Next to liis love of the Atonement, his love of souls seems the impas- sioned affection of liis heart. It will be really a splendid cathedral when completed, the building now rapidly advancing with its granite foundations and Bath stone superstructure. He has got a body of eminent young Cantabs helping forward the separate departments of his diocesan agency. ... A fortnight since I was at Durham for the C. M. S., and at Bishop Auckland staying Mdth the bishop ^. . . . I go to Lincoln next Saturday, where I believe you also were. The dear old bishop ^ there seems likely to be I Bp. Wilkinson. - Bp. Lightfoot. ' Bp. Chr. Wordsworth. FAMILY REUNION. MISSIONARY BREAKFAST 179 preserved yet awhile to bear rule in the Church, as the amount to be raised for the Southwell bishopric grows ' beautifully less ' daily. . . . Last night I met my three brothers and two sisters, besides two sisters-in-law and one brother-in-law at Eastbourne. We had not all met for thirty-six years. ... I think I am imbibing English health and recovering more power of brain. I must begin to work at languages again, which I have all but inter- mitted for a while. I do trust the * showers of blessing ' are beginning to descend more richly on the lands in which you go forth weeping, bearing precious seed. I shall look eagerly for each fresh notice of progress you may be able to give, whether of Ispahan, Sliiraz, or Bagdad. I thank God your youth seems renewed like the eagle's. With me age seems too fast setting in, but I cannot help hoping for one more campaign of four or five years in the Punjab, after which I shall be used up and spent, I fear. I am trying to stir up the people of Truro to prove themselves worthy of having been the birthplace and training- place of H. Martyn. They seem scarcely to know that there was such a person, but the first two bishops at least won't let them forget it. Sir R. Montgomeiy was calling here last week. He and Mr. Raikes and Colonel Taylor are the last of the great Punjab heroes, with Sir H. Norman. To Edith. (Mr. Christopher's Missionary Breakfast.) Oxford, Feb. 10, 1884. I think of you so often, and yet the succession of work is so terrible that no corner seems unfilled. I thought you looked suffering when I left, and the look seemed printed on my heart all day ; no change of scene could efface it. It was striking seven as I knocked or rang at 8 Merton Street, and right glad I was to have a quiet evening with E. and E., though I got an hour or two of writing. Dreams of the great gathering at the Clarendon Hotel next morning kept me awake some hours, but as a poor man about to be executed sleeps at last, they say, so I got some four hours of refreshing rest, and was helped through by God's goodness better than I feared. It Avas an alarming sight though, 200 young men or nearly that round the breakfast tables, then others were brought in from another breakfast-room, who could only stand round the doors, poor fellows. Mr. Christopher prefaced my address, and I spoke three quarters of an hour, then Dr. Ince followed with compliments. There was a lunch of great dignities in Merton Common-room after ; . . . then followed a long evening of calls with dear E. from three to seven in the old parish and out, till my voice was nearly spent, and brain too. Then we got a restful evening again, excejjt that there were preparations for to-day. N 2 i8o LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH . Little Ethel was at church ; I hoped to have walked home with her, but so many old members of St. Ebbe's congregation came to interview me in the vestiy that there was great delay. . . . Merton chapel is always so interesting to me for the sake of the sad but lovely little marble monument to Bishop Patteson, lying in the little boat with the arrows that shot him and killed him fastened in his breast. To Mrs. French. (The Annual C. M. S. Sermon.) Charing Cross, May 6, 1884. You will be glad to know that I got on very fairly l)y God's goodness, though not up to my best. It was a splendid congre- gation, almost appalling from the mass which filled basement, galleries, and all. I could have wished for more power of voice and for more time, above all for a deeper sense of the Great Presence, which in representing such an immensely responsible and world- wide agency one ought most seriously to realize, and to Vje bowed down almost under its gravity and weightiness. Of course I had to leave out bits here and there, which I should most gladly have kept in, but they will come in in the printed copy, if the whole is printed. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who was present and gave the final ijrayer and blessing, said he should hoi^e to make a study of it as there was so much to learn out of it ; this was indeed a great kindness and condescension in him. . . . Alas, I preached an hour and ten minutes, Cyril tells me ! The re- sponses of the congregation were like the murmurs of the sea. I am just off for the meeting. To Edith. St. Saviour's-on-the-Cliff, Shanklin, Jiilij 7, 1884. How I wish, dearest Edith, your dear mother and you could ))e looking out on this lovely scene now before my eyes, the broad stretch of the bay on Avhich Sandown and Shanklin lie, and the sunlit white Culver rocks, with the Avindmill and the little fishing craft with their white sails skimming like buttei-flies over the blue waters, leaving their sweet silvery track behind ; and between my window and the sea, flower-beds well cared for and bedecked with variegated dj^es, cunningly carved out of grass- plots not the most verdant, as rains have been few and far between. . . . On these white rocks dear CyrU in his sermons and on his pastoral rounds must often have looked forth and refreshed his weary heart, so that makes me feel quite an affection for them, as I look with affection on all that has brought happiness to my children, and witnessed their deeds of faith and devotion. . . . It is a charming spot, and I think that thirty-four years ago I visited it with your beloved mother. What a difference between the young fellow of a college with his raven locks and the grey- SHANKLIN. ANNECY i8i haired almost worn-out bishop ! Still I did manage to preach three times yesterday, not too short sermons ; in the afternoon to children on Hannah's song. ... I found they knew nothing about the conversion of their Isle of Wight forefathers to the Gospel ; so I told them a little about St. Wilfrid and the savage wreckers of these parts, and that they were the last and hardest to bring round of all the English people. To Mrs. French. Annecy, Sunday, Aug. lo, 1884. We managed to go by steamer yesterday to cross part of the lake of Annecy, and to walk up from the bank to the lovely wood-embowered Chateau de Menthon, where Bishop Dupanloup passed his last days. We were allowed to walk through the house and see the rooms occupied by Bishop Dupanloup We even passed through the drawing-room, and had a few words with the Comte and Comtesse of Menthon, who rose up to receive us, and were very polite. The walks through the woods around were very enjoyable. ... I feel the perfect throwing off of respon- sibilities of writing, speaking, and preaching very refreshing, and I hope by getting up on higher ground the next three or four days to get even more good. We have not been able yet to see the tomb of St. Francis de Sales, of which the Annecin people think so much that they refused all terms with the French usurpers of their country, except on condition of their being- allowed to retain the bones of their saint undisturbed. ... In the same church lie the bones of the saintly Madame Chantal, who from her wealth supported all St. Francis' great institutions. Annecy is certainly one of the prettiest towns I have seen, though its odours are unbearable almost, especially at this season. W. tvill walk about with handkerchief up to his nose ! The veiy worst place for Sabbath observance I ever came to, I think, is Annecy. There is no show of observing it even. The women come into church and hear the sermon with large baskets on their arms. One even put hei'S on the steps of the bishop's throne ! What would St. Francis de Sales have said ? My great coat and a nice shawl I bought in London before starting were stolen from the train last Thursday. It was a specially nice one for Indian journeys. I offered ten francs for recovery, but they almost laughed, as a company of Hindus did, wlien I pro^wsed a reward. ' Think,' they said, ' of anybody bringing back twenty rupees to get five as a reward.' What can you hope of i^eople who keep no Sabbath ? Chamonix, Aug. 17. (To Edith.) We have the most perfect weather possible, and opposite our bedroom windows is Mont * The year before the bishop had visited his tomb at Orleans. l82 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Blanc, from ci'own of head to foot in simple majesty and beauty, crowned by God's own hand king of the mountains of Europe. . . . The traces of the history of St. Francis de Sales and Bishop Dupanloup interest me, of course, very much, though I grieve to think the former should be buried in a gold or gilded coffin high above the altar, even above the image of the Saviour ! . . . The snows are simplj^ exquisite, and seem to laugh and sing for joy. To THE Eev. F. Montgomery (the Chaplain at Lahore). Tunbridge Wells, June 20, 1884. It is surprising what sustained effort and energy eveiy institu- tion in India requires (if it is) to be kept up to the mark. Our unoccupied laity are so miserably few. I pleaded with old Indians hard upon this point last Tuesday week at St. Peter's, Eaton Square, in preaching for the Indian Church Aid Association. . . . I wish it might set some thinking as to the possibility of return- ing to India, to hill-life at least, and devoting themselves to diocesan and other lay agency, such as our new university so urgently calls for. To Mrs. Birks. g^^f^ ^884. I was much encouraged yesterday at Addington by the arch- bishop's expression of deep sympathy with those in the mission- fields of the Church. In our small way it seemed to remind one of James, Cephas, and John giving the right hand of fellowship to the first evangelists of the Church proceeding to foreign spheres of action. And then what a lesson is given me in my own suffering and afflicted child's patience and almost joy of faith in the prospect of lea-^-ing 'the warm precincts of the cheerful day,' and all she loves below, and entering the unseen, solitarily, however hopefully ! One kiss a day is all I am allowed to give her, and one text inscribed in large letters on a half sheet. It was a great comfort to me to think to-night of the way in which God our Father Himself perfects His own faithful ones for the glorified body that is to be. He that hath wrought us for this self-same thing is God. To Sir William Muir. Sept. 18, 1884 (four days before sailing). It is hard to leave a child hanging between life and death, but there are yet bitterer sorrows than this, yet none or scarce any can touch the depths of our dear Lord's Gethsemane sorrow. * Father, glorify Thy name, ' is the prayer above all He has taught us. Owing to quarantine in Ital}' the bishop returned by the Adriatic route from Trieste. PARTING FROM EDITH. ADRIATIC ROUTE 183 To Mrs. Fkench. Hotel Victoria, Vienna, Sept. 24, 1884. The last twenty-five miles or so before Vienna are very striking, wide-rolling undulations and reaches of thick forest with villages interspersed nestling in orchards, lofty convents, churches and chateaux here and there, giving a very park-like aspect at times, and there are miles of charming villas which form the approach to the capital, far lovelier than anything on the outskirts of London or Paris, or even Berlin and St. Peters- burg. St. Petersburg, perhaps, beats it in the imperial grandeur of its broad, new boulevards, but no other caj^ital does, I think, not even Paris. Some of its palaces are huge and ambitious enough to have pleased and satisfied Nimrod, and the avenues of trees along some of the chief streets are deservedly panegyrized by Tennyson in his ' In Memoriam.' Here I suppose he lost his friend. ... I met an Armenian professor of Persian (so he styles himself) at in the train. We read some Pushtu together this morning in which he was interested. I hope to send you one more line from Europe, then from Africa, then as of old from Asia. The future seems to want more strength than I have got. I pray to be able to lean on the Everlasting Arm, and I pray the same for you. Ship Austria, Trieste, Sept. 25. Yesterday was a lovely journey, so full of almost unequalled scenery. . . . The text I love to dwell on in leaving the West for the East, home for a strange land, is the one I wrote out (for Edith) : ' Now they desire a better countiy, that is a heavenly. God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city.' I have no time to dwell on the loving, anxious, prayerful thoughts for you which do and will fill my heart. May God's own peace, the 'perfect peace' though 'with loved ones far away,' fill and sustain your heart ! Adriatic Sea, Sept. 27. It delights me to think of St. Paul visiting these parts, as he must have done, to judge from his words, ' Kound about unto Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.' Trieste being the chief port and capital of Illyricum, one cannot well doubt that his feet trod these shores, and his voice was heard in their streets. Not knowing Italian or modern Greek I can do nothing in this way, even were it otherwise my duty to do so. I have rather an interesting set of fellow-passengers — four or five sisters from Kaiserswerth bound for Cairo and Bayreuth. I have been giving some first lessons in Arabic to one of them, but they only know Gei-man to speak. . . . Helpful to them is a governess. i84 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH a Swiss lady of some years, going out to a family at Bayreuth. She speaks German, French, and English well, and must be a musician. . . . She is grand-daughter of a French general who knew the great Guizot, so she also knew him, and specially his daughter M. Vitre, who is almost as great an historian as her father, and has written a charming book, she says — Tableaux dc TJtistoire fmncaise. . . . Then there is a monk with serge and cord who knows little but Italian, so I have not seen much of him ; . . . two fine young officers bound for the Soudan, with whom I had a long chat this morning ; . . . a large Greek family bound for Corfu, with four or five very nice boys and girls, of whom I had a kind of school-class this morning. They read the Greek Testa- ment beautifully with me in modern Greek pronunciation, and were equally perfect in French reading. . . . Then there are Egyptian merchants, all foreigners. . . . On the whole it is a veiy respectable and ordinary set. . . . There is a honlmnmic about them which the English lack. There are a number of pretty lap-dogs on board. I should have liked to send dear Edith one, which would have won her heart at once. Sunday morning. About to arrive at Corfu though not to land, on account of quarantine. It is an unexpected pleasure to touch at the shores of dear old Greece, the land of my old enthusiasm, chosen of our Lord to be by its grand and beautiful language the exponent of His gospel. What an honour to be put upon a land and speech, the same honour almost which is put on our English tongue, in which the same gospel is read throughout the world. . . . They say that beyond the low hills which face the sea all is trcs joli, which is likely enough when one thinks of the vale of Tempe in Thessaly (the modern Albania) and the other exquisite scenery of Northern Greece as its poets describe it. Mediterranean, near Cape Matapan, Sept. 30. . . . The Swiss governess astonishes the world by the mass of French literature she has digested. ... I mentioned Beranger, and she quoted ode after ode by heart; she gives glowing accounts of the leading Protestants of France. The German sisters look astonished. . . . Ithaca, with its tall precipitous rocks passed by moonlight, reminded me of the readings the boys and I had years ago in the Odyssey. It seemed an island created for shipwrecks almost. I should like to have had my Homer with me. The coast of Me.ssenia and Cape Matapan with its lighthouse was the last of Europe, and from thence we left the cool breezes of Europe for the warmer and more languid breezes of the East and South. Hotel Khedivier, Alexandria, Oct. 1, 1884. I visited the Scotch and American Missions, which are just starting afresh after the reparation of then- ruins, material and GREECE. EGYPT. INDIA 185 social. Mr. Ewing found me a teacher to read a little Arabic with me, as I wished to know how the tongue is pronounced here in case I should have ever to ordain here or in Cairo. . . . Then I drove with Mr. C. along the canal banks, down which we saw some eight or ten small steamer-tugs with British sailors on their way to Assouan. Poor fellows ! I fear far from the wliolc lot we saw will return home again. We tried to find the tomb of St. Mark as I saw it with Dean Stanley twenty-two years ago ; but it is now buried imderground and bricked up, through fear I suppose of insurrectionaiy movements. . . . Doubtless to their bishops and others some secret access is reserved. My next will be probably from Aden. ToDr. JohnFkench. (Same date.) Before my hotel are masses of ruined buildings left from the bombardment. The bricks and stones are adroitly piled in exquisite order so as to leave no impression of past ruins, but of grand buildings purposed anew. One of the most patriotic shams I ever saw ! Some little missive for Edith always accompanied the longer journal-letters — a verse or two of Scripture^ or a verse of Scripture and a verse of a hymn, with here and there a word heavily underlined or written out in capitals for emphasis, and now and then a single line of greeting. These were continued to the last, but after the return to India were sometimes interspersed with longer letters. To Edith. My beloved Child, Jyepoor, Oct. 15, 1884. Your dear suffering face so often rises up before me with sorrowful and yet most loving remembrance, and, as I cannot tell just how you are, I can only guess, or rather ask God to tell me, what thought and what sweet text of His word will help you best. To-day I will just give you the last words of my sermon this evening, which had a little bit of farewell in it for the passengers, to whom I have tried to speak, though very poorly, of the things of God. 'One step forward (as Bishop Wilkinson says), one step bravely taken with foot firmly planted (as when the Ephesian Christians burnt their books of sorcery), may make all the difference in our whole course for time and for eternity. I have prayed, and shall still pray, that it may be so with many here. Do you also pray for this ! so when life's voyage is over, some parts of it calm and smooth as ours has been, and others rough and boisterous, as i86 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH some we have known, it shall be given us to meet in the harbour of rest and refuge, the haven of abiding security of which the Christian poet sings : — " There no troubles more await us, There the temi^ests cease to roar. There it is that those who hate us Shall disturb our peace no more, Trouble ceases On that tranquil, happy shore." Or — as the Psalmist puts it — " Then are they glad because they are at rest ; and so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.'" Dear Cyril and Lydia and your dearest mother were here with me many many years ago. ... I do long to have a peep at you, but I seem to trust and believe that our spirits do meet : — 'There is a spot where spirits blend. And friend holds fellowship with friend ; Though sundered far, by faith we meet Around one common mercy-seat.' I am, with fond love, Your father and friend in Jesus, Thos. V. Lahore. To Edith. Nov. 3, 1884. It was a great joy and comfort to me to get your card and your own dear handwriting again. I hope I shall never lose it, but keep it jjinned into my diary. It must have sorely tried you, but a dear child's love is of untold price in this far-off land of exile. Yesterday and to-day have been days of sore brain efforts ; all sorts of stirring anxious questions have had to be discussed and partly settled. ... I wonder whether I shall sleep after it all ; if I don't I shall have more time to think of and pray for you. Nov. 4. I have got up pretty early to add a few words. I must give you a text at least out of Jeremiah xxxi — he is one of my favourite prophets — verses 3, 10, 14, 25. I want the comfort of these verses too, and shall try to share them with you to-day. The blossoms I enclose are cherry blossoms from Dugshai, which I gathered and have kissed them for you. October was a curious season for them to blossom, was it not ? To Edith. ^ ,^ „ ierozepore, Nov. 8. It saddened me to learn that you were suffering again, but it was sweet to know that hymns of faith and trust were helping LETTERS TO EDITH 187 you to lean on Jesus and to find Him near, nearer, nearer, nearer still, ill in body, but tvcU in spirit because of His being near. My heart is full of sympathy and loving thought toward you, and I can only think of St. Peter's encouraging words — ' Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as to a faithful Creator.' As I heard an old minister once say, 'We don't dare keep them ourselves, nor can any one else keep them for us,' so we can only say, ' To TJij/ hands I commend my spirit. ' The Psalm says the same elsewhere, does it not ? ' The Lord Himself is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand, the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: yea, it is even He that shall keep thy soul.' So it is that the peace of God keeps (garrisons) the heart through Christ Jesus. This morning I am speaking of the two appearings, or Epiphanies, from Titus ii. 11, 12, the Epiphany of grace which began the work of God in us and all His people ; and the Epiphany of glory which comj)lctes it ! What a beautiful gladdening teaching is this ! Last night little Euthie [Moulson] put her hand into mine, and walked five or six times round the nice green garden with me, holding my black walking-stick with the other hand. She seems happily quiet and still with me, but is not yet quite at home enough to talk. She said the other day as she watched the moon moving, she thought it must be in its gari driving : quite poetical this, her little substitute for Copernic us' and Newton's theories of the heavenly bodies ! To Mrs. French. Lahore, Nov. 21. To-night I have your dear letter of the 30th of October, which again gives a sad account of poor dear Edith. She seems at length to be able to contemplate the great change before her. I was gathering a China aster for her in the Government Gardens this morning, and wonder sometimes whether it will ever reach her while living. I thank God with you for the bright simplicity of her faith. I am glad she can still send me her love, though even that must be almost an effort. One asks if the love of the pure freed spirit will be more intense when the body is a clog no longer. In forwarding the flower to his daughter the bishop said : — ■ It must be the loveliest and purest and sweetest of gardens where Jesus is. " O Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to Thy voice : cause me to hear it." "Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ? " ' i88 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To Mrs. French. ^ Dec. 13. Your full account of dear Edith's precious words and out- pourings of heart were truly valued. ... I hope they will never be lost. I do praise God that the subject she seemed some while since to shrink from has no terrors or misgiving for her now, that death is to her what it truly is to God's child, falling back into the arms of Jesus. I do tiy to commend her to the tender loving sympathy of her Saviour by night and day. ... I always bind the dear mother and child together in my prayers. To-morrow week the Duke of Connaught and the Duchess are to be here, but I have to consecrate the railway church at Rawul Pindi, so cannot preach before him. I have asked Mr. M. to allow Mr. Shirrelf or Mr. Bateman to preach once for C. M. S. missions. I think it might interest the Duke to hear some of our most apostolic men. I may possibly get back on Monday for the Government House party, and would have arranged differently for the Sunday had I known he would be here. I would like to have shown my respect for the son of the Empress. To Edith. , _ Lahore, Dec. 15. I think of you in all I read, and to-day in reading about the early martjTS of Christ I thought some of their sayings applicable to you, and that in your sufferings for and loith Christ you and they are one in Him. One of them named Maximus said, ' These are not torments which are inflicted for the name of Jesus Christ my Lord, but anointings.' I love so to 111 ar tlmt the thought of heaven is so dear to you. One day I w.is i\ niimling you before I set out for India, how sweet it is to think tliere are no disappointments in heaven — 'Wish and fulfilment can severed be ne'er, Nor the thing wished for come short of the prayer.' Yesterday I spoke of heaven to the soldiers as that full sight of Jesus which fulfils His image in us — the beautiful Image of His Son, which God foreordained all His children to wear. In the evening I spoke of heaven as God's field with no tares any more, only fine pure wheat : as Augustine says, ' Christ suffered tares to be sown among the wheat for the sake of the Church itself in its pilgrim and stranger state, that we may ardently yearn for the rest and purify of that countiy which is the joy of the blessed angels ' : as a dear Christian worker, as his last day on earth drew near, thought how nice it would be to find himself — ' Far from a world of strife and sin, With God eternally shut in. So Sister Dora's life tells us of a poor boy in her hospital who LAST LETTER. THOUGHTS ON HEAVEN 189 was almost crushed under some cart-wheels, and when he recovered his consciousness after a while, only remembered that Sister Dora was kneeling by his bed, saying — 'A noble army, men and boys, The matron and the maid. Around the Saviour's throne rejoice. In robes of light arrayed : They climbed the steep ascent of heaven ' — Your thoughts about heaven have helped and brightened me, dearest child : God give us grace to meet there in Jesus' presence. To Edith, (The last that could have reached her.) Dearest Edith, Train, Lalla Moosa, Bee. 22. I must send one little word of Christmas love and blessing. I was suffering from pain of limbs yesterday, and two days before, and could not either sleep or think much. But this should help me to feel the more for you. . . . For Christmas I am trying to write on the words in Is. xlv, ' Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself.' You must have felt this sometimes in your long days of weakness and nights of suffering. * W^hy has God permitted this to me so young ? and taken from me so many joys which others have ? ' This is hidden from your understanding and reason, yet He reveals a little of it to babes, to the child-like and sim2>le soul, which strives to have one will with His : and what He has taught you lately about heaven and its bright hapj^y prospects shows that He has been preparing you for it, as well as it for you, 'Ho alone,' says Dr, Pusey in a passage I quoted yesterday, • is the medicine to heal our wounded souls, He alone the true riches, Himself the I'obe of righteousness, holiness, and im- mortality, which will fold around our scars, and wounds, and shame, and sin, and give us perfect soundness, covering us with His own glorious light as with a garment.' I must not write more to-day, but am for ever Your own fond father, Thomas V. Lahore. To Mrs. French. Thursday, Dec. 25, 1884. My thoughts you may be sure have been much drawn to you and our precious child to-day. I longed that it could be as last year, when we could enjoy Christmas together. Dear Lydia and my brother ' and the two "babes are spending it quietly here. Mr. Frank French. LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH We are to have our home letters to-night (D.V.). I have been dreading continually to receive the telegraphic news that all is over. I ought hardly, for your sake at least, to wish this teri-ible suspense and heart-breaking suffering alternation between life and death to be prolonged. You are so good in labouring to tell me all. ... I cannot help feeling depressed by our home sorrows. It was intense effort to get ready for this morning's service in the pro-cathedral. I celebrated at 8, and stayed in the vestry till the II service to correct my MS., written at odd hours and half- hours as I could manage it the last two days, and sketched out partly in the rail from Eawul Pindi on Monday. Little thoughts of dearest Edith and you ieill find their way even into my sermons. To-day, speaking of what it would have been if Christ had not come in our flesh, I said, ' The sick and suffering child wasted by lingering illness, the spark of life waning, would have missed the strong arm of the Friend and Brother who now unweariedly and gently supports and bears across the swelling river.' It is a sad yet i3leasurable break into my hardest efforts to dwell on the recollections of the half-hours and quarter-hours spent by the dear bedside, treasured they will be while reason lasts. It is a sore parting for us, however long protracted the issue may be. My text was, 'Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour,' specially of course dwelling on the mystery of the incarnation, yet its being also a veiy blessed revelation of the Father. It was an immense congregation, Government House all there, of course. Some carriages had to drive away through lack of room. I got back [to Lahore] at 5 p.m. [on Monday], read home letters, and then got dressed for Government House dinner, where ' I was placed between the Duchess of Connaught and Lady Downe. It must be a little vexatious to the judges to see me put in such a great place, but I must do as I am told. The Duchess was very agreeable and chatty, asking even about the Vedas and where she could get the best account of them. I recommended Dr. John Muir's five volumes on Vedic texts, which she said she should get as soon as she got to England. I told her a little about the Punjab, its races and missions, and she seemed quite to take an interest in all. To Mrs. French. Jan. 4, 1885. The Queen's (Empress') Proclamation Day occupied us on Thursday, Jan. i. There was an enormous crowd of natives on the plain underneath the fort. All Lahore pretty well was there. A platform contained the whole European population, who seemed like a little flock of kids before a multitude of Hindus and Moslems. EDITH AT REST 191 On January 17 the message came, ' Edith at rest/ The bishop at once shut himself up in his room and poured out his whole heart in a long letter, from which a few sentences only may be quoted : — To Mrs. French. Jan. 17, Truest thanks for venturing the telegram, which reached me just as I was already packed, and starting in ten minutes for Amritsar to begin my three months' visitation. I telegraphed at once not to expect me for to-morrow. I could not really break into the deep sacredness of this sorrow by forcing myself to fulfil even such engagements. The gracious Saviour will count it enough that I have torn myself away for nearly four months from the afflicted home and the partner of all my life's joys and sorrows. What agony of soul it was and wrench none can know beside. You will get the three poor words I telegraphed. It seemed as if I must send them. ... It seems very hard not to be with you now. ... It was a wonderful grace of her loving Saviour to give her that refreshment in the grasp she had of the truth and nearness of the heavenly home, as if the last enemy was indeed destroyed. How strangely delightful must be the relief of that anguished frame, so marked with suffering, but now released at length, to have printed upon it the marks of the Lord Jesus far more fully and perfectly and lovelily than ever before, though I am sure the growing sweetness of that face must have been the shining through of His own inner presence, His own joy pre- vailing over the outward sorrow and suffering ! I do think it such a rich blessing to have had the teaching of that last twelve months, in seeing how gradually there was the perfect work of patience wrought out, and that my time to leave was not ap- pointed me till I could be of little or no good, as my little glimpses and snatches of intercourse were almost too much for her. . . . All this was ordered in love and mercy. . , . But it is almost more than I can bear to think that I shall never look on earth on that pure child-like. Christ-like face again. Yet ' precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.' It seems to bind me 1 if possible) closer than ever to you that we have a.child of our own icHli Christ in Paradise. Jan. 18. I have resolved to keep two and a half days till to- morrow evening quite quiet upstairs, except perhaps for an hour in the evening with the Matthews and the Sisters for a little reading on subjects in harmony with present thoughts. ... I feel that before a three months' visitation a day or two of retreat and prayerful self-searching, and intercession for the diocese, is so urgently needed ; yet I should not have got them except our dear Lord had Himself shut me up in my room by this home- 192 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH sorrow ; and I love to associate you with myself in all my prayers and readings, and ask, if possible, most for you and ours what I ask for myself. . . . Wednesday I hope to get to Clarkabad, a village of poor Christian cultivators, so much more to my mind than one of the big military and civil stations. I wish I had not to go to Sealkote the Sunday after, but I shall be in rush and M-hirl of work again shortly ! The Matthews' heart has been so much drawn out by this affliction. To Mrs. French. Ash Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1885. I have wept many tears over your precious letter, telling me of those last hours. ... In my confirmation address I was too full of thought of poor dearest Edith not to tell them of her last request to have sung 'For ever with the Lord.'. . . They listened, all the thirty-six candidates, soldiers and young ladies, with such solemnity and deep interest. I have so wanted our dear child's love to Jesus to help to kindle some love in other hearts too. I so love to have your exact description of the spot (in Eust- hall church}-ard). I learnt that side pretty well, imagining it to contain (in prospect) the last eai'thly home of our precious child. ... I wonder whether I shall ever stand over that sacred ground From the first years of liis appointment the bishop always cherished the desire of returning at some time to more purely missionary work ; but after Edith's death the burden of the bishopric was felt to be more pressing, and his mind reverted frequently to thoughts of his retirement ; and he was soon engaged in definite negotiations to secure a suitable successor to the see. The events of 1885, which had begun so sadly in his home, were little calculated to diminish his feeling of responsibility — the year was destined to bring with it the close of the Soudan War and death of Charles Gordon, the arrival of Lord Dufferin and the excitement of the Penjdeh incident, and all the hea\'y strain in- volved in the third synod. At its close the archdeacon took furlough in England, and Bishop French's dread that 1 On May 28, 18S9, this entry occurs in his diary: — 'Very pleasant day at Tunbridge Wells with the Barkworths. Solemn half-hour at sacred spot of dearest Edith's grave. Only epitaph, " Till He come." ' THOUGHTS OF RESIGNING he might receive preferment at home, by which India would lose his services, combined with the fact that an old school- fellow, Lord Cross, who was ready to enter into his plans, was at this time Secretary of State for India, decided him not to delay action until some positive breakdown com- pelled it, but to seek for a release at the close of a ten years' service. The next year 1886 was saddened by the loss of three old friends, Mr. Raikes, Dr. Kay, and Mr. Golightly. ' I could scarcely find a trio more steadily attached than that,' he said in a letter to Mrs. Gregg, in February, 1886. A few more letters of that year may be given. To Mrs. Knox. May 20, 1886. You are not forgotten by us in times of weakness and suffering, and I pray that you may be abundantly upheld and supported by the Everlasting Arm, which so wonderfully in so many varied scenes of life has been to us as a family ' The shield of our strength and the sword of our excellency.' I am still, though with faintness of heart, enabled to bear the burden of this weighty diocese. ... As one gets older the sense of weakness and need of clinging tiglit to the Guiding-hand is more than ever felt, and to remember the charge so si^ecially suitable to critical days like these — ' Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not.' . . . To-night the decision of the great struggle in the Irish question takes place, I suppose. It makes a great matter to us out here, for the former Government (Lord Salisbury's) was feared and respected, but not the present. Confusion and inde- cision in our home counsels at once excites a bad spirit among our Indian subjects. I pray God to remember His tender mercies and loving-kindnesses ever of old. Your large towns (such as Leicester) seem to be very steadfast to the Gladstone influence. Mr. Chamberlain's secession must have been a terrible blow to it, however. The future no one seems able to divine. I saw poor Bishop Hannington for a few hours at Eastbourne three years since, but not enough to form an estimate of his character. He seems to have had much of the martyr-like character of my friend Gordon. One wishes only that such men could be sj^ared till later in their course. It must be about two years since we last met. The dear children will all but have forgotten me. But it is not likely I shall soon find my way back to England, and then (if ever) as a worn-out, decrepit old man to get out of sight and out of mind ! I must be thankful to be as well as I am. I wonder whether you managed a simultaneous C. M. S. meeting. VOL. II. o 194 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To Mes. Kxox. (On the birth of a son.) Simla, June 24, 1886. I must send one line to express a father's loving sympathy and congratulation on the birth of your third boy. I can scarcely believe that a group of five already share among them your mother's care and watchful tending : that j'ou have been brought so graciously through this fresh trial was a true joy to us all. I tiy from all your little picturesque notices of each to form as complete an idea of the character of each separate and distinct, as is possible without seeing them grow up day by day under one's own eye. How strange these various idiosyncrasies in the same family appear to me as I muse upon them. It is a comfort for you that one of then- grandfathers will at least be remembered by the elders of your partj' in future life with lo\'ing affection. What remains for me, alas ! but to plead that the God before whom my fathers vvalked, who has led me all my life long unto this day, the angel who defended me. will bless the lad, the youngest, with his brethren and sisters. 'Tltou i-emainest, the children also of thy servants shall continue, and theii- seed shall stand fast in thy sight.' How delightful is that thought — His concern for the children of His faithful ones, ever green and fresh and rich in blessing, while old age makes us worn, withered, and weary often, so that we can contribute so little (wish it as we may) to the blitlieness and joyousness of the little ones, even if distance and time does not estrange : nor are we told much of family reunions in the after-world, though one gladly believes they may be one of the joys gro^A-ing and blooming instead of fading in the great Father's house tlirough eternity. ... I was so grieved not to see the Exton party in then- own home. This is one of the saddest things in my life — its forced unsociableness. Should T live to return I shall be fit, I fear, for nothing and nobody but for the life of a forlorn recluse. . . . Had my life been successful in winning souls there would have been less to mourn. The relationship at least between fathers and children in Christ seems presented and its joys intensified in the world beyond. ... I had not realized that Whitsunday was your dear child's baptismal day — one of bright omen indeed. Part of my text for that day will be often his realized portion, I trust, 'The Lord will give strength unto His people, the Lord tcill give His people the blessing of peace.' To Basil. Simla, Jidy, 1886. I have been rather pleased with a Life of King Alfred by Thomas Hughes. It supplies many interesting facts and ideas for children. His chapters on the codes of legislature drawn up by Alfred are curious, based on Hebrew laws in part, and A GRANDSON. KING ALFRED. UGANDA 195 in part on those of Ina and Offa. I don't think I had under- stood before how much the English nation owes to his statesman- ship and kingcraft. Thomas Hughes seems thorouglily to have found a character most wondrously akin to his own. ... I fear Ml". Gladstone has hardly a friend out here, though he has still a very large following in England. The Kelts stick to him all over England, but not the Saxon race. I i^ray God to shelter and overshadow us, for the time is full of perils. I wish our witness m India were more faithful and consistent. The head of the Brahmo Samaj told me a few days ago he would accept the doctrines of the Christians, but never their practices. To Mks, Gregg. Between Karachi and Lahore by rail. Aug. 20. I have lectured at two or three places lately on the Uganda Mission through its ten years' historj" down to Bishop Hanning- ton's martyrdom. It is singularly interesting, and the best and truest sort of romance. Hilda would have beaten me hollow, I expect, in the examination, even on the Uganda Mission, though I have read almost every line about the Eubaga and Almasi and the other princesses. How true it is ' king's' daughters are among thine honourable women.' I have just finished nearly a thi-ee weeks' visitation at Karachi. . . . There was a Masonic fete for the children in the public garden. Many would have laughed to see me adjudging the skipping-rope prizes, so far at least as to count the nimiber of skips taken in a minute by one of the rival players. For the Parsee and Hindu youths I gave a lecture on the • Life and Character of Cyrus.' . . . The Chief Commissioner of Sindh, Mr. Erskine. kindly took the chair. The Parsees are the most strictlj- fortified and citadelled against the Gospel of all the races we meet in India. I think. ... I leave, I fear, not in very good odour with the upper and woi-ldlier class in Karachi, as I had to warn the young people in the address against some theatricals in the place, some fai-ces which have made very light of some very questionable (to say the least) positions. I am obliged to take a strong line in the diocese on this head, and have incurred much unpopularity in some quarters in consequence, but it is in- e\dtable. . . . My old house-fellow at Eugby, Sii" E. Cross, is now a peer and Secretary of State for India. We used to read our Sophocles and Demosthenes together day by day, little thinking that after forty years events at the world's end should associate us again. This mention of Lord Cross will make it natural to notice some letters from the archbishop and himself to Bishop French at this time with reference to his retirement. o 2 196 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Feom the Archbishop of Canterbury to Bishop French. Lambeth Palace, S.E., July 26, 1886. My dear Bishop and Brother, Let me once for all assure jom that I thank you heartily for writing to me of what is in your own heart, and at once honouring me and humbling me by what I read. I have seen both Crowfoot and Archdeacon Matthew and held long conversations wiih. them. . . . Besides other matters which they say you would be (being all you are) unable to appreciate as others do in respect of the sei-vice you are rendering to the Church of God, they consider that your veiy presence in your place has lifted and daily lifts the mission-cause proper into its tnie position for the first time . . . the missionary commands a different sphere of thought in men's minds from what he has done before. This (as well as the other considerations, which with great gratitude and love to you they urge) is veiy important. I will not Avholly decline to entertain the idea which is urged upon me, with so much that I must respect as coming from you, but for weighty reasons I doubt whether, except on being referred to, I could help. But this is only to show you that I have tried to see the matter in various ways, and that I cannot add that, as at present advised, I could with an easy conscience advocate your proposal if it were more likely than I think to be attended to. . . . I only hope j-ou can believe that I desii-e what you desire, and love what you love, in spite of all. Your faithful and loving brother in Christ, Edward Cantuar. Bishop French to Archdeacon Matthew. Aug. 27, 1886. I earnestly wish that I had the strength left to work by your side as heretofore, but the sense of growing prostration makes me dread taking some unwise and hasty step, or being betrayed into some irritability which might work harm to the Church. How- ever, I Avill do my best (please God), if it be found necessary to hold out till Christmas twelvemonth, as I said before. I have told Lord Cross the same also, as he was an old house-fellow of mine at Eugbj', and I could speak with more frankness and confidence. The Archbishop of Canterbury to Bishop French. Addington Park, Croydon, Sept. 6, 1886. My dear Bishop and Brother, I had an interview with Ai-chdeacon Matthew, and, after comparing my impressions with his own, I really felt unable to proceed further in the business you so confidingly entrusted to me. SELECTION OF A SUCCESSOR 197 I hardened my heart to all the pathos of the situation, and I felt sure I had no right to further your love of evangelization at such a loss to Kv^epvqa-is i\s your retirement would be. At a second interview the other day, he showed me your last letter to him, and when I read your real anxiety about your health, and found also that you had mentioned to him your wish that he should succeed you (I had not told him of this point), I felt that if I had no right to promote your evangelization, I had still less desire to prepare for your canonization. With prayer to be guided aright, and that any mistakes might be over- ruled, and sorrowfully — for I have cleeply rejoiced in the power of Christ through His Bishop of Lahore, — I could not after this conversation, in spite of Archdeacon Matthew's reluctance to have hmiself mentioned, let myself off from writing to the Secretary for India to ask him simply whether it would be possible for him to listen to such an application. Lord Cross replies that he has entered into my letter with much interest, and will do what he can. He thinks the proposed arrangement a very proper one (though I am sure he does not hint any more than i do that your retirement ought to take place unless it is really necessary ; it ought not to be allowed simply because you can find a good suc- cessor — that is not the genius of the episcopal rule). However, he proceeds that he must consult the Viceroy on the matter, and he wrote to him upon the 2nd instant. If, therefore, you have any interest which you can use with the Viceroy against yourself and your diocese and the Church of India, it is right that I should tell you that it is possible for you now to use it. I felt that this was a good time for an ill matter, because no Secretary would be more likely than Lord Cross to look at the matter impartially on one side, and with the spirit of a good and true Churchman on the other. I pray your prayers, and will offer my own for your true guidance. Believe me, with deep respect and affection. Yours always, Edw. Cantuae. Lord Cross, in two letters dated Sept. 22 and Sept. 30 the same year, spoke of his pleasure in hearing from such an old schoolfellow, and his wish that there were more of them, of his regret that the bishop felt compelled to resign, and of his willingness, after consulting with the Viceroy, who approved the plan, to take steps for the appointment of Archdeacon Matthew, on receiving through the Govern- ment of India his formal resignation. 198 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Thus the way was prepared more than a year beforehand for what at last took place, but it was not without consider- able hesitation and sacrifice of his own inclinations that the archdeacon finally consented to accept the see. To Wilfrid. (The Duke of Coiinaught at Lahore.) Lahore, Nov. 7, 1886. All the events of this week I hope your dear mother will have been able to record for you. . . . Eoyalties and Vice-royalties have been entertained, and treating us to levees and durbars, convo- cations, installations, and speeches full of good counsels and ^appropriately felicitous words, with varied, stately, and imposing ceremonial. Loyalty forbad me of course to absent myself, and 1 hope some good is done by suggesting moral and social improve- ments to our rulers and the native chiefs, of whom I saw more than usual, as my knowledge of the languages enables me to converse with rajas, nawabs, et id (/enus omne, of whom there was a large gathering and assortment, in gorgeous and splendid apparel, like Herod Agrippa's of old, and which Homer or our own Spenser would have delighted to describe in rich and effective word-painting. I got a quarter-of-an-hour with the Viceroy at the time he fixed. Two points had to be discussed, the sore Sabbath- breaking at Simla, and erection of public buildings on the Lord's day as on other days, and the necessity of increasing the number of chaplains in this diocese. He promised to look into both these matters. With the Duchess of Connaught I had a few words about Persian and Sanskrit, of which studies she is am- bitious. The Duke I only shook hands with. As he is General of division at Eawul Pindi I may make acquaintance with him there. I want to get him to help in building a new church there, the design of which I brought from Caerleon, whither uncle Eichard took me. A few native gentlemen called to hold inter- course on religious matters, which I was thankful for. The installation of Sir West Eidgeway with the Star of India was an interesting ceremony, for his good services as head of the Boundary Commission. The pomp and parade of it all was not to my mind at all, except so far as it was characteristic of the race, and gave them simple, childish gratification. It gives the two races opportunities of meeting which but rarely occur. I found it helpful in the intervals to prepare for to-day's services, one sermon being a contrast between the navfjyvpi^ of earth, its festive assemblies and convocations, with the travi^yvpii which St. Paul to the Hebrews so beautifully touches upon (Heb. xii. 22, 23), wavrjyvpei Kai €KK\r]aia npcoTOTOKoyv ajroyeypapfxevoyv ev ovpdvois. (By- the-by, I do hope, dear fellow, you keep ujj your Greek Testament carefully by reading a few, even six, verses daUy ; it will be such a terrible loss to put it aside and forget it.) I fear we may never STATE PAGEANTRIES : THE CHRISTIAN CROWN 199 have the opportunity of Platonizing again, and conning the histories of Tiberius and Claudius together. ... I thank you all so much for your loving inquiries about my health ; I am gradually gaining strength, but I feel I cannot hope to be equal to the burden of the office for very long. . . . About six weeks hence I shall be entering on the tenth year of my episcopate, which I did not venture to hope when I first undertook it. I am so pleased to hear of the interesting gatherings and philanthropic meetings you are able to attend. High sympathies and aspirations must be awakened and fed, and prayers ' for all estates of men in Christ's holy Church.' . . . Bishop Bickersteth was a great friend of mine, so that you must not take for granted that his estimate of my work is at all a correct one. All will at once see that it is sadly exaggerated. May all the credit, the little that may possibly belong to me, and the more that does not, be yielded to Him of whom Zechariah writes so beautifully, 'He shall bear the glory.'. . . I leave for Quettah in ten days, please God. I wish I could get the church there begun — the first stone laid at least. ... It has been a year of sad disappointments ; of Christ alone it can be always said, ' His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. ' To Mrs. Sheldon. Ambala, Dec. 11, 1886. A year hence, if I live, I shall have been forty years in orders, all of them years of work, though I dare not say years of ' sei-vice. " As I thought in preparing a sermon last week on that text — ' Man goeth forth to his work and to his service (original ) until the evening.' To Mbs. Sheldon. Lahore, Dec. 26, 1886, St. Stephen's Day. This morning I took, after long preparation, a new text, Isa. xxviii. 5, 6, trying to show how, in spite of all the lowliness of the manger of Bethlehem, Christ Incarnate had been seen to His saints in all ages as 'the crown of glory and diadem of beauty' — to St. Stephen, to St. Paul before Nero, to Bishop Hannington and his little band of fellow-martyrs at Uganda — to many in high and low places, as St. Louis IX, Elizabeth of Hungaiy, Alfred the Great. As the hymn has it beginning ' Palms of glory ' : — 'Kings their crowns for harps resign, Crying, as they strike the chords — "Take the kingdom, it is Thine, King of kings, and Lord of lords." ' I was never so near breaking down from voicelessness since I was curate at Burton, when I had to preach a charity sermon at 200 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH dear old Trinity Church one Sunday evening in our dear father's absence, on the text, 'Spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.' I remember good old Mrs. E. encouraging me about it afterwards, and assuring me it was not lost labour, though delivered in all hut a whisper. I sujjpose you hardly remember my distressful effort to get through in the presence of one of those fine Sunday evening congregations. How the old days come back upon one now that grey hairs and the incipient infirmities of old age multiply. I must praise God that as far as I can tell He has never given so much apparent blessing to my preaching as this last year, . . . unless it were the twenty months at Clifton. It is but small at the best, yet under tendencies to depression it has helped me. ... I have just got Bishop Hanninf)- ton's Life. How much of the interest of the whole is really summed up in a few days as regards the spiritual interest, the attempt to represent him as a hero and knight of chivalry rather unduly predominating. However, that will make the book very readable and useful to young men and women. To Archdeacon Matthew. Lahore, Jan. 7, 1887. I have notified my own resignation distinctly and decidedly for Christmas next, because I feel my strength of mind and body is spent, and memory fails me painfully, and that I am liable to continuous and serious mistakes, besides inability to grasp the whole of weighty matters brought before me from time to time. I must make bold to say that in all my life's experience, and in my studies of history, I never knew a case of any one called to a prominent public post with such unanimous concurrence and urgency of entreaty as the call I hear expressed from day to day to yourself and Mrs. Matthew to come to the Jielp, I may almost say to the rescue, of a diocese threatening exhaustion and dilapidation. I wish you had been present to witness the intense earnestness with which Lord Dufferin spoke to me of the terrible blow which your loss would inflict on the diocese, and expressing his strong conviction that you were the right man to till the vacancy, I may add also that I should try out of a reduced income to support (anonymously) your diocesan charities, if only you were at the head of management and of direction, to the extent of at least £100 per annum. I wish it might be ,£200 instead, only I feel that I should wrong the diocese and wound it in its best interests if I were to attempt to retain beyond Christmas next the guidance of so anxious and responsible a diocese. For the next six months, at least, the matter may be allowed perhaps to rest where it does at present — in God's hands rather than man's. I need not say how deeply my heart and soul would be gladdened if it were shown you to be His will that for five years or so, at least, you should accede to the Church's plebiscite, as well as LETTERS TO THE ARCHDEACON 20 1 to the call of its highest authorities, and yield yourself as a sacri- fice in recognition of a crisis of its gravest and most momentous needs. I don't think there is a Avord of exaggeration in all this, and it seems to me but fairness and honesty that I should convey my impressions simply to you of the precise position of affairs out here. To Mrs. Knox. Mun-ee, June 14, 1887. A speech of a native youth at Lukoma, on the Nyassa (the lake on which the Charles Janson steamer plies to and fro to bays and islands), struck me the other day as rather good and pointed. ' King a bell in England, sir, ring a bell ; wake up the great men in the colleges, and tell them to send us white teachers ; many here have not seen the white man, nor heard of God ; but these people want Him, and will receive Him. Eing a bell, sir, for teachers to come and bring light to this land of darkness, and tell them not to lose a moment.' My young friend Johnson, a steady St. Ebbite, seems a true apostle among the Nyassa tribes, one who literally dies daily. I mourned greatly over O'Flaherty's loss ; he was one of a thousand. Canon Linton's death has removed one of my few sui-viving friends. Indian life grows very lonely towards the close, for friends made out here are made in passing, and * truly there is none abiding.' One has not been long enough in England to make friends there. I see the Central African Mission bewails as much as I do Canon Linton's loss. What a marvellous wide heart and purse he must have had. Good Mr. Christopher holds out, sole survivor of the little band at the four sister churches. The six months being nearly over, tlie bishop again wrote to the archdeacon : — Murree, June 15, 1887. I have to thank you for your last full letter, which tells me of the increasing difficulties which appear to stand in the way of your returning to India. Full of sorrow to me and deepest regrets as the tidings are, I dare not attempt to put the smallest pressure of importunity. The girding to such posts of duty must after all be from a stronger and tenderer hand than man's, and to Him alone I must now commit the whole matter, having said and done with regard to it all that I feel it right to do without presumption, and attempting to arrogate to oneself the shaping and controlling of events which are in higher hands and wiser counsels. In a week or two I shall tender my resignation to the Secretary of State and to the archbishop, to take effect, with God's permission, on the tenth anniversary of my consecration. . . . It is humiliating to be brought to this, but I have no alternative, 202 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH I am persuaded. As to the future, I can only say, ' Lead, kindly light. One step enough for me. ' I can only see thus much, that I ought not to retain the episcopate. To Mes. French. t- Jiinc 30. The half of this eventful year is all but over. To-day, my letters have gone off to the archbishop, Lord Cross, and the archdeacon. . . . Both to Lord Cross and the archbishop I have said, that if the only hope of bringing out the archdeacon is my holding on for two years (much and deeply as I deprecate it) I would try to hold on at risk of life, and the credit of my office. Now I think I have gone to the ne plus ultra of my possibilities. To Mrs. French. ^ , . Lahore, Aug. 9. Mr. writes asking if the cathedral is to be a Eoman or Protestant place of worship. I have been obliged to give him a good setting-down in a quiet way. . . . These battlings worry me sore, and at my age they are a sad waste of time and strength. I am so thankful to be likely to be soon out of it. Younger men don't object to the 'Martial trumpet and the clang of arms.' All my Eastern tongues are simply buried in this grave of empty controversy. The prophet's word is apposite : ' Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.' To Mrs. French. Dalhousie, Aug. 14. Yesterday morning the river and mountain-stream were too swollen to be safe for travellers, but at two I got off, and the boisterous river (where the bridge was till two or three weeks ago) at the bottom of the Mamli hill was safely crossed with eight or ten coolies holding up the doolie, and the great mountain- stream of Pang Pul also, one and a half miles from Dalhousie. I nearly came to grief there walking on a narrow ledge where a landslip had been while it was raining hard, and bits of big rock came bounding down the decline, and one caught me on the knee, happily on the fleshy part of it chiefly, and knocked me on my knees and nearly carried me over an awkward khud, but the men picked me up, so I have only been lame and shaken. . . . To Mrs. French. Dhur, Pathankot, Aug. 30. Since I got here last evening an immense landslip took place (the veiy next hour !), for about 100 feet breaking down the whole TWO ESCAPES FROM LANDSLIPS 203 road, so that to-day the travelling is peremptorily stopped. Somehow or other Imam Baksh (native servant) managed to pull his tattoo through the wrecks of road. He ought really to have a medal. He was about an hour after me. Keally this journey may well suggest to me a Te Deum of praise, having an escape both in going and coming : I have thought over some of to-day's psalms of praise with glad heart. To Mrs. Moulson. (With reference to Mr. Moulson's illness.) Aug. 15, 1887. I was so thankful that the news from Suez was a little more hopeful. I pray God to spare this poor bereaved Church the darker weeds of widowhood which so great a loss of so noble a worker would entail on us. . . . The sprout out of the stem of Jesse is still [after so many failures of best hopes] able to revive us and turn our winter into spring again. We can sympathize, for your future as well as mine hangs in the balance. * I believe all thy judgements concerning all things to be right ': this is our privilege as well as duty. If only Jehovah Himself becomes to His Chui'ch its crown of glory and diadem of beauty the extinguishing of our poor little lights is a small thing. However, each Christian, I doubt not, must make it his or her motto, 'While she lived, she shone,' as the poem in Jean Ingelow has it. ... I sometimes wish I could have had a long visit at Murree and held a little private infant school for Euthie and sisters. Little D. would have been too young. It would be happy if one could become an infant with infants as Chi-ist was. io Cyril. Dalhousie, Aug. 22. I am anxious to see what will come of the Board of Missions. Both the great Societies seem to wash their hands of it, and all the sjjeakers at this first meeting spoke like children afraid to burn their fingers in picking something out of a flame. To Mrs. Knox. Dhur, Aug. 30 (?). I am happy to think that Edmund and yourself are in your Scotch retreat, which must be a delicious contrast to your Leicestershire townlet. I am afraid he cannot get over my eccentricities, such as wishing the unction could be restored for confirmation, and preferring the eastward position, as I believe the rubric obviously directs it. My Romanism (if it be such) goes no further than these, and the cross on the super-altar, which I always commend when it is seasonable. Vestments, incense, and suchlike I have none of. But I suppose all of us have our peculiarities, though, doubtless, the fewer they are the 204 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH better. ... I am trying to bring another High Churchman to more moderate and deeper evangelical views, and with some degree of real success, I trust. There are alwaj's two ways of dealing with such men — one, ... to leave them alone to themselves, or simply to hit them hai-d with reproofs : this I have more often seen end in men becoming more angry and obstinate, and little or no good has come of it. The otlicr is to remonstrate strongly but lovingly, acknow- ledging at the same time the good that is in them, and their devoted, self sacrificing labours, but not excluding them from posts they have deserved. ... I have reason to hope and believe that my way of dealing has not been other than successful. But I do not set myself up as a model, only I feel that my method of treating these cases is often cruelly misrepresented at home, though my dear Presbyterian missionary brethren understand me bettei-. Old Mr. Forman of Lahore said (I am told) a few months since, ' If our bishops could be like Bishop French we should all be ready to be Episcoi:)alians.' This he and his brethren have several times said publicly. Forgive me for thus appearing to magnify my office, but at least St. Paul did so when his actions were misconstrued, and at any rate Mr. Kobert Clark (to judge by his remarks, p. 479 of this year's InfdUgcnccr) would not join with those who condemn my proceedings. A sound and strong Churchman I am not ashamed of con- fessing myself ; but the dear old C. M. S. I plead for with heart and soul, however much I wish sometimes they were able to work moi-e in harmony with Church authorities, and on the lines of the Church history of the first four centuries as pourtrayed by the late Bishop Wordsworth. Now I have without intending it when I sat down poured out my heart to you ; and to whom have I more the right to do it than to my own beloved eldest daughter, whom I so truly love in the flesh and in the Lord, and for whose bright example I thank God, and for others of my dear children whose bright lives teach me lessons I gladly learn, the aged from the younger? Your last photos of self and children were a real treasure to me. I wish I might have Edmund's newest also. To Mrs. French. „ , Sept. 2, 1887. The archdeacon's letter is far the most hopeful I have yet had as regards his own acceptance. It really does begin to look as if God had been pleased to give success to this plan for the handing over of this diocese, just when I feel I am too broken to do justice to its immense claims and responsibilities. Lord Cross writes (what I pray may humbly be regarded by me as tributary in some small way to the gloiy of our God and Saviour), ' I am sure I am only expressing the feelings of many CIIURCHMANSHIP. WORK AND SACRIFICE 205 others besides myself when I say, that your retirement will cause a void in the Indian episcopate which it will be very difficult adequately to fill.' Our cup of joy is almost overflowing. May our hearts be full of praise and thanksgiving. To Cyril. _ , „ , Lahore, bcpt. 7. Thanks many for your interesting and thoughtful dissertation on the ' Natural, and therefore Wrong. ' You may be sure my verdict would be with yours in the matter. Dr. B. can scarcely have read Butler's sermons on ' Nature ' in its more elevated and original sense, and its degraded and degenerate sense. Those sermons have often helped me much. The historical characters of the Old Testament Scripture Dr. B. handled with power, I thought, on almost the only Sunday I ever heard him preach. What a pity he could not be Archdeacon of Sindh, and broaden his views by ventilating them, and smoothing the rough angles by brushing them and rasping them against the great Eastern world. In such a little corner, what could you expect ? and such implicit reverence for his dicta obiter or jiujitcr ! I dare say he has edified very many, and that e'en his failings are on virtue's and truth's side. I, at any rate, ought to speak charitably, for my shadows are declining ; and though one can, on occasion, take three full duties in this exhausting climate, yet . . . one seems to carry people less with one, except the poor and children and sufferers, with whom I seem more in touch than ever, thank God, and growingly more with the natives than Europeans. Some of the poor soldiers in hospital seem to value the word at one's lips, as this morning two or three seemed quite affectionately thankful. One waxed warm over that tract 'He's overhead,' which is certainly one of the best ever written, I think. I wish the little book of ' Private Pi-ayers ' put forth by Convocation were better done. It seems sadly stiff" and crabbed, and the style half- obsolete. A little book by Pusey is a little better. I wish I had begun when young to select the choice prayers out of various books. A most precious nosegay or garland of prayer might thus be gathered. Do try this : your good sense would cull and reject wisely. Some in the Imitatio Cliristi are worth blending with one's other petitions. Some out of Scudamore are of the very best. To Lydia. Sept. 13. Each day's little added sacrifice I begin to think of more than each day's added luorlc. It is more comforting, and throws one more on the Cross and its infinite inexhaustible sources of strength. 2o6 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To THE Rev. F. A. P. Shirreff. Sept. 15, 1887. My resignation is at length accepted ; . . . and I trust the report is true that the archdeacon has consented to succeed me. This will create a response of real joy and thankfulness through- out the diocese, and, I trust, among the heavenly watchers also charged with the assistant ministering guardianship of the Church on earth. My last year has been one of the very hardest of all, and I can only praise God that I have not collapsed, as I have visited and sojourned some time at every one almost of the more populous and influential stations, and it was not suspected how severe the effort was by any but myself : indeed, I was thought even to have been stronger than for some time back, and even now am far from being as reduced in strength as you were when you left us in the spring. To THE Eev. E. Batemax. „ , Sept. 17. To-day I learn . . . that the archdeacon has accepted the episco- pate, after long hesitation, and I fear with much reluctance. The solemnity of the step taken Avith the uncertainty of the future bow me down at present, and I feel as if I could not wx'ite or speak about it with any freedom, and I beg my friends as much as possible to refrain from mentioning it in letter, but rather to pi'ay that pardoning grace may rest on him who retires (through no longer being equal to the weight of the office and the intricacy and variety of its duties), and that sustaining and establishing grace may rest on him who undertakes the burden in his place. To tins Mr. Bateman replied : — Dharmsala, Sept. 22. I am sure that you have done right. Ever since I saw you here last year I have longed, in spite of my love for j'ou as my bishop, that you would speedily lay aside a burden that was too great for you. You were nearly dead and did not seem to know it. and that in the midst of arduous, phj-sical, and spiritual labours, you should have half a dozen letters at a time about T. A. ' made me very sad for yon. . . . For your future, it is in faithful hands. Whether in England or in India, God has given you grace to show so many signs of an apostle, that I believe He will put an end to j-our perils and jourmyings olt. and that you will be given such a close to your lite as we tind at tlie end of the Acts of the Apostles, when he who has been in so many things your model dwelt in his own hired house and received all that ^ TravelHng allowance. RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED. FUTURE PLANS 207 came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things that concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all con- fidence, no man forbidding him. You must not tiy to follow dear Gordon's steps as you spoke last summer. To Basil. Lahore, Oct. 2. I see nothing better than (for rest's sake and for fulfilment of pledges' sake), to carry out next year my old plan of staying a few weeks at Beyrout, and so Ijreaking the thread of the enormous correspondence which has been oppressing and depressing me of late, and from thence as from a watch-tower looking to see whether and where God has any little work for me to do in my ageing years before I settle down in the old countiy, possibly at St. Andrews or Penzance, or wherever God's providence may lead me. I have always been anxious to learn to talk Arabic as it is spoken in so many missionaiy lands, and either in India or elsewhere I may be able to turn it to account. Anyhow, my friends feel that it would be more becoming for me, and le-is embarrassing for the bishop who succeeds me, that I should absent myself from India for a year. Then if God requires me for any Indian work His call will reach me. If elsewhere, I hope I shall be ready. ... I am packing up my books already, and have almost dismantled my crowded shelves, which begin to look reproachfully empty. Thousands of letters have to be torn up : happily there is a dry well in the compound whose mouth could take in 1,000 cartloads of torn letters and still be gaping, and ever so many Josephs besides! which I hope it will not have to do. Thus far only a small jackal's cub has been known to fall into it. I delight to think of you in my favourite St. Andrews : I wonder what took you there. To Mrs. Gregg. ^ , Lahore, Oct. 14. . . . Much of my labour in the Punjab has been to distinguish mere Low Church partisanship) from the genuine pure and sound evangelical doctrine, together with wholesome Church discipline and order. I feel so thankful to God for allowing me to have this role allotted me in a matter where my own convictions were so strong, and I had to call no man master, but only Christ. It is only when by God's grace this independence of character is given that a man's judgement has any weight, though our friends may sometimes be distressed, and one may be led by that very in- dependence into occasional mistakes to be regretted. ... It is a marvel to me that I have been kept up for ten years, yet I am not much above half Moses' age. Sometimes I feel as well as ever and then droop again. I have had no fever this year as Jast autumn. 2o8 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To Basil. t , , Lahore, Oct. 21. I wonder Cyril and yourself had forgotten the enthusiasm with which I used to speak of my former visit to St. Andrews, and my selection of it as perhaps the place where I should like to spend my last days, if in England at all. The valley of the Dura, with its geological points of interest, I walked over to and examined, as also the old cathedral, castle, cemeteries, and the University lecture-rooms where Chalmers used to lecture, John Knox's pulpit, Tulloch's pulpit, Hugh Miller's geological collection, the grave of Rutherford. Moreover, I heard the great preacher you speak of, and another perhaps still greater of the Scotch Free Church. So my two days were pretty well spent, though I did no golfing, I am afraid. The view of it as one enters by train is very striking and attractive, and even the grass in the streets looks like the grass that grows in venerable ruins. I shall be happy indeed to learn that your exam, is passed satisfactorily. I can scarcely doubt it will be so, please God. To THE Rev. R. Bateman. Batala, Oct. 24, 1887. I was much affected, beloved brother in Christ, by your loving letter received on Friday last. . . . None I have received has touched me so much. I must feel, howevei-, that I am tenfold more indebted to you for what God's grace has enabled you to teach us by way of example, than you can possibly be to me for my poor scattered and imperfect efforts in the missionary field. Nevertheless I cannot fail to be cheered and encouraged and quickened in my thanksgivings to Him ' who counted me worthy putting me into the ministry,' by the assurance that I have been in the least helpful to one whom I so truly and deeply love and honour, though our minds are in some ways differently constituted, and diversity of experience, as well as of the posts we have been called upon to occupy, sometimes cause our lines of action to diverge. Perplexed and embarrassed sorely, I must confess to have been of late amid ' the things that are shaken ' in churches as well as states, as distinguished from "the kingdom which cannot be moved,' ' the kingdom of God which is within us,' and my comfort is to feel that the Spirit that dwelleth in us is the Spirit of counsel and strength as well as of love and peace, and also to seek for that simplicity and singleness of godly sincerity which the great apostle so loved to cultivate, and felt a ground of assurance in the consciousness that in that simplicity his life was lived and his work was done. May our gracious Saviour bless and reward you for all the comfort you have ministered to me. . . . Don't forget to pray for me in this trying epoch of my life's history. A TESTIMONIAL 209 The Eev. E. Bateman to Bishop French. (Re Testimonial from Native Church.) Amritsar, Nov. 18, 1887. . . . The impulse comes from the natives, the direction is better in European hands. Being questioned as to what would be an acceptable present, ... I avowed that I thought I could only guarantee one article, and that was a black instead of a blue bag to carry your books about in ! So it was decided to collect money and leave the disposal of it to your lordship. Some said a scholar- ship, others a bed in a hospital, others a prize fund, others a new mission station ; but all with whom I have come in contact feel that as there is every hope that you will continue to be a standard- bearer amongst us, it was best that you should choose the flag and the place for planting it. ... I think I am safe in my expectation that from 1,300 to 1,500 rupees is likely to accrue. . . . What would you think of a double i^resentation at Amritsar and Delhi ? . . . It is our business to consult your convenience, well knowing the checks you jjlace on that convenience yourself. To THE Rev. B- Bateman. Lahore, Nov. 19, 1887. In face of recent Government regulations prohibiting (if I rightly understand them) Government officers from accepting tributes and memorials of regard on vacating their posts of duty, I feel some difficulty in knowing how I ought to deal with such affectionately devised j^roofs of esteem as I learn (to my exceeding surprise) you are made the channel of conveying to me from a widespread circle of members of the native flock, who in their poverty must have severely taxed themselves to contribute so large a sum in the form of a thank-offering for services, the remembrance of which (as they draw for the present to a close) presents itself to me in scarcely any other light than that of deep humiliation and cause of contrition, more especially for things left undone as well as defects and feeble results of things done. I have deprecated firmly as in duty bound any contributions and presents gathered for myself personally. Perhaps I need not hesitate to regard the acceptance of the sums raised ... as stand- ing on a different footing altogether, and scarcely admitting of being interpreted into a breach of i-egulation. The plan has been very lovingly and thoughtfully devised, being so designed as to save me the pain with which the richer must ever I'eceive gifts from the poorer and more straitened, while the spirit of it and the readiness betokened by the large amount raised are themselves a possession and an inheritance of incalculable value, and of which I both have now and must ever retain a veiy full and hearty appreciation and grateful recollection. VOL. II. P 2IO LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH One thing I must earnestly ask you to get me excused from . . . and that is any public demonstration. ... I shall feel it to be a most considerate act of filial and brotherly affection if they will dispense with this act of bidding me a public farewell. ... I had much rather look forward hopefully and thankfully to the very probable meeting by ones and twos on my return, if God will, to the land whose people I love and long after *in the bowels of Jesus Christ.' As to the choice of a special object, which is with so much kindness and delicacy of feeUng left with myself, I would suggest that its form be the putting a new life and giving a new impulse to the Native Pastorate Fund, which I think the most really helpful and unobjectionable method possible of promoting the pastorate of our Indian Church, making a grant to each flock no more than equivalent to what they themselves contribute to the su])port of their own pastor : this up to the point that the fund will hold out. This fund has about Es. 6,250 in hand, and the addition of such an amount as you specify would not only in itself be a large accession but would draw attention to the fund, invite further accumulation, and stir up congregational liberality. ... In the midst of heavy and anxious preparations for the inorroAV I have with diflicurty written thus much, and must close, Ijegging to repeat all that I expressed above of my heart's cordial thankfulness, and to add my fervent prayer that the promise, 'I will bless thee and make thee a blessing,' may be richly the portion of the whole flock (which has dealt so truly and affectionately by its chief earthly shepherd) from the hands of the great and chief Shepherd. To Mrs. Gregg. Lahore (Advent Sunday), Nov. 27, 1887. I prepared two sermons (partly farewells) for to-day, but one I thought too elaborate for such an occasion on the words, ' Then conieth the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom,' a difficult passage on which I made a careful study of St. Hilary, Chrysostom, and Athanasius, with Godet and Wordsworth, but after all I leave it unpreached for the sake of more edification. The more learned sermons and creditable to one's head one does occasionally put aside for something simple and more appealing to the heart \ ... It may be long before I have a stated ministry again, but I have very much to be thankful for in open doors set l>efore me in time past, and the great House-Master often finds some easier places and less exhausting services for his old and worn-out servants. ... I trust I am not breaking with the native ^ The bishop substituted a sermon on i Thess. ii. 19, 20. THE WEDDING OF HIS DAUGHTER 211 Churches and cutting off connexion with them. Some messages I have received both from flocks and individuals among them have been very affecting, and contain thankful assurance that my episcopate has not built any barrier between myself and my old work. The wedding guest-chamber gave me a public opportunity of bidding farewell to the community here. ... I am promised H hearty welcome by my missionary larethren if I am permitted to return to the field of labour in the Punjab, but of course in my present state of health I promise nothing and give no pledges. It would not do to enter the field again without some definite post being assigned me. I don't find much comes of erratic and semi-detached labourers. There is too much tendency towards this kind of unfettered and undisciplined independence, and I have protested against it on i>rinciple. Little groups of ex- perimentalists, women and others, think to make for themselves little spheres of this sort, wholly uncalled, and enjoy acquiring an easy reputation and giving vent to a little passing excite- ment to the embarrassment rather than the help of the Church of God. I pleaded with the jjeople in the cathedral yesterday for Bible- readings amongst themselves, as a great help to watchfulness against their own special sins, and those of the age, and of the society they move amongst. If they really want to be fed I am sure there are few things so helpful. I have pi-essed this specially in the hill-stations this year, as I deeply feel the need of it for the spiritual growth of the European flocks in India. . . . My care- fully gathered library will gradually be handed over to the cathedral and Divinity School libraries, and be a useful nucleus, I hope, for the studies of clergy and laity in the diocese. . . . Till •Tan. 31 the duties of my office go forward, as it is in fulfilment of them I pay my visit to the Persian Gulf. I take Persian ijsalms and gospels with me, and a few Arabic also, as Arabs meet one along that coast. Other literary work I hope to carry forward for our various missionary departments, if God give me strength. The allusion to tlie wedding guest-chamber refers to the marriage of the bishop's daughter Agnes to Major Francis Henry Thorndike, of the 2nd Eoyal Sussex Eegiment, which took place in the cathedral at Lahore on November 15, 1887. His death next year from sickness contracted during the Black Mountain expedition was a heavy blow. The wedding was made the opportunity of many demon- strations of affection, and the bishop took the occasion to give a parting message to the diocese. After referring humorously to the evasion of the recent p 2 212 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH regulations adroitly compassed by making his daughter, not himself, recipient of their liberality — an honour which she well deserved — he spoke of the three sanctities which dated back to Paradise : the sanctity of marriage, the Sab- bath, and the covenant of grace, which had its ground on the first promise of the ' seed of the woman.' These three sanctities he had made it the one great object of his episcopate to witness to, and to enforce by his private counsels and public teachings. ' The sanctity of marriage dates from Paradise. Wherever our Lord's feet trod there was Paradise. He honoured Cana with His presence, and it is worth noting the wedding festivities there follow immediately a statement of the sublimest mysteries of our faith, " Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man," on which the words straightway follow, " Two days after there was a mar- riage, and the mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus was invited and his disciples." And surely there is no spot a truer Paradise now on earth than the genuine Christian home and family, where Christ's presence and abode is ; and of the Paradise that is to be, one of the lovehest and most expressive symbols is drawn from the ceremonies of the wedding feast : " The marriage of the Lamb is come, and the bride hath made herself ready." At that most blessed of all marriage reunions God grant us all to be re- assembled. ' After the wedding Mrs. French left for home from Bom- bay at the beginning of December, and the bishop went on visitation to Karachi. To Mrs. French. Steamer en route for Karachi, Dec. 2. ... I have offered up most fervent prayers for protection, guidance, and comfort during your voyage, and that both of us may perceive and know what things we ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same — a beauti- ful prayer that just fits our present need. ... I wish you could carry this beautiful sea weather all the way to England, but I fear you must have trjdng seas and biting winds — the last part at any rate, and perhaps much earlier. Your steamer seemed to bear itself nobly along as it left its moorings to take its position opposite the Bunder. Bee. 6, Karachi. What a grand and noble scene the opening of the Truro Cathedral seems to have been ! I hope you will get the THE RESIGNATION-DAY 213 Guardian's account of it. The archdeacon was there, and is enthusiastic about the occasion. Dec. II. I must appreciate the great kindness and affectionate condescension the arclibishop shows in setting such store on my coming to help them in their difficulties, but the whole matter of the Board of Missions would complicate me so much with the C. M. S. that I should be walking on a porcupine's bristles, I fear, if I talked all my mind out, and really it seems at my age as if a little doinci were better than very much talking. Talkers there are to satiety, and always will be ; and I do feel I should carry your views out best — if we must be parted for a while — in taking a small department of my old work up again, and searching for some hidden native apostles. To Mrs. French, Sukkur, Dec. 22, 1887. . . . And so at last the long anticipated day of resignation has come and gone. On the way home from the ordination service yesterday, I turned aside to the telegraph office and sent off" an express telegram to the Secretary of Government to say, ' My resignation takes effect from 4 p.m. this afternoon.' I mentioned that hour because it is just two-thirds of the month, and the salai-y bill is so easily calculated, without minute fractions and decimals for my poor head. You will smile ! As I write these words a telegram comes in from Sir C. Aitchison to say, 'We think of you to-day and bear you upon our hearts.' I am sure you are embraced in this. Now I shall seem to be almost more yours . . . that I sign myself no longer 'Lahore,' but ' T. V. French.' Mr. Tribe writes with wondei-ful affection : — ' I may frankly confess that when you first came to Lahore as bishop I was extremely prejudiced against you, and I am afraid a few other clergymen were also, but your courtesy and large- minded views at once made me feel my own littleness and the injustice of listening to what other people say. I feel sure that not only I but all the clergy in the diocese sincerely regret your departure, and our earnest prayers will be offered that you may be spared many years, and that God's blessing may rest upon your labours. To thank you enough for all your past kindness and forbearance is quite beyond my power.' Ought I not to be thankful . . . for so many tokens of affec- tionate regard as I have so unexpectedly received '? Dec. 29. Did I mention that another great trouble removed, I trust, is the apprehended closing of the Divinity School, as Mr. Weitbrecht is directed by the Society to take it up for the next twelve months ? . . . One of the officers gladdens me by telling me that the new Church foundations at Quettah are being vigorously proceeded with. This takes one of my deepest regrets 214 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH out of the way, as the two recent ordinations dispelled two others, besides fulfilling Miss Holmes' anxious desires to have her frontier evangelists' posts filled satisfactorily. It is interesting thus to see tlie bishop's two early interests, the frontier mission and Lahore College, holding his heart till the last. This long chapter of correspondence may be closed by a short letter to Cyril from Shikarpur, Dec. 28: — 'The new bishop has made a noble sacrifice in accepting the office, and that always promises well for the issues of an enter- prise. It is a marvel to me all along that I have been permitted to commend such a man to our Church and State rulers, and that they have so graciously made all straight and smooth for the new appointment. . . . How well I remember the pleasant smile on your face at breakfast, at Weymouth, when I announced to the family group that I was not to be released from taking the bishopric of Lahore. It is strange to think more than ten years have elapsed ; it seems like yesterday.' CHAPTER XXII. THE CHUECHES OF THE EAST. FROM BAGDAD TO BEYROUT. ' Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.' — St. John vi. 12. 'The hungry sheep look up and are not fed, But swoln with wind and the rank mist they di-aw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread ; Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw Daily devours apace, and nothing said.' Milton. ' Lands of the East, awake ! Soon shall your sons be free, — The sleep of ages break, And rise to liberty ! ' Oakley. The bishop left Karachi on Jan. 5, 1888, with a general view of seeking rest in the Lebanon, but still undecided as to his exact route. He compared himself to the Pilgrim Fathers going forth not knowing whither they went. Some friends urged him homewards, but he could not feel he had earned home yet, so long as any strength remained to him for missionary work, having been out only three and a quarter years. He took with him a small representative library'- of all sorts of books almost, except high mathematics and novels, and prepared to face the unknown perils of a desert journey of about 1,000 miles, in some respects almost a repetition of his experience in Persia, except that now the midland sea of Europe and not the Caspian was his objective point- 2l6 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH "With his usual strong feeling for Church order he had written to Bishop Blyth in Jerusalem before he started for leave to preach within his diocese. Being the sole first-class passenger on board the B. I. Company's Arabia, he passed perhaps the quietest week that he had ever known as far as Bushire, but threw himself at once with enthusiasm into the study of colloquial Arabic, in which he found some help from the ship's crew. Whilst he was reading the 'Sermon on the Mount' with them they had their dinner brought, spiced rice, meat, and dates for garnishing. * I perforce,' he said, ' sat down on the floor with them, and took a date or two to jjlease them. I could not venture on rolling up in lumps in my fingers and pitching into the mouth the savoury food, which they evidently loved like Isaac ! ' At Bushire he was met by the sad (telegraphic) intelli- gence of Mrs. Matthew's death. He spent a week there, and held frequent services both there and at Eesheerah, the telegraph station — the last ministrations in what may fairly be considered an appendage of his former diocese. He preached on, ' We which have believed do enter into rest.' BUSSORAH TO BAGDAD AND BABYLON. An untoward detention on a sandbank at the river bar involved a week's delay at Bussorah, a most uninteresting little town, where the bishop and his fellow-passengers. Dr. McAlister, an American professor, and Mr. Hodgson, a C. M. S. missionary, were entertained by Mr. Buchanan, one of the leading merchants. The Shut-el-Arab, as the joint river is called, is fringed on both sides for some fifty miles up to this point by a thin line of palms, and indeed for some twenty miles further where the Tigris and Euphrates join. Four days from Bussorah up the Tigris brought them to Bagdad : the point most interesting to the bishop was the junction with the river Kerrah or Kerkhan, the old Choaspes, which flows beside the ruins of the ancient Shushan. Upon the way, on February 3 he wrote LETTER TO HIS SUCCESSOR 217 a second letter of condolence to his successor, in which he said : — ' I shall not be far wrong if I devote the 19th or as much of it as in the midst of heavy journeys can be spared to the remem- brance of your entrance on the sphere of duty, whose special difficulties and ever-engrossing toils and responsibilities I so well know and can ajipreciate to a great extent. May you be abun- dantly upheld and supported in the discharge of its duties, and find, as I have been privileged to do sometimes, how light arises in darkness : how alleviated the weight of care is by the simple remembrance of the promise to the weary and heavy laden. In the singular solitariness of a bishop's office such promises come home to the heart and bring refreshment, as I had never known them to do before, so that we may boldly say "The Lord is my helper." I do not feel regaining strength much at present, and hardly know whether I shall find myself equal to the proposed journey across the deserts to Mosul and Aleppo. It will be very interesting in its reminiscences of the most ancient and primeval histories of the world, few and dim as the monumental traces are, and relics of ruined splendour and sunken empires. . . . What I am afraid of is being so wrapped up in these inspiring me- mories of the past as to enfeeble one's holdfast of the bright promises of the future kingdom, which is to break in pieces and supersede all these, and lose sight of that which the archbishop in a recent letter says we should be trying to awaken ourselves and others to comprehend better, "the duty and dignity of Christian missions. " ' I was glad to have in the Guardian the extract from your speech in Oxford on the miscalculations of Canon Taylor as to the rela- tive spread of Islam and the Gospel in India. I think at the same time that there is a subject of deep and self-abasing humili- ation in the lack of very marked and wide extended growth of the kingdom of Christ in Mohammedan lands, and if the Friday fast in the Church of England could be more faithfully observed with a special view to this fact and its causes, which reflect so severely on the Church's dearth of zeal and love, our kindlings of repent- ance and confession of need might do more than all the letters in our religious journals, intended to make it appear there is no occasion for alarm and so to encourage the spirit of slumber ! 'I shall hope to learn something in my journeys of what the Eastern and Eoman Churches, with the American Presbyterian Missions, are doing in these parts, and how far they are at all in touch with the Mohammedans, whether Turkish or Arabian, and what the Church of England might do, either working missions of its own, or trying to set to work agencies and influences in ^ The day appointed for the new bishop's enthronement. 2l8 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH those Eastern Churches which invoke our aid. The archbishop seems to have large and enlightened views on these questions. I hope the Board of Missions . . . may have a committee with broad and clear views on these interesting subjects, more and more of vital concern to our Church, as it seems summoned to take action.' The next letter to Mrs. French is dated Bagdad, Feb- ruary 6 : — ' On the morning of the 4th I had the pleasure of a walk on the Tigris banks of two miles (which was made possible by intricate windings of the steamer's course up the river at that point) to visit the ruins of the one great palace of Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital, which still survives, and of which one block fell about a year ago. It is called the Arch of Cyrus or Khosrou, and refers back probably to a king of that name, the last of the Sassanian dynasty, a contemporary of Mohammed, and a man of famous memories. But long before that it had been historically re- nowned, and stood sieges from various Eoman emperors, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, and Julian. An author I have been reading connects the Parthians with the present Kurds : and certainly the country is now called Kurdistan, and the character of the races agrees pretty well. They and the Britons were the two peoples that cost the Komans so many hard fights, and some- times defeats and slaughter! For 150 miles or more before reaching Bagdad the country becomes more cultivated, and villages of the roughest construction — the houses being of mud, reeds, grass, thatch, with skins and blankets to cover them when storms beat over them, at least in those of the more comfortable type — bi-eak the dreary loneliness of the desert scene ; and ragged children line the banks screaming for bakhshish. Only about Ctesiphon and Selcucia, which face each other on the opposite banks, one observes huge massive remnants of city walls and mounds of earth, concealing monuments of these once splendid and far-famed capitals : the latter built by Seleucus Nicator for his capital, soon after Alexander's death. Dr. McAlister and myself visited these relics of past empires with as much enthusiasm as imagination can elicit out of those huge masses of ruin. Towards sunset the domes and minarets of Bagdad came in sight, beyond the date-palm groves which lined both shores to some depth, mingled with orange gardens and brightened with villas and country residences of merchants and Government officials. It seemed almost lilce approaching Venice, if my retrospect of that city is correct. A bright sunset gilded the whole scene ; and the broad, glassy waters, with small sailing- boats, making it as a land shadowed with wings, added much to the pleasing effect. The only Christian building, which is BAGDAD 219 visible by a lofty dome amid the mosque minarets, is that of the Carmelites, a spacious and solid cathedral edifice. The other churches, of Chaldean and Syrian Catholics and Armenians, are not conspicuous at all. Rome has swallowed up and over- ridden with the Papacy all the Eastern Churches, as far as this city is concei-ned. In Mosul or Beja-out it is different, and some other cities like Diarbekir, Mardin, and Kharpout. . . . ' Dr. Sutton seems to be winning his way among all classes nobly : even the Roman priests and Sisters of Mercy think much of him, and are most civil and friendly, all the more so that they have no medical mission of their own. . . . We purpose to have a donkey-ride to-morrow to Hillah and Babylon, which will occupy the rest of the week for Dr. McAlister and myself, if all goes well. The house here is on the river bank, with a good view in front : it touches behind one of the narrow city streets. It is the usual native style, two or three quadrangular courts, and rooms in two stories, with vaulted cellars beneath called serdabs, which form retreats in the hot season, being cooler than above. We were glad to have stoves lighted yesterday, as it was very damp, or seemed to me so. Next week I must hope to see some- thing of the people here, and of the Eastern Churches and their clergy jjerhaps, if time permits.' To Mrs. Sheldon. Babylon, Fch. 10, 1888. We left on Tuesday at 8 a. m., crossing the Tigris Bridge and journeying across the fifty-five miles of dreary waste towards the Euphrates, which we accomplished in two long days, riding the fine white asses of the country. A naval captain of H. M. S. Comet, stationed at Bagdad, and the American professor I spoke of (Dr. McAlister), were my fellow-travellers. One day we were detained by heavy rains in a caravanserai which would have amused you, the building allotted us being- one three-domed low room, the part of which under the central dome we occupied; under another dome were the mules and asses, and under the third our servants and luggage, a decidedly Eastern arrangement, which it takes time and patience to get used to and make oneself happy. The asses we managed to get cleared out very soon ; as to live in a stable for two days we could not make up our minds readily. The verandah was the place of assemblage of the Arabs of the adjoining village, and a number of them seemed well pleased to listen to some chapters of the Arabic New Testament I read to them, with such short comments and instruction as my small experience in the colloquial enabled me to address to them. The damp and cold was a little trying, there being no stove or fireplace of any kind ; but I had provided myself vdth bedding enough to make 220 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH the nights fairly comfortable; some rude benches of very rough workmanship supplying the place of bedsteads. The villagers sold us the plain bread of the country, thick unleavened cakes which, if fresh, are very eatable and nutiitious, as well as eggs and milk, so that we were not badly off. There was nothing of particular interest on the journey, except a few Arab huts and tents here and there, around a cultivated space eked hardly out of the waste ; and the dreary-looking caravanserai with its lofty mud walls, visible for many miles across the level wastes ; and occasional caravans on their way to and from Kerbela, a great place of pilgrimage to the Shiah Mussulmen. As we drew near Babylon the date-palm gi-oves, lying on both banks of the Euphrates, were pleasant objects for the eye to dwell on, stretching for many miles along the horizon ; and gradually the vast mounds of ruined palaces and temples buried under sand heaps, with here and there huge fragments of dilapidated buildings bearing witness to the grand skilful engineer- ing of ancient builders, and the wealth of bygone empires of the East, gave a most impressive spectacle : though it was disappointing they told so little of their own tale, especially to us who could not decipher the cuneiform character. After crossing the deep broad canal from the Euphrates, ascribed to Semiramis, quite dry at present, but forming in old times a formidable rampart, we halted an hour close under the first building we reached, which Eawlinson and other archaeologists ascribe on very reasonable grounds to the great temple of Bel, the centre of the world's idolatrous system of worship, and around which Nebuchadnezzar's heathen empire clustered and established itself in all its pomp and pride ; becoming thus the 'hammer of the whole earth,' and employed in God's providence as ' His battle-axe and weapons of war.' . . . Yesterday was mostly spent at the Birs Nimroud, sup- posed on good grounds, as it appears, to be the old temple of Belus, with its eight stories in pyramidal ascent, tier upon tier, of which three may be accounted for in the ruins, as they are now visible and to be scaled by travellers. The circuit of the lowest stage is about 2,226 feet, the whole extent of which is honey- combed with chambers, many of which the excavator's pickaxe has laid bare. The summit at present is surmounted by a tower visible for many miles ; but even this, commanding and majestic as it looks, must be but a feeble reflection of the lordly height of grandeur from which it must have looked down of old with supreme contempt on the expanse of level plains, stretching away on this side of the great river and far beyond it, broken only by palm-groves, and possibly artificial lakes and canals, into which Eastern conquerors have delighted to bring the overflow of the Euphrates, with distant views perhaps in fair weather of Calneh, Erech, and Accad, mentioned in Genesis as forming. BABYLON AND BIRS NIMROUD 221 possibly with Bcabylon, a confederacy or group of subject cities. If, as others suppose, and on the theory which many ancient traditions support, this is not only what survives of the great Belus temple, which Herodotus describes, but also the remnant of Nimrod's Babel Tower so familiar to our childhood, the interest is immensely heightened, as you will suppose. And it is abun- dantly possible that what served for the massive supports and solidly grounded bases of the one was utilized also to prop up the central seat of the world's heathen worship, as described by the Greek historian in later ages. Anyhow, there this mysterious height, with its unsolved and perhaps insoluble problem, stands, like the equally inexplicable pile of Stonehenge in our own land : like tribute saved and standing over from the heathen systems of the past in their pride and pomp of power to be laid at the foot of the Cross, when ' He shall divide the spoil with the strong ' — and ' He shall come whose right it is.' Certainly if ever those words seemed to have a uniquely emphatic meaning — 'J will overturn, overturn, overturn,' it would seem to be conveyed to any thinking soul in sight of these ancient landmarks of triumphant paganism, when it ruled empires of such boundless extent. . . Sundmj, Feb. 12. Quinquagesima. May the blessings of this Sunday of holy love be richly vouchsafed you all. . , . Yesterday was spent mostly in Nebuchadnezzar's palace, or kasar, as it is called here, close to the Euphrates banks. Beyond a few por- tions of the stout thick walls of the jialace which Layard exca- vated, there is nothing but heaps on heaps of broken bricks and pottery, some of the bricks bearing cuneiform inscriptions. Dr. M. is trying to carry away some bits chipped off from these flat bricks, about a foot square, or nine inches at least ; but it would be impossible for me to encumber myself with burdens like these. I bought of an Arab one little bit of inscribed stone yesterday, on a little oblong slab not bigger than a piece of Windsor soap, possibly an incantation or hymn to Nebo or Merodach. Fragments of glass of lovely colours lie scattered all round. The Arab family we put up with is large, consisting of a host of children, fowls, sheep, &c. The lambs are brought into the next room at night and tenderly nursed. It is a pleasant pastoral sight, and all are friendly. . . . We have been reading some of the Babylonian histories from Daniel this morning. To Mrs. French. Feb. 10. It is disappointing to think what uncertainty attaches to the various accounts of the great scholars and archaeologists who have undertaken to decipher the cuneiform inscriptions, and to reconcile conflicting accounts of the ancients. . . . Though the brick- work in some sections recently excavated looks as fresh as if it were of yesterday, yet the general effect is suggestive rather of 222 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH brute force and giant dogged determination, and any amount of convict labour to be drawn upon, than of tlie artistic elegance and exquisite beauty of buildings such as those whose remains so charmed me at Persepolis. The meaning of this is that the Babylon lessons are moral and spiritual, rather than lessons of fine arts, although the fragments of pottery glazed in rich colours (the blue and green especially lovely) show that porcelain work of a finished kind was well developed and most plentiful. . . . Feb. nth. A good part of to-day has been spent in examining the mounds of Nebuchadnezzar's palace, standing on its height, and trying to picture the time when he stood on its parapets and exclaimed, ' Is not this great Babylon which I have built ? ' and then when the discipline was complete made his lowly confession of faith : ' Now /, Nehuchadnezzar, praise, extol, and lionour the King of Heaven.' The willows along the Euphrates banks touchingly reminded one of the harps of the captive Jews hung on the willows. I got Captain Butterworth to cut me two or three sticks of them to carry away ; but I fear it is not very likely they will come safe through my journeyings To imagine Belshazzar's boisterous and guilty carousals in the midst of such unbroken silence was difficult, or to think of Alexander dying there in the full tide of his conquests over the whole world, except himself, his own lusts and passions. We took a light lunch under the one tree which is to be found in the circuit of the buildings, and which some suppose to be the sole survivor of the hanging gardens which Nebuchadnezzar built for his favourite Parian queen ! It is one of the most interesting trees in the world if that be the case : and the chief proof given is, that it is quite an exotic, the only one of the kind found in the whole country round. At any rate it may be a descendant of the old plantation in those gardens. ... A colossal elephant in stone, of very dark granite, in a deep ravine of the palace grounds, is perhaps the only remaining historic memorial of the earliest ages of Babylon. Beyond Nebuchadnezzar's palace is another mound, lieneath which are supposed to be buried the relics of the more ancient Babylonian dynasties and of their palaces ; but I cannot learn whose names are graven on the few and dimly deciphered monuments. ... It is pleasant to think of one of St. Peter's epistles being most probably written from Babylon. To Mes. French. Bagdad, Feh. 19, 1888. ... I shall do but little writing, I fear, till I have got a firm hold of the Arabic colloquial, which is occupying me night and day, with French also, which I have much occasion to use as the Christian 1 They did, through the bishop's indomitable perseverance. CARMELITE NUNS' SCHOOL, BAGDAD 223 churches here are approached through it, and my studies in Fenelon, Dupanloup, and others have turned out most seasonable. My Arabic dates from the old days in the Agra fort : the dictionary I use being the veiy same ponderous one you and I carried into the fort together on the day of the battle ! It is a sadly torn and defaced book, but it does its work faithfully. An old Chaldean Christian member of this flock sits several hours a day with me, and I translate Spurgeon's sermons with him, and read the Arabic Bible with an Arabic work of contro- versy written in Spain by a Christian doctor about 870 a. d., and edited by Su" W. Muir. The Christians come up to my room and have a little talk sometimes in Arabic, and I managed to read a lesson in church this morning and give the benediction. ... I contemplate a jom-ney l)y land to the old Mosul or Nineveh : it will take twelve or fourteen days to reach it, I fear. Hajipily Dr. Sutton proposes to accompany me, and two or three of the native flock, one an employe of the Bible Society. . . . Only think of my visiting the nuns' schools of 600 girls, Syrian and Chaldee chiefly, connected with the French Carmelite mission here. The mere-superieure was most gracious, giving me my episcopal title, and having a chair of honour put for me in each class-room, and letting me examine even in French ! . . . One of the sisters is a beautiful Arabic scholar, and it was most interesting to hear her examine in Arabic grammar and in Holy Scripture also, which I specially begged her to question them in. The day previous I called and sat with the four Carmelite priests, who were very civil. Of the others I have only seen the Chaldaeo-Roman bishop, and the Armenian vicaire, who is in place of a bishop. He was particularly friendly, being not in communion with Rome. I found the tomb of Le pere Besson is not here, but at Mosul in a mountain convent. The American missions there have suffered terribly at times : of the seven who hrst went to labour there five died in a very short time, amongst the most famed being Dr. Grant and Dr. Lobdells. The life of the latter I am glancing hastily over. His tomb is well worth a pilgrimage as well as Besson's, and what a contrast between the two men in some ways, but scarcely in zeal, love, and devoted self-sacrifice. ... I am so glad you could be at Bishop Matthew's con- secration. I have thought much of him to-day as just entering on the cathedral work of Lahore. What an enthusiastic and crowded congregation there will be, and a real descent (I pray) of the Holy Spirit's influences and blessing. May he reap in joy what I have sown in tears, and sow still more plentifully for (//?c'/- reapers ! ... I have had some long chats with a Mr. Budge of the British Museum, who is on a visit of rebL-ai ch here, a very young and vigorous traveller. He hopes to visit Mosul also before long, but goes to Babylon this week. He reads off cunei- 224 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH form inscriptions like English, and is trying to get a firman to excavate at Sepharvaim and other old Assyrian cities close at hand. Sepharvaim is the Sippara of the monuments, and is about halfway between this and Babylon. . . . The Tigris rose twelve feet at the beginning of last week, and was a magnificent stream in full flood. Since then it has sunk considerably. The boats are small oval-shaped coracles, osier-made, and lined with skins of cattle, apparently not difficult to manage, but of the rudest possible construction. To Mrs. Moulson. j^^,^^ The Eoman priests speak very discouragingly of the future as regards reaching the Moslem in these lands : the Government being so intensely jealous of any attempt to teach in home or school, so that the barrier is almost hopelessly obstructive. , . , Medical missions seem the one licit and unforbidden mode of reaching Mohammedans : they don't seem able to resist this, and this is a bond of friendly relations even between the C. M. S. mission and the Koman, as the latter have no medical branch, and are most courteous when meeting Dr. Sutton at the bedside of the sick and dying. But as a whole I think the Latins are far less bigoted here than in Europe, though Mariolatry is much the same. Two days ago I visited the Jewish schools. One is a Kagged School of i,ooo children, and ragged and emaciated they looked, ]woY things ; such suffering countenances I have rarely seen. The cane seemed brandished about in a terrible way, with menaces enough to drive all the heart out of them. They all get a bit of bread once a day at the school. I gave them enough to give a second bit to each for that day, costing about Id. for each". We looked at their largest synagogue after. It has the usual flat roof, and part is open to the sky, and part overspread with matting to keep the sun out. Let into the wall is a little mosaic of stones, with a notice in Hebrew that these are of the rock in Sion Mount, and the mortar even is made of earth from Jeru- salem. I then went to hear a bit of a lecture in the Talmudic school, which is famous here. Old grey-haired J ews were listening to an exposition by a group of rabbis 'sitting in Moses' seat,' I suppose, and discussing questions of law and theology. They were learning when we went in how to sharpen knives for butchering animals, on which the Talmud has very exacting requirements. The smallest notch spoils the instrument, which " The bishop was distressed that his offer was not accepted, as coming from a Christian ; ' but then one thought of God's Son Himself from heaven being rejected, so that one ought to feel no wonder at such an incident as this ! ' ANECDOTE OF DR. VALPY 225 must pass through the animal's neck so that there is scarce a con- scious sensation of being killed. At a higher school, maintained chiefly by the Sassoons of Bombay, they learnt English, French, Arabic, Hebrew, besides some industries. There seem some 40,000 Jews in Bagdad, sprung chiefly from the old Babylonian Jews of the captivity. To Mrs. French. February 27. The Tigris is tossed like a sea to-day with a strong south wind ; it is a great sight really. I had no idea how difficult it would be to make arrangements for travel, but scarcely any people, except excavators and eccentric people like the s, seem to come into these parts, which I am surprised at, considering the historical interest attaching to them. I am afraid this stay at Bagdad has not been as much of a rest as I hoped ; but I hope I have broken the back of the Arabic colloquial a little. The ride in the desert ought to help to soothe the brain if not to rest the body. In the course of his Arabic studies here, in translating Spurgeon's two thousandth sermon, the bishop met with half a page devoted to the story of some lines by his grand- father (Dr. Valpy) with which he was familiar in his own father's Bible : — 'Lord, let me end in peace my breath. And Thy salvation see ; My sins deserve eternal death. But Jesus died for me.' These lines Dr. Valpy wrote as his confession of faith, and gave to Dr. Marsh, who put them on his study mantel- shelf. The Earl of Roden came in, saw them, and begged for a copy, which he put on his mantel-shelf Greneral Taylor, a Waterloo hero, noticed them, and read them over and over again while staying with Lord Roden, till the latter remarked, 'Taylor, I should think you know those lines by heart.' He answered, ' I do know them by heart, indeed my heart has grasped their meaning.' He handed them over to an officer going to the Crimean "War. He came home to die. Dr. Marsh went to see him. The poor soul in his weakness said, ' Do you knoAV this verse General VOL. II. Q 226 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Taylor gave me ? It brouglit me to my Saviour, and I die in peace.' FROM BAGDAD TO MOSUL. The next letter from KifFree Taoiik (?), between Bagdad and Mosul, Asiatic Turkey, March 6, 1888, was written seated on a mule-trunk in a little hut in one of the dreary, and what English people would call filthy, caravanserais. ' After being delayed a day or two for post horses, we started at length successfully from the Mission House, Bagdad, on Thurs- day, March i. Our first march of twenty miles was accomiilished in about four hours, to a place called Judeida, on a fine broad reach of the Tigris almost like a lake, but with swift stream. The horses, as a rule, go well, and even canter in pleasantly after twenty or twenty-five miles, It is a great advantage to have this arranged for us by the Government posts, as I found it in Persia ; but we are not sure of escaping detention hy there l^eing no horses to be spared, as last night, for example ; but we were able to hire others in the place. The caravanserais are equally unfurnished with those in Persia, but are less clean, and the multitude of creeping, crawling insects is a real trial sometimes. Dr. Sutton is quite a victim to them. My blood running more slowly attracts them less, but one's sleep is much broken by them. The post caravanserai is almost crowded at night with flocks of sheep and goats, with cows and horses also driven in for safety, as the one only door and the tall walls do not invite the thief and robber, and are a much valued protection. Often we all have to be con- tent with a single mud hut just within the entrance door — that is Dr. Sutton and myself ; Selim, a Bep-out youth, fairly well educated, at least he knows Englisli and Arabic well ; Naoum (the same name as Naomi, leaving out the i). a colporteur of the Bible Society, who brings Bibles for sale ; my old servant, Hunnah Minus ))y name ; the nephew of a late Chaldean patriarch, Ehas ; an Armenian gentleman, who joined himself to us for security's sake. Our beds have to be spread most often on the mud floor, with jjerhaps a Persian carpet or drugget kindly spread out of respect, and I am often lovingly reminded of the careful forethought of my . . . wife in getting me to take the large rizai. which was her own, and the large oilcloth for securing all from wet and soil. Three and a half mules are occupied with my mule-boxes, two trunks, two or three bags with lunch-basket (an inestimable treasure in s)ich a journey), robe-case, writing-case, and bedding. The long rides are an effort certainly, and cause some weariness and pain ; l>ut to-day I got a tight belt, ^^-hich was a great help. Saturday we were some ton hours in the saddle, and it was one of the hardest and most exhausting days I ever experienced, as heavy DILHI ABBAS AND KARA TUPPA 227 rains had saturated the countiy and turned hundreds of miles into a swamp, which would not have been so bad but for the ditches dividing one desert tract from another. How to get ourselves and horses across these broad, deep ditches was a pro- blem of no small difficulty. However, at the worst points some Arabs came to the rescue, divested of all clothing encumbrance, and carried us on their shoulders across, unlading the mules also, and transferring the baggage, and pulling out the poor creatures, after tlieir wallowings in the deep ditches, safe up the mud-banks, l)y main force, on the other side. Darkness overtook us in Ihis struggle with the elements, and we could not reach the destination (Dilhi Abbas) we hoped to achieve by 5 p.m. on Saturday the 3rd, but seeing the lights of a wild Arab hamlet by the roadside (whose name I did not learn, if it has a name at all), we threw ourselves on the hospitality of the villagers, and got a little single- roomed house placed at our disposal, all but the zenana part screened by a sort of screen of straw-plaiting, where the good lady and her children secreted themselves. But these Arab ladies are most obliging sometimes : bring their children to be looked at and inquired about, ask about my sons and daughters, and elicit my small stock of Arabic colloquial ; want to know all about our whence and whither, and never forget the bakhshish, of course. If they have turned themselves out of a room for us, we give them an extra rupee or half medjidi, a Turkish coin. Their behaviour is admirable, respectful and even dignified, yet with a freedom of converse which surprises me. On Saturday evening they soon had a fire lit, coffee roasted, ground, then boiled, and poured into cups like dolls' cups, and handed round with some fresh baked bread and the "sour kraut" of curded milk. For a couple of hours the Arab host, with his friends, sat round and listened to stories which a traveller eloquently, and with a profu- sion of gestures and actions suited to the warlike achievements he described of havoc and slaughter, spoke out to the delight of the Arab company, the lady standing like Sarah at the tent door and partly behind it, and taking all in with curious and intense interest. I said to the orator, " Now you have regaled us with feats of war and of arms, suppose you tell us a stoiy out of the history of Abraham." He confessed to profound ignorance on this subject ; so I summoned what Arabic I could, and told them of the offering of Isaac, and God's promises to him, with some teachings on the great account to be rendered before the judgement-seat of Christ. Yesterday at Kara Tuppa, where much in the same way a larger Arab house was given up to us, I was allowed to open my mouth a little more freely in Arabic t>n our Lord Jesus Christ as the •Judge and Saviour of men, taking some texts out of the Koran (a copy of which they laid down before me), and showing what was reliable truth in it and what was not so. These occasions are full of interest, and one longs for the mouth to be freely open.' Q 2 228 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH The account was continued from — Karkhook, March ii. (Eight marches from Bagdad and four from Nineveh or Mosul.) At this strange little city in the far wilderness we are spending the Sunday quietly, and possibly may stay over to-morrow, as the Bible Society colporteur wants to sell some of his Bibles here. We had a march of about twenty-seven miles yesterday, and I was glad it was not longer, as the day before I had rather a bad fall in cantering over these lovely grassy plains, which we had for two days almost continuously between Kiifree Taouk and this place. My horse fell and threw me heavily, catching its foot in a hole, I suppose. However, I am recovering its effects, and hope I may not have another. We had to come very slowly yesterday, as the zaptiehs or mounted guards, which by Government orders accompany travellers in these wild parts (we had four or five of them), seemed in constant apprehension of our leaving the rest of the caravan, lest we should be assaulted by a Kurdish tribe who are said to be hovering about to raid and maraud. I said to the two who rode by me, 'Don't be afraid, God will take care of us if we trust Him.' 'Oh,' said one, 'we are not afraid for ourselves, but for you ; we are commissioned to take care of you, a very precious charge (amanat-ul-azlmat).' The marauding tribe is called the Hamavends, and belong to the same Carduchi or Kurds who troubled Xenophon and his force so much in the march of the 10,000 along the same course, on which our pathway lies for some distance. I do think, however, the quiet of these rides in the finest air possible, and with but few hours allowed for my studies, will, in spite of considerable bodily fatigue, do much to prepare me perhaps for any little work in which I may be hereafter allowed to serve the Church of God. Nor am I by any means shut out from stray opportunities of mission work, almost more than I could enjoy as bishop, I had some very interesting talk with my guards yesterday. Two of them seemed at home in the more classical Arabic, and knew more than the rude and clipped colloquial, which it is so hard to acquire. Several passages out of the gospels on our Lord's life and work I was able to comment upon as we rode along, and where we stopped for an hour to get a cup of tea. In Kiffree on Tuesday we occupied a khan in the centre of the bazaar, and two or three highly educated men among the State officials called and made many most searching and thoughtful inquiries on the nature of our Lord, to resolve which we read and talked over several of the most impressive passages of St. John in Arabic. . . . The chief man of the party was brought to me by a little son of his, a bright, intelligent youth KARKHOOK 229 of a singularly sweet expression of countenance, who found me out the day before and told me he was a schoolboy learning Arabic, Persian and Turkish, so we read a little of the two former in the Arabic and Persian Testaments. When we came to the word ' Isa, ' I told him that was a misnomer, applied to our Lord by the Mohammedans, and that Yezu was the true name, meaning Saviour. Otf the little fellow ran and brought ink, pen and paper, and had the true name and its meaning (and the ' Masili ' also) copied out for him to carry away. When he brought his father next day, it did one good to see the riveted fixed gaze with which he sat, and sought to catch each word. At almost all places we came to, some little work of this sort seems to be given me to cheer and encourage. The boy might be eleven or twelve years of age, and I fancied his becoming to some apostle in days to come what Timothy was to St. Paul, and Gregory to St. Boniface in old times '. This (Karkhook) is a small episcopal city, like a Wells or Salisbury of the East, with a bishop (matran) and cathedral and little body of Chaldean clergy. We sat nearly two hours with the bishop and his priests, a venerable and dignified body. The bishop himself is learned really, quotes Latin and Greek familiarly, and of course Syriac or Chaldee, which is their ecclesiastical language. He sat on a dais, their early services being completed, and the leading members of his congregation in fine dresses mostly came in one by one to make their salaams and pay respect to their bishop. It was a novel and interesting sight. It was an upper chamber at the far end of the court, which was stoutly walled round and paved with stone. The bishop made me sit by him and we conversed in French, which he spoke veiy simply and intelligibly. The Chaldeans are Nestorians whom the Eomish missionaries, after long struggles and with the aid of French prestige and influence, have brought into reunion with Eome. Since then they have been called Chaldean churches. This title is partly adopted, because the race to which they belong claims to be and doubtless is (as their fine imposing stature and resemblance to the figures in the sculptured slabs bears witness) descended from the Chaldeans of Nineveh. My old servant Hunnah (dim. for Yuhannah) is a grand specimen of the race, and easily carries any of us across a broad ditch not to be leapt over. The conversation yesterday turned on the differences between the Anglican and Eomau Churches, which the bishop (Jibrail, i. e. Gabriel) hoped I might and he might see reunited. I said we never could abandon our present mission as a Church to allow any worship whatever, ^ In his journal he adds : 'I said to the father, "Let us pray that an apostle of your own selves may be raised up for this dark land." ' 230 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH whether called Hyperdoulia or Doulia, which contravened the only and unadulterated worship of the one true God ; for instance Virgin-worship, which, however he repudiated it, yet in eveiy part of his (otherwise very simple and unadorned) cathedral were pictures of the Virgin, not even Virgin and Child, but herself alone. They have old copies on desks of the ancient liturgies and the Bible, all in the Chaldee or Syriac ; from the liturgies the names of Nestorius and his chief followers are now expunged, the priest pointed out the efface- ment with ink of their names since the union with Rome, implying that they no longer hold the two persons instead of the single person of the Saviour. The matran thought but little of the missions of the Church of England as compared with the Roman, especially as regards their numbers. Dr. Sutton suggeste I numbers were not the best and only criterion of results. Between Kilfree and Karkhook the road lay under a very picturesque, though not lofty, hill-range for about thirty miles steadily. . . . Each little town was fringed with date-palm groves, and in two or three of them wei"e groves of willows by the waters, like those which grew on the Euphrates at Babylon. Under these hills the black tents and herds and flocks of the Arabs were in singular and pleasing contrast. Far on to the west and Tigris were vast and boundless plains, carpeted at this season with rich vegetation. . . . One cloud-like mass of small, almost black, birds I saw at one point, jjerhaps bee-eaters, at least much of their size and colour ; once or twice I saw a covey of partridges, in villages were turkeys and fowls, and on the doonvays of many houses stood a pair of storks in dignified statue-like guardianship of the respective courts. But the silence of these plains is almost talismanic : one shepherd's pipe only I heard, and the drowsy tinklings of the mules often, and the unmusical songs of the muleteers and zaptiehs. The sheep and cattle are mostly black, though not wholly so ; and the Arabs' dress is black, as their tents also. The kids and lambs are mostly kept in separate flocks and tended by children. Here and there were a few troops of Arab horses, mares chiefly. Far away to the east are a series of gloriously glistening snowy ranges, forming the boundary lines between Persia and Turkish Arabia, anciently called the Zagros, I believe, now called by various names, as the Karrada or White Mountain in Turkish, in Ai-abic Jabl-ul-aswad, which means the same thing. Another is called Khizr Elias, Khizr being the Moslem name for the prophet. The famous battle-field of Arbela ^ (modern Arl)il), still ' Where Alexander defeated Darius and overthrew the Persian empire ij. c. 331. ARBELA. NINEVEH 231 dominated by a fine and noble fort, was passed in dark and gloomy weather, March 14. Nineveh, or Mosul (house of old Chaldean bishop), 3Iarch 21, 1888. . . . We had four long and fatiguing marches between twenty- five and thirty miles daily from Tuesday to Friday of last week, and reached this place by a wearisome circuit on Friday evening, as the heavy rains had swollen the Tigris and the biidge of boats was broken up. We entered between two of the mounds, which are the best known as containing some of the best monuments excavated from ancient Nineveh — Koyunyik, and Nabi Yunus, where is Jonah's I'eputed tomb. We had accepted the invitation of one or two Chaldean priests of the non-Eoman branch of that Church to occupy the very plain and unostentatious house of their bishop, who is at present in Constantinople, trying to prevail on the Government to save his Church from becoming the spoil of the Roman and Latin priests, who in these regions think the great missionary duty of the Church is to swallow up the small Churches which date from the second and third centuries at latest. One of the priests is teaching me to read their Services in Syriac, which I once tried to acquire by taking lessons from a rabbi in London when we were at Beddington. However, it is almost unknown to me now, except for its numerous Hebrew and Arabic roots, and I include it in my other Arabic studies. On Sunday they were not content without my occupying their matran's seat, and I took the Lord's Supper after their form, which is simple enough, except for the veiy elaborate and lengthy form of prayers, the embellished altar, the musical accompaniments by several choirs of youths and boys, more adoration than we allow, and some other particulars. The sermon immediately preceded the consecration, and lasted about a quarter of an hour. It was on our Lord's teaching about fasting, and Isaiah's also in chapter Ivui. I understood much of the di-ift of the discourse. The population is only about half that of Bagdad, and the public buildings are far less imposing. It lies low, close down to the river, not like ancient Nineveh, which was well above it, and surrounded (especially Koyunyik and Nabi Yunus) with towering- mounds of earth, which gave some idea of the enormous material if not moral force which men like Shalmaneser and Sennacherib concentrated on the erection of their capitals, and their own palaces in particular. The massive embankments of earth, brick and conglomerate which encircle Koyunyik, and served, with moats and canals and river streams diverted, as defences to the enormous structures of Sennacherib's and Sardanapalus' palace, cannot be more than 232 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH three or four miles in circumference, though Herodotus' account (corresponding better to Jonah's) makes the city sixty stadia (twelve miles at least) each way. If so it must, or might at least, have included Khorsabad, Sargon's palaces, whose mounds are nine miles N. E.. and Kan-am Lais far S.W. Of the old monuments the best, as you know, have been transferred hj Layard, Eawlinson, Smith. Botta, and others, to the museums of the Lou\Te and London ; still, to see some of the inferior ones on the very original spots has an interest of its own, and in this we spent about three hours yesterday with Mr. Ainslie, a Presbyterian missionary, and Mr. Eassam, nephew of the famed explorer. . . . We try to see the bishops and priests of the various churches here, but it is no easy matter, as there must be seven or eight different ecclesiastical bodies. One old bishop, Matran Mulus of the Jacobite Church, who called this morning, is full of love and of the spirit of God, I do think. The Archbishop of Canterbury thinks highlj^ of him, and recommends those who apply to him here for sphitual help to rally round this matran, who for eight years or so was head of the Syrian Church in Malabar. About fifteen or eighteen persons here are very desirous of placing themselves in connexion with the Church of England rather than the American Presbj^terians, but the archbishop does not favour the idea of adding another to the motley group of discordant Churches. The Americans are very jealous of the movement in the direction of the Englisli Church, and I do not suppose the C. M. S. would at all deshe or favour it. The Jacobite Church wanted me to administer the Lord's Supper next Sunday, as their own bishop is away, but as my Arabic and Syriac would be in part at least unintelligible, I could not accept the courtesy. I promised, if desired, to give the blessing. I doubt whether the Dominican Latin Church would even receive a call from me if I ventured to their doors, as they seem here to be most majestic and imperious and scornful of all but papal adherents. In the reception room of the absent Jacobite bishop we sleep, eat, receive callers from the patriarch down to poor members of what is called the Protestant, that is the Pi-es- byterian. Church. If I called myself a Protestant I should be supposed to be a Presbyterian, which I object to ! This, the only letter during his stay of ten days from Friday, March i6, to Monday, March 26, at Mosul, may be supplemented by some extracts from the bishop's journal. ' Sunday, 18. Attended Jacobite mass. Made to sit in matran's chair. Full choir of youths, who stood the whole time, nearly two hours. I stood much of the time, but they begged me to be JACOBITE MASS, MOSUL seated, perhaps out of pity for my grey hairs ! Full choir of boys also, mostly in white dresses, some white mixed with slightly coloured embroideiy, five candles at altar, only a cross, not a vestige of Mariolatry ; but the curtain drawn and undrawn at intervals, e. g. at time of consecration. Lessons read by a number of young men, some very young, out of law, prophets, and gospels. Psalms chanted and read alternately, and very rcvercntialhj. Two robed deacons, or sub-deacons, in white with scarves of scarlet held staves with what seemed a circular brass-plate at end of each, which they waved, like wings hovering over the consecrating priest, to represent (as appeared) the descent of the Holy Ghost to cause the elements to become the body and blood of the Lord to tlie faithful. The priest also waved a kind of cloth, which he out- spread over the elements before consecration, or at the moment of consecration. Occasionally one of the little boys came out of choir of boys, knelt, and repeated a prayer for the children, I suppose. These various officiators came up to me, and took my hand and kissed it. After the consecration, the priest uplifted the elements before the peojDle, and called them to draw near with faith, love, holiness, not with hati-ed, strife, debate ; then gave a short sermon in Arabic (as above). The church was crowded, and on the whole the congregation seemed devout and reverent ; the sermon listened to in perfect silence. The prayers seemed full of Christ ; the Virgin's name I caught once or twice, but not the connexion in which it came. I begged to receive the elements kneeling, and both were brought me by the officiating priest. Several times the priest, raising his hand, commended the people to the love and peace of God patriarchally. In the sermon, appa- rently, words of most kindly welcome to me, as a visiting matran from a distant Church, were addressed from the priest in his people's behalf. The box for alms was held outside the Church, or a dish of brass rather, no secrecy or privacy apparently ; but I was helpless, so put in my two medjidis in presence of a lot of spectators ! Some little wafers of unleavened flour of round biscuit shape (the usual native bread) were brought me as I left the church, which I distributed to some hungry little boys on the way : a crowd of them and some elders accompanied me ; happily it was not far to the bishop's house. ' At 12 was present at Bible-class, or catechizing (Presbyterian), in Naoum's house ; said a few words. At 3 attended service of prayer and song in fine Latin cathedral of Dominicans, in near neighbourhood ; prayers, liturgical, and in not very sweet sounds uttered by all children, more a scream than musical notes in any sort of harmony ; the priest interposed a short prayer, kneeling before the altar, and the bishop came in at last, perhaps for bene- diction. One short lesson from St. John read, two or three very sweet solos, and some Gregorian chants. Body of church filled with children, sisters, &c. ; at sides men and women. No sermon, 234 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH alas ! which is at mass service at 7 a.m. ; in evening attended American service, Ainslie preached.' ' igth. Sat a considerable time with Bishop Mulus in his library. He is, apparently, tabooed to a great extent by all the Koman clergy here. His library very much of the eclectic charactei' of my own ; much of historical, devotional, theological element, with philosophy of Mar Hebraeus, &c. He was most cordial and friendly, one felt heart to heart with hini. He knew all about Canon Maclean's movement and commission from archbishop.' ' 20th. Visited Chaldean patriai-ch of Babylon, a sort of Sen- nacherib in haughtiness of bearing (at first), and Sardanapalus in exquisite taste and grandeur of his furniture. The Ottoman arms figured at head of his reception room in glowing and brilliant colouring, and on each side was the Mohammedan crescent in showy and magnificent gilding. . . . He beckoned to me and S. to sit opposite to him, while he occupied, not his throne, but a very richly embroidered damask sofa. I tried in French to deliver my witness, as in other cases, and found some freedom. He would not admit any departures of Kome from the original type of doctrine and ritual, nor could he understand the special witness which the ancient Church of England had a commission to deliver. Much discussion of the polygamy question in connexion with the Lambeth council. Some conversation about le Pere Besson, whom he had seen at Rome, and whose history he knew well. Then on white donkey to Koyunyik, and saw all that could be seen now of the winged bulls, and one priest of ancient Nineveh, the best preserved piece of antiquity ; hack very tired.' The rest of the week was spent in similar interviews, and others of more directly missionary character with a Turkish rais, and two hours daily were spent in studying St. Ephraem with a Syrian priest. The bishop always sought to put before the Easterns the position of our English Church. On one occasion he was urged by Matran Mulus to get copies of Bishop Christopher "Wordsworth's TheopMlus Anglicmius printed in Arabic at Bagdad, and circulated through Turkish Arabia with this intent. On the second Sunday he received the Sacrament from the Matran Mulus in his church ; and preached at night to the Presbyterian congregation through an interpreter, receiving many thanks for his address. In a letter to Mrs. Sheldon, written on March 28 at Simbil, on the road to Mardin, the bishop summed up his impressions thus : — NINEVEH AND BABYLON 'The surroundings of Nineveh are, on the whole, much more suggestive than those of Babylon, The Euphrates near Babylon has become a comparatively insignificant stream, through ill-considered and mischievous attempts of the Sultan and his court ladies to divei-t its waters into districts where they have bought up hundreds of miles of desert for their private advantage; and the failure to bank up canals properly, by which the waters of the river have caused useless inundations to the suffering of the people by the creation of swamps, and cutting off of the old supplies relied on by the agriculturists along the bed of the old river'. It suggests the recollection of the words, '' drying up of the waters of the Euphrates," though the context is not much helped by this explanation, unless the failure of the old river route should necessitate a great railway system, and so entrance of European powers, English, Eussian, or other ! Nor does the countiy round Babylon tend to make its history intelligible, whereas Nineveh seems every way grand in its surroundings, and unbounded in its resources. It has a splendid river in the Tigris, with some of the richest and most remunerative soils spread all around it for miles upon miles. Not merely is there a tenacious, yet easily workable, clay for brickmaking and rearing u]i huge mounds of earth for defences, which still stand proud and lordly, though the fortresses, palaces, and wealth treasures they protected have long passed away ; but at ten miles distance for several miles the road passes along and over strata of pure white marble, which glisten in the bright Eastern sun ; and closer in to Nineveh are gypsum quarries, out of which slabs for house fronts in JVIosul are still freely excavated, and which, by being burnt in kilns and pounded fine, produce most beautiful mortar and plaster of Paris of different shades of colour.' MOSUL TO DIAEBEKIR. From Simbil the bishop made a digression to Mariaco, which he thus described : — ' Wednesday I chiefly spent in making my way by rough and savage mountain pathways to a monastery on the summit of one ^ ' When we saw it (the Euphrates) under the Babylon mounds,' the bishop said to Cyril, 'its great waters of jDroverbial force and depth, as well as breadth, were a poor feeble stream only four or five feet deep. Captain Butterworth, who was with me, waded across it and back easily. Engineers say it would cost £1,000,000 to regulate the canals and make up breaches so that the EuiArates would be itself again ! Perhaps this will never be, for the Turks are said to repair nothing, and what we have seen would go to prove that to be true.' 236 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH of these ranges called Mariaco, built on the site of a most vener- able and quaintly antique Chaldean church of solid rock-like masonry — the sanctuary, as usual, only joined to the nave by a broad doorway curtained. As in other churches, the four parts of the Biljle were represented by different readers, boys and young men ; Eph. v. and a portion of the gospels were carefully and distinctly monotoned, and the people listened standing. The ladies were all at the back with a slight screen of separation. There were no hymns or chanting, but all was recited in Arabic. ' I visited the monastery at some pains to see the tomb of a veiy famous Dominican missionary, one of Lacordaire's disciples, whose biography Mrs. Sydney Lear has written, Le pfere Besson, a kind of Henry Martyn of the Koman Church, Pio Nono's chief painter at the Vatican, but he gave up all for Christ, and for his saintliness and exhausting toils and sufferings will doubtless be canonized. I told the Roman priest, a French monk, about Henry Martyn. On the peak of a little cliff facing the monastery is Besson's little tomb, with a small chapel built above it. On the little knoll topped by Besson's tomb are a number of rock- hewn graves, some left above ground, some under, two of martyred Chaldean children, I know not how old. Caverns of Chaldean anchorites look grim and stern, their mouths opening to the fresh air, and giving those old coenobites egress to attend the Chaldean Church sendee at their little cathedral, partly in ruins in its front, but otherwise of such vast solidity that one might suppose it to have been cut out in a single block of the rock. ' Terraced gardens along the heights are in lovely contrast with this savage scenery around. They contain apricots, vines, almonds, figs, a few olives (quite old trees), a few oaks, and almost all European vegetables of the more delicate kind.' The next day was almost more fatiguing than any march on the journey. After riding five hours the bishop felt ill and dismounted, and hid his head from the broiling sun under a small furze bush of ' shok/ waiting for his caravan. For an hour or so he was in terrible plight, while his servant, Hadoori, went on to get water from a rill, and make tea for him. After a long halt he was able to go on for the four hours yet remaining, crossing a great mountain-range out of one country into another, through, in seemingly endless succession, tortuous mazes of rocks, sometimes wholly bare and savage, sometimes with oases of bright, rich vegetation, acres upon acres of narcissus growing wild, with the white genista in full bloom. At the summit MARIACO AND JAKHOO of the pass suddenly there burst in sight a snowy mountain- range, one of the great frontier- separating lines of Central Asia, the southern masses of the vast Niphates chain between Armenia and Asiatic Turkey, from different sides and elevations of which both the Euphrates and Tigris have their chief springs and sources. No Alps or Himalayas could well look grander. Then they emerged upon another grass-grown plain, with spring crops of wheat and barley over endless stretches of undulating lands. At the entrance of these, seen by peeps and glances here and there at times of the descent through chasms and ravines, lay the most picturesque little town of Zagoo (or Jakhoo), surrounded almost by two branches of a clear crystal river, turbulent and strong, the Chabour, i.e. the Chebar of Ezekiel. This spot is regarded by the Arabs as among the most like Paradise, famed for diversities of park forest and pasturage, like the garden of God for glory and beauty. ' Still 100 or more families of the Jews of the first dispersion inhabit the place, besides 150 Moslem families, and some 50 or 60 Christian families. A similar proportion seems to prevail in all the small towns and villages on this route from Mosul towards Constantinople. It is among the non-papal Assyrian-Chaldeans that the archbishop's mission (at their own earnest and repeated invitation) is labouring. . . . They are such a splendid race, these old descendants of the Ninevites, such fine robust athletic men, almost as fair as ourselves, and their women of almost excep- tional beauty and finely formed features, except when wizen with years, and tanned and sunburnt with field labour, in which they take a large shai-e, though I have not seen them at the plough ! ' Jakhoo (like Jazeerah, where the bishop spent his Easter) faces the snowy range of Joodi, said to be the resting-place of the ark on Mount Ararat — ' Siknat-ul-Safinat,' the resting- place of the big ship, as it is called in Arabic. ' Sefinah ' is the Hebrew word in Jonah (i. 5) for the ship he set out in for Tarshish. The Jews of Jakhoo were busy with their Passover, and the bishop spoke with a group of them (Good Friday morning, March 30) on ' Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.' A light march brought him on that night to the little village of Nahirwan, where he gathered 238 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH the Oriental Christians, and spoke to them from the crucifix on the subject of the day. They had no priest in residence, but French described the little parish church — a low- vaulted nave and aisle some fifty feet long, ending in a dome kept very low, not to excite the Moslem jealousy ; the walls and roof two feet in thickness, one very low door ^ on the south side as the only entrance, no windows, one little orifice to let in air, a little altar of the plainest type, one candle, two minute bottles for wine and water, which they generally mix, as was usual in Justin Martyr's time. Torn church books and portions of the Bible were lying scattered about in confusion, and on the altar were the priest's dresses, dirty but wrapped and put in order. He, a poor ignorant rustic, had gone to Mosul to recover stolen property. To the inquiry of what sort of Christian he was, the bishop answered ' Katulik la Papaviya ' (Catholic not Papal), a formula he constantly rehearsed. The caravan was lessened from this point by the return of Dr. Sutton and Naoum to Mosul. His servant Hunnah, whose cooking was atrocious, and not at all proportioned to his muscular praise-worthiness, had been replaced at Mosul by a more efficient dragoman, Hadoori. At Nahirwan cows, horses, buffaloes had to walk through the bishop's single room to their respective quarters! As might be expected, his bed swarmed with bedfellows, and through these and two babies who screamed every hour of the night he did not get a wink of sleep. After this the house of the head layman of the non-papal Syrian Church at Jazeerah 2, — a place where the four rivers, Chabour, Hezil (Halah?), Nirkush and Tigris all unite, — seemed like a small oasis for two nights at Eastertide. The bishop attended the Holy Communion in the Syrian church, but only received the bread not dipped in wine, as ' The doors in the Eastern churches are made low, lest the Moslems should be tempted to stable cattle in the buildings. ^ The name Jazeerah means ' Island.' NAHIRWAN, JAZEERAH, NISIBIN 239 their custom is, nor did any of tlie congregation communi- cate, though devout and fervent in responses. Their own Syrian Easter took place later. In the evening he had readings on the resurrection with his host and his brother, and some of the ladies who gathered, and seemed to give signs of being in earnest. To Mes, French. Mardin, A2)ril 7. We left Jazeerah about sunrise, and still on and on through plains becoming not less spacious, but more richly verdant and cultivated ; spring crops everywhere, refreshing to the eye ; and small Arab villages in much more rapid succession, many of them on gi-een knolls, which are a conspicuous feature of the plateaux, spread out far and wide here as throughout Mesopo- tamia, and rendering the journey less dreaiy and monotonous. The villages are poor, and rags and tatters abound more than further to the south, though flocks and herds seem plentiful, and eggs and milk are always procui-able easily and cheaply at the right times of day. The houses are mean and filthy, and khans are rare, so that we were glad two evenings this week to sleep out in the open field rather than venture on the stable floors to spread our bedding upon. With your large oilcloth over my head and your large rizai. I managed to keep cold and dewy air out sufficiently, but of course I would rather have a place indoors to lay my head. At Nisibin (the celebrated Nisibis of Syrian Church historj-, which sent its missionaries to India and to China in the seventh century) I was taken in at the matran's monastic establish- ment, which has an extremely old Nestorian church and tomb in one, of the early saint and apostle of the Syrian Church, Mar Yakub. I fear the matran is not a very worthy successor, either in spirit or learning, of the great and worthy occupants of the ancient see. The place savours of ha\'ing been a great church and state centre of times long gone by : broken pillars, carved slabs, Norman arches (perfectly so in shape), with a few better preserved columnar monuments, being the sole relics of what was a most noble fortress once, and stood long sieges unbroken and without surrender. After speaking with much enthusiasm of the remarkable remains of Dara, he continued : — I reached this place (Mardin) yesterda3% greatly fatigued after a tiying pull up the steep and rocky hill on which it stands. I should have been exhausted utterly, but for a small Arab 240 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH village I halted at beneath the steep ascent. They brought me first some sour milk, and then some sweet milk and bread of the country, and then formed a group, and the Arab women heard with amusing interest about my sons and daughters in England, and even about dear Edith. I tell them of her List prayer, ' For ever with the Lord ' ; so the dear child helps my missionary lispings in Arabic about the Saviour. Terraces of well-built stone houses rise tier above tier up the loftier part of the hill about a quarter of the whole height, the part immediately underlying the brow, which consists of precipitous crags, surmounted with castellated buildings jjartly in ruins, intended for fort and barracks. The view over the plain is grand. The place was one of the strong posts which Khosrou took from the Komans about A.D. 600. To Mrs. Knox. Khan Khupper (near Diarbekh), Turkish Armenia, Aj)ril 11. Last night we spread our bedding on the green grass on a dry spot, as it seemed, close to the village 'mukbara,' or cemetery, but a drenching storm broke over us about midnight, reducing us to a plight I need hardly describe, and which it i-equires the patience gained in an old traveller's experience to bear with equanimity. At 9 a.m. we managed to start our horses for a short stage of twelve miles, and again we got well soaked, and, what is worse, some of my books and papers were much spoilt. Last Sunday was spent in Mardin, in the house of the old Syrian patriarch, whose jurisdiction extends over most of Mesopotamia, a veteran of some ninety summers. He visited London ten years ago, and saw the Queen and Archbishop Tait, whose portraits adorn his walls ; but he is very indisposed, I fear, to reform his Church, or to admit spii-itual succours and evangelical teaching from either the American Presbyterian Board or the Church of England. He preached with very great force last Sunday morning, seated in his chair, which several young men and acolytes helped him to mount, dressed in rich gorgeous apparel. The simplicity of ritual struck me much in their Mosul and Bagdad churches, but not so much at Mardin. The congregations are usually crowded, and take part by constant ejaculations in the prayers, even those of the ' Kadasat ' (or Eucharistic sei'vice), and in the course of the sermon they express emotions very audibly but quietly. Many opportunities have been given me in God's good provi- dence of witnessing to these ancient Churches in Christ's behalf — both those who have become adherents of the Papacy and those who still hold out for Oriental independence, and in a few cases to the Latin missionaries themselves. I had no conception that DIARBEKIR 241 Rome could have usurped such power in the distant East. Very urgent have been the appeals made to me to use any influence I may have with the primate to lend succour and support. One of the priests at Mardin spoke to me most touchingly and solemnly two days ago. For ten years, he said, he had been praying that reinforcements from the English Church might be made available for them in this crisis all but of despondency. . . . I have written at length to the Archbisho]), and hope to write a. second letter shortly. I have said some plain things to the Ro.nish clergy out here, in the best French and Arabic I could command, but it is of course out of much weakness, both of mind aad body, that the effort has been made. I cannot but feel that a very important work has been done by the American Presbyterian Board. Both at Mosul and Mardin I have felt compelled to break my rule of not si)eaking in other than Church of England places of worship, and liave addressed their large flocks, having the mis- sionaiy for my interpreter. In these wildernesses of the world, at least, I can scarcely think I should be blamed ! My chief object has been to A\'itness to Mohammedans, Arabs, and others I came across, but also to induce the more seriously minded men among the Christian bodies to fulfil their own duty to them by word and example. The Arabs, both men, women, and children, have quite gained my heart from their simple naturalness and unaffected propriety of conduct. They seem to place great confidence in Europeans, the English in particular ; and if we put up in their houses — very dirty, I am sorry to say— the women and girls never hide, but go •ibout their house duties with freedom. Perhaps it is because I am an old man, and a matran, or bishop ! To Mrs. Knox. Diarbekir, Ai^ril 14, 1884. I wish I had time to describe the fine approach to this grand old city of the Parthian empire, by some still thought to be the Tigranocerta of Tacitus, though others, with more probability, take that to be Sert, a place seven days from here, close under the Taui-us range eastward'. The westward part of the same range we look up to from the roofs of Diarbekir, and a very splendid background the vast glaciers of those frontier mountains present. ' Diarbekir more ijrobably is Amida, a place made famous by a story of its old bishop, Acacius. The Persian king had maltreated the Christians. The Roman emperor invaded Persia to defend them, and took 7,000 prisoners. Acacius sold the Church plate and ransomed them, to prove to his own (Persian) monarch the true spirit of Christianity. VOL. II. B 242 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH Edmund v-'ill not forget it is the old Niphates of our classics. Everything here savours of extreme antiquity. One old Syrian church is reckoned to be 1,500 years old ; its wizen, scarred look speaks in favour of its having weathered very many centuries of storm. Broken pillars of the basaltic rock near at hand meet you at every turn of the street and every doorway. . . . The Tigris rolls under the noble battlements and bastions, which crown an eminence of very gentle slope with minarets and bell-towers of its churches. Eather more than half the population is Christian : Armenians, papal and non-papal Syrians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Latins, &c. Of the Armenians there are 1,500 families or more ; of the papal Chaldeans, about 300. The Armenian church was burnt down some two years ago, but they are well off enough to have buUt a cathedral of great dimensions, 100 ft. square, with columns of the same hard dark grey basalt, which are really very imposing, placed in rows so as to make the building a vast colon- nade. The cost must have been very great. Several bishops of the other churches have their cathedrals, so that it looks quite an ecclesiastical city. The chief mosques are old churches with square towers, of which the Christians were stripped bj;- the Moslems some 300 years ago. Above the square towers they have erected circular minarets, regarded as the Mohammedan symbol, overtopping the sign of the cross. . . . There has been a terrible famine in the mountain districts, and partly in the plain, through clouds of locusts devastating the crops, and the town is full of pitiable famishing objects. My host, the British Consul, an Armenian, Mr. Boyajian, with a thoroughly ladylike English wife, who entertains me for three days most hospitably, is engaged every day in distributing doles of bread or money to these poor famished, half-naked, diseased creatures of God. A small jsresent (i'lo) is all I can do to express my sympathy. It wants a Gordon to be able to gather and distribute large sums, equal to meet even an appreciable portion of the emergency. The old Syrian bishop seems really a holy and distinctly evan- gelical prelate, to whom God's word and the doctrine of Christ are dear and precious. We start on Monday towards Aleppo. It is a trying portion of the journey rather. Certainly I must say it seems as if a little door had been opened to me of the Lord, but I speak with reserve where one may pos- sibly be too much self-girded, and not obedient to a direct call. . . . My little purjjle apron which Cox sent me is a great help, as it is the recognized Eastern bishop's dress. I fear would l)e horrified ! but Cox said it was proper ; even the children in the streets know it, and treat me better when I have got it on. The next day (as appears from his journal) the bishop took a long walk to the Jacobite Church for the ' Kadasat.' OORFA (eDESSA) 243 'My heart,' he said, 'was full of joy at the stores of scripture read out so eloquently, and with such expressiveness — the latter histoiy of Samson, Hosea xiv., the whole of the Philippi history of St. Paul, besides an epistle which I lost, the monotone being too strong to leave the sounds distinct and articulate. Most full of joy at the sermon, which was a rich treat of evangelical marrow and fatness. A Puritan would have heard it with glistening eyes. Christ, and Christ only, was the Good Samaritan ; then earnest exhortations to come to Him. A very fine congregation, one-third women, all on the ground. They made me come and sit up close under the holy place, where the bishop consecrated.' DIARBEKIR TO BEYROUT. To Mrs. French. Oorfa, ancient Edessa, April 21. A ride of thirty long miles yesterday, and fifteen more this morning (added to seventy-two accomplished over roads, some of which were indescribably and atrociously bad, the four jjrevious days), brought me at last to this remarkable town, both as regards its ancient renown and its high promise for the future. This is nearly half-way to Aleppo from Diarbekir. The climate this week has been precisely our own English climate ; ice and snow we came across on Monday, even being brushed by the skirts of a snow-storm on the hills the day we left Diarbekir. Of the 950 miles or more of my proposed journey, nearly 750 have now been accomplished. ... It is curious thus to have a second journey across Asia, or nearly so ; the difference is that last time it was homeward, with the prospect of so happily rejoining you, which does not seem to be granted me this time. Yet the very word Mediterranean seems to make one's heart leap up with the thought of home and you ! . . . I write from the floor, resting my back on a bag or mule trunk, which I find an easier posture than sitting on the latter, the back imsupported. Two evenings since I was taken in by the Agha Kurdish chief of a charmingly situated village, looking down on a verdant valley of poplars and apricots, with a perennial stream rolling its stores of plenty. It was the mosque likewise of the village, and three times in the course of eight hours the worshijipers were gathered in the large room I occupied, to follow the Imam's recital of portions of the Koran, with some very solemn and touching intercessional forms of petition for themselves, their families, friends, and all good Moslems and faithful souls everywhere. I never met with that before. I tried to jjlead with them for the Saviour, but no open door seemed given ! Last night we had a fairly clean Kurdish part of a house offered us in a lonely village, which we gladly accepted. It really seemed clean, though some of the B 2 244 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH chambers were occupied by horses and buffaloes, besides cats, dogs, and turkeys, and the man and his wife and child had another room. It was very curious to see what a j^ile of clean and well-woven blankets they had, and other first-rate bedding, all ranged in as beavitiful ordei-, almost, as if yourself had been the housewife. The town covers a large surface, about one and a half miles square at least of the lower slopes of a range of lime hills of rather brilliant white ; and the domes and minarets of churches and mosques being built of this same bright limestone are very effective. It is clearly a town of large gro\\-th and unusual promise ; a new street is being built and paved, through which we passed to-day, and the bazaars are clean and arched overhead, and stocked with all conceivable varieties of home and foreign merchandise. Facing us northward is the same grand and glorious Taurus range. We occupy a khan just outside the city gate westward, close to the old Syrian or Jacobite church. Un- happily both there, and in the Protestant church which numbers about i.ooo souls, the language of service is Turkish and Syriac, and, I fear, the only Arabic service is in the Koman or Latin church, where French and Arabic seem to be adopted as in Mosul ; in fact, from what I learn the Latins have laid themselves out for the ^rat/c-speaking races, and see little visible fruit in the way of perversion or conversion outside of them, amongst the Armenian and Turkish races. However, they never lose heart, and here they have a church and two Latin priests, with some fifty families attached to them. I don't see why either here or at Diarbekir (perhaps better here) a school of a high-class order for Arabic, English, Syriac, Greek, &c., might not do a great and good work in reviving God's truth in these dark churches. How one longs that this freedom from the care of souls may be an occasion of deeper concern for one's own, and a deeper insight into the work and Person of our Divine Lord— to have Him revealed anew with a fresh glow of love and power — to be better able to say, I hioiv whom I have believed ! A2)ril 22. About sunrise I rode to the other side of the city to the Latin service. I tried to get into a quiet corner and conceal myself, but I was soon ferreted out by a priest and begged to sit within the rails, which I declined, being not in proper episcopal habit. However, this only resulted in having an armchaii- with a lectern in front brought out and placed by me in my conceal- ment. The only part I enjoyed at all of the service was the Epistle and Gospel in Arabic, the same as our own for the day I was charmed to find, and the priest read the Gospel excellently, a small boy in undress reading the Epistle, which I wondered at, as there were five acolytes with crimson vests, capes, and a short surj)lice besides ! They read portions of the service also, with a variety of gestures and movements, and endless genuflexions, OORFA AND BIRIJEK 245 which it must be bewildering to learn. The music was of the sweetest Gregorian, and would have been a treat, if the service generally had been more edifying and helpful to souls. Pictures, of value some of them and high art, with images of our Lord and the Virgin and Child, are prominent and conspicuous \ I reasoned with the priest a little about these, and told him how I had resisted having figures in my Lahore Cathedral, but he thought the Moslems were so used to them as to be no longer oifended ! Not a veiy satisfactoiy reply. . . . The Latin service does not gain upon one by fresh experience of it. Nothing in Europe could be less in harmony with the spirit and ritual of our Reformed Church. I could not but hope I might have found simplicity of rite in these Moslem lands. Birijek (or Bir) on Euphrates. Chief crossing from South Armenia into Syria, and sixty miles from Oorf'a. A2)ril 26. 1888. Will you believe it ? I have been inflicting twenty pages of note sheet MS. on the poor Archbishop to-day, on matters connected with the Oriental Churches. Pretty audacious ! considering he has not commissioned me to write a line on the subject ; but my conscience and a sense of duty would not let me be silent, and possibly our dear Lord may make use of the letter as one brick for the process of re-building and restoring these ancient [Churches]. Ooria was a place of very special interest to me, from my Church histoiy studies before, but I was not prepared for so much in the way of monuments of the past, nor to find so very flourishing and growing a city. To me what was chiefly attractive was the recol- lection of its ancient missions, and of King Abgarus, and of the great St. Ephraem, whose tomb was shown me, at least the marble monument with Chaldee inscription, placed many many centuries ago above his grave down in the crypt of the present cathedral. Of King Abgarus, the chief remains are two pillars in the veiy ancient fort, erected to a daughter and son-in-law. The AiTuenian bishop on whom I called was most gracious and affable. He is a strong stout-built man, perhaps of seventy years, with his purple vest beneath (like the one I wear, which in their eyes marks the bishop at once!) and over it a thick dark blue cloak, furred down the breast on both sides. His palace and cathedral are about 300 yards outside the city, near where the shadow of the grand old fort falls, now almost in ruins, yet showing the stateliness of Edessa in the days of Abgarus the First. I could not visit it, as I had so much to occupy me on the one day (except Sunday) I could devote to Oorfa. The bishop took me over his own cathedral, and seemed delighted ' The bishop had declined to kiss the silver crucifix when it was brought to him in the course of the service. 246 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH in the extreme pleasure I expressed in the Life and Works of St. Ephraem. The cathedral, he tells me, is 1,200 years old, by which he means its substructions, for above it is clearly modern, built of the rich-coloured, pale yellow limestone of the adjoining hills. He has an older cathedral in the city, almost square, and finely pillared or colonnaded throughout. This is said to be 1,500 years old, but the only authentic part, I should think, is the tomb of Abgarus' first bishop, St. Atti (probably St. Thaddaeus) by name. This tomb, the priests there told me, is under an ancient episcopal throne of untold antiquity. The six priests were all engaged in confessing various ladies dressed in white — some inside the rails, some sitting down by the walls inside, the priest sitting by them ; others walking about and confessing to the priest, while other people were walking about and looking on (a singular and not very edifying sight). There must have been some sixty or seventy ladies thus engaged, but I was glad to find this only happens once a year, i. e. at the close of the Eastern Lent, when the yearly confession is required, or at least expected. ... I visited the Protestant church and inspected the schools (one hundred and twenty boys and sixty girls), quite of the primary type. If the Church of England succour is wanted for any purposes, it seems certainly to be needed for a clerical training college, and a high- class school for boys and girls. It might prove like life from the dead to these Oriental branches. ... I spent two hours on the Monday afternoon in chatting with the two pastors of the Pro- testant congregation, one a lay pastor, and the other ordained by the Presbyterians, after being well trained in the Basle missionary seminary. He is an able, elderly man, of very indeijendent views, European in character as in training. One of the Aintab Ame- rican missionaries visits him for a week or ten days twice a year. Aintab is four days' journey from Oorfa. The pastor will have it in spite of Layard and Kawlinson that Oorfa is Ur of the Chaldees, but I feel sure he is wrong. . . . The pastor (Abool-Hayat) told me the Armenian bishop (described above) is one of his great friends. He says he is welcome in any one of the houses of the Armenian Church he likes to visit, and finds everywhere copies of the Bible on the table at least, if not read and valued. Prom 1,500 to 2,000 copies are sold annually in Turkish or Armenian. The Syrian (old non-papal branch) seems very feeble, and its priests untaught. The chief man among them is a really educated layman, who selects for them in Lent what ' midrashes ' (proper readings out of the Fathers, St. Ephraem, &c.) they should read daily, as the poor priests do not understand them, and can only read the texts. This chief layman sat with me for some time, and is evidently a man of some enlightenment. The Protestant church has a congregation of from 800 to 1,000 on Sundays, and is a very fine solid building, one of the best indeed in Oorfa, of the A GLIMPSE OF HARAN 247 pale yellow limestone. Inside, I fear I must call it hideously plain, of the exaggerated type. Only half of it even is carpeted, though, I doubt not, many of the people have Persian carpets in their houses. Having no seats, they must be content with the cold floor, which even at this season, not unlike the English April, must be a little damping except to very warm hearts ! They have not oven a Lord's Table. As the Holy Communion is only held once in three months, they perhaps think it needless, which so far is sound logic and sense. Yet with all that they are doing a good work, and many of the hearers go to their own old churches for their ritual and Sacraments, and to the Presbyterians for their teaching, an arrangement I was unprepared for, but which seems both at Oorfa and Diarbekir to be rather usual than uncommon, only it turns the Presbyterian chapel into a preaching hall ! I felt disposed to be a little excited at the sight, through a telescoj^e of Mr. Abool-Hayat, of the ancient pillar or minaret of Haran, the great patriarch's so long abode ! I could scarcely believe my eyes ; yet there it was and no mistake, and here at Bir he crossed the Euphrates doubtless : and though I could not think my journey the last two days was over the same ground, foot for foot as Abraham travelled, when he went from Ur of the Chaldees, or from Haran, yet it must have been almost identical. The -vvalderness I traversed seemed strangely transformed in parts with flowery meads such as I have seldom or never seen in English scenery even, some portions of the plain being whitened with English daisies, others saffroned with buttercups, dandelions, the wild mustard flower, and other old familiar flowers, blue-dyed here and there with periwinkles and perhaps forget-me-nots, crimsoned with poppies, and English swallows wheeled their flight around our horses for miles, as if delighting in human society. What we saw that was un-English was some miles of young unformed locusts swarming on the ground — (six miles at least their army spread its scourge) — before them an Eden, behind them a wilderness, as the prophet says so pic- turesquely and aptly ! To Mrs. Moulson. Aktarim Village, one day's mai-ch from Aleppo on the Diarbekir road. A2n-il 29, 1888. We are resting in a small khan by the wayside, 'on the Sabbath day, according to the commandment.' . . . This is a singular little village, the houses all of bee-hive type and build, yet not mere mud bee-hives like some of the African villages, but, though coated with mud and earth outside, yet well and scientifically built within, with layers of bricks ascending pyramidally at well- adjusted angles, with strong stones at the top to make the key of the arched dome-like structure strong. For security from heavy 248 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH rains penetrating the roof I cannot think of any shape or fashion more perfect. There must be some hundreds of these bee -hives, some houses having six or eight, surrounded with a court and strong wall. . . . Nine hundred out of my thousand miles' ride are now completed, for which you will praise God with me. The season has been more favourable than when I was in Persia. Even here from the Euphrates to Aleppo, where I expected dry sandy wastes and blazing suns, the country is richly verdant with crops, and particoloured with many Enghsh and foreign flowers, skies cloudy, and breezes refreshing. My dragoman never fails to get me milk and eggs, and most often a little mutton stewed or made broth of. My Arabic and Syriac are certainly improved. These desert journeys enable me to keep better in mind the dear home circles in England, and to picture them more vividly than I could in the midst of the crowd of cares at Lahore. I can see no reason for thinking that the step I took (in resigning) was at all precipitate ; except, perhaps, the Archbishop of Canterbury, I hardly know of any who has doubted the soundness of my judgement in so doing. I love to think of all my dear children's steadfast, faithful labour, while I am a wanderer ! At Aleppo the bishop found little of any interest, but he could not resist turning aside to visit Antioch (Antakieh), with its grand missionary history. ' The plain of the Orontes, ' he said, ' is partly a marsh now, since the old Syrian, Greek, and Eoman monarchs passed away, and engineering processes have long since ceased. 'The city has come down from 500,000, as in the Emperor Justinian's time, or 250,000, as in Augustus' time, to some 20,000 or 25,000 souls, and if ever the glory of a city departed, this city has been shorn of its pride. Still it can never lose the depth of its interest to those to whom the history of the Acts is ever fresh and inspiring, and who have ever profited by the great discourses preached here by the most perfect almost of human preachers, St. Chrysostom, in the fourth century. It is strange that so very little survives however of its proverbial splendour. . . . Much of this is owing to the series of earthquakes which, at diffei-ent ages, have demolished all its fabrics which were at all perishable. The massive walls of Justinian, which are carried over the lofty hills above it, have been constantly picked to pieces for new buildings, and but scant and sparse fragments of them survive, sufficient to show of what colossal and cyclopean strength and dimensions they were originally built. . . . We entered the city last Saturday by an old paved road, of which a portion still remains in a veiy rent and shattered state : once it was a colonnade two miles long with four rows of pillars, embellished with rich statuary by order of Tiberius, The two central rows were roofed in with slabs of ANTIOCH 249 granitfe by Antiochus Epiphanes. Augustus built a circus of great dimensions, besides public baths, and in other ways made costly improvements. An excellent Irish missionary Mr. Martin and his wife (Presbyterians) offered me quarters, and it would be more comfortable, for they have a charming countiy residence in the suburbs, but I wanted to see all I could of the town, and the khan seems more like the place St. Barnabas must have brought St. Paul to, when he fetched him from Tarsus to Antioch, and for a year they taught much people. Alas ! all the best of the churches, which cannot be later well than Justinian's (or possibly Theodo- sius') time, are appropriated by the Mohammedans for mosques and schools. The Orontes valley is a most tempting site for a great capital ; its long soft slopes from the river banks to the lofty dark heights of the Amanus range opposite the city offering all facilities for villas and gardens, with small terraced plateaux, and groves running up into the hills. South of the river is the Mount Sylpius. I climbed yesterday with some pains to visit the vestiges of the walls and towers. One tower alone remains, and that partially in ruins. Through its carved and finely planted gate almost at the summit you look to a wholly new scenery, and hill ranges beyond, behind one of which stood Daphne, which was a place dedicated to Venus' worship, and was as richly emljellished as Antioch or more so, and with better existing monuments, I believe, but such as I do not care to see. ' On the whole, Antioch appears somewhat reviving, and to have a pushing, thriving, striving population, the manufacturers and mechanics of the place being mostly Moslems, and a fair portion of the trade in Christian hands of rather a low and degraded type. Of its ancient churches the most interesting is one mostly hewn out of the live rock, the Church of St. John. . . A Church of the Twelve Apostles, which Justinian spent much in restoring and decorating, must be one of several in the place which the Mohammedans have appropriated by force. ' The court of the mosque has a wondrously beautiful specimen of stone paving. A large Moslem school (with a small body of moollahs) is held in a series of buildings adjoining. What would I give if I had .£1,000 to spare to get the Moslems to sell me that church and school for a new centre, which the two great Ajjostles, from their rest in the Spirit World, might tune their harps to a fresh song of joy and praise to thank God for ! but alas ! these bright dreams are of the impracticable and romantic as appears. But I do feel a little envious, I confess, of every Christian body that has got a settlement in a city of such singularly glorious and almost divine antecedents. . . Sunday last was the Greek Easter, and I hoped in the early morning to find at least a specially solemn service being conducted ; but I am sorry to say that it turned out to be quite otherwise. The Mass had begun shortly after midnight, and LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH must have lasted some hours. At a second service the cathedral was turned into a complete bear-garden, and given over to a kind of saturnalia, such as I should have thought impossible in a Christian church anywhere. Boys and young men were running about firing pistols, and letting off crackers, and diverting them- selves in the most unseemly manner, and the only excuse made was that this only happened once in a year ! ' From Antioch the bishop went a hard day's ride to Beilan, whence he descended by the fine carriage-road to Scanderoon, and embarked on board a Russian steamer for Beyrout, the goal of his long journey. And thence on May 15 he wrote to Mrs. French : — Mr. Mentor Mott's House, Beyrout, 3Iay 15, 1888. I am sitting again in a charming, elegantly and sumptuously furnished upstairs room, with the Lebanon above me and the blue Mediterranean below me ; lovely villas and gardens all round me, only interspersed with large reddish sand heaps piled up in mounds, and which tornadoes occasionally toss about in clouds, so that at such times doors and windows must be hermetically sealed. The villas have the bright colours of the French water- ing places ; the finest among them being those occupied by educational institutes. There are Jesuit Latin colleges and nun- neries, a Eussian school and hospital, an American college of the most advanced standards, under Drs. Bliss and Vandyke, men of great distinction, and recently a fine Greek college, rather an antagonistic effort to the Americans. Mrs. Mott says, caustically, that for the Greek ladies it is better at least they should have something to think of (even if it is fighting) than spend their lives in their usual empty frivolities and habits of gambling. Altogether the place is more striking than I expected, and has a dignity and imposing, august appearance which wins respect, and entitles it to the name of an eastern capital of considerable promise. The Christian buildings, especially the Protestant and Jesuit, outstrip all the rest in stateliness : and I can scarcely wonder at the jealousy of the Moslems, which led to a recent riot, arising from the sense that the Christians were becoming too predominant. We arrived about 5.30 a. m. yesterday, and reached the Motts' palatial residence soon after 7. I could scarcely believe my eyes when I looked at the snow-white sheets and damask cur- tains, richly carpeted daises, &c., and all the luxuries of civilized life again, after the long exchange of them all for desert life ; and then to think that without touching land again I might be at your very door in London ! ... As to my own future there is nothing to show any divine leading any whither at present ; and I must be prepared to wait a while in patience. THE EASTERN CHURCHES 251 ADDITIONAL NOTE UPON THE EASTEEN CHUECHES. Though it seemed better not to interrupt the journal of the bishop's travels by introducing any wider questions, his comments on ecclesiastical affairs will be made clearer to the reader by a bare outline of the history and present status of the various communities of Oriental Christians. In writing from Bagdad to Cyril on February 19, 1888, the bishop himself said : — 'It is very difficult to learn which is which (as regards the names and the special lines taken) amidst the varied coloured pieces which are spread over the chess-board in almost hopeless confusion : Syrian and Chaldean, Jacobite and Nestorian, Eoman- Syrian, Eoman-Chaldean, besides Armenians, Maronites, Greeks and Eomans proper. I hope I shall get a clearer notion of who they all are, and whether there are any living branches of the True Vine amongst them.' The educated English layman has as a rule it may be feared but small acquaintance with the history of Eastern Churches, yet in these it is that the great doctrinal questions that underlie our "Western creeds have been fought out for us. In the main doctrine of the Blessed Trinity all branches of the Eastern Church are well agreed. All would con- demn Arius, who said there was a time when Christ was not, and recognized in Him a merely secondary Deity : and all would condemn Macedonius, who is said to have doubted the Deity of God the Holy Ghost. When these great controversies had been settled at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, the minds of men turned to the subtle questions that surround the mystery of the true union of Godhead and Manhood in the Person of our Lord : and the great rival schools of learning struck out divergent lines of thought. The two chief schools were Antioch and Alexandria. From Alexandria came Athanasius, the champion against Ariu.s : from Antioch there came forth Chrysostom. 252 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH In opposing Arius, the Alexandrian divines insisted strongly upon the paramount importance of maintaining the perfect Deity of Christ our Lord : in opposing Apolli- naris — a Syrian bishop who maintained that the Divine Logos (Ao'yos) took the place of the rational soul (vovs) in our Lord's nature, so that His humanity consisted merely of body {(T&^a) and animal soul (^/'ux'?) — the theologians of Antioch were led to dwell with equal emphasis upon the paramount importance of maintaining the full humanity of Jesus. And both were right, but how were the two truths to be combined and reconciled ? The younger Theodosius (a.d. 428), appointed Nestorius, a monk of Antioch, as Bishop of Constantinople. The choice was popular, as Chrysostom, regarded still with deepest reverence, had come from the same place. But soon the new bishop incurred great odium by supporting Anastasius, his presbyter, in his objections to the term ' Theotokos ' (mother of Grod) as applied to the blessed Virgin. Nestorius believed the term implied that Mary was the source and origin of the divine nature ; his adversaries only understood by it that Christ from the moment of con- ception was God and man. In maintaining his opinions Nestorius was betrayed into expressions that seemed to indicate that in His Incarnation the Son of God joined to Himself ' a human person,' instead of taking into union the whole nature of man — a distinction of grave consequence with reference to His example and atoning work. The Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431, assembled to decide the matter. The champion of orthodoxy on this occasion was the extremely able but worldly and ambitious Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. After disgraceful wranglings and intrigues, the doctrines of Nestorius were formally condemned and he himself was removed from his episcopate. 'The Council of Ephesus,' says the historian Eobertson, 'is received as the third general council, and its doctrine respecting DOCTRINAL SUMMARY 253 the Saviour's person is a part of the Catholic faith. But it would be vain to defend the proceedings of those by whom the true doctrine was there asserted ; and there remains a question whether Nestorius was really guilty of holding the opinions for which it condemned him. . . . The great body of Orientals who supported him at Antioch are un impeached in their character for orthodoxy. . . . He steadily disavowed the more odious opinions which were imputed to him ; he repeatedly exj^ressed his willing- ness to admit the term 'Theotokos,' provided it were guarded against obvious abuses. The controversy more than once appeared to be in such a position that it might have been ended by a word of explanation ; but an unwillingness on both sides to concede, and personal animosities, unhappily prolonged it.' The doctrines of Nestorius led by a natural reaction to those of Eutyches. He held that there was ' one incarnate nature of God the Word,' for in the union of the two natures the human (he believed) was merged and lost in the divine. From this his followers were called Monophy- sites (one-nature men). The Council of Chalcedon in a.d. 451, largely influenced by Pope Leo's masterly letter to Flavian, decided in terms very similar to those of the (so-called) Athanasian Creed, maintaining at once the distinctness of the two natures and the unity of Person in our Lord. A further refinement of the Eutycliian heresy, to wit that though there were two natures in the Person of the Word Incarnate there was but one will (the human being merged in the divine), was formally condemned at the Sixth General Council in a.d. 680. Those who maintained it were called Monothelites (or one-will men). This sketch of doctrinal developement, or rather defini- tion, is needed for a proper understanding of the divisions of this Eastern Christendom. The causes of the great disastrous schism between East and West need not be mentioned here; through the conquest of Constantinople by the Latins in the Fourth Crusade, a. d. 1204, the breach one may fear was left almost irreparably gaping. The divisions as they now exist in Eastern lands are these :— (i) The Orthodox Greek Church, with its chief patriarch 254 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH at Constantinople^ and witli branches, nationally but not doctrinally separate, in Russia, Bulgaria, Servia, and else- where. It is strong in Syria and Palestine (Antioch and Jerusalem both being patriarchal sees), but not in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys. By far the greater number of Greek Christians throughout the world belong to it. (2) The Armenian Church : it is divided between Russia and Turkey, with important olf-shoots in Persia, India, and even England. It numbers some 5,000,000 of an highly intelligent, enterprising, commercial people. Its eccle- siastical centre is the monastery of Etch Miadzin, near Erivan. The kingdom of Armenia, under Tiridates the First, at the beginning of the fourth century owed its conversion to St. Gregory Illuminator. His story, even divested of its legendary halo, is full of interest. A Christian nurse saved him from the royal vengeance when all his family were massacred, and her act of faithful loyalty resulted in the conversion of a whole new people to the faith. The Armenians separated from the Greek Church by adopting the doctrines of Nestorius ; but 450 years ago a large proportion of them owned the supremacy of Rome, gave up the teaching of Nestorius, but kept in a great measure their own peculiarities. (3) The Jacobites are Syrian Monophysites. Their patri- arch resides atDiarbekir ; their 'maphsian' (or 'fruit-bearer') is now established at Mosul. They derive their name most probably from Jacobus Baradeus (the ' ragged one '), a monk of great energy who was consecrated bishop of Edessa and died in a.d. 578. At one time this Church had 100 bishoprics ; now it has only five. (4) The Maronites are strong in the Lebanon. They were Syrian Monothelites, but in the twelfth century they yielded to the Church of Rome. Their name comes from St. Maro, a Syrian anchorite of the fifth century according to themselves, or else more probably perhaps from John Moro, their own first patriarch a.d. 701. Lastly (5) the Chaldean or Syrian Nestorians number perhaps 200,000 souls. THE CHALDEAN NESTORIANS No Church can be of greater interest. They trace back their own origin to the Chaldean magi. They reckon St. Thomas and St. Thaddaeus among their early teachers. In the first centuries, political troubles, arising from their living under Persian rule, led to the recognition of the town of Ctesiphon as a Church centre, independent of the patriarchal see at Antioch. Thus they afforded a safe refuge to the persecuted followers of the heresiarch Nestorius, who fied beyond the frontiers of the empire, and they did not join in councils that condemned him. So far they are Nestorians, although Chaldeans probably would be a truer title. Their Church in the immediately succeeding ages became the greatest missionary centre of the world, with grand schools of learning at Nisibis, Edessa, and Bagdad. They preached in India, where the Christians of St. Thomas on the coast of Malabar still testify their living energy ; and in China, where a bilingual Syriac inscription bears witness to their missionary zeal ; and they established a small Christian principality in a district north of China under the famous Prester John, of whom such strange stories were current in the Middle Ages. At last in the fourteenth century the reckless fary of Timur wrecked all their enterprise : large portions of the scattered remnant took refuge in the mountains of Kurdistan, where they are found to-day, oppressed and ignorant, but steadfastly devoted to their ancient creed. After two centuries a sad schism occurred. It had been the custom for the- patriarch to nominate one of his nephews as his successor, but in 1552 some of the bishops assembled at Mosul elected their own nominee. The Nestorians of Kochanes (in Turkey) and Oroomiah (in Persia) adhered to the old plan, and still own the supremacy of Mar Shimun^, hereditary priest and ruler. The rival body at Mosul ere long submitted to Eome, but a further split occurred among them upon the promulgation of the Vatican decrees. ^ Mrs. Bishop, Journeys in Persia, vol. ii. p. 288 sq. 256 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH The patriarch Mulus would not admit the Pope's infalli- bility, and for a long time held out stoutly against his usurpation. In almost all these Churches are some men of piety and learning, but the majority are grossly ignorant, and the life-witness in face of the prevailing creed of Islam is neither bright nor clear. Further, these lesser sects of Eastern Christendom are almost all marked by a triple cleavage — an orthodox section with leanings towards the great central Greek Church, a national section tenacious of the local customs, and a catholic or united section acknowledging the dominance of Eome. The advent of the American Presbyterians on the one side, and of the emissaries of the English Church upon the other, though fraught undoubtedly with great advantages in many ways, inevitably tends in some respects to multiply the manifold divisions. It is however to be noted that the fixed principle of Church of England missions is to purify the already existing Churches, and not establish fresh com- munities in face of the united force of Islam. How far this may be possible is one of the most interesting problems of the nearer future. Bishop French himself spoke of his letters to the primate as being possibly one brick for the rebuilding and restoring of these long desolated Churches. Hence the ensuing extracts may be given : — To His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and THE Primate of All England. Jazeerah on the Tigris (halfway between Mosul and Mardin), Easter Day, 1888. My Lord Archbishop, Your deep interest in all that concerns the Eastern Churches, of which your Grace spoke with so much heart when I took leave of you in Lambeth in 1884, has led me to think that some jottings from my diaiy (however roughly thrown together, with scarcely the least leisure for digesting results) may be acceptable as confirmatory at least of accounts already received from your officially commissioned clerical agents. . . . LETTERS TO ARCHBISHOP BENSON 257 I have taken care to let it be understood that I bore no direct commission tohatever from your Grace, and that I approached them as a traveller, in relations personal and private wholly. From Mr. Riley's abstract of 1886, however, and from letters from your- self shown me in Mosul, I was tolerably well informed as to the course your Grace considered it best and wisest to adopt. . . . I may venture to say that that course has always entirely com- mended itself to me, and seems to me precisely the one, and the only one, which the Church of England could on its own prin- ciples fairly pledge itself to, even if the present disturbed condition of the Eastern Churches (with America and Rome at opposite poles threatening their equilibrium, and seeking, for their good as they believe, to break up the existing fabrics) did not emphasize the necessity. I have seen all I could of the Roman matrans and priests with their churches, schools, monasteries, and tried to remove their extreme ignorance as to the ritual, liturgies, services, and the general relation to Christendom and its Churches of the Church of England. With the Chaldaeo-Roman or Latin Churches these plain state- ments, and attention drawn kindly and not in hard controversy to some plain facts, may not be wholly inappropriate at this moment, and be a small link in the chain of labour contained in your instructions to Canon Maclean and others, whose visits to these parts have been noised abroad, and cannot pass unobserved even in small towns like this, where the names of the three members of your commission were repeated to me and inquiries made. Only yesterday at the Tigris ferry here I met a postman on his way to Mr. Browne^ at Kochanes, and sent by him a message of sympathy. . . . You will long since have been informed of the vast and steadily growing influence and almost authority the Latin Church exer- cises in Mosul, by State support from France and from Constan- tinople, by the wealth showered upon and into it, the splendour of its churches (Latin and Romano-Chaldaean at Mosulj, and the compact marshalling of educational forces, the attractive beauty of their services, and iDersuasiveness of their preaching in French and Arabic. This struck me greatly during the eight days or more I spent there, sojourning at the house of the Jacobite priest in charge of the Jacobite cathedral during the matran's absence to plead his Church's cause at Constantinople against the Latin seizure of their churches, as Mr. Riley records it. Four still remain to them, as when he wrote liis statement. The splendour of the Chaldaean patriarch's reception-room was most imposing. The Sultan's arms at one end of it in costly gilding and embroideiy, with the crescent flashing brilliantly in ' See also Bishop, Journeys in Persia, vol. ii. p. 317.— Ed. VOL. II. S 258 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH gold on both sides of it, instinctively brought back Mr. Edward Elliott's exposition of the woman seated on the beast. The Chaldaeo-Latin church, though of less majestic dimensions and general effect than the Latin, yet exceeds it in its rich material ; every stone in it from end to end being of costliest marble, far beyond even Sennacherib's palaces of old Koyunyik renown. . . . Somehow the thought must strike a casual observer that the monuments of Nineveh of the past pale before the prospective plan and policy of a church which loves to revive empires, of which it shall wear or distribute the crowns. Most of all, how- ever, they are buttressed up by their admirable and judicious school system, i. e. for church purposes ; and by requiring periodi- cal visits to Eome of all their chief bishops and priests won over from Eastern Churches ; and, better still, by the laborious and, I should judge from what I learn and see, cxcmplarti lives of their clergy and sisterhoods. Such a man was Le pfere Besson, whose tomb at Mariaco, an old Chaldean monastery three days from Mosul — now tenanted by Latin monks as well as Komano- Chaldaean — I went out of my way to see The chief French monk there is a pattern gentleman, refined and in every way candid, tolerant, and conciliatory. Easter Tuesday, Tel Shaujkl. . . . The village at which we have halted to-day, like most of the villages in these parts, is made up largely of Jacobean Christians. They have been sitting round me in a group of thirty or more, listening (with a few Mohammedans interspersed) to the histories of the resurrection or some of them, all on the green grass, which at this season carpets the plains in colours of richest verdure, a contrast to my cathedral services a year ago, but scarcely if at all less interesting. The villages throughout this range of hills, which we have had for two days on our right, are mostly of the above-named Christian Church. One little boy in the group I found able to read the Arabic Bible excellently, and to his great delight I gave him the last copy I have to spare. His father was charged to gather the neighbours together and let his young son read aloud. They have no church, but pointed to a village three miles off where their priest resided, and whence he paid them visits, or oftener they visit his church there. At Mosul I got two hours of Syriac lessons daily (from St. Ephraem and their books re Church liturgies) from their chief priest, who aims at succeeding to the office of matran eventually as I gathered. He objected to us our small value set on priestly confession, on fasting, on extreme unction, and one or two other like points. I explained as fully as possible the more catholic position maintained by our Church more recently in these matters, and told him I had even ventured to i-ecom- mend in my last charge the use of the last of these in the case of catechumens baptized on then- death-bed as a kind of LETTERS TO ARCHBISHOP BENSON 259 confirmation added to baptism. I cannot doubt that the rejection of St. James' unction of the sick in its simplicity, as opposed to the Roman novelties and corruptions of that sim- plicity, offends the Easterns not unreasonably. The second Sunday I received the Holy Communion from your friend the matran Mulus or Mooloos, a truly saintly man I do believe, and whom I was privileged to hold much communion with in the flesh and the spirit, a man whom one would be almost ready to act as sutfragan to, though I can't say he would be ready, in spite of all his loving-kindness to me, to appoint me to that office. Nisibis, April 4. A very bright sun shone on the castle and old cathedral of Nisibis as I approached it early this morning, emblematic to me at least of the call it received twelve centuries ago and more : ' Arise, shine, for thy light is come ' ; and the pure stream issuing freshly from the bed of rock it stands on seemed to suggest the like thoughts. The matran is away at Mardin, but is expected this evening. His reception-room is placed at my disposal by those in charge. The old Norman arches, reliques of ancient churches indeed, built into the modern walls of the church and tomb of Mar Yakub (quite out of place and order, yet perfect specimens of the old style) seem to show Professor Sayce is not far wrong when he attributes all arts and sciences, and orders of archi- tecture among the rest, to the ancient Assyrians. Bara Jan, April 5. The matran's speedy return yestei-day bi-oke up my time devoted to recollections of the matran Mulus, but I must try to recall them. The old bishop seems discouraged and depressed at present, and half disposed to accept a call to a Malabar matranate, but it would be a triumph indeed to Eome if he does. Old Shamas (Deacon) Yeremiah, one of the characters known from Dr. Grant's and Dr. Badger's writings, and almost the sole survivor of the early truth-seekers, who keep in memory the work of those two great men, spoke to me with great sorrow of the possibility of losing him from Mosul, being the one standing pillar of independent catholicity and scriptural truth in opposition to the Papacy. . . . The matran Mulus is a man of grandc ctcnchie of studies and of large thoughts. . . . Mr. Eassam thought that if they could be helped even to the extent of £100 a year, they would be in a position to keep up a good school both for boys and girls, and that this of all their needs was the most urgent, the Latins carrying all before them in this direction, with the Chaldeans under their control. . . . I shall try to plead earnestly that the blessed Spirit may shower down His richest gifts and graces on the synod to be gathered, if He v/ill, under your Grace's presidency. My health is still very feeble, and I manage these journeys, interesting S 2 26o LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH as they are, with extreme difficulty, I hope it is not a case of self-girding, but I think our gracious Lord has signified a measure of acceptance of this work which (almost unsought) these missionary travels have led to my fulfilling. I beg to remain, with grateful and very respectful regards, Your Grace's unworthy brother in Christ, Tiios. V. French, Bishoj). In a second long letter to tlie Archbishop dated from Bir or Birijek, the old passage of the Euphrates into Syria, on April 26, the bishop spoke more fvilly of the work of the Americans — its substantial value, but at the same time its disintegrating tendencies. 'The American missionaries are fairly strong at Mardin, and show a good spirit towards us. Many express their own fears and almost convictions that internal reform is hopeless for the Eastern Churches : they say that they should have preferred to woi'k on those lines themselves at first instead of proselytizing into their own particular Ijody, but that they had been forced reluctantly and inevitably into their present course of action by the persecuting spirit of the Churches and the exclusion ^^■ith bitterest hostility of those whose spiritual character and views of doctrine reproved theii' own. . . . At Diai-bekir (some fifty miles further north) I spent three days very agreeably with an Armenian who acts as British consul there, Mr. Boyajian and his excellent English wife and family. Probably yom- Grace has heard of him, as his wife was connected with Archl)ishop Tait. he tells me, and they lioth had spent a day occasionally at Addington during his arch-episcopate. Diarbekir is full of churches of ancient Christian communities, some seven at least I counted, the Latins having lately entered arid having two priests settled down, who were expecting a visit of two months immediately from the Bishop of Mosul, who is a kind of kasis or nuncio of the Pope, and has the direct control of the grand papal system which is ramifying through all the cities on the two great rivers and their tributaries, and even in the smaller towns such as Jazeerah and Nisibis. . , . Mr. Boyajian, though on good terms with the Armenian Church of his youth, is yet the head and sort of lay-bishop of the Protestant community, numbering several hundred families, which has cut itself adrift from the American or Protestant body, partly because it wished to adopt some Church of England ritual and forms of service, which produced a quarrel ; and at present they work on congregational lines wholly, and seem to have no law, order, or discipline, except what is self-imposed LETTERS TO ARCHBISHOP BENSON 261 or ministered by Mr. Boyajian. He would himself rather see the whole movement under Church of England direction (possibly the bishop in Jerusalem taking the oversight), but his people like their independence of foreign control, and all they admit at present borrowed from us is the Nicene Creed ! a link, however, which they think a great deal of. They go by the usual name of Protestants. Mr. B. preached in Armenian the Sunday afternoon I spent there to 600 persons, men and women, and at an infoimal sendee for young people I addressed by interpreter some 300. I took our Lord's message to the Church of Pergamos, and ventured to inflict on them a little distinct Church teaching as well as the spiritual teaching of the passage. The women of the congregation seem to have appreciated this. They dress in white to be distinct from the Mussulman women who dress in black. The Christians and Moslems are nearly equal in number in that city, as in Oorfa also. Mr. B.'s opinion is that through the 50,000^ Protestants gathered out of all the Churches of the East in different cities, a very marked effect is being produced on the ancient Oriental Churches ; and the same opinion was rather strongly expressed by two rather lemarkable men to whom is committed by the Americans the joint headshii5 of the Protestant Church at Oorfa. Most of all he believes that in the ancient Armenian Church (which is naturally the most numerous in Diarbekir, having 1,500 families ; the Protestant is the next, with nearly 500) there is a ver)/ decided and groioing craving for enlightenment and self-reform, of which there was no sign thirty-five years ago, chiefly on the part of the laitif rather than of the priests. . . . One instance of this, a curious one, he mentioned. Two years ago the Armenian church was burnt down (by the Latins, ill-natured people say), and the people themselves have built a noble cathedral in its jilace. . . . However, the laity of the Armenians in Diarbekir prevailed on the priests to have no pictures in the new cathedral, and it is absolutely devoid of any picture except perhaps one (over the altar) of our Lord : a most remarkable innovation, and imiqne I should suppose. Mr. B. further told me an interesting fact, which was conhrmed by much that I heard from the lips of Protestants in different places along my line of journey, that the feeling in Church matters among those who have been separated for the time at least from their own old Chui-ches is very decidedly different from what it was in the beginning, when all or most was dark. There is, as he said pointedly, a decided reaction from the old breaking-up process towards the opposite process of a building up of the old ; a growing disposition, if only the introduction of more distinctly scriptural and Gospel teaching, and also of practical and ritual reforms, will be borne with and accepted. * This is probably an over-estimate. 262 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH to join heart and hand in the reformation and restoration of their old ancestral Churches, after the type of our English Reformation. ' Building up on primitive lines ' is the order of thought now, rather than breaking up after American precedents. I talked over very plainly and friendlily with the Americans themselves in every place I visited the chief points of distinction between our line of action and tone of counsels from theirs, and I was surprised to find how temperately and appreciatively they received what was said, and appeared quite to be of opinion in the main that if practicable (and they admitted that it was not so impracticable as once), the ultimate end to be aimed at should be the restoration of the old, and only the extracting and supplanting of what was distinctly corrupt, false, and degrading. I must confess that I set out on this journey with a very unjust prejudice against the American Protestants, but on all hands, and not merely from statements of their own, I find witness borne to the remarkable stirring and awakening which their schools and public services and ministries, with the large cu-culation of the Holy Scriptujes, have brought about among several of the Churches of the East, most of all among the Armenians and Nestorians, as your Grace is aware ; the laity rather than the priests being in the forefront of this revival and resuscitation of the coal which was left. I find also the feeling of the Americans towards the Church of England not only far less intolerant but far more friendly than I supposed, and a greater readiness on their part to regard collateral efforts on the Church of England lines, by planting down schools and teachers where such help is invited at a few head-quarters of Christians in the East, as being in co-operation with them rather than in any sense antagonism, though probably in America one must not look for such large-mindedness. I was quite unprepared for the respectful welcome accorded to an English bishop who yet spoke his mind freely, while appreciating to the full what in their great work should have its meed of praise and grateful acknowledgement. From the chief pastor of the American Church at Oorfa (brought up at Basle, a practical man, full of sound, sensible, solidly formed judgement) I learned that among the 12,000 non-j^apal Armenians in Oorfa there is not a family where he is not welcomed, and where he does not find the word of God read and valued in the houses of the people, and that by the express permission and hearty encouragement of the Armenian bishop and his clergy, who bid them take and read them freely, as quite in harmony with their Church teaching in all serious and important matters ; and it is the same with the Syrians and Jacobites. Only the Latins forbid its purchase in Oorfa, yet strange to say the Latin priests and nuns at Oorfa received me with most gracious attentions, and would have put for me a bishop's seat by the altar, only I felt LETTERS TO ARCHBISHOP BENSON 263 obliged to decline it. Theirs is the only Arabic service in Oorfa (a real wonderful city, worthy of the old Edessa of Abgarus, and the ancient Syrian missions to China and India), the rest being in Turkish, Armenian, Syriae. One's heart's instincts involuntarily uttered the desu-e and almost prayer — Could it but be that in God's good providence a St. Sulpice college, after the type of that of MM. Olier and Trouson, could be established under joint management of Arme- nian and English clergymen, though with the control of studies in the hands of the latter, either at Diarbekir or at Oorfa, the only places unoccupied by the Americans except by their native teachers, and occupying such fine central positions, the latter most especially, how rich and abiding might be the blessing to the Armenian and old Syrian Church of the future. At present too the Latin Church is very weak in both those places, though it has made an entrance and will never loose its hold. But I have no idea that any such request has ever been addressed to your Grace from any of the leaders of the Armenian Church, and until such an appeal should reach you I can well believe that your Grace would not find it in your will or jjower to make any initiatory movement forwards towards the achievement of such a result. The St. Sulpice priests' training college, with a first- class school attached, would seem to be the one pivot and centre of such hopeful action as would touch the weak and sore points, would grapple with the very deaiih and death (by the help, present and ready, of God's most blessed Spirit) which has so long afflicted and held in bondage these venerable and honoured branches of Christendom. At any rate, the suggestion might possibly occupy an hour's consideration of your Board (or Council) of Missions. . . . Besides Oorfa and Diarbekir the one other place weakly occupied by the Americans is Mosul, but the Latin Church holds it in strength and supported with pillars which seem inebranlabU indeed. Oorfa might be a bit of Bristol planted down in the wastes near the Euijhrates' banks ! To stand over the tomb of the great St. Ephraem, conducted there by the good Armenian bishop who showed me over his own cathedral, was no small privilege. I am ashamed of having written at such length. Your Grace can scarcely find it possible to have it read to you in person, but you may find it possible to hand it over to your committee on the Oriental Church question. I remain with deepest respect and grateful regard, Your Grace's servant and brother in Christ, Thomas V. French (Bishop)'. ' Some extracts from this letter have been ah-eady pi'inted in Appendix A to the Board of Missions Report oa Persia, Turkish Empire, and Eastern Churches, S.P.C.K. 1894. 264 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH How far the bishop's actual suggestions are practicable at the present moment it is not for the writer to determine, but it is plain to any man of education that if these Churches of the East are to be helped to a self-reformation, it must be on the lines of these proposals ; and further it is manifest that if a door be opened, the experiment is one well worth a trial : for the revival of these ancient Churches might be as life to the dead to the surrounding Mussulmans, and they are not to be approached effectually in any other way. The early missionary story of these regions awakens hope of latent possibilities that may recall the golden days of Nisibis, Edessa, and Bagdad ^. ' Those who require fui-ther information on these interesting topics will find it in the Reports of the ArchhisJiop's Assijrian Mission, S.P.C.K. ; Cutts' Christians under the Crescent in Asia, specially chapters xv and xl ; Curzon's Persia, vol. i. pp. 535 sq. ; Mrs. Bishop's Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan; the works of Dwight and Dr. Badger, representing the earliest modern efforts of America and England for the improvement of these Churches ; the article ' Greek Church,' in Chambers' Cyclopaedia, by His Excellency Joannes Gennadios ; and the standard ' Church Histories.' CHAPTER XXIII. TEN MONTHS IN SYEIA AND PALESTINE. ' I hope from God with a hope that shall not be disappointed ; And no door is there for me except the door of God ; And no Teacher but He, and no Beloved one. Do Thou (God) inspire me to talk of Thee all my life long, For in thus making Thee known shall the world grow in goodness.' Arabic Poem. The bishop spent ten months in Syria and Palestine, recruiting his health, and studying colloquial Arabic, and making himself acquainted with all the varied mission works, especially the British Syrian schools of Mrs. Mott, which from this time forward occupied a large place in his thoughts and prayers. This circle of some thirty schools was established and carried on by the energy of three devoted Christian sisters, Miss Lloyd, Mrs. Bowen Thomp- son, and Mrs. Mott. It appealed to the bishop's sympathies ' as England's grandest and most steadily perpetuated con- tribution to the redress of the atrocious wrongs perpetrated on the Syrian Christians by Druses and Moslems in i860,' the date at which the effort first began ; and ' as alone of the various mission institutions he had met with seeming to touch the large Mohammedan communities to any appre- ciable extent'; and lastly, as almost the only Church of England agency at work in north Syria, and itself in danger of being lost to the Church. 'The C. M. S,,' the Bishop said in a letter to the Bishop of Exeter, May 31, 1888, ' thought it their duty (I could wish they were party to no such contracts and compromises) to make a de- limitation of north Syria and south Syria, by which the north 266 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH should be American and Presbyterian, and the south Church of England. Still Mr. and Mrs. Mott did not relinquish their hold on Mrs. Thompson's schools, so far at least as this, that Church of England services have been preserved in them all these years, and the Church Catechism also taught in most, if not all, of them. But there being no Church of England missionaries or chaplains, and the Americans being of overpowering strength and determina- tion, well supported and freshly reinforced continually with the best American blood in the shape of learned professors of the Caird and Chalmers type, most often a Presbyterian preacher has given one service on successive Sundays, using I believe the English liturgy in good part. The Motts, though most tolerant and free from all bigotry, desire that after their deaths the schools should still be in Church of England hands.' The bishop was very anxious to prevent ' the closing of this one lip of witness which the Churcli of England has been permitted to open in north Syria.' He persuaded the Bishop of Exeter to take interest in the work, and act as president of the Home Council ; he consented himself to become a vice-president, on condition that the Church of England service should be said once every Sunday in all the schools ; he wrote to the Record, appealing successfully for funds to wipe off a deficit of £i,ooo in the current expenses ; and he personally inspected and examined every school but one in the whole circuit. This last work also he found most useful in his Arabic studies. 'One has to sink oneself very much,' he said, 'to catch the smallest details of the people's daily talk, getting children to prattle away around one to become familiar with what is simplest and comes soonest on the lips. I wish 1 could put myself into a school class and learn as a child.' Syria and Palestine is familiar and well-beaten ground to travellers and tourists, but still the letters of a man so well equipped with Oriental learning, and moved with such strong missionary impulses, and brought by his eccle- siastical position in contact with the highest dignitaries of Eastern Churches, will have a special interest; and even those who have themselves gone over the same ground may not be sorry to retrace it in such company. Until October he lingered in the Lebanon, at first at Beyrout, and then at BEYROUT AND ITS SCHOOLS 267 two successive stations. Aitat and Brumana, npon the higher hills. Beyrout he thus described to Basil, May 23, 1888 : — ' This is a veiy unique place in many ways, in some ways dis- appointing, for I expected much loftier mountains and eternal snows and wooded heights ; all these are wanting. Very gradual slopes rise to some 7.000 or 8.coo feet above the waters of the Mediteri-anean, and all along these slopes at distances of two or three miles one from another are villages, containing the resi- dences of wealthy Europeans and Syrian merchants, consuls, Eastern bishops, monks, and nuns. Even carriage roads are being gradually carried up these heights. Beneath the hills are palm and pine plantations, occasionally with olive groves, and mul- lierries in abundance for the silk trade. Indian corn and other wheat crops are interspersed among these. Between mountains and sea, on undulating elevations and rather steep eminences, the city with its church towers (very unpretentious because jealously watched) and more pretending minarets of mosques stretches along for a mile or two, making a veiy imposing spectacle from the bay. But few steamers anchor at one time ; only the last few days several French frigates have been moored to become pro- visioned by contract, and an English frigate follows to keep an eye upon them, which is amusing rather. ... In veiy clear weather Cyprus is visible from the heights above Beyrout. There are some gorgeous palaces on the city outskirts, almost all devoted to schools, chiefly the Eoman and the American Protestant. The Sisters of Nazareth (Jesuit) have almost the finest building within sight, on a proud hill-crest commanding sea and land. They must have great influence with the Sultan's ministers to accomplish this. The Sisters of St. Joseph have 600 children in a large institute in the city. Jewish and Moslem schools also hold their heads high ; few towns in the world have so many seats of education, all the Churches \ying with each other to multiply teachers and scholars— Maronites. Greeks, Armenians, Komans ; then, besides these, Greek Catholic, Armenian Catholic, besides Scotch and American ; only the poor Church of England unrepresented ! ' Such a Babel of teachers and taught the world can scarcely contain elsewhere in so small a compass. The Motts have five or six schools — boys', girls', infants', Jewish schools, schools for blind, night schools ; and the Americans must have still more, and up to the highest standard, literary and medical, scientific and philo- sophic, and theological. I am perfectly bewildered, but I can only hope to visit a few of these, and that by slow degrees. Then the Motts radiate out from schools here to schools in Damascus, Tyre, and village schools on vai'ious heights of the Lebanon, offered once to theC. M. S., but rejected by them as more properly 268 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH belonging to the American Presbyterian missions. It is a noble circle to act upon, if only the Church of England could take the work in hand now that the Motts are aged and borne down with the weight of what is like a separate missionary organism in itself.' Thus missionarj^ subjects, as usual, occupied his foremost thoughts. He found Canon Isaac Taylor's apology for Islam making a good deal of stir ; and an apostate Indian convert from Islam called on him with a view to forming an eclectic faith! The bishop entirely refused to shake hands with him, and met him with a very sharp rebuff. The missionary conference in London was a source of some perplexity. ' How could anything like unanimity and harmony be attained in such a mixed fraternity,' he wrote to Mr. Clark, July i, ' except by eliminating half the questions bearing on missionaiy agencies, and nearly all those bearing on the edifying of the Churches ? And how immense the advantage we are giving to Eome, and the scorn with which they must regard us ! . . . It has been a sore sifting and proving time to me, as for many other perhaps too easily offended souls, burning for more of the unity and harmony of heaven ! ' Again three days later to Mrs. Moulson : — 'A hundred and fifty societies with such variety of piin- ciples and tenets almost more need a Pentecost than 150 strange tongues do.' And yet again a little later to Mrs. French : — ' On the whole I think more good fruits have appeared than I could have ventured to predict. Some of the speeches were really very full of missionary interest, especially Prebendary Edmonds' and Mr. Allan's. The Americans seem to have shone. One of the Beyrout professors (a Dr. Post) was there.' Two losses in the mission-field deeply affected him. ' Bishop Parker's sudden removal is a solemn lesson, which I wish myself and others might take well to heart, so as to live more Christ-like, prayerful, and wholly yielded lives. It is a sore blow to the C. M. S., but Africa seems to enlist recruits better than all the world besides. I see twelve new offers for the Oxford and Cambridge Central African Mission have been received recently. I shall wait till I lecruit force, if possible, before I say LOSSES AND DEATHS 269 anything definitely about taking up work, old or new. Perhaps our dear Lord and Master has no more need of, and will bear no longer, such a half-hearted servant as I have been. Certainly I should not dare volunteer for Africa at my age ! ' To Wilfrid lie wrote, June 5 : — ' The people are justly proud of their beautiful language, and none I should think can beat it in the multiplicity and volubility of its words, so that to a learner it seems an endless ocean of speech, in which one always seems hugging the shore and never well out to sea. I never expected to find it such a terrible eff"ort of memory, for I thought I had mastered the vocabulary, though not the pronunciation, but I found I was deceived about this ! But you know I don't like to give in, so I go on plodding in hopes something may come of it, and that I may have the heart to use the tongue when acquired ; but I am more and more persuaded it is a very rare and hard thing to be a real good missionary — to speak out boldly the message we profess to bear. Keith- Falconer's removal was strange indeed. His gifts were so singular of mind, spirit, and body. He was Arabic Professor at Cam- bridge, among other honours reaped, and seems to have been champion bicyclist too ; but his faith rose higher than his genius, and take him altogether he will not soon be forgotten, though his course was so short.' Another loss that greaily moved him was tliat of the gTcat German Emperor Frederic. ' Few can have refrained from tears, I should think, in reading the touching notices of the Emperor Frederic's death. Wliat a lovable and admirable character his was! Since Prince Albert's death I have scarcely felt the loss of any public man so much. It was almost to me what the healing of my dear friend Gordon's death was. ' He attended uninvited in his episcopal robes at the service in the German Church. ' All the consuls,' he said, ' some twelve or fifteen, were present in gold and lace, and the arms of Prussia were exhibited in full splendour, but with crape borderings. My going seemed appreci- ated as an act of national sympathy. I sat within the rails. The service being German I could follow it but slightly.' But it was not only with the Germans that the bishop won favour. He keenly felt the lack of more Church fellow- ship and feeling in Beyrout : he lamented, for instance. 270 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH that when he sent down from the hills to get two Arabic Prayer-books, 'they returned instead two copies of Bour- dillon's family prayers 171 very indifferent Arabic, having none of the other!' But still he could find points of sympathy with the Americans on one side, and Greek Church prelates on the other. 'Three evenings ago,' he wrote to Mrs. Sheldon on June 8. ' I addressed some sixty-five or seventy persons in the Motts' drawing-room at a soiree. It was a curious collection, some thirty being American Presbyterian missionaries with their families, the rest Scotch, Germans, Syrians, Danes, as well as English. I gave an account of my journeys and reseai-ches among the Eastern Churches, with reference to my work among Moham- medans in India, and my views, so far as I have been able to form them, of what the Church of England might do in the way of helping some of these thirsty spirits who appeal to us for sym- pathy and succour. I had to tread most delicate ground, but I gladly acknowledged the great blessing and widespread spirit of inquiry resulting' from the Presbyterian missions, and deprecated all jealousie s and heart-burnings between us and them if it should so happen that our Church should see its way to take up some special work on its own lines, which would not trench on or interfere with theirs. The Presbyterian missionaries seem to have taken my words very kindly and friendlil)', which I scarcely expected.' Two days later he added : — 'I spoke to 150 youths this morning at the American High School and College. It seemed much to gratify the professors. • and was to me an interesting service.' At the same time he wrote to Mrs. French : — 'I have almost made friends with the Greek patriarch of Antioch, who resides at Damascus, and was here on visitation. I suppose ; a man of si^lendid physique and most aristocratic dress and bearing. The Archbishop of Canterbury arranged with him all about Bishop Blyth's relations to the Greek Church, and got thoroughly friendly recognition of his presence and work, not to proselytize, but to head the English missions, chaplains, and con- gregations throughout Syria and Egypt. The patriarch talks French perfectly, as well as Greek and Aral:)ic. and Avas most courteous and friendly. ... He called and sat an hour, bringing an archbishop as his chaplain, or superior bishop of Zachleh, near Damascus, whom I shall hope to see if I visit those parts later in the yeai'. As you may suppose, we had much talk about THE PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH 271 Antioch, and I heartily felicitated him on being recently ap- pointed to such a see, one of the three greatest patriarchates of the East. I wish he could perform a very sweeping visitation of his capital ! ' A few days later he attended a luncheon at a Syrian physician's, at which ' Two little gu-ls dressed up for the occasion came up to the patriarch, kissed his hands with great reverence, sang their little carols, and addressed him in very respectful congratulations on his recent elevation. There was only one toast after dinner, that of the patriarch, coupled with my name, and a very pretty speech in earnest language with expression of fervent hope that the Greek and English Church might ever be united in love and harmony in the same mind and judgement. This was all in Arabic, but I understood much. Only Mr. Price (English chaplain) accom- panied me : the rest were Greeks and Syrians. One gentleman, I suppose in excess of compliment, said what he could scarcely have thought, that Palestine was called the Holy Land, but that for possessing a holy people no country could be comj^arable to England.' Another day the bishop had as a caller the Archbishop of Zante, in the Ionian Isles, a man most favourable to Protestant missions. ' He looked carefully over Mrs. Mott's schools, and said to the lady-superior, " Do you like Luther ? " She said, "Yes." "And so do I," he said, "but you know I don't dare say so. I regard him as the founder of religious liberty." How strange a speech for a Greek archbishop. Certainly Beyrout is interesting in this way, as making one acquainted with the great characters in the East, much more than Bagdad or Mosul could.' His Syriac lessons the bishop obtained at the Maronite College from a courteous, gentlemanly priest. The Maro- nite bishop read with him himself the first half-hour, and expressed to the priests who sat around him his surprise at his philosophic ardour in pursuing the study of Eastern tongues. This philosophic ardour as a linguist further appears from a letter of the bishop to Mr. Jukes about the Pushtu Scriptures, preparing for the press. 'I am not neglecting Pushtu,' he said, 'among the studies I pursue, as strength allows, upon these Lebanon heights, but 272 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH I fear I have but little hope of recall to labours which still have a deep hold of my heaii. ... I shall try not to forget you in j-our approaching bitter trial of fresh separation from your dear wife. ... It is one part at least of the fulfilment of that deep passage, "Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt." I have got a good way through half of the Koran in Arabic again the last few months, and much of the Psalms, Proverbs, and New Testament. I am reminded of the words I love in the S. P. G. Manual of De- votion in behalf of Missionaries: " May Thy holy word so burn within their hearts that they may speak with that resistless energy of love which may melt the hearts of sinners." ' On the other hand he continued his researches into the French, writers on the inner life. Thus he wrote to Mrs. Moulson, who was returning to India : — Ji'^ll 3- I have been comforted to-day by some words I extracted from Fenelon, when he was condemned by the Pope and Bossuet in a bull for his views on the pure and disinterested love of God. I copy them for you. as in your present uncertainties they may help and strengthen you. They occur in a letter to his dearest friend. 'Allons jusqu'ii bout en simplicite. Marchons au travers des ombres de la moii avec celui qui est notre guide. Quoiqu'il arrive, je ne puis que I'adorer. I'aimer et benir celui par qui tout se fera, et pour qui seul je porte la croix. Si Dieu ne veut point encore se servir de moi dans mon ministere, je ne songerai qu'ii I'aimer le reste de ma vie, n'etant plus en etat de travailler a le faire aimer aux autres.' It has been almost a special jirovidence to me to have been led to the study of Fenelon's life and character the last twelve months. There is in him and his works so much- of a devotional and highly spu-itual, yet practical, character, and almost as perfect a con- formity to the image of our dear Lord in action and suffering as is possible in this poor weak flesh of ours. If but such an apostolic l)ishop could be raised up in the Greek Church in Syria, what a blessing it would be ! AVhat I have seen of the Greek prelates has not been very helpful or hopefully reassuring ; one of the ablest and most thoughtful was the Patriarch of Antioch. A few words must be said about the bishop's work and sojourn in the hills. In July he was established in the house of a Druse sheikh at Aitat, where he roughly furnished two rooms for himself It was a little village 2,000 feet above Beyrout, with fine, broad prospect of sea and mountain and olive- AITAT AND DAIR-UL-KAMAR clad plains. The great attraction was the near neighbour- hood of an elderly clergyman, Mr. Worsley, a thoughtful man with a good library of Anglican theology, who, when his health permitted, conducted Church of England services for his near neighbours. Hence the bishop visited some of the other towns and villages, doing a little missionary work as opportunity occurred for it. From Baaklin he wrote, July 14 : — ' As with the Druses at Aitat, so here also there are several very intelligent Bible readers, and it is quite a surprise to me to find that the Gosi^el seems at last to be a little taking hold of the people. I had no idea of it till I visited these parts. . . . Cer- tainly I think that in no former year have I learned so much, or imbibed so many new ideas about men and things '.' To Mrs. Sheldon. . . , , j- , Aitat, July 23. Think of the fruitfulness and freshness of Lebanon being thrice in one chapter (Hos. xiv) used to illustrate God's gracious dealings with the returning penitent. This makes one look at Lebanon with reverence and sacredness, in spite of the darkness of its Maronite Church (all adherents of Eome), and the grievous massacres of Christians twenty-eight years ago. I visited last week one of the worst scenes of bloodshed. . . . Dair-ul-Kamar is the town, five miles off, which reeked with Christian blood. It looks so bright and smiling with its imposing yellow-stone houses by day, and its brilliant lamps by night. One could hardly imagine that a j^lace of such natural beauty on the hill slopes, environed with mulberiy and fig gardens, could ever have been such an Inferno. An old man, who was one of the leaders of the slaughter, comes to call on Miss Smith sometimes — a Druse sheikh, I gave two addresses on the lawn to the little flock. The sanguinary sheikh's grandson was one of my hearers, seated under a doorway to escape observation, Mahmood by name. I had a little private chat with him in the best Arabic I could command. Yesterday I turned my little sitting-room here into a chapel, and had ten worshippers— prayers, sermon (Kom. vi. 5), and Holy Communion, to which seven stayed, mostly Presby- terians, whom I could not possibly exclude. These dear, good American missionaries and professors will sit much nearer to the Lamb at His supper table, I believe, than I shall, and I should blush, if admitted there, to think that I had warned them off the eucharistic table on earth. * Mr. and Mrs. Worsley's work among the Druses has recently been handed over by them under a trust to Bishop Blyth. VOL. II. T 274 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH The young sheikh with whom I stay still comes to read the Bible. There is much good and hopeful in him. I told him the other day if he and I could build a church together on the Lebanon, and he be trained in England for the diaconate at St. Augustine's or elsewhere, what good might come all over these Lebanon heights. I fear he is still far from the kingdom of God, though the Saviour might speak diiferently of him. Sirs. Mott and her sister called two days since. I am trying to help her a little as out of my reduced means I am able, but India drains most of what I can spare. My quiet manner of life with a dragoman who waits and cooks, and a poor widow who cleans dishes — one dish it is generally — helps me to have a little balance for these causes. Such a synod as that of Lambeth is really of historical interest in Church annals. I do hope we shall lie very low in grateful acknowledgement l:iefore Him who has raised the beggar from the dunghill to such a throne of glory. I often think of Saul's rebuke, 'When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not head of the tribes of Israel ? ' I think the archbishop wishes to keep us humble and sensible of being entrusted with a most solemn and critical charge. One of the most famous young Oxonians spent the day with me at Miss Smith's, near Dair-ul-Kamar. Mr. Margoliouth. He is doing much what I am, throwing his heart into Arabic studies, and I think really interested in the Eastern Churches Good Mrs. Mott would have my photograph taken here at Beyrout in my episcopal garb. So I have sent you the only one likely ever to exist after this fashion. It represents me, as usual, half asleep, which, in spite of my various faults, is perhaps scarcely the most notable one, any more than with any other of the Frenches and Valpys. . . . The thistles of Lebanon are among its most beautiful flowers, thorny as they are. It helps one to understand why the thistle that was in Lebanon was so elated as to write to the cedar that was in Lebanon, ' Give thy daughter to my son.' From Aitat the bishop went up higher to Brumana, which he thus described in a letter to his sister, Mrs. Sheldon, August i8, 1888 :— • I liave been over a week in my new residence. , . . Very little English is talked here, only I have not quite so much work among the Druses as I had. I am further up in the hills, and in pine groves partly, instead of the figs and mulberries. Maronites and Greek Christians predominate, with the ubiquitous Romans also, who have a large girls' school and foundling hospital in Brumana ; and on a mountain seven miles off, to which I walked yesterday, partly riding on a donkey I picked up of the fine mountain breed, I found a large monasteiy and school of BRUMANA. A GREEK FUNERAL Franciscan monks, with whom I lunched and told them of my work in India. The only Protestants here are "Friends," with whom I stayed two days last week. They have some English lady teachers of that sect. . . . The head of the [Friends'] schools was King Theodore's prisoner in Abyssinia, and had a marvellous deliverance on Lord Napier's arrival at Magdala, the chiefs all J)urning to be allowed to massacre them, and only the king pro- tecting them and sending them to the British camp. He was sent by Bishop Gobat to Abyssinia, but seems to have fallen among "the Friends" in England and adopted their tenets. , . . I have four little rooms in a small paved courtyard, part of it pillared colonnade fashion, with festoons of vines above, and a few clusters hanging through a grating ; facing me hills, beautifully grouped and crowned with churches and monasteries, with the sea-expanse beyond. It would have been difficult to find a spot better suited to the purpose I had in view — of rest, with a moderate amount of work to do. On a terrace in front of the one door which shuts in all my little court and its j^rimitive cottages, I sit in the evening sometimes, and men and children gather round, and I read out of the Bible to them. 'Immediately adjoining my lodgings is a solidly-built new Greek church, where I attended a rather interesting funeral one day. The whole of the congregation must have been assem- bled. The corpse was of a young man of twenty-two j'ears, of good family, who had a young widow and babe surviving. He was laid in a bed in the centre of the church, with face uncovered, and many pressed around to kiss him, and cover him with flowers amid sobs and tears, while the four priests in a row sang or monotoned the praj'ers. When this was over there was quite a scene of l)itter wailing. Then the coffin was brought in, and the corpse was laid in it, and a few nails driven in to fasten it. Then it was carried out to the adjoining cemetery, the four priests going before. I suj^pose the service lasted an hour and a half.' To Mrs. French. . , August 20. I have been gaining much help from the Life of St. Vincent dc Paul. It has comforted me much under present uncertainties. A passage I copied out this morning seemed just what I wanted. ' Son humilite le portait toujours a se defier de ses propres lumieres, et une de ses maximes etait de ne se point ingerer de soi-meme dans les desseins de Dieu : il se contentait d'invoquer le Saint-Esprit, en attendant qu"il lui plut faire connaitre ce qui lui serait le plus agreable.' For both of us such words seem veiy appropriate and helijful. I should like to be found worthy of a little more missionary work before my course is ended, but I feel I must patiently abide in the Lord and wait for His good pleasure. He has been so good to us in time past that it would be a sin to doubt His loving care for T 2 276 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH us. . . . If the Archbishop of Canterbury had an unlimited number of clergy (like the Pope), whom he could send to spread the more perfect Gospel, both of truth and unity, evangelical doctrine and church order, it would seem as if this was just the time, but our missions are too often feeblj^ manned. . . . Our bishops would do more to fix and establish men but for the extreme Low party, which is always threatening them with pro- secutions, and abusing all order and discipline as mere Eoman innovation, and savouring of the harlot. Certainly Eome is the Church's 'great mystery,' as the Eevelation represents it, with its unaccountable mixture of good and evil. To Mrs. Sheldon. Brumana, September 10. What could the good Archbishop of York mean in his synodical sermon by saying that the slopes of Lebanon were barren, and its ancient orchards, vineyards, and olive-gardens waste ? The whole of Lebanon, except where rocky heights of vast depth forbid blasting and turfing over, is a sheet of rich green vegetation ! ... I cannot help thinking that our Church has in the future a path of special usefulness chalked out for it, in the reviving and. evangelizing of these Eastern Churches, in following out which it will, I trust, never look with scornful and jealous indifference on the grand and signally successful effoiis made so long by the American Presbyterians in jiarticular, and their grand system of high schools. ... I think you seem to understand my position here better than most. It is a genuine post of work entrusted to me by Bishop Blyth, as one of his clergy put in charge of Lebanon work. I should scarcely be happy othenvise. Some of 's friends seem to have expressed themselves to the effect that I ought to undertake some definite post of duty at once ! As if my nine or ten hours a day of hard woi-k were mere idling or self-pleasing ! The fact is, I don't like always talking about what I am doing, or my life here would tell a different story with its missionaiy visits to the villages and to the monasteries, with many visits received in my own house, all of which (except the English work on Sunday) have to be in a strange and difficult tongue. This of course is not all I could wish, as I speak and under- stand the tongue but imperfectly, still it does not make the work less definite, or less befitting my position here, I trust. If my strength is spared for visiting and examining the other large schools I propose to see before Christmas, I think the year will not have been one of the least fully occupied or most uselessly. To Cyeil. Brumana, September 22. The people here are mostly friendly and blithe-hearted, but somewhat shallow and superficial in their moral and religious RELIGION IN THE LEBANON 277 views, and to touch their hearts seems hard, as the sense of sin is sorely deficient. Eepentance and conversion is all very well for Jews and Druses, they seem to think, but for baptized Chris- tians, wlio have a priest to have recourse to for sei-vices and for visits in sickness, such ideas are irrelevant. However, as the Bible becomes more circulated amongst them, and Protestant schools more spread, they will be gradually enlightened, I trust, the laity in advance of the j^riests, who are not reached much by the Americans. The Eomans, and the various bodies in submis- sion to the Pope, such as the Maronites, Greek Catholics, Syrian Catholics and others, do their best of course to keep the word of God out, but as St. Paul says, 'The word of God is not bound,' and it finds its way in spite of them into some homes and hearts ; I hope into many. The Protestants appear to me to lack a high tone of moral elevation and of devout prayerfulness and self-devotion, making religion to consist too much in correct notions of doctrine as to justification, and in resisting all ritual, sacerdotal, sacramental notions as abominations. The temi^erate views of our Church on these subjects, with its moderate, solemn, searching ritual, and reverent, devout, quiet spii-it, encouraging so much the soul's breathing after holiness and close imitation of Christ, seem to be just what is wanted to bring the Bible home to the heart and life in the power of the blessed Spii-it, for which it witnesses so sacredly and steadily and with such vivid reality. Both Kome and Geneva will do what they can to prevent the entrance of the Church of England and its influences, and it may not be God's ■will that we should find admission at present. I try and thread my way about these rocky pathways amid vines and mulberries to the villages. We sit on the rocks and have a talk together, but the priests look after me pretty sharply, so I have to act warily and make no demonstration. Yesterday I got to a village three miles off on the road to Sineen, the loftiest of the Lebanon heights. I got a little company of children and elders about me, and was emptying my pockets of their contents of Testaments, when two Eoman priests and a deacon, very gentlemanly and fairly courteous men, came up to see what I was about, so there is an end of my work for that afternoon, as they see me safely out of the village before they say ' Good night. ' However, I had a little Arabic converse with the people before they discovered me. I get a pretty good number of visits from the people round me, which are generally ended by a little Bible reading, so I seem in some small measure to have got back to my old missionaiy lines of work, and shall be glad if God allows me to see this door open again before me, and no man to shut it. I feel I must no more seek any great things for myself, but be content with small and humble spheres of duty. 278 LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH To Mrs. Knox. Brumana, October 4. I am almost sorry to be leaving Lebanon, as it has yielded me to some considerable extent the place of solitude and retreat I craved so long and felt so needful. ... I have never had before such an opportunity for witnessing against Eome, and testifying to the great Eeformation doctrines of our Church. It grieves me to see the pall of dai-kness, which the Church of Rome seems labouring to spread over all these lands, though its sisterhoods are working as usual with extreme devotion, and sowing much seed that would be most precious, if it were not grievously blighted by Mariolatry and bitter opposition to the spread of the Bible. The priests are notorious in these lands for their Bible-burning. They have watched most jealously and resolutely my efforts to circulate the Bible in these Lebanon villages around Brumana. ... In my walks T usually carry my coat on my arm, its pockets full of Testaments and children's books, Avhich said pockets always return empty, or nearly so. I speak Arabic better, but am far as yet from understanding freely the vulgar dialect, especially when spoken by the women, whose rapidity of utterance beats me ratlier distressingly. How- ever, each month one gets one rung of the ladder higher in this also, and I have six more months at any rate, please God, before I turn my steps direct homewards. The pines on the Lebanon seem to me the most graceful trees I have ever seen. I can't help thinking of them as the ladies of the vegetable world. Such attractiveness is there in their forms, rich colours of leaf and bark, and even their gestures and delicacy of bend on the hill-sides — a complete picture of sweetness and dignity. The bold way in which the hills throw out their strong rocky roots, like massive buttresses, cannot but remind one of the striking prophetic image, ' For He shall cast forth His roots like Lebanon. ' I should like to have been able to traverse the loftier heights, which are full of remains of old pagan and Phoenician temples of Baal, records of the degrading yet doubtless beautiful and bewitch- ing Thammuz worship, towards which the people of Israel were constantly being beguiled, and against which the prophets of God, as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea, protested so manfully. The Syrians are a very imaginative, poetic, dramatic sort of people, and one can well understand how their mystic and romantic rites of heathenism, which tried to be in such close sympathy with nature and its changeful seasons, its charms of storm and sunshine, death and revival, had a gi-ievously magical effect on God's own Church in the East when its heart fell away. I hope to see a little more of the Mohammedans of Syria and also of the British Syrian schools during my journey, besides visits to some few of the holy places. . . . CARMEL AxND NAZARETH 279 The bishop had intended to go first to Damascus, but the illness of his dragoman Hadoori, whom he had to leave in hospital at Beyrout, determined him to change his plan and accept an invitation from Mr. Hall, of Jaffa, to take part in a missionary conference there in November. The rest, the extracts from his letters will make clear. To Mrs. French. Mar Elias, Monasteiy on Mount Carmel, near Hailfa, Oct. 23, This monastery of Carmelite fathers is of ancient foundation, and stands on a projecting height of Carmel about 200 feet above the bay of Haiffa. I preferred coming up here to staying on the seashore at a German hotel, partly for economy's sake, and partly because of the rather stifling heat below at this season. All is delightfully clean, and the fare, though somewhat meagre, is sufficient, and the fathers tolerably civil. They have spacious grounds all round the convent, and eke out of the rocky soil all they can for olive and fig plantations. One of them is a Belgian monk, an old Indian missionaiy, of eighty years of age, I should think, decrepit and worn : he says he will often pray for me that we may meet in heaven. The library has nothing to boast of in the way of precious and antique treasures, as sixty years ago the monks were massacred, and their buildings burnt, and their possessions have been slowly recovered and held by precarious tenure. There is a tomb of the French sick and wounded, who were left by Napoleon at Acre and massacred by the Turkish troops in their hospital with their attendant monks. Our Lady of Carmel is a great object of worship here, and attracts pilgrims from all over Europe. Underneath the house is a grotto of Elijah the prophet, where he is said to have resided, and which is visited once a year by crowds of Druses and Moslems, all of whom regard him with awe, and an oath taken by the prophet Elijah is held most sacredly binding. To Mrs. Moulson. Nazareth, Galilee, Holy Land, Oct. 26. It is not often that one is privileged to give such an address as the one with which I head this lettei-. ... It is indeed a wonder- ful place to look upon from the heights which hem it in and form a setting to the rich jewel. On every knoll almost is some Chris- tian church, Greek, Eoman, Maronite, English or other. The Latin is said to be on the site of the synagogue from which that first most gracious sermon was preached in Nazareth. Almost all over the slopes, which form the circular basin or concavity, are built white houses, seldom in streets or rows of buildings, but 28o LIFE OF BISHOP FRENCH each in its distinct little courtyard, too glaring in their whiteness in full sunlight, but lovely doubtless under shadow or clouds or at sunset, not hovels nor yet palaces, but mostly of moderate dimensions. I could not find any inn or caravanserai, but I remembered the name of one of the C. M. S. native schoolmasters here, so to his house I resorted, and was pressed to occupy two rooms. . . . He talks English, but I laid an embargo the first minute on all lan- guage but Arabic, and I heard his examination of three classes in Scripture this morning, so I hope to use well these five or six da5''s for adding to my stock in this wonderful tongue. A little fawn- coloured dove is the companion of my studies, pacing the room in fearless freedom, and reminding me of the Descent at the holy baptism. It took me seven hours to reach this in