U '' wmm j|||. iMl;ih;li,i!liii.l i lllllllllMlillMlii /o.//,o^'^ ^ PRINCETON, N. J. *^^ Presented by 'Z^V\(2rBO(:7'.'r-A o\^Or-G.\dx^XX\'\S>- k EOYPT AND TLe CIiri5li£.n Cru52^cle BY CHARLES R. WATSON FOURTH THOUSAND THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS of the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF N. A. Philadelphia, pa. Copyright, 1907, by THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THI UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA. T, O MY FATHER AXD MOTHER MISSIONARIES IN EGYPT SINCE 1861 AND TO THE YOU:^G MEN AND WOMEN OF THE UNITED PEESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF N. A. THROUGH WHOSE SERVICE AND SACRIFICE THE EVANGELIZATION OF EGYPT MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED. PREFACE To -write another book on Egypt, may seem "venturesome when there are already in existence whole libraries dealing with the history of the country, its monuments, and its ancient reli- gions; its present political condition, its people and their customs; not to speak of countless books of travel, recording the passing impres- sions of tourists who have spent from two weeks to two winters in the Nile Valley. It may seem especially daring to attempt to write another book, when in that book it is proposed to touch, though ever so briefly, on most of these great subjects and at the same time to limit the volume to less than three hundred pages. Yet the justification for another book on .Egypt can be found in two directions. In the ■ first place, the very multiplicity of books on Egypt, dealing with special interests in that most interesting country, leaves room for a hand- book which shall undertake to give a compre- hensive, if not a profound, view of the country V vl Preface and its people, without allowing that descrip- tioD to develop into a large volume. In the second place, it is a signiticant fact, that among all the books which deal with Egypt, there is not one which takes up for consideration the great facts of this country's history, of her religions, of her intellectual, social and moral conditions, in their relation to the missionary enterprise and the Divine purposes of redemp- tion. The nearest approach to this is in " The American Mission in Egypt,'^ by the Kev. Andrew Watson, D.D., but the aim of that book is rather to present an accurate and complete narrative of the most conspicious missionary work in the Nile Valley, the work of the Ameri- can Mission. This book is, therefore, a handbook on Egypt in its relation to the Christian missionary enterprise. The aim and the size of the book unite in determining its character and explain- ing many omissions. The descriptions of past movements and of present-day conditions which make up the volume, have for background the earnest hope that the Church will awaken to her privilege and duty to cooperate with God in Preface vii ushering in the day when " the Egyptians shall know Jehovah." To many who have rendered great assistance by furnishing accurate information, offering valuable suggestions, and assisting in the pub- lication of the book, the writer extends his sincere and most hearty thanks. An Appendix gives additional statistics. The American Revised Version has been generally preferred in Scriptural quotations. The Royal Geographical Society's rules for spelling have been followed as far as possible in all proper names. These rules are also given in the Appendix. CONTENTS Chapter Pag' I. The Country 3 II. The People 29 III. History 56 IV. Religions 97 V. Early Missionary Efforts 130 VI. United Presbyterian Mission 150 VII. Recent Missionary Work 180 VIII. Missionary Agencies 205 IX. Final Victory 037 Appendix T. Population 270 II Occupations 272 III. Rules for Pronunciation and Spelling 273 IV. Statistics of Protestant Missions 274 V. Statistics of the .American Mission 27fi VI. Bibliography 2Pn INDEX 285 ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Second Pyramid Frontispuce An Egyptian Village Facing Page 9 AssiUT During the Inundation Head Sheikh of Sinaitic Peninsula Cairene Woman and Fellaha Lord Cromer and the Khedive Protestant Church and Coptic Cathedral Mosque and Moslems at Prayer Mission Buildings at Cairo Some Converts Missionaries of 1854-1864 The Maharajah and the Maharani Missionaries of 1854-1864 Assiut College Buildings AssiUT Hospital and the Ibis Missionary Workers at Jubilee Anniversary Map of Egypt End of Book xi 19 31 44 89 110 125 132 141 154 164 182 193 219 252 CHAPTEE I THE COUNTRY Interest. Egypt ! What a name to conjure with ! Are you a historian? At Cairo, you may Historical go out to the edge of the desert and let your thoughts wander back over one thousand, two thousand, five thousand years of history, for your eyes rest in awe and wonder upon those huge and abiding creations of man, the Pyramids of Gizeh, which seem to symbolize both time and eternity. Or, going up the Nile to Luxor, you look out upon a valley without rival anywhere for historic fame. At hand, fronting the river, are the graceful ruins of the Temple of Luxor, associated with the names of Amenophis III., Eameses II., and Amenophis IV. A few miles down the river is the site of "hundred-gated Thebes," and the ruins of Kar- nak, — an unending succession of halls, sanctu- aries, temples, pylons and courts, the most ex- tensive ruins in all the world. Across the river, in a stretch of green, or, if the Nile be at flood, in a sea of steel gray, sit the imposing Colossi of Memnon. Beyond these, skirting the hills, is a magnificent semicircle of no less than six 2 3 4 Egypt and the Christian Crusade temple ruins, while yonder on the horizon, rise the Theban hills, crammed with history, the fa- mous burying places of ages past. You may go farther up the Nile beyond the First Cataract — where the ordinary traveler stops — and visit in the heart of Nubia, the great temple of Abu Simbel, whose four mammoth colossi eclipse the Colossi of Memnon in size, and witness to the greatness of Rameses II., pharaoh of the four- teenth century, B. C. ^ Or, are you an artist? You may look out Picturesque ' ^ • r- i i t i -i • Country, upou a uarrow strip oi ploughed earth, on tnis side of which flows a chocolate-colored stream and beyond which waves, in winter, a field of clover, while still beyond rise limestone hills. Crude material for a picture, you say ! But let the wonderful sunlight of Egypt glorify this crude material and it will be your fortune if you transfer the picture to canvas. The sun- shine gives to the ploughed land the richest shade of brown. Never was seen green so vivid and fresh as in this clover field. The limestone hills have been clothed with the softest lavender. The sky overhead is clear and blue. Here and there a clump of graceful palms strikes a sharper note of color. And the muddy river catches and flings back the beauty of the scene in a subdued reflection, which adds new qualities to the picture. In the Nile Valley, as The Country 5 in no other country, will the artist find at every turn the beautiful blended with the picturesque. Perhaps you are a student of politics. If so, can you match elsewhere the anomalies of Egypt's political relations ? Eg}^t is a part of the Turkish Empire, paying tribute to the Sul- tan, three and a half million dollars annually. But what are the British doing in Egypt ? So be it, Egypt belongs to Great Britain. But, no, this cannot be, for her financial affairs are sub- ject to a European committee, "the Interna- tional Commission of the Debt." Well then, Egypt must be subject to the co-ordinated powers of Europe. But just here the Khedive, Abbas Ililmi, steps in to tell you that he is an independent ruler according to the imperial Turkish firman. Where lies the truth? Cer- tainly here is an interesting political study. But you are a Bible student. Then Egypt ABiWe must interest you. Egypt, whither Abraham wended his way and where Jacob ended his days! Egypt, the school of bondage for the people of God ! Egypt, the nation which figures so largely in the history of Israel,- now standing as foe, now affiliated as ally! Egypt, a Scrip- ture symbol of treachery and of worldly ease! Egypt, concerning which are many glorious and precious prophecies ! Egypt, which gave shelter to the Babe of Bethlehem! Land 6 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Mission*. However, the fact is, you are a student and supporter of missions. Again, Egypt invites you to watch the success of apostolic and post- apostolic missionary effort, as the Gospel of Christ, carried to Egypt by John Mark, if not by the Apostle Peter, gains such rapid entrance that by the fourth century A.D., the land has be- come, nominally at least, a Christian land. Egypt invites you, too, to witness the later-day efforts of Moravian, British and American mis- sionaries, meeting with the Gospel of the lowly !N'azarene, the most resisting, the most indomit- able, the most difficult foe that Christianity has ever had — Mohammedanism. Area. From cvcry point of view, Egypt is an inter- esting land, but, for a moment, we will consider the country itself. If we take the entire ter- ritory comprised within the political limits of Egypt, we shall have an area of 400,000 square miles, about equal to the combined areas of Maine, l^ew Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, ISTew York, 'New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- land, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Vir- ginia, ISTorth Carolina, Georgia, and Elorida, or about ten times the area of Ohio. The bound- aries of this territory are the Mediterranean on the north ; on the west a line running north and south at about 25° 00' 00" east longitude ; on the The Country 7 south, a line running generally east and west at 22° 30' 00'' north latitude (this falls about 25 miles north of Wadi Haifa) ; on the east, a line running southeast from El Arish on the Med- iterranean coast (33° 49' 00" east longitude) to Akabah, and then on in a straiglit line to about 25° 50' 00" north latitude, where the boundary line runs to the Red Sea coast. The Red Sea is, of course, the eastern boundary of the African mainland. The chief point to be noted here is the geo- graphical isolation of Egypt. Cut off by desert or ocean from close contact with neighboring lands, and, indeed, not lying to-day in close proxim- ity to any land of great influence, Egypt stands isolated to a great extent. The influences that are to affect her national life are those which are being brought to her by the political, com- mercial and missionary movements of the day. In one respect alone does this statement need to be qualified. The solidarity , of the Moham- medan world is exceedingly strong, and Egypt, perhaps the dominant Moslem nation of the world to-day, is both exceedingly sensitive to, and influential in, the current religious move- ments and thought of the Moslem Orient. However, the large area just outlined is not the real Egypt. It comprises desert land that is entirely uninhabited and uncultivated. The 8 Egypt and the Christian Crusade habitable area of Egypt is only 12,976 square miles. This is about equal to the area of the two small States of Massachusetts and Connecti- cut, or four-fifths of the area of Switzerland. If we were to limit ourselves to the area actu- ally cultivated, we would have only 9,163 square miles, almost exactly the area of Vermont. Population, According to the census of 1897, the popula- tion of Egypt was 9,734,405. Of these 9,020,- 404 were Egyptians, 601,427 were Bedouins, and 112,574 were foreigners. Making compari- son with the previous census, that of 1882, the population of Egypt is found to have in- creased on an average 2.76 per cent, annually. This would make the present population of Egypt 12,421,100, and there is every reason for believing that there has been this gain. The population of Egypt to-day (1907) may be con- sidered, therefore, to be about equal to the com- bined populations of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, or about one-third the population of France. For all details, however, concerning the population of Egypt, we must revert to the census figures of 1897. The limited area of the country which is at all habitable, combined with the vastness of the population, gives us a density of population un- equalled in America or in Europe, if indeed anywhere in the world. Egypt thus has 750 in- The Country 9 habitants per square mile, as against 102 in Ohio, 140 in Pennsylvania, 188 in France, 348 in Massachusetts, 407 in Rhode Island, 589 in Belgium, and 552 in Bengal, the most thickly populated portion of India. The census of 1897 shows the sexes to be pretty well balanced, 50,83 per cent, being males and 49.17 per cent, being females. Thus ISTature would scarcely permit the liberal proportion of four wives to every man, which the Koran allows. Classified according to places of residence, we find the larger proportion of the population liv- ing in towns and villages ; about two-sevenths in towns and villages with less than a thousand inhabitants; about three-sevenths in towns of one to five thousand inhabitants, and the rest in cities of more than five thousand inhabitants. When this is said, there is also need of empha- sizing the fact that the bulk of the population is engaged in agricultural pursuits. As in all Oriental lands, however, farmers do not live in isolated homes upon their own farms, but in towns and villages within walking distance of their land. Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is indeed a large city, the largest city in all Africa, with a popu- lation in 1897 of 570,062, equal to the com- bined populations (census of 1900) of Cleve- .U/^imaitt OUTLINE MAP OF EGYPT. Showing cultivable area and distribution of towns and cities. Underlined figures indicate /eddan^, 1,038 acre in a /edtian. Other figures represent cities and towns. 10 The Country 11 land, Columbus and Dayton, or about the size of St. Louis. Alexandria, too, with its popula- tion of 319,766 (now certainly much larger) would rival Pittsburgh. But after these two, we have cities and towns of much smaller size.* The physical characteristics of Egypt are Physical noteworthy. ^'The Nile Valley" is the name isucs**' which best suggests the land and its configura- tion. Imagine a valley 800 miles in length (from Cairo to Wadi Haifa) ; on an average seven miles in width ; the river in the middle ; on either side a narrow strip of land, a bare limestone range of hills, and then the desert. At its northern extremity, let this valley open out into a rich, level district, the Delta, an equilateral triangle having each side 150 miles in length. This, in rough outline, is Egypt. To get some idea of distances, we may place Alexandria upon ITew York; Cairo will fall slightly west of Philadelphia; Luxor will be near Pittsburgh, Pa. ; the First Cataract will lie near Columbus, Ohio, and the Second Cataract (Egypt's southern boundary) will be found not far from Terre Haute, Indiana. The limestone ranges enclosing the Nile Val- ley are the "Arabian" on the east, and the * Tanta, 57,289 ; Port Said, 42,095 ; Assiut, 42,078; Monsurah, 36,131; Zagazig, 35,715; Fayum, 33,069; Damanhur, 32,122; Mehalla el Kobra, 31,791; Damietta, 31,515; Akmiin, 27,953 ; Kena, 27,478; Nazleh, 27,055; Minieh, 24,235, 12 Egypt and the Christian Crusade "Libyan" on the west. South of Edfu, the limestone gives place to sandstone, the ^'Nubian sandstone" which covers so many thousands of square miles of ISTubia and the Sudan. At the First Cataract, for a short distance, a trans- verse barrier of granite appears ; here the ancient Egyptian builders and sculptors got material for statues, sarcophagi, obelisks, and even whole temples. The Arabian and Libyan ranges rise in places to upward of 1000 feet. East of the Arabian range is the Arabian desert, which rises by a series of plateaux to the Red Sea, where the mountains attain the height of 6,000 feet. The Libyan range, on the contrary, falls away by gentle slopes, westward, to the Libyan desert. Here and there both ranges lose their continuity and make possible caravan routes across the desert to oases or convents. At Kena, the Nile Valley makes its closest approach to the Red Sea, and a caravan route to Kossair on the Red Sea shows the distance to be about one hundred miles. ROUGH OUTLINE OF ELEVATIONS ABOUT NILE VALLEY. The Country 13 Although itself small in area, yet Egypt has lakes. Some so-called lakes are only inlets from the Mediterranean Sea, such as Lakes Man- zaleh and Burlus. Other lakes are, toward the Suez Canal, the Bitter Lakes and Lake Timsah; west of the Delta, Lakes Elkhu and Mariut; and in the Fayimi, Lake Moeris, fre- quently mentioned by early Greek travelers, now known as Birket Karun. The climate of Egypt is famous. Yet there are many who misjudge this Egyptian climate. Visiting the Nile Valley during a few of the choicest weeks of winter, some go away ignorant of, and ignoring also, the existence of an in- tensely hot and debilitating summer. Others again, experiencing, during a few days in Egypt, weather whose chill is all the more pene- trating because the houses are not provided with any heating appliances, go away scoffing at the far-famed climate of this land of sunshine. The climate of Egypt is to be credited, gen- erally speaking, with two valuable qualities; uniformity, which avoids the unhealthfulness of great variations of temperature, and dryness, which makes the heat less oppressive. Three influences operate in the making of Egyptian climate. The Libyan Desert, which is the most influential factor; the Mediterranean, which, of course, affects lower Egypt especially ; Climate. 14 Egypt and the Christian Crusade and the cultivated land, whose influence is so slight as to be almost negligible. From May to October, the hot air rises in the Libyan Desert and cold air rushes in from the Mediterranean to take its place. This produces the strong, steady north wind, which Herodotus calls the Etesian "Wind. Upon this wind, the boatmen of Egypt are entirely dependent, as it furnishes them with the motive power which takes the place of steam in propelling their lateen-sailed craft up the river. By night, the current bears down with remarkable rapidity their heavily-laden djerms. From November to April, the wind blows generally from the west; but, after all, about 50 per cent, of the days are windless. At intervals, during the fifty days before the summer solstice, strong, hot, dry, sand-laden winds are liable to blow in from the desert for a day or two at a time. These are known as theKhamsin (from the Arabic, khamasin, fifty). These sandstorms, which the ordinary tourist knows nothing of, for he leaves the country be- fore their season, presage the coming summer. Little puffs of wind, as if from a hot oven, are followed by a steady blow. The sun is ob- scured; the air is filled with dust and sand. The storm drives the small particles through clothing, through the crevices of a window^ The Country 15 everywhere. You can feel and taste and see and smell the dust. When the storm has spent its force, after one or two days, the task lies ahead of housekeepers to clean up, and of those with weak eyes to consult an oculist. Judging climate by temperature only, we find the temperature of Lower Egypt in winter about like that of London in September. The mean temperature for Cairo is 56° Fahr. in winter, and 83° in summer. This does not in- clude long summer periods when the thermom- eter stands at 100° in the shade and goes even higher. In summer, in Upper Egypt, where the temperature is uniformly higher, the ther- mometer frequently reaches 120° in the shade, compelling even the acclimated missionary, for his own sake and especially for the sake of his family, to find relief by going north to the Mediterranean seaboard. The fact ought to be emphasized that it is not the discomfort of the heat during single days that makes the climate of Egypt trying. It is the long con- tinuance of the heat throughout weeks and months which saps the strength and life and health of the missionary. But the dominant feature of Egypt is the Nile. Let us go back in thought to some un- dated prehistoric period, when the great lakes of Central Africa first found the limit of their The Kilo. 16 Egypt and the Christian Crusade capacity and the overflowing waters were com- pelled to seek a resting-place in the great ocean. What wisdom prevented the escaping waters of the Victoria I^yanza from flowing eastward and finding, after a brief journey of 800 or 1000 miles, their resting-place in the Indian Ocean? Or what hindered these waters from making double use of the great furrow which the Congo River cut westward through Africa to the At- lantic Ocean ? It is impossible not to recognize the Hand of God, guiding this magnificent stream northward, through the great marshes of the Upper Sudan, across the rich plains of Central Sudan, then reenforcing it by the Sobat and the Blue Nile, leading it on through the hot and thirsty sands of Northern Sudan, 3526 miles to the Valley of Egypt, where this River Nile might literally create a garden which should become the cradle of civilization, and be, for centuries, the theatre of the greatest world movements. Physically, industrially, socially, intellectu- ally — one is tempted to add, morally and spiri- tually — Egypt is what it is, because of the Nile. Take away the river, and Egypt is not only changed, it ceases to be. But for the life-giving waters of the Nile, Egypt reverts to the desert and becomes only one of numerous "wadys," which characterize the Arabian Desert. The The Country 17 Nile is Egypt's highway of commerce, with either wind or current for motive power. Be- fore railroads were built, practically every section of Egypt was easily accessible, for the river was a ready means of communication. Surveying, engineering, the art of irrigation, and the science of astronomy were all members of one intellectual family, and the Nile was their parent. "No country in the world," says Dr. G. Schweinfurth, "is so dependent on a river which traverses it as Egypt, and no river presents physical characteristics so exceptional as the Nile; so, too, there exists no race of people which possesses so marked and unchang- ing an individuality as the Egyptians. It is therefore most probable that this unvarying type is the product of the soil itself, and that the character of the peoples who settled at dif- ferent periods on the bank of the Nile, what- ever it may originally have been, has in due course of time been moulded to the same con- stant form by the mysterious influences of the river." The annual miracle of the Nile flood is to The Egypt what the "bursting of the monsoon" is to India. It is the life of the land. Toward the end of May (May 23 is the average low Nile of the last twenty years at Cairo), the Nile begins to recover from its lowest state. 18 Egypt and the Christian Crusade By the middle of July, the increase becomes more rapid. Toward the end of September, the river ceases to rise for three or four weeks, but continues to maintain its height. During October it again resumes its increase and soon reaches its highest point. Then it begins to subside, sometimes recovering its losses for a few days, but soon the decrease is rapid. In January, February and March the fields gradu- ally become dry. In explaining this l^ile flood in Egypt, we must look not to the headwaters of the White Nile, but to those torrential tributaries which have their source in the Abyssinian mountains, the Sobat and particularly the Blue Nile. The rains of Abyssinia transform the Sobat and especially the Blue Nile into swollen, rushing, watercourses of a reddish hue, and it is this red deposit, swept down from the Abyssinian mountains, that enriches the fields of Egypt. But for the skill of the engineer and the science of irrigation, this Nile flood would min- ister, and that often in an uncontrolled and disastrous way, only to those lands whose low level brought them within natural reach of the overflowing waters. To-day, however, irrigation works — the great dam as Assuan, which creates a mighty reservoir banking up the waters for 150 miles., the dam at Assiut, the great Barrage o I— ( H W g E-i GQ CO <1 The Country 19 below Cairo, and the vast network of canals which belong to these several constructions — all make the cultivable land of Egypt less and less subject to the eccentric extremes of a Nile flood. The water is thus more effectively dis- tributed and stored up against future need. The ivhole land is divided, for purposes of irrigation, into large basins. These are flooded under the direction of skilled engineers, and the water is allowed to stand until the soil has be- come sufficiently saturated and a considerable quantity of the deposit has settled. The water is then drained off into the canals or into lower basins. During the season when the land is thus flooded the country presents an unusual ap- pearance. The villages are at times entirely cut off from each other, save by boats, or else con- nected only by some high embankment which serves the double purpose of holding in the waters and of serving as a public highway. The Delta enjoys perennial irrigation, and land therefore possesses a greater value there than in Upper Egypt. The unusual prices which obtain in Egypt for cost of land are a surprise to every foreigner, and are ^*°^' unintelligible to many. Yet irrigation gives us the explanation. In Upper Egypt farming land sells at $300 an acre. In the Delta, farm land costs $700 an acre and upward. This 3 Seasons. 20 Egypt and the Christian Crusade seems strange to Americans whose best Iowa land sells for only $150 per acre. Remember, then, that in the Delta is perennial irrigation, permitting of as high as three crops during a single year. Remember, too, that Egypt grows cotton — and such cotton! A long-fibred, soft cotton, which brought a year ago eighteen dol- lars per hundred-weight, and you can raise ten hundred-weight on a good acre of land. That gives you a hundred and eighty dollars of pro- fit from your seven-hundred-dollar investment. And, if you cannot raise cotton every year with- out exhausting the ground, you are compen- sated by being able to fall back on some second or third crop of lesser value. Remember, too, that the Egyptian wants to invest his wealth in land. It is a sure asset to his mind; it is vis- ible; it will not evaporate and it will not walk away from him. There are only 9,163 square miles available for investment. Naturally, when everybody wants land, the price of land goes up. It constitutes an embarrassing prob- lem in the missionary enterprise when land for a school or hospital is needed, but the fact stands for all that, that land in Egypt com- mands these fabulous prices. The seasons in Egypt are not marked off dis- tinctly as in America, and many trees do not entirely lose their foliage at any period of the The Country 21 year. Generally, the inhabitants speak of two seasons, summer and winter. From an agri- cultural point of view, however, three seasons may be distinguished, winter, summer and autumn. Wheat, barley, clover, broad beans, may be sown from the middle of October to the end of December on land whose low level en- ables it to keep moist without irrigation (rai land), and the harvest falls about February or April. This is a winter crop. Rice, cotton and tobacco (this last has been recently forbidden, to protect the revenue from imported tobacco) may be planted in April or May, and the har- vest falls about N^ovember or December. This constitutes a summer crop. Maize, durrha and sesame (for oil) are an autumn crop. Though the autumn season is barely seventy days long, it is sufficient to permit the planting, growth, and ripening of this autumn crop, of which maize is the most important, standing next to wheat. The three great crops of Egypt to-day are maize, cotton and wheat. A recent report shows 1,843,474 acres to have been sown in maize, 1,491,803 in cotton, and 1,296,332 in wheat. These three crops alone aggregate more than one-half the entire cultivable land of the country. We find in Egypt a wide range of products. Producti. 22 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Of cereals, maize, wheat, rice, barley, and sor- ghum; of leguminous plants, broad beans, lentils, chick peas, lupins, peas, lubiya, liblab; of green crops, white clover (hersim) and hel- heh; of textile materials, cotton and flax; of vegetables, ochra (hamya), onions, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, eggplant, vege- table marrow, garlic, cabbage, celery, radishes, lettuce, spinach, parsley, turnips, carrots, and beets. The castor-oil plant and mustard are also grown. Sugar-cane should receive promi- nent mention, for no less than 69,471 acres were given over to its growth. Many products .formerly unknown in Egypt have been recently introduced and found to grow successfully. Thus Egyptian-grown potatoes of the best sort are now to be had, while strawberries are sold at reasonable prices in and about Cairo from January to September. The possibilities of agriculture in Egypt indeed seem unlimited. Of trees, the date palm is to be given first place. Over five millions of these are counted according to the tax returns, and no less than twenty-seven varieties are commonly found in the market. The most common tree after the palm is the Acacia Nilotica or sunt, a thorn tree whose pods are used for tanning purposes. The most conspicuous tree along the highway of the tourist is the lehhek, erroneously called The Country 23 acacia. It sets off magnificently the avenues and driveways of Cairo and Alexandria. The dum-pahn is found especially in Upper Egypt. There are many grape vineyards, and grapes are plentiful from July to September. From October on, oranges are abundant. Pome- granates, figs, lemons, and citrons grow well. Apples have to be imported. Flowers and dec- orative plants seem only to require cultivation to thrive in Egypt. Indeed, of all tropical plants and products, it may be said, that in Egypt " everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh." Animal life in Egypt calls for no extensive treatment. The absence of jungle and forest rids the country of the presence of any large number of wild birds and animals. The Egyp- tian camel, possessing but one hump, is a com- mon beast of burden. The donkey, however, is the most common carrier of both persons and loads. The cattle are short-horned and rather small, but in sharp contrast are the large slate- colored buffaloes which abound in Egypt. Of other animals, there are cats and dogs innumer- able; sheep and goats in great numbers; the horse, most of them of rather indifferent breed ; and wild animals, such as the wolf, the fox, the jackal, and the hyena, all of which come down from the hills or the desert. 24 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Of birds, the crow is the most common larger bird, and the Spanish sparrow the most com- mon smaller bird. At Cairo, the kites circling in the air invariably draw attention. There are also vultures of various kinds. The natives give considerable attention to raising pigeons, both the common kinds and the fancy breeds. By the river-side and in the flooded fields, many varieties of waders can be seen, such as the plover, the pelican, the snow-white egret. Wild geese and ducks are often seen; also the hoopoe and the king fisher. Of course, poultry is plentiful. BriHsh In setting forth economic conditions in Egypt, it is ever necessary to emphasize the fact that present prosperous conditions are the re- sult of two and a half decades of magnificent British administration. The impress of this administration is found every^vhere in the prosperity of the country. The aggregate of annual exports and imports has more than doubled since the British occupation of Egypt, now reaching the respectable total of $97,500,- 000. The area of land under cultivation has increased by 1,000,000 acres, and the cotton crop, which in 1880 was about 2,238,750 hundred-weight, is now generally from 5,970,' 000 to 6,467,500 hundred-weight. The fellah, who used to get from one to two piasters per AdminiS' tration. The Country 25 day, now gets 3 to 5 ; a mason or carpenter gets 10 to 20 piasters a day instead of 5 to 8 as formerly; meat which formerly sold for one and a half to two piasters a pound now brings three to three and a half piasters; butter-oil was formerly two and a half to three piasters a pound, while now it is five; the official rate of interest on borrowed money has dropped from 12 per cent, to 6 per cent., and while the fellah used to pay 50 per cent, to 60 per cent, on money he would borrow, he need now pay only 9 per cent, to 12 per cent. The increase in price of land has been noted elsewhere. Wheat alone, being regulated largely by the world market, has not advanced in price. These facts all point to the betterment of material condi- tions, but their significance for the missionary enterprise is that money does not go so far, and, both for the living of the missionary and the administration of the work, greater ex- penses are incurred to-day than two decades ago. In her exports as well as in her imports, Egypt is most closely related to Great Britain. Of the imports, 38.6 per cent, and 54.3 per cent, of the exports have to do with the British Empire. The largest item of imports is "Tex- tiles," showing that Egypt is not a manufactur- ing country. It is surprising also to find how Bailroads. 26 Egypt and the Christian Crusade much cereal flour and animal food is imported. This is explained by the fact that the country has gone so extensively into the growing of cot- ton, that it must draw upon the outside world for foodstuffs. Of $101,801,425 worth of ex- port trade, 86 per cent, was for cotton and cotton seed. In Egypt, surely, " Cotton is King." One-sixteenth of the world's cotton comes from Egypt. Both commerce and the sightseer have com- bined to give to Egypt adequate communica- tions. The ISTile has always been the great high- way for slow transportation and travel, but the last few decades, with their marvelous develop- ment of the country along material lines, have compelled a considerable extension of the rail- road service. There are over 1400 miles of rails owned and operated by the state, and some 800 miles of agricultural light railways owned by private companies. It is possible to travel from Alexandria to Assuan, 678 miles, -with all the comforts of sleeping-car and dining-car ser- vice, in some 24 hours. If you wish to push farther south, a first-class river boat service will carry you in 44 hours (less, coming down) from Assuan to Wadi Haifa, about 200 miles; then the Sudan Military Railway, Kitchener's nar- row-guage, equipped with almost every luxury of modern railroad service, will carry you in The Country 27 28 hours from Wadi Haifa to Khartum. If you go farther south, you find admirable river boat service which will take you to Gondokoro, 1131 miles beyond Khartum. In Egypt proper, there are 2562 miles of telegraph service. Tele- phone service is being extended rapidly in Lower Egypt, and the large cities enjoy electric car service, so that for ten cents you may go by trolley from Cairo to the Pyramids. The postal service is most efficient; the enlargement of its work during the past two decades has been remarkable, as is seen by comparing the 12,500,000 letters handled in 1885 with the 50,700,000 handled in 1905. At the close of this rapid survey of physical Missions, and material conditions in Egypt, we can point out certain general relations which these condi- tions sustain to the missionary enterprise. From every point of view, we are dealing with a country of rare interest. This is a great ad- vantage in the public presentation of mis- sionary work in Egypt. We are dealing with a country compact and unified. This simplifies the problem of missions. Egypt is also accessi- ble, both as a whole and as to the several sec- tions of the country. It has a climate which, though warm and trying, is entirely salubrious. This relieves missionary work in Egypt of many of the hardships experienced in other 28 Egypt and the Christian Crusade fields. Here also is a country of great material possibilities, and enjoying, at the present time, material prosperity such as Egypt has never known in past history. This material pros- perity has generated a spirit of commercialism and worldliness which makes more difficult the spiritual conquest of the country. It consti- tutes, however, an opportunity of winning for Christ the garden land of the East, a land destined to be, because of its wealth and re- sources, a land of dominating influence in the Mohammedan Orient. CHAPTEK II THE PEOPLE The name " Eevpt " comes to us from the Name of o>^ J- ^ _ Country. Greek, Homer referring to the Nile as "Aigiip- tos." This word cannot be traced back to any Egyptian or Semitic root. It may possibly be a derivative of the Sanskrit root " gup " mean- ing " to guard." This would bring the Greek name into parallelism with the Hebrew name for Egypt, "Mizraim," (Gen. 10:6), which is traced to a root meaning "fortified." This Hebrew name survives to-day in the Arabic " Misr " (popularly "Masr"), the common name for Cairo and the Egyptian Nile Valley. The ancient Egyptians called their country " Kimet," from a root word meaning " black," designating the soil of Eg^-pt thus, to distin- guish it from the desert land on either side. It is impossible to speak with certainty of origin. the origin of the Egyptian race. The Bibli- cal record and the early traditions point to an Asiatic origin. Yet both the Biblical account and certain discoveries in Egypt indicate some affinity with the Ethiopian races of Central Africa. The dominating racial type is cer- tainly Caucasian, but probably this race, upon 29 30 Egypt and the Christian Crusade coming from Asia, found in the Nile Valley a limited population of some autochthonous race of Ethiopian origin. Whether this inferior race was absorbed or gradually died out may not be known, but the fact remains that the Egyptian race, while possessing characteristics which sharply distinguish it from the Aryan races, must not and cannot be classified at all with the negro races. In surveying the history of the country, we shall see that Egypt has undergone successive invasions. Hyksos, Ethiopians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Eomans, Arabs, Turks — these all have swept into Egypt with their conquering armies. It might be expected, then, that the Egyptians would be a very mixed race. Yet the very opposite is the fact. The Egyptian race persists, the same in type and general character- istics as in the days of Abraham. In the pre- vious chapter, it was suggested that this was due to the unvarying influence of soil, climate, oc- cupation, and life in the Nile Valley. In describing the Egyptian, it will avoid con- fusion if we first mark him oflF from other races whose representatives are often in evidence along the Nile, — races which, for some reason, have not become absorbed in the current of Egyptian life. Such are the Arabian dwellers in towns, who still trace their lineage back to the HEAD SHEIKH OF SINAITIC PENINSULA The People 31 Arabian peninsula. Also the Berbers wlio have come down from the barren and narrow valley of Nubia to hire themselves out as servants to the foreign population in Egypt. Their dis- like to the Egyptians has prevented intermar- riage and has kept them a distinct race. The Sudan negroes are also to be noted. Slavery brought dovm most of these, and, since the abolition of slavery, there has been a steady though slender stream of them into Egypt. We also pass by the Orientals of neighboring coun- tries — Turks, Syrians, Armenians, Algerians — and, for the present, the European popula- tion, which the census of 1897 set at 112,526. Thus we come to those who may be properly designated as Egyptians. Among these, how- ever, diiferences exist which cannot be pointed out wdthin the limits of this brief chapter. There are differences of complexion, fineness of features, dress, dialect, social customs, due to residence, occupation, religion, and mode of life. For example, there are social customs which obtain among Copts which Moslems do not observe ; and the dialect of Upper Egypt is held in contempt by the inhabitants of the Delta. Three types of Egyptians, however, are suf- Three! ficiently differentiated to receive separate men- tion. There are the fellaliin, or peasants, who 32 Egypt and the Christian Crusade stand at the lower end of the social scale, materi- ally and intellectually. There are the town people, who are engaged in trade and industries rather than agriculture ; these stand considerably above the fellahin in wealth and intelligence. Then there are the Cairenes, for Cairo is to Egypt what Paris is to France — a kingdom within a kingdom. The Cairene is a type by himself, and the difference between him and the inhabitant of a large town is even greater than between the latter and the fellah. The towns- man is simply a fellah retired and refined and ^ come to town to live; the Cairene is a distinct type in traditions, ideals and, pretty much, in manners. *-i^*'f^*'** To describe the Egyptian physically, he iBticH. stands about five feet eight or nine inches tall; strong and massive, rarely stout, while the women are generally slender. The face is oval; the complexion yellowish, but soft and clear; the hair is black and wavy, seldom curly. The forehead is not high, but is rather prominent. The eyes are set deep and are black and bril- liant; the eyelashes are remarkable for the dense, double, black fringe which they present. The nose is straight, a bit flattened and thick, and is clearly marked off from the forehead by the low bridge of the nose. The mouth is wide and the lips are full;. the jaws do not project as The People 33 with the negro. The beard is black and curly, but scanty. The whole body is well-propor- tioned, and the carriage is dignified and graceful. The dress of the Egyptian, of course, varies with the wealth and social rank of the indi- vidual. A pair of short and wide cotton breeches, with an indigo-dyed cotton shirt, as an addition or as an alternative, will make up the working garb of the peasant. If dressed up for a special occasion, he will add to his outfit a cloak of brown homespun goat's wool and, pos- sibly, pointed red or broad yellow slippers, and a close-fitting skull cap, or a thick, red fez with a blue silk tassel, around which is coiled a white or red head-cloth. To go to the opposite extreme of the social scale and consider the Cairene who still adheres to native customs, we have the following elabor- ate outfit: baggy trousers, shirt, striped vest of cotton or silk, long cloak (leaf tan) reaching to the ankles and with sleeves extending beyond the finger tips, a colored jhawl wound around the waist as a girdle, an outer robe (gibheh) which resembles a cloak with sleeves. The head-dress will be a small cotton cap, a fez, a headcloth of white muslin. The feet will be provided with socks and red, pointed slippers, 4 Dress. 34 Egypt and the Christian Crusade possibly with soft inner slippers of yellow morocco. The dress of the fellalia, or peasant woman, is soon described, consisting of the two articles which constitute the fellah's working garb, plus a dark blue cotton gown and a black muslin veil. To attempt details in the description of the elaborate apparel of women in the city, would be to set a discount in a few years upon one's reputation for accuracy, for even in the Orient styles change, and, both in cut and color, cos- tumes vary. Speaking quite generally, how- ever, we have the shirt, the baggy trousers and the gown; a pretty kerchief, folded diagonally and tied over the head, and over this a long scarf. The feet will be bare or else encased in stockings, with shoes, clogs, or slippers. This is the house dress, but, as women are not visible to strangers in their homes, a description of their street dress is more important. This calls for the addition of a face-veil which falls from just below the eyes almost to the feet, a covering (haharah) whicli envelops the entire person, and shoes. All that may be seen, therefore, is the eyes. Over against these descriptions of Egyptian costumes is to be set, very emphatically, the statement that Western manners. Western cus- toms and Western costumes have made great The People 35 inroads upon Oriental life. All the effendis — young men related to government service — dress entirely in the Western dress, save that they retain the tarhoush. Even the women and girls are, in many instances, gradually approximat- ing "Western styles in their house dress, while occasionally they are even seen in public with unveiled faces and wearing European hats. The home of a fellah is unspeakably humble Description and pathetic and dirty. The house will consist, Life. ordinarily, of one room. The walls are of sun- dried mud brick; the roof of cornstalks; the floor is Mother Earth ; there is a doorway, but ' often no door hangs there; a small opening in the wall serves as window, without glass or window-panes; an opening in the roof lets out the smoke. And this one room, twenty by fifteen feet perhaps, is parlor, dining-room, sitting- room, workshop, bedroom. Again we go at once to the opposite extreme of the typically Egyptian scale, warning the reader that the bulk of the population only ap- proximates one extreme or the other. In the Mohammedan quarter of Cairo the streets are narrow. With arms outstretched, you can almost touch the wall on either side. Of course no carri- age can pass. There may be noise of bargaining, quarreling, conversation, in the street, but the houses rise silently and mysteriously on either 36 Egypt and the Christian Crusade side with their meshruhiyah (lattice work) win- dows, through which pretty faces may peer without danger of being seen. You knock at a wooden door — a good-sized door it is, with a smaller door cut in it. There is no door-bell, for the prophet inveighed against them. The doorkeeper takes his time. You wait patiently, remembering the proverbial Egyptian saying, "God is with the patient," or that other, "Haste comes from the Devil." Meanwhile notice the Arabic inscription over the door, " God is the Creator, the Eternal." This is a charm against the evil eye. At last the door opens. You step in off the street. You are in a narrow passage-way which bends sharply to the right, so as to cut off further view from the street. Soon, however, you come to an open court. In the center there is a well, or a fountain, possibly a tree. Rooms open into the court. In none of these rooms are women to be found. These rooms are too public for use by the inmates of the harem. Into one of these rooms you are ushered. The Oriental leaves his slippers at the entrance and steps in upon the tiled floor, to take his seat upon a raised platform covered over with a car- pet. The woodwork may be of the interesting geometric panels so characteristic of this land where heat causes ordinary woodwork to warp. The People 37 No chairs, no table, no fireplace! The raised platform takes the place of chairs, and there you sit tailor-fashion. If a meal is to be served, a stand will be brought in. If it is cold, a brazier of charcoal will meet the need. When the host meets you, salutations are ex- changed, and some of these, from time to time, even punctuate the subsequent conversation. " May your day be happy." "How are you ?" " You have honored us." " Peace be to you." "You have brought light to us." For each of these greetings there is an appropriate reply. Seated upon the raised platform already re- ferred to, the conversation proceeds. It will not be about the weather ; that were too tame a subject. ISTeither do politics, in the Western sense of the word, figure largely in conversa- tion; the Egyptian sustains too slight a relation to the government of his country to warrant the formation of political parties. However, the revolutionary changes — industrial, social, econ- omic — which are taking place in Egypt, af- ford a fertile theme for conversation. The in- vasion of Egypt by the Western world is a vital and interesting topic for discussioa Or, the conversation may, without embarrassment, take a religious turn. Religion is a matter of hered- ity rather than of conviction, and may thus be discussed with impunity. 38 Egypt and the Christian Crusade After a short period of conversation, coffee is served — a small cup of black coffee, one-third grounds, the whole cup a bare tablespoonful. It is courtesy to the guest that this be served. It is a tribute to the host's hospitality that this be drunk. No easy task if it be your tenth call and you do not care for coffee. If our party were made up of ladies, it would be possible to visit another part of the house. A door from the court leads up dark stairs to the harem. Here, on the second story, is a large sitting-room (Kaa), then a vestibule cooled by roof windows, then several other rooms. If you inquire for the bedroom, any one of these rooms may be pointed out to you, as indeed any one of them may be so used. A mattress, a pillow, a blanket, rolled up in the corner by day and spread out on the floor by night, quickly convert a sitting-room into a bedroom. It is to be said, however, that the invasion of West- ern life has brought regular bedsteads into hun- dreds of Oriental homes. Interesting x i i i r r^ i t • r ' Topics. It would take us too far afield if, m this brief sketch of Egyptian life, we ventured to portray tht)se interesting scenes and customs which characterize Cairene life and afford endless amusement and entertainment to the Western traveler. A typically Egyptian meal, with its strange dishes and its unusual service, The People 39 with the gracious and ungracious dipping of hands into a common dish. Or again, those street scenes — the figurative cries of vendors, the hypocrisies and pleasantries of a bargain- ing, the theatrical excitement of a street brawl, the romantic touches of public coffee-houses. Or again, the social functions and amusements which. obtain — the public bath, the weird mo- notonous singing and instrumental music, the public recitations of romances, the games of chance or checkers. Or again, the funeral cus- toms, from the piercing shrieks of the women, when breath has just left the body, through the funeral rites with the strange and solemn dirge of the men in the funeral procession, to the ceremonies of the forty days of wailing which follow and which often become a veritable deg- radation to society, and especially to the women of Egypt. Or still again, an Egyptian mar- riage, with its unromantic beginning through the suggestions and plans of the parents of the betrothed couple, its feasts extending over several days, and its curious processions and social obligations. These and other details must be passed by for the sake of brevity, but they are well worthy of examination by him who would catch the spirit of native life. To get at the heart of the Egyptian social woman- system, we must consider the character and Degraded. 40 Egypt and the Christian Crusade position of woman in Egypt, for no race or people can rise above the level of its woman- hood. And the most superficial consideration of social conditions in Egypt must bring in a pathetic verdict concerning the degradation of womanhood in Egypt. Womanhood is degraded hy seclusion. The social rule is that the higher the rank in society, the more secluded will be the women of the house. Those of the poorer classes go out un- veiled, or only partially veiled, perforce — they must earn a living by the sale of goods of their own or others' make. Women of the middle classes will not appear upon the streets except they be closely veiled, as already described. Women of the upper classes, save as they have adopted Western customs and dress, go out closely veiled, in closed carriages and with the curtains drawn half-way down the windows. The houses are built to admit this same seclu- sion of the women. A typical native woman will pride herself upon the fact that she has never been seen by a stranger. Indeed, loose- ness of morals is so associated with the disre- gard of this law of seclusion that it becomes em- barrassing to know how the rule may with pro- priety be disregarded even by Christians. The mission schools, the hospitals and the churches must give due regard to these conceptions of The People 41 social propriety. The curtain dra^vn do^vn the middle of Christian churches in Egypt and separating the men from the women is still a necessity. The missionaries, however, can insist on the curtain being drawn down the middle of the church, instead of acress some back corner. The pathos of life in a harem is its empti- ness. " To eat, to dress, to chatter, to sleep, to dream away the sultry hours on a divan, to stimulate their husband's affections and keep him to themselves — this is to live in a harem." This limitation of personal liberty spells the limitation of woman's intellectual thought and sympathy. "An Englishwoman asked an Egypt- ian lady how she passed her time. ' I sit on this sofa,' she answered, ' and when I am tired, I cross over and sit on that.' " We need not be surprised, therefore, to find womanhood in Egypt degraded also hy igno- rance and illiteracy. The census of 1897 showed that in all Egypt only 11 of every 1,000 women could read and write; although 1'24: of every 1,000 men. When the foreign popula- tion is left out the record is still worse, showing only 3 of every 1,000 women who can read and write; although 112 of every 1,000 men. A common answer to the missionary's invitation to have girls sent to school used to be, " What's 42 Egypt and the Christian Crusade the use, women have no minds ! " The last decade has undonbtedly witnessed great prog- ress along these lines, but, considering the ex- tent of the need, much remains to be done. Woman in Egypt is also degraded hy a love- less marriage system. It has already been in- 'timated that the engagement is brought about, not by the acquaintance of the contracting par- ties with each other, nor by their love for each other, but purely as a business act of the parents on both sides. Frequently, the young man does not see his betrothed until the night of the wedding. Post-nuptial affection is hardly to be expected, and is rarely realized. The wife is in no sense her husband's partner in life, but rather a toy or a slave. " Excluding the highest strata of society, a man generally marries in order to secure a permanent servant for himself and his immediate family relations." * Woman is degraded further hy Moslem po- lygamy. " Take in marriage, of the women who please you, two, three or four," says the Koran. In addition to these four legal wives, an unlimited number of concubines is allowed. It may be true that comparatively few Mos- lems have more than one wife at one time, but the reason is to be found in the expense in- volved in maintaining so large a household, * " The Mobammedan World of To-day," 25. The People 43 and in the fact that divorce provides a more eco' nomical and convenient form of indulgence. The degradation of womanhood is sufficiently accomplished by the legal possibility of po- lygamy. Finally, the degradation of woman is made complete hy the Moslem divorce system. This is very simple indeed. A man need merely say to the woman, " Thou art divorced," and lo, she is divorced. The prevalence of divorce may be inferred from the following : " A prominent Moslem has said, in conversation, that not more than five per cent, of Mohamme- dans in Egypt retain the first wife to the day of her death."* " There are many men in this country who, in the course of ten years, have married as many as twenty, thirty, or more wives; and women not far advanced in age who have been wives to a dozen or more men successively, "t To sum up the situation we quote Stanley Authori- Lane-Poole, a recognized authority upon the tative social life of modern Egypt, but who is not ^ *^ *™* writing from the point of view of a missionary or reformer. He says: " The fatal spot in Mohammedanism is the position of women. Women in the East are * " The Mohammedan World of To-day," 25. t E. "W. Lane, " The Modern Egyptians," Chap. VI, 44 Egypt and the Christian Crusade the rich man's toys and the poor man's drudges. Their whole training is one vast blunder. They are brought up with the sole aim and object of getting a husband, and the objectionable ac- quirements of the Ghawazy dancing girls are held up to them as the fittest qualifications of a wife. They are completely secluded from the other sex, save in the cases of their own in- timate relations, and never see a strange man without the motive of marriage. The de- graded view of womanhood taken by women themselves, of course, reacts upon the men. To them a woman is desirable solely on account of her sex, and any ideal of chivalry, so potent an element in the noblest manhood, becomes im- possible in the Moslem social state. And this false relation between husband and wife makes itself felt in the bringing up of children. The early years of childhood, perhaps the most critical in a whole life, are tainted by the cor- rupt influences of the harem, where the boy learns that sensual attitude towards women which is the curse of his after life, and the girls acquire those abandoned notions of the requirements of the opposite sex which spoil her for the highest functions of womanhood. The refining power of a lady is seldom pos- sessed or exercised in the East. The restrain- ing and purifying influence of wife on hus- SV ^y V ^ « V \i ■1" '>t'" \ The People 45 band, of mother on child, of a hostess upon her guests, is never felt in a Mohammedan state. In a word, the finest springs of society are wanting The worst of this deplorable state of things is that there seems no reasonable prospect of improvement. The Mohammedan social system is so thoroughly bound up with the religion that it appears an almost hopeless task to attempt to separate the two As long as the Mohamme- dan religion exists, the social life with which, unfortunately, it has become associated, will probably survive; and while the latter prevails in Egypt we cannot expect the higher results of civilization." * If the estimate be correct that 45,000,000 of ^^*^'* the earth's population speak the Arabic lan~ guage, then we have in Egypt one-fifth of the world's Arabic-speaking population. This is also a dominating fifth, for no one can con- test the fact that Egypt, more specifically Cairo, is the Athens of Arabic learning. The difficul- ties which a mastery of this language presents are such that a veteran missionary wrote : " I would rather traverse Africa from Alexandria to the Cape of Good Hope than undertake a secoUid time to master the Arabic language." t * G. Lansing, " Egypt's Princes," 8. f Stanley Lane-Poole, " Cairo." Lauguage. 46 Egypt and the Christian Crusade The advantage which the missionary to Egypt enjoys of having to master but one lan- guage, is more than offset by the difficulty of this language as compared w^ith other foreign languages (the Chinese alone excepted), and by the high literary standards of Egyptian Ara- bic as compared with the Arabic of other lands. Difficult in pronunciation, difficult in its ex- tensive vocabulary, and difficult in its grammati- cal construction, it may well be regarded, first and last, as the greatest difficulty to be en< coimtered by the missionary. Yet so essential to missionary usefulness is the mastery of this language that we find this judgment recorded: " No matter how devoted, pious, zealous, and full of the Spirit a young man may be, if he has not some ability for learning languages, and is not studious in his habits, so as l^o per- severe year after year until he masters the Arabic, he will be a failure as a missionary." * Arabic literature is extensive enough so far as quantity is concerned, but it is quite limited in its scope. Religion and jurisprudence preoccupy about one-fourth of all Arabic litera- ture. Grammar, rhetoric and philology have an absurd prominence. History is given rea- sonable treatment. But the sciences — the physi- * A, Watson, " The American Mission in Egypt," 422. The People 47 cal, biological and mathematical sciences — are scandalously neglected. Are the Egyptians educated? This is a Education. common question. Taking the country as a whole, the census of 1897 would scarcely per- mit of an affirmative answer. Leaving out of our count the foreign population, we learn that only 112 out of every 1,000 of the male popu- lation above seven years of age, can read and write; and only 3 out of every 1,000 women. The general average of illiteracy for both sexes is 94 per cent. In the United States it is less than 11 per cent. The standards of Mohammedan education differ so widely from our Western standards that even those highly educated, according to Oriental judgment, would scarcely be regarded as such by us. The Azhar, the great Mohamme- dan university at Cairo, older than Oxford or Cambridge, enrolling 10,000 students, is illus- trative of the stagnation of Mohammedan edu- cation. Its curriculum includes syntax, rheto- ric, versification, logic, theology, the exposition of the Koran, the traditions of the Prophet. A recent reform movement succeeded in add- ing geography, history and chirography, but tliis movement came to an untimely end by the death of the leader, Mohammed Abdu, and its ideals have been repudiated. The 48 Egypt and the Christian Crusade course of study in the Azhar covers some twelve years. A Moslem who was teaching Arabic to the missionaries, a graduate of this university, coming across the word "Asia," asked, " Where is Asia ? Is it in Europe ? " He would hardly believe that the earth was round. This is typical of the unscientific char- acter of Moslem education which heads up in the Azhar, but which distributes its influence throughout the country by some 9,500 Moslem schools in which are found some 190,000 pupils. Later we shall take notice of a new and quite different stream of influences induced by West- tern education, through which the intellectual redemption of Egypt may be hoped for. Intellectual Kipling says " East is East and West is West, Differences. -, •, in .»5-r->i and never the two shall meet. i^erhaps no- where is the difference more noticeable than in the intellectual traits of the Egyptian, the psychology of his mind. Again and again was it brought out at the recent Cairo Conference of Workers among Mohammedans, that the Oriental mind views truth, and reasons about it, in a different way from the Western mind. " Illustration is more potent than argument, and analogy more convincing than proof.'" The Oriental point of view must be reckoned with in conversation and debates. A missionary in the Orient, though not in Egypt, wished to The People 49 urge upon a hearer of tlie Word the duty of his becoming a doer of the Word also. He told him the parable of Matthew 21 : 28-32, and pro- ceeded to make the application, " Which of the two sons is to be commended ? " " The 'one who replied politely to his father, even though he did not go," was the instant reply. Summing up Egyptian characteristics, both i-eading good and bad, politeness may first be men- tioned. This trait finds expression in the forms of address. " My brother," " my sister," " my uncle," " my aunt," are among the most common forms of address. A more formal, yet equally common, form of address, is in the third person, " How is your honor ? " " Your honor's children, are they well ? " The host and all guests will rise upon the entrance or departure of a fellow-guest. The training of a missionary calls, therefore, for the replacing, at a thousand points, of Western brusqueness by Oriental courtesy. The Egyptian is also exceedingly hospitable. The chance visitor is always invited to par- take of food if it be meal time. Wedding feasts are commonly open to the public. Abraham's cordial reception of the three strangers who appeared to him at Mamre finds its counter- part in modern Egyptian hospitality. The cheerfulness and fortitude of the Egyp- 5 50 Egypt and the Christian Crusade tian is often commented upon. There may not be the boisterous mirth which so often obtains in the West, but there is a sustained cheerful- ness and fortitude even in the midst of reverses. A play upon yvords(nukta) is the most com- mon form of wit. Unfortunately, the stan- dards of story-telling are so low that coarseness and indecency characterize only too frequently the conversation of even the upper classes. Drollery is appreciated as in proverbs, such as '' The camel was asked, ' In what are you skill- ful?' He replied, 'Winding silk,' "—refer- ring to the need of deft and supple hands in the latter operation. Or again, " The mon- key's mother thinks him a gazelle." The retentive memory of the Egyptians, rather than the development of the reasoning faculties, calls for comment. Many a Moslem can recite extended sections of the Koran, and even the whole book, from memory. This faculty has often been put to good account where the Gospel story is heard by one and repeated to another. **''"'**'awe Among the reprehensible traits of character Traits. IS proneucss to deceit. Life is one great lie. The coinage of the country, although made in Europe, bears the statement " Stamped in Cairo." The market price that is quoted for any article is twice or more what the salesman The People 51 expects to receive. Bad news is invariably sup- pressed or hopelessly modified through a false standard of politeness. So great is this deceit, that it takes an Oriental to fathom the depths of Oriental deceit. An apparently regular fune- ral procession was found once to be an eifort to smuggle into the city free of duty a coffin full of cheeses. Indolence is frequently charged against the Egyptian. This charge, however, needs to be qualified. It is true that in Egypt, as in the Orient generally, there is a woful absence of punctuality, and dilatoriness is the rule. Western energy and push and impatience strike the Oriental as insane frenzy. An ordin- ary appointment is punctually (?) met an hour later, or, if really urgent, the party will arrive an hour earlier and wait. Nevertheless, the Egyptian has a wonderful capacity for work. The boatmen, the porters, the fellahin, and the soldiers in Egypt, are often found carrying an amount of work which would be the undoing of their Western compeers. Conservatism, which often degenerates into obstinacy, is also a national characteristic. The Egyptian is averse to change. A dogged and unyielding immobility is often displayed even where reason and force invite a change. The most severe and cruel beatings, before British 52 Egypt and the Christian Crusade occupation, were often unavailing in persuad- ing the fellah to pay his taxes. Fifty years ago, Miss Whately wrote of the hindrances to mis- sionary work from this source, "As a rule, the old women are my greatest trials among the poor — so obstinate, so dirty, so prejudiced, and so silly. Poor old creatures! The young are the hope certainly ; but the old are like a strong rope dragging them the wrong way." Sensuality is perhaps the supremely repre- hensible trait of Egyptian life. Enough has already been intimated in the section describing women to make it unnecessary to enlarge upon the subject here. Speaking of this trait, Edward W. Lane says, " It is even said, and, I believe, with truth, that, in this respect, they exceed the neighboring nations, whose religion and civil institutions are similar ; and that their country still deserves the appellation of ' the abode of the wicked,' which, in the Koran, is, according to the best commentators, applied to ancient Egypt." The religiosity of the Egyptian is seen in the pious phrases with which his every-day speech is punctuated. Before eating, drinking, taking medicine, writing a letter, he will ex- claim, " In the name of God, the Compassion- ate, the Merciful ;" and, after he is through, "Praise be to God." You ask him if he will The People 53 do a certain thing and his affirmative reply is, " If God is willing." " O God " is the literal meaning of the phrase equivalent to " Come, let us go." Even a deceitful or licentious con- versation will be interspersed with religious phrases. How difficult it is to make clear the true significance of the Third Commandment, may easily be imagined. In a concluding section of this chapter on the western , , T-, . Influencea, people 01 Egypt, as a corrective to many state- ments made concerning the life which is typically Egyptian, emphatic reference needs to be made to those Western influences which have brought about within the last two decades such remarkable modifications and transformations of industrial, intellectual, social, political, and even religious conditions in the Nile Valley. We are especially concerned here with changes along intellectual and social lines. During the past twenty-five years, a remark- able revival of learning has taken place in Egypt. Mission schools and colleges undoubt- edly prepared the way for this educational movement by the steady stream of influence which they have been sending all these years into the life of the nation through the thousands (now over 15,000 annually) of their pupils, who are quickened by Western ideas of life and thought. Lord Cromer, His British Majesty's 54 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Minister in Egypt, says : " I have no hesita- tion in testifying as to the result of more than twenty-three years' experience, that the Ameri- can Mission schools, and notably the College at Assiut, have done much good to forward the cause of education and civilization in Egypt." The closer contact of Egypt with the Western world and the occupation of Egypt by the Brit- ish, have also given a great impetus to educa- tion. This is especially manifest in the last decade and a half. In government schools alone, the attendance has risen from 9,231 in 1890 to 18,712 in 1905 ; while the amount ex- pended by the Government for education has advanced from $520,000 to $1,175,000. This educational movement contrasts sharply in its ideals and methods with the Moslem sys- tem of education previously described, and the intellectual redemption of Egypt is to be looked for in the direction of this Western movement whose volume and momentum are increasing every year. Government education, however, while thoroughly scientific, contrasts with that of mission schools by its failure to impart that moral training and that development of upright character so essential to a strong personality. Socially, too, Egypt has undergone great changes through its contact with Western civil- ization. Steadily, though slowly, the seclusion The People 55 of women is being broken down. The affecta- tion of Western manners and the assumption of \Yestern costumes, has already gone far in the larger cities of Cairo and Alexandria, and is banishing farther and farther the typically Egyptian life. With the imitation of the West in matters of social custom has come, alas, imitation of the W^est in vices, too. Intemper- ance is growing at an alarming pace and relig- ious indifference is becoming a fad. This period of reconstruction and of trans- a supreme formation constitutes a supreme opportunity tuuity. for the presentation of Christian truth and life. It is a Divine Providence which is causing adamantine walls of social custom to crumble by the unavoidable contact of Egyptian life with the Western world. It is the opportunity and duty of the Church to carry the assault through these widening breaches and take possession of Egyptian life in the name of Christ, her Lord. CHAPTEK III HISTOEY ^"^"of'the "^"^ ^^^^ ^^ '^SyV^ is literally the creation of Past, the Nile. Repeated inimdations have con- tributed their fertile deposits in strata of vary- ing depths and extents, until the Nile Valley of to-day stands forth as a garden in the midst of the desert. But not all these Nile floods are equally traceable in any geological survey. Some have been so limited ill their reach and richness, that even the lowlands have been only slightly affected by them, while the highlands have not been influenced in the least. Other floods have come with such steady, gradual and abiding power, that the life of the whole coun- try has been permanently enriched and quick- ened. Still again, other inundations have come with such sudden and devastating floods, that only ruin has been wrought, and oven the rich deposits of former inundations have been swept into the ocean and lost forever. In a similar way, the political experiences through which Egypt has passed throughout the centuries of her history, have left their impress upon the country, but in greatly varying de- grees. We see in Egyptian history a long line 56 History 57 of Egyptian rulers, then the Egyptian gives way to the Assyrian, the Assyrian to the Per- sian, the Persian to the Greek, the Greek to the Koman, the Roman to the Arab, the Arab to the Turk, the Turk to the French, the French to the Albanian, and the Albanian to the Brit- ish. Gaged by their duration and by their tem- porary influence, a large place would need to be given in any historical survey to some of these political periods. When we remember, hoAV- ever, the object of our present study, we can well afford to pass, with only the briefest men- tion, long and otherwise important periods of Egyptian history. We have to do here with Modern Egypt, especially in relation to the mis- sionary enterprise. For this reason, the Ancient Egyptian Empires, the Persian invasion, and Greek and Roman domination are of little inter- est to us, while later invasions, especially those of Moslem origin, which have swept through Egypt, with their devastating floods, obliterating, for the most part, all traces of former political movements, are of vital interest, and give us, as the resultant of their successive influences, the Egypt of to-day. In outlining the political experiences of Egypt, we can follow political divisions given by Prof. G. Steindorff in Baedeker's Egyyt, 58 Egypt and the Christian Crusade The Prehistoric Period Mythology. Egyptian mythology, so far, has not been found to contain undisputed references to the Deluge, neither does it offer any cosmogony or account of the early conditions of the race, which can be regarded as parallel to the Mosaic narrative. Tradition fills up this period with dynasties of gods and demi-gods, and it is simply impossible to conjecture the character and duration of this prehistoric age. Dis- coveries of stone implements have been made the basis of a stone age theory, but such stone implements are also found in use in historic periods through contact by war with adjoining but undeveloped races. Earliest Historical Period (Before 2500 B.C.) *>ifflcuityin jjj venturine; upon dates for periods of Dating. . _ ? ^ . . . '- Ancient Egyptian history, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that these dates are only ap- proximate; authorities differ as widely as by 3,000 years in the date of the first dynasty. The reason for this is found in the fact that Egyptian inscriptions seldom have an Era from which they date. Dates, when given, are by the year of the reigning sovereign. No complete and reliable list of these sovereigns and of the duration of their reigns being available, it is History 59 impossible to determine accurately the length of the various dynasties and historical periods. It is certain that in many instances, there were overlappinga in the durations of the dynasties, while added difficulty is experienced from the fact that for Dynasties VII-X, and XIII-XVII, there are no, or almost no, monuments. Mane- tho's list of kings, coming down to us from the third century B.C., serves as a basis for work- ing out a chronology. The first of these kings of Egypt is Menes. Gaining the sovereignty of Egypt, he founded Memphis as his capital. He was a maker of laws, and his long reign of 62 years enabled him to unify the government of the country. In the next dynasty, we find the worship of bulls introduced, and a number of cities are founded. This involved the development of the art of building, to which the Step Pyramid at Sakkara bears witness to-day. The Ancient Empire (2500-2200 B.C.) This period is one of powerful monarchs. We ''*»« Great here meet with such names as Cheops (Khofu), the builder of the Great Pyramid, and Onnos (Unis), in whose pyramid at Sakkara was found the oldest religious Egyptian text known (setting forth the life beyond the tomb), and 60 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Phiops (Pepi) whose reign attained such re- markable length. The inscriptions of this period indicate great wealth, and a development of art and of the industries, which practically brought Egypt to the zenith of its civilization. For proof of this fact, the Great Pyramid may well suffice. Here is a massive structure, cover- ing some thirteen acres of ground (almost three times the size of Madison Square Garden in 'New York City), rising to a height of over 450 feet, built of solid masonry, aggregating over 3,000,000 cubic yards. The material was brought for the most part from limestone quar- ries across the river, while the granite slabs, lining passage-ways and chambers, were brought from the granite quarries of Assuan, 587 miles away. The jointing and polishing of the fine- grained limestone slabs of the interior is such that a needle could not be inserted in the joints of these stones. The granite blocks attain a length of eighteen and a half feet. What labor must the quarrying of all this stone have in- volved ! Wliat art in arriving at so perfect a polish ! What unknown mechanical devices must have transported and then elevated such immense blocks of stone ! What geometrical knowledge must have planned so accurately the sides, the passage-ways, the chambers of this Pyramid ! W^hat resources of wealth and of History 61 workers must have been available for the erec- tion of this monument, which has defied four milleniums of decay, and still stands, in our boastful age, as one of the world's greatest wonders ! The Middle Empire (2200-1700 B.C.) The Middle Empire marks a recovery from the decline which set in at the close of the Ancient Empire. Egypt reached her highest material prosperity. Public works followed lines of usefulness rather than of mere display. Amenemhat was specially interested in regulat- ing the annual inundation of the Nile, and is said to have dug the great canal " Bahr Yusuf," leading the surplus waters of the Nile flood to a great depression, Lake Moeris, now the Dis- trict of the Fayum, whence they were drained off again when the fields of Egypt required more water. In this period also great buildings were erected, ruins of which are to be found near almost every large town of Egypt. Eyl-sos Period (1700-1575 B.C.) This period is of special interest to Bible students, as it is supposed that during this Israel in Egypt. 62 Egypt and the Christian Crusade period Abraham visited Egypt and Joseph was prime minister. The j^eriod receives its name from the fact, that the Hyksos race, Semites or Hittites, invaded Egypt from the East. This Shepherd race set up one of their number at Memphis as king, at least of Lower Egypt. Their foreign extraction, their pastoral occupa- tion, and their foreign religion would easily ac- count both for their kindly consideration of Israel and the antipathy of the Egyptians to- ward them (Gen. 45:33,34). But few monimients have been preserved from this period, and even these are almost valueless his- torically. The New Empire (1600-1100 B.C.) Theban princes who ruled in Upper Egypt as vassals of the Hyksos kings, succeeded in overthrowing the power which the foreign in- vaders had held for more than half a millenium, and set upon the throne once again a line of native rulers. Egypt became a great military power in this period. The horse was intro- duced for the first time. The development of the country itself, together with the access of tribute paid by foreign states, combined to make Egypt enormously wealthy. Art revived. History 63 We also find, for the first time, royal tombs cut in the rock. In this period we come across many famous names: Thutmosis I., whose military expedi- tions were carried as far as the Euphrates: Queen Hatasu, builder of the wonderful temple of Der el-Bahri : Thutmosis III., whose long and pacific reign enabled him to build temples in Nubia, Luxor and Medinet Habu, while the two magnificent Colossi of Memnon (one of them the celebrated Vocal Statue) are also to be credited to him: Amenophis IV., who under- took to replace the old religion by the worship of the sun, removing the statues and names of the ancient deities: Sethos I., a great builder, credited with building the great hall of columns at Karnak, and withal a warrior, repelling at- tacks of Libyans, Syrians and Hittites: Ram- eses II., the most celebrated of all Egyptian kings ; a great military character, leading an expedition against the Hittites and saving the day once by his owti personal prowess in battle; a wonderful statesman, too, executing an offen- sive and defensive treaty with the Hittite king- dom, with articles of extradition remarkable for their humanity, and other articles for the pro- tection of commerce; an indefatigable builder, since almost one-half of all the extant temples 64 Egypt and the Christian Crusade date from his reign; finally, a leading Biblical character, if the general identification of him with the Pharaoh of the Oppression be ac- cepted: and Amenepthes (Merenptah), whose waning power furnishes the opportunity, as the probable date of his reign furnishes the period, for the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt. Whole volumes might well be written about each of these kings if our aim were purely historical, but when we inquire for the influences which survive in the Egypt of to-day from these remote political reigns, we find our justification for passing centuries of history by with only a brief mention. Period of Foreign Domination (1100-663 B.C.) During this period, the Empire falls to pieces, her foreign dependencies are lost, Libyan rulers extend their power from Southern Egypt northward, then an Assyrian invasion brings Egypt into subjection to Assyrian kings. We simply note in passing that the Bible names 'Shishak (I. Kings 14: 25, 26; 11. Chron. 12: 2-9), So (II. Kings 17:4),Tirhakah (II. Kings 19:9), are to be identified with Egyptian rulers of this period. History 65 Tie Late Egyptian Period (663-332 B.C.) A new period of prosperity came to Egypt. Persiaa The Assyrian yoke was shaken off. Trade and " "** **"* art revived. Egypt was again under a native Egyptian ruler. Nekho and Apries, rulers of this period, are to be identified with " the king of Egypt " of II. Kings 24 : 7 and Hophra of Jer. 44 : 30. In 525 B.C., Cambyses invaded Egypt, and made of it a Persian province. While this resulted in 200 years of Persian domination, Persian influence was almost purely political, and Egypt was permitted to follow the ancient ways in industrial, social and religious matters, so that of this Persian dom- ination practically nothing remains to-day. Indeed, toward the close of the period, the Persian yoke was completely thrown off, and, for a few years, Egypt was again ruled by na- tive rulers. Then, with reassertion of the Per- sian power, came a fulfilment of the prophecy of Ezekiel 30 : 13, which has continued to this day, " There shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt." Alexander the Great and the Ptolemaic Period (332-30 B.C.) In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great added 66 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Egypt to his world-wide empire, and founded the city of Alexandria. It may seem as if little trace of this Greek invasion and the period which succeeded it remains in the Egypt of to- da}^, unless it be in the mere existence of this city of Alexandria. We know, however, that the founding of Alexandria proved to be, both to Egypt and to the world, a far more than ordin- ary event. Alexandria became a world center for commerce and thought. The trade of the East and of the "West met here, and "a large part of the thoughts which dominate the world's views in philosophy, religion and science, saw the light in Alexandria." Upon the partition of the empire of Alex- ander, Egypt fell to Ptolemy, one of Alex- ander's ablest generals. He built the Pharos, one of the world's seven wonders, '^ a many- storied tower of white stone and marvelous con- struction," said to have been 590 feet high, and erected, as the inscription declared, " for the salvation of navigators." jMore important still, he founded the Museum, a college of professors, which drew scholars from the Avhole world and became the great Eastern university. To this was attached a great library. Tliis library was enlarged by Ptolemy Philadelphus, under whom also the important Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek was made. History 67 Steadily the fame of Alexandria grew, and with good reason. Its site was well chosen ; its climate was salubrious ; its buildings were beau- tiful. Here, it is said, Alexander the Great was buried in his golden casket. Here, Euclid worked out his '* Elements of Geometry." Here, Archimedes investigated the most ab- struse problems in geometry and mechanics. Here, the brush was wielded by one who carried the art of painting to such perfection that men coined the phrase, " the art of Apel- les," to describe the faultless. Here, Eratos- thenes achieved, two centuries before Christ, his greatest astronomical computation in de- termining from sun shadows the approximate circumference of the earth. "We may remark that all these names are Greek, not Egyptian; that Egyptian life is known to have moved, for the most part, serenely and steadily along the ancient lines of life and thought, l^evertheless, this center of learning at Egypt's very doors, must have received something from, and im- parted something to, the life of the Land of the Pharaohs. Brilliant as were the first hundred years of this period, the rulers " of the last two hundred years were, with few exceptions, a succession of monsters, such as even Rome in her worst days could scarcely equal." The stot-y of Cleo- Fame of Alexandria. 68 Egypt and the Christian Crusade patra, the Beautiful, but also the Dissolute, practically brings this period of Greek influence to an end and marks the beginning of the Koman period. The Roman Period (B.C. 30-395 A.D.) From a political point of view, this period is quite unimportant. Octavianus having de- ■• f eated Antony, Egypt became a Roman prov- ince, subject to the Emperor, but usually governed by his prefects or viceroys. During the four hundred years of this period, the his- tory of EgyjDt is a record of constant political changes. Administrations followed each other, each having but little regard for the interests of the people of Egypt, but rather aiming to extract from the country as much revenue as possible while the opportunity lasted. Alex- andria with its foreign population, made up of excitable Greeks rather than of long-suffering Egyptians, was the scene of many a riot and of considerable bloodshed. The country at large, however, apart from the varying pressure of taxation, found little difference between one ad- ministration and another. Religious j£ ^j^g period is unimportant politically, re- ligiously it is perhaps the most important, for during this period Christianity was introduced History 69 into Egypt. The story of its rapid spread, its persecutions, its faithful endurance, and its final triumph as the dominant religion of Egypr, will appear in a succeeding chapter on Religions. The Byzantines (395-638 A.D.) With the partition of the Roman Empire, Eg;^73t became a part of the Eastern or Byzan- tine kingdom. This resulted in no great change in Egypt's political condition. Her rulers were merely appointed from Constantinople instead of from Rome. During this period, however, there were re- ligious developments, to be described in the next chapter, which swung tlie jSTational Church of Egypt, to which the bulk of the population now belonged, out of the orthodox current and made it a schismatic church. This reacted upon the political situation. The political rulers of the country were Byzantine, and therefore identified with the Imperial Church. Every feeling of resentment entertained by the Egj^ptian nation against the Byzantine government because of political injustice, was deepened by the relig- ious intolerance existing between the National or Coptic Churcli and the Imperial or Byzan- 70 Egypt and the Christian Crusade tine Church. This disaffection made possible the easy triumph of the Arab invader. The Middle Ages (640-1517 A.D.) We now come to that period in the history of Egypt which more than any other is responsi- ble for the conditions which exist to-day in the Nile Valley. A new race, a new religion, and a new civilization were projected upon the country. In 640 A.D., Amr Ibn el-'Asi, the aggressive general of the Caliph 'Omar, entered Egypt at the head of an army of 8,000 men. A brief campaign followed, in which the Byzantine power was overthrown. " Egypt looked on passively while her fate was thus decided by a combat between the armies of two alien nations in her midst. Side with the Imperial troops they would not; yet their consciences forbade the Egyptians openly to espouse the cause of the infidels. They left the issue, as their o\vn historian implies, to the judgment of God." * The Price Twclvc and a half centuries of Moslem pa ly. (^QjQijjation, persecutions in which thousands have perished, oppression which has sapped the strength and wealth of the nation, the loss of * E. L. Butcher, " The Story of the Church in Egypt," vol. I., 362. History 71 her ancient language, the pathetic reduction and degradation of her once famous National Christian Church, the ruthless upheaval of her social constitution, and the imposition upon her of a Saracenic civilization, — this is the price which Egypt has been compelled to pay for her apathy in 640 A.D. When 'Amr entered Egypt a treaty was ex- ecuted. Its opening sentence ran thus, " In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, this is the amnesty which 'Amr Ibn el-'Asi granted the people of Misr (Egypt), as to themselves, their religion, their goods, their churches and crosses, their Jands and waters; nothing of these shall be meddled with or minished." To this treaty, 'Amr's successors paid little heed. The next governor, 'x\bdallah, succeeded in raising a revenue of 14,000,000 dinars from Egypt as against 'Amr's 12,000,- 000. " The camel yields more milk now," ob- served the Caliph 'Othman, at Medina. " Yes," was 'Amr's reply, " but to the hurt of her young." The general period of Egyptian history with which we are dealing, is subdivided into shorter periods named after the families that ruled ^gypt either in person or through governors of their appointment. A J- • 1 c • 1 • 1 Omavyad Alter eighteen years of minor changes m the caiipbs, 72 Egypt and the Christian Crusade caliphate, the Omayyad Caliphs come into settled possession of Egypt for almost a hundred years. No sweeping changes in the administration of the government are made. The system introduced by the Romans meets every need, and, while officials and official titles change, the administration remains much the same as it has been. The governor stands at the head. He is appointed by the Caliph and usually his term of office is short. We see al- most a hundred governors in office in a brief period of 228 years. Justice and tyranny al- ternate according to the character of the gov- ernor and his staff of officials. The new capital of Egypt is Fostat, foimded by 'x\mr, in 640 A.D., just north of modern Cairo. Under the Omayyad Caliphs all the governors are Arabs. Abbasid Pj.qjj^ Y50 to 868, we have to do with the Caliphs. - 7 . . Aohasid Caliphs. Moslem intolerance now be- gins to assert itself. A steady persecution of the Coptic Christians developed — either by open and direct measures, as in 831, when many were slain or sold into captivity; or, by indirect measures of special taxation and oppressive, restrictions, as in 850, when the Christians were ordered " to wear honey-colored clothes, with distinguishing patches, use wooden stirrups and set up wooden images of a devil or an ape or History 73 dog over their doors; the girdle, the symbol of femininity, was forbidden to women, and ordered to be worn by men ; crosses were not to be shown, nor processional lights carried in the streets, and their graves were to be indistin- guishable from the earth around." As a result of such measures, many gave up their faith and embraced Mohammedanism. The Copts, who in 725 still numbered 5,000,000, must have numbered less than 1,000,000 in 1517. Since almost every governor came to Egypt with an Arab army of from 6,000 to 20,000 men, the Moslem population increased steadily. These settled, for the most part, in the towns of Lower Egypt and many intermarried with Coptic women. Thus the religious complexion of the country changed radically, and the land which had once been, nominally at least, a Christian land, became more and more entirely a Moslem land. Toward the close of the Abbassid Dynasty, Turkish governors were appointed to Egypt and since then hardly any Arabs have ruled in Egypt. From 868 to 905, we deal with a new House ot ^ Tulun. dynasty, that of the House of Tiduti. Tulun was a mameluke, a Turkish slave, who rose to high rank and favor at the caliphate court at Baghdad. His son, xYhmad Ibn-Tulun, enjoyed 74 Egypt and the Christian Crusade every advantage for literary and military train- ing, and a gifted mind enabled him to make the most of these advantages. At last we find him ruling Egypt with a power which practically makes him independent of the Caliph. His mosque at Cairo gives the earliest instance of the use of pointed arches in building. The wealth he gathered and spent, may be inferred from the fact " that he sent 750,000 dinars * as tribute to the Caliph and in four years 2,200,- 000 ; that some of his buildings were said to have cost nearly a half a million ; that he spent 1,000 dinars a day on his table, kept open house and maintained a great army." He adminis- tered the government so well, however, that with all this outlay of expense, when he died, he left ten million dinars in his treasury, from seven to ten thousand mounted mamelukes, twenty-four slaves of the body guard, a stud of three hundred horses, thousands of mules, asses, and camels, and a hundred ships of war. He was at least the first Moslem, since the Arab conquest, Avho revived the power of Egypt and beautified her capital." t He was succeeded by his son, whose expenditures were even more extravagant. An unsettled political period followed the * A dinar is valued at $2.50. t" History of Egyyt," by St. Lane-Poole, 71, History 75 Tuhniid Dynasty, and again a man who liaJ been a slave, although originally of royal de- scent, came into prominence. Ikhshid became ruler of Egypt in 935, and after a brilliant military career died in 946. His Abyssinian slave, Kafur (Camphor), who acted as regent after his master's death and thus ruled Egypt for 22 years, is an illustration of a number of facts: that in the Orient the color line is ignored; that there like^vise slave origin is no disgrace; and that, in this period, wealth abounded in Egypt. Kafur's table rivaled Solomon's (cf. I Kings 4: 22, 23), for his daily provision consisted of 100 sheep, 100 lambs, 250 geese, 500 fowls, 1,000 pigeons and other birds, and 100 jars of sweets. TJie Fatimites ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171. Mo'izz was the first ruler of ^this dynasty, but it was the military genius of his gen- eral, Gawhar, that won for him the kingdom of Egypt. He it was, also, who founded Cairo in 969, building for his master upon this site a palace of extravagant proportions and luxury, of which Arabic historians speak with awe. He it was, also, who built, in 970, the Azhar, which has since become, the world's most famous Mos- lem university. The record of this period shows wonderful material prosperity and great display. Indeed, the fables of " The Arab- Fatimite Caliphs. 76 Egypt and the Christian Crusade ian jSTights '' seem only to reflect the ex- travagance of wealth and of display, which his- tory soberly narrates in connection with one ruler and another. To realize the degradation and sufferings of Egypt, it is necessary to study history at greater length and trace the wealth of Egypt's rulers back to their oppression of Egypt's people. If there were, at times, wise and sagacious rulers, there were far more of quite another sort. It would require whole pages, for example, to describe the insane edicts and actions of the young Caliph Hakim, who turned night into day, ordering the shops to be open and the houses illuminated, then sought to restrain Egyptian womanhood from too much visiting by forbidding shoemakers to make out-door shoes for women. Ife compelled the Christians and Jews to dress in black, and the former to wear crosses and the latter bells whenever they went to the public baths. He ordered the demolition of Christian churches. He fancied himself the incarnation of the Godhead and compelled all to worship his name. His successor, Zahir, was not insane, but had savage cruelty. " He once invited all the young girls of the palace to a merry making. They came in their holiday best and were led into a mosque to await the festivities. The doors were then closed and History 77 bricked up, and 2,660 girls perished from starva- tion." Other such incidents might be related to show to what depths the government of Egypt sank. It is refreshing to turn to the Ayyuhid rulers ^^1"^^^^ (1171-1250), first and greatest of whom is Saladin. We cannot help admiring this devoted spirit, who had " one great aim," even though that aim was to create a united Saracen empire strong enough to drive the Franks into the sea and accomplish the triumph of Islam over the infidels. Only eight of the twenty-four years of his reign were spent at Cairo. The Citadel and the old aqueduct at Cairo witness, in part, to his building activity. Before his life ended he had realized his aim. The Christians had been driven out of the Holy City and the unity of Islam had been restored. " The popular con- ception of his character has not erred. Mag- nanimous, chivalrous, gentle, sympathetic, pure in heart and life, ascetic and laborious, simple in his habits, fervently devout, and only severe in his zeal for the faith, he has been rightly held to be the type and pattern of Saracen chivalry." We pass by all mention of Saladin's succes- Mameluke sors and the hapless experiences of the Cru- '*"^«"« saders in Egypt. 78 Egypt and the Christian Crusade The Mameluke Dynasty (1240-1517) brings us to the close of tins Mediaeval Period. The mameluke sultans are distinguished for the noble works of art and engineering which lift their period above every other period of Egypt- ian history since the Christian Era. Had it not been, also, for the magnificent military prow- ess of such mamelukes as Beybars, Kalaun and Kasir, Egypt might have experienced another and a more disastrous period of foreign domina- tion than that of the Arab, for it was the mili- tary skill of these-men that alone saved Syria and Egypt from a Mongolian invasion. ^Mo"iem Summing up the results of Mohammedan Rule, domination in Egypt during these nine centu- ries, we find these results indeed far-reaching. The old Egyptian language has everywhere, save in the Coptic Church ritual, given way to the Arabic language. The dominant language is no longer Christian, but Moslem. Contact with the Western world and its uplifting in- fluences has given way to contact with the Eastern world and its stagnating influences. Arab ideas prevail everywhere. The rulers of the country are invariably foreigners, and are moved solely by motives of personal aggrandize- ment or luxury. Their maladministration, frequent political upheavals, and the drain of almost constant military operations, impover- History 79 ish the land and reduce t\\^ population terribly. Those material, intellectual, social, and re- ligious conditions, which constitute the problems of the modern missionary enterprise, have prac- tically all been brought about. There remains only the task of indicating, in the Modern Period of Egypt's history, how the present line of Khedives came to the throne and how European and British influence came to figure so largely in the Egyptian political situation. Modern Period (After 1517) In 1517, Egypt became a Turkish pashalic through the conquests of Osman Sultan Selim I. Once again, then, after nine centuries, Egypt became related to Constantinople ; but it was not to the Christian Constantinople of the seventh century ; it was to Constantinople, the capital of a Turkish Mohammedan Empire. For over two centuries, Turkish pashas tried, with varying success, to uphold in Egypt their own authority and that of their sovereign, the Sultan, against the mameluke families, whose leaders had formerly governed the country and who still held great influence and power. While these discordant elements fought each other in the government, they all agreed in plundering the people. To what was formerly needed to 7 80 Egypt and the Christian Crusade satisfy the rapacity of local rulers, there was to be added what was needed for the yearly tribute to the Sultan. At the close of the eighteenth century, we find the population numbering two and a half millions; it was estimated at about eight millions in the seventh century. Moslem tyranny and misrule may be credited with the difference. In 1798, ISTapoleon Bonaparte occupied Egypt and converted it, for three years, into a province of France. In 1801, the French were forced, by the British victory at Alexandria, to evacuate Egypt, and once again the country re- verted to the Porte. Mobammed Officer in the Turkish army, . which the French put to rout in 1799, and again officer of an Albanian contingent, that fought side by side with the British in 1801, when the French were driven out, was a young Albanian, Mo- hammed 'Ali by name. He was born in 1769, the same year as ISTapoleon and Wellington. He, too, proved to be a military genius. After the French had evacuated Egypt, he came into prominence. Seizing the reins of government, he practically compelled tlie Sultan, in 1800, to acknowledge him as Pasha of Egypt. Invit- ing the mameluke leaders to a public reception at the Citadel, he massacred them to a man, unless the tradition be true that one of them History 81 leaped the parapet on horseback, to the death of his horse, but to his own escape. These were extreme measures, but a discordant element in the administration of Egyptian internal af- fairs was effectively removed. Mohammed 'Ali next organized an efficient army, trained accord- ing to European standards. lie also built up a navy of no mean proportions. He extended Egypt to the south by conquering the Sudan and founding, in 1823, the city of Khartum. Then he broke with the Sultan, and started his adopted son, Ibrahim, on an expedition north- ward. Syria was soon his. At Konyeh (Icon- ium), he met the entire Turkish army consist- ing of 50,000 men, and routed it with but insig- nificant losses to himself. He pushed on, until he threatened Constantinople itself. The Sul- tan was forced to confirm IMohammed W\i in the possession of S^ria and Egypt. This was in 1833. Later, Mohammed 'Ali again became aggressive. This time, the European Powers, acting upon the initiative of Great Britain, forced him back. He was given, in 1841, the hereditary possession of Egypt, with an ob- ligation to pay an annual tribute of a million and a half dollars to Turkey. Eight years later he died. The reign of Mohammed ^Ali advanced Egypt politically. It lifted it out of the position of a 82 Egypt and the Christian Crusade mere paslialic of tlie Turkish Empire to tho position of an almost independent kingdom. It gave Egypt the Khedevial line of rulers which we have to-day, thus avoiding frequent and often bloody changes of administration. It brought Egypt into touch with the quickening influences of the Western world, even though Mohammed 'All's tyrannical methods of govern- ment and the oppressive taxation, to which he resorted to get funds for his military campaigns, bore heavily upon the people. At the death of Mohammed 'Ali, in 1849, his grandson, 'Abbas I., became viceroy. • With a dislike of the West and its ways, he adopted a reactionary policy, avoided foreigners, reduced the army and closed up many public institu- tions. Railways were, however, introduced into Egypt by him. In 1854, he was assassinated, and Sa'id succeeded him. Sa'id proved to be a good ruler. He equalized taxation, protected the peasantry, improved the canals, and extended the railroads. He was per- suaded by De Lesseps to support the plans for digging the Suez Canal. He was kindly dis- posed toward Western civilization. In 1863 he died, and Isma'il became viceroy. The reign of Isma'il is important because it gives us the early causes for European interven- tion in Egypt, and, ultimately, for the British History 83 occupation of Egypt. Educated in France, Isma'il developed a great fondness for European institutions. He sought to introduce into Egypt one innovation after another: manufactures, railways, bridges, telegraphs, palaces, parks, a new educational system, a new system of jus- tice. Almost every adventurer could get the Viceroy's ear, and then his endorsement of the most reckless schemes imaginable. To this love for innovations, Isma'il joined a wholly im- practical government administration. The re- sult was soon evident. "When Isma'il came to the throne in 1863, the debt of Egypt was only a little over three millions.* The annual rev- enue of the country was amply sufficient to meet all needful expenditures — yet by the end of 1876, the debt had risen to eighty-nine millions.* It had been increased nearly thirty-fold in thir- teen years .... And at the same time the taxation of the land had been increased by some- thing like fifty per cent. There is nothing in the financial history of any country, from the remotest ages to the present time, equal to this carnival of extravagance and oppression." t When Egypt's public debt had increased to upwards of fifty million dollars, and the Vice- * The English pound (£) is worth about $4.85. The Egjrptian, (£ E.) is worth $5.00. t Alfred Milner, "England in Egypt," 216. 84 Egypt and the Christian Crusade roy was rapidly bringing his "country to the place where it would be wholly impossible to meet the country's obligations to her European bankers, the Powers interfered, brought about the retirement of Isnia'il, and placed the finan- cial affairs of Egypt under an International Debt Commission, representing France, Ger- many, Eussia, Austria, Italy, and Great Britain. During the reign of Isma'il, the Sultan made the succession to the throne of Egypt to be direct, from father to son, instead of descend- ing, after the Turkish law, to the oldest heir; the title of Khedive, instead of Wall, was con- ferred; the powers of the ruler of Egypt were extended; the annual tribute to Turkey was increased from one and a half million dollars to about three and a half million dollars. In 1869, the Suez Canal was opened. This enter- prise owes its success, in large part, to the prodigal support given to it by Isma'il, especially in contributions of forced Egyptian labor. Tewfik succeeded Isma'il, in 1879, but he came into a sorry political inheritance. It would have required a strong hand to admin- ister the government in such troublous times. In 1881, a military revolution broke out in Cairo. In 1882, this developed into a wide- spread rebellion headed by Arabs. A massacre took place in Alexandria. Foreigners began to History 85 leave the country. Representing the Powers which were pledged to conserve order in Egypt, England and France sent their fleets to Alex- andria to suppress the rebellion. France re- fusing to cooperate, the British fleet bombarded Alexandria on July 11th, 1882. On September 13th, the rebels were defeated at Tel-el-Kebir. On the 14th, an advanced guard reached Cairo. On the 15th, Sir Garnet Wolseley and the British Army formally occupied the city. Great Britain in Egypt In an opening paragraph of this book, we re- ferred to some of the political developments which we have just traced as constituting a political situation unrivaled for its strangeness. With these political anomalies, Great Britain has had to deal. It would have been a simple problem for her, had she not, unwisely and per- haps unnecessarily, pledged, on entering Egypt, that she would not change existing conditions without the consent of the nations. Think of the complexity of the situation : a complex Turkey, holding some undefined claim, as wit- nessed by her annual tribute of three and a half million dollars from Egypt; the Khedive, nominally an independent ruler and at times Situatiou. British Keforms. 86 Egypt and the Christian Crusade trying to assert his independence ; six European Powers, controlling to so large an extent the internal affairs of Egypt through their control of Egypt's finances; fourteen Powers, holding treaty privileges, which often interfere with justice; and finally, England, on the field, try- ing to run this complicated political machine. Two decades and a half of British occupation have passed, and, in spite of all difficulties, British administration has proved in Egypt, as in so many other lands, the truth of Lord Rose- berry's statement, that the British Empire is " the greatest secular agency for good kno^vn in the world." The first problem to be solved was a financial one — Egypt's debt. The story of the develop- ment of the country's resources, and of the un- tiring labor involved in converting this debt to one of a lower rate of interest, is a story most fascinating, but requiring a large volume for its recital. The results are seen in the fact that the debt is some $43,715,000 less than it ■was in 1883, while the annual interest charge which the country has to meet is some $4,450,- 000 less than in 1883. The country's resources, on the other hand, have also been ' developed. The government revenue has been advanced from about $45,- 000,000, in 1883, to $74,000,000 in 1905. History 87 That this is the result of the real development of tlie country and not of increased oppression, is proved by the fact that there has been a con- siderable and steady reduction of taxation. The Corvee, or forced labor, has been abolished ; this alone represented to the government $2,000,000 a year. The land tax and the salt tax have been reduced; octroi duties in towns have been abolished. In a previous chapter, we saw how all of this had resulted in the improvement of the material condition of the people. In the Department of Justice wonderful re- forms have been made. District courts have expedited cases, so that where, under the old system, a case took on an average 230 days, the average period now is 71 days. It is a slow process, involving more than political adminis- tration, to inject into the bribe-corrupted Orient principles of justice and honesty ; never- theless, great progress has been made. One large sphere has remained closed to re- J^*®^^*" form, in spite of its manifest need of such re- Hindrance. form. Back in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- turies, the Sultan of Turkey was pleased to make, to promote trade, certain concessions to foreigners living within his dominions. These concessions were called " Capitulations." Ow- ing to Egypt's tributary relation to Turkey, these " Capitulations " obtain in Egypt. .Grig- 88 Egypt and the Christian Crusade inallj intended to relieve the foreigners from intolerant exactions which Moslem laws might lay upon a foreign trader and an "infidel," these " Capitulations " have become the instrn- ments for defying all law and justice. By them a foreigner may claim exemption from general taxation (customs dues and land tax excepted), the inviolability of his domicile, and exemption from the jurisdiction of local courts. Let a Greek kill a native, he may escape to his house and the native police may not enter to arrest him without a warrant from his consul. If he is arrested on the street, the police may only take him to his consul. He is then judged by Greek law. Thus, the foreigner is lifted above all native law, and, where consular justice is not exacting, above law of any sort. The establishment of the Mixed Tribunals, in 1876, granted some relief, by providing a court where cases of one foreigner against another, or against a native, may be dealt with. The re- maining abuses of the " Capitulations " can be corrected only through the consent of the four- teen Powers — Lord Cromer is now moving to secure this — or by the less probable severance of Egypt's tributary relation to Turkey, which would rid Egypt of a double burden, the tribute and the " Capitulations." History 89 Althougli hindered and even balked here and there by political complications such as have just been described, yet the British redemption of Egypt has moved on steadily, in every depart- ment of government administration. British brains and British energy and British honesty have wi*ought out a transformation of condi- tions. In all this work of reconstruction, no figure has stood out more conspicuously than that of Lord Cromer. Theoretically, he is noth- ing more than Britain's diplomatic representa- tive in Egypt. " His Majesty's Agent and Consul-General," as his Reports read. But in fact, he is the real ruler of the land of the Pharaohs. That is another feature of the para- doxical political situation. Unostentatious, a keen judge of men, a genius in administration, the impersonation of the German proverb "Ohne Hast, oline East," * with a measureless capacity for detail, Lord Cromer has done more than any other man to give direction to British policy in the Nile Valley. Tavo events, hitherto unnoted, are needed to complete this general historical survey. The one is the accession of 'Abbas II. Hilmi to the throne, at the death of his father in 1892. The other is the reconquest of Egypt's southern province, the Sudan, by General Kitchener, and * " Without haste, without rest." Govern- luent 90 Egypt and the Christian Crusade its administration since 1898 by an x\nglo- Egyptian government. In brief outline, the present government of Machinery. Egypt is Carried on as follows. The Khedive is ostensibly the head of the government. His annual allowance is $500,000. His Council is made up of six Ministers and a British finan- cial adviser. The six Ministers represent the Department of the Interior, Finance, Justice, War, Public Works and Instruction, and For- eign Affairs. In such case, the head of a depart- ment is a native, but there is also a Britisher next in charge, w^ho is the real directing power. The influence of the representative institutions may be ignored, for the Legislative Council is only an advisory body, and the General Assem- bly has only a veto power in reference to taxation. For administration, the country is divided into fourteen Provinces or Mudiriyehs, and six Governorships.* The chief official of a province is a Mudirj that of a governorship is a Mohafez. Each of these is assisted by a council, or diwau. In the provinces, the council includes the fol- lowing officials: the ivel-il (vice-governor), the chief clerk, the tax-gatherer, the accoimtant, the Jcadi (supreme judge), the superintendent of police, the architect supervising public works, * See Appendix I. History 91 and the chief physician of the province. A province is divided into districts (markaz) ; each with a chief official called a mamur. Under the mamur is the 'omdeh or chief official of a commune, which may be rural or urban. In every province is a British inspector, mufet- tish. His presence acts as a restraint upon dis- honesty and inefficiency. In the Department of Justice, two customs need to be noted. One is that' of referring all matters of personal law to religious courts. Marriage, inheritance, guardianship, come under this heading, and come before courts ap- pointed by the several sects and religions. The other peculiarity is that, in civil courts, a board or committee, rather than an individual, passes judgment. Eecent reforms have introduced courts presided over by a single judge to dis- pose of cases of minor offenses. In general, in all civil tribunals, the French code prevails. British administration in Egypt has been severely criticized because it seems often to lend its influence to Mohammedanism. A double defence is commonly offered. The one that Great Britain is only assisting in the government of Egypt and not in full control; the other, that as a matter of fact, the country is a Mohammedan country, nine-tenths of the country being Moslems. The first excuse is Criticism. 92 Egypt and the Christian Crusade only specious, for every one knows that the government faithfully registers British wishes, and that " Egyptian hands and English heads " is a true characterization of the political situa- tion. The second excuse is a bit of false reason- ing. The government of the country ought to be for Egyptians as Egyptians, not for adher- ents of any faith. If the Moslems are Egyp- tians, the Christians are equally truly Egyp- tians; rather are the Christians the true Egyp- tians and the Moslems only invaders and in- truders. The fact, however, remains that government offices and schools are open on the Christian Sabbath, though closed on Friday;* that native Christian employees in Egypt must work on Sabbath, although even in the Turkish Empire (Beirut, Damascus, Constantinople) no Chris- tian clerk need go to work on Sabbath ; that native Christians are arbitrarily shut out from a number of departments of government service, although qualifying for them ; that all native commissioned officers in the army are Moslems ; that there were more Christian 'omdeJis through- Out the country in the days of Isma'il than under the British; and that, though the Christians * To work on Friday is not a breach of Moslem religion, as for the Christian with his Sabbath. History 93 generally outstrip Moslems in government ex- aminations, preference is given to Moslem candidates. The policy has developed in Moslem ranks a spirit of pride, which leads the Moslem Egyp- tian to believe that he is essentially superior to a Christian. It has led the Moslems to bolster up their claims by threats of a Holy War and has encouraged them to play politics with their religion. The situation is almost parallel to the situation in India before the Mutiny. There, the compromises which the government made only aroused religious suspicion. For the Mos- lem can understand a man who has a different religion and who stands by his convictions; but the Moslem cannot understand the man who has no religion, or, having one, fails to openly avow it. Ulterior motives are naturally imputed. In India, it required a Sepoy Mutiny to correct the evil, and lead the British Government to declare itself a Christian government. Will it require such an experience to restrain this grow- ing spirit of Moslem intolerance in Egypt and to lead Great Britain to come out into an open declaration of her own convictions, although exercising every toleration toward her subjects in their different faiths? . . General We have surveyed, in outline at least, five Estimate. milleniums of Egyptian history. We cannot 94 Egypt and the Christian Crusade always fathom the inscrutable mysteries of Divine Providence in history. We know that, if we could only read and fully understand, the history of every nation is the record of God's loving endeavor to draw men to Himself. We see that clearly in the history of Israel, because the inspired Word has traced out for us the Divine purpose. We cannot indicate defi- nitely, in Egyptian history, the crises at which God gave to the people of Egypt the op- portunity of making a choice. Neither can we point out the testing periods in which God put the Egyptian nation on trial. But we be- lieve that again and again, in her past history, these crises and periods came to Egypt, and be- cause the nation would not respond, as Israel also failed to respond at Kadesh Barnea, God found it necessary to lead Egypt back into the wilderness for years, and even centuries, of national discipline and suffering. We believe, however, that another day of opportunity and privilege is dawning. Victim of a degrading poverty that had made him servile and cringing, the Egyptian has, within three brief decades, been brouglit to a condition of material prosperity which is developing with- in him a feeling of self-respect and an increas- ing degree of independence. Ignorant through- out centuries, and contented in his ignorance, History 95 the Egyptian has now become eager to learn, and a revival of knowledge has literally swept the country. Hitherto unbending in his social customs and uncompromising in his attitude toward ^Yestern life and thought, the Egyptian has been forced into contact with the Western world, to the great modification of his social life and a complete change of his attitude toward Western civilization. For centuries, too, ex- periencing the demoralizing domination of Mos- lem rulers, until " his spirit failed," the Egypt- ian has suddenly been granted a political "savior and defender," and Christian Eng- land has been brought into the Nile Valley to check Moslem tyranny and bring order out of chaos. Add to these significant facts, the signi- ficant coincidence of a missionary movement — evangelical in its spirit, national in its scope, prevailing in its efforts, and are we not irre- sistibly led to believe that all these movements, whether ind-ustrial, intellectual, social, political, or missionary, are, after all, only as scaffolding for building, in God's great redemptive purpose for Egypt? It behooves us, therefore, to pray that Chris- tian England may be found faithful in the great part she is playing in the plans of God; that the Church may, by the adequate extension of her Missions, give Egypt every advantage 8 yG Egypt and the Christian Crusade possible for deciding aright; and that Egypt herself, in the impending crisis of a determin- ing decision, may not neglect so great a salva- tion as God is preparing for her. CHAPTEE IV EELIGIONS Three distinct faiths have held sway over Egypt. The ancient pagan religion of Egypt prevailed almost uninterruptedly from the earl- iest times to the dawn of the Christian Era. Then Christianity entered, and, by the fourtli century, Egypt had become, nominally, a Chris- tian nation. In the seventh century, Moham- medanism swept over the country and steadily displaced, and almost effaced, Christianity. Religion of Ancient Egypt The great antiquity and the high develop- ment of the religion of Ancient Egypt is a mat- ter for wonder and admiration. The great body of texts — some 4,000 lines — to be found on the interiors of the Pyramids of the fifth and sixth dynasties, shows that even four thousand years ago, the ofiicial religion had reached a com- pletely developed stage. There are those who think that the earliest writings indicate a be- lief in one God and that polytheism was a later development, because the earliest temples have no idolatrous svmbols. The more commonly 97 The Future Life. 98 Egypt and the Christian Crusade accepted view is, that the religion of the country was the product of some effort to systematize the local divinities and cults into a consistent system, and that this process of religious uni- fication was related to a political unification of the country into a single kingdom. Thus many became henotheists, or worshipers of one god who was greatly exalted above all other gods; and some were probably monotheists. The religion of Ancient Egypt seems to have been a sort of spiritualized Nature worship. The sun god Ra, or Re, stood at the head of the suc- cession of gods. He is represented as a hawk- headed man, bearing on his head the solar disk, around which was coiled the uraeus, a symbol of royal power. Of all the gods, except Osiris, Re was the most widely worshiped. There were, however, many other gods and goddesses; a list of only the chief Egyptian deities gives us more than sixty. The belief that gods chose animals as their abode led to the worship of these, as of the bulls, Apis and Mnevis. Later, not only was some individual animal worshiped, but all animals of the same kind were held to be divine. Thus we have the cat cemeteries of Bubastis, the crocodile graves of Ombos, etc. The ancient Egyptian religion, however, is paost remarkable for its doctrine of the future Religions 99 life and the grasp of truth which characterized it in so early an age. It seems clear, " that the Egyptians attributed to the human soul a divine origin, that they held that it was throughout life engaged in the warfare of good and evil, and that after life its final state was determined by judgment according to its doings on earth." Osiris was the god of the dead. In his king- dom, departed souls lived on so long as the corpse remained intact. It was this teaching that set such a high premium upon the embalm- ing of the body and the building of a tomb for ibs preservation. We thus have in this ancient religion, a close approach to the idea of one God, the doctrine of immortality, and the idea of a judgment em- phasizing, for this life, distinctions of morality in human conduct. In later centuries, however, these glimmers of truth became obscured by gross polytheism and idolatr}', and immoral practises characterized religious celebrations. Present Day Religions We get from the census of 1897 a clear idea of the religions which prevail in the Nile Val- ley to-day. Of every 10,000 of the population, we find that 9,223 are Moslems, 663 are so-called Orthodox Christians, 63 are Catholics, 26 arc 100 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Jews, 25 are Protestants. The so-called Ortho- dox Christians are for the most part Copts, al- though a very small percentage of Greek-Ortho- dox, Syrian-Orthodox, and Armenian-Orthodox Christians are included under this heading. The dominant religion of Egypt is clearly the Mohammedan religion. The Coptic Church, however, has a history so interesting, its mem- bership of over a half million souls constitutes so influential a community in Egypt, and its members have borne such a significant relation to mission work in Egypt, that it deserves to receive special consideration. The Mohammedans constitute 95.27 per cent, of the entire population of Lower Egypt, and 87.96 per cent of that of Upper Egypt. Entrance of Christianity The modern sightseer in Egypt ordinarily visits Old Cairo, built upon the site of an ancient fortress, called Babylon. So early as at the time of Christ, there was a colony of Jews at this place. It is not in the least an improbable tradition, therefore, which points out an ancient church in this section, and within it a tiny church, a mere crypt of the upper church building, as marking the site where Joseph and Mary and the Babe of Bethlehem Religions 101 lived during their sojourn in the land of Egypt. This Babylon near Cairo is identified by strong traditions with Babylon from which Peter wrote his Epistles. Whatever the truth may be about these mat- JoUnaiark. ters, it seems an established fact that, through the preaching of John Mark, Christianity was introduced into Egypt in about 45 A.D. It was in the city of Alexandria that Mark is said to have gained his first converts, and there also that he laid down his life in martyr protest to the idolatrous practises of the worshippers of Serapis. In the philosophical and intellectual and rather tolerant atmosphere of Alexandria, Christianity made rapid progress. Within a century, that it might in nothing be behind other cults in its intellectual power, Christian- ity had established for itself a college, known as the Catechetical School of Alexandria. The x\Iexandrian Church came into promi- nence through such men as Pantaenus and his more famous pupil, Clement of Alexandria. It is interesting to note that these theological professors were more than once called upon to render missionary service to the Church. Leav- ing his post at the head of the school in Alex- andria, Pantaenus went on a missionary journey to India in response to a request which came from that country to the Patriarch of Alexan- 102 Egypt and the Christian Crusade dria, that he would send them a teacher of the Christian faith, whose learning would equal his piety. The comparatively peaceful development of Christianity was disturbed, at the beginning of the third century, by the persecution of Severus, and the School at Alexandria was temporarily closed while the martyrs witnessed to the truth with their lives. Among those who thus died was Leonides, the father of the great Origen. Origen. Origen himself, though but a boy, came into prominence through his remarkable intellectual powers. He was appointed head of the School at Alexandria during these troublous times. This made him a mark for the hatred of the pagan populace, but his ready wit and even tem- per carried him safely through many dangers. " Eusebius relates that one day the mob seized him in-the street and bore him in a tempestuous procession to the great temple of Serapis. Here, by main force, but apparently without real violence, they gave him the tonsure (of the pagan priesthood), clothed him in the white robe of a priest of the temple, and then brought him out and held him on the top of the great flight of steps. Here they bade him distribute the palms to the throng of idol worshippers, who laughed and applauded below. Origen took the palm branches and offered them to ih° Religions 103 people, crying aloud, as he did so, ' Come and receive the palms, not of idols, but of the Lord Jesus Christ.' It is a pleasant scene to dwell upon in that gloomy and painful time : the great temple fortress, dark against the blue of an Egyptian sky ; the court below, full of the laugh- ing, hooting, many-colored Oriental mob; the majestic flight of steps, swarming with more insistent pagans, laden with the graceful branches; and in the midst of them that one youthful figure with the strong sunlight on his white robe and smiling face, holding up the palm and striking silence on the crowd with his clear, dauntless call to the worship of Christ." * It is worth noticing, as indicating the leading position which the Church in Egypt held in the Christendom of that day, that the T^ovatian heresy — that to recant is an unpardonable sin — was referred to the Patriarch of Alexandria for settlement. Yet the power of Rome was steadily growing, and the day was not far off when this primacy of the Egyptian Church would be disputed. The Eastern and Western Churches were developing along different lines, doubtless following the personal characteristics of their leading theologians: Origen of Alex- andria in the East (185-254), and Augustine , of Hippo in the West (354-430). *E. L. Butcher, " The Storj of the Church of Egypt," vol. I., 55. 104 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Era of 'pjjQ qIqyj ^f i\^q persecution of the Egyptian Church under pagan emperors is well worth reading. The greatest persecution was in the fourth century, under Diocletian. This fourth century ushered in what was for the whole world, but especially for Egypt, the Era of Martyrs. The edict went forth that all churches were to be demolished, all sacred books burned, all Christians in official positions demoted, all Christians who were not in official positions reduced to slavery. The following quotation from Eusebius will give some conception of the sorrows of the Egyptian Church during this period : " It would exceed all power of detail to give an idea of the sufferings and tortures which the martyrs of Thebais endured. These had their bodies scraped with shells instead of hooks, and were mangled in this way until they died. Women tied by one foot and then raised in the air by certain machines presented this most cruel and inhuman spectacle to all beholders ; others, again, perished, bound to trees and branches, for, drawing the stoutest of the branches together by machines for this pur- pose, and binding the limbs of the martyrs to each of these, they then let loose the boughs to resume their natural position, designing thus to produce a violent action to tear asunder the Religions 105 limbs of those whom thej thus treated. And all these things were doing not only for a few days or some time, but for a series of whole years. At one time ten or more^ at another time more than twenty, at another time not less than thirty and even sixty, and again at an- other time a hundred men with their wives and little children were slain in one day." From this Era of Martyrs, the Coptic Church reckons time, using, however, the first year of Diocletian (284 A.D.) as the actual starting point. Thus the year 1907 A.D. is the year 1623 in the Coptic calendar. Constantino's accession to the throne, in 32-1, brought a happy relief to the persecuted Egyp- tian Church, and, from this time on, Christian- ity may be regarded as the dominant religion in Egypt. Soon, however, internal strife and discord Arian reappeared. A grave and blameless presbyter of Alexandria, seeking to defend himself against the heathen charge that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity was polytheistic, became en- tangled in the heresy which finally took his name, Arianism. He denied the deity of Christ, and was, therefore, the forerunner of the Uni- tarian of to-day. The Patriarch of Alexandria was unable to reclaim the young man, and, after repeated conferences, excommunicated him. A 106 Egypt and the Christian Crusade great controversy ensued. The name of Athan- asiiis stands out most prominently in the de- fence of the deity of Christ. The Emperor Constantine, favoring Arianism, called the Coimcil of Nicea, the first of the famous Ecumenical Councils. This Council decided against Arius. The Imperial Party then sought to secure by imperial authority what they had been unable to secure by argument — the restoration of Arius to the priesthood. The firm refusal of Athanasius, now Patriarch of the Egyptian Church, to accede to this, led to his displacement and the appointment of an Arian Patriarch. The great body of the Church in Egypt, however, refused to recognize the imperial candidate and stood loyally by Athanasius. The conflict which followed was a significant one. It led to the establishment in Egypt of a Church, rival to the Egyptian Church, called the Greek Orthodox Church, and surviving even to-day. It drew the Egyptian Church into conflict with the political power of the Emperor, and led the Church into a sphere of political activity which undermined her spiritual life. It also led to a bitter rivalry be- tween the Church of Egypt and the Church at Constantinople. The maintenance of her ecclesiastical primacy in Christendom became the supreme thought of the Egyptian Church; Religions 107 on almost every occasion this issue was raised. After Atlianasiiis bad passed away, the Church leadership came into the hands of dogmatic and self-assertive men. Disappointed and disheartened by the ear- Monastic , . . 1 11 . ' , T Movement. iier persecutions and now by these internal dis- sensions, the best spirits of the Egyptian Church were carried away by the wave of Monasticism which swept the country. Were it not for the testimony of contemporary writers, it would be hard to believe the extent to which the popula- tion became monies and nuns. Of course many of these were actuated by low and false motives, but the retirement of the others was a disastrous loss to the Egyptian nation and the Church. The conception of the Christian life which now prevailed was flight from the world rather than victory over the world. In the middle ages, the monastery was the embryo university, and from the monastery shone the light which marked the dawn of the Renaissance. The Egyptian monastery, on the contrary, has ever been a center of ignorance. Material and debased conceptions of God pre- vailed, marked by great bigotry and ignorance. When, in 399, the Patriarch Theophilus, in his paschal letter, rebuked the monastic ten- dencies, a whole army of monks left ISTitria, hurried through the desert, stormed the Pa- 108 Egypt and the Christian Crusade triarch in his palace with threats of instant death if he did not take back his words. The Patriarch helplessly acceded to their demands. It was about this time — as the readers of Kingsley's " Hypatia " will remember — that the temple of Serapis at Alexandria was de- stroyed by order of the Emperor, but under the supervision of the Patriarch. It was with a superstitious awe and fear that the Christian populace and the Alexandrian soldiery wended their way into the inmost shrine from which, for six hundred years, the great god had ruled Egypt. l^Tot till one of the soldiers had struck the statue, and the head of the god rolled to the ground, and out of the trunk leaped a colony of frightened mice, not till then did the crowd feel reassured. In the early half of the fifth century, there appeared that heresy which cut the Egyptian Church off from the rest of Christendom. It is called the Monophysite heresy. It came as a reaction from another heresy, the Nestorian. !N^estorius had asserted that the two natures of Christ, the human and the divine, were so separate and distinct as to prevent one nature from qualifying the acts of the other nature. The Council of Ephesus condemned this heresy and asserted the unity of the two natures of Christ. Such emphasis, however, was laid upon Religions 109 this unity of the two natures, that the Egyptian Patriarch, Dioscorus, went one step farther, and declared that in the incarnation the human na- ture was transmuted into the divine and the result was one person with one nature. This is called the Monophysite heresy, and is in con- tradiction to the guarded statement of the Shorter Catechism which declares that Jesus Christ, " being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures and one per- son forever." The position of the Egyptian Church was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, and the Egyptian Patriarch was excommunicated as a heretic. Reading between the lines in the record of the Council of Chalcedon, we cannot help feeling that the heat of discussion was generated, not so much by fires of theological conviction, as by fires of passion for ecclesi- astical supremacy. The Egyptian Church had arrayed against her tlie united influence of the Church of Rome and the Church at Constan- tinople; the decision of the Council meant the overthrow of the primacy of the Egyptian Church, as well as the safeguarding of a correct definition concerning the person of Christ. We have now traced the introduction of Christianity into Egj'pt, its sufferings under 9 110 Egypt and the Christian Crusade the persecution of pagan emperors, its steadfast and heroic endurance, its extension throughout the Valley of the Nile, its establishment as the national religion of Egypt, and, finally, the elements of decay which undermined its power. The chapter dealing with the history of Egypt portrayed, with sufficient clearness, the Moslem invasion in 640 A.D., and the political experi- ences under Moslem domination which reduced the Egyptian Church from a national Church, with a membership of from five to eight mil- lion souls in the seventh century, to the despised and degraded Coptic * Church of to-day, with only some six hundred thousand members. Present ^ vital qucstion is. What is the present con- tion. ^.^-^^ ^£ ^j^jg Church? Dr. A. M. Fairbairn says, " No Church can live on its past ; it must live by faith and duty in the present ; no Church has any claim to be, whose only right is historical." From a missionary point of view, the present condition of the Coptic Church is a doubly important question, for there are those who challenge the right of the missionary to work among the adherents of this or of any Oriental Church. If missions aim only at establishing in the world a formal or nominal Christianity, then there is no justifica- * Or Egyptian. The Arabs were unable to correctly pro- nounce the Greek 'Aiguptos. CHURCH BUILDINGS Native Protestant Church, KeneL Intarior of Coptic Cathedral, Cairo Religions 111 tion for laboring among those who, nominally at least, are Christians. But if the aim of mis- sions is the salvation of the individual through faith in Jesus Christ and the establishment of churches holding to evangelical truth as founded on the Word of God, then we only need to know the actual condition of the Coptic Church to recognize her need for Christian evangelization. Mention has already been made of the Mono- physite error in the doctrinal position of the Coptic Church. The Coptic Church teaches that Christ possesses one nature instead of two. This may seem a mere subtlety of psychological discussion; but the significance of the Coptic heresy lies in the fact that the perfect balance between Christ's human and divine natures was lost; Christ became more divine than human; He became, indeed, so far removed from the human that He lost His mediating power; it became necessary to seek other mediating chan- nels, and this led to the development of a sys- tem of Marialotry and saint worship, which has proved the utter ruin of pure worship and Christian liberty. The Copts are immersionists, but not in the Western sense of the term, for, while they prac- tise immersion as the form of baptism, they practise infant baptism, dipping the child three times into the water. The confessional is nearly 112 Egypt and the Christian Crusade as important as in the Roman Catholic Church. Transubstantiation is the universal belief, and the Copt is taught to say, '' I believe, I believe, I believe, that this bread is the very flesh and blood of the body of Christ that was born of the Blessed Virgin." This being their belief, the greatest care is taken that not a crumb of the consecrated bread be lost, but all carefully eaten. Fasting. " The most important of all duties with the Copt is fasting. Practically, this is the ground of pardon and the necessary means of salvation. The regular seasons of fasting occupy more than half of the year. There is the Great Fast in the spring, which, instead of occupying forty days, as in the other Christian sects, has been lengthened to fifty-five days. Then there is the fast of the ISTativity, the fast of the Apostles, the fast of the Virgin, the fast of Jonah, etc. During these fasts there is daily service in the Church. Fasting Avith the Copts does not, how- ever, consist in total abstinence from all food or drink, either during the day or during the night, but only the avoidance of certain kinds of food or drink, especially animal flesh and milk and butter. Different fasts have their special injunctions in this respect. Strange to say, intoxicants are among the drinks allowed; on what principle I cannot conceive. There are seven principal festivals, those which commem- Religions 113 orate respectively the I^ativitj, the Baptism, the Triumphal Entry, the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost, and the Annunciation of the Virgin. " The church service is long, lasting about three hours, and consists of reading, chanting, praying, accompanied with the burning of in- cense, the beating of cymbals, and the proces- sion of the Host around the church. The cross is conspicuous everywhere, and before it the people bow and muttor certain expressions of adoration. The language used is for the most part the old Coptic — the mass being ahvays con- ducted in this sacred language. The dress of the clergy officiating is gayly ornamented, and the vestments and head-dress seem to be imitations of those worn by the Jewish priesthood. The Cop- tic churches have pictures, but no images. " The head of the Coptic Church is the Pa- triarch of Alexandria, but he spends the greater part of his time in Cairo. He has a large rev- enue from the numerous houses and estates which have, in the course of many generations, come into the possession of the Church through purchase or gift. He holds office for life and is selected from monks designated by the,Superior of the Convent of St. Anthony, near the Gulf of Suez. He must, of course, be unmarried, and must continue his monastic customs and liabits Church Orders. 114 Egypt and the Christian Crusade even though occupying this exalted position. The Patriarch's authority is supreme and of- ten despotic. He appoints the Metropolitan of the Abyssinian Church, and compels him to go to that distant region whether he wills or not. ISText in rank to the Patriarch are the bishops; who, when their number is full, are twelve. Be- low the bishops, who also must be monks, are the arch-priests, who are sometimes at the head of the convents, and are sometimes chosen directly from the order of the priesthood. Their functions correspond to those of archdeacons in the Episcopal churches of the West. N^ext to these are the priests, who may be married, provided the marriage has taken place before their ordination. If the wife of a priest should die, he is not allowed to marry again, in accord- ance with their interpretation of I.Timothy 3 :2. The priests are not compelled to abstain from secular labor. Many supplement their income by engaging in some trade or profession. Under the priests are the deacons, who are chosen to serve the priest and aid in the chanting. They are generally mere boys. Both priests and dea- cons receive ordination from the hands of the bishop or Patriarch." * Concerning the influence of the Coptic Church upon the life of its members, a mis- * A. Watson, "American Mission in Egypt, 55, 56. PIONEER MISSIONARIES (1854-1864) Rev. James Barnett, D.D. Rev. Gulian Lansing, D.D. Mrs. Henrietta McCagub Rev. Thomas McCague, D.D. Mrs. Maria G. Lansing Miss Martha J. McKown Mrs. Sarah B. (Dales) Lansing See opp. page 182 Religions 115 sionary * recently wrote, " I inquired recently of one who knows the Church and its people well, if he knew of a wicked man who had been truly reclaimed from his vices by means of the ceremonies and usages of the Coptic Church. He replied that he did not know a single case. Indeed, he spoke as if such a result was not expected." Concerning the standards of morality which Morality ot prevail among Copts, he adds, " In general it **** "' may be said that the great majority of the Copts are addicted to the common sins of the nation, lying, profane swearing, lack of strict honesty in their dealings ; while not a few are given to drunkenness and other violations of the moral law. These sins are not confined to any one class, for, in many cases, not only are the com- mon priests companions of the immoral in their wickedness, but even the higher dignitaries among the clergy dare not rebuke the people for sins of which they themselves are guilty. "A few days ago I was informed of a young Copt who had been living in sin, a drunkard and gambler. So abandoned had he become that his father put him out of the house. After this he went to a place several hundred miles distant from his home. Here he was met by one of our brethren, who talked with him and ♦ Rev. "Wm. Harrey, D. D., missionary to Egypt since 1865. 116 Egypt and the Christian Crusade persuaded him to attend the meetings held in our schoolroom. God blessed these means, so that the young man abandoned his evil ways, gave evidence of faith in the Saviour, applied for admission to the Evangelical Church and was received. In the meantime, the Copts in the town did all they could to keep him from attending the services, which had been blessed to his benefit." The estimate of another missionary * is as fol- lows : " One thing is certain, that the moral character of a man has nothing to do with mem- bership in the Cpptic Church. Xo one ever heard of a Copt being disciplined for drunken- ness, or lying, or any other evil practise. " To me the outlook at present for the spirit- ual reformation of the Coptic Church is much the same as the political outlook for the re- formation of the Turkish Empire." It is such an estimate of the Coptic Church, based on wide observation and intimate prac- tical acquaintance, that has led missionaries to consider the Copts as being within the scope of their missionary commission. Reiponse Qu the Other hand, the Copts have been more responsive than any others to the missionary appeal. The Protestant Evangelical Church of to-day is largely built up of those who have * Rev. Andrew Watson, D. D., missionary to Egypt since 1861. to Gospel. Religions 117 come out from this Coptic Church. Their ac- ceptance of and high regard for the Word of God, has given the missionary a common ground from which to present the truth and refute error. Their Christian antecedents have made them more willing to listen to the Gospel. Thus does God's protection of this remnant of the Egyptian National Church throughout the past thirteen centuries, seem to form a part in this twentieth century of His gracious purposes for redeeming Egypt. Mohammedanism In surveying the history of Egypt, the Mos- lem invasion, in 640 A.D., was considered from a political point of view. We now wish to con- sider its religious aspect, for the dominant re- ligion of Egypt to-day is Islam. According to the census of 1897, there are in Egypt 8,978,- 775 Moslems; this is 92.23 per cent, of the population. Three factors contributed to the transformation of Egypt from a Christian to a Moslem country. A considerable number of Moslems invaded the country; almost every governor brought to Egypt several thousands of Moslem troops ; whilewe read, from time to time, of whole tribes migrating from Arabia to Egypt. The constant persecution of the Christians and 118 Egypt and the Christian Crusade the disabilities inflicted upon them, led many of them to give up their faith and become Mo- hammedans ; the natural increase of the Chris- tian population was also checked. Finally, both the unchecked increase of the Moslem popula- tion and the intermarriage of Moslems and Christians, with the consequent claims of Mo- hammedanism to the children of such mixed marriages, would provide any explanation still needed to account for the present predominance of Islam in Egypt. Many books are available, presenting, in de- tail, the life of Mohammed, the doctrines of Islam, and its spread throughout the Oriental world. We must limit ourselves, however, here to the briefest outline of the doctrines, practises, and the moral and religious significance, of Islam in the Nile Valley. A Leading ^ reccut authority places the number of Mo- hammedans in the world at 232,966,170. Numerically, therefore, one-twenty-sixth of the Moslem population of the world is to be found in Egypt. This does not give a true idea of the influence which Egypt exerts in the Moslem re- ligious world. Arabic is the language of the Koran. No country, therefore, whose language is not Arabic could properly claim primacy in the Moslem religious world. Among Arabic- speaking Mohammedan nations, giving us an Religions 119 aggregate population of some forty-five million souls, Egypt may certainly claim to be the lead- ing nation, both because one-fifth of that world is to be found in the Nile Valley, and because Egypt, with her great Mohammedan Univer- sity, the Azhar, is the acknowledged seat of Mohammedan learning. Egypt is, therefore, in a true sense, the center of the Moslem world, the citadel of its power, the stronghold of the Crescent. If Christianity can carry, by assault or by siege, this " Port Arthur " of Islam, we may easily count upon victory for the army of Christ along its whole far-flung battle line. The fact is often overlooked that Moham- medanism has its sects. There is the Sunni sect, which is, by all odds, the predominating sect of Islam. This is the orthodox sect and numbers some 221,000,000 followers. Then there is the Shiah sect, chiefly in Persia and India, and claiming 12,000,000 followers; these are regarded as heretics by the Sunnis, and their mutual hatred " is more bitter than between Protestant and Catholic in the days of persecution." It was the Sunni sect that domi- nated Egypt from 640 to 969 A.D. During the power of the Fatimite caliphs, the Shiah faith ruled in the palace, but not altogether in the hearts of the people, and there were fre- quent religious riots. Since the days of Sala- 120 Egypt and the Christian Crusade din, however, Egypt has been reckoned as a stronghold of the Siinni faith. The Siinni sect is subdivided into four lead- ing schools of theology and jurisprudence, called * the Hanafiyah, the Shafeiyah, the Malakiyah, and the Hambaliyah. The Mos- lems of Egypt are, for the most part, Shafc- 'iyahs. Mohammedanism has, on its doctrinal side, six articles of faith, and, on its practical side, some six duties or obligations; the former are called Iman, the latter Din. The six articles of faith are: cv,nception (^-^-^ j'he Moslcm Conception of God. The first part of the Mohammedan creed is, " There is no God but God." The unity of God is asserted. This insistence upon the unity of God is in denial not only of polytheism, but espe- cially of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The spirituality of God is also asserted. The Moslem cannot tolerate pictures or images of the Deity. Islam seems to assert a personal God. When we consider the attributes of the God of Islam, we discover, however, that the Divine Personality has become so distorted that true personality is practically lost. " The conception of God is negative. Absolute * These names are Anglicized into Hanafite, Shafite, Mala- kite, and Hanbalite, Religions 121 sovereignty and ruthless omnipotence are His chief attributes, while His character is imper- sonal, that of a Monad. The Christian truth that ' God is love ' is to the learned Moslem blasphemy and to the ignorant an enigma. Islam is ' the Pantheism of Force.' "* Although ninety-nine names are ascribed to God, He is never called " Father." Nor has He a Father's heart. The term " holy " is applied to God, but with reference to His glory and majesty, rather than to His moral perfection. Indeed, the exaggeration of His sovereignty .ascribes to Him acts which our moral instincts repudiate. (2) Angels. Moslems believe in angels, of a Anse'" substance resembling light, and endowed with life, speech and reason. There are four arch- angels : Gabriel, who reveals truth ; Michael, the patron of the Jews ; Israf el, who will sound the last trump ; and Azrail, the angel of death. There are two recording angels for each per- son, the one for his good deeds, the other for his evil deeds. Two angels, Munkar and Nakir, examine the dead and beat infidels. The chief angel of the place of torment is Malik; he has nineteen assistants. Eight angels support the throne of Allah. Besides these angels, there are jinn, or genii ; some good, some evil. These are mortal; they * Religions of Miseion Fields," 239. 122 Egypt and the Christian Crusade marry and propagate, and are created of fire. Thousands of superstitious notions and prac- tises prevail in Egypt, not only among Moslems, bnt also among Copts, as a consequence of this belief. ^BoikJ' <^'') ^^^^ Inspired Bools. Of the 104 sacred books which Moslems believe God " sent down," only four are extant. These are, the Torah, or Law of Moses; the Zabur, or Psalms of David ; the Injil, or Gospel of Christ ; and the Koran. This theoretical belief in the Scrip- tures is offset by the common teaching, that the Scriptures have been perverted by Jews and Christians; and, furthermore, that the Koran, being the later revelation, is more authorita- tive, and abrogates the teachings of former rev- elations. " The Koran is a little smaller than the New Testament in extent; it has 114 chapters bear- ing fanciful titles borrowed from some word or phrasie in the chapter. The book has no chrono- logical order, logical sequence or rhetorical climax. It is unintelligible without a com- mentary, even for a Moslem." * Yet the Koran is the standard of Arabic literature and the center around which Moslem life and thought revolve. Slavery, polygamy, divorce, religious intolerance, and the seclusion and degradation * "Religions of Mission Fields." 241. Religions 123 of women, find their suggestion and defense in the Koran. (4) The Prophets. Mohammed is related ^^^p^**"- to have said that there were 124,000 prophets and 315 apostles. Six prophets occupy posi- tions of prominence and are given titles : Adam, the chosen of God ; ISToah, the preacher of God ; Abraham, the friend of God ; Moses, the spokes- man of God ; Jesus, the word of God ; and Mo- hammed, the apostle of God. The greatest of all, of course, is Mohammed. To describe his character and trace his influence upon the re- ligion he founded, would require several chap- ters. We may credit him with sincerity and many good traits during the early years of his career, " yet a calm and critical study of his life proves him to have been an ambitious and sensual enthusiast, who did not scruple to break every precept of the moral law to further his ends." (5) The Daij of Judgment. This is also ^H^^^^ known as the Day of Eesurrection, the Day of Separation, the Day of Reckoning, the Day of Awakening, and the Hour. There is to be a resurrection, when the body and the soul will be united. To this end, a part of the body, the OS sacrum, is preserved, and out of it is de- veloped the body of the future state. " Mankind in the judgment will be in three 124 Egypt and the Christian Crusade classes — those going on foot, those riding and those creeping. The first is composed of those whose good deeds were few, and the second, those who are in great honor with God, and the third, the infidels, who will then be blind, deaf and dumb." * " The Moslem paradise, in the words of the Koran, is ' a garden of delight .... with conches and ewers and a cup of flowing wine; their brows ache not from it, nor fails the sense ; theirs shall be the Houris .... ever vir- gins.' What commentators say on these texts is often unfit for translation. The orthodox inter- pretation is literal, and so was that of Moham- med." t The Moslem hell is described in great detail, setting forth the terrors of the lost. Fatalism. (-g^ y/^g Decrees of Ood. Predestination is a fundamental Moslem doctrine. Submission to these divine decrees constituted religion; Islam means resignation. Among the reputed teachings of Mohammed is this, " The first thing that God created was a pen, and He said to it, ' Write.' It said, ' What shall I write? ' God said, 'Write down the quantity of every individual thing to be created,' and it wrote all that has been and all that will be to eter- nity." In Egypt, the common belief approaches * " Religions of Mission Fields," 244. t A. Watson, " American Mission in Egpyt," 44. Religions 125 fatalism. !Not only are events explained by this doctrine, but it paralyzes progress and is made the excuse for sin committed. The most important duties and obligations of the Moslem religion are: (1) The Recital of the Creed. The Moslem Moslem Creed. creed is the shortest in the world. In Arabic it runs, "La ilaha ilia 'llahu: Muhammadun Rasalu 'llah." Translated it reads, " There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the Apostle of God." To formally and religiously repeat this creed is the initiatory ordinance of the Moslem system, as baptism is the initiatory ordinance of the Christian religion. The creed is repeated at all times. It is the call to prayer. You hear it in public processions, in the funeral chants, in the transactions of the market place, as the song of rowers on the Nile, and as the fierce battle cry. (2) Prmjer. "The five stated seasons for ^'^y**"- prayers every day are, the early daAvn of the morning, when the sun has just begun to de- cline at noon, in the middle of the afternoon, immediately after sunset, and an hour and a half after sunset. The greater number of Mos- lems do not, however, observe all these times, prayer at the early dawn being often omitted by many who observe the other stated hourd. Many also seldom pray at all, unless it may be 10 Month of Faeting. 126 Egypt and the Christian Crusade during the month of fasting, when it is most generally observed by men. ]^ot many women ever pray. Prayer, with the Moslem, is for the most part mere repetition of the first chap- ter of the Koran and other passages from their Scriptures; and that, too, in a fixed order, and with certain bodily inflexions and movements corresponding to the passages repeated. No deviation from the prescribed order of bodily movements is allowed. Prayer must be pre- ceded by ablution in water, if possible, other- wise with clean sand. The hands, feet, face, mouth, and nostrils are carefully washed," * In all this, however, the true spirit of prayer is absent. " Prayer is reduced to a mechani- cal art." There is no real fellowship with God. There is no communion with God, in the Chris- tian sense. The Moslem conception of God itself forbids this. (3) The Month of Fasting. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is regarded as the ground of great merit. As the Moslem year is based iipon the lunar month, this month of Kamadan comes earlier each year. When it falls in the summer, the observance of the fast is a great hardship. It is unlawful to eat, drink or smoke, from da\^Ti until sunset. During the night, feasting is hoth allowable and the custom. It * "Aniprican Mis ion in Egypt," 46, 47. Religions 127 is a fact, that Moslems, both rich and poor, spend more for food in that month than in any other month of the year. It has been noticed that fasting, especially in hot weather, reacts upon the good nature of the Moslem, and leads to more friction and quarreling than usual. (4) The Giving of Alms. This is highly ^^""«' praised in the Koran. One-fortieth of the total income is said to be the commonly accepted pro- portion for giving. " There are seven classes to whom this legal alms may be given, viz., the poor, the homeless, the tax-collector, slaves, debtors, those engaged in fighting for Islam, and wayfaring travelers." Although alms-giv- ing is a religious duty, Moslem civilization has developed practically no public institutions of charity. (5) The Pilgrimage. The pilgrimage to Pilgrimage. Mecca is obligatory on all Moslems who are not hindered by ill-health, slavery or poverty. Many engage and provide for a substitute and thus acquire merit for tliemselves. From sixty to ninety thousand pilgrims are reported to visit Mecca each year. This annual rally at Mecca constitutes a powerful bond of union and main- tains throughout the Moslem world a sense of solidarity. There are many detailed injunc- tions which are to be observed by pilgrims, both as to dress and as to food. Burckhardt, Burton 128 Egypt and the Christian Crusade and other travelers who have visited the sacred cities of Islam at the risk of their lives, have given to us descriptions of the customs and con- ditions which prevail. " It is necessary to state that the two sacred cities of Islam are hotbeds of every form of immorality and, by the wit- ness of Moslems themselves, sink-holes of iniquity and dens of robbers." To this outline of the doctrines and practices of the Mohammedan religion, there ought to be added some account of the practical outwork- ings of Islam in individual and social life. This, however, has been done in a previous chapter, where the seclusion of woman, the prac- tice of polygamy and divorce, the illiteracy of the people of Egypt, and the utterly unscien- tific character of Moslem education, were dis- cussed. Slavery was abolished in Egypt before the British occupation, but under pressure of public opinion in Europe. Slavery has its roots in the Mohammedan system, and history testi- fies to the fact that the slave trade is essentially related to Moslem polygamy, and that its agents are almost invariably Moslems. ' Missionary Qj^g characteristic of Islam deserves special Spirit. . T . . • • . • nr 1 mention, it is its missionary spirit. Mohaia- med set before his followers the vision of a world-wide kingdom, and the Koran lays upon Moslems the obligation to " fight against infidels Religions 129 till strife be at an end and the religion be all of God." Jihad, religious warfare, has always been the secret of the spread of Islam. Unliko the Christian missionary enterprise, the wea- pons to be used are not loving persuasion and a gospel of peace, but the sword. " The sword has been the great means of propagating this religion. Until Mohammed appealed to the sword, his faith made very little way." But laying this difference aside, Islam may well remind us by its spiritual conquest of 232,000,- 000 of the world's population, that to the pos- session of truth there must be added an undying zeal to propagate the truth, if any religion is to achieve world conquest. Christianity will never realize in the world the power its Founder intended it to possess, until in accepting the privileges of Christianity every believer recog- nizes also his obligation to obey Christ's mis- sionary commission, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." First Efforts. CHAPTER V EAELY MISSIONARY EFFORTS It is impossible to determine to what extent those who knew the true God in the centuries before Christ endeavored to impart that knowl- edge unto others. Every child of God ought to have in him the spirit of Him " Who had but one Son, and He was a missionary." Did Abraham's visit to Egypt serve any missionary purpose? Did Jacob's? Did the sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt result in any helpful presentation of divine truth to the people of the land ? Did the continuous removals of Jews to Egypt, in later years, signify anything in the spiritual history of the country? The entrance of Christianity into Egypt at the beginning of the Christian Era through the preaching of John Mark, or other early mis- sionaries, has already been referred to. The spread of Christianity throughout the entire country is an inspiring proof of the conquering power of a missionary gospel. The subsequent decadence of the faith, and its almost entire displacement by Mohammedanism, teach us sober and needful lessons on the imperative necessity of safeguarding not only doctrine, but 130 Early Missionary Efforts 131 a pure spiritual life and an earnest missionary spirit in the Church of Christ, lest her " candle- stick " be removed out of its place. After this almost complete religious lapse of Eg3'pt from Christianity, we find, in modern times, two missionary efforts deserving of men- tion, even though their continuity was broken, and each effort ended in an abandonment of the work. The one was the Moravian effort, which had its beginning in 1752 and lasted for thirty years; the other was the effort of the Church Missionary Society, initiated about 1819 and lasting for some three and a half decades. The Moravians By the birth of Zinzendorf in 1700, God was zinzendorf. preparing to launch one of the purest spiritual and most devoted missionary movements that the world has known. And Zinzendorf's life, from its very beginning, ran true to the divine purpose, apparently without any wasteful digression into sin. At six weeks of age, he was taken into the arms of his dying father and con- secrated to the service of Christ. "Already in my childhood," wrote Zinzendorf, " I loved the Saviour and had abundant intercourse with Him. In my fourth year, I began to seek God earn- estly and determined to become a true servant 132 Egypt and the Christian Crusade of Jesus Christ." Even as a boy at school we find him founding the " Order of the Mustard Seed," whose members agreed: (1) to be kind to all men; (2) to seek their welfare; (3) to seek to lead them to God and to Christ. Each member wore a ring, bearing the motto, " JS'o man liveth imto himself." Before he left school, we read that " he entered with an inti- mate friend into a covenant for the conversion of the heathen, especially such as would not be cared for by others." It was tliis man, wliose life witnessed thoroughly to the exclamation of his lips, " I have but one passion — 'tis He, and He only," — it was this man, Count Zinzen- dorf, who was used of God to set in motion missionary impulses which have been felt throughout the world, part of which enter also into the narrative of missionary work in Egypt. It was in 1750 that missions to Egypt were Hocker. decided upon. It v/as the knowledge of the existence in Egypt, and especially in Abyssinia, of a Christian Church, to whom the helpful hand of sympathy and fellowship might be extended, that led to this undertaking. In 1752, Fred- eric William Hocker, M.D., arrived in Egypt, commissioned to remain in Cairo for a time, for the purpose of acquiring some knowledge of the Arabic language and preparing for the far- ther and more difficult journey to Abyssinia. Frederick WiHiam Early Missionary Efforts 133 The missionary records of the Moravian breth- ren show that the Egypt of that time was quite different from the Egypt of to-day, as to conven- ience of travel, security of life and property, and religious liberty. The journey from Alexandria to Cairo involved a two-davs' ride alous; the sandy shore from Alexandria to Eosetta, then a journey by open boat up the river to Cairo, re- quiring two days more. Dr. Hocker was also required to don a sort of Turkish dress — loose red trousers, yellow slippers, a flowing robe, and a great fur cap. " Thus accoutred," he says, " I rode into the city of Grand Cairo upon an ass. All this is prescribed by positive law; none but Mohammedans are allowed to ride on horseback, and they too, as well as the Jews and Christians, are subject to particular regula- tions In order to prevent or to punish any irregularity in these^ respects, the streets are constantly patrolled by a band of from twenty to thirty Janissaries; and every offence is summarily visited with stripes, or even with loss of life." Soon after arriving in Cairo, Dr. Hocker Begi rented a home, which another missionary de- toTrork scribed as " small, exposed to the noise of the streets, and in so bad repair that the dust enters at all crevices." Here, however, he pursued the study of the Arabic language, practised medi- nning 134 Egypt and the Christian Crusade cine, and labored to gather all possible informa- tion that might be of service to him in the pro- posed journey to Abyssinia. This entry casts a flood of light upon this devoted missionary's spiritual life during these lonely months and years. '* Of spiritual intercourse with such as I could consider Brethren in the Lord Jesus, T was altogether deprived, a loss which could only be made up by coimnunion with my Saviour. With Him I sought comfort, the revival of my faith, and power to follow Him withersoever He might lead me. He graciously heard my prayer, gave me to feel His peace, and enabled me, through the merits of His early exile in this very land, to feel myself at home among its inhabitants." After a whole year of patient study of the Arabic language, he ventured to present him- self, with the letter which had been given to him by Count Ziuzendorf, to the Coptic Patri- arch, who received him in a very kindly way. In December, 1753, Dr. Hocker went to Con- stantinople to secure such credentials as seemed necessary to enable him to enter Abyssinia. A year later, he was back again in Cairo. In 1756, George Pilder, another Moravian mis- sionary, joined Dr. Hocker in Cairo. Henry Cossart, who joined the mission in the following Early Missionary Efforts 135 year, does not seem to have continued for any length of time. In 1758, Hocker and Pilder started upon the to long-contemplated journey to Abyssinia. They Abyssinia, sailed from vSuez, itself a three-days' journey from Cairo. After sailing southward for eleven days, they suffered shipwreck and spent nineteen days c^ a desert island. They got away, after having been " in perils of robbers, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in labor and travail, in watchings of- ten, in hunger and thirst." Having lost prac- tically their entire outfit, they decided, after further trials at Yembo and Jeddah, that they should return to Egypt. Their journey from Kosseir on the Red Sea overland to Kena on the !N^ile, and their experiences with pirates on the river, are a sufficient commentary upon the con- dition of the country and the devotion of these early missionaries. This effort to reach Abyssinia left Pilder a physical wreck. On his return to Cairo in 1759, he was compelled to leave the country, and Dr. Hocker was again the only missionary in the country. In 1861, he also left Egypt for Europe, so that for seven years all missionary work was suspended. In 17G8, we meet with another Moravian ^ . . ' 1 TT T-w 1 • Beautiful missionary, John Henry Danke, who arrives character. A Formal Religion. 136 Egypt and the Christian Crusade in Egypt with Dr Hocker. His was a rare and beautiful Christian character. His love for men shines out in his diary: " Sailing on the Nile between Rosetta and Cairo, I often shed tears of compassion to see them (the Moslems) lounging in the fields ; others washing them- selves in the Nile, and praying on the shore. Often did I sigh, ' Oh Lord Jesus ! let their souls be washed in Thy j^rccious blood, which Thou hast shed for them also !' " In another place, he writes, " Speaking farther of the love of Jesus, my heart grew warm, and I could not refrain from shedding tears." Was it any won- der that on this last occasion, the priest who was present, exclaimed, "Oh, dear friends, what words do we hear !" and that the priest's wife took him by the hand and exclaimed, "Master, stay with us; God give us grace to follow your Avords." Danke's chief work seems to have been among the Copts of Behnessa. He was sorely tried by the formality of their religion. They put to him many questions. "Among others," he writes, " they asked, ' Do you, at infant bap- tism, make use of frankincense, myrrh, and oil ? ' * How often are the vessels, used at the Holy Communion, carried about among the people ? ' ' Do you perform Mass and sacrifice as often as you go to church ? ' ' Do your priests, whenever Early Missionary Efforts 137 they meet any person in the church, put their hands upon them, and impart absolution ? ' ' Does every one of you pray Kyrie eleison * 200 times ? ' 'At every prayer, how often do you make the sign of the cross ? ' ' Do you fast two days every week ? ' ' Do you worship all the saints ? ' " His tact and skill in avoid- ing useless discussion is then seen, for he adds, " The Lord gave me grace to hear and answer them patiently. I then said, ' You have put a great variety of questions to me. Permit me now to ask you in turn: Have you never read, that, in Christ Jesus, nothing availeth but a new creature ? . . . You have at least read, that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life.' ' Yes,' said they, ' we have.' ' Then,' I added, ' let us first of all treat of this subject.' " His labors were not in vain. Many were Resu^^ of • • 1 1 • I* 1 a Life. brought to a spiritual apprehension of salva- tion through Christ. Of two, he writes, " What I told them of the happiness of those who live in the enjoyment of the love of Jesus, seemed to penetrate their hearts. Both arose, fell about my neck, and said, with tears in their eyes, ' God bless you, ]\Iaster ; we never heard the like before.' " Among those whose lives were quickened, we note a man of considerable in- fluence, Mikhail Bisha-ra, the chief justice of * " Lord, have mercv on us." 138 Egypt and the Christian Crusade the village, and both secretary and tax-gatherer of 'Ali Bey. At other times again, Danke met with open criticism, " Why you are no Chris- tian ; for you do not fast in your country. Are you come among us to abolish our fasts ? " Criticism often developed into opposition and persecution, for, to lift men out of the deadness of Christian formality, is a real attack upon the powers of darkness, and these forces will be marshaled to prevent any loss of territory. On the other hand again, the purity of Danke's teachings appealed to others farther removed from the Christian faith. A Moslem sheikh to whom he had spoken, *' listened with visible satisfaction, and then said, ' Such Christians as you, are sure to get to heaven ; but full as sure will the Copts go to hell with all their fasting; because t4iey hope to deceive God by it. When they fast, they eat bread, lentiies. beans, oil, and the like ; when they do not fast, they eat butter, beef, and mutton, as though it were not the same Creator that had made all these things.' " In July, 1772, Danke left his field of work in and about Behnessa and went down to Cairo quite ill. In October, he passed into the pre- sence of his Lord, having had, like Him, a brief ministry of but three years. Of John Antes, who joined the Mission in 1770, and of George Henry Wieniger, who Early Missionary Efforts 139 joined it in 1774, we cannot speak at length. Both labored in the field to which Danke had been assigned. Antes endured severe and un- just bastinadoing once at the hands of one of the mameluke heys.^ For six weeks he was con- fined to his bed as a result of this beating, but his diary records no murmuring, only the pre- cious comfort which he got from Romans 8 :38, 39. Of Wieniger, we know that he knew how to win the heai'ts of men, for whenever he would leave Behnessa for Cairo, upwards of two hun- dred people would follow him a considerable distance. He gives the following interesting account of conversation with a secret disciple, a Moslem of high rank : " We were once walking in a large garden on <*"« "''" tlie banks of the Nile, when we met the jesns proprietor, a man of high rank, who accosted us Christ, in a very friendly manner and asked us whether we were all brethren, and whether we had the same religion. On our replying in the affirma- tive, he turned to me and said : ' Why do you wear a beard, whereas your brethren do not? You must be a priest.' He would not believe me when I told him it was merely a matter of convenience, but replied: 'You are a priest; do not detain my soul. I have prayed to Al- mighty God to make me acquainted- with a man * Eelated in A. Watson's " American Mission in Egypt," 23-28. 140 Egypt and the Christian Crusade who could tell me what I must do to be saved, and I have received the answer from Him that a man would come into my garden who would satisfy my desires on the subject. You are that man, I am convinced; tell me frankly whether I am right.' I inquired : ' Why not, as you are a Mohammedan, consult the priests of your own religion ? ' To this he rejoined : ' I am firmly convinced that we followers of Moham- med are not in the right way; there must be another way leading to salvation, and you must point it out to me. I am well aware that our lives are forfeited if our present conversation were known, but you have nothing to fear; I am an honest man ; never a word shall escape luy lips.' While making this urgent appeal to me, he was so deeply affected that I was moved with the deepest compassion. ' Well,' said I, ' I will tell you what a Christian must do to be saved.' He then walked with me under a fig tree and said : 'Come, O man of God, here where I have so often prayed unto God ; you must tell me what I must do.' With fervent prayer unto the Lord for His blessing, I related to the benighted man what God had revealed to us in His Holy Word, dwelling at large on the redemption which Christ wrought out for us by dying for our sins on the cross. The aglia listened to me with much attention, and when I told him that ' .^ r^ H tf r^ W n^ > ;3 7, P. O i^ U M a fl ^ c3 o ll4 CO Early Missionary Efforts 141 Jesus had ascended up into Heaven before the eyes of His disciples, he lifted up his hands and exclaimed : ' O Jesus, who sitteth on the right hand of God, have mercy upon me ; be also my Saviour.' This prayer he repeated several times, with tears of deepest emotion. Our Saviour graciously favored him with the assurance of pardon, and gave him a sense of peace. He frequently exclaimed with much fervor : ' Lord Jesus, I see Thy wounds. Thou art also my Saviour.' The following morning, before daybreak, we were not a little alarmed on seeing this Turkish nobleman with a numer- ous train before the door. I hastened to meet him and asked him why he had brought so many people to our house. He replied : ' They are my mamelukes ; they know nothing; they are merely waiting my orders in the street. I could not resist the impulse which I had to come and see you and your brethren, nor could I sleep the whole night for joy ! ' We then had some very edifying conversation with liira, and united in fervent thanksgiving to our Saviour for this sicmal proof of His mercy. As long as we re- mained in Egy])t, the man continued to approve himself a consistent follower of Jesus." * In 1782, the Synod at Herrnhutt decided to abandon the work in Egypt. Antes was pre- * " Memoirs of G. H. Wieniger, written by himself." 11 \ Farewell Meeting. 142 Egypt and the Christian Crusade sent at this meeting and endorsed the action, al- though the reasons for it are not altogether clear. Hocker died just before this, and Antes and Wieniger returned to Europe in obedience to the action of the Synod. Since the Moravian missionaries undertook to establish no ecclesias- tical organization, the results of their devoted labors are found in tlie individual lives they touched and quickened. Of these, of course, no permanent record remains, save with Him who can ever say to His Church, " I know thy works, and thy toil and patience." Church Missionary Society Foremost among missionary societies stands the Church Missionary Society of Great Britain, with an honorable history which goes back to 1799, making it one of the oldest mis- sionary societies in existence; with a record of devoted service, whose concise narrative oc- cupies three compact yet large volumes ; * with missions in West Africa, Uganda, Eg^'pt, India, V)hina, Japan, South America, and elsewhere, making it one of the most extensive missionary agencies in the world ; with an annual budget of over 'cwo millions of dollars, making it one of the most responsible organizations of Christendom. * Eugene Stock, " History of the Church Missionary Society." Early Missionary Efforts 143 We go back to the year 1815, to the headquarters »of this Society in London, and we find the Com- 'mittee of this Society hokling a farewell meet- ing. Lord Gamhier is in the chair. A Cam- bridge Wrangler is receiving his official commis- sion from the lips of Josiah Pratt, the Society's Secretary, for William Jowett is going forth as a missionary. H.^s, however, is a peculiar mis- sion. He is being assigned to service in what might be called the " Intelligence Department of the Army," for interest has been awakened in the degraded Oriv-^.ntal chnrches, and the Society wishes to know abont these that it may cooperate with them for their spiritual quicken- ing. ''The Classic, the Painter, the Statuary, the Antiquarian, the Xaturalist, the Merchant, the Patriot, the Soldier, all," declares the Sec- retary in addressing Jowett, " have their re- ports ; but no one details to us the number and the character of Christians .... who are there, perhaps, in retirement, sighing over the moral condition of their co\mtry." Taking his stand at ]\rnlta, Jowett is to survey the re- ligious horizon. lie is to look at the Roman Catholic Church, and study the Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Abyssinian, Armenian, and Xestorian Churches. The hopeful views entertained in those days Methods. for the quickening of these Oriental Churches 144 Egypt and the Christian Crusade were reflected in the address of Secretary Pratt to Jowett. The latter was commissioned to notice the Roman Church, " her condition, any favorable indications to ascertain the best means of restoring her to primitive health and vigour." Greater hope still was ex- pressed for the other Churches. "' The Greek, Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, and Abyssinian Churches, though in many points far gone from the simplicity and purity of the truth, are not so enibngled ; and also possess within themselves the principle and the means of reformation.'* c. M. s, 'j'liose views determined the character of the 3Ietuoas. missionary efforts put forth by the Church Mis- sionary Society in Egypt during this period. The C. M. S. missionaries labored, therefore, chiefly for the enlightenment of the Coptic clergy, and restricted *' their operations to the carrying forward of such schemes, chiefly edu- cational, as should be approved by the patriarchs and the bishops of the sect. They hoped that the missionaries would thus reform the clergy, and that the clergy would then reform the Church." Thirty-five years later, Bishop Gobat, a C. M. S. missionary to Egypt, wrote: " The missionaries seem to follow almost too strictly the plan on which the mission was be- gun, to seek the friendship of the clergy, especially the higher clergy of the Eastern Early Missionary Efforts 145 Churches, with a view to influencing them gently, in the hope that by slow degrees they would become convinced of their errors and themselves reform their respective Churches. But the system has failed, and I am convinced that it will ever fail with the several Eastern Churches, as well as with the Church of Kome. Individual conversions must be the aim, as the only means of prosecuting reformation." "Among other places visited by Mr. Jowett was Egypt. He was there for some months in 1819, and in 1820, and again in 1823, and had much intercourse with the priests and monks of the Coptic Church, the Patriarch giving him letters of introduction to several of the convents, and he distributed many copies of the Arabic Scriptures. One of the most striking results of his visits was the purchase of a remarkable manuscript translation of the Bible in Amharic, the vernacular language of Abyssinia. This translation had been made a few years before by the French consul at Cairo, M. Asselin de Cherville, assisted by an aged Abyssinian monk, named Abu Kumi. The manuscript consisted of no less than 9,539 pages, the whole written out by Abu Rumi in the Amharic character. It was purchased by Mr. Jowett for the Bible Society; and portions of it were printed, many thousands of copies of which were afterwards 146 Egypt and the Christian Crusade circulated by Gobat, Kraff, and other Church Missionary Society missionaries in Abyssinia. The revision of this version for the Bible Society was one of the tasks of Kraff's old age, and it was finished only three years ago, (i.e., in 1879), and printed at the St. Chrischona Mis- sion Press, near Basle. "At the close of 1825, five missionaries were sent by the Society to Egypt. These were Samuel Gobat (afterwards Bishop of Jeru- salem), J. R. T. Leider, Theodore Muller, Wil- liam Kruse, and Christiaii Ivugler. All five were Germans from Basle Seminary. Gobat and Kugler afterwards went to Abyssinia; the rest traveled up and down Egypt, visiting the Coptic schools, distributing portions of the Scriptures, and making known the true Gospel. "As in all these Eastern missions, the Society's ultimate object was to reach the Mo- hammedans, but the difiiculties of such a work at that time are illustrated by an incident re- corded by Mr. Gobat: 'A Turkish woman hav- ing married a Greek, had the mark of the Cross made on her arm. She was on that account arrested, and on confessing herself a Christian, was put into a boat on the Nile, and her clothes and ornaments having been stripped off and her hands tied behind her back, was thro\vn into the river and drowned.' " * * The Church Missionary Gleaner, Sept., 18S2. Early Missionary Efforts 147 Both a boys' and a girls' school were opened '''"bi*"'* at Cairo. In 1834 a small chapel was erected. The next year Muller retired, but Leider and Kruse continued the Mission. By 1840, the Mission reported six places in the city where religious services were held among the Copts for the reading of God's Word. These meetings were sanctioQed by the Patriarch, who remarked that it was better for his people to meet to read the Scriptures than to drink arak (brandy) and commit sin. A boarding school for boys, opened in 1835, was developed, in 1842, into a Thelogical Seminary for the training of the Coptic clergy. Here, pure and Scriptural teaching was given, and one of the students afterwards became Archbishop of the Abyssin- ian Church. In 1849, Bishop Gobat visited Egypt and urged the Society to reenforce the Mission and conduct the work along lines more aggressive, and especially more independent of the Coptic Church. Burdened, however, with other work, the Society was unable to do more for Egypt, and, in 1852, even Kruse was trans- ferred to Palestine. Although Leider remained at his post- for many years, universally re- spected, and exercising a wholesome influence over the Coptic Patriarch and bishops until his death from cholera in 1865, the Mission had, as the Gleaner puts it, " only a lingering exist- 148 Egypt and the Christian Crusade ence." In 1862, the Society took official action, discontinuing the Mission. Good Bishop Gobat gave the following estimate of piisiied. the work of his Society in Egypt: "Besides the dissemination of the Word of God and otlier good books in all parts of Egypt, and the Scrip- tural though imperfect education of youth, the results of the mission are the conversion of a few individuals, some of whom have died in the faith, a few enlightened young men dispersed through Egypt — while many members of the diiferent communities have been led to doubt the truth of their superstitions and traditions. Yet upon the whole it must be confessed, that the Egyptian Mission has not had the success which might have been expected." A more encouraging estimate is expressed by the Rev. Andrew Watson, D.D., who arrived in Egypt in 1861 : " I believe that through the circulation of copies of the Word of God by the Church Missionary Society's missionaries throughout the Nile Valley, hundreds of per- sons had their knowledge of the way of salva- tion corrected, their faith directed away from their own works, to the death and suffering and obedience of the Son of God as the reason and ground of salvation from sin and its conse- quences; and much good seed was sown, which afterwards brought fruit unto eternal life. In Early Missionary htlorts 149 the great day Avhen all secrets shall be revealed, it will, I have no doubt, be found that our Mis- sion has in not a few places reaped where the Church Missionary Society formerly sowed." * A. Watson, " American Miss.on in Egypt," 34. CHAPTER VI UNITED PEESBYTERIAN MISSION. Throughout the Nile Valley, from the sea- board to the First Cataract and from the First Cataract to the Sobat River, this Mission is known; but it is known as " The American Mis- sion." And the name is happily chosen, for this Mission is the representative in Egypt not merely of a denomination, but of American Christendom. So, too, the Church which this Mission has built up is kno^vn throughout the Nile. Valley as " The Protestant Church " or " The Evangelical Church." Thus does the solidarity of evangelical Christianity receive lia proper emphasis in the face of a corrupt Chris- tianity and a united Moslem world. The Pqj, |.j-jg founding of this Mission, we go back Founding '^ .V of the to December, 1854. In the city of Cairo, we Mission, gjj^j three Americans, two men and a woman. They are in a land where life and property are none too safe ; a few months before, the Khedive was assassinated in his palace. The government also, is hostile to Christianity; for a Moslem to become a Christian means death. The people are sunk in intellectual and spiritual ignorance ; they are blinded by the half-truth of Islam or 150 United Presbyterian Mission 151 the superstitions of a formal Church. Society is degraded by low standards of morality, and doubly so, by the degradation of womanhood. Yet these three Americans are planning to pre- sent to this nation a gospel of purity, of truth, and of love. They purpose to build up a Church of those who, forsaking allegiance to the false Prophet or the superstitious practices of a cor- rupt Church, shall accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. ''Fools!" some might say. " Fanatics ! " others did call them. But they were neither fools nor fanatics. They were simply missionaries; missionaries according to Miss Guinness's definition of mssionaries, "God's people, in God's place, doing God's work, in God's way, and for God's glory." More than fifty years have passed, and Wf? find in that same Mission to-day, a force of American workers approximating a hundred, a native church membership of about ten thou- sand, while their missionary operations engage hundreds of native workers and influence thou- sands of lives not yet surrendered to Christ. Some account of this successful work is to be given in this chapter. To compress the story of more than fifty years of mission work into less than that number of pages, makes it nec- essary to merely outline the history of the Mis- sion. For this purpose, the fifty odd years with Beasons Given. 152 Egypt and the Christian Crusade which we deal may be divided into periods, which, if arbitrary at times, will nevertheless prove convenient in a general survey, such as is required. Years of Beginnings (1854-1864) An initial question here is. How came the Mission to be established in Egypt? In the city of Allegheny, in the house of worship of a congregation which, to-day, goes by the name of the First United Presbyterian Church of Alle- gheny, on Saturday, May 21st, of the year 1853, at an afternoon session, a church court, called the General Synod of the Associate Eeformed Church of the West, passed the following reso- lution : "Resolved, That our missionaries be instruc- ted to occupy Cairo at their earliest conven- ience." If we search for the occasion for this action, we find it at hand in a communication signed by three missionaries of said Church in Damascus, Messrs. Barnett, Paulding and Frazier, endors- ing a communicatioin from one of their number, Dr. Paulding, who had visited Egypt in search of health, and who was impressed with the need of establishing a mission there. The reasons given by these missionaries in Syria for the United Presbyterian Mission 153 establishment of a mission in Egypt werec (1) To save to the Church the services of Dr. Pauld- ing, whose health permitted him to labor in Egypt, but did not permit him to labor in Syria ; (2) to afford relief from a sense of limitation which these Syrian missiona^ries were experi- encing in their mission field at Damascus; (3) to open up in Egypt a refuge for the mission- aries in Syria, in view of political dangers im- pending within the Turkish Empire; (4) to meet the spiritual needs of the land of Egypt. Back of these formal reasons influencing the Synod in its decision, the Hand of God may be clearly recognized, guiding the Church by prov- idences, remarkable both for their number and their character. An invalid missionary turns to Egypt in his search of health ; he finds the country destitute through the practical with- drawal of the agents of another missionary or- ganization. There is the coincidence of a con- sciousness among the missionaries in Syria, that they are straitened in their field of labor, while political dangers also seem to favor a removal to Egy])t. JsTor do the providences stop here. The entire force in Syria is unanimous in recom- mending tlie founding of a Mission in Egypt; the Church in America, with equal unanimity, endorses the proposition. Further providences still are manifested. The Khedive, 'Abbas I., Kemark* able Frovi- dences. 154 Egypt and the Christian Crusade unfavorable to Western civilization, and hostile, therefore, to missions, dies a few months pre- vious to the date of the founding of the Mission. Sa'id comes to the throne, a ruler friendly to foreigners and liberal in his support of Western institutions — so liberal, indeed, that, when he died, the Moslems in Alexandria called out pub- licly, "The Christian is dead, and the Moslem now reigns." Looking at these and at the many other favorable providences which the Mission has enjoyed during its history; considering, es- pecially, this providence, that this most attrac- tive, convenient and strategic of all mission fields has been strangely reserved, until quite recent years, exclusively for the unhampered missionary operations of the United Presbyte- rian Church ; weighing all these facts fairly and honestly, is clearer proof possible that the found- ing of this Mission was inspired of God, ^Mio wished to commit, in a special way, the evangeli- zation of Egypt to the United Presbyterian Church ? To all reasons, there may be added then this historic and triumphant argument for carrying this Christian Crusade through to its successful consummation, Deits Yidt. It was on Xovember 15, 1854, that the Rev. Thomas McCague and Mrs. McCague arrived in the city of Cairo. They came from America, commissioned to establish the Mission in Egypti United Presbyterian Mission 155 On Xoveraber 24th, just nine days after Mr. and ]\[rs. McCagne's arrival, the Eev. James Barnett reached Cairo, Coming from Syria, with the double advantage of ten years' experience as a missionary and a knowledge of the Arabic lan- guage, he was able to begin work among the people without delay. These three missionaries, therefore, are the foimders of the American Mis- sion in Egypt, and jSTovember, 1854, is the date of the Mission's establishment. We have called the ten years with which we are dealing, Years of Beginnings. Such they were. In this period fall, the occupation of Egypt (1854), the first English service (Christmas many Day of 1854), the first Arabic service (January B^-eiunings. 21, 1855), the first cholera scourge (1855), the opening of the first boys' school (this at Cairo, in 1855), the first reported book distribution (185G), the first Xile Boat work (1857), the first occupation of Alexandria (1857), the first death in a missionary's family (1857), the arrival of the first unmarried woman missionary (1858), the operation of the first girls' school, at Alexandria (1858), the ad- mission of the first converts into Church fellow- ship (this in 1859 — four, after five years of service: a Coptic monk, another Egyptian, an Armenian, and a Syrian), the opening of the ICAJ Egypt and the Christian Crusade first book store (1859), the organization of the first Presbytery (1860), the opening of the first girls' school at Cairo (1860), the purchase of the first Mission boat, the "Ibis" (1860), the first serious persecution (1861), the purchase of the first Mission premises (1862), the first evangel- istic work as far up as Assuan (1862), the first visit of a Secretary of the Board, Rev. J. B. Dales, D. D., to Egypt (1863), the organization of the first congregation (this at Cairo, in 1863), the first and greatest romance of the Egyptian Mission, when an Indian prince visited the Mission and saw in the Cairo girls' school a fair face, which he couldn't forget (1864), the first class in the Egyptian Theolog- ical Seminary (1864). Without •contradiction, these were years of beginnings. Foiuidatton While this decade of foreign missionary work Laid. . 1 /. . . in Egypt is designated, Years of Begmmngs, even a superficial study will show that these first ten years gave direction and character to all the years which have followed. The evangelistic work done with the Xile Boat in 1857, bespoke that systematic and wide evangelistic work which was carried on in later years from the seaboard to the First Cataract. The arrival of Miss Dales in Egypt, was only the harbinger of Woman's Work for Woman, which is to-day so large a part of the missionary enterprise. The first schools United Presbyterian Mission 157 of 1855 and 1858, were but the forerunners of that Educational Method which perhaps more than any other has characterized the work in Egypt. The first four who sat at the Lord's Table, in 1859, foretold that ingathering of the thousands who have since then been made partakers of a pure gospel. That first native congregation organized at Cairo in 1863, was the forerunner of that native church which now numbers more than fifty congregations and claims about ten thousand members. The Book Distribution, of 1856, and the bookstore, opened in 1859, were the first signs of that far-reaching colporteur work which has engaged the attention not only of the Mission, but of two Bible So- cieties, the American Bible Society and the Brit- ish and Foreign Bible Society. Thus we find, in this first decade, the germ of almost every department of missionary work; The Evangelistic, the Educational, the Colpor- teur, the Xative Church, Women's Work. Med- ical work alone had not yet appeared, but even .with reference to this, the needs of the mission- aries themselves had about led them to appeal to the Home Church for a medical missionary, when a resident English physician met their need. The missionaries already named, were reen- forced during this period. In 1856, the Rev. 158 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Gillian Lansing and Mrs. Lansing joined the Mission; in 1858, Miss Sarah B. Dales; in 1860, the Rev. John Hogg and Mrs. Hogg, the Kev. S. C. Ewing and Mrs. Ewing, and Miss Martha J. McKown ; in 1861, the Rev. Andrew Watson and Mrs. Watson, and Miss Sarah Hart. Al- though no biographical sketches are possible, here, the missionaries of this first period, four- teen in all, may well be named; four years elapsed before further reenforcements came. Two events of this period deserve special men- tion; one^ the first serious outbreak of persecu- tion, and the other, the Mission's greatest ro- mance. Persecu- ^ womau of Assiut, wife of a Moslem, who had formerly been a Coptic Christian and had embraced Islam, wished to return to her former faith. A recent proclamation of the Sultan, 'Abd-el-Majid, granting religious liberty, seemed to safeguard her life in this bold purpose. She went to the Coptic bishop for protection, and formally requested Paris, a Syrian, who was in charge of the American j\lission School at As- siut, to defend her in any legal suit that might be brought. As Faris liad special linguistic and debating gifts, and the Sultan's proclamation was known, nothing was done until the Sultan's death. Then the impression arose that tlie new Sultan would not be bound by his predecessor'a United Presbyterian Mission 159 decree, and the woman's husband brought a charge against Faris for the unlawful detention of his wife at the bishop's house. The governor wrote to the chief of police to summon Faris, and to demand that he deliver up the woman to the government for the purpose of adjudging the case. Faris obeyed the summo-ns and appeared with the woman. He was sent to the police court. A resume of his own record tells what happened. "On entering, I foimd about sixty men pres- Moslem ent. I seated myself at the lower end of the divan, upon which the kadi's * scribe approached me and said 'Sit on the ground.' From this remark I suspected their evil purpose. Find- ing they had not accomplished their object of exciting me to say something rash or improper, they stirred up the ignorant crowd to revile me and curse my religion. On this I attempted to leave the court, which when they perceived, they prevented me from doing, and the kadi said 'Why have you come here V I replied, *If your iK.'Uor will have the goodness to read the petition and the order of his excellency, the governor, thereto annexed, you will understand the reason for my appearing before you.' The scribe then re^d the petition and the order, and said, 'Why do you detain the woman mth you ?' I remained * Chief judge. 160 Egypt and the Christian Crusade silent, whereupon the hadi said, 'Why do yon not answer the scribe?- I replied, 'May it please your honor, I am the attorney of the woman, not her detainer, and therefore I ab- stained from answering, sinee the petition which is in the hands of your honor orders the appear- ance of her attorney, not her keeper.' The kadi then replied, 'We do not acknowledge your right of attorney.' On this I thanked him for reliev- ing me of my obligation. He then said, 'It is not for this that we reject your right of attorney, but because you are an infidel, and have oc- casioned infidelity in our town.' I then said to him with all respect, 'I should think that your honor cannot believe that a person like me is able to originate either infidelity or faith, seeing this prerogative belongs to God alone.' There^ upon the mufti * said, 'O thou accursed one, thou infidel, thou son of a pig, thou polluted one ! dost thou revile the religion of the kadi ?' He then stirred up some of the ignorant crowd, which had increased to about two hundred, to beat me ; whereupon the brother-in-law of the l-adl came forward, spat in my face, and struck me on the head. The hadi then called out, 'Beat him ;' and upon that a man called Ayub Kashif came forward and said, 'O thou accursed infidel ; dost ♦ A doctor of law. United Presbyterian Mission 161 thou think that 'Abd-el-Majid still lives? He is dead, and Avith him has died the Christian re- ligion, and also the reproach of Islam, and in hie place has arisen 'Abd-el- Aziz, who has brought back to the religion of Islam its ancient glory.' So saying he struck me, with his cane, on my head and spat in my face, and knocked me in the stomach. At this the crowd rushed upon me, and commenced beating me one after the other, with sticks, spitting upon me, and throw- ing earth upon my head. As, however, I did not shed any tears nor utter any cry of pain, they imagined that this kind of beating did not affect me much. So the k-adi ordered the instru- ments of torture to be brought from the police office, and then said, 'Throw him down. Put on him the falagah/ (a species of foot-rack for raising and holding the feet tight for the bas- tinado). He then arose and commenced beat- ing me on the thighs. Ayub Kashif, already mentioned, came forward also and beat me, then the mufti and his scribe, and then the learned men in turn. They then sat do^vn and said. 'Let every one who loves the Prophet beat this accursed one!' This continued for about half an hour, when the croAvd began to desist a little, on seeing that I was in a fainiting condition. Then one of them kicked me on the head to arouse me. Ayub Kashif came forward again 162 Egypt and the Christian Crusade and commenced beating me on my bare feet, say- ing to those who held the falagali, 'Screw ic tight.' The hadi also came forward again, to- gether with those aforementioned, and took their turn in beating me, saying to the crowd, 'Why have you quit beating him V One replied, 'We fear he will die.' Whereupon the kadi and Ayub Kashif called out, 'Kill him !' "This second bastinadoing lasted about a quarter of an hour, when I swooned away, and they began to think I was dead. On reviving, I said to Ayub Kashif, 'For God's sake have pity on me.' He replied, 'Become a Moslem, O ac- cursed one! and thou shalt be delivered.' I then cried, 'O Jesus, save me.' Upon this, he exclaimed 'Kill him, and let Jesus come and save him.' " Faris was then dragged to the governor's house, and, as the latter was out, he was dragged to the prison. Later, he was sent in a dying con- dition, as it was thouglit, to his house, where he recovered somewhat and was then remanded to prison. Meanwhile, the American Consular- Agent, Mr. Wasif-el-Kliayat, sent to Cairo to the American Consul, a statement of Avhat had happened. A reply came back, saying that the latter had just been removed from office. The Moslem governor of Assiut, however, realizing that he had to deal vigorously with what pro- United Presbyterian Mission 163 mieed to become an extensive religious riot, ar- rived in Assiiit the next day, called into his pre- sence the kadi and other learned men, reproved the kadi, rebuked Ayub Kashif severely, and blamed others for the seditious proceedings. The case was finally reported to Hon. W. S. p^Jifh*" Thayer, Agent and Consul-General of the U. S. A., and, after various attempts had been made to condone the crime committed against an Amer- ican protege, Mr. Thayer succeeded in having justice meted out. What this consisted in, ap- peared in the reply which the government sent to the Consul, "Order has been sent to Assiut to fine the thirteen men whose names you gas&re me this morning, each according to the degree of his responsibility, to the amount of 100,000 piasters ($5,000). Order has been given to the governor of Alexandria to send that sum to your consulate, with the request that you will give it to Faris. Order has been sent to Assiut to put these thirteen men in prison for one year." After a month and a half had elapsed, there i*'*"* ^ Versus th« was an opportunity of securing the release of cuspei. the men imprisoned. This came to them as such a surprise, that the ringleader, Ayub Ka- shif, a wealthy merchant, gave a 1)anquet of some forty courses to Dr. Lansing, who had ar- rived in Assiut, and to Faris, whom he had per- An Indian Prince. 164 Egypt and the Christian Crusade secuted. This gave Dt. Lansing the opportunity of saying to him, ''Know, sir, that your Koran imprisoned yon, and our Gospel released you." "The successful issue," says Dr. A. Watson, "of such a glaring case of Moslem hate and per- secution, effectually prevented for a long time, any outward and unlawful opposition to the mission work in the region of Assiut." Of the first and greatest romance, only the briefest statement can be made. Dhulip Singh, an Indian Prince, bearing the title Maharajah, son of Rungit Singh, the last of the kings of the Punjab, was on his way from England to India, to consign the body of his deceased mother to her friends, to be buried according to the rites of the religion in which she lived and died. This had been her dying request. This young prince, himself a Christian, had lived in Eng- land since the time when Great Britain had taken his father's kingdom, and had retired the young heir with a pension. Being of royal blood, his social rank put him next to the royal family. He was, besides, a favorite of the Queen. In 1864, then, while at Cairo, he visited the Mis- sion, inspected its schools, and left a hundred dollars as prize money for deserving children, and again two hundred and fifty more, "His modesty, simplicity and humility, and the genial, loving, genuine tone of his Christian United Presbyterian Mission 165 cliaractcr," impressed themselves upon the mis- sionaries. But he, too, had been impressed, by a sweet face in the Mission Girls' School. It is a long and beautiful story, for which there is not space here: the serious conferences of the Prince with the missionaries, his prayerfulness and noble purposes, the girl Bamba's anxiety in the presence of so strange a providence, the final decision, the marriage, life in England — an in- experienced Abyssinian girl in the highest circles of British social life, but yet possessing redeeming qualifications, the natural dignity and the sweet spirit of a daughter of the King — then some dark experiences, and the sunset hour ! ISTor is there opportunity to enlarge on the re- verse side of the story in its significance to the Mission; $5,000 for the :Mission, given as a thank offering to the Lord, at the time of the wedding, and $5,000 annually for twelve years toward the support of missionaries, then $10,000 and again another $10,000 given shortly before the Maharajah's death. These gifts came as the Lord's deliverance to the Mission at the time of great financial stringency. Years of Coptic Opposition and Persecution (1865-1870) Many experiences, vital to the development of 166 Egypt and the Christian Crusade missionary work, and of great interest, too, be- long to this period, but, among them all, Coptic Opposition and Persecution constitute an ex- perience, acute enough, far-reaching enough, to warrant the entire period being characterized by it. A Coptic The Coptic Church, claiming one-fourteenth of ho"d.' the population of Egypt, is strongest in Upper Egypt, constituting in Lower Egypt but three per cent, of the population, whereas in Upper Egypt the Copts make up eleven and six-tenths per cent, of the population; one-fourth of the population of Assiut was Coptic in the early days of missionary work. In developing the work in the south, and especially in opening up a station at Assiut in 1865, the Mission was in- vading the territory of the Coptic Church. That opposition and even persecution were bound to follow could be readily inferred from the hostility which the Copts had already begun to show to the work in Cairo. That the mission- aries anticipated just such difficulties can be readily seen by a perusal of Dr. Hogg's diary for this year. It reads, in part, as follows : ''Stole a march on the wakeful Patriarch. A month at work in Assiut before his envoy ar- rived. An open door. Counted sixty-five men present on the third Sabbath." Then comes the following: 'The haram (interdict). The door United Presbyterian Mission 167 closed. Try to find a back entrance by means of the children of the peasantry who come to our school from the villages aroimd.'' It was in 1867 that the Coptic Persecution planned. broke out in all its fury. This persecution was not an accidental outbreak of fanatical jealousy and hate. It was a deliberate plan to which the government lent its authority and influence to make effective the efforts of the Coptic Church, to wipe out Protestantism forever. Isma'il, thci reigning Khedive, was far-sighted enough to appreciate that the standards w^hich the Ameri- can missionaries were setting up, would, direct- ly or indirectly, result in holding np to criticism and condemnation his unjust and tyrannical treatment of his ignorant and patient subjects. To directly attack the missionaries and the Protestant community, would bring him into difficulty with the foreign consuls, and would damage the reputation which he especially wished to enjoy of being a liberal-minded ruler. In the hostility of the Coptic hierarchy to the Protestant reformers, he found a convenient tool for the accomplishment of his purposes. It is easy in the East to give a hint, and a hint is enough to create a revolution. The hint was given and a revolution of sentiment followed. The Coptic Patriarch, regarded by all devout Copts as the vicar of Christ on earth, and called 168 Egypt and the Christian Crusade by them the " earthly Christ," arranged an apos- tolic tour among the churches of Upper Egypt. His retinue made no secret of his mission, and declaring this to be for the suppression of the Protestant heresy, they boldly asserted that the viceroy had conferred upon His Holiness the right to condemn to the galleys all those who op- posed him by adhering to the Protestant faith, or to seize their children for the army. There is no more interesting chapter in the history of the Mission in Egypt than that which tells of this persecution. We have time only to refer to some of the leading facts. At Assiut, the Patriarch's entrance into the city was made to imitate Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusa- lem : *' Seated on a donkey and preceded by tho priests and boys, bearing crosses, flags, palm branches, lighted candles and burning censors, beating on cymbals and chanting in Coptic as they went along, 'Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that cometli in the name of the Lord,' the procession moved slowly along from the river up to the town, armed soldiers march- ing in front and in rear, by order of the govern- ment." The task of purifying (?) the Church, occu- pied the Patriarch's whole attention while he was in Assiut. His first act was characteristic of those which followed. He summoned before United Presbyterian Mission 169 liim "the Coptic priest of Beni Aleig, who Imd been in the habit of permitting his brother, one of the Mission's theological students, to conduct the evangelistic service in his church at the close of the Coptic mass on Sabbaths, and, after hav- ing him severely beaten by one of the govern- ment soldiers, he degraded him from his priest- hood and drove him out of his presence." Un- able to attack the Protestant Church itself, the Patriarch imdertook to destroy the Protestant schools by attacking the parents of the scholars. Most of the students, however, were from distant provinces, and the local authority failed, there- fore, to reach them. Three students of the Pro- vince of Assiut had been publicly cursed by the Bishop of Assiut just before the Patriarch ar- rived. One of these, the brother of the Coptic priest already mentioned, had been publicly cursed before, and an additional curse or two did not seem to weigh on him. In most cases, however, the Patriarch's influence availed much, and the mission school fell away, the boys fear- ing the threat of conscription into the army. We have not time to follow the movement of persecution as it increased, the farther the Pa- triarch went on his journey up the "NTile. The story of the imprisonment and exile and deliv- erance of Fam Stephanos is as interesting as anything in fiction, and is a wonderful parallel Power of the Gospel. 170 Egypt and the Christian Crusade to Peter's deliverance from prison in the days of Herod.* The following extracts from Dr. Hogg's diary, written, in the main, from Assiut, must suffice to show us the course of events dur- ing this period: "1867 : Patriarchal raid. Pretends to have delegated power to send all Protestants to the public works, the army, or the White Nile. (Then quoting the Patriarch) 'I and the Vice- roy are one !' A bonfire of Protestant books in the court of the Bishop's house — the Patriarch looking on! Beats Girgis Bishetly at Ekhmim and intrigues for the banishment to the White Nile of the leading Protestants of Kus. Fol- low him up to Ekhmim and afterwards to Kus. Correspondence with English Acting Consul- Oeneral. Fam and his companions are saved. Nicodemuses at Assiut gather courage. Open a night school for adults. The Bishop denounces it." The next year: "1868: The enlightened Abbot of Deir El Maharrak, deposed by the Pa- triarch, comes to Assiut. Inquirers ask his ad- vice. Refers to Scriptures. Signs of a general movement visible. (We are) suddenly called off to Cairo to take charge of the press work, etc. Absent from April to October. (We) charge For full account, see A. Watson's, " American Mission in Egypt," 212-224. United Presbyterian Mission 171 Kheira and others to improve the opportunity caused by the lull in the storm — to meet to- gether and study the Word. Their meeting is transferred to the Coptic Church. Monster gatherings. Great excitement. On our return, the night meetings are crowded. On Sabbaths have often to meet in the open court. Hofd communion there amid wind and dust. The Patriarchal Envoy of 1865 is in Assiut at the time. Hanna Wesa, whose guest he is, asks him whether he ought to unite with us. 'If I were you, I would,' was the astoimding reply! Twenty-eight joined us that day and the very next day a site was bought for a church." In spite of, if not because of, Coptic opposi- tion, the infant Protestant Church, whose life was thus attacked, grew in numbers and strength. !N^umbering sixty-nine members at the beginning of this period, it more than doubled, having 180 members, at the close of that period; while the contributions to church work almost quadrupled, increasing from $149 to $5G6. During this period also, in 18G5, on March Beginnings. 5th, Dr. Hogg, opened in a stable, the school which has since developed into >Vssiut College ; in 1867, Makhail-el-Belyani was ordained the first native minister of the Evangelical Church in Egypt; and, without attempting to name all 172 Egypt and the Christian Crusade tliose who joined tlie Mission during this period, we note the arrival, in 1868, of Dr. D. E. John- ston, who opened up, for the first time in the Mission, a medical department. Years of Expansion and Organization (1870- 1880) Phenomenal 'pj^^ orowth of the Mission and of its work Growth. ° . T . n 1 rxM during this period is really noteworthy. Ine membership of 180, with which the period opens, more than quintuples in ten years, becom- ing 985. The attendance at services advances from 438 to 2083. Schools increase from twelve to forty-four; and instead of 633 young lives under its influence, the Mission has 2218. Growth in numbers is accompanied by growth in grace, and in the grace of liberality too (often a supreme test), for while the average per mem- ber of native contributions to church work was $3.14 in 1870, ten years later it was $4.80, while the total contributions went up from $560 to $4726. A section in the Assiut Report for 1S70 goci a long way toward explaining this phenomenal growth. The section is entitled, "Xew Centers of Operations, and the Development at each of a System of Aggressive Action on the part of Individual Converts laboring without pay." United Presbyterian Mission 173 Here we read of such male members of the Church as are unable to o;o to villages and to\\ais at a distance, being enrolled as Sabbath School teachers, or as workers in the lanes and market- places. Others go off in pairs and generally spend a night at the village or town wdiich they visit. Some are absent as long as a week at a time. From one old congregation fifteen go out; from another, twelve. "The corps is not only directed, but led by the missionaries them- selves who generally take the most distant towns, though they must be back at work in the Seminary early on Monday." ^ Then, too, a remarkable interest in the study of God's Word developed. In the Assiut Dis- trict, ih'irty night meetings were held each weelc throughout the entire year of 1872; the average attendance at each meeting was twenty persons. In 1873, no less than 624 night meetings were held in the iown of Assiut alone, while neigh- boring towns reported 318, 373 and 391 meet- ings res|)ectively. Another factor which aided in the rapid ex- i^eastory of the Mission. Ahmed and his two brothers liad been pnpils in the Mission school at Cairo. Their father was a clerk in the Moslem court of appeal, a man of good position and some wealth. While Ahmed was attending the Mission School, he also took lessons in the Azhar. The influence of the Mis- sion School upon him was not immediately ap- parent. It had taught him to read English and French, and had brought him into touch with the truth and opened to him certain books ; that seemed to be all. Later, Ahmed was emjiloyed as a teacher of Arabic for the new missionaries. One of the text books used was the Bible. After his con- version, he told how he tried hard not to think of the meaning as the daily chapter was read. After a while he began to ask questions, and was finally persuaded that Christianity was true. "He had great conflict of soul. On one side was the honor of his family and friends, and the terrible disgrace he would bring upon him- self and his loved ones (for he dearly loved his parents, brothers and sisters). On the other hand, the terrible persecution and death that, perhaps, would follow ; the hate that would take the place of fond love in the hearts of his rela- tives. Then there was the love of Christ and Conversion of Ahiued. 176 Egypt and the Christian Crusade the promise of salvation through Him alone. After a long and fierce struggle, the decision was made, encouraged thereto by the assurance that he would receive a hundred-fold more in this life with persecution and in the world to come life everlasting." On Xovember 2Gth, 1877, he was baptized. It was a touching scene. Everybody felt that he had literally given up all for Christ. The news of Ahmed's defection spread throughout the city. It was not safe for him to leave the Mission. His Moslem friends came there to see him; they brought learned men to argue him back to Islam. Arguments, entreat- ies, tears and threats, were used, but without success. One evening, as he was going from one missionary's home to that of another, a disguised band, led by his brother, kidna])ped him. That night was, for the missionaries, one of great anxiety and earnest prayer. Ahmed was finally located. He was alive and safe, but under the strictest surveillance of his relatives. This lasted for five weeks. He was assured by them, that, according to Moslem law, he would be murdered. The entreaty of his mother, who seemed to be dying, was also brought to bear upon him. Under this pressure, he assented formally to the Moslem creed. He sent word, however, to the missionaries, who United Presbyterian Mission 177 Lad beeu having no access to him, that he was a Christian. A few days later, he escaped to the Mission, where he was received with great joy. Appeals were made to the government by the British and American consuls for the safe- guarding of Ahmed's rights under the act allow- ing religious liberty, and orders vrere indeed given to Ahmed's relatives that they would be held responsible for his life. Public sentiment was, however, beyond the government's control. It continued to be unsafe for Ahmed to appear in public. Unnerved by five months' confine- ment in the Mission and in his father's house, he was glad to accept an offer of the Earl of Aber- deen to go to Scotland and pursue further studies there. The noble Earl, a loyal friend of the Mission, assumed all the expenses of tliis trip and of Ahmed's subsequent course of study at the University of Edinburgh. On complet- ing his course of study, Ahmed received an ap- pointment as a medical missionary to China under the London Missionary Society. These experiences showed that the day had passed when a Moslem coidd be legally put to death in Egypt for becoming a Christian, but they also revealed tlie power of Islam and its relentless hostility toward Christianity. This period has been characterized as one of NewOr. organization, as mcII as of expansion. The ganizaUoii, Tho Grace of Glviug. 178 Egypt and the Christian Crusade development of the work and the growth of the Native Church called for adjustments, rules and new organizations. ''The Egyptian Associa- tion of the Missionaries of the United Presby- terian Church of A^. A." was an organization which appeared during this period. x\n impor- tant distinction was thus made between the Mis- sion and its agents as related to the Church in America, and the ecclesiastical organization of the ISTative Church. To the iSTative Church Presbytery were committed, freely, all ecclesias- tical matters, such as the oversight of students of theology, their licensure and ordination, the organization of congregations, the use of money contributed by the native churches ; this respon- sibility developed in the ISTative Church self-gov- ernment and self-direction. To the Missionary- Association were committed the location of American missionaries, the disbursement of funds received from America, and the control of missionary institutions supported by foreign funds. This adjustment Avas one of great im- portance for the proper delimitation of- author- ity, and the avoidance of friction in administra- tion. During this period, also, a number of what are to-day the strong'cst Protestant congrega- tions in Egypt were organized. Thus to the successes of the Mission in winning individual United Presbyterian Mission 179 converts, there was added the more significant success of building tliese up into self-directing, self-supporting and self-extending native con- gregations. Of one congregation wc read, ''They not only ask no help from the Mission, but actually refused it when offered them. The moral effect of tliis example will be felt, not only throughout Egypt, but even in Syria." Of an- other congregation we read, ''Their contribu- tions last year averaged eight dollars per mem- ber." Hindrances ought also to be spoken of. In addition to much persecution of individual con- verts, we discover that government officials fre- quently refused congregations permission t'D build houses of worship, or even to worship in school buildings already erected. For three years, the members in Kus labored under such a double disability; yet the work of grace per- sisted and even increased in power. The Arabl Rebellion. CHAPTER VII RECENT MISSIONARY WORK The occupation of Egypt by Great Britain constitutes an epoch in the history of Egypt and of missions in Egypt. Not only were new political, social and industrial influences in- jected into the life of the country at that time, but new missionary conditions began to obtain, and new missionary organizations also entered the field and began work in the Nile Valley. Missionary operations since the British Occupa- tion may all be properly designated as Recent Missionary Work. THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN MISSION Years of Political Unrest (1880-1885) In 1882, there broke out in Egypt a rebellion which, but for the merciful intervention of Prov- idence, might have been characterized by atrocities, as brutal and as extended as those which India witnessed during the days of the S'epoy Rebellion. This Avas the Arabi Rebel- lion. The story of its causes and development is too long a one to be given here, but the Hand of 180 Recent Missionary Work 181 God was clearly manifest in the protection of missionaries and their work during those troublous da vs. On June llth, 1882, with shouts of ^^Death to ^f 0",?"'^ the Christians," a band of Moslem ruffians, armed with clubs, attacked foreigners in the streets of Alexandria. Many hundreds of people were killed, others injured for life. Some were pounded and stamped upon until death ensued. Yet neither missionary nor na- tive Christian of the Mission lost his life. On July llth, the city of Alexandria was bombarded by the British, silencing the Egyp- tian forts. Before the rebels left the city, how- ever, the city was looted and set on fire. On the 14th, two of the missionaries visited the city, all of them having taken refuge on board an Amer- ican frigate then at Alexandria. They found the city deserted, men and dogs dead and dying, now and then an Arab carrying a bit of white cloth as a flag of truce, and nearly all the build- ings in the heart of the city destroyed by fire. Yet the church-members and the Mission build- ings suffered no harm. A Missirm book store in another part of the city alone was robbed of a few secular books. September 15th had been set by the Moslems for the looting of Cairo and the massacre of the Christians in that city. But on the 14th, the 182 Egypt and the Christian Crusade British troops marclied into Cairo, and pillage and bloodshed were averted. On September 28th, one of the missionaries returned to Cairo. His train was delayed for a while at a switch outside the station. Just then a freight train at the station, loaded with ammu- nition caught fire; the ammunition exploded, and the freight sheds were destroyed. The de- lay undoubtedly saved the missionary's life. Although the missionary community, scat- tered thoughout the Nile Valley, were often in great fear and anxiety, and although the Mos- lems about them threatened to murder all the Christian men and appropriate their wives and daughters and property; yet, during all these troublous times, not one of these Protestant Christians was harmed, nor were their services interfered with. Again, v:ere the words of the Psalmist verified, "The angel of Jehovah en- campeth round about them that fear Him." «^fll** In 1883, the country was visited by an epi- demic of cholera. Over four hundred deaths occurred at Cairo in a single day. The official reports place the total number of deaths in the country at over 40,000. The missionaries re- mained at their posts and ministered to the sick. None of the missionaries were attacked. The promise was fulfilled, "There shall no evil be- Doctrine. fp» PIONEER MISSIONARIES (1854-1864) Miss Sakah Hart Rev. S. C. Ewing, D.D. Rev. Andkew Watson, D.D. Rev. John Hogg, D.D. Mks. Catherine E\vir:o Mks. Makgakht Watson Mrs. Bessie Hogg See opp. page 154 Recent Missionary Work 183 fall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thv tent." During this period, the work suffered from the defection of some from the faith. A mis- sionary who had left the Mission in 1869, be- cause of false views, usually designated as Ply- mouthism, returned to Egypt and endeavored to sow heresy among the congregations established by the Mission. Under the plea of special sanctity, as well as of personal incligence because unsupported by any mission, and being already acquainted with many of the people from his former residence in Egypt, he readily secured an entrance and a hearing wherever he 'went. Many were carried away by his false teachings ; among them, two pastors. After failing in re- peated interviews to restore these brethren, the native Presbytery foimd it necessary to put them out of the ministry, while the missionaries and the Presbytery strove to check this harmful movem.ent, by a fuller expounding of the Scrip- tures bearing on the disputed points. The leaders of the movement went to extreme lengths in teaching that unordained laymen could ad- minister the sacraments, and subsequently fell out among themselves about certain teachings. A reaction against the movement resulted and it practically died out altogether, the people gener- ally declaring, "We will stick to the Church that New Interest. 184 Egypt and the Christian Crusade gave us the Gospel." A spiritual coldness, bow- ever, followed in the very places where the movement had created the greatest excitement. Special interest among Moslems appeared after the Arabi Rebellion. The reasons for this are not hard to find. The failure of the Rebel- lion and the downfall of the mosque party which had aided Arabi, blasted the hopes of those who had expected the establishment of a Moslem regime. Then again, as almost every mission- ary knows, there are a great number of Moslems who in secret avow thetr disbelief of Islam and their belief in Christianity. Many of them expected a large measure of religious liberty to obtain, because of the British Occupation. Their inquiries about Christianity became more open and repeated. The experience of a con- vert, Mohammed Habib, who accepted Chris- tianity, and was seized, dragged to the kadi's court, maltreated, robbed of his goods,and then had his wife taken from him, while he was sent to a government insane asylum,— was not calcu- lated to reassure them in their hopes. His ar- rest was brought to the attention of the British representatives in Egypt, but the Egyptian Prime Minister persuaded Her Majesty's Con- Bul-General that the presence of this convert would be the cause of religious disturbances, and so he was banished for over a year to Cyprus. Recent Missionary Work 185 It is true that subsequently bis faitb in Christ suffered eclipse, but nevertheless his experiences put a check temporarily upon an encouraging movement among Moslems. With all these hindrances — rebellion, cholera, defection and persecution, — the Church grew. During this short period of five years, the num- ber of organized congregations grew from 11 to 19 ; the membership from 985 to 1688 ; and the average attendance at Sabbath morning services, from 2083 to 3114. Years of Great Changes (1885-1895) During this period, great -changes began to take place in the political and industrial life of the country as a result of British administration. These have been noted in earlier chapters. This period, however, was also one of marked changes in the life of the Mission. Changes occurred in the force of American missionaries. In 1886, the Rev. John Hogg, a prince of Christian workers, died ; one on whom the Pro- testant community, in many places, depended so entirely for encourageiient, advice and lead- ership, that the people, at his death, were alone saved from dispair by the historic saying, "God is not dead." At his funeral, as the people passed by the coffin in a seemingly endless pro- Rev. John Hogg. Mri«. Sarah li. Lansing, 186 Egypt and the Christian Crusade cession, "to look for the last time on the placid face of the great and good man who had done so much and labored so long in their midst," the Mohammedan governor who %\as present, ex- claimed, "How they loved this man!" and this governor and his attendants showed their re- spect for the deceased by walking to the city limits. In 1889, Mrs. Sarah B. Lansing (nee Dales) passed to her reward. She was the first un- married woman missionary of tlie Church she represented, to go to the foreign field. She had a rare power in leading souls to Christ. As a Sabbath School teacher in America, before go- ing abroad, it is said that she sought not only to teach the lesson, but also to win the life. So well did she succeed, tliat "it was found, when she left, that of all who liad successively come under her care in the school, not one had failed so far as known, to give evidence of a change of heart and to unite with the Churcli." This power continued with her in her school work, first in Syria, then in Egypt. Foreigners and natives, missionaries, mission workers, pupils in the school, and travelers, all were drawn to her by the irresistible charm of her sympathy with others and her love for them. The power of her personality, irradiated as it was by Christ's Recent Missionary Work 187 l©ve, reached even through her printed letters to lumdreds wlio never had met or seen her. In this period, too, in 1892, the Rev. Gulian J^^;,^^"^'' Lansing, D. D., died, after thiriy-five years of d.d. missionary service. Dr. Lansing was a man of great faith. "One day his colleague, Dr. Hogg, entered his room in Cairo and said, 'Dr. Lansing, I have nothing with which to get dinner.' Dr. Lansing, taking the last dollar • out of his purse, gave it to him, saying, 'Take that.' 'But what will we do for to-morrow?' asked Dr. Hogg, 'i^ever mind to-morrow; the Lord will provide,' replied Dr. Lansing, and so He did, for the next day a letter came, enclosing a small remittance." He had also great per- sistency of purpose. To him, perhaps, more than to any one else belongs the credit of secur- ing funds for the erection of the splendid Cairo lilission premises, near Sliepheard's Hotel. Dr. Lansing will be remembered particularly as a man of striking personality. Genial and social, keen and cool in argument, dignified and kingly in his bearing, he was the spokesman of the Mis- sion in official circles. To him chiefly, is due the credit of securing for the Protestant Church in Egypt, legal standing, through a recognition of it by the government as a religion or sect. In 1894, Miss Martha J. McKown retired to America, afflicted with blindness. The Pressly Martha .T. AIcKown. 188 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Memorial Institute in Assiut is most intimately associated with the memory of her thirty-four years of useful service, for the elevation of womanhood in Egypt. The Martha J. Mc- Kown Hospital for Women in Tanta, however, perpetuates her name. stephi^os! There were also changes of leadership in the Native Church during this decade. During • this period, Fam Stephanos died. He was a remarkable character. Tall, broad-shouldered, with fine physique, long beard, and kingly bear- ing, he could easily be the ideal type of an East- ern patriarch. "He had been from early youth in the service of the Egyptian government. As tax-collector of his town and district, his integ- rity and fidelity, in a land where such qualities are rare, were matters of wide notoriety; so that his name had become a household word in all Upper Egypt among those who loved truth and righteousness. He had been enlightened by the study of the Scriptures. His zeal for the truth broke out sometimes in acts that common men could not perform, and -if they did, they would have been apprehended for them. Once the bishop and his clergy were about to march throught the Church with the cross and the pic- ture of Christ. He ordered them to stop, and as they showed themselves refractory, he drove bishop, priests and people, out of the Church." Changes Among the Recent Missionary Work 189 He had joined tlie Protestant body in tlie early days of its weakness and a storm of perse- cution liad burst upon him, which only the de- voted efforts of an American missionary and the most energetic political agitation sufficed, under the blessing of God, to prevent sweeping him, under pretext of exile, to certain death. He be- came the leader of a strong Protestant commun- ity at Kus. Remarkable changes also seemed to be affect- ing the life of the Coptic Church. The diffu- copt». sion of religious knowledge and especially the distribution of the Scriptures by the Mission, led many of the Copts, who wished to adhere to the Coptic Church, to ask whether, both in wor- ship and doctrine, the Coptic Church might not be reformed. In many places, accordingly, pic- tures were removed from the churches, and a more liberal use of tlie Arabic and a more re- stricted use of the dead Coptic began to obtain in the church service. In many places, nightly meetings were opened for the study of the Bible, in imitation of the methods used by the Protes- tant workers. At Assiut, the Coptic Church went so far as to ask for, and secure, the services of a Protestant licentiate to conduct religious meetings for her members for an entire year. In the higher circles of the Church, the reform spirit manifested itself in the organization of a 14 New Stations. 190 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Council to rectify abuses in the administration of the financial affairs of the Coptic Church. The Patriarch, however, proved intractable. The Council secured his temporary banishment, but, failing to find support among the people, the reform movement finally failed to effect any real change in the standards and policy of the Coptic Church. Most important, so far as the American Mis- sion was concerned, was a new development in the policy of the Mission with reference to work in the Delta. Absorbed with the opportunity for evangelizing the Copts and for extending the work into Upper Eg}'pt, little thought and less effort could be spared for considering and meet- ing the needs of the Delta population, which is almost solidly Mohammedan. In 1893, how- ever, a missionary station was opened at Tanta ; in 1894, missionary stations were opened at Benha and Zagazig. This change of front re- sulted from a number of considerations, but the change marks an epoch in the policy of the Mis- sion, whose ultimate aim is to definitely reach purely Mohammedan communities. With its continued growth in membership and influence, the Native Protestant Church of Egypt gave indications of arriving at the age of self-consciousness. Having developed from two organized congregations to eleven, and then to Recent Missionary Work 191 nineteen, in tlie three periods we have considered, it grew in the period with which we are dealing to thirty-three organized congregations. The time when an infant Church, made up of scat- tered communities and widely separated pastors, "finds itself," to use a phrase of Kipling, is a time of great importance. It marks the ful- filment of missionary hopes and prayers and ef- forts, and yet it marks a time of special anxiety and responsibility. At the close of this period, the work of the Re»«it«- American Mission embraced 33 organized con- gregations, Avith a total membership of 4554; there were 119 week-day schools in operation, touching 7975 pupils ; while the Sabbath morn- ing services could claim an average attendance of 8886 persons. Years of Growth and Development (After 1895) This period witnessed both extensive growth and intensive development. Our survey of the history of the American Mission has been so rapid, that scarcely any reference has been made even to leading institutions — the College, the Seminary, the Hospitals, the large boarding schools. No account has been given of the de- velopment of even the great departments of mis- 192 Egypt and the Christian Crusade sion work. If, then, we suddenly come upon these in our survey of this period, it must not be forgotten that the development of both insti- tutions and departments was gradual. Indeed, almost all of them appeared in the very first period, although in very elementary form. Synod of Ti^g Evangelical Church, which had but one the Nile. pj.gg^y^gj.iai organization in 1895, becomes, in this period, a more extensive, as well as a more complex, organization. On Feb. 22, 1899, the fifty organized congregations and the 165 sta- tions, together embracing 6515 members, until then constituting but one presbytery,— the Pres- bytery of Egypt, — were divided into four pres- byteries, the Presbyteries of Thebes, of Assiut, of Middle Egypt, and of the Delta. On May 11th, these again were organized into the Synod of the Nile. Since 1899, the number of organ- ized congregations has increased still further and the membership has advanced fifty per cent. These presbyterial divisions grew out of evan- gelistic districts which had been created for the better administration of home missionary work. A noble pedigree for any Presbytery to enjoy, and a proper reminder of the true purpose of all church organization. Widespread j^ educatioual work, we discover that this de- **"'^"ion. partment has grown to such an extent, that we now have a great network of schools, enrolling ASSIUT COLLEGE Stable and Yard where School was Begun Present Main Colleg-e Buildmg' Recent Missionary Work 193 over jfifteen thousand scholars. The significance of these figures may be inferred from the fact, that the enrolment in all regular government schools for the same year was 18,712. We also find these schools, graded, unified, correlated, so that each adds to its own prestige and power, the prestige and power of this entire missionary educational movement. We also find this important department of the Mission's work, to a great extent self-support- ing, paying some sixty per cent, of the entire expenses of its operation. We find at the head of it a college, Assiut Col- lege, with some seven hundred students drawn from over a hundred towns and villages, chiefly from Upper Egypt, yet there is a representation from thirteen of the fourteen Provinces of the country. We find the students of this College every- where, from Alexandria to the farthest outposts of the Sudan, serving as editor:^ and journal- ists, as government officials both in Egypt and the Sudan, in railway service, in the post-offices, as bankers, too, as merchants, as agricultur- ists, — and, for the most part, upholding by their lives and teachings, the standards of truth and morality and righteousness. Of this institution, Mr. John R. Mott, Sec- retary of the Student Volunteer Movement, said. 194 Egypt and the Christian Crusade "After visiting nearly all of the missionary col- leges- and schools of importance in the non- Christian world and studying their work and op- portunities, I have no hesitation in saying, that the Assiut Training College, of Egypt, is one of the most strategic, most efficient and most fruitful institutions in the world. In fact, I know of no other college which has yielded larg- er practical results for the amount of money expended than this particular institution." We also find the Pressly Memorial Institute and the Luxor Girls' School for girls minister- ing to the higher education of the girls of Upper Egypt, while the Girls' School at Cairo, is de- veloping into a Girls' College for the elevation of womanhood in Lower Egypt. We find the fruits of this department of the Mission in the enlightenment and literacy of the Protestant communities every^vhere. A census taken by the Mission in 1898, showed that in its Protestant community of 22,500 souls, there were 521 out of every 1,000 men who could read, and 200 out of every 1,000 women. The gov- ernment census of the previous year, could show in the country at large, even including foreign- ers, only 124 out of every 1,000 men, and only 11 out of every 1,000 women, who could read. But more than this, we find these schools in- fluencing hundreds of lives outside the Protes- Recent Missionary Work 195 tant community. Indeed, of 15,451 pupils en- rolled in 1906, only 3110 are Protestants, while 3115 are Moslems and 8179 are Copts, the rest being of various faiths. We turn to the Evangelistic Department. Here we discover that the work of the Mission has become more centralized. The main Mis- sion Stations have developed so much work, that missionaries do not itinerate personally among the toAvns and villages to the extent to which this was done by earlier missionaries. This is not an altogether satisfactory develop- ment, but seems unavoidable \dien the work is so burdensome at these centers and the force is inadequate. However, the work directed from these cen- ters has increased considerably. A strong force of Bible women visit homes and carry the Gos- pel to some three thousand women, who, other- wise, would scarcely come within the hearing of the Word. Presbyterial workers, licentiates and evangelists, go out to towns and villages where no other missionary work is done, and preach the Gospel or speak to men individually about its teachings. While still more direct evangelistic work would be desirable, yet the eifectiveness of the work done is witnessed by the fact, that, while in 18^)4 five hundred was re- garded as a large number to be added to the EvangcU zatiuii. 196 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Cliiirch in a single year on profession of their fait]), at the close of the period we find over eight hundred reported for a single year. Literature. rj.^^ -q^^^ Department has, thus far, been mentioned only incidentally. The cooperation of the American Bible Society and of the British and Foreign Bible Society led to a wonderful development of this work. The sale of over forty thousand Bibles or portions of the Scriptures and of over seventeen thousand relig- ious books, in a single year, constitutes an agency for evangelizing the country whose in- fluence can scarcely be measured. While the Mission had entire charge of this work at the be- ginning of the period, a readjustment was made which placed a good part of this work directly and independently under the care of the Bible Societies themselves. The same large and far- reaching work continues, however, to be done. ^^ '^orid! ^^ ^^® Medical Department, practically noth- ing has been said. During this period, however, two strong and well-equipped institutions bring this department into marked prominence. The one is the Assiut Hospital, built largely through the indefatigable efforts of Dr. V. M. Henry, now almost entirely self-supporting, and minis- tering, in a single year, to over two thousand in- patients, while it touches some 20,000 others through its clinics. The other is the Martha J. Recent Missionary Work 197 MuKo\\Ti Hospital at Tanta, erected by the Women's Board in memory of Miss McKown, and caring for over two hundred in-patients and almost 10,000 clinic cases. The opening up of the Egyptian Sudan dur- MiBtirr. ing this period, led to important missionary developments. The Mission in Egypt sent, in 1899, two of its missionaries, the Rev. Andrew Watson, D. D., and the Rev. J. K. GifFen, D. D., into the Sudan, to report on the possibility and propriety of opening up work in that country. Later, the American Mission in Egypt was called upon to furnish the Mission in the Sudan with its first workers. The Rev. J. K. Giffen, Dr. H. T. McLaughlin, the Rev. Ralph E. Car- son, and the Rev. G. A. Sowash, all formerly in Egypt, were transferred to the Sudan. The Sudan Mission, although now independently organized, is, therefore, the child of the Egyp- tian Mission. The !N'ative Church, too, bap- tized with the missionary spirit, regarded the Sudan as her assigned foreign missionary field. She began to contribute money and workers, and the inspiring picture is presented of a mission Church becoming a missionary Church. Another event of great signiticance also be- longs to this period. In October, 1902, after a ten-day conference, characterized by earnest prayer and a deep sense of responsibility for the Appeal 198 Egypt and the Christian Crusade spiritual condition of their mission field, the mis- sionaries in India, of the United Presbyterian Church of ]^. A., issued an appeal to the Home Church for 180 new missionaries. This appeal contemplated the evangelization of the entire territory assigned by Providence to the Mission. Quickened by the faith of their brethren in India, the American missionaries in Egypt were brought face to face with this new and inspiring conception, the actual evangelization of Egypt. Regarding eight of the ten millions of Egypt's population as fairly constituting the responsi- bility of their Mission, they asked themselves definitely the question, What force may be re- garded as needed for the adequate evangeliza- tion of this field ? After long, careful and pray- ful consideration of this whole subject, an ap- peal was issued, in February, 1903, to the Church in America for 280 nQvi missionaries. E"ever in her history was the Church in Amer- ica so stirred as by these appeals. There was no gainsaying the necessity of having, at least, the number of workers which the appeals called for, if the millions of these mission fields were to be evangelized. N^either was there any gainsaying the obligation to evangelize these fields which the clearest providences had assigned to the Church. The only question was, Would the Church recognize her obligations, assume them, Recent Missionary Work 199 and go forth to discharge them In the strength of her Lord. The General Assembly of the Church, on June 1, 1903, at a solemn and pray- erful session, by unanimous rising vote, en- Neei©ctiv©« labored devotedly in Egypt in the early half of the nineteenth century, directing its efforts at that time to the reforming and quickening of the Coptic Church. With the British occupation of Egypt, the Society was led to take up again, after a lapse of so many years, missionary work in the Nile Valley. The objective of this sec- ond attempt is in sharp contrast with that of the first, Now the Mission is directed toward Mos- lems, as the former efforts had aimed to reach the Coptic Church. On December 16, 1882, the Rev. F. A. Klein, 200 Egypt and the Christian Crusade • the Society's experienced Palestine missionary and Arabic scholar, arrived in Cairo. Miss Whately (of whom more later), opened to him the hall of her school for holding services, and, through the attractions of an open reading-room, Mr. Klein came into touch with many Moslem inquirers. This interest, however, 3/Ir. Eugene Stock says, was "more akin to the Athenian curiosity of St. Paul's days than to serious in- quiry." In 1888, Dr. F. J. Harpur was transferred from Arabia to Cairo, and opened up medical work at Old Cairo. Thus we have accounted for the two departments upon which the Mission has placed its greatest reliance in its efforts to reach Moslems, the literary agency and the med- ical. With the arrival of reenforcements and funds, schools were opened for boys and for girls, hospital buildings were erected, w^ork was in- itiated in Cairo and Heluan, and some itinerat- ing was done by medical missionaries. The Society's Mission in Cairo was regarded as a base for advance up the ISTile into the Sudan, and so, indeed, in 1899, the Sudan Mission of this Society was established. Progress. jj^ spite of the Mission's policy of confining itself to work among the Moslems, a number of enlightened Copts have become affiliated with the Mission and have joined it. The Mission Recent Missionary Work 201 has, hoAvever, done some very aggressive work in devising new methods of approaching Moslems. Debating societies, in which, however, religious discussion is avoided, stereopticon lectures, open reading-rooms, as well as personal work and the distribution of moral and religious tracts at fairs and public gatherings, have been used as means for gaining a personal acquaintance with young Moslems. A semi-religious paper, Orient and Occident, is published weekly with a view to reaching Moslems. The Mission reports, in 1906, 25 British missionaries, 35 native Christian lay workers, 65 communicants, 9 baptisms during the year (3 adults, 6 children), 8 schools with 304 scholars, 2 hospitals. * NORTH AFRICA MISSION The IvTorth x\frica Mission is a British mis- sionary agency. It is undenominational. Its work is found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Trip- oli, and Egypt. The annual receipts of the Society for all its missions have aggregated less than fifty thousand dollars, so that it has not been able to extend its work in Egypt. The work there was begun in 1802. Two stations have been established, both in the Delta ; one in Alexandria, the other at Shebin-el-Kom. The * For statistics see Appendix III. 202 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Mission aims to reach Moslems in particular, and has had the joy of baptizing several. * EGYPT GENERAL MISSION The workers in this Mission are a band of de- voted British volunteers, who went to Egypt in 1898. Their aim is not to encroach upon the territory of other missions, but simply to supple- ment their work. In the beginning, their policy was to avoid all missionary machinery and to depend upon personal contact with men for a direct presentation of Gospel truth. They have been compelled by the determining influ- ence of religious conditions in Egypt to modify their policy. Schools and book depots have been opened by them at six main stations, all in Lower Egypt, and some successful work has been done among Moslems. * SUDAN PIONEER MISSION This is a German Mission, begun in 1901. Its aim is to carry the Gospel into the Sudan. Pending the opening of the Sudan, its mission- aries located at Assuan, began the study of the language, and have worked among the Bisharin Arabs and the ^Nubians. The Missioli has not been able, for lack of funds, to extend its work.* * For statistics see Appendix IV. Recent Missionary Work 203 OTHEE MISSIONS The Canadian Holiness ^lovenient extended its operations to Egypt in 1899, and labors chiefly for the acceptance of its special doctrines by Christians of Upper Egypt. There are in the Faynm District, also, workers of the Pente- cost Bands of the World. * INSTITUTIONS AND SPECIAL WORK A number of organizations or individuals have labored in Egypt for the uplifting of the people, and these may be grouped together be- cause they use some special method or limit their operations to some special locality or in- stitution. The Established Church of Scotland began educational work for Jews in Alexandria, in 1858, and this work has been maintained unin- terruptedly during the past five decades. Ser- vices are also conducted, but not in Arabic. * In 1858, Miss M. L. Whately, daughter of the famous Archbishop of Dublin, first visited Egypt. A few years later, she opened a school for girls in Cairo, and, still later, a school for boys and a medical mission. Miss Whately also itinerated among the villages. The graphic pic- tures of Egyptian life which appear in her books "Among the Huts in Egypt" and "Eagged Life * For statistics see Appendix IV 204 Egypt and the Christian Crusade in Egypt," written for young people, are most readable and gave a wide publicity to her work. Her best known work was her school for girls in the Faggaleh quarter of Cairo. In 1^9, Miss Whately died, and this school soon came under the care of the American Mission, under whose auspices it is still being maintained. The Dutch Mission at Galiub was founded in 1866. It consists chiefly of an Orphanage, al- though a native congregation of about thirty members has also been developed. The jSTile Mission Press is an agency for printing Christian literature in Arabic. It owes its existence, under the blessing of God, to Miss Annie Van Sommer, of England, and its usefulness will be undoubtedly large in a Mos- lem country where the printed page is perhaps the best evangelizing agency. In Port Said, we find the Peniel American Mission and the Bethel Orphanage, both doing work among children. There are a number of homes and hostels, such as the Young Women's Christian Associa- tion and other organizations, at both Cairo and Alexandria, but these minister, for the most part, to the foreign population of Egypt. Ko effort has been made to describe or enumerate such institutions or the several congregations and Churches whose ministry is to others than Egyptians. CHAPTEH VIII MISSIONARY AGENCIES Every young missionary goes to his field of labor with certain ideas and preconceptions as to the character of missionary work and life. Almost every young missionary, however, ex- periences both surprises and disappointments. It is not that he was entirely misinformed as to the general methods of missionary work in the foreign field, but simply that each field has its own peculiar conditions, which determine the character and type of its missionary agencies. In military operations, the character of the country and the strength and position of the enemy, determine whether cavalry or infantry movements will be more effective; whether a charge is possible or whether the siege grms must be brought up ; whether it is to be a hand-to-hand fight, or a bombardment from a distance, or both. So, too, is it that conditions determine whether, in a given field, one method is preferable to an- other, and whether still another method may not need to be barred altogether. Missionary methods in Egypt are not alto- gether the same as in other countries. Bazaar preaching, so common in India, is not found in 15 205 Difference* in Method*. 206 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Egypt; because a law of the land forbids preaching in the streets. While in India close social fellowship between the missionary and the higher heathen classes is prevented by caste, there is no such restriction in Egypt, and chief officials, Moslems and Copts, have repeatedly feasted the missionary in their homes. In Cen- tral Africa, among the black tribes, industrial work is perhaps the most extensively developed missionary method ; you can scarcely find it used in Egypt. In India, the missionary goes about among the villages, taking his family with him and living in tents. In Egypt, the railroad is used to reach larger towns, while itinerating by boat is the common method of reaching the vil- lages. In some fields, the missionary is engaged for the most part in dealing with individuals. In Egypt, the tendency is for the missionary to become an administrator, supervising institu- tions. In some countries, the people live chiefly in villages; life is simple and plain, not only the life of the natives, but that of the missionary, too ; the missionary's home life is under constant inspection, and the intercourse with natives makes the missionary's home and family life an agency of no inconsiderable influence. In Egypt, the population, while Agricultural, is found, to a greater degree, in towns and good- sized villages. The missionary, who is usually Missionary Agencies 207 located in one of the larger centers, lives in a "city house/' and his home and family life are not so subject to the observation of the native, owing to the prevailing conventionalities of city life. In China, singing, stereopticon views and other appeals to curiosity, are used to gather a crowd for a meeting. In Egypt, reliance is chiefly placed on the advertisement of the meet- ing by notices and the attraction of the subject announced. To these generalizations many ex- ceptions exist, but in the main they constitute noticeable characteristics of missionary methods in the Xile Valley. The chief agents in missionary work in Egypt chiet are, the missionary, the colporteur, the evangel- -^c*"*"* ist, the school teacher, the harem worker, and the native pastor. The foreign missionary's work will differ according as we are speaking of a medical missionary, a professor, an unmarried woman missionary, or an ordained man. The medical missionary works along distinctive lines, as we shall see in speaking about medical work. So, too, is it with the professor, who is usually at the head of some department in a col- lege. The unmarried woman missionary is most commonly in charge of some school, while she also does, and superv^ises, harem work. The work of the ordained missionary is a The most varied work. His gifts will determine M^ssi^ary. 208 Egypt and the Christian Crusade largely the special assignment of work which will fall to him, — preaching, teaching, editing, keeping accounts, superintending buildings, supervising colporteur work, translating, — but there is every likelihood that, whatever his special work, he will have to do some work un- der each of these headings. One of the sur- prises and trials of the missionary is to discover to what extent secular duties encroach upon his time. While many of these duties are vitally related to the success of the work and may in- deed be made the channels for exerting whole- some influences upon other lives, yet every mis- sionary must be on his guard lest the devotional and spiritual exercises of life be crowded out, and his life become commonplace and secular. K^i°t*d' ^^ follow the agents of missionary work — the foreign missionary, the colporteur, the evangel- ist, the school teacher, the harem worker, and the native pastor, — through the duties of a day or week, would afford the clearest appreciation of missionary work and its methods. To do this, however, would require more space than is here available, and would also involve covering the same ground more than once ; for, usually, the colporteur is an evangelist, and the evangel- ist a colporteur; sometimes both the missionary and the native pastor become colporteurs, evan- gelists^ or school teachers; while the school Missionary Agencies 209 teacher is often evangelist and pastor pro tern. We may avoid such repetition by considering missionary work in Egypt under the headings of four departments or methods of work, Literary and Colporteur, Evangelistic, Educational, Medical. Some methods of work which are here grouped under the heading of Evangelistic are often enumerated, because of their import- ance, alongside of these that have been named. But they are more logically treated as Evangel- istic. Harem Work, for example, is really only the evangelistic method applied to the social conditions which obtain in the Moslem world. It is important to remember that these dif- ferent methods bear the closest relation to each other in their practical operations. The school is ever opening up new homes to the harem worker ; the harem worker is ever enlisting new pupils for the mission school. The colporteur prospects in new fields for the missionary ; the missionary follows up opportunities that are too far-reaching for the colporteur. Literary and Colporteur Worh We begin with this form of work, because the missionary practically begins wath it, not only in Egypt, but everywhere. Judson's earliest efforts were literary ; so were Carey's ; so were Translatioii. Dlstribation, 210 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Henry Martyn's. Christianity is, in one sense, a religion of the Book. The first task of the missionary is to give to the people among whom he labors the Word of God, or portions of it, in the vernacular. Having translated the Scriptures, his next work is to distribute them. So we have the Literary and Colpor- teur work. This work is related primarily to the Bible, but has also to do with the prepara- tion and distribution of other religious books. While some books have been translated or written by missionaries in Egypt, very little lit- erary work has been done by them. The reason for this is the reliance of the Mission on the Beirut Printing Press, for Bibles, religious books, and tracts. The Press at Beirut, Syria, has been a missionary agency of incalculable value, in Egypt as elsewhere in the Levant. With the development of work among Moslems, a new importance is attached to literary work. The recent Cairo Conference of Workers among Moslems made appeal for a special effort to reach Moslems "by organizing more efficiently the production and distribution of literature for Mohammedans." In the providence of God, the Nile Mission Press also came into existence, and stands ready to promote such work. The distribution of the Scriptures and other religious literature, however, has engaged the at- Missionary Agencies 211 tention of migsionaries iu Egypt, and rightly so. (a) The Scriptures find common accep- tance among the people of Egypt. The Copt.s believe in the Bible as the Word of God, though they may know little of its teachings. The Moslems, as we have seen, are theoretically com- mitted to the Bible, because the Koran endorses both the Prophets and the Gospels. Then, too, the Oriental is a firm believer in divine revela- tions and inspired records, and any book claim- ing to be given of God is held in reverence. (&) The x\merican Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society have stood ready to cooperate with the missionaries by sub- stantial grants to aid in the distribution of the Scriptures. These agencies, after many years of cooperation, still labor in Egypt, (c) This is the method par excellence for reaching Mos- lems. It is a significant fact, that the Koran, being in Arabic only, can be intelligible to but 45,000,000 of the 223,000,000 who profess faith in its teachings, whereas the Bible has been translated not only into the language of these 45,000,000, but also into the languages of the remaining 178,000,000. The distribution of the Scriptures commends itself as a method of dealing with Moslems, because it disarms hostility and avoids that prejudice which the Moslem usually entertains against the Christian Illustration of Value. 212 Egypt and the Christian Crusade himself, (d) This method is far-reaching as no other method is. While the intellectual ability of the colporteur might add to the recep- tion which the Book will receive, yet here is a method that is, to a great extent, independent of the human agent who acts as intermediary in its operation. To hundreds of to^vns and villages, and to hundreds of thousands of lives that have never seen a foreign missionary, the message is carried through the printed page, distributed often by men of the humblest talents. (e) This method of work opens up other work. Again and again have the colporteurs of the Mission returned to report special religious interest in some particular town or village. The result has been a visit to the place by the native evangelist or foreign missionary, resulting, at times, in the establishment of a church. The following is an illustration of the value and success of work done by colporteurs : "Some time ago Feltus, the colporteur, met a well-to-do Coptic family in Shebas Ameir. They were very fanatical and reviled him and his book. He said little in reply, but a few days later he met the chief man of the family at the railway sta- tion. As he was buying his ticket the man said to him, 'Why buy a ticket ? There is no need for it. If you give a present to the conductor, be will let you ride free/ The colporteur re' Missionary Agencies 213 plied that lie would not be dishonest and that he never did that. They had some discussion about the principle, until finally the man said, 'If Protestantism teaches such honesty as that, it is a good thing.' "From that time, he was a friend of the col- porteur and the latter often went to his house. He soon found both the man and his wife eager to learn. They had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, thus earning the title 'Haj' (pil- grim), but their hearts were not satisfied. The colporteur refused to argue about differences of belief, but urged them to study the Bible. This they did. The wife came to the Tanta Mission Clinic, and remained some days for treatment. The husband also came to Tanta, and attended church services, and conversed with the pastor. "A little later they invited the pastor to visit them in their town, and to hold services in their house. He did so, and this was probably the first Protestant service ever held in the town. At the next communion, the man and his wife united with the Church in Tanta. This was six months ago. They have been faithful and zealous in their new belief. They have religious services in their home at every oppor- tunity, and, with some of their friends, they have asked that one evangelist be sent there, and have agreed to pay about five dollars per Th« Book Store. 214 Egypt and the Christian Crusade month toward his support. The Presbytery has appointed a preacher to the town for six months the coming year. This is an example of a family being won and a community opened to the Gospel through a colporteur." * The Scriptures and other religious books ar^ also distributed through bookstores located at different centers. These bookstores serve also as reading rooms, and a native or foreign worker will be on duty to guide the interest and con- versation of those who come. An incident of unusual interest illustrates the possibilities of such bookstores for the spread of the Gospel. We summarize briefly the events which precede the incident. A Moslem sheikh, born at Fez, in Morocco, became burdened with a desire to ap- prehend truth more fully. He gave himself up to fastings, prayers, mortifications and pilgrim- ages. He visited shrines of lesser fame and finally went to Mecca. He stayed there five months and performed all the duties enjoined upon a pilgrim. Still he found no peace. He visited the Moslem shrines in Palestine, and was at Suez on his way home again, when the inci- dent referred to occurred. He himself relates his experiences: "After spending a day or two in Suez, greatly perplexed in my mind, and not knowing what it * J. G. Hunt, D.D., in " Aniual Eeport," 1903. Missionary Agencies 215 meant, I noticed, as I passed along one of the street?, a place open, with this sign written above it, 'Food For The Souls Of Men,' and on the door a printed paper. I went up to read it, and found written these words, 'Come unto Me, all je that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' I was astonished at the saying, and said to my friend, ^Who can the owner of this place be, who thinks so much of himself that he can say this ? Xo one can use words like these but God, the Blessed.' Then my compan- ion replied, 'Do you not know that this is the land of the Pharaohs? This man is probably the 0's\Tier of much property, and is so puffed up by his riches and greatness that be says this.' "We passed on, but the words of that saying remained in my heart, and I was much im- pressed thereby, and said to my friend, 'I must see this man who thinks so much about himself, and find out about him.' So at noon I went to the place, but did not find the paper outside; but the door was open, and inside I saw two tables with books on them, and two men sitting talking. My companion said to me, ^I sup- pose the owner of the place has lost his money, and so he is ashamed to put out the sign now.' I said, *I must enter the place and ask about it.* He tried to dissuade me, saying 'We are stran- gers, and it would not be polite for us to enter 216 Egypt and the Christian Crusade and ask questions. Let ns go.' But I said I would not go from there until I had found out the truth about this man who said, 'Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' So we went in and saluted them, and they returned our salutation and re- ceived us kindly. I asked them, 'What do you sell here V They replied, 'We have Holy Books for any one to read, and also to buy if they wish.' I said, 'What are the Holy Books V For I thought they meant the Koran, or the Moslem Commentaries. They replied, 'They are the Old and ISTew Testament — the Torah, and Zabur, and Injil.' I asked to be allowed to read them, and they gave me a book, and we read and talked until sunset. My companion was very angry at our conversation, and got up, saying to me, 'Come away, and let us pray the sunset prayers.' And although we were in the midst of our conversation, I was obliged to go. "I could not touch my supper that night, and, saying nothing to any one about what was in my heart, I slipped off alone to that place, and meeting one of the men, asked him to finish the conversation we had been interrupted in. The subject was about Christ being the Son of God, and the meaning of the Cross of Calvary, and till late that night we talked, arranging, ere we parted, to meet early on the morrow. All that Missionary Agencies 217 night I remained in a state of tumult, and next morning found me at the door of the place at 6 o'clock, although we had not arranged to meet until 8 o'clock. "We spent the day eagerly eon- versing, until my companion became aware of what was happening, and a severe quarrel took place between us. Eventually, I sent him off to Cairo, and from there home. That left me free to study the Bible, and hear about Christ, until I was thoroughly convinced of the truth, which became clear to me as the sun at mid-day, and I believed. My conscience has found rest from what has always troubled me in it, and I know that there is to man one Saviour and In- tercessor, and one only, Who has redeemed me by His precious Blood, the Lord Jesus, to Him be the glory for ever and ever !" * To the itinerating colporteur and the book- RaUg^oas 1 • 1111 1- Papers. store, there is to be added as a literary agency for disseminating religious information, the periodical, such as the weekly or monthly paper. Here we have the Murshid of the American Mission, chiefly for Christians; the Orient and Occident, of the C. M. S. Mission, aiming to reach Moslems ; and a monthly magazine pub- lished by the Egypt Mission Band, also for Mos- lems. • "The Story of a Moslem Sheikh/' Egypt General MisBion. 218 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Evangelistic Worh All missionary work aims to be evangelistic, aims to proclaim the Gospel. But the term is here applied to those forms of missionary work in which the proclamation of the Gospel is direct and not united with some special privilege or advantage which thus secures for it an entrance. This direct presentation of the Gospel is made in three ways: by the foreign or native evan- gelist, by the native pastor, and by the harem worker. The evangelist may be a native, in which case he usually is a colporteur as well as an evangel- ist. Books are a very good means of introduc- tion even for an evangelist, while they may con- tinue their preaching after he has left. The evangelist may also be a foreign missionary. Every opportunity for doing "personal work" will be a part of his calling as an evangelist. The favorite and most successful way of doing evangelistic work in the early decades of recent missionary work was by means of the Nile boat, such as the "Ibis" of the American United Pres- byterian Mission. Therbis. a^ short account of this swift messenger should be preserved. Its record, possibly, sur- passes that of any other craft that ever graced the waters of the wondrous Nile during all the dynasties of Egypt. It was built for Sa'id ^V. jlSlliS^ ■ |>(r 1' m Wit 6 .£ 'jiU)t£ V. •.-. MISSIONARY AGENCIES Assiut Hospital The Ibis Missionary Agencies 219 Pasha and according to his directions. He was the Viceroy of Egypt in the later fifties and in the early sixties. He was a trained naval of- ficer, and had knowledge of ships. He was fond of excitement and adventure, and had a mania* for rapid transit. He gave his boat the name of the sacred bird of the country. He intended it to outsail everything of its kind. He had it fitted for carrying more than the ordinary spread of canvas, and planned to help its move- ments by a small steam engine. That adjunct was never supplied. Sa'id Pasha, and the world, had no thought at that time that God Himself designed the boat for His o^vn service and glory. The Viceroy soon sold it to parties who were willing to resell it at a moderate price. Its desirability for the use of the Mission was well known. Messrs. McCague, Lansing and Hogg put their purses together, bartered their credits, and purchased the boat for fifteen hun- dred dollars. That must have been only a small part of its original cost. It was the plan of the new owners to let the boat to tourists in the win- ter and get money in that way for using it at other times in Mission work. This plan was carried out for some years. "Expeditions started from Cairo. There was always a large equipment of Scriptures and books. All possible information in regard to 220 Egypt and the Christian Crusade the partially explored field was sought and noted. There was no lightness in the under- taking. Experience soon taught us to lose no breezes while we were going up the river. If we were becalmed, work was done in places that could be reached. Sometimes a good rest was enjoyed. In preparing for a return, all the sails, except a small one, were put in the hold, and the mast was lowered. The downward trip was made by current and oar; stoppage could easily be made wherever that was desired. The Ibis soon became known all along the river. The report of its movements preceded it. At many towns, it would scarce be moored before an inter- ested crowd would be gathered, and work would begin without delay. Land trips were often made to towns located far from the river. The work was inspiring. The manifest need of the people for the bread of life could not fail to cause interest. The eagerness with which many of them purchased Scriptures and relig- ious books and listened to the reading and simple exposition of the Word of God by native helper and by missionary, was cheering evidence that the Master was fulfilling His precious promises." "After their happy and romantic marriage in Egypt, the Maharajah Dhulip Singh and Bam- ba spent some months in England. The new Missionary Agencies 221 home had many attractions and charms, but tiot enough to check the desire for a return to Egypt to spend the winter on the Nile. For this a boat was needed. The Maharajah was pleased w^ith the Ibis. He reimbursed the owners and became its possessor. Before re- turning to England, a few months later, he gave orders for full repairs of the boat and a remod- eling of the interior. The cost of all this was more than double the purchase price. He never , returned to Egypt, but in 1874 he donated the Ibis to the 'fund for building and endowing Assiut Training College.' It is still serving the Mission and the Master." * _ j;;ej;ati.e The native Evangelical congregation is also ^.^^^ an evangelistic agency. While Christians are being built up in the faith and instructed in righteousness, the Gospel message is directed also at those who have not yet accepted Christ. The effectiveness of the native congregations as evangelistic agencies is proved by the fact, that, according to the last Report af the United Pres- byterian congregations in Egypt, two-thirds of the professions reported for the entire country during a whole year are to be credited to native congregations regularly established. ^ workT The harem worker is another important mis- sionary agent working along evangelistic lines. ♦ Rev. S. C. Ewine, D. D., in "Annual Report," 1905. 16 222 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Eemembering the seclusion of Moslem women and their inaccessibility to men, the need for harem work will be realized. It is a great work to carry tlie Gospel each year right into the homes of some three thousand women, in Egypt. This work involves reading and explaining the Scriptures to the inmates of the home visited. Often the opportunity is widened through the presence of visitors. Where it is possible, the work goes farther and prayer is both offered and taught. On such an occasion, a Coptic woman said in surprise, "Do you mean to say that we can pray to God quite alone? Is it not necessary to pray to a saint or to the Virgin?" On a similar occa- sion, a "Moslem woman remarked, "See, they pray for everybody. You would not find a Moslem doing that." Where there is opportun- ity, the work goes farther, and women are will- ing to take regular lessons and learn to read. Thirty years ago, Miss Martha J. McKown WTote from Assiut, "It is now nearly ten years ^ since I first came to Upper Egypt. There was not at that time, as far as we know, a single girl in school or a woman who knew how to read." There are in that same town^ to-day, 480 women who are under regular instruction and hun- dreds of others who have already learned to read. Missionary Agencies 223 Sometimes the interest fioes farther, and i^rogresa •1 1 T Among hoiise-to-hoiise meetings are possible. ''It has women. been most encouraging and surprising," says a recent report of such work, "to see the most timid rising to pray or to read some passage they have selected. On the last occasion, seven led in prayer and five or six read." The work has even gone farther and definite accessions to the Church have resulted. Of course, among Moslems it is almost impos- sible for a woman to make such a confession of her faith. The day was, when elders of some of the Protestant congregations debated seriously whether women could be admitted to Church membership without degrading the Church and lowering its standards. To-day there are over 8,950 women in the membership of^he Protes- tant Church in Egypt, and an instance is on record where the women hold a midweek jneet- ing separate from the men, using, however, the same topic. They place their outline of the subject on the blackboard, and when they are through, they leave it for the help of the men at their meeting. This work among women is most valuable in breaking down pernicious social customs. It is an acknowledged fact, that in every country social and religious traditions strike their deep- est roots into the life of womanhood. No coun- ^24 Egypt and the Christian Crusade try can free itself from the tyranny of such cus- toms until the womanhood of that country is in- fluenced. Harem work has had a remarkable influence along those lines in Egypt. The follow- ing incident is scarcely a year old. Mourning From the town of Girgeh an urgent request was sent to Assiut lor a harem worker, in a wealthy home in Girgeh, ''the mother had given herself up to the most violent and extravagant grief, and those familiar with the wild confusion of the first days of mourning in a bigoted and conservative Coptic harem, can fully sympa- thize with the irrgency of the appeal of the men of the house for help. A friend of the family, who was visiting in Assiut, was ordered to re- main until the request for the harem worker was complied with. Telegrams followed each other in rapid sucoeseion, reiterating the plea, and offering all the help that money could give to wipe away difficulties. At last, a blind Bible woman was found willing to undertake the task. She set out, with many misgivings, into the imtried and unknown. Her welcome was all that could have been desired. From the first, she won a respectful hearing from the crowd that thronged the house, and so great was her influence over the mother and relatives, that they almost immediately modified their customs to the extent of having only two formal weepings Missionary Agencies 225 in the day and none on Sabbatli. This was an innovation undreamed of in Girgeh, which is noted for the cruelty of its mourning customs. Every day, she read and taught and prayed with the family alone, and with those who gathered to weep ; and when death entered another influen- tial house in the neighborhood, she was bor- rowed by them to do the same work of mercy she had accomplished in the first house." Educational Worh The educational method has been the domin- 5**"*?* ating method in missionary work in Egypt. Its work. advantages are evident : (a) It lays hold of life at the beginning instead of at the end. It seeks to save life not only for the world to come, but also for the present world, (h) It seeks to in- fluence life at the most impressionable age. Statistics show that in our own country the greatest number of conversions have taken place at the ages of fifteen or sixteen years. A Tamil proverb says, "That which did not bend at five will not be bent at fifty." (r) It makes pos- sible the exercise of continuous and sustained in- fluence. The weekly meeting, or even a series of evangelistic meetings, can scarcely compare with the educational method in this respect. For weeks at a time and for five or six days in the 226 Egypt and the Christian Crusade week, and for several hours each day, the young life is brought under the influence of a Christian atmosphere and each day receives some definite instruction in Christian truth. Where the school is a boarding school, the influence upon life is very much greater. Here the young life is completely freed, at least temporarily, from the compelling power of home influences, (d) The educational method also disarms prejudice. fThe Moslem and the Copt are quite willing to have their children enjoy the secular and moral training of a Christian school. As they come to the school for such training, it is possible to show them there what their prejudice forbids their seeing elsewhere, — that the intellectual quick- ening and the moral quality of Western civiliza- tion are rooted in the religious faith of the West, (e) In addition to whatever general ad- vantages the educational method possesses, it possesses to-day, and especially did it possess fifty years ago, a signal advantage as a mission- ary method, because of its necessity. With the awful illiteracy which prevails even to-day, and which prevailed to a greater degree a half cen- tury ago, the missionary could not realize his own spiritual aims without educating the people. Christianity and ignorance are diametrically opposed to each other, and the illiteracy of the people is a part of the Christian missionary's Missionary Agencies 227 problem. On the other hand, this condition of illiteracy and the absence of other schools gave unusual prestige and prominence, especially in earlier days, to missionary educational institu- tions. These, and probably other, reasons led to the extension of the educational work, until we ar- rive to-day at the respectable total of 198 schools operated by the different evangelical missions in Egypt, and having an enrolment of 16,575 students. While these schools impart secular education. Missionary it is important to remember that their justifica- ^''"• tion from a missionary point of view lies in the fact that they are the means of bringing souls into the kingdom. The mission school has been, in missionary work in Egypt, an evan- gelizing agency. The Scriptures have generally served as primer and reader, and, with the knowledge of reading, the scholars receive a knowledge of the Gospel story. The mission teacher has usually been a sort of preacher and evangelist, and after school hours the mission building has often become a meeting house, and the school teacher has expounded the Word of God to the parents of scholars. That mission schools in the past have served pouege. the missionary purpose for which they are established, is proved by fifty years of history. 228 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Tbe College at Asslut is, perhaps, the most con- spicuous example of a strong Christian college. Its record is truly a remarkable one. It has liad under its influence, during its establishment, 4,000 different individuals. About 200 have taken the full course and graduated. Of these Avho graduated, seventy are ministers in the native Protestant Church in Egypt. Of the 288 men school teachers in Protestant schools in Egypt, 200 had their training in this College. In one year alone, recently, about 100, mostly undergraduates, went from the College to teach in village schools. The Christian influences which dominate the life of this College are very strong. The Col- lege Christian Union is an aggressive organiza- tion, and labors definitely to bring students to Christ. Sixty-two students made a public pro- fession of their faith in Christ during a recent year; thirty-five during another year. Seventy of the members of the Union have pledged them- selves to some form of Christian work. General contributions to religious work amount to about $500, while, in addition to this, half the support of a native missionary in the Sudan has been as- sumed by the Christian students of the College. A less easily defined, and yet an equally real, service which the Educational Work has rend- ered to the cause of Christianity in the Nile Val- Missionary Agencies 229 ley, is to win for it respect and honor from those in government service. A number of testi- monials of officials are on record. W. S. Charteris, Bey, Deputy Postmaster- General in Egypt: "You did me the honor to ask what I thought of the work of the American Mission in Upper Egypt as bearing on the pro- gress made in this country during the past few years. It is not for me to speak of the great moral and intellectual good your work has done, and is doing among the natives, but I consider it a great privilege to say, that I have long felt that it is in a great part owing to the labors of your Mission that the administration I am connected with has been so favorably spoken of by the numerous tourists who frequent Upper Egypt, and who see the work of Post Offices in the smallest villages as well as in the larger centers." E. A. Floyer, Inspector General of Egyptian Telegraph Service : "I am very glad to say what I think about your educational methods in Egypt. They have been of the greatest possible help to me in organizing a staff for my work. When I began work in Egypt in 1878, I quickly realized that the first essential was to instruct and bring up a new staff ah ovo. The Govern- ment schools, now in such thorough efficiency, were fallen into the same decay which then char- acterized every Department. I established my Testlmo- nialH. tions. 230 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Telegraph scliools and searched for likely re- cruits. I drew from the Ecole de Freres^ from Miss Whately's, and from the American Mis- sion. There is no question that the lads from the latter had a real business education." Heshmat Pasha, Egyptian Governor of the Province of Assiut : " I am able to say that both the city of Assiut and the whole Pro- vince have derived a very great deal of help from the presence of this institution. Through its influence thousands of our young men have been trained into chaste and noble character. Many of these have entered the school from most humble homes, often indeed from homes of pov- erty, and they are now living in comfortable and honorable stations of life. Some are occupying positions of trust in the Government both in Egypt and the Sudan, others have entered busi- ness life and agriculture, and others have be- come educators and ministers of the Gospel. And I have become thoroughly convinced of the excellent life and fidelity of every one of them with whom I have become personally acquaint- ed. In closing, I desire to repeat that this in- stitution has been and is indeed a great blessing to the whole Province of which I have the honor to be Governor." Lord Cromer's testimony has been given in an earlier chapter. Missionary Agencies 231 In recent years, however, the success of the educational method has been more limited. This is almost entirely due to the fact, that keen competition has arisen in the educational world. On the one hand, there is the government educa- tional policy which threatens to secularize the Christian schools. Studies required by govern- ment standards make it more and more difficult to give a large place to religious teaching, even in Christian schools. On the other hand, the cost of living in Egypt has increased and the standards of education have been heightened. Thus, increased cost of living makes the educa- tional method relatively more expensive while, at the same time, the raised standards of educa- tion and the pressure of required studies, make it a less effective method of work. These considerations have raised the question, whether a change of method is not called for. Egypt must be evangelized. The educational method of evangelization, while effective, in- volves too great a cost to permit, without almost unlimited resources, of its general and universal extension to so wide a field as must be occupied in Egypt. May not prayer, patience and conse- crated planning devise some other less expensive, but equally effective method ? Medical Work. 232 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Medical Worh It is strange that uot until recent years did medical work occupy a large place in missions in Egypt. Yet this method is acknowledged to be one of the best for work among Moslems. It may be that the success of educational work ab- sorbed the attention of the missions. The im- portant question, after all, in missionary work, is not what method is used, but whether access is really gained to the lives of the people, for the presentation of the Gospel. In the early efforts of the Moravians, we find that Dr. Ilocker's medical services often gained him an entrance and secured favors for him, and even for his fellow missionaries. The first med- ical missionary of the American Mission in Egypt was Dr. D. R. Johnston, who went to Egypt in 1868; while Dr. F. J. Harper began medical work for the C. M. S. Mission in 1888. Medical work may be carried on in three ways: by itinerating, by clinics, by hospitals. The first is the least, and the last is the most, localized. The ideal is to have all three methods. Only in recent years has medical work been carried on by means of hospitals. The advantages of the hospital are, that cases of greater gravity may there be cared for ; that the Missionary Agencies 233 missionary has a better opportunity for vindica- ting his medical skill, and thus gaining the con- fidence of a community; and that the hospital affords a better opportunity for imparting a knowledge of Christ and reaping a spiritual harvest. There are in Egypt four missionary hospitals, the Assiut Hospital, of the American United Presbyterian Mission; the Martha J. McKown Hospital, of the same Mission, and supported by the Women's Board of the Church in America ; and two Church Missionary Society Hospitals at Cairo. Two of these hospitals are for women, — the Hospital at Tanta, and the Ethel Pain Memorial Hospital of the Church Missionary Society in Cairo. As an example of the development of medical Assiut missionary work, the Assiut Hospital may be in- Hospital stanced. This hospital reports 2123 in-patients in 1905, besides 19,600 clinic cases. It is self- supporting, apart from the salaries of the for- eign missionaries. The name of the founder of the hospital. Dr. V. M. Henry, is known and loved throughout Upper Egypt. Eecently when he was ill, it was reported that even the Moslems were praying for his recovery. Touching so many lives and gaining such an influence upon them, the vital question with ref- erence to every hospital is, whether or not this 234 Egypt and the Christian Crusade wide opportunity which it enjoys, and this pow- erful influence which it exerts, are being used for the presentation of Christ to every patient. It is so easy for medical work, as for educational work, to become secularized. It is so easy for a medical missionary to shrink into a mere doctor, forgetting that he is a missionary. However, the reports of these hospitals testify to their en- deavors and their successes along missionary, as well as medical, lines. Each day, morning prayers encourage a Christ-ward look. Then, during the day, among patients whose condition will permit it, the Bible-reader of the hospital goes, telling of the Great Physician. Most effective of all, however, is the 'Svord in season" which the doctor him- self speaks to the patient. Unless a strong mis- sionary purpose characterize the doctor, it mat- ters not how devoted the nurses and Bible-read- ers are, the spiritual influences of the work will be weak. A recent report tells of a Moslem girl under treatment for necrosis of the ribs. She told the story of her spiritual experience as follows : "A Shining One came and touched my hand, saying, ^Gamela (meaning "beautiful"), all your sins are forgiven. I have taken them away. lN"ow you are clean.' I feared at first, but He was so gentle, I wanted to see Him agai^." And the Keacliii- Missionary Agencies 235 missionary adds in the report, "The smile upon her face was so peaceful after her moaning and crying, that her words seemed true." The results of medical work are not easily influences traced, as the lives that are influenced are scat- tered over a wide area. Xow and again, the in- fluence of medical work comes to light in a place far removed from the hospital. A native pas- tor, reporting his work during a preceding year, says: *'I have visited a village where there are three Protestants. The first of these was a woman converted at the Assiut Hospital. While Dr. Henry treated her, he talked to her of Christ. God blessed his words, and she returned home full of the grace of God. She has been doing the work of an evangelist in her household and village. She has been the means of two men being converted. She has learned to read and write, and has taught some of lier family. Morning and evening, she gathers them to- gether for reading and prayer." The localized work is likely to receive so much attention, that no opportunity is left for medical work away from the main station. Yet two considerations urge work at out-stations. One is the advertisement more widely of the hospital; the other, is the needs of those who cannot come to a hospital for treatment. Medi- cal work, away from the hospital, may be car- 236 Egypt and the Christian Crusade ried on by clinics, or by itinerating. The clinic takes less time, for the doctor may go by rail twice a week to some neighboring town and hold a clinic, treating hundreds every month. Clin- ics are usually opened at larger towns. There are, therefore, still the smaller towms and the villages. These can be reached by itinerating, and, in Egypt, the ISTile Boat is a great agency in such work. This furnishes the missionary with a clean and comfortable home, while almost all sections of the country may be thus reached by water. The Church Missionary Society has developed most effectively this method of itinerating by boat, doing medical missionary work. Some de- lightful sketches of this work are to be found in "River, Sand and Sun" by Minna C. Gollock. CHAPTER IX FINAL VIOTOEY In every ffreat movement there are three es- r.Hsentiais ^ . , of success. sentials to success. There must be a conviction of tlie possibility of success. There must also be an adequate appreciation of the magnitude and character of the task to be performed. And, finally, those things must be done and those resources provided by which success can be achiered. Three similar factors condition a favorable issue for the missionary enterprise in the land of Egypt. In this concluding chapter, therefore, the encouraging results of past efforts, the work yet remaining to be done, and the re- quirements of the missionary movement, will be brought into review. Results Ave the results of past efforts such as to war- rant belief in the possibility of ultimate success for the missionary enterprise ? The answer can be given from several points of view. 1. Numbers: From the point of view of Numbers, mere numbers, the results are startling. Re- membering the strength of the enemy, the dog- 17 237 238 Egypt and the Christian Crusade matism of the Coptic Church and the fanatical opposition of Islam ; remembering the absence of pomp and prestige characterizing missionary agencies, the numerical insignificance of these agencies and the limitation of their material re- sources; remembering, finally, the power of re- ligious prejudice, the influence of public opin- ion, the strong grip of social customs, all of these hostile to the missionary movement; is it not marvelous that a record of numerical growth can be presented such as marks the membership of the Protestant Church in Egypt ? It reads, in periods of five years since 1854, as follows: 0—4— 69 — 180— 596— 985— 1688— 2971— 4554—6379—8639.* The increase of the population from 1846 to 1882 was 52 per cent. The increase of the Pro- testant Church membership from 1859 — when the first four converts were received — to 1882 is 29100 per cent. The increase of the popula- tion from 1882 to 1897 was 42.86 per cent. The increase of the Protestant Church member- ship during the same period was 358.47 per cent. Quality of 2. Character of Conversions: It has been well said that converts should be weighed, not counted. We accept the challenge, and will- ♦These figures are those of the American Mission. Add, in later periods, 100 for other missions. Final Victory 239 ingly weigh as well as count the results of past efforts. In this, however, it is only fair to take notice of the depths of degradation out of which many have been lifted. There pre those in the Nile Valley who to-day are "washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God," who once were, literally, "fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, ef- feminate, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners." It is only right, too, that ^\e es- timate here the cost of a confession of Christ in the Xile Valley for there are instances of men, women and even little children, who have, liter- ally, had "trial of cruel mockings and scourg- ings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprison- ments." Waiving, however, all these special considera- tions, there have been, and are, among the leaders and members of the Protestant community, men who would compare favorably with the best in Western Christendom. The annals of missions in Egypt tell of prominent characters and strik- ing personalities enrolled in the Protestant Church, — men of wealth, men of influence and position, men of wonderful piety and spiritual- ity, men of liberality, men of strong mental power and energy. The limits of this book alone have crowded out a fuller reference to them. To the rich as well as to the poor, to tho 240 Egypt and the Christian Crusade learned as well as to the ignorant, the Gospel has proved itself, in the Nile Valley, the power of God and the wisdom of God. It is objected, at times, that the majority of the conversions are from the membership of tlie Coptic Church. This is true, but the objection is irrelevant. In tunneling the mountain, there is the sand and the soft earth, as well as the granite; both must be cleared away. While progress with the former is easier and more rapid, yet it is necessary also, and its 'emoval is vitally related not only to the completion of the tunnel, but also to freedom iu attacking the more resisting strata of stone. But the mis- sionary agencies in Egypt have not ignored the Moslems. More than one-fifth of the scholars enrolled in the schools of the American Mission are Moslems, — a large proportion, considering the hostility of the Moslem to Christianity and his loyalty to his traditional system of education. Then, too, there have been converts from Is- lam, few in proportion, to be sure — perhaps a hundred through the work of the American Mis- sion, and possibly some fifty through other mis- sions, — yet these are the first fruits of a great harvest. Many Moslems now believe with their hfearts, but are afraid to make an open confes- sion because of extreme persecution. If men doubt the power of the Gospel to reach the Mos- Life. Final Victory 241 lem, they should listen to the reports of 16,000 Moslems converted in the East Indies, and 5,000 in India ; they should read anew the story of the conversion of Ahmed Fahmi in Egypt, or that remarkable leaflet published by the Egypt Gen- eral Mission, ^'The Story of a Moslem Sheikh ;" or they should visit Cairo to-day and attend a meeting for Moslems conducted by Mikhail Mansur, now a convert to Christianity, but for- merly a Moslem, and a student in the Azhar University; or, finally, they should weigh the significance of the change of the Moslem world in Egypt in its attitude toward Christianity. organic 3. Organizations: The power of a living organization is greater than that of an individ- ual. The development of organic life is often more significant, therefore, than the winning of an individual. Ten thousand converts scattered throughout the ISTile Valley would be an inspir- ing record, but the establishment and develop- ment of a well-organized Protestant Church is even a more wonderful achievement. The influence of the Evangelical Church in Egypt is greater and more far-reaching than the numerical representation of its membership would indicate. The superior intelligence, the high moral standards, the greater responsiveness to Western ideas, which obtain in the Evangeli- cal Community of Egypt, to say nothing of the Weak Points. 242- Egypt and the Christian Crusade spiritual power of its life, have made this Pro- testant Church and its community known and respected throughout the entire country. The earlier persecution of converts by Moslems and the deliberate campaigns of opposition on the part of the Coptic hierarchy, testify to their re- cognition of the growing influence of the new faith. The Evangelical Church in Egypt, of course, has weak points, and tendencies against which she will need to guard herself. In the Orient especially, the danger from formalism is great. There could be little danger of formalism in days gone by, when men left a tradi- tional faith in the face of bitter persecu- tion to become members of a new and despised Church; but that danger has developed to-day. For the Protestant Church is respected to-day, and it is a mark of some advancement to be reckoned a Protestant. The danger is particu- larly great that those who have been born in the Church — for the Church has come to the second generation of her existence — will hold allegiance to the reformed faith with the same formality with which others hold to-day to the false teach- ings and corrupt practises of the Coptic Church. There is also danger lest prejudice to Islam and to converts from Islam, should hinder this Church from exercising her widest influence Final Victory 243 >^ 1 i ! 1 I \ \ \ ^ e S ^ 1 Tn.^^ \ s. > \, t, z E 5 \ j Off r ^, ? -j < 1 t \ V u o z < * 1. u O 4 % r t - - ^ O I < V ^ 1 K i i * %. 244 Egypt and the Christian Crusade among Moslems. It would be easy for the hatred of Copt for Moslem, born of centuries of suffering from Moslem oppression, to pass over into the Protestant Church with the large ac- cessions wdiich this Church has received from the Coptic body. Against this, missionaries and Church leaders must set their faces as flint, or the Evangelical Church will miss her true calling to become a ISTational Church for Egypt. The remarkable material prosperity of the country and the pursuit of wealth, necessarily threaten to undermine the spirituality, and the evangelistic and missionary spirit of the Evan- gelical Church. It used to be that every con- vert carried a Testament about with him and be- came a teacher of the truth which he had ac- cepted. The self-extending zeal of the Church must not be allowed to wane, else the missionary enterprise will prove a hopeless failure. For foreign agencies alone or chiefly, can never ac- complish the evangelization of Egypt. Good "But the native Evangelical Church has admir- Points. r{\yiQ qualities which form a large part of the en- couraging results of missions in ^Egypt. This ChurcK is devoted to the Scriptures. To this testify the wide sale of the Scriptures, the con- stant appeal to the Word of God for vindication and proof, and the Scriptural preaching of pas- tors and evangelists. This Church is also de- Final Victory 245 voted to attendance upon religious services. To this witness the records of religious meetingd held every day for long periods of time in many places, while it is refreshing to a Western visitor to notice both the predominance of men and the fact that usually, the attendance at church ser- vices will be twice as large as a congregation's membership. This native Church has also a pure worship. In this, it recommends Christianity to Moslems. The simplicity of the service and the absence of pictures, disabuse the Moslem mind of every suggestion of idolatry, which he has ordinarily associated with Christian worship. As in Sy- ria, so in Egypt, Moslems say ''If we become Christians, we will become Protestants." This Church is also loyal to the missionaries. On the whole, there has been little friction such as has often appeared in native Churches of other fields, between the native and the foreign missionary. Even those who have deliberately tried to sow dissension and schism, have had lit- tle success. This is an earnest, for the future, of many years of harmonious and effective co- operation of foreign and native workers for the evangelization of Egypt. There is in the Church, also, a fine mission- Missionar, . . . Spirit. ary or evangelistic spirit. Here lies the secret of the rapid growth of the Church during the 246 Egypt and the Christian Crusade past half century. Every member was a worker. The obligation to extend the kingdom by personal work, was accepted as an inevitable corollary to the enjoyment of the privileges of salvation. In this connection, the liberality of the Church deserves some mention. Again and again have lots been donated, or buildings been erected by prominent members, for school and church purposes. Passing by all monies paid in as fees to missionary schools, hospitals and bookstores, and considering only the contribu- tions of the Protestants for regular church pur- poses, we find an aggregate of thirty thousand dollars contributed annually. Many, indeed, tithe their incomes. Once thoroughly fired with a zeal for carrying the Gospel to the whole of Egypt and to the Sudan, this Church will co- operate mightily with the foreign forces in seek- ing to accomplish the evangelization of Egypt. The intellectual superiority of Protestants to Copts and Moslems has been proved by statis- tics. This also manifests itself in the life of the Evangelical Church in the clear grasp which its members have of religious truth. Protestant- ism entered Egypt at the point of the sword, but it was the Sword of Truth. Doctrinal debate was the atmosphere in which the young Church grew and developed strength. The Evangelical Church is, therefore, on the whole of a doctrin- Final Victory 247 arian type. To this, under the blessing of God, she owes her steadfastness in the midst of heret- ical tendencies and distorted teachings. Yet this very characteristic suggests her need for leadership, that she may also develop symmetri- cally, along lines of practical Christianity. It may also help to explain an apparent reluctance to encourage evangelistic methods, which, though legitimate, might be carried to extremes of emotionalism. On the other hand, it is also true that the Egyptian religious type is pietistic. Not that the Egyptian attains to the sublime religious rapture which characterizes his brother Christian in India, nor that he is capable of such lofty philosophic meditation; but he has a natural appreciation of that piety which re- nounces the pleasure of this life for fellowship with the Lord. There are, therefore, pastors and church members in the Evangelical Church who make fasting, not a means of salvation, but a real means of grace and spiritual quickening. This Evangelical Church, with her forty or- Agency. dained ministers, her membership of some ten thousand, her community of about twenty-five thousand, her hold upon truth, her liberality, her prestige and influence — although, also, with her imperfections and limitations of develop- ment — may well stand to the forefront among the results which God hath wrought through the 248 Egypt and the Christian . Crusade weak human instrumentalities of the past, that His people may challenge Him to greater works in the future by their fuller surrender unto Him for service. 4. Social and Religious Changes: Even where a definite victory cannot be reported, every army reckons among the valuable results of its military movements the winning of strat- egic positions, or the forcing of the enemy to re- treat. Just so in the Christian Crusade, the re- constructions of religious and social conditions, under pressure of the Gospel, are to be reckoned as deeply significant for the ultimate success of the missionary enterprise. Moslem Moslcm life and thought in Egypt are under- going far-reaching changes. The late Mufti, Mohammed Abdu, who stood for the reforma- tion of Islam, is gone. Although the conserva- tive forces, since his death, seem to be again in the ascendency, his influence still lives, and the reconstruction of Islam, or its disintegration, cannot be prevented. In 1877, the baptism of Ahmed Fahmi was followed by a persecution which threatened his life and led to his with- drawal from the country. Again, in 1883, even after the British Occupation, Mohammed Ha- blb was exiled to Cyprus, because he forsook the Moslem faith and became a Christian. Yet during a recent year, nine adult Mohammedans Final Victory 249 were baptized by one Mission, and several by another, without arousing more than a passing feeling among Moslems. It is trne, that in November, 1905, a fanatical ci-owd of Moslems surged about the American Mission at Cairo and created a considerable riot. The inflamma- tory speeches, the appeals to "the Day that is coming," the shouts and yells which character- ized that meeting, revealed the fanatical spirit which still lives in Islam, though it seems to slumber at times. ISTevertheless, it is also true that meetings for Moslems for the discussion of religion, are held to-day with a freedom and pub- licity which were out of the question two decades ago. The first Ecumenical Conference of Workers among Moslems, held in Cairo, in 1906, re- vealed that a change was taking place through- out almost the entire Moslem world in the atti- tude of Moslems to Christianity. The least crumbling of adamantine walls of Islam, may well herald the dawm of a new day of opportun- ity and effectiveness in the presentation of the Son of God to the followers of the Arabian pro- phet. X • 1 i 1 Coptic In a previous chapter, some changes were Reforms. Qoted, affecting the Coptic Church. If these reforms were only thorough-going and abiding, the missionary would rejoice in seeing the his- 250 Egypt and the Christian Crusade toric Coptic Church becoming a truly evangeli- cal Church. The efforts of the early C. M. S. missionaries, however, the judgment of Bishop Gobat, and the experience of missionaries since his day, testify to the hopelessness of awaiting such a transformation. ISTevertheless, the changes and reforms which do occur, inadequate as they have proved to be, tell of the power which the Gospel has had and of the greater power which it may yet have. Egyptian Most eucouragiug among the results now vis- hood. " i^^6) is the change in the condition of woman. The wall which it was thought impossible to scale in India, has been scaled in Egypt, as in India. In the seclusion of the Egyptian harem to-day, the Gospel is preached, and better still, out of its seclusion and ignorance and sin, Mos- lem girls pass into the pure, uplifting influences of mission boarding or day schools. Among the results, we may count not only the seven hundred lives thus directly influenced, but the thousands of others, Moslem girls and women, in whose hearts a hunger has been created for something better than the empty gossip of the harem. We may count, also, the fathers and young men who have caught a new vision of womanhood that prevents the former from consenting to have daughters, or the latter wives, who are without education. Final Victory 251 Again the question is asked, Are the results of past efforts such as to warrant belief in the possibility of ultimate success for the mission- ar}' enterprise ? Calling to mind again the difli- culties, the opposition, the hostile faiths, the unworthy instruments in the face of which these magnificent results — of numerical gains, of char- acter and worth, of influential organizations, of social and religious changes — have been gained, can we doubt for a single moment the possibility of achieving ultimate victory through the Gos- pel which God has committed unto us. Magnitude of the Task The Christian conquest of Egypt is no holi- day task. It is easy to overlook the difficulties. It is easy to so emphasize successes that an im- pression is left that the work is almost done. There are those who have gone so far as to say that the time has already come, if not for the withdrawal of foreign forces, at least for the limitation of these forces to their present strength. IN'ever, however, will the missionary enterprise reach a successful issue, until the Church gains a more adequate conception of the magnitude of her task and of the work which still remains to be done. 252 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Intensity of Dtfficalty. Extnnt of Need. In the chapters on the people and their re- ligions, a statement was made of the doctrinal position and the practises which characterize religions life in Egypt. But no statement can do justice to the power of resistance which a re- ligion like Islam possesses. And Islam is the missionary problem of Egypt. "When a soul is held down, not by one root only, but by a myriad roots, who is sufficient to deliver it?" What Adoniram Judson, said of Burma, is the rule of Islam in Egypt to-day. "When any person is known to be considering the new Religion, all his relations and acquaintances rise en masse; so that to get a new convert is like pulling out the eye-tooth of a live tiger." To the deadness of the individual conscience, the depravity of the individual heart, and the weakness of the indi- vidual will, we must add that tremendous aggre- gate of influence which a religious system, the most fanatical known, and a social world of over nine million units, can exert upon an individual life. Then we begin to realize something of the magnitude of this task from the point of view of its intensity. The extent of the problem, however, requires consideration. Emphasis was laid upon the en- couraging numerical results of missionary ef- forts in the past. These are, indeed, calculated to prove to us the possibility of success. But f^inal Victory 253 what are these results in tlie presence of the great need ! For every Protestant Christian, there are, one Jew, about three Catholics, moro than 26 Copts, and 369 Moslems — one evangel- ical Christian for every 399 who are not. In this comparison, we have followed the cen- sus of 1897, and counted every evangelical Christian, whether a Church member or not. What these figures mean, will be appreciated when we remember that in the United States, there is one church memher, to every three who are not. Three hundred and ninety-nine to one, as against three to one ! And would we ven- ture to compare for a moment the three in Amer- ica who are not Church members with Moslems or Copts in Egypt ? All the Protestant Missions working in Egypt, report 107 permanent foreign workers, not counting missionaries' wnves who are not in charge of regular work. We find, therefore, that, on an average, every missionary has a parish of over 80,000 souls. It is true that we have with us "the God of impossibilities," and we read, " Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand." But it is also true that in the spiritual conquest ot tlie world, human agencies must bear some proper relation to the work which is to be accomplished, and God will 18 254 Egypt and the Christian Crusade not permit men to make faith in Him the sub- terfuge for spiritual sloth and selfishness. An To bring out the need, let us look at a district District, t-hat has been occupied ( ?), the city of Alexan- dria. Here is a city almost exactly as large, ac- cording to accurate census, as the city of Pitts- burgh, Pa. Forty years ago, the United Presby- terian Church began work in the city, although neither an adequate force of workers, nor an ade- quate equipment of mission premises, have ever been available for the development of missionary work in Alexandria. This city is the second largest city in Egypt. It has a native Egyptian population of 273,648, of whom 254,353 are Moslems. What are the Protestant missionary forces working in this city ? There are four Societies working among the natives of the city. One is the British and For- eign Bible Society, with a bookstore and two col- porteurs. Another is the Egypt Mission Band, with two unmarried English women in charge of a small school for girls. Another is the North African Mission, with an English ordained mis- sionary and his wife, and two unmarried English women missionaries. The last is the American Mission of the United Presbyterian Church, the oldest and strongest missionary agency in the city. It has two ordained American mission- aries with their wives, and three unmarried Final Victory 255 women missionaries. The Mission has a good church building, and a splendid lot, but no ' money with which to erect mission premises. It has four schools. Summing up, there are in Alexandria labor- aud^pat"* ing to reach its large Moslem and Coptic com- buigu. munities, three ordained foreign missionaries and their wives, seven unmarried foreign women missionaries, one native congregation of about one hundred members with a native ordained pastor in charge, some four points where services are held, and six Protestant schools for natives. From Alexandria, Egypt, our thought turns to Pittsburgh, Pa., which has an equal population, and has its slums and its spiritual needs, too, but which has also about two hundred Protestant churches, with a membership of over 66,000, al- most two hundred pastors, and some fifty other resident ministers; that has so many other or- ganizations and forces, specializing in one dir- ection or another, yet laboring together for the moral and spiritual redemption of the city. Somehow, without detracting from the need of this American city, it helps us to grasp the spiritual destitution of that other city, along the Mediterranean shore. 256 Egypt and the Christian Crusade America Another illustration may set forth the need. and £gypt. , , "^ The combined population of the States of Ohio and Pennsylvania is very slightly in excess of PITTSBURGH, PA. Population (1900), 321,616 195 Protestant churches. 186 Protestant pastors. 54 Protestant ministers. 66,000 Protestant church members. 7 Young Men's Christian Associations — 5967 members. 3 Young Women's Christian Associations — 2827 members, 4 Salvation Army corps ; 200 workers, 2000 adherents. 190 Sabbath Schools Etc., etc., etc., etc. Statistics of Protestant Christian Work la Pittsburgh, Pa. Final Victory 257 that of Egypt. It is iu these two States, that the strength of the United Presbyterian Church lies. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, the United Pres- ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Population (1897), 319,766: natives, 273,648; foreigners, 46,118 1 Protestant native congregation. 1 Protestant native pastor. 180 Protestant natives. 3 Foreign ordained missionaries. 7 Unmarried foreign women missionaries. Foreign population. Statistics of Protestant Cliristian Work in Alexandria, Egypt 258 Egypt and the Christian Crusade bjterian Church has 464 ordained ministers. Among an ahnost eqnal population in Egypt whose evatigelization Providence has committed to the United Presbyterian Church, this Church has just 61 ordained ministers, counting both foreign and native. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, the United Presbyterian Church has 62,690 members ; and there are, in this territory, a few other evangelical denominations at work. In Egypt, the American Mission reports some 8639 members, and the church membership of all other Protestant Missions will not exceed one hundred more. But such a comparison is superficial. To make it even approximately true, we must go through the vast population of these two noble States, and we must tear down the Christian schools, burn the Bibles, blot out the libraries, we must rob every home of its Christian home- life, make 94 out of every 100 ignorant of the alphabet, degrade women to a position of slavery, reorganize the political system on a Moham- medan basis, make Friday a legal holiday and ignore the Sabbath entirely ; we must enter with- in men's souls and make them devoid of Chris- tian sentiment, deprive them of Chrstian ideals, instil a large measure of cruelty, hate and lust, — and then^ as we send forth our 61 preachers and scatter from Philadelphia to Cincinnati Final Victory 259 8639 church members, we will come nearer real- izing the spiritual needs of Egyj^t to-day. The Price of Victory "God alone can save the world, but God can- **''^*'»* not save the world alone." It sounds strange, to say that God needs men. Christ said, "With- out me ye can do nothing," and we are making Him say, "Without you, I can do nothing." But there is a sense in which it is true, for men are in God's plan for working out His will. His Church is in that plan. Every Christian, too, is in that plan, somewhere. God might have made the plan differently perhaps. Every- thing could have been different, but we take things as they are, when we say God needs men. Isaiah has revealed the will of God for Egypt : "Jehovah shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day .... for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, say- ing, Blessed be Egypt, my people" This then is God's will. There can be no doubt about it. To realize this will, God needs men. This is the price of His victory, and ours. 1. The Man of Vision: Almost the greatest Men of need of the missionary enterprise to-day is for ^*''*"** men of vision. Back of every successful move- ment there stands a man of vision, a man who 260 Egypt and the Christian Crusade saw the possibilities. The initial command is, ''Lift up jour eyes, and look." The initial need is for men who will see the possibilities for an evangelized, a redeemed Egypt. J^ot all Christians have caught that vision, either for Egypt or for any part of the world, and so they do not support missions. Not all who support missions have caught that vision, and so they give grudgingly; they do not give themselves. Not all who have given themselves, and even become missionaries, have caught that vision, and while they serve usefully, they do not inspire others. The need is for men of vision. They are needed in the pulpit. Such men hold up the possibility of doing the thing which God com- mands. They hold up the possibility of doing the thing now, which Christ asked His Church long ago not only to do, but to get done. They see, and they make others see, that what God commands must be quite possible, both because His commands are always reasonable and be- cause He helps those who try to obey. It is a strange thing, that while Christ said to His Church, nineteen centuries ago, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," almost one-half the world is still beyond the reach of any messenger of Jesus Christ. It is, of course, because the Church has Final Victory 261 not felt the full obligation of the Command. But it is more strange still, that where Christ's disciples have really begun to obey, so few of them have thought it possible to ever get the Command fully obeyed. Believing as they did, it was natural not to really plan, or try, to get the world evangelized. Men of vision are needed, then, to hold is it a before the Church both the obligation and the '""""^'"♦y^ possibility of evangelizing Egypt and the world, until, assuming that obligation, the whole Church shall bend her energies toward getting the will of God done upon earth. That is what the Church is organized for, that there "might be made known through the Church, the mani- fold wisdom of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Men of vision see this. They get others to see it. The clearest and fullest vision that men have caught in recent times for the redemption of Egypt, is that which the missionaries in Egypt had, Avhen they sent to America an appeal for 2 SO missionaries. Those who signed the appeal may find that more than that number of mission- aries will be needed. They may find that a great many more things will be needed besides mis- sionaries. But they were men of vision, be- cause they were planning to get Egypt really 262 Egypt and the Christian Crusade evangelized and realize God's will in that coun- try. The missionary enterprise needs men who will hold up that vision before the Church, until the thing is done, whatever it costs. Men of 2. The Man of Prayer: From Sumatra, Hester I^eedham once wrote, "I believe we are in the midst of a great battle. We are not our- selves fighting, we are simply accepting every- thing that comes; but the Powers of Light are fighting against the Powers of Darkness." Paul often wrote in that same vein. That is why men of praj^er are needed. The forces to be overcome are spiritual, and only the spiritual can overcome them. Some of them are superhuman, and the merely human is not strong enough to overpower them. So we make our appeal to spiritual power, to the super- human. We pray to God, We conquer on our knees. It doesn't matter where we are, we can help in the conflict. This world of ours is a sort of closed circuit and what is done in America helps or hinders across the sea, in Egypt. The man of prayer in America can generate spiritual power which is instantly available in the Kile Valley. He can turn defeat into victory for the missionary in Egypt. He can baptize the native worker with power, and give courage to the nev; Final Victory 2G3 and timid convert. It is all verj simple and plain to the man of prayer. We said that almost the greatest need is for the man of vision. The greatet^t need of all, however, -without any exception, is for the man of prayer. Dr. A. T. Pierson once compared prayer to electricity, and men of prayer to cells in a battery. Sometimes, of course, conditions hinder the individual cell from generating the greatest amount of power possible. But even where all are in good condition, there is often need for more power. Then, the number of cells in the battery has to be increased. The missionary enterprise needs a greater number of men of prayer. A recent visit to the fields, is the ground for testifying that over there, in Egypt, there are channels for spiritual power to-day unfilled, agencies to-day inoper- ative, lives to-day unfruitful, organizations to- day ineffective — dead, lifeless machinery wait- ing to be vitalized by the Spirit of Life in an- swer to prayer. A new phrase has been coined. It is "inter- cessory missionaries." An intercessory mis- sionary is one who selects a worker abroad and undertakes to pray definitely anrl daily for that worker. Each missionary in Egypt ought to be supported by a group of intercessory mis- sionaries, men of prayer. Wealth, 264 Egypt and the Christian Crusade "If we are simplj to prav," said J. Hudson Taylor of China, ''to the extent of a simple and pleasant and enjoyable exercise, and know noth- ing of watching in prayer and of weariness in prayer, we shall not draw down the blessing that we may. We shall not sustain our missionaries who are overwhelmed with the appalling dark- ness of heathenism We must serve God even to the point of suffering." When we say tiat the missionary enterprise in Egypt calls for men of prayer, we mean men of prayer after that sort. Men of 3. The Man of Wealth : A book which needs to be wi'itten is "The Gospel for an Age of Wealth." However, the book is in process of writing. He Who sits ''over against the treas- ury" is writing it to-day by His Spirit in the lives of His faithful stewards. It has in it a chapter on "Faithfulness in Little," another on "Faithfulness in Much," another on "Joy." The book is especially needed for our age and country. Individual fortunes in America have already reached limits that were unheard of and unthought of in ancient times, even for kings. And not only have a few attained to great wealth, but the middle classes also enjoy comforts and privileges that were known to only the wealth- iest classes in days gone by. So almost every- body needs the book. Final Victory 205 The peculiar thing about the wealth of Amer- icans is, that it is not really earned for the most part. It is discovered. We have happened upon a country of great resources. Its prairies are possessed of untold fertility. Its hills are seamed with rich coal mines. Its valleys hide springs of valuable oil for burning. Its subter- raneous caves are great storehouses of natural gas. Its mountains are covered with the finest forests, and their fissures are filled with the costliest minerals. And we happened upon this wealth. Xot that Americans are lazy or sloth- ful. On the contrary, they love to work, and they work hard to bring the wealth of Nature into their storehouses and barns. But the wealth they gather is enormously out of proportion to the labor expended. It is really a gift, a gift of !N'ature, a gift of God. These great resources which have been sud- denly opened up and which make Americans wealthier, as a class, than people in Europe, must be in God's plan. These great resources are meant by Him to be used, not wasted ; wisely invested, not foolishly spent. This climax of wealth is a wonderful opportunity for the King- dom of God, if only God can have His way with men of wealth, not men of great wealth only, but men of little wealth, too. 266 Egypt and the Christian Crusade Waiting gQ Christ waits. As He waits. He is win- Winning, aiiig to Himself men of wealtli — men of limited wealth and men of great wealth. "Touching the tender and bleeding and kingly hands of their Divine Master, aiid standing under the shadow of the cross," men of wealth are acknowledging His sovereignity over their lives and are saying to Him, Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do with Thy wealth ? Then comes Christ's opportunity. He speaks of His great enterprise, the missionary enter- prise. It is big, big like the wealth of the coun- try. It is international, world-wide. He asks men of wealth to enter into partnership with Him in this enterprise ; to be His stewards, since they acknowledge that the wealth they hold is His. It is the opportunity of our country and of our age to launch the missionary movement on an adequate scale. The scale of it ! That is where the fault lies. The great railroad systems of our country are doubling and quadrupling their tracks. Why ? Because railroad service with a single track is not on a scale which will care for the business. With a quarter of a million dying in Egypt each year, the worse than "single track system" of one missionary to 80,000 is in- adequate, hopelessly so. The tracks need to be Final Victory 267 doubled and quadrupled. And men of some wealth must do it. Special openings occur for the investment of Special wealth. A college for the Delta would capture and hold for Christ the citadel of knowledge in Lower Egypt. For fifteen years the matter lias been agitated, but the money has not come. A half a million dollars would be needed. In the fourth century, Ptolemy did not hesitate to spend a fortune to build the Pharos, a many- storied tower ''for the salvation of navigators." Is there no one in the twentieth century to build for sixty or a hundred thousand dollars at that same city of Alexandria, a building for the eter- nal salvation of landsmen as well as of seamen ? And so we might go on, from station to station, pointing out the places wdiere the work and Christ wait for the man of wealth. Will this age of wealth last forever in our land ? Perhaps beyond this and other genera- tions, but God grant that speedily this magnifi- cent and daring project, Christian Missions, may be launched on an adequate scale and pushed thi'ough to a successful issue, with the resources which are really Christ's but which lie has com- mitted "in trust" to the man of wealth. 4. The Man Himself: "Some one must go, inveKtment and if no one else will go, he who hears the call must go; I hear the call, for indeed God has 268 Egypt and the Christian Crusade brought it before me on every side, and go I must." So spoke Henry W. Fox, of India. And Christ waits for men like Fox who will go. This is the price of victory. It was the price Christ paid. "We must remember that it was not by interceding for the world in glory that Jesus saved it. He gave Himself. Our pray ers for the evangelization of the world, are but a bitter irony so long as we only give of our su- perfluity, and draAv back before the sacrifice of ourselves." Yet there are so many hindrances. Friends object. Satan hinders. It really is strange that men break through at all, and succeed in reaching the foreign field. "Some of us almost shudder now to think how nearly we stayed at home," wrote a missionary. But the Command abides, "Go." And the ISTeed is greater there than here, one Christian to every three, here ; one to every three hundred and ninety-nine out there, in the Nile Valley. A hundred years from now, will some things matter, or will This ? And is not Christ there ? "Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world." And, after all,is not Life there? "Whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel's, shall save it." Shall we not pay the price of victory, and "win for the Lamb that was slain, the reward of His sufferings ?" APPENDIX 19 270 Appendix I H M ^ Pi ^ ■ W o w o « «o oTt-^OO rfToO t- T-l ^ M M O M ■^ •« O O ■rj* CO k« *— I t^ 00 00 t-^ »-^ 00 t- to O* O 0> O* Oi Oi 1—1 «D -^ O CO N 00 00 ^ ^ CO ** CO Tj< lO CO t— c^ o^ 05^ o^ co" ^m'oo CO ir^ «o CD C^ CO ^^ *~ <0 CO 00 cc t^ t— c^ ^ CO lO Oi CD CO OC 00 ur5 vO rH lO OS M C^ f^ -rj* -^ O O r-i'ff M CO >-l « o ,-1 M O 1~- 00 m t- t- o> O «5 t- i>r oTcD ia<'"i^o CO N N ^ CO OS I- «g OS CO !>• *» C^ ^ ^'-' o o 00 CO in «o fi^ CO O lO CD ^ e-J^,-4^1^ CC^rJI I^ 1— OS ^ t— "^ "^ CO T*l M OS t- «0 CO t- t- C<1 M 00 o QJ u Q (3 Sp 3> jd ^' ►< s b: so«cc-i eCMt-NO»<-i«OM i-^t- e^ OS M 00 oc 05^ -fO'i'e^ = — b-£-1 ec c^ -*■ ■« t- «c t- (M > u Of m a. a. o j; Sj2 xa - '^ 5 '5 ^ *"* m ^ * 3 c « fe c5 S -^ 5 iai ^ _; T3 272 Appendix II M lOiO 1-t OOOSO'^'iO^W'* 1—1 00 OSOS CCOOiO»«C>rt t, Tti cc r)i 00 -*" c-> CO lO e^ ;tl 1—1 rH O CO -*< 5^^ 'i^ -^ M M N M tCo l-^O CO u^r-TcOr-H-^CCT-tt-lOCOOTji e^ ■^ lO rH CO u^rH t- C<)-i*OM'1*COOIMM (M CC -)< CO CO C4 CO O^ t^ f^ >« OO oTcO^ ^ C© CO OS -^ C<1 O CO CO r-H ^lO "» ios^-*o»coc-)Oi- O C-1 CO CO t-* CO "^ cc c^ ei' co" ofT c-r 'O oo CO CO ocj o CO CO CS I— I »o t^ 00MCOt-I^CO-i a "2 ^ 2 -H -.-. ca ^3 7; H --s --< W !;^ .^ s s *- M 3 to CO a r, •- t^ i a p^ co' Oj t) OS ... a, oj Appendix III 273 APPENDIX III PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING OF FOREIGN WORDS AND PROPER NAMES The rules of tte Royal Geographical Society have been gener- ally observed in the spelling of all foreign words and proper names quoted in this book. It is especially important to observe the pho- netic value uf i and u : i is always pronounced as in machme ; u as in fl«te. The following table gives a number of the letters and their equivalents : Letters Pronunciation and Remarks EXAMI-LES a aa m father. a as in fate English e; i as in ravine oasinnole • long u as in flute; the sound of oo in boot.... All vowels are shortened in sound by doubling the following consonant as in aisle, or English i in ice oiv as in how ;••■ practically the same as ei in the English eight, or ey in the English they is always a consonant, as in yard Java Yezo Fiji Tokio Zulu Tanna Shanghai Fuchau Beirut Doleib Kikuyu 274 Appendix IV to w t> t-t H < o O t-H Pi o o w w w O p^ P^ O o I— I CO <1 H CO Suipnpni iiaoAV snopBJS niBiM IBiox saaino -« —I .NtH ■*«tOr1r-lrt OO^t-l rtr-C SJaqDBax looqDS SiSipgUBAg pauiBpaonn «3K paniBpjO sj3dj3H WJ3X ^JOHS 30JOJ inauBHiaad iBlOi uaiao^i. pauJBinnn uanxpAi. 'sJopoQ IBOipaiM naw 'sJopoQ iBDipajM naraXEi naiv paniEpao ;aod3H ni papnjDni aB3A in to Oi w P) ■«> T-i CO ■^ C^l »C fH IM ■'J'C^ .(Ne^ O OOOOOOO idXSa «} uBSaq 31JOa1 03 9 9S O a) 2 Km.?; 9 > Ma 5 4> u y (SKSffl^OtNOC ^ A. « M 3 O oS-o f1 .Ji •-0° C3 O m in '0 ^*2 t. u l^« p o is & o-S a a ccW« 'K 'Sj "o fl to SS " 3 c a ^ J 2**1' H H g OU^i CO w ?> H i o 52; « l-H Q M W f^ P o % ^ (—1 H H S^ Ph O K- a :^, > t— ( y-K w ^ y. o hH yj Q t/j ^ S W H 1^ Appendix IV 275 ■£-;r'0'S n q_, U2 g (-1 ■-- O S '^ t; o "^ -2 o H I- J3 O O^S O JJ l* snoi;E33a3noo I g ^ siuEOiuniunioo o Pi Ph soinjxo SlU3{lBd-UI s;Bi}dsoH sijdna iB^iox SIOOIIDS IB^ox STUBS ni sijdnd S3U6aim9S soiBs ni sijdnd lO O -^ t^ -^ »-■ O »C t' 1-1 OC CO Oi --I ■* >-"-< X siooqDS h3ih puB SaipaBog 9iaB8 ni Bjidnj siooqos XjB)U9in3iH t^ ocooc^ooo <0 CC OS ^ €0 r-i ^^ »• . - 1 Nurse - - - - • 1 Other unmarried women - - 23 Wives . - - . . . 25 Total permanent missionaries - - 80 Short term men and women - - 34 Total foreign workers - - - 114 Egyptian — Ordained ministers - - - - 39 Licentiates ..... 9 Theological students - - - 20 Other presbyteriul workers - - 9 Harem workers, men ... 5 Harem workers, women - - - 46 Shopmen 8 Colporteurs - - - - - 30 School teachers, men - - - 297 School teachers, women - - - 116 Total native workers - - 579 Total Workers, Foreign and Native - 693 * Regular missionaries who went out in 1906 are included. 276 Appendix V 277 11. WORK 1. Synodical — Synods .---...i Presbyteries 4 2. Congregational — Organized congregations - ... 59 Other places with regular services- - 131 Membership, men 4,689 Membership, women ... - 3,950 190 8.639 Increase by profession (1905) 844 Average attendance Sabbath service 17,205 Estimated Protestant community - 32,400 Pastorates, entirely self-supporting 13 Contributions of native church — Salaries ... - - $11,600 Buildings .... 7,700 Congregational expenses - 2,600 $21,900 Missions (Egypt and Sudan) - $1,738 Ministerial Relief 220 Sabbath School Leaflet - 418 The poor - . . . 4,730 7,106 Total Contributions - - - $29,006 278 t Appendix V Educational — Mission schools 25 pupils - 5,164 Synod's schools 146 171 u 10,287 15,451 Religions represented- — Boys Girla Protestants . - 2,322 788 Copts - . - G,085 2,094 Moslems . - 2,409 706 Others - - 520 527 Cost of Schools — Paid by natives (fees, etc.) - - $58,885 Funds, special donations - - 5,921 Mission treasury - • " 35,382 S100,188 Medical Work — House visits Village visits Clinic cases treated Operations - Patients in hospitals Receipts, fees 3,957 401 30,596 1,419 2,644 $22,581 5. Book Department- Scriptures - Religious books Educational books Stationery - Number 43,848 14,926 40,015 Value $3,943.67 2,784.76 5,373.76 2,393.76 Total - $14,495.95 Appendix V 279 6. Financial Summary — Received from native sources in gifts, fees and other payments going to assist in maintenance of missionary operations — Evangelistic department .... $29,00G Educational department 58,885 Book department 14,496 Medical department 22,581 Total contributed in Egypt ... - $124,968 Appropriations of General Assembly in America May, 1904, for 1904-1905 - - . $103,066 Note. — For other statistics see Appendix IV. APPENDIX VI Bibliography NOTE.— No attempt has been made to furnish an exhaustive bibliography. Many references are made to older books, because they are still authoritative for the periods with which they deal. A few of the books have been specially marked by asterisks to indicate those suitable for general reading along the lines which this book follows. PubUshers are in the United States, unless otherwise indicated. Some of the earlier books are out of print. GENERAL AND STATISTICAL "Statesman's Year Book." Issued annually. Macmillan. Pp. U24. Gives accurate and up-to-date statistics for Egypt, as also all countries. " Egypt." Karl Baedeker. Issued periodically. Karl Baede- ker, publisher, Leipsic. Pp. 408. Travelers' guide book. Contains valuable introductory chapters on people, country, religions, history and art. Also an extended Bibliog- raphy. ♦"Encyclopedia Britannica." Under heading of Egypt. Very complete surveys. COUNTRY AND PEOPLE *" Modern Egyptians." E. W. Lane, 1836. New edition, 1902. Ward, Lock & Co. Pp. 552. A standard work on Moslem Egyptian customs and life in Cairo. Though written a half century ago, nothing has yet appeared to displace it, because of its accurate portrayal of native Cairene life. "Egypt." Stanley Lane- Poole, 1881. S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington. Pp. 199. Country and people well described Also customs, social, industrial and political conditions just before British occupation. 280 Appendix VI 281 *" Present Day Egypt." F. C. Penfield, 1899. The Cen- tury Co. Pp. 372. Admirable sketches of present conditions in Egypt. Very readable. "Egypt in 1898." G. W. Steevens, 1898. Dodd, Mead & Co. Pp. 283. Vivid p.ctures in most readable style of modern Western influences in Egypt. " Cairo." Stanley Lane-Poole, 1902. J. M. Dent & Co., London. Pp. 34:0. Uncommonly good sketches of Egyptian social life. Also of historic associatious of Cairo. " The Khedive's Country." Edited by G. M. Fenn, 1904. Cassell & Co., Limited, London. Pp. 180. Description of farming methods and products in Egypt. " Egypt Painted and Described." R. Talbot Kelly, 1903. Adam & Charlea Black, London. Pp. 239. Containing seventy-five beautifully colored pictures from paintings by the artist and author. HISTORY AND HISTORICAL REFERENCES " History of Egypt." F. C. H. Wendel, 1890. American Book Co. Pp. 158. Concise hand book of history of ancient Egypt. "A History of Egypt." Vols. I-III. From earliest times to end of thirtieth dynasty. W. M.¥. Petrie, 1897. " A History of Egypt." Vol. IV. Under the Ptolemaic Dynasty. J. P. Mahaffy, 1899. " A History of Egypt." Vol. V. Under the Roman Rule. J. G. Milne, 1898. * " A History of Egypt." Vol. VI. In the INIiddle Ages. S. Lane-Poole, 190L Scribner. Vol. yii has 382 pages, and is especially valuable in explaining Moslem domination. " A Thousand Miles up the Nile." Amelia Edwards, 1877. Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 732. Also other editions. Deals largely in sketchy descriptions of monuments of ancient Egypt. 282 Appendix VI PRESENT POLITICAL SITUATION AND BRITISH OCCUPATION "Egypt As It Is." J. C. McCoan, 1877. Henry Holt & Co. Pp. 417. Good presentation of political and industrial conditions in Egypt before British occupation. " The Story of Egypt." W. Basil Worsfold. Horace Mar- shall & Son, London. Pp. 225. Good hand-book on country, its recent political history and industrial conditions. ♦"England in Egypt." Alfred Milner, 1892. Macmillan. Pp. 448. Very well written account of political complexity in Egypt and rela- tion of British to it. " The New Egypt." Francis Adams, 1893. T. Fisher Un- win, London. Pp. 297. Sketches of social life in Egypt, with references to British occupation. "Lord Cromer." H. D. Traill, 1897. Bliss, Sands & Co. Pp. 351. Life of Lord Cromer, but chiefly in relation to administration and re- forms in Egypt. *"The Redemption of Egypt." W. B. Worsfold, 1899. Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 333. Good presentation of present political and industrial conditions in Egypt. "The Expansion of Egypt." A. S. White, 1899. New Amsterdam Book Co. Pp. 483. Discussion of England's policy of expansion in its relation to Egypt. "England, Egypt and the Sudan." H. D. Traill, 1900. A. Constable & Co , Westminster. Pp. 242. Succinct account of movements leading to British occupation of Egypt down to close of Mahdi war. " The Story of the Khedivate." Ed. Dicey, 1902. Scrib- ner. Pp. 539. Account of political events from Mohammed AH to Abbaa IL Appendix V! 283 Official Reports to Parliament, by Lord Cromer and others, since British occupation. Harrison & Sons, London. RELIGIONS *"The Story of the Church of Egypt," E. L. Butcher, 1897. Smith, Polder & Co., London. Two vols. Pp. 497, 448. A standard work, giving history of Coptic Church. " Religions OF Mission Fields." 1905. Student Volunteer Movement. Pp. 301. Chapter IX. on Islam, by Zwemer, clear and concise. " Life of Mahomet." W. Muir, 1894. London. ♦"Arabia, the Cradle of Islam." S. M. Zwemer, 1900. Revell. Pp. 434. "The Mohammedan World of To-day." 1906. Revell. Pp. 302. Report of Cairo Conference, giving papers surveying conditions in tha Moslem world. " Methods of Mission Work Among Moslems." 1906. Revell. Pp. 236. Report of Cairo Conference and discussions on how to reach Moslems. MISSIONS " Periodical Accounts Relating to the Missions of the Church of the United Brethren Established Among the Heathen." 1832. Brethren's Society for the furtherance of the Gospel among the heathen. "Narrative of the Life of John Henry DANfeE." Vol. XII., Nos. 62, 134, 135, 218, 220. Giving life and work of Antes, Hocker, Pilder, Wieniger, Danke. *" Kagged Life IN Egypt," M. L. Whately, 1862. Seeley, Jackson & Holliday. London. Account of missionary work in fiO's, with man\' side lights on customs. Written for young people. " More About Ragged Life in Egypt." M. L. Whately. " Among the Huts in Egypt." M. L. Whately, Much like foregoing ; more advanced and mature 284 Appendix VI • Eavrx's Princes." Gulian Lansing, 1864. Robert Carter & Bros. Pp. 426, Interesting descriptions of conditions and mission work in early days of American Misjiou. * " The American Mission in Egypt," Andrew Watson, D.D., 1897. United Presbyterian Board of Publication, Pittsburr^h, Pa. Pp. 487. The standard work, giving history of this mission, 1854-97. Also valu- able chapter on religions. *" In THE King's Service." 1905. Board of Foreign Mis- sion.s of the United Presbyterian ('hurch, Philadelphia. Pp. 225. " River, Sand and Sun." IMinna C. GoUock, 1906. Church Missionary Society, London. Pp. 184. Profusely illustrated. Gives sketches of present day work of C. M. S. Mission, " Modern Missions in the East." E. A. Lawrence, 1895, Harper. Pp. 329. Reference to Egypt, 119-126. ISIethods of work, Chapter VII. * Reports. Board of Foreign Missions of the United Presby- terian Church of North America, Philadelphia, Pa. Issued annually. Reports. Church Missionary Society, Salisbury Square, Lon- don. Issued annually. " Blessed be Egypt." 40 cents a year. D. T, Reed, 224 Sixth Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. Missionary magazine. Issued quarterly in England. FICTION "An Egyptian Princess." George Ebers, 1891. Appleton. Portrayal of conditions in ancient Egypt. "The Yoke." Elizabeth Miller, 1904. Bobbs-Merrill Co. Pp. 616. A romance of days of Israel in Egypt. "Hypatia." Charles Kingsley, 1863. Coates. Pp.419, Vivid delineation of conditions in fifth century, A. D. INDEX = Abbas I., 82, 153 ; Abbas II., 89. Abbassid (from 'Abbas) Calipbs, 72-73. Advantages of E. as mission field, 28. Ahmed Fahmi, 174-177. Alexander the Great, 65-fi6. Alexandria, 66, 67, 155, 253. American Mission. See United Pres- byterian. "American Mission in Egypt," by Andrew Watson, D.D., quoted re- peatedly. See Bibliography. 'Anir conquers E., 70-71. Animal life, 23, 62. Antes, Jn., 138-139, 141. Appeal : Of Success. 237-251 ; of Need, 251-259 ; of Privilege, 259-268. Appeal of Mission in E., 197-199. Arabians, 30-31. Arabic. See Language. Arabi Rebellion, 84-85, 180. Architecture : Of Ancient E., 60, 63 ; of Moslems, 74. Area: Of all E., 6; of cultivable land, 7-8, 24. Arianism, 105-107. Armenians, 31. Artistic scenes, 4. Assiut, 158, 166. Assiut College, 171, 193, 227-228. Ayyubid (from Ayyub) dynasty, 77. Azhar University, 47-1 75. Berbers, 30. Bible: See Literary; land, 5: refer- ences, 64, 65, see Israel, Koran; Societies, 157. Bibliography, Appendix VI. Birds, 24. Book: Department Store, see Liter- ature. Boundaries of E., 6-7. Britain, Great, in E,, 80, 85-J6. 20 285 British Occupation : Brings prosper- ity, 24-26, 85-96; favors Moslems, 92-93. Byzantine, 69. Cairene, 32 ; dress, 33, 34 ; house, 35- 38. Cairo, 154, 155, 156, 164, 194. Capitulations, 87-88. Census, see Population. Characteristics : Physical of country, 10; physical of people, 32-33; mental, 48-49; general, 49-53. Cheerfulness, 49-50. Cholera, 182. Christianity: Enters E., 68-69, 100- 105; see Mohammedan, Coptic, Protestant, Religions; census, 99- 100; decadence, 105-110. Chronology, 57, 58. Church Missionary SoSietv, 142-149, 199-201,232,236. Cities and towns: Number of, 9; names of, 9-10. Clement, 101. Climate, 13-15. Colporteur. See Literature. Conservatism, 51-52. Constantine, 105. Constantinople, 69. Conversions, striking, 139-141, 174- 177,184-185,238-239. Coptic: Census, 99-100; origin of Church, 100-110; calendar. 105; views, 110-114, 136-137, 222; mor- alitv, 115-116; responsiveness to Gospel, 116-117, 211, 212-214; oppo- sition to Mission, 165-171 ; reforms, 189-190. Cost: Of land, 19-20; of various items, 24-25. 286 Index Country: Chapter on, 3-28; size of, see Area. Cromer, Lord, 53-54, 89. Crops, 20, 21, 22. Culiivable area, 7, 8. Dales, S. B., 155, 186. Dams. See Irrigation, Danke, Ju. H., 136-138. Dates, according to Steiudorfl", 57. Debt, national, 83-84, 86. Deceit, 50-51. Density of population, 8-9. Desert, 12. Dhulip Singh, 164-165. Diocletian, 104. Distances, illustrated, 10. Divorce, 43. Doctrines. See Coptic, Mohammedan. Dress, 33, 34. Dynasty. See History. Education: See Ignorance; Moslem standards, 47-48; Western influ- ences, 53-54; mission schools, 63- 54, see Educational; government schools, 54. Educational work, 53-54, 147, 155, 156, 166-167, 171, 172, 174, 175, 191, 192, 194, 202, 225-231, see Harem. Egypt: The name, 29; the country, 3-28: debt, see Debt; religions, 96-129; influence among Moslems, 118-119. Egypt General Mission. 202. Egyptian : Origin of the, 29-30 ; "three types, 31-32; physical de- scription, 32; dress, 33-34; house, 35-38 ; womanhood, 39-45 : traits of chnracter, 49-53 ; history, 56-96. Elevations about Nile. 12. England, see Britain, British. Evangelical Church, see Protestant. Evangelistic work, 135-141, 156, 172- 173, 195,200, 217-225. Exports, 25-26. Earn Stephanos, 188-189. Faris, persecuted, 158-164. Fasting: Coptic, 112, 138; Moslem, 126-127. Fatimite (from Fatima) dynasty, 75- 76. Fayum, 64. Fdlah {(em. fellaha; y>\. fellahin) ; 31-32; dress, 34; house, 36. Financial, see Self-support. Flood, see Nile. Foreigners, 8, 30-31, 87-88. Funeral, 39. Gobat, Bishop, 146-148. God : See Providence ; Coptic concep- tion, 107; Moslem, 120-121, 124. Government: Schools, 54; of E., 90- 91 ; officials endorse Mission, 229- 230. Granite, 12, 60. Great Britain, see Britain, British. Habib, 184-185. Harem : Apartments, 38, 40-41 ; work, 209, 221-225. Health, see Climate. Heat, see C'liinate. Heresy, 105-106, 108-109, 183-184. Hills, ranges of, 11-12. Historical interest, 3-4. History, Chapter on, 66-96. Hocker, Wm., 132-136, 142. Hogg, Jn., 185-186. Hospitality, 49. Houses, described, 35-38. Humor, 50. Hyksos, 61-62. Hypatia, 108. Ibis, 218-221. Ignorance, 41-42, 47, see Education. Ikhshid, 75. Illiteracy, see Ignorance. Imports, 26-26. Increase in population, see Popula- tion. Indolence, 51. Influence of neighboring lands, 7. Interest in E., 3-6. Index 287 Inundation, 17-18; analogy in his- tory, 66. Invasions, 30, 56-57, 65, 70, 78. Irrigation, 18-20, 61. Islam, see Mohammedan. Isma 'il, 82-84. Isolation of E., 7. Israel in E., 61-62, 64, Jowett, 143-145. Justice, 87, 88, 91. Khedives, 79, 81. Koran, 122. Lakes, 13. Land, cost of, 19-20. Lane-Poole, opinion on Moslem wom- anhood, 43-45 ; see Bibliography. Language: Arabic, 45-47; difficult, 46; extensive literature, 46 ; Arabic introduced, 78. Lansing, Gulian, 186-187. Leider, J. R. T., 147. Limestone hills, 11-12. Literature (or Colporteur) depart- ment, 146, 148, 155, 156, 157, 170, 189, 196,201,202,209-217. Lying, 50-51. Maharajah Dhulip Singh, 164-105, 220-221. Mameluke dynasty, 78. Mark, John, 101. Marriage, 39 ; without love, 42. Martyrs : See Persecution, Oppression. McCague, Thos., 154. McKown, Martha J., 187-188. Medical work, 132, 172, 196,200,231- / 236. Memory, 50. Misr, see Egypt. Missionary and his work, 207-208. Missionary: Interest, 6; problems, see Cost, Woman, Language, Ignor- ance, Need ; agents, 205-209 ; meth- ods, see Literature, Evangelistic, Educational, Medical; spirit in Is- lam, 77, 128-129 ; in native Church. 172-173, 245-246. Missions: See Moravian, Church Mis- sionary Society, United Presby- terian; also 201-204, 253, Appendix IV. Mizraim, see Egypt. Modern Period, 79-95. Mohammed Ali, 80-82. Mohammedan : Polygamy, 42-43 ; divorce, 43 ; degradation of woman, 43-45; standards of education, 47- 48; entrance into E., 70, 117,118; domination, 71-79 ; census, 99-100, 118 ; sects, 119-120 ; doctrines, 120- 124; duties, 125-129; influenced by Gospel, 139-141, 174-177, 184,185; work among them, 174, 190, 200, 201, 202,211, 214-217; persecution of Christians, see Persecution. Monasticism, 107-108 Money, 264-268. Monophysite heresy, 108-109, 111. Morality of Copts, 114-116. Moravian Mission, 131-142. Moslem, see Mohammedan. Mott, J. R., 193-194. Name, of E., 29. Napoleon, 80. Native Church, see Protestant. Need, 250-256. Nile: Picturesque, 4; its course, 15- 16; its influence, 16-17; its inun- dation, 17-18; irrigation, 18-19. Nile Mission Press, 204. North Africa Mission, 201. Numerical Success, 237-238. Occupation, of people. Appendix II. Ohio, 255. Omayyad (from Omar) Caliphs, 72. Opportunity, 55. Ojjpression, by Moslems, 71, 72-73, 76, 95. Organization, 177-179, see Protest- ant. Origen, 102-103. 288 Index Pantaenus, 101. Patriarch, Coptic, 114. Pennsylvania compared, 255. People, Chapter on, 29-56. Persia, 65. Persecutions. Of early Christians, 104-105; of Mission, 158-164, 167- 171, 174-177, 179. Peter in E., 101. Pharaohs, 58-65. Pilder, Geo., 134-135. Pilgrimage, 127. Pittsburgh compared, 254-257. Plymouthism, 183-184. Politeness, 49. Political Situation, 5, 85-86, 180-182. Polygamy, Moslem, 9, 42. Population, 8 ; increasing, 8 ; den- sity, 8,-9 ; by sexes, 9 ; by resi- dences, 9 J of cities and towns, 9- 10: illiteracy, 41: religions, 99- 100; growth'cl. 'Missions, 237-238; Appendix I, II. Postal service, 27. Prayer, 259-261 ; Moslem, 125. Prehistoric Period, 58. Pressly Memorial Institute, 194. Price, see Cost. Problems, see Missionarv- Products, 21-23. Pronunciation, Appendix III. Protestant Church, 155, 157, 171, 173, 178, 185, 190, 191,192, 221,223, 241- 248. Providence, 94-95, 153-154, 180-183. Pyramids, 3, 59-60. Railroads, 26-27. Rameses II., 63. Religions, Chapter on, 97-129; see Christianity, Mohammedan, Cop- tic, Protestant. Religiosity, 52-53. Residence, 9. Results, 237-251 ; also Chapter VIII : see Conversions. Roman influence, 68. Sa'id, 82. galadin, 78. alutations, 37, 49. Sandstone, 12. Sandstorm, 14. Seasons, 20-21, see Climate. Seclusion of woman, 36, 40-41. Self-support, 172, 196, Appendix V. Seminary, Theological, 156. Sensuality, 52. Serapis, Temple of, 102, 108, Sexes, Census of, 9. Social : Customs, 38-39, 49, see Houses, Woman, Salutations; changes, 54- 55, 223-225, 248-250. Spelling of names. Appendix III. Statistics, Appendix I, II, IV, V. Stephanos, see Fam. Success, see Results. Sudan, 197; people of, 31. Sudan Pioneer Mission, 202. Sunni sect, 119-120. Syrians, 31. Taxes, 87. Telegraph, 27. Telephone, 27. Temperature, 15. Tewflk, 84, 89. Town people, 32. Transportation, 26-27. Trees, 22-23. Tulunid (from Tulun) dynasty, 73-74. Turkish domination, 79-95. Turks, 31. United Presbyterian Mission, 150- 199; called American Mission, 150; begun, 152; also see references in Chapters VIII, IX, Appendix V. Vision, 259-262. Volunteers, 267-268. Watson, Andrew, see "American Mission in E." Whately, M. L., 203. Western influences, 34-35, 53-54, 78. Wieniger, Geo. H., 138-142. Winds, 14. Woman : Dress, 34 : apartments, 38 ; secluded, 40-41; marriage, 42; polygamy, 42; divorce, 43; eleva- tion, 249 ; see Harem work. Zinzendorf, 131-132. \ 5LAP OP EGYPT Engraved from latest information and surveys to illustrate THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MISSION IN EGYPT. Publislied by tPie Unilpd Presbyterian Board of Publication. nearly I O.OOO.OOO ^ ^:^ EGYPT.- MISSION STATIONS OF UNITEi; PRESBYTERIAN ICHURCH. Date Due igypt and the Christian crusade, IN|"n1'°" ''"^'^o'ogical Seminary-Speer Library iiniidiiiiiii; iiiiiiiitHtHHINIHUIHtllHIHltHDHiiiiHIII