ily V 
 
 ^4 
 
 
 
MEMOKIALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HON. ION KEITH-FALCONER, M.A. 
 

MEMORIALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HON. ION KEITH-FALCONER, M.A., 
 
 LATE LOBD ALMONER's PROFESSOR OF ARABIC IN THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OP CAMBRIDGE, AND MISSIONARY TO THE MOHAMMEDANS 
 
 OF SOUTHERN ARABIA. 
 
 BY THEX 
 
 REV. ROBERT SINKER, D.D. 
 
 LIBRARIAX OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF 
 THE ROYAL BOHEMIAN SOCIETY OF SCIENCES. 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT AND MAP. 
 
 "Artva ?V \ioi K^pcrj, ravra ijyijfiai cia rov Xpiarov ^>j/u(ai'. — PhiL. iii. 
 
 SIXTH EDITION. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO 
 LONDON : GEORGE BELL AND SONS. 
 1890. 
 
CHISWICK PKESS :— C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, 
 CHANCERY LANE. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A CAEEER of exceptional promise was early closed in the 
 death of Ion Keith-Falconer. The beauty of his character, 
 his ardent missionary zeal, his great learning, form a 
 combination rarely equalled ; and the feeling was very 
 generally expressed last summer, especially in Scotland, 
 that an attempt should be made to portray the many- 
 sidedness and goodness of that life. It was represented 
 to his family that it was a duty " to make the story of 
 such a life the possession and the stimulus of the Church 
 and the country." 
 
 When I was honoured with the request to write the 
 Memoir of my late dear friend, I could but feel it was too 
 sacred a trust to be refused. 
 
 How noble a life his was, how unselfish, how worthy to 
 be loved, those who knew him know well ; how hard it is 
 adequately to set forth, on the one hand, its harmonious 
 beauty, on the other, the rich variety of its aspects, I am 
 very fully conscious. Still even the simple record of his 
 life is its truest encomium. Its essence may be summed 
 up in St. Paul's words, " I count all things but loss for 
 Christ." 
 
 The numerous letters with which I was entrusted by 
 the members of his family and others, to whom my grate- 
 ful thanks are due, give a fulness to the narrative which 
 it must otherwise have lacked. Many will learn, perhaps 
 to their surprise, how many were the interests of one whom 
 they knew or heard of in one aspect only. 
 
 My especial thanks must be given to my friend of many 
 
vi Preface. 
 
 years, the Rev. H. C. G. Moule, M.A., Principal of Eidley 
 Hall, Cambridge, who has aided me with his counsel and 
 help at every stage of my work, and to whom I owe many 
 valuable suggestions, while the book has been passing 
 through the press : and to Dr. George Smith, C.I.E., 
 Secretary for Foreign Missions in the Free Church of 
 Scotland, who has kindly allowed me to appeal to him 
 constantly for information as to the details of the South 
 Arabian Mission. 
 
 In conclusion, I humbly commit this book to God's 
 blessing. May He, Who has called His servant home to 
 Himself, grant that some hearts may be quickened into a 
 fuller love towards Him, a deeper zeal, by the record of a 
 life devoted to His service. 
 
 R. S. 
 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 February 2, 1888. 
 
 NOTE TO THE SIXTH EDITION. 
 
 In the second and subsequent editions, a very few details 
 have been added to the account of the Shaikh Othman 
 Mission. No change calling for any remark has been other- 
 wise made. 
 
 I cannot send forth this new edition without expressing 
 my thankfulness for the welcome accorded to the earlier 
 editions of this book. That welcome both marks a wide- 
 spread appreciation of the noble character I have sought 
 to portray, and is a symptom of the remarkable growth of 
 interest in the cause of Foreign Missions, which the last 
 few years have witnessed in our country. 
 
 The portrait in the present edition is a reproduction of 
 a photograph taken by Mr. Vernon Heath. 
 
 March 6, 1890. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction . . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Home, Childhood, School 7 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Student Life at Cambridge 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Evangelistic Work: Barnwell and Mile-End . . 62 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Leipzig 88 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 AssiouT: Home 105 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Cambridge : Marriage : Kalilah 120 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Aden 139 
 
via 
 
 Contents, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Professorship of Arabic 167 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Shaikh Othman 194 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Conclusion 229 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Portrait of Professor Keith-Falconer . . . Frontispiece 
 Map of the Country near Aden . . . To face page 142 
 
MEMORIALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HON. ION KEITH-FALCONER, M.A. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " The rest of Scotland's war-array 
 With Edward Bruce to westward lay, 
 Where Bannock, with his broken bank 
 And deep ravine, protects their tiank. 
 Behind them, screened by sheltering wood. 
 The gallant Keith, Lord Marshal, stood : 
 His men at arms bear mace and lance, 
 And plumes that Avave, and helms that glance." 
 
 Scott, Lord of the Isles. 
 
 In the reign of Malcolm 11. , King of Scotland, a battle 
 was fought at Barry in Forfarshire, in the year of our 
 Lord 1010, with an army of Danish invaders, who were 
 signally defeated. Their leader was slain by a young 
 Scotch nobleman, Eobert Keith, as the name would 
 now be spelt, who for his valour was created by the 
 king Hereditary G-reat Marischal of Scotland, and was 
 rewarded with lands, some of which, in East Lothian, 
 still bear the name of Keith. The king is said to have 
 dipped his fingers in the blood of the Danish chief and to 
 have drawn three vertical bars on the shield of his follower ; 
 
 B 
 
2 Introduction. 
 
 and these enter into the family arms to this day. The 
 king at the same time pronounced the words Veritas 
 vincit, — " Truth overcometh," afterwards the motto of the 
 Marischals.^ 
 
 From this warrior sprang a family memorable in 
 the annals of Scotland. His descendant, Sir Eobert 
 Keith, was one of the supporters of Wallace, and after- 
 wards joined the standard of King Eobert Bruce. 
 He aided largely in gaining the battle of Inverurie, 
 A.D. 1308 ; which led to his receiving a grant of lands in 
 Aberdeenshire, and henceforward it was with this part 
 of Scotland that the family was specially associated. 
 Sir Eobert commanded the Scotch cavalry at the battle 
 of Bannockburn, a.d. 1314, and his attack on the English 
 archers in flank had an important effect on the fortunes 
 of the day. 
 
 About the year 1380, Sir William Keith built Dun- 
 nottar Castle near Stonehaven in Kincardineshire. In 
 the course of building this, long the chief seat of the 
 family, he was excommunicated for encroaching, as was 
 alleged, on consecrated ground. The grandson of this 
 Sir William was in 1458 created Earl Marischal by 
 James II. At Flodden, a.d. 1513, the two eldest sons 
 of the house fell in their father's lifetime : and William, 
 the fourth earl, a staunch supporter of the Eeformation 
 in Scotland, fought at the battle of Pinkie, a.d. 1547. 
 
 More generally known, however, than any of these is 
 G-eorge, the fifth earl. In his youth, he was sent abroad 
 with his brother for his education, and studied for some 
 time at Beza's house at G-eneva. He was highly esteemed 
 by James VI., who sent him in 1589 as ambassador to 
 Denmark, to conduct the Princess Anne, his betrothed 
 queen, to Scotland : and subsequently, when James VI. 
 had become King of England, Earl George was appointed, 
 
 ^ Douglas, Peerage of Scotland, ii. 184. Davidson, Inverurie 
 and the Earldom of the Garioch, pp. 15, 435. 
 
Introduction. 3 
 
 A.D. 1609, Lord High Commissioner to represent the king 
 in the Parliament of Scotland. 
 
 Some years before this (1593), he had founded at his 
 own cost a college at Aberdeen, for a Principal and four 
 Professors, which, under the name of Marischal College, 
 long did useful work to the cause of religion and learning ; 
 till in 1860 the University system of Aberdeen was re- 
 modelled, and Marischal College lost its independent exist- 
 ence.^ Carlyle, writing at a time when the College still 
 existed in a separate form, speaks of it as a place " where, 
 for a few, in those stern granite Countries, the Diviner 
 Pursuits are still possible (thank Grod and this Keith) on 
 frugal oatmeal." ^ Earl George died in 1623, having 
 throughout his life taken the warmest interest in the cause 
 of learning.^ 
 
 The seventh and eighth earls fought for the king in the 
 Civil War, and the former was imprisoned in the Tower of 
 London from 1651 to the Restoration. 
 
 In the unfortunate rising of 1715, the tenth Earl, Greorge, 
 was seriously implicated ; and an act of attainder having 
 been passed on him, he fled from Scotland, accompanied by 
 his brother James, who was also involved, though only 
 nineteen years of age at the time. 
 
 The latter, afterwards the famous Marshal Keith, entered 
 successively the Spanish, Russian and Prussian services, 
 became a highly-trusted friend of Frederick the G-reat, and 
 fell at the battle of Hochkirch (1758), where he commanded 
 the right wing. He was buried with all honour at Berlin. 
 Some words of his epitaph may be cited : they are relevant 
 
 ^ One of the last professors, at the time of this absorption, was 
 the late Prof. Clerk Maxwell of Cambridge. 
 
 ^ History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, v. 624, ed. 1865. 
 
 ^ In the Signet Library at Edinburgh, is a rare tract, the lament 
 of Marischal College on the death of its founder, " Lachrymte 
 Academise Marischallanse, sub obitum Msecenatis et Fundatoris 
 sui munificentissimi, nobilissimi et illustrissimi, Georgii Comitis 
 Marischalli, Domini de Keith et Altre." Abredoniae, 1623. 
 
4 Introduction. 
 
 to other heroes and other warfare, " suorum aciem mente, 
 manu, voce et exemplo, restituebat; pugnans, ut Heroas 
 decet, occubuit."^ Carlyle gives the letter written by 
 Frederick to the surviving elder brother, then and for 
 some years after, governor of Neufchatel, " loved by him 
 almost as one boy loves another." ^ The king begins by 
 saying " If my head were a fountain of tears, it would not 
 suffice for the grief I feel ; " and subscribes himself, " Your 
 old friend till death." ' 
 
 After this, through the intervention of Pitt, the Earl 
 Marischal was pardoned (1759) and allowed to come back 
 to Scotland, but before long he returned to Prussia, and 
 died in 1778. With him the title of Marischal became 
 extinct. 
 
 We must now look back to the time of the great Civil 
 War of the seventeenth century, and to an event which in- 
 directly led to the creation of the Earldom of Kintore. In 
 the year 1651, Cromwell's troops were besieging Dunnottar 
 Castle, whither the Regalia of Scotland (the crown, sceptre 
 and sword of state) had been taken for safety after the 
 battle of Dunbar. The castle was of exceptional strength, 
 standing as it did upon a rock protected on one side by a 
 deep ravine, and on the other by the sea. Still great 
 anxiety was felt by the defenders of the castle for the pre- 
 servation of their treasures, on which it was known that the 
 English set an inordinate value. 
 
 Accordingly, the governor's wife, Mrs. Ogilvie, concerted 
 an ingenious scheme, with her parish minister, Mr. G-rainger, 
 of Kinneff , and his wife. One day the latter lady rode past 
 Dunnottar Castle to Stonehaven, accompanied by her maid, 
 to procure flax for spinning. On her return she obtained 
 leave from the commander of the English forces to visit 
 Mrs. Ogilvie in the Castle, and was followed by the maid 
 with the flax on her back. The maid having been sent away 
 
 ^ Carlyle, w. s. 373. "" Ibid. « Ibid. 386. 
 
Introduction, 5 
 
 to talk to her friends, the Eegalia were concealed in the flax 
 by the two ladies. 
 
 After a while the unconscious maid resumed her burden, 
 and she and her mistress again passed through the English 
 lines, the English general actually helping Mrs. G-rainger 
 to remount her horse. That night the minister and his wife 
 buried the Eegalia under the pulpit of Kinneff Church, and 
 here the treasures lay safely hid till the Eestoration/ In 
 the meantime, to divert suspicion from the true state of the 
 case, a letter was allowed to fall into the hands of the be- 
 siegers, purporting to be from Sir John Keith, the fourth 
 son of the sixth Earl Marischal, which stated that he had 
 reached France in safety with the Eegalia, and would give 
 them to the king. 
 
 At the Eestoration, Sir John Keith received a grant 
 of the lands of Caskieben, now Keith-Hall, in Aberdeen- 
 shire, and was afterwards (1677) made Earl of Kintore, 
 assuming the appropriate motto Qum amissa salva, — 
 " What were lost are safe." 
 
 The second earl fought for the old Pretender at the 
 battle of Sheriff muir, but no very serious consequences 
 befell him. His two sons died childless, but his daughter, 
 Lady Catherine, who was married to Lord Falconer of 
 Halkerton, had a son ; and on the death in 1778 of the last 
 Earl Marischal, to whom the estates, though not the title ^ 
 had passed, Lady Catherine's grandson became fifth Earl of 
 Kintore. 
 
 The great-grandson of this nobleman was the father of 
 the subject of our present sketch. 
 
 The late Earl of Kintore, the eighth holder of the title, 
 succeeded his father in 1844 at the age of sixteen, married 
 his cousin in 1851, and after a life spent in the faith and 
 fear of Grod, and in the furtherance of every good work 
 
 * For these details, I am indebted to the interesting account 
 given by Dr. Davidson, op. cit. p. 367. 
 "^ This was in abeyance from 1761-1778. 
 
6 Introduction. 
 
 "mente, manu, voce et exemplo," passed to his rest in 
 1880. 
 
 Many were the schemes for shedding the light of gospel 
 'truth in the dark places of the earth, which lost in him an 
 earnest and eloquent advocate. Specially had the Free 
 Church of Scotland cause to mourn at his death one of its 
 most loyal and munificent supporters. 
 
 Of his four sons, two passed through the golden gates 
 before him, and now, in the spring of the present year 
 (1887), Ion Keith-Falconer has rejoined his father and 
 brothers. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOME, CHILDHOOD, SCHOOL. 
 
 *' Whose high endeavours are an inward light 
 That makes the path before him always bright." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 The river Don may be said to divide Aberdeenshire into 
 two approximately equal parts, and to separate the High- 
 land half of the county from the more level country to the 
 north and north-east. About twenty miles above the place 
 where it falls into the sea a little north of Aberdeen, and 
 in a north-westerly direction therefrom, stands the small 
 town of Inverurie, within the angle made by the union of 
 the rivers Don and Urie, whence its name. Still closer to 
 the place where the rivers meet, there rises abruptly a 
 mound of considerable size, perhaps of artificial origin and 
 intended for sepulchral or the like purposes, j^erhaps a relic 
 of the glacial period. This is the so-called Bass of In- 
 verurie, on which, in the twelfth century and doubtless 
 earlier, stood the Castle, commanding the fords over the two 
 rivers. It is referred to in one of the so-called prophecies 
 of Thomas of Ercildoune, " the Rhymer," ^ 
 
 " Dee and Don shall run in one, 
 
 And Tweed shall run in Tay ; 
 And the bonny water o' Ury 
 
 Shall bear the Bass away." 
 
 '■ Davidson, p. 1 ; Thoni, weaver of Inverury, Rhymes and Recol- 
 lections, p. 98. The latter states that the old rhyme is in every 
 one's mouth in the district. 
 
8 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 Spite of this, however, the Bass still remains a very pic- 
 turesque object in the rather flat country. 
 
 The town of Inverurie has a thriving and comfortable 
 look, but can hardly be called picturesque ; and the white 
 granite of its buildings gives to it, as to its great neighbour 
 Aberdeen, a look of decided coldness. Level though the 
 immediate neighbourhood is, hills can be seen in the 
 distance, and six miles away to the north-west rises Ben- 
 na-chie, one of the outlying summits of the G-rampians. 
 
 It is of a tributary of the Urie, the G-adie, which falls 
 into it a few miles above Inverurie, that the well-known and 
 beautiful Scotch song " Whar Gadie rins " was written.^ I 
 venture to quote the first stanza, 
 
 " I wish I were whar Gadie rins, 
 'Marig fragrant heath and yellow Avhins, 
 Or brawling doun the boskie lins, 
 
 At the back of Ben-na-chie ! 
 Ance mair to hear the wild birds' sang ; 
 To wander birks and braes amang, 
 Wi' frien's an' fav'rites left sae lang 
 
 At the back of Ben-na-chie. " 
 
 Of the lands between the Don and Urie, anciently and still 
 known as the Grarioch, the lord, in the latter part of the 
 twelfth century, was the celebrated David, Earl of Hunting- 
 don, the companion of Richard Coeur de Lion in the glories 
 and perils of the second Crusade. A charter is extant of 
 Earl David, of about the date 1202-1206, one of the witnesses 
 to which was Matthew the Falconer, ancestor of the Lords 
 Falconer of Halkerton, and of the later Earls of Kintore.^ 
 
 These latter became in their time the holders of much 
 of what had been Earl David's land, and their chief seat 
 Keith-Hall stands close to the town and Bass of Inverurie, 
 but on the other side of the Urie. It is built on the site 
 of an older house, already mentioned, Caskieben, some 
 portions of which are perhaps included in the present 
 
 ^ Thorn, p. 143. Also, with some variation, Davidson, p. 167. 
 ^ Davidson, p. 26. 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 9 
 
 building. This is largely the creation of the first Earl of 
 Kintore, who was the planter moreover of numerous fine 
 avenues of trees, of which the stately remains still partly 
 surround the house.^ 
 
 The house itself is of the square massive type of build- 
 ing characteristic of so many Scotch mansions of older 
 date, and in the stern whiteness of its appearance, seems 
 to lack the rich warmth of colour of an English house of 
 equal date. In the well-wooded park surrounding the 
 house, and at no great distance from it, is a small and 
 very picturesque lake, and the line of hills, among which 
 Ben-na-chie is prominent, forms the distant view seen 
 from the park and garden. 
 
 Such were the surroundings amid which were passed 
 the early years of the subject of this memoir. 
 
 Ion G-rant Neville Keith-Falconer, the third son of the 
 late Earl of Kintore, was born at Edinburgh, on the 5th 
 of July, 1856. 
 
 His early years were spent at Keith-Hall, varied by 
 long visits to Brighton and elsewhere, but the annals of 
 childhood are of necessity almost uneventful. His mother 
 speaks of two marked characteristics even of those early 
 days, his intense and as it were innate truthfulness and 
 his unvarying though tfulness for others. The chivalrous, 
 self-sacrificing, warm-hearted man could not possibly have 
 been developed from a different boyhood than this. 
 
 With tender, earnest care did his Grod-fearing mother 
 instil in his earliest years the simple, unquestioning faith 
 in Christ, which throughout his life seemed, while growing 
 with his growth, never to lose its fresh, deep simplicity. 
 
 Some interesting reminiscences of this part of Ion's life 
 are furnished by Mrs. Blundell, who when he was between 
 four and five years old, came to Keith -Hall as one of the 
 children's nurses. 
 
 ^ Davidson, p. 402. 
 
10 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 I give the narrative just as it has been communicated 
 to me : the perfect simplicity and life-like character of the 
 details are more than apology. 
 
 She describes how from the very first she was struck 
 with his extreme unselfishness and consideration for others. 
 He was always eager to give up to his brothers and sisters ; 
 — if anything was to be shared among them, he would 
 say, " Give it to the others first, I will wait." For his 
 elder brother Dudley in particular, there was nothing he 
 would not do or give up ; he delighted in being his slave, 
 his wish was absolute law to him. He brought everything 
 to Dudley for his judgement, and delighted in telling 
 others how much Dudley was superior to himself. 
 
 If Ion had been anywhere when Dudley could not go, 
 he would immediately on his return give him a minute 
 account of everything, and be full of regrets that Dudley 
 had not been able to share his pleasure. They used to 
 draw and paint and carve a great deal together, and once, 
 under Dudley's directions, Ion and his eldest brother 
 made a little model railway-line, on which a small engine 
 ran. 
 
 His devotion to Dudley remained the same all his life, 
 and he felt his death most acutely. He used afterwards to 
 go to the nursery and talk about him for hours with the 
 nurse, and everything in any way connected with him was 
 sacred in his eyes. 
 
 He never required to be amused like most children, but 
 was always full of resources in himself — reading was at all 
 times and above all things his delight. From the time 
 when he was about five years old, he used on Sunday 
 afternoons to read the Bible to the other children and 
 explain it; and Dudley and he were in the habit of 
 reading and praying together. When he was about seven, 
 he began to go and read the Bible in the cottages, and 
 the people were perfectly amazed at his knowledge of the 
 Bible and his power of explaining it. He did this entirely 
 without suggestion from any one, and never talked of it to 
 any one ; it was only from the people themselves that it 
 was found out. His old nurse used then to say that she 
 was sure he would one day be a missionary. He was so 
 
Home^ Childhood, School. 11 
 
 much loved by every one, that he went by no other name 
 in the household than that of " the angel." 
 
 He was as generous then as he was in later years. 
 When out walking, he could not pass ragged or hungry- 
 looking persons, without emptying his pockets for them ; 
 and when all his money was gone he would save up biscuits 
 and the like and give them away. Before he received his 
 allowance of pocket-money, he always carefully planned 
 how every penny was to be spent, and faithfully adhered 
 to his scheme. He once saved up to buy some ginger- 
 nuts, which were his favourite weakness, for himself, and 
 went down to Inverurie to buy them ; but on the way 
 back, he met a hungry-looking boy, and promptly bestowed 
 them all on him. Of such things too he would never 
 speak, and it was only through the nurse watching him 
 continually that his acts of kindness were found out. He 
 did it all, as the nurse said, " just as if it was his ordinary 
 work." 
 
 He was always full of life and merriment, and after he 
 grew older there was nothing the younger children enjoyed 
 more than when he came, as he often did, to romp with 
 them in the nursery. 
 
 At the age of nine, he began to work under a tutor. 
 This gentleman, Mr. Redknap, at first gave daily lessons 
 to Ion and Dudley at Brighton, where Lord Kintore was 
 then living, and subsequently became resident tutor at 
 Keith-Hall, and accompanied the family abroad when for 
 nearly a year they resided at Vico near Naples, or in 
 Naples itself. Mr. Redknap writes : — 
 
 " The work of God the Holy Spirit was clearly mani- 
 sested at an early period of Ion's life : grace wrought in 
 his heart, and deeply was he interested to listen to the 
 story of the Cross, and of the life and ways of the Lord 
 Jesus in His path of love and grace. During the many 
 walks and rambles that we had together, he would often 
 say to me, * I wish you would talk to me,' which I knew 
 meant to say. Will you speak to me of the Saviour and of 
 the incidents in the life of the Lord Jesus ? . . . . He was 
 a thoroughly conscientious and noble-hearted boy." 
 
12 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 At the age of eleven, he was sent to the large pre- 
 paratory school of Cheani, near Epsom, in Surrey ; then 
 as now, under the management of the Eev. E. S, Tabor. 
 Here he gained a considerable number of prizes, and 
 seems to have been thoroughly happy. 
 
 In 1869, being now thirteen years of age. Ion went up 
 to Harrow to compete for an Entrance Scholarship, which 
 he was successful in obtaining. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Watson, the master in whose House he resided 
 while at Harrow, has written the following note describing 
 their first meeting and his subsequent impression : — 
 
 "I well remember my first meeting with Ion Keith- 
 Falconer. At the beginning of the Easter holidays in 
 each year, an examination is held at Harrow for the 
 election of entrance scholars. It was at that time in 1869 
 that two visitors were announced to me, who proved to be 
 Ion Keith-Falconer, then a bright, fair, intelligent looking 
 boy not thirteen years old, and a master from his private 
 school. Ion then and there informed me that he was 
 coming to be a boarder in my House, and did not seem 
 disconcerted when I assured him that there must be some 
 mistake, as no previous communication on the subject had 
 been made to me. Eventually we came to a compromise. 
 I was greatly attracted by the open guileless face of my 
 young visitor, and I promised that if he obtained a 
 scholarship I would find a place for him. He was duly 
 elected a scholar; and thus it hapi^ened that I had the 
 happiness of seeing and watching him throughout his too 
 short, but always blameless and distinguished, career at 
 Harrow. 
 
 "His boyish life was noticeable from the first for 
 marked individuality afid determination. The public 
 school system, great as are its merits, has at present too 
 great a tendency to repress idiosyncrasies of taste and 
 temperament, and to impel those who come under its 
 influence to adopt a more or less common type of manners 
 and pursuits. It was therefore refreshing to meet with 
 one who was by no means disposed to swim necessarily 
 with the stream ; and who though in no wise self -engrossed 
 
Home, Childhood, School, 13 
 
 or unsociable, would not flincli for a moment from saying 
 or doing what he believed to be right, at the risk of in- 
 curring impopularity, or being charged with eccentricity. 
 He was one of those boys, not too common, who are not 
 afraid to have the courage of their opinions. Always high 
 principled and religious, he never disguised his views. I 
 remember how, when almost head of my House, he dis- 
 played conspicuously on the wall of his room a printed 
 roll of texts from the Bible — an open avowal of his belief, 
 which was far less common, and more noticeable, at the 
 time I speak of, than it would be now. Not that he was 
 anything of a prig or a Pharisee : far from it. He was an 
 earnest, simple-hearted, devout. Christian boy. 
 
 ** He had not been very long at Harrow^ before, under 
 the belief that he would make more progress in Mathe- 
 matics than in Classics, he was transferred to the Modern 
 Side. He rose to the head of it before he left the school, 
 which he left at an earlier age than usual, to read with a 
 tutor preparatory to entering Cambridge : I perfectly 
 recollect how in presenting him with his last prize Dr. 
 Butler, then our head master, expressed his regret that he 
 was not to remain his full time at Harrow. 
 
 ** He was no trifler or dilettante, but always energetic, 
 manly and vigorous. As far as I remember, he was not 
 remarkable for any success in games : and of course there 
 was no opportunity of developing that special skill in 
 bicycling for which he was afterwards so conspicuous. He 
 showed however great proficiency in shorthand writing, 
 and succeeded in inspiring one or more of his companions 
 with an enthusiasm for it. In fact, either he himself or a 
 pupil was in the habit of taking down whole sermons in 
 shorthand that were preached in the school chapel. 
 
 " My own intercourse with him was always most cordial 
 and happy. Nothing ever occurred to overcloud it : and 
 I feel sure that his lofty consistent character, and scorn 
 of all that was low and base, must have had influence 
 over his companions. Wlien his Harrow days were over, 
 it was always a great pleasure to me when I was able to 
 meet him again. I was delighted to hear from time to 
 time of his Cambridge distinctions, and increasing fame 
 
 ^ He had, as a matter of fact, been there three years. 
 
14 Home, Childhood, School, 
 
 as an Oriental scholar, and greatly shocked and distressed 
 when the news came that a life of so much promise had 
 been, in the Providence of Grod, so prematurely, as it 
 seemed, cut off. With me the pleasant memories of his 
 bright and Grod-fearing boyhood will linger as long as I 
 live." 
 
 With the above it is interesting to compare the remi- 
 niscences of a school-fellow, Mr. G. W. E. Eussell, for- 
 merly M.P. for Aylesbury. Mr. Russell thus writes of 
 him : — 
 
 "Ion Keith-Falconer came to Harrow in September, 
 1869. Earlier in the year he had won an entrance 
 scholarship, an honour gained by open competition among 
 all the best taught boys of the private schools. He was 
 therefore already known as a clever and industrious boy, 
 and I remember being interested by tvhat I heard of him 
 before I ever saw him. 
 
 " I was older than Ion : I had been nearly two years in 
 the school, and I was not in Mr, Watson's House, where 
 he was ; therefore my opportunities of seeing him were 
 few: but I well remember my first sight of him. Mr. 
 Watson gave a breaking-up supper before the Christmas 
 holidays (1869), and asked me to it. Ion was then 
 pointed out to me, and I perfectly recollect the engrossed 
 expression of his face, and the pose of his head as he 
 leant back in his seat, in complete and intense enjoyment 
 of some humorous speeches and songs. I have a photo- 
 graph of him as one of a group of Mr. Watson's House, 
 in which this attitude and this expression are exactly re- 
 produced. I cannot remember anything of Ion during 
 the year 1870, beyond the general impression that he 
 worked hard, particularly at Mathematics, and rose ra- 
 pidly in the school 
 
 " In 1871 I went into Mr. Watson's House, and then 
 for two years I saw a great deal of Ion. My recollection 
 of him at this time is perfectly distinct. He was not like 
 other boys: he was essentially the reverse of common- 
 place. In every action and quality — in look and voice 
 and manner and bearing — he was individual. In the first 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 15 
 
 place as to religion : Ion's was not the simple goodness of 
 an nninstructed but well-meaning boy, though that in its 
 way is beautiful. He was already an advanced, and, if 
 the word is permissible in such a context, an accomplished 
 Christian. 
 
 " It goes without saying that his moral standard in 
 speech and action was the highest. And this in him 
 was the result of a heart filled through and through with 
 the love of G-od and Christ. But besides this, he had 
 thought carefully and gravely about religious problems, 
 and had defined and even rigid opinions. Thus when a 
 Confirmation was about to be held in the school chapel, 
 and many of his friends and contemporaries were candi- 
 dates for it, Ion astonished his tutor by declaring himself 
 in heart and intention a member of the Free Church of 
 Scotland, and on principle oj^posed to episcopal rites. 
 His religion was by no means self-contained, personal and 
 passive. He longed to make others better; and he took 
 an earnest, and, as he rose in the school, an authoritative 
 part against those forms of * evil communications,' which 
 are always present in a greater or less degree in every 
 assemblage of boys. 
 
 " Then again as to his work, Ion was not like other 
 boys. Most boys who work at all, work chiefly from the 
 wish for distinction. This motive never seemed present 
 to him. He worked often at odd and out of the way sub- 
 jects, such as shorthand, not for the sake of prizes or 
 promotion at school, but either simply to improve his 
 own mind, or with a view to future usefulness " 
 
 Perhaps the foregoing remark as to the absence of any 
 wish for distinction as such, though in the main true, 
 must not be absolutely pressed. There was indeed a 
 total absence in Ion Keith-Falconer of the petty vanity 
 which can see in each school or college success an end in 
 itself, rather than the stepping-stone to a fresh advance 
 and a means towards higher usefulness ; but he was by 
 no means without the healthy ambition which enjoys a 
 keen intellectual contest, rejoicing heartily if success at- 
 tended him, though ready with most genuine sympathy 
 
16 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 to congratulate the victor, if the result were otherwise. 
 It may be worth noting that his chief distinctions at 
 Harrow, besides the Entrance Scholarship, were the 
 Ebrington prize for Grerman, the Flower prize for German 
 prose, and the prize for Problems, all of which were 
 gained in 1873. 
 
 Mr. Eussell has referred to Keith-Falconer's practice of 
 writing shorthand while at school. Of this we shall speak 
 more fully in the following chapter ; it will suffice here to 
 say that he learnt it quite unaided, and before he had left 
 school he had acquired a very high degree of proficiency. 
 His favourite amusement too of bicycling had begun in 
 the Harrow days, when he was about fifteen. 
 
 Truly the boy was father to the man in this case, if 
 ever. The lines of reading, the bent for languages, the 
 keen interest in the study of Scripture, the simple, rest- 
 ful, yet thoughtful faith, the eager desire to be of service 
 to others, the deep warm affection he gave to those whom 
 he called friend, — all these characterised Ion Keith-Fal- 
 coner alike as schoolboy, undergraduate, and to the last. 
 
 The following interesting note, written by Mr. E. E. 
 Bowen, the master of the Modern Side at Harrow, 
 strikingly brings this out. Both this note, it is true, 
 and that which follows it, written by the present Master 
 of Trinity, who was Head-Master of Harrow during the 
 whole time that Keith-Falconer was at the school, extend 
 into a period beyond the Harrow days; but the present 
 seems the fittest place for both the accounts. It will be 
 remembered that at the end of the summer term of 1872, 
 Keith- Falconer passed from the Classical to the Modern 
 Side at Harrow, mainly with the view of devoting in- 
 creased attention to Mathematics. Mr. Bowen writes : 
 
 " It was for only one year, 1872-3, that Keith-Falconer 
 was in my Form at Harrow — the Modern Sixth. He did 
 well as a schoolboy, but short of the very front rank. 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 17 
 
 Though industrious, he had some caprice It would 
 
 be difficult to find a pleasanter boy to deal with ; he was 
 always interested, always cheerful, with an eye for the 
 picturesque side of things, and a delightful way of running 
 off the rails in any direction that happened to suit his 
 fancy. He took a good deal of pains with his lessons ; 
 his note-books were master-pieces, and he shewed a re- 
 markable refinement and delicacy in all that he did ; but 
 his views of the proportion of things were often different 
 from those of his teachers, and he would devote himseK to 
 some side issue, or spend hours on writing out some short- 
 hand notes, when other boys were passing him by. 
 
 " I saw him often when he was at Cambridge, and was 
 happy enough to retain his friendship till the last. His 
 bicycling feats were one subject of common interest between 
 us. Bicycles were just coming into fashion when he went 
 to the University : he was an enthusiast in the use of them, 
 and an admirable performer; and when he appeared in 
 riding costume at Harrow, with his tall figure mounted on 
 the enormous machine that he rode, it was a sight to see. 
 He kept up the amusement for many years : for two or 
 more he was certainly the best bicyclist in England, and 
 his delight in success only shewed in more than common 
 relief the charming modesty with which he carried his 
 honours. He had a real delight in feats of strength and 
 endurance for their own sake. He seemed to have found 
 the same quality in one of the professional bicyclists with 
 whom he became acquainted ; and again and again he 
 would tell me how John Keen was a man whose soul was 
 above prizes — a man to be made a friend of. 
 
 " It is about eight or nine years ago that under the im- 
 pression, which may have been a mistaken one, that he was 
 in danger of squandering his powers for want of some de- 
 finite object, I remember writing to him at Cambridge, 
 urging that on the one hand he should lay himself out to 
 edit some book — I suggested one — which fell within the 
 line of his reading, and set to work at it for the next year 
 or two ; and that on the other, while his physical powers 
 were still at their best, he should perform some bicycling 
 feat which it would be a pleasure afterwards to remember. 
 He came down to Harrow more than once to discuss these 
 
18 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 plans, but especially the latter ; and we spent the evenings 
 over maps of England, and argument about roads and 
 routes. Finally it was settled that he should go down to 
 Cornwall with his bicycle and start from the Land's End, 
 to ride, if he could, to John o' Groat's House within a 
 fortnight. The experiment was a failure ; bad luck in 
 roads, and abominable weather, stopped him. But the 
 idea was not given up : and in 1882 he accomplished the 
 feat in thirteen days. It has since been done by shorter 
 routes and in much shorter time : but six years ago the 
 roads were worse made and less familiar than now ; and 
 machines have since then been built in special view of per- 
 formances of the kind. As it was, and with the difficul- 
 ties that were encountered, the ride was a splendid display 
 of strength and endurance. He carried post-cards and 
 telegraph forms, and two or three times a day he would 
 despatch one of these to give me an account of his pro- 
 gress. There still lingered a memory of him in the Har- 
 row Modern Side ; and we hung up a big map of England 
 in the class-room, and marked his victorious career with a 
 tiny red flag day after day throughout the fortnight till we 
 landed him safe at John o' Groat's. He did 215 miles in 
 his last two days. He was very much pleased at his suc- 
 cess, and came and gave us an hour's talk about it — a sort 
 of informal lecture — a few weeks later. 
 
 '* The other subject on which I used to hear from him 
 from time to time was the special line of study to which he 
 had devoted himself. He had always been particularly 
 interested in the Old Testament lessons at school : and he 
 had also, as it seemed, a Scotchman's delight in questions 
 of theology. I suppose it was this which attracted him, by 
 means of Hebrew, to the other Semitic languages. The 
 study was one in which I was unable to follow him : but I 
 can form some estimate of the vast amount of labour that 
 he must have gone through when once he had adopted this 
 line of reading. Of one thing I am sure, that whatever he 
 learnt he made his own ; for I never knew anyone so clear- 
 headed, I had almost said so candid, about what he knew. 
 The way in which he could state an unsolved difficulty 
 seemed almost as good as a solution of it. He was no less 
 a consummate expounder of subjects known to few than he 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 19 
 
 was a delightful companion on ground which was common 
 to all. I remember writing to him once to ask about the 
 method and time of the adoption of the Western Aramaic 
 among the Hebrews. There are very many scholars who 
 could have answered the question ; but I am afraid some 
 would have left the questioner at the end much where they 
 found him. Keith-Falconer's reply, on a couple of sheets 
 of note-paper, was a model of simple and clear-headed 
 statement ; it said just what was wanted, and told it with- 
 out any display of learning or attempt at style. I think 
 this clear-headedness in matters of intellect was after all 
 only a reflection of the moral simplicity which was his 
 highest and most beautiful gift. I have often known 
 young men who were candid, many who were devout, and 
 many who were pleasant : but I can hardly remember any 
 who united the three qualities so fully. He approached 
 the world of ideas as great observers approach the world 
 of nature, with wonder, with reverence, and with humility. 
 His earnestness of feeling seemed to grow more large- 
 minded and wider in sympathy as he developed into man- 
 hood ; and even in the things about which he cared most a 
 sort of boyish playfulness — freedom — trustfulness — never 
 left him." 
 
 The following letter, from the pen of the present Master 
 of Trinity, will fitly close the series of reminiscences of 
 Keith-Falconer's Harrow life. 
 
 " Trinity Lodge, Cambridge, 
 Nov. 30, 1887. 
 " Dear Mr. Sinker, 
 
 " You have asked me if I can give you a few recol- 
 lections of our dear friend Keith-Falconer when he was a 
 boy at Harrow. They must be but few, for he came com- 
 paratively little under my own personal notice. He was 
 not a member of my House, and his stay in my Form was, 
 for reasons which I will soon explain, very brief. 
 
 " He came to Harrow, as you know, in 1869, winning one 
 of our Entrance Scholarships in open competition. It was 
 a Classical Scholarship, and as a matter of course he was 
 placed on the Classical Side. He rapidly passed up the 
 
20 Home, Childhood, School, 
 
 Forms on that Side till he reached my own, the Upper 
 Sixth. I was struck at once by his intelligence and steady 
 work, and was surprised when I learned that he wished to 
 be transferred to our Modern Side, with a view, if I re- 
 member rightly, to a fuller training in Mathematics, French 
 and Grerman. In consequence of this transfer, I saw much 
 less of him, our intercourse being almost limited to a weekly 
 lesson in Modern History. 
 
 " While a member of the Modern Side, he won, in 1873, 
 our two school prizes for knowledge of Grerman ; soon after 
 which he left us for Trinity, carrying with him no special 
 distinction, but the highest character for manly sterling 
 goodness. 
 
 " Later on came the good news of his University suc- 
 cesses in Theology and the Semitic Languages, proving that 
 he was working with a definite purpose as a professional 
 student. Soon too we began to hear of his feats as a 
 bicyclist, including those rapid progresses from south to 
 north which were telegraphed by him to Mr. Bowen, and 
 at once carefully indicated by pins on a map for the edifi- 
 cation of Mr. Bowen' s boys. 
 
 " It must have been, I think, in 1884 that I received 
 from him an unexpected but welcome offer to continue 
 certain Prizes for the study of the Scriptures at Harrow, 
 Prizes which had hitherto been provided from another 
 source. The correspondence which then took place between 
 us, followed by a long interview for the discussion of de- 
 tails, shewed me how warm was his affection for his old 
 School, how deep his conviction that the study of the 
 Scriptures at school might be made fruitful at once and 
 interesting, and how thoughtful and well considered were 
 his suggestions for making the Prizes efficient for their 
 purpose. I say nothing of their money value. It was 
 very considerable ; but, as you know, it was not in his 
 nature to spare himself or to do things by halves. He in- 
 stituted them not in his own name, but in memory of his 
 father, the late Earl of Kintore. He followed up this 
 signal service to the School by consenting to be the first 
 Examiner for the Kintore Prizes ; and he sent me, when 
 the work was over, a thoughtful report, giving his impres- 
 sion of the performances of the boys. 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 21 
 
 " My departure from Harrow in the summer of 1885 put 
 an end to official intercourse of this kind, and I do not 
 think we had any further communication with each other 
 till the end of last year (1886), when I received from him 
 at Davos- Platz a most kind letter of congratulation on my 
 appointment to the Mastership of Trinity. He told me 
 also of the plan which he had formed for going to Aden, 
 and there employing his knowledge of Arabic for mis- 
 sionary purposes. 
 
 " The result of this generous enterprise we know but too 
 well. The work was scarcely begun before it reached its 
 earthly end. To those who believe in the abiding results 
 of devotion to the cause and the Person of Christ, his short 
 life will not seem a failure. His image will remain fresh 
 in the hearts of many as of a man exceptionally noble and 
 exceptionally winning, recalling to them their own highest 
 visions of unselfish service to Grod and man, and help- 
 ing them to hold fast the truth that in the spiritual world 
 nothing but self-sacrifice is permanently fruitful, and that 
 the seed of a truly Christian life is never quickened except 
 it die. 
 
 ** Believe me to be. 
 
 Dear Mr. Sinker, 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 H. Montagu Butler." 
 
 Some extracts from letters written by Keith-Falconer 
 during the Harrow days may now be given, and will help 
 considerably to shew what manner of boy he was. The 
 first extract is taken from a letter to his old tutor, Mr. 
 Eedknap, written at the age of fourteen, and the remainder 
 from letters written to Lady Sydney Montagu, afterwards 
 his sister-in-law, now Lady Kintore. 
 
 " Keith Hall, July 31, 1870. 
 
 " I arrived here yesterday morning. I started from 
 Harrow at about a quarter to 8 a.m. on Tuesday, and 
 proceeded thence to the Langham Hotel, Portland Place, 
 where I met Mr. Karney and Liverurie.^ At 12 o'clock 
 
 ^ His eldest brother, now Lord Kintore. 
 
22 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 the same day we started for Cambridge from King's Cross 
 station, and arrived there about 1.30. Having lunched at 
 an hotel, we went to look for lodgings for Oddo,^ which 
 was soon effected, and then a jolly row down the Cam. 
 Then we went round the colleges, &c., and came back to 
 London in the evening. 
 
 " The next day we separated, I and Oddo departing by 
 the ' City of London ' boat for Aberdeen, .... The * City 
 of London ' is clean and comfortable, but very slow ; we 
 took 54 hours to make the journey, labouring against a 
 wind dead against us for a good part of the way, and 
 rocking about like a cork. I was not, however, sick, but 
 once or twice very near it, which is almost worse. 
 
 " When we arrived before Aberdeen, it was past time 
 for the last train for the north; at least we could not 
 have caught it, being only seven minutes to the time. 
 The tide was unfortunately out, so that we could not cross 
 the bar ; we then signalled for a tug-boat, which, in accor- 
 dance with the proverbial slowness of Scotchmen, came, in 
 about half an hour, or more, with a small boat in tow. 
 This was to convey passengers from one boat to the other. 
 The latter occupied a very long time, as only about 15 
 could go at once. So we had to wait till four boatfuls 
 had been deposited safely on the tug, which in itself was 
 not over safe, on account of the swell. G-etting into the 
 tug-boat required a little presence of mind, as one had to 
 wait till the swell lifted the small boat on to a level wdth 
 the deck of the tug-boat, and then take a spring in; a 
 false step would probably have proved fatal. 
 
 " Well, at last all the passengers were got safely on to 
 the tug, and we started for the harbour, where we arrived 
 about half -past eight p.m., and I was not at all sorry to sit 
 down to dinner at Douglas's. We started next morning by 
 the first train, arriving at Inverurie at eight ; the rest you 
 can guess. 
 
 " So much for the journey, now for Harrow. I am now 
 in the third fifth, V. 3 in fact, Mr. Watson's Form, in 
 whose House I am. In Classics, out of 37, I came out 
 altogether 9th, in Mathematics 1st, and in Modern Lan- 
 guages 3rd ; placing me altogether 4th in the total, which 
 
 ^ His old boyish name for his brother. 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 23 
 
 I think good. I got a prize for Mathematics, Smiles' s 
 Life of George Stephenson, which I read on the voyage and 
 which was very interesting. 
 
 *' I must see if I can't come out first in Form next term, 
 
 in the V. 2 (Mr. C. F. Holmes) I am now in the 
 
 Harrow Eifle Corps Band as drummer ; I had some rare 
 lark at Wimbledon where we vanquished the other public 
 schools, and won both the Ashburton Shield and Spencer 
 Cup. I will write again. 
 
 " Your affectionate friend." 
 
 The letters to Lady Sydney Montagu dwell largely on 
 his thoughts on religious subjects, and bring out at once 
 the depth of his love for Christ, and his great humility. 
 His allusions to his friend Mr. Charrington's work in the 
 East End of London will be better understood when I shall 
 have spoken of that work at some length in a subsequent 
 chapter. 
 
 " Harrow, (no date, but May, 1873). 
 
 ** . . . . Do you know the hymn beginning, ' The sands 
 of time are sinking, the dawn of heaven breaks ' ? It is my 
 favourite one. A verse of it is quoted in Forgiveness, Life 
 and Glory, ^ as follows : — 
 
 ' O Christ, He is the fountain, 
 
 The deep sweet well of love ; 
 The streams on earth I've tasted 
 
 More deep I'll drink above. 
 There to an ocean fulness 
 
 His mercy doth expand, 
 Where glory, glory dwelleth 
 
 In Emmanuel's land. ' 
 
 I wish I had tasted more deeply of that stream than I 
 
 have I have very nearly decided to become a Free 
 
 Church Minister. If so, you will have to look over my 
 Hebrew Exercises and hear me the Shorter Catechism. 
 .... I have been reading the Shadow and the Substance to- 
 
 ^ Both this work and the other mentioned in this letter are by 
 Mr. (now Sir) S. A. Blackwood, 
 
24 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 day, annexing a remark here and there I am grind- 
 ing away awfully hard at my G-erman, for the Ebring- 
 ton prize. The exam, comes off on the 10th of next 
 
 month 
 
 " The last of my texts for to-day on the roller is ' Surely, 
 I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.' I 
 don't feel as if I was ready for that. I mean I am so bad, 
 but ' I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, 
 and as a cloud thy sins.' " 
 
 " Harrow, (no date, but June, 1873). 
 
 " I have had my GTerman examinations : did I tell you ? 
 I did very well, I don't think anyone better. I am not 
 proud, but I don't mind telling you exactly what I think. 
 
 I did good prose, which counts very high I am also 
 
 writing for the Flower Prize : not a prize for botany, 
 or anything about flowers, but for a prize offered by 
 Mr. Flower for the best bit of G-erman prose. The exercise 
 is to be sent in on Saturday, 21st June. I hope to do 
 well .... I did it nearly all to-day, and I can't find out 
 
 any mistakes. What is the G-erman for . No, that is 
 
 unfair. I suppose I must do it all myself. (Don't think 
 that I wrote the last three lines to shew off my honesty ! 
 I was really going to ask for something, but it wouldn't be 
 quite fair.) .... Your shorthand was much better than 
 the preceding one — but you have forgotten the vowels, 
 
 please learn them up 'Don't let your desire to 
 
 write fast exceed your desire to write well,' as you have 
 probably seen in Pitman's book." 
 
 *' Harrow, July 6, 1873. 
 
 " I want you to answer this question. Do you 
 
 think a person can be saved without knowing how he is 
 saved, that is only by acknowledging Jesus as the one 
 person who can and is willing to save him and by asking 
 Him to do so (i.e. to save him somehow, how he knows not) ? 
 I say, Most decidedly. For He says, * Come unto Me, &c.,' 
 * Behold I stand at the door and knock ; if any man, &c.' 
 Now if you asked me how Jesus saved me, I could not tell 
 you. I know He died for my sins .... I have often 
 asked God for Jesus' sake to make clear to me everything 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 25 
 
 I don't understand. But He won't. (Why?) I often 
 nearly cry because everything is so confused and dark. 
 Yet whenever I see a person who loves Him, I immediately 
 feel drawn towards him. However I sometimes feel very 
 happy when I think that the Lord Himself hath said, 
 * Come unto Me, and I will give you rest ; ' and ' If ye then 
 being evil know how to give good gifts, &c.* and texts like 
 them, which are all contained in that little book you sent 
 
 me I send my character : tell me if it is true, and 
 
 whether it is not too good." 
 
 "Harrow, Jnly 16, 1873. 
 
 ". . . . I must say something about Jesus Christ, be- 
 cause I think He ought never to be left out; and that is 
 the fault I find with parties and balls and theatres : Jesus 
 Christ, Who is the All in All, is utterly left out. It seems 
 very curious, when one comes to think about it, what 
 power the devil has over people, has not he ? But that 
 shall not always be so — Lord, hasten the time when Thou 
 shalt reign altogether, and when Thy servants shall serve 
 Thee, and Thy Name shall be upon their foreheads, and 
 when they shall see Thy face — for Jesus' sake." 
 
 " Harrow, (no date, but July, 1873). 
 
 " . . . . Charrington sent me a book yesterday, which I 
 have read. It is called Folloiving Ftdly, .... about a 
 man who works among the cholera people in London, so 
 hard that he at last succumbs and dies. But every page 
 is full of Jesus Christ, so that I liked it. And I like 
 Charrington, because he is quite devoted to Him, and has 
 really given up all for His glory. I must go and do the 
 same soon : how I don't know." 
 
 The concluding letter from which I cite was written 
 from Mr. Charrington' s house. 
 
 '* Stepney Green, (no date, but towards 
 the end of Jidy, 1873). 
 
 " . . . . After dinner we went the rounds to inspect the 
 tent for preaching, and Charrington lent it to a little 
 missionary to hold a midnight meeting in on Thursday. 
 
26 Home, Childlwod, School, 
 
 We also visited the Mission-Hall, where they were making 
 
 a pool for baptizing people in In the evening a well 
 
 attended meeting at the tent ; foul air. After the meeting 
 
 (the speakers were Dr. an old, but very energetic and 
 
 godly Scotchman, hroad accent, a soldier from Wellington 
 
 barracks, a Mr. Kerwin, and a Mr. ), we went to have 
 
 some tea, and then to the Hospital, to see a man supposed 
 to be dying, but found to be recovering. 
 
 '* I have lots to do here. I did not get to bed till nearly 
 one o'clock, having been up nineteen hours. We visited 
 the Boys' Home, which I think a capital place. The dor- 
 mitories are perfect ; ventilation, cleanliness and comfort 
 could not have been better looked after." 
 
 At the end of the summer term of 1873, Keith-Falconer 
 finally left Harrow, it being settled that he should spend 
 his last year before entering Cambridge with a tutor, and 
 devote himself exclusively to Mathematics. 
 
 Accordingly in October he went to reside in the house of 
 the Rev. Lewis Hensley, Senior Wrangler in 1846, and 
 formerly a Fellow of Trinity. This gentleman was now 
 vicar of Hitchin, a small town in Hertfordshire, half-way 
 between Cambridge and London; and here Keith-Falconer 
 spent the ensuing twelvemonth, save for various short 
 vacations. Soon after he had begun to reside in his new 
 abode, he writes to his sister-in-law : 
 
 " There are three other fellows here : we work six hours 
 a day. I do mathematics exclusively, trigonometry and 
 analytical conies at present .... To-day is Sunday : I 
 and Mr. Hensley walked over to Preston this morning, a 
 small village at a distance of about three miles, where he 
 preached. The Church here is an enormous building. The 
 vicarage is just between the Market-Place, or the town- 
 square, and the Church railings. My window, at which I 
 am now sitting, looks out on a sort of walk which runs 
 half-way round the Church, and which is the resort of all 
 the little boys in the neighbourhood ; so that I hear 
 nothing all day but * Oh, 'ave you seen the Shah ! ' varied 
 by a continual ringing of the Church bells. Then there is 
 
Home, Childhood, School. 27 
 
 the Church clock which strikes lustily every quarter of an 
 hour, giving forth 636 strokes per diem, which is a great 
 excitement for us in this little place." 
 
 Although Keith-Falconer worked, as his habit was, 
 conscientiously at the task set him, it cannot be doubted 
 that neither for Classics at Harrow, nor for Mathematics 
 at Hitchin, did he feel any special enthusiasm. Partly, as 
 Mr. Bowen has pointed out in his note on the Harrow 
 days, he had various side-interests which absorbed a cer- 
 tain amount of time and energy, so that he was sometiifies 
 passed by students, who, with less originality of thought 
 than he, and often probably with less brilliancy, did how- 
 ever stick with greater persistence to the subject in hand. 
 
 Still there was a further reason and a weightier one. 
 In neither of the two lines of study to which as yet his 
 mind had been directed, had he found anything on which 
 his zeal could be thoroughly aroused. When his mind at 
 last found its true field of work, no student could show a 
 more enthusiastic or more unchanging zeal. 
 
 Mr. Hensley has kindly furnished me with some in- 
 teresting reminiscences' of his former pupil. In these 
 while one reads as a matter of course : — * I soon found 
 that he would be diligent and conscientious in his work, 
 and that I had in him a satisfactory pupil, whom I could 
 trust without fear, indoors or outdoors ' ; one is not sur- 
 prised to find the further remark, ' In neither Classics nor 
 Mathematics was he an intense student.' Mr. Hensley 
 continues : 
 
 " He was full of all sorts of by-occupations and hobbies, 
 and it was in following these that his eager character ex- 
 pended itself. He took up Pitman's Shorthand, which he 
 practised diligently, and frequently treated us to disquisi- 
 tions on its advantages. He was at all times full of some 
 matter of this kind, and overflowing in talk about it with 
 others, and generally in very high spirits and full of fun. 
 Then he brought with him a bicycle, and rapidly devel- 
 
28 Home, Childhood, School. 
 
 oped, whilst at Hitcliin, that mastery of the machine which 
 made him afterwards the champion rider of England. I 
 suppose his tall figure was an advantage to him, but more, 
 I should say, the ' perfervid ' resolution, with which he 
 threw himself into whatever interested him. Or he would 
 rise at seven to take lessons in the Tonic Sol-fa System, or 
 at other times might be heard singing to himself as he lay 
 in bed, at the same early hour. In short, he was always 
 doing something : if he had but a quarter of an hour before 
 work-time, he would be busy with his Shorthand, or would 
 spring on his bicycle and dash round the town and be home 
 again at the appointed hour. 
 
 "I have mentioned his singing. This was connected 
 with plans for doing good, which likewise occupied much 
 of his thoughts. One of these was the promotion of the 
 Temperance cause, to which he devoted himself by assist- 
 ing in the entertainments and addresses of a Temperance 
 Brigade of young men, which was under the management 
 of Mr. Arthur Latchmore. With him also he would fre- 
 quently, after attending the Parish Church in the morning, 
 gather together a meeting of poor people in the open air or 
 in a schoolroom in one of the outlying parts of the Parish, 
 and conduct a little service with Moody and Sankey's 
 Hymns, or would visit the sick and infirm on a week- 
 day. 
 
 " He had been brought up in the Free Church of Scot- 
 land, and although this did not prevent him from attend- 
 ing our Church services, he was in many ways independent 
 in his views, at times startling strictly orthodox and 
 regular Churchmen, and no doubt kept in his heart and in 
 his convictions a strong attachment to the Church of his 
 early education 
 
 " I have already touched on his labours amongst the 
 poor, and a few words may perhaps be added, contributed 
 by Mr. Arthur Latchmore, with whom he shared in these 
 labours, and to whom he expressed his most intimate 
 thoughts : — ' Keith-Falconer was very fond of visiting the 
 cottages of the poor, especially at the Folley, speaking a 
 kindly word to try and rouse them to think more of their 
 souls' salvation ; and often by the bedside of the sick and 
 infirm would he sing and read to them, cheering and com- 
 
Home, Childhood, School, 29 
 
 forting many a weary soul, and not forgetting to help 
 those in distress with his purse. He was a strong believer 
 in the power of prayer, for nearly always before going out 
 either to the open air services, the visiting the poor, or 
 conducting the Bible Class in connection with our Young 
 Men's Brigade, we used to have a few minutes in prayer 
 together.' " 
 
 Mr. Hensley concludes : — 
 
 " He became much attached to Hitchin, and frequently 
 in after years ran over from Cambridge, a,nd twice in 
 vacation time came to lodge here with friends for the sake 
 of reading, and once in 1875 came back to me for a week's 
 special help. Taking all this into account, I can still 
 hardly believe that his residence with me was so brief, so 
 deep is the impression which he has left with us all." 
 
 It was during his residence at Hitchin, that the first 
 great sorrow of his life befell Keith-Falconer. 
 
 His elder brother Dudley, two years and a half older 
 than himself, had always been of a more delicate constitu- 
 tion than his two strong young brothers, one older and the 
 other younger than himself. The departure of the eldest 
 brother for school, and the gap in years dividing the others 
 from their youngest brother Arthur, tended especially to 
 associate Ion with Dudley. 
 
 The delicate health of the latter forbade his being sent 
 to school, and thus he continued to study at home with 
 the tutor with whom Ion worked. In their amusements 
 too they were inseparable, and spent much time together 
 in a room allotted to them at Keith -Hall for carpentering 
 and the like. 
 
 In spite of Dudley's lack of physical strength, he was at 
 all times a leader in his brothers' various boyish pur- 
 suits : to his judgement various points were referred for 
 decision. 
 
 At last the mere delicacy of health began to assume 
 
30 Home, ChildJiood, School. 
 
 a graver form, and Dudley became more and more a con- 
 firmed invalid. 
 
 He had from his earliest childhood been one in whom 
 the love of G-od had been of the very essence of his being ; 
 and now with gradually increasing weakness, the pure 
 flame only shone out brighter and fuller. 
 
 At times, though very weak, he was capable of taking, 
 the fullest interest in all that was going on around him, 
 and would throw his whole soul into the endeavour to 
 speak words of peace to others; at other times, intense 
 pain allowed him but to lie still and suffer in silence. 
 
 In the autumn of 1873, Dudley's increasing weakness 
 warned his parents of the expediency of removing him to a 
 warmer climate. Accordingly, as on previous occasions, 
 he was taken to Cannes, his mother accompanying him. 
 Here for a time some improvement seemed to shew itself ; 
 but it was the last flicker of life, and gradually it became 
 plain that the end was near, and the father and Ion were 
 summoned from England. Still death came not as speedily 
 as he had been looked for. Day after day the dying boy 
 awoke to the consciousness of the fact that this world was 
 around him yet. No fear of death disquieted him ; he had 
 loved his Saviour with too deep an intensity to feel aught 
 but earnest longing to meet Him. Nor was there at all a 
 desire for death simply as the release from keen bodily 
 anguish. 
 
 With brain clear to the last, with heaven opened to his 
 enraptured gaze, he waited, eagerly but submissively, till 
 the time should come for him to cross the river. 
 
 On the 27th of November, Dudley Keith -Falconer died. 
 His death caused the first gap in the bright family circle, 
 since so sadly thinned. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 STUDENT LIFE AT CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 " Whose powers shed round him in the common strife, 
 
 Or mild concerns of ordinary life, 
 
 A constant influence, a peculiar gi-ace." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 In the October term of 1874, Ion Keith-Falconer began 
 his residence as a Cambridge undergraduate, having been 
 entered on the books of Trinity College on the 24th of 
 September preceding. 
 
 To this great College, with which so many illustrious 
 names of the past are associated, he was warmly attached, 
 and his letters in later years contain frequent remarks 
 shewing cordial love both to College and University. 
 
 He did not occupy rooms within the College walls at 
 any period of his undergraduate life, save in the Long 
 Vacations, when, by the rule of the College, such residence 
 is obligatory. With this exception, he occupied the same 
 set of rooms during his whole Cambridge life until his 
 marriage in 1884. These were on the north side of the 
 Market Square (21 Market Hill), facing the Guild-Hall. 
 Here he worked resolutely at his books, utterly unaffected 
 by certain distracting sounds, which might have disturbed 
 a less diligent or less equable student. On market days, 
 a noisy hum from the busy square pervaded his room ; all 
 day long and all night the clock of the University Church 
 of St. Mary chimed the quarter-hours, and at nine each 
 evening the great curfew bell rang, as it had done for 
 
32 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 centuries, and this was followed by the tolling of the 
 number of the day of the month. 
 
 To all these disturbances, Keith -Falconer was supremely 
 indifferent : he liked in the intervals of work to look out 
 on the busy scene of life below. The late Bishop Hampden 
 was said to have written his Baawpton Lectures while his 
 children were playing around him in his study. The same 
 kind of concentration over work, irrespective of surround- 
 ing disturbances, was always a marked characteristic of 
 Keith-Falconer. 
 
 In dealing even with the undergraduate career of a man 
 so many-sided in his interests, it is necessary to aim at 
 giving its due importance to each element to be described. 
 Here was a young Christian man, whose Christianity 
 prompted him to use every faculty for the furtherance of 
 the Grospel, — a student as careful and painstaking as any 
 of those to whom the highest goal of human ambition is a 
 distinguished place in the class-list, — a wi'iter of short- 
 hand, whose pace and accuracy could hardly be excelled, — 
 a bicyclist, whose prowess and endurance won him in- 
 numerable triumphs. 
 
 We propose in the present chapter mainly to dwell on 
 the student side of Keith-Falconer's life, from the time of 
 his first entering Trinity in 1874 up to that of his last 
 examination in 1880 ; and also to speak of those secondary 
 interests which served him for relaxation of mind and 
 body. We shall reserve to the following chapter some 
 account of certain schemes for benefiting others with which 
 he was associated even at this early period. 
 
 His intention had been in the first instance to compete 
 for Honours in the Mathematical Tripos, Mathematics 
 being a subject to which, as we have seen, he had paid 
 special attention at Harrow, and with Mr. Hensley. With 
 this intention in view, he became a pupil of the late Mr. 
 Thomas Dale, Fellow of Trinity, one of the most distin- 
 guished of the then Cambridge Mathematicians. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge, 33 
 
 Early in his first term he writes to his sister-in-law : — 
 
 *• Cambridge, Nov. 11, 1874. 
 
 **I have lots to tell you, but I don't know where to 
 begin. Yesterday was the ten-mile bicycle race — three 
 started. I was one. I ran the distance in 34 minutes, 
 being the fastest time, amateur or professional, on record. 
 I was not at all exhausted. The road was splendid, and a 
 
 strong wind blowing from behind To-day I am 
 
 going to amuse the public by riding an 86-inch bicycle to 
 Trumpington and back. There is a little scale of steps up 
 it, up which I am helped, and then started off and left to 
 myself. It is great fun riding this leviathan: it creates 
 such an extraordinary sensation among the old dons who 
 happen to be passing. If I fell off it, I should probably 
 break an arm or a leg — so I shan't repeat the performance 
 after to-day 
 
 " I have been going in for Sol-Fa lately with vigour. I 
 have got two of the certificates given by Curwen, and 
 astonished mother by singing some tunes at sight correctly. 
 
 " The Little-go begins on the 5th and ends on the 17th, 
 
 one paper only each day I like my lodgings very 
 
 much. My landlady can almost remember Adam, and 
 tells me stories about Dr. Whewell and people dead long 
 
 ago I have a class in the Choir School on Sunday 
 
 mornings." 
 
 The " Little-go " referred to in the preceding paragraph 
 is, it perhaps need hardly be said, an examination which 
 all undergraduates must pass, whether candidates for 
 Honours or for an Ordinary Degree. He again refers to 
 it in another letter to the same : — 
 
 ''Jan. 3, 1875. 
 
 " Did you see the Little-go list ? . . . . The papers were 
 absurdly easy. About forty men were plucked, and seven 
 for cnhhing. The man next me wanted me to give him a 
 few hints, but I could not do it ; so he was plucked . . . ." 
 
 This last incident deserves a somewhat fuller mention, 
 
34 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 as illustrating alike Keitli-Falconer's keen sense of honour 
 and his kindliness. On the day before the examination 
 began, a man going in for it wrote to him saying that he 
 had found they would sit side by side during the exami- 
 nation, and that as he was not very well prepared in some 
 of the subjects, he hoped Keith-Falconer would give him a 
 little surreptitious help. To this Keith-Falconer replied 
 that he would not dream of such a thing, but if the other 
 cared, he would devote every minute of time till the exami- 
 nation began to * coaching ' him for it. Nothing, however, 
 was seen of the man, and the result happened that might 
 have been anticipated. 
 
 A few days later he again writes to his sister-in-law : — 
 
 ''Jan. 8, 1875. 
 
 ** The bicycle race at Lillie Bridge has been postponed 
 till the 23rd .... I went to stay with my antagonist for 
 a few days, and took him and his mother and his aunt to 
 Spurgeon's on the Sunday. They were slightly astonished' 
 to see such a mass of people all rivetted for nearly an hour. 
 Moody and Sankey will probably hold a meeting in his 
 Tabernacle. I shall go to hear them, I hope. I expect it 
 will be glorious." 
 
 Three terms in due course passed away, and at the annual 
 College examination in June, Keith-Falconer obtained a 
 First-Class, and was a Prizeman. 
 
 All this time he seems to have entertained a certain 
 amount of doubt whether the course he was pursuing was 
 the best for him ; whether, in spite of the mental training 
 which the study of Mathematics gives, he was not perhaps 
 making an end of the means ; instead of following a line of 
 study in which he could feel a higher degree of sympathy 
 with the work itself. 
 
 It was not without careful thought, in which reasons for 
 and against were anxiously weighed, and not without the 
 fullest search for help and guidance, that when one-third of 
 
Student Life at Camhridge. 35 
 
 his undergraduate course had passed, Keith-Falconer re- 
 solved to give up his previous plans, and to begin to read 
 for Honours in the Theological Tripos. 
 
 No one who knows the English University system needs 
 to be told that to change from Tripos to Tripos is an 
 altogether unusual proceeding, and is, as a rule, one to be 
 decidedly deprecated. In Keith-Falconer's case, there can 
 be no doubt that the change was a wise one. If viewed 
 merely on the comparatively low ground of academic dis- 
 tinction, it might be urged that Harrow had given him a 
 sound, scholarly knowledge of G-reek and Latin (languages 
 which of course hold an important place in the work of the 
 Theological Tripos), and his first year at college had taught 
 him the student's first great lesson, how to read. If viewed 
 on the higher ground of permanent interest in the work for 
 its own sake, then too there could be no doubt. He shewed 
 the keenest appreciation of his new line of work from the 
 first, and kept it to the end. 
 
 A man, in whose heart was the desire to serve Grod — and 
 how fervent the desire was the Harrow letters have shewn 
 — and therefore the desire to aid others to serve Him, and 
 who felt that great powers had been entrusted to him by 
 Grod so to be used, might well feel in these new studies as 
 though he were humbly seeking to carry out, so far as in 
 him lay, G-od's purpose concerning him. 
 
 I first became personally acquainted with Keith-Falconer, 
 when, on his deciding to read for Theological Honours, he 
 became my pupil in July, 1875. 
 
 His appearance at this time, his manner, his tastes, were 
 all strikingly like what they were in later times. He had 
 a remarkably tall, well-shaped figure, whose symmetry 
 seemed to take off from his height of six feet three inches. 
 Physically very strong he certainly was, in one sense, or 
 his wonderful feats of athletic endeavour, of which we 
 must speak presently, would have been impossible. Yet 
 for all those feats, which were partly due no doubt to the 
 
36 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 sustaining power of a strong will, he could not really be 
 called robust. 
 
 His kindly voice and genial smile will live in the recol- 
 lection of his friends ; like good Bishop Hacket of Lichfield, 
 he might have taken as his motto, "Serve God and be 
 cheerful." Side by side, however, with his geniality there 
 was in Keith-Falconer at all times the most perfect and, so 
 to speak, transparent simplicity. Never was a character 
 more free from any alloy of insincerity or meanness. No 
 undertone of veiled unkindness, or jealousy, or selfishness, 
 found place in his conversation. From the most absolute 
 truthfulness he would never waver ; his frank open speech 
 was the genuine, unmixed outcome of the feelings of his 
 heart. 
 
 A certain slight, very slight, deafness in one ear made 
 him at times seem absent to those who did not know this, 
 and unknowingly had sat or walked on the wrong side. 
 
 A characteristic habit of his seemed now and then to 
 give a certain degree of irrelevance to his remarks. Some- 
 times, when in conversation on a topic which interested 
 him, he would, after remaining silent for a short time, join 
 again in the conversation with a remark not altogether 
 germane to the apparent point at issue. He had been fol- 
 lowing out a train of thought suggested by some passing 
 remark, and after working out the idea on his own lines as 
 far as it would go, made his comment on the result. Yet 
 whenever the conversation had to do with the interests or 
 needs of those to whom he was speaking, no one could 
 throw himself more completely, heart and mind, into the 
 matter. Talk for talking' s sake he cordially abhorred, that 
 talk which is simply made as though silence were neces- 
 sarily a bad thing in itself. 
 
 This interest in widely different topics of conversation 
 was not, however, simply the result of mingled good-nature 
 and courtesy, a mere complaisance, where it was but a care- 
 less good-nature that saved the courtesy from hoUowness. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 37 
 
 Far from it. No one who knew Keith-Falconer well needs 
 to be told how thoroughly, how constantly, and in what 
 varying ways, he could make the business or cause of 
 another his own ; whether it were a friend in need of help, 
 from the most trifling to the most momentous matters, or 
 the absolute stranger whom apparent chance had sent 
 across his path. 
 
 His old landlady, Mrs. Emmerson, between whom and 
 himself the warmest cordiality always existed, writes : — 
 
 ** During the nine years he was in residence with me, his 
 sole aim seemed to be, to benefit all needing help, whether 
 friends or strangers. He would frequently bring in those 
 he met accidentally in his walks, give them refreshment, 
 better clothing, or money, and start them in fresh spirits." 
 
 Still with all this, his kindliness was by no means one 
 lacking its proper counterj^oise of discretion; his strong, 
 clear-headed, Scotch common- sense was constantly mani- 
 fested, even in his schemes of beneficence. Yet even thus 
 it must be remembered that his was a character in which 
 the warm heart was guided in its action by the clear head, 
 not one in which the clear head did but allow itself to be 
 swayed more or less by the loving heart. Love was the 
 dominant power, discretion the corrective influence. 
 
 It may be well to add a few words at this stage as to 
 what I have called above his secondary interests. Of phy- 
 sical exercises, his favourite, and indeed the only one in 
 which he habitually indulged, was bicycling. To this he 
 had first taken at Harrow, when he was about fifteen, on 
 what was popularly known as a " boneshaker." The level 
 Cambridgeshire roads afforded him admirable scope for 
 this amusement, and the great pace at which he could run, 
 and the long distances for which he could endure, were ex- 
 traordinary. A dozen years ago, it must be remembered, 
 the bicycle had not come into nearly such general use as at 
 present, and great feats of pace and distance were corres- 
 
38 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 pondingly more noticeable. On one occasion, he went on 
 his bicycle in one summer's day between dawn and dark- 
 ness all the way from Cambridge to Bournemouth, where 
 his family were then staying, a distance of nearly 150 
 miles. It will be desirable to give a brief sketch of some 
 of his athletic successes, but this may best be postponed 
 until we have spoken in detail of his work as a student. 
 
 Another favourite pursuit, which can hardly perhaps be 
 called an amusement, but which certainly often furnished 
 recreation in the true sense of the word, was shorthand 
 writing. This he had taught himself at Harrow, accord- 
 ing to the system invented by Mr. Isaac Pitman, known 
 as phonography ; and kept it by constant practice in a high 
 state of efficiency. It proved of course of immense use to 
 him in various University and other lectures, and count- 
 less sermons were thus taken down, not simply for practice 
 only, but often with some kind intention to be of service. 
 Thus the Eev. P. W. Minto, for many years the Free 
 Church Minister at Inverurie, writes : 
 
 " As showing his readiness to be helpful, I may mention 
 that he frequently gave me the benefit of this useful ac- 
 quirement. When I wanted to preach, as far as language 
 is concerned, extempore, he took notes of the sermon, word 
 for word, and then would spend three or four hours next 
 day in writing it for me in longhand, so that I might have 
 it for use on future occasions." ^ 
 
 Lastly, I may mention music. While his tastes were 
 not keenly musical, of certain forms of sacred music he 
 was very fond. He had acquired a competent degree of 
 skill by means of what is known as the Tonic Sol-Fa sys- 
 tem, which he maintained to be far more easy of attain- 
 ment by the ordinary learner, though the notation itself 
 was one in which the most difficult music could be accu- 
 rately expressed. 
 
 > Free Church of Scotland Monthly y July 1887, p. 213. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. * 39 
 
 With this digression as to Keith-Falconer's various 
 side-interests at this time, we must now attempt to give 
 some account of his work as a student of theology. This, 
 from July 1875 to January 1878, was guided, as I have 
 already said, by the requirements of the Theological 
 Tripos. • 
 
 These pages may be read by some to whom everything 
 connected with the development of such a mind as Keith- 
 Falconer's must be full of interest, yet to whom the de- 
 tails of this particular examination may be altogether un- 
 known. I therefore venture to give a short description of 
 it, as it was constituted at the time when Keith-Falconer 
 was a competitor in it. 
 
 At that time, it lasted for seven days, two papers being 
 set each day, and three hours allowed for each. The last 
 four days were devoted to more advanced or more special- 
 ized work. 
 
 There were thus fourteen papers set ; or fifteen, if an 
 additional paper in Hebrew be included, the marks for 
 which only had regard to the Hebrew Prize. Of these 
 fourteen papers, one was a general paper on the Old 
 Testament, three were devoted to the Hebrew subjects, 
 three to Greek Testament, and the remaining seven to 
 miscellaneous Divinity, Church History and the like. 
 Some of the subjects were unvarying, some were changed 
 from year to year. 
 
 The general Old Testament paper consisted of questions 
 on the criticism and exegesis of the various books, on the 
 history of the Hebrew text, and of the G-reek and English 
 versions ; as well as on the history of the Jews down to 
 the Christian Era. 
 
 The three Hebrew papers in 1878 were respectively on 
 Genesis, on Isaiah, and on Zechariah and Ecclesiastes. In 
 the third of these papers, questions on the Septuagint 
 version of the books named were also set. Into all these, 
 in addition to pieces for translation from the Hebrew, and 
 
40 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 critical and exegetical questions, there entered, more or 
 less largely, what is technically known as ** pointing " ; 
 that is, pieces of Hebrew are set in which the student has 
 to supply the vowel and other marks known as the "points." 
 This exercise is one which tests the soundness and accuracy 
 of a student's Hebrew knowledge thoroughly. In the ad- 
 ditional Hebrew paper, pieces of English were also set to 
 be turned into Hebrew, answering to the Greek and Latin 
 composition of the Classical Tripos. 
 
 Of the three papers on the Grreek Testament, one was of 
 a very general kind, including questions on the history of 
 the New Testament Canon, on the criticism of the text, on 
 the language, and on the contents of the several books. 
 The other two were respectively on the Grospels, with 
 special reference to one, that in 1878 being St. John ; and 
 the remaining books of the New Testament, again with 
 special portions, those for 1878 being Acts i.-xii. and the 
 First Epistle of St Peter. Questions were set in these 
 two papers analogous to those on the Old Testament 
 subjects. 
 
 Two papers were set on Church History, the first a 
 general one on the first six centuries of the Christian 
 Church, and the other on special subjects, varying each 
 year, those in 1878 being the life and times of Pope 
 G-regory VII. and of Archbishop Cranmer. 
 
 The five remaining papers were, one on the Ancient 
 Creeds and the Confessions of the Eeformation period; 
 one on Liturgiology, purporting to deal with the structure 
 of the chief ancient Liturgies, and with the history of 
 Christian worship ; two on selected Patristic works, Greek 
 and Latin respectively, those for 1878 being, in Greek the 
 first Apology of Justin Martyr, and three of the polemic 
 treatises of Athanasius ; and in Latin, a book of Irenseus's 
 work Against all Heresies, and two books of Bede's Church 
 History. 
 
 Lastly, there was a paper on certain Modem Theological 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 41 
 
 writings, those set for 1878 being the first part of Butler's 
 Analogy and the first two sections of Bishop Bull's Defensio 
 Fidei Nicence. 
 
 It will be obvious to any one, whether professed student 
 or not, that the above represents a mass of work to do 
 which creditably might well occupy two years and a 
 half. 
 
 As a matter of fact, very few men took up quite all the 
 work, though very few on the other hand quite restricted 
 themselves to the first six papers, on which alone the ques- 
 tion of passing or failing hinged. 
 
 Keith-Falconer made it his set purpose to cover the 
 whole ground, and to do it thoroughly and carefully ; and 
 this he succeeded in doing, though the amount was enough 
 to keep him busily occupied during the two years and a 
 half, except for one digression into another piece of work 
 of which we shall speak presently. 
 
 While, however, he worked most conscientiously at the 
 whole allotted scheme of subjects, he took distinctly more 
 deHght in the Biblical than in the non-Biblical work, and 
 from the very first shewed pre-eminently the keenest in- 
 terest in the study of Hebrew. 
 
 The Talmud says, in a well-known passage : " There are 
 four sorts of pupils, the sponge and the funnel, the strainer 
 and the sieve. The sponge is he who sponge th up every- 
 thing ; and the funnel is he who taketh in at this ear and 
 letteth out at that ; the strainer is he that letteth go the 
 wine and retaineth the dregs ; and the sieve is he that 
 letteth go the bran and retaineth the fine flour." Among 
 the last of these four classes any one to whom Keith- 
 Falconer had been a pupil would assuredly place him. 
 
 It goes without saying that he was neither careless nor 
 unappreciative, but he was not simply the careful, plodding 
 student, who in his utmost zeal does but more or less im- 
 perfectly reproduce his teacher. The scholar, whose study 
 is really to bear worthy fruit, must not only " read, mark 
 
42 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 and learn," but also "inwardly digest" and make in the 
 highest sense his own what he is taught. The teacher of 
 such a pupil need be no chopper- up of intellectual food 
 into small doses, there is certain to be a sufficiency both of 
 receptive and of assimilating power. 
 
 Such a pupil was Keith-Falconer. Docile he was in 
 the true sense of the word, at the same time he certainly 
 was 
 
 Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri, 
 
 and this not from captiousness or any contrariety of spirit, 
 but simply because the true scholar's instinct was strong 
 within him, to seek ever for the truth and that alone. 
 Thus it was the sterner, severer form of study, specially 
 associated with Cambridge, with its traditional loyalty to 
 Mathematical science and pure scholarship, that attracted 
 him, rather than something perhaps more seemingly in- 
 viting, but less uncompromisingly exact. 
 
 Hebrew, we have said, was a subject to which Keith- 
 Falconer took kindly from the first, and in a comparatively 
 short space of time he was able to compose with accuracy 
 and elegance in that language. It hardly needs to be said 
 that, as contrasted with a language like G-reek, Hebrew has 
 an exceedingly small vocabulary, and is largely lacking in 
 the power of marking delicate distinctions and modifica- 
 tions of thought characteristic of the former. In this 
 seemingly rigid, inelastic medium, Keith-Falconer early 
 found a peculiar delight in composing, not only by render- 
 ing suitable pieces of English into Hebrew, but also by 
 writing letters in it as a means of communication. A 
 bundle of post-cards now lies before me written by him in 
 that language from 1876 onwards, on every conceivable 
 subject, which shew a power I have not often seen 
 equalled of bending the inflexible idioms and making the 
 scanty vocabulary suffice for the needs of nineteenth cen- 
 tury English. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge, 43 
 
 We spoke above of a slight digression from the main 
 stream of his work, if it can fairly be called a digression. 
 This was his competition in December, 1876, for one of the 
 prizes founded by the late Dean Jeremie, of Lincoln, for 
 proficiency in the G-reek of the Septuagint. The special 
 subjects appointed in the year when Keith-Falconer was a 
 candidate, were the first book of Samuel, Daniel in the 
 two existing Greek versions, and the apocryphal " Gospel 
 of Nicodemus." Although his Tripos work was heavy, he 
 spared no pains in this competition, and even acquired, 
 with a view to the more thorough treatment of his subject, 
 a sufficient knowledge of the so-called Chaldee language, 
 in which part of the book of Daniel is written. 
 
 He succeeded in obtaining one of the two prizes, and was 
 also a prizeman at the two annual college examinations in 
 June 1876 and June 1877. 
 
 On his way up to Cambridge for the October Term of 
 the former year, he broke the journey at Stockton-on- 
 Tees, with the view of helping for a few days in a certain 
 good work that was then being carried on in that town. 
 At this time, Mr. G-. J. Holyoake, the secularist lecturer, 
 was holding a series of meetings in Stockton, and after one 
 of his lectures challenged public discussion. Keith- 
 Falconer, who had been present at the lecture, imme- 
 diately went upon the platform, and brought forward 
 certain objections with such force, that on the particular 
 points at issue he completely silenced his opponent. 
 
 In December, 1877, the month preceding his Tripos 
 Examination, a great blow befell him in the death of his 
 youngest brother Arthur in his fifteenth year. 
 
 Always delicate and lacking the robust strength which 
 thrives amid the rough vigour of a public school, Arthur 
 had been educated almost entirely by tutors at home. 
 
 The heathen poet declares that they " whom the gods 
 love die young" ; and the thought maybe consecrated to a 
 Christian use. In looking at Arthur Keith-Falconer one 
 
44 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 could not help feeling that the exceptional sweetness and 
 gentleness, so absolutely simple and engaging, and the 
 depth of love for Christ which seemed so completely part 
 of his nature, and to carry one as though into a quiet 
 resting-place away from the world's rough din — all pointed 
 to a life which the Master would early call back to Him- 
 self. 
 
 His absorbing delight was music, for which he had as 
 distinct and special a gift as his brother Ion for language, 
 and to this, his time, so far as it was not taken up with his 
 studies, was largely devoted. 
 
 During the summer of 1877, he had been, though not 
 robust, seemingly in very good health ; but in the autumn 
 signs of increasing weakness began rapidly to shew them- 
 selves, and as the winter approached it became clear that this 
 world's sunshine was for Arthur almost at an end. It needs 
 not to be said that the two brothers were tenderly attached 
 to one another, and at the beginning of December, Ion 
 Keith-Falconer hurried away from Cambridge to Keith- 
 Hall to be with his brother for such short remaining time 
 as G-od might will. 
 
 Besides the desire to see his brother once more, he needed 
 change also for himself, for he was by this time feeling by 
 no means well under the long-continued strain of work and 
 anxiety ; indeed during the examination itself in the fol- 
 lowing month, he was sufficiently unwell to require to have 
 recourse to a doctor. 
 
 He found his brother simply fading away. He suffered 
 no pain, and was perfectly conscious to the last, looking 
 on to the future with the peaceful unquestioning calm of a 
 child who is going home. 
 
 He died on December 9, and changed the hymns of this 
 lower world for the song of the Seraphim. 
 
 With the shock of this great loss upon him, and in by 
 no means good physical condition, Keith-Falconer went in 
 for his Tripos on January 4, 1878. On the 24th, the list 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 45 
 
 was published, and his was one of the six ^ names in the 
 first class, the prize for Hebrew being also awarded to him. 
 On the Saturday following he took his B.A. degree. 
 
 For some months after his degree, Keith- Falconer did 
 not reside much in Cambridge. He certainly needed rest, 
 and found it largely in change of occupation, though his 
 letters shew that the studies at which he had made so 
 satisfactory a beginning by no means languished. Most 
 of the time till June he spent at Brighton, where his 
 family were then residing, and devoted himself largely to 
 preparing for an examination at Cambridge an under- 
 graduate friend who needed exceptional help. 
 
 In August he was at the Broadlands Conference. This 
 is the name given to a meeting gathered by the Right 
 Hon. W. Cowper-Temple (now Lord Mount Temple) at 
 his seat in Hampshire ; a meeting which has for its end 
 the strengthening and deepening of spiritual life. Here 
 his powers of writing phonography came into play to re- 
 port the addresses. To the published account of the pro- 
 ceedings was prefixed an Introduction by Keith-Falconer 
 as to the object, scope and results of the Conference. 
 This Introduction exhibits not only considerable power of 
 language, but also a greater depth of thought than could 
 ordinarily be looked for from a young man of two and 
 twenty. The absolute earnestness of the religious con- 
 viction underlying it is manifest, and it fully deserves to 
 be reproduced here in full. In order, however, not to 
 break our thread, we give it as an Appendix to the present 
 chapter. 
 
 In October, Keith-Falconer settled again into residence 
 at Cambridge, in his old rooms looking out on the market- 
 
 ^ It is interesting to note that of these six, two others besides 
 Keith-Falconer devoted themselves to the cause of missions abroad ; 
 Mr. Lefroy becoming one of the members of the Cambridge Univer- 
 sity Mission at Delhi, and Mr. Williams an S. P. G. missionary at 
 Rewari, near Delhi. 
 
46 Student Life at Cambridge, 
 
 place. He was now definitely working for two examina- 
 tions, both more or less on the same lines, though by no 
 means absolutely identical. These were the examinations 
 for the Tyrwhitt University Hebrew Scholarships, to be 
 held in May 1879, and that for the Semitic Languages 
 Tripos, in February 1880. The former of these, founded 
 in 1818, represented, then as now, the highest distinction 
 to be obtained for Hebrew in Cambridge. Among the 
 scholars who have won it in the past are to be found such 
 names as Bishop Harold Browne of Winchester, the late 
 Bishop Ollivant of Llandaff, Dean Perowne, and the late 
 Dr. r. Field. The direction of the founder was that the 
 examination should turn primarily on the Hebrew Bible, 
 and in a secondary degree on things directly tending to 
 illustrate it. Accordingly, passages are set for translation 
 from any part of the Bible, both in the Hebrew and that 
 which is called Chaldee ; and, moreover, extracts are set 
 from Rabbinic, or in other words, post-Biblical Hebrew, 
 Commentaries on the Scriptures by the great Eabbis and 
 the like ; and also from the Targums, or paraphrases of 
 the various parts of the Bible into the vernacular language 
 of Palestine, such as it was in our Saviour's time, such 
 language as St. Paul used when he addressed and stilled 
 the noisy mob of Jerusalem from the steps of the " Castle." 
 Pieces of Syriac also are occasionally set. In addition to 
 all this, there is "pointing," such as I have already ex- 
 plained, and also pieces of English to be turned into He- 
 brew. These last are often of considerable difficulty. 
 
 There lies before me now a rendering into Hebrew, 
 made by Keith-Falconer at this time, of Cardinal New- 
 man's beautiful hymn, " Lead, Kindly Light." The hymn 
 is written in strong, idiomatic English, by no means easy 
 to reproduce adequately. Yet the rendering is most 
 happy, and, for a student at the stage of progress at 
 which Keith-Falconer then was, gives warrant of very 
 high promise. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 47 
 
 In this term, he began to read Syriac with Dr. Wright, 
 the well-known learned professor of Arabic at Cambridge, 
 and, in the interests of both examinations, though mainly 
 the Semitic Languages Tripos, he worked at it very regu- 
 larly in 1878 and 1879. 
 
 Thus occupied with his reading, now directed to a suffi- 
 ciently large field of new work, and with his heart un- 
 doubtedly very much in earnest as to his coming examina- 
 tions, the time passed by till the following May, when the 
 first examination was held, and he was elected a Tyrwhitt 
 scholar. 
 
 From what I have already said, and from much that 
 will follow, it will be clearly understood that at the times 
 of his busiest occupation, his heart had the fullest room 
 for interest in anything by which G-od might be glorified 
 or man benefited. Still, to prevent endless breakings of 
 continuity, I have felt it undoubtedly best to let the 
 student-life stand as a continuous story. 
 
 After the examination, he went for a time to London, 
 where his family then were, and his letters are full of his 
 hopes as to the contest just over, and yet more, of his 
 plans for the other yet to come. 
 
 It may be well perhaps at this stage if I briefly sketch 
 the nature of the Semitic Languages Tripos for which 
 Keith-Falconer was now working. The examination was 
 one of recent foundation, being first held in the year 1878, 
 and was designed to give encouragement to a wider range 
 of Oriental study than was provided by the Tyrwhitt 
 Scholarships. The examination is one lasting for seven 
 days, of which the first two are deVoted to Arabic, then 
 two to Hebrew, then two to Syriac, and on the last day 
 two papers are set on the Comparative G-rammar of these 
 languages, and on their Literary History respectively. 
 
 At the time when Keith-Falconer entered for this ex- 
 amination, he had not acquired more than a slight know- 
 ledge of Arabic, and did not take up the first two days' 
 
48 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 papers. The remaining five days, however, provided 
 ample work. A knowledge was required of the whole 
 Hebrew Bible, with special reference, as in the case of 
 the earlier Tripos, to certain books ; those for 1880 being 
 Genesis, Euth, Job, and Amos. Rabbinic Hebrew was 
 represented by selected books from such writers as Mai- 
 monides and Rashi, that greatest of all exponents of 
 Scripture in the eyes of an orthodox Jew. 
 
 Syriac, in which, as well as in Hebrew, composition is 
 set, was represented by selected books of both Old and 
 New Testament in the various ancient Syriac versions of 
 Scripture, Curetonian, Peshito and Harklensian ; by non- 
 Biblical works such as the Doctrine of Addai, parts of 
 Aphraates, and Joshua Stylites; as well as by a paper 
 containing pieces from unspecified books. 
 
 The professed scholar and an unlearned person can 
 alike feel that all this is a very serious mass of work. 
 Keith-Falconer faced it in his customary methodical way. 
 Writing from London on June 26, he remarks : — 
 
 " I have revised pretty carefully Isaiah 1-39, and after 
 Isaiah will do Ezekiel (harder than Jeremiah) and a few 
 chapters from Leviticus ; and then will return to Psalms, 
 Proverbs, Minor Prophets, &c. (old ground). I have very 
 nearly finished the Joshua Stylites, the hardest of all the 
 Patristic Syriac. Peshito, &c. will be very plain sailing." 
 
 Moreover, he read his books not in the undiscriminating 
 way of one to whom everything which is printed must of 
 necessity be true, but with a very clear idea of the value of 
 what he was reading. Thus of a certain well-known text- 
 book, he makes some very just remarks : — 
 
 " I have read through . Knowledge which every- 
 one possessed long ago is here put in a nice, handy shape. 
 He has however done his best to make everyone believe it 
 is all a new discovery, but there is very little of really new 
 information contained in the book." 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 49 
 
 One topic which interested him much, then as in later 
 times, was the relation of the Septuagint to the existing 
 Hebrew text. The Septuagint, venerable as being the 
 oldest of existing translations of the Old Testament, and 
 most valuable in many ways both for the criticism of the 
 text, for exegesis in many difficult passages, and in a very 
 high degree for the light it throws on the Greek of the 
 New Testament, is a book for which extravagant claims 
 have been put forth by some of its advocates. 
 
 It may suffice here to say that whether or no there are 
 passages where the Grreek translation has preserved a 
 purer text than the Hebrew, still there are beyond all doubt 
 hundreds, literally hundreds, of places where the variation 
 is simply due to a blunder on the part of the translators. 
 When to such a blunder there has been further added a 
 corruption of text due to a transcriber's carelessness or 
 wilfulness, the case is often one which calls for a consider- 
 able degree of ingenuity and scholarship combined to solve 
 it, if indeed it is soluble at all. 
 
 Points of this kind always excited a keen interest in 
 Keith-Falconer. In a letter written about this time, he 
 says, " Send me some Septuagint nuts to crack if I can." 
 I cannot refrain from giving a specimen of one of these, 
 where I feel convinced that Keith-Falconer's proposed 
 solution, thought out by him in the summer of 1879, is the 
 undoubtedly true solution of a very curious difficulty, as to 
 which numerous theories have been put forth. 
 
 In Psalm xc. 9, the beautiful wording of the English, 
 *' We bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is 
 told," is, perhaps, not an absolutely literal, but is certainly 
 a faithful rendering of the Hebrew. The Septuagint, 
 however, gives a curiously different rendering, which is re- 
 presented by the translation as given in the Douay version 
 of the Bible. In this version, the only English version, be 
 it remembered, sanctioned by the Roman church — an Eng- 
 lish translation (so far as the Psalms are concerned) of a 
 
50 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 Latin translation of a bad Greek translation of the Hebrew, 
 the clause runs, '* Our years shall be considered as a spider." 
 Of the various hypotheses put forward by various scholars 
 to explain this curious difference, I have no hesitation in 
 saying that I consider Keith-Falconer's theory, which sees 
 in the passage a translator's blunder complicated by a 
 scribe's further corruption, wilful or otherwise, as un- 
 doubtedly the true one/ 
 
 In the course of the summer, Keith-Falconer felt the 
 need of being braced up somewhat for his work, and went 
 away for a few weeks to Ramsgate, taking his books with 
 him ; and from thence to Scotland, first on a visit near 
 Loch Luichart in Ross-shire, and then home, until he re- 
 turned to Cambridge for the ensuing term. 
 
 The examination for which he had long been working 
 was held in February, 1880, and resulted in his being 
 placed in the first class, his work having been distinctly 
 brilliant and of decided promise. It is interesting to re- 
 member that one of the four examiners on that occasion 
 was Mr. E. H. Palmer, at that time Lord Almoner's Pro- 
 
 ' It may be desirable to put this definitely in a note. The existing 
 Hebrew is njlll tOJ "like a passing thought" (or "passing 
 speech "). The existing Greek is to. err] i)fioJv mq apaxvij kutkiTiov 
 ("I thought upon our years as doth a spider "). It must be noted, 
 however, that the two oldest Mss. of the Septuagint, the Sinaitic 
 and Vatican, agree in reading, not the nominative dpaxvrt, but the 
 accusative apdxvr]v. Keith-Falconer's suggestion was that dpdxvtjv 
 was a scribe's error for dxvriv ("chaff"); and we may compare 
 Psalm xxxix. 11 ("like a moth fretting a garment"), where the 
 Ji^y ("moth") of the original was misread as Ji^p (by both 
 Septuagint and Peshito), and rendered dxvr] in the former, which 
 was corrupted into dpdxvr}. But whence has a%j/ry been derived in 
 the 90th Psalm ? In all probability, the Greek translators misread 
 1^5 ("like "), for pD3 ("like chaff"). Thus the resulting idea 
 of the Greek verse would be, ' ' I mused uj)on our years as though 
 but chaff. " The IfitXiriov is of course got by only a slight altera- 
 tion from njlH- 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 51 
 
 fessor of Arabic, destined at no distant date to die a violent 
 death at the hands of Arabs, members of a race among 
 many tribes of which he had lived as one of themselves. 
 The massacre of the Wady-Sudr does but add another to 
 the list of lives of the highest value v^asted amid the so- 
 called exigencies of party warfare. 
 
 With the Semitic Languages Tripos, the first portion of 
 Keith-Falconer's student-life found its natural end. He 
 had essayed his weapons, he had now won his spurs. He 
 was henceforth to prove, through such length of life as Grod 
 might vouchsafe him, what use he would seek to make of 
 his exceptional gifts. 
 
 In subsequent chapters it will be my duty to speak fully 
 as to the form in which Keith-Falconer's further devotion 
 to learning shewed itself. I propose now to look back 
 once again to the beginning of his undergraduate career, 
 and see in what secondary interests he chiefly found de- 
 light. 
 
 I have already said that his chief, and in some respects 
 his only settled amusement, was bicycling. In this his 
 powers were so exceptional, and his successes so striking 
 and so numerous, that I feel bound to speak of this aspect 
 of his life in some detail. It might otherwise have seemed 
 somewhat surprising that after such a narrative as that of 
 Keith-Falconer's student-life, I should now proceed to 
 dwell, with some fulness of detail, and using of necessity a 
 certain amount of technical phraseology, on a chronicle of 
 athletic successes. 
 
 Although the great majority of hard reading men are 
 not as a rule famous as athletes, which is very different 
 from saying that they do not freely indulge in vigorous 
 bodily exercise, for this indeed they must do if the brain is 
 to perform its duty properly ; still there have been not a 
 few men who have combined in a striking way the highest 
 academic distinctions with marked success in various forms 
 
52 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 of athletics. Thus Bishop Selwyn, " of Lichfield and New 
 Zealand," who took the degree of Second Classic in 1831, 
 rowed " seven " in the Cambridge boat in the first race 
 with Oxford in 1829. The Hon. Mr. Justice Denman, who 
 was Senior Classic in 1842, rowed stroke of the First 
 Trinity boat when it was head of the river ; and also rowed 
 in 1841 and in 1842 in the race with Oxford. 
 
 So too Keith-Falconer, while never allowing his bicycling 
 to interfere with his reading, and indeed habitually de- 
 claring that the chief value of it was the help it gave to 
 men in doing their duty so much the better, stood, in this 
 his own favourite form of athletics, quite in the forefront 
 even of those who made it their chief ambition in life to 
 win a race, or " break a record." 
 
 It would take too large an amount of space to give a full 
 list of the various bicycle races in which he competed, and 
 of the various successes he won, and would serve no really 
 useful purpose to do so ; we propose merely to give suffi- 
 cient details here to enable the general reader to see how 
 remarkable his powers were in this respect. 
 
 He had begun the practice, as we have seen, at Harrow, 
 and had carried it on while with Mr. Hensley at Hitchin ; 
 and so decidedly had his fame preceded him to Cambridge 
 that he received the unusual compliment of being elected 
 Vice-President of the C.U.Bi.C on June 6, 1874, although 
 he did not come into residence till the following October. 
 On November 26, he rode and won his first race at Cam- 
 bridge, doing ten miles of road in 34 minutes, then con- 
 sidered unusually quick time. His own reference to this 
 race has already been given in a letter to his sister-in-law. 
 He was in December elected Secretary for the ensuing 
 term, and subsequently at intervals held office in the club, 
 of which he was a Life Member. 
 
 In the following year, he was victorious in a C.U.Bi.C. 
 
 * Cambridge University Bicycle Club. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 53 
 
 Lent term race from Hatfield to Cambridge, a distance of 
 42 miles ; and on May 10, lie won the race for the Univer- 
 sity against Oxford, the course being from St. Albans to 
 Oxford, a distance of 50 miles. 
 
 In the April of the following year, 1876, he won the 
 Amateur-Championship Four-miles race at Lillie Bridge, 
 in what was then the fastest time on record ; and on 
 May 15 following, he won the C.U.Bi.C. Fifty-miles trial 
 race, at Fenner's ground, at Cambridge, in 3 hours, 20 
 minutes, 37 seconds. 
 
 On May 1, 1877, he was elected President of the London 
 Bicycle Club, and to this office he was annually re-elected 
 for nine years, retaining it until his resignation of office at 
 the annual dinner of the Club, on October 29, 1886, shortly 
 before he left England for the last time. 
 
 In the C.U.Bi.C. races this term (May 23, 24), he was 
 successful in the Two-miles, Ten-miles and Twenty-five- 
 miles races, accomplishing the last-named distance in 1 
 hour, 30 minutes, 25 seconds. He was very successful too 
 in the Inter-University races held at Oxford, when he rode 
 the Two-miles race in 6 minutes 1 second (the first mile 
 having been done in 3 minutes) and the Ten-miles in 32 
 minutes 25 seconds, all of which were then the best ama- 
 teur times on record. 
 
 The E-ev. W. d'A. Crofton, of Worcester College, for- 
 merly captain of the O.U.Bi.C, who rode for Oxford in the 
 Inter-University races on each of the occasions when Keith- 
 Falconer rode for Cambridge, tells me that in 1877, at the 
 start for the Two-miles race Keith-Falconer's step broke, 
 racing bicycles being in those days provided with steps. 
 When the starter gave the warning, '* Are you ready ? " 
 Keith-Falconer's voice was heard saying, " No, I'm not 
 ready, I want a chair." A chair was brought and he duly 
 mounted, as calm and unruffled as if nothing had happened 
 at so critical a time. 
 
 In May 11, 1878, he competed successfully, at Stamford 
 
54 Student Life at Cambridge. 
 
 Bridge, near Fulham, in the Two-miles race of the National 
 Cyclists' Union, for the title of " Short-distance Champion: " 
 but at a race held at Cambridge, in the October of that 
 year, will be remembered as one of his best performances. 
 This was one of Five-miles between amateurs and pro- 
 fessionals, and ultimately resolved into a contest between 
 Keith-Falconer and John Keen, the then professional 
 champion, in which the former was victorious by five 
 yards. 
 
 I annex an amusing account of this race from a letter 
 addressed by Keith-Falconer to Mr. Isaac Pitman, the 
 veteran inventor of phonography, in reply to a letter of 
 the latter, urging him to give up smoking. After thanking 
 him for a subscription which he had sent to the Barnwell 
 Mission, he proceeds : — 
 
 " As for smoking, I think that the following will gratify 
 you. Early in the year I consented to meet John Keen, 
 the professional champion of the world, in a five-mile 
 bicycle race on our ground at Cambridge on Oct. 23. But 
 I forgot all about my engagement till I was accidentally 
 reminded of it nine days before it was to come off. 
 
 " I immediately began to make my preparations and to 
 train hard. The first great thing to be done was to knock 
 off smoking, which I did. Next, to rise early in the 
 morning, and breathe the fresh air before breakfast, which 
 I did ; next to go to bed not later than 10, which I did ; 
 next to eat wholesome food and not too much meat or 
 pastry, which I did ; and finally, to take plenty of gentle 
 exercise in the open air, which I did. 
 
 " What was the result ? I met Keen on Wednesday 
 last, the 23rd Oct., and amidst the most deafening applause, 
 or rather yells of delight, this David slew the great 
 Goliath : to speak in plain language I defeated Keen by 
 about 5 yards. 
 
 " The time was by far the fastest on record. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 55 
 
 
 
 
 mins. 
 
 sees. 
 
 The 1st mile 
 
 was 
 
 done 
 
 in 2 . 
 
 59 
 
 2nd 
 
 >> 
 
 >> 
 
 3 . 
 
 , 1 
 
 3rd 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 . 7 
 
 4th 
 
 >> 
 
 >> 
 
 3 , 
 
 . 12 
 
 5th 
 
 Total tir 
 
 2 
 
 . 52* 
 
 
 Qel5 
 
 •111 
 
 " The last lap, that is, the last circuit, measuring 440 
 yards, we did in 39 seconds, that is more than 11 yards 
 per second. 
 
 " The excitement was something indescribable. Such a 
 neck and neck race was never heard of. The pace for the 
 last mile was terrific, as the time shews ; and when it was 
 over I felt as fit and comfortable as ever I felt in my life. 
 And even when the race was going on, I thought actually 
 that we were going slowly and that the time would be bad, 
 and the reason was, I was in such beautiful condition. I 
 did not perspire or ' blow ' from beginning to end. The 
 people here are enchanted about it ; so that it is gratifying 
 to me to think that, notwithstanding my other work and 
 other business, I can yet beat, with positive comfort and 
 ease, the fastest rider in the world. . . . 
 
 " I am bound to say that smoking is bad, bad for the 
 wind and general condition. . . ." 
 
 In May 1879, races were again ridden between amateurs 
 and professionals on the ground of the University Club at 
 Cambridge. On May 21, he met his old adversary John 
 Keen in a Two-miles race, defeating him by 3 inches ! The 
 time in this was 5 minutes 36|- seconds ; and this, I under- 
 stand, was not beaten for several years. On Saturday, 
 May 24, he won the Twenty-miles race by 16 yards, the 
 time being 1 hour, 4 minutes, 15| seconds, which at that 
 time was the best on record. 
 
 An eye-witness, describing the scene, and referring to a 
 time when all Keith- Falconer's competitors had dropped 
 out save one, says that he " was contented with riding just 
 behind until 200 yards from home, when, with a spurt 
 
56 Stitdcnt Life at Camhridge. 
 
 which the' Cantabs were expecting, but which simply 
 astonished all others, he came right away and won as he 
 liked." ^ From the same source I extract the following 
 anecdote, which certainly bears sufficient internal marks of 
 genuineness : — " On the day of the 20-miles race, it was 
 stated that he was studying hard all the morning, and 
 forgot that he had to race ; and it was not until all the 
 other competitors were at the starting-post, ready to start, 
 that he rushed into the dressing-room, changed his clothes 
 as quickly as possible and mounted for the race. He rode 
 several miles before he recovered his breath." ^ It may 
 most fairly be added here that at the time of these races, 
 a week had barely elapsed since Keith-Falconer had been 
 engaged in a heavy examination, of which we have already 
 spoken, that for the Tyrwhitt Scholarship. Six hours* 
 examination work jper diem for four consecutive days 
 forms by no means a good preliminary training for a keen 
 physical contest. 
 
 Although it is beyond the period covered in the earlier 
 part of the present chapter, it will be desirable to include 
 here, as probably his last race, or at any rate the last of 
 any importance, the 50-miles Bicycle Union Amateur 
 Championship race, at the Crystal Palace, on July 29, 
 1882. This was won by Keith-Falconer, who beat by 
 nearly seven minutes all previous records, the time being 
 2 hours, 43 minutes, 58|- seconds. An account of an in- 
 teresting ride the whole length of the island, made by 
 Keith-Falconer in that year, will be given at length in its 
 proper chronological place. 
 
 Another great interest, as we have seen, was shorthand. 
 This was undoubtedly a recreation in one sense, but it 
 certainly was constantly turned to very practical account. 
 Great as was his skill in it, he had never received any in- 
 
 ^ London Bicycle Club Gazette for May 27, 1879. 
 * Ibid. 
 
Student Life at Cambridge. 57 
 
 struction, but had simply taught himself the art at Harrow, 
 as is mentioned by Mr. Arthur Watson. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Pitman, -who I sincerely trust will pardon me 
 for changing " the reformed English spelling " of his letter 
 to that in current use, says in a letter : — 
 
 " He learnt shorthand simply by reading the instruction 
 books, and was a good wi-iter in May, 1874, when I first 
 made his acquaintance during a three weeks' stay at 
 Bournemouth. He took a deep interest in phonography, 
 wrote it swiftly and accurately, and had a thorough know- 
 ledge of the minutest part of the system ; and that not 
 merely as a stenographer, but as a judge of its value as a 
 part of a harmonious whole. He must have learnt it some 
 years before this date, but I do not know how many." 
 
 When I first knew him in 1875, I was astonished at the 
 ease with which he could keep up with a rapid speaker, 
 and the equal ease with which he could read his MS. a 
 considerable time after. 
 
 To a beginner in the art, he was not only willing, but 
 positively wishful to be of use. His constant advice to 
 those seeking to learn, used to be, "JVEind you practise 
 every day, and don't be in a hurry to write quickly." 
 
 A vast quantity of note-books on his work were filled 
 with this writing, and his correspondence with Mr. Pitman 
 was entirely in phonography. 
 
 Student, athlete, phonographer, — in all three aspects. 
 Ion Keith-Falconer took a foremost position among experts 
 in three very different lines ; in all three, his excellence 
 was avowed and undoubted. 
 
 Yet there was something more, something beyond all 
 this power and skill of brain and muscle, — a heart which 
 the love of Christ constrained to work for Him, a heart 
 filled with the old faith, fervent still after all the turmoil 
 of a great public school, and the more subtle temptations 
 of a great University, as when in childhood he learnt its 
 first rudiments by his mother's knee. 
 
58 Appendix. Broadlands Conference. 
 
 The two principal works, but by no means the only ones, 
 in which he was engaged, during and after his under- 
 graduate career, in Cambridge and in London, will form 
 the subject of the following chapter. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 See above, p. 51. 
 
 BROADLANDS CONFERENCE, 1878. 
 
 For the information of those who were not privileged to be 
 present at the Broadlands Conference of 1878, we preface 
 our report by an introduction, in which we hope that the 
 salient points of the Conference, its object, scope, and 
 results, are fairly brought out. The subject for considera- 
 tion was — 
 
 Pentecostal Blessing, 
 
 or the 
 
 Promised ot^TPOURiNG of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 (1) The promises of which the realization may now 
 be expected. 
 
 (2) The conditions that assist, and the hindrances 
 that impede, the reception of the promised 
 blessings. 
 
 (3) The use to be made of the gifts of the Spirit. 
 
 In the very early days of Christianity, the believer could 
 not do otherwise than keep separate from the world, for 
 the world would have nothing to do with him. He was 
 shunned, maligned, and persecuted. On the other hand, 
 for this very reason, his faith was bright and clear, and he 
 expected very shortly the second coming of Christ. He 
 was indeed a burning and a shining light in this dark 
 world. But after a time when men began to recognize the 
 splendid morality of the Gospel, and when the false charges 
 
Appendix. Broadlands Conference, 59 
 
 of Atheism, inhumanity, and vicious practices, which were 
 commonly circulated, began to be disbelieved, certain 
 advances were made by the State and the world. Philo- 
 sophers began to choose and to pick from the Christian 
 system what they thought beautiful or true, and to intro- 
 duce the same into their own systems ; and the State com- 
 menced to look on the new religion with a certain amount 
 of distant toleration, and, in time, to assume towards it an 
 attitude even of respect. On the other hand the Church 
 was gradually losing some of its first love, and its old 
 ardour was cooling. The Lord delayed His coming. 
 Heresies began to spring up, grievous wolves entered the 
 Church of Grod in sheep's clothing and tore the flock. The 
 evil, we cannot help thinking, was consummated when 
 Constantino, early in the fourth century, laid his diseased 
 hand on the Church, and united it with the State. We do 
 not express any decided opinion on the vexed question of 
 Church and State. It would be out of place here to attempt 
 to decide whether the abstract theory of union of the 
 Church with the State is warranted by the Bible. We are 
 deahng with the practical question, viz., How has that 
 union affected the attitude of Christians towards the world ? 
 The mass of people now flocked in, were baptized, and 
 professed Christianity. It was now the religion of Eome, 
 and so the religion of the whole civilized world. It is true 
 that under Julian, relapse to heathenism was attempted ; 
 but the power of the old religions of G-reece and Rome was 
 gone for ever, and the attempt was all in vain. Christianity 
 was henceforth, to speak in a general way, the religion of 
 the civiHzed world. This was glorious in one way, and 
 when we contemplate the wonderful progress which Chris- 
 tianity had by this time made, and remember the despised 
 Nazarene, and all His low estate when here below, we are 
 bound to exclaim, " This is the Lord's doing, and it is 
 marvellous in our eyes " (Matt. xxi. 42). 
 
 But still one bad result seems to have followed. The 
 Church and the world became more than ever united, and 
 the solemn command to come out from among them and 
 to be separate, more than ever difficult of performance. 
 And passing over the long expanse of centuries, which in- 
 tervened between then and now, we see other influences at 
 
60 Appendix, Broadlands Conference, 
 
 work, wliicli render this our separation from the world 
 increasingly difficult. The conditions of life in the present 
 age are entirely unfavourable to any kind of seclusion. 
 The multifarious interests of this toiling, rushing, fevered 
 day, have so banded men together, and the vast increase 
 in railways and telegraphs, and all other means of com- 
 munication, have rendered the exchange of thoughts, the 
 " collision of mind with mind," and the social intercourse 
 of individuals, so easy, that a certain amount of mutual 
 advance, of interchange of thought and feeling, is now 
 demanded where none was expected before. Yet the com- 
 mand is plain — " Come out from among them, and be ye 
 separate." But a consideration of the evil will suggest the 
 remedy, and a contemplation of the diffi.culty will point to 
 the solution. It is evidently quite imi^ossible for the 
 Church to be absolutely separate from the world in this 
 sense, that the believer is to be a marked man, shunned 
 and ousted by all. Civilization has thrown a garb of seem- 
 ing friendship over all, and the "white ashes of social 
 hypocrisy " choke anything like open hostilities. Nor is it 
 the Lord's will that the believer should be entirely shut 
 out from the world, for if the leaven never come into con- 
 tact with the meal, how and when will the whole be leavened? 
 The difficulty is at once recognized and solved by our 
 Lord when He says, " I pray not that thou shouldest take 
 them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them 
 from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am 
 not of the world" (John xvii. 16, 16). " In the world, but 
 not of it," is to be our motto. Still though we know what 
 the mind of the Lord is with respect to this, the practical 
 difficulty remains, how to maintain this separation, and 
 how, while discharging those manifold duties of life in 
 which we are necessarily brought into contact with others, 
 yet to maintain our purity, nor ever to touch the unclean 
 thing. We cannot do it, except we be endued with power 
 from on high. And to this end, a gracious provision has 
 been made for us. The Shepherd truly is no more in 
 bodily presence with the flock, and the wolves abound ; 
 but the sheep are not defenceless. The Comforter has been 
 given to them. In other words, it is by the mighty power 
 of the Holy Grhost working in us, with us, and through us. 
 
Appendix. Broadlands Conference. 61 
 
 that we are to overcome the world, to resist its allurements, 
 and to hurl back its every encroachment. And here the 
 question naturally suggests itself: How is it then, that 
 though the Holy G-host has been imparted to the believer, 
 he is yet liable to danger from sin and the world ? (not to 
 speak of danger from within). The answer is, that Chris- 
 tianity never did, '■ and never will, do away with human 
 responsibility. We are indeed in a state of probation. We 
 have a warfare to fight, and how are we straitened till it 
 be accomplished! The Holy G-host hath in very truth 
 been given to us, but (humanly speaking), its manifesta- 
 tion depends on ourselves. We are responsible for its 
 manifestation. " Stir up the gift of God that is in thee." 
 This is the command ; and the Conference spent much of 
 its time in considering what conditions assisted, and what 
 hindrances impeded, this manifestation. The subject seems 
 to us a very important one, for the simple reason that in 
 proportion as Christians live in the power of the Spirit, in 
 that proportion will their influence be felt in the world 
 that surrounds them. When spirituality is at a low ebb, 
 then the believer is weak, and dares not come into contact 
 with the world, lest he be drawn away and enticed ; and if 
 he does, woe to him. And it seems to us that the reason 
 why infidelity, scepticism, heresy, and schism are so alarm- 
 ingly on the increase in our day, is that the only light 
 which illumines the world's darkness is so faint and dim. 
 " Ye are the light of the world " (Matt. v. 14). The truth 
 of Christianity may be proved by the most incontestable 
 evidence, internal and external, but unless this evidence be 
 mightily confirmed by the consistent walk, and the holy 
 conversation of its professors, the world will never be con- 
 vinced. Precept is well, but without example 'tis a mockery. 
 Preaching is good, but practising is a sine qua non. 
 ** Christian character is a more magnificent apology for 
 the claims of Jesus, than all Christian preaching and talk- 
 ing e'er can be." We may now enumerate some of the 
 principal conditions of, and hindrances to, the manifestation 
 of the . Spirit within us, which were dwelt on at the Con- 
 ference. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EVANGELISTIC WORK : BARNWELL AND MILE-END. 
 
 "Heart and soul 
 A very man, tender, and true, and strong, 
 And pitiful. " 
 
 Morris. 
 
 To Cambridge men of a quarter of a century ago, the 
 name of Barnwell bore an ugly sound. It was that part 
 of the town to which seemed to gravitate a mass of various 
 ills ; a large, poor, rapidly growing suburb, whose name 
 seemed synonymous with squalor and vice. 
 
 Yet this state of things was one which had only risen 
 comparatively recently ; old men who have not long passed 
 away remembered a very different Barnwell. The late 
 Professor Sedgwick, who died in 1873, once described to 
 the present writer a ride he had taken when a young man 
 from Trinity College to Newmarket, in which he would of 
 necessity pass through Barnwell. 
 
 The long street which is still called Jesus Lane, from 
 the College which has stood near it for four hundred 
 years, was then really a lane. Beyond the College, where 
 now is a continuous street of houses for a mile and a half, 
 came a distinct break with green fields and a plantation of 
 trees, followed by a small straggling village, with a very 
 pretty, though somewhat dilapidated little church, which 
 once had been the church of Barnwell Abbey. Half a mile 
 further on, was a yet smaller chapel, with some exquisite 
 Norman work, which was intended for the use of lepers, 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 63 
 
 who might not come to the service with the rest of the 
 congregation. Then came the open moor all the way to 
 Newmarket. 
 
 This small village was Barnwell, and was the inhabited 
 part of the large parish of St. Andrew the Less. Close to 
 this was the river Cam, which formed the northern 
 boundary of the parish. 
 
 It may be not without interest to call attention to the 
 fact that, in the space between the old Church and the 
 lepers* chapel and the river, there has been regularly kept 
 each returning September for centuries,^ a fair, popu- 
 larly known as Stourbridge Fair, once one of the most 
 important business meetings in England, I had almost 
 said in Europe ; and even in the last century a very busy 
 scene of real trafficking,^ now a gathering that might very 
 well be done away with. 
 
 Various causes co-operated vastly to increase the popu- 
 lation of this part of Cambridge, not only absolutely, but 
 also relatively to the rest of the town. Among the fore- 
 most of these causes is doubtless to be placed the railway. 
 The quiet University town, in the heart of a thinly -peopled 
 agricultural district, was quickened into a noisier and 
 more stirring life by the advent of the railway, and four 
 competing lines now meet in Cambridge. Both the con- 
 struction and working of these led to a large influx of men 
 of the working class. Again, the discovery of great beds 
 of fossils, known as coprolites, and rich in chemical con- 
 stituents tending to the fertilization of land, brought also 
 large numbers of navvies, who lodged in Barnwell and in 
 many cases permanently settled there. 
 
 The steadily increasing numbers of the University also 
 
 ^ Probably instituted by a charter of King John in 1211 A.D. 
 (Cooper's Annals of Cambridge i. 34.) 
 
 2 For an interesting account of the fair as conducted in the last 
 century, see Cooper, iv. 318 sqq. ; Gunning, Reminiscences ii. 148 
 sqq. ed. 2. 
 
64 Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-JEnd. 
 
 brought about a corresponding increase in the number not 
 only of College servants, but of irregular hangers-on, men 
 ready to make themselves useful in connexion with the 
 various amusements of the undergraduates. 
 
 Whatever the various causes may have been, an immense 
 rate of increase in the parish is most marked. Thus in 
 1801, the population of the parish of St. Andrew the 
 Less, or, as it was then called, St, Andrew in Barnwell, 
 was 252 ; the number of inhabited houses in the parish 
 being 79. The population of the whole town of Cambridge 
 in that year was 10,087. In 1881, the population of the 
 parish was 21,078, that of the whole of Cambridge being 
 35,363. The number of the inhabited houses in the 
 parish had now risen to 4,342. I subjoin in a note the 
 population of the parish and of the whole town at each of 
 the censuses since the beginning of the century, to shew 
 how continuous and how rapid has been the growth.^ 
 
 It is true that, as the town of Cambridge is at present 
 constituted, the popular name of Barnwell is not applied 
 to the whole of the huge parish. It denotes, however, a 
 large part of it, and pre-eminently of the poorer districts. 
 
 It is thus abundantly clear that the provision adequate 
 for the spiritual needs of the small village would soon be 
 found insufficient for so rapidly growing a population. For 
 some time apparently things were allowed to drift, with 
 merely sporadic efforts to give help. The beginning of a 
 more systematic attempt to cope with the needs of the 
 
 Parish. Town. 
 
 1 1801 252 10,087 
 
 1811 411 11,108 
 
 1821 2,211 14,142 
 
 1831 6,651 20,917 
 
 1841 9,486 24,453 
 
 1851 11,776 27,815 
 
 1861 11,848 26,361 
 
 1871 15,958 30,078 
 
 1881 21,078 35,363 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 65 
 
 case was the establishment by a party of undergraduates, 
 in the year 1825, of a Sunday School, which speedily 
 assumed large proportions ; and which still, under its 
 original name of the Jesus Lane Sunday School (though 
 it is many years since it left its first abode which gave it 
 its name), exercises a most important influence for good. 
 This, though not strictly a parochial agency, was dis- 
 tinctly designed for the benefit of Barnwell ; and in 1839, 
 largely through the instrumentality of the Eev. C. Perry, 
 afterwards first Bishop of Melbourne, a large Church 
 was opened in the parish under the name of Christ's 
 Church. 
 
 Since that time other Churches have been built, and 
 several chapels of various dissenting bodies testify to much 
 hearty zeal for the furtherance of the Grospel. 
 
 In the present generation great improvements have 
 taken place in the character of the parish, due, under 
 Grod's blessing, to a succession of earnest, hard-working 
 Vicars, and to no one more largely than to the late Rev. 
 J. H. Titcomb, afterwards Bishop of Rangoon, and the 
 Rev. E. T. Leeke, now Chancellor of Lincoln. No one 
 who remembers Barnwell twenty -five years ago can fail to 
 realize an immense improvement. 
 
 Still the labourers were very few for so great a mass of 
 people, mostly poor and ignorant, including even yet a 
 large number of persons following vicious courses ; and 
 while the Gospel teaching of a band of devoted men was 
 gradually leavening the mass, yet while the workers were 
 slowly gaining on the task which faced them, hundreds 
 were dying. 
 
 It was this state of things which led to the special effort 
 of which I have now to speak. 
 
 On the high road through Barnwell, not far from Christ 
 Church, stood a rather disrej^utable-looking theatre, with 
 the high-sounding name of the Theatre Royal, Barnwell. 
 This was not so valuable a property as it might etherwise 
 
 F 
 
66 Evangelistic Work: Barnwell and Mile- End. 
 
 have been, for by immemorial law, no jjlays could be per- 
 formed in Cambridge without the permission of the Vice- 
 Chancellor ; and this permission was never conceded 
 except in vacation time, when the great mass of under- 
 graduates have left Cambridge. 
 
 In May, 1875, in anticipation of a visit of Mr. D. L. 
 Moody to Cambridge, a few gentlemen, both members of 
 the University and townsmen, decided to hire the theatre, 
 then of necessity closed, for a month, and hold evange- 
 listic services in it, to break the ground, as it were, for his 
 visit. Although Mr. Moody was prevented from paying 
 his visit at that time, the theatre was taken notwith- 
 standing ; and a vigorous effort was made to reach that 
 still large element of the population which never by any 
 chance went to any place of worship whatsoever, to all 
 intents and purposes as heathen as if the name of Christ 
 had never been proclaimed in England. 
 
 With all this, Keith-Falconer associated himself most 
 heartily. Still, it must be noticed, his interest, however 
 great, co-existed with his studies, yet did not interfere 
 with them. He fully recognized, then and subsequently, 
 a truth which not all young men when seeking to be of 
 use to others do sufficiently realize, the truth namely that 
 for a time duties which may seem the highest, and in one 
 sense certainly are such, ought to be subordinated to 
 others which seem to them less important. Yet there can 
 be no doubt that to an undergraduate living in a Univer- 
 sity, and therefore presumably a student, the highest duty 
 of all is for the time his study. The legitimate claims of 
 that being satisfied, let him be useful in every possible way 
 so far as his opportunities permit. 
 
 To confine ourselves to Cambridge men alone ; such 
 names as Henry Martyn, Bishop Selwyn, and Bishop 
 Mackenzie, shew how noble may be the outcome in the 
 service of God of an undergraduate career primarily de- 
 voted to steady University work. Such too was Keith- 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 67 
 
 Falconer ; he never neglected his simple everyday duty, to 
 attend to one apparently higher, yet not so distinctly and 
 directly assigned him as his proper work. 
 
 When the month for which the Theatre had been hired 
 came to an end, the building reverted to its ordinary con- 
 dition for a time. So great, however, had been the success 
 attending the services in the Theatre, that it was deter- 
 mined to carry on the same kind of work elsewhere in 
 Barnwell, and for about three years and a half mission 
 services went on at a Ragged School in New Street. 
 
 All this time, Keith-Falconer was a steady and consis- 
 tent helper of the mission, by his purse, by his personal 
 co-operation, and we may well feel sure by his prayers. 
 An old friend of his has remarked that in his active share 
 in evangelistic work may probably be found the explana- 
 tion of the fact that Keith-Falconer was so little assailed 
 by speculative doubts as to the Faith. For a mind so keen 
 and so inquiring as his was, to have been so free from such 
 attacks, is a thing which must strike one as remarkable in 
 an age like ours. 
 
 On one occasion, I think in 1876, I accompanied Keith- 
 Falconer to a meeting at the Ragged School. The gather- 
 ing of people, of whom there were several hundreds, dis- 
 played a remarkable contrast to an ordinary Christian con- 
 gregation. They represented as a whole a stratum de- 
 cidedly below that of the decent working man of the 
 poorer sort. Many were ragged, most were dirty and un- 
 kempt, and before the service began, many of them be- 
 haved most outrageously. Yet when the service began, I 
 rejoice to say, the conduct was orderly enough ; evidently 
 many, while coming in the first instance simply from 
 curiosity, bore in their way a friendly feeling enough for 
 their visitors. Yet it may be noted, as shewing the stratum 
 from which the bulk was drawn, that on one of the speakers 
 remarking, " A great many of you, I know, have been, and 
 I fear some are still, thieves ! " he was greeted, in tones 
 
68 Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 
 
 which shewed that no offence had been taken, with ready 
 cries of, " Yes, Sir." 
 
 It was at this meeting that I heard Keith-Falconer 
 speak in public for the first time, and on the somewhat 
 unusual subject of Zelophehad's daughters. What had 
 specially led to this topic I forget, but he worked up in a 
 very practical way the ideas suggested by the petition of 
 these maidens, not afraid to speak out boldly and ask for 
 the object of their need. ' Have faith to draw near to God, 
 and ask for help just as you feel the needs of your own 
 soul, be they what they may,' was the thought throughout. 
 His speech was evidently that of one who had thought over 
 carefully what he was going to say, and meant most deeply 
 and sincerely every word he said. One felt that he would 
 grow in time to become a weighty and effective speaker, 
 though not what would popularly be called a brilliant 
 one; never to the last did he seek after the ornate 
 eloquence of the rhetorician. 
 
 The work went on in this quiet, unpretentious way till 
 the autumn of 1878, when it became known that the owner 
 of the Theatre was about to sell it by aiiction ; and at a 
 meeting of the band of workers it was resolved to buy it, 
 if it could be got at a price not exceeding ^£1,200. After 
 this meeting Keith-Falconer, feeling that the building was 
 sure to fetch a decidedly higher sum, at last prevailed upon 
 his colleagues to increase their bid to ^1,650 ; but to their 
 great disappointment, the bidding rose to ^1,875, at which 
 price it became the property of the late Mr. Sayle. 
 
 This gentleman, however, on hearing the above facts, 
 consented with great generosity to give up the Theatre to 
 the Mission workers, for the price they had been willing to 
 give for it, the extra =£225 being viewed as a subscription 
 undertaken by Mr. Sayle and his friends. 
 
 Even as it was, a considerable sum had to be provided, 
 and a glance at the subscription list shews that more than 
 half was raised out of Cambridge. This was mainly due 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 69 
 
 to the untiring advocacy of Keith- Falconer, who not only 
 contributed largely, but also used his utmost efforts with 
 his friends ; his father. Lord Kintore, and his future father- 
 in-law, Mr. Bevan, each subscribing =£100, the former ulti- 
 mately giving a second like sum. 
 
 The requisite amount was rapidly raised, and, after the 
 necessary cleaning and repairing of the building, it was 
 formally opened for its new purpose as a mission-hall 
 (though the old name of Theatre was still retained) on 
 Sunday, November 17, when very large audiences were 
 assembled. On the Monday evening the house was crowded, 
 and on the Tuesday, when there was a social gathering for 
 tea, followed by a public meeting, every available seat in 
 the Theatre, from the pit to the gallery, was filled.^ On 
 the stage were about 300 persons, and the corridors were 
 blocked by an eager crowd. 
 
 After more than 600 persons had partaken of tea, a 
 public meeting was held. The chair was taken by Mr. 
 W. R. Mowll of Corpus Christi College, with whom were 
 gathered the various gentlemen, who, with the subject of 
 our present memoir, had striven manfully at the work ; 
 Mr. H. D. Champney, also of Corpus, Mr. Yawser, Mr. 
 Flitton, and others. Besides these, other friends were 
 present from a distance, among whom were the Eev. W. 
 Hay Aitken, and Mr. F. N. Charrington, each of whom 
 gave a very effective address. 
 
 Keith-Falconer also spoke on this occasion. The speech 
 was so characteristic of the man, so peculiarly appropriate 
 to the occasion, and was marked by such sterling common 
 sense, that I feel fully justified in giving it nearly in full, 
 as reported in a local paper : — 
 
 ** I am not given to much speaking. But this occasion 
 is so extraordinary, and the sight before my eyes so ex- 
 hilarating and inspiriting, that if I were a stone I should 
 
 ^ The Theatre can readily hold 1000 people. 
 
70 Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 
 
 be forced to throw in my note of praise and thanksgiving 
 with the rest. What a marvellous transformation this 
 place has undergone ! Well may we exclaim, ' Look on 
 this picture, and on that.' Our theatrical friends are 
 familiar with transformation scenes, but they have got 
 a novel one to-night, and I hope they have all come to 
 look at it. And who can deny that it has been a trans- 
 formation from bad to good ? It is all very well for the 
 supporters of the theatre (especially when they have a 
 pecuniary interest in the popularity of the drama) to say 
 that theatre- going is educating and elevating and en- 
 nobling. I will only remark that if this place has been the 
 means of educating, elevating, and ennobling a fallen 
 humanity, in Barnwell at least, it has not got on with its 
 work particularly fast, and the results do not exactly stare 
 one in the face, and the sooner a more efficient system 
 comes into play the better. There is one point about this 
 transformation scene worthy of notice, and that is that the 
 place is open, free to all. And this is like the Grospel of 
 the great God. It cost so much, and the sum to be, paid 
 was so vast, that we poor sinners, slave and struggle hard 
 as we might, could not possibly make up the sum, and so 
 we have been let off altogether, for the Saviour of the world 
 has paid it for us. Now our prayer to God is that this 
 transformation scene may be the earnest and precursor 
 of many a transformation scene in the hearts and lives of 
 men and women now careless and without God. I hear that 
 an actor, quite unworthy of being named, who was perform- 
 ing here in the summer, on his benefit night, made an ora- 
 tion to an admiring audience, and told them in effect, that 
 the poor players, who had so long striven by their elevating 
 and instructive performances to raise the tone and purify 
 the morals of Barnwell, were at length to be supplanted by 
 a company of religious hypocrites. * Acting,' he said, ' has 
 not ceased in this place : there will be acting still.' His 
 opinion apparently was that religion is another name for 
 hypocrisy. But he spoke the truth unwittingly. We trust 
 that there will be some grand acting in connection with this 
 place. It requires no prophetic eye to see the time when 
 men and women, now sunk low in sin and vice, will be con- 
 strained by the mighty power of a Saviour's love and the 
 
Evangelistic Work: Barnwell and Mile- End. 71 
 
 solemnities of a coming eternity proclaimed from this place, 
 to act the magnificent part of the champions of Grod, and 
 the followers of Christ. For, remember, this life of ours 
 may be viewed as a great drama. The Grod that made us 
 has assigned to each his part, and written it in letters so 
 plain and patent that he who runs may read. And soon 
 the curtain must fall, and the players must depart to 
 return no more. It is a play once acted, and only once. 
 It has no rehearsals, and one false step can never be made 
 right, and one slip of the tongue can never be recalled. A 
 numberless audience watches the performance, and, with 
 intense interest, witnesses the characters as they develop, 
 and the plot as it thickens. Now there be two prompters 
 on this stage. The evil one stands on this side and the 
 Holy Ghost broods over us on the other. Many there are 
 who, casting aside with the folly of contempt or the blind- 
 ness of indifference the j)art that G-od has bid them play, 
 speak and act that which is prompted by the evil one, ' and 
 live lives deservedly wretched, because they make them de- 
 liberately base.' But there are others who, taking heed to 
 the commands of God and to the promptings of the Holy 
 Ghost, live lives of splendid morality and of glorious wit- 
 nessing to the despised Nazarene. These are the salt 
 of the earth, and to these doth England owe her greatness, 
 and in proportion as these diminish, in that exact propor- 
 tion will our nation sink among the nations of the earth. 
 To whom, then, will ye hearken ? To the Spirit of truth, 
 or to the spirit of lies ? Will you be one of those to whom, 
 in the words of the great preacher, ' Life is a mere collec- 
 tion of fragments, whose first volume is a noisy and obscene 
 jest-book, and whose last is a grim tragedy or a despicable 
 farce ? ' or, will you be numbered with those to whom 
 ' Life, however small the stage, is a regal drama played out 
 before the eyes of God and men ? ' There be some here who 
 have come out of idle curiosity and the love of novelty — 
 would that you were curious enough to inquire into the 
 things of God, and to taste and see that the Lord is good ; 
 would that you were sufficiently fond of novelty to try the 
 new life, which is as different from the old one as light is 
 from darkness. God, in mercy, turn the idle curiosity into 
 earnest seeking, and the love of novelty into a longing for 
 
72 Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 
 
 a new life, and then you will be able from your own 
 exjDerience to testify that the new act is better than the 
 old ; for the old was selfish and brought you misery, but 
 the new act is Christ-like and brings joy unspeakable and 
 full of glory." 
 
 Since that day, nine years ago, the Barnwell Mission has 
 done a great amount of work for good ; and, I understand, 
 the Theatre has never been closed for a single Sunday 
 throughout the whole of that time. Though Keith-Falconer 
 frequently attended the meetings, he gave but few ad- 
 dresses, and, unfortunately, none of them were reported. 
 He was always most cordially welcomed, and his zeal for 
 the furtherance of the work continued quite unabated. 
 Some further examples of this will be given in a later part 
 of our story ; we must now shift the scene from Cam- 
 bridge to the East End of London with its thronging 
 myriads. 
 
 In the widest part of the Mile-End Eoad, that great 
 artery leading from the heart of London eastwards, the at- 
 tention of the passer-by is irresistibly caught by a very 
 large, imposing building, of great breadth and commanding 
 height, over the central door of which is the name, under a 
 large clock, ' G-reat Assembly Hall.' 
 
 This building is the final outcome of the resolve, gra- 
 dually developing during many years, of Mr. F. N. Char- 
 rington, to bring the Grospel and every good subsidiary in- 
 fluence home to the masses around. In this noble scheme 
 of usefulness, Keith-Falconer was associated nearly from 
 the first, as a most devoted ally of Mr. Charrington, and as 
 a most munificent supporter. 
 
 The work was one which irresistibly appealed to him. 
 The needs, spiritual and other, of the East End of London 
 were, and are, so great as to force attention from the most 
 casual observer: the attempt j^roceeded throughout uni- 
 formly on what he most justly felt should be the true 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 73 
 
 principle of civilizing by Christianizing, not with the idea 
 that the religious life will come more readily when the 
 material conditions of life are improved. There will, it is 
 true, often be great material need. In such cases the duty 
 of a teacher of the Gospel is clear. He will not follow so 
 suicidal a policy, deserving to fail as it surely will, as to 
 offer Christian teaching to men and women in bodily need, 
 without making any effort to meet those needs. But, on 
 the other hand, he will not insist on first civilizing in 
 every possible way, save by religion, the masses of the 
 lowest class, by art, by general education and the like, and 
 then, and only then, allow religion, if needs be, to be brought 
 to bear. 
 
 Let the evangelist come forward with the Gospel in one 
 hand and his material appliances, be they what they may, 
 in the other ; then will the benefits from each, on soul 
 and body, act and react on one another, till many a 
 changed man and woman will by their lives testify to the 
 noble perfectness of the plan. 
 
 Although the growth of the Mission is primarily, under 
 God's blessing, to be referred to the self -devoted efforts of 
 Mr. Charrington, still so deep was Keith-Falconer's in- 
 terest in it, and so weighty and so loyal was the support 
 which he gave, that it becomes the clear duty of the 
 present writer to speak in some detail of the scheme.^ 
 
 The Mission whose central rallying point is the Great 
 Assembly Hall bears the name of the Tower Hamlets 
 Mission. This name. Tower Hamlets, seems strangely 
 suggestive of something very different from the rather 
 grim reality. It shews, however, what the district ori- 
 ginally was, " a cluster of villages, starting from the Tower 
 of London, and extending along the Eiver Thames for 
 some miles." Gradually, as time went on, the intervening 
 
 * The matter of the subsequent pages is largely drawn from 
 Keith-Falconer's own pamphlet, A Plea for the Tower Hamlets 
 Mission, undated, but published in 1882. 
 
74 Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 
 
 spaces were built over, until fields and country-lanes and 
 green liedge-rows had given place to interminable streets ; 
 and what were once beautiful rural spots have become the 
 principal part of the densely peopled East End of London, 
 now numbering more than one million souls. In the 
 centre of this, the largest mass of working people in the 
 world, the work of the Tower Hamlets Mission is carried 
 on. 
 
 Keith-Falconer had first made the acquaintance of Mr. 
 Charrington, who was six years his senior, when, in or 
 about 1871, the latter was on a walking-tour in Aberdeen- 
 shire, and was invited to Keith Hall by the late Lord 
 Kintore. From that time forward each was to the other 
 a most valued and trusted friend. In later years, when 
 Lord Kintore had passed to his rest (July, 1880), Keith- 
 Falconer writes to Mr. E. H. Kerwin, the Secretary of the 
 Mission ; " It is pleasant to me to reflect that it was my 
 father who first introduced me to Charrington and his 
 work, and that he so cordially supported the Tower Ham- 
 lets Mission. I hope that his sudden departure may be 
 the means of blessing to the careless, perhaps to some who 
 heard him speak in the Assembly Hall." 
 
 In the pamphlet above referred to, Keith-Falconer tells 
 the interesting story of the way in which the Mission 
 was begun. Mr. Charrington was " the eldest son of the 
 late Mr. F. Charrington, a partner in the well-known firm 
 of Charrington, Head and Co. The large brewery is per- 
 haps the most striking feature in the Mile-End Road. 
 Its remarkable ladder is seen against the sky for a long 
 distance, and its many chimneys and handsome frontage 
 must catch every stranger's eye." 
 
 In the year 1869, Mr. Charrington was travelling with 
 a friend in the South of France. His friend had pressed 
 upon him the truth that this life was meant to be some- 
 thing more than one of pleasure and living to oneself 
 alone, however innocently ; and at parting prevailed upon 
 
Evangelistic Work: Barnwell and Mile-End, 75 
 
 him to read the third chapter of St. John's Gospel. While 
 doing this, the light of Grod broke in upon the reader, and 
 he determined to devote himself henceforward to the ser- 
 vice of God and the teaching of His Gospel. 
 
 Shortly after this, a further thought came to Mr. Char- 
 rington, which resulted in a very striking act of sac^rifice 
 on his part. He told the story himself in his speech at 
 the opening of the Great Hall last year.^ He was in the 
 habit of going, evening by evening, to a little mission- 
 hall, and had to pass a certain beer-shop, called the 
 " Rising Sun," where night after night he saw wretched 
 women waiting outside for their husbands within. Over 
 the beer-shop was the name of Charrington, Head and 
 Co., and it occurred to him that whatever good he was 
 doing with one hand, he was undoing and more than un- 
 doing with the other. He determined therefore resolutely 
 that he would have nothing further to do with the drink 
 traffic. On his father's death, a few years after, he had 
 the alternative allowed him either of taking as eldest son 
 his due share of the lucrative business, or of being content 
 simply with a younger brother's portion. Needless to say, 
 he chose the latter. 
 
 The first eiforts of the young missionary were in a 
 night-school, under the direction of the Rev. Joseph 
 Bardsley, then Rector of Stepney. Till the accommoda- 
 tion proved too small, he, with two or three others, worked 
 in a hayloft over a stable, lighted by two or three small 
 paraffin lamps hung up on the rafters, and tried to do his 
 best with some ragged little boys. 
 
 Soon the little hayloft grew too small, and a school- 
 room had to be taken; and gradually Mr. Charrington 
 and his friends were led on to further work among lads 
 and started a Boys' Home. One of the cases which led to 
 this was the following : — 
 
 » Feb. 4, 1886. 
 
76 Evangelistic Work: Barnio ell and Mile- End. 
 
 " At the close of one of the meetings, a little boj was 
 found sobbing. With some difficulty he was induced to 
 tell his tale. It was simple. His widowed mother, his 
 sisters, and he, all lived in one room. Everything had 
 been sold to buy bread except two white mice, the boy's 
 pets. Through all their poverty, they had kept these 
 white mice ; but at last they too must go ! With the pro- 
 ceeds he bought street songs, which he retailed on the 
 ' waste,' and so obtained the means of getting more bread 
 for his mother and sisters. Now they were completely 
 destitute. The boy was accompanied home. Home ! It 
 was a wretched attic, in one of the most dilapidated houses. 
 It was a wretchedly cold and dismal day. In the broken- 
 down grate the dead embers of yesterday's handful of 
 firing remained. On the table, in a piece of newspaper, 
 were a few crumbs. The air was close and the smell 
 insupportable. ' My good woman,' said Mr. Charring- 
 ton, ' why don't you open the window ? ' ' Oh ! ' she re- 
 plied, ' you would not say that if you had had nothing 
 to eat, and had no tire to warm you.' The family was 
 relieved." 
 
 Among the good results of this new effort, it may be 
 mentioned that a gang of juvenile thieves, known to the 
 police as the Mile-End gang, was broken up ; several of 
 its members, including its leader, having been thoroughly 
 influenced for good. Many of the lads were taken out of 
 their evil surrounding and sent to Yarmouth, where they 
 were employed on the fishing smacks. 
 
 The next stage was the opening of what was known 
 as the East-End Conference Hall, on November 1, 1872. 
 This was a building in Carlton Square, capable of seating 
 600 persons, in which the Grospel was preached for some 
 years with remarkable success. The reason why it was 
 left, or rather, was given up to another body of workers, 
 who still are doing good work in it, was, as was so often 
 the case in connexion with this mission, that it was be- 
 coming too small for the needs of the work. 
 
 Accordingly, a move was made to Mile-End Road, at the 
 
Evangelistic Work: Barnwell and Mile-End. 77 
 
 comer of White-Horse Lane. Here there was a large 
 piece of ground which for years had been used by travel- 
 ling showmen with waxworks, merry-go-rounds, theatres 
 and so forth. Naturally, the respectable inhabitants and 
 the police alike concurred in rejoicing at the demolition of 
 dilapidated buildings which had afforded such facilities to 
 persons of the lowest character. On this land a tent was 
 erected, in which services were held every night for two 
 whole summers. A large number of the speakers were 
 soldiers of the G-uards, who came all the way from the 
 West-End barracks, many of them walking the whole way 
 there and back, a distance of ten miles, in order to preach 
 the Gospel. 
 
 At last a yet better site was obtained at the broadest 
 part of the Mile-End Road, and that no time might be lost, 
 a large tent was at once set up, and was opened on May 21, 
 
 1876. It was the largest tent they could obtain, the great 
 one from Wimbledon Camp. This was replaced in April, 
 
 1877, by the first great Assembly Hall, large enough to 
 hold nearly 2,000 persons, yet hardly deserving the name 
 of great when contrasted with its gigantic successor. It 
 should be added that this Hall was from its first inception 
 intended merely to be temporary, being made of corrugated 
 iron, though it might last till something more durable 
 could be obtained. 
 
 For nearly nine years this Hall was open every night all 
 the year round, with an average attendance on week- 
 nights of over 600, while on Sunday nights the building 
 was crammed and hundreds were sent away for want of 
 room. The late Lord Shaftesbury, speaking in this Hall 
 in 1879, said :— 
 
 " It is a mighty thing to have achieved such results in 
 the wild and remote districts of the East End of London. 
 Would to God we had a hundred halls such as this, where 
 men of God should stand and daily preach the Word of the 
 Lord, and minister consolation to those who come." 
 
78 Evangelistic Work : Barmoell and Mile-End. 
 
 Before I come to speak of the erection of the present 
 building, there are one or two other points which are note- 
 worthy. The first of these is what Keith- Falconer called 
 " preaching the Grospel from the walls of the city," that is, 
 by means of placards containing texts of Scripture, direct 
 personal appeals, and short pointed stories with pictures. 
 Keith-Falconer remarks : ^ — 
 
 " We have several of these stations in the East of London, 
 around which numbers of people may often be seen eagerly 
 reading the Words of Life. On Sunday mornings, work- 
 ing men out for their weekly stroll, stop to read the parable 
 of the Prodigal Son, or the story of ' The Patchwork Quilt.' 
 In the dead of night, the poor fallen girl, as she passes 
 along, is startled to see the familiar text she learned as a 
 child in the Sunday School ; the policeman, who walks 
 along his solitary beat, turns his bull's-eye lantern, and while 
 all is hushed around him, reads the story of a Saviour's 
 love ; and the profligate, as he returns from some scene of 
 revelry, is arrested for the moment as he reads the solemn 
 words, * Prepare to meet thy God.' The result of this work 
 has been that large numbers of people have been brought 
 to hear the Gospel." 
 
 The idea was, so far as I am aware, a novel one ; it is 
 one which might perhajjs provoke a certain amount of 
 adverse comment ; but remembering the intense earnest- 
 ness of these young teachers of the Gospel, their resolution 
 to leave no method untried which might be productive of 
 good, the careful deliberation with which each step was 
 weighed, and above all, the undoubted success which has 
 attended this method, one cannot but echo the sentiment 
 of Clement Marot's remark, " Why should the devil have 
 all the good music ? " and ask why to the highest purpose 
 of all, and to that alone, should the walls be denied ? 
 
 For more reasons than one, both from the insufficiency 
 of space in the Assembly Hall, large as it was, and with 
 
 ^ Plea for the Tower Hamlets Mission, p. 8. 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 79 
 
 the view of getting hold of a different element of the 
 population, various music-halls were hired for Evangelistic 
 work. One of these, called the Foresters' Music-hall, 
 capable of holding 2,000 persons, was used through three 
 winters. They were also enabled to take, for two succes- 
 sive winters, Lusby's Music-hall, the largest building of 
 the kind in the East End, holding 3,000 persons. In 
 describing the opening of the latter, Keith-Ealconer 
 
 " The opening night in November was very remarkable. 
 The crowd was so great that it extended beyond the tram- 
 lines, which are seventy feet from the entrance, and before 
 the doors were opened a line had to be made for the tram- 
 cars to pass through, and we were thankful that there was 
 no accident in so terrible a crush. The hour of service was 
 seven o'clock, but at half -past six not a seat was vacant in 
 any part of that vast building, and whatever standing-room 
 could be found was quickly occupied." 
 
 Besides all such works as the above, Keith-Falconer 
 warmly sympathized with Mr. Charrington's attempts to 
 draw away people more and more from the music-halls 
 and public-houses, not merely by the counter-attraction of 
 something purer and better, but also by direct personal 
 appeals addressed to persons entering such places. This 
 naturally excited a great deal of angry opposition and for 
 some time there were a number of very unpleasant dis- 
 turbances, which the owners of the property, thus be- 
 coming depreciated, sought to lay to the charge of Mr. 
 Charrington, who on one occasion was actually arrested by 
 the police in consequence. 
 
 " I shall never forget," writes an eye-witness, Mr. E. H. 
 Kerwin, " the night when Mr. Charrington was taken off 
 by the police, falsely accused of disturbance outside Lusby's 
 Music Hall. I was not there, but hearing of the incident 
 
 ^ Pleafoi' the Tower Hamlets Mission, p. 12. 
 
80 Evangelistic Work : Bariiioell and Mile-End. 
 
 I went off to the i^olice station, and on nearing it saw a 
 large crowd. In the dark I could see one tall man, stand- 
 ing in the centre, head and shoulders above everyone else, 
 and perfectly white : this was Keith-Falconer, Avho had 
 been covered with flour by the frequenters of the music- 
 hall. He gave evidence on this occasion He also 
 
 gave evidence at Clerkenwell Sessions against the character 
 of Lusby's Music Hall." 
 
 Not only therefore had these messengers of the Gospel 
 to contend directly with drunkenness and vice, but also 
 with those who had a strong pecuniary interest in main- 
 taining the existing state of things, who would say with 
 their prototype Demetrius, " By these things we have our 
 wealth." It is often withheld from workers for Grod to see 
 with their own eyes the fruit of their labours, but Mr. 
 Charrington has been blessed in seeing very decided results 
 during his seventeen years' work. Here is a significant 
 fact. One public-house in the neighbourhood, that less 
 than twenty years ago was sold for ^815,000, was sold two 
 years ago for less than d£ 7,000. 
 
 Still, however, with all this, much remained to be done ; 
 not only was the existing Assembly Hall, large as it was, 
 often insufficient to contain the numbers who flocked to 
 it, but many other useful agencies had either to be some- 
 what cramped in their usefulness, or had to be postponed 
 altogether. Thus within a few years of the opening of the 
 Assembly Hall in 1877, Mr. Charrington and Keith- 
 Falconer began to discuss a further advance. 
 
 Before proceeding to speak of the wonderful develop- 
 ment of their foregoing schemes, and the marked blessing 
 which has been granted to these indefatigable workers, I 
 may call attention to a somewhat different duty which 
 befell them in the hard winter of 1879, that of the whole- 
 sale feeding of the hungry. I again quote Keith-Fal- 
 coner's remarks : ^ — 
 
 ^ Plea for the Tower Hamlets Mission, p. 14. 
 
Evangelistic Work: Barnwell and Mile- End. 81 
 
 " During the hard times of the winter of 1879 (due to 
 the long frost and the depression of trade) a work was 
 forced on our Mission which we had never contemplated 
 taking up. The difficulties and dangers of wholesale charity- 
 are very great, and our desire has been to avoid them, 
 except in extreme circumstances. But the distress of that 
 winter was extreme, and for many weeks we opened our 
 halls and fed the literally starving multitudes with dry- 
 bread and cocoa. The austere distress began in December. 
 Hundreds of men were waiting daily at the Docks in the 
 hope (nearly always a disappointed hope) of a job. Starving 
 men were found in several instances eating muddy orange 
 peel picked off the road. 
 
 " Our feeding became a very public matter, as there was 
 much correspondence about it in the Times, the Daily 
 News, the Echo, and other leading papers, and many people 
 came from long distances to see for themselves. The public 
 supported us liberally with funds, and we were enabled to 
 give no less than twenty thousand meals from January 1st 
 to February 14th, beside which we assisted over three 
 hundred families every week in their own homes. We 
 look back to the time as one of very great blessing." 
 
 All who were Keith-Falconer's intimate friends during 
 the last six years of his life must have heard from him a 
 great deal as to his hopes respecting the new building, his 
 careful elaboration of plans for the maximum of useful- 
 ness, and his hearty thankfulness at the completion of the 
 work. 
 
 In 1880, however, the undertaking to be achieved must 
 have seemed simply gigantic. The whole cost of the 
 present buildings, including the site, has mounted up to 
 about ^£40,000. Of this the site had been previously pur- 
 chased for the former Assembly Hall at a cost of ^£8,000 ; 
 for the remainder, which it was expected would not exceed 
 c£24,000, but which has been found in reality to be nearly 
 d£32,000, appeals were issued. 
 
 As the Honorary Secretary of the undertaking, Keith- 
 Falconer published the pamphlet from which I have 
 
82 Evangelistic Work : Barmcell and Mile~End. 
 
 already largely drawn. It consists of a general history of 
 what had already been done and concludes with a direct 
 appeal for help. This appeal is so characteristic of the 
 writer, so thoroughly earnest (entertaining as it does no 
 doubt but that the money will be forthcoming), and, as 
 was his way in such things, so quaintly methodical, that I 
 reproduce it here in full.^ 
 
 "PROPOSED NEW HALL. 
 
 " We now appeal for funds in order to erect a new and 
 larger Hall. 
 
 " The 'present building is altogether unsuitable. 
 
 a. It is far too small. On Sunday nights hundreds are 
 turned away for want of room. When, during two 
 successive winters, the adjacent Lusby's Music Hall 
 (one of the largest in London) was opened on 
 Sunday nights simultaneously with our own hall, 
 the united congregations usually amounted to 5,000 
 persons. These facts tend to shew that if we had 
 a building sufficiently large, we could gather as 
 many 'persons as the human voice can reach. 
 
 h. It is a temporary structure, which by the Metro- 
 politan Buildings Act must come down sooner or 
 later. 
 
 c. The corrugated iron is becoming dilapidated and lets 
 in the rain, so that rows of umbrellas are often put 
 up during service. 
 
 d. The cold in winter is intense. 
 
 e. The acoustic properties are inferior. 
 
 " Please add to this that our site is the very best in all 
 East London. It ought surely to be utilized to the fullest 
 extent. The present building only covers half of it. 
 
 " We have got the site, and we have got the people. May 
 we not have a hall to accommodate them ? The willing- 
 ness to hear is very remarkable, and it is distressing to see 
 
 ^ Plea for the Tower Hamlets Mission, pp. 15, 16. 
 
Evangelistic Work: Barnwell and Mile-End. 83 
 
 hundreds and thousands turned away for mere want of 
 room. 
 
 " The guarantees tvhich the public have that the work is 
 a proper one, and that the new Hall will be properly used, 
 are : — 
 
 1. The testimony of trustivorthy persons who are ac- 
 quainted with the Mission. Mr. Spurgeon has 
 written a warm letter. Lord Shaftesbury is an old 
 friend of and worker in the Mission. He has de- 
 livered several addresses in the Hall. The late 
 Lord Kintore was a warm and constant friend of 
 the work. Mr. E. C. L. Bevan has both promised 
 .£2,000 and consented to act as Treasurer. 
 
 2. A trust deed has been drawn ujd, and signed, trans- 
 ferring the property to Trustees, namely : — F. A. 
 Bevan, Esq. ; Fredk. N. Charrington, Esq. ; Eichard 
 Cory, Esq. ; Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer ; James 
 Mathieson, Esq. ; Samuel Morley, Esq., M.P. ; Hon. 
 Hamilton Tollemache ; Joseph Weatherley, Esq. ; 
 and specifying the objects for which it is to be 
 used. 
 
 "It may be objected that the East End ought to supply 
 its own wants. This is impossible. The population of the 
 East End consists of the working classes, who, though they 
 furnish the sinews of wealth which resides elsewhere, are 
 poor themselves. Thus the East End has a double right 
 to look outside for help. It is poor and cannot help itself 
 adequately, and the wealthy are responsible for the well- 
 being of their servants, the toiling thousands through 
 whose labour they derive their riches. 
 
 " The character of our Mission is evangelistic, unsectarian, 
 and SOBER. I say sober, because of late years some have 
 despaired of reaching the masses except by using certain 
 unseemly and sensational methods. Our work is an em- 
 phatic protest against this practice, and a standing disproof 
 of its necessity. 
 
 "Finally, the building for which we plead will cost 
 «£20,000, a small sum indeed when we consider what 
 amounts many are willing to spend on their own comforts 
 
84 Evangelistic Work : Barmoell and Mile-End. 
 
 and pleasures. This sum will not only build a suitable 
 Hall, but a Frontage in addition, embracing a Coffee Palace 
 and a Book Saloon for the sale of pure literature. The 
 site has already been paid for." 
 
 The nature of the assistance rendered by Keith-Falconer 
 to the work carried on by Mr. Charrington was manifold, 
 though much of it has been rather implied than expressed 
 in the foregoing pages. 
 
 He supported the work with liberal pecuniary aid. His 
 donations from first to last amounted to the large sum of 
 c£2,000 ; and a glance at the names in the subscription list 
 shews that some of the largest donations were due to his 
 friendly influence. 
 
 Again, when every wheel in that gigantic machine had 
 to be carefully and anxiously planned, Keith-Falconer was 
 ever at hand as a shrewd and patient adviser. He did not 
 often address the evening meetings, though sometimes he 
 gave an expository address on a portion of Scripture at the 
 gathering on Sunday morning. Mr. Charrington tells me 
 that he was especially struck with one which dwelt with 
 great power on St. Paul's speech on Mars' Hill. Any fear 
 that Mr. Charrington had for a moment that the speaker 
 might be getting over the heads of his audience was quite 
 dispelled when he observed how keenly they entered into 
 his graphic description of the scene from Mars' Hill, of the 
 various elements of the crowd there assembled, of the 
 apostle's recognition of each of these in his speech, and 
 how forcibly the speaker brought the old but ever fresh 
 lesson to the hearts of his audience. 
 
 It was, however, with individual cases that he rather 
 preferred to deal. Distress of any kind found in him a 
 ready and generous, but discriminating, helper. Cases of 
 this kind were numerous, they were as a rule known but to 
 few. 
 
 To give a mere cursory enumeration of some of these 
 would not be of much use, but the following may serve as 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile-End. 85 
 
 a typical case. W. was a painter living in the East End of 
 London, a steady, hard-working, married man. Keith- 
 Falconer had first met him at the Assembly Hall, and had 
 shewn him much kindness, and subsequently told him to 
 apply to him if he should be in trouble. At last trouble 
 came ; work being very slack, he was forced to pawn his 
 tools, his best clothes, and, at last, most that he had which 
 was worth pawning. Soon j)Oor W.'s health broke down, 
 and letters now before me shew how timely and how con- 
 siderate Keith-Falconer's help was. Then when he was 
 just able to keep his head above water through this help, a 
 fresh trouble befell him. Failing to receive payment for 
 some work which he had done, he found himseK unable to 
 discharge a debt amounting to about d£4, and was sent to 
 prison. To add to the trouble, the poor wife was daily 
 expecting to be confined of her sixth child. Again did 
 Keith-Falconer intervene, and the man was freed from 
 prison, and the wife and children saved from the work- 
 house. 
 
 In a letter written by W. after the sad news from Aden 
 had reached England, the writer dwells with warm grati- 
 tude on the change in his own position, and, with deep 
 grief at the news, adds ; " He told me if, by reason of the 
 frailty which is in man by his evil heart of unbelief, I 
 should fall into sin, ' E-emember sinking Peter ' ; that One 
 who raised him to the surface of the water can give me 
 strength to get up again." 
 
 Keith-Falconer's habit was to run down for a week at a 
 time and help. Sometimes he stayed longer, as when once 
 he spent three weeks with Mr. Charrington giving careful 
 tuition to a friend who was preparing for an examination. 
 Often too he accompanied Mr. Charrington on the occasion 
 of the annual excursions in connection with the Assembly 
 Hall ; and was exceedingly kind and helpful when 2,500 of 
 the attendants at the Hall visited Southend. 
 
 Although it is carrying this part of the history beyond 
 
86 Evangelistic Work : Barnwell and Mile- End, 
 
 tlie period as jet reached in the other divisions of our 
 narrative, still it will be convenient to speak in this place 
 of the ultimate completion of the work in the success of 
 which Keith -Falconer was so intensely interested. 
 
 The sum to be raised was, as we have seen, a very con- 
 siderable one, but those who had thus put their hand to 
 the work held with Napoleon that the word ' impossible ' 
 should have no place in their vocabulary ; and so perse- 
 vering were their efforts, and so fully did Grod aid their 
 enterprise, that by the beginning of the year 1886,^ there 
 were ready for use not only an Assembly Hall of much 
 larger dimensions than the j)revious one, but numerous 
 other rooms used in connection with various beneficent 
 purposes. Of the whole .£40,000 of the cost, more than 
 de25,000 had been already received ; but unfortunately the 
 estimates were exceeded in many points, so that a very 
 considerable debt still remains on the building. 
 
 The Hall is capable of holding comfortably 4,300 per- 
 sons, so that on occasion, with a little pressing, it could be 
 made to accommodate nearly 5,000. On one striking and, 
 I fancy, novel feature of this Hall, Keith -Falconer was 
 very fond of dwelling, both before and after the attain- 
 ment of his idea. This was that there should be an un- 
 broken view from the street into the Hall, so that the 
 speakers on the platform should be clearly visible through 
 the intervening glass doors. Keith-Falconer held, and 
 doubtless very justly, that many a man or woman of the 
 poorest class is often deterred from entering a place of 
 worship by the closed doors and the fancied obstacles be- 
 hind them. 
 
 To give any detailed description of the Hall would be 
 out of place here ; it will be sufficient to state that the 
 ground-floor area is 130 feet long by 70 feet wide, the 
 height from floor to ceiling being 44 feet. Two large gal- 
 
 ^ The building was opened on Feb. 4, 1886 ; on Mr. Charrington's 
 birthday. 
 
Evangelistic Work : Barmoell and Mile-End. 87 
 
 leries run round three sides of the building, while on the 
 remaining side are two platforms, one above another, with 
 a large organ behind. Abundance of windows of slightly- 
 tinted yellow glass yield a pleasant light by day, while 
 shutting out entirely the outside view. At night, brilliant 
 as is the light given by the continuous row of gas-jets, the 
 ventilation is admirable. 
 
 Of the space between the great Hall and the street, the 
 central part is occupied by a large vestibule, where passers 
 in and out may meet and exchange friendly greetings ; 
 and the two wings by a book-depot for the sale of pure 
 literature, and by a spacious coffee-palace. Upstairs, various 
 organisations have their home, a Young Men's Christian 
 Association, a Young Women's Christian Association, an 
 Emigration Depot, and the like. 
 
 In the summer of last year (1886), I accompanied Keith- 
 Falconer to see the building, and we were taken by Mr. 
 Charrington to the central point of the upper gallery of 
 the great Hall to gain the best general view of the room. As 
 we sat there, I could not but be struck with the similar ex- 
 pression on the faces of the two men. It was one in which 
 joy, and keen resolve, and humble thankfulness were 
 strangely blended. One great work for God, which Keith- 
 Falconer had striven hard to further, he was allowed to see 
 in its fullest completeness, carried on by men working 
 there with heartiest and purest zeal. 
 
 Not while any of the present generation of workers 
 survive, will the name of Ion Keith-Falconer fade out of 
 loving remembrance in the great building in Mile-End 
 Road. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 LEIPZIG. 
 
 " High ncature amorous of the good, 
 But touched with no ascetic gloom." 
 
 Tennyson, In Memoriam. 
 
 Our chapter on Keith -Falconer's student life at Cambridge 
 ended, it will be remembered, with his last examination, 
 the Semitic Languages Tripos, in February, 1880. At the 
 time of this examination his knowledge of Arabic was but 
 slight, and simply sufficient for the requirements of the 
 paper on Comparative G-rammar in the examination. 
 
 The Tripos over, he turned his attention definitely to the 
 study of Arabic, the language, which, like Hebrew, had a 
 wonderful fascination for him from the first, and to which, 
 as his knowledge widened, he became more and more de- 
 voted ; though realizing ever, as he went on, how vast was 
 the field of work. As he expressed it in a letter written in 
 March, 1887, " I expect to peg away at the Dictionary till 
 my last day." 
 
 The time until the end of May was mostly spent in quiet 
 study at Cambridge, broken by short occasional visits to 
 town ; and during the latter part of this time he worked 
 assiduously at Arabic with Dr. Wright. On leaving Cam- 
 bridge early in June, he spent some time at his father's 
 house in London, and about the middle of the month 
 started for Eoyat, in Auvergne, where he purposed remain- 
 ing for several weeks. 
 
 It was while he was here that a very grievous sorrow 
 
Leipzig. 89 
 
 befell him in the almost sudden death of his father, whom 
 not long before he had left in perfect health, and between 
 whom and himself the most perfect confidence and love 
 had always existed. 
 
 In a letter which I received from Keith-Falconer, dated 
 July 25, he says : — 
 
 •*,... The event was a fearfully sudden one. I received 
 at 6 o'clock on Monday morning a telegram as follows : — 
 * Your father very ill, come at once.' At 8 I was in the 
 train. Reached Paris at 5 p.m., telegraphed for further 
 information to be sent to Dover. Arrived at Dover at 
 4 A.M. Tuesday, a telegram was put into my hands, saying, 
 ' Your dear father passed away peacefully on Sunday night 
 at twenty minutes to seven.' I got home at 6.30, and 
 found my father, whom I had left in perfect health five 
 weeks before, in his coffin. 
 
 " He was perfectly well on Sunday excepting that a 
 fortnight before he had sprained his ancle. On Friday or 
 Saturday he remarked that he never felt better in all his 
 life. On Sunday afternoon he received two friends, and 
 chatted with them in his usual lively, happy manner. 
 When they had left, he and my mother went out in the 
 carriage. They had not traversed more than two or three 
 streets, when he said, ' I feel so ill, I must go back,' and 
 began to change colour and to tremble violently. The 
 horses were turned instantly, and when home was reached, 
 he put his hand to his side, exclaiming, ' I am dying : carry 
 me in.' The servants carried him to his room in a half- 
 
 fainting condition He said good-bye to my mother, 
 
 and quietly expired. My sisters were on a visit in the 
 country at the time." 
 
 After referring to the cause of death, which lay in the 
 fact that the sprain had resulted in the formation of a clot 
 of blood which had gradually worked up to the heart and 
 interfered with its action, the letter continues : — 
 
 " Fancy dying of a sprain ! Life seems to hang by a 
 thread. It is noteworthy that my father always hoped for 
 
90 Leipzig. 
 
 a sudden death, and dreaded the thought of a lingering 
 
 illness. He also told Mr. , of Aberdeen, when last 
 
 there, that he would like to die on a Sunday. 
 
 "■ It seems like a dream. I do not realize my loss, but 
 must do so in time. 
 
 " We laid him in his grave to-day, next Arthur, in the 
 family burial-ground next the parish Church of Keith-Hall, 
 up the hill. About 600 attended " 
 
 This is not the place to write a detailed account of the 
 numerous good works with which the late Lord Kintore 
 was associated. A man of profound religious convictions, 
 he endeavoured consistently to let his religion be the ani- 
 mating principle of the whole course of his actions. He 
 wore *' the white flower of a blameless life," and set a noble 
 example of simple Christian goodness. He was most 
 generous at all times in his support of all good works, and 
 especially of those connected with the Free Church of 
 Scotland. 
 
 Of this Church he had long been an elder, and with it 
 his sympathies were very strongly bound up ; though, like 
 his son Ion, he was most tolerant of the views of those 
 who, while agreeing as to essential truth, differed from him 
 in details. Father and son alike, though holding to their 
 own views unflinchingly, preferred to dwell in conversation 
 with their friends on the points which they held in common, 
 rather than to battle about those on which they differed. 
 
 Towards the end of the summer a case occurred which 
 shews how ready Keith-Falconer was, while even the 
 shadow of his great sorrow rested upon him, actively to 
 interest himself for anyone who, he felt, had a legitimate 
 claim upon his sympathies. 
 
 Dr. Wright had mentioned to him in the course of con- 
 versation the difficulty experienced by the well-known 
 Grerman scholar. Dr. Lagarde, in meeting the cost of the 
 publication of his books. Dr. Lagarde had succeeded 
 Ewald as Professor of Oriental Languages at Grottingen, 
 
Leipzig, 91 
 
 and had published a very large number of works mostly 
 having a direct bearing on the text of the Old Testament. 
 Groing as many of these did somewhat off the beaten track 
 of studies, they would appeal to a rather limited public 
 even in GTermany, and thus the cost of publication would 
 be but slightly reduced by the sale of the books. The 
 more numerous the publications, the greater the loss, and 
 therefore it seemed inevitable that works of very consider- 
 able value, in a part of the field where none too many 
 workers have worked, must cease from lack of funds. 
 
 A letter from Keith-Falconer to his mother, dated 
 August 28, 1880, tells her all this, dwells on the fact that 
 all exact work on the elucidation of the text of the Old 
 Testament is a thing to be cordially welcomed, and urges 
 that it is a reproach to those who have the cause at heart, 
 and can afford to help, to allow such work to be hindered 
 from simple want of funds. 
 
 He accordingly tells her that having had full assurance 
 from Dr. Wright that the facts were as he had stated 
 them, he wished to raise a fund of ^61,000 to help Lagarde 
 to carry on his work. He undertakes to give c£100 him- 
 self, and begs his mother to contribute ^250, adding, '' I 
 have not got patience or time to go asking for a pound 
 here and a pound there." 
 
 One of the books specially aided by Keith -Falconer's 
 kind interposition was an edition of the Septuagint, for 
 which some fresh MSS. had been examined. In the pre- 
 face to the first volume, Lagarde warmly and gracefully 
 alludes to the opportune help he had received, the names 
 there given of his supporters being with one exception due 
 to the advocacy of Keith-Falconer. 
 
 In this same letter, he alludes to a book on which for 
 some years he spent pains most ungrudgingly, and of 
 which I shall give a detailed description in its due place. 
 This was the Kalilah, a book of which Dr. Wright was 
 preparing the Syriac text for publication, and had urged 
 
92 Leipzig, 
 
 Keith-Falconer to bring out an English translation with 
 an Introduction, promising to send him the proof-sheets 
 of the original as they appeared. 
 
 For some time Keith-Falconer had wished to have an 
 opportunity of studying at a Grerman University, not, it 
 needs not to be said, from any feeling that he could there 
 obtain teaching in Arabic of a higher kind than at Cam- 
 bridge, for a letter, which will be given presently, shews 
 what his views were as to the Cambridge professor ; but 
 partly from the wish to become yet more thoroughly 
 versed in G-erman while pursuing his Arabic studies, and 
 partly, I fancy, from the wish to see something of a type 
 of university and of students differing in many ways from 
 our own. 
 
 Accompanied by a friend, a student of like pursuits, he 
 established himself at Leipzig, which he reached on October 
 23, and where he remained for nearly five months. 
 
 The following letter to a friend, dated October 24, gives 
 an amusing account of his arrival. After speaking of his 
 journey from London, via Calais, Brussels and Diisseldorf, 
 it proceeds : — 
 
 " We started at 1 p.m. from Diisseldorf , and were due in 
 at 11.42, but did not arrive till 2 in the morning. A. was 
 much tried hereby. I sat it out patiently enough, but he 
 otherwise. Towards 1 a.m. his face assumed an aspect of 
 resigned despair. He was very cold and very hungry and 
 very tired. When at length we got in, we found no cab, 
 except two which had been taken. So we had to wait 
 about till one could be fetched. 
 
 " In the meantime A. found that his book-box had 
 been taken away by mistake by another party. He was 
 indeed in a frenzy. But he got better when our cab finally 
 came, and still better when we found his box at the Hauff 
 Hotel, where we went. But he could not get anything to 
 eat, and so went to bed supperless. Next morning he was 
 up early, thinking that the whole day would be required to 
 fix ourselves ; but I, on the contrary, persisted in laziness, 
 though every half-hour A. came entreating me to make 
 
Leipzig. 93 
 
 haste and sally out with him in quest of rooms. So I had 
 breakfast in bed, then a hot bath, then dressed and shaved 
 to mj satisfaction. It was now 1 o'clock, and at last we 
 went out together ; but it struck me at this point (1) that 
 it was time for dinner, (2) that we had better first go and 
 
 see , who would be able to give us good advice about 
 
 rooms, etc. 
 
 " We then sej)arated, I to dinner at the table d'hote, and 
 A. to make purchases, as he could not eat for fuss and 
 anxiety. They gave us a splendid dinner, and towards the 
 end A. came in and felt inclined to eat, and as they keep 
 
 the dishes hot for late comers he got his dinner 
 
 After dinner we went in search of rooms, and to make up 
 for my lazy immobility of the morning, and to set him 
 more at rest, I promised him he should have the first good 
 rooms we found. In about an hour we discovered a 
 
 splendid set, which he took at once After getting 
 
 his rooms, I went to get some for myself. This I soon 
 did, but they are not as good as his." 
 
 A later letter (February 18, 1881) to the present writer, 
 graphically describes his course of life and his sur- 
 roundings : — 
 
 As to study, I think I can claim having laid a good 
 foundation in Arabic. Three days in the week we (that is 
 A. and self) go to Professor X. to read Koran. We have 
 read about fifty pages in Fluegel's large edition. Besides 
 this we read in a Chrestomathy book by Arnold — not with 
 X., but in lecture where Professor Y. holds forth. X. is 
 not like some German professors, for he is tidy, without 
 spectacles, nicely dressed, polite and affable, moderate in 
 
 his views, and does not smoke X. lectures in the 
 
 university in Arabic and Turkish. He can read besides 
 Persian, and has an elementary knowledge of Hebrew and 
 Syriac. His knowledge of the Bible, especially of the Old 
 Testament, is marvellous. It would indeed astonish you. 
 Till a fortnight ago he had never heard that the golden 
 calf is reported to have been broken, ground to powder, 
 mixed with water, and partaken of by the Israelites. He 
 confessed to his ignorance in the most naive and artless 
 
94 Leipzig. 
 
 way. The chapter too in Ezekiel about the dry bones — he 
 had never heard of. He certainly knows less of the bare 
 contents of the Bible than most English — and all Scotch — 
 children of nine or ten years old. 
 
 " Y. does wear spectacles, talks in a lond, rough voice, in- 
 terlards his every lecture with frequent exclamations of 
 " Du lieber Gott,' * Ach Grott,' and smokes like a chimney. 
 But still he is tidy, and keeps his hair short. But he and 
 X. are really very kind and goodhearted to a degree. 
 
 " Y.'s lectures — twice a week from October to March — 
 cost me the moderate sum of 9s. Qd. But I have almost 
 entirely ceased to attend them. I first went to them to 
 learn some Arabic, afterwa^rds I continued to attend them to 
 learn some G-erman, and now I cease going at all because I 
 can learn neither. He can't lecture a bit, and carries on a 
 most inelegant, conversational, slipshod, rough and ready, 
 broken conversation. X. on the contrary speaks admirable 
 German, and is in every respect " hochst bescheiden.' Old 
 Dr. Fleischer, the Arabist, I have called on. He is over 
 eighty. Fresh and merry as a cricket. Active as ever. 
 
 " I also know Prof. Windisch (Sanscrit and Old Irish, 
 which he learnt from Mr. Standish 0' Grady), who is a very 
 
 pleasant and exhilarating person Professor. I 
 
 met a few days ago. He talked Chinese in his youth, his 
 father having been connected with China. Of Scotch 
 ballads he has a large collection, and recited one to me. 
 He is a good stenographer, and can write longhand back- 
 wards or upside-down, or backwards and upside-down. 
 Philosophy and art are the pegs on which he manages to 
 hang never-ceasing harangues. Smokes like a chimney. 
 Was formerly a Jtidge in Dresden, and studied Chinese in 
 spare hours. His acquirements you see are varied and 
 peculiar. 
 
 "Among German students I have no acquaintances at 
 
 all But I must not omit to say that I have made 
 
 friends with old Dr. Delitzsch. He is highly esteemed and 
 beloved in the town and university. He is by far the 
 greatest theologian here. He is very small of stature ; 
 white hair ; neck encased in white bandages ; his head is 
 broad and flat, and not high and intellectual-looking. He 
 is very poetical and mystical in his conversation ; and is 
 
Leipzig. 95 
 
 very kind and homely in his manner : he has numerous 
 acquaintances among the students, and hunts up all the 
 English-speaking students — especially the Scotch. He 
 thinks very highly of the Free Church of Scotland. He 
 
 does not like at all. Thinks him hech, and one in whom 
 
 the ' Verstand priidominirt/ while the Geist and Gemilth fail 
 
 to occupy their proper place All this I gathered from 
 
 a long conversation, which I may say I was privileged to 
 have with him lately. I was drinking coffee in the E-e- 
 stauration situate on the ground floor of the house in which 
 I used to lodge, and in comes the old gentleman. So I in- 
 duced him to come up to my room, and kept him for a long 
 time. F. Klein, mathematical professor, closes my list 
 of learned acquaintances. They all have a profound re- 
 spect for our Dr. Wright, and from all I can gather, Scot- 
 land can boast of having produced the best all-round 
 Semitic scholar in the world 
 
 " Delitzsch, I suppose you know, has just published a 
 pamphlet called ' Falsche Wage ist nicht gut,' in reply to 
 Rohling's ' Talmud-Jude.' E-ohling is a Roman Catholic 
 priest, and bigotted to an absurd degree against the unfor- 
 tunate Jews, who are universally disliked in Germany. I 
 asked a gentleman the other day, 'Woran erkennen Sie 
 denn einen Juden ? ' answer, * An seinem allgemeinen hru- 
 talen Wesen.' This gives the key-note to the general anti- 
 Jew agitation in G-ermany. No specific charge against them 
 as a body ; only a strong antipathy to the Jew. 
 
 " I used to lodge in splendid rooms in the centre of the 
 town, from which I had the best view in Leipzig. But the 
 waiting was not satisfactory, and the sitting-room was 
 much too large — a huge salon with polished floor — and 
 being a corner room, fearfully susceptible to cold winds, 
 and so big that the Ofen could not heat it. So I have 
 changed and now lodge as above. Here I have verkehr 
 and umgang in the family, consisting of a well-to-do busi- 
 ness man — formerly in excellent circumstances, but now, 
 as so many since the war, in reduced position — his amiable 
 lady, a middle-aged daughter and two younger ones. I 
 am learning a lot of German from them, as they don't know 
 any English, though they are supposed to have learnt it at 
 school. 
 
96 Leipzig. 
 
 " I dine at 1.30 at the table d'hote of Hotel de Prusse — 
 a splendid dinner — 7 or 8 courses for Is. 6d. (abonnement) 
 if wine is taken, 2s. if not : extraordinarily cheap. Every- 
 thing is cheaj) here : ridiculously cheap. I can buy a cigar 
 for 2^d. here which in Cambridge would cost 6d. ! You can 
 get excellent light wine for 2s. 6d. a bottle. I have dined 
 fairly well for 6^d. ! (soup, two courses of meat and vege- 
 tables and compot). Lodgings also : one can get an excel- 
 lent pair of rooms at 50s. a month. Books, however, are 
 not much cheaper than in England. I have just purchased 
 a hardly used copy of Ereytag in four vols, for ^5 
 
 " I also want you to look up a Peerage and trace my con- 
 nection with James Keith, the Field-Marshal of Frederick 
 the Grreat. I am going to Berlin before I return home, and 
 I shall look such an idiot if I do not know how I am con- 
 nected with him. 
 
 " Christmas, you will be surprised to hear, I spent at 
 Cannes, where my mother and sisters are, I went there 
 via Paris and Marseilles : returned via G-enoa, Milan, 
 Verona, the Brenner and Munich. 
 
 " Dresden is the town which most pleases me, of all those 
 which I have seen. Berlin is very unattractive : so cold, 
 and angular as a Dutch garden, and prosaic and flat. 
 Leipzig is delightful, so long as one keeps strictly in the 
 town, for the suburbs and surroundings are painfully 
 hideous, compared to which those of Cambridge are charm- 
 ing and gorgeous. (So rest and be thankful.) 
 
 " I hope to spend the summer term in dear old Cam- 
 bridge. A great friend of mine, J. E. K. Studd, has 
 secured the lower rooms, which is pleasant for me. Kalilah 
 goes ahead, though slowly. I have done about 100 pages, 
 but go faster and faster as I progress " 
 
 This brings before us the picture of a genial and light- 
 hearted, but diligent student, and of a shrewd observer of 
 what went on around him. All this Keith-Falconer was, 
 but it is only half the picture. 
 
 There are some natures (and I speak here of natures 
 altogether sincere), which, being animated with love for 
 God and Christ, yet will not be content with allowing that 
 
Leipzig, 97 
 
 love to permeate the whole nature, letting its light shine 
 before men as our Saviour bids us, but must bring up the 
 innermost feelings to the surface at all times. 
 
 To read some of the so-called religious biographies it 
 would seem as though for everything save the actual reli- 
 gious duties, a sort of half apology were needed, as if every 
 form of honest secular work, every form of innocent recrea- 
 tion were rather to be tolerated than approved of. 
 
 The bright geniality of many of Keith-Falconer's letters 
 co-existed, as his friends know well, with the deepest 
 thoughtfulness in religious matters. It was not his habit 
 constantly to bring such topics into his ordinary conversa- 
 tion, but the thoughts lay there ; and when duty called for 
 it, or in more private talk with intimate friends, he would 
 speak out unreservedly. 
 
 Some of the following extracts taken from letters written 
 to a friend at this time, bring out another side of Keith- 
 Falconer's character. 
 
 The first extract is from his answer to a letter in which a 
 friend had urged upon him how high the standard of Chris- 
 tian life ought to be. 
 
 " You have tried to picture what the Christian life 
 ought to be. You do not, and cannot overdraw the pic- 
 ture. But this hardly touches the important and the prac- 
 tical question, how to attain to it. It does not seem to me 
 sufficient merely to * own the presence of the Holy Ghost.' 
 I believe in the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church 
 (ever since the Lord ascended) ; and I believe that the 
 Holy Ghost will dwell in me, that is reign in me, if I will 
 surrender myself to Him. And this surrender is not a 
 thing to be done once for all ; it is continuous and life- 
 long. Like other habits it becomes easier the more it is 
 persisted in, but it is a struggle. The Christian is de- 
 scribed as a warrior in the New Testament, and not only 
 so, but as a struggling, hard-fighting, agonizing one — see 
 1 Peter v. 7-10 and elsewhere. If by simply and once for 
 all surrendering ourselves to the Holy Ghost, we could en- 
 
98 Leipzig. 
 
 sure ourselves against sinning, why does the New Testa- 
 ment teem with warnings against particular sins and 
 temptations, instead of simply telling us ' surrender your- 
 selves to the Spirit once for all ; the Spirit will then fight 
 your battles for you.' 
 
 " As to the two ways of putting the G-ospel, * Christ for 
 us,' ' We for Christ,' I perfectly agree with both. In fact 
 they seem to me identical 
 
 Christ for us 
 Our Lord 
 Our Head 
 Our Brother 
 Our Saviour 
 etc. 
 
 We for Christ 
 His servants 
 His members 
 His brethren 
 His ransomed people 
 etc. 
 
 and Cant. vi. 3 binds together these two sets of relationship. 
 .... * We for Christ ' is strikingly brought out in Ps. ii. 
 7, 8. Cf. Prov. viii. 31." 
 
 In a subsequent letter he writes : — 
 
 ''Nov., 1880. 
 
 "As to the wisdom so often deprecated in the New 
 Testament, it seems to me that G-reek philosophies and 
 Rabbinical follies are aimed at. But scholarship in our 
 sense of the word did not exist when the New Testameijt 
 was written. Scholarship is a laborious and, to a great 
 extent, mechanical way of getting at the original text. 
 Scholarship assumes no doctrine, and denies none. It is 
 colourless. Scholarship can hardly be called wisdom, any 
 more than I can be called wise because I know English, 
 The words chiefly used in the New Testament to denote 
 wisdom, viz. ao^ia and yi^waig, mean something else, namely 
 Rabbinical lore and tradition and Greek (Alexandrian) 
 philosophy, which afterwards made a compromise with 
 Christianity, and produced ' Gnosticism.' The more of a 
 * scholar ' one becomes, the more one fathoms the depths 
 of one's ignorance, and estimates the measure of one's de- 
 pendence on Ood's Spirit. To take the immense trouble 
 of learning ancient languages in order to ferret out correct 
 readings, is a silent, but most emphatic protest, against the 
 
Leipzig. 99 
 
 claims of a priori reasoning or philosophy. Eationalists 
 are no scholars, because they begin by assuming ideas and 
 theories — which scholars do not — and then adapt the text 
 or the translation so as to suit them. You can refer to 
 any commentary of the Tubingen School, and you will see 
 the force of this remark." 
 
 ''Nov., 1880. 
 
 ** People forget that while the sacred writers were in- 
 spired penmen, yet they were penweTi, and that each re- 
 tained his individuality, yet without sin or error, and that 
 consequently the style, diction, and habits of one writer 
 differ from those of another. It is impertinent and im- 
 pious to postulate that God must have laid aside the in- 
 dividuality and humanity — in itself first created and not 
 sinful — of each writer, and used him as a passive, dead, 
 inanimate, senseless, pen or instrument. Grod rtiight have 
 done this, but he did not do so : God may take pure 
 Hebrew and use it ; he may take corrupt Hebrew and use 
 it. He may take a writer, who has a gift for splendid and 
 gorgeous descriptions, as Isaiah, and use that gift. He 
 may also take a writer, whose style is more monotonous, 
 and less thriUing, as the author of Ecclesiastes, and use 
 his style. Inspiration lies apart from these considerations. 
 All I know about inspiration is that it makes the writing 
 free from all error and untruthfulness, and that every word 
 is to be considered the word of God. Speaking very roughly, 
 I refuse to believe that our English Bible, as we have it, 
 preface to King James and all, fell down from Heaven." 
 
 In March, Keith-Falconer had rather a severe illness, 
 which confined him to his bed for about a fortnight. 
 When he began to regain his strength, the time had 
 almost come at which he had purposed to return home. 
 His companion wished to defer his own plan of visiting 
 Switzerland at this time, so as to be able to accompany 
 him, as not yet quite recovered, as far as London. This, 
 however, Keith-Falconer, always one of the most unselfish 
 of men, refused to allow, and insisted that he was strong 
 enough by this time to go quite safely to England alone. 
 
100 Leipzig. 
 
 He reached London early in April, and shortly after 
 this had the very great pleasure of being introduced to 
 General Gordon, and having several long conversations 
 with him. 
 
 On these conversations Keith-Falconer often dwelt after- 
 wards. There were certain common elements in the two 
 men which must have tended to draw them to one another. 
 In each there was the same deep, simple faith, ingrained 
 and unwavering; the same absorbing realisation of the 
 workings of God's Providence ; the same utter abnegation 
 of self when the thought of duty came in ; and, to a cer- 
 tain extent, somewhat of the same unconventionality in 
 both speech and action. 
 
 In Keith-Falconer's mind there had previously been the 
 highest admiration for Gordon from what he had read of 
 him : now that he had met and spoken to him, he en- 
 shrined Gordon in his heart as one of his heroes. He set 
 great store, as may well be imagined, on a little book 
 which Gordon had given him, Clarke's Scripture Promises, 
 — promises which both men had come so absolutely to 
 trust. 
 
 The following letter is the second of two written by 
 Gordon to Keith-Falconer in April, 1881 : it shews that 
 the elder man saw that there was sterling metal in the 
 younger. The invitation was one which Keith-Falconer 
 frequently regretted that circumstances had prevented him 
 from accepting. 
 
 "5, RocKSTONE Place, Southampton, 25, 4, 1881. 
 
 " My dear Mr. Keith-Falconer, 
 
 " I only wish I could put you into something that 
 would give you the work you need, viz. secular and religious 
 work, running side by side. This is the proper work for 
 man and I think you could find it. 
 
 " Would you go to Stamboul as extra unpaid attache to 
 Lord Duft'erin; if so, why not try it, or else as private 
 
Leipzig, 101 
 
 secretary to Petersburg ? If you will not, then come to 
 me in Syi'ia to the Hermitage. 
 
 ** Believe me with kind regards, 
 
 "Yours sincerely, 
 
 " C. a. Gordon." 
 
 As was the case when any subject lay near his heart, 
 Keith-Falconer talked much at this time to his intimate 
 friends of Grordon and his wonderful career. One inci- 
 dent, I remember, he was very fond of dwelling on. When 
 the " ever- victorious " Chinese army under Grordon's leader- 
 ship had accomplished its work, the richest gifts were 
 gratefully pressed on him. Pecuniary rewards of every 
 kind he absolutely refused ; the only thing he would ac- 
 cept being a gold medal, the sole material result to him of 
 his marvellous successes. Some time after his arrival in 
 England, wishing to contribute to the Cotton-famine Fund, 
 and finding himself somewhat short of money at the time, 
 he deliberately gave up his gold medal for this purpose. 
 
 When Grordon was sent out for the relief of Khartoum, 
 Keith-Falconer followed his movements with the keenest 
 interest and eagerly looked for tidings. As the news came 
 of the long, solitary watch in that far-off post, where that 
 noblest of the noble waited, without fear and at last with- 
 out hope, for the help which England, or rather her rulers, 
 would not send, Keith-Falconer's anxiety became intense. 
 When at last the news came of the treachery at Khartoum 
 and the bloody massacre, he at first hoped against hope 
 that the news was false, and that the sacredness with 
 which Gordon was known to be invested must have suf- 
 ficed to save him. When all hope was clearly gone, his 
 grief as for a most dear friend was blended with the 
 keenest indignation that one of England's noblest sons 
 should have served as a mere counter in the reckless game 
 of politics. 
 
 The May term of this year was spent by Keith-Falconer 
 in quiet study at Cambridge. 
 
102 Leipzig, 
 
 Writing to the friend to whom the three foregoing 
 letters were addressed, he says : — 
 
 ''May 4:, 1881. 
 
 " Pray constantly for me, especially that I may have my 
 path in life more clearly marked out for me, or (which is 
 perhaps a better request) that I may be led along the path 
 intended for me." 
 
 On May 28, Keith -Falconer started on a bicycle tour 
 through Oxford, Pangbourne and Harrow. This was, 
 however, intended but as a "preliminary canter" to a 
 much more ambitious effort. Accordingly, on June 4, he 
 went by train to Penzance, fully intending to achieve the 
 ride from the Land's End to John o' Groat's House in the 
 extreme north-east of Scotland. After waiting at Pen- 
 zance for several days, he was reluctantly forced to give 
 up his scheme, on account of the persistent bad weather ; 
 and, returning to town, paid a visit of several weeks' dura- 
 tion to Mr. Charrington. The following letter well indi- 
 cates his feelings at the time : — 
 
 "Stepney Green, June 12, 1881. 
 
 " It is overwhelming to think of the vastness of the 
 harvest-field, when compared with the indolence, indif- 
 ference and unwillingness on the part of most so-called 
 Christians, to become, even in a moderate degree, labourers 
 in the same. I take the rebuke to myself To en- 
 joy the blessings and happiness God gives, and never to 
 stretch out a helping hand to the poor and the wicked, is 
 a most horrible thing. When we come to die, it will be 
 awful for us, if we have to look back on a life spent purely 
 on self, but — believe me — if we are to spend our life other- 
 wise, we must make up our minds to be thought ' odd ' 
 and ' eccentric ' and ' unsocial,' and to be sneered at and 
 avoided. 
 
 ** For instance, how ' odd ' and * unsocial ' of my heroic 
 friend (Mr. Charrington) to live in this dirty, smoky, 
 East-End all the year round, and instead of dining out 
 
Leipzig. 103 
 
 with his friends and relations, to go night after night to 
 minister to the poor and wretched! .... But I like to 
 live with him and to watch the workings of the mighty- 
 hand of Grod and to catch a spark of the fire of zeal which 
 burns within him, in order that I maj be moved to greater 
 willingness and earnestness in the noblest cause which can 
 occupy the thoughts of a man. This is immeasurably 
 better than spending my afternoons in calling on people, 
 my evenings in dinners and balls, and my mornings in 
 
 bed The usual centre is Self, the proper centre 
 
 is GrOD. If therefore one lives for God, one is out of centre 
 or eccentric, with regard to the people who do not." 
 
 After leaving Mr. Charrington, Keith-Falconer rejoined 
 his mother and sisters at Keith-Hall, where he remained 
 till August 20. From a letter written at this period I 
 extract the following exceedingly sensible remarks as to the 
 true function and benefit of vigorous physical exercise : — 
 
 ''Jidy, 1881. 
 
 " It is an excellent thing to encourage an innocent sport 
 (such as bicycling) which keeps young fellows out of the 
 public-houses, music-halls, gambling hells and all the 
 other traps that are ready to catch them. I wish I had 
 ridden last year. It is a great advantage to enter for a 
 few races in public, and not merely ride on the road for 
 exercise, because in the former case one has to train one- 
 seK and this involves abstinence from beer and wine and 
 tobacco, and early going to bed and early rising, and gets 
 one's body into a really vigorous, healthy state. As to 
 betting, nearly all Clubs forbid it strictly, and anyone 
 found at it is liable to be ejected promptly. A bicycle 
 race-course is as quiet and respectable as a public science 
 
 lecture by Tyndall If we exercised and trained our 
 
 bodies more than we do, there would be less illness, bad 
 temper, nervousness and self-indulgence, more vigour and 
 simplicity of life. Of course, you can have too much of it, 
 but the tendency in most cases is to indulge the body, and 
 not exercise it enough, and athletic contests are an excel- 
 lent means of inducing young people to deny themselves 
 in this respect." 
 
104 Leipzig. 
 
 On August 20, Keith-Falconer left home for a short 
 visit to Grermany, travelling by way of Harwich, Rotter- 
 dam, Amsterdam, Cologne, Frankfort and Carlsruhe to 
 Herrenalb in the Black Forest. Here he remained for 
 some weeks, but his letters written at this time dwell 
 entirely on points of purely personal interest. 
 
 After a flying visit to Leipzig, he set out for home, 
 passing on his way through Stuttgart and Strasburg, and 
 reaching London at the end of September. 
 
 His next journey was a much more distant one, and but 
 for his illness might have proved decidedly adventurous. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ASSIOUT: HOME. 
 
 IToWwr avQpu)Trij)v IStv darea Kal voov eyvut. 
 
 Homer. 
 
 Although Keith-Falconer had by this time devoted very- 
 considerable attention to classical Arabic, he was anxious 
 to gain, what no study of books alone could give him, a 
 ready colloquial use of the language as spoken at present. 
 
 To do this it would be necessary to reside for some time 
 at a place where not only could satisfactory teaching of 
 the kind he needed be obtained, but where to a certain 
 extent he would be forced to use his Arabic and not be 
 tempted on all occasions to have recourse to some more 
 familiar language. 
 
 A place fulfilling the necessary conditions was Assiout 
 on the Nile, about 200 miles above Cairo, and the furthest 
 point as yet reached by the Egyptian railway. The place 
 was very little frequented by Europeans, and at the time 
 when Keith-Falconer first went there was not even an 
 hotel. Fortunately, however, a Scotch missionary, Dr. 
 Hogg, resided there, and was an accomplished Arabist. 
 
 Accordingly he left England towards the end of October, 
 intending to remain in Egypt for three or four months. 
 
 The story of Keith-Falconer's residence at Assiout may 
 best be told by extracts from his own letters. Those here 
 given are addressed either to his mother or to Miss Bevan, 
 his future wife. 
 
106 Assiout: Home, 
 
 " On board le PfiLUSE, Nov. 3, 1881. 
 (First he describes his journey by way of Calais, Paris 
 and Marseilles) : 
 
 "At Marseilles I went to the Terminus Hotel. This 
 morning I was very busy making purchases in accordance 
 with Baedeker's directions. I got a strong pocket-knife, 
 two balls of twine, four note-books, steel pens and pencils, 
 ink and inkstand, paper and envelojDes, drinking-flask and 
 
 a bottle of gum The steamer is decidedly a fine one, 
 
 and we do hardly anything but eat all day long We 
 
 reach Naples early on Saturday. Then after a few hours 
 straight to Alexandria, where we are due on Wednesday 
 
 morning I am studying Baedeker, which seems to 
 
 be quite a compendium of information and learning, and 
 hope even to acquire enough Arabic during the voyage to 
 get on with at first." 
 
 *' Cairo, Nov. 10, 1881. 
 
 "The train got to Cairo at 10.25 last night, and the 
 hotel omnibus met us at the station. After a very jolty 
 ride along one of the main thoroughfares of Cairo, we 
 entered the Muski, or the ' City ' of Cairo, where the best 
 shops are and much of the business is done. I was on the 
 box, and with difficulty kept there along the Muski. The 
 hotel was reached at the end of a street, too narrow for 
 carriages to drive along, but when reached, a very pleasant 
 house, arranged in a quadrangle, and a garden in the 
 
 middle After breakfast, I went to the Kutub- 
 
 Khaneh, or Vice-regal Library, where I saw Dr. Spitta- 
 Bey, the chief librarian, to whom I had a letter of intro- 
 duction from Dr. Wright. He was very kind and agreeable. 
 Then on to the American Mission, where I presented my 
 letter to Dr. Watson. He will write to Dr. Hogg at 
 Assiout, and on Monday I shall know if I can live there. 
 I mean this afternoon to go to see Miss Whately, and to 
 
 have a bath in native style Cairo has about 
 
 400,000 inhabitants, including 20,000 Europeans, princi- 
 pally Italians. The streets are not paved at all — but it 
 
 would take sheets to describe the town There is 
 
 something very nice about many of the people — many of 
 them have such good faces. They have a good reputation 
 
Assiout: Home, 107 
 
 for honesty, especially the Nubians Flies are a 
 
 plague. One sees people lying asleep on the road-side, 
 covered with flies, mouth, nostrils, ears, eyes, swarming 
 with them — a disgusting sight. 
 
 " I intend to spend a month or five weeks at the ver- 
 nacular, and then to resume the ancient language, under 
 the guidance of a sheikh. 
 
 " I have just visited the mosque of Sultan Hasan, the 
 finest specimen of Arabian architecture to be seen any- 
 where : it is beautiful. The greater part of it, the Sahn 
 el-Ga'a, where the congregation stand, is uncovered. One 
 has to put on slippers over one's boots to walk about in the 
 mosque." 
 
 "Cairo, iVoy. 13, 1881. 
 
 "Yesterday I visited the Pyramids of Gizeh, and 
 mounted the Great Pyramid. The Arabs spoilt all the 
 fun with their jabbering importunities for money and their 
 clumsy assistance. The begging here is something dreadful. 
 It is a recognised thing among high and low. They seem 
 to imagine that strangers come out here on purpose to 
 shower money round them, and that sight-seeing is only 
 
 the excuse for so doing I have also visited two 
 
 mosques, and the bazaars of course. A bazaar means a 
 dirty narrow street, where all the shops — wretched holes — 
 sell the same wares. There is the bazaar of the jewellers, 
 the blacksmiths, etc." 
 
 " AssioUT, Nov. 20, 1881. 
 
 " I am here at last. The journey from Cairo was very 
 unpleasant. The dust — I shall never forget it. I tried to 
 read (Dozy's Islamisme), but in a short time the book and 
 I got so filthy with the dust, that I became irritable and 
 uncomfortable and could not read. After lunching on a 
 dusty chicken, a dusty bit of cheese, dusty apples, dusty 
 ham, dusty bread and some wine, I laid myself on the 
 dusty seats and had a sleep for a couple of hours, and 
 shortly arrived. 
 
 " I was met by one of Dr. Hogg's students, who could 
 speak a httle English. He had brought donkeys and a 
 lamp ; for the town is not lighted at all, and the streets 
 are narrow and winding. After 15 or 20 minutes' ride 
 
108 Assiout: Home, 
 
 right through the centre of the town, we arrived. The 
 house is on the extreme edge of Assiout, looking out on the 
 town on one side, and on the other on a green expanse 
 terminated by an imposing range of hills, the commence- 
 ment of the Grreat Desert. The Nile is right away on the 
 other side of the town, and a good mile from here. There 
 is an hotel at the station, which will be ready on Dec. 1, 
 and I intend to live there from that date. The proprietor 
 or manager is a Greek. There are numbers of G-reeks in 
 Egypt, and they dislike anything like manual labour, pre- 
 ferring to keep shops, and especially restaurants and 
 hotels. Dr. Hogg is a first-rate Arabist. He preaches in 
 Arabic perfectly fluently. He teaches his students in 
 Arabic, including the Sol-Fa class. (The Arabs have 
 wretched ears, and Dr. Hogg tells me that it was only by 
 means of the Sol-Fa that he could get anything approach- 
 ing to music out of them.) Family worship in the morn- 
 ing at 7.15 is conducted in Arabic I have taken a 
 
 teacher.' He is to come two hours a day, and to receive 
 c£3 a month. So you see learning is wonderfully cheap 
 
 here Dr. Hogg is most accomplished. He knows 
 
 Italian thoroughly, and can preach in it. He has preached 
 in Turkish, but has dropped it. He is very fond of phi- 
 losophy, and has translated Calderwood's Handbook of 
 Moral Philosophy into Arabic. He has a good voice, and 
 can play, and lead the psalms and hymns. He knows 
 phonography, and used to write it when a student in 
 Edinburgh." 
 
 "Assiout, Nov. 25, 1881. 
 
 " I have had a touch of fever and a hea^^ cold 
 
 The family are very kind to me Dr. Hogg has been 
 
 running in and out all day long. He is a splendid nurse, 
 being strong, and has no doubt about what ought to be 
 
 done As to my Arabic studies, I have leamt a good 
 
 deal, and can make myself intelligible to servants and 
 porters. I have a teacher every day for two hours, and 
 translate from a child's reading- book." 
 
 Shortly after writing the foregoing letter, Keith-Falconer 
 removed to the hotel. He does not appear to have found 
 any great amount of comfort there. He again writes : — 
 
Assiout: Home. 109 
 
 " Assiout, Nov. 30, 1881. 
 
 " I am disappointed with Egypt, both as to scenery and 
 climate. It is a vile place for catching cold. Buildings 
 seem constructed with a view to as many draughts as 
 possible. The colouring at sunrise and sunset is beautiful 
 
 — like apricots and peaches There are no bells. 
 
 That is the greatest drawback of all. You have to go 
 outside your door and clap your hands, and when you 
 have repeated this performance five or six times, the Arab 
 servant may begin to have a suspicion that somebody 
 wants someone ; and when at last you get him, it will be 
 very wonderful if he does what you want." 
 
 " Assiout, Dec. 22, 1881. 
 
 " A good many travellers pass through here, principally 
 Greek merchants and English : but I am the only person 
 staying here for any length of time. The hotel has been 
 advertised by the owners as a first-class one, but this is 
 hardly true, for there are no carpets or mats on the floors, 
 which are of stone ; no wardrobes or chests of drawers in 
 the bedrooms, no baths of any kind, and no sofas or arm- 
 chairs. The servant, a kind of man of all work, is a 
 G-reek, and for stupidity, I think, unrivalled. The cooking 
 is fairly good, I am thankful to say. The hotel is in a 
 line with the station, and the engine draws up exactly 
 under my window. The town is truly and unspeakably 
 disgusting. The streets are all filthy alleys, very crooked 
 
 and winding, and not lighted at night I shall be 
 
 very glad to get back to civilisation. I cannot call this a 
 civilised place." 
 
 "Assiout, Dec. 22, 1881. 
 
 " I am getting on with Arabic, but it is most appallingly 
 hard. Yesterday I went with my teacher to his house. 
 He introduced me to his wife, child and tea. She was at a 
 college in Beyrout." 
 
 *' Assiout, Dec. 28, 1881. 
 
 " There is no * society ' here at all, of course. I see a 
 missionary now and then, or the Greek doctor and my 
 teacher. Sometimes a traveller or two drops in. There 
 
110 Assiout: Home. 
 
 are three Frenclimen here now, awaiting their dahabeah, 
 which is coming from Cairo. They are small, dark, dirty, 
 and of most villanous countenance. My teacher has been 
 styled the 'inspired idiot.' His face is absolutely destitute 
 of expression, and he only speaks when positively neces- 
 sary He is a Syrian, and he invited me to dinner 
 
 on Saturday the 24th (for Christmas), and I never want 
 to taste Syrian dishes again." 
 
 "Assiout, Jan. 12, 1882. 
 
 ** T am meditating a camel ride in the desert. I mean 
 to go from here to Luxor (Thebes) on a donkey, camping 
 out every night, and from Luxor to Kossair on the Eied 
 Sea on a dromedary. I must go back first to Cairo to get 
 a tent, bedstead, &c. I have talked it over with a very 
 experienced Egyptian traveller. He says it is perfectly 
 safe, especially in the desert among the Bedouins, who 
 are gentlemen. The Egyptian Arabs are hardly that. I 
 shall learn two things by doing this journey; (1) Arabic, 
 (2) cooking. I expect to take a week getting to Luxor, 
 where I must stay a day or two to arrange about camels. 
 From Luxor to Kossair will take another week. At 
 Kossair there is a missionary station (American Presby- 
 terian). I am advised not to put on native dress, because 
 the European is more awe-inspiring." 
 
 " Cairo, Jan. 17, 1882. 
 
 " I am at Cairo now getting together my necessaries 
 for the journey which I contemplate. I have got vermi- 
 celli, rice, chocolate, preserved meats, Liebig's extracts, 
 salt, rope and cord, a measure, soap, sardines, preserved 
 curry, cocoa, two stew-pans, two basins (tin), kettle, knives, 
 forks and spoons, three tin mugs, soup-ladle, fan to blow 
 
 up the fire, tea, brandy, whisky, &c Just bought a 
 
 mattress and pillow for 10s. I have been racing about 
 bazaars all the afternoon: I have made some capital 
 bargains." 
 
 "AssiOUT, Jan. 25, 1882. 
 
 " I came away from Cairo on Saturday last, and stay 
 here till Monday week, when I hope to start for my little 
 expedition southwards. I am sending to Cairo for a 
 
Assiout : Home. Ill 
 
 revolver ; I think it is better to take some little precau- 
 tions I am dreadfully lonely here It is 
 
 curious that the French consul invaded me this morning, 
 mistaking me, I suppose, for someone else, and commanded 
 me to return to France immediately." 
 
 So far as I can remember, the French consul fancied 
 that he had found in Keith-Falconer a Frenchman who 
 was " wanted " by the police for some misdeed or other, 
 regardless of the fact that Keith-Falconer had come to 
 Assiout two months before with introduction to a well- 
 known resident, and him a Scotchman, and that his ap- 
 pearance and height were certainly not those of a French- 
 man. Eager however to manifest his zeal, he actually 
 forced his way into Keith-Falconer's bedroom before he 
 had risen, and was only with some difficulty convinced of 
 his error. 
 
 Just at this time, when the journey through the desert 
 had been planned and provided for, Keith-Falconer had a 
 second attack of fever; and though happily it was not 
 severe, still on his recovery he felt it to be wiser to give 
 up the scheme and return to Europe. 
 
 He reached Cannes early in February and remained 
 there till the end of March, when he left for G-enoa, pro- 
 ceeding thence to Siena. Here he stayed for about a 
 month, largely with the view of increasing his knowledge 
 of Italian, and on his return passed through Milan and 
 visited the Italian lakes. 
 
 After his long absence from home, he now turned his 
 steps to England, which he reached on the 12th of May, in 
 remarkably good health and spirits, and bent upon again 
 trying the experiment of a bicycle ride from the Land's 
 End to John o' G-roat's House. To get himself into 
 thoroughly good condition for his expedition he essayed 
 first the shorter journey from Cambridge to the Lakes ; 
 and then on June 1, travelled down with his "■ machine '* 
 to Penzance, waiting for a favourable day to start. 
 
112 Assiout: Home. 
 
 Of the journey he then undertook he wrote a detailed 
 account at the time, which appeared in an Aberdeen news- 
 paper and in the London Bicycle Club Gazette. There is a 
 good deal of racy freshness and vigour about it which in- 
 duces me to reproduce it here at full length. 
 
 " First day. I left the Land's End point at 4.5 a.m. on 
 Monday, 5th inst,, with a S.W. wind blowing me along. 
 Sixty-five minutes' riding brought me over 10| miles of 
 rough hilly road to Penzance. Passing through Hayle, 
 Camborne, and Eedruth, Truro (36 miles) was reached at 
 7.40. The smooth macadam road from Eedruth to Truro 
 struck me as being singularly good for an English road, 
 but I have since been informed that it was made by a wily 
 Scot who was awarded a prize for it. Leaving Truro at 
 9.0, a very swift ride brought me in sight of Bodmin (60 
 miles) at 10.45. Heavy rain was now falling and necessi- 
 tated an hour's halt. I had not got 6 miles out of Bodmin 
 when a second and more violent storm of rain and mist 
 gave me a bath all for nothing. So I pulled up again at a 
 lonely village called Jamaica, owing to its remote situation 
 (70 miles). Here I sat for five and a half weary hours at 
 a little temperance inn, for there is no public-house in 
 Jamaica. A copy of Butler's * Dissertation on Virtue,' 
 which I found here, served, I hope, to reconcile me to the 
 weather. It was the driest experience I had that day. 
 Starting once more, I rode gingerly over a succession of 
 tremendous hills into Launceston, of beautiful situation 
 (81 miles), where I realised that tea in dripping clothes is 
 unpleasant. About 10 p.m. the river Tamar, which sepa- 
 rates Cornwall from Devon, was crossed, and two miles 
 further on I pulled up for the night at Lifton (85). 
 
 " Second day. The next day was fine, and the ride 
 through Okehampton (100) to Exeter (121), though abound- 
 ing in difficult hills, and severe collar work, was pleasant 
 enough, the scenery being lovely all the way, and the air 
 most exhilarating. At Exeter I entered on a plain, and 
 pursuing a fine level road, soon reached Taunton (152), 
 one of the cleanest, pleasantest, and most flourishing of 
 English country towns. From here a delightful spin in 
 the dark over a smooth country lane brought me to Lang- 
 
Assiout : Home. 113 
 
 port (166) about 11 p.m. A long argument with a com- 
 mercial traveller kept me up till one o'clock, the consequence 
 being that next day I was good for nothing (besides having 
 failed to convince the commercial). 
 
 "Third day. During the ride through Somerton (171) 
 to Glastonbury (183), I became the victim first of stupidity, 
 then of maUce. A waggoner seeing me about to overtake 
 him pulled very suddenly to the wrong side, and sent me 
 sprawling over a heap of flints. No harm done. Shortly 
 after a wilful misdirection given me by a playful Somer- 
 tonian sent me 2J miles in the wrong direction, so that I 
 traversed 12 instead of 7 miles between Somerton and 
 G-lastonbury. Wells Cathedral (188) was one of the few 
 sights which I lingered to see. It is gorgeous. Then came 
 the long ascent of the Mendip Hills, and I shall never for- 
 get the view of the Somerset Plain obtained from the top. 
 At the summit of the steepest part the Bicycle Union has 
 placed one of its boards, inscribed " To cyclists this hill is 
 dangerous." A beautiful ride took me shortly to the city 
 of Bath (208), whose glory has departed. Once up tjtie 
 long hill out of Bath, progress became rapid, and the third 
 night was spent at Didmarton, a G-loucestershire village 
 (225). Here a commercial gentleman told me that three 
 well-known cricketers (who are brothers) learnt all their 
 cricket from their mother, who, he told me, knows more 
 about the art than any of her sons ! 
 
 " Fourth day. A pleasant if uneventful ride led through 
 Tetbury (231), Cirencester (241), celebrated for its scien- 
 tific college of agriculture, Burf ord (258), Chipping Norton 
 (269), Banbury (282) to Southam (296?). Here my 
 troubles, which never come singly, began. Rain com- 
 menced falling, which soon wetted me through, I lost my 
 road and went quite a mile and a half out of the way, and 
 shortly before reaching Rugby (309), the spring broke. 
 But I felt so well and fit that I could not be glum. So, on 
 reaching this town, I promptly took the machine to a 
 mechanic, who had it plated and made stronger than be- 
 fore by next morning, and myself to the Three Horse- 
 Shoes Hotel, where I received every attention. 
 
 " Fifth day. Sunshine and rain alternated rapidly until 
 the afternoon. My road lay through Lutterworth (316), 
 
114 Assiout: Home. 
 
 Leicester (328), Melton Mowbray (343 J, Graiitliam (359), 
 Newark (374), to Retford (394). The last 10 miles were 
 done in the dark, rendered more intense by the rain-clonds. 
 To ride along a stony road on a dark rainy night is a most 
 severe trial of nerve and temper. One cannot see the 
 stones to avoid them, and each time the wheel goes over 
 one, the machine is jerked up, or thrust on one side, and 
 the rider gets a shake that makes his heart jump into his 
 mouth, and brings to mind unparliamentary language. 
 Retford was reached at 11 p.m., and when I asked the 
 landlord of the White Hart whether he often put up bicy- 
 clists, he looked at me severely and replied, ' Yes, but not 
 so late as this.' However, I met with every attention here. 
 I got wet through twice to-day, and hardly slept a wink all 
 night — nerves a little overwrought I suppose. 
 
 " Sixth day. On emerging from the hotel I found to my 
 horror that a furious north-west wind was blowing. I 
 struggled on as far as Doncaster (412), when I became 
 sick of fighting against that strong man, and threw up the 
 sponge. After a good dinner at the ' Reindeer,' I went to 
 bed for a couple of hours, expecting that the wind would 
 lull in the evening — it did so, but of course the road got 
 bad then. A wet greasy oolite road, rendered more de- 
 lightful by the recent gyrations of a feathery traction- 
 engine, is a treat not soon forgotten by the bicyclist. I 
 enjoyed it this evening. Riding was only possible here 
 and there. I tried to make myself believe that I was on a 
 walking tour, and had taken the machine with me to come 
 in handy now and then. About 11.30 p.m. I tramped into 
 Wetherby (443). Two friendly policemen aided me in 
 making sufficient noise to awaken the landlord of the inn 
 here. 
 
 " Seventh day. The wind, still N.W., was blowing 
 gently to-day, and did not impede perceptibly. The road 
 improved gradually to Borobridge (455). Instead of run- 
 ning straight from here to Durham, through Northallerton 
 and Darlington, I chose the celebrated Leeming Lane, a 
 smooth flat bit of road full thirty miles long, and often 
 selected for trotting matches. It is properly the high road 
 to Carlisle, via Scotch Corner and Oreta Bridge. The lane 
 has little traffic on it, and steers clear of towns. High 
 
Assiout : Home. 115 
 
 speed was made through Leeming, Catterick {4*77), Scotch 
 Comer (482), where the road to Carlisle bends off, and jou 
 can see the violet hills of the border country in the dis- 
 tance, Pierce Bridge, and over a range of hills to West 
 Auckland (495), all black and grimy with coal-dust, and 
 Bishop Auckland (498), hard by, where the Bishop of 
 Durham resides. Dined here, and met with a young 
 Japanese who was interesting. Then on to Durham (508) 
 through Spennymoor, and thence via Chester-le-Street to 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne (523). The county of Durham may 
 boast of considerable natural beauties, but commercial en- 
 terprise has introduced into the landscape so many features 
 of ugliness that the traveller is glad to leave it behind. 
 The high-level bridge which unites G-ateshead and New- 
 castle is a grand structure. I had now scored 84 miles 
 since the morning, and hearing from a policeman that I 
 could get comfortably lodged at an inn six miles on, I 
 thought I might complete the 90 miles before halting for 
 the night. In due time Six Mile Brig hove in sight. It 
 was a dirty little colliery village. But I was tired, hungry 
 and wet, and the hour was eleven. So I thundered at the 
 doors of all the inns I could find. No answer, except at 
 one place, where a woman looked from a window and told 
 me that the house was full, which, of course, was quite 
 true. I shall take care that Dash Mailes, Esq., the land- 
 lord of the ' hotel ' which the policeman recommended, re- 
 ceives a copy of this account. A merry Northumbrian, 
 prompted by that temporary feeling of generosity inspired 
 by strong drink, vowed he would not leave me till he saw 
 me safely housed, and made the locality reverberate with 
 shouts of ' Tom,' and * Jack,' and ' Bill,' but T., J., and B. 
 slept quietly on. At length a tall man came up and offered 
 me a night's lodging, as well as food. I accepted. The 
 house to which he took me was a pitman's lodging-house. 
 He was a pitman. His landlord — also a pitman — and 
 family lived downstairs, and he upstairs. The landlord 
 was directed to prepare supper. A vast pot of tea and a 
 measureless pile of spice-cake, with butter, soon adorned 
 the festive board. I had ridden 30 miles from Bishop- 
 Auckland without tasting a morsel of food or drink ; so 
 I did not count the cups of tea or the planks of cake which 
 
116 Assiout : Home. 
 
 I consumed — I was afraid of getting into double figures. 
 Then half a pipe of twist (for experiment) and upstairs to 
 lie down till it was light enough to go on. 
 
 " Eighth day. I was up with the lark, and amused 
 with it too, and shortly found myself in Morpeth (537), 
 eight miles on. Here, as might be expected, I had one of 
 numerous baths and a breakfast worthy the name. Also 
 made the acquaintance of a Presbyterian tailor, full of 
 theology, politics, and good nature. Nineteen miles of 
 fresh open country over a fine macadam road brought me 
 to Alnwick (556). My old enemy the north-west wind got 
 very boisterous now, and I was forced to resume the walk- 
 ing tour, taking the machine along with me, in case it 
 might be of use again in the dim future. The wind was 
 terribly cutting as well as powerful, but a blue jersey, 
 bought at Alnwick, kept me as warm as a toast. Of course 
 I missed my way going out of Alnwick. I always do when 
 other troubles are on hand. They never come singly, and 
 nothing succeeds like success. But the hardest blow was 
 yet to fall. A few miles out of Morpeth my right foot 
 began to hurt at the back ; but I thought nothing of it, as 
 I only felt it when walking up a hill. But the walking 
 tour from Alnwick to Belford (572) caused so much pain 
 that resignation and defeat seemed a matter of minutes. 
 However an hour's rest at Belford did good, and on I went. 
 The wind was cruel, and forced me to walk most of the 
 way to Berwick (587). I limped in about 10.30 p.m. and 
 put up at the Red Lion. 
 
 "Ninth day. Foot better to-day, and by leaving the 
 boot unbuttoned I seemed to give it the requisite relief. 
 Fortunately I had no walking tour to-day. The wind was 
 still strong, but the road was grand, and 29 miles of hard 
 pushing brought me to Dunbar (616). At this point the 
 road turns in sharply to the west and I felt the wind but 
 little as I rode through Haddington (627), and Traneant 
 (636), into Edinburgh (645). Our city on a beautiful 
 summer's evening presents a spectacle not equalled any- 
 where else. Quitting Edinburgh shortly after 9 p.m., a 
 ride of an hour and a-half over the finest and smoothest 
 stretch of road I have ever been on in my life brought the 
 traveller to the * Star and Garter ' at Linlithgow (661). 
 
• Assiout : Home. 117 
 
 The Town Council had been * riding the marches ' to-day 
 — an arduous proceeding I should suppose, and one re- 
 quiring substantial refreshment. 
 
 " Tenth day. When I awoke the rain was pattering on 
 the window-panes, and a keen N.W. wind was blowing. A 
 shudder, a resolve, a leap, and I was dressing quickly. The 
 road to Falkirk (669) I found hilly, rough, lumpy, and 
 slippery. Add to this wind and rain, and the result is 
 misery. At Falkirk I stopped. Cook let me stand before 
 the kitchen-fire while she prepared breakfast. At 9.30 the 
 rain stopped and I continued. The wind was rising rapidly. 
 More walking tour. Though I tramped most of the way 
 to Stirling (680) and thence to Dunblane (687), my foot 
 gave no trouble. I fondly thought that it had got well. 
 At Bridge of Allan (683 J) I dined, and slept an hour. At 
 Dunblane the road turns sharply to the west ; and thence 
 to Crieff (704), by Muthill and 'Perth (721), the ride was 
 pleasant and prosperous. Dunkeld (736) was reached at 
 
 11 P.M. 
 
 " Eleventh day. To-day was a failure. After passing 
 Blair-Athole (756), the glen becomes rapidly higher and 
 narrower. The wind came sweeping down as through a 
 funnel. There was a strong draught. Another walking 
 tour. After three miles my foot began to complain. 
 Once past Struan Inn there is no other until you get to 
 Dalwhinnie, twenty miles distant. At Dalnacardoch I was 
 in such pain that I was obliged to invade a fann-house 
 and ask for rest and food, which I got at rather a high 
 figure. Then on past Dalnaspidal Station, over Drumochter 
 Pass to Dalwhinnie at the head of Loch Ericht (780). It 
 was now eight o'clock, and I had only covered 44 miles 
 since morning. At the Loch Ericht Hotel the medical 
 skill of Dr. Peyton, of Broughty-Ferry, worked wonders, 
 and the next day saw me traverse 105 miles with ease and 
 pleasure. 
 
 ''Twelfth day. Newtonmore (789), Kingussie (793), 
 Aviemore (805), and Carr-Bridge (811) succeeded one 
 another rapidly. The scenery along the road from here, 
 via Loch Moy (822) and Daviot (831), to Inverness (837), 
 was glorious. The day too was lovely, and not a breath 
 stirring. Leaving Inverness at six, I rode rapidly through 
 
118 Assiout : Home. . 
 
 Beauly (847), Dingwall (859), and Invergordon (872), to 
 Tain (884), where the last night on the road was spent. 
 Two miles before Tain the road forks right and left. No 
 guide-post is there to direct the stranger. It was nearly- 
 midnight. Fortunately I descried a light in a window, and 
 procured the necessary information. This reminds me that 
 I did not see a single guide-post in Scotland, except two 
 close by John o'G-roats, put up at the repeated request of 
 an English tourist, Mr. Blackwell (the first bicyclist who 
 rode from end to end of our island). Why is this ? In 
 England they abound. 
 
 " Thirteenth and last day. I rose to find my foot 
 horribly stiff and painful. But the day was fine, no wind, 
 and only 110 miles more to run. Starting at 9.20, I ran 
 hard to Bonar-Bridge (899), over the Mound to Grolspie 
 (920), where I dined, and slept an hour. Leaving at 4, I 
 ran rapidly through Brora (926) to Helmsdale (938). I 
 had limped up the Ord of Caithness by sunset. At Berrie- 
 dale (948) it was raining hard. At Dunbeath (954) I 
 stopped to have tea and bathe my foot, which had been 
 tried severely by the 4 -mile limp up the Ord. Wick (975) 
 I reached about midnight. After refreshing and nursing 
 myself for an hour and a-half at the Station Hotel, I 
 started again, to the blank astonishment of landlord, boots, 
 and waiters. The utter solitude, stillness, and dreariness 
 of the remaining 19 miles made a most remarkable im- 
 pression on me. Not one tree, bush, or hedge did I see 
 the whole way — only dark brown moor and a road straight 
 as a rule. At twenty minutes past three I stood stiff, sore, 
 hungry, and happy before John o'Groat's House Hotel. 
 I had ridden 994 miles in 13 days less 45 minutes. This 
 gives an average of ^Q to ^J"? miles a day. I had no diffi- 
 culty in rousing the landlord, and was soon asleep. Thus 
 ended an interesting and amusing ride. 
 
 " I have only to add that the machine which carried me 
 is a 58-incher, built by Humber and Marriott, of Queen's 
 Road, Nottingham, and w^eighing 45 lbs. As an illustra- 
 tion of the perfection of this bicycle, I may mention that 
 the hind wheel, which revolves 1,000 times a mile, ran 
 from Dunkeld to John o'G-roat's (a distance of 260 miles) 
 without being oiled on the way. Thus it made over a 
 
Assiout : Home, 119 
 
 quarter- million revolutions on the strength of a single 
 lubrication ! " 
 
 The summer of this year was spent partly at Keith-Hall 
 and partly in London. It does not, however, present any 
 incident specially worthy of record. His studies and his 
 work for Mr. Charrington fully engrossed Keith -Falconer's 
 time. 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE. MARRIAGE. KALILAH. 
 
 " I would the great world grew like thee, 
 Who grewest not alone in power 
 And knowledge, but by year and hour 
 
 In reverence and in charity." 
 
 Tennyson, In Memoriam. 
 
 For the two years preceding October, 1882, Keith-Falconer 
 had, as we have seen, resided but little at Cambridge ; 
 most, however, of the ensuing three years, except the vaca- 
 tions, was spent there. 
 
 The beginning of term found him in his old quarters on 
 the Market Hill, as keen a student as when of old there 
 was an examination ahead to be worked for. 
 
 To so thorough and careful a scholar, the Kalilah meant 
 a far larger amount of labour than it might have been 
 supposed would be required by a translation of a fairly 
 easy Syriac book. Still the text existed but in one MS., 
 and that most corrupt, and even with all the emendations 
 of Dr. Wright and Professor Noldeke, Keith-Falconer found 
 abundant material on which to exercise his critical acumen. 
 We must speak in some detail of the nature of this book, 
 when we come to the time of its publication. 
 
 It is not, however, to be supposed that his book, un- 
 grudging as was the labour he devoted to it, absorbed the 
 bulk of his time : his engrossing study was Arabic, in which 
 he was now reading such difficult books as the Mo'allakat 
 and Al-Hariri. 
 
Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 121 
 
 K he had been asked at this time why he gave so pre- 
 ponderating an amount of time to Arabic, which at no time 
 he felt to have any direct bearing on the exegesis of the 
 Bible, and whose literature was quite unconnected with his 
 Biblical studies, he would have said that the language itself 
 had a wonderful attraction for him ; the labour was its own 
 reward. 
 
 We must now turn to some other aspects of his life. In 
 a letter to Miss Bevan, written at the beginning of this term, 
 he gives an amusing account of the success of one of his 
 friends, an Irishman, in his examination : — 
 
 ** Cambridge, Oct. ^22, 1882. 
 
 *'E, was here yesterday. He told me how he got a 
 
 first class in his Little-Go. He and another man had 
 
 worked for it more or less together. E of course had 
 
 hardly looked at the subjects, while his acquaintance, a shy, 
 nervous man, had conscientiously gone through all the sub- 
 jects, and worked eight hours a day all the term. 
 
 " The nervous man when called upon for viva voce turned 
 ashy pale, and was so overcome by his feelings'that he was 
 unable to utter a single syllable and was told to stand down. 
 Meanwhile Paddy was enjoying it rather than otherwise 
 
 from his seat. Presently the name of E was called 
 
 out. Patrick saunters quietly up. It is needless to say 
 that this was the first time that he had been introduced to 
 his subject. After taking his seat, and arranging himself 
 very deliberately indeed, he takes stock of the examiner, 
 who is a red-bearded, pale, stern-looking man. Patrick is 
 directed to construe at such and such a place. He replies 
 'Certainly, Sir.' After examining the passage for a few 
 moments and satisfying himseK that an attempt would be 
 absolutely hopeless, he looks up, bends forward and gazing 
 steadily into the examiner's face, whispers in tones of im- 
 pressive earnestness, ' Anywhere but there. Sir.' The stern 
 one is taken by storm and shakes with laughter and lets 
 him go on wherever he likes ! Paddy succeeds in choosing 
 a particularly easy passage, and not only passes the viva 
 voce, but gets through the whole exam, with a first-class. 
 His hard-working, conscientious friend only gets a second." 
 
122 Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 
 
 Early in the following- month, Mr. Moody paid a visit to 
 Cambridge. The visit was one which many remember with 
 gratitude, and the tone of more than one College was dis- 
 tinctly raised. 
 
 From another letter to the same : — 
 
 " Cambridge, Nov. 6, 1882. 
 
 " Moody has commenced. I was at the first meeting 
 which took place yesterday (Sunday) in the Corn Exchange. 
 It began at 8 a.m. sharp. There were more than 1,000 
 people present, chiefly townsfolk. At 8.30 p.m. there was 
 a meeting for University men only. There came fully 
 1,600 men, nearly all of them undergraduates. I am afraid 
 many of them could not hear, and that was some excuse 
 for the occasional bad behaviour which marred the meeting. 
 Fancy applauding a prayer ! A large number remained to 
 the after-meeting. Moody said that he was quite satisfied. 
 Meetings go on all this week. Moody spoke on Daniel. 
 Towards the end I thought he was very impressive." 
 
 All this time Keith- Falconer was very much occupied 
 with his work in connection with the mission at Mile-End, 
 of which he was Honorary Secretary, and had published 
 his pamphlet, of which I have already spoken, A Flea for 
 the Tower Hamlets Mission. It is true that the great mass 
 of work devolving on Mr. Charrington required that there 
 should be also a secretary living in the midst of the work 
 and devoting his whole time to it ; still Keith-Falconer's 
 post was very far from being a nominal one. It must be 
 remembered that at this particular time the special anxiety 
 of the workers was not mainly that of carrying on a gigantic 
 machine, but also of obtaining funds to erect a building 
 commensurate with their needs. The sum requisite for 
 this purpose was believed in 1882 to amount to ^824,000 ; 
 it really has proved to be ^632, 000. All this entailed a 
 large correspondence on Keith -Falconer. In writing a 
 business letter he was exceedingly business-like : his facts 
 were put in the clearest and most methodical way. A 
 
Cambridge, Marriage. Kalilah. 123 
 
 letter from him asking for a subscription was no effusive 
 appeal ; it was a quiet, sensible statement of facts, all the 
 more cogent because the writer had shewn himself anxious 
 to take all possible pains to do justice to his case. 
 
 Besides all this, frequent flying visits were paid to Mile- 
 End, and in all every opportunity of doing good was caught 
 at. As one who knew him well said, " He never seemed to 
 be able to come anywhere, without trying to do good to 
 somebody." Numbers of men and women received from 
 him in right form, right degree, and in the truest and 
 wisest Christian kindliness, just that help the case needed, 
 bodily or spiritual. Of this, one typical case has already 
 been given in detail. To shew how his kindness was some- 
 times appreciated, I may note that there lives a certain 
 cabdriver in Whitechapel, who was always most genuinely 
 anxious to be allowed to drive liim anywhere about London 
 for nothing. 
 
 In Cambridge, besides his' interest in the Barnwell 
 Theatre Mission, he had always on hand cases calling for 
 individual aid. These did not assume with him, as a rule, 
 the easy form of taking a piece of money out of his pocket 
 and giving it to some importunate applicant, the truth 
 of the appeal doubtless varying inversely with the impor- 
 tunity. Again and again he spent a great amount of time 
 and pains to adapt the aid exactly to the case which 
 appealed to him. Thus on one occasion he spared no 
 trouble to obtain situations on a railway for a man and 
 boy ; he aided a man who had come down in the world to 
 emigrate ; he gave a helping hand in more ways than one 
 to a ?aan who was struggling bravely upwards. Of help 
 given to students in Cambridge he was most generous, and 
 I shall speak of it later on. 
 
 In the spring of 1883, he was appointed one of the 
 examiners for the Tyrwhitt Hebrew Scholarships, for which 
 he had himself competed successfully in 1879. In this and 
 on other occasions when he acted as examiner, he shewed a 
 
124 Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 
 
 thoroughness and carefulness that I have not often seen 
 equalled. He went over the ground on which he was to 
 examine as minutely as if he were one of the keenest com- 
 petitors himself, so that the paper fairly represented the 
 whole field of work. I remember well his bringing me a 
 copy of a paper he had just set in an examination, and 
 asking, "Now do you call this paper quite fair? I really 
 think no one can say that I have not tried to do justice to 
 each part." 
 
 In assigning the marks to the papers sent up by candi- 
 dates he was also, I hardly need add, exceedingly careful. 
 Of this an illustration may be given. Sometimes, in exam- 
 inations in Hebrew, it became his duty to set " pointing." ^ 
 To assign the marks properly for a piece of pointing re- 
 quires exceptional care, otherwise a very false result may 
 be obtained. This Keith-Falconer felt, and accordingly to 
 judge fairly of each man's mistakes he adopted the fol- 
 lowing plan. For each candidate he took a second copy 
 of the unpointed Hebrew and himself entered in it solely 
 those points which the student had written wrongly. By 
 having them all clearly before him in this form, he was 
 enabled thoroughly to judge of the amount of marks to be 
 deducted in each case. 
 
 The summer Keith-Falconer spent quietly at Keith- 
 Hall, in work on the Kalilah and at Arabic ; and in Sep- 
 tember he attended the Congress of Orientalists atLeyden. 
 Presumably this, like other similar gatherings, is mainly 
 meant to promote esprit de corps, and to give men of like 
 pursuits the opportunity of seeing one another, rather than 
 actually to instruct the visitor. At any rate, Keith-Fal- 
 coner writes, " The Congress, as far as I can make out, is 
 a failure as regards its ' labours,' and a success as regards 
 its convivial gatherings." 
 
 It had long been his wish to obtain a lectureship in 
 
 ' This expression has been explained above, p. 45. 
 
Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 125 
 
 Cambridge, and on his return to the University in Oc- 
 tober, 1883, he was offered and accepted the post of He- 
 brew lecturer at Clare College. 
 
 He had in a very high degree the gift of teaching. 
 Thoroughly master of his subject, he could also tho- 
 roughly realise the standpoint of the beginner. One who 
 knew him well, writes of this time : — 
 
 " He took just as much pains in teaching the stupidest 
 man as the cleverest. He often said he did not mind men 
 being ever so stupid, if only they did their best, and did 
 not try to appear clever. He was a born teacher, as I 
 know from experience — he always went to the bottom of 
 a subject, and made it so clear that no one could help 
 understanding. At the same time, he believed in his 
 pupils puzzling out things for themselves, as much as 
 they possibly could, and would only explain when he 
 thought they had done their utmost." 
 
 It was not merely that he possessed the gift of lucidity 
 in a remarkable way; he shewed an exceptional amount 
 of kindness in the use of it. If at his lectures, painstaking 
 and clear as he was, a student still failed to grasp the 
 difficulties, again and again would he invite him to his 
 rooms, or after his marriage to his house, and there give 
 his time ungrudgingly. 
 
 On some occasions, being thrown into contact with men 
 who had either been badly grounded by previous teachers, 
 or who needed more individual help than lectures would 
 furnish, he gave them all the help which could be ren- 
 dered by a private tutor, and, having regard to the means 
 of those thus helped, he refused in every case but one to 
 accept the ordinarily recognised University fee. In the 
 one exception, the money was sent as a contribution to 
 Addenbrooke's Hospital, half in his own name, half in the 
 pupil's. 
 
 He was appointed in this year one of the examiners for 
 the Theological Tripos, and took part in the examination 
 
126 Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 
 
 of January, 1884, and also in that held under the new 
 system in the following June. 
 
 When the work on the January Tripos was finished and 
 the list published, he left for Cannes, where he resided 
 during February, and spent a good deal of time in pre- 
 paring his papers for the next Tripos. 
 
 On February 29 he writes : — 
 
 " .... A short-sighted lady, sitting next me in church, 
 told her husband afterwards that next her had sat a very 
 naughty boy, who drew pictures all through the sermon, 
 and that she had been on the point of stopping him 
 
 " On Wednesday I had a most delightful ride on a tri- 
 cycle across the Esterelles to Frejus. Once at the top, I 
 cocked my legs up and went spinning down for miles with- 
 out doing a stroke of work." 
 
 On March 4, he was married, at Trinity Church, Cannes, 
 to Miss Grwendolen Be van, daughter of Mr. E. C. L. Bevan, 
 of Trent Park, Hertfordshire. After the wedding, they 
 spent some time at St. Raphael, near Frejus, where the 
 quiet, picturesque neighbourhood greatly delighted him, 
 and went thence, by way of Marseilles, to the neighbour- 
 hood of Naples. Here they duly inspected Pompeii and 
 Capri, and ascended Vesuvius by the funicular railway. 
 
 By the middle of April, Keith-Falconer had brought his 
 wife to Cambridge, and resided during the May term and 
 Long Vacation in the house previously occupied by the 
 late Professor Fawcett, in Brookside. 
 
 The term was a busy one. He had spent some time on 
 his papers for the June Tripos at the beginning of the 
 year, but a good deal still remained to be done, and the 
 actual work of examination was itself considerable. His 
 work as lecturer, interpreted in the generous way in which 
 he viewed his post, also drew largely on his time ; and be- 
 sides all this, he had his Arabic and the Kalilah. 
 
 The house he was occupying had been taken only for 
 six months; but in the course of the summer he found 
 
Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 127 
 
 one that suited him in the Station Road, which had just 
 been vacated by Lord Rayleigh, on his resignation of the 
 Professorship of Experimental Physics, and took the 
 house on lease before leaving Cambridge for September. 
 
 The vacation was spent in Scotland, partly at home at 
 Keith-Hall, and partly on a bicycle tour in West Suther- 
 
 landshire, with his friend Mr. E. , already spoken of in 
 
 the present chapter. 
 
 The following two extracts from letters written to his 
 wife shew the nature of the tour and bring out the sj^irit 
 in which Keith-Falconer entered into a holiday. 
 
 " INSCHNADAMPH, Sept. 13, 1884. 
 
 *' I wish you were here to enjoy this wonderful country. 
 Excepting as to strong air, I think the Braemar district is 
 distinctly inferior to this. The charm lies principally in 
 the astonishing variety of lochs. We have seen dozens of 
 
 all sizes and shapes. E, turned up at Inverness as 
 
 arranged, appearing on the scene in a wonderful fur- 
 trimmed ulster ! We got to Lairg about 4.30 the same 
 day. After tea and having put on our riding clothes and 
 labelled our bags to Lochinver, we rode off at 7.15 to 
 Altnahara Inn (21 miles). We had to go carefully most 
 
 of the way, as the darkness came on at 8. E. went 
 
 off the handles once. Next day we rode across to Tongue, 
 where we sighted the North Sea. On the way we took a 
 dip in Loch Loyal. Dinner at Tongue. We had a job to 
 get across the Kyle. It was very low water and we had 
 to wade some distance before we got to the boat. We had 
 a talk with the boatman, who said he had been praying 
 and searchmg for many years, but ' couldna find Him.' 
 We took an age to ride seven miles across the Moine, a 
 dangerous swamp, to Hope Ferry. 
 
 " E. was nearly run away with down the hill, which 
 
 might have killed him. It is the steepest, longest and 
 most winding hill I have ever seen. Hope River and Ben 
 Hope looked most grim and black in the dusk. The ferry 
 is crossed by a chain-bridge. We pushed on three miles 
 further to Heilim Ferry on Loch Eriboll, which is really 
 an inlet of the sea. An inn is marked on the map, but on 
 
128 Cambridge. Marriage. KaJilah. 
 
 arriving at the house, we found it was no longer an inn. 
 
 A little blarney from R worked like an ' open sesame/ 
 
 and we got tea and beds ; but it was a rough place. Here 
 we had a dip in the dark just before going to bed. 
 
 " Next day across Loch Eriboll by boat and then seven 
 miles of up and down to Durness, We found the hotel 
 
 occupied chiefly by a shooting party R was 
 
 very unwell at Durness, so we staid there all day. Next 
 day a glorious run to Scourie, through Rhiconich, and 
 from Scourie to Kyleskee Ferry. The first thing we did 
 here was to plunge oH a rock into deep, clear water. Then 
 tea. Another bathe next morning. After doing seven 
 
 miles to Scaig Bridge, I sent R on to Inschnadamph 
 
 (where we are now), while I rode to Lochinver, most of 
 the road skirting Loch Assynt. Coming away from there, 
 I had a fall over the handles, consequently my right hand 
 looks rather ghastly. To-morrow to Ullapool or Lairg. 
 .... This place is 36 miles from the rail and we have not 
 been so near since leaving Tongue." 
 
 In another letter to the same he thus gives his general 
 impressions of the country : — 
 
 " We have had the most gorgeous day that mortal man 
 could enjoy. Balmy air, soft fanning breeze, magnificent 
 scenery, piles of mountains wrapt in soft, dreamy haze, 
 profusion of lakes and bays dotted with little rocky islands 
 and reflecting the scenery so perfectly that one hardly 
 knows whether one is standing on one's head or one's 
 heels ; a human being only encountered at rare intervals, 
 charming bathing, salt and fresh, at every turn ; a clean, 
 
 cheap little inn about every 15 miles. R comes off his 
 
 machine every quarter of an hour. Happily his cranium 
 is thick." 
 
 On this Mr. R remarks, " I only three times nearly 
 
 broke my neck." 
 
 The beginning of October saw Keith -Falconer settled in 
 his new house at Cambridge, 5, Salisbury Villas, in the 
 Station Road. Here he had a large pleasant study look- 
 
Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilak. 129 
 
 ing out on a good-sized garden, in which the sometimes 
 very audible whistle of the trains no more affected him 
 than the noises from the Market-Place had done in old 
 days. 
 
 It would seem to have been towards the end of the year 
 1884 that the idea of work in the foreign mission field first 
 definitely entered Keith-Falconer's mind. 
 
 He had, it is true, often thought, but only in a very 
 vague way, that he might possibly go abroad some day 
 as a missionary. Among his heroes for years past had 
 been Dr. John Wilson, the well-known Scotch missionary. 
 As far back as 1878, he thus writes to a friend : — 
 
 " Mind to get hold of Dr. George Smith's Life of John 
 Wilson, D.D., F.E.S., the great Scotch missionary of India. 
 He was a Free Church man ; every Indian missionary 
 must sit at his feet. He was probably the greatest Indian 
 scholar that has yet appeared. This is most extraordinary, 
 as he gave most of his time to mission-work. He also 
 made a name in geology ! His powers of memory were 
 something incredible. As for his toils for the people of 
 India, the biographer writes, ' From Central India to 
 Central Africa, from Cabul to Comorin, there are thousands 
 who call John Wilson blessed.' .... The author too is a 
 very distinguished writer on Indian subjects." 
 
 Nor was this warm admiration for Wilson a mere fleet- 
 ing fancy, to be forgotten when the next new book brought 
 a fresh hero forward. On his last visit to England in 
 1886, he constantly spoke with the same enthusiasm of 
 this noble worker for Christ. 
 
 When, towards the close of 1884, his intimate friend Mr. 
 C. T. Studd, of Trinity College, had been accepted as one 
 of the volunteers for the work of the China Inland Mission, 
 Keith-Falconer's interest was greatly excited, and, with 
 his wife, he was present at Mr. Studd' s farewell meeting 
 in Cambridge early in 1885, and also attended the Oxford 
 meeting. 
 
130 Cambridge. Marriage. KalilaTi. 
 
 It was not, however, till the February of the following 
 year that the idea of any special place as his sphere of 
 work occurred to him. The whole history, however, of 
 the Aden project and of the immediate causes which led 
 np to it is best reserved for independent treatment in the 
 following chapter. 
 
 Early in 1885, was published Keith-Falconer's book, on 
 which an infinity of time and pains had been expended, the 
 Kalilah and Dimnah, otherwise known as the Fables of 
 Bidpai. This book, as I have already mentioned, when 
 speaking of the beginning of the undertaking in 1881, is a 
 translation from the Syriac, of which the text was pub- 
 lished by Dr. Wright in 1884. 
 
 It is unfortunately, with one minor exception yet to be 
 spoken of, the only completed literary work Keith -Falconer 
 has left behind him ; unfortunately, not alone from the 
 standpoint of friends who mourn his loss, but also from 
 that of scholars in general, who are taught by the fulness 
 and accuracy of the work how much might have been 
 looked for in years to come from one whose first essay was 
 of so brilliant a promise. 
 
 While of course it is not my intention to enter into any 
 long account of the various forms of the text of which 
 Keith-Falconer has spoken in his Introduction, it will at 
 any rate be of interest to speak generally of the stories 
 which make up the book, and of the special form of the 
 text on which he worked. 
 
 The book is more familiarly known to general readers 
 under its name of Bidpai's or Pilpay's Fables, from the 
 fact that several English and French translations, ulti- 
 mately derived from an old Persian version, have been 
 issued under that title. ■ 
 
 As Keith-Falconer remarks in his preface, probably no 
 book except the Bible has had so many readers, when re- 
 gard is had to the array of various languages into which 
 these Fables have been tranplated. 
 
Cambridge. Marriage, Kalilak. 131 
 
 They we're in their origin Indian, and formed a part of 
 Buddhist literature. The Indian original no longer exists 
 in its primary form, but there are extant Sanscrit writings 
 in which it is embodied. The chief of these is the Pancha- 
 tantra, of which the late Professor Benfey published a 
 translation with an exhaustive Introduction. This, how- 
 ever, is an elaborate and artificial expansion of the original 
 work, of which we have a fairly faithful reproduction in 
 the Kalilah and Bimnah. 
 
 The present Fables are of an altogether different type 
 from the ^sopic. In the latter, animals act as animals 
 would; in the former they act as men in the form of 
 animals. 
 
 The name Bidpai, which occurs with great variety of 
 different spellings, is that of an Indian philosopher, who 
 tells a number of stories to the King his master, to enforce 
 some particular rule of conduct, each story giving rise to 
 a number of minor parenthetical stories. The first of 
 these tales is that of Kalilah and Dimnah, which has thus 
 given its name to the whole collection. Kalilah and 
 Dimnah are simply two jackals, leading characters in the 
 story told to illustrate the maxim, "When a false man 
 comes between two loving brothers, he disturbs their bro- 
 therly feeling and destroys their harmony." 
 
 The collection of Indian stories passed into Persia not 
 later than a.d. 570 ; and thence arose a version in Pehlevi, 
 or ancient Persian, in which, it would seem, a Persian 
 element became added. An ancient Tibetan version of 
 part of the book, made directly from the Sanscrit, has 
 recently been brought to light ; but the Sanscrit original 
 and the Pehlevi version have unfortunately perished. 
 
 From the lost Pehlevi, two surviving versions were 
 derived, an older Syriac version made about a.d. 570, 
 which has remained absolutely childless ; and an Arabic 
 version, made about a.d. 750, from which all other known 
 texts are derived. Directly drawn from the Arabic ara 
 
132 Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 
 
 versions in no less than five distinct languages, Sjriac, 
 Greek, Persian, Hebrew and Spanish; each of which, 
 except the first, has been the parent of other versions. 
 
 It is this later Syriac version which Keith-Falconer 
 translated. Before proceeding to speak of this, it may be 
 noticed that the Hebrew version, now known only by a 
 unique MS., gave birth to the well-known Birectorium of 
 John of Capua, and from this again are derived transla- 
 tions into the German, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, 
 English and French languages. 
 
 Like the older Syriac version,^ so also the later Syriac is 
 known solely by a unique MS. This MS., which was dis- 
 covered by Dr. Wright in the Library of Trinity College, 
 Dublin, and edited by him, is partly due to the thirteenth 
 and partly to later centuries, and simply teems with 
 errors. In the absence therefore of a second text to act as 
 a corrective, conjectural emendations had frequently to be 
 resorted to. Many of these were furnished by Dr. Wright 
 and Professor Noldeke, and a large number are due to 
 Keith-Falconer's own critical skill. That he was no 
 feeble novice herein, making a few vague guesses, but 
 resting mainly on the experience of older scholars, follows 
 not only from the fact of his occasionally differing from 
 these distinguished Orientalists, but from the high terms 
 of approval in which they have themselves spoken of his 
 work. 
 
 To return, however, to this Syriac version itself. The 
 translator j)robably lived in the tenth or eleventh century, 
 and was a "Christian priest, living at a time when the 
 Syrian Church lay in an utterly degraded state." ^ Pas- 
 sages often have a different turn given to them, in order 
 to bring in a Christian sentiment. 
 
 ^ For a very interesting account of the way in which the unique 
 MS. of this was brought to the knowledge of Europe, indirectly- 
 through the Vatican Council, see Keith-Falconer's Introduction^ 
 p. xliv. 2 Ibid. p. hx. 
 
Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 133 
 
 As we have already observed, the fables are of an alto- 
 gether different kind from the jEsopic. Many of them 
 are very quaint and striking. The most pleasing of all is 
 that of the Eingdove,^ but it is much too long to be quoted 
 here. A curious interest, however, attaches to the Fable 
 of The Ascetic and the Weasel."^ 
 
 This is the story of a child born to an ascetic by a 
 beautiful and much-loved wife, after she had long been 
 childless. Even before the child is born, the wife has to 
 check her husband from recklessly indulging in plans for 
 the future of the child, when even its sex is not known. 
 She bids him, ** Commit your affairs to Grod, and every- 
 thing that is desirable in His sight and in accordance 
 with His will shall come to pass." But, adds she, if a 
 man plans things too soon, there will befall him the fate 
 of the ascetic when he lost his honey and oil. 
 
 Bidden to tell the story, she proceeds, 
 
 " It is said that an ascetic derived his nourishment from 
 a king, that is, the governor of a town, every day so much 
 oil and so much honey. And whatever he had remaining, 
 he used to pour into an earthenware vessel which he hung 
 on a peg above the bedstead on which he slept. One day 
 while sleeping on the bedstead, with the earthenware 
 vessel full of oil and honey, he began to say within him- 
 self : * If I sold this honey and oil, I might sell it for a 
 dinar and with the dinar I might buy ten she-goats, and 
 after five months they would have young, and after a lapse 
 of five years these would have young and their number 
 would become very large, and I should buy two yoke of 
 oxen and a cow, and I should sow my fields and reap 
 much com and amass much oil, and I should buy a certain 
 number of servants and maid- servants, and when I had 
 taken to myself a wife of beautiful appearance and she had 
 borne me a handsome son, I should instruct him and he 
 would be secretary to the king,' Now in his hand was a 
 staff, and while he was saying these things, he kept 
 
 ^ Kalilah and Di(nmah, p. 109. ' Ibid. p. 169. 
 
134 Cambridge, Marriage, Kalilah, 
 
 brandishing the staff with his hand, and struck the 
 earthenware vessel with it and broke it, whereupon the oil 
 and honey ran down on his head as he slept. So all his 
 plans canie to naught, and he was confounded." 
 
 Here, in somewhat other guise, is the well-known story 
 of Alnaschar and his wares of glass. 
 
 In due time the child was born, and on a certain day, 
 the father had to be left in charge of it during the absence 
 of the mother. 
 
 " But when the woman had gone, a messenger from one 
 of the chiefs of the town came for him and could not wait. 
 So he left the boy and departed. Now they had in the 
 house a weasel who used to help them in all their affairs, 
 and did not leave a single mouse in the house without 
 killing him. And he left him with the boy and went with 
 the messenger. Whereupon there came forth a powerful 
 snake and sought to kill the boy. And the weasel fought 
 with the snake until he killed him and bit him into several 
 pieces, and the body of the weasel was stained with the 
 snake's blood. When the ascetic returned from the man 
 who had sent for him and saw the weasel with his body 
 stained with blood, he thought that the boy had been 
 killed, and without searching into the matter, sprang on 
 the weasel and killed him. When he had killed him, he 
 looked and saw and lo the boy was alive. And he repented 
 and was ashamed and brought upon himself grief and 
 sighing, and he began to revile himself for mortification, 
 saying to himself: 'Would that this boy had not been 
 born, for then I had not been guilty of this murder.* And 
 the woman returned and upbraided him, saying : * Did 
 I not tell you not to be hasty and do things too soon 
 before you had tried them, lest you should reap a bad 
 end?'" 
 
 Here is a story which, in some form or other, is found 
 in the literature of nearly every civilised nation. It is of 
 course specially familiar to us in the form in which, in the 
 place of the weasel, appears the faithful dog Gelert, the 
 
Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 135 
 
 imaginary eponym of Beddgelert, ' Gelert's grave,' in 
 Carnarvonshire. 
 
 The Introduction prefixed to the translation, extending 
 over eighty-five large octavo pages, dwells on the literary 
 history of the document, and on the history and biblio- 
 graphy of the versions. It is a piece of work, which, for 
 rich fulness of learning, critical acumen, and clearness of 
 style, might well do credit to an older scholar than the 
 young man of less than eight and twenty at the time of 
 its completion. 
 
 To the translation are appended notes, largely, but not 
 wholly critical ; there being some very carefully worked out 
 notes on the names of the persons in the story, &c. 
 
 The remark was once made to me, half-seriously, half in 
 jest, by one of the most distinguished of living scholars at 
 Cambridge, with reference to the exceedingly long time 
 often requisite for the writing of a short note, which to 
 the general reader may seem to have cost but little 
 trouble : — " I should often like to append a note to thia 
 note ; * This note has taken me (so many) hours ! ' " This 
 thought strikes one forcibly in some of the modest, unpre- 
 tending notes in Keith- Falconer's Appendix. The work is 
 most thorough, and none but a professed scholar can esti- 
 mate how long a time some of those notes must have cost 
 their writer. 
 
 Of the various reviews of the book, I will refer but to 
 one, that of Professor Noldeke, one of the foremost of 
 living Oriental scholars, who concludes a very favourable 
 notice with the words, " We will look forward with hope to 
 meet the young Orientalist, who has so early stepped for- 
 ward as a Master, many a time yet, and not only in the 
 region of Syriac." ^ 
 
 Although, as we have already said in the present chapter, 
 Keith-Falconer's thoughts were beginning at this time 
 
 * Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen, no. 19, p. 757 (Sept. 15, 1885). 
 
136 Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah, 
 
 definitely to turn to Aden, which engrossed his mind more 
 and more, he yet very cheerfully undertook, soon after the 
 publication of the Kalilah, a somewhat troublesome piece 
 of literary work, the article on * Shorthand ' for the new 
 edition of the Encyclopcedia Britannica. I have spoken in 
 an early chapter of Keith-Falconer's remarkable powers as 
 a writer of phonography, besides which he had a consider- 
 able, though general, knowledge of other systems. Still 
 the work for the article involved a large amount of research 
 and drew somewhat largely on his time. 
 
 The article, which, in its printed form, runs to about 
 thirteen columns in the large quarto of the Encycloj)cedia, 
 gives a general sketch of the progress of shorthand in 
 England, since the days of the first pioneers of the art. Dr. 
 Timothie Bright and John Willis. The rudimentary forms 
 of shorthand in use among the ancients were described by a 
 different writer. 
 
 Keith-Falconer states that of published English systems 
 there have been no less than 483, the great majority being 
 alphabetic, in which each letter has its own symbol. Thus 
 of the 201 systems from Willis's time to Mr. Pitman's all 
 but seven are alphabetic, the remainder being phonetic. 
 
 Of Mr. Pitman's system, which, under its name of 
 Phonography, was first published in 1840, a detailed 
 account is given. This system is, it would seem, far more 
 widely used than any other, and Keith-Falconer considered 
 it to be the best of existing systems, though he makes 
 some very just remarks on the wisdom of writers of 
 different calibres adopting different methods. 
 
 After a short account of the systems invented during 
 the last half century, he gives a clear summary of the 
 various methods in use in other countries, — Germany, 
 France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Denmark. The article con- 
 cludes with a concise bibliography on the literature of the 
 subject. 
 
 The essay is characterized both by its lucidity and its 
 
Cambridr/c. Marriage. Kalilah. 137 
 
 thoroughness. Thus Keith-Falconer paid a special visit 
 to Oxford for the sole purpose of inspecting in the Bodleian 
 two books spoken of in the article, the unique copy of 
 Bright's Characterie (1588), and the anonymous work of 
 Willis, the StenograpMe, of 1602, of which only one other 
 copy is known. I speak from direct personal knowledge 
 when I state that Keith-Falconer used every endeavour to 
 acquaint himself with everything of worth written on the 
 subject, and that the very large amount of preliminary 
 reading can by no means be estimated by the mere length 
 of the article. 
 
 The Easter Vacation was spent at Cannes. Although 
 Keith-Falconer could always thoroughly enjoy a well- 
 earned holiday, yet his heart always turned back lovingly 
 to his books. On April 8 he writes from Cannes : — 
 
 " I am weary of idleness and want to get back to my 
 books Old Scotland beats this place hollow in re- 
 spect to scenery, but the climate here is wonderful." 
 
 Not long before this time Keith-Falconer had arranged 
 a matter of much interest, which has already been referred 
 to in an earlier chapter in the note of the Master of Trinity ; 
 his foundation of the Kintore Prizes at Harrow. These 
 prizes, two in number, one open to the whole school and 
 the other to the younger boys only, were designed to en- 
 courage the intelligent reading of Scripture by the boys ; 
 and to take the place of those which had for some years 
 been given by Mr. Beaumont. The Kintore Prizes were 
 first awarded in the summer of 1885, Keith-Falconer act- 
 ing as Examiner on this occasion. 
 
 The May term passed quietly by. The work of study 
 and of teaching went steadily on, none the less that the 
 new interest, of which we have to speak in the foUovdng 
 chapter, became more and more engrossing. In the course 
 of the term, Keith-Falconer was offered and accepted the 
 post of Examiner for the Semitic Languages Tripos of the 
 
138 Cambridge. Marriage. Kalilah. 
 
 succeeding February. For this he set his share of the 
 papers, though he did not return from Aden in sufficient 
 time to take part in the actual work of examination. At 
 the end of the term he resigned his college lectureship, 
 which he had held since October, 1883. 
 
 Eeady at all times to do all that in him lay to encourage 
 a zeal for honest athletic exercise, Keith-Falconer accepted, 
 on May 2, the post of President of a Cycling Club, that of 
 the Cambridge Young Men's Christian Association. In 
 the previous summer he had acted for them as judge at 
 their fifth Annual Eaces, on August 14 ; but in August, 
 1885, he was unable to be present and again act as judge, 
 and wrote a very kindly letter to the secretary regretting 
 it, offering at the same time a prize for the winner in a 
 four-miles bicycle race. 
 
 August was spent at Trent Park and Keith-Hall, and in 
 September, Keith-Falconer again went for a bicycle tour 
 
 with his friend Mr. E , over much the same part of 
 
 Sutherlandshire which they had visited in the previous 
 year. 
 
 One can hardly conceive a greater contrast than that 
 which now awaited him. Fresh from " the hills, and 
 heather, and lochs, and linns " of the wild north-west, he 
 was now, after a very short visit to Cambridge, to find 
 himself a dweller in the grim Arabian settlement of Aden. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ADEN. 
 
 " Um zu uberzeugen, sei du iiberzeugt ; 
 Um zu riihren, sei du geriihrt." 
 
 Sailer. 
 
 There is probably no place on the whole surface of the 
 habitable globe more utterly arid and dreary to the eye 
 than Aden. A peninsula of black, volcanic rock, joined 
 to the mainland by a low, sandy isthmus, a burning 
 tropical sky, and an almost total absence of vegetation, form 
 an uninviting picture. " It is not a place," writes a 
 resident, " to which any one could possibly ever come for 
 pleasure." Yet from the mission stand-point it is a place 
 presenting a striking union of exceptional advantages. 
 
 Before speaking of these, however, it will be well to 
 attempt first a very brief general description of the place 
 itself.^ Aden is situated on the south coast of the province 
 of Yemen, in Arabia Felix, about 100 miles east of the 
 Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, where the waters of the Eed 
 Sea meet those of the Indian Ocean. The rocky peninsula 
 of which we have spoken is an irregular oval about five 
 miles long from east to west, and three from north to 
 south; and rises at its highest point to an elevation of 
 over 1,700 feet above the sea-level. It encloses a good- 
 
 ^ The fullest account of Aden known to me is Captain (now 
 Major) Hunter's Account of the British Settlement of Aden in 
 Arabia. London, 1877. 
 
140 Aden. 
 
 sized harbour, where steamers from Europe enter almost 
 daily. 
 
 At the western end of the peninsula is the small town 
 known as Steamer Point, whose name sufficiently indicates 
 its character. Here are several streets of stone houses, a 
 church, several public buildings, and the coaling stations 
 of Government and various shipping companies. This is 
 the cooler end of the peninsula, as during the hotter 
 months the breezes here come directly off the sea, whereas 
 at Aden itself, built as it is in the crater of an extinct 
 volcano, hot sandy winds prevail. 
 
 From Steamer Point, a road passes through Maala, a 
 village chiefly occupied by the Somalis, of whom mention 
 must be made presently, and enters the Crater through 
 what is known as the Main Pass Gate. 
 
 Aden itself, at the eastern end of the peninsula, is a 
 town consisting of about 2,000 houses, and a population 
 of perhaps 20,000, and is divided into two nearly equal 
 parts by the dry bed of a watercourse. The heat, as may 
 well be supposed from the position of the town, is very 
 great, the shade temperature ranging, it is said, from 75° 
 to over 100°. 
 
 The question of the water supply of Aden is naturally 
 at all times a matter of great moment. The need is met in 
 various ways ; from wells a few miles distant, in or near the 
 village of Shaikh Othman, from which a large quantity is 
 conveyed into Aden in leather-skins on camels and in boats. 
 There is also an aqueduct from the above village, but the 
 water thus conveyed is not fit for drinking purposes. A 
 considerable supply is also obtained from the Tanks, large 
 reservoirs which store up the rain-water. So steep are the 
 hills, and so hard the rocks, and so slight is the coating of 
 soil upon them, that very little of the rain is absorbed ; 
 and thus in spite of the small rain-fall, a considerable body 
 of water may altogether be stored. Besides all these 
 sources of the water supply, a fair quantity of good water 
 
Aden. 141 
 
 is yielded by condensers, and it is this which is mainly used 
 by Europeans for drinking purposes. 
 
 As regards the history of the place/ we find that in 1538 
 the Turks became possessors of the province of Yemen, 
 having overthrown the native Imams. After about a cen- 
 tury of Turkish rule, the Imams regained their power, till 
 in 1735 the Sultan of Lahej broke loose from his allegiance, 
 possessed himself of Aden, and became the founder of a 
 line of independent rulers. In the year 1837, an English 
 vessel was wrecked near Aden, and the passengers and 
 crew suffered ill-treatment at the hands of the Arabs. In 
 consequence of this, it was agreed that, besides other com- 
 pensation, the peninsula of Aden should be ceded to the 
 English. A lack of good faith, however, was shewn in 
 carrying out this arrangement, and the town was taken by 
 assault on January 19, 1839, and was henceforward 
 reckoned as part of the Bombay Presidency. It was thus 
 the first acquisition of new territory to the Empire in the 
 reign of Queen Victoria. 
 
 What now, it may be asked, are the special missionary 
 advantages of this place which can counterbalance its very 
 obvious disadvantages ? 
 
 First then may be noted its important geographical 
 position. Only 10| days' journey from England, and nearly 
 equidistant between Suez and Bombay, it may justly be 
 called one of the great central points of the world. It is 
 a coaling station for the steamers of the Peninsular and 
 Oriental and other great lines ; so that the traffic of the 
 world, long diverted into the route round the Cape of Good 
 Hope, is now returning on its ancient lines. 
 
 But secondly, it is not merely as a depot for foreign 
 traffic that we must view Aden, great as is the importance 
 which that gives the place, but as the point to which the 
 caravans from the interior converge. These come into 
 
 ^ Hunter, pp. 163, sqq. 
 
142 Aden. 
 
 Aden daily. At sunrise, hundred of camels, laden -witli 
 coffee, fruit, fodder, grain, wood, water, and other things, 
 are led into the town by their Bedawi drivers. The number 
 of camels that entered Aden in the year 1875-76 amounted 
 to no less than 267,845.^ 
 
 Yet another advantage, and that one of the highest im- 
 portance, lies in the fact that Aden is British territory, and 
 that British influence extends far into the interior. It is 
 estimated that the independent tribes between Aden and 
 the Turkish frontier number about 120,000 souls, and 
 these are subsidised by our Government, somewhat on the 
 principle of the grants made to the Highland clans before 
 1745. In return, their good behaviour is secured, caravans 
 can pass in safety, and risks of molestation to Europeans 
 are much lessened. The sheikhs of these tribes come into 
 Aden periodically for their money, and thus possibilities of 
 intercourse are opened up into the interior. This last ad- 
 vantage is obviously exceedingly great, and it is one upon 
 which Keith -Falconer constantly insisted. Striking con- 
 firmation of this is afforded by the following remarks 
 which I extract from a paper by Major- General Haig, 
 KE. :— 
 
 "I have recently, while travelling through Yemen and 
 visiting the Somali coast, had occasion to notice again and 
 again what a powerful and far-reaching influence of this 
 kind is exercised by Aden. I had no conception of it 
 before. There are many things there which we regret and 
 would gladly see altered ; but these things, though they 
 may detract from, cannot obliterate, the impression made 
 upon the surrounding races and countries by this scene of 
 strong, just and wise government. Aden is visited by 
 thousands from hundreds of miles all round — from Somali- 
 land, from Hadramaut, from Yemen, from the countries 
 along the Red Sea, and all take back with them an ideal of 
 government to which in their own lands they are entire 
 strangers. And often they may be heard contrasting the 
 
 ^ Hunter, p. 86. 
 
AD E K 
 
 qEI-Hauta>hX 
 
 ""^Aderv \ 
 
 GULF OF A F> E N 
 
 Scale of English Miles. 
 
 0123*56783 10 
 
 Skui/brdls, Geoqy&^ii'^ 
 
 Camtrid^e : Dei^litoii BeH & Co. 
 
Aden. 143 
 
 two conditions — the peace, the order, the liberty, the just 
 administration of the law, the religious toleration (this of 
 the Jews especially) to be found in Aden, with the very 
 reverse of all these things everywhere else. I was con- 
 stantly reminded of this in Yemen. Aden is known to the 
 remotest corners of that magnificent country, and the 
 people are quietly drawing their own inferences, and some- 
 times manifesting preferences which are evidently not a 
 little irritating to the Turkish authorities. How much 
 more powerful for good would this influence have been if, 
 instead of the timid policy that would avoid the place be- 
 cause of the evils there, there had been men capable of 
 presenting to its thousands of visitors in their own tongue 
 that G-ospel which is the true basis of Christian civiliza- 
 tion ! " ' 
 
 Weighty and pregnant with grave significance to 
 us, whether as Christians or as Englishmen, is that last 
 sentence. 
 
 Finally, two other points may be urged in connection 
 with Aden. The Jews are scattered all over Yemen in con- 
 siderable numbers,^ and a good-sized isolated community 
 of them had their settlement near Aden. A very different 
 race, the Somalis, must also be named. Of this people, 
 who belong to the African race on the opposite coast, there 
 are thousands in Aden, and at this point missionary ope- 
 rations might be begun among them before continuous 
 Work was attempted on the opposite coast. 
 
 Taking all these things into account, it will be seen that 
 a very promising field for missionary enterprise presented 
 itself. Griven a missionary possessing the requisite quali- 
 fications, indomitable zeal for the spread of the Gospel, a 
 thorough command of Arabic, tact and judgement in plan 
 and in action, and bodily strength which could endure the 
 
 ^ *' On both Sides of the Red Sea," in the Church Missionary 
 Intelligencer and Record for May, 1887 (p. 282). 
 
 ^ Their numbers are estimated by Gen. Haig to be not less than 
 60,000. Ihid. June, p. 351. 
 
144 Aden. 
 
 burning heat of Aden — given all these, then under God's 
 blessing, a door might indeed be opened from which 
 Islam might be assailed under the most favourable con- 
 ditions. 
 
 That all these qualifications, except the last, were 
 strikingly united in Keith-Falconer, must be obvious to all 
 who knew him well. He had been a true-hearted servant 
 of Christ throughout his life, and in gradually widening 
 spheres of usefulness he had always sought to teach others 
 how great was the blessing he himself possessed. He had 
 a striking aptitude for the acquisition of languages, and 
 had devoted several years of steady work to Arabic, in 
 whose richness and fulness he took an ever-increasing 
 delight. As we have seen, his patient study of the Arabic 
 of books at Cambridge and at Leipzig had been supple- 
 mented by a winter's residence in a rather out of the way 
 part of Egypt, with a view to the colloquial use of the 
 language. After his return to Cambridge in October, 1882, 
 none of his other interests, and there were many, ever 
 dulled his love for his Arabic, and had the role of the 
 scholar pure and simple been the aim he set before him- 
 self, and had his life been prolonged, it is certain that he 
 would in time have ranked high, very high, among the 
 Orientalists of the century. 
 
 Such, however, was by no means his ideal. Pleasant 
 and indeed useful as is the life of the scholar, pre-eminently 
 pleasant as he ever felt his own Cambridge life to be, he 
 believed that God had entrusted him with gifts which 
 called for a wider field of exercise. He had, it is true, side 
 by side with his studies engaged in works of evangelization 
 and beneficence here in England ; but while to the last his 
 heart was deeply bound up with the work that was being 
 done at Barnwell, and at Mile-End, of which I have spoken 
 in a previous chapter, still it seemed as if some scheme 
 ought to present itself in which Christian zeal and lin- 
 guistic power might work hand in hand, or rather, shall I 
 
Aden. 145 
 
 say, in which his intellectual attainments and his learning 
 might be to him something more than a mere parallel 
 interest, existing side by side with, but having no connec- 
 tion with, work for Christ. 
 
 Viewed in this light, the feeling deepens that in Keith- 
 Falconer was to be found the true type of the champion 
 of the Cross against Islam, the teacher of the Bible against 
 the Koran, the herald proclaiming Jesus against the False 
 Prophet. 
 
 In Keith-Falconer's own heart and mind too this feeling 
 had existed in a way for some time before it bore definite 
 fruit ; a feeling of which he was only half conscious him- 
 self, manifesting its presence by increased zeal in study, 
 increased earnestness in the cause of the Gospel, combined 
 all the time with a feeling of imcertainty, of craving for 
 some line of work not yet apparent. In this state of things, 
 with this impulse working underground, as it were, all 
 that was wanted was the touch which should bring it to 
 the surface, should combine his varied gifts, and make 
 them work as one force to a definite end. 
 
 I have said in the preceding chapter that towards the 
 end of the year 1884, Keith-Falconer's thoughts first began 
 to be definitely drawn to the foreign mission field, but as 
 yet without reference to any special sphere of work. 
 
 The way in which the idea of choosing Aden as the sphere 
 of his labours first occurred to him was this. A paper had 
 been written by General Haig, from whose interesting 
 articles I have already quoted, strongly urging upon 
 Christians the duty of attempting the evangelization of 
 Arabia. A summary of this was published in the Christian 
 newspaper in February, 1885 (no. 785, p. 13), where Keith- 
 Falconer read it, and thenceforward the idea was slowly 
 developed, from an interest in which the mind itself hardly 
 realized how great a hold had been taken on it, to the day 
 when, as though in answer to the question " Who will go 
 for us ? " he answered, not with eager but evanescent zeal, 
 
 L 
 
146 Aden. 
 
 not with vague, crude ideas, only half -formed and doomed 
 by their very nature to faihire, but with a resolution as 
 calm as it was deep, '* Here am I, send me." 
 
 The immediate outcome of the perusal of G-eneral Haig's 
 article was a request on Keith-Falconer's part for an inter- 
 view, and he accordingly met the G-eneral in London on 
 Feb. 21, 1885, to talk about Aden. In a letter to the 
 l^resent writer, General Haig remarks : — 
 
 " My impression of that conversation is that he came not 
 only to get information, but to say that his mind was 
 already made up to go out for six months and see what 
 
 the place and prospects of work were like We joined 
 
 in prayer that he might be guided and blest in all his 
 thoughts about Arabia." 
 
 Besides the advantages presented by Aden from the 
 missionary stand-point, there might further be added the 
 fact that the field was, broadly speaking, well-nigh un- 
 trodden. I need not say that this remark is made with the 
 fullest recognition of the important work done at Aden by 
 the resident chaplain, who serves the two churches, at the 
 Camp and Steamer Point respectively. His work, how- 
 ever, moved in altogether different lines to that which 
 Keith-Falconer was beginning now to picture more and 
 more definitely to himself as his own. The chaplain's 
 duty was to Aden viewed as a British possession and to 
 minister to the Christian residents. He was expected not 
 to work among the natives. Such work has of course in- 
 finite possibilities of usefulness, but is an altogether diffe- 
 rent work from the missionary's attack on a definite form 
 of error. 
 
 There was also, it is true, a Roman Catholic Mission, 
 founded in 1840, and having chapels at the Crater, and at 
 Steamer Point. As to this, Keith- Falconer, writing from 
 Aden in January, 1886, remarks : — 
 
 "The two chaplains, besides attending to the Roman 
 
Aden. 147 
 
 community (Europeans, G-oanese, Abjssinians, &c.), work 
 among Somali outcasts and orphans ; but I am told that 
 their converts generally lapse into Islam when they quit 
 the Roman Catholic school. There is, besides, a convent at 
 Steamer Point kept by sisters of the * Grood Shepherd,' 
 where friendless girls of all nationalities are received and 
 educated, and brought up in the Roman Catholic faith/ 
 The sisters also keep a day-school which is purely secular. 
 From all that I hear, the Roman Catholic missions in Aden 
 have failed. It may fairly be said that nothing effective 
 has yet been done in Aden to lead the people to a living 
 faith in the Son of Grod." 
 
 One of the two great English societies, the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society, had about this time- considered the ques- 
 tion of an Arabian mission, which had been urged upon 
 them by General Haig. As a result of this. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Harpur were sent out in October, 1885 ; and after remain- 
 ing at Cairo for some months to study Arabic, went on to 
 Aden in March, 1886 ; about the time when Keith-Falconer 
 was leaving it at the end of his first visit. 
 
 It may be interesting to add here that on General Haig's 
 return to Aden in December, 1886, he and Dr. Harpur 
 started on a missionary tour in a steamer along the Somali 
 coast, and subsequently to Hodeida, on the Arabian side of 
 the Red Sea.^ This place seemed to promise an important 
 opening, and I understand that the Church Missionary 
 Society has founded a station there. 
 
 All this, however, was, it will be seen, subsequent to 
 Keith- Falconer's first visit in November, 1885 ; and thus, 
 with the qualifications of the man pre-eminently adapted to 
 meet the special requirements of the place, there was the 
 further satisfactory thought that he was not seeking to 
 build on other men's labours. 
 
 One disquieting thought, however, remained, the ques- 
 
 ^ The Roman Catholic nuns have, since that letter was written, 
 broken up their establishment. 
 ' Haig, w. s. April, p. 219 ; June, p. 353. 
 
148 Ade?i. 
 
 tion whether the climate was one in which he and his 
 young wife could live and work. If it should appear that 
 the constitution of either was really unfitted to live in the 
 terrible heat of an Aden summer, it would be clear that the 
 idea must be given up ; it was but a passing impulse, not 
 the direct call from God. 
 
 To settle this question he spared no pains. He read 
 carefully everything that he could find written about Aden, 
 he consulted several gentlemen who had had long acquain- 
 tance with Aden, and he sought the opinions of the highest 
 medical authorities as to the personal case of himself and 
 his wife. 
 
 As the outcome of all this, he gradually became fully 
 convinced that the attempt could be made satisfactorily, 
 that the heat, though very great, was dry from the absence 
 of vegetation, and therefore less exhausting, and that by 
 the exercise of proper precautions it might be sufficiently 
 borne. 
 
 This conclusion afforded him very great satisfaction. 
 "Well do I remember how day by day, as we met, he would 
 tell with pleasure some piece of fresh favourable evidence. 
 Thus it appeared that the percentage of sickness among the 
 soldiers at Aden Camp was distinctly less than among 
 those at Bombay. One day with exceeding glee he told me 
 that an English lady, for some years a resident at Aden, 
 had said to him, "It is hot certainly, but there were few 
 days when I could not enjoy a game of tennis during some 
 part of the day." This lady however lived, I fancy, at 
 Steamer Point. 
 
 Clear as might be his own belief on this subject, still it 
 would naturally be with some reluctance that his friends 
 could be brought to consent to his settling at a place which 
 bore, justly or unjustly, so bad a name. 
 
 To meet these not unreasonable scruples, he resolved 
 upon the wise course of testing the place for himself by a 
 temporary residence at Aden, sufficiently long to be con- 
 
Aden. 149 
 
 vincing, one way or the other, before absolutely taking the 
 final resolve. 
 
 Much will have to be said by-and-bye of Keith-Falconer's 
 idea that a prominent part in the work of his mission 
 should be that of the Hospital, where medical and surgical 
 aid should be freely given to Arab and other applicants. 
 He justly felt that the gratitude excited for help thus given 
 might often, by God's blessing, lead men to listen atten- 
 tively to the message which these helpers in their bodily 
 needs sought to deliver to them. 
 
 It was not from any idea that he could himself wisely 
 take a leading part in this element of the work, but, as he 
 humbly expressed it, that he " might be able to help the 
 doctor a little," that for some time before this he had de- 
 voted some attention to medicine and surgery ; and had 
 accordingly attended some lectures, and seen a certain 
 amount of operating work at Addenbrooke's Hospital at 
 Cambridge. To know something about drugs, and to 
 have some little familiarity with the practical details of 
 surgery, were wise precautions on the part of a missionary, 
 even though he had as his companion a properly qualified 
 medical man. 
 
 One point more remained to be settled, the question as 
 to whether he should go absolutely as a free lance, or 
 should associate himself more or less closely with some 
 existing organization. This did not take long to settle. 
 In spite of some advantages arising from the greater free- 
 dom of action in the former case, the advantages on the 
 other side, the sympathy and support from home, the 
 sharing of the responsibility, the help to be had from the 
 experience of others, were obviously preponderating. Nor, 
 this settled, was there any question as to the body with 
 which he should connect himself. His father had always 
 been warmly attached to the Free Church of Scotland, and 
 had been an elder of that Church ; and though educated 
 in England, and having the highest esteem for the Church 
 
150 Aden. 
 
 of England, and counting some of her clergy among his 
 most intimate friends, Keith-Falconer remained throughout 
 a member of the Church in which as a child he had been 
 brought up. 
 
 Accordingly, after some preliminary correspondence, he 
 met in conference the Foreign Missions' Committee of the 
 Free Church on September 14, and, after generally describ- 
 ing the nature of his proposed mission, asked to be in some 
 way recognized by the Free Church. The Committee 
 warmly accepted his offer, and commended him and his 
 work " to the Great Head of the Church." 
 
 All being at length settled, Keith-Falconer sailed with 
 his wife from England on October 7, on this occasion taking 
 the longer sea route by the Bay of Biscay. They reached 
 Aden on October 28, and remained there till March 6 in 
 the following spring. 
 
 It will obviously be best to allow the story of the journey 
 and of the residence at Aden to be told, as far as possible, 
 in Keith-Falconer's own words. The extracts which follow 
 are from a letter to his youngest sister written at sea : — 
 
 " S. S. SUKAT, 
 
 Oct. 13, 1885. 
 
 " You would enjoy this if you were here. In four hours 
 we shall be at Gibraltar ; the Spanish coast is visible. 
 Unfortunately we shall not be allowed to land there, unless 
 
 the quarantine has been raised, which is not likely 
 
 The sea is dotted with sea-horses, but quite calm, at least 
 the ship does not roll or pitch : the water is a dirty blue 
 colour. You probably imagine we are revelling in warmth 
 and sunshine. This is a great mistake. "We are on deck, 
 but with our great-coats on, and would be in the saloon, but 
 for the sake of the salubrious marine atmosphere. 
 
 " We had a rough and dangerous time in the Bay of 
 Biscay. . . . Shortly after passing Ushant, the gale pre- 
 dicted by the Yankees swept down on us. Friday night, 
 Saturday, and Saturday night, we were the sport of the 
 waves. My interior is so admirably organised that I was 
 
Aden. 151 
 
 not the least inclined to be sick ; but poor Gr. was awfully 
 
 ill The pitching was highly inconvenient. The 
 
 saloon in the morning was a mass of broken glass and 
 crockery. Every single pitch made all the glass and 
 crockery slide violently as far as they could: and every 
 now and then, a particularly violent lurch would produce 
 effects which would have done credit to a bull in a china 
 shop. Besides the pitching and noise of shivering crockery, 
 we enjoyed close proximity to the screw. Every two minutes 
 it would get out of water and buzz round so as to give our 
 end of the ship a perfect ague fit. The doctor — a jolly 
 young paddy — was in constant attendance, and said Gr. was 
 one of the worst sufferers. Hardly any one — not one 
 quarter of the people — came to meals all through it. The 
 top of the saloon was carefully closed to keep it from the 
 waves, and darkness was added to danger. The engines 
 were stopped for eight hours on one of the nights and 
 every effort was made to prevent the waves filling the ship. 
 The Captain told me that for some hours it was blowing as 
 hard as it could well blow, and that if the storm had gone 
 on longer, the results might have been disastrous. One of 
 the boats was swept by a sea from one of its davits and 
 they cut it away. The crash of that wave nearly killed an 
 old lady with terror, she thought that all was up. By 
 Sunday the gale had abated, and we have had a beautiful 
 
 run The waiters showed great skill during the storm : 
 
 foncy helping you to soup when the ship is like this [here 
 is given a rough sketch of a ship rolling heavily]. There 
 were a great many falls and bruises ; I got a nasty one : I 
 
 had grasped an iron rail and it gave way There are 
 
 several dogs, including two collies, on board : also a parrot, 
 a cow and goats and sheep, and three pussies, and ducks 
 and chickens 
 
 " If you are in London when Charrington's hall is opened, 
 I wish you would go with M. and every one you can get, 
 to assist at the ceremony. It will be a magnificent sight. 
 The building, very nearly as large as Spurgeon's, will be 
 crammed. Very likely Spurgeon will be present and give 
 an address. .... 
 
 ** I was so busy at the the last moment writing notes and 
 sending cheques to tradesmen that I had only five minutes 
 
152 Aden. 
 
 wherein to say goodbye to , and must have seemed un- 
 feeling ; but I hate these long, sentimental leave-takings, 
 and they are better avoided." 
 
 The following letter to myself was written a few weeks 
 after his arrival at Aden, and gives some further details as 
 to the voyage. It is somewhat later in date than the two 
 which follow it, but I have placed it first because of the 
 continuous account which it furnishes. After describing 
 the storm in the Bay of Biscay, he proceeds : — 
 
 " We got one good day at Malta, and enjoyed the trip 
 ashore very much. We drove some four miles to the 
 governor's summer residence and roamed in the garden 
 there. The country was very parched owing to the hot 
 summer they have had. We also saw the ' dried monks.* 
 In a certain monastery, it was the custom till quite re- 
 cently to exhume the dead monks after lying one year 
 underground, and to stand them in niches in the walls of 
 the underground passages. The island is utterly priest- 
 ridden In the treaty by which the English acquired 
 
 the island it was stipulated that no interference with the 
 religion of the people should be practised. If you give 
 a Testament away in the street you are liable to arrest. A 
 little travelling in Eoman Catholic countries makes one 
 realise that the Papacy is a lover of darkness rather than 
 
 light. Mrs. last year met with a French student who 
 
 spoke Proven9al, and persuaded him to translate one of the 
 Grospels into Proven9al, as the millions of Proven9al-speaking 
 people are still without the Bible in their own tongue. He 
 did so from the Greek ; but to this day he has failed to 
 send more than parts of his MS. He now confesses that 
 the priests have persuaded him to throw difficulties in the 
 way of publishing the Proven9al Grospel. Yet I know that 
 he was quite competent, and the Bible Society had con- 
 sented to print his MS. 
 
 '* We had a few hours at Port Said and a day at Suez. 
 The passage through the Canal was monotonous. We 
 moved along at about four to six miles an hour, and had to 
 stop during the night. The canal is just 100 miles long. 
 The Red Sea was hot and steamy, but nothing to speak of. 
 
Aden. 153 
 
 The deck had. a double awning above it, and there was 
 generally a breeze blowing. We turned the comer at 
 Perim island (where there is now a rival coal company) 
 very early in the morning. The Arabian coast all the way 
 thence to Aden was very fine. We arrived in the harbour 
 about 2.30 p.m. ; and rowed ashore in a long boat pulled by 
 Somalis. These people form nearly half the population, 
 and are far more attractive than the Arabs. They are 
 very quick at picking up a smattering of English, and all 
 speak Arabic. Many of them are tall and well-built, while 
 the Arabs are generally short and stumpy. We found our 
 rooms ready for us at the Hotel de I'Europe, a square edi- 
 fice built round a court, in which a cafe chantant used to be 
 carried on. The establishment belongs to a Jew from 
 Smyrna, by descent a Spaniard : but the real manager is a 
 Somali, who proved of the greatest service to us. He can 
 talk Arabic, Somali, Hindustani, English, and a little 
 French. The cooking was excellent, and would have done 
 credit to a Parisian chef. Yet the kitchen was about as big 
 as your old study, and for range had only three or four fire- 
 holes in the stone. All our cooking utensils that we bought 
 when we came into our bungalow cost under .£2 10s. 0<i. 
 The cooks here are either Portuguese from G-oa or Hindoos, 
 and never expect better kitchen accommodation than what 
 I have described. We stayed at the hotel six weeks, finding 
 nothing to complain of except the tremendous clouds of 
 dust and sand driven in by the high winds which prevail at 
 this time of year. I certainly felt the heat a good deal at 
 first, but one gets accustomed and it is rather cooler now. 
 We were lucky in finding a bungalow. 
 
 " Aden town — not * Steamer Point ' where the hotels are 
 — is situated in an extinct crater, surrounded by barren, 
 frowning, and cinder-like rocks (the highest is 1700 feet 
 high) on all sides, except where there is an opening re- 
 vealing the sea. To get into the crater from Steamer 
 Point the road winds through a pass, and our house is 
 situated close to the point where the road emerges from 
 the pass on the crater side. The whole town lies spread 
 out at our feet : the bazaars being about one mile from us. 
 The house is perched on the side of a steep hill and is built 
 in steps, so that our bedroom is much higher than the 
 
154 Aden. 
 
 dining-room. There is a separate building (connected by 
 a bridge with the house) meant for sleeping in : my wife's 
 maid lives in it. We have two rooms and a spacious 
 verandah covered in by boards and lattice work (to break 
 the force of the wind). In the evening we sit on the top 
 of the house, and should sleep there in the summer. The 
 verandah is our drawing-room and reception room ; the 
 drawing-room proper we use as dining-room and study, 
 and the room which is meant for the dining-room we sleep 
 in. We feed pretty much as in England, only our meat is 
 confined to mutton (4 pence a pound) and chicken (8 pence 
 
 each but very small) The expensive part of our food 
 
 is the tinned things. We are now getting a box from the 
 Stores. We are badly off for vegetables: wehave potatoes, and 
 spinach and tinned things. The native vegetables are nasty. 
 
 " I begin the day by giving my wife an Arabic lesson. 
 She is nearly through Socin's little grammar. Then I read 
 Arabic all the morning. About 4, I go to the town and 
 converse with natives, coming home to dinner at 7.30. I 
 always carry an Arabic Gospel, and make a point of read- 
 ing it with the natives. Though it is done into good clas- 
 sical Arabic, most understand it fairly well. 
 
 "Yesterday I met a young Arab whom I knew. He 
 came with me at my invitation to the tanks — (great stone 
 reservoirs which catch the rain) — where there is a little 
 garden, the only one in Aden: we sat among the trees 
 reading at the end of St. Luke. He seemed interested, 
 and going back he asked me to let him come every evening 
 and hear more. I should generally look upon such a re- 
 quest as a move towards a further request for bakshish. 
 But I can't help thinking he is an enquirer. All seem to 
 have great respect for knowledge of nahwi, i.e. gram- 
 matical, literary Arabic. I constantly observe people 
 looking at me in the street and saying, * That man knows 
 Kuran and nahwV 
 
 "Yesterday sifiMh (i.e. schoolmaster who teaches Kuran 
 to the children, and officiates at a mosque) came up to the 
 house, and conversed with me, and before leaving went 
 through his prostrations and prayers for my benefit. 
 These kind of men seem generally very willing to show 
 off. They are supposed to know the whole Kuran by 
 
Aden. 155 
 
 heart. Certainly this man can reel it off from any point 
 you like to pitch upon. 
 
 " There is a town 10 miles off, within British limits, and 
 with a mixed population of about 7000 ; where I hope to 
 settle. Here there is water and vegetation, and the climate 
 is perceptibly cooler than in Aden. My notion is to start 
 an industrial refuge, day-school and surgery there. There 
 are two principal doors to Arabia, the children who can be 
 trained up in the faith of Christ and the medical aid. 
 Arabs often come from a long distance to Aden to be 
 treated, and these would stop short at our mission-house — 
 for the town I speak of is on the road to the interior. 
 There are plenty of orphans and castaways whom one 
 could get. I find that travelling within a certain radius is 
 regarded as quite safe : and all the natives I have asked 
 declare positively that the road to San' a (a large town 
 garrisoned by the Turks and 200 miles inland) is perfectly 
 safe. I am sure there is a great opening for a missionary, 
 especially if accompanied by a surgeon. 
 
 " If I build and get a plot granted (which is an easy 
 matter at Shaikh Othman, the town ten miles off), I shall 
 hand them over to the Free Church of Scotland. They 
 have recognized me as representing them." 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 ♦* Aden, Nov. 18, 1885. 
 
 " The heat has somewhat abated, and it is quite cool 
 and pleasant indoors. A breeze is constantly blowing, 
 which is pleasant, but without invigorating effect. I 
 doubt whether any one could live here long without a 
 weakening of all his faculties. I read Arabic for several 
 hours every day, and a native fihih or schoolmaster comes 
 daily to instruct me 
 
 "Aden is not without its disadvantages as a mission 
 station. The climate is very enervating and at the same 
 time there is no hill-station anywhere near for the mis- 
 sionaries to go and recruit : but possibly after a time such 
 a hill- station will be opened. The relations between the 
 English and the neighbouring tribes become more satis- 
 factory as time goes on 
 
156 ' Aden. 
 
 "Last ni^lit, dined with us. He went out to 
 
 India with Chinese Gordon and Lord E-ipon. Gordon 
 wore an ordinary black frock-coat down the Red Sea, and 
 seeing in the newspaper that slavery had cropped up again 
 in the Khedive's dominions, promptly wrote a letter to 
 that potentate, roundly abusing him for breaking his pro- 
 mises and calling him a double-faced rascal. When they 
 got to Bombay, and a grand dinner was to be held, 
 Gordon refused to go in, in fact was found to have no 
 dress-clothes. They persuaded him to let them rig him 
 out in a composition suit, half civil, half military, bor- 
 rowed from other persons. Directly dinner was over, 
 the Secretary had vanished and was found in his room 
 smoking cigarettes, as was his wont, with his legs on the 
 table and the borrowed plumage strewing the floor. Next 
 day he resigned. 
 
 " I never cease to regret that I did not spend some time 
 with him in Palestine, as he himself proposed. 
 
 " To-day we are sending a little Abyssinian boy, a res- 
 cued slave, to Zanzibar, to be educated by the missionaries. 
 The Political Resident asked us to take him. As we could 
 
 not, we send him to Zanzibar We expect in three weeks 
 
 to enter a bungalow overlooking Aden proper We 
 
 are both perfectly well, but until about a week ago, when 
 the weather became cooler, I felt the heat rather badly. 
 
 " G. is struggling with Arabic. Arabic grammars should 
 be strongly bound, because learners are so often found to 
 dash them frantically on the ground." 
 
 To the same. 
 
 " Aden, Dec. 1, 1885. 
 
 " Our bungalow, overlooking the Camp and main town, 
 is almost ready. We have engaged a Portuguese cook 
 and a Portuguese butler and a Somali servant, and hired 
 some furniture. I engaged a Portuguese cook a few days 
 ago, on the strength of good certificates, but I dismissed 
 him to day for drunkenness. I wish I could get a Moslem, 
 as they are abstainers. Dr. and Mrs. Colson — the port 
 surgeon — dined with us last night, and he assured me 
 that we have nothing to fear on the score of health 
 
Aden. 157 
 
 The dust is fearfully bad now, the winds being so strong. 
 The rooms ought to be swept and dusted three times a 
 day 
 
 " We sleep to-night at Shaikh Othman. There are two 
 bungalows there. The owner of one, a Parsee gentleman, 
 has given us leave to use it. We take food with us and 
 the Somali waiter and factotum of this establishment. 
 He is very clever and speaks about six languages, as 
 badly as he does fluently. We want to see the place, so 
 as to get a better idea of its suitability for a mission 
 station. 
 
 ** As living is very cheap here compared to what it is in 
 England, I shall have a lot of spare cash to spend in keep- 
 ing up a staff : e.g. my white suit of American drill costs 
 
 me about six shillings I want to get a qualified 
 
 surgeon to come out with me next year, and an artisan. 
 My idea is to start an industrial orphanage. There is a 
 great dearth of good carpenters. In fact there is not one. 
 If we could, besides bringing them up in the faith of Christ, 
 teach them a handicraft, they would be able to make a living 
 and the orphanage would be self-supporting. Little can be 
 done with Moslem adults, but young children can be trained 
 aright." 
 
 The following letter to General Haig (Dec. 16), clearly 
 shews the general character of his aims : — 
 
 " . . . . First about my connection with the Free Church 
 of Scotland. I am still, as before, a lay member of that 
 body; oply their Foreign Missions' Committee have re- 
 cognized me as a missionary representing their Church. 
 This does not bind me in the very least, while it may be 
 useful to me in my work. Shortly before leaving England 
 I met their Foreign Missions' Committee, and asked that 
 I might be recognized in some way by the Free Church : 
 and they passed a minute stating that I had made the re- 
 quest, and that they — the Committee — recognize me as 
 representing the Free Church. 
 
 " Though I am not paid by them, I have their recogni- 
 tion and sympathy. At present there is no need for me 
 to enter into any closer or more formal connection with 
 them, but when a mission-building and school go up, I 
 
158 Aden. 
 
 shall wish to make them over to the Free Church. I fully 
 see the advantages of having an organisation at home to 
 back one up and to share the responsibility of the work. 
 
 " I have made up my mind that the right place for me 
 to settle at is Shaikh Othman, not Aden. This will leave 
 Aden and Steamer Point open to the Church Missionary 
 Society. Though I do not think that a medical missionary 
 would have much scope in Aden, I think that a Bible and 
 tract room, and preaching-hall might be started there. 
 
 ** Now let me tell you briefly what I have just written 
 to Dr. Gr. Smith, Secretary of the Free Church Missions' 
 Committee. 
 
 *' Children are far more hopeful than adults. Then a 
 Christian school should be started, if possible. Also, in 
 gaining the confidence of the people, in pushing inland, 
 and in creating opportunities for introducing the Grospel, a 
 medical man (especially a surgeon) would be a valuable 
 aid. Now Aden and Steamer Point are well provided by 
 Government with free schools and free hospitals. As it 
 would be difficult or impossible to compete with the Govern- 
 ment in the matter of schools and hospitals, I look for some 
 other place. Shaikh Othman presents itself. Here there 
 is scope for a medical missionary and for a school, the 
 Government provision being very inadequate. Further, 
 the climate of Shaikh Othman is better and less ener- 
 vating, there is plenty of water there, and the ground 
 capable of cultivation. Also Shaikh Othman is 10 miles 
 nearer the interior, and removed from the evil example set 
 by so many of the Europeans who live in or pass through 
 Aden. It would further be very difficult to get a good site 
 in Aden. 
 
 " These are the principal reasons which decide me in 
 favour of Shaikh Othman. My wish is to build a mis- 
 sionaries' bungalow, and start an industrial orphanage and 
 school there. There are plenty of outcast and orphan 
 children in the place, some of whom might be brought up 
 in the faith of Christ and become native evangelists and 
 teachers. I should also like to see a medical mission in 
 connection with this institution, which when built I should 
 wish to hand over to the Free Church of Scotland. 
 
 " I have made an informal application for a grant of 
 
Aden. 159 
 
 land, and am told that I can have it at a nominal rent 
 whenever I begin to build. 
 
 ** I hope to spend next summer in England, and if all 
 
 goes well to begin building in October I have asked 
 
 Dr. Smith to make it known in Scotland that I want a 
 surgeon to work with me at Shaikh Othman. 
 
 " As yet I can only walk about the town picking up all 
 the Arabic I can and reading aloud from the Gospels. I 
 have made some acquaintances, and find that whenever I 
 go to see one of them his friends and neighbours collect 
 round the door or come inside, so that I have a congrega- 
 tion at once, though rather a noisy one. The coffee shops 
 as a rule are too noisy. 
 
 ** I hope to visit Lahej soon, but fear I shall be unable 
 to go to San'a. I should not know where to leave my 
 wife. When I have a colleague at Shaikh Othman with a 
 wife, the two ladies can be together, while the husbands go 
 to San'a and elsewhere. 
 
 ** If the C.M.S. Missionaries come here, I trust we 
 shall find ways and means of co-operating and helping one 
 another." 
 
 To his eldest Sister. 
 
 **Aden, Jan. 17, 1886. 
 
 " This morning I mounted a little brick- coloured donkey 
 (artificially coloured) and galloped down to a certain pier, 
 whence I plunged — without the donkey — into the sea. 
 This is my first sea-bathe. The water is quite tepid. On 
 the way back, the little * donk ' (as the boys call it) col- 
 lapsed under my weight, which made me very angry with 
 
 it, even to beating To-day there is' a great ziara, or 
 
 festival at Shaikh Othman, and every one who can afford, 
 goes over there. Our hammal, Tusuf , saw a huge waggon, 
 for 40 people, going there drawn by a camel. The people 
 indulge in a great many holidays here. For instance, no 
 Jew will do a stroke of work from Friday evening till Sun- 
 day morning ; and the Arabs and Somalis are always going 
 to these ziaras. You would enjoy the evenings here after 
 sunset. The air is so balmy and the colours are beautiful. 
 After dinner we often sit on the roof, whence we see all 
 
160 Aden. 
 
 Aden spread out before us. On these occasions I generally 
 send for my Somali servants and converse Arabic with 
 them. They are very ignorant and superstitious. They 
 tell me that the Arabs believe the English to be nearer to 
 them in race than any other people ! They explained to 
 me that the reason why the Jews were expelled from Spain 
 was, that a certain Jew had bewitched the Spanish pigs, so 
 that they all ran into the sea ! I have begun to learn 
 Somali. It is rather difficult, and the only grammar in 
 existence is not satisfactory. My teacher, a young Somali, 
 who knows Arabic better than most, has got into difficul- 
 ties through his improvidence. He amassed some money 
 and then did the pilgrimage to Mecca, and so spent it all, 
 besides giving up his employment. This pilgrimage is one 
 of the curses of Islam. The other day a Somali young lady 
 proposed to him, and according to Somali custom he was 
 obliged under pain of disgrace to accept. But he declares 
 he is very fond of her, only he has not enough money to 
 marry her for some time. We have ascended Shumsan's 
 highest peak (1700 feet), and saw the wild black dogs, and 
 the wild sheep, and the kites and vultures. Part of the 
 way was quite green and flowery. At the top, oh joy ! we 
 found tea awaiting us. I am learning to speak Arabic 
 quite nicely, but it will be long before I can deliver real 
 'discourses.'" 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "Aden, Jmi. 27, 1886. 
 
 " Many thanks for the Contemporary. The Bishop of 
 Peterborough's article is very good as far as the last point. 
 G-ladstone's reply to Huxley in the Nineteenth Century is 
 exceedingly good. .... I am reading Moffat, and after 
 that, will take Carey, and then, if time permits, Vinet. I 
 
 see that Y. will interest me least You are rather 
 
 hasty in coming to a certain conclusion about Aden. You 
 forget the summer heat, which is certainly very enervating, 
 perhaps too much so for me, after some years have elapsed. 
 I want to build at Shaikh Othman and pass over the build- 
 ings to the Free Church, so that whatever happens to me, 
 the work may be cared for by them. 
 
Aden. 161 
 
 "Arabic 'portions' are very well received, and even 
 asked for. On Monday week I hope to go to Lahej and 
 the villages with Dr. Jackson, a Scotch military doctor. 
 
 We go on camels The weather is now quite cool, 
 
 and we have showers almost daily." 
 
 To his eldest Sister. 
 
 "Aden, Jan. 31, 1886. 
 
 " Yesterday I had been telling a group of men about 
 Jesus Christ. Most Mohammedans know that He was 
 the son of Mary and a great prophet ; and when I had 
 proved that I knew a good deal about Him, one man said, 
 * Well, you Franks seem to know about everything.' He 
 did not know that the Christian religion has to do with 
 Christ. 
 
 " Many imagine that Europeans are clever people who 
 get drunk and have no religion to speak of. Eoman 
 Catholics, when devout, are considered to be idol-worship- 
 pers. The priests here have done immense harm. Their 
 converts always relapse. One man told me he had been 
 to a priest to talk about religion, and that the priest had 
 only told him to keep the Ten Commandments 
 
 " Moffat's life is exceedingly interesting. I bitterly re- 
 gret not having known him. I might have, easily. And 
 I cannot understand why we never heard of old Mr. Paton 
 before he was on the point of leaving. And Gordon, too ! 
 I might have lived with him in Syria. What things I 
 have missed. Not to mention Duff." 
 
 The following letter, written to his mother, tells of his 
 furthest journey inland, and is most suggestive of the 
 possibilities of successful work beyond the British frontier. 
 El-Hautah, it may be remarked, is 25 miles inland from 
 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 "Aden, Feb. 14, 1886. 
 
 " . . . . Last Monday I went with a Scotch military 
 doctor to Lahej. The capital, El-Hautah, is in the middle 
 of an oasis about seven miles across. The oasis is ferti- 
 
162 Aden. 
 
 lized by a stream •which loses itself in the sand. The Sul- 
 tan, a stupid, cruel wretch, owns every inch and does 
 nothing for the people, who are so many serfs. We dis- 
 tributed Grospels, which were most willingly received, and 
 
 the doctor treated some cases and shot two bustards 
 
 " The oasis is all cultivated and the sight of so much 
 green was very refreshing. We spent one day at a place 
 five miles beyond El-Hautah, resting under the mango 
 trees by a cool stream. Camel riding is not very pleasant. 
 Our camels were Government ones and very rough riding. 
 One of the drivers in an unwary moment let his camel, a 
 very fierce and powerful brute, get hold of his wrist, when 
 it just lifted him off the ground and shook him from side 
 to side like a rabbit. Fortunately no bone or artery was 
 severed and the man will not lose his hand. This kind of 
 thing is a common occurrence. Sometimes a camel will 
 bite off a man's head. The driver had stupidly forgotten 
 to put on the muzzle. There is a terrible amount of disease 
 at El-Hautah, ulcers predominating, and a medical mis- 
 sionary would be welcomed. 
 
 To the same. 
 
 "Aden, Feb. 23, 1886. 
 
 " . . . . We find the house is haunted by monkeys at 
 night; Dr. Jackson wants to come up and have a shot at 
 them. Grladstone's reply to Huxley we enjoyed very much. 
 Huxley's second reply in last Nineteenth Century does not 
 to my mind at all weaken the arguments. I think Drum- 
 mond must have done himself harm by his contribution to 
 the controversy. Fancy reducing Genesis to the level of 
 George Macdonald's poetry. But Drummond's whole article 
 is vague and intangible to the last degree. 
 
 " The weather is gradually warming up, and I expect we 
 shall not need ulsters passing through the Red Sea." 
 
 [Continued on Feb. 24.] 
 " Very glad to hear from M. that Charrington's hall is 
 such a success as a building. I knew it would be. He 
 deserves great credit for pulling this grand scheme 
 through." 
 
Jde?2. 163 
 
 He then expresses very warmly his wish that he could 
 do yet more than he had been able to do for the great 
 work at Mile-End, adding, " I shall have to spend about 
 X800 to c£1000 at Shaikh Othman in all likelihood in a 
 short time. The Eesident has directed that the plot I 
 applied for shall be reserved for me till the year ends." 
 
 In a letter of February 24 to Dr. George Smith, we 
 learn further details of the journey to El-Hautah : — 
 
 "I have applied for a garden plot, and to-day have re- 
 ceived a note from the municipal officer to inform me that 
 the site I asked for will be * reserved ' for me till the end of 
 the year. The plot measures nearly 510 feet by 510 feet, 
 and lies exactly between the old village of Shaikh Othman 
 and the new settlement. A better situation could not be 
 
 desired Since vsriting last I have been to El-Hautah, 
 
 the capital of Lahej. It is in an oasis. In the direction 
 of a line drawn from Shaikh Othman to El-Hautah, this 
 oasis extends for fully seven miles, but beyond this I can 
 give you no idea of its dimensions 
 
 " Though I had been warned to use the utmost caution 
 in introducing * religious topics ' with the people of Lahej, 
 on account of their supposed fanaticism, I found no diffi- 
 culty whatever in circulating Arabic Grospels. They were 
 received with the utmost willingness, and several came to 
 the bungalow to get them. Books are greatly valued in 
 Aden and neighbourhood, and the name of Isa, the Messiah, 
 is held in veneration by all. The Injil — Evangelion — a 
 term applied to the whole New Testa.ment, is acknowledged 
 as God's book, and as having come down from heaven. It 
 would not surprise me in the least if a Christian mission, 
 conducted with prudence and self-denial, were welcomed as 
 a message from God. The Eoman Catholic missionaries V 
 have, I fear, done great harm to the cause of Christianity. » 
 They are looked upon by many natives as worshippers of 
 idols and pictures, and so classed with the Hindus. But 
 to return to El-Hautah. The population is said to be 
 about 5000. The houses are all built of mud. The amount 
 of disease and misery is appalling. My companion, a Scotch 
 army-surgeon, treated several cases, one with magic effect ; 
 
164 Aden. 
 
 and we both agreed in thinking that a medical missionary 
 would have his hands full in this wretched town. 
 
 " The Sultan owns every inch of the fertile oasis, and 
 the people are so many serfs. His ' soldiers ' get no pay, 
 only their food. One of the natives who came to us for 
 treatment with an extensive sore behind his foot, told 
 us that the Sultan had given him a year's imprisonment 
 for tearing a water-skin, and that the fetter had produced 
 his sore. The Sultan sent to see us, and consulted the 
 doctor about his ailments. On being told that he must 
 take daily exercise, he exclaimed, ' Impossible ! If I shew 
 my nose outside my palace, twenty men run after me 
 crying for justice.' The Sultan took us to see his chief 
 secretary. On seeing this functionary, I was surprised to 
 recognize a man with whom I had conversed at Aden, and 
 to whom I had given a Gospel. He now asked me for the 
 whole Bible. Thus a book given in Aden may be carried 
 far away. 
 
 " I was much struck by the comparative coolness of the 
 climate after getting clear of the rocky peninsula of Aden. 
 We got in to El-Hautah at 10.30 a.m., but without being 
 at all inconvenienced by the heat. We rode camels. The 
 nights at El-Hautah (we stayed three nights) were posi- 
 tively cold. I have no doubt it is the same at Shaikh 
 Othman." 
 
 It will have been seen how strongly Keith-Falconer in- 
 sisted in his letters on the importance of the orphanage 
 and the medical side of his mission. I therefore quote 
 some further remarks, shewing in more detail his ideas on 
 these points, from a letter to Dr. G-eorge Smith. The 
 orphanage, it will be remembered, was not merely for 
 orphans, but for castaways. These last were mostly So- 
 malis " whose parents are only too willing that they should 
 be fed and cared for by others." 
 
 On these points Keith-Falconer writes : — 
 
 ** It would be necessary to teach the children to work 
 with their hands, and I think that a carpenter or craftsman 
 
Aden, 165 
 
 of some kind from home or from India should be on the 
 Mission staff. But the chief object of the institution 
 would be to train native evangelists and teachers ; and a 
 part of their training should be medical. With a slight, 
 rough-and-readj knowledge of medicine and surgery, they 
 would jfind many doors open to them. In the school, read- 
 ing by means of the Arabic Bible and Christian books, 
 writing, and arithmetic, would be taught to all ; and 
 English, historical geography, Euclid, algebra, and natural 
 science to the cleverer children. A native teacher, procur- 
 able from Syria or Egypt, would be very valuable, and I 
 think a necessity at first. If it were known in the interior 
 that a competent medical man and surgeon resided in 
 Shaikh Othman, the Arabs who now come to Aden for 
 advice would stop short at our Mission-house ; and the 
 surgeon would have considerable scope both in Shaikh 
 Othman, El-Hautah, and the little country villages, not to 
 speak of the opposite African country. Of course the 
 treatment of surgical cases would involve the keeping of a 
 few beds. The medical missionary should be a thoroughly 
 qualified man, as natives often delay to come for advice 
 until disease has become serious and complicated. The 
 port-surgeon has impressed this upon me several times. 
 It should be mentioned that the native assistant at the 
 Shaikh Othman dispensary often finds that Arabs come 
 to Shaikh Othman to be treated, and, deriving no benefit, 
 refuse to go on to Aden and return home. The institu- 
 tion should stand in a cultivated plot or garden. This 
 would render it far more attractive, and would greatly 
 benefit the children. It would be possible to arrange for 
 this in Shaikh Othman, where there is plenty of water 
 and the soil is good ; but not in Aden, where almost utter 
 barrenness is everywhere found." 
 
 One point in connection with Keith-Falconer's life at 
 Aden, which is not referred to in any of the foregoing 
 letters, should not be passed over here, the interest he 
 took in the English soldiers of the garrison. He caused 
 it to be made known among them that any who wished 
 might come to his house in the evening, when he would 
 give them tea, and then have a little devotional meeting. 
 
W6 Aden. 
 
 The soldiers valued the privilege exceedingly, and a dozen 
 or more would come frequently. Often too when out 
 walking, he would, as his manner was, get into kindly con- 
 versation with them. He rather surprised them by urging, 
 as he did, the fact that among the greatest hindrances to 
 the cause of mission-Avork in India and elsewhere may be 
 placed the inconsistent conduct of many professing Chris- 
 tians. It is needless to say that the Aden soldiers recip- 
 rocated most warmly this friendly interest taken in them. 
 
 The extracts from Keith-Falconer's letters which have 
 been given in the foregoing chapter will, I trust, have 
 sufficiently shown the nature of the work, its difficulties, 
 its exceptional encouragements ; will have shown too with 
 what resolution the young missionary, valiant for the 
 faith, faced his work. Nor was it valiantly only, with the 
 courage that gladly gives up all for Christ, yet fails to give 
 to the sacrifice its full value by neglecting to consider 
 every possible precaution ; — a strong, practical common- 
 sense underlies it all, a quality which that first great 
 missionary St. Paul so markedly brings before us. 
 
 Thus with all satisfactorily laid in train, and with 
 heart now fully resolved to return in the following autumn 
 and make as his home the place he had experimentally 
 visited, Keith-Falconer and his wife sailed from Aden on 
 March 6, and, after a fortnight's stay at Cairo, sailed from 
 Suez on the 23rd for Brindisi, en route for Cannes. Here 
 he remained for a fortnight, and on April 11 he reached 
 England in the best of health and the cheeriest of spirits. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PROFESSORSHIP OF ARABIC. 
 
 "Den jungen Orientalisten, der sofort als Meister aufgetreten ist." ^ 
 
 NOLDEKE. 
 
 On his arrival in England, Keith -Falconer spent some 
 time at Wimbledon, where his family were then staying, 
 and at Trent Park. On the morning of Easter Day he 
 visited the Great Hall at Mile-End, where he addressed a 
 very large audience on the subject of 'Temptation,' as 
 dealt with in the first chapter of St. James's Epistle. Those 
 who were present speak of this address as the most striking 
 they had ever heard from him. 
 
 He returned to Cambridge towards the end of April. 
 He seemed to be in splendid health and vigour of body ; 
 and in referring to the two attacks of Aden fever which he 
 had had, said laughingly, " we thought no more of it than 
 you do of colds in England." He was full of the brightest 
 hopes for the success of his work and could now of course 
 speak with much greater confidence than before his visit 
 to Aden. His residence there had convinced him of what 
 indeed he had fully believed in the preceding autumn, that 
 not only was there a vast work waiting to be done, to 
 bring the light of the Gospel amid the darkness of Islam, 
 and that Aden was pre-eminently a place in which to begin 
 the work, but that the climate, hot and trying as it was, 
 need cause him no apprehensions either for himself or his 
 wife, if only proper precautions were taken. 
 
 * See above, p. 135. 
 
168 Professorship of Arabic. 
 
 The soldier of the Cross had counted the cost, had 
 weighed with the utmost care every risk, and had taken his 
 final resolve. The manner in which he told his friends 
 this was very characteristic of the man. The resolve was 
 most real and determined, no capricious fancy of an im- 
 pulsive youth, but the purpose of a strong man who goes 
 forth to the fight, ready to ' spend and be spent ' in the 
 cause of Christ. But deep and real as it was, there was 
 nothing stern or repellent in his earnestness. As with his 
 whole nature, so in this particular ; he never seemed more 
 genial and sunny than when he told of the past winter's 
 experiences, his house at Aden, his Somali servants, his 
 visits to the interior, and his hopes that God would bless 
 his future endeavours. With the deepest earnestness the 
 most perfect simplicity was blended ; it was as though 
 something of the warmth and openness of the boy had 
 been wrought up with the matured reflectiveness of the 
 man. 
 
 At this time his plans were to make all necessary pre- 
 parations in England during the summer, and to leave for 
 Aden at about the end of October. 
 
 One chief point was to receive the formal recognition of 
 the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland at 
 their Annual Meeting at Edinburgh in May. Another was 
 to find a surgeon to work with him at Aden. It was 
 necessary that his colleague] should be a properly qualified 
 medical man, who had had considerable practice in surgery, 
 as cases of some difficulty were likely to occur. But it was 
 no mere scientific man who was wanted, who might be 
 glad to accept the appointment for a few years mainly 
 with the view of studying tropical diseases in a little 
 worked region. His colleague must be a man who, while 
 fully skilled in the details of his profession, which was in- 
 dispensable, should also be like-minded with himself, 
 animated by the true missionary spirit, bringing his 
 medical and surgical skill, as Keith-Falconer his knowledge 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 169 
 
 of Arabic and his other gifts, as his offering to the canse 
 of Christ. 
 
 How fully the colleague he ultimately met with justified 
 by his affection and loyalty the choice that had been made, 
 the record of the time spent at Shaikh Othman, during 
 both the sunshine of the hearty work and the anxious 
 time when illness came, fully testifies. 
 
 On the 24th of May, Keith-Falconer left Cambridge 
 for Edinburgh to meet the General Assembly ; Wednes- 
 day, the 26th, being the day specially devoted to Foreign 
 Missions. 
 
 At the afternoon meeting, the Convener, Colonel Young, 
 laid before the Assembly the Eeport of the Foreign Mis- 
 sions' Committee, and dwelt warmly on Keith-Falconer's 
 proposal of the previous autumn to go out as a missionary 
 to Aden at his own expense, asking only for the counte- 
 nance, help, and sympathy of the Free Church. He re- 
 ferred also to the somewhat parallel case to be found in 
 the Gordon Mission in South Africa, founded in memory 
 of James Henry Gordon, who, had he lived, would have 
 been Earl of Aberdeen, and had formed the plan of pur- 
 chasing a huge stretch of land in South Africa and of estab- 
 lishing a Christian Settlement under his own personal 
 supervision. 
 
 At the evening meeting, at which it was known that the 
 missionaries present would address the Assembly, the 
 great Hall was crowded from floor to ceiling. Keith- 
 Falconer had been placed by the Secretary in the seat 
 whicb had always been occupied by his father at the meet- 
 ings of the Assembly and had been much touched and 
 gratified in consequence. After Dr. Dalzell, a missionary 
 from the Gordon Settlement, had spoken, the Moderator, 
 Dr. Somerville, formally introduced Keith-Falconer to the 
 Assembly. He dwelt on the active part taken by the late 
 Lord Kintore in evangelistic work, and then spoke of the 
 resolution of the son to devote himself to a missionary 
 
170 Professorsliip of Arabic, 
 
 life, consecrating himself and liis means and his brilliant 
 Arabic scholarship to the spiritual benefit of the Mo- 
 hammedans. 
 
 The following is a condensation of Keith-Falconer's 
 address to the Assembly. He said t-hat he 
 
 " was to speak about missions to the Mohammedans, and 
 that before recounting the items of his own experience during 
 a four months' stay in Arabia, he ought first to allude to 
 a few of the leading facts connected with Islam, which, 
 though probably familiar to some, were perhaps only dimly 
 known to others. In doing so, he mentioned that the ad- 
 herents of the Mohammedan religion numbered from 100 
 to 150 millions of souls, and said that it should be remem- 
 bered that no Moslem ruler ever ruled over so vast a 
 number of Moslem subjects as did our Queen Victoria 
 at this moment. Therefore Mohammedanism had a dis- 
 tinct claim on our interest and sympathy. The wonderful 
 spread of Islam had led some writers to discern in it a 
 proof of its divine origin, and although the Lord Jesus 
 Christ had obtained sway over a vast number of human 
 beings, it had been asked why Mohammed had had a 
 success that compared with that of our Lord. The answer 
 had been made that it was because Mohammedanism 
 pandered to the passions and natural desires of mankind, 
 and he maintained that that was the true statement of 
 the case. 
 
 " He next referred to the beliefs of the Mohammedans, 
 pointing out that they are not heathens ; that they have a 
 strong belief in the Lord of heaven and earth, one God, 
 omnipotent and omniscient, — that 'there is no God but 
 one, and Mohammed is His prophet,' in angels, in spirits, 
 and in a devil, in the immortality of the soul, the resurrec- 
 tion, and the judgement day. As to their religions prac- 
 tices, he mentioned that they must have five prayers a day, 
 accompanied with fasting, which at certain times lasts for 
 a month ; that they have all to give alms ; that murder is 
 forbidden, though, if one murdered an 'unbeliever,' he 
 takes a high place in heaven ; and that they are forbidden 
 to use wine or intoxicating drink, to gamble, or to take 
 usnry; that they are enjoined to make a pilgrimage to 
 
Professorship oj Arabic. 171 
 
 Mecca ; and that one of the last commandments is to make 
 war against infidels. 
 
 "As to their regard for the Lord Jesus Christ, He was 
 called the Word of G-od, and His miraculous conception 
 and birth were admitted; and although His Divinity was 
 most strenuosly denied, at the same time He stood on a 
 higher level than any of the prophets, including Mohammed. 
 They believed in the Grospel, and said that the Koran was 
 sent in verification of it. 
 
 "As to Aden and the vicinity, he said the Grospel might 
 be preached without let or hindrance in the British settle- 
 ment of Aden. The climate was exceptionally good. He 
 had a letter from the senior surgeon at Aden, who had 
 been there five years without a day's illness, saying that 
 no one need fear the climate. The natives were undoubtedly 
 willing to receive the G-ospel. He had been again and 
 again urged to come and set up a school. One day a Mo- 
 hammedan asked him for a piece of paper, and then wrote 
 in a mysterious way, * If you want the people to walk in 
 your way, then set up schools.' This was an hajjee, one 
 who had gone the pilgrimage to Mecca, where probably he 
 had been fleeced of all the money he had, as they generally 
 were. He offered the hajjee a copy of St. John ; but he 
 said he would not have it. He asked why, and the reply 
 was, that he liked the historical part, but that there were 
 parts that made him tremble. He pointed to the fourth 
 chapter, where there was the conversation between Christ 
 and the woman at the well, to whom Christ said, * If thou 
 knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee. 
 Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and 
 He would have given thee living water.' * That verse,' he 
 said, ' makes my heart tremble, lest I be made to follow in 
 the way of the Messiah.* He thought that a striking 
 testimony to the power of God's Word. 
 
 " He managed with little difficulty to get into the in- 
 terior, and had the company of a Scottish military surgeon, 
 a true Christian man. They stayed some days there, and 
 although the authorities at Aden had warned him not to 
 broach rehgious subjects for fear of a rising, he had many 
 opportunities of conversing with the natives. Many came 
 to bim most anxious to have the Gospel explained, and to 
 
172 Professorship of Arabic . 
 
 have their aihiients treated by the doctor. Of course they 
 were taken to see the Sultan of this little town. After 
 describing his ailments, he took them to see his chief 
 secretary, whom he, the speaker, had happened to meet 
 in Aden. He gave him a copy of St. John. He said he 
 had read it with great interest, and he said, * I want you 
 to do one thing — to pray to God that I may get well ; ' 
 and from the tone of his voice he could see he recognized 
 the sympathy between them as two religious men. 
 
 " They might ask what means he proposed for carrying 
 on missions to these people. First, he proposed to have a 
 school for the children ; and at the place where he had 
 decided to recommend the committee to settle him, there 
 were 1000 children, all ready to receive education. Then 
 he proposed the careful and discriminate distribution of 
 the Scriptures. He was decidedly against the broadcast 
 scattering of copies of Grod's Word — many of them to be 
 torn up. What he did in Aden now was to say this : 
 ' Now you ask me for this book ; if you can read it, and 
 understand it, I will give you one.' He tested that by 
 asking the man to read ; and if he could not read, he did 
 not get the book. In that way they valued the book more 
 than if one distributed it broadcast. It was not always 
 zeal that was best ; they must have zeal mixed with a little 
 common sense. 
 
 " The third thing he proposed was a medical mission. 
 What they wanted was a surgeon to go out — to offer him- 
 self. He believed the Church was willing at his instance 
 to appoint a surgeon at the station at Aden. He must be 
 a man who was specially skilled in surgery, for the Arabs 
 thought more of surgery than of medicine. They were accus- 
 tomed to medicine from roots, but they came long distances 
 to a surgeon ; and what was wanted was a skilful surgeon, 
 who would come forward and devote himself to this work. 
 Undoubtedly the difficulties were considerable. The lan- 
 guage was a difficult one to learn — it had many sounds we 
 were unaccustomed to, and the vocabulary was very large 
 — and the Mohammedan was one of the most stubborn of 
 all religions. They wanted to rouse the consciences of the 
 people. By the Mohammedan religion a man was saved 
 by good works ; and yet for all that there was a feeling 
 
Professorship of Arabic, 173 
 
 that it was not enough, and that at the last day there 
 would be an intercession." 
 
 The great meeting listened with the profoundest in- 
 terest while the young missionary spoke of the past winter's 
 work, and of his now definite resolve to go forth again 
 in the ensuing winter to resume the work as a permanent 
 undertaking. 
 
 At a later period of the evening four young candidates 
 for the Foreign Mission field were introduced to the As- 
 sembly by the Moderator, and solemnly committed to the 
 grace of God for their future distant and arduous labours. 
 When these four young men had taken their places and 
 the Moderator had begun to speak, Keith-Falconer said to 
 the Secretary, near whom he sat, " How much I should 
 have liked to have stood up with them. Is it too late even 
 now ? " At this point, however, it seemed wiser not to 
 interfere with the settled plan. 
 
 Keith-Falconer had deliberately offered himself to his 
 Church ; and unanimously and cordially had he been re- 
 cognized as a missionary fully accredited by them, and 
 earnestly was G-od implored to bless the work of a mission, 
 which, so far as man might see, had begun with distinct 
 and exceptional promise. 
 
 The thanks of the Church, moreover, had been with 
 equal unanimity given to Keith-Falconer for his generous 
 proposals regarding the medical missionary who was to 
 accompany him. 
 
 That there should be a second missionary, and he a 
 medical man, had been Keith-Falconer's original idea ; 
 and though his colleague had not yet been chosen, the 
 whole summer as yet lay before them. Consequently, the 
 general arrangements as to the appointment might be 
 agreed to beforehand. 
 
 Those arrangements testified alike to Keith-Falconer's 
 generosity and his good sense. Not only, as we have seen, 
 
174 Professorship of Arabic. 
 
 did he propose to go out entirely at his own expense as re- 
 garded himself and his wife, taking also npon himself the 
 whole cost of the building of the Mission-House and Hos- 
 pital ; but he further proposed to be responsible for the 
 stipend of the medical missionary. Still, with equal deli- 
 cacy and good sense, he did not propose to pay this stipend 
 directly to his colleague, who might in that case have come, 
 perhaps, to feel himself too much a mere subordinate. In- 
 stead of this, he undertook to pay, for a period of not 
 more than seven years, the sum of d£300 annually to the 
 Treasurer of the Free Church, which sum would be de- 
 voted by the Church to paying the medical missionary's 
 stipend. 
 
 Up to the end of May, Keith-Falconer had not heard of 
 a surgeon such as he needed, who was also physically able 
 to endure a tropical climate. Early in June, being told 
 that he might perhaps find a man suitable to his purpose 
 at a small hospital in the East End of London, and having 
 also been asked by Mr. Charrington to come up to report 
 an address to be given by Mr. Spurgeon at the great 
 Assembly Hall, he arranged to combine the two in a flying 
 visit to town. It was with very hearty pleasure that I 
 accepted his invitation to accompany him, and now look 
 back upon that short two days' visit as bringing out the 
 manysidedness of that noble character. Part of the first 
 day had to be devoted to two German ladies who had 
 arrived that morning on their first visit to England, and 
 for whose comfort and enjoyment Keith -Falconer shewed 
 the most careful and perfect thoughtfulness. The re- 
 sult, however, of a long drive intended to give the visitors 
 some idea of the great size of London was that the train 
 which was to convey the two ladies and Mrs. Keith-Fal- 
 coner to Cambridge was only caught with literally not a 
 second to spare. As the carriage-door was shut while the 
 train was actually in motion, he laughed delightedly like a 
 boy and said, " I often told them we were a very business- 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 175 
 
 like people and never wasted time, and now they will 
 see it." 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon was prevented by illness from giving the 
 address, but another speaker took his place ; and both 
 that evening and the following morning both Keith - 
 Falconer and Mr. Charrington shewed with what would 
 have been enthusiasm, if it had not been so methodical, 
 the numerous striking features of the great building. 
 
 After this, a call was made at the hospital previously 
 mentioned, where Keith-Falconer had been told that there 
 was a chance of hearing of a possible colleague.^ Although 
 nothing resulted from this visit, it made a great impres- 
 sion on Keith-Falconer, and he often referred to it after- 
 wards. 
 
 The hospital was one serving as a small outpost, as it 
 were, of the Mildmay Mission, in a narrow street some little 
 distance to the north of Bethnal-Green Road, and in the 
 midst of as low and miserable surroundings as can well be 
 conceived. The amount of good wrought by the hospital 
 to such a neighbourhood must be incalculable, but the 
 people round had hardly yet realised this truth. The 
 lower windows were broken wholesale with stones again 
 and again, till the plan was devised of protecting them with 
 wire guards ; when, with cruel ingenuity, the stones were 
 replaced with mud. The hospital, moreover, which con- 
 tained about fifty beds, was only just large enough for the 
 patients ; the devoted ladies working there having conse- 
 quently to take rooms in a house across the narrow street, 
 involving the traversing of two veiy steep flights of stairs. 
 Keith- Falconer took the deepest interest in all the details 
 
 ^ It is most interesting to add that the gentleman of whom 
 Keith-Falconer had heard at this Bethnal-Green Hospital, Dr. 
 Alexander Paterson, though then from other engagements unahle 
 to accept Keith-Falconer's invitation, has now (March, 1888) gone 
 to carry on the work at Shaikh Othman. Dr. Paterson is the fifth 
 medical man who has gone from this little hospital into the foreign 
 mission field. 
 
176 Professorship of Arabic. 
 
 told us, and talked for some little time very tenderly to 
 some of tlie patients in the children's ward. 
 
 As we thought of the patient devotion, the utter abne- 
 gation of self, the work for Christ shewn within those 
 dingy walls, and the pandemonium of vice and drunken- 
 ness and profanity around, we could but thank G-od that 
 constraining love for Him could fight such a battle. 
 
 Early in the summer Keith-Falconer received the grati- 
 fying offer of the distinguished post of Lord Almoner's 
 Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge, vacant 
 by the resignation of Professor Eobertson Smith. The 
 offer was made by the present Bishop of Ely, Lord Alwyne 
 Compton, with whom, as Lord Almoner, rested the appoint- 
 ment to the Professorshij). 
 
 This Professorship, together with a corresponding post 
 at Oxford, was founded in 1724, by the then Lord Almoner, 
 out of the Almonry Bounty. At first, the post was some- 
 times held in conjunction with the other Professorship of 
 Arabic, founded by Sir Thomas Adams in 1632, but latterly 
 the existence of the two professorships has resulted in a 
 division of work. Among recent Lord Almoner's Professors 
 may specially be mentioned the late Mr. E. H. Palmer, 
 famous for his colloquial knowledge of Arabic in various 
 dialects, and well-known to general readers by his work on 
 the " Desert of the Exodus." 
 
 The offer came to Keith-Falconer at rather a critical 
 time ; he was now definitely looking forward to leaving 
 England about the end of October, and to beginning [to 
 build at Shaikh Othman as soon as possible after his arrival 
 at Aden. Thus, to accept a Professorship, necessarily en- 
 tailing certain duties, would be anyhow to make an inroad 
 on time none too plentiful already. 
 
 After very careful consideration, he formally accepted 
 the offer. Two things weighed with him in forming a 
 decision. In the first place, the duties of the post, though 
 not indeed quite nominal, were not such as to be in any sense 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 177 
 
 a tie ; the patent of appointment merely binding him to 
 deliver one lecture a year, so that, viewing this as the acade- 
 mical year, nearly a year and three-quarters might, if neces- 
 sary, intervene between two consecutive courses of lectures. 
 
 Again, Keith-Falconer felt that if the Professorship 
 could become to him an additional source of influence, if 
 he could make of it a vantage ground, enabling him, a 
 missionary to Arabia, to speak with greater weight as to 
 the evangelisation of Arabia, because he spoke, not as a 
 missionary only, but also as a professor of Arabic in a 
 great English University — then indeed the offer was one 
 not lightly to be let slip. 
 
 The offer once accepted, there was no time to be lost in 
 considering the question of lectures. The subject on which 
 he first fixed was the ' Sects of Islam ; ' but this seeming 
 on the whole too technical, he ultimately chose one more 
 likely to be of interest to a general audience, though re- 
 quiring a large amount of careful research. This was the 
 'Pilgrimage to Mecca/ regard being had to the early 
 political and religious importance of Mecca, to the legends 
 circling round the Pilgrimage, to the manner in which the 
 Pilgrimage is performed, and to the successful attempts 
 made by various adventurous Europeans in disguise to see 
 the ceremonies in and near the sacred city. 
 
 At this time, too, the proof-sheets of his article on 
 ' Shorthand ' in the new edition of the Encyclopcedia Bri- 
 tannica had just come to hand ; and, written as the article 
 was on a highly technical subject, and condensed as much 
 as possible, even the presence of the proofs meant that a 
 good deal of time and care had yet to be expended. 
 
 No surgeon, moreover, had yet been found for the 
 mission, and this fact entailed a considerable correspon- 
 dence and several journeys, besides being a distinctly dis- 
 turbing factor. 
 
 In addition to all these cares, the cares as to his future 
 mission-work which required his personal attention, the 
 
 N • 
 
17S Professorship of Arahic. 
 
 cares as t<3 the literary work for which he had made him- 
 self responsible, and pre-eminently his lectures, there 
 remained plenty of cares of the ordinary business descrip- 
 tion, none the less imperative because running in a lower 
 groove. The disposal of the lease of his house, the choice 
 of articles of furniture to be taken to Aden, arrangements 
 as to the sale of the rest, the gradual purchase of a multi- 
 plicity of articles for the new home, which could be got 
 better in England than on the spot, the division of his 
 books into those to be taken with him, forming of them- 
 selves a considerable library, those to be stored away at 
 home, and those to be given away where they would be 
 useful — all these things might of themselves fairly have 
 occupied a man's whole time. 
 
 Yet here was a scholar, not only attending carefully to 
 these, but also engaged in laborious scholarly work, in- 
 volving the reading of all books on the subject on which 
 he could lay his hand, both in various European languages 
 and in Arabic. To shew his exceeding thoroughness in 
 this respect, it is worth noting that on finding that one of 
 the most valuable books on the subject of the Pilgrimage 
 was written in Dutch,^ a language of which he knew next 
 to nothing, he forthwith spent three weeks in thoroughly 
 working up the Dutch grammar and so was enabled to 
 read the book with comparative ease. 
 
 But with all this, his mood was always the same, always 
 bright and kindly and genial ; ready to think at the busiest 
 time, if needs were, of the wants of another ; to discuss a 
 difficulty ; to advise, where advice was needed ; to be of 
 practical use, where such help was required ; and then to 
 return, steadily and patiently, to his work. 
 
 In August, he again acted as judge at the bicycle races 
 of the Cycling Club of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion at Cambridge, of which I have previously spoken. In 
 
 ^ Snouck-Hurgronje, Het Mekkaansche Feest (Leyden, 1880). 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 179 
 
 tLis lie tad for some years taken a friendly interest, and 
 held at this time, as in the previous year, the office of 
 President of the Club. He had occasionally given special 
 addresses to the young men of the Association on Sunday 
 afternoons, and now, as his departure from Cambridge 
 drew near, he shewed the warmth of his good feeling by a 
 very generous contribution to the library. 
 
 On August 26 was held the annual supper of the com- 
 bined athletic clubs of the association, and Keith-Falconer 
 was present and took the chair. The toast of his health 
 was drunk with great enthusiasm, and he replied in a 
 kindly little speech in which he gave a humourous account 
 of his early attempts at bicycling, and wound up with 
 some very wise remarks as to the true function of bodily 
 exercise and amusements : — " It was to be better fitted for 
 serious work. He did not like to see a man, long after he 
 had come to years of maturity, simply absorbed in sports, 
 cricket, or whatever it might be." 
 
 The preparation for the lectures on the Pilgrimage in- 
 volved a very great deal of work. Any clever man, with a 
 ready pen, can, by merely going rapidly over one or two 
 good modern authorities, present facts in a clear convenient 
 form, regardless as to how far he has surveyed the whole 
 field. Not so Keith-Falconer, not so any true scholar in 
 like case. Nothing on which he could lay his hand rele- 
 vant to the subject was passed over by him. He read 
 steadily on, making, as his friends so well remember, brief 
 notes in shorthand on the margin of the books, and fuller 
 notes, also in shorthand, in the note-book by his side. 
 
 How carefully and methodically, when all this was 
 done, were his facts marshalled into shape, like a well- 
 disciplined army swayed by one mind. In Mr. Bo wen's 
 note of Keith-Falconer's Harrow days, he dwells upon his 
 exceeding clearness of exposition.^ This clearness, this 
 
 ^ See above, p. 18. 
 
180 Professorship of Arahic. 
 
 recognition of the standpoint of the reader or hearer as 
 well as his own, was shewn in everything of the kind 
 Keith-Falconer put his hand to. The same beautiful 
 lucidity and the same orderly arrangement characterize 
 alike the Introduction to Kalilah, already spoken of, the 
 Lectures on the Pilgrimage, and the article on * Shorthand.' 
 About the middle of August, Keith-Falconer heard that 
 a young surgeon, on the staff of the Western Infirmary at 
 Glasgow, wished much to join his expedition. With this 
 gentleman, Dr. Stewart Co wen, an appointment for meet- 
 ing in G-lasgow was agreed upon, and on August 16, Keith- 
 Falconer and his future colleague met ; and each speedily 
 saw that he had found a man to be absolutely trusted, and 
 from whom complete sympathy and support could be 
 looked for. With growing acquaintance, Keith-Falconer 
 came to see that no more loyal, no more zealous companion 
 could have been found. After events shewed clearly how 
 well-grounded the choice had been. 
 
 His family were staying for the summer and autumn at 
 Darn Hall, a large house a few miles north of Peebles, 
 situated on the edge of a deep glen, and surrounded by 
 hills, one of which, Dundrech, rises to a considerable 
 height. A neighbouring house, Portmore, had been the 
 home from which Mackenzie had gone forth, the first 
 missionary bishop of Central Africa. 
 
 Keith-Falconer remained at Darn Hall during September 
 and the early part of October ; his lectures and the cor- 
 respondence about the Mission fully occupied him. 
 
 On the evening of the last Sunday in September, advan- 
 tage was taken of his residence so near Peebles to hold a 
 Missionary meeting in the Free Church there, so as to 
 hear from the young missionary an account of the nature 
 of the work to be done at Aden, and of the hopes with 
 which they would be faced. All this, drawing not merely 
 from books, but from his own experience of the foregoing 
 winter, Keith-Falconer put forth with exceeding clearness 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 181 
 
 and simplicity. His speech was not that of a briUiant 
 rhetorician, but it was eloquent in the truest sense, from 
 the perfect sincerity which animated him, and his complete 
 mastery of his facts ; all this enhanced by the tall, hand- 
 some figure of the speaker, and his clear, musical voice. 
 
 This speech was not reported, but it was in substance 
 much the same as those delivered by him at Edinburgh 
 and G-lasgow in November, which were his last public 
 utterances on the subject of his mission before he left 
 England. As such, I have reproduced it later nearly in 
 full. 
 
 The large gathering of people listened with keen, quiet 
 attention, as Scotch audiences do, and by the mouth of 
 their minister wished the speaker Grod's blessing for him- 
 self, his companions and his work, with its infinite 
 possibilities. 
 
 Keith- Falconer himself throughout this time was as 
 industrious, as earnest and as bright as ever. A long 
 morning's work at a German, a Dutch, or an Arabic 
 chronicle of the Meccan pilgrimage would find him blithe 
 and buoyant at the end of it, ready to amuse or be amused. 
 Walking over one day into the pretty little town of Peebles, 
 he recounted very merrily, and with the inimitable Scotch 
 accent which he could reproduce when he pleased, the story 
 of an enthusiastic native who, having seen the world and 
 found no place like home, embodied his idea in the remark, 
 " I've seen London, and I've seen Paris, but for pure 
 pleasure, give me Peebles ! " 
 
 He paid several visits to a young Scotch * probationer,' 
 staying for his health for a short time at Peebles, who had 
 had somewhat of a hard struggle with circumstances in 
 his determination to get a University degree, the ultimate 
 aim being the foreign mission-field. Him, I have reason 
 to believe, Keith-Falconer had aided in more ways than 
 one, and took at all times the liveliest interest in his 
 progress. 
 
182 Professorship of Arabic. 
 
 About tlie middle of October, Keith-Falconer returned 
 to Cambridge, having now fixed his lectures for the second 
 week of November, leaving for Aden immediately after- 
 wards. Up to the very last the work went briskly on. 
 He took an infinity of pains to secure the highest amount 
 of clearness and accuracy ; the matter which represented 
 the first lecture being written out at least four times. 
 
 A slight digression ensued on October 29. On the 
 evening of this day, the annual dinner of the London 
 Bicycle Club was held at the Holborn Restaurant, having 
 been put earlier than its usual date to enable Keith- 
 Falconer to be present. As I have mentioned in a pre- 
 vious chapter, he had been uninterruptedly President of 
 the Club since May 1, 1877, and he had very rarely missed 
 the annual dinner. 
 
 Naturally, after so long an association, the relations be- 
 tween the Club and its President were exceedingly cordial, 
 and the various speeches testified to much warmth of 
 feeling. There was a large gathering, and the President 
 took the chair, and made several pleasant genial speeches 
 in the course of the evening.^ 
 
 First he proposed the Queen's health " since whose acces- 
 sion some fifty years have circled, or rather may I say 
 more appropriately have cycled, round." Later in the 
 evening he proposed the health of * the visitors,' and told 
 the following anecdote of one of his own guests : — 
 
 ** Then we have my very old friend, Mr. ; he 
 
 comes from the sister isle. He is the hero of a hundred 
 bicycling exploits, and perhaps I might recount a small 
 incident. We were riding in the north of Scotland — it 
 only shews you what a daring cyclist he is — far away from 
 railways and civilization ; I said, ' Eide carefully, don't go 
 fast down these hills.' It was no use, speed was every- 
 thing ; presently I came gingerly round the corner. I saw 
 a bicycle lying in the road, and a foot peeping up through 
 
 ^ JLmdon Bicycle Club Qazette, Nov. 4, 1886. 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 183 
 
 the hedge. It turned out he had dislocated his elbow, but 
 he jumped on again and rode with me 20 miles. That 
 evening we saw a first-rate London doctor, who was visiting 
 in the neighbourhood. He said, * You must give up your 
 tour ; fomentations, cold-water taps, etc. ; you must go 
 home.' He was not satisfied with that prescription, for 
 he thought it might be remedied then and there. We got 
 to a local surgeon's, who looked at the limb, and said, 
 
 * Oh, that's just dislocated ; I will put it straight in three 
 minutes,' and went for the chloroform. My friend laughed 
 at the idea of chloroform. He got him on the sofa, I sat 
 on his legs. The surgeon came, and said, ' Now, if I hurt 
 you, what will you do?' *I will hit you in the eye.' 
 
 * Then I'll hit you back.' However, in ten seconds the 
 arm was right, and in twenty-four hours we were in the 
 saddle, and completed our tour. I think that will shew 
 you that he is an admirable representative of the pluck of 
 the British race." 
 
 In combining with this toast that of ' the Press ' Keith- 
 Falconer said : 
 
 " I have always a fellow-feeling with gentlemen of the 
 press, especially those who are experienced in the art of 
 shorthand. That is an art to which I have been a devotee 
 for many years, and I always think of it as the literary 
 bicycle ; it clears the ground so quickly. I think, you 
 know, that cycling and shorthand somehow go together." 
 
 Before leaving England, Keith -Falconer's thoughts 
 were, as might be supposed, warmly turned to the various 
 schemes for good, with which he had been associated, for 
 which he had worked and written and spoken and prayed. 
 For Mr. Charrington's great institution at Mile-End, now 
 working like a huge machine, whose wheels are the hearts 
 and brains of men, he took measures to insure his life for a 
 considerable sum shortly before leaving England.^ The 
 
 ^ It is right to say that while the Insurance Office declared 
 Keith Falconer's life to be a 'First-Class' one, they refused to 
 grant the policy, save at a prohibitive premium, on hearing of his 
 proposed place of residence. 
 
184 Professorship of Arabic, 
 
 Barnwell Mission liad pursued its quiet career of useful- 
 ness for some years past, and throughout that time Keith- 
 Falconer's general help had been steadily given, both in 
 money and personal effort. No very long time before 
 leaving England, he started the idea, taking the hint from 
 Mr. Charrington's book depot, of having a lending library 
 of wholesome books in the Theatre, and helped not only 
 by contributing money, but by choosing the books in the 
 first instance. 
 
 It was he also who originated the idea of a Barnwell 
 Missionary, promising to contribute d£50 a year for two 
 years towards the cost of maintenance. This was in no 
 sense intended in any spirit of rivalry to the work done 
 most devotedly for the last four years, by the present 
 Vicar, the Eev. A. H. Delme-Eadcliffe ; but was an attempt 
 to reach some of a class whom, even yet, though happily 
 in an increasingly less degree, the existing organisation 
 was unable adequately to touch. Keith -Falconer writes 
 on this subject to the Vicar of Barnwell as follows : — 
 
 "Aden, Arabia, . 
 
 Dec. 9, 1886. 
 
 "My dear Mr. Radcliffe, 
 
 " On arriving here yesterday, I found your kind 
 letter at the post-office. (I left Cambridge on Nov. 13.) 
 
 " I have no objection to a churchman being our mis- 
 sionary, and have written to Mr. to tell him so. As 
 
 we are undenominational (what a word!), the man's par- 
 ticular form of worship is not of any moment to us. And 
 as we believe you to be doing a genuine Christian work in 
 the place, we should be very glad to work with you and 
 for you. I am much obliged for the offer of a donation 
 annually, it will be thankfully accej^ted. 
 
 ** The idea of a town missionary working in the way I 
 described did not occur to me till just after leaving Cam- 
 bridge, else I would have discussed the matter with you. 
 
 I must leave it with you and Mr. to decide the 
 
 details. But I would suggest that those streets and houses 
 whose inmates are known to be habitual neglecters of 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 1&5 
 
 Sunday worship, should be considered the proper sphere 
 for the missionary, and you and your curates might note 
 some special cases which they might consider peculiarly 
 suited to a plain town missionary. 
 
 " If the people he reaches all go straight to your church 
 and not to the theatre, I shall not grieve. So long as they 
 come under the power of the Grospel, I am satisfied. (Never 
 call me a bigoted dissenter after this !) With very kind 
 regards to Mrs. Radcliffe, 
 
 " I am yours ever." 
 
 At the beginning of November, Mrs. Keith-Falconer 
 left Cambridge for Cannes, where her parents were then 
 staying; and on Saturday, the 6th, Keith-Falconer started 
 for Scotland, to deliver his final public addresses in con- 
 nection with his mission, and to say farewell to his family 
 at Darn Hall. 
 
 The Sunday was spent quietly at home, and in the 
 deepening dusk of the November evening he left for Edin- 
 burgh, where he gave an address to a very large and highly- 
 interested gathering, which was repeated substantially the 
 following evening at Grlasgow. This address, the last of 
 his public appeals in England or Scotland, so unmis- 
 takeably spoken from the depth of his heart, so touching 
 in \hQ way self is set aside, so strong and emphatic in its 
 statement of the needs of the case, and the means of meet- 
 ing them, is here reproduced nearly in full.^ Though he 
 who then spake the words lies in his lonely grave by the 
 Indian Ocean, yet shall the living ardent faith of that 
 utterance endure while the Church Militant lasts. 
 
 " Since the Muhammedan religion is professed by the 
 people of South Arabia, the consideration of missionary 
 prospects there involves the question. Whether Islam is, 
 or is not, the impregnable fortress which it is commonly 
 supposed to be ? 
 
 ^ I have merely omitted the paragraph" describing Aden itself, 
 which has been virtually given ah-eady^in another form. 
 
186 Professorship of Arabic. 
 
 " I wish to show (1) That there are weak points in Islam, 
 which, if persistently attacked, must lead to its eventual 
 overthrow, while Christianity has forces which make it 
 more than a match for Muhammedanism (or any other re- 
 ligion), provided always that it has free play and a fair 
 field ; (2) That the efforts already made to christianize 
 Muhammedan countries have produced commensurate re- 
 sults ; (3) What practical encouragements we had during 
 our four months' residence at Aden. In conclusion I wish 
 to make an appeal. 
 
 ** (1) The great truth which the Arabian prophet preached 
 was the truth of the one God, the Creator of the worlds, 
 who brought us into being, who does as He pleases, is 
 merciful and pitiful, the requiter of good and evil, the all- 
 wise and all-powerful. But while he taught rightly that 
 there is one God, he did not show the way to Him. The 
 Gospel does this, and therefore has an infinite advantage 
 over Islam. The Kuran is intensely legal, and all defects 
 in the true believer will be pardoned, that is, overlooked, 
 by the Merciful One. As the law to the Jews, so Islam to 
 the Arabs, is a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. 
 Again, the Kuran is in a sense founded on our Christian 
 Scriptures. The prophet did not profess to come as a de- 
 troyer, but as a renovator and a completer. He posed as 
 the restorer of the true religion of Abraham, which had 
 become grossly corrupted, and the building of the Kaaba, 
 the Meccan temple, he ascribed to that patriarch and Ish- 
 mael. Of Christ he ever spoke in terms of the greatest 
 reverence, and even admitted His miraculous birth. * The 
 Word of God,' * the Spirit of God,' are among the epithets 
 applied to Him in the Kuran. Muhammed himself was 
 the last, the seal, the greatest of the prophets ; and the 
 Kuran, he said, was sent down from heaven to men as a 
 confirmation, or verification of what they already had in 
 the Gospel and the law. As the Messiah and the Gospel 
 had superseded (not overthrown) the law and the pro- 
 phets, so Muhammed and the Kuran had superseded all 
 that had gone before. What a handle has he thus given 
 to us ! for a Muslim cannot logically refuse to receive the 
 Gospel, since it was to confirm its truth that the Kuran 
 was given. 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 187 
 
 " When a Muhammedan realizes that the Kuran and the 
 Gospel are inconsistent, he must either renounce his faith 
 or pronounce our New Testament a forgery. I remember 
 that on one occasion an intelligent hajjee (pilgrim to Mecca), 
 after reading a few chapters of St. John, in which the Lord 
 makes claims and promises infinitely transcending those of 
 Muhammed, returned me the book, refusing to read it any- 
 more, because * it made his heart tremble lest it should be 
 seduced to follow after the Messiah.' He had realised that 
 to follow Christ meant to forsake Muhammed, but, lacking 
 courage, he shut his eyes to truth. Muhammed while pro- 
 fessing to acknowledge Christ, ignored or was ignorant of 
 His claims, and has succeeded for more than twelve cen- 
 turies in standing between men and the Light. Give the 
 Gospel to the Muhammedans, and they must at any rate 
 be logically convinced that their prophet has fearfully mis- 
 led his followers, for their prophet and his Kuran fall in- 
 finitely short of our Prophet and His Gospel. How should 
 they then supersede these ? Further, it is well known that 
 the natural inclinations and passions of mankind find full 
 provision made for them in the prophet's religion. It is 
 quite sufficient to point to the well-known position of 
 women in Islam, Islam's recognition of slavery, and the 
 combination of religion with political power, which has 
 always formed a pillar of the Muhammedan state, to see 
 that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the 
 pride of life, which Christ taught men to repress and deny, 
 were simply legalised and regulated by Muhammed. It is 
 no wonder that so many millions of human beings are con- 
 tent to embrace a religion, which, while professing to satisfy 
 the inborn cravings of mankind after God, at the same time 
 offers him such carnal attractions. But this is no more 
 than saying that Islam is as strong as human nature. Any- 
 one who takes the trouble to read the Epistles of Paul (and 
 not all of the writers on Islam will take so much pains) 
 can convince himself that Christianity has proved herself 
 more than a match for the worst, the most inveterate, vices 
 which enslave mankind. Can a religion like that of Islam 
 be described as a powerful one, quci religion, which has 
 owed its propagation and continuance so largely to such 
 base and carnal means ? From its birth, Islam has been 
 
188 Professorship of Arabic. 
 
 steeped in blood and lust, blood spilt and lust sated by 
 the sanctions of religion. Certainly there was a time in 
 the prophet's career, when he had in him something of the 
 spirit of the old prophets ; but when driven out of Mecca 
 at the flight to Medina, he left his prophetic mantle behind 
 him, and thenceforth became little more than an earthly 
 ruler aiming at absolute power. From that time he em- 
 ployed all the arts of an unscrupulous policy. The force 
 of arms, threats, concessions and compromises (which some- 
 times shocked his friends), the promise of rich booty, — all 
 these he did not scruple to employ. By preaching the 
 truth of the one Grod, he raised himself to a certain plat- 
 form of power and influence ; the sword and the spear, 
 diplomacy and statecraft, raised him much higher. 
 
 " But Islam not only owed much to its own power and 
 attractions, it was indebted also to the weak and divided 
 condition of the Christian community in Arabia at the 
 prophet's time. Christianity was well known in various 
 parts of Arabia when Muhammed appeared. Shortly 
 before his birth, a Christian army from Yemen stood 
 before the gates of Mecca, with the intention of demolish- 
 ing the Kaaba, when a sudden epidemic of smallpox wrought 
 such frightful havoc among them that a miserable remnant 
 returned disheartened to their own country. There were 
 Christian kingdoms, too, in Lakhm and Ghassan ; but the 
 Church was split by dissensions as to the nature and per- 
 son of Christ, and the worship of the Virgin. The sight 
 of the bitter quarrels of the Nestorians and Eutychians 
 must have contributed not a little to prejudice the Arabian 
 prophet's ignorant mind against Christianity ; and Islam 
 was destined soon to sweep it completely out of the penin- 
 sula. Nor can the crusades in later times have failed to 
 embitter the Muslims, and mislead their minds as to the 
 true nature of the religion of Christ ; and speaking gene- 
 rally, it may be said that the Church is itself to blame for 
 the very rise of Islam. The Arabs were sunk in idolatry. 
 The Church, instead of holding out to them the lamp of 
 truth, was engaged in internal warfare. The gross igno- 
 rance of the prophet with regard to the Scriptures and the 
 true nature of Christianity, proves how remiss had been 
 the Church in Hijas in obeying the command to preach 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 180 
 
 the Grospel to every creature, while his general acceptance 
 and recognition of those Scriptures goes far to shew that 
 had he known and understood their contents, he would 
 never have entered on the career he did. But these con- 
 siderations ought not to cause the slightest misgivings as 
 to the imperative duty to take the Gospel to the Muham- 
 medans, or as to the success which must follow. For, 
 where the Gospel in its simplicity has been faithfully, 
 patiently, and honestly preached to them, the desired re- 
 sults have ensued. 
 
 *' (2) Raymundus Lullius, a Spanish noble of Majorca 
 in the 13th century, after vainly endeavouring to persuade 
 the Eomish Church to institute a Mission to the Muslims, 
 became himself a missionary to the Arabs of North Africa, 
 Nine years he spent in the study of the Arabic language, 
 the Kuran, and the Muhammedan traditions. After this 
 preparation he preached boldly, carrying his life in his 
 hand. You will find the story told in Dr. G. Smith's 
 Short History of Christian Missions} He suffered many 
 hardships and imprisonments, but ere he died had raised 
 a small Christian Church, now long since dispersed. But 
 it was not until this century that the Church could be said 
 to awake to her duty in the matter. Notably the American 
 Presbyterians have done much to shake Islam, although 
 they work mainly among the degraded Christian Churches 
 of Egypt and Syria. In the American and other Mission 
 Schools, thousands of Muslim boys and girls are daily 
 taught the truths of the Gospel. Within quite recent 
 years some fifty Muslim converts have been baptized in 
 Egypt by the Americans, but there are many more unbap- 
 tized converts. In Peshawur, where the Church Mission- 
 ary Society have long been represented, a Christian church 
 is filled by Muslim converts, and a large school for Muslim 
 children flourishes there. Are not these startling and en- 
 couraging facts ? The success in Egypt and Syria would 
 have been far greater had not a Muhammedan government 
 done its best to check and thwart the missionaries ; but a 
 new day is dawning, European and especially English in- 
 fluence is rapidly gaining ground in Egypt and the East. 
 
 1 Pp. 102-108, ed. 2. 
 
190 Professorship of Arabic . 
 
 Not many years ago, a Muslim convert to Christ had id 
 fear for his life, and baptism would have ensured his 
 speedy death, yet a few months ago the government of 
 Egypt did not dare even to degrade a sergeant of police 
 who had received Christian baptism. Western education 
 is rapidly gaining favour in the East, and widening the 
 cramped boundaries of Eastern thought. The Kuran is 
 doomed. 
 
 " (3) Many a time was I asked by natives in the street 
 and the market, when was I going to set up my school, as 
 they wished to send their children to it. A man once 
 handed me a slip of paper on which he had written, * If 
 you want the people to walk in your way, then set up a 
 school.' Our Arabic Grospels are constantly clamoured 
 for, and received with the greatest readiness. To my 
 question, * Why do you want the Injil ? ' I several times 
 received the answer, * Because it is God's book, sent down 
 from heaven.' In the town of El-Hautah, where lives the 
 sultan of the neighbouring Abdali tribe, our books were 
 welcomed. The amount of sickness is frightful. The 
 road through the Abdali tribe is perfectly safe, and the 
 sultan is extremely civil to the English governor. 
 
 " In conclusion, I wish to make an appeal. There must 
 be some who will read these words, or who, having the 
 cause of Christ at heart, have ample independent means, 
 and are not fettered by genuine home ties. Perhaps you 
 are content with giving annual subscriptions and occasional 
 donations, and taking a weekly class ? Why not give 
 yourselves, money, time and all, to the foreign field ? Our 
 own country is bad enough, but comparatively many must, 
 and do, remain to work at home, while very few are in 
 a position to go abroad. Yet how vast is the Foreign 
 Mission field ! ' The field is the world.' Ought you not to 
 consider seriously what your duty is ? The heathen are in 
 darkness, and we are asleep. Perhaps you try to think 
 that you are meant to remain at home, and induce others 
 to go. By subscribing money, sitting on committees, 
 speaking at meetings, and praying for missions, you will 
 be doing the most you can to spread the Grospel abroad. 
 Not so. By going yourself, you will produce a tenfold 
 more powerful effect. You can give and pray for missions 
 
Professorship of Arabia. \§\ 
 
 wherever you are, you can send descriptive letters to the 
 missionary meetings, which will be much more effective 
 than second-hand anecdotes gathered by you from others, 
 and you will help the committees finely by sending them 
 the results of your experience. Then, in addition, you 
 will have added your own personal example, and taken 
 your share of the real work. We have a great and im- 
 posing war-office, but a very small army. You have wealth 
 snugly vested in the funds, you are strong and healthy, 
 you are at liberty to live where you like, and occupy your- 
 self as you like. While vast continents are shrouded in 
 almost utter darkness, and hundreds of millions suffer 
 the horrors of heathenism or of Islam, the burden of proof 
 lies upon you to shew that the circumstances in which G-od 
 has placed you were meant by Him to keep you out of the 
 foreign mission-field." 
 
 On the Tuesday evening, Keith-Falconer returned to 
 Cambridge, the lectures on the Pilgrimage being announced 
 for the following Thursday, Friday and Saturday after- 
 noons. 
 
 The lectures were delivered in one of the rooms of the 
 Divinity Schools of the University before an attentive 
 audience. The MS. from which the lecturer read, was, 
 save for an actual Arabic word here and there, written 
 entirely in shorthand ; although no one who had not pre- 
 viously been aware of the fact could possibly have guessed 
 it, so completely at home was the reader with his 
 hieroglyphics. 
 
 The first lecture dwelt mainly on Mecca itself, the im- 
 portance of its position as a commercial centre, to which 
 large numbers of caravans converged, and its religious im- 
 portance, as being a place possessed of special sacred 
 associations before the time of Mohammed. It was pointed 
 out that the Meccan pilgrimage was no creation of Moham- 
 med, but an ancient institution he sought to utilize for 
 his own advantage. 
 
 The second lecture was occcupied with an account of 
 
192 Professorship of Arabic, 
 
 the pilgrimage itself, and of the various rites and customs 
 attending it ; and in the last, the lecturer gave a very in- 
 teresting resume of all the recorded visits to Mecca made 
 by Europeans, who, disguised as Moslems, had made the 
 journey safely, but at very considerable risk. All "who 
 were present at the lectures will testify to their clearness 
 and fulness, and to the skill which gave point and interest 
 to the more technical details. 
 
 The last lecture over. Professor Keith-Falconer, for once 
 to name him by his official title, left the lecture-room for 
 Mr. Turner's house in St. Andrew's Street, where he was 
 then staying, passing the great Gate of Trinity College, 
 through which for years he had gone in and out almost 
 daily, and across the Market Place, on which in old days 
 he had so often gazed from the windows of his lodgings in 
 the intervals of work. Once arrived, and having laid aside 
 the University cap and gown, never again to be worn by 
 him, it was necessary to give undivided attention to much 
 that yet remained to be done. The lecture had not been 
 finished till 3 o'clock and the train by which he proposed 
 to go to London left at 7. 
 
 Two men were engaged in packing a large quantity of 
 books, many of which he had wished to be able to use to 
 the last. G-iving directions to these men, carefully sorting 
 various papers, constantly interrupted even in the midst of 
 a hasty dinner by persons to whom orders had to be given, 
 Keith-Falconer, in the midst of a chaos of packing and a 
 multiplicity of details of business, and on the eve of a 
 journey half across the world, was as calm and undis- 
 turbed as if he were simply leaving home for a few 
 days. 
 
 He was very bright and cheery, but not with the exube- 
 rance of hopefulness sometimes seen in one about to essay 
 new work far away. It was an unruffled composure ; and 
 no excitement, no hurry, no thought of the personal side 
 of the enterprise, seemed to mar the bright, perfect calm. 
 
Professorship of Arabic. 193 
 
 So too was it to the last. As he stood on the platform 
 of the railway station, accompanied by his little dog ' Jip,' 
 which was to go with him to Aden, and has since returned 
 in safety, it seemed inconceivable that a man starting on 
 so long a journey, with work so anxious awaiting him at 
 the end of it, should have shewn himself not merely happy, 
 but absolutely calm and undisturbed. 
 
 A few short minutes while the train stopped, and then, 
 one of the most gifted, many-sided of the sons whom our 
 dear mother Cambridge ever reared had left her walls for 
 ever. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SHAIKH OTHMAN. 
 
 '• He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time." 
 
 Wisdom of Solomon. 
 
 We have seen in the preceding chapter that various causes 
 had somewhat delayed Keith-Falconer's course of lectures, 
 rendering it necessary for him to leave Cambridge on the 
 evening of the day on which he had delivered his third and 
 concluding lecture. 
 
 Encumbered with a vast amount of luggage, huge boxes 
 of books, one very large box containing a deck chair of 
 special construction for his wife's use on the voyage on the 
 Mediterranean, and other things, he found it was so late 
 before these had all been safely deposited at the London 
 terminus, which he purposed leaving the following night, 
 that, instead of going to his sister's house as he had in- 
 tended, he went, accompanied by his little dog * Jip,* to 
 Mr. Charrington's house in Stepney G-reen. 
 
 The following afternoon he devoted to his sister, and, 
 various farewell visits paid, and with many hearts keenly 
 and prayerfully dwelling on his movements, he left Victoria 
 by the evening Continental express for Paris, in order to get 
 the day there for some purchases, including some Oriental 
 books he had failed to procure in England. Leaving Paris 
 that night, he rejoined his wife at Cannes on the following 
 afternoon, and sailed from Marseilles in the French steamer 
 Aljphee, on Thursday, Nov. 18. They reached Alexandria 
 
Shaikh Othman. 195 
 
 on the following Tuesday eyening, and landed the next 
 morning. 
 
 A letter written during the voyage shews him as being 
 in very good spirits. He dwells with much humour on an 
 account of a rather tempestuous meeting which had been 
 held at the Mansion House, when Mr. Charrington had felt 
 it his duty to protest against a ruling of the chairman. 
 Then he tells of his flying visit to Cannes, and then reverts 
 to his plans for the future. Dr. Cowen had sailed from 
 London on November 16 for Aden, and it had been Keith - 
 Falconer's intention to join him on his arrival at Suez, 
 leaving his wife with friends at Cairo till some provision 
 for her comfort could be made at Aden. This plan enabled 
 Keith-Falconer to spend six days at Cairo, after which he 
 left his wife under the friendly roof of Dr. and Mrs. Watson, 
 of the American Mission House. Here she spent her time 
 in taking long Arabic lessons and visiting in the native 
 houses. 
 
 On the arrival of the English steamer it was found 
 that there was no room on board, and consequently Keith- 
 Falconer took passage from Suez in an Austrian steamer, 
 which was passed so closely by the other in the Red Sea 
 that the two missionaries could distinguish each other 
 plainly. Dr. Cowen arrived at Aden on December 7, and 
 Keith-Falconer himself on the following day putting up at 
 his old quarters, the Hotel de I'Europe, at Steamer Point. 
 
 On December 12 he writes to me as follows : 
 
 ** Arrived here — Jip and I — all right early on Wednesday 
 morning last, December 8, in the Austrian Lloyd boat 
 Berenice, from Suez. There was no room for me in Cowen' s 
 steamer, which passed us quite close in the Red Sea, so 
 that we signalled one a.nother. His boat was crammed, 
 while I was the only 1st class passenger in mine, which 
 was bound for Hong Kong, and every bit as good as any 
 P. and 0. boat I ever was in, excepting in speed. We 
 stopped at Jidda, but to my great disappointment, quaran- 
 
196 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 tine prevented me from going ashore. I gazed long at the 
 hills which hid Mecca from us. At Jidda, the only other 
 1st class passenger got off, an Indian Musalman going to 
 Mecca. His card runs thus : — H. M. Ismail Khan, of 
 
 Datauli, Aligarh [North-west provinces] As he was 
 
 going to relations at Mecca, I asked him whether it was 
 true — as Keane states in his * Six Months at Mecca ' — 
 that an Englishwoman had lived there as a Muslima for 
 many years. He said, * Yes, she now lives in my house at 
 Aligarh.' I then asked him some questions, and his 
 answers tallied exactly with Keane' s account. She is 
 known as Zuhra Begum, which might very well be rendered 
 Lady Venus, as Keane does. Was not that a curious 
 coincidence ? 
 
 ** We spent a pleasant six days in Cairo : I left my wife 
 at the American Mission House with Dr. and Mrs. Watson. 
 I travelled to Suez with D. A. Cameron, just appointed 
 consul at Sawakin. He said, 'I swear by the American 
 missionaries. Half of these Bulgarian deputies were edu- 
 cated by them at their schools at Constantinople and else- 
 where.' And curiously, Cowen heard exactly the same 
 thing from an Armenian merchant who spoke English. 
 The Americans are certainly doing a fine work in Cairo 
 with their schools. 
 
 " Our plans are maturing nicely Dr. Harpur is 
 
 now with General Haig on a cruise to the Somali coast, to 
 see whether there is an opening there. I expect to see him 
 at the end of next week. 
 
 " We have met with cordiality itself here. The General, 
 Major Seely, the two surgeons, Jackson and Colson, the 
 chaplain, Streeten, and my old Somali servants, Jusuf and 
 Ahmad, welcomed us with great kindness. 
 
 ** The General's account of Maharaja Dhuleep Sing was 
 highly diverting. D. S. insisted on being made a Sikh, 
 The ceremony was performed at the Eesidency. The 
 General refused to be present. D. S. had to strip and put 
 on a very scanty and simple attire ; and in the middle of 
 the ceremony ran out thus dressed into the General's 
 study 
 
 " We are having what in England you would call the 
 most delicious summer weather, warm and breezy. If the 
 
Shaikh Othman. 197 
 
 voyage were not so long, I could send you plenty of beauti- 
 ful flowers from the gardens at Shaikh Othman. 
 
 " My old friend Isma'il, the schoolmaster, is back from 
 Zabeed, restored to sanity. He says that he shewed the 
 New Testament I gave him to the mufti and to his own 
 family and others at Zabeed, and that some of these are 
 now copying it out in writing. This shews how rare and 
 how valued is the New Testament in Arabia 
 
 "My furniture, books, &c., I expect shortly. My wife 
 comes on here in P. and O. ship Thames in about fourteen 
 days. 
 
 " Shaikh Othman is growing fast : 50 native infantry 
 men will go there, as soon as the lines are built " 
 
 For five or six days after their arrival, Keith-Falconer 
 and his companion stayed at the Hotel, going out two or 
 three times to Shaikh Othman. Subsequently, they ac- 
 cepted the hospitality of General Hogg at the Eesidency 
 and of Dr. Colson respectively. It was thought that Dr. 
 Cowen, who had not been in Aden before, might learn 
 much from an experienced surgeon who had resided there 
 for some years. 
 
 On the 28th Mrs. Keith- Falconer arrived ; Keith-Fal- 
 eoner, writing on the following day, says : — 
 
 " My wife came yesterday in P. and 0. ship Thames. 
 The General sent out his launch and cutter to land her. 
 Lord and Lady Aberdeen also came ashore for tea at the 
 Residency, as well as Lady Brassey and daughters. My 
 wife is very well and enjoyed herself immensely at Cairo. 
 Dr. Watson travelled with her to Benha, 'an hour from 
 Cairo, where she joined the Indian mail, and so got to 
 Aden in perfect safety and comfort." 
 
 It is now necessary to speak of a somewhat unpleasant 
 incident which occurred soon after Keith-Falconer's arrival 
 at Aden ; which of itself would only call for a passing 
 remark, but, in the light of subsequent events, acquires a 
 very grave significance. 
 
198 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 There can be no reasonable doubt that the external con- 
 ditions under which Keith-Falconer was living during the 
 time he spent at Shaikh Othman were not in themselves 
 such as to be conducive to good health : a structure of 
 wood and iron and matting is not the kind of house which 
 a native of a country like England should choose to live 
 in, in a specially hot part of the Tropics. 
 
 It might not unnaturally be asked, why so questionable 
 a step had been taken, why a missionary should fail to 
 use the fullest precautions for the physical well-being of 
 himself and his companions ; and were the facts not defi- 
 nitely set forth, there might seem to be in the present 
 instance a lack of necessary forethought most foreign to 
 Keith-Falconer's character. 
 
 I feel it will be well therefore to give the facts in some 
 detail. It will be remembered that Keith-Falconer, on 
 leaving for England in the spring of 1886, did so with the 
 full intention of settling at Shaikh Othman, and there 
 building his house and the Mission-Hospital and School. 
 A grant of land had been ' reserved ' for him to the end of 
 the year. Thus even though the work should be com- 
 menced immediately on his return to Aden, some months 
 must necessarily elapse before the house could be ready 
 for occupation. 
 
 Evidently, it would be a pity to live during those months 
 at Aden, or at Steamer Point, involving, even in the former 
 case, a ten miles' journey to and fro. Not only would this 
 be a great drag on the direct work of the Mission, but it 
 would also leave the workmen engaged on the building 
 almost entirely without supervision. 
 
 The obvious plan was to hire a suitable building at 
 Shaikh Othman, while the Mission House was being built, 
 all care being taken that the temporary home was such as 
 was suitable for European residents. 
 
 There was at Shaikh Othman, as it happened, only one 
 good stone bungalow, besides the one belonging to Govern- 
 
Shaikh Othman. 199 
 
 ment. This belonged to a wealthy old Arab, named 
 Hassan Ali, who is said to be more or less a tool in the 
 hands of expectant relatives. At Keith-Falconer's request 
 Dr. Colson had seen this man in the foregoing summer 
 and had found him professedly wishing to let or sell the 
 house. As Dr. Colson' s letter (Aug. 1, 1886) bears striking 
 independent testimony to the climate of Shaikh Othman, 
 another matter of the highest importance, I subjoin the 
 following extracts : — 
 
 " I have seen Hassan Ali, and he is not only willing to 
 let you his bungalow, but also to sell it. Whether it would 
 suit your purpose, I do not know. I have not said any- 
 thing about the rent, as you will doubtless prefer to make 
 your own bargain. Shaikh Othman is certainly far 
 superior in climate to Aden proper. On two occasions I 
 have been there lately. On one, when we left the Camp 
 and on returning to it, it was insufferably hot, but Shaikh 
 Othman was comparatively pleasant. On August 12, we 
 went in a howling, hot and dusty wind ; Shaikh Othman 
 was quite a haven after it. On returning, the wind, as we 
 got near Aden, increased in violence, and the pony could 
 hardly get along. The place, for a hot climate, may be 
 considered very fair. I am glad to say we have all enjoyed 
 excellent health in spite of the heat, which was unusually 
 great in June and July. It is much better now 
 
 " Your doctor should be provided with lithotomy instru- 
 ments. A successful operation for stone among the Arabs 
 will be a great missionary success; and if your doctor 
 makes a name, he will get plenty of work to do, and a 
 proportionate amount of influence." 
 
 Naturally, therefore, Keith-Falconer expected that on 
 his arrival at Aden this stone bungalow would be avail- 
 able for his use ; and accordingly he went over it, inspect- 
 ing it carefully, to see what alterations, if any, might be 
 required. After this, accompanied by Dr. Cowen, he 
 called on Hassan Ali, who at first offered it to them for a 
 few weeks for nothing. Clearly such a course was quite 
 out of the question, if for no other reason than this, that 
 
200 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 Keith -Falconer and his party would have no right to 
 remain if the owner wished to put them out. Presumably, 
 however, Hassan Ali no more thought of his offer being 
 accepted, than Ephron the Hittite supposed that Abraham 
 would take him at his word. 
 
 An offer was then made to Hassan Ali of a rent, which 
 Englishmen and Arabs agreed in declaring to be ample, 
 which same rent indeed a few months afterwards he ac- 
 cepted from the American Consul, on a five years' lease ; 
 but, scenting a possible victim, the old Arab haggled and 
 demanded what was simply an exorbitant sum. On this 
 Dr. Cowen writes : — 
 
 " To have acceded to this demand would simply have 
 been ruinous in all subsequent dealings with these men 
 and those around ; as they would have thought he could 
 be * done ' on every occasion in which money was con- 
 cerned. 
 
 '* Accordingly, on another visit to Shaikh Othman, he 
 found a small hut (40 feet square), which the owner said 
 he would let and alter for us. The next day. General 
 Haig and I saw the hut again with him, and he decided to 
 take it. 
 
 "When Hassan All's relatives found this, they sent 
 urgent messages, begging him to renew negotiations. This 
 he simply refused to do, feeling that he was much better 
 free from such men. Besides, in any case, they would only 
 have let the upper half of the house, and to have had drink- 
 ing and smoking parties occupying the other half, and sing- 
 ing bacchanalian songs in the verandah outside, would 
 never have done, as the natives would naturally have asso- 
 ciated us with them." 
 
 I have dwelt on this point at some length, because it 
 seemed my clear duty to vindicate the memory of the noble 
 dead from any possible charge of haste or carelessness, of 
 mere hurry to get to work before looking fully to every 
 precaution. 
 
 Once settled in the temporary home everything looked 
 
Shaikh Othman. 201 
 
 very pleasant and hopeful. Writing a postcard on busi- 
 ness on December 22, lie adds the postcript ' All well and 
 jolly.' In a letter of December 26 to his old friend Mrs. 
 Emmerson, he says : — 
 
 " I have got on hire a little house in a garden to live in 
 
 at the native village where we are going to settle 
 
 We are having beautiful weather, not too hot, and no dust. 
 I have engaged three servants ; one is an Arab cook, the 
 others a Somali butler, and a Somali coolie. All servants 
 here are men, except Indian nurses and women who come 
 in to sweep. Kitchenmaids and housemaids are men. 
 .... All servants are barefooted, but must wear white 
 turbans on their heads. The natives never touch beer or 
 wine " 
 
 The letter concludes : — 
 
 " I hope that you will get through the winter nicely. 
 But you are an old lady, and God may call you at any 
 time. So make sure that you are trusting in Jesus' blood 
 alone. Not the best person living can be saved except 
 through Him." 
 
 That lesson had long sunk deep into his own heart. 
 
 In a letter dated December 29, after speaking of the in- 
 formation which Dr. Cowen had gleaned from Dr. Colson, 
 he thus refers to the temporary house : — 
 
 " After considerable difficulty I managed to get a tem- 
 porary dwelling-place in Shaikh Othman. It is a roof on four 
 pillars with walls of iron lattice, the roof extending beyond 
 the pillars on all sides. By putting in three wooden parti- 
 tions, a dwelling-house, with verandah, two bed-rooms, and 
 sitting-room (used also for eating and studying) is created. 
 The house stands in a garden, and both belong to an Indian 
 merchant. The servants will live in offices made of mud 
 bricks, with roofs of bamboo and matting." 
 
 On December 31 he writes : — 
 
 " Yesterday Cowen and we went to Shaikh Othman and 
 found the house nearly ready for habitation. The cook, a 
 
202 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 Madrasee, had gone over in the morning ; and fifty pack- 
 ages had arrived from the wharf, and fourteen from various 
 parts of Steamer Point (all despatched by me in the morn- 
 ing). To-day my wife and I go to the Colsons, where she 
 remains until everything necessary has been unpacked, or 
 about three days. Then at last we shall be settled for some 
 months. I am putting up a shed near our house for re- 
 ceiving patients. 
 
 " Charlie Studd ^ has written me a delightful letter. He 
 is at Chungking, Szechuen, living with Bourne, the English 
 Resident. They are not allowed by the magistrate to go 
 outside the house, on account of the late riots. He thinks 
 the Chinese language was invented by the devil to prevent 
 the Chinese from ever hearing the Gospel properly ! . . . . 
 He is pleased to notice that the first thing recorded of 
 Sarai after she was made a princess (Sarah) was, ' she set 
 to work to cook and make cakes' (Grenesis xvii. 15 — 27). 
 .... You will be sorry to hear that I am not going to 
 publish those lectures. I have turned over the matter well, 
 and the more I meditate, the less I feel inclined to print 
 them." ^ 
 
 A sad accident happened shortly after the missionaries 
 had settled in their new abode. On January 5, while a 
 large well was being dug in the garden by two Jewish 
 workmen, the earth fell in upon them. Keith-Falconer 
 and Dr. Cowen were able to aid considerably in extricating 
 one, the other was killed instantaneously. 
 
 The news of the accident drew together a large crowd 
 from the village, which was about half a mile away, and 
 served as the first introduction of the missionaries to their 
 new neighbours. The workman who was killed, a youth, 
 was buried the same evening ; dead and buried within four 
 hours. 
 
 1 This is Mr. C. T. Studd, of Trinity College, Cambridge, a 
 member of the China Inland Mission. 
 
 2 This refers to the three lectures on the '• Meccan Pilgrimage," 
 which he had delivered as Professor at Cambridge in the previous 
 term. 
 
Shaikh Othman. 203 
 
 A few days after this came the first patient, an Arab, the 
 head gardener of the large garden adjoining. Grateful for 
 the help afforded him, and clearly perceiving in what way 
 he might best shew his gratitude to his new friends, he did 
 his best to induce large numbers of his acquaintance to 
 profit by the same help, and in this and other ways proved 
 of great assistance to the missionaries. 
 
 On December 31, Keith-Falconcer had spoken of putting 
 up a shed near his house for patients. This, when built, 
 was simply a rude hut, some 15 feet by 12, built against 
 the garden waU, with mud walls and planked roof ; and to 
 this a simple verandah of mats was afterwards added. 
 The number of applicants for help very soon shewed that 
 the natives fully appreciated the benefits offered them. 
 During the last week of January twenty new cases pre- 
 sented themselves, besides an equal number attended to 
 elsewhere ; and by the end of about six weeks nearly 300 
 visits had been paid to the dispensary. 
 
 The hospital accommodation was necessarily very in- 
 sufficient. Still, the " shed," besides serving as a dispen- 
 sary and consulting-room for out-patients, contained also 
 beds for three in-patients, two of whom had come, at a 
 comparatively early period, no less than eight miles to be 
 treated. 
 
 In about a fortnight after the date of the last letter the 
 house was ready for occupation. On January 11 he writes, 
 " Our temporary quarters are very comfortable and the 
 books look very nice." Things were now fairly settled, and 
 Mrs. Keith-Falconer was to join him the following day. 
 
 Here for a time all went well. Every care had been taken 
 to make the hut, the " shanty "as he was in the habit of 
 calling it, as little inconvenient or unhealthy as might be. 
 A thatch roof was even put on over the ordinary one, at 
 Dr. Colson's suggestion, as an extra precaution against the 
 heat. 
 
 I again quote from Dr. Cowen's letter : — 
 
204 Shaikh Othman, 
 
 " Once iu our little liut, we were very well and comfort- 
 able for about six weeks, but of course it was not a place 
 for continued sickness, such as we had (though this again 
 could not have been anticipated), and which indeed delayed 
 the building of our new stone bungalow — in which we 
 might reasonably expect to be well — quite two months 
 altogether All this, I think, shews that every pre- 
 caution that care and thoughtfulness could suggest was 
 taken, and that our living in that little hut was not due to 
 any carelessness or indifference to health on his part. Also 
 his firm stand against Eastern cupidity at the outset made 
 him more respected even by those who tried to swindle 
 him ; and his contentment and happiness in such humble 
 quarters were also characteristic." 
 
 Now that the party was settled in its temporary quarters, 
 proceedings were at once set on foot for beginning the 
 erection of a permanent home. On January 11, he thus 
 writes to his mother : — 
 
 " We have arranged a contract for the wall round our 
 land, and operations have begun. We are to pay about 
 7s. 2d. per 10 feet of wall. You would have laughed at 
 our meeting with the Arab contractors. The business 
 lasted an hour and a half. First I explained the thing 
 with black board and chalk. Then they began bidding. 
 We started at 12 rupees ( = 18s.). There was great excite- 
 ment at the end. 
 
 " Some days ago I engaged a Madrasee cook, and 
 thought I had got a treasure : excellent character, and he 
 sent us beautiful dishes. But he was a drunkard, and I 
 caught him whacking our Somali coolie. So I packed him 
 off then and there. The last thing he did was to kneel 
 before me, and make a + in the sand — perfectly drunk. 
 We have now a Goanese cook, and a Groanese butler." 
 
 To the same. 
 
 ••Shaikh Othman, 
 
 Jan. 23, 1887. 
 
 " You will be glad to hear that the medical work has 
 made a start. When the dispensary was finished, we let 
 
Shaikh Othman. 205 
 
 it be known that we were in a position to treat patients, 
 and soon they began to come. Last week we had eighteen 
 patients : one or two were very satisfactory cases. Most 
 of the people who came are Arabs, one an Indian Muham- 
 medam, one a half-Arab, half-African (and a runaway 
 slave), four are Somalis. They all seem to repose the 
 most absolute confidence in us. 
 
 " To-morrow at 6 a.m. we mount camels for Bir-Achmad, 
 a village outside British territory, and the seat of a local, 
 petty Sultan: at 5 a.m. another camel starts with the 
 medicine-chest, which must be conveyed at walking-pace, 
 for fear of breaking the bottles. We take with us a man 
 who has an interest in the garden next to ours, and who 
 seems to have done a good deal in the way of puffing our 
 establishment ; he was our first patient. Curiously, after 
 we had resolved to visit Bir-Achmad, we heard that one of 
 the Sultan's nephews is very ill : so we shall easily get an 
 introduction to the Sultan. Bir-Achmad is said to be 
 eight miles off : we expect to get back by dark. We hope 
 to make a weekly excursion in future. My own part of 
 the work at present consists in interpreting for Cowen 
 and telling the people why we have come. Incidentally 
 I learn medicine and surgery. I am improving quickly 
 in speaking and understanding Arabic, but I constantly 
 need an Arab interpreter to explain what the Bedouin 
 means. 
 
 " As Shaikh Othman has 6000 people, Lahej 5000, and 
 Bir-Achmad and other villages in the neighbourhood about 
 1500 between them, we shall have plenty of work without 
 going far away. We have one interesting case from Lahej, 
 a man with an enormously enlarged spleen, the effect of 
 repeated fevers from malaria. We hope to reduce it by 
 local application of biniodide of mercury 
 
 " We have at last got our temporary abode in order. The 
 rooms are really very comfortable, and no one need pity us 
 in the least. We hope in another ten days to have com- 
 pleted the arrangements for building the bungalow 
 
 " Here is our day as a rule: — 
 
 " 6.30. Get up. I take my bath at the well-side. It 
 is very deep and big, and a camel walks round and round, 
 working the wheel which moves a chain of little buckets 
 
206 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 descending into the water. I just sit down under the water 
 as it flows out. It feels like warm milk. Then, after 
 dressing, a cup of tea and toast. 
 
 " 7 to 8.30 is the appointed time for patients : but they 
 often come later, and it will be some time before we succeed 
 in making them observe the right time. 
 
 " 8.30 to 9. Bible reading in company. 
 
 " 9. Breakfast. 
 
 " 9.30 to 1.30. Arabic reading and patients, if any come. 
 
 " 1.30. Lunch or * tiffin.' 
 
 " 2 to 4.30. Anything. 
 
 " 4.30. Tea. 
 
 " 5 to 7. Walk out with Jip. 
 
 " 7. Dinner. 
 
 " 8. Prayers, after which each goes to bed when he 
 pleases. 
 
 " This afternoon we visited three patients in their homes. 
 G. remained outside, and the native women inspected her 
 closely, feeling her dress, etc." 
 
 [Continued on Jan. 25]. 
 
 " Yesterday we accomplished the visit to Bir-Achmad. 
 We started about 7 on camels, and the ride took an hour 
 and a half. The ambling trot of the camel is not half bad, 
 and the native saddle is far preferable to the European 
 leather saddle with stirrups which are made for camels. 
 
 " We might have stopped for three days and been hard 
 at work all the time. The cases treated amounted to 
 twenty. At first the people were afraid, and we could 
 only hear of two cases. One was that of an old woman 
 
 with dropsy. She was enormously distended She 
 
 was intensely grateful to us. This at once established 
 Cowen's credit, the news spread like magic, and we were 
 taken to a number of houses to see sick people. All the 
 rooms we went into were beautifully clean and tidy. I left 
 a few gospels with some boys who could read, and wrote 
 their names on the title-pages, which seemed to please 
 them very much Several gave us the Muslim saluta- 
 tion, * Peace upon you,' though they are forbidden to do so 
 to Christians. Our next excursion will be to El-Hautah." ^ 
 
 * This excursion they were prevented from taking in consequence 
 of the long illness. 
 
Shaikh Othman. 207 
 
 The visit to Bir-Achmad is also described in a letter of 
 February 1 from Dr. Cowen to Dr. Greorge Smith, from 
 which I make the following extract : — 
 
 "We arrived at our destination shortly before nine 
 o'clock, and were shewn into the upper room in the small 
 mud gateway of the sheikh's palace. At a distance the 
 palatial building itself presents a most imposing effect, 
 which a nearer inspection proves to be a delusion and a 
 snare. In this mud room we rested, cooked our breakfast, 
 and had our audience with the sheikh's nephew, a good 
 specimen of the Bedouin Arab — quiet, hospitable and 
 courteous in manner; ignorant and superstitious about 
 religion ; with a wholesome belief in the powers (real and 
 imaginary) of European medicine, and decidedly grateful 
 for kindness and benefits received. They thought there 
 were * one or two ' sick people in the village ; so after read- 
 ing exia-acts from the * Injil'^ to the young people, we set 
 off to visit them. Happily I had brought my instruments 
 with me ; and we were able to relieve a poor woman who 
 had suffered for three years from ascites, the cause of 
 which I could not ascertain. So unmistakeable were the 
 results and the relief to the poor sufferer, whose demon- 
 strations of gratitude were eloquent beyond all power of 
 language, that the effect on the Arab mind was striking 
 and instantaneous. Suspicion was at once disarmed, and 
 the news of the event spread like wildfire through the 
 village, and we were literally dragged from house to house 
 to see sick people of whose existence they seemed previously 
 to have been strangely ignorant." 
 
 At this time everything seemed exceedingly bright and 
 hopeful. The letters thus far cited shew not merely cheer- 
 fulness, for that indeed characterizes the letters written 
 during the period of sickness, but an evident and resolute 
 hopefulness. From a letter of Dr. Cowen' s to myself I 
 select one or two incidents illustrating the nature of their 
 life at this time. He mentions that the verandah of mats 
 which had been added to the dispensary was a place to 
 
 ^ See above, p. 163. 
 
208 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 which Keith -Falconer was fond of coming, as long as he 
 was able, " to sit and talk or read to the natives who 
 came. His kind and sympathetic manner readily opened 
 the way to their hearts, and * the English Sahib who spoke 
 Arabic like a book ' was everywhere welcome. His know- 
 ledge of the language was still mainly that of the written 
 or classical Arabic : he was, however, rapidly acquiring 
 the colloqnial tongue when laid aside by fever." 
 
 Dr. Cowen further refers to a point I have already dwelt 
 on in an earlier chapter. Underlying Keith-Falconer's 
 kindness of demeanour and of heart, there was a large 
 amount of decision of character and strong common sense. 
 He won respect all the more from those around him when 
 it became clearly seen that with all his generosity he had 
 a decided objection to being imposed upon ; and while I 
 very much doubt whether any of his friends ever saw him 
 angry, in the ordinary sense of the word, he could, if the 
 occasion called for it, manifest a genuine righteous indig- 
 nation at what was cruel or base. An illustration of this 
 may be given. A man in his employ had, when intoxi- 
 cated, cruelly beaten his wife and cut her head while in 
 Keith-Falconer's garden, and was summarily dismissed. 
 Keith-Falconer in sending the man away addressed him 
 in terms of the severest reproach for his cruelty, "but 
 without a trace of anger." The poor wife, pathetically 
 anxious to mend matters, tried to explain the injuries by 
 saying that she was subject to epileptic fits, and had fallen 
 against a box ! He was much touched with the pooi 
 woman's behaviour, and hired a camel to carry her and 
 her things away. 
 
 The following incident has considerable suggestiveness 
 in its bearing on the question of the view of Christianity 
 likely to be taken by the Arabs of the interior. Dr. Cowen 
 writes : — 
 
 " During our first visit to Bir-Achmad we were taken 
 to see a sick man, whose complaint required surgical aid. 
 
Shaikh Othman, 200 
 
 and whom he promised to take into our dispensary. He 
 was to have come in the next day, but fully six weeks 
 elapsed ere he arrived. The poor wife explained the long 
 delay by saying she could not get a camel. When he 
 asked her if no Muslim would lend her one to bring a sick 
 man in, she replied with an impatient gesture, * There are 
 no Muslims now.' He paid for her camel both ways, and 
 kept her for some weeks, as she wished to attend to her 
 sick husband. She was very grateful for the kindness 
 she had received, and, though wretchedly poor, twice 
 brought us a native basket with twenty eggs. This was 
 but one of the many instances in which the people shewed 
 their gratitude by sending presents of flowers, fruit, vege- 
 tables, etc." 
 
 The Sultan of Lahej, the most influential native poten- 
 tate in the neighbourhood, of whom, it may be remem- 
 bered, Keith-Falconer had spoken in his first visit in no 
 very complimentary terms, called twice at the bungalow, 
 and was one of Dr. Cowen's patients. During Keith- 
 Falconer's last illness, he sent in a considerable quantity 
 of water-melons, bananas and honey, and had previously 
 asked to be allowed to stock the new garden with fruit 
 trees. This was the more pleasing, because, as I have 
 already mentioned in a note, Keith-Falconer's illness pre- 
 vented him from repeating the visit he made to El-Hautah 
 in the preceding year. 
 
 One day a Turk, passing through Shaikh Othman on 
 his way to Aden, where he had some official business, 
 called at Keith- Falconer's house. Here he was very kindly 
 received, and had a long conversation with his host re- 
 specting some extracts from the Gospel which were read 
 to him. He also received some benefit from a slight sur- 
 gical operation, and evidently the kindness with which he 
 was treated left a deep impression on his mind. *' On his 
 return from Aden," writes Dr. Cowen, "he presented us 
 with three large gourds, filled with honey, — for which he 
 had sent home, a distance of a hundred miles— besides a 
 
210 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 pair of tame rabbits : he wished us also to take money. 
 He also promised us letters of introduction, if we travelled 
 inland as we hoped to do." 
 
 Keith- Falconer was fond of occasionally dropping into 
 the coffee shops of the village and talking to the natives 
 there assembled. One day, as he passed a certain shop, he 
 found an old man lying in great pain on a rude bed by the 
 way-side. What followed may best be told in Dr. Cowen's 
 words : — 
 
 " He asked some of the crowd of men and boys to carry 
 the poor man to our dispensary, where we would take care 
 of him. At once several of them called out for hammals, 
 or inferior persons, to do so, while they themselves shewed 
 no signs of moving in the matter. He said, * In our 
 country, if a man were ill in the street, plenty of people 
 would gladly carry him ; but you Muslims don't seem 
 willing to lift a finger.' To this one of the crowd sig- 
 nificantly replied by putting his finger to his mouth and 
 saying, ' Lip-Muslims here.' Thereupon he nodded to me, 
 and taking each an end of the bed, we began to carry the 
 poor fellow ourselves. This was too much for them, and 
 immediately any number of volunteers were forthcoming. 
 This method of shaming them into action he practised on 
 other occasions with like success." 
 
 I have spoken of this period of the residence at Shaikh 
 Othman as bright and cheerful, and so in one sense it cer- 
 tainly was, most cheerful, most hopeful. Still at times 
 there was much to depress in the surrounding circum- 
 stances ; yet not only at this time, but later when attack 
 after attack of illness would have crushed the spirit out of 
 many men, Keith-Falconer retained both his exceeding 
 thoughtfulness for others, and a genial humour and keen 
 sense of the ridiculous. One very hot day, seeing his 
 Somali servant perspiring freely over an ice machine which 
 demanded a great deal of exertion and provided very little 
 ice, he laughingly suggested that the heat was abstracted 
 from the water and passed up the handle into the boy's 
 
Shaikh Othman, 211 
 
 body, whicli the boy himseK thought fully accounted both 
 for the ice and the perspiration ! 
 
 All through the time of residence at Shaikh Othman, 
 he was very fond of talking of his old school and 
 college friends and teachers with much affection. Dr. 
 Cowen remarks, " what struck me most was the warmth and 
 duration of these friendships, some of them dating back 
 ten or fifteen years or more." A characteristic piece of 
 thoughtf ulness for an old friend may be mentioned. He 
 had a box of carefully selected books packed up and sent 
 to Mr. C. T. Studd, when he heard of his isolation from 
 friends and books in China, Among the books so sent 
 was one which Keith-Falconer read for the first time 
 shortly after landing at Aden, and with which he was 
 much charmed, Blaikie's Personal Life of David Living- 
 stone. 
 
 The present will be a suitable place for the insertion of 
 the following note. It was found among Keith- Falconer's 
 papers, and tells its story plainly : it embraces the whole 
 range of his employment, other than the direct teaching of 
 the Gospel, and testifies alike to the thoroughness of his 
 missionary purpose, to his zeal for acquiring knowledge, 
 more especially such as bore on his missionary work, and 
 to his methodical grouping of his details. 
 
 " Handwriting. 
 
 G-rammar. 
 
 Arithmetic. 
 
 Reading practice. 
 Help G. and Cowen. 
 Ja'cubi. 
 
 Geography of Yemen, etc. 
 
 Bedawi language. 
 
 Medicine. 
 
 Somali. 
 
 Hindustanee. 
 
^12 Shaikli Othman. 
 
 Learn texts by heart, — (1) Bible, (2) Koran. 
 
 Supervise building and garden. 
 
 Correspondence. 
 
 Light literature. 
 
 Catalogue my Arabic books." 
 
 In the references to grammar, reading practice, and the 
 learning of texts, we must of course understand Arabic. 
 The Ja'cuhl, mentioned in the second group, is an Arabic 
 work, which Keith-Falconer had begun to translate before 
 leaving England, and of which about half had been finished 
 at his death. The work is a geographical description of 
 the countries which had embraced Islam, and though the 
 Arabic text has been several times printed, there is not, I 
 understand, a translation into any modern European 
 language. The part which Keith-Falconer had finished 
 was mainly occupied with the description of Persia.^ 
 
 The mention of Somali and Hindustanee in the third 
 group refers to Keith-Falconer's intention of acquiring at 
 any rate a reasonable working knowledge of these two 
 languages, both of which were largely spoken in Aden. 
 Eeferences to both of these will be found in some of the 
 letters yet to be cited. 
 
 I spoke in passing, in a preceding chapter, of General 
 Haig's remarkable journey through Yemen. In all the 
 details of this Keith-Falconer took a very keen interest, 
 and it cannot be doubted that, had his life been prolonged, 
 he would have tried in due time to make his way into the 
 interior. 
 
 In the early part of February, General Haig met Keith- 
 
 ^ The book derives its name from its author, Achmad ibn Abi 
 Ja'cub, commonly called Al-Ja'ctibi. The actual title of the book 
 is Kitabu-1-Buldan, or ' the Book of the Countries.' It was written 
 in the year 891 A.D. 
 
Shaikh Othman. 213 
 
 Falconer three or four times. The following extract is 
 from a letter from G-eneral Haig to myself : — 
 
 " Dr. Harpur and I were just starting one day just after 
 my arrival [at Aden] to call on him and Mrs. Keith- 
 Falconer at Shaikh Othman, when he walked in with Dr. 
 Cowen. They spent the afternoon with us, and we had 
 much prayer and talk about the work. 
 
 '* I saw him last on February 7, when I drove out to 
 Shaikh Othman and spent the evening with them. It was 
 a very interesting time. We walked out through the 
 newly rising town, looked at the half-built enclosure wall 
 round the piece of land he had taken for mission buildings, 
 and talked over various plans. He was then greatly en- 
 couraged by a visit which he and Dr. Cowen had just paid 
 to one of the nearer villages, where they were kindly re- 
 ceived, and the doctor's medical aid was gladly welcomed in 
 many cases.^ He looked well and strong, and little we 
 thought how nearly his short course was run. We all 
 knelt together before I left, and commended him and his 
 
 work to the Lord I anticipated for him years of 
 
 usefulness. But it was not so to be, and it is best as it is. 
 He who doeth all things well has ordered it otherwise, and 
 doubtless Keith-Falconer's early death was more for His 
 glory and the extension of His kingdom in Arabia than 
 many years of life would have been." 
 
 On the day of G-eneral Haig's visit, Keith-Falconer thus 
 writes to his eldest sister : — 
 
 "Shaikh Othman, 
 
 Feb, 7, 1887. 
 
 **.... We are more out of the world here than we 
 should be at Aden, for we see no daily telegrams, and 
 seldom a white face ; but the life here is of a much more 
 interesting nature than it could be at Aden. Here we are 
 in closer contact with the people, and have constant oppor- 
 tunities of meeting with them. We have already three in- 
 patients in the infirmary behind the house. This is a little 
 mud building with planks for a roof, and with a door and 
 
 ' This is of course the visit to Bir-Achmad of January 24. 
 
214 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 two windows. One patient is nearly blind and very weak : 
 we shall not be able to do much more than improve the 
 general tone. One has scurvy and is getting steadily 
 better. The third is a very bad case of heart-disease, 
 liver-disease and dropsy. He is a Bedouin from a town 
 called Ibh, about 100 miles inland. I am afraid he will 
 die soon. Last night I left him crying aloud to Allah, and 
 the Messiah. He is very ignorant, and I had told him 
 that Grod loves every person who believes in the Messiah. 
 
 " General Haig came to-day and stayed to dinner. He 
 has just returned from a journey. Starting from Hodeida, 
 a Eed Sea port, and accompanied by the Syrian colporteur, 
 Ibrahim (who sells Bibles for the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society in Aden), and a Somali servant, he went up 
 to San'a, the capital of Yemen, where he was entertained 
 by some Italian merchants. Thence he came down to 
 Aden. He speaks of plenty of cultivation in some districts. 
 The climate in the highlands of Yemen is quite temperate, 
 and he always slept in a house. The roads seem to be 
 quite safe. He found quantities of Jews, all marvellously 
 ignorant. At one place he had a semi-public discussion 
 with them, or rather with the chief rabbi in the presence of 
 the rest. 
 
 " Our wall of mud, eight feet high, which is to surround 
 our house and garden, is about half -finished, and we have 
 arranged a contract for the procural and conveyance of 
 7,200 cubic feet of stone from Aden. There is no stone 
 here. In a few days we hope to have arranged a third 
 contract for building the walls. When the house is built, 
 or a little earlier, we must get the dispensary and hospital 
 erected. The estimate for the house amounts to 5,400, 
 6,500, or 7,400 rupees, according to the kind of wood we 
 use for it. 7,400 rupees equal ^£570. The dispensary will 
 
 come to about =£100 or <£150 more The school and 
 
 a house for the Cowens will come later. These are all initial • 
 expenses, and when defrayed will not occur again." 
 
 It was very soon after G-eneral Haig's visit that things 
 began for the first time to be clouded over. On February 9, 
 Keith-Falconer and Dr. Co wen paid their second visit to 
 Bir-Achmad, riding on camels as before. On the eveuing 
 
Shaikh Othman, 215 
 
 of the next day the former was slightly feverish, but felt 
 sufficiently well to rise and speak to a number of Somali 
 women in the verandah with Mrs. Keith -Falconer. On the 
 next day, however, he had high fever, and on the 13th Dr. 
 Colson was called out from Aden to see him. The fever 
 continued for three days, and then began to abate, so that 
 by the 19th he was able to rise for dinner, and on the 21st 
 walked round to the next garden with Colonel and Mrs. 
 Eaper. To aggravate matters, Mrs. Keith-Falconer also 
 had fever very badly at the same time ; though, most 
 providentially. Dr. Cowen was entirely unaffected by it at 
 present. 
 
 At this time Keith-Falconer writes to his mother, 
 
 "Shaikh Othman, 
 
 Feb. 22, 1887. 
 
 ** Both Gr. and I are now convalescing after a bout of 
 Aden fever. I never felt so utterly miserable in all my 
 life, but Colson declares that there is no danger in it, and 
 
 that it leaves no after effects One of our Somali 
 
 servants has had it too, but coupled with a great deal of 
 shivering, which we did not have. This morning the butler 
 says he has fever. There is a great deal of it about now, 
 owing to the strong winds which have been prevalent 
 lately 
 
 " Quinine is quite useless in this fever, one must simply 
 grin and bear it. When we get into a proper house, 
 affording proper protection from the wind, we shall not 
 be so liable to it. 
 
 "The Queen's Jubilee was celebrated at Aden a few days 
 ago. The Parsees, who are hand in glove with the English, 
 made a great display of loyalty." 
 
 Towards the end of the month he had a slight return of 
 the attack, but on March 2 he was able, with Mrs. Keith- 
 Falconer, to remove to Khor Maksar. This place is 
 situated on the Isthmus, about two miles to the north of 
 the defensive works, and here is stationed a troop of native 
 
216 Shaikh Oihman. 
 
 cavalry. Khor Maksar formed until recently the limit of 
 Britisli territory at Aden. Here they enjoyed the hospi- 
 tality of Lieutenant Gordon, the officer in command of the 
 troop, whose friendship and kindliness they greatly valued. 
 After about a week's stay here they moved, Mrs. Keith- 
 Falconer to Colonel Kaper's in Aden Camp, and Keith- 
 Falconer himself to Steamer Point, to the house of Dr. 
 Jackson, then and afterwards a true friend and adviser. 
 From here he thus writes to his youngest sister :~ 
 
 *' Steamer Point, Aden, 
 March 9, 1887. 
 
 **.... When that miserable fever left us, we came 
 away for change of air. First we went to the Isthmus, to 
 Lieut. Louis Gordon's house. He commands the Aden 
 Troop (100 Indian cavalry men, stationed there for duty 
 when necessary), and is a son of Sir H. W. Gordon, brother 
 of Chinese Gordon. He has the * magic wand,' which the 
 Chinese thought ensured victory to the 'ever victorious 
 army.' We became great friends. His room contains 
 three pictures of his uncle, and he looks on his journals, 
 &c., as a kind of Bible 
 
 " Yesterday I came here, Dr. Jackson's house. We are 
 both well again, but are not going back till Monday next. 
 
 ** Our mud wall is finished, and we have got the stone 
 for the house, and arranged the contract for the stone work ; 
 27 rupees (about ^2) per 100 cubic feet. The house will 
 cost just about =£500. Try and get some fat donations for 
 
 the hospital. I believe that three of Mrs. 's dresses 
 
 would build it. But I believe that we can do it without 
 more help, as we are spending very little on ourselves now. 
 Still a few little cheques would expedite matters. Our 
 cow is a success. It only cost c£3 
 
 ** treated us to tunes on the orguinette. You put in 
 
 rolls of paper, with slits in them, thus [here follows a 
 rough diagram], and turn a handle. It requires no skill, 
 and gives great pleasure. He treated us to a varied 
 selection. He played the * Old Hundredth,' then * Pina- 
 fore.' .... 
 
 "I am Acquiring quite £i stock of medical knowledge. 
 
Shaikh Othman. 217 
 
 Ulcers are my forte at present. We get 100 new patients 
 a month. Some come from far inland. G-. is improving 
 in the Arab tongue. I have just written to Dr. G-. Smith 
 about the pink leaflet.^ We have no out- station at Lahej. 
 There is no such thing as * ripe scholarship : ' I expect to 
 peg away at the Dictionary till my last day. Cow en will 
 certainly not travel among the Bedawin till Mrs. C. arrives 
 to keep Gr. company. 
 
 ** We have had our roof thatched, and the house will be 
 cooler for it. The weather at present is cool and breezy." 
 
 After a total absence of three weeks, Keith-Falconer re- 
 turned to Shaikh Othman, much improved in health, free 
 from fever, eating and sleeping well. It would seem, how- 
 ever, as though a strange susceptibility to a return of 
 fever still remained, and during the next five weeks he had 
 several fresh attacks, partially regaining his strength in the 
 intervals and going about, but never thoroughly strong. 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " Dr. Jackson's, Steamer Point, 
 March 17, 1887. 
 
 ** You will be glad to hear that we are both nearly well. 
 .... One of the peculiarities of Aden fever is that you 
 think you are quit of it, and for a time you convalesce 
 nicely : then it comes back in a milder form for a day at a 
 time, remitting. We expect to be back at Shaikh Othman 
 on Saturday. 
 
 " I am learning Hindustanee. It is a mongrel jargon 
 of Sanscrit, Hindee, Persian, Arabic and English : but I 
 find it is very awkward not to know it. 
 
 " The Surgeon-General of Bombay has been making en- 
 quiries about our dispensary. I think that eventually the 
 Grovernment dispensary will be discontinued, and we shall 
 get a grant ; by which we shall be enabled to keep a hospital 
 assistant 
 
 ^ This is the Sabbath School Missionary Leaflet of the Free 
 Church of Scotland (No. 36), "Our Medical Mission in South 
 Arabia." 
 
218 Shaikh Othman, 
 
 " If the Turks would clear out of Yemen, a wonderful 
 field for commerce would be thrown open : for the Turkish 
 government is vile, and all cultivators are taxed to an 
 iniquitous extent." 
 
 On March 26, he wrote thus to myself : — 
 
 " I have not been able to write owing to the long spell 
 of fever which both my wife and I have been through. I 
 am now at Steamer Point with Dr. Jackson trying to get 
 back strength, but it is slow work, and the fever may come 
 back any day. Cowen has also sickened. My wife is 
 recruiting at Mrs. Raper's in Aden. 
 
 " Did you ever think of reading D*t!^1p instead of D^^lp 
 in Hab.^ Comp. parallel passage in Deuteronomy. Have 
 just read Scott's Antiquary. First class. Now I am in 
 Heart of Midlothian. I am afraid I don't feel up to writing 
 a long letter yet." 
 
 On or about April 1, Dr. Colson went over to Shaikh 
 Othman, " and found him looking much better and in good 
 spirits." 
 
 To Ms Mother. 
 
 ** Shaikh Othman, 
 
 April 4, 1887. 
 
 '*.... After lying on my back for nearly seven weeks, 
 
 I find that I have little news It is now five days 
 
 since I had fever, and I am getting rapidly stronger. 
 
 " Our house is at length rising from the ground. We are 
 going carefully to work, and bargaining like Jews. The 
 weather is very pleasant : the early mornings and evenings 
 are fresh and the nights quite cold. The white ants are 
 very troublesome ; they have destroyed several of our nice 
 pictures. The floor beneath our matting is just earth, and 
 harbours all sorts of creatures. The rats also are very 
 bold. The mice have nibbled a good bit off my professorial 
 patent, but I keep it in its box now. 
 
 ' This refers to the Psalm of Habakkuk (iii. 4), in which we both 
 fl,t this tijne were especially interested. 
 
Shaikh Othman. 219 
 
 " We have got all our G-erman books. I am reading 
 * Die verlorene Handschrift.' .... I am trying to learn 
 enough Hindustanee to talk with natives 
 
 " Official correspondence has been going on about our 
 medical work. We do more business than the Grovern- 
 ment dispensary. When Cowen has got a native assistant, 
 we shall no doubt be able to make an arrangement with 
 Government, by which they withdraw and give us a 
 grant." 
 
 Again, in a letter of the same date to myself, he 
 
 " Our illness has thrown us back in every way. In par- 
 ticular, I have been unable to write to you at any length, 
 or to think over Habakkuk's Psalm. My wife has been 
 quite well for more than a week, but I am still weak and 
 not fit for much. This fever is evidently of a remittent 
 nature. I have had five attacks in eight weeks. There is 
 nothing for it but patience. 
 
 " Our house is at last rising above the ground. Here is 
 
 a plan of it The verandah is 12 feet broad, and the 
 
 dining room will form part of it, shut in by wooden parti- 
 tions, or reeds and mats. The doors have glass in them, 
 and serve also as windows. In this climate one is obliged 
 to have a great many of them. The walls are of stone, the 
 roof of wood and plaster. The floor will be plaster 
 throughout. The verandah will be thatched. The rooms 
 will be about 12 feet high 
 
 "We get a great many patients, and Cowen has not 
 been thrown out of his work by his fever nearly so much 
 as I. His attack was fortunately a mild one. He will 
 require an assistant when he comes back from England. 
 By that time we hope to have built our hospital " 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 "Shaikh Othman, 
 
 April 19, 1887. 
 
 "We are all pretty well, but neither I nor G-. are as 
 strong as we should like to be. We are having nice 
 iv^ather, We never think of going out in the day. The 
 
220 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 nigMs are quite cool, dangerously so. Next month is said 
 to be about the worst in the year. 
 
 ** We have engaged a gardener from Lahej to lay out 
 our plot. We must stock it well with palm-trees, because 
 they thrive here so well, and give such good shade when 
 
 grown We expect to be home next year for three 
 
 months." 
 
 A letter dated April 20 was the last I was ever to re- 
 ceive from him. Considering the nature of the letter, I 
 felt some hesitation in reproducing it here, but those 
 whose judgement I value have urged me to do so, and I 
 accordingly give it almost in full. The letter was written 
 in answer to one of mine telling of my mother's grave 
 illness, at a time when I had all but given u]) hope and 
 only a few days before she passed to her rest. The letter 
 in reply is thoroughly characteristic of the writer. Its 
 deep Christian trust and tender sympathy are what Ion 
 Keith-Falconer's friends could ever count on finding in 
 him. Nor should the lighter touches of the letter be over- 
 looked. The remarks on points of Hebrew I have allowed 
 to stand ; not as specimens of the deliberate judgement of 
 the scholar giving forth a carefully thought out theory, 
 and yet not to be thrown aside because they are only 
 sparks from an anvil on which good weapons could be and 
 had been forged. The letter runs : — • 
 
 ** Shaikh Othman, 
 
 Apnl 20, 1887. 
 
 "Your letter of April 3 received yesterday evening. 
 I am most truly sorry to hear of the dangerous illness of 
 Mrs. Sinker. You will know the worst by now. Thank 
 God, we sorrow not as those who have no hope : and we 
 know that death for a Christian is the beginning of life. 
 I am very glad that H. C. G. Moule has been to see you 
 so often: and sincerely sorry that I cannot do the same. 
 I pray that you may not give way to excessive grief, but 
 on the contrary may be glad for her sake and may dwell 
 
Shaikh Othman. 221 
 
 with thankfulness on the thought that God has spared her 
 to you for so long 
 
 " Certainly they are to be envied who are just thankful 
 for all that God gives them, and do not grieve for what 
 He holds from them. A man was stricken with blind- 
 ness ; when asked if he did not repine, he said, ' On the 
 contrary, I am filled with thankfulness for all the years of 
 sight which I have enjoyed.' It is hard to get to this 
 state, but it can be done. If I am a Christian, I can say — 
 ' Whatever happens to me is the very best thing which can 
 be devised.' And yet, on the other hand, it is only natural 
 that one should be sad (without complaining) when a 
 loved one is taken. I argue hence that grief is intended 
 for us, and must turn to blessing. And so I conclude that 
 God, by this special grief, has some special blessing in 
 store for you. 
 
 " I have been looking at Hab.^ again. pOll Dti^l strikes 
 me as very suspicious. ]V!2n seems to give the wrong 
 meaning, besides being aw. Xey. ; I would suggest |V?n, 
 revelation or unveihng, but the usage of ]Vtn does not 
 quite favour this sense. Perhaps we might point P^JH ? 
 Is this form used in poetry out of pause ? Then again 
 I should like to point H^^l vice HJ^I, and construe H^ID 
 with D^^'lp. In ver. 16 I think there must be a clerical 
 error, and would like to read Qj; ni/V/- ^^ ^^^ shew 
 
 these hasty remarks to . It would terminate my 
 
 friendship with him, if he did not die on the spot of a fit. 
 
 "Can you tell me which is the best dictionary of 
 .SpQtch ? Such a book is needful in reading Scott. 
 " Yours ever affectionately. 
 
 And with deep sympathy." 
 
 ... To his Mother. 
 
 "Shaikh Othman, 
 
 May 1, 1887. 
 
 •' You will be sorry to hear that I have been down with 
 yet another attack. I am now getting strong again. This 
 makes my seventh attack This rather miserable 
 
 ^ Habakkuk iii. 
 
222 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 shanty in -which we are compelled to live is largely the 
 cause of our fevers. It is all draughts. Our address 
 should be * The Draughts, Shaikh Othman.' I sincerely 
 trust that when we get into our house, which is now six 
 feet above the ground, we shall be exempt from this nui- 
 sance. We are going in a "few days to Gordon's bungalow 
 on the isthmus to enjoy his fresh sea-air. He is four miles 
 from here, but his climate is quite different from ours, and 
 is more bracing. You need not have the slightest anxiety 
 about us. At the present moment we are distinctly better 
 than we were after the first attack. We are not being 
 gradually worn out. 
 
 " Our gardener, newly engaged, is busy levelling, plough- 
 ing and laying out the plot, and directly the well is com- 
 plete, planting and sowing will begin. We expect to begin 
 living in the new house about June 1, though it will not 
 be finished then 
 
 " I have had plenty of time for reading. I have got 
 through Scott's ' Heart of Midlothian,' * Antiquary ' and 
 
 * Guy Mannering : * 'Sir Percival : ' enough of * She ' to 
 shew that it was just a remodelling of * King Solomon : ' 
 
 * Children of Gibeon ' by Besant, capital : Pressense's 
 ' Early Years of Christian Church,' vol. i. : * Life of 
 Livingstone ' by Blaikie, splendid : parts of Cams' s ' Life 
 of Charles Simeon : ' Forbes's * Hindustani Grammar,' 
 most : Bonar's * Life of Dr. Judson,' very interesting : half 
 of • Dorothy Forster,' which I got tired of : parts of ' Horae 
 Subsecivae ' by Dr. J. Brown : and the first hundred pages 
 of * Die verlorene Handschrift,' which is very well written, 
 though the story is not intensely interesting so far 
 
 (Continued) May 2. 
 
 " To-day is very pleasant. Sun very hot, with a gentle 
 
 breeze blowing. I am also better and stronger 
 
 Read Bonar's * Life of Judson,' and you will see that our 
 troubles are nought." 
 
 On May 3, Dr. Colson again went over to Shaikh Othman 
 to see him ; "he was looking pale and seemed a good deal 
 knocked-up." Still, it was thought, he was stronger and 
 brighter than he had been for some little time past ; and 
 
Shaikh Othman. 223 
 
 he wrote an unusually large number of letters for the mail 
 which left on May 4. He had arranged to go with Mrs. 
 Keith-Falconer on May 5 to spend a few days at Elhor 
 Maksar with Lieutenant Gordon, as the change to his 
 house on a former occasion had done them both much 
 good. At the last moment, however, Mr. Gordon was 
 compelled to put them off for a day or two. 
 
 On May 3 he wrote to his brother-in-law, Mr. Ashley 
 Bevan : — 
 
 " . . . . Cowen has nursed us splendidly. He is just the 
 kind of man I wanted. The people like him very much 
 and flock to the dispensary : but he knows too little Arabic 
 to communicate freely with them. He is picking it up 
 rapidly, and is evidently a clever man. We have accom- 
 modation for six in-patients, so that as soon as I am strong 
 enough I shall have all the opportunities I want. Islam 
 has no very strong hold on the people. They say them- 
 selves, ' There are no Muslims here.' English influence is 
 very great, and extends far inland. The Sultan of Lahej 
 is among our patients : he sends us presents of fruit, and 
 offers to stock our garden 
 
 " I used to offer patients a choice between our medicine 
 and Zemzem ^ water. They always chose the former." 
 
 He writes on the same day to Mr. J. H. Turner, of 
 Cambridge : — 
 
 " Since Feb. 10 until a day or two ago, I have been suf- 
 fering from remitting fever ; for twelve weary weeks, with 
 a few short breaks, on my back a useless invalid. I hope 
 
 and trust that I have shaken it off now We shall 
 
 soon be in a good stone house which is building, and the 
 hot weather has begun — and the hot months are healthier 
 than the cool— so we look forward to a spell of health 
 now. 
 
 " My wife has been about as bad as I have : but, thank 
 
 God, we are in excellent spirits One good point 
 
 about this fever is that it leaves no bad effects behind it. 
 
 ' The sacred well at Mecca. 
 
224 Shaikh Othman, 
 
 The doctors know of no remedy for it. Quinine is useless. 
 .... Just received a kind note of greeting from Gr. E. 
 Moule, Bishop of Mid-China, dated from steamship Hy- 
 daspes, written en voyage for China 
 
 " The weather is now warming up. Yesterday it was 
 94° in the shade : but we have a double roof and a delicious 
 breeze. 
 
 " The people are flocking to our dispensary, and we keep 
 a few in-patients ; but Dr. Cowen knows too little Arabic to 
 preach to them. I long for health to get at them. D.V., 
 I shall be in Cambridge in May Term, 1888." 
 
 Alas, Deo aliter visum. 
 
 The two foregoing letters did not reach the hands of 
 those to whom they were addressed until after the tele- 
 graph had told the news that God had called His servant 
 to Himself. 
 
 For the period which remains I have been permitted to 
 draw upon a brief diary kept by Dr. Cowen, and Mrs. 
 Keith-Falconer has put into my hands certain notes taken 
 by herself. 
 
 On the morning of Thursday, May 5, Keith-Falconer 
 received a visit from Ibrahim, — the Bible Society's agent 
 at Aden who had accompanied General Haig in his journey 
 through Yemen, — and was much interested in the conver- 
 sation. In the afternoon, accompanied by his wife and 
 Dr. Cowen, he drove to the garden-plot of the Mission- 
 House. Here they spent more than half-an-hour, while 
 he examined the work done and gave directions to the 
 workmen. In the evening, he did not seem to be at all 
 over-fatigued. 
 
 On the Friday morning (May 6) he felt too tired to rise 
 for breakfast, and by noon it was clear that the fever had 
 returned. It was in the course of this morning, Mrs. 
 Keith-Falconer believes, that he said to her, ** Isn't it very 
 strange ? I get generally so depressed when I am unwell, 
 but now I don't feel in the least cast down. After all 
 
Shaikh Oihman, 225 
 
 these weeks of illness, I feel in perfectly good spirits." He 
 had his books on his bed, — his Bible, Hebrew Old Testa- 
 ment and Hindustani Grranimar, — as had been the case all 
 through his illness, and read a good deal. 
 
 On Saturday the fever was present all day. In the 
 evening Colonel Eaper came to see him, and was much 
 struck with his patient cheerfulness. 
 
 For the following extract I am indebted to Dr. Cowen's 
 diary : — 
 
 "May 8. Sunday. He took early tea and milk with 
 
 usual relish Caught a fresh chill, teeth chattered. 
 
 Did not get warm for half an hour. Then very hot, fol- 
 lowed about 11 or 12 o'clock by heavy perspiration. Feel- 
 ing of oppression increased, relieved somewhat by sickness. 
 .... Asked me to read to him, chose last chapter of St. 
 Mark, * it is disputed, but that doesn't matter.' .... 
 2.30 P.M. At this time and during remainder of afternoon, 
 
 pulse imperceptible at wrist or barely present Asked 
 
 if his wife had been as ill as this Stayed with him 
 
 that night : very restless, but had one sleep of about three 
 hours. 
 
 " May 9. Monday. Still restless Objected more 
 
 than once to Achmad sitting beside him, while I visited a 
 sick woman, &c., as A. was not well, and he said it would 
 tire him. Same when his wife sat with him. Wrote for 
 
 nurse That evening I talked with him about a 
 
 change, which I said was necessary, and said I would stay 
 after June 7 if necessary.^ He said he hoped it would not 
 be necessary, and that I should not get fever. * Suppose 
 you caught it three or four days before you were to sail. I 
 am going to pray that nothing may prevent your getting 
 away on the 7th of June.' He had been wandering at 
 times during the day, but seemed to brace himself up for 
 this, and was perfectly clear ; very simply and fervently he 
 thanked God for my nursing, and prayed for restoration to 
 health to carry on the work begun ; that nothing might 
 
 ^ It had been planned that Dr. Cowen should have taken the 
 steamer of this date for England, to complete the medical and 
 surgical outfit of the Mission. 
 
226 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 prevent my sailing as arranged, and that He would * gra- 
 ciously dispose the hearts of friends at home towards the 
 cause of missions, in the name of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ.' I stayed by his side all night : he slept 
 about four hours altogether." 
 
 In the course of the morning of this day he had said to 
 his wife, " I want you to thank God that I am so much 
 better ; I feel like a new man ; do pray now." Afterwards 
 he talked of the seeming mysteriousness of the fever being 
 allowed to interrupt the work for so long, but added that 
 God allowed it all and so it must be right. Then he said, 
 " How I wish that each attack of fever had brought me 
 nearer to Christ — nearer, nearer, nearer ; " adding shortly 
 afterwards, ** I can most truly say that I am not afraid to 
 die, in spite of my many shortcomings, but I do pray God 
 that I may be spared pain." Then he spoke of his brother 
 Dudley, how much he suffered, and how joyful he was at 
 the thought of death. 
 
 The following extract is from Dr. Cowen's diary : — 
 
 "May 10. Tuesday. Condition much the same as 
 yesterday. About 5 p.m. Mr. Streeten, the chaplain, 
 called, bringing the nurse to help us. He did not feel 
 well enough to see Mr. Streeten, and asked to be excused. 
 I walked to the garden plot with Mr. Streeten, and talked 
 over possible trips: he promised to make all enquiries 
 from P. and O. agent the same evening. I said we could 
 not arrange anything definitely, as it would depend on 
 when he was well enough to move, and when that would 
 be really no one could say at present. In evening was 
 
 very weak and restless Asked me if I thought 
 
 there was danger : I said * I hope not,' and tried to cheer 
 him. 
 
 " Told the nurse to knock me up at once if anything 
 happened, and shewed her where I slept. Shortly before 
 9, he took two eggs in brandy and milk, and about 9.30 
 fell asleep. I stayed with Mrs. Keith-Falconer till , 10 
 o'clock, and had prayer for lier husband with her. We 
 
Shaikh Othman, 227 
 
 talked over his condition and treatment, and could think 
 of nothing else which could be done. Left the nurse in 
 charge with brandy and milk and ice. by bedside. Was 
 sleeping quietly and regularly when I left about 10 o'clock, 
 and being very tired I slept soundly till hastily called by 
 Mrs. Keith-Falconer about a quarter to six next morning. 
 The nurse reported that he slept quietly most of the night, 
 and she was thinking how refreshed he would be next day, 
 as he had been rather restless for two nights. About 4 
 A.M. he was still sleeping quietly and regularly. She then 
 lay down by the side of the bed, and was not awake when 
 
 Mrs. Keith- Falconer called to her in the morning 
 
 One glance told all. He was lying on his back, with eyes 
 
 half-open, and hands resting on the bed by his sides 
 
 The whole attitude and expression indicated a sudden and 
 painless end, as if it had taken place during sleep, there 
 being no indication whatever of his having tried to move 
 or speak." 
 
 It was indeed the end: quietly he had passed away. 
 " God's finger touched him and he slept." Slept ! Nay, 
 rather awakened. Not in the close heated room, where he 
 had so long lain half- helpless, — the weary nurse, overcome 
 with heat and watching, slumbering near, — the young 
 wife, widowed ere yet she knew her loss, lying in the 
 adjoining room, herself broken down with illness as well 
 as anxiety, — the loyal doctor, resting after his two nights' 
 vigil — not on these do Ion Keith-Falconer's eyes reopen. 
 He is in the presence of his Lord : the life which is the 
 Life Indeed has begun. 
 
 On the evening of the 11th he was reverently laid to 
 rest at the Aden cemetery, several of the officers of the 
 garrison (H.M.'s 98th Regiment) attending the funeral. 
 The spot is a wild and dreary one, in no sense recalling 
 the peaceful beauty of many an English churchyard. He 
 is far from home and loved ones, yet he rests amid those 
 for whom he laboured with so perfect a love, and for 
 whom he counted no loss too great, if only he might 
 
228 Shaikh Othman. 
 
 win them for Christ. He died at just Henry Martyn's 
 age. Like him he has "fulfilled a long time in a short 
 time," and precious shall be the fruit that shall spring, 
 in God's good time, out of his blessed devotion to the 
 Lord. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 " 'My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pil- 
 grimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My 
 marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that I 
 have fought His battles. Who now will be my rewarder ' . . . . 
 So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the 
 other side." 
 
 Pilgrim's Progress. Death of Valiant-for-Truth. 
 
 It was almost exactly six months after the young mis- 
 sionary, full of keen hopes and joyous anticipations, had 
 left England for the East, that the telegram told the un- 
 looked-for news of his death and his burial amid the 
 scene of his labours. The cheerful tone of the letters he 
 had written during his illness made it all the harder to 
 realise the fact that one who had been seen so short a 
 time before in the fullest vigour of young manhood had 
 indeed passed away. That warm, loving heart, that keen, 
 active brain, were, for this world, at rest. All the zeal 
 and self-sacrificing earnestness, all the carefully planned 
 and patiently worked-out schemes, all the efforts, all the 
 prayers, seemingly in vain. Yet, G-od be thanked, it is 
 indeed but in seeming. Who will venture to think, as he 
 looks back on the fair, noble record of Ion Keith-Falconer's 
 life and on his sacrifice of what the world holds dear, that 
 such love and faith can remain permanently effectless? 
 In that noble young Christian hero's life and death a seed 
 has assuredly been sown, the ultimate harvest of which no 
 man may foresee. 
 
230 Conclusion. 
 
 The news of his death excited a deep feeling of sorrow 
 amid a far wider circle than that of his immediate friends 
 and acquaintances. Few men have died at so early an 
 age who have elicited from such widely different quarters 
 such expressions of warm regret. 
 
 It so chanced that the sad news from Aden reached 
 home only a few days before the Annual Meeting of the 
 General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, that 
 Assembly which in the preceding May had sent its mis- 
 sionary forth with so hopeful a God- speed. 
 
 Both the outgoing Moderator, Dr. Somerville, who had 
 been the mouthpiece of the Assembly on that occasion, 
 and his successor. Dr. Eainy, paid warm tribute to the 
 work and the memory of this soldier fallen at his post. 
 
 The former, in his sermon at the opening of the As- 
 sembly, after referring to the unlooked-for nature of the 
 news and to the sorrow which would be universally felt, 
 proceeded : — 
 
 " It is a peculiar providence that on the very eve of the 
 opening of the General Assembly, tidings should have 
 reached us of the unexpected death of one of the most 
 chivalrous, distinguished, and beloved of our young mis- 
 sionaries, who, amid the burning heats of Aden, at the 
 early age of thirty-one, has fallen under the power of that 
 mysterious malady which has borne from the Church on 
 earth so many of her noblest and most devoted sons. The 
 blow that has descended is one which will be keenly felt 
 throughout every district — I may say, throughout the 
 country at large. The young Christian hero was present 
 with us at the last Assembly. His noble parentage, high 
 intellectual qualities, brilliant attainments, but above all 
 his self-sacrificing devotion to the highest of all causes, 
 invest his death with a power which will influence our 
 minds during all the proceedings of this Assembly. 
 
 "What may be the beneficent result which God may 
 educe from this calamity, we know not. This, however, we 
 may venture to hope for, that the death of this noble young 
 man may prove the means of awakening attention, greater 
 
Conclusion. 231 
 
 than has ever been directed, to all Arabia's provinces, and 
 tend to give a lasting wound to that fatal system of Moham- 
 medanism which has so long blighted the souls of millions. 
 "What Christian Scotchman, with qualities in any way re- 
 sembling those of him who has passed away, will stand 
 forth to raise the banner of the Gospel in the place of the 
 gallant warrior who has fallen ? " 
 
 The new Moderator, Dr. Eainy, in his opening address, 
 dwelt pointedly on the same thought : — the first volunteer 
 has fallen in the Lord's battle ; who comes next ? He 
 said : — 
 
 " Whatever becomes of the mission, of Ion Keith-Fal- 
 coner we have now the memory only. But it is a very 
 profitable and admonitory memory. Very visibly he gave 
 to the cause and kingdom of our Lord Jesus all he had. 
 His university distinction, his oriental learning, his posi- 
 tion in society, his means, the bright morning of his mar- 
 ried life, I may add his physical vigour — for he had trained 
 body as well as mind — he brought them all to the service. 
 He did so the more impressively because he did it with no 
 fuss about it. We need not doubt that his free and com- 
 plete gift was accepted. It was well that it was in his 
 heart. Suddenly, to our thinking, the Lord has been 
 pleased to take him up higher. We might think that, had 
 he been spared, his life might have been fruitful, not only 
 as a force abroad, but as an example at home ; for he was 
 the first in our Church's experience who was at once able 
 and willing to inaugurate this special type of dedication to 
 mission work, and his life might have been a standing 
 appeal to others. But shall his death have no force as an 
 appeal ? Who comes next ? Who will come with youth 
 and trained mental faculties, and proved success in study 
 and acquirements, and with position and means that make 
 him independent, and give them all to the service ? Or if 
 all these cannot be so equally combined, as in our lamented 
 friend, who will come with the measure of those gifts they 
 have, giving all they have ? It is sad that he is gone. But 
 it will be a great deal sadder if it should turn out that his 
 example fails to raise up a successor from among the young 
 men and young women of our Church." 
 
232 Conclusion. 
 
 The Free Churcli, in its official ** deliverance," made 
 solemn mention of those of its missionaries who had passed 
 to their rest in the preceding year, concluding with two 
 whose work was ended in the very spring-time of their 
 lives : — 
 
 ** The falling asleep, in the first months of their fervent 
 service, of Mrs. Cross at Chirenji, the farthest African out- 
 post in East Central Africa ; and of the Hon. Ion G. N. 
 Keith-Falconer in the extreme Asian outpost of Shaikh 
 Othman, in South Arabia, gives solemn urgency to the 
 latest appeal of the latter to the cultured, the wealthy and 
 the unselfish, whom that devoted volunteer for Christ re- 
 presented : ' While vast continents are shrouded in almost 
 utter darkness, and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors 
 of heathenism or of Islam, the burden of proof lies upon 
 you to shew that the circumstances in which Grod placed 
 you were meant by Him to keep you out of the foreign 
 mission -field.' " 
 
 In Cambridge, it needs not to be said, after the first 
 shock of startled surprise, there was a very general and 
 keen feeling of sorrow. To all came the thought that one 
 of the most distinguished graduates of our University had 
 passed away in his prime, under circumstances which 
 added an exceptional interest to his name ; many had the 
 further sad recollection that never again in this life should 
 they see the face of one of the most loveable of men. 
 
 In the sermon preached before the University on the 
 Sunday after Ascension-day (May 22), the preacher, the 
 Kev. H. C. Gr. Moule, Principal of Eidley Hall, who had 
 taken as his subject " our union by the Holy Spirit with 
 our exalted Lord," dwelt at the close of the sermon on the 
 loss which the University and Church had sustained, and 
 on the lesson to which it clearly pointed : — 
 
 ** I will say no more upon the text. Bear with me a few 
 moments longer if I pay my poor tribute as we close to the 
 blessed memory of him who is but just lost to our Univer- 
 
Conclusion, 233 
 
 sity, and to the Church Militant on earth, and whose name 
 I venture to enrol on the lengthening register of my friends 
 in Christ gone home. I spoke here of Ion Keith-Falconer 
 on Thursday, but the comparative privacy of our assembly 
 then leaves it surely my duty to lay one more wreath of 
 love and honour now upon his Arabian grave. He was 
 gifted, as men well knew, in many ways ; with the gifts of 
 birth, which are worse than nothing without goodness, but 
 a true talent with it ; with the physical vigour and address 
 which Scripture itself calls the glory of young men ; with 
 a mental constitution in which facility and rapidity of 
 acquisition and accuracy of result were combined as few 
 men are permitted to combine them. He took his seat at 
 nine-and-twenty in the conclave of our Professors. And 
 then, quite unobtrusively and as in the day's work of life, 
 he went forth, for the Name's sake of his beloved Lord, to 
 be the evangelist of the Arabians. And then, ten days 
 ago, before his thirty-first birthday, he lay down and slept 
 
 in Christ Not many years ago died, in the very 
 
 noon of youth, Ion Keith-Falconer's elder brother. It is 
 on record that for three whole days his dissolution was, 
 from the medical point of view, retarded by the overflow- 
 ing joy which filled and vivified his being as the prospect 
 shone before him of entrance into the presence of the King. 
 Grod deals not so with all His dying saints. It may or may 
 not have been thus with this true brother of the same 
 blood and the same precious faith, as he also went over 
 Jordan. But it is sure as the foundations of all truth that 
 he is exceeding glad now, in great joy and felicity now, in 
 the everlasting life ; welcomed with open embraces into 
 the eternal tabernacles, into the bliss of the sight of Christ. 
 And why ? The ultimate answer is — because of the blood 
 of the Lamb, because of the indwelling and the leading of 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 "■ And what to us, what to the Christian Church, says 
 the silence of his grave? When, forty years ago, the 
 apostolic Krapf buried his wife at Zanzibar and stood 
 alone beside the tomb, * Now,' said he, * is the time come 
 for the evangelization of Africa from the eastern shore ; 
 for the Church is ever wont to advance over the graves of 
 her members.' That omen is f ulfilhng now. So shall it be 
 
234 Conclusion. 
 
 in Christ's name for old Arabia, shut so long against the 
 Cross, but claimed now for her true Lord by our scholar- 
 missionary's dust." 
 
 It may well be imagined that to the workers in Mile- 
 End the news of Keith-Falconer's death would come with 
 peculiar poignancy. He had been one of the mainstays of 
 that work almost from its beginning, his voice had been 
 heard in the Great Hall only a few months before, and in 
 no place had the news from the distant mission-field been 
 more eagerly dwelt on than here. At the memorial service 
 held in the great Assembly Hall on the Sunday evening 
 after the tidings became generally known, the building 
 was thronged with an immense congregation. Still but the 
 same lesson : — for him, " the souls of the righteous are in 
 the hand of Grod ; " for them that remain, let his example 
 speak forth trumpet- tongued to fight the Lord's battle. 
 
 Warm expressions of sympathy were elicited in many 
 quarters ; other missionary societies than that with which 
 Keith-Falconer was specially associated, put on formal re- 
 cord their sense of the loss which the Church had sustained. 
 The Committee of the Church Missionary Society sent a 
 minute expressing their regret at the death " at an early 
 age and almost at the very commencement of a missionary 
 career of singular promise, of the Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer." 
 They add 
 
 " The Committee feel that there is an ample sphere for 
 both Societies in the Arabian field, and trust that God 
 will raise up for their sister Society a suitable successor to 
 carry on the important work which Mr. Keith-Falconer 
 commenced ; and desire to express their very sincere sym- 
 pathy with the Free Church of Scotland iti the loss which 
 in Mr. Keith-Falconer's removal they have sustained." 
 
 To shew what I believe testifies to the increasing soli- 
 darity among those interested in the cause of Christian 
 Missions throughout the world, it may be added that not 
 
Conclusion. 235 
 
 a few missionary journals in Canada and the United States 
 contained touching notices of Keith-Falconer's work and 
 death.' 
 
 Among the various simpler marks of recognition paid 
 to his memory, I cannot refrain from noticing the follow- 
 ing mentioned to me by Mr. Charrington. In the East of 
 London there exists a very large benefit Society, conducted 
 on total abstinence principles, known as the * Sons of the 
 Phoenix.' The members of this are drawn entirely from 
 the working classes, and number, I am told, not less than 
 30,000. Of this society, a new Lodge for younger members 
 has been formed this summer, under the name of " the 
 Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer Lodge." God grant that the 
 reminder involved in the name under which these youths 
 are enrolled may ever be a help to something higher, 
 towards a fuller realization of truest Christian manhood. 
 
 It is not, however, in lament, deep and sincere though 
 it be, or in simply dwelling lovingly on the thought of the 
 departed, that honour may most truly be shewn, but rather 
 in carrying on his work as he would have had it done. If 
 of Keith-Falconer it may be said 
 
 *' So brave, so strong, 
 Fired with such burning hate of powerful ill," 
 
 it is no true honour, no mark of true affection to the much 
 loved dead, if, among his works manifold, that with which 
 his heart had been pre-eminently bound up, that for the 
 attainment of which he counted not dear anything but the 
 love of the Master, were to be allowed to die out in oblivion. 
 As in the parallel case referred to in his last public utter- 
 
 ^ From quite another quarter of the world comes a singularly 
 interesting piece of intelligence. The Presbytery of the Free 
 Church of Scotland in Kafraria resolved (Oct. 8, 1887) that "steps 
 should be taken to prepare a Memoir of the late Hon. Ion Keith- 
 Falconer, to be printed in Kafir, as a tract for circulation among 
 the Native Congregations, wdth a view to impress them with an 
 example of self-sacrifice." 
 
236 Conclusion, 
 
 ance in Great Britain, that of Eaymund Lully, lying in 
 death amid the Moors whom he sought to bring back to 
 faith in the Saviour, a protest for all time if ever supine- 
 ness surrenders that region without protest to the false 
 prophet — so do Ion Keith-Falconer's sacred remains lie, in 
 witness and appeal, on that shore where in recent genera- 
 tions he has been the pioneer proclaiming the unchanging 
 message of the Grospel. 
 
 My story might justly be charged with incompleteness, 
 if I passed over without mention that which is the truest 
 conceivable way of honouring Keith-Falconer's memory, 
 the maintenance of the work begun at Shaikh Othman. 
 
 The news from Aden had reached this country between 
 the outgoing of the old and the election of the new Com- 
 mittee of Foreign Missions in the Free Church ; and thus 
 not till their meeting in June could the Committee take 
 official cognisance of the loss. They recorded in eloquent 
 and touching words what Keith-Falconer had done, the 
 causes which had brought his work to an untimely end, 
 and their own expression of deep and sincere regret. 
 ** After five months' work, enthusiastic, untiring and 
 hopeful, there remain for us on earth only his memory 
 and the undying power and persuasiveness of his personal 
 life and example." 
 
 But this was not all. At the same meeting, the Secre- 
 tary announced that under Grod's blessing, Keith-Fal- 
 coner's work should not be stayed by his death ; for by 
 the generosity of his mother and widow, stipends would 
 be guaranteed for two missionaries, one of whom at 
 least should be a medical man, to carry on the work at 
 Shaikh Othman. Dr. Cowen undertook to return to Aden 
 at any rate until the buildings were completed. 
 
 An appeal was thereupon issued asking for a sufficient 
 sum to complete and furnish the buildings. The estimated 
 amount was .£1,200, which was raised in a few months, 
 and we may now hope that a few months more will see 
 
Conclusion, 237 
 
 the whole set of buildings in complete working order. 
 The whole of the money already spent on them, amount- 
 ing to upwards of .£300, had been entirely defrayed by 
 Keith-Falconer himself. 
 
 It was of course no light thing to aim at carrying on a 
 mission the founder of which had fallen so early in the 
 midst of the work of which he was, humanly speaking, the 
 all in all. There was indeed no fear as to the zeal and 
 devotion of men who would volunteer for such a mission- 
 field ; but it was an imperative duty to utilize to the full 
 the lessons of the past, that the new workers might enter 
 upon their task under the most favourable conditions. 
 The well-known Indian Missionary, Dr. Mackichan, who 
 had succeeded Dr. John Wilson at Bombay, was now on 
 the point of returning to India, and was therefore re- 
 quested to visit Aden and Shaikh Othman on his way and 
 to report generally on it and anything relevant to the 
 success of the mission. 
 
 At a meeting in August of the Foreign Missions' Com- 
 mittee, a second missionary, also a medical man, volun- 
 teered to go out to Shaikh Othman, and was accepted. 
 This gentleman, Dr. Alexander Paterson, is the son of the 
 Committee's first medical missionary to Madras, and 
 grandson of Dr. Chalmers's parishioner and friend, the 
 * Missionary of Kilmany.' This successor to Keith- 
 Falconer's work had never interchanged a word with him, 
 or indeed seen him, save at a distance; yet, strangely 
 enough, as I have already mentioned, it was to see him as 
 a possible colleague that Keith-Falconer paid his visit to 
 the hospital in Bethnal-Green in June, 1886. Dr. Pater- 
 son, after devoting himself at Cairo during the winter to 
 the study of Arabic and of special Oriental diseases, pro- 
 ceeded to Shaikh Othman at the beginning of the March 
 of the present year.^ There yet another volunteer is 
 
 ^ Dr. Paterson has already an average of twenty cases a day, 
 Arabs and Somalis, both men and women. 
 
238 Conclusion, 
 
 working, who sailed from England in November last. This 
 is Mr. Matthew Lochhead, who speaks Arabic fluently, 
 and who for three years held the post of * Lay Evangelist 
 and Medical Assistant* in a mission among the Kabyles in 
 Morocco. 
 
 When the present chapter was ready to be sent to the 
 press, fresh tidings reached me which call for feelings of 
 deep thankfulness, and cannot fitly be passed over here. 
 
 The death of the young missionary and his appeal for 
 men has had so powerful an effect on the Divinity students 
 of the New College, Edinburgh (one of the three Colleges 
 of the Free Church of Scotland), that out of the forty who 
 will complete their seven or eight years' course of study in 
 April next, eleven, besides two of the previous year, have 
 offered themselves for missionary work abroad. Several 
 of these, to whom South Arabia was provisionally offered, 
 were ultimately found ineligible for that post on grounds 
 of health. One of the most distinguished, however, a very 
 promising Semitic scholar, Mr. William E. W. Gardner, 
 M.A., has been chosen by the Foreign Missions' Committee 
 and will be ordained for the work. 
 
 Mr. Gardner's father was a missionary in Poona, his 
 sister is a missionary in Bombay, and his elder brother is 
 about to go out as ordained Professor to the Wilson College 
 in Bombay. Mr. Gardner will continue his study of Arabic 
 for the present and will join the Mission in October. 
 
 The mention of the Edinburgh New College suggests 
 one point more, the disposal of Keith-Falconer's Arabic 
 books. The choicest of these, upwards of 400 in number, 
 have been made over by his family to the Library of this 
 College, where they will be kept as a special collection 
 under the title of the " Keith-Falconer Arabic Library.'* 
 Professor A. B. Davidson and Sir William Muir consider 
 it to be the most valuable Arabic library in Scotland. 
 
 All that now remains to be told is to speak briefly of the 
 results of Dr. Mackichan's visit to Aden. Having landed 
 
Conclusion, 239 
 
 on Oct. 1, the first necessary piece of business to be trans- 
 acted was to take steps for transferring the grant of land 
 at Shaikh Othman to the trustees of the Free Church of 
 Scotland, as Keith-Falconer would himself have done on 
 the completion of the buildings. 
 
 It is strangely touching to read of Dr. Mackichan's 
 meeting with Colonel Raper, Dr. Colson, Dr. Jackson, 
 Lieutenant Gordon, and others whose names are familiar 
 as those of cordial friends to the mission party. On 
 Sunday evening, October 2, Dr. Mackichan was taken by 
 Colonel Eaper to see the spot where the departed worker 
 for Christ was laid. 
 
 " He accompanied us to the place where Keith-Falconer 
 lies buried — a spot that shall ever remain sacred to all who 
 shall read the records of the planting of Christ's Church in 
 Arab lands, and which now and in coming years should 
 call forth the highest manifestations of the missionary de- 
 votion and heroism of our Church. Behind it and around 
 it, stand the black mountain rocks — the gloomy hills of 
 darkness to which the departed labourer came with the 
 message of the Gospel's glorious light ; in front of it lies 
 the white, sandy Arabian shore, with the ocean stretching 
 away into limitless distance. As we looked upon it in the 
 quiet of the peaceful sunset hour, it was a scene in which 
 labour and rest, suffering and joy, seemed strangely 
 mingled. The black frowning rocks seemed to speak of 
 toil and suffering, but the still unending expanse before 
 us lifted our thoughts away from the scene of sorrow, to 
 that of the unending and unspeakable joy, in which that 
 labour and sorrow have ended. As we stood by the grave 
 we thought of the mysteriousness of the bereavement 
 which had deprived the land of one so devoted to the cause 
 of its evangelisation, and so eminently fitted for the work 
 to which he had consecrated himself. Colonel Raper in- 
 terpreted our thoughts and his own, when he spoke of it 
 as the dying of the seed which should yet bring forth much 
 fruit. It was touching to see how carefully the grave was 
 tended. The Colonel had enclosed the space temporarily 
 in a tasteful border of wood, while the loving hands of his 
 
240 Conclusion. 
 
 two little children had covered it with the shells which they 
 themselves had gathered from the adjoining beach." 
 
 On the following day a visit was paid to Shaikh Othman, 
 under the guidance of Dr. Jackson. Dr. Mackichan was 
 agreeably surprised by the comparative coolness of the 
 temperature of Aden after that of the Eed Sea, and still 
 more by that of Shaikh Othman. Here he found the old 
 village gradually disappearing, and being replaced by one 
 built by Government with wide, open streets. After a 
 visit to the Government office, a careful inspection was 
 made of the unfinished mission buildings. These, as has 
 been already stated, lie between the old village and the 
 new, and the site was chosen by Keith-Falconer that the 
 mission and its workers should be in the very midst of the 
 people. The plot, which was 610 feet each way, was en- 
 closed by a wall of sun-dried bricks seven feet high, with a 
 gate in the centre of each side of the square. In the eastern 
 corner was the unfinished house, the walls of which had 
 risen to the height of the first story. It had been intended 
 to add an upper story, containing at least one room. 
 
 The next visit was to the house where the mission party 
 had lived. Of this Dr. Mackichan says, 
 
 "As we went over the little unoccupied dwelling in which 
 Mr. Keith-Falconer's last moments were spent, we realised 
 something of the trials with which our missionaries had to 
 contend in the beginning of their labours. The house is 
 not only small but low-roofed, while the high wall which 
 surrounds the enclosure must exclude much of the breeze 
 which is so essential to healthful life in that region. There 
 can be little doubt that the illnesses from which all the 
 members of the Mission suffered were in great measure due 
 to the peculiar position in which they were placed, rather 
 than to any general climatic cause." 
 
 On their way back to Aden, visits were paid to Hassan 
 All's bungalow and to Khor Maksar, the residence of 
 Lieutenant Gordon. 
 
Conclusion. 241 
 
 Those who have followed with interest Keith-Falconer's 
 heroic missionary career will be glad to read of the im- 
 pressions left on the mind of an acute observer, written 
 immediately after careful investigation on the spot. Dr. 
 Mackichan had strong grounds for believing from all he 
 saw and heard while in Aden that Keith-Falconer's work 
 while in Arabia, short though it was, had by its intense 
 earnestness left a deep impression on the hearts of the 
 people, and that the influence had spread far into the 
 interior. " We have," he adds, " not merely the assurance 
 that the seed of corn which has died will bear much fruit, 
 but can behold already the up-springing of the tender 
 blades of promise." 
 
 Dr. Mackichan informs us that a railway is already pro- 
 jected from Aden to Shaikh Othman, and is expected to 
 be an accomplished fact in six months. This will doubt- 
 less largely increase the population of Shaikh Othman, 
 and will in many ways bring great benefits to the mis- 
 sionaries, but not without certain drawbacks. 
 
 One important point had to be settled, the question 
 whether the original scheme of the mission should be re- 
 tained unchanged in all its details as planned by Keith- 
 Falconer. After careful consideration. Dr. Mackichan 
 proposed one important modification, in which he was 
 supported by the ** unanimous, almost urgent representa- 
 tion" of those gentlemen on the spot who took a warm 
 interest in the welfare of the mission. This was to pro- 
 vide a residence for the missionaries on a fresh site, 
 reserving the existing buildings and the enclosure for the 
 various purposes of the Mission, — Hospital, Dispensary, 
 Mission School ; the present unfinished building being on 
 its completion used as the School, the Hospital being 
 erected on another part of the same enclosure. 
 
 There is obviously much to recommend this change, 
 and the proposal has been approved of by the Foreign 
 Missions' Committee of the Free Church. Thus, as be- 
 
242 Co7iclusion. 
 
 fore, tlie work will still be carried on in the heart of the 
 village, but the missionaries will live rather less than 
 half a mile away, on a spot thoroughly open to the 
 freshest breezes. Here they will not require the high 
 enclosing wall necessary in the village, and thus will be 
 able to obtain after a hard day's toil the rest and fresh 
 air which are absolutely essential to their health and fit- 
 ness for labour. 
 
 Again then does the mission begin, and with bright 
 prospects of success. Humanly speaking, we may well 
 believe that the workers at Shaikh Othman have now a 
 great field opening out before them. In the success of 
 their work all servants of Christ, of every branch of the 
 Church, cannot but feel the warmest interest. 
 
 A great price has been paid, a noble life laid down; 
 but by God's will that dea.th may have wrought as much 
 for His cause as a long life spent in missionary service : 
 and, in any case, it is not for us to define the conditions 
 under which God's servants, here or beyond the grave, 
 shall work for Him. The Master had need of him, and 
 has called him. 
 
 In those words from the greatest of English allegories, 
 which stand at the head of the present chapter, we have 
 the dying utterance of Valiant-for-Truth. Fittingly may 
 those words be applied to the closing of the short life of 
 Ion Keith-Falconer, short if measured by length of years, 
 and yet 
 
 *' One crowded hour of glorious life 
 Is worth an age without a name." 
 
 Devoted missionary, true Christian hero, he has left a 
 mark on many fields of work, an undying memory in many 
 hearts. "He has fought His battles, Who now is his 
 rewarder." 
 
 THE END. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aberdeen, 7, 22. 
 
 Achmad, 196, 225. 
 
 Aden, description of, ]39 if . ; 
 
 life at, 154, 171. 
 Arabic, 90, 92, 107, 121, 144. 
 ,, Lord Almoner's Pro- 
 fessorship of, 176. 
 Assembly Hall, Mile-End, 80 ff. , 
 
 234. 
 Assiout, 104 ff. 
 
 Bannockburn, battle of, 2. 
 Barnwell, 62 ff., 183 ft". 
 Barry, battle of, 1. 
 Ben-na-chie, 8. 
 Bethnal-Green Hospital, 175. 
 Bevan, Mr. Aslilev, 223. 
 
 „ R. C. L, 69, 126. 
 Bicycle Club, Cambridge Uni- 
 versity, 52 ff. 
 ,, ,, Cambridge C.Y. 
 
 M., 138, 178. 
 ,, ,, London, 53, 182. 
 Bicvcling, 17,51 ff., 102, 112, 126, 
 
 138. 
 Bidpai, see Kalilah. 
 Bir-Achmad, 205, 207, 214. 
 Black Forest, 104. 
 Blundell, Mrs., 9. 
 Bowen, Mr. E. E., 16, 27, 179. 
 Bright, Dr. Tim., 136. 
 Broadlands Conference, 45, 58 ff. 
 Bruce, King Robert, 2. 
 Butler, Rev. Dr., Master of 
 Trinity, 13, 19. 
 
 Cairo, 104 ff., 110. 
 
 Cambridge, 17, 31 ff., 66ft'., 101, 
 
 121 ft:, 167, 191, 2.32. 
 Cannes, 30, 126, 137, 166, 195. 
 Caskieben, 5, 9. 
 Champnev, Mr. H. d'A., 69. 
 Charrington, Mr. F. N. , 23, 25, 
 
 69, 72 ff., 102, 151, 162, 174, 
 
 183, 194. 
 Cheam School, 12. 
 China Inland Mission, 129, 202. 
 Church Missionary Society, 147, 
 
 159, 234. 
 Clare College, Cambridge, 125. 
 Colson, Dr. and Mrs., 156, 197, 
 
 199, 215, 218, 226, 239. 
 Cowen, Dr. B. Stewart, 180, 
 
 195, 197, 199, 201, 203, 210, 
 
 236. 
 Co wper- Temple, Right Hon. W. , 
 
 45. 
 Crofton, Rev. W. d'A., 53. 
 
 Dale, Mr. Thomas, 32. 
 Darn HaU, 180, 185. 
 Delitzsch, Dr., 94. 
 Delme-Radclitte, Rev. A. H., 
 
 184. 
 Dundrech, 180. 
 Dunnottar Castle, 2, 4. 
 
 East-End Conference Hall, 76. 
 Ebrington Prize, 16, 24. 
 Edinburgh, 169, 185 ; New Col- 
 lege, 238. 
 El-Hautah, 161 ff., 206. 
 Ely, Bishop of, 176. 
 Emijjerson, Mrs., 37, 101, 
 
244 
 
 Index. 
 
 Encyclopedia Britannica, 136, 
 177. 
 
 Falconer, Lord, 5, 8. 
 
 Fleischer, Dr., 94. 
 
 Flitton, Mr., 69. 
 
 Flodden, battle of, 2. 
 
 Flower Prize, 16, 24. 
 
 Frederick the Great, 4. 
 
 Free Church of Scotland, 6, 15, 
 90, 95, 150, 157, 230; General 
 Assembly of, 168, 230. 
 
 Gardner, Mr. William R. W., 
 
 238 
 Gordon, General, 100 ff., 156, 
 
 161, 216, 
 Gordon, Hon. James Henry, 169. 
 Gordon, Lieut. Louis, 216, 223, 
 
 239. 
 
 Haig, General, R.E., 142, 145, 
 
 147, 157, 212. 
 Harpur, Dr. and Mrs., 147, 196, 
 
 213. 
 Harrow, 12, 17, 22 ff., 137. 
 Hassan Ali, 199. 
 Hensley, Rev. Lewis, 27 ff. 
 Hindustanee, 212, 217, 225. 
 Hitchin, 27. 
 Hochkirch, battle of, 3. 
 Hodeida, 147. 
 Hogg, Dr., 104 ff. 
 Hogg, General, 197. 
 Holyoake, Mr. G. J., 4.3. 
 Huntingdon, David, P^arl of, 
 
 8. 
 
 Ibh, 214. 
 Ibrahim, 224. 
 
 Inverurie, town and Bass of, 7, 
 11, 22; battle of, 2. 
 
 Jackson, Dr., 161, 162, 196, 216, 
 
 239, 240. 
 Ja cubl, 212. 
 Jeremie Prize, 43. 
 
 Kafraria, Free Church of Scot- 
 land in, 235 n. 
 Kalilah, 91, 120 130 ff. 
 Keen, John, 17, 54, 55 
 
 Keith, Robert, 1 ; Sir Robert, 
 2 ; Sir William, ib. ; Lady 
 Catherine, 5. 
 
 Keith, Marshal James, 3, 96. 
 
 Keith-Falconer, Hon. Arthur, 
 43. 
 
 Keith-Falconer, Hon. Dudley, 
 ^ 10, 30, 226. 
 
 Keith-Falconer, Hon. Ion ; birth 
 and childhood, 9 ff. ; school at 
 Cheam, 12 ; Harrow, 13 ff. ; 
 with Mr. Hensley, 26 ; Cam- 
 bridge, 31 ff. ; appearance and 
 manner, 35 ff. ; Jeremie Prize, 
 43 ; takes his degree in Theo- 
 logical Tripos, 45 ; elected 
 Tyrwhitt Scholar, 47 ; Semitic 
 Languages Tripos, 47 ; bicy- 
 cling, 51 ff. ; skill in shorthand, 
 57 ; helps Barnwell Mission, 
 67 ; becomes acquainted with 
 Mr. Charrington, 74 ; helps the 
 Mile-End Mission, ih. ; death 
 of his father, 89 ; help to Dr. 
 Lagarde, 91 ; begins Kalilah, 
 ih. ; visits Leipzig, 88 ; meets 
 Gen. Gordon, 100 ; visits the 
 Black Forest, 104 ; Cairo, 106 ; 
 Assiout, 107 ; Siena and Milan, 
 111 ; bicycle journey from 
 Land's End to John o' Groat's 
 House, 112 ff. ; examines for 
 Tyrwhitt Scholarship, 123; 
 attends Orientalist Congress 
 at Ley den, 124 ; appointed 
 Lecturer at Clare College, 
 Cambridge, 125; skill as 
 teacher, 126 ; marriage, 126 ; 
 bicycle tour in Sutherland- 
 shire, 126 ; Kalilah published, 
 130 ; first thinks of visiting 
 Aden, 148 ; offers himself as 
 Missionary to Free Church, 
 150 ; sails for Aden, ih. ; kind- 
 ness to soldiers of Aden garri- 
 son, 165 ; returns to England, 
 166 ; formal recognition by 
 Free Church, 169 ; address to 
 General Assembly, 170; plans 
 for Medical Mission, 174; visits 
 Bethnal-Green Hospital, 175 ; 
 accepts Lord Almoner's Pro- 
 
Index 
 
 245 
 
 fessorship, 176 ; meets Dr. 
 Cowen, 180; address at 
 Peebles, 180 ; presides at din- 
 ner of L.B.C., 182; plan for 
 Barnwell Missionary, 184 ; ad- 
 dress at Edinburgh, 185 ; lec- 
 tures on the Meccan Pilgrim- 
 age, 191 ; leaves England for 
 the East, 193 ; arrival at Aden, 
 195; disappointment as to bun- 
 galow, 198 fF. ; fits up a hut 
 for dwelling-house, 200 ; visit 
 to Bir-Achmad, 205 flF. ; second 
 visit to Bir-Achmad, 214 ; at- 
 tack of fever, 215 ; visit to 
 KhorMaksar, ih. ; last illness, 
 224 ; death, 227 ; burial, 227; 
 reception of news at home, 
 
 230 ff. ; Dr. Somerville's Ser- 
 mon, 230 ; Dr. Kainy's Sermon, 
 
 231 ; " deliverance" of Free 
 Church, 232 ; Rev. H. C. G. 
 Moule's Sermon, 232 ; Service 
 at Mile-End, 234 ; minute of 
 C. M. S. , 234 ; minute of Foreign 
 Missions' Committee of Free 
 Church, 236 ; Arabic Library, 
 238 ; grave, 239. 
 
 Keith-HaU, 5, 8, 9, 11, 21, 90, 
 
 124, 127, 138. 
 Kerwin, Mr. E. H., 26, 74, 79. 
 Khor Maksar, 215, 223, 240. 
 Kintore, Earl of, first, 5, 9 ; 
 
 second, 5 ; fifth, 5 ; eighth, 5, 
 
 20, 69, 74, 83, 89 ft'. 
 Kintore Prizes, 20, 137. 
 
 Lagarde, Dr., 90. 
 
 Lahej, 141, 159, 161 ff., 205, 220. 
 
 Latchmore, Mr. Arthur, 28. 
 
 Leipzig, 88 fr., 104. 
 
 Leyden Orientalist Congress, 
 
 124. 
 Lochhead, Mr. Matthew, 238. 
 Lully, Raymund, 189, 236. 
 Lusby's Music-Hail, 79, 80, 82. 
 
 Maala, 140. 
 
 Mackenzie, Bishop, 180. 
 Mackichan, Rev. Dr., 240, 241 ff. 
 Malcolm II. , king of Scotland, 1. 
 
 Marischal, Earl, first, 2 ; fourth, 
 ib. ; fifth, ih. ; seventh, 3 ; 
 eighth, ib. ; tenth, 3, 6. 
 
 Mecca, 196 ; see a/so Pilgrimage. 
 
 Mile-End, 72, 122, 163, 167, 183. 
 
 Minto, Rev. P. W., 38. 
 
 Mohammedanism, 161, 170 ff., 
 185 ff. 
 
 Montagu, Lady Sydney, 23, 33. 
 
 Moody, Mr. D. L., 34, 66, 122. 
 
 Moule, Bishop, of Mid China, 224 
 „ Rev. H. C. G., 220, 232. 
 
 Mowll, Rev. W. R., 69. 
 
 Noldeke, Professor, 120, 132, 135. 
 
 Palmer, Professor E. H.,50, 176. 
 Paterson, Dr. Alex., 175 n., 237. 
 Peebles, 181. 
 
 Phoenix, Sons of the, 235. 
 Pilgiimage to Mecca, 160, 171, 
 
 177, 179, 191, 202 n. 
 Pinkie, battle of, 2. 
 Pitman, Mr. Isaac, 38, 55, 57, 
 
 136. 
 Portmore, 180. 
 Professorship of Arabic, see 
 
 Arabic. 
 
 Rainy, Rev. Dr., 231. 
 
 Raper, Colonel and Mrs., 216, 
 
 225, 239. 
 Redknap, Mr., 11, 21. 
 Russell, Mr. G. W. E., 14. 
 
 San'a, 155, 159. 
 
 Seely, Major, 196. 
 
 Semitic Languages Tripos, 47, 
 
 137. 
 Septuagint, 49. 
 Shaftesbury, Lord, 77, 83. 
 Shaikh Otliman, 140, 155, 158, 
 
 176, 194 ff. 
 Sheriffmuir, battle of, 5. 
 Shorthand, 16, 27, 38, 57, 136 ff. 
 
 177. 
 Siena, 111. 
 Smith, Dr. George, CLE., 129, 
 
 158, 163, 164, 189, 217. 
 Sol-Fa, Tonic, 28, 33, 108. 
 Somalis, 147, 153, 159, 168, 212 
 Somerville, Rev. Dr., 169, 230. 
 
24G 
 
 Index. 
 
 Spurgeon, Rev. C. H., 83, 174. 
 Steamer Point, 140. 
 Stourbridge Fair, 63. 
 Streeten, Rev. G. B., 196, 226. 
 Studd, Mr. C. T., 129, 202, 211. 
 
 „ „ J. E. K., 96. 
 Sutherlandshire, 126, 138. 
 
 Tabor, Rev. R. S., 12. 
 Theological Tripos, 39, 125. 
 Tower-HamletsMission, 73, 122. 
 Trent Park, 126, 138, 167. 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, 31 
 
 ff., 62, 192. 
 Turner, Mr. J. H., 192, 223. 
 Tyrwhitt Hebrew Scholarship, 
 
 46, 56, 123. 
 
 Vawser, Mr., 69. 
 
 Wallace, WiUiam, 2. 
 
 Watson, Mr. Arthur, 12, 22. 
 
 Watson, Dr. and Mrs., 106, 195. 
 
 Whately, Miss, 106. 
 
 Willis, John, 136. 
 
 Wilson, Rev. Dr. John, F.R.S., 
 
 129 237. 
 Wright, Dr. W., 47, 88, 90, 
 
 120, 132. 
 
 Yemen, 141 ff., 214. 
 Young, Colonel, 169. 
 
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