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 BLESSED BE EGYPT!"
 
 "Blessed be Egypt" 
 
 A MISSIONARY STORY 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF PRESENT MISSIONARY 
 
 EFFORT IN EGYPT, AND THE STORY OF THE LORD'S 
 
 LEADING or THE EGYPT MISSION BAND 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 WM. J. W. ROOME, M.S.A. 
 
 XonOon : 
 
 MARSHALL BROTHERS, 
 KESWICK HOUSE, PATEKNOSTER Row,
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 PREFACE - - v ii. 
 
 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY . . u 
 
 II. "THE LABOURERS" - - - - 14 
 
 III. THE ORDINATION OF THE " PIERCED 
 
 HANDS" 30 
 
 IV. DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION - - 40 
 
 V. THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE - - 73 
 
 VI. THE PRE-EMINENCE OF PRAYER IN CON- 
 NECTION WITH MISSIONS, AND OUR 
 
 DUTY TOWARDS EGYPT. 
 
 93
 
 1bo\v 
 
 BY REV. A. B. SIMPSON. 
 
 THERE'S a cry comes forth from the heavenly temple, 
 
 'Mid the hush of the seraphim's song, 
 'Tis the souls of the martyrs under the altar : 
 
 " How long, O Lord, how long ? " 
 
 There's an echo falls from the heavenly temple, 
 
 With a message so stern and so strong, 
 'Tis the voice of the Lord as He asks of His people : 
 
 " How long. My Church, how long ? " 
 
 There's a cry goes out from the whole creation, 
 
 Like a burden of anguish and wrong ; 
 Tis the groan of the earth for the day of redemption, 
 
 It is saying, " O Lord, how long ? " 
 
 There's a bitter cry from the depths of the darkness. 
 
 Where the perishing heathen throng ; 
 'Tis the cry of a thousand millions pleading, 
 
 " How long, O Lord, how long ? " 
 
 They are suffering, sinning, and dying yonder. 
 
 With no one to pity their cry ; 
 They are passing away to a darker dying, 
 
 How long will we let them die ? 
 
 There are weeping women, wronged and helpless. 
 
 And their life is a living pain ; 
 There are murdered children, with none to save them, 
 
 How long shall they weep in vain ? 
 
 It is long since the love of Jesus found us, 
 
 But no one has cared for their woe ; 
 They have never been told of the Christ that saved you. 
 
 O why do you not go ? 
 
 Would we speed the hour of the Master's coining, 
 
 Would we bring the eternal song, 
 Let us rouse from our slumber and hark to the summons 
 
 " How long ! how long ! how long ! " 
 
 They are longing there for the Master's coming. 
 
 And the meeting with loved ones again. 
 Can we bear to delay that glorious meeting ' 
 
 Can we let them crv in vain 5
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IF any apology were needed for adding to the multitude of 
 books, the events of the past few weeks in the Soudan should 
 be sufficient call to draw the attention of all interested in the 
 spread of the Redeemer's kingdom to the " GREAT 
 OPPORTUNITY" that is opening for aggressive missionary 
 effort in the immense country, now coming under the flag of 
 a Christian nation. Another reason for issuing this small 
 book is to shew forth the glory of our Lord and Master in 
 calling out, and separating, and sending forth a band of 
 Seven Young Men to that ancient land. 
 
 For the encouragement of God's children in a wider circle 
 than that reached by the immediate friends of the brethren, 
 we would seek to emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit in 
 thus dealing with these brethren individually, and laying " the 
 burden of Egypt'' so heavily on the hearts of many of His 
 children that they have been led to pray definitely for that 
 wonderful nation. 
 
 We are confident the Lord must have wonderful purposes 
 for the future of that people, when politically, nationally, and 
 spiritually He is focussing such attention upon them. 
 
 About two years ago, in the city of Belfast, the Lord began 
 to draw together a band of young men, gathered from all 
 Evangelical denominations, for two distinct objects : To 
 preach the Gospel on Saturday evenings in the open air, and 
 to meet once a week for a " Half-night of Prayer." They became 
 knit together by the bonds of a deep spiritual longing for the 
 perishing and love for the Master, Whom they desired to serve. 
 The " Life Stories " in this book will reveal how the Lord led 
 on that band, so that in the short space of about eighteen 
 months, out of a total of thirteen, seven had received clear and 
 distinct calls to the " Regions Beyond," one had been chosen 
 pastor to a vacant congregation, and two others had been set 
 apart as evangelists. We would say no word that could give 
 praise to man, but seek to centre all glory on the Wonderful 
 and Gracious Lord, Who so condescends to take the broken and 
 empty vessel and use it for His own purposes of grace. This
 
 viii. PREFACE. 
 
 we may say, what He has done for one, He can and will do 
 for all who " leave all and follow Him " in whole-hearted 
 surrender and consecration. If this little effort lead some 
 brother or sister thus to " follow the Lamb whithersoever He 
 goeth," we will rejoice and give God the glory. 
 
 Much interest was manifested by God's people in the fare- 
 well addresses and testimonies of the first five to sail in 
 January of this year, and many expressed the wish for some 
 more permanent record of them. All the brethren were 
 known in business and social circles, and their going forth 
 proved a blessing to many. 
 
 The sincerest thanks are due to all who have kindly 
 contributed to Miss Van Sommer, who has known the 
 land for many years ; to the Rev. George Macgregor, M.A., 
 who pleads for earnest prayer on behalf of the " Regions 
 Beyond " ; to Rev. George Grubb, M.A., for the prophetical 
 outline of God's purposes ; to Herr Baedeker for kindly 
 granting permission to make use of his valuable guide to 
 Egypt in describing the " Land and its People ;" to the 
 A.U.P.M., the C.M.S., and the N.A.M. for particulars of their 
 Missions, which are doing so much good in the large cities 
 of the Delta district, and the villages on the banks of the Nile ; 
 to the members of the band who have gone forth in the 
 name of the Lord, giving their lives to Him for that land ; to 
 Mr. A. W. Vance, the Hon. Treasurer of the E.M.B., and Mr. 
 J. E. Pirn, the Hon. Secretary of the E.M.B. Prayer Circle ; and 
 to the Authors of poems, which so help the spirit of the book. 
 
 This book professes no literary merit. It has had to be 
 compiled hurriedly, amidst the pressure of business, to be 
 ready for the farewell meeting of the last two to sail for Egypt. 
 
 With earnest prayer that the promise, " Blessed be Egypt," 
 maybe abundantly fulfilled, and many of God's children in the 
 homeland take a deeper interest in that ancient people, and 
 some at least be led by His Blessed Spirit to lay their "all" on 
 His altar, and go forth at His command ; and also that the 
 Lord's dealing with these young men may prove an encourage- 
 ment to many others to look to the Holy Spirit of God alone 
 for guidance in their daily life and supply of their every need, 
 is this little book sent forth in the name of our Risen Saviour. 
 
 BELFAST, Sept. 26, i8 9 8. WM. J. W. ROOME.
 
 "Ibe Ma0 mot 
 
 " He was not willing that any should perish ; " 
 
 Jesus, enthron'd in the glory above, 
 Saw our poor fallen world, pitied our sorrows, 
 
 Pour'd out His life for us wonderful love ! 
 Perishing ! perishing ! thronging our pathway, 
 
 Hearts break with burdens too heavy to bear, 
 Jesus would save, but there's no one to tell them, 
 
 No one to lift them from sin and despair. 
 
 " He was not willing that any should perish ; " 
 
 Cloth'd in our flesh with its sorrow and pain, 
 Came He to seek the lost, comfort the mourner, 
 
 Heal the heart broken by sorrow and shame. 
 Perishing ! perishing ! harvest is passing, 
 
 Reapers are few, and the night draweth near ; 
 Jesus is calling thee, haste to the reaping, 
 
 Thou shalt have souls, precious souls for thy hire. 
 
 Plenty for pleasure, but little for Jesus ; 
 
 Time for the world with its troubles and toys, 
 No time for Jesus' work, feeding the hungry, 
 
 Lifting lost souls to eternity's joys. 
 Perishing ! perishing ! hark, how they call us : 
 
 " Bring us your Saviour, oh, tell us of Him ! 
 We are so weary, so heavily-laden, 
 
 And with long weeping, our eyes have grown dim.' 
 
 " He was not willing that any should perish ; " 
 
 Am I His follower, and can I live 
 Longer at ease with a soul going downward, 
 
 Lost for the lack of the help I might give ? 
 Perishing ! perishing ! Thou wast not willing ; 
 
 Master, forgive, and inspire us anew ; 
 Banish our worldliness, help us to ever 
 
 Live with eternity's values in view.
 
 A STREET SCENE REFRESHMENT By THE WAY.
 
 PT. 
 
 I be Egypt, 
 
 the history 
 is dawning 
 nation, and 
 
 prayer of 
 
 High God 
 ic Hebrew 
 i," denotes 
 oudan than 
 : days are 
 
 will in all 
 , to enter 
 
 God, Who
 
 BLESSED BE EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 3ntrobuctor\>. 
 
 " Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, 
 My people, . . . " ISA. xix. 25. 
 
 Armies of prayer the promise claim, 
 Prove the full power of Jesus' name 
 
 And take the victory. 
 Your conquering Captain leads you on ; 
 The glorious fight may still be won 
 
 The coming century. 
 
 FTER long dark centuries in the history 
 of Egypt, a brighter day seems dawning 
 under the rule of a Christian nation, and 
 it is a fitting time for the prayer of 
 faith to ascend to the most High God 
 for Egypt and Ethiopia. The Hebrew 
 " Cush," translated " Ethiopia," denotes 
 rather what is known as the Soudan than 
 Abyssinia. Many of the Lord's people in these days are 
 seeking to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all 
 wisdom and spiritual understanding, and thus to enter 
 intelligently into the heart sympathies of the Son of God, Who 
 loved them and gave Himself up for them.
 
 12 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 The Scripture of truth tells us that He has wondrous 
 purposes of grace towards Egypt and the Soudan. When 
 these purposes have been fulfilled " Israel shall be the third 
 with Egypt and with Assyria, the work of My hands, and 
 Israel Mine inheritance." We may gather from this passage 
 that Israel, Egypt, and Assyria are to be blessed contempor- 
 aneously. For several years past God has been dealing 
 wondrously, both politically and spiritually, with the dry bones 
 of Israel. His political dealings with Egypt have been no less 
 wonderful, and as we seek to interpret these dealings by the 
 prophetic writings, we cannot doubt that the set time to favour 
 Egypt, the Soudan, and Asia Minor is dawning. 
 
 The i8th, igth, and 2oth chapters of Isaiah reveal to us some 
 of the blessings in store for Egypt, Cush, and " the land 
 beyond the rivers of Cush." 
 
 " The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift 
 cloud, and shall come into Egypt : and the idols of Egypt shall be 
 moved at His presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the 
 midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians : 
 and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone 
 against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against 
 kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in tlie midst thereof ; 
 and I will destroy the counsel thereof : and they shall seek to the 
 idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, 
 and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the 
 hand of a cruel lord ; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith 
 the Lord, the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 " In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of 
 the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. 
 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of Hosts 
 in the land of Egypt : for tliey shall cry unto the Lord because of 
 the oppressors, and He shall send them a Saviour, and a great 
 one, and He shall deliver them." ISAIAH xix. i, 2, 3, 4, 19, 20. 
 
 This blessing, too, seems to be brought about at a time of 
 great political unrest, as indicated in Isaiah xvii. 12, 13 (R.V.) : 
 
 "Ah, the uproar of many peoples, which roar like the 
 roaring of the seas ; and the rushing of nations, that rush like 
 the rushing of mighty waters ! The nations shall rush like
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 13 
 
 the rushing of many waters : but He shall rebuke them, and 
 they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the 
 mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before 
 the storm." 
 
 Even the mutual jealousies and the " rushing " of the nations 
 will have to work out the will of God in the whole earth. 
 
 Christian men and women, you who desire to dwell in 
 the secret place of the Most High, and thus learn the secret of 
 the Lord, will you not begin from this day to pour out your 
 soul for Egypt and the Soudan ? As the nations " rush " 
 madly along, and we see the day approaching, let us " so much 
 the more " enter into our chambers and shut the door, and 
 pray to our Father Who seeth in secret, and we shall soon see 
 the blessing coming openly upon the missionaries, missions, 
 rulers, and peoples of Egypt and Ethiopia. May we be 
 strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man for 
 this " work '' of believing prayer ! 
 
 Brethren, the time is short ! 
 
 The Lord has promised to heal Egypt (Is. xix. 22.) ; but for 
 this He will be enquired of by His believing people. 
 
 Within the past few weeks this work of " healing" has been 
 commenced before the eyes of the whole world by the over- 
 throw of the Khalifa and his legions of oppressors, and thus the 
 Central Soudan and Upper Egypt, for more than 2,000 
 miles down the course of the Nile from the shores of the 
 Mediterranean, have been opened to the Gospel as never 
 before in the history of that ancient land. 
 
 The flag of a Christian nation now floats over that 
 vast region. HOW LONG SHALL IT BE ERE THE 
 BANNER OF THE CROSS WAVE WITH EVERY 
 BREEZE OVER THAT ONCE DESOLATE LAND ?
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Gbe labourers." 
 
 PRESENT GOSPEL EFFORTS IN EGYPT. 
 
 These who " have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'' 
 MATT. xx. 12. 
 
 " The harvest truly is plenteous, but THE LABOURERS are few ; 
 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth 
 labourers into His harvest." MATT. ix. 37, 38. 
 
 " A little Sanctuary " art Thou to me, 
 
 Jesus, best Beloved ! I live with Thee, 
 My heart has found its everlasting home, 
 Its sure abiding place where'er I roam. 
 
 " A little Sanctuary " art Thou to me ! 
 Amongst the heathen, where I dwell -with Thee ; 
 Beneath Thy shadow, folded 'neath Thy wing, 
 In deep content my song of praise I sing. 
 
 " A little Sanctuary " wert Thou to me 
 When home was left behind, and tremblingly 
 
 1 launched upon the deep, it was to feel 
 
 The pressure of Thine arms around me steal. 
 
 " A little Sanctuary " wert Thou indeed, 
 When in a distant land the precious seed 
 Was sown in tears. Ah, then, how more than sweet 
 That " secret place," that refuge at Thy feet ! 
 
 " A little Sanctuary " art Thou to me ! 
 All joyfully I pitch my tent with Thee,
 
 "THE LABOURERS." 15 
 
 Or ready still to journey at Thy Word 
 "In Thee " I "live and move," most blessed Lord. 
 
 " A little Sanctuary " art Thou to me ! 
 I always am " at home " on land or sea ; 
 Alone, yet never lonely now, I prove 
 The " Hundredfold," Lord Jesus, in Thy love ! 
 
 "A little Sanctuary" art Thou to me; 
 Thus may I evermore " dwell deep " in Thee, 
 And daily praise for blessed foretaste given 
 (In doing of Thy will) of " Days of Heaven." 
 
 THE work of The American United Presbyterian Mission 
 is " as a light that shineth in a dark place.'' Long before the 
 British occupation, when the people still groaned under their 
 oppressive burdens, these heroic American friends were 
 seeking to spread the knowledge of Christ. Many of them 
 have been faithful unto death, and have worked on through 
 the heat and through cholera, and through danger and 
 persecution, and we thank and praise God for their labours. 
 
 They began work in Egypt in 1854, an d have gone stedfastly 
 on for forty-four years. At first a station in Cairo, then three 
 years later in Alexandria. In 1865, at Asioot, a large town 
 on the Nile, which was destined to become a most important 
 centre in Upper Egypt. In 1866, in the Faiyum, situated in 
 the Western Desert, away from the Nile, but of very ancient 
 fertility, owing to the water being brought by a canal from 
 the river through the hills and forming Lake Moeris. 
 
 And so the work went on step by step through many 
 important towns and villages, until at the present time they 
 have 197 mission stations throughout the country. In only a 
 few of these are there white missionaries, the greater part of 
 them are carried on by native helpers. 
 
 The staff of the American Mission at present consists 
 of about 50 missionaries, including wives ; and of these about 
 two-thirds have mastered the Arabic language sufficiently to 
 speak to the people. It is a hard tongue, and some of those 
 who have been in the country longest still continue to learn.
 
 "THE LABOURERS." 17 
 
 The native Egyptians among whom mission work is carried 
 on are, for the most part, either Moslems or Copts. The 
 proportion of the former to the latter is about ten to one. The 
 local government is Mohammedan. The customs and habits of 
 the people are Mohammedan. Even the so-called Christians 
 and Jews have, to a large extent, adopted the sociology of the 
 Moslems. Friday is the weekly day of rest, and Moslem 
 holidays are those kept by the Government. The treatment 
 of women in the home is practically the same with the Copt 
 and the Moslem. The opinion that they are naturally inferior 
 to the men, and were created for the men's pleasure, ease, or 
 profit is almost universal. Ignorance of the way of salvation 
 is nearly the same among Copts, who have not been subject to 
 Protestant influences, as among the Moslems. The former 
 know Christ as the son of Mary ; but of salvation by the grace 
 of God through belief in a crucified Saviour, of regeneration 
 by the Holy Spirit, of Christian life in Christ, and the indis- 
 soluble connection between true faith and a pure life of 
 obedience, they seem as ignorant as the followers of 
 Mohammed. Bearing the name of Christians, and being the 
 lineal descendants of the primitive Church of Christ in Egypt, 
 the Copts are specially dear to the hearts of all true Christians. 
 They have a zeal, but it is not according to knowledge. They 
 are seeking for righteousness by fasting, by repeating psalms, 
 by keeping feasts, by building churches, but they do not seek 
 it where it is to be found. They, like the Mohammedans, are 
 sinners needing a Saviour. The missionary work is to tell 
 them of Him who is the propitiation for the sins of the whole 
 world Mohammedan, corrupt Christian, heathen and has 
 issued to the Church the great commission " Go ye into all 
 the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.'' 
 
 Very early in the history of the American Mission they saw 
 the necessity of training natives to be workers for Christ in 
 this land. To secure this end there must be, first, primary 
 schools, where, from the earliest years, the principles and 
 practices of our holy religion would be taught, and where 
 habits and customs so numerous and so utterly inconsistent 
 with the Christianity of God's Word would be rooted up. 
 Then the higher schools, where the elements of the sciences
 
 i8 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 would be learned, seemed also necessary in order to meet the 
 questions continually arising from contact with residents and 
 travellers from the West. Then, too, the theological school 
 for the special training of those young men, who, after 
 passing through the primary schools and academy, were 
 moved to consecrate their lives to the service of Christ and 
 the salvation of sinners. The primary schools, numbering 
 now over 150, with an attendance of about 8,000 pupils, have 
 only a nominal connection with the Mission, and are, for the 
 most part parochial schools in connection with the con- 
 gregations, or under the supervision of intelligent natives, and 
 mostly at the expense of the natives themselves. The others 
 are the higher schools, including the college at Asyut, in 
 which the main object is the superior training of workers 
 for the evangelization of Egypt. Many are trained who 
 seek employment in Government and in the various branches 
 of business ; but without these training institutions, they 
 could not have the workers whom they so much need. 
 But the great reason for encouraging education and employing 
 this method of carrying out in spirit the great commission, is 
 to secure thereby, trained, intelligent, and pious workers. 
 
 Perhaps more than any other mission in the East, the 
 American United Presbyterian Mission have used the 
 distribution of books as a means of reaching the people 
 with the Gospel. The whole of the Nile Valley, from 
 Alexandria up to the first cataract, is now divided among 
 nearly thirty colporteurs, who are constantly plying their 
 vocation, carrying along every street, and into every village 
 and town, copies of the Scriptures in the language of the 
 people, and many other books such as " The Pilgrim's 
 Progress," Baxter's "Call to the Unconverted/' "The Work 
 of the Spirit," " The Only Way," and controversial books on 
 " Mohammedanism, and Romanism, and Copticism/' etc. 
 Bible-women have visited the women, and colporteurs have 
 carried the Bible into the villages until now there is such 
 a network of agencies in connection with this blessed 
 Mission spreading throughout the country that surely, though 
 quietly, the Gospel is finding its way. 
 
 Their chief efforts have been directed to the Copts, and it is
 
 20 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 they who form the little churches and fill the schools, about 
 four-fifths of the children being Coptic and Jewish, the 
 remaining one-fifth are Moslems. But it has been felt that 
 until the Mohammedan population could see real Christian 
 lives, lived by those who were called Christians, that words 
 were of little use. 
 
 Many look forward to the day may it be very near ! when 
 Copts, filled with the Spirit of God, shall bear witness of the 
 Lord Jesus in life and in word to their Moslem neighbours. 
 
 We earnestly ask all who read these pages to join us in 
 praying for a special outpouring of the Holy Ghost on all the 
 Copts in Egypt. There are some most blessed souls among 
 them ; and as they have for more than twelve hundred years 
 suffered from their Moslem rulers and persecutors, and have 
 still held on to their faith in Jesus, the Son of God, it would be 
 glorious to see them once more a living Church, and a channel 
 and instrument of blessing to their Mohammedan neighbours. 
 
 God bless the American Mission ! 
 
 Although their adherents have been chiefly Copts, they have 
 never ceased to try to win the Mohammedans, and during the 
 forty-four years of labour they have had about sixty converts 
 from Mohammed to Christ, sixty whom they have known, but 
 the number of unknown ones whose names are written in 
 heaven is doubtless far larger. They have been told sometimes 
 of the death of a relation, and have heard the hint dropped 
 that it was because he was suspected of becoming a Christian. 
 They have seen the work of grace beginning in the hearts of 
 the children, and then they have lost sight of them. " We are 
 sure God answers prayer." For the last three or four years 
 all the missionaries have agreed together to pray for the 
 Moslems of Egypt at 9 o'clock every night, and we believe the 
 time is near when a flood-tide of blessing will come, and all 
 through the land confession will be made of faith in the Lord 
 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 * * * 
 
 The other missions at work in Egypt are still comparatively 
 in their early days, except The Scotch Mission, which has had 
 a most prosperous school in Alexandria for the last forty 
 years. It belongs to the Established Church of Scotland, and
 
 "THE LABOURERS." 21 
 
 is so well known and highly regarded that a large number of 
 the European inhabitants of Alexandria have themselves been 
 educated there, and now send their children to the schools. 
 Out of the fees of the higher schools they are able to carry on 
 a poor school for Moslem children who do not pay anything. 
 We do thank God for these schools. 
 
 The Church Missionary Society is at work in Cairo, 
 where they have had a station for the last ten years. They 
 have good schools for both boys and girls, and a Medical 
 Mission and hospital at Old Cairo. The staff consists of 
 twenty-one missionaries, including wives and those on 
 furlough, and we trust that this number will soon be 
 largely increased. The Mission has been anxious not to 
 overlap the work of the American Mission, and therefore 
 looks forward to planting new stations in the new provinces 
 up the Nile that are now coming under the Egyptian 
 flag. For all these we are responsible, and may God 
 raise up and lead forth from Great Britain and Ireland 
 men and women who will give their lives to win the long- 
 oppressed peoples of Dongola, Berber, and Khartoum ! 
 
 The following notes, culled from the reports of C.M.S. 
 Missionaries in Egypt, are full of interest, and give a vivid 
 picture of the joys and triumphs, as well as the difficulties 
 and discouragements of the work : 
 
 " Before I begin to tell you of what I have been doing 
 during the eight months I have been out here I should like to 
 say how much we need more workers. There are many houses 
 which my Bible-women and I could visit much more 
 frequently if only we had time, and there are whole districts 
 where occasional visits have been paid which are simply 
 waiting for ladies to come and work in them. 
 
 " I want a school for the poor Fellahin children very badly. 
 There are so many bright-faced girls, too dirty and ragged and 
 poor to come to school with our better class children, who 
 could easily be gathered in and taught to know the story of 
 the Saviour Who loves them, but no one comes out to care for 
 them.
 
 22 
 
 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 " Our work with the older women is slow, because they 
 cannot see for themselves whether ' those things are so/ and 
 they forget much of what we tell them between one visit and 
 the next. This is a lime of special opportunity for English 
 Christians in Egypt, is it not ? And if we do not take advantage 
 of it, shall we not before long at least in the 'day of the Lord' 
 have to be sorry for it ? 
 
 GAMES OUTSIDE CAFE. 
 
 " The Sunday Services and week-day meetings are better 
 attended than ever, and a good number of Moslems come to 
 both. One young man, the son of a Bey, a brother is specially 
 interested in. He says he is sure the young man is a believer, 
 but his father is so afraid of his son becoming a Christian that 
 he keeps him almost a prisoner in the house, and even holds 
 him by the hand when he is out walking or driving. He used 
 to come to the meetings, but lately his father has prevented
 
 "THE LABOURERS." 23 
 
 him from doing so. He, however, still reads the Bible, which 
 he keeps in a secret place so that it may not be taken from 
 him. May God enable him one day to confess Christ openly ! 
 This is no easy matter here in Egypt in the midst of Moslem 
 relations and friends. One young student at the Al Azhar 
 University I know of, who would fain confess Christ, but, he 
 asks, will the English Government guarantee his life if he does f 
 
 " In one house we found all the women sitting on the 
 ground together, watching a little boy who lay dying. The poor 
 mother sat apart from the rest, rocking herself backwards and 
 forwards in her grief. It was a great joy to find they would 
 listen as we told them of the resurrection and the life of the 
 Lord Jesus. Several of these same women used to refuse to 
 hear anything of the Gospel, saying to the Bible-woman, 
 ' You are a Nazarene ; it is wickedness for us to listen to you.' 
 
 " We have a class for the ragged girls on Sunday afternoons. 
 From twelve to eighteen of them attend pretty regularly, and 
 I could easily get more if I had room for them. At first they 
 could only be got to come by giving them sweets, and rags to 
 make dolls of, but now most of them seem to like to learn, and 
 they behave wonderfully well, as a rule, considering that they 
 know nothing of day-school manners. 
 
 " In spite of all drawbacks some of the women are learning 
 to listen eagerly to the story of the Saviour's love. I have a 
 room now in the back street in which my Bible-woman is 
 living, and we are getting some of them to come and sit with 
 us on Friday afternoons. It can hardly be called a ' meeting ' 
 yet, but at least we give an opportunity of hearing more to any 
 who really want to learn. 
 
 " One poor woman told us sorrowfully the other day that 
 these things were hard to her, and that our words went in at 
 one side of her head and out at the other. If they could only 
 be learning day by day instead of just now and then ! 
 
 " Cholera broke out in Old Cairo, and what we feared came 
 upon us. Alexandria had already suffered some time. 
 Cholera, having once begun, soon made rapid progress, and 
 each day we kept hearing of more and more deaths, till at last 
 one day there were fifty cholera cases here, a great many for 
 a comparatively small place. The Government carts bearing
 
 24 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 the sick, were constantly passing our house on the way to the 
 cholera hospital, which had been hastily erected close to our 
 new C.M.S. buildings ; funerals were always going past, too, 
 with their mourners, and one seemed to hear nothing but 
 wailing and shrieking for the dead. When we were ordered 
 to close the school I was free for visiting, and spent most of 
 my time going round to the children's homes, preaching 
 sanitation as well as the Gospel ; insisting, as far as I could, on 
 cleanliness and the use of disinfectants. It was quite 
 encouraging when two or three actually did what you begged 
 of them. One great difficulty was to persuade them to boil the 
 water ; it was as God gave it to them, and they were sure the 
 doctors put poison into the water that was specially pumped 
 from the river. Others were sure that if they drank the water 
 they would get the cholera, not prevent it, for the doctors were 
 going about trying to increase the cholera. Many foolish 
 stories were going about, all of them against the doctors, who 
 were almost working night and day to prevent the poor 
 ignorant people from destroying themselves by their care- 
 lessness. One day I was visiting the home of a former 
 school-girl, and there I found her married sister very ill with 
 cholera, and all the family determined not to have a doctor. 
 What was I to do ? I had medicine in my pocket, but was 
 rather afraid if the woman took it and died, which she was 
 very likely to do, I might be blamed. After prayer, I offered 
 it to her, and to my surprise she at once drank some, and I 
 left the bottle with them. To my great joy and thankfulness 
 she made a rapid recovery. The cholera time was a great 
 opportunity of getting to know some of the people more 
 intimately than before, and some were so grateful for visits 
 when, as they said, their Mohammedan friends would not 
 come near them, that they gladly listened to our Gospel 
 message. Indeed, you felt it was a very solemn fact that some 
 you were speaking to might never hear such words again. 
 
 " Since our return, in August, I have been ill twice, through 
 trying to do more than I have strength for. But what is to be 
 done when we are so short-handed ? How CAN OUR BRETHREN 
 IN ENGLAND GO ON PRAYING FOR MISSIONS TO MOSLEMS, AND 
 YET DO so VERY LITTLE TOWARDS THEIR CONVERSION ?
 
 "THE LABOURERS." 25 
 
 THEY CERTAINLY CAN EXPECT LITTLE ANSWER TO THEIR 
 PRAYERS. MAY THE LORD GIVE THE CHURCH AT HOME, NOT 
 MERELY A MISSIONARY ENTHUSIASM, BUT A MISSIONARY SPIRIT, 
 FOR WHERE THE SPIRIT LEADS THE BODY MUST Go." 
 
 The North Africa Mission have a station in Alexandria 
 and also in Rosetta. Their staff consists of ten workers and 
 some native assistants. They have a school in one of the native 
 quarters of the town, and lately, during nine months, a number 
 of intelligent Moslems have been coming night after night to 
 the Mission Hall to listen to the Gospel. There is much need 
 for workers among the villages of the Delta, and we trust 
 this Mission may be able to plant many little stations in them. 
 Two ladies live about a mile from Rosetta, the only Protestant 
 missionaries in that part, and the people of the little town are 
 gradually losing their prejudices and bringing their children to 
 be taught. There are continual opportunities of talking to 
 them alone or in little groups. It is an unnoticed work carried 
 on by these two sisters alone, but we are sure it might be 
 multiplied indefinitely among all these small towns and 
 villages. It is easy for two ladies to live together, and work 
 among the people round them. 
 
 The following extracts are taken from an account of an 
 itinerating journey by two of the North Africa Missionaries, 
 made in the villages and towns of the Delta : 
 
 " We visited the surrounding villages. In the first, while 
 speaking of the power and grace of the Lord Jesus to some 
 men at their work, the women near by became fanatical, 
 thinking, we suppose, we should bring some unknown evil to 
 them and their families, and after we had left caused one of 
 the men who had received a Gospel leaflet to run after us 
 and return it. When he came to us he was full of excitement, 
 and begged us not to be angry, and kissed us several times. 
 
 " After a long walk, under brilliant sunshine, we arrived at 
 another village. Here we first conversed with a group of old 
 men, one of whom was busily making string by a very simple 
 process from the raw cotton ; then made our way to another
 
 26 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 group, among whom we sold a complete copy of the Scriptures 
 and the Psalms of David. In the absence of the Omda we 
 were welcomed by his substitute, who ordered his servant, 
 clad in an old sack with holes for his neck and arms, to set 
 before us coffee, bread, and cream, which were very refreshing 
 after our long walk. On our return we met a typical fellah 
 or herdsman in charge of some young bulls. We sat down 
 by his side in the fields, and began to speak with him, and 
 soon others came near. An Arab girl brought us a loaf 
 of native bread and plucked some green leaves such as the 
 fellah eats. We ate with them, which gave great pleasure, so 
 much so that they wanted us to go with them to their village, 
 but the day was far spent, so we hastened back to our 
 bachelor quarters. Very few of the Fellahin can read, or 
 even understand the language of the books. But they are 
 learning the meaning of English freedom and are willing 
 to be taught. 
 
 " On the Tuesday following we found ourselves in the 
 Moslem village of Saft, lying north-west from Zifteh, having a 
 population of 6,000, no railway station, no telegraph or post 
 office, or other sign of modern civilization. Our meals had 
 to be eaten in the open shop of the Greek provision dealer, 
 exposed to the gaze of the natives, to whom we seemed to be 
 curios, and his loft above the shop became our bed-room, 
 which he kindly allowed us to share with him. There is no 
 school here but a large number of open-faced boys about ten 
 years of age. We went about the village with our books. 
 A Sheikh who was also a shopkeeper purchased several copies. 
 A brother Sheikh passing was asked his opinion, and when he 
 had intimated that such books were not for such as he 
 the books were left in our hands. However, he re-purchased 
 the books afterwards by means of his boy, who visited us at 
 our resting place. We also conversed with a group of men, 
 among whom was another Sheikh, but less bigoted. He read 
 in a loud clear voice the 6th, 7th, and 8th chapters of 
 St. Matthew's Gospel to about twenty men, and commended 
 the truths. Afterwards he brought the Omda and leading 
 men of the village to our lodging to visit us, and we 
 were invited to return the visit.
 
 " THE LABOURERS." 27 
 
 " The next morning after breakfast we visited the Omda 
 again, who accepted a complete copy of the Scriptures." 
 
 There are two or three other quiet efforts for good going on 
 in Egypt that are little known. The Dutch have a small 
 mission at Kalioob, where they have worked on patiently for 
 many years. Mr. Peter Rudolph, a Jewish Missionary, has 
 worked in Alexandria among the Jews and for the poor of the 
 city. He has been so much respected that the merchants and 
 others have built a house called the " Asile Rudolph," where 
 he lives and cares for the poor and suffering. 
 
 Mr. Locke, at Port Said, has a Home for Merchant Seamen, 
 a most needed refuge in a very needy spot, and there is also a 
 Home in Alexandria. There are Soldiers' Homes in both 
 Alexandria and Cairo, the last-mentioned only lately started, 
 and already it promises by God's good hand upon it to grow 
 into a large and valuable institution. It may be interesting to 
 relate how this is being brought about. 
 
 Mrs. Todd Osborne opened a small Soldiers' Home in Cairo 
 last April, the need being a very real one. The premises 
 were too small, and she had been searching for something 
 more spacious and suitable. The Alhambra Music Hall, 
 within a few minutes' walk of Shepheard's Hotel, the centre 
 of the city, was offered for sale at the price of ^3,000. 
 Land is very difficult to buy in Cairo, being so valuable, 
 and Mrs. Todd Osborne felt that this building was 
 large enough to be available both for a Soldiers' Home 
 and a Hall for Meetings. After much prayer that God 
 would send the money, and that it might be given from 
 Himself in answer to prayer, the matter was mentioned 
 at a meeting held for Egypt after the close of the Keswick 
 Convention. 
 
 Such real sympathy was felt, and God so stirred some hearts 
 present, that one friend gave ^1,000 towards it the same night. 
 The next day another friend promised ^1,000, and a month 
 later a third sent the remaining ,1,000 needed. Truly all who 
 know Cairo will rejoice and thank God, feeling that He has 
 some most special favour towards the undertaking, and has
 
 28 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 great blessings in store for it. If He gives the further means 
 necessary, Mrs. Todd Osborne will add a Workers' Home to 
 the rest of the buildings, making a much needed headquarters 
 of Christian work in the midst of this great city. May God 
 raise up a standard for Himself in Cairo ! 
 
 There are some dear people who have long and faithfully 
 served God and their fellows both in Cairo and Alexandria. 
 These are the German Deaconesses, who have large and most 
 valued Hospitals in both cities. 
 
 One far-reaching work, The British and Foreign Bible 
 Society, has been going on for many years in Egypt, and 
 though we speak of it last it would perhaps be first in God's 
 sight and in His working. 
 
 This Society, and now The American Bible Society, are 
 sowing Egypt with the Word of God. All up the Nile Valley 
 we may find the Bible in Arabic. Portions of the Scriptures 
 and Gospel tracts and papers in the language of the people 
 are carried everywhere. 
 
 Still few comparatively can read, and the words need the 
 living voice to follow them and to speak of them. It was 
 through intensely realising this need, the need of simple and 
 direct Gospel teaching and preaching among the Moslems of 
 Egypt, that some who cared for the land and its people 
 specially gave themselves to pray for it. That God would send 
 forth men with that sole object in view, not to give them- 
 selves to medical work, although so useful in removing 
 prejudice ; not to give themselves to school work, although 
 that is urgently required, but to devote their whole life and 
 energies to carry the Gospel Message through the country. 
 
 We believe that it was in answer to this prayer, and because 
 the prayer itself was God's own desire and prompting, that He 
 has called out and separated and taken the little group of 
 young men from Belfast to Egypt.
 
 Set apart" 
 
 " Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for 
 Himself." PSALM iv. 3. 
 
 Set apart for Jesus ! 
 
 Is not this enough, 
 
 Though the desert prospect 
 
 Open wild and rough ? 
 Set apart for His delight, 
 
 Chosen for His holy pleasure, 
 
 Sealed to be His holy treasure ! 
 Could we choose a nobler joy ? and would we if we might ? 
 
 Set apart to serve Him, 
 
 Ministers of light, 
 
 Standing in His presence, 
 
 Ready day or night ! 
 Chosen for His service blest, 
 
 He would have us always willing 
 
 Like the angel hosts, fulfilling 
 Swiftly and rejoicingly, each recognised behest. 
 
 Set apart to praise Him, 
 
 Set apart for this ! 
 
 Have the blessed angels 
 
 Any truer bliss ? 
 Soft the prelude, though so clear ; 
 
 Isolated tones are trembling ; 
 
 But the chosen choir, assembling, 
 Soon shall sing together, while the universe shall hear. 
 
 Set apart to love Him, 
 
 And His love to know ! 
 
 Not to waste affection 
 
 On a passing show. 
 Called to give Him life and heart, 
 
 Called to pour the hidden treasure, 
 
 That none other claims to measure, 
 Into His beloved hand ! thrice-blessed "set apart ! " 
 
 Set apart for ever 
 
 For Himself alone ! 
 
 Now we see our calling 
 
 Gloriously shown ! 
 Owning, with no secret dread, 
 
 This our holy separation, 
 
 Now the crown of consecration 
 Of the Lord our God shall rest upon our willing head !
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 rfcination of tbc " HMercefc 
 
 " As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost 
 said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto 
 I have called them. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, 
 departed. . . ." ACTS xiii. 2, 4. 
 
 From the glory and the gladness, 
 
 From His secret place ; 
 From the rapture of His presence 
 
 From His radiant face 
 Christ, the Son of God, hath sent me 
 
 Through the midnight lands ; 
 MINE THE MIGHTY ORDINATION 
 
 OF THE PIERCED HANDS. 
 
 But I tell you I have seen Him, 
 
 God's beloved Son ; 
 From His lips have learnt the mystery 
 
 He and His are one. 
 There, as knit into the body 
 
 Every joint and limb, 
 We, His ransomed, His beloved, 
 
 We are one with Him. 
 
 Mine the message grand and glorious, 
 
 Strange unsealed surprise 
 That the goal is God's Beloved, 
 Christ in Paradise. 
 
 Glory to His Name ! 
 Glory to His Name ! 
 Yes, the goal is God's Beloved, 
 Glory to His Name ! 
 
 THE object of this Missionary Story is to shew forth the 
 glory of the Lord, in calling out and sending forth a 
 band of His servants from Belfast and Glasgow to the land
 
 THE ORDINATION OF THE "PIERCED HANDS." 31 
 
 of Egypt. The following is a brief account of the two lines 
 of leading, quite distinct and unknown to each other in their 
 origin, but which were destined, in His providence, to be 
 united as a distinct answer to prayer, into one stream of 
 blessing. 
 
 We first give the story of one whose interest in Egypt for 
 many years past led her to pray that " the Lord would send 
 forth labourers into the harvest " ; and then the brief 
 statement issued by the members of the band to their 
 friends, on the eve of their sailing for their future sphere 
 of labour for the Master. 
 
 "When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with com- 
 passion for them, because they were distressed and scattered 
 as sheep not having a shepherd. Then saith He unto His 
 disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are 
 few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He 
 send forth labourers into His harvest" (Matt. ix. 36 38, R.V.). 
 
 Was it even so again in Egypt ? Was it that the Lord had 
 compassion on the scattered and straying multitudes, and that 
 He bid His disciples pray ? 
 
 About two years and a half ago, the intensity of the need 
 and the scanty supply of labourers, and still more, the hard- 
 ness and unyieldingness of the soil on which the seed was 
 sown, led a few of God's children to form a Prayer Union 
 especially for Egypt. They prayed for the land and its people ; 
 for the Jews, Moslems, and Copts ; for the missionaries and 
 mission schools ; for the Word of God carried throughout the 
 country ; and for the British soldiers stationed there. 
 
 They took for their text, " Continuing daily with one accord 
 in prayer " for Egypt ; and truly they can look up with thank- 
 fulness and say, " We have proved God answers prayer." 
 Each Mission can tell of encouragement. There is no feeling 
 of hopelessness with regard to the conversion of the Moslems. 
 The American Missionaries can tell remarkable instances of 
 the work of the Spirit of God in their schools. The North 
 Africa Missionaries can tell of wonderful readiness to hear the
 
 32 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 Word, and of open doors, where a few years ago there was 
 hostility. The increase of education is bringing large numbers 
 of the people into the possibility of reading for themselves, 
 and on all sides there is hope and faith and expectation. 
 
 It seemed to some of us who shared the work in deep heart- 
 sympathy that there were two things to pray for unceasingly, 
 until the answer came : THAT GOD WOULD OPEN THE WIN- 
 DOWS OF HEAVEN AND POUR OUT His SPIRIT ON ALL His 
 OWN PEOPLE IN EGYPT, AND THAT HE WOULD THRUST FORTH 
 MORE LABOURERS INTO His VINEYARD. 
 
 The cry of those belonging to the Church Missionary Society 
 was, " Send us men ! '' The work was growing, and there were 
 open doors but no one to go. Instead of increasing, their 
 numbers could hardly be sustained. The great and urgent 
 need, which pressed on many hearts, was that of men 
 to give themselves wholly to Evangelistic work. At every 
 station the school work was going on. In two or three centres 
 Medical Missions were prospering, and the work amongst the 
 women in the large towns was cared for ; but so few, so very 
 few men who knew Arabic could give themselves up to preach 
 Christ to the Moslems. And yet they could be reached. They 
 were perfectly willing to listen, but there was hardly anyone 
 to go amongst them and devote their lives to this purpose. 
 It was through knowing this, and through the sight of the 
 multitudes sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, 
 that a friend of the Missionaries, Miss Annie Van Sommer, 
 took the matter specially to God in prayer. She prayed for 
 men to come forward for this one work To take the Gospel 
 to the Moslems. 
 
 After waiting for some time on God about it, the opportunity 
 came for her to attend the Students' Summer Conference, held 
 that year at Curbar. She was allowed a quarter of an hour to 
 tell the Students of the needs of Egypt. For three weeks 
 preceding the Conference one prayer was in her heart and on 
 her lips, night and day that God would send out seven men 
 from that Students' gathering to Egypt. 
 
 When the time came, before one word had been said about 
 it, God brought her into contact with a little group of young 
 men who had come from Belfast. She was told they had all
 
 THE ORDINATION OF THE "PIERCED HANDS." 33 
 
 heard the Lord's call to the Foreign Mission field ; that 
 they were prepared to leave all and follow Jesus ; and that 
 four out of a little group of six had come to Curbar, asking 
 God to shew them there, where they were to go. 
 
 When first she was told this story, after just coming into 
 contact with the little group, Miss Van Sommer took it 
 earnestly to the Lord in prayer, asking Him to shew her 
 if these were the men for whom she had been praying. Her 
 only thought had been to reinforce the Missions out there, 
 but this little band of young men felt they were to go 
 depending on the Lord alone for support, and looking to 
 Him direct as their Head and Leader. 
 
 This seemed to open unknown and unexpected possibilities 
 and even dangers, and Miss Van Sommer felt she dared not 
 tell them of Egypt, unless the Lord would give her a very 
 distinct assurance from Himself that the thing was from 
 Him, and that it was His doing, not hers, or theirs. As she 
 prayed on through the night, in her lodgings near Curbar, all 
 fears were taken away. She felt it was out of her hands into 
 His, and that it was God Himself who had prepared it all, 
 and had His own plan that He would carry out ; and that He 
 had only brought her there to give His message to them. 
 
 In the early dawn of the following morning she looked at 
 " Daily Light " for the day, the3ist of July, and read, " I have 
 given Him for a witness to the people, a LEADER and 
 COMMANDER to the people " (Is. lv. 4). 
 
 A few hours later the opportunity was given to meet the 
 four who were at Curbar. They all sat down in a field 
 together and spoke of Egypt. There was no wish to persuade 
 or to accomplish a desire ; the only thought in every heart 
 was, " Is this the Lord's call to the little band from Belfast ? 
 Does He want them in Egypt ? " 
 
 It was put unitedly into His hands, and they all agreed to 
 separate and wait upon God about it, until His will was clear 
 to them. The difficulties of the situation were faced. There 
 was no certain prospect of support from any quarter. Most 
 of them were in business, and were prepared to part with it, 
 and use in common whatever they possessed. They belonged
 
 34 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 to different denominations, but were so much one in spirit this 
 was no barrier. 
 
 For the next two or three days much time was spent apart 
 in prayer, seeking clear guidance for the future, and before 
 the whole party broke up and separated the conviction was 
 deepened in the mind of each one that Egypt was the 
 " vineyard " to which God was saying to him, " Son, go 
 work to-day," and each had gladly responded, " I go." 
 
 The words which had been used as a bond that drew them 
 all together were " These are they which follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever He goeth " (Rev. xiv. 4). 
 
 In the testimonies which were given at their farewell 
 meetings, it will be seen that this was a personal, individual 
 call to each one separately, so clear and strong that more than 
 one felt that if none of the others went he was himself to go 
 to Egypt ; and, as they all saw this in each other, they felt it 
 was no impulse or imagination, but a real purpose for life 
 which had come from heaven. 
 
 At the time, the first thing to be done was to go back to 
 Belfast and tell the other brethren, and then the harder task 
 of telling home friends, and the beginning of the severance of 
 home ties. All went quietly forward. No word was said 
 about money, but every need was supplied. One great 
 friend of the little band, who afterwards accompanied 
 them on the voyage, had also at a distance been praying 
 alone that their way might be made clear to them at 
 Curbar, and as he prayed the words came with startling 
 emphasis to his mind, " Out of Egypt have I called my Son." 
 A little later, when he met some of the party, and they told 
 him they knew where they were to go, he said, " Tell me 
 first, is it Egypt ? " 
 
 The seventh member of the party joined them before the 
 time came to go forward, and then as each step to be taken 
 confronted them it was found that difficulties disappeared, and 
 there was light on the way. One of the number went first, 
 four followed shortly afterwards, and at the present time the 
 remaining two are about to join the other five, thus making 
 complete the party of seven. Whether others are ever to join 
 them or not they do not know, but they are sure that the same
 
 THE ORDINATION OF THE " PIERCED HANDS." 35 
 
 Lord who has gone before them, and who performeth all things 
 for them, will make His will clear in times to come as He has 
 done in the past. 
 
 When the little band landed in Alexandria, He guided them 
 to a house, which is for the present their home. He supplied 
 them with Arabic teachers, and helped them through the first 
 days of the difficult language. He gave them the loving friend- 
 ship of missionaries on every side, and He has given them the 
 joy of being His messengers to needy souls around them. 
 
 We would " show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, 
 and Thy faithfulness every night. For Thou, Lord, hast made 
 me glad through Thy work : I will triumph in the works of 
 Thy hands '' (Ps. xcii. 2, 4). 
 
 And thus while the Holy Spirit was laying the burden of 
 Egypt on the heart of our sister in England, He was preparing 
 the men in Ireland for the fulfilment of that prayer, as 
 indicated in the following statement and the " Life Stories " 
 given in succeeding chapter. 
 
 EGYPT MISSION BAND. 
 
 BELFAST, 
 
 December, 1897. 
 
 BELOVED IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, 
 
 You may have heard that we propose (D.V.) to 
 sail for Egypt in the coming year, for the purpose of under- 
 taking mission work in that country as the Lord may guide us. 
 Feeling, however, the great need of earnest believing prayer 
 on our behalf, and with a view to obtaining your co-operation 
 in this way, we desire to tell you shortly how we come to be 
 going out and what we hope to do if God will. 
 
 In the early spring of 1896, the Lord began to draw together 
 a band of young men in Belfast for prayer and work, chiefly 
 in the open air. Most of us had received very definite blessing 
 either directly or indirectly through the Keswick Convention.
 
 THE ORDINATION OF THE " PIERCED HANDS." 37 
 
 The little band, which was entirely interdenominational in its 
 character, grew until it numbered thirteen, and in February 
 last at one of our weekly half-nights of prayer, those of us who 
 were present were constrained by the Spirit of God in humble 
 dependence on Him to sign our names to the following pledge : 
 
 "LORD, I AM AT THY DISPOSAL FOR 
 FOREIGN MISSIONARY WORK AS SOON 
 AND WHEREVER THOU CALLEST ME." 
 
 The Lord had been dealing with some of us for some 
 time previously, as to the needs of the heathen world, 
 but this seemed to add definiteness to what had hitherto 
 been but vague. We felt we were given away to God 
 for this particular work in a manner we had not been 
 before. He took us at our word on that i6th February 
 and began to slowly unfold His plan, but it was not until the 
 month of April that He revealed His purpose of sending out a 
 band of seven to work together. One after another the Holy 
 Spirit separated six of us, dealing with each one individually, and 
 without collusion on our part, bringing our hearts into line with 
 His will and with one another. Those whom He " separated " 
 joined together in prayer for the others that were still required 
 to complete the band, and that He might make known to us 
 the sphere in which we were to labour. After two months of 
 constant prayer and waiting on God for guidance, He led four 
 of us to the Students' Conference at Curbar. Here the needs 
 of Egypt were laid before us by Miss Van Sommer, who had 
 lately returned from there, and who had come to the Conference 
 as she herself said, after weeks of earnest prayer that God 
 would send forth seven men to work in that country. We had 
 much prayer about the matter unitedly and alone, and it was 
 made quite clear to all individually that the call was from the 
 Lord and ought to be obeyed. We have since received 
 abundant confirmation of the leading, and now the band of 
 seven, as indicated by the Lord in April last, is complete. 
 
 The sphere of our work will be Egypt, our desire being to 
 strengthen the hands of those already working there, some of 
 whom have sent us a warm welcome. In the first instance, it 
 is our thought to settle down in Alexandria, where we shall
 
 38 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 have (D.V.) a small headquarters station. Some of us may find 
 open doors for work among the Jews, Maltese, Greeks, and 
 others, while those of us, who believe we are to go to the 
 Moslems, will press on into the interior as soon as the way is 
 made plain. The population of Egypt is about 9,000,000, mostly 
 Mohammedans, scattered over a strip of country on either bank 
 of the Nile, extending for a distance of about 1,200 miles, all 
 open for work, but only occupied by Mission Stations for about 
 half this distance. The new railway which is being pushed on 
 towards Khartoum, will afford such facilities for preaching the 
 Gospel, as constitutes in itself a trumpet call to the Church of 
 God to go in and possess the land for Jesus. In Egypt alone, 
 there is a population of fully 120,000 to each Protestant Mission- 
 ary, so that there is ample scope for us in helping the workers 
 who are labouring in the field, and in breaking up new ground. 
 In addition to what we have just mentioned, there is a 
 special need why this enterprise should be encircled with 
 mighty prevailing prayer. We are going into the very citadel 
 of Mohammedanism, upon which nothing but the mighty 
 power of the Holy Spirit will avail to make any impression. 
 In the University of Al Azhar, Cairo, there are from five to ten 
 thousand students preparing for the propagation of the religion 
 of Islam throughout the world. 
 
 Such, roughly, is the need. We believe that "with God all 
 things are possible," and that the Gospel is still " the power of 
 God unto salvation to everyone that believeth," whether 
 Moslem or heathen. We have the Lord's own promise waiting 
 to be pleaded " The Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the 
 Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, ..." (Is. xix. 21). 
 Will you join us, " helping together by prayer," to hasten " that 
 day?'' " All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing 
 ye shall receive." We want definite, believing, continual 
 intercession. 
 
 We are going forth in absolute dependence on the Holy 
 Spirit of God, conscious of our own utter nothingness, but also 
 of His mighty power, being confident of this one thing that 
 He who has led us thus far will perfect that which concerneth 
 us and will preserve us unto His Heavenly Kingdom. 
 
 Beloved, " continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein
 
 THE ORDINATION OF THE " PIERCED HANDS." 39 
 
 with thanksgiving ; withal praying for us also, that God may 
 open unto us a door for the Word, to speak the mystery of 
 Christ," and that we "may be blameless and harmless, the 
 sons of God without rebuke.'' 
 
 Yours in Christ Jesus, 
 
 WM. BRADLEY, 
 
 J. MARTIN CLEAVER, 
 
 FREDK. G. COONEY, 
 
 JOHN GORDON LOGAN, 
 
 GEORGE SWAN, 
 
 T. EDWARD SWAN, 
 
 ELIAS H. THOMPSON. 
 
 " Brethren, pray for us." ITHESS. v. 25. 
 
 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 
 
 "Be still, and know that I am God : I will be exalted among 
 the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." PSALM xlvi. 10. 
 
 God Almighty ! King of nations ! earth Thy footstool, heaven Thy 
 
 throne ! 
 Thine the greatness, power, and glory ; Thine the kingdom, Lord, 
 
 alone ; 
 
 Life and death are in Thy keeping, and Thy will ordaineth all, 
 From the armies of Thy heavens to an unseen insect's fall. 
 
 Reigning, guiding, all-commanding, ruling myriad worlds of light ; 
 Now exalting, now abasing, none can stay Thy hand of might, 
 Working all things by Thy power, by the counsel of Thy will ; 
 Thou art God ! enough to know it, and to hear Thy word " be still." 
 
 In Thy sovereignty rejoicing, we Thy children bow and praise, 
 For we know that kind and loving, just and true are all Thy ways, 
 While Thy heart of sovereign mercy and Thine arm of sovereign might, 
 For our great and strong salvation, in Thy sovereign grace unite.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Deliverance anfc {Translation. 
 
 LIFE STORIES. 
 
 " Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be 
 partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light : 
 
 " Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath 
 translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." COL. i. 
 12, 13- 
 
 "GO YE FORTH." 
 
 From the brightness of the glory, 
 
 " Go ye forth," He said ; 
 " Heal the sick, and cleanse the lepers, 
 
 Raise the dead. 
 
 " Freely give I thee the treasure, 
 
 Freely give the same ; 
 Take no store of gold or silver 
 Take My Name. 
 
 " Thou art fitted for the journey, 
 
 How so long it be ; 
 Thou shalt come, unworn, unwearied, 
 Back to Me. 
 
 " Thou shalt tell Me in the glory 
 
 All that thou hast done, 
 Setting forth alone ; returning 
 Not alone. 
 
 " Thou shalt bring the ransomed with thee, 
 
 They with songs shall come 
 As the golden sheaves of harvest, 
 Gathered home." 
 
 " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 
 upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, 
 and in all Judcea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part 
 of the earth." ACTS i. 8.
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 
 
 4 1 
 
 " As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent 
 them into the world." JOHN xvii. 18. 
 
 WII/UAM BRADLEY. 
 
 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the 
 word of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives unto the 
 death." REV. xii. n. 
 
 " The dying thief rejoiced to see 
 That fountain in his day ; 
 And there may I, though vile as he, 
 Wash all my sins away." 
 
 BORN of Christ- 
 ian parents, I 
 was brought 
 up in the fear 
 of the Lord, and sent 
 regularly to the Sab- 
 bath school and to 
 church. As a Presby- 
 terian I had to learn 
 the Shorter Catechism 
 and texts of Scripture ; 
 this duty I always 
 hated, and shall never 
 forget receiving many 
 whippings from a 
 godly schoolmaster 
 because I objected to 
 learn the 55th chapter 
 of Isaiah. Thus beaten 
 into me I shall always 
 
 remember it. A part of the 8th chapter of Romans was learnt 
 in the same way, and I praise God for the knowledge of these 
 to-day. At the age of 15 I left the Sunday school to attend the 
 City Y.M.C.A. Bible class for men, and then later went to 
 church only once on the Sabbath day. Mixing with worldly 
 
 WILLIAM BKADI.EY.
 
 42 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 companions, the love for sport and amusement seized me, and 
 this, with business, made me very indifferent to the claims of 
 God. 
 
 My godly mother was greatly attached to me ; she talked 
 and read and prayed with me. I did not like to disobey her, 
 and but for her influence I would have given up all religious 
 restraint. 
 
 Seven years ago the Lord called my mother home after a 
 brief illness. I realised I had lost my very best friend, and felt 
 broken-hearted. 
 
 A year later I started to travel in England, Ireland, and 
 Scotland for a Belfast linen house, and did my utmost in the 
 new surroundings to satisfy myself with worldly pleasures. 
 Then the Lord strove with me. I had promised my mother I 
 would give my heart to the Lord, and meet her in heaven, and 
 then, too, her prayers had called forth the Spirit's convicting 
 power in my heart ; yet for five years I yielded to the devil, 
 who did his utmost, by way of attractions, to allure me from 
 God. 
 
 Three years ago I was laid on my back through a strain 
 received in athletics. This necessitated an operation which, 
 the doctor informed me, might prove fatal. However, I made up 
 my mind to face it at all costs. God again pressed me about my 
 soul, but I said " I have lived a life contrary to God, and I 
 will not try to sneak into heaven now." So I resolved to go 
 into hospital, and if I died I was resigned to my eternal fate. 
 I shall never forget the third morning after the operation ; the 
 doctor being sent for, my temperature was at 106. It was 
 thought inflammation had set in, and my case was hopeless. 
 The sight I had of an undone eternity I cannot forget, but the 
 Lord had mercy on me and spared my life, and restored me to 
 health such as I never experienced before ; this was about 
 July, 1894. From that time forward God especially dealt with 
 me. I got sick of company and all kinds of pleasure, and 
 began to have my eyes opened to the hollowness of the whole 
 thing, and in looking back saw what an awful blank my life 
 had been. 
 
 I then began to realise in '95 that God was surrounding me, 
 and I could not get away from the Spirit's dealings (especially
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 43 
 
 when I would go to bed at night), and I knew many Christians 
 were praying much for my conversion, which increased my 
 anxiety. I shall never forget Sunday afternoon, the 2oth of 
 October, 1895, sitting with a number of friends in one of the 
 leading athletic club grounds, and making an appointment to go 
 to the theatre the next night. I went that Sundayafternoon to the 
 Y.M.C.A. Service in the Ulster Hall Annexe, and the preacher 
 seemed to hit straight at me. I then went home, and, kneeling 
 down, told the Lord I was a poor, lost, hell-deserving sinner, and 
 asked Him to forgive and receive me. The next day I went to 
 a Christian friend, who quoted me ist John i. 9 " If we con- 
 fess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I shouted 
 " Hallelujah ! " 
 
 I endeavoured to follow the Lord fully, and to confess 
 Christ ; and, praise God, I received the baptism of the Holy 
 Spirit right at the start, and then and there told my friends I 
 had given my heart to Jesus. The Lord then spoke definitely 
 to me about separation from the world, and led me to make a 
 clean cut with it, and be satisfied with the companion- 
 ship of Christ only. God then revealed to me the blessed 
 communion of prayer to such an extent that words entirely 
 fail to express the blessing. 
 
 Six months after my conversion God put a special test on 
 my Christian profession. I was asked to go with a band of 
 others to start a parade from the Gas Works to Ballynafeigh 
 on Easter Monday, 1896, and then to take part in an open-air 
 service outside the Ulster grounds, where the annual athletic 
 meeting was being held and most of my old sporting companions 
 present. I shall never forget the struggle I had with the devil, 
 and as soon as I yielded to God I received His blessed peace. 
 How I have praised Him since, for in that fiery trial, amidst 
 all the laughs and sneers, " His right hand sustained me.'' I 
 shall never forget the supreme joy that filled my soul at the 
 close of the day ; the " obedience to His revealed will " 
 unlocked many precious promises in God's Word " If any man 
 willeth to do My will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether 
 it be of God, or whether I speak from Myself.'' How the 
 Lord blessed me after this, eternity alone will reveal.
 
 44 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 My next cross was to go to the Maze Races to give out 
 tracts and testify for Jesus. I knew this burnt other bridges 
 behind me, but there was no longer resistance, for God was 
 " all in all " to my soul. 
 
 The privilege of a visit to Keswick Convention brought me 
 into closer touch with the Lord, and there, I believe, He taught 
 me to cease from the evil habit of judging and criticising my 
 fellow-Christians. 
 
 The Lord was increasing a burning desire to go to the 
 heathen and tell them of Jesus, and, as I spent nights alone 
 with God, I saw that my way was going to be made very clear, 
 and many were the visions I had of Jesus and His cross, and 
 sufferings for me, and visions of heaven and hell which thrilled 
 my soul and increased my thirst for God and perishing souls. 
 
 On February i6th, 1897, God met me in a memorable half- 
 night of prayer and sealed my future for the Regions Beyond. 
 I was confident from that night that my life was to be spent 
 amongst the heathen ; I knew not what field, but I sung with 
 all my heart, "anywhere with Jesus." In April I was in 
 England on business, and, especially when in Manchester, I 
 felt definitely called each night to return to my hotel after 
 business and be silent before God from 6 p.m. to n p.m. I 
 could not utter words, nor did I get any special light from 
 God, but just knelt quietly and God did His secret work in my 
 soul. When I returned I felt constrained to go round and see 
 my dear brother Cleaver. He told me how the Lord had been 
 laying it on his heart and the hearts of others, that He was 
 going to separate and send forth a band of seven young men 
 to preach the Gospel in the Foreign Mission field ; and how that 
 if I was to be one of the number that God would make it plain ; 
 like a flash the Lord showed me that the previous nights were 
 for preparation of soul for the news of His glorious leading, 
 and the whole thing was opened up to me. Then I began to 
 lay before God certain difficulties, which He cleared up for 
 me, so my brothers and myself started to pray quietly, not so 
 much to know where to go as to be separated by the Holy 
 Ghost one from another, and to be made perfectly pliable to 
 go forward, or to stay at home, and to get all the novelty of 
 going away taken out of us, and, in short, to be entirely
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 45 
 
 abandoned to God to do His will. In July we arranged to go 
 to Curbar. On the Saturday morning we met a lady who had 
 been praying for seven to go to Egypt. We spent that day in 
 prayer, and then at night came the call from God to go each 
 one alone on the mountain and deal with Him individually 
 about the matter. I have great reason never to forget that 
 night, as being a time when I received one of the most subtle 
 attacks from the devil ; for nearly two hours he tried 
 to put me asleep. I held on to God till my strength was 
 almost gone, and I was done out, then God quickened my 
 body with new life, and put the devil to flight. He then dealt 
 with me " Was I willing to go alone ? " and, after a hard 
 struggle, I said, " Yes, Lord.' 1 From that till the present I have 
 never had any doubt as to my future field of labour. It was 
 sealed to my soul by the Holy Spirit, about 4 a.m. on Sunday 
 morning, that it was Egypt, and all the world could not 
 persuade me to believe otherwise. Praise God, since then 
 the mountains have been removed, and now the way is all 
 clear. All glory be to Jesus ! 
 
 God grant that all who read this simple testimony may yield 
 themselves entirely up to God, body, soul, and spirit, to live 
 for the glory of Christ. Christ is all in all to my soul. 
 
 A poor sinner saved by grace. 
 
 J. MARTIN CLEAVER. 
 
 " He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling 
 wilderness ; He led him about, He instructed him, He kepi him as 
 the apple of his eye." DEUX, xxxii. 10. 
 
 Jesus hath died and hath risen again, 
 
 Pardon and peace to bestow ; 
 Fully 1 trust Him ; from sin's guilty stain, 
 
 Jesus saves me now. 
 
 Sin's condemnation is over and gone, 
 
 Jesus alone knoweth how ; 
 Life and salvation my soul hath put on : 
 
 Jesus saves me now.
 
 BLESSED BE EGYPT.' 
 
 Satan may tempt, but he never shall reign, 
 
 That Christ will never allow ; 
 Doubts I have buried, and this is my strain, 
 
 " Jesus saves me now." 
 
 Resting in Jesus, abiding in Him, 
 
 Gladly my faith can avow, 
 Never again need my pathway be dim : 
 
 Jesus saves me now. 
 
 Jesus is stronger than Satan and sin, 
 
 Satan to Jesus must bow ; 
 Therefore I triumph without and within : 
 
 Jesus saves me now. 
 
 Sorrow and pain may beset me about, 
 Nothing can darken my brow ; 
 
 Battling in faith, I can joyfully shout : 
 "Jesus saves me now." 
 
 T . is now eight 
 years since I 
 
 found the Lord 
 
 Jesus Christ as 
 my Saviour, but, sad 
 to relate, after the 
 first burst of zeal, the 
 outcome of my new- 
 born love and heart- 
 felt gratitude to the 
 Lord Jesus for having 
 borne my sins in His 
 own body on the tree, 
 the world with its 
 allurements crept in, 
 and I estranged myself 
 from my loving, tender 
 Saviour who ceased 
 not, however, to follow J - MARTIX CLEAVER - 
 
 me in all my miserable wanderings from Him. Three 
 years later found me studying in Dublin ; a fellow-student,
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 47 
 
 who was an out-and-out Christian, took an interest in 
 me, and soon saw the miserable state I was in. He invited 
 me one evening to his rooms for tea, and there pleaded 
 with me to come back to my Saviour. He asked me if I would 
 not allow God to give me another start ? But I said, " No. I 
 have dishonoured Him once, and do not want to do so again." 
 Then my friend pointed out to me that it was not a question of 
 looking into the future, but simply of trusting Jesus for the 
 present moment. He said to me, " Don't you know that Jesus 
 saves me now, and if He saves me now, He can save you now, 
 and save you all the time.'' This idea of trusting Jesus for a 
 moment at a time was a new one to me, and I answered, " I feel 
 that I am trusting Jesus to save me now, to take me right back 
 again." " Well," said he, " cannot you always keep trusting 
 Him to save you now?" "Yes," I said, " I can ;" and thus, 
 very simply, the most important turning point in my life, next 
 to my conversion, took place. God used this servant of His 
 as an instrument whereby -the joy of salvation was restored 
 unto me. Although those three years can never be looked 
 back upon but with regret, God overruled them to teach me 
 the all-important lessons of the depravity of the human heart 
 by nature, and that no good thing dwelt in me. 
 
 Returning to Belfast, after the completion of my college 
 course, I came into contact with the work in connection with 
 Felt Street Mission, and started to teach a Sunday school class. 
 This work proved a great blessing to me, as I felt I learnt far 
 more than I taught. 
 
 Up to this time my life was still more or less unsatisfactory ; 
 I longed to have deliverance from the power of sin, but sought 
 it by effort, first by trying to put this little bit of my life right, 
 and then that, and thus was drinking of bitter water, instead of 
 going straight to the fountain head. So God met me again at 
 a special mission in Felt Street. I well remember how 
 pointed the speaker was ; God seemed to have revealed to him 
 my innermost heart, and his messages were directly for me. I 
 used to sit close to him in the meetings, playing the organ, 
 and he had a habit of inadvertently putting his hand almost 
 down on my head, as he would emphasize some remark, that 
 often went straight home to my heart, and, altogether, I felt
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 49 
 
 decidedly uncomfortable. Now and again he would introduce 
 a word with regard to smoking. Up to this time I had been a 
 smoking Christian, and this had been a cloud between my soul 
 and God, but He gave me grace to lay aside this weight along 
 with many others before the close of that mission, and I 
 entered into a deeper peace, greater liberty, and a more whole- 
 hearted devotion to God. And yet I was conscious that there 
 was still something lacking, something that, it was evident, 
 the friend who conducted the mission had and I had not. 
 From him I first heard of the Keswick Convention, and 
 arranged to go there. Satan seemed to place every hindrance 
 in my way to prevent my going, but God cleared away all 
 obstacles, and the summer of 1895 found me there for the first 
 time. The first day was a time of very deep heart-searching, 
 but on the second day God met me while one of the speakers 
 was giving a message from the words, " He healeth all thy 
 diseases " (Psalm ciii. 3), and I there and then handed over 
 my case absolutely into the hands of the Great Physician. 
 
 Two days later I met a brother in the Lord, whom I had 
 occasionally met in Belfast, and was telling him what great 
 things the Lord had done for me. He asked me " Have you 
 received the Holy Ghost ? " I thought I had received every- 
 thing I wanted, and his question was quite a surprise to me : 
 I did want everything. So we took our Bibles, and he clearly 
 shewed me that the gift of the Holy Ghost was the promise of 
 the Father for me, and that it was a gift to be accepted in 
 childlike faith and simplicity, in the same way as one received 
 eternal life. We knelt down, and I prayed God to fill my 
 soul with the Holy Ghost. The answer came immediately out 
 of His own Word " If ye then, being evil, know how to give 
 good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your 
 Heavenly Father give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." 
 
 After I came home the Lord began to deal with me about 
 the Mission Field. This I believe to be the natural outcome 
 of the filling of the Spirit, as it is written, " Ye shall receive 
 power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall 
 be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and 
 in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." At 
 first I put it off, but soon saw that if the peace of God in my
 
 50 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 soul was to be maintained, I must yield to Him in everything, 
 and thus He led me on to know and follow Him more fully. 
 The next spring God began to draw together a band of young 
 men for work in the open air. In connection with these 
 meetings we used to gather together for a half-night of 
 prayer every week. These gatherings were so blessed, that 
 soon the little band numbered about thirteen. The young 
 men were from many different denominations, and were 
 already engaged in active Christian work in connection with 
 the Churches to which they belonged. During all this time I 
 was constantly waiting upon God to know where He would 
 have me to go. It seemed utterly impossible to me that the 
 way would ever open, but I seemed to get it very definitely 
 from God that I should keep myself free and wait for Him to 
 open the door. On February i6th, 1897, at our usual half- 
 night of prayer, God seemed to come very close and speak to 
 our hearts. Before I went into the meeting I felt God was 
 going to do a "separating work'' that night. On comparing 
 notes afterwards with the others, I found that most of them 
 had had the same impression. One brother prayed that each 
 of us might be like Gideon, and cut down our own groves, 
 and get down low before God, that He might be free to 
 do with us as He willed. A solemn time of heart-searching 
 followed. It was laid on the heart of one of the members to 
 roughly draft out on a piece of paper the following Missionary 
 Declaration : 
 
 "LORD, I AM AT THY DISPOSAL FOR 
 FOREIGN MISSIONARY WORK AS SOON 
 AND WHEREVER THOU CALLEST ME." 
 
 To this all present (thirteen in number) signed their names. 
 From that night I felt more definitely than ever before 
 separated unto God for Foreign Mission work. 
 
 Things went on much as usual until April, with the 
 exception that a few days afterwards I received a call to take 
 charge of a Mission Station in India, but had no liberty 
 to accept it. The 25th of April is marked in my Bible as a 
 day I shall never forget. God very definitely led me out in 
 prayer for Foreign Missions, and gave me a wonderful
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 51 
 
 assurance that He would take a Band of Seven of us out 
 together to the Regions Beyond. God so definitely laid this 
 on my heart, and the names of six of the seven He was going 
 to send, that I wrote the names down in my diary with 
 an account of how God had dealt with me. God brought the 
 others into line with His purpose without any human 
 intervention, and soon six of the seven were meeting as often 
 as possible for prayer, especially praying to know the place 
 God would have us to go, and asking that God should separate 
 the seventh. Soon after this four of us were led to go to the 
 Annual Conference of the " Students' Volunteer Missionary 
 Union," at Curbar. When there we waited very definitely on 
 God to know His purpose in sending us, and on the second 
 day, as we were going to the meeting, we saw a friend 
 standing on one side talking to a lady. He beckoned me to 
 come over, and introduced me to this lady. She had prayed 
 for years about Egypt, and had felt very definitely led of God 
 to come to Curbar and ask for seven men for this country. 
 We told her how God had been leading us, and that we had 
 the assurance He was going to send seven of us out together. 
 She then told us simply and quietly the needs of Egypt, and 
 we left to go apart separately on to the mountain-side to spend 
 the night alone waiting on God to know His will. Some of 
 the others received a clear witness that this call was for them ; 
 I did not, I wanted to know very definitely whether God had 
 been speaking, or was it my own desire. I asked God on my 
 knees to give me a verse, and turning to open my Bible I 
 found " I, even I, have spoken, yea I have called him and 
 will make his way prosperous, and I will give him to be 
 a light to the Gentiles." 
 
 That silenced all doubt in my heart, I had God's Word for 
 it. Thus the Lord led me and called me to follow Him 
 to Egypt.
 
 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 FRED. G. COONEY. 
 
 " He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry 
 clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 
 And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our 
 God : many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." 
 PSA. xl. 2, 3. 
 
 " Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness 
 My beauty are, my glorious dress, 
 'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, 
 With joy shall I lift up my head." 
 
 G 
 
 iviNGthanks 
 
 unto the 
 
 Father, 
 
 Who made 
 
 me meet to be a par- 
 taker of the inheri- 
 tance of the saints in 
 light ; and Who de- 
 livered me out of the 
 power of darkness, 
 and translated me into 
 the kingdom of the 
 Son of His love, that 
 I may be presented 
 holy and without 
 blemish and unre- 
 provable before Him ; 
 if so be that I continue 
 in the faith, grounded 
 and steadfast." 
 
 Previous to my conversion, besides being under the wrath 
 of God as a Christ-rejector, I lived solely and only for 
 pleasure ; a fast life it might well have been called, so fast 
 that I was fully persuaded no power could pull me up. 
 
 FRED. G. COONEY.
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 53 
 
 While I was in this awful condition a few of my 
 acquaintances met together, entirely unknown to me, and 
 pleaded with God for my conversion, and that it would occur 
 at my sister's wedding, which was shortly to take place. A 
 strange time, some might say, to think of such things ; but God 
 is waiting to manifest His power at all times, if He can 
 find faithful hearts through whom to do so. I went to the 
 wedding, and just as I was coming away still ignorant of 
 the fact that there were souls holding on to God for me 
 standing on the railway platform with my brother, who was 
 to travel with me, I thought it would be an awful bore 
 to have him speaking to me about my soul, but with a 
 determination to cut him as short as possible, we took 
 our seats in a smoking compartment alongside several 
 loud-talking horse-dealers. Under covert of the noise my 
 brother spoke to me of Jesus, " my Jesus," and how I had 
 been spurning His love all my life, and as He spoke, the 
 blessed Spirit of God bore the words home to rny heart 
 and revealed my waiting Saviour to me. While this was 
 going on the devil was rousing himself, and then began a 
 battle I shall never forget. I realised my position at once. 
 Here was I, with the awful power of free-will, the loving 
 invitation of my crucified and risen Lord pleading with that 
 still small voice on one hand, and the devil flooding my mind 
 with his baits and lies on the other. First he drags out his 
 favourite, " You won't stand," then he arrays a long list of my 
 pleasures, sinful and harmless, and winds up with " You'll 
 have to give these up, and you can't do it '' ; then he passed 
 before my mind all my worldly companions, and pictured 
 them with a sneer on their faces, and said " You can't stand 
 it." And many other devices he used. Through it all I saw 
 my Saviour waiting. My will commenced to waver, and my 
 heart to weep, as I thought of His wonderful love, in loving 
 such a poor sinner as I was, and as I looked at Him, the 
 devil's voice faded away, and at last I opened my heart, and 
 lo ! into it came such a wonderful peace and stillness. I 
 thought no more, but just allowed Jesus to save me, and thus 
 I passed from " death unto life," little realising at the time, 
 nor even yet, indeed, the fulness of its meaning.
 
 54 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 About a week after my conversion I was in my first prayer 
 meeting, which consisted of about a dozen " well-saved 
 sinners/' and seeing they were willing to do what Jesus bade 
 them which means something the devil told me straight 
 they were too far on for me, and I ought to keep quiet for 
 some months and not attract attention. God gave me grace 
 there and then to resolve that I would wholly follow Him, or, 
 in other words, be an out-and-out Christian. I praise God for 
 this grace, as I now see that prayer meeting to have been a 
 most critical time, and I also thank God because such a 
 resolution places a soul above many of the petty temptations 
 which beset the carnal Christian. 
 
 A few days after God took me at my word, and led me 
 to destroy about ^4 worth of pipes, and trust Him to take the 
 desire away as I was a hard smoker and also to give me 
 something in its place, and a better way of spending His 
 money. In His unfailing bountiful way He responded to my 
 faith, and I have never since had the least desire to smoke, 
 which in itself is a great blessing in several ways as it proves 
 to me if nothing else did, that my God is a living God. 
 
 Obeying what I believed to be the leading of God, I did not 
 rush straight into whatever work presented itself, as it came 
 to me that God had some work planned for me, and what I 
 had to do was to allow Him to lead me into it ; and it seemed 
 as if the Felt Street Interdenominational Mission Hall were to 
 be the sphere. This was subsequently made plain to me as 
 God's will. I have nothing whatever to say of my work here, 
 as it was so utterly informal, but I found the work to be 
 a joyful privilege, and every act to bear its own recompense 
 in the sweet consciousness of realizing oneself to be a channel 
 through which our great God and Father condescended 
 to manifest His love and power to the needy souls in the 
 district. God knows He was much and often straitened in 
 me by the hindrances of self, but I do praise Him that 
 He showed me at last my ugly "self borne away by my 
 Saviour, along with my sins on Calvary, and now I find that 
 the Cross of Christ separates me from "myself " as well as my 
 sins, so that being dead to self, the self-life no longer lives, 
 but Christ (my New Life) liveth in me.
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 55 
 
 My conversion took place on the i5th of September, 1896, 
 and about the following spring God was drawing out the 
 hearts of some of my brothers in the Lord towards the 
 heathen, and I felt very anxious to have a Missionary spirit, 
 but God shewed me that it was His Gift, and was not to 
 be found elsewhere or imitated, and so I received peace about 
 it, and trusted Him to speak to me when His time came. At 
 the same time He showed me I was not saved just to get to 
 heaven, and that I must live for others, and tell out the news 
 of the free grace of God. I believe He found me in some 
 little way faithful in witnessing to those around me, for in 
 July, at the Students' Conference in Curbar, I had the great 
 joy of hearing Him say " I have need of you in Egypt." And 
 so, after much waiting and prayer, I, with six other dear 
 brothers, whom He has called to the same sphere, go forth in 
 His glad service, being confident of this one thing, that He 
 which hath begun, in and through me, a good work will 
 perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ ; for I know that in my 
 flesh dwelleth no good thing, but I have been crucified with 
 Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in 
 me, and that life which I now live in the flesh, I live in faith, the 
 faith which is in the Son of God Who loved me and gave 
 Himself for me. 
 
 I pray you, dear reader, that you "quench not the Spirit/' 
 and abstain from every appearance of evil, and the God of 
 peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and 
 soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, at the 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 " Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.''
 
 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 JOHN GORDON LOGAN. 
 
 " Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all 
 that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." 
 ACTS ii. 38, 39. 
 
 " It was Thyself, O God, who sought, 
 With tender yearnings deep, 
 The loveless soul who sought Thee not, 
 The worthless, wandering sheep." 
 
 FOR the first 
 twenty years 
 of my life I 
 was dead to 
 God, spiritually dead, 
 and it was only after 
 a terrible experience 
 of shame and sin that 
 my eyes were opened 
 one day to see that 
 Jesus had borne the 
 sin-penalty, and my 
 sin-sick, weary soul 
 passed from death to 
 life. I became alive 
 to God, but, alas ! very 
 much alive to sin and 
 self still. For three 
 years He had to deal 
 with me in a very 
 
 stern way to wean my soul from the things of time and 
 sense. I can well remember how it came at last to 
 a whole-hearted surrender, a clean break with the world, 
 and open confession of Christ at the street corner, and 
 how the joy of the Lord flooded my soul. It meant 
 death to sin, death to the world, and death to self, although 
 
 JOHN GORDON I.OGAN,
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 57 
 
 there was very much I did not know anything about 
 then. I surrendered up to my light, however, and when fresh 
 light came never said " No " to my Lord. He began to use 
 me in His service, filled me with a thirst for souls, and a love 
 for His saints, but still there was something lacking. I felt a 
 deep need of " power " in my life and service. 
 
 In July, 1891, the Lord drew very near. One afternoon I 
 spent with a number of God's people in an upper room 
 searching the Bible, prayerfully and diligently, regarding the 
 Pentecostal Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Lord showed me 
 clearly that there was such a gift. I could not look back to a 
 time when I had definitely received, and my experience told 
 me I was not in possession of this gift. The blessing was 
 clearly for me (Acts ii. 17, 18, 38, 39) if I was willing to receive 
 on God's terms ; and as we knelt down I very humbly 
 submitted myself wholly to God, to be and do whatever He 
 required of me, and in simple faith received the Pentecostal 
 Gift of the Holy Ghost, just as I had received the gift of 
 eternal life some years before. 
 
 I knew but little that afternoon of what my risen, glorified 
 Lord had done for me, I know but little now, for every day 
 seems to bring fresh revelations of the presence and power of 
 the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Shortly afterwards God tested to the uttermost the blessing 
 I had received. A very clear call came to go to the heathen, 
 to one of the darkest parts of Africa. To obey meant to be 
 misunderstood and misjudged by loved ones, meant death to 
 my home ties, to my friends, to every comfort, and facing a 
 life of hardship and trial ; but God brought me through more 
 than conqueror, and when He saw I was willing to go all the 
 way, He closed the door even more definitely than He had 
 opened it. That was at the close of 1892, and for five years 
 God sent me back to my business with one word to rest on 
 Rom. xi. 29, "The gifts and calling of God are without 
 repentance." 
 
 During these years He began to reveal to me, as I was able 
 to bear it, the utter corruption of the natural man. Especially 
 did He open my eyes to see a subtle phase of the self-life I 
 had never reckoned about. I refer to my beautiful, good,
 
 58 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 consecrated " self," with all its zeal for God's service, and its 
 enjoyment of spiritual blessings, with its natural love, humility, 
 joy, patience, generosity, wisdom, strength, and many other 
 things, which I had not fully realised as being part of the old 
 man, needing to be forever " devoted," given over to the 
 death of the Cross. From that time everything seemed to go 
 wrong. There was failure all along the line. I felt as if I had 
 lost hold of God, and sometimes longed to be out of the work 
 altogether. I could say with Job, " God hath overthrown me, 
 and hath compassed me with His net ; He hath stripped me 
 of my glory, and taken the crown from my head." At the 
 same time He began to send messages from various sources 
 revealing to me the deeper meaning of the Cross, the Grave, 
 the Resurrection and the Glory of Christ. The climax came 
 one night, as I waited before God, and He made real to me 
 experimentally, what I had long known in theory, that my 
 own natural life came to an end with Christ's natural life on 
 the Cross, and that it is " no longer I that live, but Christ 
 liveth in me.'' Oh, how blind I had been ! But from that 
 night, " I, in the midst of life am daily delivered unto death 
 for Jesus' sake, that the life whereby Jesus conquered death 
 may show by faith its power in my dying flesh'' (2 Cor. iv. n. 
 Conybeare's version). During the following night God 
 confirmed what He had done 2 Cor. v. 14 17, especially 
 " if any man be in Christ he is a new creature ; old things are 
 passed away ; behold all things are become new.'' It has 
 meant going down, down, deeper and deeper since, realizing 
 every moment that " I am nothing " (2 Cor. xii. n), that God 
 is all, and that for every breath I must depend on Him alone. 
 During 1897 the impression became stronger and stronger 
 that God was about to do a new thing in my experience. I 
 had waited patiently in the very trying and difficult place He 
 had put me in business, and had tested the faithfulness of El 
 Shaddai to the utmost, not daring to step out of business until 
 He called me. In October I was in Belfast, and met some of 
 my dear brothers whom God had chosen for Egypt. They 
 were praying for a seventh man to make up the band. I had 
 no light about going to that country, and no desire on earth 
 but for God and His will. Immediately after meeting them I
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 59 
 
 received from the firm I was doing business for some samples 
 of new goods, and, on looking them over, I saw at once it 
 would be utterly impossible for me, as a follower of Jesus, to 
 show them or receive profit from the sale of them. It would 
 have grieved the Holy Ghost, and I felt in the depth of my 
 being that all the wealth of the universe was but small dust in 
 the balance compared with the smile of Jesus, and the joy of 
 being well-pleasing unto Him. After taking the matter 
 definitely to God for several days I wrote to the directors of 
 the firm expressing my conviction, and, as there was no 
 likelihood of the goods being withdrawn, resigning my situation. 
 God gave me the twentieth verse of Psalm cxviii. (R. V.) 
 " This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter in '' 
 as His message, and I felt He was about to take me out of 
 business but into what ? 
 
 It was coming very definitely to the souls of my Belfast 
 brethren that God was answering their prayers for the seventh 
 man, and taking me out for that purpose, and the impression 
 deepened in my own mind that this was His will, and was 
 confirmed on receiving a letter from the firm expressing their 
 regret and accepting my resignation. Time and space would 
 fail to tell how He has led on step by step, and how His voice 
 was heard saying, " This is the way, walk ye in it," when the 
 awful temptations and assaults of the enemy would have 
 turned me to the right hand or the left. He made my parents 
 and friends willing, nay glad, that I should go. " He hath 
 broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder ! " 
 Glory to His Name ! He gave me the blessed assurance that 
 even should I never set foot in Egypt it has been gloriously 
 worth while obeying Him in this matter. But never shall I 
 forget how I looked to Him for some message from His Word 
 to confirm it all, and, in a wonderful way, He gave me 
 Genesis xlv. 18, 20 " Come unto me : and I will give you the 
 good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. 
 Also regard not your stuff ; for all the good of the land of 
 Egypt is yours."
 
 6o 
 
 " BLESSED BE EGYPT. 
 
 GEORGE SWAN. 
 
 " O wretched man that I am/ who shall deliver me from the 
 body of this death ? I thank God through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord.'' Rom. vii. 24, 25. 
 
 " Thy beautiful sweet will, my God, 
 Holds fast in its sublime embrace 
 My captive will, a gladsome bird, 
 Prisoned in such a realm of grace." 
 
 ALTHOUGH 
 not "born 
 again" until 
 22 years of 
 age, my spiritual his- 
 tory really dates back 
 ii years earlier, when 
 at a large children's 
 meeting, along with 
 many others, I rose 
 from my seat and 
 went into the enquiry 
 room. As far as I 
 remember, my motive 
 for doing so was more 
 from a natural desire 
 to be good than any- 
 thing I heard in the 
 address or any con- 
 viction of sin. My mind gripped nothing in the service 
 nor in the personal dealing afterwards in the enquiry 
 room, but simply with boy-like chivalry, I left that place 
 determined to be "good," and set a good example to my 
 brothers and sisters. Christ as a substitute for the penalty 
 of sin, and a Saviour from the power of sin, was unknown to 
 
 GEORGF S\VAX.
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 61 
 
 me. I only knew Him as an Example. To my surprise from 
 that time I seemed to get worse and worse. As the days 
 lengthened out into months, and the months into years, my 
 experience was truly " for what I would, that do I not ; but 
 what I hate, that do I," until the cry of my heart became, 
 though at that time I could not have interpreted it, " Oh, 
 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body 
 of this death ? '' This struggle was entirely an internal one. 
 Outwardly I was gay, happy, careless, and amongst moral 
 people moral, though the impurity of my heart poured forth 
 its vileness in the presence of those who did not object to it. 
 So deceptive was my life at this time that some of the most 
 important offices of the church I attended were thrust upon 
 me, under the delusion that I was a Christian. " Surely the 
 heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately 
 wicked. Who shall know it ? '' 
 
 About this time, when I was constantly dreading that the 
 pent-up passions would break out into open sin, bringing ruin 
 on myself and disgrace to my parents, I received a call to 
 Ireland from a friend to consider a proposal to start business 
 in Belfast. On arrival at my destination, a town in South- 
 West Ulster, I found that I had to remain there over the 
 week end, and on the Sunday went twice to church, but in the 
 evening on coming out of church was asked by my friend's 
 brother to go with him to a little mission hall in a poor part of 
 the town. To this I gave a decided " No," and got out of his 
 way as quickly as possible. When he returned to the house 
 he asked why I so decidedly refused to go to the mission hall ? 
 Upon which I opened out into a tirade against evangelicalism, 
 mission work, and people who had the presumption to 
 say they knew they were " saved." In reply to his question 
 as to how I proposed to fit myself for the presence of 
 God, and what was my plan of salvation, I said it was to 
 add virtue to virtue, and grace to grace, setting myself 
 to master one sin or evil habit at a time ; when that was gof 
 rid of to deal with another, and eventually trust to the 
 clemency of God, that He would see I had done my best, and 
 hence would possibly pass me at the judgment day. I must 
 have had some vague idea of 2 Peter i. 6, 7, but knew nothing
 
 62 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 of verse 4, where it shows that one has to become a partaker 
 of the " divine nature " before one can add to one's " faith 
 virtue ; and to virtue knowledge ; and to knowledge temper- 
 ance ; and to temperance patience ; and to patience godliness ; 
 and to godliness brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly 
 kindness love." From that evening my own argument as 
 to the plan of salvation began to worry me, it being the first 
 time I had ever stated it, and the first time I had ever been 
 dealt with personally about my soul, and the very statement 
 showed me what a refuge of lies I was hiding under, for I knew 
 very well that I had been trying to live by that rule to the 
 utmost of my ability for at least eleven years, and had only 
 succeeded in adding vice to vice, and sin to sin. At the same 
 time, although I told my friends I had met a religious fanatic, 
 I could not forget his calm assurance. 
 
 After being at home for a fortnight I returned to Ireland to 
 commence business in Belfast, and to my surprise within a 
 few days I was introduced to one after another, who 
 were of what I chose to call the fanatical type of Christian, 
 namely, who knew they were saved, and did not mind saying so. 
 On my first Sunday evening I was brought down to Felt 
 Street Mission Hall. Everything was strange and wonderful. 
 I had never been in such a place before. I began to see that 
 the Lord's hand was upon me, and to look about to see what 
 it was that He wanted to show me. Very gently He dealt 
 with me, giving a little light here, and a little there, until 
 eventually about the third Sunday night in Belfast, while 
 praying a little child's prayer I had learnt at my mother's 
 knee " God bless father and mother, brothers and sisters, 
 and make me a good boy'' when I got to the word "make," 
 I realised how foolish I had been all these years, trying 
 to " make " myself good, while all the time Jesus had died to 
 do it for me. So I there and then cast the whole responsibility 
 of my salvation on the Lord, and rose from my knees to 
 notice for the first time the text over my bed, " Kept by the 
 power of God/' and from that time this has been my blessed 
 experience, for I know Jesus not only as my Redeemer 
 from the guilt and penalty of sin, but also as my Saviour from 
 the power of sin.
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 63 
 
 I cannot now look back upon the surroundings of my early 
 Christian experience without the deepest thankfulness to God. 
 I was associated with Felt Street Mission Hall from the first, 
 and there it was that I tremblingly gave my first testimony. 
 The healthy spiritual atmosphere of the place and scope for 
 Christian activity, together with the fatherly care of the 
 founder of the Mission, have had an influence in the moulding 
 
 WORK AMONGST HOME HEATHEN'. 
 
 of my life which only eternity will reveal. Living and 
 working in the locality revealed to me not only the awful 
 havoc caused by sin, especially drunkenness, but the glorious 
 power of the Gospel to raise the very lowest, and to meet 
 every case of need. Looking back I can see now that God 
 made Felt Street to be to me a Missionary College, and
 
 64 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 I could not anywhere have had better training for the foreign 
 field than I received during the four years of my connection 
 with its work and workers. 
 
 About a month after my conversion I saw that the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost, in His Pentecostal fulness, was mine for the 
 taking, even as justification was ; so I definitely, in faith, took 
 God at His word and received the infilling of the Holy Ghost. 
 Almost immediately God began to deal with me with regard to 
 the heathen, and I was led to give myself to Him for the spread 
 of the glad tidings to the Regions Beyond. 
 
 It was not until about a year after, in July, 1896, that I 
 received further leading as to where the Lord wanted me to 
 work, through a little pamphlet called a "A Challenge to 
 Faith." This was a call for workers amongst Mohammedans, 
 and the Lord showed this to be my sphere of labour for Him. 
 About nine months after this, God began to call out a band of 
 seven for the foreign field, and it was made clear to me that I 
 was to be one of the number : and when a few months after- 
 wards at the Students' Conference at Curbar, the call came for 
 seven men for Egypt, it was manifest to me that this was of 
 God, as it reconciled the individual leading to work among the 
 Mohammedans with the leading of being one of the band of 
 seven. And thus all along the line God has lovingly and 
 gently led. 
 
 As I followed, the barred gates and blank walls gave way ; 
 the mountains were brought low, and the crooked places 
 made straight. 
 
 All glory to His Name ! 
 
 T. EDWARD SWAN. 
 
 " Be still, and know that I am God : I will be exalted among 
 the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.'' PSALM xlvi. 10. 
 
 I heard the voice of Jesus say, 
 " Come unto Me and rest ; 
 
 Lay down, thou weary one, lay down, 
 Thy head upon My breast."
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 
 
 I came to Jesus as I was 
 
 Weary, and worn, and sad ; 
 I found in Him a resting-place, 
 
 And He has made me glad. 
 
 I heard the voice of Jesus say, 
 
 "Behold, I freely give 
 The living water thirsty one, 
 
 Stoop down, and drink, and live." 
 1 came to Jesus, and I drank 
 
 Of that life-giving stream ; 
 My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, 
 
 And now I live in Him. 
 
 I heard the voice of Jesus say, 
 
 " I am this dark world's Light : 
 Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, 
 
 And all thy day be bright." 
 I looked to Jesus, and I found 
 
 In Him my Star, my Sun ; 
 And in that Light of Life I'll walk 
 
 Till travelling days are done. 
 
 I WAS brought to a 
 knowledge of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ 
 through attend- 
 ing a series of services 
 held in Monaghan 
 Parish Church by a 
 saintly clergyman in 
 January, 1889. Up to 
 that time I had been 
 an unsaved communi- 
 cant in the Presby- 
 terian Church, and 
 went to it thinking 
 that was the way I 
 should get salvation. 
 It was more than a 
 month before I had 
 assurance of salvation, 
 and from about that 
 
 time until April, 1897, I only knew what it was to be half saved. 
 It was a case of " Oh, wretched man that I am ! who shall 
 
 T. EDWARD SWAN.
 
 66 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 deliver me ? '' and " when I would do good, evil was present 
 with me ; " and though I did not always succumb to tempta- 
 tion, it was often a desperate struggle to get the victory. I 
 had not come to the end of myself for a full deliverance from 
 sin, and though God blessed and owned my testimony for Him, 
 still I did not know a Saviour Who was " able to save to the 
 uttermost." Now, praise God, "He is my strength, and my 
 song, and has also become my salvation.'" I do praise Him 
 that I know a God that has saved me from having any 
 sympathy with, love, or desire for sin. This great blessing 
 was given me as I learned to sit before the Lord, and " be 
 still" to know Him as God. Now, instead of praying as a 
 duty or necessity, I find the greatest delight in waiting on 
 God, and realize that He renews my spiritual and physical 
 strength in a marvellous way, hitherto unknown to me. Praise 
 God, I now find all my recreation in Christ Jesus. I know now 
 what it is to " enjoy God." 
 
 Shortly after this full deliverance God shewed me I could 
 not be absolutely surrendered to Him in the way He required 
 me to be and remain at the particular work I was engaged in. 
 Then through His Word, and in other ways, He began calling 
 me to see His need in the foreign field ; and, as I waited on Him 
 for guidance, He clearly showed me I was to go forth in 
 dependence on Him to Egypt. I had no hesitancy in obeying 
 the call, but felt that not being much of a speaker this lack 
 would probably be a hindrance. I found this a pretty hard 
 difficulty to overcome, and at last God shewed me it was not 
 the eloquence of the preacher or missionary that saved, but 
 GOD IN THE MISSIONARY. Ultimately I obtained the victory, 
 and became willing to be a contemptible vessel, that the 
 excellency of the glory might be of God ; and so I go forth 
 realizing, as never before, that though I have nothing, yet I 
 possess all things in Him, in Whom is all my sufficiency. 
 
 In the spring of 1896 I was at a Convention held in 
 Enniskillen, and first became acquainted with two of the 
 members of the present Egypt Mission Band ; and, although 
 only there for a day and a night, leaving at an early hour the 
 following morning, a bond of love was formed that has grown 
 stronger and stronger in Christ Jesus ever since. On my
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 67 
 
 occasional visits to Belfast, after this, I generally made it a 
 point of staying with one or other of these new found brothers 
 in Christ, and joining them in seasons of waiting on God. On 
 special occasions when God laid it on the heart of the Belfast 
 Band to engage in some particularly aggressive work for Him, 
 such as open-air campaigns on the event of public holidays 
 and combined missions, I would unite with them. Though 
 severed by a considerable distance, and with only very 
 occasional meeting, God united us together in Him, and I 
 always felt one with them. At the time when God had 
 separated five out of the Band for foreign mission work, He 
 laid my name on the hearts of every one of the five to pray 
 that if it were the will of God I might be brought into line 
 with His purpose. 
 
 No communication on the subject had been made up to this 
 time, and no one outside of the five knew anything of the 
 leading out to the foreign field. After they had begun to pray 
 for me, I was led to write a letter (to one of them) to the effect 
 that I realized that I had come to a crisis in my life, and that I 
 could no longer wholly follow the Lord in my occupation, that I 
 thought God was calling me to go to the Foreign Mission field 
 trusting Him to supply my need. I was then invited down to 
 spend Saturday to Monday with them in prayer and conference, 
 where God confirmed to me the call for foreign service and the 
 connection with the Band. At Curbar this call was again 
 confirmed, and I there realized that I must go to Egypt if none 
 of the others went. After my return home it was suggested 
 that one of the number should take up work among the Jews. 
 Before I received this communication, God had already laid 
 the work upon my heart, and I was just writing away for 
 information on the subject. With this confirmation of God's 
 guidance, I felt myself in an especial manner separated unto 
 the propagation of the Gospel amongst God's chosen people 
 in Egypt.
 
 68 
 
 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 ELJAS H. THOMPSON. 
 
 " Be careful for nothing ; but in everything by prayer and 
 supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known 
 unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, 
 shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." PHIL. 
 iv. 6, 7. 
 
 Loved with everlasting love, 
 
 Led by grace that love to know ; 
 Spirit, breathing from above, 
 
 Thou hast taught me it is so ! 
 Oh, this full and perfect peace ! 
 Oh, this transport all divine ! 
 In a love which cannot cease, 
 I am His, and He is mine. 
 
 His for ever, only His ; 
 
 Who the Lord and me shall part ? 
 Ah, with what a rest of bliss, 
 
 Christ can fill the loving heart ! 
 Heaven and earth may fade and flee, 
 
 Firstborn light in gloom decline, 
 But, while God and I shall be, 
 
 I am His, and He is mine. 
 
 I WAS brought up 
 in a Christian 
 home as a mem- 
 ber of the So- 
 ciety of Friends, and 
 from the earliest days 
 of which I have any 
 recollection have been 
 kept in mind of the 
 things of God. The 
 first religious im- 
 pressions that I re- 
 member came through 
 a God-honoured evan- 
 gelist when conduct- 
 ing a mission in 
 Carrickfergus, and 
 through a minister 
 of our Society, who 
 visited York while I 
 was at school there. These, however, left but a very one-sided 
 
 ELIAS H. THOMPSON.
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 69 
 
 impression on my life, which might be summed up in the 
 words " be good." An unsuccessful struggle began, and was 
 carried on with an outward appearance of religion, whilst all 
 the time the heart was far from God, and the desire for sin 
 and the world ever present. 
 
 It was not till February, 1894, during a mission held in 
 connection with the Presbyterian Congregation in White- 
 abbey, by one of the Assembly's evangelists, that I first saw 
 the Lord Jesus Christ crucified for me on the Cross of Calvary. 
 The words of Ittai in 2 Samuel xv. 21 were adopted as the 
 expression of my will. In life or death no king for me but 
 Jesus. In looking back to that day I can see now that my 
 attention was fixed more on the fact of my " determination " 
 than the fact of His " reception/' and for seven months I 
 sought for " feeling," or outward testimony to the reality of the 
 change that had taken place, till the Lord led me to see in 
 simple faith that all our struggling is only our effort to 
 " believe God," and when we believe Him we stop struggling 
 and rest. It was then that Philippians iv. 6, 7, first came home 
 to my soul. Through the reading of " Thoughts on Christian 
 Sanctity,' 1 and some of the works of the Rev. Andrew Murray, 
 the Lord showed me there was something more in His 
 salvation than a deliverance from the guilt and penalty of sin, 
 and I surrendered myself up to present light for all that the 
 Lord willed for me. In the testing times, however, there was 
 a drawing back, and therefore failure, and the consecration of 
 the desire was rendered null by disobedience in action. Still 
 the mercy and grace of the Lord led on, and the call came to 
 me to leave business in the autumn of 1896, and go " Not 
 knowing whither." My eyes had been towards the Foreign 
 Mission field, and, shortly after this last step, I attended a 
 Conference of the Friends' Foreign Mission Association, in 
 Darlington, hoping there to receive a call, but the Lord's time 
 had not yet arrived ; and from there I went to Rothesay to the 
 Faith Mission Convention, where the Lord spoke to me very 
 clearly on the fact of the necessity of union with Christ in His 
 death if our lives are to bring forth fruit unto God. John 
 xii. 24. 
 
 Some work followed amongst the Society of Friends in the
 
 70 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 South of Ireland, and still nothing definite opened before me, 
 though the Lord was preparing His slowly yielding instrument 
 for His work. My first connection with those with whom 
 God was weaving in the thread of my life was in July, 1896, 
 and from that time God began a blessed fellowship in the 
 Holy Ghost. A five weeks' tour in the South of Ireland in the 
 latter part of January and February, 1897, concluding with a 
 series of meetings in Dublin, brought me into contact with one 
 of the present band, who happened to be in Dublin at the 
 time, and kindly took charge of the last meeting, specially 
 convened for Christian workers, when many definitely received 
 by faith the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 On the occasion of the opening of the new Y.M.C.A. 
 Buildings in Belfast, as I walked through the Minor Hall with 
 a beloved evangelist, he said to me, " It is on my heart that 
 the Lord is going to separate out a party from your band of 
 thirteen for work in the Soudan." It was the first call to 
 foreign work that came clearly home to my soul. The same 
 " separation " was immediately laid on the hearts of two other 
 brethren in the city, and became a subject of earnest prayer 
 as to the Lord's will for us as individuals. The first idea that 
 we had was that the Lord might send us to some untouched 
 part of Southern Central Africa, which stands in so much need 
 of the Gospel, but nothing came in that direction with the 
 impress of Divine authority. Not being able to go to the 
 Students' Conference at Curbar, as I was at Colwyn Bay for 
 the Children's Special Services, the leading of the four who 
 were there reached me by letter. I found it necessary to come 
 home for a Sunday, and then met the brethren for united 
 prayer. Before going to bed on Sunday night, 22nd of August, 
 1897, I asked the Lord to give a message from His Word as to 
 whether He wanted me to go to Egypt, and when I opened 
 the Bible it seemed to contain Egypt on every page I turned 
 to. Next morning before going to meet one of the brethren, 
 the word came from Ezekiel x. 22 "They went every one 
 straight forward,'' which proved to be the very word this 
 brother had received as a message to the band. 
 
 Again on Sunday, 26th September, as we unitedly waited on 
 the Lord He spoke very definitely to me, and I saw there was
 
 DELIVERANCE AND TRANSLATION. 71 
 
 nothing for me to do but let the Lord have His way, though I 
 had not yet the spiritual assurance, apart from the written 
 Word, of God's purpose on my behalf. Shortly after this the 
 Lord led me to visit my brother in the South of France, when 
 He spoke to me very definitely through two of His servants, 
 revealing the subtleties of the self-life, and the need of the 
 experimental out-working of much that had formerly been 
 held theoretically or intellectually. 
 
 He dealt on the negative side through the sparing of the 
 Amalekites by Saul in i Samuel xv., and on the positive side 
 through the history of King Asa, especially in 2 Chronicles 
 xvi. 9 the need of a perfect heart before God which He 
 alone could give. Then all seemed dark for some days, 
 but the promises of Malachi iii. 1-3 and iv. 1-3 were given 
 to me and I waited their fulfilment. 
 
 The next step was to be sent with a friend who was 
 going to conduct some meetings with the Missionaries irv 
 Algiers, and there in one of the Missionaries' homes, face- 
 to-face with a few native converts, the Lord fulfilled His 
 promises. As I left the room, the word sounded in my 
 inward ear, " The days of Thy mourning are ended.'' 
 Hallelujah ! At the same time He set His seal to the call 
 to carry to the Gentiles the " unsearchable riches of Christ." 
 One by one the doors opened, and on the i7th of January, 
 1898, the shores of England were left behind, a parting 
 shot being fired to the few labourers standing on the quay 
 wall as we emerged into the Mersey " The wages of sin 
 is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord.' 1 
 
 To Him be all the glory. Amen.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Xanb anfc its people. 
 
 Arise and work ! arise and pray 
 That He would haste the dawning day ! 
 And let the silver trumpet sound 
 Wherever Satan's slaves are found. 
 
 The vanquished foe shall soon be stilled, 
 The conquering Saviour's joy fulfilled, 
 Fulfilled in us, fulfilled in them, 
 His crown, His royal diadem. 
 
 Soon, soon our waiting eyes shall see 
 The Saviour's mighty jubilee ! 
 His harvest joy is filling fast, 
 He shall be satisfied at last. 
 
 ALTHOUGH some accounts of the Classics may 
 the Countpy. 
 
 Condition of be deemed exaggerated when they speak of 
 
 the population and prosperity of Egypt, we 
 cannot accuse them of error, except in the number of 
 towns and inhabitants of the country ; for the monuments 
 show us how rich was Egypt under the native rulers, 
 and indicate to what cause this may reasonably be 
 assigned. From the time at which the great Pyramid was 
 built, to the Persian invasion, a period of between 2,000 
 and 3,000 years, the population of Egypt and its extent 
 of cultivated land far exceeded what they are in the present 
 day. The country does not seem to have been over-peopled. 
 Many causes tended to prevent this, particularly serious wars 
 in which the Pharaohs engaged. The long and desolating 
 struggles with the Assyrians and Persians inflicted a 
 severe blow on the interests of the country. Under the
 
 74 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 Macedonians it recovered much of its former prosperity ; and 
 when the Romans held Egypt it was one of their most 
 productive provinces, and the granary of the Empire. During 
 the Roman rule various political causes contributed to the 
 decline of the population. After the Moslem conquest this 
 decay continued, almost uninterruptedly, until the time of the 
 Fatimees ; but from that until the Turkish conquest the 
 rulers of the successive independent dynasties generally 
 governed the country with a regard for its interests, and 
 cannot be accused of the systematic tyranny and misrule 
 of the Turkish Pashas. There was a temporary recovery 
 under the independent or semi-independent Memlock rulers 
 before the French invasion, and in spite of much of the 
 Turkish system the country has again made good progress. 
 But it is since the English occupation that Egypt has taken a 
 new lease of life ; and with a continuation of good Government 
 we may trust that the future has happier days in store for the 
 country. 
 
 Under the Pharaohs Egypt was an agricultural 
 Agriculture, country, and both commerce and manufacture 
 
 were unimportant. The main energies of 
 the people were expended in turning to the best account 
 soil of unexcelled richness, annually watered and renewed 
 by the river Nile. This natural policy was the true one 
 for the prosperity of the country. From the sculptures 
 and paintings of the tombs we form a clear idea of the 
 agriculture of the ancient Egyptians, while the classical 
 writers give us information respecting the tenure of lands and 
 the laws for the cultivator. 
 
 . For thousands of years the banks of the Nile 
 Origin and 1 
 
 Present nave been occupied by the Egyptians, the 
 
 Conditions oldest nation known to history, and still 
 
 of the exhibiting many of their ancient personal 
 
 characteristics unaltered. Notwithstanding 
 
 the interminable series of immigrations and other changes 
 
 affecting the character of the inhabitants, the Egyptian 
 
 type has always predominated with marvellous uniformity. 
 
 As Egypt is said to be " the gift of the Nile," so has 
 
 the character of its inhabitants been apparently moulded
 
 76 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 by the influence of that river. No country in the world 
 is so dependent on a river which traverses it as Egypt, 
 and no river presents physical characteristics so exceptional 
 as the Nile ; so, too, there exists no race of people which 
 possesses so marked and unchanging an individuality as the 
 Egyptians. It is, therefore, most probable that this unvarying 
 type is the product of the soil itself, and that the character of 
 the peoples who settled at different periods on the banks of the 
 Nile, whatever it may originally have been, has in due course 
 of time been moulded to the same constant form by the 
 mysterious influences of the river. In all countries, indeed, 
 national characteristics are justly regarded as the outcome of 
 soil and climate, and of this connection no country affords so 
 strong an illustration as Egypt, with its sharply defined 
 boundaries of sea and desert, and in its complete isolation from 
 the rest of the world. These considerations tend to throw 
 serious doubts on all current theories as to the origin of the 
 Egyptians. According to the Bible, Mizraim was the son of 
 Ham, and brother of Canaan and the Ethiopian Cush ; and as 
 his name was applied by the Hebrews to Egypt, it is probable 
 that he migrated with his sons from Asia to the banks of the 
 Nile. The name, moreover, of Ludim, his eldest son, corre- 
 sponds to the word Rotu, or Lotu, the hieroglyphic name for 
 the Egyptians. 
 
 Philologists, who have discovered points of resemblance 
 in the roots and inflections of the ancient Egyptian and 
 Semitic languages, likewise come to the conclusion that the 
 Egyptians originally came from Asia, either by way of Suez 
 or across the Red Sea from Arabia. 
 
 The Modern Egyptians. 
 
 The population of Egypt, according to the census returns 
 of 1897, is composed as follows : 
 
 Arabs ... ... ... 8,399,309 
 
 Copts ... ... ... 608,446 
 
 Bedouins ... ... ... 573974 
 
 Ottoman subjects (including some 
 
 Syrians and Greeks) ... ... 40,150 
 
 Foreigners ... ... ... 112,526 
 
 Total ... ... ... 9.734.405
 
 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE. 77 
 
 Divided in Lower Egypt ... $,676,109 
 
 Upper Egypt ... 4,058,296 
 
 And the divisions according to Religions are mainly 
 composed of : 
 
 Mohammedans ... ... 8,978,775 
 
 Christians (Greeks, Catholics, etc.) ... 730,162 
 
 Jews ... ... ... 25,200 
 
 Others (Idol Worshippers) ... 268 
 
 Total ... ... 9.734.45 
 
 Men 4,947,850 ; i y 2 per cent, read and write, say 436,000 
 altogether. 
 
 Women 4,786,555 ; 6 per thousand read and write, say 
 32,000 altogether. 
 
 Nearly all the Egyptian women who can read and write 
 have belonged to the American Mission, and are Copts. 
 
 The inhabitants may be divided between the following 
 different classes : 
 
 (1.) THE FELLAHIN, " the tillers " or " peasants," form the 
 bulk of the population, and may be regarded as the sinews of the 
 national strength. They are generally slightly above the 
 middle height ; their bones, and particularly their skulls, are 
 strong and massive ; and their wrists and ankles are powerful 
 and somewhat clumsy. In all these respects the fellahin, as 
 well as their domestic animals, contrast strongly with the 
 inhabitants of the desert. Notwithstanding this largeness of 
 frame, however, the fellah never grows fat. The women and 
 girls are particularly remarkable for their slender build, and 
 they often speak of each other as zei el-habl, or slender as a 
 rope. The men generally keep their heads shaved, but the 
 hair of the soldiers and the long tresses of the girls, though 
 always black and often curly, is by no means of the short 
 woolly negro type. 
 
 The dwelling of the fellah is of a miserably poor description, 
 consisting generally of four low walls formed of crude bricks 
 of Nile mud, and thatched with a roof of dura straw, rush,
 
 78 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 rags, or old straw mats. In the interior are a few mats, a 
 sheep's skin, several baskets made of matting, a copper kettle, 
 and a few earthenware pots and wooden dishes. Instead of 
 using the crude bricks, the fellahin in Upper Egypt often form 
 
 A MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN. 
 
 the walls of their huts of a mixture of mud and straw. The 
 dark, windowless interior is entered by a small opening, in 
 front of which the proprietor usually forms an enclosure of 
 circular shape with a wall of mud about five feet in height.
 
 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE. 79 
 
 This is the court-yard of the establishment, and the usual 
 resort of the family and their domestic animals in summer. 
 The walls of the yard generally contain round hollows, used 
 as receptacles for the grain which forms the food of the family. 
 Within the yard are usually placed a square pillar, about five 
 feet in height, with openings in its sides, as receptacles for 
 objects of value, and a thick column of the same height 
 terminating in a platform, shaped like a plate, with the edges 
 bent upwards, which is used by the proprietor as a sleeping- 
 place in hot weather. The fact is that beneath an Egyptian 
 sky, houses are not of the same paramount importance as in 
 more northern regions, all that is wanted being shelter for the 
 night. 
 
 The poorer peasant's mode of life is frugal in the extreme. 
 The staple of his food consists of a peculiar kind of bread 
 made of sorghum flour in Upper Egypt, or of maize in 
 the Delta, vvheaten bread being eaten by the wealthier 
 only. This poor kind of bread often has a greenish colour 
 owing to an admixture of bean-flour. Next in importance 
 in the bill of fare are broad beans. For supper, however, 
 even the poorest cause a hot repast to be prepared. This 
 usually consists of a highly-salted sauce made of onions 
 and butter, or in the poorer houses of onions and linseed 
 or sesame oil. Into this sauce, which in summer 
 acquires a gelatinous consistency by the addition of the 
 universal bamia and various herbs, each member of the 
 family dips pieces of bread held in the fingers. Both in 
 town and country goats', sheeps', or buffaloes' milk also forms 
 a daily article of food, but always in a sour condition or 
 half converted into cheese, and in very moderate quantities 
 only. In the height of summer the consumption of fruit of 
 the cucumber and pumpkin series, which the land yields in 
 abundance, is enormous. In the month of Ramadan alone, 
 when a rigorous fast is observed during the day, and on the 
 three days of the great Beiram festival, even the poorest 
 members of the community indulge in meat, and it is 
 customary to distribute that rare luxury to beggars at these 
 seasons. 
 
 The agricultural population of Egypt is only about two
 
 8o 
 
 BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 millions, an unnaturally low population when we consider the 
 character of the country. The sole wealth of Egypt is 
 
 AN ARAB WATER-CARRIER. 
 
 derived from its agriculture, and to the fellahin alone is 
 committed the important task of tilling the soil. They are,
 
 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE. 81 
 
 indeed, neither fitted nor inclined for other work, a circumstance 
 which proves how completely the stationary character of the 
 ancient Egyptians has predominated over the restless 
 Arabian blood, which has been largely infused into the 
 native population ever since the valley of the Nile was 
 conquered by the armies of El-Islam. The modern Egyptians, 
 moreover, resemble the ancient in the lot to which they are 
 condemned. In ancient times the fellah, pressed into the 
 service of the priests and the princes, was compelled to yield 
 up to them the fruits of his toil, and his position was nearly 
 the same to the present day, save that the names of his 
 masters were changed, until relief came owing to the almost 
 entire abolition of compulsory work since the British 
 occupation. 
 
 In his own fields the fellah is an industrious labourer, and 
 his work is more continuous than that of the peasant of more 
 northern countries. He enjoys no period of repose during the 
 winter, and the whole of his spare time is occupied in drawing 
 water for the irrigation of the land. Notwithstanding his hard 
 lot, however, he is an entire stranger to any endeavour to 
 better his condition or to improve his system of farming. As 
 soon as he has accomplished the most necessary tasks he rests 
 and smokes, and trusts that Allah will do the remainder of his 
 work for him. 
 
 The fellah is a believer in the religion of Mohammed, 
 although he knows but little of the prophet's doctrine and 
 history. Followers of all other religions he believes to be 
 doomed to eternal perdition ; but travellers are not on that 
 account disliked by him. They serve rather to confirm 
 his belief in eternal justice, for he is convinced that 
 all the comforts and luxuries they now enjoy will be 
 counterbalanced by torments hereafter. At the same 
 time he admires and over-rates our knowledge, which is 
 so superior to his own. Every well-dressed European is, in 
 the estimation of the natives, a prodigy of wisdom ; and, as 
 their ideas of a scholar and a physician are identical, they place 
 implicit reliance on our ability to heal the sick and save the 
 dying. The traveller who comes in contact with the fellahin 
 will often be applied to for medicine, and will find drugs more 
 effective than money in securing their goodwill.
 
 8z " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 (2.) COPTS. While we have regarded the fellahin as 
 genuine Egyptians in consequence of their uninterrupted 
 occupation of the soil, the religion of the Copts affords us an 
 additional guarantee for the purity of their descent. The 
 Copts are undoubtedly the most direct descendants of the 
 ancient Egyptians, there being no ground for the assumption 
 that their ancestors were foreign immigrants who embraced 
 Christianity after the conquest of the country by the 
 Mohammedans ; while on the other hand the obstinacy with 
 which they defended their monophysite Christianity for 
 several centuries against the inroad of the creed of Byzantium 
 affords another indication of their Egyptian character. The 
 Coptic population is officially stated as over half a million, i.e., 
 about a fifth of the purely indigenous population of the valley 
 of the Nile. They are most numerous in the towns of 
 Northern Egypt, around the ancient Coptos, at Negada, 
 Luksor, Esneh, Dendera, Girgeh, Tahta, and particularly at 
 Siut and Akhmim. A large proportion of the population of all 
 these places is Coptic. 
 
 Most of the Copts are dwellers in towns, and are chiefly 
 engaged in the more refined handicrafts as watchmakers, 
 goldsmiths, jewellers, embroiderers, tailors, weavers, manu- 
 facturers of spurious antiquities, etc. ; or in trade, or as clerks, 
 accountants, and notaries. Their physique is accordingly 
 materially different from that of the fellahin. They are 
 generally somewhat below the middle height, and of delicate 
 frame, with small hands and feet. Their skulls are higher and 
 narrower than those of the peasantry, and with less protruding 
 cheek bones, and their complexion is fairer. These differences 
 are sufficiently accounted for by their mode of life ; for when 
 we compare those Copts who are engaged in rustic pursuits, 
 or the Coptic camel drivers of Upper Egypt, with the fellahin, 
 we find that the two races are not distinguishable from each 
 other. 
 
 Few nations of the East embraced the Gospel more zealously 
 than the dwellers on the Nile. Accustomed as they had long 
 been to regard life as a pilgrimage to death, as a school of 
 preparation for another world, and weary of their motley and 
 confused Pantheon of divinities, whose self-seeking priesthood
 
 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE. 83 
 
 designedly disguised the truth, they eagerly welcomed the 
 simple doctrines of Christianity, which appeared so well 
 adapted to their condition, and promised them succour and 
 redemption. Like Eutyches, they revered the divine nature 
 of the Saviour only, in which they held that every human 
 element was absorbed ; and when the Council of Chalcedon in 
 451 sanctioned the doctrine that Christ combined a human 
 with a divine nature, the Egyptians with their characteristic 
 tenacity, adhered to their old views, and formed a sect termed 
 Eutychians or Monophysites, to which the Copts of the present 
 day still belong. 
 
 The traveller may distinguish the Copts from the Arabs by 
 their dark turbans, which are generally blue or black, and their 
 dark coloured clothes. This costume was originally prescribed 
 by their oppressors, and they still take a pride in it as mark of 
 their origin, though now permitted to dress as they please. 
 A practised eye will also frequently detect among them the 
 ancient Egyptian cast of features. Towards strangers the 
 Copt is externally obliging, and when anxious to secure their 
 favour he not unfrequently appeals to his Christian creed as 
 a bond of union. Many Copts have recently been converted 
 to Protestantism through the American Mission, particularly 
 in Upper Egypt, chiefly by the good schools and the 
 distribution of cheap Arabic Bibles. Even the orthodox 
 Copts have a great reverence for the sacred volume, and 
 it is not uncommon to meet with members of their sect 
 who know the whole Gospels by heart. 
 
 (3.) BEDUINS. " Bedu" is the name applied to the 
 nomadic Arabs, and " Arab '' to those who immigrated at a 
 later period and settled in the valley of the Nile. They both 
 differ materially from the dwellers in towns, and from the 
 fellahin, who usually call themselves " Sons of the Arabs." 
 
 The Beduins may be divided into two leading groups (i.) 
 Beduins in the narrower sense, i.e., Arabic-speaking tribes, 
 most of whom have probably immigrated from Arabia or 
 Syria, and who occupy the deserts adjoining Central and 
 Northern Egypt, or who are to be found in different regions 
 of Southern Nubia as a pastoral people ; (2.) " Bega/' who 
 range over the regions of Upper Egypt and Nubia, situated
 
 84 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 between the Nile and the Red Sea, and extending to the 
 frontiers of the Abyssinian mountains, their territory being 
 known as " Edbai.'' To these last the name of Ethiopians 
 may as accurately be applied as that of Arabs to the first group, 
 and they are believed by Dr. Lepsius to be the descendants of 
 the Blemmyes, who occupied the Nubian part of the valley of 
 the Nile down to the fourth century after Christ, when they 
 were expelled by the " Nubian " invaders from the south. 
 The second group consists of three different races the 
 Hadendoa, the Bisharin, and the Ababdeh. The last-named, 
 who are widely scattered in the valleys of the desert between 
 the tropics of Keneh and Koser, and who lead a poverty- 
 stricken life with their very scanty stock of camels and goats 
 are those with whom we have alone to deal as inhabitants of 
 Egypt. Though closely resembling the other Bega tribes in 
 appearance, the Ababdeh possess an original language of 
 their own, which, however, they have long since exchanged 
 for bad Arabic. Besides the girdle round their loins they 
 wear a kind of long, white shirt, and in winter a light-coloured 
 striped woollen mantle, while the Bisharin and Hadendoa 
 tend their large flocks of sheep and herds of camel in a half 
 naked condition, with a leathern apron, and wrapped in a kind 
 of blanket. 
 
 They are nominally Mohammedans, but they do not pray or 
 keep the fast of Ramadan, or make pilgrimages, except on rare 
 occasions. 
 
 The Beduins of the North have inherited with comparative 
 purity the fiery blood of the desert tribes, who achieved such 
 marvellous exploits under the banner of the Prophet, but the 
 traveller will rarely come in contact with them unless he 
 undertakes a journey across the desert. The loiterers who 
 assist travellers in the ascent of the Pyramids and pester them 
 to buy antiquities, which are generally spurious, call themselves 
 Beduins ; but, even if originally of that race, they have entirely 
 lost all its nobler characteristics in consequence of their 
 intercourse with strangers and their debasing occupations. 
 Genuine Beduins are to be found nowhere except in their 
 desert home, where to a great extent they still retain the spirit 
 of independence, the courage and the restlessness of their
 
 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE. 85 
 
 ancestors. As in the time of Herodotus, the tent of the Beduin 
 is still his home. Where it is pitched is a matter of indifference 
 to him, if only the pegs which secure it be firmly driven into 
 the earth, if it shelter his wife and child from the burning 
 sunshine and the chilly night air, and if pasturage ground and 
 a spring be within reach. 
 
 In consequence of the frequent wars waged between the 
 different tribes every Beduin is a warrior. 
 
 (4.) ARAB DWELLERS IN TOWNS. Those Arabs 
 with whom the traveller usually comes in contact in towns 
 are shopkeepers, officials, servants, coachmen, and donkey- 
 attendants, or perhaps these last only, as most of the best 
 shops are kept by Europeans, while in official and legal 
 matters his intercourse with the natives is carried on through 
 the medium of his consul. The indolence and duplicity of 
 these Arabs, which proceed to some extent from the character 
 of their religion, have often been justly condemned, while 
 their intelligence, patience, and amiability are too often 
 ignored. They are generally of a much more mixed origin 
 than the fellahin, as the various conquerors of Egypt usually 
 made the towns their headquarters. Alexandria, for example, 
 was chiefly favoured by the Greeks and Arabs, and Cairo by 
 the Arabs and Turks. It thus happens that the citizens of the 
 Egyptian towns consist of persons of every complexion, from 
 dark brown to white, with the features of the worshippers of 
 Osiris, or the sharp profile of the Beduins, and with the slender 
 figure of the fellah or the corpulence of the Turk. Among 
 the lower classes frequent intermarriage with negro women 
 has darkened the complexion and thickened the features of 
 their offspring ; while the higher ranks, being descended from 
 the white slaves or Turkish mothers, more nearly resemble 
 the European type. 
 
 A glance at the offices of the ministers, the bazaars of the 
 merchants, the schools of the Arabs, and the building yards 
 and workshops constructed by the natives, will enable the 
 traveller to observe with what deliberation and what numerous 
 intervals of repose they perform their tasks. From such 
 workers it is vain to expect rapidity, punctuality, or work of a 
 highly-finished character.
 
 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE. 87 
 
 (5.) BERBERS. The name " Berber! " is believed by 
 many authorities to be identical with " barbarians," a word 
 which is said to have been adopted by the Greeks from the 
 Egyptians, who used it to denote all " non-Egyptians/' and to 
 be derived from brr, i.e., "to be unable to speak," or "to speak 
 imperfectly.'' The Berbers of North Africa and the town of 
 Berber in South Nubia also doubtless have the same origin. In 
 Egypt the name is applied in a half contemptuous way to the 
 numerous immigrants from the Nubian part of the valley of 
 the Nile, who form the largest foreign element of the com- 
 munity, and who never entirely assimilate with it, as the 
 Nubians make it a rule never to marry Egyptian wives. 
 
 The Nubians are inferior to the Egyptians in industry 
 and energy, and especially in tilling the soil, and also in 
 physical strength, and they are more superstitious and 
 fanatical, as is indicated by the numerous amulets they wear 
 round their necks and arms. They are, however, superior to 
 the Egyptians in cleanliness, honesty, and subordination, and 
 possess a more highly developed sense of honour. 
 
 In their native country they till the banks of the Nile, but 
 their land is of very limited extent and poorly cultivated ; and 
 as their harvests are scanty, they are rarely able to support 
 large families. They accordingly often immigrate at an early 
 age to the richer lowlands, chiefly to the large towns, and 
 particularly to Alexandria, in quest of employment ; and they 
 find no difficulty in attaining their object, for they are generally 
 active, intelligent, and honest, while the older immigrants, who 
 are strongly attached to their country, are always zealous in 
 procuring them work and rendering them assistance. When 
 the Berber has succeeded in amassing a moderate fortune he 
 returns to settle in his native country, of which throughout his 
 whole career he never entirely loses sight, and to which he 
 frequently remits his hard-earned savings for the benefit of his 
 relations. The cold winter nights in Egypt are very trying to 
 the poor Berbers, who often have to sleep in the open 
 air, outside the doors, and many of them are attacked by 
 consumption. 
 
 (6.) NEGROES. Like the Berbers, most of the negroes in 
 Egypt are professors of El-Islam, to the doctrines of which
 
 88 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 they readily and zealously attach themselves. Most of the 
 older negroes and negresses with whom the traveller meets 
 have originally been brought to Egypt as slaves, and belong 
 to natives, by whom they are treated more like members of 
 the family than like servants. Although every slave who 
 desires to be emancipated may now, with the aid of Govern- 
 ment, sever the ties which bind him to his master, most of the 
 negroes prefer to remain on the old footing with the family 
 which supports them, and relieves them of the anxiety of pro- 
 viding for themselves. 
 
 (7.) TURKS. Although the dynasty of the viceroys of 
 Egypt is of Turkish origin a comparatively small section of 
 the community belongs to that nation, and their numbers 
 appear to be diminishing. The Turks of Egypt are chiefly to 
 be found in the towns, where most of them are Government 
 officials, soldiers, and merchants. The Turkish officials are 
 responsible for the maladministration which so long paralysed 
 the rich productiveness of the Valley of the Nile, having 
 always, with few exceptions, been actuated in their pro- 
 ceedings by motives of reckless cupidity, without regard to 
 ulterior consequences. 
 
 (8.) LEVANTINES. A link between the various classes 
 of dwellers in Egypt and the visitors to the banks of the Nile 
 is formed by the various Mediterranean races known as 
 Levantines, who have been settled here for several generations, 
 and form no inconsiderable element in the populations of the 
 larger towns. Most of them profess the Latin form of 
 Christianity, and Arabic has now become their mother tongue, 
 although they still speak their old national dialects. They are 
 apt linguists, learning the European languages with great 
 rapidity, and good men of business, and owing to these 
 qualities are often employed as shopmen and clerks. 
 
 (9.) ARMENIANS AND JEWS. This section of the 
 community is about as numerous as the last, and in some 
 respects contrasts favourably with it. The Armenians generally 
 possess excellent abilities, and a singular aptitude for learning 
 both Oriental and European languages, which they often 
 acquire with great grammatical accuracy. Many of them are
 
 THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE. 89 
 
 wealthy goldsmiths and jewellers, and they often hold import- 
 ant Government offices. 
 
 The Jews are often distinguishable by their red hair from the 
 native Egyptians, as well as by other characteristics. Most of 
 them are from Palestine, but many have recently immigrated 
 from Wallachia. All the money-changers in the streets and 
 many of the wealthiest merchants of Egypt, are Jews, and 
 notwithstanding the popular prejudice entertained against 
 them, owing as is alleged to their disregard of cleanliness, 
 they now form one of the most highly-respected sections of 
 the community. 
 
 (10.) EUROPEANS. The number of European residents 
 and visitors in Egypt is about 110,000, exclusive of the British 
 army of occupation. The Greeks are most numerously repre- 
 sented, then the Italians, French, English (including Maltese), 
 Austrians (including many Dalmatians), and Germans. The 
 numerous Swiss residents in Egypt, who are not represented 
 by a Consul of their own, are distributed among the above 
 leading classes French, Italian, and German. Beside these 
 nationalities, there are also a few representatives of Russia, 
 America, Belgium, Scandinavia, and other countries. Each 
 of the above leading nationalities shows a preference for one 
 or more particular occupations in which they enjoy a complete 
 monopoly. The Greeks of all classes are generally traders. 
 They constitute the aristocracy of Alexandria, and the provision 
 dealers in all other towns are mostly Greeks. 
 
 With regard to the capability of Europeans becoming 
 acclimatised in Egypt, there are a number of widely divergent 
 opinions. Each, of course, must depend on the nature of the 
 climate of their own respective countries. It has been 
 asserted that European families, settled in Egypt, die out in 
 the second or third generation, but of this there is no sufficient 
 proof, as the European community is of very recent origin, 
 and many examples to the contrary might be cited. The 
 climate of Egypt is less enervating than that of most other 
 hot countries, an advantage attributed to the dryness of the 
 air, and the saline particles contained in it ; while the range of 
 temperature between the different seasons is greater than in 
 Ireland or Portugal.
 
 go " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 To turn to the land itself the first sight is by no means 
 prepossessing, for the northern coast is low and barren, 
 presenting no view of interest, and affording no indication of 
 the character of the country which it bounds. It is a barrier 
 generally of sandhills, but sometimes a rock juts out, for the 
 most part wholly destitute of vegetation except where a few 
 wild and stunted date palms grow. 
 
 Immediately behind are desolate marsh tracts or extensive 
 salt lakes, and beyond these the fertile country. 
 
 The last is a wide plain intersected by two branches of the 
 Nile and by many canals, of which some were anciently 
 branches of the river, and having a soil of great richness, 
 though in this particular it is excelled by the valley above. 
 The only inequalities of the surface are the mounds of ancient 
 towns, and on these, if not always ancient, stand the modern 
 towns and villages. The palm trees are less numerous and 
 not so beautiful as in the more southern part of the country, 
 but other trees are more common. The houses and huts of 
 the towns and villages are of burnt bricks near the Mediter- 
 ranean, but as the climate becomes drier and the occurrence 
 of rain less frequent the use of crude bricks obtain, until near 
 the point of the Delta it is very general. 
 
 The towns of the northern coast, the most western 
 Alexandria, called by the natives El-Iskendereeyh, is the 
 largest and most important. It was founded in the year B.C. 
 332 by Alexander the Great, who gave it the form of a 
 Macedonian mantle. The ancient city occupied the space 
 between the sea and Lake Mareotis, being about four miles in 
 its greatest length and a little less than a mile in its greatest 
 breadth. The island of Pharos was likewise inhabited, and 
 was joined to the Continent by the mole called Heptastidium. 
 The Heptastidium and the island divided the Bay into 
 two harbours. These were spacious, and, although the 
 western, anciently called Portus Eunosti, but now the old 
 port, is difficult to enter, and the eastern Magnus Portus, or 
 the new port, is not so deep and less secure, they are, except 
 Port Said, by far the best anchorages on this coast of Egypt. 
 
 The older part of the town of Alexandria stands upon a 
 Heptastidium now much wider than it was anciently ; but the
 
 92 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 recent part, where are the houses of the European merchants, 
 occupies the site of a portion of the ancient city which was 
 nearest the mole. The most striking is a castle on the island 
 of Pharos, containing a lighthouse which has succeeded to 
 the more famous Pharos of antiquity. Here also is the 
 Khedive's palace, as well as the lesser Pharos. The houses of 
 the towns are built of stone, or have their lower storey cased 
 with that material and the portion built of brick plastered and 
 whitewashed. The residences of the European merchants and 
 consuls, and the richer Turks and natives, are spacious and well 
 built, somewhat in the modern Italian style, but have no claims 
 to architectural beauty. The mosques are not remarkable, but 
 the English church will be a great ornament to the town. The 
 population of the town is estimated at over 200,000. One of 
 the favourite projects of Mehemet Ali was the fortification of 
 Alexandria, it has been thus rendered so strong that if well 
 garrisoned it is said it could not be invested by a force of less 
 than about 40,000 men. 
 
 Cairo is still the most remarkable and characteristic of Arab 
 cities. The beauty of its religious and domestic architecture, 
 before the recent innovations is unexcelled elsewhere. The 
 edifices raised by the Moorish kings of Spain, and the Moslem 
 rulers of India, may have been more splendid in their materials 
 and more elaborate in their details ; the houses of the great 
 men of Damascus may be more costly than were those of the 
 Memlock Beys, but for purity of choice and elegance of design 
 both are far excelled by many of the mosques and houses in 
 Cairo. These mosques have suffered much in the beauty of 
 their appearance from the effects of time and neglect, but their 
 colour has been even thus softened and their outlines rendered 
 more beautiful and picturesque. What is most to be admired 
 in their style of architecture is its extraordinary freedom from 
 restraint, shown in the wonderful variety of its forms and the 
 skill in design which has made the most intricate details 
 harmonious with grand outlines. Here the student may best 
 learn the history of Arab art.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 pre-eminence of prater in con* 
 nection witb Missions, anfc our 
 towarbs 
 
 " Continue steadfastly in prayer." COL. iv. 2 (R.V.). 
 
 " Brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may run and 
 be glorified, . . ." 2 THESS. iii. i (R.V.). 
 
 Keep on sowing 
 
 God will cause the seeds to grow 
 Faster than your knowing. 
 
 Nothing e'er is sown in vain, 
 If, His voice obeying, 
 
 You look upward for the rain, 
 And falter not in praying. 
 
 Keep on praying 
 
 In the brightest, darkest day, 
 Still His voice obeying ; 
 
 Never from the gates of prayer 
 Turn with doubting sorrow, 
 
 For the One who standeth there 
 May answer you to-morrow. 
 
 THROUGHOUT the whole missionary world there is at present 
 a great sense of need. In every report of every society this 
 finds expression ; in every letter of every missionary this is 
 revealed. Opposed as our missionaries are by the gigantic 
 and growing masses of heathenism, they feel overwhelmingly
 
 94 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 their own helplessness. The power of evil is so terrific, and 
 the forces of evil are so active, that they are apt to despair. 
 So from every land the cry of the Missionaries comes to our 
 ears. And what do they cry for ? Not men ; not money ; 
 but prayer. Above even the urgent cry, "Come over and 
 help us " (and God knows they have enough cause to utter 
 that cry) we can hear the words, " Brethren, pray for us." 
 
 In this deepened sense of the need of prayer, which is 
 noticeable on every side, we have a token that the Church is 
 entering into fuller sympathy with her Lord. For the Lord 
 Jesus has all along told us that the supreme need of missionary 
 work is prayer. In His first utterance on the question He 
 made this plain : " When He saw the multitudes He was 
 moved with compassion because they fainted, and were 
 scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith 
 He unto His disciples ' The harvest truly is plenteous, but the 
 labourers are few. Pray ye, therefore.' " 
 
 Before " Give," before " Go," comes " Pray." This is the 
 Divine order, and any attempt to alter it will end in disaster. 
 Prayer is to missionary work what air is to the body, the 
 element in which it lives. Missions were born in prayer, and 
 can only live in an atmosphere of prayer. The very first duty 
 of a Church in organising its Foreign Missionary work is to 
 awaken, maintain, and sustain in its members the spirit of prayer. 
 
 Some reasons may now be given why this pre-eminent 
 place should be assigned to prayer : 
 
 i. Prayer keeps us continually in mind of what the true 
 basis and the true character of missionary work is. He who 
 prays never forgets that the work is God's. Prayer puts God 
 first. It reminds us that He is the supreme worker. It 
 reminds us that He is the supreme director. It reminds us, 
 also, that only in so far as we follow the line of His will can 
 we hope for true success ; and it inclines us to wait on God, 
 that He may reveal His will to us. How important all this is, 
 especially to our Missionary Committees and Boards, it is 
 needless to state. He who prays will have his heart brought 
 more and more into sympathy with God's purpose, and ever 
 be ready to do God's work in God's way.
 
 THE PRE-EMINENCE OF PRAYER. 95 
 
 2. Prayer supplies the means by which the needs of our 
 missionary work may be met. The first great need of missions 
 is men. If the harvest field is to be reaped, we must have 
 labourers. But how are these labourers to be got ? Surely 
 by prayer. Is not this what the Lord told us " Pray ye, 
 therefore, the Lord of the harvest that He will send labourers 
 into His harvest." The shortest way to get Missionaries is 
 the way that leads by the throne of God. Appeals to God will 
 man the fields more quickly and more efficiently than appeals 
 to man. In the evangelization of the world the missionary prayer 
 meeting is a greater force than the missionary public meeting. A 
 praying Church never lacks Missionaries. If Missionaries are 
 not forthcoming to carry on the Church's work, it is a sure 
 sign that that work has not the place it ought to have in the 
 Church's prayers. 
 
 The second great need of missions is money. The Apostle 
 puts the two together when he says, " How shall they hear 
 without a preacher ? and how shall they preach except they be 
 sent?" Money is needed. How is it to be obtained? By 
 prayer. The silver and the gold belong to the Lord, and, in 
 answer to believing prayer, He can bring it forth from the 
 purses and pockets of His people. This we have to learn. 
 Teach people to pray, and you have taught them to give. 
 People will always give for the support of a work which has a 
 real place in their prayers. If our Missionary Committees and 
 Boards were only half as anxious about having the prayers of 
 our people as about having their gifts ; if they took as much 
 pains to stimulate prayer as they take to stimulate giving, our 
 missionary treasuries would be full to overflowing. 
 
 3. Prayer meets needs in connection with our missionary 
 work which can be met in no other way. This is a matter of 
 the utmost importance. If we realised how much has to be 
 done in connection with missions which can only be done by 
 prayer, we should realise the urgency of the question. 
 
 We appoint a committee or a board to manage our mission- 
 ary work. But how shall we secure that it will act wisely, 
 or rightly employ the means put at its disposal ? Only by 
 prayer. We invite men to be our representatives in the 
 foreign field. How shall we secure that the right men come
 
 96 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 forward ? Only by prayer. We send these men into the 
 heathen field. How shall we preserve them against dis- 
 couragement, against faintheartedness, against unbelief, against 
 laziness ? Only by prayer. Nothing else will do it. The best 
 men that can be obtained for such service need to be con- 
 tinually upheld. A Church has no right to send out any man 
 unless she is prepared to uphold him by prayer. 
 
 We gather out from among the heathen, by the work of our 
 Missionaries, groups of men and women, and bring them into 
 the fellowship of the Christian Church. How are we to 
 encourage them, and keep them true ? Only by prayer. Here 
 is a girl who has been trained in one of our mission schools. 
 She has given her heart to Christ, and has been a great joy to 
 her teacher. But she is taken by her parents, who are still 
 heathen, given in marriage to a heathen man, and sent away 
 to live in a heathen village. How are we to comfort and 
 uphold that girl ? Our Missionaries cannot do it. They are 
 not where she is. Our money cannot do it. It is not money 
 she wants. Our prayers, and our prayers alone can do it. 
 Needs like these can be met in no other way. The fact is, 
 prayer is an absolute necessity for the proper carrying on of 
 missionary work. If it is to prosper it must be steeped in prayer. 
 
 But something must now be said as to the character of the 
 prayer which is needed for missionary work. It must be 
 prayer that costs us something. 
 
 (a) Prayer for Missions must be Intelligent. 
 
 Many pray for missions whose prayers are practically value- 
 less because of their ignorance. How can a man's prayers be 
 supposed to be real if he will not take the trouble to inform 
 himself about that for which he pretends to pray. Missionary 
 prayer burns hotly only when fed with the fuel of missionary 
 information. Prayer must be based on knowledge. And the 
 knowledge which leads to true missionary prayer is two-fold : 
 
 (i). It is a knowledge of the principles of missions, that is, a 
 knowledge of what God wishes to be done. This can only be 
 obtained by honest, prayerful, long-continued study of God's 
 Word. There God's will is revealed. What it is we must 
 discover, for we cannot pray aright for missions who will not 
 take pains to discover God's thoughts about them.
 
 THE PRE-EMINENCE OF PRAYER. 97 
 
 (2). It is a knowledge of missionary facts, that is, a knowledge 
 of what God is actually doing. This can only be obtained by 
 painstaking study of missionary literature and diligent attend- 
 ance at missionary meetings. He who has not sufficient 
 interest in the work to desire to hear what is being done, will 
 certainly not have sufficient interest to lead him to pray for 
 the doing of it. 
 
 (6) Prayer for Missions must be Definite. 
 
 What is true of study generally is true of missionary study. 
 We should endeavour to know something about every 
 mission, and everything about some mission. While we 
 endeavour to keep ourselves informed as to the course of the 
 movement over the whole field, we should have a special 
 interest in some corner of the field. The Missionaries working 
 there should be known to us by name. We should, if possible, 
 make their personal acquaintance. We should count them 
 our personal friends. Every scrap of information about them 
 should be welcomed. The geography, the history, the eth- 
 nology of their field should be studied. Then our prayers will 
 be definite, and growing in definiteness will grow in power, 
 (c) Prayer for Missions must be Intense. 
 
 We must learn in this matter to labour in prayer. But what 
 is implied in this ? It implies our getting into sympathy with 
 the mind of Christ. It implies that we look on the perishing 
 multitudes with the eye of Christ, until His compassion fills 
 our hearts. It means that there is borne in upon our hearts a 
 new sense of their danger, a new sense of their awful loss in 
 not knowing of the Christ. It means that by the Holy Ghost 
 there is poured through our hearts such a tide of the love of 
 Christ that we yearn over those lost souls as He yearned over 
 the lost world. Then we kneel to pray, to labour, to wrestle, 
 to agonise in prayer that labourers may be sent forth, full of 
 faith and of the Holy Ghost to gather in those multitudes to 
 the fold of Christ. 
 
 And it is thus " by prayer and supplication, with 
 thanksgiving," that our Heavenly Father has made it 
 possible for all to be partakers in the privilege of bringing 
 the Gospel to the heathen. Many of our readers may be 
 unable, for various reasons, to go to the " Regions
 
 98 "BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 Beyond." They may not have much to give either to 
 Egypt or any other work, but everyone has the power and 
 privilege of earnest prayer on behalf of those who have 
 gone forth ; and we would seek to enlist this prayer more 
 directly and more earnestly for the land of Egypt at 
 this time. 
 
 In the foregoing chapters we have endeavoured to 
 present a general picture of the work at present being 
 carried on in this ancient land. The national and 
 political events of the last few months in Egypt have 
 aroused so much interest in that country, that on every 
 hand it is the subject of conversation and speculation. 
 To the servant of God all points to the wonderful 
 opportunity He is giving for the dissemination of the 
 Gospel there. Hundreds of miles that have been sealed 
 against the Gospel for years are now opened up, and 
 the natives who have been kept down by the cruel 
 yoke of the Mahdi, in their new found freedom, welcome 
 the British soldier as the hero of their deliverance. 
 Never before has such an opportunity presented itself 
 of reaching this wild, yet brave people, with the glad 
 tidings of free Salvation. It is anticipated that before 
 long, under the protection of the British Government, 
 the Missionaries of the Cross will reach still farther 
 South, until they join hands with their brethren in 
 the districts of Uganda and the Great Lakes. 
 
 Here is an open field worthy of the hearts and lives 
 of every young man, or woman, who is willing to offer 
 for the work. As the land is opening up, so may 
 consecrated lives from the Home-land go in and " possess 
 the country." Already the Church Missionary Society 
 have Clergy, Doctors, Native Assistants, and, if oppor- 
 tunity arises, Trained Nurses ready to go to Khartoum 
 as soon as the permission of those in authority is 
 granted. Millions of people sitting in the bondage of a 
 cruel and dark superstition, without a ray of light, or 
 the knowledge of the true God, should surely awaken 
 the cry, " Come over and help us ! " May the Holy Spirit 
 ring this message in the hearts of all those who are
 
 THE PRE-EMINENCE OF PRAYER. 99 
 
 ready to obey the summons of their King 1 . Here in the 
 Home-land Christian workers overlap each other ; out 
 yonder is a vast region without any. Our nation supplies 
 rulers, political officers, merchants, and men in all classes 
 of business who go forth in secular callings for the mere 
 sake of gain. The following from a daily paper on 
 Trade in the Soudan indicates how keen the business 
 man is for his own interests : 
 
 " Trade is following the flag very quickly to Khartoum. 
 We learn from the ' Commercial Traveller ' that three 
 well-known English, two German, two Belgian, and one 
 French merchant are already well near to the front with 
 a total of over 300 tons of merchandise. Nay, the 
 advertising fiend has arrived there, one gentleman 
 being commissioned to keep a smart look-out for every 
 point favourable to the advertiser. Soaps and soups 
 will soon flaunt their competitive blazons on the Mahdi's 
 tomb." 
 
 Is it too much to expect that the splendid opportunity 
 thus opening to the young consecrated lives of our land 
 at this time will pass by without an adequate response ? 
 Can we not out of our abundance give to the help of 
 those in need ? Let us pray for Egypt as we have never 
 done before, and pray definitely for every one we know 
 there, and for every Missionary Association at work ; 
 and as we pray may the Holy Spirit reveal to each of 
 us our individual responsibility in the matter, and while 
 our country considers its honour at stake if there 
 is no improvement in Government, shall not we as 
 representatives of the King of Kings feel that we have 
 left undone our duty if we have not responded to the 
 opportunity of going forth to win dark Egypt for Jesus. 
 
 The existing Missionary Agencies will gladly give 
 particulars as to the men and women who are wanted, 
 and how their services can be best utilised. What is 
 needed is that we may individually call upon our G-od, 
 and open our hearts before Him, telling Him that we 
 are willing to obey His summons, if He calls, that 
 His promise may be fulfilled" BLESSED BE EGYPT."
 
 ioo " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 To help those wishing to apply, the following addresses are 
 given : 
 
 THE AMERICAN UNITED PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, 
 
 CAIRO, EGYPT. 
 THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY, 
 
 SALISBURY SQUARE, LONDON, E.C. 
 
 THE NORTH AFRICA MISSION, 
 
 32, LINTON ROAD, BARKING, ESSEX. 
 
 the Prayer Union for Egypt 
 
 was formed in May, 1896, by a few friends who felt the intense 
 need of the country, and who sought to hold up the hands of 
 the Missionaries working there. Little effort was made to 
 induce anyone to join, but the number of members gradually 
 increased to one hundred and sixteen, and cards were also 
 sent to America for friends who felt drawn to join in prayer 
 with the English Christians for the land which had so long 
 been laid to heart by them. Many of the Missionaries in the 
 field joined the Union, and a few natives. A cycle of prayer 
 was drawn up in order that each individual missionary and 
 mission station belonging to each society might be remembered 
 in continual intercession. Abundant cause for thanksgiving 
 for answered prayer has been granted by our God who is more 
 ready to hear than we to pray. 
 
 When the Egypt Mission Band was formed in 1897 it was 
 felt that special prayer was needed for them, and that their 
 circle of friends should be asked to unite with them in carry- 
 ing on this new effort, which was only and utterly dependant 
 on their faithful God. Upwards of three hundred personal 
 friends of the little band of seven have joined together in the 
 Egypt Mission Band Prayer Circle. 
 
 The names of the secretaries of both Unions are given 
 below, and they will gladly send cards of membership to any 
 who would like to join them. Special reminders will be sent 
 out from time to time with requests for prayer, and giving 
 information of immediate and pressing causes for intercession. 
 " By faith the walls of Jericho fell down.'' 
 Prayer Union for Egypt 
 
 Miss A. VAN SOMMER, 
 
 CUFFXELLS, WIMBLEDON, SURREY.
 
 EGYPT, 1898. 
 
 Special IReeos for {prater curing tbis lear, 
 
 togetber witb tbe continual neeos wbicb 
 
 we woulo bring to (Boo. 
 
 I. That the Gospel may be carried to the whole land of Egypt 
 from Alexandria to Khartoum ; and that those already at work, and 
 those preparing to go, may be trained and fitted by God both spiritually 
 and in gaining a mastery of the language. 
 
 2. For the English in Authority, that they may seek God's will, 
 and that Christ's Name may be honoured, and His day kept holy : and 
 that their power and influence may be fearlessly exerted for Him. 
 
 3. For the Native Rulers and Officials, that they may come in 
 contact with Christians, and may be convinced by their lives, of the 
 truth of their Religion. 
 
 4. For the University of Al-Azhar, that the 5,000 Moslem 
 Students may lose their faith in Mohammed, and that doors may be 
 kept open for telling them of Christ ; and that the Holy Ghost may 
 work amongst them in conversions. 
 
 5. For the Copts, that the Spirit of God may be poured out upon 
 them, and that men of God may be raised up amongst themselves to 
 preach words of life from Him. 
 
 6. For work amongst young men in connection with the 
 Y.M.C.A., and that this may be extended amongst young men of all 
 nationalities. 
 
 7. For work amongst girls in connection with the Y.W.C.A., 
 and that this may be extended amongst girls of all nationalities. 
 
 8. For the Sailors' and Soldiers' Institute, Alexandria, and 
 for Rev. T. R. Lawrence and Mrs. Lawrence. 
 
 9. Helouan. For the Church Missionary Society : Rev. F. F. 
 Adeney (Secretary) and Mrs. Adeney. Cairo: Rev. J. C. B. Hollins 
 and Mrs. Hollins, Mrs. Bywater, Miss J. B. Bywater, Miss H. Adeney, 
 Miss M. J. Greer, Miss E. F. Waller. Old Cairo : Dr. F. J. Harpur 
 and Mrs. Harpur, Dr. A. C. Hall and Mrs. Hall, Miss M. Cay, Miss 
 E. A. Lawford, Miss F. M. Sells, Miss L. Crowther, and all Native 
 Helpers. 
 
 jo. Cairo. The American Mission : The Rev. S. C. Ewing and 
 Mrs. Ewing, Rev. W. Harvey, D.D., and Mrs. Harvey, Rev. Andrew 
 Watson, D.D., and Mrs. Watson, Rev. John Giffen and Mrs. Giffen, 
 Rev. J. Krudenier and Mrs. Krudenier, Rev. J. G. Hunt and Mrs. 
 Hunt, Miss Anna Thompson, Miss Margaret Smith, Miss Ella Kyle, 
 Miss Grace Brown. 
 
 ii. For Alexandria. The Scotch Church, and the Jewish 
 Mission : Rev. W. Cowan and Mrs. Cowan, Rev. M. Taylor and Mrs. 
 Taylor, Miss Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Gibb, Mrs. Robinson, Mr. Buchanan, 
 Mr. Gordon, Mr. Kestin, Mr. Shimmins, and all Teachers and Assistants.
 
 * * 
 
 io2 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 12. For Alexandria. The American Mission : Rev. Thomas 
 Finney and Mrs. Finney, Rev. Geo. A. Sowash and Mrs. Sowash, 
 Miss Leonora McDowell, Miss Adele McMillan. 
 
 13. For Alexandria. North Africa Mission : Mr. W. Summers 
 and Mrs. Summers, Mr. W. Dickens and Mrs. Dickens, Mr. Hooper, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Fairman, Mr. Kumm. 
 
 14. The British and Foreign Bible Society : Rev. R. Weakley, 
 
 and Rev. Cooper. And for the American Bible Society in Cairo. 
 
 That God's blessing may rest on all portions of the Holy Scriptures 
 throughout the country, and for all Christian Literature. That this 
 work may be largely increased and greatly prospered. 
 
 15. A Mission Band from Belfast and Glasgow : Mr. W. Bradley, 
 Mr. J. Martin Cleaver, Mr. Frederick Cooney, Mr. John Gordon 
 Logan, Mr. Edward Swan, Mr. George Swan, Mr. Elias H. Thompson. 
 
 16. Mr. Stewart in his work among English Soldiers in Cairo. 
 That God may raise up a Soldiers' Home in that City, and that 
 Mrs. Todd Osborne may be prospered in her effort to establish one. 
 
 17. For Mr. Peter Rudolph and his work among the poor Jews, 
 Greeks, and others in Alexandria. For Signor Grisafi and his work 
 among the Italians ; and for the German Hospitals and Deaconesses, 
 in both Cairo and Alexandria. 
 
 18. For Monsitrah. American Mission : The Rev. J. P. White, 
 M.D., and Mrs. White, Miss Minnehaha Finney. 
 
 19. For Assioot. American Mission : Rev. J. R. Alexander, 
 D.D., and Mrs. Alexander, Rev. E. M. Giffen and Mrs. Giffen, Rev. S. 
 G. Hart and Mrs. Hart, Professor R. M'Clenahan and Mrs. M'Clena- 
 han, Dr. L. M. Henry and Mrs. Henry, Miss Jessie Hogg, Miss Carrie 
 Buchinan, Miss L. Teas, Miss Cora Dickey. 
 
 20. For Benha. American Mission : Rev. C. Murch and Mrs. 
 Murch. 
 
 21. For Zagazig. American Mission : The Rev. K. W. 
 Macfarland and Mrs. Macfarland. 
 
 22. For Tanta. American Mission : Rev. J. Kelly Giffen and 
 Mrs. Giffen, Dr. Anna Watson, Dr. Caroline Lawrence. 
 
 23. For Luxor. American Mission : Rev. W. M. Nichol and 
 Mrs. Nichol. 
 
 24. For Semaloot. American Mission : Rev. W. H. Reed and 
 Mrs. Reed. 
 
 25. ForMaghagha. American Mission : Rev. David Strang, D.D. 
 
 26. For Damietta. American Mission, and all Native Helpers 
 and Mission Schools throughout the Land. 
 
 27. For Rosetta. The North Africa Mission : Miss Watson, 
 Miss Van der Molen. 
 
 28. Port Said. Mr. Locke, Mr Eoll, working among the Sailors. 
 
 29. For Miss Rose Johnson and all other Workers whose names 
 are unknown. 
 
 30. For all secret believers in Christ, that they may have courage 
 to confess Him. 
 
 31. For our Prayer Union, that we may all continue in prayer, 
 and that it shall be indeed the prayer of faith, which God loves to 
 answer. 
 
 %* Some of the above-mentioned are at home on furlough^ but hope to 
 return to Egypt.
 
 104 " BLESSED BE EGYPT." 
 
 "Jl)e also belping toaetber bg praser for us." 
 
 2 COR. i. ii. 
 
 THAT we may be kept " blameless and harmless, the sons of God 
 without rebuke." 
 
 THAT we may be kept in living union with our Lord, and in 
 unbroken unity with one another. JOHN xvii. 21. 
 
 THAT our Master's will for us may be made plain from day to 
 
 day, to the end 
 THAT SOULS MA Y BE WON FOR HIM. 
 
 WILLIAM BRADLEY. T. ED. SWAN. 
 
 FREDK. G.. COONEY. GEORGE SWAN. 
 
 JOHN GORDON LOGAX. ELIAS H.THOMPSON. 
 J. MARTIN CLEAVER, Hon. Sec., 
 
 Address Beit-el-Hamd, Moharrem Bey, 
 Alexandria, Egypt. 
 
 "ttbus saftb tbe Xoro, 3 will for tbis be 
 enquireo of . . to oo it." EZEK. xxxvi. 37. 
 
 Home Friends who undertake Correspondence, and to be 
 links of Communication : 
 
 REV. E. L. HAMILTON, Bath. 
 W. PEXN-LEWIS, 48, Springfield Road, Leicester. 
 Miss LOGAN, 5, Granby Terrace, Glasgow, W. 
 A. W. VANCE, Chlorine, Belfast (Hon. Treas.). 
 JOHN E. PIM (Hon. Sec. Prayer Circle), Bonaven, 
 
 Antrim Road, Belfast, 
 From whom Membership Cards can be obtained. 
 
 WM. STRAIN & SONS, PRINTERS, BELFAST.
 
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