The Women of the Arabs. Henry Harris Jessup
women devoted especially to this work. It was true in 1834, and it is almost equally true in 1873. The Arabs have a proverb, "The tree is not cut down, but by a branch of itself;" i.e. the axe handle is of wood. So none can reach the women of Syria but women. The Church of Rome understands this, and is sending French, Italian and Spanish nuns in multitudes to work upon the girls and women of Syria, and the women of the Syria Mission, married and unmarried, have done a noble work in the past in the elevation and education of their Syrian sisters. And in this connection it should be observed, that a sine qua non of efficient usefulness among the women of Syria, is that the Christian women who labor for them should know the Arabic language. Ignorance of the language is regarded by the people as indicating a want of sympathy with them, and is an almost insuperable barrier to a true spiritual influence. The great work to be done for the women of the world in the future, is to be done in their own mother-tongue, and it would be well that all the Female Seminaries in foreign lands should be so thoroughly supplied with teachers, that those most familiar with the native language could be free to devote a portion of their time to labors among the native women in their homes.
In 1834 and 1835 Mrs. Dodge conducted a school for Druze girls in Aaleih, in Lebanon. This School in Aaleih, a village about 2300 feet above the level of the sea, was once suddenly broken up. Not a girl appeared at the morning session. A rumor had spread through the village, that the English fleet had come up Mount Lebanon from Beirût, and was approaching Aaleih to carry off all the girls to England! The panic however subsided, and the girls returned to school. In 1836 Mrs. Hebard and Mrs. Dodge carried on the work which Mrs. Smith had so much loved, and which was only temporarily interrupted by her death.
In 1837, Mrs. Whiting and Miss Tilden had an interesting school of Mohammedan girls in Jerusalem, and Mrs. Whiting had several native girls in her own family.
In reply to certain inquiries contained in a note I addressed to Miss T. she writes: "I arrived in Beirût, June 16, 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Whiting in Jerusalem were desirous that I should take a small school that Mrs. Whiting had gathered, of Mohammedan girls. She had in her family two girls from Beirût, Salome, (Mrs. Prof. Wortabet,) and Hanne, (Mrs. Reichardt.) There were in school from 12 to 20 or more scholars, all Moslems. Only one Christian girl could be persuaded to attend. I think that the inducement they had to send their daughters was the instruction given in sewing and knitting, free of expense to them. Mrs. Whiting taught the same scholars on the Sabbath. The Scripture used in their instruction, both week days and on the Sabbath, was the Psalms. After a year and a half I went to Beirût and assisted in the girl's school, which was somewhat larger and more promising. Miss Williams had become Mrs. Hebard, and Miss Badger from Malta was teaching at the time. Mrs. Smith's boarding scholar Raheel, was with Mrs. Hebard. I suppose that female education in the family was commenced in Syria by Mr. Bird, who taught the girl that married Demetrius. (Miss T. probably meant to say Dr. Thomson, as Mariya, daughter of Yakob Agha, was first placed in his family by her father in 1834.) The girls taught in the different missionaries' families were Raheel, Salome, Hanne, Khozma, Lulu, Kefa, and Susan Haddad. Schools were taught in the mountains, and instruction given to the women, and meetings held with them as the ladies had strength and opportunity, at their different summer residences. The day scholars were taught in Arabic, and the boarding scholars in Arabic and English. I taught them Colburn's Arithmetic. I taught also written arithmetic, reading, etc., in the boys' school."
In 1841, war broke out between the Druzes and Maronites, and the nine schools of the Mission, including the Male Seminary of 31 pupils, the Girls' School of 25 pupils, and the Druze High School in Deir el Kamr, were broken up.
In 1842, the schools were resumed. In twelve schools were 279 pupils, of whom 52 were girls, and twelve young girls were living as boarders in mission families.
In 1843, there were thirteen schools with 438 pupils, and eleven young girls in mission families.
During the year 1844, 186 persons were publicly recognized as Protestants in Hasbeiya. Fifteen women attended a daily afternoon prayer-meeting, and expressed great surprise and delight at the thought that religion was a thing in which women had a share! A fiery persecution was commenced against the Protestants, who all fled to Abeih in Lebanon. On their return they were attacked and stoned in the streets, and Deacon Fuaz was severely wounded.
In 1845, Lebanon was again desolated with civil war, the schools were suspended, and the instruction of 182 girls and 424 boys interrupted for a time.
CHAPTER VI.
MRS. WHITING'S SCHOOL.
In 1846, Mrs. Whiting commenced a girls' day-school in her family at Abeih, and in Beirût there were four schools for boys and girls together, and one school for girls alone. In 18 Mission schools there were 144 girls and 384 boys. This girls' school in Abeih in 1846 was taught by Salome (Mrs. Wortabet) and Hanne, (Mrs. Reichardt,) the two oldest girls in Mr. Whiting's family. It was impossible to begin the school before August 1st, as the houses of the village which had been burned in the war of the preceding year had not been rebuilt, and suitable accommodations could not readily be found. During the summer there were twelve pupils, and in the fall twenty-five, from the Druze, Maronite, Greek Catholic and Greek sects, and the greatest freedom was used in giving instruction in the Bible and the Assembly's and Watts' Catechisms. A portion of every day was spent in giving especial religious instruction, and on the Sabbath a part of the pupils were gathered into the Sabbath School. During the fall a room was erected on the Mission premises for the girls' school, at an expense of 100 dollars.
The following letter from Mrs. Whiting needs no introduction. It bears a melancholy interest from the fact that the beloved writer died shortly afterwards, at Newark, N. J., May 18th, 1873.
"My first introduction to the women of Syria was by Mrs. Bird, mother of Rev. Wm. Bird and Mrs. Van Lennep. She was then in the midst of her little family of four children. I daily found her in her nursery, surrounded by native women who came to her in great numbers, often with their sick children. They were always received with the greatest kindness and ministered to. She might be seen giving a warm bath to a sick child, or waiting and watching the effect of other remedies. Mothers from the neighboring villages of Lebanon were allowed to bring their sick children and remain for days in her house until relief was obtained. She was soon known throughout Beirût and these villages as the friend of the suffering, and I have ever thought that by these Christian self-denying labors, she did much towards gaining the confidence of the people. And who shall say that while good Father Bird was in his study library among the 'Popes and Fathers,' preparing his controversial work 'The Thirteen Letters,' this dear sister, by her efforts, was not making a way to the hearts of these people for the reception of gospel truth, which has since been preached so successfully in the neighboring villages of Lebanon?
"In the autumn of 1834, Mr. Whiting was removed to the Jerusalem station. I found the women accessible and ready to visit me, and invite me to their houses, but unwilling to place their girls under my instruction. All my efforts for some time were fruitless. Under date of Aug. 22, I find this entry in Mr. Whiting's journal: "During the past week, three little Moslem girls have been placed under Mrs. Whiting's instruction for the purpose of learning to read and sew. They seem much pleased with their new employment, and their parents, who are respectable Moslems, express great satisfaction in the prospect of their learning. They say, in the Oriental style that the children are no longer theirs, but ours, and that they shall remain with us and learn everything we think proper to teach them. This event excited much talk in the city, particularly among the Moslem mothers. The number of scholars, chiefly Moslem girls, increased to twenty-five and thirty."
At a later date, Jan., 1836, "one of the girls in Mrs. Whiting's school, came with a complaint against a Jew who had been attempting to frighten her away from the school by telling her and her uncle (her guardian) that her teacher certainly had some evil design, and no doubt intended to select the finest of the girls, and send them away to the Pasha, and that it was even written so in the books which she was teaching the children to read. Whether the Jew has been