Journal of a Residence at Bagdad Part 10

I was struck with the quickness with which the mind apprehends the simple truth of G.o.d when unprejudiced by interest. I have, without even speaking contemptuously to the Christians of their fasting, taken various opportunities of expressing the liberty of a Christian to fast in such a way, and at such times, as he believes most conducive to his soul's advantage; and have pointed out to them, that to lay the stress on it they do, was quite perverting the very end and design of fasting; for that they are manifestly less afraid of violating Christ's commands than their own regulations, which, as they used them, were purely human. To-day, a question arose between two of them in my presence, about their fasts; and the one stated as clearly as could be wished, the uselessness of burthening their consciences about eating a little b.u.t.ter instead of oil, or such like, instead of seeking to flee from their lies, and drunkenness, and robbery, and cheating. There seems to me such a glorious moral power in G.o.d's word, that my heart never doubts of its producing marked effects, where it can be clearly and fully delivered; but, oh, the language, what a mountainous barrier!

Last night, whilst lying on my bed, on the roof of my house, five b.a.l.l.s pa.s.sed over my head in about as many seconds, so close, that I threw myself off in expectation that the next might hit it or me; at times I almost determined to go down, but the danger of being shot did not appear so dreadful as the suffocating heat down stairs.

_August 4._ _Thursday._--We have received accounts to-day of another messenger from Bussorah, with letters for us, having been stripped.

How trying these dispensations are--how necessary for our peace that our eye should only rest on G.o.d, ordering in love every event concerning us, even to the arrival of a letter, so that he will allow nothing to fail us that is for our good. I have to-day finished reading through again Martyn's Memoir, by Sargent. How my soul admires and loves his zeal, self-denial, and devotion; how brilliant, how transient his career; what spiritual and mental power amidst bodily weakness and disease. Oh, may I be encouraged by his example to press on to a higher mark. When I think of my own spiritual weakness, contrasted with his spiritual power, it brings a striking warning home to my heart to seek a fuller and more abiding union with Jesus, from whom alone flows the living waters that make the branches fruitful; I am not now troubled about that intellectual difference between us, which might seem to make it impossible for me to do what he did: the Lord has made me, blessed be His holy name, contented in this respect with any difference I may feel between myself and his more exalted members; but my sorrow is caused by my want of that likeness to him, who is my Lord and King, which is alike the common inheritance of all the members of his mystical body. May I, however, henceforth make the most of my talent, that I be not numbered among the slothful servants at my dear Lord's most glorious and blessed appearing. The mild seriousness that pervades dear H. M.'s soul has for my heart a great charm. There is not a trait of eccentricity--all is like his Lord in its measure--he was solemn and serious as became his work, yet full of zeal and affection, which shewed itself, however, rather in the steady power of a course of action than in expression. It is astonis.h.i.+ng what the world will endure from a child of G.o.d, whose manner gives them excuse for calling him an interesting eccentric madman; because then all he says they feel at liberty to laugh at; whereas, if the very same truths were declared to them in the calm seriousness of our Lord's manner, it would make them gnash on him with their teeth.

_August 7._ _Lord's day._--This has been a day of trials and tears.

The visions of the night were filled with her I have lost, and the day has been spent in weeping over her, I am soon, very soon, to lose; but this is only nature, my soul rests happily in my Lord. I had given up a little for his dear service! but he knew where the heart's reserves were, and has put his hand on them; yet, blessed hope, that gilds these darkest days--the day of the Lord is at hand, when we shall meet to part no more. Oh, may my heart live with this blessed vision ever before it, and labour each day for the Lord, as though it were to be the waking vision of the morning's dawn. My heart is very sad to think how profitless a servant I have been; but I do purpose, the Lord enabling me, to be more diligent, more devoted in the future.

My mind has been much exercised with the question of the desirableness of keeping a journal of the soul's inmost workings; but after reading and thanking G.o.d for those of others, I feel I never could write one without the fear of its publication, and this would keep my soul in a continual struggle, either by tempting me to say too much or too little, more or less than the truth; for, if any but my most gracious and loving Lord knew me as I am, I should hide myself for ever from the face of man. Yet I pray the Lord, that he will by his Spirit write a journal on my soul, that I may truly feel how very meek and lowly it becomes me to be when I think of all his forgiveness, notwithstanding my transgressions against him. I feel there was something peculiarly gracious in my Lord's not sending me away to my sufferings and trials, till he had given me a cordial, in the a.s.surance of his unchanging love. Oh, but for this, what would my past trials have been, had I not felt a.s.sured my Lord's love did not fluctuate with my feelings, nor depend upon my worthiness. Oh, what a blessed pa.s.sage is that in Rom.

v. "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to G.o.d by the death of his Son, _much more_ being reconciled we shall be saved by his life." Yet the more I feel of this a.s.surance of such unmerited love, the more hateful sin appears in all its shapes, and the more my soul desires entire devotedness to the whole will of G.o.d, and conformity to my gracious Lord.

_Aug. 9._--A contest has sprung up between the troops and the inhabitants of the city, in which, from the continued firing, I should fear there has been much slaughter. Our neighbours are also again making barricades across the street, near our door. I sometimes think I am too impatient under these trials, instead of being thankful for the mercies I enjoy, and waiting without anxiety upon the Lord to work as seemeth good to Him in his own time. I hope to strive more and more after this childlike confidence, which his experienced love so richly deserves.

I did not expect my sweet little baby would have survived yesterday, yet she has this morning a little revived.

In the hourly expectation of being plundered, I have put such things as I should be sorry to lose in a hole made in the wall, by the falling of a room. Yet I trust I am quite content the Lord should do as he sees best, even with respect to these. I sometimes sigh to join my dear Mary in the kingdom of peace and joy, and be ever with the Lord. Oh, may the Lord fully and quickly make me meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.

_Aug. 13._ _Sat.u.r.day._--The Arabs made an attack on the other side of the town to-day, but were repulsed. Another messenger from Bussorah is arrived, but stripped and plundered of our letters, and detained four days a prisoner by the Arabs. He has been near a month on his way.

Bussorah, like Bagdad, is still besieged.

_Aug. 14._ _Sunday._--My dear little baby and some others of my patients have occupied much of my time to-day; for though I give the people generally to understand, that unless in cases of necessity, I would rather see them on any other day; yet, there are many whom I have felt it to be my duty to see. The remainder of the day, however, was rendered profitless by extreme weariness, I having had to walk about with my poor little withering flower several hours through the night. I feel these trials all arise in what appears to me my present plain path of duty, so they do not greatly trouble me; though the progress in the language is almost altogether in abeyance; but, if I confine myself to my Lord's will, I feel he will manage all for me.

I have had with me to-day an Armenian gunsmith, who has resided some years in Damascus; he says, the Christians there are treated very well, for though they will not allow them to ride on horseback in the city, yet, as inhabitants, they are well treated. He says, they are also very numerous, inhabiting not less than 15,000 houses; but, if from this we deduct 10,000, we shall probably be nearer the truth. The Jews are not so well treated. From Shaum (Damascus) to Beyraut, on the coast, is four days journey, to Acre four, to Tripoli six, to Aleppo ten, and the roads quite safe. From Damascus to Jerusalem is seven days journey, but through an unsafe country. On the journey from this place to Damascus, the only dangerous part of the road is between this and Hit, on the Euphrates, four days journey hence; after that a certain sum is paid to the Arab tribes, you may pa.s.s through. From Persian travellers, whom they hate, they extort, when they know them, a much greater sum, amounting sometimes to from 10. to 20. between this and Damascus. He says, you come to fresh water every second or third day.

_Aug. 19._ _Friday._--Every thing seems darkening in this wretched city. Numbers of poor people are crying at the gates to be let out, that they may not be starved in the city; but they will not let them go. All the necessaries of life have risen to five times their usual price, and the pressure of this is increased tenfold by the time at which it has occurred. The bricklayers, carpenters, every trade has entirely ceased its occupations in the city since the commencement of the plague; so that all day-labourers, such as weavers and others, are thrown out of their employments, and without means of gaining their bread. In addition to this, the Arabs are breaking into every house where they expect to find a little corn or rice, so that it is a difficult choice either to be without provisions in danger of starving, or of being broken in upon by such ruffians, and stripped.

We intend to bury a little box, containing some rice, and flour, and dates, under ground, that in the event of their breaking in, we may yet secure food for a few days, which may give us time to look about.

The Lord, however, is very gracious, and will not try us above our strength, but will magnify his grace even in these scenes of trial and distress. The care of my dear little dying baby has taken my mind much off from dwelling on the distressing position in which we are, and, for aught I at present see, are likely to continue in, for those within the town feel it is their heads for which they are contending, and will therefore hold out to the very last. Yet in this whirlwind the Lord rides and reigns, and no part of the mystical body of Christ, however humble the member, will ever be forgotten: on this we rest and wait for light and deliverance.

_Aug. 23._ _Tuesday._--Sat.u.r.day last they made a sally from the city against a tribe of Arabs, friends of Ali Pasha, and after putting them to flight, and killing 100, they cut off the heads of 150 in cold blood afterwards. It appears that the obnoxious parties within the city are anxious to place the whole inhabitants of the city on such terms with the a.s.sailants that they shall fear the consequences of their entering the town as much as themselves. They have allowed about 5000 of the very poorest to leave the city, but the enemy without will allow no more to pa.s.s. A letter came yesterday to Mr. Swoboda from a Bohemian, who is physician to Ali Pasha, in which he desired to communicate to all the Franks, that Ali Pasha had given the strictest orders to his soldiers not to molest one of them. To a certain extent this manifests good intentions; but we have had too much experience of the powerlessness of governors at such times to restrain their soldiers, to have much confidence in man: our confidence is in Him who will and does watch over us for good. From the daily increase in the price of provisions, and the daily coining new lies to feed the people with hopes instead of bread, I think things cannot remain long in their present position; yet the Lord knows. It is certain Bagdad is altogether ruined; and if those who belong to the neighbouring villages, and those who would leave it, were there ever so small an opening, were gone, the city would be a desert.

I had a patient with me to-day, who told me that, out of a family of sixteen, he alone remains from the plague. Persons he added, who before these troubles were not worth a para, are seen riding about on fine horses and trappings, covered with gold and pearls, &c.; and, on the other hand, many who before were in very good circ.u.mstances, are, by the robbery of those who should protect them, reduced to beggary.

It appears that Ali Pasha is in want of nothing but money and ammunition; and those within the town want every thing but these. This wretched city has suffered to an almost unparalleled extent the judgments of G.o.d within the last six months: the plague swept away more than two-thirds of its inhabitants--the flood has thrown down nearly two-thirds of its houses; and property and provisions of corn, dates, sugar, &c. &c. beyond all calculation, have been destroyed, and we are now suffering under daily increasing famine, and we have yet hanging over our heads the revengeful sword of resisted authority, and the unprincipled plunder of a lawless soldiery to complete the devastation. This Pashalic was just about to fall an easy prey into the hands of the Persians, who long to possess it, from their famous place of pilgrimage, Kerbala, being in the neighbourhood, and perhaps also to make up for their losses on their Russian frontier. Thus the Lord seems preparing these two great Mohammedan powers for their final overthrow, partly by the hands of each other, and partly by the hands of the Christian power. In the province of Kourdistan, the Persians have encroached much on the territory of this Pashalic already.

Oh! how delightful it is to turn from these scenes of present and prospective strife to that happy approaching day, when the Lord shall come with ten thousand of his saints to establish his kingdom of peace and glory. Oh! may our cry never cease to be, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly;" and when he does come, may he find us in his service among the faithful, chosen, and true.

_Aug. 24._ _Thursday._--Three months and ten days have now pa.s.sed since the Lord took from me her who was on earth the supreme consolation of my life; and now, this day, he has taken from me my sweet little baby without a sigh, without the expression of pain during the whole of her illness; for this my heart can, even at this moment, bless the Lord; but it has left a void that has more than ever made the world appear a waste. The incessantly returning wants made even these times appear to wing a rapid flight; but now all is still as death, except the weeping of the poor nurse, who truly loved her, and watched over her night and day with unremitting care. Oh! what a time would these three months have been for dear Mary, had she lived, and what a day would this have been; but the Lord took her from the evil to come, and has now taken the dear little object of her love to her, to join her little sainted sister and dear little brother; four of us are gone, and three are left. May the Lord quickly prepare us all, and hasten his coming kingdom, that we may meet to part no more.

And, Oh! may he make and accept the remnant of the worthless life he grants me, as a living sacrifice to his service. Notwithstanding I acquiesce, I trust, in the Lord's will from the bottom of my heart, yet I feel a desolation and loneliness of heart, on this last dispensation, that surpa.s.ses all I have felt in my last six months of trial. My sweet little baby remained an object for those affections to seize upon, which will exist while life lasts, however disciplined, and however the power of grace may prevail; but in one so weak in faith, so earthly as I am, they have had much, too much power, and therefore the Lord, in mercy to my soul, has swept them all away, that I may have nothing in this world left but his service. If this be his holy purpose, may my whole soul second so gracious an intention; and I pray the spiritual family which the Lord, according to his promise, has given me, fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers, that their love and patience towards me may abound, that my spirit may be refreshed thereby, and my weakness encouraged to proceed--though faint, yet pursuing.

_Aug. 25._ _Friday._--This day has taught me, that if I would not be entirely miserable, I must give up my whole time, and soul, and thoughts to my Lord; for if I look off him, I feel bordering on a gulf, the depth of which I cannot fathom. Oh! may the Holy blessed Spirit give me such views of the graciousness and exceeding riches of my Lord, that I may really feel, that in having him, I have all things. He alone is the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever. All created things, the nearest, the dearest, the most beloved in the moment of greatest need and greatest felicity, elude the grasp, and flee away; but he abides always. I desire, therefore, the Lord enabling me, to give myself altogether to the preparation for my future labours more diligently than I have ever yet done; that though desolate on earth, I may hold the freest and sweetest communion with heaven; for of all preparation I feel the greatest, the most needful to be, that of the heart; in order to the constant sensible entertainment of Christ, from whose nearness all the spiritual faculties derive the sap and the fruit bearing strength.

_Aug. 28._--To-day I feel the Lord has given me a victory, by turning my thoughts off my miserable self and temporary circ.u.mstances, to the contemplation of the happiness of those who are gone before me, and by enabling me to feel set off on my journey to meet them, and drawing every day one day's journey nearer, while I endeavour to forget I had ever been happy in domestic life, or ever possessed those dear objects; but nature was often too strong for me, as I dwelt on their felicity, and my journeying towards them daily, whether the Lord brings them with him, or I go before he comes. This hope does comfort me, for it is a real abiding truth, whether I drink the sweets of the consolation from it or not. I therefore now purpose, the Lord enabling me, after nearly six months interruption, to return to the studies preparatory to my future duties as an itinerating missionary. To this service I ever thought the Lord had called me, and for this I now see all his trials have been fitting me, for I am without a home and without a tie in the world, but my dear Lord's service. These trials have made me ready for entering on my work to any extent; as my dear little boys will no longer confine me to one place, but will soon be of an age to move about with me; or should their choice render other arrangements necessary, the Lord will open a way for them likewise.

For an itinerating missionary on this side the desert, three languages are essentially important; Arabic, Turkish, and Persian: and this I feel, unless the Lord very especially helps me, will be _to me_ no ordinary labour; but, as I am surrounded by men who every day learn them for purposes of gain, I trust the Lord will not allow me to faint, or be discouraged till, for his own service I have attained them.

The internal state of the city is daily becoming more and more critical: all the necessaries of life are risen to ten times their common price, and are even then with difficulty obtained. The abominations that are now committed in the face of day, makes the city appear ripe for the judgment of the cities of the plain; and the poor Christians princ.i.p.ally suffer in the persons of their children in these abominable acts of violence; but to seek a remedy now is utterly useless, for all the power in the city is in the hands of the lawless mob, who are the perpetrators of all the wickedness. It makes one's heart ache to hear them weeping and telling of their sufferings.

_August 29._--Last night some of the depredators broke into our house, and have taken away to the amount of about ten pounds from Kitto and myself, while we were all asleep upon the roof of the house, so there was nothing to hinder them from clearing the house; yet the Lord some how or other disturbed them, for though they took my clothes out of a box, they dropped them in their way to the window through which they entered, and a box containing my money in my room they never opened--in fact, it altogether appears they went away without accomplis.h.i.+ng the purpose for which they came, and it so happened that from the constant expectation of the general plunder of the city, we had put away every thing of any particular value. Should we be plundered by the soldiers of Ali Pasha, we may possibly, if our lives be spared, obtain, as Mr. Goodell did, remuneration; but about this I do not feel anxious: the Lord will provide.

From daylight this morning till near noon there was a pretty sharp contest between those within the city and those without, in which the latter got the advantage. My feeling is, that we are very fast approaching to a crisis, and in that crisis our eyes are unto the everlasting hills--to him who says, 'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,' but who will be with us always even unto the end of the world. Oh! what a relief would a little time of peace and free communication with our dear friends be. The latest letters from England are dated nine months ago; and from many, nay all my dear friends at Exeter, the latest is nearly eleven months; so that all our trials come together. For five months the dear little boys have not set their foot without the door of our house, and I cannot but feel it is a great mercy of the Lord, that they are so happy and contented. I have never heard, during all this time, one word of complaint from them.

_Aug. 30._--The inhabitants are building up gates in all the princ.i.p.al streets, both against the swarms of thieves who plunder by night, and in antic.i.p.ation of the entrance of the opposing party, when a general pillage seems now fully expected by all. It often seems to me, on looking around and seeing all without G.o.d, and trusting to their puny efforts to avert impending evils, what a blessed portion we have who know him, believe in him, and love him, and know and feel, that without his permission, not one hair of our heads shall fall. Those within the city have also again been out and attacked another tribe of Arabs that were on Ali Pasha's side, pillaged and set fire to their camp, and brought the plunder into the city, among which was a great quant.i.ty of silk, which these Arabs had taken from a caravan coming to Bagdad from Persia in the time of the plague.

_September 2._--I was sent for to-day to see the Pasha, who has, from the effects of a carbuncle on his toe lost one of the joints, and they have so treated it, that he will, I think, now certainly lose another.

He was particularly kind and civil, and without any comparison, the most gentlemanly person I have met with in the East. There is an unaffected simplicity of manners, and a benevolence of countenance, which makes one wonder how all the accounts of his actions, which we may, I think, say we know to be true, could possibly be so. He made me a present of three small cuc.u.mbers, at this time the greatest rarity; and this may convey some idea to what extent the privations of the poor have gone, when the Pasha can hardly command a cuc.u.mber, which, with legumenous fruits of a similar kind, const.i.tute a great portion of the food of the poor in ordinary times. As I returned from the Pasha a man levelled a gun at me, not with any intention to fire I believe, but just to show that independent boldness which fears no one, but dares to do what it chooses.

_September 6._--There is nothing new; but the uninterrupted stream of misery is still swelling with its bitter waters: depredation and scarcity increasing and advancing with pretty equal steps. There seems to be signs of money beginning to fail from the treasury of the Pasha, as his kanjaar (a dagger), richly studded with diamonds, was offered for sale the other day. The palace of the Pasha, or rather its ruins, are filled with Arnaouts, a mercenary band of soldiers, who employ their time in making and drinking arrack, and knocking down the walls of the palace, wherever they yield a hollow sound, in search of the hidden treasures of the Pasha. In these countries it is a universal custom to bury or build up in the walls of houses their treasures, from the insecurity in which they always live.

Mr. Swoboda has received a letter from a friend of his in the Pasha's camp, stating that there was a large pile of letters and parcels for Europeans within the city, in the possession of the Pasha. This is trying to us, but still it brings the hope that we may yet soon receive intelligence of our friends.

It seems as if the angel of destruction was resting on this city as on Babylon, to sweep it from the earth. They are actually pulling down the roofs of the bazaars to sell and burn the wood, destroying buildings for fuel, that a hundred times the worth of the wood will not replace, and filling up the roads with rubbish so as to render them scarcely pa.s.sable. The state of anarchy which prevails must be witnessed to be understood. If it were not that the soul feels it is the Lord's province to bring order out of confusion and good out of evil, it would utterly despair in such a scene, where every element at work seems wickedness; but amidst all, our eyes are unto him.

_September 7._--Weak in body and mind, I could sometimes almost impatiently wish for a change. Yet the Lord is very gracious, and suffers us to have quite enough for our health and strength; and as for money, a Roman Catholic merchant was with me yesterday, begging that if I wanted any more, I would take it from him, for they seem all to have that kind of confidence even in our national character, that they will generally without hesitation, let you have money. For myself, I know not if my mind preys on my body, or my body on my mind, or whether they mutually act and re-act one on the other; yet I feel on the whole thus much, that if it appeared the Lord's most gracious pleasure to direct my steps away from this place for a season, I should be thankful. Nevertheless, I desire to say from my heart, not my will, O Lord, but thine be done. In Arabic, I think I make daily progress, and I feel fully a.s.sured, should the Lord spare my life for this blessed work, that I shall one day be able to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ intelligibly, perhaps even fluently. Yet from the natural badness of my memory, considerable time will be requisite, unless the Lord vouchsafe to me his especial help to this end, for which I daily pray, for I want not opportunity but language to preach Christ.

_Sept. 9._ _Friday._--Every thing continues still increasing in price, and in an increased ratio the sufferings of the poor: if they leave the city they are stripped and driven back; if they remain they are starved; and even the dates are just come to an end, upon which for near three weeks, both the people and the cattle have been feeding.

The Pasha has this day taken the jewels of his wives to sell, from which and some other signs, I am led to think his course is nearly run, and that ere long he will follow the fate of his predecessor. Ali Pasha told the Suffian-Effendi, who went out to him to endeavour to accommodate matters, that he had come for one head only, but that after the way in which he had been treated, he would not be satisfied with less than _ten_; and if, at that time, which was nearly a month ago, he had determined to take ten, I fear a hundred would not now satisfy him.

A poor Roman Catholic priest was with me to-day, telling me of his distress, while one of his opulent flock was sitting by him. He said the Jews would not allow their poor to beg from others; by which I thought he meant to give a pretty intelligible hint that his flock ought to be ashamed. But his rich hearer only said, "The Lord is merciful, and he will provide." On this side the desert, the professing Christians are not certainly priest-ridden as they are in most Roman Catholic countries, or even on the other side of the desert, in consequence of there being no powerful and wealthy communities like the monasteries in Mount Lebanon, to bring down the heavy arm of the Turks upon them; for without the Turks they can do little, and these petty governments joyfully interfere in their strifes to extort money from both parties, though in this respect, Bagdad has been better off than most Pashalics for nearly sixty years past, since the time of Suliman Pasha, whose slave the present Pasha was, but liberated on his death. Since him there have been Ali Pasha, Suliman Pasha the younger, Abdallah Pasha, and Seyd Pasha, all of whom have been murdered after a longer or shorter period. Daoud Pasha has now been fourteen years in possession of the power he obtained by the murder of his predecessor, and seems now not far from sharing the same fate.

_Sept. 10._ _Sat.u.r.day._--The evening before last the thieves broke into the house of one of the sons of the Pasha, and killed three of the servants: if they serve the Pasha so what have others to expect?

Instead of being surprised that things are so bad, my surprise is that they are not worse, seeing the city is entirely at the mercy of those who are capable of every abomination and cruelty; and there is no other restraint upon them than what G.o.d puts into their hearts by the undefined fear of possible retribution. The most valuable articles known to belong to the Pasha, from whom they had been stolen, were sold openly in the streets, without the least notice being taken, and thus also they shoot individuals when they please, in the open day and in the public thoroughfares, and no one stops to see who it is or why it is, but every one hastens off as fast as he can lest he should share the same fate. And the pa.s.sengers in the streets are not only exposed to be shot at by those prompted by deliberate enmity, but this armed rabble is continually drunk, and, without the least provocation, fire at men or women. I seem to think, if it did please the Lord to put an end to these scenes of sorrow and trial, my heart would be very thankful; yet perhaps in this I deceive myself, and all my grat.i.tude would be as a morning cloud. However, this I know, the Lord will not suffer me to be tried above what he will enable me to bear, and on this a.s.surance, in the darkest day, may the blessed Spirit enable my heart to repose. This is my daily comfort.

_Sept. 12._ _Monday._--The poor are again permitted to leave the city, and it is reported, that when Ali Pasha heard that those had been robbed who came out before, he threw some of the supposed plunderers into the river, and cut off the heads of others. However this may be, 5 or 600 now daily go out and suffer no molestation. This is a great mercy, for within the city every article of food has disappeared except buffaloes' and camels' flesh, and this at about twenty times its usual price. Should this state of things continue, it seems to me from present appearances, that a general plunder will be the consequence. To-day they have pillaged the houses of some Jews.

Yesterday they broke open the house of Major Taylor's chaoush. They are very slow to interfere with those under English protection; but when their natural thievish propensities are stimulated by want and opportunity, from what may they be expected to withhold themselves?

Things within the city are now come to that pa.s.s, that I heard from the Meidan to-day (the place where the princ.i.p.al Turks reside) that they have determined to wait five days more, and if Ajeel, the Sheikh of the Montefeik Arabs, or some other efficient aid, does not arrive, they will cut off the heads of Daoud Pasha and Saleh Beg, who is his Kaimacam, or Lieutenant Governor, and send them to Ali Pasha, for the city can bear no more.

When I consider all the misery in the city, and the privations not only among the poor, but the rich, and consider how we have been provided for, it does seem to me most marvellous, strangers as we were, and without a friend. Before the plague, in our ignorance of the probable time of its continuance, and with the certain knowledge that in the midst of the greatest want, there was not a soul that could help us, we took in enough of wheat, rice, soap, and candles, to last till within a very few weeks. When dear Mr. Pfander left us, we made him some sausages, called in this country _pastourma_: he, however, took but a few, and the rest remained with us, and served us both during the plague, and now in the famine to vary our food a little, though somewhat dry and as hard as wood, and still of them one or two remains. The dear boys also had some pigeons: these also served us for many days. We then had two goats for my poor dear little baby, and to give us milk; but provisions became so dear that we were obliged to kill one; this we divided among the poor: the second at last we also killed, and potted in its fat. This by little and little we are consuming. We have also got four or five hens, which lay two or three eggs a-day. Thus the Lord has provided for us till now; and if we have not had abundance, we have never suffered from want. And now, when wheat and rice is not to be bought, and if possessed in quant.i.ties would expose the possessors to inevitable pillage, the Lord has so graciously supplied us, that we avoid both want and the danger of possessing provisions in the house, for before the kind Taylors left this, they gave me permission to take from the Residency whatever I might want, and this I now take by little and little as I need, and the house of the Resident is so far respected in public opinion, that openly disorganized as things are, I do not think they will commit any violence upon it.

I am sure there are many who, in reading this, will bless G.o.d for his goodness to us, so utterly unworthy as we are; but, oh! if they could be witnesses of the misery that others suffer, and from which his mercies have freed us, they would indeed praise him. For, even when provisions were to be had, had we been obliged to purchase at the price things then were and are now, we must inevitably have run in debt; but as it is we have enough of money for more than a month to come. Therefore, bereaved and incapable as I yet feel of all enjoyment, I desire to bless the Lord for all his great goodness and care over us, of the least of whose mercies I feel infinitely unworthy. And though my faith does not enable me fully now to feel, in unison with my _soul's judgment_, on my heavenly Father's dealings toward me, when time has removed the bitter cup farther distant, it may not possess all its present intensity of bitterness, to which also so many circ.u.mstances have tended to add additional pungency--not a friend near, not a communication from any of those far away. I have ever felt one abiding source of comfort, in that I knew I enjoyed the prayers of many whose prayers I truly value, and through these I believe I shall yet stand complete in all the will of G.o.d, to remove or to remain, to live or to die. The Lord will quickly come, and then his power and great glory will be manifested to the joy of his chosen and the confusion of his enemies.

_Sept. 14._ _Wednesday._--While I feel more convinced every day that a missionary in these countries, who really would cast himself upon his Lord, and share in its revolutions and national judgments, has more to prepare his mind for them previously to his entering upon it than he can well conceive: yet on the other hand, I feel more confirmed in the opinion, that amidst this disjointed disorganized state of society, there are more doors of irregular missionary service open than he can possibly occupy. For though he can perhaps find few opportunities of publicly preaching Christ; yet in conversation, and the preparation and circulation of tracts, I think there are immense opportunities afforded. Yet for conversation much time will be required in acquiring a facility in the language by most, till the Lord is pleased to pour down from on high, his gifts of the Spirit--and as to tracts, at present we have none. The Turkish Armenian tracts, printed at Malta, are not clearly understood here; neither do I think the Arabic or Turkish spoken on the other side of the desert would be so either, if I may judge from the translations into Turkish and Arabic. In fact, it would appear desirable if the object of a missionary be to labour in the east, that he should study on this side the desert if possible; though the difficulties of a family are great here amidst the constant succeeding commotion of this disturbed country. There is no retiring place within at least some hundred miles, at all times by a dangerous journey, but in such times as these almost impa.s.sable. And the elements of disorder do not arise only from the state of the Ottoman empire, but from the vicinity of Persia, daily encroaching on this side, as I have mentioned before, both from religious and political motives, and this spirit is encouraged by the constant weakening of the pashalic. About fifty or sixty years ago, commenced the government of Suliman Pasha the elder, who continued twenty-three years in his situation and died in his bed. This Pasha raised Bagdad from a place of little mercantile consideration to be one of the most important places of traffic in the east, and he allured merchants from all parts by the equity and firmness of his government. From that to the present time, this pre-eminence has been enjoyed by Bagdad, and it has been the central place of trade between the east and the west; and for these purposes, if improved, a more desirable situation could not be imagined under a firm and wise administration. This Suliman Pasha strengthened the Georgian interest in this pashalic prodigiously by the purchasing of an immense number of Georgian slaves whom he manumitted at his death. One of these, Ali Pasha, who married his daughter, succeeded him, and was murdered at prayers after about five years reign. Suliman Pasha who succeeded him, also married a daughter of the former Suliman, he governed about three years, and was then put to death. He was succeeded by Abdallah Pasha, who was the treasurer of Ali Pasha; he continued about three years, and was put to death. To him succeeded Seyd Pasha, son of Suliman Pasha the elder, who, at the end of about three years, was also put to death. To these last who had thus succeeded and murdered one another, succeeded Daoud, the present Pasha, who to avoid a like fate with his predecessors, cut off every man about him who could possibly afford him any umbrage; but while on the one hand he secured himself, on the other he so weakened the Georgian interest, that when his affairs became involved in difficulty, there was none to help but creatures who had ministered to his avarice which he had gratified at the expence of every loyal feeling (if such an expression can be used by a Turk.) But still, though previous to the plague, the Georgians had been thus diminis.h.i.+ng in numbers, and more so in intellectual and moral character, still they were a strong body; but the plague swept them nearly all away.

All this taking place at this peculiar juncture when there is no recruiting their strength from Georgia, which is now in the hands of the Russians, and when the heart of the Sultan is peculiarly set against the whole mameluke rule seems to indicate the period of their downfall to be near at hand. Should Ali Pasha now succeed in getting possession of the city, the Georgian government of these renegade slaves will be ended as that of their brethren in apostacy was in Egypt. But, however things may terminate, there are no elements of recovery, fall they must; for the curse of G.o.d is upon them from the hands of one tyrant after another, till some powerful nominal Christian government will accept the government of them, for which they are daily ripening, which they are daily expecting, and which will finally happen, unless they fully adopt a European policy and plan, and this by another road, will lead to the same end, the overthrow of Mohammedanism and the establishment of infidelity. I have just thus cursorily made these remarks, that no missionary may deceive himself by expecting any long period of peace and quietness.

If it comes, he may bless G.o.d; but if it be withheld, he must calculate upon it. And I think those who are lightly armed for their work--who can run, and fly, and hide, and at all events have only their own lives to care about, will be happiest amidst all their privations and trials between Bagdad and China. But for those who have known the endearment of domestic life, or who are by nature peculiarly susceptible of its happiness it may truly be said, this is a living martyrdom. It is: but it is _for Christ_, who will soon come and wipe away all tears from our eyes. I desire daily to feel it is a world in which my gracious Lord was an outcast, and where it would be to my loss if I made me a home. May the Lord make me willing to serve him on these or any other terms he may manifest at his pleasure.

This morning some persons who were employed for the purpose, set at liberty two of the princ.i.p.al Georgians who were imprisoned in the camp of Ali Pasha.

The Armenian servant to whom I lent an Armenian Testament, with the translation into the modern Constantinople dialect, came to me to say how much better he understood it than he did before in the old language, and his countenance seemed quite to brighten up at the sense of his attainment. Among the Armenians I think there is an open door, especially among the young, their ears are open and thirsting for information on every subject.

The father of the Armenian schoolmaster was to-day speaking with me on the difficulty of that pa.s.sage, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." He said he felt just in that state as though G.o.d had said to him, I will not receive you. I longed to preach to him fully so far as I am able, Him who saith, Whosoever cometh to me I will in no wise cast out; but I have many difficulties: he is very deaf, and Armenian and Turkish, not Arabic, are the languages he understands. The languages greatly try me, for though I feel by the Lord's mercy making daily progress, yet still I feel four or five years must pa.s.s before I am fully prepared even in this department of my labour, and happy shall I be if in that time it be accomplished.

_Sept. 15._ _Thursday._--After a night of anxious suspense, the day has dawned in comparative peace; the cry that Ali Pasha's troops were entering the city, began soon after we had retired to rest, and continued till near morning. Now we hear that Daoud Pasha had fled from the house of Saleh Beg during the night and endeavoured to enter the citadel, but the soldiers would not admit him. He is now in the hands of the people of the Meidan. The Chaoush Kiahya of Ali Pasha has entered the city, and every one is in an awful state of suspense as to the future fate of the inhabitants, at least of the higher cla.s.ses. I have just set up the English flag that they may know the inhabitant of the house is a stranger here, who has nothing to do with the strife of the city. If, after this, the Lord allows them to enter our habitation, may his holy and blessed will be done. I think the Lord has allowed my mind to be in perfect peace as to the result.

The poor wives of the Pasha are kissing the hands of pa.s.sers by, begging that they will give them an asylum. Poor sufferers! all are afraid to interfere so as to afford them that which they want. At present, words and appearances are peaceable. May the Lord of his mercy grant that they may continue so.

To-day we killed two fowls to have a little fresh meat. Thus the Lord has kept us through all this time of trial, and we have enough remaining for five or six days, blessed be his holy name. This day has ended in perfect peace, not a disturbance or an individual molested.

The princ.i.p.al thieves, who, at the head of various gangs, were robbing the city in every direction, are now doing all they can to escape, for they are perfectly known. Thus the gracious hand of the Lord has removed in one day the siege and famine, and fear and terror, from the lawless within, and the undefined terrors from those who are without, so that all seems joy and gladness to the poor inhabitants. In the conclusion of this affair Ali Pasha has conducted himself amidst numberless provocations with a moderation and prudence that does him the highest honour; bless the Lord for all his mercies. This will be the first night for months that we shall retire to rest without the hateful sounds of civil strife saluting our ears, or disturbing our rest.

_Sept. 16._ _Friday._--Another peaceful day. Ali Pasha has collected all the princ.i.p.al Georgians together in his camp. When the late Pasha went out to his camp, he rose from his seat and embraced him, and told him not to fear; that the Sultan had ordered his life to be spared; to Saleh Beg also a.s.surances of safety were given, and in fact up to this time not one individual has been put to death. It remains yet to be seen whether this be a cloak or real moderation. However, from the great body of the citizens all fear is removed, and both animals and inhabitants alike rejoice in returning abundance. The wheat that was sold on Wednesday, for 250 piasters, was sold on Thursday for 40, and other things in proportion, besides which, vegetables have re-appeared, which, for five months, were not to be procured, at any price.