1864.] DEATH OF MAR ELIAS, THE NESTORIAN BISHOP. 93 An immense concourse gathered from the surrounding country, far and near, to do honour to his memory. Dr. Perkins preached from the text, "My father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." The services of that day will be long remembered for their deep solemnity. As the people bore him to the grave, and now and then halted to sing a plaintive strain, or chant a psalm, a well-known book lay upon his bosom. It was "Green Pastures," issued from our press many years ago; a book which holds a place second only to the Bible in the homes of many pious Nestorians." While our good old bishop was not an educated man-his knowledge in books extending little beyond the word of God-and had but ordinary intellectual ability, he was still one of the most deeply interesting characters among the Nestorians. There is no name among them that will be more fragrant, none that deserves a more honoured place in the annals of his church. His vow of entire consecration to the service of God, when about forty years of age; the singularity of his position here thirty years ago-devout, spiritual, God-fearing, and active, when a deep night hung over his whole people-like a lofty pillar, or mountain beacon, whose summit had caught the first beams of the sun, which was soon to flood all below with its glory; his prophetic anticipation of the coming of Missionaries; his joy in welcoming them; his peculiar attachment to them and their families; his true-hearted devotion to them as God's ministers, and to their work, through a long series of years and through all kinds of vicissitudes; the charming simplicity and guilelessness of his character-open and ingenuous as a child; (starting suddenly from his seat one morning, just as we were about to sing at family worship, and crossing the room, he whispered, "Won't you sing this morning, 'On the Cross,' I think it is very beautiful;") his wonderful love for the word of God, making it hist meditation by day and by night, not able to pass two or three hours consecutively without drinking from this well-spring of life; (how often have I seen him searching restlessly about the room for a Syriac Testament, as if he was famishing with spiritual hunger, while his own Bible illustrated this characteristic, so full of marks indicating those noted passages which had been to him Gileads, and Bethels, and Ebenezers, as he travelled on to the city of God;) the childlike gentleness of his character, though, when stirred in God's behalf, he showed a lion-hearted courage, tearing down the pictures and images which papal hands had stealthily hung on the walls of his church, and pitching them indignantly from the door; his love of sound doctrine, holding forth the word of life in his humble way, always and everywhere, his face never so full of spiritual light as when he would come in and rehearse a conversation he had just had with some Mussulman friend, to whom he had opened the Scriptures, and talked of the kingdom yet to fill the whole earth-the brotherhood of all races-the one flock and the one Shepherd; his suffering, silent patience that of a gentle, sensitive nature, in a land of cruel wrong, under heavy burdens, borne uncomplainingly for many years; his wonderful spirituality, all things earthly being but the types of the heavenly -the one, by resemblance or contrast, constantly suggesting the other, so that he could not be reminded that he was late to tea without the quick reply, "May I not be late at the marriage supper of the Lamb," or "Jesus will gather us all in, in season;"-all these traits of singular and Christ-like beauty combined to make a character which, in this weary land, was a constant rest to the toil-worn Missionary-an influence for good, silently but continually streaming forth into the darkness of spiritual death hanging over the people. God, who accurately weighs all men and means, only knows how much his cause and kingdom in Persia has been advanced by the true-hearted, firm support of Mar Elias, than whom the Nestorian church never had a more devout, spiritual, and evangelical bishop. Having lived a long life, beautiful and redolent with the grace of Christ, he was gathered, like a shock of corn fully ripe, to the innumerable company of holy men, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. He sleeps in the shadow of the church he so much loved; and there is no one of the hundreds passing and repassing through that door that will not bless his name and memory. For the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance.-American Missionary Herald. THE UMBEYLA FORCE. SOME few months back, a British military force was engaged in a struggle with the Eusufzaies, a Pathan tribe on the north-west frontier of the Punjab. Other tribes sympathized with them, such as the inhabitants of the Swat valley, &c., and at one time it seemed as though the whole of these mountain clans were about to rise up against us in one powerful combination. Happily, however, the danger was averted. Decisive action on our part, although not without considerable loss of life, brought on a favourable crisis, and the tribes were led to sue for peace. But it is well to record the God-fearing spirit in which these operations were carried on. The Rev. W. G. Cowie, Domestic Chaplain to the Bishop of Calcutta, who acted as Chaplain to the Forces, has communicated some interesting facts to the editor of the "Calcutta Christian Intelligencer." He has forwarded two letters "which were circulated amongst the officers, and read to the European troops, of the Eusufzie Field Force in November and December last. They were written by Colonel Reynell Taylor, C.B., the Bayard of the Punjab, and met with a hearty response from the majority of those to whom they were addressed. "The first was circulated on Sunday, the 20th of November 1863, when the force was on the defensive at the head of the Umbeyla Pass, waiting for reinforcements, two days before Mr. Cowie joined. Up to that time, the late Rev. Isidor Loewenthal, the learned and excellent Missionary to the Affghans, had kindly and most efficiently acted as chaplain of the column. On Sundays, when possible, he had read the service of the Church of England for the 101st Fusiliers, and held a Presbyterian service for the 71st Highlanders. Colonel Taylor's second letter was circulated amongst the officers of the column on Christmas day, the day after our return to the plains, and was read to the troops at church parade on the following Sunday, 27th December. 1864.] THE UMBEYLA FORCE. LETTER I. 95 "To-day is the fifth Sunday we have spent in the hills. It is possible that many will be prevented from attending divine service, but the day may nevertheless be dedicated by each individual Christian to humiliation and prayer to Almighty God, soliciting his blessing on our efforts against the enemy in a cause which we humbly trust is a just one in his sight. Men "We are opposed to men who are fired with fanaticism and superstition, who believe that their great priest (who is with them) can preserve them by miracle from death; or, if they fall, ensure them Paradise. "Our God, "The Lord of Hosts' of old, is lightly esteemed by them, possibly because we ourselves appear to neglect him so much. upon whom the light of the pure Gospel of truth has not yet shined are full of zeal, but the servants of the true God are cold and negligent, and yet in the prayers of our church we confess 'There is none other that fighteth for us, but only Thou, O God.' "In entering upon our present undertaking we may possibly not have been sufficiently earnest to do all in his name, and for his honour, and we are now reminded of it by the heavy loss of valuable lives which He has seen fit to inflict on us, though still in his mercy we have been granted substantial success. Though oppressed with much diffidence, and a deep consciousness of unworthiness to speak in the cause of God and Christ, I yet trust that my brother officers, and Christian brethren throughout the force, will bear with me when I beg them affectionately to devote this day to humble prayer to Almighty God, beseeching Him to look mercifully on our past offences, and to deign to guide our counsels, and grant us his help in the contest we are engaged in. "REYNELL G. TAYLOR." (Signed) Camp Umbeyla Pass, November 22, 1863. "I cordially concur in the sentiments which Colonel Taylor has expressed, and in a well-founded confidence in the Divine approval of confession, humiliation, and prayer, I sincerely wish that these sentiments may find a ready response in the hearts of all Christians in this camp. "(Signed) ISIDOR LOEWENTHAL, "Missionary to the Affghans." LETTER II. "On Sunday, 22nd of November, scarcely more than a month ago, the Christian community of the Eusufzie Field Force were exhorted to dedicate the day to humiliation and prayer to Almighty God, beseeching him to guide our counsels, and grant us success in our efforts against the enemy, in what we trusted was a lawful and just cause in his sight. "At that time our troops were greatly harassed with duty, our losses in officers and men had been severe, and our leader had been wounded and taken from us. "The invitation to dedicate a day to prayer was most kindly and readily received by all; and I trust I shall not be supposed to build too much on it, if I say that on looking back it appears as if the course of 96 THE UMBEYLA FORCE. [AUGUST, the campaign had worn a different aspect from that day. I do not think it can be wrong to call attention to this, because there is the best warrant for hoping for great results from united prayer. For three weeks our army had rest, and received reinforcements. During this interval, the enemy, at the solicitation of their chiefs, were allowed an opportunity of making a peace, which would have saved further bloodshed, whilst it secured the objects of both parties in this war. This negociation was interrupted by a stranger chief, heading a large clan, in the thought to gain honour by fighting us. In the operations that ensued, we were granted complete success, and on the third day after the terms had been refused, the Bonar tribe submitted unconditionally, and their auxiliaries returned defeated. "Having ventured to ask my fellow Christians to pray at a time of difficulty, I am irresistibly impelled to exhort them to give thanks for victory, success, and a restoration of peace. Our lips cried, 'God have mercy; let them not fail to say, 'God be praised,' when an honourable and useful result has been granted to our efforts. "It has been a subject of rallying in camp, to conjecture where we should eat our Christmas meal. None could have predicted, when the enemy refused our terms, that we should eat it in peace in our own territory, with victory attended with slight loss to talk over. Such, however, is the case. Let us then do it thankfully, and take the opportunity of this Christmas-day to turn once before we break up, and render hearty thanks to Almighty God for lives preserved, turbulent enemies (who had unjustly aggressed on us) quelled and made fugitives, and the security of our borders, to all appearance, ensured for years to come; enabling us to revert happily to the pursuits and enjoyments of peaceful life. "I might not have had the courage to move again in the cause of God's honour, and that of our Saviour Jesus Christ, but am supported by the sympathy and countenance of the Rev. I. Loewenthal, who lately acted as chaplain to the whole force, and who encouraged the first effort, and also by the hearty concurrence and approval of the present chaplain of the force, the Rev. William G. Cowie. Thus encouraged, I have felt that it would be unworthy, when my own convictions of what is right are so strong, to leave the effort unmade. "(Signed) Umbeyla Pass, December 24, 1863." REYNELL G. TAYLOR." "Them that honour me, I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Such is the Lord's declaration. Let the rulers of the earth attend to it: statesmen, and officers, civil and military, in high and authoritative positions. His providence is discriminating. |