The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-04-13
eMisFenanrnns.
Miss WhatGly's School in BgYpt
American and English Efforts to
Teach the Children OF Moham-
medans.


he in Cairo when the new doorstep or
corner stone ofthe new American school
building was laid, The most interesting
feature Of that unique and picturesque
spectacle was not the assemblage OF dis
tinguished Americans, though itincluded
Judges, diplomatists, and men of letters,
but the dusky fringe ofeager faces, crown
ed with turban or tarboosh, \ that hung
upon the edge of the little group of
Franks, at once outnumbering them be-
yond all count, and eclipsing their more
lansuid interest by hungry earnestness
of attention which could not be wearied
Another school in Cairo is doing
work which is of peculiar interest, and
this was enabled to visit repeatedly. |
refer to the school under the charge Of
the daughter of the Archbishop of Dublin,
Miss1 Whately, which has had a career
of signal success. One never so indii-
ferent to the education of Egyptian
children would have felt some curiosity
to see the daughter ola man whose
name is so we'll known in our own land,
and whose works have place in the
memory ofevery schoolboy ofthis gener-
alton. 1t was with something Of the
sense of greeting a familiar face that |
met, for the first time under her own roof
in Cairo, the daughter who bears his
name, and it was, too, with the feeling
that there must have been some slum-
bering strain of enthusiastic self sacrifice
in that somewhat dry and unsentimental
nature of his, which, coming to the sur
face in the kindlier soil of a womans
heart, had prompted his child to 60 forth
to the work in the midst ofwhich | found
her. One cannot doubt that it is owing
not little to that sound judgment and
sturdy wisdom which she has inherited
from her distinguished father that the
success of Miss Whatelyis is owing. That
it is a success no one who visits her
schools can doubt.
When saw them there were nearly
200 young persons assembled in the
various class rooms, and their whole
bearing as we'll as their prompt and intel
ligent answers to the questions which
were put to them showed mental alert
ness which was positively refreshing,
The school is graded according to the
ages and attainments of the pupils, and
it was not the least interesting and curl
Gus among the scenes in the various
class rooms to have pointed out to us
young girls whose hands had been repe-
atedly Sought in marriage, but who had
declined such overtures rather than sur
render the privileges ofthe school. One
ofthese young women, who had reached
the advanced age of fifteen, had been
asked in marriage no. less than FIVE times,
and five times had declined, Let it be
remembered that an Egyptian girl has
arrived at manageable age when she
is twelve or thirteen years old, and that
this young girl was not only departing
from the customs of her people, but de-
clining what every tradition of her race
conspired TO teach her was the crowning
dignity of her six. | confess found
myself wondering whether one could
hope to find a similar thirst for learning
among more favored peoples.
1.-Two things which saw in Miss Whate-
ly's school will live in my memory as
freshly and vividly as anything which
| have seen in all the East. One OF
them was revealed to me when, throwing
open door, Miss Whately said simply
"This is our sewing school" In lofty
room were assembled a number of young
girls and young children, engaged in
groups of twos and threes, in embroidery
upon tambour frames. Every variety of
work, in every variey of texture, was
here going on, including the embroi-
derry of silk and velvet in colors, and Of
other light and airy-looking materials,
which shall not attempt to designate
more precisely, in gold and silver thread.
When | remembered that it is a rare
thing to find an Oriental woman who un
derstands eveu the simplest rudiments of
sewing, twas matter of genuine rejoic-
ing that such resource for employing
idle hours and beautifying homes was
placed within the reach of those girls,
who would otherwise have sat with fol-
ded hands, or used them only in the
coarsest drudgery. Somebody has said
that what smoking is to men, needle
work in its various forms is to woman-a
soothing employment that quiets restless
nerves and furnishes an outlet for aimless
activities. At any rate, such home arts
cannot be taught to these Mohammedan
girls without introducing among them
habits of self helpfulness. and awakening
equally an impulse to make home bright
err, gayer and more home-like, whose
good effects cannot easily be calcu-
lated
The other scene was in larger room
where at least hundred younger child
rem were gathered, and where two of
their number, standing in the middle
of the room, led the rest in repeating
the Lords Prayer. Anything so pro-
foundly pathetic by virtue of its very
naturalness and simplicity it is not easy |
to conceive. Two little girls of modest |
and devout mien advanced from their |
companions and standing with heads |
reverently bent, and one had covering
the else possibly wandering eyes, repea-
ted in Arabic in low, clear tones, the |
simple words. "Our Father who art in |
Heaven, hallowed be Thy name" In
the same hushed voice the whole school
repeated the words after them. l do not
know what it was-the tones of their
faces, the unaffected reverence of their
whole bearing, but before they had done
the tears stood in my eyes, and that in
comparable prayer had got somehow
new meaning and deeper appropri-
ateness. I.... ..t ... |