The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-05-12

most sincerity. And you say to your
self, well, have read about instances
of personal attachment and unselhsh
love; but, really never expected to
see an thing like this. Your heart
warns toward that man. You say
I'm going to hire him and pay him
double wages if it ruins me. Such
generosity is too scarce in this sinful
world to let it go unrewarded. But
you find out before long that that was
just what he thought you would do,
and what he meant when he said he
wanted nothing, was that he expected
you to pay him the regular rate OF
wages at least and he would get as
much more out of you as he could.
And if you should take him at his
word, no one would be more surprised
or could feel himself more previously
wronged, more deliberately and di-
abolicaily defrauded than he.
We rested a few days in Beyrout,
attended service on the Sabbath in
the Arab church, belonging to the
Presbyterian mission, and listened at
tentively to a sermon in Arabic by
DR.. Jessup. Now the Arabic is a
very peculiar language. The French
people have. a favorite saying like
this, 'the English language for bust
ness; the Italian for love the French
for ladies and the German for
horses" But however that may be,
the Arabic is best adapted to and can
only be accurately spoken by anyone
who is suffering with the hiccoughs or
in the preliminary stages of sea-sick-
ness. About every third word seems
to catch on the palate and hang fire !;
the Arab opens his mouth wide-so
that you can look in and watch the
process--then he bitches up his
shoulders convulsively, throws his
head forward and usually gets rid of
it and seems to feel better l asked
our servant one day to hand me my
over (hiccough) coat, with the Arabic
pronunciation and although it was
hard to make him understand any
English he picked that overcoat right
up and gave it to me. The mission
aries complain that it is an exceed
ingly difficult language to master. In
fact they never hope to arrive at that
state of perfection where they can
successfully initiate the native. They
want to but they can't, and perhaps it
is Just as well.
The congregation consisting en-
tirely of Arabs, was by far the bright
est assemblage of people that we had
seen in Asia. Business men with
ideas, women unveiled, with expires.
sive countenances and an air Of free
dom, altogether unlike the blank,
meaningless faces and slavish bearing
of the Mohammedan women. They
sat, not on the floor, but in pews,
opened their bibles and followed the
minister in his reading, sang our own
hymns translated into Arabic and
were so well dressed and respectable
that, with our travel-worn clothing,
we were glad enough to slip unnoticed
into back seat and quiet obscurity.
In the afternoon memorial services
were held in the same church in honor
of Pres. Garfield. The sermon was
preached by DR.. Eddy, one of the
missionaries, and you might have
gone the world around and not found
another such an audience as was
assembled that day out of all peoples
under the. whole heavens-Eufope
and the old grey-headed nations of
the Orient. Here an Englishman,
there a Frenchman, an Italian, a
Greek, a Jew, an Arab, German,
an Egyptian, Russian, sitting side
by side in their varied costumes, not
half of them understanding a word
that was spoken, but all with one
purpose to do honor to man who,
by the simple record ola honest and
noble life and its calm, heroic and
most glorious ending had touched a
chord in the human heart that never
failed to vibrate with generous SYM
L. etD~., ,,,oc told