Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-21
PROFESSORS IN
UNIVERSITY NORTHERN

| OF by curtains, but was well UP in front
ana so near one side that [ could look
thFough the cracks. Each wing was filled
! with women clad in black hal,oon-like gar
| ments and yelled so as 10 conceal all bur
| their eyes. n few OF the wOme wore Euro
pean clothes and French hats. showing how
| the new civilization is coming in
! Another rich Copt has established two
large primary schools here. one for boys and
| the other for girls. In the boys school
there five hundred and ffty pupils and
| in that for the girls more than two hundred
| These schools are taught by native Pro,cs-
tants, and not one cent OF American money
| is spent upon them.
Queer Christians These.
am much interested in the Copts. There
] are about Goo,Coo OF them IN the country.
They look much Ike the Egyptians and
| dress about the same The women veil
their faces. both in public and private and
until about a generation ago the unmarried
women wore white wells.
These Copts believe In the ancient form OF
Christianity. They are about the same
Christians as Egypt had I'm Roman times
They claim st. Mark as their first patriarch
and say that he preached he Gospel at
Alexandria and started the sect there They
have a patriarch today, and snder him
twelve bishops and a large number OF
priests and deacons. They have their
monks and nuns. all of whom lead hard
lives; they fast and pray wear shirts OF
The Copts believe in God the Father and
In the Lord Jesus Christ. as His son. They
believe In prayer. and, like the Mohamme-
dams. pray five or six times day They
begin their prayers at daybreak and are
supposed to make five separate petitions be-
fore dark and TO close up with another
prayer at midnight. AS they pray they re-
cite Psalm or chapter from the Gospel:
and some have rosaries OF beads on which
they, count forty-one times, saying the
words:
oh! my Lord have mercy"
After this they close up with short
prayer. They wash before praying. and
pray with their faces turned toward the
east. They believe In baptism and think
that an unbaptised child will be blind in the
next life. They have fixed times for bap-
tsm; a boy baby being baptised at forty
days and a girl baby at eighty days after
birth.
In the Coptic Churches.
There are Copfc churches all over Egypt,
and l find several here in Assiout The
| average church usually surrounds a court.
1t consists of four or five buildings. COM
prisng a chapel. a hall OF worship, the
residence of the bishop and other rooms.
| The church proper contains an altar which
is separated from the rest of the room
| by a screen, covered by q curtain with a
cross worked upon It. Before this curtain
] stands the priest and the choir and the
more influential members of the congrega-
| ton. Behind them is a lattice work, and
on the other side of 1t the less i'm
| portant men of the church, with the women
| in the rear. Every one Is expected TO take
| off his shoes when he comes into church,
and in many of the halls OF worship there
are no seats and the people lean upon sticks
while the sermon Is preached. 4 ne service
begins at daybreak. and often lasts four
or five hours, that 1t Is no wonder that
some of the members of the congregation ,
fall to chatting during the preaching. and
business and social matters are discussed.
Do Not Trust Their Wives.
I am told that the Copts do not trust
their wives Each has but one, but he does
| not make her his confidant; he never tells
| her any OF his business secrets, and does not
pay her as much respect as the native Profess
| tant Christians pay their wives He sell
| dom sees his wife until he is married, and
he is forbidden by his religion to marry
any one but Copt. AS among the Mo-
| hammedans. marriages are usually a mat
| ter of business, with a dowry bargained
| upon beforehand The favorite wedding
| time is Saturday night and the marriage
| feasts last throughout the following week.
| the parties to II say the Lords prayer
three times; and before the ceremonies are
completed the bride and bridegroom 20
separately to church and the Eucharist Is
administered to them. Just before her mar
rage the bride is given a steam bath and.
red with henna Prior TO the ceremony the
bride sends the bridegroom q suit of
clothing, and a woman from her house
goes to him to see that 1t is delivered props
erly and that the bridegroom is taken
to the bath. Thus 1t is provided that both
start the married life comparatively clean.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.