given by the same writer. "A young woman came one day weeping bitterly;
she was one of the wives of a sheik of a village some miles away, and
she was almost blind. Her husband had told her that she was no longer of
use to him, and he should divorce her. She was in a pitiable state of
distress. The doctor, by God's help, was able to cure the poor young
wife completely. She returned to her village in deepest thankfulness,
and was taken back into favour by her lord and master. Some time
afterwards she returned again, this time bringing a tall turbaned man
with her, who proved to be her husband; he was the sufferer this time,
and the good and forgiving wife had persuaded him to come and see the
doctor to whom she owed so much. After some time the man was cured, and
during his bodily treatment we may be sure that his soul was not
forgotten. He showed his gratitude by sending many from his village to
the Medical Mission; so that the seed was sown broadcast."
VII.
LITERARY EFFORTS.
Mary Whately, though she belonged to a book-writing family, aspired to
no literary fame. Her ten books were all the outcome of her work in
Egypt, and were written to awaken interest in it, and in some cases to
secure funds for it. She was, as a girl, the "story-teller" of the
family, and among her companions secured a reputation for her powers of
narration. This gift she turned to good account.
"It was at her father's suggestion and by his advice that her first
book, _Ragged Life in Egypt_, was published. A friend staying in the
house had been reading to him a series of letters Mary had written her,
describing her first settlement for the winter in Cairo, the
commencement of her school, her visits among the poor, etc. He listened
with much pleasure and attention, and on his daughter entering the room
a few minutes afterwards, he said, 'Mary, you ought to publish these
papers!' Her first answer was, 'Oh! people are tired of Egypt! they have
had so many books of travels there and so many details!' 'Yes,' he
rejoined, 'but yours will be new; you have reached a stratum lower than
any foreign visitor has yet done.' This determined her to publish; and
the book was finished and brought out immediately. In 1863 the same
friend read to the Archbishop during his last illness the manuscript of
the second part, _More about Ragged Life in Egypt_. On the morning on
which the reading was finished, he took his gold pen from his pocket,
and giving it to her said, 'I shall never use this again, Mary; take it,
and go on.'" [1]
[Footnote 1: _Life of Mary L. Whately_, pp. 55-57.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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