Mr. Swoboda has received a letter from a friend of his in the Pasha's
camp, stating that there was a large pile of letters and parcels for
Europeans within the city, in the possession of the Pasha. This is
trying to us, but still it brings the hope that we may yet soon
receive intelligence of our friends.
It seems as if the angel of destruction was resting on this city as
on Babylon, to sweep it from the earth. They are actually pulling down
the roofs of the bazaars to sell and burn the wood, destroying
buildings for fuel, that a hundred times the worth of the wood will
not replace, and filling up the roads with rubbish so as to render
them scarcely passable. The state of anarchy which prevails must be
witnessed to be understood. If it were not that the soul feels it is
the Lord's province to bring order out of confusion and good out of
evil, it would utterly despair in such a scene, where every element at
work seems wickedness; but amidst all, our eyes are unto him.
_September 7._--Weak in body and mind, I could sometimes almost
impatiently wish for a change. Yet the Lord is very gracious, and
suffers us to have quite enough for our health and strength; and as
for money, a Roman Catholic merchant was with me yesterday, begging
that if I wanted any more, I would take it from him, for they seem all
to have that kind of confidence even in our national character, that
they will generally without hesitation, let you have money. For
myself, I know not if my mind preys on my body, or my body on my mind,
or whether they mutually act and re-act one on the other; yet I feel
on the whole thus much, that if it appeared the Lord's most gracious
pleasure to direct my steps away from this place for a season, I
should be thankful. Nevertheless, I desire to say from my heart, not
my will, O Lord, but thine be done. In Arabic, I think I make daily
progress, and I feel fully assured, should the Lord spare my life for
this blessed work, that I shall one day be able to preach the
unsearchable riches of Christ intelligibly, perhaps even fluently. Yet
from the natural badness of my memory, considerable time will be
requisite, unless the Lord vouchsafe to me his especial help to this
end, for which I daily pray, for I want not opportunity but language
to preach Christ.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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