Not one word is lisped about that terrible devil holding his court of
beggary and crime in the Points. He had all his furnaces in full blast
there; his victims were legion! No Brother Spyke is found to venture in
and drag him down. The region of the Seven Churches offers inducements
more congenial. Round about them all is shady groves, gentle breezes,
and rural habitations; in the Points the very air is thick with
pestilence!
A pause follows the reading. The wise man in the spectacles-his voice
soft and persuasive, and his aspect meekness itself-would like to know
if any one present be inclined to offer a remark. General satisfaction
prevails. Brother Sharp moves, and Brother Phills seconds, that the
report be accepted. The report is accepted without a dissenting voice.
A second paper is handed him by Sister Slocum, whose countenance is
seen to flash bright with smiles. Then there follows the proclaiming of
the fact of funds, to the amount of three thousand six hundred dollars,
having been subscribed, and now ready to be appropriated to getting
Brother Syngleton Spyke off to Antioch. A din of satisfaction follows;
every face is radiant with joy. Sister Swiggs twitches her head, begins
to finger her pocket, and finally readjusts her spectacles. Having
worked her countenance into a good staring condition, she sets her eyes
fixedly upon Brother Spyke, who rises, saying he has a few words to
offer.
The object of his mission to Antioch, so important at this moment, he
would not have misunderstood. Turks, Greeks, Jews, Arabs, Armenians,
and Kurds, and Yesedees-yes, brethren, Yesedees! inhabit this part of
Assyria, which opens up an extensive field of missionary labor, even
yet. Much had been done by the ancient Greeks for the people who roamed
in these Eastern wilds-much remained for us to do; for it was yet a
dark spot on the missionary map. Thousands of these poor souls were
without the saving knowledge of the Gospel. He could not shrink from a
duty so demanding-wringing his very heart with its pleadings! Giving
the light of the Gospel to these vicious Arabs and Kurds was the end
and aim of his mission. (A motion of satisfaction was here
perceptible.) And while there, he would teach the Jews a just sense of
their Lord’s design-which was the subjugation of the heathen world.
Inward light was very good, old prophecies were very grand; but Judaism
was made of stubborn metal, had no missionary element in it, and could
only be forced to accept light through strong and energetic movement.
He had read with throbbing heart how Rome, while in her greatness,
protected those Christian pilgrims who went forth into the East, to do
battle with the enemy. Would not America imitate Rome, that mighty
mother of Republics? A deeper responsibility rested on her at this
moment. Rome, then, was semi-barbarous; America, now, was Christianized
and civilized. Hence she would be held more accountable for the
dissemination of light.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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