us faithful even unto death,--that He will bless us while on the sea of
this life, until we reach the shore of peace without fear or trouble,
that we may be ready to stand before the seat of the Lord Jesus the
Judge of all, clothed in the robes of His perfect righteousness, which
he wove for us on the Cross, and is now ready to give to those who ask
Him. Let us then all ask of God that this our only treasure may be
placed where no thief can break in and steal, and no moth shall corrupt.
And may the Lord preserve you!
We love to sing this hymn,
'Holy Bible, Book Divine,
Precious treasure, thou art mine!'
and we entreat you that when you sing it, you will let it be a
remembrancer from us to you."
In March, 1865, a little girl was brought to the school under somewhat
peculiar circumstances. Years ago, in the days of Mr. Whiting, a
Maronite monk named Nejm, became enlightened, left the monastery and was
married to a Maronite woman named Zarifeh, by Mr. Whiting. For years the
poor man passed through the fires of persecution and trial. Even his
wife, in her ignorance, though not openly opposing him, trembled with
fear every time he read the Scriptures aloud. At the time mentioned
above, their little daughter Resha was about five years of age. The
Papal Maronite Bishop of Beirut made a visit to Nejm's village, Baabda,
to dispense indulgences, in accordance with the Pope's Encyclical
letter. Nejm was called upon to pay his portion of the sum assessed upon
the people, but having been a Protestant fifteen years, he refused to
pay it. At the instigation of the priests, his wife was then taken from
him, and his little Resha, his only child, was carried off by one of the
priests to Beirut, and thrust inside the gates of the convent of the
French Sisters of Charity. The poor father came to me, well-nigh
broken-hearted, pleading for assistance. I laid the case before His
Excellency Daud Pasha, Governor of Lebanon, who was then in Beirut, and
drew up a petition to the Pasha of Beirut also, on the subject. Nejm
went about weeping and wringing his hands, and my feelings became deeply
enlisted in his behalf. Three weeks afterwards, after a series of
petitions and visits to the Pasha of Beirut, the girl Resha was removed
from the convent and taken by Nejm's enemies to a house near Nahr
Beirut, about two miles distant, and just over the border line of the
Mountain Pashalic. I then addressed another letter to Daud Pasha, and he
promptly ordered her to be restored to her father. The manner in which
Nejm, the father, finally secured the child was not a little amusing. He
had been searching for his child for several weeks, waiting and
watching, until his patience was about exhausted, when he heard that
Resha was again in the hands of the priests in Baabda. The mother
followed the child, and the priests threatened to kill her, if she
informed her husband where the girl was secreted. Daud Pasha was then at
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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