St. Andrew's Day, November 30, or any day of the week in which the festival falls, is appointed by the Church as a Day of Intercession for Foreign Missions, when it is earnestly hoped that the cause of Missions to Jews will receive due remembrance at the Throne of Grace. The "Monthly Cycle" of Prayer will suggest suitable topics.

An "Office of Intercession for Missions for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews" has been drawn up by the Rev. R. E. Trefusis, Mission Canon of Exeter, and is published by William Pollard & Co., North Street, Exeter.

"Forms of Prayers to be used upon the Day of Intercession, on behalf of the Missionary Work of the Church," are published by the S.P.C.K.

A Monthly Meeting for Prayer is held at the Mission House, 6, Palestine Place, for workers and all others interested in the Metropolitan Mission of the Society the second Friday in each month, from 3.30-4.30 p.m. The next meeting takes place on Friday, November 10th, when a devotional address will be given by the Rev. Canon Hopkins, M.A., Vicar of Oundle.

The combined Monthly and Quarterly Prayer Meeting was held in he Girls' School, Palestine Place, Cambridge Heath, on Friday afternoon, Oct. 13. An address was delivered by the Rev. F. A. C. Lillingston, M.A., Vicar of St. James', Clapham. The Chaplain of the Society, the Rev. A. Lukyn Williams, M.A., presided.

THE BAGDAD MISSION. VI.

HE last missionary journey I undertook was to Kurdistan, making Kerkouk our centre for preaching the Gospel. There were a number of little towns on our way, where we sold Bibles, and spoke to the Jews about Jesus being the true promised Messiah.

Journeys in Kurdistan are always fraught with danger, and I have the recollection in my mind of several wonderful and narrow escapes. I will, however, limit myself to what happened on this, my last visit to Kurkouk. The road was so perilous and infested with robbers and brigands, that we were obliged to have an escort from place to place, for buyuraldi or firman (grand passport,) from the which I had to pay baksheesh, although I had a Governor of the province. On the last stage of my journey, however, I could get no soldiers, or bashibazooks, to escort me, and the Mudir of the place said. I must go at my own risk; he dared not send any one with me, and if he did, they would not protect me, but seek to save themselves, as the Hamavend were out, and I knew who and what they were. I did not quite credit what the man said, and being anxious to reach Kerkouk before Sunday, I resolved upon risking it and started. We went on for several hours, without anything happening. We then entered a little valley, and as we ascended the other side to a beautiful plateau, we saw a large encampment before us. My muleteers and followers became as pale as death; and the terrified whisper passed from one to another "the Hamavend, the Hamavend." I saw at once that if we hesitated we should be lost. I whipped the horses and mules to make them go on faster, and told the people not to be afraid, but to hasten on. As we were thus marching at a brisk pace, I being in the rear, a man jumped up from behind a hedge, caught the bridle of my horse and stopped me, saying, "You seem to be in a desperate hurry." "So I am," I replied, "I am anxious to reach Kerkouk before dark." "But do you not know that the Hamavend are out and they are in rebellion against the Turks?" I said, "You are very wrong, as good Moslems you must obey the Sultan as the vice-regent of Mahomet, but I have nothing to do with your quarrels; I am a European, and you are bound as a good Moslem, to show me. hospitality." He looked very strangely at me but would not confess that he was a bad Moslem.

Meanwhile the caravan had gone on, and we were left alone, he still holding the bridle of my horse; I perceived that the man looked ill, and was unarmed,

and concluded he had probably been left behind at the encampment, whilst his comrades had gone on a raid. I then drew my revolver and threatened to fire at him if he did not let go the bridle. He hesitated a moment, and as soon as I felt the bridle free, I spurred my horse, threw him down, rode off at a swift gallop, and soon overtook my people, who rejoiced to see me again in their midst. We hurried on, and soon came in sight of the town, and in a field close by, I saw a number of soldiers being drilled. We got to Kerkouk just as the sun was setting, and were thankful to be safe again in a town under the protection of a Pacha.

Kerkouk has a considerable Jewish population; they speak Arabic, Hebrew, Kurdish, and also Fellahi, a dialect of the Syriac, resembling that of the Nestorians. Besides the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, Hebrew services and preaching in Arabic on Saturdays, and visiting Jews, as far as possible, in their houses and shops, I also tried to translate, as an experiment, the Gospel of St. Mark into their dialect, the Fellahi.

Whilst there engaged I became acquainted with the Chaldean bishop, a godly man, and a sincere friend and protector of the Jews, and we soon became great friends. I remember how pleased he was when he heard that large numbers of Jews attended our Saturday services and lectures. He attended one of these services, was much pleased, and kindly spoke a few earnest words to the Jews present; one of them, wishing to blunt the sharp edge of the exhortation, said to the bishop, "Will you please tell us what to do: are we to follow you, or the missionary, who evidently differs very widely from you?" "Follow," said the bishop, "the teaching of this good man, which I have heard this day, and I am sure you will not go wrong, and God will bless you."

Several of the Jews, being deeply impressed with Christian truth, as well as a number of native Protestants from the surrounding places, asked me to hold an Arabic service on Sundays, to which I readily agreed. A few gathered in our temporary chapel on the first Sunday and we had a liturgical service, as I had brought with me a good number of Arabic prayer and hymn books. The congregation kept on considerably increasing every Sunday, a goodly number of Chaldeans also attending, being attracted by the simple exposition of God's Word, and the practical applications of it to the heart. The dear good bishop became rather uneasy and apprehensive about his poor lambs coming under my influence, and he tried to induce them to give up attending my services; but they assured him that there was not the slightest attempt at proselytizing, and that, if he attended

himself, he would be pleased with the sermons. "Children," said the bishop, "I should like to satisfy myself, but how can I do it? The whole world. would be against me, it is impossible." "But we think," said the bishop's flock, "we can so contrive that neither Mr. Eppstein, nor any one else, shall know of your presence; there is a little room opposite the chapel, and whilst he robes, we will smuggle you into the room, and if you find fault with anything he says, we will withdraw." I had a full congregation that Sunday; the responses were most hearty, and I preached from the second lesson, John xvii, 22, 23: “That they may be one, even as We are one I in them, and they in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." I was rather astonished, and partly disconcerted, by finding that so many of the congregation were smiling, almost laughing, for I saw nothing ludicrous to provoke smiles. I went on speaking about the unity for which Christ prayed, saying that divisions were introduced by the evil one, but that in spite of all the outward divisions in the churches, there was a grand Catholic union; that we might be divided in ritual, but we were united in the same Saviour Christ; we had the same Scriptures; we were looking for the same heaven and everlasting rest, where sects are unknown, where the only title for entrance is faith in the Lord Jesus. I spoke a good deal in the same strain, and concluded with a few personal questions, such as, "Are you united to God through Christ by a living faith? Are you seeking so to walk that men shall not fail to see that you live and move and have your being in Him?"

The service being finished, I walked out from the chapel, when the opposite door opened, and the good bishop came out and embracing me, said, "God bless you, dear son, for the precious words you have uttered this morning, and may they be written. in all our hearts." "I wish we could have such preaching in our church," was his next exclamation. "Allow me," I said, "to preach in your church." 'Oh, no," said the bishop, "I should soon have the French friars of Mosul (Nineveh) after me; but I will tell you what you can do; call upon me every Sunday afternoon, when all the respectable people come to visit me; I will ask one of the priests to read a few collects, and then you may read any portion of Scripture you like, and give a short pithy exposition, and I will give the blessing." I accepted this kind offer, and every Sunday until I left Kerkouk, I thus gave a Bible reading in the bishop's house.

Whilst thus working happily, and with much blessing in this place, I received the news that the Bagdad Mission was given up, and that I was to hasten back and prepare for our return to England. I bade farewell to the bishop, to my Jewish friends, and to my Christian congregation, from all of whom I was very sorry to part. The roads were most unsafe, but the Pacha kindly sent a strong guard of mounted Bashi-Bazooks with me to Altoon Kupri. I had a strong letter of recommendation from his father, whom I had cured of deafness, to the governor of that place; and he mounted the next day with other horsemen, and escorted me safely to a place where we could get a raft to take us to Bagdad.

Although we were glad for the sake of our families to leave Bagdad, as both Mrs. Brühl and Mrs. Eppstein had suffered greatly from the inclemency of the climate, and could hardly have stood another summer, my colleague and myself could not endure the idea of leaving our important and interesting mission field; we would have done anything to remain, but as this was not possible, we submitted to the Lord's will, broke up our mission, sold our furniture, and started in 1866 for Europe, viâ India and Egypt.

All the natives, Jews, Christians and Mohammedans, deeply regretted our leaving them; we were visited constantly by numbers of people, all expressing their sorrow at our going away. The Jews, especially, were very kind; party after party of the higher classes came to bid us farewell, and in the Oriental fashion, would embrace us and kiss us on the forehead. The learned Chachamim had a great veneration for Mr. Brühl's Talmudical attainments and erudition, and felt especially indebted to him for the interest he evinced in their welfare, by securing for them a large legacy left for their school and poor, from a certain Jacob Semakh Nissim; and in recognition of his kind offices, presented him with a beautiful silver salver with a flattering inscription, and with the accompanying letter, which is here literally translated:

This makes known to every hearing ear, that a debt is laid upon us, the Trustees of the charity, which the late Jacob Semakh Nissim, founded, towards our beloved faithful friend, the honoured, praised Rev. John Henry Brühl: may the Lord preserve him, keep him alive, and save him from all trouble, anxiety, and harm; he who took pains and tired himself to the utmost of his strength for the above-mentioned charity, in word, in writing, and in work.

"He was glad and rejoiced with smiling face, to be at all times and seasons, useful to that charity, and all his deeds were for the sake of God, without any afterthought or advantage to himself; his desire was only to do righteousness, walking righteously and

speaking uprightly; a man of mercy, who does good and merciful things; he is kind to the needy and the poor that are cast out, he does righteousness with the quick and the dead. May the Lord recompense his work according to all that he has done unto us; we also say to him who has done well, May your strength be increased.' Though he is now removing his dwelling-place from among us and going on a distant journey, we are yet sure that his love is still with us, that his mercy and truth' will not forsake us, and we are firmly persuaded, that he will do so and more also,' for the advantage of the abovementioned charity, with 'excellency of dignity and excellency of power,' without bound. He will be unto us an ornament (Hebrew "eyes,") mercy upon mercy; how great his goodness and his beauty.' He is one loaded with blessing, the blessing of heaven, and the multitude of good things, blessing of the house in plenty, riches, honour, children, life, and sustenance. In recompense of this (that he has done,) God will not forsake him, even to old age and grey hair; his end will be an end of peace and goodness; he will be held worthy of the life of the world to come; he will be delighted with the Divine Presence, he and all those that are joined with him, that dwell under his shade, wherever they turn, they shall prosper for good. May the Lord keep their going out and their coming in, from this time forth and for ever. May no evil befall them, and no plague come near their dwelling. These are the words of those who always will pray for their peace and well-being, the undersigned :

Eliyahoo, formerly chief day on or judge. Eleazar, Physician, Abraham Saleh Josef. Shlomo Mourad."

The day we left was a regular day of lamentation and mourning; we had repeated visits from our friends to see us once again before parting with us for ever. As the steamer moved off, we could hear them exclaiming, "God be with you, the Almighty protect you! Our friends, benefactors, and protectors are going; there goes our doctor, our adviser, our teacher; may God reward you for all the good you have done, and the kindness you have showed us." Gratifying as all this was, it no doubt increased the pain of separation. But now after a lapse of nearly thirty years, a great many of the disagreeables are forgotten, and I look back with a heart full of gratitude, not only for the many mercies, protections and preservations, which the Lord showed to us, but for all the work He enabled us to do. I thank God for the great opportunities vouchsafed for preaching the Gospel, for circulating the Word of God, for the springing up of the seed sown in Hamadan, and all over Persia, and that in Bagdad itself our names are not yet forgotten; people still remember us affectionately, and remember our instructions, and I have had only lately a proof of this in a Bagdad Jew coming to be instructed by me and prepared for baptism. "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest."

J. M. EPPSTEIN,

JOPPA, OLD AND NEW.

HAT reader of the Bible does not feel interested when Joppa is mentioned? It is one of the oldest of cities, and history and legend, both sacred and profane, have combined to celebrate it. It is said to have existed before the flood, and that Noah built the ark there; and in that far-off time, when the post-diluvian world was still young, and such history as there was, took the form of poetic myths, Joppa became the site of the beautiful story of Andromeda and Perseus. Our practical and rationalizing age likes to think of the lovely maiden chained to the rock as symbolizing the

to the Holy Land mentions the rocks which guard the harbour of Joppa as those to which she was secured. The harbour of Jaffa is only fitted for very small vessels. It is always difficult to enter; and in stormy weather, when the wind is blowing from the southwest, landing is often impossible, and fatal accidents not unfrequently occur if the attempt is made. Last year a boat was overturned, and some seventeen persons who were in it were drowned. The boatman, a fine gallant fellow, who had himself saved many lives, was prosecuted for overfilling his boat, and sent to prison for eighteen months. Whether he was truly to blame has been much doubted, and many efforts have been made to get the European Embassies

rich produce of Palestine, the corn, the wine, the oil, for which the country has always been famous; and the sea monster, which was to devour her, as the great and wide sea whose waves dash with such terrific force upon the rocky shore. Perseus would then be some heroic Greek mariner, who braved the dangers of the coast and succeeded in opening profitable trade with the hitherto unexplored country. But for many ages a more literal interpretation was given to the story. Pliny even narrates that the bones of the sea monster were carried by M. Scaurus to Rome, and exhibited there. The chain by which Andromeda was bound was still shown in his day; and, as late as the fifteenth century of the Christian era, a famous traveller

at Constantinople to intercede for his release. The Turks are not usually very strict to mark any illtreatment to which poor pilgrims may be subjected, but in this instance the credit of their town was at stake, and it did not at all suit with their interests to have thousands of pilgrims and tourists taking alarm and, perhaps, going on to land at Acca or Beirût. Moreover, a boatman, who is conspicuously chief among his fellows, and has his breast covered with medals and orders conferred upon him as the rewards of bravery, is not the kind of man to be caught tripping and let off with impunity. In low life as in high, in Palestine as in the more civilized "west," human nature is the same,