“ane
The Library
SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
AT CLAREMONT
WEST FOOTHILL AT COLLEGE AVENUE
CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA
A GALILEE DOCTOR
(Photo, Lafayette
Dr. TORRANCE
Frontispiece)
IO
,
1
“A GALILEE DOCTOR
BEING A SKETCH OF THE CAREER
OF DR. D. W. TORRANCE
OF TIBERIAS
i Se ae
W’ P. LIVINGSTONE
‘“MARY SLESSOR OF CALABAR” ‘‘DR. LAWS OF LIVINGSTONIA ”
ETC. ETC.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LIMITED LONDON
Theology Library
»CHOOL: OF THEOLOGY
AT CLAREMONT
California
MADE AND PRINTED 1925 IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBE LTD., EDINBURGH
E.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
II.
Ill.
IV.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX,
zl.
XII
CONTENTS
PART ONE
A Famous Tour
‘TORRANCE’S Boy”
STUDENT Days ‘
PROSPECTING
NAZARETH .
“His own City”.
A PauPER GHETTO
PART TWO
. OPPOSITION
CoMEDY OF THE Custom-HousE .
VIEWING THE LAND
A Frery FuRNACE
. THe APOSTATE
THE City ON THE HILL
A DIFFICULT AUDIENCE
THE PROCESS OF BUYING LAND
AT THE Back OF BEYOND
. CURSES
In PERIL ON THE LAKE
A Frerce CAMPAIGN
PAGE
Io
17
24
34
40
45
53
59
65
71
77
83
86
gI
96
105
- 116
“i A GALILEE DOCTOR
XIII. Szcurinc A FiIRMAN
XIV. THe Fires oF PERSECUTION
XV. THE First Baptism
XVI. OPENING OF THE HOosPITAL
XVII. A SprrituaL CLINIC
PART THREE
I. THe Jewish DREAM
II. AMoncsT THE ARABS
III. Licuts anp SHADOWS
IV. TERRIBLE WEEKS .
V. PERSONALITIES
VI. REVOLUTION
VII. ScHoot DiFFIcuLTiges
VIII. “Deap Trrep”
IX. THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW
PART FOUR
I. TRAGEDY
II. Tue Jewish Dawn
III. RECONSTRUCTION .
IV. THE ConFiict or ARAB AND JEW
V. A Narrow Escare
VI. A Sunpay VIGNETTE
VII. ‘‘Gop’s Reserves”
Resa ce ethane oe cee epee aed Ee
Postscript
INDEX
PAGE
125
131
137
144
553
163
168
185
193
200
208
216
226
241
249
253
259
266
273
276
285
291
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Dr. TORRANCE. : ‘ : . Lrontispiece
FACING PAGE
Map oF PALESTINE, WITH LAKE INSET . -
PLAN OF TIBERIAS
DISTANT ViEW OF TIBERIAS
Dr. ToRRANCE STANDING AT THE ENTRANCE TO HIS
First House. : :
Tue Famous MepicinaL BaTHS AND THE TOMB
BEYOND : ‘ - ; . 2
Dr. TORRANCE IN ARAB DRESS . : F
SAFED: THE JEWISH QUARTER . ; - :
Somer PATIENTS OF THE Earty Days .
A TIBERIAS JEW STUDYING THE TALMUD IN THE
SYNAGOGUE : ; :
A TypicaL TIBERIAS JEW :
TIBERIAS . ;
A Bepouin TENT. : : ;
Tur HILL OVERLOOKING TIBERIAS ON WHICH HEROD’S
CASTLE WAS BUILT .
MosLEM WoMAN CARRYING WATER FROM THE LAKE
TIBERIAS SHOPS
MOONLIGHT ON THE LAKE
é vii
Qe
33
33
48
48
49
96
97
oF
112
113
Ta
160
160
161
vill A GALILEE DOCTOR
FACING PAGE
Dr. TORRANCE WALKING ON THE PLAIN WHERE THE
5000 ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN FED. ;
Tue Mission HosPirAL AND HousES FROM THE LAKE.
A SUDDEN STORM ON THE LAKE. : ; ‘
WoMEN PATIENTS . ‘ ‘ 2
VILLAGER AND BEDOUIN AT THE HOSPITAL z
SISTER FrigpA, Miss VARTAN, Isaac, Miss Faris,
MOHAMMAD . i
A TIBERIAS STREET AFTER THE WAR
Dr. TORRANCE TALKING TO THE TRADES PEOPLE
PATIENT AND BABY ; 5 Z
Tue EXPLOSIONS OF BRITISH SHELLS WATCHED BY SISTER
FRIEDA AT Ext ArisH
THE NEw PROPERTIES AT SAFED
AFTERNOON TEA ON THE VERANDAH ; :
Tue STAFF OF THE HOsPITAL, 1923 : : :
A SunpDAY SERVICE IN ONE OF THE WARDS
On THE HILLS or GALILEE : : ;
161
176
176
177
177
224
225
225
240
240
241
241
272
272
273
FOREWORD
THE career of the first Christian physician to heal
and teach on the shores of the Lake of Galilee,
in the scenes most closely associated with the
ministry of Jesus, cannot fail to possess some
points of interest. Like all missionary memoirs
it is a story of heroic struggle and perseverance, but,
unlike others, it possesses little glamour of visible
achievement. Now, as of old, it would seem,
Jesus is not without honour save in the district in
which He lived and founded the Christian faith.
The Sea of Galilee Mission was established thirty-
nine years ago, and the intervening period has been
filled in with medical, educational, and evangelistic
service of the most strenuous kind: the results
may, therefore, appear meagre after so great an
expenditure of effort, but the real significance of
the situation will be learnt from the narrative.
In addition to throwing light on the peculiarly
difficult nature of missionary work amongst Jews
and Moslems, it traces the development of the
events which have led up to the present political
position in Palestine.
THE STORY IN BRIEF
““ Come ye after Me.”
o>
“* And His fame went throughout all Syria : and they brought
unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and
torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those
which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy ; and He healed
them.”
D>
“* Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing:
nevertheless, at Thy word——”’
Ce
““ To what purpose is this waste?” ...
“ Why trouble ye? She hath wrought a good work upon Me.”
a>
“* Well done, good and faithful servant.”
PART ONE
I. A FAMOUS TOUR
1839
THIS story of yesterday and to-day in Palestine
has its real beginning in the early part of the nine-
teenth century, when a noble pity for the Jewish
race moved a number of earnest men and women
in Scotland to do what little they could to amelio-
rate its condition. One of the chief of these was
Mr. Robert Wodrow, a Glasgow merchant, great-
grandson of the historian of the Scottish Church.
One devout lady, Mrs. Smith of Dunesk, a daughter
of Henry Erskine and sister of the Earl of Buchan,
was so influenced that she went to Dr. Moody
Stuart, of the Church of Scotland, and placed
£100 in his hands.
‘Put that into the bank for the mission for
the conversion of the Jews,”’ she said.
** But, madam,” he replied, ‘‘ there is no such
mission; nor has the subject ever been mooted
in the General Assembly.”
“Then let it remain in the bank until the
Church takes the matter up.”
When the Doctor handed the money to the
banker the latter said :
‘© do not receive money for an object which
has no present or prospective existence.’
I
2 A GALILEE DOCTOR
After talking it over he finally remarked :
“Very well; we never refuse money, and I
will accept it on deposit.”
Shortly afterwards, in 1838, the Church of
Scotland considered the matter, and in the belief
that all social and political good would come to
the Jews if they accepted Christ, its scheme of help
assumed the form of working for their conversion.
A ‘‘ Committee for the Conversion of the Jews”
was instituted, charged at first with the simple duty
of collecting information and expending any con-
tributions that might be sent in.
Various motives, no doubt, influenced those
who took an active part in the movement. Then,
as now, a certain number of curious minds were
attracted by fanciful theories associated with the
promises and prophecies of Scripture and the
destiny of Israel; there were many who believed
that it was a primary duty of the Church to bring
the scattered “‘ people of God ” to Christ ; others
again were animated simply by a humanitarian
impulse ; while not a few were convinced that if
the Jews were converted to Christianity and rightly
situated in the world, they would, by the force of
their special genius, constitute a tremendous power
for righteousness and progress.
At the best, however, the work of the Com-
mittee appealed only to a limited circle. The
majority of persons had no love for the Jew, and
any appeal on his behalf left them cold: where
it was not received with indifference it evoked
derision. Even among prominent members of
the Church the Committee was looked upon as a
A FAMOUS TOUR 3
body of cranks, and tolerated with a kind of amused
contempt. “‘ He has a strange notion,” one said
of Dr. Keith ; “ he believes in the conversion of the
Jews!”
In the eyes of average Church members the Jew
was a Caricature of a man, a shambling, dirty
creature, unsocial, a seller of old clothes, a money-
lender, a fanatic, and at the back of their mind was
a feeling that he deserved his fate. Had not his
race crucified Christ, and was it not suffering just
retribution for its iniquity, as its own law declared
that evil-doers inevitably do, from generation to
generation? ‘They knew nothing of its modern
history, that great and terrible romance, perhaps the
most terrible of all time, which is not yet finished,
or of the conditions that had forced it to become
what it was; they did not realize the fact that it
was the bitter persecution and repression to which
it had been subjected that had kept it in social
and religious isolation, and had given it the char-
acter which they condemned. For what is called
the Jewish problem has been created by Christians ;
it is the result of their maltreatment of the race
for centuries.
Amongst those more than ordinarily interested
in the subject was the Rev. Robert Murray
M‘Cheyne of St. Peter’s, Dundee, whose name and
influence still linger like a fragrance in the quieter
byways of Scotland. His health had given way
under the intensity of his ministry, and he was
advised to go abroad. He was recruiting in Edin-
burgh, the source of anxiety to his friends, when one
day Dr. Robert Candlish met Dr. Moody Stuart
4 A GALILEE DOCTOR
in the street and said, ‘‘ Don’t you think we might
send M‘Cheyne to Palestine? He could inquire
into the Jewish situation and its possibilities.”
Dr. Stuart cordially assented, and M‘Cheyne was
asked if he would go. “ Palestine—the Holy
Land ! ”’—he had never dreamed that so romantic
a privilege would come within his reach. He
agreed with joy. The idea developed and ulti-
mately A Mission of Inquiry to Palestine and
Eastern Europe was arranged, the delegates con-
sisting of M‘Cheyne, his great friend, the Rev.
Andrew A. Bonar, and two experienced Church-
men, Dr. Keith, minister of St. Cyrus—in place
of Mr. Wodrow, whose health forbade him accepting
the task—and Professor Black of Aberdeen. ‘The
party set out on their travels in April 1839.
To the Christian world then, Palestine was
practically an unknown land. Part of the Ottoman
Empire, it had for three centuries been misruled
by the Turks until it had become the mere skeleton
of a country. ‘The sole purpose of the administra-
tion was to exact the utmost possible taxation out
of the unhappy population, who had no inducement
to exert themselves and no interest in developing
and conserving the resources of the land. All its
old prosperity had vanished. It had been peeled
of most of its soil, and was largely a waste of
stones; here and there was an oasis of fertility,
but there was no general vital growth; upon its
bare surface the hot sunshine beat without relief ;
and from end to end there lay upon it an absolute
quiet like the rigid calm of death.
- The dominant party in the country were,
A FAMOUS TOUR 5
naturally, the Turkish officials, whose only duty was
to collect the Government imposts and transmit
them to Constantinople. They were compara-
tively few in number, and were in the position of
caretakers rather than of permanent occupants:
they sat lightly to the land and were regarded as
foreign tax-gatherers and oppressors whose tenure
might cease at any time. It was a common saying
amongst them that they had to earn three fortunes
while in office: one to pay for their position, one
to pacify their superiors when accused of mal-
administration, and one to purchase a new post.
They earned these fortunes by means of “ bakh-
shish,” a recognized system of commission or fees
in the business life of the East.
The bulk of the population called themselves
Arabs because they spoke Arabic, but the name
was misleading. Although the Arab conquest of
the land brought a new religion, it did not to any
extent change the type and character of the inhabi-
tants; in the main they continued descendants of
the Israelitish occupants formed by the union of
Hebrews and Canaanites. From time to time,
however, other elements came in and modified the
general strain; and one could still find, in fair
faces, pink cheeks, and blue eyes, traces of the
Crusaders.
Whether Moslems or Christians, they could be
divided broadly into two great classes: within the
walled towns lived the effendiyeh, or landowners, and
the business and professional men, more or less
educated and prosperous; and in the unwalled
villages of rude mud houses the settled peasantry
6 A GALILEE DOCTOR
or fellahin, who, while industrious and frugal,
were superstitious to the last degree. Outside the ©
pale of town and village existence roamed the
nomadic bedouin, of pure Arab origin, with their
flocks and herds, wanderers amongst the silent
plains and desert wastes, grossly ignorant according
to European standards, yet possessing native
nobility of character and a virile intellect.
The number of Jews was small—not more than
twelve thousand at the outside—and they were
confined to the large centres, the holy cities of
Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed. All had
emigrated back from Europe ana Northern Africa,
for Palestine had never ceased to be of intense
interest to the race. It was their spirtual father-
land ; their hearts turned to it with an overmaster-
ing longing, such a longing as that expressed by a
twelfth-century Rabbi for Jerusalem :
“Oh, city of the world : thou fair one in holy magnificence,
In the far Western regions I am longing, yearning after thee ;
Oh for an eagle’s wings, then would I fly to thee
And not rest till I had moistened thy dust with my tears!”
Many Jews in all parts of the world faced the
long and perilous journey in order to visit one or
other of the famous tombs or to die on the sacred
soil. Throughout Jewry it was a dream that the
land would yet be restored to them. How that
would come about they could not conceive, but
they hoped that somehow or other in God’s provi-
dence the way would open up for them to go back
and possess it.
Difficult to reach, it was more difficult to travel
A FAMOUS TOUR 7
in: outside the towns and the villages only a
_ nominal authority was exercised, and lawlessness
went unchecked. Kinglake’s Héthen gives a picture
of the uncertainties and the discomforts attending
a tour init. No minister of the Church of Scotland
had previously paid it a visit, so that the journey
of the four deputies was considered a notable
achievement.
While making their way up from Egypt through
the desert, Dr. Black had a fall from his camel
which affected his health, and when Jerusalem
was reached, he and Dr. Keith, exhausted by the
toil and the heat, decided to leave the further
exploration of the country to the younger men, and
to return home by easy stages across the Continent.
At Budapest, Hungary, both fell ill, and Dr. Keith
was so far gone that bearers were in attendance
at the hotel to carry out his body. He was cared
for by Maria Dorothea, wife of the Archduke
Joseph, uncle of the Emperor of Austria and Pala-
tine of Hungary ; she was a princess of the house
of Wiirtemberg and a Protestant, and during the
Doctor’s convalescence she interested him in the
spiritual condition of her adopted land, and pro-
mised her protection to any mission that might be
established.
Meantime Bonar and M‘Cheyne carried on
their tour; they visited Safed and Tiberias, and
on their return published a Narrative of their
wanderings. Glowing with light and colour, vivid
in descriptive detail, and relating every scene and
incident to Biblical story, it created profound
interest not only in Scotland but far beyond its
8 A GALILEE DOCTOR -
borders ; it made Palestine, what it had never been,
a real region to Christian people, and it set in
motion forces that are unspent at this day.
Missionaries already in the country had dilated
warningly on the strong opposition being encoun-
tered, but both travellers were enthusiastic as to
the possibilities of carrying on a mission. In their
opinion no other section of Jewry presented so
promising a field. It was the heart of the Jewish
world ; in some mysterious way every event that
occurred was quickly known in other countries ;
as M‘Cheyne wrote to a friend, ‘“‘ One stroke here
will be worth twenty in another land.” Of all the
districts they had seen, they were most drawn to
Galilee. It was the one which Christ loved and
frequented : it was the chief scene of His ministry,
and the cradle of the Christian religion. And of
all spots in Galilee, Safed, far up on the cool
heights and overlooking the Lake, seemed to be the
most favourable centre for beginning operations ;
_ it was, indeed, the best situation in Palestine.
Tiberias, the only town on the hot Lake shore,
might, they thought, be made a winter station.
In the Church of Scotland the effect of the report
was immediate: it was resolved to make work
amongst the Jews thenceforward one of the great
missionary schemes of the Church. By a strange
twist in events, however, it was not Palestine that
secured the first station but Hungary. ‘ That
fall in the desert,” said Mr. Bonar, “‘ opened to us
the gates of Budapest.” The conversations of Dr.
Black with the Archduchess led to the dispatch of a
missionary there, and the interest which the work
A FAMOUS TOUR 9
aroused pushed Palestine into the background.
One of the early workers at Budapest was the
famous “‘ Rabbi” Duncan, and amongst the first
converts were the equally well-known Adolph
Saphir and Dr. Alfred Edersheim, author of that
notable work The Life and Times of Fesus the Messiah.
At the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in
1843 the Jewish missionaries joined the new body,
the Church of Scotland Free, and the work abroad
went on without interruption. New spheres were
opened in various parts of Europe, and Budapest
developed and became an important centre and
one of the greatest Jewish mission fields in the
world. Palestine was forgotten save by a few, one
of whom was Mrs. Smith of Dunesk, who left £500
for the mission in the sure belief that it would yet
be established. Other organizations entered Galilee.
The London Society for promoting Christianity
amongst the Jews—commonly known as the London
Jews Society, and more recently as the Church
Missions to Jews—opened a station at Safed and
held it, with varying fortune, until 1852, when the
difficulty of carrying on the work in the face of the
fanaticism of the Jews caused it to be abandoned.
Nazareth, a town which, like Bethlehem, contained
no Jews, was occupied for general evangelistic
purposes by the Church Missionary Society ; by
the Edinburgh Medical Mission Society—a world-
famous association providing students with training
and experience for the mission field—which estab-
lished a medical mission ; and, lastly, by an English
orphanage for girls (handed over later to the Church
Missionary Society) ; all in addition to the operations
10 A GALILEE DOCTOR
of the Eastern Churches, which, here as elsewhere,
were buying up land and erecting buildings on
sites supposed to be connected with New Testa-
ment incidents.
But the region immediately encircling the Lake
of Galilee remained outside the sphere of Pro-
testant influence. No society had been tempted
by the historical associations to begin evangelistic
work there ; nor had any Christian physician sought
to follow in the footsteps of Jesus on the shores of
the Lake ; from the standpoint of medical service
the district was still virgin ground. It was waiting
for the pioneer who would have the faith and courage
to break through its isolation and conquer the
formidable obstacles which the situation presented.
And he, meanwhile, in a country far distant, was
being fashioned and trained for the task.
II. “ TORRANCE’S BOY ”
1862-78
NATURE does at times seem to aim consciously at
the production of men and women who are to fulfil
particular tasks in the world. In the ancestry of
David Watt Torrance can be noted the com-
mingling of qualities which, centring in him, fitted
him specially for the work he was to undertake.
Of his immediate forbears, the Rev. Robert
Torrance, his paternal grandfather, was the first
minister of the Associate, or Auld Licht, congrega-
“ TORRANCE’S BOY ” 11
tion in Airdrie, Lanark, and a scholar noted for his
classical attainments, who brought to the manse,
as his wife, the robust daughter of a farmer. His
mother’s father was David Watt, an Edinburgh
engraver, and a friend of Sir Walter Scott ; one of
her brothers was a well-known member of some of the
Standing Committees of the Free Church. His own
father, ‘Thomas Torrance, was a surgeon, and an
elder, and his mother possessed musical and artistic
ability. ‘The Church, Medicine, and Art thus con-
tributed to the influences which moulded his early
thought and character, and helped to determine his
career, whilst the wholesome country blood in his
veins imparted to him that hardy strength which
enabled him to endure what a less virile frame
would never have stood.
The Rev. Robert Torrance was something of a
character, if he can be judged from the numerous
anecdotes related of him. A strict Sabbatarian,
he would lecture his congregation in forcible and
homely style on the sin of breaking the Fourth
Commandment, and was especially hard on his
juvenile hearers who indulged in the heinous
practice of bird-nesting on Sunday. Once when
praying for more favourable weather for the crops
he said, “ For Thou, O Lord, knowest that the
corn on Shotts Hill is as green as leek tails.” His
wife is still remembered as “‘ a saintly woman.”
His son, Thomas Torrance, was born at Airdrie
in 1809, and studied medicine at the Universities of
St. Andrews and Glasgow. After graduating he
set up in practice in Graham Street in his native
town, and there David Watt Torrance was born on
12 A GALILEE DOCTOR
6th November 1862, one of the youngest of a large
family.
Airdrie is on the direct road between Glasgow
and Edinburgh, and in the old coaching days the
coaches passed along Graham Street, which is part
of the highway, and stopped at the Royal Hotel,
near the surgery. The inhabitants always con-
sidered that had the river Clyde passed through
the burgh, the town would have been the site of the
second city of the Empire instead of Glasgow.
Originally a centre of hand-loom weaving, it rose
to prosperity on the discovery of coal and black-
band ironstone, but in David’s childhood days
mining had greatly diminished in importance, and
other industries were taking its place, though coal
pits continued to be worked in the vicinity. ‘There
is still much unworked coal beneath the town, a fact
demonstrated during the miners’ strike some years
ago, when householders had merely to go into
their back gardens and dig down a few feet to obtain
all the supplies they required.
Dr. Torrance was a skilful surgeon and oculist,
and his kind and sympathetic manner made him
popular both among his townsmen and the colliers
in the neighbourhood. He entered largely into
the public life of the town, was a Justice of the
Peace, and for a time Town Councillor and Burgh
Treasurer, and became an enthusiastic Freemason.
A series of lectures on health which he organized
gave rise to the Mechanics’ Institute, of which he
was the first President. In 1859 he joined the Rifle
Volunteers, and was later made Assistant Surgeon
to the battalion. He was an elder in Broomknoll
“ TORRANCE’S BOY ” 18
Church, of which his father had been minister,
but Mrs. Torrance went to the Free West Church,
and the children accompanied her there. Holding
numerous professional offices the Doctor was one
of the busiest of men and could not spare time to
attend to the indoor training of the children, but
he encouraged and guided their recreation, teach-
ing them to fly kites, play cricket and football,
and ride; and later supplied them with gymnasium
equipment. One of David’s earliest recollections
was of being placed on his father’s pony. From the
first he was a lover of the open, and of all outdoor
pursuits.
It was the mother who moulded the spiritual
nature of the children. Intelligent, kind, and
gracious, she created an atmosphere in which they
grew up good without being conscious of the
process. Discipline was enforced, and unquestion-
ing obedience was exacted; they were trained
indeed in Spartan fashion; but behind the order
and restraint were the love and service of a mother.
Her teaching did not vary from the standard of the
time. David was nourished on traditional lines,
and being of an impressionable nature was often
affected by the childish visions he had of sin and
judgment and hell. One night, when he was little
more than three years old, he awoke in terror out
of a dream, leapt from his bed, and rushed to his
mother, crying, ‘‘ Mother, mother! The last day
is coming, and I am a bad boy!”
Some scenes in his early days he has never
forgotten. One was of the Sunday evening gather-
ings by the fire—the father, tired but interested, in
14 A GALILEE DOCTOR
the arm-chair at one side ; on the other the mother,
bent over a book, the children lying anywhere and
anyhow on the rug and floor, listening to the sym-
pathetic voice that had the power to make them
laugh or cry. Always when she ceased there was
a chorus of ‘“‘ More! more!” and for hours the
reading would go on, the children wandering in
fancy through enchanted regions or obtaining
fascinating visions of men and nature beyond their
doors. Many books of travel, adventure, bio-
graphy, and history were gone through in the
course of the years: a favourite volume was Dr.
Livingstone’s Travels, which has thrilled so many
hearts and influenced so many lives. David’s
eager spirit was often on fire with tales of heroism
and devotion; and he would seize a book, steal
into the quiet of the study, and putting his feet up
and the volume on his knee, would read and read,
and dream long dreams.
The love of medicine was in the boy’s blood,
and there was never any doubt as to his career.
As a child he delighted to rise early in order to
light his father’s fire, and do little tasks for him.
He carried court plaster in his pocket, and if any
accident occurred he was usually first on the spot.
One Sunday, word came to the surgery that some
excursionists had been precipitated over a bridge
two miles out, and that a number had been injured
and two horses killed. David was due at the Sun-
day school, but he started out instantly for the
scene, and knowing all the short cuts across the
fields, was there before his father, who was aston-
ished to find him assisting the victims. On
*“ TORRANCE’S BOY ” 15
another occasion, when a railway collision occurred,
he was in the thick of the confusion helping the
doctors. They all knew him as ‘“ Torrance’s
boy,” and would pick him up on their way to a case.
It was a bitter grief to him that when he was down
with measles, Mr. Jackson, the minister of the Free
West Church, died suddenly in the pulpit, and he
was not there to see! Ere he reached his teens he
was assisting his father in the dispensary, and was
present at post-mortem examinations. With the
daring of youth, he sometimes thought the work
of the doctors was clumsily done. He was, how-
ever, somewhat humiliated once when a play was
being given in connection with the school. His
part was that of a doctor. When he was examining
the pulse of the patient he lifted the wrong hand,
whereupon the visiting teacher of elocution, Mr.
Moffat (father of the well-known dramatist), ex-
claimed, ‘“‘ Dear me, boy; you will never be a
doctor.”
One of his grand-uncles, Robert Watt, who lived
in Airdrie, took a great interest in Sunday schools,
and established a ragged school class in the town.
Through his influence David became what he
called a ‘‘ Sunday-school boy,” going to the ragged-
school class in the morning and the ordinary
class in the Free West Church in the afternoon, and
never finding attendance tiresome. According to
his own testimony, however, the Sunday school
exercised little effect on his life. He absorbed a
certain amount of information, but his spiritual
nature was untouched. At both schools, the
Shorter Catechism was given a supreme place, but
16 A GALILEE DOCTOR
to David its teaching was incomprehensible: its
sole interest to him lay in its stately language, which
sounded in his ears like the roll of organ music.
To this day he thinks it a mistake to give young
minds their first knowledge of spiritual truths in a
medium so strange and unintelligible. It was his
mother who continued to stimulate his higher
nature and show him by example and precept the
beauty of holiness. “‘ She it was,” he always said,
‘who made me a Christian; she influenced me
far more than anyone I ever knew.”
He also owed much to his minister, the Rev. J.
A. George, M.A., the successor to the Mr. Jackson
who died suddenly in the pulpit. When the inci-
dent occurred Mr. George was acting as Chaplain to
the Forces at Gibraltar, and in his leisure time smug-
gling Bibles into Spain. One day, sitting on a rock,
he took out a newspaper in which he saw a notice
of the death. He breathed a prayer for the con-
gregation so suddenly bereaved. Shortly afterwards
he was called to the charge. Torrance always
regarded him as his “ spiritual father.’’ His teach-
ing was complementary to that given in the home ;
it was simple, loving, human, and in the sunshine
of it the lad’s heart expanded more than it
would have done under a system of forced in-
struction. Mr. George recalls how his bright
eager face and curly head always attracted him
in the classes, and how when he asked a question
it was invariably David who was ready first with
the answer. |
At the Academy, where he obtained all his
schooling, he was not a specially studious boy, but
STUDENT DAYS 17
being quick and intelligent he never experienced
any difficulty with his lessons; they were learnt
almost at a glance, and then off he would go to the
large playing field in front of the School or to choir
practice—for he inherited the musical ability of his
mother—or to his bench of tools. That the in-
struction given was thorough, was demonstrated
by the fact that his comrades, like himself, passed
on to honourable careers.
II]. STUDENT DAYS
1878-84
WHEN David was sixteen years of age his father
died, and as the older sons were already at work
in Glasgow, Mrs. Torrance removed there in the
belief that she would be better able to carry on the
home and continue the education of the other
children. Young as he was, David sat at once for
the preliminary examination in Medicine, and,
passing in all the subjects, began his studies at the
University. He was determined not to be a burden
on his mother, and while attending the classes,
he tutored other students in Arts and accepted a
position in the Public Dispensary. Unluckily the
hour for starting work there synchronized with the
1 Amongst his surviving companions are W. Malcolm, M.B.E.,
Director of Education for the County of Lanark ; ex-Provost J. Knox;
Hon. Sheriff-Substitute of Lanarkshire ; ex-Provost J. Orr; and Rev.
David Frew, D.D., Urr,
a
18 A GALILEE DOCTOR
time when a University class finished, but sitting
near the door of the classroom he flew out the
moment the lecture terminated and raced along to
the Dispensary.
He toiled hard, and at times the struggle was
severe, but he had other interests which relieved
the strain and kept his mind fresh; he played
football, worked with his hands, and attended the
Church and University choirs. Looking back in
after-life to this period, he mourned the oppor-
tunities he had lost of acquiring a more general
knowledge of literature. He was too young then,
however, to be aware of its value as an element in
his intellectual equipment. Later, when his mind
broadened, and he began to hunger for wider
culture, the pressure of his daily activities prevented
him gratifying his longing as fully as he wished to do.
He was fortunate again in his minister, the ~
Rev. J. M. Sloan of Anderston Free Church, who
had the gift of attracting young men and an in-
tuitive insight into their character and needs.
The elders were also a fine body and interested in
the young people of the congregation. So excellent
always were the debates at the Literary Society that
Torrance preferred to attend them rather than the
meetings of the Dialectic Society at the University.
His spiritual nature continued to develop
normally in this congenial atmosphere until a talk
with a fellow-student brought him up against the
problem of conversion. For the first time he
realized that there was a technical method of salva-
tion, and he thought it his duty to go through the
process. In the gladness of the experience he
STUDENT DAYS 19
went about telling every one that he was con-
verted —every one except his mother. Several
lapses from the perfection of conduct he had been
promised brought unhappiness, and he gradually
returned to his ordinary attitude of mind. No
mechanical change of life was necessary in his case ;
he had been born into the life of the spirit through
his mother’s love and piety, and the course of his
aspiration and action had been, from the beginning,
definitely in the right direction. His mother was
still his guiding star, drawing him upward towards
the highest and best. When he joined the Church,
she sat beside him at his first Communion and cried
softly in her joy. He became a teacher in the
Sunday school, took part in the various activities
of the congregation, and exercised an inspiring
influence on the young people. Forty years after,
there came to him, with a contribution for his work,
a letter from the superintendent of a Sunday school
in Glasgow, which gives a glimpse of these days :
“Do you remember boys who, in your student days, lived
at West Garden Street, Glasgow, whom you patiently used to
help with their lessons—boys who often tried your patience
sorely? Do you remember these young rascals coaxing you
out to teach them how to ride a high bicycle, and how one of
them fell off on his head? Do you remember taking us out
to your house and showing us, among other things, a skull, and
going with us a botanical expedition to Possil Marsh? Little
did you think how, in spite of fun and frolic, these boys were
being influenced by you for life. Both my brother and I are
in the King’s service trying to do our bit for Him.”
Towards the close of his student days, Mr. Sloan
met him one day in the hall of the church and said :
20 A GALILEE DOCTOR
“Davie, have you ever thought of being a
medical missionary ? ”’
The lad looked inquiringly at him for a moment.
“Yes,” he replied. “I have thought of that
amongst other things.”’
“‘ Then I gather you are not sure?”
‘Yes. I want to use my life to the best purpose,
but I don’t know yet what I am best fitted for.”
Mr. Sloan considered.
“ Well,” he said, “‘ come home with me and
have a talk.”
They discussed the matter at length.
‘** What I don’t want to do,” remarked Torrance,
“* is to put medicine on the level of a money-making
business—to use it merely as the means of piling
up wealth. I don’t want to make the earning of
money my principal aim. What I have in my
mind is some salaried appointment where I could
do good without the thought of money influencing
me. I would be willing to do anything and go
anywhere if I were only sure it were the right
thing for me.”
Mr. Sloan then came to the point. ‘ The
Jewish Mission Committee of the Free Church
are looking out for a Medical Missionary for their
station at Constantinople — would you not go
through to Edinburgh and see the Secretary ? ”
Torrance had no more knowledge of the Jews
than the average member of the community, and
was not specially interested in them. In his mind
they merely formed part of the general missionary
problem. The claims of the ordinary heathen
world appealed to him more strongly, but he was
STUDENT DAYS 21
willing to consider any branch of the work, and
ready to obey the Divine call when it should come
tohim. He decided to go to Edinburgh.
The position, he found, involved the running
of a dispensary, and in his state of mind then, the
idea of selling medicines was repugnant to him.
“TI am afraid the thing will not suit me,” he said.
The Secretary, who had looked him up and
down, replied, “ No, I quite agree; you are far
too young.”
Torrance was conscious enough of his youthful
appearance. He was but twenty when, in 1883,
after being amongst the first in all the classes, he
passed his final examination. As he could not
graduate until he was twenty-one, he filled in the
interval as assistant to a Glasgow doctor. That he
might look older and graver, he bought a silk hat
and a surtout coat, but despite these dignified
habiliments his patients thought him ridiculously
young.
After graduating, he applied for the position
of a ship’s surgeon, and joined the Bolivia of the
Anchor Line. On the passage down the Clyde, a
violent shock nearly threw him out of his berth:
the steamer had run on some obstruction, and,
severely holed, was beginning to sink. The pas-
sengers were taken off, and Torrance was trans-
ferred to the Anchoria, in which he made the voyage
to New York. In the midst of sight-seeing there,
he received a letter from Dr. J. Hood Wilson,
vice-convener of the Jewish Mission Committee,
who had just returned from a visit to Palestine,
and was keen for mission work being begun in
22 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Galilee. He had heard of Torrance as a promising
student who might decide for medical service abroad.
“Do not,” he wrote, “ be lured by the attractive
openings for America ; come and see the Committee
before you make any plans for the future.”
On landing in Scotland, Torrance found that
the talk in the Church was all of the Jews. ‘There
had been a recrudescence of violent persecution
in Russia, accompanied by atrocities and massacres
which had sent a thrill of horror through Western
communities. Refugees flying from the scene were
being assisted by their wealthy co-religionists, and
many were settling in other lands. A large number
were flocking to Safed, in Palestine, and the time
seemed opportune for starting a medical mission
there. With this in mind, several of the leading
members of the Jewish Mission Committee of the
Free Church asked Torrance to meet them. After
explaining the situation, they asked him :
‘ Are you prepared to go out there and under-
take the work ?”’
‘“‘ T cannot answer on the spur of the moment,”
he replied. “I have never heard of Safed and
know nothing about it. I will need to hunt up
some information and think over the matter.
Besides, I have had no breathing-time yet, and I feel
my professional ignorance. I don’t know enough.
I want Infirmary experience, and I want also to go
to Vienna.”
Aware of his brilliant attainments and his skill,
already demonstrated, as a surgeon, his interro-
gators liked his modesty and respected his desire
to perfect his medical education. In view of the
STUDENT DAYS 23
information which they had just received, that the
Church Missions to Jews intended to reoccupy
Safed, they thought it would be expedient first to
make a survey of the field, and if Torrance were
sent out for the purpose he would gain a practical
knowledge of the conditions and might be attracted
by the opportunities presented.
“Will you go out to Galilee as our deputy
and study the matter on the spot ?”’ they inquired.
He could not conceal his astonishment—they
were asking a youth who was entirely without
experience to investigate a difficult situation and
decide a Church question of vital importance.
*“*'That,”’ he replied quietly, “is not possible.
It would not do for me to go alone.”
** Would you go along with Mr. Sloan ?”
‘“* No—it would not be fair: he would influence
me: his mind would dominate mine. How could
I go against his opinion ? ”
“‘ Wells of Pollokshields,”’ some one suggested ;
“‘ would he do?”
Dr. Wells was a seasoned traveller and one whose
judgment could be relied on.
“ Certainly,” replied Torrance.
The name of Dr. Laidlaw, Superintendent of
the Glasgow Medical Mission, and a_ trained
medical missionary, was added ; and as there was
no time to lose if the travelling season in Palestine
were to be utilized, all arrangements were made
by telegraph, and on 25th February 1884, a few
days after the meeting, the party set out. Dr.
Torrance’s kit consisted simply of a knapsack and a
hold-all.
22 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Galilee. He had heard of Torrance as a promising
student who might decide for medical service abroad.
“Do not,” he wrote, ‘‘ be lured by the attractive
openings for America ; come and see the Committee
before you make any plans for the future.”
On landing in Scotland, Torrance found that
the talk in the Church was all of the Jews. There
had been a recrudescence of violent persecution
in Russia, accompanied by atrocities and massacres
which had sent a thrill of horror through Western
communities. Refugees flying from the scene were
being assisted by their wealthy co-religionists, and
many were settling in other lands. A large number
were flocking to Safed, in Palestine, and the time
seemed opportune for starting a medical mission
there. With this in mind, several of the leading
members of the Jewish Mission Committee of the
Free Church asked Torrance to meet them. After
explaining the situation, they asked him :
‘Are you prepared to go out there and under-
take the work ?”
““T cannot answer on the spur of the moment,”
he replied. “I have never heard of Safed and
know nothing about it. I will need to hunt up
some information and think over the matter.
Besides, I have had no breathing-time yet, and I feel
my professional ignorance. I don’t know enough.
I want Infirmary experience, and I want also to go
to Vienna.”
Aware of his brilliant attainments and his skill,
already demonstrated, as a surgeon, his interro-
gators liked his modesty and respected his desire
to perfect his medical education. In view of the
STUDENT DAYS 23
information which they had just received, that the
Church Missions to Jews intended to reoccupy
Safed, they thought it would be expedient first to
make a survey of the field, and if Torrance were
sent out for the purpose he would gain a practical
knowledge of the conditions and might be attracted
by the opportunities presented.
“Will you go out to Galilee as our deputy
and study the matter on the spot ?” they inquired.
He could not conceal his astonishment—they
were asking a youth who was entirely without
experience to investigate a difficult situation and
decide a Church question of vital importance.
“That,” he replied quietly, “is not possible.
It would not do for me to go alone.”
‘“* Would you go along with Mr. Sloan? ”’
“* No—it would not be fair: he would influence
me: his mind would dominate mine. How could
I go against his opinion ? ”
“ Wells of Pollokshields,’’ some one suggested ;
‘“‘ would he do?”
Dr. Wells was a seasoned traveller and one whose
judgment could be relied on.
“ Certainly,”’ replied Torrance.
The name of Dr. Laidlaw, Superintendent of
the Glasgow Medical Mission, and a_ trained
medical missionary, was added ; and as there was
no time to lose if the travelling season in Palestine
were to be utilized, all arrangements were made
by telegraph, and on 25th February 1884, a few
days after the meeting, the party set out. Dr.
Torrance’s kit consisted simply of a knapsack and a
hold-all.
26 A GALILEE DOCTOR
load. ‘‘ We cannot allow that,” said Dr. Laidlaw,
whose sympathies were aroused on behalf of the
animal. ‘‘ My dear sir,” replied the hotel-keeper,
‘“‘ you go on, and before you are away an hour you
will see the man on the top of the donkey as well ! ”
Which proved to be the case.
They discovered that walking over the rough
backbone of Judea was more strenuous work than
they had imagined. There was no shade, the fierce
sun beat mercilessly down, the reflection from the
white track was blinding. When the mist came
down early in the evening they were glad to rest
for the night at the Christian village of Ramallah.
With less enthusiasm they set out next morning,
traversing a land teeming with historical associations
—it was as if they were walking through the Bible
—but, footsore and weary, and consumed with
thirst, their one idea as they trudged along was to
see the end of their journey. Even Jacob’s Well
and Joseph’s Tomb at the foot of Mount Gerizim
and Mount Ebal failed to interest them, for there
between the two hills lay Nablous (Shechem) and
a lodging for the night. Stumbling in the dark
through narrow and filthy thoroughfares they
found the house of the Church Missionary Society’s
agent, and knocked him up. He was suspicious
and wary, and had to be assured of their goodwill
and identity before he would open the door.
All three next morning rebelled against con-
tinuing the journey on foot, but as no horses could
be procured they had to be content with donkeys.
Before the day was over they came to the con-
clusion that donkey-riding was no improvement on
PROSPECTING 27
walking. They arrived at Jenin dead beat. The
only accommodation was a native hut, the door of
which, being without a lock, they barricaded with
their baggage. But their real enemies were within
in the shape of hordes of insects. A sleepless night
was well on its way when a noise outside attracted
their attention. If it signified robbers they had
nothing but umbrellas with which to defend them-
selves. Peremptory knocking and a demand for
admittance roused their wrath. ‘‘ Who are you?”
they cried. “‘'The police; we want to see your
passports.” “‘ What they really want,” remarked
an experienced member of the party, “is bakh-
shish,” which turned out to be correct. 7
They were early astir, and, after crossing the
wide plain of Esdraelon, they climbed the stony
track which led to Nazareth. As they came to the
Virgin’s Well, situated on the highway leading
through the town, a boy cantered up to them.
*“ Are you Dr. Wells ? ” he asked, looking from one
to the other. ‘“‘ We are,” was the prompt and
hopeful reply. “ Dr. Vartan expects you up at
his house.” Dr. Vartan had been the agent of the
Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society since 1866.
“‘ Where is it?’ they inquired. The boy pointed
up to the high ridge to a house which overlooked
the town as a pulpit overlooks a congregation.
When they reached it they found their troubles at
an end.
Dr. Vartan was by birth an Armenian though
a naturalized British subject, and had married a
cousin of Dr. Stewart of Lovedale, the daughter
of a Perthshire minister. ‘‘ Their home,”’ it is said,
28 A GALILEE DOCTOR
“< was one of the most beautiful any man is privileged
to enter. The traditional hospitality of the Scottish
Highlands blended with that of the ancient Orient.
It was natural for younger missionaries in the country
to turn thither in weariness and sickness, and many
there are who can never forget the gracious and
kindly care so richly lavished upon them.” In
this atmosphere of comfort and peace the travellers
rested for several days. Dr. Vartan would not
hear of the tour being continued under the old
conditions. He organized a caravan and com-
missariat, and when they left on horseback he and a
colporteur accompanied them.
They visited the coast, inspected Haifa and Acre,
and turned inland over a little-frequented road to
Safed. One evening they arrived at a little old-
world village, where they found a number of peasant
Jews who could scarcely be distinguished from the
ordinary fellahin. They were received by the
sheikh, who provided them with accommodation.
It was soon noised abroad that “ English
doctors ”’ had arrived, and, towards sunset, came the
sick and suffering, the halt and blind, the deaf and
dumb—an eager crowd hastening along the streets
and over the flat roofs, and filling the little apart-
ment and the precincts of the building. The
doctors first cleared the room, allowing only the
Jewish rabbi and two Greek priests to remain, and
then attended to the patients. ‘“ It was like the
story of Christ,” said Dr. Torrance. “ We could
not put our hands on them as He did, but we did
what we could.” ‘To him the scene was an extra-
ordinary demonstration of the need for medical
PROSPECTING 29
missions. “If this is a sample of what prevails,
there must be a tremendous mass of sickness and
suffering in the land.” It was the first incident
that had touched his professional sympathy, and it
_ made a profound impression on his imagination
Five hours’ rough climbing brought them to
Safed. The streets were indescribably filthy ; they
waded through a slough of muck right up to the
doors of the British and French Consuls, who were
Jews. When they expressed their feelings on the
subject to the Turkish Governor of the town, he
replied, “What can be done with people who
carry home fish and flesh in their pockets or in their
hats upon their heads!” The travellers were
sickened at what they saw in the Jewish hospital,
which was full of old, ragged exiles from many
countries who had come there to die, and they
turned from it in disgust.
Next day they rode down a precipitous stone
gully to a colony at the base, established by Jewish
refugees from Rumania, and then through tracts
of wild flowers and grass growing as high as the
horses’ heads, to the ruins of Chorazin, hidden
amongst rank vegetation, and on to Capernaum on
the lakeside, a mass of sculptured masonry lying
amidst a tangled confusion of thistles, nettles, and
wild mustard. In all the wide landscape they saw
only a number of black tents, some boys herding
goats, and a few tattooed bedouin women. No road
indicated the way along the shore, but they picked
out a track to the reputed site of Bethsaida, where
they found a few families and an old boat, and
proceeded through weeds and thorny bush across
30 A GALILEE DOCTOR
the plain of Gennesaret. While the weather was
perfect and the Lake a vision of beauty, the silence
was oppressive ; not a sound broke the brooding
stillness. In the shadow of the cliffs as the hills
advanced again to the shore, they came to the
modern Magdala, a wretched settlement of mud
huts ; and a few miles farther south they entered
Tiberias.
This town, second only to Jerusalem in the
estimation of the Jews, proved to be hot, insanitary,
and overcrowded. ‘‘ The filth,’ said Dr. Torrance,
“could scarcely be described.” Hurried visits
were paid to the various points of interest in the
vicinity, including the medicinal hot-spring baths
and the region on the east side of the Lake. Every-
where patients came crowding to them. In
Tiberias, Torrance estimated that there was more
work than ten doctors could get through; it was
the neediest spot he had seen. ‘“‘ If,” he said, “‘ one
wishes to alleviate misery and sow happiness in the
world, this is the place for him.”’ ‘The rabbis said
they would be glad to have a hakim, or doctor, the
nearest whom they could call being Dr. Vartan,
at Nazareth, fifteen miles away in the hills.
Riding back under more comfortable conditions
to Jerusalem, the party had a consultation with the
English missionaries there. The staff of the Church
Missions to Jews did not favour a second mission
in Safed. Nor would they recommend Tiberias ;
no missionary, they declared, would be able to
exist long in such a tropical furnace. The deputa-
tion was invited to visit Hebron, which, it was
suggested, might prove a suitable and convenient
PROSPECTING 31
sphere for a Scottish Mission; and accordingly
they travelled to the town. In the Jewish inn
in which they put up, one room and one bed were
allotted to the three. The bed fell to Torrance,
who spent the night in purgatorial unrest. But
the others were no better off. Dr. Laidlaw rose
from his mat, placed two chairs together, and
lay on these for the remainder of the night.
After visiting Bethlehem, Bethany, the Dead
Sea, and Jericho, the party returned to Jaffa, and
here Dr. Torrance parted company from the
others and proceeded home by Alexandria and
Rome.
At Paris he found a letter offering him the
position of House Surgeon in Glasgow Infirmary,
one of the prizes of the profession, and wrote
accepting it. He entered on his duties immediately
on reaching Scotland.
The brief reports of the deputies, supplemented
by their speeches in the General Assembly of 1884—
Dr. Torrance must have been one of the youngest
speakers who had ever faced that body—showed
that Palestine had become even a more promising
field than it was in 1839. They estimated the Jewish
population to be now not less than forty thousand,
and it was steadily increasing. ‘There was no doubt
that it was the beginning of a movement which
would result in the recolonization of the land.
Agricultural settlements were being established,
and a new group of liberal Jews had appeared,
whose aim was to introduce modern education and
throw off the irritating trammels of ralbbinism.
“ This is the body,” said Dr. Laidlaw with prophetic
32 A GALILEE DOCTOR
insight, “ which will evolve the dominant Jew of
the future.” Such a movement would probably
lead to rationalism, but an inquiring, enlightened
rationalism was, he believed, more hopeful than a
death-like adherence to tradition, and it would give
the Christian faith an opportunity it had not
hitherto possessed.
Jerusalem was ruled out—“ probably no other
city of the same size,” they stated, “ is so abun-
dantly provided with orphanages, hospitals, free
medical dispensaries, and all sorts of charities.”
So also was Hebron, not only because of its con-
tiguity to Jerusalem, to which it was a natural
appendage, but because’ the number of Jews in
it was comparatively small, the majority of the
population being Moslems. Safed was a favourable
though difficult field, but it had been reoccupied
by the Church Missions to Jews. On the whole,
Tiberias presented the best possibilities. ‘‘ We
were informed,” they said, “that a missionary
would probably be better received by the Jews
there than by others in Palestine.” Unfortunately
the heat of summer in the town was so exhausting
that for three or four months in every year European
missionaries would require to live in the hills.
Their work also would be found exacting; there
was probably no harder service for Christian
activity to undertake, and the Church would have
to guard against expecting immediate results.
The Church quietly and confidently accepted
the call to the work, and on the Jewish night of
the General Assembly, the “‘ Sea of Galilee Medical
Mission” was inaugurated. |
Ey Vaters of
Merom.
J D ak, A psig
Pave of Owes
Beershedag-
TI
x
Map OF PALESTINE, WITH LAKE INSET
TIBERIAS
JETTY
SEA WALL
RLS SCHOOL
SAFEO ROAD
me EWING'S
147 HOUSE
RESERVOIR
OPEN SPACE
is" BOYS SCHOOL
TOMB OF MAIMONIDES
PLAN OF TIBERIAS
DISTANT VIEW OF TIBERIAS
PROSPECTING 33
The Committee, however, had not yet secured
their missionary. They had been pressing Torrance
to accept the appointment, and he had been reading
up the subject of missions to the Jews and studying
the general Jewish situation. But he was still
undecided, and was undergoing an experience which
comes to most men in their lives. He was endur-
ing his temptation in the wilderness. There was
strong family opposition to the Palestine plan,
which meant burying himself in obscurity, and he
was urged to employ his exceptional ability in a
sphere where it would be recognized and adequately
rewarded. His own inclination was to do this;
he was conscious of lacking professional knowledge
and experience ; he desired to study in the medical
schools of the Continent; he had the natural
ambition to make the utmost of whatever gifts
he possessed, and he felt within him the power to
achieve success and fame. So, from the high
mountain of his imagination he saw the Kingdom
that might be his and the glory of it.
On the other hand, he had seen Palestine ;
and, worn-out and burnt-up land though it was, it
possessed in its very loneliness and desolation a
quality of beauty and a fascination which drew him
like a spell. Greater than the appeal of the
country, however, was that of its people with
their untended ills and hopeless suffering. He
felt that the poorer and more degraded they were,
the greater was their need of healing and love.
He thought, too, of the honour of being the
first Christian physician to walk in the footsteps
of Jesus round the Galilean Lake, and of the
5
34 A GALILEE DOCTOR
possibility of building the first Christian hospital
on its shore.
The matter was not long in doubt: he sur-
rendered to the higher service, and signified his
choice. He was appointed to Tiberias in June
1884, and, completing his term at the Infirmary,
he sailed on 2nd December from Liverpool.
V. NAZARETH
1884-85
His journey on this occasion was not without
adventure. After studying Jewish and Moslem
missions in Egypt—a field in which he became
deeply interested—he took steamer to Haifa. At
Jaffa he went ashore to view the town. As the
boatman was rowing him back he was surprised to
see the vessel moving out to sea. No attention
was paid to his signals, and he returned to the
jetty with nothing but a waterproof in his possession.
Sending a telegram to the Vice-Consul at Haifa to
have his luggage brought on shore there, he went
to the hotel in the German colony and arranged
for a horse to be ready for him at three o’clock next
morning. His anxiety made his slumber light, and
when the hour passed and no call came, he rose and
sought out the muleteer who was to accompany
him. “I want something to eat,” he said. The
man knew but little English, and the Doctor had
by signs to indicate his need. ‘‘ All sleeping,” was
NAZARETH 85
the response. ‘“‘ Bread, then: bring me bread,” the
Doctor demanded, and the man went off to forage.
He returned with two small cakes. The Doctor
looked at them with disgust. ‘‘ Bring mea dozen,”
he said.
The journey to Haifa usually took two days,
but the Doctor was determined to be there that
night. A tedious and fatiguing ride along a broken
track and sandy plains and through malarious
swamps brought them to Czsarea, the once mag-
nificent seaport, now a wretched settlement of
refugee aliens. Farther on they reached a river
inlet which was too deep to ford. A search along
the banks revealed a fisherman, who guided them
across at a part where the water came up to the
chin of the little muleteer. Late at night they
arrived at Haifa, half-dead from weariness, hunger,
and thirst. Riding straight to the residence of the
Vice-Consul the Doctor knocked loudly and long,
but the household was asleep and there was no
response. When he returned in the morning it
was to find that the telegram he had dispatched
had never arrived. His baggage had gone on
farther up the coast with the steamer. Being in
no mood to remain in Haifa, he secured a carriage
and proceeded across the plains and over the hills
to Nazareth, where, destitute though he was, he
received a warm welcome from Dr. and Mrs.
Vartan. Until his boxes arrived some weeks later
they provided for all his needs.
Discussing the situation with his hosts he came
to the conclusion that it would be impracticable
to begin work at Tiberias before he had acquired
36 A GALILEE DOCTOR
some knowledge of Arabic, the language of the
country ; it was therefore decided that he should
meantime remain at Nazareth as Dr. Vartan’s
assistant. It was not easy to procure a teacher ;
education was not common in those days; and
the only man available was a Bible-reader who had
never been at school, was ignorant of grammar,
and could not even speak correctly. With him
the Doctor began regular lessons.
The six months he spent in Nazareth was a
period of apprenticeship without which he could
never have achieved the success he did. He was
associated with one who knew the country and the
people intimately, and was proficient in many
branches of his profession. ‘To a newcomer
ignorant of the East and its subtleties the experi-
enced guidance and counsel of such a man as Dr.
Vartan was priceless. To watch his methods and
note his faith and courage and perseverance was an
education and an inspiration. Torrance was pro-
foundly impressed with the manner in which he
fought the authorities and overcame his difficulties.
For he had more than the ordinary share of trouble.
Although a naturalized British subject, he came
under the Turkish law, which deals with men
according to their nationality. Property had also
to be held in the name of an individual and not of
an organization, for no combination was allowed,
and he, and not the Edinburgh Medical Missionary
Society, was responsible for the mission premises.
The Turks were opposing his work, and _ their
hostility had culminated in their taking over the
house and ground at an absurdly low valuation.
NAZARETH 37
Dr. Torrance admired his forbearance and patience,
and sought to interest the Committee in Scotland
in his case.
Nazareth, where Jesus spent the greater part of
His life, contained much to interest the Doctor. The
town itself was unclean, the streets were narrow and
crooked, those leading up the hillsides being merely
deep watercourses, but from the ridges that circled
it about, wonderful views could be obtained of far-
stretching country rich in Biblical associations.
Always the eye would be caught by some out-
standing feature: now the snow cap of Mount
Hermon, now the dome of Mount Tabor, now the
green plain of Esdraelon, now the white houses of
Safed, now the gleam of silver sea. The people
were not without attractive qualities: many were
handsome, the women especially so, and the boys
and girls, with their clear brown skin and bright
eyes and frank smile, won their way easily to the
Doctor’s heart.
Owing to the number of missionary agencies in
Nazareth a small European circle existed init. The
representative of the Church Missionary Society,
the Rev. James Huber, had already spent twenty-
five years in the town and built up a prosperous
Church. One of his daughters was a bright and
attractive girl named Lydia. Born in the country,
acquainted with the language, and accustomed to the
modes of thought and habits of the people, she took
a warm and practical interest in the mission work.
With her Dr. Torrance inevitably came much in
contact, and the result was a foregone conclusion ; in
due time the friendship culminated in their betrothal.
38 A GALILEE DOCTOR
The Doctor desired to increase his knowledge
of the country before settling down, and the oppor-
tunity to do so came in an unexpected way. The
Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society had also a
mission at Damascus in charge of Dr. Mackinnon,
a missionary of exceptional force of character and
ability. One day he turned up at Nazareth, and
he and Dr. Torrance proving to be kindred
spirits, became very close friends. It was arranged
that when he returned to Damascus Torrance should
accompany him. They set off on horseback, with
pack-animals carrying their beds and pots and pans.
On the way they endeavoured to climb Mount
Hermon. For hours they tramped amongst the
snowfields, a white desolation save for the presence
of an occasional bear or fox. Night overtook them.
On returning they were unable to find their horses,
and had to look for them with lighted matches.
When they reached the village at the foot of the
mountain they learnt that a search-party had been
sent out after them.
Next night they reached the mansion of a
Druze sheikh of princely rank. He was delighted
to see them, and entertained them with the hospi-
tality for which the race is noted, fussing over them
and regaling them with all manner of food. Two
doctors in the house—he could not let the oppor-
tunity pass. Both he and his wife ate recklessly,
and in the middle of the night the doctors were
roused from their sleep to find two porianns urgently
requiring their attention !
Further going was slow on account both of the
rocky and precipitous character of the bridle-path
NAZARETH 39
and the need for exercising vigilance against robber
bands who infested the district, but progress
was easier when they reached the middle plain of
Syria, where the grass was as soft as velvet, and the
path stretched onwards like a white ribbon. An
Arab khan afforded them shelter for the night, but
not rest, for the filth was too malodorous, and the
insects too numerous for comfort. Damascus,
the eternal city of the plains, with its kaleidoscopic
life, its beauty of surroundings, and its vigorous
missions, fascinated Torrance, and he was loth to
leave it. Along with Mackinnon he travelled
across the Lebanon range to Beyrout, and after
studying the activities of the great American College
there, he returned alone to Nazareth.
The tour had been a valuable experience from
the linguistic point of view. Syria is a polyglot
region, and as he had Latin as a basis, and knew
French and German, he could have managed very
well, but his aim was to acquire a colloquial
familiarity with Arabic, and he forced himself to
speak it on every possible occasion, so that he
considerably extended his acquaintance with the
language.
The friendship thus begun with Dr. Mackinnon
continued to be one of the joys of his life, and it
influenced him in minor ways. Up to this time
he had never smoked, but noting how Mackinnon
was welcomed everywhere because he belonged
to the fellowship of smokers, he took to the habit
and became as much addicted to it as his friend.
Anxious now to make a beginning in Tiberias,
he paid a visit to the town with Dr. Vartan to
40 A GALILEE DOCTOR
prospect for quarters. The public health was
exceedingly bad, but as he tramped through the
overcrowded and insanitary slums his wonder
was that life was maintained at all. Nothing
was said about settling in the town, but some
rumour of his intention had evidently reached
the ears of the influential men, for they came and
begged him earnestly to remain. It was, however,
the misery of the poor that drew out his com-
passion and made him long to be at work.
There was some difficulty in securing the
tenancy of a house, and it was only through Dr.
Vartan’s influence and wise and patient handling
of the authorities that the matter was settled.
Towards the end of 1885 he was installed and left
to his own devices. For the first time he was in
immediate contact with the people to whom he
had been sent as a missionary.
VI. “ HIS OWN CITY ”
1885
THE scene of his life service was a town which was
notable on account of both its situation and its
romantic history. Tiberias lies in the deepest
natural trench on the earth’s surface. As the
Jordan flows down this trench from the base of
Mount Hermon, it enters and fills a hollow in the
Galilee region; this is the Lake of Galilee, the
surface of which is 680 feet below the level of
“HIS OWN CITY ” 41
the Mediterranean. It is of small dimensions, only
13 miles long and about 7 miles at its greatest
width, and in spring, when the hillsides around
are green, resembles a quiet Scottish loch. But
the climate is more than tropical in its character,
the temperature often rising in summer to 110° Fahr.
and even 117° in the shade. Yet looking up from
the lakeside one can sometimes see snow falling
on the Safed hills, and for a large part of the year
can gaze upon it as it lies thick upon the slopes of
Hermon.
Tiberias, on the edge of the western shore, is
now the only town on the Lake. It dates from
at least the early years of the Christian era; it
was either founded or rebuilt by Herod Antipas,
ruler of Galilee, who called it after the Emperor
in whose favour he basked. He probably chose
the site on account of a basaltic crag which pro-
jected from the hillside behind, and formed an
ideal situation for a fort to command it. While
clearing the ground for the foundations, a burial-
place was disturbed, a circumstance which in the
eyes of the Jews rendered it unclean, and prevented
the orthodox from living in it. The first citizens
therefore were largely foreigners. On the black
rock dominating it, Herod built his castle and
palace.
The town was completed and occupied previous
to Jesus beginning His ministry. Because there is
no mention of it in the New Testament in connection
with Him, it is commonly believed that He never
entered it, though one cannot be certain of this.
After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans,
42 A GALILEE DOCTOR
a singular reversal of Jewish opinion occurred in
regard to it. From being despised by the proud
exponents of the law, it developed into their
favourite resort. In it were established the San-
hedrin and a great University, and it became the
religious centre of the race. Here the laws and
traditions were collected and codified as the Mishna ;
here also the Jerusalem Talmud was completed.
In the reign of Constantine the first Christian
Church was erected in it; in the seventh century
it was taken by the Arabs, was for a time restored
to Christendom by the Crusaders, who built the
castle which still stands, in ruins, and in the twelfth
century was repossessed by the Arabs. When the
Turks conquered the land in the sixteenth century
it ceased to be a resort of the Jews, but was classed
as holy and placed on the level of Jerusalem,
Hebron, and Safed.
Later, the city, or the part of it that was left,
was gradually reoccupied by the Jews, most of
them old men from Northern Africa and Europe
who came to die in it in the belief that if buried
there they would have the honour of greeting
the Messiah when He appeared. According to the
accepted tradition He would rise from the Lake,
land at Tiberias, and establish His throne at Safed,
which explained the saying that while it was good
to die in Safed it was better to be buried at Tiberias.
The famed sulphurous baths also drew many Jews
to the spot, while the graves of the renowned rabbis
became places of annual pilgrimage.
The modern town was a huddle of buildings
jammed close against the Lake, the line of houses
“HIS OWN CITY ” 43
there dipping directly into the water ; on the land-
ward side it was enclosed by a wall except where
the latter had been shattered by an earthquake in
1837. The streets were merely narrow lanes,
roughly cobbled with basalt blocks, down the
centre of which ran a depression for rain and
sewage, and so irregular in plan and broken up by
narrower passages and alleys that they were as
labyrinthine as a rabbit warren. In the main
thoroughfares the buildings were two or three
storeys high, and along the basement were situated
the shops, little box-like compartments raised about
a foot from the ground and open in front.
Through these crooked avenues surged the
tide of Tiberias life. Here could be seen the
Turkish official, the rich effendi, the merchant,
the religious devotee, the muleteer, the washer-
woman; pallid men in long silk gowns and fur
caps, or quaintly cut coats and wideawake hats,
with lovelocks hanging down their cheeks ; tall,
muscular men with dark flushed skin in black cloaks
of goats’ hair and white cotton skirts drawn together
by a leathern girdle which supported a knife and
pistol, head-dress of yellow cloth that flowed down
their back and shoulders and was kept on by a
rope of twisted camel’s hair, and on their feet
sandals of various shapes; men wearing what
looked like elaborate gaudily-coloured dressing-
gowns ; mén with sleeveless waistcoat and zouave
jacket and loose pantaloons gathered in at the
ankles ; men in white tunics and full sack coat, on
their head a turban or red cloth fez or tarbush
with black silk tassel, and on their feet red leather
44 A GALILEE DOCTOR
shoes ; men in military dress ; men in smart modern
suits, and men in tatters: women, too, in long
robes of dark blue cotton; others in a blue tunic
with wide sleeves and girdle of red cloth and red
head-dress, with a row of coins across the brow ;
women in black flowing veils; women unveiled,
their faces and hands tattooed in blue ; women with
dark eyes darkened more deeply by antimony ;
women with complexions startlingly pale, women
wrapped in the most beautiful fabrics and accom-
panied by attendants, and women in a single rag
—all jostling one another, talking, gesticulating,
bargaining, or moving in dignified silence.
It was a life exposed and public. Here was a
man being shaved in a corner of the street ; here
was a shoemaker busily at work with half a dozen
swarthy men watching him; next him was a
tinsmith with his own circle; a little crowd
listened to a seller of cloth as he ripped off samples
and cajoled a simple-minded peasant ; here was a
café open to the street where men sat and smoked
long Oriental pipes; here was a butcher cutting
out sinews from the meat brought to him by
customers ; here was a shopman asleep on his mat
with his stock of oranges and potatoes about him ;
here was another writing a letter in Arabic for a
desert Arab who stood, with his camel, beside him.
It was a picturesque scene, but these people
did not know they looked picturesque: they knew
only that they were struggling and suffering and
sorrowing like the rest of humanity. Beneath the
brightness and quaintness of the costumes, and
behind the chaffering of the market-place, there
A PAUPER GHETTO 45
existed the sordidness, the care, the anxiety common
to all the sons and daughters of the world. An
old Jew with sad eyes passed along, passed a number
of men playing cards outside a shop, passed a girl
in deep black crouching in a corner sobbing, passed
children romping and shouting—it was the same
human nature that could be found everywhere ;
only here, perhaps, it was on a more primitive level.
It was life lived in squalor, dirt, ignorance ; and
touched occasionally with a brutality that was not
far from savagery.
Yet a life not without the hunger for higher
things and a homage to what was holy. For there,
hidden in obscure quarters, were the synagogues ;
and there, less modestly situated, was the native
Christian Church; and there, central in the
town, was the Moslem mosque with its white
dome gleaming high above the houses, and its tall
minaret from which came floating down to the people
the wailing cry of the muezzin :
Allahu akbar (repeated thrice), ashadu an la ilaha illa-llah,
ashadu an Mohammada rasil-ulléh (repeated twice), hayya ‘ala-
ssaléh (repeated twice).
“« Allah is great: I bear witness that there is no deity but
Allah, I bear witness that Mohammad is the apostle of Allah :
hasten to prayer.”
VII. A PAUPER GHETTO
Wuat the exact population of Tiberias was no one
knew, but the Jews estimated the number of their
race at about 3500, while the Moslems claimed
46 A GALILEE DOCTOR
1500, and the Christians a few hundred. Between
five and six thousand persons were penned into a
space hardly capable of holding half that number.
The Jews were divided into two well-defined
parties, the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim, who
might be regarded as the liberal and conservative
elements in the body. The Sephardim were of the
stock of Western Jews, or those who came origin-
ally from Spain and Northern Africa, and who,
having been in contact with fairly free and un-
restrained conditions, were active and _ tolerant.
The Ashkenazim hailed from the congested
districts of Eastern Europe :
** They lived in narrow lanes and streets obscure,
Ghetto and Judenstrasse, in mirk and mire,
Taught in the school of patience to endure
The life of anguish and the death of fire.
Anathema! Maranatha! was the cry
That rang from town to town, from street to street;
At every gate the cursed Mordecai
Was mocked and jeered and spurned by Christian feet.”
They possessed the ghetto mind—narrow,
ignorant, bigoted — and the sickly and cowed
appearance developed by the crushing slum
conditions to which they had been subjected.
Christians they hated with a bitter hatred as their
oppressors who had made their life a misery.
They could not look with favour on a religion
presented to them by a sect whose hands were red
with the blood of their people.
These Jews were regarded as, in a sense, dele-
gates or representatives of the race throughout the
world. They were “holy men,” faithful to the
A PAUPER GHETTO 47
ideals and traditions of the faith, who had come
to study the law and pray and carry out in their
fullness the rules and regulations which it was
difficult and often impossible to observe in alien
communities, and then to die and be buried in the
soil of the sacred land. They were doing what
every true Jew would have liked to do, but which
was impracticable for the vast majority to do,
except vicariously by supporting those who did.
This was necessary, for Palestine was economically
so backward that it was impossible for all the Jews
to earn a living. The bulk of them were abjectly
poor. Some engaged in shoemaking, carpentry,
and trading ; one or two were muleteers, and the
remainder depended entirely on the sympathy and
charity of their co-religionists elsewhere. The
latter entertained the idea that God would be
propitiated by the piety of their fellows in the Holy
Land,and willingly contributed to their maintenance.
Throughout Jewry a well-organized scheme of
collecting money for them was in operation ; practi-
cally every Jew had a box in his house with “ Great
Alms for Palestine” written on it. Associations
existed in most Jewish centres for receiving and
remitting the funds, and sometimes a town contri-
buted solely for its own people who had emigrated.
When the money arrived in Palestine it came into
the hands of the rabbis, by whom it was “ divided
out ” monthly to the people ; hence it was called
the “khalukah.” At this period the total sum
received amounted to about {£50,000 annually,
but it served only to supply the crusts of life to the
recipients,
48 A GALILEE DOCTOR
The rabbis naturally exercised great power over
those who received the dole, as they could always
use it as a lever or weapon in the exercise of dis-
cipline. The result of the system, however, was
to pauperize the people, for they had no inducement
to work when they were able to eke out an existence
on charity. Labour, indeed, came to be looked upon
as undignified and even degrading—a view which
the rabbis did nothing to remove, since the praying
Jew was an amenable Jew. The Jew who followed
his native genius, engaged in commerce, and made
a success of it, was independent of the khalukah,
and less hampered by fear of rabbinical censure
in all his religious relations.
The Doctor realized that this parasitical system
would prove the most difficult obstacle in his path.
How could a Jew change over to Christianity so
long as he was subject to such bondage? If he
made a public profession and was excommunicated
and shut out of the distribution of alms, as he would
undoubtedly be, how would he be able to support
himself ? He would either have to be dependent
on the Mission or emigrate to countries where he
could earn his livelihood. The conditions did not
augur well for the success of the evangelistic work
if that success were to be measured by the number
of open conversions.
At first sight the Jews did not impress the Doctor
as a lovable people; they seemed effeminate,
neurotic, and slovenly in appearance and _ habit;
but he made large allowances for men who had been
so long tortured by civilization, and were so greatly
isolated from all healthy and progressive influences
Dr. TORRANCE STANDING AT THE ENTRANCE TO
HIs First Houser
THE Famous MEDICINAL BATHS AND THE TOMB BEYOND
ESS
TORRANCE IN ARAB DR
Dr.
A PAUPER GHETTO 49
and decided to be patient and to study them care-
fully before coming to a judgment on their char-
acter and their attitude to Christianity. He dis-
covered that they were friendly to the British, and
even looked to them as the Power that would some
day be the means of restoring Israel to its ancient
home. Some regarded it as significant that Cyprus
had recently come into possession of the British,
for from the heights of that island could be seen the
Syrian hills. Britain was the first Christian nation
to overlook the country.
These Tiberias Jews were typical of the race
in general throughout Palestine, but there was
another class entering the country which was
destined to have a remarkable influence on its
fortunes. It is curious how the brutal actions of
humanity often lead to unexpected results for good.
The Jew-baiting, the mob-violence and outrages,
the bloodshed and the destruction of property in
Russia which caused, from time to time, the flight
of the Jewish victims, resulted in a number of them
seeking refuge in Palestine. It was not from a
religious motive that they came, but in order to
earn a livelihood. Here and there they formed
little agricultural colonies, helped in many cases
by wealthy members of the race, principally by
Baron Edmond de Rothschild, and cultivated
oranges, the vine, olives, and other products.
Several were established in Galilee. The condi-
tions were, however, against them; the settlers
were mostly from towns, and knew little of agri-
culture ; they had difficulty in adjusting themselves
to so strange an environment, and the Turks were
4
50 A GALILEE DOCTOR
rapacious. They continued to require financial
support and were therefore in much the same
position as the recipients of the khalukah. For
their benefit an experimental school was started
at Jaffa by the Alliance Israélite Universelle, an
organization established in Paris in 1860 with the
object of safeguarding Jewish interests and of
promoting secular education in countries where
Jews congregated. Poor as they were, these settle-
ments were little oases of civilization in surroundings
that were barbarous and barren.
The Moslem population of Tiberias was more
approachable than the Jews, but formed the least
educated and least intelligent part of the community.
They were courteous and hospitable, especially
the effendis, or more wealthy members, but they
were invincibly self-sufficient in matters of religion.
Of the various types, however, the Doctor was
least impressed with the native Christians, though
they possessed some education and occupied all
the positions in the telegraph and postal depart-
ments. These belonged to the Greek Church—
** Orthodox Greeks ’’—and to the Roman Catholic,
or “‘ Latin ’”’ Church, to which were affiliated various
Oriental Churches such as the Greek Catholic, the
Syrian Catholic, and the Armenian Catholic Church.
As a whole these Christian Churches were corrupt
and superstitious. The priests were often illiterate
and degraded ; their chief duty was not the care
or cure of souls, but the management of the
hospices, shrines, and other buildings associated
with their religion, and attendance at the endless
formal ceremonies and processions carried on in
A PAUPER GHETTO 51
a spirit of coarse materialism. Both Jews and
Moslems regarded Christianity, as they knew it,
as infinitely inferior to their own faith: it seemed
to them little better than heathenism.
Several languages and many dialects were
spoken in the town. Turkish was the tongue of
the official class ; Arabic was in general use, and
the only one understood by the majority of the
native-bred ; the Jews employed Yiddish, based
on Low German, with a sprinkling of Hebrew,
Polish, and Spanish words.
Outwardly amicable and orderly, the various
elements in the community were in reality separated
in their social relations by unbridgeable gulfs.
Says Dr. Alexander Paterson :
“It was this age-long incompatibility, this irreconcilable
enmity, that was more potent for evil than any other single factor,
and harder to be dealt with than any other obstacle to mission
work. ‘The Moslem and Christian hated the Jew for denying
and slaying the Messiah, the Christ. The Moslem and Jew
hated the Christian for worshipping three gods. The Jew and
the Christian hated the Moslem for his arrogance and fanaticism
and oppression, from which they never felt safe. Of course,
they commonly existed in an armed truce ; life otherwise were
impossible. But an anniversary or an indiscreet word, an un-
equal deal in business, or a false report, and their passions were
in full cry, too often the cry for blood. Here is a household
tale. A Moslem and Christian and Jew agreed to offer each a
petition to heaven. The Moslem, ‘ May as many Christians
perish as sacrifices are slaughtered at Mecca at the pilgrimage ! ’
The Christian, ‘ May as many Moslems perish as Easter eggs
are consumed at Jerusalem!’ The Jew, ‘O Lord, answer
their petitions !’ ”
It was an extraordinarily difficult situation
which Dr. Torrance was facing—a much more
52 A GALILEE DOCTOR
complex and unhopeful one than he had imagined.
He had not come to a comparatively simple people
like the Africans, whose only faith was animism,
but to races who already possessed highly developed
systems of religious thought. He had come “ to
the Jew first,” and it was the Jew who had risen
nearest to God and had given the world Christianity.
The Moslem, for his part, considered that Moham-
medanism was superior both to Judaism and to
Christianity. The Doctor’s task, therefore, was
not to provide lamps where none existed or even
to exchange new lamps for old, but to create the
conviction that the old were incomplete and to
show how they could be perfected. As Professor
Delitzsch said: “‘ The object of the Free Church
Mission is to present a correct conception of
Christianity, the Christianity of Christ of the New
Testament, and to enable those who listen to judge
and decide for themselves.”
Reason, Service, Love, these three were the
talismans which the Doctor called to his aid—but
the greatest of these was Love.
PART TWO
I. OPPOSITION
1885-86
THE house which the Doctor had rented belonged
to one of the rabbis. It was situated in the heart
of the town, off a narrow lane, the buildings on each
side of which were so tall that the passage had the
character of a tunnel. Entrance was through a
large archway into a courtyard from which a flight
of steps led to the leewan, or veranda, and consult-
ing-room ; another stair led to the living-rooms
in the upper part. ‘The whole building was of the
gimcrack order and shabby in the extreme. One
side was tumbling down, and had been patched
with scraps of tin and wood. The windows were
unshuttered, and the sun beat in and made the rooms
as fiery as a furnace. When rain fell the roof
leaked, the atmosphere became steamy and damp,
and mould gathered on the Doctor’s clothes and
other belongings.
But he was young, life was an adventure, and
the difficulties of his position added zest to his day.
He ignored the discomforts and became absorbed
in his work. As yet he was without medicines ;
the stock he had ordered was detained at
53
54 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Trieste, but he discovered some old drugs in the
town and he bought some Epsom salts and castor
oil, and he had his pocket case of instruments. The
best instrument he possessed, however, was his
own hand: what has been described as the ideal
surgeon’s hand, “strong, supple, smooth, with
sensitive finger-tips.”” His touch seemed to have
power and healing. The wonder of it passed from
mouth to mouth, and patients began to pour into
the courtyard. It made no difference to him what
creed they professed ; he was a missionary to the
Jews, but he could not say to a Christian, “‘ I cannot
see you,’ or to a Moslem, “‘ You are not a Jew.”
Christianity was a world-religion, and made no
account of race or sect, so in the spirit of Paul he
was a Jew to the Jews, an Arab to the Arabs,
all things to all men, that he might save some.
Every one who came was tended with the same
care and kindness. Although a man of mystery
to them, they instinctively knew that he was one to
trust, and his whimsical eyes and gentle humour
put them at their ease.
There was more than the touch of the physician
in his ministrations. He read and spoke of One
who was the healer of souls, and many, listening
to his broken Arabic, seemed to obtain a glimpse
of something beautiful and appealing. Others,
orthodox Jews, were startled, and put their fingers
into their ears that they might not hear what he
said. Their talk of the matter reached the rabbis.
They, too, were startled. Then the hakim was also
a Christian missionary! The satisfaction with
which they regarded his presence turned sour:
OPPOSITION 55
suspicion and resentment took the place of their
former cordiality, they wanted no proselytizer in
their midst to steal the people from the faith, and
orders were issued that he should be boycotted
and driven from the town. In a Jewish paper
published in Jerusalem a notice was inserted asking
a physician of their own race to settle in Tiberias.
The number of Jewish patients fell off.
But it was hard for the sick and their friends to
watch Moslems and Christians pass into the court-
yard and know that healing was within reach, and
yet be debarred from taking advantage of it. One
of the special traits of the Jews is their love for their
children, and rather than see the little ones suffer,
many a mother dared the wrath of the rabbis.
Again and again the door of the waiting-room
was burst open and a distracted woman rushed in,
crying: “ Doctor, my child! my child!” The
Doctor could never resist such an appeal, and letting
other matters stand, he would accompany the
parent to her home and attend to the patient.
This happened so often that it became difficult for
him to meet all the calls, but by and by there was
no need, for it broke the boycott.
Then the terrors of ecclesiastical law were
evoked against the delinquents ; solemn khérems,
literally ‘‘ bans,’ were pronounced in connection
with the dispensary, and for a time these dread
anathemas did their work. But love again con-
quered fear, and first children, and then adults,
crept along the dark alleys to consult the doctor.
The hearts of women grew soft towards him,
because of his tenderness and skill ; they gathered
56 A GALILEE DOCTOR
about him with their little ones as the women of old
gathered about Jesus, and began to speak of him
among themselves as “ Our David.” One day
when out riding, his horse slipped, and he was
thrown into a large cavity ; a number of Jewesses
who witnessed the accident rushed to his assistance,
exhibited the utmost concern, and treated him in
the kindest way. It was a trifling incident, but it
indicated the place he was taking in their regard.
The watchful rabbis then unsheathed their
most potent weapon. From all who disobeyed,
the khalukah was withheld. The grim alternative
was starvation, and this was worse than sickness.
Again the dispensary was deserted by the Jews.
With unfailing patience and good humour the Doctor
met the situation; he had the more time to visit
people in their homes and become acquainted with
their family life and the conditions in which they
lived.
The majority of families lived in one-roomed
houses, many in cellars underground, the furni-
ture consisting of a few mats, some divans round
the walls, cooking utensils, and a charcoal stove.
During the day the bedding was piled up in a
recess ; at night it was spread on the floor, and the
family retired without undressing. The conditions,
in short, were no better than those in an African
hut ; in some respects they were worse. Ventila-
tion was unknown, and the atmosphere was heavy
with noisome odours of which the occupants
appeared to be unconscious. ‘The Doctor found
Jews lying calmly in their beds with their Talmud
beside them, and repeating their prayers, while
OPPOSITION 57
at every breath they were inhaling poison. Possibly
they had been so long habituated to such condi-
tions that they were immune. Superstition partly
accounted for their closing up every chink; they
believed that evil spirits would obtain access to the
room if the windows were left open.
The morning diet consisted chiefly of bread and
olives ; in the evening all endeavoured to have a
cooked meal, if possible, and olive oil, or a species
of boiled butter, was used in preparing it. The
Doctor’s first impression was that many of the
people were underfed, and the cases that came to
him bore this out.
Malarial fevers and dysentery were, he found,
the commonest ailments; of infectious diseases
there were, so far, no trace. ‘‘ It will be a sad day,”
he wrote, with unconscious foreboding, “ when
any of them make their appearance.” Although
the birth-rate appeared to be high, the mortality
amongst children was very great. Women suffered
greatly, and he longed for a maternity hospital.
One of the things that roused his professional wrath
was the crowding of neighbours into the birth-
room to watch how the foreign doctor worked.
He would send for a bucket of water and throw the
contents over them, or literally whip them out of
the room.
“Tt is difficult to imagine a more insanitary
town,” he wrote. There was no system of sewage ;
the cesspools attached to the houses were seldom
or never cleaned out, and a sickening odour choked
one at every turn. No wells or cisterns existed ;
they were not required, for the Lake was fresh, and
58 A GALILEE DOCTOR
as it lapped one side of the town, every housewife
was able to draw what she needed from the beach
at the foot of one or other of the streets that ran
down to its edge. Here were ash-heaps and dung-
hills, here the drainage of the town found an outlet,
and here men and boys bathed all day long, so that
close inshore the water was impure and unfit for
drinking. The Doctor himself used a small filter
which he had brought with him, but as a rule he
refrained from taking any liquid except tea and
coffee. It was not always easy for him to do so,
and invariably after drinking of polluted supplies
he suffered.
He was better able to control his food. Most
of this at first he obtained from home, as he was
unable to procure anything better than boiled rice,
eggs, leban or sour milk, fish from the Lake, and
unpalatable bread. But he had noticed that the
Vartans did not despise native food, — which,
however, they had properly cooked,—and believing
that it would be an advantage to be able to live on
local diet, especially on tours, he gradually worked
up a knowledge of the common products, and
became accustomed to eating them. The Spartan
fashion in which he had been brought up made
this a matter of no difficulty ; wherever he accepted
hospitality, he took what was given him, and, no
matter how much he disliked it, he made no sign of
discomfort.
No missionary lived more simply ; he had only
the bare necessaries of life about him, and _his
clothing was severely workmanlike. He did his
own washing and much of his own cleaning, and
COMEDY OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE 59
felt happier than if it had been left to an inefficient
servant. ‘‘ After all,” he said, ‘‘ I am out to work,
and do the best I can in every way.”
As the winter season advanced, the condition
of the house became deplorable. The soaked
mortar fell out and the roof let in the rain so badly
that he was obliged to fasten up a sheet to keep
himself dry. He complained to the landlord, who
had contracted to maintain the premises in repair,
but the rabbi declined to do anything. Perhaps
he was affected by a curious report that had become
current ; a white dove had been seen sitting on the
roof of the building, and this was declared to be the
spirit of his father come back to mourn over the
letting of the house to a deceiver of the people. In
any case, it was clear that he desired to get quit of
his bargain and his tenant. The Doctor was all
the more resolute to hold on. It was now that his
manual work in the old days proved useful; he
took off his coat and executed the repairs himself,
making a better job of the matter than the half-
trained local tradesman would have done.
Il. COMEDY OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE
1886
OpposITION of a different character came from the
Turkish officials. Chiefly Moslems, they sub-
sisted largely on bakhshish. They never obtained
sufficient salary to live upon, and they charged
60 A GALILEE DOCTOR
“fees? to all who required their services. In
their own view the system was perfectly proper ;
in Western eyes it was pure blackmail. Where
foreigners were concerned it probably was. They
were regarded as legitimate prey to be fleeced, and
all officials were adepts in the art of raising ob-
stacles in order to be bribed to remove them.
Courteous and tolerant whenever there was any
prospect of financial advantage to themselves, they
became instantly hostile if their right to bakhshish
was challenged. The Doctor was well aware of
the hold the practice had upon the community, but
determined to fight it and resist all attempts to
intimidate and harass him.
He thought he might smooth his way by culti-
vating relations with the Governor, and made a
formal call. He was received with every mark of
goodwill, and the visit was returned. On this
occasion the Governor brought the conversation
round to tape-worms, of all subjects in the world,
and soon the two were discussing the life-history
of these intestinal parasites. To the Doctor’s
exposition of their habits the Governor listened
with deep attention, and thanked him warmly for
the information. The Doctor, wishing to express
his indebtedness for the visit, said, with hand on
heart, “ Ana mejniin kethir,” which may be rendered,
“ T’m a great fool,” instead of “ Ana memniin kethir,”
“I’m greatly obliged’?! The Governor bowed
gravely, but the dragoman turned away to hide a
smile.
Inquiries then began to be made into the
character of the Doctor’s work. The question was
COMEDY OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE 61
raised whether he had the right to practise in
Turkish territory since he was not in possession
of a Turkish diploma, and there being no offering
of bakhshish, he was refused the usual immunity
from Customs duties on medical stores. It was
over this matter that the first trial of strength
occurred. When the bulk of his boxes arrived, he
went down to Haifa to take them out of the Custom-
House, a place of evil notoriety, in the unsavoury
atmosphere of which nerves were often unstrung
and health lost. Lacking a firman, or permit from
the Sultan, he was received as an individual without
standing. The old Turk in charge, who stood with
a number of Arab underlings about him, assumed
a strictly official manner.
“* Yes, your boxes are here,” he admitted, “‘ but
they must be examined.”
** Oh, but I have invoices for everything,” said
the Doctor.
*‘ Invoices! God destroy your house! Don’t
you know that invoices can be cooked? Every box
must be opened.”
** When will you begin ? ” asked the Doctor.
** Come to-morrow morning.”
Next day the Doctor put in an appearance.
“‘T am ready to attend the examination of my
boxes,” he intimated.
The Turk looked up leisurely. ‘‘ Ah, yes.
But we must have a doctor to look at the drugs.”
“* Well, get one.”
“ Unfortunately the Government doctor is not
in town ; he is on duty in the country.”
“* When will he be here?”
62 A GALILEE DOCTOR
“To-morrow, no doubt; call to-morrow
morning.”
The next day he asked, “ Well, is the doctor
here:?:7/
“No; he is not back yet.”
*“* What is to be done ? ”
“* Call to-morrow morning.”
“‘ Look here,” said the Doctor impatiently, “ I
have left my work in Tiberias and come to procure
my medicines and am willing to pay the duty. I
am staying at an hotel, spending money ; and lives
may be lost through your delay. I shall have a
counter-claim against you for damages.”
The Turk regarded him compassionately.
“ Call to-morrow morning,” he replied.
The Doctor called.
““Have you got your man!” he inquired, not
very hopefully now.
“No; but there is a little Jewish watchmaker
who was once in a chemist’s shop—he may do.”
“Then get hold of him.”
By and by the Jew arrived and the work began.
They came upon some bottles of coloured liquids.
““Ah! What are these ? ” the Turk demanded.
“I suppose,” said the Doctor wearily, “ they
are what they are labelled.”
The Turk seized one of the bottles. “ It looks
like brandy,” he remarked, and, extracting the cork,
smelt the contents. The Jew meantime had been
deciphering the labels and, recognizing some of
the names, pronounced them to be drugs.
A large bottle was uncovered, and the Doctor’s
eyes twinkled.
COMEDY OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE 63
*€ What is this ? ”
“Open it and see—is it not your business to
find out ?”
The Jew started back as if he had received a
shock. It was a bottle of ammonia.
They came to a barrel of Epsom salts which
puzzled them for a time. Was it an explosive?
Some charcoal fire was sent for to test whether it
was saltpetre. Then an iron rod was obtained
and poked into the stuff to discover whether it
hid cartridges.
This was followed by the examination of a
package containing insect powder. They took it
to be mustard, and one tasted it and quickly spat
it out. “ That’s not mustard at any rate,” he
muttered.
And so the comedy went on for three days, and
the Doctor, resigned at last to the process, sat and
played a tin whistle which had come along with
some miscellaneous goods. The assistants grew
so tired of the business and so hopeless of bakhshish
that when they reached the cases of surgical
instruments they valued them at random and
finished their task.
The Doctor handed over the amount of the
duty, and asked for a receipt.
“* Call to-morrow.”
At the ominous words his heart sank. Was he
beginning the play all over again ?
“T must have a receipt and I won’t give bakh-
shish,”’ he said obstinately.
“ Call to-morrow.”
Next day he obtained a carriage, picked up Mrs,
64 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Vartan, who had been in town, and called at the
Custom-House.
‘“* My receipt ?” he asked.
** Call to-morrow.”
“ But I am on my way back; my carriage is
waiting. It won’t take you two minutes to give
me my discharge.”
They were placid and immovable, and in an angry
mood he returned to the carriage and poured out
his feelings to Mrs. Vartan.
‘““My dear fellow,”’ she said, amused at his
wrath, “go back and give them their bakhshish
and have done with it. These fellows don’t get
their salaries—you will be really paying them for
their work.”
He took her advice and handed the officials £5.
They were all smiles and courtesy, and in a few
minutes he had his receipt.
* Now,” he said grimly, “I want to talk to
you. You are the most incompetent set of men I
have ever seen. Your valuation of my goods is
all wrong; here are my invoices which you would
not look at. You will see that you have charged
fifty per cent. less than the amount you should
have done. Now are you not fools ? ”
They beamed upon him. “Go in peace,”
they said, “and next time send both the invoices
and the bakhshish.”’
Possessing now an adequate supply of medicines,
he opened a dispensary, and in a short time the
courtyard was again filled with patients, five-sixths
of whom were Jews of many nationalities, and one-
sixth Moslems and nominal Christians. Even
VIEWING THE LAND 65
with the help of a native assistant he was unable
to attend to all. He began to undertake serious
operations, and was impressed with the oppor-
tunities that crowded upon him ; the whole field of
surgery was open for the exercise of his skill. With
the success that attended his cases, the people grew
increasingly confident of his powers, and he, himself,
felt a joy and exhilaration in the work. “I am
thankful,” he wrote, ‘‘ that the Committee chose me
to labour in ‘Tiberias. I am full of hope about
the future... . The charm of the work is that
the old, old story is mew to the hearer.”
The occasional travellers who appeared at
Tiberias at this time were greatly struck by his
earnestness and devotion. “‘He seems to be
thoroughly happy in his work,” wrote one. “TI
cannot help admiring his courage and hopefulness
in spite of the difficulties with which he has to
contend.” Long afterwards, looking back, he him-
self declared, “‘ Those early days stand out as among
the happiest in my life.”
III. VIEWING THE LAND
1886
Tue Doctor, however, was human, and the depress-
ing conditions in which he worked, combined with
the loneliness of his position, sometimes affected his
spirits. Whenever he could steal away he took
his New Testament, Geikie’s Life of Christ and
5
66 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Baedeker’s Palestine, and climbed the hillsides
overlooking the town and the Lake; and there in
solitude he studied the scenes associated with the
ministry of the Physician in whose footsteps he was
treading, and obtained the spiritual reinforcement
which sent him back strengthened for his task.
It was early spring, when the country was
arrayed in all its glory. Save for some dark out-
crops of rock here and there, the land was covered
with a veil of green. It was not the vivid green of
grass, for there is no short sweet grass in Palestine,
except in gardens, but the duller green of weeds
that grew tall and rank. On the plains and hill-
sides splashes of yellow, scarlet, and white indicated
where the flowers grew in mass—the “ lilies of the
field,” as beautiful now as they appeared to Jesus.
No living thing moved in the wide landscape save
where, far up among the heights, a flock of black
goats sought pasture ; no sound broke the hush upon
the land save the faint call of the goat-herd. It
was the passionless tranquillity, the stillness, that
again impressed the Doctor. And the Lake was as
quiet as the land which circled it and was reflected
in its calm green waters. One small sailing-boat,
gliding with almost imperceptible motion close in-
shore, merely accentuated the loneliness of its
appearance. In the face of that solemn silence, the
wonderful pageant of the past seemed like a fantasy
of imagination; to recall the events of it was
like recalling the dim scenes in a half-forgotten
dream. Few countries that are barren and desolate
possess a history, but this one had been for centuries
throbbing with intense life, and had witnessed
VIEWING THE LAND 67
marvellous occurrences that had again and again
changed the course of human destiny. And in the
words of a French writer, ““ Upon that rocky Syrian
soil blossomed the lily of the valley whose fragrance
after nineteen centuries still perfumes the world.”
It took an effort to picture water and land as they
were when Jesus looked upon them—the hillsides
covered with woods and groves of fruit trees, and
the plains with crops and gardens ; the shore lined
almost continuously with populous towns, the Lake
alive with fleets of sails. Josephus gives a glowing
account of the beauty and productiveness of the
region; and no incident could better depict the
activity on the Lake than that singular stratagem
by which, not long after Jesus was crucified, the
Jewish warrior himself recaptured the rebel city of
Tiberias. Josephus was at Tarichez, a centre of
industry at the south end of the Lake :
“In the first place he ordered the gates of Tarichez to be
shut that nobody might go out and inform those of Tiberias ;
he then got together all the ships that were upon the Lake,
which were found to be two hundred and thirty, and in each
of them he put no more than four mariners. So he sailed to
Tiberias with haste, and kept at such a distance from the city
that it was not easy for the people to see the vessels, and ordered
that the empty vessels should float up and down there, while
himself, who had only seven of his guards with him and these
unarmed also, went so near as to be seen; but when his ad-
versaries saw him from the walls they were so astonished that
they supposed all the ships were full of armed men, and threw
down their arms, and by signals of intercession they besought
him to spare the city. . . . He took all their senate, consisting of
six hundred persons and about two hundred of the populace,
and carried them away to Tarichee. . . . And thus he recovered
Tiberias again with empty ships and seven of his guard.”
68 A GALILEE DOCTOR
And now it was forsaken, forlorn, devitalized,
the mere ghost of a land.
Almost the entire Lake was visible from the
Doctor’s point of view. Immediately below was a
narrow plain. On the left, the ground rose gently
and widely in a kind of valley until it hid the north-
east corner; up this ascent the track to Nazareth
deviously wandered. Midway on. the shore line
was a dark half-circle close against the water—
the town of Tiberias, flat and featureless save for
the dome and minaret of the Mosque, the broken
battlements of Tancred’s castle, and a palm or two.
It seemed but a speck in the wide wall-less spaces
of waste land that lay outside it. ‘To the south was
some irregular ground with granite columns lying
prone or projecting from the earth, indicating the
site of the old capital at the base of the bluff
on which stood the castle and palace of Herod
Antipas. There it was, some think, that the
daughter of Herodias danced and demanded the
head of John the Baptist. It is still known as Qasr
bint el-Melek—‘ Palace of the king’s daughter.”
Beyond, on the foreshore, white roofs
indicated the medicinal baths where the little
rivulets of hot water gushed from the earth and
ran down into the Lake as they had done through
all the changes of the ages ; beside them the tomb
of Rabbi Meyer, the celebrated Talmudist, the
scene of a yearly pilgrimage; and then desolate
slopes to the foot of the Lake. Fretting the shore-
line there appeared the mud houses of a little
Moslem village called Samakh. High above, on
the south-east horizon of hills, he could see the
VIEWING THE LAND 69
ruins of Gadara where Greek civilization held
sway ; and, coming north, the ruins of Gamala on
a ridge in the middle of a gorge up which ran a
track to Damascus. Almost directly opposite, a
brown scar indicated the scene where Jesus cured
the two demoniacs and the swine ran down “ the
steep place’ into the Lake. On the ragged profile
of the sky-line groves of olives marked Aphek,
where the children of Israel, in number like “‘ two
little flocks of kids,’’ defeated the Syrians who
* filled the country.”
Beyond that high horizon he saw in imagination
the spacious tableland of the Hauran, the rolling
wheat and barley fields with the rude peasant
villages, the waste wild tracts inhabited by the
wandering bedouin with their camels, sheep, and
goats, the mountains, one of the seats of the singular
Druze race; and beyond these, and stretching
away into the illimitable spaces of the East, the
mysterious desert out of which had come that
strange militant religion that had threatened to
conquer the world and was still as aggressive, as
menacing, as implacable as ever. In all that vast
region there was scarcely an agency of the Christian
faith. The vision might well have daunted the
most confident and courageous of missionary
pioneers. But, “ If God wills,” said the Doctor to
himself, “‘ I will be over there yet.”
To the north-east a cut in the hills denoted the
Jordan valley, and spanning it, and rising slightly
above it, shone the snowclad dome of Mount
Hermon. It was so distant that it did not dominate
the landscape, and would hardly have been dis-
70 A GALILEE DOCTOR
tinguishable from the general contour had it not
been for its dazzling cap which perpetually caught
and drew the eye. Below it, and above the Lake,
was Chorazin, with Capernaum and Bethsaida
on the shore at the foot of undulating slopes, which
on the west rose gradually into the lofty Safed
heights. Safed itself was visible as a gleam of
white, a city set on a hill, which was never hidden
save by passing cloud-drifts. More westward
still were the great masses of Upper Galilee cul-
minating in the Jebel. Jermak peak, the highest
mountain in Palestine this side of the Jordan.
Immediately on his left, but invisible on account
of the rising ground, lay the once marvellously fertile
plain of Gennesaret, now a melancholy weed-
waste, and Magdala, a wretched bunch of mud
hovels lining the beach. And behind him, over
the top of the hill, lay the spot where the last of the
Christian crusaders met Saladin and his Moslem
regiments, and, encompassed by fire and smoke
and heat, suffered a defeat which decided the
fate of the country for centuries.
It was at these times of quiet study and medita-
tion in places apart that the Doctor felt to the full
the wonder of his experience. He was living where
Jesus had lived and founded the religion that
had revolutionized the world—was following His
example,—if ever so far behind,—was in contact
with the same human nature that He had appealed
to, was witnessing the scenes that had illustrated
His teaching, and meeting exactly the same diffi-
culties and discouragements that had shadowed His
career. And he felt thrilled at the honour that had
A FIERY FURNACE 71
fallen to him. The life and the work and the
sutroundings might become familiar and even
commonplace, but there could never come a time
when he would not regard it as a privilege to walk
in the very footsteps of His Saviour and, like Him,
“go about doing good.”
IV. A FIERY FURNACE
1886
THE spring passed, the colour on the hills faded,
every trace of vegetation vanished, and the land
became seared and bare, as bare as the streets of a
city. The air grew sultry and oppressive, then
scorching like the breath of an oven; for months
the shade temperature was over 100° Fahr., and it
often went up as high as 110° and even, occasionally,
higher. During the day it was not possible to
walk much about in the sun, and the pulse of life
beat languidly. At night the atmosphere remained
hot and stifling, and the Doctor tossed about in
a vain endeavour to sleep, and at last took up his
bed and laid it on the housetop. The conditions
reminded him of the Turkish baths in Glasgow,
and he was inclined to believe his servant, who
declared that the water “boiled beautifully ”
because it required so little fire! Then the sirocco
blew from the desert like the blast from a blazing
furnace and shrivelled what vitality was left. He
went on as best he could attending the sick and plying
?
AAA,
72 A GALILEE DOCTOR
the surgeon’s knife, but he realized that, however
healthy and agreeable the climate was in winter and
spring, it was clearly unsafe for Europeans to remain
in the town during the three or four hottest months.
i Although had been told of the enervating
climate, he had not paid much attention to the
matter. Like most readers of the New ‘Testament,
he had little idea of the physical character of the
home country of Jesus. ‘“‘ Strange,’’ he said once,
“that no mention is made in the Gospels of the ~
great heat in which Christ carried on His work.”
Now the knowledge came to him with the shock
of an unpleasant surprise. / He was one of the type
of active men who are never happy except when
busily at work, and an interregnum of three idle
months was what he had not contemplated. Already
he was planning to fill these up with other work.
He was also sketching out the mission of the
future. A medical missionary was merely a fore-
runner, opening up the way for the evangelist and
the teacher; and he therefore pointed out that,
in addition to himself, a clerical colleague, a native
evangelist, and an educational staff were needed,
and also a Bible depot or a literature-distributing
agency. Without these the station would not be
properly equipped. Education, he saw, was
urgently necessary in order to improve the low
moral tone of the town. Few of the inhabitants
were literate, and of the women not one knew the
alphabet: the latter had no ambition except to
secure enough to eat and to become brides. Only
the Greek Catholic Church had a school, and that
a poor apology for one, there being but ten boy
A FIERY FURNACE 73
scholars; the Jews and Moslems had none.
Nothing whatever was done for the welfare of the
girls of any class; they had no occupation, and
refused domestic work. It was a community which
did not even drift, it lay stagnant, like a pool in the
remote backwater of some great stream, without
purpose, without progress. Mentally its people
were asleep; they were content if only they
managed to meet from day to day the elementary
needs of the body.
There was no lack of support in Scotland for
the Doctor’s proposals. The interest in the
Mission was widespread, for it had a touch of
romance that appealed to the Christian imagina-
tion, and many minds were thinking of the young
“man of Galilee’”’ who was struggling with the
exceptional difficulties of the field. ‘To his delight
his own sister offered to come out as a voluntary
worker among the girls. The Glasgow Ladies’
Jewish Association, a society with a long and
honourable record, decided to take up this special
service, and so began an active connection with
Galilee which continues to this day and has been
an element of incalculable value in the work of
the Mission. It appointed as its first agent, Miss
Fenton, a trained missionary teacher with experi-
ence in Turkey. At the same time the Jewish
Mission Committee sought for a young ordained
man to share the burden of the work. With such
developments in prospect the Doctor determined
to shift to a better house, and secured one on a
lease for five years, with an arrangement that
enabled him to build additional rooms.
74 A GALILEE DOCTOR
As the season advanced he suffered from the
heat : dysentery and fever seized him, and he had
finally to take to his bed, where he lay for a time
delirious. A visitor passing up to Nazareth in-
formed Dr. Vartan, who rode down to his assistance.
There was only a bridle-path between the two
towns, and Dr. Vartan could do nothing but place
him on his horse in front of himself and hold him
there all the way to Nazareth. The journey was
by night, and proved an experience which neither
of the men would have cared to repeat. So ill was
the Doctor that a report of his death—hopefully
anticipated by some of the Jews who opposed him
—was spread about, but under Mrs. Vartan’s
motherly care he was nursed back to health.
On his recovery he went on to Damascus to
relieve Dr. Mackinnon, while the latter was in
Scotland, and spent two months at the summer
station of Bludan, where he studied Arabic with the
village schoolmaster, and treated over a thousand
medical cases. In September he returned by
Beyrout and Jaffa, where he met his sister and Miss
Fenton and convoyed them to Nazareth. Leaving
the latter there, he proceeded in October with his
sister to Tiberias. The warmth of his reception
from the common people surprised him. He saw
smiling faces and uplifted hats on every hand, and
the children ran after him and kissed his hand.
With Miss Torrance in charge of the domestic
sphere, life ran more smoothly, and his strength
was doubled, though the house accommodation
left much to be desired. As the new upper rooms
were not ready he slept in the basement, an old
A FIERY FURNACE 75
structure with rotten floors, the haunt of rats,
snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and other creatures.
“I am sure,” he would say to his sister, “‘ that
there are a million bugs in that room.” All his
scraping and probing and disinfecting failed to dis-
lodge the pests. When he had contrived to secure
tolerable conditions there would be an invasion of
fleas or flies, for both of which Tiberias was
notorious, for surrounded as the building was by
native houses it was not possible to create a clean
oasis in the desert of filth.
As he had now the aid of a young native man
as dispenser and a Scripture reader, the work went
on with vigour. By the end of the year 1886 as
many as 647 patients had been attended to, 539 of
whom were Jews—many of these being seen in their
homes. The Baths, which he frequently visited,
undoubtedly assisted to spread his fame, as they
had spread the fame of Jesus. Large numbers of
Jews flocked to them from Jerusalem, Hebron,
Jaffa, and Safed, and from abroad, and remained
for weeks, not only undergoing the water cure but
also praying in the synagogue in the hope of re-
ceiving help from the spirit of Rabbi Meyer. Many
of the patients receiving no benefit from the Baths
stole into the Doctor’s consulting-room, and fur-
nished him with abundance of material for the
study of human nature. One was a Russian Jew
called Moses, as odd a character as any described
by Zangwill. His ailment was an enlarged liver
which was something of a medical curiosity, and
he had been successively in most of the principal
hospitals of Europe. As a result he had a knowledge
76 A GALILEE DOCTOR
of many languages; English he spoke fairly well.
Knowing the virtue of the Baths he had come, as a
sort of last resort, to try their efficacy, and hearing
of the foreign hakim and his magical skill he
decided to consult him. So impressed was he by
the personality of the Doctor that he begged to be
taken on as a servant. The Doctor agreed, and
treated him medically so well that his health greatly
improved. His gratitude was unbounded, and few
more faithful attendants ever served a master.
Having seen so much of hospital life he was
familiar with the routine of a Doctor’s work and
proved of the utmost assistance. He acted as
doorkeeper and guarded the Doctor from inter-
ruption and intrusion. When friends of patients
flew to the house by day or night they were met by
Moses, who ascertained the exact nature of the case,
and if necessary escorted the Doctor through the
filthy streets to the spot, and dealt with the crowds
in the sick-room.
He was as tender-hearted a man as one could
find. In his leisure time he haunted the byways
of the town, hunting up all who were ill, whether
Jew or Moslem, and reported them to the Doctor.
As a perquisite he was given the odds and ends of
the house food that were only fit to be thrown away—
crusts of bread, market parings, used tea-leaves,
and so on, and these he carefully kept and conveyed
to poverty-stricken homes in the town. Even
animals and birds had a place in his heart, and all
the cats and dogs knew him and came to him as to
a friend. He had compassion even on the creatures
that tormented the missionary. When the heat
THE APOSTATE 77
was, as he put it, “ boilin’,”’ he said, “‘ The fleas, pore
tings, dies!” His goodness was not on the sur-
face, for there was no artificiality in his nature ; it
was the expression of his simple and sincere spirit,
and had its root in love of God and of man.
He was absolutely devoted to the Doctor. On
one occasion when the latter was ill he sat beside
him day and night, watchful, ready, unwearied.
To obtain cooler air the Doctor lay on the broad
window-sill, and during the sleepless hours he would
engage Moses in talk and study the curious aspects
of Jewish mentality that opened up before him.
Moses had a remarkable knowledge of the Bible
and had an unshakable faith in the unalterable
character of the law, but he could not distinguish
between what was law and what was merely tradi-
tion. One of the comforts of his religious life was
the making of vows; it was an anodyne which seemed
to soothe him, and he would frequently resort to the
synagogue at the Baths to restore his soul with prayer
and the sacrifices of a humble and contrite heart.
When he left, after twelve years of incomparable
service, the Doctor missed him more than he cared
to acknowledge.
V. THE APOSTATE
1887
IN strong contrast to the torrid heat of the summer
the weather became very cold, the temperature
falling on occasion as low as 43° and producing a
78 A GALILEE DOCTOR
crop of new ailments such as chills and bronchitis.
If the streets were sewers in summer they were
quagmires during the winter rains, and the Doctor
found it extremely difficult to move about. “ In
some places,” he wrote, “I would need a horse
to drag me through the accumulation of mud and
filth.”’
When Miss Fenton arrived with a native assist-
ant whom she had secured, a beginning was made
with educational work among girls. The rabbis,
however, were opposed to any developments beyond
medical work, and when the school was opened
with a large attendance of Jewish girls, the fight
with official Judaism began. Khérems were sent
down from Jerusalem banning those who counten-
anced the institution, and all the Jewesses vanished,
leaving only a few Moslems and Christians. Miss
Fenton was not dismayed, it was no new experi-
ence to her ; but the Doctor felt keenly the averted
looks and distant demeanour of the townspeople
who had hitherto been so friendly.
This incident proved the wisdom of the mis-
' sionary statesmen of the Church in pioneering the
campaign in Galilee with a medical mission ; it was
the one Christian agency which the ignorance and
fanaticism of the East would tolerate, and it opened
doors which would otherwise have remained closed,
and modified or eliminated opposition that seemed
at first implacable. One striking illustration of
this occurred in these days. A rabbi whose
hostility to the mission was peculiarly virulent had
a daughter-in-law suffering from a deranged mind.
She was taken to the Synagogue of Rabbi Meyer
THE APOSTATE 79
at the Baths and kept within the iron railing of the
tomb in the hope that the good spirit of the old
miracle worker might drive out the demon. No
improvement being effected, the husband became
impatient and sought the advice of Dr. Torrance,
whose rational treatment soon restored her to her
right mind. The result was not lost on the rabbi,
and when he fell ill with an inflamed throat he
coveted the Doctor’s skill but was too proud to send
for him. One morning, when he was almost
suffocating, the son, the husband of the woman
who had been cured, rushed frantically to the
mission house and dragged the Doctor to the
patient. Immediate relief was given and a complete
cure followed. The rabbi was won; no man
could have been more grateful, and he never after-
wards opposed the Mission.
But it was the fundamental purpose of the
Doctor to commend Christ, and he felt that despite
the pressing claims of the dispensary and the calls
of the sick in the town he must make a beginning
of some sort with the evangelistic work.
He found that the Jews had no idea of sin \!
in the Christian sense and therefore felt no need
for redemption. Their religion was based on the
original Divine law as defined and codified through-
out the centuries by the rabbis : it consisted of the
strict observance of a multitude of rules bearing
on every aspect of their lives. A knowledge of
these could not be obtained without prolonged
study, and many spent their days and nights in
endeavouring to master and obey them, but,
ordinarily, they relied on the rabbis to keep them
80 A GALILEE DOCTOR
right. They found a sense of satisfaction in thus
patiently and loyally bearing the burden of these
minute regulations, and no doubt it reacted on
their worship, but it did not bring them into a
personal relation with God. ‘To them sin meant
the breaking of any of the rules laid upon them, and
their punishment was not so much alienation from
God as alienation from their fellows and the syna-
gogue with all its associations and social implica-
tions. It was the same external religion which
Jesus encountered and combated, but intensified a
hundredfold by centuries of rabbinical development
and custom.
The Doctor’s aim was to convince them that
sin was a reality, that disease was, in a sense, a proof
of it, and that there was mercy and healing with
God, and so gradually to lead up to the purpose
and power of the Saviour of humanity. For them
specially, therefore, he began a service in Arabic
every Wednesday and Sunday evening in his house.
But not a single Jew put in an appearance ; only a
few Greek Christians attended, and he foresaw
the stern and difficult task which an ordained
missionary would face when he arrived. Open
evangelism, the frontal attack, seemed in the mean-
time to be a forlorn hope. He fell back on what
always tells with every race, the daily example of a
life lived in the spirit of Jesus, and the quiet, kind
word spoken to individuals.
Literature he found a promising agent. The
leaflet or booklet reached mind and heart when
other means failed. A Jew who would not listen
to teaching or preaching, or did so only under
THE APOSTATE 81
protest, would carry away, hidden beneath his cloak,
a tract or New Testament, and read it in secret, for
possession of Christian books was a crime punish-
able with the severest penalties. Young and old
were accessible in this way. One aged rabbi whom
the Doctor visited asked for a New Testament,
read it carefully, and died with it beneath his head.
It was reported amongst his neighbours that he
had been a secret Christian disciple ; they buried
his body, but burned the book that had led him
astray. The ordinary magic-lantern was also a
useful instrument in the Doctor’s hands. When
he stretched the sheet on the wall of the house,
the news spread like wild-fire, and in a trice
people were pouring into the court and scram-
bling over walls and roofs to secure the best
view-points.
But increasingly he realized the need for a
colleague to grapple with the evangelistic work ;
it was not possible for him, with his hands more
than full, to attend to it properly. In response
to a strong appeal which the Jewish Mission
Committee issued, one of the ablest of the
students in the Free Church College of Glasgow
offered himself. When the Doctor heard the
name, Ewing, he recalled it as that of a young
man whom he had met and had pleasant recollec-
tions of, and was delighted with the intelligence.
He recommended that he be sent for preparatory
training to the Institutium Judaicum at Leipzig,
conducted by Dr. Delitzsch, and the suggestion
was carried out.
At Breslau, Mr. Ewing came across a Jew named
6
82 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Solomon Goldenberg, who had become a Christian
and had just been baptized. He was pronounced
‘ far gone in consumption,” with only a short time
to live if he remained in Germany. Mr. Ewing -
thought he would suit the Galilee climate and the
Tiberias work, and urged him to offer his services
to the Mission. Taking the advice literally, he
scraped together sufficient money and started off
for Palestine, where one night he appeared at the
Doctor’s house. Although not well educated, he
possessed an intimate knowledge of Jewish life
and literature, and seemed of a modest and kindly
nature, and the Doctor provided him with board
and a small salary.
As the first Jew in Tiberias professing Chris-
tianity, his advent created an intense sensation and
commotion. But for the protection afforded by the
Doctor it would have gone hard with him; as it
was, whenever he appeared in the streets, the
fanatical Jews denounced him and drew up the
skirts of their robes and stood aside as he passed.
They called him “an apostate who had been
bought,” for they could not bring themselves to
believe that he was sincere. The rabbis forbade
anyone to speak to him ; he was denied admission
to Jewish houses, and he walked, like a leper, alone
and shunned.
He fell back on assisting the Doctor at the dis-
pensary, and little by little his Christ-like character
won respect and wore down hostility ; then not a
few were eager to meet him and discuss his position
in the hope that he might be induced to return to
the religion of his fathers.
THE CITY ON THE HILL 83
VI. THE CITY ON THE HILL
1887
For the hot months of 1887 the Doctor went to
Safed. Although not mentioned in the Bible,
and therefore not so familiar to the Christian mind
attracted only by Biblical names, this town was in
many ways as interesting as any in Syria. It was
the largest in Galilee, and contained a population
of twenty-five thousand, of whom from twelve
to fifteen thousand were Jews, eight thousand
Moslems, and the remainder Christians. The
three quarters were ranged like a collar on the
slopes and eminences round a central hill which
was crowned with the white limestone ruins of a
Crusaders’ castle.
Safed became a Jewish city later than Tiberias.
When the Jews were expelled from Spain, many
secured a refuge in Salonica, but finding them-
selves too confined, they dispatched agents to
Palestine to spy out a possible place of settlement.
Safed was fixed upon, and thither emigrated a
company of educated and well-to-do members of
the race. The community became noted for
learning and piety, and the town was for nearly
two centuries the literary centre of Jewry where
the sacred literature was printed.
Some of the most famous men in Hebrew story
were buried in its vicinity—Hillel, “the teacher
of Jesus,” his rival Shammai, Joseph Karo, and
Simeon ben Yochai. To the grave of the last
84 A GALILEE DOCTOR
at Meiron came, every year, Jews from all quarters
of the globe, and weird scenes were enacted. A
great bonfire was prepared, silks, rags, and jewels
were thrown upon it, and the whole was drenched
with oil. The privilege of lighting the fire was
sold to the highest bidder. Intoxicating drink was
to be had for the asking, and under its influence the
crowd engaged in dancing and shrieking. When
the fire blazed up, boys, young men, and grey-
beards, all gesticulated and whooped like savages.
The revelry was kept up all night.
In later years the population of the town was
augmented by Ashkenazim refugees from Rumania
and Russia, who were wholly supported by the
khalukah. Rigidly orthodox, they employed their
time in praying, reading, and meditating on the law,
and their seclusion from the main lines of traffic
and travel only served to ossify their habits. It
was of them that Laurence Oliphant wrote: ‘‘ They
are a set of useless bigots who combine super-
stitious observance with immoral practice. They
are bitterly hostile to schools, and agree with those
western Jews who consider that any scheme for
developing the material resources of Palestine
by means of Jewish industry is fantastic and
visionary.” Racial and religious fanaticism was
exceedingly strong in the town, and the quarrels
between the various communities often ended in
bloodshed. When Lord (then Lieutenant)
Kitchener was engaged on the survey of Galilee,
he was attacked by the Moslems, and several of
his party were severely wounded.
The only house which the Doctor was able to
THE CITY ON THE HILL 85
hire was in the Moslem quarter. His object had
been to study and rest, but, moved by the amount of
suffering about him, he found himself entering
instead on hard, earnest work for which fortunately
he obtained the strength. Sending for his dis-
pensary attendant and his Scripture reader, he
began regular dispensary work, and attended all
who came, irrespective of religion. Moslems were
naturally in the majority, and he was amazed at
the opportunities afforded of reaching them ; they
even admitted him to their harems to attend sick
wives, and nothing impressed him so much with the
value of medical missionary work as this fact. He
found them rude, ignorant, and _ superstitious,
and absolutely untouched by Christianity. The
Jews also freely came to him, laying aside their
suspicion and dislike, and learnt that the religion of
Christ was the essence of kindness and love. During
his stay, he treated 423 Moslems, 124 Jews, 71
Christians, and 3 Druzes, and there was not one
who went away without some higher thought in
his mind or word of comfort in his heart.
This experience suggested that summer quarters
might be established at Safed. No other locality
would suit so well as a health resort for the Tiberias
workers. The town was the only place on the
hills where houses could be obtained ; it was about
4000 feet above the Lake, and the climate was
pure and bracing, and it could be reached within
five hours by riding. The track, it was true, was
merely a faint trail over the roughest of rocky
surfaces, but when once its intricacies were mastered,
it was fairly negotiable, so that frequent visits
86 A GALILEE DOCTOR
could be paid to Tiberias. The Doctor was also
convinced that the needs of the town could not be
left unmet. Such spiritual destitution and bodily
suffering could not be allowed to exist in the vicinity
of the Mission without some effort being made to
relieve them. There was no fear of encroaching
on the sphere of the Church Missions to Jews, the
aim of which was to minister only to the Jewish
section of the population. The Free Church
Medical Mission was wider in its scope: it recog-
nized no line of demarcation between religions,
and treated Jews and Gentiles alike, so long as the
love and saving power of Christ was taught. Even
amongst the Jews there was work sufficient for
more than one mission.
VII. A DIFFICULT AUDIENCE
1887-88
A PROMISING start was made in Tiberias at the
beginning of the winter 1887-88. When the school
was opened over fifty girls put in an appearance,
and, being in love with their teacher and their
lessons, maintained a perfect attendance. Occa-
sionally Miss Fenton would have an uninvited
audience of women from the town and villages, .
curious to see what was going on. It was
admitted that the girls were improving both
in their character and their demeanour ; they
could even, it was said, be distinguished in the
A DIFFICULT AUDIENCE 87
streets by their bright looks and smart and tidy
appearance.
The dispensary was now regularly open on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to all comers,
and on the alternate days only for special cases.
The Doctor was profoundly sorry for the women,
who suffered so much, and until his idea of a
special department for their treatment could be
realized, he began a clinic for them on Thursdays
which was largely attended, Jewesses being in the
majority.
The question of charging fees had been occupy-
ing his mind. His impression of the community
was. that of a pack of wolves ready to prey on any
charitable institution established in their midst,
and he wished from the first to make it a principle
of the Mission not to pauperize the people but to
train them in the grace of independence and self-
respect. This would also prevent the enemies of
the Mission accusing him of enticing away the
adherents of other faiths by giving free treat-
ment. Dr. Vartan was at one with him in his
determination, and he therefore began to charge a
penny or twopence for medicines and a larger
amount when he was called out to any who were
too proud to visit the dispensary in person. ‘Though
there were many remonstrances the scheme worked
well and justified his belief in their capacity to
ay.
: a iteats after sunrise patients would begin to
appear, often fighting to obtain early admittance,
and by nine o’clock the leewan—which had been
turned into a waiting-room—was crowded as well
88 A GALILEE DOCTOR
as the courtyard outside and all other available
space. To all a numbered paper was given, on
which was written their name and age, space being
left for the prescription and notes of the case.
This, which they retained, served as a ticket of
admission so long as it was kept clean.
When the Doctor came on the scene he read
a few verses from the Bible and gave a short address.
This was the feature of attendance which all classes
found most unpalatable. But the Doctor made it
known that it was an essential part of his work
and that all who objected to it could stay away.
‘“‘ I am not going to bribe you with free treatment,”
he said, “‘ and I must hold the little service, as my
religion tells me to do, and you can come or not as
you like. I am not sailing under any false colours.”
They liked his straightforward candour, and the
majority soon became accustomed to the process
of running the gauntlet, while the others who still
objected called him in to their homes.
In some ways it was a difficult service. The
Doctor spoke simply and clearly, often pausing
to ask if they understood, and his illustrations
were always taken from the everyday scenes with
which they were familiar. But he had the con-
sciousness that he was working against time. Here
were from forty to a hundred restless patients, many
of them suffering, and their minds occupied with
their bodily condition ; some believed he was talk-
ing blasphemy, others could not understand what
he was saying. He would often be interrupted :
“Oh, Doctor, don’t be long,” a woman would cry
out ; or “ Oh, Doctor, when will you be done? I
A DIFFICULT AUDIENCE 89
have an awful pain inside!” Occasionally a tall
Arab from the desert spaces would rise and stretch
himself, wrap his loose cloak about him, and stroll
outside and, after a mouthful or two of fresh air,
stroll leisurely in again. All were obviously re-
lieved when he finished. Yet he was there to teach
the good news from God, and no better opportunity
was to his hand. ‘That the service was not unprofit-
able he often learnt in the town, where his addresses
created interest and were discussed in workshop
and market. He found also that the Jews who
passed through the waiting-room became less
prejudiced and were readier than their fellows to
enter into religious conversation.
When the service concluded a bell rang, and the
patients passed into the consulting-room in the
order of their numbers, and thence into a passage,
where they received their medicine from the native
dispenser, and made their exit through a separate
door. Meanwhile Goldenberg was looking after
the Bible depot and reading-room, off the leewan,
talking to the Polish Jews who did not understand
Arabic, and distributing literature. His task was
often a thankless one; some scoffed and cursed
him, some listened in stony indifference, others
went out to avoid him.
The majority of patients suffered from medical
ailments, but there was a large number of minor
operations, and not a few surgical cases had to be
performed under the disadvantage of inadequate
accommodation and equipment. Very common
were wounds and broken bones—the result of high-
way robbery and assault in the neighbourhood,
90 A GALILEE DOCTOR
which sometimes proved fatal. Remarkable cures
were effected which made the Doctor thankfully
exclaim, “‘ God answers prayer.” There was, for
instance, a case of a young boy, the grandson of an
Arab chief, who, after a severe operation, recovered
in two days. Such was a miracle in the eyes of
the people and, being noised abroad, increased the
stream of patients. He began to be accounted a
magician, and he mingled trembling with his
gratitude, for let a few deaths occur and his re-
putation would be gone ; he would be hounded out
of the town, and all prospect of mission work would
be at an end. But no fatalities occurred, and his
position was strengthened week by week.
Calls came frequently from the villages and
bedouin encampments, and to these he trudged on
foot, toiling over the hot, trackless land, unconscious
of hardship, anxious only to deepen the hold of the
Mission on the people. Occasionally the summons
was from a greater distance. One of the earliest
was from an upland village on the opposite side of
the Lake. A woman who had benefited by treat-
ment at Tiberias had a relapse and was unable to
travel. Dressed in Arab costume, which he fre-
quently assumed in order to attract less attention,
the Doctor rode to the lower Jordan, forded it, and
ascended the hills to the little Moslem settlement
of mud houses, where he arrived at sunset. After
examining the patient and partaking of the family
supper of a mess of pottage, he squatted with the
men and women round the wood fire, as much of
an Arab in appearance as themselves, and talked
to them of the Good Physician who used to walk
THE PROCESS OF BUYING LAND 91
about the shores of the Lake below. They knew
nothing of Him and were greatly interested.
When, exhausted and wearied, he begged to be
allowed to retire, they spread a mattress, pillow,
and quilt beside the fire. He endeavoured to sleep,
but what with the smoke, the fleas, the snoring of
the men, and the smell of the sheep in the room, he
found it impossible.
After midnight some women who were sitting
with the patient, thinking the Doctor slumbered,
began to talk about him in low tones. “ Did you
hear how he spoke to you?” the patient said. “ ‘That
is how he speaks to the people in Tiberias—he
speaks to the women as if they were men. Down
there they don’t regard it as wrong to do such and
such things.” Having visited the Girls’ School she
had learned some of the “strange words” they
taught there. She “ knew them,” she said, “ off by
heart.”” ‘‘ What are they? ” the watchers asked.
“‘ God have mercy on me a sinner, ”’ she answered.
They groped after the meaning of the phrase, and
the patient showed that she had some dim idea of
its significance. Tears came into the Doctor’s
eyes as he lay and listened.
VIII. THE PROCESS OF BUYING LAND
1888
THE need for hospital accommodation was daily
becoming more urgent. ‘There were cases which
92 A GALILEE DOCTOR
the Doctor could not treat in the consulting-room,
and operations which would have required his
continued supervision. One day Moses appeared
with a story that an old Moslem lay dying beside
the Mosque. The Doctor went with him down a
narrow lane, the middle of which was an open
sewer, and entered a rude hut. The man lay on
the damp ground on a rotten mat, at his head was
a broken water-jar; his sores were black with
flies, and he was moaning and calling for water.
Friendless and hopelessly ill he had been left
to die in the very shadow of the Mosque where
men worshipped Allah the All-Merciful. Every-
thing that was possible was done by the Christian
physician to ease his sufferings, which were, how-
ever, soon over.
Shortly afterwards a black Moslem slave
crawled into the dispensary and was treated for a
disease brought on by exposure and destitution.
He returned on several occasions and was then
missed. The Doctor found him in the Mosque
unable to move, and starving. As he was homeless,
the Doctor, recalling the fate of the other Moslem,
had him conveyed to the house, where a bed was
made up in the depot room, Miss Torrance and
Miss Fenton nursing him by turns. A simple
operation relieved him, but he was too weak to
rally. He listened intently to the story of Jesus
told him in all tenderness and simplicity, and ere
he died at midnight, he was repeating the words,
“The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all
sin,” as if striving to fathom the comfort in their
meaning. He was the first in-patient of the Mission.
THE PROCESS OF BUYING LAND 93
Another case was that of an old blind Jewess
upon whom the Doctor performed an operation
for cataract in her home. He took every pre-
caution to ensure that the room should be kept clean
and sweet, but one day he found that the husband
had shut the door and windows and had been
cooking food on the fire; the place was full of
smoke, and the woman’s eyes were ruined. The
next case of the kind he treated in his own house
with complete success.
But he came to the conclusion that the sooner
hospital accommodation was secured, the better it
would be for the patients and his own reputation.
More satisfactory arrangements were also necessary
for housing the staff, and there grew up in his mind
a scheme for a complete suite of buildings com-
mensurate with the importance which, he was con-
vinced, the work was going to assume. The real
difficulty was to secure a site in the congested
town. He looked longingly at the great vacant
tracts outside. No one was allowed to build
there ; but in any case, in the lawless condition of
the country, it would not be wise to be isolated.
Of necessity the Mission premises must be within
the walls.
Only one spot seemed suitable for the purpose.
On the north side of the town the ground rose, and
where it adjoined the boundary and immediately
below the ruined pile of the Crusaders’ castle,
there was some waste land with a couple of ruined
rooms and a single olive tree. Although a fine site,
and commanding a view of the Lake, no one would
live on it, probably because of its rocky character
94 A GALILEE DOCTOR
and its contiguity to the open country. It belonged
to the mufti, who was the local religious head of
the Moslems and their official representative in all
relations with the Government, a well-educated
man of charming manners. The Doctor had
coveted this piece of ground from the time of his
arrival, but he was careful to avoid mentioning
the fact, especially to the mufti, who often visited
him, for to have done so would have been to lose it.
His patience was rewarded. One day the mufti
began to talk of the land, and offered to sell it to the
Doctor.
“ Come and have a look at it,” he said.
The Doctor, seemingly indifferent, accompanied
him to the spot.
‘* What is your price?” he asked.
“* Seventy-five napoleons.”
‘“* What about that piece down where the palms
are?”’ indicating another plot on the edge of the
beach.
** T will sell that too for another seventy-five.”
** Ah, well, I'll think about it,” said the Doctor,
repressing his eagerness. He allowed two or three
days to pass. Although he had no authority from
the Jewish Mission Committee to purchase, the
matter was too important to admit of delay, and
feeling sure that his action would be endorsed, he
went to the mufti and agreed to take both, half the
amount to be paid down, and the other half within
a month, on the understanding that the official
registration, giving validity to the Moslem deed,
would be to hand by that time. The Registration
Officer stated that the matter would have to be
THE PROCESS OF BUYING LAND 95
referred to higher departments at Acre. This
was done, but no answer came. ‘The Doctor knew
that bakhshish was expected, but he had set his
face against the practice, and resolved to stand firm.
The month passed ; he paid the money and took
possession, the mufti honourably fulfilling his part
of the contract. Then the Doctor received an
anonymous letter which said that if he would come
with {50 to the registration office he would receive
his title. ‘This was evidently written by an under-
ling with the connivance of his superior officer,
both of whom would share the amount.
The Doctor’s Scottish blood was roused. He
travelled to Beyrout, the seat of the wilayet
under which Tiberias was administered, saw the
Vice-Consul, and obtained an introduction to the
Wali or chief government official, and to him
told his story. The Wali shrugged his shoulders,
no doubt asking himself why this troublesome
hakim could not conform to the custom of the
country.
*“* Well,”’ he said aloud, ‘‘ I will have to obtain
authority from Constantinople. I will send a
telegram.”
The Doctor knew what kind of reply would be
sent. There would be two: an open one, reading,
** You must not trouble the British ” ; and a private
one, saying, ‘‘ Skin the wretched British.” ‘Time
passed. He made repeated inquiries, but was
always informed that no answer had arrived ; and
at last he said :
“Look here! I know your system, and I am
quite willing to be reasonable and recompense
96 A GALILEE DOCTOR
obligements, but this is blackmail, and I won’t
stand it.”’
‘“‘ Go home, and [ll send another telegram and
let you know,” was the reply.
He returned to Tiberias uneasy as to the out-
come. But Providence came to his aid. The
Governor of the town became sick, called in the
Doctor, and was carefully tended and restored to
health. In his gratitude he listened sympathetic-
ally to the representations of one or two of the
Doctor’s native friends, and the title was secured
without the payment of a single piastre.
The Doctor had, however, to sign a declaration
that no hospital, school, or church would be erected
on the ground without express permission from the
Sublime Porte. Further, when receiving local
permission to build two dwelling-houses, he had
to sign an undertaking that they would not be
converted into any of these institutions without
sanction from Constantinople.
IX. AT THE BACK OF BEYOND
1888
THE patients who came from the vast uplands of
trans-Jordania, drawn by tales of the foreign
wonder-worker, awakened in the Doctor a desire
to see that region for himself. One day three
dromedaries appeared outside the house, and three
SAFED: THE JewisH QUARTER
SOME PATIENTS OF THE EARLY Days
YS] Suu9ao ul Uaye} yoysdevus v sem SIy,
HNDODVNAS
AHL NI GAWIV], AHL ONIAGOLS Mal SVINadIL, Vy
MG SVIYAEIL Ivolday y
AT THE BACK OF BEYOND 97
Arabs entered. They were a father, who was
blind, and his two sons. The case was hope-
less.
““ But I am not a specialist in eyes,” the Doctor
said, as he gave them coffee, ‘‘ and as you have
come so far, you should go to the British Ophthal-
mic Hospital in Jerusalem.”
“God forbid!” they replied. ‘ We know you,
and we do not know the doctor in Jerusalem. If
you say nothing can be done, then nothing can be
done. Farewell.”
*““ Peace go with you,” said the Doctor. And
mounting their dromedaries they rode away.
Many of these Ishmaelite patients, on leaving,
begged him to come and see them in their homes,
and he would jocularly remark that as there was
no law where they dwelt, his life would not be
safe. ‘* By the beard of Mohammed,” they swore,
“not a hair of your head will be injured; you
will be received and honoured as a distinguished
guest.”
The idea fell in with his inclination, but what
hindered him at first was the necessity of keeping
closely to his daily routine. When he responded
to a call from a far-off village it meant that he was
attending to one patient and disappointing a score
or more of others at the consulting-rooms ; and he
was jealous of the good name of the Mission. He
felt like a mother who was nursing a child that could
not be left; and as there was no one to take his
place, he stuck to his post.
But in the spring at the time of Passover,fwhen
the Jews forsook the consulting-rooms in the
7
98 A GALILEE DOCTOR
fear that leaven might be amongst the medicines,
he took his tent and a mule loaded with medical
paraphernalia and set out for some spot on the
Lake or hills where Arabs were numerous. A
favourite spot was the plain on which, it was said,
the five thousand were fed. Another was the
mouth of the Jordan, where the water flowed
into the Lake between level tracts of weed and
black sand.
Notable occasions were those when he vaccinated
the people. Small-pox was always raging in one
region or other, and the people were apt to become
panic-stricken when it broke out in their vicinity.
They knew of inoculation and practised it, but the
Doctor introduced the vaccine method. At first
they were suspicious and hung back, and the
difficulty was to secure a patient, but after one had
received the treatment, his task was to prevent
them mobbing him in their eagerness to undergo
it. He never came across a conscientious ob-
jector ; if he had chosen to become a wandering
vaccinator he would have had a free pass through
the length and breadth of Arabia and a living to
boot.
It was when the heat rendered work impossible
and the town activities closed down, that he took
his tent and medical equipment and went farther
afield into the wilderness east of the Jordan. On the
way he would spend a night at Gadara(Um Keis),
1300 feet above sea-level, pitching his tent be-
side the old Greco-Roman theatre and temples.
Many of the people lived in the underground rock-
cut tombs, and even slept in the sarcophagi. Then
AT THE BACK OF BEYOND 99
he would make his way slowly to other villages and
encampments, keeping always on the outskirts,
away from the filth and smells. Many of the dis-
tricts were populous, and at one place he saw as
many as 20,000 camels. In nearly every village
he found a Jew from Tiberias, in a little shop,
or peddling, exposed to great hardships, and running
the risk of assault and robbery, the local Moslem
Governors being both bigoted and unscrupulous.
At a few of the nearer centres, Christian communities
of the Greek Orthodox Church existed, but of an
extremely debased type.
Gradually he reached the outskirts of civiliza-
tion and passed into the desert region. His fame
had preceded him, and he was invariably welcomed
and hospitably entertained. ‘‘ Don’t shackle your
horses,”’ said one sheikh! to him; “let them go
and eat what they like, and if they are lost we will
give you better ones.” Camels would be sent
to shift his tents and baggage to a stage farther
on, and when he arrived he would find a feast
ready and a crowd of patients awaiting him. He
never charged these children of the desert for
advice, but made them pay a nominal sum for the
medicines, and if they were too poor to afford
that, they brought eggs or chickens, butter or |
honey, sometimes a goat or lamb, and often barley
for his horses. In this way he made tolerably
sure that they would use the medicines, while he
earned their respect as a professional man ; other-
1 Sheikh is, like rabbi, a term of honour. Among the wandering
Arabs the headman is so called ; so is the head of a village or a party.
It literally means ‘‘ old man.”
100 A GALILEE DOCTOR
wise they might have considered him wealthy, and
a proper subject for spoliation. ‘The medicines
he gave, whenever possible, in the form of pills or
tabloids, as spoons and cups varied so much in size
that no definite dose could be prescribed.
He endeavoured to impart some rudimentary
notion of hygiene and sanitary science, and as
many were naturally intelligent, he found no
difficulty in impressing them with the practical
value of his teaching. One scorching day he sought
shelter in the guest-room of a sheikh, who offered
him coffee and water. The former he accepted,
but he politely declined the latter on the ground that
he only drank spring water. ‘‘ Oh,” said the sheikh,
“heavenly water is better than earthly water.”
The Doctor discovered that the heavenly water
had percolated through dunghills into a rock-cut
cistern, and, while cool, was not colourless. ‘‘ No
wonder,” he told the sheikh, “that diarrhea,
dysentery, and fever are endemic in your village.
Bring your chief men.” They gathered in the
guest-room, and the Doctor delivered a homely
health lecture on the thesis that cleanliness was
next to godliness, and gave them directions how’
to carry out the principle in regard to potable
water. The Moslem religion has a good deal to
do with eating and drinking, and they took the
preaching to heart, as a subsequent visit to the
village proved. From this elementary platform
the Doctor proceeded to higher issues, and spoke of
clean language, clean thinking, clean living, and
clean souls.
Ere he was awake in the mornings his tent would
AT THE BACK OF BEYOND 101
be surrounded by a picturesque crowd impatient
to see and consult the hakim. He would come out
and gaze at the throng and realize the hopelessness
of giving detailed attention to every individual, and
as many suffered from the same ailments, he sorted
them out into classes and dealt with them whole-
sale. Everything was done in the public eye. As
he treated one man, half a dozen suffering from the
same complaint would hang on his words and follow
his demonstration, and, beyond these, hundreds of
others were intently watching and listening. By
patiently explaining the causes and history of the
diseases, he found that the patients took a more
intelligent view of their condition, and were readier
to follow his directions.
Surgery appealed more to them than medicine ;
it was something they saw and understood ; and it
was the Doctor’s remarkable skill in operations
which gained him a reputation that extended far
into Arabia. Cases of a minor nature came in
almost hourly; those of a serious character he
would only deal with, if acute; others, that could
wait, he sent to Tiberias. Occasionally he would
use chloroform, to which they submitted without
demur—Arabs as a rule abstain from all forms of
alcohol—and the wonder of it never palled upon the
onlookers. They would not, however, submit to
amputation. “If a Moslem loses a limb,” the
Doctor was told, “‘ he expects to be without it in
the world to come.”
He was as interested in their own medical
methods as they were in his. Here are some of the
curious facts he gathered :
102 A GALILEE DOCTOR
They attribute disease to God, to devils, to the evil eye ;
and as cures they pray, and wear hejabs (extracts from the
Koran and devices written by some dervish and kept in a
leathern pouch attached by a string to the neck or hair of head
or to the wrist). Wandering doctors or holy men attempt to
drive out the evil spirits and cure diseases by incantations,
poundings (massage !), writing and tattooing on the body, as
well as by various decoctions and plasters. Beads, bones,
shells (for dropsy), alum and other salt crystals, the paws of a
hyena and other animals, antique coins, etc., are worn as charms,
and a good price is often paid for them. Special diets are often
ordered ; for example, bread without salt and raisins for forty
days. ‘The actual cautery, by red-hot iron or smouldering rag,
is the most popular remedy, being applied over the seat of pain
in nearly every part of the body but chiefly over joints. The
humoral theory of rheumatism, sciatica, etc., is carried out by
the application of a pea over the cauterized point to keep the
wound open and promote a flow of the evil humour for days,
months, or even years. Setons, issues, acupuncture, counter-
irritants, scarifying, venesection, and many of the methods of
Avicenna were carried out by the Arabs. Special men are
known as bone-setters. ‘They make a special starch bandage
with flour paste and white of egg spread on calico. They use
reeds as splints, but seldom or never fix the approximate joints,
or bandage the distal end of a limb, and by tightening the limb
too much frequently produce gangrene. Compound fractures
are usually fatal. Bleeding from wounds is stopped by the
tourniquet, actual cautery, the application of coffee, ashes, red
earth, etc., under a bandage. Wounds I have seen dressed with
leaves, rags, skins ; and as application to gun-shot wounds I
have seen both tar and treacle used.
Always when opportunity occurred he gave
simple, natural talks on religion and the claims of
Jesus of Nazareth, and they listened with attention.
One night during a great drought he spoke in
prayer, of the anxiety of the people, and asked God
to send rain and relieve their distress. A listener
AT THE BACK OF BEYOND 1038
was so impressed that next day he brought one of
the sheikhs and a large number of his followers to
hear the petition and join in it.
The magic lantern was a source of unbounded
delight. One evening the women crowded in such
numbers on the roof of a man’s house that the
timbers began to give way. As they were deaf to
the owner’s demands to descend, he pulled down
the lantern sheet and carried it off. Another spot
was found, and the exhibition proceeded undis-
turbed.
In his travels he came across a sheikh who had
once been carried to the dispensary with a diseased
leg ; hopeless of recovering the use of it, he was
amazed to find himself, later, walking back to his
desert home. It was little wonder that he welcomed
the Doctor with a grateful heart.
“His leg continues well, and from the moment we arrived
at his village until we left it he kept near us. He was anxious
to serve us in every way possible. He brought us barley, a
sheep, hens, eggs, and bread for food, and helped us as we
attended to the sick. He had supper with us the evening we
arrived, and, as usual, we had reading and prayer in Arabic
afterwards. The chief men of the village calling en masse upon
us just as we had finished, he told them what we had been
doing, and begged me to tell them what I had been reading.
I spent about two hours as I sat at the tent-door addressing a
company inside and outside my tent. They had questions to
ask, not in opposition, but simply for further explanation.
Each morning and evening Hamad joined us in our reading,
and on Sunday he was a long time with us. He already knew
the Gospels fairly well, so we began the Acts together. He
stopped his harvest-men from working the Sunday we were
there. I avoided passing any remarks on Mohammed or the
Koran, but I could see there was a struggle going on in his
104 A GALILEE DOCTOR
mind, and he once said to me, ‘ Mohammed was a prophet, but
he was not like Christ.’ ”
This sheikh invited the Doctor to exhibit the
magic lantern in the mosque, but he prudently
declined the offer, for such an act might have been
deeply resented and destroyed his influence. He
held the meeting instead in the guest-house. On
this occasion the pictures illustrated scenes in the
life of Joseph. At the end the sheikh declared that
several of the incidents had been missed out. This
was true, and the Doctor found that he had been
reading the Bible which had been given him in
Tiberias. “‘ Then,” said the Doctor, “ you tell
the people the whole story,” and to his surprise
was informed that he had been reading from the
Book to crowds of astonished hearers. “‘ A man
like that,’ remarked the Doctor, “is not far from
the Kingdom, but, humanly speaking, it would be
impossible for him to profess Christianity and live
in the land. He would get, unawares, a cup of
coffee with a little arsenic in it, and die what would
be called a ‘ natural ’ death.”
When the long day’s work was over the Doctor
would sit in the cool of the brilliant nights and talk
with his bedouin visitors—men who dressed and
lived and toiled as in the days of Abraham—and
see deep into their hearts. He found, what did not
surprise him, that below the veneer of race and
religion and ignorance and fanaticism, the en-
crustation of ages of isolation, their real nature
was little different from that of other peoples more
advanced in the scale of civilization.
CURSES 105
X. CURSES
1888-89
Mr. EWING, who was accompanied by his wife,
arrived in 1888. In all mission fields it is the
appearance and conduct of a missionary which
excite interest rather than what he says, and the
newcomer was scrutinized with keen interest.
The impression he made was that of a big man in
every way ; he was tall and muscular in body, and
robust in mind and spirit—a type which the towns-
people respected and the roving bedouin loved.
He won all by the buoyancy of his nature, his
quick sympathy, and his patience and reasonable-
ness. ‘Thoroughly evangelical he was anxious to be
at work, and began at once with an interpreter, but
it was not surprising that he felt, as he said, like “a
muzzled lion.’”’ ‘There was something, however,
in his trained and cultured voice, ringing through
the still air, which of itself arrested attention and
drew listeners from the courts and roofs around.
A special aptitude for Arabic soon carried him over
the initial difficulty of the language.
He was much impressed by the hold which Dr.
Torrance had gained on the people. “ Whatever
they may think of the motives of those who sent
him here,” he wrote, ‘‘ the Doctor himself is cer-
tainly one of the most popular men in the town.
There is no mistake about his intentions, for he
makes no secret of his real purpose, but he is so
obviously their friend, and so straightforward in
106 A GALILEE DOCTOR
his work, that the most suspicious are led to trust
him.”
As the Doctor had anticipated, the new direct
attack on the religious convictions of the people
aroused bitter opposition. Jews and Catholics
were at one in resenting the development, and
khérems were thundered from both the synagogue
and the church. Time after time the preacher at
his meetings was faced by rows of empty benches.
He was not discouraged ; hostility was better than
indifference, and there were minor indications that
the work was telling. One Sunday when the priest
in the Greek church had pronounced the solemn
words, ‘‘ Let the curse of God rest on all who
attend Mr. Ewing’s meetings ! ” a boy shouted from
the door, ‘‘ Cursed be every one who does not
attend Mr. Ewing’s meetings!” It was the fact
that the congregation was more amused than
terrified that made the incident significant. With
the Christians, indeed, the fear of censure never
lasted long.
Even the Jews took risks. They would come
and stand outside and listen, so that when charged
with disloyalty they could swear in true legalistic
fashion that they were not at the meeting. But on
the whole the rabbinical power was too strong to
be antagonized, and now and again a case would
occur which showed what would happen if one
went too far. An orphan boy, attracted by the
sweetness of the new teaching, talked secretly
with Goldenberg, who passed him on to Mr.
Ewing. The fact becoming known, his relatives
secured him, punished him severely, and left
CURSES 107
him bound hand and foot for some days, with
but the barest allowance of food, and then sent
him to Jerusalem to be beyond the reach of the
missionary’s influence.
The girls’ school promised so well that a build-
ing was hired in the Jewish quarter to accommodate
it, Miss Fenton’s quarters being an old synagogue.
Like the evangelistic meetings, however, it came
under the ban of the Greek authorities. “It is
better,” the priest said, ‘“‘ that the girls should grow
up ignorant and bad than that they should come
under the influence of the Protestant women.”
All the Greek girls vanished from the school, but
in this case the authorities had to reckon with
the mothers ; these had been so pleased with the
change in the character and development of their
daughters that they protested in a body and the
prohibition was withdrawn. ‘The Jewish girls were
more of an uncertain quantity: loving the school
and the Bible lesson and hymn-singing, they learnt
more than their parents desired, and now one and
now another would be absent for a time, or be taken
away permanently. The Moslem pupils were the
most regular in attendance, although new officials
with a zeal for the faith would often create diffi-
culties. On one occasion a rival school was
attempted, but the girls came to Miss Fenton and
said, “‘ We learn nothing at our school, and we are
far behind the Mission girls.” One who persisted
in attending the Mission school was severely
beaten.
As there were usually over sixty scholars in the
schoolroom the scene was a lively one, but those
f
108 A GALILEE DOCTOR
who witnessed the cheerful, well-ordered activity
and recalled the wild and untrained condition of
the girls a few years previously declared that Miss
Fenton had achieved a miracle.
It was not surprising that the more doughetul
townspeople wished a similar school for boys.
This was a more difficult problem. Little store
was set on girls by any of the religious com-
munities, but boys were a different proposition.
Amongst the Jews it was the boys on whom de-
volved the sacred duty of handing down the beliefs
of their fathers, and they were jealously guarded
against all heretical influences. Mr. Ewing felt
that everything depended on the wideness of the
curriculum and the quality and thoroughness of
the teaching; the education would have to be
made so good that the people would simply be
forced to take advantage of it. If Hebrew were
included as a subject the Jews would be specially
attracted.
The feeling grew; several small boys were
actually sent to Miss Fenton in anticipation of a
school being opened ; and then a deputation from
the Christian population asked the missionaries
formally to establish one. ‘They guaranteed an
attendance of twenty-one boys, and agreed to
submit to any conditions that might be imposed.
Mr. Ewing plainly indicated that if the school were
opened he would be bound to teach religious
truth as he knew it. The deputation shrugged its
shoulders. ‘‘ For ourselves,”’ was the reply, “‘ we
are satisfied with our religion, but the boys will be
free to judge for themselves.” ‘‘ What does the
CURSES 109
priest think of it?” he asked, turning to that
dignitary. The priest’s reply was unexpected.
“They may become angels if they like ! ” he said.
Simultaneously in Scotland an assistant-school-
master, Mr. W. M. Christie, offered himself for
the work. He hada natural aptitude for languages,
and already knew Hebrew well, and the Committee
appointed him to organize and conduct the educa-
tional side of the Mission. Like Mr. Ewing, he
was sent to Leipzig for a special course of instruc-
tion, and, along with Mrs. Christie, travelled out
by Syria, where he remained for a time to study
Arabic. On entering the country he had the
customary annoyance at the Customs House.
When a hymn-book was found in his baggage it
was challenged because it contained ‘‘ Hold the
Fort.” ‘‘ We Turks,” he was told, ‘‘ do not allow
people to hold forts in this country.”
The missionaries had now to consider a further
problem. Ifthe scholars were influenced to become
Christians, what of their re:ation to their fellows ?
The path from Judaism to Christianity was as
difficult as that traversed by the hero of the
Pilgrim’s Progress. It would not be possible for a
convert to exist as a unit in the Jewish community ;
even if his life were not endangered he would be
excommunicated and ostracized, and would be
unable to earn a livelihood. Salvation meant
starvation. The remedy was to start industrial
and agricultural departments in which the boys
could be taught and trained to be economically in-
dependent. There were great possibilities in the
country. To the north of the town was the rich
110 A GALILEE DOCTOR
plain of Gennesaret waiting to be cultivated, while
the Lake teemed with fish which energy might make
the basis of a profitable trade.
It happened that one of the visitors to Galilee
at this time was John Stephen, well known in
shipping circles, whose practical mind was im-
pressed with the advantage which the fishing
scheme would be to the Mission. He agreed at
his own expense to place a fishing-boat, with the
necessary gear, on the Lake. Everything in such
a country naturally depended on the freedom of
action secured from a Government which was
inimical to any progress that did not put money
into its own purse. For some years a modest
living was earned by the men employed. Other
fishermen, however, resented what they thought
unfair competition and made matters difficult.
Government exactions were heavy. Perhaps more
skilful hands would have commanded greater
results. As it was, the earnings were absorbed
by wages and repairs, and with the wearing out of
the craft and tackle the enterprise came to an end.
Another gift to the mission was made through
the efforts of Mr. J. R. Miller, a member of the
Jewish Mission Committee, a sailing-boat, called
the Clyde, being subscribed for by the yachtsmen
of the Clyde, while a punt named the Kelvin was
added by a number of ladies in Glasgow and the
west. ‘The transport of both from Haifa to Tiberias
on two waggons, each drawn by four horses,
caused much excitement, the people turning out
all along the route to inspect and discuss them.
They became the talk of Tiberias because of their
CURSES 111
fine lines and finish, and there were crowds down
to watch them being launched. It was November,
and heavy rains were falling, but in a fair interval
the Doctor and Mr. Ewing rowed the Kelvin out,
the little craft cutting the water in a way which
excited the admiration of the spectators. The
trial trip of the Clyde—flying a blue flag, worked
by Mrs. Vartan—took place later, when the Doctor
received a call from the Baths. A number of
townspeople, including the Governor’s daughters,
accompanied him, and all were delighted with the
swift passage.
The Clyde became known as the Doctor’s
vessel, and there was no more welcome sight to the
people along the shores of the Lake. ‘The scenes
reminded him of those connected with the ministry
of Jesus. One day he sailed her to Magdala, and
after addressing those who gathered round he
attended to their ailments. Down the hillside
came a donkey bearing an old blind man suffering
from senile cataract. He was led to the Doctor
through the crowd of spectators, who laughed at
the idea of a cure being effected. After some
temporary treatment the Doctor asked him to come
to the dispensary at Tiberias, which he did. So
successful was the operation that the patient found
his own way back to his astonished friends. ‘‘ What
did he do to you?” they asked eagerly in the manner
of the men of old. ‘‘ How opened he your eyes ? ”
And after the same manner he replied, ‘‘ One thing
only I know, that whereas I was blind now I
see... . If this man were not of God he could
do nothing.”
112 A GALILEE DOCTOR
XI. IN PERIL ON THE LAKE
Tue Lake was usually a scene of tranquil beauty,
but occasionally, as in Christ’s day, a sudden and
severe storm would break upon it ; the waves would
dash against the shore-wall and come swirling
over into the garden, the high wind would uproot
the trees and damage the roofs, the soaking rain
would create havoc among the town houses, scores
of which would collapse, the inmates seeking shelter
in the mosque and synagogue and in the Mission
premises. Both the Clyde and Kelvin were
anchored off the sea-wall, and were reached by
swimming, and occasionally during one of these
gales they would break adrift. Early one morning
the Doctor was roused from sleep with the tidings
that the Kelvin was away from her moorings and
was being dashed against the wall. A strong and
skilful swimmer, he plunged into the water and
with great difficulty secured the little craft.
Shortly afterwards he and Mr. Ewing had an
exciting adventure, which the latter thus vividly
describes :
“The storm had raged all night with increasing strength.
Torrential rain, gathered in roaring cataracts, rushed down the
mountain-slopes, ploughing up the roads and gouging out great
trenches in the softer soil. Our earthen roofs were severely
tried, and not all stood the test. The plash of muddy water
from the ceiling of your bedroom is a comfortless thing. The
dawn brought temporary cessation of rain ; the mountains east
and west of the sea appeared to support a canopy of threatening
cloud, blown about by the wind; while far and wide the crested
billows rolled, driven eastward by the fury of the tempest.
2] 9} OF punors ysty oyi uo o1e SSuIpying uoissly ou],
SVINAAI I,
A BEDOUIN TENT
/
THE HILL OVERLOOKING TIBERIAS ON
WAS BUILT
WHICH HEROD’s CASTLE
_ IN PERIL ON THE LAKE 113
With the first light of dawn came a panting messenger from the
shore with tidings that our small boat, the Kelvin, had broken
from her moorings and disappeared. After serious consulta-
tion, Torrance and I resolved to set out in the Clyde, which, fast
held by her anchor, still proudly breasted the waves, in search
of the missing craft. The doctor made his way through the
troubled waters and brought her to shore.
“Then our difficulties began. To manage the boat in such
a sea a third hand was absolutely necessary. One fisherman
after another, tempted by the assurance of generous pay, agreed
to venture ; but after a glimpse of the sea from the shore, with
one consent they turned sadly, but resolutely, away. To go
out in such weather, they declared, was to court maut fi’lbahr,
‘death in the sea.’ We determined to go ourselves. At the
last moment one, Mukhayil by name, not bolder than the rest,
but more devoted to us, stepped forward. Convinced though
he was that the enterprise meant almost certain disaster, he
could not let us face the peril alone. The doctor and he rowed,
I grasped the tiller, and the brave little vessel shot out from the
shore. A lugubrious crowd had gathered meantime, and many
lamentable voices, drifting down the wind, brought us the
comforting assurance that we should never return alive. The
company soon climbed the roofs whence their eyes strained
seaward, wistfully wondering if they should witness our
calamity.
“The storm blew from the west, so the waters close to the
shore were troubled chiefly by the refluent surge. Toiling
outward, we passed beyond the shelter of the mountains and
encountered the full fury of the blast upon the open sea. Oars
were shipped, the mast was stepped, and despite the entreaties
of our Arab friend the big lug-sail was hoisted. ‘The canvas
filled, bellied out, and strained upon the mast. Instantly the
little craft leapt forward over the billows. To the eyes on
shore she seemed literally to fly.
“* As we neared the middle of the Lake the hurricane grew in
violence. It is safe to say that never before or since has a like
speed been made by a sailing-boat on the Sea of Galilee.
Mukhayil crouched, a woebegone figure, between the thwarts.
The doctor held the sail-rope with a loop round the belaying-
pin. Even thus the pressure of the sail threatened to wrench it
8
114 A GALILEE DOCTOR
from his hands ; so he fixed it with a knot. The perils of our
position were now plain enough. The Clyde had been designed
by skilful craftsmen who, however, were ignorant of the con-
ditions prevailing on our little sea. She was too round of
bottom, and, with the spread of canvas she carried, liable to
capsize in a squall. Our ballast was water in barrels fitted for
the purpose. As long as the wind remained steadily behind us,
however tempestuous, we might hope to weather the gale.
But any sudden veering might precipitate our doom. Some-
thing like this happened.
** We were about the middle of the sea. The storm was at
its height. In a moment the wind dropped ; the sail flapped
loosely, and we lay tossing on the boiling waters. A furious
squall from the east burst upon us. It swung the sail round.
Torrance just eluded a blow from the bottom spar as it flashed
to port, the end of it grazing my left eyebrow. The knot held
the rope fast, and the boat heeled over. Ina twinkling the water
was rushing in over the gunwale, and a moment or two would
have sufficed to swamp us. The grey bundle between the
thwarts suddenly sprang to life and loosened the cord at the foot
of the mast. The boom slid down. The sail collapsed. The
boat at once righted herself and we began to breathe again. It
was with a thrill of horror that the incident was seen by the
gazers from the roofs.
“Torrance and I grasped the oars and tried to keep the boat
in front of the wind, which had now resumed its original
direction, hoping that it would drive us towards the eastern
shore. Progress, however, was alike slow and painful. We
decided to hoist the sail once more. Mukhayil fell on his knees
and implored us to desist. But what were we to do? If the
wind held there was greater danger of upsetting without the
sail than with it; and anyway death from exposure would be
worse than death by drowning. So up went the sail, and in an
incredibly short time we found ourselves approaching the steeps
to the north of Gamala. The waves were breaking wildly on the
shore. We might not go too close. No sign of the missing
Kelvin could we descry. We lowered the sail, shipped the mast,
and threw out the anchor. It was a sandy bottom ; the anchor
dragged. We tried to guide the boat so as to run her, bow on,
upon a stretch of sand. But we had not reckoned on the force
IN PERIL ON THE LAKE 115
of the waves. They swung her round into a trough, then, lift-
ing her bodily, hurled her out on the sandbank, where she
landed, mouth downward, with the three of us, by some
miracle, safe alongside.
“They were three anxious men who consulted there as to the
next move. Mukhayil’s suggestion that we should walk home
round the shore seemed to us a counsel of despair. It might
possibly be safe; it would certainly be humiliating. Finally
we put our strength to it, set the boat upon her keel, and in the
teeth of the breakers ran her again into the sea. We were our-
selves up to the armpits before we thought it safe to scramble on
board. By Herculean efforts with the oars we got her out a little
way from the shore and some distance southward, where we
found bottom on which the anchor held. But swinging at
anchor in such a storm has few attractions, especially when the
miseries of mal de mer are added. Up came the anchor, and at
the first stroke of the oars sickness disappeared.
** We found the Kelvin to the south of Gamala, stranded on a
bit of sandy beach hardly longer than herself, with reaches of
jagged rock and stones on either hand, backed by thorns and
oleander bushes, On any other spot in the neighbourhood
she would have been broken to matchwood. She had suffered
considerable damage as it was, but seemed quite worth salving.
' After strenuous work, with the stout oars of the Clyde for levers,
we got her once more afloat. Now arose a serious problem.
Could we hope to tow this water-logged craft against the wind
across a seven-mile breadth of stormy sea? Our experience
thus far had been too much for Mukhayil, who could give little
further help. It did not look promising ; but we could see
nothing else to do. Torrance and I settled down to the oars
and just doggedly pulled away. The wind compelled us to
make a detour to the south-west, greatly lengthening our
journey. We were still far from land when night dropped her
sable curtain over the storm-tossed waters, leaving us only the
scarcely visible outline of a mountain top against the sky by
which to steer our course.
“ The reappearance of our sail after apparent disaster brought
no great comfort to the watchers in Tiberias. We quickly
passed beyond their sight in the dimness of the storm, and they
had little doubt that we would perish amid the uproar of waters
116 A GALILEE DOCTOR
on the eastern coast. Many remained on the outlook ; but as
the hurricane lasted all day and no trace of us had been seen
when darkness fell, their worst fears seemed to be confirmed.
A tin of petroleum was taken to a lofty roof and set on fire. A
bright flame shot far up, splitting the black canopy of night.
It was a forlorn hope; but if by some strange chance we still
survived it might help to guide us home.
“* By this time we were making better progress in the com-
parative shelter of the western hills, and were not so very far
away. We could see distinctly the black figures of our friends
silhouetted against the glare as they moved between us and the
flame. Torrance bent his finger, placed it in his mouth, and gave
vent to a wild whistle which was well known as the Doctor’s call.
It pierced the clamour of the tempest and fell on their ears
with startling effect—-almost like a voice from the dead. A
great shout reached us across ‘the intervening gloom; and a
welcome of unrestrained enthusiasm greeted us as we stepped
ashore at the old city wall. Weary beyond utterance were our
bodies, but a sense of triumph in having achieved our object
sustained our spirits. For although the little Kelvin never
quite recovered from the results of her great dash for freedom,
she long continued to serve as a useful auxiliary to her big sister,
the Clyde.
“I am afraid that the experienced fishermen of Tiberias—
certainly Mukhayil—thought our enterprise more reckless than
brave. Looking back after an interval of thirty years I am half
inclined to agree with them !”
XII. A FIERCE CAMPAIGN
1889-go
WHEN, in 1889, the Doctor’s furlough was due,
five years after he had entered on his task, the way
became clear for his going home by the advent of a
Syrian who was able to take his place.
A FIERCE CAMPAIGN 117
Dr. Selim Daoud was the son of a well-to-do
merchant in Damascus who, proud of his boy’s
intelligence, sent him to school and college at
Beyrout, where he proved one of the cleverest
of students. After graduating in medicine he pro-
ceeded to Edinburgh for post-graduate work. It
was a harsh change from the sunny climate of
Syria, and he rebelled at the dull skies. His land-
lady, with characteristic Scottish carefulness, was
continually pulling down the blind in his room,
and he was as constantly pulling it up. ‘‘ But you
will spoil my carpet,” she protested. ‘‘ My dear
woman,” he replied, “‘ this is my sun from’ Damascus
and I want to see him! If your carpet gets spoiled
I will give you a new one.” He came under the
influence of a young man, a member of the
Y.M.C.A., and was converted and joined the
communion of the Free Church.
On returning to Damascus he was associated
for a time with Dr. Mackinnon, and he then agreed
to act as locum-tenens for Dr. Torrance. The latter
found him to be a Christian of an exceedingly fine
type: gentle and bright and high souled, a musician,
yet devoted to science, one of the most promising
natives on the Syrian horizon. His character and
knowledge of the language and people made him an
ideal substitute for the Doctor, who left for home
with an easy mind. In March, accompanied by a
cavalcade from the town, he and Miss ‘Torrance—
returning after her term of voluntary service—
rode up the winding path through a veil of rain,
and on the summit were sped on their way with the
stately salutations of the East.
118 A GALILEE DOCTOR
The Doctor was in time for the General
Assembly. It was the Jubilee year of the Jewish
Mission, and to signalize the occasion a special
fund was inaugurated, for the purpose, amongst
others, of securing the necessary buildings at
Tiberias. Dr. Andrew Bonar, the sole survivor of
the famous Mission of Inquiry in 1839, was present
on the Jewish night, and it was a coincidence
that Dr. Torrance should be there to tell how that
dream which he and M‘Cheyne had dreamt half
a century before had materialized on the shores
of the Lake of Galilee. When he had last ad-
dressed the Assembly, he said, there had not been a
single worker in the field ; now there were ten, and
the future was full of hope. A prediction he uttered
almost startled his audience. “I make bold to
say that Tiberias will some day become one of the
most valuable and most important winter resorts
in the world ”—an allusion to the medical value
and commercial possibilities of the hot springs.
He had always a greater idea of the capabilities of
Palestine than most people. ‘‘ The Jordan valley,”
he would say, “ will yet be a gold mine; the Dead
Sea will be a live sea by and by.” But it was not
on these grounds that he appealed for new mission
buildings ; he dwelt on the suffering of the people
and on the need for healthy homes for the mis-
sionaries. “We are living in native houses; our
devoted lady teacher has been seriously ill owing to
the insanitary state of the dwelling.”
The Committee had plans and estimates pre-
pared, and word was sent out to Mr. Ewing to
begin the houses for the missionaries and teacher
A FIERCE CAMPAIGN 119
and the dispensary. It was the first outcome of the
Jubilee Fund.
The Doctor’s satisfaction was marred by cabled
news that Dr. Selim Daoud had been drowned in
the Lake. He and Mr. Ewing had gone down from
Safed to Tiberias on a visit. The night was hot,
and before turning in Dr. Selim, who was an
expert swimmer, went out in a small boat to bathe.
He was seized with cramp and sank. When the
man in charge of the boat reached the spot he could
not be seen. All that night and next day and the
following night search was made for the body,
which was eventually found close to the wall of the
town. Seldom had Tiberias seen such a funeral.
The Governor, the officials, and the Jewish,
Moslem, and Christian populations, followed the
coffin as, preceded by soldiers, it was taken to
the cemetery. When Mr. Ewing paid the
searchers, Mukhayil, who had worked harder than
any, said, ““ No, no, I cannot take any money.
Dr. Selim was my brother,” and turned away
in tears.
The vacant position was filled by Dr. Khalil
Sa‘adi, also a graduate of Beyrout College, who was
ibn Arab, of Arabian blood, which was a recom-
mendation to the people, and he made a good
beginning. “But,” wrote Mr. Ewing, “ Dr.
Torrance’s face will be a welcome sight to many
in Tiberias.” In the circumstances the Committee
thought it would be well for Torrance to curtail
his furlough, and arranged that he should spend the
following summer in Scotland. ‘The Doctor cheer-
fully agreed, and after being ordained an elder he
120 A GALILEE DOCTOR
left in October, and within a few weeks was again
in the midst of his duties.
The medical work of the winter was exception-
ally heavy, though chiefly confined to the people
of the town on account of severe weather and
interrupted communications. As many as a hun-
dred patients per day, chiefly Jews, passed through
his hands, but he was never able to treat all who
came. When the strain lessened he took advantage
of the presence of an assistant to make an extended
tour of the villages beyond the Jordan, where he
found the customary smiling welcome. The
weather proved cold and ‘damp, and dengue was
raging, and when he returned he suffered repeatedly
from the fever. A visit to Gaza, on the desert
highway to Egypt, where Mr. Huber was now
stationed, restored his strength.
The house of the clerical missionary, a massive
stone structure, spacious and cool, with windows
fitted with wire gauze as a protection against mos-
quitoes, being finished, was occupied by Mr. Ewing,
who declared enthusiastically that the situation
was unequalled in Palestine—as, for beauty and
interest, it undoubtedly was. The roof commanded
almost a complete sweep of the whole Lake and
surrounding district ; every spot that the eye rested
upon .was associated with some imperishable
memory, and below was the flat-roofed town which
now seemed a place apart. As the finest building
on the lakeside, the house was long an object of
attraction to the inhabitants ; many of the rabbis
paid it a visit, and it was eyed with a curious and re-
spectful interest by the men and women of the desert.
A FIERCE CAMPAIGN 121
Evangelistic work went on as usual; a Sunday
school was started and flourished ; and the Scripture
readers found readier entrance into the homes of
the people, where they came across many instances
of the inadequacy of the Jewish legalistic faith to
sustain the sick and the dying.
One aged Jew said to Goldenberg, ‘“‘ My dear
friend, I must journey hence.”
“Whither ? ”’ said Goldenberg.
“Thither, where all men must go.”
“You fear the journey ? ”
*“ Assuredly, since I know not if I have sufficient
for the costs of such a journey.”
““ Have you not kept the law, since you are thus
afraid ?”’
“* Certainly I have kept the laws, but who knows
if I have rightly fulfilled them all ?”’
The educational side of the work gave the
greatest encouragement. Miss Fenton’s girls’ school
was the most popular institution in the town.
When a pupils’ exhibition was held, and the parents
heard their daughters recite and sing, they declared
they were “too clever.” ‘‘We must put blue
beads on them,” they added, “ to charm away the
evil eye.” Pointing to the rows of alert, clean, and
tidy girls, Miss Fenton said to a visitor, “‘ These
a short time ago were unwashed, unkempt, ragged
children playing about the streets.”
The Doctor himself took every occasion to
pay informal visits to the people. There was
nothing that he more enjoyed. Moses, who knew
every passage and house in the town, was his guide,
and led him to many a curious experience. The
122 A GALILEE DOCTOR
people were always cordial in their welcome, but
regarded him as a doctor, and immediately brought
some bodily ailment to his notice. ‘‘ No, no,” he
would say, ‘“‘ I am not a hakim just now. I am just
a man like yourself. Let us talk.” Then with a
reference to the Talmud on the table he would work
the conversation round to religious topics, and a
discussion would follow. ‘To verify a statement
his Hebrew Bible would come out, and he would
ask them to turn to the 53rd chapter of Isaiah or the
31st chapter of Jeremiah. Sometimes he got them
to read the story of the Passion Week, which would
amaze them greatly, since they had never heard of
that dark tragedy in the history of their race.
Earnest, simple-minded people he found many to
be, and he learnt to put himself in their place and
consider what he would have been if he had occupied
their position and possessed only the religious
knowledge which their leaders allowed them to
acquire.
Moses would finish up with a visit to the syna-
gogue, which was a kind of common home or club,
the daily resort of the pious, the library in which
they read the sacred books, the school of the rabbis,
and often the shelter of the sick who were friendless.
Not infrequently he would be called to see a patient
there.
Safed was not forgotten. The Doctor and Mr.
Ewing had many discussions on the subject of open-
ing a station there, and finally the latter drew up
a scheme on which they had agreed, and this ob-
taining the sanction of the Committee, work was
begun on an organized basis. The outlook seemed
A FIERCE CAMPAIGN 128
peculiarly hopeless. Opposition to Christianity
was exceedingly violent at this time owing to the
inflow of Russian refugees, whose stories of suffering
and misery, endured at the hands of the Christians,
roused the strong resentment of their compatriots.
_ Nevertheless the missionaries went forward in faith.
Property was bought along a level plot which had
once formed the moat of the Crusaders’ castle, and
here were established the mission house and dis-
pensary. Miss Fenton, whose health had been
affected by the insanitary conditions in Tiberias,
made Safed her headquarters for a time, and laid
the foundations of a girls’ school which promised,
if unmolested, to be one of the most influential
agencies at work in Galilee. To this institution
came, as head teacher, Amina Faris, a native of the
Lebanon, who had been educated in a German
school at Beyrout, and could talk German well.
Crowds of eager scholars flocked to the school,
attracted mainly by the prospect of learning English.
When Mr. Christie arrived to take charge of the
educational and evangelistic work, he opened a boys’
school and a night school, and added French and
Turkish to attract the Moslems. Such activities
alarmed the Jews, as an article in a local newspaper
showed :
“Our young men are gathered together, to the number
of tens, to the mission house, to learn English. Behold, we see
that the days are coming when a new generation shall arise,
when the sons and daughters of our town shall be in the hands
of the Mission. From her cup shall our descendants drink, of
her bread they shall eat, and with her clothing shall they cover
themselves, and on her law shall they meditate. Now judge
ye of our humiliation, of our shame and our disgrace. And ye
124 A GALILEE DOCTOR
shepherds of our flock, set your hearts to these words. Assemble
yourselves together, take counsel not with khérems and curses,
but with a real means of repairing this evil. Ask the Baron
(Rothschild) that he shall make his boys’ school into an in-
dustrial school. Strengthen yourselves to ask him, seek it of
him while yet there is time. Do not allow men of good char-
acter to apply to you the words of our great prophet— Woe to
the sheep of Israel ! the sheep you pasture not, the sheep which
has gone astray you have not turned back, the lost ones you
have not sought ; they are scattered without a shepherd, and
they are become food to every beast of the field.’ ”
Recovering from its first surprise at these
developments, official Safed shook off its sloth and
started a campaign which turned out to be the
fiercest which the missionaries had yet encountered.
All the ultra-conservative elements in Safed,
Jewish, Moslem, and Christian, rose in their
strength and, aided and abetted by the Govern-
ment, smote the work with all the weapons at their
disposal. The parents were threatened with the
terrors of spiritual retribution, and the children
with physical punishment, the khalukah doles were
withheld, nuns went from house to house dissemina-
ting false reports about the Mission—telling the
sick, for instance, that their illness was due to the
girls and boys being under the influence of Pro-
testants ; permission was given to the ill-disposed
to throw stones at the schoolhouses and the
teachers—“ the personal insolence the teacher of
the girls’ school has had to endure,” wrote Mr.
Christie, “ baffles description.” For a time the
schools were practically deserted, and the Hebrew
journals of the country contained glowing accounts
of the success of the campaign. But the longing
SECURING A FIRMAN 125
for knowledge is not so easily stifled, and gradually,
as the storm subsided, the pupils ventured back.
Many of the girls reached their school before
dawn and remained until after sunset, when they
could slip unobserved away.
XIII. SECURING A FIRMAN
1890-91
*“I WONDER,” wrote the Doctor, ‘‘ what medical
men at home would think if they knew that we
excise the elbow of a man and treat the case as an
outdoor patient? ‘This, of course, is the result of
absolute necessity.”’ Serious operative cases were
coming to the dispensary in increasing numbers,
and he began to allow patients to lie on the floor
of the waiting-room in order to have them under
constant supervision.
One day a pale and emaciated Moslem woman
with a diseased bone in her leg was carried in from
a distant village. So offensive was the odour from
the wound—it had been cauterized with red-hot
irons, and was gangrenous—that the other patients
protested, and put her out of the waiting-room.
The Doctor entertained very little hope of her
recovery, but promised to see her every day and
do what he could if she managed to secure a room
in the town. She sought in vain; no one would
receive her on account of the smell from the wound,
and she was supposed to be dying. Even the
126 - A GALILEE DOCTOR
khans and stables would give her no shelter.
Carried on the back of her mother she returned
exhausted to the dispensary, and begged to be
allowed to lie under the archway and die in peace.
This was too much for the Doctor. A word to
Moses, who was standing by, all sympathy, sent
him off to the chief rabbi, who was then a patient,
and he returned with the tidings that a little room
and kitchen of his own could be rented for the
purpose. Here an operation was performed, the
diseased bone was removed, grafts of skin were
placed over the wound, and the woman returned
to her home singing the praises of the wonderful
doctor who had brought, her back to life. Her
husband received her as one from the dead.
The room in which she had lain was about
16 feet square, and the Doctor divided it into three
compartments, and began his hospital—a Jewish
woman, who spoke Arabic and the Yiddish jargon,
acting as nurse, cook, and cleaner. As many as
eight patients would occupy it at a time, Jew,
Moslem, and Christian all associating together
and forgetting for the nonce their differences of
thought and custom. They brought their own
belongings, and, when cured, took up their beds and
walked.
In that little native house miracles of healing
were effected. Three of the first patients were
blind and they left with their sight restored. One
of them, a bedouin from the East, kissed the hand
of the Doctor and said he would carry a white
flag through the country, and tell every one what
God had done for him at Tiberias. The incident
SECURING A FIRMAN 127
was so common that the Doctor forgot it, but not
long afterwards came a lamb from the desert as a
gift from the man who had been blind and could
now see. Another patient was a lame boy who
came on crutches and was made to walk.
This embryo hospital the Doctor supported
entirely out of the fees paid by the patients and by
contributions from friends, but it was obvious that
it was only a makeshift and would not long meet
the needs of the situation. The country was
beginning to shake off its age-long stupor. Jews
were buying land and establishing colonies. An
hotel had been opened in Tiberias, and visitors
were passing through in greater numbers ; the site
of Capernaum had been bought by the Franciscans,
and Bethsaida by a German Roman Catholic
society ; railways were being constructed, and one
was projected from the coast to the Lake.
Conscious of this stirring of the dry bones, the
Doctor was impatient to possess a large and_ well-
equipped hospital to meet the requirements that
would arise. He realized the difficulties in the
way. At this time the Turkish authorities were
making one of their spasmodic efforts to restrain
the activities of the missionaries, and were putting
into operation the law which required that a firman
should be obtained from the Sublime Porte at
Constantinople before school or church or hospital
could be erected. An order was issued that all
schools except those carried on under the authority
of a firman were to be closed, but through the
action of the British Embassy this was suspended
for the time being.
128 A GALILEE DOCTOR
It was not an opportune moment for obtaining
concessions, but the Doctor was never afraid of
obstacles. He went to the Governor of the town
and asked his advice as to how he should proceed
in the matter. ‘Too timorous to move himself, that
official urged the Doctor to negotiate directly with
Constantinople. ‘“ Which means,” remarked the
Doctor whimsically, ‘‘ that I have to beard the lion
in his den. Well, I will do it.”
He took the postponed half of his furlough
that summer (1890), was married in June, in Anders-
ton Free Church, Glasgow, to Miss Huber, and
returned by Constantinople. The head of the -
Free Church Jewish Mission there was Dr. Han-
nington, a man of high character who was on the
best of terms with the British and Turkish officials.
One of the chief men in the Embassy was Mr.—
afterwards Sir—Adam S. J. Block, who had formerly
been vice-consul at Beyrout, and, through him,
the Doctor obtained the promise of an introduction
to Sir William White, the Ambassador. “ First,”
said Mr. Block, “ write out your application say-
ing you have got the land, have been working so
long, are going to erect a perfectly equipped
hospital, and so on.” ‘This the Doctor did, being
careful to state that the hospital would not be
erected near a Moslem mosque or graves, and would
not overlook any spot frequented by Moslem
women, and making the application, according
to Turkish law, on behalf of ‘“ Mr. Chairman
of the Jewish Mission of the Free Church of
Scotland.”
When he called again Mr. Block said, “‘ Now
SECURING A FIRMAN 129
we'll send up your card and your introduction and
see what happens.”
The Ambassador at once sent for the Doctor.
** Get him interested,” said Mr. Block. ‘‘ Tell
him all about the Jews and Palestine and every-
thing. He can do much if you get him on the right
side.”
“Well, sir,” was the Ambassador’s greeting.
_“ What is it? What do you want?”
The Doctor made the utmost of his opportunity,
and succeeded in arousing his attention and interest.
He was dismissed at last with “ All right! Send
up Block.”
When Mr. Block returned it was with a gratified
smile. “‘ You seem to have managed it; come
back to-morrow.”
The words had a painfully familiar sound to
the Doctor, but he reflected that he was dealing
with British officials who kept their word. On
the morrow he was told that everything was satis-
factory, and there was nothing for him to do but to
get home.
After obtaining the Turkish diploma of Doctor
of Medicine, and visiting Vienna and the mission
station at Budapest, he reached Tiberias, half hoping
to find the firman awaiting him, but nothing had
been heard of it. Knowing how matters go to
sleep in Turkey if vigorous action is not main-
tained, he wrote once a week to Dr. Hannington
urging him to keep at the Embassy. By and by
the local Governor—another new man, who was a
patient, and friendly with the Doctor—intimated
that the application had come through for com-
9
130 A GALILEE DOCTOR
ment and he would see that a favourable reply was
sent. Several influential natives also made re-
presentations in his favour to Constantinople, but
the weeks passed, and he was sometimes in despair.
The delay was, in reality, ministering to the
best interests of the Mission. As planned, the
hospital was to be erected on the ground which
the Doctor had first acquired ; the site was the
best possible then, but a large sum had to be ear-
marked for raising the foundation to the level of
the roadway. There was another piece adjoining
the clerical missionary’s house on which the
Doctor had long cast a longing eye; it was lower
and would provide an ideal situation for the
hospital, while the cost would be less as the founda-
tion surface was of rock, and a quarry could be
opened within the area purchased. But there was
no hope of securing it as it was public ground and
used by travellers as a camping-place.
Amongst the visitors to Tiberias was a Turkish
military official, the agent for the Sultan’s private
property in the district. He came to the Mission,
was agreeably surprised to see the new dwelling-
house, so spacious and clean and cool. ‘‘ I should
like to build one like that,” he said, “‘ and live in
Tiberias. I shall buy this place next to yours.”
He had but to mention his wish for the authorities
to hasten to gratify it; the ground was transferred
to him for a nominal sum and with the best title-
deeds. Becoming a patient of the Doctor, he grew
friendly to the Mission. For some obscure reason,
however, he relinquished the idea of living in the
town, and offered the ground to the Doctor for
THE FIRES OF PERSECUTION 1381
one hundred Turkish pounds. It seemed a miracle !
The Doctor was not in possession of so much
money, and had to hunt round to collect the amount,
and the title-deeds were actually handed to him
before the sum was paid over. This was in 1891,
and he lost no time in communicating the fact to
the Committee. The plans for the hospital—
which were drawn up by Mr. Campbell Douglas
of Glasgow as a gift to the Mission—were altered,
and the necessary changes were effected in the
application for the firman.
At last came a welcome note from the town
officials that the firman had arrived ; with all due
reverence—for the Sultan’s signature is sacred in
the eyes of his subjects—they passed over the
document, and the Doctor was justifiably proud
that it had not cost him a piastre in bakhshish.
In virtue of its possession he was able to import
goods for the hospital work free of duty.
XIV. THE FIRES OF PERSECUTION
1891-92
So far the resistance to the activities of the Mission
had been mainly passive with an occasional out-
burst from the official and more orthodox sections
of the various communities. The missionaries
hardly dared to think what would happen when one
of the numerous inquirers made open profession of
conversion to Christianity. On the whole, neither
132 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Jews nor Moslems cared much what views their
young people held so long as they kept within the
pale of their own faiths. But it was certain that
when they evinced an inclination towards the
religion of the Christians the forces of persecution
would be unleashed. Already reports were coming
in of secret floggings and stonings, and by and by
incidents occurred which were ominous of what was
in store for converts.
In the Safed day school the Moslem boys
proved quick and apt pupils. One, the only son
of poor parents, a half-starved lad of sixteen, was
particularly good at his lessons and was a diligent
student of the Bible. ‘The Moslem officials, hearing
of this, took him forcibly from the school and im-
prisoned his father. The boy, with a courage beyond
his years, refused to be intimidated, and returned to
the school. On Sunday he openly carried his
Bible and hymn-book to the Sunday school, and
in the sacred month of Ramadan he refused to
fast.
Action against the school was taken by the
officials, who objected even to the teaching of
geography because the text-books made out that
the entire world did not belong to the Sultan. They
raised a false charge against the native teacher
who was giving excellent service to the Mission.
Two Moslems bore evidence against him, and in a
country where a Moslem word is accepted in pre-
ference to that of ten Christians the charge was
sustained, and he was imprisoned and the school
closed. A little bakhshish would have settled the
matter, but the demands of the officials were sternly
THE FIRES OF PERSECUTION 183
resisted, and it was only through Consular inter-
vention that his release was ultimately effected.
In the evening school, Mr. Christie taught young
men languages, comparative religion, and other
subjects. As he was exceptionally well fitted for
the task of reaching the minds and hearts of the
pupils, the classes were popular. One young Jew,
a clever lad and a good Hebrew scholar, was so
convinced of the claims of Jesus as the Messiah
that he openly admitted his faith in Christianity.
Immediately the Jewish community was in full
cry after him. They suppressed his voice, but did
not shake his conviction. The commotion was so
serious that Mr. Christie and Mr. Ewing arranged
to send him out of the country, and gave him a
letter to Dr. Torrance, who was then at Nazareth.
The Doctor managed to get him to Jaffa, where,
however, he was arrested on a charge of theft. He
was taken back to Safed and imprisoned. When
released he succeeded in making his way to America.
These were but preliminary skirmishes: the
next case was of a more serious character. The
scene was Tiberias. (One of the young men who
frequented Mr. Ewing’s house on the Jewish
Sabbath was Ephraim, the head teacher in a
rabbinical school.) He was foremost in the con-
troversial discussions which took place, was ex-
ceedingly bitter in spirit, and was regarded as the
champion of the orthodox in their opposition to
the Christian faith. Now and again his wife and
children came under the healing ministry of Dr.
Torrance, and when he himself fell ill he was
treated with the kindness and care which took no
A
ye
134 A GALILEE DOCTOR
cognizance of religious views. Being of a thoughtful
and inquiring nature he sought to probe the motive
underlying so selfless a service, and he and the
Doctor had many talks. He began to read the
New Testament in Hebrew, and was profoundly
moved by the personality and teaching of the
Man of Galilee. The, Reber passed him on to
Mr. Ewing. all ei
The latter tells ae one evening at sunset
re Ephraimywalked into his ‘study and, taking off his
~~ tarbush, or fez, an act of unusual courtesy, said,
.t.*I am minded to be a Christian.”) With deep
feeling he described the struggle that had been
going on within him; between a growing con-
viction of the incomplete nature of Judaism and a
realization of the truth of Christianity ; between a
longing to surrender himself to Christ and his
loyalty to the ancient faith of his race. Tenderly
and wisely Mr. Ewing dealt with him, and it was
arranged that he should undergo a course of
peeen at a quiet hour of the evening.
» Fhe regular visits,'to the missionary’s study
ies suspicion, ae a watch was set on his
movements. He was about to come to the deciding
point when he was charged by the rabbis with
apostasy. Not denying his purpose, he was sus-
pended from his position as schoolmaster and
subjected to a pitiless storm of persecution. His~
resolution- remained-unshaken.-- Then. his wife and
children . pled--with him, and outwardly he took
his place again among his people, but in his heart
he never changed. When the Jewish feasts were
due he started off for Nazareth, but the rabbis,
j
{
and companions.
THE FIRES OF PERSECUTION 185
shrewdly suspecting that it was a plan to avoid
taking part in the ceremonies, raised a- hostile
crowd, which followed him and forced him to
return to the town. |
© Then he disappéared from the knowledge of
the missionaries. Afterwards it became known
that a false accusation of theft had been brought
against him, and that he had been confined in a
filthy cell and suffered unspeakable degradation.
His resolution and his spirit remaining unbroken,
he was flogged and starved, a punishment which
injured his health for life. / Still-he-was /true to
his’ convictions. ma ed as a traitor and
repudiated by his wife and family, he was secretly
removed from the town to a Jewish colony at the
Waters of Merom (Lake Huleh), and his name
was blotted out of the remembrance of his| friends
!
“Many months later,” writes Mr. Ewing, “ one
of the missionaries riding in the Upper Jordan
valley saw a forlorn figure bending to his task in
the field, under a hot sun, and was surprised on
nearer approach to find it none other than Ephraim.
He was greatly changed. The hardships he had
endured had left their marks upon his frame, and
the lines had deepened on his weather-beaten
features ; but there was a light of eager welcome
in his eyes. In answer to questions he told briefly
of his experiences. But these things had not
moved him. Nething-daunted,-he-held-on-his way.
Return to Tiberias was then impossible. For self-
support he willingly endured the weariness of un-
wonted toil in the service of the stranger, until
136 A GALILEE DOCTOR
it should please God to make his duty plain. » He
stood among the furrows waving a genial fare-
well to his departing friend; then, heartened by
the interview, he bent afresh to his labour.”
Not long afterwards Ephraim turned up at
Nazareth, the light of a great purpose in his eyes,
and was there baptized by the missionaries. A new
peace and dignity of soul came to him. Finding
his way to Jerusalem, he accepted and carried on
humble but useful work in connection with a
Bible Depot, and there he lived his days, standing
every test and enduring with steadfast courage the
trials and difficulties of his lot. .
It was the first real shock of the opposing
forces. Christianity, seemingly so slight and in-
tangible a power, had won against the organized
might of Judaism.
The suffering had not all been on the side of the
convert. ‘‘ Get thee out of thy country and from
thy kindred and from thy father’s house”? was a
terrible sentence, but it was also hard for the mis-
sionaries to witness the severing of the strong and
tender ties of family affection. Yet they could
not but do what they did. They were obeying
the command of Christ, and they remembered that
He had said, “‘ Think not that I have come to send
peace on earth. I have come not to send peace
but a sword: for I have come to set a man at
variance against his father and the daughter against
her mother and the daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law, and a man’s foes shall be they of his
own household.” ‘They were witnessing His teach-
ing working out amidst the harsh realities of life.
THE FIRST BAPTISM 137
it was the case of Ephraim that induced Dr.
Torrance to bring the matter of an industrial
institution formally before the Jewish Mission
Committee. He pointed out that a Jew became an
outcast the moment he moved towards Christianity.
Were the missionaries to be responsible for turn-
ing home-loving, affectionate men into “‘ wandering
Jews ”’ when there was a means by which they could
be retained in the district to be a witness and a
strength to the Christian faith? In an institution
they would be taught to earn their bread and be
independent of the rabbis and the khalukah.
The Committee sympathized with the pro-
posal, but the general feeling was that an enterprise
of the kind could not rightly be a charge on their
funds. ‘The decision was a disappointment to
the Doctor and the staff, for they knew of several
intelligent Jews who were ready to make open
profession but were deterred by fear of the boycott
to which they would be subjected and the im-
possibility of making good their economic position
without some outside help.
XV. THE FIRST BAPTISM
1892-96
Tue first deaths on a pioneer mission station have
a peculiar touch of pathos ; they hallow the ground
and, to use the old Scottish word, they thirl the
missionaries and the Church to the enterprise.
Twin sons were born to Dr. Torrance; one. died
138 A GALILEE DOCTOR
after nine months and was laid in a corner of the
garden next the Lake, and the second a month
later. The infant daughter of Mr. Ewing also
passed away, and was followed by a daughter of the
native schoolmaster. The shadow fell more deeply
still when Mrs. Ewing succumbed. A child of Mr.
Christie then died in Safed, and as the Mission
possessed no land there, and not even so much
could be obtained as to bury the little body, it was
conveyed to Tiberias and laid beside the others on
the lakeside.
While the Doctor was mourning his loss a
notable company of visitors gathered at the station,
one of the number being the Rev. Dr. Wells, his
former travelling companion, now Convener of the
Jewish Mission Committee. A communion service
was held, eight ministers—five of the Free Church,
two Episcopalians, and one United Presbyterian—
taking part. Of the twenty-seven communicants,
seven were Palestinians—three men and four
women. At the evening Arabic service six of the
ministers spoke, through an interpreter, to the little
congregation. Deputations of the chief men of
the town, magistrates, rabbis, and priests, came to
express their thanks to the Church in Scotland for
sending out Dr. Torrance and Mr. Ewing, and to
point out that the Doctor was doing the work of
two men. The visitors, however, saw this for
themselves. After travelling in trans-Jordania
with Mr. Ewing, Dr. Wells returned to the town to
find three patients who had come from one of the
villages they had visited—a distance of 50 miles—
for treatment.
THE FIRST BAPTISM 139
Mr. Ewing retired from the field in 1893 and
was missed by all classes, and not least by Dr.
Torrance.1
Another distinguished student of Glasgow
College, the Rev. John Soutar, M.A., offered to
take his place, and was appointed. As eager to
begin as Mr. Ewing, he also used an interpreter,
but found it a sorry business; it was a “‘ caged
eagle’ that he felt like. Having heard so much
of the unwillingness of the Jews to listen to
Christian teaching, he was surprised to find those
at Tiberias ready not only to hear him but to
argue points of mutual interest.
In the midst of these changes the Doctor went
on with his work. As many as a hundred patients
per day continued to visit the dispensary. It was
a strain on his patience and strength, and he had
to struggle against the temptation to be satisfied
with superficial diagnoses and wholesale treatment.
The picture of him toiling in his primitive hospital
touched sympathetic hearts in Scotland, and dona-
tions came out which enabled him to take a further
step ; he hired an old hotel in the town, and fitted
it up with wards for men and women, and an
operating room, and here he housed the more
urgent surgical cases. The rooms were fairly
serviceable so long as the sun shone, but during the
rains each became a shower bath, and it was im-
possible to keep the patients dry. Many a long
1He was not lost to the cause, for after settling in Scotland he
devoted his time to the Jewish work of the Church, was Convener of
the Jewish Mission Committee for a term, manifested his scholarship in
a number of important works, and was honoured with the degree of
D.D. from Glasgow University.
140 A GALILEE DOCTOR
and anxious hour he passed in these cramped
wards, performing delicate operations, watching
critical cases, and exercising the most vigilant care
in order to ensure success. It was remarkable
that with so large a number of operations he had
never any mishap.
Towards the end of 1893 he was glad to welcome
Dr. George Wilson, a nephew of the Rev. Dr.
Wilson of the Barclay Church, Edinburgh, who had
volunteered to help him for a year on the same
salary as a native assistant. For a time, until Dr.
Wilson took charge of Safed, the position was easier.
Educational work generally was entering on a
new phase. Stimulated mainly by the example of
the Mission, Jews and Moslems started institutions
of their own, and compelled their children to attend
them, with the result that the number of Mission
pupils sensibly decreased. ‘The Catholics began to
give grants of money to the parents and clothing to
the scholars. Teachers in the Mission schools
never knew what to expect. Often not a single
pupil would turn up. Then one by one the boys
and girls would trickle back, and parents, realizing
the superior character of the Mission teaching and
training, would endeavour to excuse or hide their
truancy from the ecclesiastical authorities.
The physical environment of Safed seemed
more favourable to intellectual development than
that of Tiberias. In its spring-like climate the
mind was more alert and energetic, and the young
people, both Moslems and Jews, were brighter
and more intelligent than those in the tropical
valley of the Jordan, although the isolation of the
THE FIRST BAPTISM 141
town told heavily against enlightenment. Among
the adult population a certain number were always
on the side of tolerance and progress. Many of the
Jews chafed against rabbinical rule, and at this time
were leading an informal movement for a less rigid
religious and social code.
It was Mr. Christie’s fortune to take advantage
of this spirit and to be the inspirer of the young men
who came to his evening class. He continued to
lead many to the verge of belief, though the majority
drew back “for fear of the Jews.’ One of the
number was James Cohen. He was born in 1873
in Russia, where his early years were darkened by
persecution and suffering. At the age of eleven he
was sent to a rabbinical school, and, two years later,
emigrated with his father to Safed, where he con-
tinued his studies until 1890, when he entered Baron
Rothschild’s school and acquired a knowledge of
French. Then he was selected to work as an appren-
tice gardener in a Rothschild colony, at the Waters
of Merom. While there he paid occasional visits
to Safed, attended the evening classes, and came
under the influence of Mr. Christie and Mr. Soutar,
who presented him with a copy of the New Testa-
ment in Hebrew. He read it through, and was
angry with himself for having done so, as it unsettled
his belief, hitherto unshaken, in the traditional
law. In order to be able to refute its teaching he
studied it again thoroughly, but the result was still
more disastrous to his own faith. He became con-
vinced of the truth, believed in Christ, and accepted
Him whom he had previously despised and hated.
The change which the event made in his char-
142 A GALILEE DOCTOR
acter and life was so marked that suspicion was
aroused ; he was interrogated by the rabbis, and his
replies were so compromising that he was dismissed
from his post. Some time afterwards he sought an
interview with Mr. Soutar, and after a long talk,
which lasted late into the night, he confessed his con-
version and asked for baptism. ‘The missionaries,
always reluctant to grant this without prolonged
probation, kept him for nearly a year under instruc-
tion and thoroughly tested his sincerity. On New
Year’s Day 1895 he made an earnest appeal to be
received, and on 1oth February was baptized by
Mr. Soutar at Tiberias.
The event caused a profound impression in
Jewry. “In the bygone week,” said a local
Hebrew newspaper, “there apostatized a young
man from among the sons of our city, and there
is no one that inquireth or seeketh after him.”
Secretly many of his companions admired his act
of courage and sacrifice, and would have liked to
have followed his example, but flinched from the
ordeal of forsaking friends and running the gauntlet
of persecution.
Cohen suffered much at the hands of the Jews.
After being given temporary employment by the
Mission, he was sent to Aleppo, and on his return
in 1896 took charge of the Bible Depét and acted
as colporteur, and, in addition to his Hebrew,
Yiddish, and French, acquired a more fluent
use of English and Arabic. He was one of the
finest types of Hebrew-Christians, a man of pure
and simple character and childlike faith, unselfish,
good-tempered, and courageous. Neither aggressive
THE FIRST BAPTISM 143
nor argumentative, though as clever as any rabbi,
he attracted people by his gentle persuasiveness.
Prayer and love were the two forces of his life.
Money had no attraction for him ; he had wealthy
connections, but he never rose above the most
modest style of living. In time he won the respect
of every class of the community, and became a
great spiritual power in the district.
As a result of this conversion, the question of the
economic support of those who threw in their lot
with the Christians was again discussed. Every
missionary urged the establishment of an industrial
colony. “If we cannot give a Jew work,” wrote
Mr. Soutar, ‘‘ in asking him to become a Christian
we are asking him to starve.” “It is not an easy
problem,” the Doctor said. ‘‘ We want to keep the
converts in the Mission district in order that their
lives may influence others, but we do not want
to make paupers of them.” Mr. Christie pointed
out that some of his young men had been dismissed
from their employment for attending his night
school. Many had gone elsewhere to obtain work,
but others remained and visited him in his house
as often as they dared. This secret procedure,
however, he felt was bad for themselves and for
the Mission; it involved the practice of deceit
and hypocrisy, and he did not think it right for
their connection with the Mission to be brought
about in this way.
The Jewish Mission Committee were all sym-
pathy, and fully realized the difficulties of the
situation, but the conviction still prevailed that it
did not come within the province of the Church to
144 A GALILEE DOCTOR
adventure on such a business development, and
it was suggested that a company of laymen might
take the matter up.
XVI. OPENING OF THE HOSPITAL
1894-96
It was a happy day for the Doctor when he saw
the hospital, which was to embody the spirit of the
Great Healer of humanity, complete and ready for
occupation. About the same time his own house,
as large, commodious, and airy as the clerical
missionary’s, was also finished. Both develop-
ments marked a notable advance in the history of
the station. At last the missionaries were ade-
quately housed in hygienic surroundings, and at
last the medical work would be carried on with
something like comfort alike to doctor and patients.
The three massive structures formed the finest
and most prominent objects round the Lake shore.
They stood almost in line at a slight elevation ;
the first and lowest, next the town, was the hospital ;
that in the centre was the Doctor’s house; and the
third, close to the boundary wall, was the manse
of the clerical missionary. All were of stone, had
flat roofs, front verandas and balconies, and
marble floors, and gave the impression of great
strength combined with airy spaciousness. The
ground sloped down to the shore-wall, but un-
fortunately the road leading out of the town cut
OPENING OF THE HOSPITAL 145
the lower part in two, requiring the construction
of two walls and two gates.
The Doctor’s ideal was sixty beds, but practical
considerations reduced the number to twenty-four
and six cots, and it was a testimony to the interest
felt in the Mission in Scotland that nearly all these
found supporters at a cost of {20 per bed and
£10 per cot per annum.
A few desperate cases were taken in some weeks
before the building was finished, but the formal
opening took place on 1st January 1894. It was
a red-letter day in the history of Tiberias. The
Doctor invited the officials and principal men of
the town to the function, which, he diplomatically
intimated, was held “‘ under the shadow of His
Majesty the Sultan.”
Into the upper balcony, which was decorated
with olive and orange branches and Turkish flags,
came the Governor, a dark-bearded man dressed
in sombre black and red fez; the kadi, or judge, in
a long sable robe and white turban ; the mufti, or
religious head of the Moslems, also in white turban ;
the Greek Catholic priest in black with high, round
headpiece; patriarchal-looking Jews with flowing
grizzly beards and side locks; and other guests
in variegated costumes. They sat facing a con-
spicuous object on the wall, which looked like a
framed picture—it was the firman with the royal
signature and seal.
A hymn was sung in Arabic, and then Dr.
Torrance, speaking with his usual pointedness,
said :
“‘ Christ enjoined upon His followers to go into
10
146 A GALILEE DOCTOR
all the world and heal the sick and preach His
gospel. We, as His followers, and in obedience
to His command, have erected this hospital. I am
sure you will all agree with me when I say there is
but one God. If, therefore, there is but one God,
we ought all to be one people. The best way to be
one people is to love each other and help one an-
other. When can we do this better than in times
of sickness? Those who are sick will find here
love and sympathy and help irrespective of race or
creed. Mr. Soutar will voice our thankfulness to
God for this institution, and although you will not
understand his words you will know what are the
feelings he is expressing.”
The Governor, who ‘seemed to enjoy his part,
was presented with a silver key, and, walking to
the door of the men’s ward, he unlocked and threw
it open with a flourish. Mrs. Torrance opened the
women’s ward. The audience rose, the Turks
bowed their heads and raised their hands, and
the mufti repeated the official prayer for the
Sultan.
Next came ornate speeches from the chief men,
who praised the Scottish Committee and Dr.
Torrance for their goodness in erecting so splendid
a hospital for the healing of the people.
Tea, coffee, and cake were handed round and
friendly conversations engaged in. Then an in-
spection of the wards was made.
There was not one who left without express-
ing to the Doctor his gratitude and goodwill. No
purely religious function could have drawn them
thus together ; only the ministry of healing accom-
OPENING OF THE HOSPITAL 147
plished the miracle, providing another illustration
of the value of a medical mission.
All the beds were occupied from the beginning ;
during the first few months 61 patients were
admitted, 35 being Jews, 13 Moslems, and 13
Christians. The earliest case treated proved of
some interest. When the patient, a Greek
Christian named Yakoob, arrived he stated that
he came from a little village between Safed and
Nazareth. Instantly the Doctor recalled that about
a year previously, while Mr. and Mrs. Christie
were travelling over the lonely paths in that region,
they were attacked and robbed by the villagers.
Because of this the Doctor took extra care of the
patient, who was suffering from an ulcerous leg,
and was in a state of extreme emaciation. A
younger brother who accompanied him was also
half starved, undergrown, and weak, and developed
pneumonia. Both recovered and grew strong and
vigorous. The men from the village who came to
visit them were amazed at the transformation, and
assured the Doctor and his fellow-missionaries
that they need never again fear to travel over their
hills.
In the internal organization of the hospital the
Doctor had to employ people differing in race and
creed. A separate kitchen and cook were pro-
vided for the Jews, and another cook and kitchen
for the Moslems and Christians. His man-of-all-
work was a Jew; the day nurse was a Christian, an
orphan girl who knew Arabic and German ; the
night nurse was a Jewess.
The employment of women as nurses was a
148 A GALILEE DOCTOR
revolutionary step in Tiberias, and the experiment
was considered doubtful by the townspeople. But
the Doctor secured an experienced matron from
Jerusalem in the person of Miss Agnes Donaldson,
who knew Arabic and had both skill and tact.
Some unpleasantness occurred, but her good-
humour and firmness gradually won favour for the
new régime. Occasionally an ignorant man would
ask her pointedly why she was not married ; was it
because no one would have her ?
One day a patient who had been blinded by a
blow poured forth a torrent of foul language, and
Miss Donaldson complained to the Doctor, who wish-
ing to set an example to the whole ward declared
that he would not have such speech in the hospital,
and all who were guilty of it must leave. The blind
man was astonished; he was utterly unconscious
of transgressing. “I drank in that with my
mother’s milk,” he said. “ Then,” grimly replied
the Doctor, “ you will go and drink something
else,” and he dismissed him from the hospital.
The incident caused some stir, but it effected a
salutary change, and a fortnight later the delinquent
returned penitent, paid a fine, and begged to be
taken in again. “If,” he said, “I say anything
disrespectful to the nurses I give you leave to
cut out my tongue!” ‘“‘ Very well,” the Doctor
answered, ‘‘I agree.” No patient after that kept a
more careful guard over his speech, and he also
became the vigilant censor of the others. The
nurses received blessings, and the curses were
reserved for womenfolk at home.
It was not to be expected that the Jews with all
OPENING OF THE HOSPITAL 149
their friendliness would quietly acquiesce in the
progress of the Mission. Pamphlets describing the
hospital were circulated over Europe, and appeals
were made for funds to erect a rival institution.
From time to time Dr. Torrance found Jewish
doctors practising in the town; to him it was a
matter for rejoicing ; he cultivated the friendship
of those who came, and never hesitated to call
them into consultation. As a rule they were
open-minded and well-meaning, and he had long
discussions with them on religious matters. He
invariably discovered that any undercurrent of
bitterness in their nature was due to the treatment
which their race was receiving at the hands of the
continental “‘ Christians,’’ but he seldom failed to
make them realize and admit the wide differences
that existed between the various types of organized
Christianity. ‘They never remained long in the
town, and it was significant that the number of
Jewish patients at the hospital never lessened
because of their presence.
The hospital was barely in working order when
Mrs. Torrance died in giving birth to a daughter.
It was a severe loss both to the Doctor and the
Mission, for she was comrade as well as wife,
shared in all his work, and was a favourite in the
wards. The Doctor was left with a young son,
Herbert, and this infant girl, Lydia; and as he
had passed through much private sorrow he was
given a furlough home, Dr. Wilson taking his place
in the hospital.
While in Scotland in 1895 he did his utmost
to increase the interest in the Mission, and brought
150 A GALILEE DOCTOR
prominently before the Church the need for en-
larging its scope. Ina letter in the Monthly Record
he described the situation, pointing out, as
M‘Cheyne and Bonar in their day had done, that
Palestine was the heart of Israel, and the most
important centre in the world for intensive mission
work among the Jews. His chief object, however,
was to plead for an industrial institution as auxiliary
to the evangelistic side. Always practical, he
suggested that one or two Christian craftsmen,
cabinetmakers, tinsmiths, mother-of-pearl engravers,
leather-makers, or furriers, might go to Galilee and
ply their trade, employing as apprentices or work-
men inquirers and converts who were being boy-
cotted, as a German joiner, unconnected with any
mission, had already done in Safed. He also
brought out the exceptional suitability of Safed
for mission work. It should, he said, be made the
chief educational centre for boys and girls, and there
should be established in it a boarding-school and
orphanage. ‘‘ Safed is our educational battle-
field. It is the healthiest Jewish centre in Galilee.
We could never think of erecting an orphanage
in Tiberias which would have to be vacated for
three months or more in the summer.”
These matters he also emphasized in the General
Assembly of 1895. “‘'The speech of the Jewish
evening,’ says the chronicler of the proceedings,
“was Dr. Torrance’s. He had a tale to tell, and
told it with a liveliness and graphic power which
made the great audience hang from first to last
upon his lips.”
Recognizing the strategic value of Safed, the
OPENING OF THE HOSPITAL 151
Jewish Mission Committee, maintaining its re-
putation for enterprise, decided to make the town
the centre of the educational operations of the
Mission ; more buildings and lots of land were
acquired, and the work was organized on larger
lines. At the same time the Church Missions to
Jews strengthened its hold of the district by the
erection of a first-class hospital. Needless to say,
the staffs of the two Missions worked cordially
hand in hand in their common service.
At this point Miss Fenton resigned; and then
Mr. Christie left to take up an appointment at
Aleppo in connection with the Presbyterian Church
of England, but one well qualified took his place
in the person of the Rev. (afterwards Dr.) J. E. H.
Thomson, B.D. Both he and his wife, who under-
took the charge of the Girls’ School, were honorary
workers. As they were members of the United
Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Soutar’s salary was
paid by that body, there was here, as in other fields,
a fine manifestation of that brotherly spirit which
was soon to find its culmination in the union of the
two Churches.
While Dr. Torrance was in Scotland the Com-
mittee proposed that, in order to increase his use-
fulness on the field, he should be ordained as a
missionary. It was not the first time that the
matter had been mooted, but he had always con-
sidered that, although the crowning joy of his work
was to teach the Gospel, the needs of the Mission
demanded not one missionary with a double quali-
fication, but two with separate qualifications. On
this occasion he expressed the same opinion ; he
152 A GALILEE DOCTOR
felt that his gift was that of a medical missionary
pure and simple, and that the great medical needs
of the people justified him in this attitude. In his
humility, also, he thought himself unworthy of the
honour. But he finally agreed on the understanding
that he should continue to work as hitherto, and
that he should only be called upon to exercise the
special functions of a minister in cases of emergency.
He was ordained by the Presbytery of Glasgow
and left Scotland again in October 1895.
For some months the hospital had been closed
on account of the illness of Dr. Wilson, and on
reaching Tiberias he learnt how it was appreciated.
There was a clamant demand for beds, and, during
the following two months, eighty-one cases were
admitted, thirty-nine of which involved operations
requiring the administration of chloroform. ‘The
hospital could not hold all the patients, and a number
were housed in odd rooms, such as the carpenter’s
shop and the store. But whenever a need appeared
it was not long in being met. A lady in Scotland
gifted a sum of money for a shelter; and later a.
commodious building with an archway was built
as an entrance to the hospital grounds, and here
overflow patients and their friends found
accommodation.
The grounds were beginning to look clothed.
Both of the plots formed by the intersection of the
road had been terraced and converted into gardens,
and lemon, orange, apple, eucalyptus, and other
trees had been added to the palms already there.
The greenery and rock crevices were a haunt of
snakes. ‘The Doctor calculated that there were five
A SPIRITUAL CLINIC 153
venomous and twenty-seven non-venomous kinds
in the country, one, a venomous nocturnal species,
being large enough to swallow a hare. Those in the
gardens developed the habit of climbing the trees
in search of nests, and were often shot by the staff.
The Doctor had frequent encounters with the
creatures, for they came into the house during
the night. His plan was to remain perfectly still,
and they usually made off without molesting him.
It must have taken some nerve to keep quiet when,
as happened on one occasion, he awoke to see a
snake 6 feet above him in the timbers ; yet he not
only did so, but went off to sleep again with the
snake still there.
In 1895 Miss Eleanor A. Durie, a daughter of
Mr. Thomas Durie of Port Said, and born in Java,
was appointed by the Jewish Mission Committee
head nurse of the hospital. She proved so attrac-
tive as well as so capable, that in August of the
following year the Doctor carried her off to Beyrout,
where they were married, and the home that had
been so desolate was once more presided over by a
loving and sympathetic nature.
XVII. A SPIRITUAL CLINIC
1896
Wuite the hospital presented to the Doctor an
inexhaustible field for professional study, it also
provided him with exceptional opportunities for
154 A GALILEE DOCTOR
studying the human soul as it was fashioned by the
moulds of Judaism, Islam, and Eastern Christianity.
It was a spiritual clinic where he came in contact
with many strange types of thought and belief.
In the course of the years, thousands of Jews
passed through the wards, and all came under his
quiet and keen observation, until in time there was
nothing that he did not know about their inner life.
They were religionists without religion; moralists
without spiritual sensibility. What Paul wrote of
them was still true: they had a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. Ignorant of God’s
righteousness, they established their own righteous-
ness, unaware that Christ was the end of the law.
In practice their faith was legalized formalism,
traditionalism, ceremonialism, which, in the course
of centuries, had hardened and encased them to
such an extent that their souls seemed to be lost
in impenetrable rock. ‘Though many were intel-
lectual and clever, no members of the race could
have been more bigoted; it was, indeed, their
bigotry that had drawn them to the shores of the
sacred sea, and naturally the children born and
brought up in so isolated an environment continued
in the thoughts and ways of their fathers. Humanly
speaking, it appeared as if it were impossible to
reach and influence them.
Their reading was confined exclusively to the
Talmud ; it was their chief ambition to know it
intimately and to act on it as interpreted by the
rabbis, whom they regarded as endowed with super-
human wisdom. They would rather follow the
directions of some learned commentator than consult
A SPIRITUAL CLINIC 155
the Old Testament and form their own judgment
on the facts. They were, in short, mental parasites
as dependent on others for their spiritual nourish-
ment as they were for their food. Their worship
was a matter of form ; they confessed as much to the
Doctor ; and this explained the strange irreverence
they exhibited in their religious services.
It was curious that they should be so ignorant
of the historic basis of their religion, and should
have left the scientific study of the Old Testament
to Christian investigators and become so com-
pletely obsessed by a vast flood of secondary
literature amongst which they groped pathetically
for spiritual satisfaction. But if their knowledge
of the Old Testament was meagre, their ignorance
of any other religion save their own was colossal,
and the Doctor realized the truth of the statement |
that multitudes of Jews knew as little of Christ as
the savage tribes of Central Africa. Many ad-
mitted that they were unaware what Christianity
was, and what relation it had to their own hoped-for
Messiah. ‘“‘ How did it arise?’ they would ask.
“‘ What has been its history up to the present ? ”
““ Have any Jews accepted it yet?” When en-
lightened on these points they would inquire why
the law of Moses was not being obeyed, and why the
customs observed in the past had been abandoned ?
They were puzzled by the death of Christ. “ If,”
they said, ‘‘ Jesus was the true Messiah, why did
God allow Him to be killed ? ”
No Jew was hopeless, and fanaticism the Doctor
did not mind, for that, if transmuted by Chris-
tianity, would make devoted disciples of Christ, but
156 A GALILEE DOCTOR
he found the old patients extraordinarily difficult:
They suffered from a kind of mental paralysis,
a fossilized lethargy, which it seemed well-nigh
impossible to galvanize into active interest. When
discussing religious subjects with him, they would
proceed slowly until they faced some difficulty,
and then they would shrug their shoulders and re-
main as passive as statues. ‘They believed because
they believed ; the law was final and unalterable ;
and no argument would move them. Yet that they
carried away some new thoughts was clear from
the fact that in shop and market they would repeat
and discuss what they had heard.
’ Occasionally one more intelligent than the others
would quicken the Doctor’s attention. To speak
to him, to watch the words sinking into his mind,
to see the light dawning on his face as if a curtain
had been drawn back, was ample reward for all his
patience. There was a lithographer who printed
Gospel texts for the walls, and on leaving, said, “‘ I
would like to be a Christian, but it would mean that _
I would lose my living and my wife and children.”
,
Another, who arrived with a well-thumbed Tora
with Hebrew and Chaldaic in parallel columns, ac-
cepted a copy of the New Testament, laid the Torah
aside, and began to read the Gospel story. Often at
nights, when he could not sleep, he would be found
poring over the pages, and once the nurse on duty
heard him reading aloud to the Jewish patients
beside him. She stopped and listened, and heard
the words, ‘‘ And thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins.”
One old Jew found the truth, rejoiced in it openly
A SPIRITUAL CLINIC 157
because he would never again live amongst his
fellows, and died with the words of the 23rd Psalm
on his lips.
The Moslem patients naturally did not re-
present the highest type of Mohammedan thought ;
they were as fanatical as the Jews, but the majority
were more ignorant of the world, and, as a result
of the conditions of their lives, even more bound
to their religion. To them God, or Allah, while
more real than He was to the Jews, was a Being
infinitely removed from their, practical life, and
their relation to Him was divorced from the practice
of morality as the Christian knew it. The people
would say that their religion was, like their clothes,
loose and easy, as compared with the religion of the
Christians, which, like their clothes, was tight and
uncomfortable. Their law tolerated infidels who
did not trespass on the sacred essentials of their
faith, but visited with death any who ran counter
to these. ‘They had the same lack of a sense of
sin as the Jews and the same reliance on formal
prayer. Many looked upon the theology of Chris-
tianity as silly and even blasphemous, and they
could not understand the missionaries and their
selfless lives or the relation between their practical
goodness and the religious ideas that seemed to
inspire them. They readily attended the services
and listened courteously to what was said, but it
was not easy to guess what was going on behind
their dark gleaming eyes.
The bedouin often manifested interest in the
strange new thoughts that came to them with a
sweetness like the scent of a green oasis in the
158 A GALILEE DOCTOR
desert ; but if they exhibited undue attraction for
the Christian faith, they incurred the suspicion of
their co-religionists, and conversion meant death.
They must have been influenced by what they
heard in the hospital, but if so they kept it to them-
selves. The Doctor had a great liking for these
stalwart nomads of the desert. “‘ They are men
who are men,” he said. ‘‘ Like our Scottish
borderers, a fighting race.”
As a rule the native Christian patients were
poor in character and many were as superstitious
as the fellahin. This, perhaps, was not surprising,
for many of their priests were little better than
themselves. One patient, a Greek priest from Cana,
was utterly illiterate and extremely coarse in
thought and language. His wife, a quiet, attractive
woman, who stood patiently by his side, was cursed
day and night, the invective extending even to her
grandfather and most distant relations. Yet he
was regarded and reverenced as a holy man. It
was difficult to influence these Christians, who.
were so Satisfied with their own type of religion
that they wanted nothing better.
The Doctor was interested in watching the
change effected on the patients by a stay in the
free atmosphere of the hospital. Gradually the
aloofness wore off, creeds were pushed into the
background, and the simple human man appeared
in all his attractiveness. Jews and Moslems and
Christians fraternized on a level of common toler-
ance. As the Doctor went his rounds he would
smile to see a Greek Christian and a Moslem from
trans-Jordania emptying their food into one dish
A SPIRITUAL CLINIC 159
on a chair beside their beds and eating out of it like
brothers.
With the men patients, even with the most
insularly bigoted, it was always possible for him to
get into touch at some point; they would listen
and ask questions and discuss even while they dis-
approved ; but when he went into the women’s
ward he felt as if he were facing the dark and
fathomless night. They were not only conser-
vative, ignorant, and superstitious, but incurious, a
fact due to their position in the system of life. The
womenkind both of the Jews and Moslems had no
concern with religion—it was not their province ;
but while Jewesses occupied a proper place in the
family and were kindly treated, the Moslem women
were regarded as inferior creatures, and were down-
trodden, spiritless, and resigned to their lot.
** Yes,’ said the Doctor, ‘‘ the women are the most
difficult to catch, but when caught and they are told
the Gospel message simply and clearly, it appeals
to them in all its beauty and truth.” They re-
sponded also more quickly than the men to the love
and sympathy which pervaded all the service of
the hospital. Here is one story told by the Doctor
at this time which is typical of many others :
“In the hinterland of Morocco, amid the desert, there is an
oasis called Tafilet, where a colony of the scattered race of Jews
is to be found. There, fifty-six years ago, Johara, daughter of
David, a Jewess, at present lying in the ‘ Sympathy bed ’ in the
hospital, was born. At the age of ten she was married ; and
she lived amongst the vicissitudes of that wild and backward
land a fairly happy life. Though they may have almost no
education, the Jews have always their feasts and fasts recalling
to them their fatherland, which inspires in the heart of many a
160 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Jew the desire to return thither. In Tiberias there are 300 Jews
from that out-of-the-way district of 'Tafilet.
“ Johara, with her husband, his brother, and others, started
for Palestine six years ago. A twelve days’ journey took them
to Tangier. There they embarked on a ship for Alexandria.
At Alexandria Johara’s husband died, but she continued the
journey with the party. While disembarking at Haifa roadstead
in stormy weather, the row-boat bringing them to shore was
capsized ; the passengers were thrown into the water, all their
belongings lost, and several of them were drowned. Johara and
her brother-in-law were amongst the number saved.
“Eventually they reached Tiberias, penniless and in rags.
Here, being childless and a widow, she demanded her right to
become her brother-in-law’s wife; but he refused, and she
publicly took off his shoe and spat and beat him in the face.
The poor woman had then to try and earn her own living, none
wishing to marry such a woman. She hired a little cellar at
one shilling per month from a Jewess, who only a short time
ago left the ‘Skelmorlie’ bed after a successful operation.
Johara bought white wool, washed, cleaned, carded, and spun
it, and then sold it to the rabbis for the manufacture of ‘ fringes ’
for the Jewish talliths. By this means she made about two
shillings per week, and managed to keep body and soul together,
but it was a poor body that clung to the spirit. She came with
fever and debility several times to our out-patient department
before we took her into the hospital. There we discovered she
was suffering from tubercular disease of the abdomen. An
exploratory operation was performed, when the condition was
found to be hopeless.
“Poor Johara! We were very sorry for her, with no friends,
and no one caring for her, for her brother-in-law died in the
hospital a year ago. So we have determined to keep her as a
permanent patient till her end. Wonderful, however, to relate,
her pain has gone, and she is so happy and contented and grateful
that one is almost tempted to think that she is improving. She
told me her story as I sat by her bedside to-night. The dull,
hopeless expression she wore when she came in a month ago was
all gone, and she smiled and almost laughed when I said I would
bring her her implements and get her to spin me some wool
when she got a little stronger.”
Mos_LrEM WOMAN CARRYING WATER FROM THE LAKE
‘This photograph shows the clear, strong light characteristic of Palestine
TIBERIAS SHOPS
MOONLIGHT ON THE LAKE
A photograph taken by Dr. Herbert Torrance: exposure 1 hour 20 minutes
Dr. TORRANCE WALKING ON THE PLAIN WHERE THE 5000 ARE SUPPOSED
TO HAVE BEEN FED
A SPIRITUAL CLINIC 161
The accumulated result of the Doctor’s experi-
ence was to confirm his impression that it was
essential to lift the Jewish and Moslem minds out
of the stupor of their environment and to train
them to think for themselves. This, he was satisfied,
was one of the functions being performed by the
hospital. It brought the patients into contact
with higher conceptions of the religious life as no
other agency could have done. [It stirred their
interest, gave them a wider vision that made them
realize the forces at work in other lands and among |
other races, supplied them with an historic sense.
In many insensible ways it prepared their minds
for utilizing the Christian school; it was the
forerunner and handmaid also of the Christian
oat)
11
PART THREE
I. THE JEWISH DREAM
1897
WuiLe the Mission was taking definite and per-
manent shape and becoming more and more a
powerful centre of Christian influence, events were
occurring in Palestine which were profoundly
affecting the prospects of all missionary work.
The Jewish reoccupation of the land was enter-
ing on a new phase and one more worthy of the
practical genius of the race.
The khalukah system had made the country
a Jewish poorhouse. So long as the charitable
doles lasted there was no probability of the re-
cipients taking a share in its economic development
and becoming self-supporting. Baron Rothschild’s
scheme of colonies had been no improvement on
the system but only another form of it. So much
money was poured into the hands of the colonists
that they were able to employ Arabs to perform the
necessary work, while they themselves remained
in idleness. Without the backing of the personal
application and labour which were essential to
success, the undertakings proved unremunerative
and were only maintained by the financial contri-
163
164 A GALILEE DOCTOR
butions from abroad. The whole khalukah system
was debasing ; it has since been described by the
Jews themselves as having been a negative and
destructive factor in their connection with
Palestine.
The emancipation of the people from their
bonds was undoubtedly due, in the first instance, to
the work of the missionary agencies. ‘To counter-
balance their activities the Alliance Israélite
Universelle extended its educational work in
Palestine, opening schools for boys and girls
wherever the Jews congregated in any numbers.
The element of charity, however, continued to
operate, as the children were induced to attend by
the provision of free dinners and supplies of clothes
several times a year. Not that the British mission
schools were innocent of such gifts. Clothing, for
instance, was sent out from England and Scotland,
and judiciously distributed, while meals were also
occasionally provided ; but these were not used as
bribes to draw pupils. More reliance was placed
on the character and efficiency of the teaching, and
it was this which continued to make the schools
popular long after the Alliance Israélite institutions
began. There was no doubt in the minds of the
missionaries, however, that the latter would
eventually rival, if not excel, them in educational
equipment and staffing.
No plan existed then in the mind of the Alliance
to relate this cultural effort to any scheme having
for its aim the national occupation of Palestine ;
it was purely an internal racial movement carried on
as part of its philanthropic work throughout the
THE JEWISH DREAM 165
world. The colonies remained scattered and
isolated with comparatively little interconnection,
and there seemed no prospect of any widespread
settlement and economic development. But the
general Jewish situation was rapidly changing.
The influences which had been making for disinte-
gration and assimilation were stayed. The con-
gestion and social conditions in the ghettos of
Eastern Europe were so frightful, the political
pressure so unbearable, that it became clear to
leaders of the race that some relief would have to
be found in emigration on a large scale. The
Dreyfus case did what persecution always achieved—
it drew the Jews together, revived their solidarity,
and set them dreaming of a national home. There
was a remarkable development of the national
historic consciousness which found an embodiment
in the magnetic personality of Dr. ‘Theodor
Herzl, who came forward with a definite scheme
for the establishment of a Jewish State. ‘Though
there was nothing new in the idea, his little book
created an immense sensation throughout Jewry.
Many influential Jews opposed the project, but Herzl
persevered and prevailed, and at the first Zionist
Congress, at Basle, in 1897, it was decided, amidst
scenes of great enthusiasm, to work for the creation
of a publicly recognized, legally secured home in
Palestine. The movement was not essentially
religious in character—it was more of a racial and
social uprising; but out of it developed political
Zionism.
Calm reflection brought out wide differences
of opinion on the subject. Some Jews advocated
166 A GALILEE DOCTOR
an autonomous State, others only a cultural centre.
One party was keen for the home being in Palestine,
another objected to this plan because the land would
not support a nation, and it would be difficult, if
not impossible, to secure it. Others proposed
richer regions, and as not a few governments sym-
pathized with their aspirations, offers of tracts of
territory in Uganda, Mexico, South America, the
Congo, and Australia were made to them. Some
of these were, after investigation, declined, others
were accepted ; but experimental settlements ended
in failure.
Meanwhile in Palestine itself the Jews were
quietly making progress. ‘The keen business sense
of the race came into operation. In 1899 the
Jewish Colonization Association took over the
management of the colonies and changed the whole
system. Instead of the colonists living a parasitic
life on Rothschild benefactions they were now
assisted to become self-supporting. ‘The land was
divided among them, each obtained a certain num-
ber of acres for building and cultivation, and was
provided with a loan which had to be repaid in a
given time. ‘To every colony was allotted a school
and a pharmacy. ‘The conditions of tenure obliged
the settlers to work hard. They were not now
princes but peasants, no longer the “ Baron’s
children,”’ but independent toilers who had to earn
their livelihood by the sweat of their brow. They
began to import modern implements from Canada,
Britain, and Germany—in one of the colonies on
the shore of the Lake of Galilee could be found more
than, one reaper and binder of the latest pattern.
THE JEWISH DREAM 167
The land responded to their efforts and became
more productive.
Agents of the Association went over the country,
noting with scientific eye the possibilities of the
soil, and bought up tracts that seemed suitable
for their purpose. New colonies were established,
and young men, many fresh from Europe, were
placed in them. Nearly every one married. The
settlements became centres of wholesome, vigorous
life in which racial exclusiveness and religious in-
tolerance were much less marked than in the towns.
At the same time the Alliance was training boys and
girls in technical schools and model farms, pre-
paratory to settling them on the land.
The attitude of the Turks, the masters of the
land, to these developments was one of alternate
indifference and active opposition. They banned
the sale of property to Jews; but property never-
theless was sold. ‘The entrance of a Jew into
the country was prohibited ; but individuals would
manage to land and lose themselves in the slums
of the holy cities or pose as old residenters. The
police were always on the outlook for these new-
comers who were a gold mine to them. If they
paid bakhshish all was well; if not, they were
threatened with deportation. Generally, so long
as the settled communities exercised the grace of
humility, and were meek and inoffensive, they were
let alone.
Dr. Torrance had a shrewd idea as to whither
all this was tending. He wrote: ‘‘ We do not think
it likely that a Jewish kingdom will be established,
but if present restrictions on the entrance of Jews
168 A GALILEE DOCTOR
and the purchase of land were removed, it would
soon in larger measure be owned and occupied by
this ancient race, who would not consider it a dis-
grace but an honour to till the land of their fathers.
That this may occur is not at all unlikely, and thus
Palestine may be looked upon strategically as an
important field for mission work, far beyond what
might be considered were the present Jewish popula-
tion alone taken into account.”
Il. AMONGST THE ARABS
1897-1900
THE work of the Mission went quietly on. “‘ There
is so much sickness, pain, sin, and misery around,”
wrote the Doctor, ‘‘ that one is constantly planning
and thinking of what more can be done for their
alleviation.”” As much was due to bad housing
and sanitary conditions, he repeatedly urged the
Government to provide a pure water-supply and
some sort of sewage system; but, apart from the
fact that there was no money for public purposes,
the officials were blind to the necessity for such
measures. In the Mission compound a force-pump
had been installed to drive the water from the
Lake up to the cisterns of the various buildings.
A mule was the motive-power employed for many
years, but was eventually replaced by a motor-
engine. The Doctor often declared that the mule
had been the best missionary in Palestine.
AMONGST THE ARABS 169
There was never any rest for the Doctor. How
he contrived to accomplish all he did, even with
native assistance, was a mystery. ‘“‘ He is shame-
fully overworked” a visitor wrote at this time.
In 1900 the number of in-patients was 296—
115 Jews, 130 Moslems, and 51 Christians; in
the dispensary the total number of attendances for
consultations and dressings was 15,334; 10,460
prescriptions were dispensed; and about 1000
visits were paid to patients in their homes. The
fees amounted to {111, a large sum considering
the extent to which the principle of bakhshish
ruled the mind of the natives and the fact that the
Jewish doctors gave free treatment.
Many of the results achieved were marvellous.
The Doctor himself attributed them to the better
accommodation and equipment and the efficiency
of the nursing, but much was due to his own skill
and care. When critical cases were in the wards _
he would not take time for meals. He could not ©
rest at night or go to sleep, but would rise and visit
the hospital to reassure himself about the con-
dition of the patients. It was, at any rate, to him
that the patients attributed their recovery. They
would kiss his hand when he entered the wards ;
women would even kneel and kiss his feet, and in
the street little children would run after him to
express their gratitude in the same graceful way.
Old patients would send him sheep, goats, oil,
raisins, butter, and other gifts.
His fame continued to extend. A fourth of
the patients were strangers, chiefly Arabs from the
great stretches of Arabia to the east and south;
170 A GALILEE DOCTOR
they came on camels, horses, donkeys, and even
on the backs of friends. Many brought their tents
and belongings and camped outside the hospital.
One bedouin, with swarthy complexion, piercing
dark eyes, and coil of black hair, named Derwish,
the son of a sheikh, had suffered much at the hands
of native practitioners, and was operated on. As
he lay very ill the father and brothers appeared,
great stalwart fellows, in picturesque dress, and
armed with swords and pistols. When the father
saw the care and solicitude bestowed on his son he
stepped forward and said to the Doctor, “ This
shows love and fear of God.” Asking them to be
seated beside the cot the Doctor spoke to them
simply and clearly of Christ’s love for man, and
every now and then they nodded in approval. They
presented him with some gold, and invited him to
visit them and bring his friends. ‘“‘ Even if a
hundred came you shall be welcome.” ‘“ Praise
be to God and to you who have cured me,” was the
patient’s farewell words as he left for his desert
home.
People would travel for three or four days merely
to see the Doctor for five minutes; and what
showed the confidence felt in his powers was the
increasing number of patients sent by other doctors
from beyond the Jordan, from the Jewish colonies,
and from towns in distant parts of Palestine and
beyond. The Tiberias hospital was now as re-
nowned as the Tiberias baths.
“There is, of course,” wrote Mr. Soutar, “a
certain attraction in Tiberias. Dr. Torrance is
known far and wide as a very skilful hakim, and is
AMONGST THE ARABS 171
celebrated as such in a very wide district. For
instance, recently there came an Arab from Central
Arabia, over thirty days’ journey. Somehow or
other, in that far country, he had heard of Dr.
Torrance. On another occasion, a member of a
bedouin tribe arrived from the back of the desert,
and a very curious specimen he was. He had
never seen a house with a stair, and his admiration
when he saw our hospital was unbounded. All he
could say was ‘ Mashallah!’ (It is God’s will).
For a long time he could not be persuaded to go
upstairs, but ultimately they got him to attempt it
on his hands and feet.”’
The Doctor was asked to do the most extra-
ordinary operations. One fellah suffering from
dyspepsia begged him to cut out his stomach and
clean it. Their faith in him was_ boundless.
Fathers would bring their sons and daughters and
leave them saying, “‘ They are in your hands—do
with them what you will.” They had confidence
in his slightest word. Cases of insanity were
considered to be due to demoniacal possession, and
the friends of a patient would go away rejoicing
when told by the Doctor that he was not afflicted
with a devil.
Camp work was carried on whenever other
duties permitted. Of one of his short excursions
to the bedouin on the farther lakeside he wrote :
‘1 saw from fifty to sixty patients each day, and
performed several minor operations. I had oppor-
tunities to address these poor people several times
daily, and told them as much as I could of the life
and spirit of our Lord. I was never in the slightest
172 A GALILEE DOCTOR
danger, and was all along treated as a friend and with
honour. How I wish we could establish branches
in all the villages and encampments round the
Lake.”
On one occasion on a desert journey he found
war going on between two tribes. When it became
known that ‘“‘ Trance ”’ was in the vicinity hostilities
ceased, and members of both parties visited his tent
for treatment and medicine. Side by side they sat,
also, and listened to the gospel of peace. Of a
more distant tour he gives this glimpse:
‘* At El Husn I spent several days camping on the threshing-
floor. My tent was surrounded with patients so that I had to
request the use of a large room, which was readily granted by a
Moslem, an old patient. There I sat for five or six hours at a
stretch attending to patients and addressing audiences of fifty or
sixty. I was invited to meals at all the principal houses. I
was afraid if I visited Irbid, the seat of Government, that the
Governor might send me back bag and baggage to Tiberias,
missionaries—and all Europeans—being forbidden in this
region, so I sent the camp on before me, and meanwhile with
medicine in saddle-bags visited the Moslem village of Eidun.
Here the Sheikh entertained me at lunch and kept me busy
attending the sick. Then he sent a horseman with me to
Irbid. At Irbid I was pleasantly surprised to find that my
tents had been pitched on the castle hill adjoining the Govern-
ment offices, and that chairs had been brought from there for my
use. Amongst the patients were the children of the Governor.
“At Tell esh-Shehab I was entertained as guest by the
renowned family of Hasheesh, the most wealthy, bigoted, and
influential people in the Jolan district. When riding to the
place I got entangled in a ravine, and might have met with a
nasty accident had not a horseman noticed my mistake and
galloped to the other side of the ravine and directed me how to
cross. This turned out to be Derwish, my old patient, the
Sheikh’s eldest son. I found him and his father as grateful
as ever. For three days I had clinics with Gospel addresses, and
AMONGST THE ARABS 173
left with an invitation to come again next year. I believe I am
the first Christian who has preached the Gospel in this fanatical
stronghold of Mohammedanism.
““T visited the Jewish colonies of Sahem el-Jolan, finding
there less than a score of Jews, as the Government strenuously
opposes the settlement of Jews or Europeans east of the Jordan.
I was entertained by the Administrator, who thought I was
travelling for pleasure; but I explained the medical missionary
aspect of my work, and so was able to introduce the subject of
the Gospel of Christ.”
The Doctor, it will be seen, never forgot that
his principal aim was to win men and women to
Christ. He would sail under no false colours, and
was fearless in carrying out his commission. Most
of the sheikhs he visited knew well what his purpose
was, but were disarmed by his brotherly qualities
as well as by his skill. They would endeavour,
however, to avoid the ordeal of visiting the Mission
hospital, and beg to be healed at once in their camps
and villages. One old sheikh complained that he
had some chest trouble, and wished the Doctor
to cure him then and there.
“TI cannot do anything now,” the Doctor said ;
“but if you come to the dispensary at Tiberias I
will gladly do what I can for you.”
The Arab insisted on immediate treatment.
‘“‘ Suppose now,” replied the Doctor, “ that I
was riding along your pasture grounds and a shoe
came off my horse’s foot, and you were not far off
with your cattle, and I rode up to you and asked
you to put on the shoe, you would be willing to help
me. But if I asked you to do it at once you would
say, would you not, ‘I have neither hammer nor
nails here, but come along with me to my tent and
174 A GALILEE DOCTOR
I will do it for you?’ Iwould never insist on your
doing it on the spot, would I ? ”
¢é N On... :
“ Well, you come to my dispensary at Tiberias.”
“* And will you cure me if I do?”
*“ Yes, if God wills.”
The Arab bowed low at the sacred name and
said he would come, knowing full well that if he
went, he would have to hear about the foreign
religion, and, who knows, might be disturbed in
soul.
The hospital was still the chief evangelizing
agency. Daily prayers were held by the nurses;
the evangelist and Biblewoman moved about and
read to the patients or spoke to them in a simple
way; on Sunday mornings there was an Arabic
service, conducted, as a rule, by the clerical mis-
sionary, for all the patients able to attend: they
were taken or carried to the out-patients’ hall,
where they rested on rugs and pillows—and in the
afternoon the Doctor held a service in the hospital.
Every morning, after the workers had prayers
together, a short service was held in the waiting-
hall of the dispensary. This the Doctor conducted
on Mondays, using the address he had given the
previous day in the wards, and on other days it
was taken by his colleague or the evangelist. The
latter afterwards spoke and read with those who
were waiting their turn.
No compulsion whatever was exercised to
ensure attendance or attention at the services ;
they were part of the routine of a Christian in-
stitution. Both in- and out-patients were free to
AMONGST THE ARABS 175
do as they chose. In the hospital all could perform
their devotions in their own way; the Moslem
could read his Koran and the Jew his prayer-book.
But as a rule only the most fanatical absented them-
selves from the ward meetings, the others wel-
coming the little break and fresh interest in their
lives. It was a curious assemblage, and the be-
haviour was not what a home preacher would have
desired. There were often audible criticisms of
what was said ; sometimes an irritable Jew would
make a disparaging remark when the name of
Jesus was mentioned, or the comment would be
by way of commendation.
The Doctor entertained no illusions about the
value of formal addresses; he believed more in
quiet personal dealing. Often at night, even when
worn out and wearied, he would go over to the
hospital and move around and engage in talk with
the patients. He knew that if he went in an official
way it would be difficult to pierce their armour,
but going as a simple human being like one of
themselves he found them disarmed and approach-
able and as responsive as he could wish. “ Well,”
he would say to one after joking with him, ‘“‘ what
was the Biblewoman saying to you to-day?”
There would be no reply, and an appeal would be
made to the occupants of the other beds. Some
one would be sure to remember, and a discussion
would ensue. In this way he sought to deepen
the transitory impression made, and few left the
hospital without a more or less permanent picture
of Christ and Christianity.
Yet the visible lack of result was often very
176 A GALILEE DOCTOR
depressing, and it needed the eternal spirit of hope
within him to lighten his way along what seemed
an endlessly barren track.
III. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
IQOO-IgOI
WHILE the prejudice against the missionaries them-
selves was sensibly lessening, the opposition to
Christian schools and services continued to grow
and receive practical expression. What the Doctor
had anticipated was realized. An Alliance School
for boys was established in Tiberias, and the greater
number of Jewish pupils were swept into its class-
rooms. Moslems and Catholics were also more
vigilant, and more drastic in their treatment of those
whc disobeyed orders. Attendances depended on
incidental factors beyond the control of the teachers.
If an anti-Christian mood seized the community
the benches reflected its intensity. If some high
Moslem dignitary visited the Baths he would hear
of the educational effort of the Christians and ban
it. If a Government or ecclesiastical official fell
ill and was successfully treated by the Doctor
the opposition waned, so that sometimes the
teachers were tempted to pray that certain men
might have severe indigestion or break their legs.
Indeed, if it had not been for the presence of the
hospital and the influence of the Doctor it would
have. gone hard with the educational work.
THE Mission HosPITaAL AND HOUSES FROM THE LAKE
A SUDDEN STORM ON THE LAKE
The waves dashing over the Mission wall into the garden
TWLIdSsOH YHL LY NINOGHY ANV WHOVITIA SLNGILVd NYUNWOM
gent cenit
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 177
Although the difficulties were heartbreaking
the schools were kept up to the highest pitch of
efficiency, and many parents, recognizing their
superior influence, persisted in taking advantage
of them. A few of the boys passed on for higher
education to Sidon, and their careers there were
the best testimony to the excellence of the train-
ing they had received. Some of these pupils were
Christian in everything but name. One or two,
indeed, were baptized after leaving Tiberias. The
case of a Moslem lad was typical. Had he declared
himself a Christian in Tiberias he would have been
quickly put out of the way; the ceremony was
delayed until he was out of Palestine, and then he
was sent to Egypt. Such cases were, naturally,
not mentioned in the official reports sent to
Scotland.
The evening classes were well attended by
Jewish, Moslem, and Christian lads. One winter
a Hebrew school was attempted for the sake of
the Jewish boys who required to know the language
and read the Torah before a certain age. Mr.
Soutar could have had an attendance of fifty, but
fearing to excite the opposition of the rabbis he
restricted the number to twenty. The class was
held in the hospital. One night two learned Jews
stalked in and eyed the gathering, and next day a
khérem was out. The students sent word that
they would be unable to come to the hospital again,
but if the class were held in the school they would
attend. ‘lhis was arranged. Then the teacher,
a young Jewish rabbi who had attended the even-
ing classes, was summoned before the Beth-din or
I2
178 A GALILEE DOCTOR
House of Judgment, and threatened with the loss
of his khalukah if he persisted in his course. A
man of independent character, he refused to be
intimidated, and lost his dole. Not a few of the
people, and even some of the rabbis, regarded this
official action as harsh, and uncalled-for in the
circumstances.
The Girls’ School had developed into one of the
largest and most successful in the country. Early
marriages continually drained it of the elder girls,
but there was compensation for this in the appear-
ance of daughters of the earlier pupils, who were
eager for their children to obtain the same advan-
tages which they had enjoyed. These newcomers,
so bright and trustful, offered a strong contrast to
others who were strangers to the school. Some of
the latter had been taught in their homes to fear
the name of Jesus, and when they came to utter
it in their classes they turned pale and trembled.
Many of the scholars were secret disciples.
One, a sweet and refined girl of gentle and modest
manners, had been taught by her parents to be an
expert dancer. Whenever they had guests her
father ordered her to appear and entertain them.
She disliked the performances, and often fled and
hid with her teachers in order to escape the evil
surroundings of her home. Another confessed to
her mother that she was a Christian, and was re-
moved and severely punished.
Similar cases occurred from time to time, and an
agitation arose in favour of the establishment of an
Alliance School for Girls. The movement was
successful, and when the School was opened all but
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 179
three of the eighty little Jewesses vanished from
the Mission institution, the character of which was
completely altered. ‘The native mistress was heart-
broken and could scarcely speak for tears. But
new and better premises were secured, and the
curriculum was revised and improved, and once
more parents were found who valued the education
and influence of the school, and risked much to have
their daughters taught in it.
The evangelistic work was carried on with a
faith and resolution which nothing could daunt.
“* Well,” said an American visitor, “and how
many conversions have you per week, per month,
per year? And would you mind showing me the
latest figures?’ For such an attitude the Doctor
had only scorn. ‘‘ Many conversions—of a kind—
could be got for £5 a head,” he said, “ but it is a
thing to be thankful for that missionaries do not
countenance such a policy. Conversions may be
few, but the best results are not those that can be
put down in statistics.”
One of the best adjuncts of the work was the
Bible Depot, which had the largest sale of Bibles
and Christian literature in the country outside of
Jerusalem. One-third of the total issue was in
Hebrew, the remainder in English, French, German,
Arabic, Greek (modern), Russian, Judeo-German,
and Judeo-Polish. The Russian portions were dis-
posed of amongst the Russian pilgrims who visited
Tiberias each spring. Mr. Cohen, the col-
porteur, was now acting as evangelist in the place
of Mr. Goldenberg, who had followed Mr. Christie
to Aleppo, and was at the same time, through the
180 A GALILEE DOCTOR
kindness of two Edinburgh ladies, attending the
American Theological Seminary in the Lebanon,
where he proved a diligent and able student. The
old feeling against him had largely disappeared,
for, with all their bigotry, the Jews respect character
and courage ; and he was the only Jew within the
experience of the missionaries who got on equally
well with all classes in the community. Even his
father, formerly so bitter, had softened towards
him. He was a patient in Safed hospital, and
perhaps this was a way of showing his gratitude for
all Dr. Wilson’s care and attention.
The same lights and shadows passed over the
work at Safed. At one time Dr. Wilson had the
unpleasant experience of being mobbed by Jews of
the baser sort, reprimanded by the Moslem officials,
and cursed by the Christians, but there was also
much to encourage him. Of his consultations,
which reached 1400 per annum, 1000 were Jewish.
His medical skill smoothed the situation for Mr.
Thomson, whose linguistic knowledge and rab-
binical lore won him a high position in the eyes
of the Jews. But the difficulties were immense.
The Girls’ School, under Mrs. Thomson’s charge,
was banned by Moslems and Jews alike. An order
that no Moslem girl should attend was rigorously
enforced for a time, a soldier standing at the door
and taking down the names of those who put in an
appearance. The Jewish girls were watched and
intercepted ; some arrived at the school two hours
ahead of the time; others dodged the sentinels,
and slipped unobserved into the playground.
Parents were fined and imprisoned. Even the
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 181
baker was afraid to deliver the daily bread. One
girl was bastinadoed but, with unshaken courage,
returned to school next day. Nothing could break
their spirits. The majority were poor and
wretchedly clad, yet on the cold winter mornings
they would brave the rain and the snow and arrive
in their thin dresses soaked to the skin, and had
to be dried one by one at the fire. It was Safed
missionaries especially who were grateful for the
clothing sent out year by year by the ladies in
Scotland ; it enabled them to keep the children
warm, and it saved many a young life.
The evening school experienced the same
adventurous fortune. Guards prowled round the
building and sought to prevent the lads from
entering, but they managed to attend. Dis-
appointment was expressed in Scotland when it
was stated in the annual report that twenty-nine
out of the sixty-six students had left Safed, but
this was in reality a tribute to the influence of the
school. It indicated that these young men had been
so affected by the teaching they had received that
they had determined to leave the cramped sur-
roundings where they were prisoners of tradition
and ate the bread of idleness and go out into the
wider world and live a life of religious freedom.
Many emigrated to America, others made
their way to the ‘Transvaal; one went to
London, where he was baptized ; another found a
situation in Edinburgh, and sent out part of his
first wages as a contribution towards the evan-
gelist’s salary. If they had remained they would
have been in the same predicament as Paul at
182 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Damascus ; like him, though in a less dramatic
way, they chose to escape from the machinations
of the rabbis.
With all this resistance to the work it was
curious how friendly the personal relations of the
officials and the missionaries were. The latter
were invited to all functions given by the Governor.
At one dinner there were present several Moslems,
a Greek Christian, an American, a Protestant
Syrian, two Greek Church Syrians, two Roman
Catholics, a Christian Jew, a Rationalist Jew, an
English Episcopalian, and a Scots Presbyterian.
After several years’ service Dr. and Mrs. 'Thom-
son retired, for health reasons, and Miss Elizabeth
Jones of Glasgow was appointed to succeed Mrs.
Thomson as honorary superintendent of the Girls’
School. Adding a bright and loving disposition
to her intellectual qualities, she made an ideal
mother-mistress for the girls, and the school con-
tinued to progress. It was at this time that the
various local Ladies’ Societies in Scotland, which
helped the Jewish Mission work of the Church by
providing the teaching staff in the Girls’ Schools,
were amalgamated as the Women’s Jewish Mis-
sionary Association. The ladies of this Com-
mittee were as heroic a band as the workers in the
field ; they were constantly facing, in Palestine
and elsewhere, what were dark, difficult, and
discouraging situations, but they held hopefully
on, resolute and resourceful, and thankful for the
slightest indications of increasing interest and
success.
‘On his next furlough Dr. Torrance proceeded
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 183
to New York as the representative of the Sea of
Galilee Mission at the International Missionary
Conference, where, announcing himself as the first
medical missionary on the shores of the Sea of
Galilee, he said, with justifiable pride, “‘ I have the
honour of having a model missionary hospital, and I
also have the honour to labour for a Committee who
have never refused one request I have made.” He
spoke again at the General Assembly, “ giving his
audience,”’ says the report of the proceedings, “‘ a
graphic description of the work of the Mission,
to which they listened with rapt attention. It is
impossible to give the reader any impression of the
freshness and vivacity with which he presented the
story.” He also dwelt with great frankness on the
disappointments connected with the work, and
concluded with an emphatic corroboration of what
a previous speaker had said as to the need of some
kind of industrial institution for those who were kept
back from the Christian faith through fear of for-
feiting their means of subsistence.
The representations on the latter point at last
bore fruit. An inquiry was set on foot by the
Jewish Mission Committee, who ascertained the
views of eight different Churches and Societies
working amongst Jews. ‘The opinion was practi-
cally unanimous in favour of such work, and it was
significant that those who had already experienced
its value were strongest in their commendation.
A few replies were qualified, but this was because
in the localities in which the missionaries were
stationed, such as Budapest, London, and Liver-
pool, no necessity existed for assisting converts ;
184 A GALILEE DOCTOR
they had not, as a rule, to face economic persecu-
tion, and could in any case find ways of earning a
livelihood. 'The Committee, therefore, felt justified
in considering the proposal as desirable and
practicable, and the General Assembly gave them
authority to proceed.
Simultaneously with the Union of the Free
Church with the United Presbyterian Church in
1900, an important development took place in the
Palestinian field. In Hebron, a city holy alike to
Jews and Moslems, where Abraham and Sarah,
Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah are said to lie
buried beneath the Moslem mosque which covers
the cave of Machpelah, ‘the Mildmay Mission
had been carrying on work among both peoples,
their agent being Dr. Paterson, who had previously
been stationed at Aden, Southern Arabia, a mission
of the Free Church. He was a man singularly
gifted, had great force of character and an intimate
knowledge of Arabic, and had become a powerful
influence over a wide region. Mr. John Martineau, a
member of the Church of England, was so interested
in the work he was doing, that he offered him
£5300 for the erection of a hospital and its equip-
ment. The Mildmay Mission did not see its way
to accept the increased responsibility, and Dr.
Paterson proposed that the United Free Church
should take over the whole work. To this the donor
agreed, and the offer was accepted by the Church.
The arrangement added a picturesque but extremely
difficult sphere to the stations of the Jewish Mission
Committee. It was too far south to be related
in any way to the Galilee Mission, but Dr. Torrance
TERRIBLE WEEKS 185
frequently visited it and exchanged notes with
Dr. Paterson, for whose great qualities he had the
most unqualified admiration.
IV. TERRIBLE WEEKS
1902
** AMONG both the Jews and Moslems,” wrote Mr.
Soutar in the early part of 1902, “there is unusual
unrest as if some convulsion or other event were
expected. ‘the American missionaries expect an
outbreak of Moslem fanaticism against the Chris-
tians. That this will come sooner or later I believe,
but I am not prepared to say that it is at hand.
Whatever happens may God enable us to do or to
suffer His will.”
This was a curious premonition, for not many
months later, Tiberias experienced a convulsion
the effects of which were as terrible as those of the
great earthquake in 1837.
Cholera was endemic over a wide area of the
East, its existence being due to the insanitary state
of the houses and villages, and to the pilgrimages
to Mecca, which carried the disease germs far and
wide. After lurking for some years in Asia Minor,
Damascus and the Hauran were affected, but the
authorities in Palestine imposed a military quaran-
tine of so strict a character that the country was
saved from infection. This was all that was con-
sidered necessary; it was never realized that the
186 A GALILEE DOCTOR
most effective precaution was to keep the domestic
conditions clean and sweet.
The fear of a visitation hung over the Doctor
like a perpetual menace; he was for ever at the
officials warning them of the possibility, and urging
them to take up the matter of public hygiene.
They shrugged their shoulders. “It is in God’s
hands,” they said.
The disease invaded Palestine from Egypt.
It appeared at Gaza in September, but the authori-
ties refused to acknowledge its existence, called it
by other names, and allowed people to die at
the rate of thirty per day. Some Arabs of the
district proceeding to Lydd to work at the olive
harvest carried the germs with them. When cases
occurred there, the inhabitants hid the fact, and it
raged unchecked. Hebron became affected and
then Jaffa.
Dr. Torrance was anxious and impatient to be
doing something, but the local officials continued
apathetic. From the roof of his house he looked
down on the town, a veritable ghetto, and thought
of what would happen if the worst came.
The worst did come suddenly and violently.
On 24th October he was called out to a case, and
diagnosed cholera. He notified the Government,
and a guard was stationed round the house. It was
too late. Other cases occurred, and panic seized
the people. The Government went to pieces.
Its only resource was the soldiery, and these were
placed outside the walls to act as a cordon. In
their wild excitement the people endeavoured to
break through, and were driven back and bottled
TERRIBLE WEEKS 187
up. They began to die like flies at the blast of
winter. Strong men and women succumbed in a
few hours. The bodies lay in the houses until
the neighbours were compelled by the stench to
remove them. For a time they were thrown out-
side the walls and left unburied.
The Doctor stopped the clinic and closed the
hospital, retaining, however, the patients already
there, and devoted himself day and night to the
work of relief. His figure, dressed in white overall,
was seen everywhere; he visited the stricken,
succoured the destitute, advised the officials on
the measures to be taken. Mr. Soutar was at Safed,
and feeling it to be his duty to be with his colleague,
he came down with his family. The Doctor, fear-
ing trouble with the cordon at Magdala, went out
there to meet him. When Mr. Soutar approached,
the soldiers raised their rifles and threatened to
shoot if he came nearer. ‘ If you do,” ominously
remarked the Doctor, lifting his own gun, “I also
will shoot.” It took some time to convince them
that their real duty was to prevent affected people
from leaving instead of keeping an unaffected
individual from entering.
Mr. Soutar found that the Doctor was working
at high pressure. “It would be difficult,” he
wrote, ‘‘ to praise his work too highly. If only he
were backed up by the Government, there would
be hope of checking the disease.”
But the Government ‘was hopeless. ‘To disin-
fect the town it procured a single gallon of crude
carbolic! Telling the Governor that the Lake
water was the greatest source of infection, the
188 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Doctor appealed to him to place a guard along the
beach. The guard was set, but in a few hours
had disappeared. Finding a gun, the Doctor took
possession of it and carried it off. On another
occasion he discovered the soldiers allowing women
to draw water, because the latter had given them
bakhshish in the shape of cigarettes. Again he
noticed some figures at a distance surreptitiously
taking water, and told a guard to fire his gun to
warn them. Some time afterwards a formal com-
munication came from the military headquarters
at Acre, inquiring if he had ordered the soldier
to fire. His reply was, ‘“‘ Certainly. What was the
gun for?” |
At last he selected a part of the shore where the
water was clear and unpolluted. “ Let this be the
spot,” he said, ‘where the people draw their
supplies, and let it be strictly guarded.” A guard
was requisitioned and given injunctions to prevent
the water being contaminated. Shortly afterwards
the Doctor went to the place and found no guard.
At that moment a woman arrived with a jar on her
shoulder to draw water. Under her arm she carried
the clothes of a man who had just died of cholera
which she was going to wash at the same spot.
The Doctor was so vexed that he marched her off
to the Governor and related the circumstance and
showed him the clothes. There was no prison for
women, and, five minutes afterwards, she was set
free without even a word of reprimand.
With such minds it was impossible to deal.
Along with Mr. Soutar the Doctor organized a
public distribution of boiled water. Two large
TERRIBLE WEEKS 189
boilers in which tea was made for Russian pilgrims
were secured and erected in front of the hospitals,
and here the poor of the town obtained free supplies.
Yet so ignorant and fatalistic were some of the
Moslems that they continued to drink the foul
water and to die. By and by the available fuel
ran out. The Governor telegraphed to head-
quarters at Acre, and the Doctor to various consuls
for more, but none arrived, and after the olive trees
on the Mission grounds had been cut down and
used, the provision of pure water ceased. A
supply of medicines for the hospital was held up
at the coast, and the only reply the Doctor received
to his representations was that “‘ the duties of a
consul-general were not those of a forwarding
agent.” It was not until the epidemic was over
that they appeared.
On the Doctor’s advice the cordon was extended,
and the people allowed to camp on the fields and
hillsides where there were springs. Only a few
cases of cholera occurred there, but a virulent form
of malaria prevailed.
In the second week a German from Haifa, who
had been the contractor for the hospital, was taken
ill. The Doctor fought for his life, but he died
twenty-four hours after he was attacked. That
day Mrs. Torrance wrote to Miss Vartan at
Nazareth : ‘‘ We are well and are leaving ourselves
in God’s hands.” Finishing the note, she went to
the roof of the house and watched for her husband’s
return from the funeral of the German. He saw
her standing there silhouetted against the sunset
light. She came to meet him. “ David,” she
190 A GALILEE DOCTOR
said quietly, ‘I think I must have got it.” He
took her in his arms and carried her up to her
room. A new nurse, Miss Johnstone, had managed
to enter the town before the cordon was estab-
lished, and the Doctor and she nursed the
patient. Nothing that skill and thought and
tenderness could do was left undone, but after
a day’s suffering she died, and was laid to rest
at sunset in the little corner cemetery. She was
the only victim in the Mission compound, and the
only one throughout the epidemic who was buried
in a coffin.
How she had been infected was a mystery.
Brave and busy she had’ been, cheering and en-
couraging and advising every one about her. She
had attended to the disinfection of the Doctor’s
clothes, and was scrupulously. careful to carry out
the precautions he enjoined. His own view was
that the infection was due to the thoughtlessness of
the servants. One of the men had left to nurse
his wife, who had taken the disease, and, coming
back to the house for food, another servant supplied
him with rice in a pot which he carried away, and
later returned. On hearing of this, Mrs. Torrance
took the pot and scoured it thoroughly with her own
hands, and in the process had apparently been
infected.
To the Doctor, who had already known so much
sorrow, the blow was a severe one, but he bore it
with fortitude for the sake of the keen eyes that
were watching him. There had been a pitiful
revelation of weakness and cowardice amongst the
populace, especially amongst the Moslems, for many
TERRIBLE WEEKS 191
of the Jews exhibited a noble devotion and courage,
and he felt that Christianity was on its trial. ‘‘ The
whole community, Jews, Moslems, and Christians,”
wrote Mr. Soutar, “‘ confess that there must be
something worth having in a religion which enables
one to bear so manfully and cheerfully so heavy a
burden.”
Tiberias remained completely isolated, the only
means of communication allowed with the out-
side world being the telegraphic message, and even
that was a tedious process. Governors of other
towns refused to have dealings with the town in
any way whatever. No provisions entered, and
food began to be at famine prices. It was abso-
lutely necessary for the missionaries to obtain
supplies, and letters were written to the friends at
Nazareth, given into a trusty hand, and smuggled
through the cordon at night. They were left
secretly and silently on the outskirts of Nazareth,
the messenger slipping back again without coming
into contact with anyone. In this way the situa-
tion was made known and help secured. The
Vartans also made arrangements to pitch quar-
antine tents on the hills in case Mrs. Soutar and
her five children were sent out of the doomed
town.
The people began to starve, and an appeal for
assistance was telegraphed to Scotland; it was
promptly responded to, and the money which was
cabled back did much to relieve the hunger and
distress for the destitute widows and orphans.
The epidemic ceased as suddenly and mysteri-
ously as it had come. In the course of a month the
192 A GALILEE DOCTOR
town had literally been decimated, 600 out of the
6000 inhabitants having died, while 1400 succumbed
in the district around. There was scarcely a
family which had not lost one or more members of
its circle. A few of the infected escaped to Safed,
but the disease did not spread in that lofty town.
It travelled into Northern Syria, attacked Damascus
and Aleppo, and swept off a large proportion of
the populations.
“During these trying weeks,” wrote Mr.
Soutar, “the Doctor and his native assistant
showed untiring devotion and rendered magnificent
service. . . . It is not Torrance’s way to speak or
write about his work. _It was done as a matter
of course, quietly, effectively, without self-glorifica-
tion. One feels angry sometimes as one reads of
highly coloured reports of the work done in other
places, knowing that not a tenth part of what is
done in Tiberias is ever actually represented to the
Church.” Mr. Soutar himself was the right hand
of the Doctor throughout and a tower of strength
and comfort. The morale of the rest of the staff
was perfect ; they went about their duties with a
quiet, cool courage, “ which has left,’’ wrote the
Doctor, “a lasting impression on the minds and
hearts of the people.”
Even the Mission children rose to the occasion.
While the town was in a frenzy of excitement and
fear the little ones played quietly in the garden
facing the Lake, not unconscious of the grim
tragedy going on so near, but trusting in the love
and care encompassing their lives.
PERSONALITIES 198
V. PERSONALITIES
1903-1908
AFTER the strain of this experience the Doctor
went on furlough, and returned with a brilliant
young graduate of Edinburgh University, Dr.
Ernest Muir, who had volunteered to help him
for at least a year. Ere the year was up he was
invalided home, and the Doctor fell back on a
native assistant.}
Another disappointment was the retiral of Dr.
Wilson from Safed after a devoted service of twelve
years. But a blow which staggered the Doctor
was the death of Mr. Soutar in December 1905.
He had been a beloved colleague upon whose
quiet courage, calm strength, sane judgment, and
chivalrous heart he had continually leaned. By
his writings Mr. Soutar had made the various
aspects of the Mission well known to the Church
in Scotland, and his loss was a serious set-back.
His successor was the Rev. Thomas Steele, M.A.,
B.D., another distinguished student of Glasgow
College. On being appointed, a well-known
minister of the Church said to him, “So you are
going out to that vile spot Tiberias. Why, it is no
fit place for any man to live.” “ It was rather hard
on me,” remarked Mr. Steele, “ seeing I was taking
out a young wife. But Dr. Torrance has been
1 Dr. Muir entered the Foreign Mission service of the Church and
a reputation in India for his investigations into the causation
and treatment of leprosy.
13
194 A GALILEE DOCTOR
there for twenty-five years, and he and others are
labouring to make the place less vile. Why should
not I do the same?” When he arrived at Tiberias
in 1907 with Dr. Torrance, who had been again on
furlough, he wrote: “‘ What impressed me most
of all was the eagerness of the people to see Dr.
Torrance back. I have since learned of his extra-
ordinary reputation. A Jew said to me, ‘ All
Tiberias is glad now that the Doctor is here.’ ”
A year later Mr. Steele was invalided home.
Then followed an interregnum of some years
during which Dr. Torrance bore the whole admini-
strative burden of the Mission on his shoulders.
He prayed for a clerical colleague—not necessarily a
clever preacher, but a man full of Christian love
and faith and sanctified common sense who would
take a special interest in the schools.
He was not, however, without competent sub-
ordinate help. ‘‘ It would be difficult,” he wrote,
“to find a more capable, whole-hearted, or happier
staff.” Amongst them also, unfortunately, there
was a lack of continuity. Miss Johnston, the experi-
enced matron, retired after seven years’ service,
and was succeeded by Miss Major, a fully qualified
nurse from a Liverpool Infirmary, who was the
personification of energy, capability, and good
sense. Miss Jones, the honorary superintendent
of the Girls’ School, Safed, had now the assistance
of Miss Gwladys Jones, and both, entering heart
and soul into the work, made the school renowned
throughout Palestine. The headmistress of the
Girls’ School at ‘Tiberias was Miss Marie Bleiker, a
sister of Nurse Frieda of the hospital.
PERSONALITIES 195
Frieda Bleiker was a Swiss girl. She had acted
for a time as assistant housekeeper, and after pro-
bation as a nurse had gone to Germany for more
complete training. On her return she was placed
in charge of the out-patient department. Quiet,
unobtrusive, efficient, and thorough, she won the
confidence of the Doctor to such an extent
that he had no hesitation in leaving her in full
control. He was never tired of praising her
ability. ‘“ She is doing splendid work,” he wrote.
“* She has won the confidence and affection of the
patients, young and old, whose wounds and sores
and eyes she dresses and attends to skilfully and
carefully ; to her the little children with eye
troubles come most willingly of their own accord and
frequently endure painful treatment most bravely
and uncomplainingly. She knows all the languages,
and is very tactful in commending the Saviour
to these people. She attends and dresses patients
in their own homes. She is a fine, steady,
methodical worker, ready for all emergencies in
any department, and is indeed our ‘right hand
man.”
The native probationers, who varied in number
from four to six, formed a band of most useful
workers. They came from various parts of Syria
and Armenia, and had the clear olive skin, the re-
fined gentle appearance, and the intelligent ex-
pression which characterize the girls of these
regions. All were keen in their work and con-
scientious in discharging their duties. On com-
pleting their training they had no difficulty in
securing responsible and remunerative employ-
196 A GALILEE DOCTOR
ment elsewhere, their residence in Tiberias Hospital
being sufficient guarantee of their worth.
James Cohen, still the only fruit of the Mission
publicly acknowledged, had grown from strength
to strength, and become indispensable to the
Doctor. In addition to his general work as evan-
gelist he taught the evening classes and conducted
the Arabic service. He had also continued in
charge of the Bible Depot, where he spent several
hours each day, and acted as colporteur, visiting
the Jewish colonies, and the camps of Russian
pilgrims who annually invaded Galilee. This
work continued to be one of the most important
activities of the Mission. In 1906 Cohen esti-
mated that he had sold or given away about five
thousand copies of the Scriptures in twelve different .
languages during the eleven years of his connection
with the book-room. | His experience proved that
there was nothing like the Bible for opening the
minds of men and women to the truth. In his
eyes it wrought wonders, softening the hearts of
the hardest Jews, and changing their views regard-
ing religion. “ What is that key hanging round
your neck ? ”’ he asked lightly of a young Jew. “I
suppose it is the key of your treasury?”’ ‘ Yes,”
was the reply; “‘ it is the key of the box in which
I keep the New Testament you gave me.” / The
National Bible Society of Scotland, which per-
forms an incomparable service for Christ through-
out the world, helped to support the colportage
work, and thus had a direct share in the
Mission.
There are personalities who exercise influence ;
PERSONALITIES 197
there are others whose influence is not exercised,
and yet is all-pervading. There is the rushing
wind and there is the quiet sunlight. The work of
Amina Faris was of the latter sort. After teaching
in Safed for six years her health had failed and she
was taken by Mrs. Thomson to Scotland, where
she was ill for nearly a year. On returning she
lived in Nazareth, but Dr. Torrance, believing
that Tiberias would suit her better, brought her to
the hospital, where she began to attend in the
waiting-hall and visit the patients, her knowledge
of the various dialects standing her in good stead.
She also sewed for the hospital and made dresses
for the nurses, and gradually became a general help
to both patients and staff. Without fuss or force,
with nothing but her gentle charm, her goodness,
and her clear sensible mind, she was the friend and
counsellor and helper of all. The eyes of the
patients brightened as they saw her approach ; her
modesty and humility disarmed the fiercest heart ;
none took offence at her loving efforts to bring
them into the kingdom of peace. She was, what her
name signified, “ a faithful knight.”’
If Sister Frieda was the Doctor’s right hand,
Isaac was his shadow—“ faithful Isaac Rosen-
blum, who buys the provisions, acts as male nurse,
steward, dispensary attendant, and general help.”
Isaac was a Jew. He was born in Russia, was
never at school, and left the country with his
parents when thirteen years old. Many a country
he saw and many a vicissitude he suffered in Africa,
Egypt, and Abyssinia ere he reached Tiberias with
his father, a poor and broken man. The latter was
198 A GALILEE DOCTOR
attracted, like many another wanderer, to the
Doctor, and died in hospital. On one occasion
when the khalukah doles dwindled to vanishing
point many of the young Jews were forced to work,
and Isaac begged the Doctor to engage him. He
was taken on, and from performing menial tasks,
such as scouring floors, he worked his way up into
being the Doctor’s capable attendant. Offered
large wages by an institution in Jerusalem, he went
there for a time, but returned saying, “ Please take
me back ; you can give me what you like, but I will
not stay with these God-forsaken people.” No
task came amiss to him; he would work from dawn
to midnight ; he was always ready at the Doctor’s
call. A short, sturdy man with a fine strong face,
grave and purposeful in expression, and wearing a
beard, he might easily have been taken for a Scot.
As a Jew he was a link between the Doctor and his
co-religionists in the town, and was invaluable in a
hundred different ways.
Another indispensable factotum was Moham-
mad, a Moslem, who looked after the grounds, the
water-engine, and all the outdoor work.
The Mission station with its imposing buildings,
its trim gardens, its appearance of dignity and
refinement, and the busy well-ordered life going on
within and about formed a scene which visitors,
emerging from the desolation and dirt of the land,
saw with frank delight and even wonder, and filled
them with admiration for the man who had brought
it into being. The Rev. Dr. Kelman tells some-
thing of the deep impression that was made upon
him:
PERSONALITIES 199
“Dr. Torrance has lived and wrought amid conditions
such as no man who had not seen can possibly imagine. Among
these conditions, where it seems absolutely impossible to have
any success, he has fought his fight. He has won his fight,
and to-day it is due to him, and others like him, that the name
of Christ is becoming an imperial power throughout the East.
“Those who know Dr. Torrance will appreciate the situa-
tion when they imagine him, of all men, set down in the midst
of all this natural and human unhealthiness. The embodiment
of keen, brisk, healthy humanity, his very presence brings a
blessing with it. We sailed with him to the north end of the
Lake, saw his wonderful power with the natives, as he joked with
the Mohammedan boatmen, and kept them in good humour.
We felt his power even more strongly as he moved about the
wards of his hospital, followed by the eyes of forty patients, to
every one of whom he evidently stood for hope and healing.
That week he had performed some thirty chloroform operations,
and had attended two or three hundred outdoor patients. The
sheikh of Nain was there, to be operated on next day, and a
poor beggar girl, who had been burnt almost to death and was
now recovering. Most of the patients gathered for morning
worship in the largest ward, and there, in reverent silence, grey-
bearded Jews, stalwart Moslems, Arabs from the East, little
curly-haired children from the city, listened to the great story
of the love of God and the healing grace of Jesus Christ.
“There is no part of a scene like this which impresses one
more than its gracious help for women. In every part of the
land their hard lot moves one’s pity. In the fields, women toil
all day in the burning sun. By the wells they gather, erect and
stately of carriage ; in every village they sit in the foul streets,
engaged in the filthiest of labour. Here, in the hospital, they
are women again. Simple and merry, grateful for all kindness,
and quick of eye and hand, they will return to their hard life
with at least the memory of something better. The pictures
on the walls, the clean and sweet rooms, the spotless linen, the
kindly touches, the good fellowship of friends—all these have
spoken to their hearts, and the message will not be forgotten.
“‘ We camped one evening outside the walls of an Arab city.
Next morning we mounted, and rode into the ‘ city’ in search
of Greek and Roman inscriptions. A crowd followed us,
200 A GALILEE DOCTOR
expostulating and protesting that there were none to be found
there. Certainly none were found, and we had almost given
up hope of finding any, when the name of ‘ Hakim Torrance’
suddenly changed suspicion to a royal welcome. Within a few
minutes we found ourselves the guests of the great man of the
city, who set us on carpets round his hearth in the public hall
of audience, and served us with coffee and fair words. Finally
he led us out and in among the houses of his people, showing
us all the inscribed stones of the city, and begging us to remain
with him as his guests.”
And in his book, The Holy Land, which gives
so vivid a picture of the country, he shows how
profoundly he was moved by the sight of the
Mission stations. “ They are spots of brightness
in a very grey landscape; the only thing that
turns pity into hope in Palestine is the Mission
work that is being done there. No one can see
that work without being filled with an altogether
new enthusiasm for missions. Across the sea one
believes in them as a part of Christian duty and
custom. On the spot one thanks God for them
as almost unearthly revelations of sweetness and
cleanness, abundance, power to bless, and Christian
love in a loveless land. . . . It is in this field that
one can look with confidence for the resurrection
of Syria.”
VI. REVOLUTION
1905-1908
IN 1905 the silence of the Lake of Galilee was
broken by the whistle of a locomotive. The
REVOLUTION 201
Turkish Government Railway from Haifa to
Damascus touched the foot of the Lake, where a
station was established at the Moslem mud village
of Samakh. A small steamer built at Constanti-
nople, manned by a captain, two engineers, and six
sailors, and capable of carrying from thirty to
forty passengers, was placed on the Lake—the first
that had ever ploughed its waters—and ran between
the station and Tiberias, which was thus brought
into intimate connection with the coast and trans-
Jordan regions tapped by the main line to Medina.
The pulse of life began to beat more quickly in the
district ; visitors to the hot baths increased in
numbers; and there was a notable expansion of
Jewish activity. The Colonization Association
continued to buy up the good land in the neigh-
bourhood of Tiberias and establish colonies, and
roads began to be constructed by the colonists to
facilitate their operations.
A rough census of the town at this time showed
that there were 5700 Jews, 2000 Moslems, of
whom 300 were strangers and visitors, and 300
Christians—a total population of 8000, which was a
much higher figure than the Doctor had imagined.
At the same time there was an outward move-
ment. Greater contact with the world roused the
young men of the town and villages from their
contented stupor; they grew restless and dis-
satisfied with the narrowness of their environment,
and became ambitious to get on and make money.
Large numbers emigrated to the British Colonies
and America. As some acquaintance with English
was essential for life abroad, the evening classes
202 A GALILEE DOCTOR
of the Mission, now conducted by Mr. Cohen, were
extremely popular. It was an opportunity for the
evangelist, of which he made the most, and none
of his pupils left the town without some knowledge
of the supreme secret of true success and happiness.
The Jewish colonists naturally sought to discourage
their young men from leaving the country, and with
this object only Hebrew was taught at their schools.
The Doctor could not regard the developments
going on without wishing that his old dream might
be realized—that industrial and agricultural work
might be attached to the Mission. For a time it
seemed as if the thing would come about. In
Scotland, a Scottish Mission Industries Co. Ltd.
had been formed inside the Church to carry on
industrial concerns in India as auxiliary to the
ordinary mission work, and it was hoped that its
activities would extend to other fields. When the
Jewish Mission Committee used its influence with
the Company on behalf of Galilee, it was indicated
that what was wanted was some definite scheme
which might be considered and taken up if
practicable.
The Doctor had many native friends who were
warm supporters of the Mission. Through some
of these he heard of a tempting proposition. A
large tract of land, about 2 square miles in area,
the south-western half of the plain of Gennesaret
along the Lake shore, was available if he cared to
secure it to help on his work ; it might, they thought,
be profitably developed, and not only help to run
the hospital, but eventually pay all its expenses.
This was an important consideration, for prices
REVOLUTION 203
had gone up of recent years, in some cases three
hundred per cent. It was offered to him for
£2900.
A splendid vision came to the Doctor. He
knew what the Church Missions to Jews had accom-
plished in connection with their magnificent mission
in Jerusalem ; how hundreds of Jewish inquirers
and converts had learned trades in their House of
Industry, and been able to earn an honourable
livelihood as printers, bookbinders, carpenters,
carvers, and olive-woodwork craftsmen, and how
the women were not forgotten; he also knew
what had been done at Sidon, and he was aware of
the great industrial institutions of his own Church
at Lovedale and Livingstonia; and he saw no
reason why an enterprise on the same scale should
not be established on the shores of the Galilean
Lake and meet with a like success, and thus demon-
strate to the Jews that Christianity was not a mere
matter of form, but a practical power in everyday
life.
He wrote at once to Dr. Ewing, and the matter
was taken up by the Scottish Mission Industries
Co., which formed an associated company to acquire
and develop the land. It was proposed to begin
with ordinary crops, wheat, barley, lentils, and
maize, and with vegetables such as_ potatoes,
melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and by degrees
to establish vineries and orchards of orange, lemon,
citron, apricot, mulberry, and date-palm trees, and
to introduce fishing and silkworm industries. No
difficulty was found in obtaining sufficient sub-
scribers.
204 A GALILEE DOCTOR
The Doctor was anxious to secure the property
at once, for it was being sought after by the Fran-
ciscans, who were offering a larger price. A certain
limit of time was given him, and if he had been a
free agent he would have made the purchase on
his own behalf; but he was obliged to wait on the
business being put through in Scotland. The
Church crisis was then occupying the attention
of those interested in the project; they were
uncertain as to the demands that might be made
upon them in that connection, and they hesitated
to commit themselves. When at last word came
that the purchase money had been sent to a law
agent at Beyrout, who would pay it over on the titles
being found valid, the time limit had expired and
the territory had passed into the hands of the
Roman Catholics. They sold it later to the Jews
for three times the amount, and it is now the
scene of a flourishing colony, and one of the most
valuable sections of land in Galilee.
The Doctor’s disappointment was very great,
and he had little heart for a time to pursue the
matter; but he never ceased to point out the
importance of industrial and agricultural work as a
factor in the conversion of the people.
The interest occasioned by the various develop-
ments in the public life of the country was small
compared with the excitement created in 1908 by
the revolution in Constantinople and the pro-
clamation of a reformed constitution for the Otto-
man Empire, carrying with it political equality
irrespective of race or creed. ‘“ There is to be
freedom of speech, freedom of the press, religious
REVOLUTION 205
freedom,” wrote Dr. Torrance. “‘ The very thought
of such things a year ago seemed impossible. It is
a modern miracle, the work of God.”
The young Turk party owed far more to the
work of the missionaries in the Empire than they
realized. It was the influence of the mission
stations, and the Christian colleges and schools, that
had raised the general level of intelligence and
taught the community to appreciate not only the
material benefits of civilization, but also the moral
and spiritual qualities associated with it. Since
the Jews believed that the new conditions would
bring nearer the time when the country would
be freely opened up to them, they, too, were in-
debted to the leavening of thought that had made
the change possible.
The population of Tiberias went wild with
delight. In the public squares the Doctor saw
Jews dancing with Moslems and Christians. Were
they not now all equal and brothers? and could
they not do what they liked in social and religious
life ? As the Doctor looked on he wondered if the
ideals of the young Turks would be realized in
practice. The changes opened up many possi-
bilities for missionary work. But he had mis-
givings, and the result justified his fears. There
was no moral or spiritual backbone in the move-
ment, which occasioned great social unrest and un-
settlement of thought. A notable lessening of
religious custom was observed ; intemperance in-
creased amongst the Moslems, licence and lawless-
ness became common, and robbery and murder
were frequent in the country districts. Never
206 A GALILEE DOCTOR
before had the Doctor to deal with so many stabbing
and gun and revolver shot cases. The universal
conscription law, also, was unpopular, and many
Jews and Christians emigrated to escape enlist-
ment.
But it takes many dynamic changes to alter the
fundamental attitude of the East, and the people
gradually fell back into their normal condition, to
be agitated later by an attempt on the part of
the Government to impose taxation and disarma-
ment. Civil war raged for a time in the Hauran ;
the railway track was torn up, officials killed, and
stations looted. During the process of disarming
the people it. was noticed that a heavy mortality
took place ; the funerals indeed became so numerous
that the authorities grew suspicious and examined
a coffin. It contained modern rifles !
When the turn of Tiberias came, five hundred
soldiers isolated the town, and the inhabitants
trembled, but they obediently brought out their
arms and piled them high in the public squares.
Never was seen such a collection of ancient weapons.
All passed off quietly, and the military departed—
then the people at their leisure unearthed the
Mausers and Martinis which they had hidden
under the ground. It was not surprising that
gunshot wounds continued to be treated at the
hospital.
On one occasion the Doctor encountered an
excise officer who interrogated him and endeavoured
to seize his gun. The Doctor resisted. ‘ You
know me,” he said ; ‘‘ come to the hospital. I am
not a shepherd.” As a rule he was not molested
REVOLUTION 207
on his journeys, though accidents sometimes
happened. Once, returning from Nazareth with .
Mohammad, he rode up to a party of horsemen who
were on their way back from the coast with the pro-.
ceeds of some money transaction. Evidently be-
lieving they were being attacked, one raised his |
gun and was about to shoot the Doctor when |
Mohammad threw up his arms and shouted, “‘ We |
are friends ; don’t fire!”’ The others also shouted, |
and the man wavered and lowered his weapon. |
When he recognized the Doctor he was more |
afraid than before, and abjectly sorry. The Doctor’s
courage was well known. Once he was asked by
Arabs, by whom he was “ held up,” “‘ Why are you
not frightened?” ‘“‘ Because,” he said, “I am
going to doa good deed.” “ Ah, that is true; if you
had been going to steal you would have fled.”
Having, as they thought, made the country
safe, the Government allowed buildings to be
erected outside the towns—a reform of first-class
importance. ‘Tiberias began to break its bonds and
to expand. One of the first plots of land bought
was a piece to the north of the Mission Hospital,
on higher ground, on which Sisters of the Roman
Communion erected a large boarding and day
school and an orphanage, and staffed the institu-
tion with European ladies. These Sisters were
occasional patients of the Doctor, and were friendly
with him and the nurses. ‘‘ Scotland must be a
land of saints,’ one gratefully observed—an em-
barrassing reputation, since the Scots felt they
had to live up to it.
wax. ¢
Nip tLe
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208 A GALILEE DOCTOR
VII. SCHOOL DIFFICULTIES
1908
THE Mission ceased to be an isolated centre of
beneficent influence in the town; other agencies,
stimulated by its example, came into the field.
Two Jewish physicians were in practice, and a third
was employed in the colonies. Though officially
opposed to the Doctor, they were personally his
friends and sought him in consultation, and referred
patients to the hospital for operations. He wel-
comed their help as he did that of every one on the
side of what was right and progressive, and only
wished that the Moslems and Christians had also
competent doctors of their own.
No rival development, unfortunately, seemed
able to ease his work. ‘Two thousand patients per
month flocked to the Mission—more than he could
attend or see—and the numbers went on increasing
instead of diminishing. From the far deserts they
came, as stories of his skill passed from tribe to
tribe. To many in these distant regions his per-
sonality had become invested with mysterious
qualities, and they thought of him with awe. One
day some Arabs brought a patient. When the
Doctor was examining him, one turned to Sister
Frieda and said eagerly, ‘‘ We want to see ‘ Trance.’ ”’
She replied, “This is Dr. Torrance.” They
looked startled and gazed at him in wonder.
““ How do you know ‘ Trance’? ” she asked
them.
SCHOOL DIFFICULTIES 209
“We hear of him everywhere in the desert
that there is no one like him. We are glad we
have seen him.”
A woman arrived from the extreme north.
““ But why didn’t you go to Safed?” she was
asked. ‘‘ I don’t know the doctor there, but Dr.
Torrance we all know.”
The Doctor did not disdain to use whatever
means came to his hand to increase his influence.
A visitor tells of an Arab who had come for a
serious operation, and was in rather a despondent
frame of mind. The Doctor started a gramophone,
which had been a gift from Scotland, and when
the patient heard the music his spirits rose. ‘‘ He
got up and began to dance and caper—a wild-
looking creature in his nightgown—and the prospect
of a successful operation was multiplied tenfold.”
One feature of the work was a tribute to his wise
and patient handling of the people. The majority
were extremely poor, the Jews being constantly
on the verge of starvation; it was indeed often
necessary to supply them with food and money.
Yet he had trained all so well to be willing to help
themselves that the annual income of the Mission
from fees now amounted to over £300. “It is
almost incredible,” he said, “‘ that such a sum should
be raised in Tiberias.” ‘The fees were now a
necessary charge, since it was only fair to the other
medical practitioners in the town that they should
not be handicapped by an institution providing
entirely free treatment.
It was notable that the patients who gave him |
the most trouble were not the poor but the wealthy. —
14
210 A GALILEE DOCTOR
From a village came a woman with her boy, who
was operated on. She was destitute, but from her
head-dress she took out a coin worth a sixpence
and placed it in the hospital box. From the same
village came a sheikh. “ Well,” said the Doctor,
‘“‘ what are you able to pay?”’ “ Oh, the same as
other people—a sixpence!” “‘ That,” replied the
Doctor smiling, ‘‘is surely too much for you to
pay; you had better go to the native surgeon; he
will operate for less.” The sheikh caught the
sarcasm and said truculently, ‘I thought the
work here was the work of God.” ‘ Quite so,
and what are you going to put into His box?”
JT have no money.” “ Well, I cannot operate
until you bring a proper fee.” By a subterfuge
the man managed to enter the hospital, and was
being put under chloroform when it was discovered
that he had paid nothing. The Doctor was ruthless ;
he ordered him out, and only operated on him
when he produced the fee he was quite capable
of giving.
On another occasion an Arab brought a woman
who, he said, had been picked up by him on the
road. “Is she your wife?” the Doctor asked
pointedly. He denied it emphatically, but the
suspicion remained. 'The woman seemed too
frightened to open her lips, and the Doctor went out
and made inquiries and discovered that she was
indeed one of his wives. Returning, he said the
treatment would take some time, and he would
have to pay so much. ‘“‘ What is she to me?”
the man cried, and began to curse. The Doctor
procured a short whip, laid it across his back,
SCHOOL DIFFICULTIES © 211
opened the door, and ejected him. Some time after-
wards he was visiting patients in a village and felt
something like a dog at his heels. Turning, he
saw the man he had chastened endeavouring
to kiss his feet. ‘I thought,” he said humbly,
““it was a poor hospital. Will you take her in?”
“Yes,” the Doctor responded; ‘‘ but you won’t
get her out again until the fee is paid!” Which
it was.
“The centre of the Mission at present,” he
wrote at this time, “is the hospital and its dispensary,
not the schools or churches, but to be efficient as a
Christianizing agency the medical workers should
not be overwhelmed with their work as they now
are. ‘The calls are more than we can undertake ;
most of the patients hear the gospel message;
doctors and nurses do what they can, but we feel
the lack of non-medical, sympathetic, and tactful
workers to speak to individuals or groups while
they are being treated. We are all burdened with
the strain of the feeling of disappointment that so
much is left undone.”
He felt also that the Church public at home
were expecting larger results and were unaware
of the difficulties that had to be overcome. But
Dr. Hastings, who was then the wise and large-
hearted convener, made the position clear. ‘“‘ The
work we are doing,” he said, “is essentially pre-
paratory work. It needs patience ; and if we are
not prepared to exercise patience the sooner we
retire from it the better. It is part of the burden
laid on our missionaries that they are called to sow
rather than to reap. They have to learn to labour
212 A GALILEE DOCTOR
and to wait, and they require all the Beer that
we can give them.”
It was the educational work that was chiefly
affected by the new conditions. The Alliance
Israélite schools were developing with remarkable
rapidity. In Tiberias they had now an average
attendance of 500 pupils as compared with 130 in
both the Mission schools. French was the
language used, with Hebrew and Arabic as special
subjects. Nothing was left undone to attract the chil-
dren. The buildings were well equipped ; the staff
was highly trained, there were free dinners, books,
boots, and clothing, and in some cases a gratuity
was actually given. The Mission schools could
not compete with this lavish scale of expenditure,
though during severe winters, when prices were
high and food scarce, the pupils were still provided
with dinner. As the spirit of independence was
conspicuous by its absence in Tiberias, no hurt was
done either to parents or pupils by this occasional
act of grace.
It was not only the Jews that the Mission was
provoking to enterprise. Both the Moslems and
Christians were doing their best to organize and
run schools of their own, though not always with
success. On one occasion a Catholic Bishop who
visited the town reprimanded parents for sending
their children to the Protestant School. ‘“ We
have chosen the school where they are taught best,”’
they said. “ Nonsense ; your judgment is mis-
taken,” he replied. ‘‘ We can prove that it is not,’
they asserted confidently. A number of boys from
the respective schools were obtained and submitted
SCHOOL DIFFICULTIES 213
by the Bishop to a searching examination. To his
discomfiture the Mission-taught lads came off with
flying colours and the Catholic pupils were covered
with shame.
The children in the Jewish schools belonged
to the less fanatical Sephardim section of the
community. The Ashkenazim, considering that
the influence of the teaching tended to under-
mine the orthodox faith—with which belief Dr.
Torrance agreed—declined to patronize them. The
education given was thoroughly good, but it was
secular ; it enlightened and broadened the minds
of the pupils, but it was loosening the bonds
of the Talmud and substituting materialism for
theism. Schools to suit their own purpose were,
therefore, started by the Ashkenazim, with Hebrew
as the sole language, but they were somewhat
primitive and nourished the exclusive and narrow
spirit of the race.
In addition to the disadvantages under which
the Mission schools had to labour they struggled
against a disability not experienced by their rivals.
Each of the latter appealed to a different class of
pupil and could, therefore, concentrate and
specialize on subjects. In the Mission schools
were boys and girls of all creeds, and each creed had
to be catered for in some separate way. Religious
fasts and feasts were also perpetually occurring,
and, as they came at different times in the different
bodies, it was impossible to secure either regular
or simultaneous attendance. ‘This was so great an
evil in Safed that Dr. Torrance, impressed with the
difficulty, proposed to have schools for the Jews
214 A GALILEE DOCTOR
alone which would be in line with the policy of the
Church, though they could not neglect the Moslems
and Christians, unless they asked some society
which worked amongst these to come in and take
up the work.
Another problem forcing itself on the notice
of the missionaries was the difficulty of making a
permanent impression on the boys and girls so long
as they went back to their squalid environment,
where the good effected in the school was often un-
done by the evil influences surrounding them. To
the Doctor’s mind the only way of securing the
children for life was to start boarding-schools and
orphanages to which day-schools might be attached.
Miss Jones was experimenting in this direction
with a number of tiny children.
Despite all the drawbacks, the Mission schools
with their broad curriculum and high moral tone
held their own. In Safed they were now alone
in the field, as in view of the erection of a large
hospital and dispensary by the Church Missions
to Jews the medical side of the work had been
abandoned. The boys’ school was under Mas‘id
Qorban, a capable native educationist, who also
carried on the Bible Depét and the Sunday services.
The girls’ school was by general consent, official
and unofficial, one of the best in Palestine. Never-
theless, the satisfaction of the teachers was always
mixed with anxiety, for the slightest untoward
incident would create a scare and empty the benches.
“They are very uncertain treasures,” said Miss
Jones of the scholars. On one occasion the Jews
gave out that their sacred books foretold an earth-
SCHOOL DIFFICULTIES 215
quake, and straightway the Jewish population and
many of the Moslems and Christians left their
houses carrying their beds, kettles, and pots, and
camped in the open.. At night the rumble of
thunder was heard, and a learned rabbi declared
that the earthquake was in the heavens! The
alarm lasted about a week, and then the school
resumed its normal activity.
The usual interruptions and disturbances over
the religious difficulty continued to recur. These
often puzzled the children. ‘‘ Why do our parents
object to us reading the New Testament?” they
would ask. One little Jewess remarked to Miss
Gwladys Jones, “ Why am I not allowed to sing
at home? My mother says I am not to love
Jesus. I am only to love God.” The situation
was simpler for the Moslem girls, for they were
not taught anything at all in their homes.
These dark-eyed girls of Galilee were very
affectionate and winning, and possessed marvellous
memories, but their thinking faculty had never
been trained, and it was difficult to get them to
grasp the meaning of what they learned. Miss
Gwladys Jones often recalled the advice she had
received on taking up the work: ‘‘ Go on sowing,
have patience, much patience, and do not expect
to see fruit.” It was true that there was no result
in the shape of Christian discipleship, but many
of the girls were Christian in all but name, while
they were developing those qualities which make for
capable and attractive womanhood.
216 A GALILEE DOCTOR
VIII. “ DEAD TIRED ”
1908-12
‘“‘ Tue work is very hard, and so is the field, and
one is apt to become engrossed in the dry detail
of our daily duties, but we keep pegging away.”
So the Doctor summed up what was his yearly
task. He was never satisfied with what he had
achieved ; he was always planning some develop-
ment of the work ; buying plots of ground to safe-
guard the amenity of the hospital, erecting new
structures such as isolation rooms, wash-houses,
and tanks, or improving the grounds. Now and
again an epidemic would interrupt the regular
work, as when small-pox occurred and carried off
three hundred victims, or when dengue fever swept
through the town, and laid low every member of
the Mission staff. ‘The hospital was always full to
overflowing, and crowds of eager out-patients filled
the dispensary hall. They were seen only on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, until 1 p.m. ;
minor operations and visits to patients in their
homes occupied the afternoons ; the alternate days
were devoted to hospital cases and operations.
The Doctor’s old cry of inability to cope with the
tide of human ills was repeated again and again,
and he would add, “* Oh, for power to take advantage
of such opportunities!’ Once in an address to
outgoing missionaries he had said: “ Beware of
taking too many patients. I have seen medical
missionaries not having time to tell the patients
“ DEAD TIRED ” 217
to sit down and take off their coats. How can
anyone, if he is taking more cases than he can
attend to, do good work? If the work is worth
doing, it is worth doing well. No quack work in
medical work.” But when faced with the tragedy
of suffering in the mass, when crowds of men and
women appealed to him for relief, what course
could he adopt? He had either to steel his heart
and turn away, or do what he could, however
superficially, to ease their pain. He was too sym-
pathetic to take the sterner course.
In January 1908 he was married to Miss E. W.
Curtiss, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Curtiss of
Hartford, Connecticut, and a sister of a well-
known American writer. It was a happy union, and
it made the tea-table corner of the veranda more
attractive than ever to the American tourists who
passed through in increasing numbers every spring.
Later in the year, while performing an operation
on a poor woman, he pricked a finger of his left
hand; during the night he was awakened by a
severe pain, and rose and went to the hospital, dis-
infected the puncture, and incised it. Next day
he went on with his work, but during an operation
had to leave ina fainting condition. Dr. Scrimgeour
(who was assisting Dr. Vartan at Nazareth, and
succeeded him when he died in December) was
brought down, and placed him under chloroform,
and made more incisions. The Doctor had no
recollection of what occurred after that, until, a
week later, he found himself in bed helplessly
weak. A fortnight among the pine-woods of
Mount Carmel brought him back to strength.
218 A GALILEE DOCTOR
The continuous strain began to tell even on his
wonderful vitality ; what had to be done was now
utterly beyond his power to do. All the staff were
working at high pressure. Even the presence of
another European medical man would not, he saw,
appreciably relieve the situation. He came to the
conclusion that the only solution would be to stem
the flow of trans-Jordanian patients by estab-
lishing a well-equipped medical mission in the
Hauran or Druze Mountains, or both, and most
earnestly he recommended the plan to the Jewish
Mission Committee, though with a doubt as to their
financial ability to undertake it. The doubt was
justified. Jewish mission work was not so popular
in the Church as it had been, and it took every
particle of energy and generalship on the part of the
officials to raise the funds for the ordinary services.
They looked at both sides of every shilling sub-
scribed until they felt like skinflints.
In 1909 the Doctor broke down, but the summer
vacation and the rest in the hills again restored him.
What did him more good than the change was the
arrival of the Rev. S. H. Semple, B.A. of Dublin
and B.D of London, as clerical colleague. Mr.
Semple had taken his theological course at New
College, Edinburgh, and had been in charge of the
Colonial Church at Lahore, India. To scholarly
attainments and a deep interest in Semitic studies
he added a love and knowledge of science and a
leaning towards educational work, and was there-
fore eminently qualified for the task before him.
So reinforced the Doctor faced the future
with unabated enthusiasm. “ It is a great privilege
“DEAD TIRED ” 219
to have charge of such a work,” he wrote, “‘ and to
have such noble help from every assistant and
worker.” All the visitors at this time spoke in
praise of the hospital. The Governor of Acre
came and “ rendered thanks to its founders in the
name of humanity ”’ on behalf of the natives ; and
the Kaim-makém or Governor of Tiberias wrote:
“I offer my thanks to the clever Dr. Torrance
and to the clever English nation for their good
enterprise.”
He was much cheered also by the kindness
shown him on completing his twenty-fifth year in
Tiberias. The event was celebrated by a com-
munion service, and, on the following day, by a
public reception, which was attended by over a
hundred Jews, Moslems, and Christians. Mr.
Semple presided, and addresses and speeches were
given by representatives of every section of the
community. First came an address from the
Doctor’s Jewish friends, which is given entire as
a specimen of Oriental phraseology :
“In honour of the respected, distinguished, and illustrious
physician whose name is known by praise, Dr. David Watt
Torrance. May his name be for ever !
‘“‘ What an honoured day! the day on which we are privi-
leged to bring to light our thoughts, to uncover the hidden
things of our hearts, which we have long desired to utter before
thee ; the feelings of our heart that are full of gratitude and
blessings for the fitting return of thy distinguished deeds in the
science of medicine: that thou dost cure without price the
poor of our city at thy splendid hospital, to which all that enter
are cured, and leave, by God’s help, healthy and sound, happy
and rejoicing, and full of satisfaction, pleasure, and goodwill,
respect and lasting esteem! Yes, now is the fitting time to
220 A GALILEE DOCTOR
speak; the jubilee! the day when there are completed twenty-
five years of thy labour in our city, Tiberias.
“ With the full desire of our souls we come with uplifted
hands to present to thee, honourable, esteemed, and excellent
Sir, a tribute of our thanks and blessings and praise; as is
fitting and due to thy labour, we would honour thy favour and
goodness.
‘* Blessed art thou, illustrious physician, because thou hast
acquired for thyself a good name to honour and to glory, in all
the holy cities in general, and in our city in particular ; in a high
way. We desire that thou continue at thy great work; with
width of understanding and thy might of genius in the science
of medicine. And may He that dwelleth in the heavens give
thee strength and power for long days and years! As a mark
of gratitude and thankfulness we present our poor offering,
hoping it will be acceptable to thee.”
The gift was a silver cup with a Hebrew in-
scription. Then the Greek Catholic priest, on
behalf of the native Christian community, gave a
fervent address and presented a silver plate. “We
lift up our heads in supplication,” he said, “‘ that
you may be kept a fruitful sower of benevolence
and well-doing and a refuge to afflicted humanity.”
Next came the head priest of the Greek Ortho-
dox Church, who presented a picture frame and
another address. A spokesman from the Ash-
kenazim Jews, and one from the Sephardim Jews,
voiced the sentiments of their co-religionists.
The Moslem representatives then stepped forward,
and said in Arabic:
““O honourable, venerable, respected, able, erudite !
“ The buttresses of a nation are upheld by one of its citizens,
who raised it to the highest pinnacle of glory, just as another
would hurl it down to the lowest depth. Any people who do
not recognize the worth of its men nor reward the merit of
“DEAD TIRED ” 221
their deeds is despicable indeed, unworthy of mention or
honour.
“You, sir, have spent a quarter of a century amongst us,
during which time you have done the Turkish nation a remark-
able service worthy of thanks ; always disregarding difficulties
and inconveniences, and curing thousands of the people. What
language shall we use to praise your merciful and famous deeds ?
for praise to you is indeed of little avail, We are assembled
here, people of divers creeds and sects, to confess, with one
consent, your goodness, and to take part in celebrating your
jubilee. You have spent twenty-five years serving our country
with inestimable services which must be recorded with the ink
of praise and gratitude. You have spent this period treating
the sick, supporting the poor, lightening the woes of the
afflicted, and comforting the broken-hearted. It is of such as
you that Job has said, ‘ You are eyes to the blind, feet to the
lame, and father to the orphans!’ Who, describing your
deeds, does not halt, stammer, and tremble ?
“‘ Should I cease to recount your good deeds, then would the
stones of the hospital proclaim them, which (the hospital) is the
chief witness to what I have said. Therefore I abridge my
address, avowing my shortcoming, and ask God to grant you
return of this day that you may still serve this land.”
A member of the Young Turks Society pro-
ceeded to deliver a glowing speech in French,
and a pastor of the German Catholic Mission
at et-Tabigha added his eulogies.
Mr. Cohen made the presentation of the gifts
from the staff, Miss Major handing them over,
while Mr. Semple read an illuminated address from
the Committee in Scotland, which was also trans-
lated into Arabic.
Overwhelmed by so much kind and generous
appreciation of his services, the Doctor could only
make a brief reply. He spoke of his early days in
the town and the years that had passed since then,
222 A GALILEE DOCTOR
and recalled those who had helped him, the de-
votion of one, the friendship of another, the counsel
and encouragement of many belonging to other
faiths, the sympathy and liberal help of Christian
men and women in Scotland. But it was God
who had led him in a wonderful way and given him
the strength to overcome all the difficulties and
trials, and to Him must be all the praise, and to
Him they must look to crown the years with His
blessing.
Mrs. Torrance became unwell, an infant son
died, and the Doctor himself was again on the point
of breaking down, and was at last compelled to
apply for earlier furlough. “‘ Sister Frieda,” he
wrote, “will, single-handed, manage to attend
to the nursing during my absence, with the assist-
ance of the native nurses.’’ Well aware of the
pressure at which he was living, the Jewish Mission
Committee were anxious to secure him relief, and
finally arranged that Dr. David Yellowlees should
take his place for a year.
At the same time, in 1911, two deputies were
sent out to report on the stations, one being Dr.
Ewing, then the Convener of the Committee, and
the other the Rev. S. Matheson, M.A., a prom-
inent member. It was the first time that official
representatives of the Committee had visited the
Mission, and Dr. Torrance, welcoming this interest
and sympathy in the work and workers, met them
eagerly with plans for extension and development.
The hospital was now too small for ordinary
requirements ; better ventilation was essential—
during the summer the temperature had risen to
“DEAD TIRED ” 223
118° F. in the shade; during the winter it fell to
33° F. He was keen to realize his dream of a
maternity department, and to establish a ward for
sick tourists, and he urged the need for a modern
system of drainage, and for electric lighting and
other improvements.
The deputies were greatly impressed by the
phenomenal success of the medical work and its
evangelistic value, but they were distressed by
the condition of the other aspects of the Mission.
Both evangelistic and educational sides had been
seriously understaffed ; they had, in fact, been liter-
ally starved, and they would have to be greatly
developed and placed on a footing of equality with
the medical work. In their opinion the only hope
of missionary success lay in providing a thoroughly
up-to-date school education. Nothing but sheer
ignorance lay at the bottom of the opposition,
prejudice, and hatred of the people; and mental
enlightenment would have to be considered as
important an evangelistic agency as healing. They
were confirmed in their view by the example of the
Safed Girls’ School, which was properly graded
from the kindergarten department upwards, and
was attracting pupils from all classes ; it had then
110 scholars, 66 being Moslem, 24 Jewesses, and
20 Christians, and all credit was given to the
teachers for its success. But the general con-
clusion of the deputies was that in view of the
increased and increasing efficiency of rival institu-
tions the Mission schools would either have to
be given up or reorganized on a more modern
basis. The imitators had reached and outstripped
224 A GALILEE DOCTOR
their models, and the models would have to set a
new standard.
All this the Doctor had been pressing on the
Committee, and it was satisfactory to have the
situation realized and strongly presented to the
Church in Scotland. In a more hopeful spirit,
but, as he said, ‘‘ dead tired,” he left on furlough.
No sooner, however, was he home than he began
itinerating and addressing meetings in the interests
of the Mission. At the General Assembly, when
Dr. Wells was Moderator, he gave one of the
racy speeches which always fascinated his
audiences. He told how, since he had first ad-
dressed the Assembly, a quarter of a million people
had visited the out-patient department in Tiberias,
and that since the hospital had been opened, about
5000 had been treated and had the Gospel preached
to them. He intimated that he had quite a long
list of “ wants,” at which there was laughter.
‘““ Qh,” he said, “‘ I have no fear of getting them !
But I do wish that in connection with the ex-
tension scheme I could have a maternity hospital.
I have seen such misery and distress that it has been
laid on my heart to plead for it at this time.”? The
result was a cheque for £1000 from an appreciative
listener towards a maternity department.
After visiting New England, the home of Mrs.
Torrance, he returned to Tiberias in 1912, and
threw himself with renewed zest into the work.
Late in the year an outbreak of cholera occurred,
the conditions being reminiscent of the horrors of
1902. Having been carefully studying the subject,
he was able to save many lives by new methods of
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“DEAD TIRED ” 225
treatment. The authorities also were more
amenable to reason and willing to follow his direc-
tions. At his request they sent round a bellman to
reassure the people and tell them to eat only food
that had been boiled or roasted, and water that had
gone “through the fire.” ‘They obeyed like children,
and only a hundred of those who were attacked
succumbed, and they belonged to the poorest class,
who were badly nourished. ‘To arrest the disease
amongst that class, and also to relieve the distress,
a soup kitchen was established and kept going all
winter. Of all the recipients the native Christians
were the most ungrateful ; too proud to come to
the hospital themselves, they would actually send
messages asking the missionaries to deliver the food
at their houses.
This visitation was but an incident in a life of
incessant toil. The difficulty in the medical de-
partment was to restrict the number of patients.
For the nine months of 1912 there were 385 in-
patients and 12,956 attendances in the out-patient
department, where the Doctor performed 184
operations unaided except with the help of the
nurses. High fees for attendance and medicine
had no effect; in one week in 1913 the receipts
from this source were over £40, while the income
for the year amounted to £650, the largest, so far,
in the history of the Mission.
It was a striking proof of the value placed on
the Doctor’s work, not only by the people but
by his professional brethren, for they continued
to send him all their serious cases.
15
226 A GALILEE DOCTOR
IX. THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW
IQI2-14
Tue chief theme of interest during these years was
the remarkable advance being made by the Jews
in trade and commerce along the coast and through-
out the interior. ‘‘ In spite of difficulties which,
however, are diminishing,’ wrote Dr. Torrance,
‘ they are increasing in numbers ; they are obtain-
ing possession of more and more land; they are
most eager for education; they are foremost in
modern methods of agriculture and general culture,
and it seems as if ere long the strongest power in
Palestine will be Jewish again. Moslems and
Christians are emigrating from Palestine, while
Jews are emigrating into it.’”’ Every shop and house
in Tiberias that was for sale passed into their
hands, as well as much of the land in the vicinity.
With the utmost energy they were erecting
hospitals and adding to their schools and developing
their efficiency. Hebrew was taught as a principal
subject and a living tongue—the language, in
accordance with the Zionist programme, being
now in everyday use. ‘The completeness and
thoroughness of the education given, combined
with the claims of racial loyalty and solidarity,
swept practically every Jewish child into the schools.
In Tiberias there was still a remnant who attended
the various small Talmudic schools, but even in
this conservative backwater the spirit of change
manifested itself, and all were combined into one
THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW 227
strong Talmud Torah institution in opposition to
those established by the Alliance.
The example of the Jews continued to react
on the other sections of the population. Hitherto
indifferent to the position of women, the Moham-
medans were beginning to realize the importance
of the mother’s influence on the character of the
race, and were opening schools for girls, and in the
absence of trained teachers were actually appointing
those educated in the Mission schools. In Safed
the Mission school was too strong to attack or be
affected by threats and curses, but a Moslem school
was started in opposition. It was significant that
of Arabic Bibles and portions of Scripture disposed
of in Tiberias in 1910, no fewer than eighty per
cent. were sold to the Moslems.
The Jewish Mission Committee, as well as the
missionaries on the spot, were now alive to the
situation and knew how to meet it, but they were
hampered by lack of funds. Less interest continued
to be taken throughout the Church in the work,
and the annual income was still falling. This was
inexplicable in face of what was being done in
Budapest, Constantinople, and Palestine. ‘The in-
difference was possibly due to lack of knowledge ;
the great bulk of the members knew nothing of the
gallant fight going on in these centres, or of the
fascination and possibilities of the service. But
the Committee did their best with the means at
their disposal.
Miss Major left the hospital to marry Mr.
Semple. She had done good work. One of her
self-imposed duties in the evenings for several
228 A GALILEE DOCTOR
years had been to instruct the Syrian nurses in their
profession, and as a result the first certificates of
efficiency given by the hospital had been presented
to three of the probationers. These girls were
now leaving the hospital and taking up positions
on an equality with British trained nurses. Mrs.
Semple continued her interest in the women and
girls. One of the drawbacks of the work was the
fact that when patients or pupils returned to their
homes, they had no occupation to relieve the
monotony of their lives or to enable them to earn
a position of independence. Some did lace-work,
and, by toiling from morning till night, were able
to earn on an average about 5s. per week. Mrs.
Semple held a class weekly, at which she taught
them the finer and more profitable class of work,
and endeavoured to bring some brightness and
sweetness into their lives. This was a service for
which the women were grateful, and its success
indicated its possibilities as an agency of the
Mission.
To fill the vacant post, the Committee secured
Miss Reid, who had been an honorary nurse at
Hebron ; it was not long before her fine character
exercised a marked influence on both the patients
and the staff. Like others, she felt attracted by
the picturesque oddity of the people :
“They are accustomed to wear charms of different kinds to
keep off the ‘ evil eye.’ One woman asked for a Christian charm,
for which she was willing to pay 6s. 8d. Another asked me
to beat her with the Bible to cure her! We had one Moslem
man in the hospital for a long time, Job by name, who was
strongly averse at first to hear about the Christian religion.
THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW 229
Gradually, however, his attitude changed, and shortly before
he died he asked to have something about Jesus read to him,
and when the story of the Crucifixion was told him slowly and
distinctly, he said softly, ‘ Yes, I have sinned, but He is merciful.’
More than one has told us afterwards that they prayed to
Jesus before their operation and they believed that He did help
them.”
Additional help came in the person of one in
whom the Doctor had a special interest, Miss J. R.
George, a daughter of the Rev. J. A. George, the
minister to whom he had owed so much in his
younger days. She had an aptitude for languages,
and her Arabic instructor declared that she was
the best pupil he had ever taught.
And then came to the Girls’ School at Tiberias,
Miss A. G. Irvine, L.L.A., the first professionally
qualified European headmistress. Capable and
courageous, and possessing initiative and organizing
ability, she began to revolutionize the conditions,
and the Doctor, watching, rejoiced and knew that
all was well. She began with a roll attendance of
one hundred and seventeen pupils, but there was not
a single Jewess among them. She found all ex-
tremely bright and attractive, without the shy and
self-conscious manners of Scottish schoolgirls.
But their absolute indifference to punctuality or
regularity of attendance tried her sorely, while she
was often taken aback by the interruptions that
occurred. A woman would come and take away
her daughter to carry the bread to the public oven ;
another would send for her girl to come and nurse
her father while she went shopping; another
would hastily bring a screaming infant to be com-
230 A GALILEE DOCTOR
forted by his sister; a father would appear with
new shoes and take out his two children to the door-
step to fit these on.
Meanwhile Mr. Semple was quietly reorganiz-
ing the Boys’ School. Happily he conceived the
idea of introducing courses in elementary science,
which proved so attractive that he secured a supply
of scientific apparatus and chemicals and illustrated
his teaching with experiments, in which the boys
took part. It was the first time that such a line of
instruction had been given in a Palestine school,
and it turned the thoughts of the pupils towards
new directions of service in the future. These
changes so strengthened the educational side of the
work that the schools flourished in spite of the
formidable opposition, and proved that, provided the
standard of efficiency were maintained, they could
hold their own and continue to act as Christian
agencies.
The purely evangelistic aspect of the Mission
was as ever the most baffling problem. ‘‘ The soil,”’
wrote the Doctor, “is hard and stony and thorny,
almost beyond imagination. We have to overcome
the legal and ceremonial mind of the Jews, the
proud satisfaction of the Moslem, and the sickening
superstition of the Oriental Christian, and an
absence of a sense of sin on the part of all.”
Miss Faris, the Biblewoman, often came across
illustrations of these traits. Once, for instance,
she asked a bedouin woman :
“Are you a sinner ?”—“‘ No,” indignantly,
““T am not a sinner.”
“Do you tell lies ? ”—‘* Sometimes.”
THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW 231
“Do you curse ?”»—‘‘ Yes, many times.”
“ Swear ? ”’—“ Very often.”
** Steal ? ”—‘* Well, sometimes—olives.”’
“‘ Hate ? quarrel ? ’—‘‘ Oh yes, very often.”
** Well, all that is sin.””—‘* That is sin ? ”
“Yes ; now are you not a sinner ? ”’—‘‘ God
knows ! ”
Another patient thought that prayer was in-
efficacious unless Miss Faris knelt beside her bed ;
one was satisfied if a Bible was put under her pillow.
In a dim sort of way the women believed in God
and prayer and fasting, but had no clear under-
standing of anything. ‘‘ And the girls?”’ Miss
Faris was once asked. ‘‘ Ah!” and she sighed ;
“ the girls are as ignorant as animals.”
So far outward results had been negligible, but
none could tell how the leaven was working under
the surface. The nurses often saw momentary
glimpses of mind and heart working towards the
light. Miss Faris knew that the Gospel story
appealed to the women, knew also that not a few
came to trust in Jesus. They would not openly
say so unless they were dying. One who suffered
much with infinite patience only revealed her
secret as she was passing away.
‘“* Amongst our hospital services and addresses,”
wrote Mr. Semple, ‘that which affords most
interest and is to all seeming most effective, is the
Ward Service (on the Sunday afternoon in par-
ticular) which the Doctor himself conducts. The
patients, one and all, place their complete confidence
in his medical skill ; and when he turns for a while
from the care of their bodies to speak to them
232 A GALILEE DOCTOR
concerning themselves, he can have no more
interested audience. Frequently in an under-
tone, frequently outspoken, we hear a running
commentary kept up as the speaker leads the
thought onward and upward to Christ, then there
is a sudden silence indicative of dissent or unwilling
assent to what is urged ; now and then a muttered
‘true’ is heard from some tired sufferer. There-
fore we trust and pray.”
It was felt more than ever that the absence of
village evangelism was a serious defect in the work.
Patients from the hospital and pupils from the
schools returned to their homes in the town and
villages, where the influence gained over them was
lost. They required to be followed up and rein-
forced in their impulse to lead a new life, but there
was none save Cohen suited for the work, and he
was busy with other duties. After seven years’
patient service, he was ordained in 1912 as Qasiés or
pastor, and as a mark of the Committee’s apprecia-
tion, he was invited to spend a furlough in Scotland.
This gratified a long-cherished desire, and he felt
greatly honoured when he was asked to address
the General Assembly. He did so in English—
the English, he intimated, that he had learned at the
Mission class in Safed. He, too, made an appeal
for a House of Industry where the inquirers might
find employment.
On returning, his position in the eyes of the
town people was much improved, and he had un-
rivalled opportunities of meeting and talking to the
Jews both in the waiting-room and by the wayside.
One day he encountered an Ashkenazi member of the
THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW 238
race in the market, who stopped him. “ I am just
returning from the rabbi,” he said. ‘“ And what
business had you with him?” asked Cohen. “A
diet problem,” replied the man, and described it.
““Now how would you have solved that?”
“Trepha” (unlawful or forbidden), Cohen
promptly replied, giving him the reason and the
reference to the code of laws. The Jew looked at
him admiringly. “ That is exactly how the rabbi
solved it. What a pity you are not a rabbi!”
‘Don’t trouble with such trifles,” was the reply ;
“seek the truth in Jesus; He explains and fulfils
the law.” Not long afterwards the Jew appeared,
and bought the New Testament.
Another day he heard one Jew say to another,
“The problem is solved ; the food may be eaten.”
He asked what had gone wrong, and was told that a
woman had cooked in a pot set apart for milk-food
some soup made with meat. The pot was placed
beside two others containing respectively meat and
potatoes, and all three pots had been stirred with
one spoon. Had the three dinners been made unfit
to be eaten? Appeal on this solemn question had
to be made to the rabbi, who, ascertaining that five
days had elapsed since the first pot had been used
for cooking milk-food, decreed that, according to
the law, the food might be eaten, and the offend-
ing first pot must be broken. “ Was he right?”
added the Jew, with a desire to test Mr. Cohen’s
knowledge. ‘‘ The rabbi’s decision was correct
according to the code on the subject in question,”
was the reply, “but the rabbi ought to have
something better to tell the people, something
234 A GALILEE DOCTOR
more satisfying to the reason, more nourishing to
your souls.”’
What Cohen liked most was his Bible class of
young Jews at night; he felt that there he was
handing on the good he had himself received twenty
years before at Safed. What the extent of his
influence was, no one could estimate. His pupils
were scattered throughout the world; they were
in England, America, Australia, and South Africa,
and the impulse that had sent them abroad and
shaped their lives was derived largely from the
Galilee Mission.
The Jewish colonies had much to do with
quickening the life of the country. In strong
contrast to the bloodless town Jews, the settlers
were manly, self-reliant, and enterprising. They
were industrious tillers of the soil, cultivating wheat,
cotton, and other products, constructing roads,
building bridges, and generally creating civilized
conditions in the districts which they occupied.
They had come to Palestine, not so much from
religious motives as for political and economic
reasons, and brought with them that breath of
scepticism which had never yet chilled the orthodox
atmosphere of the Holy Cities. All were more or
less tinged with the spirit of rationalism, and many
had apparently lost faith in the law and tradition.
But they had a keen appreciation of education,
and there was a school in every colony. The
moral tone in the settlements also was high ; they
were the only places in Palestine where there was no
crime ; for over thirty years not a single case had
been reported from them.
THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW 235
The patients who came to Tiberias hospital
were always ready to discuss matters of religious
belief, and they told the Doctor that he and the
other missionaries would be welcomed in their
midst. This opened up a new field, and regular
visitation of the colonies became a feature of the
work. With all their openness of mind, however,
the settlers were loyal to the thought and customs of
their race, and it was difficult to make an impression
upon them. At the Waters of Merom, Cohen, as
an old worker, was always an object of much in-
terest. Strenuous efforts were made to induce
him to recant, but he was too firmly rooted in the
truth to be affected by either blandishment or
threat.
The teachers in their schools were well-educated
and thoroughly trained, and had a wide knowledge
of affairs. “‘ Why don’t you set your own house
in order?” they would say to the missionaries.
‘“‘ Have we ever persecuted your faith?” One,
a Russian lady, exclaimed, “ Evangelists are you?
Well, why not evangelize the Christians ? ”’
** But, madam,” was the mild reply, “ all good
Christians condemn religious persecution and in-
tolerance.”
It was the common indictment, and the sting
of the words lay in their truth. The sum of
Cohen’s experience was expressed in one sentence :
“The Jews interpret Christ and Christianity not
in the light of the New Testament, but as they see
it practised in the lives of Christians.” As Dr.
Alfred Edersheim, the Budapest convert, also said,
‘© That which I hated was not Christianity. What
236 A GALILEE DOCTOR
I hated—what most Jews have learned to hate—
was the unjust treatment, the insult, the oppression
which the Christian meted out to the Jew.”
The year 1914 found the Doctor still without
an assistant; no qualified man could be found
either in Syria or Scotland. He was in indifferent
health, and was wrestling alone with a paralysing
amount of medical work, attending to endless
practical details, planning extensions and installing
the new sanitation, electric lighting, and other
features which had been approved of by the Com-
mittee. One could not but be impressed with the
difficulty of the situation as well as the resolution
and courage with which it was met. “I have
never read braver documents than these,” said Dr.
(now Professor) A. B. Macaulay in the General
Assembly, alluding to the reports from the field at
this time.
The strain of the ordinary work was accentuated
by the demands of a daily stream of tourists, who
not only often required professional assistance but
accommodation as well, since ‘‘ there was no room
for them in the inn.” It was not that the Doctor
was not glad to meet them, but being usually with-
out an assistant it was difficult to combine social
duties with his medical and administrative work.
The time set apart for visitors was the tea-hour,
when they would gather on the veranda and enjoy
a talk with the Doctor and admire the beautiful
view of the Lake and Mount Hermon. Many a
distinguished personage had sat there during the
long years. Princes who were now on thrones,
Dukes and Earls, Ambassadors, financiers, million-
THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW 237
aires, authors, politicians, men and women of every
class and type, had listened to the Doctor’s ex-
position of the features of the landscape, for few
had a more intimate knowledge of their sacred
associations. Many he accompanied to the various
scenes of interest, and to have him was to possess a
passport to the favour and hospitality of the people.
Some of his visitors gave donations to the work ;
others, like Miss Helen Gould, endowed beds in
the hospital; the majority passed on, leaving no
practical expression of interest, but carrying with
them, as did all, a profound admiration for the
beneficent service being done, and for those who
were doing it. \ “ Not easy work is done there,”
wrote Professor ‘Dalman. ‘‘ Romantic ideas about
service in the Holy Land soon fade under the
burning sun of a shadowless country. Only whole-
hearted faith enables men to work with fevered
veins and aching head.” |
This year amongst the visitors were Lord and
Lady Bryce and Mr. Morgenthau, the American
Ambassador to Turkey, who was a Jew. During
their stay a party of American students passed
through and proceeded to walk to Mount Tabor.
One was shot at and wounded by bedouin shepherds,
who had demanded bakhshish. While some went
forward to secure help, two returned to Tiberias,
leaving the wounded man with a companion. Dr.
Torrance informed the Governor, and as he himself
was busy with the clinic, Mr. Semple set out with a
donkey and stretcher. The Doctor followed later.
Next day they came upon the two men, amongst
a waste of rocks and thistles, struggling towards
— 238 A GALILEE DOCTOR
Tiberias. With them was a bedouin woman who
had practically saved the wounded man’s life by
attending to him during the night and bringing
him food and milk. The Governor seized her,
forced her arms behind her back and twisted them
until she screamed with pain, his object being to
extract a confession from her regarding the assail-
ants. She insisted that she knew nothing of the
shooting and had come by accident upon the men.
When the hospital was reached the Doctor ex-
tracted the bullet, and the patient made a good
recovery. The fact that the American Ambassador
was in the town spurred the police to action, and they
rounded up all the bedouin in the countryside, and
put as many into prison as the building could hold.
Lord Bryce showed his usual alert inquiring
mind, and questioned the Doctor closely regarding
the country and its problems. They had a long
discussion on missions, in which Mr. Morgenthau
took part. The Doctor was struck by the latter’s
broad and sympathetic outlook. After they had
talked for a time on the various faiths, the Am-
bassador remarked, ‘“ We all want to get to the
same goal. It is just like going up Mount Tabor.
We want to get to the top. You are going up one
side ; we are going up the other. As long as we
maintain our ambition, and as long as our eyes are
directed to the summit, we shall all meet there in
time.” Both Lord Bryce and Mr. Morgenthau
paid a high tribute to the value of the work which
the Doctor was doing, and the latter thanked him
specially for the aid he was rendering his co-
religionists.
THE ADVANCE OF THE JEW 239
“Riding up the steep hills which mount west-
ward from the Sea of Galilee,” writes Dr. Bliss in
The Development of Palestine Exploration, ‘1 met,
one morning in spring, a poor Arab walking beside
a donkey which carried his sick wife. He called me
to stop; he seized my bridle: ‘ Did I know of one
who healed at Tiberias? Was he wise? Was he
kind? Would he cure the woman?’ As I rode
on towards Nazareth, having reassured the man, I
fell to thinking that just such a scene might have
been enacted on that very road in the days of Him
in Whose name the missionary doctor at Tiberias
ministers to the suffering to-day. Far down every
road leading to the Sea of Galilee there flocked men
and women bearing the sick, half in doubt, half in
hope that One Who healed, Whom they knew only
by hearing, might be gracious to them also.”
In May the Doctor wrote: “‘ The work is now
quite beyond me,” and when the hospital was
closed for the hot months he was “ dead beat.”
But the affairs of the Mission and of Palestine and
of the whole world were soon to be thrown into
the great melting-pot of the war, and the Doctor’s
troubles, like the troubles of every one, were to be
engulfed in the seething cauldron, and for a time
forgotten.
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HSIYY TH LV VGaINy YALSIS AM GAHOLVM STT4HS HSILIVG AO SNOISOTdXY FHI
Advgd GNV LNGILVG
THE NEW PROPERTIES AT SAFED
AFTERNOON TEA ON THE VERANDAH
Mount Hermon, snow-capped, lies in the
distance, but is too far away to be visible
in the photograph
PART FOUR
I. TRAGEDY
1914-17
THE constitutional régime in the Ottoman Empire
had brought no improvement in the public con-
dition of the country. The war, first with Italy
and then with the Balkan States, ending in humilia-
tion, had impoverished the people, and Palestine
was not the least wretched and discontented of the
provinces. Business was stagnant, the price of
food and labour high, and so unpopular were the
military service regulations that the best youth of
the country were stealing away overseas to escape
being drafted into the army. The flame of
fanaticism flared up here and there, and rumour
was rife of possible risings ageinst foreigners and
especially the Christians.
While Turkey was being defeated in the field
she was playing a dubious game in international
politics. Britain and Germany were courting her
favour at Constantinople, and as success swayed
now to one side, now to the other, those living
in the country could observe visible evidence of the
process. In Palestine it became clear finally that
Germany had out-manceuvred Britain. German
16 ;
242 A GALILEE DOCTOR
engineers began to overrun the land. German
officers took charge of the army and introduced
European methods of training. Dr. Torrance met
all manner of Germans in Tiberias, and there was
no mistaking their attitude. It was that of men in
possession. It became well known that prepara-
tions had been made for possible emergencies. ‘To
every town and village had come secret orders
which were to be made public only when notifica-
tion was sent from headquarters, to the effect that
every man between twenty-four and forty, able
to bear arms, was immediately to present himself
at the nearest military depdét with ten days’ pro-
visions.
When Germany began hostilities martial law
was. proclaimed throughout Palestine, and the
forces were mobilized. Three of the hospital
staff at ‘Tiberias, the dispenser, Mohammad, and the
porter, were swept off. Weeping and wailing were
heard on every side. The banks closed and no
money was available. As the Doctor had just paid
in his quarterly remittance he was left without
funds ; but friendly Jews lent him money, and pro-
vided fodder for his horse. Word came from the
coast that the steamship service was disorganized,
and the cost of imported goods became prohibitive.
From the cheers that greeted the news of the
German victories it was not difficult to know
which side the populace favoured. Still the Doctor
was hopeful that Turkey would not be involved in
the conflict.
On 7th August the closing exhibition of the
Girls’ School at Safed was being held, and the
TRAGEDY 243
company were enjoying the hospitality of Miss
Jones in the garden, when Dr. Torrance was handed
a telegram from the Consul-General, intimating
that a state of war had existed between Britain and
Germany since the 4th. ‘‘ We were overawed by
the news,” he wrote. Mobilization went on.
Thousands of men were kept hanging about the
depéts waiting enrolment, their food became ex-
hausted, and there were no fresh supplies. Horses,
mules, provisions, clothes began to be ruthlessly
commandeered from every town and village. Work
stopped, distress prevailed, hunger and starvation
ravaged Tiberias. After taking stock the Doctor
calculated that he would be able to hold on for at
leasta month. He was alone, Mr. Semple and Miss
Irvine being on furlough, and his family at Safed
with Miss Jones and Miss Gwladys Jones. Miss
George and Sister Frieda were at Bludan, near
Damascus, where the former had been studying
the language, but they were now hastening back to
Tiberias.
On 28th August Dr. Anderson of the Church
Missions to Jews received orders from London
to return immediately, and left. On 7th Sep-
tember a special messenger reached Dr. Torrance,
with a strong recommendation from the Consul-
General to follow his example. Although he had
kept the Committee in Scotland in touch with what
was happening, no reply came to his cables, and
gathering together his party—Mrs. Torrance, three
children and nurse, Miss Jones, Miss Gwladys
Jones, and Miss George—he made preparations
for leaving. This was not easy, for the townspeople
244 A GALILEE DOCTOR
had learned to lean on his sympathy and judgment,
and they gave him no peace, coming to him by day
and night for advice and assistance on all sorts of
matters. But he fixed up the necessary salaries,
arranged for a supply of provisions until November,
gave directions for the reopening of the schools
whatever happened, appointed Sister Frieda to
carry on the medical work as far as possible, and
gave her the keys of the buildings. Being a Swiss
subject she would be exempt from molestation in
the event of Turkey taking part in the struggle,
and she had an aunt, a German lady, Mrs. Mueller,
in Nazareth, with whom she could, if need be, find
protection.
But so sure was the Doctor that Turkey would
find it to her advantage to side with the Allies, and
that he would shortly be back, that he packed only a
handbag, and left all his belongings—his clothes, his
manuscripts, the valuable articles he had collected
during his stay in the country, including a cabinet
of rare coins, and gold and silver objects.
The party travelled lightly, and after consider-
able trouble and anxiety succeeded in reaching
Haifa, Port Said, and England.
With his insatiable appetite for work the Doctor
at once took a position in Glasgow Western
Infirmary ; but when Turkey cast in her lot with
Germany and Austria he applied to the Scottish
Command for a commission in the R.A.M.C. He
was above military age and there was delay. Grow-
ing impatient he went direct to the War Office
in London and offered his services. The officials
were delighted to see him, and within a few days
TRAGEDY 245
he was directed to proceed to Scottish Head-
quarters, where he received a commission as
Lieutenant, and became Resident Officer in
command of Oakbank War Hospital, containing
250 beds. The work was as exacting as that in
Tiberias, and, to him, very sad. Fortunately he
was near the little home which had been established
in Glasgow. These, however, were sombre years
for every one, and do not bear recalling. One
bright incident was the graduation, in 1916, as
M.B., Ch.B., of his son Herbert, a distinguished
student, who also received a commission in the
R.A.M.C.
The Doctor’s thoughts dwelt unceasingly upon
Tiberias. What was happening there? From
time to time scraps of intelligence filtered through.
After being left alone, Sister Frieda carried on the
out-patient department, attending to as many as
120 cases a day, performing minor operations,
and in the afternoon visiting midwifery patients
in the town. The authorities seized the school-
house and turned it into a Moslem school.
Then the military appeared at the hospital and, in
spite of her protests, relieved her of the keys and
took possession. ‘They forbade her even to go to
her own quarters or remove a single article, and
turned her out as she was. The hotel in the town
was run by Germans, Mr. and Mrs. Grossman,
who had the kindest of hearts, and were friends
of the Mission and helpful neighbours of the Doctor
and the staff. To them she went, and they pro-
vided her with a room and made her comfortable.
Undismayed by her experience she opened a
246 A GALILEE DOCTOR
clinic in the rear of the Bible Depot, to which
patients flocked to the number of 250 a day. She
made many attempts to obtain her belongings from
the hospital, but was unsuccessful until she lodged a
complaint with the Commander at Nazareth, when
she was allowed to take away only what she could
claim as her own. Her little store of money
running done, she was penniless. “I don’t know,”
she said afterwards, ‘‘ what would have become
of me if it had not been for the Grossmans, who
helped me in all my difficulties. The distress in
the town was very great ; it was a mystery how the
poor got their daily bread, and I could do so little
to relieve them.’ Locusts had ravaged the country,
and there were no vegetables or fruit coming into
the market.
In July 1915 she went to Nazareth, where she
lived with her aunt. Mrs. Mueller’s name will long
be honoured by Galilee missionaries. She had
considerable influence, and being a woman of
spirit and courage she fought many a battle on
behalf of British interests.
Dr. Scrimgeour, who had taken his family to
Egypt, found it impossible to return, and his two
nurses, who had courageously resolved to remain,
were commandeered by the Turks to attend to
their sick and wounded. They were befriended
by Mrs. Mueller and Sister Frieda. Both were
earnest and devoted missionaries : one, Miss Croft,
died before the end of the war ; and the other, Miss
Johncock, in 1920. Sister Frieda also worked in the
Turkish hospitals ; they were full, and the condi-
tions were deplorable. As she was unable to live
TRAGEDY 247
on her pay of 16s. per month, she asked that she
might be transferred to the Turkish-German base
of operations against Egypt, and was sent to Beer-
sheba; thence she was commandeered for tent
work at el-Arish, a little mud-town amongst the
sands on the desert track. It was within the fighting
zone ; there was constant shell-fire, bombing by
aeroplanes, and rattle of machine guns, and, in
addition to these nerve-racking factors, she was the
object of suspicion and dislike to German nurses
who, knowing she had been in a Scottish hospital,
regarded her as a spy. “It does not matter to me
whom I nurse,” she protested to the German officers
when she was turned away from the British patients.
They agreed with her, and treated her with all
courtesy. Conditions grew worse ; both food and
water were scarce and bad, and she was attacked
by typhus. Medical supplies were scanty—most
of them had been looted by the Turks from mission
hospitals, including that at Tiberias, and sent down
in bulk, with the result that army doctors received
boxes of microscopes and gynecological instru-
ments for the care of the wounded soldiers! She
struggled heroically on, but her nervous system
broke down under the terrible strain and hardship,
and she was sent back to Nazareth, and then to
Damascus and finally to Germany, where she re-
mained a year before proceeding to Switzerland.
A more tragic fate befell Mr. Cohen. He was
called to the army, but, as a pastor, gained exemption,
and continued to carry on the evangelistic work of
the Mission. Services were held in his house, and
here he dispensed the communion to “two or
348 A GALILEE DOCTOR
three’ gathered in the name of Christ. The
Jewish Mission Committee took infinite trouble to
send him remittances, but he often found it difficult
to make ends meet, and he began to engage in
passport photography, which helped him a little.
It proved, however, a fatal step. On some accusa-
tion in connection with a passport he was arrested,
imprisoned, and tortured, being beaten on the face
and on the soles of his feet until he became un-
conscious, but was finally acquitted of the charge.
An innocent remark which he let fall later aroused
fresh suspicion, and he was again arrested on a
charge of espionage, imprisoned, sent to Nazareth
for punishment, and then banished to Damascus.
It says much for the kindness and loyalty of the
Jews that they helped him in his extremity along
with their co-religionists. He was last seen by a
Scottish officer in Asia Minor tramping with other
prisoners to Constantinople. Attacked by typhus,
he died in a military hospital in Constantinople. It
was a melancholy ending to a life of high courage
and noble service.
Mohammad, who joined the army, proved physic-
ally unfit, and was sent to work on the roads beyond
the Jordan. The doctors in the Mission buildings
—for after being a Turkish Serai, or Government
office, for a time, they were turned into war
hospitals—learning that he knew how to run the
motor-engine, sent for him. “ If you cannot get
away, desert,” was the laconic message he received.
He was able to return, and proved the most useful
servant about the place.
Isaac suffered privations like others of his race.
THE JEWISH DAWN 249
During a typhus epidemic, the Turks waged war
on the flowing locks of the Jews, and Isaac’s neatly
trimmed beard was cut off—an indignity which he
greatly resented.
Il. THE JEWISH DAWN
LOT]
TuE brilliant advance of the British troops from
Egypt into Palestine formed one of the most
dramatic developments of the war. It coincided
with an announcement which was, to the Jews,
wonderful and even startling in its solemn possi-
bilities. ‘Their age-long dream, that had seemed
so hopeless of realization, appeared to be on the
point of accomplishment. For some time it had
been known to a few that the British Government
was ready to take advantage of the turn of events
in favour of the race, and on 2nd November 1917,
Lord Balfour, on its behalf, addressed the follow-
ing communication to Lord Rothschild :
“‘ His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establish-
ment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people,
and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement
of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be
done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of
existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and
politicai status enjoyed by the Jews in any other country.”
When, in the following month, Jerusalem was
captured and General Allenby entered the Holy
250 A GALILEE DOCTOR
City on foot, the Jews knew that the miracle had
happened at last. Not the least gratifying feature
of the campaign to them was the fact that Jewish
battalions had taken part in the liberation of the
land. It was notable, indeed, that men of various
races and creeds—Britons (including Australians
and New Zealanders), Indians, Arabs, Armenians,
West Indian negroes, and Algerians formed that
victorious army.
In the stress of exalted emotion occasioned by
these events and the reaction after centuries of
crushing misery, the Jews read larger meanings
into the Declaration than it contained, and said and
wrote many things which cool reflection showed
to have been unwise. ‘They mistook equal rights
for sovereign privileges. They saw themselves
in possession of Palestine, organizing a Jewish
State and establishing their old customs and culture,
forgetting for the moment that there was a very
large population of natives, both Moslem and
Christian, to be taken into account. ‘This, it was
true, was not the attitude of all Jews in Western
lands. A considerable number there still viewed
with distaste the creation of a separate Jewish nation-
ality, believing that Judaism was merely a system of
thought and did not necessitate segregation and
isolation from the communities of the world.
Nevertheless they, too, were grateful to the British
Government for its generous action, for it had
brought to an end the feeling that they were a
homeless race; it had given them a charter of
renationalization ; it had provided them with an
opportunity, if they cared to accept it, of building
THE JEWISH DAWN 251
up in their ancient land a racial centre of social
and spiritual activity.
No section of the Christian community rejoiced
more at the Declaration than the societies and
missionaries working amongst the Jews, but they
made sure that in the new dispensation all faiths
would have equal rights and the fullest freedom,
and that the missionary enterprise would have the
same opportunity as it had hitherto enjoyed.
The Jewish Mission Committee of the United
Free Church learnt first through the Foreign Office
of the state of the Mission property in Galilee.
All the buildings in Tiberias were in fair repair,
but had been stripped bare. The Turks had looted
all the medical stores and instruments, the hospital
beds, the school equipment, and most of the furniture
in the two dwelling-houses, along with every article
of interest and value which the Doctor had col-
lected during his sojourn in the land, and all his
manuscripts and books. In Safed a road had
been driven through the Mission, the houses had
been despoiled, Mr. Semple’s valuable library
of books had been scattered and used for waste-
paper and cigarettes, and all the furniture and
clothing of the ladies had disappeared.
The social conditions of the country were found
to be appalling. There had been a reign of terror. |
Thousands of Jews of British, French, and Russian
nationality had been expelled, and their property
confiscated ; those who remained had been sub-
jected to cruel persecution. Life came to a stand-
still; the fields were untilled ; the colonies were
ravaged; the woodlands were cut down. Large
252 A GALILEE DOCTOR
numbers of people were starving; parents sold
their children in the streets for a shilling or two ;
drought, visitations of locusts, epidemics of typhus
and cholera added to the horror of the situation.
The British brought with them, like the Romans
of old, order and law and a sense of the practical.
At once the Military Administration entered on the
gigantic task of resuscitating the country. It was
literally a process of restoring the dead to life.
The filthy cities were cleaned up and sanitary
measures adopted ; a water-supply was provided ;
broad, well-metalled roads began to intersect the
land; cultivators were granted loans; commerce
revived. In meeting the needs of the most
necessitous the officials relied on the assistance
of philanthropic agencies, and in this work the
United Free Church took a large share.
The Rev. J. Macdonald Webster of Budapest
was in Scotland at the time. Widely known as
“Webster of Budapest,” he was a missionary of
exceptional ability with a profound knowledge of
Eastern Europe and the Jewish problem, and an
organizing faculty which carried to success what-
ever scheme he undertook. The fact that it was
the Jews who were chiefly suffering in Palestine
and in Europe suggested to him the idea of raising
a fund for the double purpose of relieving the
distress and of establishing the Mission work, and
re-equipping the buildings after the war. Much
sympathy was being expressed for the Jews, and the
Jewish Mission Committee welcomed the proposal,
and appointed Mr. Webster organizing secretary.
The result was a special War Fund—the only
RECONSTRUCTION 253
Church fund for Jewish relief—which in the end
reached the remarkable total of £25,600.
Agents were dispatched to the various centres
where the refugees had concentrated, first to
Russia and Poland and later to Egypt and
Palestine. These included several of the Jewish
workers—Mr. Christie, Miss Gwladys Jones, Miss
Irvine, and Miss Reid, who, undeterred by the
dangers, administered relief to the stricken people.
The assistance rendered and the kindness shown
made a deep impression on the minds of the Jews.
When Dr. Milne Rae resigned the secretaryship
of the Jewish Committee, which he had guided
with much tact for many years, it was natural that
Mr. Macdonald Webster should be appointed his
successor. His advent marked the beginning of an
era of energetic development and progress in the
work.
III. RECONSTRUCTION
IQIg—20
Dr. TorraNce—who now held the rank of Captain
—had been fretting in Glasgow and grudging
every hour that he was not in Galilee. He felt
the damp winter cold keenly, and as soon as he was
demobilized in the spring of 1919 he hastened out
alone. Reaching Tiberias he stepped into the
town in the darkness, secured a room in the hotel,
and went out and prowled around to discover how
254 A GALILEE DOCTOR
matters stood. His own house was occupied by
the Military Governor, the minister’s house was
used as a post office, the school buildings were the
Moslem Law Courts, and the hospital was in the
hands of the American Zionist Medical Unit. He
called on the Governor, and told him who he was,
and said characteristically that he was coming to
claim his property next day in order to start medical
work again at once. But the British Army is a
ponderous and slow-moving machine, and the
Doctor was forced to begin elsewhere. He had
the Moslems cleared out of the schoolhouse,
secured a few chairs and a table, and opened an out-
patient department. His name possessed all its
old magic, and the people flocked about him, de-
lighted to have their “‘ King,” as they called him,
once more in their midst. None were more
pleased than his Jewish friends. ‘“ Saint David
is here!” was the slogan-cry that rang through
the Jewish quarter of the town and the colonies in
the vicinity. They noticed a difference in him, and
some did not know him “ until he smiled.” But
he soon picked up ; the work renewed his vitality,
and that restless energy which characterized him
before the war returned along with the determina-
tion to restore the broken fortunes of the Mission.
By and by, through persevering effort, he
managed to secure entry into the top story of his
old house, and, backed by the Committee in Scot-
land, continued the process of pressure, but it
was not until October that he was once more
master of all the Mission buildings. He
endeavoured to recover some of his scattered
RECONSTRUCTION 255
belongings which he knew were in the town, but
was not very successful. Once he was shown a
photograph of a group in which one of the figures
was wearing a suit of his best clothes ; it touched
his sense of humour, and he was philosopher enough
to make the best of the situation. The task of
rebuilding the shattered fabric of the Mission was
not an easy one, but gradually the staff was re-
constituted, though not all the former members
came back. Mr. Semple returned from his
chaplaincy in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force,
Sister Frieda came from Switzerland, Amina Faris,
Isaac, and Mohammad took up their old duties.
All had been shaken by their experiences, but were
not less eager and devoted than formerly.
Several new appointments were made, one of
which, that of Miss Vartan as Matron, pleased the
Doctor exceedingly. She was the daughter of his
old friend, Dr. Vartan, and proved as wise and as
capable as her father. Arabic she spoke as fluently
as English.
Then Dr. Mary M‘Neill, who had been serving
in the Scottish Women’s hospital in Belgrade, came
to assist him temporarily. When in Egypt on her
way out she was told by Cairo practitioners that
the Doctor was “the most beloved man in
Palestine.” ‘‘ You are very fortunate to be going
to Tiberias,” said experienced fellow-travellers on
the journey to Galilee, and when she came to the
hospital by the Lake, “‘ the most touchingly alluring
sheet of water in the world,”’ she realized the truth
of the remarks.
‘“‘ Various scenes recur to me,” she writes, “‘ as I look back
256 A GALILEE DOCTOR
on these busy months. I see the Doctor in his consulting-
room. A Jewish lady has come from Jerusalem expressly to
have his opinion on her case; a Christian priest has brought a
company of sick villagers from the Hauran. ‘Tall and handsome
bedouin in picturesque garb arrive from the ‘ regions beyond the
Jordan,’ and when he has spoken to them, they prostrate them-
selves on the ground and kiss his feet, and then, clasping their
hands and lifting their eyes, they say a prayer of thanksgiving
for him.
“T recall a Sunday morning when a little Christian com-
munity has gathered in the hospital waiting-room. And in
the communion service carried out according to the simple rites
of the Scots Kirk participate two grateful patients, a priest of
the Greek Orthodox Church, and his deacon. In the afternoon
a service is held in the wards. Miss Vartan plays the har-
monium and leads the singing. The patients listen as the
Doctor speaks quietly and simply to them. Little children,
Moslem, Jewish, and Christian, cluster on the floor near him.
They have learnt the Lord’s Prayer and they repeat it together,
* Our Father which art in heaven.’
““ T see him the friend and adviser of all sorts and conditions
of men whom he has won by his skill and broad-minded
and large-hearted charity—the gentle Franciscan brother at
Capernaum, the poor Sisters in the adjacent convent, the Jewish
rabbis in the town, the fanatical Moslems in the desert. He is
the friend of all, and as a linguist can make himself understood
by all. I have heard him talk in turn Arabic, Yiddish, French,
and Italian to his patients.
“I see him acting as host to a number of young officers of
an Indian regiment quartered near Tiberias. He has great
social gifts, is very fond of music, can tune the piano, and sings
well. These musical evenings relieved many a dull hour for
these lonely officers.”
He was so familiar and popular a figure in the
country that in travelling with him one had to make
up one’s mind for endless stoppages and delays.
Everywhere Jews, Moslems, and Christians would
hail him or make themselves known in some way.
RECONSTRUCTION 257
A walk in Jerusalem with him was a series of en-
counters and talks. He was a privileged visitor at
all the holy places, because there was sure to be some
one there who had been a patient. One day, as he
entered the Mosque of Omar, an attendant became
obsequious. He had been in the hospital, and so
great was his faith in the Doctor’s powers that he
dragged forward his little boy and asked him to
cure him. “ How can I,” said the Doctor, “‘ unless
I make a proper diagnosis? Can you, without
eyes, shoot a bird?” ‘“ But God has given me
the thought that you can cure him.” “ And,”
the Doctor countered, ‘“‘ God has given me the
thought that you should consult Dr. ——.” At
Jacob’s Well he was welcomed by a priest, a
stranger to him. ‘‘ Ah, Doctor,” the latter cried,
“if it hadn’t been for you I would have died!”
Long years before he also had been in the hospital.
Such incidents by the wayside were always
happening. Even in Egypt he was recognized
and gratefully thanked by patients who had gone
to him from that country.
Dr. Mary M‘Neill left, and the Doctor was again
without a colleague. But his son, Dr. Herbert,
now also M.D., could not think of him continuing
to toil alone after a lifetime of service, and relin-
quishing, as his father himself had done, the sure
prospect of a successful career at home, he went out
to act as assistant in the hospital. His advent
was not only a source of pride and pleasure to his
father, but an event of importance to the people of
Galilee. Would he possess the skill and other
qualities of the Doctor? ‘They observed him
17
258 A GALILEE DOCTOR
closely, more closely than he knew, and were not
long in reaching a conclusion. He had indeed the
same alert mind, the same quick sympathy that was
almost tender in its quality, and the same light
yet firm touch which conveyed to the patients a
sense of healing. ‘Those who formerly would have
no one but “ Trance” and turned away if he
were not available, began to give themselves into
the hands of Dr. Herbert, though they made no
secret of their preference for his father.
Children especially loved the slim young doctor
with the kind, smiling eyes and the hands ever
ready for theirs to slip into; they seemed to know
instinctively that he suffered with their suffering,
and was doing his utmost to make them well. He
would fight for them where even his father had
pronounced a verdict of death. One day he brought
over to the Doctor at the house a boy from Nazareth.
Dr. Torrance ran his fingers over the swollen face
and neck. “ Hopeless!” he said. ‘“ He will die.”
Dr. Herbert lingered restlessly, suggesting this and
that, but his experienced father shook his head.
“He will die within a month,” he said. Dr.
Herbert acquiesced sadly, and with a face that
one did not like to see, took the boy by the
hand and led him away. It was this intense
human sympathy, combined with a gentle humour,
that captured the popular heart.
What impressed the young doctor was the
immense field that lay before a surgeon in Palestine.
He saw cases in the first few months which, though
they were not peculiar to the country, he had never
witnessed before, and, in addition, he dealt with
THE CONFLICT OF ARAB AND JEW 259
some that he would not have come across in practice
elsewhere. His father told him that he had treated
surgical cases of a very rare type, such as probably
would not occur more than once or twice in a run
of ten thousand patients.
Another qualified nurse from Scotland, Miss
Hazel Ferguson, daughter of a Formosan mis-
sionary, joined the staff, and by her cheerful and
helpful nature added to the brightness of the in-
stitution, though she found that it was not
easy always to be at one’s best amidst such heat
and with such a rush of work. ‘ Last Tuesday,”
she wrote on one occasion, “the Doctor started at
7.30 a.m., so I was in before him—about 7.10. He
did seven operations, finishing at 12.30 pm. We
were all quite limp and damp. That evening at
9 p.m., when I was on duty (as all the nurses were
having their lecture from Dr. Herbert), I noticed
the theatre thermometerfregistered§84° Fahr.”’
IV. THE CONFLICT OF ARAB AND
JEW
1920-22
By the Treaty of Versailles, Britain was constituted
the Mandatory Power over Palestine west of the
Jordan. The military régime gave place to a civil
administration in July 1920, and Sir Herbert
Samuel, a Jew in whose wisdom, judgment, and
impartiality all classes had the utmost confidence,
was appointed High Commissioner and Com-
260 A GALILEE DOCTOR
mander-in-Chief, and began a task which was
unparalleled in the history of the Empire. The
foundations of the new civilization had been laid,
but he had to build up a social and economic life out
of the most unpromising material ; he had to keep
the peace between the fanatical adherents of three
great religions ; and he had to conduct the public
work of the country in three different languages,
for Arabic, Hebrew, and English were now officially
recognized. He could not have achieved much
without the aid of the Jews who were coming into
the country. In six months as many as ten thousand
arrived, and the numbers were increasing every
week. Palestine was beginning to throb with life
and activity in a way it had not known for centuries.
The old inhabitants were not a little dazed by what
was going on.
A large number of the immigrants were well-to-
do mechanics, merchants, and manufacturers who
settled in the towns and went to work in the most
thorough and scientific manner, erected shops,
silicate brick factories, flour mills, cement factories,
oil factories, and other businesses, which gave
employment to thousands. Others started as
watchmakers, carpenters, and weavers. Many
found work in the colonies, or settlements, as they
were now called. ‘These agricultural centres were
increasing in number and were developing mixed
farming, market gardening, fruit-growing, and
afforestation, and experimenting with breeds of
cattle, poultry farming, tobacco planting, and the
culture of silkworms. It was calculated that
already upwards of four million pounds had been
THE CONFLICT OF ARAB AND JEW 261
poured into the country by Jewish public bodies
apart from the money spent by private enterprise.
But the majority of the immigrants were a
mixed class of young Jews and Jewesses, including
University graduates and other well-educated
persons, who came mainly from Eastern Europe ;
they were known as the halutzim, or “ pioneers,”
and their object was to prepare the foundations of
the future national home. Although the country
was under-populated—the British estimate was
700,000, which was less than the province of Galilee
had contained in the time of Christ—it could not,
in its existing economic condition, absorb so large
a number; and unused as they were to manual
labour, they were put into camps and set to work
on the construction of roads, buildings, bridges,
telephone and telegraph services, and the sites for
new towns—for it was found impossible to make
anything of the old from a public health point of
view, and already the new Jerusalem and the new
Tiberias had been planned and begun, the latter
being laid out about a mile higher up the slope
than the Mission hospital, and overlooking the
Lake of Galilee.
_ Sturdy in physique, self-reliant and buoyant,
these pioneers toiled at their tasks without a murmur,
and looked, despite their rough and dusty garments,
the picture of wholesome and vigorous youth.
Critics called them bolshevists, and they were re-
garded with disfavour by the older Jewish residents.
Dr. Torrance laughed at the charge. ‘ What is
bolshevism ?” he said. ‘It is the negation of
constituted law and order. But these Jews, how-
262 A GALILEE DOCTOR
ever revolutionary their ideas are in regard to
orthodox Judaism, are loyal to their race, and their
aim is national reconstruction and not the abolition
of orderly society. They are going in largely
for co-operation in industry, and that is not bol-
shevism. ‘The Arabs do not, as a rule, combine,
and they have not the same constructive sense as
the Jews.” Revelling in their freedom, full of
idealism, enthusiastic in outlook, confident, ener-
getic, and resolute, these young men and women
formed an absolutely new class in the history of
modern Jewry. ‘The missionaries saw in them the
nucleus of the future commonwealth of Jews.
This outburst of foreign activity would prob-
ably not have been resented by the native Arab
population had it not been accompanied at the
first by the declarations of the extreme Zionists,
who wished to ride roughshod over the old-estab-
lished conditions and create a Jewish State at
once and by sheer force. The irritation -and
alarm caused by this attitude produced an agita-
tion that culminated in riot and bloodshed. Sir
Herbert Samuel took occasion to point out that
the only Zionism which was practicable was that
which safeguarded and promoted the well-being
of the Arab population. The degree to which
Jewish national aspirations could be _ fulfilled
was conditioned by the rights of the existing
inhabitants. He did not, however, conceal the
determination of the British Government to satisfy
the hopes of the Jews for a home which would
possess all the national characteristics for which
the Zionists longed.
THE CONFLICT OF ARAB AND JEW 268
As a first step towards self-government an
Advisory Council was constituted of the unofficial
members, of which four were Moslems, three
Christians, and three Jews. It was a small be-
ginning, but the Administration regarded it, rightly,
as the germ of momentous developments. ‘ We
have in Palestine,” said Sir Wyndham Deedes,
C.M.G., D.S.O., the Civil Secretary, “the three
great world religions — Christianity, Moham-
medanism, and Judaism. If we can manage to get
these three religions to live together we shall have
taken the biggest step in the world towards a
world peace. Our hope is that Palestine may
become, in the course of time, a torch to lighten
the rest of the world.”
The Arab mind was in no wise reassured.
Under the Turkish régime there had been no
public opinion in Palestine ; few of the people read
newspapers, and the pressure of organized thought
was an unknown force. But with freedom the
community seemed to awaken out of sleep; every
one was reading and expressing his views; the
Arabs, like other races, had become conscious of
their national existence and rights. They found
that they had a constitutional method of dealing
with the situation, and a committee was formed
to represent their case. Perhaps it was the voice
of a small section of the population, the effendi
class, but they had the backing of a considerable
proportion of the ordinary inhabitants.
They brought to the notice of the British Gov-
ernment and people their claim that their position
and interests had been overlooked. ‘The country,
264 A GALILEE DOCTOR
they maintained, belonged to the indigenous
population, four-fifths of whom were Moslems
and 77,000 Christians ; the Jews had no claim to
it save an antiquarian and sentimental one. They
had no doubt whatever that the Zionists aimed
ultimately at securing political control, and that
in spite of all safeguards they would contrive to
do so. To the contention that only the Jews, with
their idealism, energy, science, and wealth, would
be able to rehabilitate the country and make it
prosperous, they answered that the Arabs had never
had a fair chance, and that under the new con-
ditions they would have the opportunity of success-
fully developing its economic resources.
A period of sharp controversy followed, during
which feeling in Palestine continued to run high.
The British Government had again to make the
situation clear. It declared that the Jewish people
were in Palestine as of right, and not on sufferance,
and that they had been given the opportunity of
reconstituting their national home there, but
that there was no intention to make the country
completely Jewish or to eliminate the Arab popula-
tion and culture. No class of citizens would have
an exceptional position, all would enjoy the full
status of Palestinians—the generic name now being
used to describe Arab and Jew alike. As soon
as possible complete self-government would be
introduced, and meanwhile a Legislative Council
would be created, with a majority of elected
members. Immigration would be _ restricted
according to the capacity of the country to absorb
the incomers—a provision which naturally affected
THE CONFLICT OF ARAB AND JEW 265
Jews only, since the country had no attraction for
any other type of capitalist or worker.
The British Government, in short, held that the
interests of the Arabs and the Jews were not an-
tagonistic but complementary, and that for both a
new era of prosperity and progress was beginning.
This was the position now being held by
responsible Jews. The confusion resulting from
the different views held by various sections of the
race was clearing away. Many felt, with the
Christians, that an exclusive Jewish nation based
on rabbinical requirements would be an ana-
chronism in these days of enlightenment, and would
run counter to the evolutionary movement of
humanity. They believed that there was room
for both Jews and Gentiles, and that with goodwill
and common sense both could live side by side, and
by their co-operation contribute to the more rapid
advancement of the country. The same attitude
was adopted by the Zionist Congress, which pled
for the dissipation of misunderstandings between
the two Semitic peoples and the development of
unity and mutual respect. And, later, in a mani-
festo to the Arabs the Jewish National Council of
Palestine, in moving language, repudiated any in-
tention of encroaching on the sacred rights of a
people who were their own kindred, and asked them
to regard the Jew as “‘ a brother faithful in thought
and deed, a staunch and unswerving ally, and a
loyal and willing comrade ” in the stupendous task
of developing what was to both “ the dear and holy
motherland of Palestine.”
Meanwhile the Administration was accomplish-
266 A GALILEE DOCTOR
ing wonders in the way of reorganizing the civil
life of the country. The cost was kept within
the amount of the local revenues, yet oppressive
taxes were withdrawn, the tobacco monopoly was
abolished, a disciplined gendarmerie—largely com-
posed of Jews—was organized—the public offices
were overhauled, and bribery and bakhshish gave
place to honest and efficient administration ; _rail-
way, postal, and telephone facilities were developed ;
Moslem, Jewish, and Christian Courts were estab-
lished ; and public health, agricultural and education
departments were all at work creating new con-
ditions. If the process had been instantaneous
it would have been called a miracle, but it was not
less a miracle because it took years instead of
moments. And it took years simply because the
British followed their traditional line of policy and
had scrupulous regard for local susceptibilities
and customs.
After the ratification of the Mandate in 1922 an
Order in Council guaranteed complete freedom of
conscience and worship and absolute racial equality.
The official Census, taken for electoral purposes,
showed a population of 755,858 Moslems, 83,794
Jews, and 73,026 Christians.
V. A NARROW ESCAPE
1920-22
ONE of the results of the new régime was to make
Palestine apparently shrink in size. The old slow
A NARROW ESCAPE 267
method of travel always seemed to exaggerate
its length and breadth, but with the construction
of good roads and the introduction of motor-cars,
and the linking up of the country by railway with
Egypt, journeys that formerly took two or three days
were now accomplished in a few hours.
The Doctor was one of those who, when the
army of occupation was reduced, was able to buy
a small car which, for the short time he had it,
he found useful for his work. Its career ended in
disaster. He was driving near Haifa with his wife,
and came to a level crossing on the railway line.
The car passed over the first rail, but stalled on
the second. At the same moment, round a curve
two hundred yards away, appeared what seemed,
to their eyes, an enormous engine, with the driver
on the outside attending to some of its parts.
Quick as thought both the Doctor and Mrs.
Torrance jumped out, and the Doctor began
desperately to drag the car off the rails. His im-
pression was that the train was a passenger one, and
that if he did not clear the line many lives would
be lost, and just as he threw himself at the task of
saving life in the hospital, so he threw himself at
this critical situation, regardless of self. ‘The train
was in reality a heavy ballast one, and as it was
running on the down-grade, a collision was in-
evitable unless he succeeded in his frantic efforts.
As the engine bore down upon him, Mrs. Torrance
screamed to him to desist, but he held grimly on,
and was caught in the impact, lifted into the air,
and pitched many yards away into the sand. The
car was carried two hundred yards down the line.
268 A GALILEE DOCTOR
When Mrs. Torrance reached the Doctor he
was bleeding and unconscious, and his clothes were
‘torn and covered with dust. A Jew, who was
driving along in a carriage and knew them, came to
their assistance. When the Doctor recovered con-
sciousness, a car was procured from Haifa, and he
was conveyed to the town, where it was found that
he had sustained no serious injury.
He returned to Tiberias in the course of a few
days, but there was no doubt that the shock affected
his constitution. Some months afterwards, in 1921,
he rode up to Safed, taking seven and a half hours
to the journey, and, on arriving, collapsed as he got
off his horse. It was heart weakness, and for two
months he was unable to leave the house. After-
wards he was obliged to take his work more easily,
and to rely to a greater extent on his son, though his
spirit and resolution remained unbroken. It was
a great joy to him to receive news of his daughter
Marjory’s graduation in medicine. Lydia was
already a graduate, so that with four doctors in
the family it was sometimes uncertain which was
being referred to.
It was obvious that the public developments
would react on mission work in the country and that
the various agencies would have to revise their
policies and adapt them to the changing conditions.
Medical service had been essential at the beginning ;
no other type of work could have blazed a path in so
ignorant and fanatical a field; but with a modern
Government taking charge of the country, and the
ample provision of medical facilities by the Jewish
associations, the Mission hospital and dispensary
A NARROW ESCAPE 269
were no longer so needful, though in Dr. Torrance’s
opinion they would still for long serve a useful
function not only by assisting the conservation of
public health, but in setting forth the practical side
of Christian love and truth. ‘ Mission hospitals
will always be popular,” he says, ‘‘ because of the
Christian nursing the patients receive. Somehow
other institutions fail in this respect. There is
something in the kindly Christian touch, the
gracious Christian treatment of those who are
suffering that is not got elsewhere.” So he went
on with the plans of the Committee. He was now
living in the clerical house, and his old home being
vacant, it was converted into a Women’s and
Children’s Hospital, which was the realization of his
old desire. So confident had he been that the
scheme would materialize, that during his furloughs
he had followed up special studies on the eye and
other subjects by attending courses on women’s
diseases and maternity work. The hospital, which
was the first of its kind in Palestine, was quickly
occupied with patients, and although the labour
entailed by day and night was very great, the staff
had the satisfaction of saving many a life. A motor
ambulance, which the Doctor asked for, was gifted
by a lady in Scotland, and was the means of
easing the suffering of patients conveyed from a
distance. The fees received in 1922 amounted to
the remarkable sum of £1700.
Nevertheless, he was conscious that more
emphasis had now to be laid on education. Know-
ledge, the trained mind, the broader outlook, would
do much to emancipate the Jews from their thraldom
270 A GALILEE DOCTOR
to legal formalism, and the Moslems from their
ignorant and fanatical self-sufficiency, and give
Christianity its opportunity.
An incident which occurred at this time illus-
trated the need for enlightenment. ‘The Doctor
was aroused one night to go over and attend one
of the little daughters of Mohammad who had been
bitten by a snake while sleeping out of doors—
there had been four deaths from snake-bites during
the previous few months. She was treated success-
fully, but next day when Sister Frieda went down
to Mohammad’s house in the lower garden to see her,
she found the place crowded with Moslem sheikhs
who were giving the patient their sputum and other
decoctions to swallow. The Doctor smiled grimly
when he heard of it. Here was a servant of the
hospital for over twenty-five years throwing over-
board, without a moment’s hesitation, all the medical
and Christian training he had received in the
Mission and becoming as barbarous as any of his
Moslem friends.
Elementary education was now passing into the
hands of the Government, who were establishing
primary schools in every village; but as it had no
funds for secondary institutions, it asked the con-
tinued assistance of the voluntary agencies in supply-
ing the higher training, and the missions realized that
they would have to adjust themselves to the situation.
And, finally, the Doctor felt more than ever the
need for ordinary evangelism which, on account of
the incessant demands for medical aid, he had
never been able to develop. “It is not only in-
stitutions we need,” he said, “ but men at leisure
A NARROW ESCAPE 271
and able to be fishers of men.” He believed that
Hebrew and Arab Christians were the best suited
for this work, Scottish missionaries requiring so
much preliminary training in languages and in
the complex questions affecting Jews and Moslems.
Moreover, he maintained that the day for attacking
in mass had not yet come; it was the individual
touch that was needed ; and to make that effectual,
there would have to be provided an opportunity for
inquirers to become independent of their religious
and social environment.
The Jewish Mission Committee of the Church
faced the new situation with high courage. Its Con-
vener at this period fortunately was the Rev. John
Hall, one of the most experienced leaders in the
Church, a man of insight, patience, resolution, and
judgment, who had made a special study of the
Jewish question and was, besides, personally
acquainted with the conditions in the various fields.
He proceeded again to Palestine, with Mr. Mac-
donald Webster, the Secretary, Professor W. M.
Macgregor, D.D., Sir John Cowan, and Miss Brown
Douglas, members of the Committee. It was a
new Commission of Inquiry, which reminded the
Church of the original in 1839. ‘They came to the
conclusion that the isolated station of Hebron, which
absorbed a large share of the funds and was practi-
cally a mission to the Moslems, should be given up
and the work in Palestine concentrated in Galilee,
that the educational side of the Mission should
be developed under Mr. Semple’s charge by the
establishment of first-class schools or colleges for
boys and girls at Safed, and that in addition to
272 A GALILEE DOCTOR
this institutional work, more attention should be
given to widespread town and village evangelism.
These recommendations were approved and given
effect to. For the task of co-ordinating and develop-
ing the evangelistic side of the work, the choice
fell on Mr. (now Doctor) Christie, who, since his
return from Palestine, had been working as the
Committee’s agent amongst the Jewish population
of Glasgow, and he returned rejoicing to the scene
of his earlier service.
Simultaneously, in the mysterious develop-
ment of events, the Church Missions to Jews, which
had done so fine a work in Safed, resolved to
evacuate the town in order to strengthen their
stations in other fields. The series of buildings
which they had _ erected—hospital, dispensary,
dwelling-houses, and church—were among the
finest in Palestine. They were built of white lime-
stone on the hillside overlooking a wide valley
to the north, and could easily be adapted to the
various purposes of a large collegiate institution.
They were offered to the Jewish Mission Com-
mittee for £20,000. It seemed a big venture, but
the Committee had courage and faith, and after
an independent valuation of the property had been
made, they took the property over for £15,000.
At last, therefore, the dream of Bonar and
M‘Cheyne to make Safed a centre of Christian
enlightenment for Northern Palestine was beginning
to be realized.
THE STAFF OF THE HospIraL, 1923
Dr. D. W. Torrance Dr. H. Torrance
SUNDAY SERVICE IN ONE OF THE WARDS
ON THE HILLs oF GALILEE
A snapshot by the Author
eve
ses
A SUNDAY VIGNETTE 278
VI. A SUNDAY VIGNETTE
1922
ONE final picture. It is of a Sunday in 1922. In
the cool of the early morning Dr. Herbert has taken
horse for Safed, where he has a patient, and ere
the family has gathered for prayers is already cross-
ing the plain of Gennesaret.
The children seek their places, the youngest, a
boy, curling himself up against his father on the
couch, the girls clustering round the gentle mother.
A hymn, “‘ Jesus, holy, undefiled,” is sung, and the
Doctor reads a Galilee incident, retelling the story
simply and asking questions. “‘ Where did this
happen?” “ Right here,” promptly responds the
little one at his side. Happy children growing
up in the scenes hallowed by their Saviour! A
prayer—is it a prayer or just a slow, intimate talk
with God ?—and afterwards all join in the Lord’s
Prayer.
Then the family troop into the little breakfast-
room, where the windows are closely wired to
bar out the flies. Grace is chanted by all, some
curious native foods are partaken, and the children
scramble out into the compound to attend to their
C£S.0n io»
. The Arabic service is held in the waiting-hall
of the hospital with its blue roof, grey walls, and
red-tiled floor, and its deep windows which frame
a charming vignette—a palm tree silhouetted against
the shining water of the Lake and the green hills
18
274 A GALILEE DOCTOR
on the opposite shore. A corner is screened off by
canvas as a “ dressings” room, and in front of this
is a small table on which stand vases of blue daisies,
white marguerites, and violets. Beside it is a
harmonium, at which Miss Vartan sits. Forms
ranged across the hall are occupied by patients in
blue dressing-gowns; the nurses, refined and
attractive, in grey-blue dress and white aprons
and caps; and a few visitors, including a Jewish
inquirer.
Presently the evangelist, a patient himself,
enters and takes his place at the table—an elderly
man, gentle and reverent, like some Scottish country
minister, and with the sweetness on his face that
comes from patient suffering. ‘The 23rd Psalm
is sung; it is the keynote also of the address,
which is on the Good Shepherd. Sister Frieda
sitting at the door, hearing a stir outside, goes out ;
it is the arrival of a “‘ case,’ and a nurse is summoned
and leaves. The service goes on. One of the
audience in peasant head-dress prays, and the
Doctor pronounces the benediction. The feeling
imparted by the scene is one of sadness; the
hymns are sung sadly, the expressions on the dark
faces are sad; it all seems in harmony with the
sadness of the country.
The English service is Bald immediately after-
wards in the little dining-hall in the Matron’s
quarters, an arched room looking out on the Lake.
The sides and corners are filled in with broken
columns, capitals, and carvings of old Galilee, half-
hidden by maidenhair ferns, poppies, daisies,
begonias, nasturtiums, and mimosa, and in the
A SUNDAY VIGNETTE 275
mass of greenery stands a globe filled with goldfish.
The audience on this occasion comprises the nurses,
servants, and children, and two or three residents
of the town—about twenty in all. The Doctor
sits at the table throughout, and in a short address
speaks on the foolish virgins whose lights went out,
not through any deliberation but as the result of
careless negligence passing into drowsiness, torpor,
sleep. He shows his usual skill in selecting common
illustrations : ‘‘ If the water in your yard is never
stirred, the green scum gathers on the top and it
smells—so it is with the Christian life.”
No touch of wind comes through the open
doors and windows to cool the room; outside the
sunshine blazes on land and water; through the
hot stillness comes the soft wash of the waves on the
beach, the distant hammering of a tinsmith in the
town, the chirping of the sparrows on the house-
top. The conditions breed languor, drowsiness,
slumber; one realizes how in such a country
Christians must make special efforts to keep their
lights burning... .
In the afternoon comes the ward service in
Arabic, conducted by the Doctor, the patients
around him, some squatting on the spotless marble
floor, others on forms and chairs or sitting up in
their cots, men and women and children of many
types—bedouin, fellahin, Jews and Jewesses—all
quiet and patient, with eyes that never leave the
Doctor’s face. Now and again, in answer to a
question, comes a general sigh or sign of acqui-
escence or a more emphatic response from some
strong-minded individual. But what they are
276 A GALILEE DOCTOR
thinking how they are being influenced—who can
tell ?
In the deeper hush of the night, when the moon-
light lies upon the Lake, a nurse bends over an old
Jew whose hours are run. The lights are low in
the ward and all the patients are asleep, but with an
effort he turns and glances furtively towards the
other beds, and then looks up with a smile into the
compassionate face of the girl. She knows and
whispers the one word “ Jesus.” He nods, his
lips move. “ Yes, I am a Christian at heart, and
I am trusting in Jesus.” Even as he speaks his
breath fails and his spirit passes. . . .
Now as of old Jesus walks in Galilee, moving
the hearts of the people and drawing them to Him
and to peace of mind and body and to eternal rest.
VII. “GOD’S RESERVES ” 1
1922
So the Galilee Doctor is left, after his thirty-nine
years of toil, in happier times, amidst better condi-
tions, and with most of his dreams for the work
come true; respected by every class and creed,
the value of his work officially recognized, and
the honour of O.B.E. conferred upon him by His
Majesty’s Government in recognition of his great
public services to the people of Palestine.
* An expression used by Mr. Edward, Scotland’s first ordained Jewish
missionary, to signify that Christian Jews are to be the evangelizers of
the nations.
““GOD’S RESERVES ” 277
While he looked forward hopefully to the future,
he did not lose sight of the fact that there were still
uncertain elements in the situation. There was
the possibility of political disturbance, since in
the event of the Jewish power developing it was not
likely that the Arabs would allow themselves to fall
into a state of dependence ; there was the greater
danger of a Pan-Islamic revival which would involve
Palestine ; official Judaism might also begin the
intensive cultivation of its faith, which would harden
many against Christianity. But, on the whole,
he believed that things generally would be more
favourable for mission service and propaganda.
It was naturally the position and aims of the Jews
which concerned him most. Those of the new type
were placing nationalism before religion, and were
more concerned with the present and the future
than with the past ; but the mass still clung to their
old ideals and customs and to the khalukah. The
Doctor’s view, however, was that with the spread of
education legal religion would cease to satisfy them,
and become, as it was to others, a subject merely
of archzological interest. Already they were be-
ginning to be conscious of the unreality of it, and
were groping after a truer and more liberal inter-
pretation of spiritual verities. ‘They seemed more
disposed to study the New Testament, and he
believed that with honest study of the claims of
Christ, they would find in Him not, indeed, the
political Messiah that had proved so hopeless an
expectation throughout their history, but a spiritual
Saviour who would satisfy their deepest needs.
Several factors, moreover, continued to sustain
278 A GALILEE DOCTOR
their hereditary hostility to Christianity. The
religion of the Christians as they had seen it
and experienced it throughout the centuries was
not a lovely or lovable thing ; to them it was the
embodiment of passion, force, and oppression ;
all the bitter suffering which they had endured as
a race they attributed to its followers. And they
still knew only of its low ideals and superstitious
practices as exhibited in the communities of
Palestine. These they regarded with a shudder,
for although themselves ignorant and bigoted, they
yet strove, according to their lights, for righteous-
ness. On this point the Doctor could give his
testimony. “I speak for Tiberias,” he says, ‘‘ and
up to the outbreak of war. You could not find
purer homes than those of the Jews. I know of
no rivals to them except Christian homes—really
Christian homes.”
Again, the Jews, like the Moslems, could not
understand the superiority of Christianity. In
the matter of unity it seemed no better than their
own or Islam, for it was also torn into opposing
sects; and if, in their heart-hunger for a living
person and a personal deliverer, they turned to
it, they were presented with a metaphysical plan
of salvation and theological theories which were
as forbidding as the Talmudic law. Why should
they relinquish their own faith, which for three
thousand years had been the guiding light of their
race, for one that could not control the lives and
actions of its disciples ?
There was, further, the undeniable fact that the
Jew was still, in the eyes of Christians, an unpopular
““GOD’S RESERVES ” 279
figure, disliked for his national and personal char-
acteristics, shunned in social life, and the subject
of sneer and contemptuous reference in speech and
books. “Strange,” says Dr. Torrance. ‘‘ We take
our sacred books from the Jews, we worship accord-
ing to their system, we get our Saviour from them,
our theology is largely based on the works of a Jew,
yet Christendom turns on them, imprisons them in
ghettos, and then condemns them for being what
they are!” ‘‘ But the Jews killed Christ,” is the
thought of many. It was official Judaism that sent
Him to His death, and even so, He forgave all who
were implicated; but His followers, trampling on
His spirit, have never forgiven the race, and in
despising and rejecting it are, in folly and sin, on a
level with the ecclesiastical leaders of old. Is it
any wonder that the task of bringing the Jews to
Christ in such a country as Palestine is a difficult
one? So long as this prejudice continues, how can
they be expected to love and reverence Jesus of
Nazareth? Do Christians as a rule fall on the
necks of those whom they regard as their enemies ?
It was a source of the greatest gratification to Dr.
Torrance that he was the agent of a Church which,
despite the lukewarmness of many of its members,
neither ignored the Jew in its vision of Christ’s work
nor neglected him in its range of practical service.
Like other Christian bodies it was often blamed
for worldly self-interest ; here, at least, was a fact
which proved that it was governed by something
higher than a feeling for popularity.
But the prejudice is passing. A nobler ethical
spirit is beginning to rule the thoughts of men,
280 A GALILEE DOCTOR
there is a wider recognition of the Divine significance
and value of every human soul, and a growing sense
of world brotherhood. This larger and finer view
is embracing the Jews in its range; after all, they
are not animists or idolaters or atheists, but one of
the most advanced and competent of peoples, with
a genius for religion. The process, no doubt, will
be hastened by the establishment of a national
centre in Palestine. Scattered throughout the
world and lost in every variety of community, with
no land, as Byron put it, but the grave, they have
had no united voice in the world’s councils; but
once concentrated as a compact racial body, a
central power in the world’s great highway, they
may become, as the Greeks were of old, a national
and intellectual force to be taken into account, and
will exact and receive the consideration and respect
to which their position will entitle them.
But the supreme lesson of Dr. Torrance’s long
experience is that love alone will bring them to
Christ. He began with that conviction and he is
ending with it. The Jew is intensely human; he
is affectionate, with the home sense strongly
developed, a man of concord and peace, and he
responds readily to sympathy and_ kindness.
Through love he can best be drawn to respond
to the appeal of Christ. The work amongst Jews
calls, of course, for the highest mental gifts. Their
type of mind must be appreciated, and_ their
language must be mastered. No one also can
understand Judaism as it has been historically
developed without a thorough knowledge of that
vast religious literature which is its most precious
**GOD’S RESERVES ” 281
possession. ‘To know the Jew one must know the
Talmud as well as he knows the New Testament.
But without love all one’s learning and service
will profit nothing. Christians must present
Christianity as Christ would present it. Then:
“The fullness of the Gentiles come to light,
The elder brother Jew will straight come in
And mourn for that he had no sooner sight.”
Some of the opposition to Christian missions is
probably due to the fear that the race will lose
its identity if it relinquishes the characteristics of its
faith ; and this may be one of the reasons why a
national home is welcomed; it is to be built to
block out the vision of the Cross. Hence the need
for a clear declaration of policy as to the aim of
Christian effort. Christianity does not wish to
take anything essential from the character of the
Jewish faith, but to add to it, to complete it, to
supply the keystone to what is unfinished. True
Judaism and true Christianity are in reality not two
faiths but one. A Jew who becomes a convert to
Christianity does not cease to be a Jew, but glories
in being a Christian Jew, loyal to all that is best
in his race. Although many Christians do not
like the idea of a Hebrew-Christian Church in
Christian countries, such an institution would seem
to be necessary in the special circumstances of
Palestine, not only on account of the language but
in order that the nationality of the members may
be retained.
There is a danger that official Judaism may
seek to draw some distinction -between nation-
282 A GALILEE DOCTOR
ality and religion, but if any new State that
may be established is to be religiously isolated and
self-contained, and the Christian Jew is to be
excluded from its privileges, it will doom itself
to decay and extinction. History shows that no
nation can keep abreast of the world and the
development of science and art by shutting itself
up into a self-righteous and intolerant one-roomed
state of mind. There is no reason why a Jewish
Christian should not be a member of a Jewish
State ; he need be no more of a political danger
than an orthodox Jew is in England or America.
What other countries offer, the Jews cannot refuse.
But all will be well if the modern spirit, which is
making for tolerance and enlightenment, continues
to prevail.
If, in the end, the Jews should become a
Christian nation, a grander prospect would be
opened up for them than if they were to circum-
scribe their influence by continuing a purely
Judaic community. Such a consummation might
be the beginning of a new era for humanity. Jews
can best win Jews, and Jewry is so closely linked up,
the strands of interest and loyalty are so interwoven,
that a Christian Palestine—a Palestine with a soul—
would ultimately affect every other country. They
are also an Eastern race with a psychology fitting
them to appeal to Eastern peoples ; they are, there-
fore, the most suitable instrument to carry the Gospel
to Moslems. Individuals have frequently shown
what they can accomplish as Christian missionaries,
and if they should become converted in the mass,
Christendom may see a fresh and powerful influence
““GOD’S RESERVES ” 283
coming into operation in the interests of Christ and
His Kingdom. Out of the Holy Land may issue
again the idealism, enthusiasm, and strength which
will revive and renew a world that has grown some-
what weary with its problems, with strivings that
have proved futile, and with progress that has been
unaccompanied by peace.
POSTSCRIPT
1923
Dr. TORRANCE continued to be busy with the full
round of operative work, assisted by his son
Herbert, upon whom he was more and more
depending, and whose companionship was a great
joy tohim. His health was poor, but it was difficult
to obtain rest, for his heart was in his work, and it
was he whom the people wished to see and consult.
He was the “ Big Doctor,” the one they had known
so long and in whom they placed implicit faith.
They were gradually transferring some of their
trust to the young doctor, but they felt more
confidence and contentment when they knew that
his father was in the mission compound. “ Every-
thing goes well when he is at hand,” they said.
Visitors also were not satisfied unless they saw him.
The Chief Rabbi and the Mufti would have none
but their old friend, and would go away if he were
not accessible.
With diminishing strength, but with untiring
energy, he toiled on through the hot and cool
seasons. Even in summer he would often start
the day with a six o’clock clinic. The native
assistants who were with him from time to time—
some of whom are now Medical Officers of Health
285
286 A GALILEE DOCTOR
—stated that they had never seen any one work so
hard. He tired them all out. ‘I would gladly
have stopped for lunch many a day,” said one, “‘ but
how could I when Dr. Torrance was missing his
and going on without a break until three and five in
the afternoon ?”’ He fought his increasing weak-
ness with indomitable courage. During operations
he would be compelled to sit down in order to
recover strength: sometimes he would be so
exhausted that Herbert would take them off his
hand. Yet next morning he would begin again as
keen and as enthusiastic as ever. To Herbert he
was a marvel. )
The latter, who studied him with a watchful
eye, knew generally of the numerous cholera,
enteric, and small-pox epidemics through which
he had passed, but he learnt now that he had suffered
from cholera and enteric, several severe attacks of
dysentery, and innumerable attacks of malaria. He
discovered also that the rheumatism in his shoulder
had been the result of a dislocation which he had
had to set himself. One of the stories people told
Herbert was that once when his father had severe
toothache he took a forceps and pulled out the
offending tooth. Gradually there came to the son
a knowledge of the hardships and sufferings which
the Doctor had endured, and of his unfailing grit
and courage. ‘“* You have had a hard life, Doctor,”
he heard a visitor say to him sympathetically one
day. ‘‘ Yes,” was the reply, ‘it has been hard : I
have had trials; but,” he added with warmth,
“looking back on my life I don’t regret for one
moment that I became a missionary.”
POSTSCRIPT 287
Ominous incidents occurred which caused the
family anxiety. One day the Doctor rode alone
up to Safed. On the journey he was seized, in
one of the deep gorges, with a fainting attack. He
managed to get off his horse and tie it to a bush, and
then he sank to the ground. There he lay until
some wandering Arabs found him. They carried
him to their goat’s-hair tent, where he rested until
the cool of the evening, when he continued his
journey to Safed.
Thereafter Dr. Herbert shadowed him in all
his rides and visits to sick people. He was not
perturbed, but went about more intent on his
work than on his own condition, and although
the fainting attacks continued never refused to
answer a call. One call usually meant strenuous
work, for people soon knew that he was in the
neighbourhood and they waylaid him at every turn,
sure of his ready sympathy and help.
His attitude was based on a calm and assured
faith in the overruling hand of God. Whatever
happened he was confident that God was looking
after him, and would make all things come right in
the end. This trust was shown in the way he
prayed. Nothing was too big or too little to
bring before God, and he always spoke to Him
simply and naturally, as a child speaks to his father.
He was a living example of his own favourite
text: ‘‘ Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,
continuing instant in prayer.”
He became very anemic, but held on through
the fierce heat of 1923 until the end of June, when
the Hospital was closed as usual for the hotter
288 A GALILEE DOCTOR
months, and he went up to Safed. He continued
to fight his weakness and resolutely declined to go
to bed. Though he never gave any indication that
he knew how precarious his hold was upon life, his
friends were aware that he was quite prepared and
ready when the call should come. Had he the
comforting intuition that the work he loved would
be permanently carried on by Dr. Herbert, and that
his daughter, Dr. Lydia, would also come to have
her share in it ?
Absolute exhaustion at last compelled him to lie
down. There was no specific disease: he was
simply completely worn, out and literally too tired
to live. He read his Bible, and listened to the
music which the family, by removing the piano close
to his room, were able to provide him. Everything
that love and devotion could devise was done.
One night he had a grave fainting attack. After it
was over he quietly requested that all the children
should come to him. He asked them to sing their
hymns, and they did so. He spoke to the younger
ones about the music of heaven and the songs the
angels sang. They were too little to comprehend
the deeper meaning underlying his words, and
chatted to him gaily. Then they climbed upon
the bed and gave him their good-night kiss.
The heart failed. Before losing consciousness
he uttered the Benediction. At 1.30 a.m. on
Sunday, 26th August 1923, he passed away. It
was rest at last for him who had never known what
rest was.
All that day the people of Safed streamed to
the house entreating to see him. They passed in,
POSTSCRIPT 289
rich and poor, and tenderly kissed his hands, those
wonderful hands which had so often healed their
pain. In the afternoon the coffin, covered with the
Union Jack, flowers and wreaths, left by motor-car
for Tiberias, where Mr. Semple had made the
funeral arrangements. A service was held in the
Hospital, and then the coffin, carried and escorted
by Palestine gendarmerie, was taken to the little
cemetery in the lower garden by the Lake. The
attendance of the public was very large, and, what
was remarkable in an Eastern gathering, they were
exceedingly quiet and orderly. ‘The Governor of
Galilee and his staff, and numerous judges, Army
officers and Government officials, as well as repre-
sentatives of the various religious bodies, were
present. The heads of the Moslem and Jewish
communities paid tributes to his memory, whilst
Mr. Semple’s assistant, Elias Haddad, spoke on
behalf of the Christians. Ere the proceedings were
over the moonlight was gleaming upon the Lake.
The grave is marked by a granite lona cross
from Scotland on a pedestal of the black basalt of
Tiberias : upon it are shells from the various spots
on the Lake shore which Jesus haunted and where
His missionary servant had loved to wander.
The news that “‘ Torrance of Tiberias ”’ was
dead went round the world, and brought to the
family a large number of tributes of admiration and
affection. They came from members of almost
every communion, for the Doctor was catholic in
spirit and was at home in every form of worship,
None were so sincere as those which were paid by
the Jews of Tiberias. ‘They recalled how he liked
19
290 A GALILEE DOCTOR
their rites and customs and always attended, with
his family, the first (Seder) night of Passover at the
house of the Chief Rabbi, fulfilling each function
of the feast. ‘“‘ Not for naught,” said the Palestine
Weekly, “is he counted by the majority of the Jews
as a Hassid, or saintly one.”” When he first appeared
in their midst they in their bitterness spat on the
ground at the mention of the word Christian. But
he loved them then and to the end, and love
conquered.
INDEX
Acre, 28, 95, 188, 189, 219.
Agriculture, 31, 49, 109, 166, 167,
203, 204, 226, 234, 251,
260.
Airdrie, 11, 12, 15.
Aleppo, 142, 151, 179, 192.
Allenby, General, 249, 250.
Alliance Israélite, 164-167, 227.
See Schools.
America, 21, 22, 133, 181, 182,
ZOU 207 224, 254:
American College, 30, 119, 180.
Americans, 135, 179, 237.
Anderson, Dr., 243.
Arabs, 5, 42, 89-91, 96-104, 119,
163, 169-175, 207, 210,
239, 262-266, 278.
Ashkenazim, 46, 84, 213, 220, 232,
eae
Assembly, General, 1, 31, 32, 118,
150, 183, 184, 224, 232,
236.
Bakhshish, 5, 27, 59, 61, 64, 95,
TS1,.192y, 167,160,188,
237, 266.
Balfour Declaration, 249-251.
Baptisms, 82, 136, 142, 177, 181.
Bedouins, 96-102, 104, 126, 157,
171, 237, 238, 250.
Bethsaida, 29, 70, 127.
Beyrout, 39, 74, 95, 119, 152, 204.
Bible, 77, 88, 103, 104, 122, 132,
196, 227, 231.
New Testament, 65, 72, 134,
I41, 156, 215, 277, 281.
Oid Testament, 155.
Bible ae 89, 136, 142, 179,
196, 21
Bible- Beatie ae 75,055 Lala
Biblewoman, 174, 175.
Black, Prof., 4,7, 8
Bleiker, Marie, 194.
Bliss, Dr., 239.
Block, Sir A., 128, 129.
Bonar, Rev. Dr. A., 4-7, 8, 118,
AE 8
Britain, 49, 95, 241, 243, 249, 252,
259.
Bryce, Lord, 237, 238.
Candlish, Rev. Dr., 3, 4.
Capernaum, 29, 70, 127, 256.
Census, 201, 266. See also, 6, 31,
45, 46, 264.
Cholera, 185-192, 224, 225, 252.
Christie, Rev. Dr., 109, 123, 124,
133, 138, 151, 179, 253,
272
Christie, Mrs., 109.
Christie, child, 138.
Churches—
Armenian, 50.
Auld Licht, ro.
Church of Scotland, 1-3, 8,
9, 12. See Free Church.
Eastern, 10, 45, 50, 154, 182.
Episcopalian, 138, 182, 184.
See below, Church Mission
and Missionary.
Free, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 81,
i177, 139, 164, 203. See
United Free.
Greek, 29, 50, 99, 106, 145,
158, 182, 220, 256:
Greek Catholic, 50, 72, 220.
Hebrew Christian, 142, 281.
Latin. See Roman Catholics.
Presbyterian Church of
England, 151.
Syrian, 50, 182.
United Free, 184, 279.
United Presbyterian, 138, 151,
184.
Church Mission to the Jews, 9, 23,
30, 32, 86, 151, 203, 214,
243, 272. ;
Church Missionary Society, 9, 26,
37-
Church union, 184, 204.
291
292
Climate, 4, 7, 30, 32, 35, 41, 71,
72,77, 85, 140, 222, 223.
“* Clyde,”’ 110-116.
Cohen, James, 141-143, 179, 180,
196, 202, 221, 232-234, 247,
248.
Colonies, Jewish, 29, 31, 49, 127,
135, 141-163, 165-167, 170,
196, 204, 208, 234, 251, 260.
Colportage, 142, 179, 196.
Committee, Jewish, 2, 20, 31, 33,
73, 81, 93, 110, 118, 119,
128) .131;) 137-130; 143;
149, I51, 183, 184, 202,
221," 222, 224,227, 245;
248, 251, 254, 269, 271, 272.
Constantinople, 20, 95, 96, 127-
131, 204, 227, 248.
Consuls, 29,34,35,95,128,189, 243.
Cowan, Sir John, 271.
Crusaders, 5, 42, 70, 93, 123.
Damascus, 38, 39, 69, 74, 117,
185, 192, 247, 248.
Daoud, Dr. Selim, 117, 119.
Dead Sea, 31, 118.
Deedes, Sir W., 263.
Delitzsch, Prof., 52, 81.
Dirt, 3, 29, 30, 37, 40, 57, 75, 995
185, 186.
Dispensaries, 17, 18, 64, 75, 79,
87, 93, 103, IIT, 126, 139,
169, 173, 174, 211, 372.
Donaldson, Miss A., 148.
Douglas, Miss Brown, 271.
Douglas, Mr. C., 131.
Dress, 21, 24, 43, 44, 58, 90, 134,
146, 150, 164, 181, 197,
255, 274.
Dreyfus, 165.
Druses, 38, 69, 85.
Edersheim, Rev. Dr., 9, 235, 236.
Edinburgh Medical Mission, 9,
27,36, 38.
Education, 31, 42, 73, 78, 161,
176, 201, 202, 212, 222, 226,
234, 269, 270, 271, 277.
See Schools.
Egypt, 24, 177, 247, 255.
Ephraim, 133-137.
Esdraelon, 27, 37.
Evangelistic work, 54, 72, 79-82,
8, 89, 102, 105, 106, 121—
123, 1615" 171-176, ~ 170,
223, 230-235, 270-272,
273-276.
A GALILEE DOCTOR
Ewing, Rev. Dr., 81, 82, 88, 89,
102, 105, 106, II9g, 120,
133-136, 138, 139, 203, 222.
Ewing, Mrs., 105, 138.
Ewing, child, 138.
Faris, Amina, 123, 197, 230, 231,
255.
Fees, 87, 99, 209-211, 225, 269.
Fenton, Miss, 73, 78, 86, 92, 107,
T2395 235 5%
Ferguson, Nurse, 259.
Firmans, 61, 125-131, 162.
Food, 35, 38, 57, 99, 100, 103,
164, 188-191, 209, 225, 233,
Dag kee
Frieda Bleiker, ‘‘ Sister,” 194,
195, 208, 209, 222, 224,
243-247.
Gadara, 69, 98.
Galilee, 8, 9, 23, 32, 184, 251, 271,
passim.
Lake of, ix, 10, 30, 32, 40, 42,
58, 66-68, 91, 110, 112-116,
I1Q, 120, 201, 273, passim.
Mission, 32, 182, 184, 271,
272.
Gamala, 69, 98, 114.
George, Rev. J. A., 16, 229.
George, Miss, 229, 243.
Germans, 34, 189.
Germany, 165, 195, 241-244.
Ghettos, 46, 165, 279.
Glasgow, 11, 12, 17-21, 110, 139,
152, 244, 253, 272.
Infirmary, 31, 34, 244.
Ladies’ Association, 73.
Goldenberg, S., 81, 89, 106, 121,
179.
Gould, Miss H., 237.
Grossmans, 245, 246.
Haifa, 28, 34, 61, 110, 189, 244,
6
267.
Hall, Rev. J., 271.
Halutzim, 261.
Hamad, 103, 104.
Hannington, Dr., 128, 129.
Hasheesh, 172.
Hastings, Rev. Dr., 211.
Hauran, as! 69, 185, 206, 218,
256.
Hebrew Christians, 81, 82, 142,
276-283. See Churches.
Hebron, 6, 30, 32, 75, 184, 186,
228, 271.
INDEX
293
peta Nouns, 37, 40, 41, 60, ) Languages, 109, 117, 142, 212,
236.
Herod, 41, 68.
Herzl, Dr., 165.
Hillel, 83.
Hospitals, 29, 31, 34, 57, 126, 139,
151, 194, 226, 246, 247,
255,272. See Tiberias.
Huber, Rev. J., 37, 120.
Hymns, 107, 109, 132, 145, 273,
274.
Industrial work, 109, 137, 143,
150, 183, 184, 202, 203,
228, 232, 260, 261.
Irvine, Miss A., 229, 243, 253.
Isaac Rosenblum, 197, 224, 248,
249, 255-
Jackson, Rev. Mr., 15, 16.
Jacob’s Well, 26, 257.
Jaffa, 253 31; 34, 5°, 74, 75, 133,
Jericho, 31.
Jerusalem, 6, 7, 25, 30, 32, 41, 75,
97, 136, 249, 250, 256, 261.
Jews, 1-3, 6, 20, 31, 33, 42, 46-50,
54, 55, 56, 85, 89, 93, 99,
133, 140, 154-157, 159,
163-168, 180, 226-236,
249-253, 260-266, 276-
283, passim.
Jewish nationality, 6, 49, 165, 167,
249, 261-266, 277.
Johara, 159, 160.
Johncock, Nurse, 190, 194.
Jones, Miss E., 182, 214, 243.
Jones, ore G., 194, 215, 243, 253;
283.
Jordan, 40, 98, 118, 135, 140.
Jubilee of Jewish Mission, 118,
IQ.
Judaism, 109, 121, 279, 281, 282.
See Jewish Nationalism
and Zionism.
Keith, Rev. Dr., 3, 4, 7.
Kelman, Rev. J., 198-200.
“* Kelvin,” 110, 112-116.
Khalfl Sa‘adi, Dr., 119.
Khalukah, 47, 48, 50, 56, 124, 163,
164, 178, 198, 277.
Khérems, 55, 78, 106, 177.
Kitchener, Lord, 84.
Koran, 103, 175.
Laidlaw, Dr., 23-32.
229, 243, 256, 260.
Arabic, 5, 36, 44, 51, 54, 60,
74, 80, 105, 126, 142, 147,
148, 179, 184, 212, 213,
226, 260, 280.
Chaldaic, 156.
English, 76, 123, 142, 179,
201, 232, 260, 275.
French, 39, 123, 141,142,179,
210, 221, 256.
German, 39, 123, 147, 179,
225,
Greek, 147, 179.
Hebrew, 51, 108, 109, 133,
134, I4I, 142, 156, 177,
179, 202, 212, 213, 226,
260, 280.
Italian, 256.
Latin, 39.
Polish, 51, 179.
Russian, 179.
Semitic languages, 218.
Spanish, 51.
Turkish, 51, 123.
Yiddish, 51, 126, 142, 179,
256.
Literature, 18, 80, 81, 82, 83, 122,
149, 154, 155, 179, 280,
2
it.
London Jews Society. See Church
Mission to Jews.
Macaulay, Prof., 236.
M‘Cheyne, Rev. R. M., 3, 4, 7, 8,
TiS; 272)
Macgregor, Prof., 271.
Machpelah, 184.
Mackinnon, Dr., 38, 39, 74,
¥17-
M‘Neill, Dr. M., 255-257.
Magdala, 30, 70, 111, 187.
Major, Miss, 194, 221, 227. See
Semple.
Malaria, 57, 189.
Mandate, British, 259, 266.
Maria Dorothea,Archduchess, 7, 8.
Matheson, Rev. W. S., 222.
Medicine, 11, 14, 18, 129, 144,
161, 169, 171, 180, 208,
214, 222, 225, 236, 245,
246, 268, 273.
Medicines, 53, 54, 61-64, 99, 117,
169, 172, 189, 221, 247.
Merom, Waters of, 141, 235.
Mexico, 166.
Meyer, Rabbi, 68, 75, 78.
294
Migration, 6, 22, 29, 49, 165, 167,
168, 181, 226, 251, 260,
261, 264.
Miller, Mr. J. R., 110.
Missions, ix, 8, 9, 30, 34, 37, 39,
164, 185.
Mohammad, 198, 207, 242, 248,
255, 270.
Morgenthau, Mr., 237, 238.
Moses, 75-77, 92, 121, 122, 126.
Moslems, 5, 32, 45, 50-52, 54, 59,
4, 85, 92, 94, 107, 123,
126, 132, 140, 145, 157,
159, 176, 177, I91, 205,
220, 254, 263, 270
Mosques, 45, 68, 69, 157.
Mueller, Mrs., 244, 246.
Mufti, 94, 145, 146, 285.
Mukhayil, 113-115, 119.
Music, 16, 209, 256.
Nablous, 26.
a Narrative of Mission of ia.
uiry,” 7,8
Nazareth, 9, 27, 35, 133, 134, 147,
I9I, 197, 207, 244, 246,
248, 258.
Nurses, 126, 147, 156, 174, 189,
190, 194, 197, 211, 222,
225, 228, 246, 247, 259,
274-276.
Oakbank War Hospital, 245.
Orphanges, 9, 32, 150, 207, 214.
Orr, Provost, 17, note.
Palestine, 1, 4-7, 22, 23, 25, 33,
34, 47, 66-72, 163-168, 227,
249, 252, 259-266, 283,
passim.
Paterson, Dr., 51, 184, 185.
Probationers, 195, 244.
Rabbis, 29, 47, 48, 53-56, 78, 79,
81, 120, 126, 134, 135, 138,
154, 177, 182, 233, 285.
Rae, ae ee Secretary, 20, 21,
Reid, roan 228, 253.
Roman Catholics, 50, 106, 124,
127, 170, 282,204, 207,
212, 213,228)
Rothschild, Baron E., 49, 141,
163-166.
Rothschild, Lord, 249.
Russia, 22, 49, 75, 84, 123, 179,
196, 197, 235, 251, 253+
A GALILEE DOCTOR
Safed, 6-8, 22, 28, 29, 32, 42, 70,
83-86, 122-125, 150, 192,
251 Bye Tas
Boys’ school, 123, 124,
150, 180, 213, 254,
27 ee
Girls’ school, 123-125, 150,
on 213, 254, 222, 242=—
132,
251,
Gueael. ‘Sit Herbert, 259, 262.
Sanitation, 56, 100, 168, 186, 187,
222, 236.
Saphir, Adolf, Q.
Schools, 123. See below and
Safed and Tiberias.
pera 50, 164, 176, 178,
Frisell 40, “233, 240,
166, 213, 226, 234.
Moslem, 140, 227, 245.
Sunday, 15, 19, 121, 132.
Scrimgeour, Dr., 217, 246.
Selim Daoud, 117, 246.
Semple, Rev. S. H., 218, 219,
221, \227p 230, 234,297,
243, 251, 255, 271, 289.
Semple, Mrs., 227, 228.
Sephardim, 46, 213, 220.
Sheikhs, 28, 38, 99, 100, 103, 104,
170, 172, 173, 209.
Sin, 79, 80, 91, 157, 230, 231.
Sloan, Rev. J., 18, 20, 23.
Small-pox, 98, 216.
141,
mith, Mrs., 1, 9.
Soutar, Rev. J., 139, 141-143,
ISL; 270, E72, ° P77; 485,
187-193.
Soutar, Mrs., rg1.
Steele, Rev. T., 193, 194.
Steele, Mrs., 193.
Stephen, Mr. J., 110.
Stewart, Rev. J., 27.
Stuart, Rev. Dr. Moody, 1, 3, 4.
Sublime Porte, 96, 127.
Sultan, 130, 131, 132, 145, 146.
Superstition, 6, 57, 59, 79, 84, 85,
102, 159, 228, 270, 278.
Surgery, 21, 12,14, 21; 22,-31,-71,
725. 10%,:1k2,120. 120162.
160, 169, 171, 199, 209,
210, 214, 217, 225, 258,
259.
Synagogues, 45, 78, 122, 142.
Tabor, 37, 56, 238.
Talmud, 42, 122, 154, 213, 226,
227, 281.
INDEX
Thomson, Rev. Dr., 151, 182.
Thomson, Mrs., Ist, 180, 182,
97-
Tiberias’ 6-8, 30, 32, 34, 36, 41-
45, 67, 68, 86, 118, 127,
185, passim.
hers A275. 98, 111, 170,
17
Boys’ school, 108, 118, 181,
212, 2135-230); 254, 251.
Girls’ school, 72, 73, 86, 91,
107, 121i, £73, 180, 212;
213, 229, 251.
Hospital, 91, 93, 126, 131,
139, 144-149, 152,170,174,
$S3, 1202, 211, 214, 222,
oe 247, 251, 261, 268,
Torah, fee: 1775.227-
Torrance, Dr. D. W.—
Ancestors, 10, II.
Birth, 11, 12.
Education, 16-22.
First Communion, 19.
Visits Palestine, 23-31.
Glasgow Infirmary, 31-34.
Goes to Palestine, 34.
Ordained an elder, 119.
Ordained a minister, 151, 152.
Turkish diploma, 129.
Homes in Palestine, 40, 52,
59, 73, 84.
Illnesses, 74, 77, 120, 217,
218, 268.
Furloughs, 116-120, 128, 149,
182, 183, 222.
Marriages, 128, 153, 217.
Children, 137, 149, 192, 222,
273. See below: Herbert,
Lydia, and Marjory.
Semi-Jubilee, 219-222.
War work, 244-253.
Captain, oo
O.B.E.,
Illness leg death, 285~290.
Torrance, Mrs., first, 37, 128, 146,
149. See Huber.
Torrance, Mrs., second, 153, 189,
190.
295
Torrance, Mrs., third, 217, 222,
224, 243, 267, 268, 276-283.
Torrance, Herbert, 149, 245, 257—
259, 273, 2 286-288
Torrance, Lydia, 149, 268, 288.
Torrance, Marjory, 2
Torrance, Miss, 73, 74, 92, 117.
Torrance, Mr. R. SALON TI.
Torrance, Dr. 'F.., 11-14, UG lc
Torrance, Mrs. T., 11-14, 17, 19.
Trans-Jordania, 96, 120, 138, 158,
159, 201, 218.
Travel, 24, 31, 34, 96-105, 171-
173, 199, 200, 206, 207,
267, 268.
Turks, 4, 36, 67, 205, 221, 241,
249, 251.
Turkish officials, 4, 5, 29,
59-65,
94-96, 124, 127-132, 145,
146, 167, 176, 186-189,
206, 219, 225, 237, 238,
245-249, 253, 254.
Vartan, Dr., 27, 30, 35, 39, 40, 58,
74, 87, 191, 217.
Vartan, Mrs., 27, 35, 64, 74, III.
Vartan, Miss, 189, 224, 255, 256,
: 274.
Vienna, 22, 129.
War, 206, 241-253.
Watt, Mr. D., 11.
Watt, Mr. R., 15.
Webster, Rev. Dr., 252, 253, 271.
Wells, Rev. Dr., 23-31, 138, 224.
White, Sir W., 128, 129.
Wilson, Dr. G., 140, 149, 152, 180,
193.
Wilson, Rev. Dr., 21, 22.
Wodrow, Mr.R.,1,4.
Women’s Jewish Association, 73,
182.
Yakoob, 147.
Yellowlees, Dr., 222.
Yiddish. See Languages.
Zionism, 165, 226, 248, 254, 262,
264, 265, 277, 280.
THEOLOGY LIBRARY
CLAREMONT, CALIF.
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$a- Bai ee
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BV Livingstone, William Pringle
3202 A Galilee doctor : being a sketch of the
T6 career of Dr. D.W. Torrance of Tiberias / by
L5 W.P. Livingstone. -- London : Hodder and Stough-
1925 fon, 1925.
wiih, <eop. 2 42k. 3 23cm.
Includes index.
1. Torrance, David Watt, 1862-1922. 2. Mis-
sions, Medical--Palestine. I. Title.
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