CHAPTER XII.
_PALESTINE._
In the spring of 1882 Mr. Balfour, in company with Mr. Bushell, Dr. Howson, the late Dean of Chester, Archdeacon Gore, the Rev. J. W. Diggle, and others, paid a visit to the Holy Land. His brief notes testify to his great enjoyment of the scenes in the midst of which our Lord and the apostles walked and worked, but they afford no continuous narrative. Yet, a few memoranda from his journal, and reminiscences from the pens of fellow-travellers, will not be without interest.
“_Beyrout, May 8._ To Mrs. Mott’s, to gathering of the children attending the Syrian schools, at nine in the morning. About nine hundred and twenty children present, seated on benches along the walks.... I gave Mrs. Mott £100 for the schools, for which she was most grateful. Then, with the Bishop (of Gibraltar) and Mr. Bushell, went to German Hospital, which is under charge of the Kaiserswerth sisters. It is a fine building, a model of comfort and order. The Doctor accompanied us to the American College, where Dr. Bliss was ready to receive us. He took us over the three buildings, in the fine grounds possessed by the College: all are simple in their character, but sufficient and effective. The lads are almost all from the humbler classes. The cost of maintaining a student is fifteen or sixteen pounds a year. I asked Dr. Bliss the capital sum required to endow a scholarship, and finding that £250 would suffice, I decided to found one as a thank-offering for recent great mercies; and I decided to give £100 to Dr. Jessup, toward the work of the American Mission to the Syrians. At the hotel found Dr. Bliss waiting for me, to whom I gave cheques. Felt thankful for the opportunity of thus helping Christian workers.”
The following brief memorandum of the journey is from the pen of the Venerable Archdeacon Gore:--
“Mr. Balfour was one, and in some ways the chief one, in a party of eight, who journeyed _viâ_ Cairo to and through Palestine. What is desired here, is not to record anything like an account of the tour, but to mention some incidents characteristic of the man.
“Generally speaking, his companions all noticed two attributes conspicuously--his absolutely unwavering faith and his perfect unselfishness. Both qualities were on one occasion illustrated in a remarkable way. At Bethlehem, on the last night in March, a very violent storm occurred. The tents gave way under the severity of the wind--the rain fell in torrents; but Mr. Balfour was, though not the youngest, certainly the foremost, to encounter the elements in their fury. Regardless of his own comfort, he was everywhere to be found labouring to strengthen the tent-pegs himself, and by his presence of mind he steadied and guided the exertions of others. The Syrian servants especially were recovered from panic, by his perfect coolness. But all the while, his confidence was not in man’s strength or labour. At the first moment possible, he summoned all to prayer, and when the storm abated he failed not to add the word of thanksgiving. There was no doubt on his mind, that the winds and the waves were obedient to the God who heareth and answereth prayer.
“He did not seem to have the eager desire for seeing the usual objects and places of interest, which possesses ordinary travellers. His first inquiry was invariably for schools or other institutions, where anything was being done or attempted for the welfare, particularly the spiritual welfare, of the people. More interesting than mosques or dervishes, than the Church of the Nativity, or of the Holy Sepulchre, or of the Annunciation, were, in his view, Miss Whately’s school at Cairo, and Bishop Gobat’s at Jerusalem, and Miss Dickson’s Orphanage for Syrian girls at Nazareth. And there can be no doubt, that the whole party owed much to him, for persistently bringing into notice this element of real and abiding interest, wherever it was to be found. He was not indiscriminate in his approval of all that he saw. He had a clear head and sound judgment, as well as a warm heart. He could see defects as well as merits; but when he did approve, he gave practical effect to his approval by rendering most substantial help. Thus at Nazareth, he provided permanently for the education of one orphan, and he connected his gift with the name of his own daughter, that she might hear of, and be interested always, in her far-away sister. At Beyrout, he founded a scholarship in the American College or University, after he had accurately investigated the character of the education given. And, in like manner, wherever a Bible Depôt or mission work of any kind was found, he had a ready ear to listen and an anxious desire to understand, and a bountiful hand to promote the good work. Indeed he was abroad just the same man as at home. He seemed rather the steward and dispenser, than the personal possessor of his wealth.
“Two of the party were young men, one recently ordained, the other preparing for the ministry of the Church of England. Though not himself a member of their Church, Mr. Balfour became their warmest friend, and won their respect and admiration in a remarkable way. He spoke to them with the utmost freedom and with the deepest earnestness. His anxiety was manifest, to promote the value and success of their ministry. The writer has often heard them both express deep thankfulness, that they had been brought to familiar acquaintance with such a single-minded servant of God.
“The attribute of unselfishness, of which mention has been made, was plainly the result of Christian grace. It was self-sacrifice. Self was nowhere in his esteem. His only thought was how, by word and deed, he might serve others.”
The young clergyman above referred to writes:--“His whole life was bound up with his religion, and yet no life could have been brighter or more cheerful. His religion was his life; his life was his religion. Almost his last words to me, as he shook me by the hand, were ‘Preach Christ.’”
A pencil jotting in Mr. Balfour’s journal is as follows:--“_Athens, May 18, 1882._ I entreated young ---- and ---- to preach Christ; they were very kind and nice indeed.”
The following brief but graphic sketches are from the pen of the Rev. J. W. Diggle of Liverpool:--
“There were not many remarkable incidents during the tour; it was a season of sacred refreshment, rather than of remarkable events. Two incidents, however, remain clear in my memory.
“The first is connected with our visit to the Jordan. I can never forget how he stood in the rushing stream, and with intense solemnity dipped himself seven times, saying, ‘I have a leprosy worse than the leprosy of Naaman: Lord, wash me and make me clean.’
“The second incident is connected with our visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, upon the Thursday night in Passion Week. It was about ten o’clock at night, and the Paschal moon was shining in silver glory, from out a cloudless sky, while we held a memorial service beneath one of the olive-trees, upon the slope sacred to the redeeming agony. The scripture was read: ‘O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, Thy will be done.’ It is impossible to describe the look which shone through his face as these words were read: it seemed like the splendour of self-submission.”
Mr. Diggle thus writes to Mr. Bushell of their fellow-traveller:--“Sympathy was amazingly developed in him. He was also intense. To me it often seemed remarkable that, with all his intensity and concentration of energy, he was yet so broad and manifold in his interests. To most men, manifoldness of interest brings with it superficiality of interest. It was not so with our friend. His tremendous intensity enabled him to have many irons in the fire, and yet to keep them every one from burning.
“And his sympathy was not emotion; it was action. What he felt he did. It was this habit of converting emotion into action which made him the practical man he was. He was not a mere visionary. He was an instance of character very rarely found: he was an enthusiast, yet a practical man.
“Above all things, ‘his life was hid in God.’ ‘He set the Lord always before him.’ This was the secret of his fearlessness. He did not fear man at all, because he altogether feared God. This was the secret of his devotion to temperance, to education, to missions among seamen, &c., &c. ‘He did all to the glory of God.’ This, too, was the secret spring of his munificence. He felt his money was not his but God’s.... He was overpowered with the hallowed associations of Bethlehem, of Nazareth, of the Sea of Galilee. His whole nature seemed to be penetrated with God. ‘He walked with God.’ ‘God was in all his thoughts.’
“It was this devotion to the Divine, which made him so strong and sweet an influence, to those who were privileged to come into contact with him. Sometimes his very face seemed to me to shine with a supernal light.”