Page:Syria, the land of Lebanon (1914).djvu/187

SOME SALT PEOPLE Earnest faith, noble character and uncomplaining self-sacrifice are not sufficient equipment for the Syrian missionary. These qualities are indeed needed, and as a rule are possessed in generous measure. But he who is to exert any permanent influence for good upon this proud, sturdy, persistent, quick-witted race, with its almost cynical proficiency in religious argumentation, must also be strong of body, alert of intellect, tactful in social intercourse, and withal of an adaptability born not of vacillation but of a firm hold on the essentials of life.

Among the American missionaries, for instance, have been found champion athletes, splendid riders and marksmen, raconteurs of surprising mental agility, phenomenal linguists and surgeons of magnificent daring. One gained world-wide fame as an author and another as a scientist. A third was the best Arabic scholar of his century. If not of any century. Well-known American colleges have called—in vain—for presidents from Syria; and an important embassy of the United States was thrice offered to a missionary, who preferred, however, to keep to his chosen life-work—at eight hundred dollars a year. These men and women are not laboring here because there is no other field of endeavor open to them. They are very intelligent, competent, refined, brave, adaptable people, with deep knowledge of many other things besides religion, a broad vision of the world's affairs, and almost invariably a keen sense of humor; [ 145 ]