recoveries took place, during which he occupied himself with his loved mathematical work, publishing papers in Nature and in other journals; but his strength was ebbing, and after grievous trials of many kinds, borne with much patience, and constantly illumined with deeds of kindly thoughtfulness for others, he sank to rest early on the morning of Thursday, January 21.1602 His funeral in the Chapel of Pembroke College was attended by the most eminent in Cambridge, and the outer world of Science sent also many distinguished representatives. The University, and in particular the Colleges which claimed him as their greatest member, were in mourning, and followed his remains to the quiet cemetery on the Huntingdon Road, where he was laid in peace within sight of the Observatory he had immortalised, and of the home which he had blessed. Too late for any change in the arrangements to be made, came a message from royal hands signifying that a place in Westminster Abbey was felt to be his right. But though many, for the nation's sake and for that of Cambridge; might sympathise with this feeling, it was doubtless fitter that, as his life had been, his burial should be simple and devoid of pomp. On the same evening a memorial service was held in our College Chapel, attended by members of the family and by a large concourse of friends belonging to the University and to the Town. To the beautiful and touching dirges of the Burial Service were added with peculiar fitness the verses of the Eighth Psalm : I will consider thy heavens, even the work of thy fingers; the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained. What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him lower than the angels, to crown him with glory and worship. Thou makest him to have dominion of the works of thy hands. VOL. XVII. T A JOHNIAN IN KURDISTAN. OHNIANS will read with interest the following account of Mr W. H. Browne, LL.M., a member of the Archbishop's Mission to the ancient Nestorian Church in Kurdistan. Mr Browne's visit to Cambridge during last summer, unhappily cut short by the sudden death of a colleague, will be remembered with pleasure by members of the College. The account was referred to in the Eagle (xvii 82) and is written by Mrs Bishop, better known as Miss Bird, whose Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan (Murray) appeared last year. "If I were to leave Mr Browne unnoticed I should ignore the most remarkable character in Kochanes. Clothed partly as a Syrian, and living altogether like one; at this time speaking Syriac more readily than English; limited to this narrow alp and to the narrower exile of the Tyari valley; self-exiled from civilised society; snowed up for many months of the year; his communications even with Van and Urmi irregular and precarious; a priest without an altar; a teacher without pupils; a hermit without privacy; his time at the disposal of every man who cares to waste it; harassed by Turkish officialism and obstruction, and prohibited by the Porte from any active mission work,' it would yet be hard to find a sunnier, more loving, and more buoyant spirit. He has lived among these people for nearly four years as one of themselves, making their interests completely his own, suffering keenly in their persecutions and losses, and entering warmly even into their most trivial concerns till he has become, in fact, a Syrian among Syrians. He sits on the floor in native fashion; his primitive and unpalatable food, served in copper bowls from the Patriarch's kitchen, is eaten with his fingers; he is nearly without possessions, he sleeps on the floor "among the spiders" without a mattress, he lives in a hovel up a steep ladder in a sort of tower out of repair. Syrian customs and etiquette have become second nature to him. "He has no 'mission work' to report. He is himself the mission and the work. The hostility of the Turkish government and the insecurity of the country prevent him from opening schools, he cannot even assemble a few boys and teach them the letters; he gets a bit of land and the stones for erecting a cottage, but is not allowed to build; his plans are all frustrated by bigotry on one side and timidity on the other, and he is even prevented from preaching by the blind Conservatism of the Patriarchal court. It has not the custom to have preaching at Kochanes. "Sermons were dangerous things that promoted heresy," the Patriarch said. But Mr Browne is far from being People come to him from the villages and surrounding country for advice, and often take it. confide all their concerns to him, he acts been idle. They he effectively the part of a peacemaker in their quarrels, is trusted even by the semi-savage chiefs and priests of the mountain tribes, and his medical skill, which is at the service of all, is largely resorted to at all hours of the day. Silenced from preaching and prohibited from teaching, far better than a sermon is his own cheery life of unconscious self-sacrifice, truth, purity, and devotion. This example the people can understand, though they cannot see why an Englishman should voluntarily take to such a life as he leads. His room is most amusing. It is little better than a Kerry hovel. He uses neither chair, table, nor bed; uneven earth floor is covered with such a litter the of rubbish as is to be seen at the back of a 'rag and bone' shop, dirty medicine bottles predominating. There is a general dismemberment of everything that once was serviceable. The occupant of the room is absolutely unconscious of its demerits, and my ejaculations of dismay were received with hearty laughter. "Mr Browne is a fair-complexioned, bearded man, with hair falling over his shoulders, dressed in a girdled cassock which had once been black, tucked up so as to reveal some curious nether garments, Syrian socks, and a pair of rope and worsted shoes, such as mountaineers wear in scaling heights. On his head, where one would have expected to see a college "trencher," was a high conical cap of white felt with a pagri of black silk twisted into a rope, the true Tyari turban. The fortunate rencontre with Mr Browne adds the finishing touch to the interest of this most fascinating Kurdistan journey." TO THE OLD YEAR. SILENT with all thy brief joys hast thou flown, Happiness, didst thou bring: for some the fire The young babe, in whose birth thou wilt expire, The New Year. Thou'rt a pedlar with a pack Of many-coloured goods: of rosy glee A bale or two, a hundred on thy back Of sad-hued sorrow; without toll or fee Thou flingest gifts to each, thou hast no lack Of aught save of repentant memory. H. T. ΠΕΡΙ ΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΥ. ἁδύ τι σοι, τριπόθατε, φίλη πλέκε δῶρον ἄνασσα λευκῷ δεσμὸν ἴων ἀμφιβαλοῦσα ῥόδῳ. κεῖται μὲν φθινύθοντ ̓ ἄνθη, καλύκεσσι δ ̓ ἔτ ̓ ὀσμὴ πορφυρέοισι μένει, λευκὰ ῥόδῳ πέταλα. καί σε τάφος κατέχει, λευκὴ δ ̓ ἔτ ̓ ἐν ἄνδρασι δόξη σῆς ὀσμὴ δ' ἀρετῆς ἔσσεται ἀθάνατος. Fanuary 1862 ΠΕΡΙ ΛΥΡΑΣ. τῆς πρὶν ἐϋφθόγγου, τῆς ἄνθεσιν ἀμφιπλακείσης ἔνθα γὰρ οὐ χείμων, οὐ καλὰ μαραίνεται ἄνθη, Fanuary 1892 C. STANWELL. |