whatever
had been attempted in Cairo--would form an excellent introduction to
Christian work among the adult population. In 1878 therefore she engaged
Dr. Azury, a skilful Syrian doctor, who had been trained in the American
Medical College at Beyrout, and who had lately married Mrs. Shakoor's
sister. Almost before the necessary premises could be secured numerous
sufferers applied for treatment. At first a small wooden room was built
by Miss Whately on her premises as a waiting room for the patients and
dispensary for the doctor; and during the first three years over four
thousand patients were cured or relieved, and many operations performed,
some of which restored sight to the blind. In 1881 a suitable building
for this branch of the Mission was erected, containing two airy waiting
rooms, one for women and children and the other for men, a consulting
room in which the doctor saw his patients, and two separate rooms, each
containing a bed or two for the reception of cases that needed constant
care. In the waiting rooms Mary Whately might be found almost any
morning reading the Bible and talking to the patients waiting their
turn to see the doctor. No compulsion was used, but an attentive hearing
was usually obtained, while a psalm or some story from the New Testament
was read and explained. As the same people would often come every day or
two for several weeks, something like continuous teaching could be
given. In this work Mary Whately greatly delighted. In any difficult
case, says a friend (_Sunday at Home_, 1889, p. 406), "'Sitt Mariam'
would take her place in the surgery, ready with a kind word and
practical assistance." An instance of the good done by the mission is
given by the same writer. "A young woman came one day weeping bitterly;
she was one of the wives of a sheik of a village some miles away, and
she was almost blind. Her husband had told her that she was no longer of
use to him, and he should divorce her. She was in a pitiable state of
distress. The doctor, by God's help, was able to cure the poor young
wife completely. She returned to her village in deepest thankfulness,
and was taken back into favour by her lord and master. Some time
afterwards she returned again, this time bringing a tall turbaned man
with her, who proved to be her husband; he was the sufferer this time,
and the good and forgiving wife had persuaded him to come and see the
doctor to whom she owed so much. After some time the man was cure