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CULTURE AND CUSTOMS
OF SAUDI ARABIA
CULTUREAND CUSTOMS OF
SAUDI ARABIA

David E. Long
David E. Long

Culture and Customs of the Middle East

Culture and Customs of the Middle East

GREENWOOD PRESS
wESTPORT, cONNECTICUT
GREENWOOD PRESS .
Westport, Connecticut • London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Long, David E.
Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia / David E. Long.
p. cm. — (Cultures and customs of the Middle East, ISSN 1550-1310)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-313-32021-7
1. Saudi Arabia—Social life and customs. 2. Civilization, Islamic.
I. Title. II. Series
GN635.S28L66 2005
306'.09538—dc22 2005003525
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2005 by David E. Long
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005003525
ISBN: 0-313-32021-7
ISSN: 1550-1310
First published in 2005
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com
Printed in the United States of America

@r
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48—1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Contents

Series Foreword vii

Preface xi
Acknowledgments xi
Chronology xiii

1. Introduction: Land, People, and History 1

2. Traditional Islamic Culture and Modernization 17

3. The Extended Family Roles 35

4. Cuisine and Dress 47

5. Social Customs, Rites of Passage, and Holidays 63

6. Communication and Mass Media 81

7. Artistic Expression 91

Glossary 111
Bibliography 115
Index 119
This page intentionally left blank
 Series Foreword

At last! Culture and Customs of the Middle East fills a deep void in reference liter-
ature by providing substantial individual volumes on crucial countries in the
explosive region. The series is available at a critical juncture, with, among other
events, the recent war on Iraq, the continued wrangling by U.S. interests for con-
trol of regional oil resources, the quest for Palestinian independence, and the
spread of religious fundamentalist violence and repression. The authoritative,
objective, and engaging cultural overviews complement and balance the volley
of news bites.
As with the other Culture and Customs series, the narrative focus is on con-
temporary culture and life, in a historical context. Each volume is written for stu-
dents and general readers by a country expert. Contents include:

Chronology
Context, including land, people, and brief historical overview
Religion and world view
Literature
Media
Cinema
Art and architecture/housing
Cuisine and dress
Gender, marriage, and family
Social customs and lifestyle
Music and dance
viii Series Foreword

Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Photos and country map
 Preface

This book is a part of a series of country studies and, so far as I am aware, is the
first attempt at a cultural overview of Saudi Arabia. In the absence of social sci-
ence research on Saudi Arabia until relatively recent times, there are sections
about which I have had to depend to a great extent on personal materials col-
lected over the years. Information on other sections is more available, but is the
domain of specialists and has required some digging for a generalist such as
myself. I am sure that there is something in every chapter that can be challenged
by a true specialist, whether a professor, a performer, or a home cook. A more dif-
ficult challenge, however, was attempting to characterize for a general audience a
little known and less understood non-Western culture that is changing so rapidly.
As one of the most conservative traditional societies in the world grapples with
the impact of modernization wrought by the influx of great oil wealth that began
only in the mid-twentieth century, Saudi culture is in a constant state of flux.
The principal motive in writing this book was not just to fill a gap in what is
known about Saudi Arabia, but to contribute in some small way to a greater
understanding of a proud though closed society that circumstances have caused
to play such an important role in world affairs. Understanding behavior within
one's own culture is difficult enough, but when the culture gap is as wide as that
between Western cultures and traditional Saudi Islamic culture, the task is infi-
nitely more difficult. It is even harder given the fact that Saudi culture is chang-
ing before our eyes. It is my hope that this book can help the reader to see the
world of Saudi Arabia through Saudi glasses rather than through the mirror of
their own cultural norms and biases.
This page intentionally left blank
 Acknowledgments

If ever writing a book was a team effort, this one is. The many people who have
helped me with their wisdom, knowledge, ideas, and constructive criticism are
too numerous to mention lest I leave someone out. To them all I extend my
greatest thanks and gratitude. I would, however, like to mention just a few whose
help and support was so much appreciated. First, I would like to thank Wendi
Schnaufer of Greenwood Publications for her patience as I struggled with the
research and writing of the book. Second, I would like to thank the many Saudis
who generously gave of their time, knowledge, and wisdom, beginning with an
old friend, Dr. Saeed Badeeb and his wife Shihan, who explained so many of the
aspects of Saudi culture and went through the manuscript for mistakes. Fahad al-
Zahrani and his wife Hanadi also went over the manuscript and their suggestions
and information were invaluable. Thanks to Na'il al-Jubair and Rima Hassan of
the Saudi Information Office in Washington for their support in undertaking
research in the Kingdom and in providing some of the photos appearing in this
book, and also to Commander Sultan Khalid Al Faisal who cast a critical eye over
the sections on Saudi society and on poetic expression. I would also like to thank
HRH Amira Haifa Al Faisal and her daughter, Amira Reema, for their support,
particularly in the areas of dress and jewelry, through S A N A "A Unique Collec-
tion of Material Culture depicting Traditional Saudi Life," of which they are
patrons. Reema also walked me through the women's wedding celebrations, from
which men are excluded, alas, for they appeared altogether more fun than the
men's celebrations. Dr. Sebastian Maisel, a cultural anthropologist on the staff of
the S A N A collection was also a source of wisdom and provided some of the pho-
tos included in the book. W h e n we were in Riyadh with other members of the
SANA board, we spent a delightful time with Dr. Laila al-Bassam, who gave us
the benefit of her expertise on Saudi traditional costumes and jewelry and some
xii Acknowledgments

of her publications on the subject. Nimah Ismail Nawwab of Saudi Aramco was
kind enough to critique the chapters on cuisine, rites of passage, and artistic
expression. She herself wrote an article on Saudi cuisine in the company maga-
zine, Saudi Aramco World, and also a book of poetry. Indeed those publications
were treasure troves of information and inspiration on so many aspects of Saudi
culture not found anywhere else. I also am indebted to Dr. Mohammed Al-Obaidi
for helping me understand the mysteries and beauty of Arabian poetry. And
finally, my special thanks to three great ladies: Nancy Dutton, who supported the
project from the start; Fran Meade, who was a neighbor many years ago in Jiddah
and who kindly read the entire manuscript; and last but certainly not least, my
wife Barbara, who has been my unstinting editor and critic and without whom
this project would never have seen completion.
 Chronology

700s B.C. Founding of Dumat al-Jandal, capital of the earliest known

Arabian state.
200s B.C.-
100s A.D. Nabataean Kingdom of Petra (in present-day Jordan) rules
most of northwestern Arabia, including Mada'in Salih, north-
west of al-Madinah.
200s A.D. Arabian Queen Zenobiya from Damascus fails to conquer
Dumat al-Jandal.
524 Invading Yemeni King Zu Nawas massacres Christian citizens
of al-Ukhdud in Najran for refusing to convert to Judaism.
622 The Hijrah, the migration of the Prophet Muhammad and his
followers from Makkah (Mecca) to al-Madinah (Medina), Sep-
tember 13-22. September 13 becomes the first day of the Muslim
lunar calendar, called the Hijrya calendar, and is considered the
beginning of the Islamic age.
622-629 The original structure of the Prophet's Mosque is built in al-
Madinah.
638 The original structure of the Haram Mosque is built in Makkah
around the Ka'bah.
661-750 The Muslim Caliphate is moved from Makkah to Damascus,
marking the beginning of the Umayyad Caliphate.
1517 Ottoman suzerainty is established in the Hijaz.
xiv Chronology

1550 Ottoman suzerainty is established in al-Hasa.

1670 Ottomans are driven out of al-Hasa.

1744 Amir Muhammad ibn Saud becomes a patron of the reform

movement of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and
begins expanding the first Saudi state under the (Wahhabi)
banner of Tawhid (Islamic monotheism).

1818 Ibrahim Pasha and an Egyptian Army capture the Saudi capital
at Dir'iyyah.

1824 Amir Turki ibn Abdallah reestablishes Saudi rule in Najd and
moves the capital to Riyadh.

1871 Ottomans retake al-Hasa.

1891 The rival House of Rashid from al-Ha'il drives the Al Saud
from power.

1902 Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman Al Sud (Ibn Saud) recaptures
Riyadh.

1912 Abd al-Aziz assumes the title of Sultan of Najd.

1913 Abd al-Aziz retakes al-Hasa.

c. 1922 Umm al-Qura newspaper established in the Hijaz. Under the

Al Saud regime it later becomes the official gazette.

1926 Abd al-Aziz takes al-Hijaz and assumes title of King of the
Hijaz and Sultan of Najd.

1929 The Battle of Sabilla. The last Bedouin battle in history, in

which King Abd al-Aziz defeats insurgent elements of his tribal
army, the Ikhwan, which he had demobilized and settled in
farming communities. The battle marks the beginning of a new
domestic policy summed up as "modernization without secular-
ization."

1930 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is created, the first ministry

under the King.

1932 King Abd al-Aziz creates the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Ministry of Finance and National Economy is created, the

second Saudi ministry.

1934 The oldest extant Saudi newspaper, Al-Bihd (The Country), is

established injiddah.

1938 Oil is first produced in commercial quantities.

Chronology xv

1948 Saudi radio is inaugurated.

1950s-present Massive expansion and renovation of the two holy mosques in

Makkah and al-Madinah to accommodate the millions of pil-
grims who visit the sites each year.

1950 The Ministry of Health is established.

1952 The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is established

as the country's central bank, leading to the issuing of Saudi
Arabia's first paper currency.

1953 King Abd al-Aziz dies and is succeeded by his son Saud.

1962 King Saud abdicates and is succeeded by his brother Faysal.

1963 Ministry of Information is created.

1965 National television is inaugurated.

1975 King Faysal is killed by a deranged nephew and is succeeded by

his brother Khalid ibn Abd al-Aziz.
1982 King Khalid dies and is succeeded by his brother Fahd.

1985 Annual Janadriyyah Folk Festival is inaugurated under the

sponsorship of the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

1992 The Saudi Basic Law is decreed by King Fahd.

1993 The national Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Assembly) is estab-

lished.

2003 Information Ministry is expanded and renamed Ministry of

Culture and Information.
This page intentionally left blank
 1

Introduction: Land, People,

and History

Saudi Arabia is a young nation with an ancient history. The Kingdom was for-
mally created on September 23, 1932, yet settled communities have lived and
worked in a symbiotic relationship with nomadic tribes for at least 6,000 years.
Saudi culture developed through age-old interaction between the Arabian peo-
ples and their harsh desert environment. While a desert environment is not
unique to Saudi Arabia, what makes Saudi culture so distinctive is the infusion of
Islamic values in the seventh century A.D. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam,
and the basic Islamic values of Saudi culture have remained intact to this day.
Despite its ancient history, Saudi Arabia has probably experienced more social
change in the last 70 to 80 years than in all of its previously recorded history.
Rapid oil revenue generated social and economic development, and the huge
advances in transportation and communications technology have opened up the
country to the outside world as never before. Rapid modernization was bound to
lead to rapid social change. As a result, Saudi society is in flux. Trying to under-
stand its dynamics is like painting a picture of a moving train. Nevertheless, the
interplay of these three themes—an ancient desert society infused with Islamic
values on a collision course with modernization—appears to be relatively con-
stant and will recur throughout the book.

THE LAND
Saudi Arabia occupies some two million square kilometers (772,000 square
miles), or about 80 percent of the Arabian Peninsula. 1 In land area it is one-fifth
the size of the United States. In the north it borders Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait, and
in the south it borders Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. The
2 Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia

Red Sea forms the western border and the Persian/Arabian Gulf forms the east-
ern border. Bahrain is located about 40 kilometers (24 miles) off the Gulf coast
and is connected to the Saudi mainland by causeway.
Topographically, Saudi Arabia resembles a rough, elongated triangle on a
northwest by southeast axis with its top lopped off. About 100 kilometers (60
miles) east of the Red Sea coast, the arid coastal plain called Tihama gives way
abruptly to an escarpment range called the Hijaz Mountains in the north and the
Asir Mountains in the south. The entire range rises from about 700 meters in the
north to around 3,000 meters in the south. To the east, the country descends
gently in elevation to the Gulf coast.
Traditionally, demarcated boundaries were meaningless in an area where sov-
ereignty was based on the allegiance of tribes that roamed over large areas in
search of water and pasturage for their livestock. With the discovery of oil
throughout the Persian/Arabian Gulf region, however, boundaries became strate-
gically, economically, and politically important. After many years of border nego-
tiations, virtually all land and offshore boundaries have now been demarcated
between Saudi Arabia and its neighbors. 2
Early European cartographers divided the Arabian Peninsula into two parts:
Arabia Felix, which comprised the southern highlands of Yemen and the adjoin-
ing Asir and Hijaz mountains in southwest Saudi Arabia, and Arabia Deserta, the
largely desert areas that made up the rest of the peninsula. Stretching along the
Kingdom's entire southern frontier is the Rub' al-Khali (literally the Empty Quar-
ter in Arabic). Its huge, pink sand dunes can get as high as 250 meters and stretch
in parallel lines up to 40 kilometers in length. Covering over 550,000 square kilo-
meters, the Rub1 al-Khali is the world's largest quartz sand desert and was largely
unexplored by Westerners until the twentieth century. 3
In the north is a smaller quartz desert, the Great Nafud, which is about 55,000
square kilometers in size. Its dunes are also smaller and are shaped like giant
horseshoes, for reasons no one has yet been able to explain. Stretching from the
Great Nafud to the Rub1 al-Khali in the east is a narrow strip of sand desert, the
Dahna. In all three areas, the sand is a distinct dark pink color.
Despite its generally arid climate and extremes in temperature—summer tem-
peratures can reach over 50 degrees Celsius—sporadic rains do fall in Saudi Ara-
bia. O n Jabal Sawda (Black Mountain) in the Asir Mountains, Saudi Arabia's
highest elevation at 3,030 meters, monsoon winds can bring as much as 40 cen-
timeters of annual rainfall and occasional snow in the winter. Runoff waters form
large inland wadis, the usually dry riverbeds that can stretch for hundreds of kilo-
meters and along which are found wells and oases. There are also ancient nonre-
newable aquifers that have traditionally watered oases such as al-Hasa in the east.
Over 170 kilometers across, al-Hasa is the world's largest oasis. In recent years,
the aquifers have been heavily drawn down, and the Saudi government has con-
structed latge desalination plants on both coasts and is expanding capacity to
meet the ever-growing need for fresh water. Despite the ability of Saudi Arabia to
vastly increase its water resources, the equally vast increase in demand for water
Introduction 3

by a rapidly growing population makes the threat of shortages as important to

members of modern Saudi society as it did to their ancestors. Indeed, the short-
age of fresh water has been a principal determinant of the cultural mores and
social organization since prehistoric times.
Another aspect of the land that has had a profound influence on culture is the
physical isolation created by vast climatically and topographically inhospitable
reaches of desert, long seacoasts, and in the southwest, high mountain ranges. Najd,
as central Arabia is called, was one of the most physically isolated permanently
inhabited places on earth prior to the oil age, and its historical physical isolation
has bred an "encirclement syndrome" of being surrounded by adversaries. This pro-
longed isolation has greatly influenced how Saudi Arabia views the world.
On the other hand, physical isolation has not historically been accompanied
by intellectual isolation. A salient feature of Islamic history in general is that
ideas have always traveled widely, even to the most isolated areas, and respect for
learning and ideas has always been deeply entrenched in Saudi society. In addi-
tion, Islam's two holiest cities, Makkah (Mecca) and al-Madinah (Medina) are
located in the Hijaz, the western province of the country. 4 From the founding of
Islam in the seventh century A.D., the annual Great Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah
has been required by all believers who are physically and financially able to make
the journey once in his or her lifetime. Attended at first by thousands and now by
around two million pilgrims annually, the Hajj is a major focal point for the inter-
change of ideas from all over the Muslim world and has made the Hijaz one of the
most cosmopolitan regions in the world, albeit in an Islamic context.
Finally, in considering the land, special note should be taken of Saudi geology.
It is geology that has provided Saudi Arabia with its abundance of oil, the source
of the wealth that is assaulting traditional behavior patterns to such an extraor-
dinary degree. Geologically, Saudi Arabia forms a distinct tectonic plate that is
shaped roughly like a sheet of cardboard tilted on a northwest by southeast axis
and tipped up on its western side. This plate is moving gradually northeast and
throwing up mountain ranges on the Iranian side while also underthrusting the
Persian/Arabian Gulf, which is all that is left of a large ancient seabed. For eons,
remains of marine life collected on the seabed floor and were buried under suc-
ceeding formations of newer sedimentary rock strata. The sedimentary strata,
exerting extreme pressure, converted the marine material into oil distributed
around the Gulf littoral. Saudi Arabia alone has about 26 percent of all the
world's proved oil reserves, and its Ghawar field, extending for over 300 kilome-
ters, is the world's largest oil field.

THE PEOPLE
In 2003, there were an estimated 23 million people living in Saudi Arabia of
which about 5.4 million were nonnationals. 5 Excluding the expatriates, who are
denied permanent residence, the Kingdom has one of the more homogeneous
populations in the Arab world. Virtually all its citizens are Arabs and Muslims.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of
Narratives of Colored Americans
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Narratives of Colored Americans

Compiler: Abigail Mott

M. S. Wood

Release date: February 25, 2021 [eBook #64628]

Language: English

Credits: hekula03, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book
was produced from images made available by the
HathiTrust Digital Library.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARRATIVES OF

COLORED AMERICANS ***
 Transcriber's Note:

Obvious typographic errors have been

corrected.
 NARRATIVES
OF

COLORED AMERICANS.

God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to

dwell on all the face of the earth."—Acts xvii., 26.

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE RESIDUARY

ESTATE OF LINDLEY MURRAY.

NEW YORK:
WILLIAM WOOD & CO., 27 Great Jones Street.
1875.

Lindley Murray, the Grammarian, and author of several excellent

School and Reading books, in his last Will bequeathed certain funds
to Trustees in America, his native country, for several benevolent
objects, including the gratuitous distribution of "books calculated to
promote piety and virtue, and the truth of Christianity."
The Trustees have had "The Power of Religion on the Mind, in
Retirement, Affliction, and at the approach of Death," stereotyped,
and several thousand copies printed and distributed.
They also publish the following Narratives compiled by A. Mott, and
M. S. Wood, believing they will prove acceptable reading to our
Colored Americans.

John F. Trow & Son,

PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS,
205-213 East 12th St.,
NEW YORK.
 CONTENTS.
PAGE
African Servant, The 88
African Prince, The 212
African Schools in New York 242
Africans, The Injured 245
Ancass 74
Anecdote 101
Anecdote 205
An Incident 62

Banneker, Benjamin 60
Bayley, Solomon 133
Bell, Let me Ring the 53
Benezet, Anthony 230
Bible, Love for the 272
Billy and Jenny 182
Bowen, William 229
Boyd, Henry 251
Buccan, Quamino 257

Carey, Lott 191

Christian, An Aged 45
Christian Kindness 48
Clarinda, a Pious Colored Woman 143
Coffin 210
Coston, Ezekiel 203
Cuffee, Captain Paul 216
Christmas Hymn at St. Helena's Island 273
Daddy Davy 37
Derham, James 211

Emancipation in New York 263

Faith of a Poor Blind Woman 241

Ferguson, Katy 69
Foundling, The Colored 206
Freedmen of America 264

Good Master and His Faithful Slave, The 200

Gratitude in a Liberated Slave 225

Ham, Fallacies Respecting the Race of 14

Hardy, George 186
Hospitable Negro Woman 222
Hymn Sung at St. Helena's Island 272

Indian, The Good Old 238

Kindness, A Little Act of 102

Letters from a Lady in Richmond, Va. 270

Liberty, Extraordinary Exertions to Obtain 228
Lie, He Never Told a 37
Lion, Deliverance from 9
Little Wa 83
Lucas, Belinda 164
Liberty to the Captive 276

Missionary Box, The 35

Montjoy, Zilpah 160
Morris, Agnes 226
Munificence, Extraordinary 234

Naimbanna 150
Negro, The Generous 123
Negro, The Grateful 208
No-Account Johnny 18
Nurse, The Faithful 209

Old Dinah 16
Old Susan 103

Poor Pompey 74
Poor Sarah 111
Prayer, Answer to 12
Prayer, The African Servant's 100
Providence, Trust in 23

Repentance and Amendment in a Colored School 62

Saat 30
Sacrifice, The Living 27
Slave, The Blind, in the Mines 97
Slave, Flight of a 55
Slave, The Psalm of the 34
Slave Shoemaker, The 51
Slaves, Gratitude of 50
Storm at Sea, A 81

Teachers, A Hottentot's Love for Her 26

Temptation Resisted and Honesty Rewarded 236
Truth, Sojourner 65
Temperance Meeting in Africa 274
Uncle Harry 213
Uncle Jack 46

Vassa, Gustavus 169

Wheatley, Phillis 5
Wife, The 24

Zachary and the Boy 21

 PHILLIS WHEATLEY.
In 1761 John Wheatley's wife went to the slave market in Boston,
for a girl whom she might train to wait upon her in her old age. At
that time ships were sent from Boston to Africa after cargoes of
slaves, which were sold to the people of Massachusetts. Among a
group of more robust and healthy children just imported from Africa,
the lady observed one of slender form, suffering from change of
climate and the miseries of the voyage. She was interested in the
poor little girl, bought her, and took her home. The child, who was
named Phillis, was almost naked, her only covering being a strip of
dirty carpet; but in a short time the effects of comfortable clothing
and food were visible in her returning health.
Phillis at the time of her purchase was between seven and eight
years of age, and the intention of her mistress was to train her as a
servant; but the intelligence which the young girl soon exhibited,
induced her mistress's daughter to teach her to read. Such was the
rapidity with which she learned, that in sixteen months from the
time of her arriving in the family, the African child had so mastered
the English language, to which she was an utter stranger before,
that she could read with ease the most difficult parts of the Bible.
Her uncommon intellect altered the intentions of the family
regarding Phillis, and she was kept about the person of her mistress,
whose affection she won by her amiable disposition and pleasing
manners. All her knowledge was obtained without any instruction,
except what was given her in the family; and in four years from the
time she was stolen from Africa, and when only twelve years of age,
she was capable of writing letters to her friends on various subjects.
The young colored girl became an object of very general attention
and astonishment; and in a few years she corresponded with several
persons in high stations. As she grew up to womanhood, her
attainments kept pace with the promise of her earlier years; the
literary people of Boston supplied her with books and encouraged
her intellectual powers. This was greatly assisted by her mistress,
who treated her like a child of the family, admitted her to her own
table, and introduced her as an equal to the best society; but Phillis
never departed from the humble and unassuming deportment which
distinguished her when she stood a little trembling child for sale in
the slave market. She respected the prejudice against her color, and,
when invited to the tables of the great or wealthy, she chose a place
apart for herself, that none might be offended at a thing so unusual
as sitting at table with a woman of color.
Such was the modest and amiable disposition of Phillis Wheatley.
She studied Latin, and her translations show that she made
considerable progress in it; and she wrote poetry. At the age of
fourteen she appears to have first attempted literary composition,
and by the time she was nineteen the whole of her printed poems
appear to have been written. They were published in London in 1773
in a small volume of above 120 pages, containing thirty-nine pieces,
which she dedicated to the Countess of Huntington. This work has
gone through several editions in England and America.
Most of her poetry has a religious or moral bearing; all breathes a
soft and sentimental feeling; many pieces were written on the death
of friends. In a poem addressed to a clergyman on the death of his
wife, some beautiful lines occur:
 "O come away," her longing spirit cries,
"And share with me the rapture of the skies.
Our bliss divine to mortals is unknown,
Immortal life and glory are our own.
Here too may the dear pledges of our love
Arrive, and taste with us the joys above;
Attune the harp to more than mortal lays,
And join with us the tribute of their praise
To Him who died stern justice to atone,
And make eternal glory all our own."

A poem on the Providence of God contains the following:

"All-wise, Almighty Providence, we trace

In trees, and plants, and all the flowery race,
As clear as in the nobler frame of man,
All lovely ensigns of the Maker's plan.
The power the same that forms a ray of light,
That called creation from eternal night."

From a beautiful address and prayer to the Deity:

"Great God, incomprehensible, unknown

To sense, we bow at thine exalted throne.
O while we crave thine excellence to feel,
Thy sacred presence to our hearts reveal,
And give us of that mercy to partake,
Which Thou hast promised for the Saviour's sake."

About the twenty-first year of her age Phillis was liberated; but she
continued in her master's family, where she was much respected.
Her health was delicate, and her physician having recommended a
sea-voyage, it was arranged that she should visit England. She had
not before been parted from her adopted mother, and the separation
was painful to both of them.
Phillis was received and admired in the first circles of English society,
her poems published, and her portrait engraved. Her countenance
appears to have been pleasing, and her head highly intellectual. The
health of Mrs. Wheatley declined, and she longed for her beloved
companion. On the first notice of her benefactress's desire to see
her, Phillis, whose humility was not shaken by flattery and attention,
re-embarked for Boston. Within a short time after her return she
stood by the dying bed of her mistress, mother, and friend, and
Phillis Wheatley found herself alone.
Shortly after the death of her friend she married a respectable man
of her own color, named Peters. He was a remarkable person—of
good character, a fluent writer, a ready speaker, and altogether an
intelligent, educated man. He was a grocer by trade, and, as a
lawyer, pleaded the cause of his brethren, the Africans, before the
courts. Phillis was twenty-three at the time of her marriage. The
connection did not prove a happy one, and she being of a
susceptible mind and delicate constitution, fell into a decline, and
died in 1780, about the twenty-sixth year of her age.
 DELIVERANCE OF A HOTTENTOT
FROM A LION.
A Methodist missionary named Kay, relates the following occurrence:
I visited a poor sick Hottentot in the south of Africa, who recently
experienced one of the most remarkable and providential
deliverances I ever heard of. I found him in great pain, from the
wounds he had received on that occasion. He gave me a description
of his escape from the jaws of a lion, which he ascribes wholly to the
gracious interposition of the Father of mercies.
About a month ago he went on a hunting excursion, accompanied by
several other natives. On an extensive plain they found an
abundance of game, and discovered a number of lions, who
appeared to be disturbed by their approach. A very large male lion
began slowly to advance towards the party, many of whom were
young and unaccustomed to such formidable animals. They all
dismounted and prepared to fire, and, according to custom, began
to tie their horses together by the bridles, with a view to keep them
between themselves and the lion until they were able to take
deliberate aim.
Before the horses were properly fastened, the monster made a
tremendous bound or two, and suddenly pounced upon the hind
part of one of the horses, which plunged forward and knocked down
the poor Hottentot. His comrades took flight, and ran off with all
speed. He rose as quickly as possible to follow them; but no sooner
had he regained his feet than the majestic beast stretched forth his
paw, and, striking him behind the neck, brought him to the ground
again. He then rolled on his back, and the lion set his foot upon his
breast, and lay down upon him. The poor man now became almost
breathless, partly from fear, but principally from the pressure of his
terrific load. He moved a little to gain air, but, feeling this, the lion
seized his left arm, close to the elbow, and amused himself with the
limb for some time, biting it in different places, down to the hand.
All this time the lion did not seem to be angry, but merely caught at
the arm as a cat sports with a mouse that is not quite dead, so that
there was not a single bone broken, as there would have been if the
lion had been hungry or irritated. While in great agony, and
expecting every moment to be torn limb from limb, the sufferer cried
to his companions for assistance, but cried in vain. On raising his
head a little, the beast opened his dreadful jaws to receive it, but his
hat only was rent, and points of the teeth only grazed his skull. The
lion set his foot on the arm from which the blood was freely flowing,
his paw was soon covered therewith, and he again and again licked
it clean, and, with flaming eyes, appeared half inclined to devour the
man.
"At this critical moment," said the poor victim, "I recollected having
heard that there is a God in heaven who is able to deliver at the last
extremity, and I began to pray that He would save me, and not allow
the lion to eat my flesh." While the Hottentot was thus engaged in
calling on God, the animal turned himself completely round. On
perceiving this, the man attempted to get from under him, but the
lion became aware of his intention, and laid terrible hold of his right
thigh, which gave excruciating pain. He again sent up his cry to God
for help, nor were his prayers in vain. The huge creature rose from
his seat, and walked majestically off about thirty or forty paces, and
then lay down on the grass as if to watch his victim, who ventured
to sit up, which attracted the lion's attention; he made no attack, but
rose, took his departure, and was seen no more. The man soon
arose, took up his gun, and hastened to his terrified companions,
who had given him up for dead. He was set upon a horse, and taken
to the place where I found him.
Dr. Gambier hastened to his relief, and thought the appearance of
the wounds so alarming that amputation of the arm was absolutely
necessary. To this, however, the man would not consent, as he had a
number of young children, whose subsistence depended on his labor.
"As the Almighty has delivered me," said he, "from that horrid death,
surely He is able to save my arm also." Astonishing to relate, his
wounds are healed, and there is now hope of his ultimate recovery.
 ANSWER TO PRAYER.
"I well remember," said the son of a Christian missionary, "hearing
my mother speak in touching terms of the narrow escapes my father
had during our sojourn in Jamaica. He endured five attacks of yellow
fever, and on one occasion suffered so much that the medical
attendant gave up all hopes of his recovery. For sometime he
lingered in a state of insensibility hardly to be described. My mother
watched and wept; friends did the same; the faithful Christian
colored people also wept as they saw life ebbing away. Death
seemed just about to seize his prey.
"Prayer-meetings were held, and at last some hundreds of negroes
were assembled, earnestly beseeching Almighty God with tears to
spare the life of their beloved missionary. Often had he stood up
before judges in their defence. Often had he been cast into prison
for protecting them from their tyrannical oppressors; and now, with
a warmth of affection and intensity of feeling unknown amongst
Christians in England, they cried mightily to God. Hour after hour
passed by; messengers were passing from the chapel to the
mission-house to obtain tidings of the sick man. At length, when his
spirit appeared about to depart and to leave all earthly scenes, the
pious negroes agreed to unite silently in one heartfelt petition to Him
'in whose hand our breath is;' and believing that 'man doth not live
by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of the Lord,' they thus silently, unitedly prayed. The multitude joined
in one petition, ascending from their inmost souls; and at that very
hour the shadow of death was removed at the rebuke of the Lord!
"A change took place, signs of health appeared, and he for whom so
many supplicants prayed was raised up from his bed of languishing,
and that chapel did indeed become filled with songs of joy, praise,
and thanksgiving. 'He lives! he lives!' was the joyful exclamation that
ran from one to another through that congregation."
 FALLACIES RESPECTING THE RACE
OF HAM.
It is thought by some that the race of Ham, one of the sons of Noah,
had a curse pronounced upon it at the beginning, whereby through
all time this particular branch of the human family was to be kept in
an inferior and servile condition. This is not correct. No curse stands
recorded in the Bible against the race of Ham. The curse in question
was pronounced upon Canaan, one of the four sons of Ham, whose
descendants settled in the hill country, called after his name, along
the east end of the Mediterranean Sea. There they dwelt for several
centuries, and built up a corrupt and idolatrous nation, until they
were dispossessed of their inheritance by the invading hosts of the
Jews. By this invasion vast numbers of this Canaanitish race
perished, and those who survived were brought into an abject,
dependant, and servile condition.
The perversion of the passage is the more noteworthy from the fact,
that while Ham was the offender, on account of whose conduct the
curse was pronounced—so that the reader is naturally looking for
some manifestation towards him personally—his name does not
appear. The curse, though three times repeated, falls steadily upon
Canaan, one of the four sons. When the three sons of Noah came
forth with their father out of the ark, the historian simply says, "And
Ham is the father of Canaan." True, so he was, and was also the
father of Misraim, and Cush, and Phut. Shem, too, was the father of
five sons, and Japheth of seven; but nothing is said at that time
about all these, only, "Ham is the father of Canaan." And so also
when Ham's irreverent wickedness is mentioned, it is "Ham the
father of Canaan."
What is perhaps still more noticeable, when the curse is passed, and
the historian in the next chapter takes up the genealogy of the race
after the flood, and shows us the first founders of kingdoms and
nations, the only instance in all that long list, when he stops to give
us the boundaries of any people, is in this case of Canaan. It seems
as if God took especial pains to set the people who were to be
cursed, apart from the rest, that there need be no doubt who they
were, and where they lived.
But if we take the race of Ham generally, we shall find that for two
thousand years after the flood it continued by far the most
noticeable and conspicuous of the three branches. For some reason
the early developments of civilization were almost entirely in this
race. Egypt and Assyria, by far the grandest empires of antiquity,
were both of this Hametic order. Misraim, the son of Ham, is the
reputed father of the one, and Nimrod, the grandson, of the other.
So obvious was this fact, at least as respects Egypt, that it is
familiarly called in the Scriptures "the land of Ham." "Israel also
came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham." And
again, "He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.
They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of
Ham."
 OLD DINAH.
Dinah was a slave. Her mistress was an Indian woman, into whose
dark mind not a single ray of gospel light had ever penetrated. She
lived among a small tribe on the borders of Tennessee, and although
at the age of forty, or a little over, she was called Old Dinah. The
Indian mistress and all her servants had been baptized by a Roman
priest; but why, or wherefore, none of them knew. Dinah said, in
relating the circumstance, "I allers thought the white folks had
something to tell that we did not know about, and I used to think
what could it be. When the missionaries come here with the Bible,
then I know what it is."
Her veneration for the "Good Book," as she always called it, was
remarkable. Getting on a stool in her little cabin one day, I noticed
on a shelf, far above the reach of her little ones, a pile of torn, dingy
bits of paper. I said, "What have you here, Dinah?"
"Oh, missus, don't mind them now. I picks 'em up when I come from
the meeting. I spose the children throws 'em out of the school-
house, but I thinks it may be they are pieces of the Good Book, and
when I learns to read I can find 'em out."
Dinah did learn to read. She had a family to provide for, and
Saturday was the only day in the week allotted to her in which to
look after her little patch of corn and potatoes, cook their food, and
prepare her children for the Sabbath. The morning she gave to her
farming in summer, then the washing and mending, and at night
after the children were washed and stowed away for sleep, she
would take the youngest on her back, and, tired as she often was,
trudge away two miles to the mission station; and favored indeed
was the teacher who could get rid of the earnest appeal, "Let me
learn just a little more," before the morning dawned. Every Sabbath
morning a little time was spent in imparting to her Daniel the lesson
of the previous evening—his master living in a village some miles
distant, so that he could not secure any other instruction; but Daniel
soon outran his teacher, and having a warm Christian heart, learned
to expound as well as read the Good Book, much to the edification
of his colored friends. This was also an unfailing source of comfort
and grateful recollection to Dinah. Once when listening to his fervent
appeals, she said to me, while the big tears chased each other
joyously down her cheeks, "Oh, missus, look at Daniel! I taught that
man his a, b, c, and now he knows so much, and I can only pick out
a little of the Good Book yet."
In the preaching of the gospel she took great delight, and never but
once, during our nine or ten months among that people, do I
remember her being absent from our meetings on the Sabbath. It
was in the female prayer-meeting that Dinah was invaluable. Here all
her tenderness of conscience, her desire for instruction, her delicacy
and tact in eliciting it, not only for herself but for the benefit of
others whose spiritual wants she had made her study, and above all,
her meek and earnest supplications, rendered her a helper never to
be forgotten, and I loved her for the image of my Master shining in
her face.
 "NO-ACCOUNT JOHNNY."
BY M. E. SANGSTER.
"No-Account Johnny" had had a hard time all his life. He was a poor
boy, so homely, and dirty, and ragged, so nearly idiotic, that few
people would look at him twice. He lived with a French dyer, who
had taught him how to stir the vats at a certain time every day, and
who gave him in return enough corn-bread and bacon to keep him
alive. A damp, ill-smelling cellar was the place where he spent his
days, and his nights were passed in an equally repulsive attic. To
dodge a blow, to tell a lie, to eat, to sleep, to be glad in a vague sort
of way when the sun shone on him warmly, these were all the
accomplishments of poor "No-Account Johnny" Long.
Christmas, with its green boughs and its gifts, went by, and brought
no gift to him. He did wish, as he heard the other boys tooting away
on their tin horns, that he had one; but as he could not get one by
wishing, he contented himself with turning somersaults on the
pavement. By an unfortunate miscalculation, he lay bruised and
unconscious at the foot of the cellar-steps.
Aunt Lizzie, the washerwoman, at the end of the court, took him
home to her poor little house, and took care of him till he was well
again, for in the fall he had broken his arm. Her children went to
Sunday-school, and one of them brought his teacher to see Johnny.
"Well, my poor little fellow," said the gentleman, looking with pity on
the thin face, clean now, through Aunt Lizzie's care, "I see you are
sick; what's your name?"
"No-Account Johnny!"
"Johnny! well, Johnny, do you know that Jesus loves you?"
"Never hearn tell of the Mister, I'm no account. Reckon He don't
know me! Missis says I'm no account nohow!"
"But that is a mistake, my boy. You are of great account. You have a
soul that can never die. Did you never know that?"
"No," shaking his head; "I don't un'erstand, Mister."
"Was anybody ever good to you, Johnny?"
"Nobody but Aunt Liz. Aunt Liz been good."
"Well, Jesus is better than Aunt Liz. Jesus is God. He died for you!
He lives up there among the stars! He loves you, poor No-Account
Johnny. Think of that."
The teacher went away. At the door old Aunt Lizzie thanked him for
coming, but said:
"It's of no use, sir, to teach that boy. He a'nt right here," tapping her
forehead.
"Ah! Aunt Lizzie, our blessed Jesus can make him understand," said
Mr. Allen, as he went away.
After a few weeks Johnny was able to go back to the dyeing
establishment. The first Sabbath after, however, he lost his place, for
he refused to work, and astonished his master by saying that he was
going to Sunday-school. Thither he went, and walking up to Mr. Allen
said:
"Here I am! Tell me more 'bout Jesus; I've found out a heap since
you told me 'bout Him, and I'm going to be Jesus Christ's Johnny
now. No-Account Johnny's gone off altogether."
Nobody could tell how it happened, but that magic word, "Jesus,"
had done wonders for the little heathen. "He loves me," he had said
to himself again and again, and then he had listened, with that
unlocked heart, to every word he heard about Jesus, and had
learned a great deal. "No-Account Johnny" became one of the best
scholars in the little mission-school.
 ZACHARY AND THE BOY.
Zachary was an Indian of the Mohegan tribe, and belonged to the
royal family of his people. He was one of the best of hunters, never
returning empty-handed from the chase. But he was a poor,
miserable drunkard. He had learned from the white man how to
drink "fire-water," and had become so fond of it that he was drunk
nearly all the time when he was not hunting. When he had reached
the age of fifty years, several of his superiors in the tribe died,
leaving only one person between him and the position of chief.
One day Zachary was returning from hunting, and while on his way
began to think of his past life and of his future prospects. "What a
fool I have been," said he to himself, "having lived so long to act so
foolishly. How can such a drunken wretch as I ever hope to be the
chief of my tribe? What will my people think and say of me? I am
not worthy to fill the place of the great Uncas. I will drink no more!"
When he reached his wigwam, he told his wife and friends that he
would never, as long as he lived, taste any drink but water. And he
kept this resolution to the day of his death.
Many of the whites who heard this story could not believe it. They
said Zachary had been so long in the habit of drinking that he could
not live without it, and they had no doubt that he often took a glass
slyly when no one was looking on. Among these was a young man,
the son of the governor of one of the New England colonies; for this
story I am telling you is about matters which took place many years
ago, before America was a separate nation, and when what are now
States were called colonies, and governed by rulers sent over from
England.
Zachary had by this time become the chief in his tribe, and the
governor invited him one day to dine with him. While they were