at Safet, where we took lodgings in the house of a Jew.

Sabbath, 15. We remained at Safet. || Visited some of the Jews. They are very numerous in this place, and live apparently in a very miserable manner; their houses being small and filthy. Some estimate the Jewish population at several thousands, but I think this estimate is quite too large. The place is considered unhealthy, being subject to fevers. I think, however, that its unhealthiness may in great part be eweing to the filthiness of the people.

Over against Safet, on the north-west, is a high mountain, which the Jews call Tabor, and close by, on the east, is another, which they call Hermon.

At Tyre.

16. Set out for Tyre, where we arrived after thirteen hours ride. Near the middle of this day's journey, we passed a beautiful village, standing on a hill, a little distance to the left, which, I am told, is inhabited by Mussulmans and Christians. It is called Yaroon. Besides this, we passed many other villages.

The whole country, through which we passed, is diversified with beautiful hills and villages, which appear to be exceedingly fertile. It is well watered, and, for this country, abounds in wood. We saw in the valleys numerous herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats, and many Bedouin tents; at a distance from us we saw very many beautiful villages, on the tops of the hills and mountains, and in the vallies.

This, I think, is one of the finest parts of the country, 'that I have visited. The more I see of Palestine, the more I am convinced that it is a goodly land, and capable of sustaining an immense population. Were it under a good government, and proper cultivation, it would be one of the finest countries in the world. It is even now fertile under the blasting breath of Turkish tyranny.

At Tyre, we lodged with Mr. Chasseaud, the British Consular Agent, who ever treats us with the greatest civility. He is well calculated for the station he holds, as he is very decided in all his measures, and makes himself very much respected, not to say feared, by the Turks.

At Der El Kamer.

18. Arrived at Beyroot, where I remained about a month; then went to Der El Kamer, where I remained six weeks, about four of which were spent in the study of Syriac.

During my residence here, I had, as formerly, many opportunities for conversing with the people, and of declaring to them those truths, which are contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

At length I was compelled, by ill health, to quit my studies, and I decided to go to Beyroot, where I might be more comfortably situated, than I could be among the Arabs.

Remarks on Asaad Shidiak.

My teacher, Sheik Asaad, was a Maronite, and formerly a student in Ain Warka. He has been much with the Patriarch, at Canobin, and is one of the most intelligent men I have met with on Mount Lebanon. He was with me from morning till night, and hours were spent by us, almost every day, in discussing religious subjects.

One day, after a long discussion with him about the Roman Catholic and the Protestant churches, he took up a New Testament, written in Carshun and Syriac, and opening it said, "The first passage I cast my eye upon shall be for the English." The chapter to which he happened to open, was the first of Luke, and he read, beginning at the top of the page, as follows;- -"the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee, most excellent Theophilus; that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed."

He seemed to be struck with the passage, as the first word was "the word," and remarked, that it was very appropriate, as we distributed the word.

Then closing the book, he said, "Now I will open it, and the first passage shall be for the Pope."

On opening, the first word that met his eye was "Unclean," and he read as follows; "the unclean is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house, whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter in, and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. (Luke xi. 24—26.)

August 3. Went to Beyroot, where I took lodgings with Mr. Bird. From the change of air and mode of living, I soon felt much relief.

4. Dined with Mr. Abbot, in company with Lord St. Asaph, who very kindly invited me to take passage to Smyrna with him in his vessel.

12. One of my eyes became very

much inflamed, and I feared an attack of the ophthalmia, as one of Mr. Bird's little children is now afflicted with it, and it is said to be contagious.

Sept. 5. Was occupied most of the day in writing a Valedictory Letter to my friends in Palestine and Syria.

7. Finished the translation of it into Arabic, and made some corrections.

12. Spent the forenoon with Mr. Fisk in correcting the Arabic of our reply to the Maronite Patriarch.

18. Preached in Arabic, from Acts || xxiv. 14. "But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets."

At Hadet.

23. Went to Hadet, with Messrs. Fisk, Bird and Goodell, to visit the family of my teacher, and the two Emirs, who, the last winter, had their eyes burned out, and their tongues cut off, by the Emir Bushir, the Prince of Mount Lebanon. After spending a little time at the house of my teacher, Messrs. Bird, Fisk, and myself, called on the Emir Fares, who professes to be a Christian.

He told me, that when his eyes were put out, a hot iron was thrust into them

half a finger's length." This may be a little exaggeration; but a man, suffering with a hot iron run into his eyes, might well be allowed to suppose, that it was as he represented it. His eyelids seem to be grown together, and "his orbs" are indeed "quenched in everlasting night."

His tongue, he told me, was cut off twice, yet a little less he thought than two fingers width. He speaks with perfect fluency, and finds no difficulty in pronouncing any of the letters of the alphabet, except R, which he pronounces like the English R.

With him we had much interesting eonversation on the subject of religion. He belongs to the Maronite communion, but is inclined to be more liberal in his sentiments, than the Maronites generally. He confessed, that the worship of images was not right. On leaving him, he requested that our visit might be repeated before we left Hadet.

From his house, we went to call on his brother, the Emir Silman, who ap'pears to be much older than the Emir Fares, and who is a Mussulman.

On my addressing him, he asked me if my name was King? and spoke of having heard read my Valedictory Letter, which was, he said, “good aŭd ̧unanswerable."

This led to much interesting conversation about the character of Jesus Christ, as God, and Man, and Mediator; the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; the state of man by nature, and his need of a Saviour to save him from sin, and of a Mediator to reconcile him to God, whose holy law we have broken. He was inquisitive on all these subjects, and listened to our replies with much attention, as did also his son, a fine youth of about sixteen.

The eyes of the Emir Silman, like those of his brother Fares, are sealed up for ever; but his tongue, though cut off, still articulates, perfectly, every word.*

Delighted with our visit, we returned from the Emir Silman's to the house of my teacher, where we had a dinner provided in the Arab style, and of which we partook, sitting on the floor, according to the custom of the country.

At Beyroot.

To day, Mr. Fisk engaged my teacher to open a school for Nahhoo, (that is, for teaching Arabic grammatically,) at Beyroot. If this school can succeed, I have great expectations with regard to its utility. It is what I have long been wishing to see established. The grammatical knowledge of the Arabic, is principally confined to the Mussulmans, who will seldom condescend to teach a native Christian; and at the Maronite College in Ain Warka, no one is allowed to enter, except with the intention of becoming a priest. Thus a knowledge, often indispensable in order to understand the Arabic Scriptures, is almost entirely shut out from the common people. This school would be useful not only to the people of the country, but to European travellers, who might wish to acquire a knowledge of Arabic. It was often with the greatest difficulty, and, in many places, absolutely impossible, for me to find a man capable of teaching the Arabic language. I trust this school will not be relinquished for the want of support. One hundred and fifty dollars a year would, for the present, be quite sufficient to render it a free school.

24. The Emir Fares sent a message to me at Beyroot, requesting me, if possible, to come with Mr. Fisk, and spend a day with him.

25. In the morning Mr. Fisk preach

It may be necessary to remark, that the Emir Bushir put out the eyes of these two men, and cut off their tongues, on account of their having taken some part with the Sheik Bushur, in the disturbances on Mount Lebanon, during last winter. Another Emir also shared the same fate: and all were, I believe, nephews of the Emir Bushir. Three others were for merly treated by him in the same manner.

Mr. King gives a summary view of the Bibles and Tracts, distributed in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, from 1822 to 1825.

From 1820 to 1822, Messrs. Fisk and Parsons distributed 13,800 Tracts, in English, French, Italian and Greek-the greater part in Greek. They also gave away 218 Bibles and Testaments, and sold 293, for $195;-total 511 Bibles and Testaments; in Greek and Arabic.

From 1822 to 1825, Messrs. Wolff, Fisk, King, Goodell and Bird, sold 2,622 Bibles and parts of the Bible, for $626, and gave away 707;-total, 3,329. In Syria, 3,050 Tracts were distributed, and in Egypt, 3,700;-total, 6,750.

In all, nearly 4,000 copies of the Bible, and parts of it, and about 20,000 Tracts, were distributed.

Mr. Temple has, also, distributed many thousands of Tracts.

In the above computation, those books are not included, which Mr. Wolff distributed when alone.

Departure of Mr. King from Syria.

26. I took leave of my friends in Beyroot, and went on board the Sardinian brig Achilles, chartered by the Rt. Hon. Lord Viscount St. Asaph, who had very politely invited me to go with him to Antioch, from thence to Tarsus, and then to proceed in his vessel to Smyrna, as it was his intention to proceed from Tarsus to Smyrna over land.

Messrs. Fisk and Bird accompanied me to the ship. On our way, the conversation turned upon the dangers, to which we were likely to be exposed; the little probability of our ever meeting again in this world; the importance of being faithful, while it is called to-day; and the hope of meeting each other with joy, when our labors and trials should be finished. After remaining a little time with me in the ship, we bade each other farewell!

It is now three years, within three days, since I set out on this mission. They have passed away like a dream of the night. Whether any good has been accomplished, through my feeble instrumentality, the last, great day will disclose. The account is sealed up in the books of heaven, and when they

shall be opened, I feel that I must surely confess, that I have been but a very unprofitable servant. My joy is, that I have been permitted, in some degree, to aid, in a divine and glorious work, men, whom I consider as far more worthy than myself, to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. The mission, I doubt not, will prosper, though it be in the land where the crescent and the red banner wave, and where ignorance and superstition and vice have combined to make a mighty stand.

The passing traveller may ask, what have you done? what can you do? and we will only say, The Lord is great in Zion, high above all the people, mighty in battle, and, through faith in his name, kingdoms may be subdued, lions' mouths stopped, the violence of fire quenched, weakness made strong, and the armies of the aliens put to flight.

The true missionary acts from a higher policy, than that which sways the kingdoms of this world. He reckons not the victories he is to win, by the numbers he can bring into the field, or from the single strength of his own right hand. With meekness he looks up towards heaven, and hears the consoling promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." With the eye of faith, he sees round about him, as about the prophet of old, multitudes of horses and chariots of fire, and he fears not the host of the Syrian king. The host of Amalek may press sore upon him, but he holds the "rod of God" in his hands, and is sure that Israel will prevail. He looks continually to him, who was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and whose name is called the Word of God. He sees upon his vesture, and upon his thigh, a name written, "King of Kings, and Lord of lords," before whom the beast and the false prophet must inevitably fall. The true missionary walks by faith, and not by sight. He endures as seeing him who is invisible, who is the high, the living, the mighty; before whom, the kings, princes and potentates of the earth, and all the nations, are as nothing, and less than nothing, and vanity. Let not missionaries, or missionary societies, be discouraged, because they see no present fruit of their labors. Seed time and harvest seldom meet together. They shall reap in due time, if they faint not.

convert, of the Maronite church, named Asaad Shidiak;--of his hopeful conversion--of the consequent persecutions, which he experiented--and of the statement, which he drew up, of his reasons for leaving the Romish communion. A farther mention of him, may also be found in that part of Mr. King's journal, which introduces this number.

We feared, that the document, above alluded to, had been lost, while on its way from Syria to this country. Very recently, however, two copies of it have come safely to hand; so that we are now able to lay before our readers an article, which, considering its origin, and its inherent merits, must prove in the highest degree interesting to the intelligent and reflecting. Whoever reads it, will be struck with the ability of the writer, with his love of truth, and with his profound regard for the Scriptures, as the only basis of religious faith.

The first paragraph shows, that the statement was made with a view to the members of that Church, from which the writer had felt himself bound to dissent. Of course, what follows is a translation, which, being in the hand-writing of Mr. Bird, was doubtless made by him, from the original Arabic.

Asaad Shidiak, or Asaad Esh Shidiak, is called, by Mr. Bird, a "young man," and once, "a youth;" but his age we do not know precisely. Mr. King calls him Sheik Asaad; "Sheik" being a title of honor, or of office, or of both. He was educated at the Maronite College of Ain Warka, and, before becoming the instructor of Mr. King, was private Secretary to the Patriarch of the Maronites.* This Patriarch having issued an order against the circulation of the Scriptures among his people, (which we may notice more particularly in a future number,) and the missionaries having published a reply to it, this young man prepared an answer to their reply, and sent it to the Patriarch, to be promulgated; which, for some reason, he did not think proper to do. It is pleasing to see him now preaching the faith, which he once attempted to destroy.

Subsequently to publishing the following statement, Asaad fell into the hands of the Maronite Patriarch, who resorted to the most violent and cruel measures to bring him to an abandonment of his belief. Fears were entertained by the missionaries, that he would even be put to death. Probably he was living, at

For a brief description of this sect, e Missionary Herald, vol. xxi, p. 125.

the latest dates from that quarter; and possibly was near being liberated, on the ground that he was incorrigible. But we should recollect, that it would be no unparalleled eventin ecclesiastical history, if, to be relieved from torture, or to save his life, Asaad should sign a recantation. How many have done this, of maturer years, and profounder knowledge, and after a much longer practice of the Christian virtues! Our hope is in the supporting grace of God, which will not be withdrawn without a good reason.

Asaad Shidiak is to be carefully distinguished from the youth, named Asaad Jacob, a letter from whom to the Corresponding Secretary, was published in the number for January.

Beyroot, March, 1826.

Respected Brethren and Friends,

SINCE many have heard a report, that I have become insane; and others, that I have become a heretic; I have wished to write an account of myself in few words, and then let every reflecting man judge for himself, whether I am mad, or am slandered; whether following after heresy, or after the_truth of the orthodox faith. Every serious man of understanding will concede, that true religion is not that of compulsion, nor that which may be bought and sold; but that which proceeds from attending to the word of God, believing it, and endeavoring to walk according to it to the glory of God; and that every one, whose object is solely contention, and who does not obey the truth, but follows after unrighteousness, is far distant from the true religion. This is the standard, by which I would be judged by every one who reads this narrative.

About eight or nine months ago, I was employed, by an American by the name of J. King, in teaching him the Syriac language. At that time, I was very fond of engaging with him in disputatious conversations, to prove him to be motives, to display my talents and in error; but with none but worldly knowledge, and acquire the praise of men. After this, I applied myself to reading of the word of God with intense interest. Now this person wrote he excuses himself from uniting hima farewell letter to his friends, in which self with the Roman Catholic church. After reading this letter, I found, in the Holy Scriptures, many passages, which made against the opinions of the writer. These passages I selected, and from them and other evidences, composed a reply to him. But when I was copying the first rough draught of the same, and had arrived to the answer to the last

of the objections, which he said pre-, vented his becoming a member of the Roman Catholic church, viz. that the Roman Catholic church teaches, that it is wrong for the common people to possess or to read the word of God, but that they ought to learn from the Popes and Councils, I observed the writer brings a proof against the doctrine from the prophet Isaiah, viz. "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to my word, it is because there is no light in them."

While I was endeavoring to explain this passage also, according to the views of the Roman Catholic church, with no other object than the praise of men, and other worldly motives, I chanced to read the 29th chapter of Isaiah, from the 15th verse to the end. I read, and was afraid. I meditated upon the chapter a long while, and feared that I was doing what I did, with a motive far different from the only proper one, viz. the glory and the pleasure of God. I therefore threw by my paper without finishing the copy, and applied myself diligently to the reading of the prophecy of Isaiah. I had wished to find, in the prophets, plain proofs, by which to establish, beyond contradiction, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, so long expected from ancient days;-proofs that might be made use of in answer to Moslems and Jews. While I was thus searching, I found various passages, that would bear an explanation according || to my views, but did not find them sufficient to enforce conviction on others, until I finally came to the 52d chapter, 14th verse, and onward to the end of the next chapter.

On finding this testimony, my heart rejoiced, and was exceeding glad, for it removed many dark doubts from my own mind also. From that time, my desire to read the New Testament, that I might discover the best means of acting according to the doctrines of Jesus, was greatly increased. I endeavored to divest myself of all selfish bias, and loved more and more to inquire into religious suojects. I saw, and continue to see, many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church, which I could not believe, and which I found opposed to the truths of the Gospel; and I wished much to find some of her best teachers to explain them to me, that I might see how they proved them from the Holy Scriptures. As I was reading an appendix to a copy of the sacred Scriptures, printed at Rome by the Propaganda, and searching out the passages referred to, for proving the duty of worshipping saints, and other similar doctrines, I found that these proofs failed

altogether of establishing the points in question, and that to infer such doctrines from such premises, was even worthy of ridicule. Among other things, in this appendix, I found the very horrible, Neronian doctrine, that it is our duty to destroy heretics. Now every one knows, that whoever does not believe that the Pope is infallible, is a heretic in his opinions.

This doctrine is not merely that it is allowable to kill heretics, but that we are bound to do it. From this I was the more established in my convictions against the doctrines of the Pope, and saw that they were the doctrines of the ravenous beast, and not of the gentle lamb. After I had read this, I asked one of the priests in Beyroot respecting this doctrine, and he assured me, that it was even so as I had read. I then wished to go to some place, though it might be a distant country, that I might find some man of the Roman Catholic church sufficiently learned to prove the doctrine above alluded to.

After this, as I was at Beyroot teaching a few Greek youths the Arabic grammar, I received a letter from his holiness the Maronite Patriarch, saying, that if I did not cease from all assistance whatever to the English, and that if I did not leave them within one day, I should, ipso facto, fall under the heaviest excommunication.

Thinking, as I did, that obeying my superiors, in all things not sinful, was well and good, I did not delay to leave, and so went to my friends at Hadet; but still thinking very much on the subject of religion, so that some people thought me melancholy. I loved exceedingly to converse on religious subjects; indeed I took no pleasure in any worldly concerns, and found all worldly possessions vain. After this, I received a second letter from his holiness the Patriarch, in which he said thus; "After we had written you the first letter, we wrote you a second; see that you act according to it. And if you fulfil all that was commanded in it, and come up to us when we come to Kesran, we will provide you a situation." But I saw that nothing, in which I was accustomed to take delight, pleased me any longer. I returned again, after sometime, to Beyroot; and after I had been there no long time, Hoory Nicolas arrived, brother to his holiness the Rev. Patriarch, with a request from the latter, to come and see him, which I hastened to do. Hoory Nicolas then began to converse with me, in the way of reprimand, for being in connexion with the English. I replied that, as we ought not to deny the unity of God, because Mussulmans be