CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN SYRIA. 401 may the glory of it be seen in the day of the Lord Jesus.' The despotic hand which has so long held Syria in its grasp, is becoming relaxed. The Euphrates is drying up-that is the Ottoman Empire is withering-perishing "without hand;" and there is a humbling consciousness of the fact in the very seat of government. As this power declines, surely the spiritual prospects of Syria will brighten. On this subject, scripture is our best, our only safe guide-the infallible interpreter of events which gather and thicken about us. The energies of the longest life, and the richest spiritual gifts and graces that God bestows, would be nobly employed in promoting the regenerative movement in Syria through her apostolic church. While writing this note, AssAAD is my guest, with his interesting wife and child, and PATRAGIE ZACHARIAS-a young pupil. ASSAAD is now in England for the purpose of interesting the members of our church in his important work, and providing means for maintaining and securing the education of his pupils already here, and others who may succeed them. Three of them, namely, ABDALLAH ARAMAN, MOOSSA TANOOS, and NASSIF GIAMAL are at the National School, Chelsea; one, ANTONIO AMIUNI, is studying medicine at King's College, London; and a fifth, PETRAGIE ZACHARIAS is preparing to enter the University of Cambridge, in October. These are all of the better class of Syrian Society. There are many other promising youths who might also have been sent to England for a like purpose; but the want of adequate funds has stood in the way. ASSAAD has succeeded in establishing two schools at Beyrout-one within the city, the other without; and also a third at Damascus. These schools are now chiefly supported by the natives of Syria; so that the great object to be aimed at is the securing means for educating pupils in England for missionary labour-for circulating the scriptures, and superintending the schools. Let but the foundation of religious education be well laid, and all will be hopeful. The worth of a body of well educated and spiritually enlightened natives would be incalculable. Indeed I cannot see how any effectual progress can be made without such instrumentality. I cannot but think that the advance of this work may have an important bearing upon our Episcopal establishments in the Mediterranean and in Jerusalem. Enlightened Syrians are peculiarly adapted for useful employment in most parts of Asia and Africa, where Arabic is the common language. They are capable of bearing all climates, and of course familiar with all oriental customs, habits, and prejudices— matters in which the best qualified Europeans would find great, and in some respects, insurmountable difficulty. He is now a member of Sidney Sussex College. CHAPTER X. THE ISLANDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO AND DEPARTURE FOR CONSTANTINOPLE-CYPRUS - RHODES-COLOSSUS — ISLANDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO-SMYRNA THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA-THE HELLESPONT, ETC.-CONSTANTINOPLE-LAZARETTO-DANCING DERVISHES― FATALISM-SCUTARI BULGOOROO― HOWLING DERVISHES JOURNEY TO BROUSSA OLYMPUS-THOUGHTS OF HOME. Ir was on the thirtieth of July that we embarked for Constantinople, having completed our brief visit to the Holy Land. Had I been quite master of my time, I should probably have lingered amidst scenes so touching to the Christian heart, and perhaps retraced my steps-again to gaze on objects towards which the mind instinctively turns. Though compelled to forego this, there is yet deposited in my memory a mental picture of Palestine which returns upon me with all the freshness of reality, whenever I dwell upon the pages of the Holy Word, and connect the facts of sacred history with the undoubted localities which I have visited. Lord Castlereagh arrived late on the previous evening, having safely accomplished his intended visit to Petra (by way of Hebron), Djerash, Ammon, &c., for which he set out while we were sojourning at Jerusalem. We had the pleasure, before we embarked, of congratulating his Lordship in his tent pitched outside the walls of Beyrout, and passed a short time in recalling the delights, fatigues, and adventures connected with our past movements. Leaving his Lordship quietly reclining on his dewan, we gave ourselves to the stir of preparation, and 404 DEPARTURE FOR CONSTANTINOPLE. by four o'clock were on board. Our two servants, Hassenein and Abd'lawahyed, accompanied us to the vessel, with the feeling on both sides, that as soon as the anchor should be weighed, our connexion would be at an end. I believe we were all truly sorry when the hour of separation arrived; for they had attached themselves to us by unmingled fidelity and consideration amidst all the fatigues and difficulties of our journey. We gave them copies of the New Testament in Arabic, with which our friend Assaad Y. Kayat had furnished us; and it may be that the Spirit of God will lead them to the fountain of living waters. Our next meeting may be in the white garments of salvation, before the throne of the Lamb. By five o'clock we were bidding farewell to the venerable scenes of sacred story. The anchor was weighed the last farewells were spoken; and as the boat returned to the shore, we gazed upon the receding bay and graceful city of Beyrout, and the noble ridge of Lebanon; and it was not long ere the shores of Syria, and the heights of Lebanon itself became confounded with the rising mists of the ocean horizon-line. Our vessel was crowded with Asiatics, bound for Smyrna and Constantinople-amongst whom was the Deftar Dharthe Bey and Treasurer of the Pashalic of Aleppo-a great man in his way, and a fair specimen of Turkish indolence and indulgence. He was attended by his suite-a poor miserable set, whose whole time seemed given to the supply of his incessant personal wants. The great man spent most of his time reclining on his temporary dewan on deck, now and then reading a page or two of sundry books, and sometimes turning over the leaves of a copy of the Arabic Scriptures; but the charms of literature seemed small in his estimation when compared with those of the chibouk and coffee, the pilau, the melons, grapes, and arakee, of which he received large and frequent supplies. Then there was the Governor of Aleppo-a ferocious and cruel-looking Turk, whose dark, restless eye seemed familiarized with scenes and transactions of terror, the more especially when stimulated by arakee, of which he was DEPARTURE FOR CONSTANTINOPLE. 405 perpetually taking large draughts. As I watched the movements of this man, I felt I should entertain but small hope if it rested with him to determine whether my neck should be laid bare to the sabre or the bowstring. His was one of those countenances whose physiognomical indications could not be mistaken. Notwithstanding all this, he was a considerable poet in his way; and often, after sitting in dreamy meditation for a time, would retire and commit to writing the creations of his fancy-which never went far beyond a stave in praise of the Sultan, as I was informed by a young Maltese who knew something of both his history and habits. In addition to these, there was a party of five Abyssinian female slaves, huddled together in a kind of pen formed upon the deck. They were the property of the Deftar Dhar, and intended as presents to certain of his friends at Constantinople. They often indulged in shouts of merriment, and gave but a faint notion of having perceived the degradation of slavery. We had also on board a deputation from the Maronites, charged with a commission to the Sublime Porte, in the hope of obtaining a Christian, instead of a Turkish, governor. In this I am informed they succeeded-or at least that a christian governor has been appointed. Something more forcible, however, than a Maronite deputation must have brought about this desirable object. The Porte has learnt a lesson of submissiveness, which will not be easily unlearned. The Maronite deputation consisted of three energetic and intelligent looking men- men likely to be in earnest in what they undertook. The church of Rome is powerful in the Lebanon, through the tribe of the Maronites. We made way successfully all night; and by nine o'clock on the thirty-first of July, were anchored off the southern shore of Cyprus. The greater part of the island consists of bold rock. We remained at anchor till about three o'clock; but were unable to go ashore (except as far as the Lazaretto, which had no charms for us), on account of an existing quarantine. Cyprus is said to be about one |