Sanctuary in Ilagia Sophia

They took sanctuary in Ilagia Sophia. An attempt to arrest them by force in the church was defeated. A band of Italian gladiators and of Georgians defended them, and they were protected by the patriarch, and had the support of a large portion of the inhabitants, who were indignant at the treatment of the late emperor’s sister and at the arrogance of the protosebastos. The mob, led by the priests, paraded the streets, declaring for the emperor and against the empress and her lover, and pillaging the houses of the partisans of the latter. Meantime the emperor and the protosebastos determined to tear Maria out of Ilagia Sophia.

An army was collected in the grand palace of Bucoleon, which adjoined the Great Church, and a point of attack was chosen. Maria Porphyrogcnita was, on her side, no less active. By her advice a house was pulled down in order to give an advantage to her defenders, and a strong barrier for defence was hastily constructed. At the third hour of the day the attack commenced. A great number of the soldiers of Maria were wounded. The people outside had flocked to her assistance.

New troops

New troops, however, came up and took possession of the streets leading to the cathedral. The fight continued to rage in and about it all the day, but at sunset the discipline of the soldiers had gained an advantage for the protosebastos. The troops of Maria quitted the Augus- teon and the other buildings where they had fortified themselves, and took possession of the porch of Ilagia Sophia, over which stood the famous figure of Michael the Archangel. There they were safe, for the access to the building was up narrow streets, in which the emperor’s troops fought at a great disadvantage.

At this moment the patriarch, holding the Gospels in his hands, descended and came between the combatants. The cfesar, on behalf of himself, his wife, and their following, claimed asylum, and declared that all that he and they were doing was in defence of the church. The patriarch undertook to negotiate with the protosebastos, and warned him of the dangers of violating sanctuary. Several persons were named to arrange terms, and it was agreed next day that Maria Porphyrogenita, her husband, and her followers should lay down their arms and an amnesty be granted.

The Lingua Franca which the Crusaders

The Lingua Franca which the Crusaders were able to understand was closely allied to the dialect of Latin spoken in Italy, and was probably a compound of the Latin imported with Constantine and his successors, of the Italian introduced by the colonists, and of a kindred dialect more nearly related to Latin than to Greek, which had been spoken in the Balkan peninsula long before the time of Constantine. The people of Romania continue to our own time the dialect of Latin, which I believe to have been the language of a portion of the wider Romania which was under the rule of New Rome.

Whether the modern language is a corruption of the Latin of Dacian colonists, or, as I have already suggested and as there seems more reason to conclude, an independent branch from the common Aryan stem, closely related to that which was developed in Rome, the readiness with which a Latin dialect could be understood throughout at least the littoral of the empire, as well as in isolated communities in the interior of the Balkan peninsula, can be satisfactorily established, and greatly facilitated trade.

Twelfth century the Latins

During the latter half of the twelfth century the Latins had Latin settle- obtained possession of a large part of the commencements of the empire. They had important colonies in most of the great towns. Many Venetians were settled at Sardis and at other places along the west coast of Asia Minor, as far north as the Dardanelles, where at Abydos their colonists were found. Others were at Rodosto, on the north coast of the Marmora. During Isaac’s reign they had settled at Adrianople, while an older colony of Latins was established at Philippopolis.

The chief city and natural port of Macedonia then as now was Salonica. It was the terminus of many roads, which immediately before and after the great fair of St. Demetrius were crowded with traders. The furs and salt fish of Russia for winter supply were exchanged for the grain of the country, for the silks of the Peloponnesus, or the embroidered cloths of Spain.

Offered a continued resistance

He defeated the sultan’s army in a pitched battle, stormed Iconium and captured it. The Turks, as with the usual, offered a continued resistance. “ The more,” Turks says a report written by a pilgrim to the pope—“ the more we killed, the more they multiplied. During many days we fought from morning till night.” The army was in the greatest distress for want of food and forage, and was decimated by disease. All this time the Turks, or rather their ruler, Kilidji Arslan, professed to desire the friendship of the Germans, so that the Western chronicler remarks that the Turks were Greater dissemblers than even the Greeks. In this crusade it was noted that the Christian populations, which had on previous occasions flocked to the Christian armies for support and to give aid, fled before it, a fact affording striking evidence that the subjects of the empire had lost all hope of relief against the Mahometans from the soldiers of the West.

As the army of Frederic advanced its sufferings became more intense. The Turks harassed them daily, and the straits to which the were terrible. Horses were killed in order that their blood might be drunk. The foul, fever-impregnated water of the marshes became sweet to the soldiers in their extremity. Some even deserted the faith and went over to the infidels.

Armenians in Cilicia

Yet the discipline preserved by Frederic was worthy of the race which he led. The Armenian patriarch, writing to Saladin, describes the Germans as extraordinary men, of inextinguishable courage—an army subjected to the severest discipline and in which no crime remained unpunished. Passing from Asia Minor through the territory of the Armenians in Cilicia, Frederic proceeded to Antioch, and the conquest of Palestine appeared within his grasp. There, however, his progress was checked. lie died in June, 1190, according to one account, from cold caught while bathing in the Calycadnus, near Sefticetas, however, affirms that he was drowned in that The Greek historian, like the Western writers, does to his ability, his burning zeal for Christianity, his bravery, and his disinterestedness.

Whole of his soldiers were fighting in revolt

Conrad pointed out that other arms than spiritual ones were necessary, and that the emperor must be ready at once to sacrifice money and men, if he would meet a rebellion where nearly the whole of his soldiers were fighting in revolt.

The emperor, aroused by Conrad’s remonstrances, prepared vigorously for resistance. His efforts were seconded by the inhabitants. Conrad himself set to work to organize the defence. Tie raised two hundred horsemen and five hundred foot, principally from the Italians. He found Georgians and Saracens in the city, who were there for the purposes of commerce, and enlisted them also in the imperial service, and from the court he enrolled a thousand men of good condition. The spirit of Conrad seemed to have passed into the emperor. He collected the inhabitants in the precincts of Blaehern, and urged them to do their utmost for the defence. He begged those who might be hostile to him—in this having specially in view John Sebastocrator, whose son had recently been married to the daughter of Branas—to remain quiet and await the issue of the combat, or to pass openly to the enemy.

Raised forces Branas

Meantime the besiegers had drawn up their troops for the Defeat of attack. Conrad advised that the newly raised forces Branas. should make a sortie and fight them on the outside of the walls. The gates were accordingly opened. Conrad took command of the foreign troops, Isaac of the right wing, and Manuel the Protostrator of the left. After some hours spent in skirmishing the infantry joined their bucklers, raised their lances, and charged, while at the same time the cavalry struck at the flank of the rebels. In spite of the exertions of Branas, who urged his troops to remain firm, reminding them that they were far more numerous than their adversaries, the rebellious army could not withstand the charge, and Branas was unable to stop their flight. He himself rushed at Conrad, who was fighting without helmet and with his body bound round with eighteen folds of linen instead of a buckler.

Western Europe after the Reformation

The conception was not precisely the doctrine of the Comparison divine right of kings as such doctrine was de- divine right eloped in Western Europe after the Reformation, though there was much in common between the two ideas. The more recent doctrine was widely accepted, probably because the Reformation had, in England at least, attached to the person of the sovereign the attribute of supremacy in spiritual things which in the West had, before the Reformation, been conceded to the pope.

But in Constantinople, as at present in Russia, the emperor had always been supreme in things temporal and in things spiritual. The advocates of divine right in England based their argument on the assumption that certain families had been divinely chosen, and retained a divine right in consequence of this choice. In Eastern Europe the assumption was rather that an inspiration was granted to them on their appointment. A divine right of succession, so far as I am aware, never formed part of the popular belief. The ruler was the “ Lord’s anointed,” and is so called by the Greek writers of the twelfth century, but he was only entitled to be regarded as possessing this sacred character after he had been anointed.

Ilis selection wras another matter, and the people of Constantinople never lost sight of the fact that, they had a right to appoint an emperor when there was a vacancy. With this exception the right of the emperor was theoretically undisputed and indisputable. The conception of government was of an authority over the nation with which the people had nothing to do but obey its decrees. The duty of the government was not only to protect the empire from external foes, to provide security for life and property, and to give protection at sea to the commerce of merchants, but also to propound the religious belief of the nation, and to be at once the guardian of its faith, its morality, and its orthodoxy.

Greekspeaking Roman

All the attributes which in the West were possessed by the Roman emperor as head of the state in things temporal, and by the pope in things spiritual, were in Constantinople possessed by the Roman emperor alone. In this respect, indeed, the Russian czar is the true successor of the emperor of the Greekspeaking Roman empire.

But, as I have said, important reservations must be made the mainland. The spirit of the Greek was too much steeped in individualism to allow it to give the unquestioning obedience which is rendered by Slavs bulgaria tour. Its traditions and its intelligence alike made it take an interest in the course of government, and thus to this extent made the condition of things in the Byzantine empire different from that which exists under the ruler of Russia.

Thus it happens that while, when we reach the twelfth century, we find ourselves with abundant traces of a traditional sentiment in favor of absolute right, we find also equally abundant evidence of the dawn of the modern idea that the ruler holds a trust for the benefit of the people, and is re influence possible to them. Trade and commerce had con of trade.

Tributed largely

Tributed largely to the introduction of this new view of government, though Christianity and ancient philosophy had also had a share in bringing about the change. The people of the capital were essentially a commercial people. The inhabitants of the leading cities of the empire were principally engaged in trade. Salonica, Smyrna, Ricomedia, Rodosto, and a host of other cities, derived their prosperity from the fact that they were seaports frequented by merchants coming from far-distant countries. The islands of the Archipelago and coasts of the yEgean have at all times supplied great numbers of sailors.

The movement within the empire itself for the purpose of government over so wide a territory as that ruled from Constantinople must also have been great. The result was a population in which there was an unusually large number of travellers. Travel brought intelligence, and the profits of commerce brought independence.

The interests of the population required security for life and property, and the people on many occasions showed that they were indisposed to tolerate a ruler who neglected these first necessities of good government. We shall see that the population of the capital cared little for mere dynastic changes, but on many occasions showed resentment against rulers who tampered with the coinage, or who could not repress piracy and keep the peace of the seas.

Using frequent Scriptural quotations and allusions

Yet in his younger days, when an important thought was to be uttered, he would straighten up, set his eye steadfastly upon the audience, and with quivering lip throw forth the sentiment with marked effect. In prayer he spoke in much the same voice and manner as in his preaching. He was never pathetic, but conversed with the Deity in calm, deliberate, familiar, though solemn language, using frequent Scriptural quotations and allusions, and not uncommonly introducing the names of persons and places prayed for.

He had a large share of one of Paul’s peculiar qualifications for a bishop,—he was apt to teach. Giving instruction was an employment which to him brought its own reward. He was “ apt ” in it because he loved it. It was doubtless his pleasure in this employment that made him so popular and influential in his early schools. On reaching his mission station in the East, he could not wait for the slow process of acquiring the language of the natives, but made use of the few first words he could learn, and then went on to speak and learn, until in a short time he was able to bear an intelligent part in familiar conversation. He learned portions of Scripture, and when visitors called, from curiosity or otherwise, he took occasion to read to them the Ten Commandments or the Lord’s Prayer.

Children in the mission school

Next he made little ad-dresses to the children in the mission school, and from this began to preach short expository sermons to a group of beggars, to whom, in imitation of his Master, he dispensed both the living and the perishable bread. If what he said to them was understood, it was well; if there were parts that were not understood, it was well, so far as he was concerned. At his evening family devotions he instituted the custom of reading a chapter of the New Testament in Arabic, assisted by his two Armenian teachers and others, he himself giving a prepared commentary on the whole. It is probable that by this exercise, rather than by any other human instrumentality, both these eminent teachers were brought to a saving knowledge of the truth.

The American Mission to the Armenians

“ It had been known for several weeks that the Rev. William Goodell, D.D., of the American Mission to the Armenians, was about to retire from the scene of his labors, and return with his family to America. Dr. Goodell is in his seventy fourth year, and has spent forty-three years in active missionary labor in the East, during thirty-four of which he has resided in this city. In these circumstances it need be no wonder that his long residence among us, his public position, his professional labors, and his inestimable personal virtues, should have endeared him to all who have resided here any considerable time, and made them contemplate his withdrawal almost as a personal bereavement. It needed but a simple suggestion to secure the expression of these feelings in an address to their venerable friend, accompanied by the gift of a timepiece as a memorial of esteem from the older British residents here. The presentation took place in the presence of a numerous assemblage of British and American residents. Charles S. Hanson was called to the chair, and, observing that the meeting was held for the purpose of taking leave of their venerable friend, requested the Rev. Dr. Schauffler to open the proceedings with prayer. He then called upon the Rev. Dr. Thomson, of the British and Foreign Bible Society, to read the address which had been prepared, and of which the following is a transcript: —

“ ‘ CONSTANTINOPLE, June 8,1865.

“ ‘ DEAR DR. GOODELL, — We have asked you to meet us on this occasion, that we may express to you publicly those senti-ments of esteem and regard which we all entertain for you per-sonally, and that respect and admiration with which we look back upon yourJong and unblemished career of Christian use-fulness in this city, — sentiments which we feel all the more deeply in the near prospect of your withdrawal from among us.

Disinterested and laborious services

“ ‘ Several of our number can remember that when you first arrived here in 1831, there was no chaplain to minister to the British residents, and consequently none to address to them in their own language the word of life, to dispense to them the sacraments, or to pour the consolations of the Gospel into the sorrowing heart. Your disinterested and laborious services at that period are still gratefully remembered by many of your friends, and they doubt not that a more enduring record of them is preserved on high.

As members of other churches and of a different nationality, though one intimately connected with your own, we have long highly appreciated that catholic Christian love with which you have ever welcomed good men of every denomination, winning their confidence by your cheerful cordiality of manner, while your whole character and deportment, chastened by wisdom, and pervaded by Christian principle, never failed to instruct and encourage all who had the privilege of your acquaintance. Nor can we omit to refer to the edification and enjoyment with which we have often listened to your lucid, faithful, and impressive expositions of divine truth, while we pray that we may more than ever be guided by that faith and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, which it has always been your happiness to proclaim.

Mr Morgan from the Southern mission

“ One day was held the anniversary of our auxiliary Bible Society, when Sir Henry Bulwer, British ambassador, presided, and Dr. Schaufller made one of his best speeches. Mr. Morgan, from the Southern mission, gave us many interesting particulars of the work in that field. There are sixteen hundred pupils in the Sabbath school at Aintab, the blessed Bible the only text-book. The Christian song-book we have prepared for them they sing with mighty voice, and this not only in the church, but at home, where many of their ungodly neighbors, even the Turks, can hear and learn.

All the filth and offal of the city are carried out of the city into the fields by poor Turkish boys, in bags on miserable donkeys. In returning for fresh loads they jump on and ride without saddle or bridle, and sometimes a dozen of them may be seen riding as fast as they can make the poor creatures go, their faces and hands for days unwashed, their hair streaming in the wind, their clothes all tattered and torn, and they all singing at the top of their voices through the streets of Ain tab, ‘ I want to be an angel,’ &c., in the hearing of the Cadi, the Mufti, the Governor, and all others, great and small. These poor boys are never troubled with the bronchitis, and their clear voices are heard at a great distance. And who can tell how many, by hearing those wonderful words, may wake up to a new life, and enter upon new trains of thought and feeling and action.”

On reaching the age of seventy he wrote to one of his sisters: —

CONSTANTINOPLE, Feb. 14, 18G2.

Worldly consideration

MY DEAR SISTER MARY, — I am this day threescore and ten years old, — a long time to live in this world, and to find every day food to eat, raiment to put on, and air to breathe. I seem now to be standing on the banks of the Jordan, where I see others passing over, and where I can see the shining throng beyond; and for no worldly consideration would I retrace my steps and turn back into the wilderness. To turn back for any thing earthly is like “ taking a leap into the dark,” to press forward is like coming to “ the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven.” Blessed be God, sin dies and grace reigns. I feel more and more that I have made a most blessed exchange with Christ, giving Ilim all my nothingness and sinfulness, and taking all 11 is fulness and goodness; and thus, though 1 find nothing in myself worthy of divine acceptance, I find every thing worthy on me, viz., 11 is righteousness, “ which is to all and upon all them that believe.” And thus,

Our Saviour spoke of tener

There are, I presume, more by the name of Mary on earth, and more by that name in heaven, than there are of any other name. And it was a name which, we may suppose, our Saviour spoke of tener than lie spoke any other name, for several of His best and most intimate friends were Marys. Mary, too, it would seem, was the first person lie addressed, and the first name He pronounced, and hers was the first heart He comforted, after Ili’s resurrection.

Mary Benjamin was but three years old, but she was so original in all her conceptions aiid expressions, her thoughts and words and ways, as to raise the highest expectations of her friends, and to call forth a frequent repetition of the passage remarked upon at her baptism, “ What manner of child shall this be? ” She could sing some twenty or more tunes, sitting on her father’s knee, and carry her part alone, while he sung another part. She spent much time every day in singing, amusing herself, when alone, in singing some of her beautiful hymns. Oue of her favorite hymns was, —

“ I think, when I read that sweet story of old,

When Jesus was here among men,” &c.

One of the very last hymns she ever heard, and the first verse of which she had already committed to memory, was, —

“A home in heaven! what a joyful thought! ”

And she went singing it round the house, in her pleasant home on earth, till within a few hours of the time when she went to sing in her Father’s house above, —

“ A home in heaven! what a joyful ”

Affectionate disposition

This little Mary was of a most affectionate disposition. She loved with great strength. It almost seemed as though she had more love than her little heart could possibly hold, for it ran over on all sides. And who can doubt that she has gone to that bright world above, that heaven of love, which she talked so much about, not only when awake, but even in her sleep; and that she now dwells with that great and good Father, whose face, even months ago, and when in perfect health, she longed even with weepy to see, and in whose holy presence, in order to be prepared to dwell, she was already kk purifying herself even as He is pure,” correcting her own faults, and, waxing strong in spirit” to do right. Strange to say, that, though of a very inquisitive turn of mind, asking most prying questions about things that came under her observation, yet she never asked where the body is put, when the spirit goes to heaven; and thus, in blissful ignorance about the fearful passage over Jordan, she crossed it unawares, and found herself at once in the promised land.

Mr Goodell subsequently wrote

Of the circumstances and the reasons which led to the change of policy on the part of the mission in the organization of churches, Mr. Goodell subsequently wrote: —

“ When I came to Constantinople in 1831, having learned something from experience in other places, I was fully convinced that we ought to stand as far aloof as possible from any connection with bigotry, and to be altogether free from any policy that was narrow and contracted; that from our peculiar circumstances, being thrown among persons of all religions, we ought to consider ourselves as belonging rather to the universal church of Christ than to any particular section or denomination of that church. Accordingly, being often called upon by Europeans of different nations and communions to officiate at funerals, baptisms, marriages, in the absence of their respective chaplains, we endeavored to conform ourselves as far as possible to their forms, — those for which they had predilections, — thus not seeking our own profit or pleasure, but of many, for their edification.

Specially directed

“ In our intercourse with the natives of the countries, for whose good our labors were specially directed, we endeavored to act in the same liberal manner. It was not to pull down their churches and build up our own that we came here, and we have not from the first day until now so much as hinted to any one that he should leave his church and join ours. Our efforts have been directed rather to enlighten, improve, and elevate the whole community by means of books and schools, and in our earlier efforts we had the sanction of these ecclesiastics, and had intercourse with their patriarchs and bishops.

But as the people became enlightened, and some of them began to take a lively interest in the things they were learning, persecutions began to take place. In these persecutions no question was asked the accused by their accusers, no opportunity given them to explain the reason of their faith or conduct, no creed offered to them to subscribe. They were seized and thrown into prison or sent into exile without form or ceremony, and when they were released or recalled, as they had never been excommunicated, they still retained their connection, both civil and ecclesiastical, with their ancient church.

“ But this persecution has been different. The people were called upon to recant their opinions. A creed was presented for them to subscribe, — not a creed of the church, but a creed prepared for them by the patriarch, with special reference to their principles, and which no enlightened, conscientious man could subscribe. The consequence was, many were excommunicated, cut off from their church, were persecuted, and the sufferings of many were great.

Prized the Sabbath

“ As excommunicated persons they were, of course, deprived of the sacraments and ordinances of the Gospel. But these were not men of careless lives that they should continue willingly deprived of these sacraments and ordinances. They were not infidels. They were serious men and women, who prized the Sabbath, the house of prayer, and all the institutions of the Gospel. After waiting some four or five months, they applied to us to assist in organizing them into churches. This we have accordingly done, for ‘ who could forbid water that they should not be baptized? ’ Who could forbid bread and wine that they should not commemorate the death of Christ? And who could forbid their having pastors to feed them with knowledge?

We assisted in organizing them into churches at Constantinople, Nicomedia, Ada Bazar, and Trebizond. These churches are not ours, but theirs. We have no control over them holidays bulgaria. They are not formed exactly according to the model of any of our churches in America. We went directly to the New Testament for our model. These are all Protestant churches, and their articles of faith are such as are acknowledged by all the great branches of the Protestant church in America, England, and the continent of Europe. And these churches we present to you at this time as members, and I hope worthy members, of the great Protestant family.”

The church militant

Before the close of the year two aged members were called from the ranks of the church militant to enter upon the rest and reward of the church triumphant. Mention is made of these cases, not only because they illustrate the power of God’s grace, and the genuineness of the work which had been wrought among the Armenians, but also as showing the extend to which the spirit of persecution was carried on the part of their former brethren. These aged saints, who died in the faith and triumph of the Gospel, were hounded to their very graves by their persecutors.

One of them was an old man, who had learned the way of life in the very evening of his days. Ilis previous history had been remarkable. lie had been once saved from the sword of the Janizaries when they ranged the city altogether without law. When a comparatively young man, as he was going home one evening from the bazaars, he passed two of the Janizaries, who sat in front of a coffee-shop admiring a new yataghan, or sword, that one of them held in his hand.

Gather up the fragments

And those who thus take notes do it for the purpose of communicating to others what they hear from us. They ‘ gather up the fragments,’ and retail them; and, as retailers, nobody in all Constantinople carries on a brisker trade than they do. They light their candle, not to conceal it under a bushel, but to put it on a candlestick, for the public benefit. And the water they drink for their own refreshment becomes a well of living water, springing up for the refreshment of all their neighbors and friends.”

The man Christ Jesus

During the year 1842, the Gospel made silent but rapid progress among the Armenians. The Spirit was moving upon the hearts of the people with greater power than at any previous time. Many who had rested in the forms and ceremonies of the church, and who had trusted to the priests to negotiate with God in their behalf, learned for the first time that “ God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth,” and that there is only “ one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Some who had been stout opposes of the truth, taking part or rejoicing in the persecution of the followers of Christ, were humbled at the foot of the cross. The female part of the population, which, owing to the seclusion in which the women of the East are kept, and in part also to their ignorance, had been inaccessible, now began to feel the truth, and for the first time were among the attendants upon the ministration of the word. Having the whole word of God in their own familiar language, many of the people began to study it as did the ancient Bereans, searching the Scriptures daily, though not so much to learn whether these things were so, as to learn more and more of Christ and of His truth.

The believers at the capital had rest for a time, but the arm of persecution was not withdrawn in the interior. Many in the towns distant from Constantinople, who had heard the word gladly, were called to suffer as witnesses for the truth. At Erzroom, an enlightened and truly pious priest, who had begun to preach the Gospel in its simplicity, was seized by order of his bishop, bastinadoed until he swooned, and in that state was thrown into prison and bound with chains. At Nicomedia, and at other places nearer the capital, where the number of believers was multiplied, the enemies of the truth were restrained from using violence, but they did not at all withhold the tongue of hatred and slander.

Great work of translating the word of God

Now what to do I know not. I would most gladly give my time to my friends; I would give it all to my family; I would devote it all to the great work of translating the word of God; and I would with all my heart spend it in publishing the good news. But to devote the whole of it to each one of these objects is an impossibility. Only a certain portion can be given to each, and as one may receive more, another must receive less. Now, if any one could tell me exactly how to proportion the amount to be given to each, I should be thankful. But, while everybody seems to feel that I am very deficient somewhere, nobody seems to agree with his neighbor as to where the deficiency lies; and I seem to myself to be like the poor man who tried to please everybody, and pleased nobody, and accomplished nothing for himself. I must try more to please my blessed Lord, and let the whole world go.”

In the family of Mr. Goodell. Mrs. Goodell, who more than once before had been very low with sickness, was again, in the spring of this year, brought to the borders of the grave, and several members of the family were prostrated by the same disease, — a malignant and prevailing fever. So repeated and protracted were these visitations, that, toward the close of the following year, Mr. Goodell wrote: “ It is now more than two years since the voice of health has been heard in our habitation.”

Stricken household

But the hand of God was laid yet more heavily upon the stricken household, and one who was peculiarly dear to their hearts, the child of promise and of hope, the first-born of Americans in the city of the Sultans, the one who had received his name from the city of his birth and the land of his fathers, Constantine Washington, after a very trying illness, was removed beyond the reach of earthly love. He was the first of Mr. Goodell’s children from whom he was separated by death, and the only one whom he found waiting for him at the heavenly gates, when his work on earth was done.

The Mussulmans on other occasions

“ The Mussulmans on other occasions as well as this have been frequently pointed out to me by Europeans as being a most sincere, devout, and praiseworthy people in respect to their devotions; and their punctilious observance of them, anywhere and everywhere, has been held up as an example for Protestant Christians to imitate. And yet these same Europeans would call us bigots, fanatics, hypocrites, and more names and worse than could be found in any dictionary, were we to pray in that way in the streets, in the coffee shops, in the public places of resort, in the midst of our business, or wherever we might happen to be.

“ ‘ But see! they are not ashamed to pray anywhere.’

“Yes, I see. And so a man in America is not ashamed to wash his hands anywhere. Why should he be? He would be ashamed not to do it. It is the custom to do it. Everybody does it. No one could be admitted into good society without doing it. And for a man to was’n his face or hands, does not imply that he fears God, keeps himself unspotted from the world, leads a conscientious, heavenly life, and acts constantly in view of eternity. If it did, worldly men would be as much ashamed to be seen washing their hands, as they are now ashamed of prayer, or of Christ’s ordinances.

But it is not done out of regard to Christ, nor does any one ever suppose it to be so done. It implies nothing of this kind, expresses nothing of this character. And just so of the prayers of these people. Everybody prays. It is the custom to pray; it is the law to pray; a man would be ashamed not to pray. He would, in fact, be hissed out of society, if nothing worse, should he refuse to pray. And his prayer implies no more as to his moral character than the custom with us of washing one’s hands, or shaving one’s beard.

Nobody here ever expects to find a man more heavenly-minded, more benevolent, more hospitable, more honest, because he prays. Nobody ever feels that his life and property are in any degree the more secure because he has fallen into the hands of those who have just risen up from their prayers. No one is ever supposed to be the less covetous, the less selfish, the less impure, the less a cheat, a gambler, a liar, a defrauder, a murderer, because he prays. Nothing is farther from his own thoughts, or the thoughts of the bystanders, than that his prayer should exert any transforming influence upon his character.”

From the Bishop of Rhodos

“November 14. Received a letter this morning from the Bishop of Rhodos to, addressing me as ‘ the honorable Father,’ 1 the illustrious preacher of the Gospel,’. He begs me to overlook and forgive a misdemeanor in one of the young Armenians in the high school (he had stolen books from us), as he now appeared penitent, and the bishop would himself be a guarantee for his good behavior in time to come, if we would take him again into our service. Another instance of the confidence and kind feelings of these high dignitaries of the church towards us and our objects.

“ November 30. The good work among the Armenians has been steadily advancing from week to week, and it now seems to be carrying bishops, bankers, every thing before it. And what is still more glorious, the work of regeneration has absolutely commenced, and is following right on after the work of reformation. God’s blessed word was the first in order, and now it is God’s blessed Spirit. 4\re have seen nothing like this, nothing to be compared with it, since we left America, now almost thirteen years ago.

“ December 9. At Hass-Keuy called on Der Kevork, the learned priest of whose ordination, together with that of fourteen others, I have made mention. The evidence he gives of being truly ‘ a man after God’s own heart ’ is becoming more and more decisive. This priest has the charge of a school consisting of three hundred and seventy-five boys, with some half a dozen under-teachers. A class of twenty, the finest boys in the school, were attending, under his more immediate direction, to the critical study of the New Testament.

Endeavor to understand

After hearing them read, construe, and explain, I expressed the great gratification I felt in seeing them have in their own hands, read with their own eyes, and endeavor to understand with their own judgments, the words of eternal life. I then added that I had read the whole New Testament through five or six times in Ancient Greek, several times in Turkish, Armeno-Turkish, and Modern Greek, several times in Italian, Latin, and Arabic, and between fifty and sixty times in English; all this not carelessly, but with thought and reflection, and not only with attention of the mind, but with a sincere and prayerful desire of the heart to understand it, and that the more I read it the better I liked it.

The people the truths of the Gospel

In the mean while, he was prosecuting the general work of the mission, embracing every opportunity for bringing before the minds of the people the truths of the Gospel. Some extracts from his journal and correspondence will give an idea of his work, and of the character of the people among whom he was called to exercise his ministry. The first of these extracts contains a simple but complete answer to the sacramentarian view of the Lord’s Supper, prevalent even now among more enlightened communities: —

“October 24, 1831. Read and conversed with the two papal Armenian youth, as indeed I do with one or both of * them almost every evening. The portion of Scripture, which came in course, was part of the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew, which gave me an opportunity of explaining the nature both of the passover and of the Lord’s Supper. The design of both, I remarked, was similar, and it was very remarkable that the language used in respect to both was similar. Thus, in the one case, it is said, ‘ Prepare the pass- over,’ ‘ kill the passover,’ ‘ eat the passover,’.

But the passover was the passing over of the houses of the children of Israel, when the first-born of Egypt were destroyed, and was not, therefore, a thing which could be either killed or eaten, or on which any such sort of thing could be predicated. The disciples did not and could not eat this passing over of houses; they only prepared, killed, and ate the lamb which commemorated this event. In the other case it is said Yuksek Sadakat. ‘ Take, eat; this is my body.’ But the disciples neither took His body nor ate it; they only took and ate the bread which represented it. The language in neither case is literal, but in both is figurative, and in both is easily understood, and in both is to be understood in the same way.

“ November 28. Every thing ip. regard to schools seems to be going on better and better, and my influence seems to be widening and strengthening every day. The schools are also, as might naturally be expected, exciting a desire and creating a market for the Holy Scriptures and for religious tracts. These angels have troubled the waters of the pool. I hope all the first ones who step in will be healed; and I am glad I am here to help some of the poor, impotent folk in, who would otherwise, I fear, lie a long time in their diseased state. Indeed, as Mrs. Goodell has already observed to some of her correspondents, ‘We evidently came to Constantinople at the very right time, and, notwithstanding our losses and privations, we rejoice that we came when we did.’ ”

The memory of the one to whom the following letter was addressed, as well as of the writer, will give to it special interest: —

CONSTANTINOPLE, Dec. 5, 1831.

“ To MRS. JOANNA BETHUNE:

“ DEAR MADAM, — As Dr. De Kay, of your city, is proceeding directly from this to New York, I avail myself of the opportunity of replying to your esteemed favor of July 6. It was received early in October, though the books for Infant School No. 1, which you sent at the same time, were not received until very recently. I received also with these several other books, of which your letter made no mention, and I therefore conclude that I am indebted to other friends in New York, as well as yourself. All the books, both yours and theirs, were very acceptable, and the more so as we had recently suffered such a loss by the conflagration at Pera, of which you have doubtless heard. Indeed, by that terrible visitation we were, in almost every respect, excepting that our persons were untouched and the lives of our children graciously preserved, reduced in one short hour to the condition of the patriarch Job.

But our friends in this quarter, instead of sitting down, like his at the first, upon the ground with us, and not speaking a word of comfort, at once manifested great sympathy and kindness toward us, which they expressed in deeds as well as in words. And if those at a distance do the same, we and they shall be like Job and his friends at the last, when they all came to comfort him; and he prayed for them, and every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an ear-ring of gold; and the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.

“ As to our circumstances, our schools, and our prospects, I beg leave to refer you to Dr. D*v Kay. He has resided here about four months, and near half the time in our own family; and to his professional advice and services on several occasions, as well as to his friendship, and that of Messrs.

Eckford and Rhind, who are also from New York, we acknowledge with pleasure our obligations.

An invitation from the English consul

Being thus unprotected, and the Turks from the city refusing to remain with me through the night, as the Greeks might return, I accepted an invitation from the English consul to take refuge in his house. ‘ We took joyfully the spoiling of our goods,’ and passed safely through the crowds of armed robbers to the city, where we were received by Mr. Abbott and his family with all that attention and kindness which they have shown ns on former occasions.

“ Thursday, April 6. Mr. Bird’s house now contains all the missionaries that are to be found in Syria. It is a garrison, and as such affords protection to a few houses in the neighborhood. But most of the houses without the city are desolated and greatly injured; those lovely gardens, the glory of Beyrout, lie uncultivated; the leaves of the mulberry-trees have put forth, and the silk season, which is the most busy and profitable season of the whole year, is just at hand; but the possessors of these houses and lands have not yet dared to come forth from their hiding-places, and their ruin seems inevitable, whether they come forth or continue concealed. If they come forth, it is to suffer imprisonment and stripes, and almost unprecedented extortions; and, if they do not come forth, their possessions are all sequestered by the Kehya Bey.

Interview with the Kehya Bey

Yesterday I had an interview with the Kehya Bey, the cadi, and the governor, on the subject of the robbery committed upon me. I afterwards sat two hours with the sheikh of the Bedouins among his troops, with the hope of recognizing some of the robbers; but the villains, knowing the object of my visit, thought it prudent to keep out of the way.

“ May 15. It is impossible to describe the system of falsehood, injustice, oppression, and robbery which has been in operation here for the last two months. Human beings, whose guilt is no greater than that of their proud oppressors, are condemned without a trial, their flesh trembling for fear, their religion blasphemed, their Saviour insulted, their comforts despoiled, their lives threatened, and their bodies filled with pain, and deeply marked with the blows inflicted by Turkish barbarity. Some of them were so badly beaten that they could not walk, but were carried by soldiers, as they went from house to house to obtain a trifle here and a trifle there towards paying the enormous exactions made upon them.