The peculiarity of Arabic idiom will be noticed in the above letter of the patriarch of Antioch.

"I went one morning to the Syrian church to witness a baptism. The administrator was the bishop Abdool Messeeh. The resident bishop, Abdool Ahad, was present and assisted in the service. When' I arrived at the church, I found about a dozen persons present, going through with the prayers and ceremonies, preparatory to the baptism. One part of the service was explained to me, as intended to expel the devil from the child. When ready for the baptism, the font was uncovered, and a small quantity, first of warm water, and then of cold water, was poured into it. The child, in a state of perfect nudity, was then taken by the bishop, who held it in one hand, while with the other he anointed the whole body with oil. He then held the child in the font, its feet and legs being in the water, and with his right hand he took up water, and poured it on the child, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. After this he anointed it with oil and returned it to the parents."

Mr. Fisk gives an account of a spirited and interesting discussion he had with a number of Mussulmans on religious subjects. A Turkish effendi, Jar Allah, denied what had been sometimes said respecting Mussulmans' praying to Mahommed.The practice is not authorized by the Koran, and is a corruption. The existence of the Koran, and the style in which it is written, were the grand arguments he adduced, to prove that Mahommed was a prophet. "The existence and style of the Iliad," Mr. Fisk observed, "furnish an argument equally good in favor of Homer's theology, and in proof of his inspiration."

"I learned from Jar Allah that the Mussulmans expect the appearance of an extraordinary personage, whom they call Dajal, which means the False, or the Impostor. Sometimes he is called the False Mes

siah. He will be a Jew, and the Jews, as a body, will follow him. He will also draw after him great multitudes of the Mussulmans; will make war against the true religion; and will go on prosperously, till he shall have subdued nearly the whole world. Then our Lord Jesus, (who, instead of being crucified as Christians suppose, was taken up to heaven by Gabriel, while Judas was crucified in his place,) will descend from Heaven, wage war with Dajal, overcome and kill him, and establish the Mussulman religion throughout the world. As among Christians, some pretend to calculate the precise time when the millennium shall commence, so among Mussulmans, there are some who pretend to have ascertained when the Dajal will appear. Jar Allah more prudently says, it will be when God sees fit.

"During my residence at Jerusalem this year, I enjoyed successively the company of several fellow laborers. Mr. Jowett remained with me three weeks. Two days before he left, Mr. Lewis, of the Jews' Society, arrived, and remained with me five weeks. The day before he left, Messrs. King and Bird arrived. Mr. King remained a fortnight, and then went to Jaffa. Mr. Bird continued with me till I left Jerusalem.

"Last year we usually spent the Sabbath in reading the Scriptures, and conversing promiscuously with such as came to us. This year we fixed an hour on the Sabbath for public worship in my room, at which time I used to preach in Italian. At first Papas Issa was the only person who joined us. After a few Sabbaths, several others usually attended. My feelings were much interested in this beginning of regular Protestant worship in the Holy City. We will not despise the day of small things, but hope ere long to see greater things than these. I was about commencing an afternoon service in Greek, when an attack of fever obliged me to suspend all my labors."

The Malta Bible Socie arnished Mr. Fisk with a large supply of the Scriptures in various languages, in the distribution of which, he met with great encouragement and success. In the midst of this encouragement, however, a formidable opposition was excited, as will appear in the following narrative.

"Feb. 10. A little after noon, as I was reading Arabic with Jar Allah and Cesar, Moosa Beg, the head of the police, came into my room, accompanied by eight or ten Turks, most of them armed soldiers. They were all strangers to us, and we had at first no suspicion of their object in visiting us; as soldiers and other Turks had often before called to visit us. We received them civilly, and treated them with pipes and coffee. They pretended to be in search of the dragoman of the Latin convent; and Moosa Beg went out, and, as I afterwards learned, held a consultation with the Latin priests. I went from the room where I was studying to another, and a soldier followed me. When I returned, he returned. I went out a second time, and he kept close behind me. This excited strong suspicions that they had come, not for the Latin dragoman, but for us. Dragoman Joseph came in, and we told him to ask them what they wanted. Their answer was, 'Nothing.' Moosa Beg returned, and we were abruptly called to go. We asked, Where?—and were told, "To the governor's.' We asked, Why? and were told, that he wished to see some of our books. No time was given for remonstrance. We were hurried out of our rooms, the keys were taken from us, and the doors sealed up. We were conducted, not to the governor, but to the moollah or judge. As soon as we appeared in his presence, he demanded, 'Who are you?? We replied, 'English;' using the term, as it is used and understood here, to mean, under English protection. The next question was, "Why do you wear the white turban? We replied,

'It is customary for Englishmen to wear it, when they travel in Turkey.' He shook his hand very significantly, and said, 'No, no, no; this cannot be done without a firman.' I then shewed him my firman from the sultan. On seeing this, he invited us to a seat on the sofa, where he was sitting. After reading the firman, he said, 'But this is merely for travelling, and gives you no permission to sell books.' Then, holding up a copy of Genesis, which one of the soldiers had brought from our rooms, he said, "These books are neither Mussulman, nor Jewish, nor Christian, and no body will receive or read them;' -and threw the book contemptuously on the floor. We replied, "The books that we distribute are the Law, the Psalms, the Prophets, and the Gospel; such as Christians have always received as their Holy Books.' His reply deserves to be remembered, "The Latins* say these are not Christian books.' Very little else was said, and we were sent away to the musselim, with information that we should be kept in confinement, until the matter could be referred to the pacha at Damascus, and an answer received.

"The governor received us a little more civilly than the judge. He read the firman, and inquired about the books. We gave him the same account of the matter that we had given to the judge, and he replied, 'The Latins say, that these are neither Mussulman, Jewish, nor Christian books.' In the mean time Moosa Beg sent a crier into the market, and to the doors of the convents, prohibiting all persons from purchasing books of us, and ordering all who had any of our books to deliver them up to the judge. The governor said, on reading our firman, that he could not imprison Englishmen, who had such a firman from the sultan, and gave orders that we should be lodged in the Latin convent, till the matter was settled. We were accordingly conducted up the via dolorosa, till we came near the convent, when we met the Latin dragoman, and he told the

*Roman Catholics.

Turks, our conductors, that we could not be received there. We were consequently kept in waiting while a messenger was sent to the governor for further orders. He returned, and we were told that we were to go to our own rooms to lodge. On entering our room, the Turks began to take an inventory of our trunks, books, and other things. They rudely examined our letters, and private papers, and took Mr. Bird out of his room by force, while they opened his trunk, containing his papers and money. From my secretary they took several letters and papers in English and Arabic, which they carried off. At last we were told that we must return to the governor's house to sleep. Soon after our arrival there, we were conducted to a lower room, which serves as barracks for soldiers. There we spent the evening with twenty or thirty soldiers about us, who were smoking and playing at chess, and expected to sleep on the ground among them. In the course of the evening, the governor sent for Joseph, and after making a variety of inquiries, told him that we should go next day to the principal Greek convent and lodge there, till the affair was settled. About 10 o'clock we were sent for. On our entering the governor's room, he saluted us with uncommon civility, invited us to a seat near him, and ordered coffee for us. then put the question again, 'What books are these that you distribute?" I answered, as before, "The Law, the Psalms, the Prophets, and the Gospel.' But why do you bring so many of them into this country?' 'Because Christians here have no printing presses, and when they want the Scriptures, they are obliged to write them out with great labor; whereas we are able easily to supply them with printed copies.' 'But why do you bring books in Arabic?' 'Because many Christians can read no other language.' Then turning to one of his attendants he observed, "That is what I said.' Then came the difficult question. Why do you give them

He