EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE. teacher; and Mardiros, a young soldier just enlisted, who told us of the villages; then Kevork, apostle to the Gentiles, full of faith and zeal, who preaches Christ to Turks and Kurds as well as to his own nation; the unpretending Garabed from the distant city of Erzingan; and last of all, our highly prized preacher and teacher, who labours with us in this city, "Mardiros," from the Tocat school. In this brief review we exclaim: "What hath God wrought!" Only ten years ago, Azariah Smith was driven away from this city by the crowd, amid a shower of stones, with shoutings of execration. Now there exists in Arabkir a Church of Christ, numbering forty members, with a large increasing congregation, permitted to meet publicly for Divine worship, with none to molest or make them afraid; and with him for their native pastor, who, then a boy, was one of the first (like Saul, afterwards Paul) of that cruel and unthinking mob that rejected the first missionary and his message. God was with that blessed servant, now called to his rest and reward! MOSLEMS HEARING THE GOSPEL. Rev. Mr. Jessup, labouring in Syria, writes that Moslems are almost always present at their Sabbath services. "One Mussulman named Saleh is a very constant attendant; and his shrewd, pointed questions give much interest to our Bible lessons." Other instances of Moslem interest are mentioned by the Rev. Mr. Wheeler at Kharpoot. "During my sermon a Turk entered with a crowd of Armenians, and among them one of their chief men, who loudly calling several of my congregation by name, ordered them to pay their Government tax, at the same time striking them on the head with a stick. I appealed to the Turk, what he would say if when worshipping God in the Mosque, I should rap him on the head and ask him for money? He said, 'I wish no money.' Turning to the Armenian, I said, Is it not a shame that you, a professed Christian, behave worse than this Turk? You profane the Sabbath, and come here to break up our meeting by collecting taxes which he whom you call a heathen says he does not want now. Shame on you; sit down and listen to the Gospel.' At the same time I offered him a seat on the cushion by my side. He took it, and I finished my sermon and closed with prayer and singing. "At the close he said, 'Your words are all very good.' I then expostulated with him, and urged him to let the people alone until the next day. He pleaded the difficulty of finding them again, as the reason for still gathering the tax, when I replied, Men who love the Gospel do not lie; and if you get their promise to pay to-morrow it is the same as if you had it now. Let me write down their names, and if one of them fails to bring you his tax to-morrow, we will no longer acknowledge him as a Gospel man.' To this he agreed, all present rejoicing and consenting. "But the Turk remained, and Bedros read to him the fifth chapter of Matthew in Turkish, to which he listened most respectfully. Another Turk also came in and listened until the reading was over, when both left. In a short time another wealthy Turk from a village entered, and to him the same chapter was read. At the reading of the twenty-fifth verse he explained it to those listening, saying, 'The Adversary means God; and the way is this life through which we are passing. We should now agree with God, and make Him our friend.' "To me it was a deeply interesting scene, to see this follower of the false prophet, in this dark centre of Turkey, explaining the Gospel to a company of professed Christian Armenians. Supposing that he, like other Moslems, hoped to make God his friend by his good works, I requested Bedros to read a part of the third chapter of John, and ask him if he acknowledged the necessity of the new birth? He said, 'He did;' and inquired if we thought that a man who had committed only sin all his life could be saved by being born again at death? He left, after inviting me to visit him at his village. "In the evening I again preached. During sermon a Turk came in, and took his seat before me on the floor; and so earnestly did he listen, that I supposed him one of the very few Turks who understand Armenian. But it was not so. When asked, at the close of the service, if he wished to hear the Testament read, he replied, ' Certainly. Why do I come here, if I do not wish it?' He listened for half an hour, while the first chapter of John was read, explaining and assenting to all that was said. "There were at the meetings that day, for the first time, twelve women. This is because the wife of Bedros is now with him, and has been reading the Gospel to them. She holds meetings at their houses, when they sit round her on the floor; and as she ASIATIC INTELLIGENCE. reads of Jesus they weep, and ask, 'Who is this Jesus? So ignorant are they, though in name Christians. When she tells them who Jesus is and that He came to be our only Intercessor and Saviour, they ask 'But do you not believe in the saints?' Taught from infancy to do so, they look on any one who does not as worse than a Turk. Bedros's wife replies, 'Oh, let me read to you of the saints,' and turns to some such passages as that of Rev. vii. 9. This is winning their hearts. She herself, only a few months ago, was unable to read; and though now doing so imperfectly, still she is doing a great work for her own sex. "When I speak of Turks as listening to the Gospel, let no one mistake my meaning. Certainly, some secretly, and a very few openly, are reading the Testament. Not long since two Turks sent to us at the same time, to buy each a New Testament. One of them said, 'Tell no one of this.' May we not hope that there are some Arimathean Josephs even now among them? and the day is not far distant when even in this centre of Moslem darkness and bigotry, multitudes of them, as well as of the Armenians, will become the disciples of Christ!" Asiatic Intelligence. PROSPECTS BRIGHTENING IN SYRIA. To the Editors of Evangelical Christendom. Tripoli, Syria, Feb. 1, 1859. The last number of Evangelical Christendom reached me a few days since. Month after month during the past year, has it regularly appeared upon my study-table, and when the December number arrived, I felt that I had been remiss in duty, if not positively ungrateful, in not sooner acknowledging your great kindness in sending me regularly and gratuitously, your most excellent and valuable periodical. It fills a sphere occupied by no other publication. It gives monthly, full and reliable information respecting the progress of Gospel light and truth among the central and important kingdoms of the earth, and is, therefore, always a welcome visitor to the Christian minister and missionary, in whatever part of the world his field of labour may be. That you do not receive more full and frequent communications from Syria, is doubtless no fault of yours, but of the missionaries residing here, or rather, I should say, it is not the fault of the missionaries, but their misfortune; for since, here as elsewhere, the harvest is great and the labourers few, the most of us are able to do little more in the way of correspondence than to prepare and send home the letters and reports expected from us by the society with which we are connected. The number of ordained ministers in our mission is eleven, occupying nine different posts of labour. In some of these places Churches have been organised, and a goodly number added to them of such as we hope VOL. XIII.-APRIL. will be saved. Much time and missionary strength have been spent in this hard and arduous field; and, for a while it seemed as though the results were hardly proportionate to the amount of labour expended. But now there are indications of success; the prospect is brightening. The seed which has been sown in years past, amid toil and privation, and prayers and tears, has not been lost. It is beginning to spring up, and will, doubtless, yet yield a rich harvest unto eternal life. At my own station in Tripoli, we have some things to encourage us. Until within four months since, our public Sabbath services were held at my own house. My rooms, however, being too small to accommodate all who wished to come, we obtained and fitted up a house in the central part of the city for public worship. This step served to increase the opposition of the priests of the Greek Church to our cause. They rebuked and threatened all those of their sect who might come to us for instruction, or send their children to our schools. Yet, notwithstanding this, we have had good and attentive audiences at our religious services, Sabbath after Sabbath, and our schools are still sustained. On the first Sabbath of this year, we admitted to our communion one individual, the first who has united with us since my coming to this place, more than two years ago. He was originally of the Greek sect, but becoming enlightened in his views, and having met, as we trust, with a change of heart, we rejoiced that we were permitted to welcome him to the table of the Lord. N AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE. It was a solemn and interesting spectacle to see him stand up in the presence of his fellow-men and make profession of his faith in Christ; and we trust that many who are already intellectually convinced of the truth, but who hesitate through fear of man, to avow their opinions, will ere long, encouraged and strengthened by his example, come out boldly and fearlessly, and take their stand upon the Lord's side. But it is not so much in this city as in the surrounding villages, that the truth seems to be making the most progress. During the past summer, my associate, Mr. Jessup, and myself visited upwards of thirty villages, in which we distributed many books and preached the Gospel to crowds of people, many of whom received it gladly. The priests, of course, opposed us. But the people have not that superstitious fear and awe of the priests which they formerly had, and which has, heretofore, interposed so great an obstacle to inquiry and investigation. And, indeed, we found in these villages, not a few who are already prepared to break off from the corrupt Churches with which they are connected, and embrace a pure Christianity. The mind of the people is becoming awakened and aroused. Light is penetrating into the darkness. Indifference is giving place to a spirit>? inquiry, and thus as truth comes in contact with error, and ignorance and superstition flee away before the advancement of light and knowledge, we hope the time is not far distant when we shall be able to say in regard to this land, "Behold, the morning dawneth. Lo! the set time to favour Zion has come.' Very respectfully and truly yours in the bonds of our Christian faith, J. LORENZO LYONS. American Intelligence. THE UNITED STATES. THE RELIGIOUS REVIVAL-POLITICAL TRANQUILLITY—“THE STAR IN THE EAST." My dear Dr. Steane,-All that I can do on this occasion is to write you a few paragraphs relating to as many different topics. 1. In regard to the religious revival which this country has been enjoying for the last fifteen months, I have to say that it is a great and blessed reality. Many thousands of souls have been made to feel the power of the Gospel as they never did before. The work has been very general, not equally powerful in all parts of the country; but, nevertheless it has been felt more or less in all sections. A very large number-probably more than half of all the individual Churches, and nearly all the branches of the true Protestant Church, have felt its influence, and have much revived and strengthened. Its happy influence is wonderfully seen in our colleges, in the increased number of pious students; and also in our Theological Seminaries, in the greatly increased number of candidates for the ministry. As to the present state of the Churches, there is not so much excitement as there was last winter, yet there are in many places very cheering evidences of the outpouring of the Spirit. It may be said that there is more stillness and depth in the religious movement, especially in our large cities, than there was a year ago. The large daily prayer meetings in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and some other cities, are just as well attended and interesting as they were last winter. The great congregations in public halls on Sabbath nights, in many of our cities, are a remarkable sign of the times. So, too, are the many small prayer meetings in the houses of the Fire Engine and Hose Companies in Philadelphia. 2. Our country enjoys great political tranquillity at present. The Kansas difficulties are virtually at an end. The political papers find it hard to make their columns interesting in these times, and, therefore, as much as possible is made of the Cuba and Central America questions. All this is nothing in reality but an expedient to keep up agitation for effect on political parties. 3. You remember my young Greek friend, Kalopothakès, who passed through London on his way back to his native land in the summer of 1857. He is succeeding finely with his religious newspaper in Modern Greek, at Athens. He calls it The Star in the East. It will do great good in Greece. One hundred copies circulate in Laconia, or Ancient Sparta. Yours very truly, R. BAIRD. AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE. BRAZIL. PROTESTANT CHURCH AT ST. ISABEL. We have recently laid before our readers a copious account of the state of Popery in the Brazilian empire: they will be gratified to learn the following particulars respecting a little colony of Protestants, which we take from the new German organ of the Evangelical Alliance.-ED. Many of our readers will remember the name of this Church, which has been many times lately mentioned in the public prints. St. Isabel is a colony situated in a hilly but very fertile region twenty-three miles from Vittoria, the chief town of the province. It was founded in the beginning of 1847 by Pedreiro, at that time President of the province of Espirito Santo, and afterwards Minister of the Interior, and has always been warmly supported by him. It consists to a great extent of German colonists, and exhibits a more pleasing condition and growth of the Protestant Church than one is accustomed to hear from this country. St. Isabel is, in fact, the first place in this province in which Protestant worship has been held, and it is to be hoped that the time is not far distant in which a new pastorate will be formed in a flourishing colony called St. Leopoldina, some twenty miles from St. Isabel. The latter has this peculiarity, that it does not consist of persons from all parts of Germany, but that all its inhabitants come from the same neighbourhood, the valley of the Moselle, near Coblentz, and many of them from the same place. At the first visit paid to them by Pastor Schmid, of Rio de Janeiro, their moral and religious circumstances did not answer to the expectations one would form of a colony ten years old, and dwelling in the primitive forest. He was rejoiced to find a Church knit together as one family, in which was wanting neither Christian practice nor Christian knowledge. One of the older colonists, who was much respected in the Church, laboured with much earnestness and success for the maintenance of discipline and order, attendance on the prayer meetings, and family worship, which was held in every family morning and evening. Surrounded by Catholics, who compose half of the colony, and for whose spiritual care a priest has been specially appointed, they have maintained a living consciousness of their Protestant faith; but this, we rejoice to say, has not disturbed their peace with the Catholics. Destitute of a pastor of their own, they baptized their children themselves, and celebrated their marriages, the affianced joining their hands before the assembled Church. Many a time even have the colonists not shrunk back from the long voyage by sailing vessel to Rio de Janeiro (230 miles), in order to have their children confirmed and their marriages solemnised. How great then was their joy when, at the end of 1857, they received, by the kindness of the Ober-Kirchenrath at Berlin, a pastor of their own in the person of Mr. König; but how deep was their sorrow when, after a short period of activity, he was removed by death as early as July 10, last year. The more intense as had been their desire for spiritual oversight, the greater is their longing now, after they have enjoyed the faithful labour of a minister of the Gospel, after another preacher of the Word of God. And, in fact, the Church has an urgent need of such an one, as, however satisfactory its moral and religious condition is at present, it is to be feared that without spiritual oversight, it will eventually be both morally and spiritually devastated, or become a prey to the Roman Church. The Government of the Emperor of Brazil, which, even before this, has most earnestly sought to promote the material and religious well-being of the colony, has again, as it did two years ago, forwarded to the OberKirchenrath at Berlin, the urgent entreaty of the Church for a pastor, and has desired its representative at Berlin to express its readiness to give security for the exact fulfilment of the promises held out to a pastor. The Ober-Kirchenrath, which has already provided for so many German Churches in foreign lands, is ready to answer also to this call made upon it, and is looking out for a man fit to undertake this charge. Of course there are many hardships to be endured in this work, but yet it is an encouragement to know that the physicians say that the yellow fever cannot reach the colony, on account of its elevated site; and by the care of the Government and liberality of the Church, a pastor's house has been built there. The pastor there will be connected with the Established Church of Prussia, and will find a faithful fellow-worker and wise counsellor in Pastor Schmid, of Rio. As the Brazilian Government guarantees to BRIEF NOTICES OF BOOKS. every colony, as soon as it numbers 400 Protestants, a Protestant minister and support for the building of a place of worship, the pastor who may be appointed is likely to find a fellow-labourer in St. Leopoldina before long, as it is increasing so rapidly, and may yet live to see the time when all the Protestant Churches of Brazil will be combined into a Church Union. Brief Notices of Books. The Reformers of England and Germany in the It The Healing Art the Right Hand of the Church, an essential element in the Christian system, an indispensable agency in the activity which the Church is called on to sustain in the world." How far the reasonings of the author may carry conviction to the minds of his readers while he pleads for the practice of the healing art as essential to Christianity, we cannot undertake to say; but this we can say, that he reasons with great ability and states his facts and arguments with great perspicuity and force. They are not to be set aside by a hasty and perfunctory negation, if they are to be set aside at all; but they merit to be well canvassed, and will, we trust, receive a fair and candid consideration. Apart, however, from the conclusion which the author derives from them, they may be read with much interest and instruction, and we shall be disappointed if the perusal of the work does not raise the reader's estimate of the learning and the piety of the writer. Living for Christ: a Memoir of Virginia Hoffman, late of the American Episcopal Mission in Western Africa. By the Rev. G. D. CUMMINS, D.D. With a Preface by the Rev. A. M. W. CHRISTOPHER, M.A. London: Seeley, Jackson, and Co. Pp. 201. THESE are interesting memorials of one who in very early life yielded herself in solemn sacrifice to her God and Saviour and then consecrated herself to missionary service. Her course was short, but it was diligently run. In the prayer meeting and the Sunday-school, as well as in the more public and devotional engagements of the sanctuary, she was trained for her missionary work, and imbibed the missionary spirit. But she was spared to the sphere of her labours only about three years and a half, and died at the early age of twentythree years and five months. But her memoir may be read with profit by more advanced Christians, and as well as by the young, and we commend it to the study of both. POSTSCRIPT. THE PERSECUTIONS IN SYRIA. We received the following too late to appear in our first sheet under its proper head of Evangelical Alliance Intelligence.-ED. Foreign Office, March 23, 1859. Sir,-With reference to your letter of the 2nd ultimo, I am directed by the Earl of Malmesbury to inform you that Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople has remonstrated strongly with the Porte on the subject of the persecution to which Protestant Christians are subjected in Syria, and that in consequence, Vizerical letters have been addressed to the Pachas of Sidon and Damascus, ordering them to afford the same protection and justice to the Sultan's Protestant subjects as to those of other religious persuasions. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, (Signed) E. HAMMOND. |