EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE. censorship of the press; and that the English, American, and Dutch Ambassadors at Constantinople have been helping their cause. If our Ambassador there shall be instructed by Lord John Russell to be in earnest on the subject, we have no doubt that so natural, necessary, and simple an arrangement as is needed could be at once effected. And we are sure that nothing more is requisite than to bring the matter fairly before the Foreign-office, to have the affair set at rest. PROJECT OF AN ARABIC NEWSPAPER. An idea has been entertained in some quarters of publishing an Arabic newspaper, to be printed in London, and sent through the post to the Arabic regions of Turkey. In proper hands this project might be serviceable to the cause of the Gospel and of Syria, not to speak of other Arabic regions. But to be so, the editor and conductors should be not only wise and prudent men, but sincere and enlightened Christians. Without such qualifications the project would fail or do harm. Now we learn that this matter has fallen at present into the hands of some members of the party who may be called "Young Syria;" and in such hands we could not augur hopefully of the affair. Christian gentlemen connected with the cause of missions in the East, and anxious for the true welfare of the subjects of the Turkish empire, would therefore do well to be on their guard ere sanctioning steps which might lead to injurious results. A young Syrian, Antonius Ammeney, is, so far as we can learn, one of the chief movers in this affair. This young man, educated by the late lamented Dr. Eli Smith, of Beirut (but who, we believe, does not profess to be an Evangelical Christian), became clerk to a Greek merchant-house in London. After being in this capacity for some years, he seems to have imbibed the idea and desire of aiding the political and social regeneration of his country, by the establishment of this Arabic newspaper; the political scope of which would be to prepare and procure the revolt of Syria from Turkey, and her independence; or an English Protectorate, or some vision of that kind. These, at least, are some of the notions of the Young Syria party who would be in connexion with Mr. Ammeney; and it is obvious that to attempt to put forward such views here, and circulate them in Turkey, would be mischievous and ultimately prove impracticable. The Turkish Government will soon be made alive on the subject; nor could our relations with that Government permit such a project to be hatched and carried forward here. We have heard, however, that Dr. Gregory Wortabed (M.D.), from America, has taken up this matter, and that the Rev. John Wortabed, from Syria, Pastor of the Church of Hasbeiya, has been drawn into it also, and is now in this country, or on his way hither, with this object in view. The character of this last-named gentleman might. be some guarantee in the matter, were it not that he looks rather like a decoy duck in the hands of others. He is an Evangelical Christian man, and beloved by the missionaries; but this proposed journal is not to have Evangelical, but philanthropic and political tendencies. It would be supported by Greek, and even by Unitarian sympathisers and friends of the projectors; and not look for only Christian support, but be a secular paper appealing to all secular classes. Nor, from what we learn, would it in these proposed hands be likely to be instrumental in communicating to Syria Evangelical views of the Lord's-day, or in really befriending the missionary cause; but rather in puffing up Young Syria, and advancing, both in missionary and political spheres, subversive tendencies. We trust, therefore, that any such project now brought before the public will be carefully examined, as we strongly incline to think it dangerous and injurious, so far as it appears to have been mooted as yet. We observed that Mr. Ammeney had been admitted to read a paper at the British Association meeting in Aberdeen, on the subject of the Arabic language. We would not be too critical upon any one in such circumstances for magnifying his subject; but it is evident that this gentleman there was EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE. not in his sphere, and that he was there preparatively to the speculation now before us. But as to his statement that the Arabic is a pure and original language, sui generis, every scholar knows, on the contrary, that it is merely one branch of an original [Shemitic] tongue. It has, indeed, some forms older than the Hebrew; but the Hebrew, too, has other forms older than the Arabic. He assumes that some one would assert the Arabic to be a branch of the Hebrew, which he denies; but no scholar of the present day would make such an assertion. Nor would any scholar, on the other hand, make the assertion which Mr. Ammeney does make, that the Hebrew is a corrupted Arabic, produced somewhat similarly as the Maltese vernacular jargon. Such statements as these exhibit a profound ignorance both of Hebrew and of philology. No doubt the Arabic, being a cognate language, and preserving some peculiarities lost by lapse of time in the Hebrew, its study is useful to the Hebraist, and essential to perfect Hebrew scholarship. But this is a very different thing from asserting that the Hebrew of the Bible is a corrupted medley of Arabic and Egyptian, which it is not. ANGLO-TURKISH TURKISH MISSIONS. LITERATURE-THE BULGARIAN MISSION-ALLEGED CONVERSION OF 40,000 GREEK MOHAMMEDANS-INTERESTING CASES OF MOHAMMEDAN TURKS-MAJOR MAHMOODTOUR IN NORTHERN SYRIA. Through the Secretary of the Turkish Missions Aid Society, we have received some interesting intelligence, of which we note the chief points. ANGLO-TURKISH LITERATURE. Every thing literary goes at a snail's pace in this land. The people are not a literary people: nobody pursues literature for the love of it; nobody takes the trouble to acquire a foreign language, unless spurred on by the hope of gain. The French language is studied more than the English, because it brings in more money. During the war, the scale began to turn in favour of the English, and we hope to keep it turned. It is a matter of deep importance to the triumph of the truth in this land that the French be crowded out, and the English be crowded in. But the process must be slow. It was a wise movement to get elementary books ready to teach the English language. Not a step could be taken towards substituting the study of the English for that of the French, unless dictionaries, a reading-book, and a grammar were prepared. None of us here, however, expected that at first there would be a rapid sale of these books; but still we regarded it as most important that they should be git ready. They are now in the market. If anybody wants to acquire our language, here are the helps all ready prepared, and we expect to do more to cultivate the desire for such an acquisition. A first-rate English college for all classes of the natives, as well as for English and Americans, will do much in this direction; and it is a thing that must The pre come into existence very soon. THE BULGARIAN MISSION. The mission is commenced at Adrianople, and before three months we hope to have Philipopolis, and, at least, one other place occupied by missionaries from America, who are already on this (the Turkish) side of the water. Other places will be taken hold of as soon as the men come; and we expect one or two more before the year is out. If interesting reports cannot yet be sent home as to conversions, &c., among these people, it must be partly, at least, because all the missionaries are new, and we have not the gift of tongues. Years of hard application, and much practice, are necessary to enable a man to preach fluently in one of these Eastern languages. Not one of our missionaries can yet preach in the Bulgarian; and, as to native labourers, no Bulgarians, of course, can be found yet fit for this work. As to Armenians, we have great difficulty in getting a suitable number for the pressing wants of the Armenian field in Bulgaria; and there is the same difficulty with them as to the language, except so far as the Bulgarians know Turkish. We have every encouragement to press on with the Bulgarian work. The people are very earnest to possess the Word of God, which of itself EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE. is a bright sign in their favour; and all that has been attempted among them shows to us that there is an open door in that quarter which Providence calls us to enter. A colporteur (a Protestant Armenian) has just been sent from Constantinople by the agent of the American Bible Society to the Bulgarians west and north of Adrianople. Dr. Riggs and Mr. Byington are about making a tour to Uscup, Philipopolis, Sophia, and other places; and very likely Dr. Hamlin and another missionary will join them on their return to Adrianople, in order to consult and decide upon what location to recommend next to Philipopolis for new missionaries who are coming for the Bulgarians. [N.B. A cheque for 1007. for Bulgarian type, sent from London, has been received at Constantinople, for the purpose of expediting the printing of the new edition of the Scriptures.] ALLEGED CONVERSION OF 40,000 GREEK MOHAMMEDANS. As to the 40,000 Greeks who left Mohammedanism, near Trebizond, I have seen the statement made again and again in English journals; but it is a most enormous exaggeration! The real facts are, so far as I am informed, that a body of Greeks, consisting at present of some 8,000, called Kromlis, near Trebizond, centuries ago became ostensibly Mohammedans, but they have retained secretly more or less of their attachment to Christianity. During the past year an order was obtained from the Porte to the Pashas of Erzeroum and Trebizond, to allow these people to return to the Christian religion if they pleased; and it is officially announced in a Government paper here, that 1,200 or 2,000 of them have returned. A return to the Greek Church, however, I am afraid will not amount to much. We have written to our native pastor in Trebizond to make a tour among these people, and see whether they may not be drawn to the Gospel; and we shall soon have a report from him, I presume. Some of them reside in Trebizond, and they have more or less intercourse with our brethren there, and occasionally a few attend the preaching of the Gospel. We hope well of that movement, though, as yet, no spiritual element appears in it. I beg of you not to allow any of our friends to report the story of 40,000 Musulmans becoming Christians-at least, until it is true! We may hope, by-and-by, to communicate still larger news, but we shall be careful not to do so until we have the best reasons for believing it to be true. INTERESTING CASES OF MOHAMMEDAN TURKS. I have had, within the last week, a deeply interesting conversation with a colonel in the Turkish service, a finelooking officer, who came to me to talk upon religion. He professes to be a true believer in Jesus, and says that he is going to resign his office, and cast all worldly honours beneath His feet, and give himself wholly to the work of spreading the Gospel. How strange! He says he owns large property in his own province, and has no need of any pecuniary help, and all he asks is, that we will try to secure liberty of conscience for those who may be converted. He is in correspondence with several of his friends in his native province who are Christians, and they beg him to come back and help them in spiritual things. There are about thirty of them in all, among whom are Mohammedans, Armenians, and Russians. This, at least, is his story, and I have seen one of the late letters they have written to him having sixteen signatures. I was much pleased with the seriousness and earnestness of this man. We have another most interesting case among the Mohammedans of this place: a man of high connexions, and of clear and strong mind, who seems to be fully persuaded of the truth of Christianity. Dr. Hamlin has just returned from Broussa, where, with Mr. Williams (formerly Selim Effendi), they preached the Gospel freely to Turks and Christians; and, amongst others, to the highest ecclesiastics in the mosques, and were treated with profound respect. There is, he says, undeniable progress-wonderful progressin the Mussulman mind! The general book circulation of the missions has much increased during the present year. MAJOR MAHMOOD appears so well to us all, and his literary attainments are such, that we have secured his services to the mission. We felt that it would not do to let so valuable a man slip through our fingers, especially in the present state of the work. But we have no appropriation from our own Board this year for his support, and we hope you will not fail to help us. Depend upon it, he is greatly needed, and we trust he will be a great blessing. He has lost his child, and he and his wife are deeply affected. INTERESTING TOUR IN NORTHERN SYRIA. Mr. J. E. Ford sends us the following interesting account of a recent visit to a portion of that wild and barbarous people EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE. called Nusairiya, whose villages occupy the lofty mountains extending along the coast of the Mediterranean, from Tripoli to Latakiya. This race is said to number seventy thousand souls; and they are noted for ignorance, superstition, treachery, and lawless violence. Their religion, so far as it is known, borders on idolatry, to say the least; and their condition is essentially that of heathenism. While their state has long excited the pity of those Christians who have known it, their wild and savage character, and their jealousy of strangers, have combined with other causes to prevent the various Missionary Societies from sending labourers among them. Consequently, nothing has hitherto been done. for their evangelisation except what was undertaken five or six years since by one man, who had seen and deeply felt their degraded and lost condition. This was the Rev. Samuel Lyde, of the Church of England, who, alone, and chiefly at his own private expense, established a mission among them which he prosecuted with untiring patience and much self-denial, until the failure of his health compelled him most reluctantly to abandon the work. Mr. Lyde wisely confined his efforts at the outset to the instruction of the Nusairiya boys, for whom he opened, a boardingschool and provided liberally for their thorough education. At the same time, he made no secret of his intention to teach them the Christian religion, and to this the parents made but little objection, though the religious Sheikhs had their jealousy aroused. As the result of faithful religious teaching, several of the older boys became impressed with the truth of Christianity, and professed to embrace it. Upon the failure of Mr. Lyde's health and the suspension of the school, these youth who had professed the name of Christ were left without a friend or protector, and exposed to ridicule and persecution, on account of their new religion. One of the assistants, previously employed in the school, at this time made made an injudicious attempt to remove the Christian boys to a place of safety; and the failure of this attempt left them more exposed than ever to the jealousy and opposition of their people. They continued, however, to maintain their profession, and were in the habit of reading the Bible in secret and of meeting with each other for prayer and religious conversation. They also kept up a correspondence with Mr. Lyde. But, at last, some of the letters written to them by him fell into the hands of the Sheikhs, by means of which they became more fully acquainted with the state of mind of the young men and the reality of their belief in Christianity, and thus had their hostility fully aroused. Vigorous measures were now adopted to terrify those who were known as Christians; their Bibles and other books were taken from them, and they were narrowly watched to prevent them from holding religious converse with each other. The younger of the boys were thus frightened into outward submission; but four of the older and more promising still kept up the correspondence with Mr. Lyde, and continued to assert their faith in Christ. Finally, the two older pupils were brought before the assembled Sheikhs, by whom they were cursed, and commanded to renounce Christ, under pain of instant death. They were severely beaten and dragged by their feet, and one of them, it is said, was tied by his feet to a horse's tail and thus dragged over the ground. One of the two boys succeeded in escaping to his own house, where his father protected him from further violence; but the other, left alone to meet the fierce wrath of his persecutors, and expecting nothing but death, finally yielded so far as to make a professed renunciation of his faith, and was released. This apostasy, however, caused him great grief, and he wrote to Mr. Lyde respecting it in much distress and anxiety, to know whether he might hope for forgiveness from God. This was the condition of the boys, when, at Mr. Lyde's request, I visited them in order to ascertain more fully their state of mind, and to see if anything could properly be attempted for their relief. Proceeding by steamer to Latakiya, and thence inland five hours' ride to B'hamra, the seat of Mr. Lyde's school, I spent two days in intercourse with the people and the older boys, without letting it appear that my visit had any special relation to the latter. My observations and conversation with three of the boys convinced me of their sincerity in the profession of Christianity, and I found my heart strongly drawn toward them, as sufferers for Christ's sake. All but two (the two referred to above) seemed to me too young and too timid to take the responsibility of leaving their homes, unless forced away. These two, however, are decidedly of age in Turkish law, and old enough to be morally responsible and independent of their parents in matters of religion. One of them is now AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE. free from persecution, and would be allowed by his father to go wherever he should wish; but the other, who is the most promising of all the pupils, is strictly watched and scarcely allowed to stir from his house. As he was, however, at the time comparatively free from danger, and desirous to remain among his people, if possible, I made no attempt to bring him or his companion away, but gave them such directions, and made such arrangements, as would facilitate their escape in case of their being again exposed to danger on account of their faith. After encouraging and advising these interesting youth and praying with them, I left them with the firm assurance that they would be watched over and protected by the Good Shepherd. During my stay among the Nusairiya, I was struck with the apparent success of Mr. Lyde's brief labours, in removing their prejudices and awakening a desire for the residence of a missionary among them. Their motives are, indeed, purely selfish and worldly; but such is the case with all to whom missionaries are sent; and it is enough, at first, that the way is open for preaching to them the pure Gospel. It is to be earnestly hoped that Mr. Lyde, if unable to resume his labours among them personally, may find some worthy successor to carry on the work he has so well begun. American Intelligence. UNITED STATES. DEATH OF HON. HORACE MANN AND REV. DR. J. W. ALEXANDER-SPIRIT OF PRAYERSABBATH OBSERVANCE. Albany, N.Y. Within a short time the friends of popular education and of religion have been startled by the unexpected death of two distinguished men in the zenith of their power and usefulness. I refer to the Hon. Horace Mann, and the Rev. J. W. Alexander, D.D. HON. HORACE MANN. The former, whatever may be thought of his religious views, was unquestionably a man of great public spirit, a firm and enlightened friend of freedom, and a true philanthropist. He was, for many years, the Secretary of the Board of Education, in Massachusetts, and in that situation he did incalculable good. of the largest and oldest Presbyterian Churches in the city of New York. Previous to his settlement in New York, Dr. Alexander was for twelve years Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at Princeton; and he subsequently returned there for a short time, but soon felt that his preferred sphere was the pulpit and a pastoral charge. His contributions to our religious literature were numerous and always good. It is said that more than forty of the publications of the American Sunday-school Union are from his pen. "It seems (said Dr. Hodge at his funeral) almost impossible that the place made vacant by his decease can ever be filled When the Hon. John Q. Adams died, Mr. again in the manner in which it preMann was chosen as his successor in Con-viously was. Dr. Alexander united gifts gress. There he distinguished himself by the purity of his character, the power of his talents, and the independence of his course specially in relation to slavery. He was then elected to the presidency of Antioch College, Ohio. That institution has some popular features which commended themselves to his large heart, but the excessive labour required for its permanent establishment has led to his premature and lamented death. THE REV. JAMES W. ALEXANDER, D.D., was the eldest son of the late Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, who was for so many years professor in Princeton College. He was, at the time of his death, which occurred after a few days' illness, pastor of one and graces rarely combined in one man. He had a great memory, powerful intellect, and application-these gifts being greatly cultivated. Probably no one in the Church was a better scholar-understanding the French, Spanish, Italian, and German, not only as languages, but as vehicles for conveying knowledge. His style was brilliant, resembling Macaulay in some respectsmany of his productions being like strings of pearls, each perfect in itself, and all bound together by an invisible thread. As a theologian he was erudite; and as theology and philosophy are intimately connected, he was well versed in each. Free from hypocrisy and malice, no one ever heard of his saying an unkind thing, but things |