21. In return for some specimens of our Greek school books which Commodore Porter sent to the Russian ambassador, he received to-day a very polite note, thanking him for the favor, and saying, that the American institution was a noble and benevolent one, deserving of patronage, and that he and the Spanish minister would have great pleasure in visiting the school in this village on any day it might be agreeable to us.

On the report of a friend, that the papal priests were greatly alarmed and offended, because the New Testament was read in the Greek school, Mr. Goodell replied→

That the school was for Greeks and not papists; and that so long as the former were satisfied, it was no concern of the latter what books were used: moreover, that the Greeks did not consider the New Testament as heretical, but had always been accustomed to make more or less use of it as a school book; and that, instead of its being now forced upon them against their wishes, they had themselves purchased for their children every copy which was found

in the school.

There are not less than five Latin priests in this village, and I think there are more. Several of them are chaplains to the different embassies, and one of them is found in the palace of a minister, who represents a Protestant government. The Russian minister has also his chaplain, a man of a most cheerful and animated countenance, and much apparent friendliness. In the Greek church are three priests and one deacon. The papal Armenians and Greeks are not deficient in this particular, and there are besides a Syrian bishop and a Georgian priest, both papists.

28. As yet I have seen neither ice nor frost in this country, nor till this morning have I seen snow. The surrounding hills are now partly covered with it, and it is also falling here, though it melts as fast as it comes.

Jan. 14, 1832. Went to Galata, and thence down nearly to the seven towers to make a visit to the Armenian patriarch in his palace. He appeared to be about fifty years of age, of deliberate habits, his beard long, black, and thick, befitting his exalted station, and his deportment in all respects marked with dignity. Both he and his vicar received me very graciously, and con

versed with much apparent interest about America, schools, &c. The patriarch was very inquisitive respecting our religion, and wished to know whether we followed Calvin or Luther. The vicar having previously laid it down as an incontrovertible pro position, that all protestants were followers either of one or of the other. I replied that in America there was the most perfect freedom in regard to religious sentiments and worship; and that of course there were various denominations of Christians, and that though some of these, it was true, were called Calvinists, and some Lutherans, and others by still different names; yet knew the fact to be, that they did not generally inquire what Luther, Calvin, or any other man believed in order to know what to believe themselves, but were remarkably free from all shackles of this kind, and inquired simply what God had said in his holy Word. To this they at once bowed assent. The patriarch then inquired about missionary operations in China, which led me to speak of the missions recently established there; of those also in India and Burmah; and of the wonderful change that had been produced in the moral condition of the inhabitants at the Sandwich Islands.

He was very anxious to know what kind of Christians our missionaries made them; what sect they were made to follow; what name they took, &c. I told him, that they were not baptised in the name of Calvin, Luther, the pope, or any one else, but simply "in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" that they embrac ed Christianity in its primitive purity without any thing foreign being mixed with it, and that they were formed into churches that "knew no man after the flesh," but received the pure unadulterated word of God as the sufficient and only rule of faith and practice. To this he with his vicar gave the fullest assent, but seemed at the same time to be filled with wonder at so extraordinary and yet so reasonable a course. He expressed for me and for America much of the oriental kind of love, of which every man here seems to keep always a large stock on hand, and said, if he had not seen me, he must have gone there; but in being favored with a sight of me, he had seen America, and was glad.

In regard to Lancasterian schools among his nation he expressed himself favorably, and called up Boghos, (the very man we wanted) and said he might come to be instructed in the new system, and then commence a school according to it, as an experiment. On rising to depart gave my blessing, which he received with a smile, remembering, I suppose, that "without all contradiction the less is blessed of the greater."

him

Returned to Galata, and spent the night with a pleasant Greek family-the aunt of I. C. He also was with us, having invited Commodore Porter and myself to accom

pany him early in the morning to one of the Greek churches to see the two patriarchs and twelve bishops perform mass, and to hear an oration on account of the sultan's having given back to the Greeks their former possessions in Scio. The Sciotes at Constantinople give a great dinner on the occasion, at which the patriarchs and bishops are to be present, and to which Commodore Porter and myself received a card of invitation from the committee of arrangements; but, as the day would be Sunday, we in a note of thanks for their politeness begged them to ex

cuse us.

15. Sabbath. Preached on board the corvette United States. A large number of people were present. Merchants from the city, the masters and crews of several vessels, and various officers from an English cutter just arrived, together with a few Armenians and Greeks. The subject was the "penitent thief," and the attention as usual very good.

18. Epiphany of the Greeks. Went to the Greek church a quarter before six, while it was yet dark; and found a great crowd assembled in the yard, or enclosure of the church, and the priests chanting their service over a barrel, or large firkin of water, with the cross planted by the side of it. As soon as they had finished blessing and consecrating it, and were retiring to the church, there was a universal rush of the people for some of the holy water to drink, and to carry away and preserve in bottles; and such pushing, pulling, scrambling, bawling, ensued, as I have seldom

seen even at foot-ball.

On entering the church, I was conducted to the seat belonging to the principal priest, and where I of course had a good view of all that passed. In the midst of the chants and prayers, this priest went at different times through the crowd with a basin or cruise of the holy water in one hand, and a small brush made of a few twigs tied together in the other, and while the people bowed down to kiss his hand, he sprinkled them with the brush dipped in the holy water, and crossed them on the forehead with it. In one instance P., seeing the priest approach near where he was standing, hastily retreated, and left the house. How affecting that the services and ceremonies of the church are such, that conscientious men cannot join in them!

Near the close, the same priest carried round broken (a representation of sacramental) bread; and again there was a general scramble of men, women, and children to get a bit; and on bowing down the head to receive it, they always kissed the hand that gave it.

it first. They proceeded, chanting as they went, to a fine quay opposite to the Rus sian palace. I stood on the very lowest step, with the priest on the same step next to me on one side, and six naked fellows, shivering with the cold on the other, while an immense crowd of people were behind, stretching along the shore to the right and left, or were in boats directly in front. le order to deceive the poor fellows, and put them off their guard, the priest several times raised his hand, "and inade as ifthey laughed at the artifice practised upon them, and the people laughed, and the priest looked at me, and laughed as heartily as any of them. At length he threw it two or three rods from the shore, and instantly there was a headlong plunge after it, and a momentary but vehement struggle who should first get possession of it. The successful candidate first immersed it the whole length of his arm beneath the waves, then kissed it, and presented it successively to the lips of his comrads for a salute from each of them. The ladies in the boats now vociferated to him, all unclothed as he was, to come to them, that they might next enjoy the privilege of kissing it. This, as it the priests and elders on shore were in the appeared, he felt constrained to do, though mean time bawling after him to hasten back to them, that they might give it the same token of love, and march it back in triumph to the church.

The aga of the village was present to keep order on the occasion-a mussulman, with a whip in his hand, to keep Christians from devouring one another, or committing any excesses, during their religious solemnities. The whole appeared like a farce. The Greeks, however, do not consider this baptising of the cross as a strictly religious and indispensable institution; but it is a ceremony-a custom which prevails in this country, and even in Russia, and is just such a scene as the Greeks like. Those who cast themselves into the water after the cross, have the privilege of carrying it round that day from house to house for people to kiss, and of receiving offerings from those disposed to reward their zeal by making them a present. The Russian ambassador, it is said, gave them sixty piastres on this occasion.

While in the church I saw a little sick child brought in, and its lips, being made to touch the pictures of Christ and of the virgin, were then moistened with the holy water, in order to effect a cure.

which I also interpreted to her husband in | Italian. Her frame of mind is something like David's, when he saw with grief "the prosperity of the wicked," and "was envious at the foolish."

Went into the school, and saw half a dozen boys, who had been indolent or disorderly, kneeling down in a corner of the room, with their faces to the wall, and their crimes attached to their backs, and all the other scholars drawn up in regular order around, and one of them delivering in a very energetic manner a speech on good behavior, in which he occasionally referred with very expressive looks and motions to the delinquents on their knees, and some of them weeping before their eyes.

26. A little girl, born in this country of German parentage, and of a very poor family, whom we employed partly by way of charity, to assist in taking care of the babe, was this day married. She is but about 13 years old, is a mere child, and knows next to nothing about any thing. Her husband is between thirty and forty-old enough to be her father-and will probably be often and with reason induced not to 'spare the rod for her crying.'

31. One of the boys belonging to the school was instantly killed on Sunday by the discharge of a gun. He was about 12 years old, was one of the best scholars, and a monitor of the school. The children appeared to be affected and to be made solemn by the event. P. read to them Mark xiii. 33-37, and spoke to them on the importance of being also ready. Some of them were in tears. I brought away with me some specimens of his writing, and afterwards called on the mother and family, all of whom were in deep affliction. May the event be sanctified!

Feb. 2. This morning, on going early to Therapia to take coffee with our esteemed friends, the Rev. Dr. and Miss Walsh, we saw frost and ice for the first time, and pointed them out as a curiosity to our children, they having never seen either before in their lives. Miss Walsh, with the approbation and blessing of her father, will henceforth instruct daily in English a few Anglo-Armenian children at Therapia, as Mrs. Goodell has already commenced doing at Buyuk-Dere. They speak only Greek, Turkish, and a little French. There are several respectable families of this description in this country, who are very desirous for a school, and who would be willing to pay for the instruction of their children, but they live so scattered, that the school for them must, to accommodate them all, necessarily be a boarding-school.

3. Rode with the Commodore to see a sick man, whom he discovered yesterday lying on leaves in a cavity or hole beside the road, nearly a mile from any inhabited dwelling. He is a Mussulman, and is said to be 109 years old. We found him entirely alone, though his son attends upon him,

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when he is not abroad upon business, viz. begging. We gave the miserable old man something to relieve his wants, and as we rode on, I could not keep from contrasting our situation with his, and remembering who it is that makes us to differ.

4. I have called almost every day at the house of Madam is now much better, and has been convalescent ever since my first visit, which she ascribes entirely under God to my prayers. I had much interesting conversation with her and her sister. They both appeared very grateful to me; and were sure that relief from pain, and restoring mercies were granted in special answer to my prayers. They acknowledged that though they sometimes read the gospel, yet they did not practice it, and that I was the only one they had ever known who kept the commandments of God. I spoke to them on the importance of improving their afflictions; of praying for sanctifying grace; of their need of the holy Spirit; on the necessity of walking according to the precepts of the gospel, if we would be true Christians and be happy in the world to come; and on our duty to look beyond all human instruments and means, and to acknowledge God in all our ways.

They referred, as they have often done before, to their reduced circumstances, and to the mysterious providences of God towards them-their father and brother being both hung or beheaded the same day, by order of the present sultan, their possessions seized upon, and all their pleasant things laid waste.' I reminded them of the troubles of Jacob, Joseph, David, Daniel, and Job, and especially of Him, who "had not where to lay his head."

I hope it may not be in vain that by the conflagration of Pera, we were brought into an intimacy with this pleasant family. It is certainly worthy of remark and special gratitude, that in the time of their affliction they should send for me, instead of their own priest, to give them religious instruction, and commend their case to God in prayer. May much good result from it!

The dresses for the five boys of the Russian ambassador being ready, the objects of this charity were again brought to be invested. The Commodore has taken pains to have all their clothes alike, and, when they had put them on, they looked like an entirely new generation of boys, and were marched off, smiling and happy, amidst much cheering, to the Russian palace. His excellency was much pleased with their renovated appearance, and gave each one a twenty piastre piece to carry home to comfort the heart of his mother.

Under date of May 11th, Mr. Goodell writes;

To Commodore Porter, both the Board and ourselves are under very special obligations, we having been members of his