winter months. He, consequently, for some successive winters went abroad, and during the winter of 1850-1, he made the usual tour of Egypt and Syria. Feeling more and more the duty and desirableness of being employed, if possible, in the proper work of his office, he was led to think of Syria, as a country whose climate would allow him to remain and labour the year round. The only thing was to find a field of labour. This the providence of God seemed to present. In a conversation with Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Beyrout-Mr. Moore, he heard of a people, called the Ansyreeh, numerous and important, but sunk, as they had been for ages, in a miserable state of ignorance and oppression, arising from the profession of a secret and effete religion. Finding, further, that the Consul had long been of opinion that there was a most favourable opening for commencing a mission among this people, and was surprised that no Christian Church had yet attempted one, he determined to return to Syria and judge for himself, by personal inquiries made in a tour among them. He therefore returned to Beyrout in 1851, and in the summer of last year paid a visit to the seats of the Ansyreeh in Northern Syria. This little book is a narrative of that visit, and is published in the hope of obtaining that co-operation which is necessary to the further prosecution of the object proposed, and which is fully explained in a note at the end of the volume. These pages do not pretend to be a revelation of the secret of the Ansyreeh (which probably consists of nothing more than a few unintelligible prayers, a medley of Christianity and Mohammedanism, and a trivial, if not obscene, rite), that could only be discovered by a lengthened residence among them. Its object is to give a faithful picture of the present state and disposition of that people, and a description of the country which they inhabit. The reader is advised to turn to the last chapter of the book for a brief notice of their history and religion, which probably will give him all that is satisfactorily known about them. By reading that chapter first, he will be better able to understand the personal narrative of the remaining part of the book. CONTENTS. Plain of Ladikeeh-Tricks played on the Ansyreeh- Ansyreeh peasant-Ansyreeh village-Failure in the kitchen-Journey to Suadeiah-Cheapness of provi- sions-Misadventure-Suadeiah-Ansyreeh literati— Antioch-Fellow-lodgers-Murder of Padre-Renewal of acquaintance-Ansyreeh geographer — Ansyreeh lying-The Deacon-Christian legend-Whisperings of Ansyreeh-Visit to Patriarch-Antioch nobility— Bigotry of the Mahometans-Oppression of the Ansy- reeh—Prospects of a school-Circumstances favourable Return to Ladikeeh-Long march-Bahluleeh-Indig- nation of Turkish captain-Ansyreeh fare-Sheikh Ibraheem Saeed-Troublesome curiosity-Theological conversations-Credulous Christian-Turkish colonel -Rows in the village-Pride and vices of the Turks -Site for school-Solemn confab-Exciting scene- Ansyreeh method of cure-Effects of incense-Won- 94 |