on ship board, in which history and travels were the principal reading. A modicum of Italian was then acquired, sufficient for the purposes of business. Afterwards my time was devoted to the study of the Jewish-Spanish, and superintending translations into that language. Next came my medical practice and stu- ' dies, which, with my own indisposition, have broken me off from a vigorous, if not a very successful effort upon the Turkish. I shall resume it again, in case there is no encouragement to go to the Morea. More good however, may be done in a little spot where there is liberty, than in a wide land of slavery. Intercourse with my patients, has brought me forward a little in Greek. Turkish is, however, the all important language of this country, but to acquire it advantageously, after an introductory course of Arabic, one must go where it is spoken exclusively. Tell all the young

men who may come out here as missionaries, or secretaries of embassy, (both of which I hope to see,) that they do well at home to lay an Arabic foundation. You know better than myself, that this is of prime importance. Mr. Smith, who proposed a tour in company with me to Armenia, has very judiciously set himself down on Mount Lebanon, to the exclusive study of the Arabic. It has not been for want of the purpose, nor from any doubt of the full expediency of doing one thing at a time, that I have failed of confining myself to one language. Mr. Fisk regretted the necessity, which led him to mingle several half learned languages as he did. Like causes have operated in my own case. It was not my intention in the first instance, to devote much time to the Italian. Though spoken extensively by merchants, servants, and travellers, yet in Turkey

and Greece, the French is of paramount importance, not only as the court language, but as that of ordinary business.

To acquire the language of the Jews, particularly the Jewish-Spanish, I sat down with fixedness of purpose. The original Spanish as well as the modern languages of Europe, had I not been ignorant of my destination to the Mediterranean until a short time before my departure, ought to have been cultivated in America. My first teacher in Jewish-Spanish could not be retained at this place without great expense, and as I was unexpectedly cut off from all hope of the society of the christian Jews; I sought then for the key which would open the door of utterance to many people of all classes -the Jew; the Turk; the Armenian and Greek. This was presented in the Turkish, to which with Mr. Hartley I resolved to shut myself up. He was called away to Smyrna; and the claims of the numerous sick, and the darkening political sky, are likely to defeat another well formed purpose.

The Greeks of Asia Minor as you recede from the coast, speak only Turkish. The Armenians, on the same principle, use more and more their own language as you approach towards the ancient seat of their nation around mount Ararat. The Jews like the Armenians have their domestic language.* With these exceptions Turkish is the spoken language of Asia

* All the different classes of people have also their ancient sacred languages, in which their early religious books are written. The ancient Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Armenian and Greek, need therefore to be studied by a missionary under certain circumstances.

Minor, and also to a less extent in European Turkey. In short, a missionary coming to the Barbary States, Egypt or Syria, should make Arabic his great object; in other parts of the Sultan's territories, Turkish should be his ultimate aim; in the Mediterranean generally, French will be necessary to a reputable standing, and Italian will be convenient, though he may be excused if he does not speak it correctly; in Greece, Greek, and French will be all the languages necessary, and in all other parts, Spanish Armenian and Greek, should be superadded, accordingly as Jews Armenians or Greeks are the principal objects of his attention. The former write the Spanish, and the two latter in Asia Minor, write the Turkish, in their respective characters: hence much additional labor is requisite to prepare the Scriptures and other books for their use.

Objects around me, are fast loosing their strangeness. Indeed I often find it necessary to make efforts for rousing my curiosity as I move about among the miserable hovels and filthy streets of the Levant. Here, I say to myself, the Mussulman first established himself in Europe. That mouldering turret owes its origin to the crusaders or the Italian conquerors of Constantinople. This pile of rubbish marks the site of a palace of the Greek Emperors.. There stood the temple of some heathen divinity. Yonder village was founded by the Argonauts, and the adjacent coast was ravaged by the harpies. In self-justification, I may add, that I cannot yet look with perfect indifference on an ancient slab of marble or a broken column, even though they be devoid of inscriptions. I seem to myself at such times to be among the fragments of another planet, of which I had heard in the legends of childhood.

treasures.

Of manuscripts which would be to you more highly prized relics, I have met with few valuable. Every thing Greek and Latin has been thoroughly explored, nor should I expect if the Sultan gave me permission to pass through the Seraglio, to meet with any western The oriental scholar may find, perhaps, a harvest yet ungathered, though no Caliph of the Saracens, has sat on the throne of Constantine. Some ancient coins, I see occasionally, but a missionary of course has not the means of purchasing. I wish, however, I were authorized by some of our colleges to procure for them, modern books of the different people, particularly of the Armenians, which are cheap and abundant. All other books bear a high price, and he who comes into these parts, does wisely if he complies with your advice to me, and brings his library with him. Notwithstanding the liberal supply with which I was furnished, and for which I feel sincerely grateful to the committee and my personal friends, I am sadly in want of some of prime importance. Most of those which I have been necessitated to purchase in the Mediterranean, have cost twice as much as in America. In Malta, are a few petty book stores, and in Constantinople a Catholic Armenian is ready to order books from France or Italy. His price, however, is most extravagant, and it is impossible to obtain the least abatement.

Mr. Fisk had a number of valuable books which f hoped to have met with. I apprehend they have in some way been lost, or left at Jerusalem. This hazard might seem an objection to trusting a missionary with an expensive library. We may afford however, to risk books, where we venture to expose more valuable

men.

In these unquiet times it is impossible to say from what quarter a second letter will be dated-perhaps from the Greek islands, as even the soberest talk seriously of war.

CHAPTER XX.

LAST WEEKS AT CONSTANTINOPLE.

Negative answers of the Porte to the demand of the allied powers-Doubtful results of this interference--Proposed withdrawal to Greece-Arrival of an American friend-Means of communication with America-Temporary embargo-Final departure-Servile custom on passing the Seraglio-The heir apparent-State of the city-Previous excursion up the Bosphorus and through the Valley of Sweet Waters-A sight of the Sultan-Death of my associate.

Constantinople, Aug. 31, 1827. I am writing, I know not but my last letter from this place. After a season of anxious suspense, a negative answer has to-day been received from the Divan, to the demands of the three Allied Powers. What these demands are you will already have fully learned. Russia, England, and France insist that hostilities shall cease between Turkey and her Greek subjects; that Greece, a country whose limits are hereafter to be fixed, shall constitute a tributary province, and that its governor shall be nominated by the Porte, but that in other respects it shall be independent. The first feeling throughout Christendom on hearing of this interference will doubtless be one of great joy. That it will quench the