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DEPOSITORY.

front with five different languages, English, French, German, Turkish, and Greek, upon the two sides; and placed the open Bible in various tongues in the windows, announcing to the multitude of every nation, who throng this crowded street, that 'here each in his own language can buy the Bible.' And it is most interesting to notice them stopping to read a moment in passing, and then coming in to buy the Word of God. A few days since four Bulgarians came and purchased the Psalms in Russian; then came a Jew and bought a Spanish Bible, and another the Old Testament in Hebrew; then an Italian called for the Bible, and a Greek, and Armenian, and German, and several French officers also wished for Bibles; and all freely gave their money in exchange for the Book of Life. We have likewise included other religious books, and connected a small reading-room with the establishment, in order to bring more in contact with the Scriptures, and thereby increase their sale; and this has operated thus far most successfully.

"The whole is under the direction of a committee, of which Count de Zuylon Van Neyvelt, the Ambassador of Holland, is president, a man of most earnest and excellent Christian spirit.

"We have received a letter from the British and Foreign Bible Society, expressing their willingness to pay a reasonable proportion of the ex

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penses of the depository for the sale of their books, and the committee have voted that they be requested to grant the sum of £50, as their proportion of the expense of the institution for the present year. I have already written to the American Bible Society upon the subject. Thus a new and most important agency is established for the spread of the Bible in this great metropolis, and incidentally to the various cities and towns of the Ottoman empire."

In the same letter he makes mention of the remarkable spirit of inquiry after the Word which had sprung up among the Turks:

"In my last two letters I have spoken of the remarkable interest the Turks are beginning to manifest in the Bible. This is increasing. Three Turks recently came to the depository at Stamboul, and bought each a Bible, saying that 'they regarded it as a treasure above price;' and two others, upon receiving the Bible, kissed it devoutly, and pressed it to their bosom, to express their love for it as the only true revelation from God, and opening to them the only true way of salvation. And another, as he bought the Bible, remarked that, 'it was a very excellent book, but it came from the Turks.' They still persist in believing that nothing good can come from the

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ENGLISH AMBASSADOR.

Christians. Said he, 'Many hundred years ago, when we conquered the city, we found this book here in one of the magazines, and we did not value it very much. A short time afterwards an English traveller came along, and we sold it to him for a trifle. He took it home, and translated it into English. And this is the same Bible in Turkish, which you Christians have brought to us. It is our book, and we prize it highly.'

"Also another Turk has, of his own accord, proposed to open a shop for the sale of Turkish Bibles and Testaments in the midst of the other bazaars of the city, which would attract the attention of all. This is surely very wonderful, when we remember that, according to the Mohammedan law, for a Mussulman to receive the Bible and become a Christian, is still punishable with death, which penalty has been executed within the last year at Adrianople, only three days' distant from the capital.

"A few days since I called upon Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, English Ambassador at the Sublime Porte, who has always been the firm friend of the Bible Cause and Protestantism in the East, and expressed to him the acknowledgments of our Society for the aid his protection and influence have always afforded us in publishing and distributing the Bible in the Ottoman empire. He received me very kindly, and re

AN AGED TURK.

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plied: 'Our cause and interest are the same. We are always glad to protect Americans and American missionaries where our consular authority extends, and yours does not. The American missionaries are most excellent men.' Said he, 'To what church do you belong?' I said. that 'I was a Presbyterian, but that our Society embraced all evangelical denominations.' 'I wish,' said he, 'that we could all adopt the Apostles' 'creed,' and have no further divisions into churches and sects.' I replied, "That was precisely the creed and spirit of the American Bible Society.'

Under a later date he writes:

"The Turks still continue to manifest a remarkable interest in the Bible and New Testament, and are calling for these at our magazines. As I was sitting in the depository a few days since, my attention was attracted to an old Turk with a long beard, who was reading very intently in the open Bible through the window. He afterward came in and asked to have one showed to him, saying, 'Eyi, chok eyi' (Good, very good).

"Also a Softa, one of the readers of the Koran at the mosques, came and begged that a Bible might be given him, which was accordingly done, with the prayer that his eyes might thereby be

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ORDERS FOR BIBLES.

opened, and he be led to renounce the corrupt system of the false prophet, and embrace the truth as it is in Jesus."

The same inquiry came from various parts of the Turkish empire, and from various tribes and tongues. In a letter, dated in April, he says:

"The old depository in Stamboul has also sent increased supplies to the interior. I will mention one order for Kharput in Asia Minor, where Mr. Dunmore has recently been stationed.

182 Armenian Bibles and Testaments,

73 Psalms in Ancient and Modern Armenian, 32 Turkish Testaments and Psalms,

36 English Bibles and Testaments,

6 Italian Bibles,

18 Greek Bibles and Testaments,

12 Græco-Turkish Bibles and Testaments,
6 Armeno-Turkish Bibles,

365 Scriptures in different languages, and 1,462 various religious books, making together 1,828 volumes. Similar orders have likewise been received from Trebizond, Erzroom, Marsovan, and Tocat; all of which proves that the Word of God is beginning to run very swiftly through this land."

Under date of May 22 he writes:

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