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with the shipping of all nations, winding to the valley of sweet waters; before us was Pera, the chosen residence of Franks, crowned with the Russian, French, and English palaces; on one side was Stamboul, the old Turkish city, crowned with mosques, minarets, and monuments, and fronted by the Seraglio Palace, the proud home of the ancient Sultans, ornamented with gardens and evergreen shade-trees; and just opposite, Scutari, in Asia, overlooked by its immense military hospital, and forest cemetery of cypress; and the Princess Isles beyond, standing out in the Sea of Marmora as a citadel to guard the entrance to all of these.

"We sailed all night across the Sea of Marmora, and in the morning were passing through the Dardanelles, with the shores of Europe and Asia on either side. We glided by the modern castles of Europe and Asia, and the ancient Sestos and Abydos, where Leander was wont to swim the Straits to visit his Hero; and came to the ruins of old Troy, on the shore, and the island of Tenedos, near by, and on past the picturesque shores of Mytilene, the landing-place of the Apostle Paul on his voyage to Athens, and cast anchor for the night in the broad and beautiful harbour of Smyrna.

"The next day was the Sabbath. We called upon the Rev. Mr Ladd, American missionary, and attended his Turkish service at the chapel in the morning. Though the language is a strange tongue, yet the gospel always sounds delightful to a Christian traveller in a strange land. A little congregation of the natives, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews, were assembled, and listened to the earnest discourse of the preacher with marked attention. It is pleasing to find the good work prospering here under

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the faithful labours of our missionaries; and Armenians, Greeks, and Mussulmans, receiving the Bible and the faith of Christ in simplicity and in truth; thus rekindling anew the pure light of the gospel in the ancient church of Asia, which had centuries since gone out in darkness, whose golden candlestick has long been removed out of its place.

"The next morning, accompanied by the Rev. Mr Morgan, we visited the old Greek church where the Bishop Polycarp is said to have preached. Over the door, I read the inscription in ancient characters, POLYCARPION SE THEION POMENA (Polycarp the divine shepherd). It is elegantly decorated within, and nine silver lamps are kept burning night and day. A large screen stands before the high altar, elaborately carved in oak, representing all the various scenes in the New Testament connected with the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ-the work of many years of diligent labour, all cut by the hands of one who was deaf and dumb. Then we mounted the old Genoese castle upon the hill, which commands a view of the city, harbour, mountains, and country round. Here, underneath a tall cypress tree, stands the tomb of the good Bishop Polycarp, and near by is the amphitheatre where he suffered martyrdom for the witness of Jesus and the Word of God. How inspiring it is to the Christian faith to visit such a spot sealed by the blood of one who bore such testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus! When called upon by the slaves of the Roman Emperor to curse Christ and do sacrifice, he replied, 'Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me nothing but good; how can I curse my Lord and Saviour?' Then he freely gave himself up to his persecutors to kindle the flames.

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around him. Mussulmans now come up to this place every year to offer their sacrifice of sheep at the great festival of Bairam. Within the bounds of the amphitheatre we saw the caverns whence the wild beasts were let loose upon the Christians in the arena, to tear them limb from limb, and we could distinctly trace the outline of the seats where the pagan multitude assembled to witness this bloody spectacle.

"From a ruined tower of the Castle we enjoyed a lovely panoramic view of the villages, valleys, and surrounding country of Asia Minor. Here is the site of ancient

Smyrna, the Crown of the East, and near by the River Mylis flows to the sea, on whose banks the ancients. claimed that Homer was born; beyond lie the valley and River Hermes, celebrated in classic song, and the broad Mediterranean stretches far in the distance-all spread out like a picture before us. From this point, too, we could trace distinctly the location of the seven churches of Asia, in the precise order in which they are mentioned in the Revelations-Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, whose ruined sites still remain to attest the truth of Scripture, and the terrible fulfilment of the prophecy of Him that liveth and was dead, and is alive for evermore.' Descending thence, we visited a large Armenian church in the centre of the city. It was newly built, and contained a painting of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the single Eye of Omniscience over all, to guard the purity of His house and worship, much fitted to impress the ignorant and bigoted multitude.

"On the following day we embarked again on board our steamer for Alexandria, and in the evening passed the

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celebrated Island of Scio, another reputed birthplace of the great poet, Homer.

"Seven cities claim'd the birth of Homer dead,

Through which the living Homer begg'd his bread.'

Then come Nikaros and Samos, just beyond, and now we sail among

"The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece,

Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace-

Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung,
Eternal summer gilds them yet,

And all except their sun is set.'

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Here is Tinos and Delos, Coos, Naxos and Paros, all famed in classic history and poetry. The morning sun rises over the Isle of Patmos in the distance, and in two hours more we are passing just beside it. With a good glass I could discern the houses in the village, and the convent that marks the place where the beloved disciple received the sublime revelations of the Apocalypse. It indeed filled the mind with sacred emotions to feel that we were gazing upon the precise spot where angels and the Saviour himself descended to reveal the things which must shortly come to pass.' Here also a door was opened in heaven, and the future glories of the spiritual world, the golden streets of the New Jerusalem, the City of our God, the great white throne and Him that sat upon it, whose face was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, and cherubim and seraphim, and a multitude that no man can number, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, with palms in their hands, clothed in white robes, washed and made pure in the blood of the Lamb, were all made to pass in heavenly vision before the

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mind of the inspired prophet. I took my Bible, and read again and again these divine scenes, and realised as never before their full and glorious truth and power.

"At evening we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset in the sea, such as one rarely sees, even in the Orient, as if to give effect to the impressions of the day, ever changing ever new, such as no artist can pencil. Rising just above the horizon yonder, Patmos seems floating in the distance, like an island of the blest. Two days more of sailing in the open sea brought us safely to our destined port, Alexandria.

"At Alexandria, I called upon the Rev. Mr Brown, missionary of the Free Church of Scotland, and conferred with him in reference to the interests of the Bible cause. He informed me that there was no Bible depôt established in the city, and until recently, very little had been accomplished in circulating the Scriptures. Within the last three months, however, a zealous young man from Beyrout, Mr Spillman, had laboured with much success as Bible colporteur, selling the Scriptures in the streets, from house to house, and among the shipping of all nations in the harbour. Mr Spillman gave me the following list of Scriptures he has thus sold in twelve different languages,-27 Arabic, 39 Italian, 25 Greek, 8 French, 6 Hebrew, 4 Turkish, 6 English, 2 Swedish, 2 Coptic, 2 Armenian, 2 German, 1 Danish; making together 124 copies, for 960 piastres. He has also the encouragement that his labours are attended with immediate good results. He related to me, among others, the following interesting incident :-A Greek of Damascus, living at Alexandria, became convinced, by reading the Bible, of the errors of his church, and the truth of the

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