cannot perfectly understand them, they may competently understand me.

There are two branches of language which are, comparatively little learned, that is, little exercised, by persons who may nevertheless attain the reputation of being great linguists: these are, the speaking of a language, and the hearing of it spoken so as to understand it. Of these two, the hearing with intelligence is, beyond all comparison, the most difficult; while both of them are, to Missionaries, essential and indispensable acquisitions.

RETURN TO BEIROUT.

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 1823-Having been unwell since the rains began, and fearing to be worse, I set off for Beirout this morning. When I had been on my journey about half-an-hour, the sun rose, in the midst of the most majestic clouds, above the high range of Lebanon. The view of the Palace of Ebtedin was peculiarly noble. But how melancholy are these grand and lovely prospects rendered by reflections on the state of man-the Being who is creeping upon the surface of that earth, which God has so beautifully formed, and which at this early hour He every day so gloriously illuminates! How are our feelings of rapture checked, when, on viewing a lovely scene, we remember that it is the residence of a man-of-blood! The more I know of the people of the East, the greater is the value which I see stamped upon the labours of Missionary Societies.

At Ainep, where we again halted before noon to refresh ourselves, there was a great mourning.

About thirty Sheiks sat assembled in a wide circle near the khan; and thence proceeded up the hill, to assist in the burying of some great man, one of the Druses. One of the company, a most venerable figure with a snowy beard, stood up for some minutes, and harangued the assembly, with apparently much dignified emotion. He seemed to me the very picture of Abraham communing with the Children of Heth. I was particularly struck to observe, that, though of these Sheiks the greater part consisted of Druses, known by their broad-striped dress, yet there were many Christians, who joined in the funeral procession. The house of mourning seems, in every country, to be, in some measure, consecrated to the spirit of amity: there, religious antipathies are at least suspended, if not extinguished; and persons, who would not have thought of meeting in the same Church, yet willingly assemble over one and the same grave,

On my arrival at Beirout, I was soon joined by Mr. Wolff; with whom I spent, during this week, several profitable hours; conferring with him, as I afterward did with the other Missionaries, on a Tract which I am continually preparing relative to the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these latter days,

FASHION OF SPLENDID DRESSES,

Whatever other fashions may have changed in the East-and yet we may truly believe that very few have varied-there is one still stationary, the sight of which carries us back to the remotest Scripture Antiquity: I mean the fashion of splendid dresses. I had a full specimen of it this evening,

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in the lady of the house. She produced from her wardrobe, at least ten heavy outer garments, coats of many colours, embroidered and spangled with gold and silver and flowers. I was weary with her shewing them, at which she seemed surprised. There are some of them as old as the date of her marriage, some still older. They are only worne on great festivals, as Christmas, Easter, &c. when she sits in state to receive her friends, and hands coffee and a pipe to them. It is whimsical, however, to see how her splendid dresses are contrasted with her humble daily occupations: for, in the ordinary duties of the house, she is to be found sweeping out the kitchen, boiling the pot, &c. and she eats her meals when her husband and his friends have finished, sitting on the ground with her children and servants at the parlour-door; and such, generally, is the condition of females in Eastern Countries. She wears an infinity of braids, which hang down all the length of her back, and terminate in gold sequins; which, together with those that she wears on her head, may be worth from five to ten pounds sterling. The advice of St. Peter is quite forgotten in this land. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit appears to be very little known; but the adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, and putting-on of apparel, is most studiously retained. In fact, none can go to greater excess, in this particular, than the Bishops and Clergy themselves; who, on all high festivals, are decked in such gorgeous and almost effeminate robes, as must necessarily lead the fashion, and tend to annihilate the simplicity which becomes Christians.

I have often, in my dealings with the people of

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this country, felt that a most apt motto for them, as serving to remind them of two duties in which they chiefly fail, would be, " LOVE THE TRUTH PEACE." There are no faults which so constantly harass our spirits here, as Falsehood and Vociferation.

GANDOLFI, THE POPE'S APOSTOLIC VICar.

Thursday, Oct. 16, 1823-The Pope's Apostolic Vicar, Monseignior Gandolfi, whose residence at Antoura has been before noticed, being at present in Beirout, I waited on him with our Consul. The remark made with respect to many of the Latins in this country, that such or such an one is no bigot, carries with it a very partial satisfaction to those who desire to see an Ecclesiastic well acquainted with what the Truth is, and sincerely and ardently attached to the Truth, and zealous in its propagation,

The conversation of Monseignior Gandolfi was that of an acute, polite, and social person, who knows the world. He is now about seventy years of age; and came to his present situation before the breaking out of the French Revolution. As Representative of the Pope, he is properly the organ of communication to the Churches of Syria upon subjects of Dogmatical Theology.

His sway, in matters of Discipline, is extremely limited. The professing Roman Catholics among the natives are governed by their own respective Hierarchies: these, of course, keep their own affairs as close as may be; and lay themselves open as seldom as possible to inspection, or interference from Rome. Even the Latin Friars, established in the various Convents from Jerusalem to Aleppo, are not

under his jurisdiction: they have their respective Superiors in Syria and Palestine; who correspond, each with the General of his own Order in Rome. When the Propaganda was in power, and still more when the Jesuits were in authority, the situation now held by Monseignior Gandolfi must have been one of the greatest influence. In reading the "Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses," or the Document hereafter given in this Volume on the subject of Educationa business which was much in the hands of the Jesuits-the magnitude of the office of Apostolic Legate about a hundred years ago, and previously, becomes very apparent.

DRUSES.

A principal topic of our conversation was the remarkable religious divisions in this country. These have been already recorded in the opening part of this Volume. The Druses, universally, are an object of curiosity to all residents and visitors in Syria; and, consequently, they are a frequent subject of conversation: and yet all appear to me equally in the dark, as to what the Druses really are. Some of their peculiar customs or observances are all which writers or persons in the country can describe. One thing noticed by Monseignior Gandolfi seemed to the company an inexplicable wonder in their character. "You shall see," he observed, "a young man among them, dissolute in the highest degree, given to every vice, and altogether unbridled; yet, on his becoming initiated, in an instant his character is changed to sobriety and even rigid virtue: instead of drinking wine freely, he drinks water only: his passions are curbed; his vices seem to drop off from