THE MISSIONARIES IN SYRIA. 
273 
it, if it be presented in the unpretending language of its best 
and greatest teacher. But in order to do this, it would seem 
necessary that the mind of the barbarian should be prepared 
in some measure to receive it by a knowledge of the princi¬ 
ples upon which it is founded ; by some practical, tangible 
showing of the difference between right and wrong; by such 
preparatory lessons in civilization, as would enable him to 
perceive the temporal, as well as the spiritual advantage of 
what he was learning. 
The schools attached to the missions throughout the East 
are, in this view, of incalculable service to the cause of Chris¬ 
tianity ; and, although there is perhaps no other part of the 
world where so many difficulties have to be contended against, 
the success which has attended the missionary teachings is 
most remarkable. In Athens, Mr. Hill, by his judicious and 
admirable system of education, gradually inspiring in his 
pupils a love of virtue, and a thirst for spiritual knowledge, 
has made an impression on the hearts and minds of the rising 
generation of Greeks that must eventually spread and become 
general throughout the land. Evangelides, the Greek-Amer- 
ican of Syra, has also done much by his teachings ; and the 
same may be said of all the missionaries and teachers whom 
I met with in the Levant. 
One of the most memorable and delightful evenings of my 
whole pilgrimage was spent in the church of the Rev. Dr. 
Smith of Beirut. There, for the first time in my life, I heard 
the Christian religion expounded in the land of its origin. 
Attracted, as I was strolling by the door of the humble little 
church, by the chaste and classic eloquence of the preacher, 
with whom I was entirely unacquainted, I stepped in and took 
my seat; and I may safely say, that never had I listened to 
a more delightful or instructive discourse. Among the con¬ 
gregation was a large number of intelligent-looking Arabs, in 
their native costume ; and the profound attention with which 
they listened to the teachings of their pastor, and the strict 
decorum and good-breeding evinced in their manner, struck 
me as the most impressive instance of progress in a land of 
darkness and ignorance, toward a better state of things, that 
