l Firman of 1850, nor was it a dead letter. A year afterwards
Dr. Jewett, while admitting that it was inefficient in certain
respects, declared it to have been in an important sense, a
quickening spirit. "Never," he says, "within the same space of time,
has there been as much religious discussion with the Mussulmans as
since the issue of the late firman, and never before, I think, has
there been such a spirit of religious inquiry among Mohammedans, and
readiness to discuss the merits of the Christian religion, as has
been evident during the past year. It has awakened hope of a good
day even for the Moslems." A few years later, Dr. Goodell, speaking
of it says: "To the Protestant communities here, and to all who live
godly in Christ Jesus, this Hatti Humaioun is a boon of priceless
value. Heretofore its principal use was to secure us from the
molestation of these corrupt churches, but we have now begun to test
its importance with reference to the Mohammedans themselves. Only a
few years since, the headless bodies of apostates from the
Mohammedan faith might be seen lying in the streets of the great
city. But now such apostates may be seen at all hours of the day
walking these same streets without any apparent danger, urging the
claims of Christianity even in the very courts of the royal mosques,
and teaching and preaching in the chapel, in the private circle, and
sometimes even in the palaces of the great, that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And all this wonderful
security is, under God, owing entirely to the Hatti Humaioun." He
adds, "It is said that the Turkish government is sometimes guilty of
violating some of the great principles of that document. And who
that knows anything of human nature, or of the history of our race,
ever supposed they would not be guilty of it? To suppose the
contrary would be to suppose the Turk advanced very much farther
towards perfection than any other nation on the face of the earth."

A correspondence arose, about this time, in the old Armenian Church,
between those who inclined towards the Papal Church and those who
were opposed, and it was gratifying to see that the principal
Armenian newspaper, published under the sanction of the Patriarch,
drew its arguments almost wholly from the Scriptures, scarcely
anything being said of the Councils, or of the Fathers.

The out-stations of Nicomedia, Adabazar, Rodosto, Baghchejuk, and
Broosa were prosperous. A Protestant