of bread a day, and a cup of water."

To this dungeon there was no access or outlet whatever except a
small loop-hole, through which they passed him his food. Here he lay
several days, and its ever-increasing loathsomeness need not be
described. No wonder he cried: "Love ye the Lord Jesus Christ
according as He hath loved us, and given himself to die for us.
Think of me, O ye that pass by; have pity upon me, and deliver me
from these sufferings."

A certain priest, who had been a former friend of Asaad, was touched
with compassion, and by perseverance succeeded in once more opening
his prison doors, and taking off his chains. But he also became
suspected in consequence of his kindness to Asaad, and it is not
known how long the sufferer was allowed this partial freedom. One of
his brothers visited him in 1828, and found him inclosed within four
solid stone walls, as in a sepulchre "full of all uncleanness." In
1829, there appears not to have been any mitigation of his
sufferings. For three years or more, the priestly despot had him
under his heel, and inflicted upon him the greatest amount of
suffering compatible with the continuance of life.

His death is supposed to have occurred in October, 1830. Public
opinion was divided as to the cause and manner of it. The Patriarch
said it was by fever. There is the same uncertainty as to the manner
of his burial. But though thrown down into the ravine and covered
with stones, as was alleged, his dust will ever be precious in the
eyes of the Lord.

Asaad maintained his Christian profession to the last, and he must
ever have an honorable place among the Christian martyrs of modern
times.

Soon after the capture of Acre by Ibrahim Pasha, in 1832, Mr. Tod,
an English merchant, accompanied by Wortabet, obtained an audience
with him, and made known the case of Asaad. The Pasha directed the
Emir Beshir to furnish ten soldiers to Mr. Tod, with authority to
search the convent of Canobeen by force, if necessary. He was
received by the Patriarch and priests of the convent with dismay.
They asserted that Asaad had died two years before, pointed out his
grave, and offered to open it. The convent was thoroughly searched,
but he was not found, and Mr. Tod was convinced that he was really
dead.1

1 _Missionary Herald_ for 1833, pp. 51-57.

When it is considered how severely and in how many ways Asaad was
tried, his faith and constancy appear admirable. His pride of
intellect and aut