place it on a broader and firmer
basis.

The change in the Armenian community, in the course of five or six
years, had been very encouraging. At the beginning of that time,
some were truly interested in the things of religion, and the
missionaries had religious conversation with many. But by far the
greater part then came for the purpose of general inquiry, or to see
the philosophical apparatus, or hear a lecture on the sciences; and
it was matter of joy, if mere human knowledge could be made the
entering wedge to their minds for the knowledge which is divine. How
marked the change! They now came in large numbers, drawn by the
power of the truth of God alone, not to inquire about electricity,
or galvanism, as before, but about the eternal destiny of the soul,
and the way by which it might be saved. There had been, also, a
favorable change in the general style of preaching at the capital;
and among the people there was a growing disposition to compare
every doctrine and practice with the Scriptures. This the vartabeds,
or preachers, could not disregard. It was not an uncommon thing to
hear of sermons on Repentance, the Sabbath, the Judgment-day, etc.;
and sometimes the preachers were largely indebted for their
materials to the publications of the mission. Indeed, one of the
most respectable vartabeds in Constantinople made repeated
applications to the missionaries to furnish mutter for his sermons.
Instances of pungent convictions of sin became more common. Some who
had been drunkards, gamblers, adulterers, and downright infidels,
were thoroughly converted, and exhibited that humility, purity,
spirituality, and Christian zeal, which are the fruits of the Spirit
alone. The older converts, also, appeared to grow in the knowledge
of Christ, and one striking characteristic was an active zeal for
the salvation of others.

Vertanes was full of hope and activity. It is mentioned by Mr.
Dwight, in his excellent "History of Christianity in Turkey," that a
report reached Constantinople, in the spring of 1841, that a
considerable number of Armenians in Nicomedia, members of the old
Church, had become disaffected, and were about going over to the
Jesuits; and that the Patriarch commissioned this same Vertanes to
go thither with all speed, and endeavor to bring them back to their
Mother Church. He was successful in the object of his visit; and
while he heartily and faithfully obeyed the Patriarch, and
endeavored to persuade men n