ad
been in the hands of the people for more than ten years. It is not
known indeed how much they had been used; but where there had been
no personal intercourse with missionaries, not a single radical
conversion of the soul unto God had come to the knowledge of the
missionaries.

Commodore Patterson visited Beirut during the summer with the U. S.
ship _Delaware_ and schooner _Shark_; principally, as he said, to do
honor to the mission, and to convince the people that it had
powerful friends.

Ten interesting young men placed themselves under the tuition of Dr.
Dodge to learn English, and Mr. Smith gave them lessons in geography
and astronomy, of which they knew almost as little as of English. A
school taught by Taunus el Haddad was converted into a girls'
school. A female school was also opened by the ladies of the
mission, assisted by the widow of Wortabet, for which a house was
erected by the subscriptions of foreign residents. The school
contained twenty-nine pupils, of whom three were Moslem children,
and one a Druse, and no opposition was made to it. Religious
instruction was given, of course, and the scholars made good
progress in reading, sewing, knitting, and behavior. The whole
number in the schools exceeded a hundred. Mr. Abbott, the early and
valued friend of the mission, died during this year.

In 1835, Mr. Bird was compelled, by the declining health of his
wife, to visit Smyrna. After remaining there nearly a year, and not
receiving the benefit they expected, they came to the United States,
and were never able to return to Syria. Their removal was for a time
an irreparable loss to the mission, and was a severe disappointment
to themselves. In subsequent years, they gladly gave two of their
children to the missionary work in Western Asia. Miss Rebecca W.
Williams arrived this year as a teacher; and in the next year the
Rev. Messrs. Story Hebard and John F. Lanneau, and Miss Betsey
Tilden. In 1835, Mr. William M. Thomson was married to Mrs. Abbott,
the widow of the late English Consul, who, from an early period in
the mission, had given decisive evidence of attachment to the
kingdom of Christ.

The high school, commenced in 1835, took a more substantial form in
the following year. It was wisely decided, that the pupils should
lodge, eat, and dress in the style of the country; and the annual
expenses of each scholar for boarding, clothing, etc., was only from
thirty-five to forty dollars. The course of