tion to
the Pentateuch, previously completed, he had gone through seven of
the Minor Prophets, and commenced upon Isaiah.

The author made his second visit to this mission in 1855, on his
return from India. During this visit he accompanied Dr. Smith to Ain
Zehalty, a place of difficult access in the heart of Lebanon, where
Mr. and Mrs. Lyons were residing, with no one to speak the English
language, in order the sooner to learn the Arabic. There, through
the teachings of a native brother from the church at Abeih, the
people had lost all confidence in the ceremonies and superstitions
of their Church. The priest, after making vain attempts to bring
them back, left the place in disgust, and begged the bishop to send
him elsewhere. He was obliged to return, however, and as his flock
would not support him, a salary was given him by the bishop, in the
hope of ultimately recovering them to his fold. The experiences of
this little community of Protestants will again claim our attention.

It was now agreed to leave Aleppo, and northern Syria from Kessab
northward, to be cultivated by the Armenian mission; since the
language in that region was chiefly the Turkish.

The Rev. Messrs. Edward Aiken, Daniel Bliss, and Henry H. Jessup,
and their wives, were added to the mission in this year. Mrs. Aiken
died at Hums before she had completed a residence in the field of
half a year. In November, one of the older missionaries, the Rev.
George B. Whiting, finished his course, after a devoted service as a
missionary through a fourth part of a century.1 Mrs. Whiting
returned, in poor health, to the United States.

1 For an obituary notice of Mr. Whiting by Mr. Calhoun, see
_Missionary Herald_ for 1856, pp. 129-133.

The Gospel was preached statedly at sixteen places. At four of
these--Beirut, Abeih, Sidon, and Hasbeiya--churches had been
organized. Fifteen members were added during the year 1856. The
number admitted from the beginning was one hundred and six, of whom
eighty were living and in regular standing. The average number of
hearers was about four hundred and twenty; but the whole number was
of course much larger. The sons-in-law of the old Emir Beshir, the
unrelenting persecutor no longer among the living, were among the
firmest friends of the mission, and his grandchildren were in its
schools. The anathemas of the Maronite clergy, once so terrific, had
lost their power. Light was spreading; and though there was not a
correspond