he civil war which raged in the country in 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Aiken
went to Hums in April, 1856, but Mrs. Aiken died June 20, after having
given promise of rare usefulness among the women of Syria.

After Mr. Wilson left Hums, a faithful native helper, Sulleba Jerwan,
was sent to preach in Hums. His wife, Luciya Shekkoor, had been trained
in the family of Rev. W. Bird in Deir el Komr, and was a devoted and
excellent laborer on behalf of the women of Hums. In October, 1862, one
of the more enlightened men among the Greeks was taken ill, and sent for
Pastor Sulleba to come and make him a religious visit. He went, and
found quite a company of relatives and friends present. The sick man
asked him to read from the Word of God, and among the passages selected,
was that containing the Ten Commandments. While he was reading the
_Second_ Commandment, the _wife_ of the sick man exclaimed, "Is that the
Word of God? If it is, read it again." He did so, when she arose and
tore down a wooden painted picture of a saint, which had been hung at
the head of the bed, declaring that henceforth there should be no idol
worship in that house. Then taking a knife, she scraped the paint from
the picture, and took it to the kitchen to serve as the cover to a
saucepan! This was done with the approbation of all present. The case
was the more remarkable, as it was one of the first cases in Syria in
which a woman has taken such a decided stand against picture-worship and
saint-worship, in advance of the rest of the family.

In the year 1863, before the ordination of Pastor Sulleba, there being
no Protestant properly qualified to perform the marriage ceremony in
Hums, I went to that city to marry two of the Protestant young men. It
was the first time a Protestant marriage had ever taken place in Hums,
and great interest was felt in the ceremony. It is the custom among the
other sects to _pronounce_ the bride and groom husband and wife, neither
giving an opportunity to spectators to object, nor asking the girl if
she is willing to marry the man. The girl is oftentimes not consulted,
but simply told she is to marry such a man. If it pleases her, well and
good. If not, there is no remedy. The Greek Church gives no liberty in
this respect, although the priest takes it for granted that the friends
have satisfied both bride and groom with regard to the desirableness of
the match. If they are not satisfied, the form of the ceremony gives
neither of them the