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below the horizon; when a discharge of small guns, from the fleet in the harbor, was heard, followed by the evening tattoo. Immediately we perceived the flags of the minarets hoisted, and from a small door on the south side towards Mecca, which opens into a gallery near the top, appeared the criers, whose voices we distinctly heard, as they resounded through the soft air of an Egyptian evening. The whole scene was impressive, yet affecting; while the contrast which was pre sented by the works of creation, and the moral darkness around us, brought forcibly to our minds those lines of Heber,

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"Sabbath Evening, November 1.-To-day we have had our second storm, the first having occurred about ten days since. Both were violent and accompanied with thunder and lightning. My nerves are becoming accustomed to the tremendous peals and vivid flashes of a Mediterranean thunder storm. It is sublime, and at first terrifying, to watch the lightning's play over the deep blue sea; and during the live long night listen to the thunder's roar as it reverberates through the range of Mount Lebanon." p. 290.

We will give a few brief extracts illustrating the character of Mrs. Smith's practical missionary feelings. Our first quotation is invaluable.

"I need not dwell long, at present, upon the highest requisite qualification for a missionary, though I should love to occupy many pages with it. You will readily believe that no common degree of love to God and love to man, will suffice for a foundation, in forming yourself to become one. I will only remark, that this must be acquired by daily and prolonged communion with God. You must not only take a few minutes, at regular seasons, for prayer; but you must secure some of your most valuable hours; and so occupy yourself in them as to get near to God: and so as to bring eternal things near to you, that you may throw your entire self into the work which engages his infinite mind; and that every thing beside may dwindle to a point. Although I am very far from setting myself as a standard-on the contrary am continually lamenting my deficiencies; yet I can say, that if I have any heart for my work, I look back upon the hours of retirement and devotion which, before 1 knew my destination, were spent in my own chamber, in my father's house, and when the beautiful stars of the morning were my only lightas the means of obtaining this heart. I have also found great profit from whole days of private fasting and prayer. You will derive particular benefit from such seasons, having a known and definite object in view. If you pursue an undeviating course of secret devotion, without neglecting your active duties, your soul will gradually rise to higher and still higher perceptions of truth and personal obligation; and when you reach the land of darkness, where, within the loyal dominions of the prince of the power of the air,' even the regenerate have greater struggles with their depraved natures; past joys and motives will come back SECOND SERIES, VOL. III. NO. I.

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upon your soul to refresh and strengthen you; and like David, you will remember God from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites, and from the hill of Mizar." " p. 228-9.

"Have you not thought that missionaries are in danger of placing too high a value upon the sacrifice which they make, in consequence of the sympathy, and, perhaps, I may say, pity, with which they are regarded by those whom they leave behind? I long to see the churches at home feel that they are only discharging an obligation to the Redeemer, when they send their best, their fairest, their most beloved to distant regions to declare his name." p. 279.

"I am hoping to live here to be very old; if so, I think that in thirty, or forty, or fifty years, I may behold some important changes for the better."

p. 327.

"As I was walking before breakfast upon the terrace of Mr. Bird's house, I saw a group of females who had just returned from worshipping amid

The pomp that charms the eye,
And rites adorned with gold.'

There is almost a moral certainty that after these, my sisters, have stepped beyond the boundaries of time, not a ray of comfort will ever beam upon them, through the endless duration of their existence. So overwhelming was the impression of that moment, that I felt I could not live long, should it continue. My husband joined me in my walk just then, and we talked over these affecting truths; and felt, as I hope we shall continue to do, that our very existence should be identified with them." p. 183.

We give the following from different parts of the book as interesting incidents of pious feeling. Speaking of the death of the Rev. Mr. Dodge, missionary at Jerusalem:

"When I was an inmate of his family, I found that he uniformly rose very early; and from his increasing spiritual views and tender sensibilities, it was evident that he held much communion with God. His case confirms me in the long-cherished belief that secret prayer is the key to holy living and a happy death." p. 222.

"I find it quite another thing to be the mistress of a family, from what it was to be a daughter in a father's house. The former station involves a thousand cares, of which in the other I had no knowledge. And in this land too, which furnishes no external aid, but on the contrary every thing to impede the progress of moral influence, the spirits sometimes sink beneath the weight of responsibility. However, I love to think that the Saviour pleased not himself, even on the Sabbath so should I rejoice to give the whole seven days to him and to my fellow beings." p. 290.

We had marked for insertion, in this place, several miscellaneous things in her journal of various interest.

"A servant woman of Mrs. Whiting, who has now lived long enough with her to love her and appreciate her principles, about a year and a

half since remarked to some of the Arabs, that the people with whom she lived, did not lie, nor steal, nor quarrel, nor do any such things; but, poor creatures,' said she, they have no religion.'" p. 215.

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"If those females in America, who decline leading the devotions of a social circle, feel any thing of the reluctance which I felt in attempting to pray in the native tongue, I pity more than I blame them; yet if they would cast themselves upon God, as I was enabled to do, I doubt not that similar strength would be imparted. My first effort of the kind, in this difficult language, was with my little girl, and I pursue it regularly." p. 231.

Her husband says:

"One who should have gone into the school, would have found Mrs. Smith seated on a low stool, with six or eight bright little girls, half surrounding her, and in their eagerness to catch her instructions bending forward till their heads often formed a semicircle very near her own; while their lively faces, and animated inquiries, showed the interest excited by the words that fell from her lips. The scene was edifying to those who constantly witnessed it; and she was often heard to affirm, that she never had a more interesting and improving class at home, than this which she here trained up, of untutored Arab girls." p. 389. "We find the children quite as capable of forming musical sounds as those in our own country; but alas, we have no hymns or psalms adapted to their capacities. The Arabic cannot be simplified like the English, without doing violence to Arab taste; at least, such is the opinion now'. What changes may be wrought in the language we cannot tell." This obstacle in the instruction of the young here, you have not perhaps thought of. American youth have extraordinary privileges. It is a painful thought to us, that children's literature, if I may so term it, is incompatible with the genius of this language; of course, infant school lessons must be bereft of many of their attractions. Mr. Smith and Mr. Whiting have each superintended a translation of the first part of the ، Child's Book on the Soul ;' the use of which must prove its adaptedness to Arab children." p. 296.

The book spoken of below was a pocket Testament, and the lines here quoted, were written by her on one of its blank leaves, probably not far from the close of her life.

"When you presented me with this precious little book, my dear brother, you probably did not expect to see it again. It has been my companion in all my wanderings since I left my native land. And now I return it to you, for the single reason, that it has made a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane. In that spot I seated myself, and in solitude. perused, Matthew xxvi. 36-56, with peculiar feelings; and then I plucked the sprig which you will find herein. Take this little Testament to your communion table, and urge upon your church, once more, the parting command of their suffering Saviour.

p. 332. SARAH L. SMITH."

The compiler makes the following just remarks in the beginning of the chapter which describes Mrs. Smith's residence at Beyroot.

"It is doubtless proper that missionaries should be contemplated, not only in their labors, cares and trials, but also in their social character and enjoyments; and in those pleasant local circumstances in which Divine Providence places them, conducive to their comfort and happiness. If there be any Christian in the wide world, to whom a pleasant residence, and the enjoyments of social life, and of a cultivated taste and intellect, are desirable and reasonable, it is the missionary. And the Christian at home, of generous sentiments, will rejoice to know that the laborer' whom his contributions are sustaining in a foreign land, finds some of the same temporal blessings which are bestowed upon himself and will never take it up as a reproach against him, that be finds enjoyment in his field of service." p. 269.

Let us now hear Mrs. Smith's description of her place of residence.

"You would perhaps like to have me give you some description of our residence. It belongs to one of the wealthiest and most respectable families in Beyroot; is situated in the midst of gardens of mulberry trees, retired from the road, yet very accessible. It is built of stone, with a flat roof; and beside the rooms of the press, has upon the lower floor, a kitchen, store-room, lumber-room, servant's room and bath; all of which surround a large covered court, opening upon a pretty little flower garden, between which and the court is an awning of grape vines, whose luxuriant fruit is beginning to enrich our social board. Upon the second story, which we occupy, are a large dining-room, a bed-room, study, room for R., my little girl, and two rooms beside are now being built. These occupy the sides of a beautiful open court, where we can sit and gaze upon the illimitable sea which stretches out before us; and every evening we may see the sun sink behind its peaceful waters. The morning and evening skies here are brilliant beyond description. When bright aurora streaks the eastern sky,' before the sun shows his head above Mount Lebanon, we rise from our undisturbed slumbers, and after a season of retirement, Mr. Smith works in the garden an hour, which greatly promotes his health and cheerfulness; and when he comes up at 7 o'clock to prayers, he seldom fails to bring me a rose, jessamine, or carnation pink, to add to the choice bouquet upon my work table. The flower garden contains orange, lemon, and pomegranate trees in full bearing; and behind the house is a garden somewhat larger, containing apple, peach, plum, apricot, and mulberry trees.

In reading my description of our situation you must remember that this is the dry season of the year, and that next winter, when the porous walls admit the rain and damp, we shall perhaps sometimes think of your superior comforts. In taking this house, we had in view accommodating the press, as well as promoting our own health; and we often speak of the overruling Providence which has furnished us with so pleasant a spot." p. 273-4.

As married men and students, we must not omit the following. Speaking of Mr. Smith's arduous labors in connection with the press, the entire responsibility of the preaching in Arabic, the Sabbath School, and the service in English every alternate Sabbath, she adds:

"He has, however, a most delightful study, in the most airy and conspicuous part of the house, looking forth upon the waters of the azure sea, and the verdure of the variegated landscape which intervenes." p. 295.

In the name of all literary husbands, we affix to the above our heartfelt commendation.

If any one, in reading the two last extracts, is tempted with Iscariot's feelings at the alabaster box of ointment, we commend him to the following passages:

"Last year, you recollect, we lived in one room at the mountains, where we were favored with nightly visits from jackalls.”

"Mr. S. returned on Saturday, at noon, after a fatiguing ride. He found some favorable opportunities for religious conversation; but he says that he thinks that Satan employs filth and vermin to deter mission aries from seeking intercourse with his subjects. Missionaries who are stationary can enjoy cleanliness and comforts in their own habitations, however humble they may be; but those who itinerate,' without purse or scrip,' depending upon the accommodations which the country affords, have actual experience of the self-denial which our Saviour and his followers exercised. I can readily imagine what groups surrounded the be, nevolent Saviour in his wanderings, whom his disciples sometimes wished to drive from his presence, but never with his consent." p. 283-4 "Sometimes when I am occupying an early hour in the few domestic cares in which I allow myself, and half a dozen Arab females parade into the room, I am obliged to summon all my benevolence and recollection, to enable me to perform the rites of hospitality with perfect cheerfulness. For this cause was I sent,' are words which frequently come into my mind, of late, when thus interrupted." p. 235.

Here is a missionary trial which we, at home, do not feel every time that we receive letters:

"I cannot be sufficiently thankful that my own dear family circle remains unbroken. 1 never receive a parcel from America, without lifting up my heart to God that I may be prepared for whatever intelligence it may contain." p. 236.

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