Forty years in the Turkish empire Author:William Goodell Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: HEAD-QUARTERS AT BEYROOT. 85 CHAPTER VI. ALTHOUGH Mr. Goodell had entered Syria with the full expectation of going to Jerusalem to make it the scene of his... more » labors, it soon became evident that the point where, in the providence of God, they first landed and were detained was one of great importance in connection with the mission work. Jerusalem was then in a disturbed state, and events soon after transpired which made it doubtful whether they could go there at all with their families. Beyrout, on the other hand, enjoyed British protection ; and Mr. Abbott, the consul, took a warm interest in the missionaries personally, and in the cause in which they were engaged. The trade, too, with other parts of the Mediterranean was rapidly increasing, and the free communication with the interior afforded an opportunity for exerting a wide-spread influence. They determined, therefore, to go on with the work which had opened so auspiciously, and here they continued to labor with encouraging success. Mr. Kin!, who had gone to Jerusalem in January, 1824, and who was there arrested on an accusation of distributing " books which were neither Mussulman, Jewish, nor Christian," returned in May; and Messrs. Good- ell and Bird prepared to begin anew in Syria the proclamation of the Gospel which had been heard in that land eighteen hundred years before, the echoes of which had long since died away. Beyrout thus became the head-quarters of missionary operations in Syria; and as it was the only spot where missionary homes were established, it was frequently visited by the different missionary brethren who had come to the country. Mr. King spent much of his time at a monastery in Mount Lebanon, engaged in the study of Arabic; but he often joined the families on the coast. Pliny Fisk, who was engag...« less