Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1851-01-08
PRESENT STATE OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES.

At recent meeting o The AslaHc ooclety, tne oec
retary read memoir by Captain J. T. Newbold, or
the present condition of the seven Churches of Asia
mentioned in the revelation, which the writer has re-
Gently visited He observes that the history OF these
interesting localities is we'll known; but their present
condition has been little adverted to.
He begins his account with the church of Ephesus
the first mentioned by 81. John, and that which still
maintains its ecclesiastical superiority in giving title
to the Greek Archbishop while others have only Bish
ops at their head though is low in statistical i'm
portance. The port Of Epbesns is now choked ur
by pesferous morass, and lonely walls, tenanted
only by the jackals, occupy the site Of the once
populous city. The village of Ayasaux stands a.
bout mile from the ruins and contains about forty
scattered cottages, one only enaned by o, christian
The mosque of the village contains only four gran.
te columns, said to have belonged to the Temple o
Diana, whose ruins are still visible near the port
The mosque is in decay, like the Christian church,
and everything appears be in the last stage of dis
solution Captain Newbold noticed that some Of the
granite which formed part of the ancient temple had
exfoliated, evidently from extreme heat, and he sug-
gested that this might have happened when the tenn.
ole was consumed by fire.
Smyrna the most fourlshing Of the whole, is an
increasing city. lis population, which twenty years
ago was about 1000, is now $4,000, and is rapidly
increasing There are five Greek, three Latin and two
Protestant churches. The Greeks have numerous
schools, and the Latins college but the Protestant
schools have failed. The Greek church at Smyrna
continues in flourishing condition.
Pergamos is the most prosperous oil the churches
after Smyrna The population is $4,000 OF whom
$4,000 are Turks, and nearly all the rest Christians
The Christian quarter contains two Greek churches
and one Armenian.
Close TO the ancient church, Capt. Newbold found
Greek school, where the pupils were seated on mar.
BILE tombstones which formed the pavement of the
school. He gives copies of three of the Inscriptions
there, none of which have hitherto been published.
Thyatira is still Aourishng town. It had been
lost to the Christian world from the fall of Consan-
tinople, under the Turkish name of Aikhissan until
brought TO light in The seventeenth century. The
population is about 10000 0of whom 1900 are Greeks
and 1900 Anenians, each having church; The form
said to be the site of the apocalypiic church.
Capt Newbold copied several Inscriptions there.
Sardis, the ancien. capital of Croesus, is now more
desGlate than Ephesus. Scarcely house remains
The melancholy Gyroeeh lake, the swampy plain of
The Hermus, and the thousand mounds forming the
metropolis of the Lydian monarchies, among which
rises conspicuously the famed tumulus of Ayaltes,
produce scene Of gloomy soemnity. Massive ru-
ins Of buildings still remain, the wall of which is
made up of sculptured pieces of Corinthian lonice
columns that formed portions Of the ancient Pa
gan temples. The Pactoluo, famed for its golden
sands, contains gold, but the sparkling grains Of
mica, with which the sand abounds, have probably
originated the ep,het. Captain Newbold suggests
that the singular umuli of Sardis deserves to be O.
pened, and recommends The subject 10 the attention
Of the society.
Philadelphia has population of 10000 Turks,and
5000 Greeks. It contains twenty-five churches, all
small and mean, but containing fragments of ancient
sepuchres. massive ruin was pointed out as the
church of the apocalypse.
Laodicea,whose fate had been forgotten for centu-
ries, brought to light in the seventeenth centu-
ry 1t was. and is mass of desolae ruins. The hills
on which it stands have been supposed to be volca
hic, but enormously. They are composed Of aque
Gus beds, chiefly limesone.-Church Of England
| MAGAZINE.