The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1875-09-08
Central 4rt5bgtrrlan.
, For TIE CENTRAL PREssrrsRrAN.
LETTER FROM GREECE.
SALoN1cA, July 10Th, 1875.

your debt Tor the long ana goou leseeI, 10
ceived some time since, and written SO
smoothly and firmly las to the handWriting')
that it might pass for one from the hand OF
younger man than you or myself.
1 am in the old ThsssalOnica as you see;
or rather on the spot which was its site.
may, think, somewhat less regret my delay
of duty in answering your letter, for the rea-
son that anything written from here may
have somewhat more Of interest than even
what might write from Athens. We have
come (Bro. Kalopothakes and myself to
make a visit of comfort and counsel to Bro
MIichaeides, our missionary laborer in this
city, and the little flock already beginning to
be gathered here. And | have been 50
much interested in the visit as made, that
1 am glad to have the occasion to write you
about It.
We came by one Of the French steamer
lines running from Mar8eilles; which makes
the Piraeus one of its points, as well as VO-
los at the head of the gulf Of that name
There we are hoping to establish man who
shall be Bible Society colpOrteur and evan
gelist. DR.. KalopOthakes having charge of
the Bible work for the American Bible So
ciety in Greece proper and some Of the ad-
iaeent parts, and Volos being a rising place,
ike some of our American towns.
This city, (SalOnica,) is at the head of the
gulf to which it has given its name, and
which is 50 enclosed by bending shores as to
make the upper part of it look like great
lake. The population of the place is reck-
oned at some ninety thousand. Of these
some fifteen or twenty thousand are Greeks;
the rest being Turks and Jews. These sl,
with the many Bulgarians who live here or
resort hither, make the streets and Bazaars
a real Babel, as to costumes as we'll as
tongues. A good part of the city IS what
you will remember the Turkish and Jewish
quarters Of Smyrna to have been when you
were there; crooked, narrow and dirty
streets, as your sea, captain would have said
in words of his about the weather that you
used to quote, sail sorts of houses, from
the most miserable abOdes, land you will be
surprised to learn that some of the worst are
inhabited by Jews, up to quite stately man
sions of rich Greeks, Turks and Jews. But
there happened, few years ago, to be a
bold, enterprising governor here, Mlddat
Pasha. who had been for a while Grand
Vizier to the Sultan, and who determined to
improve things in SalOnica; and for once,
Turkish despotic power proved better than
repubhcanism; for Middat Pasha not only
tore down a great deal of the great outside
wall of the city, ages upon ages old, but went
to work to make some straight and good
streets, from one end of the city to the 9TH
er, and at right angles to each other. In
carrying through this design, he cut through
and pulled down houses just as might be
needed, and did not always spare even the
"dsammia" (mosques) themselves. So now
the main street of the city, within few
yards of which I am writing, runs clear
through it, and is intersected by several at
right angles, entirely or partly opened and
running down to the water, and it is surpris-
ing to see the change that is taking place in
the buildings on these streets. No doubt
many curses were poured on the head OF the
bold Pasha, but they begin already to bless
him. The city has become much more airy
and healthy, indeed is said to be this sum-
mer remarkably healthy. | have not men
toned the bazaars. They are a redeeming
feature of the place, very extensive and
beautiful, unlike anything in our parts of the
world as you know. The city occupies
ground that slopes gradually from the sea,
with a crest of hills back Of it, on which
stands the old castle. have several times
thought since l came here, if this place were
in our country what beautiful city it would
be. It is supposed to have to some extent,
though not perhaps entirely, the same site
with the ancient city, and you can every
where see antique marbles built in the walls
of the city and the houses. You will re-
member how, so many years ago, you and |
went up on Mars Hill, early on the first
morning after our arrival at Athens, and
with what impression we read the latter half
of the 18th chapter of Acts. l have been
reading, with somewhat the same lively i'm
preston, the earlier part of the same chap
ter, along with the two epistles to the Thes-
salonian Christians of old times, not only
feeling that the spot where now am is con-
neeted with the persons and things referred
to in these parts of Holy Scripture, but be-
inc able to look out, from the windows Of
the house where l write, on the mountains,
hills and shores on which Paul, with his mis-
sionary companions, gazed oft-times, no
doubt during their sOjOurn here; among
these the grand old Olympus itself, for it is in
full sight across the gulf, grand, lofty
pile, with its solitary peaks still capped with
snow and partly hidden by aeecy clouds.
But even deeper interest has attached
to my visit here from its connection with our
effort to bring back that same gospel which
the great apostle once preached on this spot,
and which went from here, in the very Ian
guage still spoken by this people, to convey
the light of salvation TO the isles of our an