The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-06-16

| saw in Egypt impressed me more.
sent Mahloof back to the hotel that /
might survey the ruins undisturbed by
the presence of any one. The great tenn
pie, and the smaller temple of the sun
close beside it, may have been the work
of the old Romans, but who laid the
foundations of the more ancient structures
once rising from them, and who were the
engineers who could raise stones of such
magnitude and adjust them in their
places in the walls2 Three of these
stones, which lie end to end in the same
course, forty feet from the ground, meas
ure respectively sixty-one, sixty-two, and
sixty-three feet in length, and thirteen
feet in width, and there is another stone
in the quarry, near by, (and never re-
moved from it, which is seventy-one feet
long, fourteen feet wide, and thirteen feet
thick. Three vast columns in one of the
temples and six in the other still tower
over the broken arches, capitals, and col
umns which lie in indescribable confusion
around. There are no other ruins so
grand, and in their very desolation they
are more impressive than any existing
structure The modern Baalbek does not
differ in appearance from other Syrian
towns, and will not waste time in speak
ing of it.
Zah1eh.
The next night L spent at Zah'leh, a
large town built upon the inner slopes of
what looks like mountain ridge, cleft
in twain. The houses rise from the mar
gin of the narrow valley up the inner
clnrNac Of tbo -, IL
splendid amphitheatre, on which nearly
every building stands out in bold relief
had letter of introduction to the Rev
Mr.. Dale, the American missionary at
ZahLeh, and never had kinder or more
cordial reception from any one. He is
greatly encouraged in his work, and is
cheered by seeing it prosper in his hand
l had long and deeply interesting con-
versation with him about missionary work
in the East. He tells me that Bible dis
tributors go through the populous villages
of Syria with instructions to leave Bible
in every place, not as a gift exactly, but
if people will not buy a copy, the colpor-
teur is expected to exchange it for little
produce of some kind, perhaps barley for
his horse, for anything, in a word, in the
way of barter, in order to enhance the
estimation of the purchaser for the book
which cost him something. DIR. Dale in
forms me that the persecution of Protes-
tants in Zah'leh which once made mission
work difficultand perilous has now ceased.
One Of the last cases of hostility was that
of man of some influence in the town,
who went into the church and cursed the
assembled congregation. The man was
reported to Rustem Pasha, who had him
arrested, his hands tied behind him, and
thus led through the town to prison. This
taught fanatics a lesson. The influence
of the American missions in Syria is seen
in every direction. Midhat Pasha him
self has son at the Syrian college-and
recently he applied to that institution
for two young men for whom he had va
can't official positions. Mr.. Dale had a
service in his new church the night I was
with him at ZahLeh, and at his invitation
l made an address to the native congre-
cation, he interpreting into Arabic, SEN
tence by sentence as [ spoke. I may say,
in passing, that this. kind of speaking is
we'll calculated to teach one brevity and
nciseness-inasmuch as an address ff-
teen minutes long when delivered in Eng
lish is thirty minutes, or more, by the
time it is translated into Arabic. Iparted
with Mr.. Dale with real regret but will
always cherish the most pleasant recol-
lections Of him and Of my visit to Zableh.
Damascus.
The next morning rode over to 81 tora,
where took the Diligence which brought
me to Damascus by 6 o'clock in the even
ing An now, in conclusion, what shall
I say of this city, SO wonderful for its an
tiquity, existing as it did, before the days
of Abraham? Other renowned cities of
the olden time which seemed more likely
than this to survive the desolations of
time have utterly persisted, but Damascus
still fourishes, and like its own rose, seems
annually to renew its life and beauty. It
still has population of more than a hun
dred thousand, and since the Turkish
Sultan, Selim, marched into it nearly
three hundred years ago it has been one
of the provincial capitals Of the Turkish
empire. 1t powerfully affects the imagi-
nation to remember the personages who
have figured here-the great kings and
conquerors who have here held their
courts and celebrated their triumphs-
Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian, Greek, Ro-
man, and Arabian. From Damascus Ben
hadad sent forth the hosts which smote
II