m, and bought in Beirut a few
Armeno-Turkish tracts, not knowing what they were, only that they
were written in his own native tongue. He read them carefully on his
way home, and liked them so well that he retained them; but not
until Protestants and Protestant books were anathematized in the
churches did he learn their origin. They had been printed in Malta
under the supervision of Mr. Goodell. Soon after this, Der Vartanes,
on a missionary tour through Armenia, spent a night at the convent
in Marsovan. This man was present in the evening, and recognized the
similarity between the teachings of the stranger and his favorite
tracts, but did not dare to speak out before the Vartabed. He
managed, however, to see the good priest alone, and with great
difficulty they contrived to unite in prayer under a tree in the
garden. This was the only evangelical prayer he ever heard till Mr.
Powers visited the place in March, 1851. We need not say how
cordially he was received by the owner of the tracts; nor by him
alone, for the missionary could scarcely get a moment to himself day
or night. No wonder Mr. Powers felt that God had good things in
store for this people. When he returned in July, he was disappointed
in not being met by his friend, till he learned that six weeks
before he had been dragged from his bed at midnight, and sent a
prisoner with four others to Amasia, a town twenty-four miles
distant. There for two weeks they were shut up with the vilest
criminals, and one day they were chained together, two and two. The
charge brought against them by the governor and council of Marsovan
was, that they had made a violent assault upon the court. Nor would
the Pasha of Amasia, who, according to Turkish custom, had "eaten" a
large bribe, listen to any denial of the preposterous accusation.

The outrages which they suffered at length produced such an
excitement at Marsovan, that the primates hastened to give an order
for their release. The spirit of religious inquiry now greatly
increased, and a large number signed a petition to be set off from
the Armenian Church as Protestants.

Mr. E. E. Bliss visited Marsovan in October, and was there three
months. His presence was greatly needed. There had been a decline of
piety, and only a small number of the Protestants retained their
interest in spiritual things. Conversation turned not so much on the
truths of the Gospel as on the errors of the Armenian Church; nor so
much on these as o