before him; either to be regarded as mad, or to commit
sin, or to offer up his life; but he was ready, he said, to go to
prison, or to death. He was engaged in daily controversy with the
Patriarch, the Bishop, and others. The main topics on which he
insisted, were the necessity of a spiritual religion in distinction
from mere forms, the sufficiency of Scripture, and the absurdity of
holding the Pope to be infallible. The Patriarch was highly
displeased with these bold sentiments, and gave utterance to cruel
threats, though at other times offering promotion and money.

Asaad objected to the plan of rescuing him by consular authority, as
it might endanger his life. He thought it best to await some
providential opening for his escape. One soon occurred. After a
week, he left the convent at midnight. The mountain paths were
narrow, stony, and crooked, and he often found himself astray,
stumbling over rocks and hedges, wading in brooks, or miring in mud.
Reaching the sea-shore, he found a shelter under which he rested for
a while, and then walked on to Beirut, where he was received most
joyfully. The Patriarch and his train were engaged in morning
prayers when Asaad's escape was announced. There was great
excitement. One man among them, who had sympathized with Asaad,
ventured to speak out in his justification. "You had reason," he
said, "to expect nothing else. Why should he stay with you here?
What had he here to do? What had he to enjoy? Books he had none;
friendly society none; conversation against religion abundant;
insults upon his opinions and feelings abundant. Why should he not
leave you?" Messengers were sent in quest of him in every direction,
but in vain.

Asaad's written account of his experiences during his absence on the
mountains, is very interesting, but there is not room for even an
abridgment of it.1 A few of the incidents may be noted. The chief
object of the Patriarch was to induce him to say, that his faith was
like that of the Romish Church. This he declined doing, as it would
be a falsehood. The Patriarch offered to absolve him from the sin of
falsehood, to which Asaad replied, "What the law of nature condemns,
no man can make lawful." Accompanied by a priest, he visited his own
college of Ain Warka, but gained no light; and the same was true of
his visit to the superior of the convent of Bzummar, who desired to
see him. It is a suggestive fact, that the infallibility of the
Pope, even then, was e