r friends
joining us from Aleppo, and this would indeed be a great comfort.

[33] All these reports were mere fables, got up for the
purpose of deceiving the people.

_June 11._--This day has made manifest that more judgments are coming
upon the city, and instead of a _Firman_ in favour Daoud Pasha,
bringing peace, we can hear the sound of the cannon of the new Pasha.
He will little regard the _Firman_ that has come from the Sultan, if
it has really come, and which being here universally believed to have
been procured through the instrumentality of our Ambassador, places
the English in no very acceptable position; but the Lord is our tower,
yea, our high tower, and into _him_ we run. The enemy is now about six
miles off, and the whole city is in a state of commotion that cannot
be described, every one armed with swords, pistols, and guns,
preparing for the expected contest. O Lord, we commend ourselves to
thy holy keeping, for thou neither slumberest nor sleepest. When all
the difficulties of these countries follow upon one another as rapidly
as they have of late done here, it seems very difficult to see how the
word of life is to go forth as a testimony. Yet it will; for the Lord
hath said it; therefore let not our hearts fail, or our hands hang
down, for the Lord of all circumstances, who governs the most
disastrous as well as the most prosperous, is our own Lord, the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. All the bazaars are
closed, and we are taking in water again at an advanced price. Oh!
Lord, when will thy holy and blessed kingdom of peace come, when the
nations shall learn war no more, but love and light shall flourish in
the Lord! Wherever the blasting influence of Mohammedanism extends,
how iron bound all appears against the truth: yet even this the Lord
will soften by his love, or break by his power. May my soul be daily
more and more sensible of their misery and pride. Poor Mr. Goodell
says, in a letter, that after all the labours the American
missionaries have bestowed in Syria, they scarcely know an individual
to whom their message has been peace, saving in the case of two or
three Armenians of whom they hoped well. No one can imagine the
disheartening feelings that often try the missionary's heart in the
countries where Mohammedanism is professed and dominant, and where
your mouth is sealed. Among heathens, and especially in India, you can
publish your testimony, and this is a great c