The threat against it has been almost literally fulfilled, but still its candlestick has not been removed out of its place, like that of Ephesus. Pergamos has, in a measure at least, been saved from destruction; and though in the midst of a blindness and poverty sadly contrasted with her former privileged condition under the first rays of Gospel light, and amid the treasures of unperverted truth, a portion of her inhabitants still preserve the Christian name and worship.

Mr. Arundell thinks the Christian population of this city has much increased of late,—that of the whole city he considers underrated at fifteen thousand; of which fifteen hundred are Greeks, two hundred are Armenians —who have a church—and about a hundred Jews, with a synagogue: all the rest are Mahomedans.-See Scripture Gazetteer, and ARUNDELL'S Visit to the Seven Churches.

"The grand plain of Pergamos," writes Mr. Arundell, 66 was in full view before us... In the front distance rose the majestic acropolis of Pergamos. We arrived at a mill soon after, and remained there a short time. The miller, a Greek, came up to me, as, seated under a tree, with Pergamos before me, I was reading the message to the angel of that Church, in the Greek Testament. The poor man earnestly begged me to give him some medical assistance: he looked wretchedly ill, and was evidently in a deep decline. I gave him what advice I could, accompanied by a medicine of great efficacy-the book which I was reading. The poor fellow received it most gratefully, lamenting that he could not read himself, but he had children, he said, who should read it to him Towards evening a busy scene presented itself in the plain on both sides of the road: numerous ploughs worked by buffaloes; maize and dari collecting in heaps; and in other places men, women, and children, employed among green crops... At a quarter past six we arrived at Pergamos: the setting sun threw its strong shadows on the stupendous rock of the acropolis and the mountain behind it. The country, immediately

before entering the town, was of an unpromising aspect, rocky and bare of trees; and in the winter must be very desolate, from the greater part of the low ground being covered with water. As we passed, however, under the arches of a bridge, and thence through a burial ground, the view improved much, from the abundance of cypresses, poplars, and other trees. On entering the town, now nearly dark, I was struck by some enormously high masses of walls on the left, strongly contrasting with the diminutive houses beneath and around them. I heard, subsequently, that they are the remains of the Church of the Agios Theologos, or St. John.

"Thursday, Sept. 21st.-I accompanied a Greek priest to his church, the only church at present in Pergamos; it lies on the ascent of the castle hill, and is a poor shed, covered with earth. Though the sun was blazing in full splendour on all the scene without, this poor church was so dark within, that, even with the aid of a glimmering lamp, I could not distinctly see the figures on the screen. On one side of it another priest kept a little school of thirty scholars. I gave him a Testament. The contrast between the magnificent remains of the church of St. John, which lay beneath, and this its poor representative, is as striking as between the poverty of the present state of religion among the modern Greeks, and the rich abundance of Gospel light which once shone within the walls of the Agios Theologos."ARUNDELL'S Visit, &c.

SCRIPTURE NOTICE.

"AND unto the angel of the Church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman, Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery

with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death, and all the Churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations : and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morningstar. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches."-Rev. ii. 18-end.

"We entered the magnificent plain of Thyatira. In about an hour and a half afterwards we reached Ak-hissar, the ancient Thyatira, and alighted at a khan, magnificent for its extent, called the Cotton Khân.'

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"The appearance of Thyatira, as we approached it, was that of a very long line of cypresses, poplars, and other trees, amidst which appeared the minarets of several mosques, and the roofs of a few houses at the right. On the left, a view of distant hills, the line of which continued over the town; and at the right, adjoining the town, was a low hill, with two ruined windmills.

"Thyatira is a large place, and abounds with shops of every description. The population is estimated at three hundred Greek houses. . . thirty Armenian, and one thousand Turkish; nine mosques, one Armenian, and one Greek church. We visited the latter; it was a wretchedly poor place, and so much under the level of the churchyard as to require five steps to descend into it... We intended to give the priest a Testament, but he seemed so insensible of its worth that we reserved it,

as it was our only remaining copy, and bestowed it, afterwards, much better...

Very few of the ancient buildings remain here; one we saw, which seems to have been a marketplace, having six pillars sunk very low in the ground.

We could not find any ruins of churches; and, inquiring of the Greeks about it, they told us there were several great buildings of stone under ground, (which we were very apt to believe, from what we had observed in other places,) where, digging somewhat deep, they met with strong foundations, that without all question have formerly supported great buildings. I find, by several inscriptions, that the inhabitants of this city, as well as those of Ephesus, were, in the times of heathenism, great votaries and worshippers of the goddess Diana. The city has a very great convenience of water, which streams in every street, flowing from a neighbouring hill... it is populous, inhabited mostly by Turks, few Christians residing among them ; those Armenians we found here being strangers who came hither to sell sashes, handkerchiefs, &c. which they bring out of Persia. They are maintained chiefly by the trade of cotton wool, which they send to Smyrna, for which commodity Thyatira is very considerable." "It is this trade," says Rycant, "the crystalline waters, cool and sweet to the taste and light on the stomach, the wholesome air, the rich and delightful country, which cause this city so to flourish in our days, and to be more happy than her other desolate and comfortless sisters."-See ARUNDELL'S Visit, &c.

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Thyatira, April 27, 1826.—I have now the favour to write in the sixth of the Seven Churches. On the way, we observed many columns and antiquities, notifying an ancient town. Mr. Arundell discovered an inscription, containing the words, Trom Thyatira.' hissar, the modern Thyatira, is situated on a plain, and is embosomed in cypresses and poplars. The buildings

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