A month later, this man much regretted having done so, even under such a pressure, and had no thought of abandoning the new religious life. He continued his efforts to enlighten the dark minds of those to whom he had access, though by so doing, he exposed himself to new trials.1 1 Mr. Peabody, in Missionary Herald, 1846, pp. 265-267. CHAPTER XXIII. THE ARMENIANS. 1846-1848. We are now in the middle of the year 1846. Hitherto no one has voluntarily separated himself from the Armenian community. The so-called "schismatics" were made such by the exscinding act of the Patriarch himself. For nearly six months anathemas had been dealt out in the patriarchal church every Sabbath until many of the people grew weary of them. Through ecclesiastical influence, bread and water were still withheld from many Protestant families by the dealers in those articles, and everything was done that could be done with impunity to afflict those who remained steadfast in the truth; nor did the Patriarch or the magnates give them any hope of relief, except through unconditional submission to their demands. Their only earthly hope was in the Protestant Ambassadors, and in Reschid Pasha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Sir Stratford Canning, the English Ambassador, whose noble efforts for religious liberty in Turkey are worthy of all praise, did not cease urging the government to secure to their Protestant subjects the right of pursuing their lawful callings without molestation. As to sureties for those who were excluded from their shops and business, he represented that the demands of the law might be met by their becoming sureties for one another. He at length succeeded, and Reschid Pasha, who soon became Grand Vizier, gave orders that the Protestants be permitted to resume their business on this condition. A new officer was put in the place of the one who had turned a deaf ear to their petitions. When summoned before him, they declared themselves to be Armenians, and he told them it was "Protestants," whom he was to allow to open their shops. They had never adopted that name, as it had been applied to them by their enemies by way of reproach,--as probably the term "Christian" was to the disciples at Antioch,--but called themselves the "Gospellers," or "Evangelists." But now, whether they wished it or not, they were constrained to adopt the designation of "Protestants."