The most determined opposers of the mission at this time were the Papists, who spared no pains in exciting prejudice among the Armenians. The Papal Armenians were estimated at from fifteen to twenty thousand, and according to usage in Turkey they had a Patriarch of their own. This functionary came out with a public denunciation of all Protestant books, including the New Testament. He even forbade the receiving of copies of the Armenian Scriptures in the ancient language, which had been printed at their own press in Venice, and were purchased, several years before, by the British and Foreign Bible Society for sale at a reduced price or gratuitous circulation. There was so much desire for religious instruction among the Armenians, that two weekly meetings, in the Turkish language, were established in Constantinople, one conducted by Mr. Goodell, the other by Mr. Schauffler. Their houses were frequented by ecclesiastics as well as by laymen, and some of the former seemed to be sincere inquirers after the truth. One of them, attached to the patriarchal church, proposed that they publish a revised edition of the modern Armenian New Testament; and offered to subscribe five hundred piastres, or somewhat more than twenty dollars, towards the object, and also to procure aid from others. It was a favorable sign, that bishops and vartabeds began now to give instructions from the sacred Scriptures, instead of the legends of the saints. It subsequently appeared, indeed, that most of them were influenced in this more by public opinion, than by personal interest in the subject. They probably had exaggerated notions as to the actual prevalence of evangelical sentiments. Female education, which had been almost entirely neglected, began now to receive attention, both at Constantinople and at Smyrna. No regular school, indeed, had as yet been opened for females in the former place, but a few parents were providing means for the instruction of their daughters, and one of the evangelical brethren had a class of twelve Armenian girls. In Smyrna, a school for Armenian girls was opened by the mission in a commodious room, with desks, benches, and cards, and was commenced with the express approval of influential men in the community. More than forty girls attended it the first week. But an influential Armenian made such an appeal to the national pride of his countrymen, that the community assumed the charge of the school, and refunded what the mission had expended on it. At Constantinople, Der Kevork, the most learned of the fifteen priests ordained in 1833, was at the head of a school of four hundred boys, supported by his countrymen and having no connection with the mission. Kevork boldly introduced the custom of daily reading and explaining the Scriptures. He also selected twenty of his most promising scholars for the critical study of the New Testament.