Protestant), he has the peculiar powers of his species; and can endure an amount of cutting and hacking, without losing his faith, which would altogether destroy the spiritual life of a higher type of Christian. The gift of passive endurance may appear small to those who have it not; but at least it can claim Gospel approval. Even those who do not sympathize with "Mission Effort" usually admit readily that it has called out a wonderful devotion in those who give themselves to it, no matter what the particular form of their Christianity may be. It is true, however, in this as in other things, that "_corruptio optimi, pessima_"; and there is in Urmi and its neighbourhood a good deal of mission work gone bad. The various European missions (the word includes American in this case) are above reproach; none of their members taking more than a sufficient maintenance. But there are various small missions (usually managed entirely by natives but financed from Europe) which simply exist to provide a comfortable living for the native "pastor" who manages them. These profess usually to evangelize the Mussulmans, but as a matter of fact simply gather small congregations of men already Christian from among the relations of the "Missionary." It would be very much better if the good people who support these would put their work under the superintendence of some one of the larger missions in the place; and not install the Oriental in a position where opportunities for fraud are so easy that even a European might easily succumb to them. As for mission work among Moslems, there is practically none, in this province at any rate. Nothing but philanthropic and educational efforts are possible at present, so long as the _sheriat_ or "sacred law" is recognized by every Moslem as immeasurably superior to any civil enactments, and death consequently remains the legal penalty for every apostate from Islam.[110] How can the European missionary (himself necessarily protected) expect success, when he has to call his converts to face daily peril of death which his own European status forbids him to share?