"To get a firm footing," they say, "among a people of a strange speech and a hard language; to inspire confidence in some, and weaken prejudice in others; to ascertain who are our avowed enemies, and who are such in disguise; to become acquainted with the mode of thinking and feeling, with the springs of action, and with the way of access to the heart; to begin publicly to discuss controversial subjects with the dignitaries of the Church, and to commence giving religious instruction to the common people; to be allowed to have a hand in directing the studies and in controlling the education of the young; and to begin to exert an influence, however circumscribed at first, yet constantly extending and increasingly salutary,--all this, though it be not 'life from the dead,' nor the song of salvation, yet is to be regarded as truly important in the work of missions." In the year 1824, the schools were commenced at Beirut, which have since grown into an influential system.

The first was a mere class of six Arab children, taught daily by the wives of the missionaries.
Soon an Arab teacher was engaged, and before the end of the year the pupils had increased to fifty.

In 1826 the average attendance in the free schools of Beirut and vicinity, was more than three hundred; in the following year it was six hundred in thirteen schools, and more than one hundred of these pupils were girls.

The Arabs were thought to have less quickness than the Greeks, to be less studious and ambitious, and more trifling, inconstant, and proud of little things; but many of them were lively and promising, and did themselves honor by their punctuality and application.

The Romish ecclesiastics were very hostile to all these schools.
It was in the summer of 1825, that Asaad el-Shidiak became first personally known to the mission, as the instructor of Mr.King in the Syriac language.