CHAPTER XIX.

THE NESTORIANS.

1841-1848.

Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, finding a sea voyage necessary for the recovery of her health, left Oroomiah July 5, 1841, and arrived at New York on the 11th of January, just in time to be present at the special meeting of the Board in that city. Their passage from Smyrna had been prolonged to one hundred and nine days, and much solicitude was felt for their safety. They were accompanied by Mar Yohannan, who desired so earnestly to see the new world, that he could not be dissuaded from coming. As the early friend and constant helper of the mission, and as representing one of the most interesting branches of the ancient Church of Christ, he was received by the Board and the religious community with Christian affection, and his visits to different parts of the country with Mr. Perkins were both pleasant and useful.

The number of pupils in the seminary at the close of 1841 was forty-six; there were also eighteen in the boarding-school for girls, and there were twenty free schools in as many villages, all taught by Nestorian priests. The free schools contained four hundred and seventy pupils, of whom forty were girls; making the whole number in the schools five hundred and sixteen. The press, during its first year, sent forth sixteen hundred volumes, and three thousand six hundred tracts, containing in all five hundred and ten thousand pages. Under the superintendence of Mr. Perkins, Mr. Homan Hallock cut and cast a new font of type, modeled on the best Syriac manuscripts. This was in the year 1841. Three years later, Mr. Breath, the printer at Oroomiah, with the help of a native assistant, cut and prepared two sets of type after the most approved forms of Syriac calligraphy. The natives pronounced these types perfect. The two sets resembled each other, the only difference being that in one the stroke was larger and the letter more open. Mr. Breath afterwards prepared a third set, of a medium size compared with the other two.

While the plain of Oroomiah is perhaps one of the most fertile and beautiful in the world, its luxuriant vegetation occasions fevers at certain seasons, and ophthalmia is prevalent. To escape fevers, the missionaries built dormitories on the tops of their flat-roofed houses. This preventive not being found sufficient, a health-station was formed in the elevated village of Seir, about six miles from Oroomiah, where dwellings were provided for two families, which were surrounded by a strong stone wall, to serve as a defense against any sudden incursion of the Koords.

Mr. and Mrs. Perkins and Mar Yohannan embarked at Boston on their return in March, 1843. They were accompanied by the Rev. David T. Stoddard and wife, and by Misses Catherine E. Myers and Fidelia Fiske, who went to promote the education of their own sex among the Nestorians. They reached Oroomiah on the 14th of June, and were received by the Nestorians with great manifestations of joy. Mr. Perkins, while at home, prepared for the press an octavo volume of five hundred pages, entitled "A Residence of Eight Years among the Nestorian Christians." It is in the form of a journal, is illustrated by a map and plates, and is a history of the mission during that time.

The ancient Syriac version of the Scriptures was held in such veneration by the people, that there were strong reasons for making it the basis of the proposed version in the modern language. The case was referred to the Prudential Committee, who decided that the only proper course was to translate from the original Hebrew and Greek, and the translation was made accordingly.

The female seminary at Oroomiah now came under the efficient superintendence of Miss Fiske, and soon assumed a very interesting religious character. The whole number under instruction in the two seminaries, and in the forty-four village free schools, was eleven hundred and forty-two. The call for preaching tasked the capacity of the mission. The missionaries were free to preach in the Nestorian churches, and generally found attentive congregations, and they were aided in the ministry of the word by five intelligent native preachers. Dr. Perkins thus speaks of a congregation at Ardishai: "The church was crowded to overflowing. It would have been difficult for half a dozen more to press themselves into it. Priest Abraham read the first chapter of the Epistle of James, which we expounded for more than an hour, to the great satisfaction of the people, who did not suppress their audible Amen, and ejaculatory comments of approbation. Priest Abraham spoke very appropriately and feelingly on the subject of temptations, applying it to his hearers, who are now so sorely beset by the Jesuits. That crowd of eager listeners presented a thrilling spectacle. I could not help thanking God for the privilege of addressing them on the things that pertain to their everlasting well being."

The efforts of the Jesuits among the Nestorians began in 1838. In 1842, they pushed their proselyting measures so recklessly among the Armenians of Ispahan and Tabriz, as to lead the Persian King, at the instance of the Russian Ambassador, to send them out of the kingdom. A "permanent order" was at the same time adopted, probably on Russian suggestion, growing out of repugnance to the political influence of the Jesuits, that no native Christian should be proselyted from one Christian sect to another. The French government, after some delay, sent an envoy to Persia to effect, if possible, the return of the Jesuits; but before his arrival, they had covertly made their way to Oroomiah, run another race of proselytism among the Nestorians, and been a second time expelled. The French agent therefore took cognizance of both expulsions, and gave the greater prominence to the more recent one, since it had just occurred, and was fresh in mind, and since the Jesuits were just then specially intent on adding the Nestorians to their sect. His demand, however, that they should have leave to return, was refused. He then required the expulsion of the American missionaries, as being obnoxious to the same law. The Russian Ambassador, whose protection the mission had enjoyed since the departure of the English embassy in 1839, denied that it was the object of the mission to proselyte in the sense contemplated by the law. The French envoy then demanded an investigation, and to this the Ambassador and the Persian government readily assented. Two Mohammedan meerzas were sent from Tabriz to Oroomiah to make the investigation. These fell under the papal influence at Oroomiah, and made a report so strongly prejudiced against the mission, that it was thought necessary to send a committee to the capital to counteract their misrepresentations. Messrs. Perkins and Stocking were sent accordingly. Riding rapidly on horseback, many hundred miles, over cold regions just as winter was setting in, and sleeping on the ground at night without beds, with other similar discomforts, seemed to them not the least trial of this undertaking. On their arrival at Teheran, the importance of their errand was very obvious. They found the report of the meerzas bearing manifest traces of Jesuit influence. It made but few tangible charges, yet contained many serious and unjust insinuations. They were able to meet it with satisfactory explanations, and thus the storm passed by, without inflicting the injury which the mission feared. I am not aware that the "permanent order" against proselyting ever proved any serious embarrassment to the mission. The banishment of the Jesuits had not been requested by the Nestorians, nor by the missionaries. The Russian Ambassador assumed the whole responsibility, saying that the business was his own, that he was authorized to protect the Christians in Persia, which could not be done while these papal disturbers remained in the country. An attempt by the Jesuits to wrest from the Nestorians one of their ancient and favorite churches, appears to have been the immediate cause of the decisive measures last mentioned. Of course these papal emissaries returned again, but with a somewhat diminished arrogance.1

1 Manuscript letter from Rev. Justin Perkins, D. D., dated Oroomiah, Persia, March 28, 1844.

There were also embarrassments of a serious nature within the Nestorian community. In the subjugation of the mountain Nestorians, while the Patriarch fled to Mosul, several of his brothers escaped to Oroomiah, and threw themselves on the hospitality of the mission, which of necessity fell short of their wishes. They demanded money of the mission, on the ground that they were the ecclesiastical heads of the people. In this they were unhappily countenanced by the Patriarch, upon whom an influence hostile to the mission had been successfully exerted; who wrote a letter, calling upon the ecclesiastics and people of Oroomiah to oppose the mission and its schools. The people, as a body, had sense enough to refuse obedience. In view of the attitude thus assumed by the patriarchal family, and the questionable conduct of some of the bishops, a thorough reconstruction of the school system was rendered necessary. The seminary for boys and the village schools were accordingly dismissed, and finally the female boarding-school under Miss Fiske. "When this last result was announced to the pupils," writes one of the mission, "there was a general burst of grief. Their tears and sobs told, more expressively than language, the bitterness of their hearts. Nor did they weep alone. And who would not weep at such a scene? Here were those, whom we had hoped to train up for immortal blessedness, about to be sent back to a darkness almost like that of heathenism. The stoutest Nestorians who were standing by were melted. After these tender lambs had been commended to the gracious Shepherd of Israel, they began to make their preparations for leaving us. The most trying thing was the parting, of the pupils from each other, and from those who had been to them as parents. They threw their arms around the neck of their teacher, and said again and again, 'We shall never more hear the words of God.'"

Nearly all the pupils of this seminary returned of their own accord, and after the hostility of the patriarchal family had become known to their parents. Miss Fiske was aided in the instruction by a pious Nestorian deacon. Besides the ordinary instruction, the pupils were taught several useful arts, of which their less favored mothers knew little or nothing; among which were knitting and sewing, and these branches many of the mothers were eager to learn from their children. Moreover they were taught industry, self-denial, benevolence, and the preciousness of time. The boys' seminary was reorganized in the following spring, under the superintendence of Mr. Stoddard; who received a number of promising boys into his family as an experiment, with the understanding that the pupils would reside wholly on the mission premises.

There was still enough of vacillation among the bishops, and of dissatisfaction among the Patriarch's brothers, to raise a question which the mission submitted to the judgment of the Prudential Committee, as to how far it was proper to employ the higher ecclesiastics on wages. The Committee approved of the course which had been pursued in relation to the four bishops on the plain of Oroomiah, Mar Yohannan, Mar Elias, Mar Joseph, and Mar Gabriel; but intimated, while deprecating sudden changes, that the services of the bishops, should they prove troublesome helpers, might be dispensed with gradually. What the Committee feared was, that putting them forward in a manner which had seemed proper in time past, might now give them too much control of the reformation that was believed not to be far off. The fundamental principle was, to pay only for services rendered, and for none more than their fair and true value. It was also recommended, that care be taken to preserve the independence of the mission; the evangelical character of its influence upon the people; its unquestioned right to prepare for the expected religious awakening; and when it came, to pursue the appropriate measures according to their own better informed judgments.

The mission to the Mohammedans of Persia, of which an account is given elsewhere, having been discontinued, the Rev. James L. Merrick and wife joined the Nestorian mission in 1842. In 1844, the health of Mrs. Merrick made it necessary for her to visit England, her native land. She was followed by her husband in the next year, and he, soon after his arrival at Boston, was released from his connection with the Board. Mr. Jones retired from the mission in 1844.

John and Moses, two young Nestorians of hopeful piety, were ordained deacons by Mar Elias and Mar Yohannan. John was a native of Geog Tapa, the largest Nestorian village in the province, and one which always took the lead, whether for good or for evil. Abraham, the well-known priest, and the two newly ordained preachers, divided the village into districts for visiting and preaching. Mr. Stocking, and after him Dr. Perkins, found there abundant evidence of unusual religious interest. Scores of persons called on the native preachers almost every evening, after the toils of the day, and many lingered to a late hour. There were cases of special interest, and none but a skeptic could doubt the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

In May, 1845, the Shah, at the instance of the English and Russian Ambassadors, appointed Dawood Khan, of Tabriz, an Armenian from Georgia and an officer of the army, Governor of the Nestorians. The object was to protect the Christians from the oppressions they had long suffered from the Moslem nobles residing in the district.

We have now entered on an auspicious period in the history of the mission. Geog Tapa became the radiant centre of spiritual life. The preceding year had been one of apprehension, but the brethren now learned not to despond every time the heavens gathered blackness, for in the darkest hour the sun may break forth and change the whole scene. We have come to the beginning of that series of revivals, with which the mission was so remarkably blessed.

The first revival was in the year 1846, and the first hopeful conversions were in the female seminary in January. Both seminaries were moved. A number in each came to their teachers with the inquiry, "What shall I do to be saved?" The religious concern rapidly increased. The 23d of January was set apart by the mission as a day for private fasting and prayer. On the preceding evening, as the people were assembling for a religious service, Mr. Stoddard observed signs of deep feeling in different groups, and was convinced that a revival had begun. After service, the people came in crowds to his study, and he, with unutterable delight, unfolded the Gospel of Christ to one company after another, until near midnight. On the 25th, Tamo, a deacon from the mountains, was overwhelmed with a sense of his sinfulness. At the same meeting, priest Eshoo sat with his face buried in his handkerchief, and when spoken to wept, but said nothing. On the day following, he led the devotions in the male seminary, in a prayer so humble and earnest, so in contrast with his former sing-song tone and thoughtless manner, that Mr. Stoddard could not refrain from tears. He had evidently learned how to pray, and his knowledge, his stable character, and his important position would enable him, if truly converted, to do much good among his people. Though every room about the premises, that could possibly be spared from other uses, had been opened for retirement, so numerous were the awakened that they could not find places in which to pour out their souls to God. Such was the natural excitability of the people, that it was difficult to keep their expressions of feeling within proper bounds. On the 26th, deacon John came to Mr. Stoddard, saying that the boys were weeping violently in one of their rooms, and desired that he would go to them. John added, that he had been looking at them with amazement, having never before seen anything of the kind, and he knew not what to do. Mr. Stoddard entered the room with Dr. Wright, and they found fifteen or twenty boys lying on the floor, weeping, groaning, and in broken sentences praying for mercy, presenting a scene of great confusion. Some older people were standing around in silent wonder, thinking that an angel had visited the school. Measures were immediately taken for checking this disorder. The pupils all promised that no two of them would again pray aloud at the same time. The school was still the next day, but with no diminution of solemnity.

Miss Fiske had often ten or fifteen women, relatives of her pupils, to pass the night with her, making it necessary to collect together all the spare pillows, cushions, and quilts in the house, and make the sitting-room one great dormitory. She frequently conversed with them till midnight, and then she heard them from her room, praying most of the night.

Priest Eshoo called his neighbors together, and told them of the great change in his feelings. So upright had he been as a priest, that a confession of his need of salvation through the blood of Christ made a strong impression. It became more and more evident that he was truly a child of God. On the 5th of February, he announced his great joy that his oldest daughter, a member of Miss Fiske's school, was hopefully born again, and he thought she knew the way to the cross better than himself.

The name of this daughter was Sarah. She was the first in the revival to ask the way to heaven, the first to find the way, and the first to enter it. Sarah was a tall, dark-eyed girl ten years old when she entered the school. There were then but few books in the school except the Bible, and she became very familiar with its pages. She first learned that she was a sinner in January, 1846, and she lived only five months after that time. Her father loved to have her pray with him, and so remarkable was her Christian experience, that Mr. Stocking had great pleasure and profit in conversing with her. Miss Fiske also felt it to be a delightful privilege to watch over her as she was nearing heaven. They would sit for an hour at a time, and talk of the home of the blest, while Sarah would sing, "It will be good to be there." She had a rare anxiety to be the means of saving souls. The girls, and the women too, loved to have her tell them "the way, for" as they said, "we can see it when she tells us." Her health was not good at the time of her conversion, and as early as March the sentence of death was visible on her countenance. But she clung to her school till May, and continued to attend the meetings, even when it was necessary for some one to aid her in reaching the chapel. The "Dairyman's Daughter" was a favorite book with the girls of the school, and young disciples were sometimes heard to say, as Sarah took her seat in the house of God, "Have we not an Elizabeth Wallbridge among us?" She lingered till June, and was often found with her open Bible and several women by her side, whom she was leading to Christ. Her praying companions often had meetings in her room. Her last words were, "Lord Jesus, receive——" Here her voice ceased.1

1 Life of Fidelia Fiske, p. 173.

On the 13th of February, Deacon Isaac,—one of the Patriarch's brothers, and to a considerable extent his representative in the district, respected moreover among the people for his force of character, as well as for his official station,—made Mr. Stoddard a visit. His manner showed that he wished to converse on the subject of religion, and Mr. Stoddard commenced by asking him, if he rejoiced in what the Lord was doing for his people. He replied, "None but Satan can help rejoicing. I do certainly rejoice. But I am like a man that stands on the shore of a lake, and seeing a beautiful country on the other side is gladdened by the prospect, but has no means of reaching that country himself. Would that I were a child, that I might repent too! But no, it cannot be. My heart is ice. There is no such sinner among the people as I am. I do not believe it is possible for me to be saved." He was reminded of the freeness of Christ's love, and his willingness to receive the vilest sinner that will come to him. After some hesitation, he admitted that it was so. "But," said he, "the great obstacle is myself. My heart is perfectly dead. You may cut and thrust me with a sword, but I am insensible to the stroke. And if you kindly pour ointment on my wounds, it is all the same. I choose sin. I love sin. The wild beasts in the mountains are enticed by the hunters, and seize the bait, not knowing what they do. But I take this world with my eyes open, knowing that I am choosing destruction, and eating death. It is a shame for me to remain in such a miserable condition, while these boys are weeping over their sins, and I am ashamed. But such is the fact, and I expect to die as I have lived, and go to hell." He seemed to speak with sincerity, and Mr. Stoddard learned that he conversed with his people in a similar manner.

On the 16th of February, Mr. Stocking went to Geog Tapa, accompanied by Miss Fiske and John. Miss Fiske found herself surrounded by a company of females at the house of priest Abraham; and again, at the close of a meeting in the church, about fifty of the women present met her in the school-room, for conversation and prayer. A considerable number of them were evidently awakened, and a few gave evidence of real conversion. Yet there were opposers at Geog Tapa, who said, "Why all this ado? Must all we have done for salvation go for nothing? Have all our fathers gone to hell?"

Several of the converts in the seminary for boys having rooms near Mr. Stoddard's study, he could hear their voices from morning till night, as they pleaded in prayer, and their petitions came evidently from the depths of the soul. Their natural love for vivid metaphor, combined with much ardor, gave great vividness to their prayers. They begged that the dog might have a single crumb from the table of his master; at another time, they were smiting their breasts by the side of the publican; at another, they were prodigals, hungry, naked, and far from their father's house; again, they sink in the sea, and cry out, "Lord save me, I perish;" again, poor, diseased, outcast lepers, they came to the great Physician for a cure. Those who had given themselves to Christ, now built their house on the Rock of Ages, while the waters were roaring around them; now they washed the feet of their Redeemer with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of their head; and now, having become soldiers of the cross, they planted the blood-stained banner in the inner citadel of their souls.

Before the end of May, the boys' seminary was removed to Seir, to obviate the necessity of a long vacation, which might be injurious to the pupils in their peculiar state of feeling. Mr. Stoddard was often delighted, in walking about the mountains, to find pupils praying in secluded spots. A Mussulman once fell in with a pupil thus engaged, and having never before seen a Nestorian praying in secret, he stopped in silent wonder. The young man, on being asked what he was doing, commenced teaching the Mussulman how to pray, and so deeply interested him, that they kneeled down together, and the prayer was renewed in the Turkish language, that it might be intelligible to the stranger.

The estimated number of converts in the two seminaries, at the close of 1846, was fifty. The general aspect of Geog Tapa, containing a population of about a thousand, was much changed. Almost every one who had come to years of discretion, gave good attention to the preaching of the Gospel, and as many as fifty seemed to be true disciples. Cases of hopeful conversion were found in eight or ten other villages on the plain. Nor was the awakening restricted to the plain. Of one hundred and fifty hopeful converts, twelve were at Hakkie, and ten at Gawar, fifty miles further west, and both mountain villages.

An edition of the New Testament, with the ancient and modern Syriac in parallel columns, was printed near the close of 1846. The value to the Nestorians of having the Scriptures in their spoken language, cannot be estimated. The translation was made by Dr. Perkins from the original Greek, and the type was that made by Mr. Breath. Dr. Perkins entered at once upon a translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. Among the books that had been recently printed, was a new and enlarged edition of the Nestorian Hymn-book. The hymns were sung in all the social religious meetings of the Nestorians, and in some of their churches, and with most happy effect. The sentiments of the hymns, and much of their language, entered largely into the prayers of the people. The hymns were also committed to memory by not a few, who were unable to read.

Ill health obliged Mr. and Mrs. Holladay to visit their native land in the spring of this year, and they were not able to resume their connection with the mission. The Rev. Joseph G. Cochran and wife, and Miss Mary Susan Rice, embarked for Oroomiah in June, 1847.

The cholera, in its progress from the east, reached the plain of Oroomiah in the autumn of 1846, and about two thousand persons died in the city. An interesting account of the pestilence by Dr. Wright, as it came under his observation, may be found in the "Missionary Herald" for 1847.1

1 Missionary Herald, 1847, pp. 154-157.

Among the noticeable occurrences of the year 1847, was the visit of Dr. Wright, to Bader Khan Bey, on the same errand which took Dr. Grant to him three years before. The request came through Nûrûllah Bey and the governor of Oroomiah, and the mission advised him to go, as such a visit might open the way for the Gospel into the mountains. Mr. Breath was requested to accompany him. They took with them deacon Tamo, who was a subject of the recent revival, and deacon Yoosuph, an assistant in the medical department. Leaving Oroomiah on the 4th of May, they reached Julamerk, the home of Nûrûllah Bey, in five days; and in his absence, were cordially welcomed by his nephew, Suleiman Bey, and other relatives. They were detained there thirteen days by a report, that the mountains beyond were covered with snow. The Emir was at home the last three days, and soon became familiar and kind. Two days from Julamerk, they were refreshed by a bath in a hot sulphur spring, admirably suited for the purpose. Four days more brought them to the residence of Bader Khan Bey. There had been a wonderful change in the mountains since Dr. Grant's first entrance. Our travellers crossed the wild central regions of Koordistan with no fear of robbers. The principal reason for this was doubtless the character and energy of Bader Khan Bey's government; which extended from the Persian line to Mesopotamia, and from the neighborhood of Diarbekir to that of Mosul. Nearly all the chiefs in northern Koordistan came to pay their respects to him while the missionaries were there, bringing valuable presents. Even the Hakkary Bey, though higher in rank, and once more powerful than he, seemed to feel himself honored in his presence. In the wildest parts of Koordistan, our travellers often slept in the open air, their horses let loose to graze around them during the night, and their luggage without a guard; yet nothing was stolen. In most parts of Turkey and Persia, such a course would not have been safe.

They spent four weeks with the chief. During the last two, the Hakkary chief was there also, and the demeanor of both was kind and respectful from first to last. Dr. Wright was every day engaged professionally among the sick in the Khan's family and retinue. He also introduced the vaccine matter, of which they had never heard before. Nûrûllah Bey was unwilling, for some reason, that they should return through Tiary and Tehoma. They therefore took a northern route by Bashkallah, a fortress about thirty miles northeast of Julamerk, and reached Oroomiah, July 3, after an absence of two months.

The Nestorians within the range of their observations manifested simplicity and readiness to receive instruction, but were in danger from the inroads of Rome.

It appears to have been the intention of the Turkish government in 1847, doubtless through the influence of the English Ambassador at Constantinople, to restore the Nestorian Patriarch to his native regions, and constitute him the civil head of his people; and while at Mosul, he was invited to the seat of government for that purpose. Distrusting the motives of the Porte, he fled to Oroomiah, where he arrived in June. It was a kind Providence that delayed his coming until there were no longer grounds for dissatisfaction arising from members of his family being in the employ of the mission. There were indeed ill disposed Nestorians, who were always ready to fill the ears of the Patriarch with insinuations against the mission. Among these were two of his own brothers, the least respectable portion of his family. But there were others who were watchful to correct misrepresentations, and to give him right views of the results of the mission, and of its doctrines. Among these were two of his brothers, deacon Isaac and deacon Dunka, whom he held in high esteem.

"These brothers," writes Mr. Stocking in July, 1847, "have appeared truly friendly for two years, and disposed, to the full extent of their influence, to aid us in our work. Both have been regular attendants on our preaching; and, though not pious, they maintain decidedly evangelical views in regard to the doctrines of grace. Deacon Isaac especially, one of the most talented of the Nestorians, is always ready, before the Patriarch and all others, boldly to advocate the doctrine of justification by faith through grace alone. He has studied critically, and appears to understand, as well as an unconverted man can, the book of Romans; without the study of which, he has been heard to remark, no one can understand what Christianity really is. We have been interested to learn, through our native helpers, that these brothers have voluntarily acted in concert, one or both never failing to be with the Patriarch whenever there was any one present to assail us and our work, ready to confront them to their faces, and repel all false charges."

The Patriarch received priests Eshoo, Dunka, Abraham, and John, who called to obtain his coöperation, with apparent cordiality, and gave his full consent to their preaching in all the dioceses. He told them that his letter from Mosul, forbidding preaching and schools, was written through the importunity of Mr. Rassam. He spent a month at Seir, where he had much friendly intercourse with the missionaries. He even invited Dr. Perkins to preach in his tent, and Messrs. Wright and Stoddard led in prayer, before and after the sermon, while the Patriarch himself pronounced the benediction at the close. The hymns sung on this occasion were from the new Nestorian Hymnbook.

The Patriarch's friendly deportment continued till some time in April, 1848, when he threw off the mask, if he had worn one, and took the stand of open and decided opposition. This was not wholly unexpected, and while it was matter for regret, it did not occasion much alarm. His power to do harm had been greatly circumscribed by the providential embarrassments of his civil and ecclesiastical relations; by the extensive prevalence of evangelical truth among the Nestorians; by their friendliness, and the good will of the Persian government towards the mission; and by the number, standing, and influence of the religious among his people. His first unfriendly act he concealed from our brethren, but it was made known to them by the British Consul at Tabriz. It was a formal communication to the Russian Consul at that place, designed to prejudice him against the American missionaries, of whom his Embassy was the nominal protector. The Consul made no response to this. The first open attack was on the seminary under the care of Mr. Stoddard. The Patriarch next endeavored to withdraw the native assistants from the missionaries; at one time calling into exercise all his powers of persuasion, and at another uttering the severest threats. Though his people were deriving great advantages, in many ways, from the educational system introduced by the mission, he recklessly determined to deprive them of it, without providing anything to supply its place. He ordered the leading men of Geog Tapa to break up the schools in that village, and received a respectful but decided refusal. The priest of Charbush was ordered to suspend his school, but declined. The Patriarch came to that village soon after, and his servants, meeting the priest in the street, beat him severely and wounded him. Those same servants returning to the city intoxicated, entered the mission premises, and fell to beating Mar Yohannan and his brother Joseph, and priest Dunka, who happened to be sitting within the gate. The Governor at once interfered. At that juncture, an order arrived from the Heir Apparent, the ruler of Azerbijan, directing the Mohammedan authorities to allow no one to molest the missionaries, or any one in their employment. In September, the Patriarch sought the intervention of the chief Doctor of the Mohammedan law against the mission. It so happened that the missionaries were paying their respects to the Moolah, at the very time when the Patriarch called, with a large retinue of Nestorians, on this business. The Moslem doctor made him a public and mortifying reply: "These gentlemen," he said, "are peaceable men; the Mohammedans respect them, and are pleased with them. Why are you falling out with them? You, who are Christians, ought to respect them even more than the Mohammedans." For a time the Patriarch and the Jesuits, both aiming at the overthrow of the mission, were in practical combination. As a necessary means to this end, both wished to expel from office Dawood Khan, the Christian Governor and civil protector of the Nestorians of that province; and the Mohammedan nobles were in sympathy with them in this, as that dignitary stood in the way of their exactions.

But this political alliance, though at first promising success both to the Patriarch and the Jesuits, in the end led to the signal overthrow of both. It was stated to the mission by Mr. Stevens, the English Consul, as a well ascertained fact, that Mar Shimon had united his interests with the French Jesuits, and that they had strong hope of making use of him to cast their net over his people.1 Up to this time, the mission had not applied to any European functionary for interference in their troubles with Mar Shimon. Nor did they now; but Mr. Stevens, hearing of his persecuting course, took up the matter of his own accord, gave the information as above stated, and befriended the missionaries in various ways. The Patriarch having declared, that he had the countenance and support of the Russian Consul, that official wrote sharply rebuked him for so doing. The four bishops of Oroomiah and nearly all the priests and deacons, with many of the leading Nestorians in the province, now united in a representation to the Persian Government, highly commending the character, objects, and labors of the mission. It is recorded, that the converted Nestorians also, with scarce an exception, stood firmly by the mission, in the face of trials and reproaches; and the same was true of many who made no pretensions to piety.

1 Missionary Herald, 1849, p. 30.

News of the death of the King arrived at Oroomiah on the 14th of September. He was succeeded by his eldest son, a young man of twenty years, who for the last year had been Prince Governor of Azerbijan. In Persia, the death of the King interrupts for a time the regular transaction of public business.

An immediate effect of the news was to displace the Governor of Oroomiah, Yahyah Khan, with whom Mar Shimon had been forming an alliance, to strengthen him in his persecutions.

Through the friendly, but unsolicited agency of the English Consul, five of the most prominent of Mar Shimon's coadjutors were put under heavy bonds in no way to aid or abet him again in similar proceedings. Should they violate their written engagements to the authorities, they would expose themselves to severe corporal punishment and heavy fines.

Another requisition from the government was, that the two servants who had entered the mission premises, and beaten and insulted several of the ecclesiastics, should be taken to that same inclosure, and be bastinadoed to the satisfaction of the mission. Only one of the two could be found. He was brought thither, and laid upon the pavement with his feet tied to a pole, and a large bunch of rods by his side; and the missionaries were requested to come and see that due punishment was inflicted. But they, greatly to the satisfaction of the crowd of Nestorians who had assembled to witness the punishment, complied with the earnest entreaties of the culprit to excuse the crime he had committed, and he was at once released.

The repeated mention of Suleiman Bey's friendly attentions to Dr. Grant, must have interested the reader in his behalf. But we are now obliged to place him among the persecutors of the Lord's people. Tamo was teacher in the male seminary for about ten years, and became hopefully pious in the revival of 1846. He accompanied Dr. Wright and Mr. Breath in their visit to Bader Khan. His family resided in the mountain district of Gawar, within the limits of Turkey. Being fleet, athletic, and capable of great endurance, he was well fitted for a mountain evangelist. After an extended preaching tour in the summer of 1848, he spent some time at his mountain home. The Bishop of Gawar had received a charge from Mar Shimon to ruin him, and made complaint against him to Suleiman Bey. He was seized by that chief, heavily fined, and his life threatened. But Suleiman Bey was taken, meanwhile, a prisoner by the Turks. Afterwards, Tamo, while on his return to Oroomiah with two of his brothers and a nephew, all members of the seminary, was attacked in the night by a party of ruffian Koords, also incited by the Patriarch, who beat all the company with clubs, and called to each other to "kill them." Friendly Koords came to their rescue, but not until they had been stripped of nearly all their clothing and suffered cruelly from the hands of the barbarians.

In the year 1848, Bader Khan Bey, failing in one of his favorite night attacks on the Turkish army, was taken prisoner in his own castle of Dergooleh, and placed, as such, on one of the islands of the Grecian Archipelago.

Nûrûllah Bey, also, some time in 1849, was driven from his stronghold at Julamerk, and fled from castle to castle, till he also was taken captive by the Turks, whom he had aided to destroy the Nestorians, and went into captivity, far from the scenes of his former power. Suleiman Bey, as already stated, was taken captive while cruelly persecuting deacon Tamo, and died at Erzroom, while on his way to Constantinople.1

1 Missionary Herald, 1850, p. 96.

CHAPTER XX.

THE NESTORIANS.

1848-1852.

The health of Mr. Stoddard became so prostrated, early in the summer of 1848, as to leave no hope of his recovery without a change of climate. At Trebizond, on his way home, he and his family were subjected to a quarantine of eight days. His wife and children were then in good health, and they had no reason to apprehend cholera there, as it passed beyond that place westward. But it returned, and Mrs. Stoddard was one of its victims. The death of this excellent woman was a grievous loss, not only to her husband and infant children, but to the mission. The nurse also sickened of the same disease, while on the voyage to Constantinople, and died soon after her arrival; and it was a remarkable Providence that spared the enfeebled and overtasked husband and father. But he lived to serve Christ in his native land, and afterwards again among the Nestorians. The Rev. George W. Coan and wife joined the mission in the autumn of 1849.

Mr. Cochran succeeded Mr. Stoddard in charge of the male seminary. Twelve had gone from the institution, and most of them were exerting a good Christian influence. The new scholars, as a consequence of these village schools, were older and more advanced than their predecessors had been. The thirty-two schools contained five hundred and ninety-eight pupils, of whom one hundred and twenty-five were girls. Twelve of the teachers were priests, and about half of them would have been welcomed into New England churches. The female seminary, a most valuable institution, was under the care of Misses Fiske and Rice.

Mar Shimon returned to the mountains early in 1849, though not without apprehension of being sent into exile, as the Koordish chieftains had been.

Hearing that the good seed sown by Dr. Grant and his associates at Mosul was giving promise of a harvest, the mission deemed it expedient for Dr. Perkins and Mr. Stocking to visit that city, preaching the Gospel as they went. Mar Yohannan and deacons Isaac and Tamo went with them.1 They were hospitably entertained by Mr. Rassam, the English Consul at Mosul, during the eleven days of their visit. Many of the Mosulians were thought to have come under evangelical influences. Some of them were much enlightened, and a few were regarded as truly pious. All would gladly have welcomed a Protestant missionary to reside among them. These were chiefly Jacobites, but a few were Papists. The mountain districts were found to be accessible to the Gospel; though everywhere they heard of messengers and letters from the Patriarch, warning the people against them as deceivers, and particularly against deacon Isaac, his brother, who, he said, had become "English." Nevertheless they were treated in all places with kindness, and found attentive listeners to their preaching.

1 For a full account of this tour by Dr. Perkins, see Missionary Herald for 1850, pp. 53-61, and 83-97.

The first revival of religion, already described, was in 1846; the second was in 1849; and there was a third in 1850. The severe trials of the years 1847 and 1848 seem to have produced in the mission a subdued feeling, and unusual earnestness in prayer. This resulted in the revival of 1849.

In the seminary for boys, the converts of the previous revival were, for two or three days after this began, the subjects of intense heart-searchings, and of piercing compunctions for their backslidings. This was not less true of the more devoted Christians, than of others. The irreligious members of the seminary were also deeply moved; and there was a similar experience in the girls' seminary. Geog Tapa again shared largely in the spiritual blessings of a revived religious feeling. In the village of Seir, hardly a person was unaffected. In Degala, Charbush, Ardeshai, and other places, there were large and attentive congregations, and many gave delightful evidence of having passed from death unto life. A vacation occurred in the male seminary, and pious students labored with great zeal and success in the houses of the people. Deacon Isaac had been known for many years as an evangelical man and a friend of the mission, but now he gave good evidence of conversion, and the pious natives beheld the change in him with wonder and thanksgiving. Mar Yohannan had never before given satisfactory evidence of a thorough change of heart. He now made full confession of his sins as a man, and of his unfaithfulness as a bishop. The revival was marked by a deep sense of the lost condition of men by nature, by a vivid sense of the evil of sin, by an intelligent and cordial embrace of salvation as the gift of sovereign grace, by a hearty self-consecration to the service of Christ, by earnest desires for the salvation of others, and by a remarkable quickening of the moral and intellectual powers.

One of the most noted among the native evangelists at this time, was deacon Guwergis of Tergawar. Before conversion in 1846, he was as wild and wicked as a Koord. In the autumn of 1845, he brought his eldest daughter, then twelve years of age, to Oroomiah, and begged Miss Fiske to receive her into the seminary. She consented reluctantly, being painfully impressed by the gross avarice and selfishness of the father, who even asked permission to take away with him the clothes she had on. He came again in February, with his belt of ammunition, his dagger at his side, and his gun thrown over his shoulder. Many of the pupils were then weeping over their sins, among them his own daughter, and the teacher felt that the wolf had come into the fold. Guwergis ridiculed the anxiety of the girls for their souls till his daughter, distressed by his conduct, asked him to go alone with her to pray. He went and repeated his form in ancient Syriac, while she, in her native tongue, poured forth her soul in earnest prayer, first for herself, and then for her father. When he heard her say, "Save, O save my father, going down to destruction," as he afterwards confessed, he raised his hand to strike her. Sabbath morning found him toiling to prevent others from coming to Christ. At noon, Miss Fiske went to his room, and was received with sullen rudeness, but he broke down under her affectionate and faithful appeals, and retired to pray. He soon entered the place of worship. His gun and his dagger had been laid aside, and he sank into the nearest seat, and laid his head upon the desk. That night Mr. Stocking took him to his study, and the recent blasphemer cried out in agony, "My sins, my sins, they are higher than the mountains of Jeloo!" Next morning, Mr. Stoddard found him subdued and humbled. All Guwergis could say was, "My great sins, my great Saviour." Before noon, he left for his mountain home, saying, as he left, "I must tell my friends and neighbors of sin and of Jesus."

Nothing was heard from him for two weeks, when priest Eshoo was sent to his village to look after him, and found him in his own house, surrounded by his friends, and discoursing to them on these very topics,—of sin and of Jesus. The deacon accompanied priest Eshoo to Oroomiah, and his relations of Christian fellowship with the members of the mission were at once firmly and forever established.1 His conversion and his self-consecration to the service of the Lord Jesus were entire. He became known as the "mountain evangelist," and was faithful unto death. He rested from his labors on the 12th of March, 1856.

1 Woman and her Saviour in Persia, pp. 87-93.

The revival scenes of 1849, were renewed in the first month of 1850. The awakening commenced on the same day in each of the seminaries, without any communication between them, though they were six miles apart. The first manifestation of deep feeling in the male seminary, was at the evening prayer-meeting. While deacon Tamo was speaking of the need of preparation for death, the school gave signs of deep feeling. The emotion was increased when Dr. Perkins came in, and took up the same strain, until the weeping became so loud and general that he feared the result of further excitement, and requested the pupils to repair to their closets. There were similar indications the next morning.

The strength of feeling was as intense in the girls' school, but was manifested in a different manner. The devout among them were disposed to spend much time in prayer, while at the same time they were very active in efforts for the conversion of their associates, as well as of the members of their families that visited the school. For two months, until the close of the term, there was no diminution of interest. The regular attendance on preaching at Oroomiah, Seir, Degala, Geog Tapa, and Ardishai, was greater than ever before. The same may be said of numerous other villages, where meetings were occasionally held. Divine truth seemed to reach and affect the mass of the people. Geog Tapa was specially favored. The people were affected, not as in former years with the overwhelming convictions of the law, but with a deep and intelligent persuasion of the claims of truth.

Perhaps the most distinguished among the Nestorian laborers, at this time, next to priest Abraham, was deacon John. He is described as unwearied in the work, often preaching three times a day during the week, and performing other arduous labors. The missionaries admired the grace of God, as developed in his active piety, discreet zeal, and indomitable perseverance.1

1 Mr. Stocking gives the following description of the study of deacon John at that time. "His study is a small chamber about five feet by eight, entered by a ladder, built of mud, and plastered on the inside with the same material mixed with straw. It has two small windows covered with paper instead of glass, to let in the light. On the floor is a coarse woolen rug, but as yet no chair. His library is neatly arranged on a high shelf, reaching from one side to the other, and protected from the loose earth and dust of the roof by a paper ceiling. It consists of a copy of the Syriac, the Hebrew, and the English Bibles, the Comprehensive Commentary, the Scripture Manual, a Dictionary, and a few other choice books, lent or given him by friends. Through these books and his knowledge of the English language, he derives much assistance in preparation for his pastoral duties. When his friends in the village heard that a table was needed to complete the furniture, they made at once a voluntary contribution to procure one. This is the first study of the first Nestorian pastor, and is likely to introduce a new idea into the minds of Nestorian ecclesiastics in regard to their appropriate calling."

Among the interesting converts was deacon Jeremiah, who came with Messrs. Perkins and Stocking from Mosul. He was formerly in a papal monastery near Elkoosh. Becoming disgusted with the abominations of the place, he at last, after many attempts, effected his escape. His convictions of sin were very deep, and seemed to result in his full consecration to the service of Christ. He returned to Mosul on the reëstablishment of a mission in that city.

The year 1850 was one of great activity. Deacon Jeremiah visited
Bootan in the spring, at the invitation of some of the leading
Nestorians in that region.1 Yonan and Khamis, native helpers, made a
preaching tour through a part of Koordistan.2 Deacons Syad and
Mosheil encountered many hardships and dangers in a visit to
Bootan.3 In July, Messrs. Wright and Cochran accompanied by deacons
John, Tamo, and Guwergis, made a tour in the mountains by way of
Bashkallah, Kochanis, Julamerk, and Asheta.4 Messrs. Perkins,
Stocking and Coan, went in the autumn to Gawar and beyond, and the
results were interesting and satisfactory.5

1 Missionary Herald, 1851, p. 90.

2 Ibid. 1851, pp. 91-97.

3 Ibid. 1851, p. 139.

4 Ibid. 1851, pp. 54-58.

5 Ibid. 1851, pp. 61-63.

The mission was much strengthened in the year 1851, by the return of Mr. Stoddard, accompanied by Mrs. Stoddard, and by the accession of the Rev. Samuel A. Rhea. In this year, through the efforts of Mr. Stevens, British Consul at Tabriz, and Colonel Shiel the Ambassador, the Persian government promulgated an edict of toleration, granting equal protection to all its Christian subjects, including the right of proselyting, following in this the example of Turkey. The mission was now received again under British protection, and the Persian government notified the authorities at Oroomiah of the change.

The advance of public sentiment in respect to the education of women, is worthy of special notice. Only a few years had elapsed since it was deemed disgraceful to instruct that sex. Now, an examination of the female seminary drew together all the principal men and women of the Nestorian community, who listened with unwearied interest for two days. The examinations of both seminaries were highly satisfactory, Mar Yohannan, who had been present on similar occasions at colleges in the United States, and had desired to see the same things in his own country, was greatly delighted. Mr. Stoddard doubted whether he had ever attended an examination of greater excellence than that of the seminary for girls. "The pupils," he says, "were thoroughly acquainted with all their secular studies, and their familiarity with the Scriptures was truly wonderful." Three-fourths of the forty in the male seminary were also in the school of Christ, and there was the same prevalence of piety in the female seminary. Dr. Perkins regarded the latter school as unsurpassed by any in America in system, studiousness, good conduct, and rapid improvement.

The fifty-eight village schools contained a thousand and twenty-three pupils, and were generally under evangelical teachers. On the Sabbath, these schools took the form of Sabbath-schools, and many of the parents came in to hear their children, or to take part with them. The Sabbath-school in Geog Tapa numbered more than two hundred. Every school was a place for preaching, and when there was no one to preach, a meeting was sustained by the teacher. An increasing interest was felt by the Nestorians in the monthly concert of prayer for the conversion of the world. At Geog Tapa three or four hundred were present at the concert, and they joined contributions with their prayers.

The labors of the mission were widely extended. Mr. Cochran and deacon Moses preached in villages along the southern border of Oroomiah, and found the people there eager to hear the word of life. Messrs. Stocking and Coan, and Misses Fiske and Rice, with several native helpers, spent a month in Gawar, preparing the way for a station there. That place is seventy miles from Oroomiah, and within the Turkish dominions.1

1 Missionary Herald, 1852, p. 67.

Mr. Coan went from here with some Nestorian helpers through the mountains beyond Tiary, till their way was hedged up by hostile Koords. They met with great encouragement in their proclamation of the gospel.1 Mention has been made of the preaching of deacons Syad and Mosheil in Bootan, in the summer of 1850. The next winter was spent by deacons Murad Khan and Mosheil in the same region; and their journal affords evidence of singular talent for the labors of an evangelist. They were gone six months.2

1 Ibid. 1852, p. 71.

2 Missionary Herald, 1852, pp. 257-262.

Among the native helpers, who accompanied Mr. Stocking to Gawar, was deacon Isaac. After spending a few days with Mr. Stocking, he proceeded to Kochanis, the residence of his brother, whither his family had previously gone on a visit. The influence of this deacon and his amiable wife was the probable cause of the unusual conduct of the Patriarch in a visit he shortly afterwards made to Gawar, when he received the missionary and his native helpers with the greatest apparent cordiality in the presence of a large number of ecclesiastics, and charged the people to see that they were treated with the regard due to good men.

This was in the summer of 1851. The station was commenced by Messrs. Coan and Rhea in the autumn of that year. The plain of Gawar is large and beautiful, and is hemmed in by some of the wildest of the Koordish mountains. The village of Memikan, selected for the station, lay on the southwest base of the great Jeloo mountains. That village was preferred to the larger ones, as having received much religious instruction from deacon Tamo. It was also central. The rigors of a severe climate cut them off three mouths from communication with the plain of Oroomiah, and these rigors were to be encountered in native huts. But they enjoyed comfortable health, and were happy and successful in their work. The Bishop of Gawar sent orders to the villagers not to attend their services, nor to send children to their schools; but the order produced only a momentary effect. Mrs. Coan had a school for the mothers and daughters of the village, who came barefooted through the snow day after day, the mothers bringing their children on their backs. All the young men and all the boys of suitable age learned to read the gospel, and the fathers came to the school-room every Saturday, to listen while the scholars were learning their Sabbath-school lessons. Thirty or forty were accustomed to assemble every night to hear the Word of God expounded, and all attended on the services of the Sabbath. Deacon Tamo preached in the surrounding villages. Though threatened at times, he encountered no active opposition.

The year was distinguished by the death of a youth of seventeen years of age, of whom Dr. Perkins speaks as being a remarkable instance of the triumph of faith. His name was Guwergis. He was a nephew of deacon Tamo, and a member of the seminary. Guwergis came a rude mountain boy from Memikan, and was one of the converts of 1849. His convictions of sin were pungent, and his interest in the welfare of souls was engrossing. His prayerfulness was unequaled. During the period of greatest interest in the revivals, he would occasionally pray for nearly the whole night. Quite frequently he would rise at midnight, and repair to his cold and dark closet, which he ever found warm with a Saviour's love, and radiant with his presence. He was often known to spend two hours in prayer, and as might be supposed, in this exercise he soon excelled many of his superiors.

His sickness was very severe. Mr. Coan, after relating an interesting conversation with the dying youth, speaks of him in the following manner: "He then closed his eyes, and offered one of the most touching prayers I ever heard. It were vain for me to attempt repeating it. He began by expressing a desire to die, and be with Christ; but he checked himself by saying, 'Not my will, but thine be done.' He then proceeded in a most humble and penitent strain, to speak of his own vileness, and to adore the sovereign love of God in calling him to be an heir of his grace.

"His humble confession of sin, his strong confidence in the efficacy of the atonement, even for him sinful as he was, his entire renunciation of all dependence on anything save the grace of God in Christ, were deeply affecting. He ceased, and on opening his eyes he saw us weeping. 'Why do you weep?' said he. 'If it is the will of God that I die, my heart is burning to see Christ in his glory.' Surely, this is far more than a return for all that has been expended by the Church in the work of missions."

"I have been happy during his sickness," wrote Dr. Perkins, "to try to alleviate his bodily pains; but I have also been greatly refreshed in spirit; and I have been instructed and comforted in watching the remarkable exercises of his mind, and the ardent longing of his soul after Christ and heaven. Since the death of Mrs. Grant, more than twelve years ago, I have been present at no such rapturous deathbed, nor have I ever beheld any more wonderful."

The Rev. Edward H. Crane and wife, and Miss Martha A. Harris, were added to the mission in the year 1852.

Among the adverse influences of the year, was the conscription of a regiment of Christian soldiers by the Persian government. This was made in that arbitrary and oppressive manner, in which Moslems deal with their Christian subjects. The Romanists, also, taking advantage of the edict of toleration, and relying on French protection, became very unscrupulous and troublesome. Mar Shimon, having been recognized by the Turkish government as the civil head of the mountain Nestorians, became intent on driving the missionaries from Gawar, and the Turkish authorities were only too willing to unite with him in this effort.

Among the extreme measures of the Turkish rulers, under such an influence, was the arrest of deacon Tamo, with his two brothers, and several of the chief villagers, on the strange charge of murdering a Turkish soldier, who was spending the night near the house of the deacon, and was shot by a company of marauders. Deacon Tamo was arrested as the chief offender, and along with the others was taken to Bashkallah, the residence of the local Pasha. They were there chained together, made to work in brick under taskmasters, and thrown at night into a vile prison. It so happened, that Lieutenant-colonel W. F. Williams, the British Commissioner for settling the boundary between Turkey and Persia, was in that district at the time of this outrage. On learning it, his generous nature was aroused, and he immediately proceeded to Bashkallah, a distance of twenty hours. The Pasha was absent, and not securing the release of the prisoners, he continued his journey to Van, three days further, to see the Pasha of Koordistan. He made him many fair promises, but forgot them on the departure of Colonel Williams. He however had the prisoners removed in October to Van, and there, after the form of a trial, dismissed all except deacon Tamo to their homes. To him the Pasha said, "I shall exact from you thirty thousand piastres, and retain you a prisoner three years." He had promised Colonel Williams, that both the fine and the imprisonment of Tamo should be merely nominal. No one believed the deacon to be guilty. And it is interesting to note the persons, who put forth efforts through a whole year from this time, to effect his release. Colonel Williams went to Constantinople, and laid the case before Colonel Rose, H. B. M. Chargé d'Affairs, and Mr. Brown, the American Chargé. Mr. Brant, English Consul at Erzroom, and Mr. Stevens, English Consul at Tabriz, cooperated with Colonel Williams; and finally Sir Stratford de Redcliffe, British Ambassador at the Porte, made a decisive and successful appeal; and deacon Tamo once more appeared among his friends at Memikan, exhibiting a truly Christian spirit towards his enemies.

The interposition of such powerful friends in behalf of this persecuted Nestorian Christian, exerted a favorable influence upon the local authorities. Kamil Pasha sent reiterated friendly assurances from Bashkallah to Messrs. Coan and Rhea. He also removed from office the Moodir of Gawar, who had been one of the chief causes of the trouble, and put one of his own household in his place; and the restriction upon building at Memikan was so far modified, that their accommodations were tolerable before the arrival of winter, when the thermometer sometimes sank fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five degrees below zero.

In this year Dr. Perkins completed his translation of the Old Testament into the modern Syriac, and the whole Bible was given to the people in their spoken language.