CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 092 358 625 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
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 HISTORY 
 
 OP 
 
 THE MISSIONS 
 
 OF THB 
 
 AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 
 FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 OJRIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 BY 
 
 RUFUS ANDERSON, D. D., LL. D., 
 
 LATE FOREIGN SECRETARY OF THE BOARI». 
 
 m TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I, 
 
 BOSTON: 
 CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY. 
 
 1872. 
 
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 jfintered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 
 
 THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS POR FOREIGN MISSIONS, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 RIVXRSIDB, OAMBRIDOB: 
 
 STEREOTTPBD AND PRINTED BT 
 
 H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Missions to the Oriental Churches occupy a 
 large space in the forty-nine volumes of the 
 Missionary Herald, and in as many Annual 
 Reports of the Board; and in view of the 
 multitude of facts, from which selections must 
 be made to do justice to the several missions, 
 it will readily be seen, that their history can- 
 not be compressed into a single volume. The 
 Missions may be regarded as seven or eight 
 in number; considering the Palestine and 
 Syria missions as really but one, and the sev- 
 eral Armenian missions as also one. The his- 
 tory of the Syria mission, in its connection 
 with the American Board, covers a period of 
 fifty-one years; that of the Nestorian, thir- 
 ty-seven; that of the Greek mission, forty- 
 three ; of the Assyrian (as a separate mission), 
 ten ; of the Armenian mission, to the present 
 time, forty ; and of the Bulgarian, twelve. 
 
iv PREFACE, 
 
 The mission to the Jews, extending through 
 thirty years, was so intimately connected with 
 these, as to demand a place in the series ; and 
 the facts scattered through half a century, il- 
 lustrating the influence exerted on the Mo- 
 hammedans, are such as to require a separate 
 embodiment. 
 
 In writing the history, one of three meth- 
 ods was to be adopted ; either to embrace all 
 the missions in one continuous narrative ; or 
 to carry forward the narrative of each mis- 
 sion, separately and continuously, through its 
 entire period; or, rejecting both these plans, 
 to keep the narratives of the several missions 
 distinct, but, by suitable alternations from one 
 to another, to secure for the whole the substan- 
 tial advantages of a contemporaneous history. 
 The first could not be done satisfactorily, so 
 long as the several missions have a separate 
 existence in the minds of so many readers, and 
 while so many feel a strong personal interest 
 in what is said or omitted. Even on the plan 
 adopted, so much must necessarily be omitted, 
 or stated very briefly, as to endanger a feeling, 
 that injustice has been done to some excellent 
 missionaries. As for the second, the author 
 
PREFACE. y 
 
 had not the courage to undertake consecutive 
 journeys through so many long periods ; and 
 he beUeved not a few of his readers would 
 sympathize with him. If, however, any desire 
 to read the history of any one mission through 
 in course, the table of contents will make that 
 easy. Each of the histories is complete, so far 
 as it goes. 
 
 No attempt has been made to write a philo- 
 sophical history of missions. The book of the 
 Acts of the Apostles is not such a history, nor 
 has one yet been written. The time has not 
 come for that. There are not the necessary 
 materials. The directors of missions, and mis- 
 sionaries themselves, have not yet come to a 
 full practical agreement as to the principles 
 that underlie the working of missions, nor as 
 to the results to be accomplished by them ; 
 and it must be left to competent writers in the 
 future, — when the whole subject shall be more 
 generally and better imderstood, — after pa- 
 tiently examining the proceedings of mission- 
 ary societies in America, England, Scotland, 
 and Germany, to state and apply the principles 
 that may be thus evolved. The most that can 
 now be done, is to record the facts in their 
 
Tl PREFACE, 
 
 natural connections, together with the more 
 obvious teachings of experience. If the author 
 has been successful in doing this, his end is 
 gained. 
 
 In the present state of religious opinion re- 
 specting divine Providence among a portion of 
 the reading community, it may be proper to 
 state the author's strong conviction, that the 
 promise of the Lord Jesus, to be with his mis- 
 sionaries, pledges the divine interposition in 
 their behalf; and that "whoso is wise, and will 
 observe these things, even they shall under- 
 stand the loving-kindness of the Lord." In 
 the work of missions, " God is our refuge and 
 strength, a very present help in trouble." The 
 history before us often presents cases, in which 
 there is no more reason to doubt the divine 
 agency, than the human ; and no intelligent 
 missionary would labor hopefully and cheer- 
 fully, after becoming a disbeliever in a partic- 
 ular providence. 
 
 Nearly all the early laborers in the fields 
 here presented, have finished their work on 
 earth. Parsons and Fisk were the only ones, 
 with whom the writer had not a personal ac- 
 quaintance. Of not a few others, — and of 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 some who, like himself, still linger here, — he 
 has many pleasant personal recollections that 
 sweeten anticipations of the heavenly world. 
 He is thankful ia being allowed to commem- 
 orate their labors and virtues, and only regrets 
 the want of space and ability to do it better. 
 His constant endeavor has been to present the 
 missions to the reader as their imprint is left 
 on his own mind. More biographical notices 
 w^ould have been gladly inserted, had there 
 been room. The details of persecution are 
 sufficient to furnish glimpses of the severe 
 ordeal, through which it has pleased the Head 
 of the Church to bring the infant churches of 
 those fields. 
 
 The Syria and Nestorian missions passed 
 under the direction of the Presbyterian Board 
 of Foreign Missions in the year 1870, and our 
 history of them closes at that time. Up to 
 that date, the Congregational and New School 
 Presbyterian Churches (the Old School Pres- 
 byterians also up to the year 1837, and the 
 Eeformed Dutch Church for many years) sus- 
 tained an equal relation to all these missions. 
 The mission to the Jews in Turkey was relin- 
 quished in 1856, out of regard to Scotch and 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 English brethren, who had undertaken to culti- 
 vate that field. The communities in Turkey 
 among: whom our missionaries now labor, are 
 the Armenians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Mohamme- 
 dans, and the Arabic-speaking Christians of 
 Eastern Turkey. 
 
 The Board has ever acted on the belief, that 
 its labors should not be restricted to pagan 
 nations.^ The word " heathen," in the pream- 
 ble of its charter, is descriptive and not re- 
 strictive. It is not in the Constitution of the 
 Board, which was adopted at its first meeting 
 only a few weeks after its organization. The 
 second article of the Constitution declares it to 
 be the object of the Board, ^Ho devise, adopt, 
 and prosecute ways and means for propagating 
 the Gospel among those who are destitute of 
 the knowledge of Christianity." This of course 
 includes Mohammedans and Jews; and those 
 who carefully consider the statements embodied 
 in the Introduction to the History, will see that 
 it embraces, also, the Oriental Churches, as they 
 were fifty years ago. 
 
 1 These remarks were suggested by a speech at the Annual Meeting 
 of the Board in Salem, by the Rev. S. B. Treat, Home Secretary of 
 the Board. 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 In November, 1812, the year in which the 
 first missionaries sailed for Calcutta, a commit- 
 tee, appointed by the Board to appeal to its 
 constituency, used this emphatic language : 
 " It is worthy of consideration, that the Board 
 is not confined in its operations to any part of 
 the world, but may direct its attention to Af- 
 rica, North or South America, or the Isles of 
 the Sea, as well as to Asia." At the Annual 
 Meeting in 1813, it was voted: "That the 
 Prudential Committee be directed to make in- 
 quiry respecting the settlement of a mission 
 at San Salvador, in Brazil, at Port Louis, in 
 the Isle of France, or on the island of Mada- 
 gascar." In the latter part of 1818, it was 
 resolved to commence a mission in Western 
 Asia. The Prudential Committee said, in their 
 Keport for 1819 : " In Palestine, Syria, the 
 provinces of Asia Minor, Armenia, Georgia, and 
 Persia, though Mohammedan countries, there 
 are many thousands of Jews, and many thou- 
 sands of Christians, at least in name. But the 
 whole mingled population is in a state of de- 
 plorable ignorance and degradation, — desti- 
 tute of the means of divine knowledge, and 
 bewildered with vain imaginations and strong 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 delusions/' In that year Pliny Fisk and Levi 
 Parsons embarked for this field. 
 
 This historical review makes it clear, that 
 those who organized the Board and directed 
 its early labors, regarded not only Pagans, but 
 Mohammedans, Jews, and nominal Christians, 
 as within the sphere of its labors ; and such 
 has been the practical construction for nearly 
 sixty years. 
 
 The reader is referred to the close of the 
 second volume for an Index; also, for a detailed 
 statement of the Publications issued by the 
 several missions, which must impress any one 
 with the amount, value, and influence of the 
 intellectual labor there embodied. Had these 
 statements been given at length in the History, 
 they would have embarrassed its progress. A 
 list is also appended of the Missionaries, male 
 and female, giving the time during which they 
 were severally connected with the missions. 
 
 Thankful acknowledgments are due to the 
 Rev. Thomas Laurie, D. D., the writer of a 
 number of valuable and popular works, and to 
 the Rev. Isaac R. Worcester, well known as the 
 Editor of the Missionary Herald, for their kind 
 and careful revision of the work. 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 This History of the Missions ojf the Board to 
 the Oriental Churches, is respectfully dedicated 
 to the friends of those missions ; and the author, 
 who has no pecuniary interest in the work, will 
 be amply rewarded, should he be regarded as 
 having given a true and faithful account of the 
 agency of the Board in the Republication of 
 the Gospel in Bible Lands. 
 
 Boston, 1872. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 Palestine. — 1819-1824. 
 
 The First Missionaries. — Their Instructions, — Reception by 
 other Missionaries. — The Seven Chufches. — Temporary Sep- 
 aration. — Mr. Parsons at Jerusalem. — Disturbing Influence 
 from the Greek Revolution. — Returns to Smyrna. — Their 
 Voyage to Alexandria. — Death and Character of Mr. Par- 
 sons. — Mr. risk goes to Malta. — Printing Establishment. — 
 Rev. Jonas King becomes Mr. Fisk's Associate. — Rev. Joseph 
 Wolff. — The Missionaries in Egypt. — Crossing the Desert. — 
 At Jerusalem. — Beirut and Lebanon. — The Emir Beshir. — 
 An interesting Convocation. — Journals and Labors. — Jerusa- 
 lem revisited. — Arrest of Messrs. Fisk and Bird. — Visit to 
 Hebron. — Sale of Scriptures. — Return to Beirfit. — Com- 
 munion of Saints. — Journey to Damascus and Aleppo. . . 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 Palestine. — 1824-1843. 
 
 Proclamation of the Grand Seignior. — Jerusalem again visited. — 
 Absurd Reports. — Disturbed State of the Country. — Mr. 
 King's Farewell Letter. — He visits Smyrna and Constantino- 
 ple. — Contributions in France and England. — Agency among 
 the Churches. — Sickness and Death of Mr. Fisk. — His Char- 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 acter. — Jerusalem reoccupied. — Danger to the Mission Fami- 
 lies. — Death of Mrs. Thomson. — New Missionaries. — Death 
 of Dr. Dodge. — The Cholera. — Station at Jerusalem sus- 
 pended. — Opinion of Dr. Hawes. —Burying Ground on Mount 
 Zion 2.5 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Stxia. — 1823-1828. 
 Origin of the Mission to Syria. — Beiriit. — Studies of the Mis- 
 sionaries. — Native Helpers. — Papal Opposition. — Hopeful 
 View. — Education. — Eirst Acquaintance with Asaad Shi- 
 diak. — Greek Invasion. — Providential Intei*position. — Pious 
 Natives. — Dionysius at Jerusalem. — A Prayer-meeting. — 
 The Mission Church. — Works in the Native Languages. — 
 Persecution of Mr. Bird. — Apprehension of War. — Suspen- 
 sion of the Mission. — Parting Scene. . . . .... 40 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Stria. — The Martyr of Lebanon. — 1826-1830. 
 
 Significance of the Narrative. — Early History of Asaad. — Be- 
 comes known to the Missionaries. — Employed by Mr. King. — 
 Prepares an Answer to Mr. Bling's "Farewell Letter.*' — His 
 Conversion. ^ Employed by the Mission. — Stands on Prot- 
 estant Ground. — His Constitutional Weakness. — Puts Him- 
 self in the Patriarch's Power. — His Boldness. — His Es- 
 cape. — His Account of his Experiences. — First Effort to Re- 
 capture him. — Second and successful Effort. — Is taken to the 
 Patriarch. — Imprisoned and in Chains. — The Family relent. — 
 Barbarous Treatment. — Increased Cruelty. — Time and Man- 
 ner of his Death. — A Martyr. — Exploration by an English 
 Merchant. — Remarks on the NaiTative 52 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Press at M^vlta. — 1822-1833. 
 Why at Malta. — Successful Publications. — Publication of the 
 Armeno-Turkish New Testo men t. —Extent of the Publioa- 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAOB 
 
 tions. — Singular Use of Alphabets and Languages. — Preach- 
 ing at Malta. — Missionary Fellowship. — The Press removed 
 to Smyrna 73 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Preliminary Explorations. — 1828-1831. 
 
 Need of Information. — The Author's Visit to the Mediterra- 
 nean. — Results of Malta Conferences. — Explorers of Arme- 
 nia. — Preparations for the Tour. — The Route. — Sojourn at 
 Shoosha. — German Colonies. — Sufferings from Illness. — 
 Kindness of the English Embassy in Persia. — The Nestorians 
 of Former Ages. — How Attention was first drawn to the Nes- 
 torians. — A "Week among the Nestorians. — The Published 
 Researches. — Religious Condition of the Armenians. ... 77 
 
 *&■■ 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 The Armenians. — 1827-1835. 
 
 Eflfect of Mr. King's " Farewell Letter." — School of Peshtimal- 
 jian. — Its Influence on the Priesthood. — The Erasmus of the 
 Armenians. — A Preparedness for Reformation. — Commence- 
 ment of the Mission. — Splendid Scenery. — Destructive Con- 
 flagration. — Schools for the Greeks. — The Armenian Patri- 
 arch. — Accessions to the Mission, — Outset of the Mission 
 characterized. — Unexpected Obstacles. — Remarkable Con- 
 verts. — Removal of the Press. — Supply of School-books. — 
 High School. — New Missionaries. — New Stations 90 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 The Armenians. — 1836-1840. 
 
 Trebizond. — Favoring Circumstances. — Improvement in the 
 Publishing Department. — Progressive Civilization among the 
 Turks. — Papal Opposition. — Signs of Progress. — Education 
 of Women. — Active Usefulness of Der Kevoork. — Death of 
 Peshtimaljian. — Deaths by the Plague. — Missionary Convo- 
 cation. — Remarkable Occurrence. -^ Serope at Broosa. — Ver- 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 tanes and Haritdn. — Year of Persecution. — Causes of the 
 Persecution. — The Sultan enlisted. — Deposition of the Patri- 
 arch Stepan. — Banishment of Hohannes. — Zeal of the Perse- 
 cutors. —- Cooperation of the Greek Synod. — An Imperial 
 Firman. — Efforts to Expel the Missionaries. — Divine Provi- 
 dence effectually interposes. — The Power of the Persecution 
 broken. — Hohannes recalled. — The Persecutors brought 
 low. — Stepan restored to Ofl&ce 104 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Armenians. — 1840-1844. 
 
 Pledges of the New Sultan. — Boarding School at Bebek. — Sta- 
 tion commenced at Erzroom. — Interest at Nicomedia. — The 
 Gospel introduced into Adabazar. — Danger from the Papacy. 
 
 — Favorable Reaction. — New Missionaries. — Publications. — 
 Scripture Translations. — Education. — Signs of Progress. — 
 Visit of Vertanes to Nicomedia. — Awakening at Adabazar. 
 
 — New Missionaries. — An Anxious Sinner seeking Rest. — 
 Unexpected Opposition. — Hohannes goes to the United States. 
 
 — A Native Mission. — Prayer Meetings Publications. — 
 
 Preaching to Women. — A Turkish Execution. — Efforts of 
 Sir Stratford Canning. — A Second Execution. — The Ambas- 
 sador's Demand on the Sultan. — The Death Penalty no more 
 to be Inflicted. — Importance of the Pledge. — Sufferings from 
 Persecution. — Changes in the Mission. — Case of Mr. Tem- 
 ple. — Death of Mrs. Van Lennep 122 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Greece and the Greeks. — 1824-1844. 
 The Greek Mind as affected by Circumstances. — Death of Mr. 
 Gridley. — Education of Greek Youth. — Result of Experi- 
 ence. — Marriage of Mr. King. — His School in Poros. — He 
 removes to Athens. — Change in the Government. —A New 
 Missiorary. — High Schools. — Station at Argos. — Power of 
 the Hierarchy. —Free Circulation of the New Testament. — 
 Opposition to the Old Testament. — Intrigues against the Mis- 
 
CONTENTS, xvii 
 
 PAOS 
 
 sion. — Success notwithstanding. — Station on Scio. — Argos 
 relinquished. — Removal from Scio to Ariopohs. — Serious Em- 
 barrassments. — Death of Mrs. Houston. — Religious Tolera- 
 tion and Political Parties, — Growth of Intolerance. — The 
 Station abandoned. — The Retiring Missionaries. — Station 
 among the Greeks of Cyprus. — Explorations. — Ignorance of 
 the People. — Insalubrious Climate. — Friendly Disposition of 
 the People. — Death of Mr. Pease. — Relinquishment of the 
 Station. — Athens the only Station retained in Greece. — 
 Preaching and the Press. — Labors among the Greeks of Tur- 
 key. — Why in great measure Discontinued. — Valuable Re- 
 sults. 141 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Nestorians. — 1833-1836. 
 
 Commencement of the Mission. — Instructions to the Mission- 
 ary. — Rise of the Nestorians. — Their Missions. — Destroyed 
 by the Mohammedans. — The Overland Journey of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Perkins. — Hardships endured in Russia. — Kindness of 
 the British Embassy in Persia. — Remarkable Escape. — 
 Friends in Need. — The Field to be Occupied. — Preliminary 
 Measures. — Additional Laborers. — The Province of Oroo- 
 miah. — Dr. Grant's Medical Practice. — Recollections of Dr. 
 Grant. — When a Missionary Physician is most valuable. — A 
 Nestorian Wedding. — Reducing the Language to Writing. — 
 Rise of the Seminary for Males* — School for Moslem Youths. — 
 Sickness in the Mission 164 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 The Nestoeians. — 1836-1840. 
 
 Escape from Assassination. — New Missionaries^ — First Impres- 
 sions. — Too much Pecuniary Aid given to the People. •— Na- 
 tive Helpers. — Eminent Qualities of Mrs. Grant. — She com- 
 mences the Female Seminary. — Her Death. — Priest Dunka. — 
 Robert Glen. — Schools. — Scarcity of Scriptures in Ancient 
 Syriac. — Dr. Grant's Desire to enter Koordiatan from the 
 h 
 
xviii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 East.— Authorized to enter from the West. — An Arduous 
 Journey. — Battle of Nizib. — Consequent Anarchy at Diar- 
 bekir. — Mr. Homes. — Dr. Grant goes to Mosul. — Starts for 
 Koordistan. — Is challenged from the Rocks. — Welcomed by 
 the Mountaineers. —Boldly enters Tiary. — Pleasing Medita- 
 tions. — His Reception there. — A Learned Priest. — How Re- 
 ceived by Mar Shimon. — The Patriarch described. — Old Parch- 
 ment Copy of the New Testament. — Visits Narailah Bey. — His 
 return to Oroomiah. — New Missionaries. — Arrival of Press and 
 Type. — Bold Inroad of Jesuits. — Counteractive Influences. — 
 Demand for Preaching. — What was the Calamity of the 
 Nestorians 181 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 The Mountain Nestorians. — 1840-1844. 
 
 Invitations from the Patriarch. — Dr. Grant resolves to return 
 Home through the Mountains. — Ten Days at Julamerk. — 
 Womanly Forethought. — Anival at Boston, — Work on the 
 Ten Tribes of Israel. — Missionaries for Koordistan. — Dr. 
 Grant returns through Van. — Again with the Patriarch. — 
 Painful Tidings. — Hastens to Mosul. — Journey of the New 
 Missionaries. — Death of Mr. Mitchell. — Sufferings and Death 
 of Mi"s. Mitchell. — Seasonable Arrival of Dr. Grant. — Reflec- 
 tions. — Reception by the Jacobites, — A Syrian Priest from 
 India. — The Koords making War on the Nestorians. — Bishop 
 Athanasius. — Dr. Grant again visits Oroomiah. — A Third 
 Time enters the Mountains. — Guest of Mar Shimon. — The 
 Patriarch's Cooperation. — Mr. Hinsdale. — Papal Mission- 
 aries. — Dr. Grant visits Ntiiiillah Bey. — Returns to Mosul. 
 
 — Death of Mr. Hinsdale. — Influence of Mr. Ainsworth 
 and Mr. Badger on the Patiiarch. — Letter from Mar Shi- 
 mon to English Bishops. — Dr. Grant's Last Visit with Mr. 
 Laurie to the Patriarch. — Visits Bader Khan Bey. — Subju- 
 gation of the Mountain Nestorians. — Escape of Dr. Grant. 
 
 — Destruction of Tiary. — The Patiiarch flees to Mosul.— 
 Destruction of Life. — Death of Mrs. Laurie. — Arrival of Dr. 
 
CONTENTS, xix 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Azaiiah. Smith. — Death of Dr. Grant. — Reflections on his 
 Life and Character. — Tiary again explored. — Discontinuance 
 of the Western Branch of the Mission. — Disposal of the Mis- 
 sionaries 198 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Syria.— 1830-1838. 
 The Station at Beiriit resumed. — Gregory Wortabet. — His Con- 
 version. — Accompanies the Missionaries to Malta. — Returns 
 to Syria. — Active in the Christian Life. — Respected by all 
 Classes. — His Death. — Disturbing Influences. — Conquest of 
 Syria by Ibrahim Pasha. — Mr. Bird's Letters in the Arabic Lan- 
 guage. — Arabic Press at Beirut. — Explorations in the Hau- 
 ran. — Journal of the Tour lost in a Shipwreck. — Presses in 
 Syria. — Influence of the Mission. — National Protection. — 
 Schools. — Retirement of Mr. and Mrs. Bird. — Accessions to 
 the Mission. — Improvements in the High School. — Great Im- 
 provements in Arabic Type. — Death of Mrs. Smith. — Biblical 
 Researches. . . ... ... 224 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Dkuzes, and the Wars of Lebanon. — 1835-1842. 
 
 The Dmzes. — Hope of introducing the Gospel among them. — 
 Disposition to Hear. — Their Leading Motive. — Subdued by 
 Ibrahim Pasha. — Increased Tendency towards a Nominal 
 Christianity. — A Hopeful Druze Convert. — His Firmness un- 
 der Persecution. — Admitted to the Church. — Striking Illus- 
 tration of an Apparent Religious Interest. — Papal Opposition 
 and its Effect. — Treatment of Papal Druzes. — Causes of De- 
 clining Interest. — Changes in the Mission. — Evidence of Pro- 
 gress. — Connection between Religious and Political Events. — 
 Consequent Warlike Proceedings. — Remarkable Preservation 
 of Mission Property. — The persecuting Emir Beshir de- 
 posed. — Changes in the Seminary. — The Mission Reassem- 
 bled. — Inroad of French Jesuits. — Mistaken Policy of Eng- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Ush Officials. — The Patriarch's Effort to expel the Americans. 
 
 — English Officers better informed. — Mistake of the Amer- 
 ican Minister. — Renewed Interest among the Druzes. — Prof- 
 fer of Friendly Aid. —An Unfortunate Interposition. — The 
 Patriarch makes War to his own Ruin. — Deliverance of 
 the Mission. — Its Favorable Prospects. — The Success of the 
 Mission proportioned to its Efforts. — Value of the Results. — 
 
 A Sudden and Disastrous Revolution. . 236 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Stria. — 1842-1846. 
 
 Experiences of the Mission. — Missionary Convention. — The 
 People all of one Race. — The most Hopeful Districts. — When 
 to form Churches. — Qualifications for Church -membership 
 not to be relaxed. — Practical Errors. — Counteracting Agen- 
 cies. — Call for Preaching at Hasbeiya. — A Secession from 
 the Greek Church. — Attention given to the Gospel. — Needed 
 Explanations. — Affecting Scene. — Anival of Persecutors. — 
 Seasonable Intervention. — The Protestants obliged to flee. — 
 Their Return. — Interference of the Russian Consul General. 
 
 — Partial Success of the Enemy. — The Jerusalem Station 
 suspended. — The Seminary revived. — Death of Yakob Agha. 
 
 — Another War between Druzes and Maronites. — Its Results. 
 
 — Friendly Services of the Missionaries. — Reflections on the 
 Patriarch's Death. — After the War 261 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 De. Jonas King and the Greek Hierakcht. — 1845-1847. 
 Importance of this Struggle. — The Accusations against Dr. King. 
 
 — His Response.— Increased Violence of the Opposition.— 
 His Examination by a Judge. — His Book denounced at Con- 
 stantinople.— The Courts against him. —Goes to the Crimi- 
 nal Court at Syra.— A Dangerous Gathering. — Returns to 
 Athens. —Is offered British Protection. — Again cited for Trial 
 at Syra. — The Citation recalled. — Alleviations. — Renewal 
 
CONTENTS. xxi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 of the Storm, — Extraordinary Accusations. — Call from the 
 Governor of Attica. — A Guard of Soldiers. — Advice from the 
 King. — Offer of Sir Edmund Lyons. — Retires to Geneva. — 
 More Slanderous Accusations. — His House protected. — Sub- 
 sequent Proceedings of the Government. — Groes to Malta. — 
 Editions of his ** Farewell Letter." 279 
 
 CHAPTER XVni. 
 
 Ds. Jonas King and the Greek Hierarchy. — 1847-1869. 
 
 Returns to Athens. — His Reasons. — The Reception. — Resumes 
 his Labors. — His Chief Accuser discredited. — Cheering Inci- 
 dent. — The Greek Synod demands his Prosecution. — An 
 Outbreak. — Quelled by raising the United States Flag. — An- 
 sw^ers to a Judge. — Effect of a New Publication. — Allegations 
 for a New Trial. — The Trial at Athens. — Decides to go to 
 the Court-room openly and on foot. — Extraordinary Sources 
 of Proof. — His Condemnation. — Ground of the Condemna- 
 tion. — Is imprisoned. — Appeals to the Areopagus. — Which 
 confirms the Sentence. — Greek Lawyers dissent from the 
 Courts. — Appeal to the United States Government. — The 
 Rights of Missionaries. — The Appeal responded to. — Opin- 
 ion of the President. — Justice partially rendered. — Sentence 
 of Banishment revoked. — Opinion of the American Minister. 
 
 — Favorable Change in the Popular Sentiment. — Temporary 
 Outbreak of the Old Enmity. — Unexpected Citation. — The 
 Judges decide not to proceed. — Cooperation of other Mission- 
 aries. — A Revolution in the Government. — Disgrace of Old 
 Persecutors. — New Bling and Constitution. — Association of 
 Editors. — An Act of Public Justice. — Visit to the United 
 States. — Return to Greece. — Zealous Native Labors. — Con- 
 ference with the President of the Synod. — Death of Dr. King. 
 
 — General Reflections 293 
 
xxu CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Nestorians. — 1841-1848. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Visit of Dr. and Mrs. Perkins to the United States. — Accom- 
 panied by Mar Yohannan. — Schools and the Press. — Im- 
 proved Type. — Health Station. — New Missionaries. — Dr. 
 Perkins's History of the Mission. — His Return. — Version of 
 the Scriptures. — Religious Influences. — The Jesuits and 
 French Government. — Counteracting Influences. — The Pa- 
 triarchal Family. — Hostility of the Patriarch. — Dismission 
 of the Schools. — Female Seminary revived. — Boys' Seminary 
 reorganized. — On employing the Higher Clergy. — Mr. Mer- 
 rick's Connection with the Mission. — Ordinations. — Protec- 
 tion for Native Christians. — The First Revival. — Its First 
 Fruits. — Brother of the Patriarch. — Interest at Geog Tapa. 
 — Interest in the Boys' Seminary. — Estimated Number of Con- 
 verts. — Modern Syriac New Testament. — Translation of the 
 Old Testament- — Nestorian Hymn Book. — New Mission- 
 aries. — Devastation by the Cholera. — Dr. Wright's Visit to 
 Bader Khan Bey. — Wonderful Change in the Mountains. — 
 Homeward Route. — Mar Shimon invited to Constantinople. — 
 Flees to Oroomiah. — Conflicting Influences upon him. — His 
 Apparent^ Friendship. — Throws off the Mask. — His Power 
 circumscribed. — His Unfriendly Acts. — The Grovernment in- 
 terposes. — His Combination with the Jesuits. — Prejudicial to 
 Both. — Death of the King. — Providential Interpositions. — 
 Persecution of Deacon Tamo. — Deposition of the Great Koord- 
 ish Chieftains 3l5 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 The Nestorians. — 1848-1852. 
 Mr. Stoddard Visits the United States. — Death of Mrs. Stod- 
 dard. — State of the Schools. — Mar Shimon returns to the 
 Mountains. — A Visit to Mosul. — A Second Revival. —Dea- 
 con Guwergis. — Third Revival. — Deacon John. — Deacon 
 Jeremiah. — Various Tours. — The Mission Enlarged, — 
 Advance in Female Education. — ViUage Schools. — Sabbath- 
 
CONTENTS, YYiii 
 
 PAQK 
 
 schools. — The Monthly Concert. — Preaching Tours. — Dea- 
 con Isaac. — Station at Gawar. — A Remai'kable Youth. — Ad- 
 verse Influences. — Persecution of Deacon Tamo. — Interven- 
 tion of Lieut.-Col. Williams. — Powerful Friends. — Release 
 of Tamo. — Favorable Results. — Modern Syriac Bible. . . .344 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Syria. — 1845-1856. 
 Grood News fi'om the North. — Mr. Thomson Visits Aleppo. — 
 The People characterized. — Greek Catholic Archbishop. — 
 Visit to Hasbeiya. — Mr. Laurie's Return Home. — Unsuccess- 
 ful Appeal for Laborers. — Relation of the Druzes to Moham- 
 medanism. — Successful Appeal of the Hasbeiyans to the 
 Turkish Government. — Desperate Resort of the Greek Patri- 
 arch. — Formation of a Purely Native Church. — Translation 
 of the Scriptures into the Arabic. — Station of Aleppo. — 
 Visit to Northern Lebanon. — Death of Bedros. — Intelli- 
 gent Men affected by the Truth. — Another Visit to Hasbeiya. 
 — English Protection. — Seminary at Abeih. — Improved 
 Arabic Type. — The Native Church. — Outrages at Aleppo. — 
 Effect of the Proceedings. — Pupils in the Seminary. — The 
 Church at Hasbeiya. — John Wortabet. — Drs. Bacon and Rob- 
 inson. — Female Boarding School. — Native Church at Abeih. 
 — Experience in Different Localities. — An Interesting Conver- 
 sion. — Hopeful Developments. — Opposition and its Effect. — 
 A Church built at Hasbeiya. — Progress of the Arabic Trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures. — The Gospel at Ain Zehalty. — 
 Northern Syria transferred to the Armenian Mission — Acces- 
 sions and Bereavements. — General View 362 
 
 CHAPTER XXn. 
 
 The Armenians. — 1845-1846. 
 
 The Grand Crisis. — The Persecuting Patriarch. — Mention of 
 
 Bishop Southgate. — The Patriarch's Mode of Proceeding. — 
 
 His Treatment of Bedros Vartabed. -^ Priest Vertanes. — The 
 
 Chief Persecutors. — Persecution at Erzroom. — Its Effect. — 
 
xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Central Position of Erzroom. —Progress at Trebizond.— 
 Persecutions. — The Patriarch resorts to Excommunication. — 
 Temporal Penalties enforced. — The Patriarch and the First 
 Protestant Pastor. — Appeals of the Persecuted. — Charitable 
 Aid. — Good Resulting from Evil. —Intervention of the Gov- 
 ernment. —The Patriarch's Subterfuge. — Case of Priest Hari- 
 t<ln. — A Temporary Triumph. — Cruelties at Adabazar and 
 Trebizond. — A British Consul interposes.— Eflfect of the Per- 
 secutions. — Barbarities at Erzroom . 386 
 
 CHAPTER XXin. 
 
 The Armenians. —1 846-1 848. 
 
 Continued Persecutions. — Interposition of the English Ambas- 
 sador. — Designation of " Protestants.*' — A Vizierial Letter. — 
 The Patriarch's Hostility to the Seminary. — Its Effect. — 
 Seminary for Young Ladies. — Perpetual Excommunication of 
 the Protestants. — Consequent Organization of an Evangelical 
 Church at Constantinople. — Choice of Officers. — Oidination 
 of a Pastor. — Public Declaration of Faith. — Other Churches 
 formed. — Early Death of the Pastor. — The Pastor's Wife. — 
 Der Haritiin. — Reformation at Aintab. — Visit of Mr. Van 
 Lennep. — Visit of Mr. Johnston. — Arrival of Dr. Azariah 
 Smith. — Mr. Schneider's Visit. — Trying Situation of the 
 Protestants. — Power of the Patriarch reduced. — Number of 
 the Protestants. — The Churches. — Additional Native Pastors. 
 — Revivals of Religion 412 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 We may not hope for the conversion of the Mo- 
 hammedans, unless true Christianity be exemplified 
 before them by the Oriental Churches. To them 
 the native Christians represent the Christian relig- 
 ion, and they see that these are no better than 
 themselves. They think them worse ; and therefore 
 the Moslem believes the Koran to be more excellent 
 than the Bible. 
 
 It is vain to say, that the native Christians have 
 so far departed from the truth that they do not feel 
 the power of the Gospel, and that therefore the im- 
 morality of their lives is not to be attributed to its 
 influence. The Mohammedan has seen no other 
 effect of it, and he cannot be p^ersuaded to read the 
 Bible to correct the evidence of his observation, and 
 perhaps also of his own painful experience. 
 
 Hence a wise plan for the conversion of the Mo- 
 hammedans of Western Asia necessarily involved, 
 fii-st, a mission to the Oriental Churches. It was 
 needful that the lights of the Gospel should once 
 more burn on those candlesticks, that everywhere 
 
 there should be living examples of the religion of 
 
 1 
 
2 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 Jesus Christ, that Christianity should no louger be 
 associated in the Moslem mind with all that is 
 sordid and base. 
 
 The continued existence of large bodies of nom- 
 inal Christians among these Mohammedans, is a 
 remarkable fact. They constitute more than a third 
 part of the population of Constantinople, and are 
 found in all the provinces of the empire, as, also, in 
 Persia, and are supposed to number at least twelve 
 millions. Being so numerous and so widely dis- 
 persed, should spiritual life be revived among them 
 a flood of light would illumine the Turkish empire, 
 and shine far up into Central Asia. The followers 
 of Mohammed would look on with wonder, and per- 
 haps, at first, with hatred and persecution ; but new 
 views of the Gospel would thus be forced upon them, 
 and no longer would they be able to boast of the 
 superiority of their own religion. 
 
 It is true of the Oriental Churches, that they 
 have lost nearly all the essential principles of the 
 Gospel; at least that those principles have, in 
 great measure, ceased to have a practical influence.^ 
 Their views of the Trinity, and of the divine and 
 human natures of Christ, are not unscriptural ; but 
 
 1 This brief description of the religion of the Oriental Churches, is 
 condensed from a statement by that eminent missionary, Dr. Eli 
 Smith, in a sermon published in 1833, but now accessible to very few. 
 I often use his words, as best adapted to convey the true idea. Sub- 
 sequent observations, so far as I know, have never called for any 
 modification in his statement. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 8 
 
 their views of tbe way of salvation through the 
 Sou, aud of the work of tlie Holy Spirit, are sadly 
 perverted. The efficacy of Christ's death for the 
 pardon of sin, is secured to the siuuer, they suppose, 
 by baptism aud penance. The belief is universal, 
 that baptism cancels guilt, and is regeneration. 
 They also believe baptism to be the instrumental 
 cause of justification. Hence faith is practically 
 regarded as no more than a general assent of the 
 understanding to the creeds of their churches. Of 
 the doctrine of a justifying faith of the heart, — 
 the distinguishing doctrine of the Gospel, — the 
 people of the Oriental Churches are believed to 
 have been wholly ignorant, before the arrival of 
 Protestant missionaries among them. 
 
 Being thus freed from the condemning power of 
 original sin, and regenerated by baptism, men were 
 expected to work their way to heaven by observing 
 the laws of God and the rites of the church. These 
 rites were fasting, masses, saying of prayers, pil- 
 grimages, and the like, and in practice crowded the 
 moral law out of mind. The race of merit was 
 hindered by daily sins, but not stopped, provided the 
 sins were of a class denominated venial. These could 
 be canceled by the rites of the church, the most im- 
 portant of which was the mass, or the consecration 
 and oblation of the elements of the Lord's Supper. 
 That ordinance is to be observed in remembrance 
 of Christ, but the people of the Oriental Churches 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are taught to look upon it as a renewal of his death. 
 On the priest's pronouncing the words, " This is 
 my body/' the elements are believed to be changed 
 from bread and wine, and thenceforth to contain the 
 body and blood, the soul and divinity, of Christ; so 
 that He is crucified afresh, and made an expiatory 
 sacrifice for sin, every time the consecration is per- 
 formed ; which, in most churches, is almost every 
 morning in the year. Its merit attaches not only 
 to the offerer and the partaker, but to all the faith- 
 ful, living and dead ; especially to those who, by 
 paying the priest, or by some other service, have 
 their names mentioned in the prayers that form a 
 part of the ceremony. 
 
 Thus a ministry to offer sacrifices is substituted 
 for a ministry to feed the flock of God with sound 
 doctrine, and the spiritual worship of God is con- 
 verted into the formal adoration of a wafer. Preach- 
 ing is nowhere regarded as the leading duty of the 
 clergy, but to say mass. By exalting the eucharist 
 into an expiatory sacrifice, the partaking of the ele- 
 ments by the people came to be considered quite 
 unessential, and is generally neglected. They need 
 not understand, nor even hear the language of the 
 officiating priest. It is enough, if they see and 
 adore. A bell warns them when to make the need- 
 ful genuflections and crosses. Nor can there be a 
 reasonable doubt, that the adoration of the host 
 (which is required on pain of excommunication in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 the Romish Church) is the grossest species of idol- 
 atry. 
 
 But there are deadly, as well as venial, sins ; and 
 these expose the soul to eternal punishment. When 
 these are committed after baptism, they can be re- 
 mitted only by auricular confession, or the sacrifice 
 of penance, of which confession forms an essential 
 part. To the efficacy of this ceremony, contrition of 
 heart is supposed, in theory, to be essential ; but its 
 necessity is rarely taught, and the great mass of the 
 community go away from the confessional fully 
 satisfied that their sins are canceled by the mere 
 external form. 
 
 Pardon by the priest is not, however, absolute. 
 Grace is restored, and eternal punishment remitted, 
 but there must be a temporary punishment, — cer- 
 tain penances, such as fasting, alms-giving, saying 
 prayers, and the like. The fasts are merely the 
 substituting of a less for a more palatable and 
 nutritious diet. Alms are more for the spiritual 
 benefit of the giver, than for the relief of the re- 
 ceiver. The supposed efficacy of prayer has no 
 connection with the sincerity of the offerer. For in 
 none of the Oriental Churches, excepting the Arabic 
 branch of the Greek Church, are the prayers in a 
 language understood by the people. 
 
 They believe that all who die before baptism, or 
 after baptism with deadly sins unconfessed, are lost 
 forever; but if one die after confession, and while 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his penance is incomplete, he cannot be sent to 
 hell, neither is he prepared for heaven. He must 
 first complete his penance in a temporary state of 
 misery. This state the papists call purgatory ; and 
 though the other churches reject the name, they 
 cleave tenaciously to the thing. As all believe that 
 the sufi'erings of the departed may be shortened by 
 the merit of good works performed by surviving 
 relatives and imputed to them, prayers for the 
 dead are frequent in churches and over graves, and 
 masses are celebrated in their name. 
 
 Though the Nestorians renounced auricular con- 
 fession, they no more looked to the redemption of 
 Christ for pardon, than did their neighbors, and 
 they knew of no other regeneration than baptism. 
 
 There is no need of entering here on the practi- 
 cal influence of such a religion on the lives of the 
 people. That will appear in the progress of our 
 history. Enough has been said to justify the Amer- 
 ican churches in laboring to restore to the degen- 
 erate churches of the East the Gospel they had 
 lost, especially as an indispensable means of Chris- 
 tianizing the Moslems of Turkey and Persia. 
 
 The Oriental communities within the range of 
 this history, are the following : — 
 
 The Greeks ; 
 The Armenians ; 
 The Nestorians ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 The Jacobites ; 
 
 The BULGABIANS ; 
 
 The KoMAJ^ Catholics of Turkey ; 
 
 The Jews of Turkey ; and 
 
 The Mohammedans. 
 The Missions are as follows : — 
 
 The Palestine Mission ; 
 
 The Syria Mission ; 
 
 The Greek Mission ; 
 
 The Armenian Mission ; 
 
 The Nestorian Mission ; 
 
 The Assyrian Mission ; 
 
 The Mission to the Jews ; and that to 
 
 The Mohammedans. 
 
MISSIONS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PALESTINE. 
 
 1819—1824. 
 
 American missions in Bible lands, like their 
 apostolic predecessors, bad a beginning at Jerusa- 
 lem. The first missionaries from this country to the 
 Oriental Churches were Pliny Fisk and Levi ^he first 
 Parsons. On the 23d of September, 1818, "^i«'i°"-"e«- 
 they were appointed to labor in Palestine. But as, at 
 that early period, there was special need of making 
 the churches acquainted with the work, and foreign 
 missionaries were less common than now, they were 
 detained to labor at home until November of the 
 following year, when they embarked at Boston for 
 Smyrna, in the ship Sally Ann, Captain Edes. They 
 were both interesting men, and the impressive pub- 
 lic services connected with their departure were 
 long remembered in Boston. A single extract from 
 
10 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the official instructions of Dr. Worcester, the Cor- 
 Their instruc- I'^sponding Sccretarj of the Board, will give 
 ^^°^- at once a glimpse of that remarkable man, 
 
 and a view of the object of the mission. 
 
 " From the heights of the Holy Land, and from 
 Zion, you will take an extended view of the wide- 
 spread desolations and variegated scenes presenting 
 themselves on every side to Christian sensibility; 
 and will survey with earnest attention the various 
 tribes and classes who dwell in that land, and in the 
 surrounding countries. The two grand inquiries 
 ever present to your minds will be, What good can 
 BE DONE ? and By what means ? What can be 
 done for Jews? What for Pagans? What for Mo- 
 hammedans? What for Christians? What for the 
 people in Palestine? What for those in Egypt, in 
 Syria, in Persia, in Armenia, in other countries to 
 which your inquiries may be extended ? " 
 
 The vessel touched at Malta, thus giving oppor- 
 tunity, so far as the quarantines of those times 
 Their cour- ^^^"^^ allow, for persoual intercourse with 
 d^y'^tL the Rev. William Jowett, of the Church 
 missionaries, jyjisgj^^^ary Society, and afterwards one of 
 its secretaries. He received his American brethren 
 in that catholic spirit, which has ever characterized 
 that society and its agents, and gave them all the 
 aid in his power. They also received kindness from 
 the Rev. Mr. Wilson, of the London Missionaiy 
 Society, then resident in Malta, and from Dr. Naudi, 
 
PALESTINE, 11 
 
 a native of the island and interested in Protestant 
 mission s, though then a Roman Catholic. 
 
 The brethren reached Smyrna at the opening of 
 the year 1820, and took lodgings in a 
 Swiss family, where French, Italian, Mod- 
 ern Greek, and some Turkish were spoken, but no 
 English. American and English residents treated 
 them kindly, and they were specially indebted to the 
 Messrs. Van Lennep, Dutch merchants, to whom 
 they were introduced by Captain Edes. 
 
 In May they repaired to the Greek College in 
 Scio, for the purpose of studying the Mod- ^heir first 
 ern Hellenic, and there they made the ^^^^^^' 
 acquaintance of Professor Bambas, a Greek gentle- 
 man of talent and learning, who entered into their 
 plans with an intelligent and heartfelt interest. 
 
 It was my privilege, eight years after this, to 
 make the acquaintance of Professor Bambas at 
 Corfu, in the Ionian Islands, where he was con- 
 nected with the University, instructing in logic, 
 metaphysics, and practical theology, and presiding 
 over the theological seminary connected with the 
 University. An intelligent and judicious friend, 
 well acquainted with him, expressed a decided 
 opinion in favor of his piety and preaching. Bam- 
 bas appeared then to be about fifty years old ; and 
 his sweet countenance enlivened by a quick eye, and 
 the deliberation, judgment, and kindness, with 
 which he replied to inquiries, made a most favorable 
 
12 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 impression, which subsequent intercourse fully sus- 
 tained. 
 
 With such a specimen of a Greek before them, 
 we cannot wonder that Messrs. Fisk and Parsons 
 cherished strong* hopes as to the future of the na- 
 tion. They remained in Scio five months, and availed 
 themselves of every opportunity to revive among the 
 Greeks a knowledge of the Gospel. In November, 
 they made a tour of about three hundred miles, vis- 
 ^^ , iting" the places where once stood the Seven 
 
 The Seven * ^ 
 
 Churches. Churchcs of Asia, everywhere acquiring 
 and imparting information. 
 
 After mature deliberation they decided, that the 
 object of their mission would be most effectually 
 Their tern- promotcd by their temporary separation; 
 aration. uud that Mr. Parsons should proceed at 
 once to Jerusalem, preliminary to its permanent 
 occupation, while Mr. Fisk should prosecute his 
 Mr Fisk at ^^^^^^^^ at Soiyma, under the hospitable 
 Smyrna. j.^^f ^f ]yjj, y^^ Leuncp. Thc War of the 
 
 Greek revolution began in the following spring, and 
 Mr. Fisk's journal makes frequent mention of cruel 
 atrocities committed by the Turks on their oppo- 
 nents in the streets of Smyrna. Prudence required 
 him to live much in retirement. In a few short 
 excursions, however, he distributed Bibles, Testa- 
 ments, and tracts ; and, during a part of the year, 
 he supplied the place of British chaplain. 
 
 Mr. Parsons arrived at Jerusalem on the 17th of 
 
PALESTINE. 13 
 
 February, 1821, and was the first Protestant mission- 
 ary ever resident there, with the intention Mr. Parsons 
 
 sir IftTllR*^* 
 
 of making it a permanent field of labor, lem. 
 His first object was to reach the multitude of pil- 
 grims then about to congregate in the Holy City. 
 He took with him the Scriptures in nine languages, 
 and four or five thousand religious tracts. He had 
 letters to Procopius, an assistant of the Greek 
 Patriarch of Jerusalem, president of the Greek 
 monasteries, and agent of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society. Convenient rooms were assigned 
 him near the so-called holy sepulchre. During the 
 spring he visited the principal places of interest in 
 Jerusalem and its vicinity, including the Jordan and 
 Dead Sea, and had reason to believe that his labors 
 were not fruitless. As he supposed it not safe to 
 pass the hot months of the year at Jerusalem, he 
 resolved to spend the summer on Mount Lebanon, 
 but civil commotions obliged him to relinquish the 
 idea. He then turned his attention to Bethlehem, 
 but the influence of the Greek revolt had ^.^^^^1,.^^ 
 reached Palestine, and was putting the iheGreel*"^ 
 
 /^ 1 . i J n /»j_i»i* reyolution. 
 
 Greeks in constant fear or their lives. 
 His only resort was to return to Smyrna. On the 
 voyage he first saw the new Greek flag, and was 
 informed, by the captain of a Greek vessel of war, 
 that the college at Scio was closed, and that Pro- 
 fessor Bambas had saved his life only by flight. He 
 found a temporary home at Syra, under the protec- 
 
14 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tiou of the British consul. There he had an attack 
 of fever, from which he recovered so far as 
 
 Return to ^ 
 
 Smyrna. ^^ reach Smyrna in December. 
 
 As Mr. Parsons did not regain his health at 
 Smyrna, the two brethren proceeded to 
 
 Voyage to j •> 
 
 Alexandria. Alexandria in Egypt, hoping much from a 
 change of climate, and trusting that they should be 
 able to reach Jerusalem in the spring. But such 
 was not the will of their Heavenly Father. Mr. 
 Parsons' disease assumed a dangerous form soon 
 T. .. r,, after their arrival at Alexandria, and he 
 
 Death of Mr. ^ 
 
 Parsons. ^j^^ early in the morning of February 10, 
 1822. His last words, when parting with his be- 
 loved associate, late in the evening, were, "The 
 angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that 
 fear him." 
 
 The character of Mr. Parsons was transparent 
 His charac ^^^ lovcly. Fcw of thosc distinguished for 
 piety leave a name so spotless. Though 
 scarcely thirty years of age, such was the impres- 
 sion he had made on the Christian community at 
 home, that his death was widely lamented ; the 
 more, doubtless, because of the intimate association 
 of his name with Jerusalem, Zion, Gethsemane, and 
 the scenes of the crucifixion. His disposition, de- 
 meanor, and general intelligence inspired confidence, 
 and gave him access to the most cultivated society. 
 He united uncommon zeal with the meekness of 
 wisdom. His powers were happily balanced, and his 
 
PALESTINE, 1.1 
 
 consecration to the service of his Divine Master was 
 entire. Mr. Fisk's account of the closing scene was 
 beautiful and touching in its simplicity,^ 
 
 Mr. Fisk went to Cairo soon after the death of his 
 associate, intending to proceed to Jerusalem through 
 the desert. But hearing that the Eev. Mr. Fisk goes 
 Daniel Temple had arrived at Malta as a " **^* 
 fellow-laborer, he deemed it prudent to confer with 
 him, before venturing upon the then very disturbed 
 state of Palestine. He arrived at Malta on the 13th 
 of April. How natural, after the privations of his 
 journeys by land and sea, the seclusion from Chris- 
 tian society, the scenes of plague and massacre he 
 had witnessed, and especially after the sickness and 
 death of his beloved colleague, that he should feel 
 the need of Christian friends, with whom to renew 
 his strength. 
 
 Mr. Temple and his wife had embarked at Boston 
 on the 2d of January, 1822. He had brought with 
 him a printing-press, designed for the mis- printing es- 
 sion at Malta, types had been ordered at Malta. 
 Paris, and his connection with this establishment 
 prevented his accompanying Mr. Fisk. 
 
 An associate was provided, however, in an unex- 
 pected quarter. The Rev. Jonas Kiug jonasKing 
 had been elected Professor of Oriental FilkTS'socL 
 Languages in Amherst College, and was 
 then pursuing the study of Arabic in Paris, under 
 
 1 See Missionary Herald for 1822, p. 218. 
 
16 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 the celebrated orientalist De Saey. Mr. Fisk lost 
 no time in requesting him to become his associate. 
 On receiving the letter, Mr. King wrote at once to 
 the American Board, tendering his services for three 
 years, and they were accepted. There were then 
 neither steamers nor telegraphs, and the response 
 of the Prudential Committee could not be received 
 until after the favorable season for oriental traveling 
 would have passed. Mr. King's friends in Paris 
 and in some other European cities, therefore, ad- 
 vanced the needful funds to enable him to start at 
 once, and he landed at Malta early in November. 
 A few days later, the celebrated Joseph Wolff also 
 arrived, for the purpose of going with Mr. Fisk to 
 Jerusalem. The three started January 3, 1823, to 
 go by way of Alexandria, Cairo, and the desert. 
 
 During the three weeks spent in Egypt they 
 Messrs. Fisk, asccudcd tlic Nilc as far as Thebes, dis- 
 woiffin'''^ tributing Bibles and tracts at most of the 
 villages along the river. They were able to 
 communicate religious truths in several languages, 
 and sold more than six hundred copies of the Bible, 
 or parts of it. The whole number of copies dis- 
 tributed was eight hundred, in twelve languages, 
 besides more than two thousand tracts. 
 
 They left Cairo without waiting for a caravan, 
 Crossing the ^^^ wcrc joiucd by Turks, Arabs, Greeks, 
 
 desert. j a • i « 
 
 and Armenians, before entering the desert, 
 until they numbered seventy-four persons, with 
 forty-four camels, and fifty-seven asses. 
 
PALESTINE. 17 
 
 This being their first visit to Jerusalem, it was full 
 of interest. Here God had been pleased j^jemsa- 
 to dwell visibly in his temple. For many ^^' 
 ages it was the earthly home of the Church. Here 
 the chosen tribes came to worship. Here David 
 tuned his harp to praise Jehovah, and Isaiah ob- 
 tained enraptured visions of the future Church. 
 Above all, here the Lord of the world became incar- 
 nate, and wrought out redemption for man. During 
 the two months of their sojourn, they visited many 
 places of interest to the Christian and to the Bibli- 
 cal student.^ For greater usefulness, they occupied 
 separate rooms in the Greek Convent, where they 
 I'eceived all who came unto them, preaching the 
 kingdom of God, and teaching those things which 
 concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, 
 no man forbidding them. Mr. Wolff had a room on 
 the side of Mount Zion, near the residence of the 
 Jews, with whom he labored almost incessantly. 
 Impressions as to the unhealthiness of Jerusalem in 
 summer were stronger, at that time, than subsequent 
 experience justified, and the brethren decided, like 
 Mr. Parsons, to pass the hot months on the heights 
 of Lebanon. Accordingly they left the Holy City 
 on the 27th of June, going by way of Jaffa 
 and the coast to Beirut, where they arrived Beirnt and 
 
 Lebanon. 
 
 on the 10th of July. The southern portion 
 
 of Lebanon, largely occupied by Druses, was then 
 
 1 See Missionary Herald^ 1824, pp. 65-71, 97-101. 
 2 
 
18 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 governed by the Emir Beshir, wlio was called Prince 
 The Emir ^^ tlic Druscs, tliougli himsclf a Maro- 
 ^''^^'' nite. Not long before, having offended 
 the Sultan, he had fled into Egypt, and there be- 
 came acquainted with the missionaries. Having 
 made his peace with the Sultan and returned to 
 Deir el-Kamr, his capital, the brethren visited him 
 there, and were hospitably entertained, and fur- 
 uished with a firman for travelling in all parts of 
 his dominions. 
 
 Mr. King took up his residence there in order to 
 studies for study tlic Arabic language. Mr. Fisk spent 
 e summer. ^^^^ sumuicr witli Mr. Way, of the Lon- 
 don Jews' Society, in a building erected for a Jesuits' 
 College at Aintura, which that gentleman had hired 
 for the use of missionaries in Palestine. In August, 
 An interest- Mr. Wolff arnvcd from Jerusalem. Early 
 
 ing convoca- 
 tion, in the autumn, Messrs. Fisk, Lewis of the 
 
 Jews' Society, Wolff, Jowett and King, all met at 
 
 Aintura, for the friendly discussion of some practical 
 
 questions relating to missions, which were soon 
 
 arranged to mutual satisfaction. How many dark 
 
 and troubled ages had passed, since there was such 
 
 a company of Christian ministers assembled on that 
 
 goodly mountain ! The journals of Mr. King, here 
 
 Theirjournais ^ud elscwherc, liavc a singularly dramatic 
 
 and labors. . , . _ 
 
 interest, and were eagerly read, as they ap- 
 peared in the " Missionary Herald." Those of Mr. 
 Fisk are also rich in the information they contain. 
 
PALESTINE. 19 
 
 He was able to preach in both the Italian and Mod- 
 ern Greek. Mr. King's labors were chiefly in the 
 Arabic language, in which he preached the Gospel 
 with the utmost plainness. Yet he appears to have 
 secured in a remarkable degree the good-will of 
 the people. He thus describes the scene connected 
 with his departure from Deir el-Kamr, on the 22d 
 of September : — 
 
 " A little before I left, the family appeared very 
 sorrowful, and some of them wept. The mother 
 wept much, and a priest with whom I had often 
 conversed came in and wept like a child. I im- 
 proved this occasion by telling him of his duty as a 
 shepherd, and spoke to him of the great day of 
 account, and the responsibility that rested upon 
 him, and his duty to search the Scriptures. The 
 family I exhorted to love the Lord Jesus Christ, to 
 read the Word of God, and to be careful to keep all 
 his commandments. 
 
 " It was truly an interesting scene ; and I was 
 surprised to see the feeling exhibited by the Arabs 
 on my departure. As I left the house, they loaded 
 me with blessings, and, as I passed through the 
 street, many commended me to the care and protec- 
 tion of th« Lord." ^ 
 
 In October, Messrs. Fisk and King rode to Trip- 
 oli, supposed then to contain fifteen thou- TouronLeb 
 sand inhabitants. From thence they pro- ^^^^' 
 
 1 Report for 1824, p. 121. 
 
•20 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CJICRCHES. 
 
 ceedecl to the Maronite Convent of Mar Antonius 
 Khoshiah, situated on the brow of an almost per- 
 pendicular mountain, where was a printing-press. 
 Nearly all the inhabitants of that part of Lebanon 
 are Maronites, acknowledging allegiance to the 
 Pope. Thence they visited the Cedars of Lebanon ; 
 and then crossed the rich plain of Coelo-Syria to 
 Baalbek, at the foot of Anti-Lebanon. Several of 
 the places visited in this tour will come more prop- 
 erly into notice in the subsequent history. 
 
 Mr. Fisk returned to Jerusalem in the autumn 
 They revisit with Mr. Jowctt. Just bcforc leaving 
 jerusaJeoi. g^i^.^^^^ |.|^g^ ^^^^i thc joy of wclcoming the 
 
 Rev. Messrs. William Goodell and Isaac Bird, and 
 V ^,. . their wives, who arrived on the 16th of Oc- 
 
 rsew Mission- -^ 
 
 ''"^'* tober. In January, Messrs. King and Bird 
 
 also went to Jerusalem. 
 
 The year 1824 was one of much activity. In 
 February, Messrs» Fisk and Bird were the 
 
 Messrs. Fisk "^ 
 
 and Bird ar- ^j-j]y missionaries at Jerusalem, Mr. King 
 
 rested utJeru- J p o 
 
 saiem. haviug gouc to JaflPa. While successfully 
 
 employed in selling the Scriptures to Armenian 
 pilgrims in the city, they were apprehended, at the 
 instigation of the Latins, and brought before Mos- 
 lem judges on the strange charge of distributing 
 books that were neither Mohammedan, Jewish, nor 
 Christian. Holding up a copy of Genesis, the judge 
 declared it to be among the unchristian books de- 
 nounced by the Latins. Meanwhile their rooms 
 
PALESTINE. 21 
 
 were searched, and a crier was sent out into the 
 city, forbidding all persons to I'eceive their books, 
 and ordering all that had been received to be deliv- 
 ered up. Their papers were examined, and some of 
 them retained by the government. In a few days, 
 however, through the prompt interference of the 
 English Consul at Jaffa, their papers were sg|.^tiiber 
 all restored, and they were set at liberty. *^* 
 These proceedings becoming widely known, the re- 
 sult was, on the whole, favorable. Mr. Abbott, 
 English Consul at Beirut, learning of the occur- 
 rence, wrote to the Pasha at Damascus, and the 
 governor and judge at Jerusalem received an offi- 
 cial order to restore to the missionaries whatever 
 had been taken from them, and to secure for them 
 protection and respectful treatment. The governor 
 was shortly after superseded, for what cause was not 
 certainly known ; but many people, both Mussul- 
 mans and Christians, believed it was in consequence 
 of his ill treatment of Messrs. Fisk and Bird. 
 
 Mr. Damiani, son of the English Consul at Jaffa, 
 had come to Jerusalem on their behalf, with a letter 
 from his father to the governor. In company with 
 this young gentleman, the missionaries visited He- 
 bron in February, going by way of Bethle- y.^.^ ^^ 
 hem. About three miles south of Bethle- ^^^^°°- 
 hem, they came to what are called the Cisterns of 
 Solomon, three in number, of large dimensions, on 
 the side of a hill. Mr. Fisk was informed, that 
 
22 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Jerusalem wai supplied in part by au aqueduct, 
 which carried its waters from those fountaine.i 
 
 The visit to Hebrou had no important results. 
 During the five months spent at Jerusalem, seveu 
 Sale of the huudrcd copies of Scripture were sold. In 
 Scriptures' ^^^ j^g^ ^-^ wccks, Mr. Fisk suffered from 
 
 an attack of fever, with headache, restlessness, and 
 tendency to delirium, and had no medical adviser. 
 On the 22d of April, the two brethren went to 
 Jaffa, from whence they proceeded, with Mr. King, 
 Return to ^^ Bcirut, whcrc they arrived on the 4th 
 Beirut. ^^ ^^^ n^.^j^ Mcssrs. Klug, Bird, and 
 
 Goodell around him, Mr. Fisk thus gives expression 
 to his feelings : " These days of busy, friendly, joy- 
 
 The rommun- ^^^ iutercoursc have greatly served to re- 
 ioaofsaiats. ^.-^^ ^^^ g^.^^.^g ^^^^ droopcd, to rcfrcsh 
 
 the body that was weary, and to invigorate the mind 
 that began to flag. I came here tired of study, and 
 tired of journeying, but I begin to feel already de- 
 sirous to reopen my books, or resume my journeys. 
 We have united in praising God for bringing us to 
 this land. I suppose we are as cheerful, contented, 
 and happy, as any little circle of friends in our 
 
 1 Dr. Robinson says that the modern aqueduct was mostly laid with 
 tubes of pottery ; but, northeast of Rachel's tomb, he saw " the traces 
 of an ancient aqueduct which was carried up the slope of the hill by means 
 of tubes, or perforated blocks of stone, fitted together with sockets and 
 tenons, and originally cemented." This was in 1842. Dr. Eli Smith 
 drew my attention in 1845 to the same thing. Such stones are said to 
 be seen nowhere else in that region. 
 
PALESTINE. 23 
 
 favored country. Dear brother Parsons ! how would 
 his affectionate heart have rejoiced to welcome such 
 a company of fellow laborers to this land ! But he 
 is happier in union with the blessed above." 
 
 On the 22d of June, 1824, Messrs. Fisk and 
 King set out for Damascus, where they ex- journey to 
 
 , Damascus 
 
 pected to find peculiar facilities for Arabic and Aieppo. 
 studies. Aleppo being still more advantageous for 
 them, they proceeded to that city in July, with a 
 caravan, notwithstanding the intense heat of mid- 
 summer. On the 19th, they suffered much from 
 exposure to the heated air, filled with sand and 
 dust. On the 25th, they encamped at Sheikhoon, a 
 dirty Mussulman village of a thousand inhabitants. 
 There was neither tree nor rock to shade them. 
 The strong wind was almost as hot as if it came 
 from a furnace, and they had nothing to eat but 
 curdled milk, called lehen, and bread that had 
 been dried and hardened by the heat of eight or ten 
 days. Yet it was the Sabbath, and they declared 
 themselves to be happy. In the last day of their 
 journey, which was July 28, they were joined by 
 a large caravan from Latakia, much to their satis- 
 faction, as that day's journey was considered the 
 most dangerous. 
 
 On the 25th of October the brethren started on 
 their return to Beirut, going by way of Antioch, 
 Latakia, and Tripoli, a journey of nineteen days. 
 While traveling across the mountains, of^en in sight 
 
24 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 of the ruiued old Roman road to Antioch, they were 
 repeatedly drenched by the "Teat rains of 
 
 Exposures. x ^ j o 
 
 that season. No wonder the brethren of 
 Mr. Fisk at Beirut were not a little anxious about 
 him, amid such exposures, but his usual health 
 seems to have returned with the cold season. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 PALESTINE. 
 
 1824-1843. 
 
 In February, 1824, the Grand Seignior, influ- 
 enced, as it would appear, by Rome, issued Extraordi- 
 
 nary procla- 
 
 a proclamation to the Pashas throughout matiouofthe 
 
 ^'- *-' Grand Seign- 
 
 Western Asia, forbidding the distribution ^°'^- 
 of the Christian Scriptures, and commanding those 
 who had received copies to deliver them to the pub- 
 lic authorities to be burnt. The copies remaining 
 in the hands of the distributors were to be sealed up 
 till they could be sent back to Europe. But few 
 copies were obtained from the people, and the Turks 
 seemed to take very little interest in the matter. 
 
 Messrs. Fisk and King made their third and last 
 visit to Jerusalem in the spring of 1825, Last visit to 
 arriving there on the 29th of March. On 
 their way, they had stopped a few weeks in Jaffa, 
 where their labors gave rise to some very Absurd re- 
 absurd reports, which yet appeared credible ^'^^^^' 
 to the superstitious people. Some said, that the 
 missionaries bought people with money; that the 
 price for common people was ten piastres, and that 
 
26 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 those ten piastres always remained with the man 
 who received them, however much he might spend 
 from them. Others said, that the picture of pro- 
 fessed converts was taken in a book, and that the 
 missionaries would shoot the picture, should the 
 man go back to his former religion, and he would 
 of course die. A Moslem, having heard that men 
 were hired to worship the devil, asked if it were 
 true, saying that he would come, and bring a hun- 
 dred others with him. ''What," said his friend, 
 "would you worship the devil ?'^ "Yes," said he, 
 " if I was paid for it." 
 
 The brethren were cordially received by their 
 
 acquaintances at Jerusalem. Two days afterwards, 
 
 the pasha of Damascus sat down before the city, 
 
 with three thousand soldiers, to collect his 
 
 Disturbed 
 
 Btateof the aunual tributc. The amount to be paid by 
 
 country. ^ •' 
 
 each community was determined solely by 
 his own caprice, and what he could not be induced 
 to remit was extorted by arrest, imprisonment, and 
 the bastinado. Many of the inhabitants fled, and 
 the rest lived in constant terror and distress. So 
 great was the confusion and insecurity within and 
 around the city, that the brethren decided to return 
 to Beirut, where they arrived on the 18th of May. 
 
 From 1822 to 1825 they and their asso- 
 
 Distribution . -it 
 
 of the Scrip- ciates had distributed nearly four thousand 
 
 tures. •' 
 
 copies of the Scriptures, and parts thereof, 
 in diflFerent languages, and about twenty thousand 
 
PALESTINE. 27 
 
 tracts. After staying a montli at Beirut, Mr. King 
 passed six weeks at Deir el-Kamr in the study of 
 Syriac, with Asaad el-Shidiak for his teachei-, a 
 remarkable young Maronite, who will have a promi- 
 nent place in this history. On returning 
 to Beirut, Mr. King wrote a farewell letter farewell fet- 
 to his friends in Palestine and Syria, which 
 Asaad translated into excellent Arabic, and after- 
 wards multiplied copies for distribution. It was a 
 tract destined to exert an important influence. 
 
 Mr. King's term of service had now expired ; and 
 on the 26th of August, 1825, after three ^r. King 
 
 /» J . -, /» 1 • • leaves Syria. 
 
 years oi active and very useiul missionary 
 labors, he left Syria homeward bound. He Avent 
 iirst to Tarsus by ship, and thence, by what proved 
 a tedious land journey, to Smyrna. His clothes, 
 books, papers, and several valuable manuscripts were 
 sent by a vessel, that was taken by a Greek cruiser, 
 and only a part of them were returned. On his 
 arrival at Smyrna, December 4, he received the 
 painful intelligence of the death of his beloved as- 
 sociate at Beirut. 
 
 Mr. King remained several months at Smyrna, 
 waiting the recovery of his effects, making AtsmVma 
 
 ^ ^ and CoQStan- 
 
 good progress, meanwhile, in the modern tjnopie. 
 Greek language, and doing much service for the 
 Greeks. He then visited Constantinople with the 
 Rev. Mr. Hartley, of the Church Missionary Society, 
 where he was received by several high Greek ecclesi- 
 
28 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 astics with a kindness similar to that he had received 
 from the Greeks of Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and 
 Asia Minor. It was after his departure, that a copy 
 of his Farewell Letter found its way into the hands 
 of Armenians, who brought it before a council con- 
 vened for the purpose, as will be related hereafter. 
 He returned to France just four years from the 
 time of his departure to enter upon his mission. 
 Pious people were everywhere exceedingly eager 
 to hear his statements. Enough was contributed 
 Contributions by fricuds in Paris, to purchase a font of 
 
 in France and 
 
 England. Armenian type for the press at Malta, 
 which he ordered before leaving the metropolis. 
 When in England he obtained funds for Arabic 
 types, and left orders for a font in London. Mrs. 
 Hannah More, then at an advanced age, was among 
 the contributors. He returned home at the close of 
 the summer of 1827, aud soon after the annual meet- 
 Hie agency ing of the Board made a tour as agent 
 
 among the 
 
 churches. through thc Southern and Middle States, 
 which occupied him till April of the following year. 
 The Rev. Edward N. Kirk (now Dr. Kirk of Boston) 
 was associated with him in this agency. 
 
 Mr. Fisk had a good constitution, and would prob- 
 sicknessand ably havc endured the climate of Svria for 
 
 death of Mr. -^ 
 
 ^-^^- many years, with no more strain upon it 
 
 in the way of travel, than subsequent experience 
 warranted. The reader of the preceding pages 
 will be prepared to apprehend special danger from 
 
PALESTINE. 29 
 
 his return to Beirut in a seasoi^ that was sickly 
 beyond the recollection of the oldest of the Franks. 
 He first spoke of being ill on Tuesday, October 11, 
 having had a restless night. His experience was 
 similar on several succeediug nights, but during the 
 day he seemed tolerably comfortable, enjoyed con- 
 versation, and frequently desired the Scriptures to 
 be read, remarking on the importance of the sub- 
 jects, and the preciousness of the promises. His 
 devotional feelings were awakened and his spirits 
 revived by the reading or singing of hymns, such 
 as he suggested. On the 19th his mind was some- 
 what affected, and he fainted while preparations 
 were being made for removing him to his bed. The 
 next day, according to a request he had made some 
 time before, he was informed of the probable issue 
 of his sickness. He heard it with composure ; re- 
 marking that he believed the commanding object of 
 his life, for the seventeen years past, had been the 
 glory of Christ and the good of the Church. During 
 the day he dictated letters to his father, and to his 
 missionary brethren King and Temple. On Thurs- 
 day he asked for the reading of that portion of Mrs. 
 Graham's " Provision for Passing over Jordan,'* 
 where it is said, " To be where Thou art, to see 
 Thee as Thou art, to be made like Thee, the last sin- 
 ful motion forever past," — he anticipated the conclu- 
 sion, and said, with an expressive emphasis, " That's 
 Heaven." As the evening approached, he was very 
 
30 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 peaceful, aud in i^e midst he spoke out, saying : "I 
 know not what this is, but it seems to me like the 
 silence that precedes the dissolution of nature." Be- 
 coming conscious that the fever was returning, he 
 said, " What the Lord intends to do with me, I can- 
 not tell, but my impression is, that this is my last 
 night." The fever, however, was lighter than usual, 
 and the next forenoon there was some hope that it 
 might be overcome. Yet it returned in the afternoon, 
 with all its alarming symptoms. At six o'clock he 
 bad greatly altered, and the hand of death seemed 
 really upon him. At eight a physician, who had been 
 sent for, arrived from Sidou, but Mr. Fisk was insen- 
 sible. Though the physician expressed little hope of 
 saving him, he ordered appliances which arrested the 
 paroxysm of fever, and restored him temporarily to 
 consciousness. He was quiet during Saturday, the 
 22d, and there were no alarming appearances at 
 sunset. But before midnight all hope had fled. 
 "We hastened to his bedside," say his brethren, 
 " found him panting for breath, and evidently sink- 
 ing into the arms of death. The physician imme- 
 diately left him, and retired to rest. We sat down, 
 conversed, prayed, wept, and watched the progress 
 of his dissolution, until, at precisely three o'clock 
 on the Lord's day morning, October 23, 1825, the 
 soul, which had been so long waiting for deliver- 
 ance, was quietly released. It rose, like its great 
 Deliverer, very early on the first day of the week, 
 
PALESTINE, 31 
 
 triumphant over death, and entered, as we helieve, 
 on that Sabbath, of eternal rest, which remaineth 
 for the people of God." 
 
 His age was thirty-three. As soon as the fact of 
 his death became known, all the flags of the differ- 
 ent consuls were seen at half-mast. The funeral 
 was attended at four p. m., in the presence of a 
 more numerous and orderly concourse of people, 
 than had been witnessed there on a similar occasion. 
 
 Mr. Fisk had a strong aflSnity, in the constitution 
 of his mind and the character of his piety, 
 to the late Miss Fidelia Fiske, of the Nes- 
 torian mission, who was his cousin, and whose praise 
 is in all the churches. He was an uncommon man. 
 With a vigorous constitution, and great capacity 
 for labor, he possessed a discriminating judgment, 
 an ardent spirit of enterprise, intrepidity, decision, 
 perseverance, entire devotion to the service of his 
 Master, facility in the acquisition of languages, and 
 an equipoise of his faculties, which made it easy to 
 accommodate himself to times, places, and com- 
 panies. He was highly esteemed as a preacher 
 before leaving home. " And who," said a weeping 
 Arab, on hearing of his death, smiting on his breast, 
 " who will now present the Gospel to us ? I have 
 heard no one explain God's word like him ! " Apt- 
 ness to teach was the prominent trait in his minis- 
 terial character, and in a land of sfrangers, he was 
 esteemed, reverenced, and lamented. 
 
32 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The following tribute to his memory is from the 
 pen of Mr. Bird : — 
 
 " The breach his death has made in the mission, 
 is one which years will not probably repair. The 
 length of time which our dear brother had spent 
 in the missionary field, the extensive tours he had 
 taken, the acquaintances and connections he had 
 formed, and the knowledge he had acquired of the 
 state of men and things in all the Levant, had well 
 qualified him to act as our counselor and guide ; 
 while his personal endowments gave him a weight 
 of character, sensibly felt by the natives. His 
 knowledge of languages, considering his well-known 
 active habits, has often been to us a subject of sur- 
 prise and thanksgiving. All men who could com- 
 prehend French, Italian, or Greek, were accessible 
 by his powerful admonitions. In the first-mentioned 
 language he conversed with ease, and in the last 
 two, performed with perfect fluency the common 
 public services of a preacher of the Gospel. Even 
 the Arabic he had so far mastered, as to commence 
 in it a regular Sabbath service with a few of the na- 
 tives. At the time of his death, besides preaching 
 weekly in Arabic, and also in English in his turn, 
 and besides his grammatical studies under an Arabic 
 master, he had just commenced a work, to which, 
 with the advice of us all, he was directing, for the 
 time, his maifi attention. Having in a manner 
 completed the tour of Palestine and Syria, and hav- 
 
PALESTINE. 33 
 
 ing" become quite at home in Arabic grammar, he 
 felt more than ever the need of a dictionary to in- 
 troduce the missionary to the spoken language of 
 the country. The ponderous folios of Richardson 
 are for Persia ; Golius, and the smaller work of 
 Will met, explain only the written language. We 
 were therefore of the unanimous opinion, that a lex- 
 icon like the one in contemplation by Mr. Fisk, was 
 needed, not only by ourselves, but by the mission- 
 aries who should succeed us. Our dear brother had 
 written the catalogue of English words according* to 
 Johnson, and had just finished the catalogue (in- 
 complete of course) of the corresponding" Arabic, 
 when disease arrested him. Had he lived, he hoped 
 to visit his native country, and probably publish 
 some account of his Christian researches in the 
 Levant. 
 
 " Such were some of the plans and employments 
 of our brother and companion in tribulation, and in 
 the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, when he 
 was called off from all his labors of love among men. 
 He is gone, but his memory lives. Never till called 
 to sleep by his side, shall we forget the noble exam- 
 ple of patience, faith, and zeal, which he has set us ; 
 and the churches at home will not forget him, till 
 they shall have forgotten their duty to spread the 
 Gor,pel." 1 
 
 1 Missionary Herald for 1827, pp. 101, 102. 
 3 
 
84 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The station at Jerusalem was suspended for nearly 
 Jerusalem uinc jcars, wbeu unsuccessful efforts were 
 SpSd°''" made to revive it. The Kev. William M- 
 Thomson, and Asa Dodge, M. D., were sent for that 
 purpose. Mr. Thomson was the first to remove his 
 family to Jerusalem, which he did in April, 1834. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Nicholayson, of the London Jews 
 Society, went with them to commence a mission 
 among the Jews. Everything looked promising for 
 a few weeks, and Mr. Thomson went down to Jaffa 
 Disturbed to bring up his furniture. During his 
 
 Btateofthe 
 
 country. abscucc, the Fellahin, roused by an order 
 to draft every fifth man into the army, rose against 
 Mohammed Ali, the then ruler of Syria. Jerusalem 
 was the centre of this sudden rebellion ; and Mr. 
 Thomson, for nearly two months, found it impossible 
 even to communicate with his family, so closely was 
 the city besieged by the rebels. The first sense of 
 The Mission pcrsoual daugcr to the mission families, 
 
 families ia 
 
 danger. arosc from an earthquake of unusual sever- 
 ity, which extended to the coast and shook their old 
 stone habitation so roughly that they were com- 
 pelled to flee into the garden, and sleep there. 
 Here they were exposed to the balls from the mus- 
 kets of the Fellahin outside the walls. At length 
 the rebels within the city somehow let in their 
 friends outside, and it was an hour of terror when 
 tliey took possession of the mission house, which 
 was near the castle, dug loopholes through its 
 
PALESTINE. 35 
 
 walls, and began to fire on the soldiers of the for- 
 tress. The fire was of course returned, and the 
 building, already shattered by the earthquake, was 
 torn by the Egyptian cannon ; while both it and the 
 garden were filled with a multitude of lawless and 
 angry rebels. The families found refuge in a lower 
 room of the house, where the walls were thick, and 
 there listened to the cannon balls as they whistled 
 above them. The arrival of Ibrahim Pasha at 
 length quieted the city. 
 
 Able to return to his family on the 11th of July, 
 Mr. Thomson found his wife suffering from ophthal- 
 mia, with high inflammatory fever. Two days after- 
 wards, Mr. Nicholayson was attacked with a fever, 
 and the children were all sick. The case of ^'''?°^^^,». 
 
 and death 
 
 Mrs. Thomson baffled all their skill. Con- ^^^f^^on. 
 vinced herself that she would not recover, the 
 thought did not alarm her. For many weeks, she 
 had been in the clearer regions of faith, enjoying 
 greater nearness to God in prayer than ever before, 
 with greater assurance of her interest in the cove- 
 nant of grace through the Redeemer. She had in- 
 deed cherished the hope of laboring longer to bring 
 some of the degraded daughters of Jerusalem to the 
 Saviour ; but the Lord knew best, and to His will 
 she cheerfully submitted. She died peacefully on 
 the 22d of July, 1834. The bereaved husband was 
 apprehensive of difficulty in obtaining a suitable 
 place for her burial ; but the Greek bishop gave per- 
 
36 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 mission, and took the whole charge of preparing 
 
 the grave. 
 
 Mr. Thomson now visited Beirut to confer with 
 his brethren, and was advised to remove to that 
 New mis- P^^^^* ^he Rev. George B. Whiting and 
 
 sioaaries. ^j^^ ^^^ jy^ ^^^^ jy^^.g Dodge, WCrC tO OC- 
 
 cupy the station thus vacated, aided by Miss Betsey 
 Tilden. Dr. Dodge accompanied Mr. Thomson on 
 his return, and assisted him in removing his babe 
 and his effects to Beirut ; and on the 22d of October 
 he and Mr. Whiting were on their way with their 
 families to Jerusalem. 
 
 Early in the winter. Dr. Dodge was called to Bei- 
 rut to prescribe for Mrs. Bird, who was dangerously 
 sick. Mr. Nicholayson returned with him to Jeru- 
 salem, arriving there on the 3d of January, 1835, 
 Exposure ia ^old, wct, aud cxhaustcd with fatigue, hav- 
 traveiing. ^^^ travclcd ou horscback nearly seven- 
 teen hours the last day. The peril of such an ex- 
 posure in that climate was not realized at the time. 
 Death of Both wcrc soou taken sick, and Dr. Dodge 
 Dr. Dodge, j.^^pj^i^ suuk, though a physician from one 
 
 of the western States of America arrived at the 
 critical moment, and remained with him to the last. 
 He died on the 28th of January, and Mrs. Dodge 
 removed to Beirut. The arrival of Rev. John F. 
 Newmia- Lauucau in the spring of 1836, furnished 
 '^'^^'^- an associate for Mr. Whiting. A school 
 was opened, and numerous books were sold to the 
 
PALESTINE. 87 
 
 pilgrims. Early in the next year, Tannus Kerem 
 of Safet was engaged as a native assistant. He was 
 born and educated in the Latin Church, but in 
 thought and feeling was with the mission, and en- 
 larged their personal acquaintance and influence. 
 In the summer the cholera appeared, and 
 
 The cholera. 
 
 swept off four hundred victims in a month. 
 Mr. Homes, of the mission to Turkey, was there at 
 the time, and all devoted themselves to the gratu- 
 itous service of the sick, a thing unknown before 
 in that region. They gave medical aid to many, 
 nearly all of whom recovered, and thus gained many 
 friends. Preaching was commenced in various 
 
 labors and 
 
 September to a small but attentive con- experiences. 
 gregation. Mrs. Whiting and Miss Tilden had 
 an interesting school, composed chiefly of Mo- 
 hammedan girls. There was also a school for 
 boys under a Greek teacher, with twenty-four 
 pupils. In 1838, Mr. Whiting was obliged, by the 
 protracted sickness of his wife, to visit the United 
 States, and Mr. Lanneau was alone at Jerusalem, 
 with Tannus Kerem, and suffering from extreme 
 weakness of the eyes ; but was encouraged by the 
 arrival of Rev. Charles S. Sherman and wife in the 
 autumn of 1839. The new missionary expressed his 
 surprise at finding the different classes so little af- 
 fected by the prejudices of sect in their intercourse 
 with members of the mission. The illness of Mr. Lan- 
 neau became at length so distressing, as to require 
 
38 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 his absence from the field for nearly two years. 
 Before his return to the East, which was early in 
 1843, the Committee had expressed an opinion, that 
 it was expedient to suspend further efforts at Jeru- 
 salem. Mr. Lanneau, however, resumed his abode 
 there until the visit of the writer, with Dr. Hawes, 
 in the spring of 1844. This was after there had 
 been a protracted conference with the mission at 
 The station Bcirut, at which nothing appeared to affect 
 
 at Jerufjalem _,. n ii -r-k i » a r^ 'i-J- 
 
 suspended. thc dccisiou 01 the Prudential Committee, 
 and Mr. Lanneau removed with his family to Bei- 
 ^ . . - rut. Writinor of Jerusalem to the Com- 
 
 Opinion of o 
 
 Dr. Hawes. mittec. Dr. Hawcs says : " In regard to 
 this city, viewed as a field for missionary labor, I 
 saw nothing which should give it a special claim on 
 our attention. It has indeed a considerable popula- 
 tion, amounting perhaps to seventeen or eighteen 
 thousand. But it is such a population as seemed to 
 me to bear a near resemblance to the contents of 
 the sheet which Peter saw let down from heaven by 
 the four corners. It is composed of well-nigh all 
 nations and of all religions, who are distinguished 
 for nothing so much as for jealousy and hatred of 
 each other. As to the crowds of pilgrims who an- 
 nually visit the Holy City, — a gross misnomer, by 
 the way, as it now is, — they are certainly no very 
 hopeful subjects of missionary effort ; drawn thither, 
 as they are, chiefly by the spirit of superstition ; and 
 during the brief time they remain there, kept 
 
PALESTINE. 39 
 
 coutinually under the excitement of lying vanities, 
 
 which without number are addressed to their eyes, 
 
 and poured in at their ears." 
 
 The burying-ground belonging to the Board, on 
 
 a central part of Mount Zion, near the Burying- 
 ground on 
 so-called " Tomb of David,'^ and not far Mount zion. 
 
 from the city, inclosed by a stone wall, was reserved 
 
 for a Protestant burying-place, to be for the use of 
 
 all sects of Protestant Christians, 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 STRIA. 
 
 1823-1828. 
 
 The civil and social condition of Jerusalem and 
 Origin of Palestine was such, on the arrival of 
 
 the Syria. 
 
 Mission. Messrs. Bird and Goodell in 1823, that 
 their brethren advised them to jnake Beirut the 
 centre of their operations. The advice was fol- 
 lowed; and this was the commencement of what 
 took the name of the Syria Mission. 
 
 The ancient name of Beirut was Berytus. The 
 Situation ^^^y ^^ pleasantly situated on the western 
 ofBeirQt. g.^^ ^£ ^ large bay, and has a fertile soil, 
 
 with a supply of good water, sufficient in ordinary 
 seasons, from springs flowing out of the adjacent 
 hills. Its population and wealth have greatly in- 
 creased of late. The anchorage for ships is at the 
 eastern extremity of the bay, two miles from the 
 city. Lebanon rises at no great distance on the 
 east, stretches far toward the north and the south, 
 and is a healthful aud pleasant resort for Franks in 
 summei*. There is a large and beautiful plain on 
 the south, abounding in olive, palm, orange, lemon, 
 
SYRIA. 41 
 
 pine, and mulberry trees. Damascus was then dis- 
 tant three days, but less time is required now, by 
 reason of the new macadamized road. Sidon might 
 be reached in one day, Tyre iu two, and Tripoli in 
 three. An additional motive, in those troublous 
 times, for making Beirut a central station, was the 
 protection afforded by Mr. Abbott, a friendly Eng- 
 lish Consul. 
 
 The two brethren landed, with their wives, Octo- 
 ber 16th. During the nine months of their studies of 
 
 the mission- 
 sojourn at Malta, they had made con- aries. 
 
 siderable progress in the Italian language, which 
 
 was spoken extensively in the Levant ; and now, 
 
 without wholly neglecting the Italian, they applied 
 
 themselves to the languages of Syria. 
 
 Mr. Bird made the Arabic — spoken by the Maro- 
 nites and Syrian Roman Catholics — his chief study ; 
 and Mr. Goodell the Armeno-Turkish, — Turkish 
 written with the Armenian alphabet, — which was 
 the language of the Armenians. 
 
 Going to Sidon for aid in his linguistic studies, 
 Mr. Goodell formed the acquaintance of ^^^^^^ 
 Yakob Agha, an Armenian ecclesiastic, who ^^^p^"- 
 had dared to marry, a privilege not allowed to him 
 as a bishop. That he might be able to defend his 
 course, he began the study of the New Testament, 
 and thus became impressed with the wickedness 
 around him. He was at that time acting British 
 agent at Sidon. Mr. Goodell also became acquainted 
 
42 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES 
 
 with Dionysius, another Armenian bishop, who liad 
 committed a similar offense, and engaged him as 
 a teacher ; giving him the name of Carabet, the 
 " Forerunner." He was a native of Constantinople, 
 and had lived thirty-six years in the Armenian con- 
 vent at Jerusalem. During the last nine of these 
 years, he was a bishop. On account of his age, his 
 services and acquirements, he was regarded as hav- 
 ing the standing of an archbishop. Though in 
 darkness on many points, and giving no satisfactory 
 evidence of pietj^, he made himself useful as a 
 teacher and interpreter, and in his intercourse with 
 the people. 
 
 Several English missionaries were added to the 
 Protestant force at that time, and the Papal Church 
 Pa ai became thoroughly alarmed. Letters were 
 
 opposition, .^^iji^essed from Rome to the Patriarchal 
 Vicar of Mount Lebanon, the Maronite Patriarch, 
 and the Vicar of Syria and Palestine, urging them 
 to render ineffectual, in every possible manner, the 
 impious undertaking of those missionaries. These 
 letters were dated in the first month of 1824, and 
 the firman against the circulation of the Scriptures 
 was issued by the Grand Seignior very soon after. 
 Though feebly enforced by the Turkish authorities 
 this gave weight and influence, for a time, to the 
 " anathemas," of the Maronite and Syrian Patri- 
 archs against the ''Bible men." Peter Ignatius 
 Giarve, the Syrian Patriarch, some years before, 
 
SYRIA. 43 
 
 while Archbishop of Jerusalem, had visited England, 
 and there obtained, under false pretenses, a consid- 
 erable sum of money from Protestant Christians, to 
 print the Holy Scriptures according to the text of 
 his own Church. He now issued a manifesto, first 
 defending himself from the charge of deception, and 
 then warning his flock " not to receive the Holy 
 Scriptures, nor any other books printed and circu- 
 lated by the Bible-men, even though given gratis, 
 and according to the edition printed by the Propa- 
 ganda under ecclesiastical authority." Notwith- 
 standing all this, the brethren took a hope- Hopeful view 
 
 taken by the 
 
 ful view of their prospects. " To get a t)rethren. 
 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 circum- 
 scribed at first, yet constantly extending and in- 
 creasingly salutary, — all this, though it be not Hife 
 from the dead,' nor the song of salvation, yet is to 
 
44 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 be regarded as truly important iu the work of 
 
 missions." 
 
 In the year 1824, the schools were commeuced 
 at Beirut, which have since grown into au 
 
 Education. ^ . , mi r» j 
 
 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 attend- 
 ance 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 applica- 
 tion. The Romish ecclesiastics were very hostile to 
 all these schools. 
 
 It was iu the summer of 1825, that Asaad el- 
 qi^nSnce Sliidiak bccamc first personally known to 
 d-sbidS^ the mission, as the instructor of Mr. King 
 in the Syriac language. His case soon acquired an 
 extraordinary interest, and will occupy a separate 
 chapter. 
 
 In March, 1826, several Greek vessels entered 
 inva<.ioaby ^^^^ P^^'^ ^^ Bcirut, aud landed five hundred 
 the GreeKfl. ^^^^^ They wcrc unable to scale the walls. 
 
SYRIA. 46 
 
 but plundered the houses of natives on the outside. 
 The wild Bedawin, whom the Pasha of Acre sent 
 to drive them away, were worse than the ^^o^e 
 Greeks. They plundered without making ^^^""^ 
 any distinctions, and among other houses the one 
 occupied by Mr. Goodell, but Consul Abbott obliged 
 the Pasha to pay for what they took from the mis- 
 sionaries. It was afterwards ascertained, that the 
 Maronite bishop, having learned that the leases of 
 
 the missionaries would soon expire, came interposi- 
 tion of ProT- 
 
 to Beirut just before this invasion, with an Jdence. 
 excommunication for every Maronite who should 
 permit his house to be hired by a missionary ; and 
 prepared by bribery and intrigue to bring also the 
 Greek bishop and the Moslem rulers to act in con- 
 cert with himself, in driving Protestant missiona- 
 ries from the countiy. The sudden landing of the 
 Greeks obliged him to flee in the night, leaving his 
 wicked devices unaccomplished, while the Maro- 
 nites were glad to place their best houses in the 
 hands of the missionaries. 
 
 In 1827, the missionaries hoped that about twen- 
 ty of those among whom they labored, ^^ ^^^^^ 
 had been created anew in Christ Jesus. ^^'^^^^^'' 
 Among them were Asaad and Phares Shidiak, from 
 the Maronite Church; a lady from the Latin 
 Church ; Dionysius, Gregory Wortabet, Jacob, and 
 the wife of Dionysius, of the Armenian Church ; the 
 wife of Wortabet and Yooseph Leflufy, of the Greek 
 
46 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Catholic Church ; and Asaad Jacob and Tanuus el- 
 
 Haddad, of the Greek Church. Leflufy was described 
 
 as a youth of great boldness and decision, and as 
 
 , thorou«rhly convinced of the errors of his 
 
 Dionysiua at o J 
 
 Jerusalem. Qi^y^,^^^ j^j ^p^.ji ^f ^Ms ycar, Diouysius 
 
 revisited Jerusalem, as the interpreter of German 
 missionaries. The Armenian Convent ov^ed him a 
 sum of money, vrhich it refused to pay, and forbade 
 any Armenian in the city to speak to him. The 
 Greeks, on the other hand, treated him with atten- 
 tion, and so did the Moslem governor. He returned 
 to Beirut in company with three hundred of the Ar- 
 menian pilgrims, who were no sooner out of Jeru- 
 salem than they began to treat him with kindness 
 and respect, while they were full of inquiries as to 
 what he and the Protestants believed, what ordi- 
 nances they had, and how they observed them, 
 with many more such questions. He was engaged 
 in conversation with them day and night, and had 
 full opportunity to explain his religious views, and 
 to show them the difference between the Christian- 
 ity of the New Testament, and that of the Oriental 
 Churches ; and they expressed much astonishment 
 at his statements. Some of them were persons of 
 respectability and influence, and declared their in- 
 dignation at the treatment he had received from 
 the convent. It is probable that these conversa- 
 tions had some connection with the spirit of re- 
 form among the Armenians, which not long after 
 appeared at Constantinople. 
 
SYRIA, 47 
 
 The Kev. Eli Smith readied Beirut early in 
 
 1827. At the monthly concert in March, a remarka- 
 ble prayer- 
 kept as a day of fasting and prayer, and meeting. 
 
 closed with the Lord's Supper, sixteen persons were 
 present, who were all regarded as hopefully pious. 
 They were from America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
 and were members of nine churches, — Congrega- 
 tional, Episcopal, Lutheran, Reformed Lutheran, 
 Moravian, Latin, Armenian, Greek Catholic, and 
 Abyssinian. Dionysius Carabet, Gregory The Mission 
 Wortabet, and their wives were then re- ^^'^''^• 
 ceived into the mission church, as was also the wife 
 of Mr. Abbott, the English Consul, a native of It- 
 aly. This admission of converts into a church, with- 
 out regard to their previous ecclesiastical relations, 
 was a practical ignoring of the old church organi- 
 zations in that region. It w^as so understood, and 
 the spirit of opposition and persecution was roused 
 to the utmost. In the Maronite and Greek Cath- 
 olic churches, severe denunciations were uttered 
 against the missionaries, and all who should render 
 them any service. 
 
 Messrs. Goodell and Bird gave more or less time, 
 with the help of their native assistants, to works in 
 preparing useful works in the native Ian- languages. 
 guages. These, with Mr. King's " Farewell Letter," 
 were copied by the pen, and were eagerly sought 
 and gladly transcribed, and the need of a printing- 
 press on the ground began to be felt. 
 
48 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Beirut was visited by the plague iu tlie spring of 
 1827, but the deaths were not numerous. In Au- 
 persecution g'^^t Mr. Bird, finding it needful to take 
 of Mr. Bird. |^-g fj^^j]^ ^0 the mouutains, ascended to 
 
 Ehden by way of Tripoli, from which Ehden was 
 distant seven hours. He went by special permission 
 of the Emir Beshir, and was i-eceived in the most 
 friendly manner by the Sheikh Latoof, and his sou 
 Naanui. The " Patriarch of Antioch and all the 
 East," who resided at Cannobeen, hearing of this, 
 proceeded at once to excommunicate the sheikh 
 and his family, who had dared to associate " with 
 that deceived man, and deceiver of men, Bird, 
 the Bible-man." An infernal spirit appears in 
 the excommunications of the Romish Church. 
 This of Latoof and family ran thus : " They 
 are accursed, cut off from all the Christian com- 
 munion ; and let the curse envelope them as a 
 robe, and spread through all their members like 
 oil, and break them iu pieces like a potter's vessel, 
 and wither them like the ^g tree cursed by tlie 
 mouth of the Lord himself; and let the evil angel 
 reign over them, to torment them by day and night, 
 asleep and awake, and in whatever circumstances 
 they may be found. We permit no one to visit 
 them, or employ them, or do them a favor, or give 
 them a salutation, or converse with them in any 
 form ; but let them be avoided as a putrid member, 
 and as hellish dragons. Beware, yea, beware of the 
 
SYRIA. 49 
 
 wrath of God.'' With regard to Mr. Bird and his 
 family, the Patriarch said : " We grant no per- 
 mission to any one to receive them ; but, on the 
 contrary, we, by the word of the Lord of almighty 
 authority, require and command all, in the firmest 
 manner, that not one visit them, nor do them any 
 sort of service, or furnish them any sort of assist- 
 ance whatever, to protract their stay in these parts 
 or any other. Let no one receive them into his 
 house, or into any place whatever that belongs to 
 him, but let all avoid them, in every way, in all 
 things temporal as well as spiritual. And whoever, 
 in his stubbornness, shall dare to act in opposition to 
 this our order with regard to Bird, and his children, 
 and his whole family, shall fall, ipso facto^ under the 
 great excommunication, whose absolution is reserved 
 to ourself alone." 
 
 A copy of this document was furnished to Mr. 
 Bird, by the Bishop of Ehden ; who, though feeble 
 in health, was second to no prelate of his sect in 
 knowledge, prudence, and evangelical sentiment. 
 On hearing the Patriarch's proclamation read in 
 church, he is said to have fainted, and did not re- 
 cover his health for weeks afterwards. As a conse- 
 quence of this proclamation of the Patriarch, a rival 
 sheikh was encouraged to make a violent assault 
 upon Latoof, in which the latter received a severe 
 contusion on the head, and his wife's mother had 
 her wrist broken. Being warned of a still more de- 
 
 4 
 
50 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 termined effort to drive the missionary away, Mr. 
 Mr. Bird Bird thought it due to his friend to leave 
 
 flocks TVTofilfi rn 
 
 protoctioa the place ; which he did, accompanied by 
 Naanui, leaving his wife and children, and descend- 
 ing to the Greek convent of Hantura, and from 
 thence to Tripoli. Thither the Patriarch followed 
 him with his maledictions. He however obtained a 
 quiet residence at Bawhyta, under Moslem protec- 
 tion, where he was rejoined by his family, and after- 
 wards in the convent of Belmont. Naanui was his 
 faithful companion through all his wanderings and 
 sojourning on the mountains. 
 
 Mr. Bird returned to Beirut on the 22d of De- 
 cember, and was received by his Maronite acquain- 
 tances with unwonted cordiality. 
 
 The battle of Navarino was not the immediate 
 A rehen- c^usc of thc suspcusiou of the mission ; 
 Bionof war. ^^^^^ j^ ^|j ^^^ cnsuiug fivc mouths, there 
 
 was constant apprehension of war between Turkey 
 and the allies engaged in that battle, which was so 
 destructive to the naval power of the Turks. The 
 British Consulate was closed, and Mr. Abbott, their 
 friend and protector, was obliged to withdraw pri- 
 vately. No reliance could be placed on the Pasha ; 
 and the Prince of the mountains had sent word, that 
 no Frank refugees would be received in his domin- 
 ions, in case of war. In the utter stagnation of 
 trade, the missionaries could obtain no money for 
 their bills, and no European or American vessels 
 
SYRIA. 51 
 
 of war visited tlie port. Messrs. Goodell, Bird and 
 Smith, in view of all these facts, thought it suspension 
 
 ' of the Mis- 
 
 their duty to avail themselves of the oppor- sion. 
 tunity afforded by an Austria,n vessel to remove, for 
 a season, to Malta. 
 
 They accordingly embarked on the 2d of May, 
 1828, taking with them Carabet, Wortabet, and 
 their wives, and arrived at Malta on the 29th. No 
 opposition was made. " The parting scene at our 
 leaving, was more tender and affecting Tj^e parting 
 than we could have expected, and afforded ^''*''®' 
 a comforting evidence that, whatever may be the 
 impression we have left on the general population, 
 there are some hearts in Syria, which are sincerely 
 attached to us. Many, as we passed them, prayed 
 that God would protect us on our voyage. And 
 others, notwithstanding the plague, came to our 
 houses to bid us farewell. One thoughtful youth, 
 who was with us daily, belonging to one of the first 
 Greek families, was full of grief, and earnestly 
 begged us to take him with us, though contrary 
 to the will of his parents.'^ 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SYRIA. 
 THE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 
 
 1826-1830. 
 
 The conversion, life, and martyrdom of Asaad 
 sigaificance Shidiak/ so very early in the history of 
 ratiTe. this mission, is a significant and encourag- 
 
 ing fact. He not only belonged to the Arab race, 
 but to a portion of it that had long been held in 
 slavish subjection to Rome. His fine mind and 
 heart opened to the truths of the Gospel almost as 
 soon as they were presented ; and when once em- 
 braced, they were held through years of suffering, 
 which terminated in a martyr's death. With free- 
 dom to act, he would have gone forth an apostle to 
 his countrymen. The Arab-speaking race is esti- 
 mated at sixty millions, and they must receive the 
 gospel mainly from those to whom the language is 
 vernacular. It will tend greatly to strengthen the 
 faith of Christians as to this result, to contemplate 
 the grace of God as seen in the case of this early 
 convert. Space cannot be afforded to do full justice 
 
 1 Written also Asaad el-Shidiak, and Asaad esh-Shidiak. 
 
THE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 63 
 
 to the facts, which were chiefly recorded by the Rev. 
 Isaac Bird, but the reader is referred in the mar- 
 gin to more ample sources of information.^ 
 
 Asaad Shidiak was the fourth son of a respectable 
 Maronite, and was born about the year jjjg ^^.^ 
 1797, at Hadet, a small village a few miles ^''''''^^ 
 from Beirut. His early training was among the 
 Maronites. Such was his ability and fondness for 
 learning, that his family aided him in preparing for 
 the Maronite college at Ain Warka, the most noted 
 seminary on the mountains. He entered the college 
 at the age of sixteen, and remained nearly three 
 years, applying himself diligently to rhetoric, and to 
 natural and theological science, all of which were 
 taught in the Arabic and Syriac languages. 
 
 Having completed his college course with the 
 highest honor, he became a teacher, first ^^^^^^ 
 of a common village school, and then of ^^**'^®'' 
 theology and general science in a convent. Oc- 
 casionally he was permitted to deliver public lec- 
 tures. His text-book in the instruction of the 
 monks, was the theological treatise of St. Anthony 
 of Padua, translated into Arabic ; of which he made 
 an abridgment, that is still used among the Maro- 
 nites. 
 
 1 See Missionary Herald for 1827, pp. 68, 71-76, 97-101, 129-136, 
 169-177, 268-271, 369-372; for 1828, pp. 16-19, 115-119, 165, 373, 
 375; for 1829, pp. 15, 47, 111, 115; and The Martyr of Lebanon, by 
 Rev. Isaac Bird, Boston, 1864, pp. 208. 
 
54 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 From about the year 1820 to 1824, Asaad was 
 successively in the employ of the Maronite bishop of 
 Beirut, and of several Arab chiefs. These frequent 
 changes were apparently not for his advantage. 
 
 He next made application in person to his old 
 college instructor, who had been elevated to the 
 Patriarchal chair. His holiness gave him a cool 
 reception, and reproached him for having preferred 
 the service of sheikhs and princes to that of his 
 His valuable ^isliop. Yct SO Valuable were his services, 
 services. ^j^^^ j^^ remained a while with the Patri- 
 arch, copying, illustratiug, and arranging certain 
 important documents of the Patriarchate, and mak- 
 ing out from them a convenient code of church-laws 
 for the Maronite nation, which has since been 
 adopted for general use. But for some reason 
 Asaad felt himself unwelcome, and returned home 
 dissatisjfied. 
 
 At this time the Maronite priesthood began to be 
 
 Becomes alamicd by the distribution of the Scrip- 
 known to the 
 
 missionaries, turcs, aud the sprcad of Protestantism. 
 The Patriarch issued a proclamation against the 
 missionaries, and they replied. Asaad set himself 
 to answer their reply. It was in this connection 
 that his name first became known to the missiona- 
 ries, to whom he was reported as a man of talent 
 and high education. The dignitaries of the church 
 did not see fit to allow his essay to be published. 
 
THE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 55 
 
 In March, 1825, a well-dressed young man, of easy 
 
 manners and sedate countenance, came to seeka em- 
 ployment 
 
 Beirut and asked to be employed by the from them. 
 mission as a teacher of Arabic. As soon as he 
 gave his name, he was recognized as the man who 
 was to have answered their reply to the Patriarch. 
 He took no pains to conceal his agency in the mat- 
 ter, and even frankly begged the liberty of examin- 
 ing the original book, containing one of the most 
 important quotations in the reply by the mission. 
 
 There was then no special need of another 
 teacher ; and though his very gentlemanly appear- 
 ance and apparent frankness, and his good sense 
 pleaded in his favor, it was thought prudent to de- 
 cline his proposal. Little did those excellent 
 brethren think, as this young man turned to go 
 away, how soon they would welcome him to their 
 hearts and homes, and how many thousands of 
 Christian people, even across the ocean, would thrill 
 in sympathy with his sufferings as a martyr for 
 Christ. 
 
 Providence so ordered it, that Mr. King arrived 
 from Jerusalem just in time to secure the ^^ ^^ ^^^ 
 services of Asaad before he went else- ^^^'°e 
 where. He was for several weeks Mr. King's in- 
 structor in Syriac. The two were well met, and in 
 their frequent discussions, on the differences be- 
 tween the doctrines of the Gospel and those of the 
 Papacy, Mr. King found him one of the most intel- 
 
66 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 ligent and skillful reasoners in all the mountains. 
 He was shrewd, sensible, and inquisitive, candid and 
 self-i)ossessed, and was always as ready to hear as to 
 speak. His age was then twenty-nine. There is no 
 good reason to believe that Asaad was actuated, at 
 this time, by higher than worldly motives. 
 
 At the close of his connection with Mr. King, 
 he made another effort to secure employment from 
 his Patriarch. Not succeeding, he became Arabic 
 teacher to Mr. Fisk ; at the same time assisting 
 Mr. King, then about leaving the country, in pre- 
 paring his celebrated " Farewell Letter " to his Arab 
 friends. After having put this into neat Arabic 
 style, he made a large number of copies, to be sent 
 to different parts of the country. 
 
 On the day of Mr. King's departure from Bei- 
 rut, Asaad, at the request of the mission, com- 
 menced an Arabic grammar-school for native boys. 
 
 Preparer an His IcisurC llOUrS WCrC dcVOtcd to compos- 
 answer to *■ 
 
 Mr. King, jug a rcfutatiou of the doctrines contained 
 in Mr. King's " Farewell Letter." This is his own 
 account: "When I was copying the first rough 
 draught of my reply, and had arrived at the last of 
 the reasons, which, he said, prevented his becoming 
 a member of the Roman Catholic Church ; namely, 
 their teaching it to be wrong for the common people 
 to possess or to read the Word of God, I observed 
 that the writer brought a proof against the doctrine 
 from the prophet Isaiah; namely, that if they spoke 
 
His conver- 
 sion. 
 
 THE MARTYR OF LEBANON, 57 
 
 not according to the law and to the testimony, it 
 was because there was no light in them. 
 
 " While I was endeavoring to explain this pas- 
 sage according to the views of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, with no other object than the praise of 
 men and other worldly motives, I chanced to read 
 the twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah from the 
 fifteenth verse to the end. I read and was 
 afraid. I meditated upon the chapter a 
 long while, and feared that I was doing what I did 
 with a motive far diiferent from the only proper one, 
 — the glory and pleasure of God. I therefore threw 
 my paper by without finishing the copy, and applied 
 myself to the reading of Isaiah. 
 
 '' I had wished to find in the prophet some plain 
 and incontrovertible proofs of the Messiahship of 
 Christ, to use against Moslems and Jews. While 
 thus searching, I found various passages that would 
 hear an explanation according to my views, and read 
 on till I came to the fifty-second chapter, and four- 
 teenth verse, and onward to the end of the next 
 chapter. 
 
 " On finding this testimony, my heart rejoiced 
 and was exceeding glad, for it removed many dark 
 doubts from my own mind. From that time, my 
 desire to read the New Testament was greatly in- 
 creased, that I might discover the best means of 
 acting according to the doctrines of Jesus. I en- 
 deavored to divest myself of all selfish bias, and loved 
 
58 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 more and more to inquire into religious subjects. 
 I saw, as I still see, many doctrines of the Roman 
 Catholic Church, that I could not believe, and which 
 I found opposed to the truths of the Gospel, and I 
 wished much to find some of her best teachers to 
 explain them to me, that I might see how they 
 proved them from the Holy Scriptures. As I was 
 reading an appendix to a Bible printed at Rome by 
 the Propaganda, and searching out the passages re- 
 ferred to for proving the duty of worshipping saints, 
 and the like, I found that these proofs failed alto- 
 gether of establishing these doctrines, and that 
 to infer them from such Scripture texts was even 
 ridiculous. Among other things, I found in this 
 appendix the very horrible Neronian doctrine, 'that 
 it is our duty to destroy heretics.' Now every one 
 knows, that whoever does not believe that the Pope 
 is infallible, is, in the Pope's estimation, a heretic. 
 And this doctrine is not merely that it is allowable 
 to kill heretics, but that we are in duty bound to do 
 it. 
 
 *^ From this I was the more established in my 
 convictions against the doctrines of the Papacy, and 
 saw that they were the doctrines of the ravenous 
 beast, and not of the gentle lamb. After I had read 
 this, I asked one of the priests in Beirut about this 
 doctrine, and he assured me that it was even as I 
 had read. I then wished to go even to some dis- 
 tant country, that I might find a Roman Catholic 
 
THE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 59 
 
 sufficiently learned to prove the doctrine above 
 alluded to." 
 
 Keceiving two letters from the Patriarch, requir- 
 ing him to leave the missionaries on pain Threatened 
 
 ^ by the Patri- 
 
 of the greater excommunication, and prom- arch. 
 ising to provide him a situation, he went to his 
 friends at Hadet. But his thoughts were drawn to 
 the subject of religion, and finding nothing in which 
 he could take delight, he returned to Beirut, and 
 engaged himself to Mr. Bird for a year. Employed by 
 This was in December, 1825. For greater '^^^^^^i'^^- 
 security, a consular protection was now obtained for 
 him from Mr. Abbott, which ensured him, while in 
 the employ of the mission, all the liberty and safety 
 of an English resident. There was no American 
 Consul in the country at that time. He now ap- 
 plied himself to searching the Scriptures, and dis- 
 cussing religious doctrines. Discarding all un- 
 written traditions, the Apocryphal books, and all 
 implied dependence on the fathers and standing oa 
 
 , Protestant 
 
 councils, he found himself standing, m ground. 
 respect to his rule of faith, on Protestant ground. 
 
 With all his strong points of character, Asaad 
 had the constitutional weakness of being Hisconstitu- 
 
 tional weak- 
 artless and confiding. In January, 1826, ness. 
 
 the Patriarch sent his own brother, as a special 
 
 messenger, inviting Asaad to an interview, and 
 
 making him flattering promises. The consultation 
 
 with the priest was private, but it soon appeared. 
 
60 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 that Asaad was disposed to comply with the patri- 
 archal invitation. It was suggested to him, that 
 the Patriarch was meditating evil against him ; but 
 his reply was that he had little fear of it, that the 
 Maronites were not accustomed to take life, or to 
 irajjrison men, on account of religion. So confident 
 w^as he that good would I'esult from the visit, that 
 Puts him- ^|jg brethren in the mission ceased to urge 
 
 eelf into the ^ ^ o 
 
 po'wer'''' their objections. On reaching the Patri- 
 arch's convent, he thus wrote : — 
 
 " I am now at the convent of Alma, and God be 
 thanked, I arrived in good health. As yet, however, 
 I have not seen his blessedness. 
 
 " I pray God, the Father, and his only Son, Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, that He will establish me in his 
 love, and that I may never exchange it for any 
 created thing ; that neither death, nor life, nor 
 things j)reseut, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor riches, nor honor, nor dignity, nor 
 office, nor anything in creation, shall separate me 
 from this love. I beg you to pray to God for me, 
 which request I make, also, to all the believers.'' 
 
 Several weeks brought no farther direct intelli- 
 gence, and there were conflicting reports, which 
 awakened apprehension as to his safety. In the 
 latter part of February, a messenger was sent to 
 obtain accurate knowledge of his situation. The 
 man saw him at the convent of Alma, and had a 
 short private interview. Asaad said, that three 
 
THE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 61 
 
 things were before him ; either to be regarded as 
 mad, or to commit sin, or to offer up his life ; but 
 he was ready, he said, to go to prison, or 
 
 His boldness. 
 
 to death. He was engaged in daily con- 
 troversy with the Patriarch, the Bishop, and others. 
 The main topics on which he insisted, were the 
 necessity of a spiritual religion in distinction from 
 mere forms, the sufficiency of Scripture, and the ab- 
 surdity of holding the Pope to be infallible. The 
 Patriarch was highly displeased with these bold sen- 
 timents, and gave utterance to cruel threats, though 
 at other times offering promotion and money. 
 
 Asaad objected to the plan of rescuing him by 
 consular authority, as it might endanger his life. 
 He thought it best to await some providential open- 
 ing for his escape. One soon occurred. After a 
 week, he left the convent at midnig^hfc. „ 
 
 ^ o Escapes from 
 
 The mountain paths were narrow, stony, ^^°«™»^«- 
 and crooked, and he often found himself astray, 
 stumbling over rocks and hedges, wading in brooks, 
 or miring in mud. Keaching the sea-shore, he 
 found a shelter under which he rested for a while, 
 and then walked on to Beirut, where he was re- 
 ceived most joyfully. The Patriarch and his train 
 were engaged in morning prayers when Asaad's es- 
 cape was announced. There was great excitement. 
 One man among them, who had sympathized with 
 Asaad, ventured to speak out in his justification. 
 " You had reason," he said, " to expect nothing else. 
 
62 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Why should he stay with you here ? What had he 
 here to do? What had he to eujoy? Books he had 
 none; friendly society none; conversation against 
 religion abundant; insults upon his opinions and 
 feelings abundant. Why should he not leave you?'^ 
 Messengers were sent in quest of him in every 
 direction, but in vain. 
 
 Asaad's written account of his experiences during 
 His account his abscucc ou tlic mouutaius, is very in- 
 
 ofhisexperi- , 
 
 ences. tcrcstiug, but tlicrc IS not room for even an 
 
 abridgment of it.^ A few of the incidents may be 
 noted. The chief object of the Patriarch was to 
 induce him to say, that his faith was like that of 
 the Romish Church. This he declined doing, as it 
 would be a falsehood. The Patriarch offered to ab- 
 solve him from the sin of falsehood, to which Asaad 
 replied, " What the law of nature condemns, no 
 man can make lawful." Accompanied by a priest, 
 he visited his own college of Ain Warka, but gained 
 no light; and the same was true of his visit to the 
 superior of the convent of Bzummar, who desired 
 to see him. It is a suggestive fact, that the infal- 
 libility of the Pope, even then, was everywhere a 
 controverted point between him and the priesthood. 
 The weakness of the reasoning on the papal side 
 was everywhere so apparent to him, as greatly to 
 strengthen his evangelical faith. In one of his 
 interviews with the Patriarch he said : " I would 
 
 1 See Missionary Herald for 1827, pp. 71-76, 97-101. 
 
TEE MARTYR OF LEBANON, 63 
 
 ask of you the favor to send from your priests two 
 faithful men to preach the Gospel through the 
 country ; and I am ready, if necessary, to sell all I 
 possess and give it towards their wages." He after- 
 wards offered to go himself and preach the Gospel. 
 But neither of these proposals was accepted. 
 
 He was at length deprived of his books, and 
 severely threatened by the Patriarch. " Fearing," 
 he says, " that I should be found among the fearful 
 (Rev. xxi. 8), I turned, and said to him, *I will 
 hold fast the religion of Jesus Christ, and I am 
 ready, for the sake of it, to shed my blood ; and 
 though you should all become infidels, yet will not 
 I ; ' and so left the room." 
 
 Asaad says, in his narrative : " A friend told me, 
 that the Patriarch wondered how I should pretend 
 that I held to the Christian religion, and still con- 
 verse in such abusive terms against it. And I also 
 wondered, after he saw this, that he should not be 
 willing so much as to ask me, in mildness and 
 forbearance, for what reasons I was unwilling to 
 receive the doctrines of the Pope, or to say, that I 
 believed as he did. But, so far from this, he laid 
 every person, and even his own brother under ex- 
 communication, should they presume to dispute or 
 converse with me on the subject of religion. En- 
 tirely bereft of books, and shut out from all persons 
 who might instruct me, from what quarter could I 
 get the evidence necessary to persuade me to accept 
 the Patriarch's opinions? 
 
64 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 '' Another cause I had of wonder was, that not one 
 of all with whom I conversed, when he thought me 
 heretical, advised me to use the only means of 
 becoming" strong in the faith, namely, prayer to God 
 Most High, and searching his Holy Word, which a 
 child may understand. I wondered, too, that they 
 should ridicule and report me abroad as insane, and 
 after all this, be afraid to engage in a dispute with 
 the madman, lest he should turn them away from 
 the truth." 
 
 As the Patriarch, and the Bishop of Beirut, whose 
 diocese included Hadet, were determined to shut 
 him out from the people, and even threatened his 
 life, Asaad resolved on escaping to Beirut, which he 
 accomplished, as already stated, on the morning of 
 Thursday, March 2, 1826. 
 
 Asaad's statement was forthwith copied and sent 
 The state- iu various directions throug'h the moun- 
 
 tnent pub- 
 lished, tains, and afterwards it had a much wider 
 
 circulation in a i)rinted form. 
 
 The Patriarch's first effort to recapture the fugi- 
 
 First effort tivc, was by mcaus of a Turkish sheriff, and 
 
 to recapture 
 
 tim. it failed. On the following Monday, an 
 
 uncle and the two elder brothers of Asaad came to 
 see what they could do; and they were followed by 
 another brother, and then by the mother and her 
 youngest son. The older brothers were loud and 
 violent in their denunciations. All these the perse- 
 cuted young Christian met with a calm firmness, 
 
THE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 65 
 
 but he was at one time almost overcome by the 
 distress of his mother. She was at length pacified 
 by the declarations, that he was not a follower of 
 the English, that he derived not his creed from 
 them, that he believed in the Trinity, that Jesus 
 was God, and that Mary was his mother. Phares, 
 the youngest brother, consented to receive a New 
 Testament, and was evidently affected and softened 
 by the interview. 
 
 On the 16th of March, Asaad received a kind 
 and fatherly epistle from the Patriarch, 
 
 . 1 ,. Secondeffort. 
 
 begging him to return home, and relieve 
 the anxieties of his mother and family, and giving 
 him full assurance, that he need not fear being 
 interfered with in his freedom. He was thus ap- 
 proached on his weak side. Too confiding, he 
 really believed this insidious letter, and that he 
 might now go home and live there with his religion 
 unshackled. He wrote a favorable reply. The 
 family was doubtless urged to make sure of the 
 victim before anything occurred to change his 
 mind, and the very next day four of his relations, 
 including Phares, came to escort him to Hadet. 
 The missionaries all believed it perilous, and so he 
 thought himself, but he believed, also, 
 
 , , T n 1 . Its success, 
 
 that there was now a door opened for him 
 prudently to preach the Gospel. At Beirut, he said, 
 he could only use his pen, " but who is there in 
 this country," he asked, "that reads?" One of 
 
 5 
 
60 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the sisters of the mission said, as she took hirn by 
 the hand, that she expected never to see him again 
 in this world. He smiled at what he regarded her 
 extravagant apprehension, returned some quiet an- 
 swer, and proceeded on his way, never to return. 
 
 Asaad was treated harshly by his older brothers, 
 and had reason to regard his life as imperiled : " I 
 am in a sort of imprisonment," he said, " enemies 
 within, and enemies without." Towards the last of 
 Is taken by Marcli, twcnty or more of his relations 
 
 force to the -r* • 
 
 Patriarch, asscmblcd, to take him to the Patriarch by 
 force. He expostulated with Tannus, the eldest of 
 the family except one, as the chief manager in the 
 aflair, and besought him to desist from a step so 
 inconsistent with their fraternal relations. The 
 unnatural brother turned from him in cold indiffer- 
 ence, which so affected Asaad that he went aside, 
 and prayed and wept. 
 
 Tn the evening, he at one time addressed the 
 whole assembled company in this manner: '*If I 
 had not read the Gospel, I should have been aston- 
 ished at this movement of yours ; but now I see 
 through it all. It is just what the Gospel has told 
 me to expect ; ^ The brother shall deliver up the 
 brother to death, and a man's foes shall be they of 
 his own* household.' Here you see it is just so. 
 You have assembled together here to fulfill this 
 prophecy of the Gospel. What have I done against 
 you ? What is my crime, that it should have called 
 
TEE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 67 
 
 together such an assemblage ? Be it that I take 
 the blessed Bible as my only guide to heaven, does 
 that injure you? Is it a crime that renders me 
 worthy of being taken as a malefactor, and sent into 
 confinement ? " 
 
 Surrounded, as he was, by men insensible to pity, 
 the mother's heart was deeply moved seeing him 
 arrested and borne away as if he had been a mur- 
 derer. She wept, and Asaad sympathized with her, 
 and turned his back on the home of his childhood, 
 weeping and prayiug aloud. 
 
 He was first taken to the convent of Alma, and 
 then to Canobeen. That convent, where he was 
 destined to wear out the miserable remainder of his 
 life, was in one of the wildest and least accessible 
 recesses of Lebanon. 
 
 More than a month passed without intelligence, 
 when the Mission received reliable information, that 
 Asaad was in prison, and in chains, and imprisoned 
 
 and in 
 
 that he was beaten a certain number of chains. 
 stripes daily. A cousin was afterwards permitted 
 to visit him, and reported that he found him sitting 
 on the bare floor, his bed having been taken from 
 him, with a heavy chain around his neck, the other 
 end of which was fastened to the wall. He had also 
 been deprived of all his books and writing utensils. 
 Fruitless efforts were made to effect his ^, ^ ., 
 
 The family 
 
 deliverance, and his family at last relented, "^^^^"^ 
 and joined in the efforts. The mother accompanied 
 
68 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 one of the older sons to Canobeeu, and found him in 
 chains, which she had not been willing to believe 
 till she saw it for herself. So decided were the two 
 younger brothers in their movements on his behalf, 
 that they had to consult their own safety in flight. 
 Once they almost succeeded. Asaad himself, under 
 the pressure of his sufferings, made several attempts 
 to flee, but not knowing the way, he was easily 
 apprehended, and the only effect was an aggrava- 
 tion of his misery. A priest gives the following 
 account of his treatment, after one of these failures. 
 " On his arrival at the convent, the Patriarch gave 
 Barbarous immediate orders for his punishment; and 
 treatment, tlicy fcll upou liiui with rcproachcs, caning 
 him, and smiting him with their hands ; yet as 
 often as they struck him on one cheek, he turned to 
 them the other. ' This,' said he, ' is a joyful day to 
 me. My blessed Lord and Master has said. Bless 
 them that curse you; and if they strike you on the 
 right cheek, turn to them the other also. This I 
 have been enabled to do ; and I am I'cady to suffer 
 even more than this for Him who was beaten, and 
 spit upon, and led as a sheep to the slaughter on 
 our account.' When they heard this, they fell to 
 beating him anew, saying, ' Have we need of your 
 preaching, you deceiver ? Of what avail are such 
 pretensions as yours, who are in the broad road to 
 perdition?' He replied, 'He that believeth that 
 Jesus Christ is the Son of God, hath eternal life.' 
 
THE MARTYR OF LEBANON. 69 
 
 ^Ah/ said they, 'this is the way you are blinded. 
 Your salvation is by faith alone in Christ; thus you 
 cast contempt on his mother, and on his saints. 
 Ton believe not in the presence of his holy body on 
 the earth.' And they threw him on the ground, 
 and overwhelmed him with the multitude of their 
 blows." 
 
 For three successive days he was subjected to the 
 bastinado, by order of the Patriarch. Remaining 
 iSrm to his belief, he was again put in chains, the 
 door barred upon him, and his food given him in 
 short allowance. Compassionate persons interceded, 
 and his condition was alleviated for a time, but no 
 one was allowed to converse with him. After some 
 days, aided, it is supposed, by relatives, he again 
 fled from the convent, but was arrested by soldiers 
 sent out in search of him by the Emeer Abdallah, 
 and delivered to the Patriarch. " On his jncreMed 
 aiTival," says a priest who was with him at ^^'^®^'^' 
 Canobeen, " he was loaded with chains, cast into 
 a dark, filthy room, and bastinadoed every day for 
 eight days, sometimes fainting under the operation, 
 until he was near death. He was then left in his 
 misery, his bed a thin flag mat, his covering his 
 common clothes. The door of his prison was filled 
 up with stones and mortar, and his food was six thin 
 cakes of bread a day, and a cup of water." 
 
 To this dungeon there was no access or outlet 
 whatever except a small loop-hole, through which 
 
70 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 they passed hiin his food. Here he lay several days, 
 and its ever-increasing loathsomeness need not be 
 described. No wonder he cried : "^ Love ye the Lord 
 Jesus Christ according as He hath loved us, and 
 given himself to die for us. Think of me, ye that 
 pass by ; have pity upon me, and deliver me from 
 these sufferings." 
 
 A certain priest, who had been a former friend of 
 Asaad, was touched with compassion, and by perse- 
 verance succeeded in once more opening his prison 
 doors, and taking off his chains. But he also became 
 suspected in consequence of his kindness to Asaad, 
 and it is not known how long the sufferer was 
 allowed this partial freedom. One of his brothers 
 visited him in 1828, and found him inclosed within 
 four solid stone walls, as in a sepulchre ^' full of all 
 uncleanness." In 1829, there appears not to have 
 been any mitigation of his sufferings. For three 
 years or more, the priestly despot had him under 
 his heel, and inflicted upon him the greatest amount 
 of suffering compatible with the continuance of life. 
 
 His death is supposed to have occurred in October, 
 Time and 1830. PubUc opiuiou was divided as to 
 
 manner of 
 
 his death, the cause and manner of it. The Patri- 
 arch said it was by fever. There is the same un- 
 certainty as to the manner of his burial. But 
 though thrown down into the ravine and covered 
 with stones, as was alleged, his dust will ever be 
 precious in the eyes of the Lord. 
 
THE MARTY H OF LEBANON. 71 
 
 Asaad maintained his Christian profession to the 
 last, and he must ever have an honorable His death a 
 place among the Christian martyrs of mod- "'^'''^J^^'^^'"- 
 ern times. 
 
 Soon after the capture of Acre by Ibrahim Pasha, 
 in 1832, Mr. Tod, an English merchant, ^^l"^^^ 
 accompanied by Wortabet, obtained an mSant. 
 audience with him, and made knovrn the case of 
 Asaad. The Pasha directed the Emir Beshir to 
 furnish ten soldiers to Mr. Tod, with authority to 
 search the convent of Canobeen by force, if neces- 
 sary. He was received by the Patriarch and priests 
 of the convent with dismay. They asserted that 
 Asaad had died two years before, pointed out his 
 grave, and offered to open it. The convent was 
 thoroughly searched, but he was not found, and Mr. 
 Tod was convinced that he was really dead.^ 
 
 When it is considered how severely and in how 
 many ways Asaad was tried, his faith and Remarks on 
 
 the narra- 
 
 constancy appear admirable. His pride of tiye. 
 intellect and authorship, and his reputation for con- 
 sistency, were opposed, at the outset, to any change 
 in his religious opinions. Then all his reverence for 
 his ecclesiastical superiors and his former tutors, 
 some of whom were naturally mild in their tempers, 
 and his previous habits of thought, withstood his 
 yielding to the convictions of conscience and the 
 authority of Scripture. Next, the anathemas of the 
 
 ^Missionary Herald for 1833, pp. 51-57. 
 
72 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Church, the tears of a mother appalled by the iufaray 
 of having an apostate son, the furious menaces of 
 brothers, and the bitter hatred of masses stirred up 
 by an influential priesthood, combined to hold him 
 back from the truth. All these things were prepar- 
 atory to being seized by indignant relatives, chained 
 to his prison walls, deprived of the New Testament 
 and other books, and of every means of recreation, 
 refused even those bodily comforts which nature 
 renders indispensable ; in such a forlorn condition, 
 exposed to the insults of a bigoted populace and the 
 revilings of a tyrannical priesthood, beaten till his 
 body became a mass of disease, and held in this 
 variety of grief for years, without one ray of hope, 
 save through the portals of the tomb, who expected 
 that he would endure steadfastly to the end ? 
 
 On the other hand, if he would only recant, pro- 
 motion awaited him, and wealth, indeed everything 
 that could be offered to prevent a dreaded defection. 
 How many are there, with all our knowledge and 
 strength of religious principle, who, in his situation, 
 would like him be faithful unto death ? 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PRESS AT. MALTA. 
 
 1822-1833. 
 
 The location of the press at Malta, was not the 
 result of desiofu, but because priutini^ could ^^ ^^ 
 
 O ' IT o Why the 
 
 not be done safely, if at all, either at Ea.''"'**' 
 Smyrna or at Beirut. Its operations were begun 
 under the impression of a more extended ^igtj^ijen 
 taste for reading and reflection in the sev- >°^p^^^^^°^- 
 eral communities of the Levant, than really existed ; 
 and it is doubtful whether the larger part of the 
 earlier publications were well suited to the appre- 
 hension of the Oriental mind. However this may be, 
 it was decided, in the year 1829, to make it a lead- 
 ing object, for a time, to furnish books for successful 
 elementary schools ; making them, as far p"*'^'^^^'^^^- 
 as possible, the vehicles of moral and religious truth. 
 The wisdom of this course was seen among the 
 Greeks. A first book for schools of sixty pages, 
 called the Alphabetarion, went into extensive use. 
 Twenty- seven thousand copies were called for in 
 Greece before the year 1831. 
 
 There had been more or less of printing since 
 1822 ; but it was not until the close of 1826, that 
 
74 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 the arrival of Mr. Homau Hallock furDished a reg- 
 ular and competent printer. In the year following, 
 Mr. Temple was bereaved of his excellent wife and of 
 two children, and at the invitation of the Prudential 
 Committee he visited the United States. Mean- 
 while the presence of Messrs. Bird, Goodell, Smith, 
 and Hallock kept the i3ress in operation. Mr. Tem- 
 ple returned in 1830. 
 
 The establishment consisted of three presses, 
 Theestab- ^^^^^ fouts of tjpc iu Euglisli, Italian, 
 IS mcQt. Modern Greek, Greco-Turkish, Armenian, 
 Armeno-Turkish, and Arabic, but the greater part 
 of the printing was iu the Italian, the Modern 
 Greek, and Armeno-Turkish. The most important 
 
 Armeno- work was thc trauslatiou of the New Testa- 
 Turkish New 
 Testament, mcut iu tlic Armcuo-Turkish, which was 
 
 printed at the expense of the British aud Foreign 
 Bible Society. It was prepared from two transla- 
 tions, oue by Mr. Goodell, with the efficient aid of 
 Bishop Carabet, the other by an Armenian priest at 
 Constantinople, in the employ of Mr. Leeves, agent 
 of the British aud Foreign Bible Society. Mr. 
 GoodelFs version was made conformable to the 
 original Greek, and the last sheet was printed in 
 Extent of January, 1831. During that year, there 
 publication. ^^^^ printed seventy-eight thousand copies 
 of fourteen works, amounting to nearly five millions 
 of pages, all in modern Greek. The whole amount 
 of printing at Malta, from the establishment of the 
 
THE PRESS AT MALTA. 75 
 
 press iu July, 1822, to December, 1833, the time of 
 its removal to Smyrna, was about three huudrecl and 
 fifty thousand volumes, containing twenty-one mill- 
 ions of pages. Nearly the whole were put in circu- 
 lation, and additional supplies of some of the books 
 were urgently demanded. The Koman Catholics 
 opposed this work from the first, and anathematized 
 the books issued. 
 
 The labor and expense were increased by the 
 singular use of alphabets in the Levantine singular 
 
 use of 
 
 regions. The Marouites and Syrians spoke alphabets. 
 the Arabic language, but employed the Syriac alpha- 
 bet in writing. The Armenians, to a large extent, 
 spoke the Turkish language, but wrote it with the 
 Armenian alphabet. The Greeks in Asia generally 
 spoke the Turkish language, but used the Greek 
 alphabet. The Grecian Jews spoke the Grecian 
 language, the Spanish Jews the Spanish, the Bar- 
 bary Jews the Arabic, but all three used the Hebrew 
 alphabet. Then, too, the worship of the singular use 
 Syrians, Greeks, and Armenians was in the in worship. 
 ancient languages of those nations, which were for 
 the most part unintelligible to the common people. 
 
 Mr. Temple began preaching in Italian early in 
 1826, and during his whole residence on „ 
 
 *-' Preaching 
 
 the island he preached every Sabbath, ^^^^^^**' 
 either in Italian or English. The rule he pre- 
 scribed for himself, whether preaching to Gentiles 
 or Jews, was to preach the great truths of the Bible 
 
76 iVlSSlONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 plainly and faithfully, appealing" as little as possible 
 to Fathers, Councils, or Kabbins. Contemporary 
 Good with him were Mr. Jowett, of the Church 
 
 'V'issionary 
 
 FiUowship. Missionary Society, Mr. Wilson, of the Lon- 
 don Missionary Society, and Mr. Keeling, of the 
 English Wesleyan Society, and all were on the best 
 terms of Christian fellowship. 
 
 In December, 1833, Messrs. Temple and Hallock 
 iiemoyaito ^emoved to Smyrna, with the printing 
 Smyrna. establishment, and Dionysius Carabet ac- 
 companied them as a translator. Wortabet had 
 previously returned to Syria. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PRELIMINARY EXPLOBATIONS- 
 1828-1831. 
 
 Enough was known, in the year 1828, to encourage 
 the belief, that Greece and Western Asia would soon 
 demand a more extensive prosecution of Need of in- 
 the missionary work ; but more specific ^^^'^^^'^^ 
 information was indispensable to an intelligent 
 enlargement. The temporary suspension of the 
 Syrian mission had brought the whole of the mis- 
 sionary force of the Board in that part of the world 
 to Malta (except that Mr. Temple was on a visit to 
 the United States), thus making consultation easy. 
 Other reasons called for a more free and extended 
 oflScial intercourse than could be held by letter. 
 Accordingly the author, then Assistant Author's visit 
 
 -i»«-*° ^^'^ Medi- 
 
 Secretary of the Board, was sent to Malta terranean. 
 at the close of 1828, with instructions to confer 
 with the brethren, and afterwards to visit Greece 
 and other parts of the Levant. The conferences at 
 Malta occupied two months, and aided much in de- 
 termining subsequent measures. When these were 
 over, the author, in company with the Rev. Eli 
 
78 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 Smith, afterward so favorably and widely known in 
 the Christian world, visited the Ionian Islands, the 
 Morea, and the Grecian Archipelago. Count John 
 A. Capodistrias was then President of Greece, and 
 had his residence on the island of iEgina. Athens 
 was still held by the Turks. It was made incum- 
 bent on the author to propose inquiries to the Pres- 
 ident on certain points, and this was rendered easy 
 by his urbanity and his frank and explicit answers. 
 The inquiries were mainly for gaining the needed 
 information ; and they elicited some facts which 
 deterred the Committee from a class of expendi- 
 tures, that would have been in accordance with the 
 popular feeling at that time, but might have proved 
 a fruitful source of disappointment. Mr. King was 
 then in Greece as a philhellene, in charge of sup- 
 plies sent by ladies in New York to be distributed 
 among the impoverished people. Perhaps the most 
 important result of this negotiation with the Greek 
 government, besides facilitating Mr. King's pro- 
 tracted and useful connection with the Greek mis- 
 sion, was a written assurance by the chief ruler of 
 the nation, that among the books to be used in the 
 schools of Greece should be the Bible, the New Tes- 
 tament, and the Psalms, all translated and printed in 
 modern Greek. 
 
 Among the results of the consultations at Malta, 
 Results of was Mr. Bird's visit to Tripoli and Tunis 
 
 Malta con- 
 
 fereaces. Qu thc African coast, for which he was 
 
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS. 79 
 
 specially qualified by his free use of the Arabic 
 language. He had opportunities at Tripoli for con- 
 versing with Jews, Moslems, Papists, and persons 
 of no religion. His books and tracts were chiefly 
 in the Hebrew and Arabic languages. At Tunis, he 
 distributed copies of the Scriptures, but in neither 
 place did there seem to be a sufficient opening for 
 instituting a mission. 
 
 Another result of the Malta conferences was the 
 distribution of the mission forces ; Mr. Bird to 
 Syria, Mr. Goodell to Constantinople, and Mr. 
 Smith for an exploring tour among the Armenians 
 of Turkey. Soon after the return of the Assistant 
 Secretary, the Rev. H. G. 0. D wight was desig- 
 nated to accompany Mr. Smith in his proposed tour 
 of exploration, and the Rev. George B. Whiting as 
 the companion of Mr. Bird on his return to Syria. 
 Mrs. Dwight was to remain at Malta during her 
 husband's absence. 
 
 The two explorers sailed for Smyrna in March, 
 1830, in the same vessel which had brought ^^ lorersof 
 Mr. Dwight from Boston. After some '^'"'"^^• 
 days at Smyrna, in the family of Mr. Brewer, who 
 had returned to that place in connection with a so- 
 ciety of ladies in New Haven, they went overland 
 to Constantinople. This was a journey of eight 
 days, and was made necessary by the long detention, 
 to which sailing vessels were liable from north winds 
 at the mouth of the Dardanelles. The time for 
 steamers had not yet come in these regions. 
 
80 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The departure from Constantinople was near the 
 close of May, in the most charming season of the 
 year. As in the journey from Smyrna, they put 
 Preparations thcmselvcs Under a Tartar, who, for their 
 for the tour, gj^^^^^j, sccuHty, had set his seal to a writ- 
 ten contract in presence of the Tartar aghasy. The 
 government became thus responsible for their per- 
 sons and property. Instead of trunks, they had two 
 large bags, two saddle-bags, and two valises, all of 
 thick Russian leather, fastened with padlocks, and 
 impermeable to water. Instead of mattresses, each 
 had a carpet and coverlet rolled in painted canvas, 
 that served as a floor at night, when it was their lot 
 to lie on the ground. Each had an ample Turkish 
 pelisse, lined with the fur of the Caucasian fox. 
 Four copper pans, a mill for grinding coffee, a pot, 
 cups, and a knife, fork, and spoon for each, were 
 their utensils for cooking and eating. A circular 
 piece of leather served for a table when spread upon 
 the ground, and when drawn together like a lady's 
 reticule, and suspended from the saddle, it formed a 
 bag to carry their bread and cheese. The whole 
 was so compact as to require, on ordinary occa- 
 sions, but a single extra horse. As the Turkish 
 post furnished only horses, they were obliged to add 
 saddles and bridles to their other accoutrements; 
 and to their saddles, as was usual, were attached 
 holsters, to deter from hostile attacks upon them. 
 To avoid unnecessary notice, expense, and trouble. 
 
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS. 81 
 
 if not insult, they wore loose Turkish robes, the 
 Oriental turban, and the enormous Tartar stockings 
 and boots. Of course they had also the needful 
 firmans, passports, and letters of introduction. 
 
 Their route lay along what at that time might be 
 called, for the most part, the high road to 
 
 Their route. 
 
 Tabriz, and passed through Tokat, Erz- 
 room, Ears, Tiflis, Shoosha, Nakhchevan, Echmi- 
 adzin, and Khoy, a distance of more than fifteen 
 hundred miles. At Tokat, the travellers visited the 
 grave of Henry Martyn, who died there in 1812. 
 On the 13th of June, they entered Erzroom, then 
 in possession of an invading army of Russians ; 
 which soon retired, and was accompanied by a large 
 portion of the Armenian population in that district. 
 The Turks of Erzroom found it hard to comprehend 
 from what country the travellers came. Kars, 
 Tiflis, Shoosha, and Echmiadzin had been subjected 
 to Russian rule. Tiflis was the capital of Georgia. 
 Shoosha, where they arrived about the «„. 
 
 ^ J cojoura at 
 
 middle of August, worn down by fatigue ^^°°3^*- 
 in descending the insalubrious valley of the Koor, 
 or Cyrus, was then the seat of a German mission, 
 which gave a cordial reception to their American 
 brethren. The cholera prevailed in all that region, 
 and it was estimated that as many as seventy thou- 
 sand people died of it, during the two months and 
 a half our travellers spent in Shoosha. 
 
 They gave an interesting account of the Ger- 
 
 6 
 
82 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 mail colonies in Georgia, which had their origin in 
 German cxtravaganfc views concerning the millen- 
 coionies. ^^^^^ "Prcvious to 1817, several popular 
 and ardent ministers in the kingdom of Wiirtemberg 
 maintained, in commentaries on the Apocalypse 
 and other publications, that the wished-for period 
 would commence in 1836, and would be preceded 
 by a dreadful apostasy and great persecutions. 
 These views, in addition to the fascinating interest 
 always connected with prophetical theories, being 
 enforced with much pious feeling, acquired so great 
 credit as to be adopted by nearly all the religious 
 people in the kingdom, and by many others. At 
 the same time, the advocates of the neological sys- 
 tem, being the predominant party in the clergy, 
 succeeded in effecting some alterations in the 
 prayers and hymns of the Church in accommoda- 
 tion to their errors. This grieved exceedingly all 
 who were attached to evangelical principles, and 
 was taken to be the apostasy they expected. Their 
 prophetical teachers had intimated that, as in the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem the Christians found a place 
 of refuge, so would there be one now, and that, some- 
 where in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea. Many, 
 therefore, of the common people determined to seek 
 the wished-for asylum, that they and their children 
 (for whom the better sort were particularly anx- 
 ious) might escape the impending storm, and also 
 be able to form an independent ecclesiastical estab- 
 
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS. 83 
 
 lishmeiit according to their own notions. To these 
 were joined others desirous of change, or in strait- 
 ened circumstances, who though not at heart pious, 
 professed for the time to be influenced by the same 
 principles and motives. In fact the latter became 
 the most numerous. The company, when it left 
 Wiirtemberg, consisted of fifteen hundred families. 
 But no adequate arrangement having been made 
 for the journey, and the sinister motives of the 
 majority contributing to create disorder, they 
 suffered exceedingly on the way, and before they 
 reached Odessa, two thirds had died." ^ The num- 
 ber of the colonists, in 1832, was about two thou- 
 sand, but their enterprise had not been successful. 
 
 On the way from Echmiadzin to Tabriz, a dis- 
 tance of nearly two hundred and fifty g^^^^^^ 
 miles, Mr. Smith suffered greatly from ill- ^^^"^ ^°^^- 
 ness. When seventy miles from that city, his 
 strength gave out entirely, so that he could go no 
 farther with the conveyances then at command. 
 His life was probably saved by Mr. Dwight's send- 
 ing a messenger to the gentlemen of the English 
 embassy at Tabriz, requesting the aid of a takhtire- 
 wan, the only native carriage known to the Persians. 
 It resembles a sedan-chair, except in being borne 
 by two mules or horses, and closed from the exter- 
 nal air, and in requiring a lying posture. Kindness of 
 The vehicle soon arrived; but was pre- Embassy. 
 
 1 Missionary Researches in Armenia, vol. i. p. 264. 
 
84 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES 
 
 ceded by Dr. McNeill, the physician and first assist- 
 ant of the embassy, who then commenced those acts 
 of kindness which ever endeared him to the Nesto- 
 rian mission. Colonel McDonald, the ambassador, 
 had lately died, and Dr. McNeill was soon obliged 
 to leave for Teheran. Dr. Cormick, who had healed 
 Henry Martyn of a similar disease, then took the 
 medical charge of Mr. Smith. After their long 
 experience of filthy stables, the comfortable, well- 
 furnished apartments provided for them at Tabriz, 
 through the generous hospitality of Major Willock, 
 former commander of the English forces in Persia, 
 and Captain Campbell, the acting Envoy, were more 
 grateful to the weary travellers than can well be 
 conceived. Mr. Nisbit, an officer in the commissa- 
 riat department, together with his wife, entered 
 fully into their feelings as missionaries, and sympa- 
 thized with them in their views of the spiritual 
 wants of the country. 
 
 Messrs. Smith and Dwight were required by their 
 instructions, to investigate and report on the condi- 
 tion of the Nestorians inhabiting the northwestern 
 TheNesto- proviucc of Pcrsia. In former ages, this 
 
 rians of 
 
 former ages, peoplc had bccu distinguished beyond any 
 other Christian people — except perhaps, their con- 
 temporaries in Ireland — for missionary zeal and 
 enterprise. From the seventh to the thirteenth 
 centuries, they had missions both in central and 
 eastern Asia. Previous to the overthrow of the 
 
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS. 85 
 
 Califate, a. d. 1258, their churches were scattered 
 over the region forming modern Persia, and were 
 numerous in Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Arabia. 
 They had churches in Syria; on the island of Cy- 
 prus ; among the mountains of Malabar ; and iu the 
 extended regions of Tartary, from the Caspian Sea 
 to Mount Imaus, and beyond through the greater 
 part of what is now known as Chinese Tartary, and 
 even in China itself. The names of twenty-five 
 metropolitan sees are on record, embracing of 
 course a far greater number of bishoprics, and still 
 more numerous congregations. 
 
 These facts, though known to learned historians, 
 had fallen out of the popular mind. Indeed, they 
 were not in the recollection of the executive oiBBcers 
 of the American Board, when the author |^ou wl?*^' 
 drew up the instructions to Messrs. Smith ^J^th^m 
 and Dwight. But while preparing them, his atten- 
 tion was incidentally drawn to a brief article in a 
 Virginia publication, from the pen of Dr. Walsh, 
 British chaplain at Constantinople, entitled ^^Chal- 
 dees in Persia ; " and it was the impression made by 
 that article, which led to a positive direction to visit 
 that people, should it be found practicable, and see 
 whether the churches in this western world had any 
 duty to perform to them. The English at Tabriz 
 confessed to an aluiost entire ignorance of the relig- 
 ious doctrines and character of the Nestoriaus. The 
 only important fact our brethren could learn there 
 
86 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 was, that a coDsiderable body of them were accessi- 
 ble in the provinces of Oroomiah and Salmas, at the 
 distance of somewhat more than a hundred miles. 
 
 Our travellers remained at Tabriz from the 18th 
 of December to March, 1831, when restored health 
 and the opening season permitted them to resume 
 their journey. In Salmas, they first came in con- 
 tact with the Chaldeans, as those ISFestorians were 
 called who had been won over by Roman Catholic 
 missionaries since the year 1681. The name means 
 no more than papal Syrians, or papal Armenians. 
 Some of their bishops and priests had been educated 
 in the college of the Propaganda at Eome, and 
 spoke Itahan fluently. The Chaldeans were re- 
 ported, at that time, as a neglected and declining 
 sect. 
 
 Passing from Salmas into the province of Oroo- 
 Aweek uiiah, the travellers were received by the 
 
 amoDg the , -i ^ 
 
 Nestorians. NcstoHans iu thc most friendly and confi- 
 dential manner, and the week passed among them 
 was intensely interesting. While showing very 
 clearly the need the people were in of religious 
 instruction, they gave as additional considerations 
 in favor of sending missionaries to them, their 
 extreme liberality towards other sects, their ideas 
 of open communion, and their entire rejection of 
 auricular confession. 
 
 The return of Messrs. Smith and Dwight was by 
 way of Erzroom and Trebizond, thence by sea to 
 
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS. 87 
 
 Constautinople and Malta, at which last place they 
 arrived ou the 2d of July, 1831, after au absence of 
 fifteen months and a half. In this time, their laud 
 travel exceeded two thousand and five hundred 
 miles. 
 
 The results of their inquiries were embodied by 
 Mr. Smith, during a visit to his native Their 
 
 published 
 
 land, under the title of " Researches in Researches. 
 Armenia, including a Journey through Asia Minor 
 and into Georgia and Persia, with a Visit to the 
 Nestorian and Chaldean Christians,^^ and were pub- 
 lished in two volumes in Boston, and republished 
 in London. Though nearly forty years have since 
 elapsed, there is still a freshness of interest in the 
 entire work, which makes it matter of regret that 
 it is now out of print. The religious condition of 
 the Armenians at that time, is comprehensively 
 stated in the following paragraj^hs : — 
 
 " The slightest acquaintance with ecclesiastical 
 history may convince one, that before the Religious con- 
 
 dition of the 
 
 commencement of the fourth century, Armeniana. 
 Christianity had extensively degenerated from its 
 original purity as a religion of the heart, into a 
 mere profession of theoretical dogmas, and the ob- 
 servance of external rites. Such, it is natural to 
 suspect, was the form of it to which the Armenians 
 were at that period converted; and the circum- 
 stances of the event, if national tradition has cor- 
 rectly preserved them, confirm the suspicion, that 
 
88 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 they have from the beginning known extremely 
 little of true conversion. We are told that imme- 
 diately upon King Durtad's embracing the faith, the 
 nation followed his example in a body, and were 
 baptized. To say nothing of the doubtfulness of all 
 national conversions, the very hastiness of this pro- 
 ceeding, by allowing no time for competent instruc- 
 tion, shows that the Armenians could not have been 
 enlightened converts ; the fact that the Scriptures 
 were not translated into their language until a 
 century afterward, is an additional indication of the 
 scantiness of their religious knowledge ; and the 
 confessed backsliding of many of the nobility into 
 the most scandalous immoralities and the blackest 
 crimes, even during the lifetime of Durtad, proves 
 how superficial was their conversion. 
 
 " Thus the Armenian Church was a soil well 
 adapted to the rapid growth of all the corruptions, 
 which from that time sprang up, in such speedy 
 succession, in different parts of the Christian world. 
 Even those which then existed were, it would seem, 
 not sparingly introduced by St. Gregory. For, by 
 the immediate consecration of four hundred bish- 
 ops, and a countless number of priests, he betrayed 
 a disposition to multiply an idle and unqualified 
 priesthood ; and by the construction of convents 
 and nunneries, and spending the last of his days 
 in a solitary cave, he showed that he was ready to 
 foster the monastic spirit of his age. So deeply, 
 
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS. 89 
 
 indeed, was the taste for monkhood implanted, that 
 his fifth successor is said to have built two thousand 
 convents. 
 
 " Of the rites and dogmas subsequently adopted 
 by other bodies of Christians, there was a free im- 
 portation for the two centuries that the Armenians 
 formed a regular branch of the General Church. A 
 special messenger was sent to Jerusalem for the 
 ceremonies observed in that church, and brought 
 thence eight canons regulating the sacraments and 
 other rites. For a similar object, a correspondence 
 was carried on with the Bishop of Nisibis. One 
 Catholicos, who had been educated at Constanti- 
 nople in the influence of all the secular ideas 
 and regulations introduced into the Church under 
 the patronage of Constantine and his successors, 
 brought from thence ' various observances, which, 
 like precious stones, he inlaid into the old.' And 
 several who followed him distinguished themselves 
 by their improveifnenbs in the services and laws of the 
 Church. So that when, by rejecting the Council of 
 Chalcedon, a. d. 491, the Armenians cut them- 
 selves off from the communion of the great body of 
 Christians, they were doubtless in possession of all 
 the legendary dogmas and observances which had 
 then been adopted by the Christian world." ^ 
 
 1 Researches in Armema, Amer. Edition, vol. ii. pp. 290-292. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ARMENIANS. 
 
 1827-1835. 
 
 Mr. Kind's " Farewell Letter to his Friends iu 
 Effect of Mr. SyHa aiicl Palestine" was translated into 
 well letter, the Armenian language by Bishop Dionys- 
 ius, and a manuscript copy was sent by him, in the 
 year 1827, to some of the more influential Arme- 
 nians in Constantinople. Its effect was extraordi- 
 nary. A meeting was called in the Armenian patri- 
 archal church, at which the letter was read, and 
 the marginal references to Scripture were verified. 
 It was then agreed, by common consent, that the 
 Church needed reform. The famous school 
 
 School of 
 
 Peshtimaijian. ^p Peshtimaljlau grew out of this meeting, 
 at which it was decided, that no person should be 
 ordained in the capital to the priest's office, who 
 had not completed a regular course of study at this 
 school. In the year 1833, the missionaries were 
 invited to be present at the ordination of fifteen 
 Armenian priests in the patriarchal church ; and 
 they were then informed, that no one had received 
 ordination in the metropolis since the adoption of 
 the rule above stated, and that only such as had 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 91 
 
 received a regular" education at that school were re- 
 garded as eligible for ordination. As the Effect on the 
 result of this, nearly all the candidates were p"''^^^^°'^- 
 comparatively well-educated men, and one of them, 
 hereafter to be more specially noted, had a high 
 reputation for learning. 
 
 Peshtimaljian, the head of the school, was an 
 uncommon man. His inquisitive mind ^^^gofThe 
 was ever gaining knowledge, and what he reformLlbbn. 
 acquired his memory retained. He was a critical 
 and accurate scholar in the language and literature 
 of his nation, and made himself familiar with the 
 theology and history of the Eastern and Komish 
 Churches, and with the general history of the 
 Church from the earliest ages. He was able to 
 quote from the Scriptures with wonderful facility 
 and accuracv. His confidence in the Bible, as the 
 true Word of God and the only standard of faith, 
 had indeed been shaken for a while by his disgust 
 with the superstitions of his Church, and by the 
 low character of many of its clergy, but he had 
 recovered from this. Though timid and cautious to 
 a fault, like Erasmus, and sometimes open to the 
 charge of time-serving, he gradually led his pupils 
 into new paths of inquiry, until they came to be- 
 lieve that the Church not only may err, but that it 
 had actually erred in many of its teachings. 
 
 Peshtimaljian became convinced at length, that 
 his pupils were consistently carrying out the prin- 
 
92 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 ciples they had learned from him, and he strongly, 
 though still privately, encouraged them in their 
 labors for the spiritual good of their countrymen. 
 Until his death, which occurred in 1837, he was the 
 friend of the missionaries, and had much intercourse 
 with them ; though he never acquired the courage 
 distinctly to avow himself an evangelical man. Up 
 to that time, however, there had been no open per- 
 secution of the followers of Christ, and consequently 
 no formal separation of the evangelical brethren 
 from the Armenian community. All the first con- 
 verts in Constantinople, and many of the later ones, 
 were from his school. 
 
 There can be no doubt that, owing to these and 
 A prepared- otlicr Icss apparent causes, there was a 
 
 ness for ref- , , 
 
 ormation. preparation in the Armenian mind of 
 Turkey for the reception of divine truth, before 
 the arrival of the American missionaries. Though 
 more evident at the capital than in the provinces, 
 there seems to have been some degree of this prep- 
 aration wherever Armenians were found. lu this 
 respect, there was a marked difference among that 
 people, as compared with Jews and Greeks. The 
 common people, where not intimidated by the 
 clergy, almost everywhere heard the Word with 
 gladness; and it was so with many of the paro- 
 chial priests, when not dreading the wrath of their 
 superiors. In all this we should gi-atefully ac- 
 knowledge an overruling Providence in the ordering 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 93 
 
 of events, and the divine agency of the Holy Spirit, 
 making it apparent that the " fulhiess of time " had 
 come for the entering in of evangelical missionaries. 
 Messrs. Smith and Dwight, before leaving Con- 
 stantinople on their eastern tonr, earnestly recom- 
 mended the forming of a station at the metropolis, 
 vrith special reference to the Armenians. In April, 
 1831, Mr. Goodell, then at Malta, received instruc- 
 tions from the Prudential Committee to commence- 
 ment of the 
 
 remove to that city. This he did, after Mission. 
 having carried the Armeno-Turkish New Testament 
 through the press. 
 
 The splendid scene which opened to Mr, Goodell 
 as he drew near the city on the 9th of g j^^^,^ 
 June, he thus describes : " As we ap- ^^°®^y- 
 proached Constantinople, the most enchanting pros- 
 pect opened to view. In the country, on our left, 
 were fields rich in cultivation and fruitfulness. On 
 our right, were the little isles of the Sea of Mar- 
 mora ; and beyond, the high lands of Broosa, with 
 Olympus rearing its head above the clouds and 
 covered with eternal snow. In the city, mosques, 
 domes, and hundreds of lofty minarets, were starting 
 up amidst the more humble abodes of men, all em- 
 bosomed in groves of dark cypresses, which in some 
 instances seemed almost hke a forest ; while before, 
 behind, and around us, were (besides many boats of 
 the country) more than twenty square-rigged ves- 
 sels, bearing the flags of different nations, all under 
 
94 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 full sail, with a light but favorable breeze, — all 
 couvergiug to one point, and that Constantinople. 
 When we first canght a glimpse of Top-Hana, Ga- 
 lata, and Pera, stretching from the water's edge to 
 the summit of the hill, and began to sweep round 
 Seraglio Point, the view became most beautiful and 
 sublime. It greatly surpassed all that I had ever 
 conceived of it. We had been sailing along what I 
 should call the south side of the city for four or 
 five miles, and were now entering the Bosphorus, 
 with the city on our left, and Scutari on our right. 
 The mosque of St. Sophia, with the palaces aud 
 gardens of the Sultan Mahmoud, were before us in 
 all their majesty and loveliness. Numerous boats 
 were shooting rapidly by us in all directions, giving 
 to the scene the appearance of life and business. 
 The vessels before us had been retarded, and those 
 behind had been speeded, and we were sweeping 
 round the Golden Horn in almost as rapid succes- 
 sion as was possible, — every captain apparently 
 using all his skill to prevent coming in contact with 
 his neighbor, or being carried away by the current; 
 and every passenger apparently, like ourselves, gaz- 
 ing with admiration on the numerous objects of 
 wonder on every hand." 
 
 Mr. Goodell took a house in Pera, one of the sub- 
 A destructive urbs of Constautiuople, where the European 
 
 confljigra- 
 
 tioa. ambassadors and most of the foreign Chris- 
 
 tians resided. Scarcely two months elapsed, before 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 95 
 
 that populous section of the metropolis was almost 
 wholly destroyed by fire. The missionary lost house, 
 furniture, library, papers, and nearly all the clothing" 
 of himself and family ; and was obliged to remove 
 fifteen miles up the Bosphorus, to Buyuk-Dereh, and 
 to remain there the rest of the year. 
 
 The fire had separated the missionary almost en- 
 tirely from the Armenians, and being* thrown into the 
 midst of the Greeks, he established sev- schools for 
 eral Greek Lancasterian schools, with the *^®^'^^*^^- 
 New Testament for a class-book. In most instances 
 the copies were purchased by the pai-ents. To fur- 
 nish himself with competent instructors, he made 
 arrangements for a normal school among the Greeks 
 of Galata, a central place in which many children 
 were begging for instruction, and he was evidently 
 encouraged by the smiles of heaven upon his labors. 
 
 Not long after, he called upon the Arme- caii on the 
 
 Armenian 
 
 nian Patriarch, a man of dignified manners Patriarch. 
 and venerable appearance, and asked his cooperation 
 in establishing schools among his people on an im- 
 proved plan. The Patriarch declared, with even 
 more than Oriental politeness, that he loved Mr. 
 Goodell and his country so much, that if Mr. G. 
 had not come to visit him, he must needs have gone 
 to America. After numerous inquiries, he assented 
 to the introduction of the new system of instruction, 
 and promised to furnish suitable persons to learn it; 
 which promise, however, he failed to renciember. 
 
96 .}JLSSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Mr. Dwigbt joined Mr. Goodell, with his family, 
 Accessions to ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^f JuDe, 1832, iiitcndiug to de- 
 the Mission. ^^^^ hiiiiself whollj to thc Armenians, and 
 to labor for them chiefly through the Armenian 
 language, though he afterwards acquired also the 
 Turkish. The Rev. William G. Schauffler arrived in 
 the following month, as a missionary to the Jews. 
 
 The Armenians at Constantinople were estimated 
 at one hundred thousand. As a body, they were 
 Outset of intelligent, ingenuous, and frank; and 
 
 the mission i i x i 'i. i 
 
 characterized, mauy wcrc fouud wlio regarded the ritual 
 of their Church as encumbered with burdensome 
 ceremonies, unsustained by the Scriptures, and of 
 no practical advantage. The outset of the Armenian 
 mission was in some respects unlike that to the 
 Maronites of Syria, among whom the converts were 
 at once excommunicated, and treated as outlaws. 
 The object of the missionaries was not to break 
 down the Armenian Church, but, if possible, by re- 
 viving the knowledge and spirit of the Gospel, to 
 reform it. They were content that the ecclesiastical 
 organization remain, provided the spirit of the Gos- 
 pel could be revived under it. They regai'ded the 
 ceremonies of the Church as mere outworks, not 
 necessarily removed before reaching the citadel ; 
 and believed that assaults upon these would awaken 
 more general opposition, than if made upon the 
 citadel itself, and that, the citadel once taken, the 
 outworks would fall of course. They felt, therefore, 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 97 
 
 that as foreigners their main business was to set 
 forth the fundamental doctrines and duties of the 
 Gospel, derived directly from the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 This early position of the mission is stated merely 
 as historical truth. When their converts vrere ex- 
 communicated, after some years, the case became 
 changed, and of course their methods of proceeding 
 were greatly modified, so far as the hierarchy was 
 concerned. 
 
 Obstacles soon arose that had not been antici- 
 pated. First, the plague, with terrific unexpected 
 violence, then, the cholera; and lastly, the ^ ^•^*-'^- 
 Egyptian civil war, which shook the capital, and 
 endangered the throne. There could be little inter- 
 course with the people in these circumstances ; and 
 during the latter part of 1832, the missionaries were 
 employed chiefly in their own houses, studying the 
 languages, and preparing elementary cards and 
 books for the schools. 
 
 It would seem from the Epistles of the Apostle 
 Paul, that his ajQFections were early drawn Rgina^j^abie 
 to certain favored individuals among those ''^^''^^^^' 
 first awakened by the Holy Spirit. It was so with 
 the brethren at Constantinople. Among the earliest 
 students of Peshtimaljian, was Hohanues Sahakian, 
 who had been fond of books from childhood, and for 
 some time had longed to see his countrymen better 
 furnished with the means of education. Before en- 
 tering the school, which he did in 1829, he had com- 
 
98 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 meuced reading the New Testament, a cheap copy 
 of which his father had purchased, and he was de- 
 lighted to find his preceptor so ready to sympathize 
 with his views, and to aid him in liis investigations. 
 In 1830, he began to converse on religious subjects 
 with his friend Senekerim, the teacher of a school in 
 the Patriarch's palace. Senekerim was startled on 
 hearing sentiments avowed, that were not taught in 
 their churches ; but his mind became gradually en- 
 lightened, and they both painfully saw how much 
 their nation needed to be brought to a knowledge 
 of the Gospel. They had no funds for establishing 
 schools and publishing tracts and books. As their 
 zeal and fervor increased, they made a formal conse- 
 cration of everything pertaining to them to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, declaring their purpose to exe- 
 cute his will. One day Senekerim made a discovery 
 of the words, " If two of you shall agree on earth, 
 as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be 
 done for them of my Father which is in heaven." 
 Kejoicing over this, they both prayed : '' God, 
 we agree to ask, that our nation may awake, may 
 know the Gospel, and may understand that it is the 
 blood of Jesus Christ alone which purgeth away 
 sin." Yet neither of them was at this time fully 
 aware of the great doctrine of salvation by grace, 
 nor did they know of the existence of any nation 
 having a knowledge of the pure Gospel. In this 
 isolation ^hey continued their prayerful study of 
 
TEE ARMENIANS. 99 
 
 God^s Word, making gradual progress in knowl- 
 edge of the Gospel. 
 
 At length it became noised abroad, that two 
 Americans were residing in a village on First ac- 
 the Bosphorus, ostensibly for a good pur- with the 
 pose, but really to spread infidelity. The ^^^^s. 
 young men heard the report, and their curiosity was 
 awakened. Hohannes visited them alone at first, 
 and afterwards witli his friend, to find out what 
 kind of persons they were. They soon perceived, 
 that the great object of their pursuit was attained, 
 and earnestly requested to be taken under the care 
 and instruction of the mission. As a means of sup- 
 port, Senekerim was to open an Armenian school at 
 Pera, to which place the missionaries intended to 
 remove, and Hohannes was to translate the Psalms 
 from ancient into modern Armenian. These were 
 labors for only part of each day, and the remainder 
 was devoted to the study of the English language 
 and of the Bible. As they gained an insight into 
 the nature of true religion, they had fears lest they 
 were building on a wrong foundation ; but Their spint- 
 
 ual illuruina- 
 
 by the grace of God they were soon brought tionandjoy. 
 into the clear light of the Gospel, and led joyfully to 
 trust in Jesus Christ as the all-sufficient Saviour. 
 
 An Armenian jeweler of wealth and influence was 
 wrought up to a state of great alarm in ^^ obec^or 
 reference to the course of these two young ^^"^^'"^^ 
 men, by the secret insinuations of a Romish priest. 
 
100 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Having persuaded Peshtiinaljiau to summon the de- 
 linquents, he severely charged them with violating 
 their obligations to the Church, and dishonoring 
 God. They vrere about to vindicate themselves, 
 when Peshtimaljian took the business wholly out 
 of their hands, and poured a flood of light from 
 Scripture and history upon the astonished jeweler ; 
 and when the young men afterwards spoke for them- 
 selves, Peshtimaljian aided them in their references 
 to the Scriptures. The result was, that the jeweler 
 became himself an open and strong advocate of the 
 evangelical doctrines. 
 
 The conversion of Sarkis Vartabed, teacher of 
 New con- gi'iiunnar iu the school of Peshtimaljian, 
 ^^^^' may be dated from this period. He was 
 
 in high repute as a scholar in the ancient language 
 of the Armenians, had many amiable and valuable 
 qualities, and became highly useful as a translator 
 in connection with the mission. 
 
 Among the fifteen alumni from the school of 
 Peshtimaljian, who were ordained as priests in the 
 autumn of 1833, was one highly respected for learn - 
 Another. ing. His appearaucc was peculiarly de- 
 vout, and when the missionary brethren called upon 
 him, some days afterwards, in one of the cloisters 
 of the patriarchate, he was deeply impressed by 
 what they said to him as to the responsibilities of 
 office-bearing in the Church of Christ. This was 
 Der Kevorkji whose subsequent influence iu pro- 
 
 1 Der means Priest. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 101 
 
 motiiig the reformation was by no means unim- 
 portant. 
 
 The removal of the press from Malta to Smyrna, 
 
 at the close of 1833, was eminently sea- The press re- 
 moved to 
 sonable. The importance of the measure smyma. 
 
 was well understood by the enemy, and a combina- 
 tion of Roman and Armenian influences induced 
 the Pasha to order Mr. Temple's departure from 
 Smyrna, with only ten days' notice. The Roman- 
 ists opposed, becaase of their settled hostiUty to 
 Protestantism, and a free Protestant press. The 
 Armenians were specially scandalized by the pres- 
 ence of Bishop Dionysius as a Protestant, after he 
 had broken the rules of the Church by taking a 
 wife. The opposition was increased by an ex-patri- 
 arch of the Armenians then residing at Smyrna, who 
 was a personal enemy of Dionysius, and took part 
 in these proceedings. The Pasha had acted under 
 misapprehension, and revoked his order, on hearing 
 the explanations of the American consul ; but it was 
 thought best for the bishop to return to his former 
 home at Beirut. 
 
 The Armenians were found to be well supplied 
 with spelling-books, reading-books, arith- g^^ , ^^ 
 raetics, and grammars in the modern Ian- ^^•^^^^'^''oi^ 
 guage, also with works on geometry and trigonome- 
 try. There was, therefore, much less preparatory 
 work to be done for them in the way of education, 
 than was supposed. A geography was needed, and 
 
102 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the part relating to aDcient Armenia was prepared 
 High school by Peshtinialjiau. A high school for the 
 
 for the Ar- i j -r» • /'\ 4. 
 
 meniaQB. Armenians was opened at Pera in Octo- 
 ber, 1834, under the superintendence of Mr. Pas- 
 pati, a native of Scio, who had been educated in 
 America, and was regarded as well fitted for the 
 post. The next year, however, he went to Paris 
 to study medicine, and Hohannes was appointed 
 his successor. The school had its full number of 
 scholars, which was thirty. There were classes in 
 the English, French, Italian, Armenian, Turkish, 
 Ancient Greek, and Hebrew languages, and lectures 
 on various branches of natural science, illustrated 
 by apparatus. 
 
 In 1834, the Rev. Messrs. John B. Adger, Benja- 
 Newmiesion- ™^^ Schueidcr, aud Thomas P. Johnston, 
 *"^ and their wives, joined the mission ; the 
 
 first taking up his abode at Smyrna, the second at 
 Broosa, and the third at Trebizond. In the follow- 
 ing year the Rev. Philander 0. Powers joined Mr. 
 Schneider, and the Rev. Henry A. Homes arrived 
 at Constantinople. Such was the beginning of mis- 
 New sta- sionary efforts among the Armenians of 
 Asia Minor. Broosa is situated in Bi- 
 thynia, at the western base of Mount Olympus, and 
 was the capital of the Turkish empire for one hun- 
 dred and thirty years previous to the taking of Con- 
 stantinople. Trebizond is situated on the south- 
 eastern shore of the Black Sea, and competes with 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 103 
 
 Constantiuople ou the score of natural scenery. 
 The author retains a vivid impression of it, as seen 
 in the winter of 1844. The city, half surrounded by 
 verdant trees, had cultivated fields rising gently 
 behind it, and beyond were forest-clad hills, looking 
 green as in midsummer. And back of all, far in 
 the distance, rose a lofty range of snow clad moun- 
 tains, as if to guard this earthly paradise, stretching 
 from sea to sea, and forming a magnificent amphi- 
 theatre. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE ARMENIANS. 
 1836-1840. 
 
 The first visit of Mr. Johnston to Trebizond was 
 Station at ^^ 1834. Tlirough priestly interference, 
 Trebizond. j^^ failed in three snccessive attempts to 
 procure a house, and at last secured a contract for 
 one only on condition of obtaining a firman from 
 Constantinople. The United States Minister at the 
 Porte procured a vizierial letter, directing that Mr. 
 Johnston suffer no further molestation, and he re- 
 moved his family thither in the spring of 1835. 
 The breaking out of the plague prevented him for a 
 time from having much intercourse with the people. 
 In August of the next year, he had the pleasure of 
 welcoming the Rev. William C. Jackson and wife as 
 associates. 
 
 The Patriarch of the Armenian Church at this 
 ravoring tlmc was Stepan, who was averse to 
 
 circuin- 
 
 Mtanc«3. severe measures ; and Boghos, his vicar, 
 though inclined to oppose the spreading reforma- 
 tion, thought it prudent to do nothing openly. 
 Several high ecclesiastics were on terms of intimacy 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 105 
 
 with the missionaries, and some of them seemed on 
 the point of yielding to the influence of the truth. 
 But generally they were without fixed religious 
 principles, and were ready to follow the lead of the 
 men most able to favor their own advancement in 
 ofl&ce or emolument. Matteos, the newly appointed 
 bishop of Broosa, was one of these. While residing 
 on the Bosphorus, he was a professed friend of the 
 mission ; and after his removal to Broosa, he ex- 
 pressed by letter the most friendly sentiments, and 
 assured Mr. Schneider of his approbation of the 
 school then recently established in that city. But 
 this school, after a few months, was entirely broken 
 up through the agency of this same prelate, who 
 also sought in other ways to weaken and destroy the 
 influence of the missionaries. Somewhat later, 
 having been elevated to the Patriarchate, he became 
 a reckless persecutor of the Protestants of Turkey, 
 as will appear in its proper place. 
 
 The beautiful type used by the Catholic-Arme- 
 nians at Venice, made it necessary for the ^jn^J^^X"' 
 mission to procure new fonts of type par^eat' 
 adapted to the taste of the Armenians. The monks 
 of Venice refusing to sell to the mission, Mr. Hal- 
 lock, the printer, visited the United States, and 
 superintended the cutting of the needful punches. 
 The Prudential Committee, appreciating the new 
 demands, authorized an expenditure of five thousand 
 dollars for punches and types in the Armenian, 
 
106 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Greek, and Hebrew languages, and for foundries of 
 types and stereotype plates. After Mr. Hallock's 
 departure, the mission succeeded in procuring' two 
 Armenian fonts of great beauty from Vienna. 
 
 Meanwhile the Turks were making some advance 
 Progressive ^^ civilizatiou. Laucastcriau schools were 
 civuization. established by them in the barracks of 
 Dolma Baktche and Scutari, which were carried on 
 with remarkable success. The missionaries being 
 present by invitation at a public examination, Aziui 
 Bey publicly declared, that the Turks were indebted 
 to them for everything of the kind. Travellers were 
 no longer obliged to depend on slow sailing vessels, 
 since steamers ran every week from Constantinople 
 to Smyrna and Trebizond, and every fortnight to 
 Galatz on the Danube. A road for carriages was 
 constructed from Scutari to Nicomedia, a distance 
 of sixty miles ; and as a means of arresting the rav- 
 ages of the plague, the European style of quarantine 
 was extensively introduced. 
 
 The most determined opposers of the mission at 
 Papal oppo- ^^^^ i\mQ were the Papists, who spared no 
 ^^^'^^ pains in exciting prejudice among the Ar- 
 
 menians. 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 denuncia- 
 tion of all Protestant books, including the New Tes- 
 tament. He even forbade the receiving of copies 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 107 
 
 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 Brit- 
 ish and Foreign Bible Society for sale at a reduced 
 price or gratuitous circulation. 
 
 There was so much desire for religious instruc- 
 tion among the Armenians, that two week- g. ^^ 
 ly meetings, in the Turkish language, Avere p'^^s'^^^- 
 established in Constantinople, one conducted by Mr. 
 Goodell, the other by Mr. Schauffler. Their houses 
 were frequented by ecclesiastics as well as by lay- 
 men, and some of the former seemed to be sincere 
 inquirers after the truth. One of them, attached 
 to the patriarchal church, proposed that they pub- 
 lish 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 senti- 
 ments. 
 
 Female education, which had been almost entirely 
 neglected, began now to receive attention, ^^f"""^ 
 
108 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES^ 
 
 both at Coustautinople and at Smyrna. No reg- 
 ular 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 daugh- 
 ters, 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 
 Active use- of the fiftecu pricsts ordained in 1833, was 
 
 fulness of 
 
 Der Kevork. at thc hcad of a school of four hundred 
 boys, supported by his countrymen and having no 
 connection with the mission. Kevork boldly intro- 
 duced 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. 
 
 The learned and amiable Peshtimaljian died in 
 Death of the year 1837. In the same year, Mrs. 
 
 Peshtimal- , *^ J ■> 
 
 jian. Dwight and one of her children became 
 
 Deaths by victims of thc plague. Her husband es- 
 the plague, ^^p^^ |.j^^ coutagiou, thougli of coursc 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 109 
 
 greatly exposed. This terrible disease bad been 
 almost an anuual visitation at Constantinople, and 
 was believed to be imported from Egypt. As soon 
 as it made its appearance, schools must be closed, 
 public worship suspended, and the giving and re- 
 ceiving of visits in great measure interrupted. The 
 quarantine appears to have been an effectual pre- 
 .ventive. 
 
 In the course of this year, the missionaries had 
 a meeting at Smyrna, at which Messrs. Missionary 
 King, Temple, Goodell, Bird, Adger, and --«-'^^^^- 
 Houston were present. Its results were important 
 and interesting. During the sessions, Mr. King 
 preached two sermons to a Greek audience in the 
 chapel of the Dutch Consulate. This was seven 
 years after the commencement of his mission in 
 Greece. Mr. Bird was there, on his way from Syria 
 to his native land, and wrote, on hearing Mr. King 
 preach and seeing the apparent effect, that he be- 
 came quite reconciled to his laboring among the 
 Greeks, rather than the Arabs. 
 
 In the same year Boghos, vicar of the Patriarch, 
 encouraged by certain bankers, resolved Rgn^arkabie 
 to break up the mission High School for ^^*^""*'°^^ 
 Armenians in Pera, of which Hohannes was the 
 principal. In preparation for this, a College had 
 been built at Scutari, some months before, on an 
 extended scale ; and the public school in Has Keuy, 
 superintended by Kevork, had been committed to the 
 
110 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CBURCBES. 
 
 general supervision of one of the great bankers re- 
 siding there, that it might be remodeled according 
 to his own wishes, and made a first-rate school. 
 This was deemed a needful preliminary to shutting 
 up the mission High School. Early in the year, 
 the parents were summoned before the vicar, and 
 ordered to withdraw their sons from that school. 
 The plan of the opposing party was, in this case, 
 after breaking up the school, to procure from the 
 Turkish government the banishment of Hohannes. 
 But they had misapprehended the banker, and great 
 was their astonishment when they heard that Ho- 
 hannes was no sooner released, by their own act, 
 from his connection with the mission school, than 
 he was engaged by the banker of Has Keuy to take 
 the superintendence of the national school they had 
 placed in his hands. In vain they remonstrated. 
 To their assertion, that it was the American system 
 he had adopted he replied, that he knew nothing 
 of the Americans, but had adopted the system be- 
 cause it was good. To their objection, that the prin- 
 cipal was evangelical, he responded, " So am I." 
 He at length declared, that unless they permitted 
 him to manage the school in his own way, he would 
 withdraw from the Armenian community. They 
 could not afford to lose one of the leading bankers ; 
 and one of the principal opposers, finding it necessary, 
 in a business transaction, to throw himself on his 
 clemency, opposition ceased for a time, and a school 
 
THE ARMENIANS. Ill 
 
 of six hundred scholars weut into successful opera- 
 tion, with Hohannes for its superintendent, and 
 Der Kevork, the active priest, for one of its prin- 
 cipal teachers. 
 
 It is worthy of special note, that up to this time, 
 the banker was wholly unknown to the missionaries, 
 and to the evangelical brethren generally. He was 
 evidently raised up by divine Providence for the 
 occasion. Not only did the Has Keuy school greatly 
 exceed the mission school at Pera in the number of 
 its pupils, but it was formally adopted as the school 
 of the nation, and Hohannes was appointed its prin- 
 cipal by the Armenian Synod. Having liberty of 
 action, he devoted an hour each day to giving special 
 religious instruction to a select class of sixty of the 
 more advanced pupils, besides his more general 
 teaching, and the daily good influence exerted by 
 Der Kevork and himself. The course of study was 
 liberal, the philosophical apparatus of the mission 
 was purchased by the directors, lectures were given 
 on the natural sciences, and the school obtained a 
 temporary popularity. 
 
 Yet there were secret opposiug influences too 
 powerful to allow this state of things long aadmccess- 
 to continue. In the middle of the year e"nVes!^"' 
 1838, the distinguished patron understood, not only 
 that there was a growing dissatisfaction among 
 the leading Armenians with the school, and espe- 
 cially with its principal, but that his munificence 
 
112 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 was attracting' the attention of the Turks ; and he 
 deemed it prudent to withdraw his patronage. Be- 
 fore the close of the year, the teachers were dis- 
 missed, and the school was reduced to its former 
 footing. The leading men of Has Keuy sent a del- 
 egation to the Patriarch deprecating the disaster, 
 but obtained only fair promises. Hohannes now 
 renewed his connection with the mission, and was 
 placed in charge of the book distribution. Der Ke- 
 vork spent much time in going from house to house, 
 reading the Scriptures to the people, and exhorting 
 them to obey the Gospel. 
 
 At Broosa, the number of visitors at the house of 
 the missionaries was increasing, and among them 
 were two young teachers in the Armenian public 
 school, who were specially interested in the subject 
 of personal religion. They were among the first to 
 make the acquaintance of Mr. Powers, on his com- 
 ing to take up his residence in their quarter of the 
 seropeat ^%- ^^^^ ^^ tlicsc youug mcu, uamcd 
 Broosa. Scropc, had the sole charge of about fifty 
 of the most advanced scholars, whom he instructed 
 daily in the Word of God. The principal men in the 
 Armenian community at Broosa soon decided to 
 place a select class of boys under his instruction, to 
 be trained for the priest's ofl&ce, and eight were 
 thus set apart. Before the end of the year both of 
 these teachers gave hopeful evidence of piety. 
 
 Very interesting cases of conversion occurred at 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 113 
 
 Nicodemia, at the head of the gulf bearing that 
 Awakening nauie. Mr. Goodell, when passing through 
 
 at Nicome- 
 
 dia. this place in 1832, gave several tracts to 
 
 some Armenian boys. One of these, a translation 
 of the " Dairyman's Daughter," came into the hands 
 of a priest, whom Mr. Goodell did not see. This led 
 him to study the Word of God. A brother priest, on 
 intimate terms with him, was induced to join in the 
 study, and the result was the hopeful conversion of 
 both. Their united efforts were now directed to 
 the conversion of their flock, and a spirit of inquiry 
 was awakened. In the spring of 1838, Mr. D wight 
 found sixteen at Nicomedia, who appeared to be 
 truly converted men. He was surprised at the 
 seriousness and intelligence with which they con- 
 versed on the great truths of the Gospel. The Holy 
 Spirit had evidently been their teacher, and the 
 doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, 
 was the foundation of their hopes. The joy with 
 which they greeted the missionary of the cross for 
 the first time, was most gratifying to him, as was 
 the earnest attention they gave to his instructions. 
 Compared with their countrymen in the same place, 
 they might be called intelligent men, and some of 
 conversionof thcm wcrc iu vcry casy circumstauccs. The 
 
 Vertanes and 
 
 Haritan. two couvcrtcd pricsts, Der Vertanes and 
 Der Haritun, became afterwards well known in the 
 mission. Of their own accord they removed to 
 Constantinople, and were placed together in charge 
 
 8 
 
114 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 of a village church on the Bosphorus ; and the Pa- 
 triarch Stepan, being an old acquaintance, spent 
 several weeks with them, and generally assented to 
 the views advanced by them in their free conversa- 
 tions. 
 
 We now enter the year 1839, which was a year of 
 Tear of Per- scvcrc pcrsccution. Of this persecution, 
 secution. ^^ which thc Portc itself became a party, 
 I am now to give a brief account. 
 
 The missionary force at Constantinople had be- 
 smaiinessof comc unusually small. Mr. Dwight was 
 
 the mission. 
 
 force. absent until September, on a visit to the 
 
 United States. Mr. Schauffler left in May for 
 Vienna, to superintend the printing of the He- 
 brew Spanish Old Testament. He went by way of 
 Odessa, and both there, and among the German 
 churches in that part of Russia, he did much to 
 sustain a religious revival that had been long in 
 progress. Mr. Homes left in the spring to join 
 Dr. Grant in exploring Kurdistan. Mr. Hamlin 
 arrived early in the year, but was occupied in the 
 study of the language. Mr. Goodell was, therefore, 
 almost alone in this trying season. 
 
 The extent and violence of the persecution were 
 Cause of the conviuciug proof of the progress of the 
 persecution, refoi-matiou. A corrupt priesthood dreaded 
 its tendency to deprive them of their sinful gains. 
 Certain persons no longer enjoyed a monopoly of 
 Armenian printing. Education ceased to be exclu- 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 115 
 
 sively in the hands of a few bankers. And the popu- 
 larity of Hohannes and Boghos Fizikawas thought to 
 operate against the great Armenian college at Scutari. 
 Nor were the members of the Romish Church idle. 
 
 The patriarchs were elected by the primates, who 
 were chiefly bankers, and were in an important 
 sense their creatures. The bankers were divested 
 of much of their power in 1839, by the rise of three 
 men of the artisan class, who suddenly stood before 
 the nation as its guides and dictators, and more es- 
 pecially as extirpators of heresy. These were the 
 two chief architects of the Sultan, and the superin- 
 tendent of the government powder works. The two 
 first, being employed in erecting the most splendid 
 of all the imperial palaces, were often in contact 
 with the Sultan. The expulsion of Protestantism 
 lay near their hearts, and they resolved to make use 
 of the strong arm of Mahmood to effect it. What 
 were the representations made to him is TheSuitan 
 not known ; but it is known that the three ^'^^^•*- 
 favorites were authorized to call on the civil power 
 to aid them in extirpating the dangerous heresy. 
 
 The first thing was to get the tolerant Patriarch 
 out of the way. For some reason they did Deposition of 
 
 rr> -I the Patriarch 
 
 not at once remove him from onace, but stepan. 
 procured from the interior a man named Hagopos, 
 notorious for his bigotry and sternness, whom they 
 appointed Assistant Patriarch. A month later, 
 Stepan was deposed, and permitted to retire to his 
 
116 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 convent near Nicoraedia, and Hagopos was installed 
 Bacishment in liis place. Before this, Holianues had 
 
 of Uohan- 
 
 nes. been thrown into the patriarchal prison, 
 
 without even the form of an accusation ; but every 
 one knew that his crime consisted in following the 
 Bible, rather than the Church. Boghos Fizika was 
 arrested, and cast into the same prison ; and four 
 days after, they were both banished by an imperial 
 firman. Their place of exile was a convent near 
 Cesarea, four hundred miles distant. Stepan took 
 leave of them with tears, well knowing the deep in- 
 justice of the act. This was in the month of Feb- 
 ruary, and the Turkish police-officer sent back word 
 from Scutari, that Boghos, being an invalid, was 
 too feeble to bear the fatigues and exposures of such 
 a journey in that inclement season ; but positive 
 orders were returned to carry him to Cesarea, either 
 dead or alive. Nicomedia lay on their route; and 
 the brethren of that place hastened in a body to 
 the post-house, and had a season of prayer with the 
 exiles, which greatly comforted them. This inter- 
 course was kept up during a delay of several days 
 authorized by the Nicomedia primate. When the 
 Armenians of Cesarea were told, on their arrival at 
 that place, that their banishment was for receiving 
 the Bible as the only infallible guide in religious 
 matters, they said the Patriarch might as well ban- 
 ish them all, for they were all of that opinion. 
 It was reported in Constantinople, that the Patri- 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 117 
 
 arch had a list of five hundred persons suspected of 
 heresy, and that among them were bishops, z^aiofthe 
 priests, and hankers, some of whom were ^^^^'''^^'''^• 
 to be banished immediately. Few dared to visit 
 the missionaries, and those only under cover of 
 the night. A proclamation was issued by Hago- 
 pos, forbidding the reading of books printed or 
 circulated by the missionaries, and all who had such 
 books were required to deliver them up without 
 delay. On the 14th of March, Der Kevork was 
 arrested and thrown into prison ; and when respect- 
 able Armenians of Has Keuy made application for 
 his release, they were rudely told to mind their 
 own business. After lying in prison for more than 
 a month, he and several others were banished into 
 the interior. A rich banker, who had long been on 
 friendly terms with the missionaries, was arrested 
 and imprisoned in a hospital as an insane person, — 
 a method of persecution not unfrequently resorted 
 to in Turkey. He was released after a week's con- 
 finement, on paying a large sum for the college at 
 Scutari. 
 
 Nor were the Greek ecclesiastics behind the Arme- 
 nian in hostility to the reformation. The Greek 
 Synod and Patriarch issued a decree, ex- cooperatioa 
 communicating all who should buy, sell, sj^^i. 
 or read the books of the ** Luthero-Calvinists ; " 
 and condemning in like manner the writings of 
 Korai, the illustrious restorer of learning among 
 
118 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the Greeks, and of the learned Bamhas, the friend 
 of Fisk and Parsons. An imperial firman was also 
 An imperial puWished, authoHzing, and even requiring, 
 ^™^'' the several Patriarchs to look well to their 
 
 several communions, and to guard them from infidel- 
 ity and foreign influence ; thus connecting the Porte 
 itself with the persecution. 
 
 A strong effort was made to procure the expulsion 
 Efforts to of the missionaries. Multitudes were ac- 
 mi-isionariea. tivc, from divcrsc motives, to secure this 
 end. One of the most conspicuous of these was a 
 renegade Jew, once baptized by an English mission- 
 ary, but now an infidel who seemed to have satanic aid 
 in the invention of slanders against Protestants and 
 Protestantism. Another was a disappointed infidel 
 teacber, whose malice and bitterness made him a fit 
 ally for the Jew. The enemy seemed to be having 
 everything in his own way, and strong was his con- 
 fidence of success. 
 
 At this crisis. Divine Providence interposed. The 
 Divine army of the Egyptians was on the march 
 
 rffeJtuanr towards Constantinople, and the Sultan 
 nterposes. (jg^mg^j \^ ucccssary to call upon all the 
 
 Patriarchs and the chief Rabbi of the Jews, each to 
 furnish several thousand men for his army. It was 
 an unprecedented demand, and occasioned great 
 consternation, but must be obeyed. The army was 
 raised, and was estimated at eighty thousand. It 
 encountered an Egyptian army of about the same 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 119 
 
 number on the plains of Nezib near Aleppo, on the 
 24th of June, and the Turkish troops were scattered 
 in all directions. The tidings of this disaster never 
 reached Mahmood, as he died in his palace on the 
 first day of July. A few days after, the Capudan 
 Pasha surrendered the Turkish fleet to Mohammed 
 Ali ; and on the 11th of July, Abdul Medjid, a boy 
 of seventeen, was placed upon the throne. The 
 news of the entire loss of his army and navy arrived 
 in a few days, and the empire seemed on the verge 
 of dissolution. It was saved by the intervention of 
 the great powers of Europe. The apostate Jew, to 
 avoid punishment for various crimes, professed him- 
 self a Mohammedan; and for crimes subsequently 
 committed, he was strangled by the Turks, and 
 thrown into the Bosphorus. On the 12th of Au- 
 gust, between three aud four thousand houses in 
 Pera were consumed by fire, with the loss of several 
 lives and an immense amount of property. 
 
 The persecution had extended to Broosa and Treb- 
 izond; and at Erzroom, in ancient Armenia, where 
 Mr. Jackson had commenced a new station, a letter 
 was read from the patriarchate, warning the peo- 
 ple against the Americans, and their schools and 
 books. 
 
 The Egyptian war and its consequences broke 
 the power of the persecution. The Arme- The power of 
 
 n 1 J T J -i-t n 1 . *^® pereecu- 
 
 nian bynod voted to recall all the exiles, tion broken. 
 except Hohannes, whom they adjudged to perpetual 
 
120 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 bauishment as the ringleader of the '^ Evangelicals." 
 At length an English physician, of humane feelings, 
 being informed as to the facts in the case, stated 
 them to one of the sisters of the late Sultan. The 
 result was that, on the fourteenth of November, an 
 imperial request for Hohannes's release was sent to 
 the Patriarch. He resorted to various devices, first 
 to procure the reversal, and then to delay the exe- 
 cution of the order, which was addressed by the 
 Turkish minister of foreign afi'airs to the governor 
 of Cesarea, and had on it the Sultan's sign-manual, 
 and the seals of several high offices of state. Not 
 daring to delay longer, on the tenth of February, 
 1840, he placed the imperial requisition in the 
 Hohannes bauds of thc father of Hohannes, by 
 whom it was immediately forwarded to 
 Cesarea, and Hohannes arrived at Constantinople 
 on the twenty-fourth of May. 
 
 The persecutors, one after another, were brought 
 The persecu- lovv. A chaugc was made, about this time, 
 
 tors brought ^ ' 
 
 lo^- in the mode of collecting the revenue of 
 
 the empire, rendering the board of Armenian gov- 
 ernment bankers useless, and they were directed to 
 settle up their accounts and close their offices. This 
 reduced some of them to poverty, and stripped them 
 all of a great part of their power. The Greek Pa- 
 triarch was deposed, on complaint by the British 
 Ambassador of his interference with matters in the 
 Ionian Islands ; and the Armenian Patriarch found 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 121 
 
 himself in trouble with his own people. He was too 
 overbearing, and was obliged, in November, 1840, to 
 resign his office, to avoid a forcible deposition ; and 
 it was a significant sign of the times, that Stepan, 
 who had been ejected from office on account of his 
 forbearance towards the Protestants, was now re- 
 elected ; first, by the vote of the principal stepan re- 
 stored to 
 bankers, and afterwards by acclamation in office. 
 
 an immense popular assembly convened for the pur- 
 pose. He was immediately recognized by the Turk- 
 ish government. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE ARMENIANS, 
 
 1840-1844. 
 
 The young Sultau, soon after coming to the 
 Pledges of throne, pledged himself, in the presence 
 
 the new Sul- «,, ,n» i i j i 
 
 tan. of all the foreign ambassadors, to guard 
 
 the liberty, property, and honor of his subjects 
 equally, whatever their religious creed. No one 
 was to be condemned without trial, and none were 
 to suffer the penalty of death without the sanction 
 of the Sultan himself. No person at all conversant 
 with Turkey, would expect such a change in the 
 administration of the government to be effected at 
 once, nor indeed for a long course of years. Yet 
 this was the beginning of changes, which were mo- 
 mentous in their influence on the Christian and Jew- 
 ish population of Turkey. 
 
 There was now such a number of Armenian boys 
 Boarding- aud youug mcu around the mission thirst- 
 
 Bchool at ^ 
 
 Bebek. mg for kuowlcdgc, both religious aud secu- 
 lar, that a boarding-school for such could no longer 
 be properly delayed. Mr. Hamlin accordingly 
 opened such a school at Bebek, on the European 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 123 
 
 side of the Bosphorus, six miles above Constanti- 
 nople. 
 
 Mr. Jackson commenced a station at Erzroom in 
 
 1840. At first he was alaiost disheartened station com- 
 menced at 
 when he saw how confidently the people Erzroom. 
 
 rested their hopes of heaven on saint-worship, and 
 the rigor of their fasts ; but he soon saw reason to 
 expect a better state of things. 
 
 Messrs. D wight and Hamlin made a visit, about 
 this time, to Nicomedia. Their intercourse interest at * 
 with the native brethren there was gen- ^^^°™®<^^*- 
 erally private because of persecutors, but it was in 
 the highest degree satisfactory. The first meeting 
 was on the Sabbath, in a retired garden, where they 
 sat four successive hours, in the middle of a circle 
 of hungry souls, expounding to them the Gospel. 
 After partaking of some refreshment, they sat three 
 hours more in an adjacent house. Later in the day, 
 they spent three hours in the same manner, in an- 
 other garden ; making in all ten hours of preaching 
 and conversation in the course of one Sabbath ; be- 
 sides an hour more in their own room, with tran- 
 sient visitors from abroad. Many of the questions 
 asked were of a highly practical nature. During this 
 visit, a stranger called upon them, whose Th^Goopei 
 curiosity had been excited by the Patri- ioto°Adabi. 
 arch's letter of warning against the Amer- 
 ican missionaries. He, in common with many of his 
 brethren, was anxious to know more about this new 
 
124 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 way. Considerable time was spent with him in need- 
 ful explanations, and with these, and a copy of the 
 New Testament in modern Armenian and several 
 tracts, he departed highly delighted. It was thus 
 that a knowledge of the Gospel was first carried 
 to Adabazar where this man resided, twenty-seven 
 miles east of Nicomedia. 
 
 The papists took advantage of the religious inter- 
 Danger oa est awakened in the Armenian Church ; 
 
 the side of 
 
 the Papacy, and thcrc was reason to apprehend, that 
 dark, dissatisfied minds, if not made acquainted with 
 the Gospel, were in danger of falling into the iron 
 embrace of the Romish Church. The papal mis- 
 sions had been roused to activity in all the Levant, 
 and their numerous adherents enabled them to 
 come extensively into contact with the native 
 mind. Nor were they scrupulous as to their man- 
 ner of exciting the jealousies of the people against 
 Protestant missionaries. There is evidence also, 
 that, after the Greek revolution, they took advan- 
 tage of the fact that nearly all the dragomen of 
 foreign ministers at the Turkish court were Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 The obstacles in the way of preaching the Gospel 
 at Broosa, became so great as to make it a question 
 whether the preachers ought not to go elsewhere. 
 Just then there began to be indications of the pres- 
 
 A favorable ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ Holy Spirit. ludividuals came 
 reaction. ^^ ^^ Schucider, almost every Sabbath, 
 
TEE ARMENIANS. 125 
 
 deeply affected by the triitli, aud there were several 
 hopeful couversions. Not ouly there, but elsewhere 
 and especially at Constantinople, during the year 
 commencing May, 1840, there was a manifest re- 
 action, caused by the persecutions of 1839, which 
 became more and more decided during the year. 
 Minds were awakened, which, but for the banish- 
 ments, anathemas, burning of books, and shutting 
 up of schools, might have been aroused only by the 
 angel of death. Some of these became hopeful con- 
 verts, and one a preacher of the faith he had en- 
 deavored to destroy. The spirit of freedom and 
 Christian boldness was increased. Priest Kevork 
 and Priest Vertanes were more active than ever. 
 Attempts to break up the mission seminary failed, 
 because neither scholars nor parents would obey the 
 mandate of the vakeel to withdraw from connection 
 with the missionaries. 
 
 The Rev. Henry J. Van Lennep and wife joined the 
 mission in April, 1840, and were stationed ^^^ ^^ 
 at Smyrna. Mrs. Van Lennep lived only «^°^^"^' 
 till the following September. The Rev. Josiah Pea- 
 body and wife became the associates of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Jackson, at Erzroom, in the following year ; and in 
 that year Mr. Ladd was transferred from Cyprus to 
 Broosa. Mr. Hallock, the missionary printer at 
 Smyrna, returned to the United States, p^buca- 
 but continued to manufacture Arabic and *'°^ 
 Syriac types for the printing establishments in the 
 
126 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Syrian and Nestorian missions. The printing at 
 Smjnia, during this year, was equivalent to 10,- 
 843,704 pages duodecimo; and the pages printed 
 at that establishment from the beginning, had been 
 51,910,260. Two printing-presses and seven fonts 
 of native t}^e were in use. An " Armenian Mag- 
 azine " was edited by Mr. Adger ; and a Greek 
 " Monthly Magazine " by Mr. Temple, with the 
 efficient aid of Mr. Petrokokino. In November, 
 
 Scripture ■^^'- Goodell completed the translation of 
 translations. ^^^^ qj^ Tcstamcnt iuto Armcuo-Turkish, 
 
 and immediately commenced revising the New Tes- 
 tament, which he finished in a few months. The 
 Old Testament had now been translated into Ar- 
 meno-Turkish from the Hebrew, and the New Tes- 
 tament from the Greek. The Armenians had, also, 
 Zohrab's popular translation of the New Testament 
 in their modern tongue, revised by Mr. Adger, and 
 published under his superintendence, at the expense 
 of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The an- 
 cient Armenian translation, which is said to be a 
 good one, and to be much valued by the people, was 
 made about fourteen hundred years ago. 
 
 Mr. Dwight began a course of lectures on sys- 
 tematic theology, commencing with a class 
 
 Education. ^ 
 
 of three Armenians, one of them a priest. 
 The Armenian college at Scutari was closed by the 
 bankers in October, after having been in operation 
 three years, at great expense to the community. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 127 
 
 But the seminary at Bebek was so full of promise, 
 that grants were made to place it on a broader and 
 firmer basis. 
 
 The change in the Armenian community, in the 
 course of five or six years, had been very gj ^ ^^ 
 encouraging. At the beginning of that p^'^ercaB. 
 time, some were truly interested in the things of 
 religion, and the missionaries had religious conver- 
 sation with many. But by far the greater part then 
 came for the purpose of general inquiry, or to see 
 the philosophical apparatus, or hear a lecture on the 
 sciences ; and it was matter of joy, if mere human 
 knowledge could be made the entering wedge to 
 their minds for the knowledge which is divine. 
 How marked the change ! They now came in 
 large numbers, drawn by the power of the truth of 
 God alone, not to inquire about electricity, or gal- 
 vanism, as before, but about the eternal destiny of 
 the soul, and the way by which it might be saved. 
 There had been, also, a favorable change in the 
 general style of preaching at the capital; and among 
 the people there was a growing disposition to com- 
 pare every doctrine and practice with the Scriptures. 
 This the vartabeds, or preachers, could not disre- 
 gard. It was not an uncommon thing to hear of ser- 
 mons on Repentance, the Sabbath, the Judgment- 
 day, etc. ; and sometimes the preachers were largely 
 indebted for their materials to the publications of 
 the mission. Indeed, one of the most respectable 
 
128 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 vartabeds in ConstaDtinople made repeated applica- 
 tions to the missionaries to furnish matter for his 
 sermons. Instances of pungent convictions of sin 
 became more common. Some who had been drunk- 
 ards, gamblers, adulterers, and downright infidels, 
 were thoroughly converted, and exhibited that hu- 
 mility, purity, spirituality, and Christian zeal, which 
 are the fruits of the Spirit alone. The older con- 
 verts, also, appeared to grow in the knowledge of 
 Christ, and one striking characteristic was an active 
 zeal for the salvation of others. 
 
 Vertanes was full of hope and activity. It is 
 viBitof mentioned by Mr. Dwight, in his excellent 
 Nicomedia " Histoiy of Christianity in Turkey," that a 
 report reached Constantinople, in the spring of 1841, 
 that a considerable number of Armenians in Nico- 
 media, members of the old Church, had become dis- 
 affected, and were about going over to the Jesuits ; 
 and that the Patriarch commissioned this same 
 Vertanes to go thither with all speed, and endeavor 
 to bring them back to their Mother Church. He 
 was successful in the object of his visit ; and while 
 he heartily and faithfully obeyed the Patriarch, and 
 endeavored to persuade men not to suffer themselves 
 to fall into the snares of Rome, he also labored 
 zealously to bring them to a sense of their sins 
 against God, and to a hearty reception of Christ 
 alone as the Saviour of their souls. His visit was 
 very comfoiiing and useful to the brethren in Nico- 
 media. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 129 
 
 The intelligence received from Adabazar early in 
 this year, was most cheering. An attempt ^^^keni 
 had been made to raise a storm of persecu- ""^ ^^abazar 
 tion, and one of the brethren was thrown into prison, 
 but he was soon liberated by a powerful friend, and 
 afterwards the truth spread more rapidly. Meetings 
 for prayer and reading the Scriptures were held 
 every Sabbath, at which from twenty-five to fifty 
 were present, and one of the priests seemed to have 
 become obedient to the faith. No missionary had 
 yet been among these brethren, and the issues from 
 the press were almost the only instrumentality em- 
 ployed among them by the Holy Spirit. One year 
 previously, it is believed, not a single soul could have 
 been found among the four thousand inhabitants of 
 Adabazar, who was not groping in the deepest spir- 
 itual darkness. Now, some forty or more were 
 convinced of the errors of their Church, and ready 
 to take the Bible as their only religious guide, of 
 whom several appeared to be truly converted men, 
 and even willing to lay down their lives for Christ. 
 It was not until the autumn of 1841, that a mis- 
 sionary was able to visit them. Mr. Schneider, of 
 Broosa, was then hailed with joy by all the evangel- 
 ical brethren, and returned with the most delightful 
 and cheering impressions. A spirit of inquiry had 
 extended into many of the neighboring villages. 
 
 The Rev. George W. Wood ^ was transferred to this 
 
 1 Afterwards one of the Corresponding Secretaries of the Board. 
 
 9 
 
130 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 mission from Singapore in 1842, and was associated 
 New Mis- ^^^^^ Mr. Hamlin in the Seminary. The 
 sionariee. j^^^, Simeou H. Calhoun, for some time 
 
 resident at Smyrna as agent of the American Bible 
 Society, received now an appointment as a mis- 
 sionary of the Board ; the Rev. Edwin E. Bliss, 
 designated to the mountain Nestorians, having been 
 refused a firman to go thither by the Turkish gov- 
 ernment, was associated with Mr. Johnston at Treb- 
 izond ; and Mr. Schauffler devoted himself to the 
 Jews. Mr. Homes had the special charge of the 
 book distribution at Constantinople. 
 
 There being so little to impart peace to a really 
 Anawakeaed awakencd couscicuce in either the Roman 
 
 sinner seek- y-v • 
 
 ingrest. or thc Oriental Churches, individuals were 
 often found wandering to and fro, as in pagan India, 
 vainly seeking for rest. One of the most noted 
 cases of this kind was that of an Armenian. To 
 pacify the clamors of conscience, he became an in- 
 mate of a monastery far in the interior, where he 
 undertook to perform the most menial services for 
 the monks. Failing to find peace in this, he pene- 
 trated into the depths of a wilderness, clothed him- 
 self in sackcloth, and lived on the coarsest fare, 
 away from the abodes of man. Here also he was 
 disappointed. Returning to Constantinople, he 
 united himself to the papal Armenians, hoping in 
 their communion to find the relief he sought. He 
 became chief singer in one of the churches near the 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 131 
 
 capital, and endeavored to derive comfort, but found 
 nothing to impart peace in the strictest forms of 
 papal worship. A friend now advised him to visit 
 the American missionaries. He had heard of them 
 only as heretics and enemies of the Christian faith, 
 but was at length persuaded to accompany some 
 friends to Mr. Hamlin's house. Taking a seat as 
 near the door as possible, he listened in silence ; 
 then proposed some objections ; but gradually 
 became interested, and drew his chair nearer and 
 nearer to his newly found teacher ; until at length 
 he seated himself on the floor, literally at the very 
 feet of Mr. Hamlin, and there drank in, with mute 
 astonishment, those divine truths which he had 
 never heard before, but which revealed to him the 
 only sure foundation for peace of mind. There was 
 an instantaneous change in his whole character ; 
 and we hear of him twelve years afterwards, as a 
 living witness of the truth, and a faithful laborer in 
 the kingdom of Jesus Christ.^ 
 
 In October of this year, it was deemed advisable 
 to suspend the preaching service at Con- Unexpected 
 stantinople for a few Sabbaths, in conse- ^pp^^^^^^"- 
 quence of violent opposition on the part of some 
 Armenians, formerly reckoned as brethren. This 
 unexpected and painful change was owing to their 
 forming an acquaintance with indiriduals who had 
 imbibed the errors, which threaten the unity of the 
 
 1 Dwight's Christianity Revived in the East, p. 118 
 
132 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Episcopal Churches of England and America, Just 
 before the outbreaking of this opposition, Mr. 
 Dwight thus gives utterance to his feelings : " How 
 wonderful are the ways of Providence in regard 
 to the Armenians ! In one way or another, men 
 are continually brought from distant places to the 
 capital, and here they become acquainted for the 
 first time with the Gospel ; and returning to their 
 homes, they spread abroad that which they have 
 seen and heard. There is something quite wonder- 
 ful in the state of the Armenian mind at the pres- 
 ent time." The persecuting spirit above noted was 
 directed more especially towards Hohannes, and 
 Hohannes tliis luduccd him to go to the United 
 
 goes to the 
 
 United States. Statcs to prepare himself for preaching 
 the Gospel. 
 
 In the early part of this year, the Armenian 
 A native brethren met in a I'etired part of the hills 
 mission. adjacent to the capital, and there, after 
 united prayer, agreed to send one of their own 
 number, at their own expense, on a missionary tour 
 among their countrymen in the interior of Asia 
 Minor. Of their own accord they also agreed to 
 Prayer ^^^ apart thc first Tuesday in each month, 
 
 meetings. ^^^, gp^^J^I ^^.^^^^ ^^ Q^^ .^^ |^^|^^^f ^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 nation, and for his blessing on the means used for 
 their spiritual illumination. Not unfrequently they 
 remained after Mr. Dwight's preaching, to have a 
 prayer meeting by themselves for the outpouring of 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 133 
 
 the Holy Spirit ; and if there was any one present 
 at the meeting who was particularly anxious about 
 his soul, they kept him with them, and talked and 
 prayed with him. It is recorded also, that at one 
 time as many as thirty Armenian men were present 
 at the monthly concert for prayer, which was neces- 
 sarily held in the middle of the day, and that some 
 of them prayed as if they felt true longings of heart 
 for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 About forty different works, and more than forty- 
 four thousand volumes and tracts, were 
 
 ^ Publications. 
 
 issued from the Smyrna depot during the 
 
 year 1842. Eight or ten booksellers at the capital 
 
 were kept constantly supplied, and the products of 
 
 the press were sent into almost every part of the 
 
 interior. 
 
 It is worthy of note that Mr. D wight's first 
 formal sermon to Armenian women, was preaching 
 in May, 1843. It was in Pera, and four *^^«°^^^- 
 of them had walked not less than three miles to 
 attend the service. One was forty-five or fifty 
 years old, and her sentiments were decidedly evan- 
 gelical. The religion of the Gospel shone beau- 
 tifully in some of the Armenian families. Mr. 
 Hamlin had an interesting experience at Bebek. 
 On the 13th of August, on returning from Constan- 
 tinople, he found nine women and one man waiting 
 his return to preach to them the Gospel. On the 
 21st, sixteen listened with breathless attention to a 
 
134 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 sermon on the unsearchable riches of Christ, and 
 nine of these were women. On the 25th, another 
 company of men and women called. Mr. Hamlin 
 was at work upon some philosophical apparatus, 
 when one of the men put his head through the 
 door, and said, " Good-morning, reverend sir, come 
 here, and preach to us the Gospel." September 22d, 
 a company of Armenian men and women, four of 
 them from Nicomedia, came and asked him " to 
 teach them out of the Gospel." On the 24th eight, 
 besides the students, were present at the services, 
 forenoon and afternoon ; two from Galata, one from 
 Constantinople, three from Nicomedia, and two from 
 Adabazar. On the day following, thirteen were 
 present, most of whom had heard the maledictions 
 of the Armenian Patriarch pronounced, the day be- 
 fore, on all who should visit the missionaries. On 
 a day in December devoted to family visitations, Mr. 
 Dwight preached the Gospel to more than thirty 
 women. 
 
 It was not the missionaries alone, who labored in 
 Native vrord aud doctrine. Several priests were 
 preaching. c< ^fee^iient to thc faith," and preached it 
 more or less formally ; and intelligent lay brethren, 
 — scattered abroad, some by persecution, some in 
 the prosecution of their worldly business, — like the 
 primitive disciples, preached the Word ; that is, they 
 took such opportunities as they could get, to make 
 known the truth to those of their countrymen who 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 135 
 
 were disposed to hear it. Vertanes, who had suf- 
 fered imprisonment and banishment for the sake of 
 Christ, made an extensive missionary tour through 
 Armenia. 
 
 In the summer of 1843, a body of Turkish police was 
 seen conducting a young* man, under twenty years 
 of age, in the European dress, through ^t^^^^js^ 
 the streets of Constantinople. His face ^'^^'^^'''^' 
 was pale, and his arms were pinioned behind him. 
 Arriving at a place of public concourse, they sud- 
 denly halted, the prisoner kneeled, and a blow of 
 the yatagan severed his head from the body. His 
 crime was apostasy from the Mohammedan faith. 
 He was an obscure Armenian, and while under the 
 influence of alcohol had abjured the faith of his 
 fathers, and declared himself a Mohammedan. He 
 had not submitted, however, to the rite of circum- 
 cision before he repented of his rashness. The 
 l>enalty of apostasy being death, he fled to Greece. 
 In about a year, impatient to see his widowed 
 motlier, he returned in a Frank dress, but was 
 soon recognized, imprisoned, tortured to induce 
 him to reabandon his original belief, and even pa- 
 raded through the streets with his hands tied be- 
 hind his back, as if for execution ; but npon his 
 proclaiming aloud his firm belief in Christianity, he 
 was sentenced to decapitation. The British Efforts of sir 
 
 Stratford 
 
 ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning, impelled canning to 
 
 '-^ *■ procure his 
 
 by motives of humanity, made an earnest "^^^- 
 
136 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 effort to procure his release, and the Grand Vizier 
 promised that the young man should not be be- 
 headed. On learning that he had been, the ambas- 
 sador declared it to be an insult to the Established 
 Religion of England, as well as to all Europe, and 
 insisted that no similar act of fanaticism should ever 
 again occur. In this he was said to be warmly 
 seconded both by the French and Prussian ministers. 
 The Grand Vizier, as before, was ready to give a ver- 
 A second ^^^ plcdgc ; but soou a second act of treach- 
 execution. ^^,^ ^^^ discovcrcd. A Grcck, in the inte- 
 rior of Asia Minor, had declaimed himself a Moham- 
 medan, and afterwards refused to perform the rites of 
 that religion, and the Turkish minister was prepar- 
 ing the death-warrant for him, at the very time when 
 he was making these promises to the ambassador. 
 The Ambas- Sir Stratford now very peremptorily de- 
 
 Bador's de- 
 mand, manded, that a written pledge be given 
 
 by the Sultan himself (as his ministers could no 
 louger be trusted), that no person embracing the 
 Moslem religion and afterwards returning to Chris- 
 tianity, should on that account be put to death ; 
 and the Earl of Aberdeen, on the part of the home 
 government, instructed him in a noble letter not to 
 recede from the demand. The Prussian and French 
 governments were equally decided ; and after some 
 hesitancy, even Russia threw the weight of her in- 
 fluence into the scale. After a struggle of some 
 weeks the required pledge was given, signed by the 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 137 
 
 Sultan himself, that henceforth no person should 
 
 BE PERSECUTED FOR HIS RELIGIOUS OPIN- The death- 
 
 penalty no 
 
 IONS IN Turkey. The British ambassador JSmct^d.''" 
 distinctly acknowledged the finger of God in this 
 transaction, which he said seemed little less than a 
 miracle. 
 
 It will hereafter appear, that the pledge had a 
 wider range, than was thought of at the importance 
 time by the governments of Europe, by ^^^^«^*''- 
 their representatives, or even by the Turks. God 
 was setting up a spiritual kingdom, and his people 
 must have freedom to worship Him in his appointed 
 way. The battle for religious freedom in Turkey 
 was fought over the mutilated remains of the Ar- 
 menian renegade, and the Sultan's pledge secured 
 to the Protestant native Christians the full enjoy- 
 ment of their civil rites, while openly practicing 
 their own religion.^ 
 
 But before this comprehensive meaning of the 
 pledge could be understood, and the bene- suAfenngs 
 
 from perse- 
 fit of it actually enjoyed by the people of cution. 
 
 God, they were subjected to more grievous suffer- 
 ings for their faith than any yet endured. From 
 1843 to 1846, there was no long respite from per- 
 
 1 This brief statement is compiled, from the Correspondence relating 
 to Executions in Turkey for Apostasy from Islamism, published bj the 
 British Parliament in 1844, occupying forty folio pages. The corre- 
 spondence is highly honorable to the great men who were then con- 
 trolling the political affairs of Europe, and to a large extent also of 
 Western Asia. 
 
138 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 secution ; yet in all this time the spirit of inquiry 
 wonderfully spread, and believers were the more 
 added to the Lord. 
 
 In 1843, Priest Vertaues was rudely deposed from 
 office, and thrown into prison. Finding he could 
 not be induced to sign a paper of recantation, drawn 
 up for him by the Patriarch, he was hurried by the 
 Patriarch's beadles, with great violence, into an 
 open sail-boat, without opportunity to obtain even 
 an outer garment from his house, althoug'h it was 
 midwinter, and sent across the sea of Marmora to 
 the monastery of Ahmah, near Nicomedia. 
 
 The Foreign Secretary of the Board spent eleven 
 Changes in weclis iu tlus missiou, iu the winter of 
 the mission. 1843-44, accompduicd by Dr. Joel Hawes, 
 of Hartford. At that time it was arranged by the 
 mission, in full accordance with the views of their 
 visiting brethren, to discontinue the Greek depart- 
 ment, to give distinct names as missions to the 
 Jewish department and to the work among the 
 Armenians, to open a female high school at Con- 
 stantinople, and to associate Mr. Wood with Mr. 
 Hamlin in the seminary at Bebek. It was also 
 decided, that Messrs. Riggs and Ladd, turning from 
 the Greeks to the Armenians, should acquire the 
 use of the languages spoken by the latter people ; 
 that Mr. Calhoun should be authorized to visit Syria, 
 with a view to an opening for him in connection 
 with the projected seminary on Mount Lebanon; 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 139 
 
 that Mr. Temple, then too old to learn either the 
 Armenian or Turkish languages, ought to be author- 
 ized, in view of the discontinuance of the Greek 
 department, to return to the churches whose faith- 
 ful messenger he had been so long; and that the 
 native Armenian agency should be put upon a foot- 
 ing on which it would be more likely to be sustained 
 ultimately by the people. 
 
 There was reason afterwards to believe, that it 
 would have been better for Mr. Temple to -^^^ ^^ 
 remain in Turkey, in the exercise of his ^-^^""p'® 
 eminently apostolic influence upon his brother mis- 
 sionaries and the native Protestant community, 
 Greek and Armenian. Yet his own opinion was in 
 favor of the course he pursued. " I am too old," he 
 said, " to think for a moment of learning a new 
 language, and no opening invites me here in any 
 language I can command." After a farewell visit 
 to his brethren in Constantinople, he set his face 
 homeward, and arrived in Boston in the summer of 
 1844. He was usefully employed as an agent of the 
 Board, or in the pastoral relation, until his health 
 broke down. In January, 1851, through the kind- 
 ness of a friend, he made a voyage to Chagres, and 
 another to Liverpool. But he returned from the 
 last of these voyages enfeebled by the roughness of 
 the passage ; and his strength gradually declined, 
 until the 9th of August, 1851, seven years 
 
 , His death. 
 
 after his return to America, when he died 
 
140 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 at Reading, Massachusetts, his Dative place, in the 
 sixty-second year of his age. It may be truly said, 
 that few men have borne more distinctively than 
 he, the impress of the Saviour's image.^ 
 
 A daughter of Dr. Hawes accompanied him on his 
 voyage to Smyrna as the wife of Mr. Van Lennep, 
 but was permitted only to enter upon the work to 
 Death of Mrs ^hich shc had devoted herself in Asia. She 
 Van Lennep. jj^^ ^^ Coustantiuople of fcvcr, withiu less 
 
 than a year from the time of her embarkation. The 
 health of Mrs. Benjamin was such as to oblige her 
 and her husband to return home. A similar cause 
 occasioned also the return of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. 
 
 ^ See Life and Letters of Rev. Daniel Temple, for twenty-three years 
 a Missionary in Western Asia. By his son, Key. Daniel H. Temple, 
 Boston, 1855, 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 
 
 1824-1844. 
 
 When the missions to the Oriental Churches 
 were commenced, Greece was suffering uu- 
 
 ' ° The Greek 
 
 der the oppression of the Turks, and the ^c^^b^dJ- 
 people were glad of sympathy from any *''^«^°<^^^- 
 quarter. In the department of education, they 
 seemed even to welcome Protestant missionaries. 
 They compared favorably with the Roman Catholics, 
 in their reception of the Scriptures, and in the 
 matter of religious toleration. But an unfavorable 
 change came over them after they had achieved 
 their national independence. 
 
 Mr. Gridley was the first missionary to labor 
 among the Greeks of Turkey, though he j.^^^^ ^^_ 
 was not sent with special reference to ^'®^^'^- 
 them. He arrived at Smyrna in December, 1826. 
 After acquiring the modern Greek, he visited Cesa- 
 rea, four hundred miles to the eastward, hoping for 
 better advantages in acquiring the Greco-Turkish 
 language, and also to learn the condition of the 
 Greeks in the interior. He was accompanied by 
 
142 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHGRCHES. 
 
 Abraham, his teacher, a well-informed native of 
 Cappadocia, and for two months applied himself to 
 his studies, until admonished of danger by the fre- 
 quent recurrence of headaches. Finding that these 
 yielded to exercise, he deemed it prudent to execute 
 Ascent of a purposc he had long cherished of ascend- 
 Argeufl. ing Mount Argeus, from the top of which? 
 according to Strabo, the Black and Mediterranean 
 Seas might both be discerned in a clear day. Out- 
 stripping his attendants, Mr. Gridley mounted with 
 great agility till he reached an elevation within 
 three or four hundred feet of the highest summit, 
 when he was prevented from advancing farther by 
 the steepness of the ascent. There, in the region 
 of perpetual snow, he remained a quarter of an 
 hour, but could not discover the objects he had 
 specially in view. The height of the mountain he 
 estimated at thirteen thousand feet. Descending 
 rapidly, he was overpowered with fatigue when he 
 reached his companions, and they were soon after 
 exposed to a violent storm of hail and rain. The 
 headache soon returned with increasing violence, 
 and was followed by fever, so insidious in its pro- 
 Death of gress as at no time to suggest to him his 
 Mr. Gridley. j^^^^^ jjjg ^^^^^i occurrcd ou thc 27th 
 
 of September, fifteen days after the ascent, and a 
 year after leaving his native land. 
 
 Thus he fell at the age of thirty-one, and at the 
 very commencement of his career. The predomi- 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS, 143 
 
 nant characteristics of Mr. Gridley were resolution, 
 promptness, and generosity. In all the duties of a 
 Christian missionary, he was indefatigable in no 
 ordinary degree, and his early removal was very 
 trying. 
 
 The cause of education naturally became promi- 
 nent at the outset of a mission among the Greeks. 
 Scio was the seat of their most favored college, and 
 when the people of that ill-fated island fled from the 
 murderous sword of the Turks, some of the families 
 sought refuge in Malta. There were bright youths 
 among them, and six of these, and two from other 
 Greek islands, so interested Messrs. Fisk and Tem- 
 ple, that they obtained permission to send them 
 home, to be educated chiefly at the ex- Education 
 
 of Greek 
 
 pense of the Board. This was before the yo^^t^- 
 results of the Foreign Mission School at Cornwall 
 had become manifest. Three others arrived in 1826, 
 and one in 1828 ; and nearly all received a liberal 
 education, either at Amherst or Tale. Evangelinos 
 Sophocles, from Thessaly, who came last, has long 
 held the honorable position of a Professor in Har- 
 vard University. Four others, — Anastatius Kara- 
 velles, Nicholas Petrokokino, Alexander G. Paspati, 
 and Gregory Perdicaris, were useful to the mission 
 at different times after their return to the East. 
 Several young men from the Armenian nation were 
 likewise educated in the United States, and one of 
 these, Hohannes, was until his death, a useful min- 
 
144 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 ister of the gospel among his countrymen. But 
 Kesuitofex- ^^^^ conclusiou ou the whole, to which the 
 perience. Boarcl camc, both in respect to Greeks and 
 Armenians, was that a native agency must be trained 
 in the country where it is to be employed. 
 
 The return of Mr. King to Greece, in 1829, has 
 been mentioned. During the visit of Mr. Smith 
 and myself to the island of Poros, in July of that 
 Marriage of 1^^^^ ^^^ ^^as uuitcd iu marriage to a young 
 r. Kiog. Sinyrniote lady, whose acquaintance he had 
 formed some years before, while detained there on 
 his return from Syria. Though Tenos was one of 
 the more bigoted of the Greek islands, nearly every 
 person of standing in the place called upon the 
 newly married couple. A Greek priest sent a pair 
 of doves, and soon followed with his blessing. It 
 coDPequence was this marriage which, in the providence 
 
 of the mar- 
 
 wage. of God, kept Mr. King in Greece until the 
 
 close of his long and useful life. 
 
 Mr. King opened a school for girls iu Poros, and 
 the chief men sent their daughters to it. 
 
 Poros the *-' 
 
 Gr°eek super- "^^^ towu was uotcd for a modcm church, 
 stitioD. called the Evangelistria, which, though 
 built during the revolution, was the most showy edi- 
 fice in Greece. It was the annual resort of hundreds 
 of pilgrims, chiefly the lame, sick, and lunatic, who 
 were brought there to be cured. It was the centre 
 of modern Grecian superstition; as Delos, in full 
 view of the church, had been in ancient times. 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 145 
 
 After some months, the trustees of the church be- 
 came alarmed for their craft, and made vig- Mr. King's 
 
 school for 
 
 orous efforts to destroy the school. Some g^ris. 
 of the scholars were withdrawn, one of the teachers 
 was compelled to leave, and the school-books were 
 denounced as heretical. Through the whole commo- 
 tion Mr. King held on his way with characteristic 
 calmness, teaching and praying in the school as 
 aforetime, and freely expounding the Scriptures, 
 QY^ry Lord's day, to more than fifty of his pupils 
 and a number of their friends. Two of the most 
 prominent inhabitants espoused his cause ; and, just 
 in the crisis of the diflBculty, he received a box of 
 ancient Greek books from the government, as a 
 present to the school. Soon after, there appeared 
 in the government gazette a commendation of the 
 school and of its course of instruction. From that 
 time, opposition from members of the Greek Church 
 seems to have ceased. A handsome donation of 
 school-books, slates, and pencils was made by the 
 Greek School Committee in New York, and for- 
 warded to the President of Greece, through the 
 American Board. It was gratefully acknowledged 
 by the government. 
 
 In the autumn of 1830, Mr. King, anticipating 
 the evacuation of Athens by the Turks, made a visit 
 to that city, then a ruin, and arranged for his future 
 residence. In April of the next year, having re- 
 sumed his connection with the American Board, he 
 
 10 
 
146 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 made a second visit, and opened a Laucasterian 
 school for both sexes ; placing a Greek, named Ni- 
 kotoplos, at the head of it, who was author of an 
 epitome of the Gospels. The school was soon filled. 
 He purchased from a Turk, with private funds and 
 Mr. icjng at a nominal cost, the ruins of a stone edi- 
 
 removea to i •u i • it* 
 
 Athens. fice with a garden, and there built himseli 
 a home, to which he removed his family. He also 
 purchased for a few hundred dollars, while the city 
 was still in Turkish hands, about an acre of land 
 delightfully situated, on which he subsequently 
 erected a building for a young ladies' school of a 
 high order. 
 
 Capodistrias, the President, was assassinated about 
 A «.wcrn^ this time by two men belonj^ing" to one of 
 
 A new gov- •/ ^ ^ 
 
 eniment. ^|^^ ^^,^^ familics iu Greccc. The protect- 
 ing powers required that his successor be a king, 
 and a Bavarian prince named Otho was put upon 
 the throne of the new kingdom in 1833. The 
 Acropolis of Athens was soon after delivered up to 
 its rightful owners, and that event consummated 
 the emancipation of Greece from Turkish rule. A 
 cabinet was formed, of which Tricoupis, a Greek 
 gentleman of patriotic and enlightened views, was 
 the president. Athens became the seat of govern- 
 ment in 1834. 
 
 The Rev. Elias Riggs arrived as a missionary, 
 A new mis- ^^^h his wifc, iu January, 1833, and was 
 Bionary. cordially welcomed not only by his asso- 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 147 
 
 ciate, but also by the brethren of the American 
 Episcopal mission. Mr. Riggs had paid much at- 
 tention to the modern Greek, and was pleased with 
 Dr. King s manner of preaching on the Sabbath, 
 and with his familiar exposition of the Scriptures in 
 his flourishing Hellenic school.^ There were now 
 two schools, called the " Elementary School " and 
 the " Gymnasium ; " the latter having a g. ^ 
 well-arranged course of study for four ^*^*^°°^^- 
 years, corresponding, as far as circumstances would 
 permit, with the studies of a New England college. 
 The subsequent removal of the government gymna- 
 sium from jEgina to Athens, necessarily interfered 
 with this, but until that removal it was a popular 
 institution, with sixty scholars. An examination 
 was held in 1834 for three days in Ancient Greek, 
 Geography, History, Geometry, Algebra, the Phi- 
 losophy of Language, and the Holy Scriptures ; the 
 King and the bishop of the city being among the 
 persons present. 
 
 Mr. Riggs, after visiting the more important 
 places in the Peloponnesus, decided upon gtatiouat 
 commencing a station at Argos, which he ^^^^^' 
 did in 1834. The great body of the Greek people 
 at that time, were kindly disposed toward the mis- 
 sionaries and their efforts; but it was becoming 
 evident, that the jealousy of the clergy was on the 
 
 1 Nassau College, in Princeton, N. J., had conferred the degree of 
 D. D. on Mr. King. 
 
148 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 iucrease, and that the hierarchy had great facilities 
 Power of the ^^^ cxcrtiiig au advcrsc influence. The 
 Hierarchy. Qi^^m^^h iu Grecco, no longer subject to 
 the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople, was under 
 the government of the " Holy Council of the king- 
 dom of Greece ; " which was required to guard the 
 clergy and schools against heresy, and report to the 
 government any attempt at proselyting. No school 
 could be established without permission from the 
 government, nor without such permission could 
 any teacher instruct, even in private families. No 
 books could be sold or given away in any place, 
 without obtaining a license for that place, and 
 strong guards were thrown around the press. But 
 whatever the restrictions on schools and the press, 
 the way was open for circulating the Scriptures, and 
 for enforcing repentance towards God and faith in 
 ^ our Lord Jesus Christ. In the three years 
 
 ihi New from 1834 to 1836, Dr. King sold and gra- 
 tuitously distributed nearly nine thousand 
 New Testaments in modern Greek, and eighty-seven 
 thousand school-books and religious tracts. 
 
 The " Holy Council " now took decided ground 
 Opposition to ag'ainst the version of the Old Testament 
 
 the Old Tes- 
 
 tameut froui tlic Hcbrcw, declaring that the Sep- 
 tuagint alone was to be regarded as the canonical 
 translation, to be read in the churches and used 
 for religious instruction. This did not forbid nor 
 prevent the free circulation of the Old Testament 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 149 
 
 in modern Greek among individuals for their pri- 
 vate use. 
 
 Dark intrigues were employed to arouse the popu- 
 lar feeling. A letter against '' the Ameri- intrigues 
 
 against the 
 
 cans," as all missionaries were called, pur- mission. 
 porting to have heen written from Syra, was printed 
 in pamphlet form at Paris and sent to Greece, where 
 it attracted much attention. This was followed by 
 repeated attacks from a newspaper edited by one 
 Germanos. Pretended revelations and miracles at 
 Naxos inflamed the zeal of the ignorant and super- 
 stitious. Professed eye-witnesses circulated absurd 
 stories, of'gu'ls in the school at Syra being made 
 " Americans " by sealing them on the arm ; that 
 one of them refused to be sealed, and two horns 
 grew out of her head ; and of a boy taken into 
 a dark room to catechize him, where he saw the 
 devil, and was frightened out of his senses. It was 
 said, moreover, that the object of the missionaries 
 was to change the religion of the country, while 
 they hypocritically professed the contrary ; though 
 neither word nor deed of any missionary of the 
 Board was made the pretext for any of these accu- 
 sations. By such means mobs were raised, and the 
 schools of Syra were, for a time, broken up. Yet 
 the local authorities were generally prompt in put- 
 ting down riots, and Germanos was arrested, and 
 sent to a distant monastery. Dr. King's success not- 
 
 withstand- 
 
 congregation on the Sabbath, gradually in- i^g. 
 
150 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 creased, and there was never a time when he dis- 
 posed of more New Testaments, school-books, and 
 tracts. 
 
 In 1835, a station was commenced by the Rev. 
 „, ,. Samuel R. Houston on the island of Scio. 
 
 i3 cation on 
 
 ^""'^ He found the people friendly, and the 
 
 island slowly recovering from its ruins. Professor 
 Banibas subsequently expressed the opinion to Dr. 
 King, that Samos was a more desirable place, since 
 the better class of Sciotes would never return to 
 Scio to live under Turkish rule. The station was 
 not continued. In 1837, Mr. Houston, with the 
 Rev. George W. Leyburn, who had been sent out to 
 join him, made a tour of observation in Mane, the 
 ancient Sparta, to see if a station ought not to be 
 formed there, in compliance with repeated solicita- 
 tions from Petron Bey, the hereditary chief in that 
 region. Indeed, in view of causes beyond the con- 
 trol of missionary societies, the Prudential Com- 
 mittee began to feel themselves compelled to pass 
 by the Grecian Islands in great measure, and con- 
 centrate their efforts on the main lands. 
 
 The station at Argos was strengthened in 1836, 
 by the arrival of Rev. Nathan Benjamin and wife. 
 The two girls' schools in that place contained from 
 seventy to one hundred pupils. In the following 
 year, as Argos was declining in population and 
 Argos reun- intelligence in consequence of the removal 
 quished. ^£ ^Yi^ g^^^ ^^. gQvei'iinient from Napoli, it 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 151 
 
 was decided that Mr. Benjamin should remove to 
 Athens, and Mr. Riggs to Smyrna. 
 
 The district, which the brethren from Scio had 
 specially in view, was exceedingly uninvit- Removal 
 
 ^ "^ ' ° *^ , from Scio to 
 
 ing to an observer from the sea; where it Ariopoiis. 
 seemed to be only a mass of rocky cliffs and moun- 
 tains, gradually rising from the sea to St. Elias, the 
 highest peak of Taygetus, Yet among these rocks 
 were upwards of a hundred villages, containing from 
 thirty to forty thousand souls. Many of these were 
 probably of true Spartan descent, and they had 
 always maintained a degree of independence. The 
 old Bey of Mane had prepared the way for the two 
 brethren by letters from Athens, where he then 
 resided, and they were gladly received, and soon 
 decided on removing their families to Ariopoiis ; 
 situated on the western slope of the mountain ridge, 
 and the chief town of the province of Laconia. The 
 two families arrived in May, 1837, and were soon 
 joined by Dr. Gallatti, who had been a faithful friend 
 and helper at Scio. A large house was immediately 
 erected for a Lancasterian school ; but no serious em- 
 
 barrass- 
 
 teacher for such a school could be found, ments. 
 since no one was allowed to teach in Greece, except 
 in Ancient Greek, without a diploma from the gov- 
 ernment; and all was under the superintendent of 
 public schools, who would allow no one to serve the 
 mission. Yet there were hundreds of boys playing 
 about in the streets, who at a moment's notice would 
 
152 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 have rushed in for instruction, and whose parents 
 would have rejoiced to see them there. A teacher 
 was not obtained until October, 1839, and then only 
 with the aid of Mr. Perdicaris, the American con- 
 sul; but before the end of the year, the pupils num- 
 bered one hundred and seventy, filling" the house. 
 Among them was a youth named Kalopothakes, a 
 native of the place, who afterwards became the bold 
 friend and efficient helper of Dr. King. A school 
 for teaching ancient Greek with thirty scholars, 
 had been in operation a year or more. King Otho 
 visited the place early in 1838, and commended the 
 school. The descendants of the ancient Spartans 
 boasted that he was the first monarch they had ever 
 permitted to tread their soil. 
 
 Mrs. Houston being threatened with consumption, 
 her husband took her to Alexandria, and Death of 
 afterwards to Cairo, where she died peace- ton. 
 fully, on the 24th of November, 1839. After depos- 
 iting her remains in the Protestant burying-ground 
 at Alexandria, the bereaved husband and father re- 
 turned, with his child, to his station in Greece, and 
 in the following year visited his native land. 
 
 The Greek mission was always affected more or less 
 by the changes of political parties. The „ 
 missionaries carefully refrained from inter- *^'f"*^i?" , 
 
 »' and political 
 
 meddling with politics, but every political ^^"'^^* 
 party had more or less of a religious basis, having 
 something to do with the question, whether a relig- 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS, 153 
 
 ious reform should be permitted. Early in 1840 
 the government discovered the existence of a secret 
 association, called the '' Philorthodox," one object 
 of which was to preserve unchanged all the formal- 
 ity and superstition which had crept into the Greek 
 Church. It had both a civil and a military head, 
 and was believed to be hostile to the existing gov- 
 ernment, and on the eve of attempting a religious 
 revolution, by which all reform should be excluded. 
 Several of the leaders were arrested ; and the Rus- 
 sian Ambassador and Russian Secretary of Legation 
 were both recalled, because of their connection with 
 it. The leaders were brought to trial, but the 
 society had influence enough to procure their ac- 
 quittal. Its civil head was banished, and its military 
 head was sent to ^gina for a military trial- The 
 king then changed most of the members of the 
 Synod, and more liberal ideas seemed to be gaining 
 the ascendency.^ 
 
 This reform was only partial and temporary. An 
 order was issued by the government in Q^^^^y^^f 
 the next year, requiring the Catechism of '^'°^*^''^®' 
 the Greek Church to be taught in all the Hellenic 
 schools, and Mr. Leyburn was informed that this 
 order applied to his school. The catechism in- 
 culcates the worship of pictures and similar prac- 
 tices, and the missionai'y decided, that he could not 
 teach it himself, nor allow others to teach it in 
 
 1 Tracy's History y p. 414. 
 
154 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 his school. A long negotiation followed, principally 
 conducted by Dr. King. It was proposed that the 
 government employ catechists to teach the cate- 
 chism to the pupils in the church. The govern- 
 ment assented on condition, that no religious in- 
 struction should be given in the school, meaning 
 thereby to exclude even the reading of the New 
 Testament ; but the missionaries would neither con- 
 sent to teach what they did not believe, nor to 
 maintain a school from which religious instruction 
 
 The station l^USt bc CXCluded. Thc school was there- 
 abandoned. £^j.^ closed, and the station abandoned. It 
 
 should be noted, that the school was not supported 
 by the government, but by the friends of Greece 
 in the United States, and that no impropriety was 
 alleged on the part of the resident missionary. 
 
 As Mr. Leyburn must now leave Greece, and had 
 not health to learn one of the languages of Western 
 The retiring ^^ia, hc rctumcd homc, with the consent 
 missionaries. ^^ ^^^ Prudential Committee. His former 
 
 associate, Mr. Houston, was then preparing to join 
 the mission to the Nestoriaus in Persia, but the 
 sudden failure of his wife's health prevented, and 
 the two brethren afterwards became successful min- 
 isters of the Gospel in the Southern States, from 
 which they had gone forth. 
 
 A station was commenced among the Greeks on 
 sta ,..,. the island of Cyprus in 1834, a year ear- 
 
 among the *" *' ^ J 
 
 l^^l^^ lier than that on Scio. The Greek popu- 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 155 
 
 lation of the island was reckoned at sixty thou- 
 sand, and the pioneer missionary was the Rev. 
 Lorenzo W. Pease, who arrived, with his wife, in 
 the last mouth of the year. As it was proposed to 
 make this a branch of the Syrian mission. 
 
 Exploration. 
 
 Mr. Thomson came over from Beirut, and 
 with Mr. Pease explored the island. They found 
 no serious obstacles in the way of distributing the 
 Scriptures and diffusing a knowledge of the Gospel, 
 except in the unhealthiness of the climate. The 
 most healthful location seemed to be Lapithos, a 
 large village on the northwestern shore, two days' 
 journey from Larnica. The village had a charming 
 location, rising from the base of the mountain, and 
 ascending the steep declivity a thousand feet. 
 From thence perpendicular precipices arose, which 
 sheltered it from the hot south winds. The coast 
 of Caramauia was in full view on the north, and re- 
 freshing breezes crossed the narrow channel which 
 separated Cyprus from the main land. A magnifi- 
 cent fountain burst from the precipices above, the 
 stream from which foamed through the village, and 
 found its way across the narrow but fertile plain to 
 the sea. This stream turned a number of mills 
 in its descent, aud a portion of it was distributed 
 through the gardens, aud there, tumbling from ter- 
 race to terrace, formed numerous beautiful and re- 
 freshing cascades.^ 
 
 1 For the extended journal of Messrs. Thomson and Pease, see Mis" 
 sionary Herald for 1835, pp. 398-408, 446-452. 
 
156 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The Archbishop of Cyprus being independent of 
 the Patriarch of Constantinople, the encyclical let- 
 ter against Protestant missions known to have been 
 received from the metropolis, produced no decided 
 hostility. The mission was reinforced in 
 
 The mission. 
 
 1836 by the arrival of Kev. Daniel Ladd 
 and wife, and Rev. James L. Thompson. A Lau- 
 casterian school had been opened at Larnica with 
 seventy pupils, and a school for educating j^oranceof 
 teachers with fourteen. There was very ^^^p^°p^^ 
 great need of schools, it being ascertained that, 
 in thirty-six villages between Larnica and Limasol, 
 containing more than a thousand families and a 
 population of more than five thousand, only sixty- 
 seven, besides the priests, could read at all, and the 
 priests not fluently. Among the reasons assigned 
 for this were the burdensome taxes imposed upon 
 the people, and especially on boys at the early age 
 of twelve years, and the general poverty of the 
 parents, constraining them to employ their sons on 
 their farms, or in their oil-mills or wine-presses. 
 Considering that not a place had yet been ^ , v 
 
 *^ 1 ./ Insalubrious 
 
 found, which was salubrious all the year *^^'™^^®' 
 round, and that the people were scattered in eight 
 or nine villages, the missionaries began to despair 
 of a vigorous concentration of their labors, and 
 came to the conclusion, in the year 1837, that it 
 was expedient to go to some more manageable field. 
 The opposition from Constantinople made it expe- 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 157 
 
 dient to discounect the schools from the mission . 
 
 There was, however, from the beg'inning*, Fnendiy dis- 
 position of 
 a friendly intercourse between the peo- the people. 
 
 pie, including the ecclesiastics, and the missiona- 
 ries and books and tracts were received without 
 hesitation. This with other considerations in- 
 duced the missionaries to delay their departure. 
 The funeral of a child of Mr. Pease was attended in 
 one of the Greek churches, and the Greek priests 
 led the way in the procession, chanting the funeral 
 dirge, in which there was nothing exceptionable ; 
 leaving at home, out of deference to the father, the 
 cross, the cherubim, and the incense. 
 
 In August, 1839, in consequence of remaining too 
 long at Larnica, Mr. Pease was suddenly Death of Mr 
 prostrated by fever, and soon closed his ^^®' 
 earthly career, at the early age of twenty-nine. He 
 had made great proficiency in the modern Greek 
 language, and looked forward with delight to its 
 use iu proclaiming the Gospel to the Greek people. 
 Every month had raised him in the estimation of 
 his brethren, and given new promise of his useful- 
 ness. Mrs. Pease returned to the United States, 
 with her two children, in the spring of 1841. Mr. 
 Thompson also returned at the close of the same 
 year. Mr. and Mrs. Ladd were transferred Relinquish- 
 to Broosa, in Turkey, where a large num- station. 
 ber of people spoke the Greek language. 
 
 Dr. King and Mr. Benjamin were the only re- 
 
158 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 maining' members of the mission in Greece in 1842, 
 Athens the and thcj wcre residing at Atlicns. Though 
 
 onlv station i i ji • • 
 
 in Greece. for some time without schools, the mission- 
 Dr. Kings arics wcrc uscfullj emplojcd. The former 
 preaching, p^eachcd rcgularly to a congregation of 
 from thirty to one hundred attentive hearers, with 
 a ready command of the Greek language, and in the 
 manner of the most effective preaching in this coun- 
 try. He preached, also, by the wayside, at the same 
 time distributing books and tracts. Writing in 
 1843, after stating that fifteen hundred young men, 
 from all parts of Greece and Turkey, were in the 
 schools and university of Athens, Dr. King adds : 
 " And yet God, in his wonderful providence, has 
 permitted me to stand here, and preach in the plain- 
 est manner, even to the present hour, without let 
 or hindrance, and that, too, in the midst of a dread- 
 ful strife of tongues. I have heard it remarked by 
 Greeks, how truly wonderful it is that my preach- 
 ing should never have been attacked. I see many 
 students and others, and converse vs^ith the greatest 
 plainness, and I think some are persuaded of the 
 truth." Mr. Benjamin was also doing much good 
 Usefulness iu thc department of Christian literature. 
 
 in other de- 
 partments. The books prepared by himself and Dr. 
 
 King were printed at Athens, and were more accept- 
 able and influential for that reason, than if printed 
 elsewhere and by mission presses. The number of 
 copies printed previous to 1843, was 118,465, and of 
 pages, 6,525,500. 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS. 159 
 
 The reliuquisliincnt of the station at Ariopolis 
 was regarded by the Greeks as a public testimony 
 against the errors of the Greek Church, and as an 
 honest and consistent movement. Mr. Benjamin 
 took the place of Dr. King in his absence, as a 
 preacher, and found unexpected facility in so doing. 
 It was a tribute to the Greek mind, that Mr. Benja- 
 min commenced translating Butler's "Analogy " into 
 ^;he modern language. 
 
 In Turkey, Mr. Temple, Mr. Schneider, Mr. 
 Riggs, and Mr. Ladd continued to labor Among 
 
 Greeks in 
 
 mainly in the modern Greek language. Turkey. 
 Mr. Temple had charge of the press, with the eflB- 
 cient aid of Mr. Kiggs in the Greek and Greco- 
 Turkish. Mr. Van Lennep divided his time be- 
 tween the Greek and the Turkish. Mr. Temple 
 edited the Greek " Monthly Magazine," aided by 
 Mr. Petrokokino, one of the young men educated 
 by the Board, to whose taste, talent, and zeal much 
 of its popularity and usefulness were to be attributed. 
 The periodical nearly paid for itself. The amount 
 of printing in modern Greek will be fully stated 
 at the close of these histories. lu 1843, it was one 
 million five hundred and fifty-six thousand pages. 
 Several of the schools in Western Turkey were 
 more or less open to Greek youth of both sexes. 
 Mr. Schueider was able to preach with great facil- 
 ity and propriety in the modern language. 
 
 In the year 1844, the author made an official visit 
 
160 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 to Athens, accompanied by Dr. Joel Hawes, and a 
 week was spent by them in free conference with 
 Messrs. King and Benjamin. The conclusion was 
 Mr. Benja- rcachcd, that Mr. Benjamin should seek 
 
 min removes 
 
 to Turkey, a widcr sphcrc of usefulness among the 
 Armenians of Turkey. 
 
 As the result of subsequent discussions with 
 the missionaries residing at Smyrna, Broosa, and 
 Constantinople, it was decided to cease in great 
 measure from labor among the Greeks ; but that 
 Dr. King ought to remain at Athens, his position 
 and relations being peculiar, as will appear in the 
 subsequent history. From that time, Dr. King was 
 the only missionary of the Board in Greece, until 
 bis lamented death in the year 1869.^ Messrs. Tem- 
 ple, Riggs, and Calhoun at Smyrna, and Messrs. 
 Schneider and Ladd at Broosa, had made the Greek 
 language their principal medium of intercourse with 
 the people. Mr. Riggs having a rare aptitude for 
 acquiring languages, had begun to edit works in the 
 Bulgarian, Armenian, and Turkish languages. 
 
 A like result had been practically reached by both 
 
 1 During nearly the whole of Dr. King's life in Athens, Dr. Hill, 
 an American Episcopal missionary, was resident there. 
 
 The American Baptist Missionary Union placed two missionaries at 
 l^atras, on the Gulf of Corinth, in 1838. That station was discon- 
 tinued in 1845, when Mr. Buel removed to the Piraeus, the port of 
 Athens, where he labored, in the most friendly relations with Dr. 
 King, until 1855 or 1856, when the unsatisfactory results of the mis- 
 sion led to its discontinuance. 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS, 161 
 
 the London and Church Missionaiy Societies of 
 England. A deplorable change had come change in 
 
 ^ the Greek 
 
 over the Greeks, both in Greece and Turkey, people. 
 since the freedom of Greece from Turkish rule ; 
 and money, time, and labor could be more profitably 
 expended on other equally needy populations in that 
 part of the world. The old ambition for the recovery 
 of Constantinople and the restoration of the Eastern 
 Empire, had been quickened into life; and the unity 
 of the Greek Church as a means to this end, was 
 craftily kept before the minds of the people by E-us- 
 sian agency, and had a wonderful influence, espe- 
 cially among the higher classes. The national pride 
 of the Greeks had also created an aversion to for- 
 eigners, and made it difficult for such to gain their 
 confidence, or awaken their gratitude by acts of 
 benevolence. Then there were the arrogant as- 
 sumptions of the Greek Church, more exclusive than 
 the Roman, claiming for her clergy the only apos- 
 tolical succession, and that her trine immersion, 
 performed by her clergy, was the only baptism, 
 while all not thus baptized were beyond the hoj) 
 of salvation. Of course all Protestant preachers, 
 whether episcopal or non-episcopal, were regarded 
 by the Greeks as unbaptized heretics. The Grt.^ek 
 Church held the worst errors of Popery, such as 
 transubstantiation, worshipping the Virgin Mary, 
 praying to saints, baptismal regeneration, and the 
 
 inherent efficacy of ordinances to save tlie souh 
 
 11 
 
 
162 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The power of excommTinication in the hands of the 
 priests, was regarded by the people with extreme 
 dread, as sealing the soul over to perdition; and be- 
 lieving, as they did, that salvation is certain in the 
 Church, and nowhere else, they regarded every 
 attempt at innovation as an attack upon their dear- 
 est interests, and resisted it with persecution, or 
 turned away with disgust and scorn. There were 
 persons both among the ecclesiastics and laymen, 
 to whom this would not apply; but the inflexible 
 opposition of the hierarchy, as a body, to all efforts 
 for propagating the evangelical religion, was matter 
 for profound lamentation. 
 
 Yet labors in Greece had not been expended in 
 Valuable vaiu. Thcrc had been very few hopeful 
 results. conversions ; but as many as two hundred 
 thousand copies of the New Testament and parts of 
 the Old had been put in circulation in the modern 
 Greek language ; a million copies of books and tracts 
 had been scattered, by different missionary societies, 
 broad-cast over the Greek community ; perhaps a 
 score of Greek young men had been liberally edu- 
 cated by benevolent societies and individuals in 
 America and England ; and more than ten thousand 
 Greek youths had received instruction in Greece and 
 Turkey, at the schools of various missions. Of the 
 good seed thus sown, though not often on good 
 ground, there may yet be a harvest to gladden fu- 
 ture generations. The labor had not been fruitless. 
 
GREECE AND THE GREEKS, 163 
 
 The Greek goverument was not what it would have 
 been, and the same may be said of the social state. 
 Nor were the same old ideas prevalent among the 
 people as to the authority of councils and of the 
 ancient fathers, and the authority of^ God's Word 
 stood higher than before. The same low estimate 
 was no longer put upon knowledge and education, 
 nor upon religious tolerance, nor were there the 
 same impressions concerning Protestantism, and 
 Protestant nations, and the Christian world at large. 
 In all these respects, there had been progress. Infi- 
 delity had received a check, and so had its influence 
 on surrounding peoples. The Word of God, printed 
 in the spoken language, was in \ery many habita- 
 tions of the people ; and the elements of their intel- 
 lectual, moral, and social being were not, and can 
 never again be, as if missionaries had not been 
 among them. 
 
 The efforts made by Dr. King in Greece, for 
 nearly a quarter of a century after this time, to 
 secure freedom in the worship of God and in the 
 preaching of the Gospel, will form the subject of 
 future chapters. And in the histories of the Syrian 
 and Armenian missions, the reader will occasionally 
 notice hopeful outbreaks of the spirit of religious 
 inquiry among the people bearing the Grecian 
 name. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE NESTORIANS. 
 
 1833-1836. 
 
 The facts brought to light by Messrs. Smith 
 Commence- aud Dwight rcspectiug the Nestorians, 
 niisHOD. made it the duty of the American Board 
 to commeuce a mission among them. Accordingly 
 in January, 1833, the Rev. Justin Perkins, then a 
 tutor in Amherst College, was appointed the first 
 missionary to that people ; and Mr. Smith, being 
 ready to return to the Mediterranean, having pub- 
 lished his " Researches in Armenia and Persia," it 
 was decided that Mr. Perkins should accompany him 
 as far as Malta. They received their official in- 
 structions together, in the chapel of the Theological 
 Seminary at Andover, on a Sabbath evening in Sep- 
 tember, and the two brethren embarked, with their 
 wives, on the 21st of that month. INIr. Perkins, iu 
 the interval, had been prostrated by a fever, but it 
 was deemed safe for him to proceed, and his recov- 
 ery was so rapid that he was soon able to administer 
 to the comfort of his associates at sea. 
 
 " Your first duty among the Nestorians/' said the 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 165 
 
 Prudential Committee in their instructions to Mr, 
 Perkins, " will be to cultivate an intimate instructions 
 
 to the mia- 
 
 acquaiatance with the religious opinions sionary. 
 and sentiments of the Nestorians. You are aware 
 that, excepting the information collected by Messrs. 
 Smith and Dwight, during the few days they were 
 at Oroomiah, almost all we know concerning that 
 sect in modern times, is derived from papal writers. 
 The learned investigations of some of these entitle 
 them to high honor, and may be of great use to you, 
 in the way of furnishing topics for inquiry, but the 
 Committee wish the information which you commu- 
 nicate concerning the present state of the Nestorian 
 Church, to be the result of your own personal inves- 
 tigations; at least to be thus corroborated. The 
 churches of this country ought to be accurately in- 
 formed as to the number of the Nestorians, their 
 places of residence, their doctrines, rites, morals, 
 education, etc. Whether you will be able at pres- 
 ent, with a due regard for personal safety, to pene- 
 trate the Koordish mountains, and visit the Nesto- 
 rian Patriarch, is very doubtful. But the journey 
 should be performed as soon as may be, lest inter- 
 ested and perverse men should prejudice his mind 
 against you/' 
 
 After stating that they should take pains to show 
 the Nestorians, that they had no intention of sub- 
 jecting them to any foreign ecclesiastial power; and 
 showing that the acknowledgment of the New Tes- 
 
166 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tameiit, as the ouly authoritative standard of relig- 
 ious truth, made them stand on common ground 
 with the people to whom they were sent ; it was 
 stated, that their main object would be to enable 
 the Nestorian Church, through the grace of God, 
 to exert a commanding influence in the regenera- 
 tion of Asia. 
 
 " Concentrated eflfort," it was added, " is effective 
 effort. There is such a thing as attempting too 
 much. Many a missionary has attempted such 
 great things, and so many, in a new field, that he 
 has accomplished little, and perhaps nothing as he 
 ought. Your surveys may extend over a great 
 surface ; but a richer and speedier harvest will 
 crown your labors, if your cultivation is applied to 
 a single field." 
 
 The Nestorians are a branch of the ancient Chris- 
 Tj^^p+T,. tio^u Church, and derive their name from 
 
 Kise of tne •' 
 
 Nestorians. js^gstorius, a uativc of Syria and Bishop 
 of Constantinople, who was excommunicated by the 
 third General Council at Ephesus, in the year 431. 
 The cause of his condemnation was probably the 
 desire to humble the occupant of the see of Con- 
 stautinople, which had begun to eclipse its sister 
 patriarchates, rather than any real doctrinal errors. 
 He was banished to Arabia Petrsea, then to Libya, 
 and finally died in Upper Egypt. But his cause 
 was the cause of his countrymen, and he had influ- 
 ential friends in the pati'iarchate of Antioch, who 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 167 
 
 denied the fairness of his trial and the justice of his 
 condemnation. His case was ardently espoused by 
 many young men from Persia in the famous school 
 of Edessa (now Oorfa), and though these were ex- 
 pelled, and the school itself was destroyed in the 
 year 489, by order of the Emperor Zeno, the ban- 
 ished youths carried home with them a warm sym- 
 pathy for Nestorius, and various causes combined 
 to extend it among the Persian ecclesiastics. In the 
 year 498, the sect had so multiplied, as to have the 
 appointment of the Archbishop of Seleucia and Ctesi- 
 phon, who then declared himself Patriarch of the 
 East. 
 
 " This sect continued to flourish, though occa- 
 sionally persecuted, under the Persians, ^^^^^ ^^^ 
 the Saracens, and the Tartars. They had ^''''''' 
 celebrated schools for theology and general educa- 
 tion. For centuries they maintained missions in 
 Tartary, China, and other eastern regions. Their 
 churches were scattered from Syria and Cyprus to 
 Pekin, and from the coast of Malabar and Ceylon to 
 the borders of Siberia. Early in the eleventh cen- 
 tury, TJnkh Khan, a Tartar prince on the northern 
 borders of China, invited Nestorian missionaries 
 among his people, and himself became the famous 
 Prester John. Gengis Khan and several of his sons 
 and grandsons, who conquered China and almost all 
 Asia and a part of Europe, were connected with 
 Prester John by marriage. Several of them had 
 
168 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Christian wives, and one of them at least professed 
 
 himself a Christian. Under some of this dynasty. 
 
 Central Asia was comparatively a civilized country ; 
 
 and Christian travellers passed with safety from the 
 
 banks of the Euphrates to Samarcand and Pekin. 
 
 8ome of the Chinese emperors favored Christianity, 
 
 and ordered the erection of numerous churches. 
 
 Meanwhile the sword of Moslem fanaticism was 
 
 Destroyed by advanciug castward. Bagdad fell before 
 the Mo«iem3. -^^ ^^^ ^jj ^^^ couutry ou the Euphrates ; 
 
 then Persia, then Cabul, and the regions of the 
 north. The Nestorian Church being thus crushed at 
 home, its missions languished. And finally, about 
 the year 1400, Tamerlane, who has been called 
 'the greatest of conquerors,' swept like a whirl- 
 wind over the remains of Nestorian Christianity, 
 prostrating everything in his course." ^ 
 
 1 Tracey's History, p. 312. See also Missionanj Herald for 1838, pp. 
 289-298. Narses on being expelled from Edessa, opened a school at 
 Nisibis, a. d. 490, which became celebrated. About the same time, 
 Acacius, also from Edessa, established a school at Seleucia. It was 
 revived in 530, and was in existence as late as 605. A school was es- 
 tablished at Dorkena, a. d. 585. At Bagdad were two schools in 832, 
 and two others were in its neighborhood. Schools existed at Ter- 
 hana, Mahuza, Maraga, and Adiabene, in Assyria, and at Maraga, in 
 Aderbijan. There were also schools in Elam, Persia, Korassan, and 
 Arabia. The school at Nisibis had u three years' course of study. 
 The studies to a great extent were theological ; but to the study of 
 the Bible, they added, in the schools generally, the study of grammar, 
 rhetoric, poetry, dialetics, arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, 
 medicine, etc. 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 169 
 
 Prom Malta, Mr. and Mrs. Perkins proceeded to 
 Constantinople, where they were cordially welcomed 
 by Messrs. Goodell and Dwight, near the close of 
 the year. After a sojourn of ^\q, months, awaiting 
 the proper season for travelling, they took passage, 
 in an English vessel, for Trebizond; and there they 
 commenced their long land travel of seven hundred 
 miles to Oroomiah. 
 
 Mrs. Perkins was the first American lady to visit 
 Trebizond, and the inhabitants thronged Theoveriand 
 the streets to gaze upon her as she passed J°"'^''®y- 
 tbrough the city. On the day of their entrance into 
 Erzroom, they crossed the Euphrates, which is there 
 only a few rods wide, and easily forded on horse- 
 back. The city is on an elevated plain, cultivated 
 through almost its whole extent, with numerous 
 villages everywhere in sight. 
 
 They were now in one of the oldest cities in the 
 world, founded, as tradition says, by a 
 
 At Erzroom. 
 
 grandson of Noah, and had gone over a 
 third of the distance to Tabriz, and the most difficult 
 part of the journey. Here they were detained nearly 
 a month by the incursions of Koordish robbers along 
 the direct road to Tabriz. The Pasha having gone 
 with his troops to drive back the marauders, Mr. 
 Perkins resumed his journey on the 15th of July. 
 Next day he overtook the Pasha, who assured him 
 that he could not safely go in advance of his army. 
 The only alternative was to return to Erzroom for 
 
170 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 several weeks, or take a circuitous route through 
 the Russian provinces. He thought it hest to 
 choose the latter course, and the Pasha kindly fur- 
 nished him with a guard of horsemen as far as the 
 frontier. On the 22d they crossed into Georgia, 
 Hardships aud soou fouud themselves subjected to a 
 Russia. most annoying quarantine of fourteen days. 
 The laws of the empire in that province were very 
 oppressive, particularly in their operation upon trav- 
 ellers. The ukase of the Emperor Alexander, favor- 
 ing the introduction of foreign goods for ten years 
 subsequent to 1822, had expired. Consequently Mr. 
 Perkins was not allowed to take any of his baggage 
 with him, except wearing apparel, not even medi- 
 cines ; he was required to send all back into Turkey. 
 Eesuming his journey on the 7th of August, Mr. Per- 
 kins passed on rapidly to the Arras, which divides 
 Georgia from Persia. Here he was needlessly and 
 wantonly detained six days, for his passports. The 
 hardships resulting from such treatment, with other 
 causes, had now brought Mrs. Perkins into a very 
 critical state of health. As a last resort, Mr. Per- 
 kins addressed a letter to Sir John Campbell, Brit- 
 ish ambassador at Tabriz, describing their situation, 
 and enclosing his letters of introduction to that 
 gentleman. Scarcely had he crossed into Persia, 
 three days after, although his distance from Tabriz 
 Kindne'58 of was uot Icss than a hundred miles, when he 
 
 the British ' 
 
 Eraba^sy. yvas mct by a courier from the ambassador, 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 171 
 
 witli a letter written in the kindest terms, and the 
 duplicate of another which he had procured from 
 the Russian ambassador to the officials on the fron- 
 tier, with a view to put an immediate stop to Mr. 
 Perkins' detention. The kindness of the same gen- 
 tleman led him to send a takhtrawan for Mrs. Per- 
 kins, together with delicacies for her comfort on the 
 way. 
 
 A providential escape occurred during the first 
 night after crossing the Arras. Their ^^^^.^^^^^ 
 road led up a high mountain. As they ^''^^®' 
 were ascending it, the forward mule of the takh- 
 trawan became obstinate, and suddenly ran back, 
 forcing the one behind upon the very brink of the 
 precipice, along which the road ran ; and had not 
 divine mercy stayed them just there, takhtrawan, 
 bearers, and occupant would have been dashed down 
 the precipice together. 
 
 The following day, they had the pleasure of meet- 
 ing Dr. Riach, physician of the embassy, priende 
 whom they had seen at Constantinople, '"^ 
 and who had come, with a Russian travelling pass- 
 port, determined to cross the frontier, if necessary, 
 and remain with them until their liberation. The 
 medical skill of Dr. Riach did much to aid Mrs. 
 Perkins in completing the journey to Tabriz, where 
 tLey arrived on the 23d of August, seventy-four 
 days after their departure from Trebizond. Three 
 days after, Mrs. Perkins became the mother of a 
 
172 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 daiig-hter, of whose existence she was uiicouscious 
 for several days. Her life was probably saved, 
 under God, through the combined skill and kind 
 attentions of three English physicians, who were 
 then providentially at Tabriz. The Ambassador 
 was exceedingly kind; so were Mr. and Mrs. Nesbit, 
 who have been already introduced to the reader. 
 Dr. Riach, afterwards at the head of the embassy, 
 stayed five days and nights with Mrs. Perkins, not 
 retiring from the house till he saw some hope of 
 her recovery. " The treatment we received from 
 them on our first arrival,^' writes the missionary 
 nine years after, '' is but a specimen of their kind- 
 ness to us from that period to the present." 
 
 The field about to be occupied was of limited ex- 
 The field to tent. The Nestorians numbered not more 
 be occupied, ^j^.^^^ ^^^^ hundrcd and fiftv thousand souls. 
 
 Their territory extended from Lake Oroomiah three 
 hundred miles westward to the Tigris, and two 
 hundred miles from north to south, embracing some 
 most rugged mountain ranges, and several very 
 beautiful and fertile plains, the largest of which 
 formed the district of Oroomiah. Education was 
 then at the lowest ebb among the people, hardly a 
 score of men being intelligent readers, while only 
 one woman, the sister of Mar. Shimon, was able to 
 read at all. They had no printed books, and but 
 very few manuscripts of even portions of the Bible, 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 173 
 
 and these were in the ancient Syriac, which was an 
 unknown tonorue to almost all of them. Their 
 spoken language was an unwritten dialect of the 
 Sjriac. Still deeper was their moral degradation, 
 almost every command of the decalogue heiug 
 transgressed without compunction, or even shame 
 when detected. Yet they were entirely accessible 
 to the Protestant missionary, and were more Scrip- 
 tural in their doctrines and ritual, with far less of 
 bigotry, than any other Oriental sect ; so much so, 
 indeed, that the Xestorians were sometimes called 
 the *' Protestants of Asia.^' 
 
 Mr. Perkins wisely determined upon acquiring a 
 knowledge of the Syriac before going to p^itnumuy 
 reside among them. To obtain a teacher, ™^'^^- 
 he visited Oroomiah in October, accompanied by 
 the Rev. Mr. Haas, of the Basle Missionary Society, 
 then residing at Tabriz. The manner in which he 
 was everywhere received by the Xestorians was 
 exceedingly encouraging, and he obtained tlie ser- 
 vices of Mar Tohannan, one of their most intelli- 
 gent bishops, as a teacher, who brought with him 
 a young priest, scarcely less promising than the 
 bishop himself. 
 
 Asahel Grant, M. D., and wife, left Trebizond for 
 Persia September 17, 1835, accompanied ^^^j^jo^^j 
 by Rev. James L. Merrick, who was to ^^^''"• 
 commence a mission to the Mohammedans of Per- 
 sia. Mr. Perkins met them at Erzroom, to assist 
 
174 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 on their journey through the inhospitable region of 
 the Koords. 
 
 The province called Orooniiah is situated in the 
 TheproTince uorthwcstem part of modern Persia. It is 
 oforoomiah. ^^^ uorthwcsteru part of ancient Media. 
 A beautiful lake, eighty miles long and thirty broad, 
 and four thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
 is its boundary on the east, and a chain of snow- 
 covered mountains bounds it on the west. The wa- 
 ter of the lake is so salt and bituminous that fish 
 cauuot live in it, while its shores are enlivened by 
 numerous water-fowl, of which the beautiful fla- 
 mingo is most conspicuous.^ The plain contains 
 about three hundred villages and hamlets, and is 
 covered with fields, gardens, and vineyards, which 
 are irrigated by streams fi'om the mountains. The 
 landscape is one of the most lovely in the East, and 
 its effect is heightened by its contrast with the adja- 
 cent heights, on which not a solitary tree is to be 
 seeu. Along the water- courses are willows, poplars, 
 and sycamores; and the peach, apricot, pear, plum, 
 and other fruits impart to large sections the ap- 
 pearance of a forest. Near the centre of the plain, 
 four hundred feet above the lake, stands the city of 
 Oroomiah. It dates from a remote antiquity, and 
 claims to be the birthplace of Zoroaster, It is built 
 chiefly of unburnt brick, is surrounded by a high 
 
 1 An analysis of the water of the lake is said to have proved it to be 
 highly charged with sulphureted hydrogen. 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 175 
 
 mild wall and a ditch, aud has a population of 
 twenty-five thousand, of whom the larger part are 
 Mohammedans. The Nestorians of the plain were 
 estimated at twenty thousand. 
 
 Dr. Grant left Tabriz six days in advance of his 
 associates, to prepare for their coming. But so 
 tardy had been the carpenters, that Mr. Perkins 
 and the ladies found things in a very sorry condi- 
 tion. It was late in November, aud after facing a 
 driving raiu all day, they had to content themselves 
 with unfinished and unfurnished rooms ; and as the 
 muleteers did not arrive with their baggage, they 
 had neither bedding, nor a change of clothing. But 
 they had a blazing fire, and provisions from the 
 market, with a sharpened appetite, aud slept com- 
 fortably on piles of shavings, covered with the 
 clothes they had dried by the fire. 
 
 Dr. Grant awakened great interest as a physi- 
 cian. He was continually thronged with Dr. Grant's 
 
 medical 
 
 patients sick with all manner of diseases, practice. 
 real and imaginary. Moslems and Nestorians came 
 together. Children brought their aged parents, 
 and mothers their little ones. Those blinded by 
 ophthalmia were led by the hand. Those relieved 
 from suffering were ready to kiss his feet, or even 
 his shoes at the door. But it was a laborious and 
 trying position. A thousand silly questions must be 
 answered. Nor was there any certainty that the 
 prescriptions would be followed, even if understood ; 
 
176 MISSION>S TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 and every Nestorian, though suffering under the 
 most alarming disease, would sooner die than touch 
 a spoonful of chicken-broth during a fast. Dr. 
 Grant gained great repute by the removal of cat- 
 aracts, and the consequent restoration of sight. 
 There were patients from great distances. Nesto- 
 rians came from the mountains, Koordish chiefs 
 from the regions beyond, and some from the dis- 
 tant borders of Georgia. Among the multitudes, 
 were the governor of the province, two princes of 
 the royal family, and many of the Persian nobles. 
 His services were gratuitous, he made no show to 
 attract customers, and being ready to aid the native 
 physicians with both medicine and instruction he 
 gave them no offense. 
 
 Dr. Grant possessed a rare fitness for the posi- 
 Recouections tlou. I liavc a vlvld rccollcction of him 
 
 ^- ^"^ ' at the time of the annual meeting of the 
 Board at Utica in 1834, when he presented himself, 
 one stormy evening, to offer his services as a phy- 
 sician for the mission to the Nestorians. What 
 specially impressed me was his commanding form 
 and mien, joined with calm decision and courage, 
 qualities eminently fitting him for a life in Koordis- 
 tan. The impressions made by that brief personal 
 interview, were sustained and strengthened through 
 a most intimate correspondence till his death. 
 
 It is in the early stage of a mission, that the value 
 of a pious physician is most apparent. With the 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 177 
 
 exaggerated conceptions usually entertained of the 
 temporal blessings be is able to confer, be ^p^^ien a mis- 
 is welcomed by all classes from the first. sIciJinTsmost 
 
 E, . , , valuable. 
 
 very door is opened, every man and 
 
 vpoman is accessible. The good-will thus awakened 
 is more or less shared by his fellow missionaries, 
 and is thus likely to be all the sooner confirmed by 
 a spiritual appreciation of the <5ospel. 
 
 Soon after their arrival, the missionaries were 
 invited to attend a wedding at Geog-tapa, ^ Nestonan 
 a large Nestorian village five miles distant. ^^^*^°s- 
 As they approached, a multitude came out to meet 
 them, with trumpets and drums, and shouts of 
 *' welcome, welcome." The pupils of an English 
 school, whicli priest Abraham had opened, saluted 
 them with " good morning." They found a fat buf- 
 falo just knocked down before the bridegroom's 
 house, and the bride was standing, like a veiled 
 statue, in the farther corner of a large room, which 
 was soon filled by the rushing multitude. It was 
 customary to have the marriage ceremony in the 
 church, commencing at least an hour before day 
 because of its length, and because all parties, even 
 the officiating priests, were obliged to fast till it was 
 over ; but out of regard to the strangers, it was 
 deferred till their arrival, and was in the dwelling 
 of the bridegroom's family. Priest Abraham offi- 
 ciated, assisted by two other priests and by several 
 deacons, in reading the prayers and Scripture selec- 
 
 12 . 
 
178 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tions, all in the ancient Syriac. After an hour' 
 reading, the time came for joining hands. Several 
 women caught hold of the veiled bride, and pulled 
 her by main force half across the room toward her 
 intended husband. Several men at the same time 
 seized the bridegroom, who, after a modest resist- 
 ance, yielded and advanced towards the bride. He 
 was not able to secure her hand, however, without 
 a struggle, but at length succeeded ; and then both 
 took a submissive stand near the officiating clergy. 
 After reading another hour or more, the bishops, 
 priests, and missionaries, with the multitude, ad- 
 vanced and kissed the married pair. 
 
 Mr. Perkins engaged Mar Gabriel, a bishop, fair 
 Keducingthe iu form, but of a restless spirit, to reside 
 
 language to 
 
 wriLing vvith him as his teacher in Syriac ; and the 
 year did not close before this indefatigable mission- 
 ary commenced reducing the modern Syriac to writ- 
 ing, with the aid of priest Abraham, who wrote 
 a beautiful hand. His first translation was the 
 Lord's Prayer. The Nestorians were much inter- 
 ested, having never heard reading in their spoken 
 language. Even the sober priest could not refrain 
 from immoderate laughter, as he repeated line after 
 line of his own writing. 
 
 What soon became a seminary for males was 
 Rise of the commcuccd on the 18th of January, 1836, 
 
 eemlnary 
 
 for males. with scvcu boys from the city, and the 
 number was soon increased to fifty by accessions 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 179 
 
 from the surrounding region, among whom were 
 three deacons and one priest. Manuscript cards 
 prepared by Mr. Perkins supplied the place of 
 hooks. They read in the ancient Syriac, and the 
 cards in the modern dialect, and in English, and 
 also wrote with their fingers in sand-boxes, and 
 made some progress in arithmetic. There were 
 several free schools, but only a very small propor- 
 tion of the hundred pupils were females. Several 
 of the clergy resided with the mission, and con- 
 ducted worship once on each Sabbath in their own 
 language. At this service a portion of Scripture 
 was read, which they had previously studied with 
 Mr. Perkins, and its meaning was explained and 
 enforced. It is a singular fact, that Dr. Grant was 
 obliged to teach a Mohammedan school schooifor 
 
 Moslem 
 
 during a small part of each day, to quiet youths, 
 the Mussulmans, who were jealous of these favors to 
 their despised Christian subjects, and resentfully in- 
 quired, " Are we to be passed by ? " 
 
 Experience showed that the families had been re- 
 moved to Oroomiah too soon ; for it took gjckness ia 
 place during cold weather, and the new <^^«^^«°^- 
 mud used in repairing the walls of their chambers 
 had not been sufficiently dried. This predisposed 
 them to disease during the hot, malarious summer, 
 when all were more or less affected with illness. A 
 bilious fever brought Mr. Perkins to the borders of 
 the grave ; and while he lay thus sick, and at one 
 
180 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 time insensible, Dr. and Mrs. Grant were seized 
 with fever and ague. Missionary labors were of 
 course suspended. The Nestoriaus sympathized 
 deeply, and rendered all the aid in their power, and 
 Mohammedans also manifested much concern. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE NESTORIANS. 
 
 1836-1840. 
 
 The two missionaries and priest Abraham nar- 
 rowly escaped assassination by ruffians of a Escape from 
 
 assassina- 
 
 class called Lootee, while on a visit to the tioa- 
 village of Mar Joseph. Walking quietly through 
 the village they encountered three of these fellows, 
 in a narrow path lined by a hedge, with a horse 
 placed across to obstruct their progress. Priest 
 Abraham stepped forward, and was mildly request- 
 ing them to allow his party to pass, when one raised 
 his dagger to strike him. Seeing the defenseless 
 priest in peril, Mr. Perkins instinctively sprang for- 
 ward, and the assassin turned upon him. Noth- 
 ing but his fall at the moment the weapon struck 
 him, saved him from instant death. As it was, the 
 dagger cut through his clothes, and punctured his 
 side. Seeing his associates thus hard beset, Dr. 
 Grant, who was behind, ran up and brought his rid- 
 ing whip with such force across the villain's eyes, as 
 to confuse him for the moment, and in the confusion 
 the party ran into a house and barred the doors. 
 
182 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The priest received a cut in the head, but Mr. 
 Perkins was not seriously wounded. Through the 
 efforts of the British ambassador, the Lootee re- 
 ceived so severe a chastisement from the Persian 
 authorities, as made them careful, ever after, how 
 they injured any member of the mission. 
 
 A printing" establishment was much needed ; and 
 a press was sent with the Rev. Albert L. 
 
 New mis- 
 sioDaries. 
 
 Holliday and Mr. William R. Stocking, who 
 sailed from Boston in January, 1837. At Trebizond, 
 the press was found too unwieldy to be carried over- 
 land, and was accordingly sent back to Constanti- 
 nople and sold to the Armenians, for their high- 
 school at Scutari. The new missionaries were met 
 at Erzroom by Mr. Perkins and Mar Yohannan, and 
 reached their destination in June. Mr. Holliday 
 Their first fouud the cncouragement to labor quite 
 impressions. ^^ gveat as had been represented by the 
 
 brethren first in the field. 
 
 The extreme poverty of the Nestorians had the 
 Too much same effect on the first missionaries, that 
 people. like causes have had in some other por- 
 tions of the unevangelized world. It caused the 
 whole expense of schools and of the agency employed 
 to be thrown upon the Christian public at home. 
 The board of the fifty scholars in the seminary was 
 paid by the mission, and people in the villages 
 thought they could not afford to send their children 
 to the village schools, unless each of them was paid 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 183 
 
 two or three cents a day to buy their bread. They 
 said their children could earn as much by weeding 
 the cotton, or driving the oxen ; and the brethren 
 naturally rejoiced in being able to afford this aid. 
 Among the students of the seminary at this time, 
 were two bishops, three priests, and four deacons, 
 who of course were adults. Pupils in the first rudi- 
 ments of their own language received twelve and a 
 half cents a week for their support, and the more 
 advanced received twenty-five cents. Experience 
 was as needful to discover the best methods of mis- 
 sionary labor, as of any other untried undertaking. 
 
 The mission now had eight native helpers, among 
 whom were three bishops and two priests, ^^^^^ 
 all, except one, residing with the mission. ^®^p®"- 
 That one was the venerable Mar Elias, the oldest 
 bishop in the province, who superintended one of 
 the schools. He had adopted the practice of trans- 
 lating portions of the Epistles, which he read stat- 
 edly in his church. Some of the people were much 
 delighted with the innovation; but others, and a 
 profligate priest among them, complained that he 
 annoyed them with the precepts of '^ Paul, Paul, 
 Paul," of whom they had scarcely ever heard before. 
 But the good bishop did not regard the opposition. 
 
 Mi-s. Grant was the first member of the mission, 
 called away by death. She had been thoroughly ed- 
 ucated, and the two bishops in her family Eminent 
 wondered to see a woman learning Syriac Mra. Grant. 
 
184 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CEURCHES, 
 
 through the Latin language. IN'or was their won- 
 der less when she turned to the Greek for the mean- 
 ing of some difficult passage in the New Testament. 
 Finding the prejudices of the people too strong to 
 permit her to begin a girls' school at once, she 
 taught her own female domestics to read, and then 
 sought to interest mothers in the education of their 
 Commences daughtcrs. At Icugth shc succeeded in 
 
 the feaiJile i r» • i d l • l 
 
 eeminary. COllCCtiug a SUiall SCllOOl of gU'lS, 01 WhlCh 
 
 she was the first teacher. When too sick to leave 
 her chamber, she had the pupils assemble there. 
 This was the beginning of the Female Seminary, 
 which afterwards became so noted under Miss Fiske. 
 It was commenced March 12, 1838, with four pupils, 
 but the number soon increased, and Mrs. Perkins 
 rendered valuable aid. Mrs. Grant readily learned 
 to speak the Turkish, and to read the ancient Syriac. 
 The modern Syriac she was able both to read and 
 write, and the French she could speak before leav- 
 ing home. But, cultured and refined as she was, 
 she declared the time spent in the mission field 
 among that rude people, to have been the happiest 
 part of her life. The aid she rendered her hus- 
 band in his medical practice, added not a little to 
 her usefulness. She had great aptness and skill 
 in the sick chamber, and like her divine Master 
 went about doing good ; yet without neglecting her 
 Heriamented houschold affairs. Hcr death occurred on 
 ^'^ the 14th of January, 1839, at the age of 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 185 
 
 twenty- five. She was greatly lamented by the Nesto- 
 rians. The bishops said to the afflicted husband, 
 " We will bury her in the church, where none but 
 holy men are buried ; " and her death produced a 
 subdued and tender spirit throughout the large cir- 
 cle of her acquaintance. This better state of feeling 
 continued through the year, especially in the semi- 
 nary. 
 
 Priest Dunka, from one of the independent tribes, 
 gave indications of piety. He had learned p^j^,^ 
 the alphabet in his childhood, while tend- ^'^'^• 
 ing his father's flocks on the mountains, and became 
 a reader without farther instruction. At Oroomiah 
 he was now both a learner and helper. Three 
 months of the summer he spent among his native 
 mountains, preaching the Gospel in the villages 
 around his home. Little of the truth had been 
 heard there for ages, except in the unknown lan- 
 guage of the liturgy, but the people were eager to 
 listen. 
 
 In September, Robert Glen, son of the Rev. Wil- 
 liam Glen of Tabriz, was hopefully con- 
 
 Robert Glen. 
 
 verted while at Oroomiah on a visit. Ho 
 was born at Astrakhan, where his father labored 
 seventeen years as a missionary, and was now em- 
 ployed as a teacher in a small school of 
 
 Ti/r 1 mi . . Schoola. 
 
 Moslem young men. The mission at this 
 time had twelve schools in as many villages, con- 
 taining two hundred and seventy-two males, with 
 
186 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 twenty-two females ; and seventeen pupils in the 
 female boarding-school, and fifty-five in the semi- 
 nary, which was taught by a priest and deacon, un- 
 der the supervision of Mr. Stocking. 
 
 The scarcity of copies of the Holy Scriptures 
 among- the Nestorian people would be re- 
 
 Scarcity of ° r i. 
 
 Anctnl^^"^ markable, in view of their receiving them 
 ^^"''''" as their rule of faith and practice, if we did 
 not remember how sorely they had been persecuted 
 in the past, and how much they still sufi"ered from 
 Moslem oppression. Excepting the Psalms, which 
 entered largely into the prescribed form of worship, 
 they had but one copy of the Old Testament, and 
 that was in a number of volumes, the property of 
 several individuals. The British and Foreign Bible 
 Society had printed the Gospels in the Nestorian 
 character ; but they had scarcely more than a single 
 copy of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, 
 and none of the Book of Revelation, in their own 
 character. Of course all was in the ancient lan- 
 guage. 
 
 Dr. Grant had been suffering for some time be- 
 fore the death of his wife, from the climate of the 
 plain ; and he was now instructed by his Commit- 
 tee to commence a station, if possible, among the 
 Nestorians on the western side of the Koordish 
 mountains. Incapable of fear, he had vain- 
 
 Dr. Grant's ^ ' 
 
 ter^KoordS'- ^ sought the couscut of his brethren to 
 *^° penetrate the mountains directly from the 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 187 
 
 plain. It was the belief of the Committee that, with 
 his medical skill aud his courage and address, he 
 could do this with safety ; but the brethren of the 
 mission had been so impressed by the murder of Mr. 
 Schultz, on that route, that they could not consent ; 
 and the opinions of brethren on the ground were not 
 to be disregarded. He was, however, au- Authorized 
 
 to enter from 
 
 thorized to enter the mountains from the ^^^ west. 
 west, in the belief that, once established there, he 
 would soon find his way opened on every side. 
 
 On the first of April, 1839, Dr. Grant left Oroo- 
 miah, expecting to meet Mr. Homes at Erzroom, 
 who had been appointed to accompany him. An 
 unusually late fall of snow made the jour- ^^ arduous 
 aey perilous. For more than two hundred J^'^^"®^- 
 miles, it was from two to four feet deep ; and for 
 twenty miles, in the mountains beyond Ararat, there 
 was not a single human habitation. In descending, 
 the only way he could know when he was out of the 
 path, was by the depth to which he sank in the 
 snow. In the pass of Dahar, near the sources of 
 the Euphrates, where Messrs. Smith and Dwight 
 had well-nigh perished, the guide lost the path in 
 a snow-storm, and declared it impossible to go on. 
 The snow was too deep for the horses. Turning 
 back was out of the question, as their tracks were 
 obliterated by the wind, which would then be in 
 their faces. Though benumbed and feeble, the 
 courage of Dr. Grant did not fail. He could not 
 
188 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tell how deliverance would come, but had a sweet 
 assurauce that God would send it, and encouraged 
 his companions to new effort. Just then four moun- 
 taineers came tramping over the snow before them, 
 and one of them consenting to turn back, they 
 passed safely on foot, the man breaking down the 
 drifts for the horses, and exploring the path by 
 thrusting his long staff deep into the snow. He 
 reached Erzroom on the seventeenth, and rested 
 with his kind friend Dr. Riach, who had retired from 
 Teheran, because of impending war between Eng- 
 land and Persia. Dr. Grant's health had improved 
 amid all his hardships. 
 
 Learning that Mr. Homes was detained at Con- 
 stantinople, he started for Trebizond on the eight- 
 eenth, with no attendant except the surijee from 
 the post-house, and there took a steamer for Con- 
 stantinople. Mr. Homes not being yet able to ac- 
 company him, he returned alone to Erzroom, and 
 proceeded thence to Diarbekir, where he arrived 
 May 30. He found the city waiting in suspense 
 Battle of ^^^ news from the battle of Nizib, be- 
 ^'^^' tween the forces of Mohammed Ali and 
 
 the Sultan. The defeat of the latter was soon man- 
 ifest in the arrival of hundreds of fugitives, com- 
 consequent pletcly strippcd by the Koords. Anarchy 
 
 anarchy at 
 
 Diarbekir. rcigucd fi'om that moment, and the city 
 was filled with robbery and murder. The people 
 ascribed their defeat to Frank innovations in mill- 
 
THE NESTOKIANS. 189 
 
 tary tactics ; and when Mr. Homes arrived, the 
 brethren not only heard curses against joined by 
 themselves in the streets, but an openly ex- ^^^""^^ 
 pressed purpose to kill every European in the place. 
 The thermometer was then 98° in the shade, and 
 their danger from both climate and people induced 
 them to leave for Mardin, which they did with an 
 escort of thirty horsemen. Such was their penif, at 
 personal danger even at Mardin, only a ^*''^°' 
 few days after their arrival, that the governor 
 offered them a guard. This they declined, not 
 thinking it best to manifest any alarm, and the 
 excitement soon apparently died away. But, two 
 months later, a mob killed the governor in his 
 palace in open day, and also several leading men, 
 and then sought the lodgings of the missionaries, 
 intending to kill them. Providentially they had 
 ridden out farther than usual that morning, in a 
 vain search for a caravan, and before their return, 
 the Koords had shut the gates, to prevent the en- 
 trance of government troops. That saved the lives 
 of our brethren, who retired to the convent of the 
 Syrian Patriarch, a few miles distant, which their 
 enemies did not dare to attack. 
 
 In the midst of so much peril, and with so little 
 hope of usefulness, Mr. Homes, by the advice of 
 brethren at Constantinople and Smyrna, Ret^^nof 
 resolved to return, and Dr. Grant did not ^' "°"^"'- 
 withhold his consent. ^' Within the ruined walls of 
 
190 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 an aucient church," he writes, " in a lonely ravine, 
 overlooked by the town, I exchanged the parting 
 embrace with my brother and companion in tribula- 
 tion. On account of the anarchy around us, we had 
 travelled together barely two days, but on a bed of 
 sickness, and surrounded by men of blood, I had 
 learned to prize the company of a Christian friend. 
 Yet, while Providence called him back to Constan- 
 tinople, to me it seemed to cry, ' Onward to the 
 mountains I ' " 
 
 Dr. Grant resolved to go to Mosul. Disguised in 
 Dr. Grant au Oriental dress, he returned to Mardin 
 
 goes to 
 
 Mosul. to prepare for his journey, and while there, 
 
 his safety was insured by the surrender of the town 
 to the Pasha of Mosul. On his way, he was favored 
 with the company of Captain Conolly, the bearer of 
 despatches for India, whose sad fate on the banks 
 of the Oxus afterwards occasioned the journey of 
 Dr. WolflF to Bokhara. The distance was nearly two 
 hundred miles, and they arrived at Mosul on the 
 20th of September. 
 
 Fully resolved to penetrate the fastnesses of 
 starts for Koordistau, and trusting in the protecting 
 Koordistan. ^^^^^, ^^ j^jg gracious Lord, Dr. Grant left 
 
 Mosul on the 7th of October, with two Nestorians 
 from Persia, a Koordish muleteer, and a kavass from 
 the Pasha. Crossing the bridge of twenty-one boats, 
 which spans the Tigris, he was amid the ruins of 
 Nineveh, and soon reached a Yezidee village, where 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 191 
 
 he was hospitably received. On the 15th, as he 
 approached Duree, near the borders of Tiary, deep 
 Syriac gutturals from stentorian voices in ischniieoged 
 
 from the 
 
 the rocks above him demanded who he rocks above. 
 was, where he was going, and what he wanted. 
 Had he been a Papist, he would have been robbed ; 
 as it was, the frightened kavass lost all courage, and 
 begged permission to return. 
 
 When the people heard him speak their own lan- 
 guage, they gathered around, and wel- ts welcomed 
 
 bythemoun- 
 
 comed him to their mountain home. His taiaeers. 
 fame as a physician had preceded him, and' they 
 came for medicine from all directions. The vener- 
 able bishop, with a long white beard, took him into 
 their ancient church, which was a cave high up on 
 the mountain side, with heavy masonry in front, and 
 dark within. Here the bishop slept, to be in readi- 
 ness for early morning prayers, and he was pleased 
 with the gift of a box of matches to light his lamp. 
 
 A loftier range still separated Dr. Grant from 
 Tiary, the " munition of rocks," which he describes 
 as " an amphitheatre of mountains broken with dark, 
 deep defiles and narrow glens, that for ages had 
 been the secure abodes of this branch of the Chris- 
 tian Church." He had been warned at Mosul, not 
 to enter this region without an escort from the 
 Patriarch. But he could not afford the delay, and 
 as the bishop encouraged him, he resolved fjj^ell^^"^!^^ 
 to go alone. Exchanging his Turkish TOokB% 
 
192 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 boots for the bishop's sandals, made of hair, to 
 avoid a fatal slip ou the smooth, narrow ledges of 
 the mountain, he set off early on the 18th. An 
 hour and a half brought him to the summit. Re- 
 Meditations t^'ing" ^^ ^ sequestcrcd corner, where he 
 
 When there. ^^^^^ ^^^^^ j^-^ ^^.^^ ^-^j^ ^^^^ prOSpect, hlS 
 
 thoughts went back to the period when the Nesto- 
 rians tra.versed Asia, and, for more than a thousand 
 years, preached the Gospel in Tartary, Mongolia, 
 and China. Though the flame of vital piety was al- 
 most quenched on their altars, his faith anticipated 
 the day when those glens would reecho the glad 
 praises of God ; and down he sped, over cliffs and 
 slippery ledges, to the large village of Lezan, on the 
 Hisrecep- baulis of tlic uoisy Zab. Scarcely had he 
 *^*°°' entered it, when a young man, the only 
 
 one he had ever seen from this remote region, from 
 whose eyes he had removed a cataract a year before, 
 came with a present of honey, and introduced him 
 at once to the confidence of the people. He became 
 so thronged with the sick from all the region, that 
 be had to forbid more than three or four coming* 
 forward at once. 
 
 Leaving Lezan, he went up to Ashita, where he 
 became the guest of a priest, reported to be the 
 A learned i^ost Icamcd of Hviug Ncstoriaus, who had 
 ^"^^^* spent twenty years in copying, iu beautiful 
 
 style, the few works of Nestorian literature j but 
 even he had not an entire Bible. He was electri- 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 198 
 
 ficd by Dr. Grant's account of the press, that could 
 Jo his twenty years' work in a less number of hours. 
 At Kerme, where he arrived on the twenty-fifth, 
 almost exhausted by a walk of ten long hours, he 
 was soon recognized and welcomed by a Nestorian, 
 who had received medical aid from him two years 
 before at Oroomiah. Starting the next morning 
 for the Patriarch's residence, he forded a river on 
 horseback, that was fifty or sixty yards across. He 
 was now on the caravan road from Salmas to Jula- 
 merk. In the more precipitous places, the rock had 
 been cut away and regular steps chiseled out. He 
 was received by the Patriarch with great Reception 
 
 by the Pa- 
 
 cordiality, without the extravagant compli- tnarch. 
 ments so common with the Persians. " And now," 
 said the Patriarch, '' yon will make my house your 
 own, and regard me as your older brother." Mar 
 Shimon was thirty-eight years old, above ThePatri- 
 the middle stature, well-proportioned, with ^''''^' 
 a pleasant, expressive, and rather intelligent coun- 
 tenance ; and his large flowing robes, his Koordish 
 turban, and his long gray beard, gave him a patri- 
 archal and venerable appearance, that was height- 
 ened by a uniformly dignified demeanor. But for 
 the fire in his eye and his activity, he would have 
 been thought nearer fifty than thirty-eight. Being 
 the temporal as well as spiritual head of his people, 
 the difficulties of his situation were assigned as the 
 cause of his hoary hair and beard. 
 
 13 
 
194 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 During the five weeks spent in the patriarchal 
 mansion, Dr. Grant had an opportunity to see Nes- 
 torians of intelligence and influence from all parts 
 of the mountains, and elicited from them informa- 
 tion such as he could not have gained in any other 
 way. At parting, the Patriarch presented him one 
 of the ancient manuscripts of his library. 
 
 Parchment 
 
 copy of the It Yvas thc Ncw Tcstament, written on 
 
 New lesta- ' 
 
 "'^''^ parchment, in the old Estrangelo char- 
 
 acter, seven hundred and forty years before. It was 
 presented by Dr. Grant to the library of the Amer- 
 ican Board, and is now there. 
 
 Ilis next sojourn was in the castle of Nui'uUah 
 Yisits NO- ^^3^' chief of the independent Hakary 
 rQiiahBey. j^QQj.(jg^ ^wo days from the residence of the 
 
 Patriarch. The Bey was very sick ; and becoming 
 impatient under the slow operation of the medicine 
 given him by the doctor, he sent a messenger for 
 him at midnight. " The sentinels upon the ram- 
 parts,'' says Dr. Grant, " were sounding the watch- 
 cry in the rough tones of their native Koordish. 
 We entered the outer court through wide, iron- 
 cased folding-doors. A second iron door opened into 
 a long dark alley, which conducted to the room 
 where the chief was lying. It was evident that he 
 was becoming impatient ; and as I looked upon the 
 swords, pistols, guns, spears, and daggers — the or- 
 dinary furniture of a Koordish castle — which hung 
 around the walls of the room, I could not but think 
 
THE NESrORlANS. 195 
 
 of the fate of the unfortunate Scliultz, who had fallen, 
 as it is said, by the orders of this sanguinary chief. 
 He had the power of life and death in his hands. I 
 knew I was entirely at his mercy ; but I felt that I 
 was under the guardian care of One, who had the 
 heai-ts of kings in His keeping.'' 
 
 The chieftain recovered, and, in token of his grat- 
 itude, made his benefactor the present of a horse. 
 Dr. Grant describes him as a man of noble bearing, 
 fine open countenance, and about thirty years of 
 age. This important journey was com- his return to 
 pleted on the 7th of December, 1839. oroomiah. 
 
 The Eev. Willard Jones and wife arrived in the 
 month previous; and the Rev. Austin H. Newmission 
 Wright, M. D., and wife, in the following "*''' 
 July, to take Dr. Grant's place as missionary phy- 
 sician ; and Mr. Edward Breath, a printer, in No- 
 vember. A press, made for the mission. Arrival of a 
 
 .-till- T 1-1 pri-ps and 
 
 to be taken to pieces and so rendered port- types. 
 able, came with the printer, much to the satis- 
 faction of the people. A font of Syro-Chaldaic 
 type had previously been received from London, 
 through the kindness of the Rev. Joseph Jowett, 
 editorial superintendent of the British and For- 
 eign Bible Society's publications. The press was 
 the more seasonable, because the Jesuits had com- 
 menced their characteristic and determined efforts 
 to get possession of the field. The vain young 
 bishop, Mar Gabriel, imagining himself to have 
 
196 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 been slighted by his clerical brethreu, and being* 
 sti'ongly assailed with flatteries and offers of money, 
 ^ ,^ . ^ had, in an evil hour, encourao^ed them to 
 
 Bold inroads ' so 
 
 of Jesuits. (.Quje among his people. On reflection he 
 repented of his rashness, called in the aid of his 
 Protestant friends, and wrote to Bore, the French 
 Jesuit, warning him to keep aloof from his people. 
 Bore was enraged, and replied that, having a firman 
 from the King of Persia permitting him to open 
 schools, he should open one at Ardishai. But Ga- 
 briel and the mission had already opened a school 
 under one of the best teachers from the Seminary, 
 and soon opened another, — the two containing 
 sixty scholars ; while the Jesuit's school, commen- 
 cing with nine scholars, dwindled to four or five. 
 One of the first works of the press was to print 
 Counteract- a tract iu tlic Syriac language, entitled 
 
 ive influ- 
 
 ences. " Twcuty-two Plain Reasons for not being 
 
 a Roman Catholic." The Nestorians were exceed- 
 ingly interested by the array of Scripture texts 
 against the corrupt doctrines and practices of that 
 sect. This was followed by a thousand copies of the 
 Psalms. 
 
 The gradual revival of preaching in this ancient 
 Demand for Church, bccamc now apparent. At the 
 preaching, eamcst rcqucst of the people, a circuit was 
 formed of seven preaching stations, at all of which 
 the missionaries were aided by ecclesiastics, three of 
 them bishops. 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 197 
 
 Thus, with the hearty approval of both bishops and 
 priests, the missioDaries began to preach in the 
 churches, and so great was the demand for preach- 
 ing that Mr. Stocking was ordained. The ordina- 
 tion took place in one of the Nestorian churches. 
 Mr. Perkins felt that spiritual death, rather than 
 theological error, was the calamity of the The calamity 
 
 of the Ne8- 
 
 Nestorians. Their liturgy was composed, torians. 
 in general, of unexceptionable and excellent matter, 
 and the charge of heresy on the subject of Christ's 
 character, he pronounces unjust. The Nicene Creed, 
 which they always repeat at the close of their wor- 
 ship, accords very nearly with that venerable docu- 
 ment, as it has been handed down to us.^ 
 
 1 Annual Report of the Board for 1841, p. 114. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 
 
 1840-1844. 
 
 We paused in the history of the Nestorian mis- 
 sion at the return of Dr. Grant to Oroomiah, after a 
 successful exploration of the mountains of Koordis- 
 tan. He remained there till the 7th of May, 1840. 
 During this time, two brothers of the Patriarch 
 Invitation visitcd the mission, and urged its exten- 
 
 from the ^ -i» n • 
 
 Patriarch, siou luto the mouutaius. Mar Shimon also 
 wrote, renewing his request for a visit in the spring. 
 Dr. Grant had but little prospect of recovering his 
 health on the plain ; and the welfare of his two sons 
 in the United States, children of his first marriage, 
 and the three children then with hiai at Oroomiah, 
 seemed to require that he revisit his native land. 
 Two of these last mentioned sickened and died in 
 January. Having then only one son to take with 
 Dr. Grant liitti, four ycars of age, he decided to re- 
 
 rtjsolvos to 
 
 return home tum tlirougli tlic mouutaius, and revisit 
 
 through the i t^ • 
 
 mountains, thc Patriarch on his way. It was a peril- 
 ous journey so early in the season, especially with 
 80 tender a companion ; but the brave little fellow 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 199 
 
 appears to have endured the snows and precipices 
 of Koordistan as well as the father. The boy was 
 everywhere a favorite, both with Koords and Nesto- 
 rians. One uig^ht the snow was so deep near the 
 summit of a mountain that they were obliged to 
 sleep under the open sky, with the thermometer be- 
 low zero ; but the Patriarch's brothers had carpets 
 enough to keep them warm until three in the 
 morning, when the light of the moon enabled them 
 to resume their journey. Mar Shimon was then a 
 guest of Suleiman Bey, in the castle of Ju- ^^^^^^j^^t 
 lamerk, and with him they spent ten days. •'"^^™^'^^- 
 Nurullah Bey had gone to Erzroom to negotiate for 
 the subjugation of the Independent Nestorians to 
 the Turkish rule, having already relinquished his 
 own personal independence, and become a Pasha of 
 the empire. Suleiman Bey was a relative of the 
 Emir, and had been the leader of the party that 
 murdered Mr. Schultz. He showed special kind- 
 ness to Dr. Grant. His mother and sister, ^o^aniy 
 as also the sister and mother of the Patri- ^^^^'^^^"^i^t 
 arch, with womanly forethought, loaded the Doctor 
 with supplies for the inhospitable road before them. 
 He found the Emir at Van on his return home, and 
 discovered what had been the object of his journey 
 to Erzroom. When Dr. Grant arrived there, with 
 clothes worn and ragged from the roughness of 
 tlie journey, he had the happiness of meeting Dr. 
 Wright, then on his way to Oroomiah. The two 
 
200 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 brethren called on the g-entlemeii of the Persian 
 embassy, then at Erzroom, and one of them, observ- 
 ing Dr. Grant's erect and commanding person, re- 
 marked that a good soldier was spoiled when that 
 man became a missionary. At Trebizond he gladly 
 exchanged tlie saddle for the quiet of the steamer. 
 Arrival at which tooli him to Constantinople, and he 
 ^°''^'^' arrived at Boston on the 3d of October. 
 
 Having embraced the theory, that the Nestorians 
 are descendants of the lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Dr. 
 Grant, with characteristic industry, employed such 
 time as he could command during his missionary 
 travels and his homeward voyage, in preparing a 
 Work on the volumc \\\ support of thcsc vicws. It was 
 
 ten tribes 
 
 of iHraei. publlshcd both in this country and in Eng- 
 land, and attracted considerable attention. The cel- 
 ebrated Dr. Edward Robinson deemed it deserving 
 of an elaborate discussion in the " American Bib- 
 lical Repository," in which he makes a strong argu- 
 ment against the theory.^ 
 
 In January, 1841, Dr. Grant had' the pleasure 
 Missionaries of witucssing thc departure of the Rev. 
 
 for Koor- 
 
 distan. Messrs. Abel K. Hinsdale and Colby C. 
 
 Mitchell, and their wives, for the Mountain Nes- 
 torians. They went by way of Aleppo and Mosul, 
 that being the more practicable route for females ; 
 but the Doctor, thinking to reach the mountains be- 
 
 ^ See American Biblical Repository^ 1841, vol. vi. of new series, pp. 
 454-482, and vol. vii. pp. 26-68. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 201 
 
 fore them, aud prepare for their arrival, went him- 
 self by way of Constantinople, Erzroom, Return 
 
 through 
 
 and Van, He was at Constantinople May van. 
 14ith, and at Van on the first day of July. The 
 journey from Erzroom to that place was wearisome 
 and perilous, famine, the plague, and predatory 
 Koords harassing him nearly all the way. 
 
 Van, with fourteen thousand Armenian population, 
 though at that time difficult of access, was van for a 
 
 missionary 
 
 even then regarded as an important place station. 
 for a missionary station, and preferable for residence 
 to most others in the interior. Being five thousand 
 feet above the level of the sea, it was not subject to 
 oppressive heats. There w^ere fruitful gardens on 
 the one hand, stretching for miles over the plain, 
 and on the other, the placid lake, and snow-capped 
 mountains ; altogether forming a very striking land- 
 scape. A small Nestorian community had formed a 
 settlement on the mountains within three or four 
 hours of Van. 
 
 Dr. Grant reached the summer residence of the 
 Patriarch on the 9th of July, and was cor- Agiinwith 
 dially received as before; and the same may arch. 
 be said of his intercourse with the mountaineers. 
 He mentions several places in Koordistan as havino* 
 strong claims for a missionary station, but gives the 
 preference to Asheta in Tiary. 
 
 While at Asheta, he received painful tidings of 
 the death of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, and p«infui 
 the sickness of Mr. and Mrs. Hinsdale, AshX* 
 
202 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 and immediately started for Mosul, though at much 
 risk from Koords ou the frontier, and from roving 
 Arabs near the Tigris. He reached Mosul on the 
 Seasonable 25th of August, iu timc to miuistcr suc- 
 
 arrival at 
 
 Mosul. cessfully to Mr. Hinsdale, whose life had 
 
 been seriously endangered by a relapse of fever. 
 
 Messrs. Hinsdale and Mitchell were forty-one 
 days on their voyage to Smyrna, from whence an 
 Austrian steamer took them to Beirut. Mr. and 
 Journey Mrs. Bcadlc accompanicd them as far as 
 
 of the new 
 
 missionaries. Alcppo, to commencc a new station. Mr. 
 Mitchell had a slight attack of fever and ague at 
 Aleppo, which detained him till the 28th of May. 
 That was rather late in the season, still all might 
 have gone well, had they been able to press on with 
 the usual speed. The abundant green grass on the 
 plain, however, caused the muleteers to loiter, and, 
 once ou the x'oad, the company was entirely at their 
 mercy. Still the journey, as far as Mardin, where 
 they arrived June 19th, was both pleasant and pros- 
 perous. On the plain below the city Mr. Mitchell, 
 in efforts to keep their tent from being blown down 
 Death of Mr. ill ^ storui, bccamc wct and chilled. This 
 Mitchell. brought on another fit of ague, which was 
 repeated after three days. On the 25th, with 
 scarcely any apparent disease, he lost his reason, 
 and from that time drooped, like the withering of 
 
 Barbarism of ^ P^^"^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ <^" ^^^ mOmiug Of 
 
 the people, j^^^^ 27th, 1841. The Koordish villagers 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 203 
 
 refused the Christian a grave, nor woulfl they aid in 
 carrying the body a few miles to the Jacobite village 
 Telabel. The survivors had not strength them- 
 selves to carry it, but secured its conveyance thither 
 as best they could. There they buried the mortal 
 remains in the village cemetery, and two rude stones 
 mark the grave. 
 
 Eight hours brought them in sight of the Tigris, 
 at Beshabor. The next day they crossed sufferings 
 
 of Mrs. 
 
 on rafts supported by inflated goat-skins, Mitcheii. 
 and, on the 30th, rode six and a half hours to a 
 Yezidee village. Next morning, after riding an 
 hour, Mrs. Mitchell became too ill to proceed, and 
 she lay four days in a mud hovel, among Arabs so 
 rude that they could not be kept from the sick room, 
 where they laid their hands on whatever they fan- 
 cied. To remain there was out of the question, so 
 Mr. Hinsdale constructed a litter, and at exorbitant 
 prices obtained men from a distant village to carry 
 it. She had to be repeatedly laid upon the ground, 
 while he rode far and near to find four men willing 
 to perform the degrading service of carrying a 
 woman. At length the sun became so hot, that they 
 could travel only by night. Their troubles were 
 somewhat relieved by the services of a man, whom 
 Mr. Rassam had kindly sent to meet them. , . , 
 On the 7th of July, they entered Mosul, ^°'''* 
 and were cordially welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Ras- 
 
204 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 sam. Mrs. Mitchell's disease then assumed a new 
 
 form, and from that time till her death, on 
 
 the 12th, her reason was dethroned. Mr. 
 
 Hinsdale was taken violently ill before the death of 
 
 Sickness of Mrs. Mitchell, and Mrs. Hinsdale was un- 
 
 Mr. Hins- 
 dale, and ar- able to render any assistance to her hns- 
 
 rivalofDr. '' 
 
 Grant. band. It was in these trying circum- 
 
 stances, that Dr. Grant so opportunely arrived. 
 There was ample evidence in the subsequent ex- 
 , perience of the mission, that these fatal 
 
 These events I ■' 
 
 haveVeen rcsults wcrc uot owuig to any peculiar 
 foreseen. j^^zard iu the journey itself, thoug-h they 
 may have resulted from the lateness of the season. 
 All the way from Aleppo to Mosul, they had the 
 assistance of Mr. Kotschy, who, in addition to his 
 medical knowledge, had travelled seven years in 
 Western Asia and Africa. The route, moreover, 
 had been, and is still, one of the great highways of 
 nations. 
 
 No doubt Divine Providence is always consist- 
 ent with itself, and with the Saviour's 
 
 Reflections. . i i •! i 
 
 promise ; and so would it always appear 
 to us, could we see, as God sees, the end from 
 the beginning. To the devoted missionary, who 
 dies at the outset of his career, all is satisfac- 
 tory, however painful the circumstances, as soon as 
 he passes the dark portal. Then, too, in contem- 
 plating the reverses which were now begiuning to 
 thicken upon the mission, we should bear in mind, 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 205 
 
 that the divine plan for the Mountain Nestorian 
 mission, as afterwards appeared, was not that it he 
 prosecuted from the western side of the mountains, 
 but from Oroomiah, the position first taken by the 
 mission ; where, as we shall soon see, Gospel influ- 
 ences were gathering a peculiar and most needful 
 strength. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Hinsdale was able to travel, he 
 accompanied Dr. Grant on a tour among the Yezidee 
 and Nestorian villages lying near to Mosul. ^ 
 
 The Jacobites are a branch of the venerable 
 Church of Antioch, and were then painfully welcomed 
 
 by the Jac- 
 
 struggliug to repel the inroads of the obites. 
 Papacy. As soon as they learned the adherence of 
 the American missionaries to the Bible, and their 
 opposition to Papal innovations, they began to wel- 
 come them as friends. Having been duped by the 
 plausible pretenses of the Papists, they were at first 
 cautious in their advances; but a priest Helped by a 
 
 Syrian priest 
 
 from the Syrian Christians in India, named from india. 
 Joseph Matthew, on his way to be ordained metro- 
 politan by the Syrian Patriarch at Mardin, did much 
 to dispel their fears, and promote friendly relations 
 with the missionaries. He was a graduate of the 
 English college at Cotayam, was evangelical in his 
 views, spoke English with propriety, and at once 
 gave the right hand of fellowship to the missiona- 
 
 ^ For an account of this tour, see Missionary Herald, 1842, pp. 310- 
 320. 
 
206 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 ries, and bespoke for them the confidence of the 
 people. Early in the following year, he returned 
 from Mardin as Bishop Athanasiuss, and consented 
 to remain and preach among the Jacobites during 
 Dr. Grant's absence in the summer. 
 
 Nurullah Bey had now commenced making war 
 TheKoords ^^^ ^^^^ mouutaiu Ncstoriaus, with the aid 
 rtie^N^ of the Turks; and the Nestorians, split 
 onans. .^^^^ hostilc partics, were incapable of com- 
 bined resistance. Suleiman Bey, being opposed to 
 an alliance with Turkey, had seized the reins of 
 
 ml J 
 
 government in the absence of the Emir; and since 
 the object of the Osmanlis was to subjugate the 
 Nestorians, as well as the Koords, the Patriarch 
 naturally, but as it proved unhappily, sided with 
 Suleiman. 1 
 
 Dr. Grant believed it would now be easier to enter 
 Dr. Grant ^^^^ mouutaius from the east, than from the 
 enterlroS wcst. Accordiugly he set out for Oroo- 
 ^^^ ' raiah, on the 6th of June, 1842, going the 
 southern route by way of Eavandooz. Mr. Hinsdale 
 Bishop ^"^ Bishop Athanasius accompanied him 
 
 Athanasius. ^^^^ g^,^^ ^^^ Whcu aboiit to rctum, the 
 
 bishop oifered prayer in the English language, and 
 thus they parted, not all to meet again. Athanasius 
 wrote a letter to Dr. Grant from Malabar, but with 
 a date nearly a year subsequent to Dr. Grant's death, 
 in which he stated, that his people had welcomed 
 
 1 Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians, p. 203. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORUNS. 207 
 
 him with great joy, and gladly i-eceived the Word 
 of God.i 
 
 Dr. Grant crossed the plain of Arbela, where 
 Alexander conquered Persia, and in ten days arrived 
 at Orooniiah. Being impatient to get into the 
 mountains, the mission assembled immediately, and 
 delegated Mr. Stocking to accompany him. Dr. 
 Wright said of him, at this time, that " his spirits 
 were buoyant, his step elastic, and his energy untir- 
 ing.'* Two Nestorians went with them. Third de- 
 parture from 
 and they had letters from the governor oroomiah. 
 
 and some Persian nobles to the Persian Khan and 
 the Emir of the Hakary Koords. At Khosrawa, 
 Mr. Stocking was constrained by sickness to return ; 
 and both the native assistants were so alarmed by 
 the warlike aspect of things, that they declined go- 
 ing farther. The now solitary traveller succeeded, 
 at the last moment, in getting the brave bishop 
 Mar Tusuf to be his companion. 
 
 The Emir had now broken his treaty with the 
 Sultan, formed two years before in the hope of 
 immediate aid to subdue the Nestorians;. and had 
 sworn perpetual allegiance to the Shah, who prom- 
 ised him support against the Sultan. Dr. interview 
 Grant found Yahya Khan and the Emir at Jl^ cS" 
 the castle of Charreh, on the summit of an 
 isolated rock near the river of the same name. The 
 tents of more than a dozen chiefs dotted the green 
 
 1 Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians, p. 219. 
 
208 MISSIONS ro THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 banks of the stream. Nurullah Bey still professed 
 to regard Dr. Grant as his physician and friend, and 
 Promised ^^ ^^^^ preseuce of the Khan promised to 
 protection. p^Q^ect him and his associates^ and permit 
 them to erect buildings in Tiary for themselves and 
 their schools. 
 
 The Khan, to whose friendly agency with the 
 Emir Dr. Grant was specially indebted, had a good 
 I'eputatiou for integrity. He was a Persian subject, 
 then governor of Salmas, and also chief of a branch 
 of the Hakary tribe. He had married a sister of the 
 Emir, and given him one of his own in return, and 
 another was in the harem of the Shah. He assured 
 his missionary guest of the Emir's personal friend- 
 ship, and interested himself for his future safety. 
 
 After sundry adventures among* precipitous moun- 
 .Once more taius aud savagc Koords, Dr. Grant was 
 
 the guest of 
 
 Mar Shimon, oucc uiorc tlic gucst of Mar Shimon, who 
 kindly received the New Testament, the Psalms, and 
 other books from the mission press. The Doctor 
 was himself suffering from the effects of exposure in 
 a wet dormitory the previous night ; but the bracing 
 air of that elevated region renewed his strength, 
 and he was glad to resume his journey towards 
 Ash eta, which he had proposed as the site of his 
 whoaccom- first mouutaiu station. On this part of 
 
 panies him 
 
 toAsheta. t|ie Way he had the company of Mar Shi- 
 mon, who had then decided not to join the Koords 
 and Persians against the Turks, having discovered 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 209 
 
 that the strife between them was for the supremacy 
 over his owu people. Of the two he preferred the 
 Turks. He was, however, advised by Dr. Grant to 
 cultivate the friendship of the Emir. Further than 
 this Dr. Grant would not interfere, being fully re- 
 solved not to meddle with their political relations. 
 A secret correspondence of the Patriarch with the 
 Turkish Pasha, when discovered, cost him the favor 
 of the Emir ; and it soon became apparent that the 
 Turks, whatever their pretensions, were resolved 
 upon nothing short of the complete subjugation of 
 his people. It was but too evident, also, to his mis- 
 sionary friend, that the Patriarch was himself more 
 concerned for their political, than for their religious 
 and moral condition. 
 
 Amadia, on the western frontier of the Nesto- 
 rians, had now surrendered to the Turks; and the 
 war on that side of the mountains being is joined by 
 
 Mr Hinsdale 
 
 ended, Mr. Hinsdale left Mosul on the last from mosui. 
 day of September, and in eight days was at Asheta. 
 The prospect from the summit on the western side 
 of the valley was of singular beauty. The singular 
 
 beauty of 
 
 village of Asheta extended below him for a ^^^ scenery. 
 mile and a half, with numerous plats of grain and 
 vegetables interspersed, the whole diversified with 
 shade trees of various kinds. A short distance 
 above the village was a deep ravine, from which the 
 snow never disappeared. The spot selected for the 
 
 14 
 
. 210 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 mission house^ was on the summit of a hill, near the 
 centre of the villa«re. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of Mr. Hinsdale, the pa- 
 visit from pal bishop of Elkosh and an Italian priest 
 
 papal mis- 
 
 Bionaries. found their way to Asheta. They stated 
 to the Patriarch, that many boxes of presents were 
 on their way from Diarbekir, and requested per- 
 mission to remain till they arrived. The following 
 Sabbath the Patriarch, with Mar Yusuf and several 
 priests, held a public discussion with them on the 
 prominent errors of the Papacy. The result was not 
 favorable to their object, and the next day their 
 presents were returned, and they had permission 
 to leave the country. They left during the week, 
 but not till they had taken much pains, though ap- 
 parently without success, to shake the Patriarch's 
 confidence in the American missionaries. Soon 
 after, early in November, Mr. Hinsdale returned to 
 Mosul. 
 
 Up to this time, Mar Yusuf had been fearless 
 Dr. Grant ^^^ tolcrably paticut, but he had now be- 
 agam alone. ^^^^ heartily tircd of the mountains, and 
 longed for his peaceful home on the plain. It 
 was the first time in a life of fifty years, that he 
 had been ill when far from home. Yet he had 
 been faithful in imparting religious instruction, and 
 the missionary regretted his departure. Near the 
 Professional closc of Novcmber, Dr. Grant received a 
 
 Tisit to N(i- 
 
 rQuah Bey. letter from Nurullah Bey, requesting his 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 211 
 
 professional services at Julamerk. His Nestorian 
 friends strongly objected to his going-, as they were 
 apprehensive of treachery, and not without some 
 reason ; but he went, committing his way unto the 
 Lord. He found the chief sick of fever, from which 
 he recovered, through the blessing of God on the 
 remedies employed. There was now opportunity to 
 counteract reports intended to enlist the Emir in 
 measures to destroy the mission. He became con- 
 vinced that Dr. Grant was neither building a castle 
 at Asheta, nor a bazaar to draw away the trade. 
 Elsewhere, as will appear in the sequel, these re- 
 ports had a more serious effect. 
 
 Dr. Grant had already heard of the arrival of the 
 Rev. Thomas Laurie and wife at Mosul ; and two 
 days after, returning from Julamerk, he received 
 the painful intelligence that Mr. Hinsdale fastens to 
 was dangerously sick. He at once has- ^°^'^' 
 tened to his relief, but he was too late. The de- 
 voted missionary rested from his labors on Death of Mr 
 the 26th of December, at the age of thirty- ^^'^*^"- 
 jSve, after a sickness of twenty-four days. His dis- 
 ease was typhus fever. Mr. Hinsdale was a native 
 of Torrington, Connecticut, and received his educa 
 tion at Tale College, and the Auburn Theological 
 Seminary. *' On the night of his decease," says 
 Dr. Grant, " while his deeply afflicted wife and Mr. 
 Laurie were sitting by him, he was heard to say, 
 amid the wanderings of his disordered intellect ; '^ I 
 
212 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 should love to have the will of my Heavenly Fa- 
 ther done ! ' It was his ' ruling' passion strong in 
 death/ Desiring to have the will of God done in 
 all the earth, he had toiled to fit himself for the 
 missionary work, and then, regardless of sacrifices, 
 he had come to a field rich in promise, but full of 
 hardships. His daily -spirit, as evinced in all his 
 actions, made me feel that he was just the man for 
 this portion of the Lord's vineyard/^ 
 
 The Papists were, to say the least, not the main 
 cause of Mar Shimon's alienation from his Amer- 
 ican friends. In 1840, after Dr. Grant had passed 
 through the mountains the second time, on his re- 
 turn to America, the Patriarch was visited by Mr. 
 Visit of Mr. Ainsworth, travelling at the expense of the 
 Aiasworth. g^^j^ty for Promotiug Christian Knowl- 
 edge and the Royal Geographical Society. The 
 statements of this gentleman and of his compan- 
 ion, Mr. Rassam, to Mar Shimon, so resembled those 
 made by the Papists, that the Patriarch suspected 
 them of being Jesuits in disguise, and they actually 
 left the mountains without removing that suspicion. 
 Nor was it creditable to them, that they passed 
 through Oroomiah without even calling on tho 
 American missionaries there. ^ 
 
 1 See Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians, pp. 151-154. For 
 Mr. Ainsworth's account of tliis visit, see Travels and Researches in 
 Asia Minor, etc., vol. i. p. 1, and vol. ii. pp. 243-255. It is not neces- 
 sary here to correct the erroneous statements in the passage referred 
 to. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 213 
 
 Had the interference gone no further, not much 
 harm might have ensued. But Mr. Ainsvvorth's 
 report induced the Christian Knowledge and Gospel 
 Propagation Societies, in 1842, to send the YigjtofMr 
 Rev. George Percy Badger as a missionary ^^^er. 
 to the Mountain Nestorians, or rather to the Pa- 
 triarch and his clergy in the mountains. This was 
 nine years after the commencement of the mission 
 to the Nestorians at Oroomiah, eight years after 
 the republication in England of the Researches of 
 Messrs. Smith and D wight among the Nestorians, 
 and a year after the publication there of Dr. Grant's 
 work, entitled " The Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes." 
 Nor was there ever a time when the attention of the 
 English nation was more directed to Western Asia. 
 
 How much the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
 Bishop of London actually knew of the American 
 mission, before officially and strongly commending 
 Mr. Badger to the confidence of the Nestorian Pa- 
 triarch, is not known. Thev make no reference 
 whatever to that mission, and write as if they 
 looked upon the field as entirely unoccupied, and 
 open to a mission from the Church of England. 
 
 Mr. Badger spent the winter of 1842-43 in Mo- 
 sul; and, early in the spring, before the mountain 
 roads were open, and vrhile Dr. Grant and Mr. 
 Laurie were preparing at Mosul to visit Asheta, he 
 hastened to the Patriarch, with letters and „. 
 
 ' HiB creden- 
 
 presents from the dignitaries of the Church ^^""'^ 
 
214 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 of England. The civil relations of the Patriarch to 
 the Koords, the Persians, and the Turks were such 
 at that time, as to make him extremely anxious for 
 the intervention of some foreign power; and he had 
 been frankly told, by the American missionaries, 
 that they could assure him of no such intervention. 
 Coming with letters commendatory from the Pri- 
 mate of all England, the Lord Bishop of London, 
 and the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, and with 
 offers of schools, his power for good or evil must 
 have been great. It cannot be that the patrons of 
 Mr. Badger anticipated the attitude he would as- 
 sume with regard to the American mission. The 
 speedy close of his mission, may be assumed as proof 
 that they did not. But while this is cheerfully ad- 
 Disastrous mitted, the disastrous consequences of this 
 
 conse- 
 
 queaces. interference should be distinctly stated. 
 Mr. Badger gives the following account of his pro- 
 ceedings, in his report to the Committee of the 
 Gospel Propagation Society, dated March 30, 1843. 
 After stating the pains he took to explain the char- 
 acter, teaching, and discipline of his own Church, 
 and how well his proposals to establish schools were 
 received by Mar Shimon, he says, " The proceed- 
 ings of the American Dissenters here necessarily 
 formed a leading topic of our discourse. Through 
 the influence of Nurullah Bey, they have been per- 
 mitted to settle in the mountains, and two large 
 establishments, one at Asheta and the other at 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS, 215 
 
 Leezan, a village one day distant, are at present in 
 course of being built. They have also a school in 
 actual existence at Asheta, the expenses of which 
 are defrayed by the Board, and, if I am rightly in- 
 formed, another at Leezan I did not fail to 
 
 acquaint the Patriarch how far we are removed, 
 in doctrine and discipline, from the American In- 
 dependent missionaries. I showed him, moreover, 
 that it would be injudicious, and would by no means 
 satisfy us, to have schools among his people by the 
 side of theirs, and pressed upon him to decide what 
 plan he would pursue under existing circumstances. 
 I think the Patriarch expressed his real sentiments 
 on the peculiar doctrines of the Independents, when 
 he said, ^ I hold them as cheap as an onion ; ' but 
 there are other considerations, which have more in- 
 fluence in inclining him to keep on friendly terras 
 with the missionaries. In the first place. Dr. Grant 
 has gained the apparent good will of I^urullah Bey, 
 and the Patriarch may fear that, if he manifests 
 any alteration in his conduct towards the Ameri- 
 can missionaries, the Emir might revenge it. Sec- 
 ondly, although I am fully convinced, that there is 
 hardly a Nestorian in the mountains, who sympa- 
 thizes with the doctrine or discipline of the Dissent- 
 ers, whenever these differ from their own, yet I am 
 persuaded, that, from the Patriarch to the poorest 
 peasant, all value the important services of a good 
 physician; and besides this, they highly prize the 
 
216 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 money which the missionaries have already expended, 
 and are still expending among them with no nig- 
 gardly hand, in presents, buildings, schools, etc." ^ 
 
 The reader need not be told, that Congregation- 
 alists and Presbyterians are neither Dissenters nor 
 Independents ; and these two large bodies of Chris- 
 tians founded the mission. 
 
 The object of Mr. Badger was to alienate the Pa- 
 triarch from the American mission; and he appears 
 Letter from ^^ ^^^® succcedcd. Mar Shimon, in a let- 
 Mar Shimon. ^^^^ addrcsscd to the Archbishop and Bish- 
 ops of the English Church, in August, 1843, speaks 
 thus of the missionaries, with whom he was on con- 
 fidential and somewhat intimate terms before the 
 visit of Mr. Badger. 
 
 " Such was our Condition, remaining in our own 
 country in perfect peace and security, when, about 
 three years since, persons came to us from the new 
 world called America, and represented themselves 
 as true Catholic Christians ; but when we became 
 acquainted with their way, we found that they held 
 several errors, since they deny the order of the 
 Priesthood committed to us by our Lord, nor do 
 they receive the oecumenical councils of the Church, 
 nor the -true traditions of the holy Fathers, nor the 
 efficacy of the sacraments of salvation, which Christ 
 hath bequeathed to his Church, namely, Baptism, 
 and the holy Eucharist; on which account we must 
 
 1 Nestorians and their Rituals, toI. i. pp. 248, 249. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 217 
 
 * 
 
 beware of their working* among us. But when your 
 messenger, the pious presbyter George, came to us, 
 and delivered into our hands your letters, we were 
 filled with joy when we read their contents, and 
 learned therefrom your spiritual and temporal pros- 
 perity. And we have now given up all others, that 
 we may be united with you, in brotherhood and true 
 Christian love."^ 
 
 Five months before the date of this letter, and 
 after the return of Mr. Badger to Mosul, Dr. Grant 
 received a letter from Mar Shimon, filled with 
 Oriental protestations of undiminished attachment, 
 and with urgent invitations to revisit the ^.^^^^ ^ ^^^ 
 .mountains. He went, accompanied by Mr. "'^^^^"s- 
 Laurie. They were kindly received as before, and 
 spent several weeks with him, but found the Nesto- 
 rians in constant dread of attacks from the Koords. 
 
 Meanwhile the reports, which had been put in 
 circulation with regard to Dr. Grant's operations at 
 Asheta, in the way of building, were communicated 
 by the Pasha of Mosul to the Pasha of Erzroom, 
 and by him to Constantinople. It is not probable 
 that the reports were believed anywhere ; but as the 
 government was then intent upon subjugating that 
 portion of the empire, they were unwilling p^oceediD s 
 to have the mountaineers enlightened and ^l^^^oy^^' 
 elevated. Accordingly they refused firmans °'^'^'' 
 to Dr. Azariah Smith and Rev. Edwin E. Bliss, in 
 
 1 Nestorians and their Ritual, vol. i. p. 273. 
 
218 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 case they were going- as missionaries to the Nesto- 
 rians, for these would pledge to them the protection 
 of the government ; though thej would grant them 
 passports to go where they pleased. The Turkish 
 minister even declared to Mr. Brown, our Charge 
 d'affaires at the Porte, that they did not wish schools 
 to be opened in the mountains. 
 
 In June, Dr. Grant, by special invitation, visited 
 Visit to Bader Khan Bey, the most powerful chief 
 
 Bader Ehan . , , . 
 
 Bey. in Koordistan. The journey occupied him 
 
 ^ve days, by way of Zakhu and Jezireh. The castle 
 of the chief lay sixteen or eighteen miles northeast 
 of Jezireh, in a pass among the mountains. He 
 found there his old friend, of Koordish sincerity, 
 Nurullah Bey, who had come to engage the Buhtan 
 chief in the subjugation of the Nestorians. The 
 fearless missionary spent ten days with these " de- 
 ceitful and bloody " men. They made no conceal- 
 ment of their designs upon the Nestorians, but 
 promised safety and protection to the mission-house 
 and property at Asheta. 
 
 The successful attack soon after made on the 
 Subjugation t^ithcrto independent Nestorians, appears 
 tein^N^t^° to have had its origin in the Turkish gov- 
 ernment. Only unity of action could now 
 save the Nestorians, and that unity was wanting. 
 The Buhtan Koords came upon them from the 
 northwest, and the Hakary tribes from the northeast 
 and east. On the south was a Turkish army from 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 219 
 
 the Pasha of Mosul, while the Ravaudooz Koords 
 are said to have been ready for an onset from the 
 southeast. Diss, the district in which the Patri- 
 arch resided, and Tiary were soon laid waste by the 
 combined force of the Buhtau and Hakary Koords. 
 Many were slain, and among them the Patriarch's 
 mother, a brother, and a fine youth who was re- 
 garded as the probable successor to the Patriarch. 
 The valuable patriarchal library of manuscripts was 
 destroyed. When the work of destruction began, 
 Dr. Grant was in the southeast part of Tiary. From 
 thence, without returning to Asheta, where the Pa- 
 triarch then was, he hastened, by way of Lezau and 
 Amadia, to Mosul, where great fears had been en- 
 tertained for his safety. He reached Mo- ^^^^ ^^ 
 sul on the morning of July 14, 1843, much ^'' ^'^*- 
 fatigued with his journey, but in tolerably good 
 health. 
 
 In the first invasion, Asheta and three other 
 large villages in Tiary were spared the general de- 
 struction. Previous to November, however, the Nes- 
 torians of these villages rose upon the Koordish gov- 
 ernor, and wounded him : and this occa- ^ , 
 
 ' ' Destruction 
 
 sioned the destruction of these villages, and ^^'^'^'^^ 
 the massacre of their inhabitants. Nothing was 
 spared except the house Dr. Grant had erected, and 
 that was converted into a fortress. Of the seventy- 
 four priests in Tiary, twenty-four were killed, whose 
 names were known. The districts east of Diss and 
 
220 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Tiarj were not destroyed. The tribes of Tehoma, 
 Bass, aud Jelu suffered comparatively little in either 
 of the invasions, except in the loss of their property 
 and their independence. After the disasters of 
 Tiary and Diss, each of the remaining tribes sent 
 ThePatri- in its submissiou. The Patriarch fled to 
 
 arch flies to n j 
 
 Mosul. Mosul. Several of his brothers fled to 
 
 Oroomiah, and there threw themselves on the hos- 
 pitality of the mission, which in their destitute cir- 
 cumstances could not be refused. Many were sold 
 Destruction ^"^^ slavcry. Of the fifty thousand moun- 
 ^^^'^® tain Nestorians, the estimated number be- 
 
 fore the war, one fifth part were numbered with the 
 slain. 
 
 Mrs. Laurie was called on the 16th of December, 
 to rest from her labors. " In her last 
 hours," writes Dr. Grant, " she was mer- 
 cifully delivered alike from bodily pain and from 
 mental anxieties. A noble testimony of Christian 
 devoted n ess had been given in her consecration to 
 one of the most difficult and trying fields in modern 
 missions ; and death to her was but the Saviour's 
 welcome to mansions of undisturbed repose." 
 
 It has been stated that the Turkish government 
 had refused a firman to Dr. Azariah Smith, in case 
 he were a missionary to the Nestorians of Koor- 
 distan. He accordingly remained in the Armenian 
 mission, where he found useful occupation till the 
 arrival of the Foreign Secretary; when it was ar- 
 
 Death of 
 Mrs. Laurie. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS, 221 
 
 ranged that he should proceed to Mosul by way of 
 Beirut aud Aleppo, and either remain perniaueutly 
 connected with the mission, or return to the Arme- 
 nians as a missionary physician. A firman was now 
 given him, and he reached Mosul in safety Arrival of 
 on the 29th of March. Little did any one ^' ^^'^• 
 think that his first duty would be to smooth Dr. 
 Grant's descent to the grave, yet an all- wise Provi- 
 dence had so ordained. A typhoid fever, which had 
 carried off many of the refugee Nestorians in Mosul, 
 seized their beloved physician on the 5th of sickness and 
 
 death of Dr. 
 
 April. He was delirious from the moment oran* 
 
 it assumed a threatening character, and died on the 
 
 2ith of April, 1844. 
 
 While the author was at Constantinople, he re- 
 ceived a letter from Dr. Grant, stating how much 
 his presence was needed, for a time, by his children 
 at home. The <jase being urgent, he was encour- 
 aged to return and was preparing for this, when his 
 gracious Lord called him into his presence above. 
 The tidings of his dangerous sickness awakened 
 much interest in Mosul. People of every rank, 
 men of all sects and religions, watched the progress 
 of his disease with the most earnest anxiety. The 
 French Consul visited him almost daily. The Turk- 
 ish authorities sent to inquire for him, and some 
 came in person. One, who arrived immediately 
 after his decease, could not refrain from tears when 
 he heard of it. A leading Jacobite remarked, that 
 
222 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 all Mosul was weeping. The poor Patriarch, roused 
 to a sense of his loss, exclaimed, " My country and 
 my people are gone ! Nothing remains to me but 
 God ! " 
 
 Those who have attentively read the preceding 
 history will need nothing more to set forth 
 
 Reflections o 
 
 onhisiife tj^g character of this eminent servant of 
 
 and caar- 
 
 '''^'' Christ. His courage, his calmness and yet 
 
 firmness of purpose, his skill in the healing art, 
 his devotion to the cause of his Saviour, his tact in 
 winning" the confidence even of those who never be- 
 fore trusted their own friends, his fearlessness in 
 the presence of unscrupulous and cruel men and 
 his ascendency over them, his lively faith under 
 appalling discouragements, and his unyielding per- 
 severance, form an array of excellence rarely com- 
 bined in one man. Like the holy Apostle, he was 
 *^in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of 
 robbers, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilder- 
 ness, in perils in the sea, in perils amoug false 
 brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watch- 
 ings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, 
 in cold and nakedness." Yet was he not cast down 
 by these things. He regarded them as incidental 
 to his calling of God in Christ Jesus ; and in the 
 pursuit of this heavenly calling, he was more happy 
 in the savage wilds of Koordistan, than he would 
 have been in the most favored portions of his native 
 land. 
 
TEE MOUNTAIN NESTORIANS. 223 
 
 Mr. Laurie and Dr. Smith, the surviving breth- 
 ren at Mosul, entered the mountains in ,j,.^^y ^^^^ 
 the summer of 1844, explored the district ®''p^°''®'* 
 of Tiary, aud visited Nurullah Bey at Birchullah 
 above Julamerk. Wherever they went among the 
 Nestorians, they found a painful scene of desola- 
 tion. On their return to Mosul, they forwarded 
 their journal and a summary view of the facts, and 
 asked the Committee to decide whether to ^. 
 
 Discontmu- 
 
 contiuue the effort to approach the Nesto- ^"stern*^*^ 
 rians from the west, and the Committee ^""^ ' 
 now forwarded definite instructions to discontinue 
 this branch of the mission.^ They pro- Disposal of 
 
 the mission.- 
 
 ceeded to Beirut in Syria, accompanied by aries. 
 Mrs. Hinsdale, who had been bereaved of her only 
 child. Mr. Laurie became a member of the Syrian 
 mission, and Dr. Smith of the Armenian ; and Mrs. 
 Hinsdale was for some time employed in the instruc- 
 tion of missionary children at Constantinople. 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1845, pp. 116-125. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 STRIA. 
 
 1830-1838. 
 
 Steia was not in a condition for a return of the 
 missionaries until after two years. Messrs. Bird 
 station at aud Whitiug left Malta for Beirut on the 
 
 BeirQt re- ^_ ^^^^ -.-- .,, ,. .-. -«-. 
 
 sumed. 1st of May, 1830. Mr. Abbott, the Eng- 
 
 lish Consul, had already returned, and gave them a 
 cordial welcome. The members of the Greek Church 
 greeted them in a friendly manner, and were ready 
 to read the Scriptures with them ; but the Maronite 
 priests, faithful to the Church of Rome, forbad their 
 people all intercourse with the '' Bible men," whom 
 they described as " followers of the devil." Among 
 those who received them gladly were a few young 
 men, over whom the missionaries had rejoiced in 
 former years, and who had remained steadfast in 
 the faith, and had honored the Gospel by their 
 lives. 
 
 Gregory Wortabet, one of the two Armenian eccle- 
 
 Gregory siastics who carly became connected with 
 
 the mission, is already somewhat known to 
 
 the reader. He belonged to the monastic priesthood 
 
SYRIA. 225 
 
 in the Armenian Church, and there is an interesting 
 autobiography of him in the " Missionary Herald '' 
 for 1828. His career up to that time, as described 
 by himself, shows him to have been an uncommon 
 character; and his pei'sonal suflFerings, both for good 
 and evil doing, prepared him to receive benefit from 
 his converse with the missionaries at Beirut, which 
 began in 1826, when he was twenty-six years of age. 
 He was then ignorant of the Gospel, with his mind 
 in great darkness and confusion. His first nisconTer- 
 ray of light was from the good example of "^'^ 
 his missionary friends. Comparing their lives with 
 their preaching, he admired the consistency of the 
 two. He then compared both with the Scriptures, 
 reading through the entire New Testament. At 
 length day dawned upon his darkness. He became 
 fully satisfied, that the Scriptures were from God, 
 and committed himself to their divine teaching. 
 Renouncing his self-righteousness, and all depend- 
 ence on the absolutions of the Church, he trusted 
 for salvation only in the blood of the Lord Jesus. 
 Having adopted the opinion, that his monastic vows 
 were unscriptural and therefore void, he married a 
 discreet woman, who not long after gave good evi- 
 dence of piety. 
 
 Wortabet accompanied the missionaries to Malta, 
 as did also Diouysius, the other ecclesiastic. , 
 
 •' ' Accompanies 
 
 This change in their circumstances was at iries^to'*''"" 
 their own earnest request, but it was a 
 
 15 
 
226 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 great chauge. The author saw them at Malta, and 
 did not wonder at some dissatisfaction on the part 
 of the youuger of the two, which helped to bring 
 a cloud, for a time, over his Christian character. 
 But his morals were irreproachable in the view of 
 Returns to ^^^ world, aud ou his return to Syria in 
 syna. 1830, which was mainly in consequence of 
 
 the failure of his eyes, the sun shone forth again, 
 and continued to do so till his death. He went back 
 to Beirut with the intention of supporting himself 
 by manual labor, but the return of ophthalmia inter- 
 rupted his plans, and reduced him to poverty. Mr. 
 Bird visited him in May, 1831, at his residence near 
 Active in the Sidou, aud fouud him and his wife destitute 
 
 Christian 
 
 We. indeed of the good things of this life, but 
 
 contented and cheerful, aud Wortabet warning all 
 around him, night and day. Much of his conversa- 
 tion was spiritual, and he was listened to with defer- 
 ence. He was respected by the principal inhabitants 
 of the place, and his wife was regarded as a model 
 of humility and piety. Two or three were thought 
 to have received saving impressions from his conver- 
 sation. He obtained his support, such as it was, by 
 means of a small shop, and was rigidly conscientious 
 in his dealings. Respectable men of all classes came 
 Kespectedby f^'equcutly to couvcrsc with him on relig- 
 cassea. -^^^ subjects, aud so gave him an opportu- 
 nity to circulate the Bible, aud to recommend its 
 religion to Druses, Armenians, Papists, aud Jews. 
 Even Moslems sometimes listened with attention. 
 
SYRIA, 227 
 
 Having been drawn into a written controversy by 
 a zealous Maronite, Wortabet called in the aid of 
 Tauniis el Haddad, not being himself at home in the 
 Arabic, and with important aid from the written 
 discussions of Messrs. King, Bird, Goodell, and the 
 lamented Asaad, he came out with a full exposition 
 of the points at issue between Protestants and the 
 Church of Rome, which attracted much attention. 
 An answer was repeatedly promised, but none ever 
 appeared, and it was thought the Maronite was him- 
 self half convinced of his error. Wortabet's weight 
 of character, and his perfect knowledge of the peo- 
 ple, made his influence at Sid on exceedingly valuable, 
 and it was increasing and extending. But on the 
 10th of September, 1832, a short illness, 
 
 TTifi death. 
 
 supposed to be the cholera, terminated his 
 earthly labors. From the first attack, he regarded 
 the disease as fatal, and met death with a calm re- 
 liance on the Saviour. 
 
 The operations of the mission in 1832, were dis- 
 turbed by plague, cholera, and war. The Digtu^ijin 
 ravages of the plague were not great, but *^^"®^^«- 
 cholera, occasioned intense alarm. It swept over 
 Armenia and along the western borders of Persia, 
 cut off one third of the pilgnms from Beirut to 
 Mecca, was exceedingly fatal at Cairo and Alexan- 
 dria, and made approaches to the seat of the mis- 
 sion as near as Aleppo, Damascus, Tiberias, and 
 Acre; but from this ten-ible judgment the inhab- 
 
228 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 itauts of Beirut were providentially shielded. They 
 suffered much, however, from the rapacity of the 
 Pasha of Acre, until his power was hrokeu by the in- 
 vading army of the Viceroy of Egypt, under Ibrahim 
 Pasha. With the aid of ten or fifteen thousand men 
 from Mount Lebanon, under the Emir Beshir, Ibra- 
 him Pasha took Acre ; then pushing his conquests 
 Conquest of ^^ Damascus, established the dominion of 
 
 Syna by ' 
 
 p^aTha!'" Egypt over Palestine and all Syria. 
 
 The papal bishop of Beirut having published an 
 Mr. Bird's auswcr to Mr. King's " Farewell Letter,^^ 
 
 letters in 
 
 Arabic. Mr. Bird made a reply in thirteen letters, 
 containinsT manv extracts from the Fathers and Ro- 
 man Catholic doctors against the bishop's opinions 
 and expositions of Scripture. Preparatory to this, 
 the mission library was furnished with the more 
 important works of the ancient Fathers ; and what 
 was wanting to complete the polemic department of 
 the library, was munificently supplied by Mr. Par- 
 nell, of the Bagdad mission ; who also presented 
 the mission with a lithographic press for printing 
 in the Arabic and Syriac languages. About this 
 Arabic press ^^^^:> Mr. Tcmplc was iustructcd to send 
 atBeirQt. ^^^ Arablc portiou of the Malta establish- 
 meut to Beirut, where Mr. Smith, who returned 
 from the United States in 1834, was to have the 
 charge of it. 
 
 Mr. Smith had been instructed by the Prudential 
 Committee, to explore the <;ountry eastward of the 
 
SYRIA. 229 
 
 Jordan, and also that bordering on the eastern 
 range of Lebanon. Accordingly, soon after his ar- 
 rival, he and Dr. Dodge visited Damascus, Explorations 
 
 in the 
 
 and then went into the Hanran, v^hich w^as Hauran. 
 never before explored by Protestant missionaries, 
 and until the publication of Burckhard's travels, 
 twelve years before, was almost unknown in modern 
 times. The Bozrah of the Scriptures was the limit 
 of their travels southeastward, and marks the limit 
 of habitation towards the great desert. Thence 
 they traversed the region of Bashan to the south- 
 west, as far as the river Jabbok, now called Zerka, 
 beyond which the country is surrendered to the wild 
 Bedawin. Turning to the north, they crossed the 
 Jordan not far from the lake of Tiberias, ascended 
 the western shore, visited the numerous Greek 
 Christians on the west of Mount Hermon, and re- 
 turned to Damascus. The health of the mission 
 now called Dr. Dodge back to Beirut, and Mr. 
 Smith completed the survey of Anti-Libanus alone; 
 visited a village of Jacobite Syrians in the desert 
 towards Palmyra; passed through Homs, and as far 
 north as Hamah, or ^^ Hamath the great; " then, 
 bending his course homeward, he crossed Lebanon 
 in the region of the Ansaireea, through Tripoli to 
 Beirut. Of this whole deeply interesting tour Mr. 
 Smith, as was his custom, kept an accurate journal, 
 which he intended to elaborate for publication as 
 soon as he should have opportunity. The learned 
 
230 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 world heard with deep regret, in the year 1836, of 
 Journal of ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ Valuable manuscript in the 
 fosuaa' shipwreck of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on their 
 
 Bhip wreck. . ^ 
 
 voyage to bmyrna. 
 The Arabic press arrived in 1834, and passed 
 
 Number of without objcctiou thrOUgh the custom- 
 presses in J il J J_« 
 
 Syria. house. Indeed, there were at that tune 
 
 no less than six presses in Syria and the Holy Land, 
 belonging to Jews and Papists, and no one of them 
 was subjected to hindrance, censorship, or taxation. 
 It could not truly be said, that any material 
 Influence of change had taken place in the character 
 the mission. ^^^ couditiou of the people at large, as a 
 consequence of Protestant missions. But this at 
 least was true, that the impression given by the 
 Jesuits, that Protestants had no religion, no priest- 
 hood, and no churches, had been extensively re- 
 moved. The missionaries unite in their testimony, 
 that the circulation of the Scriptures is not alone 
 sufl&cient to regenerate a people. A very consider- 
 able number of copies had been put in circulation 
 from Aleppo to Hebron and Gaza, and many of them 
 had been in the hands of the people for more than 
 ten years. It is not known indeed how much they 
 had been used ; but where there had been no per- 
 sonal intercourse with missionaries, not a single 
 radical conversion of the soul unto God had come to 
 the knowledge of the missionaries. 
 
SYRIA. 231 
 
 Commodore Patterson visited Beirut during the 
 summer with the U. S. ship Delaware and National 
 schooner Sharh ; principally, as he said, to p''**^*'^^^" 
 do honor to the mission, and to convince the people 
 that it had powerful friends. 
 
 Ten interesting young men placed themselves 
 under the tuition of Dr. Dodge to learn 
 
 SchoolB . 
 
 English, and Mr. Smith gave them lessons 
 in geography and astronomy, of which they knew 
 almost as little as of English. A school taught 
 by Taunus el Haddad was converted into a girls' 
 school. A female school was also opened by the la- 
 dies of the mission, assisted by the widow of Worta- 
 bet, for which a house was erected by the subscrip- 
 tions of foreign residents. The school contaiued 
 twenty-nine pupils, of whom three were Moslem 
 children, and one a Druse, and no opposition was 
 made to it. Religious instruction was given, of 
 course, and the scholars made good progress in 
 reading, sewing, knitting, and behavior. The whole 
 number in the schools exceeded a hundred. Mr. Ab- 
 bott, the early and valued friend of the mission, died 
 during this year. 
 
 In 1835, Mr. Bird was compelled, by the declining 
 health of his wife, to visit Smyrna. After Retirement 
 remaining there nearly a year, and not re- Mrs. Bird, 
 ceiving the benefit they expected, they came to the 
 United States, and were never able to return to 
 Syria. Their removal was for a time an irreparable 
 
232 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 loss to the mission, and was a severe disappointment 
 to themselves. In subsequent years, they gladly 
 gave two of their children to the missionary work 
 Accessions iu Westem Asia. Miss Rebecca W. Wil- 
 
 to the . XII 
 
 mission. Hams arrivcd this year as a teacher ; and 
 in the next year the Rev. Messrs. Story Hebard 
 and John F. Lanneau, and Miss Betsey Tilden. 
 In 1835, Mr. William M. Thomson was married 
 to Mrs. Abbott, the widow of the late English Con- 
 sul, who, from an early period in the mission, had 
 given decisive evidence of attachment to the king- 
 dom of Christ. 
 
 The high school, commenced in 1835, took a 
 Improve- morc substautial form in the following 
 
 meats io the 
 
 high school, year. It was wisely decided, that the pu- 
 pils should lodge, eat, and dress in the style of the 
 country ; and the annual expenses of each scholar 
 for boarding, clothing, etc., was only from thirty- 
 five to forty dollars. The course of study embraced 
 the Arabic language for the whole period, the Eng- 
 lish language, geography and astronomy, civil and 
 ecclesiastical history, with chronology, mathematics, 
 rhetoric, — in the Arab sense, a popular study, — 
 natural and moral philosophy, composition and trans- 
 lation, natural theology, and sacred music. The 
 Bible was studied constantly. In all these depart- 
 ments there was a great deficiency of books ; in 
 some it was entire. 
 
 Mr. Hebard and Miss Williams were united in 
 
SYBIA. 233 
 
 marriage in October, 1836. Mr. Hebard had then 
 the care of the semiuarj, and the girls' school was 
 taught by Mrs. Hebard and Mrs, Dodge. The lat- 
 ter was subsequently married to the Rev. J. D. 
 Paxton, a clergyman from the United States, then 
 on a visit to Syria. 
 
 The mission, as early as 1836, became sensible of 
 a serious deficiency in their Arabic type. As it did 
 not conform to the most approved standard of Ara- 
 bic caligraphy, it did not meet the i^opular taste. 
 Mr. Smith therefore took pains to collect Q^patim- 
 models of the characters in the best manu- fnYhTI^ 
 scripts. These were lost in his shipwreck, ^° ^^ 
 but he afterwards replaced them at Constantinople, 
 to the number of two hundred ; so varied, that the 
 punches formed for them would make not far from 
 a thousand matrices. These he placed in the hands 
 of Mr. Hallock, the missionary printer at Smyrna, 
 who possessed great mechanical ingenuity, and was 
 entirely successful in cutting the punches. The 
 type was cast at Leipzig by Tauchnitz. Thus a 
 really great and important work, without which the 
 press could not have been domesticated among the 
 many millions to whom the Arabic is vernacular, 
 was brought to a successful issue. 
 
 The disastrous shipwreck of Mr. and Mrs. Smith 
 on their way from Beirut to Smyrna, has been al- 
 ready mentioned. The voyage was undertaken 
 chiefly for the benefit of Mrs. Smith's health ; but 
 
234 mSSWNS TO THE ORIENTAL CEC/RCHES. 
 
 the exposures consequent on the shipwreck, extend- 
 ing through twenty-eight days until their arrival 
 at Smyrna, aggravated her consumptive tendencies, 
 
 Death of ^"^ hastened her passage to the grave. 
 Mrs. Smith, gj^^ ^-^^ ^^ ^^^ thirtieth of September, 
 
 1836, at the age of thirty-four. The closing scene 
 is described by her husband. '^ Involuntary groans 
 were occasionally muttei'ed in her convulsions. 
 These, as we were listening to them with painful 
 sympathy, once, to our surprise, melted away into 
 musical notes; and for a moment, our ears were 
 charmed with the full, clear tones of the sweetest 
 melody. No words were articulated, and she was 
 eviden tally unconscious of everything about her. It 
 seemed as if her soul was already joining in the 
 songs of heaven, while it was yet so connected with 
 the body as to command its unconscious sympathy. 
 Not long after, she again opened her eyes in a state 
 of consciousness. A smile of perfect happiness 
 lighted up her emaciated features. She looked de- 
 liberately around upon diflferent objects in the room, 
 and then fixed upon me a look of the tenderest aflPec- 
 
 tion Her frequent prayers that the Saviour 
 
 would meet her in the dark valley, have already 
 been mentioned. By her smile, she undoubtedly 
 intended to assure us that she had found him. 
 Words she could not utter to express what she felt. 
 Life continued to struggle with its last enemy until 
 twenty minutes before eight o'clock ; when her affee- 
 
SYBIA. 236 
 
 tionate heart gradually ceased to beat, and her soul 
 took its final departure to be forever with the 
 Lord." 1 
 
 lu the winter and spring of 1838, an opportunity 
 was afforded Mr. Smith to perform a very ^^^^^^^ ^_ 
 useful service as the associate of Dr. Ed- ^^'°^®^- 
 ward Robinson, in his celebrated " Biblical Re- 
 searches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions." ^ 
 The aid was essential to the full success of the en- 
 terprise, from Mr. Smith's acquaintance with the 
 Arabs and their language, and it was cheerfully 
 rendered by the missionary, and assented to by the 
 mission and by the officers of the Board at home. 
 Mr. Smith had been hopeful of being able to visit 
 the Hauran, and to recover the more important facts 
 lost in the shipwreck, but the troubled state of the 
 country prevented. Joining Dr. Robinson in Egypt, 
 he travelled with him from Cairo to Suez ; thence 
 to Sinai and Jerusalem, by way of Akabali ; then to 
 Bethel, the Dead Sea, and the valley of the Jordan. 
 At Jerusalem, they attended the annual meeting of 
 the Syria mission. 
 
 The Rev. Messrs. Elias R. Beadle and Charles S. 
 Sherman, and their wives, joined the mission this 
 year. 
 
 1 A Memoir of Mrs. Sarah Lanman Smith was given to the public by 
 her brother, Edward W. Hooker, D. D., in 1837, pp. 407. 
 
 2 Mr. Smith rendered a similar service, during a part of Dr. Robin- 
 son's second tour in 1852, in a portion of the same regions. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SYRIA. 
 THE DBUZES, AND THE WAKS OF LEBANON. 
 
 1835-1842. 
 
 We now enter upon a period of some special diffi- 
 culty in the prosecution of the missionary work. 
 Turkey, Egypt, and several great European powers, 
 conflicting for secular objects, brought the Druzes 
 into very singular and as it proved unfortunate, re- 
 lations to the mission. 
 
 The Druzes are found chiefly on the mountains of 
 Lebanon, and in the country called the 
 
 The Druzes. __^ 
 
 Hauran, south of Damascus, and number 
 sixty or seventy thousand souls. The sect originated 
 with Hakem, a Caliph of Egypt, but derived its name 
 from El Drusi, a zealous disciple of the Caliph. 
 They believe Hakem to be the tenth, last, and most 
 important incarnation of God, and render him divine 
 honors. They have ever taken great pains to con- 
 ceal their tenets, which seem to be compounded from 
 Mohammedanism and Paganism, and it is only a por- 
 tion of themselves that know what the tenets are. 
 Those are called the Akk^l, or initiated ; the others 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON, 237 
 
 are the Jebal, or uninitiated. Four centuries and a 
 half after the death of the founder of the sect, it be- 
 came powerful under a single chief. Inhabiting the 
 rugged mountains of Lebanon, they maintained for 
 many ages a free and independent spirit in the midst 
 of despotism, and were a semi-independent people 
 within the Turkish dominions down to the summer 
 of 1835, when they were subdued by Ibrahim Pasha. 
 As early as 1831, a hope was awakened in the mis- 
 sion, that the Gospel miffht be successfully 
 
 ' 1 & » Hope of ia- 
 
 introduced among that people. A Druze Jhe^^Qog^^i 
 woman was in the habit of coming daily to ^^°'^g^^«°'- 
 listen to the reading of the Scriptures and to re- 
 ligious conversation, and would often say, ^' That's 
 the truth," with her face bathed in tears. Her 
 visits were continued until she fell a victim to the 
 plague. An old man, also, who was one of the *' ini- 
 tiated," came, and, after much disputation, professed 
 to receive the Gospel. In proof of his sincerity, he 
 brought one of the secret books of his religion, and 
 gave it to the missionaries. Mr. Smith, moreover, 
 when on the mountains, was invited to attend one 
 of their stated meetings, and, at its close, was re- 
 quested to read and expound a portion of the 
 word of God. 
 
 The prospects became more favorable in 1835. 
 Mr. Bird and others spent the hot months of sum- 
 mer at Aaleih, a Druze village on Lebanon. Mrs. 
 Dodge gathered a school of girls there, and Mr. 
 
238 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Bird had ten or fifteen Druzes present at his Arabic 
 preaching- every Sabbath, and among them the 
 young- sheiks of the village, with their servants. 
 Many of the people listened with attention, and 
 received and read the New Testament and other 
 religious books, with apparent eagerness. They 
 readily acknowledged that neither repentance, alms- 
 giving, prayers, nor any works of their own, were 
 suflScient to insure the pardon of sin ; and when 
 pointed to the great atonement of the Lord Jesus, 
 it seemed to commend itself to their understanding 
 and conscience. Though nominally the disciples of 
 the Koran, they did not cry out " blasphemy," as 
 did the Moslems, when told that Jesus is the Son 
 of God, thus partaking of the divine nature ; but 
 they seemed to feel that this character was neces- 
 sary for one who should undertake to be a Saviour 
 for a world of sinners. 
 
 Mr. Bird coming down from the mountains to 
 accompany his sick wife to Smyrna, Mr. Smith 
 Disposition ^^^^ ^^^ place, and visited eight or nine 
 to hear. viHagcs, with cvcry opportunity afforded 
 him for preaching the Gospel; and he was every- 
 where listened to with respectful attention. Though 
 aware of the deceitfuluess of the people, he could 
 not but see how open they then were to this species 
 of missionary labor. Yet he could not find among 
 them any real spirit of inquiry, and his only hope 
 was in the influences of the Holy Spirit, giving effi- 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 239 
 
 cacy to the truth. The Druzes, though wrapped up 
 in hypocrisy, and apparently without one spiritual 
 thought, were of the same race with all other men, 
 and the preaching of the word might be expected, in 
 the end, to have the same effect upon them. 
 
 There was reason to believe, that this movement 
 among the Druzes grew mainly out of their rpj^gj^ ig^d- 
 recent subjugation by the Egyptians, and ""^ ^^oti^e- 
 their apprehension of a military conscription. They 
 had always professed Mohammedanism hypocriti- 
 cally, to escape the oppressions which Christians suf- 
 fered under Moslem rule ; but now the Christians 
 fared better than the Moslems, in that they were not 
 liable to be drafted into the army, to which as Mos- 
 lems the Druzes were exposed. They had very pain- 
 ful apprehensions of such a levy, and the reason 
 having ceased that had led them to profess Moham- 
 medanism, they were disposed to renounce that relig- 
 ion ; and some among the uninitiated seemed ready 
 to renounce the Druze religion also. Their great 
 object was to enjoy equal rights with the Christians, 
 and especially to escape the military conscription. 
 
 A levy had been demanded of the Druzes before 
 this visit of the brethren to the mountains, and had 
 been refused, with an urgent request to Mohammed 
 Ali that he would not impose upon them so odious 
 a burden. Nothing was heard in reply until the 
 fourth day after Mr. Smith's return to Beirut, when 
 Ibrahim Pasha presented himself at Deir el-Kamr, 
 
240 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 at the head of eighteen thousand men. Taken by 
 Subdued surpHse, no opposition was made. Both 
 
 by Ibrahim /-^ • j. t 
 
 Pasha. Drnzes and Christians were at once dis- 
 
 armed, and officers were left to collect recruits. 
 
 With the dreaded evil thus strongly upon them, 
 incre^ced tlicrc was a morc general disposition to 
 I'Hkl/' throw off the Druze religion. Applica- 
 
 Christianity. ,. ^ -t'ii i/» c 
 
 tions came from individuals and irom fam- 
 ilies in different and distant villages. Among them 
 were some of the higher ranks. One whole family 
 connection of eighty individuals declared their read- 
 iness to pledge their property as security that they 
 would never apostatize from the Christian faith ; 
 and had it been in the power of the mission to 
 secure to them the political standing of Christian 
 sects, and had the brethren been disposed to favor 
 a national conversion, after the example of the early 
 and middle ages, it is probable that the whole body 
 of the Jebal Druzes, at least, would have become 
 nominal Protestants. Of course the missionaries 
 explained to them how inconsistent with the spirit- 
 uality of our religion would be such a mere profes- 
 sion of Christianity. For a few Sabbaths, the Arab 
 congregation was composed chiefly of Druzes ; and 
 Mr. Smith threw open his doors to them at the 
 time of family prayers, and had the opportunity of 
 reading and explaining the Gospel to from ten to 
 fifteen for two months ; but without finding evi- 
 dence, with perhaps a single exception, of a sincere 
 desire to know the truth. 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 241 
 
 That exception was in the case of a l)ruze named 
 Kasim. Mr. Smith saw him first in Octo- a hopeful 
 
 oo -r» 1 Druze con- 
 
 ber, 1835. Residing in the mountains, ^en. 
 Kasim had two of his sons already baptized by the 
 Maronites, and had openly professed himself to be 
 no longer a Druze, but a Christian. He had not 
 himself received baptism, for fear of his relatives, 
 who had once gone in a body and beaten him. He 
 now removed into the immediate neighborhood of 
 the missionary, where he hoped for protection, 
 and he and his family became regular attendants 
 upon Christian worship. He professed a strong 
 attachment to the Saviour, as did also his wife, and 
 they both made evident progress in religious knowl- 
 edge. Both openly declared themselves Protes- 
 tants, and were anxious for baptism. The officer 
 of the Emir Beshir, finding in his hands a testi- 
 monial from Mr. Smith, that he was a Christian, 
 respected him in this character, while he was seiz- 
 ing all his Druze neighbors for soldiers ; but he had 
 not then been admitted to the church, for want of 
 sufficient evidence of true conversion. 
 
 Kasim was at length apprehended by the gover- 
 nor of Beirut, beaten to make him con- Firmness un- 
 
 , der persecu- 
 
 fess that he was a Moslem, and cast into tio°- 
 prison. Mr. Smith visited him, and urged him to 
 make the profession he intended to abide by, that 
 the mission might know what to do. In the pres- 
 ence of a dozen Moslems, he professed himself a 
 
 16 
 
242 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 Christian, and declared that he would die a Chris- 
 tian, if they burned him at the stake. The gover- 
 nor, on hearing this, ordered him to he thrust into 
 the inner prison, and loaded with chains. Here his 
 persecutors renewed their promises and threats, 
 but his firmness remained unshaken, and they left 
 him in prison. Such a confession had never been 
 made in Beirut before, and it attracted much atten- 
 tion. The poor man in his dungeon, aware of the 
 danger of his situation, spent much of his time in 
 prayer, and was often heard by his fellow-prisoners, 
 in the watches of the night, calling upon Jesus 
 Christ to help him. He even sent directions to a 
 friend respecting the disposal of a few effects, in 
 case he should be martyred, thereby showing his 
 expectation of persevering unto death. 
 
 As the best thing that could be done, the Amer- 
 ican Consul at Beirut, who took a deep interest in 
 the case, addressed a letter to Soleiman Pasha, next 
 in power to Ibrahim, who was then at Sidon on his 
 way to Beirut. This was favorably received, and 
 the Pasha expressed his wish that the family would 
 send a petition to him, that he might be ready to 
 judge the case when he should arrive at Beirut. 
 This was accordingly done, and the requisite evi- 
 dence was made ready. The poor man received his 
 food daily from his missionary friend, with messages 
 of cheer, and he never wavered. 
 
 On the arrival of the Pasha, the prisoner's wife 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 243 
 
 immediately sought access to him, aud this she did 
 day after day ; but the governor of Beirut 
 
 Is set free. 
 
 threw eveiy obstacle in her way. The Pa- 
 sha wished to set him free, without seeming to yield 
 to Frank dictation, or stirring up Moslem fanati- 
 cism. At length the governor, threatened by the 
 agent of the European consuls with deposition, pre- 
 sented himself in person at the door of the prison, 
 and told Kasim to go free. 
 
 Thus terminated, after an imprisonment of seven- 
 teen days, the first case of a converted Druze called 
 to confess Jesus Christ before a Moslem tribunal. 
 This was in the early part of the year 1836. 
 
 Kasim was kept by the mission two years on pro- 
 bation, but on the first Sabbath in 1838 he Admission to 
 and his wife were admitted to the church, t^^^^'^^^^- 
 and were baptized, with their six children, receiv- 
 ing Christian names at their own request. Mr. 
 Thomson took occasion to preach on the subject of 
 baptism, explaining the true meaning and intention 
 of the ordinance. The congregation was larger 
 than usual, and there was more solemn attention 
 than had ever been witnessed in the chapel. Much 
 anxiety was felt for Kasim, but he was not molested. 
 His brother and his brother's wife also made a very 
 importunate request for baptism, and the mission 
 not long after complied with it. 
 
 As these converts were not molested after their 
 baptism, the Druzes resorted more and increase of 
 more to the mission for instruction. Mr. mquiry. 
 
244 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 Thomson was invited to visit their villages, and 
 open among them schools and places of worship. 
 They applied for the admission of their sons to the 
 seminary, and a yonng sheik was received, his 
 friends paying the expense. Some of them corre- 
 sponded with Mr. Thomson by letter, and some 
 came to reside at Beirut. The Papists assailed 
 them with promises, flatteries, and threats of ven- 
 geance from the Emir Beshir ; but the Druzes de- 
 clared they would never join the Church of Rome. 
 While the mission was aware that in all this the 
 Druzes were greatly influenced by political changes, 
 past and expected, they could not avoid the hope 
 that an increasing number were really desirous of 
 knowing and obeying the truth. Indeed it was 
 impossible to avoid this conclusion with the facts 
 before them, some of which Mr. Thomson embodied 
 thus in his journal : — 
 
 " August 13, 1838. This morning Kasim brought 
 striking ii- ^ leading Druze to see me. He is from 
 lustrations, gj^^^ifat, aud dcsircs to become an English 
 Christian. His conversation was very satisfactory, 
 so far as sensible and even pious remarks are con- 
 cerned. He makes the most solemn appeals to the 
 Searcher of Hearts to bear witness to his sincerity; 
 asks neither for protection, employment, or money ; 
 but says, that his only object is to secure the salva- 
 tion of his soul. He asks for nothing but Christian 
 instruction, which I of course was most happy to 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 245 
 
 afford to the extent of my abilities. Alas ! tliat long 
 experience with people here, and especially with the 
 Druzes, compels me to receive with hesitation their 
 most solemn protestations. 
 
 " Se'pt. 5. M., the ruling sheik of A., came down 
 from the mountains to request Christian instruction 
 and baptism for himself and family. He is very 
 earnest and rational, for a Druze, and thinks that 
 nearly all his villages will unite with him. In a 
 conversation, protracted to more than half a day, I 
 endeavored to place before him, with all possible 
 plainness, our views of what true religion is. He 
 is not so ignorant on this subject as most Druzes, 
 having been acquainted with us for many years, and 
 frequently present at our Arabic worship. 
 
 " Sejpi, 6. Sheik S., from the heart of Lebanon, 
 came to-day with the same request for Christian in- 
 struction, not only for himself, but for his father and 
 four brothers, leading sheiks of the mountains. He 
 asks not for protection, money, or temporal advan- 
 tage in any way, but solely for religious instruction ; 
 and declares, with apparent sincerity, that his only 
 desire is to secure the salvation of his soul. He says 
 concerning their own superstition, that he knows it 
 is utterly false and pernicious ; and that, having for 
 three years read the Bible, and compared the various 
 sects with it, he is persuaded that they have forsaken 
 the word of God, and imposed upon men many hu- 
 mari inventions, designed not for the good of the 
 
246 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 people, but to augment the power and wealth of the 
 priesthood. He mentioned with special abhorrence 
 auricular confession, and forgiveness of sin by the 
 priest ; also, their long fasts, their prayers to saints, 
 and their worship of images and pictures; showing 
 that he was well acquainted with the leading differ- 
 ences between us and them; and proving, by his 
 pertinent quotations from the Bible, that he had 
 read it with attention and understanding. 
 
 " Sheik S. intends to remain several days for the 
 purpose of receiving more instruction. He appears 
 to have no fears of persecution, but to be resolved to 
 persevere whatever may happen. 
 
 " Sept, 12. Went to B.'T., and spent the day in 
 conversing with the large family of sheiks there. 
 These sheiks govern, under the Emir, all this part 
 of Lebanon. The greater part of them appear re- 
 solved to become Christians at all hazards. Alas ! 
 how little do they know of that religion, which they 
 profess to be so anxious to embrace. The mother 
 of the sheiks in A. is married to the most powerful 
 sheik in B.'T., and she sent word to her children, 
 encouraging them to become Christians, and approv- 
 ing also of their plan to place the youngest boys in 
 our seminary. 
 
 " I had no time to converse with the common 
 people in B.'T., but one of our Christian Druzes who 
 accompanied me, spent the day with them, and tells 
 me, that a great many of the villagers wished to 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 247 
 
 join US. Here also the Papists are busy as bees, 
 both with arguments and terrors. What the end 
 will be, is known only to God." 
 
 Two days later, several sheiks came down from 
 the mountains, with an apparent determination to 
 take houses, and receive religious instruction ; de- 
 claring their wish not to return to the mountains 
 until they had been both instructed and baptized. 
 The same day, two Druzes came as agents from a 
 large clan of their people residing in Anti-Lebanon, 
 three days from Beirut, professing to treat in behalf 
 of their whole community. In the evening, several 
 leading' Druzes came from Andara, the highest hab- 
 itable part of Lebanon, professing to act in the name 
 of their whole village, and earnestly requesting the 
 mission to open schools, build a church, and baptize 
 them all forthwith. The missionary preached to 
 them till a late hour, and they promised to come 
 again after a few days. They kept their promise, 
 and stated that they had made arrangements with 
 the people of several villages to unite together, and 
 all declare themselves Christians at the same time ; 
 hoping that the Emir, when he saw so many of 
 them of one mind, would not venture to execute 
 the plans of cruel persecution, with which they were 
 threatened. Mr. Thomson now found it necessary 
 to call in the aid of Mr. Hebard and Mr. Lanueau. 
 
 The Emir Beshir, urged on by the Papal priests, 
 now sent for the young Druze sheiks, and p^ ^j^ 
 threatened them with the full measure of "**°° 
 
248 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 his wrath. This occasioned a division among them, 
 some through fear siding with the Emir. 
 
 Its effect. , r. 1 ^ ^^ ^ 
 
 The father of several young sheiks, — a 
 venerable old man, with rank and talents to give 
 him extensive influence, — being at Beirut, declared 
 in oriental style his attachment to the Gospel, and 
 his intended adherence to it. 
 
 The excitement among the Druzes continued, and 
 visitors from all parts of Lebanon thronged the 
 house of the missionary, till winter rendered com- 
 munication with the mountains difficult. 
 
 Near the close of November, a number of Druzes, 
 Treatment who had bccomc Grcck Papists, were seized 
 Druzes. by ordcr of the Pasha, and cast into prison, 
 whence five of them were drafted into the army. 
 The rest were allowed to return to their homes. It 
 was understood that the Pasha would not disturb the 
 Protestant converts; but he had shown that he was 
 not disposed to tolerate the conversion of the Druzes 
 to Christianity. Kasim and his associates appeared 
 resolved to go not only to prison, but to death, 
 rather than deny Christ. 
 
 At the close of the year, the severity of the 
 Causes of Emir, in connection with the snows of 
 
 declining in- , , . . . 
 
 terest. wiutcr, greatly diminished the attendance 
 
 of Druzes at the meetings. The knowledge, also, 
 that they could not be baptized till they had given 
 evidence of being truly converted, helped to re- 
 press the movement. Still, some of the more hopeful 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 249 
 
 persons continued to show their interest in the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Syria was now within the jurisdiction of Egypt, 
 and hence the mission was not affected by the per- 
 secutions, for which the year 1839 was so distin- 
 guished in Turkey. But the missionary force was 
 much reduced, Messrs. Bird, Smith, and changes in 
 Whiting being in the United States. The *^«^««i^°- 
 Rev. Elias R. Beadle and Charles S. Sherman ar- 
 rived as missionaries, with their wives, in the au- 
 tumn of that year 5 and Messrs. Samuel Wolcott, 
 Nathaniel A. Keyes, and Leander Thompson, with 
 their wives, and Dr. C. V. A. Van Dyck, in April 
 1840. They had the language to learn, and the 
 press lay idle during the year, for want of a printer 
 and funds. Mrs. Hebard died in February. 
 
 Yet there was progress. A large and convenient 
 chapel had been obtained, where were held Evidence of 
 two stated Arabic services on the Sabbath ; p^'^s''®^- 
 and on the evening of the Sabbath, the natives had 
 a prayer meeting by themselves. In the free schools 
 there were eighty scholars ; the seminary for boys 
 had twenty boarders ; and the distribution of books 
 and tracts continued. In this work a blind old 
 man of the Greek Church named Aboo Yusoof was 
 an efficient helper. Though stooping with age, he 
 went about the country with a donkey loaded with 
 books, and a little boy to lead him, doing what he 
 could. In a district northeast of Tripoli, he was 
 
250 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 encouraged iu his work by the approbation of the 
 Greek bishop Zacharias. 
 
 The political and religious events then occurring 
 Connection wcrc intiuiatcly connected. The conquest 
 ligious and of Syria by Mohammed Ali, was the appar- 
 
 political 
 
 events. eut causc of the religious movement among 
 the Druzes already described. The defeat of the 
 Sultan's army at Nisib, in 1839, and the feelings of 
 jealousy towards France and Egypt, then intimately 
 allied, led to the determination of England, Russia, 
 Prussia, and Austria to restore Syria and the Turk- 
 consequent ish flcet to thc Portc. The consequent 
 
 warlike pro- 
 ceedings, armed intervention made Beirut the seat 
 
 of war. An English fleet bombarded the city, and 
 the English officers, by a singular miscalculation, 
 treated the Papal Maronites as their friends, and 
 the Druzes as their enemies. Missionary opera- 
 tions were suspended. Mr. Lanneau, whose eyes 
 had failed him, left on a visit to the United States. 
 Messrs. Beadle, Keyes, and Leander Thompson 
 spent the summer and autumn at Jerusalem, and 
 Dr. Van Dyck joined them there. Messrs. W. M. 
 Thomson and Wolcott remained at Beirut until the 
 bombardment, when Captain Latimer, of the United 
 States corvette Gyane, who had come to Beirut to 
 look after their welfare, kindly took them and their 
 families to Cyprus. 
 
 In the presence of such mighty forces, the mis- 
 sion could only wait the course of events. The 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 251 
 
 brethren, before leaving Beirut, had done all they 
 could for the protection of their houses, fur- Re^jarkabie 
 niture, the Arabic press, and the library and ?f mSn°'' 
 philosophical apparatus. They did this ^'°^®''^' 
 by hoisting over their houses the American flag and 
 placing guards in them, and by an understanding 
 with the admiral. The pupils in the boarding-school 
 were sent to their friends. Mr. Wolcott visited 
 Beirut during the contest, and found the Egyptian 
 forces evacuating the town, and the British troops 
 taking possession. He met the American consul 
 there surveying the ruins of his house, which had 
 been battered by the great guns and plundered by 
 the pasha's soldiers ; but the magazine beneath it, 
 which contained most of the property of Messrs. 
 Beadle and Keyes, had not been opened. Making 
 his way through the ruins of the city to the mission 
 houses, he saw the American flags still floating over 
 them, and the guards on the ground. Soldiers had 
 encamped in his garden, but had abstained from 
 pillage. A few bombs had burst in the yard, and 
 several cannon balls had penetrated the walls. The 
 furniture, the library, the philosophical apparatus 
 were uninjured. The native chapel in Mr. Thom- 
 son's house bad been filled with goods, brought 
 thither for safety by the natives, and these had not 
 been molested. The field around Mr. Smith's house 
 had been plowed by cannon balls, and he expected 
 to find the new Arabic types converted into bullets, 
 
252 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 but Dot a type had been touched. Even the orange 
 and lemon trees, within his inclosure, were bending 
 with their load of fruit. All this was remarkable ; 
 and the goodness of Providence was gratefully ac- 
 knowledged at the time, by the missionaries and 
 by their patrons at home. 
 
 The persecuting Emir Beshir surrendered, and was 
 sent to Malta, and a relative of the same 
 
 The perse- 
 
 B^hif d™"^ name, but with small capacity for govern- 
 ^^^' ing, was appointed Prince of the Mountains. 
 
 The mission families returned from Cyprus before 
 the end of the year, and the seminary was resumed ; 
 but those students who had been taught enough of 
 English to make themselves intelligible as inter- 
 changesin prctcrs, had all been drawn away by the 
 
 the semi- 
 nary, high wages which British officers paid for 
 
 such services. The place of Tan n us, Arabic teacher 
 in the seminary, who was sick, was supplied by Bu- 
 trus el-Bistany, from the Maronite College at Ain 
 Warka. He had written a treatise against the cor- 
 ruptions of Popery and the supremacy of the Pope, 
 and the enraged Patriarch had tried to get him into 
 his power, but without success. 
 
 The brethren all reassembled at Beirut early in 
 TheiDi^«=ion *^^^ y^^^' 1841, and Mr. Beadle, with a 
 
 reassembled. .. j.* • j. j. i j j • . 
 
 native assistant, commenced a station at 
 Aleppo, but it was not long continued. The press 
 resumed its operations with the new type, under the 
 management of Mr. George Hurter, a printer just 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON, 263 
 
 arrived from America. The declining health of 
 Mr. Hebard compelled him to suspend missionary 
 labors, and he died at Malta, June 30, on his way 
 to the United States, greatly and deservedly la- 
 mented. About the same time, Mr. Smith arrived 
 at Beirut, on his return to Syria, with his wife. 
 Four months later, Mrs. Wolcott was called away, 
 after a distressing illness of three days, but in sure 
 and certain hope of a blessed immortality. 
 
 The allied powers had settled the affairs of the 
 East in a manner not agreeable to France, and that 
 government seems to have sought redress through 
 the Jesuits. In the first month of 1841, inroad of 
 
 French Jes- 
 
 three French Jesuits arrived at Beirut, ^its. 
 with an ample supply of money ; and, at the same 
 time, the Maronite Patriarch received large sums 
 from France and Austria, ostensibly for the relief 
 of sufferers in the late war, but never expended for 
 such a purpose. The Maronites had been the chief 
 movers in favor of the Sultan and the Eng- Mistaken 
 lish, and the English agent in negotiating English. 
 with them was a Roman Catholic. On account of 
 their services in that war, the Maronites stood high 
 in favor with the English officers and with the Turk- 
 ish government ; and the Patriarch received ^^^ p^^^ 
 important additions to his power, till he ^^expeuhe^ 
 
 ji iJi* i/«i 11 1 missionaries. 
 
 thought himself strong enough to expel 
 
 the American missionaries and crush the Druzes. 
 
 The local authorities having no power to drive the 
 
254 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 missionaries away, he petitioned the Sultan to do 
 this. The Sultan laid the subject before Commo- 
 dore Porter, then American Minister at the Porte, 
 who said he was not authorized by his government 
 to protect men thus employed. This fact coming in 
 some way to the knowledge of the Patriarch, he 
 made proclamation through the mountains, that the 
 American missionaries were denounced by their own 
 government as troublesome, mischief-making prose- 
 lyters, and would not be protected.^ 
 
 Meanwhile, the English oJ9&cers had obtained a 
 The English morc correct understanding of the rela- 
 
 ofiBcere bet- 
 
 terinformed. tlous of partics lu Lcbauou; and they saw at 
 once that it was for the interest of England that the 
 Druzes should be encouraged to become Protestants. 
 Renewed in- They therefore held consultations with the 
 
 terest among 
 
 the Druzes. Druzc shciks, aud the results were com- 
 municated to the British government. As a natural 
 consequence, the Druze sheiks expected support 
 from England, and some at least of the British 
 officers were in favor of such support, should the 
 Druzes put themselves under the instruction of 
 the American missionaries. It is certain, at any 
 rate, that the Druze sheiks confidently expected 
 this. With such expectations, they made a definite 
 agreement with the mission, that a school for the 
 
 1 This mistaken opinion of the Minister was made the subject of 
 correspondence with the United States Government, and the favorable 
 response by Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, is quoted in chapter xviii. 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 255 
 
 sons of the ruling class should be established at 
 Deir el-Kamr, and other schools as fast as practi- 
 cable in their villages, and that the missionaries 
 should be welcomed as religious teachers among all 
 their people. 
 
 A school was at once opened at Deir el-Kamr by 
 Messrs. Wolcott and Van Dyck, and Mr. Thomson 
 removed to 'Ain Anab to superintend the schools 
 for the common people, of which there were three 
 opened in the vicinity. Mr. Smith, on arriving at 
 Beirut, was so much interested that he did not stop 
 to open his house, but went up at once to Deir el- 
 Kamr. 
 
 In this same month, the Rev. Mr. Gobat, a Ger- 
 man in the service of the Church Mission- 
 ary Society, arrived from Malta. He had 
 long been known as a missionary in Egypt and 
 Abyssinia, and was a personal friend of the older 
 members of the mission. His object was to see if 
 he could make arrangements by which evangelical 
 missionaries of the English Church could advan- 
 tageously share in the labors for converting the 
 Druzes. 
 
 In September, despatches arrived from Lord Pal- 
 merstou, which were reported to contain an order for 
 taking the Druzes under British protection ; and 
 with them came from Eugland the Rev. Mr. Nich- 
 olayson, — originally a Baptist, and at this time an 
 Episcopalian and zealous high- church man — with 
 
 Proffer of 
 friendly aid. 
 
256 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 instructions, it was said, to assist in carrying out 
 that arrangement. He did not agree with Mr. 
 An unfortu- Gobat iu rcspcct to the treatment due to 
 
 nate interpo- 
 sition, the American missionaries ; and when the 
 
 Druzes inquired of him what support they might 
 expect from England, the answers they received led 
 them to the conclusion, that England would not 
 protect them unless they renounced the American 
 missionaries, and put themselves under the exclusive 
 instruction of clergymen from the English Church. 
 This they were not ready to do. Mr. Gobat retired, 
 in a spirit of catholicity. Neither did Mr. Nichol- 
 ayson prosecute his mission, being disheartened, it 
 may be, by the civil war which shortly arose between 
 the Maronites and Druzes. His intervention was 
 unfortunate, and T find it referred to, thirty years 
 afterwards, by a venerable member of the mission, 
 as a warning against similar intrusions. 
 
 The Patriarch now deemed himself strong* enousrh 
 The Patri- ^^ cutcr upou his projcct of crushing the 
 wt"h^' Druzes. His power in the mountains be- 
 ing in the ascendant, he ordered the Druze 
 sheiks to assemble at Deir el-Kamr. They came 
 armed, and, as they approached Deir el-Kamr, were 
 required to send away their followers and lay aside 
 their arms. They i-efused. A battle ensued, and 
 the Maronites were defeated. The Patriarch then 
 proclaimed a crusade against them, ordered his bish- 
 ops to take arras, and marched his forces towards 
 
THE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON. 257 
 
 the Druze territory. But the Druzes seized the 
 mountain passes, and defeated every attempt to 
 enter. Though greatly inferior in numbers, they 
 went desperately to work to exterminate or expel 
 every Maronite from their part of the mountains. 
 Not a convent, and scarce a village or hamlet be- 
 longing to the Maronites, was left standing. They 
 then descended and dispersed the main army of the 
 Maronites ; and were ready to march northward 
 into Kesrawan, and attack the Patriarch in his 
 stronghold, but were persuaded by British oflBcers 
 to suspend their march. The Turkish army, which 
 might have prevented the conflict, now took the 
 field, and separated the combatants.^ 
 
 This was very properly regarded as a providential 
 deliverance for the mission, which had Deliverance 
 
 of the mis- 
 
 never been threatened with so formidable "on. 
 
 an opposition as at the beginning of the year. It 
 
 now entered into a correspondence with ^, ^ 
 
 *■ Its favorable 
 
 nearly all the principal Druze sheiks, who p^'^^p*'"'^- 
 felt that they had, by their swords, won the right to 
 schools. The prospects were at that time very hope- 
 ful. The country never seemed more open to evan- 
 gelical labors. For a yea.r there had been no oppo- 
 sition to the schools, except two or three among tlie 
 Druzes. The press was in operation without censor- 
 ship, sending forth thousands of copies each year, 
 
 1 Trac/s History, pp. 417, 440. Report for 1842, pp. 117-124. Mis* 
 sionary Herald, 1842, pp. 196, 229, 362. 
 
 17 
 
258 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 and there was an increasing demand for books. 
 The mission bookstore, in the centre of the town, 
 was visited by all classes, including very many high 
 officers of government, and even by the Seraskier 
 himself, and there was no complaint against it. No 
 one had been persecuted for a long time for profess- 
 ing the religion of the Bible, and Protestantism 
 seemed to have gained a tacit toleration. 
 
 In reply to the objection, that the mission had 
 The success bccu loug established, and yet the conver- 
 sion proper- sions had been very few, Mr. Smith wrote 
 
 tiooed to . p 
 
 the effort. thus : " I ask, what labor ? Has it, after 
 all, been so disproportioned to the results ? The 
 instrumentality highest on the scale of efficiency for 
 the conversion of souls in every country, is oral in- 
 struction, especially formal preaching. Now how 
 much of this has there been in Syria ? Before Mr. 
 Bird could engage in it, Mr. Fisk was called away 
 by death. I had hardly been preaching in Arabic a 
 year, when Mr. Bird left for America. Mr. Thom- 
 son had but just preached his first sermon when my 
 family was broken up, and I became a wanderer. 
 Since then, we have both been here together but a 
 few months at a time, until the last year. And 
 these are all the Arabic preachers we have had at 
 our station. In the mean time we have all been 
 away, once for nearly two years at Malta, and again 
 for a while at Cyprus. And when here, so many 
 other cares have we had, that a single sermon on 
 
2' HE DRUZES, AND THE WARS OF LEBANON, 259 
 
 the Sabbath has been, for most of the time, all the 
 formal preaching that has been done. Add to this 
 a weekly prayermeetiug for six or seven months in 
 the year." 
 
 Again he says : " The labor of years has been ac- 
 complished in gaining experience, forming yj^^ueofthe 
 favorable acquaintances, doing away with '^'^^'^ 
 prejudice, disseminating evangelical truth, the suc- 
 cessful commencement of printing operations, etc. 
 All this labor is in the language of a vast nation of 
 Mohammedans, the sacred language of the whole 
 sect, the language of their prophet. And when 
 their power falls, it will be so much done towards 
 their conversion. Instead of being alarmed and 
 discouraged by the revolutions that are occurring 
 around me, I am interested in them as forerunners 
 of that great event," 
 
 The political changes have generally been very sud- 
 den in Syria. In April, 1842, Omar Pasha pisMtroua 
 imprisoned the leading Druze sheiks, and ^®^°^""°*'- 
 Albanian soldiers were arriving daily, as if to disarm 
 the Druzes. And so it proved. The Turks decided 
 to take the matter into their own hands. An army 
 was marched into Lebanon, accompanied by Moslem 
 sheiks and teachers, and the whole Druze nation 
 was compelled to appear, outwardly at least, as 
 Moslem.^ The motives of the government in this 
 
 1 These statements are made on the authority of a document re« 
 ceived from the mission in the year 1869. 
 
260 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 were chiefly political, but partly religious. They 
 wished to be able to draw recruits from this brave 
 people for the army, which could uot be doue should 
 they become Protestaut Christians ; and also, to re- 
 tain a strong party in Lebanon, to be used, as they 
 afterwards were used, against the large nominally 
 Christian majority of its inhabitants. They ex- 
 pected thus to control the mountains, and keep 
 down the influence of foreign Christian powers. 
 
 In this manner were the operations for educating 
 and Christianizing the Druzes suddenly arrested. 
 In working out their policy, the Turks necessarily 
 resorted to measures intended to place the Druzes 
 in bitter antagonism to all the native Christians. 
 In the atrocious massacre of 1860, which, for the 
 time, threw the Druzes far from all Christian sym- 
 pathy, that unfortunate people were used as tools by 
 the Turks to work out their own policy. Events 
 such as these, are among the deep mysteries of Prov- 
 idence. Nor is this mystery yet solved ; though, 
 from facts that will appear in the sequel, we shall see 
 enough to authorize the hope of a renewal at some 
 time, of the former pleasing relations between the 
 Druzes and Christian missionaries. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SYRIA. 
 
 1842-1846. 
 
 The mission was strengthened, early in 1842, by 
 the arrival of Dr. Henry A. DeForest and wife ; and 
 suffered a new bereavement in the death of Experiences 
 
 of the mis- 
 
 the second Mrs. Smith, but little more than 8»ou. 
 a year after her arrival. Some months later, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Sherman retired from the field, in conse- 
 quence of failing health. Messrs. Beadle, Wolcott, 
 and Leander Thompson, and Miss Tilden, also re- 
 turned home soon after. Mr. Lanneau rejoined the 
 mission, with his wife, early in 1843. 
 
 The Foreign Secretary and Dr. Hawes, visited the 
 mission in the early part of 1844, and as- j^ggjonary 
 sisted in a meeting of the missionaries, ^^^^^^^^^^^^i 
 which continued several days. Facts and principles 
 were freely discussed, and the results were embodied 
 in written reports, drawn up by committees ap- 
 pointed for the purpose. There is space for only 
 a concise statement of a few of these results. 
 
 It was recognized as a fact of fundamental im- 
 portance, that the people within the bounds 
 of the mission were Arabs, whether called 
 
262 Ml^SSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Greeks, Greek Catholics, Druzes, or Marouites, and 
 The people that the divers religious sects really consti- 
 
 all of one , 
 
 race. tutcd ODC racc. There were believed to 
 
 be advantages, iu the fact, that these sects were iu- 
 termiugled in the several villages, since the popu- 
 lation was less inclined to oppose, and more easily 
 accessible, than where the villages were exclusively 
 The most of ouc scct. Thc most hopeful parts of 
 
 hopeful dis- 
 tricts. Lebanon were the southern districts, in- 
 habited by a people social in their habits, owners 
 of the soil, shrewd, inquisitive, industrious, and 
 capable of devising and executing with tact and 
 efficiency. 
 
 There was much discussion as to the best manner 
 of cultivating the field, but all agreed that where- 
 ever small companies were ready to make a credible 
 profession of piety, they were entitled to be recog- 
 when to iiized as churches, and had a right to such 
 
 form 
 
 churches. a uatlvc miuistry as could be given them. 
 The reformed churches might combine persons from 
 several, and perhaps from all, the various sects ; and 
 the method of church organization should be such 
 as to throw the greatest responsibility on the indi- 
 vidual members. 
 
 The question was raised, whether the marked dis- 
 il^ht^q'uau- position in the mountain communities to 
 chS-^^"^ place themselves collectively under the in- 
 ship struction of the mission, would justify a 
 
 lowering of the qualifications for church-member- 
 
SYRIA. 263 
 
 ship, especially with refereuce to the baptism of chil- 
 dren. It was believed that no good would result 
 from this ; especially, as the people are so bent on 
 regarding baptism as a renewing ordinance. To 
 form churches in this way, would only be to mul- 
 tiply communities of merely nominal Christians. 
 
 The brethren admitted, that their labors had been 
 too little adapted, hitherto, to awaken relig- past errors 
 ious feeling among the people. The rea- ^^p^^'"^®- 
 sons assigned for this were, the absorbing demands 
 of the press and of education ; the habits of preach- 
 ing and laboring formed under past unfavorable 
 states of the field; and finally, a painful impres- 
 sion of the suffering that converts must endure, 
 with no civil power to interpose between them and 
 their persecutors. 
 
 To counteract the first of these causes, it was de- 
 cided to suspend the printing for a year; counteract- 
 and the seminary was revived, which had ^"s^eenciea. 
 been suspended in 1842, to counteract the second. 
 The remedy for the last two, was a more perfect re- 
 liance on the Holy Spirit and the divine energy of 
 the Gospel. It was the general opinion, that edu- 
 cation in all its parts should bear a fixed propor- 
 tion to the frequency, spirituality, and power of the 
 more formal preaching. Nor was it less clear, that 
 the press should be kept strictly subservient to the 
 pulpit. 
 
 The most remarkable call for preaching, at this 
 
264 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 time, was at Hasbeiya, a village of four or five 
 Call for thoasaud inbabitauts, situated at tlie foot 
 
 preaching at 
 
 Hasbei^^a. of Mouut Hermou.^ Druzes aud members 
 of the Greek Church made up the population, with 
 some Greek Catholics, Moslems, aud Jews. The vil- 
 lage lay about fifty miles southeast of Beirut, border- 
 ing on the country of the Bedawin, with whom was 
 its principal trade. As the result of this, the people 
 had much personal independence, with a tendency to 
 segregation; features which Mr. Smith noticed as 
 specially predominant among other native Christians 
 similarly situated, especially in the Hauran. 
 
 Early in the year 1844, a considerable body of the 
 Hasbeiyans seceded from the Greek Church, 
 
 Secession '' ' 
 
 G?Sk^^ declared themselves Protestants, and made 
 ^*^ ' a formal application to the mission for re- 
 ligious instruction. About fifty men came at one 
 time to Beirut for that purpose, and asked for minis- 
 ters to teach them. Their dissatisfaction with their 
 Church was not of recent date, but had been increas- 
 ing for years. It had arisen from the selfishness 
 and worldliness of their clergy, and their consequent 
 neglect of the fiock. These men had some acquaint- 
 ance with the mission, Hasbeiya having been visited 
 by more than one of the native book agents. It 
 was evident, however, that concern for the salvation 
 
 5 The New York Observer, from July 18th to August 29th, 1846, has 
 an instructive series of articles on Hasbeiya, from the pen of Dr. Eli 
 Smith. 
 
SYRIA. 265 
 
 of the soul was not the cause of their coming. What 
 they sought had reference solely to the present life. 
 Appropriate instruction was given, and they were 
 advised to go home, pay their taxes (which they had 
 not done), and do what they could to live in peace 
 with their townsmen, and then to write to the mis- 
 sion. A letter was received after a few days, stat- 
 ing that they had done as they were advised, and 
 urging the visit of a missionary. In this request 
 they were earnestly seconded by the two brethren 
 from the United States, who arrived at Beirut just 
 before the letter came. The mission sent two of 
 their native helpers ; but these had not left Beirut 
 before a second delegation arrived, more urgent 
 than the first. The native helpers were followed in 
 May by Messrs. Smith and Whiting, who soon saw 
 that they had been too backward to credit the sin- 
 cerity of these men. The hope of political advan- 
 tage had been abandoned, but their decision and 
 their numbers had steadily increased. The men 
 were about one hundred and fifty, and among them 
 were some of the most respectable inhabitants, and 
 a large proportion of enterprising men. Their love 
 of peace, as well as their decision, had secured for 
 them general respect. Some had made considerable 
 progress in Christian knowledge, and the neighbors 
 acknowledged that the profane among them had 
 left off swearing, and the drunkard had abandoned 
 his cups. The Sabbath, moreover, was carefully ob- 
 
266 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 served ; the old church fasts were given up ; prayers 
 to saints and to the virgin had ceased ; pictures 
 for adoration had disappeared from their houses ; 
 and it was remarkable that in these changes the 
 women were more zealous than the men. Still their 
 knowledge in all cases was very imperfect, and it 
 was uncertain how well they would endure perse- 
 cution. Nearly all the members of the mission 
 were there at different times ; as also Tannus el 
 Haddad, and Butrus el-Bistany, of the native help- 
 ers. 
 
 Meanwhile the spirit of persecution was rising. 
 The Greek Patriarch at Damascus became alarmed, 
 and tidings were received that a company of horse- 
 men was coming from Zahleh, a large nominally 
 Christian town at the eastern foot of Lebanon, to 
 force a recantation from the Protestants of Has- 
 beiya. Mr. Smith and Butrus were there at the 
 time. The stony-ground hearers had fallen off; yet 
 fifty adults were present at the preaching, and gave 
 Attention closc attcutiou. Of women a larger uum- 
 
 given to the 
 
 Gospel. ber than usual were present, and seemed 
 to be waking' up to the idea, that religion was a 
 thing for them. From twelve to fifteen women at- 
 tended a daily afternoon prayermeetiug. It was af- 
 ecting to think how lately these were blind devo- 
 tees of the virgin and the saints, and profaning the 
 name of God a hundred times a day. "- Going to 
 the afternoon service," says Mr. Smith, " where 
 
SYRIA. 267 
 
 Butrus addressed the people, I found the children 
 of the congregation assembled in the court, and 
 engaged in repeating the Assembly's Catechism. 
 Their order was perfect, their attention solemn, and 
 their answers generally given with correctness, 
 while the teacher showed his own improvement by 
 the explanations he gave them. Their parents and 
 friends stood around, and listened with evident grat- 
 ification, while curiosity had drawn the members of 
 a neighboring Greek family to their windows, and 
 they too were quietly looking on. To appreciate its 
 interest you must have been present, and heard the 
 shouts rising at the same time from an opposite 
 quarter, where the boys of the town were assembled 
 in belligerent array, and making a mimic (or rather 
 real) war, by throwing stones at each other, to see 
 which would gain the victory. The little company 
 before me, when I first came to the place, scarcely 
 two months ago, were as fully carried away as any 
 of them with these wild sports, and even parental 
 authority could not, for a Sabbath or two, bring 
 them to break ofif for an hour to learn the word of 
 God. Now, what a change ! It was as if the devil 
 had been cast out of them, and they were sitting in 
 their right minds. Such are missionary triumphs, 
 and the joy that springs from them is what the 
 world can neither give nor take away." 
 
 Some members of the community not being satis- 
 fled with the strictness of the mission in regard to 
 
268 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper, the two brethren 
 Needed ex- ^^^^ i»to a thorough cxplaDatioii of the 
 pianations. guj^j^^^j^^ ^his led to a loug and earnest 
 
 convei'sation. The next day, July 4, the people gave 
 in their reply ; which was, that they would yield en- 
 tirely to the judgment of the missionaries, who 
 might admit them to the rites of the church when 
 they thought them qualified. 
 
 On Sabbath, July 14, it being certain that the 
 A solemn p^oplc of Zahlcli wcrc comiug, the Protes- 
 covenant. tauts asscmblcd in the house of the mis- 
 sionary, to enter into a solemn covenant to stand by 
 each other to the last. After the service, they drew 
 up an engagement in the following terms : '' We, 
 whose names are hereto subscribed, do covenant 
 together before God and this assembly, and pledge 
 ourselves upon the holy Gospel, that we will remain 
 leagued together in one faith ; that we will not for- 
 sake this faith, nor shall any separate us from each 
 other while we are in this world ; and that we will 
 be of one hand and one heart in the worship of God, 
 jtceording to the doctrines of the Gospel. In God is 
 our help." The covenant was taken by them sep- 
 arately, each one standing by the table, and laying 
 his hand upon the Bible as it was read to him. 
 Sixty-eight names were subscribed on the spot; and 
 the number was increased next day to seventy-six, 
 all of them adult males. 
 
 ^'The affecting solemnity of this scene," writes 
 
SYRIA. 269 
 
 Mr. Smith, " I leave joii to imagine. I have heen 
 many years a missionary, and have wit- ^^airectiDg 
 nessed a great variety of heart-thrilling ^°''°^* 
 events, but this is one of the last that I shall ever 
 forget. Would that that chamber, as then crowded 
 with those hardy mountaineers, in the interesting 
 attitude of that moment, could have been thrown 
 upon the painter's canvas ! At some future day, 
 when the Gospel shall have triumphed here, it 
 would be cherished and admired as the first dec- 
 laration of independence against ecclesiastical tyi'- 
 anny and traditionary superstition.^' 
 
 About thirty horsemen arrived the next day from 
 Zahleh, to quarter themselves on the Prot- Arrival of 
 estant families until they yielded, or were p®"''*'"^^^ 
 impoverished; but the people, foreseeing their in- 
 tentions, had closed their houses, and assembled 
 elsewhere. The storm seemed now ready to burst 
 upon them. At this moment two Druzes, g^a^nabie 
 one tbe leading feudal sheik of the prov- ^'^^'^^«^"°^- 
 ince, the other a man of unequaled personal bravery, 
 made their way through the excited crowd ; seated 
 themselves by the side of the Emir; protested in 
 the strongest language against the treatment the 
 Protestants were receiving from their townsmen ; 
 warned all against treating them as men who had 
 no friends to take their part ; and called upon the 
 Emir to stand forth in their defense, promising to 
 support him if he did. This decided interference 
 checked a little the progress of events. 
 
270 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The people of Zalileh had been accompanied by 
 PfeTsecu- ^ number of Greek priests, and in prose- 
 *^''''' cutiug their object employed entreaties, 
 
 threats, bribes, reproaches, and actual violence. 
 They were countenanced by the Emir, and backed 
 up by a "Young Men's Party," which had grown 
 into an organization under the political excitement 
 of the times. They returned home in consequence 
 of an order obtained from the Pasha of Damascus, 
 but not until they had drawn away perhaps twenty, 
 old and young, some of whom soon after returned 
 to the instructions of Mr. Thomson and Tannus, 
 who had taken the place of Mr. Smith and Butrus. 
 While they were absent on the mountain to recover 
 from illness, the result of confinement, anxiety, and 
 a suffocating sirocco, the " Young Men " rose in 
 arms, against the Protestant brethren. They virtu- 
 ally took the government of the place into their own 
 hands, and the Protestant men fled to escape their 
 murderous violence. Returning to Hasbeiya, Mr. 
 Thomson found only the wives, mothers, sisters, and 
 daughters of those who had fled ; some of them so 
 poor as not to know how or where they could find 
 their daily bread, yet apparently without fear. He 
 The Protes- ^vcrtook the fugitivc people the next day, 
 fromi^V who were half perishing with hunger. 
 Abeih was their place of refuge ; and there 
 they remained till October, zealously attending upon 
 religious instruction. 
 
SYRIA. 271 
 
 la that month, oue of the two Druze skeiks ar« 
 rived, who had interposed on their behalf ^^.^ induced 
 on the fifteenth of July, bringing with him '°'''^'^- 
 a document from the Pasha of Damascus, procured, 
 it was said, by Mr. Wood, English Consul there, di- 
 recting their return and guaranteeing their en- 
 tire security. The guaranty proved to be illusive, 
 though probably not intended to be so. Strong, 
 unfriendly influences were subsequently brought to 
 bear on the Pasha.^ They were accompanied by 
 Butrus, and it was intended that one of the mission- 
 aries should soon follow. The party reached Has- 
 beiya on the fourteenth of October, and found those 
 who had remained there in great fear. The Patri- 
 arch having arrived the same day, to inflame the 
 passions of their enemies, intimidate the governor, 
 and weaken the hands of the Druze sheiks. Butrus 
 
 1 Not only the influence of the Patriarch of Damascus, but also 
 of the Russian Consul-general of Syria, who wrote to the Pasha as 
 follows, on learning that Mr. Wood had privately secured permission 
 for the Protestants to return home : — 
 
 " However, I may desire to address your Excellency on this subject 
 in a friendly manner, I must remind you, that I am serving the mag- 
 nificent Emperor of Russia, and that we have the right of protecting the 
 Greek Church in the Ottoman dominions. I should greatly regret, if I 
 were compelled to change my language and protest against every pro- 
 ceeding which may lead to the humiliation of the Greek Church at Has- 
 beiya, and the encouragement of pretended Protestants, especially as 
 the Sublime Porte does not recognize among her subjects such a community.'' 
 
 I give this on the authority of the Rev. J. L. Porter, English mis- 
 sionary at Damascus, a man every way competent to give testimony 
 in this case. 
 
272 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 wrote, advisiug that no missiouary come there until 
 the Patriarch was gone, and things had become 
 more quiet. He was succeeded by Tannus, in Octo- 
 ber, and he, in the following month, by Elias el- 
 Fuaz. The friendly governor was at length set aside 
 for one more in sympathy with their persecutors. 
 On the two following Sabbaths, the Bible-men were 
 stoned in the streets, and Elias el-Fuaz was seriously 
 wounded ; while the governor made only a sham re- 
 sistance, that emboldened the evil-doers, as he in- 
 PartiaiRuc- tcudcd it should, till tlic uativc preacher 
 
 cess of the n ^ 
 
 enemy. was drivcu from the place, and some of the 
 Protestants fled to Lebanon. Others, wearied with 
 persecutions to which they could see no end, com- 
 plied so far with the demands of the Patriarch, as to 
 visit the Greek church, though they took no part in 
 the services, and openly spoke against its idolatries. 
 This very partial compliance relieved them from per- 
 secution, but inwardly set them more firmly against 
 an organization that resorted to such measures to 
 retain them. 
 
 The station at Jerusalem was suspended in this 
 station at ycar, and Mr. Lanneau removed to Beirut. 
 
 Jerusalem 
 
 suspended. Mr. aud Mrs. Keyes, in consequence of a 
 failure of health, returned to the United States. 
 
 The seminary was now revived, not at Beirut, but 
 Thesemina- ^^ Abcih, fiftceu huudrcd feet above the 
 ry revive . gea-lcvcl, in a temperate atmosphere, and 
 with a magnificent prospect of land and sea. The 
 
SYRIA. 273 
 
 experience gained in the former seminary was of 
 use in reconstructing the new one. Its primary 
 object was to train up an efficient native ministry. 
 None were to be received to its charity foundation, 
 except such as had promising talents and were be- 
 lieved to be truly pious. The education was to be 
 essentially Arabic, the clothing, boarding, and lodg- 
 ing strictly in the native style, and the students 
 were to be kept as far as possible in sympathy with 
 their own people. 
 
 A chapel for public worship was fitted up, and 
 here, as also at Beirut, there was preaching every 
 Sabbath in the Arabic language, with an interesting 
 Sabbath-school between the services. Mr. Calhoun 
 having joined the mission, coming from Smyrna, 
 the charge of the new seminary was committed to 
 him. The Kev. Thomas Laurie arrived from Mosul 
 the same year. 
 
 Yakob Agha died in the year 1845. The evidence 
 he gave of piety had never been wholly p^^^^^ ^^ 
 satisfactory, but for the last six years he ^^^^^^ ^^^*- 
 was a communicant in the church. In this time he 
 appeared to be a changed man, and his missionary 
 brethren hoped that, with all his failings, he was a 
 sincere believer and died in the Lord. 
 
 In the spring of this year war broke out afresh 
 between the Druzes and Maronites, and ^etwe^n^he 
 Lebanon was again purged by fire. It was Swonite"^ 
 in no sense a religious war, but a desperate struggle 
 
 18 
 
2Y4 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 for political ascendency. The Maronite clergy in 
 
 the Druze part of the mountain had been rapidly 
 
 recovering power, and were as rapidly rising in 
 
 their opposition to the mission. The re- 
 
 Its results. 
 
 suit of this war, as aforetime, was the de- 
 struction of their villages and their power ; and the 
 Patriarch sank under the disappointment and died. 
 Moreover the party in Hasbeiya, which stoned the 
 Protestants and their teachers, were driven out of 
 the place by the Druzes, and great numbers of them 
 killed, so that the '^ Young Men's " party seemed to 
 be broken to pieces.^ 
 
 Abeih, now a missionary station, was inhabited by 
 both Druzes and Maronites, and the conflict began 
 there on tlie 9th of May. Our brethren were all 
 along assured by both parties, that neither they nor 
 their property would be molested, whichever was vic- 
 torious. The Druzes early had the advantage, and 
 the Maronite part of the village was speedily in 
 
 1 There was a special enmity of the Druzes against the Christians of 
 Hasbeiya. The most celebrated sacred place of the Druzes is on the 
 top of a hill just above Hasbeiya, called Khtlhvat el Biyad. In their 
 revolt against Ibrahim Pasha in 1838, he was aided by the Christians , 
 and when the Druzes were defeated in a battle near this place, their 
 sacred place was entered, and several chests of books, setting forth 
 their tenets, were scattered through the land. The Christians paid 
 dearly for their trespass. The leader of the Hauran rebellion became, 
 for a time, the governor of Ha^sbeiya, and for this loss imposed exorbi- 
 tant indemnities on every one, who had been known to take a book. 
 The consequent enmity between the parties doubtless had much to do 
 with the events described above. 
 
SYRIA, 275 
 
 flames, and more than three hundred and fifty Maro- 
 
 nites were obliged to take refuge in a strong palace 
 
 belonging to one of the Shehab Emirs. About two 
 
 hundred more, and among them several of Friendly ser- 
 vices of the 
 
 the most obnoxious, found an asylum in missionaries, 
 the houses of the missionaries, and in the house of 
 a native helper of the mission, which, being in the 
 centre of the Maronite quarter, was crowded with 
 refugees. Mr. Thomson ventured out in the midst 
 of the tumult, and succeeded in getting a guard of 
 Druzes and Greeks whom he could trust, placed 
 around this house, aud thus the people with their 
 goods were secured. The palace was in danger of 
 being taken by storm, and the people within it all 
 massacred ; when the leaders of the Druzes, to avoid 
 this, requested Mr. Thomson to carry a flag of truce, 
 with offers of safety and permission to retire when- 
 ever they might choose. This was done at some 
 risk, as the battle was still raging. After the sur- 
 render. Dr. Van Dyck dressed the wounded Maro- 
 nites in the palace, and brought several of them to 
 his own house. He also performed like services for 
 the wounded Druzes. This he did not without peril 
 to himself; for, returning alone from the neighbor- 
 ing village, where he had gone on this professional 
 errand, a Druze warrior mistook him for a Maronite, 
 aud was so enraged that one in an Arab dress and 
 with an Arab tongue should pretend to be an Amer- 
 ican, that, but for the providential coming up of one 
 
276 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 who knew the Doctor, he would have killed him on 
 the spot. Meanwhile Mr. Laurie had come safely 
 from Beirut;, attended by only two janissaries, and 
 passing through hordes of the victorious Druzes. 
 Finding, on his arrival, a half-burned corpse of 
 the Italian padre lying in the street, he buried it 
 under the pavement of his chapel. 
 
 The Maronites being in a starving condition, the 
 missionaries baked for them all the flour they had 
 on hand, and sent express by night to Beirut for 
 more. Fearing, too, that the Maronites might be 
 massacred by the Druzes on their way down to 
 Beirut, notwithstanding their Turkish escort, they 
 sent an express to Colonel Rose, the English Consul- 
 general, which brought him up immediately with 
 his most efficient protection. It should be added, 
 that on the day the Maronites left Abeih, a strong 
 proclamation came out from the Maronite and Greek 
 Catholic bishops at Beirut to all their people, re- 
 quiring them to protect all the members of the 
 American mission. 
 
 The reflections of Mr. Smith on the death of the 
 Reflections pcrsccuting Patriarch, are just and im- 
 SarcV^*' pressive. " What a lesson," he says, 
 " does that event, in such circumstances, 
 teach us ! After having martyred that faithful wit- 
 ness Asaad Shidiak, caused the Bible often to be 
 burned, had missionaries insulted and stoned, and 
 boasted that he had at last left no spot open for 
 
SYRIA. 277 
 
 them to enter the mountains, he finds himself 
 stripped of all his power; missionaries established 
 permanently in the midst of his flock, and his own 
 favorite bishop constrained to give orders for their 
 protection ; his people once and again ravaged and 
 ruined in wars, which his own measures have has- 
 tened, if they have not originated ; and finally he 
 sinks himself under his disappointment and dies. 
 How signally has the blood of the martyred Asaad 
 been avenged upon him even in this life." 
 
 The war broke up the schools in the mountains ; 
 but in the following year there were ten Afterthe 
 schools in charge of the station at Abeih, ^*'^' 
 with four hundred and thirty-six pupils. One hun- 
 dred and forty-four of these were girls, and one hun- 
 dred and ninety-seven Druzes. Connected with the 
 Beirut station, were four schools for boys and girls, 
 and one for girls alone. In Suk el-Ghurb, a vil- 
 lage four miles from Abeih, a Protestant secession 
 from the Greek Church was in progress, embrac- 
 ing fourteen families, and religious services were 
 held with them every Sabbath. At Bhamdun, the 
 summer residence for the brethren of the Beirut 
 station, there were a number of decided Protestants, 
 who declared that they found persons to sympathize 
 with them wherever they went. Even in Zahleh, 
 the hot-bed of fanaticism, there were men who 
 openly argued from the Gospel against the prevail- 
 ing errors. Mr. Smith wrote of a village on Mount 
 
278 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Herinon, that sixty men were known to be standing 
 ready to follow the example of Hasbeiya, as soon as 
 the Protestants in that place had made good their 
 position. He also declared the movement in Has- 
 beiya the beginning of what would doubtless have 
 been a great revolution, had persecution been de- 
 layed. 
 
 Mr. Lanneau's health constrained him to retire 
 from the field in 1846. In the same year. Dr. Van 
 Dyck, having acquired an extraordinary facility in 
 the use of the Arabic language, was ordained to the 
 work of the Gospel ministry. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 GREEGEi, 
 DB. JONAS KING AND THE GREEK HIERAKCHT. 
 
 1845-1847. 
 
 The struggle of Dr. Jouas King with the Greek 
 Hierarchy, deserves a perniaueiit record, importance 
 
 of tbis 
 
 The point at issue between them was, free- struggle. 
 dom to worship God and to preach the Gospel in 
 Greece. The conflict was not waged by Dr. King 
 as a Greek citizen, for such he never claimed to be, 
 though he was a propertj-owner in Athens, and 
 married to a Greek lady, who retained her nominal 
 connection with the Greek Church. 
 
 These facts were helpful to him, as was also his 
 American citizenship. A mere citizen of Greece 
 could not have maintained his ground after the per- 
 secuting hierarchy had overawed the courts of jus- 
 tice and the oflScers of state. His courage resem- 
 bled that of Martin Luther. He was a sturdy Puri- 
 tan, which no Greek at that time could have been ; 
 and he had strong resemblances to the great Re- 
 former, as will abundantly appear in the sequel. 
 Yet the fact of his foreign origin made him to be no 
 
280 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 more than the forerunner of a Grecian Luther. His 
 labors and sufferings only prepared the way for a 
 national reformation, which it may be hoped is yet 
 to come. 
 
 Early in 1845, a public accusation was made 
 Theaccusa- agaiust Dr. King, that he had uttered 
 
 tion against 
 
 him. impious language respecting the Virgin 
 
 Mary. In reply, he quoted from Epiphanius, Bishop 
 His re- ^^ Cyprus, one of the Fathers of the East- 
 'P°°^^- ern Church, who says : " Let the Father, 
 and the Son, and the Holy Ghost be worshipped ; 
 Mary, let no one worship." Such a defense, as the 
 writer anticipated, only increased the excitement. 
 The most abusive epithets were heaped upon him. 
 Among other things, he was accused of falsifying 
 the testimony of the Fathers. He published a 
 '' Defense," in a small volume of about two hundred 
 pages ; embracing a history of the controversy from 
 the beginning, and proving his teachings to be, as 
 he affirmed, doctrines of the Greek Church. This 
 he did by freely quoting from Epiphanius, Chrysos- 
 tom, Clemens, and others. The book was sent to 
 the most prominent men, civil and ecclesiastical, 
 in Greece and Turkey, and produced a powerful im- 
 pression. Several persons of distinction confessed 
 that it was true. 
 
 It was not to be expected, however, that such a 
 publication would escape the condemnation of the 
 more bigoted members of the Greek Church. The 
 
DR. KING AND THE GllEEK HIERARCHY. 281 
 
 oppositiou became furious, with threut^; ol' persoual 
 
 violence. In August, the ''Holy Synod increased vi- 
 olence of the 
 of the kingdom of Greece " formally dc- opposition. 
 
 nounced the book and its author. Dr. King was 
 characterized as a hypocrite, im poster, deceiver, as 
 impious and abominable, and a vessel of Satan ; and 
 after a confused and lame attempt at an answer, every 
 orthodox Christian was forbidden to read it, and re- 
 quired to deliver it to the flames. The writer was 
 pronounced '' an outlaw, whom no one might salute 
 or greet in the street," and all were forbidden to 
 enter his dwelling, or to eat or drink with him, on 
 pain of the most severe ecclesiastical penalty. The 
 Synod also requested the government to institute a 
 criminal prosecution. In view of all this. Dr. King 
 consoles himself with the Saviour's words (Luke vi. 
 22, 23;, "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, 
 and when they shall separate you from their com- 
 pany, and shall reproach you, and cast out your 
 name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye 
 in that day, and leap for joy." 
 
 In September, officers of justice entered the house 
 of the missionary, and seized all the copies 
 
 Remaining 
 
 of his book they could find, ninety-seven in ^^p'^^ "'^'^^^ 
 
 •^ y J by govem- 
 
 number. About nine hundred had been '"'^"^ 
 previously distributed. He was then summoned to 
 appear before one of the judges to be Hisexami- 
 examined. I give his own characteristic j^dge. 
 statement. 
 
282 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 " My examination and answers were as follows : — 
 
 Question, What is your name ? 
 
 Answer, Jonas King. 
 
 Q, Your country ? 
 
 A, The United States of America. 
 
 Q, Of what city? 
 
 A. Hawley, a country town. 
 
 Q. What is your age ? 
 
 A, Fifty-three. 
 
 Q, What is your profession ? 
 
 A. I am an evangelist, that is, a preacher of the 
 Word of God. 
 
 Q. What is your religion ? 
 
 A, What God teaches in His Word ; I am a 
 Christian, most orthodox. 
 
 Q. Did you publish this book, entitled " Jonas 
 King's Defense, etc. ? " 
 
 A, I did, and distributed it here and elsewhere. 
 I gave it to all the professors in the University, 
 and to others. 
 
 " The Judge then read to me my accusation as 
 follows : ' You are accused of having in your book 
 reviled the Mother of God, the holy images, the lit- 
 urgy of Chrysostom and Basil, the seven oecumen- 
 ical councils, and the transformation of the bread 
 and wine into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in the fearful mystery of the communion. 
 Have you any defense to Qiake ? ' 
 
 ''A. Those things in my book with regard to 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 283 
 
 Mary, with regard to trail substantiation, and with 
 regard to images, 1 did not say; but the most brill- 
 iant luminaries of the Eastern Church, St. Epipha- 
 nius, St. Chrysostom, the great St. Basil, St. Ire- 
 useus, Clemens, and Eusebius Pamphyli, say them. 
 
 Q. Have you anything to add ? 
 
 A, Nothing. 
 
 Q. Do you know how to write ? 
 
 A, Enough to write my name. 
 
 '' I was then directed to subscribe my name to the 
 examination, which I did, and went away." 
 
 In October, intelligence came of the " excommu- 
 nication " of the book and its author by the „, . ^ ^ 
 
 J His book de- 
 
 " Great Church " at Constantinople. They SZuntfnV 
 assigned the publicity which the " Defense " ^ ^" 
 had obtained in Turkey as the reason for this act ; 
 and this was doubtless the reason why the synodical 
 accusation was sent extensively to be read in the 
 Greek churches of the East. 
 
 The case went to trial, and was decided against 
 Dr. King in three successive courts, the The courts 
 last of which was the Areopagus, or highest against him. 
 court of appeal. This was in April, 1846. In this 
 latter court, he was well defended by two Greek law- 
 yers, and permission was granted him, at his I'e- 
 quest, to address the court. But after about twenty 
 minutes and repeated interruptions by the Presi- 
 dent, he was silenced altogether; not having the 
 freedom which the Pagan Areopagus of ancient 
 
284 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CEUBCHES. 
 
 times gave to the first missionary to Greece. The 
 effect of these decisions was to declare the offenses 
 charged against Dr. King to he criminal in law, anrl 
 to refer the case, for trial as to the trnth of the 
 charges and the infliction of pnnishment, to the 
 criminal court. If condemned, he mnst suffer 
 imprisonment. The trial was to take place at Syra 
 Goes to the "^ ^^^J' ^u inflammatory pamphlet was 
 cou™t°at secretly printed by a priest, named Callis- 
 ^^' "" tratus, for distribution at the place of trial 
 among judges, jurors, and the populace. It was in- 
 dustriously circulated among the lowest class, with 
 the avowed sanction of the high priest of the Cycla- 
 des. Dr. King soon ascertained that a conspiracy 
 was formed there against his life, similar to the one 
 which endangered the life of the great Apostle on 
 his last visit to Jerusalem. Three Greek lawyers 
 were engaged for his defense at Syra, of whom one 
 was Mr. Stephen Galatti, who had been educated by 
 the Board in America, and two of these accompanied 
 
 AdangerouB ^^^"^ ^^ ^^^^ stcamcr. At Icast a thousand 
 gathering, people awaitcd his landing. Such was the 
 excitement, that even the lawyers dreaded to go 
 among them, and the governor of the island con- 
 fessed his inability to give effectual protection. The 
 king's attorney decided, that he could not be legally 
 compelled to submit to a trial ou that day. His law- 
 Returnsto 5'^^'^ thercforc advised him to return in the 
 ^^^^°' steamer to Athens, which he did. Learn- 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK niERARCHY. 285 
 
 ing", soon after his arrival, throng'li his wife, of a 
 combination there to take his life, he uc- ts offered 
 
 British pro- 
 
 quainted Sir Edmund Lyons, the British tection. 
 Ambassador, with the fact, and that g-entlenian kind- 
 ly offered him Britisli protection in case of need. 
 
 It would be charitable to suppose, that tlie gov- 
 ernment had not entered into this prosecution will- 
 ingly, but were urged on by the hierarchy. Certain 
 it is, that the whole subject was allowed to rest for 
 nearly a year. But on the 4th of June, 1847, the 
 missionary received a citation from the offi- Again cited 
 
 for trial at 
 
 cers of government to appear in person for syra. 
 trial before the criminal court at Syra. As a simi- 
 lar court was at that moment holding a session in 
 Athens, he could regard the motive of the citation 
 as not very different from tliat which led tlie Jews 
 to demand the transfer of St. Paul's trial from 
 Csesarea to Jerusalem. It was subsequently af- 
 firmed, that this proceeding had been without the 
 knowledge of the Prime Minister and the Minister 
 of Justice ; and the King's attorney soon The citation 
 after recalled the citation. The British '''^^^^^'^• 
 Ambassador again proffered his kind offices, and 
 there were friends among the Greeks 
 themselves. But the great body of the 
 people were hostile, and Dr. King concludes one 
 of his letters thus : '^ I feel that my Lord and Mas- 
 ter has called me to this combat, and though it 
 seems to be waxing hotter and hotter, so long aa 
 
286 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 * 
 
 my Captain and Leader lives, I have nothing to 
 fear/' He was somewhat cheered hy the assurance 
 of a Greek of standing, that his hook, though the 
 cause of much suffering to the author, had given a 
 turn to public opinion. 
 
 After this Dr. King ventured out into the city 
 with considerable freedom, and conversed with such 
 as he met on the subject of religion. Many, even 
 some of the priests, saluted him in the streets, 
 though contrary to the commands of the Holy 
 Synod. A member of the Synod, who had sub- 
 scribed the excommunication, on meeting him re- 
 turned his salutation. 
 
 There was only a lull in the storm. In July of 
 Return of ^^^^ sauic ycar, a series of articles appeared 
 the storm. ^^ ^ leading newspaper of Athens called 
 the " Age,'' designed to excite the prejudices of the 
 Greeks against our missionary, and to urge them to 
 put a stop to the scandal of his preaching. The last 
 Extraordi- aud most extraordinary of these was avow- 
 
 nary accusa- 
 tions, edly from Simonides, and was fitted to pro- 
 duce an excitement in the Greek community. Its 
 statements were improbable in the highest degree, 
 and there could not have been a more affecting 
 proof of the superstition and bigotry of the people 
 of Athens, than the general credence given to this 
 gross fabrication. 
 
 The article was called ^' The Orgies," and was 
 under the headings of " Mystery of Marriage," and 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY, 287 
 
 " Mystery of Baptism ; " and a translation of it may 
 be found in the " Missionary Herald*" for 1847.^ 
 
 It was subsequently ascertained, that Simonides 
 was materially aided by two priests; who 
 were elevated, not long after, one to an 
 archdeaconry, the other to an archbishopric, under 
 the " Great Church " at Constantinople. What im- 
 mediately followed, will be described by Dr. King 
 himself. 
 
 ''While reading the article in my family, the 
 Governor of Attica, Mr. Soutzos, came in a can from 
 
 , 1.1 TT *^® Governor 
 
 and desired to speak with me alone. He of Attica. 
 informed me that he had come to say to me from 
 the Minister of the Interior, that, on the one 
 hand, they wished to give me protection, and that, 
 a week before, there was no reason for suspecting 
 any difficulty, unless it were from my own con- 
 science ; but that they desired me to put a stop to 
 the scandal of my preaching. He had also to say 
 to me from the Minister of Religion, that I must 
 do so, or the government would take some meas- 
 ures against me. 
 
 " To this I replied, that I considered it an insult, 
 on the part of the Minister of the Interior, to say 
 that I had no reason for fear except from my own 
 conscience, as I had reason to fear from the threats 
 I had heard from various quarters ; that my con- 
 science was perfectly clear, inasmuch as I had done 
 
 ^ See Missionary Herald for 1847, pp. 366-368. 
 
288 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 nothing but my duty ; that as to my preaching, I 
 considered myself free to preach the Gospel in my 
 own house. ' Yes,' said he, ^ but not to admit 
 others of the Greek religion.' I replied, that I 
 considered myself as having tlie same right, which 
 is enjoyed by the Roman Catholics, by the English, 
 by the King's chaplain, and by the Queen's, to hold 
 my service with open doors ; that the government 
 did not demand of any person of any other rite to 
 close his doors against such as might wish to come, 
 and that, should I do this, I might be justly sus- 
 pected of doing' somctliing improper ; that I had a 
 right to preacli in my own house, and that the con- 
 stitution protected me in this right; that I intended 
 to preach, and with open doors, and whosoever 
 wished might come ; that what had appeared in the 
 *' Age ' with regard to my religious service, called 
 the " Orgies," and with regard to proselytes, was 
 all false; and that it was folly for the government to 
 found an accusation, or take any measures against 
 me, on the ground of such abominable falsehoods. 
 But if they chose to prevent Greeks from coming 
 to my service, they had the power so to do. 
 
 " The governor said that this was the last advice 
 the Minister of Religion had to give me, and it 
 would be followed by severe measures. 
 
 '' During the greater part of this conversation, 
 my wife was present, and added remarks vindicating 
 my right to do as I pleased in my own house, and 
 
DR, KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 289 
 
 declaring the accusations, which had appeared in 
 the ' Age ' of the preceding day, to be false." 
 
 One of the two Greek lawyers already mentioned, 
 on being consulted with regard to an article in the 
 Penal Code, to which the Governor had referred, 
 said that it had no reference whatever to the case 
 of Dr. King, but only to secret societies. In the 
 evening, the missionary observed three sol- . , _ 
 
 o ' •' A guard of 
 
 diers guarding his house, and was told that ^°^^'®"' 
 they were placed there for that purpose. 
 
 Hearing that the Swedish Minister desired an 
 interview. Dr. King called, and was informed that 
 the King had expressed a wish that lie ^^^.^^ ^^.^^ 
 should " economize '' the present difficulty *^' ^"^• 
 by taking a journey, as in protecting him there 
 might be bloodshed; that the people were much 
 exasperated, and the Parliament being about to 
 assemble, many sought to throw everything into 
 confusion ; that they might feel obliged to order 
 him away, which they did not wish to do, as 
 then, in order to return, he must have a permit, 
 which it might be difficult to obtain ; whereas, if 
 he went away voluntarily, he could return whenever 
 he pleased. 
 
 It seemed wise to comply with these suggestions, 
 and Dr. King resolved to take the Austrian steamer, 
 then soon to leave the Piraeus for Trieste, ofrerofsir 
 Sir Edmund Lyons secured for him a pass- i^yo^s. 
 port, and assured him that he would take special 
 
 19 
 
291 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 caro of his family during his absence. At the 
 Piraeus he was most hospitably entertained by Mr. 
 and Mrs. Buel, of the American Baptist Mission in 
 Retires to ^^^^ placc. Hc arrivcd at Geneva on the 
 Geneva. gSth of August, whcrc hc uict with Chris- 
 tian sympathy and a hearty welcome. 
 
 Simon ides subsequently published other articles in 
 Moresian- the samc ncwspapcr, entitled "The Mys- 
 
 derous accu- 
 
 sationg. tcHcs of Jouas King/' and " Teaching of 
 Jonas King against the honorable and life-giving 
 Cross ; " and still another, entitled " He is sent 
 away;" all designed, and some of them well 
 adapted, to exasperate the multitude. An extract 
 from the last may find a place in this history. 
 
 " The false apostle, Jonas King, is out of the Greek 
 commonwealth. His nation -corrupting and Satanic 
 congregation of strange doctrine, already bearing 
 date of fifteen years, has now been destroyed. The 
 terrible progress of the great common scandal of 
 religious strange doctrine, has been smitten on the 
 head. In giving this important news we congratu- 
 late Greece, being persuaded that every other im- 
 portant question of the day holds, in respect to this, 
 a second place. It concerned religious sentiments, 
 from which flows thie Greek existence, the national 
 personality; and the corruption of these religious 
 sentiments, or even the simple disturbance of them, 
 effected especially in the female race, would overturn 
 from the foundation everything which holds together 
 the strong links of Grecian nationality and liberty. 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 291 
 
 " Of all the foreign holy apostles, of various re- 
 ligions and various heresies, unhappily for Greece, 
 heaped together from every quarter, no one became 
 more to be feared, and more destructive, than the 
 imposter and deceiver, Jonas King. A man of 
 much speech, of powerful sophistry, of infinite sub- 
 tlety, of hypocrisy incarnate, uniting in himself, also, 
 boldness and great pecuniary meaus, he v^as able to 
 proceed to such lengths, profiting for many years 
 from the double indijfference of the political and ec- 
 clesiastical authorities, as to proclaim publicly, that 
 the act of the holy Synod against him of the 5th of 
 August (19th, N. S.), vras unjust and false." 
 
 There can be no doubt that a withdrawal from 
 
 Greece, just at that time, was the only ju- The with- 
 drawal judi- 
 dicious course to be pursued; and perhaps cjo^s. 
 
 the proceedings of the government, in view of the 
 uncontrollable excitement of the people, were all that 
 could have been reasonably expected. For a week 
 after the departure of Dr. King, a guard ^jg house 
 of ten or twelve soldiers was kept at his ^^''^^''^^^ 
 house, to protect it from the mob. 
 
 Subsequently, the government went into a pro- 
 tracted examination of the case, for which g^^^^ ^^^^ 
 no satisfactory reason has been assigned. KTgoT 
 It had the effect to delay the return of Dr. 
 King, and it may have been designed for that end. 
 And perhaps they hoped, by elicitiug the truth, to 
 allay public excitement. 
 
292 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Dr. King proceeded to Malta in November, that 
 Proceeds to ^^^ miglit be nearer Athens, and Mrs. King 
 ^'^''^ joined him there in February. About that 
 
 time, by advice of his counsel, he petitioned the 
 Greek government to bring the examination to a 
 Editions of speedy close. While in Malta, he printed 
 
 hiH " Fare- 
 
 well Letter." bis " Farewcll Letter " ^ in French and 
 Italian, and the edition was distributed in Malta, 
 Sicily, Rome, Tuscany, and other places. An edi- 
 tion of two thousand copies is said to have been 
 printed in Sicily in 1849, of which nine hundred 
 copies were distributed in one niglit, and seven hun- 
 dred in another, apparently with good effect. 
 
 ^ This letter is mentioned repeatedly in the second, third, and sev- 
 enth chapters. The reader, who is curious to see precisely what it 
 was, will find the translation of a large portion of it in the Missionary 
 Herald for 1828, pp. 141-145. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DB. JONAS KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 
 
 1847-1869. 
 
 Impatient of longer delay, Dr. King boldly re- 
 solved upon returning to Athens, and he Rg^^j^g ^ 
 arrived there on the 20th of June, 1848. ^'^''''• 
 He assigns his reason for this in a letter to his 
 Secretary : " I thought it best," he writes. 
 
 His reasons. 
 
 " to wait no longer, but to throw myself 
 suddenly into the midst of the people, and take 
 vrhatever might come. No one ever took a castle 
 by remaining quietly outside. He may lose his life, 
 and he may take the castle. At any rate, here I 
 am. I believed it my duty to come, and to come 
 now, and I returned with my mind perfectly tran- 
 quil. I know that a sparrow shall not fall to the 
 ground without my Father, and that the very hairs 
 of my head are all numbered." 
 
 The newspapers were silent. The editor of the 
 "Age," who printed the "Orgies," gave ni,^p. 
 him his hand, and welcomed him back to *'®^* 
 Greece. Simonides tried to revive the excitement, 
 but did not succeed. Calling on most of the King's 
 
294 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Ministers, as a matter of civility, he was generally 
 received with cordiality. 
 
 It was not thought prudent, however, to resume 
 Resumes his ^^^ prcachlug at once, hut his hook depos- 
 labors. .^^^^ ^^g opened, and Bibles, Testaments, 
 
 and other religious books were again in demand. 
 Within six months after his return, he printed over 
 five hundred thousand pages of religious books ; and 
 the opening of the year 1849 found him preaching 
 publicly on the Sabbath, with a Scripture exposition 
 Thursday evening, and several young men much 
 impressed by these ministrations. The disturbed 
 political condition of Europe at that time, had a 
 tendency, no doubt, to divert the public attention. 
 One fact deserves mention. Just as a new paper 
 was about to be published at Athens, with the 
 special design of holding up Protestant missions to 
 popular indignation, a British fleet appeared in the 
 oflSng, and public attention was diverted from the 
 undertaking. In August, several students from 
 the University attended the Sabbath and Thursday 
 evening services, and called at other times for con- 
 versation, and two Greeks of hopeful piety were 
 accustomed to take part in reading the Scriptures 
 and extempore prayer at a Sabbath evening prayer- 
 meeting. The devoted missionary felt himself called 
 on to work while the day lasted. 
 
 It is worthy of note that Simonides, whose in- 
 Hi8 chief flammatory writings had led to the with- 
 
 accuser dis- 
 
 credited. drawal of our missionary brother from 
 
DR, KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY 295 
 
 Athens, pretended about this time to have discov- 
 ered certain Greek manuscripts of Homer, Hesiod, 
 etc., which he claimed to be more ancient than any 
 others, and some men of learning thought them to 
 be genuine ; but when they were discovered to be 
 forgeries, the people regarded him as a deceiver and 
 liar. 
 
 Nearly three years elapsed after Dr. King's re- 
 turn to Athens, and he began to be more ^ cheenng 
 encouraged in his work. He speaks of a ^^°^^®^*'' 
 call from an abbot of a convent, who embraced him 
 as a brother on leaving, and whom he regarded as 
 indeed a brother in the Lord. But early in the 
 spring of 1851, indications of public uneas- ^^^ ^^^^ 
 iness began again to appear. The Synod man°^ hts 
 represented to the Minister of Ecclesiasti- ^^"^^^"^ ^°^' 
 cal Affairs "the scandalous attacks of the American, 
 King, on the Holy and Orthodox Church,'' and de- 
 manded prompt redress according to law. 
 
 The first outbreak of the popular feeling was 
 in Dr. King's own house, on the 23d of 
 
 An outbreak. 
 
 March, by evil-minded persons assembled 
 at the usual preaching service on the Sabbath. 
 Entering the room, he found it crowded with more 
 than one hundred persons. The strictest attention 
 was given to the sermon, but a student of theology 
 in the University began to put questions immedi- 
 ately after the benediction, and a tumult soon arose. 
 The audience was composed of friends and foes, the 
 
296 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 former endeavoring to prevent a disturbance, while 
 Quelled by the the latter reviled them. Finding remon- 
 
 Ufcited States /> i i x 
 
 flag- strance unavailing, Dr. King unfurled at 
 
 the door the flag of the United States, which the ab- 
 sent Consul had committed to his care, and at the 
 sight of this the crowd immediately withdrew. 
 
 On the 15th of May, 1851, he was called to 
 His answers appear bcfore a judge to answer to the 
 *^^^"^«'' charge of proselyting. The first ten or 
 twelve questions and answers were similar to those 
 in the examination six years before. The remainder 
 is here reported : — 
 
 Question, What do you preach? 
 
 Answer. The Word of God; that is, the Scrip- 
 tures contained in the Old and New Testament, 
 which are recognized by all Christian Churches as 
 being the Word of God. This word I hold in my 
 hand, and endeavor to draw the attention of those 
 present to what it contains, saying, " Thus saith the 
 Lord," and pointing out to them the book, chapter, 
 and verse, where what I state is to be found. 
 
 Q. Have you any other service? 
 
 A. In the afternoon I have sometimes a service, 
 which consists in reading the Word of God, and in 
 prayer and some remarks, the object of which is to 
 draw the attention of those present to what Christ 
 teaches. 
 
 Q. Do many attend this service in the afternoon ? 
 A. Very few. 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY, 297 
 
 Q, Do you invite people to come to your preach- 
 ing*, or do they come of their own accord ? 
 
 A, In general they come of their own accord. If 
 any ask me if it is permitted to them, to come, I 
 always tell them that my house is open, and any one 
 who wishes is free to come. When I first com- 
 menced this service, in the time of Capodistria, I 
 invited his particular friend, old Mr. Konstantas, 
 and others. 
 
 Q. Our questions relate principally to the last 
 two years. 
 
 A* During that time, and since the great opposi- 
 tion to my preaching commenced, I have been par- 
 ticularly careful, in general, to avoid iuviting people. 
 
 Q. You are accused of having, this year and the 
 last, expressed things to the offense of others, and of 
 having expressed principles, sentiments, and opin- 
 ions, which attack in general the foundations of 
 religion, and are otherwise injurious. Have you 
 anything to say by way of defense ? 
 
 A, What religion is meant P If it be that of 
 Mohammed, I may be guilty. 
 
 Q. The religion of the Oriental Orthodox Church ? 
 
 A. I have already said that my preaching consists 
 in teaching what is contained in the Scriptures of 
 the Old and New Testament, that is, the Word of 
 God, which all the most distinguished early Fathers 
 in the Eastern Church, especially Chrysostom and 
 Athanasius, declared to be the only school of god- 
 
298 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 liness, the fountaiu at which all Christians ought 
 to drink; and if the Eastern Church acknowledges 
 these sacred Scriptures as the foundations of its re- 
 ligion, I cannot be guilty of the charge, for I have 
 said nothing against those bases. As to the super- 
 structure, what has at various times been built up 
 on these foundations, I have nothing to say at this 
 time. That is quite another question, and one 
 which the accusation does not touch. But against 
 the foundations themselves, as ah'eady explained, I 
 can have said nothing, because I preach that Word, 
 which contains them. And besides, I consider it a 
 sin for any one to preach anything of his own, and 
 that it is the duty of every one to preach only what 
 is contained in the Word of God." 
 
 The judge then said, " The examination is 
 ended." i 
 
 Dr. King, sometime before, had prepared an 
 Effect of a " Expositiou of an Apostolical Church," 
 
 new publi- 
 cation, founded entirely on the Word of God, which 
 
 was printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This 
 
 was extensively distributed, and was denounced by 
 
 the Greek hierarchy in Constantinople, Smyrna, 
 
 and Thessalonica. In September, the Council of 
 
 Allegations Judgcs in thc Criminal court of Athens, a 
 
 for a new 
 
 trial sort of grand jury, presented him for trial 
 
 in that court upon the allegations, that for two 
 years he had " preached within his house in this place 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1851, p. 268. 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 299 
 
 publicly, in the exposition of the sacred Scriptures, 
 that baptism is no other than a simple symbol, 
 and consequently it is indifferent whether men are 
 sprinkled or immersed ; that those who eat a little 
 bread, and drink a little wine, are foolish in thinking 
 that they will be saved by this communion ; that the 
 most holy mother of God is not ever-virgin ; that 
 those who worship her, as also the other divine 
 images, are idolaters ; that he does not accept the 
 sacred Councils, and the things ordained by them in 
 religion, and handed down by tradition to the ortho- 
 dox Christians in later times ; that the fathers and 
 the saints of the orthodox Oriental Church of 
 Christ were deceivers, and as a consequence of this, 
 they brought in divers heresies ; that holy baptism 
 is no other than an external sign for Christians ; '^ 
 etc. 
 
 There were successive appeals, as in the former 
 case, up to the Areopagus ; but with similar results, 
 except that the highest court decided that the penal 
 law did not apply to one half of the allegations. It 
 was hoped that the matter would end here, but a 
 trial was ordered for the 5th of March, 1852. 
 
 Great pains were taken, by the evil-disposed, to 
 excite a tumult when Dr. King was brought ^j^^ ^^^ ^^ 
 before the court; and the head of police, ^*^®'"' 
 while giving assurance of protection, advised him to 
 go to the court-house in a carriage. This he de- 
 clined. After a prayer with his family, he took hia 
 
300 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 little son by the hand, and, in company with an 
 American friend, walked first to the house of Mr. 
 Pellicas, one of his lawyers. There he was told, that 
 the King-'s attorney, in view of the excitement 
 among the people, desired him to wait till he could 
 enter the court with some hope of safety. But Dr. 
 King" did not wish a postponement on account of 
 the excitement, of which there would always be 
 Decides to go "^^^'^ ^i' ^^ss, aud SO they set out again on 
 roomVeniV^ foot for thc court-room. It was with diffi- 
 culty they pressed through the crowd, iu 
 which the peculiar hats of many priests were to be 
 seen on all sides. Our missionary declares, that he 
 felt very happy, though not indifferent to his posi- 
 tion, in the full belief, that the result would be 
 good. 
 
 The charge of reviling the dogmas of the Eastern 
 Church, which was now their only dependence, was 
 Extraord!- "^^ provcd. So thc Kiug's attorney had 
 nary proofs, ^ecourse to the " Exposition of an Apos- 
 tolical Church," printed in the United States, to the 
 " Defense," printed in 1845, and to the " Farewell 
 Letter," printed twenty-seven years before, which 
 formed no part of the indictments, on the assump- 
 tion that he must have preached the sentiments 
 they contained. But even so, his preaching would 
 be no more a reviling of the dogmas of the Greek 
 Church, than any other exposition of the doctrines 
 held by the millions of Protestants in Europe and 
 
dh. king and the gheek hierarchy. 801 
 
 America. His lawyers made an able defense, though 
 embarrassed by the evident bias of the President of 
 the court. After a trial of six hours, Dr. King was 
 adjudged to be guilty, and was condemned niscondem- 
 to fifteen days' imprisonment, to pay the °^**°"- 
 costs of court, and then to be banished from the 
 Kingdom of Greece. 
 
 The court-house was soon cleared by the soldiers, 
 but such a crowd awaited Dr. King without, that the 
 military officer in charge proposed to call a carriage, 
 and the King's attorney consented to his returning 
 to his own house for the night, rather than going 
 immediately to prison. He went out through a 
 back door, and the officer ordered two or three sol- 
 diers to mount the carriage before and behind. 
 Just as they entered the carriage, a rush was made 
 by the crowd, but the soldiers drove them back with 
 their bayonets. 
 
 He had been arraigned for violating the seven- 
 teenth and eighteenth articles of the Penal Ground of 
 
 the coiidem- 
 
 Code ; yet the attorney failed to prove the nation. 
 ** reviling," contemplated in the seventeenth article, 
 and the Areopagus had decided that the eighteenth 
 did not apply to the case. So that Dr. King was 
 adjudged to be deserving of imprisonment and ban- 
 ishment, simply for preaching the Gospel in his own 
 house, as held by all evangelical Christians, Yet the 
 government claimed to be tolerant of all religions. 
 On the 9th of March, Dr. King entered the prison 
 
302 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 of Athens, where were one hundred and twenty-five 
 isimpris- prisoners, occupying eleven small rooms, 
 ^^^^' eight of which were ten or eleven feet 
 
 square, with from eight to twelve prisoners in each, 
 the other three being larger. 
 
 " My heart is not sorrowful," he writes on the 
 same day, " but full of joy. I consider this as one 
 of the brightest days of my life. With my whole 
 heart I thank the Lord Jesus Christ, that I am 
 counted worthy to suffer shame for his name, and 
 for the truths which he has taught. The morning 
 before I came to the prison, I read with great inter- 
 est, yea, I may say with tears of joy, Hebrews xi., 
 xii., and xiii. ; and I felt constrained to render to 
 the Most High ascriptions of praise for mercies, 
 rather than to seek freedom from trials. My prin- 
 cipal petition to God, during all these days of ex- 
 citement and triumph of the enemy, has been, that 
 the name of the Lord may be glorified in me, and 
 that the cause of truth may finally prevail.'^ 
 
 On the 10th, having appealed to the Areopagus, 
 Appeals to hc was rcmovcd to the police office, where 
 
 the Areop- 
 agus, he was treated kindly, and his friends had 
 
 liberty to call upon him freely. Three days later, 
 
 becoming ill of a fever, he was removed to his own 
 
 house, where he remained, under a guard provided 
 
 Which con- for the purpose, till the decision of the 
 
 firms the 
 
 sentence. Arcopagus was aunounccd on the 25th. 
 The sentence of the Criminal Court was confirmed. 
 
DK KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY, 303 
 
 By the more intelligent in the community, 
 whether native or foreign, and by several of the 
 ablest journals, the proceedings of the court were 
 strongly condemned. Twelve Greek law- Greek law- 
 yers, several of whom had held the highest f/om thr" 
 offices in Greece and were among the 
 most distinguished of their profession, signed their 
 names to a letter, declaring their entire dissent 
 from its proceedings.^ 
 
 Execution of the sentence of banishment was de- 
 layed by a protest from Dr. King, in the name of 
 the United States Government, indicating Drying ap- 
 his intention to appeal to that government. ?Sited*stete8 
 The time had now fully come for extending ^ ^^'"""^^'^ • 
 to him the protection due to missionaries in their 
 just rights and privileges. There can be no doubt, 
 that missionaries have equal claims to protection 
 with their fellow-citizens, in the lawful ^^ _. x,. . 
 
 ' The rights of 
 
 pursuit of their profession as preachers of ^^^^io"^"^^- 
 the Gospel.2 In 1842, Daniel Webster, being then 
 Secretary of State, instructed Commodore Porter, 
 Minister Resident at Constantinople, " to omit no 
 occasion, where his interference in behalf of Amer- 
 ican missionaries might become necessary or useful, 
 and to extend to them the proper succor and atten- 
 
 ^ See Annual Report for 1852, p. 55, and Missionary Herald for 
 1852, p. 239. 
 
 '^ See Proceedings at the Annual Meeting of the Board in 1841, pp. 
 36-39. 
 
304 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tions of which thej might stand in need, in the 
 same manner that he would to other citizens of the 
 United States, who as merchants should visit or 
 reside in Turkey." ^ Happily Mr. Webster was 
 again in the same high office. Twenty-nine years 
 before, while the Greeks were fighting for their in - 
 dependence, he had eloquently pleaded their cause 
 in the House of Representatives of the United 
 States, and procured their recognition as a nation 
 by our government. An appeal now came to him 
 from an American citizen of the highest respectabil- 
 ity, suflPering oppression by that very nation which 
 he had so befriended. There being no diplomatic 
 The appeal ^g^^t of thc Uuitcd Statcs iu Grcccc, the 
 responded to. ^^^^ Qcorgc P. Marsh, thc Icamcd and 
 
 able Minister Resident at Constantinople, was in- 
 structed to proceed to Athens in one of the ships of 
 war, and inquire into the case, with one or more of 
 the national vessels in that neighborhood subject 
 to his order. Having a competent knowledge of 
 the Greek language, Mr. Marsh entered upon his 
 delicate mission in August, 1852, and prosecuted it 
 till the arrival of his successor in the Constantinople 
 embassy, late in 1853. During this time, Mr. Web- 
 ster died, and was succeeded by Edward Everett; 
 and he again by Mr. Marcy, on the accession of 
 President Pierce. Mr. Webster's letter of instruc- 
 
 1 See Memorial Volume of the First Fifty Years of the A. B. C. F 
 A/., p. 201. 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 305 
 
 tion, dated April 29, 1852, states the case clearly, 
 as it does also the rights of missionaries. Mr. 
 Everett's letter, dated February 5, 1853, gives the 
 opinion of President Fillmore, based on Mr. Marsh's 
 report of the case. " Although the forms opinion of 
 
 the Presi- 
 
 of the law may in general have been ob- deut. 
 served," Mr. Everett writes, " it is quite plain, that 
 Dr. King was not tried for any offense clearly 
 defined by the law of Greece ; that his trial was in 
 many respects unfairly and illegally conducted ; that 
 the constitution and laws of Greece guarantee a full 
 toleration of all religious opinions ; and that there 
 is no proof that Dr. King has exceeded the just 
 limits of the liberty of speech implied in such toler- 
 ation." " Either the sound and safe maxims of 
 criminal jurisprudence," he adds, " which prevail in 
 this country, are unknown to the jurisprudence of 
 Greece, or her tribunals were presided over by per- 
 sons who entertained very false notions of the judi- 
 cial character, or there are prejudices against Dr. 
 King, which, in this case at least, corrupted the 
 fountains of justice. It may have been in part pro- 
 duced by all three, and there is reason to suppose 
 that such is the case. This state of things unavoid- 
 ably destroys all confidence in the Greek courts, as 
 far as Dr. King is concerned, and compels the Pres- 
 ident to regard their decision in this case as unjust 
 and oppressive."^ He repeats the declaration of Mr. 
 
 1 Congressional Documents, No. 9, Senate, 1854, p. 6. 
 20 
 
306 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Webster, that missionaries are entitled to all the 
 protection, which the Law of Nations allows to be 
 extended to citizens who reside in foreign coun- 
 tries in the pursuit of their lawful business. Mr. 
 Marsh was to communicate to the government of 
 Greece the decided opinion of the President, " that 
 Dr. King did not have a fair trial, and that conse- 
 quently the sentence of banishment ought imme- 
 diately to be revoked." 
 
 The piece of ground in Athens purchased by Dr, 
 King in 1829, was at that time little prized by Turks 
 or Greeks. But after the capital became perma- 
 nently fixed there, the land had become a most 
 desirable part of the city, as it commanded an un- 
 obstructed view of many of the finest ancient mon- 
 uments and interesting localities of Athens. For 
 this I'eason it was early selected by the government 
 as the site of a national church. The law required 
 the value of all land thus taken, to be paid for 
 before it was put to use. Years passed, and the 
 government neither made use of it, nor allowed the 
 owner to build upon it, and yet refused all compen- 
 sation. This act of gross injustice — so gross that 
 it even subjected the government to the suspicion 
 of sinister aims in the prosecution of Dr. King, ^ — 
 was one of the points referred to the President of 
 the United States, and he declared his conviction, 
 
 ^ Senate Documents, p. 184. 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCBY, 307 
 
 that compensation ought immediately to be m-cule l)y 
 
 the government of Greece. 
 
 After some delay, this was done, but I know not to 
 
 what extent. Mr. Paicos, the Minister of Justice par- 
 tially ren- 
 
 Foreign Affairs, objected, on purely tecli- ^ered. 
 nical grounds, to reversing the judgment founded 
 on the charge of reviling the dogmas of the Greek 
 Church ; and as Dr. King very properly refused to 
 receive a pardon, that judgment remained in force. 
 It was never revived, however, and Mr. Pellicas, one 
 of the counsel for the defense, having become Min- 
 ister of Justice, a royal order was issued, sentence of 
 
 , baaishmeut 
 
 revoking the sentence of banishment. revoked. 
 
 " Dr. King and his creed," writes Mr. Marsh to 
 the Secretary of State, " have served as a ^^ Marsh's 
 convenient scape-goat, to bear maledictions °p^^°^- 
 intended for other teachers and other doctrines, as 
 well as for himself and his faith ; or perhaps as an 
 experiment, to test how far the Greek government 
 would sustain, or foreign powers permit, the en- 
 croachments of an intolerant priesthood upon the 
 guarantees of the independence of Greece, and the 
 solemn sanction of the constitution and laws." 
 
 A manifest change now took place in the popular 
 sentiment towards the persecuted mission- j-^yorabie 
 ary. Many who had been bitterly opposed, ?he plpJoar 
 
 1 1* 1 mi 1 • • 1 -I sentiment. 
 
 became cordial. The preaching service had 
 
 forty or fifty hearers, who were generally attentive. 
 
 The '^ Exposition of an Apostolical Church " con- 
 
308 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tinned to attract notice. Dr. Earth's " Ecclesiasti- 
 cal History," translated by Dr. King, was extensively 
 read ; and the American Bible Society responded 
 to an application for a new grant of ten thousand 
 copies of the New Testament for the schools. Near 
 the close of 1854, Dr. King placed at the disposal 
 of the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public 
 Instruction for the use of schools, a thousand copies 
 of '' Chrysostom on Reading the Scriptures," printed 
 with the sanction of the American Tract Society. 
 The Minister replied, thanking him for the books, 
 and sending him a copy of a circular he had ad- 
 dressed to the teachers strongly recommending the 
 reading by the pupils, not only of Chrysostom, but 
 of the Scriptures also. Several young men ap- 
 peared truly converted, and a class in theology was 
 formed, made up of two young men from Athens 
 and four from Constantinople. These had been in 
 the Greek department of the Bebek Seminary, and 
 were sent to study with Dr. King in consequence 
 of the death of Mr. Benjamin. After a year and a 
 half he still had this class. To aid them he wrote 
 a little work in modern Greek, combating the idea, 
 prevalent with many, that nothing in the Word of 
 God can be understood, except by those who have 
 been enlightened by the study of the Fathers. In 
 January, 1857, he finished correcting the fifth vol- 
 ume of the American Tract Society's publications iu 
 modern Greek. The first volume he printed in 1853, 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 309 
 
 the second and third in 1854, the fourth in 1855. 
 The five volumes contained more than two thousand 
 five hundred pages, and were in an eligible form ; 
 but they were found to be in advance of the national 
 taste for religious reading. 
 
 The old enmity in Greece burst forth, once more, 
 with violence, in forgeries and fictions of Temporary 
 an extraordinary character. It was then Jhe^Jidren-^ 
 regretted by many patrons of the mission, 
 that the veteran missionary sustained consular rela- 
 tions to the United States, which prevented him 
 from meeting this crisis in the simple character of 
 a missionary ; and such may have been the feeling 
 of Dr, King himself, but he found it difficult to 
 change his relations while the storm was raging. 
 The public excitement, however, soon subsided, and 
 he went on with his work unmolested. 
 
 In September, 1859, Dr. King was most unex- 
 pectedly cited to appear before the judicial Unexpected 
 authorities, to answer to charges brought "^'^°°- 
 agaiust him, two years and a half before, by a Greek 
 named Kephalas. After an examination of two 
 hours, the accusation was read to him. Its import 
 was not clear ; but it implied an apprehension, that 
 he was secretly endeavoring to form a Christian 
 Church, — an exclusive body, with members, meet- 
 ings, rules, and occupations, and a religion not rec- 
 ognized by the government. 
 
 After nearly a year, the Council of Judges de- 
 
810 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL C EURO HE S. 
 
 cided not to proceed then with the proscution^ and it 
 Thejudges was never resumed. Dr. King now printed, 
 
 decide not to , . i • 
 
 proceed. at pHvate expense, five vohimes of his own 
 writings; one in French, and four in modern Greek. 
 Morepubii- Two of thc volumcs in modern Greek are 
 
 cations by 
 
 Dr. King. supposcd to havc been made up of forty- 
 eight of bis sermons, and one of miscellaneous doc- 
 uments. Among them were his Farewell Letter ; 
 his Defense ; Speech before the Areopagus in 1846 ; 
 Exposition of an Apostolic Church ; Religious Eites 
 of an Apostolical Church ; Canons for tbe Inter- 
 pretation of the Scriptures ; Orgies of Simonides ; 
 Answer to the Greek Synod ; The Opinion of Twelve 
 Lawyers ; Letter of the Hon. George P. Marsh to 
 the Greek Government; etc. 
 
 In the great work of giving the Word of God to 
 ThecoSpera- thc pcoplc of Grcccc, Dr. King fully ac- 
 others. knowledges the hearty cooperation of the 
 Episcopal and Baptist missionaries, and of Bible 
 agents both British and American. 
 
 In the autumn of 1862, King Otho and his queen 
 Arevoiu- wcrc coustraiucd to fly from Greece. In 
 **°°" the midst of the consequent revolution, the 
 
 head of police sent a company of soldiers to protect 
 the house of the missionary, but Mrs. King told 
 him they were not afraid, and the soldiers went 
 Wflgraceof away. The editors of the '' Age'^ and of 
 
 old persecu- 
 tors, the " Hope," his most bitter persecutors 
 
 in years past, now fell into deep disgrace, and were 
 
DFL KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY, 311 
 
 in peril of their lives. Prince Alfred, of Protestant 
 England, was elected king by an almost unanimous 
 vote. Not obtaining him, they elected a New king 
 
 and coastitu- 
 
 liing from Protestant Denmark. George tion. 
 I. arrived in October, 1863, and was received by 
 the people with much joy. The form of gov- 
 ernment is a constitutional monarchy. There are 
 neither titles nor privileged classes among the peo- 
 ple. The only qualification for voting is that of a 
 prescribed age, and all citizens are eligible to the 
 offices of the state, who possess the required mental 
 qualifications. Unfortunately for Greece, the article 
 of the constitution of 1843 is retained, which, while 
 it grants toleration, prohibits pi'oselytism from the 
 Established Church, which it declares to be a crime 
 punishable by the penal code. It will be well for 
 Greece, if this be dropped from the constitution 
 in the revision to be made in 1875. In 
 March of the year following, tweuty-six 
 editors of newspapers at Athens formed a society, 
 " to discuss subjects connected with the good of 
 the country," and, by a large majority, chose Dr. 
 Kalopothakes, editor of the " Star of the East," for 
 their President. In May, the venerable missionary 
 was invited by the king to administer the Lord's 
 Supper in the palace; which was no more An act of 
 than an act of public justice towards one "ce. 
 of the oldest, most disinterested, and self-sacrificing 
 of the friends of the Greek nation. 
 
 Association 
 of editors. 
 
312 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Dr. Kiug's health was now much impaired, aod 
 Visit to the required a change; aud iu July, 1864, he 
 
 United 
 
 States. left Athens, with Mrs. King, and reached 
 
 the United States in August, where they remained 
 three years. Their return to Greece was in the au- 
 Retums to ^^^^ of 1867, and the missionary was happy 
 Greece. ^^ g^^j somc of his formcr pupils actively 
 engaged iu labors not very dissimilar to his own. 
 Two were preachers of the Gospel; Mr. Kalopothakes, 
 Zealous na- ^^^om thc Ncw York Uuion Theological Sem- 
 tiFe labors. Jnary, ordained by a Presbytery; and Mr. 
 Constan tine, from Amherst College and Andover Sem- 
 inary, and ordained by a Congregational body. A third, 
 Mr. Sakellarius, a printer, studied for a while in the 
 Baptist Seminary at Newton, and had charge of the 
 office of the " Star." All three had their Bible classes 
 aud Sunday-schools. Dr. King wisely avoided inter- 
 fering by a separate service of his own. Sometime 
 before his return, a mob, excited by the report that 
 " Puritanism '^ was taught in these schools, nearly 
 forced its way into the house of Dr. Kalopothakes ; 
 but an officer of the police passed at the moment, 
 and arrested some of the ringleaders. The Cretan 
 refugees were then there, aud about twelve hundred 
 of these were in their day and Sabbath-schools. 
 
 In April, 1868, a distinguished Professor iu the 
 Conference Uuivcrsity arranged for an interview be- 
 prSidentof twccu Dr. Klug aud the President of the 
 the Synod. ,, ^^^^ Syuod." This mau in 1863 signed 
 
DR. KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY. 313 
 
 the accusation against Dr. King, in consequence of 
 which, after his return to Greece, he was a third 
 time cited before the Criminal Court, though with- 
 out any result. The interview was altogether pleas- 
 ant, and was a striking illustration of the progress 
 of public opinion. " A considerable degree of relig- 
 ious liberty has been gained," writes the missionary, 
 " and a foundation has been laid, on which, I trust, 
 will one day arise a beautiful superstructure." 
 
 Dr. King finished his course at Athens on the 22d 
 of May, 1869, in the seventy-seventh year his death. 
 of his age. 
 
 The characteristics of this remarkable man are 
 everywhere apparent in the preceding uar- Ge^eraire- 
 rative. He was evidently designed by ^^^^°'^- 
 Providence to be a reformer ; and though he lived 
 not to witness anything that could be called a ref- 
 ormation among the Greek people, the battle he 
 fought through so many years with the bigotry and 
 intolerance of the Greek hierarchy, will be held in 
 perpetual remembrance. A reformation has begun, 
 and Dr. King, more than any other Protestant, was 
 the instrument of Providence in bringing it about. 
 To him is it owing, preeminently, that the Scrip- 
 tures, since the year 1831, have been so extensively 
 used in the schools, and that, in Greece, " the Word 
 of God is not bound." It is not forgotten, that 
 others labored with him, and not in vain ; but it is 
 mainly to the preaching of Dr. King, during his 
 
314 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 protracted residence in Greece, in connection with 
 his persistent and triumphant struggle with the 
 Greek hierarchy, that we owe, under God, the vis- 
 ible decline of prejudice against evangelical truth 
 and religious liberty. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE NESTOKIANS. 
 
 1841-1848. 
 
 Mb. and Mes. Perkins, finding a sea voyage 
 necessary for the recovery of her health, visit of Mr. 
 
 and Mrs. Per- 
 
 left Oroomiah July 5, 1841, and arrived at ^i"s ^o the 
 
 •' ^ ^ United 
 
 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 Yohanuan, who Accompanied 
 
 by Mar Yo- 
 
 desired so earnestly to see the new world, hannan. 
 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 difi'erent 
 parts of the country with Mr. Perkins were both 
 pleasant and useful. 
 
 The number of pupils in the seminary at the 
 
316 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 close of 1841 was forty-six ; there were also eight- 
 « , , ^ een in the boarding-school for girls, and 
 
 Schools and ^ ^ 
 
 the press. there were twenty free schools in as many 
 villages, all tanght by Nestorian priests. The free 
 schools contained four hnndred and seventy pupils, 
 of whom forty were girls; making the whole num- 
 ber in the schools five hundred and sixteen. The 
 press, during its first year, sent forth sixteen hun- 
 dred volumes, and three thousand six hundred 
 tracts, containing in all five hundred and ten thou- 
 sand i>n2:es. Under the superintendence 
 
 Improved i o i 
 
 *^P" of Mr. Perkins, Mr. Homau 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 Oroo- 
 miah, with the help of a native assistant, cut and pre- 
 pared 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 difi'erence being that in one the stroke was 
 larger and the letter more open. Mr. Breath after- 
 wards prepared a third set, of a medium size com- 
 pared with the other two. 
 
 While the plain of Oroomiah is perhaps one of 
 the most fertile and beautiful in the world, its luxu^ 
 riant 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 
 
THE NESTOBIANS. 317 
 
 sufficient, a health-station was formed in the ele- 
 vated 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 em- 
 barked at Boston on their return in March, 1843. 
 They were accompanied by the Rev. David Newmis- 
 T. Stoddard and wife, and by Misses Cath- "°°""''- 
 erine E. Myers and Fidelia Fiske, who went to pro- 
 mote 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, Mr. Perkins- 
 
 history of 
 
 while at home, prepared for the press an themisBion. 
 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 illus- 
 trated 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 version of 
 there were strong reasons for making it tures. 
 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. 
 
318 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 The female seniiDary at Oroomiali now came un- 
 Reiigious ^^^ ^^^ efficient superintendence of Miss 
 iatiuences. pjske, and soou assuuicd a very interesting 
 religious character. The whole number under in- 
 struction in the two seminaries, and in the forty- 
 four village free schools, was eleven hundred and 
 forty-two. The call for preaching tasked the capac- 
 ity of the mission. The missionaries were free to 
 preach in the Nestorian churches, and generally 
 found attentive congregations, aud they were aided 
 in the ministry of the word by five intelligent native 
 preachers. Dr. Perkins thus speaks of a congrega- 
 tion 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 com- 
 ments of approbation. Priest Abraham spoke very 
 appropriately and feelingly on the subject of tempta- 
 tions, 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 address- 
 ing them on the things that pertain to their ever- 
 lasting well being.'* 
 
 The eff'orts of the Jesuits among the Nestorians 
 began in 1838. In 1842, they pushed their prose- 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 319 
 
 lyting measures so recklessly among the Armenians 
 of Ispahan and Tabriz, as to lead the Per- The Jesuits 
 
 and brench 
 
 sian King, at the instance of the Russian Goverunjent. 
 Ambassador, to send them out of the kingdom. 
 A "permanent order " was at the same time adopted, 
 probably on Russian suggestion, groiying out of re- 
 pugnance to the political influence of the Jesuits, 
 that no native Christian should be proselyted from 
 one Christian sect to another. The French govern- 
 ment, after some delay, sent an envoy to Persia to 
 eflfect, if possible, the return of the Jesuits ; but be- 
 fore 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 ob- 
 noxious 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 
 
320 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 assented. Two Mohammedan meerzas were sent 
 from Tabriz to Oroomiah to make the investiga- 
 tion. These fell under the papal influence at Oroo- 
 miah, and made a report so strongly prejudiced 
 against the mission, that it was thought necessary 
 to send a committee to the capital to counteract 
 Counteract- their misrepresentations. Messrs. Perkins 
 
 JDg influ- 
 ences, and Stocking were sent accordingly. Rid- 
 ing rapidly on horseback, many hundred miles, over 
 cold regions just as winter was setting in, and sleep- 
 ing 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 Tehe- 
 ran, the importance of their errand was very obvious. 
 They found the report of the meerzas bearing mani- 
 fest traces of Jesuit influence. It made but few tan- 
 gible charges, yet contained many serious and un- 
 just 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 or- 
 der " against proselyting ever proved any serious em- 
 barrassment to the mission. The banishment of 
 the Jesuits had not been requested by the Nestori- 
 ans, nor by the missionaries. The Russian Ambas- 
 sador 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 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 321 
 
 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.^ 
 
 There were also embarrassments of a serious na- 
 ture within the Nestorian community. In The Patri- 
 archal 
 the subjugation of the mountain Nesto- family. 
 
 rians, while the Patriarch fled to Mosul, several of 
 his brothers escaped to Oroomiah, and threw them- 
 selves 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 Hostility of 
 
 the Patri- 
 
 nad been successfully exerted ; who wrote arch. 
 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 neces- Dismission of 
 sary. The seminary for boys and the vil- *^«'^^®°^- 
 lage schools were accordingly dismissed, and finally 
 
 ^ Manuscript letter from Rev. Justin Perkins, D. D., dated Oroo- 
 miah, Persia, March 28, 1844. 
 
 21 
 
322 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the female boarding-school under Miss Fiske. 
 "When this last result was announced to the pu- 
 pils," writes one of the mission, " there was a gen- 
 eral 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 
 T, , . their own accord, and after the hostility of 
 
 *em«>le Perm- ■' •' 
 
 nary revived ^^iq patriarchal family had become known 
 to their j^arents. Miss Fiske was aided in the in- 
 struction 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 moth- 
 ers were eager to learn from their children. More- 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 323 
 
 over they were taught industry, self-denial, beuev- 
 
 olence, and the preciousness of time. The boys' 
 
 seminary was reorganized in the following Boys' semi- 
 nary reorg- 
 
 spring, under the superintendence of Mr. a^i^ed. 
 Stoddard ; who received a number of promising boys 
 into his family as an experiment, with the under- 
 standing that the pupils would reside wholly on the 
 mission premises. 
 
 There was still enough of vacillation among the 
 bishops, and of dissatisfaction among the on employing 
 
 the higher 
 
 Patriarch's brothers, to raise a question clergy. 
 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 dep- 
 recating 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 ref- 
 ormation that was believed not. to be far oif. 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 ; 
 
324 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the evangelical character of its iuflucDce 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 
 Mr Mer- discoutiuucd, thc Rcv. James L. Merrick 
 n^tforwuti and wife joined the Nestorian mission in 
 the missioa. ^g^2. In 184i, the health of Mrs. Mer- 
 rick made it uecessary for her to visit England, her 
 native land. She w^as 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 
 
 OrdloatioQB. 
 
 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. Per- 
 kins, found there abundant evidence of unusual re- 
 ligious 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. 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 825 
 
 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, ap- protection 
 
 for native 
 
 pointed Dawood Khan, of Tabriz, an Ar- christiaas. 
 meuian from Georgia and an officer of the army, 
 Governor of the Nestorians. The object was to 
 protect the Christians froui 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 be- ^he first 
 came 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 dark- 
 est 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 semi- 
 nary in January. Both semiuaries were moved. A 
 number in each came to their teachers with the in- 
 quiry, " What shall I do to be saved ? " The relig- 
 ious concern rapidly increased. The 23d of Janu- 
 ary was set apart by the mission as a day for private 
 fasting and prayer. On the preceding evening, as 
 
326 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the people were assembling for a religious service, 
 Mr. Stoddard observed signs of deep feeling in dif- 
 ferent 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 thought- 
 less manner, that Mr. Stoddard could not refrain 
 from tears. He had evidently learned how to pray, 
 and his knowledge, his stable character, and his im- 
 portant 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 retire- 
 ment, 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 expres- 
 sions 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, 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 327 
 
 that he had been lookiug 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, present- 
 ing 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 thein would 
 again pray aloud at the same time. The school was 
 still the next day, but with no diminution of solem- 
 nity. 
 
 Miss Fiske had often ten or fifteen women, rela- 
 tives of her pupils, to pass the night with her, mak- 
 ing it necessary to collect together all the spare 
 pillows, cushions, and quilts in the house, and make 
 the sitting-room one great dormitory. She fre- 
 quently 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 strjng 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 
 
328 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 that his oldest daughter, a member of Miss Fiske's 
 school, was hopefully boru again, and he thought 
 she knew the way to the cross better than himself. 
 
 The name of this daughter was Sarah. She was 
 First fruits tlic first iu tlic rcvival to ask the war to 
 
 of the 
 
 revival. lieavcu, 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 re- 
 markable 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 at- 
 tend the meetings, even when it was necessary for 
 some one to aid her in reaching the chapel. The 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 329 
 
 " 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 P '' She lingered till June, 
 and was often found with her opeu 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. ^ 
 
 On the 13th of February, Deacon Isaac, — one of 
 the Patriarch's brothers, and to a consider- Brother of 
 
 the Patri- 
 
 able extent his representative in the dis- ^rch. 
 trict, 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 pros- 
 pect, 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." 
 
 1 Life of Fidelia Fiske, p. 173. 
 
330 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 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 ad- 
 mitted that it was so. '' But/' said he, " the g-reat 
 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 destruc- 
 tion, and eating death. It is a shame for me to re- 
 main 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 bell." He seemed to speak with 
 sincerity, and Mr. Stoddard learned that he con- 
 versed with his people in a similar manner. 
 
 On the 16th of February, Mr. Stocking went to 
 Interest at GJcog Tapa, accompauicd by Miss Fiske 
 
 GeogTapa. ^^^ j^^^^^^ ^.^^ ^j^^.^ ^^^^^ hcrSClf SUr- 
 
 rounded by a company of females at the house of 
 priest Abraham ; and again, at the close of a meet- 
 ing 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 evi- 
 dently awakened, and a few gave evidence of real 
 conversion. Yet there were opposers at Geog Tapa, 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 331 
 
 who said, " Why all this ado ? Must all we have 
 doue 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, interest in 
 
 the boys' 
 
 as they pleaded in prayer, and their peti- seminary. 
 tions 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 an- 
 other time, they were smiting their breasts by the 
 side of tbe publican ; at another, they were prodi- 
 gals, 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 cita- 
 del 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 
 
332 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 their peculiar state of feeling. Mr. Stoddard was 
 often delighted, iu walking about the mountains, to 
 find pupils praying in secluded spots. A Mussul- 
 man 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, com- 
 menced teaching the Mussulman how to pray, and 
 so deeply interested him, that they kneeled down 
 together, and the prayer was renewed in the Turk- 
 ish language, that it might be intelligible to the 
 stranger. 
 
 The estimated number of converts in the two semi- 
 Estimated uarics, at the close of 1846, was fifty. The 
 
 number 
 
 of converts, general aspect of Geog Tapa, containing a 
 population of about a thousand, was much changed. 
 Almost every one who had come to years of discre- 
 tion, gave good attention to the preaching of the 
 Gospel, and as many as fifty seemed to be ti-ue dis- 
 ciples. 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 hun- 
 dred and fifty hopeful converts, twelve were at Hak- 
 kie, and ten at Gawar, fifty miles further west, and 
 both mountain villages. 
 
 An edition of the New Testament, with the an- 
 Modern cicut and modcm Syriac in parallel col- 
 
 Syriac New 
 
 Testameut. uuius, was priutcd ncar the close of 1846. 
 The value to the Nestorians of having the Scriptures 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 333 
 
 in their spoken language, cannot be estimated. The 
 translation was made by Dr. Perkins fj'om the orig- 
 inal Greek, and the type was that made by Mr. 
 Breath. Dr. Perkins entered at once upon Translation 
 
 of the Old 
 
 a translation of the Old Testament from Testament. 
 the Hebrew. Among the books that had been 
 I'ecently printed, was a new and enlarged edition 
 of the Nestorian Hymn-book. The hymns ^^^^^^^^ 
 were sung in all the social religious meet- ^^°^^"^°°^- 
 ings of the Nestorians, and in some of their 
 churches, and with most happy effect. The senti- 
 ments 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 ^^ . , 
 
 ^ New mission- 
 
 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 Devastation 
 1846, and about two thousand persons died ciioiera. 
 in the city. An interesting account of the pesti- 
 lence by Dr. Wright, as it came under his observa- 
 tion, may be found in the " Missionary Herald " for 
 1847.1 
 
 '^'Missionary ffrald, 1847, pp. 154-157. 
 
834 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Amoug the noticeable occurrences of the year 
 Dr. Wright's 1847, was the visit of Dr. Wright, to Ba- 
 derKhaa^ clcr Khau Bcj, Oil the same erraud which 
 
 Bey. 
 
 took Dr. Grant to him three years before. 
 The request came through NuruUah 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 re- 
 quested to accompany him. They took with them 
 deacon Tamo, who was a subject of the recent re- 
 vival, and deacon Yoosuph, an assistant in the medi- 
 cal department. Leaving Oroomiah on the 4th of 
 May, they reached Julamerk, the home of Nin-ullah 
 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 
 Wonderful Badcr Khan Bey. There had been a 
 
 change in the 
 
 mountainB. woudcrful chaugc iu the mountains since 
 Dr. Grant's first entrance. Our travellers crossed 
 the wild central regions of Koordistau 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 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 335 
 
 Persian line to Mesopotamia, and from the neigh- 
 borhood 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 Hakkarj 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 lug- 
 gage 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 mat- 
 ter, of which they had never heard before. Nurullah 
 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 observa- 
 tions manifested simplicity and readiness to receive 
 instruction, but were in danger from the inroads of 
 Rome. 
 
336 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 It appears to have been the intention of the Turk- 
 ?nv[ted\T° ^^^ government in 1847, doubtless through 
 cons^tanti- ^1^^ 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 in- 
 Fieesto vitcd to the seat of government for that 
 oroonuah. purposc. Distrustiug 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 
 Conflicting being in the employ of the mission. There 
 
 influences 
 
 upon him. 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 misrepresenta- 
 tions, 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 at- 
 tendants on our preaching ; and, though not pious, 
 they maintain decidedly evangelical views in regard 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 337 
 
 to the doctrines of grace. Deacon Isaac especially, 
 one of the most talented of the Nestoriaus, 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 Komans; 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 help- 
 ers, 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, readv to confront them to 
 their faces, and repel all false charges.'' 
 
 The Patriarch received priests Eshoo, Dunka, 
 Abraham, and John, who called to obtain nisappar- 
 his cooperation, with apparent cordiality, ship. 
 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 writ- 
 ten 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 
 
 22 
 
3K8 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 this occasion were from the uew Nestorian Hymn- 
 book. 
 
 The Patriarch's friendly deportment continued 
 till some time in April, 1848, when he threw off 
 Throws off ^^^ mask, if he had worn one, and took the 
 the mask. stand of opcn and dccidcd opposition. This 
 was not wholly unexpected, and while it was matter 
 for regret, it did not occasion much alarm. His 
 uis power powcr to do harm had been greatly cir- 
 
 circum- 
 
 MTiibed. cumscribed by the providential embarrass- 
 ments 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 mis- 
 sion ; and by the number, standing, and influence 
 of the religious among his people. His first un- 
 Hisun- friendly act he concealed from our breth- 
 
 friendly . 
 
 acts. ren, but it was made known to them by the 
 
 British Consul at Tabriz. It was a formal com- 
 munication 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 en- 
 deavored 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 deriv- 
 
THE JS/ESTORIANS. 339 
 
 ing great advantages, in many ways, from the ed- 
 ucational 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 Geoff Tapa to break up The people 
 
 ^ o 1 A j^fjjgg their 
 
 the schools in that village, aud received cooperation. 
 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 Thegovem- 
 
 ment inter- 
 
 juncture, an order arrived from the Heir ftrea. 
 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 interven- 
 tion of the chief Doctor of the Mohammedan law 
 against the mission. It so happened that the mis- 
 sionaries 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 
 
340 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 pleased with them. Why are you falling out with 
 them ? You, who are Christians, ought to respect 
 them eveu more than the Mohammedans.'^ For a 
 Practical time the Patriarch and the Jesuits, both 
 with^the^*^^ aiming at the overthrow of the mission, 
 
 I fR 111 tlA 
 
 were in practical combination. As a nec- 
 essary 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 promis- 
 ing success both to the Patriarch and the Jesuits, 
 
 Prejudicial ^" ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ sigual ovcrthrow of 
 to both. \^Qi\i^ 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 peo- 
 ple.^ 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 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1849, p. 30. 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 341 
 
 of the Russian Consul, that oflScial 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 prov- 
 ince^ 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. 
 
 News of the death of the King arrived at Oroo- 
 miah on the 14th of September. He was j^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ 
 succeeded by his eldest son, a young man ^'°^ 
 of twenty years, who for the last year had been 
 Prince Governor of Azerbijau. In Persia, the death 
 of the King interrupts for a time the regular trans- 
 action of public business. 
 
 An immediate efl'ect of the news was to displace 
 the Governor of Oroomiah, Yahyah Khan, Providential 
 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 en- 
 gagements to the authorities, they would expose 
 themselves to severe corporal punishment and heavy 
 fines. 
 
342 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 Another requisition from tlie 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 mis- 
 sion. 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 re- 
 quested to come and see that due punishment was 
 injQiicted, But they, greatly to the satisfaction of 
 the crowd of Nestorians who had assembled to wit- 
 ness the punishment, complied with the earnest en- 
 treaties 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 
 Persecution placc him amoug the persecutors of the 
 Tamo. Lord's pcoplc. Tamo was teacher in the 
 
 male seminary for about ten years, and became 
 hopefully pious in the revival of 1846. He accom- 
 panied Dr. Wright and Mr. Breath in their visit 
 to Bader Khan. His family resided in the moun- 
 tain 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 
 
THE JVE^TORIANS. 343 
 
 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 mem- 
 bers 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 suf- 
 fered cruelly from the hands of the barbarians. 
 
 In the year 1848, Bader Khan Bey, failing in one 
 of his favorite night attacks on the Turk- Deposition 
 ish army, was taken prisoner in his own Koo^id^tT^* 
 castle of Dergooleh, and placed, as such, 
 on one of the islands of the Grecian Archipelago. 
 
 Nurullah 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 al- 
 ready stated, was taken captive while cruelly perse- 
 cuting deacon Tamo, and died at Erzroom, while on 
 his way to Constantinople.^ 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1850, p. 96. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE NESTOBIAifS. 
 
 1848-1852. 
 
 The health of Mr. Stoddard became so prostrated, 
 Mr stod- early iu the summer of 1848, as to leave do 
 thf United hope of his recovery without a change of 
 climate. At Trebizond, on his way home, 
 he aud his family were subjected to a quarantiue of 
 eig'ht days. His wife aud children were then in 
 good health, aud they had no reasou to appreheud 
 cholera there, as it passed beyond that place west- 
 ward. But it returned, and Mrs. Stoddard was 
 Death of one of its victims. The death of this 
 
 Mrs. Stod- 
 dard, 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 dis- 
 ease, while on the voyage to Constantinople, and 
 died soon after her arrival ; and it was a reuiarkable 
 Providence that spared the enfeebled and overtasked 
 husband aud father. But he lived to serve Christ iu 
 his native laud, and afterwards again among the 
 Nestorians. The Rev. George W. Coan and wife 
 joined the mission in the autumn of 1849. 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 345 
 
 Mr. Cochran succeeded Mr. Stoddard in charge 
 of the male seminary. Twelve had g-one state of the 
 from the institution, and most of them ^*^^°°'^ 
 were exerting a good Christian iniBiueuce. The new 
 scholai's, as a consequence of these village schools, 
 were older and more advanced than their predeces- 
 sors had heen. The thirty-two schools contained 
 five hundred and ninety-eight pupils, of whom oue 
 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 Piske and Rice. 
 
 Mar Shimon returned to the mountains early in 
 1849, though not without apprehension ^^^ shimon 
 of beiug sent into exile, as the Koordish Ihe^'Soi^- 
 chieitams had been. 
 
 Hearing that the good seed sown by Dr. Grant 
 and his associates at Mosul was giving j^^iait^o 
 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.^ They were hospitably entertained by 
 Mr. Rassam, the English Consul at Mosul, during 
 the eleven days of their visit. Many of the Mosul- 
 ians were thought to have come under evangelical 
 
 1 For a full account of this tour by Dr. Perkins, see Missionary Her 
 cud for 1850, pp. 53-61, and 83-97. 
 
346 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 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 '' Eng- 
 lish." Nevertheless they were treated in all places 
 with kindness, and found attentive listeners to their 
 preaching. 
 
 The first revival of religion, already described, was 
 K .. r. A in 1846 ; the second was in 1849 : and there 
 
 A seconcl re- ' ' 
 
 ^^^'" 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 earnest- 
 ness in prayer. This resulted in the revival of 1819. 
 In the seminary for boys, the converts of the pre- 
 vious revival were, for two or three days after this 
 began, the subjects of intense heart-searchings, and 
 of piercing compunctions for their backslid in gs. 
 This was not less true of the more devoted Chris- 
 tians, 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 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 347 
 
 village of Seir, hardly a person was uuaffected. In 
 Degala, Charbusli, Ardeshai, and other places, there 
 were large and attentive congregations, and many 
 gave delightful evidence of having passed from deatli 
 unto life. A vacation occurred in the male seminary, 
 and pious students labored with great zeal and suc- 
 cess 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 in- 
 telligent 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 sal- 
 vation of others, and by a remarkable quickening 
 of the moral and intellectual powers. 
 
 One of the most noted among the native evange- 
 lists at this time, was deacon Guwergis of -q^^^^^ 
 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 
 
348 MISSTOXS TO THE ORIENTAL CHUB CUES. 
 
 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, dis- 
 tressed by his conduct, asked him to go alone with 
 her to pray. He went and repeated his form in an- 
 cient 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, save my father, going down to destruc- 
 tion," 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 afl*ec- 
 tionate 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 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 349 
 
 humbled. All Guwergis could say was, " My great 
 sins, my great Saviour." Before noon, lie 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, whea 
 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 accom- 
 panied priest Eshoo to Oroomiah, and his relations 
 of Christian fellowship with the members of the 
 mission were at once firmly and forever established .^ 
 His conversion and his self-consecration to the ser- 
 vice of the Lord Jesus were entire. He became 
 known as the " mountain evangelist," and was faith- 
 ful unto death. He rested from his labors on the 
 12th of March, 1856. 
 
 The revival scenes of 1849, were renewed in 
 the first month of 1850. The awakening ^^1^^ re- 
 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 be- 
 
 1 Woman and her Saviour in Persia, pp. 87-93. 
 
350 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 came so loud and general that he feared the result 
 of further excitement, and requested the pupils to 
 repair to their closets. There were similar indica- 
 tions 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 fami- 
 lies 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, w^iere 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 convic- 
 tions of the law, but with a deep and intelligent per- 
 suasion of the claims of truth. 
 
 Perhaps the most distinguished among the Nes- 
 Deacon toriau laborcrs, at this time, next to priest 
 Abraham, was deacon John. He is de- 
 scribed as unwearied in the work, often preaching 
 three times a day during the week, and performing- 
 other arduous labors. The missionaries admired 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 361 
 
 the grace of God, as developed in his active piety, 
 discreet zeal, and indomitable perseverance.^ 
 
 Among the interesting converts was deacon Jere- 
 miah, who came with Messrs. Perkins and ^3^^011 
 Stocking from Mosul. He was formerly in ^''''^''^• 
 a papal monastery near Elkoosh. Becoming dis- 
 gusted with the abominations of the place, he at last, 
 after many attempts, effected his escape. His con- 
 victions of sin were very deep, and seemed to result 
 in his full consecration to the service of Chi'ist. He 
 returned to Mosul on the reestablishment of a mis- 
 sion in that city. 
 
 The year 1850 was one of great activity. Deacon 
 Jeremiah visited Bootan in the spring, at the invi- 
 
 1 Mr. Stocking gives the following description of the study of dea- 
 con 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 ar- 
 ranged on a high shelf, reaching from one side to the other, and pro- 
 tected 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. V^hen 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." 
 
352 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tatiou of some of the leadiog ISTestorians in that 
 Tarious regiou.^ Yonau and Khamis, native help- 
 *°"'^' ers, made a preaching tour through a part 
 
 of Koordistau.2 Deacons Syad and Mosheil encoun- 
 tered many hardships and dangers in a visit to Boo- 
 tan.3 In July, Messrs. Wright and Cochran accom- 
 panied by deacons John, Tamo, and Guvvergis, made 
 a tour in the mountains by way of Bashkallah, 
 Kochanis, Julamerk, and Asheta.* Messrs. Perkins, 
 Stocking and Coan, went in the autumn to Gawar 
 and beyond, and the results were interesting and 
 satisfactory.^ 
 
 The mission was much strengthened in the year 
 The Mission ^^^Ij ^J ^hc rctum of Mr. Stoddard, accom- 
 eniarged. pauied by Mrs. Stoddard, and by the acces- 
 sion of the Rev. Samuel A. Rhea. In this year, 
 through the efforts of Mr. Stevens, British Cousul at 
 Tabriz, and Colonel Shiel the Ambassador, the Per- 
 sian 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 re- 
 ceived again under British protection, and the Per- 
 sian government notified the authorities at Oroomiah 
 of tiie change. 
 
 The advance of public sentiment in respect to the 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1851, p. 90. * Ihid. 1851, pp. 54-58. 
 
 2 Ibid. 1851, pp. 91-97. 5 Xbid, 1851, pp. 61-63. 
 
 8 Ihid. 1851, p 139. 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 353 
 
 education of women, is worthy of special notice. 
 Oulj a few years had elapsed since it was Advance in 
 
 female edu- 
 
 deemed disgraceful to instruct that sex. cation. 
 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 gatiafactory 
 of both seminaries were highly satisfactory. tion™'ofthe 
 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 examina- 
 tion 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 wonder- 
 ful." Three-fourths of the forty in the male semi- 
 nary 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 unsur- 
 passed by any in America in system, studiousness, 
 good conduct, and rapid improvement. 
 
 The fifty-eight village schools contained a thou- 
 sand and twenty-three pupils, and were Theviiiae 
 generally under evangelical teachers. On ^*^'*^°^- 
 the Sabbath, these schools took the form of Sab- 
 bath-schools, and many of the parents g^bbath- 
 came in to hear their children, or to take ^*^*^****^- 
 
 23 
 
354 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 part with them. The Sabbath-school in Geog Tapa 
 Dumbered 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 
 
 The monthly •' m. -^ 
 
 concert. ^^^ ^^^^ couversiou of thc 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. 
 ^ v.. Mr. Cochran and deacon Moses preached 
 
 Preaching *■ 
 
 ^'^^' 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 Kice, 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.^ 
 
 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 proclama- 
 tion of the gospel.^ 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 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1852, p, 67. 
 ^ Ibid. 1852, p. 71. 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 355 
 
 region ; and their journal affords evidence of sin- 
 gular talent for the labors of an evangelist. They 
 were gone six months.^ 
 
 Among the native helpers, who accompanied Mr. 
 Stocking to Gawar, was deacon Isaac, j^^^^ 
 After spending a few days with Mr. Stock- ^^''' 
 ing, 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 after- 
 wards made to Gawar, when he received the mis- 
 sionary and his native helpers with the greatest 
 apparent cordiality in the presence of a large num- 
 ber 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 moun- 
 tains. 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 months from 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1852, pp. 257-262. 
 
856 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 coiniiiUDication 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 suit- 
 able 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 ex- 
 pounded, and all attended on the services of the 
 Sabbath. Deacon Tamo preached in the surround- 
 ing villages. Though threatened at times, he en- 
 countered no active opposition. 
 
 The year was distinguished by the death of a 
 A remark- jouth of sevcntecn years of age, of whom 
 able youth, jy^, Perkius spcaks 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, aiid his interest in the welfare of 
 
THE NESTORIANS, 357 
 
 souls was engrossing. His prayerfulness was un- 
 equaled. 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, iu this exercise he soon excelled many 
 of his superiors. 
 
 His sickness was very severe. Mr. Coan, after re- 
 lating 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 ex- 
 pressing 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 confi- 
 dence in the efficacy of the atonement, even ^.^ ^ ,^ 
 for him sinful as he was, his entire renun- ^^p®"**^^^ 
 ciation 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 
 
358 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 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 death- 
 bed, nor have I ever beheld any more wonderful." 
 
 Ne;7inifl- '^^^^ ^^^' Edward H. Crane and wife, and 
 
 Bioaaries. jyjjgg Martha A. Harris, were added to the 
 
 mission in the year 1852. 
 
 Among the adverse influences of the year, was 
 Adverse in- ^^^^ couscHption of a rcgimeut of Christian 
 flueoces. soldicrs 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, be- 
 came very unscrupulous and troublesome. Mar 
 Shimon, having been recognized by the Turkish 
 government as the civil head of the mountain Nes- 
 torians, became intent on driving the missionaries 
 from Gawar, and the Turkish authorities were only 
 too willing to unite with him in this effort. 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 359 
 
 Among the extreme measures of the Turkish ru- 
 lers, under such an influence, was the arrest Persecution 
 
 n T m 1 • 11 of deacon 
 
 of deacon Tamo, with his two brothers, Tamo. 
 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 resi- 
 dence 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 hap- 
 pened, that Lieutenant-colonel W. P. Wil- intervention 
 liams, the British Commissioner for settling tenant^^oio- 
 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 se- 
 curing 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 Wil- 
 liams. 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, 
 
860 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 that both the fine and the imprisonment of Tamo 
 shouhl 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 
 Powerful before Colonel Rose, H. B. M. Charge 
 friends. d'Affairs, and Mr. Brown, the American 
 Charge. Mr. Brant, English Consul at Erzroom, 
 and Mr. Stevens, English Consul at Tabriz, co- 
 operated with Colonel Williams ; and finally Sir 
 Stratford de Eedcliffe, British Ambassador at the 
 Porte, made a decisive and successful appeal ; and 
 Release of dcacou Tamo once more appeared among 
 '^^'°*' his friends at Memikan, exhibiting a truly 
 
 Christian spirit towards his enemies. 
 
 The interposition of such powerful friends in be- 
 
 Favorabie ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ pcrsccutcd Ncstoriau 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 ofiice 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 ther- 
 mometer sometimes sank fifteen, twenty, and twenty- 
 five degrees below zero. 
 
THE NESTORIANS. 361 
 
 In this year Dr. Perkins completed his transla- 
 tion of the Old Testament into the modern ^^^^^^ g 
 Syriac, and the whole Bible was given to ^ ^'^*"' 
 the people in their spoken language. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 STRIA. 
 
 1845-1856. 
 
 Good tidings were received in 1845 concerDing 
 Good news Aiutab, ill Nortliei'ii Syria, communicated 
 
 from North- 
 ern Syria. \)j Dr. Kcms, of the London Jews Society, 
 
 and by Bedros, an Armenian vartabed, who had 
 been banished from Constantinople by the Patriarch 
 Matteos.^ His banishment was to the Armenian 
 monastery at Jerusalem, but he turned aside from 
 Beirut to Northern Syria. Letters came also from 
 prominent men in Aintab, written in behalf of a 
 large number of families in that place who had 
 heard the gospel from Bedros, and were resolved to 
 abandon the errors of their Church. They asked for 
 a missionary to instruct them, and said their ueed of 
 aid was the greater, as they were violently perse- 
 cuted by their bishop. 
 
 Mr. Thomson was instructed by the mission to 
 Mr. Thorn- visit Alcppo aud Aintab. He went by way 
 
 son visits 
 
 Aleppo. of Antioch, and reached Aleppo in August. 
 Bedros was there, having been driven from Aintab, 
 
 1 See chapter xxii. 
 
SYRIA. 363 
 
 and Mr. Thomson concluded it was not prudent for 
 him to proceed farther. He accordingly wrote to 
 the Protestants of Aintab, requesting more infor- 
 mation as to their condition and wishes. The dis- 
 tance was two long days' ride from Aleppo, and on 
 the fifth day an answer came, that eighteen of their 
 number, including two priests, were coming to see 
 him. A message arrived soon after, stating that 
 they had prepared to come, but fearing the commo- 
 tion it would produce, they had concluded to aban- 
 don the visit and write. Their letter contained a 
 very earnest appeal for a missionary, with strong 
 affirmations of attachment to the gospel, and their 
 determination to adhere to it at all hazards. Mr. 
 Thomson stated, in his reply, why a missionary 
 could not be sent from Beirut, and that he would 
 forward their letters, and those of Bedros, to the 
 missionaries at Constantinople, with a request, that 
 a missionary might be sent who could preach both 
 in Turkish and Armenian ; or at least an experi- 
 enced Armenian preacher, to assist Bedros in this 
 important work. Just before leaving Aleppo, Mr. 
 Thomson received from them another letter, declar- 
 ing their satisfaction with this arrangement, and 
 their gratitude for his interest in their welfare. 
 " We are the fish in the great sea," they said, " and 
 wait for you to spread the gospel net for us." 
 
 Mr. Thomson estimated the nominally Christian 
 population of Aleppo at twenty thousand, ^he people 
 and the whole number of inhabitants at °^^^®pp°' 
 
364 MISSIONS TO TEE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 sixty thousand. The most promising were the Ar- 
 menians, though at that time they were kept aloof 
 by the excommunication of Bedros and all associated 
 with him. The Protestant Armenians in that city 
 were thought to be about fifty. The orthodox 
 Greeks were not numerous. Their bishop was iu 
 poor health, but received the missionary with much 
 cordiality, and appeared quite pleased with the pros- 
 pect of a missionary in Aleppo. The Greek Catho- 
 lics were by far the largest body of Christians. To 
 A Greek this bodv bclono^ed Athanasius, the Arch- 
 
 Catholic . 
 
 Archbishop, bishop of Tripoli, so called, but residing 
 at Aleppo. He was not forty years old, and had 
 been two years iu England, and two in Malta. Mr. 
 Thomson had much intercourse with this man, and 
 spoke of him as the most learned theologian of his 
 sect, and the most promising ecclesiastic he had seen 
 in Syria. He seemed to be serious and earnest, evan- 
 gelical iu sentiment, desirous of reforming his coun- 
 trymen, and enlightened enough to take a compre- 
 hensive view of the work to be done, and make a 
 rational estimate of the obstacles to be overcome. 
 He was highly respected by all classes ; and though 
 his Protestant sentiments were well-known, there 
 was said to be no power in his Church to depose 
 him.^ 
 
 Visit to Has- ^^* Calhoun visited Hasbeiya in Febru- 
 ary, 1846, accompanied by Tannus, and 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1846, p. 418. 
 
SYRIA. 365 
 
 was there eighteen days. The congregations were 
 smaller, but made up mainly of those who sought to 
 know the way of life ; while their townsmen, soft- 
 ened by last year's war, were not disposed to perse- 
 cute, as before. Mr. Whiting, Mr. Hurter, and 
 Butrus were there in June. The spirit of the con- 
 gregation is thus described by the missionary, 
 ^' They like to hear a good long exposition, and then 
 to stay and hear and converse, after prayer, as long 
 as we are able to sit up. Some are coming in 
 during the day at all hours, so that we scarcely 
 cease teaching and preaching from morning until 
 bed-time." Some of the declared Protestants, and 
 even some new inquirers, took a bold stand under 
 persecution by the Governor; and many, who did not 
 venture to call upon the missionary, were in an in- 
 quiring state of mind, 
 
 Mr, Laurie's health suffered at Mosul, and also iu 
 Syria, so that he was obliged to return ^ Laurie's 
 home in the autumn of this year, and to ''®^"'^°- 
 relinquish the idea of resuming the foreign ser- 
 vice. His subsequent labors through the press, 
 have endeared him to a large number of the friends 
 of missions.^ 
 
 The year 1847 opened with an earnest and elo- 
 quent appeal from the missionaries for an unsuccessful 
 increase to their number.^ And there is laborers. 
 
 1 See his works : " Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians." Boa- 
 ton, 1853 ; and " Woman and her Saviour in Persia." Boston, 1865. 
 
 2 See Missionary Herald, 1847, pp. 185-193. 
 
366 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 nothing more painful in the retrospect of this mis- 
 sion, than the numerous and often unexpected and 
 surprising openings for usefulness, that were so 
 often effectually closed, solely, as it would seem, 
 because there were not missionaries to enter and 
 take possession. There is space for only a single 
 extract from this appeal. Addressing the Pruden- 
 tial Committee, they say : 
 
 " We tell you, with all earnestness, that there is 
 great danger, that the work may languish almost to 
 lifelessness, even at the two posts which you now 
 occupy in Syria, before your new messengers can 
 be found, cross the ocean, and pass through the 
 primary process indispensable to fit them to proph- 
 esy upon the slain. Yes, we must make you under- 
 stand with unmistakable explicitness, that unless 
 you hasten the work, and quicken the flight of those 
 who have the everlasting gospel to preach, the voice 
 may cease to sound, even in the valleys and over the 
 goodly hills of Lebanon ! Your infant seminary for 
 training native preachers may droop, or disband ; 
 your congregations on the mountains, and on the 
 plain, may be left without any one to break to them 
 the bread of life ; and your press may cease to drop 
 those leaves, which are for the healing of the na- 
 tions. All this may, yes, must occur, by a necessity 
 as inexorable as the decree that commands all back 
 to dust, unless you hasten to renew the vitality of 
 our mission, by throwing into it the young life of a 
 new generation of laborers.'* 
 
SYRIA. 367 
 
 The appeal was published ; but it continued pain- 
 fully true, that the harvest was plenteous, while 
 the laborers were few. 
 
 Among the interesting events of the year, were 
 the accession of nine persons to the church at Abeih ; 
 and a '' fetwa " of the mufti, or Moslem f^l^^^^^^l 
 judge, at Beirut, deciding that the Druzes m^i^nismr 
 stand in the same relation to the Mohammedan 
 community and law with the Jews, or any Christian 
 sect; i. e, as '^ infidels ; ^^ and, consequently, that 
 a Druze was not subject to prosecution in the Turk- 
 ish courts, in case of his embracing Christianity. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Benton joined the mission in the 
 latter part of the year. 
 
 In the spring of 1847, the Protestants of Hasbeiya 
 sent one of their number to Constantinople, appearto the 
 to lay their grievances before the Sultan. er"ii^'en^^°^' 
 The agent was informed, that the Pasha of Damas- 
 cus had been instructed to protect the Protestants. 
 The British Ambassador afterwards made inquiries, 
 and received a copy of the document, which proved 
 satisfactory. The Pasha sent a strong order to the 
 Emir at Hasbeiya in 1848, for their protection ; and 
 he, though extremely reluctant to obey, sent word 
 to the Protestants, that they might meet and wor- 
 ship together as Protestants, and he publicly for- 
 bade all parties to interfere with them. 
 
 When the Greek Patriarch saw that the Turkish 
 government had recognized the principle of tolera- 
 
368 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 tiou, and acknowledged the Protestants as a Chris- 
 ?/thr^*'°" tian sect, be resolved to try the effect of 
 Gre^ek Patri- ^ ^^^i of excomuiunicatlon. The form of 
 these missives is similar in the Latin and the Orien- 
 tal Churches, and the reader will recall some of the 
 specimens already giveu.^ The consequence at Has- 
 beiya, for a time, was that no Protestant could buy, 
 sell, or transact any business, except with his fellow 
 Protestants, and many of the poorer ones were at 
 once thrown out of productive employment, and cut 
 off from the means of living. They were compelled 
 to pay their debts, but could collect nothing due to 
 them, and no redress could they get from the Gov- 
 ernor. Many suffered for the necessaries of life. 
 But the faith of the brethren, with a single excep- 
 tion, did not fail. The Druzes and other sects re- 
 monstrated against the whole proceeding, and the 
 rigor of the excommunication began at length to 
 fail, and in December it had lost its force. 
 
 The most important event in the year 1848, was 
 of°nureiy ^^^ formation of a purely native church at 
 Shuroh. Beirut. Hitherto the native converts had 
 joined the mission church, formed at an early pe- 
 inod of the mission, which was composed mostly of 
 the missionaries and their families. Circumstances 
 had made it seem inexpedient, hitherto, to form a 
 church exclusively of native converts. Whether the 
 brethren were right in this, it is not needful now to 
 
 1 See in the case of Dr. King, chapter xvii. ; and Mr. Bird, chapter iii 
 
SYRIA. 369 
 
 inquire. The new church originated in the best 
 manner. At the annual meeting of the mission, a 
 petition was presented from the native Protestants 
 at Beirut to the American missionaries, asking- that 
 they might be organized into a church, according 
 to certain principles and rules embodied in their 
 petition. The whole originated with the native 
 brethren. The principles proposed for the constitu- 
 tion and discipline of the church were afterwards 
 modified somewhat, at the suggestion of the mis- 
 sion, in order to a closer conformity with the organ- 
 ization adopted by the Protestant Armenians in 
 another part of the empire. For some special rea- 
 sons, they were advised to delay the election of a 
 native pastor. 
 
 The great work of translating the Scriptures into 
 Arabic, was now committed to Mr. Smith ; S^^e^^c^p. 
 and he was assisted by Butrus el-Bistany Sbic'?*'^ 
 and Nasif el-Tasijee, 
 
 Messrs. Ford and Benton removed to Aleppo, with 
 a view to a permanent station. They were station at 
 accompanied by Mr. Smith, Butrus, and ^^^'pp*^ 
 Wortabet, the latter of whom remained there until 
 his services were required at Hasbeiya. Mr. Smith 
 visited on his return, the Nusairiyeh in Mountaineers 
 
 , of Northern 
 
 Antioch, Suwaidiyeh, and around Ladikiyeh, Lebanon. 
 and then both them and the Ismailiyeh in their 
 mountain fastnesses back of Ladikiyeh. He found 
 them a rude people in a rough country. 
 
 24 
 
370 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The Rev. Horace Foot and wife arrived in Beirut 
 in August, 1848, and were associated with Mr. Wil- 
 son at Tripoli. Bedros Vartabed, whose labors were 
 Death of ^^ much blcsscd at Aintab, died after a 
 Bedros. ^^^^ short illness at Aleppo, on the 13th 
 of November, 1848. His last hours were spent in 
 fervent prayer, and his last words were expressive of 
 his gratitude to God. His life had been character- 
 ized by visible progress in the way of holiness, by 
 habitual prayer fulness, and by zeal in the work of 
 urging upon men the claims of the gospel. 
 
 A very hopeful fact in the missions to Orien- 
 inteiiigent tal Churchcs, has been the number of able 
 
 men affected 
 
 by tue truth, meu affcctcd by the truth. Eminently such 
 was a learned Greek Catholic of Damascus, named 
 Michael Meshakah, who became convinced of the 
 errors of his Church, and openly declared himself a 
 Protestant in 1848. He had embraced infidel views 
 to quiet his conscience, but the reading of ^' Keith 
 on the Prophecies" in Arabic, and other books 
 from the mission presses, especially the Scriptures, 
 led him to relinquish these, and personal intercourse 
 with missionaries, especially with Dr. Smith, induced 
 him to take a decided stand for Christ. He used no 
 reserve in professing his attachment to the gospel. 
 This brought on a controversy between him and his 
 Patriarch, and as he was esteemed the most intelli- 
 gent native layman in the country, and the Patri- 
 arch the most learned ecclesiastic, attention from 
 
SYRIA, 371 
 
 all quarters was directed to their debate. Having 
 decided to publisli the reasons of his secession from 
 the Catholic Church, and to prove the corruptness 
 of the doctrines and practices in that Church, he 
 commenced a free and full correspondence with Dr. 
 Smith in Arabic. The result was a treatise, which 
 was published by the mission. After making the 
 reader acquainted with his own history, he dis- 
 proved the supremacy of the Pope, the existence 
 of any priesthood but that of Christ, or of any atone- 
 ment but his. He then showed that there was no 
 authority for more than two grades of officers in 
 the church, or for the doctrine of tran substantia- 
 tion. There were, also, chapters on justification by 
 faith and the new birth. Dr. Smith declares 
 the treatise to have been " well and thoroughly 
 argued, sometimes most impi-essively solemn, at 
 others keenly sarcastic, and spirited and fearless 
 throughout." ^ 
 
 Michael Aramon took the place of Butrus in the 
 seminary, and gave the highest satisfaction both 
 as to his literary and his religious qualifications for 
 the post. A Hasbeiyan brother, well informed, up- 
 right, " a burning and shining light,'' taught a 
 school among the Druzes in the higher part of the 
 mountains. Another, named Asaad el-Maaluk, ex- 
 
 1 The Bihlioiheca Sacra, for October, 1858, contains an acconnt 
 of Dr. Meshakah by Dr. Thomas Laurie, and a translation of a treat- 
 ise by him on skepticism. 
 
872 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 ercised a silent influence for good, in a school and 
 npon the people of another mountain village where 
 he taught. Through him, a priest in the Greek 
 church of that village, named Elias, became gradu- 
 ally enligbtened. When Asaad began declaring 
 the truths of the gospel, the villagers appealed to 
 priest Elias, and he several times endeavored pub- 
 licly to defend the doctrines and ceremonies of his 
 Church. Perceiving at length how much the Bible 
 was against him, and that he could not answer his 
 opponent, he became angry, and forbade all com- 
 munication with Asaad. But the mild and earnest 
 manner of the native brother at length won his 
 heart, aud he came to the conclusion, that nothing 
 in his Church had any authority, which was not de- 
 rived from the Bible. This change in his views he 
 soon declared to his people, and absented himself 
 from the church. Once and again they forced him 
 to go and say mass. Sometimes he yielded, and 
 sometimes refused; till, near the end of January, 
 1849, having performed mass, he went out with the 
 people, locked the door of the church, threw the 
 key down before the door, and declared, in the pres- 
 ence of them all, that he was a Protestant, and 
 could no more act against his conscience by officiat- 
 ing as a priest. Various methods were tried to 
 bring him back, but in vain. 
 
 In May, 1849, Mrs. Thomson and Mrs. De For- 
 Another cst accompauicd their husbands to Has- 
 
 visit to Has- , 
 
 beiya. bciya, aud had delightful intercourse with 
 
SYRIA, 373 
 
 the native Protestant women, who had from the 
 first gone hand in hand with the men. 
 
 The brethren at Tripoli endeavored to secure a 
 summer residence in the Maronite village of Ehdeu, 
 where Mr. Bird had been so rudely assailed twenty 
 years before, but were driven thence by similar acts 
 of violence. The English Consul at Beirut, without 
 the knowledge of the missionaries, laid the facts 
 before the British Government, and Lord Palmers- 
 ton promptly administered a severe rebuke English pro- 
 to the Patriarch and Emir. The case was *^^^^°'^' 
 eventually settled by the offenders paying seventy 
 dollars, and by the governor of the mountains fur- 
 nishing the missionaries with an official guaranty 
 in writing, for their protection wherever they 
 should be able to hire houses. The American Am- 
 bassador also procured a strong vizieral letter to the 
 Pasha in the Tripoli district. 
 
 A fourth class was admitted to the seminary at 
 Abeih in October, 1849. One member of gemj^aryat 
 the class was from the most influential ^^^^^' 
 family in Hasbeiya, another was a Greek Catholic 
 from Ain Zehalty, another a Maronite from Kefr 
 Shema, another from the Greek sect at El Hadet, 
 and the fifth was a young Druze emir of the Raslan 
 family. Three pupils had been expelled for bad con- 
 duct in the previous year, and the discipline had a 
 good effect on the school. Arabic was the medium 
 of instruction ; English was taught only as a branch 
 of knowledge, and near the end of the course. 
 
374 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 The printing in 1849 exceeded a million of pages. 
 Improved There were two fonts of beautiful type, of 
 Arabic type, ^iff^j-eut slzes, luodeled on the best Arabic 
 calligraphy, aud cut by Mr. Hallock at New York. 
 The type were cast in Syria under the supervision 
 of Mr. Hurter. 
 
 Of the twenty-seven members in the native 
 The native church at Bcirut, up to the close of 1849, 
 church. ^^^ were from the Greek Church, four were 
 Greek Catholics, four Maronites, five Armenians, 
 three Druzes, and one a Jacobite Syrian ; showing 
 how men of different sects may be made one in 
 Christ Jesus. These church members were widely 
 dispersed, and most of them exerted a salutary in- 
 fluence in the places where they resided. 
 
 In the autumn of 1850, the Greeks and Greek 
 Outrages at CathoUcs of Alcppo wcrc subjected to terri- 
 Aleppo. j^j^ outrages by the Mohammedans. Their 
 number was from fifteen to twenty thousand, and 
 they were more wealthy and refined than their 
 brethren in most eastern cities. They looked upon 
 themselves as the aristocracy of Syria. Instead of 
 prudently concealing their wealth, they made an os- 
 tentatious display of it in furniture, dress, and costly 
 decorations of their churches. Added to this was 
 an arrogant bearing, often even towards the Mos- 
 lems, rekindling their hereditary hate; while the 
 recent efforts of the Sultan to establish liberty 
 throughout his dominions, both inflated still more 
 
SYRIA. 376 
 
 the pride of the Christians, and stirred up the in- 
 dignation of the Moslems. 
 
 The arrival of a government order for a military 
 conscription, a thing most unwelcome to the Mos- 
 lems, occasioned a popular tumult. They deter- 
 mined, while setting the Pasha at defiance, to grat- 
 ify their hatred of the Christians. The attacks on 
 these commenced on the 16th of October. Thou- 
 sands of wild Arabs, along with ruffians from the 
 city, filled the houses and churches, and splendid fur- 
 niture, gorgeous dresses, and gold and silver hoarded 
 for generations, were suddenly transferred to the 
 swarthy Arabs. All the churches, save one, were 
 rifled and then burnt or destroyed, together with a 
 large number of private houses. Not a few of the 
 Christians were murdered, or severely wounded. 
 The Pasha, unequal to the crisis, took refuge among 
 the soldiers of the barracks, and yielded to the de- 
 mands of the populace until new orders should 
 arrive from the Sultan. There was a fortnight of 
 anarchy, while the Pasha was employed in collecting 
 troops sufficient to regain his authority. Then, hav- 
 ing received explicit instructions from the capital, 
 he commenced a bloody attack upon the insurgents. 
 These were all Moslems, and such was their des- 
 peration that they suffered more severely than had 
 the Christians. 
 
 Until this outbreak, there had been a manifest 
 change going on in the feelings of the Effect of the 
 nominally Christian community towards p^°°««^^°««- 
 
376 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the Protestauts. There was a growing respect 
 among all classes for the missionaries and their 
 teachings, a readiness on the part of many to ac- 
 knowledge the truth, and a more easy access to the 
 houses of the people. All this the outbreak inter- 
 rupted for a time, and the effect was not good on 
 the whole. There was a bloody feud between the 
 two great parties. Yet the bonds of superstition 
 had been weakened ; especially the faith of the peo- 
 ple in the miraculous virtue of the pictures, which 
 filled their churches and had been worshipped for 
 centuries. Some of these pictures were supposed to 
 be so sacred, that whoever touched them would have 
 a withered hand. But they had now seen them 
 torn in pieces, trampled under foot, and burned by 
 the enemies of their religion. 
 
 Of the nineteen pupils in the seminary at Abeih 
 Pupils in the ^^^ 1850, four were Druzes, three were 
 seminary. Q^.^cks, four Marouitcs, four Greek Catho- 
 lics, two Protestants, one Syrian, and one Armenian ; 
 all on a level, eating at the same table, mingling in 
 the same sports, and meeting at the same place of 
 prayer. 
 
 The native brethren at Hasbeiya suffered con- 
 The church sidcrably in their spiritual interests, from 
 at Hasbeiya. ^|^^ delay iu Organizing a native church 
 
 with a native pastor. A church of sixteen mem- 
 bers was formed in July, 1851, and the number of 
 members, before the end of the year, was increased to 
 
SYRIA, 377 
 
 twenty-five. Mr. John Wortabet, son of the Arme- 
 nian convert of that name, had been their j^^^^ ^^^.^^ 
 preacher four years, and ultimately be- ^®*" 
 came their pastor. He inherited the abilities of 
 his father, and was an acceptable, courageous, and 
 zealous preacher. ^ There were occasional dissen- 
 sions among his people, but the church gradually 
 increased in compactness, order, and ejfficiency. 
 When there was a call for discipline, it was carried 
 through firmly and wisely, without assistance from 
 the mission. 
 
 The annual meeting of the mission, in 1851, was 
 favored with the valuable assistance of Dr. dw. Bacon 
 
 _- _ ._j _ and Robin- 
 
 Leonard Bacon, and the meeting in 1852, eon. 
 with that of Dr. Edward Robinson ; both corporate 
 members of the Board. 
 
 A girls boarding-school had been commenced at 
 Beirut, under the general superintendence remaie 
 
 .^ boarding- 
 
 of Dr. and Mrs. De Forest, and the in- school. 
 
 1 He was educated in the ficst Seminary, in English and Arabic. 
 When that closed, he commenced the study of medicine and Latin 
 under Dr. Van Dyck, and completed his medical course under Dr. De 
 Forest. After practicing for a time in Tripoli, he commenced his 
 theological studies, Greek and Hebrew included, at Beirut, under the 
 care of Messrs. Smith, Whiting, and Thomson. These studies he 
 prosecuted for a time at Aleppo, and afterwards at Abeih. Upon the 
 establishment of the Hasbeiya station, in 1851, he took up his resi- 
 dence at Hasbeiya as preacher, and was ordained at Beirdt in the 
 spring of 1853. The honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine was con- 
 ferred upon him by Yale College, in view of an article from his pen on 
 the fevers of Syria, published in the American Journal of Medical Sci^ 
 ence. 
 
378 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 structiou of Miss Whittlesey. The decease of the 
 latter, in 1852, was a check to its growth. The 
 Rev. William Bird, sou of one of the pioneers in 
 this mission, with his wife, and Miss Sarah Cheney, 
 arrived in the year 1853. Miss Cheney was to take 
 the place of Miss Whittlesey. The value of this 
 school as a means of elevating women, became more 
 and more evident. The marriage of the senior 
 teacher in the seminary at Abeih with a young lady 
 trained by Mrs. De Forest, gave them a native 
 family, which Mr. Calhoun says, " in its domestic 
 economy and religious order, would do no discredit 
 to the best portions of New England." In this year 
 New native ^ uativc cliurch was formed at Abeih, and 
 churches. j^^othcr at Aleppo. 
 
 The Rev. William W. Eddy and wife joined the 
 mission in 1852, and were designated to Aleppo. 
 The political condition of Hasbeiya and the sur- 
 Experience rouudiug rcgiou, uow bccamc so disor- 
 locauties. dcrcd as often to make it inaccessible to 
 missionaries, or their native assistants. Yet Mr. 
 Wortabet persevered in his labors during all these 
 troubles, and was afterwards ordained pastor of the 
 church. Protestant communities at Ibel near Has- 
 beiya, and at Rasheiya over the mountain, survived 
 the severe persecutions to which they were subjected 
 by the combined efforts of bishops, priests, and local 
 governors ; until the governors, who had been the 
 real cause of most of the difficulties, were summoned 
 
SYRIA. 379 
 
 to Damascus, through the agency of the English 
 Ambassador at Coustantiuople, to answer for their 
 conduct. 
 
 At Sidon, there was an average congregation oT 
 tliirty-live, and persecution did not shake their con- 
 stancy. In a dozen villages near that city, there 
 were persons in the habit of reading the Scriptures, 
 and visiting the missionaries. Mr. William Thom- 
 son, a son of the missionary, rendered valuable ser- 
 vice in this portion of the field. Messrs. Foot and 
 Wilson, on a visit to Hums and Hamath, northward 
 of Damascus, found the former place peculiarly acces- 
 sible to religious teaching, and that Dr. Meshakah 
 of Damascus had sent books to several persons in this 
 place, and been in correspondence with them. Dr. 
 De Forest was much interested in what he saw in 
 villages along the coast, as far south as CarmeL 
 Everywhere the people were anxious to know more 
 of the new way, which was everywhere spoken 
 against. 
 
 One of the persons received to the Abeih church, 
 about this time, had a somewhat singular An interest- 
 
 ing conver- 
 
 experience. In the war with the Druzes, sion. 
 nine years before, his party plundered a large vil- 
 lage. In one of the houses he saw a Bible, which 
 he seized and carried home. Soon he became in- 
 tensely interested in reading it, and learned from 
 it the errors of his Church. He then sought the 
 acquaintance of the missionaries, and several of his 
 
380 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 relatives adopted his new views. He was excom- 
 muDicated, his house attacked, his property de- 
 stroyed, and his just dues were withheld. But he 
 remained firm, and was admitted to the church. 
 His wife and other relatives became Protestants ; 
 and by his judicious course, at once decided and 
 conciliatory, he lived down the persecution. A 
 school which he opened, was attended mostly by 
 Druze pupils, but several of his former co-religion- 
 ists intrusted their children to his instructiou. 
 
 In August, 1853, Dr. Smith had completed the 
 Progress of trauslatiou of the Four Gospels. His 
 
 the transla- 
 tions, work was then suspended by the failure of 
 
 his health. He was afterward able to resume it, 
 
 and in May, 1854, he had translated the Acts, the 
 
 Epistle to the Romans, and the greater part of the 
 
 Epistles to the Corinthians. 
 
 In 1853, interesting developments occurred in 
 
 Interesting tlic southcm portiou of tlic field, which 
 
 develop- 
 ments, was that year under the special charge of 
 
 Dr. Thomson. Yacob el-Hakim, interrupted in his 
 school at Ibel by opposers, made two extended med- 
 ical tours, and preached the Gospel, with another 
 native helper, in villages to the south as far as 
 Nazareth. In one village, after visiting from house 
 to house for some time, he was invited to preach in 
 the church on the Sabbath, and there the entire 
 community listened for two hours to the Word of 
 God. In consequence of these labors the whole 
 
SYRIA. 381 
 
 village, with the priest at their head, declared 
 themselves Protestants, and went to Nazareth to be 
 enrolled with the Protestant com ra unity at that 
 place, under the care of the Episcopal brethren 
 at Jerusalem. In his last tour, Yacob reported 
 fifty men in Rany, another village not far from 
 Nazareth, who had adopted the same course, and 
 he met with great encouragement in several other 
 places. Indeed he became so much interested in 
 this work, that he did not wish to return to his 
 school. These tours were made wholly at his own 
 expense, and he was able to support himself by his 
 medical practice. 
 
 Elias Tacobe, a native of Rashaiah, spent the 
 summer at Abeih in the study of theology, and 
 was found to possess uncommon preaching talents. 
 He subsequently labored with success at his na- 
 tive place, at Ibel, and especially at Khuraibeh. 
 Wherever the native brethren went, they reported 
 an unusual desire among the people to hear the 
 Word of God. At Sidon the attention paid to the 
 preaching of Mr. Thomson and his helpers was 
 marked and solemn. More than thirty were in a 
 Bible-class. It was somewhat remarkable that the 
 whole class found the study of Romans far more 
 interesting than any other portion of the New 
 Testament. The powerful arguments of Paul, when 
 clearly opened to their comprehension, seemed to 
 fall upon their minds with the charm of novelty. 
 
382 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 And haviug clearly understood and embraced the 
 great fundamentals of Christian faith, there was 
 good reason to hope, they would never return again 
 to the beggarly elements of this world. What they 
 learned in the class they made known abroad. The 
 surrounding country was awakened more or less to 
 a spirit of inquiry. At a village directly east of 
 Sidon, several families declared themselves Protest- 
 ants. At Kanah, in the neighborhood of Tyre, at 
 Alma, higher up on the mountain, and at Acre aud 
 Kaifeh, there were decided Protestants. 
 
 The clergy of the dilGferent sects became thor- 
 
 Betennined ^"^^^7 alarmed, aud for a time worked in 
 opposition. ^Q^^^^^ to arrest this spirit of inquiry. A 
 
 strong corps of women, under the general name of 
 Sisters of Charity, settled in Sidou, and opened 
 large schools to which the parents were commanded, 
 by the clergy of the various sects, to send their chil- 
 dren ; and strenuous exertions were made to break 
 up the mission school. Every possible measure was 
 employed to intimidate the people. 
 
 Nearly all the professed converts stood firm ; 
 Effect of the ^hough subjcctcd to want, cruel hatred, 
 opposition. ^^^ banishment from their homes. There 
 
 was an advance in religious character ; more decis- 
 ion, more intelligence, more earnestness. The in- 
 quiry was, what is real religion, and how can one 
 become a partaker in its infinite blessings. Prog- 
 ress was thus made towards oi'ganizing a church at 
 Sidon. 
 
SYRIA. 383 
 
 The Protestants at Hasbeiya, under favor of the 
 Druzes, who then had the upper hand in all polit- 
 ical matters, and under the successful pas- Achurcn 
 
 ' built at Haa- 
 
 torate of Mr. Wortabet, now built a neat, bdya. 
 substantial church, forty-five feet by thirty-five, with 
 a basement for schools and prayer meetings. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Foot left the mission in the autumn 
 of 1854, on account of her illness, but too late t© 
 save her life. She died when near the shores of her 
 native land. The Rev. Jerre L. Lyons and wife 
 arrived at Beirut early in the following year. Dr. 
 Smith had now completed the translation Progress in 
 
 the Arabic 
 
 of the New Testament; and in addition translation 
 
 ' of the Scnp- 
 
 to the Pentateuch, previously completed, *"''^^' 
 
 he had gone through seven of the Minor Prophets, 
 
 and commenced upon Isaiah. 
 
 The author made his second visit to this mission 
 in 1855, on his return froui India. During this 
 visit he accompanied Dr. Smith to Aiu Zehalty, a 
 place of difficult access in the heart of Leb- The oospei 
 
 _ -.-. 1 -n/r T at Ain Ze- 
 
 anon, where Mr. and Mrs. Lyons were re- i^^ity. 
 siding, with no one to speak the English language, 
 in order the sooner to learn the Arabic. There, 
 through the teachings of a native brother from the 
 church at Abeih, the people had lost all confidence 
 in the ceremonies and superstitions of their Church. 
 The priest, after making vain attempts to bring 
 them back, left the place in disgust, and begged the 
 bishop to send him elsewhere. He was obliged to 
 
384 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 return, however, and as his fliock would not support 
 him, a salaiy was given him by the bishop, in the 
 hope of ultimately recovering them to his fold. The 
 experiences of this little community of Protestants 
 will again claim our attention. 
 
 It was now agreed to leave Aleppo, and northern 
 TraDsferof Syria from Kessab northward, to be culti- 
 
 ■northern 
 
 Syria to the vatcd bv thc Armcuiau mission ; since the 
 
 Anneniau •' 
 
 Mission. language in that region was chiefly the 
 Turkish. 
 
 The Eev. Messrs. Edward Aiken, Daniel Bliss,' and 
 Accessions Hcury H. Jessup, and their wives, were 
 
 and bereave- ... . t.«- 
 
 ments. addcd to the mission in this year. Mrs. 
 
 Aiken died at Hums before she had completed a 
 residence in the field of half a year. In November, 
 one of the older missionaries, the Rev. George B. 
 Whiting, finished his course, after a devoted service 
 as a missionary through a fourth part of a cen- 
 tury.^ Mrs. Whiting returned, in poor health, to 
 the United States. 
 
 The Gospel was preached statedly at sixteen 
 General pl^ccs. At four of thcsc — Bcirut, Abeih, 
 view. Sidon, and Hasbeiya — churches had been 
 
 organized. Fifteen members were added during the 
 year 1856. The number admitted from the begin- 
 ning was one hundred and six, of whom eighty were 
 living and in regular standing. The average num- 
 
 1 For an obituary notice of Mr. Whiting by Mr. Calhoun, see Mis- 
 sionary Herald for 1856, pp. 129-133. 
 
SYRIA, 386 
 
 ber of hearers was about four hundred and twenty ; 
 but the whole number was of course much larger. 
 The sons-in-law of the old Emir Beshir, the unre- 
 lenting* persecutor no longer among the living, were 
 among the firmest friends of the mission, and his 
 grandchildren were in its schools. The anathemas 
 of the Maronite clergy, once so terrific, had lost 
 their power. Light was spreading; and though 
 there was not a corresponding religious interest, yet 
 the most influential inhabitants were on friendly 
 terms with the mission, and in favor of education 
 and good morals. 
 
 25 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE ARMENIANS. 
 
 1845-1846. 
 
 We come now to the grand crisis, when the evan- 
 The grand g^lical Armenians, who claimed the right 
 crisis. ^^ worshipping God according to the 
 
 teachings of his Word, were on that account excom- 
 municated, pronounced accursed, and subjected to a 
 protracted and most cruel persecution. But inas- 
 much as this made it necessary to organize Protes- 
 tant churches all over the country, it was overruled, 
 in God's providence, for the furtherance of his king- 
 dom. 
 
 Matteos, the leader of this persecution, became 
 The perse- Patriarch of Constantinople in the autumn 
 
 cuting Pa- -r* i • 
 
 triarch. of 1844. Pcshtimaljiau, the celebrated 
 teacher, who knew him as one of his scholars, said 
 of him, ten years before, when he was on very 
 fi'iendly terms with the missionaries, that he was 
 a man of enlightened views, but without principle, 
 and always governed by what he considered the 
 wishes of those who were likely to promote his in- 
 terests. His position as Patriarch was one of great 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 387 
 
 diflBculty. The evangelical doctrines were spreading 
 in all directions, and their enemies demanded that 
 they be rooted out. A report was even started, that 
 Matteos himself was a Protestant, and his convic- 
 tions were known to have been at one time in that 
 direction ; but his interests and his ambition now 
 led him to oppose. He had attained the highest 
 post in his nation, and was resolved to keep it. As 
 the evangelical brethren would not yield, he must, 
 if possible, put them down. He resolved to sacri- 
 fice the Protestants ; and all his powers, personal 
 and official, were employed to eradicate Protestant- 
 ism from the land.^ 
 
 He first secretly directed those among his own 
 flock, who were patrons or regular cus- Higujodeoi 
 tomers of the evangelical brethren, silently p"^®^^^- 
 to withdraw their patronage. Many of the Protes- 
 tants thus suddenly found themselves deprived of 
 business, and that remonstrances availed nothins*. 
 unless they pledged themselves to withdraw from the 
 preaching of the missionaries. A more decisive 
 
 1 Dr. Dwight, in his Christianity Revived in the East is severe 
 on Bishop Horatio Southgate, of the American Episcopal mission in 
 Turkey, on the ground of his publicly declared sympathy with the 
 Patriarch Matteos, and the advice and countenance he was believed to 
 have given that cruel persecutor. How far the Patriarch was actually 
 influenced by Bishop Southgate, it is impossible to say ; and I have 
 supposed that at this late day, the demands of history would be satis- 
 fied with this brief allusion to the case. See Christianity Revived, 
 pp. 211-213. 
 
388 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES 
 
 measure was, ordering- the priests to hand in to the 
 Patriarch the names of those who did not come to 
 confession, and partake of the communion, in their 
 respective churches. All such were threatened with 
 excommunication and all its dreaded consequences. 
 
 As two or three vartabeds and some of the priests 
 continued to attend the preaching of the missiona- 
 ries, and others were known to be friendly, some- 
 thing must be done to operate upon tliose spiritual 
 His treat- guidcs of the pcoplc. Bcdros Vartabed 
 
 ment of Bed- 
 
 ros Vartabed. was thc first to bc uiadc au example. He 
 was ordered to perform a mass, but declined on con- 
 scientious grounds. He was then instructed to pro- 
 ceed forthwith to a town on the Russian frontier, 
 ostensibly to take charge of a diocese, but really to 
 get him where he could easily be conveyed as a pris- 
 oner to the monastery of Echmiadzin. He politely 
 declined to go, and the Patriarch was not then pre- 
 pared to resort to force. After some delay, it was 
 arranged that Bedros should go to the monastery at 
 Jerusalem. He proceeded no farther, however, 
 than Beirut, and from thence went to Aleppo and 
 Aintab. His usefulness at the latter place, and his 
 Christian death at Aleppo, have been already stated. ^ 
 The Patriarch's attention was next turned to 
 Priest ver- Pi'icst Vertaucs, who was already in his 
 **°®® hands as a prisoner at the monastery of 
 
 Armash, whither he had been sent by his predeces- 
 
 ^ See chapter xxi. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 889 
 
 sor. It was fouud that he had been preaching to 
 the monks salvation through the blood of Christ 
 alone, without the deeds of the law. It was repre- 
 sented to Matteos, that if the Protestant priest was 
 not removed, the inmates of the monastery would 
 soon become corrupted. An imperial firman was 
 therefore procured for his banishment to Cesarea, 
 whither Hohannes had been sent, six years before, 
 for a like oflfense. On his way there, in charge of 
 a Turkish oflScer, and indeed after his arrival, he 
 ceased not to preach the Gospel for which he was in 
 bonds. In the same year the Sultan gave orders, 
 on occasion of a great feast, to have all the exiles 
 in the country set at liberty, and Vertanes returned 
 to Constantinople. Letters came to the Patriarch 
 from Cesarea, soon after, saying that he had seduced 
 many, and that had he remained there much longer, 
 all would have gone after him.^ 
 
 At the metropolis there were restraints upon the 
 hierarchy, that were unfelt in the prov- Tije^hief 
 inces. Ephrem, bishop of Erzroom, had p^'^^^^*^" 
 
 1 Christianity Remved, p. 152. Anthority for most of the following 
 statements concerning these persecutions, may be foun4 in the Mis- 
 sionary Herald for 1846 : pp. 193-203, 218-230, 263-273, 298-304, 
 397-406; and for 1847, pp. 16-22, 37-45, 75-83, 150, 193-199, 264- 
 273, 298-Soi, 372-374. The account of them given by Dr. H. G. O. 
 Dwight, in his work entitled Christianity Revived in the East, pub- 
 lished in 1850, is so well written, tffat I cannot confer upon the 
 reader a greater favor than by a free, though much abridged, use of 
 his language. 
 
890 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 once acknowledged the errors of his Church, and 
 had often strongly expressed his desires for reform, 
 though now among the most zealous and persever- 
 ing of the persecutors. The same was lamentably 
 true of Boghos, Vartabed of Trebizond. Ephrem and 
 Boghos had actually sujffered persecution, on the 
 charge of being Protestants. The change in their 
 conduct was owing to the change in their relations, 
 and to their loving the praise of men more than the 
 praise of God. 
 
 The Bishop of Erzroom exceeded all others in bit- 
 
 pewecution ^^rucss agaiust the followers of the Gos- 
 at Erzroom. ^^^ jj^ j^^^ spics lu cvcry part of the 
 
 town, and often upon the roofs of houses adjacent 
 to the dwellings of the missionaries, to observe who 
 were their visitors. He never allowed disobedience 
 to his orders to go unpunished. The bastinado was 
 repeatedly applied under his own eye, merely for an 
 expression indicating reverence for the Word of 
 God. Twenty blows were inflicted on the bare feet 
 of a young man, and he was thrown into prison, be- 
 cause he had sold a copy of the Psalms in modern 
 Armenian, and called at the house of a missionary, 
 A teacher of a country school was severely bastina- 
 doed for teaching the Gospel to the villagers. A 
 merchant, who had early embraced the truth, was 
 cruelly beaten in the .bishop's own room, and the 
 people were commanded to spit in his face in the 
 streets, merely because he visited the missionary. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 391 
 
 A priest, for showing so much sympathy as to call 
 upon him, was summoned before the bishop and 
 bastinadoed. Another, who had called once at Mr. 
 Peabody's house and procured some books, was 
 seized, put in irons, and thrown into prison, and his 
 books were burnt before his eyes. In most cases 
 these violent measures confirmed the indi- Effect of the 
 viduals in their new ways ; and the truth i«^"«°^*^°°- 
 is said never to have made so much progress among 
 the permanent Armenian residents of Erzroom, as 
 during the period of these outrages. 
 
 One principal reason for the determination of the 
 ecclesiastics to uproot Bible religion from Erzroom, 
 was the central and consequently influen- central posi- 
 
 , , tion of Era- 
 
 tial position of that city in the interior of room. 
 Armenia. In the district of Pasin, to the east, 
 were nearly two hundred villages, in which Mr. 
 Peabody found both priests and people remarkably 
 accessible. In the nearer villages, a few were al- 
 ways found so much awake to the truth as to pay 
 little regard to the injunctions of their spiritual 
 rulers, who were opposed to Bible teachings. Not 
 unfrequently individuals from Egin, Diarbekir, and 
 other distant places, called on Messrs. Peabody and 
 Smith for religious inquiry. A tour of Haritun of 
 JNTicomedia to Sivas, Erzroom, Egin, etc., brought 
 to light many encouraging facts in those places. 
 In every important place some inquirers were found, 
 and only laborers seemed needful to gather in an 
 abundant harvest. 
 
392 mIjSSIons to tee oriental churches. 
 
 The author can bear witness to the increase of in 
 Progress at telligcnce at Trcbizond. The quiet preach 
 Trebizond. -^^ ^^ ^^^ word \)j Mcssrs. Johnston au( 
 
 Bliss, and the distribution of the Scriptures anc 
 other evangelical books, had, by the blessing of God 
 moved many minds, and taught the difference be- 
 tween truth and error; and they gladly availec 
 themselves of every opportunity to come togethei 
 for conference and prayer. Not many, however 
 were willing to run much risk for the truth's sake, 
 and few gave satisfactory evidence of being " boru 
 again." 
 
 A young man of superior attainments in Trebi- 
 ca^esofper- ^oud, belougiug to thc Papal Armenians^ 
 ^^•"'^ died in the spring of 1844, giving the most 
 satisfactory evidence of conversion. His priest bail 
 made every effort to reclaim him, but Mugurdich, 
 for that was his name, was very decided, and a few 
 days before his death made a formal renunciatioii 
 of his Church in writing, and peacefully committed 
 his all to Christ. His body was not allowed a burial 
 in the graveyard, or with the usual religious cere- 
 monies, but was carried out at a late hour, in a darl 
 stormy night, by common street porters, under the 
 direction of a Turkish police-officer, and buried in 2 
 waste place about a mile out of the city. His priesi 
 had threatened to bury him like a dog ; but he tolc 
 them, at the time, that tbey could thus do him nc 
 harm, as they could not reach his soul. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 393 
 
 The Vartabed in this city was not deemed suffi- 
 ciently energetic as a persecutor. But Boghos, his 
 successor, was. On receiving instructions from the 
 Patriarch in the spring of 1845, he immediately set 
 the whole persecuting machinery in motion. And 
 so terrific did it become, that in the space of ten 
 days about one half of the Bible readers had re- 
 canted. 
 
 Just at this juncture, a highly respected evangel- 
 ical inhabitant of Trebizond, named Tateos, ^^ ^^^^^ 
 returned from a visit to Constantinople, ^*'®^*^®- 
 Smyrna, Broosa, Nicomedia, and Adabazar, whither 
 he had been to make the acquaintance of the mis- 
 sionaries and native brethren in those places. Fear- 
 ing the influence of such a man, the persecuting 
 party resolved to put him out of the way. He was 
 accordingly decoyed on board the steamer as it was 
 leaving for Constantinople, thrust down into the 
 hold,- and confined there by order of the Turkish 
 Pasha. Thus was he torn from his affectionate wife 
 and children, and carried off like a felon, they knew 
 not whither, without even the show of a trial. Ar- 
 riving at the capital, he was taken to the Armenian 
 hospital, and shut up in the mad-house. Placed in 
 a sitting posture, he was fastened with two chains, 
 one from his neck to the wall, the other from his 
 feet to the floor. Orders from the Patriarchate 
 were, that no one should have access to him, but 
 some of the native brethren discovered the place of 
 
394 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 his confinement, and gained admittance. He was 
 then removed to another place, where it was believed 
 he could not be found. On the Sabbath, the eighth 
 day of his imprisonment, while the Armenian con- 
 gregation was engaged in singing in the chapel at 
 Pera, he entered, a free man ! Much prayer had 
 been offered for him, and his sudden liberation re- 
 minded all of Peter the Apostle. Sir Stratford Can- 
 ning had been informed of his case, and there was 
 no doubt that the remonstrances of this benevolent 
 statesman had caused the Patriarch to loosen his 
 grasp upon this innocent victim of his oppression. 
 
 But whatever was the influence exerted to mod- 
 ThePatri- ^^^^^^ the procecdiugs of the Patriarch in 
 toexco^u- this case, he was fully resolved not to fail 
 of success. In the beginning of 1846, he 
 entered upon the more decisive course of subjecting 
 the evangelical Armenians to the pains and penalties 
 of excommunication. He began with Vertanes, who 
 escaped arrest only through the friendly agency of 
 his landlord, (not a Protestant,) and was concealed for 
 several weeks in the house of a friend. At the pa- 
 triarchal church, after the morning service, January 
 25th, the church was darkened by extinguishing the 
 candles, the great veil was drawn in front of the altar, 
 and a bull of anathema was solemnly read against 
 Priest Vertanes ; and, on the next Sabbath, against all 
 who were of his sentiments, — " followers," as the in- 
 strument read, " of the corrupt new sect, who are ac- 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 395 
 
 cursed, excommuuicated, and anathematized." Ver- 
 tanes was denounced in the usual style of such doc- 
 uments, as " a contemptible wretch," " a vagabond," 
 " a seducer of the people," " a traitor and murderer 
 of Christ," '' a child of the devil," " an offspring of 
 Antichrist," and " worse than an infidel or a hea- 
 then." " Wherefore," sajs the Patriarch, " we ex- 
 pel him, and forbid him, as a devil and a child of 
 the devil, to enter into the company of our believ- 
 ers ; we cut him off from the priesthood, as an am- 
 putated member of the spiritual body of Christ, and 
 as a branch cut off from the vine, which is good for 
 nothing but to be cast into the fire. By this admon- 
 itory bull, I therefore command and warn my be- 
 loved in every city far and near, not to look upon his 
 face, regarding it as the face of Belial, not to re- 
 ceive him into your holy dwellings, for he is a house 
 destroying and ravening wolf; not to receive his 
 salutation, but to refuse it as a soul-destroying poi- 
 son ; and to beware, with all your households, of the 
 seducing and impious followers of the false doctrine 
 of modern sectarists, and to pray for them to the 
 God who remembereth not iniquity, if perchance, 
 they may repent, and turn from their wicked paths, 
 and secure the salvation of their souls, through the 
 grace of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who is 
 blessed forever and ever. Amen," ^ 
 
 The Patriarch immediately issued orders to his 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1846, pp. 197, 198. 
 
396 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 clergy, to see that the temporal penalties threatened 
 The temporal in the anathema were all inflicted. Most of 
 
 penalties en- 
 forced, the clergy obeyed these orders with good 
 
 will, bat some reluctantly. The leading men in the 
 different trade corporations were required to deprive 
 the persons anathematized, and their families, of 
 their employments and means of living, and they 
 evinced more pitiless zeal than did even the clergy. 
 Many of the brethren were forcibly driven from 
 their houses and shops, and some were expelled even 
 from the paternal roof. A form of recantation was 
 drawn up, and a new creed, and these were sent 
 throughout the country for the signature of the 
 Protestants. The evangelical brethren were every- 
 where summoned before their ecclesiastical rulers 
 for this purpose. The creed contained the worst 
 errors of Popery. The recantation required was, in 
 substance, a confession that " being deceived by the 
 enticements of Satan " they had " separated from 
 the spotless bosom of the holy Church," and had 
 "lovingly joined the impious New Sectaries/' which 
 they now saw to be " nothing else but an invention 
 of arrogance, a snare of Satan, a sect of confusion, a 
 broad road which leadeth to destruction.'' Where- 
 fore repenting of their " impious deeds,'' they " fled 
 again to the bosom of the immaculate and holy Ar- 
 menian Church," and confessed that " her faith is 
 spotless, her sacraments divine, her rites of apos- 
 tolic origin, her ritual pious," and promised to re- 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 397 
 
 ccive "whatever this same holy Church receiveth, 
 whether it be a matter of faith or ceremony/' and 
 to " reject with anathemas whatever doctrines she 
 rejects." ^ 
 
 Tbe persecutions designed to enforce this bold 
 and cruel measure, both at Constantinople and else- 
 where, were too numerous to be fully set forth in 
 this history. It appears, from a statement drawn 
 up by the missionaries at Constantinople, that nearly 
 forty persons, in that city alone, had their shops 
 closed and their licenses taken away, and were thus 
 debarred from laboring for an honest livelihood. 
 Nearly seventy were ejected from their own hired 
 houses, and sometimes from houses owned by them- 
 selves, and were thus exposed as vagabonds, to be 
 taken up by the patrol and committed to prison ; 
 and could find shelter only in houses provided for 
 the emergency at Pera, or Galata, through the 
 charity of Europeans or Americans. To increase 
 the distress, bakers were forbidden to furnish them 
 with bread, and water-carriers to supply them with 
 water. Thirty or more persons were exiled, impris- 
 oned, or bastinadoed, on no other charge than their 
 faith. Many were compelled to dissolve partner- 
 ships, and bring their accounts to a forced settle- 
 ment, involving their utter ruin. Where the agents 
 of the Patriarch ascertained that debts were due 
 from the anathematized to faithful sons of the 
 
 ^ Appendix to Christianity Revived in the East, p. 272. 
 
398 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAI. CHURCHES. 
 
 Church, the latter, however reluctant, were com- 
 pelled to urge an immediate settlement.^ 
 
 Dr. Dwight gives us a glimpse of the working of 
 the Anathema in the following narrative : " At one 
 time the Patriarch called before him several of the 
 leading Protestants, and sought to win them by 
 gentleness and argument. When he found that 
 they could outreason him, he said, rather petu- 
 lantly, 'What is the use of your talking? I only 
 called you to sign this paper. If you cannot do it, 
 you may go, and next Sabbath you will all be anath- 
 ematized.' 
 
 " One of the number he retained for a more pri- 
 ThePatri- ^'^^^ couvcrsation. This was Mr. Apiso- 
 fiS^Protel^-^ ghom Khachadurian, who afterwards be- 
 came the first Protestant pastor. After 
 those present had been sent away, the Patriarch, 
 with a great show of kindness, entreated our brother 
 to yield to the demands of the Church, for the sake 
 of peace. ' Let me know,' said he, ' how much you 
 receive as a salary from those men (meaning us), 
 and I will pledge myself to secure more for you, if 
 you will only come over to our side.' Ap. Khacha- 
 duriau begged the Patriarch not to pain his feel- 
 ings again by addressing to him any such motives, 
 which, in a matter of such solemn moment, were 
 worthy of no consideration. 
 
 " The Patriarch then said : ' If you will only come 
 
 1 Annual Report for 1846, p. 98. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 399 
 
 back to us, you may retain your own private opin- 
 ions and nobody shall molest you 5 only you must 
 not speak of them to others. Why should you 
 preach ? You are no priest.' 
 
 " JT, 'I cannot return on any such conditions. It 
 is every man's duty to try to enlighten his neigh- 
 bors in things pertaining to salvation, so far as he 
 understands the Gospel.' 
 
 " Patriarch, ' But, if the evangelical men are per- 
 mitted to remain in the Church on such conditions, 
 the time is not distant when they will make the 
 whole Church evangelical.' 
 
 " K, ' And what if they should ? Would it be a 
 calamity to our people to receive the Word of God 
 as a body, and endeavor to follow it ? You well 
 know that this is the true way. You know that you 
 confessed this to me some years ago. The course 
 you are now pursuing will be destructive to our na- 
 tion. I well understand your motive. You have 
 been called a Protestant, and you seek to wipe this 
 blot from your name ; but have you not already done 
 enough ? Surely everybody must be convinced, by 
 this time, that you are an Armenian, and no Prot- 
 estant. Desist, I beseech you, from this work ; for 
 your own sake, I beseech you desist; otherwise it 
 may result in something very bad for you.' 
 
 " Patriarch. ^ Why ? what will they (meaning the 
 missionaries) do unto me ? ' 
 
 " K. * They will do nothing to you, but your own 
 nation will, if you go on in this way.' 
 
400 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES, 
 
 " This conversation continued for some time, and 
 the Patriarch's conscience seemed, for the moment, 
 to be touched by our brother's faithful appeals, and 
 he looked very thoughtful. He requested Mr. 
 Khachadurian to call again after two days, which 
 he accordingly did, but was not received. A var- 
 tabed was sent to say, that if he continued of the 
 same mind as before, the Patriarch did not wish to 
 see him ; and on the following Sabbath he was pub- 
 licly anathematized in all the churches." ^ 
 
 Soon after this anathema, the persecuted brethren 
 Appeals of addrcsscd a letter to the Patriarch, explain- 
 
 the perse- 
 cuted, iug their religious sentiments, and asking 
 
 to be relieved from their sufferings. This producing 
 no effect, they addressed themselves to the Primates 
 of the Armenian community, but no one of them was 
 disposed to interfere in their behalf At length they 
 presented a petition to Reschid Pasha, Turkish Min- 
 ister of Foreign Affairs. This petition was treated 
 with respect; but, owing to the influence of some of 
 the Armenian Primates, it procured no relief. Sub- 
 sequently they carried their case before the English, 
 Prussian, and American Ministers, asking their in- 
 tervention. These gentlemen took the kindest in- 
 terest in their case, and made repeated efforts to 
 procure redress. Still the persecution went on. 
 The Patriarch even ventured, within a month after 
 the excommunication, to send the names of thirteen 
 
 1 Christianity Revived, pp. 199-201. 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 401 
 
 leading Protestauts to the Porte, requesting their 
 banishment. This was going a step too far. The 
 English Ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning, had 
 called the attention of the Turkish ministrj^ to the 
 pledge given, three years before, by the Sultan, that 
 " henceforth there should be no more persecution 
 for religious opinions in Turkey; ^' and it was now 
 decided, in accordance with this pledge, that the 
 persecution of the evangelical Armenians could not 
 be allowed. 
 
 Scores of men, women, and children were wander- 
 ing houseless, for the faith of Jesus, in the streets of 
 the great metropolis, but they could not be charitable 
 
 aid to the 
 
 left thus to suffer. Through the kindness persecuted. 
 of Mr. Allan, missionary of the Free Church of 
 Scotland to the Jews, twenty individuals were com- 
 fortably lodged in a large building he had secured 
 for a chapel and mission house. For the rest, the 
 missionaries hired such tenements as could be 
 found ; at the same time providing bread for those 
 cut off from all means of procuring their own sub- 
 sistence. Nor was any time lost in appealing for 
 aid to evangelical Christians throughout the world ; 
 and responses were received from the United States, 
 from England, from every country in Europe, and 
 from India; and five hundred dollars were con- 
 tributed by foreign Protestant residents on the 
 ground. 
 
 One good resulting from this evil should not be 
 
 26 
 
402 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 overlooked. The evangelical brethren in Constan- 
 oood result- tiuople had lived scattered over a territory 
 
 ing from the 
 
 evil. eight or ten miles in diameter, so that 
 
 they could rarely, if ever, come together. But while 
 driveu from their homes, and sheltered by the hand 
 of Christian charity, they were, for many wrecks, al- 
 most in one neighborhood, with abundant opportu- 
 nity to cultivate each other's acquaintance. Most 
 of their time, indeed, was spent in social prayer and 
 religious conference ; the effects of which were seen 
 in a deeper interest felt for one another, and in a 
 stronger bond of union .^ 
 
 Early in March, Reschid Pasha, the Minister of 
 Intervention Forcigu Affairs, callcd up the Armenian 
 
 of the gov- 
 ernment. Patriarch, and charged him to desist from 
 
 his present course. This was an important point 
 gained. It was now virtually decided, that the evan- 
 gelical subjects of the Porte could have a civil exist- 
 ence in Turkey, without being under the spiritual 
 dominion of the Patriarch .^ 
 
 But freedom from the Patriarch's civil power they 
 The Patri- did uot actually attain until their full and 
 
 arch's sub- , -r» j j j. 
 
 terfuge. formal recognition as a Protestant com- 
 munity. In point of fact, there was no material 
 relief from the persecution ; though the Patriarch 
 issued a pamphlet, about this time, utterly denying 
 that there was any. He even proclaimed from the 
 
 1 Christianity Revived, p. 208. 
 
 2 Missionary Herald, 1846, p, 218. 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 403 
 
 pulpit, that religion was free iu Turkey. There was 
 no doubt a change for the better iu the Turkish 
 government, and the Patriarch was gradually learn- 
 ing that persecution for religious opinions was not 
 to be allowed. Therefore he felt constrained to use 
 every artifice, so that nothing should seem to be 
 done contrary to law ; and, if possible, so that no 
 ambassador should be able to prove upon him an act 
 of persecution. At that very time, however, thirty- 
 four shops were closed in Constantinople, and their 
 former occupants were forcibly kept from resuming 
 their business, merely because they did not subscribe 
 to the Patriarch's creed. This was all, however, un- 
 der the pretense of law. The Patriarch was the civil 
 head of the Armenian community, and as such was 
 responsible to the government for every trade. No 
 person could open a shop without a license, and each 
 trade was incorporated, and regulated by a small 
 committee of the most prominent persons in that 
 business. The license came from this committee; 
 and each one taking out a license was required to 
 give two or more sureties for good conduct. Li- 
 censes were refused to the evangelical Armenians ; 
 or if not, they were not accepted as sureties for each 
 other, and none others ventured to assume the rela- 
 tion. Thus, until the slow moving Turk discovered 
 the abuse, the persecutor pursued his work with im- 
 punity under the broad shield of the law. 
 
 It was specially so in the interior. One of the 
 
404 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 most trjiug cases of persecution was that of Priest 
 caseofPriest Harituu at Niconiedia, whose conversion 
 naritQa. ^^^ mcntioued in connection with that of 
 Vertanes, more than twelve years before. When 
 Der Vertanes was anathematized, the bishop of Ni- 
 comedia required Haritun to write a confession of 
 his faith, in order to show the people that he was a 
 true son of the Armenian Church. The document 
 was far from being satisfactory, and his letter ap- 
 pended to it was still less so, for in that he affirmed 
 the Holy Scriptui-es to be the only infallible rule of 
 faith and practice, and declared his willingness to 
 receive whatever punishment was prepared for him. 
 He was naturally timid, but now he was filled with 
 the spirit of martyrdom. He was brought to the 
 church on the Sabbath, and the bishop, after read- 
 ing his confession, immediately pronounced him ex- 
 communicated and accursed. Two priests tben vio- 
 lently tore his clerical robes from his shoulders, and 
 with boisterous shouts cried, " Drive the accursed 
 one from the church. '^ The excited rabble now fell 
 upon him, and with kicks and blows thrust him into 
 the street. All this he received with the greatest 
 meekness, and returned to his house exceeding glad 
 that he was counted worthy " to suffer for the name 
 of Jesus." 
 
 The bishop then sent him a paper of recantation 
 to sign. Refusing to do this, he was by an easy arti- 
 fice, thrown into prison. Finding that he owed 
 
THE ARMENIANS, 405 
 
 small sums to different individuals, the debts were 
 all bought up by a magnate of the j)lace, and im- 
 mediate payment was required. Being unable to 
 meet the demand, as it was well known he would 
 be, he was cast into prison. It was under sanction 
 of the law. After thirteen days, he was conducted 
 by a soldier to the bishop's palace, where the Patri- 
 arch's creed was offered for his signature. When 
 they could not persuade him to sign it, he was 
 threatened with the loss of his beard, which was 
 considered the greatest indignity to a priest. He 
 replied, " For the wonderful name of Christ, I am, 
 God helping me, ready even to shed my blood." A 
 barber was called in, and not only his beard, but all 
 the hair from his head was shaved off. They then 
 tore his clerical cap, and cast it into a filthy corner 
 of the street, together with the hair and beard. A 
 mob of boys now fastened the beard and the disfigured 
 cap to the end of a long pole, and paraded through 
 all the wards of the city, shouting, " Heads out ! 
 behold the cap of the accursed Haritun." He was 
 afterwards sent back to prison, the soldiers leading 
 him by a circuitous route to prolong his sufferings, 
 and the mob continually following him with oppro- 
 brious language. " I entered the prison," he wrote 
 to a native brother, " with a joyful heart, commit- 
 ting myself to God, and giving glory to Him, that He 
 had enabled me to pass through fire and sword, and 
 brought me to a place of repose." 
 
406 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The Turkish governor of the prison, moved by 
 pity, immediately released the unoffending old man. 
 Passing through a Turkish burying ground, he 
 reached his home unobserved. It was the Sabbath 
 day, and he says, " Being delivered from the hands 
 of reckless men, I fell down on my face about the 
 eighth hour, with my wife alone, and gave glory to 
 God that He had accounted me worthv of such an 
 honor, which I formerly avoided, but now by his 
 grace he has made me cheerfully to receive, though 
 I am altogether unworthy. He has kept me for such 
 a day." 
 
 Haritun's inability to pay his debts subjected him 
 to a second imprisonment ; but as his cup increased 
 in bitterness, his resolve was the more firmly fixed, 
 never to deny his Lord and Saviour. His spotless 
 reputation, and his meekness in suffering, procured 
 for him many friends, even among the Mohamme- 
 dans.^ 
 
 It deserves to be recorded, that the magnate who 
 secured his imprisonment, was thrown from his 
 horse, not long after, and received a fracture of the 
 skull, from which he died ; and his splendid mansion 
 was subsequently consumed by fire. 
 
 After having thus cruelly treated Priest Haritun, 
 the bishop summoned the evangelical ^ temporary 
 brethren before him, as a body, and so '^"'^p^- 
 wrought upon their fears, that they all agreed to 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1846, pp. 219-223, 366. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 407 
 
 sign the paper of recantation. Some of thera, Low- 
 ever, declared to the bishop, at the time, that they 
 should continue to read the Gospel, and come to- 
 gether for prayer; and he assured them, that he 
 merely wanted their signatures as a matter of form, 
 and that they should be left at liberty to believe and 
 act as they pleased. But they lost all peace of mind 
 from that moment, until they had abjured their re- 
 cantation, and publicly declared their determination 
 to abide by the doctrines of the Gospel, even unto 
 death. This was in March, 1846. They were all 
 soon after excommunicated. 
 
 At Adabazar, there was much suffering. Pour of 
 the brethren were seized for debt, and cruelties at 
 thrown into prison. The Protestants were ^•^^^^• 
 assailed with hootings and curses. Presh outrages 
 were of daily occurrence. A native brother, named 
 Hagop, on his way from Adabazar to a village an 
 hour distant, was passed by one of the persecutors 
 on horseback, who turned upon him and cruelly beat 
 him. Returning home with eyes and forehead 
 swollen and blackened, and his limbs bloody from 
 the blows he had received, he was taken by his 
 friends to the Turkish governor, and two Turks 
 came in as witnesses ; but the governor refused to 
 give him a hearing. Soon after, the houses of the 
 brethren were stoned, and some of them were im- 
 prisoned on false pretenses, while the governor and 
 judge, though perfectly aware of these things, cared 
 
408 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 not for them. Emboldened thus, the chief ruler of 
 
 the Armeuiaus headed a band of about fifty desperate 
 
 fellows, and went in the eveniug to the house of 
 
 Hagop, who had been beaten a few days before, 
 
 broke down the door, rushed up-stairs, and, in the 
 
 presence of his family, beat him on his nose and 
 
 mouth, and wherever else the blows happened to fall, 
 
 and threw him down stairs. They there beat him 
 
 again, pushed him into the street, and dragged him 
 
 to a place of confinement. Other brethren were 
 
 subjected to similar violence, until the mob became 
 
 so outx'ageous that the governor and judge were 
 
 obliged to interfere.^ 
 
 At Trebizond, a young man, refusing to sign the 
 
 Cruelties at I'^cautatiou, was beaten on the soles of his 
 Trebizond. ^^^^^ ^j^^ vartabcd aiding with his own 
 
 hands in inflicting the blows. He was afterwards 
 thrown into a miserable stable as a prison ; water 
 was plentifully poured upon the cold, damp ground 
 on which he stood with mangled feet; his hands 
 were tied behind him by the two thumbs ; a rope 
 was passed under his shoulders and fastened to a 
 beam over his head ; and in this torturing condition 
 he was left to stand during the night. Orders were 
 also issued that no one should give him food. After 
 being kept here nearly two days, with some mitiga- 
 tions, and repeatedly importuned to sign the recan- 
 tation, with terrific threatenings in case he did not, 
 
 i Missionary Herald, 1846, p. 270. 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 409 
 
 the sufferer was induced to yield. The ecclesiastics 
 were encouraged by this to bastinado and imprison 
 all who refused to comply. Those who could, fled 
 to the house of the missionary, and ten men were at 
 one time lodged in the chapel, and fed at his table. 
 
 This mode of proceeding could not continue. 
 The British Consul interposed and gave in- The British 
 
 , IT consul inter- 
 
 form atlOn to the Pasha, who arrested the po^es. 
 
 barbarous proceedings, and virtually advised the 
 brethren to secede from their persecuting Effect of the 
 Church. Mr. Powers thought the effect of p^-^^"'^^^' 
 these sufferings had been salutary on all the breth- 
 ren . 1 
 
 Another case occurred at the remote station of 
 Erzroom, and I mention it because of the Barbarities 
 extreme violence of the persecutors, though ^^^^'^o™ 
 regretting that they partially gained their point. 
 The man was a recent convert, but his answers when 
 interrogated, were so judicious and decisive, and so 
 sustained by Scripture proofs that his adversaries 
 were unable to reply. The main question was, 
 whether he would worship the sacred pictures. 
 This he refused to do, whereupon he was severely 
 bastinadoed ; and afterwards some of the priests 
 kicked him, spat in his face, and smote him on the 
 face, till the blood gushed from his nose and mouth. 
 He was then put in chains, and thrust into a cold 
 prison, without being allowed water to wash the 
 blood from his face, though he earnestly requested it. 
 
 1 Missionary Herald, 1806, pp. 298-300. 
 
410 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 During the evening two priests went to his 
 prison, and he begged them to secure his removal to 
 a stable. They called him a dog, and told him he 
 could receive no favor unless he submitted in every- 
 thing. This he said he could never do. He was 
 afterwards removed to a stable, and the next day 
 was brought before his persecutors and required to 
 sign a creed they had drawn up. This he did, after 
 the most objectionable parts had been erased. Em- 
 boldened by this, and by the refusal of the Pasha to 
 protect the sufferer, the ecclesiastics next Sabbath 
 ordered the same man to appear before them, and 
 he was immediately thrust into prison. In the 
 evening he was taken into the church and brought 
 before the altar, where, in the presence of a great 
 multitude, curses were heaped upon him without 
 measure. The vartabed who performed this service, 
 used language fitted to stir up the worst passions of 
 the people; many of whom being partially intoxi- 
 cated, became so enraged that when the brother 
 was conducted to the vartabed's room they grossly 
 abused him, not only by words, but by blows and 
 spitting in his face. They crowded the door, declar- 
 ing that he was worthy of death, and that they were 
 ready to she& his blood, even if for so doing, they 
 should have to shed their own, and it was with diffi- 
 culty they were prevented from rushing upon him. 
 Indeed some actually entered and kicked him on the 
 head as he was seated on the floor, without one 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 411 
 
 t 
 
 word of rebuke from the ecclesiastics. Their object 
 was to compel him to sign a paper recently sent 
 them by the Patriarch. He told them he could 
 never heartily sign such a paper. " No matter 
 about your heart,'' they exclaimed, "perform the 
 outward act." In consequence of this remark, and 
 terrified by the mob, which seemed panting to lay 
 violent hands upon him, and into the midst of whom 
 he was to be thrust if he did not sign his name, he 
 at length yielded, and the next morning his sentence 
 of excommunication was rt^voked. 
 
 A mouth later, this man much regretted having 
 done so, even under such a pressure, and had no 
 thought of abandoning the new religious life. He 
 coutinued 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 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 mouths 
 Continued auathcuias had been dealt out in the pa- 
 persecution, tijarchal church every Sabbath until many 
 
 of the people g-rew weary of them. Through eccle- 
 siastical influence, bread and water were still withheld 
 from many Protestant families by the dealers iu 
 those articles, and everything was done that could 
 be done with impunity to afflict those who remained 
 steadfast in ^.he 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 Am- 
 bassadors, and in Reschid Pasha, the Minister of 
 interposi- Forcigu Affairs. Sir Stratford Canning", 
 EngUsVAL- the English Ambassador, whose noble ef- 
 forts for religious liberty in Turkey are 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 413 
 
 worthy of all praise, did not cease urging the gov- 
 ernment to secure to their Protestant subjects the 
 right of pursuing their lawful callings without mo- 
 lestation. As to sureties for those who were ex- 
 cluded from their shops and business, he repre- 
 sented 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 be- 
 came Grand Vizier, gave orders that the Protestants 
 be permitted to resume their business on this con- 
 dition. 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 them- 
 selves to be Armenians, and he told them Designation 
 
 of Protes- 
 
 it was " Protestants,'' whom he was to al- tants. 
 low 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 " Evan- 
 gelists." But now, whether they wished it or not, 
 they were constrained to adopt the designation of 
 " Protestants." 
 
 A letter from the Grand Vizier, written at this 
 time to the Pasha of Erzroom, also recog- ^ ^j^^^ 
 nized them as Protestants. It was the ^^^^^' 
 first document issued by the Turkish government 
 for their protection, and began with stating, that 
 certain Armenians at Erzroom, who had embraced 
 
414 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 the Protestant faith, were represented to the gov- 
 ernment as suffering various forms of persecution, 
 from which they prayed to be delivered. The Grand 
 Vizier says that the same thing had occurred at the 
 capital, where the Protestants, having been anathe- 
 matized by the Patriarch, were cut off from both 
 social and commercial intercourse with their coun- 
 trymen. While the Sultan would not interfere with 
 the spii'itual duties of the Patriarch, he could not 
 allow his Protestant subjects to be hindered in their 
 lawful pursuits. As the Armenian Primate had con- 
 verted the law, requiring every subject entering into 
 business to provide sureties for his good behavior, 
 into an instrument of oppression, by refusing to ac- 
 cept Protestants as sureties for each other, the 
 Pasha was to see that they had the same liberty, in 
 this respect, as was enjoyed by their countrymen. 
 This was their privilege at Constantinople, and the 
 Grand Vizier hoped the Pasha of Erzroom would 
 secure the same for them in his province. 
 
 The Patriarch had left no means untried to break 
 The Patri- ^P ^^® seminary at Bebek, and succeeded 
 tfuty to the in taking away seventeen out of the twen- 
 ty-seven students. But five of them soon 
 returned, and ten others speedily joined the institu- 
 tion. About half of the ten were young men of 
 good intellectual capacity and mature faith, who 
 had fallen under the anathema of the Patriarch. 
 Shutting up their shops had sent them to the semi- 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 415 
 
 nary, where their minds would he disciplined, and 
 where, studying* the history of the Church, and com- 
 paring the past and present with God's Word, they 
 would be prepared to comprehend the Oriental 
 Apostasy. Of the other five, three were from 
 anathematized families, and two were without rela- 
 tives. A lad, who had been expelled from his 
 father's house because he was a Protestant, was 
 about to enter the seminary, through the influence 
 of a young man who had left it because of the fail- 
 ure of his eyes. His father carried both to the 
 patriarchate ; and the Patriarch, who had declared 
 himself no persecutor, condemned them to impris- 
 onment, with hard labor and the wearing of a heavy 
 chain day and night. The father repented of his 
 cruelty and implored their release, but in vain. It 
 was only when the Patriarch understood that the 
 father was carrying the case before the English 
 Ambassador, that he released the son. The other 
 youth remained in irons ; and the reply of the 
 Turkish authorities to repeated petitions was, that 
 he had been committed for crime. The missiona- 
 ries believed him entirely innocent, and truly pious. 
 We are obliged to leave this youth, after six weeks 
 of labor begirt with a chain, in the midst of ferocious 
 and beastly criminals, refusing to accept deliverance 
 on condition of subscribing the Patriarch's creed. 
 
 This persecution changed the seminary into a 
 theological school. More instruction was Effect on the 
 given in ecclesiastical history, especially, '*'^**°^' 
 
416 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 in regard to the introduction of doctrinal errors, 
 and more attention was paid to the exposition of 
 the written Word. A select class was formed for 
 the study of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and care 
 was taken to have the pastors of the reformed 
 churches men of faith and prayer, strong in the 
 Scriptures, and able to expose the antichristiau 
 character of the nominal Churches round about 
 them. 
 
 A seminary for young ladies had been opened in 
 
 Seminary for ^^^'^^ ^" ^^^^ autumu of 1845. Eight wcrc 
 young ladies, ^^^gj^ admitted, and five more some months 
 
 later. As the pupils came from evangelical fami- 
 lies, most of them had received some instruction at 
 their homes. They could read in the New Testa- 
 ment with more or less readiness when they entered, 
 and they made good proficiency in their studies. 
 Several of them were excommunicated by name, and 
 nearly all belonged to excommunicated families ; 
 so that the sympathies of all were enlisted on the 
 side of evangelical truth, though only two or three 
 of the older ones were regarded as hopefully pious. 
 The school was under the charge of Mrs. Everett 
 and Miss Lovell. 
 
 On the 21st of June, 1846, a great feast day in 
 
 Perpetual ^^^® Armcuiau Church, the Patriarch issued 
 
 StkS^f'the a new anathema against all who remained 
 
 firm to evangelical principles ; and decreed 
 
 that it be publicly read, at each annual return of 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 417 
 
 this festival, in all the Armenian churches through- 
 out the empire. The Protestants were thus cast out 
 forever. They had no power to organize themselves 
 into a civil community ; but it was clearly their duty 
 to secure for themselves and their children, as far as 
 they could, the spiritual privileges of the Gospel. 
 Nothing remained for them but to organize them- 
 selves into a separate church, and this they resolved 
 to do. 
 
 They made a written request to the missionaries 
 for aid in this matter, having themselves organization 
 no experience. A meeting was accordingly gln^ar^" 
 held in Constantinople of delegates from 
 the different stations of the Armenian mission. 
 Messrs. Allan and Koenig, missionaries of the Free 
 Church of Scotland to the Jews, were present by in- 
 vitation ; and also Dr. Pomroy, of Bangor in Maine, 
 and Mr. Laurie, then on his way home from Syria. 
 Though the meeting was composed of two or three 
 different denominations of Christians, there was the 
 most entire harmony in the discussions, and a plan 
 then drawn up for the organization of the Evangel- 
 ical Armenian church, was agreed to by a unani- 
 mous vote. 
 
 The evangelical Armenians in Constantinople 
 came together on the first day of July for the public 
 recognition of the church. After the reading of 
 the Scriptures and prayer, the plan of organization, 
 confession of faith, covenant, and rules of discipline, 
 
 27 
 
418 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 were read, with such explanations as seemed neces- 
 sary. Those present were then requested to rise and 
 give their assent to the articles of faith and to the 
 covenant. All rose, and the articles were again 
 read, at the end of which all audibly responded, 
 " We do thus believe." In like manner they audi- 
 bly assented to the covenant. The missionaries and 
 others then rose, and, as the representatives of Prot- 
 estant Evangelical Churches, publicly acknowledged 
 them as a true church of Jesus Christ. Their names 
 were then recorded, amounting to forty, three of 
 whom were women. 
 
 Thus was constituted the First Evangelical Arme- 
 nian Church of Constantinople. As soon as the 
 Choice of names of members had been recorded, they 
 officers. proceeded to the choice of a Pastor by bal- 
 lot, and the unanimous choice fell upon Apisoghom 
 Khachadurian, of whom honorable mention was 
 made in the preceding chapter. The other church 
 officers were then elected ; and the church unani- 
 mously requested Mr. Dwight to act as helper in the 
 pastoral office, which he consented to do. 
 
 After one week, an Ecclesiastical Council, invited 
 Ordination by thc cliurch, assembled to ordain the pas- 
 
 of t^e pas- 
 tor tor elect. It consisted of the missionaries 
 
 of the Board resident at Constantinople, and Mr. 
 
 Allan, missionary of the Free Church of Scotland. 
 
 The candidate was examined, in the presence of the 
 
 church, as to his personal piety, his views in enter- 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 419 
 
 iiig" the ministry, as to the doctriues of the Gospel, 
 church government, the sacraments, and the duties 
 of the pastoral office. He had been educated in the 
 school of Peshtimaljiau, had for years been in con- 
 stant intercourse with the missionaries, had attended 
 courses of exegetical and theological lectures in the 
 seminary, and had received much private instruc- 
 tion. More than all, he possessed an experimental 
 knowledge of religion, and seemed eminently taught 
 by the Holy Spirit. His clear perception of evan- 
 gelical truth, his power in argument, his impressive 
 manner, his superior judgment, his boldness, and 
 his general weight of character, plainly singled him 
 out as the man, whom God had called to that posi- 
 tion.^ 
 
 The new church lost no time in setting forth to 
 their countrymen a declaration of their Pubucdecia- 
 
 ration of 
 
 faith, and their reasons for the steps they faith. 
 had taken ; which they did in a pamphlet issued in 
 the Armenian language.^ 
 
 Churches on the same basis were formed at Nico- 
 media and Adabazar in July, and at Trebi- other 
 
 cll HFC lies 
 
 zond early in the autumn. There were formed. 
 disturbances at each of these places, but the Mo- 
 hammedan authorities showed a disposition to re- 
 press them promptly.^ 
 
 1 Chnstianiiy Revived, p. 231. Missionary Herald, 1846, pp. 317- 
 
 320, 357. 
 
 2 See Missionary Herald, 1846, p. 356. 
 
 ^ See Missionary Herald, 1846, pp. 368^370. 
 
420 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 The church at the metropolis was soon called to 
 -,,,,, suffer afflictiou in the death of its beloved 
 
 Early aeata 
 
 ofthepa^tor. ^^^^^^.^ ^^^ ^^^ j^gth of MaTch, 1847. His 
 disease was brain fever, occasioned by an excitiug 
 missionary visit to Nicomedia, where the church 
 was about calling his brother to be their pastor. 
 From the nature of the disease, he was mainly with- 
 out the use of his reason ; but a few hours before 
 his death, while Mr. Dwight was present, the cloud 
 passed from his mind, and they enjoyed a most de- 
 lightful interview. " There were present," says the 
 missionary, " besides his own relatives, his two dea- 
 cons, and several of the brethren and sisters of the 
 church, and their joy was unbounded when they heard 
 their dying pastor, with restored reason, giving such 
 clear testimony of the all-sufficiency of Christ to 
 support him in that trying hour. At the end of 
 every answer he gave to my inquiries, they cried out 
 all over the room, " Bless the Lord," " Glory to 
 God," unable to restrain their gratitude that God 
 had given him grace and opportunity to bear such a 
 testimony. I have been present at many Christian 
 death-beds of the people of God, but I can truly say, 
 that I never witnessed anything so deeply affecting. 
 I afterwards led in prayer. Our departing brother 
 uttered a loud Amen at the end of every sentence, 
 and his reason then left him to return no more on 
 earth." 
 
 I cannot refrain from quoting here the testimony 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 421 
 
 of SO judicious an observer as Mr. Dwight, concerning 
 the wife of the pastor. "She is a person ^ife^fthe 
 every way fitted to be a pastor's wife. ^'^^^' 
 She is one of the most intelligent, pious, and lovely 
 women I have known in this country. Indeed, in 
 native intellectual power and in piety, she has few 
 superiors anywhere." 
 
 Der Haritun had long been the spiritual leader 
 at Nicomedia; but when a church was j^^^ 
 formed, and there was need of one who ^^"'^^°' 
 should be both a pastor and preacher, he as a priest, 
 having never learned to preach, and having almost 
 reached the age of sixty, meekly gave place to one 
 who was better qualified to preach the Gospel with 
 power and effect, and now took the place of a 
 deacon. 
 
 The reader will remember the manner in which 
 the reformation arose among the Arme- Reformation 
 nians of Aintab, through the labors of Be- ^^^i"^^- 
 dros Vartabed.^ It is worthy of notice, that while 
 the letter of Mr. Thomson was on its way to Con- 
 stantinople, and before his visit became known to 
 the Prudential Committee, they had directed the 
 Constantinople brethren to send Mr. Van yigit^fMr. 
 Leuuep on a visit to Aleppo and Aintab. ^^^^"^«p- 
 Mr. Van Lennep estimated the number of Armenian 
 families in the place at fifteen hundred. The people 
 were rude and ignorant, but they were residents, 
 
 1 See chapter xxi. 
 
422 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 and not sojourners, as were most of the Armenians 
 at Aleppo. He had visitors from morning till night, 
 and the conversation was confined to the great sub- 
 jects of salvation and eternal life. All the people 
 knew the reason of his coming, and therefore were 
 anxious for instruction on those great questions. 
 Meetings were well attended. About ten men ap- 
 peared to have been truly converted. The people 
 were very anxious to have a missionary reside among 
 them, but this was not possible at that time. 
 
 The next visit was by Mr. Johnston, who re- 
 
 visitofMr. Miained three months at Aleppo, till the 
 Johnston. ^^^ ^^g ^p^^ ^^ Aintab. Meanwhile three 
 
 were chosen from among the brethren to go and 
 study the Scriptures with him at Aleppo. Their 
 names were Avedis, Sarkis, and Krikor, all under 
 thirty years of age. Mr. Johnston went to Aintab 
 in September, and was subjected to a quarantine 
 of twelve days on his arrival. Bedros accompanied 
 him, and they called on the Governor. The Catholi- 
 cos of Sis, the spiritual head of the Church, arrived 
 soon after to oppose the missionary. Mr. Johnston 
 was fully occupied, however, with the numerous in- 
 quirers, and there was no way for the opposers but 
 to induce the Pasha to drive him from the place. 
 In this they succeeded, but not until the time that 
 he himself had set for his departure. He and his 
 companions were followed, as they left the town on 
 the 14th of December, by attendants of the Catholi- 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 423 
 
 COS reviling and throwing stones. No reason was 
 assigned by the Governor for permitting this out- 
 rage, and he was shortly afterwards removed from 
 office. Remonstrances from the American Minister 
 at the Porte, were supposed to be among the causes 
 of his removal. 
 
 Meanwhile Dr. Azariah Smith was traversing re- 
 gions in eastern Turkey, which have since Arrival of 
 become endeared to the friends of mis- ^^•^°"*^- 
 sions, and reached Aintab just after Mr. Johnston 
 left. A tumult was raised at once, with the hope 
 of driving him away also, but without success. 
 Having a firman, he refused to go without first see- 
 nig the Governor, and hie medical profession and 
 practice were in his favor. He remained until 
 March, and before leaving gathered the hopeful 
 converts into a church, which has since proved to 
 be one of the most prosperous in Turkey. On his 
 depai-ture, a number of the brethren accompanied 
 him a considerable distance, and parted after unit- 
 ing in prayer for each other, and for the cause of 
 their Redeemer and Saviour. Bedros, however, 
 whom he left behind to look after the infant church, 
 was soon expelled. Mr. Schneider labored ^^ g^j^^^._ 
 there in the summer and until some time ^''^"^^^■ 
 in the autumn. 
 
 Still the position of the Protestants was every- 
 where one of trial. They were separated Trying situa. 
 
 tioa of the 
 
 from the Armenian community, but not Protestanta. 
 
424 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 * 
 
 united with auy other. The government, though 
 determined to protect them from persecution, did 
 not know exactly what to do. The municipal I'egu- 
 lations of Constantinople forbad marriage, baptism, 
 or burial without the cognizance of the civil power. 
 To obtain a permit for marriage, it was necessary to 
 present to the head of the police a certificate from 
 the Patriarch ; and the Patriarch must report the 
 name of every baptized child to the same officer for 
 enrolment. Before every burial, permission must 
 be obtained from the Board of Health, and this also 
 must be through the Patriarch. Then every trav- 
 eller must have a passport, which could not be ob- 
 tained without a voucher from the Patriarch. It 
 had become quite obvious, that the Patriarch could 
 no longer act as their civil representative at the 
 Porte.i 
 
 In order to promote the internal peace of the em- 
 power of the pire, the Sultan found it necessary to re- 
 duced. duce the power of the Armenian Patriarch, 
 
 by appointing a council of laymen, for secular mat- 
 ters, and another of ecclesiastics and laymen, for 
 matters spiritual; the Patriarch not being allowed 
 to act without their sanction. 
 
 The number of Protestant Armenians, including 
 NTimberof mcu, womcu Rud cliildreu, now separated 
 tante. from their former churches, was about one 
 
 thousand. Nearly three thousand more were known 
 to entertain Protestant sentiments, though still 
 
 1 ChristianiUf Revived, p. 241 . 
 
THE ARMENIANS. 425 
 
 retaining a loose connection with their former 
 churches. Those who were more or less awakened 
 to a knowledge of their errors, and secretly de- 
 sired the progress of the reformation, must have 
 amounted to several thousands more ; but of these 
 no accurate estimate could be made. 
 
 The six churches formed previous to May, 1848, 
 were as yet small, the whole number of ^j^^ 
 members being only one hundred and sixty- ''^'^'^*'^®^' 
 six. Ninety-nine were at Constantinople, twenty- 
 six at Nicomedia, twelve at Adabazar, sixteen at 
 Trebizond, five at Erzroom, and eight at Aintab. 
 But neither the number of church members, nor the 
 size of the congregations, nor the number of those 
 who came to the missionaries for religious conversa- 
 tion, told the whole story. There was a deep move- 
 ment going on in the Armenian community itself, 
 which might be expected to produce great changes 
 in the whole body. In some of the churches there 
 were contentions, occasioned chiefly by their inex- 
 perience in self-government, and their ignorance of 
 the proper modes of acting under their new circum- 
 stances. In Trebizond, it became necessary to sep- 
 arate two of the church members by a formal vote 
 of excision. But this event, though exceedingly 
 trying to the infant community, as well as to the 
 missionaries at the station, was overruled for good. 
 By the divine blessing on such experiences, the self- 
 governing power usually gains strength. 
 
426 MISSIONS TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES. 
 
 Baron Simon was ordained pastor of the bereaved 
 Additional cliurcli iu Constantinople, in place of his 
 
 native pas- , ^ 
 
 tors. brother. Baron Haritun Manasian was 
 
 ordained pastor of the churches in Nicomedia and 
 Adabazar, and was to spend one fourth of his time 
 in the latter place. Both were from the seminary 
 at Bebek. 
 
 During the year ending May, 1848, the seminary 
 Eevivaisof Containing forty-seven scholars, and the 
 wiigion. school for girls containing twenty-three, 
 were both favored with what may be called a revi- 
 val, which added several from each of them to the 
 church ; and there was a similar awakening in both 
 institutions in the following year. The work of the 
 Holy Spirit was distinctly traceable also at Aintab, 
 Aleppo, Killis, Arabkir, and other places in the in- 
 terior. The houses of worship in Pera, and in the 
 city proper, were crowded on the Sabbath, and 
 nearly every week new persons were present. 
 
 END OP VOLUME FIRST.